"Aw, that's no fun." Medios complained as Typh put into place his own power, but the younger god let the matter lie. He didn't even try and oppose the power. That was how a whole school of fish got confused and leapt into the fisherman's nets down at the docks, every tree felled in the jungle landed auspiciously and one logger strumbled across a new method for bringing down the trees more safely. By the time the captain set out a week later the whole island of Sheer Shores was in fine spirits indeed.

The trip back to Hearth took two weeks. During the voyage they saw fish leaping from the waters, passed through a storm set the sky ablaze with lightning, and he sighted the slithering back of a great sea beast, though fortunately it was not hungry at the time. Then Hearth came into view.

The island was greatly changed from when Typh last visited. Buildings were set all along the shore and long piers stretched out into the open waves and served as a safe berth for the many ships. And the ships! They came in a wide range of sizes, some were little larger than a floating seat for a single occupant, others had six oars protruding from each side and must have taken two dozen men to operate. This little island was now a proper town and it was bustling with activity. The number of Prothemi dwelling on Hearth must have been ten times what it was back in those early days, but unlike then, with all of the seas at their disposal resources were not a limiting factor like they had been when the Prothemi had been driven to leave their safe cradle.

When the ship carrying Typh landed it was clear that word of his arrival had already reached here. There was a welcoming party waiting, not one so grand as other gods might have expected, but Typh had never aspired to instill awe or worship in the Prothemi, still the crowd was large enough to show his arrival had not gone unnoticed.

"He brings word of the challenge!" called one of those who waited on the docks. And it seemed word of the new challenge had reached here as well!

On the ship Typh took the opportunity to speak to Medios about his plans in greater detail. Making sure they were decently alone one night he brought Medios to the main deck and looked out at the waters as he spoke

"Medios do you recall when we had our little game and realized that our powers cancel each other out? I think I have a plan for how we can avoid that in the future, especially as it surrounds the upcoming challenge on Inevitable."

Assuming he captured the younger gods interest he continued.

"The shore of Inevitable shall be a safe zone of sorts. I think it wise to allow the mortals to re-inhabit Inevitable both because it will be good to allow them to expand and because it will give you more opportunities to meddle with them if they do come into the jungles; which they will.

As for the waters surrounding it's less say that you can bring misfortune to ships on 3 of 7 days? For the sake of fairness they can be random so that the mortals do not plan around it and ruin your sport.

Within the jungles you can meddle as you wish but don't kill them outright. Let them do that themselves. However if they surrender and seek to return to the safe zone consider them no longer sport. It's not very entertaining if they are already beaten and if you break their spirits too harshly they will of course stop coming and then where will we be hmm?

I will likely bless a few of the parties that I find interesting so don't be surprised if they aren't affected by misfortune directly. I promise to keep the numbers low. Chiefly because I have high standards.

Also you will of course have to exempt those who enter the labyrinth and return with prizes. Otherwise I'll be deprived of their bounty and they their rewards. If no one succeeds then the mortals interest will once again wane and we will be back to you overseeing an empty island."

Typh was willing to budge on somethings somewhat but his vision of events was fair in his eyes. Medios was a mischievous god who enjoyed to play with mortals, to challenge them for his entertainment. Typh could no more change that about him than he could prune branches from the World Tree. More importantly he didn't want to. If Medios was going to push then he would be the pull. He would work without that mischievous nature to attain a goal beyond what he alone could accomplish.

---

Typh's mind went back to the reception that Annastria had when appearing in her realm. How grand and luxurious her estate was. He was humbled by the memory but not disappointed in the Promethi's showing either. They were a largely independent peoples and he was glad to see that they were well. His favor washed over the island almost reflexively as he stepped onto the shore.

"Hell once again my children. I have returned and bring with me a gift from beyond our world. Within me lay the potential to create a portal to another realm. A great labyrinth of the elements in which you will find challenges, treasure, and territory untamed. All those strong enough, brave enough, and wise enough to travel to its opening on Inevitable shall reap its rewards. Those who return to me the greatest of their treasures shall receive even further boons."

"The challenge shall begin with the turning of the season."

Upon the voyage Typh proposed the terms of his new 'game' and Medios proved as receptive as he had been to their original play upon the ship. The younger god listened, a blooming smile growing as the terms and rules were laid out. When Typh concluded there were no complaints or request from amendment from Medios, with a large smile he agreed. "It sounds quite fun!"

Still standing on the docks, the sea lapping at the wooden piles below, Typh raised his voice and announced his new challenge. An excited fever ran through the crowd, just as it had on Sheer Shores. The game was afoot. By the end of a week two score of ships had disembarked, heavily laden with supplies and eager souls. One of them bore Medios back to his home island. The game was afoot.

+40% Exploration Advancement

Prompt: Take time to detail Typh's journey through the jungle and the location where he sets up the gateway. Does he name it?

Over the coming weeks and months stories were carried just as readily as cargo. The colony at Inevitable was being reestablished. More than three hundred souls had struck off into the jungles. Four ships were sunk by sudden violent storms that had rolled in. Kaymen himself had returned to Inevitable and it was said he'd gone in search of the gateway. And the years stretched on.

Initially very few returned, the number could be counted on two hands. These Prothemi, better described as survivors rather than explorers, shared their stories. They told of the path they'd followed and the dangers they'd faced, and even the gateway itself. Beyond which lay the dark and winding corridors of the Labyrinth. These stories served as warnings and instructions. They laid a foundation for the expeditions that followed, the shared knowledge helping to guide the later parties just a bit better than the first. Each time a Prothemi returned and told their tales, it bolstered the spirits of those who came afterwards.

Eventually the Prothemi explorers began to make marked progress traversing the gate itself. They returned telling stories of the endless corridors. Of pitch black caves and tempestuous elements. A fire scarred Prothemi shared of his battle with a fire elemental, a Prothemi with a permanent limp shared how he'd hurt that leg while fleeing a living avalanche. These survivors also brought back curios. Handfuls of jewels or lumps of precious metals which they said simply lay scattered about the area. Whether these would count as being worthy of prizes by the God of Fortune was yet to be seen. While these jewels and metals were nothing found native on Aegos and were thus quite valuable from a mortal perspective, on a divine scale they were mere baubles.

Thus the years passed and the exploration parties continued, every small victory helping to reignite the fervor even as the number of souls lost to Inevitable and its gate mounted. This challenge would take a far greater toll than the simply crossing from Hearth to Far Shores.

Typh journeyed back to Inevitable with the two shores of ships, his favor blanketing the impromptu armada to smooth their voyage. Arriving on the shores of Inevitable he took a deep breath, savoring the air and its mingled fortunes. There was power in these sands, a clash of good and bad fortunes. He allowed those thoughts to carry his footsteps deeper into the jungle. He travelled alone for none were to know where he tread.

Eventually he arrived at the highest point of the island, although one could not tell from the shore due to the dense foliage and twisting, rocky landscape. Here he felt something...significant and with a moments exertion allowed the portal to the Labyrinth to blossom into splendor on the stone wall he faced.

"Journey's Peak" he whispered to himself. And the site was named.

--

In the years since he challenge began Typh sat at his seat in Hearth, blanketing that first island in his favor as he had so long ago. It was a buoy against the challenges of his brothers island Inevitable. Those explorers, those survivors that made it to him and gave up their most precious baubles were rewarded. In an outpouring of power he uplifted them according to their nature, their accomplishments, and their scars. They were not fundamental transformations of nature but these individuals would be more than they once were. More than simply mortal.


Then as the years came by he considered if this was truly enough. He was a god that did not enjoy meddling over much in the affairs of his mortals but there was something more he could do for them surely. So he drew on one of his own powers that he rarely employed. He invoked Odyssey to point him towards a means of growing his world further. To find new horizons to explore.

Returned home to Hearth, Typh did not watch the exploration trials unfold first hand. Instead he heard the tales that were carried back over the seas and even met with those few successful explorers who returned home. These Prothemi he laid his mark upon, thus the fourteen God-Touched Explorers were blessed.

700 souls spent

Typh was a patient god, but even he grew restless. While the Prothemi explorers were returning with results, the God of Fate decided to take a more proactive approach in the meantime. Calling on his powers over fortune, Typh reached out. The power of fortune drifted out into the world. Even he didn't know what form it would return to him.

When a week later a ship arrived at the docks and a gaggle of excited Prothemi disembarked Typh though perhaps this was the odyessy he had called upon the World Tree to provide, but his instincts disagreed. No, this was a culmination of his other plan. The Prothemi he had sent abroad had found something and rushed back to Hearth to show their findings. The Prothemi who came forward was a young woman, in her golden hands she carried a glittering shard of ice. "We pulled it from the heart of an elemental. It had been slain by one of the earthen ones," she explained, for the Prothemi were not capable of bringing down the elementals themselves. "There was something about this... I felt I should bring it to you." She shared. And she was right. This was a solidified sliver of Essence.

In the grand scale of things it had not taken the Prothemi long to find the Essence. The World Tree was still abundant with the precious material. It was only a matter of going out and looking as Typh had instructed them to do.

It was late in the day that the ship and its precious cargo had arrived. The news was exciting enough that few paid heed as the sun set over the seas. But this was not another night. The darkened waters beyond began to stir and froth. Slithering things crept onto land and ship. Wet skinned creatures that looked like a twisted mockery of the Prothemi, great tentacled sea beasts, eels that wriggled ashore like snakes.

A Night of the Hunt had fallen.

Typh had encountered many of these ill fated nights since awakening this new age. Nights when beasts never seen on Aegos would crawl from the seas to attack islands or ships. These nights were few and far between and most of them could be waited out safely if one had walls and a fire. But Typh had a sense this would be a more fraught Night. The Hunt was upon Aegos. Lives would be lost this night. It was only a question of how many.

It seemed the mission Typh had called out for had answered.

Typh felt the convergence of Fate all around him as the sliver of essence was brought to him and the Night of Hunt came over Hearth. This was truly a momentous occasion and it stirred something in his spirit. So he spoke to the woman who had stepped forward but with a voice loud enough to ring out over the area.

"You have done well to bring me this my child. This is a sliver of Essence, the primordial power of Creation. With it I shall expand the very limits of Aegos and name one of the new lands in your honor to that your name will be spoken of forever."

He turned his attention away from the woman, he would ask her name in truth after his announcement.

"A Night of Hunt is upon us my children and tonight you shall not fight alone. I shall be with you!"

Typh concentrated his Favor over the Promethi themselves and allowed his Displeasure to sink into the fell creatures that dared trespass here. Flashing out with his mind he considered his seldom used awareness of strategy and his knowledge of Hearth to find the best defensible strategy.

Fortune lay upon Hearth this night and ill luck upon the creatures, but neither of these were guarantees.

A Night of the Hunt is an erratic and violent occasion. Normally safe streets and piers became hunting grounds for blood thirsty creatures. Over the years Prothemi had learned that this violence was best met by solitary hunters, or duos and trios at most. Organized forces had fared poorly historically, their great numbers drew the creatures in far greater numbers and ferocity than those more subtle bands. These Prothemi hunters who dared to meet these dark nights would take up harpoon and net and set out. If they survived till morning they would bear new scars and carry grim trophies marking their success. Given the great number of beasts being heard outside, many would not return.

Typh knew from prior Nights of the Hunt that the beasts who arrived in Aegos would come from the sea. This meant the deepest parts of the island would be the safest. These hilly regions were the least developed, there were not many buildings there to use for shelter, only the rugged landscape itself.

The bestowing of the Essence had taken place inside a seaside tavern. Now one of its windows exploded in a shower of glass as one of the walking fish-men leapt through. Heedless of cuts the glass left on its leather skin it set upon the nearest Prothemi with a toothy maw, biting into the surprised mans throat and then dragging him back through the open window. Overhead there was a wet thump as something landed upon the roof, then with squishy steps stalked across the tiles. Out in the streets distant shouts and cries could be heard as more of the aquatic horrors invaded the homes and businesses that were closest to the sea front. Dozens of small acts of luck were ensuring Prothemi were getting early warnings or that the horrors were overlooking or narrowly missing their targets, but this still did not save every life.

The sun had only just set and dawn was many hours away.

Typh considered his options momentarily and then spoke.

"Quickly. We must move further inland. The rugged terrain will provide us greater cover and these buildings are poor shields."

He then ushered the Promethi out of the building while calling on more of his power. Hoping to lead those that followed him to a suitable location he invoked the power of Auspicious Intuition and Right Time, Right Place.

Drawing upon all of his divine powers, Typh led the Prothemi with him out into the streets. As they went and came across more Prothemi they brought them into the fold. What commenced was a several hour long game of cat and mouse as the God of Fortune guided all those he could gather and led them towards the center of Hearth. There were numerous close calls, fortunate chance encounters that brought them across other groups who were fending for themselves and decisions which came out for the best due to the manufactured good of luck of the god.

By the time the group reached the edge of the port town their numbers had tripled and they'd only lost a handful of those they'd rescued. Together they climbed into the rugged hills where the horrors from the sea were far less numerous. Below them Hearth was only a collection of glimmering lights, the horrors unfolding there obscured time darkness and distance. With the cool breeze blowing and the quiet here it was easy to imagine it was all already over.

It was already getting close to morning when the group reached the highest hills of Hearth. It less than an hour the sun would rise and the danger would pass as it always did with a Night of the Hunt.

Up on this peak, it just so happened there was a pool of water nearby. And it seemed that was enough for one of the horrors. The pool frothed and a mass of tentacles rose up in a spray of water. They wheeled about and lashed at those closest to the water, but before they could do any real harm the horizon began to glow. Flinching, the tentacles pulled back and slithered back into the waters.

Maybe it was the fact that it was the moments between night and day. Maybe it was that the creature was retreating. Maybe it was just simple luck. Whatever it was, Typh could sense a crack in the world in that pool. It was how the creature was slithering back from whence it came. That opening remained there for a few scant moment. It was a rare opportunity, a chance to find the source of where these impossible monsters sprang from. Typh certainly had been in the right place at the right time for this precise moment.

Feeling the convergence of Fate in that moment he spoke to his children as he moved to the waters edge.

"I go now to seek the truth to these attacks. Follow me only if you are prepared to brave unknown and untold dangers."

With that Typh stepped into the pool and allowed himself to be transported through the rift in space.

There was a fleeting window of opportunity. It was rapidly closing. Not letting the fortunate opportunity pass, Typh followed. He extended his invitation to the Prothemi he'd rescued from the attack. There were scant moments to decide, only the boldest or most fool hardy would make a snap decision in those mere seconds. That was how Typh found himself with three Prothemi children following in tow.

Moving to another location

Some years since that fateful Night of the Hunt, Typh reemerged back into Aegos. The three Prothemi children who had vanished with him returned now as full grown adults. Where they had gone and what had transpired was a mystery, but now they were back on Hearth.

While years had passed here as well, it was not so long as to be meaningful, at least from the long view of a divinity. All traces of that Night of the Hunt had been scrubbed away in the intervening years, the town of Hearth had grown by a house few houses, but things were roughly as Typh had left them.

Typh stretched as he passed through the gate into Aegos. Taking in Hearth it was clear to see that some time had passed since his departure but not overly much. He said as much to the Explorers who had travelled the Morphic Seas with him.

"What will you do now my children?"

Typh listened but a part of his mind was already flashing forward in time. He had Essence which meant he had the potential to change his world. He considered for a moment what might be the best option and opted to walk to the edge of the Hearth and look out on the sea, his feet nestled into its warm sand like it had all that time ago. Raising the Essence into the sky he directed its power to expanding his realm.

Far Shore might not be an apt name for much longer.

The three once children were more surprised by how many years had passed at Hearth. A few decades was little to a god, but life changing for a mortal. "I uh, guess we're too big to be skulking on the docks." Havit thought aloud. "Yeah," agreed the other. "We could fish?" replied the first. "I've got good hands, maybe I'll mend nets-"

"We sail." Deneri declared, her eyes fixed on the bright blue waters of Aegos.

Meanwhile Typh had called up the Essence he'd only just acquired before being so rudely interrupted. The power shimmered in the air, then Aegos shuddered and quaked. The placid seas turned rough as the boundary of Aegos was expanded. To the west Typh could feel his realm grow larger. This new province was not properly his, not yet, so only the faintest traces of it reached the god of fortune. But nonetheless, he could sense that his world had grown larger and had new corners to explore.

Typh considered the three.

"Then you shall sail."

After the world expanded he gathered the people of Hearth.

"Rejoice my children for I have returned once again. I have been beyond the boundaries of our realm and traveled a sea of shifting chaos. There my intrepid explorers and myself tamed this place and created a wonder unlike any before seen in reality. However those tales are not mine to share."

He gestured to the three god-touched explorers.

"No my role is to share with you a great tiding. Upon my return I have used the power so graciously given to me to grow our world. To the west lay new lands. Untamed and unclaimed. A new age is upon us my children. A new age of exploration, expansion, growth, and challenge."

Word of Typh's changes to Aegos spread rapidly, whether carried from Hearth regarding his news, or from sailors who had already been near the boundaries of the world and seen the changes first hand. The stories returned back to Hearth and shed some light of this mysterious new province.

Word spoke of treacherous seas, where rocks jutted up from the ocean like jagged spears. At the tables of the taverns and shore leave houses sailors would sit around tables and speak of the tempestuous waters of this strange land. Larger ships that entered those waters were doomed, they were carried by the fierce currents and wrecked upon the rocks. Smaller vessels only fared better if manned by an experienced crew, then it became a battle. Sails were folded up and the sailors armed themselves with oars and they navigated those seas like whitewater rivers.

Those sailors who had made the journey and returned, the age old Kaymen amongst them, returned to speak of a great island at the center of this swirling violent sea. While the sailors of the Prothemi were familiar with islands, they knew of none that glowed during the dead of night. It was said that an orange haze hung over the island and winking lights that same hue of warm orange could be spied all across the island. But they remained a mystery as any ship that had navigated that far had been forced to turn back, lest they end up marooned there after all the damage their vessels had taken simply getting that far.

With the world having grown once again he called upon his children to ferry him to the island of Inevitable so he could meet with his brother Medios. When he did arrive on the island he surveilled the surroundings, seeing what changes have become of the island. Afterwards he began extending his Favor over the island to countermand Medios'. Not as a sign of hostility but to draw the gods' attention as he sought him out.

Leaving the matter of the new province of Aegos and its strange orange glow to the Prothemi to uncover, Typh turned his attention back to Inevitable. It had been some time since the god of fortune had visited the island, not since he'd returned to Hearth and announced the challenge of traversing through Journey's Peak and back. Securing passage on a ship, a simple enough task for the god who was regarded more as a living legend upon Aegos, he made the trip back.

The changes were evident as soon as Inevitable appeared on the horizon. While less than a century had passed, hardly anything to a god, but to a group of motivated mortals, it was enough to transform the coast.

There was still a ring of smashed ships encircling the island, but those closest to the initial settlement site now had docking built onto the ragged shipwrecks, turning them into scaffolding from which a dock now existed. Ships clustered tightly around that new dock and further back on the shore were new structure that had been put in place of the old ruins. The settlement was even larger than it was originally and a well worn path had been carved into the edge of the jungle showing where regular foot traffic now came and went.

It seemed the prospect of Typh's challenge had rekindled the prothemi's willingness to revisit Inevitable. The fact that they were still there strongly implied that Medios had honored his side of the agreement. If he hadn't the divine power of the younger god of fortune likely would have already driven the mortals back to the other islands of Aegos.

Setting out to find his brother, it was not a difficult task. Medios was actually in the first place that Typh went looking, back at the crude totem on the shore where they'd first met. The copper-skinned god was playing with three misfortune spirit, tumbling through the underbrush as he wrestled with the ill-fated spirits. Spying Typh he leapt back to his feet. "Brother, you return!" he exclaimed happily.

Typh smiled broadly at his brother.

"Medios! I have returned."

He moved towards the younger god and tussled his hair in his hand.

"How have you been younger brother? Has the game been to your liking?"

"It entertains well enough!" Medios replied happily. "Though if you're ready for a new game I've been thinking of how long it would take to raze the village to rubble. I think I could have the whole place be ash and cinders in about nine minutes."

Typh considered the bet and then shook his head in the negative.

"Not very sporting. The villagers have no reliable means of defending themselves. Makes for an uninteresting challenge."

He then held up two fingers.

"However I have brought two things that might interest you. The first is a new dominion to roam about in and stir up mischief among other gods. They can't harm you directly so it's safe but I've seen more than a few situations that might appeal to you there. The second is that I have expanded the world and there are new horizons to be ventured to. Would you wish to join me brother?"

"Other gods?" Medios asked, intrigue plainly written on his features. "Oh that sounds like fun! Do they look like us? What do they do for fun?" As the younger god of fate clearly had no qualms, Typh showed him the way to the Astral Lounge. A few moments later the two gods both existed both on Inevitable and also the divine lounge created by Nytal. As for leaving Inevitable, Medios waved a hand to dismiss the idea. "A new island with no mortals? No, I'll stay here. It sounds dull."

Medios' decision did not dissuade Typh from his next course of action though. There was a new sea of Aegos to explore and a mysterious isle that waited. In a few short days the god of fortune had secured himself a seat on a ship headed to those treacherous new waters. Then he got to see this place first hand himself.

True to the stories, rugged pillars of stone rose up from the waters in this new sea and the currents here were mercurial. Already there were signs of wreckage from less fortunate vessels. But misfortune only approached Typh if he so willed it. The ship the god of fortune rode in upon had only fair winds and clear seas and they navigated the dangerous waters. It was midday when they emerged out the other side and found the landmass beyond the shipbreakers.

It was larger than any of the native islands of Aegos. The dense jungle foliage that could be seen was quite similar as were the gentle sandy beaches. During the day there were no signs of this mysterious orange glow that the travelers had spoken of. Typh's vessel was not the only one here, another prothemi vessel, a nimble single mast ship, was anchored just off the shore.

Accepting Medios' decision Typh nodded once.

"Of course brother but do keep in mind the way you feel about an island with no mortals when you are deciding if you will or won't burn down a village. Mortals have the tendency of leaving places they can't reasonably survive in. Especially with little in the way of reward."

Having said his peace Typh spends the rest of the day with his brother before heading out in the morning to the new area. Passing through the pillars of stone, dubbed now and forever more as Breakers Reef, he was surprised at how perilous the journey was. He was even more surprised to find that upon arrival at the island, if it was an island, they were not alone. Disembarking he moved to the nimble single mast ship further ashore and waited to be brought aboard by the ships captain. His divine presence radiating outward as to alert them of his presence.

Disembarking onto the beach, Typh flared out his presence, something that the mortals on board wouldn't be able to help noticing. But no one emerged. Moving closing to the vessel and boarding it, Typh discovered it only had arrangements to sleep three. It could have held more, but the hull was crowded with empty crates and the walls were hung with tools, mainly pickaxes, but also shovels, climbing hooks and other things useful for exploration. It seemed this small vessel had come fully equipped to explore the island and all of its occupants were doing just that. Given how treacherous Breakers Reef was, it was not surprise the crew had opted for such a small vessel.

The crew of Typh's own vessel, had secured their ship to the shore and were fanning out and curiously inspecting the beach. A few of them exclaimed as they held up their hands. Between their fingers they held small stones. "They're warm to the touch, more than just the work of the sun," one of the sailors commented aloud in wonder. It was true, the small orange pebble felt like it had been baking in the heat from a fire. Cupping it in their hands, it gave off a faint orange glow. It seemed these stones were the source of the glow that hung over this new land. But these few pebbles alone would not account for how great that glow was, there were more answers to found further inland.

The path of the explorers from the unattended ship went off in one direction, towards a tangle of trees and it seemed to trace the edge of the shore, but Typh's fortunes kept nudging him another way, in the direction of the mountains that rose up near the center of the island.

Typh gestured with his stave to the mountains that rose up near the center of the island.

"My dominion is calling me to trek that way. Those that wish to join me are free to do so but I cannot guarantee what we will encounter. It is potentially perilous. However know that you will travel in my Favor."

Regardless of who all elected to go with him Typh would set out shortly after feeling the pull, only pausing long enough for those who did decide to follow him to rally themselves and gather up any of tools and equipment they may need; food and water withstanding given his presence and that of Providence.

He also made sure to take a stone from the beach with him. The warmth it gave off amused him.