Through a divine portal that Annastarria had called up, the God of Eternity and God of Blossoms stepped through to somewhere else. All they knew was that this was the path of whatever it was that had gutted the dead realm they had just left.

On the far side of the portal they stepped out onto a glossy green floor and dizzying towers overhead. It took a moment to get their bearings. They were standing on a leaf and the world around them was gargantuan in comparison. What they had taken to be towers were actually the trunks of trees that rose up so far they went out of sight. Over the edges of their leaves they could see dozens of other leaves that acted as other floors. Far, far below was the ground. On all sides of them were bushes, ivy, rocks and saplings. It was a grand forest, but they were the size of ants. It was quite a different perspective, especially for beings like a god.

However, all was not well here. The plants around them were tinged with yellow and there was a dry quality to the air that shouldn't be in such a temperate forest. The screech of animals and caws of birds that echoed through the forest had a distressed quality. The creatures that were similarly sized to the two gods, ants, beetles, bees and wasps, were all in frantic motion and many were battling one another in their distress. The cataclysm that the two gods had witnessed in the other realm had clearly occurred here, but more recently, this world was dying too, but it was only in the first stages of its death throes.

From on high came an angry buzzing and the Prince of Blossoms nimbly danced to one side, just barely in time to avoid being impaled by a barbed spear as a wasp dove down onto the leaf. Atop its back was a tiny figure wearing clothes made of folded leaves and a hat that was an overturned flower. "How dare you do this to my world!" he shouted as he pulled his spear free and wheeled about, raising it to impale Annastarria. "I'll fill the wound with your bodies, that should just about do the trick to repair the damage!" he declared wrathfully. "Come everyone, help me slay the invaders!" The sounds of buzzing and chittering from the nearby bugs heightened and gained new power. This was clearly a god and he'd called upon some power of his as he summoned the native insects of this world to his cause. It seemed he had much the same initial reaction as Annastarria.

As he and his sister entered the new realm through the portal, tracking the culprit, the Prince couldn't help but appreciate the HUGE and verdant world that spread out before him. The mega-sized trees and even the gigantic floor-sized leaves were all quite majestic and impressive to him. If they had more time, he would have wished to explore and study and even commune with these plants with his powers.

But sadly that would not be possible. The Prince's sharp senses were aware of the impending ambush, and he gracefully danced aside dodging the spear-blow. It wasn't easy though, and it was obvious this bee flower whatever god had some decent capability himself. The Prince could tolerate this, but when he saw the enemy god was raising the spear to try and stab at his sister he knew he had to immediately take action.

"You will do no such thing, you uncouth cretin! And how dare you try and raise a hand to my sister!" the Prince said as he waved a hand at the enemy god, calling on his manifest power to make the man's leafy clothing and flower-hate suddenly become divinely tough, while expanding and snaking outward in an explosion of tendrils and vines and swiftly attempted to wrap around the enemy god's body and head. The Prince's intention was, after hopefully surprising the enemy by turning his clothing against him, was to wrap the man up tighter than a fully-roped cartoon character while also ensnaring the man's wings and such in the outgrowth too. He'd allow the flower-hat to reveal the enemy's face and eyes though, so that they could communicate.

"You fool! We did not harm your world. We have come here to hunt down the one who did, though. and the trail leads here!"

Annastarria looked around and tried not to gape at their surroundings. This world was so...green. Verdant, awash with life and colour. "I'm not used to feeling small," she said in a soft voice."

Then she felt the sickness, the wound, and knew the horror that awaited this lovely Realm. "Oh, no. We're too late, brother. This Realm is dying," she was going to say more when her brother nimbly avoided an attack. She looked up and saw the God calling more to his side, thinking the two newcomers were responsible for the wound in his Realm. As quick as thought the Prince lashed out and used his power against the deity that assailed them but tempered his attack so as not to hurt their ailing sibling.

"Hold, brothers! We are not the ones behind this attack on your Realm! We seek the one who did this for yours is not the only place it has attacked. Another Realm crashed into mine and we have come to find the butcher stealing Essence and killing Realms."

Flowers and petals rose up to ensnare the wasp-mounted god. The god sprang up from his wasp, leaping into the air and twisting and turning in an impressive acrobatic display. He avoided being ensnared by much of the flower petal, though one managed to catch an ankle of his and turned the graceful acrobatics into a clumsy tumble. It seemed this god was fairly nimble himself. He managed to right himself as he started to fall and used his spear pole vault across the leaf. The buzz of insects had grown louder as it was clear a vast swarm was rising up. But whatever might have come of this conflict was avoided as Annastarria and the Prince of Blossoms explained the reason for their presence.

"Oh," the god replied thoughtfully. Swinging the tip of his blade, he severed the flowers entangling his foot. "I see. Well, you can't blame me for thinking that strangers in my world at the same moment it was struck a mortal blow were related. And I suppose the two events still are related." He gave Annastarria and the Prince of Blossoms one more hard look, then seemed to decide to believe them. "No time for niceties though, I have to find the culprit! If you two are after the same person, then come along!" The god of this realm sprang back atop his wasp as two more landed and looked expectantly at the god of eternity and god of blossoms with they're multifaceted eyes.

With a bone rumbling buzz the god's wasp flapped its wings in a blur of motion and he took off into the air.

OOC: Taking liberties that you follow just to make this post more meaningful since it's been a few days.

The wasp carapaces were oddly slick to the touch, but the rigid hairs jutting out provided handholds and a back rest making riding them surprisingly comfortable. The rapid beating of their wings was nearly deafening though and all the gods could hear as they took off after their host was a deep hum and the rush of wind. The insects flew erratically, taking sharp dives and hard turns, the scenery of this realm rushed past in a blur. There was no time to take it all in.

The flight stopped quite some distance later as the two wasps followed after the god of the realm and descended down to the grassy earth. A hole had been punched into the ground. It was not nearly as massive as the one in the desiccated world they had come from, but then everything here was so massive, it seemed only appropriate that even this wound was smaller. Despite being less dramatic in scope, it was no less harmful. "My world, the heart of my world has been torn out," the leaf-armored god gasped as he stood at the precipice of the hole and fell to his knees, the fight leaving him as he found there was no villain to turn his ire upon.

Annastarria and the Prince were definitely on the right path, but they were still behind their quarry. What they were seeing now was a fresh victim of whatever it was they followed.

Once they were on the ground, the Prince of Blossoms looked at the hole and the destruction left behind.

"I am the True god of Blossoms, and this is my sister Eternity." he said.

"And I agree about the niceties - I wish we had more time. But we are hot ont he trail of the real villain here. We came to your world by following trace energies left in the hole of the shattered realm that had crashed into my sister's here. Which means there most likely is an even fresher trail to follow there in the hole." he said.

"So how about, nimble god of um...bugs? Bees? I cannot quite pin your domain down and I apologize. But would you like to come with us and pursue the villain? We are seeking the lost essence from the realm that crashed into my sister's so we can repair it. Perhaps your realm can be healed too if we move quickly?"

The Prince proposes an alliance between them and to then go pursue the villain from the central hole.

Annastarria eyed the wasp but decided that turning the offer down wasn't the most polite thing she could do so she climbed on, found a way to remain on the creature's back, and enjoyed flying in a manner quite different from her usual.

"I understand your suspicion, brother and likely would have done the same had I been on the end of this attack. I take no offence and offer my aid to you. We will find the one who has done this."

She watched the scenery go by and was amased at how different this Realm was to the others she had seen so far but wonder turned to horror as she looked at the desecration that had been committed upon this place. Horror turned to anger as she contemplated the death of another branch of the World Tree. She placed a gentle hand on the back of their brother and leaned forward. "Come with us. Help us find the one behind this so we can undo what they have done and stop any further assaults. We will deliver justice to the creature who has attacked your Realm."

Roused from his mourning by the other two gods, the keeper of this dying realm climbed to his feet. "I am Intiares, I am the God of the Small," the man said with a minute bow. Pulling off his flower helm and releasing a wild mass of blonde curls he idly turned the flora helmet over in his hands. "It pains me to leave my realm in a state like this, but I can clearly do little for it now. I'll join you on your quest. You said you had the trail?"

They did indeed. Annastarria refamiliarized herself with the traces of power here and compared them with what she'd encountered in the other dying realm. Then she opened a portal.

Following a trail for gods was not as simple or as straight forward as a trail across mortal realms. Where in a mortal hunt one would presume that finding a fresher clue would mean you were closer, the next world they visited was clearly in worse shape than either of the other two. They stepped onto parched soil that was cracked and dusty, heated by a tired sun overhead. Any distinctive features of this place has been worn away. They did not linger overly long, opening another portal.

Through the next portal they came across a great ocean. All of it was swirling, transformed into one massive maelstrom that was sucking down into the hole carved into the world. Another world already visited and plundered by their quarry. How much essence had this being amassed? So much power collected by a single individual meant that whatever awaited them on the opposite end of this hunt could be quite dangerous indeed.

Opening another gateway, they came out onto a world of rugged mountains. Here they caught up to their quarry. Ahead of them a great wriggling tail was just finishing burrowing through the world. Made up interlocking metal plates, the thing looked like a giant worm, but one that had been built. The whipping tail was just finishing wriggling through the crust of this world and disappeared out the opposite side.

One final portal and the trio found themselves standing on a grassy hillside that overlooked a valley. Below them were spread out neatly divided squares of land, clearly crops and ones that were on the verge of reaping judging by the great leafy plants growing in event rows. Homey scarecrows stood vigil in those fields and mortals were tending to the crops. The air here felt vital and alive, there wasn't any trace of the damage they'd encountered. Had they lost the trail?

Then in the distance they saw great metal back breach the earth. It swam through the tilled soil and up to huge barn. The worm-like creature arched its back and loomed over the barn, then from its maw felt a sparkling cascade of light. Even from across the valley you could feel the waves of power as those motes of energy fell into the barn. Here was the pilfered essence. It had been collected, gathered by this great mechanical creature like a farmer might use a tractor to shear wheat. Only the wheat in this case was other world.

Standing outside the barn was a figure in rough spun loose fitting clothes with a wide brimmed straw hat. From this distance their specific features couldn't be made out, he they were standing outside the barn and watching the collection of the Essence with the loose limb nonchalance of someone who'd done this before. Their wide brimmed hat exaggerated their appreciative head nod, making it visible even from a distance.

It seemed the gods had followed the trail to its source.

"Look at him standing there," Annastarria said, clearly angry at the sight. "He beams at that metal monster and looks so proud at what it has done. He knows what it does is destroy entire Realms and still he is pleased. This one is a threat to all. We should end this threat by whatever means we can. Let him never trouble another Realm again."

Annastarria flexed her fingers and glared at the god through eyes that had shaded to a very angry blue. She was going to end this thing, sibling or not.

The Prince of Blossoms nods.

"I'd have understood if maybe he was attacking a doppleganger, but he is clearly going after any realm he can get his hands on as Intiares here is definitely not a doppleganger and those other realms were un related.. And that thing itself I suspect must be an artifact of some sort since it was able to portal across realms similar but a little differently than a god did. Let us did dispatch our sibling he got far too greedy for their own good, and let them know this won't be tolerated by those who believe in some modicum of decency." The Prince said, nodding in agreement.

"Here I thought Graug was bad but this is is all of her rapacity with none of her whimsical honor. Sister? Intares? I don't know what happens when a god dies but I'm happy to find out. However...I ask one thing and that is we refrain from Aramanth. I will not help one who would taint their divine essences like that. Not even against someone like this. I believe the parent tree's eyes are watching us right now and we must not sully ourselves."

Intiares stood roughly waist high to Annastarria and the Prince now that they were outside his own realm, but it hadn't diminished his fire. "I couldn't have said it better, sister." Then he took off to lead the charge. Even without the wasp he was quite fast on foot. Truly a god indeed. It seemed it took only a few paces for him to cross half the field, a few paces more and he was upon this strange god. Not far behind came the two who had initiated this hunt.

The other god was watching the last of the essence be deposited into the barn and didn't know what was upon him until Intiares' spear was already being driven into his back. "By the sickle and sun-" the other god gasped out in surprise as he was driven forward, the barbed weapon of folded grass buried deep. (-2 HP) His straw hat was knocked off his head and went tumbling through the air.

Clearly taken by surprise by the sudden attack, the god was still splayed out on the ground and struggling to recover when Annastarria and the Prince of Blossoms arrived.

8/10 - The Unknown God

"Agreed, brother - Amaranth is a horrid act and not one I'm willing to stain my person with or willingly associate with those who have. Let's end this and being repairing those things that can be repaired."

Annastarria was about to take to the air when the third member of their company attacked. She roared, unfolded her wings, and leaped on top of the offending deity, pinning him to the ground with massive talons driven through his shoulders.

"You have one chance to continue living. If you resist we will end you. Refuse to meet our terms and you die," she growled, blue flame rising in her throat as she spoke.

The Prince nodded, and used his power to attempt to silently but swiftly ensnare the enemy god in a sudden burst of tangling vines, grass, and Roots that reached up from the ground however at this point he was only aiming to restrain and not injure. He wanted to give the god a chance to respond to his sister.

Catching up with Intiares, Annastarria leapt onto the impaled god and pinned him to the ground. "Bastards stab me then say you want to talk?" the other god wheezed from beneath her. Suddenly the god of eternity felt the other figure melt away. Around them a dozen versions of the straw hat wearing god appeared. All of them stood there with heavy scowls on their face and arms crossed, but they stood rigid and unmoving. Battles between gods were never straight forward.

Retrieving the spears that now jutted up from the ground, Intiares looked about the field in confusion. "So there are a dozen of you? I suppose you think you've got numbers, but two can play at that." Raising his arms, the God of the Small called upon his own divine power. In the air there came a steadily increasing drone of wings. Insects took flight from the many corners in which they'd been hidden, the air started to darken with a growing swarm. "Are we killing him now?" Intiares asked hopefully.

The Goddess of Eternity ignored the duplicates of their prey and kept her eyes fixed on the one they first saw. The one who had been wounded twice since their arrival.

"If he does not relent when given the chance then he dies, brothers," she hissed. SHe drew herself up to her full height and mantled her wings and scales which made her look even larger.

"You sent that thing across Realms to steal Essence. We have come to three Realms that are dead or dying including that of our brother, Intiares. You shall relinquish your hold on that which you took which we shall use to heal those Realms that can be healed. You will destroy that creature and vow to never again attack a Realm to steal from it. Do this and you live. Refuse and you forfeit your life now. We shall end you. Choose.

"Now."

"I unfortunately cannot see through what I presume are his illusions or sub clones or what have you, so it's coming from a manifested tier power." The Prince said aloud.

"But that simply means we need only be less restrained in our attacks." the Prince said, as suddenly the large cloud of floating pink sakura petals that had been following them through the portals and their trail began to start swirling through the air rapidly rather than gently drifting nearby. More and more flower petals appeared from the Prince's divine aura as well, and the entire mass of petals began swirling around him like a large orbiting pink cloud.

"Brother Intiares, the gentleman is showing zero signs of remorse. So yes it is safe to say that you may proceed to kill him unless he gets on his hands and knees, submits, and relents." the Prince said as suddenly the large cloud of swirling flower petals surged and expanded in all directions while spinning in a furious ever-expanding orbit around the Prince. The petals, despite their appearance, were as sharp as steel razors as they were being honed actively by his own manifest power in response to the one being used by the enemy.

And then the mass of petals exploded outward in a hail of flowery shrapnel. Somehow, the petals moved seamlessly around Annastarria and Intiares, and if somehow they had to touch petals they found that for them they were as soft and supple as natural petals. Only the enemy would experience their razor edges!

"You heard my sister's terms. We are going to proceed with the smiting until you choose to relent or die. Your crimes are heinous so I feel little remorse in being...un-gentle. Although I will honor parlay if you submit and repent. Until then, the smiting shall commence!" he said as the petals then proceeded to tear into the clones. The Prince would wait no longer and give the enemy time to gather their wits. If he wanted the fight to stop, he'd have to submit in real time.

The Prince is using a 360 degree explosion of razor petals to basically explode outward and slice into all of the clones that were surrounding them. If he couldn't determine the real enemy then he'd simply subject them all to a whirlwind of razors and reveal the true one that way.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:06, Sat 20 Aug 2022.

Hearing the two other gods in agreement to press the attack Intiares gave an approving nod. "Good. I had nothing to say to him anyways," the God of the Small said as he launched himself towards the nearest of the dozen dopplegangers. Springing into the air the god came down upon the figure and drove his spear into its chest. There came an explosions of straw and fire and Intiares was launched backwards. Tumbling through the tall grass he ended up in a smoking heap. Climbing back to his feet there were burns on his forearms, but the god did not seemed dissuaded.

"Nothing was stolen. A harvest was reaped. If you had grievances then you do the proper thing and hold a conversation. Sometimes a plow horse goes astray and does damage, you don't show up swinging blades at the farmers." The god of this realm replied to Annastarria, his voice echoing off of the various doubles making it impossible to pinpoint. "But it's too late now. You attacked a god of the Unity. Only thing that could help you now is to take your hat in hand, make your apologies and be on your way."

Then the Prince of Blossoms unleashed a torrent of flower petals. The billowing cloud blew amongst the various clones and as they touched each one the figure exploded. The explosion tore away a great many of the petals, but there were more where they came from. The number of doubles shrank till they came to remaining figure. The thousands of sharp edges left his clothes in tattered and started cuts freely flowing. Another set of duplicates were created, this time they appeared around the three gods. Rather than wait to be detonated, they set themselves off. (Take 5 damage minus your Essence or Finesse trait, whichever is higher.)

But this single god was no match for three. He did not seem accustomed to violence and the odds were stacked against him. The battle lasted only a half hour, hardly the blink of an eye when it came to divine feuds, and left the god in a bloodied heap. The fields around them were transformed a wastelands, the grasses sheared away, exploded and consumed by the billowing clouds of insects. Looking out from the brim of his signed and sliced straw hat, the bloodied god looked back at the three defiantly. "You think you three are the only gods with friends? Not so, not so." Turning, he looked the Prince of Blossoms, then Intiares, "They know your name now, Intiares. They'll start with you."

"Oh stuff it." The God of the Small said, then drove his spear through the bloodied foe. He shuddered and collapsed. The death of a god was not so different from a mortal death. In that way perhaps they were not so different.

Tugging loose his spear, Intiares turned back towards the barn. Striding forward, he threw open the doors. The power that radiated out was enough to make the three gods fall back a pace. Essence was heaped like a great pile of grain. The bounty of that great mechanical worm which still hung motionlessly over the barn.

Striding forward, Intiares reached out and scooped up a handful of the pilfered Essence. "That should be enough to repair my world. My thanks to both of you, but I must hurry off before any further damage is done." With that the God of the Small winked out of existence.

Rewards

Essence: There is four Essence currently available in the barn. This can be claimed and distributed as seen fit.

The World Harvester: This divine farming machine is simply that, a machine. Clearly created through the expenditure of Essence it is quite powerful. It could be reprogrammed to serve another god, though it would require expending Essence to do so. Recreating it would likely be beyond either of your abilities as the creation is clearly linked to the domain of the god just slain. Destroying it will be even harder given what created it and would create two Essence.

The Prince of Blossoms disappeared from the view of the others in a cloud of shrapnel and explosions, only to reappear moments later as his divine aura swirled around him, phantasmal petals battering aside flying bits of straw and burning earth. The Prince was not even singed, and his clothes looked in perfect condition.


The fight was relatively short, for godly standards. Still, after 30 minutes of 4 gods fighting, the surroundings were pretty severely altered. But the Prince did not stop Intares from killing the very unapologetic harvesting god.

After they were done, and their little brother took some essence and bade farewell the Prince did the same.

"Fare well brother. If you need anything, come ask for either of us at the Astral Lounge." the Prince said as their little brother vanished back to his realm to repair the damage.

Turning to the barn, the Prince held out his hand and "claimed" the 4 essence with his divine aura. The wads of power floated out of the barn and began orbiting around him. He held out his hand, and 2 of the essence orbs floated away from him and attached themselves to the divine aura of Annastaria.

The Prince claims 2 essence and gives the other 2 to Annastaria, sharing the spoils evenly with her in good faith.

"There my sister - there is a lot more essence than I thought, so thankfully I could keep my promise to you and then some. We shall share this tragic harvest between ourselves. We should Hurry back to your Realm soon, so that we can work to mitigate the damage or perhaps help Aeon get a new province!

He looked at the harvester.

"As useful as something like this would be, I fear it's a weapon that should not exist. I considered using it against my doppelganger, but that just seems...wrong to me somehow. I think we should destroy it lest someone more vile than the god we slayed finds it. I think you and I should destroy the thing now and split the essence it produces." he said to her.

"And let me know if you are injured and I'll take care of it."

EDIT: Talon says it costs 2 essence to destroy the harvester, so adding a little here onto this post.

The Prince considers.

"What are your thoughts, sister? We have quite the essence harvest ourselves right now. The real question is do you think we should each spend 1 essence and destroy the harvester for good, to make sure can never be used to rape the land again, or do you want me to go seal it inside my realm somewhere? I know a few good volcanos I can toss it into, for starters. Or I can have my people seal it up in a site laced with mystical wards and guardians and hopefully it collects dust and is forgotten." he said on a side-note.

"The real question, sister, is how badly do you want 2 essence instead of one, because your favorite brother here is only willing to contribute 1 essence to its destruction and not 2." he added with a grin.

Proposal to Annastaria - Select 1 of the following:

1.) Option 1: we both sacrifice 1 of our essences to destroy the harvester. This is the surefire way to ensure it cannot be misused ever again.

2.) Option 2: ...or we keep our 2 essences and the prince seals it somewhere in his realm. This is the higher risk higher reward way.

NOTE: I am willing to spend 300 of my own souls to create a sealing site and I'll have my people ward the crap out of it too for good measure. But the real question is how badly do you want another essence?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:33, Mon 22 Aug 2022.

'Or we can skip the talking and go right down to the killing,' Anna thought as all hell broke lose. Her contribution to the battle came in the form of ripping claws and teeth as the massive dragon-deity began tearing into the forms of their enemy. She also kept an eye out for his terrible machine in case it doubled as a defence for his Realm.

"You destroyed Realms!" She roared to the plundering god and continued her vicious attack. "Your unity supports you in this then they pay as well!"

Her jaws snapped shut on one of his forms, shook it to pieces then threw it into the air to crash back to the ground in a crumpled heap before moving to another.

She desperately raised a purple and blue shield of fire to try and block the explosion as much as possible. She had but recently healed herself from her last encounter and had no wish to be forced to do so again.

And then it was over and their foe lay dead and their brother was claiming what he needed to heal his Realm.

"Go Brother and may we meet next time under better circumstances," she said before turning back to the barn and the collected Essence that was left.

"Half each is more than fair, Brother. I'm glad we were able to do this together which benefits both of our Realms though the manner it happened is one I do not care to see repeated. As for this thing..."

She looked at the metal monster and debated what to do with it.

"Seal it away if you would. I have other plans for this Essence today, not the least of which is healing the damage done by scarcity whilst I was in my last sleep. It's time to expand Aeon so my children have room to grow without falling on each other again. When the time comes and we find ourselves with more Essence than we currently need then we can destroy this vile thing for good. I would not see it fall on another Realm again."

The Prince nodded, as his 2 motes of essence dissolved into his divine aura.

"Very well, sister. Then it is settled. Let us keep the essence and hide the machine." he said as he approached the metal monstrosity.

"I am going to seal this vile thing away for now. I slumber in my realm, but will awaken soon (i.e. when Talon gets back into normal posting again lol). I will spend souls and seal the thing soon." he said.

"Are you hurt anywhere or were you able to shrug off the attacks?"

"Slightly wounded but I managed to get a shield up in time to ward off the worst of it. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get one up for you but I'm still working on the applications of magic and it was something of a reflex. Next time I'll have it down and be able to get us both."

She looked down and sighed at the scorch marks on her scales. "We went centuries without getting hurt and now we've been wounded in the Labyrinth and now here. Are things getting more dangerous or is it to be expected when we travel outside our Realm?"

OOC: I'll leave this thread open for another day or two longer as it appears Annastarria wants to chat a bit, I'll close it when it goes two days without a response.

Plundering the barn of its ill-gotten goods, Annastarria and the Prince of Blossoms found themselves with a sudden windfall of Essence. Whoever this strange god was and the Unity he'd spoken of, they had been rich with Essence. The idea of what one god or group could accomplish with so much combined Essence was daunting. The inert World Harvester and the devastation it had caused was proof of that. While their foe was slain, he would return, gods did not die so easily, but he would not return to this bounty of Essence. That still left the ominous matter of the Unity. But that was danger for another day.

OOC: Moving the World Harvester will cost 200 souls as it will take a much larger than average portal to accommodate its great size. Let me know if you'd like to make the expenditure. In the meantime you'll be able to return to your home realms.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:13, Wed 24 Aug 2022.

The Prince nodded at her.

"We...have let the peacefulness of the earliest days of our lives make us arrogant and complacent. But I believe as the tree grows, it is becoming more and more dangerous rather than less so." he replied.

He held out a hand, and it glowed with a greenish-pink light. Suddenly, Annastaria herself began to experience a pleasant warm tingling sensation, along with an itchy-warmth around her wounds that was very reminiscent to how it feels when something is healing. Except it is rapidly happening as her wounds and injuries begin to close and heal before her very eyes.

"Blossoming embodies vitality as much as it does regality and flora. This ought to make sure you're back in top-shape in no time. and worry not about me, sister, for his attack was unable to scratch me." he replied.

OOC: He is using an incidental god power that grants Annaastarria regeneration! Her light wounds should heal quickly during this scene.

"I am also working heavily on magic as well, for it is something I believe will help ensure my peoples' survival on this increasingly-dangerous tree. I hope that in the future, that I can always count on you for your familial friendship and that I hope you can count on me in turn." he said as he began gathering soul energy to fatten his portal.

He nodded, and added, "You will always have at least one friend in me on this dangerous tree."

"Thank you, brother. For the healing as well as the sentiment which is very much returned. It is so with Serek, as well. Perhaps with Typh though we have seen less of him than we have the rest of us. All of you can count on me for aid and trust."

The great head lowered to briefly touch the Prince in a hug before she raised herself to her full height.

"I am going to return to Aeon and expand the Realm. It is time to undo the mistakes of the past age and set my children back on the path I have always wanted for them. Until next time, my brother - go with my love and best wishes."

There was a swirl of blue and purple flame and, when it had gone, the Goddess of Eternity was gone with it, back home.

The Prince nodded graciously.

"Well met, sister!" he replied.

"I shall visit your realm soon, in peace of course. I need to check out that tea house soon." he said with a grin.

"And also when I come, I wish to inspect the infrastructure of your people. In particular, I'm interested in their resource and land management. Given what I saw on my last visit there, I suspect they may need some mentoring in Agriculture and I have some ideas on how that can happen. Perhaps even an exchange program of sorts where I'll send a small group of my people over to help instruct yours in the lore of earth and soil. But...weird things are going on in Iranai, and I must tend to them first. I awaken from slumber soon, but if it will be to a dream or nightmare remains yet to be seen." he said.

He then bade her farewell, and turned to the mechanical monstrosity before him. It was time to take this monstrosity with him back home and seal it up." he said as he epxended soul energy to supercharge his divine aura. He then expanded his aura, and encapsulated the machine within it before sucking both himself and it through a portal back home to Irani. He would deposit it somewhere in his realm soon, and maintained a slight de-synchronization of the flow of time in the meantime whilst he prepared to awaken in his home realm.

Spending 200 souls to turn part of his divine aura into a hammerspace, and suck in the machine. He'll then portal himself and it home. However...he is going to wait on depositing it in his realm until a little after he awakens. OOC this is to allow you to close the thread out of character while justifying him being able to place it where he ends up placing it in Irani, and soul-wise the cost will still be the 200 you mentioned before. The hammerspace is narrative fluff to make it work. I have the perfect idea for where to seal it too. :)