Amdirlain's PoV - Foundry

When she opened a Gate to the most straightforward song, the view beyond its threshold was of an inky void from atop an icy rock.

"What must you do to this asteroid?" asked Silpar.

"I need to set up changes to adjust its orbital speed only when it reaches a specific location relative to its sun," replied Amdirlain. "There are few like this to handle."

Amdirlain crossed the threshold with no decompression damage, unlike her brief stint on Vehtë's innermost planet. The system's sun was far away, and the icy mass beneath her feet stole warmth from her body. Frost rimed her limbs, and the cold sunk its teeth in and gnawed at her flesh.

Let's finish these items quickly and see if accumulated injuries can increase my resistance.

Embedding a crystal with a linked song in the asteroid’s depth, she tied its effect to the meteor's orbital position and returned through the Gate. Amdirlain quickly completed one song after another before they took her to a new planet. They could see a beautiful rose-coloured sky through the Gate, and Amdirlain could sense a populated harbour in the distance.

Mentioning it to Silpar, she got a surprised grunt. "This planet has a developing species?"

"They certainly sound native to the world. Tribal Orcs," reported Amdirlain.

Analysis reported the primary species of the planet were orcs, with a smattering of giants, below one percent each. The change Gideon needed looked like it was to tweak the fertility rate in their food supply. Stepping out, she found the air possessed the crisp taste she associated with the dawn, a sensation never present in the Outlands' eternal sunshine. Songs adjusted the sea grasses for kilometres and brushed past various fish with varying degrees of effect. Those lowest in the food chain received the most extensive amplification to their fertility, while those higher would only benefit from the increase in food. The change made her notice the gaps in the ecosystem caused by volcanic eruptions.

Once Amdirlain was done, she motioned to the village far across the harbour. "Do you want to go check on them?"

Silpar shook his head. "The priority is working through your list. There isn't time to check into their situation and see if they need help the cloister would normally provide."

"Not even wanting to stop and teach them a few commonly beneficial tricks?" asked Amdirlain. "They've had some lean years of late."

"It's not our way to share knowledge casually. If we teach a warlike group animal husbandry, the next thing you know, they can muster larger forces," explained Silpar. "Later on, I'll advise someone about this world, and we can investigate to see who to help and provide guidance."

"I'll have to see if I can find the portal to the Outlands. Then we can report an understandable discovery and give them a way to access it," said Amdirlain. "They could need help. Why don't you start the survey while I handle my list?"

"Does my presence by your side worry you?" asked Silpar.

"If they need help, it's better to be prepared to offer it than jump through the hoops later," replied Amdirlain.

Retrieving a set of surveyors, she configured them to survey the natural gates and portals and then to plane shift to Foundry once the work was done.

Silpar watched the surveyors appear and vanish without saying a word; only once they were gone did he speak again. "How about you complete your list and return here? Or if I find they'll be trouble, we'll link up again."

Amdirlain gave a sharp nod. "Agreed."

"The Cloister’s assessment might direct our help to another tribe completely. Will your change spread?" asked Silpar.

"To all the connected waterways that the plants and fish can survive in," said Amdirlain.

"I'm loath to part from you so easily, but your argument about timely help is reasonable," stated Silpar.

"Put it this way, if you couldn't investigate for me. I'd have two choices: stop dealing with the other items on the list, or ignore them; so it's a big help," replied Amdirlain.

Silpar frowned. "I'm supposed to be on hand to protect you."

"I won't return to the cloister without you," confirmed Amdirlain.

Turning invisible, Silpar flew towards the harbour.

Once the surveyors were in stable orbits, Amdirlain proceeded to the following site on the list.

Will Bahamut grumble about me using people he recruited to help me the wrong way?

The Gate deposited Amdirlain onto a barren stretch of rock-strewn ground, and Amdirlain considered the music for this site. The music was a complex orchestral work with thousands of individual pieces entwined to support a primary theme. Amdirlain ran through the music in her mind without empowering it and moved in time to the primary theme to find the steps and motions to embrace it. The rapid shifts of muscles and tendons served as fretboards, with Orhêthurin's example in mind.

Amdirlain realised what she'd been missing when she started to empower the song. The dance itself emphasised the creation's music when played as a whole through flesh and not merely individual notes. She felt her spiritual net resonate with the tune, and, with each stretched limb that empowered thousands of notes along its path, the music rang within her Soul.

By the time Amdirlain completed the song, a forest had grown around her. It was a place silent of animal life but with the potential to shelter hundreds of thousands within. The swaying leaves upon trees and bushes seemed to linger within her, a connection that ended as the last notes faded from her flesh.

When Ori demonstrated the creation of a star to her husband, she didn't dance. No, she didn't forget to dance; she chose not to. The realm held good and evil, but the more she invested herself in the work, the more she felt from it. When the evil entities entered the realm through the rift to the faded realm, it was then she truly understood what they'd need to make. While it wasn't enough to stop her, Orhêthurin didn't want to experience evil to the depth of her Soul, so she became selective in her use of dance.

This song stretched out from shore to shore on a continent-sized land mass. Why did Gideon want a forest here? And one with no animals at that?

Amdirlain felt a presence appear within Resonance and slowly turned to regard the female figure. Her form shifted from one moment to the next, and around her feet, bugs large and small launched outwards to find niches within the forest. Mating flights of bees, ants and other insects filled the sky above, gently sent in different directions.

"Cuineth," said Amdirlain, and she blinked in surprise, unsure why she'd picked that elven name. It was the first time she’d seen the principal Aspect of Life in the flesh or memory, but her recognition had been instant.

The female's form stabilised into that of an elven lady with light green skin, sapphire eyes, and hair resembling fern fronds cascading past her shoulders.

Cuineth smiled, and a warmth of life radiated outwards. "You remembered my name immediately, which will make someone so jealous. Do you think he’ll make a Law against that? Are you done with this planet Amdirlain, or will you also bring life to the other continents?"

"Gideon only gave me a single song for this world," replied Amdirlain. "You know, as the Aspect of Life, you should coordinate work assignments with him properly."

"Figures," huffed Cuineth. "Maybe we should invite your wounded one to ensure life extends its hold. The oceans still survive enough to provide a breathable atmosphere, but issues occurred in a worldwide domino effect, and the lands' ecosystems collapsed. No worshippers for her though. Should I promote her?"

"Promote?" enquired Amdirlain.

I wonder if Mars managed to take my advice with Anna Perenna. I have yet to hear from him again. Is he waiting or off looking for an answer he likes?

"I can invest enough energy in her to turn her into a true Goddess, let her find her way with this world and see what life she can raise," clarified Cuineth.

"She is wounded," observed Amdirlain. "Are you sure it's wise to entrust her with it before she's recovered?"

"She just needs a big garden to tend for a while and a reminder that life is part of a cycle. She killed another God during the little tiff," said Cuineth. "It hurt her to do so, but life is also about growing stronger from the pains it brings. I mean, look at you, hasn't that worked for you?"

Amdirlain shrugged casually. "I've had help along the way."

"You could have had a lot more if you'd held still a time or two," replied Cuineth.

Amdirlain heard the Aspect's song shift, and trillions of lifeforms, microfauna and flora, suddenly existed within the forest. "What was the problem here?"

Cuineth's nose wrinkled. "Solar flares. Another star going supernova aggravated this system's star. At least this time it wasn't from a miscalculation by one of us, but that's happened before."

"Technically, the other sun going supernova is a miscalculation," noted Amdirlain.

"That wasn't an avoidable situation. Rather, it was a wound cauterisation," grumbled Cuineth. "I'm so glad you're back."

Her phrasing had Amdirlain open her mouth to protest, and Cuineth raised her hands.

"Yes, I know you're not Orhêthurin. Unlike other idiots, you don't have to explain that to me. The Eldritch can make an awful mess, especially when the ones that drift between stars find a developing world," continued Cuineth, and she gave Amdirlain a beaming smile. "As such, I'm glad you're back on deck and available to shut down those occurrences."

Skipping forward, Cuineth transformed into a child and dashed around Amdirlain, giggling ecstatically.

Amdirlain fought to keep a smile in check. "What's got you so excited?"

Cuineth stopped and planted her fists on her hips. "This place is so fresh, and you danced it. I always loved the danced worlds the most. They've got the most energy to them. The purely sung worlds always needed a few millennia for the precise edges to smooth themselves off. You'd best keep that in mind, mother-who-was."

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"When did you come into existence?" asked Amdirlain.

"Ahh, so you remember my name but not all the details yet," said Cuineth.

Amdirlain sighed. "All the details would likely be more memories than the years I've already had."

"The more you recall or live, the less the new-old memories will burden you," advised Cuineth. Transforming back into the adult elf from earlier, she drew Amdirlain into a familiar hug with a gentle but overwhelming strength. "I missed the heart you added to the realm."

"She felt so much pain in my memories," said Amdirlain.

Cuineth smiled sadly. "Hearts feel pain. Well, technically, not hearts, since that's just another muscle, but metaphysical hearts are the foundation for emotions. Not that all species possess the ability to feel or perceive the emotions of others. Orhêthurin did and sometimes felt them too strongly. It's what made her angry or sad beyond what others considered reasonable. That might have been why she was always tidying up and putting things back in order. Even when she knew the effect of the vines, it didn't stop her from pushing her limits and paying for it later."

"Hopefully, nothing like them ever exists again," said Amdirlain.

"You didn't obliterate them. The first cutting you ripped from it has been repurposed," advised Cuineth.

Amdirlain's gaze narrowed suspiciously. "Repurposed to do what?"

"Let's say if you ever see Anar children with vine tattoos and unable to hear True Song, it will be a certain Anar king or his choirs," explained Cuineth.

"They'll be so isolated from the community around them," breathed Amdirlain.

Biting her lip, Cuineth shook her head slowly. The muscles in her neck tightened with each movement. "And you weren't isolated? No one asked them to make those wretched things. They should play garden bed for a hundred lifetimes as you did."

"Nicholaus passed judgment on them?" asked Amdirlain.

"Yes," spat Cuineth.

"He passed judgment on another Soul whose existence Moloch now has a grasp on," said Amdirlain.

Cuineth frowned and crossed her arms. "I hope you're not proposing I help you do something merciful to them."

"Life doesn't do mercy," said Amdirlain.

"Glad you understand; its something the other one needs to remember,"

"Her portfolio is life and plenty," said Amdirlain.

"There is plenty of death to go around during the life cycle of most species," retorted Cuineth. "Even vegans will eat so many bugs in their lifetime, bet they don't want to consider what they inhale in their sleep."

"The other matter is I think she'll be better off if she and her husband can learn to communicate," offered Amdirlain.

A smile flitted across Cuineth's lips. "Not trying to shortcut another's struggles?"

"Not when they have the means to take care of it themselves. After all, neither of them are children," replied Amdirlain.

"When Torm’s Soul is reborn, will you try to shortcut its struggles?" enquired Cuineth.

The question didn't even bring a stab of pain, but Amdirlain exhaled slowly in surprise. "He'd likely be better off if I stayed out of his life."

"Some plants grow best when not within another's shadow," said Cuineth.

Amdirlain paused with the tip of her tongue against her lip, unsure which way Cuineth meant the statement. "Has he been reborn yet?"

"No, but I believe your father in this realm has some parents in mind," replied Cuineth.

Gritting her teeth, Amdirlain slowly shook her head. "Making that distinction doesn't make the regrets about my parents and family any less."

Cuineth smiled. "Their souls won't come here, worshippers of another God and all that. That life is in the past. Maybe you need to learn to move on."

"There are loose ends still associated with it here."

"What do you want to do with your stalker?"

"Like I did to the other souls, strip him of memories and break him down to the Soul's essence. In part, the Titan's verdict would remain intact, and he'd no longer be a risk to leak knowledge about me or my friends," explained Amdirlain.

Cuineth tilted her head curiously. "You know that he would consider that an even worse fate than the one Nicholaus inflicted on him."

"That his beloved rejected him so thoroughly as to dismantle who he was?" questioned Amdirlain. "Like I should care. I don't even know how our paths crossed in all the realms I could have ended up in."

"Souls entangled in major events draw themselves back to each other in time," said Cuineth. "A sort of gravitational attraction, one might say. Some can't make it from one lifetime to the next without bumping into each other, even if only in flitting interactions. I'll speak to Nicholaus about what you want to do. He's not omniscient, you know. That's Gideon's role, and they only share what they need to."

"Yeah, that annoys the living daylights out of me frequently."

Cuineth smiled mischievously. "You think they don't know that?"

"I'm sure they know it does, but it still gets on my nerves regardless," replied Amdirlain.

"Take care, mother-who-was. It would help if you danced to the creation songs more often. After all, it will be good for your Soul to let it feel the creation of life," said Cuineth and with that, she vanished.

But what do you gain from that advice?

Pushing aside her paranoia, Amdirlain moved on to the next task. As the complexity of songs increased, some stops took far longer to resolve. A few planets with destructive mutations in plant life required weeks of constant singing to settle things back on track.

Throughout her work, Amdirlain started to receive details about the orcs' lifestyle from Silpar. They weren't the violent tribal orcs from games, or even like those on Vehtë. The tribe's prosperity depended on their success in fishing, which was central to their way of life. Their belief system was as yet primitive, and there wasn't any sign of ancestral spirits. Indeed, ghosts of ancestors were the subject of scary fireside tales, which made that worship system unlikely to develop among this tribe.

Silpar advised her a few members of a tribe of hundreds had access to primitive cantrips that were grossly ineffective. Daily reports of their tribal lifestyle came in from Silpar with increasing interest in his tone.

Your pendant feels like you're so close to clearing your debt, Silpar. I wonder, when was the last time you even checked the path's judgement?

Hundreds of items on the list were the delicate seeding of new life and, taking Cuineth's advice, she danced to the simple melodies. Each time she needed to implement a planetary effect, she took it as an opportunity to stretch the reach of her songs further. Despite her range's gradual increases, it took days of effort and constant teleporting to set in place some planetary effects.

Have I given Salgan enough time to spread the rumours yet? I'm not sure Moloch will even believe that the Titan's Songbird is an ancient Dragon, but it could be fun.

Analysis of the song she remembered Salgan heading towards provided a name.

[Furnace

Details: This infinite Plane of the Abyss is overrun with continual volcanic activity that brings a never-ending supply of metals and minerals to the surface with the lava. Despite the volcanic activity, it has no direct link to the Para-Elemental Plane of Magma or the Elemental Plane of Fire.]

I said I wouldn't hunt for him if he didn't tell Zozzuth. Too bad I lied. Once I finish these songs for Gideon, Salgan and I will chat further.

That thought focused her attention, and Amdirlain applied herself to the tasks, but even with extra effort, the list took nearly a year. Yet, with the end of the work nearing, another set of notifications appeared and showed its worth.

[True Song Genesis [S] (116->117)

Dance [S] (101->102)]

The effort had given her a focus to push her True Song to its limits to get the work done in months instead of years. Only the regeneration provided by an active Phoenix's Rapture kept her health topped up and let her maintain the blistering pace. When the last song was finally performed, she stopped herself before she used Analysis to seek the updated list.

Stopping off at Foundry, Amdirlain retrieved the details of the surveyors' work to detect the planar connections to the orcs' world and send a Message to Silpar. "I've got the location for the Outlands Portal to that world. Did you want to come with me to Furnace before we take the information to the cloister? I'm currently in Foundry, and you can join me here if you'd like."

Silpar appeared in the middle of the training platform. "Rahka is currently still assigned to gathering resources from Furnace. Why did you plan to go there?"

"Salgan. I told him I wouldn't hunt him, but he's a Balor; living malice and spite given form. So I thought I'd end him," explained Amdirlain. "It shouldn't be a long trip. If he doesn't have another Home Plane he's jumped to, I can scry him out."

"If he's not under enough protection," countered Silpar.

Amdirlain shrugged. "No, I'll be able to scry him regardless, but getting to him will be another matter."

"I'll come with you. How did your tasks go?" enquired Silpar.

"I got all the last lot of work Gideon had for me. I'm sure more is waiting now, but I've not looked. That last lot was enough to get my Dance and True Song over one hundred," advised Amdirlain. "They're both starting to slow down, so it will be a lot of work to get them into the grandmaster ranks, or I'll need to find a different tack."

"Do you just plan to eliminate this Balor and then go to the cloister?"

Amdirlain clasped her hands together innocently. "Why? Do you think I'll go picking fights?"

Snorting, Silpar closed his eyes. "I hadn't before, but now I believe that will occur."

Laughing, Amdirlain waved a finger reprovingly. "What kind of girl do you take me for?"

"One that likes to destroy demons," proposed Silpar.

"I've met some demons that were better than mortals. Rahka would likely have a fit to know that I've helped some demons prove themselves worthy of becoming celestials," said Amdirlain.

Silpar spluttered in surprise. "What?"

Amdirlain nodded. "Two born succubi, and a bunch of Lómë whose souls were trapped in demonic shells."

"The second I can understand, but the first I find impossible to believe," declared Silpar.

"I'll introduce you to them later if you'd like," said Amdirlain.

His eye ridges drew down as Silpar's brow furrowed. "Demons becoming celestials," he muttered.

Amdirlain gave him a broad grin. "Yep. Hold onto the scepticism until you meet them. I'll hop us to Limbo and let you open a Gate there to Furnace."

"I can do it directly from there," agreed Silpar.

When the pair appeared in the sky above Furnace, Amdirlain took in the erupting volcano within reach of her Resonance. Far underground, the magma chamber was a self-contained location, disconnected from any planetary mantle. The Abyss and something else seemed to influence how the primordial energy in the plane’s depth expressed itself.

Amdirlain hopped them closer to the volcano's summit, and she tried to understand the connection that the Abyss itself had created. It was a mirror image of how the damned were drawn to a place that fit their crimes. The Abyss used the nature of the Plane's primary Demon Lord to determine how the primordial energy created the environment.

Naamah is a huntress, so her Plane is a forest fit for the hunt rather than a torture ground.

Though she still knew too little of the Abyss, it was a theory at least. Setting aside the mystery to investigate later, Amdirlain sought out Salgan. The Balor was holed up in an industrial city, but its wards didn't protect against teleporting.

"Do you want the kill?" asked Amdirlain.

Silpar gave an unconcerned shrug.

"Pretty much how I feel," said Amdirlain, and she landed on the nearby slope.

Putting a barrier in place, she pulled Salgan to them. Salgan snarled and lunged toward her, only to end up impaled on Silpar's spear. Despite the Demon looming over them, Silpar twisted the weapon around and drove Salgan to the ground. The speed and force shattered Salgan's wings through sheer pressure and Silpar pinned him against the ground.

"Any questions to ask him?" enquired Silpar as he took apart Salgan's every attempt to blast them with spells.

"Did you tell anyone?"

Salgan snarled. "No!"

The lie was evident in his mind, and Amdirlain laughed. "Thanks for spreading the story. I guess you being killed by a Dragon isn't embarrassing."

Silpar crushed the Demon's skull underfoot, and flames devoured the corpse and filled the already heated air around them.

[Combat Summary

Named Demon x1 (50%)

Total Experience gained: 188,454

Ostimë: +94,227

Ontãlin: +94,227]

I did yank him to us, which counts as part of the battle.

The dissolution of his theme matched Zozzuth's destruction, and Amdirlain gave a satisfied nod. "That flame effect on their death doesn't always seem to happen."

"It depends on the Balor's strength. Most of the weaker ones don't explode," confirmed Silpar.

Amdirlain tilted her head towards the closest township at the volcano's base. "Shall we see to destroying some demonic towns?"

"It is tempting. Any single Demon might be a speck against the amount of evil present, but it's a speck that threatens no one once destroyed," said Silpar. "Though, we should take the world's details to the others so the orcs can receive help."

"Then, once you're there, you'll be looking to progress my skills some more," commented Amdirlain.

Silpar smiled. "Helch has a lot of works set aside for you to read."

"Fine, I'll let you keep me on the path to progress," said Amdirlain.

Planar Shift carried them away from the oppressive heat.