Requiem. The following dawn.

Having travelled to the edge of the forest to begin our journey to ascend one of the cliffsides, “{Sister Poison. Would you come out and speak with us?}” We had begun the first of the tasks of proper domain management. The human, Toyo, had a fair trove of information available about some of the nuances of Domains from a Trailblazers’ perspective.

Things we ordinarily would have queried our Deep Mind were laid out in a different manner by the young man. His dedication and observations over the last century being quite stimulating in providing inspiration and examples for us. Being unafraid of engaging in discussions with us about magic and exploration was a delight we found ourselves missing with his absence.

One of the keys that was mentioned after we offered some general explanation of things was how much intent and proximity would aid in the efficiency of any alterations we would seek. Right now, both the various ingress and main egress points seemed to all be located at various collections of the [Mausolenium] deposits.

The change in materials from the contents of the arcana ran through them an unusual phenomenon, a rarity that our domain seems to demonstrate even now. He tested it with some more common flamite material that many outdoorsmen would have access to. Explorers keep many such tools and baubles in sealed bags to prevent such interferences from contaminating them.

While it wasn’t recognizable to us, both Toyo and Deep Mind could detect shifts in the stone. It’s relatively slow as a passive effect, but certainly present. All this means that until we attain some more terraforming abilities or rituals, we’d be best served with carrying away these great hunks of stone. Serving dual purpose as reagents, as we further disperse them outside of the more delicate habitat that’s formed within the caldera proper will also give more time for the wildlife to adjust to their new existence.

The task is far easier than it should be considering the mass of what we’re moving, but there’s some resonance between our strength boost from Graveflesh and the echo of aura the stones emit. Also of rather bizarre assistance is the hive themselves, a cloud of bees has been tasked with mitigating the load. The fact that it’s actually working is still mindboggling to us.

“{Well, will you be joining us for a chat? Our plans for the next few months will be repetitive and boring to merely watch, but it is work that’s necessary to be complete before we can move on from this place.}” The collapse of the Hellstorm made quite the set of deposits in the center of the forest, tonnes of material we need to haul at just about the farthest distances.

Ironically, the focused destruction from most of the storm was centered around there created fertile ground even with the concentrated corruption. It meant that when our Domain suffused the area, the twisting of the surviving flora was inundated by all the dead things sprouting anew.

The feedback loop of materials affecting their surroundings and altering them to better reflect their makeup has given them the best chance to heal. The peace of our domain, sapping fatigue and stress away, while also leeching toxins and in general providing better nutrients.

Although the changes are happening far faster than they aught, even this was considered ‘normal enough’ by Toyo’s reckoning, “(The [System] aids transition periods after significant magical upheaval. It doesn’t seem like devastation tends to leave their marks unless that was the arcana’s purpose. The |Perpetual Wasteland| is at the edge of every known map. But it is also ripe territory to claim for those with enough power and supplies to do so.)”

The shifting of relative locations is a truly alien concept to wrap our minds around that everyone from his line of work just takes as granite. We’re just thankful that our Domain is said to give us a proper beacon to find it should we have need. Even if ordinarily separated by multiple other paths, the domain’s executive should always be able to step back into their space.

We continue to offer the occasional chance for the hidden one to reveal herself, but we’ve patience enough to not press the issue. When we finally arrived at the first location, the nesting zone where we were reborn, we affirmed that our DM was indeed correct.

There is an intricate mural around the site we’d chosen for the first Way stone. We wanted to tie the symbolism of birth into a dominant ingress point. There now is a mural of astounding artistry, depicting ourselves towards the edge of the boundary in all our current haunting glory. Our new name is shaped with speckled mausolenium, and a ritual layout carved with a perfect recess for the chunk we’ve transported.

In cardinal towards the place where Brother Wolf first howled is his name alongside a preservation of frostium lightly dusted around their depiction. Which leaves the strangely muted depiction of a grand butterfly at triangular with a distinctly older feel to it. As though this were an impossibly natural formation, or one formed in ages long past. As we make a study there is a flash of detail superimposed over the drawing, =Not-Sister, Janice. Spectator, Not-Colleague=.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

As we shift the massive rock into place we chuckle, “{Very well, Grandmother Janice. Should you ever decide on companionship, the offer remains open. We thank you for the assistance.}”

---

The weeks of busy work go by smoothly. This time here, having mastered our origin story, changed it, and not just as a new beginning with old knowledge. Truly altered the course that was supposed to happen with errors abounding has fulfilled some deep fragmented piece of us.

Choosing our own path and “^chuckling,^” blazing our own trail in rebellion to the unacceptable options presented to us. These are the things that make our life worth living. Following the call of our heart, to grow in the ways we choose, adapting to the reality as is, and making that reality conform to us.

As much as those moments can define us, more of life is like these last weeks have been. Ordinary. Many may learn who they are in those moments of crisis, but the proof is in every day. Even that analysis must be challenged though, for the lens that the world is viewed through is far from all that the world is.

A warrior in a garden doesn’t have comparable consequences for their failures as a gardener in a war. As we feel the next cardiocerebrum approaching its emergent phase, the desire to speciate into something new is severe. We have our DM tasked with overseeing the development cycle to ensure that anything new results in cohesive grafts and not succumb to our strange new instincts to propagate. Even the thought sends an uncomfortable shiver down our spines.

Any curiosity we have on that subject can wait until after we’ve secured a more stable foothold in this new realm of realms. We’d not subject a child to a fate as a despised calamity without thorough investigation and preparations beforehand. Any path towards that end must start with us first better defining who we are.

Thus, with some of the basic information Toyo’s group had to trade about hydra encounters, we are shifting ourselves into something unique. Being a humpback is perhaps a discernable characteristic, but it isn’t one to make a slayer give pause. While we wait for their return with the information we’re purchasing, we’ve begun the first step.

One commonality amongst the hydra stories that they knew consisted of the hydra’s each having homogenous heads. The most dangerous ones having perhaps a single weapon or feature distinct to an individual, while also proving a weak point to target.

So, the current plan is to take this wonderfully immersive [System] and our apparently extremely sophisticated self-analysis and body manipulation to make each of our trunks distinct from the others. Being unusual in not having a proper template to accurately scout should at least start people on the path to asking questions.

Without the ability to communicate with people, we’re under additional pressure to secure our future. Yet the solution that was offered, that Brother Wolf had accepted even before we’d met each other, isn’t something we are yet ready to choose ourselves.

The system offers certain protections to so-called {Sacred Beasts} that [Monsters] do not enjoy. However, these benefits are not without cost. There are obligations and restrictions placed upon the {free} peoples. Some that we’re just unwilling to commit to so soon after divesting the yoke of the Mantle. Because the penalties for turning into a monster are far harsher for a former monster.

We stop in place, {The cauldron’s brew is ready. Infuse final ingredient. Annihilation protocols are on stand-by.} We take a moment to look at ourselves, our maws, our claws, the tail, the temple. We commune, such as we can, with our bees once more. The queen still content in her chambers within us, still simple and yet to fully awaken.

We take stock of the abilities we’ve made, and our plans for the future.

[Hydra; MP spell list: Graveflesh, Call of the Damned, Devouring Cycle, Will Beyond Death, Fog of Breathlessness, One with Nature, Temple of Sinew, Deep Mind, Elysian Fields]

We find some unexpected resistance when we imagine infusing our first great work, the call, into this intimate facet of us. While noteworthy, it was not a choice we truly wished to make. Putting that much power into something experimental isn’t something we need to use as a prototype.

Instead, we choose [Fog of Breathlessness]. The stories we overheard from the troupe that while unwilling or not permitted to converse with us, occasionally featured dragons. Fearsome calamities that could take to the sky and whose roars and breath could assault entire villages at once.

While we’ve no desire to make a menace of ourselves, the idea of playing at dragon breath appeals to some part of us. Also, it has the added benefit that the intrinsic values we embedded in that fusion aren’t an oppressive force. They are a promise, an offering. So, while problems could ensue if this goes awry, at its core it shouldn’t be a disaster as the call could be.

The next several minutes as our flesh ripples and writhes until in a burst of action and disorientation, we see we have become more. I hold myself in place while we examine this divergent strain of us. We are already happy with the initial results, the synchronization happening smoothly and without faults.

Now we are just interested in these new findings. The skin of this stalk is wrinkled all the way up and when I breathe deeply, the folds flex and smooth into a far greater girth. When we look into new soft mouth, “{No beak!}” We see our teeth are much changed as well. There’s less delineation between top and bottom, and while the teeth are smaller, there are many more of them.

A great success all told, but now, with the initial security concerns and aesthetics out of the way, the fun part, more tests! We isolate, with more struggle than we anticipated, one of our initial gullets and unleash a measured blast of fog out here on this mountainside. The other three of us try to watch it closely while DM scribes the output.

Taking a few moments to more closely inspect the results upon the rock, we return to the same position and using DM as our guide have our new face use the same force. The results are… astounding. For roughly the same amounts of energy, and with supreme ease, the specialized snout replicated the effect and amplified it by an order of magnitude.

There also wasn’t any discomfort associated with using the ability in isolation, which continues to occur each time we single out an initial one for testing. Whereas the choice to abstain or act in concert from the artisan is intuitive, seamless.