Stunned, Valterra continued to focus his Awareness on the presence that denoted Lady Ish’Matar’s spiritual connection to him. “H-how?” He stuttered, not fully understanding what, exactly, she was trying to say. His creatures no longer dying? How could that be possible?
“That would require a lengthy conversation that we do not have the time for. The short version is that just like your gods we Fae Lords and Ladies have domains of our own. Mine just happen to be Entropy and Death. By combining my domains with my husband’s we were able to create something unique. You, Valterra, will be the first, and perhaps the only, Dungeon to have it.”
She continued swiftly not giving Valterra the time to ask any of the many questions he had. “You now have the ability to imprint Spark Signatures upon specific creatures, the ones you call Guardians. These Guardians can then be brought back to life for a tithe of Aether, an amount incumbent upon the Rank of the creature you are bringing back. Creatures Named by you will automatically receive this benefit as they are already connected to you.”
Valterra grew more and more excited as she continued speaking. When she stopped he tentatively sent his gratitude towards where her presence floated nearby in the same way he would thank one his uncles or aunts. From her reaction he figured she hadn’t expected such a thing.
“You are welcome, Valterra. One more thing before I go. The Boon is called Guardian’s Blessing and it requires Divine Potential to activate. It may be easier to simply Name your Guardians for them to receive the blessing. I wish you luck, young one.” And then she was gone as if she had never been there to begin with.
Valterra stared at where she had been a moment before shifting his Awareness to Krat’Imos. “So you got married?” He asked a little incredulously. “Congratulations?”
The god’s laughter was genuine but held an unidentifiable edge to it. “Yes, well, it has been a long time in coming but our relationship is something we have kept out of both of our circles for various reasons. I’m afraid it wouldn’t have been looked upon with favor.”
“Why now then?” Valterra asked, genuinely confused. “You didn’t do all this just for me did you?”
“No, no, well…not just for you though it was true that I would have needed help to do what you wanted to happen with your creatures. My lady’s involvement wasn’t strictly necessary but perhaps something could have been bargained for if not for our prior relationship.” The god chuckled again but it was a weary sound. “I am tired, Valterra. Tired of doing things in the dark. It has been necessary to do so and I understand the reasons behind it but creativity cannot thrive in the dark. It needs light with no restraints.”
The god sighed heavily. “It was not my intention to burden you with such things. Regardless of how it came about I am now married to a wonderful woman and I could care less what the others think.” At this, his tone turned rueful. “Of course, as soon as they realize the specific Boon that has been given to you they will put two and two together. I’m counting on their outrage to hide your access to the System. Make sure to grant them access before experimenting. The fact that I am here is the only thing that keeps them from questioning why they can’t check in on you.”
“Check in on me? What do you mean?”
“My System allows the other High Spirits, what the mortals would call gods, the ability to interact with the wider world on a smaller scale. Normally when a god touches the natural world there are strong effects that can be felt for miles. Using my System the others can brush by, influencing in small ways that hide their true power to avoid upsetting the natural balance. We have abused that ability to talk with you as much as we have.”
“Huh,” Valterra let that sit for a minute before working through his response. “So if I block you all out things would get messy?” He felt the High Spirit sag and hurried to finish his thought process. “I mean that you would still be able to talk to me but it would be loud?”
“That would be one way of looking at it. A god’s presence is not normally a gentle experience. My System regulates it. Its one of the reasons why my brothers and sisters accepted it so readily despite it being a part of my domain. It allowed for a smoother way for communicating with our priests that didn’t involve an intense out-of-body experience. Regardless we are still Divine. There is not much that could stop us if we truly wanted to act. It would indeed be messy.”
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“I see,” Valterra said, his mind whirling with everything he had just learned. On the one hand he was now the captain of his own ship so to speak, if the analogy from his father was correct. He made a note to look more into those memories of floating pieces of wood called ships. In any case, he had the power to separate himself from the gods if he wanted to but it obviously came with some repercussions.
He made his uncles and aunts administrators of his version of the System and on a whim added Lady Ish’Matar as well. He figured it was a natural thing to do since she was married to his uncle and all. Valterra made sure to ask Krat’Imos if that was fine and received an affirmative answer.
“I will be doing the same thing on my end. It's the first thing they will look for after they notice your Boon.” The god seemed resigned but joyful all the same. “Now, Valterra I think it is time for you to have space to unfold the gift you have been given. Also, you can now make changes to this version of the System since it belongs to you. Keep such changes under wraps though unless you’ve talked to me first. We don’t want the others to get suspicious. Regardless, enjoy your gift, my boy. I look forward to seeing what you do with it.”
With that Krat’Imos’s presence faded and Valterra was left alone. Moderately alone. With his new administrator privileges, he could sense the awareness of the other High Spirits now. They hung in the periphery of his System like ghosts. That was another random thing he needed to look into. Perhaps there was a monster he could create to mimic the undead he saw in his father’s memories.
The gods could wait for now. Valterra pulled up his new System and immediately words began to light their way across his Spark.
Welcome Valterra Unok’Davaas!
What function of the System would you like to use?
* Helpdesk
* Observe Boons (New Additions)
* Observe Titles (New Additions)
* Schemas Available
* Core Evolution Progress
The Core looked at the options in front of him with anticipation. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t have pulled up the options instinctively but to have them all listed in front of him made him wonder if there was something special about it. Forcing back his curiosity over the other options Valterra chose to Observe Boons. Upon his mental request the System unfolded into lines that rolled across his Awareness.
Boon: Child of the Gods
Formerly a favored Sapient being you have now transcended your former Spark Nature. You are now more akin to a deity than a mortal. To reflect this the gods have decided to adopt you rather than smite you. Congratulations!
Boon Effect:
At each evolutionary stage you reach you will be able to choose a new Schema from among a list. The rarity of these schemas will be determined by your Core's evolutionary stage as well as any excess growth that you achieve. Divine Servants of the gods can be offered as Schema and modified with the deity’s permission.
You are now able to create your own Schema either from an existing Schema or from scratch using Divine Potential. The gods will help you with this by providing instincts on Schema Shaping. The rarity of created Schemas is limited by the number of Core Evolutions.
Current Number of Core Evolutions: 2
Maximum Rarity Allowed for Created Schemas: Rare
Boon: Guardian’s Blessing
A Working crafted by two Divine Beings as the sign of their matrimony & union, this Boon has been granted to Valterra Unok’Davaas in perpetuity and cannot be rescinded.
Boon Effect:
A new Unique-Divine Variant of Schema is now yours and is called Guardian. Any Schema may be reconfigured to have this Variance for a cost of Divine Aether. Choosing to create a creature with this Variance costs Divine Potential and will increase its current power and increase its Evolutionary Pool in the future. Once chosen this Variance cannot be rescinded.
As a result of this boon, Named individuals will now bear this Variance at no extra cost. Creatures with this Variance are imprinted upon your Spark, allowing you to draw their Sparks to yours, as your Divine Potential was used as the catalyst. Using their Spark and memories they may be brought back for the amount of Aether it would take to form new bodies.
Be aware. Death is a harrowing experience and multiple deaths in rapid succession may cause a deterioration of the Spark subjected to it. If a Spark deteriorates too much it will be unable to be brought back and may instead serve as a catalyst for a monster to spawn.
That…was a lot. First of all, he now could create Rare creatures with his Helpdesk via his Child of the Gods Boon. Second, Guardian’s Blessing was all he could want and more. He had just wanted a slight boost to a single creature and maybe a way to empower them more easily. His uncle had instead granted him an entirely different way of Naming things. The fact that his Boon was pretty much the equivalent of a marriage ring from his father’s memories was slightly heavy to bear.
Regardless he sent a thank you to Krat’Imos and Lady Ish’Matar before turning to his Dungeon proper. He knew there was more to see from his menu but he had waited long enough and his creatures had too. There was one in particular that he felt had waited for far too long. His gaze turned to the long form curled around his pillar and moved in.