Satae coolly regarded the tiny black obs that floated in front of her. Her own blood, in fact- when Xarn's pain had peaked, every being in the Universe had been wounded. But now that pain was little more than a dull ache in the back of her mind, and soon, a god of death would arrive to resolve the issue for good.
She cupped one of the globules in her hand, and poured a bit of her power into it; shaping it, creating a small simulacrum of herself. It opened it's eyes, and took in it's surroundings. Satae smiled; these Fey, as she decided to call them, would serve as her eyes and ears, spies on the worlds of her--
It punched her on the nose, ineffectually. She arched an eyebrow and flicked it, sending it tumbling helplessly across the Void, before setting to work on the rest of them. It was something to do while waiting, anyway, so she began to vary the appearance and gender of each, making them into their own race, and then sent them off to the corners of the Universe.
She'd scarcely finished when she felt it; the ripple in the Essence that heralded the birth of new gods. She didn't see them emerge from the rift, though, as just then the Gods were struck by a brilliant flash of light, blinding them momentarily.
The pain and the blindness faded away, and The Lady of Darkness could finally sigh contentedly. If these new gods knew what was good for them, they'd have these worlds' immortality issue fixed soon.
But now she could focus on more important things. More... interesting things. She chuckled, once more filled with energy, and headed off into the cosmos.
The small cliff overlooked a spring in the forest, secluded as it was in the deep forest grove. While Natus didn't yet host a real intelligent civilization yet, it still wasn't as secluded as the Ta'rai spirit who lived there might have liked- he had already slain three of his weaker bretheren, and warded off one of the giant stone men.
Atop the ledge stood Akkataromondamias; a large, burly man, whose horned head and hooved legs resembled those of a goat, and whose body, save for his heavily muscled chest, was covered in thick brown hair. While his appearance may not have betrayed it, he was actually one of the keenest and wisest of the Ta'rai- ever since he had awoken in the forest, he was consumed by an insatiable curiosity. How did he come to be? For what purpose? An infinity of questions tore at him, and so, with the limited resources he had, he constantly performed experiments to better understand the world he lived in.
Presently, his arms were outstretched over the pool; one hand holding a heavy stone, and the other a fruit. He was about to release them when he heard the rustling behind him.
"Ceaseless interruptions!" he growled, discarding the objects as he whirled, calling upon arcane energies to summon his staff to his hand, and leveling it at the interloper.
There he saw the woman garbed in black sitting on a low-hanging bough, her eyes glowing a subtle green in the shadows. She radiated power, and in his knowledge, Akkataromondamias knew she was a God. Even before he willed it, he felt himself lower his weapon.
"I have never seen your face, and yet, I know you. What is it that you desire of me?"
The goddess gave him a soft smile. It may have comforted any other creature, but he found it deeply unnerving.
"I have a proposition for you."
The tree glistened in the moonlight, dew dripping from the lush green fruit and small, blood red flowers. The goat man had wondered at the unusual verdance of this section of forest, but now it's source was apparent to him- the goddess had called it "The Tree of Knowledge", and it was more massive than any thing he had seen in his life.
It was an offer he couldn't refuse. The fruit of this tree would be both his test and his reward; the knowledge of it's location in exchange for a 'favor' to the goddess.
But first, he would have to deal with it's guardians. Two great Arborites protected the tree, and fed from the energy that originated from it- they, too, had become massive, and Akkataromondamias knew he could not best them in single combat, despite his strength. He would need a diversion. Subtle vibrations in the ground told him his diversion could be near, however...
Quietly circumnavigating the grove, he spotted a lone stone guardian through the brush, standing in a swath of crushed foliage. They didn't usually travel this deep into the woods, so it had clearly been in pursuit of something; likely, another, smaller Ta'rai, which had given it the slip. If a giant, moving stone statue could be incensed, this one would be. But he saw his opportunity- Akkataromondamias pointed his staff towards a copse of trees making up part of the wall of the grove, channeling the forces of the arcane, and created a disturbance. The guardian turned at the noise, and charged- it had finally found it's prey!
The giant burst through the trees, and came face to face with the Arborites. While neither party had expected the other, they clashed regardless, and the stone golem had the element of surprise. Perfect. The goat man leapt from cover, dashing towards the great tree in a burst of lightning speed, leaping, springing from the trunk of the Tree of Knowledge, and snatching a fruit from it's branches, before ducking and rolling when he hit the ground.
It was fortunate that he had, too- right behind him was an explosion of dirt and sound where a knotted fist impacted the earth. He afforded it only a quick sideways glance as it swept it's hand towards him; apparently, one of the tree guardians and peeled off from the fight with the stone man when it heard the sound of his hooves. Or perhaps they had driven it off faster than anticipated? It did not matter- Akkataromondamias jumped, catching the hand with his hooves, letting it propel him back into the forest. He had his prize.
It was half a day later, on his way back to his grove, when the goat man encountered the Goddess once more. After he had stopped to rest and consume the Fruit of Knowledge (The Arborites, furious at their failure to protect the Tree, had pursued him for some distance, and they maneuvered quickly through the forest, despite their size), Satae emerged from the shadow of a tree, though she did wait for him to recover from his burst of enlightenment.
"I see you were successful on your quest."
The Ta'rai gave an affirmative grunt; he was still tired from the pursuit, and had not escaped entirely uninjured. "And the favor you want of me?"
"My brother, Natus, who presides over this world, has been resting on his laurels; content, it seems, to observe his creations. I, too, have watched, unsatisfied. It is time that this world saw civilization, and you will oversee this."
The Goddess gave him that unsettling smile again, and focused, sending tendrils of divine energy into the earth. From it, shapes began to emerge- two dozen in number, arranged in a ring around him. They burst forth from the earth and stood; human in shape, half male and half female, clay falling from their skin.
And suddenly... they were alive. "This will be your clan. Secret them away in your grove, and protect them."
Before he could protest, the Goddess vanished in a cloud of black smoke, and the new people looked to Akkataromondamias expectantly.
He sighed. So much for solitude.
Now with 50% more heroic adventures!
Satae creates the Fey, a small servant race to act as eyes and ears across the universe. They're small, fragile, and few in number, but they can breathe vacuum, and are extremely stealthy.
On Natus, she creates humans (may come up with a better name for them later), and, in exchange for a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, puts them in the charge of Akkataromondamias the goat-man, one of the strongest and wisest of the Ta'rai spirit creatures.