Godhood XIV [Sugar Edition]

Zkovta nods in approval at Argent's progress before drifting back toward their own star system. They had nothing against collaboration with their fellow deities, but only three divinely inspired planets seems a poor count - especially since one seems unlikely to ever support life. Variety is the spice of it, after all.

To this end Zkovta circles their system to find the proper orbit before pulling together Vidi, a remarkably large planet. They quickly shape it to form oceans covering approximately half the planet and give the as-of-yet barren giant a molten core.

An excellent beginning. Now to see what my fellows are up to.

Moving back towards Argent, Zkovta notes the reproductive troubles of the Gemrunners. A simple wave of their hand and the Gemrunners' reproductive capabilities are boosted enough to ensure relatively rapid evolution to suit their constantly changing environment.

4 Acts - Vidi, Large Planet circling the Binary system (which Zkovta has deliberately left nameless)
2 Acts - Cover half of Vidi with ocean
1 Act - Give Vidi a molten core
1 Act - Give the Gemrunners proper reproductive capabilities.

A strange map appears. It seems almost.... Non canon.

SpoilerShow

Diatraxa, having casually observed the creation and modification of the planets, marveling at the elegance of Sinfonia's decoration, glided away from Argent and towards the musical planet. Though the attacks on the Spinning Anns were rather a disappointing turn of events, it was sure that an amount could survive at lower depths or in hiding.

“Fasila! I love this planet – really do. The singing seas and organ-pipes really add this zest to the air, haha.”

…For all that it could laugh.

“Well, I’m not really a giant spoon,” it continued, “and nor are these bags of sugar. Don’t get that impression, please. Listen here, Fasila…” Leaning in with a conspiratorial gesture, the invisible voice toned down to a whisper, even as the dark prisms rotated slowly around its being. “I’m as confused as you are. I get pushed to come here for a bizzare marketing move, and there aren’t even any competitors to subsume… It’s almost as if there isn’t an ulterior motive to their actions.” It bent one ray emanating from its head(?) towards Bacsphaal at this. “But why don’t I help you with this planet? I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, and pay it back in kind – eventually, of course. Not quite yet. But… soon.”

Now with that finished, the god floated to a space over the orbit of Sinfonia, and began to rotate the crystals about it at higher speeds until they began outlining a sphere on the size of a large planet, and became too quick to clearly discern. Suddenly, a shape began to take form inside the rotated space, forming into two planets – both were tiny, but unique – instead of being two moons orbiting the planet, they orbited each other in a circle around the planet, one with osmium-blue rock dissolving in a stream towards the other one, and the other sending a plume of molten ice mixed with earthen dust to the first in an exchange through their waltzing orbit.
The first planetoid was exceptionally blue, wreathed in a mist that turned slowly as the planet itself spun within the shared atmosphere spread over the distance by the plumes, affecting a torque as a spoon stirs molten sugar.
The other planet was white and black in spots and stripes, of mixed gases in which ice was suspended alongside lava-cooled rock from its partner, caught in the thickened atmosphere and shattered ice fragments.
Over enough time, these two planetoids would displace each other, having subsumed the other’s plume fully to the point where any further movement would reverse the equilibrium – and empowered by their own movement, it would occur as a certainty of time.

Diatraxa saw the new planets, and decided that they were good enough. “Do you like them? The icy one is called Lynisio and the blue is Adago. A Sinfonia can’t be complete without three parts, after all.”
Created Adago, a small-sized planet, and Lyniso, an earth-sized gas giant – as one, they orbit Sinfonia and replace each other every once in a while. They share a singular atmosphere that is cycled between the two alongside their material. [5] Acts.

“For now, enjoy this present.”

As suddenly as it arrived, the sigil-like god returned to Argent, making a point of ignoring all (and there were indeed many – many of them) the mewling Spinning Anns with their human faces and wheeling limbs that had been found and partially eaten by the newly created Gemrunners. Most of these were pitifully splayed on the ground, unable to leap or tunnel – and the others held a remarkably large population of the immature variety, eaten while they were yet in the dirt.

The earth swarmed with rats. So much for ecological balance.

But those suffering Anns - The faces of the dirt-coated, incomplete … with…. Legs coming from……? Was that -

Diatraxa changed its mind about the Spinning Anns, and hastily retreated into space.

“I’ll… I’ll introduce myself again, now. Ahem. Diatraxagodofassimilationreplicationandrevolutionhellothankyou-(VERYMUCH)-marketingdivisionofBOXCORPdivinedivision.”

It drifted about for a new place to work from, and found Vidi. It was a quite large planet, it thought to itself, one with a lot of room for construction and experiments and all sorts of delightful possibilities to give the universe some more excellent spice.

It brought out the obsidian monoliths once again, and spread a metallic dust about the land not covered by the oceans that grew over the rock and the dirt and the trees until with a swipe of light from its halo, Diatraxa stopped the rapid spread of the infinitesimal dust.

Words began to shine from around the halo, resonating with their pronunciations.

The words were MOLGEL P’NEHRR RITAT YEMINESASH VAHRYANAM, just enough in their script to cover the entirety of the dusted land in their cosmic light.

The grey earth lurched. And heaved. And shook violently and -

And then bugs and cats and dogs and snakes and bears and three-footed emus and oblong spindles and sticks made of eyes and globs of feathery knives and walking skulls with eye-coverings and perfect circles started rising from the land, dragging themselves up from the grey goo that had been eating at it, restrained from excess by divine command.

Diatraxa wondered, and spun idly in the air. “I must have chosen the wrong words,” it muttered. But it shrugged an invisible shrug and returned to casually observing these new creatures, imbued with life to make form from the formless consuming dust that was their constituent. “Maybe they’ll be called Vi…savia. Yes, Visavia. Visavium, Visavia. Even with the variety now, it’ll become less ridiculous later, I hope.”

Created the Visavia, a form of life taking shape from dust. Each individual Visavium consists of its body, made from dust, and its pseudogene, a soul-like thing that defines its shape, memories, development, appearance, and everything else, that holds the dust into the shape and causes the being to function as a creature. Being made from interchangeable Dust, the Visavia can grow by consuming more Dust, general matter, or each other – they still possess a limited capability to assimilate normal matter, an otherwise dangerous ability. However, with time and extended consumption of other Dust-based beings (that is, Visavia) the pseudogene erodes until it splits apart unevenly, causing the creation of two to four new, varied Visavia with slight differences from both the original and each other. With changes in the pseudogene, the production of such a process may result in more but smaller Visavia (due to the conservation of Dust within non-consuming particles) or less but bigger – some may live longer, while others less, and some may split more cleanly than others. Most Visavia can be identified by an iridescent sheen, but they can take on other appearances with eventual development.
The Visavia are quite varied. [4] Acts.

Turn End
The Bespectacled Bonce-Bone gives the barren Deathrock a blood-red sea of skulls, which sometimes form waves so powerful that they're sent spinning nearly out of orbit, though they always come back down eventually. He then creates a ring of water around the planet; whenever the skulls come in contact with it, they explode, small on a cosmic scale but certainly brightly.

That classic companionship of Artist and Patron blossoms, and Fasila Remido collaborates with Bacsphaal so both their realms may be enhanced. Bacsphaal's planet - Argent - is given an atmosphere, filled with more and more beautiful minerals, and populated with the glorious Glimmerweed. The planet shines more brightly than the night sky itself.

As for Fasila's planet, now christened Sinfonia, it is first granted a tremendous green sea that dominates the world. Then it is improved with an atmosphere, to carry the sounds it was always meant to; a molten core, creating the drumbeat of the shivering earth; and reeds that turn the wind itself into beautiful, inimitable tones.

The Giver and Taker makes two final additions to his beloved Argent: the first, intense seasonal shifts, creating unpleasant summers and miserable winters; the second, large rodents, who seem capable of eating anything, and who are not inclined to stop until they've eaten everything.

The Maiden of Unrealized Thoughts takes in the chaos of Argent and decides to grant it some degree of stability. In its largest ocean, she raises a great island of solid metal; no quake nor magma could dent or melt it, and neither the Gemrunners' ferocious gnawing nor the Spinning Anns' carefree burrowing would leave a single scratch. She then blankets it in dirt, hiding the gleaming foundation from view, and coats the island with a thick, land-bound offshoot of Glimmerweed.

The Great Tactician gently crafts a tremendous planet, with many seas and a molten core, and sets it in orbit around his binary star system. He then turns to the Gemrunners, and - seeing that they have difficulty keeping their population stable - sees to it that they can breed almost as well as they can devour.

Finally, He of the Infinite Circle brings about two planets dancing 'round Sinfonia, occasionally switching off between who leads and who follows; then, he brings about the ever-changing Visavia on Vidi.

***
Deathrock contemplates its existence, spinning through the void and occasionally being rocked by a particularly powerful space explosion.

With the addition of an atmosphere to Argent, the Riverwood thrives. Its roots grow larger and more forceful, and landmasses are gradually cut off from each other, more and more difficult to cross - except in the winter, when the trees freeze solid, making it simple to cross on foot.

The Gemrunners decimate the Spinning Anns and Wibbles, and aren't particularly kind to the local vegetation either. The sea-dwellers quickly stop swimming into the Riverwood's roots for any reason, as they're far safer in the depths of the ocean, leaving the Anns as the Gemrunners' main prey. Some of the Anns eventually manage to relocate to Anchor, which the rodents have more trouble reaching, but the sturdy surface means they must always return to the mainland to breed.

The seasons of Argent are harsh on the surface-dwellers. The Spinning Anns settle into a hibernation cycle; the Gemrunners typically end up depleting their food supply about two-thirds through the season, at which point they turn to trying to capture Wibbles (with mixed success) and cannibalism. When spring returns, they enter a frantic breeding season to replenish their lost numbers.

The Energy of New Beginnings provides everyone with four acts.

The Energy of New Beginnings fades significantly.

Acts
Vancho - Fasila Remido: 0 + 8 = 8
Steilos - Bacsphaal: 0 + 8 = 8
Kaynato - Diatraxa: 0 + 8 = 8
SleepingOrange - ElemenSssWwk: 5 + 5 = 10
Draykon - Esuna: 0 + 5 = 5
Mirdini - Zkovta: 0 + 5 = 5
Loather - Elbridge Murderfree the Great Skull Lord: 0 + 5 = 5

Universal Reference Sheet

SpoilerShow

Cosmic ConstructsShow

The Great Skull Nebula: A big, awesome nebula in the center of the universe, distinctly skull-shaped.

Beat Pulsar: A medium-sized star which pulses in a steady, (on a geological time scale, anyway) rapid rhythm. Everything that orbits around it is carefully synchronized so that seasons and years end on beat.

Binary Star System: Consists of a medium-sized yellow star and a smaller light-blue star.

Deathrock: A small planet orbiting the Great Skull Nebula. Possesses a degree of sapience.

Sinfonia: A small planet dominated by a vast green ocean.

Adago and Lynisa: A standard small planet and a medium-sized (relatively small) gas giant, respectively, orbiting each other around Sinfonia. They dissolve into plumes that the other absorbs; occasionally one temporarily subsumes the other.

Argent: A medium-sized planet orbiting the pulsar. Very watery, with volcanic activity leading to many scattered islands. Experiences a very intense seasonal cycle.

Vidi:A large planet orbiting the binary star system. Water covers roughly half of its surface.

Locational Constructs

DeathrockShow

The Liquid Skull Ocean: A sea filled with a strange, red liquid which forms into skulls instead of drops and experiences minimal friction. Sometimes a few drops will be shot up into the stratosphere. They explode when they touch water.

Aqua Ring: A ring of water surrounding the planet.

ArgentShow

Lots Of Big Ol' Piles Of Valuable Metals

Various Plankton

Riverwood: Trees that shift seamlessly from wood to water, their roots forming powerful rivers. When they die, their roots wither, and thus the rivers dry up to make room for new ones.

Spinning Ann: A bizarrely shaped creature that mostly moves by spinning, burrowing and leaping. Reproduces by budding; offspring start their lives underground. During Argent's harsh winters, they burrow deep underground to hibernate.

Wibbles: Similar to eels but with more pronounced fins, these creatures mostly eat plankton and lounge in Riverwood roots.

Glimmerweed: A crystalline plant that forms in tremendous colonies, sprouting from the sea.

Gemrunners: Ferocious and ravenous rodents. Willing to eat damn near anything.

Anchor: An island in the center of Argent's greatest ocean, made of metal that is nearly impossible to alter or break.[/b]

Glimmergrass: A thick, long grass that dominates Anchor.

SinfoniaShow

The Singing Sea: A vast ocean across the whole planet, which shines a brilliant green, due in part to emeralds scattered across the sea floor. Its waves do not merely crash, but sing with the beautiful voice of its creator.

Organ-Pipes: Reeds which channel the wind into distinct tones. Clusters of them often form in such a way that particular chords fill the air.

VidiShow

Visavia: Strange creatures formed from an amorphous Dust, which can grow bigger by consuming other Visavia - though doing too much of this will lead to them splitting into several of themselves. They have many shapes and shine brightly.

Metaphysical ConstructsShow

Energy of New Beginnings: The birth of a universe empowers all divinities with a certain amount of creative potential! The number of acts received from this event decrease each turn, so be sure to establish something under your spheres before it's completely gone.

Elbridge Murderfree the Great Skull Lord rides about the universe in his Great Skull Pickup Truck, blaring Slayer and flipping off Wibbles.

[0 ACTS]

Three replaced with many more,
Though still alike in nature.
Young and old who, it's been told,
Could never meet their maker

Did come as one into the sun
And be reborn as stars;
A cloud of souls 'round their preserver
Death and heaven's czar.

Though the garden still is fresh
And green as it was made,
A strange new wind now stirs through it -
Which wouldn't, had they stayed.

SpoilerShow

Craft, Swarm and Hope have been replaced by ElemenSssWwk.

The newly-arrived god takes several timeless moments to absorb his new co-domain. It's impossible to read his expressionless face, but he does spend more time contemplating Argent than most of the rest of the small universe, often glancing briefly at Diatraxa.

"Abandoning your creations seems... needlessly cruel. But I am accustomed to taking on the castoff of other gods."

ElemenSssWwk cast his net of lights around the grim planet and began weaving it into a complex web of criss-crossing lines; from there and with great speed, he spread it to every other cluster of matter that presently existed, establishing an intangible network of divine energy and interconnectedness. Though invisible and undetectable to mortals, it would absorb the life energy of any creature as it died and add whatever could be called its consciousness to a gestalt, deistic awareness. It was simple, as afterlives went, but it was also more pleasant than many. [-5 acts to create a universe-wide afterlife]

"I feel that being cursed with such a strange and awkward form should be counterbalanced by something. And if the body does not suit, then perhaps the mind will."

A number of glimmers broke off from the worm's cloud and sleeted towards Argent, seeking out the Spinning Anns and insinuating themselves into their brains and minds. They were changed at a biological and social level, granted much greater capability to think and understand, as well as the basics of communication and the empathy to begin creating societies. [-3 acts to add high levels of sapience to Spinning Anns]

He seems ready to withdraw when something occurs to him. "With consciousness, why shouldn't there come cognizance?"

The motes of light that still have yet to fade from the Anns flash once more before fading out, in one instant granting knowledge of the cosmos and cosmology, of creation and their creators. Every Spinning Ann is given the same insight at the same time, incontrovertibly touching them all with knowledge and certainty of the divine. [-2 acts for a vision to the entire SA species containing the basics of the history and nature of their universe and gods]

Elbridge Murderfree the Great Skull Lord lowers his sweet shades to stare down the new god for several moments before finally giving a friendly thumbs-up.

[0 ACTS]

ElemenSssWwk is visibly handicapped on the thumbs-up front, but undulates a bunch of his creepy little legs in what might possibly be a friendly way.