Exploration & Reunions
The "universe", as the term was used to describe the entirety of existence and not merely the name for the specific dimension which housed the worlds of mortals, was filled with a multitude of dimensions. Perhaps the strangest dimension of them all was the almost world-like dimension known as "The Wildlands", which just so happened to be the dimension where Althos was heading.
"The Wildlands" was a mysterious place that consisted of various untamed stretches of wilderness, all of which were loosely inhabited by various creatures, most notably fey, animals, and the chaotic extraplanar entities known as "Salvajes". Althos was the only currently living lord of the Wildlands, in his capacity as an archfey wielding the ambitious title of "The King of Spring & Summer". His particular stretch of territory in the strange dimension was an unremarkable one.
The King of Spring & Summer was a mysterious archfey whose territory consisted of a small forest at the foot of a gigantic tree that was so tall that it could be seen for kilometers in every direction. The first time Althos ever entered the Wildlands he materialized inside of his forest and found himself surrounded on all sides by vast trees that had somehow grown in the shadow of a larger, clearly divine tree.
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Traveling between dimensions was nearly instantaneous for me at this point. If I had wanted too I could freeze time while I traveled between dimensions but that was unnecessary. I found myself on a patch of grass growing slowly in the shadow of a dense canopy of thick trees in this strange dimension that I had yet to visit physically until today. It was one of several dimensions I hadn't physically visited, but I had chosen to change that before going into the Heart of Darkness and expanding my influence over that particular dimension of chaos and evil.
The Wildlands was the birthplace of the chaotic extraplanar entities known as "Salvajes", and the mysterious "Fey", creatures possessing strange, spiritual connections to both nature and civilization. The Wildlands was also where I had a powerful general by the name of Aringoth, running around and subjugating various faeries and salvajes, which would allow me to more efficiently expand my territory in this dimension. I had actually chosen this moment to come because Aringoth had successfully subjugated enough fey that I could construct more courts and thus become an even more powerful archfey.
While I had occupied myself in the world of Ta Hendo and elsewhere the primal elf I had resurrected had been busy steadily using a deathless army to defeat groups of faeries and their allies on the other side of the dimension. In time I'd go to him and begin to build new courts, but for now I was content to allow myself some time to explore the territory I had been given when I first became an archfey.
I began to walk through the forest and take in the sights of this seemingly mundane forest. As I did, I also studied my own form. I was in my "King of Spring and Summer" form, which meant that I had many of the aspects of a powerful and noble satyr.
I had a pair of thick rams horns jutting out of my head, the unsettling and goat-like eyes of a satyr, and my legs ended in a pair of powerful hoofs. I was also only lightly dressed, wearing pants made of fur that covered my legs and nothing else. My upper body was that of a muscular, large, and handsome man with a gentle face and eyes that implied that I was kinder than I actually was. There was a light crown on my head, one that never moved too much because it was located right between my horns.
There were various rings on my fingers, including one that was perpetually shining. Each of the rings was actually an artifact of one sort or another, but the one that really mattered was the one that never ceased shining. That was the ring that on command transformed into my "Sword of Spring and Summer". It was the truest sign that I was indeed the King of Spring and Summer.
As I walked through the forest, I was occasionally spotted by small animals. They would bound up to me and say hello, speaking in small voices and awoken by my proximity to them. As a nature deity and a god of animals, as well as an archfey, animals who approached me were automatically awoken though I could cause them to regress back to their natural state at will if I wanted.
I greeted the animals back and gave them small trinkets and treats such as fruits that never shrank in size even when one bit into them, or bark that would protect them from injury so long as it was placed on their wings. I was the lord of this forest in every sense, even beyond my generalized nature as an omni-higher-being with extensive powers over nature and animals.
My exploration continued until I came across a great clearing in the depths of the forest. I knew it was there, of course, as I had total knowledge and control over the forest but I was merely walking without any specific purpose. It was a coincidence that I stumbled across it.
In the clearing, no trees grew, but many flowers did. At the heart of the clearing, its exact middle, I saw a deep hole. And that was where I had a great idea. One that allowed me to reunite with some of my first servants and worshipers, and give them a new home.
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At the very beginning of my life when I was seeking to expand my followers I gained a title that would in many ways define the earliest days of my life: "The Sovereign of the Swarm". That title bestowed upon me power over ants, wasps, bees, and other hymenopteric lifeforms. And during the earliest days of my life, I used that power often.
I awoke lifeforms that I could with my swarm-based powers and turned them into soldiers, priests, spies, assassins, and more among my earliest worshipers. Later on, when I fled my homeworld, the ruined planet named Torus, I took the members of my swarm with me and brought them into my divine realm. I even took ones located on the other worlds of the solar system I had come to life in. Ever since then, I had occasionally used them in other ways, such as during the Demon-God war against Agustino, but for the most part, the swarm has been left to their own devices.
Today I could give them a new purpose. I walked over to the hole, stepping carefully to avoid crushing any of the flowers that surrounded it. When I reached it I gazed into it and saw that it extended for kilometers. I rose a single hand, positioning it over the hole and I began to mentally commune with the very earth beneath my feet.
I closed my eyes and my not-so-mini-map filled my vision. I saw that this dimension's earth was not at all like the earth of mortal worlds, or even the earth of various dimensions. Beneath me, there were thousands of kilometers of dirt. And I could manipulate even the most solid of rocks with ease, so manipulating dirt was far easier.
I began to alter what laid beneath me with but a thought. I envisioned the area under my feet transforming radically, changing from a vast sea of dirt to a series of tunnels, caverns, and more, for thousands of kilometers. As I did, I also imagined some portions of this strange underground area being lit by a powerful, sun-like flying orb that provided them with sunlight and allowed for flowers to grow. I was going to give bees and wasps in the swarm a new home as well.
I took my time, going as far as even designing and creating truly gigantic hives for the bees and wasps in the swarm. I even created settlements, in some cases truly massive ones, for non-swarm species that I was fond of, such as satyrs and both dark and non-dark dwarves. By the time I was done freely modifying the earth beneath my feet, over an hour had passed. The dimension's "sun", which was more of a concept than an actual celestial body, was now in the middle of the sky, and I chuckled as I gazed at it.
I watched the sun lazily float across the sky, for a moment before refocusing and beginning to do the exciting parts of what I was busying myself with doing: summoning my existing worshipers and creating wholly new ones, to fill this gargantuan labyrinth of tunnels, caverns, and underground cities.
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The swarm was a truly gigantic collective of several loosely connected species. It consisted of ants, wasps, bees, and their evolutions, and members of the swarm could be found in various locations.
The primary mass of the swarm was located in the divine realm that belonged to Althos, which had long been a replica of the world of Torus. Members of the swarm could also be located in other areas where his followers were leaders, such as underneath a small village of humans and empowered, elemental humans located in Htrae, and in Zenith, the Heart of Darkness, and in Infernius.
The moment that Althos was ready to welcome a significant portion of the swarm to their new home, he silently opened portals in areas where the swarm could be found in significant numbers. The deity instantly chose a number of creatures from each species in each area he had conjured portals, and they heard his voice in their minds. He uttered a single word. "Come".
The swarm was Althos's single most fanatical faction among his organic followers, and not a single member of the swarm who was chosen for this honor denied him, dropping everything and stepping or flying through the portals before them. On the other side of the portals, they found themselves within the strange subterranean area their god had created for them.
The strange horde of creatures immediately began to spread throughout the areas their portals deposited them in. As they did, their minds were filled with knowledge by their god, and they began to pray to him, to thank their god for giving them a new home. As they did, their god continued to alter the caverns to fit his will.
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The largest caverns went areas where the rest of the dirt and occasionally stone that filled the vast area underneath Althos were supernaturally filtered and cleared out. In those areas, hives and cities could be built. And in those areas, angels came into being, created by the powerful god who was responsible for modifying this place and making it habitable at all.
Angels of faith and law came into being and took on forms of supernatural beauty in the open air above the cavernous floors of the places where Althos intended for his servants to build cities devoted to the advancement of his glory and worship. Most of the angels took on the forms of humans who were as physically beautiful as they could be, but with wings and auras of humility and obedience that made all lesser beings bow before them.
They spread out and began to lazily fly through the caverns and eventually into the tunnels that stretched on endlessly beneath Althos's feet. As they did, they were able to watch variously sized humanoid-shaped silhouettes suddenly come into being in the future cities Althos had created the basis for. Some of the angels watched these silhouettes, sensing their god and creator's handiwork on display.
Althos was creating bodies for souls, and the silhouettes were those bodies. Before they had a soul placed in them they stood motionless where they began to exist, and more than a few angels noted that they could have made fascinating art exhibits, had that been the divine plan of their creator. Moments after creating hundreds of thousands of bodies, Althos quietly filled them with souls.
Larger bodies were filled with the souls of races like trolls and ogres, souls that had intelligence befitting such large frames. Smaller bodies were filled with souls of dwarves and dark dwarves, gifted with innate physical power and artistic talent. Medium-sized bodies were filled with the souls of races like humans and satyrs, and were more populous nearer the surface, whereas dwarves and dark dwarves were more common deeper beneath where Althos stood.
No matter the sort of soul that filled any particular body, their minds were filled with knowledge, knowledge about their species, their duties, and their creator.