Spawn
Chirp-Chirp-Chirp
Groaning, Atlas applied pressure to his temples. His head was pounding and it hurt to open his eyes. It felt like a delayed hangover.
'Why am I still dreaming?' he thought, wincing as he peered out from one eye. That bird was still there, chirping, and hopping around the orbital hologram rails.
"Can you please stop chirping?" Atlas groaned. Each little chirp pierced his skull like an icepick before he rolled over. Instead...
"Weaver! Thank the system you're awake!" Sharp fluttering, followed by a soft landing on his shoulder. "You need to manage your Universe, Weaver Atlas!"
"Dude... I have a hangover, stop chirping so loudly."
The frantic fluttering of the bird's wings grew.
"No time! No time! Weaver Atlas, you must inspect your Universe!"
"Fine!" Atlas raised his voice in frustration, instantly regretting it however as dull pain shot through his head. Wisp wouldn't stop fluttering, chirping, or flapping around like the end of the world was nigh.
"Just give me a moment! I need some water."
Materializing before him on the floor, a glass of water appeared.
'Eh?'
Blinking, he tested this power further. Pizza? Pizza appeared. Cake? Yep. Donuts? By the dozen. Grilled cheese with ham. Smells delicious!
His stomach churned unpleasantly, but damn was he impressed! Atlas wasn't exactly hungry in his condition, but being able to summon whatever he wanted lifted his spirits a little.
That being said, why wasn't he awake yet?
Atlas pinched himself. Nothing happened. Despite feeling terrible, he stood up and tried running in place. Nope. Loud clapping and blinking hard didn't work either.
"Weaver Atlas, do you have the Tourettes?" Wisp asked, tilting its head with a genuinely baffled expression.
"No!" Atlas snapped. "I'm trying to wake up!"
Wisp sighed as a creature that has dealt with this exact situation a hundred times.
"You cannot return to your world yet, Weaver Atlas. If that is your desire, then after you've conquered the realms, you may request it from the system."
Atlas groaned, flopping back onto the bed. "Great. So I'm stuck here until I become some god-conquering king?"
Wisp chirped softly, its tone almost teasing. "Correct."
None of this felt real as he stared up at the 'ceiling'. The galaxies had resumed their swirling, except very slowly. Not in the way previously that gave him motion sickness. It was very ethereal and calming. He could easily lay there for hours, just watching.
'I'm going to be fired...' Atlas thought glumly, however, as he lay there. His mind wandered, latching onto the more optimistic thoughts. 'Well if this is real- ignoring the 'deletion from existence' thing- it isn't that bad. Free food, gaming, I can summon anything I want. Maybe even girls?'
'If I just get 'deleted', I doubt I'd feel anything.' Atlas sighed as his thoughts tipped into darker territory. He felt a soft chill, wondering what that felt like. Conversations and theories about death flickered through his mind.
'Don't think about that right now. Let's figure things out bit by bit.'
He brushed the thought aside. Living alone for so long meant he wasn't drowning in emotions about missing family. He had family, sure, but it had been months since they last talked. And when they did speak, it was usually just small chit-chat and catching up.
"I must insist Weaver Atlas! Please hurry and observe your Universe!" Wisp chirped again from the consoles, sounding more urgent.
"Alright, alright. I'm coming," Atlas replied lazily, grabbing the glass of water as the food disappeared.
His touchscreens previously used were locked back into the consoles. Two new consoles were lit up with a green hue.
-Central Divinity Interface Management (CDIM)-
-Divinity-
Simple icons. CDIM had a clipboard with writing lines, and Divinity displayed a lightning bolt.
Atlas adjusted the console setup in his mind, imagining the touchscreen requiring a press of a button on the top to eject. The interface obediently responded, making the small change instantly.
When he touched the screen, it shimmered before shifting into its proper display.
Wisp flew next to him, landing on the lip of his glass. "Weaver, why don't you move all the consoles to the main platform? That way, you won't need to walk around to access different terminals."
"Hm..." Atlas hummed. Wisp was right. He could also put a chair there. "I'll do that, but I still want to keep them spread out as an option too. I like being able to move around."
"But it isn't efficient," Wisp scolded.
Atlas shrugged, his eyes returning to the screen.
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Divinity: 100
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Oracle | Deliver divine messages, written or orally, to a creature | Cost: 10
Blessings:
-Create your own Blessing-
Chosen by God | Bless a creature with supernatural powers of your choosing | Cost: Varying
Minor Heal | Restore a creature's vitality. Heal wounds, restore lost limbs and remove any form of fatigue | Cost: 25
Blessings of War | Grant temporary improved physical and magical stats to an individual or group | Cost: 50+
Fertile Fields | Boost field fertility. Double crop production, improve growth of plants in area of effect | Cost: 200
Disasters:
-Create your own Disaster-
Weakening Curse | Weaken a creature by 25% | Cost: 10
Lightning Strike | Strike down any creature and those surrounding it | Cost: 25
Destroy Fields | Rodents, insects, birds, or other unnatural disasters to destroy fields | Cost: 200
Lightning Storm | Wipe out 30% of a populace in the area of effect | Cost: 500
Plague | Deliver a plague upon the land. Target specific race(s) | Cost: 1000+
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'Damn, seems like I have some pretty wrathful powers' Atlas raised his eyebrows in surprise at both the pre-built disasters and the costs. 'I'll have to be careful with my opening. I don't have many resources.'
It took less than a half a minute to quickly tap through before moving to the CDIM.
'Don't put water on electronics,' Atlas thought sarcastically as he placed his glass of water on top, supporting himself against the console.
He breathed out slowly, trying to clear his headache a bit for tapping on the screen.
Multiple tabs cluttered the screen. One in particular was the event screen, which sent alarm bells ringing.
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Event Log
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-No designated spawn location set for Humans(2): Spawning at random-
-No designated spawn location set for Elves(2): Spawning at random-
-No designated spawn location set for Dwarves(2): Spawning at random-
-No designated spawn location set for Beastkin(*): Spawning at random-
-No designated spawn location set for Primordial Dragons: Spawning at random-
Atlas gaped. "What the hell?! Why didn't it tell me? Why didn't you?"
"I tried, Weaver Atlas!" Wisp retorted angrily. "But you went to sleep!"
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"You fell into a deep slumber after creating your world! I could not wake you. Take a look at your planet!"
For the first time, Atlas looked up and fully took in the view. His planet had changed dramatically. The once barren land now radiated with color. Most prominently, the plant life in vibrant shades of green, purple, and blue, while the eastern continent's vast desert remained a muted yellowish hue.
The seas were still ocean blue, though some smaller lakes now had distinct greenish tinges. Snow capped the towering mountain ranges and blanketed the poles.
"Highlight the spawn locations," Atlas commanded aloud, figuring it would work. And it did, but he didn't like what he saw.
The elves spawned in the eastern continent's massive desert and near the central lake of the western continent.
Beastkin spawned several times numerous due to the many variants. Cat tribe, Wolf tribe, Fox tribe, ect... A few dotted the eastern continent, one on the northern-central landmass, and the remaining on the western continent.
Humans spawned entirely on the western continent. One in the north, one south.
Finally, the Primordial Dragons and the two dwarf spawns appeared on the central landmass. The southern-central landmass, was void of any generated species.
"Everything else was randomly generated and evolved," Wisp chirped helpfully, fluttering to the edge of the console as Atlas continued to observe.
"Yeah... How long has it been since the creatures spawned?"
"Less than five hundred years," Wisp responded. But Atlas quickly realized he didn't need to ask- the information was displayed on the glowing CDIM interface with stats.
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CDIM
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Year: 478
Plant Species: 25,000
Wildlife Species: 8,000
Aquatic Species: 75,000
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Humans: 5,000
Elves: 1,500
Dwarves: 2,700
Beastkin: 7,500
Primordial Dragons: 250
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Atlas stared at the screen for a moment, blinking in disbelief.
"Hold on... Why are there so many dwarves? They should have the same fertility as elves- and the dragons!" Atlas rambled, confused and startled.
Quickly, he paced over to the platform, rotating the globe and zooming into the central landmass.
What he saw left him stunned.
"What in the midgetry is this...?"