ülwrick nodded. "That is true. Ildfloden is a testament to the might of the dwarves. That we can live not only close to such a monstrous phenomenon, but that we are able to tame it as well. Truly, it is proof that we are the strongest of races." His pride was visible with each word he spoke.
The Architect of Reality could see that she would not be able to find any bugs by asking the dwarf. He would simply see it as a natural part of the world. "Fine. We will take a look for ourselves. However, we would like to use this forge to prepare for our journey. In exchange, I will grant you a boon."
The dwarf looked at her and then at the massive ork that had gifted his people a plant of divine nature. "Fine. You can use the Forge of Solitude." He said, clearly moving to get up.
Celeste smiled and invoked a Health miracle as her boon. Instantly, the dwarven leader's health started to be replenished. It had been intended as a simple gesture, but she could feel how her Domains could do more for him than just healing.
The Architect of Reality was in a unique position. While revitalising someone was definitely within the Health Domain, she also had access to Time and Death Domains. She could literally rewind time for the dwarf's age. The goddess started reverting his age by 200 years as thanks for his help.
Normally, this action would require Worship for anyone who didn't possess these three specific Domains. However, the overlapping Domains complimented each other to such a degree that, while not effortless, it was easier than some of the other miracles she had performed. It was like when she found that she could use her Time Domain while crafting to create Amber windows. However, this feeling was much stronger and more intense.
When her Miracle slowly subsided, Thane ülwrick looked just like he had 200 years ago. His eyes were piercing, his jaw was strong, and his hair was long and dark instead of grey. Sturdy muscles were barely hidden under his clothing, threatening to rip his outfit apart in an almost comical way.
He looked down at himself, surprised by his new vigour and strength. He flexed his muscles slightly, and the seams of the shirt burst so hard that he was standing in among ribbons of his former clothing.
He was looking down at his body, restored to his youth, but with the wisdom of an old king. His hands flexed, and he saw his muscles bulge up his arms. "A god's boon truly is beyond belief, so the god of gods must command reality itself. You are both welcome among my people and clan for as long as you need." And then he bowed, a gesture so unnatural for the dwarf that Celeste could see how he had to focus on moving his muscles so that he would lower himself into the position of deference.
Thane ülwrick held the pose for a full second before he stood and took his leave. He didn't even give the gods a second look as he moved out of the Forge of Solitude, his body moving with new purpose and determination. Before the door closed the forge, a cheer could be heard from the other side. However, as the room was sealed, any noise from the outside disappeared, as if they truly were in complete solitude.
Martin looked at Celeste with a smile. "So what is the plan now?" He asked, voice rumbling a little.
Celeste shook her head a little, bemused by the antics of the dwarves. "Well, that is a good question. I know that drow versus dwarf is going to be a major theme of this area, but I also really wanna beat up some of those Ilsher that keeps getting in my way. So I was thinking of fixing bugs around town, getting some worship, and then making some ultra-mega cannon for you instead of that catapult thing on your shoulder. Heck, I could probably make something right now that wasn't magical."
She paused momentarily, pulling out various items from her cloak and moving to the forge. The Forge Lily was a little in the way, but it wasn't too bad, as Celeste focused on wanting to craft a cannon for Martin.
The goddess felt something tug on her as if the very idea of a normal cannon was just... wrong. She was making this for her friend... for a fellow god. She stepped away, and instead, she conjured pen and paper to write down. Instantly, a small dwarven-sized desk appeared in front of her, and Celeste was reminded of the desks the younger classes had at the school. She shook her head a little and sat down on the floor to start engineering the weapon. It would be too uncomfortable to write on the table if she had to sit on the dwarven-sized chair, so the floor was the best option.
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She poured her will into the schematics, and as she did, she didn't even notice that Martin joined her. Together, they made what could possibly be the mightiest weapon on Kalish.
Text from image:
You have created the schematics for: The Reaping Ouroboros
Description: A weapon forged by two mad gods in the heart of the dwarven kingdoms, The Reaping Ouroboros is a shoulder-mounted cannon. Along its barrel is a snake that seems to coil over and over while eating its own tail.
Energy in Weapon: 3
Cost: 20 Worship
Mortal Downside: Every shot a mortal fires permanently ages them by 100 years. If they reach the end of their natural lifespan, their body crumbles into dust, and the Ouroboros absorbs their remaining soul-energy, never allowing them to join any god for an immortal life.
Commit Energy for the day to fire a blast of temporal annihilation. Those struck must make a save or be erased from history, as though they had never existed. This affects not only their physical form, but memories and records as well. Beings of sufficient power may resist total deletion, but can still perish.
This cannon is not merely a weapon. It is a living entity that tracks and hunts those who defy their fate. Commit Energy to mark a target. If the target should be dead, but is not, The Reaping Ouroboros will not miss an attack and hits count as critical hits. Once hit, the wielder of The Reaping Ouroboros will always know the location of their target.
If The Reaping Ouroboros should miss an attack, the shot will instead punch through time itself and hit its target at a later date. If it cannot hit the target at a later date, it will hit the target in the past.
The weapon was really something else. It combined Celeste's Domains of Time, Death and, to some degree, Journeying along with Martin's Domain of Range. The power "Devour the Past, Rewrite the Future" was like Celeste's instant kill power, Reaping Word... just stronger.
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Reaping Word
Type: Activated ability
Energy usage: Until the next loading screen.
Full effect: Choose a target at any range. A gesture suffices if you can see the target, otherwise you must use a name they consider their own true name. Lesser foes drop dead and cannot be revived without your permission. Worthy foes require Energy to be committed to the end of the day and are allowed a saving throw to resist. Furthermore, worthy foes must be injured in order to let Death reach them; even a single point of damage is enough.
"This is insane. It can effectively retcon anything. I can see why the AI might want this since it would make solving problems much easier if you can just make people forget about something stupid that has happened." Celeste said, letting her fingers run over the pages of what was rapidly becoming her favourite creation. It even had a description, giving the impression that this item couldn't be created any other place.
Martin nodded. "We could call it the Ret-gun... you know... since it retcons things."
Celeste had to restrain herself from throwing one of her tools at Martin. She instead gave him a scowl. "I will curse you to always have a pebble in your shoe if you call it that. I have the Journeying Domain... I am pretty sure I can do that, you know."
The massive ork chuckled a little, and smiled. "You are the engineer of this beast. You will be the one naming it in the end."
The Architect of Reality also seemed to realise this and looked relieved. "Then it will definitely keep the name... I like The Reaping Ouroboros. Sounds intense."
Martin seemed satisfied with this answer and walked around to the Forge Lily. His power over plants instantly meant that it started to grow rapidly as he cradled the flower bud. "A cost of 20 Worship is quite a bit more than anything I have access to, though. I have like 5. We could really change the world a lot with just 20 Worship. I mean, you and Jasper created the dragons for around that price, right?"
Celeste shrugged. "Not sure what the dragons cost. The last time I had that much Worship, I used it to enforce the Anti-teleport system and soul separation upon death. It seemed like the best way of doing things at the moment. But I think that we might not survive the upcoming battles if we don't create something this big. I have fought against the Ilsher before, and while I have survived, they are no joke."
The ork had practically turned the Forge Lily into a tree at this point, his powers making it expand over and over until it took up the entire cauldron, thirty-six massive flower buds shooting up through the grate, making it hard to forge anything in that particular cauldron.
Finally, Martin looked at Celeste. "If you really think that is for the best, then we can try and earn the Worship. You talked about fixing bugs? I haven't seen a lot of bugs lately. The AI is slowly adjusting to what we desire. When we use our chaos-seed method, where we actively scatter chaos around the game it can build from, it seems to fix most bugs on its own, like there have been no hitbox collisions as far as I can tell. The simulation hasn't thrown out something outright silly at us. So we will have to look hard for bugs to fix."
Celeste nodded. "Then let's go look for them."