A return home

[Anastasia]

Thus the four of you appear, all of Sylica seeming to shine. Radiance and power flows through the realm, echoing your own growth. You can feel as if the realm is more, ready to react.

[Ebiris]

They stand in a hilltop valley, framing the city at the centre of Sylica in the distance below, the verdant green landscape stretching around in all directions cut through with crystal blue rivers to split the green fields and forests.

"This was once a scorching and murderous desert, designed by Triel to winnow the weak as they sought perfection," Alicia says to Zariel. "It was one of the last things he did before falling to Hell, and the sheer sadism inherent in it left many unsurprised by where he ended up. But still, the challenge was fair, and surmountable. This is the result," she gestures out over her and Syala's and now Antenora's realm.

Do you feel that? she ask Syala and Antenora. It feels like when we first defeated the Furnace, before we wrought Sylica from those sands.

[Anastasia]

As Zariel looks on, "Triel's Furnace, a forgotten folly."

Yet here we stand, triumphant. Our realm now.

We have advanced. Shall we have it expand? Shall we create again, create more anew?

At this you feel it - a connection with Syala, strong and sharp. You feel her as Blessing of the Twelve grows, a sharp spike growing out atop the head as it takes on a faint sheen similar to Syala's light, seeming more overall.

Node goal reached, congratulations. Go read and reply that you've read the update.

[Ebiris]

Node read

Take Syala's other hand, Antenora.

Alicia reaches out to take Syala's hand in her own. "Sylica stands ready to grow, as we do," she says, closing her eyes as she feels the realm pulse in time with her heartbeat. "When we mastered the Furnace, we created much of what you see now. Empty, but finished in form and simply waiting to be populated. And populated it has been, our faithful and others drawn to our banner from across the upper planes. Yet still it has remained a demiplane, even if a grand one."

Expand it, in all directions. Make the sea around Sylica a reality. Shallow and warm. Raise islands from the depths, big and small. Rocky crags, sandy beaches, verdant forests, crystal lagoons. She, Syala, and Antenora join their wills to make it happen, the seed of an idea that Sylica will one day boast more islands each rivalling the size of its current incarnation, for now beginning to form the archipelago and an aquatic environment more than suitable for sea elves and the like.

Now, reach out. Do you feel how Sylica is ready to stand among the planes? Don't shy away from that, don't seek the false comfort of a demiplane's seclusion. Reach out, reach out and connect

And true to Alicia's will, the sea encircling Sylica stretches outwards, connecting to the River Oceanus that winds from Elysium to Arborea, and now Sylica. The connection to Ysgard through the Felic Gate remains, but the astral links to Sylica stabilise, permitting interplanar travel for all and not just its deities. For it can no longer be called a mere demiplane, but a true divine realm of Ysgard.

[Anastasia]

Antenora takes Syala's hand as you feel Antenora and Syala. They pulse in time with you and Sylica, a steady heartbeat that you know will never go out. Not now, not with what you have become.

Rise, Sylica. Let the Opal Mountain be the vigil to which I watch protectively over the realm and the gateway that we greet our faithful from.

Syala squeezes both of your hands as she looks forward, each moment another moment you are close to her, feeling her on levels far beyond the physical.

Be populated with algae and seaweed, plants and animals. Fish, dolphins and even sharks. Let a population worthy of our oceans come forth.

Thus it comes as you will it. A great ocean, vast and full of warmth and life, blossoms to your combined wills. You feel your realm grow, shattering past its limits and becoming more. Life exudes from it like a tidal wave. The River Oceanus winds, a new path from it connecting and flowing into your ocean. The Opal Mountain grows taller, expanding and widening, becoming more as all the realm becomes more.

A sense of accomplishment and power flows through you, Sylica born anew.

I'm proud of you, Alicia. In you I see hope for a better future. All of us need hope, even the divine. Mystra's voice, a gentle whisper in the back of your mind.

You're doing it! Mrr, you make me want to curl up around you and purr, Syala. Sharess, her voice playful.

[Ebiris]

Alicia smiles at the support from Mystra and Sharess. Hopefully Sharess would be in her feline form for any purring!

Please come and visit anytime, she invites them both.

"A fortuitous time for your visit, Zariel," she says aloud, the Opal Mountain now dominating far more of the horizon in the distance, now it's been expanded. "Though in a way we owe it to you. Seeing your rescue through against all the obstacles in our path has solidified our divine standing."

[Anastasia]

Antenora bows her head in prayer while Syala watches on, a hand on her hip as she takes in the new horizon.

"I see," Zariel says, "A new ocean, a new world and I feel the chill breath of the Astral expanding anew."

[Ebiris]

"Yes, Sylica is open now," Alicia confirms. "But you came to see a forest, did you not?" A thought and then the four of them stand at the top of a bare hill, mostly grasses and shrubs yet farther down is the treeline marking the edge of a forest stretching for hundreds of miles.

"This is the Wychwood. When we made Sylica I took inspiration from various sources - the main city imitates Dweomerheart, the inspiration for the Opal Mountain is I believe obvious. This too is my homage to Arborea. A wild place of hidden magic and mystery. Few make their homes here, which is how I prefer it. It's supposed to be just that little bit inhospitable to all but the wild things."

[Anastasia]

"A place like that..." Zariel begins to walk forward, "I think I would like to see it very much."

Syala follows, "Visitors have lost weeks within, traveling the magical and mysterious woods. Often they find not what they want but rather what they need."

[Ebiris]

"It's convenient like that," Alicia says dryly, slowly walking after Zariel and Syala into the forest.

[Anastasia]

"All of the Outer Planes are guilty of that," Antenora remarks as she brings up the rear.

"...yes." Zariel remarks, "Avernus craves war. It thirsts for it. It will have war and I felt it influence and direct things countless times. Like a tumor spreading over a healthy body, turning all it touches into more corruption." As you step into the Wychwood, the wild woods dark from the canopy above, "How it pleased me at first, for I could take revenge on any fools who came to my realm."

[Ebiris]

"I sometimes wonder if Sylica should be more violent," Alicia admits as they walk along, soon surrounded by forest with the path back to that hill a forgotten memory. "I am a goddess of battle after all, and I enjoy Ysgard. But fundamentally Sylica is a bastion, a place to train, prepare, and rest between crusades. There's war aplenty elsewhere in the planes for us to test our mettle."

[Anastasia]

Zariel glides ahead, moving through the forest like a ghost. Like Syala when she tries, really.

"I've considered battle arenas, but our army does well enough for now. Still, with our new growth there will be more visitors and more call for friendly contests of skill and arms." Syala remarks, keeping an eye on Zariel.

Antenora glides upward, managing to just keep up with Zariel and joining her. No words are spoken, but from the look they share, likely telepathy instead.

[Ebiris]

About to ask Zariel more about Avernus, and if she really was responsible for all those fireballs, Alicia holds her tongue when she spots Antenora telepathically conversing instead.

"Yes, it's going to be a lot busier now people don't have to come in through the Felic Gate," she agrees with Syala. "I'm looking forward to it."

[Anastasia]

"I've already let Strength of Light know," Syala hops over a fallen log, not even breaking her stride. Far ahead wispy, multicolored lights can be seen. "He'll be busy handling the military side of that as well as helping establish a navy."

Zariel and Antenora slow to a stop, the two facing each other without a word spoken aloud.