A new hill

[Anastasia]

"How arboreal," Sulia notes as you go, "Much less austere than the Infinite Stair. Far more inviting, and I suspect far more inhabited."

[Ebiris]

"I'm not sure, the stair has its own towns of allsorts on the bigger platforms, but this one... well, there was a species made to be custodians of it but they were all put into a form of stasis by the Incarnations, then awoke when a newly risen goddess made this place her home," Alicia explains.

[Anastasia]

"Oh? What are they like?" Sulia asks as you begin to walk.

[Ebiris]

"They look a little bit like dwarves with insect antennae," Alicia answers. "I haven't seen enough to say much about what they're like in terms of culture and personality but they seem to have a lawful bent to them."

[Anastasia]

"Ah, I see," Sulia says delicately, "I suppose the parts would ensure that. Have you ever seen the giant ant farms in Mechanus, Alicia?"

Meanwhile, you can see them coming up the stairs now - a party of eight of them, each clad in ornate, golden armor and with crimson cloaks. More of Queen's people, approaching steadily.

[Ebiris]

"I haven't but that would make sense," Alicia says before she slows. "Ah, and here's our escort it looks like."

[Anastasia]

The eight figures approach and bow in unison, "Queen Alicia," they say, "Welcome to the Queendom."

[Ebiris]

"Thank you. I bring with me Empress Sulia, a dear friend from Brightwater," Alicia says, introducing her companion. "We would like to meet with your Queen, and haste would be preferable."

[Anastasia]

"Then come with us," They say, as you are lead on.

A step is ten. A hundred. A thousand.

Space seems to move to fit you, smooth as your own spell to manipulate space, but on a more fundamental level.

[Ebiris]

Queen's mastery of her domain is clearly coming along in leaps and bounds. On they go then, Alicia keeping quiet for the moment.

[Anastasia]

Down in a dozen steps, millions needed but a dozen will do. Here you are on the roots once more. Amid this whirl and tangle of them sits a throne of wood, on which Queen sits. Her people stand before her, while several of her sisters mingle amid them. Perhaps she holds court, watching as they chat and mix - yet as you approach, they stop the moment Queen clears her throat.

[Ebiris]

"Queen," Alicia nods respectfully to her before the throne. "It's good to see you again, and to see you reconnecting with your fellow lillend. This is Empress Sulia, a dear friend who helped me a great deal in adapting to divinity after my own rise."

[Anastasia]

"Queen," Sulia smiles, "I've heard such wonderful things about you."

"As I of you," Queen returns simply. "As I of you. Now Alicia, why do you grace my court?"

[Ebiris]

"To invite you on a journey with us," she says aloud. And then for Queen and Sulia's ears only?

I know of another seed and another guardian, in Pandemonium. I would like for the three of us to obtain it.

[Anastasia]

Queen leans forward, and with a gesture her people flee. In moments you have silence, and her will surrounds you, gives you all privacy.

"Another seed? Another Guardian?" she asks, "Tell me more."