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Lorenn had marked out the areas for the various temples to go and had requested he clear an area for Fertility first. While Jason could remove his influence from a distance, his conversation with Death, and more recently Dominion, convinced him to treat the gods more respectfully. Jason went to the temple location, well, not in person, but as close as he could now that he was an astral king.
Jason made sure the area was flat, with plenty of space above and below for whatever Fertility wanted to do with the space. He briefly thought about including some plant quintescence to keep her mind off of other aspects of fertility. Maybe some manure as well. He did have samples of Brightheart...fertilizer. Maybe a big pile to help establish a temple for growing more food.
Jason let out a groan. “If you give a mouse a cookie,” he grumbled to himself. He gave up on his plans for influencing Fertility’s temple, determined to turn over a new leaf. Jason stood in the middle of the space and slowly removed his influence. It was similar to losing a territory in the transformation zone, but orders of magnitude less severe.
Once his influence was removed, Jason sensed a small burst of divine magic. He’d felt similar magic before, but only briefly and before dealing with the Brightheart’s transformation zone. He quickly spotted the source: a basket in the middle of the space he’d just cleared for Fertility. Jason approached cautiously and looked into the basket. It was full of various kinds of fruit, with what looked like a teal green lumpy potato on top.
“Splound shaped,” Jason muttered, reaching for the fruit. Underneath the splound was a neatly folded note. Jason ignored the note and took a bite of the splound. He immediately spat it out. “Bitter is right,” Jason said. He inspected the splound closer, turning it over in his hands. He brought it up to his face and gave a delicate sniff, then licked the area where he’d taken a bite. “A little salt to mellow the bitterness...maybe juiced and heated, with a touch of onion juice like diner coffee…”
Jason’s attention was drawn back to the fruit basket when the note inside gave a small, brief pulse of aura. “I’m getting to it!,” he growled angrily at the cavern roof. “You’re the one that gave me a basket of fruit! If you didn’t know I’d be sampling first and reading second, that’s on you!” Despite the words, Jason was curious. He picked up the note.
The paper was thick, yet supple and smooth. Jason unfolded the note and saw that it was written in a vibrantly bright orange ink, shimmering as if written in fire.
Mr. Asano,
Please enjoy this fruit basket. Know that the trees that each fruit came from have been destroyed, meaning that there will never be fruits quite like those you are enjoying now. New trees are already growing in their places. In the case of the splound tree, there is an apple tree. In a few years, it will be producing apples like nowhere else in this world. The same is true with each destroyed tree.
We gods exist in a balance, the only exception being Undeath. You may look at me and think me the opposite of Fertility. She makes while I destroy. You have more than a passing familiarity with the life cycle of plants, however. Plants need room to grow and fertilizer to speed and strengthen that growth. If there were no destruction, there would be no new plants. If plants stagnate and stop changing, that creates a cascading chain of stagnation. Destruction is necessary.
This world views me as a Dark God. The only true Dark God is Undeath. While I sometimes work with Undeath, I work against him just as often. Did you notice that in the transformation zone you made out of the Brightheart city, you didn’t find a single Priest of Destruction? Right before the transformation zone was established, I ordered My priests to destroy three gold rank undead priests. The timing had to be exact so as to drain Undeath’s Avatar instead of Undeath himself when their bodies were raised as undead. That small amount of destruction was enough to ensure Hero’s Avatar had more power than Undeath’s, even if only just. My priests’ sacrifice ensured that Undeath’s plan was destroyed from the outset.
You told Undeath that He and I should worry about the enemy We’ve made. While I’m sure my agenda will clash with yours over the millennia, I’m also sure they will align on occasion as well. I do not wish to be enemies, but rather Rude Acquaintances.
Sincerely,
Bill, Lord of Destruction
PS. This note will self destruct in 0 seconds
“Ow!” Jason yelped as the note spontaneously combusted, burning his fingers. “Huh. Well isn’t that something,” Jason said as he reached into the basket for another fruit.