Time passed quickly while Annastarria slept. She had a vague sense of the cycles of the moons and the passings of years, but it was a soft, indistinct sensation. When she roused herself, the God of Eternity awoke in the temple she had erected on the mountain top. The passage of time was written all across the humble temple. In places the stonework had leaned, in others the elements had worn down the edges. Plants had grown up and claimed the temple during the intervening years. Brushing through the foliage, Annastarria emerged from the entrance and looked out over Aeon for the first time in centuries.

Beyond her overgrown temple the plains stretched out before her. The first and most notable change were the stonework constellations that the Aethereal were fond of building. They now surrounded her mountain on all sides. The careful placement of each stone spoke of just how much time had passed as the nomadic tribes had made their continuous journeys across Aeon. These paths were visible now, the grass had been worn away and dirt roads had been packed down by the constant coming and going of the nomads. Stone structures were still quite rare, the Aethereal clearly still viewing them as a defacing of the world, and in turn their god. But a few were scattered about, they were storage buildings that whatever tribe was there at the time would make use of during the weeks they resided in the area before they moved on again.

A tribe was currently in residence at the foot of the mountain. One of them caught sight of Annastarria and the word spread like wildfire. Soon all had fallen to their knees and their praises could be heard even atop the mountain. When Annastarria descended she would find the Aethereal were the same, yet different. Over the centuries they'd developed new rituals and seemed to have gained a fondness for wearing skins that were decorated like the starry skies.

The tribes Arcanist came forward, bowing three times she drew a symbol into the dirt and then raised her hands to the heavens in an elaborate display. "Your children bid you the warmest welcome, oh great God of Eternity! This shall be a day that we shall honor and remember, the day which our god returned to us!" Already other Aethereal would noting the positions of the stars and the moons. Over the years it seemed they'd become quite highly adept at marking the progression of time based on the heavens. "We shall send word to the other tribes and to High Arcanist Xeves of your return! We will hold a moot so that all the Arcanists can join us here at hear your wisdom!" The Arcanist of the tribe hummed a few words and drew white sand from a pouch on her hip which she threw to the air.

The Aethereal had been successful over the long passing of time. They had continued to grow. There were five tribes now which traveled the plains. Each tribe would visit set locations in their nomadic wanderings and at each rest site a permanent moon-dial had been built, a flat stone disc raised off the ground which would catch the moonlight to measure the progression of time. The Aethereal had mapped out the seasons based upon the heaven's movements and were highly adept at precisely measuring the seasons of Aeon which told them when it was time for them to move on, when certain parts of Aeon were flowering, when predators were in mating season so were best to be avoided and many other important aspects of their world. Observing the Aethereal currently camped at the base of her temple, Annastarria noted that all of them had small rituals of sorts like the Arcanists, words or phrases they would say before taking action, symbols they would draw in the dirt and gestures they would make. Evidently these were seen as magical invocations. They were wide spread, but there was no actual sense of magic in most of the efforts they undertook. Annastarria and the Aethereal had only just been starting to scratch the surface of learning to use magic when she slept, it seemed that the fledgling learning mixed with the Aethereal's superstitious nature, had muddied the waters of arcane learning. Little progress on actual magical learning had been made in the intervening centuries, and in many ways it had backslid as these useless practices had become widespread. Often simple good luck was being misinterpreted to be magic which further reinforced the various practices.

"Hello, my Children. Long have I slept but I return now with renewed purpose. Much has changed whilst I dreamed and not for the best. We shall work together to remedy these things."

Her voice echoed across Aeon as she spoke, wanting to make sure all all of them knew she was awake and they had work to do.

"I had hoped the studies we had begun would continue apace but I see that has not been so. We shall continue our learning and growth together."

She took in the work her of her children and nodded in approval, making note of the clothing they adorned themselves with.

"I saw many things in the Argent Sands before I slept. Things I shall share with you. A city that I found pleasing and would see built here, in the base of the mountains. A place for all Aethereal to gather and grow. A place of learning and study. A magical place of the arts and sciences. These things we shall learn together for the betterment of all."

She was pleased at the progress made in their studies of the Heavens for such had contributed to their growth and success. Whilst she waited for the High Arcanist she began the process of renewing and expanding her Temple. The overgrowth was cleared, paths cleaned and widened, the passing of time softened some edges and made bare others but she was not altogether displeased by the weathering she observed. She wanted the temple to reflect the glory of Aeon and the Aethereal as well as the Goddess who loved both and, to do this, she needed to once more take hold of her Children and guide them in their studies and learning. It was time for magic to replace superstition and ritual. She wanted her people to be disciplined in their knowledge of the Arts and these meaningless, empty gestures would not do. These would need to be replaced with true words and symbols of power.

+30% General Advancement: 10% to Astrology and 20% to Magic.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:15, Mon 27 June 2022.