A Solitary God In A Dark Multiverse

Whenever I allowed myself a moment to be introspective my thoughts went to dozens of places at once. I suspected this was due to the absurd nature of the powers I possessed.

One of the strangest things to happen to me over the course of my life was my mind gradually... expanding. And not just in the mortal sense, wherein I'd grow more and more aware of the world over time.

With each domain or subdomain, I earned influence over I felt my mind grow in an almost literal sense. This sensation was present in the days before I activated my domain-sense, but my choice to permanently activate that ability absolutely kicked it into overdrive.

Having earned influence over domains like life, death, war, and agriculture, I was receiving trillions of notifications per second. It was an incredible sensation, especially because it didn't actually interfere with my ability to get by on a minute to minute to basis. At first, it was almost frightening but now I actively enjoyed it.

Another factor that made it feel as though my mind was perpetually active was my choice to listen for prayers. I only rarely intervened, but I listened for prayers and obliged the requests from time to time if I felt that my intervention was truly warranted. Still, the state of being open to prayers flipped a part of my mind and caused me to be cognizant of the prayers of all manner of lifeforms throughout the universe.

From time to time I wondered how much of my ability to operate given the... enormous stress my mind must have been under was due to the powers of the mind domain. I even considered asking the thing from time to time but ultimately opted to wait and see how my mind reacted to new stimuli whenever I came across unfamiliar things. And that encouraged my routine, in so far as the daily shenanigans I got up too counted as a routine.

Each day I went on quests and helped out the people of Comillas, as well as interacted with my worshipers. During the day my behavior wasn't unlike that of a powerful, driven mortal. By making use of the impressively diverse abilities I had acquired over the course of my very brief life I had earned the trust of many of Comillas residents, and I had made life safer and healthier for them.

Each night I had visited the dreams of people all over this world and nearby worlds. To date, replying to dreams and prayers were the only ways I engaged with the other worlds throughout this universe. I knew I could change that, if I wanted too, but a part of me felt nervous about it.

I wasn't entirely sure what made me feel so nervous all things considered, but I knew that what I felt was real. I took it seriously, and it was part of why I hadn't really tried to leave the world yet. I hadn't even really flown all that much either.

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Even though I was seated in the ocean, in my aquatic temple, my mind could see and perceive everything around me for kilometers in every direction. Or at least, most things. My senses weren't perfect, but they were close to perfect.

Puerto Rico's surface was dark. Night had fallen over the surface of the island, and the only things illuminating the sky were bright stars and a beautiful full moon. Small light sources here and there provided additional illumination, such as torches and a small bonfire that had been lit on the beach that connected Libertad to the bay that my temple was located on.

My temple felt lonely, as even though I was a known inhabitant of the strange place my followers were mammals and they preferred the surface to the sea. I was alone, aside from nearby fish and the occasional clam.

As a way to kill time and entertain myself while underwater I occasionally targeted fish for touch and experimentation. I did so via my mental abilities, reaching out to them with telekinesis and even did other less overt things like feeding the fish or clams and healed them. Another thing I did was play with the weather.

I had grown fond of using my elemental abilities in tiny ways. The first time I saw rain in my life had been a few days ago when I manipulated my weather abilities to summon and command a weak storm over the sea beyond my temple. Yesterday I made it rain over San Gerardo.

Today had been a temperate day and a clear one in Puerto Rico, and an overcast one in the region of Iredale that my minions controlled. That was mostly because I allowed it to be since at any time I could alter the weather.

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"So what kinds of weather could I create right now? Could I create all the naturally occurring types of weather in this world?" I asked the domain of nature, curious as to what all I could do. I sensed the interest of the domain itself flare-up in my mind as the domain inspected my abilities and domains. And then I heard a soft chuckle.

"Wow... You can actually!. That's amazing! I can't believe you gained this power so early..." The domain remarked.

The awe in the domain's voice made me happy and I felt quite pleased with the array of powers I had earned over the course of my life. The grin on my face that sprang about as a result of the domain's shock wasn't aimed at anyone in particular and was more a result of me expressing my satisfaction with that news.

There was a part of me that wanted to begin to experiment with this power more actively. I recognized that this power gave me the ability to exert a lot of influence over mortals, as the weather I could create wasn't limited to gentle weather.

"So I could create tsunamis and firestorms too?" I asked, rhetorically. This power further cemented my status as one of if not the greatest creatures in this world. The weather I could create was in some cases dictated only by what I could imagine thanks to the nature of my powers.

"I really do need to experiment with this power." I muttered, well-aware of this power's potential to easily earn me worshipers. It was one of a handful of powers that I could use to reward or punish people.

"So why isn't the nature domain part of the 'Apocalypse quadrangle'?" I asked the system when I realized how easily this domain and its weather manipulation abilities could be used to annihilate a planet's population.

The voice that answered me wasn't that of the system, but rather that of the knowledge domain.

"Hmm... That's an interesting perspective! I suspect it's mostly because of the three domains and one subdomain in the quadrangle were ones with an active interest in life. The nature domain isn't especially interested in life, and what interests it has aren't hostile to life. That is not the case with the domains and subdomain in the quadrangle." The domain remarked.

I considered that perspective for a moment, before realizing something strange. "Are you telling me the subdomain of agriculture is hostile to life?" I asked, finding the thought a bit much to wrap my mind around. I heard a chuckle, right before a new voice spoke.

"Well... It's a bit more complex than that. You see I was once the subdomain of famine. But mortals didn't like that." The voice remarked, sounding a bit annoyed. I chuckled, able to infer from the way it spoke that it was the subdomain of agriculture, and had at one point been the subdomain of famine.

"Mortals can influence gods as well as domains and subdomains. That's a part of the reason why some subdomains don't like them." The subdomain of agriculture explained, but not expanding on which subdomains weren't fans of them. That said, I could imagine at least two that weren't.

"And by the way... Actually use my abilities!" The subdomain said, annoying and apparently feeling that I was neglecting it. I chuckled at this remark and quickly promised to do so.

And then I turned my mind in another direction and sent a message to a particularly powerful domain and a fascinating subdomain.

"So... Can either of you help me understand how to make use of my enhancement abilities?" I asked, curiously. I heard an annoyed sigh from a familiar voice, and then an excited gasp from a new voice.

"Oh hello Althos!" The new voice said, greeting me excitedly. So far I hadn't really made use of my alteration abilities, but I had one question that could cause me to change that.

"I can absolutely help with that. I'd love too in fact!" The alteration subdomain, its voice like that of an excited child, remarked. I grinned, a question on my mind.

"So... I have an idea. An idea I quite like. As you know I possess power over the elements and I obviously have your enhancement ability. I was wondering if I could create something that would allow me to mix the two." I said to the excitable subdomain. It fell silent, and I could sense that it was waiting for more information. I chuckled again, impressed by its ability to calm itself.

"So a weakness I'm concerned about is that my tremorsense or my... elemental sense now, I guess, is tied to my current physical location. Well... aside from with regards to holy sites, but right now those are only volcanoes. And frankly, this is a major weakness of what is otherwise a truly excellent power. And it's one of the reasons why I'm hesitant to leave Puerto Rico." I explained to the subdomain.

I had confirmed this myself by testing the limits of the ability during trips to other parts of Puerto Rico. The power's range was gigantic but tying it to my physical location made it tricky to use skillfully, especially once I inevitably left Puerto Rico. I wanted to prepare myself for that day and viewed this problem as one of the things I needed to overcome before I did so.

"What I want is something that'd let me overcome this weakness. I want the ability to make permanent beacons that'd allow my elemental sense power to inform me of movement in an area no matter where in the universe I happen to be." I explained to the subdomain, determined to see if my conundrum had an answer. The subdomain was quick to reply.

"Oh is that all? Yeah, you can definitely do that." The subdomain told me, almost laughing as it did so.

"All you need to do is grab the object you want to enhance, and infuse it with your power which is a purely mental process. And then you can leave the staff wherever you want it to be." The subdomain explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. And it wasn't done talking either.

"'Enhance' is a powerful and critical ability of mine that lets you reshape the world using the domains and subdomains you can influence. Many gods were born possessing it as their innate school of magic because it is one of the schools of magic that is most useful for the gods. And it's precise;y because of 'Enhance'." The subdomain casually explained.

"If you wanted too you could go ahead, make a whole bunch of the... 'Beacons' was what you called them right? Yeah, beacons. You could make a whole bunch of those and deposit them all over the world. Do you mind if I give you a recommendation?" The subdomain told me, and then asked me something with a smile audible in its voice. I mentally nodded, transmitting the sensation to it.

"Something you could do is bestow a bunch of effects on the beacons. Positive ones that your followers would clamor to have for themselves. And then you could give them to your servants and tell them to plant the rods at the center of their communities." The subdomain suggested. There was something mischievous about that, that I genuinely liked.

"So it's that easy huh?" I asked, as I used my power over the earth to will a stone-staff into being next to me. I mentally reached out and brought the thing close to me using my mental powers.

I didn't bother to examine the stone staff, instead, I just targeted it and then activated "Enhance". I chuckled as I felt the stone begin to vibrate excitedly.

"Now what to do with you..." I muttered, smiling as I wondered how to most effectively make use of this staff. I mentally envisioned my "Elemental sense" power latching onto the staff and was delighted when I felt the staff receive the power.

I was mostly silent as I considered what to do with this staff. I had three options: I could give the staff to Rachel and in doing so learn a lot about the kingdom of Atlantis. I also knew that I could give to Drow and thus forever be aware of what was going on in Puerto Rico. Or I could send the staff across the sea to Iredale and thus be better equipped to explore that continent.

Part of why I wanted to consider this now was so that I could create a personalized staff for each region and the peoples that lived in it. Or a personalized beacon that wasn't a stone staff. If I was thoughtful here I could create beacons with intelligent enhancements that not only increase how aware I was of the world, but also grant me more worshipers.

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Deep underneath the already subterranean city of Aronms, Sombra and I were seated across from a dark-elf and her personal body-guard. The two of them studied us, as carefully as we studied them.

One of them was dressed in something I had only seen one other dark-elf wear: metal armor. He was a powerful-looking creature, who held an imposing war hammer as easily as any of my worshipers could hold a stick.

The other dark-elf was a woman. She wore a diaphanous dress that clung to her incredibly wafer-thin skin. She was possibly supernaturally thin. She was smiling at me and was genuinely excited to meet me. Her bodyguard wasn't. He scowled at me, and I grinned at him which only made matters worse.

"It's nice to finally meet you Qu'Ren." I told her, grinning at the dark-elf who I had healed days ago. Her grin only widened as I spoke. I felt her excitement, and I could tell that she had probably been beginning to doubt that I was real. I was happy to prove my existence and to be here sitting in front of her.