Minutes after I helped arrange the sacrifice of Qiloth in the dark elven city of Undermoon, I found myself back home. I could still feel the throes of my dark elven worshipers and shivered as I felt their fervent worship surge into me. I could feel their prayers in my mind, and I heard their melodious voices whispering praise to me, and chanting my name even in the throes of passion.

The current edge of my world, my realm, stretched out before me. One half of what I could see was a vast, featureless plain spread out as far as the horizon, which was far indeed. It eventually melted into a shoreline for an incredibly vast salt-water ocean.

I studied the featureless plain and the odd beach and grinned at the possibilities that flooded my mind. Mountains, hills, jungles, even volcanoes, and even islands. I could do a lot with this place. I thought, grinning. My mind raced while I considered how to best begin to develop my realm.

After a few moments of contemplation, I arrived at a satisfactory conclusion: A mountain range that touches the clouds would look especially beautiful against my indescribably vast and deep ocean. And so I rose a single hand to the sky and willed the earth beyond my feet to ascend. And in an instant, it began to do so, eager to obey the commands of its ruler.

I watched, quiet, as the earth of the edge of the plains rose. And then stood, awed, as it continued to rise, ascending to heights beyond even the tallest trees I had ever seen, and when the earth at the edge of the plains continued to climb it reached a point wherein it was taller than even Namira's Onyx Obelisk, which was the tallest thing I had ever seen, and continued to climb.

Standing in front of it meant being exposed to the deafening sounds of the earth relentlessly, obediently climbing upward. And it meant watching as the grass of the plains was sent into the air and the dense stones of the earth pushed upwards, watching the color of the unexpected mountain change from bright green to the silver of stone and earth.

It was incredible to watch.

The ground's ascension stopped nearly half an hour after it began. The newly formed and somewhat messy mountain must have ascended close to 7,000 meters into the sky, above the lowest clouds that formed in the night's sky of my realm.

I moved forward and placed a hand on the mountain's outer surface. I was still for a moment and waited for my tremor-sense ability to take hold.

"Come on... come on..." I said, feeling rather impatient. After I was still for a few seconds I felt my radar begin to expand into the mountain. I shuddered as the enormity of the mountain filled my mind, entire kilometers of tunnels and of stone, filled naturally with thousands of animals. For now the map my mind produced was imprecise, but that was to be expected since I was outside of the mountain.

"Wow... this is truly something." I told myself, awestruck by the impressive mountain I had made on a whim. And that was when the mountain itself began to react to my presence, the stone near me retracting and convulsing.

I backed away from it, shocked. And that was when the stone began to melt and shift, stone flakes falling to the ground beside the mountain like some sort of odd snow-flakes.

Snow-flakes were one of the things I had begun to learn about through the various memories of my worshipers, alongside fierce weather like blizzards and sandstorms, things I had yet to experience myself.

Within seconds, my mountain formed a natural cave-mouth of the silvery stone that made up the majority of the stone I could see from outside of it. The cave-mouth was more than wide enough for me and led into the darkness of the mountain's interior.

As I looked out in front of me, many thoughts crossed my mind. This would be a fun place to set up as a lair of my own, fill with creatures of my own creation, and make a personal fortress. After all, one of the finer parts of being an overlord or running an empire is building fortresses and lairs. Was one such thought. Another was of a dear friend of mine.

It would be nice to not travel alone. I should call on my first friend, my first advisor, as I explore this place: the first mountain I have created. I thought, feeling unusually poetic as I admired the vast peak of the place before me.

I closed my eyes and focused, calling on my closest friend; Samyaza the Orb Angel. I willed him out of the mental sanctuary he had long gotten used too in my head, and within a moment the orb angel appeared beside me, momentarily confused and dazed. The metallic orb looked at me in confusion, before I began to speak to it.

"Samyaza, explore my mountain with me." I said to my dear friend, a gentle smile on my face. It looked at me, studying my expression for a moment. And then it nodded and responded to me.

"Oh, Althos... Your mind remains a mystery, at best, to me. I will explore your mountain with you." It told me, its mechanical voice filled with an emotion that mixed amusement and joy.

And with that, we began our exploration of the newest addition to my divine realm.

Minutes later I was within the mouth of the mountain, the first entrance to the interior of my newly created, joined by my oldest friend and the ally who knew the most about me.

Within it, Samyaza and I were surrounded by darkness and narrow walls of stone. Both of us examined our surroundings, I did so using my hands as well as my vision. Samyaza relied solely on its powerful sight.

"This is a narrow tunnel. Much like the entrance to the world beneath the world you used the first time you entered it." Samyaza observed, its voice filled with caution. I chuckled and made full use of my potent senses, particularly my radar and my tremor-sense.

My magical senses allowed me to be confident that we were safe and too close to the exit of the mountain to be bothered by the natives who were created when the mountain was created. Not that any animals native to this realm would attack me without provocation, and I hadn't yet had the chance to create sapient lifeforms to inhabit this mountain.

"Are you nervous Samyaza?" I asked, teasingly. The orb turned in my direction and did the orb-angel equivalent of glare at me for a moment.

"Not nervous, Althos. Observant." It responded, sassing me. I looked at it, as we walked further and further into the tunnel, my eyes studying its metallic body for a moment. And then I chuckled and focused on leading us through the tunnel, not at all nervous thanks to the fact that this was my mountain.

"There's no need to focus so single-mindedly on guiding me, Samyaza. Just relax and have fun." I told the angel, with an emphasis on what it was pretending it was doing for the sake of its pride.

"Are there any creatures here?" Samyaza asked, curiosity audible in its loosely mechanical voice. I placed a solitary hand on one of the walls closest to me and concentrated while tremor-sense charged up.

Within a few seconds, I felt a vibration pulse out of my hand, and explore the mountain's interior in the name of reconnaissance. And then it came back to me, delivering a mountain of information to my brain.

I was stunned for a moment as I immediately assessed the wealth of information that I had just learned, as I immediately was granted the precise knowledge of the location of thousands of lifeforms that dwelled within or atop the mountain. I also learned of the precise geography of the mountain's underbelly, developing an exact map of the mountain in my mind.

And with that, I knew where I wanted to go: a location nearly an hour from here if we kept our current pace. I had no problem with that because our trip here was intended to be a fun outing for Samyaza, an opportunity for the angel to get out and "stretch" in so much as circular, metallic angels could stretch anyway.

I smiled at my angelic friend and began to speak. "Yes, there are actually. Thousands of lifeforms inhabit this place, be they worms of... various sizes, plants, birds, animals, even fishes that swim in rivers and streams that flow through tunnels in this place." I told him, my eyes lighting up with the knowledge that surged through me.

I knew their precise locations, their species, and even what they were doing. This is some... powerful knowledge. I remarked to myself, as I willed the knowledge to be sorted and organized, as well as to provide me with species knowledge of each of the assorted animals I had just discovered. Something about that knowledge felt mighty to me.

For a moment my vision went entirely green as dozens of notifications surged into my mind at once. Oh, damn it! I thought, annoyed. I read through the notifications and then willed them away at once so that my vision was restored to me.

The truth was there was something deeply comforting about the nature of the area beneath and within the mountain. I think it might be knowing the locations of everything in several kilometers in every direction, and all of the tunnels and caverns that exist here. But something about it makes me feel... in control. I mused.

And that marked the beginning of our trek into the mountain, delving deeper and deeper while exchanging snarky comments and occasionally the rare observation about our surroundings.

While en route to the mountain's interior, Samyaza and I traded snarky remarks and made observations about the strange place that I made with little more than an outstretched limb and the power of my will.

After about an hour of hiking into the depths of the mountain, I saw an opening in the narrow tunnels. I smiled widely when I saw it, knowing where it led. My smile was something which was noticed by Samyaza. The cheeky angel looked at me, and questioned me.

"Althos! What do your godly eyes see?" It asked, curiosity coloring its tone. I looked at it and smiled.

"I see an exit to this narrow tunnel. I see our destination. A place I am going to transform. Come, Samyaza, let's lay our eyes on it together!" I said, my voice growing increasingly excited the more I spoke. I moved forward at a more speedy pace than before and was followed closely by the speedy, curious angel.

In less than two minutes we emerged through the clearing into a wide, open, cavern with a ceiling that loomed high above us dozens of meters high. Unlike the narrow tunnels, this cavern was well lit by a large number of bioluminescent fungi, all of which danced when I emerged into the gigantic, open space.

I smiled and lifted a hand, aiming it at the distant ceiling. A stream of fungal spores, spores intended to transmit my warmth and my care to the fungi that filled this cavern, shot out of my hand. The spores were a bright yellow color and the stream of them that filled the air were so numerous that the few dark spots in this deep, mountain cave were illuminated by their radiance.

This event took a few moments, and once I had fired a number of spores I was satisfied with I looked around once more. The fungi were dancing even more energetically, and I sensed their jubilation. It surged into me and invigorated me.

This is pleasant. I thought idly, grinning at the celebratory creatures, even as I heard Samyaza arrive behind me and watch the joyful mood of the creatures. Their dancing caused their lights to spread around erratically and thus, even if momentarily, illuminate the entirety of the chamber.

"I am home." I said proudly, grinning to no one since Samyaza was behind me. I didn't doubt that the angel heard my smile though.

"And it is time for me to begin to create... my people." I said, even more proudly, as my mind raced and I began to wonder about what sorts of creatures would do well in a mountain home.

What sort of beings would do well in a mountain? Dwarves? Terrans? Earth elementals? My fungal folks? I thought, curiosity causing my mind to immediately list the sorts of beings I knew who would thrive at each level of this enormous mountain.

During the time I had spent building up the realm, while I was thoroughly experiencing and studying the memories of my first worshipers, I had read through hundreds of species knowledge entries. Among them, one particular species stood out to me: dwarves. Finally, a chance to create members of various species in an environment truly suited to them. I thought, a smile on my face.

"Hey Samyaza, go around and explore to your heart's content. I'm going to begin to set up over here. I like this place. I think I'll claim it and make it a home." I told my advisor. The angel was silent in response to my declaration. It was most likely lost in thought, as it contemplated what I had told it.

[Summarized Species Knowledge: Dwarves, Terrans, Earth Elementals, & Fungal Folks

Dwarves are stout humanoids who dwell underground or in and around mountains. These serious people value tradition, exploration, discovery, duty, and craftsmanship. They are blacksmiths, alchemists, artisans, and warriors who were first formed underground by a deity who purposefully made them as his children.

Terrans are powerful genies who come from the Earth-Realm, a massive plane made entirely of earth, half of which is located above ground and half of which is located underground. They are a noble, proud, species that have potent earth-shaping abilities and who control a massive empire that includes nearly the entirety of the Earth-Realm. Among their many powers is the power to grant wishes, a skill of theirs that both mortals and other extraplanars seek to abuse.

Earth Elementals are conscious, sapient creatures who are piles of earth, rock, soil, and assorted metals that are capable of movement. They are living creatures who obey their creators in a sense like most golems do.

Fungal Folks are the final evolution of most conventional types of fungi. These are intelligent, mobile beings who can speak humanoid languages and who lead communities of fungi that include less evolved fungi, treating those beings as equals and partners, not as children or cousins.]

I recalled the information I knew about the assorted creatures I had decided would be the first created residents of my new home. And then I began to think of names. I worked hard to come up with a lengthy list of names so that when I set about crafting the creatures who would become my first servants here, they wouldn't be nameless beings for a single moment.

Jason. Rebecca. Adan. Lisabeth. Those names and several more, including some that sounded far less humanoid than those, filled my mind moments after I began to think of assorted names. My mind raced to meet my needs, a helpful effect of being in my realm where I was even more powerful than I was elsewhere.

It took me a few minutes to feel satisfied with both the number of names I had prepared and the number of creatures I wanted to create at this moment. But when I did I immediately began to do the eldritch and powerful things I needed to do to bring the first residents of my fortress to life.

With a blink and with a thought I activated one of my oldest yet least used powers: my reconstitution power. I felt the mystical power that allowed me to create something that was eerily close to life but lacked heart and soul, flow through me, blaze into readiness.

I took a deep breathe and pictured the creature I wanted to create: a female dwarf. I pictured a woman with a serious, furrowed face, and an even more serious, dutiful personality. I pictured her with long, red-hair that spread out around and down her back. I pictured her clad in warm, leather-armor and then I activated my power, with the picture of her etched firmly in my mind. The way it manifested was unlike anything I had ever seen.

In front of me, pebbles at my feet began to come together, drawn to each other as if affected by a magical magnetism. When they were drawn to each other, they collided gently and stuck together as if glued to each other. Over the course of the next few moments, hundreds of these pebbles collided with each other, until they formed an abstract statue about a meter and a quarter tall that was only vaguely humanoid in shape.

Seconds after the statue was formed, a magical circle appeared underneath it. Normally such circles were a shade of blue, but this one was a shade of yellowish-green. The circle immediately flared to life, its arcane geometry sending mystical energy surging through the statue. The thing began to radiate a glow that very quickly became intensely bright, so much so that the entire cavern was filled with the fierce light.

At that moment, while the light still radiated in I began to construct the soul of the dwarf, Rebecca. I envisioned her personality: she was to be a clear-headed, professional woman, who valued her god above all else. She was to view this mountain, as her home and to want to protect it. I pictured her being a simple, but intense, and devoted sort of person.

I granted her soul the power to link minds, omnilingualism, and a copy of tremor-sense. That was when the light that had radiated from the body I made for her died down and revealed the body I had pictured in my mind.

And a minute later I felt her soul awaken next to me. I smiled at her soul, and then sent it into the body that I had crafted for her. The soul sailed forward and then phased into the body, incorporeally going into it and taking a second to settle inside of it.

The body was still for a moment. And then another. And one more. And then Rebecca's eyes opened wide, and she began to breathe.

"Hello Rebecca. It's nice to meet you." I said, smiling at her.

The dwarf in front of me was silent, but there was a smile on her face. There was joy in her large, green eyes. It took her a full minute of looking at me and then studying her surroundings before she began to speak.

"Hello, creator. May I ask, where I am?" She politely asked, her voice soft and curious.

I was about to answer her when I felt something alien send me a deeply emotional, mental message.

[Mhmmm!] I heard in my voice, my mind suddenly assailed by an unfamiliar voice from a familiar place. There was an urgency there, a desire, and a heartfelt plea, that I understood even though I had no idea what "Mhmmm!" meant. My face contorted in mild confusion for a second, before I heard another mental message.

[Ahh! Ahh. Ahh?] This second message caused more confusion. But now I knew who it was who was messaging me. The first soul. I thought, surprised that the thing was reacting to something now. It was also reacting to it quite strongly.

[Are you reacting to Rebecca?] I questioned, sending the thing a message, while I turned my attention to my newest creation.

"Hello, Rebecca. You're home. Our home. You are the first humanoid I've ever personally created. I have created this place, this mountain, as one of my homes in this world, one that I created. I wanted to populate this place with a number of creatures, and you are the first of those creatures. You are here to help me." I told her, truthfully explaining her origins to her. She heard me and listened in awe to my explanation. And then another mental message came to me.

[Mhmm. I... Want.] The unintelligible words were clear and loud. The actual words were soft and slow. But I understood now, thanks to the emotions I heard within each syllable of the unintelligible words. I knew what the first soul I had ever created wanted: she wanted to be a dwarf!

[I understand. Do you want to be Rebecca's sister?] I asked the unnamed soul, smiling at Rebecca and at the soul by this unexpected development. Rebecca, having had a chance to process what I told her spoke once more.

"This is... my home?" She asked, a smile appearing on her serious face and causing it to light up.

I studied her face for a moment, memorizing every artistic feature. And then I responded. "Yes, it is. Do you like it?" I asked, sincerely. She didn't hesitate with her response.

"I do! I really do. I can sense that this mountain is filled with ore. And that I was made to be here." She said, jubilation radiating off of her. I nodded at her, even as I received a message from the first soul.

[Yes. I... do... want... to... be sisters.] The soul said, unsurprisingly struggling with language but expertly conveying her emotions. Internally I smiled, and reactivated my reconstitution power, envisioning a copy of Rebecca but with blonde hair.

[Well in that case, your name is Lisabeth. I'm preparing your body now.] I told the soul, a wide grin on my face. And I took this chance to communicate with Rebecca herself.

"Rebecca, do you want to meet your sister? I'm creating her now. I'm also creating other dwarves, and other inhabitants of this mountain, friends, family, neighbors, and other people to populate this place, this sacred site with." I told her, a wide and confident grin etched on my face.

She beamed at me, a joyful expression on her face. "Family? A sister?" She said, her voice rising in pitch with each word.

This was a good idea. I thought, as I began to make simultaneous use of several of my powers. It's time I create the other early inhabitants of this mountain. Of my home. I thought, preparing to welcome a number of earth-creatures into my world, most of which I had never never made before.

How exciting. I thought, grinning inside and out.

"Yes. Your sister. And your family and home. You were intended as and are the oldest sister and oldest child in your family. It is on you to protect your family and your home." I told her, confidence and pride audible in my voice. She nodded at me, a fierce and protective look in her eyes.

I think I might have done a good job with her. I mentally remarked, proudly observing the first humanoid I directly created.