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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 9:32:36 GMT -6
> Xentus, accompanied by...
Now, wasn't thing an interesting little curiosity. Born from Acidity and a simple earth golem came something new. Life itself, embodied in a basketball sized seedling golem. Xentus found himself sitting at his desk with the strange creature set atop the wooden surface. It, like many of the other golems who came before it, wiggled its little pseudopods and writhed with intent to earn its master's validation. The man teased it, holding his fingers just beyond its reach. A sly smile was spread across his muzzle. There was always this odd charm about the young, seedling stage of the golems that he enjoyed. Something about that simple, helpless, yet already full of desire to please their bonded one struck him as fascinating. It never got boring. Though, the need to ferry it around and wait for it to grow stronger was always a little boring. Nonetheless, Xentus was pleased with his new 'creation'.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 9:36:50 GMT -6
Unlike 'glass', 'plant' or 'life' was easier to understand as an elemental attribute. It was.. Unique to think 'life' as an elemental force of nature, but he felt it seemed appropriate enough. The main question lingering in his mind was how the combination of acid and earth spurred life or plant conceptually. Acid was generally destructive, corrosive in nature and hardly seen as beneficial to anything aside from making lemons tart. Now, he wasn't too much a chemist or biologist (he liked himself for as a field researcher), but he did have some learnings from research about amino acids.. The building blocks of life, in some sense. He wasn't sure about the specifics. Add amino acids to the earth and.. Somehow that might spur life, he supposed. Ah, perhaps it wasn't worth it to think of it so technically. Whatever process or sense it made was irreverent to the fact that he had the golem here, living right before him.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 9:56:32 GMT -6
He stared at the green creature, and its inner green seed stared back in return. There was a gentle glow stemming from it, pulsating softly in the dim light of the study. The leopard teased with a little while longer, dangling his fingertips just beyond its reach. Then after half a minute of testing its patience, he let it caress his fingers, twirling the malleable pseudopods between them. A hum escaped him, wondering what to name this one.. Yggdrasil was one that he fancied, though it was a bit of a mouthful. Terra was too boring.. Atlas was a name he liked in all honesty, and was the one he took into the most consideration. Ideally, they would be meaningful, unique, and rolled well off the tongue. Alas, his sense for names these days was a bit lacking. He'd ask the golem which it might prefer, but he somehow got the feeling it would be perfectly content no matter what title he gave it.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 10:38:45 GMT -6
"Atlas", the man said with hints of adoration in his tone. The golem seemed to perk up at the sound of his voice, indifferent to the name he spoke. Good enough for him. The golem was christened Atlas, after the archaic titan once believed to hold up the world. He felt it suitable enough, and it partnered well with Astraea, the innocent. Pleased with himself, the leopard stood and scooped up the seedling, much to its delight. He decided that there would be no better place to research the golem than in the midst of his overgrown garden. A small adventure, some sunlight, and bonding time would do them both well, he thought. Xentus packed his bag with a tinned lunch and his journal, then strapped on his wings, Papilio. With the greed seedling held tight, he made his way outside and thrust himself into the air, soaring with the power granted by the device on his back.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 10:44:23 GMT -6
Golems weren't meant to fly, were they? The seedling in his arms seemed to tightly grip his arms, confused as to what was going on around it. The buffeting of the chilly, late autumn winds as they soared through the sky was a new, strange feeling. Xentus was accustomed to it, having flown like this plenty of times before. Given how simple the seedling was, he didn't think it might be bothered by the strange sensation. Thankfully for it, the flight was a short one. The garden plot the leopard attended to was not too far from his homely little cottage. Within minutes, his wings powered down and they gently landed upon the earth one again. The quiet garden offered no greeting to the leopard's arrival. The cold made the plant-animals sluggish and sleepy through the day, spending most of the sunlight hours simply basking. It wasn't long before they were to become nearly dormant through the snowy winter months.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 10:54:00 GMT -6
The young seedling golem didn't seem to mind the cold all that much. And, well, if it did, it didn't show any signs of being uncomfortable from it. After peering down at it in his arms for a moment, Xentus wanted to think perhaps it became a little less animate than earlier.. But even with his great experience with these creatures, he honestly couldn't tell if it was out of the ordinary for their behavior. The seedlings were especially difficult to judge, given that they didn't move much to begin with. The flailing of tentacle-arms and clattering of head-shell described almost the entirety of the creature's current range of movement. And it would remain so until it developed its body further into.. Well, something that resembled a body. While it usually wasn't until the seedling grew strong enough to move itself around that the leopard decided to take them on any kind of excursion, it was getting a little difficult to further his studies atop his desk..
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 11:00:33 GMT -6
And out here, he could do a bit of maintenance while giving the golem some time within its element. Or what he hoped was its element. In the same vein as glass, 'plant' and 'life' were a little more on the abstract side when it came to discerning what exactly it constituted as. He grew the seed in a mix of soil, fresh leaves, wilted leaves, potted plants, and a pocket-sized mouse-like creature. This left a great deal of uncertainty when it came to figuring out which of those helped the little thing grow. Was it one of these things? A mix? All of them? If only the little seedling could simply tell him itself. It was oddly disturbing to consider that the creature literally absorbed the life essence of things around it, though.. To leech life of others to in turn grow its own self.. While he supposed all things did this in some manner, the concept was more frightening to consider when applied to the golem.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 11:05:43 GMT -6
Such an ability would likely be useful when it came to combating foes, he supposed. He would be lying if he didn't want to explore what uses the manipulation of 'life' or plants might fruit when the golem was strong enough and able to do so for him. But, that would take some time. Until then, he could research what made the little thing grew. And plot out some manner of goals with little Atlas. In comparison, Astraea was one who he sought to have as a dear companion. His first knight, in a sense. He'd developed a fairly good bond with her, he felt. The same could go for Atlas, but if he were to take the golem on the same route, he felt obligated to invest in another one of those twisted charms to help.. Enhance the golem's mentality. Admittedly, it was difficult to bond with a creature that robotically served him, with no forethought of its own.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 11:13:00 GMT -6
The leopard couldn't be more pleased with how Astraea was inquisitive and perceptive. Yet still retained the innate desire to protect and serve him as he might need or request. She also helped him come to terms with the idea of maintaining guardianship over free thinking beings. They weren't pets, yet oddly, not what he'd consider 'friends'. His feelings for them were more familial. Like his relationship with the dragonics, he felt himself the figurehead over their wellbeing. This gave him a good sense of confidence when it came to handling and bonding with such beings. Though, he did feel a little bad about showing off Astaroth in the freak show ring.. The talkesh didn't seem to care in the end, thankfully. Xentus refocused his attention on Atlas, who he'd placed atop the lofty boulder flanking the lotine pond. The cold stone surface wasn't the most inviting, but it did offer the seedling a good view around the garden.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 11:18:34 GMT -6
While it had a near 360 degree field of view, its focus was centered on the leopard. Its bonded one. He was the only thing that the small creature cared for, even in its current form (which was essentially a baby). Like a newborn snake, it ran on instinct. Its life force was tied to the man from the moment he pressed upon its seed, bonding them until one or the other perished from this world. Atlas watched over the man with care, witnessing as he turned away to do some mundane chores nearby. The flowerbeds needed some mild weeding and fertilization, the pond likely needed some revitalizing drops.. Now that the man was surrounded by the wilting greenery, he seemed to realize there was still a lot of work to be done around here. A hum escaped his throat as he eyed the polytunnel. Perhaps in there would be a better place to start.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 13:58:32 GMT -6
The couple of quick chores were finished with haste under the watchful eye-seed of the seedling golem. And possibly some other eyes scattered about the garden grounds. None of the garden fauna seemed up be up and about and raring to greet him and the golem. He spent much too little time about the garden to gain the favor of many creatures within it, aside from possibly the pachee or the lotine. But even they weren't too keen on coming out of their hiding spots just to greet the man. A mental note was made: spend more time with the garden animals.. And garner a few more. His personal menagerie was vast in his opinion, but the garden dwellers were on the scant side. While it wasn't the best idea for him to want to keep even more creatures under his ownership, at least the garden animals were the easiest to care for.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 14:02:05 GMT -6
They needed only water and sunshine, with the occasional meal if he was feeling generous. The residents here were more likely to feed him than the other way around, really. Which reminded him, it was nearing mussimander-shroom harvesting season.. The one he had in his collection may not have produced edible fruit, but they would hopefully be worth a bit if sold to the right person. He heard they might be good for some kind of alchemical processes, though he was never too keen on researching much into that subject. Xentus, still swimming about in his own thoughts, picked up the young golem seedling and carried it over to the polytunnel. It was a temporary installation, later to be replaced by a permanent greenhouse fixture.. When he got around to doing that, anyway. But the cheap polytunnel served the same function and suited his needs just fine. Within, his crop of strawberries and tomatoes grew.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 14:05:57 GMT -6
Grapes were next on the list to grow in here, but he was on the fence on whether or not he wanted to wait for the more permanent greenhouse. Atlas was placed on some scrap plywood while the leopard examined the growth of his plants. The strawberries were on the small side, but not yet fully ripe. The tomatoes, on the other hand, needed pollenating. And somehow, there was a bit of weeding to do.. How did such pesky plants manage to crop up exactly where he didn't want them? The man sighed and shook his head, silently fuming about the minor problems of the garden. If not for the worried clatter of the green seedling, he would've wallowed in such thoughts for a while longer. Snapped out of his woes, the leopard offered the seedling a reassuring smile before turning away to do his chores. Its inner seed watched carefully, then it felt spurred to action.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 14:09:54 GMT -6
There wasn't much the seedling could do under its own power, but it was urged to aid in its master's plight. And if there was something it could do, it was help with unwanted plants. While it wasn't sure which of the greenery was unwanted, it seemed to be filled with a certain sense of determination, fueled by its master's will. Its arms pulled itself off of its plywood perch, sending its hard head-shell tumbling to the ground with a clatter. Xentus perked up from his word, almost startled by the sudden noise.
"Ah, Atlas..", the leopard worriedly muttered, rounding over toward the fallen seedling to pick it up. Its little pseudopods flailed in a feeble attempt to right itself, finally giving up and letting the leopard assist. He looked the seedling over to assure it wasn't harmed by the tumble to took, then looked about for a spot to put it a little more close by.
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Post by Xentus on Dec 7, 2020 14:13:52 GMT -6
There wasn't much in the way of table space within the polytunnel. A frown crossed the leopard's muzzle, coming to the conclusion that he'd need to carry the helpless little thing. Not an issue, though it was a slight hinderance. Nothing he couldn't handle. He supposed this time spent with it in the garden was meant to be bonding time with the little thing anyway. The leopard adjusted his pack so that it rested over his chest, then placed the seedling inside. It was a bit big, but it fit just fine as long as he left the top open. His hands were free, and the seedling could be close by and watch to its heart's content. A win for both parties, no doubt. But the little seedling still felt the need to help its bonded one in some way. Its arms reached out to grasp the nearest stray leaf, wrapping around the foliage so that it could do its part.
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