Aurelina and I sailed through the air towards the city in the distance quite casually. We were flying at, for us, a fairly slow speed so even in the air the trip took a few minutes. That said, almost before I knew it we had managed to make it to the edge of the city.
When we reached the city's outermost point we found ourselves in front of a small shopping district. We stayed in the air, and as I looked around me I could see people staring at us. It wasn't because we were flying, because there were many people who were doing that, but rather because I was both fully clothed and also the city's resident newcomer.
I could sense hearts shifting towards me as creatures gazed at me and I almost blushed from the attention I was receiving. I knew that my powers were potent since I was a fairly rare god of beauty that was at the "conceptual" level. My powers, especially my passive ones in my true form, were significantly powerful, and it seemed that they'd only be growing in potency as a result of my visit to this place.
All around Aurelina and I were a number of beings. Some of them had various numbers of feathered wings and were usually a number of kinds of angels of differing ranks and domains. I could sense this at even a casual glance, thanks to my gradually increasing amount of power. Some of them were kinds of angels I had never seen before, such as "Houri" and "Angels of Death". And I also saw various deities.
Aurelina hadn't been kidding when she told me that deities here might have been walking around in various states of undress. It was to the extent that I was the only true divinity that I saw who was fully dressed.
I saw gods and goddesses who were entirely naked, their divinely beautiful forms on full display to both divine beings, such as angels and gods, and to the rare mortals, I could see littering the shopping area. Mortals mostly worked in the shops throughout the area, which I could reasonably infer were all owned by various deities. The mortals who gazed at me had to work to hold back golden tears of joy, as a consequence of laying their eyes on me. I felt kind of bad, as I hadn't wanted them to gaze upon me. That said, I was a newcomer to this place and I wanted to continue to follow their rules for now so I understood that I was expected to stay in my true form.
Aurelina turned to face me and smiled. As she did I sensed her about to speak excitedly as she had before.
"Welcome to our shopping district! This area is actually pretty expansive but it doesn't particularly look like that from here. Any god who wants to sell goods here only needs to fill out a form and select those they wish to employ. The city is perpetually expanding and we don't charge people for the land they use, we only take a small percentage of their earnings as a tax. These stores are all filled with mortals who work as employees here, though as a reward for working here they are given immortality and a small home in the divine areas controlled by their deific employers. Any other needs they may have are divinely and safely met, allowing the city to have a sizeable population of mortals who, unsurprisingly occupy the lowest rung in our society but are still cared for and treated justly." Aurelina explained.
"You can buy all manner of things here! Many gods of different types of invention own shops over here that allow them to sell a staggering array of items. We even have services that allow those who use the shopping district to get informed about special sales and discounts through the public version of the system." Aurelina continued, as she turned to face the district.
"Today a lot of gods are out and about which is somewhat unusual. Usually, from what I've seen in the centuries I've lived in the city, gods send out mortals or even angels to shop on their behalf." My tour guide told me, before turning back and smirking at me.
"In your case... I'd recommend making use of the shopping district even to the extent of opening up a shop. You're a grand adonis, a powerful divinity of fertility and bounty and so you'd not only attract customers you'd also surely be able to create fascinating items to sell. Or you could work with another shop-owner and partner with them in various ways. Plus, I've read about some of the followers who are waiting for you in your temple... The shopping district would be an excellent way for you to get ahead. More than one being of fertility and bounty awaits you in your temple." She teased, her eyes glowing with excitement.
She began to fly away from where we were and I chuckled and followed her. We flew deeper into the city this time, flying until we were above what I immediately recognized as a vast, campus-like area. Aurelina stopped when we reached this area and motioned for me to look down and study the surprisingly familiar area.
"Welcome to the Institute of Divinity! This area is where many of our knowledge-based divinities live and work. All of the work of the academics here is freely available and public information. Our scrying is done here as well. In the future, it may be wise for you to stop by here and introduce yourself. Your kind of divinity is very rare, and that's before we get into your nature as an ascendant. There are a truly vast number of knowledge-based divinities who'd be eager to work with you." She informed me, a bright smile on her face.
"A place for me to learn huh? Hmm... I'm gonna make visiting here one of my immediate priorities." I remarked, idly. I intended to learn everything I could about this place.
"Smart man! Also, like the shopping district, this place is larger than it looks. Important parts of the city tend to be larger on the inside than they look from the outside. If we landed somewhere you'd be able to see that yourself. We owe that to a deity of physics who is one of our inhabitants. He really liked the city and wanted to make it better so he spent a few centuries influencing the city on a metaphysical level." She revealed.
"That physics deity will probably visit your temple in the days to come, especially if you leave a body here or appoint one of your followers the head of your temple, someone who manages your affairs within the city. He is one of the deities who govern the city. We are run, though I say that somewhat loosely, by a council of deities whose combined deific portfolios cover every major aspect of civilization, goodness, and law. Deities who make major contributions to the Eternal City are given invitations to join the council if sitting members are willing to vouch for them." Aurelina told me, educating me as to how the city was run.
We floated silently over the institute for a few moments. As we did I studied the place and saw the inhabitants and residents of that particular area. I saw a range of men and women walking from one part of the institute to another, most of whom were fully clothed though there were a fair number of fully naked divinities walking around the grounds of the campus.
"You should know that knowledge that you're an ascendant being is not known to the public. What is known to the public is what was revealed in that announcement that you have arrived. So... extremely little. Council members, depending on their individual security clearance, probably know that you are an ascendant but even then it's not guaranteed. Even I was only told about your nature as an ascendant due to the fact that I'm your tour guide. I was given a dossier on sanguinarchs and archdemons and read it prior to your arrival, but specifics about you, such as your sanguinarch focus or foci, if we know them, are not known to me." She told me, reassuringly.
"Hmm... That's actually really reassuring. Weirdly enough it'd probably be comforting to those in the know to know my focuses and sins but I personally like the idea that I have... some measure of privacy. Some secrets." I told her, before chuckling gently. She nodded, understandingly, at my remarks.
"It's definitely off-putting for many newcomers. Deities, in general, are annoying to scry upon so most of us, or rather most of you, are used to having your privacy. The knowledge that at least one cosmic city is capable of spying upon them tends to rub more than a few of them the wrong way. You're taking this extremely well, all things considered." She told me, sounding more than a little impressed.
"I'm not especially happy about it, but it's far from the worst news I could imagine. One of the benefits of being a grand adonis, at least one as strong as me, is an enhanced intellect and it doesn't exactly take a genius to figure out that there must have been some means for you all to be able to observe me so that you could detect when I met the criteria to be allowed entry into the city." I explained. I wasn't lying either, it wasn't fun to be spied upon, even indirectly but I was taking it fairly reasonably. It was convenient for me since it meant that the instant I had proven myself worthy of entry into the city I was able to be brought here. She nodded at my words and then flew higher into the air.
"Well, there are plenty of other areas to explore, I know you probably want to see your temple so we'll be heading there next but I do want you to know about a few other places. There is an arena near the middle of the city that allows local entities of war and combat to spar, a vast garden, and of course the central temple at the heart of the city. That central temple is our seat of government." Aurelina informed me. Partway through her explanation, she began to fly higher into the air and of course, I followed her, curious to see where she was going.
We sailed high into the air, enough so that I could see a vast temple off in the distance, as well as an arena next to it. I could also see areas dominated by temples of distinct styles. Some of the temples were tiny things, little more than houses, and others were sprawling buildings clearly covered in distinctive markings that I recognized as divine symbology. Aurelina watched as I studied them for a moment, before smiling at me when I looked at her and encouraged me to follow her as she took off towards one of the areas where temples dominated the landscape.
We flew for perhaps a few minutes until we found ourselves floating over directly over one of the temples. I glanced at it and something about it felt oddly familiar to me. I immediately knew, thanks to that strange feeling, that this temple was mine. It was not a particularly flashy temple, though it was very distinctly and obviously a temple unlike some of the other temples I had seen so far, but it was welcoming and as I studied it I saw various figures waiting outside of its closed gates. I knew at a glance that they were the visitors that Aurelina had told me about.
Aurelina and I silently began our descent, floating downward at a healthy pace for a few moments. We weren't falling, just gently descending to the ground. When we landed we had landed beyond the gates and for the first time, I had a chance to see the strange, physics-defying nature of the city. As we descended I could physically see the land stretching in reality-defying ways, to the extent that the area just beyond my own temple's gates grew and even revealed things I had previously not seen.
I was between the gates and the actual temple and the area behind me was surprisingly simple. It was a humble walkway to the steps of the temple, and at the end of the steps was a vast red door that even I couldn't see through, though I suspected that if I had really wanted too I could have by focusing my power in my vision. On the other side of the gates were a number of beings, fascinated visitors to my temple who occupied a thick, splendid garden filled with all manner of trees, flowers, and other plant-life, owed undoubtedly to my nature as a deity of nature. I sensed the ambient power wafting off of the trees and instantly pieced together that the trees must have been home to dryads.
Many of the trees were fruit trees, and some dropped some apples and other fruits as a response to my sudden appearance, thanks to the trees beginning to vibrate joyously. The visitors to the garden seemed equally interested in me, and surprisingly several of them were mortals, or even other kinds of beings who weren't mortal or divine including an unseelie fey, dressed in a red robe and nothing else. Behind me Aurelina whispered that I should make a speech of some sort.
I silently approached the gate and smiled at the visitors. As I did I sensed their hearts beginning to pound faster, and I heard the blood inside of them rush towards pleasant parts of their bodies. When I reached the gate I opened it and began to speak.
"Good afternoon, friends, visitors, and guests! My name is Raul and this is my temple. I am happy to welcome you here, and to encourage you to indulge in blissful pleasure." I exclaimed, my face brightening in bliss as I welcomed them to my home. The truth was that my encouragement was done on purpose, since even if they didn't have sex in my name they'd still be empowering me. I had a mastery of lust, the sin, and every moment that people indulged themselves in pleasure they were empowering me.
The numerous visitors to my temple eagerly began to walk into the area just beyond the gate, while I walked over to the vast red door that kept me from seeing inside of my temple. As I approached it I sensed the presence of many different individuals beyond it, as my only sense that was truly cut off by the door was my sight and my other senses were enhanced enough that even through the thick door I could still freely sense beyond it.
Very curiously, some of the sorts of beings I could sense beyond the thick door I began to open with a gentle push were unlike any beings I had ever encountered. It filled me with excitement as I watched the door swing open and got a chance to lay my eyes on the people who had devoted themselves to me already.
