Maliande and Altana placed their 3 Ocean Tiles swiftly and without any real surprises. Both placed them two tiles out from their current borders, to maximize the amount of colonizable land around them. Vimi after many whispers from her advisors, ended up placing her nine Ocean Tiles in a fairly random spot between the Snowflakes Holds and New Eden. 

Iceface gave Rykard a covert smile. ‘Looks like they want to offer me something without offering me too much?’ he thought. The sizable body of water and the extra land between them would make it easier to establish trade routes eventually. That Rykard was tempted to use that same route to invade them and crush all the shackles they owned was something they were blissfully unaware of. ‘I must have seriously charmed them. Not that it is a real sacrifice on their part. They wouldn’t be able to add to the pattern with nine connected Ocean Tiles.’

Everyone’s attention shifted to Tess. The goth woman kept staring at the window Teyla presented her with. Not a single muscle in her face did as much as twitch. She placed one Ocean Tile, then another one, then another one. At first, everyone was just interested at the straight line she was drawing, then the ice dwarves began to shift uncomfortably. Another one and they got annoyed. Another one and the first of them began to shout.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Iceface thundered.

It was then that Tess’ mask finally broke, her black lips spreading into a smile. Gleefully, she placed another Hexagon and watched the gathered dwarves erupt in impotent cries. “If you wish to blame anyone, blame your queen,” the champion of the Bond Crow stated, tapping once again.

The shape she had drawn was a line that first went straight north, then took a curve north-west towards Rykard. In that way, it was expected. What was both avoidable and clearly on purpose was the way the Ocean Tiles and the surrounding Coastal Tiles went right up to the Snowflakes Holds. Any chance of this pattern they wanted to make on the map was utterly undone by the invasive maneouvre.

“Do you wish to confirm this choice?” Teyla asked.

“If ye answer yes to that,” Iceface spoke grimly. “You and your people will land in the Book of Grudges! There will be war!”

Tess’ blue eyes glowed, causing the ice dwarven queen to immediately scurry behind the backs of three guards, all of them closing rank. “Bring your strife to my lands and I’ll make sure you all have sky burials.”

The dwarves got quiet at that, their rage boiling over into a cold wrath. Threatening the pattern was bad, threatening a dwarf that they would be food for the crows, rather than entombed in the depth of their holds, was ancestral blasphemy.

Rykard just stood aside and let the scene play out. Could he get involved? Absolutely. He had good relations with both sides, so he could probably try and dissuade Tess from doing this or the ice dwarves from retaliating (immediately). However, he had to admit, it was just too funny to watch unfold.

Tess’ belligerent passiveness as she just smiled at the deeply insulted dwarves was hilarious. That she was likely going to set back their nations for months by doing this was just good for Rykard all around. Two of the Contestants would be busy with each other. It would hurt the Snowflake Holds so much more than Tess, who was in it primarily for herself, rather than a national project.

In fact, if the ice dwarves went to invade her area, that just gave the Ravenmantle Guild an army worth of stuff to steal. From her perspective, even the worst case was a good case.

“I confirm my choice,” Tess ultimately stated.

“THAT’S GOING INTO THE BOOK OF GRUDGES!” Iceface roared, the ever-encrusted surface of his face breaking open and revealing vestiges of an actual mouth underneath. “YE FUCKED WITH THE WRONG HOLDS, LADY! WE’LL HAVE THREE GENERATIONS OF YOUR PEOPLE WORK FOR US AS PAYBACK!”

Tess just smiled and gestured for the placements to continue.

Benhuldran was quiet. Teyla’s magic had healed him fully of his exhaustion, but the loss still must have sat in his bones. After some time, he began placing his ocean in an expected fashion, surrounding his nation with plenty of land to expand into, and giving him a natural barrier against any army that might come from New Eden. It also connected him to one of the unknown Contestants. A plan to invade, perhaps? Benhuldran was still the second strongest Contestant around. At least, that was the current impression. Jury was still out on Tess.

“I told the Organizer we should have made it so Ocean Tiles are 7 bunched up Hexagons,” Teyla mumbled. “These aren’t oceans, they’re blue snakes on the map… Rykard, your choice?”

It was time for Rykard to make his decision.

“In the interest of your aesthetic preferences, Twinned Goddess…” Rykard said and then began to place an actual body of water on the map. The red-white haired woman hummed approvingly as he did, looking over this shoulder. As did Miyo. The redhead was not quite as convinced.

“We could have more coastline,” she reminded him.

“Eh, what is coast line good for? Just less opportunities to summon in tiles that I do want,” Rykard answered. With that, the talk was over. “Say, as winner, you’ll be extra gracious regarding the populated Hexagon I wish for, correct?”

“Correct,” confirmed the goddess.

“If I were to place it between the two bodies of water, would you grant me a canal?”

“That rather depends on the phrase, doesn’t it?” Teyla slightly tilted her head and whispered into his mind. ‘Albeit, as the winner, I suppose I can extend that bit of favouritism to you.’

‘Splendid,’ he answered in his thoughts. A little outcropping of his initially planned ocean cleared the condition. Two bodies of water for the price of one was certainly worth the bit of distance. “My phrase then: aquatic monstergirls protecting my oceans, led by a powerful commander.”

Teyla pursed her lips. “Hm, I suppose one could disagree whether it should be monstergirls or monster girls… alas, that ‘my’ would be superfluous, so why be a stickler?” The Twinned Goddess rolled her shoulders. “Now, before all tiles shall be summoned, a question must be asked: what kind of waters are the oceans of this world, winner of this game?”

“Make it all saltwater - except for the sea right of my populated Hexagon,” Rykard decided, more on a whim than anything else.

“As you wish,” Teyla said.

And then it was so. A snap of her fingers reverberated through reality, sending the other gods to do the bidding of the Contestants they had empowered for their amusement. Rykard could feel the shifting in the air all around.

“And so the first Divine Game comes to an end!” Teyla announced, magic gathering around all of them. “Speak your words of goodbye, Contestants, before I teleport you and all you brought to your Hexagons of origin!”

“IT’S ON, BITCH!” Iceface shouted at Tess.

The thief did not even acknowledge the angry dwarf, instead turning to Rykard. Her eyes spelled out the words she left unspoken: ‘do not break our deal.’

Rykard gave her a tiny nod, then turned to Altana. The redhead had taken half a step towards him. Putting a hand on her chest, the female chimera offered him a grateful smile. “Thank you for all your words. I hope we get to meet again.”

“We will,” Rykard promised. “As will we,” he added in a more sinister tone, grinning at Maliande.

“No! Stay away from me! Forever!” the bratty mage declared.

The light grew more intense with every passing second. Already, he could see the hills of his estate overlay themselves over the garden. “Rykard!” Benhuldran shouted suddenly and stomped towards the man that had bested him. He raised a hand. Rykard took it on instinct. Wisened eyes stared at him. “For all your faults, you have honour. Never lose it!”

Before Rykard could think of a retort, be it witty or sincere, the hand disappeared. Everything around him and Miyo disappeared. They stood in the conceptual void.

Then, they stood in front of the Estate.

Rykard checked his map, just out of interest. It had updated, to his mild surprise. It appeared that ‘immediately loyal’ really meant ‘immediately’, as the populated Hexagon has spawned in already as his, thus giving him an immediate way to check up on everyone else.

It appeared that everyone but the Contestant in the top left had tried to get to the Divine Game and thus not conquered anything else while Rykard was busy. A tremendous stroke of luck, all things considered. Those four Contestants that did not participate would not have access to the Double Hexagon placement either for the next month.

‘Everything is coming together for me,’ Rykard hummed. He was now firmly ahead on all fronts. He had the most Hexagons, he had two oceans, an enormous coast line, and a canal with a naval base. 

Quite the comfortable position to be in.