It had been a while since Oberon had returned to the Sea of Sand, what with all the new mortals that had started flooding into the realm. But it was always a welcome relief for him to visit the endless desert, with its soft sands that felt cool underfoot and the moon's gentle gaze that cast everything in a pleasant, silvery light. Perhaps such a place existed too on mortal earth, but Oberon felt that calm solitude such as this was rare to find.

He stirred the sands that lay cool beneath his paws, watching the grains sift and slide, pulling them downward in a spiralling whirlpool before returning the surface of the dune to pristine, windswept smoothness. The way it poured so fluidly yet was made of earth as dry and solid ever... There was nothing like it anywhere else. The sand on the coast was waterlogged and clumpy, though its upper surface did dry out under the bleaching heat of the midday sun, but its job was to bank the crashing waves, not lay in the eternal quiet of this desert night. Coming here was refreshing. After dozens of new mortals and their tumultuous emotions, it was a very appreciated peace.

But today he was not here to rejuvenate himself under the silver light of the moon. Today he was supervising one of his charges on their first foray into the God Lands. Quartz would be arriving shortly - or not so shortly, depending on how the passage wanted to judge her. But Oberon had sensed that she was close to the full first tier of divinity, if not already there, and knew that the passage would find no trouble. It would search her and come up with nothing, and she would come out the other side safely.

As expected, the female soon appeared on the sands just a little ways away from him. She greeted him with no words, just a polite nod, so he began immediately.

"You made it," he remarked, a tiny hint of pride in his tone. "I now welcome you to the Sea of Sand, which is just one of the many God Lands." Casting his gaze around at the quiet desert, the silence made comfortable by the gently whispering winds, he continued. "Now that you have more or less attained divinity, these lands are free for you to roam as you please. They are nothing like the lands you were born on, and the lands you have just come from - if you focus, you will sense the vein of power that flows through it. It would benefit you to explore here, too, intrepid one. There are many different places here that lend their environments to different purposes - for example, I come here often to meditate. And meditating here may further enlighten you on what other biomes there are for you to discover."