"Desert comes in interesting. Very nice. The indestructibility is why I strongly recommend against more random summoning until I decide whether to teach someone how to do it properly. It can be very hard to get rid of a troublesome fairy."

"Thank you. Yes, it sounds difficult. Thank you, for not being troublesome."

"I imagine troublesome people find being troublesome amusing, or something, but I don't." He flies off to the northwest at a fairly sedate speed, swooping down to investigate the interesting rock formations along the way.

They are interesting! Some of them are shaped in ways that don't make sense from ordinary rock cycles.

If Nick is paying enough attention, he can even spot a subtle cave entrance, in one of the bigger and more impressive rock formations.

"That is clear." Pause. "It is in my power to grant blessings to non-divine beings. Would you like one?"

He does notice the cave. He stops and peers in curiously. "I'd be happy to accept if, as I assume, the blessings don't come with obligations."

"It is possible that other gods might take offense to you if you had my blessing upon you. My ocean neighbor, Varkalosix, is most likely, but is not the only possible candidate. But there are no obligations."

The inside of the cave is surprisingly green. Interesting moss clings to the wall and ceiling, and there's a pool of clear water further in. The cave goes on further, but to know what else is in it, Nick would have to explore it.

Since it doesn't seem claimed except presumably by Raezenoth, he has a drink of water and explores a bit. "I'll shut up and say thanks, then. What blessings are there?"

The water is cool and refreshing.

"The blessings that I grant are improved endurance, reflexes, flexibility, resistance to dehydration, advantageous winds, and a resistance to the effects of desert elements, such as sunstroke and windburn. You may choose whichever one you would like."

Further in, there is a cavern to the side that's small and sort of room-like, and lit by a small hole that pokes up through a spot in the ceiling. It looks like it's probably a good place to sleep, if someone particularly wanted to sleep in a cave. It even looks like someone's done it before; there's long-cold remains of a campfire by the light hole, presumably to ventilate the smoke.

The cave goes on further, but without a light, Nick will have a bit of trouble navigating.

"Hm. Reflexes, I think." He has a flashlight in one of his coat's many pockets. He turns it on to keep exploring.

It doesn't feel like anything at all, but Raezenoth reports, "Granted."

If he figures out a way to check, he'll notice his reflexes have improved.

The cave system is on a slight decline from the entrance, and splits off into a maze of caverns. After a bit of exploring, though, a logic becomes apparent to them - parts of the cave that go further in go down, and parts of the cave leading to the entrance go up. A person can navigate their way out by following the incline, but actually learning all of the ins and outs of the cave system looks like it would be a lot of work.

(It'd be very easy for someone to hide in here and not be found, but still be able to find their way out.)

He does notice the improved reaction time when he's flying around. He realizes the implications of the cave's design eventually. "This place is clever." But it's not interesting enough to explore every nook and cranny. He flies back out and resumes northeasterly progress after about ten minutes of flitting around.

"Thank you."

The desert continues to be interesting. There is a cleft over there, and little stubborn looking bushes in that direction, and over there is a large impressive overhang, and that over there looks like a small mountain, and on top of it is a building that looks kind of temply.

Aha, the temple. Probably. He flies to it and in, looking around.

It's well kept, but looks a bit deserted. Maybe people don't like to deal with the stairs. It does look like there's a lot of them, to get up here.

The ceiling is made out of roughly hewn, crystal-clear quartz that catches the sunlight and sends it in abstract patterns across the pale blue floor. On the near-white sandstone walls are carvings that look like they depict events, and in the center is an altar of some kind, with various ordinary-looking objects sitting atop it. There's writing on the altar, if Nick cares to read it.

Right, going places is difficult for humans. He does go up to the altar to read it.

Dedicated to Raezenoth, breaker of chains, god of freedom and the desert winds.

Thank you for the chance to take our lives into our own hands, reads the altar. Followed by a list of names, presumably the builders.

"I really like your domain, Raezenoth. It's difficult in some places, but fair. Offerings, eh? I may as well, but what to give..."

"Thank you. Leaving an offering is encouraged but not required, and I care little for material value. Whatever you think is appropriate will be fine."

"I know a particular piece of art I think you'd appreciate, but it's stored in a rather expensive machine. Hm." He sets his flashlight down on the altar, scrawls instructions on how to use and recharge it (heat one end, or turn a little crank, or sunlight, it's very fancy and durable), and appends the note with A good tool, well taken care of. Please keep taking care of it.

And then he goes to investigate the wall-carvings.

The flashlight disappears shortly after being put on the altar. (A god is curiously investigating it.)

"Thank you. I will."

The wall carvings depict some events! The set of carvings in front of Nick is of some chained people breaking their chains and running off into a desert. They built themselves a life, until it looks like slave hunters showed up to take them back. Except, they were stopped by what can be presumed to be Raezenoth, who is depicted as lovingly carved swirls of wind, blowing the slave hunters away. The formerly-chained-people are happy, and go back to living their lives.

Another set is of a person who appears to have lost everything. He comes to Raezenoth's domain, and finds things to use to build what he wants to build, and he builds it, and is happy. Another person shows up, petitioning the sky to build their house for them, and the wind depiction of Raezenoth blows the person out of the domain.

There seems to be a theme, here.

The theme is 'I'll give you opportunities, but do the actual work yourself'. Nick approves. Freeloaders are annoying at best.

...He is suddenly curious whether this world is a planet or not. He might as well save himself the finicky bringing-air-along maneuver of going to space, if he can. "Say, Rae, is this world a planet?"

"Yes."

Curiosity resolved. He goes back to touring the carvings, even if they all have similar themes the individual stories are interesting.

"If you have questions about the flashlight feel free to ask, by the way."

"It seems straightforward," says Raezenoth. "I haven't had any trouble with it."

The carvings continue with the theme. Slavery is bad, and Raezenoth is fair, and everyone is welcome if they want to enter Raezenoth's domain. ... Except slavers. They can get a stylized lightning bolt in three separate carvings.

"I expected questions along the lines of how to make it."

"What happens to suitably repentant former slavers? If there even are any."