When the trio entered the Temple of Water, Saul and Toby paused involuntarily in the entrance as they were practically slapped in the face by wet air. The air of the city was hardly dry, but the sheer number of spraying fountains in the temple created a sweat-like sheen on their skin in seconds.
“I didn’t remember this at all,” Toby commented, “it must have been almost ten years since I last came here.”
Saul just took the opportunity to get his curly hair to lay down properly.
The main chapel of the church was dedicated to the Fisher. They each dropped quarters into the deep pool before the statue. Saul gave a simple prayer for safe travel over any rivers they might encounter in the trip to come. Walking around the temple a bit while letting Bart continue his prayer, Saul learned that the two other Saints with chapels here were the Sailor and Sorcerer. Like the Fighter, the Sorcerer had many forms. The one here was clearly the somewhat famous Storm Sorcerer, using death, water, and lightning.
Cherith had almost chosen that combination, but had been talked out of it, to Saul’s irritation. She had still used a few lightning fragments at least. One of the clergy noticed him wandering between the entrances to the chapels.
“Do you need any guidance, young lord?” the tall man asked.
“No, thank you, Brother,” Saul said with a shallow bow, “I’m just waiting for someone. Actually, if you don’t mind, may I ask a question about the idols of the Saints?”
“Of course.”
“What is the combination that would allow a human to get the Sailor idol? I’ve read that the death icon makes most nonviolent idols inaccessible.”
“Ah, you simply need to look at it a bit differently,” the man smiled, “after all, there is something one must kill to become a sailor.”
“I would say fish, but I know that death, water, fish gives Fisher. Some kind of oceanic predator? A former sailor I know mentioned that keeping watch at night is important.”
“Not quite. If you’re already at sea, you’re already a sailor. What did you have to kill to get there in the first place?”
The specific use of the word ‘kill’ seemed like a hint as Saul thought first about what sailors did, then what they used.
“Do you mean trees?” he guessed, “to get wood?”
“Precisely: death, water, and tree.”
“Huh. What are the other combinations then? Do they all involve tree?”
“I believe that water, speed, tree is the usual dwarven combination.”
“Thank you. I think I see the person I was waiting for,” Saul bowed slightly again, “have a good evening.”
He rejoined Toby and Bart, who emerged from the chapel at the same time.
“Do you know the prayers of the Fisher?” Saul asked Toby, “I thought you hadn’t been here in a decade.”
“No, I was trying to get an angle to see the bottom of that pool in the chapel without being disrespectful. It must be at least ten feet deep!”
It would be a decent walk back to the estate, so they got dinner at a small restaurant on the edge of the temple district. Saul didn’t particularly like eating fish, but they had a thin fish stew that was quite good.
Later that evening, in the sitting room, Joel gave Saul several pages of supplies and artifacts. His job was to sort through what would be useful, what they could carry, and what they were able to use. He could take half the family’s combat artifacts to give himself practically a full set of abilities, but even on the off chance his father let him make that mistake, trying to use them all would likely leave him in a coma for a week. Things were better on the carrying capacity front, he was allowed to take one of the family’s two portable holes, as well as a storage satchel for his icons.
He started with the artifacts of course, that was the shortest list and the most interesting. Looking them over, he came to a conclusion he wasn’t thrilled with. When Junia joined them, he spoke up.
“Hey Mom, how are you feeling?”
“It’s been a pretty good day. I went on duties with Shelby, then with Amos, to keep an eye on things. No signs of interference,” she replied, “watching Shelby fight the shelled bear was fun. The only part she could get her teeth into was the tail.”
That was a fun mental image; Saul imagined her getting flung around like a dog with a rope.
“What about you? How’s your headache?” she asked.
“Not too bad, but still there. I really hope I don’t have to just get used to it. I did notice something interesting over the day though, other than being a bit irritable.”
“What’s that?”
“When I used cantrips and my tattoo, it was easier than usual. It felt almost like I was in the training room.”
“That’s odd. That shouldn’t happen until you complete your soul. I’ll take you for a checkup tomorrow.”
“Yeah. I’m not sure if it’s good or not. But, if I continue to feel like this, I think I know what artifact I want to take for defense.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Already?” his father said, looking up from his own book, “I thought you’d have the most trouble with that part.”
“I really appreciate that you’re letting me take this trip, so I thought I would make the simple, practical choice,” Saul said, “I’ll take the Greater Mail of Undying. If that’s the only combat-intensive artifact I’m powering, I should be able to handle it.”
“If you think you can maintain it, that’s a well considered choice,” Joel praised, “focusing on survivability in recognition of your own limitations, while also helping mitigate the limitations of Toby’s healing.”
“Have you considered having his servant trained as an operator?” Junia asked her husband, “even partially, it would give them more defensive options.”
“The limited time is better spent letting him get put through his paces for bodyguard duty,” Joel replied, “I don’t know that he has the temperament for it anyway.”
“He seems fairly patient, I think he could do it,” Saul said, “he worked on fishing boats for over a decade. I don’t think he would like doing it though, he’s better as a lookout. I gave him an excellent perception ability.”
“That was the catfish fragment, right?” his father recalled, “do they have good eyesight for a fish? I knew you had a reason for it.”
“They can taste everything around them,” Saul explained, “he has taste-based 360 degree perception. Once he can properly interpret what it tells him, he’ll be immune to several means of concealment.”
Soon he returned to looking over artifacts, while his parents had a quiet conversation. When he had a short list, he moved to supplies. He ended up drawing out a representation of the portable hole on one page along with some barrels and chests to get a sense for how much space he actually had. He regretted having the fish stew earlier instead of coming home to have the duck. It was looking like dried meat and various stews were going to be a large part of his diet on the trip.
As he was looking at those portable soup and broth mixes, he realized he had overlooked an important detail.
“Hang on,” he looked up at his Dad, “we’re going to need one of the regular servants.”
“Is that so?” Joel said.
From his father’s neutral expression, Saul immediately knew he was still missing something.
“Or…two regular servants?” he guessed.
“What do you need them to do?” his father prompted.
“Prepare the meals while traveling, for one, but also…” he scanned the list of food, vellum, quills, containers, clothes, money, and books, “oh, wash clothes. One person can do three people’s laundry and cooking though?”
“And how will you be traveling?” his mother added.
“By horse. I know how to ride a—” Saul saw his mistake, “we’re not riding horses, they’re pulling a carriage. I don’t know how to take care of a horse pulling a carriage, especially for months on end. So, I need a groom to drive and take care of the horse, and a servant for the laundry and cooking.”
“You should have paid more attention when you went with your uncle to Elicaster a few years ago,” Joel admonished.
“Ok, I did remember there being several attendants, but I didn’t want too many people in the carriage,” Saul said semi-truthfully.
His father handed him a list of qualified personnel he had neglected to mention earlier. Two more people also increased the amount of food and clothing that needed to be stored in the portable hole, which was still more than large enough but would have a few layers of barrels and chests at this point. Saul made some progress before the slight pain behind his eyes was joined by a regular headache, and he went to get ready for bed.
The following morning, Junia came to observe Saul and Toby’s efforts in training Bart. When they were finished, she released Toby to go ahead with his original plans for the day sans Saul, who would be joining her in going to the Temple of Death.
In their examination room, the healer sat back in his chair. He tapped his calipers to his chin for a moment while the glow of his diagnostic power faded from his orb. He set his calipers and crystal orb aside.
“His nascent soul has very slight traces of persistent mist,” the healer informed the two of them, “despite not having a core, or even a fully formed sheath. What sheath there is isn’t as robust as I would expect from someone his age.”
“So, his soul is both too advanced and underdeveloped?” Junia asked.
“Ah, not underdeveloped,” the healer said, “what I mean is that I see some similar signs in the souls of unsouled patients of advanced age. I haven’t seen premature coalescence before, however.”
“I only started feeling like this a day or two ago,” Saul supplied, “do you think this is recent? My mother has felt something very similar for a while now, how is her soul?”
“If you would like, I can take a look, my lady? Any details, positive, negative, or otherwise, would be kept in the Healer’s confidence, of course.”
Junia stood silently for a long moment, staring down at the healer, then looking at her son briefly.
“Very well. In full confidence.”
The sweating healer quickly reiterated how to provide consent to his ability, then stumbled onto a stool clutching his orb, eyes unfocused. His eyebrows slowly rose, then drew together and he leaned forward slightly.
“I would say it’s all good news, my lady,” he said, “no issues with the sheath, a precise mix of death, strength, and hammer, with a slight preference for death. Is there anything else you would like to know?”
“I would like to hear anything you noticed or that stood out to you,” she replied, “and for those details to remain in such confidence that no mention is ever made of them by you outside of this room again.”
Saul, slightly taken aback at her intensity, asked, “would like me to step out, Mom?”
She just gestured for him to stay seated, continuing to stare down the healer.
“Of course, my lady, the full confidence of the Healer,” he said with a nervous, forced, smile, “your soul is at pool, of course, with a Fighter core, of course. Having seen a few souls that have transitioned from mist to pool, yours only differs in its complete lack of what are sometimes called currents. Even those whose souls can no longer grow in this environment have some currents from one part of the soul to another.
“If I were to make an educated guess, though I am not an animurgist, your soul is no longer capable of shifting as is natural, having grown to the absolute limits of the liquid form. The sheath itself is metaphorically strained. It appears to be showing very minor signs of attempting to…stiffen.”
The healer trailed off, and Saul rocked back in his seat. Had she guessed this was the cause? Her soul had the obscure quality needed to use an immortal icon. But even if that meant her soul was ready, the House probably couldn’t and definitely wouldn’t get an immortal icon for her.
“So my soul is showing some…advanced signs…as well.” Junia breathed. “Knowing that, can you make any conclusions about Saul?”
“Perhaps his soul has been strained by exertion?” the healer offered., “I’ve been told that nobles have regular, rigorous training, so it could be that the signs I associate with age are instead a partial soul that has been worn out somewhat. Nobles usually complete their soul soon after they begin forming it, so I haven't seen anything like this before. My best recommendation would be to avoid using cantrips too much before you complete your soul.”