Amdirlain’s PoV - Foundry.
Gilorn’s strings rang and strummed thoughtfully after Amdirlain provided her list. “We’ll go back to the fundamentals. How many centuries did this take you to achieve?”
“Decades,” advised Amdirlain.
“That’s something. At least you’re not a slow learner,” replied Gilorn primly. “Your Soul is once again concealed from me. How do you manage that?”
“Have you heard of the Hidden?”
The light within the harp’s base blazed. “How could you be one of them?”
“Since you recognise the term, I won’t go into details. Let’s focus on my skills. I need to get my True Song Architecture into Grandmaster,” said Amdirlain.
Gilorn’s strings twanged discordantly before it continued. “Do you prefer theoretical composition lessons or practical ones?”
“Are you aware of profiles and skill points?”
Gilorn clanged cautiously. “Yes. Why?”
“I’ve accumulated skill points and have spent them into the Skill, but it then required me to do a rush of composition work to get the new learning to assimilate.”
“Have you gained improvement in the Skill at other times?” asked Gilorn. “What situations provided you with the biggest jumps?”
“The times when I’ve gained the most involved me making melodies up on the fly,” replied Amdirlain. “Though that could be from putting things together differently.”
A bright run of high notes sounded from Gilorn. “That could be because your conscious mind isn’t getting in the way of old abilities resurfacing. Who performed your song of attunement?”
“No one,” replied Amdirlain.
“What?”
Amdirlain sighed. “There isn’t an Anar left who knows their song, and I’m not sure I’d risk it.”
“Let’s get started then. Know any barren locations we can make flourish?”
“I’ve been making demi-planes,” admitted Amdirlain.
“We made billions of those while Orhêthurin worked on my tuning,” said Gilorn, and their stings shivered merrily. “That was such a wonderful time. I got played so much.”
What level was Ori? Not as if that matters, she was likely far beyond my levels even before they created the realm.
“What became of them afterwards?” asked Amdirlain.
“Most Orhêthurin merged into various planes, though some were too dangerous, so those she took apart,” explained Gilorn. “Open a Gate to one, please.”
As Amdirlain opened a Gate, Silpar rose, and Gilorn issued a run of alarmed notes. “I’m sorry. I meant for us to work alone.”
“I’m here to protect Am. Sometimes, she’s been unaware of those coming and going around her,” advised Silpar.
“Fallen, I can hear your melody and know you intend well, but there are things I would discuss with Am alone,” retorted Gilorn.
“You can call me Silpar,” interjected Silpar calmly. “If you don’t wish me to overhear, that’s fine. Am can conceal your conversation, but I promised Bahamut to watch over her wherever my presence didn’t bring more danger.”
The presence of Bahamut’s awareness was a subtle sensation, and Gilorn’s melody jumped about.
“Oh?” Gilorn chimed. “Hello, Lord Bahamut. Thanks for looking in on us.”
Amdirlain caught a shift of chiming themes within Gilorn, but they continued. “Very well, Silpar, Lord Bahamut has explained some of the situation. I agree you can accompany us. Ensure you do not disrupt the lessons. They aren’t likely anything you can understand, so hold your questions until another time.”
Silpar nodded. “Of course, I’ve already witnessed Am’s creations through True Song and been unable to perceive anything other than their glow.”
“Will your Oath sister be coming along as well?” enquired Gilorn.
“You recognised me?” huffed Sara.
Gilorn’s glow embedded low. “I know of only one being whose song she disguised as yours has been.”
Sarah snickered. “You have a point, but if you’re taking Am for training, I’ll attend to my own advancement.”
“I’m glad you won’t leave things to the last minute again,” said Amdirlain, and she sadly shook her head. “Such a shame you had to settle for Tier 6s.”
“Bite me,” grumbled Sarah, and her glare became hooded.
“Pass, your hide’s too tough,” replied Amdirlain, and she collected Gilorn from the container and stepped through the Gate with Silpar in tow.
The surrounding terrain was the barren bedrock she’d added to most of the demi-plane’s seeds. Amdirlain created a large platform a hundred metres up and settled Gilorn upon it. Silpar landed on the platform’s edge and settled in to wait.
“Did you want a barrier in place now?”
“We’ll converse after you train for a while. I’ll need to assess your basics,” clarified Gilorn.
“What’s the starting point?” asked Amdirlain.
“Expand this Demi-Plane to the maximum sphere you can manage,” instructed Gilorn. “Then place regional barriers to isolate ten-metre cubes throughout it. I’ll tell you each property to contain in them to test what songs you already know.”
“I take it that’s just the starting point since you didn’t want Silpar along?” asked Amdirlain.
Amdirlain expanded the Demi-Plane to thirty thousand kilometres across and felt the strain of pushing the song further.
Gilorn thrummed a low, disappointed sound. “Can your Resonance Power reach the edges?”
“No,” replied Amdirlain.
“No? What have you been doing?” gasped Gilorn. “Tell me you’ve at least combined Perception into the power?”
“No, I just have base Resonance,” admitted Amdirlain flatly, unsure what to make of Gilorn’s tone.
"Oh my," groaned Gilorn. “We have our work cut out for us. I hope you expect little in the way of rest for the next millennia.”
“I don’t know how much time is available, so we need to push faster than that,” replied Amdirlain.
“What do you mean?”
Let’s not mention the existing wound.
Amdirlain considered what to share and went for the concise details. “A Demon Lady is trying to open a hole into the Far Chaos.”
“Then we need one of the dimensional harps to ensure you’ve got the strength to seal her away,” replied Gilorn.
Amdirlain smiled tightly. “Which are where?”
“Your treasury, of course,” replied Gilorn.
“Which is where?” questioned Amdirlain.
Gilorn’s strings went still, and all the stars with the crystal snuffed out. “You don’t remember?”
“No,” Amdirlain said with a shake of her head.
“Well, it’s all on your capabilities alone then because I don’t know, she moved it frequently,” responded Gilorn grimly. “You had best be ready to work hard. She focused my abilities to amplify True Song within the Material Plane so that I wouldn't be as much help with a Demon Lady in the Abyss. The best case is blowing her up if she comes out on a world.”
I’ll talk to them about Orcus’ stronghold world later.
“I just spent years acclimatising to the rush of increasing my True Song Architecture,” replied Amdirlain.
Gilorn hummed. “But that was adjusting to a rush of information imposed from without. That approach always has an uncomfortable impact requiring adjustment since it doesn’t come from an internal truth. I’ll tell you an effect and the location to place it, and the songs you don’t know you’ll need to compose in your mind alone. Since I don’t know what songs you know, I’ll work through a list she gave me for such an eventuality.”
“Okay.”
A section of stars along the harp’s neck blurred into True Song chords that marked out a nearby location paired with the elven word for fire. “You can choose the form that any of my simple requests take.”
“I take it your capabilities are much better than basic Resonance,” remarked Amdirlain.
“Yes, I can also amplify the True Song another provides and hear both sides,” replied Gilorn. “I’ve got the equivalent of Resonance-King. I hoped to achieve the Emperor evolution, but I’ve not managed it. Now, with the list I give you, ensure you don’t miss any.”
Okay, that tells me the evolution chain for Resonance follows the weaponry pattern.
“Is there a time limit?”
“Of course, I want you to perform the music without thinking. After all, we’re trying to stir the memories from your Soul and get spontaneous reactions. That doesn’t happen when your conscious mind is obstructing you.”
“What’s the penalty in this challenge?”
“I’ll only display them so long before I reset your progress. Depending on how far along the list you are, I’ll reset your progress by either a few hundred or thousands,” explained Gilorn.
The first song caused a campfire, and another two requests replaced it. It was an easy start, but with each series Amdirlain completed, the number of requests doubled. Within a minute, Amdirlain was dealing with thousands at once, and Gilorn spoke.
“This is far too easy. Silpar, please provide Am with a sparring partner. Try to block her line of sight to the list as much as possible. She needs to work off reflex when the harder items appear.”
Silpar’s spear appeared in his hand even as he lunged. Amdirlain spun to the tempo of his song, deflecting the spear’s tip, then haft. The third palm strike caused Silpar to dodge back, and she drove him further away with a burst of Ki that swept out from her palm.
It allowed Amdirlain to glimpse the following instructions—most were even right-side up.
The pair piled the pressure on week after week until Amdirlain missed completing an item before it disappeared from Gilorn’s frame. Gilorn twanged in dissatisfaction and started again at three times the pace. The instructions appeared upside down or back to front, and Amdirlain still had to deliver the performance on time. When she did too well with that, it started to provide the location’s coordinates within puzzles that Amdirlain had to decipher. The increases to Perception she gained made the puzzles’ purpose clear.
The requests became increasingly complicated orders for self-sustaining environments with miniature life forms. As the complexity of the requests continued to increase, Amdirlain started to find it hard to determine if she recalled songs rather than composing them anew. Caught within the pressure, bursts of knowledge and insights flowed in fits and starts, and True Song Architecture increased. As she and Silpar fought, Gilorn played enticing pieces that fought to distract Amdirlain’s singing. After Gilorn had played for a few days, they unleashed a slow, sorrowful composition that seized Amdirlain’s attention.
Within a run of notes, the crest of a memory wave rose, and Amdirlain had enough presence of mind to signal Silpar to halt.
Swept under by the surge, a familiar room formed around Amdirlain, and she stood regarding an inky blackness enclosed by a crystal dome. Below the crystal dome’s theme, she could hear the screams and cries of the deities’ regrets and wrath mingled together. Having experienced the chaotic clashing of noises within that pit, Amdirlain noticed Orhêthurin’s tricks to isolate them, and understanding bloomed. Orhêthurin sang and adjusted the crystal’s song to better absorb and change the Mana around it to sustain its nature. Though its tie to Gideon should have maintained the plinth without issue, she had returned to ensure its continuance and found only four had used it.
The cavern in the cloister’s depths showed only a few carved panels near the shaft’s entryway and sections of the once irregular walls were smoothed.
The Fallen who would be the Eldest in time, appeared, his song weaker and unsure. It was filled with a solid grief that Amdirlain had never heard, and she realised Orhêthurin had never bothered to learn their name.
“Orhêthurin, I never expected you to come here again.”
“Are you finding this place unpleasant?” asked Orhêthurin.
“Most planes within the Abyss are unpleasant, but this plane is noxious,” replied Eldest.
“I tracked down the dead you left behind,” replied Orhêthurin. “In accordance to their people’s beliefs, they’re not enjoying their existence either.”
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Isn’t that the Titan’s doing? Not ours,” argued Eldest.
“Individual pantheons have influence over the passage of souls on their world, or the region within their control at least,” corrected Orhêthurin. “You three butchered them, obliterated their bodies to such an extent as to make funeral rites impossible.”
The Eldest's upper claws clicked sharply. “Are you here to judge us further?”
Orhêthurin's lips twisted in distaste. “No, the plinth has already done that job. I’m merely pointing out some facts relevant to your self-pity.”
“Self-pity?” growled Eldest.
“You had paradise, you threw it away, and you butchered innocents just because they didn’t follow your former liege’s way. My compassion is reserved for those worthy of it,” growled Orhêthurin.
“Why are you here, Orhêthurin?”
“To see how the crystal has fared, I noticed it’s been used by another,” said Orhêthurin.
The Eldest sighed unhappily. “They were lucky to have run across us.”
“Lucky?”
“They consider themselves lucky after the plinth’s judgement. I’ve not yet reached a decision either way.”
“Poor child. Maybe you’ll feel better when you’ve been at it a million years,” scoffed Orhêthurin. “Even that will be too soon, as it won’t even be one year for every life you took.”
The Eldest's crest of tentacles thrashed and shook in their rage. “I think you enjoy others' suffering.”
Though Orhêthurin was unbothered by the Fallen’s anger, she smiled coldly. “I could end your suffering for you right now, if you’d like. You have a path to redeem yourself. I suggest you put effort into earning it. There are many places you can get to where mortals suffer. Open your mind and consider them.”
The Eldest backed up, and Orhêthurin vanished across the planes, but her trip didn’t take her far. Though Kismet might lead them to the path, Orhêthurin was determined to make it a surer find, so some might recover from their folly. She created millions of marker points to guide Fallen to it and spread them throughout dozens of planes in the Abyss before she moved to other regions to do the same. She twisted concealments into place within each one and set them to restore themselves through the local Mana. While she worked, Orhêthurin considered revealing the restorative trick to the Anar and Lómë only to dismiss the risk of its use as too great. The possibility of someone using it within one of the Eldritch prisons and giving them a foothold into True Song sent a shiver through her.
Though she had no intent to share her tricks, Amdirlain took in the thousands of shortcuts and the subtle shading of power that Orhêthurin’s performances contained. The Mana trick was eerily similar to how Amdirlain had utilised the experience tithe to restore the crystal.
“Did Orhêthurin provide that piece to you?” asked Amdirlain when the memory released its hold.
I'll need to check on that Eldritch whose energy I twisted to sustain its own prison.
[Resonance [G] (20->42)
True Song Genesis [S] (200) -> [G] (5)
True Song Architecture [S] (179->187)
Note: It’s not always the knowledge you have but how you apply it. You’ve done that often enough.]
The jump in comprehension didn’t burn within her thoughts but shifted the foundations and sent a cascade of understanding upwards.
“Don’t you like my composition?” questioned Gilorn. “Orhêthurin carried many burdens of regret. When the pleasant pieces got no reaction, I wondered if sadness would connect key memories. I studied how you fought and sang. From my perspective, pain is an old acquaintance that you don’t hesitate to embrace.”
Amdirlain let out a long, slow breath. “Play some more, please.”
“Your mind will be on guard now. Let’s return to the exercise until I judge the time right to make another attempt,” replied Gilorn. “What did Gideon inform you about the improvements?”
“It jumped architecture by eight points, True Song Genesis by five, but the biggest jump was in Resonance-”
“Did it evolve?” interjected Gilorn eagerly.
Amdirlain smiled. “I can’t evolve from the True Song-related powers I have until I get my Prestige Class, but it improved by twenty-two points.”
“Only twenty-two?!” exclaimed Gilorn. “Darn it, how hard-headed are you?”
“Should I test my limits?”
Gilorn emitted a sour chord. “You’ll do no such thing. How does your mind feel having used my approach? Any pain?”
“Unstressed,” admitted Amdirlain.
“Then save those Skill points of yours for something that doesn’t involve combining the knowledge of the realm’s building blocks and the ability to redesign it,” instructed Gilorn, and they gave an indignant flare of light. “There are many safer skills you can rush without risking injury.”
“Do we start from scratch?” asked Amdirlain.
A merry giggle of notes came in reply. “Clear out the spaces while I decide.”
Taking the time to check on the one Eldritch prisoner she’d twisted into the crystal itself, she found its essence being shredded by the force of the song, the music's energy as alien to Eldritch as its nature was to her.
* * * * *
It was nearly a year of singing exercises and Gilorn’s third attempt at evoking memories that finally bore fruit. A dual notification appeared as the memories of Orhêthurin designing sections of the planar framework faded from Amdirlain’s grasp. Pieces of it which she’d only understood as high-level concepts fell into place.
[True Song Architecture [S] (197) -> [G] (4)
Tier 7 Prestige Class: Olindë Unlocked!]
It means complete singer, but I don’t have the primordial energy that Orhêthurin removed.
[Olindë
This Tier Seven Prestige Class merges Ostimë and Ontãlin
It is one of the stepping stones towards gaining the legacy of your power.
Requires:
- Orhêthurin’s Soul.
- Grand Master in True Song Genesis.
- Grand Master in Resonance.
- Grand Master in True Song Architecture.
- Grand Master in a Dance Skill, or a Power or Skill where it is a subset.
- Grand Master in a combat Skill.
- Four hundred accumulated levels in True Song-related classes.
Power automatically gained:
- Resonance evolves to Resonance-Lord.
Powers unlocked for acquisition:
- True Song Genesis evolutions.
- Further Resonance evolutions.
- World Step (Group).
- Realm Step (Locked due to Fallen State).
Skills unlocked for acquisition:
- True Song Architecture evolutions.
+10 Melee Attack Power per level.
+10 Defence per level.
+20 Intelligence per level.
+20 Charisma per level.
+50 Endurance per level.
+50 Magic per level.
+10 free attribute points per level.]
You couldn’t have given me a Willpower option instead, Gideon? Though I know what I’ll do with the free points.
Amdirlain cleared out the holding cells, sending the various species to planes able to support the lifeforms Gilorn had her create.
“Will you continue with my lessons?” asked Gilorn.
Amdirlain nodded. “When time allows, but for now, I need to populate some demi-planes and sort out my levels.”
“Would you allow me to help?” requested Gilorn. “I can’t amplify the songs that create their framework, but I can help with the materials and species.”
“I only have the Skill to use a Lap Harp,” admitted Amdirlain.
Gilorn gave a sputtering twang. “WHAT!”
“Sorry,” sighed Amdirlain.
“Not forgiven, you barbarian,” Gilorn said, and her lights snuffed out.
Though her frame was practically indestructible, Amdirlain collected Gilorn carefully. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Am. She would have been heartbroken by what you must have endured to be so careless of yourself,” replied Gilorn.
“It’s let me push through situations that would have gotten me killed,” explained Amdirlain.
Notes grumbled from Gilorn. “You’ve likely pushed through situations you should have avoided instead.”
Amdirlain laughed. “Maybe.”
“She once said that if she perished, she wanted to live a normal life, free of strife and the obligations of power,” said Gilorn.
“I had some of those but never attuned to their memories,” replied Amdirlain. “Ready to go back to Foundry, Silpar?”
Silpar tapped his claws thoughtfully against his leg, where her last attack had landed. “Whenever you are, Am. If we had stayed to spar longer, you might have gained more levels in your combat style. It has become quite fluid. Are you going to continue your training with your True Song abilities having come along so far?”
"I will, and I want to seek a Class that will best progress my combat style. With it reliant upon Willpower for a big part of its impact, this new Prestige Class doesn't provide significant help," said Amdirlain, and she opened a Gate to Foundry.
The Demi-Plane was empty of life when they arrived, though there were signs of occupancy. The bowl hosting Sarah's bed had been expanded, and the mounds of treasure increased.
"That crystal feels lovely. You've put so much of your energy into it I almost feel jealous," said Gilorn.
"It's a reservoir only, though I've not yet decided what I'll use the energy to achieve," replied Amdirlain. "I undertake a meditation that generates the mix of spiritual and life energy you're feeling from it."
Gilorn hummed. "It strikes me that this is the sort of thing you should embrace more than the pain you've soaked in."
Everyone wants to point that out lately.
"I work best when I have obstacles. That is a downside, as this energy isn't an obstacle. If anything, it is far too relaxing, and it's easy to lose hours while cycling the energy in meditation," explained Amdirlain. "Would you prefer to return to stasis, wait here, or for me to introduce you to someone who can play a floor harp properly?"
"Who is this other person you'd recommend?"
"Gailneth, the child of a friend of mine and the current Anar Queen. They often go by Gail," advised Amdirlain. "Though, as mentioned, the few Anar about the place are mostly children."
"They?" asked Gilorn.
"Gail is complicated. Most of the time, they use a female form of various species or another, but Gail takes a male form just as easily," explained Amdirlain as she sent messages asking a few people to visit Foundry.
"I would prefer not to return to stasis so soon," admitted Gilorn after a moment's thought. “I should see if her playing skills are acceptable.”
Amdirlain set Gilorn down beside the pavilion. "I've asked her and some others here."
The Gate from Vehtë opened to reveal a forested clearing; Lómë songs echoed through it. Gail was in a male Anar form with glowing eyes and white-blond hair; his lean build rang with tension as muscles bunched along his jawline. Dark blue garments of a Persian cut draped his form, and though the silken material glistened in the sunlight, they were unadorned.
Roher's sapphire gaze sparked with amusement, and he nodded to Amdirlain politely as he stepped across the threshold. His blue and green half robes stirred and settled as they went from the clearing's breeze to the Foundry's stillness. Isa followed in a rush of giggling motion as soon as Roher was clear of the Gate. A diamond pendant caught the golden light from the pavilion, the only spark of colour among her black and grey attire. The starkness of her blouse and pants made her white-blond hair and gold-eyed Anar form particularly eye-catching.
"Close the Gate before the kids try to come through," gushed Isa.
That alone was enough to explain her gushing excitement, and Amdirlain felt Roher do the honours of shutting the threshold down.
"Are you okay, Gail?" asked Amdirlain.
"Sorry, I'm out of sorts. Had to keep myself from strangling an idiot," explained Gail.
"As inexperienced as Gail is, one of my kin felt better suited to act as regent of the Anar," explained Roher. "He suggested Gail should marry him, and then it would be nice and official, and she could focus her pretty little head on popping out babies."
Gail snorted. "That won't be happening."
"In those words?" asked Amdirlain.
"Not quite, but that was Gail's translation of the diplomatic terms he used," laughed Roher. "Gail has had a few offers of late."
"I should focus on learning to be graceful and elegant as best suits an Anar Queen while overseeing the repopulation of my people," said Gail, his gaze snapping. "I pointed out that if I took on a male form and gained a harem of Lómë, the process would go faster. Strangely, he fled when I asked if he wanted to gain Protean to help since he saw himself as a key player."
"They don’t learn?" asked Amdirlain.
"They've been getting more common. However, this was the rudest one I've had yet, implying I should be a figurehead not to overstress my mind. At least the others have wanted to serve as sounding boards about the Anar’s historical culture like we would want to return to that stupidity. I think I'll spend more time among the humans and Vehtë elves. They're not so blatant," grumbled Gail.
"You did say you were old enough to go adventuring. For most people, that's normally when they want to be considered an adult," said Amdirlain.
"If I'm old enough to be an adult, I don't need a daddy figure to change my diapers and take charge," growled Gail. "I was calm with the dipshit, but I needed to vent with Roher slightly and then caught your message. I thought the Lómë would have been over being idiots."
Gilorn's strings produced a run of laughter, and Gail's mood shifted with a spark of interest as he switched back to female in mid-step and looked over the harp.
"Gilorn, this is Roher, Isa, and Gail," said Amdirlain.
"Conductor Talisai, were you reincarnated as well?" asked Gilorn. "Or did the Titan allow you to become a Celestial instead of leaving the realm?"
Who the heck was Talisai? It’s not a name I remember.
Isa frowned and tilted her head. "Wow, Talisai is a name I only vaguely remember. Most of my Anar memories are from my last life as Mori, but I hadn’t remembered meeting you in it, Gilorn."
"Once the aspects had taken up all the workload of the realm’s creation, I was placed in stasis. Am has filled me in on some details in the few breaks she took, but it seems the details she shared were barebones," said Gilorn.
"There is a lot of information Am has had to keep secure," offered Isa. "No, three of us were sent back here by a curse."
Gail frowned, and tension coiled in her momentarily. "What did you need us for, Auntie Am?"
"I was wondering if the three of you would like to gain experience in your True Song classes?" asked Amdirlain.
"We've been singing up the interior of demi-planes while you've been busy," admitted Gail. "It's exhausting, but our powers have been improving. Did you get your True Song Prestige Class sorted?"
"I did," admitted Amdirlain. "I had hoped to help strengthen you three simultaneously while I pushed ahead."
Roher rubbed his forehead. "I believe we'd only slow you down. While it is very tempting, none of us have your healing capacity, and they should stretch their capabilities at their own pace. While I could handle the strain better than Isa or Gail, I also have little to gain. You should advance to the level you aim to take your Prestige Class."
"You're just going to create demi-planes? Do you plan to use the same advancement to get your other two classes and species to match?" asked Gail.
"That was my plan," agreed Amdirlain. “Though I’ll assess things after I get to the point of taking the Prestige Class.”
"I need to progress my Wizard Class at present. It's well behind my other classes," stated Gail.
Silpar frowned. "I’ll admit I’m confused as to why an Anar even has Wizard."
Gail grinned. "Partly for my disguises and partly because it's a Class I can teach to others to help them improve their lives. There are very few individuals I can teach the Anar side of True Song."
"That makes sense. It's hard to take on a disguise as a Wizard without a proper grounding, in which case you need the Class," nodded Silpar. "You work to improve people's lives?"
"Through various projects and quality of life things; as Auntie Sarah says, better jobs, food, or water supplies," explained Gail. "Sustainable changes that they can use as a foundation for growth."
"Those sorts of changes are what we on the Redemption's Path look to make among communities," noted Silpar.
Gail grinned. "Has Auntie Am dragged you into much trouble as yet?"
"She seems intent on keeping me out of it," replied Silpar. "She left me on the surface when she delved deep to fight Eldritch and went into a demonic city alone."
"Ahhh," breathed Gail, and she gave Amdirlain a questioning glance. "Well, I guess that makes sense."
Isa nodded. "I would have left you behind as well. Am knows what it's like to be injured by them, and you signed up to help her, not run a high-stakes game of winner-takes-all with Eldritch."
"Isa?" asked Amdirlain.
Isa gave her a bright grin. "Are you going to be in a state to talk while you push? Or are you just going to be running hard?"
"Guilty," laughed Amdirlain.
Isa nodded knowingly. "How about after you get your Prestige Class, Sarah, you, Ilya, and I go mess up more Dao? We can even let Silpar join us in freeing more mortals."
Amdirlain frowned slightly. "Would Ilya be alright spending that much time underground now?"
"She's all over her issues," replied Isa. "Plus, some Dao mines and cities are massive caverns, so they're hardly tight confines. Now, create a few thousand demi-planes and send us the details as you go. We can get some practice joining them together."
"We'll mess with them once I get to my Fallen transformation. Gail, would you take Gilorn back to Vehtë with you? I don't want to leave them here in Foundry, but you'll have to prove yourself worthy before Gilorn will let you play them," asked Amdirlain.
Gail sat on the bench near Gilorn and released her mithril harp to sit on the ground next to it. "What sort of piece would you like me to play, Gilorn?"
"Why don't you choose?" suggested Gilorn. "You can tell a lot by someone's favourite music."