48 A.L.: SARAH

They traveled a convoluted path through service halls, factory rooms and ladder wells. Luckily they weren’t forced into any more tunnels. They were taking a break in the corner of what looked like a machine shop, while Grandmother studied the map. The decoded inscription produced an updated map of the immediate area. It indicated that they needed to travel up.

There were metal chips and shavings everywhere in the room. Sarah suspected that if they could find a prize altar a lot of it could be converted into integrated scrap they could carry in their inventory. Unfortunately they hadn’t seen a prize altar in weeks. There didn’t seem to be any in the industrial region. There might have been some in the rooms around the ocean green, but none of them looked.

The player went around and picked up all the existing integrated scrap they could find. Their behavior explained what their party was doing in this area. The physical debris was just too heavy to carry very far.

Todd and Alex were sparring with a great sword they claimed off a bear patrol. When the patrol stumbled upon them, the player reacted immediately, breaking the masking spell on him. Grandmother cast chain lightning twice in quick succession. She wanted the fight over quickly before they drew more attention. It turned out the metal armor made the bears more vulnerable to the spell. In seconds the bears were all convulsing on the ground. A round of arrows and sword cuts finished them off. Todd, as the rear guard, didn’t land a single blow.

Sarah suspected they didn’t encounter the armored bears before because of their weakness to lightning. Control was sending them targets that were harder for their party to kill. It arranged this encounter as a stress test for the player and their group.

As the party looted the bears, Grandmother spent time trying to convey to the player their hand signal to stay still and quiet. They practiced it multiple times before they ran into the next patrol. That time the player followed Grandmother's signal, hunching down against the wall. They waited for two more patrols to pass before having to fight again when a bear literally stepped on Alex. None of those later bears wore metal armor.

Todd and Alex split apart, both breathing hard. Todd was armed with the greatsword while Alex was wielding Todd’s spear. Suddenly the player stood up and waved their war hammer. They chirped out a message none of them could understand.

“Grandmother?” Todd asked. The older woman was gazing off into the distance. She looked over at the player and two warriors.

“Yes?” Grandmother responded.

“They want to spar. Is that alright with you?” he asked.

“That is up to you,” Grandmother responded. “To make it fair you should let him set the ax down.”

“Of course,” Todd responded. Alex moved to slip the ax from its securing loops. Sarah watched in amusement at the dance of gestures that followed. Eventually the ax was safely leaning against the wall and the player was lightly swinging the war hammer facing off against Todd.

They started slow, exchanging blows and blocks as they felt each other out. The blows came faster and the impacts grew louder. The player sang a little tune at a very high pitch. Suddenly he moved much faster, dancing around Todd. Todd released his two handed hold on the sword and raised his off hand, his fingers flickering through the symbols for force shield. The shield caught the player’s full body and threw him back. The player stumbled and fell. A shocked silence followed.

“Are you alright?” Todd asked as he moved to the players side. The player was making a deep rasping noise. It was only then they sat up that Sarah realized they were laughing. A series of tones emerged from them as Todd offered a hand to help them up.

Alex sang out six notes. They sounded close to the notes in the middle of the player's song, only three or four octaves lower. The player looked at Alex and sang six high notes back. They were the same relative notes that Alex sang, but the timing was slightly different. Alex repeated his notes, changing the timing to match the players. The player gave a low pitched gruff.

“Tier three sixth tree spell,” Alex explained to the rest of them. “I am pretty certain it is different from the speed spell we saw earlier.”

“Can you write it down for me?” Sarah asked.

“I think so,” Alex answered. Sarah pulled her spell diary out of her pack. Alex jotted down a single line of zeros and numbers. Below it he wrote a brief explanation of how it sped up the fighter's steps and blows. He also wrote down what he remembered of the swiftness or speed spell they heard earlier.

Todd and the player squared off again.

Grandmother smiled from where she kept watch.

Todd and the player went two more rounds, before Todd declared himself too tired to go on. Ellen stepped forward to face off with the player. The player sang something and looked at her. They swung their hammer in the air in front of Ellen. Sarah took it as a warning that they didn’t want to hurt Ellen. Ellen pulled her knife and imbued it with ice. The player’s vocalization changed tone and they squared off against the woman.

Ellen moved fast, dancing around the larger player. She ran the flat of her ice blade across the thin silk of the player's robe. The player jumped, clearly feeling the cold through the fabric. The larger weapon worked against them. They sang their song, increasing their speed to match Ellen. When the spell faded, Ellen regained the advantage again.

Eventually the player stepped back and threw up his weapon and flipper-hand in defeat. Sarah thought that would have gone differently if the player was not already tired from sparring with Todd and blood loss. She said as much to Ellen.

“It is about picking your fight,” Ellen countered. She put her knife away and shook the player's flipper-hand. Sarah and Alex faced off next, both with knives. Alex imbued his knife with fire while Sarah used ice. Sarah lost all three rounds but she was pleased with her performance. She was getting better at casting force shield with her off hand.

“If you are all rested now,” Grandmother observed, “I have determined where we need to go.”

“Where?” Todd asked.

“There,” Grandmother responded. She pointed up to a platform high on the far wall.

“Can’t we go around?” Alex asked.

“Not according to this map,” Grandmother responded. “Although the source is always suspect, I have never proven an inscription supplied map inaccurate on the day it was decrypted.” Grandmother looked up at the platform. “So, ideas?” she asked the group.

The platform looked identical to the one they found in the tank room, only there were no catwalks leading away from it. It was a dark color with no handrails. From this angle, Sarah could just see the top of a closed set of double doors. The doors were metal. The wall looked like concrete. Sarah wondered if they imbued an arrow with force if they could embed it in the doors, wall or platform. If they could, they could use the arrow to carry up a rope.

“Is that wall concrete?” Todd queried. “We could try pounding in pitons and climbing up.”

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“Did you bring the pitons?” Grandmother asked.

“No,” Todd admitted. “We have door wedges and vent pins. They might work.”

“We could try to use the crossbow bolts. Imbued with force they might penetrate,” Ellen offered.

“If a crossbow bolt will hold, why don’t we just tie a rope to one and aim it above the door?” Sarah said, giving voice to her own idea.

“Do we have enough rope left?” Grandmother asked.

“You know,” Alex said, “that tank platform was inscribed with a sixth tree spell on it. Perhaps our new companion knows that spell.” Grandmother straightened and turned to look at Alex. This was a clear indication to Sarah that this was a new thought for Grandmother.

“Sarah, did you record that spell?” Grandmother asked.

“Yes,” Sarah responded. She pulled out her spell diary and found the page she recorded the spell on. She showed the page to Grandmother. Grandmother took the diary and studied the markings.

“Here Alex,” she said, “take this and ask our companion if they know the spell.” Alex accepted the diary and studied the notes. Sarah could hear him quietly humming the required notes.

He approached the player. When he was sure he held the player's attention, he said, “We need to go up there.” He accompanied his words by gesturing at all of them then turning and pointing up at the far platform. “We saw one before and this spell was on it,” Alex said, showing the page to the player and pointing at the section which held the spell notes. “Do you know it?” Alex said, pointing at the player. He followed this up by singing the six notes Sarah recorded.

The player tilted their head. They looked up at the platform, then down at the copied ribbon. They made a gesture that jumped sharply up, they sang the six notes in their high octave, their flipper-hand then described a slow float down.

“So it is a slow fall spell,” Alex commented. “Do you know it?” he asked again. He pointed at the paper and at the player. The player gave a low pitched gruff.

“I think that is yes,” Alex said, turning to Grandmother.

“I am impressed, Alex,” Grandmother said genuinely. “That was very smooth.”

“Thank you,” Alex responded.

“If we have to climb it, slow fall might come in handy. Before we commit to a plan, let's go over there and check for any hints on the floor beneath the platform. Perhaps when we are there Companion will demonstrate a different spell we can use.” Everyone agreed and gathered up their gear. Todd helped the player slip their ax back into its carrying loops. They fell into formation for the short trip across the large room.

SO-LA-DO

The platform was thirty flipper-feet up. The floor beneath it was smooth stone. The wall was constructed of concrete. The newcomers examined every surface. They kept looking up at the platform above and talking among themselves. So-La-Do was forced to admit to himself that they really did want to go up there. That was what he thought the blue warrior’s gestures indicated, but he couldn’t imagine someone wanting to do it. Heights, with all that air under him, bothered So-La-Do. That fear was his motivation for learning the slow fall spell. He found it odd the newcomers had the spell written down, but didn’t seem to be able to cast it.

They were using hand gestures to cast. That first force shield the not-green warrior cast took him completely by surprise because it was silent. So-La-Do wondered why they chose that method when the blue warrior clearly could use voice commands. The blue warrior’s clear notes also surprised him. After traveling with the newcomers all day he decided he they were incapable of anything but monotone.

The green crossbow archer loaded a bolt. The Elder cast a spell on the bolt, before the archer fired it. The bolt sank deep into the concrete wall eight feet up. The not-green warrior reached up and grasped the bolt. The warrior pulled itself up, until its feet left the floor. It hung there for a moment or two. So-La-Do thought the warrior was checking how strong the bolt was.

The other green archer unpacked a length of rope. It was a blessed product made from hall spinners silk. It was thin and strong and packed easily. It was not without weight. The two archers went about measuring its length. They appeared to be trying to decide if they carried enough of it. They attached the rope to the back of a bolt. Once more the Elder cast a spell on the bolt, before the archer fired it.

The weight of the cord dragged the bolt down. It hit low, below the platform. There was some discussion before the not-green warrior took up the rope and prepared to scale the wall. As soon as the warrior weight was on the line, the bolt pulled free from the wall.

The discussion started up again. From the gestures and demonstrations So-La-Do thought they were talking about the angle of impact. The blue warrior pointed to a nearby piece of equipment. A moment or two later he scaled the object in question and was pointing out how the angle was less from there. The archers started pulling out an impressive amount of bolts that were tucked into their packs.

Obviously they weren’t going to give this up. So-La-Do was feeling guilty. He did know a spell that would work here. He was just terrified that if he told it to the newcomers he would have to use it. He looked over at the Elder. It was patiently waiting for its pod members to work on the problem. So-La-Do noted the times the Elder stepped in to help. So-La-Do suspected a tier six might be able to just jump up to the platform from here. He knew it could reach the platform from the blue warrior’s perch. He thought this problem solving must be a test. Carefully So-La-Do approached the Elder.

“Elder,” he said respectfully. The Elder turned to look at him. It said something to him, three beats of its monotone. Something tickled the back of his mind, not exactly the true god’s voice, but something more than just his own thoughts. The Elder called him a name. Wanting to be called by his own name, he tapped his chest and said, “So-La-Do.”

The Elder tilted its head at him and said the three beats again, only this time there was a trace of tone in them. It wasn’t the same octave that he spoke in. He could accept that. He tried again, “So-La-Do.”

The Elder hummed the notes. It was close, very close. So-La-Do accepted this version. “Yes, yes,” he gruffed. “So-La-Do.” The Elder spoke one more time, somehow combining some of the aspects of her monotone address with the notes of his true name. He felt an almost overwhelming sense of acceptance and relief. He felt like something terrible was avoided.

“I know the spell water adhesion,” So-La-Do confessed. The spell was actually only tier one. Very few people knew how to cast it out of the water. It was a deeply held secret of his family line. The early use of it was likely the cause of his fear of heights. He knew the Elder didn’t understand his words. He gestured to the water flask on the Elder’s belt, trying to indicate that he wanted it.

The Elder unhooked the flask without a second’s thought and handed it to him. He gestured for the Elder to follow and went over to the wall. He sat down his hammer and touched the wall, demonstrating the rolling motion needed to use once the spell was cast. It took him a couple attempts, but finally the Elder copied his move.

“Yes, yes,” he gruffed. So-La-Do held his free flipper in front of him and cupped it so it could hold water. This time the Elder copied his move immediately, it only needed a gesture to get it to hold both of its paws out. So-La-Do opened the flask and poured a little water onto both of its paws. He dared to touch the Elder and cast the spell. The water in its paw spread out to coat the entire upper surface. The elder seemed fascinated by this. It flexed its paws, trying to get the water to move. Finally it shook its paws, breaking the spell and the water dripped free.

“No,” he squeaked. He mimed touching the wall again and rolling his flipper to pull it off and set it back down higher up. The Elder nodded its head, and held out its paws again. So-La-Do poured the water and cast.

The Elder put its paw on the wall. It tried to pull it off and found it stuck. Then it rolled its paw exactly how he’d shown. Its hand came free. The Elder looked at the water on its hands and looked up at the wall. It began to climb. As the Elder lifted its feet off the ground, So-La-Do cast the slow fall spell on it. So-La-Do was certain that a fall of thirty feet wouldn’t do more than just annoy a tier six. He didn’t want it annoyed. It was possible to kill a tier six, but you had to make sure they were dead for at least six days. Otherwise their upgraded spirit would bring them back to life.

The Elder arrived on the platform high above. A burst of sound erupted from it. Alarmed, So-La-Do looked up. The Elder was sitting on the edge of the platform swinging its legs. It was sticking its hands together and rolling them apart. The newcomers below were making loud noises. The Elder said something loud down to them, So-La-Do heard his name.

The newcomer team looked at him. So-La-Do tried to look nonchalant. He heard mangled variations of his name being tried by different members of the team. After a particularly bad attempt, So-La-Do pronounced his name again.

“So-La-Do,” he said. The blue warrior scrambled down from his perch and crossed over to So-La-Do. It picked up the end of the rope on the way over. It tucked the bolt the rope was still tied to into its belt. An octave lower than the elder, the blue warrior said the newcomer name in the correct notes.

“Yes, yes,” he gruffed. The blue warrior spoke a string of monotone at him while tapping its own chest and touching the wall. So-La-Do started showing it how to roll its paws.