Out of all my Bound, River is the most confused right now. Perhaps because, unlike the others, he seems to have kind of accepted me as pseudo-lizardkin and the lizard-folk don’t dance. Or maybe they do dance, but not how I’m doing it right now.
Bastet just seems to be accepting this as another part of my weirdness. Sirocco’s unbothered, just flapping over to land on my shoulders and sending a request for a new Energy-Heart down our Bond.
Still a little embarrassed at being caught literally with my pants down, I don’t say anything as I pull one out and hand it over. She grabs it in one of her front claws and pushes off hard from my shoulder, flapping over to land near the cave mouth.
“Do any of you need one?” I ask, turning back towards my other Bound. Hopefully they’ll be distracted from my dancing skill – or lack of it, rather.
Yes, please, River answers. Bastet agrees with him. Fenrir sends a sense of reluctant negation – not that I was expecting anything else since I know he’s still absorbing the last one I gave him. I look at Bastet specifically, then eye the cubs lying around her – they look exhausted from the trip out into the forest.
“Should we give them to the cubs now that they’re old enough to travel with the pack?” Bastet hesitates, the sense of the Bond one of consideration. After some moments of thought, she sends over a sense of negation – for now. I get the idea that the cubs are still too young – they need to get some kills under their – figurative – belts before they can start using Energy-Hearts.
I still don’t fully understand how things work for beasts, but I’ll willingly bow to Bastet’s knowledge of the situation.
“Alright. Just let me know when they’re ready – they’re part of our team too. As long as I have some left, they’ll be welcome to partake.” Bastet sends me a sense of pleasure, but also a hint of chiding – like it should have been able to go without saying. Handing the two Energy-Hearts out, I stop River as he starts to move past me.
“Are you up for going back into the forest soon? I want to fell a tree.” River offers me a hint of surprise down the Bond, but also willing acceptance.
Of course. Would you like to head out now?
“Sure,” I say, then backtrack. “Actually, give me a few minutes? There’s something else I need to do first.”
Very well. With your permission, I shall begin absorbing this Energy-Heart, but I will be ready to leave when you wish.
“Sure, sure. You don’t need to ask my permission for that, OK?” I say to him pointedly. I know he still sees me as his ‘master’, much to my discomfort, but I don’t want to micro-manage him like that. “And fine, I’ll let you know when I’m ready to go.” He tilts his chin up and then turns away towards the cave too. I watch him settle down against the wall, basking in a warm patch of sun.
Bastet is doing the same, her Energy-Heart tucked in the space between her chin and forepaws. Fortunately for her, the cubs look completely whooped: they’ve curled up in a little pile beside her and seem fast asleep. I find a smile has crept onto my face at the sight – so cute! The absence of a normal addition to the cub pile makes my smile fade a little. I wonder how Lathani is doing.
She’ll be fine, I’m sure – she’s with her mum after all. There’s not likely to be anything in these woods that could threaten her with her mother as a watchful guardian. I try to ignore the knowledge that the lizard-folk had done just that.
Don’t think about that. No, I should rather be thinking of something else which occurred to me as I was speaking with River. I hadn’t remembered it until now, so focused on fixing the impending issue with Lay-on-hands, but there are more Skills than just that waiting for me. After all, I passed both the level five and the level ten thresholds. I rub my hands in glee, a grin spreading across my face. Finally.
Sitting down, I open the list of potential Skills with a couple of mental commands. They spool in front of me, eight Skills filling the space. I suppose that makes sense: three Skills offered per level threshold plus the two I passed over before. I’ve also got six points available – two for level five, four for level ten. I wonder if the number of points will keep doubling: that would be both awesome and worrying. I guess I’ll find out.
Stun (1)
Release your remaining mana in a single, directed blast from your hands to render your opponent unmoving for between one and ten seconds. Note: the effects of the blast depend on both the amount of mana remaining, and distance from the epicentre of the discharge. The disparity between your Willpower and that of your opponent will also partially determine the length of time the target is stunned. Maximum effect can be achieved at full mana and when touching the target.
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Track (1)
Notice and be able to follow marks which show the passage of your target. This Skill scales with Intelligence.
Inspect Fauna (2)
Use a pulse of mana to retrieve information about an animal. The more mana used, the more information may be retrieved. Warning: T2 Beasts and upwards have a chance of detecting this pulse and being enraged by it, with the chance increasing with the level of the Beast. Wisdom determines how much information is collected, and Intelligence determines how much information is processed.
Inspect Flora (2)
Use a pulse of mana to retrieve information about a plant. The more mana used, the more information may be retrieved. Warning: T2 plants and upwards have a chance of detecting this pulse and being enraged by it, with the chance increasing with the level of the plant. Wisdom determines how much information is collected, and Intelligence determines how much information is processed.
Inspect Environment (2)
Use a pulse of mana to retrieve information about an area and the potential resources held within. This Skill may also indicate the presence of traps. At higher levels, this Skill can be used to detect the lingering presence of beings which have passed through an area. The more mana used, the more information may be retrieved. Warning: T2 Beasts and upwards as well as T2 plants and upwards have a chance of detecting this pulse and may be enraged by it. The chance of detection increases with the level of the Beast or plant. Wisdom determines how much information is collected, and Intelligence determines how much information is processed.
Bond Eyes (4)
See through the visual senses of one of your Bound at any time. At lower levels, this sight replaces your own; at higher levels, and with practice, it is possible to view through both sets of visual senses. This Skill becomes easier the greater the disparity between your Willpower and that of your Bound. It may also be easier or harder depending on the Bond you have. It is easier to view through a tightly-controlled Bond or a Bond with a deep sense of trust. The distance limits of this Skill are determined by Wisdom/Willpower and the strength of the Bond.
Bond Ears (4)
Hear through the auditory senses of one of your Bound at any time. At lower levels, this hearing replaces your own; at higher levels, and with practice, it is possible to hear through both sets of auditory senses. This Skill becomes easier the greater the disparity between your Willpower and that of your Bound. It may also be easier or harder depending on the Bond you have. It is easier to hear through a tightly-controlled Bond or a Bond with a deep sense of trust. The distance limits of this Skill are determined by Wisdom/Willpower and the strength of the Bond.
Bond Puppet (4)
Send your consciousness into the body of one of your Bound and control their limbs as you would your own. Any damage sustained to your physical form will not affect your own body. Mental or soul attacks, however, may still damage your true mind or soul. This Skill becomes easier the greater the disparity between your Willpower and that of your Bound. It may also be easier or harder depending on the Bond you have. It is easier to puppet a Bound through a tightly-controlled Bond or a Bond with a deep sense of trust. The distance limits of this Skill are determined by Wisdom/Willpower and the strength of the Bond.
You have 6 Skill points available. Either choose a Skill to use your Skill point now, or say ‘Bank’ to store the points for later and close the Skill selection menu.
Well, that’s a bit of a doozy, I think as I finish reading the Skill descriptions. First, it’s interesting to note that, regardless of how much my Skill points increase per level, it’s possible to purchase either one of the newest Skills, two of the previous threshold’s Skills, or all of the previous threshold’s offerings. That relieves me as much as it disappoints me: I guess that the Skills gain in power as levels increase, so the thought that someone at level twenty, for example, could have several high-powered Skills was a little worrying if the number of Skill points offered doubled but the cost of the Skills only increase linearly.
I mean, I suppose the potential is still there for them to have several high-powered Skills – look at what that fire mage did with his level one Skill of Firebolt, after all. The difference is that they’ll have had to put in the effort to turn the lower-level Skills into something powerful. Or choose to miss out on lower-level Skills in order to purchase higher-level ones.
The other thing I note is that each of the thresholds seem to have something of a theme. My level one Skills seemed to be about survival: Fade allowed me to avoid danger; Stun would have allowed me to escape it if I got too close; Tracking would have enabled me to determine what danger I was likely to walk into, and thereby to avoid it if I wanted.
The level five Skills are all about gaining information from what’s around me: the animals, the plants, and the environment itself. Any one of these Skills would be a godsend – I just wish there was a single Skill which encompassed all of them. With the Skills being split as they are, I have a harder choice to make.
The level ten Skills are as intriguing as they are a bit disturbing. All of them seem to be based on the same idea – using the Bond to send part or all of my consciousness into one of my Bound. The disturbing factor is about the implications of the success conditions of the Skill. It talked about deep trust, which makes sense, but it also mentioned the alternative being a ‘tightly-controlled Bond’. When I consider how much power I sense that I have over my Bound, I shiver a little. I promise myself again that I won’t go down that route.
After going over the Skills a couple of times more, my decision of what to choose firms up. Time will tell if my choice is a good one, but if I second-guess myself constantly, I will never make a choice at all.