Age of Gods - Year 0

Age of Kafar - Year 328

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Sunset is about to start on the safe haven that are the Fostering Grounds. Many large mud huts were host to the mushy moss with white flowers that spread over their walls and floor. Many people walked barefoot in haste from building to building, all wearing colorful and embroidered dresses made of a few long fabric strips, held by similarly colorful and embroidered belts and bracers. The predominant dress colors were white, green, and shades of gray, albeit others could be seen.

One of the biggest green huts was peculiarly adorned by the cries of many, many babies. It is the Resting House, were a massive spell was cast every night, that put the hundreds of unnamed toddlers and childs to sleep.

Inside, a middle-aged woman wore a dress filled with the golden engravings of her many achievements on duty. It was hard to see its original dark gray, which marked her as a Caregiver. Not that it was necessary, everyone around knows her. Thema Caregiver. Royal Nanny. The one who saved thousands of unnamed. The one who showed for the first time that mage-born can live to be Named. Inventor of many healing rites and spells. Inventor of Comfort-type magic.

Breakfast Maker was the latest engraving on her dress. The black elder was less than trilled about that red mark, but Melusi would not allow her to remove it until passing the waterfolk's exams.

Now tough, this living legend huffed and puffed with sharp breaths at her latest trial. On two big piles of nourishing moss, two unnamed newborns lay restless and confused.

She had: Rearranged, Heat Up, Cooled Down, Dried, Wet, spread and condensed and prepared and shuffled and changed the piles of nourishing moss as best she could, but these two babies still didn't start gorging themselves on it. As she let her hands to her hips in indignation, her forehead lines tensing as she reminisced about all the odd newborns and mage-born she'd seen. Maybe something will pop-up to help her with these two that have been getting odder as time goes on.

Fire-born. For benign as Ma'Shala is, her cleansing fires claimed too many. And the childs born on those burnt husks of forests are always so hot, almost burning. I have even seen their excretions bursting into flames. Oh benign Ma'shala, could you at least spare the moss?

Bah, they became wondrous pyromancers, all those who've been Named. I wonder what the quadruplets are up to now.

Regardless, I don't think an overdone heat regulator will help here... Kafar started using those on his expeditions, didn't he?

The ocean... Thema looks ahead and past the walls of the Nourishment House, past the forest of Constellation trees, and through the Bortern. If Spear Mi'Kafar hadn't been brought back, I still wouldn't believe there's more out there.

Ocean-born never stop peeing. Same with those born from water mages. So much water they need to drink. So many claimed by dehydration...

Making nourishment moss Wet is good enough for them... Maybe I need some new spell there?

Hopefully, this isn't like the... the Rot. Uri'shala, you took so many, so young. And those few rot-born who survived were deformed forever, weren't they?

Bah, maybe the kids were rotting alive, and the adults are ugly, but Fern Traveler did tell that those rotmancers saved entire regions from famine and plagues. The wisdoms of Uri'shala are deep indeed.

Well, letting these two die would be much less painful than trying to experiment with healing spells, but it would be a good excuse. Yet it's not like these unnamed are hurt in any way, unless stubbornness is a disease, so I don't think the other caregivers will allow me the House of Healing for it...

Thema takes some time to aid a caregiver nearby with holding a woven mana net to reposition the other child of Spear Mi'kafar. The Cistol mother decided to make one of their childs only be a mana core, because "Mana cores are small and I'm only just now trying out this weird womb birthing thingy".

And just left it to me to figure out how to feed something without a mouth. Really, that elemental... Woman?

Thema remembers the pointy face of Spear Mi'kafar with its hanging roots in the place of a mouth, looking much like an elder's beard.

Plant? Hopefully not all Cistols are so weird. But these two unnamed... They seem even more picky than this thing! And this things needs their moss to be freshly induced with the ephemeral will of Mu'Shala!

Hah, this is the exact opposite of that one half-ghost that could only be breastfed... Why was that? Right. nourishing moss caused harm instead of sustain. At least that's not a problem here... Thema looks back at the hard-to-pull-apart duo. Maybe. I do wonder what To Kafar'mu is up to now, he was certainly an oddity.

Then, there's the possessors. So rare, so interesting... And so awkward whenever one freaks out the servants because they think Kafar died and needs to grow again. Not like Kafar will ever die, Uri'Shala seems to despise him. Thema Looks at the crying pair. These two certainly don't have any wits around them.

Whilst Thema continued to daze off in reminiscence, others scurried around, painting over mandala-like grooves on the wooden floor with shiny silver paint over a focusing chant. Most here dressed the whites of a Magic Wielder, with one or two belts coated with that same silver paint. An exception being Forr Botanist, the bearded behemoth of a man, who wore an used and abused white dress with three brown belts, which matched the color of his skin so peculiarly well, that became nigh invisible along the seam on his belly where the too-small dressing sheet parted.

After an unusually long day of growing and moving the many huts worth of Nourishment Moss the Resting House needed, he was the only one resting, sitting at a wall. All other working Named were dressed in dark gray robes, most of them still growing and without any notable engravings other than some marks for being properly trained for their work.

Lastly, a Named child by the corner wore a white sheet beltless. The unfinished dress was much too large, its lower half dirty and getting dirtier, as he traced his fingers over circular grooves on the ground. Some silver remains left from the last ritual quickly light up and vanished, burning to his amusement.

Some such metallic traces of the last ritual were still around. Perhaps reusing them was possible, but Thema Caregiver was not about to compromise on quality when all these unnamed are so frail they could die from a bad night of sleep. The younger caregivers seem to think she exaggerates, but she'd seen many unnamed fail to sleep a few days, and then sleep to never wake up. Thema thinks they die from Uri'Shala trying to help them stop crying the only way Dead would know to. Thanks to her efforts, that specific deity has refrained from feeling the need to aid the unnamed.

In the middle of this controlled chaos, one adult arrived just outside the hut's entry with pomp and a clap, wearing a vibrant green long and frilly dress with few engravings. Such is the dress of a concubine of Kafar, the current emperor of Shala. Her similarly green and decorated bracer marked her as a recent mother; from those two things, she's someone whose words must be heard and whose needs must be catered to.

"Attention attention everyone!" A ringing and hastened voice makes Thema groan. Some of the painters are startled by the clap and miss the ritual grooves, others pull their hair or their face and groan at the delay they know this will bring. A few babies who weren't crying yet start doing so now. Only the child on a corner manages to ignore her, instead enthused by new mana flows across the groove of shiny paint he just moved to.

"This lady hasn't had a good massage in over one week and can wait No Longer!" She looks around for a moment and fixes her eyes on Thema. "Oh Thema! Wonderful, you'll do nicely! I'll be taking you to the saloon as soon as you tenderize the souls of the crying babies!"

Thema arms clench and tremble, yet she lets out a sigh and chooses diplomacy. "Greeting Puff Mi'kafar. We were about to finish preparations for the important, safe, and beneficial Calm & Comfort ritual," 'safe and beneficial' was slightly stressed. "which you, of all people here, should know will require my presence to solidify."

"Sure sure sure sure, just tell..." Puff Mi'kafar leaves the 'l' hanging as she looks across the room again. Her pupils turning white and her green robe gaining a few brown dots as she intrusively pierces everyone with a mana ball. "Ether over there! They..." A certain boy in a corner jumps at his name, only to get magically booped a few more times. "Should do nicely as a conduit, right? Right Right!"

Puff Mi'kafar looks on expectantly, her arm still pointing at the increasingly pale and fidgeting boy who she condemned. A painful silence hangs while Thema fumbles her words at the absurdity of all just happened. The boy shyly hides behind a nearby servant, who lifts and hugs him tightly. The servant looks just as afraid as the little boy.

Did she just... Mana Check everyone? With a broken Core? And how is she not reacting to her blood spilling on...

"Excuse me Puff Mi'kafar. Wha-"

No no no, did she just say a barely Named child should... Carry the load of a complex mid scale, area-bound rite???

"No. Before that. Ether Kafar'mu" Thema stresses Kafar'mu, to the annoyance of the intruding concubine. "was Named three WEEKS ago! What nonsense are you saying, to let have him sit on the ground whilst channeling this crucial ritual until the sun sets?!?!"

"Oh please, it's just sitting for a little lil bit." Puff Mi'kafar rolled her eyes and flourished her hand back to her hip. "Just put Suffsu to nanny him and come! These knots are Killing Me!" Suddenly, her white eyes widen as she spins around. She takes a sharp and quick breath, readying to do something... That ends up with more brown stains on her dress' chest. A few seconds later, water splashes against here from above and starts spinning over her body. The brown stains get cleaned, and with a few more seconds the spinning water bubble turns turbulent, and she disappears.

Soon after, said water evaporates, with the vapor sucked up and away. The intense mana of that forceful teleportation makes itself known, but just as quickly fades away. From the distance, sloshing water can be heard approaching. Thema breathes a sigh of relief, as does Suffsu. She'll still have to go cast her massaging spell, and the new arrival won't be that much better for her. Regardless, even as those that haven't been here for long enough look around in confusion and a tinge of fear, the rest gets on with their duties.

"Do ignore Puff with ease. I'll deal with her later." A deep and slow voice washes over the large room, reaching everyone with the same strength.

"Thank you for your aid, High Mage Melusi Mi'Kafar." The main Caregiver bows and rushes to grab a temperature-enchanted tub. One of her latest acquirements, made to fulfill Melusi's offspring oddly specific needs. By the time she returns, the iridescent fish-kin has arrived at the room with two large tadpole-like critters on a levitating water bubble. The eternal mini-wave it uses to move around has now turned into a placid dome on which she just as placidly lays.

With grace, Thema sets down the tub near the middle of the room, where the large man already has the nourishing moss cooled and algaefied. After the tadpole-carrying bubble gently levitates and settles on the tub, Thema goes to choose the Tub temperature.

Melusi halts her with an illusion of boiled eggs. "No dear, you won't be making breakfast today." Thema blushes and looks down, as the botanist nearby giggles.

"Melu, I beg, I spent the last year learning all about the nuances of egg births and water-folk. Of your needs on each one of the three stages." Gathering courage, Thema looks up with begging and moist eyes. "I beg, will you please give me a chance to redeem lost honors?"

A pause on the waterfolk shows itself, after which Melusi submerges on her water dome to whistle something in her language. She resurfaces with a sigh, vanishing the illusion of hard-boiled eggs, and giving Thema a permissive wave of the hand. The caregiver bows in appreciation, and starts fidgeting incantations near the tub.

After a few tense moments, the High Mage looks around with an amused face and haughtily declares. "Meanwhile, I shall make sure Every One Learns of the breakfast you were denied!" Many knowing giggles complemented the Mi'Kafar, as the mothering mermaid slowly and melodically sang about the time Thema "Farmer" tried to warm merman eggs as if they were chicken eggs.

With trembling everything, a redoubled blush, and a fast and repeating chant of "Mi'Shala cleanse my shame, Mi'Shala cleanse me from my failures.", Thema activated the required enchantments on the tub. That most embarrassing failure came from the time she killed two embryos of the group who now are alike large tadpoles. Turns out "Ocean water is cold you idiotic landwoman!" and merman eggs can't even be lukewarm. At least it was quite the formative experience; now she knows many ways to manipulate temperature with incredibly precision, and her newfound knowledge of waterfolk will assure she will never have such problems again.

By the time the High Mage finished her mockery and left, all ritual preparations were finished, and soon enough, she went to the center and attempted to relax. She felt the mana flow throughout her, and then move and morph as it burnt the paint. Soon enough, the mana will set, and all that will remain is to activate Calm And Comfort on every child.

At that point, Teff Mi'Thema arrived with his extended parchment. None could figure if he should wear the concubine's green or the scribe's pale yellow, so he grafted, onto the part of the dress that would match his core, some old yellowing papers. The graft was some artful embroidery which read "Of Thema and Shala, for Knowledge and Kafar".

"Here I provide the records you wanted on the unnamed, my dutiful dear."

A simple nod was all Thema needed to give before Teff stepped forward with a bow and started reading them for her.

"They were born on a hut over the blue plains on the hundred and fifty fourth day of the year three hundred and twenty eight." He paused for a moment, stepped forward, and looked between the unnamed in question and Thema. "This would mean, they were born twenty days ago and were assigned to you eighteen days ago."

"So long already. I'm surprised they made it, even with how much healing was used up by them." Teff Mi'Thema assented and stepped forward, now two steps away from Thema.

"And your healing rite is still the most beautiful I have seen." He continued reading, as Thema focused back on the flow of mana across the room. Soon enough, he continued speaking. "The newborns had still not eaten once by the time they reached you, and such I concur. We only saw the mothers when they arrived at the Fostering Grounds eight days ago." Another Step Forward.

The servants which brought them here did warn about the unstable state of the concubines before they arrived, which wasn't recorded for their safety. And Puff Mi'Kafar... Unstable is putting it lightly. The other weirdo, that... Cistol might not even have a stable state other than her nightly catatonism.

"The mothers had many spirits of unknown aspects for the weeks before birth, and theirs was in simultaneity, on the birthing chairs made by Forr Botanist and shared at your discretion on year three hundred and twenty one." Another step forward.

The two can't possibly be related, and they didn't share a bed with Kafar either so there is no possible way this is just some womb issue as Spear feared. Maybe for the brown one, but for something to extend, without mana, towards the other chil-

A sudden kiss on her open mouth - which she hadn't noticed was chanting - startled her. When did he get so close? "Your beauty exceeds my comprehension when you're thinking that hard, Thema'Mi."

A small deviation in the mana coming from the corner where Ether Kafar'Mu previously played made him step back with a paling face, as Thema focused on her meditation and control once more. A few minutes later she routinely marked Teff Mi'Thema with his well-deserved fourth mark of lechery (and first of rite disturbance) and resumed her ruminations, now with a pale Teff awkwardly kneeling five steps away, still reading her the notes.

"From the first day, they have moved in perfect synchronicity."

Most babies do get enraptured by similar things, but the degree of coordination these two have is... Trembles cross Thema's spine. She pauses to check the manaflows just in case.

"Which was amended to extend to all puking, peeing, pooping, crying, and whatever little feeding you can force them to do."

If one of them gets grazed or tapped or picked up, both start crying after a few moments. The crying is normal. The simultaneity is not. Thema checks the manaflows again, paying special care to the area between the duo. It all seems normal, but Thema is not convinced.

"Apart from their starvation, they were brought here from the blue plains in two days because their mana felt odd."

They were brought to me when one's mana started acting up. The parents seem convinced that these unnamed can't be separated. I'm inclined to agree, something is constantly pulling them together, and their core starts boiling if separated.

"Next comes the list of already castings, rituals and affirmations used on the newborns."

Could they be under some form of curse? Not Taken, not Soul-Robbed, not Marked as Promise, not... No, this doesn't look like any curse I know. None that would affect newborns, at least. Maybe it is a new one. Some farewell from Puff Mi'Kafar's family, perhaps?

Teff then enumerated all spells the unnamed duo were listed under. The weaker, subtler versions of Sleep didn't have any effect, and both Sleep and Heal would start reaching dangerous levels of overuse soon.

And the worst of it all... They refuse to eat and sleep whilst either of them is crying! Nourishing moss might be enough for the moment, but they will grow frail and diseased without their mother's gift.

Something needs to be... A second disturbance in manaflows required Thema's direct assistance. She couldn't contain a scoff even as Teff paled further. And Puff wanted a barely Named child to take care of this, unbelievable!

Of this... Calm And Comfort is a gentle spell, may Uri'Shala teach me why it works so badly. And the duo needs something other than forceful spells. The two Healing spells and six Sleep spells to save them from Uri'Shala's failed touch were already too much.

Regardless of her musings, soon enough all surrounding mana accepted its path and solidified the ritual. No more deviations would happen from now on, but Thema will need to meditate for a while longer to recover her own circulation.

She had enough mind to ring the bell that signifies the ritual to be ready, and the white-robed servants hastily started drawing activation runes on the crying babies first, then the rest. Each spell took effect a few moments after the runes dissipated. And so, in but 5 minutes since the ritual finished, all newborns stopped crying and went to sleep in Nourishment Moss for the night... All but two. Two very annoying enigmas.

Her ruminations were stopped when the newborn duo redoubled their whining after a white-robed servant with one silver belt continuously poked them with a cold brush. She tried to mark them with the ritual's ink, consuming the silvery paint in the process. Oh, the new Rite Initiate. Must have missed their introduction. I need to tell them the spell doesn't work for some reason... And of course reapplying it won't...

Thema cringed as the Initiate kept applying and failing to burn the ritual ink. Just as she started drawing a breath of air to speak up, another servant beat her to it, forcefully grabbing the Initiate's pincel and marking them with a sign of wastefulness. For emphasis, Shem spent a few seconds channeling the spell through the ink and into the unnamed, without it burning. When the admonished demanded an explanation, however, she saw the two-belted rite painter, Shem, point towards both her and Teff. They then turned around with force, leaving a frazzled teen behind.

Thema, of course, wouldn't just let someone mark such a cute growing seed on their first mistake without repercussion, so she used her previously drawn breath to loudly proclaim, in a haugthy tone which spread loosely resembling Melusi Mi'Kafar:

"Shem," The previously fuming and stomping man froze in his retreat. "you just did the very same 'extremely foolish and abhorrently wasteful' mistake of trying to reapply an Area-bound ritual this very morning." Shem's mouth hung open as he realized where Thema was going. "should I then mark you with abhorrent waste as well?"

The few surrounding caregivers are rite painters snickered and chuckled. Shem quickly retracted his mark and walked away from the Resting House. Teff used the chance to rise up with wobbly legs and leave.

By now, everyone but the handful of Caregivers who cleaned up toddlers had left. Thema felt her own mana circulation properly return, and stood up, heading outside to meet with the Initiate. At this point of each daily cycle, the open space between the many buildings of Fostering Grounds is as empty as it will ever be, which made the few people standing mesmerized just outside the door all the more noticeable.

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One of them was the Initiate who, alongside the rest, was looking at the forest and the surroundings and the setting sun with an open mouth. The hut's ceiling was very slightly glowing orange, with some pink lights seeping into the hut.

When Thema went outside, the sight of the mossy plains lefts her as mesmerized as the rest. Teff was sitting down, frantically drawing and writing on a new parchment.

Flowers of Nourishing Moss slowly closed as the sun fell beyond the horizon. Their usually white petals now glowing somewhat pink, somewhat orange from reflecting the sunset. As that most helpful creeper herb occupies much of what the eye can see around the nursery, and the flower buds spread far, it looked like they were standing on a field of candles.

And I'll be damned if these Grounds are not as sacred as they look. Sunsets are ever so beautif- Many similarly pink-glowing critters shyly rise over the ankle-high moss. Oh. They light up erratically, then in bursts. Today is the day when Emmet'Shala rejects the unnamed and lets them go to rest.

And then, some bugs she hadn't seen in three years showed up again. Manabugs, making many, many small ripples which rose like rainbow-colored sparkles.

Not wanting to be outdone, the giant orange petals of the equally giant Constellation trees had also closed, turning from their usual vibrant orange, to brown, to black and completely hidden from sight. But not from mana sense. There, they light up like swirling tornados, slowly the attracting all the sparkles those bugs caused.

The giant black buds contrasted with the attracted sparkles. And they looked like shimmering continuations of the star-filled sky.

"Constellation trees. Soul Farmers. They take Emmet'Shala rejects and give them a place to stay for the night." Thema nudged the Initiate, still distracted at the sun, to look towards the trees. "That's where the name comes from. That's why we built the Fostering grounds here. So that even the spirits of unnamed get their homes upon the burning."

The magical sight continued at its peak as the sun finished hiding over the horizon. Once the night came fully, the bugs continued their dance and show, and with the nourishment moss no longer glowing, and no moon to light the night, the plains would have looked just as dark as the sky above.

But the glowbugs continued glowing, the manabugs continued sparkling, and the trees kept their shimmering decorations. So Thema turned her attention to the approaching girl as she heard her muffled and meek steps over the two crying babies.

The new Caregiver indeed wanted a chat. She was a lithe, thin girl, with her dark skin shiny from sweat and eyes opposing Thema's black tones, below a short, messily cut hair. Her white robes with a single band painted of metallic silver were what marked her as an Initiate on rituals. With how pink and orange all whites were glowing, Thema would have almost mistaken her as some form of enchanter some moments ago.

"T-This initiate humbly seek guidance, Thema Caregiver. Why does th-"

"The ritual not work on those two?" Snapping back to the reality of the babies she had to grasp away from Uri'Shala and bring to their mothers, Thema quickly cut the formalities with a nod towards the Resting House. "I am trying to figure that out as well. Even if you could reassign them for the area-bound spell, such a thing will only waste ink, time, and annoy them. Further. So from now on, just don't bother."

"U-understood, Thema Caregiver." The young adult seemed to struggle with something as she clasped her hands. A bug's sparkle nearby light them up, and Thema noticed they were quite calloused for her young age and nodded in appreciation. Another hard worker will be good to have. Maybe Forr Botanist will take a disciple. After a few moments, the Initiate continued.

"May I join you at dawn to attempt to... Figure out the unnamed's resistance to Calm And Comfort?"

Thema raised her sight to the initiate's face. With the sparkle already floating towards a bud behind the teen, she couldn't quite catch the details of her expression, but the teenager's brown eyes looked back intently.

"At dawn the babies are cleaned and feed. After that they sleep. After that we'll burn those touched by Uri'Shala." The intently-looking amber eyes turned meekly to their feet. Another sparkle rose nearby. "Perhaps there will be time for experiments after the mist parts. But only if you first dignify me with your name."

Trembling eyes opened up and fixed onto the rising sparkle. After a few seconds of stillness, a frail voice was heard. "Oh Mi'Shala, cleanse my shame." After a trembled breath, she continued. "Please forgive this Initiate. I am Uluk. Uluk Initiate."

A cold breeze went past. "I'll see you here after the mist parts. For now, follow me. The night is only getting colder and I could use those hands of yours." Thema went back to the Resting House and grabbed some remaining ritual paint, drawing with it on her forehead. Uluk tried to copy her, but needed Thema's assistance to draw the rune on herself. Soon, both felt the magical effects perfectly take over.

Her ears grew muffled and quiet, but not too quiet. Her body felt nice and warm. Her pains dulled, and her remaining shame and fears from the last passing concubines flew off. Many small discomforts in her body went away, and she knows it isn't an illusion; this is healing magic, after all.

She know no baby will piss nor shit tonight, to the relief of the Caregivers, which all have left now. Bah, none but those ocean-born. At least there's none of those now.

And she wondered: What do these two not like about this?

She decided to grab both of them and look at their contrasting bodies and faces.

One has the long, rombous, pointy, hairless, and yellowish amber skin unique to Cystol newborns. If it survives, perhaps they'll pick another color as they grow. The other has the round face and dark red skin belonging to Human newborns. Again, they're moving identically.

When picking them up, she noticed their crying almost stopped, and they even looked happy for a moment. She gave the Cystol to Uluk, and warned her about keeping them close. They'll be bringing the babies to their mothers now, because even if the spell doesn't seem to work, they do accept milk in this state.

The other quintessential (albeit somewhat left behind) spell for baby management, Sleep, works better than fine for the two of them, as with only one cast the other also falls asleep. But she needed to use it three times on each infant already, and that spell is and has always been a last choice with newborns. One she would normally not be willing to use even once more in fear of repercussions. Now, might be a time to ignore said repercussions in favor of preventing their deaths.

Regardless, Thema went on with her job. She and Uluk walked to the House of Feeding. The Human baby was left to Puff Mi'Kafar, who was now much more placid and apologized for her distasteful appearance. Her hair was still wet. Thema sighed, and circulated her mana one last time to cast both Dry and the gentle variant of Tenderize which she calls "Massage".

Uluk dropped the Cystol to Spear Mi'Kafar, who took it on her mouth roots with grace, calm, and some cooing that was of a higher pitch than anything either Uluk Initiate or Thema Caregiver had ever heard.

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Two connected and primitive minds struggle to make sense of anything.

Their merged senses wreck havoc on what little they can perceive.

This is them, their feelings and understanding, as they laid on different patches of nourishing moss.

Incredibly well prepared patches of nourishing moss, meant to fit the needs of their species as specifically as possible.

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DANGER! CRY!

CRY! DANGER!

DANGER! CRY!

CRY! DANGER!

A Clap. Some high-pitched noises.

Safe? Loud.

Safe! DANGER!

Danger? Safe?

Why? Why?

Some small noises.

... Safe

Safe? Safe?

Full? Full?

Full. Light Hunger.

Hunger? Full?

Full. Light Hunger.

Why. Why.

WHY! WHY!

Cry? Cry?

Cry. Cry.

CRY. CRY.

CRY! CRY!

CRY! CRY!

A song.

Nice Sound. Nice Sound.

Happy. Happy.

Safe. Safe.

Nice Cold. Nice Warm.

Warm? Cold?

No Warm! No Cold!

Cry! Cry!

Nice DRY. Nice Dry.

Nice. DRY?

Sleepy. Cry.

Cry? Sleepy?

Sleepy. WHAT.

Sleep. CRY!

Cry?! CRY!

DANGER. CRY!

CRY! Danger?

A touch. Some cold in their foreheads. A spell triggers.

Nice [Cold-DRY]. Nice [Warm-Dry].

Safe Loud. Safe Noise.

Calm. Calm.

Warm-Dry? Cold-DRY?

No! No!

Danger! Danger!

Calm. CRY!

Cry?! Safe Noise.

DANGER! Calm.

CRY! Danger?

DANGER! Nice [Warm-Dry].

NO [WARM]! Safe Noise.

CRY! Calm.

Nice [Cold-DRY]! Cry?

CRY! NO [COLD-DRY]!

NO! CRY!

CRY! NO!

NO! CRY!

CRY! NO!

NO! CRY!

CRY! NO!

NO! CRY!

CRY! NO!

NO! CRY!

CRY! NO!

They're picked up. Some cooing.

No? Cry?

Close. Near.

Safe. Safe.

Picked up. Raised.

Raised? Picked up?.

High. Higher.

Tilted. Sideways.

Sideways? Tilted?

Where. How.

How. Where.

Why. Why.

WHY. WHY.

Calm. Calm.

Nice. Nice.

Held. Held.

Safe. Safe.

Nice. Hungry.

Hungry? Hungry.

Food. Food.

Eat. Eat.

Feed. Eat.

Full. Eat.

Enough. Full?

Full. Hungry.

FULL. HUNGRY.

WHY. WHY.

Nice. Nice.

Calm. Calm.

Grabbed. Grabbed.

Safe. Safe.

Sleep. Hungry.

Stop. More.

Cry. Eat.

Cry! Eat.

CRY! Full.

Full? Cry?

Nice. Cry.

Calm. Calm.

Nice [Cold-DRY]. Nice [Warm-Dry]

Sleep. Sleep.

Puff Mi'Kafar & Spear Mi'Kafar were happy: for the first time, the babies fell asleep without the Sleep spell. The mothers, soon after followed.

When Thema came to cast Sleep, she instead met the wondrous sight of properly asleep and breathing mother and toddlers, and went to sleep with some ideas for tomorrow.