179. SENSITIVE: WIREMU

How do I get information from a lady with a fire affinity and a bad temper? I can withstand her fire, but not without revealing a rock affinity and therefore revealing Sten is alive. I don’t think she deserves to die. Maybe she does, but I don’t want to kill another affinity user here, as I think it will bring in too much attention. The guard captain is already suspicious and not convinced Sten is dead. Could I get the guard captain to interrogate her? I could plant some evidence. The trouble is I want to be there with my Truth Sensing Skill to ensure she wasn’t involved and see if anyone else was involved, especially people with power.

I could only Roleplay for two hours. Then there was a two-hour reset period, so I stopped at my shop with the basement and changed into ordinary armour. I am probably going to need an ID for just me if William Cody is going to be Wild Bison Bill. Maybe I will get some ID for Varme Ting. That will have to wait until Kirghiz. Running three identities is going to require concentration. When I get to Kirghiz, Wild Bill will be my primary identity.

I headed back to my rented room to rest. I opened the door to the room and paused. Something is not right. Suddenly my head was slammed into the door frame, and I think Granite Bones just saved my life again. The world was fuzzy, probably concussion. Concentrating Regeneration on my head was automatic, but I still couldn’t think clearly.

I heard footsteps and a voice, “Shit, did you kill him?”

“Shouldn’t have. Boss is pretty sure he has Regeneration, and I used a blunted arrow.”

I Rolplayed being unconscious. It wasn’t difficult. It sounded like they didn’t want to kill me, so it was a calculated risk while my head cleared. An arrow to the head could have killed me.

I was roughly dragged away from the door, and a hand checked the pulse on my neck. I sent a pulse through my bond to Tāoke to follow and be ready to rescue me if I needed it. Tāoke was back in the basement of the shop, but he was on his way.

“If you cracked his skull, he wouldn’t be regenerating from that.” the first voice said.

“Just get the bindings on him, and I will check.”

A hand moved over my skull where the arrow had hit, “He is fine.”

Then a bag was placed over my head. It must have been made from spiritually enhanced materials as it blocked much of my hearing and sight. Then I smelled something, and I felt very sleepy. They had a drug to stop me from smelling and to put me to sleep. I fought the sleep part, and my Poison Resistance helped a lot. It has been a long time since that levelled.

My arms were pulled behind me and locked together in some sort of cuffs. They were a metal alloy but with a strong spiritual component. I couldn’t break out of it physically, and the spiritual component resisted my affinities. My head was starting to clear when the drug hit, which slowed my progress. I would wait until my head cleared, and concentrating was easier. Similar cuffs were placed on my legs, and I was hoisted up.

“Shit, he is heavy.”

I was placed in a cart or carriage. It was disconcerting with my senses so hindered. I was used to knowing what was going on around me. The ride was about half an hour, and my head cleared, and Poison Resistance levelled. I started investigating the cuffs.

Just as I was concentrating, the carriage stopped, and I was hauled out and down some stairs. It is a real hindrance in having my senses blocked. Puia is poised to protect sensitive areas of my body, as is my Snakeskin ready to go. I didn’t want to show anything at this point. I was dumped on the floor and heard a steel door slam shut. They are probably waiting until the estimate I wake up and to let me stew for a while.

I went back to working on the cuffs. They were very resistant to my Granite manipulation, but I could do it if I needed. I could also melt them off with lava. I found a keyhole. I extended a Granite Spike and manipulated the shape until I had a key to open the locks. These cuffs could come in very handy. I moved around a bit to let them know I was awake and made a key for my leg cuffs.

Now was the waiting period. I shuffled my body to lean against the stone wall. They must not know about my affinity, or they would not have put me here. Therefore they don't think I am Sten. My Granite Senses extended out, and I was on the first basement level of a large building. There was an additional level below me, but I couldn’t sense what was above. It must be wood. The bag over my head didn’t hinder my Granite Sense, which was operating from my body.

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Tāoke was getting close and would be here soon. Them making me wait was to my advantage. I wasn’t nervous as I had three ways to escape, and Tāoke was incoming. The trick here was to see what I could learn without giving away my secrets and without killing everyone.

I settled in and started playing with my senses. I have always had more sensing skills than most, so this is my advantage. My Sense Spiritual worked fine like my Granite Senses. Sensing the spiritual flow in the air wasn’t much help to me at the moment.

Thermal Sensing (Mineral) worked fine, and there were slight differences in the temperature of the stone. The lingering heat from the day when the sun set. That would be west. My Mapping Skill orientated the room when I figured that out. All it showed at the moment was the room I was in and what my Granite Sense could figure out. I didn’t know where in the city I was.

I concentrated Thermal Sensing (Mineral) on my cuffs. That pushed it to another level, and I got a thermal map of them. They were warmer closer to my skin and cooling as they got further away. I created a Thermal map of the building. Two people were heating the room next door. I assume they were my abductors. They had been in there a while, which had raised the temperature.

Tabitha said the dwarf with the earth affinity sensed when she moved. Can I sense the vibrations of someone moving on stone? Stone is harder than earth. I didn’t want to kick the floor to test this. The two people did not seem to be moving. With my map of the building, I could sense where I came in, and so I knew where the road was. It was getting late by now, and there didn’t seem to be any traffic I could sense.

One thing has been bugging me since I bonded with Puia. Thermal Sensing (Mineral) and Thermal Manipulation (Mineral) implies there are other types of Thermal Sensing and Thermal Manipulation. I could adjust the temperature of my body by manipulating the temperature of my bones, which were mineral. Could I just change the temperature of my skin without changing my bones?

It seems not, but what about Snakeskin? Snakeskin is very weak in temperature resistances. I created Snakeskin on my wrists and watched the thermal map of the cuffs change. It was definitely hotter. The Snakeskin itself didn’t change temperature much it transmitted the heat. I focussed my Thermal Sensing on what was happening, and the heat going through the scales to the cuffs triggered Thermal Sensing (Organic). I am not sure what use that is going to be to me. Then I went back to my thermal map of the building, and I could now map the two people in the other room, at least while they were touching the stone. When one put his feet up off the floor, I lost him. No, that doesn't make sense. If he is sitting on a wooden chair, that is organic. It took a fair bit of work and two levels in Thermal Sensing (Organic), and I also had all the furniture on my map. The range of the organic sensing was less than the mineral sensing, which also went up a level.

My Mapping Skill also went up. I could now sense some of the wooden structures above me, just not very far up due to my low Skill level.

If there is Mineral and Organic, there must also be Gas and Liquid. I couldn’t see anything as I still had the bag over my head, but I could feel the air against my skin. Several hours passed, but I really enjoyed this experiment. I hoped they were not coming until morning. My thermal map was updated with Tāoke napping in the wall next to me. He had left a small air hole.

I know Gwaed had Infrared Vision which allowed her to see heat. My sight was still blocked, but I could sense heat in objects, which was superior to just seeing them, which would be blocked by a wall. She wouldn’t be able to see the heat of the two men next door, whereas I could track them if they didn’t get too far away.

I knew you could transfer heat to the air. That is half the reason for having a fire. I looked at my foot and covered it in Snakeskin. I then turned my stone toe into lava and watched the heat rise, trying to sense the warm air through my Shakeskin. The temperature of the room started to rise, and it was a normal feeling. I was used to feeling a warm room. I stopped generating heat and let the room cool, trying to sense it. The mineral sense was my highest skill, and I could sense the heat from the air warming the stone. I tried to extend my senses into the air. It took four heating and cooling cycles before I got Thermal Sensing (Gas).

This extended my thermal sensing so much that it was overwhelming. I had to learn control and sensitivity. That took an hour, and I was only trying in the room I was in. Thermal currents swirled, and I tried to make sense of them. This was better without my sight, hearing and smell. This was probably similar to Tabitha’s Spatial Awareness Skill, except I sensed thermal variations. I would never be able to read a letter in an unopened envelope as she can, but this is better for me. I worked at it, and all my thermal sensing skills levelled as well as mapping. Thermal Sensing (Mineral) was almost at Journeyman level, and getting two mapping levels in one night was unheard of.

Identify was telling me something was missing. Thermal Sensing (Liquid) would round out the skills. Where do I get Liquid to experiment? I got up and hobbled to a corner shuffled my pants down and pissed in it. After all the others, the liquid was the easiest. It was surrounded by stone and air. When the skill came, all the Thermal Sensing Skills consolidated into just Thermal Sensing 5. I was a bit peeved at a loss on the mineral, which was 9, and some of the building was now out of my range. However, all the others went up, and the Skill was awesome.

I had a sphere of awareness around me which was almost unblockable. It only sensed temperature differentials, but I could sense the people and food next door, and I just sat back and watched the temperature variations in wonder.