[recently, city of Cycles, First Duchy]
Belenay Sholut had started her career as an apprentice carpetmaker almost two decades ago. Not many people choose to become clothsmiths, but that was one of the things that attracted her to it. There was a niche she could fill, and she felt attracted to a craft that allowed her to artistically enhance cloth. Tufting, embroidering, pleating, whatever – the thought of giving fabrics a new dimension delighted her. For those willing to pay extra, she could enchant her goods with capabilities such as wear resistance, self-cleaning, and night glow. The last one was especially popular with those children who were afraid of the dark.
She had become proprietor of the shop seven years ago, with some financial assistance from Daddy Large. This allowed her to buy it from its retiring owner, and her debt has long been repaid. The shop sold just about any cloth goods needed in homes – carpets, drapes, bedding, towels, etc. It was a profitable business with a steady clientele and well-positioned for foot traffic in a commercial neighborhood.
Her husband was a metalsmith and groundsman. About 15 years before he had been part of the group who built Daddy Large’s estate, commencing a positive, though intermittent relationship with his organization. He had heard Daddy Large especially valued the hedge mage and fountain he had built in the rear of the estate. He was sure some of the work he had done over the years had been for other friends of “Daddy”.
Two weeks prior, his guild gained a new member, a senior mason who had just moved to Cycles with her husband and one of her adult children. Pastrana seemed to be very talented, though quite a bit opinionated about everything. She tended to grate on people. It would not surprise him if her personality had made her unwelcome in her former town.
When she mentioned that she needed to replace most of the items in her recently acquired cottage, he saw two opportunities. First, she might be very interested in Belenay’s shop, and second, if she were, it might help ease the tension he felt around her. So he suggested she visit there, praising his wife’s talents.
Pastrana Gold entered Sholut’s Household Fabrics at about 9. She was impressed by the variety of attractive, high quality goods on display. On hearing that a customer entered, Belenay went into the main shop area, offered a friendly greeting to the potential customer, and introduced herself,
“You are Belenay Sholut? Merz’ wife is a half-breed?” Then she walked out.
“One sixteenth Covargh,” thought Belenay. “Why would anyone even care?“ She had met people like that in the past, and continued with her day, barely bothered. It was curious that she knew Merz, though.
----------------------------------------
[village of Cottages, Fifth Duchy]
“That went as well as we could have hoped,” Dad said. “If we’re keeping score, it’s 5 for Forrest, Arrjee, and Rhetta, 4 for Guardsman Yon, Rhonda and I, and 3 for everyone else here. That is the number of gods we have been exposed to in some way since Forrest first appeared. Unless anyone else wants to talk about some other contact with gods in the past seven and a half days?”
Master Thorm asked, “You are sure those colored flashes represented three gods? The blue makes sense; Einvigi used it earlier today at the school. If you are right, who were red and yellow?”
“I believe those flashes represented War and Honor, for two reasons. The first is the colors themselves. Red has clear ties to blood, and hence war. Yellow has been used for centuries in heraldry to represent honor and loyalty. In addition to the colors themselves, Einvigi told Forrest earlier today that she exists in service to Honor and War. My theory is that they are working together to restore history to what it was before the millennia of isolation. They may not be the only ones, but I think they were the ones that let us know about their presence.”
I should have realized War’s tie to red. I did not know about the heraldry thing, though. I wonder if it is the same on Earth.
Yes, it is.
“Who were the other gods you had contact with?” Teacher Marson asked.
I answered, explaining about our quest from Skawa and “contact” with Nature.
Grandma changed the subject. “There is still a lot of food back there. I suggest we clean up and grab what we want to take with us. After that, I need some time to think about what has happened and what will happen. I am sure we all do. Barrie, I suggest you be the contact point during the coming days for all matters relating to the school.”
After cleaning up and grabbing up all the goodies, everyone headed home. It was indirect for the Silverman Clan and Onre, because we took the carts and dishes and stuff back to Karzin’s Inn. Asha Yon came with us because that was where he would be spending the night. Dad and Grandma talked to who was apparently Karzin for a few minutes, and Dad thanked and paid him. I heard him mention the meeting we had just been to, without any mention of the foreigners.
Asha asked us boys if we wanted to go hunting in the morning. Arrjee felt he needed to decline because he had skipped most of his grades today and did not want to miss them tomorrow as well. Onre and I were more than happy to accept. We agreed to meet him at the gate at 5:25. He ordered a beer as the rest of us left.
“Interface, set alarm to 5.”
Done.
We stopped by Grandma’s cottage next. She showed Onre his room and said she was staying home for the rest of the night. Onre put his alchemist’s pouch in his room, and I grabbed mine. He told her he needed to go with us to get his backpack.
Once home, Mom introduced Carrie to Onre. When she learned that he had already met most of the Smithsons, she was a bit disappointed. She would have liked to be the one to introduce “the Humans” to each other. Dad asked if we would like to stay while he and Mom told her about the meeting and the school. I think all three of us had had enough meetings for the day, and we went upstairs to Arrjee’s room (and mine!).
We spent about an hour just talking, Arrjee on the chair and Onre and I sitting on the bed. Arrjee described his first life in some detail, and I quickly described my life as Jacques the fully-human Human. Onre opened up about the details of his past, some of which was told to him by his friends, the Sholut family. That was how he knew his father had been a bard and prestidigitator and his mother a merchant and accountant. He was choosing to be a Ki Healer and not a cleric like his foster father, but he would still heal.
“I don’t know what to do instead of bard now,” Onre said. My mother’s classes would not be very useful as an adventurer, and prestidigitator is mostly for entertaining mages. Merz Sholut told me they were amazed that he could be on stage appearing to use very clever magic, but knowing it was not magical at all. But again, not very useful for adventuring. I guess being an Empath / Ki Healer would be kind of useful, right? – Or wait, is there even a ki version of empathy?”
I said, “Let me check with my interface.”
Not specifically, but you might want to let them know you will be talking to me for a minute.
“It said there is not a ki version of empathy, but it has other things to tell me. You guys talk for a minute.”
They started discussing the meeting as I got a smile. The smile soon grew so big they stopped talking and just stared at me. That made me lightly laugh out loud for a second as Interface and I kept talking. The silent conversation probably took 2 minutes.
When I was done with Interface, I turned my head and looked directly at Onre. “Dude.”
…
“Dude, if you were a creative kid from my country on Earth, that erection you had this morning would be nothing compared to what you would be about to have now. Damn, boy, I am jealous.”
“Cut the crap, Forrest. What are you talking about?” Onre asked, obviously very interested. Arrjee repeated the question.
“My interface just told me that you could follow either father, depending on which of two fantastic classes you choose. Which do you want to hear first?”
Onre thought for a second. “We last mentioned Bren’s empathy. What about that?”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“There is a ki class called Mindsmith. It is touch-based, of course, and combines empathy and telepathy. It can eventually become as strong as either of the two, but only usable on one person, animal, or monster at a time. There was a strongly loved story on my world where a favorite hero has this capability. He was an alien called Spock, and he called it 'mind meld'."
Onre responded happily enough, but not with my excitement. “That does sound really good, but I think it might eventually lead me away from adventuring. With that, I might one day become a major healer in a big town or city. What about from my father?”
“Prestidigitator, dude. You could pick locks. Untie the toughest knots. Confound your enemies. Hide in shadows. Have the knowledge to detect many traps.” I stopped, and just stared at him, waiting for a response.
Arrjee asked, “Wouldn’t a rogue do those sorts of things better?
I turned to him. “Some things, better, yes. The prestidigitator would be at least as good in lock picking, though, and he could probably confuse foes better. But you are right enough, and that is why there are not many prestidigitator adventurers.
Onre asked, “So your interface thinks a prestidigitator would be better than rogue?”
Depending on training effort, it should be about equal to a rogue, unless he wanted to also be a thief.
“My interface just said unless you wanted to also be a thief, it could be about equal, depending on how hard you trained.”
…
“But,” index finger of my right hand held in the air,
…
“You know what I didn’t say? I did not say the really, really good part. ‘Ki Prestidigitator’, dude. There is a version that adds capabilities through the use of ki. ‘Hide in shadows’? Forget that. With ki, eventually become invisible in broad daylight. That not enough? Eventually you can get Stealth, and move while invisible. Detect many traps? How about detecting any trap you touch, without setting it off? Apparently proximity traps would still be a problem, but those would be problems for rogues, too. You would eventually gain a skill to remove traps, not just detect them.”
You could untie knots whose rope is binding your body, without using your hands. You would gain countless tricks for confounding your enemies, such as a capability to visually change your form. You would not be a shapeshifter, but the core of prestidigitation lies not in what something actually is, but in what people think something is. I don’t know how it works, but somehow the light bouncing off your body is changed to look like something else. Hey, I guess that is how its invisibility would work also!”
“Anyway, if I did not already have my Level 1, either of these two classes would have been very exciting options, based on the stories Jacques heard and the games he played. You do not have to throw away the idea of honoring your fathers.”
Onre gave me a one-armed hug. “Thank you Forrest. I don’t have to choose tonight, and I won’t. But I’ll be thinking about these options. Would your interface care if I thanked it, also? Thank you, Forrest’s interface.”
:)
“I thought we were done with emoticons?”
Shut up and tell him, “You are welcome.”
“You are welcome, from us both. It did care.”
“That’s amazing,” Arrjee said. “Your’s seems smarter than grandma’s.”
I deflected, “That is an unfair comparison. She is smarter than all of us and our interfaces put together.”
----------------------------------------
“Yes she is,” Arrjee agreed. “Do you guys want to take an evening run? We could run at least until Forrest learns Dark Sight.”
I agreed that it was a very good idea. Onre agreed, too. We went downstairs, and Mom, Dad, and Carrie were still there.
Carrie looked at us sourly. “You guys didn’t tell me a goddess was involved with the school. Nobody did. I would have gone!”
“I am sorry, sister,” Arrjee said. “You are right, we should have told you. How about we make it up to you? We are going on a run around the village for at least half an hour. We think Forrest can learn the skill Dark Sight, during that time. It’s common ki. Would you like to come with us? Oh, Mom and Dad, you are welcome to come, too.”
Mom joked, “It has not even been a week since my last elemental.” She winked. “Thank you, though” Dad declined, too, saying he needed to prepare for the countless questions he knew he would have tomorrow. Not to mention what to say to the villagers who had not heard enough to have questions yet.
Carrie accepted and got her sandals. Onre put on his backpack. “Do you guys mind if we run to Rhonda’s first? There is no reason for me to run all over town with this thing on.”
No one had a problem with it, and we ran there. I was trying to think of ki in my eyeballs, with the thought of seeing. It was hard to tell if I were actually accomplishing anything though.
“Want to come up to my room? It’s a lot like yours, but I haven’t had my own room in many years.” Carrie immediately responded yes, saying she could joke with mom about being in a boy's room. Arrjee and I went along with it.
Upstairs, grandma was sitting in her den. We stopped and all said hi, and we told her what we were doing. She suggested we get on with it. She followed us to his room and cast Torch. We thanked her, and she went back to the den.
Onre took off his backpack and dumped the few things in there on his bed. The worn leathers, clothing, pouch, and sheathed knife didn’t surprise me, but a somewhat worn, once-white, stuffed toy rabbit did. It was about a foot high. Carrie asked, “You have a toy rabbit?” She walked to the bed and picked it up.
“That’s ‘Skawa’. He is the only thing I have from before my parents got murdered. I was very young, but I heard my mother had named it. One of her jobs was being a bookie as part of her gang. She was an honest one, though, and she thought it would be funny to name it after the minor god of gambling.” We all had a quick laugh, but I am wondering about coincidences. I also wonder if Arrjee is wondering about coincidences as well.
Carrie set the rabbit on a desk. She asked, “Did you say your parents got murdered?” He responded yes and said that he would tell her the whole story later. Arrjee advised her not to tell anyone about that part of Onre’s past There was a slight chance the wrong people would eventually hear it.
Onre then picked it up himself and gave it a quick hug. “Hi Skawa. You aren’t the only god we saw today.” Then he set it back down.
I was the last one to leave the room. I took a quick glance back at Skawa. It winked at me, but remained otherwise motionless.
I’ll have to ask him about this later.
Outside, Arrjee asked if I would rather lead to set pace or follow to concentrate on Dark Sight. I told him leading would be fine. My main distraction was wondering if I were actually doing anything with the ki.
There were a few other folks about, probably for an evening stroll. A group of teens seemed to be just passing time, and Arrjee stopped for a moment, running in place. We did the same, and he introduced Onre and me to them, and vice-versa. We shook, and Carrie said hi to each of them by name. They welcomed Onre and I to town and wished us a pleasant evening.
We recommenced locomotion. I’ve been running at a brisk rate, but not full out. No one had any problem keeping up. After almost completing our second lap around town,
Learned Skill: Dark Sight, F
Since I was already doing what I needed to activate it, it automatically went on. I could see its effect on nearby objects.
“I got it, everyone! Everything within two yards, or maybe a little more, is a bit brighter.”
Onre verifies, “Rank F, right?” I acknowledged so. We kept running.
Carrie commented that Torch seemed better, because it would help everyone see. Arrjee responds to her, “What if there were monsters near, and we did not want them to see us?”
“Okay, yes,” she says. "Sometimes Dark Sight would be better.”
“I’m heading in next time we pass Rhonda’s house,” Onre said. "I need to get up early, and she may want to talk for a bit before we go to our beds.”
“Actually.” He said after spotting two outhouses. "I’m going to take care of some quick business here as well.” We did too, and then we all proceeded to our destinations.
Once home, Carrie said, “Thank you, brothers. Sometimes I feel like I am barely part of the family, but this evening I was.”
“Hey, I’m the new one, “ I said. “And know this. You are more a part of the family than I am.” I gave her a tight hug.
Arrjee hugged us both. “We’re all equally part of the family.”
Mom and Dad must have gone to their room. Maybe they were happy to take advantage of all the kids being out. Or more likely, they don’t care what we would hear.
We all drank some water from the kitchen and went to our rooms.
“Wolf, I’ve been having certain thoughts all day, from the time you healed Onre. What do you think we should do?”
“That’s funny. I think I’ve been having the same thoughts. Maybe we should handle these thoughts directly.”
And so we did. When we were finished, Arrjee said he was going to sleep.
I checked the time and it was a little after 19. There are almost 6 hours before I need to be up. I do not need very much sleep because my sixdays will refresh me anyway. “I’m going to Meditate and keep Dark Sight up. Maybe train both.”
I tried, but when I started meditating, Dark Sight deactivated. If I tried to reactivate it, Meditate went off. I asked Arrjee what he thought I should be able to do both.
“Hmm, I do not really know. Maybe they are just too low and you aren’t skilled enough to do both at once. You said Meditate reached E while Onre and I were poisoned and wrestling, right?”
“Yes,” I answered. “But that does not seem to be enough.”
“Okay, then. I advise meditating for now. Einvigi said it was important. My Meditate is capped at E until I reach Level 1; otherwise I would join you for a while. It won’t go higher until I have ki or mana to regenerate.”
“I guess that makes sense. Good night.”
“Interface, will I ever be able to use Dark Sight and Meditate together?”
Yes.
…
“And when will that be?”
Five claws per foot. Five claws per hand. No dewclaws.
“Sometimes you can be really aggravating.”
Yes.
Set.