Kossa had joined the rest of her family to continue training. They all watched me approach. “Hello again. Orian and emissary will meet with you in the admin building at 17:10. If you don’t mind, I would like to attend as well.” Mista stated that they assumed I would be there and would like me to be. Kossa still would not commit to attending. Having her classes, she is considered an adult, and her parents could only request she attend. “I hope to see all of you there.”
I found Arrjee with a group of other students sparring with each other in pairs. During a lull he let me know that he was close to ranking his Penetrating Blade attack. Master Trillet had told him it earned a rank point per each two attacks. That was 200 swings to get the requisite 100 RP. He expected to rank Parry Sense also; that earns one RP per minute that he consciously wields a melee weapon. I laughed at the thought of cheating while holding a knife while you slept. It was still an excellent gain rate for a completely passive skill.
Norrus asked if he could spar with me. I knew he wasn’t fully recovered yet, so I agreed and let him know I wouldn’t go full out in my attacks. He replied that I should go as hard as I wanted, then transformed into what appeared to be a Norrus of my age and mass. “I”ll go bigger if this is too easy for you.” I grinned and agreed.
Well hell, this could be fun.
He had learned Basic Martial Arts and ranked it to D. Mine was at C. It made a lot of sense to me for a shapeshifter to rely on a weaponless offense, which should give him maximum flexibility in whatever form he is in. We both adopted the Respectful Badger stance, a common one for friendly sparring. We went at it fairly vigorously. Over the next few minutes he aged himself up to 18, where we achieved a fair equilibrium so long as I limited the use of my ki attacks. He didn’t really mind those, though. We’re both healers, and a little damage wouldn’t hurt either of us for long. He was already at Level 5 and his HPR Boost was over half as effective as mine – i.e., good!
While we were doing that, Swagger and Felina had begun their own martial arts sparring. Swagger’s arms are of limited strength and his dexterity seriously lags. He had decent agility, though and was able to use his impressive mass and speed quite well. I could tell she wasn’t going full bore, but he was giving her a workout. I was not surprised he was usually countering her Respectful Badger with his Steady Horse stance.
When I learned that, it didn’t occur to me that an actual horse would use it. I need to spar with him too.
Why don’t you?
I lacked an answer. “Norrus, Swagger, and Felina, do you guys want to switch partners? That way we can have a healer in each duo.” They agreed.
Norrus touched Felina for a moment, then morphed into her spitting image. It surprised us all, and I think the surprise was a tactic he intended to use against her. I almost felt jealous that he hadn’t chosen to spar with me in my form. By this time our small group of four had attracted onlookers. It was not every day one sees sparring sessions with horses and shapeshifters. At least, it had not been.
Too soon I had to break away and go to the admin building for our meeting. Ferret took my place; he had been ranking his Basic Martial Arts as well. Unfortunately I would not be able to observe our two emergents go at it.
----------------------------------------
The whole Smithson family except Kossa were already seated when I got to the admin building, as were Orian, Asiel, emissary, and Grandma. I hadn’t informed her, thinking she already had her say.
Well, I guess she wants her listen, too.
I took my seat as we exchanged greetings. Kella informed me that Kossa had decided not to come.
It is her choice to make.
“I know, but I don’t have to like it.”
Orian took on the role of moderator. “Thank you all for coming. And thank you, Forrest, for arranging this discussion. Forrest believes that it could prove beneficial for those closest with Sterbian Morse to have a direct meeting with emissary, a member of the Priestess Cult. His relationship with most of the community had been considerably frayed, but those in attendance saw a man to be respected and perhaps loved. To commence, could each of you summarize your relationship with Sterbian? We will begin with you Forrest, and go around the table.”
“I think I knew him least well. My first contact with him was as we were fighting a fire together in town. While very effective in using his skills, I found him to be very stand-offish, and he seemed to take an instant dislike to me. I think that was because of the soured relationship that had already formed with my family. I am told they were very friendly at one point.”
Grandma interjected, “We were.”
“I had little contact with him after that. He helped us clean some carcusses once, and butchered them. Because Kossa was there after the hunt, and maybe Lenyet Birch also, he acted very professionally. I remember him being very friendly with her.”
At that, the door opened and Kossa came in. “I, uh, changed my mind. Is it okay if I take a seat?” Orian responded that it was. As she seated herself on the far side of the table next to Rhonda, he caught her up on our current discussion. She smiled at the reminder of him helping us to butcher the meat.
I completed my statement by saying that I mainly had contact with him as a grocer after that, and also a few times later when he was with Grandma.
Osiel said, “Thank you Forrest. Young Mols, how was your relationship with Sterbian?”
“He was really nice. He was the first person to make us feel like we was wanted here. It wasn’t just once, either. He visited us a lot, and we could visit his store whenever we wanted. We didn’t even need to buy nothun’. I was interested in observing him do the butchering stuff, and he taught me some of the basic cuts. I liked him a lot, and ‘cuz of the Cult he’s dead. Um, that’s all I can think of. Your turn, Kenna.”
“Mols is right. He welcomed us right away. It felt good for the former mayor to make sure we knew about what Cottages offered and who we needed to see for what. He was grumpy sometimes when he mentioned other people, but he didn’t talk mean about them. I didn’t spend as much time with him as my brother did, but he did make sure I knew how to cook a steak and other cuts of meat. Cooking meat is fun; butchering it is gross.” Mols grinned at her. “Anyway, he became like a member of our family. Mom?”
Kella continued, “That’s right; he was a member, fully welcome in our shop and home as we were in his. What no one has said yet is that we moved here from the Fourth Duchy so as to distance ourselves from the loss of Drake, my first husband and biological father to Kossa. Throuples are normal there. Some say it is a holdover from centuries ago, when our maritime people had frequent and friendly contact with Trichyans. Before the war, I mean. I don’t know if that is true, but it makes sense to me that some of us would end up mimicking their throuple families. Anyway, Drake was gone and the five of us decided to start over.”
“The people of Cottages were friendly enough, and welcoming. Sterbian set himself apart, though, The second day in our new home he brought over what must have been a quarter of a bear, fully butchered, wrapped, labeled, and frozen. There was a small card on one of the packages, stating, ‘Courtesy of Morse Butcher and Grocer’. Next line, ‘Custom Barbecues’ We invited him to stay for dinner, and he accepted on the condition that he cook and our children observe. Minor gods, I had to observe too if he would be that bold on our first encounter.”
Kenna broke in, “I helped him the most!”
“Yes you did, dear. We all learned a lot. Well, Mols ended up liking the butchering much more than the cooking, and Kossa didn’t really seem to take to either. However, I think we all realized he had exceptional talent. We appreciated his grandfatherly demeanor and loved his cooking. Our relationship continued to develop during the following weeks. Until he was gone.”
“I guess it’s my turn,” stated Mista. “To me, Sterbian was a good friend. I never got to the point of thinking of him as family. We were fellow merchants with high appreciation of each other’s skills. He was someone I could trust and confide in, though he rarely confided in me. I think he was going through some changes during the middle part of our friendship. That is all I have to say at the moment.”
Asiel spoke, “None of us Skolturi got to know Sterbian well. We arrived many weeks after the Smithsons were already established. I understand he had already started changing to his original self, so we never observed the persnickety man people told us about.”
“Same,” said Orian. “Emissary, would you like to respond now, or wait for everyone to speak?” She indicated that she would like to hear everyone else first. “Rhonda, it is your turn, then.”
“Thank you, Orian. I am the only one here who knew Sterbian before his curse, during its full effect, and after. He kept the scroll by his bedside for many years until a few weeks before his death. He finally got around to framing it and hanging it on his bedroom wall, but far away from his bed. At that point its power over him diminished, and many of us in town could see that the old Sterbian was returning. He and I slowly rekindled an old attraction which had ended when I married someone else. His life ended at a crossroads, where I believe we were about to get married.”
“He was proud of the scroll, thinking it had been a reward from the duchess for years of service to our town. Actually, that is exactly what it was meant to be, but someone in the palace messed up and he got the wrong item. He must have kept it by his bed for a dozen years due to that pride. I think maybe he decided to finally frame and hang it in hopes that I would share his pride in it as I shared his bed. Instead, when he brought it out of his bedroom to show me, he dropped it, and you know the rest.”
“Most of it.” She took off her gloves and revealed her silver hand. “He went crazy after picking up the dropped, torn scroll, bloodied by fingers which had been cut by the glass. He attacked me, cutting off this hand before I really understood things had gone so wrong. I observed the fading spirit fragment of Priestess as it cursed us with Boiling Blood. And I ran, kept alive by potions, Forrest’s Bless Blood, Onre Litman’s Heal Other, and eventually general healing by Cleric Harron Ronvaldt.”
And a longevity boon from Wisdom.
Which he renewed to prevent permanent brain damage.
“Right.”
Emissary stated, “That you survived it at all is a miracle. It was thought to have 100% mortality. I am very glad you did, and that Forrest had the new Bless Blood skill able to help counter it.”
After a few seconds, Orian realized she was done speaking. “Kossa, it is finally your turn.”
Stolen novel; please report.
“I don’t know any of my grandparents. We live far from them and always have. Sterbian Morse was my grandfather as much as anyone can be. We were playful in our speech, often mock-insulting the other to show our love and appreciation. When he was gone, I even decided to choose Hydromancy as my secondary class to honor him. I ended up not doing that, realizing that honoring him would be to choose the class I most wanted. Emissary, I don’t like the Priestess or her Cult. But I can imagine Sterbian telling me to look beyond that and strive for what is best right now. So I won’t hate you.”
Orian asked, “What would you like most to tell them, emissary?”
“I acknowledge that this community lost an outstanding man due to the actions of my Cult. Whether we meant to do it is immaterial. He is gone. I thank each one of you for sharing your memories of him. I regret not having the opportunity to meet him myself and perhaps eat at his table. What -”
Mista interrupted. “Excuse me. You regret what happened. Fine. We know what went wrong with your plan in Capital City. What we need to know is why you wanted to plant the scroll there in the first place. Who was your target? What would have happened if it had gone ‘right’? From what I have experienced, Duchess Jossel is very highly respected, apparently a reputation she has earned. She is definitely much more liked than the duchess where we came from. So, why?”
“Sir, I am afraid that answering that would reveal Information beyond my purview to disclose.”
“That’s crap!” Kossa exploded. “You want Cottages and the Academy to accept you as an envoy. I personally would be willing, but only if I think I can trust you. Dad is right. If we don’t know what the reason was for you trying to corrupt the palace, we have no reason to believe you won’t end up trying to do a similar thing here. Purposely this time.”
Damn! I knew she should be here.
Her heart beats true.
“Emissary,” Asiel said, “all of the duchies were notified with all we knew of your attempt in Capital City. Whatever strategy the Cult was attempting with their false blessed scrolls failed throughout the kingdom. We are actively on the lookout for similar attempts. What you might gain by answering Mista’s questions is surely more significant than what you have left to lose.”
She paused for a moment. “Alright. I will answer, with no expectation that you will keep it secret. Begin with Priestess. Priestess of whom? Mother Heere herself. I mean no offense to any of the gods when I say Mother Heere has primacy over them all. They exist because of her. It is said she had a son, Heere’s first god, Chaos. I cannot prove that, but most of the inner circle of the Cult believe it. So what is chaos? It is neither good nor evil, but the opposition of forces. Where there is a balanced opposition, there is true and healthy growth.”
“We seek chaos. Like anything, too much chaos can and will be destructive. But too little will lead to stagnation, a slow, unobserved, death of our spirits. We seek to balance with imbalance, and to achieve ongoing change. It will not always be pretty. It will not even always be right. But if Heere is to be always, Heere must embrace its chaos, willingly or not.”
“The scrolls were planted to stress the very powerful. Good rulers, bad rulers, we will stress them all. It may be necessary for a few to have power over others, but those few must never feel they are more worthy than anyone else. I have heard you describe the scrolls as being a curse wrapped in and hidden by a blessing. That is true, to an extent, yet that view is incomplete. The blessing is as real as the curse. To achieve both, Priestess needed to embed a tiny piece of her spirit in each one. Yes, those in the palaces would be slowly contaminated by fear, loneliness, depression, and paranoia. But the soothing power of familial comfort would help offset it in those prone to support each other and work together. The curse would amplify their worst instincts, the blessing, their best.”
“For Sterbian Morse to have endured years of close, extended, daily contact with one of the scrolls is quite amazing. He did not go mad, nor did he completely succumb. He fought it as only a very strong soul could do. After many years, the blessing bloomed into his relationship with the Smithson family. Am I claiming that makes it a good thing? No, it was a chaotic thing, with the curses clearly having a higher weight on him than the blessing. Once he moved the scroll away from his bedside, the blessing more evenly balanced it all out.”
“Mista, have I answered your questions? And Kossa, are you satisfied with the answers?”
“Yes, you have answered them. I don’t completely understand the answers, especially your dedication to chaos. But I accept your statement as complete.”
“Satisfied? Not really. Sterbian won’t be coming back. But I understand enough.”
Mols asked, “But what’s gonna stop you from doing something like that in Cottages?”
Dammit, that is the most important question.
She replied, “Cottages is a special place, with special people. Maybe unknowingly, but you already accept chaos as a fundamental tenet of your lives. Teens who will not accept the ordinary, nor the view that their elders automatically know better. Adults who have no problem with a convict living among you. A society that understands the necessary friction in accepting the open presence of a thieves guild. Leadership that laughs at us silently with the words on their jackets. Cottages does not need chaos; chaos needs Cottages.”
I heard Mols whisper to Kenna, “That was a good answer, right?” She acknowledged with a nod.
Orian asked, “Does anyone have any other topics to discuss?” After waiting a few seconds and getting no reply, “Thank you all for attending. Priestess, please do not proselytize while you visit with us. You may openly answer questions people ask, but it would not be good for our community to become seen as a center for Cult activities.”
“I understand and agree,” she answered. “I only said as much as I did because it was the only way I knew to answer your questions. We are not trying to grow, but just to be heard in our silence.”
“She is going to talk like that a lot, isn’t she?”
Quite likely.
Orian dismissed us. It was a few minutes after 18. I told emissary, “Dad already told you I won’t be here tomorrow. If you end up leaving, I am glad I had the opportunity to meet you.” She acknowledged and wished me well.
I can hit the john and be at the apartment in plenty of time for Ferret’s meeting.
----------------------------------------
More people showed up outside our apartment than I thought there would be. There was our team, of course – Arrjee, Onre, Kossa, and Sun, all anxious to hear how Ferret would fit. Felina was not a surprise, either, nor Norrus. But the presence of Swagger, Ronkel, and Tiyana Yon surprised me. Most of us were seated on the ground in front of a tree about four yards from our apartment door.
“I’m pretty sure I can do a lot of the math here.”
Do not spoil his reveal. And it is likely others suspect his build choices.
“I wasn’t going to.”
Arrjee told me || E and E brother, on both my Swordmaster skills. Not Push yet, though.
I replied || Great. You’ll likely have those all at D next Tuesday.
“Okay,” Ferret said. “I glad you all came.” He invited us all to a party, including Interface and Rint.
He’s nervous. That’s a mistake I haven’t heard him make in weeks.
“A lot of you, maybe all of you, have figured out what classes I plan to take in a week. So I’ll just say it. I would like to become a Mindsmith and Shapeshifter. A main reason I want to be a Mindsmith is to better communicate with Sun and even Swagger. And with an eventual Telekinetic Arms skill, it becomes a pretty effective adventuring skill, too. I can imagine Onre realizing there is an exploding trap and maybe not being sure he can disarm it safely. But if one of my temporary arms gets exploded, so what?”
Onre interjected, “Remember to first morph into something an explosion or poison won’t hurt very much. Three feet of arm may not be enough distance. But yeah, that will be great!”
Ferret smiled, “I know, right? After Norrus got hurt, and I listened to Ronkel and Tiyana tell him about the Shapeshifter class, I pretty much decided that night to take it too. And he has been having so much fun with it, I become more sure it is the right choice fer me every day.
“It is fun!” Norrus shared. And with each rank and level I feel my capabilities grow. It is hard to imagine being as powerful as Tiyana or Ronkel.”
Tiyana shared, “My path has been one more of utility than power. Shapeshifting offers many benefits in your daily life. But for an adventuresome shapeshifter, Rank C is key. You move beyond the ability to simply mimic forms; you begin to gain a creature’s inherent capabilities. It won’t allow you to use a person’s class skills, but flying like a bird? Yes! Spraying a skunk’s scent or a viper’s venom, no problem. Self-armoring as an Earth Elemental and laying down a tar patch – well that’s pretty advanced, but eventually. So yes, your capabilities will definitely continue to grow.”
Ronkel said, “Your class selections are not just good by themselves. A mid- to high-level Mindsmith/Shapeshifter becomes exceptionally qualified to do covert work. These classes work together in a unique way. Shapeshifting’s touch-learn capability allows you to understand another being well enough to morph into them. It will be strongly complimented by your Mindsmith skills. For a period of time you can model not only their appearance, but the way they think and speak, and you can know many of the things that they know. In the pre-Kingdom days, the various nations would spy on each other. An infiltrator, which is what you can become with these skills, was exceptionally valued and feared. You will be able to deceive a person’s family and good friends.”
“In a dungeon or battle, your team may capture a foe, have you learn them, and send you to infiltrate. The possibilities are endless. However, I strongly suggest you avoid getting involved in the affairs of politics. Anyone who wants you to spy for them for political gain is someone you should avoid.”
“Okay, thank you, Ronkel. I din’t know all that. Felina and Swagger, is there anything you think someone should know before becoming a Mindsmith?
S: I just have my two skills. But I am looking forward to having a rider with Clear Mind. I believe we can reinforce each other mentally.
“That is correct,” Felina said as she got up and walked over to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s do it.” After just a couple seconds,
S: Oh, yes of course. This is most satisfactory.
“I find our clarity to be quite fulfilling. Can you imagine the total vanity of a mental attack upon us at this moment?”
S: I can imagine the attempt, but not their success.
We all enjoyed witnessing their enhanced camaraderie.
Ferret wondered, “Felina, there is somethun specific I would like to know. How well can you communicate with Sun?”
“At Level 5, I only have Read Mind, Read Emotion, and Clear Mind. So I can listen, but only talk to them with speech so far. And my skills don’t seem to help me listen to Group Mind, either. I think eventually I will be able to ride along mentally as someone else is using it, but it is not something I can do by myself.”
“Sun, is it alright if I read you as you talk? We only did it for a short time before.”
“Yes, me Felina read.” || Yes, please read me.
“Leg you sit.” || Please sit on one of my legs.
She looked a bit puzzled. Arrjee said, “He says yes, please read him, and to sit on one of his legs.”
It is nice to share your three-legged chair with others.
She went to them, sat, and faced their main face. As with Swagger, she placed a hand on one of their shoulders.
“Mindsmith pretty you.” || You are the prettiest Mindsmith I know. flirt
“Mindsmith only you.” || But then, you are the only Mindsmith I know. humor
She laughed. “I understand you a lot better now. But I don’t think I’m getting everything yet. You flirted with me, calling me the prettiest Mindsmith. Then you reversed it, clarifying I am the only Mindsmith. It is hard to read you because I am trying to put together the partial thoughts of your three lobes, with your words echoing one of them. Reading Swagger is a lot easier; reading him is like a biped, with a single thought path. Please say something else.”
“You I spar.” || I look forward to sparring with you. anticipation
“Lame Forrest.” || Forrest is so lame. humor
“I think I got it all that time. You anticipate sparring with me, and you joked about Forrest being a lame partner.”
“Yes,” I responded, “that’s what they said. And I’ll show them ‘lame’ next time we spar! || anticipation, humor, challenge
Arrjee asked, “Could you read Forrest’s emotional context? Niscus can.”
“No, not without touching him. Empathy is ranged. What did he feel?” Arrjee told her. She grinned, “Sounds like him. And I should have understood that from context. There are a lot of cues in communication. Words, thoughts, context, body language, … I eventually hope to master them all.”
“Thank you, Felina. Sun, in just a week I’ll be able to understand you probably better than she is. I know your body language better than her, and I think my understanding of contex relating to you is better than hers.
“Wait I can not.” || I cannot wait. friendship
Kossa summarized, “Our team is going to be fantastic! Sun is already a great tank and they are good at providing extra defense to the whole team, with a little melee offense, too. Arrjee will be our primary melee, but his telekinetics will add to our ranged capabilities. Onre is our rogue and healer, able to help get us places safely and confound the enemy in battle. Ferret will be able to fight with both melee and ranged forms, further confound the enemy, and help us gain information from captured foes. Forrest adds a lot to our melee capability, and how many teams have a backup healer? Many teams don’t even have one! My music will provide support, weakening foes and buffing us. And I will be able to add a lot to our total offense.”
Ferret’s meeting ended soon after that, with the whole team anticipating our future.