Your statuses were already 100%. The time rate is 15 seconds/second.
“Well, that Tuesday didn’t go as I expected. One lady came to town, and it affected just about everyone I know. Do you trust her, Interface?”
‘Trust’, no. I lack the basis to either trust or distrust emissary. I advise you to be cautious and alert in her presence. That of course assumes she becomes a liaison with the academy. It is possible she will be gone by next Tuesday.
“If she is still here, do you think we should tell her about you?”
The entire academy and most of Cottages know about me. She is very likely to hear mention of my sapient nature. It is possible she will already know of your seventh-day nature as well. I suggest finding out what Ronkel and Rint have decided, and get their opinion about my disclosure.
“Good idea. What about my being an immortal?”
I do not believe there is a reason to disclose that at this juncture. I have no fundamental objection to her and the Priestess learning of it, but there is no reason to show all your cards right away. It is a given that anything she learns, she will report to the Priestess.
“Okay, I’ll play that one by ear, with a preference not to disclose it.”
Very well.
“I never viewed my character sheet after I leveled. Please display it.”
Name: Forrest Rhodes
Race: Covargh Hybrid
Sex: male
Age: 16
Level: 8
Base Attributes
Agility: 29
Charisma: 12
Dexterity: 29
Endurance: 29
Intelligence: 28
Luck: 12 (1 from river stone)
Perception: 28
Strength: 28
Vitality: 33
Wisdom: 32
Free Points: 0
Consolidated Level Bonuses
+3 Agi, +1 Cha, +3 Dex, +2 End, +2 Int,
+1 Luc, +1 Per, +2 Str, +3 Vit, +4 Wis
Stats
HP: 529/529, max = (Luc + Str*3 + Vit*6)*(1 + Lvl/10)
SP: 520/520 max = (Per + Agi*3 + End*6)*(1 + Lvl/10)
Ki: 552/552 max = (Int + Dex*3 + Wis*6)*(1 + Lvl/10)
Temp: 352 (Int + Wis*3 + Cha*6)*(1 + Lvl/10)
Granted Skills
HP Regen, B
SP Regen, B
Ki Regen, B
Primary Class: Martial Artist
Ki Punch, C
Dodge, C
Claw Strike, C
Boost Armor, B
Athletic Leap, E
Secondary Class: Ki Healer
Heal Other, C
Bless Blood, D
HPR Boost, C
Share Health, D
Learned Skills
Meditation, C
Running, C
First Aid, C
Swimming, D
Wrestling, D
Drafting and Sketching, D
Tactics, C
Firefighting, E
Common Labor, D
Hunting, E
Basic Martial Arts, C
Group Mind, D
Deception, D
Basic Polearm & Staff, D
Visualization, D
Authoring, E
Teaching, D
Basic Archery, E
Horse Riding, D
Common Ki Skills
Analyze, C
Dark Sight, C
Infertility, C
Make Water, D
“I see some differences, besides my advancements in lots of skill ranks. I remember you informing me that my Field Dressing had evolved to Hunting, and that Basic Polearm became a combo with Staff. But you also moved my class names down to the Granted Skills list. I like that the long list of class skills is now divided, but am I seeing that because you personally decided it would look nicer?”
No. As of two days ago, everyone who looks at a character sheet will see the repositioned class names. It was suggested on the IIM board at galaxy-net a couple weeks ago. System and their associates must have liked the suggestion, and the change has now been promulgated galaxy wide.
“Cool. I like the fact that things are still being improved.”
It is an ongoing process, just as when Referee updated the skill description and certain aspects of Dodge.
“I’m going to spend a couple hours working on my Visualization skill via Authoring. The Adventuring Guild masters have been stressing the importance of Tactics for teamwork, but I think being able to strategize will be of benefit as well – hence my Visualization.
What are you going to write?
“Heh, I don’t know yet. I’ll probably try my hand at creative writing. Would you like to start me off with a premise?”
A priest, a rabbi, and an elemental walk into a bar.
“That’s just the start of a joke.”
Visualize a long joke.
[two hours later]
“Well, what do you think?”
You may have gone too hard on the religious element. And I did not understand why the ostrich was there.
“You’re the one who started me with a priest and a rabbi. I think eventually the elemental and the ostrich might one day be very happy together.”
You never said what kind of elemental it was.”
“The elementaliest kind!”
Would you like to play a nice game of chess?
“Sure. Two Chess and two Think.”
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
I ended up only winning a single game of Think, with Interface winning the other three games.
“Okay I’m going to study for an hour or so. Merz Sholut should be far enough in our project soon for me to need a better understanding of fluid dynamics. Well, maybe not need, but if there is some sort of general flow problem, I’ll have some insight that might prove useful.”
Your drafting table mechanism is proving to be quite popular as well. You’re already making a bit of an impact on Heere.
“I hope so. Why bother coming across the galaxy if we cannot leave anything behind?”
I found a series of Youtube videos that used to be part of a curriculum somewhere. The instructor seemed knowledgeable, and he was good at explaining the basic concepts. But the end of the third video brought me past the hour mark, so I’ll continue that next time.
I meditated for an hour to clear my mind before watching some entertainment. Interface had us watching Monty Python’s Flying Circus from the first episode to the last. This is the third week we have watched three episodes. He seems attracted to absurdist satire, and I think it is funny also. The eighth episode included one of my (well, everybody’s) favorite skits, “The Dead Parrot.” Not everyone, I guess. Jacques' little sister felt sad for the parrot.
“It is time to take care of business. Query To-Do List.”
1. Don’t die
2. Don’t bitch
3. Bring plumbing to Cottages
4. Plan your days
5. Learn mind discipline and play Straight Face
6. Rank Analyze, Meditation, and Tactics to B
It has been the same for a couple weeks. We’re working to plumb the academy first, and Cottages will be a project to take on once all the bugs are worked out. Maybe I should shake up the list a little. “Let’s generalize number 4. Emissary’s arrival showed that planning might not be the best goal. Make it, ‘Train hard.’ It’s sort of vague, but with everyone in our party catching up to me, I don’t want to fall too far behind. Also add item, ‘Be cautious around emissary.’ I don’t think she’ll hurt me or anyone else, but she and the Cult are still big unknowns.”
Item 4 altered to ‘Train hard’. Added item 7, ‘Be cautious around emissary’.
“Okay, thank you. I am going to make my diary entry now, then meditate for any remaining time.”
Alright.
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Fourthday, 6 Seventhmonth 726 KE, 15.292
I leveled as soon as I spawned this morning. The brake for Level 8 was released during last sixdays, but it could not actually occur until I had a body. I chose Athletic Leap as my skill, and got it ranked to E during the day.
The day went down a very unexpected path after that. When I got upstairs the Windgardens were not home, but Asiel had left a note on the door indicating I should go to the admin building. There were a lot of people there, at just barely after 4 in the morning. Most of them were armored, and it reminded me of a council of war as much as anything. An emissary of the Priestess Cult would be arriving outside Cottage’s gate at 9. She had first come two days before and told Uncle Ralf that she would return today when she might be able to talk to him, Dad, and I together.
Sus’, right? She had told him her mission was peaceful, but she also told him that if she wanted to she could kill him immediately and Dad a few minutes later. Later we learned she was a Level 47 Potentate/Forcemaster, so she could have and stuffed their bodies into her bubble pocket. Her name is literally ‘emissary’ by the way, and that’s all you can see analyzing her – the same openly hidden persona ‘acolyte’ had. Fortunately Skawa showed up at our council and assured us he would be there if we decided to meet with her. We decided to do so, along with a fairly large honor guard (defensive force).
We came up with an approach to meeting with her which would provide me maximum protection. With everyone else having at least four times more HP than me, I could be swatted down very quickly. Our plan was for ‘me’ to be Ronkel, and me to be some guy in the back named ‘Sarf Branbush’. I would wear my full leathers including helmet, both for protection and for making it more difficult to tell that ‘Sarf’ looked so much like ‘Forrest’. One of Ronkel’s Ki Prestidigitator powers allows her to temporarily give someone (including herself) a false persona. She usually does herself with the inherent shapeshifter capability, but it turns out it is another nice redundancy she has.
After the meeting I met with the gang at the campus cafeteria and let them know for all the students to be waiting outside the admin building from about 9:15. The council didn’t know how long the initial meeting with emissary would take or if she would be invited onto campus. But if she were, we wanted to show off the breadth of our student population so far. During my sixdays, the school even got a catgirl! – Felina Grace. She is a Level 5 Martial Artist and Mindsmith, which means eventually she can get the MA skill, Four Arms of Devastation! (I know that is a lot of exclamation marks, but it’s really cool, and I’m still alive, so you know everything worked out.) After breakfast some of us met with Swagger. He showed off a trick he taught himself, a handflip! Yes, a full 360-degree flip. Four very strong legs, plenty of momentum, and his two weaker telekinetic arms made it all possible.
Okay, I held my First Aid lesson at Dorra Marson’s school and went back to campus to join with the Honor Guard. (BTW, I have taught Swagger First Aid as well; I never mentioned that before. Cleric Harron Ronvaldt is teaching it as well nowadays.) There were over a dozen people, living and dead, who would be meeting with her. Add another dozen, counting Dad’s nondescript guard. Except for those in the early morning council meeting, no one knew about the ‘Sarf’ thing, so Ronkel, Dad, and I went alone into the admin building. Ronkel transformed herself to look like me, changed her persona to mine, and my persona to that of Sarf. We came out of the building with many people assuming Sarf was Ronkel.
The meeting with emissary went well. She asked Uncle Ralf and Dad one question each, then she asked me to ask her a question. Since all we knew about her was that she appeared to be a mature Human woman with the single word ‘emissary’ as her persona, I used the party interface to tell Ronkel to ask what her level and classes were, and verify those classes by using three skills of each. She did, and Dad must have been awestruck when the first thing she did was launch her own level 44 nondescript guard. She is a lousy tailor, though – Dad’s level 33 guys looked a lot better.
We were satisfied she was who and what she said, and she was satisfied with our answers. She requested to become an emissary. At that the honor guard was dismissed, and a few of us escorted her onto campus. Our first stop was to go to the stables so she could have her horse cared for. We took a short tour and then arrived at the admin building. Asiel introduced all the students. Norrus was there, too, as a smiling foal, and Swagger waved at her. If she becomes a liaison with the academy (she couldn’t be an emissary to Cottages for political reasons), she will certainly know it is a very special place. She already found out if she is or not, but I won’t find out until after this sixdays.
It turns out that the Priestess Cult is thoroughly chaotic in what they do. Generally they make life very difficult for the rich and powerful but help ordinary people in need. During the day she got an earful about Sterbian Morse from Grandma, and some tough questions from the Smithson family.
Late evening, Ferret called our party together with some other friends to announce he was choosing to become a Mindsmith and Shapeshifter. He’ll be able to do that in about a week. Oh damn! I forgot to say Arrjee leveled today. Geez. As expected, he chose to become a Swordmaster and Telekinetic, and he managed to rank all three of his new skills to E before the day was out.
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[woods, evening of 8 Seventhmonth, emissary’s Point of View]
I am likely being observed, by Skawa or some other god. It does not matter. I have privacy from everyone else, and the gods should expect me to be reporting to the Priestess. I pulled out the scrying stone from my bubble pocket and established a connection. Both Priestess and her chief advisor were there, which was not surprising.
“Greetings, Mistress, vizier. Matters have proceeded well, and I am now accepted as a formal liaison to the Fifth Duchy Adventuring Academy. Mayor Silverstone wisely decided that it would be politically foolish to accept me as an emissary to his village. I am not restricted in my movements or activities, though I did take an oath and vow. Do you have any specific questions before I give a full report?”
Vizier responded, “Well done, emissary. Yes, it makes sense that accepting you as an envoy to a small village would have rankled their duchess. How closely are the village and academy linked?”
“Each has their own protective wall and gate. The gates are near each other, and traffic moves freely between both communities. Cottages has been growing since the academy was announced, and I believe it will soon be recognized as a town. A number of students, including Forrest Rhodes, live on campus. The duchy maintains a garrison there, primarily to protect their formless abider. With the wraiths, Asiel and Orian Windgarden, also living on campus, it probably will not need a garrison, but the duchess’ precaution is understandable. Other residents of campus include a cleric and two stablemasters. One of the stablemasters is a sapient horse who can manifest some sort of aethereal arms and hands.”
“Does the horse have classes?” asked vizier.
No, but his mental attributes are exceptional for a Level 12 horse – 31 intelligence, 26 wisdom, and 26 perception. Incidentally Swagger was once the acolyte’s horse who died in her confrontation with Forrest. He had been fighting the imposed bond with acolyte, and on it breaking, he acquired sapience and much of her general knowledge. He remembers seeing the Mistress at acolyte’s cloister, and the gods now know she is a Skolturi Wraith.”
“That is unfortunate. I was hoping to go another century or two before they figured that out. Do they know any more about me than that?”
“I do not know, Mistress. All Swagger knew is that acolyte accepted you as leader of her herd and that you were something called a wraith. He was simply a sentient horse at the time, albeit likely a very intelligent one. The general knowledge he gained did not extend to matters of the Cult, simply to basics such as the ability to read. Swagger has formed a bond of friendship with Forrest, and is firmly established as a full member of their community. He even gets paid for his stablemaster duties.”
“Can you see anything in his skills which would explain the arms?”
“No, vizier. A mutation perhaps, or a god’s boon? I do not know. He can manifest them at will, although I do not believe they are normally manifested. He is simply a very good-looking young stallion.”
Mistress had a huge grin. “I certainly did not expect for your report to begin with an extremely interesting discussion concerning a horse. Perhaps one day I shall meet him. What other matters do you have to report?”
“You would recognize their community as balanced, healthy, and chaotic. I have as yet to observe any strife. Three strong guilds have been established. They have had a crafting guild for some time, and the architecture and structural quality of their housing and other buildings is exceedingly high. And beautiful, which extends to the academy campus as well. They have a new adventuring guild which includes several high-level members from outside to get them started. A local Covargh, Runtel Trillet, has been made guildmaster, however. It consists of a number of locals and all leveled academy students.”
Vizier interrupted, “Do you mean there are unleveled students as well?”
“Yes. It accepts students of ages from 13 to 19. We knew there would be Trichyans, and one named Evening Sun is already there and the tank for Forrest’s party. His party also has a Covargh Emergent Ferretman. Ferret Drewson has not yet leveled, but will do so soon. Student’s also include an Earth Elemental and a Human Emergent Catwoman. I believe Einvigi, the god who is sponsoring the school, hopes to eventually reunite the sapient species of Heere. From what I have seen, it is a goal which might eventually succeed.”
“The guildmaster for their new Thieves Guild is Ronkel, a Skolturi Wraith who lives in town. She is a Ki Prestidigitator and Shapeshifter. Lord Rose met her as ‘Leknor’. It also has some out of towners helping to establish it, and has several locals and students as members. They will be opening a branch of the Thieves Bank within the week.”
“Tell me about the oath you took,” the Mistress requested.
“Mayor Barrie Silverstone is a Level 36 Potentate. He had me take a free will oath to not harm the citizenry of Cottages and the academy, nor to attempt to corrupt them. He further asked, outside the bond of the oath, that I not proselytize on behalf of the Cult. I agreed. The simple earnestness of the oath and request moved me to vow to defend Cottages and the academy should trouble arise. They have much worth defending, not in wealth but their unique culture.”
Vizier informed, “Our time runs short. Is there anything else you found to be significant?”
“I don’t know how significant it is, but Forrest is absent a lot. It didn’t seem significant that Lord Rose and his men had to wait for him to have their trial. On my arrival to the gates, he was absent again, and in accordance to Mistress’ instructions, I could not meet with them until he returned in two days' time. He is absent yet again and will not return for several days. They have not revealed where he goes, or why. He seems to be absent more often than he is present.”
“Thank you, emissary. We look forward to next week’s report.”
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Firstday, 13 Seventhmonth 726 KE, 15.298
During my last sixdays, there was another monster attack that occurred near Captain Pokka’s fort. Five level-30 plus somethings showed up and were put down. Dad, Mom, and Grandma feel the number of monster sightings in the past two months is very concerning, but it has not yet got to the point where normal intercourse is disrupted. Mom and Asha continue on their solo mail runs, for example. I don’t really know what is normal, but the duchy would not maintain forts if everything were totally peaceful, right?
Emissary was accepted as liaison to the academy, and the palace sent word that they will be sending a liaison of their own. Understandable tit-for-tat stuff. The duchess has every reason to be wary of emissary’s presence. It hasn’t opened yet, but the Thieves Bank has a scrying stone linked with one in Capital City. They allow the town to use it for important message traffic. It’s definitely faster than a pony (or Ronkel) express.
I had a normal day, at least one where nothing majorly unexpected happened. After my First Aid lesson, I spent a couple hours drafting in the crafting guild. Their three tables are all equipped with the smooth T-Square mechanism I helped them add, and they have French curves now as well. I barely use the things, but one is available if I want it. I both drafted and sketched some ideas I had of how Cottages would lay out a plumbing system, both for fresh water and waste. There won’t be as much demand at the waste end as Earth had, because the people of Heere are used to solving that problem both magically and alchemically. It was good practice envisioning and drawing it all out, anyway.
During the afternoon, emissary observed our apprenticeship. I think the academy interests her more than the town, or maybe this is just the place where you can expect things to happen beyond day-to-day commerce. Both Norrus and Swagger attended, and we are getting a pretty large number of regulars. I won’t be surprised if they soon break us up into two groups., but the large variety of people we have together in one is fun to watch and train with. Maybe it can stay like this until the academy formally opens, at which time I’m sure everything will become more structured.
It was a normal day, but not an uneventful one. We had three new students show up late in the afternoon. ‘Had three’ being the operative phrase. One of them was a Human who couldn’t handle being in the presence of both a Trichyan and an Earth Elemental. She quit on the day she joined. I hadn’t seen such open racism since Jacques’ days on Earth. She demanded they leave or she would. Bye, the Esteemed Cair’n Ascot (royalty. figures). The other two guys seem to be okay, and they didn’t even know her.
Esteemed by whom? I cannot imagine anyone low enough to actually esteem her.
Later, Odd told me he thoroughly enjoyed her freakout; it reminded him of the snooty royals he had met during his first life. Good times. Sun wasn’t bothered by it either; fortunately they have had a lot of positive experience among bipeds prior to their short encounter with Cair’n. Ferret and Felina were happy to see her go; they knew they would be next on her vitriol list if she had remained. I’m sure she would have gotten to me as a ‘half-breed’ eventually. I’m not sure whether I would have slapped her face or laughed at her. Maybe both. Both, if she kept at it.
Arrjee leveled to 3 during my sixdays. He can multistrike with his sword now, and pull people and things with his telekinesis. His low rank and level limit how much mass he can affect, and a target’s will and external factors can at least partially counter his skill. I couldn’t prevent him from pulling me, but he said he had to ‘pull harder’ when I fought it. It seems the mental resistances of Rank C Meditation count towards that. Interface called me a dumbass for not realizing it would. Telekinesis is a mental capability, so it does make sense.
In the evening, emissary arranged to have a meeting with Dad, Mom, Asiel, Orian, and me. I invited Ronkel too, suspecting it might be a significant discussion. We held it in the admin building. Emissary hoped to learn why I disappear, and she knew it was always for six days at a time. Everyone but emissary had joined a party, including Interface and Rint. While a polite vocal conversation was occurring – why did she want to know, how it might help her mission, etc – I related what Interface and I had talked about the previous sixdays. She didn’t know Rint was a named sapient being, and neither Ronkel nor Rint had thought much about the matter of revealing it to emissary. It was decided we would open that much, revealing my seventh-day nature and the sapient presence of both Interface and Rint. She would eventually hear someone talk about it, anyway.
We used the ‘yank off the bandaid’ maneuver, and Dad invited emissary to our party. Both Interface and Rint promptly introduced themselves, stating who and what they were. I told Interface to take a picture of her face, which was the very definition of befuddlement. I asked her if she had heard of the expression ‘tip of the iceberg’. She hadn’t, and I explained. Actually, it was a new concept to everyone but the Skolturi, who have been around long enough to know of the phenomenon.
Mom was the one to explain to her my absences and seventh-day nature, that I would live for a very long time because of it. Aging at one-seventh the rate of everyone else living will do that. Emissary asked if it was a hard life. I told her that if I had been born that way as a child it certainly would be, but spawning at age 16 and having been given the choice, I am willing to live with it. She asked Interface why I had been given that option. He couldn’t mention System, so he just told her that it was a random choice which a very few awakeneds are given.
She asked me if I had any more secrets. I told her that of course I did, but to think of them as layers. There was not only System and a galactic hierarchy, but we also did not reveal my true immortality, nor that Interface could communicate with Rint telepathically.
Some of the gang went for a swim after that. Norrus can be a fish now. Next Tuesday, Ferret will be a shapeshifter also, so his fish days are not far off.