I was better organized this ti, and partway I stopped and had the students introduce themselves in English, what they did, and where they ca from. They spoke in English, I converted it to Human, their word choices, accents, and dialects helping build the rapport and link with their genetic tongue.
They didnt really notice when they started using more Human in their speech. I had them tell basic childhood stories, sing a favorite song, recite a favorite poem or saying, and recite the nas of their relatives.
The ti passed fairly quickly as I ran smoothly through nouns, verbs, sentences, descriptive terms, and so forth. We had a Q&A session, veering into weird territory as they talked about themselves and their lives here and there. I didnt talk about myself, as I didnt have the akashic link that made all this work. I could just learn the language for free, without it taking up a ntal inventory slot, I couldnt learn it this easily.
Inheriting it had been about the sa thing, however.
----
I held up my hand as Shelly finished a tale about her grandmother and the Christian Church she used to go to.
All right, were done, I smiled. Youre all talking in Human. The Valence I Comprehend Languages lasted an hour per Caster Level, and was about to expire.
What? Mr. Harrison exclaid in disbelief, and then blinked as he realized he hadnt actually said what.
I turned directly to the caras, ignoring the astonished guys behind them focusing on . And thats all you have to do. Read along, talk along. An hour of your ti, and you all speak the sa language, read the sa language, can write the sa language. Note that if you dont know how to read or write, you still know what the words an, but youll have problems putting your own words down.
Thank you for your ti, and I hope I wont have to learn too much Englits in the future.
I shook hands with the three still-astounded students, who were exclaiming all sorts of things, experinting with new words we hadnt even covered, but that were miraculously there when they went looking for them.
----
Father Bower was shaking his head as he greeted . You do not know what a service youve done with this, Miss Traveler. Im not sure we can repay you adequately.
I lifted an eyebrow. So, I might be able to ask for sothing from the coffers of the Church that might be of use? I inquired directly.
He looked at , coughed, and smiled. Well, the goodwill of the Church is hard to put a gold value on, he hinted strongly.
I am about to go into town to spend a mildly obscene amount of money on what will no doubt prove to be a low-Quality Casting Implent I will no doubt have to trash and recycle, wasting everyones ti. I dont need a magical Staff, I can arrange for such things myself. However, a high-Quality item requires a fine craftsman, and the appropriate contacts.
I would like the Church to procure the material for a very high-grade Staff. It does not need to be Crafted. It can be bone, ivory, or wood.
I will do the Carving and Crafting myself at the appropriate ti, but I need the material to do so. Is that within the Churchs remit?
He considered that thoughtfully. I can certainly inquire, Miss Traveler, but I do not know if the Church can acquire what you need. It should not surprise you that the White Necromancers of the Church also have great demand for superior Staves.
I inclined my head, and we headed towards the door... with the blouse and slacks returned to Shelly, and my other scavenged clothes swapped back in and re-fit with fingersnaps. She didnt hide her envy as she rolled her eyes and shook my hand. I just winked at her, and strolled away.
You have not yet spoken with Sir Pellier, or he might have passed on sothing else your Church does not seem to know about, I told him after we stepped outside. I flicked my fingers, and brought up my Darts.
He studied them curiously, intently. There is holy magic about them, he judged after a mont. And... I believe that is banefire against the undead, I have seen so Weapons set up with it. I am not familiar with the white fire...
Technically, its unwhite fire. Its actually white, not a confluence of colors your eyes interpret as white. Spiritual aspect to it, you see. Its the exact opposite of the utterblack of necroic fire.
He shot another intensely interested gaze. That sounds either ominous or propitious...
This is called Vivic Fire. It is the unnatural energy of the Mortal Plane, the energy that denizens of other planes hate to see. If you are familiar with this symbol, I whipped up a Holo of a tai-chi symbol as I let my Darts fade, and pointed to the little white dot in the black comma, that is vivic fire right there, as that is necroic fire. I pointed to the little black dot in the white.
He rubbed his chin, thinking. That is very interesting, but how is it relevant?
Undead slain with vivic fire are not reborn under the Curse of the Shroud. They are consud and fed to the Land.
He stopped in place. I took another step, and turned back to him calmly.
He was staring at in shock, disbelief... and hope. This... vivic fire, can actually kill the undead? he gasped hoarsely.
Yes. As they feed on life, vivus feeds upon death, and creates new life. The Curse has nothing to restore.
He was almost hyperventilating. He closed his eyes and clenched his hands hard to control himself. The Undead... they can finally be killed permanently... He shuddered in a mixture of anger and relief.
His eyes snapped open, and he looked at with rather frightening intensity. I looked right back at him. Miss Traveler, do you have any idea how valuable such information is? he asked, despite himself.
I am fully aware that the entire world would be in debt to , yes.
My reply cald him down sowhat. And you seek compensation for this knowledge. He was not a fool.
I waved my hand. You cannot pay what is worth. As long as you can recognize that, I am perfectly willing to enlist the Churches of Good in spreading knowledge of vivus as wide and far as possible. But there is a problem.
A problem? he asked, calming down his excitent.
Yes. Normally, you would have been directly contacted by the divine and knowledge of vivus made available to you. I pointed up at the haze above. I am inferring that you dont have direct contact with the servants of the heavens.
I... no. No, we do not, he agreed, after staring at peculiarly for a mont. We can feel guidance on doctrine when we ditate, see the course before us, know what our gods endorse and do not... but we dont actually talk to them. That I was inferring that they should be able to was another cause for excitent. To actually be able to talk directly to a Divinity, or even their servants, was a wondrous thing!
I nodded slowly. Then I will have to actually teach you this, without akashic resonance. That requires to be at least a Five. I am still a One... and for whatever reason, this Shroudborn affliction of mine keeps sending sideways instead of up. I need to Level, and survive while I do.
That ans that knowledge of what vivic fire actually is should not be spread at all... until it is spread very widely, indeed.
He stared at for a long, careful mont, and then sighed as he digested the implications of that. Any leaks would an sothing that realizes the implications will co and move against you... and you probably wont survive it, if they are powerful.
That is correct.
So, weve got to get you stronger, and protect you in a casual manner, while keeping this under wraps until youre tough enough to take an attack. He gestured for us to keep walking. Thats not as problematic as it might be. You are, after all, in the middle of an ard camp.
I had noticed, I agreed. The first thing you can do to help is get a wizards staff. I will either replace or return it when I am capable of doing so. If you could have such waiting in Riverhead when I go there, I would be obliged.
A minor enough thing for your contributions so far... and in the future, he agreed. Allow to make so calls. That should not be difficult to take care of.
Thank you.
Should I have just totally shut up about it? Sure. There were hundreds of thousands of incorps out there. I could have plinked them off every night until I reached the Level I wanted to get to, and nobody around would have really noticed that there were fewer of them every night.
Hells, I could have sit sowhere and done absolutely nothing, and as long as I was willing for my Ring not to grow, I could have just waited out a huge chunk of this stuff, and quietly Leveled my way into power.
However, I had so major expenditures ahead of , and simply put, the Karma I had wasnt going to be enough to address them. So, I had to accrue more.
And quietly building up tons of rits of undead-killing while I did so, perhaps...
-----------
Sir Pellier? I inquired curiously, as the Paladin ca up to .
Ive heard that youre going into Riverhead. It was indicated in broad terms to that soone a bit more responsible than a certain flighty sorcerer would be a better escort for soone with special knowledge.
Well, it was true enough. I myself was a bit dubious on Helixs reliability, and he wasnt the brightest candle in the room. Him getting off-track was practically to be expected if it wasnt sothing he was personally interested in.
Are you driving? I agreed implicitly.
I think that would be a good idea for all concerned. Helix is known to frequent so, ah, edgier places for excitent... he said politely, having a pretty good idea of the nature of the sorcerer.
I narrowed my eyes. And doubtless he wanted to introduce to them, I sighed, having an idea hed try to move things in that direction. Also, he wanted to go dancing, without a doubt. Hed probably forgotten I was pregnant three days ago, and had a lethal c-section. He could show off to all his friends, and maybe that asshole who had given him such screwy advice...
I could only sigh. He wasnt a bad person, but he was Chaotic Good, and so he was the center of the world and its most important being. It was only right that he show off his new advisor like a piece of arm candy. After all, he was the powerful Stormblood, and I was still just a One, even if I had the nastiest Shards ever...
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