Chapter 263: Howlton
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Chapter 263: Howlton
Tala walked with the Banlens up through the village of Howlton until they came to a courtyard before a quiet, restful seeming area. It was marked as a clinic and healers shop.
Right, the men. Tala obviously hadnt forgotten about those she had within Kit, but they had definitely fallen out of the front of her mind.
-For you, thats the same as forgetting.-
Hush you.
The motion of the city walking was hardly noticeable, but Tala had quickly become accustomed to the slight swaying.
One of the Banlens went inside to get the healers.
The other smiled. If you would, Greater Tala?
Tala nodded and placed Kit on the closest wall.
Tense faces greeted her as Tala pushed open the door into Kit, but they relaxed with the remaining Banlen called out.
Were in Howlton, just outside the healers.
What followed was another bit of time for getting the men out and settled.
Tala felt a bit awkward about not helping, but she didnt want to infect anyone with the dasgannach, if that was even possible, and she didnt want to reveal it either.
Thankfully, the door in and out of Kit restricted the number of people who could easily go in and out, and there were plenty of people to help.
It turned out there were half a dozen healers and quite a few apprentices in this one healing establishment.
They also had rather good methods as they set about healing the broken bones straight away.
Artifacts were in place that would repair the fractures, but they still took a few minutes to fully repair the damage that shed done.
Even so, by the time all the men were settled in to wait their turns, Markl was healed and ready to go.
Ill escort you the rest of the way to the Heads office.
Tala nodded her thanks, bid the Banlens goodbye, and followed Markl out.
They went up.
And up.
And up.
The whole place was laid out in a pleasing manner. Nothing was too cramped, and there seemed to be multiple ways to get to each place.
The villages aura made her magesight less informative than usual, but she was easily able to see that at every level almost everyone she saw had a gate.
Finally, she turned to Markl and asked. Why did so few guards have gates, but basically everyone here does?
Hmm? He paused looking back at her. Oh! The non-gated are within the villages core.
The core?
He frowned. The expanded space? Where we have our farmland.
Oh! That makes so much sense. The gated cant be in there because of degradation, but the gateless could be much more comfortable. That makes a lot of sense, I suppose.
He smiled. The gated can come and go on occasion, but access is limited, as I am sure you can understand.
Of course.
It can be inconvenient as most of our residences are within, and we dont wish to create segregated societies, so our schools, especially our primary schools, are out here, so that we grow up together.
Wait, most residences? I thought this was just a village. How populous are you?
He shrugged. I dont have an exact count, but I believe in the forty-eight-hundred range. The classification is more to do with the size of our village, the walking part out here. There are roughly a thousand gated in our community.
I suppose thats one way to measure things. Especially if the gated help out in some way that others dont.
-We didnt see any connections of power, but looking back, I wouldnt be surprised if the gated were the ones to power all the weaponry for the unit.-
Clever use of power, that.
With no other pressing questions, they continued upward.
Eventually, they reached the top level.
The whole level was a room with glass, or something like it, ringing the entire circumference of the somewhat small space.
One figure stood in the middle, able to see out in every direction.
Scripts were embedded in the floor along with fully impressed spellforms that existed solely in the dimensions of magic, just as they did for artifacts.
The man turned toward them as they came up the spiral stairs.
The last bit of the staircase lacked any handhold, so that the view was utterly unobstructed.
The man, seemingly the Head, was odd to Talas eyes.
First, he wore what appeared to be incredibly traditional Mages robes of a dark green satin, and his feet were bare.
Beyond that, he had a few clear demarcations of a dragonling nature about him.
His hands and feet ended in neatbut wicked-lookingclaws.
The backs of his hands, tops of his feet, and his bare arms were covered in small black scales, but his palms were bare.
Horns swept up and back from his brow ridge, their base almost hidden among his long, scraggly, black hair.
Even so, his face looked human, or more or less human.
A scraggly beard matched his hair quite nicely, and his features were on the sharper, more angular side for a human, without crossing the line into seeming truly alien.
He had deep, dark circles around his eyes, which glowed a sickly green.
He looked utterly exhausted, but that was just how he looked physically.
Magically?
His aura was Honored, clearly earned in the arcane style, however that was done.
Tala had flipped through the House of the Rising Suns book on the subject, but that was so Alat could store it for later. Shed yet to actually process the information.
He clearly had deeply impressed, natural magics that she couldnt interpret, along with spell-lines of some material that seemed to glow an unhealthy green that matched his eyes.
The spellforms glowed even where Tala couldnt detect magic flowing through them.
Yet oddest of all, he had a gate, sitting within him in just slightly the wrong place, and the gate in question felt like it had a flowrate similar to her own, though she couldnt be exactly sure.
He shook his head. No, no. This whole room provides that information to me, both for that which lies within it, and without. That is how I detected the thing to begin with.
Oh. I suppose that make sense. So, Tala spoke of the dasgannach, and Paresh listened attentively, his eyes only occasionally sweeping the landscape.
Tala told of her encounters with them before, what Master Jevin and others had told her, along with how this one had supposedly been modified.
That is quite the conundrum, Tala. I do agree, however, that teleportation should be a cure. At least I believe so. I do not have specific knowledge of teleportation methods, but what you say lines up with the little theory I know.
Thats good to hear, at least.
Do not be surprised, however, if you put the dasgannach in a unique situation, when you attempt to teleport. It would likely be utterly outside its concept to react to. He chuckled. It is literally exiting reality, so it stands to reason that such a simple Concept couldnt account for the possibility.
I was afraid of that. Do you think it will leave?
That would be the best case, yes. Youd teleport, leaving it behind, where it would die. You would arrive on the receiving array with your blood restored based on your soul-impression, and youd only be out your inscriptions. Unpleasant, yes, but hardly a true issue.
What would the worst case be?
It would accept the open invitation you have extended to it. I would suggest retracting such, but I actually would guess that the open invitation, the ongoing option for it to eat that iron too, is why it hasnt given up and left. It can take that iron, so it cant leave before it does.
Tala blinked a few times. Oh, rust. That makes sense. But why would the bond be so bad?
He scoffed. Youd be bonding a creature of pure ravenous, jealous desire and impetus to consume your very soul. That can change a person. He laughed at himself. That would change a person, the only question would be How much?
She frowned, considering. She thought his definition rang true, but it also eerily mirrored what the arcane artificer, Cerdai, had said about the Concept most closely linked to her own magics. Is that a coincidence? Or was I already being influenced by the collar around my neck, even then?
-I mean, thats possible, but I really dont think that your magics changed much since you were taken. I mean, they literally didnt change at all, structurally, though your understanding of some of them has shifted.-
I can see Ive given you much to think about.
Is there anything that you can think of to help in my situation?
Unfortunately, no. Mine is a constructive Concept. If you were simply ill, or otherwise injured, I could help, but I cannot repair damage willfully done.
Tala grimaced. And to get the dasgannach out, Id have to make a willful choice to incur that damage.
Precisely. You are at an equilibrium, if an unhappy one.
You could just cut off my hand, and heal me after? She knew she couldnt ask because that would be her choosing it.
Even so, he sighed. And no, I cannot encourage it out of you, and heal the damage. That would be willful damage on my part. I can repair what time erodes, or unknown consequences, like my own bodys response to my spell-lines.
Tala blinked at him. What? Your spell-lines?
Yes, the material involved is quite toxic, but it has a magical conductivity and power like nothing else Ive ever encountered.
Then wouldnt your continued use be willfully inflicted damage?
Not at all. I dont wish the damage to happen, not at any level. It is a side effect of another choice. And before the idea crosses your mind, the damage is quite contained within my own body. No one else is in any danger, while I still live.
Thats good to know. The idea had just been crossing her mind. But, I dont want the damage.
No, of course not, you just want all the iron out of your body. Thats not damaging at all. He gave her a patronizing smile.
But I dont want that, I want the dasgannach out.
And what is the dasgannach?
She opened her mouth and closed it.
You see, that is the danger of curses, or concepts in general. They distort reality in such a way as to muddy and negate what should be easy and obvious solutions. My advice? Get home, teleport, and deal with the dasgannachs death or bonding.
I appreciate that advice.
Of course. Words are free.
Tala smiled. True enough, but I still do wish to get home as soon as I can. Is there any way I can avoid such encounters in the future?
Oh! Of course, forgive me. He waved his hand, and a map of the region seemed to appear, floating in the air. If you head directly north, you should reach the Human City lands soon enough, and I dont believe there are any other villages in that exact direction at the moment. In the next few days? I am not too sure, but if you are as quick as I believe you are, you shouldnt pass close enough to any to require a talk with their outer scouts and defenders.
Tala grimaced. I need to avoid the woods.
Oh? Not a fan of the Leshkin? I cant say I blame you. We do our best to stay away from the woods for that exact reason. Its one cause of the slow encroachment of the forest into our plains. Well have to burn it back in another few hundred years or it will begin to get inconvenient.
Something like that, yeah. Paresh seemed to enjoy talking, and Tala wasnt going to turn down good information.
Well then, youll want to go north and east, hugging the treeline. You should be able to do that well enough without encountering any more villages. Here and heretwo dots appeared on the mapAre the shortest paths through the woods, assuming our information is good for the other side. At those points youll only have to cross about fifty miles of forest. The more northern route is a bit shorter, but youd be going nearly eighty miles out of your way to save three miles in the trees, so Ill let you determine whats right for you.
Tala took a moment to ensure shed memorized the information before nodding. Thank you. That will help tremendously.
Of course. Once again, it cost me nothing.
Tala hesitated, feeling the barest trembling of the regular rumbling shed been sensing for nearly a day now. If I may, what is that?
The rumbling from beneath?
Id hope not, but yes?
That is purportedly the tomb of the magical beast known as the clockwork thunder.
When Tala returned a blank look, Paresh smiled.
In ancient times, the clockwork thunder ravaged the land around its home, driving thinking species back and killing all it could. Time and time again humans and arcanes alike rallied to slay the beast, but every time it was slain, it was birthed anew. So, finally, it was sealed beneath the earth.
And youre looking for it?
Its burial place, yes. Not only would it be amazing to learn from the information placed alongside it, as an aid against its possible escape, but the legend states that bribes beyond imagining were placed around the seal to pay off those who found it, to keep them from opening the door. All that treasure would immediately vanish should the seal be broken, of course.
Youre treasure hunters?
Scholars of ancient magics, and designers of new tools mostly, but treasure never hurts. He grinned. You know, you arent in any real danger, so long as you keep that hand safe. Would you like to join us? Were narrowing down the location. I suspect well find it within the year.
That long?
The obfuscation scripts are very well constructed, for all that they cant completely suppress the beasts rage-filled hammering.
Tala frowned. It did sound interesting. A bit foolish too, but definitely interesting. Even so, she wasnt that tempted. I just want to get home. Thank you for the offer, but I will have to decline for now.
Paresh smiled. Completely understandable. You are far from home. If you ever change your mind, search for us. If you find another village, they should be able to send you our way, even if you cant find us yourself.
Tala smiled. Thank you. A thought occurred to her, and she decided to ask. No harm in asking. Could I get some scrap-iron from you, while Im here?
Why He tilted his head to the side for a moment, then nodded. Ahh, I see. That just might help, yes. One moment.
Tala hesitated, but less than a half-minute later, the floor opened and a small pile of what was clearly scrap iron raised up on a little platform of some other material. She cocked an eyebrow.
It is convenient to be able to transport material throughout my village.
Ill say. She smiled and used a white-metal-clad hand to put the scraps into Kit. Thank you, Paresh. May you find what you seek, and may it yield nothing but blessings.
His smile widened. Same to you, Tala. May you find your way home, and may the journey be short and fulfilling.
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Chapter 263: Howlton
Tala walked with the Banlens up through the village of Howlton until they came to a courtyard before a quiet, restful seeming area. It was marked as a clinic and healers shop.
Right, the men. Tala obviously hadnt forgotten about those she had within Kit, but they had definitely fallen out of the front of her mind.
-For you, thats the same as forgetting.-
Hush you.
The motion of the city walking was hardly noticeable, but Tala had quickly become accustomed to the slight swaying.
One of the Banlens went inside to get the healers.
The other smiled. If you would, Greater Tala?
Tala nodded and placed Kit on the closest wall.
Tense faces greeted her as Tala pushed open the door into Kit, but they relaxed with the remaining Banlen called out.
Were in Howlton, just outside the healers.
What followed was another bit of time for getting the men out and settled.
Tala felt a bit awkward about not helping, but she didnt want to infect anyone with the dasgannach, if that was even possible, and she didnt want to reveal it either.
Thankfully, the door in and out of Kit restricted the number of people who could easily go in and out, and there were plenty of people to help.
It turned out there were half a dozen healers and quite a few apprentices in this one healing establishment.
They also had rather good methods as they set about healing the broken bones straight away.
Artifacts were in place that would repair the fractures, but they still took a few minutes to fully repair the damage that shed done.
Even so, by the time all the men were settled in to wait their turns, Markl was healed and ready to go.
Ill escort you the rest of the way to the Heads office.
Tala nodded her thanks, bid the Banlens goodbye, and followed Markl out.
They went up.
And up.
And up.
The whole place was laid out in a pleasing manner. Nothing was too cramped, and there seemed to be multiple ways to get to each place.
The villages aura made her magesight less informative than usual, but she was easily able to see that at every level almost everyone she saw had a gate.
Finally, she turned to Markl and asked. Why did so few guards have gates, but basically everyone here does?
Hmm? He paused looking back at her. Oh! The non-gated are within the villages core.
The core?
He frowned. The expanded space? Where we have our farmland.
Oh! That makes so much sense. The gated cant be in there because of degradation, but the gateless could be much more comfortable. That makes a lot of sense, I suppose.
He smiled. The gated can come and go on occasion, but access is limited, as I am sure you can understand.
Of course.
It can be inconvenient as most of our residences are within, and we dont wish to create segregated societies, so our schools, especially our primary schools, are out here, so that we grow up together.
Wait, most residences? I thought this was just a village. How populous are you?
He shrugged. I dont have an exact count, but I believe in the forty-eight-hundred range. The classification is more to do with the size of our village, the walking part out here. There are roughly a thousand gated in our community.
I suppose thats one way to measure things. Especially if the gated help out in some way that others dont.
-We didnt see any connections of power, but looking back, I wouldnt be surprised if the gated were the ones to power all the weaponry for the unit.-
Clever use of power, that.
With no other pressing questions, they continued upward.
Eventually, they reached the top level.
The whole level was a room with glass, or something like it, ringing the entire circumference of the somewhat small space.
One figure stood in the middle, able to see out in every direction.
Scripts were embedded in the floor along with fully impressed spellforms that existed solely in the dimensions of magic, just as they did for artifacts.
The man turned toward them as they came up the spiral stairs.
The last bit of the staircase lacked any handhold, so that the view was utterly unobstructed.
The man, seemingly the Head, was odd to Talas eyes.
First, he wore what appeared to be incredibly traditional Mages robes of a dark green satin, and his feet were bare.
Beyond that, he had a few clear demarcations of a dragonling nature about him.
His hands and feet ended in neatbut wicked-lookingclaws.
The backs of his hands, tops of his feet, and his bare arms were covered in small black scales, but his palms were bare.
Horns swept up and back from his brow ridge, their base almost hidden among his long, scraggly, black hair.
Even so, his face looked human, or more or less human.
A scraggly beard matched his hair quite nicely, and his features were on the sharper, more angular side for a human, without crossing the line into seeming truly alien.
He had deep, dark circles around his eyes, which glowed a sickly green.
He looked utterly exhausted, but that was just how he looked physically.
Magically?
His aura was Honored, clearly earned in the arcane style, however that was done.
Tala had flipped through the House of the Rising Suns book on the subject, but that was so Alat could store it for later. Shed yet to actually process the information.
He clearly had deeply impressed, natural magics that she couldnt interpret, along with spell-lines of some material that seemed to glow an unhealthy green that matched his eyes.
The spellforms glowed even where Tala couldnt detect magic flowing through them.
Yet oddest of all, he had a gate, sitting within him in just slightly the wrong place, and the gate in question felt like it had a flowrate similar to her own, though she couldnt be exactly sure.
He shook his head. No, no. This whole room provides that information to me, both for that which lies within it, and without. That is how I detected the thing to begin with.
Oh. I suppose that make sense. So, Tala spoke of the dasgannach, and Paresh listened attentively, his eyes only occasionally sweeping the landscape.
Tala told of her encounters with them before, what Master Jevin and others had told her, along with how this one had supposedly been modified.
That is quite the conundrum, Tala. I do agree, however, that teleportation should be a cure. At least I believe so. I do not have specific knowledge of teleportation methods, but what you say lines up with the little theory I know.
Thats good to hear, at least.
Do not be surprised, however, if you put the dasgannach in a unique situation, when you attempt to teleport. It would likely be utterly outside its concept to react to. He chuckled. It is literally exiting reality, so it stands to reason that such a simple Concept couldnt account for the possibility.
I was afraid of that. Do you think it will leave?
That would be the best case, yes. Youd teleport, leaving it behind, where it would die. You would arrive on the receiving array with your blood restored based on your soul-impression, and youd only be out your inscriptions. Unpleasant, yes, but hardly a true issue.
What would the worst case be?
It would accept the open invitation you have extended to it. I would suggest retracting such, but I actually would guess that the open invitation, the ongoing option for it to eat that iron too, is why it hasnt given up and left. It can take that iron, so it cant leave before it does.
Tala blinked a few times. Oh, rust. That makes sense. But why would the bond be so bad?
He scoffed. Youd be bonding a creature of pure ravenous, jealous desire and impetus to consume your very soul. That can change a person. He laughed at himself. That would change a person, the only question would be How much?
She frowned, considering. She thought his definition rang true, but it also eerily mirrored what the arcane artificer, Cerdai, had said about the Concept most closely linked to her own magics. Is that a coincidence? Or was I already being influenced by the collar around my neck, even then?
-I mean, thats possible, but I really dont think that your magics changed much since you were taken. I mean, they literally didnt change at all, structurally, though your understanding of some of them has shifted.-
I can see Ive given you much to think about.
Is there anything that you can think of to help in my situation?
Unfortunately, no. Mine is a constructive Concept. If you were simply ill, or otherwise injured, I could help, but I cannot repair damage willfully done.
Tala grimaced. And to get the dasgannach out, Id have to make a willful choice to incur that damage.
Precisely. You are at an equilibrium, if an unhappy one.
You could just cut off my hand, and heal me after? She knew she couldnt ask because that would be her choosing it.
Even so, he sighed. And no, I cannot encourage it out of you, and heal the damage. That would be willful damage on my part. I can repair what time erodes, or unknown consequences, like my own bodys response to my spell-lines.
Tala blinked at him. What? Your spell-lines?
Yes, the material involved is quite toxic, but it has a magical conductivity and power like nothing else Ive ever encountered.
Then wouldnt your continued use be willfully inflicted damage?
Not at all. I dont wish the damage to happen, not at any level. It is a side effect of another choice. And before the idea crosses your mind, the damage is quite contained within my own body. No one else is in any danger, while I still live.
Thats good to know. The idea had just been crossing her mind. But, I dont want the damage.
No, of course not, you just want all the iron out of your body. Thats not damaging at all. He gave her a patronizing smile.
But I dont want that, I want the dasgannach out.
And what is the dasgannach?
She opened her mouth and closed it.
You see, that is the danger of curses, or concepts in general. They distort reality in such a way as to muddy and negate what should be easy and obvious solutions. My advice? Get home, teleport, and deal with the dasgannachs death or bonding.
I appreciate that advice.
Of course. Words are free.
Tala smiled. True enough, but I still do wish to get home as soon as I can. Is there any way I can avoid such encounters in the future?
Oh! Of course, forgive me. He waved his hand, and a map of the region seemed to appear, floating in the air. If you head directly north, you should reach the Human City lands soon enough, and I dont believe there are any other villages in that exact direction at the moment. In the next few days? I am not too sure, but if you are as quick as I believe you are, you shouldnt pass close enough to any to require a talk with their outer scouts and defenders.
Tala grimaced. I need to avoid the woods.
Oh? Not a fan of the Leshkin? I cant say I blame you. We do our best to stay away from the woods for that exact reason. Its one cause of the slow encroachment of the forest into our plains. Well have to burn it back in another few hundred years or it will begin to get inconvenient.
Something like that, yeah. Paresh seemed to enjoy talking, and Tala wasnt going to turn down good information.
Well then, youll want to go north and east, hugging the treeline. You should be able to do that well enough without encountering any more villages. Here and heretwo dots appeared on the mapAre the shortest paths through the woods, assuming our information is good for the other side. At those points youll only have to cross about fifty miles of forest. The more northern route is a bit shorter, but youd be going nearly eighty miles out of your way to save three miles in the trees, so Ill let you determine whats right for you.
Tala took a moment to ensure shed memorized the information before nodding. Thank you. That will help tremendously.
Of course. Once again, it cost me nothing.
Tala hesitated, feeling the barest trembling of the regular rumbling shed been sensing for nearly a day now. If I may, what is that?
The rumbling from beneath?
Id hope not, but yes?
That is purportedly the tomb of the magical beast known as the clockwork thunder.
When Tala returned a blank look, Paresh smiled.
In ancient times, the clockwork thunder ravaged the land around its home, driving thinking species back and killing all it could. Time and time again humans and arcanes alike rallied to slay the beast, but every time it was slain, it was birthed anew. So, finally, it was sealed beneath the earth.
And youre looking for it?
Its burial place, yes. Not only would it be amazing to learn from the information placed alongside it, as an aid against its possible escape, but the legend states that bribes beyond imagining were placed around the seal to pay off those who found it, to keep them from opening the door. All that treasure would immediately vanish should the seal be broken, of course.
Youre treasure hunters?
Scholars of ancient magics, and designers of new tools mostly, but treasure never hurts. He grinned. You know, you arent in any real danger, so long as you keep that hand safe. Would you like to join us? Were narrowing down the location. I suspect well find it within the year.
That long?
The obfuscation scripts are very well constructed, for all that they cant completely suppress the beasts rage-filled hammering.
Tala frowned. It did sound interesting. A bit foolish too, but definitely interesting. Even so, she wasnt that tempted. I just want to get home. Thank you for the offer, but I will have to decline for now.
Paresh smiled. Completely understandable. You are far from home. If you ever change your mind, search for us. If you find another village, they should be able to send you our way, even if you cant find us yourself.
Tala smiled. Thank you. A thought occurred to her, and she decided to ask. No harm in asking. Could I get some scrap-iron from you, while Im here?
Why He tilted his head to the side for a moment, then nodded. Ahh, I see. That just might help, yes. One moment.
Tala hesitated, but less than a half-minute later, the floor opened and a small pile of what was clearly scrap iron raised up on a little platform of some other material. She cocked an eyebrow.
It is convenient to be able to transport material throughout my village.
Ill say. She smiled and used a white-metal-clad hand to put the scraps into Kit. Thank you, Paresh. May you find what you seek, and may it yield nothing but blessings.
His smile widened. Same to you, Tala. May you find your way home, and may the journey be short and fulfilling.
Chapter 263: HowltonTala walked with the Banlens up through the village of Howlton until they came to a courtyard before a quiet, restful seeming area. It was marked as a clinic and healers shop.Right, the men. Tala obviously hadnt forgotten about those she had within Kit, but they had definitely fallen out of the front of her mind.-For you, thats the same as forgetting.-Hush you.The motion of the city walking was hardly noticeable, but Tala had quickly become accustomed to the slight swaying.One of the Banlens went inside to get the healers.The other smiled. If you would, Greater Tala?Tala nodded and placed Kit on the closest wall.Tense faces greeted her as Tala pushed open the door into Kit, but they relaxed with the remaining Banlen called out.Were in Howlton, just outside the healers.What followed was another bit of time for getting the men out and settled.Tala felt a bit awkward about not helping, but she didnt want to infect anyone with the dasgannach, if that was even possible, and she didnt want to reveal it either.Thankfully, the door in and out of Kit restricted the number of people who could easily go in and out, and there were plenty of people to help.It turned out there were half a dozen healers and quite a few apprentices in this one healing establishment.They also had rather good methods as they set about healing the broken bones straight away.Artifacts were in place that would repair the fractures, but they still took a few minutes to fully repair the damage that shed done.Even so, by the time all the men were settled in to wait their turns, Markl was healed and ready to go.Ill escort you the rest of the way to the Heads office.Tala nodded her thanks, bid the Banlens goodbye, and followed Markl out.They went up.And up.And up.The whole place was laid out in a pleasing manner. Nothing was too cramped, and there seemed to be multiple ways to get to each place.The villages aura made her magesight less informative than usual, but she was easily able to see that at every level almost everyone she saw had a gate.Finally, she turned to Markl and asked. Why did so few guards have gates, but basically everyone here does?Hmm? He paused looking back at her. Oh! The non-gated are within the villages core.The core?He frowned. The expanded space? Where we have our farmland.Oh! That makes so much sense. The gated cant be in there because of degradation, but the gateless could be much more comfortable. That makes a lot of sense, I suppose.He smiled. The gated can come and go on occasion, but access is limited, as I am sure you can understand.Of course.It can be inconvenient as most of our residences are within, and we dont wish to create segregated societies, so our schools, especially our primary schools, are out here, so that we grow up together.Wait, most residences? I thought this was just a village. How populous are you?He shrugged. I dont have an exact count, but I believe in the forty-eight-hundred range. The classification is more to do with the size of our village, the walking part out here. There are roughly a thousand gated in our community.I suppose thats one way to measure things. Especially if the gated help out in some way that others dont.-We didnt see any connections of power, but looking back, I wouldnt be surprised if the gated were the ones to power all the weaponry for the unit.-Clever use of power, that.With no other pressing questions, they continued upward.Eventually, they reached the top level.The whole level was a room with glass, or something like it, ringing the entire circumference of the somewhat small space.One figure stood in the middle, able to see out in every direction.Scripts were embedded in the floor along with fully impressed spellforms that existed solely in the dimensions of magic, just as they did for artifacts.The man turned toward them as they came up the spiral stairs.The last bit of the staircase lacked any handhold, so that the view was utterly unobstructed.The man, seemingly the Head, was odd to Talas eyes.First, he wore what appeared to be incredibly traditional Mages robes of a dark green satin, and his feet were bare.Beyond that, he had a few clear demarcations of a dragonling nature about him.His hands and feet ended in neatbut wicked-lookingclaws.The backs of his hands, tops of his feet, and his bare arms were covered in small black scales, but his palms were bare.Horns swept up and back from his brow ridge, their base almost hidden among his long, scraggly, black hair.Even so, his face looked human, or more or less human.A scraggly beard matched his hair quite nicely, and his features were on the sharper, more angular side for a human, without crossing the line into seeming truly alien.He had deep, dark circles around his eyes, which glowed a sickly green.He looked utterly exhausted, but that was just how he looked physically.Magically?His aura was Honored, clearly earned in the arcane style, however that was done.Tala had flipped through the House of the Rising Suns book on the subject, but that was so Alat could store it for later. Shed yet to actually process the information.He clearly had deeply impressed, natural magics that she couldnt interpret, along with spell-lines of some material that seemed to glow an unhealthy green that matched his eyes.The spellforms glowed even where Tala couldnt detect magic flowing through them.Yet oddest of all, he had a gate, sitting within him in just slightly the wrong place, and the gate in question felt like it had a flowrate similar to her own, though she couldnt be exactly sure.He shook his head. No, no. This whole room provides that information to me, both for that which lies within it, and without. That is how I detected the thing to begin with.Oh. I suppose that make sense. So, Tala spoke of the dasgannach, and Paresh listened attentively, his eyes only occasionally sweeping the landscape.Tala told of her encounters with them before, what Master Jevin and others had told her, along with how this one had supposedly been modified.That is quite the conundrum, Tala. I do agree, however, that teleportation should be a cure. At least I believe so. I do not have specific knowledge of teleportation methods, but what you say lines up with the little theory I know.Thats good to hear, at least.Do not be surprised, however, if you put the dasgannach in a unique situation, when you attempt to teleport. It would likely be utterly outside its concept to react to. He chuckled. It is literally exiting reality, so it stands to reason that such a simple Concept couldnt account for the possibility.I was afraid of that. Do you think it will leave?That would be the best case, yes. Youd teleport, leaving it behind, where it would die. You would arrive on the receiving array with your blood restored based on your soul-impression, and youd only be out your inscriptions. Unpleasant, yes, but hardly a true issue.What would the worst case be?It would accept the open invitation you have extended to it. I would suggest retracting such, but I actually would guess that the open invitation, the ongoing option for it to eat that iron too, is why it hasnt given up and left. It can take that iron, so it cant leave before it does.Tala blinked a few times. Oh, rust. That makes sense. But why would the bond be so bad?He scoffed. Youd be bonding a creature of pure ravenous, jealous desire and impetus to consume your very soul. That can change a person. He laughed at himself. That would change a person, the only question would be How much?She frowned, considering. She thought his definition rang true, but it also eerily mirrored what the arcane artificer, Cerdai, had said about the Concept most closely linked to her own magics. Is that a coincidence? Or was I already being influenced by the collar around my neck, even then?-I mean, thats possible, but I really dont think that your magics changed much since you were taken. I mean, they literally didnt change at all, structurally, though your understanding of some of them has shifted.-I can see Ive given you much to think about.Is there anything that you can think of to help in my situation?Unfortunately, no. Mine is a constructive Concept. If you were simply ill, or otherwise injured, I could help, but I cannot repair damage willfully done.Tala grimaced. And to get the dasgannach out, Id have to make a willful choice to incur that damage.Precisely. You are at an equilibrium, if an unhappy one.You could just cut off my hand, and heal me after? She knew she couldnt ask because that would be her choosing it.Even so, he sighed. And no, I cannot encourage it out of you, and heal the damage. That would be willful damage on my part. I can repair what time erodes, or unknown consequences, like my own bodys response to my spell-lines.Tala blinked at him. What? Your spell-lines?Yes, the material involved is quite toxic, but it has a magical conductivity and power like nothing else Ive ever encountered.Then wouldnt your continued use be willfully inflicted damage?Not at all. I dont wish the damage to happen, not at any level. It is a side effect of another choice. And before the idea crosses your mind, the damage is quite contained within my own body. No one else is in any danger, while I still live.Thats good to know. The idea had just been crossing her mind. But, I dont want the damage.No, of course not, you just want all the iron out of your body. Thats not damaging at all. He gave her a patronizing smile.But I dont want that, I want the dasgannach out.And what is the dasgannach?She opened her mouth and closed it.You see, that is the danger of curses, or concepts in general. They distort reality in such a way as to muddy and negate what should be easy and obvious solutions. My advice? Get home, teleport, and deal with the dasgannachs death or bonding.I appreciate that advice.Of course. Words are free.Tala smiled. True enough, but I still do wish to get home as soon as I can. Is there any way I can avoid such encounters in the future?Oh! Of course, forgive me. He waved his hand, and a map of the region seemed to appear, floating in the air. If you head directly north, you should reach the Human City lands soon enough, and I dont believe there are any other villages in that exact direction at the moment. In the next few days? I am not too sure, but if you are as quick as I believe you are, you shouldnt pass close enough to any to require a talk with their outer scouts and defenders.Tala grimaced. I need to avoid the woods.Oh? Not a fan of the Leshkin? I cant say I blame you. We do our best to stay away from the woods for that exact reason. Its one cause of the slow encroachment of the forest into our plains. Well have to burn it back in another few hundred years or it will begin to get inconvenient.Something like that, yeah. Paresh seemed to enjoy talking, and Tala wasnt going to turn down good information.Well then, youll want to go north and east, hugging the treeline. You should be able to do that well enough without encountering any more villages. Here and heretwo dots appeared on the mapAre the shortest paths through the woods, assuming our information is good for the other side. At those points youll only have to cross about fifty miles of forest. The more northern route is a bit shorter, but youd be going nearly eighty miles out of your way to save three miles in the trees, so Ill let you determine whats right for you.Tala took a moment to ensure shed memorized the information before nodding. Thank you. That will help tremendously.Of course. Once again, it cost me nothing.Tala hesitated, feeling the barest trembling of the regular rumbling shed been sensing for nearly a day now. If I may, what is that?The rumbling from beneath?Id hope not, but yes?That is purportedly the tomb of the magical beast known as the clockwork thunder.When Tala returned a blank look, Paresh smiled.In ancient times, the clockwork thunder ravaged the land around its home, driving thinking species back and killing all it could. Time and time again humans and arcanes alike rallied to slay the beast, but every time it was slain, it was birthed anew. So, finally, it was sealed beneath the earth.And youre looking for it?Its burial place, yes. Not only would it be amazing to learn from the information placed alongside it, as an aid against its possible escape, but the legend states that bribes beyond imagining were placed around the seal to pay off those who found it, to keep them from opening the door. All that treasure would immediately vanish should the seal be broken, of course.Youre treasure hunters?Scholars of ancient magics, and designers of new tools mostly, but treasure never hurts. He grinned. You know, you arent in any real danger, so long as you keep that hand safe. Would you like to join us? Were narrowing down the location. I suspect well find it within the year.That long?The obfuscation scripts are very well constructed, for all that they cant completely suppress the beasts rage-filled hammering.Tala frowned. It did sound interesting. A bit foolish too, but definitely interesting. Even so, she wasnt that tempted. I just want to get home. Thank you for the offer, but I will have to decline for now.Paresh smiled. Completely understandable. You are far from home. If you ever change your mind, search for us. If you find another village, they should be able to send you our way, even if you cant find us yourself.Tala smiled. Thank you. A thought occurred to her, and she decided to ask. No harm in asking. Could I get some scrap-iron from you, while Im here?Why He tilted his head to the side for a moment, then nodded. Ahh, I see. That just might help, yes. One moment.Tala hesitated, but less than a half-minute later, the floor opened and a small pile of what was clearly scrap iron raised up on a little platform of some other material. She cocked an eyebrow.It is convenient to be able to transport material throughout my village.Ill say. She smiled and used a white-metal-clad hand to put the scraps into Kit. Thank you, Paresh. May you find what you seek, and may it yield nothing but blessings.His smile widened. Same to you, Tala. May you find your way home, and may the journey be short and fulfilling.
