“As much as I trust you, goddess,” Ocean begins, “there's only one of you. I expect we will, eventually, be too numerous for you to support that way…” she, soon to be he, sighs, “So I'll go back to what I once was.”
I get up, check the time, and head to the shower in the hotel room, “Okay. We still have a bit to make the appointment; hired spellcasters require we visit their office, hopefully casting on your smaller portion is sufficient.”
As I turn on the water, Ocean joins me, “So I have a bit before I lose these glorious joys,” she rubs her chest, and moans a little.
I start soaping her up, “Yes, but not too terribly much; we should avoid getting distracted.”
Star joins, “Spoilsport,” and cleans my back.
Yes, it’s a big shower (still crowded, though; the twins take up a lot of room… but oh it's fun to have my ‘girls’ scrubbed by someone who appreciates them), and we do get clean.
Just in time, even.
The Mystic I hired is NOT part of AbadarCorp. He's an independent operator, a Mystic of Desna. His office isn't an office; it's a starship, docked with the station… which makes getting there simple: We walk to his rented dock.
This particular docking area is clean, at least. It's difficult to tell how long he's been here… he has a holographic sign over the door running on station power… it would look exactly the same were it put up five minutes or fifty years ago. It's a nice enough sign: “Ulrich's Universal Spellcasting Services” which is quite the name to live up to… I wonder how he does it? Still… he's available, he says he can do a Restoration spell to clean out spiritual damage, so… here goes.
I tap the datapad mounted to the wall, the screen flips on a moment later showing a jellyfish-like creature pulsing in pink and purple, and I hear a voice in my head… and it's not my pink partner for once, “Greetings! Do you have an appointment?”
Leery of telepathic contact due to Patricia's effects, I answer verbally through the com, “Yes, I'm Alex Abrams, and I have an appointment for a Restoration spell to clean some soul damage from a companion, also with me.”
“So that one wasn't a dream… that's good… unless this is also a message from Desna… well, either way, please come in, Alex Abrams…” the jellyfish like creature on the com moves a tentacle off screen, and the airlock door opens before the voice in my head continues, “Do engage your environmental protections; I keep the ship much like home.”
I chuckle, “Thank you for the warning,” I turn on my suit's protection, even though it's not needed in our cases; Life Bubble stops poisonous gasses, vacuum issues, and pressure problems cold. But it's expected, so… I may as well.
We step into the airlock, and it cycles… first it evacuates the air, then it pumps more air in… different air, slightly bluish in color… which makes sense. Our host is an early stage Barathu; a life form from a gas giant, they can rewrite their own genetic code. It takes much longer to cycle the new air in than it did to cycle the old air out; Ulrich likely comes from a bit deeper in the gas giant.
And of course, the extra-long cycle time gives our host plenty of time to come to us. The floating creature is about five feet tall, but it is hard to measure; the lower half of his body (and now that he's actually in front of me, I can see his mostly blue soul… there’s some purple in there, but he's mostly blue of soul) is a set of tentacles that curl, uncurl, stretch, and contract regularly; he's not using the floor.
“This way please…” he speaks into our minds as he points with one of his tentacles, and then leads.
We follow him down a short hallway, with a floor that's obviously an add-on: A metallic grate mounted into a hallway that's perfectly circular, other than the regularly-spaced support struts (which would be quite the tripping hazard without the floor grate)... and it's especially obvious it's for visitors when the adjoining hallways don't have it, and go in very arbitrary directions… including straight up. A natural design choice for a species that is natively capable of flight, I suppose.
We soon reach a door (which is circular) that spins open like an iris. Inside is a spherical chamber, decorated with butterflies everywhere… all of which have stars, moons, and suns on their wings… the holy symbol of Desna.
“This place makes me feel icky,” my pink partner speaks into my head, “Can we go somewhere else?”
Honestly, that kind of makes me want to stick around… but we're guests in a place of business that also seems to be a home, so we'll do what we came for and leave promptly.
“All right,” the jellyfish like being speaks into our minds, “which of you are damaged?”
I look over at Ocean, who speaks up… a bit more slowly than usual, “Me,” is all she says.
“Splended!” the new voice in our heads announces, “Let’s see what's wrong with you, hmm?”
The being casts a spell I recognize: Detect Affliction. It does what it says on the tin: Detects things that are wrong with the target, be that poison, disease, a curse, or anything else… although it does require a skill check to make sense of the results.
I wait patiently while Ulrich recasts several times, and finally 'speaks’ again, “What did this to you? I have never seen this sort of damage before… someone ate part of your soul, you poor man. You're completely unbalanced.”
“Well…” Ocean starts…
…but I cut her off, “He encountered a fantasy given form. She made him more like herself as part of feeding,” true as far as it goes, but lacking details some might consider critical, “Can you fix the damage, hopefully all of it?”
“Hey! I am a woman!” Ocean objects.
“Which we need to change, and you chose. Let the pronouns go. They'll feel about right soon enough,” I reply to her.
“Yes…” the mystic's reply comes into my head, “but I will need to invoke the dream twice… I would not normally do so, but this poor soul…” He looks at me, and pauses.
I sigh, “How much extra?”
“Another nine thousand credits, as I will also need a Break Enchantment effect,” the swindler informs me, “to restore his body.”
I pause; I can afford it easily enough thanks to having many minions slaving away at making PCU's, good investments, and lots of work, but… “He actually has two bodies, one of which won't fit in here; will that affect the price?”
That makes him pause, “‘won't fit’?” he parrots, “I get Dragonkin through here. I'll tell you what,” he approaches, and wraps a tentacle around my shoulder, “if you bring his other body around to the far dock of my ship in suitable EVA gear, I'll fix both up at the same price. Because I have GOT to see that.”
I chuckle, “Deal, but you'll need your own casting of True Seeing to ‘see that’,” I take a turn parroting, “because his other body is really hard to see.”
The barathu undulates his tentacles, which I take as a shrug, “I can do all of the spells, thanks to the Dreams of Desna. It will be worth it, I'm sure.”
I look at Ocean, and iinstruct her, “You heard him. Bring your other body around.” I also get on the com and let Stephanie know what's up.
“My other portion will be here in,” Ocean pauses, “about five minutes.”
“This way to the other airlock, then…” our host speaks into our minds.
We follow… and Patricia speaks when we step out of the temple, “Oh, thank you. I did not want to stay in there.”
What about it bothered you, exactly?
“It's a holy place, dedicated to - and regularly used for - the worship of a goddess that… disagrees with some portions of my nature. Strongly. It's… like having someone glaring daggers at you, whom you know could - and would - slaughter you in an instant were it not for the old rules. It doesn't hurt, but… it's not a good idea to linger.”
I'll need to delve into that more deeply later… for now, though, we reach he airlock at about the same time Ocean does (the hallways here aren't really intended for walking, and there’s no need to saddle myself with more mammary mass as we'd just need to wait anyway… and climbing over the struts is kind of fun).
Ocean announces, “Okay, I'm here, and have ramped up the pressure to match. We should be good.”
I watch as Ulrich looks through the airlock, checks the indicators, concentrates, and… doesn't actually cast a spell. But he IS affected by magic, identifiably so… how….
He can apparently read my expression well enough, “I manifeated a Dream of Desna. It's how I can cast any spell. In some cases, it's faster and easier than doing it the normal way.”
Ah. I'm going to need to learn that trick; it will be nice to be able to get the high end spells that aren't on the big three lists… Wu Jen have some gems, like Transcend Mortality, Greater Spirit Binding, or or Minute Form, but there's also domains that have some unique spells… of course, for it to matter, I have to be okay with the side effect….
“Oh, it's not bad,” my pink temptress taunts, “it's fine… indulge all you want.” Ah… no.
I do, however, watch as Ulrich's eyes widen, and he opens the airlock… then begins to ‘manifest the Dream of Desna’ as he put it, to cure Ocean’s soul and bodies….
“As much as I trust you, goddess,” Ocean begins, “there's only one of you. I expect we will, eventually, be too numerous for you to support that way…” she, soon to be he, sighs, “So I'll go back to what I once was.”
I get up, check the time, and head to the shower in the hotel room, “Okay. We still have a bit to make the appointment; hired spellcasters require we visit their office, hopefully casting on your smaller portion is sufficient.”
As I turn on the water, Ocean joins me, “So I have a bit before I lose these glorious joys,” she rubs her chest, and moans a little.
I start soaping her up, “Yes, but not too terribly much; we should avoid getting distracted.”
Star joins, “Spoilsport,” and cleans my back.
Yes, it’s a big shower (still crowded, though; the twins take up a lot of room… but oh it's fun to have my ‘girls’ scrubbed by someone who appreciates them), and we do get clean.
Just in time, even.
The Mystic I hired is NOT part of AbadarCorp. He's an independent operator, a Mystic of Desna. His office isn't an office; it's a starship, docked with the station… which makes getting there simple: We walk to his rented dock.
This particular docking area is clean, at least. It's difficult to tell how long he's been here… he has a holographic sign over the door running on station power… it would look exactly the same were it put up five minutes or fifty years ago. It's a nice enough sign: “Ulrich's Universal Spellcasting Services” which is quite the name to live up to… I wonder how he does it? Still… he's available, he says he can do a Restoration spell to clean out spiritual damage, so… here goes.
I tap the datapad mounted to the wall, the screen flips on a moment later showing a jellyfish-like creature pulsing in pink and purple, and I hear a voice in my head… and it's not my pink partner for once, “Greetings! Do you have an appointment?”
Leery of telepathic contact due to Patricia's effects, I answer verbally through the com, “Yes, I'm Alex Abrams, and I have an appointment for a Restoration spell to clean some soul damage from a companion, also with me.”
“So that one wasn't a dream… that's good… unless this is also a message from Desna… well, either way, please come in, Alex Abrams…” the jellyfish like creature on the com moves a tentacle off screen, and the airlock door opens before the voice in my head continues, “Do engage your environmental protections; I keep the ship much like home.”
I chuckle, “Thank you for the warning,” I turn on my suit's protection, even though it's not needed in our cases; Life Bubble stops poisonous gasses, vacuum issues, and pressure problems cold. But it's expected, so… I may as well.
We step into the airlock, and it cycles… first it evacuates the air, then it pumps more air in… different air, slightly bluish in color… which makes sense. Our host is an early stage Barathu; a life form from a gas giant, they can rewrite their own genetic code. It takes much longer to cycle the new air in than it did to cycle the old air out; Ulrich likely comes from a bit deeper in the gas giant.
And of course, the extra-long cycle time gives our host plenty of time to come to us. The floating creature is about five feet tall, but it is hard to measure; the lower half of his body (and now that he's actually in front of me, I can see his mostly blue soul… there’s some purple in there, but he's mostly blue of soul) is a set of tentacles that curl, uncurl, stretch, and contract regularly; he's not using the floor.
“This way please…” he speaks into our minds as he points with one of his tentacles, and then leads.
We follow him down a short hallway, with a floor that's obviously an add-on: A metallic grate mounted into a hallway that's perfectly circular, other than the regularly-spaced support struts (which would be quite the tripping hazard without the floor grate)... and it's especially obvious it's for visitors when the adjoining hallways don't have it, and go in very arbitrary directions… including straight up. A natural design choice for a species that is natively capable of flight, I suppose.
We soon reach a door (which is circular) that spins open like an iris. Inside is a spherical chamber, decorated with butterflies everywhere… all of which have stars, moons, and suns on their wings… the holy symbol of Desna.
“This place makes me feel icky,” my pink partner speaks into my head, “Can we go somewhere else?”
Honestly, that kind of makes me want to stick around… but we're guests in a place of business that also seems to be a home, so we'll do what we came for and leave promptly.
“All right,” the jellyfish like being speaks into our minds, “which of you are damaged?”
I look over at Ocean, who speaks up… a bit more slowly than usual, “Me,” is all she says.
“Splended!” the new voice in our heads announces, “Let’s see what's wrong with you, hmm?”
The being casts a spell I recognize: Detect Affliction. It does what it says on the tin: Detects things that are wrong with the target, be that poison, disease, a curse, or anything else… although it does require a skill check to make sense of the results.
I wait patiently while Ulrich recasts several times, and finally 'speaks’ again, “What did this to you? I have never seen this sort of damage before… someone ate part of your soul, you poor man. You're completely unbalanced.”
“Well…” Ocean starts…
…but I cut her off, “He encountered a fantasy given form. She made him more like herself as part of feeding,” true as far as it goes, but lacking details some might consider critical, “Can you fix the damage, hopefully all of it?”
“Hey! I am a woman!” Ocean objects.
“Which we need to change, and you chose. Let the pronouns go. They'll feel about right soon enough,” I reply to her.
“Yes…” the mystic's reply comes into my head, “but I will need to invoke the dream twice… I would not normally do so, but this poor soul…” He looks at me, and pauses.
I sigh, “How much extra?”
“Another nine thousand credits, as I will also need a Break Enchantment effect,” the swindler informs me, “to restore his body.”
I pause; I can afford it easily enough thanks to having many minions slaving away at making PCU's, good investments, and lots of work, but… “He actually has two bodies, one of which won't fit in here; will that affect the price?”
That makes him pause, “‘won't fit’?” he parrots, “I get Dragonkin through here. I'll tell you what,” he approaches, and wraps a tentacle around my shoulder, “if you bring his other body around to the far dock of my ship in suitable EVA gear, I'll fix both up at the same price. Because I have GOT to see that.”
I chuckle, “Deal, but you'll need your own casting of True Seeing to ‘see that’,” I take a turn parroting, “because his other body is really hard to see.”
The barathu undulates his tentacles, which I take as a shrug, “I can do all of the spells, thanks to the Dreams of Desna. It will be worth it, I'm sure.”
I look at Ocean, and iinstruct her, “You heard him. Bring your other body around.” I also get on the com and let Stephanie know what's up.
“My other portion will be here in,” Ocean pauses, “about five minutes.”
“This way to the other airlock, then…” our host speaks into our minds.
We follow… and Patricia speaks when we step out of the temple, “Oh, thank you. I did not want to stay in there.”
What about it bothered you, exactly?
“It's a holy place, dedicated to - and regularly used for - the worship of a goddess that… disagrees with some portions of my nature. Strongly. It's… like having someone glaring daggers at you, whom you know could - and would - slaughter you in an instant were it not for the old rules. It doesn't hurt, but… it's not a good idea to linger.”
I'll need to delve into that more deeply later… for now, though, we reach he airlock at about the same time Ocean does (the hallways here aren't really intended for walking, and there’s no need to saddle myself with more mammary mass as we'd just need to wait anyway… and climbing over the struts is kind of fun).
Ocean announces, “Okay, I'm here, and have ramped up the pressure to match. We should be good.”
I watch as Ulrich looks through the airlock, checks the indicators, concentrates, and… doesn't actually cast a spell. But he IS affected by magic, identifiably so… how….
He can apparently read my expression well enough, “I manifeated a Dream of Desna. It's how I can cast any spell. In some cases, it's faster and easier than doing it the normal way.”
Ah. I'm going to need to learn that trick; it will be nice to be able to get the high end spells that aren't on the big three lists… Wu Jen have some gems, like Transcend Mortality, Greater Spirit Binding, or or Minute Form, but there's also domains that have some unique spells… of course, for it to matter, I have to be okay with the side effect….
“Oh, it's not bad,” my pink temptress taunts, “it's fine… indulge all you want.” Ah… no.
I do, however, watch as Ulrich's eyes widen, and he opens the airlock… then begins to ‘manifest the Dream of Desna’ as he put it, to cure Ocean’s soul and bodies….
