Nod. Pause. "It was a much, much longer time ago, but the water in our world didn't use to melt people off. And according to the stories that changed suddenly one day. I don't think the two events are related, but there is a weird resemblance."

"Magic brings change," he half states, half suggests, shrugging. "It allows the good to be made great, and the bad to be made terrible." 

"It's mostly the sudden catastrophic change." But he mirrors the shrug. "Anyways, the pools will completely regenerate all your forms if you stay long enough to acquire a new one. New limbs grow and many chronic maladies are also recovered. Changing shapes regularly has similar, if lesser, effects. Not only you stay younger, but you become closer to your ideal self. Physically, that is and with limits. Someone who didn't like their nose growing up might still dislike it afterwards, but they always think it's an improvement."

Well that explains some things. 

"It sounds like something out of a story - a fountain of beauty, youth, health and magic." He hums, "The greatest of our Life mages can regrow limbs," he says, "And Illusion could make one seem more beautiful, though the change would only be a veil over the truth." 

Nod. Blink. "Can you do anything about non-cisgender people?"

He nods, a pleased smile quirking his lips, "Life magic can do some, and Illusion more," he says, "There's no way to make a complete change, from one sex to the other, so far as I know, but much can be altered to suit an individual more."

He pauses, "Though of course the Priesthood here in Cialin do not approve," he adds, "Nor does much of the nobility." 

Head tilt. "Why? Back home it's even considered... not quite sacred, but a gift from the gods. Err, to clarify, shifting changes your physical sex to match yourself."

"Something left over from before the Seal fell, before we had these capabilities," he explains. "The Priesthood was what our people rallied around, when the years of chaos were coming to an end. The last High Priest before the fall had named a young woman as his successor shortly before be died - or so history says - and she became a leader during the chaos. Many of the more restrictive policies here are results of this beginning. They had, and have, a great deal of power.

"The Priesthood firmly believes that the form given a person is the one created for them by the gods, and to rebel against this is to deny the creators. Thus, much of the population believes this as well. Particularly strict observers find even temporary changes - hair dye, face paint, illusionary tricks - to be wrong." 

He pauses, "This will be one of the greatest obstacles, I expect, when it comes to convincing the people of Cialin to use the pools. It was already something my brother and I planned to change, however. It has simply become more urgent, now." 

"What one's ancestors have anything to do with how one is supposed to look today?" He asks rhetorically. "It just might be the case that... shifting's changes are not voluntary. Desired, yes, but not something one can directly control. So there was no way around besides just accepting that when someone turned eighteen and managed to shift they were a dozen changes away from having the bodies they want."

He hums, "That would work once every person was born with more forms," he thinks it would, anyway, if it was everyone, or most people at least, "But we would have to convince everyone to use the pools against the Priesthood's wishes, before that was the case." 

"Huh, do you have... numbers for this sort of thing? How many people will refuse to acquire forms, or people that will want in general? Because there aren't that many pools, even without your world they tend to be full all the time."

"It is hard to say," he admits, "I expect that the army would be willing - both those loyal to the king, and those loyal to me - and would convince their families as well. That's 1.5 million people, roughly. 

"Aside from that, things are complicated by... well, whether the prospect of immortality would outweigh the teachings of the Priesthood." He considers, "I believe it would, for many. But the Priesthood does have enough sway that the extremely devout would refuse, out of belief that immortality in the mortal realm would keep them from the afterlife, should they die.

"Likely, the Priesthood's objections would be ignored, for the most part," he decides, "Though it may lead to some level of more or less open war with them." 

He makes a few mental calculations. "I am confident we should be able to handle that many people in a few decades. Conservatively, we can do more with contact from other places and if people from your side manages to pay. And I guess we can do somethings like coordinating couples to get different shapes before having children - then the child is sure to be born immortal."

"Is the preventing from the afterlife just the general rule against change to one self or something else? What a open war looks like in this case?"

"Access to the afterlife is said to depend on how well you follow the tenets of the Priesthood. Other deviations from them could also cause it, it is simply that to so fully change their forms would obviously bar one from it." 

Tea, "Open war would involve the priesthood causing their most faithful to rise up against the royal family, I expect. It has threatened in the past - three generations ago, when the High Priestess refused to bless a Queen, is the most recent example. If they did so I expect their goal would be to put Princess Sais - my fath- the king's sister - on the throne. She is a Traditionalist, and agrees with much of the Priesthood's beliefs." 

"I see. War might be limited by interworld travel, and I am not entirely sure who would have the advantage. Your magic is versatile, but I would guess that we can win any battle of attrition."

"I would agree, based on what I've seen of your abilities. If the rest of your people have even a quarter of your ability, they would win.

 "But I would much rather it not come to that," he adds. "Truth be told I expect they will resort to assassination rather than open war. It would mean killing myself and all of the current royals barring Sais and Reni - the youger of the king's siblings - but if it could be made to look like the work of the Imperials, or worse, of your people..." 

"Oh, I am waaay above my peers in raw power, actually. But I too don't want to get to that point of stealth assassinations either. Side-question: How would the church feel about the already-born shifting people that came to live here in the world where water is safe?"

Way more powerful, is he? Well, that's probably good for Jaim's sanity, at least. 

"They do their best to convert the refugees that stay within Cialin. I'm not entirely sure how they would react to so many people who could shift their forms. Though," he adds, "They wouldn't necessarily have to bother with the church very much. If your people settled in new locations... Cialin is very large, and a vast amount of our land is unsettled." 

"Shapes can survive or are comfortable in different conditions, I bet that the fact that most people can fly would make some terrains more practical to live in. I wonder if the floating islands could be moved here."

He leans forward, "Floating islands?" He asks. It sounds like something that could be done in the same way as Sanctuary - massive mana machines - but he's curious how Zephyrinus' magic could manage it, given what he's said. 

"Yes. That's not a phenomenon that happens here?"

"No," he says, smiling, "All our land is on the ground, so far as I know. I'm sure it could have been done, pre-seal, and we will likely be able to manage it again someday, once we finish deciphering the runic alphabet. But I've never heard of anything like it." 

"Huh, with some luck, I can get the power to do that. Or at least the power to make ice that doesn't melt and floats. And I know other people that can do similar effects."

He hums, "If we want any effect to be permanent, we have to enchant it with runescript," he says, "And recharge it whenever it runs out of mana." He tugs at his shirt, showing how the runes on it are glowing much less than they were when he charged them that morning. 

"Great mana machines are constantly powered by wellsprings - fountains of mana, where the veins within the planet rise to the surface," he adds. 

"Huh, and anyone can use that mana?"