Two wizards and two soldiers appear in the desert, a few feet away from a tired slave caravan.
They nod at each other and disappear again.
Two wizards and two soldiers appear in the desert, a few feet away from a tired slave caravan.
They nod at each other and disappear again.
"'For the duration of my time away from my native plane or the next ten years whichever expires first, I will not use osanwë deliberately or prepensively to receive data from any person who has neither expressed to me their desire that I do so in the specific way I then do, nor been verified to have mastered private thoughtkeeping'."
"Yes." She turns to the new Maitimo. "I presume you heard the introductions; this one's presumably Nelyafinwë Maitimo; what's your name?"
"All right. Why is it you don't swear to things - it's a reasonable enough policy but obviously not universal among the lot of you, and it's going to be complicated to put you back with everyone else if we can't be confident of their privacy -"
"My memories can be tampered with. I don't really care where you put me but I'm not reading anyone's minds."
"- a lot of people like me and corresponding people like you have been appearing in Khemet's palace. He's one of you. If Annie appears what state should we expect her in?"
"Thirty thousand years. Give or take. I can figure it out more precisely if it's important -"
"Maitimo, any revisions? - you might also want to pick a nickname, we're expecting more of you."
"No revisions." He repeats it as she said it. "What might distinguish me from the other ones you are expecting, or should I pick at random -"
"Instead of Ainu-style osanwë and such we have metal things serving for us as magic souls do for you."
He glances around as if hoping more context for this might be on one of the walls. Bows his head again. "I guess you could do 'Magic'."