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.
"Original world it's only artifacts and I don't know what remove curse is but that seems like it might undo what I have wholesale and I have been coping with it all for hundreds of years and do not want to gamble on fucking with it."
"I am aware. I do not want to get rid of it because that would for one thing probably wind up with her being a statue again and for another probably make it really hard to keep most of my memories of my life well-assimilated and stuff and for yet another would itself constitute a radical change to how my brain works."
"Aaaaanyway she was herself under an oath with the implication that she showed up in the course of stabbing people and then kidnapped me and I did not mention the love thing because it seemed like it would be awkward. She noticed anyway. Lírnith, her sister, decided after process of elimination had determined which side effects went with which good effects that she wanted to try the anti-mind-affecting thing in case it'd help with the oath, which she'd also sworn, and it did that and didn't stick her on anybody. We didn't tell Rirosseth that either. We all moved in with Dwarves and raised twin orphan half-Elves and I told Dwarves a bunch of stuff about technology from my world. Eventually Rirosseth figured out what we weren't saying and decided to try it hoping she'd get lucky and you can guess what happened probably."
"Anyway then the Valar showed up, the message was in Sindarin so maybe you know who they are?" At Ambela's nod, "They showed up and finally stopped Melkor. Lotta continent-shaking trumpet blasts, very hard on the music allergy, it's extremely painful. Our kids had gone to join the fight and we wanted to see how they were doing and also look into me deoathing orcs so we went to where they were hanging out. Someone didn't get the memo about not singing around me. Rirosseth charged in and someone murdered her. I finagled my way into Valinor so I could be there when she got out of Mandos and de-oathed orcs while I was there and lasted a long time but not long enough. Then I reincarnated on what I thought was a different planet but turns out to have been the same planet later because it seems like it's the same one Rirosseth was on when Mandos got sick of her and her mom and sisters and spat them all out, and I still have all my artifact effects and have been eradicating insect-borne illnesses in Sierra Leone."
"Well, uh, welcome, have a summary of what's going on and help yourself to the food except for the eggnog since you stepped in the pitcher - what are your other effects?"
"Music allergy goes with a regeneration power, it's pretty heavy-duty. I'm eradicating the insect-borne diseases by giving out the one that kills vermin on contact and it goes with feeling too hot all the time unless it's really cold - between that and the regen I'm actually safe and comfy in really cold places though. I'm blind and deaf but have a sense of where objects are for a ways out in all directions, works through walls and stuff like that. I have a polyglottalism power that conveniently overrides that, so I can hear voices speaking, and see text or sign, but not hear other sounds or see other things except I'm using Rirosseth's ears and eyes now. That comes with being faceblind which is a really minor drawback and if there are any Celebrendeses around they'll probably want it persistently. And reportedly she took after her mom and grandma in that respect." She sits down and takes the summary and a helping of curry.
"No, doesn't help. I'm mostly okay at tuning it out. When I was in Valinor Aulë fixed it by just actually giving me a cold aura that faded out if I went somewhere cold or if someone came close to me. Also insulated me for the music problem. Wore off after I died."
"It's super unfair that if somebody found out enough of the story to write a whole song about it you couldn't even listen," Rabiah tells Annie.
"I could, I'd just have to do it with someone else's ears. Rirosseth wouldn't even have to let go of me because allergy range is human earshot and she hears better than that."