View Flat HTML
View Metadata
Search Post
When Vanyel is ready for the mad science tour, he shows him the monkeys. "They're monkeys," she feels it necessary to clarify. "I know they look very human at this point, because the whole point of them is that I'm going to move into one if I ever die, but they're not people, and I have forbidden the staff to name them. I could move into one now if I had to but I'd like to get one actually looking like me in particular first, and I want to stick more Gifts into them, I got Fetching out of some Changesquirrels but further work is needed." She shows him the mice, too. "Do you suppose Jisa'd like a winged mouse? What's her favorite color?" She shows him all her microbiology eggs. "That's a flu sample from the recent plague! I remembered to take one. Those there are other flus. The white eggs have more-alive microbes and the brown eggs have less-alive kinds - there's a cold one of the staff mages had a few months ago, there's food poisoning, there's the most common kind from healthy intestines - you could get your Sight this fine, you know, I don't do heavy Healing-Gift use apart from Sight for this work."
"Terrifying? Wouldn't hurt a fly. - all right, no, she'd hurt a fly, but not a person."
"Awww. Of course. Anyway, what've you got for us there? Belrun suggested I talk to you about what sorts of food she'd like for the big wedding party - and flowers, too...?"
"Oh, yes, good idea, I have the recipe for her favorite pie and so on - though apparently there's some sort of food trouble, were a lot of farms damaged? -"
"The, er, entire region around Haven miiight've burned down. Belrun and Leareth were fighting a goddess and She had feelings about it."
"I don't think we'd be here having a fancy state wedding otherwise! Of course they won."
"Isn't that something. I think the last thing I'd heard from her on the subject of the gods was 'they aren't very good at their jobs, but they have a lot of company, don't they'."
"Heh. Well, I guess all we can do is try to be better than that here in Haven." Tran starts walking her over to the new, half-built Palace.
Rana will happily help with customizing the wedding so Belrun will be happy with it.
Rebuilding proceeds. More fishing is happening now that a higher percentage of Haven's population is back in the city and in possession of houses. The wedding schedule is redone to skip the parade part, though the Council is still pushing for there to be a coronation parade with Belrun and Randi, Leareth can skip it if he wants.
"...Yes, of course, but that does not mean it is incorrect. I - can talk to the Shadowgod about it. We can of course give you a thorough guard. And...would you mind if I am nearby but concealed? If I can see what is happening without being seen, I feel much more comfortable dispensing with mindreading anyone who looks suspicious in your general vicinity."
"I don't mind you lurking invisibly in a public place. Is turning invisible hard?"
"Doing so while moving and also being concealed from mage-sight is quite hard and most people cannot do it. Choosing a fixed location and making yourself invisible to un-Gifted people with an illusion is much easier."
She puts it on her to-learn list. And kisses him. "When most people can't do something is that just because they don't have a strong enough Gift or because of some other hard limit or because they don't practice for thousands of years?"
"In most cases when I mention this, it will be the last thing. Magic can also be hard just because it is powerful - for example, there are likely techniques that Vanyel and no one else can use, and mages below Adept-potential generally cannot touch nodes, though decades of practice can make up a little for a weaker Gift. I do not have an exceptionally powerful Gift; Savil is about as strong as I am."
"Well, yes, but the difference is not by as wide a margin; Kilchas nearly matches her raw power, for example, he is just much less skilled with control. ...I suppose that makes my level of Adept Gift somewhat exceptional in Valdemar, but in the Eastern Empire I would only be eightieth percentile or so."
"Want me to check now? It has likely gotten a little stronger since you started practicing but will be plateau'd now."
"- Sorry, this involves some going into your head, although not looking at your thoughts at all." Leareth squeezes her hand. "Ready?"
"I was assuming it'd be about like you first checked me for sneaky extra Gifts. Go ahead."
"Similar to that, yes."
Leareth's expression goes blank with trance. Poke poke tickle in her head. It takes him about a minute.
"- Well." He blinks back to awareness, turns and beams at her. "Adept. A hair stronger than I am, in terms of raw potential. Excellent work."
"Might be to Amshalan's credit, I had her doing the thing to make Gifts wake up stronger that Companions can do from about the first minute."