"Huh. I don't think we have anything like that."

:Your school of magic seems different: he agrees. 

And then they're at the edge of the Vale, and Wingsong holds out his hand to her, so he can key her to the wards (which have protections in both directions, this isn't universal or even standard but, well, it's been an eventful year) and step outside. 

She will hold his hand across the edge, and then murmur her spell.

Wingsong reaches out to tap a node, only a little bit self-consciously. He instinctively filtering the raw magic through his focus-stone– he stops that and does it more deliberately, so he can do it slowly - and then there's...some other manipulation of the energies, that even he doesn't understand very well, it involves his earthsense more than his Healing-Gift but there's some of both - 

- and he's also watching whatever Bella is doing with mage-sight, because he's so curious. 

She has set up a very complicated and - shifting, or pretending to, almost like an optical illusion? - web of magic around herself, with ultrafine tendrils out in all directions, and the tendrils spot what he's doing and poke it all over, wrap around it gently to feel the shape of it.

That is so interesting and also he should...actually do the thing, and pull enough from the nearby ley-line - slowly - that she'll definitely be able to see it, and then they can both go back into the Vale. He's finding that he feels kind of protective of her. Possibly 

(To mage-sight, it would look like the mage-energies from the nearby ley-line are flowing toward a point that doesn't quite match up with Wingsong's outstretched hand, and then shifting and tightening and flowing to a different point near his neck, at which point the flow of energy shifts to something gentler and more controlled. And from there he pulls it into himself, and it's less visible exactly what's happening, but there's another shift, that might metaphorically be best described as changing the metaphorical flavor to something sweet instead of bitter.) 

- he watches Bella to gauge if she's seen enough. 

She zeroes in on the flavor change, the rest of it seeming less applicable.to her. Flavor change - how. What is happening to the gunk.

If she zooms in, it's - still pretty confusing to interpret, but it looks like the energy is going through multiple repeated loops, and on each iteration there's some kind of filter, and a drain she can't see clearly where the filtered-out icky parts disappear - the filter isn't perfect, but after enough cycles it works well enough. 

Huh. Looks energy-intensive, but not impossible, and it'd still net positive... She will sing up another spell and try to copy what he's doing.

Whatever she's doing is VERY OBVIOUS to mage-sight. Wingsong finishes drawing from the node, and then just - stops, and watches. It's beautiful and also, wow, it looks - well, inefficient. 

After he's seen some of it, :- If you were a normal mage I would say you were overpowering the spell and could use less energy for it, but I am not actually sure how your Gift - or whatever it is - works.:

"I can probably write up a dedicated spell for this, but yeah, my generalist spells are not efficient for any specific thing."

Nod. :Your magic sounds very odd. Why do you describe it as 'writing' it? That makes it sound as though you are going to make an artifact to use, but you were not using an artifact there.: 

"I would be composing the spell and usually do this in written form."

:Huh.: Wingsong is pretty sure he has questions, but he's not entirely sure what his questions are and also they should not have them standing around outside the Vale. If Bella is done experimenting with drawing from ley-lines, they can go back in? 

Works for her.

They head back into the Vale. If the teenagers are staying for a few days to decompress, then Wingsong should probably...let them do that...and give them some privacy. He can ask someone to put wards on the ekele they're lending them.

And he should go to the Heartstone sanctum. Maybe if he sits down and prays to the Goddess properly then he'll get some sort of advice???

Bella reports on the feasibility of slurping up FREE MANA FROM THE GROUND to her allies.

Aadhya looks for somebody to ask about what kind of journey they're looking at if they want to go someplace where strangers are more welcome, since presumably these folks don't want to host them indefinitely? So they can figure out what preparations they'll need to make before setting out.

One of the scouts is happy to talk to them! 

:You really do not want to be traveling overland in the deep Pelagirs. Especially not sleeping overnight outside a Vale, even our Adepts try to avoid that. I think the best way is to arrange a Gate, and then - we probably cannot Gate you to an actual town outside the Pelagirs, but near the edge will be less dangerous and maybe you could travel the rest of the way during daylight hours, if you left early. I suppose you would want food and a tent just in case you needed to camp overnight.: 

"We'd probably set a watch, but yeah, some food and shelter wouldn't go amiss if you have them to spare. Is there anything we can do for you before we go, to compensate you for your hospitality and anything we'd bring with us?"

The scout looks thoughtful. :What sorts of things can your magic do that would last after you left? We need more Adepts more than anything else, but wards that lasted or magical weapons would be useful to us.: 

"Conveniently, I'm an artificer. What sorts of things do you like your weapons to be enchanted to do?"

:...I should go around and ask people, but - more likely to hit, or more powerful when they hit, would both be good. We end up fighting critters that are very good at dodging, and some have natural magical shields. What kinds of magical weapons have you made before?: 

"Caio has a magic boomerang that returns reliably and hits more accurately and harder, and I have that pike, which is poisoned and light and rips through things, and Bella's got a knife that won't cut her, and I had but sold a crossbow that multiplied its ammunition in the air."

:- You can do weapons that won't injure the person using them? That might be very useful, actually, for training the youngsters.: