"Sounds like a plan!"

"Mmhm..." She bounces up and leads the way.

Wren's... Tail... Sways very nicely, doesn't it? Almost like it's deliberate. Swish, swish.

She declares the nearby park good enough.

Blue flames incinerate her suit-like clothes as she poses, arms wide and giving an impression of nudity covered only by fire, to then reveal a moderately skimpy shiny red dress. Some details about her body are different now- She still has the fox head and the tail, but everything else looks almost human. She spins and dances briefly.

"Tadaaaa!  Any requests? Scenes from that little adventure I told you about? Maybe some purifying flame- Burn away tiredness and stress?"

"Oh, please do."  She might not say it aloud, but if that actually works she will absolutely owe Wren one.

"Okay. It looks a bit scary and it might sting a little, and is not a sleep replacement, but here you go. Yelp if you want to abort."

Wren holds up a wide, two foot sphere of lazily shifting blue fire between two hands.

"Touch it whenever you're ready. I'll be gentle~."

It takes a moment to overcome the flinch reflex.  But it doesn't feel too hot, no matter how close her hand skims, so - in it goes.

...There's a lot of stress for this fire to burn.

It stings a little. More the way a hot shower, or sudden emergence into daylight, does than anything else.

Wren slowly expands the flames up her arms, and then over the rest of her body. It gets a little intense, like scratching an itch over 100% of your body.

...She just...  Melts, stumbling into Wren for support as the constant tension that's been holding her upright for who knows how long, releases.

It feels like what a baptism should be (for all that it never was).  It feels like a liberation.

Also a hug.

She lets it taper off slowly once she's used about as much mana as she was given.

"You might want to go nap. Good dreams tend to happen after that."

Yeah.  She's gonna do that.  Note to self: do something really nice for Wren.

Also let OS know she wasn't eaten by a grue.

Heya, just wanted to let you know I have not been eaten by a grue; I am going to take a nap now.  Notes later.

Memory is fallible!

asdf

ok ok you're there not me

slep well?

I have in fact slept well, thank you for asking.

Notes so far:

- Fantasy racism exists because of course it does

- The standard succubus unit of mana-measurement is called an 'O'

- Lilith, Mother of Monsters, may or may not have actually existed

- Mana measurement tools already exist by dint of "pour your mana into the storage object"

- CW: Azathoth

- Kitsune are apparently the generalist of magivores/magic-converters

- I forgot to ask about fluffy tail.

- Field measurement of my mana capacity says ~5+-3% of my reserves is a couple kilothaums, whatever those are.

- It'll probably take a month or three to pay the succubi with magic for the sort of full reno I'm looking for.

- ~three 'full tanks' of mana / week?  Should ask about the emotional investment.  ...Should also really practice Sith-ing it up in case of Fuckery.

- Despite cw: Azathoth, no known method to increase mana generation from base rate.

- Magic tattoos.  They're valid foci.  Wonder if I could do some fancy chameleon thing, too...

- Do not think about the consequences of spiritual weight too hard unless you're prepared for an existential crisis to mug you.

- Wren is apparently old enough to have been part of some absolutely gonzo shit in the Old West.  Note to self: What even is a sword saint or w/e, that's clearly a type of practitioner - is that a precursor species to MGs?

- Magic environments are ~as dangerous as inner-city Chicago, apparently.

- Tentacle monsters "left over from the Janeway Cult"???

-- Who the fuck is that?

- Wren has three techniques: Fire, illusion, shapeshifting.  Not generalist-capable???  Interesting line of distinction.

- Purifying fire is...  Incredibly useful for people who have anxiety, n = 1 sample size.

- Dryads charge from sunlight; investigate whether/how UV lamps work?

Wren is, I assume, a kitsune? :susongeneralprinciple:

Janeway Cult: Apparently a really nasty mobster style magical gang, according to internet history. Witch + demon alliance. 'Puchuu/Janeway fights blew up some of the Appalachian Mountains' nasty.

Indeed she is, or at least claims to be with little countervailing evidence.

 

...Holy shit that's what did that?  Damn!

Yeah. Uh, well below nuke levels but some forests burned down and stuff.

Sword saints would be 'Internal Physical Personal' if they're making themselves faster and stronger with magic? You put 'cultivators' in that bucket.

Mmm, but a Sword Saint Tee Emm, has a sword, you see.

Eh.  Typing them can wait.  It's not like we're about to fight one or anything.  ...Narrative convention willing, at least.

Are guns legal to own (without tons of kerfuffle) in your state?

I feel like you should have one or equivalent magic if someone's describing magic as 'inner city'

The inner city isn't actually THAT dangerous, but it's memetically pretty dangerous AIUI

Absolute heck if I know.  I'd rather Not, though.  And yeah, I'm not sure what they meant by that really.

So like I said, I should really start figuring out how to meditate like a Sith.

Do let me know if/how I can be more useful than random notes and organizing

Will do.  You have better search luck, anyway.

...Alright.  She's going to go find the campus LARP group, and then, tomorrow, is her consult.

The Tantric etc etc Clinic/Spa/Whatever looks very fancy and expensive. The waiting room has armchairs, modern art, and a TV playing nature footage.

"Are you here for an appointment?" Asks a very handsome receptionist.

"I have an initial consult at 10:30."

"Alex Marche, correct? It looks like your assistant today will be Rebecca. Typically, the assistants go through some of our options and makes a broad plan with you, and then you speak to the appropriate doctor or doctors to review things in more detail. Here's the intake paperwork we need. Looks like you already did most of it, so it'll just be one consent form today..."

Paper is handed over. It's just saying she's agreeing that all the contact info and medical history is accurate.

"Once you file that, I'll show you to a waiting room where you can relax and wait for Rebecca. Please let me know if you have any questions."

She looks it over.  (She knows she input it to begin with, but she's going to double-check this anyway.)

"...Looks like everything's in order.  And I have rather a large number of questions, but they're for the professionals, I believe."

"I can only imagine."

Waiting room: Get. It's comfy, almost cozy. Armchair, desk with office chair, wall screen (off), bookshelves, minifridge with drinks.

Rebecca shows up after a few minutes, knocking and waiting to be acknowledged before entering, tanned and small-framed. And pretty. Evidently the clinic does a lot of work on their own employees, perhaps as a sort of advertisement.

"Hello, Alex. I'm Rebecca. How are you feeling today?"

"...Less terrified than I thought I would be," she muses, "which is surely going to help."