The Way of the Blue [Lantern OC]

[moralrelativity]

If she tries to suggest anything sparkly, this is gonna get awkward because she really, really seems the type.

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I don't get this bit. Maybe there's a reference I'm missing?

 

[AverusBlack]

I don't get this bit. Maybe there's a reference I'm missing?

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No, just a very bubbly personality.

 

[Darkarma]

This is an interesting start to a story, colored me interested. The whole world setting seems like someone decided to try and one-up battleworld to a degree.

Now that he has a way to recharge, why hasn't seen if he can go into space. It'll be interesting to see if anything stops him.

 

[AverusBlack]

This is an interesting start to a story, colored me interested. The whole world setting seems like someone decided to try and one-up battleworld to a degree.

Now that he has a way to recharge, why hasn't seen if he can go into space. It'll be interesting to see if anything stops him.

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Mostly being distracted with the self-appointed mission in front of him

 

[shakeval]

A fair concern, but I've had this story, or something like it - a proto-story - rolling around in my head for over a year and in truth it's almost cathartic to get it out. The feedback helps, most of my concern over motivation is that when I feel I'm not getting anywhere I tend to get dismayed easily but I don't feel like that all here.

I think I'll hold off adding more until tomorrow though, so I can mull it over and refine it in my head.

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we have members who I'm sure will be willing to literally fuck you till story chapters pop out, I don't think you need to worry. . . .much

 

[AverusBlack]

we have members who I'm sure will be willing to literally fuck you till story chapters pop out, I don't think you need to worry. . . .much

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Haha. Okay, that made me chuckle. Don't worry, I don't think I'll run out of motivation any time soon. I already have a rough idea of how I want the next few entries to go before wrapping up the first arc and moving into the next.

The setting itself is far more comprehensive than I've shown so far, BL's only seen a little tiny fraction of what's around and it's already enough to show just how wild this planet is. He won't run out of things to do any time soon and I have a general idea of where I want him to go in the long run over the next few months of writing this.

 

[AngelicKnight.]

we have members who I'm sure will be willing to literally fuck you till story chapters pop out, I don't think you need to worry. . . .much

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Why didn't anyone tell me this? I'd have become an author!


Also good story Averus, I'm curious about the setting and where things will go.

What does Blue look like though? Tall? Short? Long or short hair? Pale or tanned? Or maybe black?

All I can see a mention of was them being overweight then they fixed that with their ring.

 

[AverusBlack]

My concerns were entirely justified. Elise is so bubbly I'm having trouble keeping a straight face as we enter the medical tent.

"Here we are! Hi everyone!" There's a general groan of acknowledgement in her direction and a few of the wounded wave lazily at her. "I've brought help. Ta-daaa~!" She's actually making jazz hands at me when I walk into the tent behind her and I can't help but smile a little. Absolutely irrepressible.

"Just relax folks, I'll get you patched up." I hold a hand up to Elise and touch my fingertip to my lips in a gesture of 'quiet please', then close my eyes. Sight is distracting and I need to turn my focus inwards now.

Healing that group during the fight this morning felt easy. They were in immediate danger, it happened right in front of me and I was partially responsible for their injuries. Maybe. I didn't even really give it much thought, there was just a strong sense of the idea of them dying being wrong because I'm the anti-thesis of a bad ending.

This is a little more difficult. These people aren't comfortable but they're not raving in agony either. I didn't see them being hurt and they've already been tended to by a medic so there isn't the same kind of pressing need to save them all at once in order to save the day.

That doesn't matter. It shouldn't matter. I don't have memories to draw on to make myself feel certain ways, I need to hype myself up. When I spoke the oath before it came naturally, almost like something I'd forgotten and was remembering again for the first time. A difficult sensation to describe.

"In darkest day, with dauntless might."

No matter how bad things get, no matter the odds, everything I've seen so far suggests I've got the potential to enact great change here as a force of good. Magic is dangerous but the power of hope is stronger, I proved that today.

"Face down despair, continue to fight."

You don't just give up when you have hope. To quit is to let the suffering continue, to let the lost stay lost, to let people I could have saved die. That isn't acceptable. I don't know a lot about myself but I know that the idea of giving up when I don't have to isn't something I'm okay with.

"Stand tall against the blackest night."

Because the bad guys do not get to win. This is who I am now. This is what I'm for.

"You will not fall, for hope burns bright!"

I open my eyes and raise my hands in front of me as the threads of light fan out, touching the injured. Pain vanishes. Flesh knits itself together. Behind me Elise gasps as a thread touches her too, fixing scars and an old injury in one ankle she probably broke as a child. Lost limbs are regrown, the bandages dissolving in blue light.

Ambient hope detected. Ring charge at 37%.

I raise my hand as my battery occludes out of the subspace pocket, holding my fist up to it and muttering the oath quietly to myself while the men and women I just healed begin to stir and realize they're not suffering anymore. Elise is walking around me in a circle, staring at me as the recharge finishes.

"Recharge complete. Power reserve at 100%."

"What are you?" She says it with a mix of curiosity and awe. I lower my hands and flex my fingers a couple times, looking at them.

"I'm a beacon of hope." I chuckle a little. "I have a super tool that is powered by hope. Spreading it, feeling it, using it... I have to focus on it constantly to use it. I think it's altering the way I think." But I'm quickly getting used to it and as far as external influences go, I'm finding it hard to deny that hope is a good one. "But I don't have a lot of memories. I've only been at this for about a day. All I'm really doing is trying to make myself feel the emotion and then focusing it on whatever I'm trying to achieve."

She makes a hmmm sound to herself, swaying her upper body side to side as she thinks it over. "Well, you did say you'd help our people and so you have." She's waving off the formerly injured soldiers who are trying to get out of their beds. "No, no, stay here. Let the medics double-check you." A few nods and they're back to bed, one or two more resigned than anything else.

"I don't really want to impose but considering I just did that, do you have a mess tent?"

"You're hungry?"

"I don't have any hidden supplies or anything right now, haven't been doing this long enough. It's on the list but I've been doing the heroic savior thing for all of about five hours in total and I skipped breakfast."

She actually grabs my hand and almost pulls me out of the tent physically, forcing me to keep up with her. "Well that's no good! We're gonna get you some grub mister, stat. What kind of thing do blue clerics with weird powers eat, anyways?"

I click my tongue quietly. "Probably the same things as you, considering you're all partially human."

That gets me a sly look and a slight smile over her shoulder. "Spotted that, did you? We're all genetically engineered. That's how it began, anyways. Now we're out in the wild and operating on our own, back home we have a whole country and everything."

"Seriously? What's the story there?"

"Really long. Humans made us, turns out that was super illegal, there was a big thing over it. In the end we founded our own small country and now we're completely independent."

She's slowing a little to walk next to me rather than ahead of me, but still hasn't let me reclaim my hand. Oh well, it's not hurting anyone. "Your brain structure is mostly the same. Not quite, though. Anyways... I'm..." I kind of trail off a little, tilting my head.

Elise stops, turning to look at me. "Hey, you okay, blue guy?"

"Uh, yeah. I was about to say, 'I'm from...' but when I actually began to say it, the name slipped away from me again."

"You don't know?"

"I don't know. I'm basically rebuilding my entire identity around this ring. I have no idea what kind of person I was before I got it."

She smiles at me and walks backwards a few steps. "Someone who heals strangers because he can. You didn't even ask for anything in return, so the least we can do is feed you. Let's go talk to the chef at the mess tent, I'll get him to make you something really good and theeeeen if you don't pick a name I'm gonna give you a nickname and you'll be stuck with it forever and ever and eveerrrrrrr."

I can't help but smile. It's like dealing with a happy-go-lucky child pretending to be a responsible adult. "Okay, you've convinced me. Lead the way, fuzzbutt."

"Hey! It's fluffy, not fuzzy."

 

[AverusBlack]

Why didn't anyone tell me this? I'd have become an author!


Also good story Averus, I'm curious about the setting and where things will go.

What does Blue look like though? Tall? Short? Long or short hair? Pale or tanned? Or maybe black?

All I can see a mention of was them being overweight then they fixed that with their ring.

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I once read, while browsing the foreword of a book, that a good story shows instead of telling. While I could have Blue stop and self-reflect on how he looks, how often do we really do that? Basically I didn't want to have him standing around doing exposition about himself when there's other, more interesting things in his face. There's also the possibility that Blue might not stay as a guy. Almost everything forming his self-identity has been torn from him and he's starting from scratch, I'm just meandering my way to him actually choosing all that because this is him finding his feet before deciding his whole identity. A little familiarity with the blue light is going a long way to forming his opinions on that.

 

[Psyckosama]

I once read, while browsing the foreword of a book, that a good story shows instead of telling. While I could have Blue stop and self-reflect on how he looks, how often do we really do that? Basically I didn't want to have him standing around doing exposition about himself when there's other, more interesting things in his face. There's also the possibility that Blue might not stay as a guy. Almost everything forming his self-identity has been torn from him and he's starting from scratch, I'm just meandering my way to him actually choosing all that because this is him finding his feet before deciding his whole identity. A little familiarity with the blue light is going a long way to forming his opinions on that.

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Some things have to be told.

Just saying what someone looks like, or casually mentioning physical elements, for example, "he ran his fingers through his black hair" or just have him look in a mirror.

 

[AverusBlack]

Some things have to be told.

Just saying what someone looks like, or casually mentioning physical elements, for example, "he ran his fingers through his black hair" or just have him look in a mirror.

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Oh I don't plan to leave him undefined forever, don't worry. The ambiguity is intentional, right now.

 

[Hebi]

This is a very good start so far. Question though, are all the other groups from real IPs or are they from something you've come up with? Also low key want more Elise.(I'm not shipping, but damn does that tree look buoyant...)

 

[AverusBlack]

This is a very good start so far. Question though, are all the other groups from real IPs or are they from something you've come up with?

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Yes and no. No, they're not from existing media like shows, books, etc. Nothing like that. Instead, these are rebooted versions of things created by me and people I game with as a worldbuilding project for a long term thing we've been working on for several years, insular to our group. Nobody outside of it has seen any of this before so it's effectively new but anything being featured in the story that was created by another member of the group I've asked permission to use first so while everything seen so far was stuff I came up with, in the long run there'll be other places I didn't that show up in the story. That policy may change in the future but for now I'm trying to stick to OC stuff.

 

[AverusBlack]

I was honestly expecting the food to be bland or possibly awful but surprisingly, it wasn't. Despite the fact that we were eating what Elise called MRI's they were actually pretty good. I have absolutely no idea what the hell shawarma is, but if I ever find somebody cooking it, I think I'll get right on top of that.

Sitting just outside the mess hall on a large stack of crates, my legs are crossed in the lotus position. Elise is just to my right and I think I'm starting to get a handle on her body language. A lot of it is very human but she seems to wear her moods on her sleeve. Or rather, her tail, which is active or inactive according entirely to her enthusiasm for whatever she's talking about. At first I found it hard to read her face since it's mostly ferret-ish but the ring is actually translating that for me now and with that going, reading her is easy. I don't think her friends are like that, they seem far more serious than her. I'm finding it endearing despite myself but I keep having to remind myself that she's a person and not a particularly talkative, large ferret.

After the third time I caught myself having the urge to pet her I began hoping for the ring to suppress that impulse. It's sort of working. Mostly.

Laid out in front of us is a construct interactive display which I'm using to make a body. A 1/8 sized model of 'me' is being displayed at the center with sliders for modifying the various attributes of the body. Shoulder width, height, average weight, hair, facial details, all that good stuff. When I began thinking about this it occurred to me that it's a bit like creating a character in a story, which led Elise to the idea of making one in a game. With her help we've selected out every possible detail variable and have been playing with it.

"You sure you wanna stay a guy? You'd be adorable as a girl, I bet." Yep, there goes the tail.

"It's what I know. Besides, I'm not stuck with the choice. There's nothing stopping me from doing this any time I have a few hours to kill. I can have the ring save the choices I make and employ them as I see fit." I smile faintly. "If I meet a matriarchal culture, I can simply change genders or vice versa."

"That's surprising to hear from a human." She's blinking like she's having trouble trying to grok that. "Most of you never try to change gender roles. Some do, it's the same with us, but you're clearly comfortable with being male. The idea that you can so easily let go of that is a little foreign to me." She tilts her head, one ear flopping as she thinks about it. "I don't think I'd know what to do with myself if I woke up tomorrow as a boy."

"Probably the same thing you usually do, just walking funny." She gives me a light shove in the shoulder and grins. "I suppose I still need a name, but something unisex would probably be less confusing. I don't really have any ideas."

"Can't just go around calling you 'hey you' all the time, yeah." She hmms. "Well, if you're gonna be all hero-y you need a title. You said most of the people you saw were kinda primitive?"

"Not really how I'd word it, but yeah. They had indoor plumbing, though."

"Okay, so not savages, then. But still enough that they probably forge things, so instead of a blacksmith... you're a Lightsmith."

"A lightsmith?"

"Yeah! You forge things out of light. The ultimate toolmaker, armorer and weaponer all in one. You're a Lightsmith." She nods with a kind of finality. "I have spoken."

"Well, far be it from me to argue with such a clear decree." I shake my head a little. "I still need a name though."

"Hmm. Well, I already came up with your grand work title." She grins. "Guess you'll have to work that one out yourself, Mister Lightsmith."

"Ahh, abandoned in my hour of need. Oof." She raspberries at me, but then gets all serious-face because Colonel Ren has just materialized out of thin air-

Subject approached from behind and to the left.

-okay not thin air, but somebody that big has NO RIGHT to be that sneaky.

"Lieutenant. Report." Sitting up on the crates like we are we don't have to look up too much to look Ren in the eye.

"I'm happy to report this guy is A-okay, Colonel." She slaps me on the back, making me lurch forward a little. "Healed our guys right up and all he wanted in return was some lunch. Never looked at us funny even once and when I flirted with him he didn't get offended at all." ... "Didn't work, though."

"You... what?" Okay, missed that. "You were testing me?"

"Yeah, I kind of glossed over how crappy our relations with humans are back home, sorry. Bigotry is kind of an ongoing issue for us. It's cool though, most humans only dig humans and I was mostly just trying to needle you a little. Sorry."

"Ah... it's okay." I guess? I mean, she's cute, but it's in a 'oh my god I want to pet the ears' kind of way, not like... that.

"Good shit, glad to hear it. Whaddya think, blue guy? We pass your test?"

Elise makes a little sound in her throat like she wants to correct Ren but her hind brain stepped on the impulse at the last moment. "I think so, yeah. How soon do you think your people can break camp?"

"Oh, I'd say two, maybe three hours. How far is this town of yours?"

I generate a construct map of the area, a copy of the one I made for Zack but with additional markers for the places I've been. "We're here. Durjak is over here, on the upper side of that ridge. It'd be a pain in the ass to get to on foot from this side of the ridge but that's not a problem because I'm the Lightsmith." Ah, Elise's tail is wagging. I thought that might activate it.

"Whatever that means. If Elise says you're not dangerous to us though, you're probably not. That and you helped my boys, which counts for a lot with us. You scratch our back, we scratch yours, that's our way."

"Fair enough but I don't really have a need for five dozen soldiers. On the other hand, Durjak's guards are dressed in leathers, using second-hand weapons and are basically just regular townspeople. They also have a small group of prisoners I believe you have an issue with."

"Oh you better believe it, buddy."

"You don't have anywhere to go, they need the expertise. If they don't have a problem with you being non-humans, I think it'd be a good fit. I'll even stick around for a few days and help build some extra houses using the wood from the crap wall they have, then build them a decent one. You train the townspeople in how to fight, help hold the town and help keep those prisoners on-track for their labor and in return your people get a place to put down roots without having to watch their back all the time."

Ren nods. "This sounds good, but it depends entirely on this town of yours being cool with it. With our boys healed we're just fine sitting tight here for at least one more day before we start running low on food, so why don't you go ahead of us and see what they think?"

I nod. "Okay, but I'm bringing Elise with me."

"You are?" / "You are?"

Ren sounds amused. Elise just sounds confused.

"I am. She's disarming enough that I think she'd give the best first impression possible, while... Please don't take this the wrong way Ren, but you're terrifying."

Ren smiles slowly, all teeth. "Lightsmith, that's the nicest thing any human has ever said to me."

 

[moralrelativity]

"I am. She's disarming enough that I think she'd give the best first impression possible, while... Please don't take this the wrong way Ren, but you're terrifying."

Ren smiles slowly, all teeth. "Lightsmith, that's the nicest thing any human has ever said to me."

Click to shrink...

Hahahaha, lovely little note to end on.

 

[AverusBlack]

[BOOM double chapter because I can't sleep]

---

I'm watching Elise play tag with a small crowd of children who turned out to see the preternaturally energetic ferret-girl. I'm not entirely sure if she's It or if the entire crowd of kids is It because they seem to randomly and without warning change who is chasing who, but the whole lot of them seem to be having a great time and it's doing wonders for putting the townsfolk of Durjak at ease.

I'm sitting on the lawn of the inn, making some last minute changes to my body model. 6' even, because I like nice round numbers. Caucasian, so no change there. I went more for a barbarian-warrior muscular build rather than something a bodybuilder might go for, an even spread of strength and durability. With the scans I took from Elise, Ren and the rest of the Genkits I healed I had the ring identify improvements they made on their brain structure and worked out which ones I could apply to myself. The new body has the same buddhist-monk style robes I have now in my color scheme but instead of sandals, the new uniform has proper boots and when I have the opportunity and materials to build my own armor based on the scans I got I've probably got to do that. Something for tomorrow, I suppose. Dark brown hair in a sort of top knot, don't bother with facial hair at all.

Ring, apply the changes.

A wave of blue light passes over me, the revisions I've made in the last hour taking hold. I don't feel any different but the ring is monitoring me for any major shifts in the way I think for the next day or two since I plan to spend it here breaking down the palisade into building materials and helping the prisoners with their construction work. I could do it all myself, but it's good to keep them busy. It also gives Colonel Ren time to design the defensive wall. She insisted. Since I wasn't keen to start a fight over it I just nodded and let it go. She'll feel better for having done it herself in the long run, I think.

Ren herself is currently sitting inside the inn with Mason and the two of them appear to be competing to see which one can get more drunk. After meeting Elise I think Mason was expecting the whole group to be like her. When he met Ren he took it as a diplomatic challenge and the two of them are pretty much alike in the way that career soldiers can be, so that went off without a hitch. Despite the fact that the genkits seriously outgun them, it doesn't seem to bother Mason and the others too much. I'm pretty sure I'm the reason why.

Since I've arrived I've done nothing but enact positive change here. I can do this. I can make this my life. A days worth of work and I was able to bring dangerous people to justice and give them a chance to earn a place in a real community, then upgun that community to protect them from what is clearly an absolutely insane place. A day ago I was effectively homeless with no aim, no name, no purpose, no place. Today, I have all those things and the life of everybody I encountered has been, in one way or another, improved.

Words can't describe how incredibly good that makes me feel. My environmental shield is actually rippling everytime I think on it, a wave passing up my arm and across my body.

"Planning your next big adventure, then?"

I look up at the voice. "Hello again, Zack. What do you think of the genkits?"

"I think I like 'em. They're good people, we can tell. So can you." He inclines his head slightly. "Or you wouldn't have brought 'em here, I don't think. You don't do things by half measures, do you? We all figured when you took off this morning that would be the last we saw of you."

I shake my head slowly. "No. I suppose I don't. I saw the synergy of what the situation could be and just arranged things a little. Do you think food will be a problem in the short term?"

"No, probably not. We'll need more farmland to support this many people but there's a fair amount of land around the town that's decent soil and a well, so we'll be okay for water in the short term. Probably have to build an aqueduct to support the farming but that'll be something to keep our guests busy with after the houses are done."

"Good. Wouldn't want them to sit too idle. It'll be good for them to learn the skills, too."

"Aye. Folk'll have to interact with them on a regular basis too, which will help them stop being enemies and start being that guy you see around town every third day. That's subtle. No prison, can't execute 'em... You sure it'll work?"

"No. Not entirely sure. But that's what the genkits are here for. They'll teach your folks how to defend themselves and their leader was pretty forceful about designing the defenses I'm going to build so you won't be seeing half measures there, either."

"I don't get it, I thought they were named the Zerosi?"

"They are. That's their countries name. Their species name is genkit."

"Huh. Well, okay." He shrugs. "You gonna build yourself a house here in town too?"

Now there's an idea. I could do that, couldn't I? "I hadn't really thought about it before but I am now. Yeah, probably. You put the idea in my head, heh."

"I can't speak for the whole town but after seeing what you did just today? Good. I'm glad you're sticking around."

"Only in the sense of having a place I can hang my hat. I plan to travel far and wide looking for things to do. Can't save everyone just hanging out here all day."

"Wouldn't dream of it, mate." He leans against the wall, watching Elise and the kids. "I think we'll be okay if every day is as good as today. You decide on a name?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I did."

Elise swerves ahead of us and zooms her way over, stopping just next to us and doing a pirouette as the kids sweep past and around her to swarm for a moment before they continue chasing each other as she shoo's them off, leaning on her knees. "Go on, go on." Standing up, she dusts her hands off. "These ears aren't just for show. So, what do we call you? Also, hi there!" She waves cheerfully at Zack, who just chuckles and waves back with about 1/4 the energy.

"Call me Lightsmith Ainsley."

 

[moralrelativity]

...homeless with no aim, no name, no purpose, no place.

Click to shrink...

IMO this list seems to be missing the most important item: "no memory". Good to see Lightsmith Ainsley laying down new, happy ones.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Well, time to catch up. Let's see what Mister Blue's been up to...

Spoiler: Comments spoilered for length

That'd be very unnerving to come across this early but frankly the stuff I've seen just in the last day or so has convinced me that I could walk into a cave one day and find it full of clone troopers and a very confused Jedi. I don't think I'd even be surprised by it now.

Click to shrink...

And they probably wouldn't be out of place on this world, by the sound of it.

I've never wondered what a grizzly bear would look like as a seven foot tall juggernaut of a woman but today I am learning very, very quickly.

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I won't lie, some people would find that very attractive. Just imagine her hugs...

She blinks. "Well, that's no good. C'mon, I'll take you over and help you decide on one after you work your healing magic." She manages to sound chipper, almost skipping as she heads off towards one of the tents on the other side of camp.

If she tries to suggest anything sparkly, this is gonna get awkward because she really, really seems the type.

Click to shrink...

There's always that one oddball in any group. Sounds like she's it. At least it will be fun.

"Here we are! Hi everyone!" There's a general groan of acknowledgement in her direction and a few of the wounded wave lazily at her. "I've brought help. Ta-daaa~!" She's actually making jazz hands at me when I walk into the tent behind her and I can't help but smile a little. Absolutely irrepressible.

Click to shrink...

Of course, you have to wonder if the groans were of pain or just 'oh no, she's back...'

I open my eyes and raise my hands in front of me as the threads of light fan out, touching the injured. Pain vanishes. Flesh knits itself together. Behind me Elise gasps as a thread touches her too, fixing scars and an old injury in one ankle she probably broke as a child. Lost limbs are regrown, the bandages dissolving in blue light.

Click to shrink...

BLU LGHT OP PLS NERF. But seriously, it is one of the strongest lights to work with. The other Blue Lantern SI here on QQ is just as lively and powerful... No wonder Ganthet and Sayd chose to restrict it in the comics... But then, who wants to be balanced?

She makes a hmmm sound to herself, swaying her upper body side to side as she thinks it over. "Well, you did say you'd help our people and so you have." She's waving off the formerly injured soldiers who are trying to get out of their beds. "No, no, stay here. Let the medics double-check you." A few nods and they're back to bed, one or two more resigned than anything else.

Click to shrink...

No doubt one or two are happy to take a few minutes break to relax. There's always one or two.

"Really long. Humans made us, turns out that was super illegal, there was a big thing over it. In the end we founded our own small country and now we're completely independent."

Click to shrink...

Yes, I suspect you're glossing over quite a few things there, hun. Still, no need to burden a new friend with your political history... Yet.

I can't help but smile. It's like dealing with a happy-go-lucky child pretending to be a responsible adult. "Okay, you've convinced me. Lead the way, fuzzbutt."

"Hey! It's fluffy, not fuzzy."

Click to shrink...

Ah, she is a breath of fresh air.

After the third time I caught myself having the urge to pet her I began hoping for the ring to suppress that impulse. It's sort of working. Mostly.

Click to shrink...

I suspect that kind of thing is only allowed between close friends. In private.

"Yeah! You forge things out of light. The ultimate toolmaker, armorer and weaponer all in one. You're a Lightsmith." She nods with a kind of finality. "I have spoken."

Click to shrink...

Fitting. And notably not the first time the term's been associated with Lanterns. Relic, a post-Flashpoint DC character called them such (and was one himself.) So quite fitting. A good choice.

"I am. She's disarming enough that I think she'd give the best first impression possible, while... Please don't take this the wrong way Ren, but you're terrifying."

Ren smiles slowly, all teeth. "Lightsmith, that's the nicest thing any human has ever said to me."

Click to shrink...

Aw, she's just a big old teddy bear. Not that I bet she'd ever be happy to be called that.

I'm watching Elise play tag with a small crowd of children who turned out to see the preternaturally energetic ferret-girl. I'm not entirely sure if she's It or if the entire crowd of kids is It because they seem to randomly and without warning change who is chasing who, but the whole lot of them seem to be having a great time and it's doing wonders for putting the townsfolk of Durjak at ease.

Click to shrink...

Hey, kids have plenty of energy. I doubt they even care who's It if they get to run around with the 'fluffy lady'.

Ren herself is currently sitting inside the inn with Mason and the two of them appear to be competing to see which one can get more drunk. After meeting Elise I think Mason was expecting the whole group to be like her. When he met Ren he took it as a diplomatic challenge and the two of them are pretty much alike in the way that career soldiers can be, so that went off without a hitch. Despite the fact that the genkits seriously outgun them, it doesn't seem to bother Mason and the others too much. I'm pretty sure I'm the reason why.

Click to shrink...

I foresee those two becoming the best of friends. Probably not romantically linked, though - too much alike, by the sound of it... But Friendship is best ship!

"Only in the sense of having a place I can hang my hat. I plan to travel far and wide looking for things to do. Can't save everyone just hanging out here all day."

Click to shrink...

Every hero needs their fortress of solitude. Or in his case, the happy hometown where he can relax, unwind and re-center himself.

"Call me Lightsmith Ainsley."

Click to shrink...

Perfect cue for a title sequence. And makes a good ending place for a first episode.

Definitely enjoying the story. By their nature, Blue Lantern stories always feel fun and happy.

 

[AverusBlack]

Crouching perched on a tree limb he's tensed, waiting to strike. The boar is also seeking food but he's out of its scent range and instinctively he knows that if he misses he'll instantly be in danger from the boars tusks.

Patience now, patience.

Then he strikes and his claws sink into the boars sides as his teeth sink into what he thinks is its neck, or at least close enough to its face it can't leverage its one weapon against him. Holding tight he kicks with his back feet hard, letting his claws shred it.

Within a few minutes the boar is dead. He stands up without letting go with his mouth, leaving his hands free to wield the claws against any who might try to challenge him for his kill. There are none. Not today.

The journey back home is slow and indirect to throw off trackers and avoid others. When he finally reaches the small treehouse he finds he's the only one there, but this is common. Mother returns less often than she once did. He's near to the age of adulthood. When he's old enough she'll simply go hunting one day and not return.

That is the way and he is at peace with it.

Then he is not the only one there. The shaman hits the wooden platform outside the door and he whips around, claws out to face this would-be intruder. Then he sees the paints, the bones, the headdress. The claws go away and he drops to the floor, his nose almost touching it. "This one apologizes for baring weapons to you, O shaman."

"You did not. Once you recognized me, you immediately put them away. Do not bow in shame, hunter. Rise and speak."

He stands slowly, only allowing his eyes to come to the shamans stomach lest his look be taken as a challenge. "Why do you honor me with your presence here?"

"The threads of fate touch you. You are not meant to spend your life in Skal."

"If not here, then where? Our way is not to wander and my range is firmly established. To leave for even a week would see me lose hunting grounds. Am I to be banished?"

"No! You are not being chastised." The shaman rumbles. He is not a leopard and not of the Folk but he is a shaman and this makes him immune to all borders, affiliations, loyalties and wars.

He would never attack a shaman but he is confused and does not understand. The urge to argue, to defend his claim is warring with his natural understanding of the order of things. He cannot argue with a shaman, no matter how right he is. The spirits walk with them. They do not walk with him.

"I do not understand. Please help me, it feels like a banishment. Skal is all that I know."

"I do not understand either." Those five words send a chill down his spine that he has never felt before. Fear is foreign to a hunter. "I know only that your fate lies west, beyond the borders of the ancient domains. When you return you will be something more and your coming will herald great change. This is all I know. The spirits whisper your name, Khumu."

"Then I will turn my ear to listen."

A thump wakes him, eyes snapping open in the darkness and refocusing instantly to allow him to see. Even now the dream-memory slips away from him as he turns his focus towards the room, recalling where he is, how he got here.

He has failed.

He slumps a little, shuffling back to lean against the wall. It was Horad, the Tovari man who convinced the blue human to spare them. He thumped the floor with his boot while talking to the others. Trying to keep his irritation in check he stands up and walks along the shadows towards the group, not moving in a straight line by staying in the spots where light is weak without even thinking about it.

Horad is trying to be quiet, not that he's paying attention. His voice is being kept low, at any rate. "I did warn her, though. She was trying to make a dual fireball non-verbally. Her ability to shape her magic was simply not good enough for that and she should have known it. I could only teach her so much."

"You still kind of threw her into it there, though. It wasn't us who suggested fire."

"No, but it was her who was threatening to burn people when she didn't get her way. She didn't start out like that, Kel. At the beginning she was less crazy, more polite. She turned into a fucking tyrant and even worse, she was one who could actually use magic. Tovalons magic traditions aren't the same as the rest of the world here, we bind elementals instead of using ambient mana. But to Navra it was all the same."

One of the people at the edges of the room, a woman stands up and puts a hand on Horad's shoulder. "You sure you weren't just trying to sweeten up the cute blue man?" It gets her a playful jab in the stomach from Horad's elbow.

"I don't hit on guys who almost kill us. Gods, Jufad, I have some taste."

"Based on what I've seen the last two weeks, nooooot really."

"You weren't here at the start." Horad looks down, staring at the table. "She was sweet in the beginning. I think... I think she pushed herself too hard. Or maybe tried tapping into things she shouldn't have, I never read all the books we recovered. There's so many ways magic can go wrong." He sighs. "I should have done a better job of protecting her from all that."

"Don't beat yourself up over it, Horad."

"Why?" Khumu couldn't help but ask. Of course Horad's going to feel bad, she was his mate! Now he'll have to find another mate to bear his heirs and Navra never gave him any to begin with. It was four months wasted effort on his part.

"Because the blue man already beat the crap out of us, just because he healed us after doesn't mean it doesn't count."

Khumu is confused but the rest of the group is laughing. He doesn't understand. Why would that make any of the other reasons untrue?

"Ah, don't feel bad, Khumu." Jufad is hugging him. He likes Jufad. She always smells nice, even when she doesn't bathe. "Our sense of humor is just different. Horad will be fine and he's right, by the way." She's gone from speaking to Khumu to the rest of the group. "At the end of things she was kind of a bitch. I'm not happy about being a prisoner but we're not sleeping in tents and... guys, look at this place. It's an actual town, not a tent city."

"But how will we hunt if we're not allowed into the forests?"

Jufad is petting the top of his head. It does feel nice, he can't argue that. "Khumu, come sit with me. I'll give you a quick explanation of how towns work."

He probably won't understand, but if their circumstances are better by being prisoners then perhaps he hasn't failed after all. In any case, Jufad is nice to him so he'll sit and listen and try to understand. If she can convince him, he may not even escape the first time they open the door to this longhouse again.

It's what the shaman would have wanted.

 

[AngelicKnight.]

snip

Click to shrink...

Oh interesting update! A bit more of a look into one of the prisoners, potentially some kind of spirit driven prophesy and cute human/panther person interaction.

I find his opinion of her scent especially interesting, does she smell good because she's a girl? Because she would make a good meal? Because of some other reason like he can smell magic and she unknowingly has potentially?

Or does she simply have nice pheromones and the make a part of his brain go mushy?

 

[AverusBlack]

Oh interesting update! A bit more of a look into one of the prisoners, potentially some kind of spirit driven prophesy and cute human/panther person interaction.

I find his opinion of her scent especially interesting, does she smell good because she's a girl? Because she would make a good meal? Because of some other reason like he can smell magic and she unknowingly has potentially?

Or does she simply have nice pheromones and the make a part of his brain go mushy?

Click to shrink...

Yes


But no in all seriousness, Jufad is a different ethnicity than the others and his nose is very very sensitive. She's fastidious about bathing, more than the others are, so she just tends to smell nicer than them.

EDIT: Sorry, thinking on it I should clarify. Jufad smells nice to him when she doesn't bathe because on average she does it often enough that she still ends up being less offensive to his nose than the ones who only dip into a river or something once a week.

 

[AngelicKnight.]

Yes


But no in all seriousness, Jufad is a different ethnicity than the others and his nose is very very sensitive. She's fastidious about bathing, more than the others are, so she just tends to smell nicer than them.

EDIT: Sorry, thinking on it I should clarify. Jufad smells nice to him when she doesn't bathe because on average she does it often enough that she still ends up being less offensive to his nose than the ones who only dip into a river or something once a week.

Click to shrink...

Awwwwww...

I mean that is interesting to know and it makes sense that two day old girl sweat probably is less offensive to a sensitive nose than week old girl sweat but... yeah I was really hoping for some interspersed culture clash filled relationship stuff.

Always fun to see two completely different types of people manage to make it work and reach a healthy happy relationship full of understanding and love.

 

[AverusBlack]

Awwwwww...

I mean that is interesting to know and it makes sense that two day old girl sweat probably is less offensive to a sensitive nose than week old girl sweat but... yeah I was really hoping for some interspersed culture clash filled relationship stuff.

Always fun to see two completely different types of people manage to make it work and reach a healthy happy relationship full of understanding and love.

Click to shrink...

I suppose there's always time. I don't plan to stop writing this any time soon. I'm actually finding it very satisfying to do and even at the speed I'm going I don't feel especially taxed by the amount I'm writing per day. I just drop a chunk of story randomly when I have half an hour to make a post, I don't have notes or character sheets or anything. Just off the top of my head, which makes creating the story go very quickly.

 

[AverusBlack]

I'm watching the sun rise from my new house and it's glorious. It's interesting how the morning light seems so different to the evening. I'm drinking a juice made out of a local fruit that made me think of apples. I didn't miss apples before I thought of that but this stuff is close enough that it's almost just as good. Needs sugar, though. I have no idea how to find sugar right now.

Something to put on the list, I guess. Right alongside coffee, cocoa and a suitable farm animal. Pretty much the only thing these folks have are chickens. The eggs are useful but they obviously don't want to just kill them for meat so they've been hunting afield and bush meat is not the safest. When Zack told me that I started doing scans and most of the townsfolk here had parasites or novel, asymptomatic infections which were actually starting work on the genkits and now they're not.

Like I'm going to found a city and not make sure every person in it is as fit as they can be.

I'm going to need building material to get this place going. Lots of it. Not just wood either but raw crap I can transmute into useful things. While I'm watching the sun rise the ring is compensating for the glare as I look directly at it and it occurs to me that the sun is a place and I could theoretically go there. Not that I have a need for that but it's not just the sun I can go to.

I look up.

I've been sticking to low-level flight because I don't like heights. But outside of the atmosphere is... what?

What's up there?

Shit. There's only one way I'm going to find out. If I trust in the ring, it won't let me down. But that's my thinking brain telling my animal brain to shut the hell up when my animal brain has been doing this for a couple million years and is pretty damned sure it knows what it's on about. It seems strongly disinclined to shut the hell up about this.

I take a deep breath and finish my juice, then vanish the cup into the ring for later. If I focus on anything too hard like I did a moment ago, this could go very badly. The moment I can make a space suit of some kind I really need to. Maybe I can combine that with the armor somehow. Yeah.

Yeah not procrastinating this at all. Ah fuck it.

I rise up off the roof of my house and then launch myself upwards. Ring, don't breach the sound barrier until we're far enough away that it won't terrorize the town.

Instructions confirmed.

Okay, seriously, can I do anything about your personality?

Affirmative. This rings AI model is currently using the default schema. However it is possible to model the probable responses, syntax and tone of any individual that the user knows or has known.

Right, but I don't really know anyone except the people of Durjak because I can't remember anything. Guess I'll have to put a bookmark on that for now. Besides, I'm reaching the edges of the atmosphere and okay enough guessing. Ring, gimme a HUD with a speedometer and start marking probable target destinations for getting various metals for building materials.

Blue markers appear on my vision as well as a co-ordinates system, a speed meter and progressively generated labels to show me what's where. Copper over there, silica there, plutonium, platinum, gold, iron, silver. Ring, shrink down those markers and then mark out planetary bodies in this star system.

Hm. Seems familiar, but off. Nine major planets, one dwarf planet and while there's plenty of asteroids they're all either at crazy angles to the orbital plane or out in the edges of the system. Three habitable planets, one barren rocky world, a bunch of gas giants and a lot of rocky or ice moons. But right now I need building materials so lets see what we turn up. Closest candidate for gold concentrations is there so transition.

Whoa.

The asteroid is caught in the gravity of the planet between... what do I call the one I just left? It's not Earth. Terra? Like Earth, but not. This one's between Terra and the rocky world between here and the really big gas giant. Looks kind of nice down there actually, but not here for sight seeing. Ring, do the thing.

Cables of blue light lance out and begin tearing through the asteroid, separating out the various metals and subspacing them. Traveling doesn't seem to be too much of an issue but being a tourist is no good, I need to actually help people. I'm doing that right now by getting this stuff but the gold is a means to an end. Durjak will prosper because of full coffers and the merchants who visit it will spread the wealth and word of a rich trading hub.

I'm very tempted to explore the other habitable worlds but I think I should focus on stabilizing things on Terra before I do that. I'm still only one person and I have to prioritize. Once I've explored Terra a bit and dealt with the most obvious issues, the low-hanging fruit of things, then I can focus on exploring a wider range but for now I need to eat what's in front of me before I start mulling over dessert.

...

Asteroid mining is surprisingly boring. This HUD is showing me the weight of materials I'm gathering in kilograms and it's nice to see it wasn't just gold. I'm getting iron, copper, tin, aluminum and some platinum out of this as well. Nothing amazing and not in crushing amounts but it'll be enough to supply the town and still leave enough to trade.

Ugh finally, done. Transition back to orbit above Durjak. Looks like the town is on the south-western end of the largest continent. It looks weird. Like somebody stitched it together using mountain ranges as borders and wanted to cut the southern half off from the north intentionally. South of the mountains is all forest and greenary but north is just desert. It looks boring and empty and that makes me rather curious about what's out there. The south-east looks a little more promising. I can see urban centers from this height but nothing like EM signals so they're not using radios or anything. I'll have to drop in there later.

Ring, transition me to Durjak. I don't think I want to experience planetfall just yet.

I appear in the town square, hovering just above the stones. There's small market stalls built in a wide circle around the edges of the courtyard but most of them weren't really being used when I showed up. I'll fix that soon enough. Purifying the metals I form them into ingots with the blue sigil stamped on them, stacking them up by element in the center of town for when the metal workers wake up.

The most successful tourist of the day, hah.

I could get used to this.

 

[Darkarma]

blue sigil stamped on them

Click to shrink...

You are now the Blue Mint. Careful about controlling inflation though!

 

[AverusBlack]

I'm cruising east over the treeline while the ring is marking out roads for me. I'll have a nice trade map when I return to town. I've been going just under the sound barrier, making the ring handle my course corrections because I don't really trust myself to not mess it up and slam into a ridge or something. That'd mess up my day pretty bad, I have no idea how much force I can take in an impact like this and I'm not keen to find out the hard way.

Still, it doesn't take long before the treeline breaks and I come out above the road in front of plains. Quite pretty, actually. The snow's all melted here and everything's coming to life with the spring, wildflowers everywhere. The plains are dotted with every color I can think of as the flowers compete with each other for ground space. The road even thins out a little, like the traders who passed through here felt it was a shame to trample more of this than they absolutely had to.

I can't say I disagree.

I fly a bit lower to the ground, perhaps four meters above the road, cruising lazily and taking a moment to enjoy the sight. Then I spot a mound just off the side of the road, concealed slightly behind a large rock. It'd be easy to miss from the ground but in the air I can see it clearly. I wonder what that is?

Lowering down in front of it, I kneel slightly after landing. It's a little artificial hut with a brazier inside it, long dead. There's an effigy carved in the sides but it's so worn I can't really make it out anymore and there's moss and something like ivy covering it. It's old and whatever was lit there hasn't burned in a long time.

Entirely on impulse I take a piece of wood out of subspace and use a construct to split it up into chips into the brazier. A touch from a thread of blue light and the chips are set alight, catching and burning merrily.

"Who is it that seeks me?"

The voice... Ring, is that sound?

Voice is projected through physical sound but the source of the vibrations creating it are unclear.

So, magic then. "I am Ainsley, the blue lightsmith. I did not know it was a shrine but greetings, nonetheless."

"You are not of this land, but pay homage to it anyways. Speak and be heard, Ainsley the Blue."

"I know nothing of this place, but I've come to learn. Is there danger I should know of?"

"Tovalon is ancient and powerful. Its elements walk with its people. Show respect as you have and they will give it in turn. Beware if you walk to the eastern lands. Elements of pain, death, sacrifice, glory, fire and blood reside there. We do not know its people."

"I will remember. Thank you."

"Go with the elements."

I stand up, rising from the ground and hovering above the fields, turning my head east. When I was in orbit, that was where I detected the urban centers, but now I'm a bit less excited than I was. From what I've seen so far, any modern city dropped here would be in big trouble, since modern cities don't bother with walls due to the ability of their countries force projection mobility. They don't need standing armies when the military can move fast enough to afford to have dedicated sites outside of those cities.

Which means any dropped here was probably overrun very, very quickly by the first malevolent force that wandered into it.

That's disappointing but roughly in line with my expectations. When I'm a little more ready to venture into something that sounds as fun as that I'll see if there's anything left I can scan, anyone I can help.

Ring, find me the nearest settlement.

Groups light up in my head with rough head counts, but nothing like a towns population level. I'm not seeing any group larger than four hundred people. Okay, lets go check out the nearest one, then. Transition.

I don't appear in the middle of the camp because that almost didn't work out when I did it to the Zerosi and I'd rather not repeat that mistake. Instead I appear at ground level about thirty meters away in the treeline, land and walk out of the bush like I'd just wandered out of the wilds. Headed towards the road I jog lightly and turn towards the camp.

It's interesting, I had trouble taking that cat boy I met in the raider camp seriously at first but after having spent time with the genkits, this doesn't feel so strange. The people here look mostly human with all the wide range of ethnicities we have, but those ethnicities are accompanied by species-specific animal traits. I'm seeing dogs, cats, that's definitely a raccoon tail. I'm seeing men and women with oxen horns, at least one guy with pig ears, another that looks like a humanized version of a rhesus monkey and notably, one very pretty girl with bird feathers instead of hair which is the most vibrant yellow I've ever seen.

None of them seem especially alarmed by me but one of the dog-trait women stops to address me. She's an older lady, gray in her hair and the tips of her ears. Her hair is tied by and she's leaning on a cane but I suspect she needs it a little less than she seems to because she's not leaning her weight on it. "You look a bit lost, young man. Are you alright? You seem a bit blue."

I snort. "I am, thank you. I'm just visiting. I don't really know anything about this place."

"Oh! An adventurer! It's been awhile since we ran into one of your lot. You come with old Saan and she'll tell you what you need to know. You seem like a bright boy."

Is this old lady just using me to score puns?

...Yes, probably, but she seems nice so I suppose I can live with it.

"When I was traveling here I found a small shrine. Are those common?"

"Ooh. Did you light the brazier?"

"I did. Something spoke to me. It gave me advice."

"Good! That was a proper thing to do." She nods approvingly. She doesn't seem to be in a great hurry to shuffle back into what looks like camp, but I'm not either. I do like their architecture, though. It's clearly meant to be torn down and the ring says that the walls are canvas of some kind with heavy cloth hangings inside.

An entire small town that can pack up and move. These people are nomads but are clearly comfortable living this way and don't appear to be struggling with personal hygiene.

"I'd like to think so. Do your people have restaurants?"

"No, but that does sound like a fancy word. What is it?"

"A place where you can pay somebody to make you food."

"Ah. No, but we do keep a tent for travelers to rest and buy supplies."

"Well then, if you're not too busy, in return for your advice, let me make us a meal. I'm hungry as well and in no rush to be anyplace."

"That is also good." Saan nods. "And a fair offer, as well. I'm happy to accept, young man."

"Please, call me Ainsley."

 

[shakeval]

This is a wonderful way to slowly but easily contact and connect all manner of potential and future trading partners. . . . .Ainsley will probably be declared king or something sooner or later.

 

[AverusBlack]

This is a wonderful way to slowly but easily contact and connect all manner of potential and future trading partners. . . . .Ainsley will probably be declared king or something sooner or later.

Click to shrink...

Not likely, the jobs taken

 

[AverusBlack]

As far as hospitality rituals go, this isn't so bad, really. I'm using the ring as a mobile kitchen but I mean, sure, why not? Superpowers can be used for boring things, too.

I'm not sure what animal this meat is. I think it's the local beef-equivalent but the animal in question is about six feet long, six legged and is shaggy like an ox but shaped like a giant lizard despite clearly being a mammal of some kind. This place is goddamned weird. Still, I can't complain too much because it smells pretty good. Saan is sitting next to the fire pit just across from me while I fry the meat sitting midair without anything to support me.

"Oh, we've been keeping jorka for as long as I can recall. They're good beasts if you handle them right. Absolutely useless for farm work though." She shakes her head. "Before the change, we had large birds we called Pans that we used as mounts or for farm work, but I haven't seen a pan bird for... years, really."

I'm shredding a local leaf as a spice and throwing it in, smells a bit... I dunno. Reminds me of garlic bread, almost.

"How long has it been since that happened?"

"Since what happened?"

"The 'change', whatever that is."

"Hmm, you're rather green, aren't you?"

"No, I'm blue."

"Hah! I mean you're fresh, boy. New." She nods. "Asking your elders something you don't know is good and proper. It has been two winters since Tovalon found itself in this world."

"The entire region? Most places I've seen have been small groups, little pockets." Stir the mix, throw in some vegetables and leaves. "Tovalon arriving here almost as a whole country is a pretty big anomaly compared to that."

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that. Skal is a whole region that way too, though nobody sane ever goes there. But it's a richly spiritual place where their gods are never further than behind the nearest tree and Tovalon has the elements. Both places are... charged, in ways other places aren't."

"So it's reasonable to assume that whatever force is responsible for arrivals in this place is sensitive to magic somehow?"

"My dear boy, it may well be the magic itself doing it. None of us know. Oh here, take that off the fire." She gestures at the construct and I move it away from the flames to the pan she's holding up. "Good, good. Just drop it all in here." She's throwing in something that looks like rice - it may well be rice - and adding water to it.

Objects are not 'rice' as matched by the partially corrupted memory of the user. However, it does bear a similarity and may be an evolutionary offshoot of the grass.

Little bit of familiarity, then. "I'm hoping to change that. Part of why I'm here is to build trade partners for the town I've been staying in."

"Ooh, good for you! Usually when towns and cities arrive they get raided or overrun and the population scatters. Or they get worn down. Where is this town of yours, Ainsley?"

"Far west of here, past the heavy forests."

"Those forests are the Skal region. How did you pass through them and arrive whole? Without knowing about the danger?"

"I flew above it."

"Hahahahaha!" She seems to tickle her. Her tail is sweeping the ground behind her madly. "Of course! It's so obvious now. You didn't come out of the woods, you landed in them and walked into camp!" She's shaking her head at herself. "This old dog will never learn to fly, but if you can, you have a better chance than most. There are traveling routes through Skal but they're bought with guides. I expect that if you can work something out about that you'll see more trade than you have so far."

"Damn." I sigh a little. "What about eastern Tovalon? The elements I spoke to, they warned me about the place."

"As well they should." She nods. "Its people are heartless, they allow themselves to feel nothing. A life devoid of emotion, of passion. Save for weapons." She doesn't sound like she approves, scowling a little. "They're a martial culture despite also being Tovari. Everything is a struggle with them, all conflict. It's not a nice place and the people are... questionable. If you're thinking of going there, don't."

Damn. "I'll probably have to eventually, but I'll bear that in mind."

"So where will you go once you leave me to get back to adventure, hmm?"

"I suppose I should have a go at finding whoever is leading this country." Quick scan of the pan and... yep, that's about done. "Oh good, the food is ready." Oh, she's already beaten me to the bowls. Handing me one, she opens the pan and starts filling it.

"Well, good luck with that. King Noah also moves throughout the year along a route. This time of year I'm not sure where he'll be exactly but I'm fair certain he'll be around the southern end of Tovalon on the steppe someplace. The royal family visits the compass points year 'round, spending the solstices at them."

This is actually really good. I really need to look into getting Darjuk some of the jorka animals for husbandry. Not to mention some of these spices, whatever they are. I take a moment before answering with my mouth full like some kind of savage. "That's good information and I thank you for it."

"Oh, enough." She's smiling, waving me off. "I don't do much cooking for myself, these days. Too much work for my old back and too much risk of me hurting myself handling the fire. The meal is a nice gesture, information's the least I can do to repay it."

I reach over and pat her shoulder. When I do I heal her osteoperosis, repair the muscles in her back, fix her eyesight and remove the benign tumor on her left ovary. "Still, it'll probably save me getting ambushed the moment I walk into Skal."

She sits up slowly, looking at me and blinking hard. "Did you just...?"

I smile at her and make the same dismissive gesture she did a moment ago. "A little, yes. Once I pass on, if you meet any adventurers, let them know about Durjak? It's west past Skal in the light forests bordering the northern mountain range."

She nods firmly. "I will do that. But you may wish to know that I've heard rumors of another like you."

I tilt my head at her. "What do you mean?"

"They were not blue, but I've heard tales of another adventurer who glowed and could forge things out of light."

"Do you know what they look like?"

"No, no, those sort of details never survive word of mouth. But I do know what color they were."

"What was it?"

"Yellow."

 

[irontony9065]

Ooh. A Yellow Lantern.

Who is probably power'd up if they have been here a lot longer than Ainsley.

I am loving this story by the way. It is so interesting. But when is he going to read the magic books he got from the raiders?