With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

[Tzeentch]

That's assuming they somehow know of any other gods aside from the Abrahamic one.

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What, you don't think The Witches Three, peers of The Endless themselves, (save Death herself), wouldn't reach out to those who clearly fall under their domain?

I mean, look up the Vertigo comics Witchcraft and Witchcraft: La Terreur.

 

[Darko]

What, you don't think The Witches Three, peers of The Endless themselves, (save Death herself), wouldn't reach out to those who clearly fall under their domain?

I mean, look up the Vertigo comics Witchcraft and Witchcraft: La Terreur.

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The Puritans worship the Christian God, so they may not be interested in trying to get their worship.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm right that the Warlock breed don't worship them.

 

[Siskulous]

Yeah, that'd be like humans calling ourselves ape-kin, based on our ancestry. Though there is precedent, cultures or subcultures adopting previously derogatory names as a sign of pride...

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Nah. Human's calling ourselves ape-kin would just be ridiculous. After all, humans are Great Apes, not ape-kin.

 

[Tzeentch]

Out of curiosity Mr Zoat, if Paul has a counterpart in the world of The Witcher what would be his position in that setting?

As the new Grandmaster of Rissberg, having altered the desires of the Mages who work/live there to actually being productive members of society, and a revitalized Ortolan as his plucky sidekick/teacher of Magic?

Or perhaps as a trusted, and most importantly, indispensable advisor and aide to Emperor Emhyr var Emreis?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Out of curiosity Mr Zoat, if Paul has a counterpart in the world of The Witcher what would be his position in that setting?

As the new Grandmaster of Rissberg, having altered the desires of the Mages who work/live there to actually being productive members of society, and a revitalized Ortolan as his plucky sidekick/teacher of Magic?

Or perhaps as a trusted, and most importantly, indispensable advisor and aide to Emperor Emhyr var Emreis?

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Having never played the Witcher, I have no idea.

 

[Tzeentch]

Having never played the Witcher, I have no idea.

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Well, there's always the books one can read and the game walkthroughs one watch!

The Netflix series has it's good parts, but I think it diverges more than a little from the source material.

 

[ironbabyjones]

(binge reading old chapters)

A door, like a slightly more cartoonish version of the little card doors that come with the old Heroquest game, appears in front of him.

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I played HeroQuest! Man, that was great fun. I recently sold my copy for around $140. That, too, was great fun.

 

[Darko]

up at hulking foster son

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maybe 'at his hulking'

 

[Mr Zoat]

2nd May
01:43 GMT -5

Back on the cart, with Mr Yao in the back with Leonid and me and both of them not yawning. I suppose that between Russian military academy and Chinese boot camp they've become accustomed to disrupted sleep cycles. Outside the cart our surroundings flicker and fade, partially illusory and partially spatially displaced.

If any of us were actually magicians I'm sure this would be fascinating. Especially considering that their formal magic education is bound to be worse than what their oath-following kindred have.

"Mistress Butler." She turns her head to regard Mr. Yao, her neck just a little too long and too flexible when compared to human norms. "Do you know who or what it was that attacked us?"

"Something invisible, was it? You couldn't see it even when you knew it was there?"

"Saw one of them pretty well." I take the blood sample out of subspace and hold it out to her. "Tough, but not unbeatable."

"You killed one of them?"

"Probably not. Even with a nasty hole in its chest, it managed to disengage. Starfire thinks he hit something, but we couldn't pierce their illusion."

Disturbingly elongated fingers pluck the vial from my hand.

"We can use this. We may finally be able to undo their 'fluences."

Abednego glances at her. "Have your people suffered from their depravations?"

"Aye, we have. At first 'twas little more than a light touch 'pon our wards. Then people began to vanish. The first few were taken when they were alone. Then they began acting more openly, stealing our folk away in the middle of crowds, of locked rooms! What are they!?"

"We're not sure, but there's a chance that they're Sheeda. Actual Sheeda from the Land of Summer's End. The place from which Melmoth fled."

"If they seek him, they're seeking in the wrong place. Our village is nowhere near his grave."

I suppose that the Sheeda wouldn't necessarily know… No, it's the first thing someone they were torturing would say, isn't it? A truth that would make the pain stop and get their attackers to leave their family alone. 'The place you want is nowhere near here. Go there instead of here.' Did they.. just not bother asking?

"How long do they go between abductions?"

"They have no pattern."

Mr. Yao frowns. "Do your people have no military? No government which could send aid?"

She turns and bares her teeth at Abednego. "Have you told them nothing?"

"I felt it best for them to see with their own eyes."

"We were forty eight. Now we are twenty seven. We have no grundymen so raise creatures of the Sheeda to aid us."

"Is your settlement one of the larger ones?"

"We do not have so many settlements that that question has meaning. Not that I have knowledge of. If we gather in numbers his kind come to destroy us."

Abednego doesn't look around. "No pilgrim such as I stood amongst that host, Mistress Butler. You'd not tolerate me here if one did."

"Hm." I try scanning her, and the clumsily-stitched glyphs on her cloak's collar shimmer.

"What are you about!?"

"I was thinking that it shouldn't be too hard to reconfigure your body. I doubt that Columbia has fully accurate censuses. If you looked like a Sheeda-altered human rather than a warlock, it should be easy enough for your people to slip back into society."

"Fool! Altering our form with magic causes this."

Abednego shakes his head. "Nay, Mistress Butler. 'Tis the breaking of the oath and the spell bound to it that causes warlocks to change. None of your folk have sworn the oath-."

"Some have."

I frown. "Why?"

"The fools feel the guilt of their ancestors. That this is a punishment sent by God. Perhaps some hope that they may be absolved, changed back and so return to 'righteous' society."

"Can't help with God, but if all that's happening is that your Sheeda genetic characteristics are getting hyper stimulated, resetting it should be easy enough. You'll need to remove your ward, but-."

"Hah!" I think that's a genuine expression of amusement; her altered facial structures make it difficult to tell. "Is this the type of man your land breeds, who would snatch a woman's cloak from her body within minutes of meeting her!"

"Yes, because I derive most satisfaction from solving problems, and this is an eminently solvable one. Failing that, it shouldn't be too hard for us to relocate all 'warlock-breed' to another part of the planet. You'd be safe from the Columbians there, at least for a few centuries."

"And what do you want in return?"

"Technically, nothing. I'd do it without asking anything in return. We would like information on the Sheeda, examples of their physiology and technology and any leads you have on who it was that attacked us, but if you refused us I'd still try to help you anyway."

She regards me cautiously for a few moments.

"We are hunters and farmers. We know little of the Sheeda. Any help I could give you, you could get better elsewhere. The witch-man's people could help you more."

"I said I'd help for nothing, and you think I might take that back because you're offering something?"

"And the other villages could offer you more. One… They try to study magics that are forbidden. I have not tried to confront them because I lack the power, but if our attackers are warlock-breed who found some way to change themselves further, that is where I would look."

Mr. Yao nods.

"We shall enquire with them once we have seen to your people's needs. If-."

The cart appears on the bank of a small river, a crudely-built town just ahead of us. No paving here, and I suspect that if we were in the rainy part of the local year the streets would be a quagmire. Ghostly lights illuminate the buildings, which are a mixture; wattle and daub walls are the most common, though some appear to be tents with leather in place of canvas. Some have roofs crudely made from bundles of branches and others use what looks like segments of the shell of giant beetles. As for the people, Mistress Butler appears to be an average representative. Some are closer to human norms, with a signature mutation or two. I see one man with standard puritan dress who could pass in Columbia if not for the strange tentacle-like structures which emerge from his head. The most extreme example has all of Mistress Butler's mutations, as well as compound eyes, fangs and a single dragonfly wing emerging from their back.

"Aye, not a pretty sight, are we?"

"I've seen worse."

"I'faith, if my brother and sister witch-hunters saw these people as we do now, I believe there would be less animosity between us." Abednego pulls on the reins and the horses come to a halt. "If it please you, Mistress Butler, take us to the site of one of the disappearances. Even my more fanatical brethren would say that the presence of true Sheeda should be my priority."

 

[Darko]

elongate fingers

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'elongated'

a hunters and farmers

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remove 'a'

are mixture

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maybe 'are a mixture'

please you, Mistress

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maybe 'pleases'

 

[Mr Zoat]

maybe 'at his hulking'

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[Mr Zoat]

'elongated'
remove 'a'
maybe 'are a mixture'

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

maybe 'pleases'

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I think I'll leave that one.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

2nd May
01:43 GMT -5

Back on the cart, with Mr Yao in the back with Leonid and me and both of them not yawning. I suppose that between Russian military academy and Chinese boot camp they've become accustomed to disrupted sleep cycles. Outside the cart our surroundings flicker and fade, partially illusory and partially spatially displaced.

Click to shrink...

More quick travel? Handy for saving time. Looks like this little side-quest might be over quicker than you thought.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

If any of us were actually magicians I'm sure this would be fascinating. Especially considering that their formal magic education is bound to be worse than what their oath-following kindred have.

"Mistress Butler." She turns her head to regard Mr. Tao, her neck just a little too long and too flexible when compared to human norms. "Do you know who or what it was that attacked us?"

Click to shrink...

Oh, that must be creepy. Like an owl.

"Something invisible, was it? You couldn't see it even when you knew it was there?"

"Saw one of them pretty well." I take the blood sample out of subspace and hold it out to her. "Tough, but not unbeatable."

Click to shrink...

And that one little vial of blood may be more valuable than anything else he could give them...

"You killed one of them?"

"Probably not. Even with a nasty hole in its chest, it managed to disengage. Starfire thinks he hit something, but we couldn't pierce their illusion."

Click to shrink...

If nothing else, they know they're in for a fight if they come back.

Disturbingly elongate fingers pluck the vial from my hand.

"We can use this. We may finally be able to undo their 'fluences."

Click to shrink...

So they have been having difficulties with Sheeda raiders too. Good to have that confirmed.

Abednego glances at her. "Have your people suffered from their depravations?"

"Aye, we have. At first 'twas little more than a light touch 'pon our wards. Then people began to vanish. The first few were taken when they were alone. Then they began acting more openly, stealing our folk away in the middle of crowds, of locked rooms! What are they!?"

Click to shrink...

Nothing good for any of you.

"We're not sure, but there's a chance that they're Sheeda. Actual Sheeda from the Land of Summer's End. The place from which Melmoth fled."

"If they seek him, they're seeking in the wrong place. Our village is nowhere near his grave."

Click to shrink...

Not that they'd bother asking, would they? They didn't seem too inquisitive with OL's group. Unless they planned to kill the 'glow-user' then capture the rest.

I suppose that the Sheeda wouldn't necessarily know… No, it's the first thing someone they were torturing would say, isn't it? A truth that would make the pain stop and get their attackers to leave their family alone. 'The place you want is nowhere near here. Go there instead of here.' Did they.. just not bother asking?

Click to shrink...

Indeed, how likely would they be to believe what they're told? It's why torture like that isn't the best method of interrogation...

"How long do they go between abductions?"

"They have no pattern."

Click to shrink...

Presumably, they're striking whenever they feel like it...

Mr. Tao frowns. "Do your people have no military? No government which could send aid?"

She turns and bears her teeth at Abednego. "Have you told them nothing?"

"I felt it best for the to see with their own eyes."

Click to shrink...

You can taste the 'are these people idiots?' she's feeling.

"We were forty eight. Now we are twenty seven. We have no grundymen so raise creatures of the Sheeda to aid us."

"Is your settlement one of the larger ones?"

"We do not have so many settlements that that question has meaning. Not that I have knowledge of. If we gather in numbers his kind come to destroy us."

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Yeah, that would interfere with creating larger communities...

Abednego doesn't look around. "No pilgrim such as I stood amongst that host, Mistress Butler. You'd not tolerate me here if one did."

"Hm." I try scanning her, and the clumsily-stitched glyphs on her cloak's collar shimmer.

"What are you about!?"

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Honestly, OL, scanning a lady without asking first? How rude!

"I was thinking that it shouldn't be too hard to reconfigure your body. I doubt that Columbia has fully accurate censuses. If you looked like a Sheeda-altered human rather than a warlock, it should be easy enough for your people to slip back into society."

"Fool! Altering our form with magic causes this."

Click to shrink...

I doubt it's that simple.

Abednego shakes his head. "Nay, Mistress Butler. 'Tis the breaking of the oath and the spell bound to it that causes warlocks to change. None of your folk have sworn the oath-."

"Some have."

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Because of course they have. Let me guess, they regret their choices and want to rejoin Columbian society?

I frown. "Why?"

"The fools feel the guilt of their ancestors. That this is a punishment sent by God. Perhaps some hope that they may be absolved, changed back and so return to 'righteous' society."

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Figured. Because people are people no matter where you go.

"Can't help with God, but if all that's happening is that your Sheeda genetic characteristics are getting hyper stimulated, resetting it should be easy enough. You'll need to remove your ward, but-."

"Hah!" I think that's a genuine expression of amusement; her altered facial structures make it difficult to tell. "Is this the type of man your land breeds, who would snatch a woman's cloak from her body within minutes of meeting her!"

Click to shrink...

Now, now. The man has a significant other. Think of it like a doctor's appointment.

"Yes, because I derive most satisfaction from solving problems, and this is an eminently solvable one. Failing that, it shouldn't be too hard for us to relocate all 'warlock-breed' to another part of the planet. You'd be safe from the Columbians there, at least for a few centuries."

"And what do you want in return?"

Click to shrink...

Because she can't believe anyone would be charitable to 'her kind'... What a life she must have led.

"Technically, nothing. I'd do it without asking anything in return. We would like information on the Sheeda, examples of their physiology and technology and any leads you have on who it was that attacked us, but if you refused us I'd still try to help you anyway."

She regards me cautiously for a few moments.

Click to shrink...

Weighing up whether he's speaking the truth or not, eh?

"We are a hunters and farmers. We know little of the Sheeda. Any help I could give you, you could get better elsewhere. The witch-man's people could help you more."

"I said I'd help for nothing, and you think I might take that back because you're offering something?"

Click to shrink...

He almost sounds offended.

"And the other villages could offer you more. One… They try to study magics that are forbidden. I have not tried to confront them because I lack the power, but if our attackers are warlock-breed who found some way to change themselves further, that is where I would look."

Mr. Tao nods.

"We shall enquire with them once we have seen to your people's needs. If-."

Click to shrink...

Hmm... I bet that other band of Warlock-breed invited the Sheeda here, and are using them to eliminate competition... Foolish, if it's true.

The cart appears on the bank of a small river, a crudely-built town just ahead of us. No paving here, and I suspect that if we were in the rainy part of the local year the streets would be a quagmire. Ghostly lights illuminate the buildings, which are mixture; wattle and daub walls are the most common, though some appear to be tents with leather in place of canvas. Some have roofs crudely made from bundles of branches and others use what looks like segments of the shell of giant beetles. As for the people, Mistress Butler appears to be an average representative. Some are closer to human norms, with a signature mutation or two. I see one man with standard puritan dress who could pass in Columbia if not for the strange tentacle-like structures which emerge from his head. The most extreme example has all of Mistress Butler's mutations, as well as compound eyes, fangs and a single dragonfly wing emerging from their back.

Click to shrink...

A motley assortment of people. And OL's probably seen stranger.

"Aye, not a pretty sight, are we?"

"I've seen worse."

Click to shrink...

Just amongst the NEMO forces, at least. Never mind stuff like the Green Lanterns' stranger members.

"I'faith, if my brother and sister witch-hunters saw these people as we do now, I believe there would be less animosity between us." Abednego pulls on the reins and the horses come to a halt. "If it please you, Mistress Butler, take us to the site of one of the disappearances. Even my more fanatical brethren would say that the presence of true Sheeda should be my priority."

Click to shrink...

It's a threat to everyone. because when they're done picking off the smaller groups, they'll come at the Columbians in force...

And the plot thickens. I wonder just how easy it'd be to restore the less outright severe mutations. And whether they'll just come back the first time the person tries to use any magic...

"I felt it best for the to see with their own eyes."

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"I felt it best for them to see with their own eyes."

 

[Mr Zoat]

"I felt it best for them to see with their own eyes."

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

 

[Darko]

Oh, that must be creepy. Like an owl.

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Or this:

Now, now. The man has a significant other. Think of it like a doctor's appointment.

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Yet it did not stop him from having a baby with the giant spider even after he started dating Jade.

A motley assortment of people. And OL's probably seen stranger.

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He's founded a group full of strange looking people.

Just amongst the NEMO forces, at least. Never mind stuff like the Green Lanterns' stranger members.

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Don't forget the Un Men he met in Aberrance.

 

[Vaermina]

"Hm." I try scanning her, and the clumsily-stitched glyphs on her cloak's collar shimmer.

Click to shrink...

You can be blocked by 5 cent note paper glyphs, so this surprises nobody.

 

[Darko]

You can be blocked by 5 cent note paper glyphs, so this surprises nobody.

Click to shrink...

He's actually capable of bypassing some wards now(see the Gotham episode), but it takes a fair bit of power to do so, and if he tried that she may become hostile, as he's trying to view her soul.

They're trying a diplomatic approach with the warlocks.

 

[Citizen]

We have no grundymen so raise creatures of the Sheeda to aid us."

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Not sure if this should be 'grundymen to raise creatures' or if I'm just not reading it correctly.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Not sure if this should be 'grundymen to raise creatures' or if I'm just not reading it correctly.

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Read it as: We have no grundymen and therefore raise creatures of the Sheeda to aid us instead.

 

[Vaermina]

He's actually capable of bypassing some wards now(see the Gotham episode), but it takes a fair bit of power to do so, and if he tried that she may become hostile, as he's trying to view her soul.

They're trying a diplomatic approach with the warlocks.

Click to shrink...

With his empathic vision, not ring scanners.

 

[Darko]

"Hm." I try scanning her, and the clumsily-stitched glyphs on her cloak's collar shimmer.

Click to shrink...

Hey Zoat, can Paul bypass wards when he uses his rings now by adding extra power to them to scan for things, like how he can see emotions through wards by adding extra power to his rings?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Hey Zoat, can Paul bypass wards when he uses his rings now by adding extra power to them to scan for things, like how he can see emotions through wards by adding extra power to his rings?

Click to shrink...

If he didn't mind severely irritating a potential ally and possibly destroying her clothing or decapitating her with the flashback, sure.

 

[Darko]

If he didn't mind severely irritating a potential ally and possibly destroying her clothing or decapitating her with the flashback, sure.

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Okay I get why he wouldn't try to more deeply scan her, but does this mean that it's possible for him to bypass wards if he adds more power to his scans?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Okay I get why he wouldn't try to more deeply scan her, but does this mean that it's possible for him to bypass wards if he adds more power to his scans?

Click to shrink...

Burn through, but certainly.

 

[rdfox]

"Aye, not a pretty sight, are we?"

"I've seen worse."

Click to shrink...

Hell, just admit it, Paul. You've fucked worse. Well, fist-fucked. Maybe not intentionally, but still...

 

[Assblaster5000]

Question, since the Witch-Bread/Columbians are, seemingly, in another section of the multiverse in what appears to be a fully functioning solar system, maybe even galaxy/universe, would that mean the Earth 16 Humanity, and presumably other versions as well depending on how exactly this situation works as far as the wider multiverse is concerned, would classify as an inter-stellar civilization?

Just a neat thought I had in the shower this morning.

 

[Mr Zoat]

2nd May
01:50 GMT -5

"This is a maggot pit."

It's a maggot pit.

A hundred and thirty three Sheeda maggots writhe at the bottom of a steep-walled pit as a local youth throws the chopped entrails of various local animals down to them. The maggots orientate on them at once, squirming towards them. The youth has skin of a shade of deep pink that I've never seen on a human, and his fangs are so pronounced that they jut out from his mouth top and bottom. He's also really thin, though I'm not sure if that's a mutation or just his build.

Or malnutrition.

"What happens when they reach maturity?"

"They don't." He raises his right hand, a witch-sign glimmering between his fingers. He swipes it over the rim of the maggot-pit, and as it swings I see the invisible signs branded on the 'foreheads' of each of the maggots illuminated by its ethereal light. "We bind them to this form as we in turn are bound."

"And what do you get out of them?"

"Maggot milk."

I blink. "And you..? Drink it?"

He looks at me like I'm an idiot. "No, good sir. It's a resin. We use it to keep the water from our homes and our boat."

I nod and.. look away from the maggot pile as they pull the offal into their mouths. Aside from the other four pits I can't see any other pastoral areas. They've tried to keep as much of the tree cover from the surrounding areas as possible, and the sloped sides of the gully we're in create a canopy of greenery which will probably make this place dim even in the day.

"Mistress Butler mentioned other farm animals?"

"We let them roam. We couldn't feed the live ones close to the village, and the dead ones we keep for times of direst need."

I look at the giant undead cricket-spider that's staring off towards the village edge. I suppose that being hunted by the Sheeda is a pretty good example of a dire emergency.

"Do the maggots react to the intruders?"

"No reaction I could ken. Though they are maggots, sirrah."

Fair point. Not like they're about to start singing. Still, I can scan them and their undead fellow Sheeda creatures without difficulty, and I've found something jolly interesting. There are segments of their genetic material which are shared, completely identical between each type of Sheeda creature and the warlock-breed but not the Columbians. But I'm not completely sure what it actually does. It looks like it creates a protein which absorbs contaminants in the blood stream to aid the liver in filtering them out into the waste system… But the physiology of a maggot is radically different to the physiology of a giant insect. I'd assume that it's engineered in, but there are several ways to create something that would be better at the job. And they also share chunks of non-coding DNA whose purpose I can't decipher.

I suppose if Melmoth was just breeding naturally… Or raping the women in his power for the fun of it, he wouldn't check which parts were transmitted due to a lack of genetic technology or a lack of desire. But they're active in all warlock-kind, whatever their physical mutations.

"Tell me, do the physical changes you possess relate to those of your parents?"

"My mother shared my teeth, sirrah. But if there's a pattern beyond that, I see it not."

They don't run in families, but there are definite commonalities of style. The same things are mutated, and in only so many ways. They're not just getting animal parts randomly grafted on or having their bodies twisted like they were plasticine in the hands of a cruel child. There's some purpose at work here.

I sigh inwardly. But I think it's a purpose that requires a team of biomancers to understand.

"Did you grow up around here?"

"Somewhat close to here. Then the witch-hunters came, and their.. fire."

Ah.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

He snorts a humourless laugh. "'Tis our lot in life. Neither our mannish forebears nor our Sheeda forebears have any love for us, and most warlocks don't either."

"I'm-." I frown. "People like yourself, or first generation warlocks?"

"Both. I have only seen a warlock once, and he and his grundymen hurried through here without stopping. They felt only contempt for us. I could taste it."

"Literally or metaphorically?"

"Literally, though his scowl made his mind plain." He shrugs. "I taste it with my eyes."

"By spell, or an innate ability?"

Another shrug. "I don't use witch-sign, but maybe there is some other kind of magic? May I take my leave, sirrah?"

"Oh. Of course."

He turns and strides away, which-. He's been feeling my avarice. That… Must be uncomfortable. And if he's just feeling that it's there, he might not see what it is that I want.

I give him time to get away, then walk away from the pit and back towards Mistress Butler's home. Two rooms and a dirt floor, though the glyphs around the wall work to keep out moisture. Along with the maggot milk, presumably. There's a saw propped up against the outside wall, and it isn't made of metal. It couldn't be; they have no way to mine iron or copper and trade with the Columbians isn't possible. And stealing would be entirely too risky. Instead, this saw is made from part of a macro-insectoid's body. A foreleg, I think, with glyphs carved into it to extend its lifespan.

The door is open so I wander inside, where Abednego, Mistress Butler and Leonid are looking over a crude map. They look around as they hear me approach.

"We need actual researchers. I think there's something revealing going on, but I don't have the skills to study it."

Abednego raises his eyebrows very slightly. "Oh?"

"I'm not a magician. I can recognise some things based on what I've studied, but if someone's done something genuinely original there's no direct way for me to study it. Unless someone wants to go warlock while I watch so I can see exactly what happens."

"What is it that you have found?"

"There are certain characteristics of the body common to warlock-breed and all Sheeda creatures that I've been able to examine. It's not in people like yourself, or completely Sheeda-free humans like Starfire or me."

"Be it in the grundymen?"

I nod. "Yes. It's probably why branding works. Have you ever tried to brand a warlock?"

"No. Pistol shot is my preference for such as they."

"Do you know if it works?"

He shakes his head. "It has not occurred to any who would put it to paper to try. And I'll not be expecting the warlock-breed to volunteer for such treatment any more than I would turn myself warlock to assuage your curiosity."

I nod. "Mistress Butler, would your people mind our magicians coming here?"

"Now?"

"No, not right away. We only brought one with us and he's busy at the moment. It will be several months from now. And in the mean time… Would you like me to do some work on your town?"

 

[Darko]

at a local

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'as a local'

so aid

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'to aid'

to the physical

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'do the'

it someone's done

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'if someone'

 

[Handlewithcare]

Ah, good old fashioned helping. No politics, no complex entanglements, just making some folks lives better. Nice.

 

[Stsword]

For anyone curious, Sheeda Maggots don't really look much like maggots...

Spoiler