since elys already spoke to him, and it ties to plot hooks we've collected (mystic path conspiracy) i say we do the mishrak stack this month and then catch up with jana next month. i also dont mind doing it the other way round, or taking an extra two months to read the books in case the adults conviscate them from her before she has the chance to read them.
edit: i suppose we could keep it to ourselves for now, but imo the whole point of seeing samaya is to;
1: tell her about greenflame, and
2: tell her about the portal conspiracy that elys stumbled upon.
Dang, only once per month? Wow. Glad you've taken the "don't compress everything down to a week" advice to heart though.
[X] Visit Mishrak and ask how the war with Aspitolm is going.
-[X] Be impressed by his new 'Deep Ones' and the great armoured snapping turtles that they are telepathically bonded to.
--[X] Spend time with Catharne. Suggest that she learn some shapeshifting magic so that she can come with you on your subsequent adventures.
---[X] Ask after Samaya, the portal mage who was one of his contacts. She would be a very useful ally right now.
Not only does our current method of travel provide us with a good excuse for visiting Mishrak and his undersea palace, but the thing with Catharne and any information we give to Samaya sound like things that are better done sooner rather than later. Learning shapeshifting doesn't happen overnight after all (I mean, it might have if this was one of Chandagnac's previous quests, but...), and Samaya would probably also need some time to investigate and make plans.
Keep in mind, Samaya is hiding the fact that she's an elf, so Elys doesn't know. And thus, there is no in-character reason for doing #1. If we just happen to bring her up while talking about the portal conspiracy though, that would be fine.
Hmm... come to think of it, speaking of Samaya... I'm surprised her group hasn't come for Green Flame already, since her brother Galadan (AKA Raef Strange) is apparently the reason for Green Flame's relative freedom.
i forgot raef was free again. yeah, its odd that he hasnt given greenflame a visit, maybe just avoiding having anything to do with mystic path stuff and his old persona galadan.
Also this feels like the most natural choice given he went through the trouble of comin to get us:
[X] Visit Mishrak and ask how the war with Aspitolm is going.
-[X] Be impressed by his new 'Deep Ones' and the great armoured snapping turtles that they are telepathically bonded to.
--[X] Spend time with Catharne. Suggest that she learn some shapeshifting magic so that she can come with you on your subsequent adventures.
---[X] Ask after Samaya, the portal mage who was one of his contacts. She would be a very useful ally right now.
i forgot raef was free again. yeah, its odd that he hasnt given greenflame a visit, maybe just avoiding having anything to do with mystic path stuff and his old persona galadan.
"I will teach you as much as I can, when you are ready to learn," says Green Flame in a stern voice, which your new friends seem very surprised by: evidently, it is unusual for her to show any strong emotions. "I will not teach you anything that could easily kill you or destroy your mind, not until I am sure that you are ready for it."
"I was passed from master to master, treated as slaves are treated… until at last I fell into the hands of the former headmaster of this academy, Galadan the Mystic. He had no interest in using me as a slave; instead, he and some of his friends worked to restore as much of my original soul as they could find. Evidently, Keron must have thought that I might need a source of magical energy in an emergency, so he made sure that parts of my original soul were preserved by the ritual that turned me into an elf, stored within me so that I could draw upon them if I was ever pushed to my limits. What I am now – what I have become – is because of what Galadan and his friends did to me."
That explains a lot! Thanks to those guys for giving Green Flame back a modicum of free will, lets hope she gets free to do whatever she wants. She's got the time, y'know?
Yeah, Raef is a major character from A Hedge Maze Is You. Summary of what his deal is in spoilers:
Raef Strange is a shapeshifting elf created by Nymandor. He and his "siblings" were intentionally given a relatively high amount of free will by Nymandor, so they could make complex plans of their own for how to infiltrate human society with their shapeshifting, rather than just following a set of instructions. Also, thanks to their ability to actually live some sort of life of their own as long as they still followed Nymandor's very general orders, their souls managed to mostly repair what damage was done by the process over the millenia, leaving them with more or less human minds.
One of Raef's (presumably many) human disguises was Galadan The Mystic, who became the headmaster at this school in the hopes that he could guide his pupils to use their magic responsibly (and thus not risk damaging the fabric of space, thus fulfilling Nymandor's orders). This plan of Raef/Galadan's... backfired about as much as it possibly could have. One of his pupils was Dumar, who thanks to Galadan's teaching of portal magic, would one day become Agon Hurondus, leader of The Mystic Path. Hurondus, not wanting to risk anyone else learning portal magic and becoming a rival to him, decided to go after the Nymandor elves, kidnapping or killing them all. Most of them were tortured, enslaved, raped, killed, or several of the above. Raef, compared to his beloved family, actually got off relatively easy: he was just stuck in place unable to move or talk in Hurondus's semi-abandoned basement, for decades.
In the original timeline, Raef was freed by Hedgy, a couple more decades from now. Yeah, what he'd be doing now would still just be, standing in place in a small spot in a cell in a dark basement. After his rescue, he then got Hedgy to also rescue one of his sisters, Kari. Sadly, Kari had been sold to the most sadistic and horrible brothel in Aspitolm. The less said about what happened there the better, but after decades, even after her rescue Kari was suicidally depressed.
Luckily, thanks to Kaerina meddling with the timestream, in this timeline Kari was rescued by Gareth and Mishrak while she was on her way to Aspitolm (though Gareth doesn't know of his involvement; all he did was sink the ship Kari was on). Kari then disguised herself as a human named Samaya, and proceeded to use her new freedom to go around the world finding, freeing, repairing the souls of, and recruiting other elves like her. One of these was Raef, rescued from Hurondus's basement after only half as many decades! His current location and activities is unknown, since he's not with Samaya at Mishrak's undersea palace.
could be in his pocket dimension. portal mages would be very hard to keep track of, thst any of them ever got captured is quite a feat on the kidnappers part. all the survivors would be very scarred by it, despite elves innate abilty to compartmentalise and forget.
edit: i suppose we could keep it to ourselves for now, but imo the whole point of seeing samaya is to;
1: tell her about greenflame, and
2: tell her about the portal conspiracy that elys stumbled upon.
Actually, I was thinking that, if you can find Samaya, you could ask her to set up a permanent portal to the Academy in Tyrepheum, thereby circumventing the need to read Professor Elthonar's coded notebook and figure out how to use the magic mirrors.
It's either that or have timeskips spanning several years after every major story arc (like I did in The Tinpot Princess and Her Many Travels).
Anyway, I've planned for this quest to last until Elys is in her thirties. She's currently eleven years old. That means you'll get to vote for more than 200 different options before the end (probably closer to 250). And, considering that many of these vote options have the potential to turn into mini story arcs in their own right, spanning multiple different updates... it's possible that I'll need to have a few timeskips as well. I guess I'll see how it goes.
Hmm... come to think of it, speaking of Samaya... I'm surprised her group hasn't come for Green Flame already, since her brother Galadan (AKA Raef Strange) is apparently the reason for Green Flame's relative freedom.
i forgot raef was free again. yeah, its odd that he hasnt given greenflame a visit, maybe just avoiding having anything to do with mystic path stuff and his old persona galadan.
prof_Chemical is exactly right: Raef and Kari are avoiding the Tyrepheum Academy because it was the site of a horrifically traumatic experience for them both. And they can't be sure that Agon Hurondus isn't keeping an eye on his old school.
When I get around to writing the last chapter in School of Sorcery, after Elys leaves, someone will ask Green Flame, "Why are you still a slave? Why didn't Galadan set you free?"
Her answer to that will be... quite interesting, I think.
Yeesh. A Hedge Maze Is You gets ridiculously dark at times. All I can say is that its darkness was spawned from my depression, which I have struggled with for years. I think I'm better now than I was back then. Either that or I've got better at hiding my low moods.
Actually, long before she ended up in Aspitolm, the Mystic Path traded Kari to a wizard named Fyralio Belusk. He kept her for about three decades before selling her on to a group of slavers from Aspitolm. Maybe he'll be an important character in this quest...?
Thank you for writing such a comprehensive explanation of who Raef is, x_lksk. I appreciate your hard work.
Currently, Samaya isn't there either: she works for Mishrak on a fairly ad hoc basis, as thanks for his rescuing her from the shipwreck and helping her out occasionally.
Adhoc vote count started by Chandagnac on Jul 5, 2021 at 1:04 PM, finished with 10 posts and 4 votes.
[X] Visit Mishrak and ask how the war with Aspitolm is going.
-[X] Be impressed by his new 'Deep Ones' and the great armoured snapping turtles that they are telepathically bonded to.
--[X] Spend time with Catharne. Suggest that she learn some shapeshifting magic so that she can come with you on your subsequent adventures.
---[X] Ask after Samaya, the portal mage who was one of his contacts. She would be a very useful ally right now.
The vote is currently tied. If it remains tied, the 'Visit Mishrak' chain of votes will win, since prof_Chemical expressed her preference for it even though she hasn't voted.
[X] Visit Mishrak and ask how the war with Aspitolm is going.
-[X] Be impressed by his new 'Deep Ones' and the great armoured snapping turtles that they are telepathically bonded to.
--[X] Spend time with Catharne. Suggest that she learn some shapeshifting magic so that she can come with you on your subsequent adventures.
---[X] Ask after Samaya, the portal mage who was one of his contacts. She would be a very useful ally right now.
[X] Visit Mishrak and ask how the war with Aspitolm is going.
-[X] Be impressed by his new 'Deep Ones' and the great armoured snapping turtles that they are telepathically bonded to.
--[X] Spend time with Catharne. Suggest that she learn some shapeshifting magic so that she can come with you on your subsequent adventures.
---[X] Ask after Samaya, the portal mage who was one of his contacts. She would be a very useful ally right now.
[X] Visit Mishrak and ask how the war with Aspitolm is going.
-[X] Be impressed by his new 'Deep Ones' and the great armoured snapping turtles that they are telepathically bonded to.
--[X] Spend time with Catharne. Suggest that she learn some shapeshifting magic so that she can come with you on your subsequent adventures.
---[X] Ask after Samaya, the portal mage who was one of his contacts. She would be a very useful ally right now.
[x] Finish deciphering and reading Professor Elthonar's notebook.
I am interested in the mirror, or rather, other mirrors if there are any, and their owners. Something tells me they are all mages, though it remains to be seen if all of them are aware of each other.
Ah, as I'm currently reading Hedgie, I'll not be reading the spoiler, but thank you for typing it out, I appreciate it!
[x] Spend time with Jana at the Engelram Academy of the Magical Arts. (This will unlock the option to take her with you on your subsequent adventures.)
I could have sworn I voted for this earlier, but apparently I never did. How puzzling.
[X] Visit Mishrak and ask how the war with Aspitolm is going.
-[X] Be impressed by his new 'Deep Ones' and the great armoured snapping turtles that they are telepathically bonded to.
--[X] Spend time with Catharne. Suggest that she learn some shapeshifting magic so that she can come with you on your subsequent adventures.
---[X] Ask after Samaya, the portal mage who was one of his contacts. She would be a very useful ally right now.
"Goodbye, all of you! I hope to see you again soon," you say, waving to them. "Good luck with everything!"
A moment later, the poky little office seems to blur around you. Suddenly, it is as if you have become very small while Mishrak has become incredibly vast. He holds you in his claws, carrying you aloft, across a grey and hazy sky, flying so quickly that all you can see of the land below is a mass of indistinct shapes.
Fortunately, when you return to the Engelram Academy of the Magical Arts, no one seems to have realised that you had anything to do with the mysterious disappearance of Professor Tregard Elthonar or the ransacking of his office. However, various members of staff notice the grey dust on your shoes, your somewhat dishevelled appearance, and the fact that you showed up late for dinner; they come to the conclusion that you must have sneaked out of school without permission. They decide to assign you extra chores and a week's worth of detentions as punishment. Your only consolation is that Jana is enormously impressed by this. "Wow, Elys, I never realised you had it in you!" she congratulates you. "When did you become such a bad girl?"
"It's not my fault," you say, dejectedly picking at the remains of your casserole. "They just keep picking on me…"
"No one understands you," says Jana, in a tone of mingled sympathy and mockery. "That's why you go out and commit crimes."
"I haven't committed any crimes!" you declare, indignantly. Then, you remember that technically you trespassed on the grounds of the Tyrepheum Academy of the Magical Arts and assaulted four of their fifth-year pupils. In a low voice, wary of who might be listening in, you mutter, "It wasn't my intention to commit any crimes."
Jana laughs uproariously at that. "Oh, Elys…" She gives you a playful nudge. "Don't worry: if they send you to prison, I'll make sure to visit."
"Does that mean you'll join me in my detentions this week?" you ask, hopefully.
She thinks about it. "Nah, you're all right," she decides, after a moment.
You give a put-upon harumph, focus on finishing your meal, and don't speak to Jana again until it's time to say goodnight.
No, this isn't enough to unlock Jana as a party member. If you want her to be a permanent member of Elys's entourage, you'll have to vote for the 'Spend time with Jana at the Engelram Academy of the Magical Arts' option, next time you have a chance to do so.
After your detentions, you have no compunction against committing the 'crime' you were unjustly punished for: you make plans to sneak out of school again at the earliest possible opportunity.
One weekend, when you're feeling tired and at a low ebb, you contact Uncle Mishrak and ask for the chance to visit him. Obligingly, he whisks you away to his underwater palace, formerly the lair of the Sea Ghouls, which has become a temporary headquarters for those who are determined to resist the Aspiti Empire's plans to conquer all of Greater Quellonia.
Your parents are nowhere to be seen – as far as you know, they are very busy trying to save Rivayne, the largest and most populous of all the Queli nations, from being fatally weakened by a demonic conspiracy – but plenty of other people have gathered in the Dragon God's watery halls, ready for war. Many of them are Mishrak's new 'Deep Ones', humans who have been especially blessed and enhanced by him. They have been given various fishlike and amphibious traits to make them especially well-adapted to their new aquatic life: they're not all the same, but many of them have bulbous eyes, scaly skin, webbed hands and long fin-like feet; none of them need to breathe underwater because they can all magically absorb oxygen through their skin, but some of them have gills in various places 'just in case'.
As you walk with him perched on your shoulder, Mishrak explains that he believes that it would be useful for them to have gills in case anyone tried to dispel the magic that obviates the need to breathe underwater, but he was never able to decide where on the human body would be the optimal place to put them. As a compromise, he gave all of his 'Deep Ones' a minor shapeshifting power, meaning that they can become more humanlike or more fishlike as required: therefore, if anyone dispels the divine blessing that enables them to absorb oxygen through their skin, they should be able to shapeshift into a large fish for long enough to make a swift getaway.
"Unless someone dispels that as well," you point out.
"If someone dispels it, they can just cast it again," he says. "They should be able to reuse it as often as they need to."
"Actually, that gives me an idea," you say, just as you are about to enter the throne room. "Do you think that you could give Catharne a similar shapeshifting power? If she could make herself appear to be human, she could join me at the Academy!"
"I'm sure I could. It would take her some time to learn how to use it effectively, but..." Mishrak pauses. The emotions of his tiny dragon-like avatar are difficult to read, but you're fairly sure that he is looking pensive. "An interesting idea."
When she sees you, Catharne barely restrains herself from leaping at you and bowling you to the floor. Instead, showing quite remarkable patience, she merely rubs up against you, demanding that you scratch the back of her head and behind her ears. By now, she is a huge dragonling, larger than a warhorse, with a massive sweep of horns and a vast wingspan, so it would be easy to be intimidated by her fearsome appearance. However, since you're the one who raised her from an egg, you find it impossible to be frightened of her: to you, she'll always be your dorky little cousin.
"How would you like to join me at the Academy?" you ask her, when you've explained your 'shapeshifting powers' idea to her. "It'll be fun! I'll introduce you to everyone as my cousin, we'll hang out with Jana, and it'll be just like old times!"
"I don't want to go to the Academy. I never got to do anything fun while I was there," she says, disdainfully shaking her head from side to side: you hastily dodge out of the way to avoid being gored by her horns.
"But if you were pretending to be a normal human, you could enrol with us," you say, trying to persuade her. "Don't you miss the days when you could go into a normal-sized room without completely destroying the doorframe? Don't you want to spend time with us, learn magic with us, eat dinner with us – just like you used to?"
Catharne visibly perks up at the mention of the word 'dinner'. Her tendency towards gluttony has always been a flaw of hers, but in this case you are glad of it: it makes her easy to manipulate. Even so, she hesitates. "I don't know," she says doubtfully. "I thought I was supposed to be your 'noble steed'? You're not supposed to treat me like 'a normal human'."
Now that you've entered your teenage years – and, thanks to Jana supplying you with a wide variety of useful information, you are vaguely aware of 'the facts of life' – you decide that if Catharne ever takes human form, it would be best if she doesn't mention to anyone that she is your 'noble steed'.
"Why do you want to be treated like an animal?" you ask. "Don't you deserve to be treated the same as any other person? Don't you want to be treated like… like you're my cousin?"
Despite her reptilian appearance, she has quite an expressive face. Right now, she looks confused. "I've always been your 'noble steed'," she points out. "It's what I was born to be."
Mishrak makes an embarrassed noise. Shifting his feet so that he can settle more comfortably on your shoulder, he says, "Catharne… when I made you, I assumed that Elys would be a knight like her mother. Like she pretended to be in many of her childhood games. But now, she has chosen a different path. There is no reason why you can't do the same."
Is there anything else you want Elys to say to Catharne?
[] Write in.
It's getting late, so I'm going to end this here. Next time, Elys will take a closer look at the Deep Ones and the armoured turtles they are bonded to, ask Mishrak how the war with Aspitolm is going, and ask where Samaya has gone.
[] u can be a noble steed and still be a person, if you wouldnt be comfortable taking on the guise of a human, id understand, but it would be nice to be side by side again.
i dont know if elys would have the concept, but i want to get across that personhood can mean being a dragon person as much as it can mean being a human person (as well as the, pretending to be a human every now and then wont stop one from being the same person the've always known, noble steed-hood included)
Seconding
[X] You can be a noble steed and still be a person. If you wouldnt be comfortable taking on the guise of a human, I'd understand, but it would be nice to be side by side again.
And, also seconding adding an indefinite number of midway stages between the two forms.
...also, funny how you set up that vast bizarre intricate conspiracy in Rivayne at the end of Tinpot Princess, and it's going to be resolved primarily by characters who are not in focus. Still, it certainly its job of making Elys's parents have a good reason to not be able to instantly solve all of her problems anymore. Let's see if the Aspitolm war does the same for Mishrak.
And when Aspitolm and Zanaster inevitably get crushed a couple decades early (good fucking riddance) by Mishrak and the Allardynes getting added to their list of enemies, that means Paradise Loft gets ended early too! Kaerina's really being thorough at doing everything Hedgy will/would have done, way ahead of schedule.
[X] You can be a noble steed and still be a person. If you wouldnt be comfortable taking on the guise of a human, I'd understand, but it would be nice to be side by side again.
[X] You can be a noble steed and still be a person. If you wouldnt be comfortable taking on the guise of a human, I'd understand, but it would be nice to be side by side again.
Ah, a very adorable Elys today, if I do say so myself.
[x] You'll always be a person to me, and my noble steed too! You don't have to be human-shaped to be a person. I do miss you though, and we could spend a lot more time together, if you could be human-shaped when you want to.
[x] You'll always be a person to me, and my noble steed too! You don't have to be human-shaped to be a person. I do miss you though, and we could spend a lot more time together, if you could be human-shaped when you want to.
That explains a lot! Thanks to those guys for giving Green Flame back a modicum of free will, lets hope she gets free to do whatever she wants. She's got the time, y'know?
