"Before we get into too much else," you say, "I have something important to share. I found something out last night." You lay Ant's pendant on the table in front of everyone. No turning back, now; you've decided to be open. "Touch the pendant. Ant, show yourself."
Murmurs arise as the shared vision of Ant, seemingly unchanged from your last meeting, appears at the table in its own seat. Today, Ant acts surprisingly restrained and polite, keeping to its chair, not trying to intimidate with its mouth full of razor teeth. You and Ant go through a quick summary of what you've already discussed and what conditions apply. The others ask a few extra questions, establishing just how much Ant can perceive and what it would mean to have a Contract with one person while Ant's actual form is with another. Essentially, Ant's perceptions are your immediate surroundings, as well as someone else who has a Contract should Ant so choose, but it's not a clear or complete or constant picture. Ant describes it as something like listening in on a party while looking in a window from across the street: with strain, Ant can perceive more, but there's not necessarily clarity in what is gained.
No one immediately clamors to make a Contract, and you don't explicitly offer. Zahira tries a few times to trick Ant into sharing more than the spirit is offering for free, doing things like asking circuitously if Ant thinks that this "Great Dying" might happen again. Ant doesn't rise to the bait, saying nothing but rather pointedly gesturing to its arm. The meaning is impossible to miss: if you want to know, pay the cost. Zahira eventually subsides with ill grace, and everyone else satisfies their curiosities.
This does, of course, still leave you with the question of what to do next. You have your own thoughts, but Ant brings something up first. "By the way," the spirit says smoothly, sliding it into a break in the conversation, "That woman, Ariel, I think she called herself? She's improved rapidly over the last week." That inspires further murmurs, including from you, wondering how he can tell. "One can't exist to fight without some idea of how opponents learn. She put a little too much effort into drawing it at first, then her eyes slipped to it as she slung it around. She was still uncertain in her own abilities. Even a couple of weeks of familiarity would take that uncertainty away." That's a distinct difference from the simple untrained nature you had already noticed.
Kalju nods. "She did call herself 'grandmaster'," he says. "I suppose if she's re-developing something, and managed a quick advancement, that would mean that she qualifies for the title, doesn't it? No one's really able to quibble with it."
Ant seems satisfied. "Exactly. I doubt she's alone, either. As I'm sure you've all been taught, extreme situations can help master enlightened martial traditions or elemental magic. One thing that I don't think has been fully appreciated before is that this applies equally well to an emotional strain of 'it's all up to me' or realizing that there are no rivals who present an unconquerable wall of superiority to you. Not to mention that it's hardly unheard of for some new 'alpha' to arise almost overnight even in an animal pack if the current leader is taken out of the picture. I anticipate we'll see radical new skills and new-minted archmages faster than anyone dreams of right now. It will be different than the old order, because there is no continuity of tradition to teach it... but it will come."
You glare at Ant, who seems unperturbed by it. You had already been leaning towards suggesting that the group find out what's been going on with such developments, and now Ant has scooped that... while simultaneously dangling the development of personal skills in front of everyone. Neither you nor Ant have any ability to read the other's mind, but there's no doubt that Ant anticipated something of the sort coming, and saw this as a chance to plant the thought for your group that maybe now you could become something more than merely human. No wonder Ant was well-behaved to now. Samir and Zahira both look especially thoughtful. Dawn's look is harder to read. Kalju is the only one who looks a bit troubled.
Well, that particular topic can't be unheard. You clear your throat to attract attention and re-exert some level of control. "We should probably see what else we can find. Not just about the Bear's Mantle school, but whatever else exists as far as enlightened martial traditions and magic right now."
All of these have been deeply embedded in how the world works. Heroes wielding magical weapons and enlightened techniques have been the masters of the battlefield for centuries, fighting each other, spirits, armies, and monsters alike. Conceptual mages have been involved in everything from counter-intelligence to crop-raising, from healing to entertainment. Elementals have driven ships, shaped the land, preserved food, lit cities at night. Seers have provided early warning of natural disasters, allowed communication across vast stretches of the Shallow Ocean, brought intelligence, warned of monsters swarming, and more. The world is deeply shaped by how the mightiest mortals have brought extraordinary talents to everyday affairs, and that's without touching on the efforts of great spirits such as gods, angels, and demons, along with those who Contract with them.
Your connections here are not at such rarefied levels. You and your companions knew at least somewhat plenty of people who have connections at a more basic level. A potion of hell's heart might be worth more than a lifetime's savings for some poor fisherman, but cheaper ingredients may change hands a dozen times. Every great martial academy buys its protective sparring padding somewhere. Tal-Roshath's temple sourced its ritual wine from a mundane vintner to begin with. There's a whole network of people you can talk to who have a street-level view of the underpinnings of the glorious world of the great.
"We'll need to split up, of course. Too many people all together can't gather as much information." Not only can you visit less locations, but it's easier to have a casual conversation with one merchant or worker than have three or four people hound one target all at once. Once the conversation is well underway regarding who will go where, what they'll plan to meet up with, and what else to do, you casually snag Ant's pendant and discreetly put it away. Ant's phantom figure disappears from the group.
What follows is a lot of walking. The capital has changed, for sure. You see a lot more armed men than you ever have before. A large minority of them have a purple cloth that you realize you saw on the Regency Council thugs who you saw today. Others have a gold cloth, and the purple and gold groups don't seem to mix. Most have neither one. You see fewer food stalls than you had before, along with less entertainment options. There's a slight air of anticipation, but you're not sure exactly what.
You visit your share of the people you're talking to, as well a meeting and splitting up again with your companions, sharing what you have learned and re-directing efforts. You learn that there are three schools of martial traditions left in the capital, though all operating at a much smaller scope than before, both in terms of what they promise and in terms of how many (and what quality) of applicants they may accept. Ariel's school of the Bear's Mantle is one of them. The next one you find is called the Viper's Kiss, a tradition based on controlling one's body chemistry, creating everything from super adrenaline-analogues to synthesizing poison they can inject with a touch. Right now, the best practitioner seems to be able to manage alcohol: there's a story going around about him getting into a fight with a street gang and getting himself very drunk with his own powers. Luckily, he was saved by being good with so-called 'drunk-fu' and being able to sicken the toughs he was fighting against with a touch as they absorb just as much alcohol as he has. There are a lot of variations of the story, but that outline seems to be decently consistent. The last one is a school called the Untouchable Blade Style, which you're not too familiar with. People seem to describe it as "creepy to watch" and it apparently is specialized in striking down human opponents one-on-one, and its users have had a great win rate in formal duels. What its specific techniques and methods are seem to be hard to come by.
As far as magic goes, libraries have opened (under watchful eyes, of course) to give what had been minor tome mages access to spell listings that no one can currently cast but which some are already trying. Recruitment parties, some calling for Lady Adara and some calling for the Regency Council, are recruiting anyone with any trace of extra-sensory perception to join the seer network. There's a public lecture in one of the larger parks where a charismatic young speaker explains to an audience how to bind a concept and gain conceptual magic, with a couple of older men as examples. The older men are no great mages; they simply picked up a tiny sliver of magical ability to aid them as they aged. That's quite common; most village elders or wise women have at least a touch of conceptual or tome magic, just because of the sheer utility of having that supernatural aid to help keep pain managed, fields fertile, or whatever else their specific focus is. There's a very seedy establishment near the docks that is growing infamous for promising to give customers elemental magic. Doubtless someone is going to crack down on it soon, as it is apparently killing about one customer in twenty... that they admit to. However, half of the survivors are genuinely gaining some control over a pair of elements as they exit. A few of the less savory ship crews have delegations outside it, ready to try to conscript any success stories before they recover from whatever abuse they're undergoing.
It's clearly not a sustainable state of affairs. Something will change. Ant clearly thinks it's going to lead to at least a kind of renaissance, and while you're not entirely sure that Ant's right, it's not impossible to imagine.
You meet up with Dawn again towards the end of your planned intelligence gathering, and again exchange what you've found. She doesn't immediately separate from you again, though. She sticks close and hesitates. You stop, giving her a chance to come out with whatever it is. She looks up and down the street, ensuring that the other three are nowhere to be seen... before taking a deep breath and sighing. "Yes?" You prompt her.
Dawn squares up, psyching herself for something that she's clearly nervous about. "Boss... can I make that Contract with Ant?"
"What?" You blink at her.
"I have to know!" Now words tumble out of her, as if a dam broke. "I won't do anything else. I'll give it right back. I just... I have to know what happened, what wrecked the world and killed the gods." It seems a little premature to you to describe the world as 'wrecked' when you're standing in a crowded street and life seems generally okay, but Dawn keeps going. "I'll tell you everything. I won't ask for something more after this..." She looks deep into your eyes, trying to impress you with her sincerity. "This just means so much to me. If there's anything in our history that means anything to you... please."
She holds out one hand, slowly.
You swallow, and your mind races.
[] Yes
- [] ...Conditionally (write-in)
[] No
- [] Give an excuse (write-in)
You don't have to include a write-in here. That's only to make the basic yes or no more precise.
