Making Connections
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
WinterKnight
Keeper of the Shinies
- Location
- Higher than sky high
Well I don't know a lot about it, but I think some of the mages in the series know how to open portals between worlds, and I'm pretty sure there are also waypoints between worlds built in places, so maybe he could adapt that for the consortium?
86
Dropping the scrying spell, I shifted slightly in my seat, my right hand resting on the hilt of my shortened glaive beneath the table where it was leaning against the bench as I met Ren's eyes across the table. The man with the white hair across the inn shifted slightly in his seat, his eyes flickering between the bandits.
She smiled slightly and brushed a stray hair out of her face before sipping on her tankard of mead. She knew to get out of the way if anything happened to give me and Sheila free fields of fire.. long enough for her to turn around at least.
"Well, well." The one with the helmet said. "What do we have here?" he asked as I started to weave my spell.
"My name is Sheila Stark." Sheila said as she raised an eyebrow at him. "And who might you be?"
"Who I am is not important, Lady Stark." He said and shifted to straddle the bench next to Ren as he sat down, his hand resting on the hilt on his sword. "What is important is that these are dangerous lands. You are going to need some more protection than one guard... especially if you are going to look like you are."
Seriously? That's their play?
"Oh?"
"Yes... fortunately me and my men could take care of that. For a small fee."
Sheila shook her head. "I don't believe that would be necessary. We are quite capable of looking after ourselves."
He grinned at that, reaching out to flick Ren's braid. "Of course, it is completely up to you. But it would be really sad if-"
The lead bandit froze and slowly lowered his hand again, the edge of my glaive pressed against his throat from across the table.
"I believe the lady declined your offer." I said quietly. "You may wish to listen to her."
He stumbled back in his hurry to get away from my blade, rubbing his throat before drawing his sword. "Maybe me and the boys need to teach you a lesson, outlander."
"That's a bad idea." A voice said from across the inn and the bandit leader looked over his shoulder as my eyes flicked in the same direction. The cat-eyed man was leaning against the bar, his arms crossed.
What the hell? I didn't even see him move!
"...We don't want any trouble, Witcher." The leader quickly said, sheathing his sword before holding his hands up in the direction of the man.
"Then go somewhere there is none."
They scrambled out the door fast enough that I almost suspected there was some sort of teleportation magic in play. Damn.
Whoever this guy is, he has some serious reputation.
Keeping my eyes on him, I sheathed my glaive again as Sheila stood up. "Thank you for your help, Stranger." she said. "I'm sure we could have handled it, but your help was appreciated."
He nodded once. "He was right, though. These are dangerous lands, you should be more careful... Lady Stark, was it?"
"It is." She said and motioned to us as Ren shifted to sit with her back against the table, facing him. "This is Ren, a friend... And Atreus, our guard. We are not from this area."
His mouth twitched into a half smile. "So I see. I am Geralt of Rivia." before his eyes flicked in my direction. "That was a smooth move with your... sword?"
I inclined my head in his direction. "I have some practice." before I got up as well. "They called you... Witcher? Is that a title?"
Now he looked surprised. "You have never heard of Witchers?"
Sheila shook her head. "No. Like I said, we are new to these parts."
"Must have been quite far then." He said, slowly nodding. "Witchers are... monster hunters. Problem solvers. We have abilities normal men don't."
"...There are problems to be solved here?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. That did not bode well if there was a professional monster hunter running around the place.
That usually indicated the presence of something to hunt.
"In these parts, with the war going on? It attract all kinds of things." He said and shook his head. "That's not why I'm here. I'm looking for someone. A woman, perhaps you have seen her."
I smiled. "Perhaps. But how would we know?"
"She has hair like mine."
Ren shook her head. "We have not seen anybody like that. But if she is trying to hide, that would be an easy thing to change."
He chuckled. "Trust me, if you had seen her, you would have known it. No matter her hair color."
The door of the inn slammed open and I had my glaive half drawn before I saw that it wasn't the bandits that changed their mind, it was a young man. One of the locals.
"They... they say there was a witcher here!" He exclaimed and looked around before spotting Geralt. "There are things outside the village! By the river!"
The Witcher raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you have a better description than that?"
"They look like men... twisted and horrible!"
"Drowners." Geralt said with a nod. "Do you have money?"
"W-we don't have much! We had a collection, twenty Orens."
The Wither shook his head and said; "Very well. I suppose that will have to be enough." he looked over at us and continued, "I'm going to deal with this. If you have any sense, you head for safer lands."
I looked between him and the young local. "Want a hand? As thanks for the save."
"You would just get in the way." he said as he headed out the door.
I shared a look with Sheila and Ren before we followed him out the door. This we had to see!
AN// A big bucket of thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
She smiled slightly and brushed a stray hair out of her face before sipping on her tankard of mead. She knew to get out of the way if anything happened to give me and Sheila free fields of fire.. long enough for her to turn around at least.
"Well, well." The one with the helmet said. "What do we have here?" he asked as I started to weave my spell.
"My name is Sheila Stark." Sheila said as she raised an eyebrow at him. "And who might you be?"
"Who I am is not important, Lady Stark." He said and shifted to straddle the bench next to Ren as he sat down, his hand resting on the hilt on his sword. "What is important is that these are dangerous lands. You are going to need some more protection than one guard... especially if you are going to look like you are."
Seriously? That's their play?
"Oh?"
"Yes... fortunately me and my men could take care of that. For a small fee."
Sheila shook her head. "I don't believe that would be necessary. We are quite capable of looking after ourselves."
He grinned at that, reaching out to flick Ren's braid. "Of course, it is completely up to you. But it would be really sad if-"
The lead bandit froze and slowly lowered his hand again, the edge of my glaive pressed against his throat from across the table.
"I believe the lady declined your offer." I said quietly. "You may wish to listen to her."
He stumbled back in his hurry to get away from my blade, rubbing his throat before drawing his sword. "Maybe me and the boys need to teach you a lesson, outlander."
"That's a bad idea." A voice said from across the inn and the bandit leader looked over his shoulder as my eyes flicked in the same direction. The cat-eyed man was leaning against the bar, his arms crossed.
What the hell? I didn't even see him move!
"...We don't want any trouble, Witcher." The leader quickly said, sheathing his sword before holding his hands up in the direction of the man.
"Then go somewhere there is none."
They scrambled out the door fast enough that I almost suspected there was some sort of teleportation magic in play. Damn.
Whoever this guy is, he has some serious reputation.
Keeping my eyes on him, I sheathed my glaive again as Sheila stood up. "Thank you for your help, Stranger." she said. "I'm sure we could have handled it, but your help was appreciated."
He nodded once. "He was right, though. These are dangerous lands, you should be more careful... Lady Stark, was it?"
"It is." She said and motioned to us as Ren shifted to sit with her back against the table, facing him. "This is Ren, a friend... And Atreus, our guard. We are not from this area."
His mouth twitched into a half smile. "So I see. I am Geralt of Rivia." before his eyes flicked in my direction. "That was a smooth move with your... sword?"
I inclined my head in his direction. "I have some practice." before I got up as well. "They called you... Witcher? Is that a title?"
Now he looked surprised. "You have never heard of Witchers?"
Sheila shook her head. "No. Like I said, we are new to these parts."
"Must have been quite far then." He said, slowly nodding. "Witchers are... monster hunters. Problem solvers. We have abilities normal men don't."
"...There are problems to be solved here?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. That did not bode well if there was a professional monster hunter running around the place.
That usually indicated the presence of something to hunt.
"In these parts, with the war going on? It attract all kinds of things." He said and shook his head. "That's not why I'm here. I'm looking for someone. A woman, perhaps you have seen her."
I smiled. "Perhaps. But how would we know?"
"She has hair like mine."
Ren shook her head. "We have not seen anybody like that. But if she is trying to hide, that would be an easy thing to change."
He chuckled. "Trust me, if you had seen her, you would have known it. No matter her hair color."
The door of the inn slammed open and I had my glaive half drawn before I saw that it wasn't the bandits that changed their mind, it was a young man. One of the locals.
"They... they say there was a witcher here!" He exclaimed and looked around before spotting Geralt. "There are things outside the village! By the river!"
The Witcher raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you have a better description than that?"
"They look like men... twisted and horrible!"
"Drowners." Geralt said with a nod. "Do you have money?"
"W-we don't have much! We had a collection, twenty Orens."
The Wither shook his head and said; "Very well. I suppose that will have to be enough." he looked over at us and continued, "I'm going to deal with this. If you have any sense, you head for safer lands."
I looked between him and the young local. "Want a hand? As thanks for the save."
"You would just get in the way." he said as he headed out the door.
I shared a look with Sheila and Ren before we followed him out the door. This we had to see!
AN// A big bucket of thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
pheonix89
Wants to be Seven Of Nine
- Location
- North American Plaguelands
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Wait, the bandits were seriously going to pick a fight after their targets bodyguard went from "just sitting there" to "just sitting there, has pulled blade of thin air and placed it at leaders throat" in a blink of an eye? Surprised they had the common sense not to fight a Witcher. Someone who can pull a blade out of nowhere and place it at your throat before you noticed he was armed can take your head just as easily.
Pensive Rumination
Praise me more?
- Location
- Australia
Not to familiar with the setting, but this world doesn't really seem to have anything to interest the Azure Consortium other than the crazy stuff the 'Witcher Schools' use. And a lot of that stuff seems pretty shady.
Still, I could see both sides being willing to do some small scale trading. I imagine Witchers are always looking for stuff to make monster hunting easier. If it does pull though, Miss Red Dragon will probably be getting a lot of exotic potions to play with.
Still, I could see both sides being willing to do some small scale trading. I imagine Witchers are always looking for stuff to make monster hunting easier. If it does pull though, Miss Red Dragon will probably be getting a lot of exotic potions to play with.
Well it could always be worse. At least this isn't Dark Souls. There's just NOTHING of value there, except maybe some of the personal equipment you can find if you stay long enough.
... speaking of places where the best they can offer is personal equipment: kind of want to see Monster Hunter.
WinterKnight
Keeper of the Shinies
- Location
- Higher than sky high
Come to think of it, shouldn't Geralt's medallion let him see that Ren and Atreus aren't human?
87
He was right. I would just have been in the way.
I may not have been a master with my glaive yet, no matter what length it had... but I was not bad. I was actually pretty damn good and I used my magic to compensate for what I could not do with it.
In synergy, I could beat most people who did not simply overpower me or somehow fought in a way that completely negated my advantages and then I would likely fight as dragon instead.
This guy... This guy would kick my arse hard in human form. He moved like nobody I had ever seen before.
Geralt danced to the side as the bloated creature slashed after him, it's claws millimeters from his shoulder as he pivoted, his sword singing though the air, taking its arm off at the wrist before he shifted again, avoiding a strike from a second one before stabbing it deep in the chest, stepping back and avoiding the third with a slight shift of his feet as he decapitated the first one.
I'd never seen anyone move like that. It was like he was dancing with them, avoiding every strike, his sword licking out and splitting skin, cutting bone, taking limbs.
If it came to a fight... unless I was able to simply area of effect him down with spells before he got close, I would be so fucked it would be almost funny.
Hell, I would give him good odds even in dragon form! At least if I was unable to take off and strafe him from the skies.
"Let's avoid pissing off Witchers." Ren said softly from my left. We stood on the bridge, looking over the side where the witcher was outright murdering those... whatever they were. Undead, maybe? They barely looked human enough to count... but then again, neither did ghouls.
Sheila leaned against the stone next to her as she nodded. "That sounds like a wise idea." She said with a frown, "I've never seen anyone fight like that."
I shook my head. "No wonder those guys backed off so quickly."
His sword took the head off the last of the creatures before stopping and looking around to see if there were more of them before he cleaned his sword off and sheathed it on his back again, before kneeling down by one of the creatures, pulling out a dagger to harvest something from them.
Well, at least this confirmed several things.
For one thing, those creatures confirmed for sure that there was magic around even if Geralt didn't count because there was no way that guy was actually human anymore... if he ever was in the first place.
"Stay here? I'll go talk to him."
"About?" Sheila asked softly and frowned.
"Where the closest town is for one thing... what those things were, what he is doing. Also... I have to see if I can get him as a summon." I said quietly with a grin before heading down from the bridge.
Wonder what color he would be? My guess from the fact that he fought monsters, was white. Most humans were.
Walking off the road, I rounded the base of the bridge and headed down onto the beach, stepping over one of the dead monsters.
"You were right." I said as I got closer. "I would just have been in the way."
"People should learn to leave monster killing to professionals." He said and dug into the chest of one of the creatures, pulling out a small organ.
I nodded. "So I see. So... Witchers hunt monsters?"
"We do."
"A lot of those around here?"
He gave me a flat look at that and shook his head, moving to dig into the next of the corpses. "With this much fighting going on? Attracts all sorts of things. Ghouls, drowners... Gryphons."
I nodded and waited until he finished pulling whatever it was he wanted from the dead thing before I spoke up again. "Would it be possible to hire you in advance? For future services."
Geralt raised an eyebrow at that. "I thought you were just passing through."
"We are." I told him and shook my head. "But I doubt it's the first time and we won't always have currency on hand. It could be... good to have help to call in if need be."
"I won't always be here, either. Like I said, looking for someone."
I nodded again. "Even so." I sighed and dug into my satchel, finding a couple of slips of silver. "The Lady wishes to thank you for the save in either case. It's my idea to see it as a future investment."
He chuckled. "Very well then. If we are both around and you need help, I'll give you a hand." he said and took my handshake as I handed over the silver, channeling a bit of mana.
The summoning pattern settled in the back of my mind. A powerful one... it would need three full mana to cast. White and two more for extra power.
The most powerful one I had so far. I thought mana amount was limited by size... but he would take as much as the Frosttroll.
His eyes widened and he pulled his hand from my grasp. "I did think you had magic. All three of you. You are no mere guard. What did you do?"
Holy crap! He noticed!?
I quickly put my hands up. "I apologize, I was just curious. I have never met anyone like a Witcher before. I'm sorry, I should have asked."
Geralt didn't look very happy but he slowly nodded. "Who are you, really?"
"My name is Atreus. I have some minor talent, but my main skills are not in spellcasting." I said and as sad as that was for a Blue Dragon, that was the truth. I was a better smith and enchanter than I was a spellslinger. "We didn't lie, we might just not have told the entire truth. We really are just traveling though, though."
"Which way?"
"Towards the closest city... if you could give us directions." I admitted. "We are a bit lost."
He shook his head. "That is Novigrad to the North, but I would advice you to go somewhere else. Even if you get past the creatures and bandits in the forest, it is a rather unfriendly place with quite a dislike for mages nowadays. Burn them at the stake."
Well, wasn't that just great fucking news. This world was just getting better and better.
"...Perhaps it would be a good idea to head somewhere else."
No. Screw this and screw this world. I'll find somewhere to rest up a couple of days and then we are out of here.
There was no way there was enough magic around this place to be worth the trouble of trying to go through a bloody warzone to get to a place that burned mages alive.
"Go East. Most of the fighting is currently focused along the coast."
"We will take that under advisement, Master Witcher."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
I may not have been a master with my glaive yet, no matter what length it had... but I was not bad. I was actually pretty damn good and I used my magic to compensate for what I could not do with it.
In synergy, I could beat most people who did not simply overpower me or somehow fought in a way that completely negated my advantages and then I would likely fight as dragon instead.
This guy... This guy would kick my arse hard in human form. He moved like nobody I had ever seen before.
Geralt danced to the side as the bloated creature slashed after him, it's claws millimeters from his shoulder as he pivoted, his sword singing though the air, taking its arm off at the wrist before he shifted again, avoiding a strike from a second one before stabbing it deep in the chest, stepping back and avoiding the third with a slight shift of his feet as he decapitated the first one.
I'd never seen anyone move like that. It was like he was dancing with them, avoiding every strike, his sword licking out and splitting skin, cutting bone, taking limbs.
If it came to a fight... unless I was able to simply area of effect him down with spells before he got close, I would be so fucked it would be almost funny.
Hell, I would give him good odds even in dragon form! At least if I was unable to take off and strafe him from the skies.
"Let's avoid pissing off Witchers." Ren said softly from my left. We stood on the bridge, looking over the side where the witcher was outright murdering those... whatever they were. Undead, maybe? They barely looked human enough to count... but then again, neither did ghouls.
Sheila leaned against the stone next to her as she nodded. "That sounds like a wise idea." She said with a frown, "I've never seen anyone fight like that."
I shook my head. "No wonder those guys backed off so quickly."
His sword took the head off the last of the creatures before stopping and looking around to see if there were more of them before he cleaned his sword off and sheathed it on his back again, before kneeling down by one of the creatures, pulling out a dagger to harvest something from them.
Well, at least this confirmed several things.
For one thing, those creatures confirmed for sure that there was magic around even if Geralt didn't count because there was no way that guy was actually human anymore... if he ever was in the first place.
"Stay here? I'll go talk to him."
"About?" Sheila asked softly and frowned.
"Where the closest town is for one thing... what those things were, what he is doing. Also... I have to see if I can get him as a summon." I said quietly with a grin before heading down from the bridge.
Wonder what color he would be? My guess from the fact that he fought monsters, was white. Most humans were.
Walking off the road, I rounded the base of the bridge and headed down onto the beach, stepping over one of the dead monsters.
"You were right." I said as I got closer. "I would just have been in the way."
"People should learn to leave monster killing to professionals." He said and dug into the chest of one of the creatures, pulling out a small organ.
I nodded. "So I see. So... Witchers hunt monsters?"
"We do."
"A lot of those around here?"
He gave me a flat look at that and shook his head, moving to dig into the next of the corpses. "With this much fighting going on? Attracts all sorts of things. Ghouls, drowners... Gryphons."
I nodded and waited until he finished pulling whatever it was he wanted from the dead thing before I spoke up again. "Would it be possible to hire you in advance? For future services."
Geralt raised an eyebrow at that. "I thought you were just passing through."
"We are." I told him and shook my head. "But I doubt it's the first time and we won't always have currency on hand. It could be... good to have help to call in if need be."
"I won't always be here, either. Like I said, looking for someone."
I nodded again. "Even so." I sighed and dug into my satchel, finding a couple of slips of silver. "The Lady wishes to thank you for the save in either case. It's my idea to see it as a future investment."
He chuckled. "Very well then. If we are both around and you need help, I'll give you a hand." he said and took my handshake as I handed over the silver, channeling a bit of mana.
The summoning pattern settled in the back of my mind. A powerful one... it would need three full mana to cast. White and two more for extra power.
The most powerful one I had so far. I thought mana amount was limited by size... but he would take as much as the Frosttroll.
His eyes widened and he pulled his hand from my grasp. "I did think you had magic. All three of you. You are no mere guard. What did you do?"
Holy crap! He noticed!?
I quickly put my hands up. "I apologize, I was just curious. I have never met anyone like a Witcher before. I'm sorry, I should have asked."
Geralt didn't look very happy but he slowly nodded. "Who are you, really?"
"My name is Atreus. I have some minor talent, but my main skills are not in spellcasting." I said and as sad as that was for a Blue Dragon, that was the truth. I was a better smith and enchanter than I was a spellslinger. "We didn't lie, we might just not have told the entire truth. We really are just traveling though, though."
"Which way?"
"Towards the closest city... if you could give us directions." I admitted. "We are a bit lost."
He shook his head. "That is Novigrad to the North, but I would advice you to go somewhere else. Even if you get past the creatures and bandits in the forest, it is a rather unfriendly place with quite a dislike for mages nowadays. Burn them at the stake."
Well, wasn't that just great fucking news. This world was just getting better and better.
"...Perhaps it would be a good idea to head somewhere else."
No. Screw this and screw this world. I'll find somewhere to rest up a couple of days and then we are out of here.
There was no way there was enough magic around this place to be worth the trouble of trying to go through a bloody warzone to get to a place that burned mages alive.
"Go East. Most of the fighting is currently focused along the coast."
"We will take that under advisement, Master Witcher."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
I dunno, I'm pretty positive this IS the first time. I think you meant Last?
Is that a "see true self" effect, or a "see through disguises" effect? Because the former would work, but the mortal form thing is an extended Polymorph so the latter wouldn't. Right now, Ren and Atreus really are human. Physically, at least.
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- Location
- Right here
It's neither. The medallion reacts to magic. It's a good indicator that something wonky is going on, but doesn't give any clue as to what exactly is happening.
The medallion doesn't just go off around sorcerers either, only when magic is actively in use. Though apparently, most monsters are magical enough on their own to ping the thing.
At least, that's the impression I've gotten from the games, The Last Wish and Blood of Elves. I haven't been able to track down the rest of the books in english
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esotericist
A Weary Hand
- Location
- Lacey, WA
Hold on, when did Atreus learn to plan ahead in order to avoid poor outcomes rather than plan ahead in order to run into them snoutfirst?
88
"Kalecgos." I said and bowed my head slightly when I noticed my flightleader approaching. The dragonkin carrying the boat were putting it down on the snow outside the nexus.
As they noticed him, they quickly turned and bowed deeply. That was the reason I found them slightly creepy, their almost-worship of all things dragon. So much that during the millennium since they started, they had changed from mortals to dragonlike centaur creatures.
Though, I could not argue that they were not useful. Moving the boat from my workshop to the surface without them would have been a pain and a half... then again, even with them carrying it, it was not exactly easy.
In retrospect, I could have put up some temporary portal stones, but meh. We got it out at least.
What drew my attention was not him, it was his companions and I bowed slightly again. "Lady Proudmoore."
The third being approaching was a tall woman, a high elf, with long, red hair flowing freely in the wind. She could only be a dragon in mortal form from the way she completely ignored the snow, even though she was only wearing a thin, light blue dress.
"Atregos." Kalecgos answered with a smile. "This is Saistrasza. My second consort."
Oh. Wow. And from a different flight too. I didn't think Lady Proudmoore would approve of it, but...
...Oh! That's what she talked to Sheila about!
I gave her a small bow as well. "Saistrasza."
"Greetings, Atregos." She answered with a nod. "I see you have created an artifact."
Shaking my head, I looked over at the boat. "That's yet to be seen."
A couple of weeks since returning from... whatever you wanted to call that wartorn hellhole. Velen. Sure, let's go with that... most of which had been spent trying to get this damn thing put together and working.
I wanted it functional and tested before we had to head back to Skyrim.
It should be working now, but I had been unable to test it fully outside the lab yet. This was the test.
Jaina frowned and pulled her warm cloak a bit tighter around herself against the freezing wind. "Is that... a flying ship?"
"Boat. Way too small to be called a ship." I said and shrugged. "As for flying... let's find out, shall we?" I continued before walking over and climbing into it, touching the side as I started to go over the enchantments one last time. "It's a enchanting prototype. The real thing will need a different structural layout due to size and mechanical stresses on the hull. Maybe make it out of steel or some other metal."
I actually had some ideas about that. Dwemer metal would be the dream to build it out of. That stuff was just so efficient... but that would mean mining a hundred or so tons of the stuff from an old Dwemer ruin... and then either building the ship there or me having to haul all that stuff back home. Neither of which was exactly a good idea. Stupid metal still refused to be replicated by any means.
Then again... I couldn't help but wonder if it was possible to somehow bring the ship with me when I 'Walked'.
It seemed unlikely, but Dwemer metal was not only very effective at channeling magic, it was also 'soul' reactive and as such interacted well with the so called 'soulgems' that powered Dwemer automatons.
In theory... my ability did come from my soul...
...Hmm...
Touching the side of the railing, I gave the boat a mental command and it slowly rose into the air, keeping nice and steady.
Good... very good. Engaging propulsion...
From emitters 'midships' golden light slowly spread to form a pair of fan-shaped 'sails'. These ones didn't catch the wind, though, they collected magical energy into the crystal capacitor of the boat, allowing it to function without needing to constantly drain the one flying it.
They also worked as propulsion, converting some of that magical energy into force. I slowly started to move and I shifted slightly, a touch to the side ordering the boat to slowly start to circle, still moving at about running speed.
Even so, my experiment had attracted attention. Dragons of all sizes circling far above as they watched.
I did it.
I solved the problem of how to make a flying ship. One with effectively unlimited range unless it somehow ended up in a magic-free zone.
Well... flying boat. I was rather sure it would scale perfectly well as long as the actual hull of the ship held up, but I would have to test it.
If this worked, it could revolutionize travel in a way not seen since the wheel. Weight was not really an issue either, you would cube out before you weighted out... well, unless you filled the boat with lead or something, lift wasn't unlimited and there was a limit to how much magic the 'sails' could gather from the environment.
Letting the boat circle on autopilot I focused on again going over all the enchantments, one by one now when they were operating. Everything was working perfectly... from capacitor to storage crystal to the collectors.
I couldn't quite hide a happy grin as I touched the boat again, ordering it to fold its wings and land on the soft snow where we took of from.
"Incredible." Jaina said and walked up to put her hand on the side of the boat, looking along it before leaning in to look at the 'sail emitter'. "You actually made a flying boat with nothing but magic. I don't think anyone has managed that before, not even the Scourge. Would it be possible for me to look at the enchanting diagrams? I would owe you a major favor, Atregos."
A favor owed by my flightleader's lead consort?
I leaned slightly to the side to look at Kalecgos who gave me a small nod. She might be his lead consort, but she was still Kirin Tor and not a member of the flight. Had to check.
I nodded. "Of course. But honestly, it's a modification of that of a flying carpet, nothing more. Wasn't that complex and I worked on it for a long while. Just took a while to figure out how to get it working for a different sort of shape and in the end, I needed to fudge it anyway."
That earned me a strange look. "Flying carpets are not complex?"
"Well, they are, just not that difficult ...My glaive is more involved."
It really was, it involved two completely different enchanting systems working off metals worked in several different styles, all from different universes using magic I invented ways to integrate myself. And I might need to add another enchanting system, from Tyria this time, to get it to be able to return to my hand if thrown, they seemed to have the best way of doing that.
Two enchanting systems was a headache on its own. Adding a third would make the difficulty increase exponentially.
"...I see..."
AN// A big box of thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
As they noticed him, they quickly turned and bowed deeply. That was the reason I found them slightly creepy, their almost-worship of all things dragon. So much that during the millennium since they started, they had changed from mortals to dragonlike centaur creatures.
Though, I could not argue that they were not useful. Moving the boat from my workshop to the surface without them would have been a pain and a half... then again, even with them carrying it, it was not exactly easy.
In retrospect, I could have put up some temporary portal stones, but meh. We got it out at least.
What drew my attention was not him, it was his companions and I bowed slightly again. "Lady Proudmoore."
The third being approaching was a tall woman, a high elf, with long, red hair flowing freely in the wind. She could only be a dragon in mortal form from the way she completely ignored the snow, even though she was only wearing a thin, light blue dress.
"Atregos." Kalecgos answered with a smile. "This is Saistrasza. My second consort."
Oh. Wow. And from a different flight too. I didn't think Lady Proudmoore would approve of it, but...
...Oh! That's what she talked to Sheila about!
I gave her a small bow as well. "Saistrasza."
"Greetings, Atregos." She answered with a nod. "I see you have created an artifact."
Shaking my head, I looked over at the boat. "That's yet to be seen."
A couple of weeks since returning from... whatever you wanted to call that wartorn hellhole. Velen. Sure, let's go with that... most of which had been spent trying to get this damn thing put together and working.
I wanted it functional and tested before we had to head back to Skyrim.
It should be working now, but I had been unable to test it fully outside the lab yet. This was the test.
Jaina frowned and pulled her warm cloak a bit tighter around herself against the freezing wind. "Is that... a flying ship?"
"Boat. Way too small to be called a ship." I said and shrugged. "As for flying... let's find out, shall we?" I continued before walking over and climbing into it, touching the side as I started to go over the enchantments one last time. "It's a enchanting prototype. The real thing will need a different structural layout due to size and mechanical stresses on the hull. Maybe make it out of steel or some other metal."
I actually had some ideas about that. Dwemer metal would be the dream to build it out of. That stuff was just so efficient... but that would mean mining a hundred or so tons of the stuff from an old Dwemer ruin... and then either building the ship there or me having to haul all that stuff back home. Neither of which was exactly a good idea. Stupid metal still refused to be replicated by any means.
Then again... I couldn't help but wonder if it was possible to somehow bring the ship with me when I 'Walked'.
It seemed unlikely, but Dwemer metal was not only very effective at channeling magic, it was also 'soul' reactive and as such interacted well with the so called 'soulgems' that powered Dwemer automatons.
In theory... my ability did come from my soul...
...Hmm...
Touching the side of the railing, I gave the boat a mental command and it slowly rose into the air, keeping nice and steady.
Good... very good. Engaging propulsion...
From emitters 'midships' golden light slowly spread to form a pair of fan-shaped 'sails'. These ones didn't catch the wind, though, they collected magical energy into the crystal capacitor of the boat, allowing it to function without needing to constantly drain the one flying it.
They also worked as propulsion, converting some of that magical energy into force. I slowly started to move and I shifted slightly, a touch to the side ordering the boat to slowly start to circle, still moving at about running speed.
Even so, my experiment had attracted attention. Dragons of all sizes circling far above as they watched.
I did it.
I solved the problem of how to make a flying ship. One with effectively unlimited range unless it somehow ended up in a magic-free zone.
Well... flying boat. I was rather sure it would scale perfectly well as long as the actual hull of the ship held up, but I would have to test it.
If this worked, it could revolutionize travel in a way not seen since the wheel. Weight was not really an issue either, you would cube out before you weighted out... well, unless you filled the boat with lead or something, lift wasn't unlimited and there was a limit to how much magic the 'sails' could gather from the environment.
Letting the boat circle on autopilot I focused on again going over all the enchantments, one by one now when they were operating. Everything was working perfectly... from capacitor to storage crystal to the collectors.
I couldn't quite hide a happy grin as I touched the boat again, ordering it to fold its wings and land on the soft snow where we took of from.
"Incredible." Jaina said and walked up to put her hand on the side of the boat, looking along it before leaning in to look at the 'sail emitter'. "You actually made a flying boat with nothing but magic. I don't think anyone has managed that before, not even the Scourge. Would it be possible for me to look at the enchanting diagrams? I would owe you a major favor, Atregos."
A favor owed by my flightleader's lead consort?
I leaned slightly to the side to look at Kalecgos who gave me a small nod. She might be his lead consort, but she was still Kirin Tor and not a member of the flight. Had to check.
I nodded. "Of course. But honestly, it's a modification of that of a flying carpet, nothing more. Wasn't that complex and I worked on it for a long while. Just took a while to figure out how to get it working for a different sort of shape and in the end, I needed to fudge it anyway."
That earned me a strange look. "Flying carpets are not complex?"
"Well, they are, just not that difficult ...My glaive is more involved."
It really was, it involved two completely different enchanting systems working off metals worked in several different styles, all from different universes using magic I invented ways to integrate myself. And I might need to add another enchanting system, from Tyria this time, to get it to be able to return to my hand if thrown, they seemed to have the best way of doing that.
Two enchanting systems was a headache on its own. Adding a third would make the difficulty increase exponentially.
"...I see..."
AN// A big box of thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
...I think everyone is seeing where Atregos is good at magic. Enchantment, instead of the magic most of the blue flight has the knack for. Multiple systems of enchantment, which aren't quite nice to each other, and thinking of adding a third? Yeah, most would say that his self-esteem is way too low about his magic abilities, what with bemoaning his casting abilities.
Why do I get the feeling Atregos is underselling himself again?
if anyone else except a master enchanter saw the enchantments on his glaive they'd probably not understand it, the master enchanter would probably only be drooling at the prospect of working with that kind of study material instead.
if anyone else except a master enchanter saw the enchantments on his glaive they'd probably not understand it, the master enchanter would probably only be drooling at the prospect of working with that kind of study material instead.
Pensive Rumination
Praise me more?
- Location
- Australia
So I know that in the MtG Card games you can summon Artifacts...do planeswalkers have an equivalent ability?
esotericist
A Weary Hand
- Location
- Lacey, WA
Alright, now we've seen. Time to get your head out of the Dunning-Kruger.
I should hope so. The player in MtG is, in fact, a Planeswalker. If Planeswalkers couldn't summon artifacts, a lot of players would be very upset.
The question is if Atreus knows he can summon artifacts. It should have been covered in his short training session with the other two in Skyrim; even if they didn't teach him much at the time, what can and cannot be summoned should have fallen under "basic information" from the very first day.
Which does raise the question, though: how do you classify buildings? There are several cards that are actually summoned buildings, but I'm not sure if all buildings are applicable. Or maybe they are, and you just don't see that many because keeping a template for a random house isn't that useful?
You don't summon artifacts. I see the 'mana cost' being a representation of the effort to get the materials and crafting the artifact in question. Or paying somebody to make it for you.
Jaina died???
girador
There are only four circles in this picture
- Location
- behind a screen
looks like it got retconned at some point, but during the events of Garrosh Hellscream's trial he escaped using the help of a corrupt member of the bronze dragonflight and some summoned time clones, the clones fought dirty and jaina took a frost spike to the gut. by the time the fight was over garrosh had escaped to draenor pre burning crusade and everyone who fought the time clones was pretty much out of mana thrall's wife tried using what she had left to heal jaina but it wasn't enough and jaina bled out. I say that it looks like it was retconned because for some reason i can't find the place where i read that particular bit of lore. It was a good story and made sense as to how the hell warlords managed to happen in the first place. I would link to it if i could find the darned thing. However, after looking things up again I don't know maybe i'm remembering things screwy.
I see! However, I feel I must correct you on one point.
"made sense as to how the hell warlords managed to happen in the first place."
Nothing about Warlords made/makes sense, silly.
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89
"By the light... what happened!?" Sheila exclaimed as she stared at me.
This was so embarrassing.
I sighed and crossed my frontlegs, putting my head on them. "I was heading down to the research labs to check on the progress of the soul gems. I had a idea and... long story short, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time when something went wrong in the next lab."
She kept staring at me as she slowly approached. "What?"
"They were trying to improve on a gnomish shrink ray, make it stronger to shrink larger items. Good news... it kind of worked. Bad news, I'm stuck like this for another twenty hours or so until the effect wears off."
"So... not permanent?" She asked carefully reaching out to scratch softly at the 'shoulder' of my right wing.
I shook my head. "No... but the effect is too powerful for me to be able to change to mortal form until it wears off. We have to push our departure to Skyrim up a bit."
Sheila smiled brightly. "Almost too bad because you look downright adorable!" she giggled and reached out to pick me up before hugging me to her chest.
When I returned being larger than a housecat, I was going to rip the tail off that dragon and feed it to him for not following proper testing procedures, especially with Gnomish devices!
"You can take him home." Targos chuckled. "Just get him back here by tomorrow evening so that we can portal him back to the Nexus before he returns to his real size."
The old Wyrm look way too amused for his own good by the entire situation.
Sheila grinned and nodded. "I'll make sure. Having him return to normal in the middle of our place would be bad." she said before she frowned at me. "How shall we get you back home unseen?"
...Good question, the satchel might not be airtight but expanded insides did not like holding living things.
Targos gave us the answer. "I have a cloak here somewhere. You can hide him under that." he said and moved to dig a thin cloak out of one of his chests. "Here we go." he said and tossed the black cloth over to her.
Sheila put me down on the workbench and put the cloak on before she hid a grin as she looked at me. "Sorry... but this is really kind of funny." she said before gently picking me up again and hugging me close beneath the cloak.
I sighed. "Yeah... a bit maybe." before I cuddled closer against her soft... actually, you know what? This might not be so bad after all.
XXXXXXXXXX
...Maybe I should try to figure out exactly what they did with that shrinkray. It was only meant to work for a couple of minutes instead of an entire day.
Because this was awesome.
Ren had been pissed when she found out what happened. At me for getting hit! An hour or so later, she had calmed down.
She had a bit of a point, I should have known better than to enter a lab unannounced. But this did have it's upsides. Like allowing me to curl up on her lap as she and Sheila talked.
"I think I have found the right place. A small storefront in the old town, actually. Really only a hole in the wall, but I won't need too much." Sheila said with a shrug. "Not even in the bad part of the old town.
I rolled onto my back and looked up at her. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
She grinned and reached to scratch my chin with a finger. "It's close to the gate closest to the Market District. Like I said, not the bad part of old town." before she smiled playfully and continued; "Besides... I plan to put just about every security spell on the place I can."
Closing my eyes, I couldn't help but purr at the attention much to Ren's amusement. "I'll give you a hand." she giggled before she looked thoughtful. "That's the right saying, right?"
"It is." Sheila confirmed. "You are getting better at that."
Rolling onto my paws, I clambered up on the back of the couch to lay down across Sheilas shoulders like an iguana. "You know, this is quite practical." I said and shifted my wings.
Sheila raised her eyebrows and turned her head to look at me, giving me a dubious look. "Oh? Because I can think if several things we can't do as long as you are like this."
Digging my claws into her dress, I clambered around until I was hanging down her chest, facing upwards, my wings spread for balance. "Oh?"
She gave me an amused look and picked me up. "If your claws damage my dress, I'll get quite cross with you." she said with a grin. "And yes, some things we are not doing with you in dragon form. Tiny or not." before she handed me back to Ren. "Especially not me."
"Size difference would be a problem." Ren said as she took me, putting me back in her lap. "But I'll admit, like this he looks rather like a whelp... cute rather than attractive."
Sighing, I curled up again, folding my wings. Okay, maybe this was not quite as awesome as I first thought.
Then Ren started to scratch me softly between my wings and I just melted. I take that back. I was right in the first place.
The only really annoying part of this was that it was pushing back the trip to Skyrim... and I was really curious at what had been going on since my last visit.
Was the civil war over? Did Ajani manage to help solve the local dragon conflict? Were the branches still operational?
Guess we would find out in a couple of da-
Squeak!
No! No tickles!
AN// A bucket of thanks and a good vacation to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
This was so embarrassing.
I sighed and crossed my frontlegs, putting my head on them. "I was heading down to the research labs to check on the progress of the soul gems. I had a idea and... long story short, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time when something went wrong in the next lab."
She kept staring at me as she slowly approached. "What?"
"They were trying to improve on a gnomish shrink ray, make it stronger to shrink larger items. Good news... it kind of worked. Bad news, I'm stuck like this for another twenty hours or so until the effect wears off."
"So... not permanent?" She asked carefully reaching out to scratch softly at the 'shoulder' of my right wing.
I shook my head. "No... but the effect is too powerful for me to be able to change to mortal form until it wears off. We have to push our departure to Skyrim up a bit."
Sheila smiled brightly. "Almost too bad because you look downright adorable!" she giggled and reached out to pick me up before hugging me to her chest.
When I returned being larger than a housecat, I was going to rip the tail off that dragon and feed it to him for not following proper testing procedures, especially with Gnomish devices!
"You can take him home." Targos chuckled. "Just get him back here by tomorrow evening so that we can portal him back to the Nexus before he returns to his real size."
The old Wyrm look way too amused for his own good by the entire situation.
Sheila grinned and nodded. "I'll make sure. Having him return to normal in the middle of our place would be bad." she said before she frowned at me. "How shall we get you back home unseen?"
...Good question, the satchel might not be airtight but expanded insides did not like holding living things.
Targos gave us the answer. "I have a cloak here somewhere. You can hide him under that." he said and moved to dig a thin cloak out of one of his chests. "Here we go." he said and tossed the black cloth over to her.
Sheila put me down on the workbench and put the cloak on before she hid a grin as she looked at me. "Sorry... but this is really kind of funny." she said before gently picking me up again and hugging me close beneath the cloak.
I sighed. "Yeah... a bit maybe." before I cuddled closer against her soft... actually, you know what? This might not be so bad after all.
XXXXXXXXXX
...Maybe I should try to figure out exactly what they did with that shrinkray. It was only meant to work for a couple of minutes instead of an entire day.
Because this was awesome.
Ren had been pissed when she found out what happened. At me for getting hit! An hour or so later, she had calmed down.
She had a bit of a point, I should have known better than to enter a lab unannounced. But this did have it's upsides. Like allowing me to curl up on her lap as she and Sheila talked.
"I think I have found the right place. A small storefront in the old town, actually. Really only a hole in the wall, but I won't need too much." Sheila said with a shrug. "Not even in the bad part of the old town.
I rolled onto my back and looked up at her. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
She grinned and reached to scratch my chin with a finger. "It's close to the gate closest to the Market District. Like I said, not the bad part of old town." before she smiled playfully and continued; "Besides... I plan to put just about every security spell on the place I can."
Closing my eyes, I couldn't help but purr at the attention much to Ren's amusement. "I'll give you a hand." she giggled before she looked thoughtful. "That's the right saying, right?"
"It is." Sheila confirmed. "You are getting better at that."
Rolling onto my paws, I clambered up on the back of the couch to lay down across Sheilas shoulders like an iguana. "You know, this is quite practical." I said and shifted my wings.
Sheila raised her eyebrows and turned her head to look at me, giving me a dubious look. "Oh? Because I can think if several things we can't do as long as you are like this."
Digging my claws into her dress, I clambered around until I was hanging down her chest, facing upwards, my wings spread for balance. "Oh?"
She gave me an amused look and picked me up. "If your claws damage my dress, I'll get quite cross with you." she said with a grin. "And yes, some things we are not doing with you in dragon form. Tiny or not." before she handed me back to Ren. "Especially not me."
"Size difference would be a problem." Ren said as she took me, putting me back in her lap. "But I'll admit, like this he looks rather like a whelp... cute rather than attractive."
Sighing, I curled up again, folding my wings. Okay, maybe this was not quite as awesome as I first thought.
Then Ren started to scratch me softly between my wings and I just melted. I take that back. I was right in the first place.
The only really annoying part of this was that it was pushing back the trip to Skyrim... and I was really curious at what had been going on since my last visit.
Was the civil war over? Did Ajani manage to help solve the local dragon conflict? Were the branches still operational?
Guess we would find out in a couple of da-
Squeak!
No! No tickles!
AN// A bucket of thanks and a good vacation to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
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