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Making Connections

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    • I refuse to be intimidated by a cat! In my true form, I was ten times his size!

    Even so... looking at Ajani from across the table, I could not help but be slightly nervous. Even disregarding the fact that he just killed a dragon with one spell, currently, he was a predator larger than me.

    "Good to see you again, Ajani." I said. "Or is it Goldmane?"

    He looked vaguely amused. "You as well. My name is Ajani Goldmane."'

    Ah. That made sense.

    The Jarl had personally thanked us for intervening and helping his guards against the dragon and there was to be a grand feast later. We were currently set up in a private room in the Jarl's palace. Dragon's keep.

    He had an actual dragon skull above his throne.

    Something I really tried to not think about. For once I actually looked forward to a feast set up by nobles. From what I saw earlier, the nords seemed to have nicer parties than the ones in Stormwind which involved a lot of... well... standing around and being boring at each other.

    Ren poked my side and I blinked at her before I went on. "This is Ren, my wife." I quickly said. "Ajani. We met last time I was here."

    He blinked at that. "I thought Sheila was your wife."

    Oh yeah. He knew about that, didn't he?

    Ren grinned. "She is too. We both are."

    Alexis just looked between us. "...and that works?"

    "It is not uncommon in the multiverse." Ajani told her. "Not even among your own kind, Alexis."

    I wouldn't go quite that far. Monogamy did seem to be more comm-

    Wait... What in all the fucking hells!?

    "Multiverse?" I asked as I turned to look at the large cat.

    Now he looked at me in surprise. "You are a Planeswalker, are you not?"

    "A what!?"

    His ear flicked and he looked at me. Then at Ren. And then finally at Alexis. "Somebody with the ability to travel between different Planes through the Blind Eternities."

    What!?

    Did he just mean...

    "I... thought I was the only one." I said quietly. "I didn't know there was a word for it."

    Alexis looked at me with wide eyes as Ajani shook his head. "We are rare. But there are three of us in this room. You. Me. Alexis. We all have an ignited Spark."

    "The golden glow."

    "Yes."

    I wasn't the only one. Wow. That was... wow.

    "Where are you from?" Ajani asked. "Planeswalkers are rare, but usually someone who is studying magic have at the very least came across the term, especially during their study of the source of mana."

    "I've never read any books like that."

    He looked at me, his brow furrowing as his ears flicked. "But you are a mage."

    "I have never read a book on mana. The world we are from didn't know mana existed before I discovered it. They used a different kind of magic."

    A bit of an oversimplification and didn't take Earth into account, but... yeah.

    Ajani seemed a bit lost for words.

    Alexis on the other hand stared at me. "...You recreated an entire magic system on your own!?"

    "Well, no. I just discovered the power source. The spells are... well... they are mostly modifications of what already existed in Azeroth."

    Ren nodded. "Only summons and a couple of spells were actually created just by using land magic. But none of it would have been possible without Atreus."

    I think you might be a bit biased there, love.

    Ajani leaned back in his seat, the chair creaking under his weight. "Even so, it is impressive. Last time we met, I was uncertain if I was to make contact with you. Your kind is usually... not trustworthy."

    "My kind?"

    "His kind?" Alexis asked and looked at her teacher in surprise.

    He looked amused, his tailtip flicking back and forth. "Alexis. You are the only human in this room."

    I started slightly at that. He could see through the transformation!? How the fuck did he even do that!?

    I could see that he had a way to discover that I was a... Planeswalker... if he was one as well, but to see through the transformation...

    "We are Dragons." I explained to Alexis. "Of the Blue Dragonflight."

    "Dragons!?"

    Ajani looked... he looked like a hunting cat. That relaxed tension. He was ready if we did something dangerous. It was a test.

    "Nothing like the so-called Dragon we fought earlier." Ren explained. "We have yet to run into anything like us."

    Alexis nodded slowly. "And your other wife? Does she know that..."

    I ginned at that. "Human. And she knows very well what I really am. That's how we met, actually. I didn't learn to take mortal form until years later."

    "...Huh."

    "Neither have I." Ajani said, answering Ren. "I know of only one other dragon Planeswalker and I hope that you never encounter Nicol Bolas." he said, lowering his voice at the last part.

    I really didn't like the sound of that. If this guy was nervous about it....

    Yeah, let's fucking not.

    Ajani then continued, turning to me. "I already have a student. But if you are interested, I would be willing to teach you some of the basics you might have missed on your own."

    That would be amazing. But...

    "I can't leave." I answered and sighed. "I have responsibilities to the Flight."

    "We are not leaving either." Ajani explained. "The dragon crisis here is escalating. They need my help. We are going to remain on this Plane, at the very least until the conclusion of the fighting."

    I glanced at Ren who smiled and nodded.

    "We planned to stay for another two weeks, then we need to return back home." I answered him.

    Ajani nodded. "Two weeks is not much, but it should be enough to see if you know the basi..." he started before he stopped to stare at me. "...You have a way to bring others through the Blind Eternities?"

    I blinked at that. "Yes. Not me personally in this case, but... are you saying you don't?"




    AN// ALL HAIL GREY ROOK! BEATER OF STORIES; SLAYER OF ERRORS!
     
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    • For a second I read, "slaver of errors".:rolleyes:
    Aaand suddenly Hiver is not a charity case but a valuable trading partner, the merchant in him must be:D.
     
    Rentoba said:
    Just wondering, but how big a game changer is the soul stone spell going to be for planeswalkers?
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    • You could take your best support Units with you and deploy them to a battle without waiting to gather more mana to summon something.
    • You now could train independently commanded and loyal armies from one world and deploy them to other worlds - each of these troops wouldn't need any micromanagement or use mana, allowing a planeswalker to commit to a war of conquest, without the need of staying in the plane afterwards. The armies can occupy the land the planeswalker blasts through and continue on, leaving the occupation force to pacify everything.
    • Heroic individuals who are non-planeswalker can tag along, causing a tremendous advantages. Think if someone took, lets say Jaina Proudmoore, transported her to new plane and released her into a battle. Or maybe Lich king, unleashed against a Black/Green Mana-planeswalker (BAD IDEA, but hey, ebil/stuped planeswalkers must exist somewhere) to break everything in sight and wrench control.
     
    Which raises the question, of course, of how the shit this is balanced for one swamp of mana. :p
     
    Winged One said:
    Which raises the question, of course, of how the shit this is balanced for one swamp of mana. :p
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    SImple. Yes, you can deploy a high-power legend to planeswalker level combatant for one mana. But they are NOT under your control, and they can be permakilled. Planeswalkers don't have to worry about keeping their summons alive - they can resummon them. Imagine if you could summon any legend for one black mana - at the cost of never being able to use that card in any game ever if it was destroyed.
    Malbutorius said:
    There are some Bullshit OP cards that cost only one mana.
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    This isn't OP - in game terms something summoned this way would never be usable in any game ever if destroyed.

    Also, this isn't the first method of taking non-walkers across planes. The Weatherlight had that ability, and the artificial plane Mirrodan could forcibly abduct things from other worlds.
     
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    pheonix89 said:
    SImple. Yes, you can deploy a high-power legend to planeswalker level combatant for one mana. But they are NOT under your control, and they can be permakilled. Planeswalkers don't have to worry about keeping their summons alive - they can resummon them. Imagine if you could summon any legend for one black mana - at the cost of never being able to use that card in any game ever if it way destroyed.

    This isn't OP - in game terms something summoned this way would never be usable in any game ever if destroyed.

    Also, this isn't the first method of taking non-walkers across planes. The Weatherlight had that ability, and the artificial plane Mirrodan could forcibly abduct things from other worlds.
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    in MTG card terms, a Soulstone is basically a black enchantment that give pay 1 black to regenerate target enchanted creature.
     
    Hiver said:
    I ginned at that. "Human. And she knows very well what I really am. That's how we met, actually. I didn't learn to take mortal form until years later."

    "...Huh."

    "Neither have I." Ajani said, answering Ren. "I know of only one other dragon Planeswalker and I hope that you never encounter Nicol Bolas." he said, lowering his voice at the last part.
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    i think that a sentence is missing between "...Huh." and "Neither have I."
     
    Soulstone would be a sacrifice this artifact to summon target creature from graveyard artifact where target creature is chosen on playing the artifact, or an equip-able artifact that specifies that you can sacrifice this artifact to return creature from graveyard to play.
     
    Hiver said:
    in MTG card terms, a Soulstone is basically a black enchantment that give pay 1 black to regenerate target enchanted creature.
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    I don't pretend to be the expert at MTG, but I've always thought of things disintegrated by the blind eternities as exiled rather than destroyed. Might I suggest that instead of regenerate, recreate or reform might be a better description here.
     
    Hiver said:
    It's not. He answer to what Ren said previously.
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    Ok, I see what you are going for now. However you should still consider a change. The way you have two discussions interwoven makes it difficult to anticipate the flow of conversation. I was doing to literary equivalent of whipping my head back and forth while reading the latter section of this update.

    Just a suggestion:

    "We are Dragons." I explained to Alexis. "Of the Blue Dragonflight."

    "Dragons!?"

    "Nothing like the so-called Dragon we fought earlier." Ren explained. "We have yet to run into anything like us."

    Ajani looked... he looked like a hunting cat. That relaxed tension. He was ready if we did something dangerous. It was a test.

    "Neither have I." Ajani said to Ren. "I know of only one other dragon Planeswalker and I hope that you never encounter Nicol Bolas." he said, lowering his voice at the last part.

    I really didn't like the sound of that. If this guy was nervous about it....

    Yeah, let's fucking not.

    Alexis nodded slowly. "And your other wife? Does she know that..."

    I ginned at that. "Human. And she knows very well what I really am. That's how we met, actually. I didn't learn to take mortal form until years later."

    "...Huh."

    Ajani then continued, turning to me. "I already have a student. But if you are interested, I would be willing to teach you some of the basics you might have missed on your own."

    That would be amazing. But...



    Note: Changing "answered" to "said to" removes the confusion about what Ajani is responding. Rearranging a few lines makes the conversation feel more natural. Ajani and Alexis are tense following the initial reveal but relax into a lighter topic once Atreus and Ren explain themselves.
     
    Winged One said:
    Which raises the question, of course, of how the shit this is balanced for one swamp of mana. :p
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    Not. It's basically a creature ability, not a planeswalker one. . :p

    Specifically, it generates an artifact token that has Exile this creature when they would die. When this artifact is destroyed, return any creature exiled with it to play.

    The balance comes in from the cost of the creatures that can cast it. :D
     
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    Hiver said:
    I hate undead. Fucking abominations to everything.
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    You know, one of the primary magic classes of Guild Wars (and GW2) is the Necromancer. I'm still catching up, so I don't know what they've done about Tyria just yet, but if they spend any significant effort in exploring there they're GOING to run into friendly undead. Eventually.

    Edit- also if they run into the adventurer party in Sanctuary. But there's only one wandering necromancer there; he came from a long way away from a very isolated group in order to oppose Diablo. In Tyria, necromancy has been a staple of adventurers for hundreds of years, so Hiver is MUCH more likely to run into one there.
     
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    • I rested my glaive against my shoulder as I looked at the large Planeswalker across from me.

    Two weeks.

    Two weeks and I learned more about how to handle mana and land magic than I did since arriving in Azeroth.

    It didn't come as a massive surprise that I had been going about it wrong. Sure, my way worked, but it was clumsy. The way he taught me of using it was much smoother. Faster.

    I was still not what would be called a massively good battlemage, but in two weeks... I cut thirty or so percent off my casting time on spells with mana. Not that it helped with my transformation, I had to use normal magic for that, but it was better than nothing. Besides, It did apply to all the spells they did teach me.

    He even offered to show me some Planes where I could learn more about Mana and magic once all this was over.

    Ajani did find the subject of soulstones interesting as a way to transport people, but he rather disliked the idea of using it. He did say though that he might find a different way now when he had the concept.

    What I got in return was worth just as much. It was like three spells and some healing we had time for other than general mana usage. Mostly self enhancements like Alexis used in the dungeon. All of them using White mana.

    Summoning was way faster too. Not to mention teaching me that I was doing summoning all bloody wrong.

    I was still not as fast as Ajani at it, but his method cut it down from five minutes to around two. His were almost instantaneous, but I was getting better... I just had some rather bad habits to unlearn.

    It surprised me a bit that both Ajani and Alexis only used White mana, but Ajani explained it to us. People tended to gravitate towards colors that fit their personalities and styles of magic.

    Well, his loss.

    I guess that did kind of fit though.

    Love of learning magic for Blue.

    White for wanting order and peace.

    Green for the love of the hunt and balance. I could only assume that if I stayed human, I would have been drawn to just Blue... or maybe Blue and White.

    It fit the way I generally fought. Misdirection, illusions and then hit with savage strength when they showed a weakspot.

    He taught me what I was. That there was more of us.

    Planeswalkers. One in a million are born with the potential. One in a million of those have their Spark ignite from some sort of event. An accident or a deep understanding of the universe or intense magic could do it and gain the ability to travel the multiverse.

    To 'Walk' between Planes.

    We were rare. Very rare.

    But I wasn't the only one. I knew what now. That was... I thought I was unique.

    Some might think it would make me feel diminished. That I wasn't the only one anymore. It didn't. It made me happy.

    I knew what I was now!

    Grinning, I offered him my hand, "Ajani. I can't thank you enough."

    He chuckled and took it, causing my hand to be hidden almost completely in his larger one, "It's refreshing to meet a dragon that didn't try to stab me in the back. Try not to break that."

    I grinned at that, "After seeing what happened to the last dragon that messed with you? No way." I answered, letting my hand drop, shifting my glaive onto my right shoulder instead, "You are sticking around here?"

    He grunted at that and nodded, "For now. Halgar leaves for the Greybeards in a couple of days. I intend to go with him. He seems to be the key to defeating the dragons. At least according to the legends I have been able to research."

    Halgar was the Dragonborn. A mortal born with the soul of a dragon. It gave him the ability to instinctively speak their reality-bending language as well as absorb the soul of a dragon that died close to him, to gain its power and part of its knowledge.

    Needless to say, I stayed the fuck away from him whenever possible.

    "Master." Alexis said as she and Ren walked up to join us, "I need to talk to you."

    He raised his eyebrows and then nodded, "Very well." before following her to the other side of the room for a whispered conversation.

    Alexis had been a invaluable training partner. As annoying as it was that she was actually 'better' at this entire land magic thing than I was, but she badly lacked some variety in her spells and her actual skills were way behind mine.

    Even in human form, even limited to just using land based mana, every time we sparred, I kicked her admittedly rather cute arse up and down the training grounds.

    Then again, she had been doing this for six months. She was just a lot better than I had been after having spent six months in Azeroth.

    I didn't exactly have a teacher though and I did other things than practice and learn.

    Smiling, I turned to Ren who was wearing some cheap local clothes we didn't care for if they went 'poof' during the traveling.

    "Got everything?"

    She nodded, "Everything is packed. Ready to head out."

    "We are heading out." I said, looking over at Ajani and Alexis, "We will meet again. We will return here in about a month to check in on things."

    Alexis stepped back from Ajani and nodded, "I'm going with Master Goldmane. We need to get to the bottom of this 'dragon' issue... The other dragon issue... you know what I mean!"

    Ajani nodded, "Indeed."

    "We will be back here in a month or so." Ren said, "If you have any messages for us, you can leave them with the local Consortium office and we will get them when we return."

    I nodded as well, "We will help if we can. Safe travels." before I put my arm around Ren, "Ready?"

    "Ready."




    AN// Many thanks to Alleydodger for betaing this section. Today is double feature friday so expect another one tonight. :)
     
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    • Hiver said:
    Ajani did find the subject of soulstones interesting as a way to transport people, but he rather disliked the idea of using it. He did say though that he might find a different way now when he had the concept.
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    If you think about it, it's basically killing the person so you can resurrect them on the other side. Not suprising it would give some people the creeps.
     
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