GLoG 92: Generosity, Love, Opportunity, Growth

[Recaiden]

Sekhmet, if you wanted to stop before committing to something you'd regret, that would have been back in the tavern. Or in the museum. Or when you arrived at the hive. Or before you were put into the pool. Or before they finished the transformation. At this point, you are pretty well in their clutches.
"Then you should tell us the problem, and we'll do the best to change how we help. We're very adaptable."

"But isn't it more important that you get better than that you like how you get there?" Spike suggests. She wasn't sent here to be Sekhmet's friend.

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin

"No! It wouldn't be better at all! If you murder people in the name of helping me, that wouldn't be helping!" Sekhmet is starting to get exasperated. "Or if you went into my head and changed me, so I was better, that wouldn't be helpful either." She's getting better without their help; she doesn't need them.

[Recaiden]

Spike blinks in surprise.
"Why do you suspect such things from us?"
I'll have you know that her last mission was rescuing orphans.
"I am here to help, not convince you to be a demon."

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin

Sekhmet shrugs. "Fine. You're here to help me with magic, right?" Sekhmet conjures a few wispy strands of colored light on a whim, demonstrating that she knows how to use her power already.

[Morty]

[Dwarf Fortress]

Tuskfang makes an altogether silly, squeaky noise when he sees the crundle.

"Hi! Wow, he looks so weird and cool! Did you see his horns, mom? I've never seen anything like that!"

"I see them, dear. Looks like that's your first pet."

[Recaiden]

"Right!" Spike admires the colors flowing through the air.
"I see you can do a variety of things already."
Then she applies her own powers to try to cover up Sekhmet's illusionary lights.
"Do you know everything that you can do?" she asks curiously. They've got to know where to start.

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin

Sekhmet's lights go out. She has no skill at dueling with magic, and no real understanding of how to prevent it. However, she's already moved on to other things. In her left hand, she holds out a ball of orange flame, in her right, acting on instinct rather than any spell she's intentionally cast, she calls forth a wavering void, a sphere of perfect darkness to complement the flame's glaring light. "I, uh, am not sure."

[billtodamax]

Dwarf Fortress

He's still fairly young but he is at least toilet trained. Taguz says, as the crundle stumbles over to Tuskfang. Hasn't got a name yet. She says meaningfully to Tuskfang. What are you gonna call him? Olon asks much less subtly. He looks like a Ngalak. She suggests. Oh or you could call him Am! says Endok. Good dwarven names.

[Recaiden]

Spike looks between the ball of fire and the ball of darkness.
"Well, then your first step should be to experiment, and see what you're capable of where you are now."
She motions towards the sphere of darkness.
"Do you think you could make that bigger?"

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin

Sekhmet concentrates, and the globe of darkness floats away from her and enlarges. It's now about the size of a basketball, hovering in midair between herself and Spike. "There. How's that?"

[Recaiden]

Spike extends a tentacle to poke at the basketball of darkness.
"Quality work. How about as big as this cabin?"

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin

"I, uh." Sekhmet's not sure. That's not normal darkness either; it has a very physical presence; it even radiates cold the way a fire radiates heat. "I don't want to destroy it."

[Morty]

[Dwarf Fortress]

"Umm..." Tuskfang seems nervous suddenly. He doesn't know what to call the crundle! "I dunno yet! Should he have a goblin name, dwarf name or a Wolfen name?"

He still reaches out to the crundle to touch or even pet him. Reelshka, meanwhile, puts her hand on his shoulder.

"We'll think about it once we've taken him home."

[Recaiden]

"We'll try that outside later-on then." Spike says, snatching her tentacle back when she feels how cold the orb is.

"Do you know any spells about shape or sound?"

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin

The void is pretty cold. Just like sticking your hand in a fire too long gives you third degree burns, sticking your hand into the darkness long enough will give you frostbite.

"I can do sound, but I don't know about shape." Something is odd about Sekhmet's voice. Her mouth isn't moving, to be specific, but that sound was real, not in her head.

[billtodamax]

Dwarf Fortress

Make sure he has some room to climb and run around. Needs to burn off energy. Taguz does not want any of her babies to leave her but she has long ago resigned herself to it. They have a whole town up there Taguz, he'll be fine. Utost says patting her on the back.

You should stick together a goblin and a wolf name. Olon tells Tuskfang. OH! is that how you got your name?! Endok asks excitedly.

The crundle sniffs Tuskfang's hand a couple times before letting him pet him. Seems to enjoy it!

[UncleWolf]

[Ironoak Cabin]

"Yeah, I bet aunt Renetta knows too," Tuskfang deduces. "And Flamecrest! Is Flamecrest like me?" He then frowns in deep concentration. "I can see and touch spirits. I dunno what else I'd like to do. I'm gonna have to think."

Meanwhile, Pathfinder will no doubt recognize the sound and smell of Reelshka arriving, and headed their way. The goblin is soon to arrive, looking at her mate and son a little quizzically.

Ironoak Cabin

"She is!" Pathfinder says, proud that Tuskfang was able to figure it out. When Reelshka arrives, he smiles up at her. "Our son was asking about why he could see spirits and I ended up telling him about his grandparents." He explains, offering a hand to help his beloved up onto the bed next to them.

[Morty]

[Dwarf Fortress]

"Um, kinda," Tuskfang says distractedly, his eyes wide, as he pets the crundle. "My dad says it's Wolfen name but that I'll get a proper Wolfen name when I grow up, like Wolfen. And it's like that because goblins have tusks and Wolfen have fangs."

"Wolfen have a rite of passage of sorts when they come of age, where they get their adult names," Reelshka explains. "But his last name will always be Trollfinger, like mine. Goblins pay a lot more attention to those than to first names."

[Ironoak Cabin]

"Really." Reelshka quirks an eyebrow and an ear and smiles as she walks up to the bed and sits down with her family. "We knew we'd have to explain it someday, but he seems to have figured it out quickly."

"Yeah! I'm smart, right?" Tuskfang grins toothily. "But, um, your mom and dad are just goblins?"

Reelshka ruffles Tuskfang's hair.

"Yes, just regular goblins, like so many others. That should help you keep your feet on the ground. We goblins aren't a spiritual folk. Maybe it comes with living under tons of rock all the time."

[billtodamax]

Dwarf Fortress

The crundle quickly gets distracted from the pets, running around tuskfang and trying to clamber up his back. Tuskfang has made one (1) friend.

He should be called something Trollfinger too then. Olon says decisively. And then when he grows up he can get a new name too. Endok meanwhile has been thinking of Wolfen etymology. So he'd be... Hornclaw! Because he has horns and claws, you see.

[Morty]

[Dwarf Fortress]

Tuskfang giggles happily when the crundle climbs on his back.

"He's got little claws! And I like Hornclaw. It sounds like my name!"

Reelshka smiles.

"You're getting along already, I see." She turns to the dwarves. "Thank you for this. It means a lot to us."

"I hope he gets along with Kip!"

Reelshka's ears twitch.

"I... hope so too. I don't know if he's ever met anything like a molerat."

[Recaiden]

The void is pretty cold. Just like sticking your hand in a fire too long gives you third degree burns, sticking your hand into the darkness long enough will give you frostbite.

"I can do sound, but I don't know about shape." Something is odd about Sekhmet's voice. Her mouth isn't moving, to be specific, but that sound was real, not in her head.

Spike nods, impressed.
"That's quite a power, you know."
"But as for shape, you can't know until you try, right?"

[billtodamax]

Dwarf Fortress

They're pretty friendly. Taguz says. She doesn't acknowledge the thanks but it's obvious on her face that she appreciates it. Ah don't worry about it. Utost says.Anyway, I have a bit of a production backlog to take care of. Feel free to stick around if you like but I really do have to duck out. He says with a little wave. Kids don't annoy Taguz. He tells his children, who were definitely thinking of following Taguz around and asking her questions all day.

The crundle hops off of Tuskfang's back and scrambles over to Reelshka, sniffing her curiously.

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin

Sekhmet thinks about the request. She has a theory of how one might change an object's shape, but can't do it in practice. She has plenty of power, but lacks the finesse. She'll try anyway, focusing on one of the charred cookies, trying to force it into a ring shape. It begins to shift, then tears apart, fragmenting into several shards of burnt food.

[Recaiden]

It's not totally clear to Spike that breaking the cookie apart isn't what Sekhmet intended. A shiver runs through her.
"That's amazing!"
Sekhmet is definitely the most impressive humanoid they've run across. Though if this book on demons is correct at all, it comes with serious costs. Hmm. The obvious thing to do is collect some angels for comparison.

"Can you do anything else you know of? Maybe affect people or animals?"

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin

Sekhmet nods. "In, uh, a way, with illusions." They have to affect other people, or only Sekhmet would be able to see them. Illusions are what she's most comfortable with, anyway. She doesn't have much practice with other techniques anyway.

[Recaiden]

"Can you make different people see different things at the same time, do you think?" Illusions are also what Spike is most comfortable with, so that should work out fine.

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin

Sekhmet isn't sure. "I, uh, haven't tried that before." She can try, of course. She falls back on the one spell she has the most practice with, slipping into the guise of a blond elven woman. However, she focuses on Spike, trying to make it obvious only to her. It doesn't quite work. To Spike, it probably looks fine, but to all other observers, it will flicker on and off, as Sekhmet focuses alternatingly on maintaining the illusion and excluding everyone other than Spike from it.

[Recaiden]

Spike shakes her head.
"Not quite. Your concentration is too divided. But I think you could do it eventually. Even holding up that disguise at all takes some serious work, right?"

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin

Sekhmet shrugs off her illusion. "Yes, it's hard. I, uh, tried." She's feeling a bit tired. All this magic takes effort, after all.

[Recaiden]

"I think that one will come to you with practice. Once the illusion itself is nearly effortless for you, adjusting who can see it will be more straightforward." Spike suggests, trying to be encouraging.