1.27 Cannibals Caught Unaware
Vicktor opened his eyes, to find a pair of silver scaled lids facing him. He moved a hand, feeling up and down her side.
The sun came in from a curtained window, the light twinkling as it struck the beautiful woman's scales. Their texture plucked at his fingertips as they examined the strong curves of the dragon.
After a few precious moments of wonder, Vicktor's eyes returned to the silver face only to find two large orbs examining him. A warm smile illuminated her face as she whispered in a caring tone, almost unwilling to break the silence.
"Good morning."
"Good morning", he replied in the same whisper, a smile playing over his face. "What's the plan? Breakfast?"
Selia rolled on top of him, letting her weight press down on his hips. Grinding against them as she leant down and kissed his forehead, then leaned forward, and in a sweet hushed tone she said.
"You."
It took them longer than expected to get breakfast, which really ended up much closer to lunch.
"I want you to have this." Selia handed him a palm size piece of inscribed metal.
"You aren't strong enough to handle a full archive connection, but this will allow you to send one-way messages to me. I will be able to hear the message you say aloud to it."
"That sounds wonderful. How far does it go?" Vicktor asked, examining the thin streaks of different metals along its smooth surface.
"It's the archive, so it's theoretically infinite, but it will require more mana the further you are from a city. It takes more mana than you have to check the archive." Selia placed her hand over his, keeping his hand firmly on the device.
"Try it now, speak into this." She pointed a hand at a symbol that looked similar to the sound glyph that Alar had shown him.
"Good morning, I wonder if you'll still love hearing my voice whenever I feel like it." He spoke low and slow into the device, while staring at her with a cheeky grin.
There was a drain of power, but it was quite minor. In a city, he might be able to talk for an hour straight before running out.
Selia closed her eyes. They began to dart around behind her eyelids until finally.
"I like hearing your voice, please try to do this everyday. Again, no love, not now, only like..."
"I like you, Selia."
"I like you too, Vicktor."
Eventually, Vicktor was alone, walking back to the barracks. There he met up with Alar and Nora, who all exchanged knowing smiles. None of them looked particularly worse for wear, but all seemed to be a bit more tired than usual.
"Back to our regularly scheduled training?" Asked Nora.
"We can't spend every night drinking and having sex with beautiful women." Alar hooted a laugh.
Vicktor didn't want to be lonely tonight and said. "Let's grab dinner somewhere besides the barracks. They're planning to serve onion soup tonight, maybe when it gets colder I'll be begging for it, but until then, I want something better. I'll pay, I'm curious how everyone's night went."
"Agreed."
"If you're paying, absolutely."
Their regular schedule went as usual and Vicktor improved as usual.
It was a lovely dinner of garlic bread, roast fowl and sweet mead cut with water. Their small group was mostly alone at a square table in the corner of the
"You know, I really don't consider eating birds to be cannibalism." Alar said after a gulp of mead.
Nora choked on her drink. "Who the fuck starts a conversation like that"
Vicktor thought about his second date with Selia last night, "I assume eggs are different from milk or meat?"
Nora continued coughing, using a strengthened arm to beat her chest.
"I know ceremonial cremation is the standard way, but there isn't anything necessarily wrong with eating it right?"
"Gralgra's breast milk?" Vicktor has having too much fun now.
Nora choked on her drink again.
"I thought cats like milk" Alar joined in.
"You'd think Meryl would only be into male dogkin, they'd love her bones." Vicktor’s voice failed to maintain composure
"I think she's got enough bones, she doesn't want any boners." Alar tried his best to not laugh.
"I wonder…" Nora said, directly into her cup, but refusing to take another sip.
Vicktor was about to retort when a familiar voice spoke first.
"I actually prefer eggs when I can get them, turquoise annolites only lay once every two weeks. As for the other ones, I'm not really qualified to teach that subject"
The trio's eyes went wide, looking at a man in silver and black robes who had appeared at their table.
"Master Tosk!", they cried nigh simultaneously.
"The very same foolish lizard", he responded with a sad smile on his scaly green face, "sorry for my rude departure, I have failed you as a master, but I will make amends."
"Where were you!?" Alar asked
"Getting myself into trouble, as usual. I can't say much more besides the fact that I had an unexpected mishap that cost me an arm and a leg."
Master Tosk clapped two scaly hands together.
"Suffice it to say I'm back, that debt paid, I'm much more curious about your studies and advancement."
He took a second to look at each of them directly, staring into their eyes and then tracing their bodies and bags. There was a flicker of mana around his vertical pupils as he did so.
'Some kind of mage-sight?'
His smile returned, before speaking, "Better than I had feared, but less than I would have liked. We've still got years aplenty. Now finish up, you cannibals, we're going to my place, less prying eyes."
Master Tosk's house was a quaint stone cottage a few blocks away from the northern city gate. After turning off the main road, they saw a few children on the street. One stared openly at Nora's greatbow and pointed it out to her friends.
"Before we talk about the details of this quest, we have to have a discussion about a few topics, so get comfortable". Master Tosk gestured to some solid looking couches and then sat in the most used piece of furniture, a worn leather recliner.
They each took a seat on separate couches, forming a circle around a central low-table.
"What do you three know about language?"
Alar spoke first, "it's how we communicate, and that all sentient beings are able to communicate with each other. Almost all beasts are unable to comprehend languages, except for the heavenly beasts and the sovereigns."
"True, true. But why? Why do we all speak the same language? In the thousands of years of humanity, nobody has tried to form a second language?" Master Tosk asked
"I guess that is strange," Vicktor said. "Maybe a god enforces it? There are lots of minor ones with tasks like that."
"No god maintains it, well not really, A wizard did it, a proper wizard mind you, not us Mages who deal in science and rationality. Over a thousand years back there was this extraordinarily beautiful woman. Aelith Jadeblessed, wove the concept of jade upon her skin. She bore no inscriptions, no imperfections, or blemishes. A perfect jade beauty. She traveled the land for reasons that cannot be explained to you now. But after three centuries of wandering, she was positively sick of being catcalled. Men, women, beasts, a few gods even. Suitors with living gilded lilies, castles made motive, promises of elevation to the god of beauty. After that last one, she was well and truly done. She isolated herself for 7 years and 7 days. And on the last day of the turn of the old millennia, she broke language." Master Tosk paused for emphasis.
"From that day on, all languages were one language, solid and unchanging. All the differing tongues, eaten to form the one we speak now. It was as impressive as it was foolish. It affected written words as well as spoken ones. Everyone who knew any of the old languages instantly understood the new and forgot the old. Names remained, although squashed and contorted. Ages of recorded poetry shattered and glued back together. True Wizardry."
"What about the words of power, what about fundamental principles?"
"Mages and Chosen who used words of power weren't changed severely except for the change in the time to say the words. The meanings of the words remained the same. The bigger issue came in terms of advancement and understanding new words. The words existed and could be found, but they had to be found, had to be understood, used and shared. Some cultures had different words for mothers who bore live young and those who bore eggs, but in this the final language, there is only mother. Any other words are to grant specificity."
"Wait, if she lived for three hundred years, she might still be around?" Vick asked. There were countless stories of long lived Mages and Chosen, but they often didn't reveal themselves often in public.
"Oh Aelith is still around, she makes a truly enchanting cup of tea. But I am quite biased" The lizard beastkin smiled and revealed his fangs. "I'll tell you how later, when you are able to tell me what rank Mage I am and how you found out. I'll even let you take a look at me with Mage sight right now if you want."
The three apprentices glanced around at each other and rose as one, placed down their mugs and activated their Mage sight.
Nothing about Master Tosk told them an iota about his magic. No aura of magic covered his exposed green skin or emanated from him. Except–
"You have a fascinating level of control over the ambient mana around you. It's nigh impossible to notice, but you aren't letting a dram of mana escape from your exhales." Nora squinted through her spectacles
"Correct, anything else?"
"Wait," Vicktor said and combined the Mage sight on his feet with the Mage sight near his eyes. "It's barely perceptible, but –wait– never mind"
"Almost there, good eyes, good senses. I doubt you'll be able to learn more from me right now, but I would recommend trying to control the mana you exude. It's a requirement for further advancement."
They stood for a few moments longer struggling to grasp information from their teacher.
"Back to the quest, tell me what you know about other sentient species, specifically goblins. That dimwit instructor should have regurgitated enough information about them."
Nora spoke, "goblins can be confused for hue-men, which are just a classification for a branch of humanity that tends to express colorful skin of the entire light spectrum. From what I remember goblins aren't genetically compatible with humanity. They form complex social structures and villages. They are resistant to integration with humans. They are able to use inscriptions and engravings, but don't make them often. They have very few Mages and much more Chosen than humanity. The Chosen are never of the pantheon. They also have a more varied palate."
"Entirely correct, but I will add that something that Alar probably knows but you all should know as well. Their inscriptions require different forms and patterns compared to that of humanity, engravings tend to work the same unless they are targeting a specific part of biology that's different."
He paused then continued. "They also have entirely different gods than humanity, except of course, the chaos gods."
He paused once more, his voice seemed a little heavier than his earlier jovial tone.
"Our 'quest' will likely involve us killing some of them."