Neophyte World Builder

LEVOS

Even after traveling with it for an entire season, Levos still shuddered sometimes when he came upon one of Ynot’s kills when he wasn’t expecting it.

He knew that the weird creature didn’t mean him any harm. In fact, the squat-looking, mushroom-like being had saved his life more than once! The manner of eating was just disturbing if he thought about it, and stumbling on the withered and crumbling husk of a large rodent like he just had wasn’t pleasant.

“I guess this is our garbage pile,” Levos grumbled, nudging the corpse further aside and looking around. He was about to dress his own catch for dinner anyway, so this was as good a place as any to dump the intestines and other waste. He didn’t see Ynot or Pini around, so no reason not to get started.

He’d barely made the first cut before he heard the flutter of Pinionflare—or “Pini” as Levos knew him—landing nearby, where the rooken perched upon a tree branch. The avian stayed silent until he’d finished extracting the dirty portions that would ruin the taste. Levos was thankful for that, since it did take a little concentration, and at dusk the light was rapidly fading.

“Surprised you and Ynot were away when I got back,” Levos said once he felt comfortable enough to talk. “Where did you two wander off to?”

The rooken chirped lightly, “It felt that the air was humid enough that it could get an early start, and went hunting.” Pini’s wings fluffed out slightly as he adjusted his perch. “All this walking has made it harder for it, and it needed more food than usual. It’s on its way back, I just flew on ahead in case you were wondering where we’d gone.”

Levos flicked an ear affirmatively to Pini. He’d wondered a little, but hadn’t been worried. Ynot had survived this long outside of the mushroom-person’s element, of course it’d not die that easily. Compared to the elfin speed and agility that Levos boasted, Ynot was slow and ponderous… yet so tough and difficult to harm that the creature rounded out their little group well.

At last, the heavy shuffling noises announced the return of Ynot to the campsite. Levos already had a stone heated up for cooking, and as usual the mushroom kept a fair distance, adjusting its hat and watching the whole process. Or… “watching” in some sense, because Ynot had been very clear that it didn’t perceive things the way Levos and Pini did. Ynot’s command of Low Imperial was good, but not precise enough to explain how it saw things, especially without reference points.

Levos just sighed at the quirky being. It was friendly enough, but could only speak in a sort of wheezing whistle, so it didn’t like to do that too much. He still thought it weird that the creature’s hat looked like a mushroom cap, but it definitely wasn’t a part of it. He kept meaning to ask it about the hat, but it never seemed like a good time to just bring it up.

Pini hopped from his tree branch over to perch on Ynot’s shoulder, where he settled comfortably. The broad-shouldered mushroom could easily hold the rooken, even though it was only marginally taller than an elf.

“So, we’re still about a tenday’s travel from the nearest Way,” Levos announced while the rarnit sizzled on the heated rock. “Let’s try not to get kicked out of this one. What do you say if they ask if you’d ever hurt an elf?”

“Only in self-defense,” the wheezing voice answered. Ynot often seemed a little slow in the head, but painstakingly Levos and Pini had realized the creature was actually very intelligent. Its manner of thinking was just so far outside that of an elf that it often did things that seemed pretty poorly thought out. It didn’t like to lie, but it had yet to really understand nuance in its answers.

Little by little, Levos had taught the mushroom how to be more cautious. He’d already thought Pini to be recklessly curious, but Ynot was a whole different matter. The mushroom had a plodding, slow pace, but insisted upon moving forward. It would grow restless if they stayed in one place for too long, and whenever it found a new place it would inevitably poke and prod at everything until something went wrong.

Fortunately, nothing could hold it. Levos wasn’t sure what had given it the Unconfined Soul trait… he’d never heard of such an ability. Yet it was powerful enough that he could do nothing to stop the mushroom from going where it pleased. If Levos didn’t travel with it, Ynot would doubtless wander into someplace and get itself killed… or leave an entire city a flaming wreck.

Probably both.

“There he is thinking again,” Pini chirped with a tail wiggle of amusement. “Are you still worried about your quest? I think at this stage we should just enjoy the ride. Maybe we shouldn’t even use a Way.”

Levos waved a hand to dismiss the idea. “I think with the way things have been, no using a Way is too reckless. I was just thinking of Ynot here. It doesn’t really matter if my quest brought me to it or not, now. We’re here and I’m not going to abandon you two.”

He flipped the meat and settled back. “It wasn’t a god’s quest, and that still bothers me. Some dragon we’ve never met told me I’d be rewarded for going out into the middle of nowhere near the Duskwall, and then there’s nothing there. The next day we run into Ynot. And you didn’t get the quest at all, Pini. That doesn’t make a lot of sense unless there’s a Regent keeping track of me, and I don’t think there’s a Regent this generation. None of my previous lives remember one, either.”

Pini just clacked his beak and chirped, “I already wanted to go to the Duskwall, so maybe they just didn’t see the need to give me a quest?”

Levos just sighed, “Maybe.”

He was a relatively “young” Aravel, admittedly. He only had three previous lives, and none had any memories that were particularly exciting. His current self’s decision to strike out into the wild confused everyone, especially since even his tiny number of lifetimes could remember a time when the chaos of the wilds wasn’t so bad. The steady rise in magic wasn’t something he could figure out, but he worried about it sometimes.

Was there a Regent out there keeping quiet for some reason? And why did they want him out here to meet this bizarre creature?

Levos scratched behind one ear and sighed, staring at where his old friend Pini was hopping from one shoulder to the other on Ynot. The obliviousness of the creature could be annoying… but it didn’t mean any harm. It just kept causing confusion, panic, or fascination every time it passed by a settlement, all on its quest to see the “surface world” that was all new to it. One of these days Levos would have to ask more about the colony that Ynot came from.

Just… not today.

REYTH

Cutting off the flow of mana, Reyth dismissed the scrying spell, letting the image of the three travelers fade away. She tugged the cloak around herself, then stepped back out of the wind. The slopes on the Duskwall Mountains were steep, and the wind at this altitude could get very aggressive.

“I wonder if they’ll realize that’s Wanderer,” she mused aloud, her tail swaying in light mirth.

“Levos isn’t really known for his intelligence and perceptiveness,” Akasha laughed, slipping up behind Reyth to give a loose embrace. “Pinionflare, now… he probably already suspects. You and he got up to all sorts of exploration and trouble back in one of your rooken lives.”

Reyth leaned back into the hug and lifted a finger, tapping her lover on the nose. “No hints,” she chided. “My other lives are their own. I’ll wait until I pass on to talk with you about them.”

The light squeeze was warm and understanding, even as Akasha’s voice softened into seriousness. “I really don’t want to think about that. It reminds me that you have less than two octades of this life before another long absence. Unless you want to stay in the afterlife longer this time.”

“Maybe I will,” Reyth admitted, curling her tail around Akasha’s leg for a playful squeeze. The fact that Akasha considered good third of an elven lifespan to be a short time was a little saddening to Reyth, but they’d both agreed this was the best way for their relationship to continue. Even with her shift in perspective, Reyth was still a mortal… she couldn’t maintain herself for the lifetimes that Akasha remained the same.

Thus the frequent “vacations” that Reyth took. The world had changed in her absence, and Akasha had too… but the girl’s feelings had not. The intensity was just the same, and the time apart had, if anything, deepened their bond. It was a far cry from the early, fumbling way they’d sought out their feelings. Akasha had grown so much…

Even if Reyth still felt like the adult in the relationship most of the time.

Akasha perched her chin on Reyth’s shoulder with a little sigh, “Do you really mean that this time? I don’t want to keep you from a new life for too long, but a few eights of years would be nice.”

“Your father is awake again, and I’d like to speak to him,” Reyth answered with a tilt of her ears. “I’m not sure I fit in with most of the gods you associate with, love. I’m not sure how long I’d be able to stay there, but I’ll try to make it longer than usual. Maybe I’ll get to meet Wanderer in person.”

She jumped as Akasha nipped the tip of her ear, causing a warmth to spread through her.

“There are new gods you haven’t met,” Akasha murmured as if she hadn’t just teased her. “Along with… hmm, I’m not sure if she’ll be there when you arrive, but if she is I’d like you to meet my godmother. I told you about her in your first life with me… the one who told me to confess to you? I didn’t learn until a little later that our relationship would be forbidden in her culture, so I’m even more deeply grateful to her now. And Orpheus has a daughter who is a lot more relaxed.”

Reyth twitched an ear in annoyance. “Don’t tell me about things that will take half a lifetime to see,” she reminded. “You really do lose track of time sometimes, still. We’re only here to check in on those three troublemakers, remember?”

Akasha made a little chirping noise as if offended. “You’re the one who gave out the quest to put those three together! Don’t act like I’m the childish one this time! I’ve had to be a very serious adultish person!”

Laughter tumbled out of Reyth as she lifted her ears away from the annoyed expression into a mirthful rise. “You claim that every few years, and my answer hasn’t changed.”

Squirming away, Akasha huffed loudly and crossed her arms, putting on a pouty glare… that softened as her ears dipped into a more quiet, contemplative look.

“That’s good,” she whispered. “Because I have to be the System when you’re not around. With you, that doesn’t matter. The truth is I think you’re right about spending time away… as long as you come back. You’re the one who makes me feel the most like a person. I… like that.”

Reyth paused, taken aback. She’d suspected this, but in their four hundred and fifty years of a relationship, she’d never heard Akasha say it outright. Akasha’s mother’s departure must have hit her harder than she’d thought.

With one glance down toward the trio of wanderers that were just now starting their nocturnal journey, Reyth sighed and swished her tail. “Of course I will. I like Akasha the person, too.”

Her ears lifted as she added in a teasing tone, “Now can you get us off this cliff and back home? It’s well into the night where I live, but I don’t have to be up early if you want to stay for a while…”

Akasha huffed again, blushed, then took Reyth’s hand.