Chapter 5-130: Changing Images (1/2)
Both of them sighed in unison. “Forgive me for being blunt, Lady Traveler, but we have seen some very, very bad Powered,” the Firesword told me.
I steepled my fingers and looked at him calmly. “When you can remember looking into the eyes of an undead entity that sacrificed an entire world to undeath for its own glory and aggrandizement, speak to me about bad Powered, Void Brother.” He grimaced. “If you think you are the only ones who are aware of how corrupt and awful stuff is, I will say to you that divination and magical awareness is a thing, and it is not a joke... and my awareness and comprehension of the Shroud and its Haze probably surpasses your own.
“While I admit you have likely seen some very bad things, that is relative to this one little world that you are trapped upon. The true horrors of the multiverse aren’t knocking on your doors every day, or you would be far more dangerous than the Tens you are.”
Master Fred lifted an eyebrow, staring at the Void Brothers. He hadn’t thought there were any Tens on the planet.
I noticed his expression. “Void Brothers are constantly busy, just like Warlocks, except their remit is somewhat wider than yours, Master Fred... and unlike your Pact, the Breath of the Land is anything but quiet. They are also called the Favored Sons of the Land... they are probably the only people able to easily push past the Shroud’s suppression, letting it pass through them as if they didn’t exist.”
WHAT ABOUT SAMA AND BRIGGS?, he asked. THEIR NULL AND SUN WERE IMPRESSIVE.
“Yes, but they aren’t capable of staving off a spell cast north of Forty.” He thought about that, and nodded despite himself. “So, they are being suppressed and finding it hard to advance, and that’s without their problems getting Karma. The Voids just let it pass through them. Cheating bastards.”
Both of the Brothers smiled despite themselves. That said, I could see at a glance they had very suboptimal configurations of Classes, and hadn’t even managed to get Sustained yet, so they didn’t have a Vajra. They were both Scout Primaries, which was great for skills and stealth and knifing people in the dark, but lousy in stand-up fights both at range and up close...
“Gentlemen, there are two things I can do for you. The first is simple... I will give you these.” I slid each of them the sheets I’d Written out while we were talking, and tapped the top sheet. “You are both wielding Weapons made by Powered... dwarf-work, I’m guessing, but not Forsaken work.
“You need to go see Briggs at the First Light of Dawn in Baltimore, and get yourself proper Weapons made by a Forsaken Smith that you can sacrifice the ones you own to, Name properly, and grow on your own.” I considered them grimly. “Naming Karma and the ability to grow your Weapons will change your lives... as will a proper Leveling guide.
“Read, digest, then do. Talk to Briggs, who would be abso-smurfly willing to start up an organization of more and more Forsaken. Really, Forsaken should be spreading across the world. Powered aren’t supposed to exist without them.”
They looked astonished to hear me say that. “What?” I asked. “This is America. It’s a land of equality. If you don’t believe in that, were you really born here?”
“It... is just very surprising to hear a Powered say that,” the Firesword murmured. And what exactly does abso-smurfly mean? It didn't translate...
Master Fred snorted. THIS IS HEAVENBOUND HALL. YOU SHOULD TALK TO MORE OF THE POWERED HERE.
They studied him and his scars, and decided not to look down on him, as anybody who could maintain both Heaven and Hell Pacts had to be some kind of serious badass.
And this was, after all, Heavenbound Hall, just like he said. It wasn’t pretentious... the kind of people who were here believed in the heart of the name, not the snooty holier-than-thou attitude that people expected of them. Arrogance and pride weren’t valued traits in this place.
They picked up the sheets and perused them intently. That changed to intensely as the implications became clearer to them. Their jaws were dropping as they realized they’d made some very suboptimal choices in the past... probably because they were under great pressure to Level so they could survive against the people and things they had to fight.
“In all seriousness, Brothers, you should probably find a happy wraith, get yourselves Drained down to Three, and rebuild yourselves properly. As you are now, your long-term potential is sort of screwed. Now, you can make sure those Brothers following you don’t go in your footsteps, but you’re going to be suboptimal for the rest of your lives, with so much stuff that you cannot do...”
They looked up at me in disbelief. I was literally telling them to go from Tens to Threes?
“With the right Weapons and an Amulet of Death Ward in hand, you can regain a Level a day fighting the undead in the Shroudzones. You would literally only be a Three as long as you want to be.”
It was interesting watching the play of emotions across their faces. The ability to gain Karma and Levels that fast... was it actually possible?
They looked at the potential configurations of Weapons they could use, the existence of Vajras, and finally started to realize what being almost tireless could actually mean for them.
They glanced at one another at the same moment, their Helices giving them preternatural awareness of one another, part of what enabled them to work together so well.
“So... this Commander Briggs can make us appropriate Weapons?...” the Shadowknife asked aloud.
“He most certainly can. He’s probably the best Forsaken smith in the world, and he’ll be happy to help.” I held up a finger, however. “He’s also going to be going down to help me in Mexico, since he wants some of that sweet, sweet slaughtering-undead-for-heaps-of-Karma experience, so if you want to get something made for you, it’s going to have to be quick... and it might be good for you to be in a team if you decide to reconfigure yourselves.”
The two men looked at one another again, thoughts whirling, near-invisible Helices touching. Their faces were twitching, probably with the impetus to FIX THE WORLD that they couldn’t ever satisfy, and the Shroud encapsulating it only made more horrible...
But reconfiguring would solve a LOT of that issue. Not doing so was totally stupid. Being Sustained alone would mean they could do twice the work a day without any issue!
“We will set out today for Commander Briggs,” the Firesword finally said, his dark eyes gleaming despite himself. “We want to see what a powerful Source is like.”