37.6 How the World Has Changed

General Summary

Day 559

The day of rest did us all well and we wake feeling refreshed and revitalized. Even Kaide feels steady and content as I probe at her emotions.   Hexanchus sends us off warmly and we begin the daylong journey towards the heart of the Crystal Spires.   In private, Kaide tells me she is feeling more settled in who she was and who she wants to be. The city and Osyr here do not feel entirely like home anymore and it feels sort of like she has come to say goodbye. Even though the sea will always be part of her, she feels ready to let go of having a strict sense of self tied to her race. More and more she is seeing that it is best to simply be yourself a little bit apart from her people, the way people like Magdalena and I have had to.   It takes nearly the full daylight to reach the Eastern edge of the city and we find it repaired, somewhat. Magic has gathered and grown more intense as we near, like the area is watering this new growth. An enormous crystalline arch passes over the river, attended by an Osyr wizard who walks out across the surface to introduce himself as Horias and welcome us as friends. The arch houses an invisible barrier that he dissipates for us so that we can come to shore.   After this, Kaide leads the way to the West, where he tells us there are still some inns operating as folks aren't all settled into their old homes. We take a meandering path through side streets and wind up at a park overlooking the city just as the sun sets over the water. I draw Liliales in and enjoy the light painting the waves, and Trillium winds up with her arms around Kaide.   The city itself still feels a little bit asleep, but certainly not abandoned anymore. Music drifts from the shore with wild abandon until we emerge onto a crowd of Osyr youngsters dancing and playing music in an open square. There is silence and confusion at the sight of my fae family, even with my instrument in hand, until one of the older Osyr steps forward to welcome us.    

That they have made it this far means they are friends, and deserve our welcome.

    And the atmosphere eases, somewhat. I am curious at the arrangement that led to this system - Hexanchus and his fist (though they must call it something else) manning a border and being the arbiters of who enters the city, and the rest of the inhabitants trusting him their choices. The crowd of Osyr here relaxes as I join them in music and Trillium captures the attention of many with her stories of the world outside. Months ago she would have found it very hard to paint a coherent picture of the world around us and of elves in general. Now I hear her confidently describing the Barrier, the history of the Empire, and how we have made peace with fae and brought some of them into the Empire. She drags Liliales eagerly into her story and I watch with some amusement as the Osyr react to his title of 'Prince' with confusion and deference. Poor Liliales physically resists their bowing, darting beneath the and trying to raise them up again.   Eventually I even bring Jaeril into the music, though I can tell that everyone is a little uncomfortable with her lack of oaths. And as usual, Qing Chen has found the eldest person in attendance and cornered them to discuss magic.   It is late in the night before we retire, and a younger Osyr man leads us back to the inn he is minding for his father until he wakes. It seems like the place has been the site of some parties and general youthful fraternizing and I'm deeply amused to think of all the young Osyr running wild in the city until their families wake.  

Day 560

In the morning I am betrayed by my own fellow dusk fae as Liliales drags me out of sleep. Apparently we have guests who Jaeril greeted and then sent to Liliales, who is now passing them to me. Downstairs, Ava is waiting with four other Osyr in attendance. Despite my short sleep, I'm so pleased to see him again and tell him that his wayward student has left my care and gone to study with the Empress herself.   Since Trillium and Qing Chen have gone out to explore together (to no small concern of mine) the rest of us accompany Ava to the academy where most of the awaken Osyr have ended up. Students are practising and playfully duelling in the courtyard and it makes me smile to see such normal life continuing on. For his part, Liliales wonders aloud if he ought to attend formal schooling, a question which I answer with an emphatic 'yes'. Whether it is here or back home I think it absolutely essential that he receive some sort of education, especially so that he is in a better position to teach one day. It is always easier to teach someone else if you have a sense of their foundation.   And finally we get to talking about the state of the current world outside the Crystal Spires. It is a well-practiced story interspersed with Ava's commentary on dragons, the magic of places, and curiosities about things that I have seen and/or caused.  

Magical energy drifts like a breeze and certain practitioners and constructs are quite adept at directing or attracting it. Mountains, trees, schools - all collect energy and tend to become places of power. The world has lost so many practitioners in the years since we slept and it seems that their constructs have faded as well, leaving the magic looser and less dense than it was. Our far-seers say that things are waking again and will continue to wake, which likely means there will be more dragons as well. They find it harder to wake and exist when the magic is thin.

  The rest of the things I tell him feel almost like I am Magdalena, giving out a list of interesting places a student might investigate.

• Dreamfall, where he might send some students to learn of the magic and people there.
• The Unfreezing Sea, where I encourage him to send teachers and apprentices to learn about the history of the place and see what they can learn using the things Kaide and I tried. She mentions that perhaps wave and wind finders would be helpful.
• Solace, and King Amytri. Ava seems very interested in receiving students from such a place, and perhaps tradespeople who could help repair the city.
• Deldrin and Black Tourmaline, beneath a city ruled by humans and guarding another cache of sleeping Osyr.
• Magdalena, en route and who I will meet at the edges of the city to welcome her in.

At Kaide's mention of wave and wind finders he asks after her heritage and she tells him simply that she was Osyr, from a small town outside of the Spires, and that now she is an elf. While she doesn't describe precisely how she took on an elvish body she does note that there were simply no Osyr around when she was creating a new form. And she waves off Ava's curiosity at whether this is why we have come to visit: She likes who she is.    

We welcome who you were and who you will be.