47.3 Personal Service

General Summary

Hope: Day 2

A cool morning breeze blows through the window to wake me - the room is soft, comfortable, and cool. A part-spirit, humanoid torso with a serpentine tail and luminous scales, is there to greet me when I wake. She introduces herself as Kiita and offers me a light breakfast with rich, cinnamon-spiced coffee, as well as a change of clothes.   As I eat, she coils up and simply watches me. She is my ‘personal attendant’ for my time here, a position I find somewhat discomfiting even if it was assigned by Dakirim. She tells me that she and her siblings have all been raised to be of service to worthy people and this is their purpose. She claims that being of service is her calling, and it brings her joy and happiness. I am not pleased by this, nor by finding myself a figure of worship even when I am off in some other dimension and time period. The best way I can take advantage is to simply see what information she can give me; I begin by asking about Liva.   Liva has been accused of many crimes, none with enough evidence to convict her. She is adept with seduction, poison, blades, and her rivals have all met with unfortunate ends in recent years. Apparently people who get in her way don’t seem to last very long. She is a person of great passion and ambition. Kiita cautions me to be careful in Liva’s presence and that she herself will keep watch for poisons and anything amiss.   Today, Dakirim would like to show me around the city’s defences. Before that, she helps me bathe and dress (deeply uncomfortable, but I let it happen) and then we depart to track down Dakirim. He finds us, with news of a raid and an invitation for me to join.   A smaller settlement on the other side of the lake is being attacked, and it is the closest that the titans have come so far. Two dozen of us lift into the air and take flight towards the settlement, including dust devil spirits, condors, and desert falcons. We fly for an hour even with the aid of Dakirim’s wind magic, and I’m able to get a good view of the lake and the plume of dust across from us.   When we arrive, people are crowding onto overloaded boats and fleeing as quickly as they can. Some spirits have mounted a ramshackle defence of both military fighters and whoever else is strong enough to join the effort - Epsila is right that people would stand to defend their home. But plenty are just fleeing - a problem we likely wouldn't have if we only marched with those who felt just about laying down their lives.   I get my first look at the rock titans - crudely formed humanoid figures with a concussive blast of magic that accompanies their movements. Shifting sand spirits move around the frontlines as well, whirling with blades of fine particles that tear through their opponents. It's just a skirmish, but I have the same determined feeling as when Dread Lord Shae'deneir'lanael stepped out onto the field as the Collective pushed my forces back.   I pull up into the sky, backlit with the sun on my radiant wings as an icon of renewed energy on the battlefield. I want these people to know that we have arrived, and that their allies have brought a ‘blessed one’ with them. I can feel the tightly wound pool of hope magic within me loosen up a little and pulse outwards from me with each wingbeat. I watch my fellows engage with renewed vigour for the fight.   The phantom blade I conjure extends from my physical sword and gouges through the largest titan, already contending with Dakirim on the ground. Between the two of us, we tear it to rubble in a few good hits, though Dakirim winds up temporarily trapped beneath the inert rock.   The next titan is being held at bay by a group of enormous radiant elephants who are managing to contain it but not damage it. As I slash at it, they rally and try to pin it down and I dodge the flying boulder of a fist that it hurls at me. How fun, to be fae-sized! Once the rock titans are dispatched, I turn my attention to the sand spirits preying upon the common folks. The sharp end of my blade is not much use but I land amongst them anyway and flail about with the flat side. My presence alone bolsters the spirits of the people around me, and we make short work of the shambling sand monsters.   The people gather around me with a sort of worship I assume must be normal for Drifting Seeds, but a booming voice calls for them to stand aside. A seven foot tall man approaches, clearly one of the elephants who was pinning down a rock titan for me, smiling. We share a boisterous laugh and congratulations over our shared victory and he leads me back to a shop in the settlement for a much-needed drink.   He introduces himself as Morat-lun and his brothers are Touret-nir and Sabilla. From his behaviour in the fight, I expected him to be a council member or leader, but he is a shop-owner. As we drink, he remarks that he wishes people wouldn't flee from the fight - it would all be easier if they would stay and cheer and give support...or at least bring bandages. He sounds sad, maybe a little disappointed that so many ran without defending their homes or their fellows.   I sympathize. If what Liva and Epsila have told me is true, that dwarven sensibility is just not present here. I think it makes it easy to be a hero and much harder to mount a sustainable defence. The more we talk, the more I like his ideas. He sells raw materials and wares that support the community members who trade with him, and he believes that everyone gets by together. It's a very elvish perspective, and I'm surprised he hasn't tried to bring this mentality higher up into the ranks of the city. His siblings seem to agree with me on this, but Morat-lun says that he can do more good here, and that sitting on a council means being willing to compromise his principles in some way, which he refuses to do. Nevertheless, he promises he'll be there in any fight if he's needed - he and his people are good at standing in between the attackers and people who need protection.   When Dakirim fetches me, the sun is sinking and Morat-lun has given me a gift of brass earrings set with purplish dusk-like amethyst as a gesture of friendship. I hope I'll see him again, or at least, people like him.