6.3 The River's Current

General Summary

Day 42-43

  Bran and I return to the forge to produce his new weapon/tool. As we work, time just slips away and it’s impossible to say how long it takes us, especially underground with no sunlight.   We create the elven layered steel from the magical ore, then repeatedly shape it into different tools so that the metal remembers the forms it has held before. As the tool takes its final shape, it glows with a soft, golden light when Bran holds it. It gives him a stronger presence of strength, safety, and security - all feelings I have around him even without the axe in his hand, but it certainly amplifies it. It is named Forge Light.   Mechanically

• It transmutes into tools as needed
• It gives +1 to CHA from holding it
• It can be thrown and detonates Disciple of Glory on impact, dealing a # of d6 = CHA to enemies within a 10 ft radius
• It is loyal, and will return to Bran

  When it is finally complete, we return to the chasm and find Alder looking mildly annoyed while Hella and Shei sleep. Remarkably, they have built a sturdy-looking bridge over the chasm and the timber has clearly been hewn with Hella’s magic, though Shei’s magic is present in the places where the supports sink into the stone.  

Day 44

It is early morning when we finally emerge and Bran and I go wash up, eat and then pass out.   We wake in mid-afternoon to the smell of cooking meat. Shei is tending a vegetable stew and a roasting game bird over the fire, and it smells like home. Hella is expressing amazement that it smells so good even though it doesn’t seem like there’s any magic in it, but it has been cooking for three hours and will cook for another few hours more. Sometimes the magic is simply in patience and being attentive to the ingredients. As Shei says, you have to pick the tuber that wants to be stew, instead of forcing a tuber that wants to be roasted.  

Day 45

The next day Bran and I forge one last item for this visit to the mine - bracers like the ones I had in the past with Mistress. These are for Alder, and draw upon the strength of the elven oath with the Empress. I need to draw on both him and Shei in the forging, and they will allow him to throw daggers through the shadows.   When he practices with it in the evening, he struggles to adjust to the change of throwing at an angle through the shadow, but is determined to master the new skill. And he is honoured that we made something for him, which is very sweet.  

Day 46

As we travel away from the mine, the magic lingers for longer than I expected. Now that we have interacted with it, we can feel it from further away, and it is clearer now that the Ingan is gone.   The elven town we return to is almost unrecognizable from the small encampment we came across only a week ago. It is clear that the cooks have been working hard with big game meat instead of scrawny birds that have wandered into the walls. The drummer has been overseeing production of ceremonial drums, and Linai has been delegating and keeping things moving. Trael is nowhere to be seen - she is teaching people to hunt and forage in the woods.   And we have water! A running-water canal has filled itself from the once-frozen lake of the winter fae. The energy of conflicts we resolve far from home has a way of finding us again.  

Day 47

Before settling back into the rhythm of town life (for it is becoming a town now), Alder, Hella and I go to visit Kadia’s tree. Bran stays behind with Shei, with the hope of helping to build the town that we need to house our people.   Standing before her tree again, I meet her in the dreaming.   The pearl was once a common thing, she tells me, that acts as a bridge to the power of the sea. It anchors the user to the tides and will strengthen the magic of the Osyr. It also contains several spells:

• A spell of concussive force that only works against objects. Like the crashing waves of the sea against the shore, even stones will slowly fade away beneath the endless power of the water.
• A spell that will enable me to breathe and move with the rhythm of the waves, travelling and breathing underwater. It will enable me to visit some of the offshore places that the Osyr left.
• A spell of river magic. Rivers begin somewhere far inland and make their way to the sea. This magic finds the source of something, and how it came to be where it is now.

I recognize the river magic as a facet of what allowed me to fight the Ingan. I shared the river of loss and sacrifice that has brought me to where I am.   I also ask her about the storm that I saw in the dreaming.   @"The Storm" , she tells me, is one of the eldest beings in existence. Some say that it is the first dragon, and others think that it is perceived as a dragon because we are unable to understand something so immense. Where the Storm passes, that which is weak falls so that the strong may rise. It is not so much a judgement as an impartial, uncaring destroyer.   It cannot be communicated with or tamed. It travels, both in the waking and dreaming worlds, and some say that it is simply travelling across the world. Sometimes it vanishes for 10’s or 100’s of years at a time. Kadia notes that to see it once is remarkable, and it is extraordinary to see it twice or three times. When I tell her that I saw it and it saw me, she tells me that she knew that I was remarkably strong.   That the Storm is heading towards the Valley of Storms worries me, but it is journeying at an unknown pace. We have some time to find a way to communicate to Lyssa, I hope. Though I wonder, if a people aren’t strong already, how will they become strong in the face of the approaching Storm?   And lastly, Kadia gives her blessing to logging in the forest so long as we don’t create holes in the canopy and we offer blood to any tree that is wrapped in vines. Elves have long had a respectful relationship with the natural world when we harvest.   Kadia has quickly become family to Hella, and being able to walk with Hella has brought Kadia love that she hadn’t realized was missing. I’m so grateful that we met her, and that she can travel with us and Hella.

Days 48-57

We have a week of “rest” in the town in which time I see Bran coming into himself more. The distance between him and the elves seems to close, as Shei turns to him for guidance and encourages others to do the same. He is more confident and assured, and it is so good to see him like this.   Hella has so much energy and we all make use of this by setting her to tasks with magic. And I get her working with the winter fae sword, which is remarkably well-sized for her. She connects well with the magic of ice and cold, especially because of Kadia’s water magic. The magic of winter wind is a little more temperamental, but it is still a fine weapon for her.   And Alder, Empress bless his heart, takes his role as my guard very seriously. My presence in the town seems to encourage the elves to flock to me with questions and decisions that I have no doubt they could resolve for themselves. He is so patient with them - asking what they think they should do, and whether they think I trust them and their recommendation, and what they would do if I wasn’t here. More often than not, they know the solution better than I do, and all they needed to hear was that they are trusted and competent. I am sympathetic - hearing that I am trusted and competent would have meant so much to me a few weeks ago, but also extremely thankful to Alder for how many he is able to handle for me. Somehow he also has procured a felt ball to throw at me. Very resourceful, that Alder!   And I find time to get to know our furry little creature as well, who spends time with me as well as Alder now.