Fantasy World Creations

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You were awakened by the sounds of soft snoring along with some sort of weight on top of your legs. When you were finally conscious enough to gather your surroundings, you realized it was Synithise, the matriarch of the Lamia priestesses. She was seated on a chair next to your bed, though she was leaning over on your bed with her arms splayed out. The purple-skinned and white-haired Lamia seemed to be fast asleep, laying her head on your legs, snoring blissfully with a bit of drool running down her mouth.

"mmm... m-more chicken... Carrie..." You heard Synithise mumble to herself.

Though you were awake, there was no lights or windows to be seen to dictate the time of day, though you did recognize this room and this bed as your own back at Thura forest. You still felt drowsy, as if your mana hadn't completely recovered.

As Carrie comes to and realizes that she and Synithise are back in the tunnels beneath Thura Forest, hearing her friend dream about chicken that Carrie surmises she must have cooked in that dream, she arrives at the conclusion that the program she had employed on the wagon had taken effect, and that despite having passed out due to lack of mana again somebody had been able to figure out what she had in mind.

"Well, guess it's pollo asado for dinner then.", Carrie comments quietly with a relieved smile as Synithise rests with her head in Carrie's lap, then grabs the pillow from beneath her head and attempts to stealthily slip out of bed without waking Synithise and place the pillows beneath the matriarch's head as she vacates the space in a very Raiders of the Lost Ark fashion, grinning at the similarity of the two situations.

Stealth (Subtract 5 if Carrie's still in her armor. She will also quietly remove it if she is.)

Carrie then takes this time to examine the kit of the assassin she had killed earlier again, now that she's not under pressure, in the hopes that she'll be able to get a better understanding of the magic the items bear.

Shortsword (1001) Cloak (1002) Leather Armor (1003) 5 daggers (1004) Dagger (1005) 10 Vials (1006)
While Carrie is examining the items in question, she will make a point of seeing if any of them glow with spirit as they do with mana. This will also prompt a realization on Carrie's part that she hasn't checked on her status window after the combat with the Hyaenadons. She seeks to correct that by quietly uttering the word "Status.", still seeking to avoid waking Synithise. While she goes about all of this, Carrie realizes that for the first time since coming to this new world, she hasn't had a nightmare while asleep. While she isn't sure if it was a side effect of the lack of mana or Synithise's presence, Carrie finds herself grateful for the reprieve. She hopes it was the latter rather than the former. As Carrie further examines the items in front of her and her status window, she thinks back to the events that led to her coming into possession of these items and realizes that a great deal of subterfuge and deceipt was most likely involved. She decides that she needs a way to detect such with absolute certainty and despite still being drowsy from having low mana, she creates a new program, hopefully inexpensive, attached to her dog tags.

"Program, Condition: A lie is told in the wearer's vicinity. Statement: Apply a static shock to the wearer. Save."

It is Carrie's hope that this new program

---

You managed to move and replace Synithise's pillow without waking her up. Your PASGT tactical vest was already removed, and it was within reach next to a bag that contained the gathered items.

Like before, you noticed they were glowing with the faint glow of mana, save for the vials that did not. Going from the memories from Eveleen, along with exploring the feel of the mana from the items themselves, you were able to get some guesses on what each were.


While you examined these items, you had brought up the status window. As expected, the familiar screen appeared when you triggered the keyword.

Your wounds haven't completely healed, though there looked to be some effort in cleaning the injuries you had sustained. Your MP hadn't fully refreshed either, though, with the drowsiness you felt, that was more than evident. The rest of your stats seemed to have gone up a few points since you had last checked.

You spoke the commands for your Program, as expected, by verbally saying the structure of the program, the program would write itself out. Saving the program then drained the mana.

The mana drain wasn't as bad as the wagon at all. You were still fairly drowsy, but the programming took hold.

As Carrie reassesses the items she had acquired from the caravan's leader, she comments to herself quietly, "Well, I can certainly see why he had this on him as well as the cloak. This cloak will be a significant boon. To hell with this armor though.... Can't make heads or tails of it... These daggers will be useful, though,....... I'll have to test that theory. I didn't expect to be able to so soon though."

Carrie sighs as she considers the red hand gripped sword and dagger, commenting, "It's a shame these two are so conspicuous. They're practically a dead give-away if the wrong person is seen with them. Maybe if the theory is sound I can break them down and put them to use somehow..."

It is then that Carrie moves on to the vials she had obtained, realizing all too quickly what they were. She recalled from Eveleen's memories that they carried a knockout toxin and the instant she realizes just how close she came to being captured herself in her attempt to rescue Synithise, Carrie's blood turns to ice in her veins.

"Shit! So this is what was on the blade!", Carrie curses, a little louder than she had intended, and looks back toward Synithise hoping she hadn't woken her as she takes a moment to compose herself again.

Carrie then takes a moment to review the status screen as it appears in front of her, noting the changes as well as realizing that her HP had recovered some and that she had clearly been tended to by someone with medical knowledge.

Carrie once more looks over at Synithise with a smile, knowing she was likely the responsible party, before returning to the matters she was currently considering. There were two things Carrie needed to do first and foremost. One was to figure out a way to put the gear she had acquired to use without sacrificing the technological advantages she currently had. Two was figuring out exactly what the current situation now looked like after Synithise had returned to the tunnels. Carrie decided to test the theory she had before addressing the second issue and began to program once more.

"Program, condition, now. Statement, transfer enchantment to target object. Save." Carrie's test was simple and concise. She would attempt to transfer the basic enhancement borne by one of the daggers to her Ka-Bar. Regardless of the result, Carrie would then address the second matter while she drew her Ka-Bar in order to experiment with it and confirm the success or lack thereof of transferring an enchantment.

"Carrie to Eveleen. I'm awake and apparently safe in my room again, but beyond that I've got no idea what the situation is. I'm sure you've got plenty of questions yourself, not to mention we need to bring Jasna up to speed on the situation, so the sooner we can de-brief this impromptu rescue operation, the better. We've also got prisoners to interview at some point. Oh, right. There was someone in that caravan Felencorp considered a VIP prisoner sufficient to justify sending such a powerful agent to escort them back to their territory. Man, are they gonna be pissed when they realize they lost her. I never thought I'd find myself saying this about Synithise being kidnapped, but the way things have turned out, there appears to be a silver lining to the situation."

---

Your programming immediately took hold. The enhancement properties of the dagger was transferred over. You still felt drowsy.

"I'm glad you're awake! Synithise left to take care of you after that wagon with everyone piled on top of it appeared out of no-where... We took the slavers into custody then. Misophe and a few of her select guards are still detained as well. One of her subordinates, Kisisha, had taken over leading the rest of the lamia Misophe had brought in. However... Misophe has been fairly incessant about spending '3000 hours as soon as possible!', not entirely sure what that was about..."

"The rest have been assigned their own rooms. Though, to be on the safe side, we've assigned dullahan to patrol the lamia tunnels until things have calmed down."

"Anyways, we dullahan have no need of sleep, so we've been interrogating the slavers since they've arrived a few hours ago. One of Jasna's batfolks returned from the city as well... There's some interesting news she would like to discuss with the matriarchs."

There was a brief pause.

"Yes, of course, I'm talking to Carrie." Another brief pause. But you heard Eveleen sigh shortly after.

"Also..." There was another long sigh.

"Donovan says 'good mourn-ing'." You could hear the exasperation in her voice.

"I'm just glad it's not as grave as the last one.", Carrie replies, the pun clearly intended for Donovan, pausing so that Eveleen could convey the pun before explaining, "As for those 3,000 hours, they're hours of community service. Misophe's surrender was secured with a conditional suspended sentence. As I'm sure you've surmised, one of those conditions was ceding her authority to her second in command. The other two were that community service and forfeiture of the right to bear arms unless specifically authorized to do so by either myself of Synithise. As for Misophe's group, I suppose their fate will depend on just how much they knew about what Misophe was planning. Even if they were just following orders, that defense only goes so far. Aside from interrogating the prisoners, it couldn't hurt to ask our new friends to tell us their stories either. From what I heard on the road, it's likely that more than one can give us some new information."

Carrie pauses, testing her K-Bar's edge on a bit of left-over bandage to see how it performs after the programming and grins at the success.

"In any case, if we've got information coming in that merits a meeting, I had best rouse Synithise.", She resumes, then looks at her uniform as the bandages remind her of the current state of her appearance and can't help but chuckle darkly, as a way of coping with the present reminder of the last time her uniform had been stained with her own blood, "Damn. I look like death warmed over. Technically, I am..."

With a sigh, Carrie does her best to banish the unpleasant memories from her mind and gives Synithise a gentle shake to bring her to consciousness.

"Rise and shine~! We've got places to be and people to see!"

---

"Very well then. A few of the others that came with you had asked to discuss things as well. They all had various requests. Anyways, I'll call for matriarch Jasna however, and we'll meet at the Lamia tunnels in an hour. That should give enough time for matriarch Jasna, Synithise, and yourself."

"And one more thing..." Eveleen said, her voice softening in tone. "I'm glad you're safe here..."

---

"mmm... " Synithise started to groan, but then got up slowly, her eyes still half-closed. She paused for a moment to blink and stare, but something must have finally ticked in her head.

"Carrie!" Synithise started, her eyes widening and eyes alight. She threw her arms around you into a tight hug as she coiled part of her tail around you.

"Let's have chicken tonight!"

"I'm glad I have a safe place to return to.", Carrie responds to Eveleen with a smile before turning to wake Synithise.
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Carrie grins at Synithise's exuberant expression and despite initially flinching in pain with a brief "Ooff" at the tight hug given her injuries from the previous day, returns the embrace.

"I figured you might say that.", Carrie teases the Lamia matriarch, continuing, "And I've got just the recipe! We've got a meeting to attend to in an hour though. Apparently, there's news to discuss beyond just the recent rescue mission. Before then, I'd very much like to make myself at least somewhat presentable. It won't do for me to appear disheveled and covered in blood and filth. Problem is,... I don't have another uniform to wear and this one has definitely seen better days."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Carrie is looking to accomplish two basic things before the meeting. A bath, and acquiring a replacement outfit for the damaged and bloodied uniform. She'll also swap the partially loaded magazines in her weapons for full magazines before she leaves her room.

---

During the next hour, Synithise had led you to her own quarters, showcasing the various clothing she had. Unfortunately, most of the clothing that the Lamia used, had a much more exotic design to them, not to mention revealing. They were akin to Arabic dancewear, consisting of pieces of jewelry or precious stones weaved into either a silken-like material or wrapped around one's waist. Synithise explained that clothing was more ornamental to the Lamia. The matriarch did mention that the dullahan of the forest generally have a wider selection of clothing, given the fact that many dullahan were once humans of the Darmona kingdom.

Either way, she did offer for your own clothes to be cleaned, washed, and dried.

Once that was taken cared of, Synithise would lead you towards the bath, and once that was done, Synithise would lead the way to meet with the other matriarchs.

---

---

Once you were ready, with Synithise leading the way, along with both a dullahan and lamia priestess following a few meters back, you eventually made your way towards the same meeting room that had been used before when you met with the other matriarchs of the city.

There were a few batfolk who nodded once you neared. They were guarding the entrance to the meeting room. You recognized them as the two batfolk guards who were with Jasna the first time around. One was male, and the other was female, however, unlike Jasna herself who displayed some humanoid features, the batfolk here were much more animalistic in their looks.

Apart from that, you also recognized Grus, Apulia, Viviana, and Aliana, who immediately greeted you good morning once you arrived. There was no sign of Donovan.

Aliana approached you once the others finished their morning greetings.

"I apologize for not meeting with you sooner for what you wanted to discuss..." The blue-feathered, red-eyed harpy said as she bowed her head slightly. "The others have requests and we've been discussing it since everyone had awoken. I would have left earlier to find you, but the others have decided to ask me to represent our requests to the matriarchs." As Aliana said this, she also glanced towards Synithise.

"I don't mind at all!" Synithise said jubiantly.

QuoteIf Carrie's uniform can be washed by the time she's out of the bath then she'll stick with that.

As Carrie approaches and recognizes the two batfolk she had seen the last time she had been in the meeting room, she returns their nod and greets the assembled group as well.

"I'm glad to see everyone is well. The last thing I remember before passing out was you chasing after a fleeing beast, so it's a relief to see you aren't missing from the group.", Carrie admits while looking in Apulia's direction before turning to address 'Aliana'.

"No worries. I was out like a light until about an hour ago so there wasn't much of an opportunity. Setting that wagon up to teleport took more out of me than I had expected. In any case, there's much to discuss so we had better get the ball rolling. As for the topic in question, are you comfortable discussing it during the meeting?"

QuoteRegardless of 'Aliana''s answer, Carrie will abide by it and continue into the meeting.

---

Apulia flashed a toothy smile, showcasing the full array of her sharpened teeth. It was a wonder if she did that on purpose or if it was simply habit. Either way, she seemed to be in bright spirits when she responded. "I am of a fairly decent level, I'll have you know, dear." The mershark said proudly. "You'd have to be in my kind of profession."

"A mere bandit." Viviana mouthed, her words just barely above a whisper.

If Apulia heard, she didn't say anything, though she did glare daggers towards Viviana, even as the mershark continued to smile.

"Yes, I believe I can." Aliana replied, then in a quieter voice continued. "These are the priestesses of Thura Forest; summoners and guardians of the hero. It is safe here."






Synithise glanced towards you, then Aliana, then towards you again. The look on her face told everyone she had absolutely no clue what was being spoken, but rather than letting that get her down, she rushed to grab both yours and Aliana's hand. With one hand in each, Synithise moved to the front of the group.

"Then let's go! The other matriarches are probably already waiting! Dinner won't wait for anyone!" Synithise said, perhaps oblivious to the fact that dinner was at least half a day away.

"Well, that would explain why you're so effective with a small blade.", Carrie replies with a smile, then turns to look at Viviana as she once more calls Apulia a bandit.

"You know, I'm starting to wonder if you actually believe what you keep saying.", Carrie comments on Viviana's constant mantra regarding Apulia with mild amusement, "I mean, you're sitting right next to her. If you actually believe that she's a violent brigand, is going out of your way to irritate her entirely wise?"

Carrie pauses momentarily, looking like she was going to turn to someone else before turning back and adding, with a hint of mischief, "Then again, she hasn't exactly given you any reason for concern has she?"

Carrie then turns her attention back to the harpy, nodding at her assessment.

"As safe as it can be anyway.", she qualifies the statement, referencing recent events as she advises, "If you're comfortable with it, it'll probably be best to lead with that topic, especially if there's a possibility we'll wind up collaborating long-term."

As Carrie is led onward by Synithise, she can't help but smile in response to her infectious jovial demeanor.

"You're right, let's get this thing underway. It sounds like we've got a lot to cover."

---

Viviana thought about it for a moment, but quickly responded. "Well, this bandit was a pain for the kingdom, and by that, I mean the kingdom of the mermaids... Not the kingdom we're all a part of... Anyways, she'd never actually kill anyone. She went around stealing a whole lot though! If I were to put her on like a list of the most dangerous people in this room, she'd probably be like a step above me, and I'm pretty weak!" She mermaid said smiling brightly, perhaps completely oblivious to the dangerous stare the mershark was giving her.

"Oh, dear, dear, dear. Perhaps you'd be the first to break my little mantra of 'thou shall not kill other mer-people?'"

"... ahahaha..." Viviana responded, looking as if a bead of sweat would form and roll down her brow at any moment.

---

---

Inside the meeting room were familiar faces: Everleen Dunn, the matriarch of the dullahan, and Jasna Kasun, the matriarch of the batfolk. Now with Synithise, the matriarch of the lamia priestesses, the room had Thura forests' leaders. But there was a new face in the group, and you recognized her as the lamia who had helped you escape from the tunnels the first time around.

She bowed her head as you entered the room. Synithise herself moving quickly to the couch, then scooting over in expectation for you to sit next to her.

"On behalf of the warrior arm of the priestesses, I ask that you forgive us for our actions."

"Oh don't worry about it! It's all under the meat!" Synithise said quickly. "Carrie, meet Kisisha. And Kisisha meet Carrie!"

As Carrie enters the meeting room, she returns Kisisha's nod before taking a seat next to Synithise. Upon hearing the first words spoken, Carrie's assessment of Kisisha as a leader was proven correct. 'The buck stops here despite it being Misophe's mess huh?', Carrie thinks to herself, 'We're off to a good start.'

Carrie then responds to the introduction and Kisisha's request directly.

"We've met once before, though without the pleasure of a proper introduction.", Carrie explains for the benefit of the others in the room, "As for your request, Kisisha, I know that I can trust you given your assistance during the crisis, but the rest of the warriors are another story. I'll certainly defer to your judgement with respect to anyone you can personally vouch for, but recent events have called into question which side of the coming conflict they're on. Until we can be sure of the allegiance of those involved, we need to consider them a security risk."

Carrie pauses for a moment to allow the weight of her statements to sink in before continuing with a more conciliatory tone.

"That being said, regardless of the degree of involvement, I'm not about to offer Misophe's subordinates any worse than she got. It wouldn't be just if they caught it worse than the one most responsible. I'm sure there are even some whose entire involvement was guarding an entrance or a room and had no idea what Misophe was up to. I can't exactly begrudge them standing a watch."

---

"That is understandable." Kisisha replied. "Then what, may I ask, would be a way to be sure of their allegiance? I know my hero-lore enough to know that each come with special blessings unique to them, and that even just one could change the tide of a war between nations. Is finding something as abstract as loyalty... possible?" Kisisha's gaze, even behind her face-fitting mask, looked towards each of the individuals.

"The dullahan can consume souls of others, and likewise, incorporate part of others, including memories, within themselves. That could perhaps determine loyalty, but can also risk turning the Lamia into husks. So, it's not really a process I would recommend." Eveleen commented when she noticed the gaze.



"The royal family had a device that detected intentional lies. But since we've been separated from them and are now in this new world, I'm not sure if such artifacts exist in our lands anymore." Aliana offered. "There may be chieftains who hold some magical items, but likely they keep them a close secret for feat of confiscation from the Felencorp."

Carrie nods as Aliana mentions an artifact capable of detecting lies.

"I figured there might be need for a lie detector once the situation was stabilized.", Carrie informs the group, "I programmed my dog-tags for just such a purpose shortly after I came to. That should help us figure out who's on the level and who might be an issue."

Carrie pauses before changing to a different, yet loosely related topic, addressing both Kisisha and Synithise.

"Speaking of blessings that can turn the tide of a war,....", Carrie begins, acknowledging Kisisha's statement by way of demonstration as she looks to Synithise, "It turns out your idea concerning magic items and my blessing was correct. Not long after I woke, I used said blessing to transfer the enchantment from one of the caravan leader's daggers to my own knife. If taken to the next logical step, I can see a way to potentially duplicate enchantments. I'll be wanting an opportunity to experiment with the idea a bit later on, among others. I'd appreciate it if a few materials could be gathered to facilitate the process, specifically a few short, stout sticks or dowels, and a few sheets of easily rolled fabric of varying sizes."

Carrie then directs her attention toward Jasna and Eveleen to inquire about the primary subject of the meeting in question.

"Those two points aside, I hear we have new intel out of the city and several requests from our new friends.", Carrie prompts, "For starters, are events in the city good news or bad news for us?"

"Pro-gram..." Aliana repeated the foreign word. "I've seen you do this before with the wagon, but I feel as if just that alone would be enough for this war."

"I agree!" Synithise butted in. "Sticks and fabrics... Of course, we can do that. If it will help you with your ability, Carrie."






"Good news or bad news... It may perhaps be more of what we do with the news." Eveleen said cryptically. "Matriarch Jasna?" Eveleen turned towards the batfolk.

"It's one of the neighboring kingdoms." Jasna said, picking up the cue. "The kingdom of Bursteig specifically. They've been making discrete contact with various tribal heads. Their kingdom has told us they're willing to take on our kingdom's debt, and unite our kingdom's fragmented tribes. It's heavily implied that they'll seat their own ruler for that 'unification'."

"As you can imagine, this did not sit well with the various other chieftains. Many of them don't want to simply exchange human masters. But there are others who are intrigued by the offer, stating that anything would be better than the Felencorp."

"I admit, I do not have many scouts in other kingdoms. Most are stationed through what's left out of our kingdom. But with your approval, I would like to send some of my most skilled individuals to try to figure out the kingdom of Bursteig's intention."

"I have to admit, this blessing does seem to be overwhelmingly powerful.", Carrie agrees with Aliana, her expression draining slightly of color as she is reminded of the implications, "But Felencorp has multiple heroes whose abilities are completely unknown to us right now. The last thing we want to do is count our chickens before they hatch."

Carrie then listens intently as Jasna relays what her scouts have learned, thinking carefully about the implications. When her gaze focuses in the present once more, her tone has changed to a somewhat mischievous one.

"I figured they were our best bet for an ally shortly after I arrived.", Carrie recounts for the benefit of the two who hadn't been present, "To think they'd reach out to us with an offer of aid before we could even act.... Well, that tells us a few things. First and foremost, it tells us that something within their country has changed for them to reach out now. It also tells us they have a specific reason for it. Their stated goal is obviously something Felencorp won't like. They can only run roughshod over us while we're not united."

Carrie pauses as she further considers the data she had taken in before continuing.

"They're seeking to discreetly make a move that they have to know Felencorp would oppose if they made it openly. They also have to know that Felencorp is unlikely to sit idly by when it comes to light. Is their stated goal really the truth? Could their leadership really be that naive to think Felencorp won't figure this ploy out?"

Carrie's line of thought stops cold as a sudden realization dawns on her.

"They just might if they're new to the political situation in this world. That would explain their piss-poor tact where the implications of a human annexation of Darmona are concerned. If I'm right, then it's likely there's a hero at the helm of Bursteig. A hero at the helm is a game-changer."

Carrie meets the gaze of each of those present in turn before she continues, "Diplomatic relations with Bursteig would be an ideal outcome, though perhaps not as they've offered. If they do have a hero of their own, working with them could be a real path forward. On the other hand, we've got no information on that point, though to be fair, they don't even know I exist. We still have the advantage of surprise on that front at least should things go south."

Carrie then turns to Jasna, though addressing everyone in the room, "By all means, send your people in to get us some intel. But bear in mind that you don't need my approval to do what you think is best. I've been here less than a week. This is your country. I'm not going to be that person who just shows up and tells you how to run the place. I only have that authority which is granted to me. If I were to behave otherwise, I'd be no different from Felencorp."

Carrie takes a few moments to allow the meaning of what she had said to sink in before she continues.

"That said, we should bear in mind that we have a means of paying Bursteig's leadership a surprise visit now, not to mention a great way to rapidly deploy a team of scouts or other assets."

---

"It's more than that too, there are some chieftains who ask how Bursteig could even take on our debt. Their country had more recently appeared in this world, but from what everyone can assume, the Felencorp have already stuck their grubby hands into that nation. But if you believe a hero is the cause... That very well might be. With a powerful hero, the country might have the power to do all they claim to, and would embolden them to make their claims. However, we've been given no evidence of such..."

Quote"By all means, send your people in to get us some intel. But bear in mind that you don't need my approval to do what you think is best. I've been here less than a week. This is your country. I'm not going to be that person who just shows up and tells you how to run the place. I only have that authority which is granted to me. If I were to behave otherwise, I'd be no different from Felencorp."

Eveleen smiled gently towards you, Synithises' eyes filled with admiration, while both Jasna and Aliana nodded approvingly. At that same moment, a notification appeared in your view before disappearing a few seconds later.

Jasna, who seemed to be the one who had most of the intel between the matriarches, then continued.

"Then... matriarch Eveleen, and matriarch Synithise. I'll be sending my most elite and trusted scouts to our neighboring Bursteig. I'll request from matriarch Synithise to use the Lamia priestess seal with a letter of peace and perhaps further clarifications."

"And Carrie... Rapidly deploying teams or assets?" Jasna asked curiously. Synithise looked confused, but Aliana nodded knowingly. "Do tell. We've been using our people as night-time scouts, though the journey is taxing and we can't carry a lot with us."

"Given how Felencorp is fond of taking other countries' heroes for their own, it's not surprising we haven't seen much. Bursteig would have serious issues if Felencorp found out they had a hero they didn't know about. They'd have to work behind the scenes in order to remain undetected.", Carrie posits for the matriarchs, "Whether or not they do indeed have a hero and what sort of actions they're taking if so are part of what we'll be looking to figure out. There.....may also be an opportunity to try to alleviate some of the pressure on the nightwalker tribes as well if Bursteig is looking for a peaceful relationship. Synithise told me shortly after I was summoned that the adventuring guilds in the surrounding nations issue quests for the extermination of nightwalkers. This presents an opportunity to raise that issue for consideration if they truly want to forge diplomatic bonds. We really ought to think on exactly what we hope to get out of a diplomatic relationship with Bursteig and list those goals in organized fashion. Such a document could form the basis for our negotiating strategy."

While Carrie wasn't terribly well versed in negotiations, she did know how to organize her thoughts and come up with a set of objectives. She figured the same could apply to a diplomatic meeting. Carrie then turns her attention to the more operational level consideration Jasna had raised, amused that Synithise hadn't quite realized the implications yet.

"The wagon we suddenly appeared here in can teleport its passengers, cargo, and draft animals.", Carrie states plainly, watching the expressions of those present with mild amusement, "I used my blessing to turn it into a means of rapidly returning to the tunnels, but now that we're back here we could use its ability to teleport to achieve very rapid and unexpected deployment of people and assets where they best benefit our interests. We could use it to reduce the length of time to deploy scouts dramatically, as an escape route, or to deploy a team of highly skilled combatants to a target location they would otherwise be unable to access. I'm sure you can see how the ability to suddenly appear or disappear people or assets from an area of operations would be useful, not to mention a wagon doesn't exactly stand out as unusual traffic to those who see it."

Carrie takes a moment to face Jasna, pointedly agreeing with her decision to request further clarification. "Good idea, that. If there's anything we could use right now it's information. Even if they're not keen on saying much without a face to face meeting, what they are and aren't willing to tell us can reveal a great deal."

Finally, Carrie addresses the one topic that had yet to be discussed.

"With the diplomatic situation addressed as best we can for now, I think the next item on the agenda is the request or requests our new friends have for us, isn't it?", Carrie asks rhetorically, turning to 'Aliana' to give her the spotlight, prompting with a smile, "Care to fill us in on the details?"