[Jean] Chapter 10: Ceremony

[pringerbeam]

     "Anja, stop."  Commanded Jean.  "You need to rest.  You may not feel the pain right now but that is only because of Ren.  You've broken a lot of bones and they will take some time to recover.  The ceremony is not what's important now.  You need to stay still if you want to heal and if you can't manage it yourself, I will command Ren to keep you there.  Listen..."  Jean looked at Dalina.  "Actually it's important that you hear this too Dalina.  I've talked to Anja about it but you will need to know this as well.  Once we set down on the mountain, I plan on descending and won't be returning to the island.  I will need you to come with me Dalina and..."  Jean turned his gaze back to Anja.  "You too Anja.  I know I said before that you should stay here and continue your training but I want you to come with me as well.  If that is going to happen, you need to rest."

[Throndir]

Location: Wind Temple of Velothia - Healing room
Date: Day 3 - 5:00 PM

"B-but..." Anja looked as if she was about to argue, but Ren wrapped one of her tentacles around Anja's hand, and seemed to gently squeeze it. Anja glanced at Ren, but then looked back towards you and Dalina.

"I've been... waiting for so long..." Some tears started to form in her eyes, but she quickly wiped it away with her working arm. "I can still-"

She paused as she seemed to concentrate on her legs.

"I can't..." Anja said almost hollowly. "I can't move them."

The priestess who was with the group seemed uncomfortably, but she quickly spoke.

"Don't worry Anja, give it some time. The body can sometimes take awhile to heal..." The priestess said. Anja was getting more distraught by the second. "I'll get something for everyone to eat." With that, the priestess left.

[pringerbeam]

     Jean's heart sank when Anja said she couldn't move.  "Look, Anja, you need to understand something.  You don't need a bird.  You are not less than who you always have been just because you don't have this companion.  Where I'm from, we don't have these companion animals and we are no worse than those who do.  That's why I plan on taking you away from here."  He leaned forward but still continued to sit and pour mana into the egg.  "No offense to either of you but your people are close-minded.  They have spent too long in isolation living lives of blissful ignorance.  Anja, you're different from your peers.  You're strong-willed and independent and for that you they kept you separated.  I know that they said that it was because you hated the hero, hated me before you knew it would be me, but I don't think so.  I think they saw something in you, something they couldn't handle.  You knew that this egg..."  He held his egg forward.  "Is special, and you risked your life to obtain it, to obtain its power.  You hunger for something better than the life thrust upon you by your elders and I want to give it to you.  I will need a lot of help in my journey but most important of all, I will need an apprentice.  Someone untainted by a lifetime of teachings to follow me where my road leads, that will delve with me into the darkest corners in pursuit of the knowledge we need."  He pulled the book from out of his robes.  "In here..."  He said, holding the book up for Anja to see the cover and its days-old blood stains.  "And out there..."  He pointed the book's spine to the door.  "Is a life better suited to you.  A life I want you to truly live.  Not the meager existence they will try to confine you to here."

[Throndir]

Heroic action point earned

Anja's eyes started to water then again. Her right arm was immobile, but using her left she reached out to grab your hand. Her small hand grasped what they could, and you felt them tremble slightly.

"B-but... You earned that egg. You're the hero, Jean. I'm not... I'm not really anything special really." Anja said. "I'm just a kid after all. I'm glad you found that though... P-please don't get me wrong. If there's anyone who should find that egg, it should be you. I only knew of it... because I did a lot of reading and research."

"It's comforting to me... Reading I mean." She looked towards her sister, then back towards you.

"I'm not... I'm not sure how much of a help I can be Jean. I'm no Priestess of the Hero like my sister, I'm good at magic... But I'm sure it's nothing compared to you." She smiled grimly as she looked towards her broken arm and legs. "I confirmed that too, didn't I?"

Her eyes landed on the book you held out in front of her.

"But if you believe in me..." She didn't continue though, and the little girl only kept holding your hand.

For narrative purposes we can just have your egg be completed.

[pringerbeam]

    "Don't worry, it's not what you can do now.  It's what you have the potential to do in the future.  I see a long road before the three of us, plenty of time to grow."  Said Jean as he held on to Anja's hand.  "Now, you should try and get some rest.  Like I said before, you'll need to recover as quickly as possible for when we make landfall.  Dalina and Ren, can you go and fetch some bedding from the house?  I'd like to stay here with Anja while she recovers.  Oh, and can you go get some food as well?  Maybe one of the villagers can spare a meal for us while you set up up here."

Once the egg ritual finishes, Jean will begin studying the book by Anja's bedside.

[Throndir]

Dalina and Ren nodded. Dalina with the slimeling still on her leading the way, while Ren followed behind.

Soon enough the ritual had finished, and the egg was complete. It seemed to glow more brightly as well. It was already a glowing egg, but during the process, it had continued to glow even brighter.

The two of you began to study the book. The languages were foreign to Anja, but she quickly set her mind to start learning as much as she could. For much of the first part, a lot of it was spent with Anja asking what a particular word was on the page, with you simply rereading it for her. In some cases, you had even slowly read the passages as you used your finger to trace what word you were reading then.

Anja continued to focus and concentrate on each of the symbols and words you were speaking.

Roll Training checks, one for teaching Anja, and the other for your own learning. Call out specifically what kind of Knowledge you are attempting to learn, or what track of magic you want to go into. I'll put that on my queue to flesh out.

[pringerbeam]

Looking into Darkness magic

Training Check (Jean)

Rolled 1d20+6 : 9 + 6, total 15

Training Check (Anja)

Rolled 1d20+6 : 5 + 6, total 11

[Throndir]

Changed the Spell docs a bit, and I'll be working on adding more details to it. But I'll have this as learning Blood Magicka instead (Violent Esotericism on Earth). The track for that is different for you both. Anja will be using the Genius NPC track for magic learning - effectively same SR (Success Required) as the hero track. Though, she has more hurdles to go through, so her learning would take longer.

Jean:
Knowledge (blood magicka) -> Blood magicka spells

Anja:
Language (latin) -> Knowledge (blood magicka) -> Blood magicka spells

Learning magic from the Book serves to unlock all magic systems as learn-able, but does not act as a mentor to help you learn.

Location: Wind Temple of Velothia - Healing room
Date: Day 3 - 9:00 PM

You spend the next few hours sitting with Anja, and together, the two of you went through reading and studying the book. Ren and Dalina had came back with a lot of food as well. Apparently, there would have been a celebration held tonight in honor of both you and Anja on completing the egg ceremony, but due to Anja's accident, plans for it were postponed. There was a rumor going around as well that the hero, you, were unfit for the ceremony, which Dalina had hesitantly mentioned to you.

Ren did most of the heavy lifting of the trays of food, though, she herself had already gorged herself on a couple of the items even before arriving back into the healing room.

"Master! You should try this!" Ren had said.

Soon enough, you felt pretty accomplished with what you managed to learn. You seemed to be able to pick things up rather easily, and there were even sections that you understood simply from taking into account everything else you had read in the book. Even Anja managed to make good progress with herself.

Trainings
Jean Knowledge (blood magicka): 1/4
Anja Language (latin): 1/8

While the two of you were studying, Dalina and Ren went in and out of the room. During the four hours, they busied themselves with a variety of things, playing with the slimeling, eating, and lightly sparring. Dalina had glanced over the book over your shoulder a couple of times as well, though, of course, she couldn't really understand anything, save for seeing the occasional picture that was provided in the book.

[pringerbeam]

     Jean got up and stretched, letting out a yawn.  "I'm going to go take a bath.  I'll be back soon."  Jean took his leave and headed back to the house.  Once there, he conjured hot water as before and sank down into the tub.  Staring out to the starry sky, he mused to himself.  "Anja..."  He muttered, thinking back to earlier that day before the trial, before she was maimed.  "Bullied, held back, left to die...  What is wrong with these people?"  He remembered Dalina's mention of the villager's dissatisfaction with him.  "That fucking priest...  Of course he'd start to turn them against me...  All for simply telling the truth..."  He looked at the scar he had inflicted on his chest when he had been returned to the world.  "Maybe the other me had the right idea...  Maybe these people don't deserve a hero."





     Jean returned to where Anja was convalescing.  "Hey Anja, you said you did a lot of reading and research.  Tell me, in your research, did you find anything about gods other than the 6 goddesses?  Back in my word there were lots of different gods, some religions had millions of them.  I find it hard to believe that there are only 6 in this world."

[Throndir]

Anja nodded.

"Well, there are 6 goddesses in our scripture. But among the books that we get from the Velothian dragons? Apparently, many of the other land-dweller countries have other gods and goddesses. Spirits and deities of all sorts. Sister doesn't really read through those books, as she focuses mainly on the writings of our people, and the scriptures that we've had. Along with studying and learning them. There's a couple of people that say the land-dweller books are heresy... but we still keep them anyways."

At that moment Dalina started to walk in, she was holding on to the slimeling, and the slimeling waved at you as well.

"Jean! You're back. I just talked with the priestess, and she said we could take Anja with us back home, as long as she promises not to try moving her legs, or arm. She's letting us use her wagon and telma to cart you there. Are you up for it, Anja?"

"As long as I can keep reading this..." Anja said, using her left hand to point to the book. "It's a bit hard without Jean's help, but it helps me learn faster too."

[pringerbeam]

     "Hmmm... Heresy you say?"  Pondered Jean as he helped to transfer Anja to the cart.  "Over the next few days, when we aren't studying together, can you read as many of those books as you can?  There might be important information in them that I need to know.  I will need to learn some techniques from Vitaliya before we go and with your help I will be able to accomplish more in the time that I have.  Otherwise, feel free to work on that book, the languages are those of my homeworld.  Though, I don't...  Or well...  Didn't know any of them before I was summoned."  Said Jean as he helped guide the cart.

[Throndir]

Anja nodded, already engrossed in the book she was attempting to unravel. The journey back towards Dalina's and Anja's home didn't take too long, and soon enough everyone helped Anja get into bed properly. This time, she took the bottom bunk.

Let me know if you have any plans for the rest of the evening. It's currently 10 PM. Also note where you place the egg that you mana-infused. Is it with Anja, or you leaving it somewhere specific?

[pringerbeam]

     Jean watches Anja work on the book and places the egg on the windowsill, bathing it in the moonlight, and propping propping it up with a small cushion.  He then sits and reads with Anja until she goes to sleep and settles in to sleep himself.

No other plans for the evening.

[Throndir]

Location: New World - Wind Temple of Velothia - Dalina's Home
Date: Day 4 - Morning

The morning had come by peacefully. Dalina was of course still sleeping, and Anja was still asleep as well. She had the book on the desk that was moved up to her bed, and looking at it, she must have done some more late-night reading by candle light before turning in for the night.

Like the few nights before, the slimeling was already up and about, this time around it looked like it was currently eating away at your blanket. When it noticed you were awake it formed a small tendril and waved at you as it made plopping noises.

"Food giver! Morning!"

[pringerbeam]

     "Morning."  Mumbled Jean as he rolled out of bed.  He started the morning as he had before, getting up and rummaging around for some of the dried foodstuffs to chew on.  He sat beside the cooking fire, gnawing on the dried fish he had procured.  With Anja asleep there was no cooking this morning so he simply sat in silence, his brain not yet fully awake, staring at the unstoked coals.  After getting some food in, he got up and made his way to the training hall.
     Seeking out Vitaliya, he got a hold of her to start his training.  "Hey Vitaliya, I know I have been working on learning to use the spear but my time on this island is growing short.  So I want to redirect and learn of the Ki you had talked about the other day.  I will need to learn to harness it while I can draw on your experience and then refine it on my own."

Training Sense Ki

Rolled 1d20+6 : 8 + 6, total 14