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Spirit Cloud
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>>1106586
>>1106582
>HOLY CRAP
>... Few worlds are capable of this. Few gods are willing to allow this. This is more than an infinite food hack, it needs to be studied. You're looking at the bottleneck of a breakthrough in thaumaturgy here.
I.. I know, that’s why it feels weird that it’s even an option, obviously. I’m going to study this and ask more questions later, once my priorities aren’t about acquainting myself with our citizens, but... I don’t know, something feels off.. Maybe it’s because we kobolds who use psy use a different type of thaumaturgy, but I’ve never seen someone use it for stuff.
The thing that concerns me, Muni, is that with kobolds we tend to use it sparingly and usually on inanimate objects, just because, well, it’s never been done on something alive.
And those abilities are granted by the crystals of your kind, right, Muni? And if you weren’t alive, you wouldn’t be talking to me, do; do you know the extent of your power, and have you changed something biology to that extreme before?
It also worries me that before she admitted that she’s the worst of her family's secrets there’s a reason why they got rid of her, instead of just giving the Empire gold if their entire family can do that.
>Bardeibor is angry
>Just reassure him that we'll be fighting mutant crops some day, it's only a matter of time before Sweetie rolls a crit fail.
>Man, that brings back memories. I used to fight alongside a skilled group of warrior-farmers, but that was worlds ago.
Nono, it’s not just that possibility, although that could be terrifying, I don’t know why, maybe I’m being paranoid, but I feel like there’s a well of dark dread within me.
……………..
Sorry, my ears started ringing for a second, I needed to sit down. But yeah, I’ll tell Bardeiborr about that someday, he’ll probably be stocked, I don’t think he’s angry per se, just disappointed.
>Start by giving each of them a soft hug. This isn't advice I'd give to anyone but I think you'll nail it.
>Ask one-on-one what their past was like, how they were captured, and what they would like to do.
>For now, offer them the same pay as an average adult worker to do anything job like. If they want to be seamstresses instead of scientists, you'll still pay them a hefty sum. They're still kids, and pushing the mindset that they have to be in a specific job to get paid the most will be toxic to their developing minds. You can offer incentives and benefits when they've grown up.
That seems like a plan, although I do need to be careful with how much we’d be paying them. Obviously, we can’t at the moment while we have our treasury. The state of the colony is more about applying the foundation at the moment and trying to get things set up. Once we can officially go on trades caravans and like-wise visit us, which hopefully, with Sweetie’s thaurmuragy, will be pretty soon, then we can think about payment.
I am considering their current work with their total debt.
I look over to Muni, who’s put a reassuring shoulder on me, and I return with a hug. Muni initially jolts as if terrified by my reaction, but over a decade of seconds, warms up and returns; however, she does seem to actively move her face away from my shoulder. As if blanketed by something.
Uea dashes back over and stares at us while finishing the hug. Muni seems genuinely happy.
“So what’s going on why’s grey’s here?” uea states.
Muni just looks at her and gives a happy nod.
“You just here to give hugs? Or is there something you want us to do?”
I find this a good way to segway.
“Actually, I’m here because I wanted to learn a lot more about you two, if you're comfortable!”
Uea looks uneasy, but Muni stands still before saying.
“About…. What?”
“More about your past? And maybe what you’d like to work on? I know you two have been working hard helping others, but maybe you’d like to do your own thing?”
Both of the girls just look at me silently, Muni’s jovial demeanour disappearing in an instant.
“Do we have too?” They both say almost in unison.
“Well, I’m not going to tell anybody else what you tell me, I just want to make sure you girls aren’t hurt at all, and want to get to know you better!”
I beam, trying to add some optimism for a tricky subject for them.
Both of them look at each other, then to me, Uea steps to the side and looks to the colony
Muni hesitates but then walks forward towards me
“You promise?”
I give a nod, and she seems to lessen a little. I look over to Uea, who’s now actively scouting the area.
“Okay, okay fine”
(She responds quickly)
“but you're not supposed to tell anybody about this, except maybe Bardeibor.”
I stifle a chuckle, and Uea’s tail twitches annoyingly
“What? Bardeibor’s Cool!”
Muni responds with a tone of bewilderment;
“What, Uea, isn’t he just the naked guy?”
Uea snaps back almost sassily,
“You just call him that, but you haven’t seen him with his axe, he flies through the air. And wap, wap wap! He slices through an animal like he’s a cook! It’s awesome.”
She mimics, clearly excited to recount the event.
“Mmm, Grey; can I talk about my past now?” Muni B? interjects, clearly over Uea’s Fangirling of Bardeibor, before turning to Uea.
“Can you leave us alone? I want to talk to Grey privately.”
“Okay, but only if you admit that Bardeibor’s cool.”
Muni physically facepalms and, with an exasperated tone, admits.
“Okay, okay, Bardeibor’s awesome.”
Uea smiles and, with a skip hop and away, goes into the nearby forest for adventuring, leaving Muni and me alone.
“So, Muni, how did you end up being taken away by the empire?”
Muni shifts uncomfortably, and I give her another long hug. Eventually, with a bit of reluctance, she speaks.
“Well, Mommy was a High-up Administrator/Accountant for our local mayor, so she lived in his manor; I.. I didn’t always have a rag over my face, but one day.. Because of magic.. Something happened, and then mommy didn’t love me anymore, so she made me run away.”
I can feel the hurt inside her voice; she feels a great deal of shame, even though it wasn’t her fault. I hug her tighter, and she continues.
“When I was on the roads, I eventually lost my face covering, all… all those who look upon me thought of me as a muni, so I was forced into the countryside. That’s when those humans came, laughed at my pitiful appearance, but the rag on me, and sent me in that caravan.”
She looks up to me, which I can mentally picture as a smile and says:
“But then you took me here! Instead of a lifetime of being considered a muni”
I pause slightly. then decide to ask her:
“Is Muni actually your name? I’m sorry if I..”
(Muni quickly shakes her head.)
“Well.. I don’t remember what my name was before the accident; I was very little, but it’s what Mommy called me, so my name’s Muni now.”
I scan her, especially her face, and part of me is curious about what she hides that makes her so detested.
“Thanks for telling me, I know that must have been a rough experience for you.”
“Yeah…” she says softly.
“But now that you're free from them, and you’re free of judgment, is there anything you’d want to do? Job-wise, I mean?”
I say, as an attempt to calm her, and switch the current topic.
“Well, I don’t think I’m old enough for adult jobs..” She says softly tapping her fingers together, before I can interject, she continues
[color=#001F5E] “But I think you're very smart, and you don’t let what others think of your face get in the way Grey. I… I kind of want to be like you, I know you don’t have too.. But before Mommy drove me off, I was pretty good with magic, too! So, can I be your apprentice?”
I’m honestly quite bewildered by her admiration of me. Still, I guess it’s hard to know how much someone’s looking at you or admiring you when their face is masked. It's honestly a lot to process, having two Muni’s input might get pretty confusing, so I may just rename her if I do.. I do think my Muni should have some input before I decide, though.
“I’d accept, but I have some things I need to consider first. However, I may be open to your apprenticeship later. I must warn you, though, that my job isn’t effortless, and as an administrator of Crocodile’s barony, there’ll be hard decisions and gruelling hours, and if you are going to stay by my side for everything, I’m going to have to teach you about medicine-”
Muni just responds with: “Anything that you can do, I can do! I promise not to get in the way, Grey.” She beams.
“Even medicine? It’s not exactly just giving people porridge and bandaging their ailments, there’s some pretty gross things you’ll see, and people die regularly-”
“I saw a man staked to death, tied to a sign, his chest and organs opened, with all of his organs spilling out, and I saw the empire shoot and execute some beast-men, I think I’d manage.” Her sincerity in her tone makes me stutter.
“I’ll come back to you if I change my mind, but changing the subject, Is there any questions you wish to ask me, Muni?”
“Hmmm… I guess what questions me is, who are you guys? You don’t seem as bad as everyone else around here, considering you adopted me and Uea when no one else wouldn't.”
“Well, for me, I’m Grey Soulgem. I’m around 37 in human years, and I’m the administrator for the Bloodenia state, led by our Baron, Crocodile; Under the rule of Golden-Claw, of what I think used to be called the FangTooth Empire, I used to be a field medic during some wars, and I had an pretty privileged upbringing, I was sent as an adiminastrator to help with the barony, around five years ago? But yes, that’s a quick run-down of who I am.”
“Why is your face bandaged?”
I pause. It makes sense she’d answer the question. Usually, I’d give the response. I give everyone, but I see strangely parts of myself in her in a morbid way, still I decide not to tell her the whole story.
“I’m fine Muni, I just keep my face banaged so people don’t have to see my scars-”
“Like Me!” She happily interjects.
“Like you, because when I was younger, some nasty men hurt me and my face, so I wear bandages to hide it.”
I finish, and she looks at me curiously.
“So you hide your face, because you don’t want others to be burdened with your appearance?” She says her tone is full of awe, as if she’s piecing something together.
I decide to switch the topic on her.
“Are you hurt under your rags?”
My hand almost instinctively hovers to her face, and she brushes my hand away, her body language showing discomfort.
“I’m… I’m fine, I.. I don’t want you to see what’s under there, yet… I’m scared you’ll hate me, sorry.”
I let her be comfortable and give her some space.
“How are you doing?”
Muni looks around and then leans up to me, whispering.
“Good, but I don’t like how Uea teases me sometimes, but don’t tell her that okay?”
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