It has been twenty five-years. Twenty-five years since the news of the attempted return and defeat of Karzoug the Reclaimer spread across the Inner Sea. Twenty-five years since the attacks on Absalom from the splinter faction of the Pathfinder Society now collectively referred to as the Onyx Alliance. While those within the leadership of the Society know that it was, in fact, a splinter faction of their own people, they have chosen to allow the general public to continue to think believe they were instead minions of masters from the Shadow Realm. In that time, a new deity even ascended to godhood thanks to the Starstone.
Much has changed in the Inner Sea. Much has stayed the same. Kingdoms have risen and fallen in the east. The area once known as the Stolen Lands vanished and eroded into a vast wasteland known now as the Stolen Wastes. Galt has had its longest era of peace in ages. The wars between the nations of Nex and Geb have even lightened up in recent years. The war between the nation of Molthune and the rebel state of Nirmathas has come to an end...a cease fire being a better description. Elves in Kyonin even managed to finally put an end to Treerazor.
Golarion, for all intents and purposes, has been in an extended period of peace that hasn't been present in quite some time...
__________
It is the first day of the Swallowtail Festival. This year, it is one of the more elaborate and most anticipated ones in most folks memories. It is the last one the town will hold with Lady Deverin as acting mayor. There are many, MANY shops set up in just about every nook and cranny within the small town. Vendors come from all over thanks to the safety afforded by the high walls the town has erected over the years. The Rangers Statue has even been decorated in laurels of flowers. The massive Cathedral looms over much of the festival grounds as well, the changes in it's architectural styling over the years an evident but proud point to the locals.
Father Zantus, his age showing more and more in recent years, gingerly takes the stage with one of his acolytes lending him some assistance. There he is joined by a variety of the important figures in town, from Mayor Deverin to Sir Lightstaff, as well as Lady Tileani of the Varisian Rangers and Shalelu of the Black Arrows. He moves to the podium and says loudly, his voice no weaker despite his frail appearance, "Welcome, one and all! Guests and locals! I will keep this brief, lest I die of old age in a long winded speech," he says in a light hearted tone, which draws a ripple of laughter from the gathered crowd, "but it does me a great honor to open this years Swallowtail Festival. May it prove to be the twenty-fifth straight year of peaceful celebrations!" he says as he raises his hands and a veritable curtain of Swallowtail Butterflies fly up behind him, fluttering through the cloud and skies!
__________
"Again!" Argor's stern voice speaks up behind the closed door of his private training room. Within are three of his children, Abasi, Bethania, and Kaylara, as well as their, well, basically their cousin, Shiloh.
Bethania had just attempted a summoning spell, with poor results. Kaylara stood to the side, arms crossed, shaking her head. Argor's staff clicked against the floor as he paced at the front of the chamber. "You have to put more force behind the words of calling, Bethania. And your gestures need more precision! You cannot let the flame of the candle waiver, even in combat situations! A steady mind..."
"...is a steady hand! Yes father, I know! And you know that conjurations are not what I'm good at!" Bethania replies in exasperation.
"That does not matter! A summoning spell is perhaps one of the most versatile and powerful spell you can master! So focus and try again!"
Abasi exhales a sharp, sardonic Puh! of air.
He's dressed in his typical eclectic, mismatched fashion: loose Taldan trousers held up with an intricate henna-colored Vudrani sash. His pant cuffs are tucked into creased leather Andoran riding boots. He's wearing a tasseled, floor-length plum-and-mustard Qadiran jacket, and a sea-foam green Varisian kapenia around his neck. On his brow is a silver band prominently featuring Aroden's iconic eye. His curly hair doesn't appear to have been brushed in days.
His fingers absentmindedly trace the ornate hilt of the scimitar he recently restored: one he and Nigel believed was once owned by Zayifid, of the Templars of the Five Winds.
While Abasi's skin is closer to his mother's in shade, his father's features are impossible to miss.
"Oh right! Now I remember why I spend more time listening to the relics at the museum than trying to talk to you! Because dusty totems--and even that cursed Ustalavan dagger the Pathfinders just dropped off--are far more pleasant than you, dear father."
With a smile and shrug at Bethania, Abasi adds, "You know you don't need to become some kind of miniature-dad, right? Listen to Uncle Gianluca and 'follow your passions'!" he winks, putting air-quotes around the phrase they've all heard too many times.
Bethania giggles at Abasi, and Argor's head snaps around to give a stern look at his son. "Trust me, my son, my demeanor has only improved over the years."
Kaylara sighs and says, "Ah, here we go again. Abasi ranting against dad's wisdom. Beth complains about his methods..."
Bethania throws her hands up in exasperation. "Well!?!? I'm a sorceress, sis, like mom was! I don't get to pick and choose what magic I can do!"
Argor looks back to her frustratedly, "I've known many sorcerers who, through focus, have guided their inherent magics towards incantations of their choosing!" he says, all the while Kaylara pantomimes his rebuttal almost perfectly, having heard it as many times as the rest of you.
She then utters the conjuration herself, and a pair of halfling sized earth elemental step through a small portal into the center of the room. "There."
Argor turns and gestures with his hand at the summons. "You see? It is not that difficult of a spell. And it can quickly provide you with defenders in precarious situations. And even for your...chosen applications of your arcana, Abasi. Having a pair of extra warriors at your side is a major boon in a battle. Though," he turns his eyes towards Kaylara, "if YOU would focus more you could stretch the magic to bring forth even more, stronger creatures with each spell."
"Understood father. However, you know that I prefer transmutations," she replies with a smile.
Argor then turns to Shiloh and Abasi. "Alright, it is now your turn. Who will be first?" he says as he gestures towards the center of the chamber.
Shiloh was in the same boat as Beth.
Yes, it was quite nice not having to read Magic for Dummies every morning to use her Phenomenal Cosmic Powahs. Shiloh vividly remembered that one time Kaylara had misplaced her spellbook. Her younger cousin had nearly leveled Verde Heights and the Blakros Museum looking for the silly thing.
Shiloh snapped back to reality when her uncle addressed her and Abasi. Right, she was in the same boat as Beth. In other words, until the day she mastered Paragon Surge, her spell selection was essentially set in stone.
"Our turn. Pryde, let's go," proclaimed Shiloh as she started to guide her trusty feline mount.
At only 3'2", Shiloh was easily the odd woman out among her surrogate siblings. For one, she was obviously not entirely human. That said, most people would not immediately peg her for a regular Half-Elf either. Unlike most of her kind, Shiloh had those large, monochrome Elven eyes. In particular, hers shined like two perfectly polished emeralds under gentle morning sunlight. There were plenty of contradictions in her appearance too. Her face was an odd blend of humanity's softness and Elven sharpness. While obviously pointed, her ears actually weren't that long; Shiloh could easily hide them within her lovely blonde hair. Her body build was somehow both strong and lithe.
And despite all these odd, arguably uncanny features, most people tended to find Shiloh very easy on the eyes.
Next, her style of dress was also quite unique, much closer to certain upper class feminine fashions of Tian Xia than anything typically found in Absalom. That could at least be explained as her mother's influence. Jeevika Kailani worshiped the Tian Xia interpretation/aspect of Shelyn and often dressed accordingly. In practice, despite being raised Shelynite, Shiloh was honestly only a Crystalhue one, but she was more than happy to shamelessly poach her mother's stylish sense of fashion.
Finally, Shiloh also went everywhere on the back of a mighty tiger!
At this point, Pryde was basically her second (and third pair) of legs; bar absolutely dire circumstances, Shiloh could steer the tigress in her sleep. As such, without any audible orders, Pryde trotted over to a conveniently placed table with a sizable bowl resting on the surface, and Shiloh picked up the container with her little arms and dainty hands. Pryde then trotted back to the center of the room. Briefly dismounting, her rider placed the object on the floor.
Since Shiloh was in the same boat as Beth, she was going to conjure water!
Besides Creating Water, Shiloh's only other conjuration spells were her healing ones. In order to properly use those, someone needed to be injured, and no one in the training room was currently hurt. Granted, that was an easy problem to fix, but Shiloh had just polished her lance and didn't want to bloody it so soon!
Seriously, though, Shiloh Kailani would never hurt her family. Oh, if she could get away with it, she would happily stab other people with her lance. However, as far as Shiloh was concerned, Uncle Argor and her cousins were firmly exempted from any lance stabbings.
So Create Water it was.
Her form and casting were polished. Arguably textbook perfect. She had been casting this spell for years. That said, unless her uncle really pushed himself, she was the only person in the room who could naturally cast it. Despite being able to conjure like ten gallons of the stuff at once, Shiloh ultimately just summoned a modest amount of water inside the previously empty bowl.
(...If she made a mess, she knew darn well that Uncle Argor would make her clean it up.)
"Alas, Uncle Argor, I could only conjure the corpse of a water elemental..."
She uttered a soft giggle at her own joke.
I hate the holidays.
This was just supposed to be a simple resupply. The interesting rumor about a particularly shaped ranseur that had started her last expedition had been a total bust so far, but there were still a couple barrows left unplumbed. Well, even if I haven't found anything yet, at least it's taken a lot of time and coin...
So now she was back in Sandpoint where she'd hopefully find some guides or porters who were handy with snares or foraging as well. Running out of food in the middle of the woods wasn't an exciting reason to put a delve on hiatus after all.
A bit of elision might serve me well if I do find something worth writing about.
But she'd forgotten about the Swallowtails. Everything was booked solid, and no one wanted to leave town for at least a week (if they even wanted to talk business).
She needed a plan.
So, she'd wheedled her way into a nice hot bath in one of the employee's rooms at the Rusty Dragon. Prestidigitation is all well and good, but after two months of bedrolls and brambles I need hot water and some suds. After that, well, it wouldn't do to be some sort of sullen outsider, so she'd decided to join in the festivities. And if she was going to join the festivities, then she'd be damned if she wasn't going to impress. So that meant one of her fancy dresses, a classic Taldan cut with trailing dagged sleeves and all sorts of elaborate swoops, snatching and slits. Her hair was set and reset in a long elaborate braid, and the forest green lenses of her glasses had been polished and magicked and polished again before she finally admitted she was stalling.
She traipsed through the crowds and stalls, vaguely planning on heading to the opening ceremony, but mainly just wandering.
This is Such a waste of time. I understand that festivals serve as an important break from the mindnumbing routine, and as a time for reconnecting with family and friends and all that, but why not just Do That Instead?!
Besides, Master Silva was probably nowhere to be found. Her mother went quite out of her way not to interfere with anywhere 'Master' Constantine or his coterie had sunk in their roots, so it wasn't as though this was a time for her family.
**sigh**
Maybe I'll find a useful porter anyways, or a better lead to some better ruins. I'd even just take an interesting conversationalist. Not that I'm likely to find one among people who need the excuse of a festival to escape boredom.
"If your life bores you, change it!"
Kallie Silversun, outcast of the Thunderhoof clan, daughter of Eugeni Silva and Setsuna Kailani, born of Ryli Mawari, and enchanter extraordinaire (that last one she added herself) wanders through the crowds of people at the Swallowtail Festival. Her hair was mostly black with a few streaks of bright yellow while her tail was mostly yellow with bold black stripes in honor of the butterflies about to be released. Kallie changed her hair and tail colors as often as most people change their clothes.
She rather liked being amongst herds of people. She stood about a head taller than most humans and matched the height of most elves, which she liked since she still hadn't grown to the stature of a full-sized centaur. So rather than feeling small and childish among herds of centaur, she felt like an adult.
And she should be! She was twenty-five, nearly middle aged for one of her kind. She still looked exceedingly young for her age, though. The fact had at first irked her to no end. However, the fact that she hadn't visibly aged since about nine left her with some hope that she would be spared her species' egregiously short lifespan.
The people of Sandpoint don't react overmuch to the presence of the small centaur as she roams through the crowds of the festival. Very young children still gawk, but considering the Varisian Rangers are revered heroes, the adults give her a bright smile as she passes by.
She hopes to spot Embreth or Shiloh, hoping that the festival would draw either or both of her childhood friends back to Sandpoint. She scans the crowd, but doesn't have much luck. They'll be more likely to spot her, so she moves off to the side and watches as the butterflies soar overhead. She tracks them as they swirl haphazardly around the square and past the newest temple. Kallie marvels how despite the huge numbers of butterflies are around, not a single one has caught itself in one of the intricate spider webs across the door frames and under the eaves of the Cladissan temple.
Sorry, spiders. Looks like you failed to catch your next meal, Kallie thinks with a snort of amusement. The idea of a goddess of failure is too ironic to be taken seriously. The idea that her aunt is the goddess' herald is an even weirder thought. And that Master Argor knew her when she was a mortal is just plain crazy. She had asked him about it once when she went to study under him, and he just got really quiet. Ruined the whole lesson that day.
Deciding to relocate away from the new temple, she tosses her tail and moves through the crowd away from the vendors. She spots a well-dressed outsider flitting about the displays, not planning on buying anything and trying not to look annoyed. Kallie gives her a smile when their eyes meet, then goes back to looking for Embreth and Shiloh.
When the filly smiled at her, Jaya instinctively smiled back, but her first thought was Where are her parents? No... Chaperone? No...
How'd she get here?
You shouldn't do this.Judging by her past interactions with the Clans, it was safer to go up and start playing with a bear cub than to go near a centaur's foal. After all, if you got away from the mama bear, she probably wouldn't remember you.
But she needed someone to people watch.
She can't just be some runaway though, Jaya noted, She's definitely been here before. She darted her eyes through the crowd, I'm the only one even staring.
Crap. She definitely saw me staring.
Refusing to let any embarrassment show, Jaya instead weaved her way through the crowd towards the annoyingly tall girl. Peeling the glove from her hand, she offered it in greeting. "Hi. I'm new to the area again. Jaya Farwynd."
"Phhhfbt!! Heheheheh." Abasi chuckles at Shiloh's joke.
"Well done! And while you tempt me to demonstrate one of my cantrips as well, I actually have a couple new tricks I've been wanting to show you, Dad. Let's see if I can pull them off...
"I know you and I disagree on how useful transmutations and abujurations can be...but believe it or not I took to heart your reprimand that magic's about more than preparing for a fight. I've been meditating over this headband"--Abasi taps the symbol of Aroden, on a light mithral band--"and I'd like to think I've coaxed some interesting magic out of it. You might need to follow me outside though, if you'll indulge me..."
Once out on the busy street, he says, "Pick a footprint, at random. Man or beast."
When Kaylara points to a particular horse print, Abasi kneels down beside it, incanting an arcane phrase while crumbling a small piece of plaster from his component bag. When he stands, he announces (looking pleased), "That was a dappled Appaloosa. Her rider looks like a merchant of some sort: heavyset, Taldan ancestry, wearing leather britches and a large yellow feather in his blue felt cap. His face is a bit pocked, likely from acne."
Without pausing for a reaction, he holds up a finger and continues, "Now watch this!"
Abasi's face scrinches (in a look his family recognizes as concentration) and then...nothing happens, at least as far as most are concerned. Argor (and anyone else who can See Invisible) immediately notices an invisible globe the size of an eyeball, emerging from Abasi's third eye chakra (triggered by a spell-like ability of some sort). It wobbles slightly, but then rights itself and--as he concentrates--travels along the exterior of the house for a hundred feet and then in through the kitchen window.
"Aha! We better not stay out here showing off too much longer. Mr. Brandybuck has some mincemeat pies that just came out of the oven. They're still steaming now, but I wager we'll want to get a taste before too long."
The twins also giggle at Shiloh’s joke. A stern look from Argor brings the amusement to silence, though, as Abasi leads them outside as he works his own incantations. When he finishes, Argor signals everyone to return inside with a motion with his head before leading everyone back into the foyer of the manor. ”I never belittled abjurations or transmutations. I use them regularly, and have ended many dangerous situations with well timed transmutative effects. But what you lot fail to see the utility in is the effectiveness of strong summoned allies aiding you as you are free to work further magic.”
He sighs and looks back to all of his children, as well as his ward. He smirks before adding ”I see that none of your hearts or minds are focused on this, today. I’m certain it has nothing to do with Master Lightstaff’s invitation for all of us to join him at the village’s Swallowtail Festival today...”
The look of excitement on Bethania’s face betrays that fact enough for both sisters, even if Kaylara had a better poker face. ”Well, I suppose I should let you get to it. But do send my regards to William, as well as my apologies for being unable to attend. I have an unscheduled but important meeting I have to attend.”
__________
In a flash of light, you arrive inside Master Lightstaff’s school in Sandpoint. Kaylara tends to handling the pleasantries with William before joining the rest of you in making their way to the Swallowtail Ceremony, just in time to see the butterfly release.
When the filly smiled at her, Jaya instinctively smiled back, but her first thought was Where are her parents? No... Chaperone? No...
How'd she get here?You shouldn't do this.Judging by her past interactions with the Clans, it was safer to go up and start playing with a bear cub than to go near a centaur's foal. After all, if you got away from the mama bear, she probably wouldn't remember you.
But she needed someone to people watch.
She can't just be some runaway though, Jaya noted, She's definitely been here before. She darted her eyes through the crowd, I'm the only one even staring.
Crap. She definitely saw me staring.
Refusing to let any embarrassment show, Jaya instead weaved her way through the crowd towards the annoyingly tall girl. Peeling the glove from her hand, she offered it in greeting. "Hi. I'm new to the area again. Jaya Farwynd."
The centaur takes her hand and shakes it in the regular human custom. "Hi, Jaya. Kallie Silversun. And no, that's not a herd's name. It's my own."
Jaya Farwynd. Where have I heard that name before? Kallie thinks, the name sparking a glimmer of recognition, though nothing immediately springing to mind. Well, she did say she was new to the area *again*, so maybe that's a clue.
"So I take it you've been here in Sandpoint before, then? Same here. I'd spent the last couple years in and around Magnimar, but I've lived here off and on." She glances around at the people and the surrounding buildings. "It's like a herd that doesn't wander."
She blinks back to the present, realizing she'd been running her mouth a little too much. Focusing on Jaya, she asks, "Where are you from?"
A static herd sounds Exactly right for this place. An anchor for one of the most powerful mages currently active and still nothing interesting happens here. Maybe not how she meant it, but nonetheless...
"Oh Magnimar's beautiful. I haven't spent nearly enough time there though. I'm from Kaer Maga originally, but I lived in Oppara for a few years, then back to Sandpoint, Korvosa, Kaer Maga again, but lately I've slept more often in hedges than houses I'm afraid..."
Her eyes suddenly sharpened, This couldn't be His... No. She's too young. She would have had to have started her training with Master Silva when she was just a child! But she's here, and alone... Wait, how many years was she in Magnimar before this? Centaurs just aren't that hard to track down in a city. So... not a runaway. What could you get kicked out for at [i]that age?[/i]
Carefully Jaya asked, "So do you stay with friends here? You seem a little young to have your own place; I'm assuming the rest of the herd hasn't recently settled down in Sandpoint?"
Can't just be that she's a mage. Has to be something weirder than that...
A flash of long-suffered annoyance crosses Kallie's face. Her smile becomes a little more forced. "I'm... older than I look. By, like, a lot." She shrugs. "No one knows why, but I'm small."
She glances away, watching the butterflies overhead for a moment. She looks back to Jaya after pushing away her consternation. "So, Kaer Maga, huh? I've never been there, but I'd like to. And sleeping in hedges? What are you, an adventurer? You're too well-dressed to be a vagabond."
Jaya smiles at the compliment, but doesn't preen. "Well, it is a festival after all, I wasn't just going to throw on a cloak and mysteriously sit in the shadowed corner of the tavern."
She dismisses her sartorial choices with a flick of her wrist and continues, [b]"I guess you could call me an adventurer, but I like to think of myself as more of an assertive historian. There's a few flash-fried ogres that might dispute that, but well, the amount of work to get their testimony is a profoundly out of balance to its worth."
Her smile too loses some warmth as she thinks about Kallie's apparent age. It's not just that she's short... She looks like she's my age. My birthday age anyways.
"I know a little of what that's like. That must be really horrible for people not to take you seriously; I'm sorry."
Kallie tilts her head as she looks for a clue as to how Jaya could know remotely what she was going through. Her mind immediately jumps to her mother's "condition" -- that is, Ryli's tendency to reincarnate whenever she dies.
She ultimately decides not to pry into that possibility; it was a rare enough occurrence (her own family notwithstanding). Kallie waves away the show of sympathy. "It's not so bad when I'm with humans who have no clue that I should be twice their size. I can go indoors when otherwise they'd be looking at me like I belong in the stables.
"Plus," she adds, "most of the Thassilonian ruins are human-sized, too. I've squeezed into some places I'd never have fit if I were regular size."
Kallie gauges Jaya's reaction to her exploring the old ruins of the ancient empires closely. "What sort of history are you interested in?"
Jaya's eyes light up in delight. "Not all of them though! I mean, they're all made so you can get around if you're person, or uh, pony-sized, but you can really see that they walked with giants."
She gives a nonchalant tilt of her head and adds, "The Thassilonian empire is a bit of a specialty of mine. It's one of the reasons I came back to Varisia, actually." Hands up to deflect the inevitable accusation, she continued, "I know, I know, who isn't interested since Dr. Quink published his book, but I'm no bandwagon historian. Even if Fall of the Runelords was one of the first books I read as a kid."
Kallie grits her teeth behind her smile. Ugh with the size thing. I am *not* a pony. But she decides not to voice her irritation as Jaya moves on to a more interesting topic
She nods in agreement about the current fascination with Thassilon and gives a flick of her tail. "Oh, I got around to reading that, too. It's a pretty good overview of what's known, but he overlooked a lot of the finer details," she says with the casual air and certainty that came with being raised by one of the figures who actually stopped a Runelord from returning.
"So if it's not just a passing fancy, then why the interest in Old Thassilon?"
"Well, part of it is that Varisia's got so much left to discover. There's a real chance of being the first person to see something in millennia. And aside from the adventurers who actually go off delving, it's still really possible to make your mark. Even though Dr. Quink took over a decade before actually published his findings and interviews, there was so much in there that had never been written about. But also..." Unconsciously she rubbed at her shoulder, "Well a Runelord woke back up, at least one. I think there's a lot to learn from them regardless, but learning about them could be Important too. "
Kallie blinks in surprise. She stares at Jaya intently, looking for some sort of baited trap she was weaving; setting her up for some sort of takedown in the event Kallie agreed with her.
Not sensing anything, she decides to take the bait if that's what it was. Because if not, she might have found a kindred spirit. "I agree. I mean, they knew more back in those days than what we could possibly know now. And if they could come back... why not learn everything we can from them? Knowledge isn't scary; it's what can be done with it, right? It's not like we're trying to create our own version of Thassilon?!?"
Kallie stops herself before old remembered arguments with her teachers raise her voice too much and attract attention from those around her. She leans in conspiratorially. "So who are your favorites?"
After the opening ceremony, Shiloh spent some time exploring the festivities with her cousins. She liked to think that she was on good terms with all of them. Shiloh could vividly remember fun times such spending long weekends studying history in the Blakros Museum with Abasi, helping Kaylara draft her first spellbook, and shopping for the latest fashions with Beth. Eventually, however, Shiloh decided to strike it out on her own and perform her usual rounds of Sandpoint, just as she did every time she visited her third hometown.
The first stop was the beautiful statue someone (Uncle Eugeni? Mother?) had commissioned of her older sister: Mother Setsuna Kailani the Generous. Even if it had been twenty-five years, Sandpoint was probably never going to forget the Dark Tapestry Oracle's generous donation to the city. Case in point, there were literally dozens of fresh flowers carefully laid out around the monument.
The next stop was Sandpoint's Classy temple. In particular, the smaller shrine inside dedicated to the Failed Goddess' infinitely cooler herald: Attica-Sabrina. Nowadays, Shiloh's older sister appeared as a two-headed golden dragon with a few aesthetically pleasing extra eyes here and there. A nice blend and balance of beautiful, good, and weird. One head went by Attica, and the other went by Sabrina. Hence Attica-Sabrina.
Shiloh suddenly recalled the first time she and Kallie had visited the shrine. It had also been the occasion when the centauress had learned that her oldest aunt was the divine herald to a goddess; her adorable horsie tail had excitedly wagged like that of a puppy at the news. Well, that's how Shiloh remembered her best friend's reaction.
Shortly afterward, Shiloh quietly guided Pryde out of there. She never liked to linger anywhere near anything Cladissian if she could help it.
People warmly greeted her as she traveled. Everyone in Sandpoint knew who Shiloh Kailani was. Sister to Mother Setsuna the Generous and Attica-Sabrina, daughter of Jeevika the Treeslayer , and "niece" of Lord Argor Constantine the Great.
(And likely author of the international bestselling book series The Argor Constantine Facts . Argor Constantine Fact #47: The mere presence of Argor Constantine once killed a dragon!)
Story of Shiloh's life. People always defined her by the accomplishments of her family. Well, one of these days, Shiloh was going to top them all, and it would be she who had the last laugh!
...Granted, people really didn't laugh at her, but... uh... the point still stood!
Jaya responds with carefully measured enthusiasm, "Well... They're all kind of tragic if you ask me. There are different ways to learn from someone though. I guess Xanderghul or Sorshen were supposed to be the strongest, but Alaznist always struck me as particularly creative. Profoundly evil - not a fan of that part. But... creative.
"You?"
Kallie gives her a knowing smirk. "Sorshen. All the way."
Her teeth bared in something grin-adjacent, Jaya responded, "...Because you admire her resiliency? Or because that pouch," she nodded towards an easily accessible saddlebag, "is full of components of enchantments?" Don't be another lust-cultist. Don't be another lust-cultist.
An enigmatic smile grows on Kallie's face. "It's a little more complicated than that. But we share a connection. That much, I'm sure of."
Her eyes are drawn to a small half-elf astride a smallish tiger. She rears onto her hind legs to give her a little extra height and waves frantically to get her attention. "That's Shiloh! Over here! Hey!" she shouts over the crowd.
...Wait, a sec. 'Cladissian'? I meant 'Cladissan'! Gah! Uncle Argor taught me better grammar skills than that!
It was a trait passed down from Jeevika to her daughters; sometimes, the Kailani women thought or talked so quickly that they fumbled their grammar.
Still better than Mother thinking my name was Shion for all those months, though!
Before her mind could ramble about other silly things, Shiloh heard a familiar voice calling her name, causing her pointy ears to perk up in interest. Her large, monochrome emerald eyes immediately spotted a familiar centauress hailing her. Shiloh squealed with delight; it was her best friend Kallie! Instinctively knowing what her rider was going to command next, Pryde quickly carried her mistress over to the aspiring wizard's location.
"Kallie!" chirped Shiloh happily, throwing open her little arms as an invitation for a hug. "How are you? It's been too long!"
Kallie gives Shiloh a big hug that almost lifts her off her tiger. "Same," she answers, "but good. I saw Mama Ryli a few weeks ago. She's going gray. I've never seen her so happy."
She turns to Jaya and holds out her hand. "Let me introduce you two. Jaya Farwynd, this is Shiloh Kailani, wanna-be tiger taur. And yes, that Kailani. Jaya's from Kaer Maga."
Kallie smirks at Shiloh, wondering if she should add that she's Shiloh's niece, but decides to save that revelation for later.
"I'm starting to wonder if I should grow a couple extra legs to fit in," Jaya teased, deciding to root through Kallie's stuff later rather than interrogate her about Sorshen now.
Jaya knew all too well that being related to someone who'd done great things could change a lot about your life, but it didn't mean much about you. Still, pointing that out over a fairly innocuous introduction seemed more abrasive than was remotely necessary. "Jeevika Kailani's... daughter, I assume? You must be very proud"
Shiloh's emerald green eyes suddenly began sparkling with obvious interest.
...Why do I wanna start calling her Windy all of a sudden?
Anyway, even if she wasn't exactly thrilled about people largely knowing her through relations to famous family, Shiloh was also truly proud of her Mother. She could talk about how awesome Jeevika Kailani was for hours on end.
"The one and only! Mother is indeed the Treeslayer!" Shiloh answered with a grin. She studied Jaya for a seconds before offering a tiny hand to shake and continuing, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jaya."
"Well, I've never really understood how you all can walk on only two legs, so be my guest," Kallie says to Jaya with a teasing grin. "Just grow some normal hooves instead of those awful feet. They're like, grossly bent hands with stubby fingers. Eww!" Despite herself, her whole body shudders in disgust as she pictures the strange appendages in her mind. She shakes her head vigorously to shake loose the image.
Two new abilities I've worked out--both things Dad might not be able to do himself, I'd wager--and he doesn't so much as comment on it...just goes on about Conjurations again.
Abasi scowls as they prepare to teleport. Once they're all in Sandpoint me mutters, "Does he honestly think he's 'just' trying to help us learn? Then why not meet us where WE are at? Help us to improve at the things WE do well, instead of trying to turn us all into little reflections of himself?!?"
That said, he can't stay bothered too long when he gets out to the festival.
"I'm going to see if I can find a kid I knew when I was at the CZSS--most of my friends from then have probably graduated and moved on...but Embreth was Master Tileani's son so I wouldn't be shocked to see him."
Abasi looks for Embreth a bit, without luck. He lines up at a food stand while he marvels at the butterflies.
Then--seeing little Shiloh talking to a little centaur--he gets curious and wanders over. Holding a little bowl of curry-spiced salmon and his eating dagger, he calls out. "Hey cuz! Who's this?"
Jaya has a moment of awkwardness dealing with Shiloh's tiny hand, but tries to move past it quickly. "Pleasure's mine Shiloh. So do you normally live here in Sandpoint, or just in town for the butterflies? And should I take Kallie's comment to mean I should really ditch the sandals, or does she always wriggle like that?"
"I visit for extended periods of time; granted, today I'm largely in town for the butterflies," answered Shiloh. "I mostly live in Absalom these days. My choice, of course. When she isn't off slaying lords of the Rune and Demon variety, Mother is mostly performing mundane duties like organizing the quarter century regional census. In fact, I believe she's working on one right now! In short, if I traveled around Varisia with Mother like my sister Setsuna once did, it'd be nothing but statistics and such."
Shiloh began scratching her tigress' ears.
"As for Kallie, well, she doesn't speak for all quadrupeds. Isn't that right, Pryde?"
Shiloh's mount gave a lazy yawn in reponse.
"Personally, I'm a fan of paw pads."
After the opening ceremony was completed, Lana says "I'm going to go to the School. See if Master Lightstaff has any new tomes."
Bethania rolls her eyes. "Seriously? We don't get to leave home unsupervised often, and you are wasting it on going to read!?" she says with a groan. "Whatever," she says with a roll of her eyes. As Shiloh moves off to roam the town, Bethania walks along with Abasi, enjoying the small town air, and taking part in a few of the carnival games and snacking on some of the food from various stands.
"Transmutation's not my strong suit, but I can try to find a spell to give you some-- Abasi!!!" Kallie lights up as the middle Blakros approaches them, all conversations about feet, hooves and paws forgotten.
"I haven't seen you in years!! How are you!!"
She looks around in the nearby vicinity, her eyes roaming around for someone of Shiloh's stature. "Where's your sisters?" Then she blinks and looks back to Abasi. "I'll bet they're grown, aren't they?" She shakes her head feigning disappointment. "I told them, if they grow up, no more rides."
Oh. He's grown up. She hadn't been at the Swashbuckelry school for long, but she'd still been there more than long enough for Abasi to catch her eye.
I guess not as much as me though. A few years ago I was just a kid.
And wait, does Kallie know Everyone?
Oh.
Oh Cladissa's tears I'm an idiot.
"Kallie? Are you named Silversun after.. Master Silva?"
Embreth wanders up to the group, munching on some roasted nuts in a paper bag. The halfling aasimar is dressed in Varisian style clothes, in imitation of a szcarni gangster. He sidles up to Shiloh. "Hey babe," he says, putting an arm around her shoulder.
He offers an insolent grin to the others. "Looks like everyone's made it to our little hamlet. Who's this?" he asks about Jaya.
Jaya's question brings her attention back to her new acquaintance. Kallie gets a bit hesitant. "Sort of? I don't know who exactly named me, and Mother gets so cryptic when she talks about the Wheel. But yeah, I'm pretty sure that 'Silversun' comes from Eugeni Silva and Setsuna. And 'Kallie' comes from Kailani. They're my original parents."
Embreth's arrival elicits another shout of joy from the centaur. "Em! I knew you'd be around here! What's the scheme for today?"
Original parents. I'd heard some weird rumors, but I just thought that people were exaggerating. I mean, once a mage has actually become some kind of god-blessed cephalopod, what won't people believe?
Her face didn't quite go entirely still, but there was no disguising that she'd had a reaction. Would he have told her about me? Or our fight? No, you're being crazy.
"Oh, I, umm... I know your father then." Grateful for the halfling's interruption, she turned towards him instead, "I'm Jaya Farwynd. Probably just passing through unless I catch on something interesting."
Kallie's head whips back around to Jaya. She knew Papa Eugeni? Then that probably means... It finally clicks. "Oh! You're the apprentice who came in after me. I thought your name sounded familiar!"
"I'm Embreth. Eugeni is not that big of a deal. He's just an old weirdo."
Jaya's lips twitched into something not quite a smirk while Em scoffed. Master Silva didn't need her to defend his reputation as someone important.
"Yeah. It's probably why I know the town better than the people. A lot of time spent extraplanar, and Master Silva didn't really push the whole human-interaction thing. Thanks for warming him up to the whole idea by the way. I got the feeling that if he'd had to figure out how to teach someone he wouldn't have bothered to do as much as he did."
Kallie nods in commiseration about Eugeni's teaching style, though she gives Embreth a brief scowl at his description of her father.
"I must have wore him down, though I still can't say how. I probably started with him a bit too soon -- I mean I should've learned the basics first -- but there wasn't much opportunity to learn the ways of wizardry in the herd. As in, none. And Papa Eugeni didn't learn spellcasting the traditional way, so it was a lot of guesswork and self-study. Hope it was easier for you."
She looks wistfully toward the old Sandpoint Glassworks building where the entrance to her father's realm lay. I should go say hi. Even if all he'll do is ask is if there's a point to the visit.
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Farwynd! Seriously, that name is so familiar! Where have I heard it before? pondered Shiloh as her friends bickered about how awesome Uncle Eugeni truly was.
Two of Sandpoint's city guards suddenly passed by. Shiloh heard one of them talking about how his cousin had to retire from adventuring after taking an arrow to the knee. She winced at the thought.
Ouch! I hope I never take an arrow to the knee. Wait. Arrow. Knee. Arrowknee. Auronee!
Shiloh's emerald eyes began sparkling again, and she really started to study this interesting newcomer.
"Hey, Jaya, by any chance are you related to Auronee Farwynd?"
Jaya's spell component pouch was safely through a slit in her dress, and for a second her fingers itched to reach in and grab some finely ground mica. Her mother had made a lot of enemies, and most of her old friends weren't very healthful to encounter either.
"Yes, I am. She's my mother. I assume you know her?"
She doesn't seem hostile about it though. Blinding and burning can come later if it has to.
"Oh!" Kallie remarks as further recognition hits. "I've heard of her! Gramma Jeevie explained to me about how she one time went to Absalom and met Cladissa and Aunt Sabrina's ghost, before she became a goddess, that is. Cladissa, not Aunt Sabrina (though I'm sure you know that). Apparently my Aunt Sabrina was really good friends with both Auronee and the future goddess, which was why she was chosen to be her herald!"
Kallie smiles brightly. "That's cool, isn't it? Your mom and my aunt were best of friends?"
Until Mother betrayed her.
"It's certainly serendipitous. If a bag tears or a mirror breaks, I'll be certain Cladissa's at work." Her voice was wry, but her mother really had warned Jaya that her aunt might take an interest in her. And if The Failed One takes an interest while I'm in town for a resupply... Pretty good sign those barrows are tapped out. Thanks a lot Auntie.
Well, they all seem nice enough. And even if Kallie really is a lust cultist, that could mean some interesting leads anyways.
"So, I've seen the bugs flutter by, what else shouldn't I miss? I haven't been in town for the Festival before, and I've got a sneaking suspicion you all might have the inside scoop."
Kallie tilts her head in confusion over Jaya's odd comment about the Goddess of Failure. Mirrors breaking or bags tearing? Why would Cladissa have any interest at all in us?
Her musings are cut short by their new acquaintance asking about other things to do in Sandpoint. "Well, if you're a foodie, you should stick around for the best meal competition. Then there's a magical prowess competition that has the belief that if the display is impressive enough, Eugeni Silva will appear to take on the winner as his new apprentice. The locals all know that's not true in the slightest, but it does bring some visitors who've got some impressive magical talent."
She then turns to Embreth. "And I'm sure you've got something planned to fleece the out-of-towners. What is it this year? Can I help?"
"Actually, I had something more bold in mind. Eugeni has an item that I think would be most amusing. I saw it last time mom and I were in his realm. It was called a rod of wonder."
Embreth's eyes light up with glee. "We should nick it and then climb to the top of the Ranger's statue and shoot it at seagulls!"
Across the street and down the road a few blocks, barely louder than the sound of merriment and festivities, comes the sound of what seems like some men hassling someone. However the perpetrators and their victim remains unseen from your vantage point.