synopsychic | I want my Scimitars. :[

[oh this kid has so many questions that Drizzt has to fight to remember them all. Even if the last bit of them bring an awful pang to his heart.]

It's possible I may not know, and yes, danger at the wielder. Usually enemies--but perhaps it would work against a natural disaster.

I can tell you the story once I have scimitars on my belt. [He's not going to make a child wait for long, because that would be brushing the child aside.]

... I'm afraid I don't have the ability to create portals; that is only the realm of wizards. But I suppose there is some small possibility that we could be found in such a way, although unlikely.

Is it hard to make something magic like that? Could you set up detectors that would just respond to danger from one source, like natural disasters? Or that could tell you what the danger was from? And then set them up within range of each other so you could always warn people and evacuate if something was coming?

...Could it help sailors if a bad storm was coming? Maybe you could make magical navigational tools, that would help bring the ship through the safest path.

Okay! I'll be waiting at camp.

[Then there's a pause, but it's actually more thoughtful than sad or disappointed.]

...But if people from your world can create portals like that, that means that it's probably possible that people somewhere else can too. That means we just have to find someone who can do that - it doesn't have to be someone from your world.

[Drizzt is both amused at all the questions, which he quietly lets Imriel ask, and also quietly sad at the hope they can all go home so easily.]

I am afraid I do not know much about enchanting magical items. There should be ways to create spells or items sensitive to certain events, but I do not know how. Such things would be useful.

... I do not know. One can usually feel and see a storm from far off if one knows what to look for. And there's no best path if the storm is powerful enough. I have been through a powerful storm before, and it was not pleasant.

Even if we do find someone, I do not know if they can help us. The way that the Arcana work is mysterious to me. Power of gods... only even more of concepts than gods.

But you don't know about them? [He thinks with a slow deliberation.] So that means that, even if they might exist, they can't be very common where you come from.

[Of course it's possible that such a thing is impossible, or prohibitively expensive, or simply difficult enough to be beyond the scope of mass production. But Imriel immediately suspects greed and self-interest as reasons why they wouldn't be everywhere. That the people who might have the means don't do so because there's no profit in protecting commoners.]

But there has to be a best path. Or at least a better one. If a storm's bad enough to be dangerous to a ship, there are going to be some paths that the ship will survive and others that it won't. Magic that can really sense danger might be able to steer the ship between the two.

But we'll never know if we don't try! [There's a surge of anger and defiance through the network.] Gods don't scare me. And neither do the Trumps - there has to be a way.

More that I am not a wizard. I have three magical items of my own, and I have seen one enchanted before, but my lot in life is to not deal with those sorts of things.

The edge of a storm or completely outside of it, I suspect. I am certain such a magical item is possible, but it would be easier to create ways to avoid the storm from afar, I would imagine.

[Drizzt is hearted by the child's bravery.]

You are right. I will keep my eyes open for such opportunities. A wizardly sort would have more knowledge of such things.

But if they were common, and used to warn the public of danger, then the public would at least know they exist. Since you don't...

Whether it's designed to guide you around the storm or through it, either way, it would keep a lot of people safe. [There's a light pause.] ...Is there anything that magic can't do, in your world?

[In truth, it's anger and hurt and stubbornness more than bravery. Ever since Darsanga, he's been defiant of all the gods - even his own.]

We just have to find a wizard, and do something to distract the Trumps so he can get us away. I'm sure we can work something out.

Items that warn of danger, other than Twinkle, are not common, I am afraid. At least, not in the lands I have traveled. As for what magic can or cannot do.... [Drizzt shrugs.] I truly do not know.

[He lets out a small mental sigh.]

A wizard or priest can only take so many with them. We cannot leave the rest.

But if we find somewhere with a wizard, there will probably be more than one. [He shakes his head again.] I guess it's not something we should worry about now. Just something we should be looking for, so we're ready if the time comes.

Indeed, I will keep my eye out for it. As you say, there is often more than one wizard about a place.

Well... I'll be waiting for that story, then.

[Chuckles.]

I will not forget.

By camp, do you mean outside of liminal space?

Yeah. Where everyone's been staying when they aren't in liminal space.

All right. I will bring a bedroll and Guenhwyvar in a short while.

[And a short while later, Drizzt is doing exactly that, bedroll thrown over his shoulder and Guenhwyvar walking next to him. He has some nice new ordinary scimitars strapped to his belt]

Okay.

[When Drizzt turns up at camp, he'll find Imri far off to the side, laying on his stomach on a smooth rock sticking up about ten feet into the sea - his arms in the water, trying to coax a fish to come close enough for him to touch.]

[Drizzt smiles wide when he sees Imriel trying to play with fish, and he sets his sleeping bag down before he slowly makes his way over to the rock, rolling up his pants legs to wade in the water if there's no dry way there. It isn't long before he, too, leans a hand into the water. After a few moments, he spots a small part where the sea floor is high enough for him to touch, and with some gentle movements, he unearths a small sand dollar. He grins as he watches the creature start to bury itself again, very, very slowly.]

This is a nice spot.

[Imriel startles when he hears Drizzt approaching, tensing quickly and turning, reaching behind him as if for a weapon - but the motion is quickly arrested as he sees who it is.]

...It is. [His hands remain out of the water now, folded in front of him as he's looking sideways at Drizzt.] It's different from back home, but not in a bad way.

My pardon. [Drizzt says gently when he startles.]

It is quite different. I hadn't a chance to really explore an island like this the last time I traveled to one. [A light laugh.] It was haunted. [Not supposedly. Actually.]

Like I said, I didn't really see the ocean much last time. I grew up in the mountains - it's different from the streams and lakes there. Different fish, too.

[He looks at Drizzt uncertainly.] Haunted?

[Drizzt isn't going to ask questions about that time.] Then I am glad we were able to correct that.

[He glances up, grinning a bit.] Oh, most assuredly haunted. Veiled by a mist that nearly made us run aground, confusing our senses. I only stopped the ship shortly before we ripped the bottom of the boat right off, seeing the mast of a less fortunate ship in the water before us.

[Drizzt pauses again, wondering if this might be part of a story he can tell. Not too much of it, though. The memories that come later are fresh and new.]

And then when a small band of us tried for land, we saw candles from a sunken ship. Candles from the sunken ship, under the water.

[He moves to a sitting position, arms curling around his legs as he starts to listen, reassured Drizzt is not making fun of him with the haunted ship.]

Beneath the water?! Was... was it real fire? Or more like an illusion?

[Who knew that listening to the lore master weave his horrible tales of propaganda would help Drizzt so many years later tell a haunted story to a child. Drizzt sits up, too, then shrugs casually as he looks to the night sky.]

Beneath! But I do not know how. Ghostly fire, I suspect. Whether it was real, we will never know.

[A pause, then he glances over to Imriel with a serious expression.]

We found out something that was far too real after, a threat to our lives that sent us rowing frantically towards the shore.

Edited 2017-01-26 03:52 (UTC)

[Imriel looks at Drizzt with the most solemn of expressions as he says that.]

What was it?

The dead, rising above the water.

...The dead?

[His voice is barely above a whisper, as his eyes go wide and slightly frightened - but not the normal kind of frightened, when a child is told a scary story. No, there is knowledge behind his eyes, and memory - far too much of both. The aka-magi didn't raise the dead, but death was their magic nonetheless, their ally - ushering in madness and sickness and misfortune.

Death is not an abstract concept for Imriel. He's seen it before, in all its forms. Much more than any child should see, much less one his age.]

[Drizzt notices the shift, and he can immediately see there is more to the fear than usual. A story that carries pain behind it. Thankfully, the story can simply be pushed forward a bit more. A bit faster, to the portion that is funny.

he gives the boy a reassuring smile.]

The dead--and we made them dead again. Or more precisely the wizards of our party. We were quite panicked as we rowed to shore, and prepared for a long and hard battle. Instead, we were shown to a rather silly show of great magical power as each attempted to outdo the other.

I want my Scimitars. :[

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Onward to the story?

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