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"What brings you here this morning?" The sun wasn't up yet. Tsaron asked his question after shutting the door behind the captain of the guard, whose combat-ready state of dress and general demeanor suggested she didn't have time to stay for a proper visit just now.

"I didn't want to bring this up while there was a god eagerly answering all my questions, but I'd appreciate an explanation as to how you knew someone was walking my dream."
"Oh, that?" He waved a hand dismissively. "Since I have nothing better to do when I sleep, I do regular sweeps of anyone nearby to see if there's another psion about. It wouldn't do to have a troublemaker here and not be able to warn you, would it?"

"You mean another one?"
"Right. Naturally I picked up on someone inhabiting your Fort Knox of a mind and immediately—well, let's say it piqued my curiosity."
Ezra chuckled just slightly. "You sounded much more than curious last night. Well, I appreciate your concern at any rate. Just try to get a read on whether I'm taking audience with a deity next time before bursting in like that. I got the impression he found it rude."

"I imagine so. It's his gift I was using to try to intrude, after all. Anything else?"

"Well.." She crossed her arms. "I'd say if there's any more gifts you're willing to part with, now might be a good time to start handing them out. If they're as desperate as she said, then the sooner they can all start getting used to using whatever you've got the better."

"You don't want to give them anything?"
"And break character? Not just yet," she shook her head. "I've heard rumors those two performers are hoping to put together some kind of production. Think I know someone who'd like to be in on that, once it's a little closer to bein' off the ground."
"Heh. All right, then." Tsaron turned in the direction of the hallway, starting toward his collection. "Well, you know the way out."

"Oh, ah—" Just as her hand was on the door, he half turned around. "How much of this are we sharing with Randall?"
"...Some, I suppose. I'll have to think on it."
"Better you do it than me. I think he still doesn't like me for some reason."

---

Zack sat down on the couch and sighed; Lupa took the seat next to him, giving an immediate look of concern. "This is as good a time as any to start trying to teach you how to read," he said.

This drew some predictable confusion. "Reed?"
"Like.." Zack picked up a book from an end table and opened it up where she could see the pages inside. "What's that look like to you?"

The wolf-girl squinted, legitimately trying to come up with an answer that would please her Master. "Um..squiggles? Lots of shapes repeated in different places."

"Yeah." He put the book back. "That stuff represents words, the same kind we're speaking right now. And 'reading' is—the ability to interpret this into the language. Ideally you'd be able to turn language into this too, which is writing."

Lupa headtilted a bit. "Why turn talk into squiggles and back when, can just talk?"

"Talk can only reach so far," Rayna said, coming in from the kitchen, "both in distance and time. See, if you can write what you have to say down then people can still read it long after you're dead. Or you can send a message to someone who's the whole world away, without having to go to them yourself, and know it's the same message you meant and not someone else's interpretation of it." She came and took a seat across from them, nodding just slightly in response to Zack's relieved look. "A long time ago, people got into the habit of writing down what they know. If you learn how to read then everything that all those people wrote is open for you to learn, even if they're not around to tell you themselves." Lupa sat up and really paid attention on this point; Zack was still the best at reading her, but the fox-girl at least had this bit of her motivations pegged.

"And, Master can teach this one this? Or Fox?" she said, looking between them eagerly.

"Well, we can certainly try," Rayna nodded encouragingly. "It helps that you already know a lot of words in Common—the language we're speaking now. If we can get you a good grasp of phonics then you'll be able to read lots of words without anyone teaching you them specifically."

This isn't something you could just 'give' her, is it? Zack asked Katherine, who—while she was currently in the library—could obviously still hear him.

Too complex, still way above my skill level; sorry. Anyway, I think it's probably healthier for her to learn some things naturally, especially since she seems to enjoy it.

In the kitchen, Mira took a short break from cleaning dishes to take a look at Rose's progress. Aria had hovered for the first minute or so and made her too nervous to work, and then left on finally sensing that. Even now, it didn't seem to be going all that well: The dragon-girl was alternating between closing and opening her eyes, trying to meticulously draw out the decorative graphics of each individual skill. She'd drawn a partial shape of the skill tree's shape, scribbled out some errors and drawn arrows to insert missed bits, and had cramped, unreadable writing where the descriptions wouldn't fit in the space she'd allotted herself. "Nnngh.."
"You don't need to make an exact copy," the witch said. "Look—the pretty pictures are nice, but not really what Aria needs. As long as you've got the names and descriptions, and the right connections between them, that'll be enough."

"Oh." She set down the pen. "I-I guess that's kinda obvious now that you've said it. Rrgh." Rose started to pick the paper up to tear it.

"Ahp!" Mira pointed, making her stop. "Just turn it to the other side. Start from the roots, go up, write down the whole description where you can read it before moving on to the next skill. It's for your benefit, in the end."

"Yeah.." Nodding, she set the paper down and carefully smoothed it again, pushing it to where she could start at the bottom.

Katherine and Lynn returned to the living room at about the same time, the latter having gone upstairs to change into something she could leave the house in. By now, Rayna had moved to the seat opposite Zack on the couch and was busy taking Lupa through the Common alphabet (which had a few more letters than English, possibly a result of even the first magic-based equivalent to printing presses being a bit less limited) drawn carefully on a piece of paper.

"This one makes either an 'eh' sound or an 'ee' sound, usually. But if a word with this in it sounds like you added one of those to a word you already know, then it's probably that word itself instead."

"You..teaching her to read?" Lynn said, coming a bit closer.

"Yeah." Lupa appeared a little confused. "Once we're done with all these I'll be able to use that to give you some examples to clarify, okay?"
"Okay!"

Everyone's ears perked after this at a couple of gentle raps on the door to town. "I'll get it," Katherine said, using her power to set the book she'd picked out next to a chair while she went in the other direction. She unlocked opened the door once she had it in view. "Oh." Tsaron, the psion silently informed the others. "What do you want?"
"Well, since you all have visited my home a couple of times, I thought it would be appropriate to return the favor. Unless this is a bad time?" the elf said, leaning forward just slightly.

"No, that's...fine." The catgirl moved out of the way. "Come in, I guess. We had a long night last night, so we just finished breakfast."

"I imagine so," he replied, following into the living room. "Adventurers are always busy with something. It's good to take a break now and then, have some tea." It was a bit amusing to see him having to duck his way through the doorways, which even Nora could fit through no problem—although of course he could just be faking all that height. "Aah, this is nice," he said, looking around. "Second story, too? I might have sought such a large lot myself if I didn't need so badly to feel the pulse of the city around me."

Unlike everyone else so far, he didn't have any questions about their newest member. But since he had her rapt attention by now, Rayna decided it was best to introduce them anyway. "Tsaron, this is Lupa; our wolf friend personified. Lupa, Tsaron." She popped to her feet and scurried over to him, offering a hand upward.

"Big tall one! Hello!" she said cheerfully.

"Pleased to meet you," he said, giving a perfectly gracious handshake. "I did think you looked smarter than an average wolf before."

"This one is smarter than a smart wolf," she replied confidently.

"And, I do prefer 'Tsaron'," he said.

"Tisar—sstar...stizzisiss..." One of Lupa's ears folded to the side as she tried unsuccessfully to pronounce the almost-silent t at the start of his name. "Ron!" she concluded eventually. "Close enough, right?"
"I suppose so." There was a tiny bit of surprise on his face—or perhaps those who thought they saw that merely imagined it.

"Well, everyone else is either upstairs or in the kitchen," Katherine said. "You can take a seat if you want." There was no way he was just here to look around and say hi.

"Thank you," he nodded, heading over to an open chair and carefully sitting down. "I do hope a spot to drink isn't out of the question. After all, I did walk the entire way here."
"We weren't expecting you, so there isn't exactly any tea on or anything," the catgirl said, and then sighed before heading in the direction of the kitchen. "I'll, see what we've got."

"Well—no reason to keep you in suspense," Tsaron said, "since I'm certain those ears can hear through a wall or two. I've been looking through my collection lately, and found a few more old things I'd be willing to part with—at least to see them in the hands of some capable youngsters. You look like you were just on your way out," he said, looking toward Lynn.
"Yeah?"
"I won't take up too much of your time, then. Just have a look at this," he said, producing what at first glance appeared to be an ornate wooden bow, and holding it out toward her.

Lynn picked it up and immediately noticed a problem: "No string?" Putting her hand through where one should be, it only found air.
"No need. Restringing bows is always a pain, right? Just nock an arrow like you usually do, and it'll work fine. It can be a little more challenging to draw than an ordinary bow, but it lends more power in exchange," he said.

"All right. Thanks," she nodded, putting it away. "I really do need to go, now."
"Of course," the elf nodded back, and Lynn headed out toward the door to town.

Katherine returned with a glass of water, and offered it in Tsaron's direction. Naturally, he didn't reach out a hand for it, instead just picking it up telekinetically and bringing it to his lips for an exasperatingly long sip. "Aah. Thank you," he said, floating it aside and gently placing it onto an end table. "Now let's see, what else...?" After a moment's pause, he produced a broad, long black case, perhaps a bit like a trombone case but square in shape. "Mm-hm." After setting it on his lap, its latch unhooked and the lid opened facing outward to reveal a ordinary-looking broadsword. "Now, I'm not really willing to part with this piece for good. For one thing, artifact-grade items are exceptionally hard to come by, and for another, it has some real sentimental value. This was made with the help of an old friend for use by another one, and well...I had to do some digging to retrieve it. It was too much a shame to leave it where it was." He floated the sword up and carefully over to where Zack was. "It's one of those things that judges whoever tries to use it. Give it a shot?"

The knight's ears folded back a bit; if his own experience with the old elf wasn't enough, he naturally picked up on Katherine's general annoyance toward him. "Is this gonna do something to me if it doesn't 'like' me?"
"Not to you," he replied, "It only changes its own appearance and efficacy. Anyway, I'm almost certain it will. The kind of person it 'doesn't like' is more like myself—sensible and cautious. If I took hold of that hilt, that thing would turn into a rusted piece of junk, unrecognizable as fit for anywhere but a scrap heap. Had to find someone 'average' to get it looking normal again after I first made that mistake."

"Fine..." Zack reached out and carefully placed his hand around the hilt. The sword glowed, taking on a slightly more ornate appearance and gaining some width and length; the white glow persisted afterward, pulsing around like a faint ethereal flame it as he brought it closer and held it vertically in front of himself.
"That's what I thought. It really prefers the sort of person who would—I don't know—say, willingly risk their own life for the sake of a stranger? As far as I'm aware it should amplify holy magic channeled through it, and not chip or rust or anything inconvenient like that. Oh, and like all good artifacts, it has a name."
"Which is..?" Rayna asked first.
"Enceladus." Tsaron shrugged. "I don't know; that old friend I mentioned came up with it. Anyway, you can borrow that for now, but I may ask for it back eventually. Sentimental value, and all."

"I did hear about you before I came," he continued, turning just slightly toward Lupa, "but I don't actually know what you use, so I got a bit of everything."
"This one throws axes good," the wolf-girl informed him cheerfully while she hopped to her feet and bounded over to him in anticipation of a gift. "Ron knows that, though, since Ron can mind-talk like Kat. Right?"
"Heheh, you've got me there. Well, this should be of some use to you, then," he said, producing a glove with a small crystal set on the center of its back along with a one-handed axe. "If you throw this axe while wearing the glove and then hold up your hand like you want to catch something," he said, holding up his own hand to demonstrate, "then the axe will try to come flying back toward you. Good for retrieval, sure, but also with a bit of practice it's possible to catch enemies off-guard by throwing it past them and having it come back from behind."

"Can it work with a bigger axe?" Lupa said eagerly.
"I...suppose it wouldn't be too difficult for an enchanter to copy the effect," he said.

The stairwell door opened, and Aria came out. "Heyy! Kath said you were down here."

Tsaron gave her a calm grin while he handed the glove and axe to Lupa. "Indeed?"
"Your idea for filtering the thoughts or whatever worked great. Thanks!"
"You're quite welcome. I don't suppose Clera is coming down after you?"

The shifter gave a flicker of a glance backwards before shrugging. "Probably not?"

"I was informed she regained her older self's power over fire." Tsaron produced a necklace with a small red gem set into it, and floated it over toward her. "It isn't much, but this should help focus that element a little more efficiently than doing it raw."

"Oh, sweet." Aria took the offered necklace. "Can I keep this if she doesn't want it?"
"I suppose so," Tsaron shrugged. "You better not pawn it off, though."

"Aww, you got me. It's fine, I'm sure she will. Or Nora could use it maybe. Thanks, either way."

While the shifter ran back upstairs, Mira entered from the kitchen. "Hey there, stranger." She came and took a free seat across from Tsaron. "You've just missed a good breakfast."

"It's a little late for me," he commented, "although I'm certain it would have been delicious. Not worried I'm here to make good on any previous threats?"
"Please. No way you'd show up in person, much less announce yourself. Anyway, I've been as good as I said I would. You got anything for me or Rose? She's a bit busy at the moment, but I could pass it on."
"Sadly, no; I've exhausted my supply of physical gifts for the day," he said with a wry smile. "There isn't much I could offer that would do anything for a dragon's natural talent, and you've already got Valemdrüng, as I understand it." Seeing her unfamiliarity with the name, he leaned forward a bit. "Gods, did Ezra not tell you its name? The warlock's old scythe. I suppose such a pretentious, meaningless name must have slipped her mind entirely."

"Oh, yeah." The witch produced the scythe, standing it up next to her in her right hand. "Randall said it could split in two or something?"
"Right. You just hold it in both hands and push in near the middle and bottom with your thumb," he said, mentally projecting the notion of what he meant to her. Mira pulled the weapon over her lap to try it out, and the lower half of the pole slid off the rest, a smaller curved blade clicking out from it as it did so.

"Well, whaddaya know? Thanks." Mira slid the pieces back together as easily as they'd come apart, and put it away again.

"That reminds me, I had something for you as well," he said, obviously meaning Katherine from his gaze. "Or at least an offer."
"Which is?"
"Well—as a first-generation psion, I must assume your powers appeared suddenly and unexpectedly when you were young." She nodded, but didn't say anything since he was obviously going to continue. "Psions tend to awaken in one of two ways: Either the power arises slowly from careful meditation and thought, or suddenly as a result of some traumatic experience or other. The trouble with the latter is that the newfound power usually blocks a part of the mind off from conscious use—that part containing the memory of said trauma. It's possible to work that out naturally, in the same way as the gentler awakening, but it tends to take forever. Or—herein lies the offer—a fellow psion can simply force it out. This is more painful, to be sure, but it would give you more control, therefore power, far sooner, and really, I'd be astonished if you didn't have the fortitude to handle it."

"Oh, that's...great," Katherine said, not looking like she meant it. "I mean—"
"I don't intend to rush you into something like that," Tsaron stated in a much more serious tone than usual. "It's best done in as complete private as possible, which I believe would be easier to find at my home than here. Take all the time you need to think on it, and if you do decide that you want my help with this, my doors are open."
"...Okay," she nodded, appearing relieved.

---

A vulpin woman in badly damaged armor was sitting leaning forward on a chair in a cell of the town jail, her arms tied around behind her. Her eyes were glazed over, and her head sort of wobbled around in place. "This is 'er, Cap," Rast said, standing at attention nearby with his partner. "Not one a' ours, but the armor looks sorta like our neighbors off to the southwest—if an ogre chewed it up and spat it out again, leastways."

"She was like this when you found her?"

The dazed captive mumbled something mostly incomprehensible, the most coherent word being "hurts".

"Yep," Pirr replied. Ezra moved closer and started to draw a hand back, palm facing forward.

"Err, Cap—"
"Tried that first," Pirr finished for her more hesitant partner. "She was standin' up, so just spun around and nearly toppled over. Rast caught 'er."

"Hmm." The Captain dropped her hand again. "You two tell someone to send a healer, and then get some rest. I'll handle it from here," she said. They were supposed to have been back from patrol the previous afternoon, and instead spent the night carrying a dead weight—apart from what amounted to a short nap for each of them while the other watched her. Both saluted, and marched out.

The other town's guard mumbled again. "Don't..."

"What are you trying to say?" Ezra leaned in slightly, snapping her fingers a couple of times near one of her ears. "Speak up."

"The..." Her eyes appeared to focus for just a second. "It...hurts to.." Then they winced shut, and she leaned away, folding her ears back and hoarsely moaning.

Shaking her head, the captain went over and retrieved another chair, pulling it up in front of the apparent victim. Depending on what had happened, a psion might put themselves at risk or simply be useless here. First she began a series of scanning spells to see whether this was magical in nature, quietly chanting them one at a time to see if anything stuck out.