"Sorry." Hadrian mutters to me under his breath, "It was easier to say you are a mage since you are an elf than to have any other questions asked. Do you need a magic item to cast a spell or are you able to do magic? I just assumed since you said something about your god before that you would, most paladin style fighters tend to have some powers they can call on."
A bit angry I wasn't spoken to first I reply, "I'm able to, I would just love to know more before being dragged to a place like this." I add, glancing at the guards standing by the desk and wondering how much power they have here.
"Well, let me know if you need anything." He replies with a shrug, "Hopefully we won't be staying here longer than a few hours if they can manage to get you an ID."
The guards run through a few basic questions that you'd expect at most checkpoints.
Name: Meidu Sune (I was advised to keep it simple)
Age: I decided to ignore the passing of 10 thousand years, so 24 years.
Combat type: Spellblade paladin. They seemed a bit surprised at my lack of heavy armour or a shield, I wonder what paladins are expected to do now a days, or if our words for it are just completely different.
The only issue I had was with their last question, Magic type. After a bit of explaining I'm given a few summaries of the types of mage they expect me to be; ranging from sorcerer, arcane mage who tends to use more magical objects, elementalist or if I was some kind of druid or shaman.
From the descriptions I expect I fall into a category of mythical creatures. After some experiments on my DNA years ago it was improved into what is called a paragon, an 'elite' of its own kind. Usually the type of thing pure-blooded families attempt to claim dominion over but never get close to having an offspring that qualifies.
For simplicity sake, I went for the more generic wizard; which they seem to believe means that the spellcaster is average in all 4 of the supporting planes for magic. For some reason this culture seems to value division of capability by which planes you are most attuned to; when the four planes of magic, physical, mental, spiritual and astral are more natural inclinations of your race and soul. From the sounds of their expectations towards me as an elf, having a high control over the mental and astral plane, makes me wonder if they haven't realised that the people they call 'dwarves' might be decedents of physical magic casters and potential inbreeding or purity of that type of magical bloodline.
Based on some of the people in the group that found me being called 'half' orcs and elves; it makes me wonder if they haven't realised that most racial distinctions aren't completely due to every person being a different race, but having a lot more pure energies of specific types in them. While it wasn't a subject I specialised in; it was pretty commonplace knowledge. I wonder what happened if society has forgotten that type of information and how they managed to cope with so many different 'groups' of people, if they are deeming them as different races.
An ID being shoved in my direction wakes me up from my thoughts. Nodding as thanks while I put it away I hear Hadrian finishing up his conversation before taking me outside. Once we are alone he turns to me.
"Now, I expect you are curious and potentially paranoid about our group. The ID you have should let you go anywhere in this nation without many problems if you decide to leave us after this, but I'd love if you could listen to me for a few minutes before deciding." He pauses checking for any reaction from my face before a slight frown and a sigh. "Would be easier if I could read your face but you barely make any sort of expression you know."
"I'll listen to you, I do owe your group after all." I nod in his direction with a slight frown. While I want to pay him back, admitting to owing someone is usually something I avoid. Making promises only happens if I plan to try and keep them.
"Alright thanks." He replies with a smile, "There's a few important things I think you need to know before you make any choices going forward here. First off; while no one in our group is malicious or plans anything to hurt you; it should be made clear, some people worse than us, could have captured you and attempted to sell you because of your possible connection potentially to an era of light. That's what some people call periods of growth before the era of darkness. I don't know why it gets talked about so badly but is usually also called the era of collapse, because it marks each cycle of civilization." He looks pretty honest so far with his explanation, my biochip from the data it has gathered also doesn't believe him to be lying outright.
"What I'm trying to say Meidu, is that if anyone finds out your origin you might be in danger. I trust the people in my group as they are good people but I can't expect you to trust them. We would happily shelter you for a while and if you felt comfortable later you could tell us more about what you'd like, information sells well if it comes from a trusted source and we'd have those types of contacts.
On the other hand, if you choose to leave us; I doubt we could stop you. It would take more than some magic disruption item to stop you from breaking free, especially once you've recovered from the looks of it. If you plan to leave I'd be happy to give you some gear and for you to send through that money at a later date. From what I've seen of you on the trip here; putting up with Turi and Donald, you have at least that much trust from me."
I start silently weighing my options before he cuts in again.
"Take a few days to think about it anyway. I'll pay for your food and lodging for the next few days while we are at town, but you'll have to make a choice for when we are planning to leave on the next exploration. We will have to make up for the cost of the trip we made in finding you before long after all."
Dianos· Feb 10, 2023
JHarp· Author · Feb 10, 2023
