A Jaded Life

Our hunt for the perfect location to make our temporary home ended quite abruptly as if it had fallen off a cliff. And, to be fair, a cliff was involved at the end of our search, mostly because we almost ended up falling down said cliff when we stumbled upon it, making our way along the slopes of the mountains above the city. We didn’t want to get into the city proper, not with the unknown dangers lurking in the streets and we didn’t want to use some open area, where we were exposed to the weather and all sorts of dangers.

So, when we happened upon the cliff that may have been part of an old quarry at some point, we quickly realised that this might be the perfect spot for us. The cliffs formed a rough crescent, opening towards the north, while the area between the cliffs was partially flooded, creating a natural pond. Depending on the terrain’s features, I’d be able to dig our shelter into the cliff while reshaping the pond into a moat, though it wouldn’t be too useful once winter truly hit. A frozen moat could be traversed quite easily but even if the water wasn’t useful as a moat, it would give me plenty of ammunition to use with my Ice Magic, or I could instantly reshape it into a sturdy defensive fortification. Maybe I’d even take the time and infuse the water or ice with my Astral Power beforehand, making it even more responsive. It all depended on the exact terrain down in the quarry and the shape I ultimately used for our shelter.

Whatever the case, the quarry’s shape meant that there were multiple spots that would never see the light of day, certainly not during the winter. Those spots could easily be used to give Lia and Alex an area where they could experiment to their hearts' content, without having to be indoors or underground. The only risk was that the sun reflected off the water or, once it had fallen, the snow but such indirect light shouldn’t be able to kill them, no matter how long the exposure. It’d be painful, sure, but it wouldn’t cause permanent harm, of that I was fairly certain.

Additionally, the high cliffs around the area would be incredibly difficult to traverse in winter, meaning the only way into the quarry was by rappelling down, which carried a massive risk, through the open face of the crescent and through the air. The open face of the crescent could be trapped, walled off or generally guarded and an approach through the air was always possible unless we were underground or I managed to figure out a good way to ward against such attacks. Maybe some sort of Wind Magic, or an application of the recently discovered Space Rune, both should hold solutions to this particular problem. Maybe if I combined them with the wards written down in the Zevarra Agha, that should give me a suitable starting point.

Sadly, the book wasn’t as useful on Terra as it had been on Mundus. Sure, I was able to use a far greater variety of magic here but large parts of the book relied on some fundamental traits of Mundus, traits that Terra didn’t share. By now, I was fairly certain that the difference in style, for lack of a better word, between my Ice, Blood and Darkness runes and the other Runic Masteries stemmed from a similar cause, the three Runic Masteries I had inherited from my legacy worked in a slightly different way. Curiously, Lia had been able to learn a bit of them, albeit very slowly, making me wonder just why that was. Regardless, even if the detailed spells didn’t work, I could use them as a basis and work from there.

“What kind of home would you like for the next few months?” I asked as we started to make our way around the old quarry, so we could get to the opening and look at the area in detail and from a ground level.

My question was answered in something approaching stereo, with all four of my companions giving their own ideas, all at the same time. Sadly, while I had excellent ears, I could only focus on understanding one language, especially if two of these languages were the kind of language that didn’t use words but concepts. So, the only replies I understood were those coming from Lia and Luna, while the opinions of Alex and Silva remained unheard for now.

Even more interesting than the cacophony around me were the words I could make out. Luna’s interest was obviously inspired by her connection to Lady Hecate, something readily recognisable by the descriptions and the terms she used. Where else would she have heard of Dorian and Ionic columns and have formed a clear preference for the Ionic variant? I was fairly certain that normal six, or rather seven by now,-year-old children didn’t know those words and certainly lacked the preference. Or I might be wrong, there might be some kindergarten architect out there, ready to conquer the world, one sandcastle at a time.

Needless to say, Luna’s image of the perfect shelter was almost indistinguishable from a shrine to Lady Hecate, something quite similar to the building I had set up near the Charlands. The problem with that idea was fairly simple. Such designs were great if the goal of the design was to dissipate as much of the Mediterranean heat as possible during a time when climate control was nothing but a divinely inspired dream. Comparatively, trying to set up a design like that and expect it to remain comfortable in the winter was nothing but a pipedream. As I had no idea just how bad the winter would be here, I wasn’t about to chance it. Given our elevation, the position right at the edge of a major mountain range and the Change itself, I couldn’t even try to guess how cold it would be or how much snow we’d get.

Lia, on the other hand, lacked the obvious Greek inspiration Luna was using. However, she had some quite interesting ideas inspired by the time before the Change, something fitting for a vampire or a dark witch. The image I got from her description was that of a castle, with bells, towers, high walls and far too many spikes to be practical in any way, shape or form. But, at the same time, there was a part of me that had designed the Frozen Citadel, a building about as far from practical as anything Lia described. So, those who live in an ice house shouldn’t throw stones?

Sadly, while Lia’s idea had more practicability in the local climate, it was utterly impractical in another way. The sheer size and scale of the grand fortress she described was so large that it wouldn’t fit the quarry we had decided on. Nor would it be practical for three people, a dog and a vampiric racoon, not unless we wanted to spend hours and hours on end, just looking for one another or getting lost in the massive edifice she was describing. Construction alone, even with all my magic, would take multiple weeks, if not months, all of which I would do nothing but draw stones from the ground and shape them. I could barely imagine a less interesting use of my magic, especially when it came to a long-term project. So, that idea was also denied, though imagining parts of the Frozen Citadel sitting in the old quarry was a pleasant and quite interesting idea.

“Please, one at a time, I can hardly understand what you are trying to tell me,” I interrupted the excitement, wondering whether the three of them would have continued forever. Luckily, Silva had been smart, or maybe mature, enough to fall silent once it was obvious that they were all talking over one another. Thus, I directed our canine companion to give her reply first, after I made them all fall silent.

Parsing the images and concepts of her speech remained a little difficult, especially when it came to abstract or fairly complex topics. What I got from her wasn’t so much a specific design but more a focus on two things, security and comfort, both topics I valued, too. So, once her explanation was finished, I had Lia go, who reiterated the ideas I had managed to pick out of the noise earlier, though she was quite willing to see my point about scale.

Then there was Alex and, for once, their desire was completely different from that of the others. Maybe it was due to their species, maybe it was for some other reason, but their desire was to have a burrow, similar to what I usually dug. Only bigger, with more escape routes, more comforts and a few other things but ultimately, Alex wanted to live in a cave. Not something I wanted, certainly not long term, but maybe I would be able to put in something to accommodate their interest.

Finally, Luna got to give her description and again, it matched what she had desired earlier. Now, I only needed to figure out a way to get all of their interests and ideas merged into something we could all happily live with. And something that wouldn’t fall over due to shoddy construction but that was my job.