A report from the Ambassador Miwok, Representative of the People’s Democracy of Puyallup

Peace and prosperity to the elected Primi of the People of Puyallup. I have officially established contact with the first of the 11th Wave Planets to obtain their Primus, a young brute named Tuluktang. Like so many before them, they fell prey to a fallacious belief that the Primus must be an authoritarian individual.

More importantly, I felt it imperative to report on their … condition. The Seer accompanying me estimates that 90% of their population died during the transition and those that remain are mentally scarred from the process. I am unable to make any conclusions from one planet alone but if other planets were decimated as well … I fear the 11th Wave may sink into barbarism and that our goals may become impossible.

I wake up the next morning with a smile on my face. I’ve got another 6 days left in my week of relaxation, study, and experimentation and I’m extremely excited. While combat is interesting and fills me with the primal rush of putting my life on the line, the feeling of absolute elation upon figuring out an incredibly difficult problem is a serious competitor.

I climb down from my tree and consider the potential avenues of study as I begin my morning exercise. The first option is my mental image. It is on the edge of completion but I feel as if I’m just missing one last thing. Unfortunately, that one last thing has been eluding me for a few days now, unable to finalize the concept. With enough time I’ll be able to figure it out but exploring another research path first might give me the inspiration that lets me solve the riddle that is the Higher Energy.

The second option is the Sigil of House Dor and, more importantly, the nature and creation of Items. The small marks on the ring, spaced evenly and repeating themselves occasionally, seem to suggest that there is a written language that is used, or can assist, in the creation of Items. The description of the Sigil also mentions the resources and influence of the Dor family, which makes me believe that they are a heavy investment. If I can figure out how to cheaply manufacture these Items … Not only would I be able to accrue a massive fortune but I’d also be able to increase the power of Humanity so that we have a fighting chance.

The third option is studying and better understanding my new Telepathic capabilities. Waiting until I was in battle before trying it out had turned out disastrously. I need to understand exactly what it can and can’t do at its current level so that I can better utilize it and improve the Skill level. The only issue is that there aren’t any thinking beings on Helldarvin, with the exception of … wait. That might work. But how would I convince her… Ohhh there’s an idea. I don’t know if it would work but it is certainly worth a shot.

Mind made up, I begin whistling and jogging away from my tree.

Her mind projected into one of the Trainees on the border, Albasalas watches as the creature is rebuffed once more. It is around 30 feet tall and stands on six legs, heavy armor of chitin protecting every weak spot. Three large horns sprout out of its head and it shakes them angrily as it walks away from the wall, once again unable to knock it down and gain access to her Zone.

It is then that she feels the intrusive presence in her inner sanctum, withdrawing her mind from the Trainee to find the young manling, Cael, starting at the fungi in her cave. Perhaps he is here to try and kill her once more, deciding, like so many others, that Contracts don’t apply to him. If that is his decision then he shall die like the rest, easily destroyed upon the loss of his Level and Skill.

“What are you doing back here manling? Have you decided to break our Ceasefire? I feel obligated to warn you that this will only result in your death”. A smile breaks out on her face at the thought of standing over his rotting body.

“No, actually I’m here to ask you about that Skill you gave me”.

That certainly wasn’t the topic she thought he would be bringing up. Curious, and more than a little suspicious, she reaches out to his mind and inspects it, only finding the Weak Telepathic Mind that he had before. There is no obvious change so why would be back in the lair of his enemy? Nervously, she responds, “What about it?”

The manling begins to walk around, giving off a nonchalant air as if he pretends that his words are of no consequence. “Well you see, I ended up using it the other day while battling a few of Shssiss’s minions. I was a bit surprised when I found out that my Weak Telepathic Mind wasn’t advanced enough for Screaming Mind and that I would be subjected to 20% of the Mental Effects. They were quite painful and disorienting. In fact, they almost resulted in my death.”

Albasalas freezes and cocks her head to the side, looking at him and seeing something different from the other manlings she has come across. He is powerful, in a different way from the others, but, more important to this particular moment, he is also wily. He carefully picks his words to build a story that fits his goal.

“After the battle, in which I nearly died, I was thinking about it and I remembered that our Ceasefire included any ‘potentially damaging aspect’. Now, depending on how you look at it, this could be considered a damaging aspect. However, I didn’t receive a notification that our Contract was broken. So I decided to come to you with a simple question? How does somebody appeal that a Contract’s terms have been broken?”

She feels anger and rage appear but smothers them down, knowing that they will not benefit her in this situation. What is required right now is her willingness to bargain. She also can’t stop herself from feeling a degree of admiration for the manling. Most of his kind, as she considers all bipedal and intelligent species to be one and the same, are brutes, throwing themselves at a problem until it is fixed. This young one is the first that she has met who has been able to ‘think’ his way around a problem instead of smashing it.

“Very well manling, what is it that you want? Both you and I know that you wouldn’t be here unless you saw some sort of gain.”

He smiles at her words, an infuriating grin that makes Albasalas want to choke him with spores. She’s still not sure why she wasn’t able to take control of him the first night but it frustrates her beyond belief that his resistance has led to all of these problems.

“I want you to teach me how to use my Weak Telepathic Mind and I want you to answer questions I have regarding Genesis and Dungeon Worlds.”

Her eyebrows of wood raise up in surprise. That was… certainly not what she was expecting. The second part of his question seems to suggest that he may not be a Genesis native. Could he truly be a new wave transplant? His power is even more remarkable if that is true. Regardless, Albasalas realizes that they’ve moved out of the stage of threats and have entered into bargaining.

“I can teach you for one week and will answer five questions you have regarding Genesis”

The manling lets out a little laugh and shakes his head. “It will be one month of teaching, a promise of safety while I stay in your Zone, and twenty questions.”

Albasalas smiles, facing a true bargaining opponent for the first time in her life.

I let out a sigh of relief as I walk out of the cave, not expecting that to have gone as well as it did. In the end, we settled on three weeks of training, a promise of safety, and ten questions about the nature of Genesis and Dungeon Worlds. The questions are useful but I’m more excited about the training and the promise of safety.

Weak Telepathic Mind has an R-1 rating. From what I’ve managed to learn about the rating system, bits and pieces hobbled together from random statements by Faul, any rating at all means that the Skill is rare. This implies that most beings in the universe cannot communicate with their mind. How powerful would it be if I was able to increase its rank and rarity? What would Strong Telepathic Mind look like? An R-3? R-4? What if there are Skills beyond it that I can’t even comprehend yet? Telepathic Mind could become my secret weapon.

I shake my head at the thought, no need to get ahead of myself. Albasalas asked for one week before the training began and had refused to budge on the issue. Well, no matter. By my own counting I’ve still got another six months before my limit of 500 days is up, more than enough time to focus on my own growth for a week.

It takes me a few hours to get back to the novice zone but I climb up into my tree upon arrival, taking off the Sigil of House Dor and studying the markings on it. A close inspection bears interesting results. What I had originally assumed to be random markings are actually detailed designs. Four circles, each one comprised of three smaller symbols with a larger symbol at the center, work their way around the ring. While the Sigil of the House faces upward, the four larger symbols are all located on the exact opposite side and seem to be absorb and hold the most Mana.

Given that the Sigil increases four different Attributes, one possible explanation is that the four larger symbols each represent the Attributes themselves. If that is true, then perhaps the circles of three smaller symbols around them serve to attract and bind Mana? Or maybe they help determine the amount each attribute would be increased…

It is frustrating but I know that, without a book or a Mentor, I most likely won’t be able obtain true understanding of Items. There are too many different variables and possibilities. Still determined to figure it out eventually, I slip the ring back onto my finger and fall into Effortless Presence, deciding to spend the rest of the week focusing on completing the mental image.