Oasis

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Indeed we have, and you would of course know that but... The Arraness also knew of our ability to protect ourselves, yet still worked far too hard in their efforts to aid all they could, I fear it may have led to them working their way into an early grave".
Pellinta was clearly concerned that Ratty worked too hard, especially for one so young, and she didn't seem inclined to hide it either, it almost seemed unnatural to find an adult so insistent on aiding the young in avoiding burnout.

"Oh no he was most certainly a lord, as I am sure you understand I lack in depth knowledge of the process, but attaining lichdom requires sentient sacrifice, of blood relations specifically... Though few likely recognise his claim".
She did want Ratty to feel as accomplished as possible, too much ego may have been bad but it couldn't hurt to have one when it was well deserved!
"That is true... But I have a feeling you are... Different to them, and I do not merely mean your transformative abilities".
She was fishing a little to be honest but Pellinta HAD read of and even met reincarnations before, this child had knowledge and wisdom well beyond their years, and incomprehensibly beyond what their species had been capable of, it hardly took a genius to piece things together.
"In fact... I might suggest making your differences less... Pronounced, those in your situation are often taken advantage of, willingly or otherwise".

"Well not all of them, merely our best who happened to be nearby, that included Hin, Daoin however has stayed behind, a potential battle against the undead is no place for a child".
She at least did not see the need to reinforce that that included Ratty, they were not exactly a normal child anyway.
"As for staying, our aid was requested in cleansing and securing the area, so likely another day or two at least".

 

[Fyrra]

The rodent flicked its tail about as it woke up a little more, its tone slipping from a humorous pitch to something a little more serious as it walked through the hallway with Pellinta. For what it was worth, the point this elf wasn't making in her offhanded mention that the noble claim of a lich wouldn't be recognized was that openly declaring one's self a lordslayer would alert future lords to danger, and for now it might be better that those types of people stay ignorant until studied further. After all, they've been around for a while.

"Your arraness likely found something among your people worth preserving, and used their gift to do the things they couldn't before. We understand your concern, but- how was it phrased? Our plans did not previously include your people, but given everything that's happened, cooperation is vital to our continued survival. There is... much to prepare for, and little opportunity to prevent being taken advantage of, short of developing a defense against mind control and doubting the words of acquaintances to the point of suspicion, or going back into isolation, but we've been revealed."

It stopped walking and turned to face Pellinta.

"I am not very different from the rest of my people. Try not to let this news wander, but the others are smarter. I'm just the one that breaks things, and eats what should not be eaten." Cue a much more toothy grin, accompanied by the rat holding its hands up in imitation of claws. "Rawr, I now have a taste for blood!"

Nothing? Perhaps the jokes were too creepy... assuming Pellinta didn't laugh at that one.

"Errm, anyway.... Perhaps I shouldn't have brought them into our previous excursion, but their presence was invaluable, and no other options presented themselves, but it's... How often do things like this occur, that they are treated as 'work' and not a response to an emergency? It's not that we do not understand your concerns, because we do, but the difference between a wizard weaving a tale about how a child is special in some way to exploit their ignorance for free, hazardous labor and one at her wit's end with a problem that none of her people can approach and no time to investigate which of her uncaring neighbors might profit from her sudden disappearance, and hitting a wall because this sounds familiar and is not a simple subject to ask questions about, is... vast."

Cue a sudden cough: that little tangent was clearly not a joking matter.

"Yes, leaving danger and adult matters to the adults is an option, and it's sad that the solution to our last incident required the involvement of Daoin and myself, but these were both things that could not be ignored, and the others in my nest are not brazen enough to do the things I do... or they are too brittle, or too young, or too vital, or missing a hand or a leg. We do not often need things broken, however, so I get plenty of rest."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"I see... Well then I shall not prevent your endeavours, not that I believe I truly could in any case, the youth have such an energy..."
She declared with a sigh.
"Just keep in mind that cooperation requires communication, I know some people can find difficulty with that".
It didn't seem like an insult, merely an observation.

She seemed mildly amused, hiding a smile with her hand by instinct.
"I see, well there is a secret among us adults... Sometimes things need to be broken, and indeed even eaten, though your particular dietary habits are... Just a little unusual, you do not suffer stomach pain do you?"
She knew of Ratty's consumption of rocks, and while there was no visible problems caused, it was still highly disturbing!
"Very true, though in some cases I believe it does more harm than good to force a child to stay, Daoin knew they were resistant to the shroud so would have refused to it idly by while everyone suffered, but when adults can accomplish something they should.... Ahh! Speaking of age, we are here".
They had stopped outside of a room with a very strong, almost overwhelming herbal incense smell.
"Nulyth has been working in here, unfortunately as much as I would love to share some more tea with her, I do need to speak with some of the scouts who should have returned by now, feel free to go inside, I am sure she is expecting you".

Nulyth would indeed be inside, though there was a distinct lack of tea, around her were several circles crafted from sticks, leaves, and even a few small animal bones, they clearly had magical purpose, perhaps the bones were to handle the darker magics that stained that place? There was quite a lot of incense burning as well, though their purpose could have just been for covering up the smells of death, finally she had several chunks of an orange smooth stone, transparent for the most part though many of them contained a slimy dark substance deep within.
"Ahh... I had wondered when you might stop by... Try not to eat those stones, they would likely upset your stomach".
She led with a joke, though obviously tired from the work she wasn't too worn down to speak with Ratty, in fact had been expecting it and making sure to keep some energy in reserve.

 

[Fyrra]

"Particular dietary habits? When did you-"

The ratling paused from its musing to mull over just when anyone could have witnessed it chowing down upon a rock, or anything else that would be concerning for most mammals. Sure, it had just said something alluding to it, but Pellinta spoke as though she'd witnessed firsthand. That left very few opportunities, for all the talk of doing so, but- It suddenly tapped at its forehead: the elf had already admitted to watching during the first foray into the new nest, and probably witnessed a second time on the return home. Scrying could be an interesting tool to learn, it turns out, but a lot of it seemed like staying in one place while expending energy.

"Well, it hurt when that wall collapsed on me, and then there was the fall afterward... huh. What does that say about me, that most of my friends have either tried to slay me at one point, or I've tried to sl- Oh right, from eating! No, no kidney stones to report yet. Wouldn't consider that polite dinner-talk, but if inquiring minds wish to know~"

The creature stopped at the door, taking a second to waft the pungent air away from its nose for just a moment: it looked like Nulyth didn't need access to the herbal stash after all, from the way things were going. Upon opening the door and getting a visual of something interesting that it couldn't make sense of, the ratling's fingers and toes practically twitched in anticipation: was this like the magical equivalent of a laboratory? What sort of science went down in this chamber, and how did spirits play into it, since those apparently factored into Nulyth's field?

"Too spicy, huh? Yeah, we had a feeling after biting off more than we could chew last night." Cue a stretch as the creature cast a glance back in Pellinta's direction. "Well, we can catch up later. As much as it would simplify things to discuss all the big plans together, until something demands my attention again, I'll just be surveying the area and cleaning up what I can. In a few days. Apart from that request I gave you, there aren't many urgent matters. It slipped past me when we last met, but if these woods are unclaimed by any ruling bodies, then it's possible at least one of them has somebody tapping them for natural resources. It might not even be related to our archaeologist, but if anything comes up, I suppose that's our next project... apart from.. houses."

The creature trailed off, palming at its face in frustration. Here it stood, plotting to go on the offensive with a foe that might not even exist, when it had yet to establish a proper home or even secure more than a single ally, but then again, the dirty work involved in getting rid of non-combatants was very much something one doesn't bring their clearly-not-evil friends for. Perhaps the warrior-golem? But they would need a body..

"Right! You said you wished to speak with me?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Perhaps another day the rodent could ask to be taught some of that scrying power, or at least witness it in action, the fact that she could not warn of the exact dangers in that shroud ruin suggested there might be some fairly major restrictions on it's use but even with that it would still be an immensely powerful ability to have.
However for now Pellinta had other things to do and had already wandered off to do whatever was next on her agenda, leaving the rodent child to speak with Nulyth instead.

"Indeed I did... You have once again performed a great and heroic deed, I am sure you are becoming tired of being called a hero or offered great rewards with the rate at which you seem to find and overcome danger... But I do think you at least should know WHY this situation arose in the first place..."
She rubbed her forehead for a moment, this didn't seem like it would be an easy topic, but few topics had been easy recently.
"I am not sure how much exactly you know of history... Nevermind ancient history, but this story starts well before our current times, before even the great human empires and nations that dominate this world".
Ratty better have been prepared for a history lesson...
"It was during the age of Apostasy, I believe that is the accepted name at least, a period of time after the fall of the empires of Dolina and the Empire of scaled, mages were freely practicing all varieties of horrid and cruel magic, many chose to carve out their own small fiefdoms, gathering followers and wealth to further whatever fields they chose to study... It was during this that the era earned it's name, many explanations exist for how, and I am not sure which is correct but several mages managed to create life".

So creation of life was a possible form of magic, though the fact that it had something like 'age of apostasy' attached to it, suggested it might not be the kind of thing you can find a book on in a public library.
"It started relatively simple at first... like Bullcats, then moved onto more monstrous aberrations such as the Shadow Stalkers... But eventually a new sentient race, goblinoids... The ancestors of all the goblinic cultures, they were perfect servants for mages, roughly at the level of intelligence and use as humans, easily created in large numbers, and with a built in loyalty to powerful magics... Over time the instructions spread, and many sub species of goblinoids were created, these instructions were lost during the Crusades of Reason, where the predecessors of the mage guilds worked with the non magical folk to establish a new order of constrained magic, but we remained, as did our inbuilt desire to serve those with the old magics, while not every average mage can inspire this loyalty, those such as ancient necromancers are more than capable of swaying some of the younger, less spiritual members".

 

[Fyrra]

The ratling stared as Pellinta sauntered off without so much as an acknowledgment of all the weird things it was saying, and perhaps for the best, turned its attention toward a clearly beleaguered elder goblin and sat down in the incense-flooded room. The creature was certainly awake at this point, and alert enough to entertain the notion of serious discussion, but as to whether it had the willpower.... that might still be up for debate, as it almost immediately went back to staring at its little meat-skewer.

"Heroics... We are exhausted from the necessity of our services," the child admitted, following up with a sigh, "it is rude to expect payment from people recovering from disaster, but it would be even more-so to discuss that without the presence of my accomplices. My apologies for the outburst last time. The transformation was a surprise, but it was more gift than curse. We are not certain how things will play out in the end..." it closed its eyes and took a deep breath, suddenly remembering what happened the last time it was given a history lesson. "but we will one day appreciate the wild ride, presumably."

And so, with the required niceties out of the way, the rodent stared Nulyth down as mulled over how to start her broad history lesson, and remained silent throughout it all, apart from the sounds of chewing, vocal "hmms" and such, and the occasional grumble or groan towards the end of it all. This seemed like the sort of thing that called for waking Lumina or... the other one? Maybe not. If the 'other' voice was what the ratling thought it was, then all that one could provide was context for why its fur bristled on edge upon hearing the uhar words for 'crusade' and 'empire,' and additional fuel for the ire. Simply knowing what the words meant was enough.

What the child wasn't expecting was an explanation for why autonomy was something the local cultures emphasized, much less a possible clue for the transformative ritual and how to replicate it. The key for that apparently lie in the old magicks of the jungle, and as long as there were more ruins to delve into, something could still present itself. The other interesting bit, looking past the creation of life, was that one of the early creations resembled a combination of two animals from the other world, and apparently even borrowed the name. And if the bull-cats were created through artificial means, then it was possible that other bits of local wildlife were created the same way, like the wolves, or... the goblinoids, Nulyth said?

With a pre-disposition for subservience to those with power. Just like Lord Flaming Bonebag said the night before. The ratchild had been prodding for knowledge of ancient times that night, but wasn't expecting the agitated tyrant to speak so literal of the mul tribe. At this point, the creature stopped eating, and groaned aloud soon after.

"So in short, your way of life can only persist through the eradication of any would-be tyrant who could potentially subjugate you."

This could just be a case of the rat hearing only what it wanted to hear, apart from the fact that this meant actual, dangerous work, but if ancient mages were also ancient lords, and Bonebag was possibly the last of his own bloodline through ritual sacrifice, then maybe that was the last of shambling corpses the rat-child would be tasked with putting down? Hopefully? Unlikely: the jungle was a big place, and Pellinta brought an entire crew of people at least familiar with the de-tangling of dark magics.

"And the bovine-felidae hybrid was created intentionally?" This was weird. Cats were a predator animal, and bovines were skittish herbivores that, when agitated, could mess a person up. The rat-child wouldn't think to combine the two, but wouldn't put it past a human. The combination didn't lend itself to any base purpose more than another: food, fur, domestication, size, power, farmwork, hunting, companionship... Staring one of those things down had always kept the rat-child wary of danger, not that it was unnatural. Even Sarash... but, Sarash was less 'potential threat' and more 'hesitant trust, but do not bring home.'

"But that could mean-" were the rats created this way? Did this story involve rats, somehow? The... rats capable of speaking a human language, who seemed to not question outlandish tales? The rats with abnormally pronounced hindclaws, an unusual size, and more cognitive activity than a base understanding of object permanence?

"It's plausible..." except, almost all wildlife of the area was driven from their home when the shroud malfunctioned, including birds, bugs, and insects, and among them were the uhar and syol people, but noticeably absent from the shroud's influence were the humans and rat-warren. That could potentially be a result of similar genetics, but on its own it wasn't enough to confirm or deny a link to this origin beyond mere guesswork. "...but needs more data." Besides, bullcats seemed like something a human mage would intentionally create if they had the knowledge of the animals in question. The same couldn't be said about rats. Humans hated rats! For what purpose would a mage desire a rodent that was apparently associated with plagues?

The child chomped into its meat-skewer once more while pondering over... the concept of familiars, of all things. Any small animal would suffice, apparently. Again, this line of reasoning led nowhere.

"That.." Chew. Chew. Swallow. "could not have been easy to learn," the ratling mused aloud as it ate, trying its best not to think about all the kingdoms and empires it might need to break in the future. After a moment, its motions halted upon making another realization. "And it turns out I might have murdered someone who was being controlled. Wonderful." Fighting the urge to flop back in frustration, the rat looked toward Nulyth once more. "At least... it sounds like breaking the floor was the path of fewer deaths, but all the same, apologies for breaking your floor."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"I... Must apologise for the sudden transformation, I should have consulted you and explained it further... It was an incredible breach of your bodily autonomy... I will offer words in my defence however, the ritual itself is reliant on allignment in the heavens, and the waking periods of the spirits willing to offer their aid, if I had delayed I would not be able to repeat it for several years, and the spirits... Were especially insistent that I perform it, they may not have the same sway as the masters of old, but we find it is generally better to listen to them than reject guidance".

She had somewhat casually dropped a bombshell, the spirits could communicate intent clearly, and their intent was for whatever reason to make Ratty stronger and more able to stand as equal among humanoids... It was possible they just wanted another hero to aid the people they clearly patronised, but it would be impossible to know unless Ratty could speak to them, which judging by the prestigious position of the elders, likely took a lot of boring work and practice.
Also thinking on it, this world seemed to share a LOT of things in common with the other, humans were the most obvious, but many animals, plants and concepts were almost identical, perhaps there was some connection, or maybe more than just people could reincarnate? Though the idea of a flower reincarnating into another world probably wasn't a thing most people would ever consider so it was unlikely that Lizzy would know.

Nulyth laughed slightly at the comment about tyrants attempting to subjugate them.
"Well I wouldn't put it QUITE like that... For one it needs to be a magically powered tyrant, the old creators did not wish for any old king to steal their slaves after all, and the guild does an acceptable job keeping such would be rulers contained, that was their original purpose for forming after all... However I doubt you would find many among the Uhar at least who would not wish to fight against any form of tyrant".
Well it seemed the Uhar would be natural allies against any tyrants, and depending on how much of their culture and belief system was shared with the other 'goblinoids' that were not Uhar, there might be many more green and grey skinned allies just waiting to be found.

"Ahh... Your people... I had wondered about that, there are very rare reports of sighting your kind from our earliest days here, the other elders I discussed with seemed inclined to believe that you were here for centuries at least, but certainly not as long as the created creatures have been, it's still possible someone had found and made use of the methods for creating life, but they would surely have done more than just the creation of a single fairly innocuous species".
That narrowed the timeline of the rat species at least, they came AFTER all the mages were doing really evil tyrant things.
"You... Will likely be pleased to know that the guard you wounded may yet live, when ruled over by a magical tyrant our old desires to hoard valuables tends to emerge... His hoard contained no small amounts of medicine, though I do doubt whether he will ever walk quite the same way".
She hadn't intended to mention it at first since it WAS still heavily dependent on whether infection set in and just how bad it got, but this child before her was not a cruel soul, and would clearly benefit from the relief of whatever guilt came from the event."
"And worry not about the floor, for many years we had not even been able to enter the lower levels, with some... Remodelling, our living and storage space will end up greatly increased".

 

[Fyrra]

Hearing Nulyth explain the certain components to the ritual certainly got the rodent's interest: apparently this sort of magic had something to do with the planet's rotation and the position of celestial bodies? It made sense, yet at the same time, it didn't: perhaps the young one's failure to grasp matters of the divine had a hand in its lack of understanding the gravity of this knowledge. What it did understand of these defenses was a little more upsetting. The ritual of evolution was necessary because god said so. And unlike a mortal tyrant, one couldn't simply retaliate with a steel knife when it came to gods. Not directly, or without a significant body count, anyway.

For a moment the ratling considered it, then chuckled.

"They welcomed me back. Or rather, they welcomed... us?" Another groan followed. This was not the laugh of somebody who found amusement in the revelation. "This has... vexing implications, and without context, there is little to make of it. Or little to do about it." Come to think of it, when it came to reincarnations, wasn't that the work of some sort of spiritual entity? For all the ratling had learned about matters of the physical realm, it had a distinct absence of spiritual knowledge. Even prodding at the mental abyss that was its pool of other-worldly knowledge produced nothing but... frustration?

"We are... no longer upset about the transformation. It has given us a taste of what is possible, and what can be done with a.... massive amount of power." The ratling licked its lips, picturing that weird otter-y creature it tended to be in its dreams, without the human or ratty bits, and then it pictured a less gremlin-looking rat-person. "It is much to take in, and distressing to know who counts as an interested party, watching. Rarely are such entities without expectation, but going back was never a choice." It stretched, then went back to nibbling at the skewer. "Mmn. During, you mentioned the form of the lost peoples. Who were they?"

---

Regardless of whichever bombshell a clarification on 'the lost people' might be, it was most likely of less interest to the rodent than learning that the wounded guard was still holding onto life somehow. "What a champion," the child exclaimed in response almost immediately: even a cursory mulling over what could have possibly been broken from a blunt strike to the stomach returned a mental image of a human diagram highlighting several organs. The blow itself went clearly beyond the intent to merely render the guard unable to call for help or cause trouble during the operation.

But clearly all the missteps from the night before had yet to convince the little rat-child to leave things alone. It suddenly stood back up, dusting off what parts of its frayed and singed robe could be dusted. "We use magic to recover from injury. Never tried it on another person before, but if there's someone in need we might as well see what we can do. Or, return to him his sword." No relief colored the ratling's tone: this was an unfinished task, and a chance not to set things right, but to establish some level of good will. It just wouldn't do to allow a casualty to go without an attempt at helping.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Planetary allignment and celestial bodies affecting magic didn't seem totally alien at least, and a moment later a seemingly awakened Lumina piped in with an explanation of this mechanic of magic.
"The celestial bodies affect the ease and direction of the flow of magical energy in this world... Few spells are grand enough to be affected but more naturally attuned beings may feel a greater effect... Or even be strengthened at some points".
Lumina didn't seem to have any ill effects from just waking up from a nap, if what they did could really be called napping.

"I would love to tell you not to expect demands from the spirits in return, but they are rather... Finicky beings, and their wants and desires are as free and unpredictable as the concepts from which they draw power, they may give a gift as thanks, or even just to see what might happen as a result, but they do respect fairness, if ever a spirit or even many spirits ask you to perform some task for them, be sure to demand a fair recompense from them, any true spirit will respect such a request, and if they do not, you should be wary of them".
It was an oddly mercenary approach to entities that seemed to have some level of religious importance to the Uhar, but perhaps the desire of these spiritual beings to to reward and compensate rather than order their followers around was exactly why the Uhar gave them such reverence?

"Ahh... That".
She seemed almost embarrassed about her speech during the ritual, which would make sense normally, speeches could be embarrassing, especially improvised ones
"I do not really know myself... Words have power, especially among spirits, and I am afraid that even at my age, I do not know the words that will invoke the responses needed for such a rare ritual, so instead I allow lesser spirits to speak through me, using my voice to create the verbal contract that the spirits fulfil... As for the lost peoples, there have been... Quite a many peoples that could be considered lost, I know I have never heard of people with a form like the one you gained, so it may be from a race long dead, or even the past forms of some race that still exists".

Her embarrassment faded and she nodded, looking almost proud.
"Well... Our ancestors were created as soldiers and servants... Even now we do not die as easily as some others, or at least, we die much slower".
There was also the possibility that their organs were simply in a different arrangement to humans, or even that they had different or extra organs! Ratty would need to acquire medical diagrams to be sure, assuming someone had made such things...
"Indeed? Healing others... It is a rare gift, if you can indeed use it then healing a defeated foe would be a great act of kindness, I will show you to him myself once you are ready".

Lumina, seeing as this was on the topic of magic, decided to speak up, they were the resident expert in the rodent doing strange magical things after all!
"Healing others is... More difficult, cannot rely on instincts over skill, I can make up the difference in magic, but it will be draining".
Lots of times a missing component or level of skill could be somewhat bent or side stepped by the use of more magic, it was why older more advanced mages would use less words and components in spells, but needless to say the costs were exponential, even with Lumina there to help.

 

[Fyrra]

Between Lumina's and Nulyth's broad explanations, the ratling sighed and cleared up mental space for yet another big project: magic was still mostly mostly unknown territory outside of mind-reaching and finger-twirling to fling out dream-snot and flexing and growling in order to prepare for a big swing or a throw. If things like astronomy or astrology had a hand in the big stuff, then at least the concepts were not a completely foreign matter: things like blue moons, eclipses, meteor showers, and whatever a blood moon was could all be predicted and prepared for, and with the expertise of someone versed in the methods, the ritual could be replicated, and possibly even repeated. Unfortunately, such an act could require staying in the good graces of the spirits responsible, or even making offerings to them.

The rat-child wrinkled their nose in disgust at that thought. Still, one accomplishes little without getting their hands dirty. Funny that this belief still held little conflict with the apparent desire to help that one injured guard.

"Past forms, long dead... bumped back in evolution?" Whatever the truth was mattered little in the rodent's schemes, but the conversation gave it a fun idea. Its grin returned as it found a place for the ritual in its machinations, not just in the overall plans, but with a time-frame as well! "If you would need a few cycles to do it again, perhaps we could use that moment for an experiment, if we are still around. You do make it sound as though the spirits were not just willing, but eager." - Of course, whether their motivation was for a lost peoples' return or the advancement of somebody very keen on mucking up the natural order of things would forever remain a mystery. A rat-child wasn't going to make assumptions about its own personal importance when it came to matters way outside of its perception, especially when it valued the idea of being perceived as insignificant, but how much the spirits knew was just too difficult to observe, much less understand.

As the rat walked the halls once more with the old goblin, for a moment the young creature wondered where its reptilian friend and the big guy had wandered off to. Perhaps they were catching up? It felt a little strange that she wasn't present for important talks, but time apart could be socially healthy, maybe for both of them. It was still nicer to think about than healing magic being exponentially more difficult when simply changing the targeting component of the spell from 'self' to 'conduction.' At least the complicated variables could be overcome with an excess of output, even if it sounded like that would mean losing the day to another dirt nap.

"Well, either it works or I overload again. Or both. Hardly a kindness, though. Pragmatic? Either we learn not to attempt this mid-mission or we gain proof that something can be used in emergencies. Using the shroud would have at least frightened him away from attacking in the first place. but we were also too close to the holding cells. Using that could have been dangerous. Could have tested the other thing.." Perhaps Lizzy not being present was a good thing: she might be horrified at the idea of using a live person as a test subject. Or a dying one.

"You wouldn't have any anatomic or physiological charts around, would you? Something with pictures? It might help," the rodent explained, suddenly realizing it could have used the shambling corpses from the night before as a more direct example... except, decay would have set in, making learning the internals difficult regardless.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Spirits perhaps... Unneeded..."
Lumina mused, having been analysing the ritual that transformed it's host since it had first happened, being directly washed over by the ritual's effects had only made it much easier to understand, even if it had not affected the pearl inside Ratty in the slightest, other than now having no idea where exactly it sat within it's host's body now, as it used Ratty's senses to view the world and alas, Ratty had no way to see inside themself.
"Spirits are... Overly theatrical, they seem to require overly complex rituals and timing to use their power... Perhaps they have rules?..."
It was just a theory but Lumina's fragmented knowledge did seem to imply that GODS had rules they had to follow... So why not spirits? After all many of them seemed to have a presence and following similar to just very weak gods, and of course on the topic of rules...
"They do not bind us so".
Of course recreating the ritual would require a few more shiny rocks to do on any large scale, even with the ability to slip some of the requirements and Lumina's optimising of the whole process, it was still more magic than one body could hold.

"Indeed that was what I was saying... I feel you may even be able to contact them yourself, assuming they do not reach out to you first, just... Again, remember to demand reward for any task they choose to request of you... The spirits may look fondly upon charity, but not for those who can and rightly should be rewarding their help, and they are, at least, not hypocritical".
With how many times it had come up, it seemed that not doing things for free for spirits was weirdly important to them, but at the same time it also seemed as if they might try and trip Ratty up?

"The companion of fire was... Dragged away by smaller Uhar, a show of flame was desired".
Lumina, the ever aware pearl explained, it seemed the young Uhar had a healthy enjoyment of magic, or at least wanted to see fire doing cool things that fire might not normally do, and Lizzy had likely been happy to oblige.

Lumina seemed to be conjuring up an image of what might have happened to a large group of people in a confined place suddenly overcome by panic before quickly thinking better of it and banishing the beginnings of the intrusive thought before it could take hold, no one benefited from seeing something like that.
"It is pragmatic, if host collapses here... Allies will care for you".
To be honest Lumina didn't know exactly how hard the healing would be, simulations suggested that they DID have the capability, but it could still be enough to put them to sleep.

Nulyth did indeed seem to have something and extracted an old, but seemingly well cared for scroll from the one bag in there that did not smell of incense and other strong things.
"Indeed I do... It may not be completely precise or readable, and some parts have faded, but this is one of the most simple aspects of the formula used to create the ancestors of our particular line, it should be helpful".
The nonchalance with which she handed it over suggested it was neither very limited in supply or usable to create more Uhar, so if such a detailed scroll was just one minor part of the process, one had to wonder how complex the whole set must be?

 

[Fyrra]

The suggestion that spirits might be unnecessary in the involvement of the ritual gave the ratling pause: Lumina was the magic expert inside the body, and when it came to gods or spirits, the rodent's internal pool of knowledge was notably silent. So, if they had rules they needed to follow... sure, why not? The component they seemed to provide to the ritual, apart from the spell itself, was the power source. If excess power could be used to fix an error margin, like with the hypothetical healing magic, then the creature just needed to find another supply of magical power. Most likely, something within one of the local ruins should suffice. Or better yet, the mysterious figure that had been funding expeditions in the area might have something! Yes!

But that could wait. Making everybody larger needed to happen either at the end of the cold season, or very shortly afterward. For reasons.

"We will keep an open mind, then," the ratling mused, somewhat distracted by the mental image of Lizzy entertaining children with a magic show. She'd done it before. Multiple times, even, if the rat-children counted as spectators. Did she enjoy entertaining children? That... might need to get asked at some point. For all the time spent with her, there wasn't much the rodent knew about her beyond her history, and her eagerness to assist in heroic rampages. Not that there needed to be anything else to her, of course, but this was interesting. Maybe it explained something?

"Mmn.."

When handed the scroll, the ratling stopped walking to stare at it for several minutes. scouring over not just the pictures but the weird, faded lines and those whose ink had yet to fade. On the surface, it pretty much just confirmed what the ratling had guessed from observing elves and goblinfolk: demi-human in shape, with some differences here and there. Possibly comparable to somebody born with dwarfism, but with green skin? Now there was a thought. Dwarfism existed in humans, but this world had elves. Were dwarves around as well? Were there biological differences between a dwarf and a human with the dwarfism gene?

Pondering aside, it seemed like the ratling might have a little too much trouble concentrating on this scroll after all: scientific texts were dry, and as this scroll appeared to be part of a very complex formula, puzzling over anything it couldn't understand at a mere glance might run the risk of boring the child to tears, but if the organs looked similar enough, the creature might at least be able to reason out a general idea of what might have ruptured from the stomach blow. As for putting it all back together, well, that's what the magic was for. 'Surgeon' probably wasn't the former life's chosen career.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

While they couldn't be sure that the person responsible for the expeditions was magical and therefore worth consuming, there was at least the chance that they had already collected some magical rocks from the ruins, of course it might be difficult to find them, never mind beat them up, so it wasn't a very reliable first option for acquiring lots of magical energy, not that there even WAS a reliable method currently, even when Ratty had found stones so far, they had generally been guarded or surrounded by many more dead and powerless ones.
It was probably also a good idea to acquire large stocks of things like food and clothing first too, larger creatures seemed to have more trouble keeping warm, and most humanoids seemed to wear clothes of some sort of another.

At the very least it seemed Lizzy both was proud of her magic and enjoyed sharing it with others, and was clearly creative enough to do some interesting things, both in combat and out, it was exceptionally fortunate, if a bit strange that she was so willing to follow around a random rodent she encountered in a forest into danger, even if she didn't really have anywhere else to go.

Lumina was observing the scroll with a much more attuned eye, all of this information was of course going to be useful, especially notably was just how durable it all was, with most of the organs containing what almost appeared to be chambers, the stomach alone had three of them which were presumably for extra durability, or perhaps just to be able to eat trash and toxic plants without dying?
Their skin colour also varied, with some grey, some green, some even blue though there appeared to be none of those among the Uhar, who were almost all green or brown with a few grey.
It also seemed that the organs were all more separate than in humans, the stomach blow seemed like it may indeed have only damaged the stomach and possibly their compact intestines, notably there was no sign of a gallbladder.

"Dwarves exist... Their empire of caves and holds is incredibly large and influential... Their opposition to the empires of humanity may make them effective allies".
Lumina served up some of the information from it's own memories, surely the diplomatic situation had changed somewhat between humanity and the dwarves but it couldn't be that much right?

 

[Fyrra]

"There is... a lot of padding. Is it fat, or just muscle tissue? A blend of the two? That is not just bone density at work." The ratling mused aloud, grateful for the help with translations: the fallen prison guard might have a fighting chance against wounds normally, and the compartmentalization of his organs, while fascinating, made internal bleeding a much more serious issue, to spare a thought for a hammer-swing forceful enough to turn that into an external problem.

Once Lumina was satisfied with the strange scroll, their host handed it back to Nulyth, its shallow worldview once again tested by the introduction of new data, though to be fair, confirmation of the dwarves' existence was hardly a surprise, but in the interest of gathering allies that despised empires, it was a little interesting to find that something as durable as the average goblin was considered weak, If anything, the local garrison was poorly equipped, and that could render them a non-threat to most standing armies, but... was this not the key to everything? Elves and Goblins had an alliance right now, and could possibly be willing to organize and live together, too. Why not add dwarves into the mix? Those were kind of like compact, stocky cave-norse, right? But instead of sifting bits of iron out of river-mud and sailing the seas, dwarves combined minerals into steel and built engineering marvels! Maybe. It would be strange if that stereotype was among the few to be averted, but that wouldn't be the first time on this planet, either.

But, imagine if it worked: the syol lending their bows to the uhar, and the mountain folk lending their steel. Proper defenses against the encroachment of the crowns. A society of many communities helping one another to the point that surviving the cold season was not merely a goal, but foreseeable for everyone. It was... strangely exciting! But that could count as getting way ahead of one's self.

"Right. We should be able to work with this," the ratling concluded, "Hopefully not too many people in need attention, but," cue a few blinks, "it was more or less a bloodbath until they were routed, was it not?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"It appears to be a mix of muscle and... Unusually dense fat tissue... Perhaps a natural armour, or energy storage for long weeks of hunger... Current Uhar... Are mostly lacking these".
Looking on them the Uhar DID seem a lot less stocky than the goblinoids in the diagrams, perhaps diet had a hand to play, or it could just be a result of different variants or separation from their original ancestors, it might explain why the Mul began eating so ravenously if it was some old natural instinct.

"Dwarven craftsmanship is almost peerless... However they are slow to innovate, long lives and dedication to crafts and guilds have... Made them quite stubborn".
Lumina commented on it's host's stream of thought, going so far to illustrate a dwarf breaking what looked very much like an expertly made and decorated crossbow with his bare hands, showing both the natural strength of dwarves as well as their apparent distaste for new things... Which could be a problem considering Ratty could very much be described as 'new'.
At least their appearance was spot on though.

"It was... Indeed bloody, but there were few deaths, and many of the injuries were and are treatable with what we have on hand, If one knows how and where to strike, it is easy enough to defeat an Uhar, or any of our cousin tribes, with little chance of death".
That could explain some things, an Uhar would presumably be much harder to kill if they just focused on shielding their most vulnerable parts which decent armour, their natural (or was it unnatural due to being created) toughness meaning that outside of direct organ damage most hits were effectively flesh wounds.
It also seemed that they had most of the healing take care of.
"This is... Good, I do not know if we have the energy to heal many".
Lumina added, honestly it wasn't sure if they had the energy to heal ONE Uhar, it wasn't like they had tested it live before, and any simulation was guess work at best.

"But now... I am sure you wish to go and tend to the wounded guard yes?"
Assuming Ratty agreed, they would be led down the halls and towards a room that smelt almost overwhelmingly of herbal scents, mostly the ones that didn't taste very good, including the one that made mouths go numb and tingly, but there was no smell of rot, bile or stomach contents, either it had all been evacuated already or the Uhar had managed to very thoroughly clean the wound, it was a good sign though, an infection in such conditions.. Likely wouldn't be survivable, but an uninfected wound had a much higher chance of healing with the aid of magic!
The wounded Uhar was asleep, or unconscious more likely, the herbs around him may have had some part in that, the Uhar very much understood that preventing the wounded from feeling pain was a good thing to do.

 

[Fyrra]

Between the confirmation of the ratling's suspicions about goblinoid bodies, and the explanation of how the dwarves of this world were, there was a lot to think about regarding future Big Projects, and maybe the rat-faced creature should count itself lucky that long-lived elves did not have the same stubborn reputation for their long-held traditions. Or, perhaps they did? Pellinta may have been a respected leader here, but given how frustrated she claimed to be, she might very well be an outlier herself. An outlier who thinks breaking things is a good idea? It was possible that dwarven outliers existed too, but tracking those down was a task for another day. Another season.

Funnily enough, for all the outsider's assumptions about tribal cultures, it still felt somewhat jarring that the locals here had not just a means and understanding of anesthetic treatments, but medicine on-hand and probably preserved, if the earlier explanations about hoarding were anything to infer from, as well as knowledge of disinfecting treatments. One could wonder how much of this was the work of the local guilds, and how much was the input of outsiders from other worlds. It might have been nice to meet the arraness, after all.

"Sounds like we need to learn these ways at some point. Or perhaps some other method," the guest mused in response to the after-battle report. Its ignorance of things that might very well be basic knowledge here was likely to cause undue damage again.

With the polite part of the conversation out of the way, or at least, what was passing for it this late in the morning, the rat walked up to the wounded guardsman's side and tapped at his shoulder, if only to see if he'd stir. Then, regardless of whether that happened, it set his shortsword upon the floor nearby.

"Apologies for disturbing you. I've done enough harm. Even so, it was wrong for me to hit you that hard before you could even stand up." Cue a glance back toward Nulyth, then to the resting guard. "Your sword saved my life, just as much as the one who carried it. You maintained it well. A fine blade, but it belongs with you."

The ratling swallowed some saliva, working up some nerves. Why was this such an awkward feeling? It raised a hand up, pointed toward the goblin. "We would like to try wound treatment magic. Untested, but it should work. You can still decline."

Assuming nobody objected, the creature reached toward the guard's stomach, pointing two fingers outward, and spoke... mostly for the benefit of others in the room: "Mend."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

It was likely worth remembering that while the initial elements of the Uhar Society were indeed tribal, and even somewhat nomadic, that the modern Uhar and even Syol societies were also made up of a large amount of refugees that had fled the more human dominated regions, likely bringing significant amounts of knowledge with them, which did beg the question as to exactly how advanced other groups might be, this forest was very much the middle of nowhere, far away from major human settlements, if things ever calmed down it might be worth a trip to whatever human cities were nearest.

The wounded guard did not respond, whether due to the wounds or intentional medication was unknown and didn't overly matter, it would likely be incredibly cruel to wake them just to experience their pain again before healing it anyway, as such there was no chance for them to decline, so Ratty would be able to continue with what was a very understandable violation of their bodily autonomy.
Lumina meanwhile had been analysing and preparing, attempting to work out the most efficient way to heal the wounded goblinoid to the point they would survive without draining itself and it's host too much, fortunately it had created a more or less functional theory before Ratty invoked the healing powers... It was hardly a proper chant or incantation, but it still had a strong anchor word that would help.

The first thing Ratty would notice was the pull, it was like the energy was being rapidly drained from their body and soul, a cold almost empty feeling, but it wasn't a total instant emptying like the times that had caused them to pass out...
The next feeling was almost like an out of body experience as Lumina dragged their senses to observe what they were doing, highlighting each step almost like they were trying to teach Ratty how it worked.
The first step was to almost pour the shaped magical energy onto the wound, waiting as it soaked into the skin almost like water into an already damp cloth, however as soon as it passed the skin the magic seemed to speed up, rapidly breaking down dead or discoloured skin that was potentially infected, while keeping the blood from leaking, then rapidly forcing flesh to form and knit the wounds closed, one of the stomach chambers was clearly a lost cause, torn and shattered beyond function, so it was simply sealed and disinfected as best as possible while leaving the remaining chambers intact, finally there was a feeling of strengthening, both of the newly formed flesh and the body's natural defences before all at once Ratty's perception was returned to normal, they would be weak, physically and mentally, seemingly almost at their limit for a spell, but it was done, the wounded guard would live, though they were far from fully recovered.

 

[Fyrra]

Handing one's focus over to the control of a symbiote was a strange feeling, it turned out: the ratling still had yet to get used to lending its body to Lumina while they worked their magic, and being lent a form of vision that perceived what its closest companion was doing with the energy was even more disorienting. Breaking down flesh components and using growth-acceleration to replace infected and damaged flesh was difficult enough to stomach on its own, but getting an internal view of just what that hammer-swing did to the poor guy's stomach was almost too much to bear. Yet, it watched, all through the flesh-knitting and the formation of antibodies, T-cells, and a little bit of biological re-routing for the digestive path. It suddenly made sense why healing magic was considered a rare gift: this was surgery! Surgery, fabrication, and a little bit of plumbling all wrapped up into a single spell. Without magic, this would have taken a team of specialists in a sterilized environment with specialized tools to accomplish, and Lumina handled it with only minutes of prep-work.

When it was done, the ratling wobbled in place, one hand over its mouth as it fought off a minor wave of nausea. When that passed, it stepped back a few paces and sat down, back against the nearest wall. As amazing as Lumina was, the major thing to take away from this experience was the delicate nature of the entire process: the rat's own wordplay could not have handled something so specific. Without an expert in magic on-hand, this could have been very dangerous. Someday the creature would need to ask Lizzy for help understanding the forces it manipulated.

"Aye, let's not... ugh, let's not make a habit of needing this spell. Too much.."

The creature blinked, looking around the infirmary in a haze, as though the stamina gained from its nice, long sleep and a solid, meaty meal were almost immediately spent again. The hollow feeling that came with magical exhaustion felt familiar, if nothing else, almost nostalgic.

"If he wakes up, before I do, tell him-"

The rat-child hurk'd.

"-one of his stomachs was beyond our abilities to fix. Had to re-route his digestive tract. Didjou know magic could do that? Thassso intensse."

It blinked, and suddenly lost track of how long it'd been sitting there, but when the dizziness was gone, the creature slowly pushed itself to its feet, using the wall as a support, before taking a slow walk back toward the room it'd been sleeping in since that fight.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lumina was just glad that it had been relatively easy to keep control over it's host's energy and focus, Ratty could, whether they knew it or not, effortlessly disrupt anything Lumina attempted to do with a single thought if they so wished, fortunately they were not so sensitive or uncomfortable with loss of control as to cause issues with Lumina's unique style of teaching and aiding, and ideally, after this little Lesson the basics of healing would be available to Ratty as well, with Lumie of course working to make it more energy efficient with time, a task made much easier now that they had some practical experience!


The thought of what could have happened if Ratty ran out of magic mid operation or somehow invoked the wrong kind of magic while working with such sensitive forces was... Not a fun image, learning how the words and visualisation worked would be a worthy future goal, judging on how much she seemed to enjoy showing off her magic, Lizzy would probably be willing to offer some instruction, hopefully it would be easier to focus on and learn than standard knowledge.

"Future use... Will be less intense... First use was... Inefficient".
Lumina assured Ratty, sounding about as sleepy as a talking magical pearl could sound, which was a lot it seemed!
Lumina seemed to only become tired when using a lot of magic, as it seemed to function as both food and general energy, making it perhaps a problem that the pearl was so willing to use it all up at once like that, even if the results were not deadly to it.
"For now... Rest, recuperate".

Several Uhar were worriedly watching Ratty, wondering if they were about to have a second patient on their hands, fortunately Ratty was able to get up, spooking the intently focused Uhar somewhat before they followed after, it wouldn't do to have their honoured guest pass out and crack their head on the stone flooring after all! Head wounds were near impossible to heal correctly and without lasting damage.
Lizzy was actually in the room reading something, seemingly having been intentionally waiting for Ratty's return.
"Ahh! They told me you'd be doing some magics... Umm, you are looking like a fairly classic case of mana exhaustion... Sleep is the best cure but also... Chew this".
She offered a dried leaf with a very... Aromatic scene, like flowers and water and some underlying kick, a bit like a burn but less painful.
"It won't make you feel better right away... It's not concentrated enough, but it will make your rest... More effective? The Uhar helped me prepare some".

 

[Fyrra]

Truly, if anything demanded the rodent's attention and focus, it was a delicate magical operation whose circumstances could be reproduced but probably shouldn't. Without a formal lesson on how words affect the flow of magic, and with somebody's life potentially hanging in the balance, it just didn't feel right to get fancy with the wordplay after what happened right outside the lich's chamber door: verbal magic was very sensitive. and this caster in particular packed potency. Everything was either over-exertion, or inexplicably a simple task when it should have been too much for a single person: very little middle-ground between the two, but that could just be typical for anyone who had to get their obscene powers under control.

One thing the ratling did notice on its way out of the infirmary was the lack of a wheelchair: maybe if it had some tools (and a hammer designed for anything but cracking skulls), it could build one? Then again, the uhar seemed like a very communal lot: maybe the injured goblin wouldn't be leaving that bed until long after he was able to get up? After all, they had proper anesthetics and the good sense to let the injured and the sick rest for as long as they needed. So... why was this a point of agitation, beyond the frustration of a slow walk, hand upon the walls for support? Oh, right. The attentive audience, and subconscious bias that somehow persisted in spite of fractured memories. Reincarnation was such a tricky subject. One could wonder how anyone made it from one life to the next with their sanity intact.

Upon reaching the doorway, the rat turned about to face those following it and held out two fingers to the ceiling, in sort of a cross between a weird salute and a 'v for victory,' before going back into its chamber and firmly taking a seat upon the bedding it'd previously claimed, with barely a glance in Edric's direction before giving Lizzy its attention.

"Yes. Was feeling fine earlier, but had to clean up mess," the ratling explained to Lizzy as it took the strange leaf in hand, "So, good news and bad. Will likely need to apologize to the goblin later, but we can mend wounds. Very taxing, but possible. Try not to need it?" Whatever there was to be said about having live test subjects for untested magic, the ratling seemed to finally settle on the notion that maybe it's better to have seriously hurt somebody than to have caused a slow, painful, and unwarranted demise. "Hope that we awaken with only two kills confirmed... or, what do we call that man? The flames did him in, so was that your kill or mine?"

The creature yawned. "Ah, matters not. Still working on that book, huh? We have similar habits. Always busy. How was your day?" Sure, it was small talk that could otherwise be ignored, but the ratling waited for an answer, complete with droopy eyelids, before biting into the strange leaf. Eventually it closed its eyes and focused on chewing, pondering something amidst the not-quite-burning tingle of a mint mixed with whatever it was that made this leaf special among wizards and herbalists.

"Mmn. Sensitive. Forgot what it was like to taste with an un-scorched tongue."