Mikansia stood up. She was next to a river, in a bright field. For a second Mikansia was confused. Where was she? How'd she get here? The battle with The Dragon came back to her; it had ripped into her back. What had happened after that? Was she was successful in killing The Dragon? Were Ember and Marian alive?
The answer found within surprised Mikansia: it didn't matter anymore. She had tried and that was enough.
Standing next to Mikansia was a softly glowing child: Simone. "What are you doing here?" Simone asked, surprised.
"I'm dead." That was said entirely too easily.
"Did you kill the dragon that had Mamma?"
Mikansia thought over what she could remember. It seemed like such a long time ago already! Mikansia had split open the dragon's stomach. Even if Mikansia hadn't killed it... "I got it. I killed the dragon."
Simone beamed. "Good. That means Mamma is safe."
A boat came into view, punted along by an elderly man. He gave Mikansia a look that one would normally reserve for cockroaches. "Toll and get in." There was a coin in Mikansia's hand. She'd never seen it before, but it belonged there, she knew that much. Mikansia gave the coin to the ferryman, who didn't even look at it; he was too busy gushing over Simone. "Where are you off to, young miss?" he asked with a beaming smile that Mikansia would never have expected.
"I'm off to visit my Daddy and Grandpop!"
"Yes you are! And they're waiting for you!" said the ferryman. Simone nodded with the assurance of a child. She let the ferryman help her into the boat. Away they went. Simone began humming a lively tune; it was the Song of the Sword, which Simone had heard while Mikansia trained. But this wasn't a promise of death and ruin, but a ditty vim, vigor, and virility. Just sheer joy. It struck Mikansia that the happy little ditty she was hearing was the original; the elves had changed this song of life and joy into one of destruction. A lot of the songs they knew were different from their original intent.
The landscape around them became more and more barren, until they were in a dark and horrid desert; Simone stopped singing and looked worried. On their right a set of gates stood, creaky and battered. Mikansia wondered that the gates stood at all. next to the wall-less gates stood a trellis, upon which hung an aging corpse. The gates swung open. The corpse's head cracked to watch.
Out came Akseli, Yngvar, Tyce, Santeri, and Jabez. Akseli wrapped Mikansia in a strong and gentle hug; only Akseli had ever made Mikansia feel that safe. Yngvar pushed Akseli aside roughly, laughing, and squeezed Mikansia in a powerful bear hug that threatened to squeeze Mikansia into paste. After a minute Mikansia felt a hand on her shoulder: it was Tyce, radiating a joy only silence could convey. Mikansia softly squeezed his hand.
But when Mikansia embraced Jabez she didn't feel joy; she felt hollow. Sad. She felt worse looking at Jabez, who was so overjoyed that it pierced her heart. "Are you done, Mikansia?" he asked softly. "You can't come in through the gates with regrets.
"Am I done??" Mikansia was surprised by her defensiveness. "I killed Krakeru. I destroyed the Lone Keep and Elfharrow. I saved Ember!" She finally heard the laughter of Dale and Ensio as they played with Simone at the gates. "I've... I've done so much! I should... I should be done." Mikansia looked in desperation to Jabez and Santeri. "But I promise you both that I'd save Kotae Mah. I promised to root out the evil there."
Jabez reopened the gates. Behind them were white shores. A swift sunrise. "Most promises end when you cross the threshhold," Santeri declared. For a moment Mikansia saw a female elf standing beside Santeri; Jabez had her eyes. "Not all of them, but most. For our part Jabez and I released you from the promise when we crossed the gates, no matter how dear it was while we were alive. Do you release yourself?"
Mikansia's longing was almost overwhelming. She gazed upon that shoreline. The light beckoned. So did the lapping of the waves. "No... I can't. Not yet. I can't leave that promise undone. But I will return."
"I will see you again," promised Jabez. "If you're going back I have a request." Mikansia nodded. "Find my children. all four of them." Mikansia was surprised at first, but then she remembered Jabez's horrific time as a captive in Elfharrow. It made sense that children would come from that... but four? "They'll come to me, one way or another, but it would mean so much more to me if they came to the gates happy because of you." Jabez stated.
"I promise I'll find them and help them, however I can."
Jabez handed Mikansia a white stone with golden writing she couldn't make out. "That's what was given me when I crossed the threshhold. My new name is on it. That stone will allow you to cross back with the ferryman. I'll tell you my new name when you get back.
"I can't wait to hear it."
The ride back to where they had been was spent in silence. The stone was cool in Mikansia's hands as she gripped it. Something was different about Mikansia now, holding that stone. She didn't know what it was but she knew she would find out. And then she was awake. Flame roared near her; Marian was filling the hole Mikansia had left in the dragon with a white fire that rendered the world around it in black and white. The dragon's dying roars shook the mountain range for what seemed like hundreds of miles around them.
Decima, Nomi, and Simone came running. Simone wrapped her arms around Mikansia: "You did it!" Mikansia could tell that Simone didn't remember their journey together. She smiled at the three year old. "I did!"
"Yes, yes you did!" said Marian, who was shakily getting up. She had fallen over from the power that had coursed through her. She pulled Mikansia aside. "Whose stone do you have?" she asked with a wistful smile.
"Jabez's" whispered Mikansia.
"I have my son's," Marian whispered back, tears in her eyes.
Mikansia's hand was empty, but she knew the stone was there, waiting to be returned. But not yet. Not quite yet.
Hi folks.
So the above was us trying to figure out just exactly what happened as a result of Mikansia getting a soul transfusion from Jabez. We talked about it a bit and figured this was the most appropriate spot to go, given the nature of the campaign so far. In theory we're in the last arc. We'll see.
Mikansia started with the following traits:
Haunted by the Conversation with Akseli
Self-Loathing
We agreed that both traits needed to be changed, given that we smashed those into the ground this last arc. They are both now:
Inner Peace (CT)
Borrowed Time (CT)
So part of the soul transfusion also requires two traits: New Memories and Child Compass. Mikansia has received a bunch of Jabez's memories from when he was alive. This will be coming up a lot. So New Memories is essentially a Character Trait that pays out a Persona Point: Mikansia remembers something from Jabez's life, which freezes her up and gets her all discombobulated, making like difficult. A whole memory has to be invented and a short vignette is entered into, hence the Persona Point reward, as it takes a lot more work to qualify for it.
Child Compass is pretty much as it sounds. The part of Jabez that is with Mikansia is still connected to Jabez beyond the gates, who knows where his children are. Mikansia will essentially have a crude child radar, allowing you to find Jabez's children acrost the continent.
The goal of what is probably the last arc is simple: find the children.
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