"So. Avatars."

We were in the manor's central hall, where the lectern stood.

"They are your strongest personal defense." Coatli waved his hands emphatically. "Using an avatar, you leave your true body and the Heart here, in the seat of your power, and use your avatar to fight in the dungeon or elsewhere in your domain."

"No farther?" I asked.

"It's possible." He nodded. "But the farther you separate from the Heart, the weaker your avatar will be."

"Can I take the Heart along?"

"That rather defeats the purpose." He shot me an unamused glare.

"Alright, alright." I raised my hands. "But it is possible."

"…Yes." He nodded reluctantly. "And your risk is lower than some Lords. Few things truly threaten you right now, and Yse and I are less dependent on your power then we were on Cuahuli's. Still."

"He'll need to start with that, you know." Yse appeared on the lectern in a blur. "This doesn't have an avatar slot yet." She patted the stone pedestal.

"True," Coatli agreed hesitantly.

"So, uh, how does it work?" I asked, pulling out the Heart and turning it over in my hand.

"An avatar," Yse said, "derives from your Incarnate ability. In essence, you will incarnate yourself. After all, since everything you know is in your Archive, aren't you, as well?"

"That sounds… unwise." I frowned.

"If you didn't have the Heart, it probably would be." She nodded. "But your abilities make it doable. Not exactly simple, but doable."

"So I just…" I reached out, calling up my magic.

"No no wait!" Yse waved her forelegs. "There's more. You Incarnate yourself, yes, but through a mark."

"So I should mark something?" I cocked my head.

"Yes. The avatar ability - or, at least, how Cuahuli used it - goes 'incarnate, mark, incarnate'."

"So I summon something?" I cocked my head the other direction.

"Yes, start with a monster. You will gain attributes from the creature you choose. Predicting the effect is tricky, but if you start with, say, a Snow Moth, you might gain their ice magic."

"This sounds…" I frowned. "Really powerful."

"It is." Coatli said. "One of your most powerful abilities as a Lord. You should always use an avatar if you can afford it."

"What's the catch?"

"It takes pneuma." Yse shrugged. "A fair bit. Which is probably why the ability to archive pneuma comes along with the avatar ability. That's why I told you to save yesterday's pneuma, instead of spending it on progression."

"I see." I nodded. I had hoarded a sizable lump during our hunt. My lungs were filled with pneuma, to the point I felt like coughing.

"This island is a treasure-house," Coatli said. "It has both a huge variety of monsters for your archive, and is a wonderful hunting ground to raise abilities. I believe what you gathered yesterday should let you maintain an avatar for quite a while."

"However, the biggest downside to using an avatar is that while you do, you won't be able to gather pneuma normally," Yse said.

"That's… a fairly big penalty."

"Your dungeon should mitigate it somewhat," Coatli replied. "You will be able to draw on the pneuma that flows through it. It won't remove the need for hunting, though, at least not without adventurers. And we won't have visitors anytime soon, especially since we're surrounded by Nepenthe's domain."

"That might be a problem." I frowned. I hadn't seriously considered visitors, but being a lost island would naturally limit them. Even if we spread the location, if they couldn't get past Nepenthe, we'd have none at all.

"Well, let me try the pneuma thing first." I raised my hand and concentrated. "Incarnate!" A jingling stream of tokens fell from my palm. They were rounded triangles, the size of a silver dollar, with a tree on one side and a sunburst on the other.

"Interesting design." Yse jumped to the floor and examined them. "Why did you pick it?"

"I don't think I did, it just sort of happened." Sweat popped out on my brow and I felt my breathing quicken. I hadn't been prepared for how thoroughly that had drained me of pneuma. "Is that enough?"

"Oh, this is plenty." She swept the tokens into a pile and I scooped them up in a double handful. They felt like glass, like the other archives we'd acquired. I tipped one into my mouth and it shattered between my teeth, tasting of mango and strawberries. The stream of energy coiled into my lungs, and my breathing steadied.

"Taste good at least," Coatli mumbled, crunching one down himself.

"Stop it, you two." Yse glared, and his fingers retreated. "This should be enough for two attempts," She jumped to the lectern again, and tapped the surface. "Put those here." I complied, pouring the tokens out on the flat stone. "Now, decide what to base your avatar on."

"Just… pick a monster?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Pick a monster carefully. If you incarnate into something like, say, a slime, you'll have trouble just walking around. There are advantages to weird monsters - some slimes are nearly unkillable - but you don't have the time or resources to practice with anything really out-there." Yse separated the tokens into two piles. I watched a little unhappily; that was enough pneuma to boost both my Spirit and Magic stats significantly. Still, this was interesting.

"I think I'll try Snow Moths." They were strange, but also powerful. I didn't know if I would get their magic, or how it would work, but I needed to start somewhere; the first monster I'd archived seemed a good place.

"That's a bit borderline, but it's worth a shot." Yse nodded. "First, create and mark one."

"Alright." I poised myself. "Incarnate!" The magic swirled in. Near its completion, I cast again. "Mark!" The spell settled, and the Snow Moth flapped lazily around to alight on the lectern.

"Good." Yse nodded. "Now, take these tokens and the Heart," she waved to one pile, "And use incarnate again, but this time you need to - from what Cuahuli said - sort of project yourself into the mark. Hopefully you can figure it out from that. This should combine the Snow Moth and your Heart into an avatar."

"I thought the point of this was to leave the Heart behind."

"As I said before, you can't do that yet. Right now, we just need you to be harder to kill. With an avatar, your Heart absorbs your real body, and you control the new one using the mark. However, doing that from a distance requires a specific slot on the lectern." She waved at the pedestal. "Until you have that, your Heart will be part of the avatar."

"How much harder to kill does that make me?" I pulled the Heart out of my pocket and rolled it across the back of my fingers.

"A fair bit," Coatli cut in. "It will hide your weaknesses. If the avatar is dispersed, the Heart will release your true body. At that point, you'll have another chance to fight or escape. And until then you'll have whatever strange powers the avatar grants you."

"Interesting." I rubbed my chin. "It's kinda like a monster core."

"…I guess it is." Yse sounded thoughtful. "I'd never considered that, actually, but it really rather is."

"I don't think so." Coatli crossed his arms. "We use our cores in the same way humans use hearts; to circulate magic. We don't think with them."

"Yes, but the Heart does… Nevermind, not important." She waved the idea away. "Just, take the tokens and give it a try."

"Alright." I scooped up the tokens, balancing the Heart on top. "Here goes nothing." I reached out to the Snow Moth, putting one finger on its back where the mark was, and focused on trying to push my way through. "Incarnate!"

And then things got weird.

At first, it felt like being squeezed through a straw, a feeling of pressure and darkness.

Then, blinding light, and headache-inducing visuals. The world was fractured into a thousand different images overlapping in shattered patterns, jagged blurry images combined into a jagged blurry whole - and it all looked wrong. The shadows were impenetrable, the light piercingly blue. Yse was covered in bright swirling lines, and Coatli's scales had an otherworldly shimmer.

Suddenly my sense of balance went wild, and I very nearly vomited. I struggled to hold back other, stranger impressions - I could, for some reason, pinpoint the fountain in the yard - and did my best not to empty my stomach.

"C-Cancel," I croaked, dropping to my knees.

"Yse, tell him how to back out!" Coatli's voice was muffled and echoing.

"Ed, you need to remove your mark to end the spell." Yse's telepathy was, thankfully, more understandable.

"Unmark!" I spluttered. "Remove mark! Mark era—" But the second one must have worked because the crushing, dizzying sensations drained away, and I found myself on my hands and knees. Magic and pneuma streamed away like mist, sucked into the Heart, which fell to the floor with a tinkle.

"That was not fun."

"Sorry, Edmon." Yse's voice was sympathetic, but it sounded like she was holding back a smile.

"First time's rough, eh?" Coatli stepped over and helped me up.

"I could taste things with my eyebrows." I shuddered. "I don't think I'll be trying that one again anytime soon."

"They're called antenna. I thought you looked rather…" Yse trailed off.

"Rather?" I got my stomach under control and pushed myself upright.

"Tasty?" the spider admitted.

"…Maybe just avoid insects for now," Coatli suggested.

"Good idea." I shook my head, trying to drive the weirdness out. "Suggestions?"

"I think the walking jaderoot from yesterday might be good," Coatli answered. "It's a plant-type, but it has normal eyes and such. It's physically strong, without obvious weak points, and has excellent regeneration."

"That does sound good." Yse nodded. "It's humanoid, too. You might be little slower, but the benefits should balance that."

"Hmm." I hadn't actually seen the jaderoot, so I didn't know what it was like. "Well, if both of you think so, I'll try it." I shrugged. "I still have the archives from that courier, so if we need one more shot, we can use those."

They nodded.

"Alright, here goes. Incarnate!" I had yet to called out a monster that I hadn't seen, but the magic worked fine. The spell swirled out, rushing down my arm and shaping a stubby greenish caricature of a human. It looked like a goblin treant. The drain was significant, but I quickly moved to my next spell. "Mark!" The monster stood idly, but was definitely alive; its eyes drifted around, aimlessly scanning the hall. I scooped up the second pile of tokens and the Heart. "Incarnate!"

Again, I was squeezed through a straw.

This body, though, was much more manageable. It felt… not exactly normal, but not wildly disorienting, either. My vision felt off, colors shifted more towards red. The Heart zipped towards me, embedding itself in my chest. I took a few steps. My proportions must have carried over, since I didn't feel unbalanced. I rubbed my arm, then pinched myself; the sensation was muted, but I could feel it fine.

"How do I look?" I turned to Yse and Coatli.

"Less squishy." Coatli nodded.

Yse made a few gestures and summoned a shimmering mirror of air.

The body had lost some of its goblinoid appearance. The face had taken on my features, and the body had changed to my height. I was green-skinned, with vine-like markings running down my arms and across my face, and my eyes were a brilliant yellow, though my pupils were square.

I reached for my gun, and found it at my hip. I drew it smoothly and aimed at a few points.

"I think I can work with this." I nodded.

"Good." Coatli clapped and the squad assembled, appearing as if by magic. "Let's get going."

I'd thought we'd been pushing yesterday, but our pace today was near-manic.

We started out fairly simply, using the draconian's skiff to mark the edges of the lagoon, hopping from one island to another and anchoring in-between to mark reefs. There wasn't much trouble, just a few ferocious fish and an unexpected snake on one of the islets, but the giant fin kept cruising the coast, pacing us back and forth as we went.

We ate lunch near the wreck of my ship, floating in thirty feet of crystal water over sparkling white sand. Brilliant corals dotted the area, and even from here I could see flashes of jeweled fish.

"Are you going to raise it?" Yse was perched on the tiller, eating a prawn-like thing she'd scooped out of the water.

"I don't think it's worth it." I shook my head sadly. I could survey the entire hulk from here, and it was painfully obvious that my Eigengrau would never sail again. I'd heard the keel shatter when I'd hit the reef, but the damage was even more extensive than I'd feared. Just a fracture would have been bad enough, but the ship was basically ripped in half. "I'd like to salvage my charts and cargo, but there's no point in raising the wreck. It's too far beyond repair."

"Wouldn't the water have ruined your stuff?" Yse cocked her head.

"Not at all. I kept anything valuable well-sealed. Water wasn't exactly uncommon." I finished my food - a bland starchy thing the draconians supplied - and contemplated. "Maybe I could try now. Coatli, is there anything dangerous in the area?"

"Seems clear." He was our lookout.

"Alright, let me make a dive or two." I pulled out my pistol and handed it to him, stood, took a few deep breaths, and leaped off the edge of the skiff.

The water swirled around me, bubbles racing past as I sliced into the water. I took a few long, strong strokes, heading straight down, and tried to pop my ears.

I was only a little surprised when that failed.

I'd been adjusting to this avatar. It wasn't drastically different from my human body. Lots of things felt a bit… muffled? Not just pain, but heat and cold as well. On the other hand, I could feel sunlight with surprising acuity, and the jungle's humidity no longer felt stifling, but refreshing.

My ears must have been different as well, because I didn't feel any discomfort as I swam downwards. Moreover, I had no trouble holding my breath. I'd been a good swimmer even before I started sailing, and my high constitution had allowed me to make deep dives and stay under for long minutes, but now I felt capable of staying under significantly longer.

I was sinking more quickly, too. I'd never been buoyant, but when I'd tried dived for pearls off the coast of Kharlis, I'd used a weight to more easily reach depth. Now I was going down even faster than I did in fresh water.

My eyes didn't sting either. Opening my eyes underwater had never hurt that much, but if I'd been a regular pearl-diver, I'd have definitely wanted a pair of goggles.

For a moment I just drifted easily down, listening to the distant sound of the waves, and surveying the seabed.

I reached the seabed with a dull thump, throwing up lazy plumes of sand, and stood before the wreckage. The first thing I went for was my pistol.

As I'd guessed, it was still hanging from the tiller. I unstrapped it and slotted it into my holster. Next was my cargo. It wasn't in the hold - smuggling required more circumspect storage - and it didn't take up much space. I moved to a nearby locker, pulling out the spare ropes coiled there, and fished around until I could extract a few loose pegs from the back. That let me lift the top off, revealing a space hidden behind the normal storage. A dozen metal tubes floated free as soon as I opened it, slipping past my fingers and flying towards the surface. I watched them rise with a shrug. I probably could have grabbed some, but I'd let the others pick them up.

"Ed, everything going alright down there?" I startled a bit at Yse's voice, nearly losing my balance. The water threw off my movements, but a grabbed the rail to keep my balance.

"Yeah, no problems." I subvocalized carefully, concentrating to keep my mouth shut. "I'm not even sure this body needs to breathe. Those are my cargo, pick them up if you can. They're worth a fair bit, although now that I can straight-up create things from magic…"

"Well, no harm in keeping them."

"Right. I'm going to head into the cabin, grab my maps and instruments. Uh, if you guys could drop a line to help haul me back up, I'd appreciate it. This body is a bit less floaty than I expected."

"I'd love to, but we don't have any ropes." Her thought felt like a shrug.

"Oh." I pondered that for a moment, then picked up one of the thin lines from the locker. "I'll send one up, then." Looping it over my shoulder, I moved for the cabin.

The door was sharply canted, but easily swung open. I eased my way inside, looking around. The ship had been shaken wildly, first by the storm, and then by the wreck, but I kept the place ship-shape, so the mess only amounted to a few pots which escaped the cupboards and some leftover soup spread evenly through the water.

I took the charts first, unsnapping the metal boxes from their rack and lashing them together with the end of my line. Once they were contained, I pushed them out the door and watched them bob upwards, slowly unspooling the rope. The skiff moved towards them once they broke the surface. I nodded once and turned back.

I grabbed my instrument case, popping it open to be sure my sextant and scope were still inside. The scope tried to float away as well, but I caught it easily and replaced it before tying the box to the bottom of the rope.

I stood for a moment longer, pondering if there was anything else worth salvaging. Since I'd left Armada in a hurry, I hadn't had a chance to pick up a dummy cargo, so the hold mostly held food. I'd always splurged on meals; since my moneymaking packages had been small, I'd enjoyed loading up local delicacies at whatever port I went to. However, most of it was certainly spoiled by the water. But… my spare ammo was down there. Also, I had several casks of good brandy. It would be a shame to just abandon them.

Heading out, I jumped off the deck and trudged around to the split in the ship. Un-battening the hatch and going down from the top would have been fine too, but I didn't really feel like fighting against water-swollen knots. They were, of course, openable - I wouldn't have been much of a sailor if I tied knots that couldn't be undone when wet - but going in through the breech just seemed easier.

I reached the gap and peered through. As my eyes began to adjust to the light, the first thing I saw was teeth.

I leaped backwards, tumbling and scrambling away as the water slowed my movements. The monster surged out after me, something that must have been sharklike once but was now even worse, and I barely managed to dodge by throwing myself completely flat and falling to the seabed. I whipped out my pistol and fired as it swept by, the shots throwing plumes of bubbles and stealing my vision.

A moment later, my sight cleared and I saw it circling around for a second pass. I leaped to my feet. My shots had wounded it, blood floating in red trails behind, but it didn't seem seriously injured. I readied to try for a dodge, bringing my gun up and waiting for it to approach. My pistol was made well enough to shoot submerged, but not even the best rounds would pierce through much water.

The beast lunged.

I braced.

Five spears sliced down and left it thrashing.

Then the draconians crashed through the surface and surrounded me.

The monster recovered and lunged again, trailing shredded flesh and billows of blood, but Coatli met it with his club. He didn't swing it, just rammed it into the beasts gaping maw, planting his feet and spreading his wings to keep it off me. The others leaped forwards, swimming with tiny strokes of barely-spread wings, and seized their spears and heaved.

I darted forwards, nearly losing my footing again, and emptied the rest of my magazine into the thing from point-blank range. It thrashed wildly, then froze.

We paused to make sure it was truly dead, then Coatli seized me under the arms and we all broke for the surface.

"Sorry about that." Coatli heaved me onto the catamaran. I gasped out the breath I'd been holding this whole time, and lay there looking up at the sky. I hadn't exactly been panicking, but if the squad hadn't arrived when they did… Well, I'd have gotten a chance to test my pseudo re-incarnation, I guess.

"I should have thought about that myself," I answered, a little chagrined. "Just because there was nothing in the area…"

"Did you at least get your things?" Yse was busy hauling in the line with my instruments tied to the end. "Going back down might be a bad idea."

"Yeah." I looked into the now-murky water. A cloud of gore was slowly spreading from the sunken corpse. "And yeah, I got what I wanted, although maybe we'll come back for the brandy and my ammo when we have more time."

"Brandy, huh?" Coatli smirked. "Yes, that does sound worthwhile."

"Sir." Kriss tossed me something, and I recognized it as a monster core.

"Thanks. Mark!"

Grimjaw Shark: Five Fathom Reaper added to the Archive

"…That was a named monster," I said, a little shocked.

"Really." Coatli frowned contemplatively.

"It's not so strange." Yse pulled the instrument case on board. "The lagoon is only so big. That was probably our local Leviathan."

"Wonder if we should try and salvage the corpse." I looked over the edge again. Powerful monsters usually had valuable natural assets.

"Not worth it." Coatli shook his head. "Besides, we have more to do."

"Right." I sat up. "Let's get back to work."