I land at the Old Sawmill, wings turning into feathered arms. Through the companion bond I can tell that Tåke has noticed me, but she’ll have to wait. I’ll get to her after I ask around about the wolves’ den - it struck me a while ago that having a chunk of the forest essentially inaccessible might be a bit… inconvenient.

My appearance and (the other kind of appearance) drew some looks, but most people don’t look for too long. So I head on in, since the employees should at least have some opinion on the mist-shrouded area, and also people who are getting paid for their time are easier to bother. Err, that sounds a bit cruel, but ehh.

Huh, that’s new. They’ve set up a proper bulletin board, with a lil’ roof and all. Well, probably just info like ‘don’t panic’, ‘don’t piss off the wolves like that one example’ and ‘take care, there may be monsters’. That little paper at the other bulletin board is kinda drowned by info about fishing cards and such.

I wait until there’s a pause between customers and approach one of the two salespeople. “Excuse me?”

“Birdman, huh. That’s a first. Need something?”

“Yeah, uhh, what’s the deal with that foggy area?”

“The Fog? There’s info on the bulletin board outside, but the short version is that it does that thing where you get lost and turn around you see in movies. Well, some people take that as a challenge. Supposedly you can get in there if you’re with one of the wolves.”

“Oh. Isn’t that bad? I mean it’s a pretty big area isn’t it?”

“Nah, the road goes just past it, and if you follow a trail you’re less likely to turn around. Besides, the area grew a bunch during the Upheaval.”

“Okay then. Well, thanks for the info.” Not too bad at least. I guess I’ll read the official info, too. I do a polite nod to the salesperson and head out.

Oh wow, I might’ve been wrong about the bulletin board. ‘Dangerous Plants’, ‘Looking For’, ‘Tasks’... Where do I even start? Well, the ‘About this board’ info seems to be a good start. Let’s see…

About This Board

Hello! After the Upheaval many things have changed. Among these changes are potential dangers you should be aware of. More information can be found on this board.

General Info

Some paths and roads were changed in the Upheaval, and we would like to remind you that most areas outside cities have changed in size. Keep in mind that distances have increased.

In addition new animals have appeared since the Upheaval. Most of these and many pre-Upheaval animals have magical power, and caution is advised.

One notable mention is the Mist Wolves, commonly found around the foggy area near the Old Sawmill. These animals are generally friendly to humans. That said, they are still wild animals, and we advise you to not go near them unless approached. The aforementioned foggy area has a disorienting effect. For more info see ‘The Fog and Wolves’ Den’

This board is maintained by the Old Sawmill cafe.

Contact the staff in order to use the board.

Well, that’s something. There’s nothing really new in the info on the Fog, just more of what I already knew. Dangerous plants… Berries that cause stomach ache, a thorny bush that causes dizziness and mild pain, a plant that causes rashes… Can’t see the bulbous plant I used for that hallucinogenic salve, but it was fine until I mushed it and mixed with water, so not really a surprise.

‘Requests’… oh, people are requesting this and that. Places this one plant grows, the university has a standing request for pictures of post-Upheaval animals. Strong bug silk? I think someone found scraps I dropped somewhere. They want to know what makes the silk. Wants someone to practice magic with. Looking for someone who can teach shapeshifting. Hm, there’s opportunities here.

‘Tasks’… What’s the difference between the two? Well, the tasks are more complicated. Actually, all ‘tasks’ have a monetary reward, the requests don’t. ‘Find the Water Temple’, huh. Good luck? Or I could be cheeky and get the payment. Meh, it’s not worth it, I’d rather just relish in the knowledge that people still haven’t found a way in. Or at least not shared it.

‘Teach me methods to breathe underwater’ Ooh, this person might be onto something. Someone wants to be brought to the wolves’ den… I feel like these tasks are a seriously mixed bag. But on the other hand, a quest board and something functionally similar (if you squint, at least) to a guild hall… Either way, I should try to get an ad for my business up, seems like a good channel.

“Hey, that’s a nice birdkin form.”

Huh? I turn around, and- nope, no idea who that is. “Uhh, thanks.”

“It looks really natural, you’re pretty good. What aspects do you use?”

“Well, I kinda call it a raptor form. Uh, raptor as in birds of prey, not velociraptor. So Hawk, Falcon and Eagle. Mostly falcon.” No seriously, have I met this person? They seem to know me. Is he one of those guys I taught aspect magic and basic shapeshifting a while back?

“Hahaha! Captain falcon, heh? Wait, can’t you use those aspects to make a flying form?”

No, I’m covered in feathers, I don’t think even my mom would recognize me right now. “Well yeah. That’s why my shirt -err- top? Piece of cloth?” I pull at the side of the flight-top, highlighting the massive gap for wings. “-why this has the big holes at the sides.”

“Wait, you can shapeshift into a flying form?”

Okay, this guy clearly doesn’t know me. “Yeah…?”

“Don’t you need like, really big wings to lift a human?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Oh.” He pauses for a moment. “Can I see?”

I shrug, then hold out my arms, forming proper wings. “Happy?”

“Hooooly shieeeet… Those are HUGE!”

That’s what he said. And as he says that I feel a trickle of mana hit me, seemingly searching. Is he trying to learn the aspect off of me? Denied. I expand a small bubble of mana around myself, pushing his away.

“Huh, what was that?”

“Dude, don’t do that.” That was somewhat unpleasant, and while subtle, I should probably avoid doing what he just did to someone without permission. Personal space and bodily self-autonomy and all. Hm, new social no-no.

“Oh, uh, sorry. Didn’t know people could notice that.”

At this point I have folded my arms/wings, holding them in front of my body. “Neither did I, so I’m not too mad. But getting the aspects was a lot of effort, so I’d appreciate if you don’t leech off of me.”

After a pause I add “But if you can pay I’m willing to teach. In fact, I have a business where I’m planning to sell… actually I’ll just show you.” I reach into my bag for the printed copy I made of the product list, mostly with grasping mana as my winged hand is too big and not very agile.

I float it over to him and he grabs it to read over. He skims the first pages before getting to the part on flying. “Holy shit, this is insane… There’s already magic shops…”

Well, I haven’t seen any others do this, but there have been mentions online. Either way, if I can do it, others can. I’m under no illusions that I’m some special snowflake, though I suppose I am ahead of the pack. Benefit of not having a job when the Upheaval happened I suppose.

“Hey, can I have like tutoring but for a shapeshifting form for flying? And the flying safety course.”

“So the unlisted shapeshifter’s flight pack? You already got the basics of mana usage and know aspect shapeshifting, so there’s the basic pack with just the flight form and some basic flight safety and tutoring, or a more complex pack which includes magic to increase safety or just make you fly faster.”

“Yeah, that.”

We discuss it a bit more, and quickly decide that he wants goal-based tutoring, spread over multiple days. At first he balks at the prices, but when I explain my reasoning and give some comparison he quickly comes around. Then he takes a while to decide which, if any, of the extras he wants to learn.

Then we discuss a schedule. Later today he will learn basic [Force Magic], and practice that a couple days, before we’ll have another session for the [ - : Levitation] sub-ability.. The day after that is a longer session for the aspect itself, flight theory and finally flying in practice.

I shake his hand, after which he pulls up his phone. “Damn, ten minutes left. I came way too early.”

“Too early for what?”

He looks at me surprised. “You’re not here for the shapeshifter group?”

“There’s a shapeshifter group?”

“You didn’t know? A while back a man named Lars - he was on the Magic Mic, by the way - taught some people how to shapeshift, and they made a facebook group to share what they learned. The group grew and now we have regular meetings. Well, this is my first time.”

Uh-huh. I might have heard of this Lars person. “So the meeting is in ten minutes? Can I just join?”

“Probably. The group is public and stuff. You can just ask one of the leaders.”

The guy who is apparently the leader claps loudly. “All right, seems like that’s everyone. We have a couple new faces - or forms- today,” He points to my new customer, then me, then a woman. “Treat them nicely.”

“Now.” He claps again. “Today’s agenda is the Water Temple, but first: Let’s go over new forms and tricks.”

The group goes through new discoveries, mostly various forms. The tricks and complexity of forms aren’t particularly impressive to me. On the other hand, there are a couple interesting aspect, or uses of aspects. For one there is a really hot girl. She’s on fire. No really, she uses the Fire aspect and her body exudes heat, with occasional barely-visible licks of fire.

There is also a guy with a treant-like form. They seem like a couple, though I’m not sure how that’d work. Well, the fire-girl only used to form for a demonstration, reverting afterwards to avoid causing a fire. She also said it was tiring.

“All right, how about the new guy?”

Oh, my turn then. “Birdkin form, based on birds of prey, mostly Falcon but also Eagle and Hawk.” I say simply, not showing off the full winged form.

The leader looks at me with a look I can’t place for a moment. “Okay then, next up: the Water temple. Has anyone found anything?”

He looks around. “That’s unfortunate, but not unexpected. I’ll repeat what we know for the newcomers and those who missed the previous meeting. From the riddle Lars gave in the interview, and the fact that he described it as big, we know it must be hidden, either underground or in a pocket dimension.”

It’s both, actually. And underwater. I feel, hm, funny looking at these people working together to solve that bullshit riddle I made. It’ll be interesting to keep up with these guys and see how they’re doing.

“Since no other known dungeons have pocket dimensions, we assume that it is underground. But the first line, ‘the name comes from where it is’ hints that it is in water, and for the second line ‘lungs of steel’ probably means you need to hold your breath which coupled with ‘path of light’ hints that it is pretty deep underwater.”

He claps for a sixth time since he got here. “That’s what we’re pretty sure of: It’s pretty deep underwater. We also think it’s in one of the lakes around here. The third line ‘Watch your magic, for the forest devours.’ is a bit more cryptic. It either means that magic will trigger something about the the forest which will ‘devour’, or that the forest devours magic.”

There is a pause and he looks over the group. Didn’t he linger on me for a bit too long? I’m just standing here and listening… “So last time we made it a goal to find ways to breathe underwater, so that we can safely explore the lakes. What’s the progress on that?”

“I got some fish aspects, but trying to use it in a form makes me suffocate.”

The leader nods. “Be careful when shapeshifting, people.”

Another person pipes up. “Using air magic you can pull large bubbles of water into the water. I’ve tested it a little, and it has some drawbacks. You still need to swim normally, which is hard with big bubbles around you, and it can be difficult to see. You also need to be near the surface to get more air. If you don’t you’ll use up the oxygen.”

“Good, good, that’s progress!” He nods at a raised hand.

“Uhh, I think I can help with that. You can use [Force Magic] on water. It’s a bit tricky, but you can move faster than if swimming. You could even use it on the floor and edges of the lake, if you’re near them.”

“Okay, that’s something to work with. Anyone else got anything?” He looks around. “Okay, that’s it for today, then. As usual I’ll stick around to socialize.”

At this point some people make a quick conversation then leave, while others gather in small groups, showing of and sharing aspects and small tricks. “So…. when’s the next time?” I say to the guy from earlier.

“Dunno.” He shrugs. “I think it will be decided on the Facebook group later.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll have to check that out, then. Well, I think I gotta go now, I guess I’ll see ya round.”

“Uh-huh, see ya.”

For now… I’ll just run a suitable distance then revert to my base form. That group seems interesting. Though, given how they talked about me, I’m not sure if I should actually join that group. If it’s open it might be interesting to do a reply to something pretty mundane and see how they reach.

Well, that’s for later. For now I gotta practice my sales pitches and magical party tricks. I also gotta remember to meet up with that guy for the tutoring. Tomorrow I’ll work a bit on stuff to sell and ensure the mobile payment service works, and the days after that I’ll go to the city center and try to sell stuff again, this time with much improved advertising.

For one, not having a massive spider body should help. Really should’ve seen that one, or at least connected the dots right there. In hindsight a giant spider would cause some people to shy away, even if a giant spider is considerably less scary than one might think. Not that that says much.