Bloodline traits are innate racial features that accord an individual an inclination towards certain behavior or magical affinities. The Sylvani, for example, are a remarkably tall race of individuals. Some of their bloodline traits include an extra lobe of lungs that accords them uncanny vocal ranges; most of them easily acquire a [Bard] class. However, coupled with their high metabolism they tend to have high agility which make them adept at navigating the forests where they live. They are also predisposed towards the Aer and Aqer affinities while some readily take to Lux affinities making for good Druids and Green Mages. Put together, it is easy to see why they care for nature. Excerpt by Valerith Quillworth in his book: An Exposition on the Genesis of Races

Perhaps his daughter had too much in the way of Earth than he thought. Jumping into a moving vessel reminded him of those movie scenes where the protagonist jumped into a moving convertible―and stuck the landing while dodging gunshots. No do overs, no body doubles; this was not cinema. And in this case, tier 4 spells that could eat away at matter―it was literally in the name. She also managed to prevent the drachenflieger from becoming a fireball; her skill, [Gestalt] remotely tweaked the craft’s primary mana source to Tertherite recasting the Aegis Shield as a consequence.

The drachenflieger had continued to glide a few paces along the stony platform until it came to a stop nose to wall with the translocation gate. They weren’t out of the soup however; runeheads fell around them, indiscriminately mowing anyone who happened to be in their area of effect. It was like being in the middle of mortar fire Only the [Aegis Shields] saved Arthur and the synth. As for the adventurers, they'd already retreated to the Stormbreaker which backed away from the vicinity of the gate.

The [Aegis Shield] could take a beating, even from runeheads if you knew the spell’s inner workings . Doubtless Numen was a genius with runes if there was ever one. She cycled the casts, timing the impacts and layered the [Aegis Shield] like a vertical honeycomb. They were interlocking panes of hexagons that glowed a tourmaline yellow whenever a projectile made impact―and they were tier 4 too.

Lower than that you'd find static barriers and even lower, the ordinary shields that were composed of one matrix construct. [Aegis Shield] had several independent structures, held together like crystalline carbon. That's why they could continually take a hammering. However, there was a tolerance to such things—Numen knew that the matrices would fray as she kept recasting the spell. Consequently, she was fast tracking her other plans.

“ Nora, are you guys okay?!” Arthur hailed the Stormbreaker over [Farspeak].

“ You’re the ones I should be asking that!”

“ Numen’s working on something, give her a few moments!” Arthur replied, having to shout above the din of impacts against the hull.The sound of shrapnel and explosions meeting the [Aegis Shield] was not exactly a lullaby. It sounded like hail hitting corrugated sheets.

Numen continued fiddling with the slate, trying to connect to the gate via telepsychic linking.

“ Any luck?” Arthur asked.

“ I’m working on it, father!” Numen replied. Her hands moved like a blur above the artifact, manipulating several incorporeal constructs. Arthur had the idea to use his Mana Sight and what he saw was a jumble of multidimensional formations hovering in the air. The centerpiece was a hypercube with several dozen nodes that kept shifting, breaking and skewing the shape. Each of the nodes was also an amalgamation of six cubes that she had to calibrate into the right combination to make an intersecting pair.

It was akin to tweaking picking a labyrinthine tumbler lock by solving several burr puzzles to get the mana to connect the nodes she wanted. Each time one was set another unraveled elsewhere―even for her, it was becoming frustrating. Of head or tail, Arthur knew neither; he was ashamed that he couldn’t be more helpful―

Despite that,

“Ah, not to rain on your parade but, you look like you need more help” Arthur said worriedly. The hull of the drachenflieger was creaking ominously; though the shields were still holding, the animus steel looked like it would soon be on its last legs.

“ I need more hands, an independent mana source and time to marry another matrix―recasting the shield spell is taking up all of my cognitive faculties. You do happen to have an affinity for Locus don’t you?”the synth answered not taking her attention from the construct. A direct hit on the drachenflieger made her wince as she recast the shield.

“ Ah, yeah. What do I need to do?”

“ Hold these the nodes I set in place. I assume that you have prior knowledge of etching runecraft related to said affinity; this is almost similar only without the use of a rune scriber to manipulate the matrices.”

Arthur exhaled as he recalled the time he was just starting out runecraft. Locus was an affinity he seldom used—it was as much fantasy as science fiction to him because manipulating his immediate reality wasn't something he could relate to. Had he accustomed himself to [Flashstep] he’d have gotten a feel for the affinity.

The pressure to get it right was not doing him any favours either but Numen walked him through the process. It was a slight reprieve even if he felt as if he was playing a game of cat's cradle with a spider web. The matrices were more sensitive and slippery than most and the only way to make sure they stuck was to imbue the ones he was pinching in his fingers with a constant supply of mana.

For the mana source, they had the tellusphere— if their hunch was right, the artifact must have been topped up from its proximity to the gate’s leyline. Of course it was out of the range of the synth’s [Gestalt] so they had to bring the Stormbreaker closer. With no shields to weather the hail of arcane missiles, it was going to be a risky undertaking for the other ship. And that was not including the fact that Elena had barely logged flying hours at par with theirs.

With much concentration, Numen extrapolated the intervals between the arcane airstrikes with that synth brain of hers. She assured the sylvani that if they pushed the Storm breaker to its utmost, they could do it. But first, there was something else she had to do―

“Numen!”

“Ah, yes my impetuous soul- sister,” she smirked.

“Now is not the time—” Arcis sulked with her cheek plastered on the coffee table. Their mindscape had seen a few more additions, like a wall-sized mage slate, bean bags, carpets and stuffed toys.

“We're in trouble,” Arcis said.

“Yes, ” Numen remarked, watching their giant mage slate. It was a window to what the synth was seeing outside. Past the canopy was the gate—the colour of the aperture was electric blue and inky black that looked interstellar gas.

“I finally analyzed [Mapping]” Numen said, pursing her lips. In here she could move them.

“And?”

“There were too many permutations of the skill's fractal matrices—after scouring through several iterations of hausdorff dimension formulas I have finally discovered how [Mapping] works. ”

“Yeah genius! You don't have to rub it in my face, you know. I guess I'll stay here a while,” Arcis said, looking around their mindscape with a despondent expression.

”Snap out of it!” Numen said, pinching Arci’s cheeks between her hands. “ Look at me; I need your help to marry the matrix to the gate's runecraft,”

“Why?!” Arcis snapped, batting away her hands. “ What can I do when I’ve already failed? I almost got us killed!”

”Haah,” Numen exhaled. “ [Mapping] was meant to be used in dungeons that had translocation gates,” Numen remarked as if stating the obvious.“ The current gate is highly unstable. We have about, ah 3 pars, 75 casions and counting down, 73 before a collapse. “

“In dumbspeak!” an incensed Arcis blustered ,slamming her hands on the table. Numen was unfazed by the outburst, which only further aggravated her sister. Despite her lacking social graces, she knew she had to salvage the situation.

“The matrix requires a lot of mana to reset the gate matrices. However, I will have to control the throughput to the smallest unit of a thaum, the thaumion—”

“You're becoming more and more like the Elder.” Arcis said, narrowing her eyes warningly.

“I need you help to channel the tellusphere’s power to restart the gate’s matrix—”

“Get to the point!”

“ A slight deviation will cause a thaumic inversion,” She said helplessly, “ It will open a...what did they call them? Rift into another realm―monsters might come out.”

“Can we stop it?”

“Negative…” Numen shook her head.

“Damn it!” Arcis said, chewing her nails. “ What do you need me for then?!”

“We can escape it―there is still a smidgen of time before that happens―”

“Wait and you didn't know to lead with that?!”

“You kept interrupting,” Numen said with an eye-roll.

”Fine, ” Arcis said resignedly. “ I'll do [Mapping― you channel the mana from the tellusphere since you know the matrix computations...[Mapping]!”

The mindscape suddenly went dark at her prompt. Then in an instant mirroring the birth of the universe, light burst forth washing over the two sisters. Arcis yelped suddenly and snapped her eyes shut. When she squinted her eyes to peep, she saw the impossible― akin to an astrometric holographic projection, the mindscape brimmed with pulsing orbs of light connected by luminescent threads.

It was a manifestation of the [Mapping] skill. Not unlike the gate’s matrix, each bobbing sphere of light was a node. They were a panoply of every hue and color— some were bright with life while others some were dying embers. Each node was connected to the nearest neighbor by a bridge which meant the [Mapping] matrix had the appearance of a mycelial network.

Arcis couldn't even begin to see where the spell construct ended or began and her mind was dangerously close to buckling as unparseable information inundated her consciousness. Amidst her fraying consciousness however, she realized what the nodes, spheres of light were; ―translocation gates. Most were mere pinpricks, leagues away in unfathomable distances while some were so close she could reach and grab them.

”Concentrate,” Numen murmured as she flicked her hand. The motion reflected their surroundings moving in tandem as the nodes streaked by before their scenery halted and settled on a blue point within their vicinity.

“What is―where are we?” Arcis said, finally snapping out of her reverie.

”The Laeghsphere, ” Numen said. “ It's where the leylines flow, and mana exists in its purest form close to the surface. The Makers drilled into the leylines to establish their translocation gates.” she added as if orating something from a tome.

“Again with the Makers...who were the Makers?"

“Antecessors,” she rolled her eyes. ”I have to go. The sand’s flowing and we need an exit—there... Thi's the closest functioning node near the surface. “ Numen said, motioning to the bobbing sphere of light.

“ I would've gotten the name of the locations but that's the most of what I can do for now. I am going to give you the signal from the outside. Hold the matrix and tap the node on my mark ―,”

”Wait...wait—” Arcis cried out. “ When am I gonna get ou—”

But Numen had already burst into motes of fractals that dissipated into the aether. Amidst sulking grumbles, Arcis was left alone in the mindscape waiting for the signal from her sister.

At the same time Numen had retreated into herself, it had hardly been more than a few pars since time flowed faster in her mindscape. To Arthur, it seemed as if her eyes had glazed over as they glowed. He was familiar with it enough to infer that it was a skill at work. In the meanwhile Arthur was reassuring Elena and the others that their escape plan was well in hand.

“ You heard that Elena?” Arthur asked the sylvani. The gate ahead of the small craft was already going through some visible changes.

“ I did. Are you sure about this?”

“ As sure as I can ever be. There is no going back, only forwards,” Arthur said. He was also wondering where they’d reemerge if they took the gate. Numen had yet to say anything. As he was thinking about that, the in-ship armacus chimed via the telepsychic orb.

“ Arthur Sturmdrache,”

“ Ah, Seeker Whatshername,” Arthur said, narrowing his eyes. “I don't remember telling you my name. Neither did my daughter tell you, which means you have been following us—”

“This is not the time—”

“Oh really? What more do you want; surely not last words after leading us into a trap huh. Two birds with one stone. Hate to break it to you but it seems the Void Syndicate were way more slippery than we gave them credit for ?”

“Huh? I understand the connotation of birds and stones but, I assure you I had nothing to do with it.”

“Then?”

“Dwarves are not monolithic Arthur Sturmdrache. From the stories you’ve heard I understand why you have such animosity towards us. It seems the Mercenary Companies are giving the whole race a bad―”

“Haha,” Arthur chuckled, interrupting the woman. “ I have no way of telling a bad dwarf from a good one, Seeker. I’d rather err on the side of caution―” Arthur added, promptly shutting down the connection with a mental prompt.

‘Guess I’m gonna have to throw that orb, if they can get in their communications however they want. There’s no telling it has tracking runes or something,’ Arthur thought as he concentrated on holding the matrix. His hands were getting kind of tired from holding them in their position for long―another explosion rocked the drachenflieger, almost making his concentration waver as he nervously rubbernecked the hull. It was then that Numen’s eyes stopped glowing as she came to.

“ Ready?” Arthur asked in expectation. The synth nodded. Then they sent a [Message] to the Stormbreaker.

“[Kitten]; 15 casions till the next volley. Their aerships are almost on us, start moving.”

“[Quartermistress]; On our way.”

“ [Kitten]; 10 casions...”

Arthur watched the countdown being verbally transmitted on the slate. The drachenflieger suddenly lurched as its Tertherite mana source kicked in for [Levitation]. However, it was ill suited for movement above ground without a form of forward propulsion. She was timing the Stormbreaker’s approach to use [Slingshot].

“ Five…four…three…two…one…Mark!”

Right before the next volley hit, and a few casions before the Stormbreaker broke past the stationary drachenflieger, the smaller craft was catapulted into the threshold. There was a momentary feeling of weightlessness and loss of inertia as they crossed over―everything that was magical inside the craft suddenly shut down; gem foci, the orb, even the steering yokes fell over as their magical binding force disappeared.

Even the canopy went dark; the only illumination that they had was the synth’s eyes glowing incandescently. After what seemed like an eternity, all arcane instruments reverted to their previous state―and that meant the canopy too.

They found themselves zooming through an ethereal passageway where walls of multi hued rings blurred past so fast they were one continuous tube. The horizon was an indiscernible blue blot like a faraway white and sun-spotted blue star, which grew large in the blink of an eye as if time held no sway in that place. Arthur gasped. Then the instruments shutdown again, plunging them into darkness.

“ Gone!? What do you mean they’re gone?” Holly fumed as she slammed the armrests with her fists. Her fellow Seeker, Delyth was almost sympathetic.

“ I’m sorry Holly, but the telepsychic orb in your vessel is not registering on my instruments. Either they are out of range or they were disintegrated into motes by the gate, ” she said, swiping her mage slate. “ The magical residue indicates that a rift was well on its way to forming―so we can’t be sure of what happened,” she added.

Holly looked at the gate platform beneath. Two other Seeker Vessels with two occupants each were canvassing the vicinity; one was on the gate itself― while another was flying over the water. All that was left was corpses of raiders caught in the arcane explosions after Doladraen had taken back his ship.

‘Curse that trollspawn!’ Holly thought as she recalled how two other mercenary vessels had come around and caught them in the village. The Sterngucker and the Trolmetzger had surrounded the Sturmjager and their crews had boarded them. The dwarf had left clues of his whereabouts to his associates within the same mercenary company.

It was an oversight on her part because they’d had to move fast. Besides, she couldn’t blame the two adventurers that had been left behind; they were not really experienced in looking after prisoners. Neither had they the foreknowledge that Doladraen could still send a distress [Message] spell after divesting him of his armacus.

Added to that, the Seeker’s back up had also been too late in coming. By the time they’d arrived, Doladraen and his people had already kicked her out and started firing at the gate in the hopes they would get both the Stormbreaker and the Void Syndicate.

Ultimately, Holly had lost her drachenflieger as well as her lead to her mission target―the failure to subdue the Void Syndicate wasn’t even the worst of it. At least that would be overlooked because she was only one person.

“ Don’t worry about it,” Delyth muttered. “ I’m sure your matriarch will overlook this mission; you were only one Seeker after all, and despite that you did your best.”

Holly snorted, “ But I will never live down being hijacked by a teenage girl.”

The other Seeker winced, “ At least that’s new information eh?”

“ Which might be useless, because we don’t even know if they’re alive or not.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. If the Void Syndicate did happen to use it, a Wayfaring specialist will be looking at where they went―”

“ Hoh?” Holly muttered, sinking into her seat as she stared at the sun. “ I thought the division of Wayfaring was just a myth,”

“ Ah, I don’t have the clearance to talk about it. Sorry,” Merilda said as she pulled her own drachenflieger away from the site. Holly was already dreading the dressing down that was waiting for her at the Citadel. She stared balefully at the mercenary aerships hovering above the gate and vowed she would get back at Doladraen for everything that happened that day.