Until a week ago, I had been blind my entire life. Apart from driving, I had never really felt that being unable to see held me back in any important way.

Then I got to the Shrine of Initiation, and I gained a new sense. I hadn't asked for it, which annoyed me. It's not that I would have refused it if offered, but it would have been nice to be asked. It was as though the shrine had said “Oh, here's that thing that everyone except you has had all along, I'll just shove this in, no need to thank me.” It was rude. Sight was unnecessary, superfluous to my being. My entire way of constructing the world in my mind was built around every other human sense. Now, I was suddenly confronted with an entirely new way of perceiving the world, and it was a lot to get used to.

For one thing, nothing looks like I imagined it would. I had always tried to imagine what the world around me would look like to a sighted person, and the first thing I discovered was that what I had been imagining was barely even close to the reality. When we had all emerged from that cave, I had expected Arturo and Tabitha to comment on how bizarre and alien the world around us was. But no. To them, it was a fairly normal-looking forest. They didn't comment on how weird the trees looked. I barely recognized them as trees. In the past, I had felt along the contours of trees, smelled them, climbed them, cracked my head against their lower branches. None of that prepared me for perceiving them all at once, being confronted by their weird, complex shapes, even at a distance. Before, as long as I didn't climb them, the tops of trees weren't even part of my picture of the world. They seemed so much more immediate, so much more important, now.

For the first few hours, I could do almost nothing except stare, and try to get used to it. Try to get used to the sheer volume of sensation my eyes were suddenly pouring into me. Try to get used to the way everything would move whenever I moved my head. Try to get used to the shadows that everything casts on the ground. Try to start assigning names and ideas to the images I was seeing. Its a process that most people complete around three or four years old, and I had to catch up quickly.

Nothing compared to the strangeness of seeing people. Of seeing my own brother and sister. When I first saw them, I had to close my eyes a few times before I could decide which was Arturo and which was Tabitha. Before, faces were just things that happened to other people. A person's voice, the sound of their breathing, the pattern of their footsteps; those were their distinguishing features. Now, I was dealing with faces constantly. I liked them, for the most part, even if they didn't make much sense to me. Sighted people can tell what a person is thinking and feeling, by looking at their face, at their eyes. But I got none of that by looking. My ability to sense those things ran on entirely different channels. I could now see images, shapes, even colors, but they didn't mean anything to me. They seemed random and pointless. They didn't feel real. Maybe that would change with time. But I still felt the need to close my eyes whenever I was doing anything tricky, like going up and down stairs.

I was getting used to all this, while simultaneously having to adapt to the new situation that everyone else was also adapting to. While I was wounded and recovering in the temple, I started reading the scrolls that An found brought from upstairs. As soon as I looked at them, the system asked me if I wanted to learn the language. Of course I accepted. That was easily the most bizarre experience of my life. I have almost no ability to read in English or French. I had occasionally felt the shapes of the letters and been told what sound each signified, but reading Braille was so much more practical. Even the instructions from the system interface ran across my fingers instead of hanging in the air as it did for everyone else. Now, the shapes on the old vellum scrolls were full of meaning, and I drank them in.

In this world, belief had real force behind it. It was possible to genuinely contact the divine, to receive prophesies and omens, to perform rites and ceremonies of real power, and to produce actual miracles. The priests who had worked in this place hadn't just been religious leaders, although they had wielded plenty of wealth and political power in addition to their supernatural powers. In the real world, religion could be used to bind people together, to create unity and common purpose between different people and groups with different interests. It could be used to control and manipulate people, too. Here, it could do all that, plus you could wield actual proof of your divine favor.

When I first reached the Shrine of Initiation, I had decided to become a cleric, because it was a good, solid support class, at least that's what I had heard from Arturo. Arturo was the real nerd in the family, but if I was going to live in a role-playing game, I wanted to have a set of powers that would earn me power and respect, while simultaneously making me of use to others. I had put two of my starting points into Charisma, bringing it to 15, and used my remaining two to open the first Gate of Destiny. Though the others were slow to notice it, I had new powers in this world other than the faculty of sight. My voice had new force behind it. I could inspire joy, influence thoughts and feelings, even make others stronger by simply speaking to them. The highest skills in my skill list were Leadership and Diplomacy, and I was readying myself to make use of them.

I knew that convincing the others to recognize my potential as a leader was going to be an uphill climb. Apart from Elizabeth, I was the youngest person around, not even technically an adult yet. In addition, I was surrounded by dominant personalities. I suspect that Patricia and An had charisma enough to rival mine, and they were both decades ahead of me in experience. They both had children that were older than me, hell, Patricia apparently has a grandson who is only five years my junior. Even Tabitha, who I wouldn't really describe as charismatic per se, was earning more power and respect than me in our little community. She had her coast guard training, which counted for something, but mostly what she had was the ability to bring home the bacon, literally on one occasion. Charisma is no match for hunger, and our community was being sustained by Tabitha's skill and hard work. That made her important, and importance is power.

Back in high school, I had been one of the popular girls, a highly contested position. I had gained that position partially by a warm and open personality, but I couldn't have kept it without an instinct for the ebb and flow of power. Knowing and being known by the right people, knowing when to take sides and when to mediate, making myself indispensable. That came naturally to me. During my convalescence, I hadn't just been reading. I had been listening, laying out the board of forces that shaped our fledgling new society. As I got to know the personalities that composed my new social universe, a plan began to form in my mind. This community would only work if each member did what they could to do the most good, and the place where I could do the most good was at the top. After much thought and planning, I saw how I could get there.

The key was in the conflicts. This community was composed of three family groups, each vying for power, consciously or otherwise. Patricia had picked a massive amount of political weight by destroying the corrupted temple and rescuing Tabitha, Kiet, and Duy. Arturo was now mostly on her side now, since he had promised to help her rescue her grandson Kyle. Kyle's kidnapping was a major political win for her, whether she saw it that way or not. She was a heroic figure, and she had a noble goal that could inspire others.

You would think all of that would make her a shoo-in for a leadership position, but it hadn't. For one thing, Le Phan An didn't see her as her hero for bringing Kiet and Duy back. On the contrary, she saw the older woman as a clear threat to her position in her own family. She was fighting hard to reassert her control over her husband and son, and in doing so, she was overplaying her hand. Everyone, including me, was getting fed up with her overbearing attitude. As much as I admired An for her toughness and strength of will (plus that sweet knife-throwing trick of hers), she was too argumentative and domineering to be popular. She had been a major force in organizing our preparations for winter, and anyone can see that most of us would be too lazy to be much use without her around, but no one really wanted her to be in charge.

Tabitha didn't really like either of them. I don't think Patricia has noticed yet, but I know my own sister, and Tabitha is quietly seething whenever Patricia's name is mentioned. Tabitha is too strong-willed to accept Patricia's higher status. Plus, Patricia saved Tabitha's life, which completely undermines her image of herself as a strong, independent woman. Tabitha will never admit to any of this, not even to herself, but I know she'll only get more resentful if Patricia actually starts asserting some of the influence she's gained. Which leads me to the last piece of the puzzle.

Patricia has the respect and force of personality to seize control of this community, even against the opposition of the other two women. She just doesn't see that as a worthy goal. Her concerns are exclusively to protect Elizabeth and rescue Kyle. If I can provide her with a way to do achieve those goals, I'll have her support.

It annoyed me that Patricia had converted this temple into a place dedicated to Family. If I had gotten here first, I would have converted it into a temple of Freedom. When I had seen the list of potential patrons and concepts for my Theurgy magic, Freedom was the concept that most resonated with me. This world was my opportunity to achieve the freedom that I had been denied before. Here, I could go where I wished and do as I wished. There were no parents, teachers, or even laws to tell me what I could or couldn't do, or for that matter, be. The power of sight was only the beginning. I would turn this temple into a beacon of liberty, and Patricia would help me do it. The clue was the first spell that my Theurgy granted me at the most basic level. It was called Blessing of Liberty. It hadn't been useful so far; all it did was provide one person I touched with a small bonus to any attempt they made to escape from any kind of binding or imprisonment. Still, with the proper development, I could be an expert in rescuing prisoners and freeing captives, even from the evil clutches of the Fae. All I needed was the support of those around me.

The first step was to establish a rapport with each of the key players. When I finally accumulated enough Piety to get myself healed (it would have taken only half as long, but I could only get the discount by converting, which I refuse to do), I joined in on the job of excavation with the Bei family. They were digging up a warehouse that had once been full of wine casks. We never found any drinkable wine, but casks that were still intact were essential to our survival. Patricia joined us that day as well. To be honest, she did as much as the rest of us combined. Duy was off helping Tabitha with her hunting, so the only one there who could possibly keep up with Patricia was An. I'm not really the athletic type myself, and I was still just beginning to get the hang of identifying objects by sight, so this was hardly the best use of a skill-set like mine.

Still, I did whatever was asked of me, and did my best to encourage my companions. Several of my skill specializations allow me to reinforce the morale of others through speech: my Charisma specialization Aura of Joy, protects those around me from being intimidated, and also boosts my Leadership and Diplomacy skills. My Diplomacy specialization is called Pathos, and it allows me to influence people more effectively by appealing to their emotions. My Leadership specialization, Beacon of Hope, makes it easier for those near me to endure hardship.

I didn't tell anyone any of this, as I was afraid it would make them treat me differently. It was better if they didn't really understand why they liked having me around. The workday seemed to quickly, and when An finally announced that it was time to turn in for the evening, Kiet and Patricia pulled me aside to thank me for my help. They invited me to assist the next day as well, and of course I agreed.

Over the next few days, the sanctuary of the Temple of Bloodlines gradually transformed from a solemn place of worship into a busy and crowded workspace. An is a genius when it comes to preserving food, and she managed to convert a lot of the meat that Tabitha brought home into smoked jerky. Patricia filled several casks with water and began lining them up along one wall.

Arturo spent most of his time exploring in the western part of the city. He didn't seem interested in joining in with the rest of us, and we privately decided not to force him. After all, with his illusion powers he was probably safer wandering on his own than Tabitha. He arrived that night with a couple buckets of random things he had found out in the ruins. He didn't have anything impressive, but Kiet was sure to invite him over and make him feel welcome. I may have underestimated that guy. He has a real talent for smoothing over points of social friction. Arturo decided to show off his magic by filling the sanctuary with images. I didn't recognize any of them, of course. Tabitha and Duy arrived, empty-handed. I smiled and told them that there was no need to worry, as there was still plenty of meat left over from the two previous nights. Inwardly, however, I was pleased. I knew that hunting isn't a perfectly reliable food source, and you can't expect to find something every day, no matter how good your eyes are, and there hadn't been much game in the area even before winter began. But the fact that Tabitha had come home with nothing today meant that everyone was cognizant of the specter of hunger, and I could use that to my advantage.