Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.

Pre-Fall writer

The somewhat large general store had been a treasure trove. Not only did it have stuff that would make repairs on torn and pierced leathers doable on their own, but the storekeeper had been very helpful and a fount of information.

“My grandpa used to deal with ruins salvage. But there was too little to go around at the time, at least not as regular trade. Why? You’re new around?” she had said.

“True. We’ve moved from the west, but we’re not too afraid of the ruins and mana. If there’s demand, we can do it,” Johanna offered.

“Well, I don’t think there’s a huge demand for stuff from the ruins. Small items, maybe, but I don’t know anyone who collects that stuff. At least not in Zahl.”

“So, if we find salvage, who’s going to be most interested?”

“I’d say… maybe Birdy’s. They’re the main trading family around, they import quite a few things for the city. They also export stuff, mostly food, and small tradecrafts, but… who knows? Maybe filling their outgoing caravans with more than yams and squashes will interest them?”

“Where do I find them?”

“Warehouse and office house are near the northern Gate.”

While Peter and Laura gathered more gossip from the town, Johanna found a bookstore. Just like Valetta, the bookseller also ran the local printing press for the city’s newspaper, so she picked a pair of recent news sheets and then started checking the available books.

“I think I have a copy of Mages, yes.”

The shopkeeper searched and finally found an edition of the sorcerer’s society reference book. Despite the dust on it, the main page listed an edition date of 2169, which was the same as the one Elena Worchester had lent her, so she doubted there was a more recent version. The price made her gasp, though.

$14? For a book?

She reluctantly added it to the purchase pile, then asked if there was an equivalent for the heroes.

“Can’t say I’ve ever heard of one,” the man said, scrunching in confusion.

“So, there’s no society of heroes or something?”

“Don’t think so. Heroes are heroes, though. Who knows if you are truly a Hero? It’s hardly as manifest as something supernatural. Why? You’re interested in Talented?”

“Somewhat, yes. Are there any in Zahl? I’ve met one in the Marches of the Montana.”

Which, she had to admit, was technically true when it came to “meeting” Elena. She was also pretty sure the Wendigo that had discovered the contraceptive drug fed to them by the military also qualified as Talented. Maybe not as talented as Peter, but one unnoticeable being nevertheless.

“It’s not as rare as hair on a dwarf, but I don’t think so. Unless you count Petra.”

“Petra?”

“Petra Veldhuis. She works at Timothy’s bar most evenings. She can cool down drinks without ice. It’s not that different from using normal ice, but she can do that in summer, and without actual water added to the drink, so there’s Petra’s Special. Can’t do it a lot, though, so that one’s expensive if you want one.”

An Adept, then, Johanna thought. She’d learned about those people with very limited and diminished versions of normal Talents. Just like that caravan master back in Valetta.

What were those numbers Elena had said? An adept in maybe six-to-eight thousand people? It sounded right for Zahl’s size.

Nothing immediately important struck her. The one thing she picked was a notebook and a pair of pencils. She definitively needed to take notes.

Then, as an afterthought, she added a set of cheap paperbacks. She didn’t know about the series, but the blurb sounded interesting.

If they were going to stay, she needed some real reading, not just the boring Mages.

At the end of the day, Johanna found the temperatures plummeting, and she, like Tom, was eager to huddle again in the common room of the inn, to take stock of their purchases. The day had gone well, she thought.

Peter and Laura weren’t back yet from their rounds, so she went to the bar and ordered a big pot of tea. Once settled on the table with it, and Tom busied himself by reading one of the novels they’d just purchased, she opened her brand-new notebook and started taking notes.

She realized that the Parchments of Power, as she called them, held a treasury of hidden information on talents. They were fresh in her mind since it was barely two weeks since they’d left White Meadows in the Rocastle Demesnes, but she had to write out things before she started forgetting the little details. She was no Elena Worchester, but she was going to do her best. And given that the Skeleton had given her a quest to find more books, she’d see more Parchments sooner or later.

Then, of course, she froze, because she did not have the slightest idea of how to organize those notes. Jot down everything? Sort by… what?

Metal Sorcery, she finally wrote on the first page. Then the contents of all the parchments used by Catherine, as much as she remembered them. Shaper-Level-Strength-Metal Skin. Then Rust. Perception-Detect Metal. Dexterity-Fusion. Those were the four that had been created out of the Ancient books for her.

She picked the second half of the notebook to put Guard Heroics and list the three parchments that Valentin Rosenberg, Catherine’s bodyguard, had received. Guardian-Level-Authority-Disarm, Gauge Endurance, Agility-Armored. Splitting the notes into sorceresses – and maybe saints – and heroes made sense. It was obvious when she or Laura used their Talents, but less so when it came to Tom and Peter.

There was one Talent per sheet, obviously. And highly descriptive names. As an after-thought, she re-checked the Mages of America and wrote the equivalence between what “everyone” named them, and the real names of the sorcerous spells.

Then, you had some Talents paired with… qualities? Strength, Perception, Dexterity, Authority, Agility… all those hinted at people’s aspects. Not all Talents were paired that way since at least two of the weird sheets lacked a quality name.

Rust was commonly found – at least commonly for metal sorcerers – but she didn’t think that Valentin’s Gauge Stamina was. It felt like her magical sight, which was supposed to be relatively rare, but for more physical attributes rather than the presence of magic. So, there was no obvious reason for the lack of associated quality.

She wrote down her musings.

The last part was the two complex parchments. Both sheets had the same listing as Talent parchments, but with an additional Level mention, along with a name. Guardian was obvious and went with heroic themes and the Talents Valentin had obtained. Shaper… how did it apply to sorcery? Or more specifically metal sorcery. What was shaped there?

She realized she hadn’t figured out how high Catherine’s “tier” was. At four Talents, was she going to be at least tier 6, as she had been? Higher yet? Johanna did not dare send a letter to ask. The Countess had insisted on being able to deny any help, except the most self-interested one. Replying to random inquiries was not going to achieve that.

She snapped and closed her notebook. For now, she had too little information. And besides, the Skeleton would certainly provide more parchments, once they found more Ancient Books.

Until the rest came back from their errands, she had little to do, so she opened the newspapers.

The local newspaper resembled the Valettan Gazette a lot. Zahl Weekly was printed on three columns, four pages folded to the side from double sheets, with the bookseller-printer writing some philosophical musings on the first page, along with local news. She noted that a few stores were holding a year fire sale, although half of those had happened last week. There were the usual obituaries and births and baptisms notices. A few listings of “help wanted”, including the printing press itself, but nothing that warranted attention.

The important part, for her, was the general news on the last two pages. Some news from some other cities of the Dakota. The University of South Branch – the State capital, her distant and half-forgotten geography lessons told her – was opening a new set of grants for “western pupils”. Apparently, promising Zahl youngsters from 16 to 18 should be eligible, and get ready to travel for admission exams in May next year, with a recommendation from their school.

Then, she spotted news from the Marches of the Montana.

Attack Rebuffed at Kootenai Gap

Newssheets in New Benton report that, despite serious losses, a second offensive by the tribal alliances of the North along their savage Wendigo bands has been repelled. The gap is still held by the Grand Army of the Montana, and a raid has been rebuffed in early November, thanks again to the help of the Sorceress of the Ice and Mists of the Montana.

The army office in the capital has praised the valor of the Montanan troops and lamented the losses and craven desertions. Of particular note was the desertion of elite combatants from Valetta. Dispatches from General Alfonso in particular were shared with the news…

They were not explicitly named, but it wasn’t hard to guess who the “elite combatants from Valetta” were.

After completing Peter and Tom’s immediate increases in stamina and skills, and seeing no further unexpected specializations, Moore had hesitated to tinker with Laura’s character sheet. On one hand, mana-based specialization was the biggest candidate to offer a new specialization for pure Empathy. On the other hand, her Fixer specializations had worked differently than Shaper elemental ones, so Mana Shaper was probably some bullshit specific to Authority-based classes.

On the gripping hand – he didn’t remember where that expression came from – he potentially needed to expand his repertoire of advanced specializations now that Scroll Making was in the cards. Unlike skills, where he had an expanding bubble based on the highest of stats he saw, specializations only showed for the ones that the Four could actually take. Or if he spotted them “in the wild”. He’d been lucky in this new town. Out of the four people he’d seen with specializations, two had one he had not normally access to – yet.

On the fourth hand, he really needed to create a stockpile for Laura. Although right now, they did not need access to Regrow – the organ/limb regeneration ability he’d seen – he wanted to be sure it was an available option. If one of them was maimed without First Aid being useable…

Laura Anna Donnall (Vogel)

Female human, 19 years

Combat Fixer

Level: 6 (13000 XP needed)

196/196 mana (+14 per hour)

1 unallocated skill point

XP: 6052 + 1462

STR: 16 (2775 XP needed)

Succor (38)

AUT: 16 (1073 XP needed)

Falter (38)

AGI: 16 (496 XP needed)

Cleanse Toxins (22)

PER: 14

(ENTER TREE: 119)

DEX: 16 (786 XP needed)

First Aid (38)

EMP: 18 (1385 XP needed)

Close Wounds (60)

Reduce the extent of wounds by 60%

Wounds clot 76% faster

Effective Authority +3.8 for skill checks

LD50 increased by 220%

Instinctive knowledge of the gravity of a wound.

(Water needs per day lowers by 95% - capped)

With 13k for level 7, 6k for +3 in Perception, and finishing Agility and Empathy, it was by far the most expensive upgrade planned so far. He’d just spent 8000XP into his communication attempt, or he would be much closer to having the pool potentially available.

Ultimately, he decided, knowing a potential generic Fixer was not going to help unless it somehow – “bullshit system” – raised more of the useful multipliers. Spending 5k XP just to switch classes and potentially have to drop skills to pick others… not going to happen at this point.