A Jaded Life

"Good evening, Maggie," I spoke quietly, right after I stepped out of the shadows directly behind Maggie, who was sitting at her desk. A part of me was deeply amused that humanity hadn't managed to get rid of paperwork, even after civilisation had literally ended. However, these people were trying to reclaim the lost civilisation, and paperwork, or rather records, were necessary to organise a large group of people. You needed to know what you had in order to plan for the future, and that planning was what allowed people to develop. A part of me wondered if I should try to introduce the giants to some sort of paperwork or organisation, but that question would have to wait for later. For now, I had to deal with Maggie, who had let out a yelp of surprise, or maybe fear. Amusingly, she also tried to get out of her chair, only for her legs to tangle, dumping her onto the floor.

"Who?!" She squeaked, "What, Jade, what the fuck is going on?!" she demanded, as she looked up at me, clearly rattled and far too confused to make sense of the situation.

"Good evening, Maggie," I simply repeated my words, my voice completely calm and placid, as if we had merely met somewhere outside and I hadn't just infiltrated their village, snuck into her home and literally appeared an arm's length away from her. "Here, let me help you up," I offered her a hand, only for her to stare at it, trying to make sense of the gesture —or maybe of the entire situation.

"Good evening, Jade," she finally managed to get herself into a somewhat normal state of mind, or maybe she simply decided to play along, acting as if nothing extraordinary was going on. "You are back in the area?" she asked, taking the offered hand.

"Well, something like that," I nodded, pulling her to her feet, "My family and I have travelled quite some distance north, far enough to make things a little dull in the winter. We thought returning to this area might be a good vacation," I grinned, especially when I noticed a twitch in her eye, as if the very idea of taking a vacation was annoying her.

Which was actually quite understandable. For her, and the other people here, the last year and a half must have been filled with stress, danger and a constant struggle to survive. My family and I had been quite lucky in that regard. Water Magic supplied us with all the water we could ever want, delivered at our convenience and even at the right temperature. At the same time, Silva and I were both capable hunters, something Lia had learned, too. Our combined efforts gave us all the meat we could ever want, especially as the change had caused animal populations to skyrocket. Luna, on the other hand, was a one-girl portable farm, her Life Magic allowing her to make plants sprout rapidly, though they didn't survive long-term. It worked to provide produce for a small group like ours, but trying to use the same trick on a large scale would likely fail.

When it came to shelter, these people had been forced to rebuild everything, recycling building material only for parts of their efforts to crumble due to the strange effect the change had on old infrastructure. From what I had seen on my way in, they were dealing with the issues, but it was an ongoing problem and process. How long it would take for them to complete their village to their satisfaction was anyone's guess.

Meanwhile, I could create simple shelters in minutes and, if I took my time, could raise structures these people could only stare at in disbelief, driving the disparity in ability home to a likely uncomfortable level.

"How?" Maggie asked, the twitching in her eyes getting a little worse.

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling a little confused.

"How did you get back if you were somewhere north? And for vacation? What the fuck is going on?" she started to get angry, or maybe she was simply done with my game.

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"Didn't you see me do this before?" I asked, stepping into the shadows, only to immediately emerge on the other side of the room, clearing my throat as I did.

"How far can you go like this?" she prodded, her voice somewhat sharp, clearly annoyed.

"Depends, but I'm pretty sure I could step across the continent if I really needed to. It's complicated," I shrugged, not wanting to give away too much of my capabilities and limitations.

Maggie just stared at me for a few seconds before dropping back into her chair, looking completely and utterly done with the world.

"What do you want?" she asked after a few seconds, her voice flat, almost defeated.

"Information, though I'm willing to restart the magic lessons, if some of your people are interested," I paused, "Honestly, I saw the camp up in the mountains, noticed the massive Sun Wheel and thought I'd drop by to ask what is going on. If it's a bad time, I can come back later," I asked, feeling a little guilty about the state my visit and its revelations had put Maggie in.

"No, later wouldn't help," she sighed, "It's just, we've been struggling to keep the village going, to put enough food on the table and make sure we'll survive the coming winter. Now, you drop in on 'vacation'," she snarled the word as if it had personally offended her, "It just got to me, you know?"

"Maybe," I shrugged, aware that I didn't know how it felt to be responsible for a large community like this. Only my small family —and, if I were being honest, I was well aware that Silva would be able to thrive even without my help. Lia and Luna would likely struggle, but both were capable in their own right, just not as versatile as I was. "But you're only seeing the positive, the relaxed parts. You don't see the fights against literal forces of nature, beings capable of reshaping the local geography at their whim and leisure, who want to destroy you for treading into their territory. We, my family, are powerful, but don't think that this power came without a price. All power comes at a cost, though sometimes that cost is hidden until the bill is due," I warned her, getting a pensive look for my impassioned speech.

"Thus, vacation?" she asked, making me shrug in response. It wasn't quite what I had in mind, but it was close enough to be an acceptable explanation.

"Okay," she paused, letting out a deep breath. It wasn't quite a sigh, but it was infinitely close to one. "So, you want information on the Brotherhood of the Sun, or whatever name they have given themselves now?" she asked, apparently done with the previous topic.

"Sounds about right, yes. I know who they worship; that much is obvious. Their symbols aren't exactly subtle, but I don't know about the local iteration," I told Maggie, getting yet another nod of acceptance.

"Should have expected that you know about them, they certainly knew about you. Called you a few choice names, at least according to Sam and her friends, they were the ones who ran into them first, as far as I know." Hearing that, I began to frown, not liking the implications of this. Then, I remembered that centaur in New Dawn and the way the guy had started to foam at the mouth when meeting me.

"Some pony-guy?" I asked, getting a raised eyebrow in response as Maggie was apparently recovering from my original entrance and regaining her equilibrium.

"So you do know Lorgar, I wasn't sure." She paused for a moment before continuing to speak, telling me about the centaur who had arrived here a while back and immediately taken offence at my tower, trying to break the door, only to fail. Then, he and his buddies started spreading the word, recruiting numerous people with promises of a better life —secure and free of starvation. Given that the recruitment had happened right about the time the supplies people had scavenged after the change had been running out, numerous people had flocked to his banner and listened to his words.

Over the summer, the people under his banner had brought in massive crops, enough to eat and even trade with others, using the surplus to spread his influence even further. Additionally, the preaching became even stronger and more aggressive, sometimes to the point of violence if somebody pushed back. The preaching also began to include a message against arcane magic, decrying it as the reason the world had been burned in the Change, claiming that Lady Sunna was there to provide salvation.

All in all, I began to get a headache, just from listening to Maggie, wondering if we should simply head somewhere else, where we wouldn't have to deal with this madness. But if we did, these people would only grow stronger in our absence. Something would have to be done, hopefully without depopulating the entire area.