Ban-Laoch returned to her step-sister, Iarann's office. "Iarann, this is important. Do you know of any of the Golden Age ruins that father explored?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"What? Not even a proper hello? You've been out cold for almost a week!" Iarann said, looking both annoyed and concerned for her sister.
"Oh... well your office looks nice. Did you have it redecorated?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"Oh I did one better then redecorate... I had it rebuilt after you Adraigh BURNT IT DOWN!" Iarann said.
"Oh... it looks nicer then the last one." Ban-Laoch said.
"Well it helped that I dipped into your savings to rebuild my office from scratch. Quite a lot of gold and treasure you picked up from monster slaying in the wilds. Not to mention the allowance the Village Elder gives you." Iarann said.
"What?! But I almost had enough to get that extension on my wine cellar." A disappointed Ban-Laoch said.
"You already have enough Banu'an'lae wine stored as it is." Iarann said.
"But I need that to function! If it weren't for that wine, I'd be unable to be Tuatha Meadu's champion! You know I still have nightmares about the Long Ship War." Ban-Laoch said.
"Relax, there's enough for you to buy some things from Thal'karax. That old Orc's far more generous than others of his race, charges far less than other Orcish merchants to." Iarann said.
"Back to the matter at hand, do you know anything about the Golden Age ruins that father explored? Mainly pertaining to artifacts that could improve my armor and my new found Djinn powers... and also. Did father ever tell you my mother was a Djinn?" Ban-Laoch said.
"... have you gotten your hands on Amaideach wine?" Iarann said.
"No! Father told me as much when I was out in my dreams. Now please... it's important that I not only improve my armor and weapons. But that I master my full potential as a Djinn Daughter." Ban-Laoch said.
"I... I'm not sure. There are strange gaps in my memory. Gaps where Tan-Ainne told me to remember something very important... but then it skips to him saying that he liked the sandwich I made." Iarann said.
"Oh boy... let me take a quick look in the back of your heads where your memory crystals are." Ban-Laoch said.
"The last time I let you back there. You reprogramed me to talk like a pirate; it took over a month for me to stop that!" Iarann said.
"Yeah, that was funny... now don't be such a big baby Iarann." Ban-Laoch said as she opened up Iarann's head.
"Hey... you got any more of those chocolate candies?" Asked Sen'unat, her mouth was covered in a layer of chocolate.
"Sen'unat, did you eat all of the chocolate covered nuts? Those are for after sessions only!" Iarann said in annoyance.
"You're the only person in the village who gives away candy for free. Are you really surprised...? I don't believe this." Ban-Laoch said.
"Neither can I! I give those candies after successful appointments! I don't buy candy in bulk just for everyone to raid my office when I'm not around!" Iarann said.
"No... I mean some of your memory crystals are missing. And the empty ports have parchments in them written in Old Elvish." Ban-Laoch said as she removed the pieces of paper.
"What...? why would father remove my memories?" Iarann said hurt.
"No idea, maybe he thought that you would be captured, and be forced to divulge what you know by nefarious characters." Ban-Laoch said as she gave the papers to Iarann.
"Well... there Old Elvish. But fathers hand writing is terrible, a master warrior and archeologist but his writing in any language resembles smears and bad doodles! It'll take a while to figure out what this says." Iarann said as she sat at her desk and began the arduous task of translating Tall-Ainne's handwriting.
"So... your sister is a Golden Age Automaton?" Sen'unat asked.
"Yep, father found her inactive in a Golden Age ruin. She was the only one relatively intact among the rest of the automatons." Ban-Laoch said.
"And she's a doctor?" Sen'unat asked. "Yep, dentist, psychiatrist, pediatrician, chiropractor, she pretty much knows the ins and outs of every medical profession from the Golden Age." Ban-Laoch said.
"Should I be concerned that she looks like a twelve year old girl?" Sen'unat asked.
"Haven't a clue... though the less I think about it-"
"I'm still in the room ladies! Sen'unat, can you please return to the magic bed I assigned you. And Ban-Laoch, go and find Thal'karax. No idea why that green-skinned prune wanders around the village." Iarann said sternly.
"But the ice melted!" Sen'unat said as Ban-Laoch left the building.
"What? But that was therapeutic ice from Dwarvenheim! How could that melt even this far south from the Dwarven homelands?" Iarann said in disbelief.
Ban-Laoch then found the Orc Thal'karax. "Ah... my dear Ban-Laoch. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company? Have you come to buy things? Or mere talk?" Thal'karax asked.
"That depends, what have you got?" Ban-Laoch said.
"I refilled my stock of Banu'an'lae wine." Thal'karax said.
"No, my wine cellar is plenty full. Do you have any... specialty items? Like say, a relic or two from the Golden Age?" Ban-Laoch said.
"You have ambition young champion. I have acquired a special dowsing rod, one that can find artifacts from the height of Elven glory." Thal'karax said.
"Like say... Automaton memory crystals for example?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"Hmm... I suppose so. Though your sister is the only one who would have proper use of them, has your sister been forgetting things?" Thal'karax said.
"Yes and no... so how much for this dowsing rod?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"Normally, such a rare device would be one-thousand silver pieces, but for the champion of this fine village. I shall charge you only five-hundred." Thal'karax said.
"Wait, five-hundred is all I've got left!" Ban-Laoch said.
"Then I'm certain that someone else may put this to good use... such as me." Thal'karax said.
"Fine... you're lucky the fate of the realm could hinge on this dowsing rod." Ban-Laoch said as she gave the five-hundred silver coins to the old Orc.
"So your doing more then opening pickle jars for the... illustrious Village Elder? Good to see that you are not sitting on your laurels. If you have further need of me, I will return to my shop, and stock up on things that you may need." Thal'karax.
"Your one of the good ones Thal… merchant not Orc, your both really but… see you!" Ban-Laoch said.
Ban-Laoch then went into the dense forests surrounding Tuatha Meadu. It was home to large spiders, mosqitos, and the dreaded manticores. Large lion like creatures with the wings of a bat, and the tail and claws of a scorpion.
"Come on... one of those crystals has to be around here somewhere." Ban-Laoch said as she followed the dowsing rods magic ripples. "Blasted monsters... it's like every time I come here. They repopulate the moment I leave." Ban-Laoch said to herself as she cut her way through the wild spiders and bats. "Ah! Finally we're getting somewhere... and there's a Manticore there… figures." Ban-Laoch said to herself as she jumped down to the Manticore. The fight was a long one, as it took Ban-Laoch a while to remember that when a Manticore holds up its scorpion claws it's virtually invulnerable. "Okay... I should take up Thal'karax's offer. I'm rusty with my sword work." Ban-Laoch said to herself as she defeated the Manticore. Then she dug up the memory crystal. "Now how many more are out here?" Ban-Laoch said as she followed more of the dowsing rods magic detecting ripples... and found impassible obstacles.
Thick barriers of earthen stone, deep water, indestructible barriers of weeds that even her standard magic fire couldn't burn, and cyclones that tossed her about the wilderness away from her goal. "I'm... I'm going to go home now." Ban-Laoch said to herself in exhaustion.
"Ban-Laoch, I thought you took your Banu'an'lae wine this morning?" Iarann said as her sister entered her home.
"I did, I found ONE memory crystal... the rest were guarded by oddly specific elemental obstacles that I couldn't get past. With any luck there's something important on this one." Ban-Laoch said.
"Either way, insert away." Iarann said, Ban-Laoch then inserted the recovered memory crystal into her head.
"So, you remember something you forgot?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"I... I remember something about the Temples of the Four, the Temples where the children of the Elf-Father reside." Iarann said.
"Father found those?" Ban-Laoch said.
"Yes... there he found special magic gems that enhanced his magical abilities, and his endurance." Iarann said.
"And are these major things? Or are there collectable things that I could find almost anywhere?" Bao-Laoch asked.
"I think there a bit of both, and... hmm... it's the Temple of Painted Aqu. Lady of Water! It's near the village of Tuatha Milis. That's where you should go first on your journey!" Iarann said.
"The sugar capital of Elvenheim? But there's only a lake and a small river near there, aside from that the village is landlocked." Bao-Laoch said.
"The Temple is in the lake, far beneath the waters." Iarann said.
"Better get Adraigh ready, it's not as far away as Tuatha Orkeny. But he might be rusty after a week out of commission." Bao-Laoch said.
Then Ban-Laoch went to Tuatha Milis. The village was filled with sugar cane and coco bean plantations, and other crops that can be used to make sweats and candies. But strangely enough, nobody was working the fields. "Hello?" Ban-Laoch said as she knocked on the main village gate. She did this for the better part of an hour knocking on the door.
"You know... I could burn the gate down." Adraigh offered, followed by an Elf sticking his head out of the gate. He looked tired and exhausted.
"Thank the gods... a living face!" The guard said relieved.
"What's happened here?" Ban-Laoch asked in concern.
"Our village has been harassed by the spirits of the dead for weeks! Banshee's flying through the night, wailing there fell wails! And on top of that our Champion has been missing!" The guard said.
"Do you know where they could be coming from?" Ban-Laoch asked. "Lake Aqu... they came from Lake Aqu!" The guard said.
"Thank you, as champion of Tuatha Meadu. I swear I shall deal with this." Ban-Laoch said.
Ban-Laoch then went to lake Aqu. "Okay, this armors enchantments make it far too buoyant to swim underwater. So... how would I even get down there?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"Ban-Laoch, there's a bathysphere right over there." Adraigh said, pointing to a bathysphere like device.
"Okay and... darn it! This blasted thing is coin operated!" Ban-Laoch then went about gathering silver pieces.
"Well that's annoying... why is the only real way to get money in this world is to break things, kill things or be a merchant?" Ban-Laoch said as she operated the bathysphere to the temple at the bottom of the lake.
Inside was filled with armor enchanted to walk and protect the temple from intruders. As well as banshee's, undead spirits of drowned Elven women. It was a labyrinth of corridors that, for whatever reason only ever went up and down. Magical platforms that would disappear and reappear seemingly at random, eventually Ban-Laoch met with a banshee who, for whatever reason was tending to a garden. "Top of the... what time of day is it anyway? Either way, it's nice to see a living face down here." The Banshee said pleasantly.
"Wait... you're not trying to kill me." Ban-Laoch said in a confused tone.
"Oh... that. A while ago a visitor arrived... one that seemed off to me. But Painted Aqu let her in anyway. Since then my sisters have been running amok in the nearby village. Keeping them awake till the predawn hours of the night, and I haven't heard word from Painted Aqu herself since this nonsense began." The Banshee said.
"And you're not joining them because...?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"Well what's the point? The folk of Tuatha Milis have never done anything wrong to me... wait... are you a Djinn Daughter?" The Banshee asked.
"Yes, yes I am." Ban-Laoch said.
"Well only Djinn Daughters can receive Painted Aqu's gift to command water. For more... mundane Elves it just helps you to swim. But with her Gift... it becomes something even greater." The Banshee said.
"...I don't even know your name." Ban-Laoch said.
"We don't get visitors down here often. Forgive my lack of manners. I'm known as Sag'has. And you are?" Sag'has said.
"Ban-Laoch, and can you help me navigate this place? I think I spent about an hour or so going in a giant circle." Ban-Laoch said.
"Oh I know the way... the main problem is that most of the doors are locked with specially designed locks from the Golden Age, ones that correspond to another structure in a different Realm from ours." Sag'has explained.
"What?! Who in their right mind would design a door to work like that?!" Ban-Laoch said in surprise.
"Hey, I'm a gardener, not an architect. I'm pretty sure that it made sense back then... maybe. To someone… someone very, very DUMB… someone who thought it was a neat thing to communicate between Realms, so figured that two buttons spread in two VERY different places was a marvelous idea for OPENING DOORS!" Sag'has ranted.
"So... think you can help me?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"With getting to Painted Aqu's main chamber…? I can try but the doors with the nonsensical operating mechanism? It's unlikely, but there MIGHT be someone on the other end who could help." Sag'has said. Eventually the two arrived at one of the doors with the trans-dimensional opening mechanism. It was a pedestal with a sort of crystal ball on it, and a large crystal like button at the base.
"So... how does this thing work? Do I just press the button here?" Ban-Laoch asked as she pressed the button. The pedestal then displayed a flickering hologram of a young Elven looking girl.
"Hel-lo, who-o-ose there?" The girl in the hologram said, her voice sounding glitchy and oddly sporadic.
"I'm here. Now listen carefully. From what I've been told these pedestals require us both to open the door. So, I suspect we have to press our respective buttons at the same time. Do you understand me?" Ban-Laoch said.
"I-I suppose. On th-th-three?" The girl asked.
"On three, starting now." Ban-Laoch said.
"One, two, three!" Both girls counted, and they pressed their respective buttons. Opening the way forward for Ban-Laoch.
"Thank you my friend. Could I call upon your aid if I were to find other doors like this?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"Wh-wh-what are you t-t-t-alking about? You helped me-me-me-me open this door-or-or-or." The girl said.
"...if I ever meet the idiot who designed this benighted lock system. Whatever state there in, I'm going to make their existence a wide awake nightmare." Ban-Laoch said in frustration.
So Ban-Laoch and Sag'has went about the temple. Facing down animated armor, banshees, and assorted creates that had managed to get inside the temple. Eventually they reached the door to Painted Aqu's private chamber. "Okay... now how do we open this door?" Ban-Aloch asked.
"Well actually... I open this door. Now stand back and cover your ears. This will get loud." Sag'has said, and then she took a deep breath, and screamed at the door. She just kept screaming and screaming until the door shattered and broke.
"That door Silver-Glass?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"Yep, can only be broken by a banshee's scream, but it can regenerate very, VERY slowly. You ready to meet Painted Aqu?" Sah'has said.
"Yes... it's about time I get my journey to realize my Djinn Daughter potential off the ground." Ban-Laoch said as she ran into the chamber.
Inside of the chamber was Painted Aqu. A blue skinned women, whose arms and legs seemed to be made up of tentacles bound together to resemble proper limbs. And her face and body were covered in numerous tattoos. At her side was a scantily clad Elf woman with dark purple skin. "Another guest to join us, and a Djinn Daughter no less, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Painted Aqu said.
"I have been told that you can gift me with great power, power that can help me fight against the Dwarven Raider Bledis. I've only recently learned I was a Djinn Daughter, so I don't know what exactly such power would entail. But I know that for the good of our realm, I need it." Ban-Laoch said.
Then the purple skinned Elf whispered into Painted Aqu's ear. "I will... but it's customary for you to present an offering before I give you anything." Painted Aqu said.
"What?! Sag'has, why didn't you say anything?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"Presenting her with gifts are supposed to be optional! Please Painted Aqu be reasonable." Sag'has said.
"No gifts? Then you shall receive nothing! Now begone!" Painted Aqu said angrily.
"No... I'm not going anywhere until you can provide me with the power I need in order to save our world!" Ban-Laoch said defiantly.
"YOU DARE DEFY PAINTED AQU! TAKE HER MY DAUGHTERS!" Painted Aqu shrieked as banshee's swarmed over Ban-Laoch.
"No my sisters!" Sag'has said as she erected a magic shield that stood between the banshee's and Ban-Laoch.
"What are you doing?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"Painted Aqu's mind is not her own! I implore you my sisters to listen to reason where our mother does not!" Sag'has pleaded, her sister listened and stepped aside.
"So be it! I will deal with you my wayward daughters after I deal with this Djinn Daughter!" Painted Aqu shouted as she unraveled her tentacles, and the fight began. It was long and arduous; Ban-Laoch held her ground as she dodged Painted Aqu's tentacles. Using her silver-steel sword, she managed to overcome Painted Aqu, though Ban-Laoch was very tired from the long fight, dodging Painted Aqu's tentacle strike.
"This... this bares an unsettling resemblance to some books I caught a cousin reading. It... was repulsive." Ban-Laoch said.
"Well, well, well. I wouldn't have figured that such an inexperienced Djinn Daughter would stand her ground for so long against a demi-goddess." The purple skinned Elf said.
"Wait... I recognize you! Your Champion F'taa… what happened to you?!" Ban-Laoch said in concern.
"F'taal can't pick up right now... I am an agent of the Decedent Tormenter! Fourth of the Dark Lords of the Dark Ones! I have taken over the body of this Elf to... well, torment... in a very decedent manner!" The agent said with a sadistic grin on her face.
"Doesn't look too decedent to me… it just looks like an ordinary temple… least as ordinary as a temple can look when underwater." Ban-Laoch said.
"Well... I ordered some party food and decorations. But that was over a week ago. At any rate, I offered Painted Aqu companionship. And in exchange, she lets the banshees go wild around Tuatha Milis, and make the Elves suffer! And let me tell you something... mortal suffering of any sort… is, DELICIOUS!" The agent said looking hungry.
"Okay... hows about this. I get rid of the Dark One, or at least drive her out of F'taal. You give... you give me the water powers that I came for in the first place. That sound good, Painted Aqu?" Ban-Laoch said in exhaustion. Painted Aqu raised a limp tentacle. "I'm going... I'm going to assume that's supposed to be thumbs up." Ban-Laoch said as she fought the agent of the Decedent Tormenter.
It was an exhausting fight. By the end, Ban-Laoch was on her knee's breathing heavily. And the Dark One only having minor cuts on her face "You know, I would savor your dying breath... the slowing rhythm of your heart. But as it stands, I have a schedule to keep; my master might even excuse my failure here by bringing it the soul of a Djinn Daughter. I've heard there quite... delicious." The agent said as she readied her whip for the killing blow.
"Daughter... with the power of the tides, strike down this foe!" A voice inside Ban-Laoch's head said. Then unexpectedly she turned into water.
"Well... that's quite a development." The agent said, and then Ban-Laoch's watery form slithered up the agent's body and began to strangle her.
"Okay... you leave F'taal, and F'taal doesn't get to ride your soul like an exhausted nag through the labyrinths of Tir-Nii-Nog. As the ancient laws decree for minions of the Void trespassing in the flesh of mortals, your choice Dark One!" Ban-Laoch said, her voice gurgling in her form.
"Just a little while longer please? I haven't had a good... why is this water getting cold?" The agent asked.
"I said nothing about death by strangulation." Ban-Laoch said as icicles began to form inside of her, one piercing through the agents shoulder.
"You... you wouldn't dare kill me quick and suddenly!" The agent objected.
"Try me." Ban-Laoch said as she formed a sharp icicle close to the agent's heart.
"ALL RIGHT I'LL LEAVE, ANYTHING BUT A SUDDEN DEATH!" The agent shrieked as it left F'taal, turning her skin back to a dark brown. Then Ban-Laoch turned back into her normal form, and letting F'taal fall unconscious to the ground.
"I can't believe it! I should have known right away that was an agent of the Dark Ones!" Sag'has said in shock.
"No one could have... my dear Sag'has. We were so starved from our solitude for living faces. Uncounted years beneath a lake cut off from our people, that... that I did not see that young F'taal... was being used as a meat puppet." Painted Aqu said, exhausted and depressed.
"Well, now that this unpleasantness is over with. Can I have the Gift?" Ban-Laoch said as she tried to put on a convincing smile.
"You seem, to already have a gift of sorts. But you opened my eyes... and drove off a minion of evil, who poisoned my mind. You shall be rewarded, Ban-Laoch of Tuatha Meadu." Painted Aqu said as she transferred some power to Ban-Laoch.
Then, she turned into a humanoid being made of water. "What the- what is this?! Why am I water again, and why... why can I actually see?!" Ban-Laoch said in surprise.
"Well I'll be. You can turn into an Elemental, a being made of one of the elements of our world!" Sag'has said in an impressed tone.
"But why am I made out of water?! Is this permanent?!" Ban-Laoch said.
"No my dear, you will not spend the rest of your days as a Water Elemental. All you need to do is will that you become an Elemental." Painted Aqu said.
"Okay..." Ban-Laoch said as she closed her eyes, and turned into her normal flesh and blood form.
"Well... being water was a WEIRD experience. But I might get used to it, might even be why I feel so refreshed. Doesn't explain why I turned into water to drive off the agent of the Dark Lords. Or... or even that voice I heard in my head." Ban-Laoch said.
"So... I guess you'll be going now...? with F'taal?... leave us alone, and probably never return." Sag'has said depressed.
"My dearest Sag'has, you are not bound to remain here as your sisters are, you do not require an order from me to leave. If you want, you may leave with the Djinn Daughter." Painted Aqu said sympathetically.
"You mean it?!" Sag'has said excitedly.
"Very well... but I do have one question for you. How do you feel about Phoenix's?" Ban-Laoch asked as she and Sag'has left the temple.
"You have a Phoenix?!... I've always wanted to see them, tell me. Are they as warm to the touch as the rumors say?" Sag'has said with childlike glee.
"Sis, I got another patient for you, Champion F'taal of Tuatha Milis!" Ban-Laoch said as she entered Iarann's office with F'taal over slung over her shoulders.
"I take it your trip to Tuatha Milis was well?" Iarann said from her desk.
"I got them to agree to open up trade... after they've spent over a month being scared wide awake by banshees." Ban-Laoch said as she dropped the barely conscious F'taal.
"My eyes... my stomach... everything fells like I'm dying." F'taal said.
"Oh boy... Ban-Laoch what happened to her?" Iarann said with concern.
"She was possessed by a Dark One for over a month-"
"WHAT?! OKAY, NO BODY PANIC, PUT EVERYTHING ON HOLD!" Iarann said in a panic as she dumped the contents of a purple and orange jar onto F'taal.
"So you think that she'll be alright?" Ban-Laoch asked.
"Well possession by a Dark One is extremely dangerous. Not only could a Dark One kill there host, even with the consequences on their own well-being. But if driven off they take a massive toll on the body!" Iarann said as the purple and orange goop began to harden around F'taal.
"Oh, what's that stuff do?" Sag'has asked as she floated into the room.
"Well it's supposed to harden and heal all wounds, but even with Thal'karax's reputation as a merchant I don't know- WHAT IS A BANSHEE DOING IN HERE?!" Iarann asked, terrified of the undead apparition.
"This is Sag'has, she helped me navigate Painted Aqu's Temple. Sag'has, this is my step-sister Iarann. She's a robot from the Golden Age, and she's the village healer... she also has a crippling fear of the undead… as I told you many, MANY times on our journey home." Ban-Laoch said.
"Oh! I'm so sorry... I was just so excited to finally be out of the temple that I didn't listen to you! Still, I hope that we can be best of friends Iaraan of Tuatha Meadu." Sag'has said as she stretched out a hand to a nervous Iarann.
"Come on... she's dead. If I can regard her as a friend, so can you." Ban-Laoch said to her sister.
"I... I hope we can be friends too!" Iarann said in blind terror as she took Sag'has's hand and shook.
"Iarann... about that note from father?" Ban-Laoch asked as her sister shook Sag'has's hand. Completely oblivious that Sag'has was attempting to free herself from Iarann's vice like grip.
"I'm a ghost! How is hit hurting me?!" Sag'has said.
"Yes translation is on desk!" Iarann said, still blindly terrified of Sag'has. Ban-Laoch took the note and left.
"So... you're afraid of the undead?... and you have a tight grip!" Sag'has said, sweating from pain in her hand.
"What are you talking about- OH! I'm so... I didn't even know you could physically hurt a specter like that!" Iarann said as she stopped shaking Sag'has's hand.
"Can one of you scratch my nose? It's itching like crazy. Don't... don't worry doc, I don't feel like I'm dying anymore. I just feel really, REALLY sick." V'taal commented.
Meanwhile Ban-Laoch was in Thal'karax's shop. "So that'll be a tin of silver-steel polish for your sword, and the enchanted wrist guards that can improve wrist movement?" Thal'karax said.
"And don't forget the potions! You know the ones I asked for." Ban-Laoch said.
"As you wish, it is a pleasure to do business with you." Thal'karax said as he gave Ban-Laoch the items she asked for.
"Thanks, now to read this note back home." Ban-Laoch said as she returned to her home. She sat down in a comfy chair to read it.
Dearest Ban-Laoch, If you are reading this note, then you have uncovered the truth of your heritage as a Djinn Daughter. I am beyond sorry for keeping this secret from you. But... you remember as well as I the horrors of the Longship War... so many of my brothers and sisters dead. Brutally cut down by Bledis. Leaving only a handful of your cousins across our Realm to carry on our families name and legacy, we are among the last of the Great Houses from the Golden Age. House Ash-Lion. Even as powerful as a Djinn Daughter is, I cannot in good consciousness have you, my only blood daughter fight in a war. And... And see you die from some stupid accident. But... but as things are, I fear I must share with you some of the better details of your Djinn Daughter powers. Your mother told me that the powers of a Djinn Daughter are completely random from individual to individual. You may very well be able to turn into animals by... I don't know dancing. Or turn people into blindly loyal minions by saying 'would you kindly' or by creating magic moths or something. The possibilities are effectively infinite!
Ban-Laoch looked upon the wall at the coat-of-arms of House Ash-Lion, a black colored lion roaring, at the bottom red. 'Not even death can stay my judgment.' "Old man always put pride in the old name." Ban-Laoch said to herself.
But I ramble... I must let you know that. Even with our Realm cut off from the Void, where the Dark Ones were imprisoned during the First Great Realm War. They can still infiltrate our realm. Agents of the Mindless Rage, the Lie Spinner, the Writhing Gullet, and the Decedent Tormenter will attempt to subvert our world. But I'm certain that you either already suspect as much, or know for certain these things. So I shall say instead that any voices that you hear in your head... you need not worry, they are of your mother speaking to you. Granting you brief snippets of power that you don't yet possess, furthermore your powers can be upgraded with special relics... unfortunately in my adventures to try to find these relics. I found the tombs were all raided, even of trinkets that held little to no value of even a monetary nature. I suspect by your former University friend La'rana Crow-Dancer. She's always raiding tombs, just for the sake of getting an adrenaline rush from getting past the death traps, both ways! With any luck she hasn't sold her collection by the time you read this. Or that she isn't still hold up in that old hunting lodge she got her hands on... place creeps me out, even when there aren't undead animal trophies wandering about at night."I remember that incident, that's why Iarann is so terrified of the undead." Ban-Laoch said to herself.
Now I must go... time is growing short, and the security of our world may rest upon your shoulders my dearest Ban-Laoch. And remember one thing above all other things. I love you, and I believe in you, and please. For your sake and mine, don't hate me for the secrets I kept for you... and also hiding away Iarann's memories, and leaving these notes in her head. I just wish I had more time... Yours truly, Tall-Ainne Ash-Lion of Tuatha Meadu. "Well this actually raises more questions... like when did he write this? When did he have the time to write this? And Adraigh... how much of this did you know?" Ban-Laoch said, noticing that the Phoenix was looking guilty.
"Well... all of it. I know all of it. Tall-Ainne had me sworn to secrecy on the matter until you either discovered your powers on your own, or till there was a big enough crisis to warrant telling you." Adraigh said nervously.
"... you're afraid I'm going to kill you in blind rage aren't you?" Ban-Laoch said with a mischievous grin. Adraigh nodded hesitantly.
"Relax, I'm not going to kill you, I know that Phoenix's like you have only a limited amount of rebirths before you become inert magical ash, but no desserts for a week." Ban-Laoch said.
"WHAT?! I NEED MY LAVA CAKES TO LIVE!" Adraigh said.
"Oh stop your whining, we've all had a long hard day." Ban-Laoch said.
"And what is good after a long day?" Adraigh said with a crazed look on his face.
"You will not rant about lava cakes." Ban-Laoch said in an exhausted tone.
