>>6359456“Plural gifts are hardly unheard of, though it’s more common that a single bloodline might have several potencies. But several children in the same family would be quite remarkable.” You put the book down as you let the thought roll around in your head. “And you’re *quite* certain they’re direwolves?”
“I said so, right? Plain as day to a druid.”
“That means that there are, in fact, monsters here in the North, where there apparently haven’t been in living memory.”
Eva’s contented eyes snap open. “That’s- oh.”
“Nor has anyone in this part of the world seen or even heard of spellcraft or other talents for centuries at least.”
“Uh…” Eva sits up, chewing her lip. “That’s… not good, is it.”
“Neither good nor bad, yet. But we’ll want to keep a very close eye on things over the next few weeks.”
“Hmm. Do you think I should offer to train the children?”
“I’m not sure Lord Stark would be enamoured with the idea of his children wielding gifts,” you say, considering the idea carefully. “Is there any risk to not learning druidcraft properly? Without a teacher, I mean.”
“Overconfidence, mostly,” Eva says. “It’s not like wizardry where one bad ritual can suck you dry if you do it wrong. You sorta get an instinct for what you can and can’t do with spells or wildshape. But youngins sometimes get it into their heads to try things they’re not remotely ready for. Teaching is mostly about learning your limits, practical medicine, village duties, and whatnot.”
“It sounds then like it may be important that these children, the youngest of whom is five, might need some guidance, whether the lord likes it or not. For their own safety as much as anything else.”
Eva nods, chewing her lip. “You’re probably right about that.”
“We’ll need to see if their gifts manifest properly, however. Rather than gifts being absent, it could be something about this world that prevents latent abilities from developing. And we should keep an eye out for others with abilities as well.”
“Is it just me, or does… all of this suddenly feel a lot bigger?”
“It’s not just you. It seems we have a great deal of work ahead of us in the coming weeks.”
Some hours later, the party slowly collects again for supper, and the others share what they’ve discovered over the course of the day.
“… I’m concerned about the quality of their warriors,” Soren is saying.
Lukas scoffs. “Every master I’ve ever met has said the same.”
“And they’re usually right. Most warriors these days never even reach the sixth form.”
“And how many warriors reached the sixth form a century ago? Not many mortals, certainly.”