>>5573314“None taken,” Olu says readily—after all, he is a Southerner by ancestry, and plays the part well, but he is ultimately a Reptilian.
“Forgive me for asking so bluntly,” Parham says after a moment, “but how’d you two get in? Like… You, I get, but what about…”
She pauses, and blushes more brightly than before.
“OhshitIdidn’taskyournames," she blurts.
“Roth and Oluwadamialre,” you volunteer magnanimously. “I, I am called Theral.”
“Sounds Elven,” Parham notes. “Where are you from?”
“Eassst,” you say, “passst the elvesss’ foresstss. I do not know what your people call it in your tongue.”
“Well, you Common ain’t—ISN’T, rather—bad,” she acknowledges brightly. “But I’m still surprised with, well, EVERYTHING going on, that they let in some mysterious Eastern fellow and his Southern friend.”
“He isss instrumental to our handling of terrible beassstss,” you state truthfully. “And I can be quite persssuassive.”
“O-oh,” Parham says, eyes flitting down your comparatively huge and muscled form, and to the elvencraft blade on your hip. “I, uh, see.”
You laugh, the sound strange to your ears when filtered through this human guise, and say: “No, no violenccce. I merely exxxplained why I wasss here, and had my good friend Roth vouch for me.”
“Ah,” she says.
“You know,” you change topics, “I’m ssosmething of a mage myssself.”
You materialize a little flash of magical power—a lower-powered Dazzle spell, which seems to immediately impress.
“Was that illusion?” Guardian Parham gasps. “That’s a rare oen! Might have a little bit of elf in you after all, huh?”
“Hm?” you ask, resisting the urge to tilt your head. “What do you mean?”
“Most human mages are pretty, uh, evocation based. You know, elemental projection and such.”
Ah, elementalism.
“Yesss, I can do thisss alssso.”
You move your hand in a wide circle, assuming your proper channeling-stance, and allow yourself to flow through the motions necessary to summon forth a blast of lunar energy. You find that, beneath the bright sun and without the ability to project it through your mouth as a breath weapon—well, you CULD, but it seems a bad idea while masquerading s a human—the power you summon is scarcely enough to scatter some nearby cobblestones, but the Tower Guardian still nods appreciatively.
“Not bad, not bad,” she says. “I’m more of a lightning girl myself. What was that, fire?”
“…Moonlight?” you say.
“Wait,” she asks, looking confused and startled. “What did you—?”
