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When you take a system that you love, and play for years, you have to try new things and new rules. I love Warhammer 3^rd edition, and while I must confess that I have not tried a ton of systems, Warhammer and I are BFFs. That being said, Jason is always offering options, and I like trying them out.

Recently, in our Monday night Warhammer game, Jason offered the option of allowing us a pool of three characters that would all gain equal experience points as we played through them. I have been known in the group to stick to characters like a stubborn dwarf, so I committed to switching characters and playing through all three. Then, tragedy struck, and my first character, an agent, got killed during the fourth game. Jason gave me a chance to bring in another character, so I did.

Petra is a sixteen year old orphan who is trying to earn money for her family. Starlily is a Halfling roadwarden, and Belle is a poor noble turned gambler, turned land baron. The only problem with Belle is she feels a bit tied to her bit of land. That left me with two characters I loved playing and getting to know – Starlily and Petra.

Then last game, a few things happened that separated Starlily from the group, and the guys revealed they didn’t really trust her… and something happened with Petra that will also make it challenging to bring her back to the group for adventuring purposes. With Belle tied to the land, I either need to figure out a way to make it easier for her to adventure, or I need to get a new character.

In this process I decided that there are great things about having a stable of characters, and there are bad things. The good things is that it is dynamic and exciting to have new characters to rotate in and out. You have more characters to get to know, three times as many characters to ‘level up’ and help grow, and three times as much love. The downside is that I am the only player to bring in four characters. In the process two of our players have only switched once, and another character switched once, for a few months. By bringing in new characters, I don’t think that I have given they guys a chance to get to know them extremely well. The advantage in this is they also don’t see them as ‘Madelyn’ but the downside is then they can treat them a tiny amount like NPCs from time to time.

That being said, I love the multiple character system. I think two or three characters are ideal within campaigns. I love it, love it, love it. If you hit a place where you and your character need time away, you can bring in a new one. If there is a storyline that your character is very ill suited for, switch. All this needs to be worked out with your DM and while I think it would drive most DMs crazy, for others it can give them room to play as well.

So all that being said, now I just need to figure out who to play next week…

Foils vs Experience

At least a first blush. I learned a life lesson when last Friday I went a little crazy getting a load of MTG 13 (from their new core set). Not all of that is mine, half of it was actually my husband Jason’s. When we got home I started opening packs. Opening 13 packs is a bit like Christmas… the wrappers just kept coming off and more and more treasures were revealed! I kept getting foils in almost every pack (an extra bonus card) and most of those were rares. Both Jason and Eric were giving me some stinkeye, thinking I had way better cards than they did…

So then we made decks and started to play. I have had my ass handed to me every single time. I did have decent cards, but decent cards is not the same as experience. I think that is a pretty great lesson for gaming, too. Sometimes you see another player with a lot of extra flash on their character, but the question is what can they do with it? Do they have the experience with gaming and the system to make it work?

The answer in my group is yes, unless that person is me. Sometimes I think I really fall down on knowing exactly what to do because I am new to gaming. Yes, it has been two years now, but compared to the 30 year average in the group (and together more years than Bilbo at the beginning of LOTR) I am the new kid on the block. I have passion, and some cool things, but not always the life experience to back it up.

Really, when you are there in life, or in the game, you have two options. You can bitch out, or you can keep gaining experience. After all, you have good cards and at some point, you will learn how to use them. When that happens, look out. Of course, that is a long way off….

Warhammer 7 9 12 Game Notes

Bogglewort Garden

Everyone headed to Bogglewort Garden, as there were howls from wolves that seemed not that far from town, and could even be approaching the town. Everyone ducked in, just as the windows and doors were being bolted. Wilhelm bolted the door behind the group. Inside, there was a female Halfling who had been bolting the doors, a Halfling bartender, a Halfling at the bar, and a human couple (nobles) and three humans together (merchants). Starlily went and sat with ‘Bluefinger’ Tilermary Took, the Halfling at the bar. He has a reputation in town for always snagging the blueberries just before they were ready, so his fingers were always stained blue. As Starlily talked to him, she noticed that his fingers were stained with something that was more of a red/brown than a blue. He accused her of not being a patriot and they exchanged words. As she walked away, she liberated his coin purse to look for clues, then walked over to Milgrom to sit and watch. Meanwhile, Bartleby and Wilhelm sat with the pair of minor nobles, Adolfus and Wilma. They were passing through on their way to Reikland. Their heraldry was a dog, rampant. They were only in town for the night because Lord Von Bruner had given them a commission and they needed to begin. The nobles asked the pair about soldier’s affairs since the guys has represented the fact they were retired soldiers (though the nobles suspected they were, in fact, mercenaries). At this point, the merchants overhead and asked to hire the men to guard them. One of the merchants, Conrad, had been robbed by foreign bandits from Middenheim on the road. There were nine of the thugs. There have also been rumors of people disappearing. Though Wilhelm entertained the idea, there was not a lot of money to be made. Meanwhile, Bluefinger slipped away, so Starlily followed.

The Abandoned Farm

Starlily followed Bluefinger out of the inn, noting that while the bartender saw him slip out the back, he did nothing to stop him. She followed him outside of town, for about a half mile. They came across a farm that had been abandoned for 30+ years. Then, she felt a knife at her throat. Bluefinger had discovered her. He told her that she needed to turn around and leave. The vampires are patriots who transformed to fight the werewolves and defend the Moot. She did not believe him, because they were transformed by a stretchy. She wanted to attack, but knew there was no way to do so and survive. She did confirm that he was a vampire, then he disappeared.

“Is She Trying to Get Killed?”

The men, once they conferred in the inn to figure out if they wanted to take the merchant position found that Starlily was missing and left to track her. They discovered that she was missing and decided to track her. They settled on going to the woods, but found her hard to track. Bartleby found her going in the right path, but then had the group going in circles. As they were beginning to go back to the inn, Starlily found them. She was pissed over her encounter with Bluefinger and wanted immediate revenge. She wanted to attack that night, but the men wisely decided to wait for the dawn. Everyone went back to their inn, where they found Petra sweating and unconscious. She seemed to be twitching and reacting to a dream. Starlily tried to make her a healing tea, but mistook Belladonna for the nettles. Luckily, Milgrom noticed and stopped her from giving Petra the tea. Milgrom got her soup and forcefed her which helped a little. He also waited until no one else was looking and touched her with silver. Though she didn’t burn, she jerked. That night, nothing happened.

“Only Three Courses?”

In the morning, everyone woke to the delicious smell of baking bread and other delights. Starlily was intent on devouring a full seven course breakfast. However, Wilhelm wanted to get an early start so after only three courses, he insisted on leaving which hurt the female owner’s feelings. On the way out of town, Starlily stopped at Bogglewort Gardens to again talk to the bartender. He told her that she was not a patriot, which angered her, but he said no more. She also noted that the nobles were gone, but there was no time to track them.

Braddock Skipriver and the Mastiff

The group approached the house, and found it abandoned save for a giant Mastiff. It was a large house for Halflings, and all the windows and doors were boarded up. After knocking and trying the door, the men started trying to kick down the door. Finally, Starlily suggested that they break down one of the windows instead, and Wilhelm successfully did so. Then, a young Halfling named Braddok Skipriver, who used to ride with Speaker Lilywine. He came downstairs and was human. After some talk (and giving the dog some prime cuts of lunchmeat) Starlily barged in the house, which prompted the dog to attack with unnatural speed. As Starlily started her investigation of the house, the men fought the dog. It bit Milgrom, latching onto his arm, but eventually they were able to kill the guard dog. Milgrom then intimated Barddok away and everyone went in the house.

Inside the Farmhouse

 Inside the kitchen were the remains of the best meal that anyone had ever smelled, bar none. In the adjoining room there was also a table with chairs. All the chairs were Halfling chairs except for one stretchy chair. As they were about to head upstairs to investigate they heard sounds coming from the cellar. Going down the stairs the two nobles, tied up and gagged with cuts on them. Starlily moved forward to untie the nobles, but two Halfling vampires dropped down from the ceiling, one on Wilhelm and one on Starlily. Both suffered attacks, with Wilhelm getting his cheek chewed and Starlily getting slashed. Wilhelm managed to drive a stake through the chin of the one attacking him, preventing further bites, as Varadoc the Knife appeared. Bartleby engaged him. Milgrom distracted Varadoc with much trash talking, (including threatening to piss in his favorite cooking pan) and then used a silver tray to reflect sunlight down the stairs, burning a few of the vamps a bit. As Bartleby necklaced Varadoc with the Shallyian garlic, Starlily managed to kick her vampire off, as Wilhelm also freed himself. Bartleby insulted Varadoc’s food, producing such rage that Varadoc attacked him and him alone. Eventually the other two vampires were killed and Varadoc was staked through the heart but did not die. Instead, he became inert. Angered that Varadoc had not been killed Milgrom set fire to the house though everyone was inside and the greatest wine collection in the land was inside. Bartleby and Starlily managed to save the house while Wilhelm guarded Varadoc. With the nobles free, they confirmed that Jonas Von Krieg had been there the night before with even more Halfling vampires but he did not say where he was going. As everyone pondered what to do, the game ended for the night.

Other World Games SHOP REVIEW

I have recently been given a chance to travel a bit. While I travel, I have to check out the local gaming shops. After all, it’s a great way to bond with an area, and possibly grab some great gaming loots!! Recently, while we were in Portland, OR we went to three gaming shops, all of which had their own personalities and quirks. I’ll write reviews of the other two, but I’ll start with Other World Games.  

Jason and I went to this shop early in our adventures. It did not have a lot of gaming material. It was a medium sized store and over half of it was devoted to comic books. The gaming items were a bit scattered, and some were quite old. It was not as if I felt these figures were purchased in a lot and offered used – more that these poor Warhammer figures had been ordered new many, many moons ago and were still on the shelves. I did spot a D&D shoulder bag that I am still lusting after, and for under retail.

Jason was interested in some of the terrain that was about. One bit of terrain was an elaborate Warhammer 40K set up that was partially painted. We don’t play Warhammer 40K, but it was the best item in the store, so Jason decided to see how much it was. Keep in mind, at this point, we had been in the store chatting away for 15 minutes in the code of gamers. Jason also had a handful of modules for Dungeon Crawl Classics and others.

 

The gentleman who came to help us treated us like we were beyond newbies. He was technically nice, but he talked down and slowly to us. Jason asked him about the terrain and he said “That is for Warhammer Forty-Thousand. You can place that on a table with figures to play the game. It is made by Games…. Workshop. They make other items.” How Jason kept completely cool is beyond me, but because my husband was able to pass his willpower check, I kept calm. Jason asked him if he had any in stock. After checking, he said he could order one. When Jason answered we were from Phoenix, the guy actually replied “There are other hobby shops, like ours, in Phoenix, that could order this for you.” Really?  After I was calling MTG13 ‘core’ and we were getting modules? It was a little maddening.  

If you are in Portland and you are really new, maybe this would be an ok choice as everyone was very prepared to explain things. On the other hand, there are better game store options in the city of roses, as we will cover in our next game store review.

http://otherworldsgames.com/

Warhammer Gaming Notes 6/25/12

Wolf Bite Fever

At the camp after the werewolf fight, Petra struggled with her pain and fever. After asking Wilhelm to help her cauterize her werewolf bite, she continued to try and fight the infection. Meanwhile, Speaker Lilywine waited for his scout. When she finally arrived, she reported that she found the werewolf camp. She also delivered the troublesome news that Speaker Lilywine’s cousin Odo Riverfoot was possibly turned into a vampire. With this troubling news, he introduced his scout to the ‘stretchies’. Her name was Starlily Greenmeadow. She had a pile of curly red hair that threatened to overwhelm her, big blue eyes and an ambling pony. When Bartleby tried to kiss her, she recoiled, but offered to take everyone into town, then onto the werewolf camp. Before parting ways, Tuckerberry told everyone of his contact Haberty Habersack who could help them acquire silver weapons while they were in town.

Night on the Town

Once in town, and checked into the only stretchy friendly inn, Petra stayed behind to fight the infection and heal, but not before paying Bartleby and Wilhelm what she owed for her horse, and making Wilhelm promise to help raise her brothers and sisters if anything should happen to her. Wilhelm promised to financially take care of her family, and helped pay for Petra’s stay before leaving to explore. Bartleby and Wilhelm then headed to Haberty Habersack’s shop which sold various packs and bags. After some small talk, it was revealed that Habersack could make silver shot and other weapons for the group. Wilhelm and Bartleby ordered shot, arrows, and other weapons, then Bartleby bought a masterwork backpack. Later Starlily came in and also ordered some smaller silver arrows for her repeater crossbow. She offered to help make them, but Habersack said he worked alone. He did this work because his brother had been killed and he inherited his silversmithing items. While the others were getting weapons, Milgrom worked on tracking down masterwork tobacco and getting leads on Varadoc the Knife. Milgrom got a lead on a smoking club that meets at Old Addoc’s before it opens in the morning, but went to Old Addoc’s that night. It was a bright, small, happy place where there were seven courses of mushrooms. There, Milgrom learned that most of the trouble started six months ago. People started behaving oddly, sleeping in very late. There were also rough, surly stretchies that were brought in to kill the green stretchies. They did this, but the rough stretchies never left. They have even been known to attack and steal from the Halflings. That night, Starlily took her own room, and stayed up the night trying to get one of the vampires to attack, with no luck. When Wilhelm was awake he noticed someone trying to get in the room through the window, but they were not successful.

Breakfast Smokes

The next morning Milgrom woke up and went to his smoking group’s meeting. Though he was greeted warmly by some, he was met with suspicion and scorn by the one other. However, inside, he learned that his waitress from the day before, Posy, was missing. Also, the food at the establishment was not as good as usual because someone else was picking the mushrooms from the tree 135 feet away, so they were forced to eat the mushrooms from the tree 130 feet away. That day, after everyone got together, it was too late to ride out that day, they decided to investigate Posy’s disappearance. Since she lived with Posy’s Aunt Gremela, who loved honey cakes, they took her some of her favorites. During the conversation, they learned that Posy had been seeing Olo Knotwise of the Knotwise clan. However, she had only been seeing him at night. Then, she disappeared. Going to see the Knotwise clan, they learned that Olo has been missing a month. However, Posy supposedly just saw him a few days ago. After some discussion the group headed to Bogglewort Gardens to investigate some of the disappearances there, however the group arrived fully armored and discovered….. (we’re not sure because we haven’t played that part yet.)

Dark Sun Gaming Notes from 7/4/12

Sleeping with the Devil

A few days after the epic gladiator match were the Colossus of Tyr, Barok, mightily thrashed and killed Bonesnapper, Cael woke from her coma. To her horror, she discovered that she, along with other members of the House had been deputized to pursue Astinicus.

The Death of the Mekilot

Zarnian had deployed Kirby and Claremont to watch the meeting place of Astinicus and his agents. They came back to the house to say the meeting had already happened. They watched as the lieutenants were angry with Astinicus for attacking the House and killing a templar because it was bad for business. One of the captains was a Urikite named Mitzrah the Lion (who is known for his love of booze and beating prostitutes half to death), a muscular, well armed former gladiator named Carrion King, a very tall large man named the Mekilot and the blue lipped wizard boy. The lieutenants complained for more money, so Astinicus pointed out that they were all addicted to dust and he was their only supplier. When the Mekilot said he wanted to leave anyway, Astinicus killed him while the blue lipped boy killed the Mekilot’s lieutenants. Then, Astinicus seemed to know he was being watched and started searching for Kirby and Claremont, who barely made it away.

Colossal Love

Barok’s kids have swollen in number. Several of them play in front of the house and bring other friends to meet the Colossus (leading one 11 year old to get lucky). But, kids are not the only ones enamored of the Colossus. Hammoth Esticles sent a runner inviting Barok and other members of the House to his estate for a party in honor of the Colossus’s win. Along with his invitation, Barok received a beautiful iron dagger. Other houses have been making offers to hire Barok and even Zarnian is getting invitations to parties as Barok’s trainer. One of those invitations was from Hamdi, which she quickly accepted.

Legwork

Ohzon contacted his Sky Followers to get more information on the lieutenants of Astinicus which they were able to provide, such as the fact the Lion likes beating prostitutes and the Carrion King’s crew is made up of ex-gladiators. After finding out this information Ohzon went to the Templar of the Wells who put him in touch with another templar named Jammoth for more information on the warehouse that the Lion is reportedly used to hanging out in. Meanwhile, Bay hired a runner to go to the School of Thought in an attempt to get more information on Flynn. The runner came back, his mind taken over by a master psionicist. After some negotiation, Bay was invited to the school of thought in two hours.

House Brun

After taking Barok to see Jammoth (who was a Colossus fan) Ohzon gained the information that House Brun was in the warehouse that the Lion frequented. C’aro was able to supply the information that House Brun was a small house that was by the gate of Tyr and supplies guards and mercenaries with arms. Collecting Zarnian, Ohzon went on a scouting expedition. There, they met Darek Brun who was knowledgeable and had a large supply of wares. In the back room, however, both Ohzon and Zarnian heard people gambling and laughing, one of whom had a Urikian accent. After Zarnian got some weapons for Timmuth, they decided to get the others before an attack.

Homecoming - A Dark Sun short story

The following took place during our Dark Sun game on 6/21. Zarnian was finally sucessful in her rescue of Timmuth, but I realized that their reactions needed a bit of story time.

Homecoming

                Once back at the house, Zarnian allowed herself to breathe slightly. After finally rescuing Timmuth, she had grabbed Kirby and Hank to escort her while shopping for what Timmuth would need. Other preparations for his return were in place. Her room was clean, scoured the night before with rags and sand to remove any smoke or char. Scrubbing the soot had done little to erase the stain of G’tol’s blood from her hands. It needed to be done, but she loathed it. She thought she could offer G’tol purpose and salvation through honest work. She had been horribly wrong, and it had cost too many good people their lives. She would not allow it again.

                “Where do you want this?” Hank’s words drew her from her thoughts. Hank stood at her side, struggling with enough fluffy bedding to devour him.

                “On the cot,” she replied, “and those can go on the table,” she stated, pointing Kirby to relieve him of the bag he carried, overflowing with clothing and other goods for Timmuth. “Thank you for the escort. We shall see you at the food table in a few moments. Who was on cooking detail tonight?”

                “Claremont,” Kirby answered quickly.

                Zarnian allowed herself a soft smile. “Thank the souls in the Grey. Yesterday it was Scott’s turn, and while he has many talents, making edible food is not one of them.” Both Kirby and Hank laughed, nodding their agreement.

                “Yeah, if they ever retire it will have to be Jean that does the cooking and Scott that does the…”

                Zarnian cleared her throat loudly, interrupting Kirby’s next words. When he froze, Zarnian tilted her head down to indicate Timmuth’s presence in the group. During his slavery, the boy had gained the ability to be unnoticed.  “See you at the table,” she said to the two guards.

Hearing her unspoken order, both of them shuffled out, leaving Zarnian with her new ward. Timmuth held his pillow and blanket carefully, afraid to wrinkle them as if she would beat him for it. Gently, she took his physical burdens from him, setting it on her own spartan cot. Her own bed was minimal, as she only used it when she had relations with Trakas and every third night to sleep. She had splurged on bedding for the boy; a touch of comfort to offset his recent misery. He just stood there, pale, his eyes downcast as if unaware that all the shopping and commotion were for him.

Zarnian’s heart rose into her throat with a duality of emotions. She felt immense love for Timmuth. However, she also felt terror. She’d never raised a child. This was not something she drilled into her body for hours a day over the course of years that came freely and naturally like wielding her spear. Desperately, she wondered what Carn would have done. Then, she realized that he would laugh at her. He would have thought it hilarious that after all she had faced and conquered in her life, she would be timid about raising a child.

With this new resolve helping steel her, she kneeled down to Timmuth’s eye level. It was difficult to keep her face calm and neutral. His nose had been broken at least three weeks before – there was little she could do to help it now. His left ear had swollen and deformed from being cuffed repeatedly. On the way to the room she had seen the lash marks on his neck poking out from his rough tunic on his neck. “Strip to your underwrappings, Timmuth,” said the mul in her gentlest tone. Moving to her desk, she began mixing the medicine components she’d purchased – fine soft clay, aloe, a few calendula flowers, and goldenseal oil. A quantity of water allowed her to make it into a soft paste. Timmuth peeled off his tunic, flinching. His back and upper legs were a mass of lash marks in various stages of healing, some fresh. Scabs removed with his clothing started bleeding again. Pouring water into a shallow bowl, she started gently using a soft cloth to wash his wounds. She could feel his little body shake slightly with pain as he tried to hold it inside. “I am sorry for everything,” she found herself saying. “I swear to you that I will protect you and raise you. I am never letting you go, or be torn from my arms again.” Once the wounds were washed, she carefully started coating his lashes in her mixture. “This will sooth the pain and assist the healing of your wounds. It should feel cool and a bit numb.” Once it was done, she wrapped his back and chest in bandages, then handed him new clothing. As he dressed, she appraised him. He’d grown in the month he’d been gone, she noted. And he had lost weight. She strongly suspected that beatings were not his only punishment; he’d likely been starved. “Are you hungry?” she asked.

Timmuth nodded. “Yes, Zarnian,” he answered in a way that made ‘Zarnian’ sound too much like ‘master’ for her tastes.

Taking his hand in hers, grabbing her spear in the other she led him across the street to the table, where several of her guards were already sitting, eating and laughing. Grabbing two bowls of stew and two flatbreads, she sat Timmuth between she and Hank, handing the boy his food. At their arrival, a bit of the jovial chatter quieted. To Zarnian, it was not an indication of fear or disrespect, but more likely they were discussing Marjoram and what they would like to do, something that Zarnian did not want discussed around Timmuth. Instead she said, “So who is betting on Barok?”

“Who isn’t betting on Barok?” demanded Bobby, narrowing his eyebrows as he scoured the table. “Wait, let me pretend I’m Scott.” He placed two fingers above each eye to create wooly brows he moved up and down. Everyone laughed, including Scott, who flicked a piece of flatbread at his fellow guard. As the chatter quickly resumed around Barok’s fight and how badly he would crush Bonesnapper before he won, and how much people stood to win. After forgetting Zarnian was there, it flowed to how much moonshine was stored in Kirby and Clairmont’s room for the post fight celebration. It was noted with pride by the pair of archers that the hooch now had a smoky flavor due to the fire and porous ceramics that made it the most palatable set yet. Listening with a half an ear, she looked down at Timmuth. He also seemed to be listening, but not looking. Instead, he had inhaled his food, carefully soaking up the last dregs of broth with his flatbread. Taking a few bites of her stew so she wouldn’t be weak during Barok’s fight the next day, Zarnian switched her bowl for Timmuth’s without warning, handing him the rest of her bread. At first, Timmuth just stared at it, his face slightly unreadable. “Eat,” she commanded, softly.

At this, he finally looked up at her, searching her face for the answer to some question. “Bay says that Athas is hard, and I need to be hard.”

Before she could fully formulate an answer, she answered simply, “Well, I say that you’re skinny and you need to eat. Are you still hungry?” His cheeks blushed in shame. “Then eat until you’re full.” A soft smile encouraged him, until he finally finished the second bowl as well. As he finished, she asked, “How is everyone’s training progressing?”

Claremont spoke for the group. “Zarnian, you never need to tell us again to cross train and drill. We survived this attack because of you drilling training into us.”

This made her swell with pride. “Timmuth will start training with us, soon. First, he heals and gets his strength back.” Turning to him, she asked, “tired?”

Timmuth shook his head but his eyes were drooping. She stood, but as Timmuth stood to follow her Hank reached down into his satchel. “Hey, what’s this?” He pulled out two pieces of candied cactus, wrapped in a thin leaf wrapper. “These would just go to waste with me.” He held them out to Timmuth. After a quick glance to Zarnian he took them, muttered a ‘thank you’ and followed her. As she left, she heard Bobby tease, “Way to brown nose, Hank.” Hank’s voice had no maliciousness in it when he replied, “You didn’t see him in that place, or see what they did to him. He’s a different kid, Bobby. Besides, this is the happiest I’ve seen Zarnian.”

She politely pretended that she heard none of the exchange, as she walked away. For tonight, she’d asked Trakas to sleep elsewhere, so the first night the boy could adjust to his room without the Druid’s presence. Easily, Zarnian made his bed. Though it was early, she doubted he had slept well in a month. “You need to get some rest,” she coaxed. “I have a big surprise for you.” At this, his eyebrows shot up in slight horror. Realizing that surprises were most likely less than welcome, she decided to reveal “Tomorrow you and I are going be able to go in the pits with Barok and wait with him, then we can watch his match from the gate.”

At this revelation, Timmuth smiled for the first time. Traces of the boy she had known from her old life in Nibenay flashed for an instant before they were gone again. Still, if there were embers, she knew she could breathe life into them. “Zarnian?”

“Yes?”

“Please don’t leave me.”

“I will not. I am going to stay up, and watch over you.”Those words said, she jiggled the blanket in her hands until Timmuth laid down on the bed. Covering him, she bent over and kissed his forehead.

“Zarnian?”

“Yes?”

“You don’t have to kiss my head like I’m a baby. I am nine years old now.”

Fighting off a smile, she replied, “Well, things are going to be different with me than they were with Bay. That means you will have to suffer getting an occasional hug, or kiss on the forehead, or some such indignity.”

The boy thought about this for a moment before nodding. He closed his eyes and fell quickly into sleep. Zarnian watched over him as, the ghost of her own mentor watched over her.