The image is taken in and analyzed, but this doesnât last long.
âFourth Worldâ
She does her best to avoid hurling out the soykaf in her mouth and fails. At least it all made it into the cup. And none of it out of her nose. The lack of professionalism is profoundly embarrassing, but how else is she supposed to react?
âFourth Worldâ
Her eyes remain fixed on the Hr Schmidtâs PocSec.
Salus, she ponders, something more productive to think on.
Salus, Salus, Salus.
She had greeted Pacer with
saludos. Odds are there is a straight line through the Romance language to Roman itself, though the meaning must have morphed somewhat along the way. Irrelevant. Probably. Which declension should that be, now? Irrelevant. Definitely.
A deity with a snake should immediately come to mind, but her thoughts drift toward the Greek Hygieia as the daughter of the far more famous Asclepius and his even more famous rod. Serpents associated with all of them.
The depictions of the goddesses are extraordinarily similar. But it would be perilous to equate the two religions. Sheâs not exactly a fan of
interpretatio graeca. And the qualities ascribed to either goddess do not fit the
SNAKE she knows, but every Roman deity big and small did require a specific sacrifice proportional to its designated power.
Of course, the Fifth World would lack the background mana required to interact with a spirit, but there could still be some type of lingering cultural memory.
Citation Needed: Does Salus mean anything to you? she asks Natrixs while racking her own memories.
Then she moves on, ensuring not a drop of soykaf remains on her person. The ley line is the key to its Awakening. Focus on the proximate.
Her suspicion moves up a notch. She has been studying ley lines off of TĂr Tairngireâmuch to her chagrinâand now there is a job directly related to a ley line. All lying along fault lines, and therefore assuredly naturally-occurring ones.
The west of the TĂr is more complicated with its Juan de Fuca Plate; the San Andreas Fault is simply the North American Plate strike-shifting against the Pacific Plate. Though there are other fault lines in the area, something she buffed up on to aid in a cover, but the San Andreas is certainly the big one.
Why is such mind-numbing material so necessary to learn at her level of education?
âFourth Worldâ
She is lucky her soykaf is not adequately potable, because to hear Schwartzkopfâs name out loud is another shock to the system. While this is not new to her, this conversation must be two-to-three steps away from the attention of great dragon himself.
But the chaos in her mind is unacceptable. So she takes a moment to compose herself, managing to achieve the neutral, controlled mien she typically wears. And forcing her mind into obedience. Hermetics have taught her approaches to centering the mind.
SNAKE does not seem to allow her to draw mana from anywhere other than
HER, but the techniques can still be useful in other ways.
âWhat does âAwakenedâ signify in this case?â she asks. The finer details could prove invaluable in the theft. The fact that itâs what sheâs most intrigued by is simply a silver lining. As thick as that line can get.
âIts properties,â she clarifies.
âAnd any potential . . . interactions?â As in, âwhat might happen if a magician touches it?â Or even, âwhat might happen if a
Snake mage touches it?â
âFourth Worldâ
OOC: Yes, I also buffed up on plate tectonics. But her narrative sounds so much smarter now!
Edit: For anyone who is interested in how polytheism generally worked in the ancient/classical world, this series is a great primer: https://acoup.blog/category/co...ractical-polytheism/
This message was last edited by the player at 22:59, Sat 23 Mar.