Kestrel - On the Covenant bit... I'm confused as to why you're confused.
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What is left of her coalesces painfully around my wound, and the blood that drips from me is slowly drained away. I feel a tingle as for a second time, the two of us are connected by the Primal Covenant. And if it happens for the third and final? Well, she's competent, polite, and loyal. It wouldn't be so bad.
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"Woah. Right... this is deep. Umm... yeah, okay. Granted. I shall aid you in this to the utmost of my ability, until his body lies unmoving, his heart beats no more, and you and yours are returned here safe. In return... what the hell do I ask for? In return, you are bound to forge with me a new contract, before the sun rises thrice, including first Covenant."
I close my eyes for a moment. Right. So be it. At a time like this, what's a bit more blood between friends?
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As soon as we're done eating, Kiura pauses, looks thoughtful for a bit, and then makes a proposal which is far more reasonable than any she's made all day. It's a little unusual. There's First Covenant, of course....
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maybe I could have given it a bit more weight that last time, but it seems pretty clear to me.
- the Primal Covenant involves (or at least can be invoked by) a spirit drinking the blood of the spiritcaller directly. It definately involves the spiritcaller pouring out some blood.
- It can happen up to three times. Each is significant, and the third very much so - to the point that willingness to enter into it on the spiritcaller's part is strongly influenced by the personality of the spirit. It is significant enough that part of the concern with respect to entering nto the Second Covenant is that you might wind up entering into the Third. The First is significant enough that Kiura is willing to accept it as her payment for a Full Boon - later revealed to be a goddess-level ritual.
- There's enough raw power flowing to the spirit (presumably from the caller) at the time of the Covenant itself to allow a spirit who had been keeping a shred of existence through desperation and raw will to stabilize up to a state from which they can maintain and recover.
I'll see about rewording that last time, so that it doesn't seem quite so throwaway - probably tie "First Covenant" to "primal Covenant" a little more explicitly, but really, how much more info would you want?
Oh, and he didn't have any reason to expect her to show up. He just has standing orers with his house spirit that if anyone shows up who looks like they need sanctuary and won't steal the silver, to let them in, let them eat, and let them crash on the couch. He figures its the decent thing to do. It doesn't happen *all* that often.
The Random Dark Minions idea is an entertaining one. I may be able to do somehtign with that - we'll have to see. Other than that, I already have my plans.
Blackaeronaut, I'm *glad* you like Kiura. She is awfully fun to write.
Acyl - thanks for the support. I've actually been considering putting a warning somewhere on this thing about how I'm a fan of Brian Randall's more surreal stuff.
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What is left of her coalesces painfully around my wound, and the blood that drips from me is slowly drained away. I feel a tingle as for a second time, the two of us are connected by the Primal Covenant. And if it happens for the third and final? Well, she's competent, polite, and loyal. It wouldn't be so bad.
---------------
"Woah. Right... this is deep. Umm... yeah, okay. Granted. I shall aid you in this to the utmost of my ability, until his body lies unmoving, his heart beats no more, and you and yours are returned here safe. In return... what the hell do I ask for? In return, you are bound to forge with me a new contract, before the sun rises thrice, including first Covenant."
I close my eyes for a moment. Right. So be it. At a time like this, what's a bit more blood between friends?
---------------
As soon as we're done eating, Kiura pauses, looks thoughtful for a bit, and then makes a proposal which is far more reasonable than any she's made all day. It's a little unusual. There's First Covenant, of course....
---------------
maybe I could have given it a bit more weight that last time, but it seems pretty clear to me.
- the Primal Covenant involves (or at least can be invoked by) a spirit drinking the blood of the spiritcaller directly. It definately involves the spiritcaller pouring out some blood.
- It can happen up to three times. Each is significant, and the third very much so - to the point that willingness to enter into it on the spiritcaller's part is strongly influenced by the personality of the spirit. It is significant enough that part of the concern with respect to entering nto the Second Covenant is that you might wind up entering into the Third. The First is significant enough that Kiura is willing to accept it as her payment for a Full Boon - later revealed to be a goddess-level ritual.
- There's enough raw power flowing to the spirit (presumably from the caller) at the time of the Covenant itself to allow a spirit who had been keeping a shred of existence through desperation and raw will to stabilize up to a state from which they can maintain and recover.
I'll see about rewording that last time, so that it doesn't seem quite so throwaway - probably tie "First Covenant" to "primal Covenant" a little more explicitly, but really, how much more info would you want?
Oh, and he didn't have any reason to expect her to show up. He just has standing orers with his house spirit that if anyone shows up who looks like they need sanctuary and won't steal the silver, to let them in, let them eat, and let them crash on the couch. He figures its the decent thing to do. It doesn't happen *all* that often.
The Random Dark Minions idea is an entertaining one. I may be able to do somehtign with that - we'll have to see. Other than that, I already have my plans.
Blackaeronaut, I'm *glad* you like Kiura. She is awfully fun to write.
Acyl - thanks for the support. I've actually been considering putting a warning somewhere on this thing about how I'm a fan of Brian Randall's more surreal stuff.