Eating
Beginner 4
48%
Haggle
Beginner 1
20%
Healing Magic
Beginner 9
72%
Information Gathering
Beginner 5
12%
Insight
Beginner 4
20%
Intimidate
Beginner 2
60%
Light Armor
Beginner 1
80%
Light Magic
Beginner 2
25%
Mathematics
Beginner 4
10%
Navigation
Beginner 2
80%
Perception
Beginner 4
33%
Running
Beginner 3
0%
Sense Motive
Beginner 3
16%
Sleight of Hand
Beginner 3
50%
Small Blades
Beginner 2
5%
Stealth
Beginner 3
0%
Unarmed Combat
Beginner 2
5%
Walking
Beginner 3
85%
Water Magic
Beginner 2
35%
Wind Magic
Beginner 2
82%
Okay, she might have been a little overzealous in trying to grab new skills. Her page was slightly overwhelmingly ridiculous now. She had tried to grab a few of the skills she figured she would need eventually. She needed to be able to defend herself and maybe use a weapon without hurting herself, so she’d given herself a few options.
At the same time, woot! She was getting closer to being a real girl! Er…a normal human, that is. Raphael was probably onto something when he said she looked more human. She was slowly, or actually rather quickly, stepping her way from living skeleton to zombie to human. She kinda had to laugh that she’d gotten eating as a skill though.
She wondered what the deal was with overlap. When was she bluffing versus deceiving someone? Was she doing both at the same time? If they were practically the same thing, what was the point of having them as separate categories? She mentally shrugged. Oh, the whims of the capricious god who made this system. They could have made it nice and easy, but no… No wonder DnD limits character sheets to the basics.
“Are you done eating?” Raphael finally seemed to notice that she’d been spacing out after having cleaned her third plate. She shrugged and nodded, feeling a little lethargic now that she’d stopped moving. “Then why don’t you go get dressed and I’ll take you to the examinations.”
Jade pushed aside her plates, sticking her elbow on the table as she rested her chin on her fist, “Tell me about the examinations.”
He sighed. “Can I explain on the way?”
“No, but you can explain now. I’m not going anywhere until I know what I’m getting into.” She stubbornly dug her heels in. She watched him run his hands through his hair and wondered if this was what it was like to cause hair loss from stress.
“It’s simple. They’ll ask you about your profile, then have you demonstrate your physical abilities and any skills you’ve claimed.”
She pondered for a moment, then narrowed her eyes. “Are they expecting me?” He nodded warily. It seemed like he had realized that if he said the wrong thing she was going to throw a hissy fit. “What exactly did you tell them about me?”
He sighed. “Not much. They had already heard about the zombie healer and asked all staff to try and find her. I sent a message saying I’d found her and would bring her by today. And that you were a dual magic user.”
She was surveying him with unconcealed hostility at this point. “Did you mention what the other magic was?” Her voice had softened to a chill whisper.
“No, I didn’t. Why?” His wariness level had gone on red alert, and he responded quietly in kind.
At his response, she just smiled and shrugged. “That’s fine then. You’re to keep what you saw last night to yourself.”
He shook his head. “But I already told them you’re a dual wielder…”
“Don’t you worry about that. I’ll handle it, as long as you didn’t say what it was. Pass it on to Jessica and Kaylee. I don’t want it being spread.”
He looked baffled. “But why?”
She growled, “Because I don’t want to be associated with being a zombie. So that should be the last time you mention that as well. Capiche?” He looked a little rattled as if he hadn’t considered that before. She leaned over the table, staring him down from about a foot away. “Are we crystal clear?”
“Fine. I’ll talk to them.” Oh good, she could reason with the man.
“Cool. I’ll be down when I’m done. Also, if you can get me a spare pocket watch, that’d be cool. I’m sick of not knowing what time it is.” Plus, she wanted to tinker with it, but hey, that could wait. Standing up, she walked confidently back up to the stairs, ignoring the whispered conversations and gazes that followed her.
She made it back to her room and considered just changing into fresh clothes, then changed her mind. He could wait! Grabbing a change of clothes, she headed back to the bathroom. She had decided it was time for another first, a bath all by herself!
Filling up the tub and stripping down, she luxuriated in the feeling of being submerged in water. She scrubbed herself with a bar of soap she’d found in her desk, frowning at its roughness. Soap really needed to be first on her list of inventions. How did people get by here!?
She was supremely happy to note that her ribcage was no longer fully visible at rest. It was as she was staring at the phenomenon of not having her ribs stick out like a sore thumb that she noticed… Oh my gosh, I have boobs! Granted, they were tiny little mosquito bites, but there was a tiny bump where it had been totally flat before. Laughing happily, she did a little happy dance in the tub and promptly sent a ton of water splashing over the side. “Oops.” Having finished washing, she stood up and realized that not only had she already gotten water all over the floor…she had also forgotten to bring a towel. She hadn’t even seen one in her room.
Shivering in the air, she considered using her dirty tunic to wipe off, but she also didn’t want to leave water all over the floor, and it would take a lot of mopping up before her tunic would cut it. Grumbling, she stepped out of the tub, since the floor was already super wet anyway, pulling the plug so the water would start draining. Apparently she needed to invent bathroom mats too.
Seeing her reflection in the mirror, she had an epiphany. She focused on the water, thinking, It’s just one of the components of blood. If I can control blood, how hard could water be? It’s like going down a step. Slowly, she felt that warm tingly sensation in her hands as the water started to collect into a ball. It was suuuuper slow though. Exasperated, she started collecting the water from her body with her right hand, then used her left to fluff her hair.
Ugh, I would kill for a blowdryer right now…but I can’t invent that. Stupid things needing electricity. And then it was like a light bulb smashed her over the head. Splitting her attention, she focused on the currents of the air. If she could coat her hand with wind like Raphael had coated his sword… The warm tinglies let her know she was on the right track, so she started fluffing her hair with her very own hand wind-dryer.
When she was finally dry, she’d siphoned all the water off the floor and back into the tub where she’d unceremoniously deposited it. She quickly got dressed, feeling refreshed. She wiggled happily out of the bathroom and towards her room, singing softly, “Did you receive that magic, magic, maaaaaaaaaaagic.” Thinking about it, she was a little bummed that she no longer had access to awesome bands at the click of a finger. A world without music was going to suck, but not as much as being trapped in a hospital bed, so she didn’t really want to go back. Still, she was going to miss music.
Dressed in her snazzy new clothes once more, she wondered if whoever had given them to her made them big on purpose. If they had been as close-fitting as the shirt she woke up in, she would have outgrown them pretty quickly.