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Irwin's Journey 383: The final impression
🕑 Added 2025-02-09 18:11:51 +0000 UTCIrwin stared thoughtfully at the second card he'd gotten. It showed a small bush with tiny berries of some sort and had started out as a simple twig with one berry on it. It was ruby-rank by now, though at ninety-five percent, it wasn't perfect. Still, for a card none of his own had any affinity with, it wasn't that bad. Besides, he'd mostly been testing something out.
"Alright," he said, turning to the two tiny figures beside him. "I'll be attempting to reforge this to diamond, and after that-"
"Smith Irwin, you only need to reforge one of those cards to diamond," Guildmaster Joulihn said, sounding somewhat exasperated.
Irwin stared at the card in surprise, realizing he might have gotten a bit carried away. He had asked to test some things out, which had ended up with him reforging two cards from quartz to ruby. He might have somewhat forgotten why he was doing it in the first place.
He glanced at the stand to find only Greldo and Ambraz still there.
How long have I been here? he thought, scratching his chin.
"You don't care which I do?" he asked, looking down at the Guildmaster.
"No. Just please reforge one of the two to diamond if you can…"
Irwin grinned as he looked at the ruby card. It wasn't a hundred percent, but the diamond wouldn't have been either way. That meant he should just keep the sticky one for now. It would be a waste otherwise.
"Alright, then I'll do this one," he said.
It would save him from fiddling with the tiny cards. One of the big issues he'd found with reforging in this size was that the cards remained the same, making handling them with his massive fingers a bit harder.
"Very well, just please… continue," the Guildmaster said, sounding weary.
Irwin focused on the card lying on the oversized anvil. Unlike the other one he'd used, this one hadn't shown a single issue with him striking it. He'd even experimentally hit it as hard as he possibly would for reforging, and it had merely sunk a few inches into the stone ground- nothing else.
Let's just go for safe, he thought, as his other, smaller self began playing the soulstrum guitar in his soulscape.
He struck down at the card, wrapping his soulforce around it. The image of the plant appeared above the card, far larger than the card itself was. It had incredibly intricate details, not just visually but also soulforce-related, and Irwin inspected it again.
Okay, so just don't hit it too hard and blow up another one, he told himself before happily starting the reforging.
--
Is he using two forging types at the same time? Mei thought, watching the giant while trying to ignore the ear-ratting strikes that hit the anvil. Every time he hit, she had to do her best not to flinch.
The image of the first card he'd put on it played through her mind, and she felt the same disbelief as she had a few hours ago.
How does someone shatter a card in one hit…?
She shuddered as she recalled the dense mass of soulforce that he had wrapped the first card in before striking it. The card had exploded with such force that the entire stadium shook. She'd fully expected Irwin to have been on the ground, wounded and bleeding out. Instead, he'd just stood there, scratching his chin and staring at the now-empty anvil. Then he'd had the gall to look up at the Ganvil and laugh as if it was some joke.
"Do you think he will succeed?"
Mei glanced at Parka, wondering if she was delusional. She didn't even bother to reply. It was as clear as day that he would… the ease with which he was striking, the calm resonance of his soulcards. Everything showed he was in full control, and she even suspected the small mistakes he'd made getting the fruit card up to Ruby had been just that- a mistake. He'd obviously been trying things out, though she wondered what that meant.
Had he only recently gotten a resizing card? But if that were true, how was he already this proficient at using it? He was clearly combining both the resizing forging type, allowing him more detail, with what she knew was his main type, music. It made little sense, nor did the fact he was using two types at all. It was something only teachers did, or…
Or cardsmiths at diamond-rank two and above, she thought, staring at Irwin. Had he already known he was in the final steps of the low-diamond ranks? It could be, seeing as that Ganvil he bonded was one of the princes, no, prodigies they called them.
She calmly watched as Irwin continued forging. Halfway through, she saw him frown while a tiny inconsistency appeared in the soulforce flame she saw wrapped around the card.
He's clearly not used to using that much soulforce and such loud resonance, she thought, nodding to herself. He overcorrected, a common issue when reforging Diamond cards that none of a cardsmiths own soulcards had any affinity with. Still, with how stable his strikes were and his consistent application of his soulforce, she had no doubt he'd finish the card, and likely in the low nineties.
"Do you think he lied about his age and where he is from?" Parka whispered.
"No," Mei said, not letting her eyes leave Irwin.
She'd already noticed a dozen little things he could improve on, and using size and this much soulforce wasn't even her forte. It was a shame Aboath had finally left to become a hearttree after the storm hit them. He'd have been able to teach Irwin a lot. As it was, she'd just have to tell him what she could.
"But… he must have learned this from somewhere? Do you think the Ganvil…"
Mei glanced at Parka, who had lost nearly all her normal bluster and composure, staring at Irwin as if he were some mythical being. Still, her question was what Mei herself wanted to know. In all her thousand years, she'd never heard of a cardsmith coming from the fringes that had this much skill. Even with that Ganvil bond of his…
Unless the Ganvil is different from all those I saw before? she thought, glancing up at the stands where the Ganvil was perched on the shoulder of the shadewalker. She'd seen a few Ganvil Progenies before, but just like not all Scrimaril were great cardsmiths or warriors, why had she decided all of them were useless based on such a small sampling?
Because of how obnoxious they were.
She grunted, recalling her first meeting with a foulmouthed Progeny called San-braz, likely a brother of Ambraz if she recalled their ridiculous naming convention.
Time flowed by as she collected a few more tips she could tell Irwin. She watched, somewhat tiredly, as he finished reforging the plant into a larger bush that held dozens of tiny fruit. He had made one more tiny mistake, and she was pretty sure the card was either ninety-two or ninety-three percent.
So… if he had used the Ganvil's help, it would have likely been a hundred percent, she thought, rubbing her throbbing head.
A horrible idea had begun growing in her mind, and she wished she could lie down and sleep.
"He succeeded!" Parka shouted, her eyes gleaming. "Do you think he can go another step?"
Mei glanced at Parka, wondering if the happenings of the day had given her a concussion or something. Noticing the gleam in her eyes and the slightly curved lips, she realized the Onyxian was just trying to get her riled up.
"No," she said, focusing on Irwin, who was looking at the card with a slight measure of distaste. "Like you, he needs a whole lot more practice before he can reforge oppositely aligned card-types above Emerald."
Parka seemed to relax slightly, and Mei couldn't help herself.
"Though… he might be able to get one to Ruby already."
Parka's hands froze, and she looked up at her with a mixture of surprise and horror.
"Maybe," Mei said, smirking at the Onyxian.
Then she quickly schooled her face, turning to Irwin, who had returned to his previous size.
"Well," she said. "Congratulations on reaching diamond rank two. That makes you the fifth-ranked smith in this entire branch, only just behind Parka over here."
She held back a smirk at Parka's strangled sound.
"Now, before we continue, I must inform you of what it means to become a diamond-rank two smith," she said. "But let's not do it here."
She glanced around the empty stadium, even the two Viridian smiths who had their epiphanies now gone. The only others that were there were Irwin's friend and his Ganvil, and she looked up at them.
"You two can join us."
She'd barely spoken when the tall, somewhat hairy figure vanished from the stands and reappeared beside them.
"About time you're done. I'm hungry."
Mei held back a sigh and glanced at Parka. "Let's head to the sculpting hall."
Parka's eyes widened, and she nodded.
Mei decided not to say that the reason for it was the least likely to be busy, with barely a handful of cardsmiths using that style.
"Let's go," she said, her mind still overloaded with everything that happened. "I need a drink."
--
Irwin followed the Guildmaster and Parka as they walked through the Smithsguild. Although very few people walked around, those that did were staring at him as he passed. It made him feel awkward, and he was glad that they didn't have to walk too far.
"Kid, you did really great," Ambraz said. "But I did see a few things we need to practice."
The Ganvil was sitting on his shoulder, talking to him through his soulscape, while Greldo walked beside them.
"While reforging in my giant form?" Irwin asked.
"Exactly. You clearly need more practice, and I'm not just talking about smashing that first card."
Irwin nodded as he listened to Ambraz point out some of the points he'd made mistakes, including humming the part of the resonance song he'd been at.
After a short walk, they arrived in a large building with two statues that were almost as big as his giant form standing to the side. One was a Viridian elder holding a club in the shape of a tree. The second was a candidly clothed Ignitzian woman, grinning at the entrance.
"Welcome to the sculpting hall," Parka said, thudding inside with a big grin.
The inner hall was a spacious area with pillars that were shaped into arms holding up the ceiling. Beautiful sculptures stood everywhere, most made of stone, but some looked more like metal and wood. Benches and tables lined the left side, and tall windows with decorated arches let in so much light the side looked almost open. Hallways moved away on the other side, allowing for deeper entrance into the building.
Parka led them there, then up a staircase and finally through another hallway and into a small, beautifully made bar. The walls were engraved with landscapes, while stone-like vines grew across the ground, around pillars, and onto the roof, where yellowish and orange crystals glowed dimly. A bar sat on the far end, with a few glasses standing atop. It gave a sense of heavy use, and Parka rushed to the bar, standing beside and beckoning them over.
"What do you want to drink, Guildmistress?" she asked with a wide grin.
Irwin eyed one of the stools beside the bar, wondering if it could hold his weight. After a second, he ignored it and remained standing, leaning his elbows on the bar so he didn't tower over everyone. He glanced at the bottle-filled wall behind the bar and noticed multiple spicy Ignitzian drinks.
"I'll take some Volcano Liquor," he said.
"Great choice!" Parka beamed, pouring him a massive mug.
Irwin glanced at it, wondering if the thing wasn't meant for beer, but Parka had turned to hand Grandmaster Joulihn a glass of something purplish that Irwin had never heard of. Greldo accepted a massive mug of beer, and Parka poured herself a similar one.
Before Irwin could even blink, she'd drained it and let out a relieved sigh.
"I needed that," she muttered, filling her mug up again. She turned to Irwin, raising her mug and smiling at him. "Welcome to the club!"
Irwin clanked her mug with his and took a small sip of the powerful and scalding liquor. It flowed down his throat like spiced honey, and he took a larger gulp, feeling it gently warm his insides.
"You are really something… you do know everyone else would have been on the ground, crying their eyes out by now, right?" Parka said, eyeing his drink and shaking her head.
Then why did you give me such a massive mug, Irwin thought.
For the new short while, they all just sat there taking small sips. Then Guildmaster Joulihn put her glass down and looked at him.
"I had hoped to find a way to keep you here, and I might have if you hadn't just skipped two ranks," she said, shaking her head wearily. "Now then, let me explain what it means to be a rank-two diamond smith."
Irwin focused on her, wondering how she had planned to keep him here against his will and secretly glad that nothing of the sort would come to pass. He didn't feel like fighting with her if he could help it.
"First, the benefits. Starting at rank two, you can create your own official Cardsmith's Guild Branch and request a main soulcrystal for it. You can name it however you see fit and run it however you want as long as you abide by the general Guild guidelines, which I'll give you a booklet on later," Guildmater Joulihn said. "Technically, if you can find one, you can become the head Guildmaster of a new mainbranch, though usually, only third-rank diamond smiths do that, and new main branches aren't found that often."
Irwin hummed, wondering what the main soulcrystal would do. Was it similar to the Central Registrar's soulcrystal?
"Also, starting from rank two, you can request the Main Guild to search for ten cards per year. They can be either for your own progression or for reforging purposes, and there is no limit on the type… however, do realize that if you request cards someone else also requested, it will be first come, first serve. In your case, that means if you would request a card to increase your soulforce sensitivity, which is the most requested card, you will likely need to wait a thousand plus years, if not longer."
Irwin blinked, then raised an eyebrow. "What happens if I find one I don't need and want to sell?" he asked curiously.
"I'd tell you to go and find a carded mind healer to check if you have any issues," the Guildmaster said, staring at him in disbelief. "Even if you find a few of those, filling your soullake with the soulforce sensitivity types to upgrade a heartcard to a soulcard is probably the single most time-consuming thing you could do. My suggestion is that you start collecting them now, keep them in your soulscape, and never let anyone know how many you have found."
Irwin stared at her, wondering what she would say if he told her he had found a moon with jellyfish islands all to themselves. Or what she'd think if she knew he hadn't really absorbed a single card to fill his soullake but used alternative methods… which was probably good because if he'd needed to find soulforce sensitivity cards to fill his soullake, he might be dead of old age before he finished.
"But if I would?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"But if you would sell one," she said, strolling her eyes. "It would net you anywhere around twenty rare diamond cards, ten times that number of ruby cards, or a hundred times that number of emerald cards. You could also sell it for some ridiculous amount of soulshards. Also, before you ask, nobody would be able to trade it to you for quartz or amethyst cards as they likely wouldn't have enough of those."
Irwin whistled, suddenly realizing just how much Brazardian had really gifted him and Ambraz when they had left.
"Now, enough about things that are practically impossible," the Guildmaster said. "Besides all the more obvious benefits, there are a few things Cardsmiths don't learn until they reach this rank. If you reach rank two before you are physically three hundred years old, you are allowed to head to the central branches. Once there, you can join one of the Central Branch Guildhouses which will help you improve both your skill and your personal strength. Besides having very specialized worlds, both with incredible ambient soulforce of even some rare types, they also have Grandmaster Cardsmiths of diamond rank five and above who will teach you things nobody else can."
Irwin's eyebrows rose, and he was about to ask one of a dozen questions that came to mind when Joulihn raised her hand.
"Before you ask, I have no knowledge about any of that. I was tested and found lacking after reaching rank two, and even though I am now ranked three, the central branches have no interest in me. It took me too long, and they only take in people with exceedingly more talent."
Parka let out a sigh as she drained another beer before refilling it.
"Now, the final benefit of being rank two is something you shouldn't underestimate," the Guildmaster continued, ignoring the Onyxian. "From rank two and onward, you can ignore any summons by any Guild charter, and only if the main Smithsguild itself requests your presence by name, must you oblige. No Guildmaster of any branch besides the central ones can order you to do anything…"
Irwin blinked while Ambraz let out a soft laugh. "Which is why you can't try and force the kid to do what you want."
Guildmaster Joulihn looked at Ambraz and sighed. "Exactly, though I would suggest not being too obnoxious when you ever meet the Guildmasters of larger branches. Some of them are rank five, and they will likely ignore the rules in favor of their own designs."
"But not you," Irwin said.
"No," Guildmaster Joulihn said. "As much as I wish you would heed my advice, I will accept your choices."
"I appreciate that," Irwin said, though wondering why.
"Now, to the requirements you will have to adhere to," the Guildmaster said. "You are always to assist other Cardsmiths when and where you can and never leave one to be either enslaved or harmed. If you are personally able, you are to help any Guild charter, regardless of size, if they are under attack. If the central Guildcharters request your presence, you are to make your way there as fast as possible and can use any transport available. They will pay the cost."
"Does that include teleporting across branches?" Greldo asked, leaning forward.
Irwin knew what his friend was getting at and looked at the Guildmaster, curious to see what the answer would be.
Guildmaster Joulihn turned to Greldo, seemingly slightly surprised he was still there. Then she nodded.
"It does, though when you reach branches that actually have interbranch teleportation, you will have already reached one of the central branches and don't need to actually use them."
"There's only teleportation between branches in the central region?" Greldo asked, sounding surprised.
"I see what you are implying, and no," the Guildmaster said. "There are definitely rich merchant guilds and noble families with their own personal teleportation options before you reach the central region. However, using those is horrendously expensive. To give you an example, teleporting anything but the teleporter themselves across the branch would empty out the soulforce of a five-soul-carded specialized teleporter. Now, teleporting from one main branch to another is impossible for nearly all teleporters, even if they only take themselves. Instead, to move from one mainbranch to another, a special rune formation that can be charged is required. One will be on each side, and multiple specialized teleporters then create a temporary portal which will allow a short window of transport."
Greldo hummed, leaning back and sipping a drink. Guildmaster Joulihn seemed to take that as him having no more questions, but her eyes narrowed.
"Now, there is one final thing you need to be aware of, and it's something I can't explain out here. I'm going to have to ask you to step into my soulscape with me or allow me into yours so we can talk in absolute private."
Irwin was slightly stunned, and Greldo also snapped back around, his eyes narrowing.
"Bring her here and just move her into your large house," Ambraz instantly said. "She is far too weak to cause any problems within your soulscape, while if you go into hers, there is no saying what could happen."
Irwin held the Guildmasters gaze for a moment before nodding slowly.
"You can come into my soulscape," he said slowly.
Joulihn nodded and reached out her hand. Irwin hesitated, then took the hand. As he tried to pull the Grandmaster into his soulscape, he felt a moment of tremendous resistance. Then it was gone, as was the Guildmaster.
"Your loss," Parka said with a snort. "Her soulscape is really something. It's a sprawling island surrounded by a sea of liquid fire."
Greldo snorted but focused on his drink when Parka looked at him in annoyance.
Irwin barely noticed as he turned his full attention to his otherself. It took a massive amount of concentration to move Guildmaster Joulihn straight into his house, which was one of the reasons he usually let people appear above his soullake.
~ Irwin's Soulscape ~
Mei shook her head as she looked around the room, and it took her a few moments to understand what she was seeing. Everything was giant-sized, from the massive hearth, the smithing tools, and the staircase leading up the towering building. A few equally huge windows had been barred by dark, almost black wooden shutters.
What is wrong with his soulscape that he doesn't want me to see? she pondered, trying to ignore the fact that he was able to create such incredibly realistic constructs in the first place.
"I'm sorry that I can't bring you into my usual greeting room," a ridiculously deep voice rumbled, and she felt the entire building tremble as Irwin's giant self thudded down the staircase.
"So… you have two bodies?" she said, wondering when this smith would stop surprising her. Body clone cards were incredibly rare, especially those that had one body different from the other.
"I do, and this one won't fit into the bar," Irwin rumbled as he reached her level and moved to a small chair to the side. He plopped down, causing another tremor. "I'll have to make another area in here to accommodate that."
"I might have a shrinking card that you could use in your next heartcard," Mei said, putting her hands at her side as she looked around. "Either way, while here, please call me Mei. At your level, the decorum is just tedious."
"Verry well, Mei. Now, what was so important that you couldn't tell me in the real world."
"The last thing all diamond-rank two smiths must do is keep a lookout for any information about worldcards," she said, staring at him calmly. "If you find any information, no matter how obscure, you are to immediately investigate before finding the nearest branch with a guildhall and contact the central branch. You will have to pay nothing for the communication, no matter how far you are… as long as the information is sound. Understand that a ship will be sent your way immediately, and you are to remain where you are until it arrives. You will be expected to talk with someone that has truth-seeker cards, and if you are found to have lied…"
Irwin was dumbly staring at her, the final threat barely registering.
"What is a worldcard?" he asked, shaking his head in confusion.
Guildmaster Joulihn looked at him for a moment before shrugging. "I have no idea. If I did, I wouldn't have been relegated to this backwater branch. Any information about it is priceless. If you do find something… Let's just say that seven hundred years ago, a smith near one of the other most distant outer branches reached out to the Central Smiths Guild. His information proved correct, and he and his entire family were brought into the central branches where they were elevated to a noble rank and gifted a rank four world."
Irwin's eyes widened as his mind surged with questions.
Mei looked at him for a few more minutes before her serious demeanor faded, and she grinned. The constant worrisome demeanor she'd shown faded, and she moved to a ten-foot-high chest and hopped on.
"Don't expect to find anything. It's just something we are all told, and I don't even know if that last story is even true."
"Okay," Irwin said, leaning back and not believing her one bit. No big organization would do something like this if there wasn't a reason.
"Seeing as we are here now, and nobody can hear us, I have another question for you," The Guildmaster said, looking at him. "If the war reaches us, can I expect you and your people to aid us?"
"..."
Comments
Antony Claughton
rereading, and I wondered if the Mei's "horrible thought" was that he might have forged ammorite cards with Ambraz! Since she knows he's rank 2 diamond on his own, and Ganvils often support smiths acting at a higher level.
Josh McDonnell
I have a feeling he well use it himself for his eighth soulcard. Also if soulscap size determines how many soul cards you have and his soulscap is always growing could he have more cards? I vaguely remember them talking about this.
Nicholas Del Rossi
If it’s related to what you were talking about that leave’s Daubutim’s family, Old world characters, People in portal worlds, The leaders of the Kat 6 world, Side characters returning like the Galub from the world we meet the first purple fart in. One of the Galwin’s doing Galwin thing’s, Guider portals, And the snake from the prison Ambroz was trapped in. (Yeah it’s probably not the snake)
Carrarn
Nope ;)
Antony Claughton
Well now I’m curious. I wonder if it’s the cousin trying to get control of Eluathor?
Not Me
You're definitely right about handcards restricting portal access. I'm mostly curious if the rules change once the handcard is bound into a soulcard. And there's some people like Hind who probably have massively mangled component cards to the level that they may not individually have a grade. As far as I can recall, the rank of your first soulcard determines the base size of your soulscape and the maximum number of future soulcards you can get, and doesn't really impact the highest grade of card you can acquire.
Nicholas Del Rossi
So if I remembering right, whatever your highest rated card is will be the minimum rank of portal you can enter, regardless of whether or not it’s one of your old soul cards or a new hand card although I’m also pretty sure you can’t get a hand card higher ranked than previous soul cards, which is why they reforged Greldos first soul card to diamond before starting on his second heart or filling second soul card. I’m having a bit of trouble keeping track with exactly what stage everyone is at. Outside of Irwin, mostly due to having been caught up on serialized for a few months now.
Not Me
That's a good idea, cooperative forging is a good way to improve. Having to aid another person would probably result in either horizontal growth - learning how your peers do things differently than you, or vertical growth looking down - learning how your juniors do things worse than you, and shoring up your own foundations by thinking through, codifying, and explaining what proper technique is. There's a lot of highly skilled people in various professions, from athletes to doctors, who know exactly how to simply "do" something, but have all sorts of trouble communicating it to other people. Working with a smith of different methods or types could teach Irwin how to use or integrate that method into his, or how to resonate with those alternate types. And working with a smith of similar types could give him an outside view of how he does things, similar to what he got with the other musical smiths last chapter.
Not Me
I'm curious, what state where the Imps and Galubs that they farmed in Giard in? Were they all some state of not-yet-Addled but mostly insane? Or they were properly Addled? Or some other state due to their lack of cards? Also, how do soulcards interact with handcard-rated portals? Will someone with a Topaz soulcard that contains an Emerald handcard be limited to Topaz and lower portals, because the soulcard rank is Topaz, or Emerald and lower ones, because the highest handcard in the soulcard is Emerald? Or given full access to all portals because it's not a handcard, or simply restricted entirely, because it's greater than any handcard? If it's limited-access, do they make use of handcarded serfs to collect cards from lower-level portals? Or teams of specialized weak-soulcard workers? This all seems like it could be relevant if Irwin goes to a central farming world and wants to personally farm something or show off to the readers. Interesting spoiler about card creation. If I were some wealthy major supplier of cards trying to hide their source, I'd probably go about it like money laundering - name my source of secret card creation after some nonexistent or barely productive, remote world, and hope that nobody peeks too closely. Or better yet, split its card inflow among many sub-entities and categorize them as coming from worlds that actually do produce cards, to make it look like normal business doing well, rather than one suspiciously large one generating a ton of specific types of cards. Or exchanging them for soulshards without naming their source at a place that I own that does business in cards (either trading or gambling), basically making it a regular transaction that looks like trade or gambling rather than farmed production.
Nicholas Del Rossi
So the essence of cards smithing is the card and the Smith. The card being the half the essence half the direction and half the potential, While the Smith makes up the other half, Currently known smithing styles all must use some medium, or technique to aid in sensing the card, altering it, or do both, they also seem to tap into some artistic expression of fundamental reality like fire, sound, patterns, scale, They combine a law of reality with sentient interpretation from the smith, they also must all be smithed most commonly using a hammer, but as some have used their bare hands in the past, it’s possible there are other tools the none nearly as effective as far as we are aware, secondary tools, such as Irwin’s guitar can also be incorporate into the process. The big thing I’m thinking of that we haven’t seen yet would be cooperative forging, at least as far as I can remember we never had a bunch of people standing around one card taking turns swinging, It might also be cool if instead of Smith’s aiding in the process, we had someone else aiding in the creation of their own card similar to how Ganvils can aid a smith, like having a musician stand beside Arwen singing a he creates a card for them, this would only work if the Smith’s method of working on the card were similar enough in both the artistic and physical medium that they could mesh with the artist, hence why I used a musician as the music style is the most prominent in the story from the readers perspective, can’t remember how prominent it was stated as being on the whole, I’m also wondering since it’s been a while how often smiths use no style aids I can’t remember it being done recently, but if I remember correctly it was originally treated as a potential aid for some Smiths rather than one of many different styles. The difference between an aid and a style is something I’m not really sure of. I used to make a pretty big difference between them in my head until I wrote a comment about it and someone else responded and we had a little discussion on it so I’m not sure where to draw a distinction between now, and have been using them semi interchangeably. This has gotten a bit long, so I’m gonna end it here and probably make another comment somewhere else because there’s still so much in my head that I want to talk about.
Carrarn
I'm not planning on doing anything else with Daubutim's father. In my mind that part of his character progression is a lot further. If we see anything related to his father it will be when we see how Daubutim raises his own children and what influence his father still has on him with that. That all said, there is something from allllll the way back happening in the background. (well multiple things obviously) One thing that isn't to far off from your suggestion, just with different characters. (I wonder if you can figure it out :P)
Carrarn
How cards are 'farmed' currently depends on the area of the Portal Gallery people are in. Near the edges its a bit gung ho- while closer to the center its all more crystalized. That aid, most cards do come from either the highest rank worlds and their massive number of adjacent branches or from the outer branches as the prices in the central branches are far better. Addled almost never have cards, and only the exceptions (like the one Irwin found) that somehow consume one of sufficient quality, to withstand their soulforce draining will be findable. Your moral points are valid, which is one of the reasons a lot of research has been done, and is being done to create cards from ambient soulforce. However, and I'll try not to give to much away, when a wealthy noble or merchant family managed to come up with a way to do it... do you think they would just share it? Some might, but most would likely hide that ability to make a lot of profit.
Carrarn
Although I have a lot of backstory, including some of this, I don't have all of it thought out yet ;) Usually I make a rough outline of how it should work, and when I require it for the story I add them in. Soooo with that in mind, I love the idea you suggested for steam and water. The shadow one is something we might eventually see as I have that pretty much thought out. If you have any more good ideas, plot them in here and you might just seen of them pop up later! :)
Carrarn
Correct, but he didn't really get the time for it :) I'll make sure to get you all some juicy cards with the next chapter ;) might even be two! (O_O)
Carrarn
Fixed, all - The 200 years one is correct, and she insinuated she did go there, she just failed the subsequent tests. :)
Antony Claughton
which had ended up with him reforging two cards from quartz to ruby ==> given he blew up one card, should this be one card rather than two? otherwise." ==> otherwise. It could be, with that Ganvil, he bonded being one of the princes, no, prodigies they called them. ==> It could be with that Ganvil he bonded being one of the princes, no, prodigies they called them. You two can join us." ==> “You two can join us." Parka let them there, ==> Parka led them there, Guild Branche ==> Guild Branch Before you ask, I have no knowledge about any of that. I was tested and found lacking after reaching rank two ===> previous chapter didn’t she say she reached rank 2 or 3 before reaching 200? So, she would have met the criteria. much you oblige ==> must you oblige
Not Me
The idea of culling Addled for their cards is probably in the ethical realm of killing zombies for their territory. At some point, you probably have to accept that they are both beyond any practical means of salvation, and a tangible threat to your community's safety if left unchecked. Sure, you might need a bit of a steelier mental constitution to kill things that you know were once people, rather than things that were clearly monsters the whole time, but it's not a particularly difficult decision to rationalize, especially once you add in the value of the cards. And it's a decision that has been made repeatedly and at scale by the various communities of the Portal Gallery, so it's not that weird. I wouldn't be too surprised at any particular mix of sapients/nonsapients being farmed on Eluathar. It's already clear that there's hostile nonsapients present on the world, as well as friendly sapients. And portals offworld. Speaking of which, I wonder if Irwin's card still allows him access to lower-leveled side portals.
Not Me
Speaking of farming - I wonder if all the cards from Giard were skewed or biased in any which way, since Giard was in fact a farm world. Did it have a particular surplus of weapon or tool cards, or an unusual diversity of multiple types? Or perhaps cards that were particularly helpful for Gelwin's self-cloning cards? Since it appears to have been abandoned, maybe it simply had hard-to-smith types? I'd imagine that for an isolated community, what cards they can equip really depends on what their world provides them, and thus the carded people end up resembling their farming environment. But they have a majority of their innate cards as Giard cards, and a decent infusion of Portal Gallery cards that Irwin bought, so it will take some time for the types and impact of Eluathor cards to assert themselves.
Antony Claughton
I'm also curious if we'll ever see Daubutim's father again. Given we now know some of the portal-worlds being used to destroy places like the home-world have sub-portals to other Guilder worlds, it isn't a certainty that he's dead. There could be a really interesting subplot if he is recovered at any stage, and how he interacts with Daubutim.
Antony Claughton
Yep, the economics is interesting. As is just how much farming must be occurring. When you consider that each card was originally a creature, you hope most weren't sapient. We don't know what is happening on Eluathor in this respect, as getting cards is a priority with all the smiths and the need to upgrade the populace/defenders. Hopefully they've found some non-sapient species on sub-worlds which they can farm. Even better if there is a time dilation allowing them to collect cards at a very fast rate in the main world's timeline (let alone the portal gallery).
Not Me
Something that probably should be addressed (eventually) is how smiths' innate typings don't create massively skewed selections of reforged cards available to people. Like, if regular, low-level smiths tend towards fire, metal, kinetic, sound, soulforce, diagram, hammer, etc. cards, you would think that there would be a shortage of low grade versions of these cards on the market, as smiths would buy them for personal consumption, or be able to reforge them to higher grades more easily. And types that are opposite whatever smiths in general have (ice, corrosion, void, soulforce-nullification, etc.) probably exist in large numbers at low grades, but are much rarer to have high-grade or custom-forged copies of.
Not Me
It would be awesome to see smithing techniques derived from alternate schools of thought. Like, how would water or ice elementals go about smithing? Would they be focused on phase change and/or crystalization, rather than metal and resonance? Like, a water-based crafter might condense soulforce from a sort of steam into something more like a pool of water, then into a solid crystal and higher grade of card. Or an animal-based smith might view it as nurturing, feeding, growing, breeding, and eventually culling their flock. And a shadow-based smith could do something more purely related to the black dots on the card, or maybe something to do with angles, exposure, and isolating it from outside "light" (or soulforce) in certain patterns or just in totality.
Antony Claughton
We still didn’t get to see what those cards were reforged to! Lol
Antony Claughton
I wonder if smiths who use different smithing techniques could do so with different elementals? Eg those with fire could go to the Ignitzian world and forge with those elementals? A technique would synchronise with earth titans. Etc.
Antony Claughton
I’d have liked him to ask about that titan card, which I think we can assume is a world card. But discussing it has now been revealed as too dangerous. He can’t let slip he’s seen one. And especially not where it is. That gas giant and its moons are too valuable. Asking now about autonomous flying cards which can split off ammolite hand cards might be a giveaway…. Although, if you did want central branch support in the war, that might be one of the only ways to get it.
Antony Claughton
I think it’s simpler than that. She doesn’t believe Irwin could have the cards and abilities he has without representing a people as advanced as some central worlds. Because she underestimates Ganvils, doesn’t know he’s Galadin (or what that means) and doesn’t know what he’s learned, she is totally underestimating Irwin, and thus making bad assumptions. For example, she can sense his ability with soul force. She knows he’s filled his soul lake twice. We just heard how sought after cards associated with soul sensitivity are. Think of the resources she ASSUMES someone must have given him to fill his lake twice at that age. She’s working with limited knowledge which ironically has led her to some conclusions that are both partially correct but significantly wrong. Ironic because the correct element of her conclusions she's got to from entirely incorrect assumptions!
Stephen Pearson
Thanks for the chapter! :-)
Mojr
So those freed people's cards could grow to he a worldcard when they stayed on a world for a time. Just like rank 8 Ganvils can become world anvils. The Titan that appeared when Irwin reforged his heartcard also said he'd tell Irwin about Worldcards when he reached a certain level. Not sure what the level was, but I believe 8 soulcards or smth
Carrarn
Still working on a rebuild
Nicholas Del Rossi
I love the story. There are so many things I’m waiting to happen the next soul card. The going’s on at the new home world. The upcoming conflict with the guider. The big forging spree on the moon and potential encounter with the chaos whales and the giant card . Greldo everything. Learning more about card smithing. And every chance we get to see people’s reactions to Arwin and the people surrounding him. AMMMMMMBROZZZZ!!! So many individual characters I’ve realized I can’t name them all without making this way too big . And all the things I’ve almost certainly forgotten but will remember as they come back into the story going forward because this story is just so big and awesome at this point I’m bound to forget something I love about it .
Nicholas Del Rossi
Btw auther is there an update on that world bible site you were working on where we could See things like heart and soul cards and the cards that went into making them alongside other axioms of the world like the different branches of forging cards types of cards ECT, No hurry just thought I’d ask since it had to be taken down before.
Nicholas Del Rossi
If I remember right, the guild master believes that Arwin is hiding a ship capable of traveling the storm with more of (his people) out side there range, and that he is part of an old hidden family or people that live around this area, although she seems to be missing a lot of facts, Due to a lack of sources, she did hit surprisingly close to home, I wonder how this conversation is going to go, unfortunately, I’m going to have to wait four days to find out as anyone reading this, well almost anyone, there is one person who might read this who almost certainly knows. . .
Nicholas Del Rossi
World cards. . . I feel like I heard that name when we were freeing people from the guider’s chains, but maybe that was a different card, it does remind me of the world Ganvils and that massive card Arwin forged with the chaos whales on the moon.
