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Sometimes, Laermali envies Order and the Shield. Not having the responsibilities and distractions of a pantheon sounds nice, occasionally. She hasn't had a chance to pursue Magic much these last several centuries.

She still wants to expand her domain to include affinities in general, but she hasn't made any progress on that in even longer! Pestering Order is a dead end, no matter how tempting it is to bother him, nor how interesting it is to hear his own insights into them. There's a lot to understand about affinities, enough that she was starting to wonder if she'd ever be able to make progress.

And then the Ice Sage appeared.

She's glad she asked the others about how to approach. She would have sent her entire priesthood as a show of respect, without thinking about how it could have been seen as intimidating. Knowing what she knows now, Thedeim would have probably forever shut her out if she tried something like that. He's somehow less interested in glory than even Order, and he only has any clergy at all because the Order of it appeals to him.

She suspects Thedeim only has a growing base of followers because he hasn't noticed it yet. The strange deity seems to prefer to ignore his divinity. Well, everyone deals with it in their own way at first. It's better than going on a rampage, at least. And though he himself doesn't seem to be sharing his insights into affinities, the Ice Sage is more than happy to.

Tula doesn't have the theoretical base to understand a lot of what Rhonda is teaching her, but sending a more learned scholar would have made the process even slower. It's one thing to learn something new, it's another to have to unlearn something, first. Tula doesn't understand how ice, fire, and kinetic affinities are linked, and in truth, even Laermali is finding it difficult to fathom. Her followers are not the only ones that might need to unlearn, it seems.

Still, she's trying. Opposites being linked as two extremes of one concept is an appealing idea, but she's still clearly missing something. Are air and earth extremes of airiness or earthiness? Perhaps tangibility? Metal would arguably be even more solid than earth, so is that the opposite of air, or is there no actual link at all?

These are the kinds of questions that tempt her to ground her pantheon to their demesnes so she can have some research time. But no, she needs to listen to her children as they bring their issues to her. Most are simply updating her on what they're doing. Most of her children are diligent, leading their followers to strengthen their domains without unnecessary strife.

Some of her other children, however, bicker and squabble with each other, though only occasionally because their domains clash. The ones at cross-purposes almost all prefer distance, settling on a peace of separation. It's the ones where the domains are so close that they could overlap that have the most vicious arguments.

Fortunately, this meeting is looking to be nice and quiet. They might even finish early and give her some time to do a bit of research. A smile plays at her lips before she feels something... Change.

Her children look around as Hegal pauses his presentation, all of them able to feel something has happened, but they can't tell what. Laermali's eyes widen before she stands from her seat. "Dear Hegal, I'm afraid I must ask you to delay your report. I'm proud of what you've done, but... something appears to have come up."

Her son nods and bows. "Of course, Mother. I can give you the details later, if you are interested."

She smiles at her son, the god of Fish. She doesn't see the appeal in the creatures he does, but it makes him happy, which makes her happy to listen. "Indeed. If you'll all excuse me, my children," she makes her excuses to step into her demesne, where all semblance of calm is discarded.

She dives deep into Magic, feeling the new affinity sitting there without a care in the world, existing like it was somehow always there. She glares at it for a few long moments, before taking a step back and calming herself. It's an affinity, it's not mocking her. They don't work like that... no matter how much it feels like they do.

Like this one right now. What in her own name is Gravity?! It evokes concepts of motion... no, acceleration? What is this? It refuses to give her much more information, but at least that makes sense. Its domain belongs to someone. She has a good idea of who before she even traces the faint connection, and isn't especially surprised when she sees.

She felt the Change, so of course it's something Thedeim has done. Now if only she could figure out what he actually did. Or even just figure out if he's done. If he keeps this up, he might claim affinities as a domain, too. It would hurt her pride, for certain. Her children would probably stir trouble on her behalf, too. She'll just need to calm them, and support Tula as much as possible.

If Order and the Shield are right, the best way to get Thedeim's help will be to be helpful in her own way. Perhaps she can have Tula help with his fledgling church? The dungeon deity's High Priestess looks to be doing a good job, but she's not foolish enough to turn away advice.

Maybe she can even get one of her children to help, though which will take some careful consideration. If she plays her cards right, not only could she get close to someone who knows a lot about affinities, she might be able to get some research time, too. It'd take a miracle, but is that not well within her power?

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Happy Easter, everyone. Rejoice, for He is risen. Have a good Sunday :)

Khenal