Why are you special?

After we loot, while I'm working on the next door we plan to check - it's trapped, nasty guillotine blade, it would absolutely get through my hardness and into my hit points… not all the way through, though, so I'd be fine in minutes - Wally whispers in my ear, "So where did you get what you're wearing?"

Great… well, Wally was at least trying to be a gentleman about it, but I really don’t want Carter, and DEFINITELY NOT Paul figuring it out. So… I nab Lesser Telepathic Bond, and drop a Fleeting version on Wally. 《I didn't. It's an illusion. You were at least trying to be a gentleman about it, so I'm going to let you in on it, but do NOT tell Paul or Carter, all right?》

《Wait, you're…》 Yeah, I can feel his eyes go wide, even though I'm not looking.

I mentally sigh as I keep working, 《Yeah, just my backpack, some trade goods, and a few weapons. I'll let YOU look, just don't stare, all right?》

《Ah… there’s that, yes please and thank you, but… you can mind speak?》

Oh, right… 《No, I can't. Not currently, anyway. This is a lesser version of the Telepathic Bond spell. I can link myself to another person, it doesn't let me bond a group. So I can cast it on you, and we can talk with each other, and I could cast it on Carter and talk back and forth with him… but I can't hook you and Carter up this way. I'd have to relay, and that's problematic anywhere time matters, like where it'd be most useful to have silent conversations that are hard to overhear.》

《Telepathy can be intercepted?》

《A couple of ways, yes. Not overly important right now…》I finish with the door, "We're good to keep going," right now, it’s annoying that my DM only ever let us level up in relatively safe circumstances… I’m only one XP away, and I’m stuck there, probably until we're done with this place… at which point, with how much there is to kill down here, I'm probably going to be stuck one XP away from the next level. 《What is important: Do Paul and Carter know you revere The Blessed Mother's opposite?》

As we go into the next room - this one empty, save for two more doors, both made of bone… and both trapped - Wally pauses in the conversation for a bit, and adds, 《No. How do you, Dolly?》

As I start in on the next door, I answer:《Came up when I was speaking to him. He told me. Directly and plainly. He didn’t tell me which of his titles you use, though.》

Carter and Paul seem a little impatient, Wally at least has the conversation,《You… spoke to the Harvester of Souls?》

So that’s the title in use… OK… 《Yes, he’s my sponsor… and do NOT let that slip to Carter and Paul, please. The Blessed Mother really doesn’t like the Harvester of Souls, and she’ll have them after my head.》

As I finish off this trap, and get the lock as well, I let everyone know, “Sounds of movement on the other side, we’ll have company.”

The chat with Wally is put on hold for a bit as we try to deal with the beasts - darkly beautiful angels, covered in bruises and scars, their black-feathered wings stretched out. I go for the massive blasting again, dropping four quick Scintillating Sphere spells on them, and going ahead and maximizing ten of the damage dice via Divine Providence this time; only three of them live… despite having just watched seven of their companions die, the creatures don’t slow down or run. What is it with these things? They just zap away with Unholy Blight spells… I shrug it off entirely - my Mythic power gives me something very much like Mettle, so beating the save makes it completely ineffective against me - but behind me… Carter and Paul are hurt, but moving. Wally though… he’s not breathing anymore. Stupid low hit die for wizards.

Paul and Carter are troopers. They dig in and finish off the outsiders I’d softened. As they fight, hit Wally’s body with a Gentle Repose spell… so that as far as resurrection magic is concerned, it’s still within one round of his death.

And I really want that caster level boost now. Don’t want to go against Death’s advice… I shouldn’t hurt souls, but I NEED a Last Breath for him … what else… ah, Adept Spirit… Discharge spell, so not a forever caster level boost… but a single minute will do. So… Channel the Gift and Fleeting Lesser Evolution Surge gets me the Incarnum Spellshaping Feat, and then I cast Adept Spirit on myself, which I discharge… allowing me to hit Wally’s corpse with a Last Breath spell.

As his body twists and warps, the new body starting to form from the remains of the old one, I also ensure this won’t happen again. Greater Celestial Healing so his wounds will recover swiftly; Delay Death so he can’t be killed by simple damage; Delay Poison, Disease, and Pain so he’s not going to suffer from those common ailments; Freedom of Movement to prevent him from getting trapped; Life Bubble to prevent suffocation; Death Ward to put a hefty buffer against death spells; Protection from Evil and Disobedience to keep his mind his own; and Sheltered Vitality to keep his stats from getting damaged.  That takes a little bit, so Paul and Carter finish off this set of monsters while I work.  

“No, Wally, you’re not going to die today. You’re going to live a long, long time.”

Oh, I said that out loud? Oh well…

Carter frowns at me as he seems to recognize the only visible spell effect at play, “That’s… Reincarnate? But …” I watch him cast Detect Magic, “I’m not seeing the spell… that’s what it does, though. How? Are you a Druid?”

Ah, right. One of the few classes that has enough background that it’s almost impossible to divorce the class name from the religious category … and hey, misinformation for Life, “I don’t know how people feel about druidism here. I’m very adept at hiding the auras of my spells. This will bring Wally back, and won’t weaken him meaningfully. There’s only a very thin window where this version can be used, though.” One round, specifically for Last Breath, although Gentle Repose does extend that… indefinitely, in my case… but it works without level loss. “It’ll still take an hour for his new body to form. Is it OK to wait here that long?”

Paul nods, “For this, yes, no problem. We’ll keep watch… you take care of your boyfriend, all right?”

… ah, yes, that was definitely out loud earlier. Well… cover. If Life’s going after women who like women, Wally will make a fine beard… of course, that only takes care of ME. Everyone else… ugh.

… although watching Wally warp, he might not make a good beard anymore. He’s getting shorter and thinner, his ears are getting pointy… that’s not too big of a deal for this. Half elves are apparently common enough, so an elf and a human being together isn’t that much of an issue… and I don’t age. However… his chest has two growing lumps, and his hips are widening out. That was not in the spell description. It says the dead guy gets a new body, says it’ll be a random race and gives a table for that… the spell says nothing about trading chromosomes!

On the plus side, he goes from human, with a maximum age of seventy two to ninety years, to an elf, With a maximum age of three hundred fifty four to seven hundred fifty years. So a couple extra hundred years of life, even with the difference in starting ages. But still! Changing genders is very disruptive to one’s life!

…

Of course, so’s dying. And it’s not exactly easy to ask Wally how he feels about it WHILE he’s dead. Well… it’s… probably better than being dead? I’m not sure what Death’s world is like, other than his office where I do my leveling. Which is a fairly nice office. I mean, I didn’t see a single zombie or skeleton walking around… of course, it’s also been just me and Death each time. Hmm.

After the hour is up, Wally opens his eyes… or is that her eyes, now? Regardless… Wally’s eyes open.

“Hey Wally… you’re back. You were dead, and I brought you back… but it was a Reincarnate effect, so you’ve got a brand-new body - you’ve changed pretty significantly.” How do I break it to him?

“So I’m young again… “ Wally forces a cough, “Again … why’s my voice so high? Did I come back as a halfling or something? The room doesn’t look any bigger… actually, why’s it the same room? We usually do this back in town… were we packing a scroll or … no, Lorin was always the one using the Druidic scrolls…” Wally sits up, pauses, and looks down at himself, “Huh. That’s new.”

“... that’s it? That’s your reaction?” I’m a little flabbergasted.

Paul laughs, “OK, so… this is Wally’s … fourth, I think? … Reincarnation. I’ve had six, Carter’s had five. We would have gotten one for Lorin, but… he’s the one that knew how to use the scrolls, and we didn’t have even the little bit of his body needed for it. They’re a lot cheaper than the other methods of coming back from the grave, and much easier to find. Like, a Reincarnation scroll costs just seventeen hundred crowns, while one for Raise Dead clocks in at over six thousand. And… well, this is hazardous work. As a bonus, you’re young again. Downside… well, you’re not who you were. The race thing is fixable; a ‘basic’ scroll of Miracle is just shy of four thousand crowns, so it’s still less than a scroll of Raise Dead. So… that spell you just did saved us the cost of a scroll, which is pretty nice.”

Wally considers, “More than one. I think we can skip the two Restoration scrolls too… and the wait between using them. That was the smoothest return I’ve ever had: I’m not feeling the death at all. Well, other than the obvious…” Wally grabs his new chest, looks at me, and frowns a moment.

Ah… new body, needs a new spell… I go through the hoops for Lesser Telepathic bond again - and for me, no visual manifestation at all for this, 《Sorry, new body, needs new spells. What was the question?》

《It was only an hour, but my lord had a chat with me. I’m to give you any help you need, because you’re his champion. And no, I won’t spill your secrets. I have to ask though… we’ve done fourteen Reincarnations before this one, and none of them hopped this fence. Any idea what’s going on?》

《Not really, no; I wasn’t expecting it ether.》

Paul doesn’t stop for our mental conversation, though, “Ooh, that’s nice. So just the Miracle to get your shortsword out of hawk. Well… you ready to get back to work?”

Wally stands up and checks his gear… and by that I mean his books, wands, spell component pouches, backpack, and so on. He checked his other gear earlier, “Yes. Let’s get to it.”

Huh. Death’s revolving door, then? Just like in the game….