*000000*

[X] Simple thanks.

-[X] "I've never been under 'Close Protection' before, any tips to make things easier on both of us?"

((()))

"Thank you for coming out to protect us," you reply, "I've not really had a bodyguard detail before, what do I need to know to make this work better for both of us?"

"That depends on how safe you want to be," Lieutenant Harper says, "For maximum security, you'd have to stay indoors, preferably at an unknown secured location. That's basically putting yourself in prison though, so I'm presuming you're not interested?"

You shake your head.

"Moving on to more practical levels of security," Harper continues, "Try to keep situational awareness, avoid a predictable schedule, and given you have parahuman senses, keep us alerted as soon as you notice anything we haven't. If one of us says 'duck,' duck, and please take it seriously when we say there's a potential threat."

"That all sounds like common sense," you say with a nod, "Some of my powers can augment allies. Have any of you worked with parahumans before?"

"That's classified ma'am," Harper says, "But we'd certainly appreciate you telling us how you could help in a group effort to keep you alive."

"...We should go talk to Feather and the Izzet about this," you say after a moment's thought, "I'll see if I can get you into the mansion."

((()))

Twenty minutes later, after Feather has inspected every entrant with brightly-glowing eyes, dozens of soldiers are gathered in the mansion's atrium, and Actigall is studying them with some curiosity.

"I understand you all have been given a basic briefing on our abilities," Actigall says, addressing the crowd from halfway up the grand staircase, "Would whichever of you is highest-ranking share the short version of what you were told?"

"Bookwyrm is a Bet native and American citizen with 'I'm a Dragon with some magic powers," says a middle-aged man with slightly-more-ornate rank insignia than the rest, "The rest of you are mid to high level grab-bag capes."

"I see," Actigall says, "Well, to attempt to keep things functional, yet spare you the full lecture I used to give introductory students, 'Parahuman Powers' appeared on Earth Bet roughly three decades ago. On Ravnica, we've had such things for more than three thousand years, and as such, had vastly more time to study them and learn the underlying principles.

"It is a lifelong career to attempt to become 'powerful,' but a talented student may learn basic tricks in a week or two, and more substantial magic in a matter of months. I am a dedicated student of the arcane, and over the course of decades, have a very diverse array of abilities. My assistants are considered experienced professionals by the standards of Ravnica, and Bookwyrm a one-in-a-generation prodigy.

"We have offered to teach your people the principles of the arcane as part of our negotiations, and given the prior attack on Bookwyrm, I suspect that the assassination attempts are the result of someone specifically attempting to prevent dissemination of this knowledge."

Clearly expecting some hubbub at that, Actigall pauses for a moment, but apparently he's underestimated military discipline, as the soldiers at large keep quiet.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to stay in here until the FBI track down whoever was behind the attack?" the ranking officer asks.

"Fortunately for you," Actigall says wryly, "We're a bunch of research-obsessed shut-ins, happy for the excuse to not need to go out and take part in the political side of things. That only applies to some of us, however; Bookwyrm and the other Guild representatives will have their own responsibilities to fulfill."

"Are you finished then?" Feather asks dryly, moving up beside Actigall, "I'm a member of the Boros Legion, which is Ravnica's standing army. As a Guildmage, I'm loosely equivalent to what you would call a Warrant Officer, but before I focused more on my studies of the arcane, I held a regular officer's commission, so I understand the military mindset. To start with…"

You've heard Feather talk about magic in tactical use before, though there's more back-and-forth as an all-riflemen unit are not the same as having a detachment of crossbowmen along with the Boros' primarily-melee force. There's a little bit new there, and your first proper battle against foes with guns has left you with a few lessons learned as well.

Taylor is going up to 11 hit dice, and getting her first level in the custom Astral Constructor class. Link to said class here.

Accordingly, she gets Astral Might and Astral Dragon class abilities, and may select an Astral Dragon special ability.

In addition, she has a great wealth of XP to buy levels with. Particularly relevant right now:

1. Taylor is currently Caster Level 10, and can take an appropriate Prestige Class level to get it up to 11. Cerebramancer 1 or Swiftblade 2 would both do this, though players may ask if she can qualify for other PrCs. Any class that raises her CL to 11 will cost 11k XP at this time.

2. Taylor is currently Manifester Level 7 as a Psion. She more or less ran her Power Point reserves dry last fight summoning Astral Constructs. Cerebramancer would also raise this, at her next hit die Astral Constructor will give her one level, and if you want to double-down on Astral Constructs, you could start taking class levels in the canonical Constructor PrC, though that wouldn't give you another manifester level in it yet.

3. Taylor has Warblade 2, and due to the peculiarities of Initiator Level mechanics, Warblade 3 would make Taylor IL 7 for that, giving potential access to a 4th level maneuver, and so costing 7k XP.

4. If people want, Taylor could take additional levels of Fighter or Barbarian; they fit what she's been doing lately. War Shaper and Artificer also make sense as things she could continue, WS 2 costing 7k, Artificer 5 costing 5k.

Taylor also gets to pick one general feat at this level, and 15 skill points.

As I'm busy over the weekend, I'm not going to technically start the vote yet, but I am going to ask people to start formulating plans.

[X] Artificer 5 (5k XP)

[X] Cerebramancer (11k XP)

((()))

"We've talked before," Feather says, "About how some types of magic are seen here on Earth Bet, and you mentioned that people capable of 'mastering' humans have a strong social stigma attached to them. I've seen hints of that since we arrived here, but 'Heartbreaker' is the only person capable of enchanting people I've actually discussed with anyone else, and that's more of a permanent Dominate effect than what most enchantments are.

"Before I go back out there to finish addressing these people, I'd like it if you could do your best to communicate what this means to someone who grew up in this culture."

"...It's basically the largest social fear there is," you say, "The Simurgh is considered much more dangerous than either of the other Endbringers, even though she usually causes the least direct damage.

"There's almost nothing more terrifying than something else taking control of you; there's entire categories of folklore creatures that do it; possessing ghosts, vampires, zombies sort of qualify, science fiction gets in on it too, even if 'psionic mind control' would have fit better into fantasy until recently."

"So it's something that should be handled with the utmost care?" Feather asks.

You nod.

"I'll tell them we have a few other classified abilities as well," Feather says with a concerned frown, "And bring up that Ravnica possesses potent 'anti-master' capabilities. Have you learned any of the Magic Circle spells yet?"

"No," you say, shaking your head, "Just Protection."

"You'll probably want at least something in your tool kit for such things," Feather says, "Or an enchanted item, which is what most non-casters have to make do with."

"I'll look into it," you say, "There's already another magical item I should be discussing with Actigall."

((()))

[X] Talented

[X] Efficiency

[X] Heal.

((()))

In the end, you spend a couple hours hashing out some basic signals with Harper, and there's a lot of emphasis on reacting immediately if they tell you there's a threat, or telling them immediately if you do.

The captive is kept unconscious for almost a day while you and the senior Ravnicans discuss just how to handle the whole issue of mind-affecting magic. In the end, they ask for some of the government personnel to be present for a discussion before they interrogate them, and specifically find a different task for you to engage in at the same time.

Specifically, sorting out how to work with whatever parahumans were sent to be part of the Embassy's protective detail. The first hiccup you run into with this, is that apparently it is 'official policy' that the US military doesn't employ Parahumans. It seems ridiculous on the face of it, especially given the fact that you've never heard of this policy, but apparently several politicians worked together to make this a matter of pseudo-law.

Executive Orders with congressional support or something like that; it isn't illegal to hire or have parahumans in the military, but it's standing policy not to, and as the Major you talk to explains, several people have been fired or forced to resign for doing so. It doesn't make any sense to you, but it's how things are.

Fortunately, you have your own way to pick up on who is or isn't a parahuman, and Detect Magic quickly leads you to three individuals, quietly standing watch among the trees, who glow with the presence of active magic.

The most obvious, but with the weakest magical aura, looks like he stepped right off the set of an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie; tall, so massively muscled his uniform is tight across his shoulders, and his chiseled dark jaw looks like it could be used to shatter stone. A faint magic of strength enhancement rests on him, weak enough that you initially suspect he's carrying a magic item.

The next is an average-sized woman, her more normally-fitting uniform completely hiding everything except for her face, and her hair short enough that none of it leaks out of her helmet. She's humming a mildly happy tune as her gaze sweeps back and forth across the area, which is fitting given she has some sort of sensory-enhancement ability. You haven't seen anything quite like it before, but it includes at least a visual and auditory element, with a bit of mental enhancement too.

The third is much younger, and looks like a teenager that puberty hit in all the worst ways. He's slightly taller than average, but so stretched out he's only a couple steps short of gaunt, his face under attack by red blotches, and he seems incapable of sitting still, pacing around with jerky energy. The magic on him is too complex for you to read without blatantly staring, but it's heavy Transmutation with a little bit of Evocation mixed in.

[X] Let the grognards handle it.

[X] Chat semi-casually. Don't say things directly, but you still want some idea what you're working with, and it shouldn't be hard for them to pick up on what you're talking about.

((()))

"Hey," you say, walking to within easy conversational distance, then sitting down so you'll be as non-threatening as a Dragon reasonably can, "I think this is where one of the snipers was nesting."

"It was," the huge man says, his voice as deep as his size would suggest, "We saw the bodies; you did a real number on those two."

"Bastards shouldn't have shot at me," you say with a scowl, "And my weapons aren't quite as 'precise' as guns."

"That'll depend on the gun," the woman says, patting the assault rifle she's carrying on a sling, "And if you're looking at the entry or exit wound. Of course, Duke's Ma Deuce is a whole different story…"

'Duke' pats his enormous rifle, which looks like the type of 'sniper' rifle you've seen in passing in video games.

"I'm Else Givens," the woman says, "Can you handle guns with those claws of yours?"

"Nothing sized for a normal person," you say, raising your fore-paw "None of my fingers would fit in the trigger-guard."

"I had to have mine custom-fitted," Duke rumbles with a faint laugh, "Back when I was still using an M16. I bet we could get something heavy custom-fitted for you, like a real Ma Deuce."

"...I'm not familiar with the distinction?" you say, glancing at the big rifle he's carrying again.

"This is a Barrett M2," Duke says, "A anti-material sniper rifle designed specifically to use the same bullet as the M2 Browning Machine Gun, designed by his excellency, John Moses Browning back before World War II. It's still the best heavy machine gun in service today, but it weighs most of a hundred pounds, so it's not something a normal human can easily wield without a proper mount and bracing."

The third of them twitches a little at that, something you almost miss, given he hasn't stopped pacing.

You're pretty sure he thinks he could handle one of the heavy machine guns.

You end up spending a half an hour or so talking with the three of them about guns, and how the military does and does not use them. It's an interesting complement to what you already learned from Wencelas, who had a much more civilian perspective on firearms. The military, unsurprisingly, is a lot more focused on 'how much bullet do you need to stop the enemy,' and you're somewhat surprised to learn that usually, less than ten out of a hundred rounds fired actually hit an enemy.

Keeping the enemy pinned down is pretty important for people who aren't bulletproof (or nearly so), if they're sufficiently worried about getting shot full of holes, they either won't shoot back, or will have shit accuracy. Duke is a sniper, so he has more of a 'one shot, one kill' mentality, which can apply to light vehicles as much or more than people.

"I was shot with something like one of those once," you say, nodding towards his rifle, "By the E88. Never actually saw the rifle, so I'm not sure, but it hurt like hell. I think that was the worst I've ever been hurt in a fight, and pushed me to learn how to make my defensive barriers much stronger."

"So you're built like a tank?" the fidgety teenager asks, joining the conversation for the first time.

"Sort of?" you say, "My scales are pretty tough, and I've been working at layering iterative defensive effects to give an edge on top of that. For example, I'm pretty sure I'm proof against what a low-level Brute-"

You look meaningfully at Duke.

"-Could do, but a high-level Brute," you look back to the twitchy teenager, "I'm less sure of. It'd help, and I can heal wounds, but I'm not sure how much it would help."

"The history of modern combat medicine," twitchy says, "Has increasingly made it so that if you can survive the initial trauma, you can survive overall. If you're applying parahuman healing yourself, odds seem pretty good. Do you know the mechanism your powers work by?"

"Magic," you say with a little bit of a smirk.

A weird, half-confused, half-irritated experssion comes across the young man's face at that, and for several long seconds, he doesn't respond.

"You've got Twitch there," Givens laughs, reaching over carefully to pat him on the shoulder, "He likes to know how things work, and we were briefed on how Ravnicans approach parahuman powers, as a sort of magical science."

"Can you explain how that magic works?" Twitch asks, an intense yearning in his eyes as he asks.

'The Arcane 101' is fairly easy to lay out, and while Duke and Givens fairly clearly lose interest, Twitch actually settles down somewhat for the first time since you caught sight of him. He seems to pick up the concepts quickly; you recommend he see if he can get into some of the upcoming classes when he's off-shift.

In a little less than half an hour, Harper approaches you with word that you're being called back to the mansion for an important briefing.

((()))

"He knew relatively little," Feather says with a frown, nodding towards the unconscious captive, "But that in and of itself tells us something; this assault was set up by well-informed professionals who paid for it even though they had substantial expectation it might fail."

You don't know what spells were used to get answers out of the captive, but apparently they were enough that the officials and officers present are looking slightly uncomfortable. Nobody looks pissed or scared though, so apparently talking out the capabilities of the school of enchantment was successful, or as much as that's possible.

"He's part of a mercenary crew that usually operates in Africa," Feather continues, "They don't keep fixed bases, so there's no specific destination for us to counter-raid, and they were hired through a middle-man. Providentially, he was one of the mercenaries who met with the middle-man, so we have a name and a place to go for our next target.

"Given they had a teleporter in their employ, we need to act quickly. The three Parahumans that were part of the attack were subcontracted mercenaries, not part of the regular outfit, which might be part of why they coordinated relatively poorly against us. They've probably already made it back across the Atlantic, if they didn't retreat there immediately, so we need to move before the middle-man goes to ground."

"Given they're operating out of Dakar," one of the state department suits says, "The most we can offer you in support is general intelligence on the ground, at least if you're going to act this quickly. I'm sure that if you wait a day or two, the president will authorize serious support; we don't take attacks on diplomats we host lightly."

"No," Feather says, shaking her head, "If we're going to learn anything useful, we have to move now. I will be going, along with Elmira and one of the Izzet Guildmages. Bookwyrm, are you willing to accompany us?"