He finishes chewing and swallowing before replying, putting him several steps up on table manners among Worldwound adventurers.

"A storm-giant of a tall order, yes.  I suspect that a true fact got out somewhere in there, and nobody had any better ideas than to bury it under a flood of untrue ones spread as fast as possible by Securities all attesting to what they saw with their own eyes."

"My best attempt to filter through the lot and reconstruct something that could have plausibly happened:  An ordinary weapons enchanter named Sevar, stationed at the Worldwound, received a vision from Asmodeus directing to her to find some manner of mini-Starstone, which empowers people in several ways.  One of those includes bypassing Forbiddances in order to move about cake slices, books, and, in a much more important case, diamonds; providing that you are intending to give the cake to somebody, or lend the book to somebody, it can't be used that freely.  The mini-Starstone bestows powerful auras that may not match true alignments, but are sufficient to change afterlife destinations.  It may grant minor cleric spells and arcane vision.  I do not, presently, buy the claim that seeing the future is included among bestowed powers, since if that were possible at all, the gods would still have it.  The initial group of subjects exposed to it were graduating students at Ostenso's wizard academy."

"The mini-Starstone either fails to empower men who touch it, or turns them into women.  It makes people more physically ideal and perfected, over time; which is why you, as the first person to touch it, are now the prettiest of this very noticeably pretty group; and, according to at least one rumor, have become visibly prettier over the last few days."

"I admit, I'd given less credence to the turns-into-women theory, and probably wouldn't have mentioned it at all, if you weren't wearing an obviously-magical man's shirt.  Not that I'd hold that against you, if you're not exclusive with Abrogail."  He smiles in a way that makes it very clear that this is supposed to be a complete joke, or at least, deniable as such.

He finishes chewing and swallowing before replying, putting him several steps up on table manners among Worldwound adventurers.

"A storm-giant of a tall order, yes.  I suspect that a true fact got out somewhere in there, and nobody had any better ideas than to bury it under a flood of untrue ones spread as fast as possible by Securities all attesting to what they saw with their own eyes."

"My best attempt to filter through the lot and reconstruct something that could have plausibly happened:  An ordinary weapons enchanter named Sevar, stationed at the Worldwound, received a vision from Asmodeus directing to her to find some manner of mini-Starstone, which empowers people in several ways.  One of those includes bypassing Forbiddances in order to move about cake slices, books, and, in a much more important case, diamonds; providing that you are intending to give the cake to somebody, or lend the book to somebody, it can't be used that freely.  The mini-Starstone bestows powerful auras that may not match true alignments, but are sufficient to change afterlife destinations.  It may grant minor cleric spells and arcane vision.  I do not, presently, buy the claim that seeing the future is included among bestowed powers, since if that were possible at all, the gods would still have it.  The initial group of subjects exposed to it were graduating students at Ostenso's wizard academy."

"The mini-Starstone either fails to empower men who touch it, or turns them into women.  It makes people more physically ideal and perfected, over time; which is why you, as the first person to touch it, are now the prettiest of this very noticeably pretty group; and, according to at least one rumor, have become visibly prettier over the last few days."

"I admit, I'd given less credence to the turns-into-women theory, and probably wouldn't have mentioned it at all, if you weren't wearing an obviously-magical man's shirt.  Not that I'd hold that against you, if you're not exclusive with Abrogail."  He smiles in a way that makes it very clear that this is supposed to be a complete joke, or at least, deniable as such.  "Oh, and your project manager is a complete fuckup but I don't think anyone has actually deduced what the details were."

He finishes chewing and swallowing before replying, putting him several steps up on table manners among Worldwound adventurers.

"A storm-giant of a tall order, yes.  I suspect that a true fact got out somewhere in there, and nobody had any better ideas than to bury it under a flood of untrue ones spread as fast as possible by Securities all attesting to what they saw with their own eyes."

"My best attempt to filter through the lot and reconstruct something that could have plausibly happened:  An ordinary weapons enchanter named Sevar, stationed at the Worldwound, received a vision from Asmodeus directing to her to find some manner of mini-Starstone, which empowers people in several ways.  One of those includes bypassing Forbiddances in order to move about cake slices, books, and, in a much more important case, diamonds; providing that you are intending to give the cake to somebody, or lend the book to somebody, it can't be used that freely.  The mini-Starstone bestows powerful auras that may not match true alignments, but are sufficient to change afterlife destinations.  It may grant minor cleric spells and arcane vision.  I do not, presently, buy the claim that seeing the future is included among bestowed powers, since if that were possible at all, the gods would still have it.  The initial group of subjects exposed to it were graduating students at Ostenso's wizard academy."

"The mini-Starstone either fails to empower men who touch it, or turns them into women.  It makes people more physically ideal and perfected, over time; which is why you, as the first person to touch it, are now the prettiest of this very noticeably pretty group; and, according to at least one rumor, have become visibly prettier over the last few days."

"I admit, I'd given less credence to the turns-into-women theory, and probably wouldn't have mentioned it at all, if you weren't wearing an obviously-magical-looking man's shirt that no longer fits you.  Not that I'd hold that against you, if you're not exclusive with Abrogail."  He smiles in a way that makes it very clear that this is supposed to be a complete joke, or at least, deniable as such.  "Oh, and your project manager is a complete fuckup but I don't think anyone has actually deduced what the details were."

He finishes chewing and swallowing before replying, putting him several steps up on table manners among Worldwound adventurers.

"A storm-giant of a tall order, yes.  I suspect that a true fact got out somewhere in there, and nobody had any better ideas than to bury it under a flood of untrue ones spread as fast as possible by Securities all attesting to what they saw with their own eyes."

"My best attempt to filter through the lot and reconstruct something that could have plausibly happened:  An ordinary weapons enchanter named Sevar, stationed at the Worldwound, received a vision from Asmodeus directing to her to find some manner of mini-Starstone, which empowers people in several ways.  One of those includes bypassing Forbiddances in order to move about cake slices, books, and, in a much more important case, diamonds.  You need to give the cake to somebody who'll eat it, or give the book to somebody who'll read it, the ability can't be used that freely.  The mini-Starstone bestows powerful auras that may not match true alignments, but are sufficient to change afterlife destinations.  It may grant minor cleric spells and arcane vision.  I do not, presently, buy the claim that seeing the future is included among bestowed powers, since if that were possible at all, the gods would still have it.  The initial group of subjects exposed to it were graduating students at Ostenso's wizard academy."

"The mini-Starstone either fails to empower men who touch it, or turns them into women.  It makes people more physically ideal and perfected, over time; which is why you, as the first person to touch it, are now the prettiest of this very noticeably pretty group; and, according to at least one rumor, have become visibly prettier over the last few days."

"I admit, I'd given less credence to the turns-into-women theory, and probably wouldn't have mentioned it at all, if you weren't wearing an obviously-magical-looking man's shirt that no longer fits you.  Not that I'd hold that against you, if you're not exclusive with Abrogail."  He smiles in a way that makes it very clear that this is supposed to be a complete joke, or at least, deniable as such.  "Oh, and your project manager is a complete fuckup but I don't think anyone has actually deduced what the details were."

He finishes chewing and swallowing before replying, putting him several steps up on table manners among Worldwound adventurers.

"A storm-giant of a tall order, yes.  I suspect that a true fact got out somewhere in there, and nobody had any better ideas than to bury it under a flood of untrue ones spread as fast as possible by Securities all attesting to what they saw with their own eyes."

"My best attempt to filter through the lot and reconstruct something that could have plausibly happened:  An ordinary weapons enchanter named Sevar, stationed at the Worldwound, received a vision from Asmodeus directing to her to find some manner of mini-Starstone, which empowers people in several ways.  One of those includes bypassing Forbiddances in order to move about cake slices, books, and, in a much more important case, diamonds.  You need to give the cake to somebody who'll eat it, or give the book to somebody who'll read it, the ability can't be used that freely.  The mini-Starstone bestows powerful auras that may not match true alignments, but are sufficient to change afterlife destinations.  It may grant minor cleric spells and magical detection.  I do not, presently, buy the claim that seeing the future is included among bestowed powers, since if that were possible at all, the gods would still have it.  The initial group of subjects exposed to it were graduating students at Ostenso's wizard academy."

"The mini-Starstone either fails to empower men who touch it, or turns them into women.  It makes people more physically ideal and perfected, over time; which is why you, as the first person to touch it, are now the prettiest of this very noticeably pretty group; and, according to at least one rumor, have become visibly prettier over the last few days."

"I admit, I'd given less credence to the turns-into-women theory, and probably wouldn't have mentioned it at all, if you weren't wearing an obviously-magical-looking man's shirt that no longer fits you.  Not that I'd hold that against you, if you're not exclusive with Abrogail."  He smiles in a way that makes it very clear that this is supposed to be a complete joke, or at least, deniable as such.  "Oh, and your project manager is a complete fuckup but I don't think anyone has actually deduced what the details were."

He finishes chewing and swallowing before replying, putting him several steps up on table manners among Worldwound adventurers.

"A storm-giant of a tall order, yes.  I suspect that a true fact got out somewhere in there, and nobody had any better ideas than to bury it under a flood of untrue ones spread as fast as possible by Securities all attesting to what they saw with their own eyes."

"My best attempt to filter through the lot and reconstruct something that could have plausibly happened:  An ordinary weapons enchanter named Sevar, stationed at the Worldwound, received a vision from Asmodeus directing her to find some manner of mini-Starstone, which empowers people in several ways.  One of those includes bypassing Forbiddances in order to move about cake slices, books, and, in a much more important case, diamonds.  You need to give the cake to somebody who'll eat it, or give the book to somebody who'll read it, the ability can't be used that freely.  The mini-Starstone bestows powerful auras that may not match true alignments, but are sufficient to change afterlife destinations.  It may grant minor cleric spells and magical detection.  I do not, presently, buy the claim that seeing the future is included among bestowed powers, since if that were possible at all, the gods would still have it.  The initial group of subjects exposed to it were graduating students at Ostenso's wizard academy."

"The mini-Starstone either fails to empower men who touch it, or turns them into women.  It makes people more physically ideal and perfected, over time; which is why you, as the first person to touch it, are now the prettiest of this very noticeably pretty group; and, according to at least one rumor, have become visibly prettier over the last few days."

"I admit, I'd given less credence to the turns-into-women theory, and probably wouldn't have mentioned it at all, if you weren't wearing an obviously-magical-looking man's shirt that no longer fits you.  Not that I'd hold that against you, if you're not exclusive with Abrogail."  He smiles in a way that makes it very clear that this is supposed to be a complete joke, or at least, deniable as such.  "Oh, and your project manager is a complete fuckup but I don't think anyone has actually deduced what the details were."

He finishes chewing and swallowing before replying, putting him several steps up on table manners among Worldwound adventurers.

"A storm-giant of a tall order, yes.  I suspect that a true fact got out somewhere in there, and nobody had any better ideas than to bury it under a flood of untrue ones spread as fast as possible by Securities all attesting to what they saw with their own eyes."

"My best attempt to filter through the lot and reconstruct something that could have plausibly happened:  An ordinary weapons enchanter, stationed at the Worldwound, received a vision from Asmodeus directing them to find some manner of mini-Starstone, which empowers people in several ways.  One of those includes bypassing Forbiddances in order to move about cake slices, books, and, in a much more important case, diamonds.  You need to give the cake to somebody who'll eat it, or give the book to somebody who'll read it, the ability can't be used that freely.  The mini-Starstone bestows powerful auras that may not match true alignments, but are sufficient to change afterlife destinations.  It may grant minor cleric spells and magical detection.  I do not, presently, buy the claim that seeing the future is included among bestowed powers, since if that were possible at all, the gods would still have it.  The initial group of subjects exposed to it were graduating students at Ostenso's wizard academy."

"The mini-Starstone either fails to empower men who touch it, or turns them into women.  It makes people more physically ideal and perfected, over time; which is why you, as the first person to touch it, are now the prettiest of this very noticeably pretty group; and, according to at least one rumor, have become visibly prettier over the last few days."

"I admit, I'd given less credence to the turns-into-women theory, and probably wouldn't have mentioned it at all, if you weren't wearing an obviously-magical-looking man's shirt that no longer fits you.  Not that I'd hold that against you, if you're not exclusive with Abrogail."  He smiles in a way that makes it very clear that this is supposed to be a complete joke, or at least, deniable as such.  "Oh, and your project manager is a complete fuckup but I don't think anyone has actually deduced what the details were."