The OP Lich is a Returnee, Book 17 Prologue

Yes, a holiday chapter. Though not holiday-themed.

Prologue – Trade Chat

(Magical World Disharmony Server, General Chat)

UsualSuspect, manoutoftime, muon, MewTwo, Avariel, Chummer, Golddigger, CrazyCelt, Blaze, DoYouEvenLyft?, MarcoPolo, MightMakesRight, MacD, Inquisitor, OrangeQueen, Lizard, RedFox, SemiSolidSnake, BabyShark, Lichwatcher, Not_the_Face!, TheLichQueen, Scholar, Salty, Anonymous3, Anonymous4, Anonymous7, Anonymous9, WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot, DigDug, Backlog, DarkAvariel, Knocker, GrimDark, BloodForTheBloodGod, BackDat@55Up and DarkAngel are in the chat.

BackDat@55Up: Wonder how the seal-breaking thing went. I mean.

Salty: Well, we all know when she went to Mt. Shasta. She was being as subtle as an artillery barrage, after all.

Inquisitor: Smart play, that. She was using public awareness to ward off any secret agent shenanigans. If all eyes are on her, then anyone who acts against her will be exposed immediately.

Blaze: And given that she went on the talk show circuit to inform people exactly what could happen if she failed, and urged them to call their congresspeople about it, visibly trying to stop her from doing the ritual would be political suicide. Possibly enough to bring down whole agencies.

WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot: Doesn’t matter how insulated from public opinion a politician is, the idea of the entire West Coast falling into the sea is going to make anyone think twice about getting involved. They’d let someone else get the blame for it.

MacD: So, do we know anything, yet?

muon: Well, I have a friend in the California National Guard, who gave me some interesting news.

RedFox: Well, spill!

muon: So, after LQ made her press conference in Australia, the Governor sent some National Guard up to Mt. Shasta, to try and find the entrance to the seal. However, after the Azores, that became “Keep everyone away from the seal”.

GrimDark: A politician showing common sense? Is this Opposite Day?

Scholar: More likely someone put 2 and 2 together long before LQ announced it on the talk shows, and decided that a blast the size of what happened in the Azores going off near major fault lines was a Bad Thing.

muon: What Scholar said. Anyways, there was a ruckus as people were very loudly complaining about some secret agent types who tried to ‘national security’ their way into being in charge of the Guard troops out there, but the guy in charge told them to get orders in writing first.

DarkAngel: That guy must be a lawyer in his day job, or at least work with them. That’s total CYA thinking, there.

MacD: So, I take it that no one was willing to cut those orders?

muon: Nope. Not even the General in charge or the Governor, it seems.

RedFox: So, what were the loud complaints about?

muon: My buddy thinks they just wanted to ‘unofficially’ get the word out about these secret agents trying to screw around without actually telling anyone about them. So that if anything happened, more people would know.

UsualSuspect: Smart play. Get the word out in a way where they can’t pin it to any one ‘leaker’.

Lichwatcher: This just in! LQ spotted in LA! Doesn’t seem to be anything different about her, or her entourage, which has her little sister now.

MarcoPolo: The little sister who looks older than LQ does, thanks to LQ’s magic.

Scholar: She actually just earned her doctorate in Thaumaturgy, you know. Her dissertation on ‘The Systemized Combination of Thaumaturgical Magic and Arcanist-Style Magic’ was groundbreaking.

DarkAngel: Arcanist style is the ‘wizard’ style, right? With spell formulas and needing to know more about everything, right?

TheLichQueen: That is one way of putting it, yes. The better you understand the processes of the world around you, the more powerful an Arcanist you are. It is the style that translates the easiest to Thaumaturgy, like comparing French and Italian. They’re different, yes, but certainly closer than French and Greek, or French and Japanese, which are from entirely different language families.

Not_the_Face!: LQ! I assume that, if you’re talking here, and everything hasn’t blown up, that the unsealing went well?

TheLichQueen: Oh, yes. It went as well as could be expected. But back to my sister’s dissertation, I will point out that it was almost entirely her own work. She is a Life Sorceress, by the tests I’ve given her, but I expect that, by the time she rises to Archsorceress, she will already be an Archvitamancer, as well. In fact, I have high hopes for her being the first Archmage on Earth since the Sealing.

MarcoPolo: And you’re studying thaumaturgy, as well, right?

TheLichQueen: Indeed. Thankfully, I’ve already practiced learning other styles of magic. If we continue the language metaphor from before, I am a polyglot, so picking up a new language is easier for me than it would be for others.

Scholar: I thought you still couldn’t use production CADs. Is it possible to use Thaumaturgy without CADs?

TheLichQueen: Yes, it is, though there are issues. You see, a mage shapes magic with their minds. Because of this, most mages are taught early on to think in another language when casting spells, so that they associate magic with that language, and do not accidentally set things on fire when they are in casual conversation. In Athelia-That-Was, a mage would typically speak Athelian in their day-to-day life, but use High Athelian for their magic. The two languages are essentially the same as writing Japanese in Katakana and Kanji.

Scholar: I see. So, to use magic, you essentially translate the Katakana into Kanji and ‘write’ it?

TheLichQueen: Indeed. However, if we continue this thread, then Thaumaturgy would be written English, or possibly ‘Romaji’ Japanese, trying to write Japanese with the Roman alphabet. Your CADs are basically machine translators, which is why they are limited to preprogrammed spells with a number of variables set at casting, to minimize machine errors. Since I cannot use the machine translator, I have to learn the language, as it were, until I can write it as easily as I can Katakana.

MacD: While I’m sure Scholar is thrilled with this conversation, what about the Prime Seal? Did everything go well? Did you find someone to get turned into a Hero?

TheLichQueen: Oh, yes. Everything went perfectly. The Seal was released without issue, and the only long-term effects will be those of the general rise in mana levels around the world.

Lizard: So, where did you find a new Hero? And what did they turn into?

TheLichQueen: Naturally, I chose the one person I could trust absolutely with this trial, myself. And as for my changes? Well, I am still me, but moreso.

Lizard: Sweet! There were 4-to-1 odds on you choosing yourself as the Hero! But you mean you transformed into more of a lich?

TheLichQueen: Yes, and no. Yes, I am a more powerful lich, but the process removed all my weaknesses, allowing me to use any element as fluently as I can Death. I am now the first Omnimage on Earth, able to use all Elements and all Styles equally.

WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot: And that would be the cue for military leaders around the world to clench so hard if you shoved coal up their butt you’d get a diamond.