Jaycee's Blog - Mon, Jan 22 (Patreon)

I'm still on the road, as you probably expected. I've also gotten myself a new tattoo, though it's harder than before since I have to be discreet about finding the components I need (or finding a tattoo artist who can help me). Tarantina is on the hunt for me and will absolutely murderize me if/when she gets her hands on me. So in order to help me stay under the radar, I was able to get myself another tattoo—but this time, it's a "common" type, i.e. one notch above the ones I've gotten before (which were all "trivial").

This one's called Ab'neeth ("Shape Change"). In addition to completely altering my appearance (including gender), it also comes with benefits: increased strength/stamina/agility (depending on the shape I take), increased lung capacity, night vision, and the like). I can't transform into non-humanoid shapes, but I did transform into a cat-woman just for fun. (I don't mean Batman's Catwoman, I mean an actual female with feline ears, claws and a tail.) It came with an increased sense of smell and balance, which I hadn't expected, but that was a welcome bonus.

The routine of evading Tarantina and looking for the next tattoo is becoming less stressful and more routine. It means I'm also more level-headed in my decision-making process. I'm less reacting and better able to plan ahead. After reviewing the path to absolute non-detection, the next tattoo that I must get it Shuul'anth ("Discretion"), which will allow me to be nearly invisible and silent if I stay in shadows. It's another "common" tattoo which, when combined with Ab'neeth, give me a new minor perk: the ability to engrave trivial tattoos without some of the more special/esoteric ingredients. Long story short, if I get another set of specific minor tattoos, the interaction resulting from these minor perks will allow me to bypass the requirements for minor ingredients, which will take me to the next level: major tattoos. Among these major tattoos: full non-detection. I'll be able to go around without being detectable by Tarantina, which will take me closer to living a normal life.

Okay, so I guess this is pretty confusing if you're not spending all your time (as I am) figuring this stuff out. To make it simple: the next step in my journey is to travel WAY north and get myself a set of lunar bear testicles. (In case you don't know what a lunar bear is, it's a type of polar bear that has a special aura during a full moon—something I didn't know I could see until I got my latest tattoo.) The thought of facing off with a lunar bear doesn't really appeal to me, especially since I have to kill it to get those testicles. (Most bears won't give those up without a fight.)

So I'm headed to the north pole at the moment. I'm not giving my exact location (just in case Tarantina is reading this blog), but I expect to be there within a week or two at most. The problem in getting there isn't the temperature (though it IS pretty cold), it's having to stop to get food & fuel, and waiting for the snow to be removed from the few roads that go that far north. On the bright(er) side, finding temporary places to stay isn't too difficult thanks to the animal magnetism provided by one of my tattoos. Many women have been more than happy to have me over for the night, though I always leave early in the morning to avoid getting spotted by Tarantina.

In other news, I've been in touch (discreetly) with Brooke, who's still in my old body in Quebec City. He's been very careful to be accompanied with faeries all the time to protect him against potential attacks from Tarantina. It's not impossible that she'd try to get to me through him.

I can see a path to surviving Tarantina's attempts to track and kill me. I'm not out of the woods, but things are looking up.

--Jaycee