So worried right now. My brother just got admitted to the hospital after swallowing six toy horses. Doctors say he's in stable condtion.
8
likes
3 yrs ago
Nice to meet you, Bored. I'm interested!
7
likes
3 yrs ago
Ugh. Someone literally stole the wheels off of my car. Gonna have to work tirelessly for justice.
4
likes
Bio
Oh gee! An age and a gender and interests and things. Yeah, I have those. Ain't no way I'm about to trigger an existential crisis by typing them all out, though. You can find out what a nerd I am on discord, okay?
Penny normally would not have been the sort to ask a question of a clearly hostile host, but she could tell that everyone had wanted to ask and none had the courage to do so. What do I care if Miss 'Stay Away From Muh Home' doesn't like me? Not like I'll ever see her again. Truth be told, it irked Penny. It shouldn't have, but it did, and the bearded lady had said just enough to make her uneasy about the mission because she knew that there was a lot more being left unsaid. If you're going to throw us into mortal danger, the least you can do is tell us what's really going on. It didn't sit right, on top of what the Arch-Zeno had told her: it really didn't, and the eighteen-year-old found herself wondering why she'd even agreed to this whole thing. This is not something a future ruler of Perrence does. You're not a tool, Nel. Fuck! It was her need to do something 'useful', she knew: a thirst for some sort of ill-defined 'adventure' after seventeen years of being confined to the palace grounds. Rash decisions from a stupid girl with insecurities. She had half a mind to kick the partially open door, but restraint was a good thing to practice, and she didn't.
Really, she wanted to vent, or at least express her worries, but she had nobody here except Yuliya and Yvain who she really knew or trusted, and... they were both dubious for different reasons. Esmii had tried to be nice and Penny had thanked her, but she'd already learned that the yasoi was like that with everyone. 'Helpful' was her default setting, and I don't know you well enough to confide, anyhow. Besides, she'd been giving that big Eskandish boy goo-goo eyes the entire time. They were an item and... Ugh. Maybe that's why Penny had found herself falling into a 'mood': Jammy wasn't here and she already missed him and she worried. He was in West Kerremand, Eshi-damned cesspool that it was, and they couldn't look out for each other. A metaphorical vise tightened around her stomach. If anything happens...
She shook her head and she... walked. She had the day here, in this place she'd never visited before, she had a satchel, and she had some money to spend. If the one-legged woman was an object of curiosity here, it was just as much because she was a human as anything else. The familiar ambient sounds of a city echoed back towards her in an unfamiliar way. It was weirdly claustrophobic: no sky above, save the ever-lingering haze towards the top of the vast cavern, and the all-encroaching dimness. Even with the gas torches, the mirrors, and the skylights carved into the stone, it was like moving about in the later moments of dusk. Her eyes adjusted well enough, though. They were yasoi eyes and she was the only one in her family who had managed to inherit them from an ancestor some four generations back. It was enough of a sensory smorgasbord for her worries to start fading. Her crutches clicked and her foot thumped and she lost herself in the familiar ritual of just moving: moving nowhere in particular.
First, she picked up some traveling clothes: just as anyone might expect of a foreign girl in a strange place, but then Penny decided to go for something else. She worked her way to where the firearm vendors were and put down ten magi on an imbued pistol. Knowing what she knew, she moved to where they sold explosives. "Uz chlud" she assured the confused seller, having looked the words up in her little book of translations beforehand. "U... ligha...ich... muhl." She mimicked an explosion, even providing sound effects. The flinty-eyed Hegelan on the other side regarded her intently for a moment. Then, his facade broke. He reared back and laughed. Penny blushed and laughed nervously herself. "Iiiid... lugh? U dolris...tiss muhl... she flipped furiously through the little guidebook. "Vadu!"
There was another pause as the laughter died down. The small man on the other side smiled thoughtfully. He let out a sigh, held out his hand expectantly, and Penny promptly placed the two magi in his palm. He pocketed them and then moved about his stall, procuring and packaging just what she'd asked for. He handed her three little bundles and she slipped them into her satchel with a small bow of gratitude and an overpracticed "Tim Unkh!" Then, she was off, so pleased with herself that she was practically skipping. Just wait 'til I tell you all about it, Jammy! She hoped that he was having as much fun as she was but, first, it was time to put in an appearance with Yuliya and go shopping!
1) For mining 2) I buy five big. 3) Sooo... yes? I have three big money. 4) Thank you!
I don't have a strict preference myself but I do like to keep things uniform. Since everyone else seems to be going for IRL FCs, I'd suggest to do the same for your sheet if possible.
Will do. Just gimme a little time for that. We got a start in mind?
Hopefully they're tropes but subverted instead of just tropes. The different art style for each is meant to be thematic. Not sure if it actually is...
T H E S P A R L I N G F A M I L Y T H E S P A R L I N G F A M I L Y
"They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. They say..."
[ ❇ ] B R I E F F A M I L Y H I S T O R Y
The Sparling name is an old one in Huddeen. Faded headstones in the town's graveyard bear testament to that. However, their line has been rather sparse over the past couple of decades as successive generations have left for the greener pastures of Boston, Providence, and New York. Then, a dozen years ago, family matriarch Hattie passed away and the old family house ended up in the hands of her granddaughter, pregnant young grad student and former wild child Alana, along with her growing family. Moving back from Boston to the town where she used to spend summers with her grandma after her parents' divorce, she brought her husband Devon, a stereotypically geeky storyboard artist, and her children Lila and Jason. While the grand old home was everything they could've hoped, vintage 1970s-era decor and some electrical issues aside, their first few years were difficult, as Devon had to switch jobs, Alana had to delay setting up her own practice when their youngest daughter Winnie was born, and Lila suffered an accident that confined her to a wheelchair and necessitated the installation of a ramp and extensive renovations. Things have calmed down since then, and the family has flourished... at least outwardly.
While Devon's career has taken him to conferences across the country and Lila has gone off to the Juilliard School in New York to study violin, small-town star athlete Jason doesn't see much of a future, Winnie grows ever stranger and more introverted, and Alana continues to fray at the edges as she wears too many hats, commutes for too long every day, and juggles too many responsibilities in her desperate determination to make sure that her family won't go the way that her parents' did. Add to this the recent arrival of Devon's older sister Carina from Boston, fresh off of some serious controversy, as well as Lila back on holiday, and things are... volatile. Oh, then zombies. Zombies have happened too. Is there any way that this fraying family can pull itself together long enough to survive and maybe even be an asset? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Growing up, Alana was just about the most obnoxious possible version of a ca. 1995-2002 first-gen edgy gamer girl. She never thought she'd be a psychologist. She assumed her job would be something in a creative industry but, here she is, and there's a kind of art to patching minds back up, she supposes. She's certainly had to do more than her share of that over the course of her life. As an ex-urbanite, this mother of three commutes into Manchester for work whenever her job requires it of her. While she was born in nearby Nashua, Alana's parents broke up when she was small and she bounced around. She spent much of her later childhood and early teens in Huddeen with her grandmother before moving to Boston with her dad and becoming a child of the early internet. Luckily, her most absurd exploits were pre-social media and, just after her twenty-second birthday, she was a mother anyhow and her crazy days fast faded. After inheriting her grandmother's house a dozen years ago, she packed her young family up and moved out to Huddeen, with its lower cost of living and safer streets. Now into her early forties, Alana's weathered far more storms than she'd ever imagined and is a lot number to it all than she imagined that she'd be at this point in life. She'll often go on about how she loves this town, and is an active member of all the relevant community organizations. Embarrassed about her wild past and her husband's at-times immature behaviour, she tries as hard as she can to fit in, never quite feeling like she manages it. Secretly, her interest in her marriage is waning but, remembering her childhood, she's determined not to let it fail. You know how they say that shrinks are as much of a mess as their clients? At least she's not abusing prescriptions... yet.▅ Use as many or few of the above symbols as needed to balance this cell with the cell containing the image.
If Alana eventually grew up, Devon never quite managed the trick. A storyboard artist and gig worker, he pursues jobs in the videogaming industry with particular gusto and has built up a fairly impressive portfolio. A proud nerd and daydreaming creative, he lives for his work and loves his family, very much in the mold of the 'cool dad'. He convinces himself that it's natural, but he works hard at it. Yet, he can also be a bit of an avoidant husband and father: enthusiastically there for the good times but absent for the more challenging ones. While he's certain it's only an unfortunate coincidence, he's beginning to understand how bad it looks and how much trouble it's causing his loved ones. Devon's never quite mastered the fine art of 'adulting', but he's trying. He's always been somewhat awkward but has grown socially and in confidence over the years and has become unused to failure. Sometimes, however, in his more anxious moments, he suffers from impostor syndrome. He constantly worries that his creative spark is leaving him and that he might end up embarrassing or holding back his family members, particularly his daughter Lila. As his career has finally started to take off in recent years, he's been seeing more of her in New York and they've grown somewhat closer. At the start of our story, Devon's trapped in Boston where he was attending a conference. He calls his family on the phone at every opportunity while they still have service. He's trying to get someone in the Boston Quarantine Zone to do something or, barring that, to make his way back, but he doesn't quite know where to begin.▅ ▅ ▅ ▅ ▅ ▅ Use as many or few of the above symbols as needed to balance this cell with the cell containing the image.
A surprise child and the reason that Alana and Devon are married, Lila is twenty-one as the story begins, and was visiting home from university in New York when the epidemic struck. A perfectly average, if somewhat rambunctious kid before being paralyzed from the waist down in a tree-climbing accident at the age of twelve, she was forced to reinvent herself and find new purpose. Since then, with her mother's relentless support , the oldest of the Sparling children has become the sort of inspirational story that's a magnet for bursaries, scholarships, speaking engagements, and interest pieces by local new outlets. An extremely talented violinist from an early age, she has already featured in major productions and boasts nearly a hundred thousand subscribers on her YouTube channel. Living the young, sophisticated urbanite's dream, Lila has left her small-town roots behind and flourished in New York: a young virtuoso headed for success. Yet, deep down, vicious insecurities about being a burden - about being incapable and unattractive - tear at her, and the constructed world and its many obstacles act as constant reminders that she cannot just do many of the things she would like. In truth, she is very much like her younger siblings, though they probably don't think of her as such. In her dreams, she's still a spontaneous creature, wandering the neighbourhood with Jason in tow, climbing trees and hiking in the ravine, pulling Winnie in a wagon, and playing games of tag or basketball that stretch into the night. There's a shared history with her family and she loves them, but she hasn't spent all that much time with them in years. She loves her mother, too, who pushed her hard to pick herself back up and to succeed, but there's something else there as well: resentment at stealing her away from her childhood with endless practice, rehearsal, and travel, for molding her into an 'inspiration' instead of a person. With her friends, in their little shared apartment, Lila's fun, irreverent, and vivacious, always ready with a quick quip or pithy observation. Here, at 'home', she increasingly feels like the odd one out in her family of lovable losers. Huddeen is a pleasant place full of fond memories, but indelibly part of her past, not her future.▅
Three and a half years younger than Lila, Jason was always playing keep-up with her when they were kids: in school, where teachers went on glowingly about her; for attention, where she seemed to lap up their parents' love with her musical talent and witty remarks; and in the little pencil marks measuring height on the doorframe, where he could never quite catch her. Then, after she had her accident, he won the third of those battles definitively, and lost the others. As his parents' and, especially, his mother's attention reoriented itself toward Lila, and his playmate returned home less able to... play, the boy found other ways of entertaining himself. Where his father was a genuinely creative person, Jason merely aped and dreamed. Instead, his talents lent themselves elsewhere. A natural athlete and good with his hands, he is a mediocre student at school, but well liked by both teachers and other students, co-captaining his high school basketball team to the state's final four in his junior year. Yet, the scholarship offers from major universities haven't exactly been flooding in. He enjoys shop class, console gaming, and skateboarding more than anything else, and is just tall enough to dunk on the basketball hoop in the driveway. In between occasional games of Horse with his dad or his sisters, it takes relentless punishment while the curbs and railings in town see similar treatment from his skateboard. At the end of the day, Jason is more than a little bit edgy, with a mohawk, a couple of tattoos, and a fondness for music that would make his once-rebellious parents blush. This, he eagerly blasts out the window of his 2007 Buick, recently purchased from an estate sale for $1700. There is nothing academic that really interests Jason, but he can play shooters and zombie survival games for hours and, yes, he has a (very humble) sword collection. With little to no direction in life, a secret part of him is... weirdly kind of excited that the apocalypse is nigh. He's already constructing traps and barriers and he practices with his cheap knockoff katana in the backyard. Perhaps the dire nature of the situation just hasn't dawned on him yet, so the question is: when will it?▅ ▅ ▅ ▅ ▅ Use as many or few of the above symbols as needed to balance this cell with the cell containing the image.
Six years younger than Jason, Winnie was - like her sister - an 'accident'. Her parents hadn't intended to have a third child, but her older siblings were thrilled. At eleven years of age, she's a quiet, socially awkward, and very active girl who doodles, explores, and daydreams as much as her father ever did growing up. He'll never admit to it, but she's the child he understands most and he spoils her with new games, art supplies, and the sort of long solo father-daughter days out that Lila never had the chance to get. Lanky, gangling, and much taken with idiosyncratic fashion and scary things at a young age, Winnie is greatly enamoured with minecraft (and secretly, sacrilegiously, roblox as well). Both in-game and out, she often tags along with her older brother when he lets her and tries to recreate that sense of adventure in real life. He's become a more reluctant partner in crime lately, though, as he heads toward adulthood, and she's started playing more mature games in an attempt to keep up with the person she most admires and wants to be like (though she'll never admit it, of course). While not actively disliked or bullied at school, the youngest Sparling daughter is definitely not one of the popular girls either, and she catches some flak for spending almost as much time with the boys as she does with her assumed tribe of rambunctious pre-pubescent girls. A characteristic of both ADHD and autism, Winnie goes through intense monthly obsessions, gobbling up every bit of knowledge that she can on random subjects of interest. A cultural magpie plucking greedily from the fertile environs of tiktok, discord, reddit, wikipedia, and YouTube (where she's dutifully subscribed to her sister's channel), she is almost uncannily knowledgeable about random trivia and it is the one thing aside from minecraft that she will reliably and enthusiastically speak at length on. Out of necessity, she has now set her mind to the task of zombie apocalypse survival and relentlessly marshals her family to do the same.▅ ▅ ▅ ▅ ▅ ▅ Use as many or few of the above symbols as needed to balance this cell with the cell containing the image.
▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ "To me, 'bossy' is not a pejorative at all. It means somebody's passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn't mind leading." ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅
Z A N E T T I, C A R I N A || P A T E R N A L A U N T Z A N E T T I, C A R I N A || P A T E R N A L A U N T
Carina never set out to live up to her name. She never wanted to be a 'Karen' and she cringes inwardly (and outwardly, for she can do nothing with subtlety) at the thought that people might consider her one. Three failed marriages, a circle of friends as superficial as they are materialistic, and repeated run-ins with the glass ceiling pushed her to the edge. One ill-advised incident broke her. As a girl, Carina was always the favourite child, and quiet, awkward, artsy Devon ever her shadow. Popular in school, she looked out for him, she protected him, and when he was getting his start as an artist, she let him surf her couch for months on end. More than one potential boyfriend was scared away in that manner, but she never said a word about it. Carina loved her little brother. Rather, she loves her little brother, and her nieces and nephew. She just wanted a family of her own, but she fell for jerks: handsome jerks, badboys, rich jerks, and just, well...pigs. She'd seemed never to make a bad choice growing up and, even as her career advanced and she made all of the right connections, everything seemed to go wrong outside of ever-fancier job titles. The men in charge said that she was bossy, but was she really? The first time that she was passed up for a promotion, she held it in, waited, and didn't jump to any conclusions. It happened again, though, and again, and she took her story to the media. Not much happened except a couple of articles and a horizontal move to a new firm. Again, she was passed up, despite giving her all to the company and sacrificing her marriage for it. A third job and a third marriage ensued, and then came the fateful day when she'd just had too much and a Starbucks employee gave her this smug little smile as he knowingly shortchanged her on her Venti. There were cameras and they didn't pick up any of the nuance and she went viral. She was publicly released from her job. She was doxxed. She was divorced. She was canceled. Carina was even sorry at first, but not after how vicious they all got. So, she bought herself a gun for self-defence, packed up her things, sold her apartment, and moved out to Huddeen to lick her wounds once the worst of it died down. She will see if her brother is as generous with her as she was with him.
They were not traveling only through space, it seemed, but through time as well. It was afternoon in Wánggǎng and Yalen was among them. The arrival of the group from Ersand'Enise was no secret, either. The portal dropped them in a cordoned-off area in the centre of a large plaza. Seagulls screeched and wheeled overhead and a crowd of curious onlookers began to gather almost instantly. A young boy, holding his mother's hand, jumped up and down excitedly and pointed in their direction, shouting something in ReTanese. Others gathered to gawk and a couple even began to move forward until halted by barked orders and raised weapons from two dozen sharply-uniformed guards. Nearby vendors glanced in the direction of the new arrivals out of momentary curiosity, but their eyes fast became calculating and, within seconds, they seemed to have adjusted their messaging, gesturing at the Lǎowài and promising discounts to cater to the growing audience. Wide flagstone roads stretched off in each of the cardinal directions, and an endless sea of buildings in that distinctive ReTanese construction that most had only seen drawn on canvas, parchment, or fresco surrounded them. Paper lanterns swayed in a light seaside breeze, some thumping against wooden posts of the structures that they hung from, and it was - in general - an absolute carnival of sights, scents, and sounds.
A greeting party of a dozen stood before them: Eleven men and a woman, all dressed in gorgeous formal robes that marked them as government officials. All but two of the outfits had a similar cut and colour, differentiated only by some unique highlights and a distinct symbol. The most illustrious of the group stepped forward and offered a very small bow. A short and thin man of middle age, his long, sharp beard was shot through with a handful of grey streaks and he wore a particularly ornate hat. "我向来自巫师城的旅人问好。我希望您在协助我们解决这个问题的同时，在我们国家度过愉快而富有成效的时光。我们感谢你," he began, and the lone woman in the group scampered up beside him, quite young and quite awkward in her fine clothing. She bowed quickly and deeply and began to translate. "My greetings to travelers from the wizard city. I hope you have a pleasant and productive time in our country while assist us with zis problem. We sank you!"
Then, the man in the ornate hat continued, addressing them all but seeming to pick Yalen out as the figure of authority within the group. "我是本市洋人区副区长侯建红。很高兴见到你。" He offered a quick smile and gestured towards the others, waiting for a moment. "I'm Hou Jianhong," the woman translated for him, pausing for a split second, "the governor of foreigner's district in this city. Pleasure to meet you." Her eyes did not meet his, nor did they meet the party's for more than a brief, curious moment.
"这就是文志豪，逻辑与激情的典范," continued Governor Hou, and one of the men bowed. "This is Wen Zhihao, a model of logic and passion." The translator further explained that they were to introduce themselves to Wen Zhihao.
"这就是杜阳，接受和行动的典范," came the next, and the second man bowed as well. "This is Du Yang, a model of acceptance and action." The ritual repeated itself.
The governor gestured at another. "这就是谢军，信任与怀疑的典范," he announced, and there was another bow. "This is Xie Jun, a model of trust and doubt." It became clear that each of these men would receive an introduction and they would be expected to do the same. In the background, the crowd milled and discussed excitedly. There were hundreds now, and particularly curious glances were stolen at Ingrid, Trypano, Maura, and Kaureerah. Young preteens with trinkets and sticks of skewered meat raced through the fringes of the crowd, hawking their wares.
"这就是武龙，创造与毁灭的典范," came the next in an increasingly tedious lineup of men in fine robes and hats, but this one was different. "I am Wu Long," he introduced himself, stepping in front of the translator, who backed away with a start. "Funny name, I know. Maybe I was destined for greatness or shame with it." he shrugged. "We will see which one, I guess." He reached out to shake hands in the twin continents style. "I hope you can forgive our long ceremonies here in ReTan. They are part of our culture and important to us." He spoke as he shook, addressing all in turn as well as all at once. "I also hope you can help us catch this evil from your homeland that has come to our country. I have been told you are experts." His enthusiasm was palpable. He burned with it. His Avincian, while accented and perhaps a touch formal, was nearly as good as some of theirs. Then, he bowed again, retreated, and they were introduced to Wang Chao (exemplar of obedience and initiative), Huang Min (exemplar of truthfulness and 'something like lying'), Xiao Da (exemplar of community and individuality whose name, the translator cheerily related, was rather an oxymoron), Chen Jiahao (exemplar of self-preservation and bravery), Guan Heng (tradition and reform), and Hu He (nature and human creation). All the while, the guards stood at attention, occasionally shouting at passerby who got too close though, by and large, the people kept a respectful distance.
Finally, it was finished, and the sun was a good deal lower: golden over the concave rooftops of the vast city. There was a brief but long-lasting moment where nobody seemed quite sure what to do. Then, Governor Hou began barking orders in rapid fire ReTanese, too fast and complex for the likes of mere learners of the language to catch more than the odd word. He spoke, in particular, to a guard with a slightly embellished uniform and the woman translator. Both answered crisply in the affirmative. The governor smiled widely and nodded in the direction of the students before he had his horse brought up. The guards pushed the crowd back, clearing the way for him, and some of the people began to call out with various entreaties, prostrating themselves on the ground. No matter. This was no place for that sort of business. It was to be handled by official avenues. Then, he was mounted, and the ten other men followed, the colourful Wu Long clearly employing some magic to leap atop his horse with barely an effort. Other than that, magic had seemed... strangely absent from the cityscape and crowd, at least compared to the more familiar environs of Ersand'Enise.
The translator fixed her hair for a moment and turned to them, glancing back at the retreating governor and exemplars a couple of times. She knit and unknit her fingers and bowed again. "Nice to meet you!" she exclaimed. "My name is Jiang Xiulan. In ReTan, ze second name is actually ze given name: opposite wiss your countries, I sink. You can call me Blossom, zough." She seemed to be stifling a giggle. "I have been choosed to your local guide of ReTan while you live here."
There were nine guards remaining and one, in an embellished uniform, stood at their head. Tall and muscular, he was clean-shaven, short-haired, and definitely not unattractive, with an upright posture and martial bearing. "This is guard captain Zhu!" Xiulan explained, gesturing rather grandly in his direction. He bowed stiffly at the waist. Then, to their surprise, he spoke. "Nice to meet you," he said in heavily-accented Avincian. "I am Zhu Kai. Sorry I Afince not good."
"He make the speech by his self," Xiulan explained. "He has many practicing." She tried not to giggle. "I sink maybe he's Avince not so good, but maybe mine not so good also, hmm?"
"I understand you," the guard captain said, deadpan, and Xiulan blushed fiercely. "See!" she exclaimed, "He improve already!" Turning his way for a moment, she spoke in rapid-fire ReTanese, and it was clear that she was just translating for him and then asking him to prepare the guards to start moving. They carried on a brief conversation before she turned back to the group. "He would like me introduce he's gauds." She gestured to them in turn and they all gave slight bows or nods or salutes. "Guad-man Peng, Wang, Dai, Chen, Huang, Zhang, Zheng, Xie, and Zhou." Xiulan scampered out to the front of the group, twisting on her heel. "Zey will with us for all of time we're here, but we will go ze inn where you live first." She smiled broadly and her voice dropped conspiratorially as she began to lead them. "I sink you were very lucky, actually. This place is usually so expensive, but offered you stay free."
Captain Zhu marched out front, four of his men flanked them to each side, and one brought up the rear. Beyond the human walls of their escort, curious onlookers either glanced their way or followed them, some chattering rapidly among themselves in ReTanese or something that sounded similar but was definitely different. Many waved or smiled, and children zipped and weaved among the crowds. It was near to sunset and at least a handful of bedraggled looking mothers, aunts, or grandmothers tried to corral the excited little people. "We take you zere tonight and you rest and settle in," Xiulan was saying. "No talk about traveler yet. Your real work should begin tomorrow."
So, they followed. What choice did they have? They contented themselves in conversation with each other or their guide and caught little glimpses of life in this place that was so strange and yet so familiar as well. Vendors were busy closing up shop for the day. The last couple finished haggling and the doors of many of the large tenements were constantly opening and shutting as their residents arrived home from their daily responsibilities. The wide street that they were on became a smaller one, and then a smaller one still after a few turns, and they could catch glimpses of the ocean and the strange sails of ReTanese ships in the near distance, just beyond a couple more rows of houses, shops, and warehouses. It smelled very much like fish for a bit, but then they were past it and turning onto a slightly larger road. It was late Rezain up here in the northern hemisphere, it struck them, and the trees burned gold, orange, and red with fast-shifting leaves.
Kaureerah, for one, was happy to be done with the onerous introductions, and was now feeling inspired by the scenery. She walked along towards the rear of the pack, giving the two couples their space, and pulled out her lute. She began strumming chords and humming and this served only to further entrance the groups of people who seemed to loosely follow along. "Hell-lo!" came the odd shout, as the locals employed the only Avincian that they knew. "Welcome ReTan!" said one who was particularly good. Smoke from cooking fires began to fill the air as the sun dipped below the rooftops, and a little boy and girl sat on the edge of one of these, dangling their feet over and munching on some sort of steamed bread. Mouths full, feet kicking idly back and forth, they both started at the sight of the foreigners and waved. "Almost zere," Xiulan assured them cheerfully, "And I sink dinner will be ready! Do you ever try ReTanese cooking before?" She seemed excited.
They hadn't gotten very deep into the subject when the guards came to an abrupt stop, forcing the rest of them to. Captain Zhu barked out orders rapidly and four of his men - Wang, Xie, Zhou, and Chen - split from the formation and rushed off down a sidestreet.
"Wha... what just happened!? Rikard demanded, and Kaureerah ceased her soft strumming. They had sensed the use of some kinetic magic in that general direction. Some people retreated indoors, though others seemed largely unbothered.
Xiulan's hands bunched up the folds of her dress and she glanced about in thin reassurance. "Oh, nossing to worry about, friend! Just some silly guy probably tries steal a chicken or somesing. Not your traveler agent, haha! It is guad's job go stop small sings like zis. No worry, I sink. We can keep walking. We can meet them there at ze inn." She pointed to a large building with a little manicured garden out front and waved them forward. Guard Captain Zhu, after a quick, wary glance in the direction his men had gone, nodded and seemed to relax. He managed a reassuring smile. "Okay," he declared for their benefit. "Okay, we go."
They started to appear - out of nowhere, and in the oddest places - invitations to a meeting with the Zenith. Some students received them, but many received something… different. Just as their peers gathered by the Forked Tower at the requested hour, as Ipte slid towards Shune, so did they: all of them through the Silk Gate. If their counterparts had been... eclectic, then this bunch was outright mismatched.
It had been more or less a year since the last time that some had found themselves called in such a way and perhaps their appearances were the clearest evidence that each had grown - or regressed - by various metrics. Others were new faces, at least to varying degrees. They counted, among their number, twenty-two in all: Ashon’amar’loiyang, Benedetto Corvi, Cal’tuuro’jaros, Casii’fyret’alan, Desmond Catulus, Dorothea Hohnstein, Edyta Laska, Esmii’nesta’tawaar, Evander Synesti, Fiske Flachstrauch, Ismet’ych’lahiin’dichora, Manfred Hohenfelter, Marz Mohfolk, Nazih Iqbal, Penny Pellegrin, Qasem Laghmani, Silas Reiger, Sven Bjornsson, Tku, Ymiico’luun’yoru, Yuliya Vasilieva, and Yvain de Berbignon, along with a handful of beasts. They congregated within Capital Square, around the foot of a great obelisk commemorating Olkhad the Hammer, a legendary king of yore. Conversations, teasing, and a growing murmur of questioning filled the rather quiet plaza. It was the wee hours of the morning in the City of Water, and only a handful of tired-looking hegelans were in evidence nearby.
However, it took precious little time for the first conflicts to erupt and, before long, Manfred and Evander were on the ground, wrestling and fighting before being separated under threat of death with a smile by Benedetto. Ersand’Enise’s most notorious thug seemed unusually jolly for reasons as-yet unknown, and more than one of his peers was left on edge by the sudden personality jackknife. At the opposite end of the mood spectrum fell Marz, the prickly hegelan craftsman erupting into histrionics over a ruined item owned by Yuliya - a former client of his.
Then, just as they began to grow restless, a little birdie - and very much a glowing illusory one - swept in to guide them on a winding route through the city and into a dark alley. Was it smart to follow? Perhaps not, had at least some among them not known what this truly meant. Hence, and in short, they did, disappearing into what was not so much an alleyway as it was a portal.
Upon stepping through, the youths found themselves divided into a quintet of quartets, staring out into a vast and darkened chamber. This, then, was the Arch-Zeno’s test. Those who had been called upon last year remembered something very similar from the late Paradigm. Initial blunders aside, most had proven themselves competent people before, and those who had not had the earlier opportunity proved themselves now. By various means, all five groups made it through the initial gauntlet, only to find themselves presented with the queerest of locks and the insistence that they utter not a word before a pair of great exit doors. Not a single one tried to blast through. Instead, they did what they had reliably done best, and solved the tactile riddle. Only then was the room beyond revealed...
If you have received an invitation from Karan Harrachora, please post it here to confirm your attendance. You have all traveled through the Silk Gate and are about ten minutes early, beside the great obelisk honouring a former king of Hogh Munkhelad. It is a very early hour for the hegelans and few people are about. You may conference, of course, and share musings, information, or theories.
Desmond steps through to a place he is mostly used to and waves hello to the people he cares for here, having Henry the Giant Dragon hunting dog with his favorite stick. Billium, the cute fireboar with a happy attitude who likes to play with most animals he sees. And Desmond newest companion, Ani, the Firetail dragon whom Desmond had caught from the wild, tame, and now lives with him as one of his lap dragons, she is a diva and she knows she is the most pretty. (edited)
Yuliya enters through the silk gate, happy to make use of her hegelan language skills as she waits for the giver of the note to arrive. Cal is there making observations of the grand obelisk, steering clear of the lower roofed places around this city.
Esmii steps through the Silk Gate, with her invitation in hand, as proof she has been invited. Looking around, to see who else is here.
Marz steps through the gate with a sigh, he is up too damn early, so this better be worth it.
Silas sat, legs swinging on his post he'd taken an hours before directly atop the obelisk. "Was wonderin' who'd else show." He exclaimed casually to the small group of students forming below
Tku rocks up with his satchel and some decent clothing. His hair was dyed a dark blue almost black. He had learned a decent chunk of the hegelan language so he felt comfortable. "Hello everyone"
Qasem joined closer to the given time, and offered little more than polite smiles and nods to his fellow Biros as he joined them in waiting the one who'd called them together.
Ashon ends up joining up at the location with the others, pondering what all the fuss is about and recognising only three people. He waved toward Desmond, Marz, and Esmii.
Esmii waves to Ashon, then Tku . "Hello you two."
Penny avoided rolling her eyes. The entire yasoi mafia was here. It could've been worse, she supposed. She greeted them all pleasantly enough.
Silas began hurling small pebbles down at Fiske's head.
Tku does a playful bow to Esmii, "Wonderful staff you have, maybe another painting should be made?"
Fiske gritted his teeth as the other threw pebbles at him "What's your problem now, Pipsqueak?"
Fiske gritted his teeth as the other threw pebbles at him "What's your problem now, Pipsqueak?"
"What's that?" Silas yelled, still pelting pebbles, but added the painted Severan to his list of targets. "Can't hear yah from up here!"
Marz steps through the gate with a sigh, he is up too damn early, so this better be worth it.
Yuli squints.. no, it couldn't be.. was that the one who made her axe? She realized who it was and ran over "Hey! It's Mark!! How are ya?" she spoke in hegelan, excited to see a familiar face.
Benedetto floats up beside Silas and seats himself on the obelisk. "What's up, buddy?" he asks, smiling just a bit too pleasantly. "Oh hey Fiske." He grins down at the other smaller boy, all teeth.
Yuli squints.. no, it couldn't be.. was that the one who made her axe? She realized who it was and ran over "Hey! It's Mark!! How are ya?" she spoke in hegelan, excited to see a familiar face.
Marz tilted his head as a woman comes up to him, he looked at her face as he had no recognition of her. "Eh?! Who the fuck are you? I'm no Mark!" He spoke to her with a face of confusion and disgust.
Marz tilted his head as a woman comes up to him, he looked at her face as he had no recognition of her. "Eh?! Who the fuck are you? I'm no Mark!" He spoke to her with a face of confusion and disgust.
Yuli frowned. Was she doing a racism? No, she was fairly sure this was the hegelan she contracted all those years ago. Maybe he didn't recognize her...
"I mean.. it's been a while! 4 years? You make my axe!" she continued, putting her hand around 5 inches lower than the height she currently stood. She was pretty young back then.. (edited)
Tku does a playful bow to Esmii, "Wonderful staff you have, maybe another painting should be made?"
Esmi's eyes widen with excitement, "Really. I can't wait."
Yuli frowned. Was she doing a racism? No, she was fairly sure this was the hegelan she contracted all those years ago. Maybe he didn't recognize her... "I mean.. it's been a while! 4 years? You make my axe!" she continued, putting her hand around 5 inches lower than the height she currently stood. She was pretty young back then.. (edited)
Marz' eyes squinted, as he realized who she was then now. "You...", he growled. He looked at her and sighed, it was his first axe. It was not his best piece, let it go, let it go. After another sigh, "So how is she?"
Evander fashionably late than some others entered through the Silk Gate. His clothes pristine, posture upright, prepared for physical activity as instructed. He spotted Noble students like Penny and Yuli, and then there were the others. (edited)
The last of Silas' ammunition was dumped rather unceremoniously in a small torrent atop the small illusionist's head before responding to Benny. "Oh you know, just attending to the beck and call of our betters." He matched the boys forced jovial enthusiasm, and even went so far as to stand for his impassioned speech: "To lay our lives on the line for the benefit of mankind- and so our Zeno's don't have to get out of bed before the hours of Oraff."
Ashon watched the excitement unleashed already, rivalling that of his Zeno group though this keep. He recognised Yuliya too. Giving waving toward her as well. Naturally, he ended up next to Penny, the girl needed no introduction or wave from him given they had travelled here together.
Manfred looked... rather out of sorts in Hogh Munkhelad, but it hardly mattered. He had his arm around Dory and his rifle strapped across his back. A cigar trickled smoke from the corner of his mouth,.
Marz' eyes squinted, as he realized who she was then now. "You...", he growled. He looked at her and sighed, it was his first axe. It was not his best piece, let it go, let it go. After another sigh, "So how is she?"
Yuli had a backpack full of stuff. And as she was stopping by this old hegelan city, she brought it along. She was somewhat hoping she could leave it for repairs while she waited for the Zeno, but what a prime time to bring it out. "She was MARVELOUS! I used her quite a bit, and she was the best weapon I'd ever had! But, y'know, battle wear and tear... she need repairs. 4 years of use after all..." she spoke, as she pulled the.. remains of the weapon out. Melted down and nearly outright destroyed by Brother Ash, it was barely recognizable, grimacing somewhat at the state of her beloved weapon. (edited)
The last of Silas' ammunition was dumped rather unceremoniously in a small torrent atop the small illusionist's head before responding to Benny. "Oh you know, just attending to the beck and call of our betters." He matched the boys forced jovial enthusiasm, and even went so far as to stand for his impassioned speech: "To lay our lives on the line for the benefit of mankind- and so our Zeno's don't have to get out of bed before the hours of Oraff."
Benny slapped his knees and laughed. "Hahahaha. I guess they need their beauty rest. Hahahaha. Dayum. I forgot what a funny motherfucker you are, Silas!" He slapped the smaller boy on the back almost hard enough to knock him off. "Hey Fiske! Get your little punk ass up here! If you can!"
Evander walked by Manfred and Dory, "Still alive I see, and you... still wearing that crown?"
Fiske began sweating bullets from a grin like that... From a person like him it can only mean trouble. "H-hello, Benedetto..."
So many people Tku hadn't meet, it was quite enjoyable going from person to person.
Yuli had a backpack full of stuff. And as she was stopping by this old hegelan city, she brought it along. She was somewhat hoping she could leave it for repairs while she waited for the Zeno, but what a prime time to bring it out. "She was MARVELOUS! I used her quite a bit, and she was the best weapon I'd ever had! But, y'know, battle wear and tear... she need repairs. 4 years of use after all..." she spoke, as she pulled the.. remains of the weapon out. Melted down and nearly outright destroyed by Brother Ash, it was barely recognizable, grimacing somewhat at the state of her beloved weapon. (edited)
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!" Marz yelled as he looked his first creation now ruined.
"HOW THE HELL DID YOU MELT A MOUNTAIN FIRE SCALE?! DID YOU SHOVE IT UP THE ASS OF THE DEVIL HIMSELF?!"
He looked at it as he snatched it out of her hands to inspect it further.
Ashon spotted Cal'Tuuro, the lanky streak blending in with the pillars. He moved up against him, putting his arm around his shoulders. "Shall I introduce us again? or you got that eye on the pretty boy." He indicated with his hand toward Evander.
Dory looked rather confused at the Revidian's remark, laughing it off. "What crown? I ain't no monarch."
Manfred bit back a snort of laughter. "Spratzmuffin... you even wear it to sleep some days." He turned to Evander. "She's obsessed with it. You know: Women." (edited)
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!" Marz yelled as he looked his first creation now ruined. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU MELT A MOUNTAIN FIRE SCALE?! DID YOU SHOVE IT UP THE ASS OF THE DEVIL HIMSELF?!" He looked at it as he snatched it out of her hands to inspect it further.
Yuli recoiled a bit.. he was PISSED. Not quite the touching re-union she'd expected. "Umm.. I fought against sanguinaire.. he uhm.. melted it." she stammered. She felt like she was being interrogated by her household guard when she was a kid again. She was deeply uncomfortable with the situation.
Dory bumped into Manfred's frame upon that remark. "I do not! You always make it sound much worse than it actually is!"
"Mmmmmmmhm," said Manfred smugly.
Evander's eyebrow raised at Dory, "Is not acting ignorant beneath you?" Then to Manfred, "Women don't wear crowns...Queen's do...Dory is no Queen." (edited)
Sister Laska was among the last through, though none would've seen her but for the briefest of flickers as she turned corporeal to pass through the portal. She stood upon a rooftop, made the sign of the pentad, watched, and waited.
"Dory, I have a question about what happened in that cave. Do you know how your beloved was brought back to life?" Evander inquired.
Yuli recoiled a bit.. he was PISSED. Not quite the touching re-union she'd expected. "Umm.. I fought against sanguinaire.. he uhm.. melted it." she stammered. She felt like she was being interrogated by her household guard when she was a kid again. She was deeply uncomfortable with the situation.
"YOU FOUGHT A BLOOD SUCKING, ASS MUNCHING, SHRIVEL DICK SANGUINAIRE AND HE MELTED IT?!"
Marz looked at his axe with anger as he remembered his time slaying the beast. He takes hold of it as he points it at her.
"IS THAT MOTHERFUCKER STILL ALIVE?!"
"...yes. she stammered, before she remembered who she was. She wasn't a youngling anymore, but a woman grown! She would defend herself! "But, I try really hard to kill him. Twice, people got in way. Last time I saw him, he ran into ocean after we fought. Swam after him, and he disappear." she muttered defensively. It was hardly more confident than last time. (edited)
"Ahem..." Manfred addressed the future duke. "Have you never seen a ducal crown?"
Ashon spotted Cal'Tuuro, the lanky streak blending in with the pillars. He moved up against him, putting his arm around his shoulders. "Shall I introduce us again? or you got that eye on the pretty boy." He indicated with his hand toward Evander.
At first, he had found Jamboi rather amusing. But after being in the same Zeno group as him, and seeing him every single day, he could not deny that he was a cheese grater against his brain, and his sanity was beginning to escape him, as funny as some of his antics were. Alas, he was in decent spirits.
"Introduce us to whom, moila? Can't say I had my eye on anyone currently, I was a little focused on the gosoi creations here. They have a certain charm to their craftsmanship.." he spoke, eyeing the buildings and the like. He wondered how it was to live so close to the ground.
Tku felt a little uncomfortable with Evander's discontent, "They say if you dress the part it is more likely to happen? Maybe she is just an ambitious girl?"
Evander turned to Tku, "Ambition or fantasy?"
"What happened in the cave? Hmmm, I can't say that I know what you mean with that." The girl thought to herself for a bit. "Oh right, we were fighting these big scary things."
Esmii doesn't seem to know what is Evander's deal is, but it has something with Dory, "Please, can't you dispute this another time. we are here for a reason."
"All ambitions are fantasy my friend. The steps towards them are real. This could be just another step," Tku tried to say politely.
Sven, meanwhile, was fluttering around the square, looking at all of the impressive architecture. He remained completely in a world of his own: one of pure, nerdy, bliss.
Ashon, meanwhile, patted Cal upon his shoulder again and hugged the guy. "Moila? Moila!". He placed his arm against his eyes as he swept the... tears away? "Moila, we must talk on important matters. The Huusoi have a custom where the one closest to you must bear jewellery. Will you adorn said jewellery for me?"
"YOU DIDN'T EVER KILL HIM?!" Marz barked out at Yuliya. He seemed furious as he looked down onto his creation as a great deal of energy and force almost crushed the handle of the axe. "You will find him" he spoke out in a cold voice. "You will kill him. And it will be with one of my weapons. You understand me?" as Marz spoke low and hard.
"You can't say huh?" Evander looked at Manfred, "He was cut clean and killed." Turning his head back to Dory, "Then, you cried for his life..." Evander opened his palms up and raised them as he said, "Poof" Evander looked back to Manfred, "He was back, that doesn't ever make you wonder Dory?" Looking to Manfred, "Or you?"
Ashon rolled his eyes as he overheard the conversation. " Dumb Yanii don't even know what binding magic is. Our Esmii can piece together a man cut into a thousand pieces."
With that, Manfred wound up to punch Evander clean across the face.
He scratched his head as he added up what exactly Jamboi was discussing. It took him a small while to figure out what he was talking about, but he added two and two together, and was somewhat curious and mortified, though he hid the latter. "You mean.. to wed the huusoi girl? The y'rash? I never would have thought you would tie yourself down so young, Ashon. But if you want me to do this task, I am up for it." he whispered, patting him on the shoulder gently.
"It must have been an Illusion that you saw, otherwise that's impossible for him to be alive. Just calm down."
Silas whooped and cheered as the nobles began to fight out below them. "Twenty on the Kerreman! Forty on the ugly Revadian if they start swingin' magic!"
Evander bladed his right arm to meet Manfred, stepping forward to the clavicle and taking his leg behind Manfred to sweep him to the ground, staring down at him he stated, "Your anger tells me more than Dory's muttering, thank you." He started to turn to walk away, but Manfred wasn’t finished. He rolled with it and hooked Evander's leg, bringing him down to the ground before he could take more than a step. The Revidian went down hard and Manfred ended up in a fairly dominant position, though he did not strike for a finish. "Very noble of you to insult my girlfriend and then publicly interrogate her and myself," he announced, separating from the Revidian and climbing back to his feet. "You dishonor your name." He shook his head.
Evander hit the ground hard, his forearms taking most of the brunt as he found Manfred declaring he was acting dishonorably. Evander stared at the face of Manfred, "Nobles don't respect liars, and you should watch yourself when standing next to her."
Cal watched the fight take place. Before the Arch Zeno was even here. This wouldn't do. Typical huusoi, quick to brawl at provocation. He'd do something about it, but not with his fists. He drew, oh so subtly from the latent heat in the area and attempted to deposit some serotonin inside Manfred. Perhaps he would lay off assaulting this.. irritating noble further and making a scene.
Meanwhile, Yuliya listened. She wanted to dispute, or fight back, or say that she tried her best, but he did have a point. That bastard got away. TWICE. And to be honest, his conditions were more than acceptable. "Yes. Very clear. I understand. Does this mean you'll fix her? Or make new one?" she spoke, nodding very quickly and not at all trying to hide her excitement at either one of the prospects. How she'd missed Rastvesti.
"New, I never make anything twice". In his hands, Marz began to heat up the weapon with magnetic, arcane, and chemical magic. As a ball of molten metal and dragon scale formed from the once broken weapon. Then instantly it cooled and hardened into the shape on an ingot as he put it into his satchel. "I'll keep this and forge as we go. You will get it when it is done."
Tku was taking a good look at the fight, he couldn't wait to paint a smug man getting clobbered by a man defending his women's honor. "Both of you, please stop," wailed Esmii. "Boo!" Silas hollered to the Yasoi and flicked a benny towards her head, having rid himself of the stack of pebbles too early. "Let 'em fight!" Esmii rubs her head where the benny hit, "Ow, Silas. they shouldn't do this. What's the point of them being here if they are just going to beat the crap out of each other."
Jamboi released Cal after their embrace, "We speak more some other time."
"Absolutely, Ashon. We've got the whoooole year together!" he spoke, enthusiastically. His inner self felt completely different about the matter.
"We do, Moila. It makes me happy you are part of it. May there be many more."
Desmond shook his head at what was happening as he went over to Dory and checked on her, "Are you okay?"
Dory was still a bit shaken up from the sudden questioning moments ago. "I'm fine, this Revidian snob just didn't want to leave me alone."
Yuliya’s eyes went wide as Marz got to work on her weapon. She shed a small tear and waved goodbye to the remains of her weapon, but her excitement overruled any sadness she might have felt. A new weapon, stronger, built from the last. It would be.. beautiful. "Thanks, mark. Yer awesome!" she beamed and gave a thumbs up.
"Marz" He said with a quick cut.
She blushed in embarrassment. I'm a fucking idiot! she thought to herself, before turning to the commotion going on near the obelisk. A fistfight, and Benny causing a scene. She had to see this. Evander seemed to have.. gotten hit?
It was at that point that Benny leapt down, landing right between Manfred and Evander. He grinned massively and toothily. "Good to see my social betters setting the tone," he laughed. He laughed and laughed. "I could kill both of you with a snap of my fingers. Just remember that, but I don’t because I’m a nice guy."
Evander looked at Benny, "Sure." He thought it'd be nice to see Benny kill Manfred and see if he came back to life...again.
Manfred scowled. "I wouldn't try if I were you."
Desmond nodded to Dory as he rubbed her shoulder, yet the moment he heard laughing and sighed, Benedetto. Desmond turned as he watched what was to unfold. Meanwhile, Tku backed up. Benedetto's exploits were pretty notable. Esmii hides behind Sven from Benny's intervention, she only heard rumours about Benny and she didn't want to test them.
Yet, Benny didn’t seem much in the mood for trouble today. Instead, he pivoted on a heel and took a couple steps, exposing his back to the both of them, before walking away. For a moment, he twisted to look over his shoulder, and winked.
Desmond released a sigh. Benedetto seemed to be in a slightly better mood it seems. To Desmond that is always an okay sign. Dory sighed practically in sync, just glad that this whole scene is over for now.
Silas frowned but fell silent as Benny intervened. The boy was acting peculiar, even by his standards. Lowering himself to the grown in a much slower and less graceful manner Silas jogged to catch up. "What got you in such a generous mood?" He prodded.
Fiske followed after the pebble boy, turning towards the taller Revidian. "Excited to have a invitation like this?"
“Yeah, sure,” replied Benny to the second before addressing the first. He shrugged. "I dunno, man," he admitted. "I just... I used to have something to prove around these big nobles, you know? Now I don't. I look at them and they're honestly kinda... pathetic. Besides..." He lowered his voice and there was a sound dampening bubble a moment later. "I have a specific purpose for being here. Got it from you-know-who. I'll let the kids play. Let everyone see good guy Benny for now, huh?"
Silas examined Benny, but for all the energies his eyes allowed him to see, he could not measure the boy's sincerity. Fiske's intrusion came as almost a relief. "This your first private assignment right? Don't get too excited. Had a kid get torn clean in half last time 'round."
Fiske began to sweat a little upon hearing what happened last time. He'd clear his throat before laughing confidently. "Is that so? Well, I guess that just means that they are not as great as the great Lean-.. Fiske!"
"Sure." Silas said with no confidence, but had the politeness to ignore the boy's fumble. "Just hope I don't end up in the desert again. Heat and sand 'bout 'nough to do me in." He kicked the ground below the obelisk. Surely it had been well past the time now? "Hey!" He shouted to the air, "Harrachora! We're waitin'!" He punctuated each word with a hard kick to the obelisk's base.
Ymiico dropped from her perch on a great cedar and opened the invitation. She made quick work of getting ready and passing through the silk gate to whatever awaited her. A stranger to this land just as she was to any other. Quickly she found her other peers who seemingly took it upon themselves to have a quick bout before they were herded for their purpose. She sought a familiar face for comfort and gossip and did not have to wait long. "Oira, suunei!" Ismette greeted her. "Low ceilings here, hmm?”
Ymiico’s ears perked up like raised daggers. She was relieved to see a familiar face even when all she saw was a secret. “Almost too low,” she replied, her response cut short by a gliding yellow bird.
It turned out to be no normal bird whatsoever, and quickly became an object of curiosity. Many recognized it as their guide to the meeting with the Arch-Zeno. Things would… not prove quite so simple, all told. It appeared that Karan Harrachora was either as fond of puzzles as Hugo Hunghorasz had been, or else he had simply inherited the job from the late Paradigm and this was part of it. Five groups undertook a pair of trials each and, as he’d expected, they passed with flying colours.
P E R I L . . . A N D O P P O R T U N I T Y
All five of the groups witnessed the same thing: the doors slid apart and the space beyond was revealed. It was... an immense open area in the mountains. A dark-skinned man stood there alone before a table appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He was Karan Harrachora, and he was playing fetch with Henry. All of the other animals were about nearby. He stopped and took a seat, beckoning the students over.
Tku walked in, stunned by the scenery. "Very nice," he remarked as he looked around.
Evander saw Karan Harrachora, walked toward the table that he'd motioned them over to, and pulled his seat out before sitting down.
Desmond chuckled as he took in the sight of Henry playing fetch. He entered and began looking around and checking on Billium who was currently trying to find his owner, and Ani who was moving about, slightly nudging a few to play and bullying them. Once he made sure they were okay he made his way to Harrachora.
Esmii remembered Harrachora, and seeing all the animals seemed to make her smile. She bowed in the direction of the man who she mistakenly believed was the Zenith.
Ashon made his way forward and bowed his head toward the man as well. He reached out to push the back of Evander's head forward too, discretely so it looked sincere and not forced, so he may bow in respect. He looked around to notice Penny, naturally moving toward her as he took a nearby seat.
Evander snapped back at Ashon's hand before he could even touch him, "Don't," he warned.
Penny scowled a little bit at Ashon's presumptuousness. Evander could be an arrogant prat at times, but she got the sense that Ashon had been nothing but a pest to him the entire time. He smiled widely toward her: the sweetest and most innocent of smiles. "He took good care of me."
"This was quite fun, thank you Arch-Zeno." Tku said, having enjoyed the experience.
Qasem leaned against his spear as he surveyed their teacher in the unexpected surroundings and smiled. "Was it a test? Or just a novelty to deter visitors?" Silas, still sour from being forcibly put through the whole ordeal sat on the ground and resumed his cross-limbed stance and glare.
"Mostly the second," Harrachora admitted, "though it served the first purpose this time too."
Dory let out a sigh, is it over? "I can finally see well again."
Fiske just relaxed, no need to get too excited over a small test. Marz comes in as he began looking around as he noticed the man beckoning them to the table and plopped down. Desmond slipped by next to him to cut one of the spots off from someone annoying sitting next to himself.
Yvain, for one, looked rather annoyed. "This whole test took way too long. Perhaps this coming message will be worth it." Penny rolled her eyes grandly and went to take a seat. Truth be told, she was rather fond of Evander in a different sort of way and she did not have the energy to deal with these two sniping at each other. Instead, she seated herself right between Yuliya and... metaphorically holding her nose: Yvain. "Do stop complaining, cousin," she whispered. "One might think you were ungrateful for the privilege of jumping through so many hoops."
"Fine, fine, if that is what my dearest cousin wishes." Yvain whispered back.
"You are truly a gentleman," Penny teased.
The gentleman chuckled. "I try to be for the ones deserving."
"Gods, Yvain," she giggled. "You're tiresome at times, but how I've missed you."
Evander noticed as Penny placed herself between the blondes as he smiled toward them. Meanwhile, Ashon was not done being an utter pest. He looked around for his “Luush'elar,” waving and beckoning Cal'tuuro over toward him.
"So are we done with tests now?" Esmi asked.
Yuli pretended to be absentminded as Penny sat between her and this other blonde boy, but she was definitely listening to the conversation intently, although could not help being distracted by the man she saw help slay the former paradigm. What was his gameplan, bringing all these people here?
While the others talked, Qasem nodded to the Zeno and accepted a seat at the table. "I'm sure we are as eager to listen as you-"
"Whadya want?" Silas cut him off, abruptly bringing them to the point of the gathering.
It flew in the face of every other respectful interaction to this juncture. Karan Harrachora turned to the boy and regarded him almost... mechanically. There was no expression on his face. But there was a monumental surge of magic. Silas... disappeared.
"In case any of you are wondering,” the Arch-Zeno offered, “no. He isn't dead. He's merely... proven himself unworthy by his conduct. That was the truest test here: one of patience and good graces. I trust the rest of you will not let yourselves down. Correct?" Tku remained very quiet after that.
Esmii nodded in fear. "Sven, he's scary," she whispered, and she received a small squeeze for her troubles.
Desmond saw Silas instantly disappear as he stood up, his hands were set down onto the table and he looked to the Arch Zeno. Yet, before Desmond could speak the eminent master spoke. Desmond let out a sigh as he sat back down, now slightly more upset.
Cal shrugged. Why did Jamboi like him so? He had barely tried to make this happen. He went and sat next to the monkey king, not saying much of anything. He had been relatively unimpressed with the puzzle but moreso the people solving the offered puzzles.
Ashon found the drink cannister and started to pour water for Cal and himself. Upon Harrachora's words, he ended up providing everyone with refreshment, before seating himself back down next to his unwilling 'friend'.
Tku just breathed out and shook his head, frankly disappointed by both of them. He just finished a sketch to keep himself busy... very silently.
Qasem blinked, staring at the spot where the small blind boy should have been. "Certainly." He finally said, bringing his eyes back to the Arch. "Though I think you'll understand our eagerness given all the build-up."
"Most certainly," Karan allowed. "That is understandable. You were placed in stressful, trying, and perhaps even tedious situations. Tempers flared, personalities clashed and, one way or another, you managed. It is perfectly ordinary for people to be a bit on edge, to forget themselves." His eyes flicked almost imperceptibly quickly to Evander, Ashon, and Manfred and he clasped his hands at the small of his back as the last of them sat. They may have noticed that Sister Laska had appeared silently among them at some point. "The thing is," the Arch-Zeno continued. "I am not looking for ‘ordinary’. These situations demand more than ordinary. That is why I've called you. It is why I've tested you."
"What would have happened if we failed to meet your expectations, Arch-Zeno?" Esmii asked politely.
Ashon gently pointed at the spot where Silas had been sitting.
"You'd enjoy a pleasant luncheon with me and receive some academic commendation. That would be all." Harrachora replied with a smirk, "Or that, if you failed by being a jerk." His eyes went to where Ashon was looking.
Esmii looked to where Silas had been before he'd disappeared, still holding onto the benny that he’d thrown at her. She put it in her pocket for now.
Then, the Arch-Zeno rapped the table twice with his fist and it became... a world map: An unusually detailed map and there were things on it - putative continents and landforms - that none had previously seen.
However, it appeared to focus in on one place in particular. "This is Kerremand," he said. It continued to magnify one particular region. "This is the small town of Mandelein, in the far west of the country, right by the Tripartite Border with Mycormi and Hypari."
Desmond began to inspect the map, curious of the supreme detail this map gave while listening to the man speak. Esmii found herself doing much the same.
Tku pulled out his own map, instantly noticing the similarities/ "Very Intriguing!" His voice rose enthusiastically before he tamped down on it.
Manfred, Kaspar, and a couple of the other Kerreman speakers glanced at each other. Ashon was, after all, from Hypari, just over the border. Then, like clockwork, the following people had papers appear before them, reading: The Beast of Mandelein: Dory, Manfred, Kaspar, Ymiico, Casii, Ashon, Cal, Qasem, Ismette, and Sister Laska. "Take a moment to read these," the Arch-Zeno advised.
Qasem stared blankly at the unfamiliar mapped region on the table, then the papers placed before him. Ashon looked at the others who'd gotten the pieces of paper, and one, in particular, who hadn't. His eyes moved to Penny as he looked toward her, and lingered for a moment, before they turned to the parchment.
"There is something very wrong in this town," Harrachora continued, "and it almost certainly crosses the border. If we send official personnel, we fear they'll clear out. Many of you will notice that you have experience in the language, with the region and its unique challenges, or at least with handling... monsters."
Ashon looked at some of the details. Why Kerremand of all places, and why was he being sent there!? The location on the map was suspiciously close near another place he was familiar with: the place where his parents had passed away. "Not all monsters are covered in fur..." he murmured.
Dory looked at the map before waddling towards Manfred. "Mandelein isn't too far from your family's lands, no? Know anything about it?"
"Not so far," Manfred allowed. "Not so near either. It is a backward place, though it wasn't always. Once the yasoi cloistered, it stopped being a trade town. The House Kapperstel, who oversee the lands, are notoriously aloof and removed." He scowled. "And the queen has done nothing?" Dory looked quite annoyed with the information. "A Noble who forsakes his lands does not deserve to rule over it." A rather triumphant smirk appeared on her face. "I would do a much better job than them!"
Manfred shrugged. "Apparently, it runs reasonably well. Circumstances beyond their control and all."
"I see..." The smirk quickly turned to a more neutral expression. "Then I guess my greatness isn't needed to rule there."
"Well, you never know." Manfred winked.
Beasts. Qasem watched as the scythe-wielding sister of the Pentad took one of the papers. It was to be cleansing then. Part of him wanted to protest, his role was neither judge nor executioner. Instead, he examined the briefing and listened closely to what else the Arch had to say.
"Finally," the Arch-Zeno added, eyes taking in Qasem for a second, "there is the matter of truths. Expect a very tangled web in that town. Very tangled indeed. There is a reason why half of you could pass for locals there while half are very pointedly outsiders."
Ashon nudged Cal in the side, speaking to him discreetly. "Make sure those two don't share the same room together or none of us will get any rest. Bad enough with her." His eyes moved to Isii and Casii, but particularly the former.
Ismette saw him looking at her. She waved and smiled sweetly. Casii scowled and spat. She had not liked the hegelan hole in the ground. She had not liked it one bit, and the wide open mountains, not much better. Ashon smiled sweetly in return at the first of the pair, and waved back.
Cal added two and two together once more. Were all continental yasoi this loopy and depraved? He waved and did not let his thoughts show, as always. He would have to work with them all in the near future. "Tell me Ashon,” he inquired, “why are there so many couples at this school so quickly? Is this part of the twin continents' culture?"
That seemed to have concluded their briefing, however. They were to complete a task and were - quite tantalizingly - free to take advantage of any opportunities for self-advancement they might find along the way. "Should you require more than what is in the folders, you may speak with me after," the Arch-Zeno decided. "Your goal is relatively simple, however: kill the Beast of Mandelein, menace that it is, and uncover any illegal or hidden activities the town is caught up in. Now…” He pivoted. “There are quite a few more of you present."
With this, a second set of papers appeared in front of a second set of people: Yuliya, Nazih, Esmii, Yvain, Marz, Penny, and Sven. The map shifted and they were now looking at Vossoriya.
Yuli excitedly jumped in her seat a little. Her homeland! And it seemed she was going with Penny and MarkMarz to boot. What a wonderful day this had been, outside of annoying puzzles. "Penny, I can be your tour guide!" she exclaimed unabashedly.
Penny all-but squealed in excitement. "Oh mah Shune! I've always wanted to see Vossoriya!"
"My first mission, I'm kind of nervous." Esmii stuttered, hugging herself. Beside her, Sven gulped. "Don't worry. Mine too. I'm shure they know what they're doing." She smiled only somewhat nervously. "At least we'll be together." It was enough to make him smile back, and he wrapped a comforting arm around her, though who it benefited more was difficult to say.
Yvain smugly leaned against Penny. "It seems we get to spend some precious time in this Callanasti Winter 'Wonderland." His eyes moved towards the Vossoriyan. "Seems you have a friendly guide as well."
"Yuli will make everything better," Penny assured her cousin. "She may even outdo you for sheer positivity!"
Marz began to read through the paper presented and scoffed, "Gods, it'll be cold!"
"Your mission here is a simple one, though made more difficult by certain local... circumstances," continued the Arch-Zeno.
"Aren't Hegelans supposed to be cold-resistant?" teased Penny. She winked to make it clear that she was joking. He seemed like the high-strung sort.
"I might be. Don't mean I like it! Much more used to the heat meself," Marz replied.
Yuli grinned along, singing her national anthem to herself. She was thinking about the clothes she'd probably have to lend Penny to make sure the poor girl wouldn't freeze down south.
"This," said Harrachora, pointing to a spot on the map where two major rivers met - Yuliya and Marz may have recognized them as the Kuska and Belykuska - "is the trading town of Kirimansk. There is supposed to be a shipment of something very secret, valuable, and - if opened - very dangerous passing through it. Problem is that it's been stalled there for... quite some time: the whole Hundri, in fact. Whatever you do, please don't open it. The less you know, the less you can be liable for." He was walking around the table now, peering over their shoulders. He stopped for a moment, between Penny and Yuliya, reaching out and then... something seemed different. It was so quick and minor that it would've scarce been noticed by any but the most alert. "Your job, however, is to retrieve it and bring it, intact, back to the Hegelan City of Hoch Dorumvir, and its portal, from which it can be moved quickly and safely to Hogh Munkhelad and then, in the hands of Zenos, to the academy."
Marz nodded his head and said, "A'kay, I can deal with that. Sounds interesting enough"
"I am intrigued by what would be so important that we shouldn't open it." Yvain rubbed his chin. "What do you think?" He looked towards his cousin, but something about Penny’s demeanour had changed. She was quiet and pensive, unusually so for her.
Not open? Would Yuliya be able to stop people from doing that? Also, what exactly was being taken through here? Her mind raced with questions, so much so that she almost missed Harrachora stopping behind them for a moment, but she just let it happen. Whatever it was, it wasn't something she could do anything about. Regardless, she simply listened until the man was done, before turning to the rest. "The less we know, the less problem. Your tour guide still ready to help!" she spoke, trying not to hide the inkling of fear that the current Paradigm put in her.
"Does it, as a Vossoriyan yourself, not make you incredibly intrigued to what this might truly be?" Yvain looked rather interested in the reasons as to why they’d been advised not to look into what the cargo would be.
"It probably way more boring than you think. Nothing interesting happen in Kirimansk. Not while I live there," she assured him, telling a half truth. Yuliya just needed them to shut up for now, to avoid antagonizing the Arch-Zeno.
"Fine fine, have it your way. I won't ponder on it any longer." Yvain still looked somewhat frustrated by the potential fact that someone of his standing could be sent on such an unimportant mission.
"Excellent!" decided Harrachora, clasping his hands in a businesslike manner. "I do apologize for the rather opaque manner in which you've been received, but some discretion is necessary here and not knowing what is in those three crates allows you to be genuinely ignorant should anything go askew, though I have faith in all of you that it will not.” He applied some verbal balm to their worries. “Rest assured that there are immense opportunities as well and that you will have a local guide aside from your very gracious Vossoriyan classmate." He nodded in thanks towards Yuliya. At that, there was another massive surge of energy - massive enough to nearly make some sick.
Twin portals opened. Through one, they could see trees and a road running through a deep forest. Through the other was a frosty plateau in the mountains and, in the near distance, an enormous stone and steel gateway to a city.
"да направит нас ветер!" Yuli exclaimed as she bolted through the portal, ushering the rest to follow. The exodus happened with surprising speed. They had their supplies and their briefings and, unlike the groups that the Zenith had brought together, there weren’t all that many ties between the two cohorts.
Everybody else was gone within a minute, and the twin portals closed behind them. There were only five remaining: Evander, Desmond, Tku, Fiske, and Benedetto. Karan Harrachora, Arch-Zeno of Ersand'Enise, turned to give them his full attention. "You have been kept back for a reason," he assured the five young men before him.
"I would hope so, would be a shame to come all this way to only be turned away," Desmond chided.
"Well, I hope so, though the experience was nice enough," Tku chuckled.
"Is this something special?" Fiske looked questioning.
The Arch-Zeno smiled at the quips, but there was no light in his eyes. "Trust that I have no such intention." He regarded Fiske as well. "You have been held back because some of your peers - those who do not believe themselves to be on any sort of 'mission' and have gone to Torragon for personal reasons - are headed for certain death. It is this fate that I hope you can save them from."
Desmond heard what was said and felt the weight of the room increase. He broke the silence and was the first to speak. "I see… Do we know what might cause this 'certain death'?"
Fiske sighed upon hearing the task for them at hand. Part of him got rather annoyed by the fact he had to save people who’d gotten themselves caught up in a ‘certain death’ situation.... certain death? "Save them from their own fate? That sounds rather complicated..."
Tku wondered what he could possibly do to help with this. It seemed above and beyond his powers but maybe they needed a healer. "If I can be of assistance, I will." He bowed his head. "I do owe you after all," the Obenjan added.
"From my experience, fate is evanescent," advised the Arch-Zeno. "Though this opportunity may be complicated," he conceded. "It should also be quite lucrative for you."
Evander looked at Harrachora, "Who are the peers you want us to save?"
"Isabella Lowell, Zarina Al-Nader, Marceline Hohenfelter, Ayla Arslan... and the Tan-Zeno Jocasta Re." The Arch-Zeno replied evenly.
None of those were people Tku knew. Not that it mattered, but to be responsible for saving a Tan-Zeno seemed a bit much.
Desmond nodded as he thought about who could be aiming for all of these individuals. He knew Zarina, Ayla, and Jocasta should be close. Marceline is a business partner to Zarina, but Isabella: that was the one that was odd. He pursed his lips for a moment. "Okay I think I'm getting the picture"
"I have reason to believe that a grave danger lurks out in the deserts of Torragon - just beyond the Refuge of San Agustin de las Arenas - and that they are headed, potentially, into the very mouth of it."
Fiske frowned. The Hohenfelter girl had gotten involved with this mess? He'd expected the Arslan girl but the Hohenfelter girl usually seemed to be of the smarter variety. Gods, she'll have to reward me if I save their asses, and she’s loaded. "If a Tan-Zeno is on that mission they should genuinely be pretty safe, no?"
"Beings," Harrachora revealed, "snakelike beings that are said to live in the desert, but I think there's more to it. I don't think they're the danger... at least not directly. Your friends are about to get wrapped up in something much larger than themselves. Whatever you find there, I have a sense that it could be world-shattering: something that you must report back to me and only to me." He shook his head. "We have hidden enemies among us, and I'm not referring to agents of the Traveler."
Snakelike beings... Fiske remembered something akin to that. They came from great metal birds. If they were involved, it might be more dangerous than what had happened at Moli's. The thought of seeing those snakelike beings both intrigued and terrified him to no end.
Tku had heard of Snakelike people in folklore but never anyone truly believing they were real. Yet…if this was the Arch-Zeno and there was indeed a hidden continent, then it could definitely be true. Why he’d chosen Tku, the boy had no idea but… "I will do my best."
Desmond thought to himself as he he heard the man speak. He began to piece together thoughts and ideas that he knew in the area, as the moment Harrachora spoke of snakelike people, Desmond snapped his fingers as it showed him what he needed. He nodded, businesslike, mind racing. "Okay, I think I got it now. I've dealt with these beings before. Okay. I understand sir". He continued to nod, resisting the urge to rise and pace. "So our job is to stop this event from happening, or the more likely thing is to make sure the others you sent us to save is to survive."
Evander leaned in when he heard Harrachora reveal the description fitting what he knew as Sirrahi. He knew what the Arch-Zeno meant by hidden enemies. Evander understood all too well what was introduced at this briefing table. Harrachora felt similarly as Evander about the greater war afoot. The Revidian listened to Desmond, "Sounds like the latter, the event is happening and our peers don't know what they are walking into, therefore we are going to make sure they survive."
Tku made note of Evander and Desmond's reactions to the news. Perhaps they knew more information. He came to the conclusion that he should ask them later for safety’s sake.
Karan Harrachora's gaze was heavy. Serious. It drifted about the table, taking in the other five men there. "This is the final question, then: can I rely on you for this?" He paused, hands clenching and unclenching behind his back. "If you have any serious doubts or reservations, now is the time to step back from the precipice. I assure you that the rewards will be truly incredible should we succeed, both for yourself and our society at large, but there is risk here, and I would never order you to move forward into danger were I not entirely certain of your willingness."
Tku made it known multiple times that he was ready, and who better to see how the world might change than an artist to draw the story? "You have my word Arch-Zeno."
Desmond took in a breath and sighed. It was a dangerous thought, yet what was he if not a man who’d lived his life perched on just such an edge? "You can," he replied simply.
The Arch-Zeno inclined his head in thanks.
Fiske was sweating, this was a serious situation... but if the rewards were as incredible as Harrachora was saying, it might be worth tagging along with Benedetto and Desmond. "I will do my best."
Benedetto hadn't said much so far. In fact, when this fucking Zeno had disappeared Silas, he'd been ready to throw hands. He scowled and considered. Jocasta, he thought. In grave danger, he thought. Hmmmmm. An idea occurred to him, then: an awful idea, a wonderful idea, A wonderfully awful idea. "Oi I'll help save your lil' world," he answered with a toothy grin. "I'm in."
With that, Karan Harrachora bid them good luck and godspeed and opened a portal. The burning heat of the dune sea was already rolling through it. The sand was whipping and the dragons were circling above by the time they stepped through.
They started to appear - out of nowhere, and in the oddest places - invitations to a meeting with the Zenith. Some students received them. Many did not. Yet, at the requested hour, as Ipte slid towards Shune, they all gathered: all of them by the Forked Tower, a truly... eclectic group. It had been more or less a year since the last time they had found themselves here and perhaps their appearances were the clearest evidence that each had grown - or regressed - in various ways. They counted, among their number, a dozen in all: Abdel Varga, Ayla Arslan, Ingrid Penderson, Isabella Lowell, Jocasta Re, Kaureerah Wenhan, Maura Mercador, Niallus Saberhagen, Rikard Ambrus, Trypano Somia, Yalen Castel, and Zarina Al-Nader, plus a number of beasts. Those tethered who had walked with difficulty before now did so easily. Those who had not seemed to move easily, at least: their condition not worsened in the slightest. Conversations, teasing, and a growing murmur of questioning filled the otherwise still predawn air.
For some fifteen minutes, they stood outside, waiting and catching up, in increasing bafflement as to the lack of reception. Then, Rikard happened. First, he had plunged through the Violet Enclave's protective barrier. Then, it was his prerogative to touch the door handle of the tower. He disappeared. Within less than a minute, the other eleven followed, to find themselves divided into a trio of quartets, staring out into a vast and darkened chamber. This, then, was the Zenith's test. Those who had been called upon last year remembered something very similar from the late Paradigm. Initial blunders aside, most had proven themselves competent people before, and those who had not had the earlier opportunity proved themselves now. By various means, all three groups made it through the initial gauntlet, only to find themselves presented with the queerest of locks and the insistence that they utter not a word before a pair of great exit doors. Not a single one tried to blast through. Instead, they did what they had reliably done best, and solved the tactile riddle. Only then was the room beyond revealed...
They all gathered just outside of the Violet Enclave, about ten minutes early, and at a very odd hour. Ayla & Maura presented their letters to confirm their attendance, as did Niallus.
Zarina had made all the preparations necessary to get her animals looked after, knowing this day was going to come eventually. Although with a lack of Hugo, it made her a tad anxious. Nibbler, with his cute sweater, and Riesco equipped with his newly forged gear were brought along with the reclusive Virangish girl. She was well-equipped as well, clad in platinum (practically silver) armor, although the helm remained stored in a bag on her ride. Nibbler stood on her larger pauldron, connected to a gauntlet that was disproportionately bigger than its opposite, albeit compact enough to not be over-encumbering.
This girl was packing heat alright.
On the opposite end of this was Abdel, wearing fashionable yet comfortable clothes. A bonus from his work for Isabella. None of it was particularly special. What stood out were the two large animals behind him. Skuggvars with beautiful, reticulated patterns and D.R.A.G.O.N. approved muzzles. They were adolescents and yet their heads surpassed Abdel's height already.
There was also another presence lurking about, not too far from the Skuggvars.
Ingrid presents her letter and says hello to everyone. "Nice armor Zarina."
A small temporal rift opens and closes outside of the Violet Enclave, leaving behind one Yalen Castel, who managed to step out of the portal without falling on his face for once. His High Somnian vestments appear to have a different form factor today, slightly shorter and more streamlined for lengthy travel on foot. He is carrying a large leather bag full of who knows what, and his outer robe clinks with the sound of metal. There is an unusually pointy mask hanging off of his back by a thick string, and a brass censer dangling from his belt. Notably, he is not wearing a pair of leg braces, but instead a plain pair of sandals. Despite this he is walking like an ordinary student, though his gait looks slightly off.
“Thanks.” Zarina answers, indifferent.
Approaching the scene is the lady in red herself, Trypano clad in her usual attire, purse slung over her shoulder with her usual sample kits. "Seems I'm not the only attendee." she comments aloud.
The air fills with static, causing people's hair to become frazzled and stiff. A flash of light bursts in the sky, and down descends Isabella the magical seamstress. Her skin crackles with electricity as she floats like a paper lantern, drifting to the ground gracefully much like her childhood friend Jocasta would. Unlike the others who are dressed more practically, her poofy dress is somewhat gaudy and cumbersome. Every time one glances at her, her gown seems to change color.
The metal of her heels clank upon the stone as Ayla reached up to hug Zazzy. “Are you going to be our knight in shining armour?" She couldn't resist the opportunity to tease upon her best friend, they were practically sisters in all but blood. She also moved over to Yalen as she gave him a hug as well. “Hello stranger, how is the bliss of soon-to-be married life treating you?"
“Yep.” she confirmed as she lifted her friend with her larger arm for the hug.
Yalen pats the top of Ayla's head playfully. He has finally grown tall enough to do so.
"It's good to see you again. All I can say is, don't be in a hurry to get married like I was. Trust me." Then, Jocasta, having just appeared through a portal, clears her throat.
Maura brought herself up toward Abdel, watching the dragons flank either side of him. "They are definitely growing fast. Rather like you too. Feeling my neck cracks more now it when comes to simply looking up to you."
"Seems we have a few people here." Niallus looks at Zarina in her armour, "You look prepared." he says to her. “Uh-huh.” she clicked her tongue and left her mouth agape for a brief moment.
Meanwhile, Yalen answers his wifey with a shrug. "Hey, your sleeping posture is terrible! I had to steal the blanket back three times." His face breaks into a grin. Jocasta's sarcasm is rubbing off on him greatly. She reminds him of it presently: "Says he whose spirit animal is a foghorn!" she retorts. "You should hear him snore, Ayla. Dios mio!"
Zarina notices the back-and-forth and snorts, “The Married life suits you, Sensei.”
"He makes a great punching bag," she jokes, coming up beside Yalen and wrapping an arm around him.
Standing closeby, Ingrid is shocked. "Wait... did you already get married?" she blurts, worried she'd missed it.
"Marriage is very time consuming, and our lives are quite busy. The ceremony will not come for some time yet." Yalen replied. He squeezes Jocasta's arm tenderly.
"Yup. He's busy becoming one of those terrifying deep church types," Jocasta confirms. "I'm busy playing Zeno. No hurry, really." She shrugs.
"Jocasta, we've been over this. The deep church doesn't exist. It can't hurt you," Yalen assures her, but she narrows her eyes. "I'm watching you."
"Well hopefully it will go well for you with the ceremony." Nialuus says to Yalen. "Thank you! Your words sincerely warm my heart." Yalen bowed his head. Ingrid sighed in relief, "I thought I'd missed it."
"Don't worry beautiful," Niallus assured her, I'm sure they'll invite us all to attend the wedding."
Abdel, meanwhile, keeps close to Maura, with the two (maybe three) creatures lurking behind. One of them, Dayanara, aggressively sniffs Maura's hair. Maura remained largely oblivious, however, waving to Jocasta as she brought her a picture in its frame, covered in a simple clean linen cloth. "Hoped to find you here. Been sat on this a while when we bought it, but then we realised we didn't know your birth date. Hope it decorates your home nicely" She handed the parcel over to Jocasta. "Oh, umm.... thanks!" the tethered chirped. "It's beautiful. Yalen, this shall go in the drawing room."
Whilst others gossiped and mingled Trypano stood rather aside, a sore thumb even amongst the garish and vibrantly decorated of them. Her striking features contrasted greatly with just how plain she had arrived. No ostentation, great displays of magic or menagerie of enchanted equipment. Her stock and trade wasn't something you could wear on your wrist after all. She had little to share, little that would matter to those not in the know. No one had seen her since the day she found her lab. Only when classes had resumed did she start appearing publicly once again.
Still, opportunities like this invitation were rare. Just what were they being summoned for? Last time it was Hugo and the events he embarked them upon were certainly significant. Just what laid in store for them now? Her brow furrowed as she watched for their benefactor to make their entrance, silent in contemplation as her red eyes scanned the area. She would not have long to wait.
Not so far away, Rikard, a little too young and eager, forgets about the protective field around the Violet Enclave and goes to walk through. With a loud, metallic stomp, however, Zarina conjures a pillar of stone right before the ignorant little gnat. “Watch where you step, kiddo.”
The pillar does not quite have the desired effect. It smacks him hard, but he stumbles to the side and crashes right into the faintly glowing barrier. It is coded to only accept Zenos and above. All others are... fried on contact, yet Rikard... passes right through. "Hey, guys!" he shouts, oblivious to Zarina trying to stop him, "I made it through! Holy shit! I thought I was dead when I saw the... thingy."
Zarina's eyes widened, fearing the worst. And then nothing. She flinches and blinks rapidly. “You should be.”
Ingrid nearly had a heart attack, "Oh thank gods, we're probably invited in so it should be fine."
"I wouldn't be so sure. Best to stay away from it until someone tells us otherwise." Yalen warned. Everyone knew what that barrier was supposed to do to you.
Maura spied upon the youngish boy blundering his way through the barrier. He was certainly short for a fifteen year old. Perhaps he is the son of a Zeno or Arch-Zeno.
"I mean... if I made it through, you're probably all safe," Rikard crowed. "Just remember who was first!"
“Nope.” Zarina stood still by her horse, “I might be fine, but he probably won't be.”
Ingrid was a bit more adventurous, and she shrugged, "Shall we go Niallus?" she prodded as she started to walk through. Her boyfriend dutifully followed and they were egged on by Maura. "Take a risk, Ingrid! We believe in you." Ingrid smiled and flipped her off: a thing she'd picked up from Benny.
Trypano waited to see if someone else passed through before she would pass through the barrier herself. Once was coincidence, twice is something more.
Ingrid will shrug, "Shall we go Niallus?" Ingrid says as she starts to walk through, taking the risk.
Looking at Rikard on how he passed through the barrier, responding to Ingrid's response "Sure, why not."
Maura coo'd fondly, "Take a risk, Ingrid! We believe in you." Ingrid smiled and flipped her off. A thing she picked up from Benny.
The moment that Ingrid made contact with the barrier, she felt a powerful zap and her nerves were on fire. Niallus was... similarly impacted. Trypano wisely drew back at the precipice. “Nice.” Zaz cackled.
It was painful but a bit of binding helped. Ingrid looked at Rikard suspiciously now. Niallus then complained, "That hurt. Then again, that was to be expected."
"What happened to Ingrid over the break?" Maura looked upon her in pleasant surprise as she spoke to Abdel. “I don't know. Something about sausages.” Abdel shrugged. "Sausages... why would that... wait... her and Niallus?". Maura looked over to Niallus, examining him. Ingrid stunted a laugh.
Niallus noticed Maura examining him, wondering why she was looking at him like that. "What?"
Maura blushed red and looked away. Her hand moved to hold upon Abdel's. Abdel is caught off-guard, as his mind drifted away a bit, pondering what might come next! “Hmm? Something spook you, goofball?” she snickers as they step/roll into the premises, the Skuggvars following like clockwork, while a slithering form inconspicuously sneaks a ways behind the group, barely detectable.
She blushed red and looked away. Her hand moved to hold upon Abdel's.
"Oh shit!" Rikard cursed. "Then how..."
And that was then the barrier lifted.
"Oh," the boy remarked.
The flagstones before them lit up in flashing colours. Pulsing with lights leading them towards their destination.
Meanwhile, Kaureerah found a tree stump. She sat there, tuning her lute and wondering what absurdity would happen next. Was Ayla in the crowd at all?
Ayla spotted Kaureerah, waving toward her as she awkward stumbles with those heels as she moved toward her. She is grinning like a cat who has served a fish for dinner as she gave her one of the trademark Ayla-hugs. "Rawr! Hello again."
Kaureerah jumped up and down. "Eet es soo gret too see yoo!" she replied. "Eye feel soo good. Like a feel of baloonliness eensed! Doo yoo knoo why wee're heer?"
Ayla pondered a moment. "Last time we were invited, it was Hugo. He sent us to the Desert to fight a Royal Sand Wyrm to protect an Tethered Refuge. An orphanage."
Kaureerah's eyes widened. "Soo, you weer heeroos? You keeled te beeg send dregoon? Noobeddeh died?"
“Some bad guys did.” answered Zarina.
Kaureerah tilted her head to one side. 'Bad guys' was often a subjective term, she had found.
They walked along the flagstones and then they were at the tower.
Nobody was there to greet them. In fact... there appeared to be nobody there at all.
Then, the four tethered among the group noticed something: they... could not sense outside of the Enclave.
For others, it would not have been much of an inconvenience. Perhaps not even noticeable.
For them, it was as if somebody had cut off the depth of their very vision.
"Tread lightly. Our senses are being dulled in this place. I don't think they will tolerate any foolish behavior." warned Yalen.
Jocasta nodded to confirm Yalen's words. "It's... normally something like this, but not exactly."
"Noted," Ingrid says. "Really?" Niallus inquired cluelessly.
“I wouldn't expect anything less from the pros.” Abdel tightens his grip onto Maura's hand.
"So uh... what do we actually do?" Rikard enquired. "Door's kinda closed and doesn't look like anyone's home..."
Zarina exhales from her nostrils and guides Riesco to the nearest post she could tie his bridle to, “We were invited for breakfast. Clearly they chopped up the Zenos for our culinary pleasure.” she smirks at Rikard, “We go in the Forked Tower, as instructed.”
Ayla oddly seemed to recall something random in this moment as she turned toward Kaureerah. Perhaps it was the idea of facing adversity with an Eeaiko. "We need to speak at some point. My family annals spoke of my ancestor befriending water people to pull off a great feat. We wonder if such a thing is passed down in your lore."
Kaureerah wasn't quite sure what Ayla was on about, but she smiled pleasantly and agreed. "Whoo weel oopen te door?" Kaureerah prodded, eyes sliding towards Rikard.
Jocasta's eyes followed, as did Yalen's.
The boy gulped. "Well, uh... hey, I mean, I guess..." He looked at them and looked at the door handle.
"We believe in you Rikard," Ingrid gave a thumbs up. Rikard blushed.
"Don't die Rikard" said Niallus.
Trypano simply watched, waiting to see what came of this.
Maura turned toward Rikard, "You did walk through the barrier..."
He took a deep breath and puffed up his chest and forced a smile. "You're right!" he exclaimed, "I did!" Then, Niallus spoke. "Not helping, dude!" he groaned.
“Just be careful of the door demons.” Zarina remarks grimly, “Some are gruesome.”
Just about to open it, he lost his nerve. "Reekar," cooed Kaureerah, sliding up beside him. "Eet ees okeh too be scerred." She smiled reassuringly. "Eye weel sten weeth yoo."
"Do you need someone to hold your hand?" Ingrid offered jokingly.
"Yeah, Trypano will hold your hand." joked Niallus.
Trypano looks over to Niallus, confused as to how she’d entered the conversation somehow.
"Was once told a beautiful Princess or a Prince, one perfect for you, resides behind the door of floor 69." Ayla sighed, "Wonder what mine would look like."
Then, a big, bad Skuggvar stands by Rikard and hisses particularly loudly. It didn't even acknowledge the boy, it just existed there, menacingly, with a muzzle.
Rikard yelps and touches the door handle. It doesn't budge.
The boy disappears.
"... Well then." said Ingrid
"Didn't expect that." remarked Niallus.
Ayla sighed out toward the taunters, "Now we have to go after him and save him."
Abdel blinks, flabbergasted! He doesn't realize that Dayanara, his Skuggvar, prods the doors with her snout. Dayanara disappears as well.
"Well don't just stand there! We don't even know if he's safe or not!" Yalen rushed up and grabbed the handle himself.
Kaureerah jumps back, in a panic, right into one of the skuggvars. Double-surprised, she instinctively jumps forward and.. into the door at the same time Yalen touches. The two of them both disappear. The Skuggar emitted a low growl, but then resumed doing a lot of nothing.
Ayla moved up toward the Door Handle next, going in to save her friends.
Ingrid goes to grab it as well, "Here we go"
"Hmm... Probably spatial displacement like the first time we accessed the tower." She considered the magic at work here, letting the others try the door while observing the exact nature of the magic acting upon them before taking up the handle in turn. Niallus reaches for the handle.
"Cannot be left behind by Ingrid, Abdel." Maura moved toward the door as well to open it.
“Oh, this again. Minus a fork.” Zarina rolls her eyes and steps closer to the door and reaches out. Nibbler is still on her shoulder and Riesco is instead dragged with her.
Abdel, panicked, rushes up to the door with Qadira kind of just hanging behind him. The strange, slithering creature got even closer to the group. Abdel nods, drags Qadira with him while the shadow-creature zips in and coils itself around Abdel abdomen.
They entered in the order of... Rikard, Yalen, Kaureerah, Ayla, Ingrid, Niallus, Maura, Zarina, Abdel, Trypano, Jocasta, and Isabella.
Each person found themselves inside a vast and darkened chamber with three others. The first group consisted of Rikard, Isabella, Ayla, and Abdel. What are the compositions of the other groups?
Ayla looked around, "Is this the short person group?"
"'cept for him." Rikard jerked a thumb at Abdel.
Abdel thumbs up, “Can't even call me lanky anymore.”
She blinked, as she lit a flame upon her finger tip to provide some light to the darkness, and thus see better.
"Honey, you there? I can't see you very well, but I can feel you." Yalen spoke into the emptiness of the dark chamber.
Jocasta lit up brightly with arcane magic, revealing a vast, otherwise pitch black chamber beyond and a yawning chasm. There were four large ropes crossing it and each appeared to have a hanging basket beneath just before the start of the chasm. In the distance, near the edge of the chasm, was a lantern, flickering in the gloom. There appeared to be a few places where sections of the rope connected and these would have to be viewed and carefully navigated.
The other groups reconnoiter as well, to see an identical scene. They are:
Group One: Rikard, Isabella, Ayla, Abdel
Group Two: Yalen, Jocasta, Ingrid, Zarina
Group Three: Kaureerah, Trypano, Niallus, Maura
The animals are all... somewhere else entirely.
Rikard, Isabella, Ayla, Abdel:
Ayla paused for a moment, "The students climb into the student basket?" Then, grabbing the small lantern inside, she had a further idea, "Perhaps there is a puzzle. We have to pick the right basket, and that rope takes us all across." She moved over to the ropes and examined them, pulling and prodding to find the safest path or at least any differences What she couldn't see with her eyes, she found through her sense of touch and vibrations. Some of the ropes were more taut than others. They were also not uniform in thickness and composition. Rikard and Abdel followed Ayla assiduously as long as she had the light. "We might have to get on board together, then move through the darkness with this thing," said the Torragonese, brandishing her lantern. Then, her attention was grabbed by a small stone pedestal, a bit off to the side.
Ayla moved over towards it, leading the others with her. "What do you think this is for?"
First to see the writing, Abdel scratched his head and leaned in. “Maybe read it?” he proposed, doing just that. After a moment, Ayla joined in.
The plaque on the pedestal read, somewhat mysteriously:
1: 1 2: 2 3: 7 4: 10
Total: 17
All baskets must be taken at least once and end up on the other side. There may not be a gap of more than three in crossing speed.
Ayla looked at the puzzle. "Well, total means the total speed, and we can do it together, holding hands." She winked toward Rikard "One and Two goes down together, the person with lantern goes back to beginning on the first. Then 7 and 10 go down together. Come back on 2 with the lantern, then 1 and 2 go down together. Solved."
Rikard blushed fiercely. "You know," he admitted, "the math checks out!"
“Makes sense, actually.” Abdel nodded. “Okay, I can do one of the quick ones. Everyone gets the gist of it?”
By various means, they made their way across. It felt perilous at times but, as they clambered out onto the other side and huddled there, there was some sense of accomplishment or, at least, relief.
Ayla pulled Rikard first, then Abdel, and Isabella into one big Ayla-hug, the boy in the middle of them. "Whoop! We are the best team."
As they made their way past the chasm, the chamber narrowed and they found themselves at a massive set of double doors. Their magic, as well, had returned and, beyond the doors, they could sense figures moving about, including animals. On the door, however, was a strange pattern. Beneath were engraved a picture and some words.
Ayla stepped forward to read the plaque. Then, she froze and her eyes widened. Urgently, she motioned for everyone to be absolutely silent, not even a word or a peep. Finger on lips, even doing so on their lips to make the point very salient. She pinched the lips closed for emphasis. She returned to the plaque as she attempted to solve the puzzle.
Abdel reverted to doing what he always did well: Keeping discreet when things got tough. Rikard pondered the question, reaching down to write something in the dirt, but then…
"40?" suggested Ayla, and hearts caught in throats. Thankfully, she was right, and she bounces up and down excitedly, pulling Rikard in as well. The boy was very conveniently closer to her height, after all.
Yalen, Jocasta, Ingrid, Zarina
"Has anyone walked on a slackline before?" Ingrid asks before realizing she is with someone in full plate and 2 tethered. "...Nevermind."
Yalen pinched at the rope and tested its strength. "Phew. Don't tell me we have to walk on this."
"Oh look! There's a basket, Yalen" Ingrid announced to the group, "Maybe we ride in it?"
“Have you guys tried, like, flying?” Zarina looked down into the abyss, lips pursed, “That'd be too easy, though.” she drew to scout out for anything off. She noticed that her magic stopped mere feet from where she was and well short of the chasm and the waiting baskets.
"Let's sense first, They might be cutting our magic like they cut your senses," Ingrid looked to Jocasta and Yalen to see what they could feel in the chasm.
"There is more than one basket. I suppose we could all pick one, but if three hit a dead end and only one is correct then doing it that way would be stupid. With the way these ropes are tied, the paths probably deviate in several places." Yalen tried to follow the path of one of the ropeways with his senses, but something seemed off.
Jocasta, as well, was not able to sense much more than a few feet. "Oh for Shune's fucking sake!" she hissed.
"I can try going down one and try to pull myself back if you want," Ingrid offered.
“Welp.” Zazzy scoffed, “It's the usual Bee-Ess.” she looked over at the frustrated Jojo, “Yeah, go for it, Ingy.”
"Take the lantern if you're going first." Yalen grabbed the light source from the edge of the chasm and handed it to her.
"Thank you Yalen, I'll be off." Ingrid got into the second basket and starts to make her way.
The basket that Ingrid had chosen was the second tautest one according to Yalen's calculations. It sagged and swayed dangerously as she stepped into it, barely able to support her weight alone. However, when she reeled, it began moving very quickly across the chasm.
"Oh! This is much faster than I thought!" Ingrid exclaimed as she went zipping across the Chasm, screaming a little along the way. She found that she had to adjust at each rope reset, but did so easily with the light. Without, it would’ve been impossible.
Zarina, as Ingrid does her thing, investigates the different ropes, hopefully still illuminated by Jojo from nearby. She notices more or less the same things that Yalen and the others did.
Yalen crossed his arms and watched Ingrid zoom into the darkness, until they could only discern her location by the light of the lantern. "...She's not coming back is she?" Zarina answered. “Nope.” She paused for a second. “Hey, Jo.” piped up Zaz, “Can you make, like, three more lanterns?”
Jocasta was pretty good with binding, but not quite that good. "I'm embarrassed to say that I probably can't do something that complex." She tried anyway, and managed a simple candle, at least.
"You need to adjust the rope as you go! It's not hard but you are going to need light!!!" Ingrid screamed back at them. Zarina clicked her tongue, “Bad time to lack a Kaspar.” and then she looked down at herself, “And there's no way I'm fitting in a basket with this get-up.” the armor-clad girl sighed, fists to her hips. “Hey, you have the ONLY LIGHT!” she called back in a huff.
"SHOULD I SEND IT BACK!?" came the faint call from Ingrid.
“YES!” Zarina shouted.
Ingrid yelled, "I can't!!"
“You've doomed us!” Zazzy exaggerated.
"Just let her pull herself back like she said she would and stop being so melodramatic." Yalen poked the back of Zarina's leg with his foot.
Yalen's unfeeling foot meets metal greaves, making for a mild clang, “May as well have fun with it.” she looks over at the other baskets, “Alright, who tests the other ones?”
"I'm coming back!!!" Ingrid made her way back over, noticing that she took the exact same amount of time to return. She was rather out of breath when she spoke. "Hey there, So by some rough counting, it took the same amount of time. Maybe it is a timing thing to all have light when we need it?"
Zarina pointed at the next basket, “I'd volunteer, but I'm as bashful as they come.”
Ingrid sighs, "Want me to go and you guys keep count just in case?"
“Yes.” said Zaz.
Ingrid hopped once more into a different basket, still the thicker kind. "Nothing of too much note," she observed disappointedly, "Maybe we can inspect things more on our side? The going over the chasm is starting to make me feel anxious."
“Fiiiine.” Zazzy extends her hand expectantly, "I'll take over.”
Ingrid handed the lantern over. "Thanks." She seemed relieved and went over to where she had magic again, taking a seat on the floor. Then it fell to Zarina to look around with the lantern, not too keen on riding a basket with her armour still on. It wasn’t long before she found the plaque on the pedestal above. Basket number 4, on the far right, marked '10', seemed to be the most solidly built and its rope was the thickest as well.
The plaque on the pedestal read, somewhat mysteriously:
1: 1 2: 2 3: 7 4: 10
Total: 17
All baskets must be taken at least once and end up on the other side. There may not be a gap of more than three in crossing speed.
“Hey, I found a thing.” Zarina whistled for her comrades to come over.
Ingrid looked at the note, "Definitely a speed thing."
Yalen squinted at the pedestal and processed the information that lay therein. "Do you think more than one person can fit in a basket? Let's try going in pairs. Three and four seem close enough according to the plaque."
"I don't think so." Ingrid replies.
“I think the point is we get all these baskets over there.” proposed Zaz. “Okay, idea.” She crossed her arms, “Someone rides the fastest one and just swings around back and forth while we go one at a time. I guess the big slow ones can go together or something.”
"1 and 2 I think, then 1?” Ingrid offered in an uncertain voice, “then the slow ones. 2 goes back then? Then 1 and 2? I think? It's a logic puzzle?" If Zarina had the general idea, Ingrid solidified it. Jocasta shrugged. "Sounds good to me. I think..." She paused. "Yes! That's 17!"
“It is?” Zaz cocked a brow, as she had been speaking out of her platinum ass, “Amazing! Dibs on the four.”
Ingrid was pleased to have Jocasta agree, it felt like praise now that she was a tan-Zeno. "I would pat you on your lil' head, Ingy, if I could reach it," teased Jocasta. Ingrid laughed, "Maybe another time, Do you need help getting into the basket? I know the magic isn't available."
"Hmm....I hadn't thought of that." Jocasta scowls. "I won't say no." She glances over at Yalen.
“Okay, Let's do.” Zarina is quick to nestle herself in the stoutest of baskets under the thickest of ropes, “Quick quick, the fast baskets!”
"Jocasta should take the second sturdiest so she only has to go once,” suggested Ingrid, “I can go in the fastest and Yalen can take the 2nd fastest. Sounds good?"
“Yep.” agreed Zarina.
"I'm up for it," Jocasta replied.
"I'll follow your lead." Yalen offered.
"Let's Go!!!" shouted Ingrid.
By various means, they made their way across. It felt perilous, at times but, as they clambered out onto the other side and huddled there, there was some sense of accomplishment or, at least, relief.
As they made their way past the chasm, the chamber narrowed and they found themselves at a massive set of double doors. Their magic, as well, had returned and, beyond the doors, they could sense figures moving about, including animals. On the door, however, was a strange pattern. Beneath were engraved a picture and some words.
Ingrid stepped forward to read what was on the plaque. Immediately, she turned to her group and put a finger on her lips to not make a noise. She made an arcane illusion with the words and the image.
Zarina looks around and mimics Ingrid, completely silent. Although her armor is definitely clanging a little.
Jocasta bends over. Into the dirt, she scratches a number: 39. Zarina squints, and then shrugs with a very confused face.
Ingrid makes an illusion that also says 39 and she looks towards everyone else, but Zarina shakes her head, points at some of them that aren't actually the shape mentioned.
That was when Ingrid noticed the one in the center! 40 she makes!!! Showing each square with different lines, Ingrid looks at everyone wondering their opinion.
Yalen gives her a thumbs up, and opens his mouth as if encouraging her to speak.
"40!!!!" Ingrid shouts.
Kaureerah, Trypano, Niallus, Maura
Niallus found himself unable to understand what had just happened, but for now it seems he's in a dark chamber. "Hello. Is anyone else here?" He shouts.
"Eye em heer!" shouted Kaureerah's distinctive voice from... startlingly close to him.
"You're Kaureerah,” he guessed. “I wonder who else is here?"
Trypano simply reached out with her senses to get a feel of her surroundings first, feeling out the life-forms around her before sensing the matter of the props nearby. She ran into... a dead zone. Mere feet from her, all magic seemed to stop. It seemed their stubborn host wanted above all for them to jump through hoops. "Looks like something is barring our magic beyond personal range." remarked Trypano.
"Perhaps you can use your arcane sword to light up those dark areas, Niallus?" Maura looked up toward him.
Niallus nods, summoning an arcane sword to try and brighten up the dark room that they are in. It covered everything up to the chasm and a bit of space over it, but the chamber was too vast for it to do much more.
Now illuminated, Trypano looked over the props handed to them. "Looking at the circumstance it seems they want us to pick a rope path. Anyone possess sufficient kinetic ability? Longer ropes will produce a deeper resonance than shorter ones. We can vibrate them close to where our magic still operates to try and decipher more about them." She proposed something to try and help figure this puzzle out.
"There we go, it seems I can't light up the whole chasm, but this will do." said Niallus.
Trypano finds that some of the ropes are more taut than others. They are also not uniform in thickness and composition.
"You are rather tall. Are you able to reach up to grab that lantern and use that?" Maura looked toward Trypano in a questioning manner. To try and answer her question Trypano reaches up and procures the lantern, helping them illuminate the chamber even further.
"Maura, any ideas?" asked Niallus.
"Big Red illuminates the paths and we pick the one that looks like the right option." replied Maura.
"Now we just need to figure out which one we will try. No doubt we'll have to go one at a time," said Niallus.
Trypano analyses the composition of each rope, measuring their durability to see which one is least likely to give out. There was a pedestal with writing and she noticed it too.
The plaque on the pedestal read, somewhat mysteriously:
1: 1 2: 2 3: 7 4: 10
Total: 17
All baskets must be taken at least once and end up on the other side. There may not be a gap of more than three in crossing speed.
"Hmm, could have two people for a basket then take two of the baskets down. Then one in each basket then comes back..." proposed Niallus. "Maybe the more people that are in a fast basket the slower that it will be getting across." Niallus flung everything at the wall to see what stuck.
Maura looked at the puzzle. "Well, total means the total speed, and we can do it together, could have been holding hands if things were different." She winked toward Niallus. "One and Two go down together, the person with the lantern goes back to the beginning of the first. Then, 7 and 10 go down together. Come back on 2 with the lantern, then 1 and 2 go down together. Solved."
The group finds themselves at a crossroads. Do they go with Maura's idea or Niallus' to put multiple people in a basket?
Maura votes for going with her plan. She assumes the brain box Trypano would agree with the idea and tries to convince Kaureerah as well. "Kaureerah, let's go with my idea!"
Trypano simply nods along, more or less just hoping to see the end of this puzzle so the point of this invitation makes itself more clear. Kaureerah nods thoughtfully. "Eye doon thek pootten mennee peepel in te sem besket ees a good ideea." She shrugs. "En her meth seems good."
Niallus doesn't mind going with Maura's idea either. "Let's do it."
By various means, they made their way across. It felt perilous, at times but, as they clambered out onto the other side and huddled there, there was some sense of accomplishment or, at least, relief.
As they made their way past the chasm, the chamber narrowed and they found themselves at a massive set of double doors. Their magic, as well, had returned and, beyond the doors, they could sense figures moving about, including animals. On the door, however, was a strange pattern. Beneath were engraved a picture and some words.
Trypano steps forward, examining the plaque before them, turning and holding a finger to her lips. She uses binding to engrave a symbol into the ground before those who joined her here, carving beneath it the words she read on the plaque.
Etching into the ground before her group she writes "I count 39. Nod if you agree."
Kaureerah shakes her head vigorously. With her finger, she traces the edge of the largest square.
Maura scratches out the 39 and replaces it with 40.
Niallus shakes his head, he draws a plus symbol then a one next to what Trypano put.
With binding she then adds. "Forty then. Nod if you agree with this number." In writing.
Kaureerah nodded. As did Niallus. Maura placed a big tick next to the number, and one for Kaureerah too. Then Niallus.
"Forteh," the eeaiko exclaims, taking the initiative.
T O U C H E D B Y G R E A T N E S S
All three of the groups palayed witness to the same thing: the doors slid apart and a room beyond was revealed. It was... the Zenith's office but... not. In fact, it was enormous. Claresse Upta sat at a table, petting one of the skuggvars, which rested peqacefully on the floor beside her. All of the other animals were about as well.
It was a cacophony of greeting for the first minute or so, people bowing, curtsying, addressing, or sucking up to the Zenith. A few were rather… short with her, but Claresse Upta was not necessarily one to take offense unless it was intended. It was only occasionally that she had to remind people of the power that her office carried. In any event, it was not long before she had them seated around the great table that had once been Hugo’s. She’d been loath to employ the same ‘idiot filter’ - one of the youths had called it - that the late Paradigm had, but at least it had gotten them to focus and think. The Zenith cleared her throat. "I think we shall begin now," she said simply.
Zarina was the first to offer a question, and not without a touch of sass, either. “So, what part of the world needs very responsible students like us to save it?” For a moment, the question hung in the air, with precious little in the way of response until everybody was suitably…behaved. Then, from behind a bookshelf, emerged the group’s secret thirteenth member: Marceline Hohenfelter, also known by the name Escarra. Far less ‘tethered’ than many may have remembered her, she pranced up and seated herself close to the Zenith. She was immediately joined by Zarina who teased her fondly… at least until the Zenith cleared her throat.
"Ahem," She began. "I understand that, for many of you, this is not your first such scenario. You undertook a task for the late Paradigm sometime last year. This is... relatively similar to that. There are wounds in the world and I ask you to help heal them. For this, you will gain, much as you did previously, rich rewards, both moral, monetary, and in skill and ability."
From the students came precisely the chorus of affirmatives that she’d expected. Jocasta, seated at the opposite head of the table, crossed her arms and nodded, ready to offer a strong hand of assistance should it have been required. In the event, it was not.
"Simply put, there are two situations which will require a... practiced touch," the Zenith admitted. She paced about her desk and plucked a globe from it. There was a surge of magic and it was suddenly immense: hovering in the air before them. "Is anybody here particularly familiar with ReTan?"
Maura raised her hand first. "We studied it in class and the current governor of Longwan Island is, well… me. My classes keep me at Ersand'Enise mostly, so there hasn;t been much opportunity to take advantage of it."
Claresse had gotten an answer she hadn’t even asked for. This was why you let others speak.
Ingrid raised her hand as well. "I can speak the native language and have a device to translate things for others."
Abdel sheepishly raised his hand, although when Maura took the initiative, he had a bit more confidence, “Yeah, I took classes too. I vaguely remember some in my past life, too.”
Last was Zarina, lazily raising her hand. “Abdel's probably talking about those in Virang. I've dealt with them a few times myself.” Then, she shrugged. “I only know some phrases and formulations, probably specific to that group, though.”
"Most all of you involved with this possess relevant skills and aptitudes," the Zenith confirmed, "and it is just as well. Envoys of the twin emperors of ReTan have reached out to us.” There was a note of almost… pride in her voice. "They wish to deepen our trade relations and, for some of you, this could prove very lucrative indeed." Her words garnered… more or less the reaction she’d been expecting. They would do the job, one way or another, and even if they somehow fouled up, all but Jocasta were ultimately replaceable. A pang of guilt struck her at the rather jaded thought. Bright young things. I do hope you all gain and come back safe.
A series of eight folders fluttered off of a nearby bookshelf. They placed themselves, open, in front of Ingrid, Niallus, Trypano, Yalen, Maura, Abdel, Kaureerah, and Rikard. "The issue is that there is a cancer growing in their society, melodramatic as it sounds to say so." Murmurs and excited whispers rose and she allowed them a moment.
It was Yalen who put an end to it first, and he did so by asking the Zenith precisely the sort of question she’d have asked were their positions reversed. "Is there a particular reason why you need students like us and not your official envoys?"
"If I had to take a guess it would be that official envoys would cause too much attention," Ingrid cut in. "They'll probably want someone from the outside to help, and be more discreet with this matter,” agreed the boy who’d spent half of their breakfast draped all over the tall Eskandish girl. Was it… Niallus?
Claresse decided to reward the students for their deductive skill. In some ways, it boded well for them. "Agents of the Traveler are at work, and ReTanese authorities have reason to believe that a particularly capable one is at work in the capital of Wánggǎng. People over there know who the government's agents are, and this terrorist has been utterly ruthless to date. They are far too frightened to speak out." She shook her head. "The government of ReTan also wishes to make a public show of its allegiance with Ersand'Enise should you succeed. Should you fail, not being known Zenos of the school, this can be easily swept away." She sighed. "I know that it doesn't sound very good, but that's the practical side of the matter."
"We aren't public figures, that much is true. However, I have reason to believe the Traveler knows who some - if not all - of us are. We should be careful not to place too much faith in our anonymity. Who knows what kind of plots that traitor has cooked up?" Yalen was sharing his thoughts out loud while halfway through the mission folder.
Ingrid was even more explicit. "Do you have a list of what kind of crimes they've committed?" she inquired.
"We don't presently have much," the Zenith allowed, "though I have been informed that they are spreading illegal magics with wanton disregard for public wellbeing and have been actively working to cause instability and overthrow the government. They have been actively murdering public servants." She cleared her throat. "You will have contacts on the ground who will have more accurate and up-to-date information."
…Niallus looked at the folder. "Do you have an idea if there are multiple agents or just one?" It was question period now, even though the information was in there had they bothered to read carefully enough. This one: he was dense, but Claresse was patient - nothing if not patient. "There are multiple throughout the country," she replied, "but you are concerned with one, specifically." She sat herself again and a second set of folders fluttered free of the shelves. "Time," she recommended, "may be of the essence here. I advise that you say your goodbyes. If you have anything left to retrieve, Tan-Zeno Re should be able to help you. For the rest of you," she concluded, "we have another matter to discuss."
That was their cue, and they knew it. The Zenith took a step back to allow them their goodbyes and final preparations, placing Jocasta at their disposal for any last minute forgotten items. In the event, there were none. With but a bit of focus and an outline drawn with the tip of her finger, Claresse opened a rift between their location and the capital of distant ReTan. One by one, they proceeded through. Then, she remembered something. "Ah, right!" interrupted the Zenith. "Actually, I'd like you to stay back for a moment, Brother Castel. I will ensure that you catch up to the others shortly." She regarded the portal for a moment as she closed it.
"Is something wrong Zenith?" Yalen clasped his fingers together.
"Possibly, though we know vanishingly little," Claresse conceded, "and it pains me to admit it. We have, however, received a rather cryptic letter from one Manuel Escarra - I believe you may know him - requesting the presence of Zarina, Ayla, Isabella, Jocasta, and..." She twisted to face the girl beside her. "You, Marceline."
"Mister Escarra? Truly?" Yalen's eyes widened.
"Yes,” she confirmed. "I thought it might be a good idea for you to be aware as well, Brother Castel."
"Perhaps the Duke's demise has shaken things up in Torragon."
"You could very well be right."
This seemed to send a ripple of worry through the youths gathered, and Claresse found herself less immune to it herself than she’d have liked. In particular, Zarina's expression furrowed as she heard the news. “Something wrong with the Refuge? Someone making a play now that the desert's anyone’s playground?”
"There's a possibility," Zenith Upta allowed. "Though, as I said, they've been very tight-lipped. We know… much less than we’d like to."
"My mind won't be at peace after receiving this news,” Yalen declared. “If I can spare some time, I would like to investigate the refuge before proceeding to Rettan."
In their various ways, the others made their agreement known, though some with far less sobriety than she’d have liked. "Do not hesitate to reach out for support should you require it," the Zenith assured them. "Tan Zeno Re is, of course, connected to this matter and will be there to assist you. Brother Castel, I trust your betrothed should be able to bring you to Wanggang when needed." There followed a pregnant silence. "Is everyone present prepared to depart?"
"I am ready,” confirmed Yalen, “but, if possible, I would like someone to inform my relations of my departure. Captain D'aureville of the Century in particular will want to know my whereabouts."
The Zenith inclined her head graciously. "I shall have someone see to it."
Jocasta nodded as well. "I'm ready."
Marceline was visibly nervous. "But don't we know anything else?" she prodded. "Is Abuelo alright? Madre?" Her eyes darted Isabella's way. That was someone she knew: someone she trusted, and it was she who spoke next. "That prison is the last place I want to go back to, but I suppose I could go say hello to my old friends."
Ayla looked toward Marci, giving her a soft smile, attempting to be reassuring. "Perhaps the news is for our own ears only," she tried, but Marci didn’t seem to be buying it. "But... my mom..." the younger girl mewed, swallowing. "I haven't seen her in a while and..." She breathed in and out.
The way that they all came together to comfort her, then, was heartwarming, but Marceline was eager to go and it was something that Claresse couldn’t blame her for. Even the Zenith had once had a mother. She inhaled once and, when she exhaled, a new portal opened. It beckoned to them and, beyond, they could almost feel the desert wind and dust of Inner Torragon rolling through. It was night and the moons hovered peacefully over adobe walls and endless dunes.
That was what made a great mage. Rikard's father was not a great mage. Had he been born a Hunghorasz instead of an Ambrus, he likely would have been an embarrassment to his storied bloodlines. This was not a problem that Rikard suffered from. He put in the work.
It was 3:30 in the Hours of Dami and he stood perched atop the parapets of Fieldgate Tower, a pencil clenched between his teeth, flipping through a booklet. Then, he found it and began writing:
Tellos 23, DZ55: Revised Hypothesis 11 12
This isn't Atomic magic, not exactly. There's no direct heat and the radiation doesn't seem to be destructive. The phenomenon should fall under magnetic, firmly, I believe. Current working idea is that the rays act similarly to that thermal spell. They excite matter and cause rapid movement of its constituent parts. This naturally generates frictive motion and, hence, heat.
The rays, however, didn't appear to have unlimited range or power. Depending on how much he poured into them, they could pierce perhaps a few inches. Why, then, were the inner reaches of larger things often hot? Rikard wasn't sure. A mystery is just a question that doesn't have an answer... yet, the young thaumaturge reminded himself. Soon it will, though. I'll bust this one open too. He hadn't been idle. He'd been actively experimenting, inventing, reinventing, refining, and revising theories and techniques. It was likely just a form of heat transfer, but he had to be diligent. Everything - everything - in the known universe had a mechanism, and it was his job, as a mage and a scientist, to find those and bring them to light. While it was true that there were many who were content to treat magic as some inexplicable force that simply worked because the gods said so, they were lazy and, when they spouted such gaff as if it were fact, they became something quite a bit worse: in a word, morons. No matter how high their RAS levels, they would never achieve all that much with magic. Hence, sweat. He'd scarcely known the ancient Paradigm - that colossal figure of magic with whom he shared an ancestry and a resemblance - but one of their couple of meetings had led to a conversation and the primacy of relentless observation and experimentation, the necessity of constant learning had been branded into a then eleven-year-old Rikard.
So, he stood here, high above most of the city, thaumaturgical robes fluttering in the nighttime breeze, and drew with an almost maniacal intensity from the energies about him, building an immense charge, controlling it, intensifying it, splitting it! The steeple of this old church had the unique misfortune of being constructed with a hollow metallic cap and, through previous experimentation and deductive reasoning, Rikard had correctly recognized that metal seemed to have the ability to deflect these unusual rays.
Sorry, Shune, but I'm doing this for SCIENCE, the youth thought. Of all the Pentad, I suppose you'd understand most. In this case, the steeple would serve to capture and contain the rays, bouncing them back towards the target. It was, in this instance, a rather nice pastry that Ayla had baked, but it had gone cold and was not near as tasty as it was when warm. Stuffing his pencil once more into a pocket, Rikard placed the dessert into its improvised cooking chamber through a ventilation hole. His watch was wound. His manas pulsed with electrical energies. He turned a small dial, depressed a button, and thrust his hands at the hole, releasing the waves that he had been practicing. One Hugo Hunghorasz, Two Hugo Hunghorasz, Three Hugo Hunghorasz... he kept time manually as well. He could compare. He could work on his accuracy. For twenty whole seconds, Rikard Ambrus acted as a conduit, pummelling the pastry with his energetic waves. Then, as he was finishing up nineteen, his watch let out a buzz and he stopped. From inside the metallic oven wafted a delectable smell. He reached out to touch the pastry and found it was quite hot. He counted again, to ten, and grabbed it. Moment of truth, he bolstered himself. He bit in and it tasted... quite edible, actually. It was even tasty: perhaps a touch soggy, but tasty nonetheless. The boy sat, cross-legged on the roof, and scarfed down the rest of the treat, dusting off his hands and clothes. He grinned uncontrollably and, for a moment considered standing again and shouting something like "Victory!" from his perch. People... probably wouldn't appreciate that, though. He settled for taking out his notebook and pencil and concluding his earlier entry.
At the risk of sounding utterly unscientific: fuck yes! It worked...
It was dark and still in San Agustin de las Arenas. Scarcely a lick of wind could be found, nor a solitary cloud in the sky. Still, the palms whispered in the night. A spider spun its web silently amid the spines of a cactus. A scorpion made its way across an adobe wall. Then, a voice! It froze.
“Ricardo!” came the whisper: a hiss piercing the veil of quiet that hung over this place during the Hours of Ipte. It was Laelle. “Ricardo!” The scorpion skittered away.
A door squealed in high-pitched protest and a boy of about eleven peered out through it. “Ugh,” he groaned, rubbing at his eyes. “What?” Yet, he was alert, despite his show of annoyance: alert and ready to act.
“Did you feel it!?” Laelle demanded, her bright reddish hair thrown into a hasty ponytail. “The weird energy!”
He regarded her strangely.
“Reach out now: before it fades! It’s like what Jocasta and the Duke and those other guys used last year!”
Ricardo did as she asked, leaning on the doorframe, brow furrowed. Then, his eyes widened. “Whoa,” he exclaimed, “You’re right!”
She placed a finger forcefully to her lips and he made an unhappy face. “We don’t want people to panic, okay?”
“Yeah, but they should know!”
Laelle shook her head. “They do,” she assured her slightly younger counterpart. “At least the Afortunado. I can feel them waking up. They’ll defend us if we need it.”
“You think it’s like… bad news?” the boy questioned anxiously, rolling a marble back and forth in his free hand, and the girl shrugged. “Hard to say,” she admitted. “I just wanted you to know and be ready.”
He didn’t seem quite sure what to make of that, but he thanked her. She moved on quickly to wake Amaya next, but the girl was already up and fitting an oversized hat to her head as Laelle crept up. The tethering had passed her ankles now and she was not exactly a silent mover.
“I knew they’d be coming for us,” the younger girl announced, doing up the straps on her ankle braces. “Ever since the king killed Duke Frannemas.” She shook her head, rising. “I knew it.”
Someone - or rather a group of someones - had indeed come for them, but they did not bring a threat. By the time that the six students from Ersand’Enise slipped in through the hidden gate behind the Red Tower, it was clear that the entire refuge knew of their arrival. For all that the Zenith was a truly eminent magus, she perhaps didn’t quite understand the full strengths of tethered. That, or she did not care.
Jocasta rolled silently through the halls of the place where she had spent about half of her remembered life: a place that still appeared regularly in dreams, but less so in nightmares than it once had. “Adorable little shits,” she whispered to the others who had come with her. “They’re all pretending to be asleep, but any half-decent chem or arcane can sense that they’re all alert.”
“Imagine sneaking up on tethered.” Isabella rolled her eyes, coasting along behind Jocasta. She was less garishly dressed than usual.
Marci snorted, glancing at Yalen and Jocasta. “Fear us,” she half-joked, but it was clear that she was anxious and trying to distract herself. Not a single one of them knew exactly why they had been summoned, not even Jocasta - a Tan-Zeno, now.
Then, they were at the lift and a single gas lantern flickered in the predawn gloom. A lizard, high up on the wall, shifted its oversized eyes to look their way and, deciding that they weren’t a threat, decided to stay put. The sextet rose, casting about with their magical senses and whispering amongst themselves. The lift creaked to a stop and its doors rattled open. A long colonnade stretched before them, a couple of lanterns dimly lighting their way. At the end was the room that had once belonged to Tavio Ortega. It was now Manuel Escarra’s.
A cool lick of wind filtered through the pillars and stirred the leaves of a potted palm, but nobody emerged as they drew nearer. There was, in fact, no sign of life whatsoever. Seated behind a desk inside, however, was the distinct energy signature of a human figure, waiting for them.
Striking out ahead of the group, forcing them to either keep up or slow her, was Marceline. The double doors were unlocked. She pushed them open, words already forming on her lips. Questions for her grandfather: the warden. Only… he wasn’t there.
Instead, it was Amanda. Marci skidded to a halt. Jocasta did a double take. The woman who had been so frail the last time that they’d seen her - great in spirit but on the verge of death - appeared… revitalized. Her elbows rested on the desktop, fingers threaded together and not in the limp sense that they did when she used magic to control them. Her arms were thick and full, her posture healthy. “Friends,” she greeted them. “It is ever so good to see you, but I would ask that we all keep our voices down during this reunion if we might.”
Marci stared at her mother, disbelieving, and Amanda’s eyes flicked up and down the youth as well. “...Mom?”
Amanda nodded.
“Mom how!?” Marci demanded, rushing forward, and perhaps her speed caught Amanda by surprise.
“It was just like you said: white aberrations, mija.” She backed away from the desk, ‘on two’, no different from Jocasta and Isabella, and embraced her daughter. “I was on the brink. Almost choked in my sleep three months ago, just after your Caldores visit. I’d made my peace with Lady Ejerran. Then, a few big ones appeared. We tried to treat as many of us as we could, but those of us ‘on zero’ took priority, for obvious reasons.” She released Marci and regarded the others. “So here I am, with a second lease on life.” Jocasta was rushing forward too, positively unreserved, Isabella also a victim of that same joyous disbelief. “I had always intended to surprise you,” Amanda admitted, hugging Jocasta as well, and then any others who cared for a similar embrace. When they were done, she motioned them away from the desk and all seven of them proceeded through the double doors. “Might we walk and talk? ” the oldest of them prodded. “I find myself very eager to be on the move these days. I spent five years sitting there like a piece of furniture, you know.”
There were no objections raised and, if there had been, she’d have disregarded them anyhow. Then, it was Marceline who spoke. “Umm… say, Mom?”
“Mmmhm, Marci?”
“Where is abuelo?”
For a moment, Amanda didn’t speak. She merely coasted along at the head of the group as eyes wandered across the refuge in the minutes before the sun’s light first started to make itself known upon the horizon. Then, her hands took hold of her wheels and scrubbed what momentum they had. In an instant she turned. “That is part of the reason you have been called here,” she admitted. “Something strange has happened.”
Marci’s face became a mask of alarm, but her mother held up a hand to forestall any comment. “He is okay, so far as I know. He is out right now, investigating the… occurrence.”
“Occurrence?” demanded Jocasta. “What kind of occurrence? His letter contained next to nothing!”
“Chela,” the older woman chided, “You know I would’ve told you if I could’ve. Lower your voice, I pray.”
Jocasta swallowed and nodded. “Right. Sorry.”
The unmistakable feel of a sonic dampening bubble took hold around them, and Amanda regarded those gathered. “One week ago, Warden Escarra was out on patrol. He likes to join them once a month, as if he’s still a ranger.” She set her hands upon her wheels, nervously, as if about to start pacing as Jocasta often did, but then she seemed to think better of it. “Things have been tense these past few months, since the good duke died. Sancho has been eyeing this land for reasons unknown and there is every chance he will disband this refuge. We continue to exist in a sort of legal limbo, though we are, de facto, an independent state. This is a guarded independence. We are strong. We have been scaring interlopers off with the advantage of our range, but they are many and we are…” She reached up, momentarily, to brush some stray hair from her face, and shrugged. “Few, as you know.” Amanda pursed her lips. “There are a couple areas within a day’s ride or less from us that may be used as staging for these sorts of assaults. One of them is the cliffs that you can see from the walls, and the other is the lost city of Zarfan, in la Garganta del Ejerran. So, we patrol them.” Now, she began pacing, and the others fidgeted in restless response.
“So, what did he find?” Jocasta prodded, and Amanda shook her head. “We aren’t quite sure, but it’s activity: there in the lost city.” She regarded them steadily. “You were all there last year, I believe, at least briefly. It is a strange, haunted place,” she warned, shaking her head. “Many of the people of this land maintain it is filled with the spirits of Zaqhory murdered in the conquest. Others say it is the haunt of bandits, or has been taken over by demons, or is perhaps home to a vast colony of sand wyrms or even something worse.” She came to a stop, resting her hands on her wheels and gripping them tightly enough that her knuckles showed white. “I do not know which - if any - of these is truth, but the Warden found activity when he went there: he and the two Afortunado - Oscar, whom you know, and the youngest one, Laelle, who I believe you also know - sensed movement inside and… something like people, they said: people or monsters. The Warden returned those two to the refuge and set out with most of our rangers. We are vulnerable right now should we face an attack, but this bore investigating. To my knowledge, that is where he is right now. You’ve been called here for two reasons: to join him in investigating and to help guard this place while the rangers are away.” Her speech concluded, she regarded them all with a sense of grave purpose. “So long as you are willing.”
She was a girl, by the roadside, with a guitar slung over one shoulder, and a travel sack over the other. Kaureerah walked along under the early afternoon sun, a gentle breeze pushing puffy white clouds across the sky and causing the ocean to sigh and crash in the near distance. Carts clattered by along the Godsroad, and others walked it as she did. She twisted about for each, offering a smile and a wave or an extended thumb in hopes of catching a ride into the city. Down by the water, it was not quite warm enough yet for people to frolic among the waves, but that time was drawing near and she was glad of it. She had been a lonely eeaiko in there these past few months, all by herself.
In truth, it was probably still too cold for her present attire: a long, tasseled poncho, seasilk hose, and the sturdy leather boots that had carried her across a good portion of the Twin Continents. She'd been excited, though. The wind bit at her bare arms and caused her light, downy hair to stir like sea snakes about her head, but then came the sun, warming her, and Kaureerah was happy. She unslung her guitar and began to pluck idly at the strings, the beginnings of a song coming to her. She began to strum and hum and the people who always spared her at least a second glance - for many might see an eeaiko only a handful of times in their lives - began to take an extended interest. Then, the song was there, and she poured her particular brand of magic into it.
"Hello, Missus Sun, it's nice to see you here. The world's just not the same without your light, I fear.
For when you glow, my spirit sings, My eyes are bright with happy things.
The road that I walk is dappled and it's bright. My worries and my fears fade back into the night.
For when you glow, my spirit sings, My eyes are bright with happy things.
There are so many more who feel the way I do. They walk along this road and they walk with me and you.
And when you glow, our spirits sing, Our eyes shine bright like anything! I hope you'd like to stay awhile, And make these many people smile.
Missus Sunnnn!"
She strummed a big flourishing outro, spinning a complete three-sixty on her heel. That was when she noticed the chorus following her: a dozen or so people humming along, dancing, and snapping their fingers. "Ooh!" she exclaimed. "Thenk yoo, frens! Thenk yoo!" She blinked, bemused but pleased, and bowed. This seemed to happen from time to time: her music connected with people in an odd, welcome, and very intense way. It seemed warmer outside too, and even more so as a handful offered her coins. "You are a very talented young lady," one old woman assured her. "Almost made me want to go to work!" laughed a man, and Kaureerah blushed fiercely. "Almost," he assured her, and she snorted in laughter. "Noo mejeec es thet stroon, huh?"
"Sadly not," commiserated a young woman behind her, and the eeaiko twisted and smiled.
"Well, if you crack the case," another man - a yasoi - assured her, "You'll be a rich woman - 'least by yanii reckoning."
"Where ya headed anyway?" asked the young woman, twirling a little sack around her pointer by its string.
Kaureerah took a deep breath and smiled, ear to ear. "I cennaut beleev et," she admitted, "Baut te beeg peepool aut te Ecedemee hauv enveeted mee theer." She glanced up at the sky, still not quite believing it, but it was real. She was no more than two minutes from the gates and there was a goodly lineup. She came to a stop at the end of it, along with a few others. "Eye praumeess te Goods en te Aunceesters Eye well doo tem praud."
Oh gee! An age and a gender and interests and things. Yeah, I have those. Ain't no way I'm about to trigger an existential crisis by typing them all out, though. You can find out what a nerd I am on discord, okay?
Stay awesome, people.
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Oh gee! An age and a gender and interests and things. Yeah, I have those. Ain't no way I'm about to trigger an existential crisis by typing them all out, though. You can find out what a nerd I am on discord, okay?<br><br>Stay awesome, people.</div>
Ti
Jumbus
Silly
Echotech71
Fallenreaper
Astro
Kuro
Chronic
Lildear18
pantothenic
