((Side note: Irine isn't possessive of the sword. She considers it it's own owner, and they're traveling companions. In her mind it isn't "her" sword, it's "The" Sword. or occasionally "triple sword" for the three minds she's aware of it containing.))
<What makes magic 'dark' magic anyway? is is just removing light? magic of darkness? Or am I misunderstanding what you mean by 'dark'?>
I'm not concerned, the sword can take care of itself. I'll just bear what it said in mind during the day, keep an eye out but I feel no need to go looking for it.
<Oh, um, what kind of magic does River use, from your persepective? I kinda need to know if he's reaching out of his soulsphere, and what to look for in case he does.>
I'm fine with us just continuing to travel.
Well, you might not be possessive of the sword, but it is possessive of you, in a way. From what you've gathered, it won't do something silly like attack someone just because they're close to you, but it does try to remain close to you and makes sure nobody takes it away.
<It is magic of darkness, closely related to the void. It is the magic of negative emotions, of illusion and hiding, of taking and consuming, of sacrificing and warping. Most living things naturally feel unwell in the presence of dark magic. You would have been able to feel it if you were awake. It is a natural instinct. Most civilized beings have transformed those instincts into laws that forbid or severely limit its use due to its destructive potential.>
<The being you call River is a being touched by darkness, as are most of his kind. His connections to the darkness and the void are particularly strong. We do not know what magics he would be capable of. But, since you claim he can rebuild his body on his own, I would assume he would either need someplace or something with powerful magic to feed on. Or something he could attack using whatever power he has gathered so far and sacrifice to fuel his rebirth. Perhaps he could also reach into the minds of the weak willed and force them to help him. Or summon creatures of the dark to attack everyone. We do not know. Assuming he is using his innate magic, it could be quite powerful, depending on whom he has bonded with. And on how that enchantment you are using to 'survive' death works.>Alan, Morale Booster
Start singing Make a Man (Out of You) from Mulan when we're marching again to boost spirits and such.
You forget the words and just sing It's Raining Men instead while Ike goes on with his hazing ritual or whatever it is he's doing.
Ike, Greatest Watchman Alive
Okay, check if horrible creatures have laid any horrible eggs into me while I slept as far as I can tell. If not (also check Alan), that's probably all right. Get the men together for a morning inspection. Check weapons, uniforms, overall appearance. Offer constructive criticism. Split them into two groups, rejoin, split them into three groups, rejoin.
Then make them all stand in a circle and say, out loud, one interesting thing about themselves. It's vital group bonding.
If nothing terrible sees fit to show itself, difficult to think of anything else to do there.
Oh, and also check that kid Theri brought along (and if any civilians have followed us, them too). Inspect him like you would a wild raccoon (surface inspection, no need to dissect yet) for the overall presence of wild parasites, cross-reference with Theri's own wild parasites. I'm from the woods, so I'm presumably well-equipped for this task.
You make sure neither you nor any of your teammates have grown any strange tumors or a second head or anything like that. The only alien eggs to be found around here are Rickman's, having reappeared on one of the wagons where the bird (or alien if you believe Alan's claims) is currently roosting. You didn't hear anything flying last night and you didn't see him carrying them yesterday, so you aren't quite sure how they got here. You stare at Rickman for several seconds. It stares back, looking at you with one eye. Hmm...
"Are you plotting something?"The bird just croaks in response, but you get the feeling it's saying no.
"Are we going to have problems?"The bird croaks again.
"I'm watching you." you warn it as you walk away, doing the appropriate gesture.
That done, you have Alan summon you a trumpet and sound a bugle call. His choice of music is... interesting, but you ignore that and get on with the inspection.
"Present arms!"The men hold their arms forward like an uncoordinated mob of zombie dancers. You rub your forehead.
"Just... hold your weapons like you would if you were facing an enemy."You start walking among them, taking note of what you have to work with. It doesn't look good.
"Are you going to ask us what our major malfunction is? Mine is I care too much."...
"Holy Backflipping Terrorbird on a Tricycle, is that a pitchfork? You don't even have a proper weapon? What was your great plan? Pray the enemy uses hay golems? You'd probably be better off throwing rocks."You think for a moment before another question comes to your mind.
"How many of you are actually planning on throwing rocks?"Three men reluctantly raise their hands. You sigh.
"And how many of you actually thought to bring rocks with you?"The number of raised hands is reduced to one.
"At lest you're a bit smarter than the other two. Dude, don't smile, that's not a compliment."
"Now, you two, no rocks with you, eh? You were just going to pick them off the ground? Well, we're passing through arid terrain that's filled with dirt and there very few rocks in sight. What were you planning on throwing? Mudballs? Until you get a proper weapon, I want you to find some good rocks and make a sling. If you were smart, you would have gathered some broken statue pieces yesterday."...
"Come on, move it, on the double, spears and swords front, ranged in the back. Double time, double time! I want to see a proper formations. Yes Ciean, spears includes pitchforks, until we find you something to replace it. And don't you dare think of throwing it. The only throwing you'll be doing with that thing is throwing it away."...
"Why are you holding that thing? You want to kill?""I...-"
"Your face doesn't scare me. You look like a lost child. Try looking more scary."He just ends up looking more confused. You sigh.
"What's your name?""Xartelos."
"Xar. Well, you're going to war Xar. You'd better want to kill. So? Do you want to stab something to death?""I do."
"You're not making me believe you.""I do!"
"Yeah? Well, you won't be killing much more than butter with that blunt thing. The next time I see it, I want to see it sharpened to a reasonable state. Get-"You hear someone from the back rows snicker and make some comment about cow milkers and swords only good for making butter. You immediately rush towards him and get in his face.
"What was that? You find this funny?""Yes?" he says, trying to stifle his smile but only managing to appear smug instead.
"Oh, you think you're so better than him? Just because your great great grandfather or whatever could point the right end of the sword forward? Well, then prove it to me. Come on. Attack me." you say, spreading your arms.
"Erm..."
"What? You're afraid you might get hurt? That people will be laughing at you even more than they are right now? Do you even know how to properly hold a sword? Eh? Come on! Show me what you can do! Oh, what is it now? You don't want to speak? Or are you going to cry? What a baby. Are you going to cry little baby? I thought you said you were some sort of bad-"He growls and tries to hit you. Even if the anger building up in his face didn't warn you about his impending 'sneak' attack, you'd still have enough time to dodge out of the way. You trip him, snatch the sword out of his arm so that he doesn't end up stabbing himself and use it to slap him in the butt before he has even hit the ground.
"Well, you better hope they'll fall on their asses laughing, because I don't see you knocking down anyone in any other way."He raises his face off the ground but doesn't actually get up.
"Get your sorry ass up. Now." you command while offering a helping hand.
He reluctantly obeys. You take a better look at the sword before handing it to him.
"Hmm... At least there's one thing you're good at. You may have no idea how to use this thing, but you can keep it reasonably shiny and sharp.""Of course I-"
"Well, until you get good enough to deserve wielding this, you'll be responsible for everyone else's weapons. Starting with Xar. I want you to teach him how to maintain his weapon. If his sword isn't perfect by tomorrow morning, I'm holding you accountable."...
"You! Why are you standing like that? Your body should be at attention. Your bow should be ready to fire. Here, position your arm like this. It offers more stability. Are you even listening to me? Snap out of it!""I'm tired. We didn't get much sleep when-"
"Ooooh! Oh, you're tired, eh? What? You want me to let you sleep in? You want your mummy to make you breakfast in bed? Well, you don't get to sleep in. You think the enemy will call ahead, set up a date whenever it's convenient for you? If you sleep in, you get captured, tortured and then killed, if you're lucky."You step in front of the men to address all of them.
"I may seem cruel, but everything I am saying is meant to help you become better at killing and surviving. If you don't want to kill, then you better start searching for a hole to hide in, because I can tell you, when war comes here, there will be generals looking for competent soldiers and meatshields and you do NOT want to be in the second category. Perhaps if you listen to me and actually try to improve for the duration of our journey, you'll manage to return home with most of your limbs still attached. And maybe then I will feel like I'm actually traveling with warriors that can watch my back instead of a bunch of schoolgirls in need of protection."...
"What's up Lazos? All the ones before you spoke. You think you're better than them?"He shakes his head from side to side."
"Well then, why aren't you speaking? Cat got your tongue?"I don't know- I, what to say?"
"Well, let me help you then. Why are you here? What are you fighting for?"Err..."
"I can't hear you! Can't you speak? Or are you just here because you have nothing better to do with your miserable life? Eh?"I have."
"What? I still can't-""I have something I want to do!"
"Well, then what is it, sunshine?""I... I want to be a sculptor."
"Well, lookit here. We've got ourselves an artist boys. Do you like sculpting?""Yes."
"Sounds to me like you don't really believe it. Say it once more, with feeling!""Yes!"
"How much? Would you fight to become a sculptor?""Yes!"
"Will you kill those invading assholes that want to stop you from becoming a sculptor?""Yes!"
"Do you want to hammer their brains and chisel their heart in two?""Yes!"
"Was that so freaking hard?""No!"
"Good! Now, next one in the circle! Your name and something important about yourself. Chop-chop."...
Once you're done with the inspection of the men and their equipment, you have them list supplies. During their search, they discover a bag full of almost odorless dark green beetles, feasting on the food inside and tearing through the bag. You promptly have the entire thing incinerated, just to make sure the infestation doesn't spread. They appear particularly voracious, you wouldn't want to wake up with a swarm of them searching for their next meal. None of the men have ever seen anything like that before, so you're not really sure how to call them. Piranha beetles? Anyway, you'll be keeping an eye out for them as well. And make doubly sure you don't fall asleep without someone watching your back.
...
Your search for parasites only manages to make others uncomfortable. Theri is reluctant to let you search her or the child and assures you she is perfectly capable of taking care of any parasites. The boy follows her lead. Still, from the quick look that you did give her, she appears to be OK. You didn't have time to search her hair and the thicker parts of her fur, but those are probably fine, right?
With your various stuff taken care of, you march forward once more. It's the middle of the afternoon when you reach a fork on the road. There is a small well here, decorated with figures of women dancing around it in a circle that are partially buried in the dirt. There is a mechanism that is constantly bringing water up, occasionally producing squeaky noises and the sound of wood rubbing on stone. There are animal tracks around the well, indicating the various creatures that must have come to it for its life giving liquid. There must have once been some sort of shade over it, but it appears to have been recently ripped off.
One path leads north, to the Water Monastery of Chizra. Then the road disappears under the sands of the desert, where paths through the shifting dunes are carved by the Nomad Traders.
The path to the east skirts the desert before reaching an area filled with small hills. There are some symbols on the map on those hills, but nothing that looks too big and nothing too close to the road. They probably denote caves or mines or cabins or something like that. The next town is a long way away and from what you know there's little civilization between here and there. Assuming you do not encounter anything unexpected or not on the map, this would probably be an uneventful trip. If you chose to go this way, you could provide some long term actions for you to do while travelling.
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Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1148504 times)