TURN FORTY-SIX: MOUNTING DIFFICULTIES
Yeah, you know that part where I said a
week or so? Well, it turns out that in Artemisian, that actually means three weeks. Who knew?
I kid, I kid. But yes, I have been someone caught up in business. I'm doing some side jobs this summer which have been occupying my time. Also, I've been quite exhausted lately, which has left me with little inspiration for writing. Basically, I write when I feel fired up for it.
And that moment is now.
So, in return for this update being somewhat late, it will ALSO be shorter! Why, you ask? Well, because it's easier for me to dedicate some energy to this at one point and then some energy later. Now, of course, I'm not going to compromise the quality of the writing. This is just to make sure that your turns are much quicker and still give you a healthy amount of information. Most importantly, however, it allows me to write freely.
Expect the next update to be sooner. Hopefully. Maybe. Can't guarantee it, but it's at the top of my priorities.
Thanks,
Artemis
Warren Drake
Warren tilts his head. The setup was just too good, damn the consequences. He leans in toward who he assumes to be Jeb, smiling a little.
"Are you sure we can't work something out, sir?" he asks in a playful tone, fluttering his eyelashes.
If we can't work something out, tell him seriously to hold on and take a short trip to a money changer if I can find one, and exchange my coinage for something people here would accept. A money changer shouldn't be that hard to find - they ought to have some form of sign with money on it.
Warren DrakeCertainly, you put on your best enticing pose and expression for the vendor. Hey, if all else fails, what is to stop you from winning over the vendor based on humor alone? If you fail, you'll just find another way to pay, and if you succeed, it is all the better for your fares.
The fine gentleman laughs nervously and takes a few steps away from you.
"Woah, woah. I appreciate the interest, but I'm afraid I've a wife at home already." Waving off the joke, he responds with candor, though you can tell that you lightened up his boring workday at least a little bit.
"Sorry sir, but I can't accept money from out of the region. If you want, you can take a little look around the town, see if someone is willing to trade you for that currency. Good try, though. Come back later when you have something a bit more substantial to throw on the table."Tch, how prudish. Wouldn't even oblige your joke for a few minutes, that one. Ah well. It's not like you expected any different. Time to go around the town, then; perhaps there will be someone around here who will be able to exchange your money out for this region's coin or dollar. If not, you could always beg around for a spare coin here or there. You have the clothes to fit it, and you've already made a pretty good impression as a questionably-sane quack in the woods.
Time to get seeking then. You've already explored about an eighth of this pitifully-small village. Most of the houses seem to be arranged in rough grids, which leads you to believe that this town may have been constructed recently. Most of the residences seem to be humble in nature and fairly inexpensive, with the odd hybrid house and shop here or there. The shops seem to be located more in the center of the town, with the domiciles taking up the outer portions of the town, and the industry being at the outermost edge. That's what you can see from a glance, at least; surely a stroll around will provide you with a better insight into this neighborhood.
((I will provide you with a map of the town shortly. I figure that that is easier than using many words, for the moment.))
Eh Ah
So there were people here. That's certainly a relief.
Explore a little, but don't seek contact with the locals - first get a sense for who exactly is around here, and just how friendly they might be.
Eh AhNow that you have entered the premises, you might as well continue on with your exploration. However, you might still want to harbor a sense of cautiousness. After all, you have not heard from anyone who hails from the Magis Kingdom in recent days. Unless you want to get your head blown off by hostile natives, bandits, or alarmed Theyin troops, you might wish to keep your head down and your voice practically nonexistent.
The first thing you do is examine the structural integrity of the buildings right in front of the gate. As far as you can see, the damage is sporadic. Some buildings look mostly untouched, with only a few blackened marks here or there or a hole in the wall to mark any sort of damage. On the other hand, there are many buildings which are only hollow shells of their former presence. As the buildings snake and wind through narrow streets, rising and falling with the unsteady terrain and the rolling hills, you can see that the damage becomes much more apparent as the Kingdom's structures meet the looming volcano. However, it should be noted that your vision is not all that clear right now. Several hills, tall buildings, and sharp corners prevent you from seeing a large portion of the Kingdom. However, from what you can see so far, things aren't looking all that well.
With cautiousness, you continue to explore the outer edge of the Magis Kingdom, examining the buildings and looking for anyone who might still be alive and kicking this far from the center of the Kingdom. Along the way, you can still hear the sound of people walking around and talking, but again, it is quite distant and nearly indistinguishable from the sound of the wind whistling through the skeletons of the edifices around you.
((And a map for Eh Ah, as well, to mark where he's been so far in relation to the wall and the outside island of Atis.))
Eleri
You're currently on top of a small flat area in the middle of a gradual slope. The tall grass clings at your feet and makes you a little itchy, certainly not helping in this situation. Trees extend along the hillsides around you. The hillsides themselves make a 'C' shape out in front of you and slope down to a curving valley below, which is where you came from a few minutes ago. Uphill and behind you marks your direction of travel. The hill seems to ascend for a decent fifty meters up before smoothing out and becoming relatively level once again.
Eleri looked down at the grass and took a deep breath--the smell of the soil invigorated her senses, though she felt her body heat telling her on her fatigue and stamina. She felt alive, and getting acquainted with Flynn's weight was becoming easier as the hours passed. Looking around, she was glad that they were not in worse conditions. The underbrush was mainly just grass, and she knew how to groom and take care of any pests which may latch on, or 'spike seeds' which cling to cloth.
Check supplies & Plan to scan surroundings from the top of the hill
((I'm thinking of this as a simplified concept of {Travel to X} wherein we use an amount of food at set times per day, if we're not interrupted at all 
))
Looking back at Flynn, she cast him a smile and pointed to the hills with her eyes, lifting her eyebrows to get the point across. She decided a bit of chat would help.
"So, Flynn. What got you all worried about death and such ideas? From what I know, people usually don't speak of those things unless its a current probability, instead of something in the future, or for discussion. You looked worried back there. Are you worried now?"
Get over that hill and continue onwards!
DAF, If I ever get through with rewriting my RtD and posting it once more (as well as other forum related projects), thanks goes to you--even if it doesn't happen!
My point is you're inspiring. :I
And the thanks is inspiring. I:
...Also Murphy's Law?
No, thank you for staying around with this. I do enjoy doing this, even if a lot of the rest of the stuff in my life goes awry. If at least one other person is enjoying this, then I do feel fulfilled.
Also, if you ever do start up again, please do link me to whatever you're working on. I feel that I could take inspiration from your own work.
((I realize I am super late with this, but Murphy's Law basically translates to: "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." That's an oversimplification of it, but you get the point.))
Despite the rising heat, the feeling of fatigue settling into your muscles and bones, the itch at the base of your feet due to the grass and varied plants brushing against you, and the quite obvious weight of another person over your shoulders, you feel like you've adopted something new in the past hour. It's an odd sensation that does not have to do with anything physical. It starts from your core and spreads out through your veins and gives you a warm feeling, but not an uncomfortable warmth. It's a positive energy that presses you forward, that gives you the strength to keep going even though your muscles begin to tire and plead for rest. It keeps your eyes focused through the burden you carry and the mission that you are on. For several more minutes, you can't seem to figure out what it is. Then, it clicks. It's the same magic that kept you going for so many years, despite the shame and the despair and the loneliness.
It's hope. Hope that Flynn will survive. Hope that you will manage to finally connect with other people. Hope that you will finally manage to find your place in this world. Hope that you will find out why you are so different, and that maybe.. just maybe..
You shake that memory out of your head and sigh. Now is not the time for picking up pieces of the past. Right now, you have someone to care for, someone to be delivered back to health and safety. You don't know where he comes from, or why he showed up on your part of the island, or even what he is trying to run from. But you know that he probably would not have survived without you, and you're not just going to leave him to die now.
Through your musing and self-reflection, you nearly miss the top of the hill. You take the last few steps necessary to crest the hill and look over, seeing what the island has to offer for the rest of your trip. Of course, you're not going to be able to see the entire island from here, but you can at least get an idea of where you can go from here. From where you are, you can see that the hill merges in front of you with the rest of the island and yet again rises upward, snaking to who knows where, thanks to the tree cover and the terrain ahead. To the left, the forest opens up to reveal that a section of the hill splits off and curves down, forming a valley with another ridge to the left. The valley is quite wide and the hill blocks off your line of sight to the rest of the island, leaving you clueless as to how far the island would extend in that direction. To the right, even more foliage screens the rest of the hillside and the ridges ahead. There are still no roads in sight, but you remain upbeat.
Tired, you gently let Flynn down, along with the supplies you have alongside you. You admire the scenery - the trees gently waving in the wind, the birds flying overhead and behind you in loose formations, and the ocean waves rolling to the shore on your left - and sigh. Maybe this isn't so bad after all. In fact, you might be able to take a break. Five minutes won't hurt, and you'll need the strength to continue.
((Cutting this here because otherwise it would be quite long. You don't have to submit another action as I'll update you on the rest when I complete some other stuff this week, but if you wish, you can put another turn in and change your upcoming action.))
Lirian
Well, now to wait for Erin's father, get some more knife-practice in, and so on. I return to the dining area and eat breakfast.
Lirian (and partly Cromwell Jackson)Having finished your talk with Erin (at least for the moment), you decide to go ahead and begin eating your breakfast before it starts to cool off. Only now do you realize that you are somewhat famished after the events of yesterday. You were too preoccupied with thoughts concerning what happened yesterday, what you could do now to find more information about the Shadow, and what the Kito family has to do with all of this. Since you have some time before Dr. Kito arrives, you might as well relax and savor what few moments belong to you now.
You enter the dining room to find just what you expected: Cromwell and the odd cat, Tileno, Tileno appears to be minding his own business, intently staring at some birds chirping outside near the treeline. Cromwell, on the other hand, has already started to eat away at his breakfast. He greets you in a mannerly fashion and invites you to sit down and eat with him. Wanting to satisfy your hunger, you begin to eat in quiet. Cromwell, meanwhile, tells you a little bit of what he managed to gather from his apparent conversations with the cat. The conversation mainly consisted of the cat telling him that the Shadow can't be easily defeated using only physical or spiritual energy, but that both are required to erase the Shadow. Even then, Tileno said, the frequency of the Shadow's appearance only seems to be increasing. Tileno might have some friends who could help the two of you in your endeavors, but only so much can be done to help the two of you when they cannot even help themselves against these Shadows.
You finish the breakfast in short time. Thanks to Erin, the meal was quite pleasant, having been flavorful enough to make it delicious, but not overwhelming in taste or presence. As you get up to clean up your utensils and plates, you hear what sounds like the unlocking of a door at the front of the Complex.
Looks like Allen Kito might be back now. You exchange looks with Cromwell and begin to think of what you might have to bring up to Dr. Kito, or whether or not you would even engage in conversation with him.
continue sleeping
Jack WeaslyAnd sleep you will, then.
...
...
...
You begin to open your eyes. You're lying on your stomach on top of the flat mattress that is your bed. Rotating your neck to get some of the stiffness out of it from sleeping in the same position for so long, you sit up and hear some odd noises. Confused, you pull one of the blinds from the window and peer outside. Though you try to find the moon's position to estimate the time, you can find no such thing in the blackest of night skies. How odd that is; you didn't imagine that the cloud coverage over the city could completely blanket the area in darkness. Several moments later, you hear someone jogging down the hallway. The footsteps stop every few moments, and then pick back up again, repeating in a cycle until you see one of the workers of the orphanage almost past by, catching himself on the doorframe and staring at you.
"What are you doing awake this late?" The worker asks you sternly. He looks around, with a slightly nervous look on his face. You have no idea what's going on, but if it worries someone who works at
this orphanage, then it should probably greatly worry you.
Try to find a tree with dense foliage to sleep under in case of rain, eat something since I'm probably hungry by now, then go to sleep. Try to keep it to a light sleep though, this is unfamiliar terriotry and outside of my comfort zone.
Jonathan EridisYour resolve has to be ever-solid, despite your physical ailments. To lose your way here - to be weak and to lose your strength - would mean your eventual death. This has been said before, but you now know that the possibility of dying is a concrete reality that faces you right now. The dense forest and its predators will not forgive you for weakness. You must continue to forge on: To find some place of shelter, maybe a high tree a some sort to bring you off of the forest floor. Really, anything would help you, provided that it would ensure your safety against the elements of nature in the dark night.
You begin to walk, but immediately, you can tell that this is not going to be an easy task. Your body complains against your actions, the wounds on your arm and leg being unforgiving and still causing you much pain. You look around, trying to make the best of whatever dim light still exists, but you are now relying more on your arms and legs to provide your sensory environment when compared to your eyes. Finally, you decide on a solid tree nearby. You can't see how high it is, but you don't have the eyesight right now to find a very high tree. This will have to suffice.
You attempt to begin climbing, but already it is difficult. As soon as you grab onto the trunk and pull yourself up, a sharp pain goes up your arm. You reflexively let go and fall back down onto the ground. Picking yourself up, you still attempt, yet again, to climb. Nevertheless, your limbs continue to fail you, providing you no safe way to get up onto the tree without causing you great pain.
You sigh and sit back down, trying to think of another way to get yourself up there. You can barely see the ground in front of you now. The night is so unnaturally dark; you wonder, is it the lack of light from the tree canopy, or is it something else?
Whatever the case, you must hurry. Without light, you are severely hindered. There is only so much time before the predators of the night come out to hunt.
And you can't let yourself die now.
Go left.
Alex RamanYou move like a vagabond in a drunken stupor, unable to exhibit fine motor control. Instead, you keep your mind focused on not blacking out entirely from the use of energy in that situation, as well as the shock of learning that you had that ability. To be completely honest, you didn't think that would work, considering your luck with other attempts. However, it would seem that you have more power than you thought. Now, it simply comes down to honing that power and allowing yourself to endure more.
Well, that it is assuming that you survive this. Let's keep focus on making sure that you don't end up a cold corpse, devoid of any signs of life.
You round the corner to the left and find exactly what you're looking for: the exit! Thankfully, it's at the end of a not-so-long hallway with some maintenance rooms spaced along it. As fast as your unstable body can carry you, you run and stumble at the same time to the end of the hallway. You can hear voices behind you, no doubt the guards already looking for you. You won't have much time - they'll know what direction you're going and what you did. You're going to have to lose them in the city.
You take a peak outside the door and find that it might not be as easy as it sounds. To your left, there are guards stationed down the street, chatting with each other. To your front, there are still more guards farther down, seeming quite board in the dim light of the street lamps. To your right, it seems to be clear, but the street turns off to the left, which leaves you in the dark (both literally and figuratively) as to what lies ahead.
May fortune be with you, because that's all you really have to judge whether or not you die or are imprisoned yet again here.
"Diana! There you are - I've been looking for - Nevermind, I'm just glad to see you again." He sighs softly, smiling as he sees a familiar face after what happened last - last night, that's right.
"Are you okay? Where did you end up? I spent a night in the library here." He walks over to Diana and just gives her a hug. Damned if they're betrothed, he's just glad to see her. "You're the first familiar face I've seen here."
Cecil G. PalmerFinally,
someone whose presence makes more sense than not here. Well, not that your own presence here is very logically sound, but you don't particularly care right now. The point is that you might be able to get a perspective from someone other than you who may know something more about the situation that you are in. And who better to do that than Diana Crown, one of the few who escaped off of the island with you?
You chuckle lightly, delighted to find her here. You close your eyes breath in, saying,
"Diana! There you are - I've been looking for -"... you stop mid-sentence. As you open your eyes, there is something wrong. She's... she's not there anymore. She's gone. Diana was there one moment, and absolutely gone the next. You look around, trying to see if you simply misplaced her or if she got lost in the strings of people moving around the city.
No. Nothing. You look around for two, three, four minutes. No sign of her. Nothing of her voice. No image of her face or her hair or just
her remains. You stand with a bemused look on your face. Was it just an apparition? Are you delirious? Insane? That would explain why you went on such a ride yesterday with the city in darkness. It doesn't make sense. You
heard her, you
saw her! She was there! But now, she's... no longer there.
You can't be crazy. It's just not possible. But then, where is she? There is no trace of her anywhere around where she once stood. Now, you stand alone in a plaza, with people moving around you and talking and walking about their days.
What strange instance of time, what strange world did you end up in?
Sorry for not posting, right now I'm showing a student the grid, right?
Show my best student the wonders of the grid
((Good to see you again.))
Cat Schrodinger((You were continuing a conversation along the roads of the city when walking to the university last time. Would you like to continue that dialogue, or would you like to skip over to the university?))
As you walk along the narrow avenues of Telenos, Reyna exchanges some of the details of her day with you, in her usual talkative manner. "I'm not so interested in the total picture of Sir Anders, or of any of the other dedicated researcher that I'm studying right now. Don't take that in a bad way, I mean, but I am more interested in what they studied and... who they really are. It sounds kinda weird, but I am interested in the characters of these people. Often times, I think that the most brilliant people often have very hard lives to go along with, and it's sad. From what I've read so far, Anders was dealing with heavy depression and an existential crisis in the later years in his life. A similar thing happened to Kris Iones, from the Sengol Mountains area. With him, though, he kinda lost his sanity over the years. I'm not sure why, though." She stays quiet for a decent amount of time after that, mulling over her own thoughts.
"I want to find out more about our universe, like they did. I want to be able to explore and to think about what has led us to come here - not physically, but.. mentally, y'know? Like, I'm just curious as to how we develop alongside the universe, and if there's any correlation between what happens beyond our world and what happens inside of it. Maybe I'm just completing wrong. Maybe I'm crazy for saying such a thing might be true. But it's something that I would still like to explore, and that's why I enjoy being in your class, Professor. I don't really care about what's already been proven. I care about what's left there to prove, what I can do now." She laughs nervously, not sure how to continue after that.
"Oh, and one more thing, Professor. Do you.. do you believe in some sort of magic? Like, I'm not saying how the universe was made, and stuff. I'm saying, do you believe in conjuration, abjuration, things of that nature? Manipulating the energy of our world and creating new things? Destroying old things? That kind of stuff?"
((If you wish to skip, I'll update you with a new reply ASAP.))
Keep training my mental capacity. At the same time, have three golems all fighting in a free-for-all to train myself with fighting multiple targets using golems at once.
Rune((No rolls yet still. Should hopefully return by next turn. There isn't too much to roll, though, considering you aren't creating anything, just doing pretty much linear training.))
Training leads to an increase in mental capacity. Increase in mental capacity means that you will be able to perform all functions related to your powers in a quicker, more efficient, and extended fashion. If you are to continue expanding your operations, it would be wise to improve your mental abilities, akin to how a fighter would improve their skills and physique, or how a tactician would continue to hone their abilities on the battlefield. Therefore, it is only logical that you continue to improve your skills as greatly as possible throughout the day.
To do this, you design for yourself a couple of easy exercises consisting of multitasking, practicing your art in clay by drawing and molding wet clay, topped of with some small fights among the golems to practice your ability to control multiple of them at once. Hopefully, you will be able to control your abilities here without exhausting yourself too much. After all, there is still time in the day that you can make use of.
These exercises prove to be very difficult to execute simultaneously. You are forced to limit yourself to two golems fighting each other at one time for now, unfortunately. With three golems, you tend to lose focus and the golems consistently miss each other or stand still for a while as you attempt to control the other two.
After about an hour more of these exercises, you fall flat on your back and sigh, quite exhausted from all the effort you threw into controlling multiple activities at once. You think that you're going to need a little bit of rest after this; however, you are satisfied in your progress. You feel like you've learned a little bit more about controlling several golems at once. The action seems to come more naturally the next time around.
Your Intelligence has improved to Intelligence III!Your domain of Mind has been improved upon slightly.
Author's Note: Slowly stepping down the length and slowly increasing the frequency of these turns. At least, that's the hope.
I have some interesting things coming in the near future. Well, maybe not so near, but... you'll see.
Thank you for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week,
Artemis.
Author
Topic: Roll To Medium: Awakening [Chapter VI] (Read 145408 times)