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[Lenglon]

"Although I like the weapon, That's outside my price range at this time, I'll have to look for an alternative."
I slowly circle the room, giving her time to decide if she wants to mark it down while I look for a shorter blade that would match my usual, sword-and-knife style. I also look for a a sword-breaker and any throwing knives she might have, though I have no intentions of buying either right now. I also use the time to look for patterns in the metalwork of the various blades and if they all seem to be by the same maker, looking for anything that might reveal any hidden flaws in the ones I'm interested in, especially works with the same makers mark as what interests me the most.

((a sword-breaker is a sturdy off-hand blade with jagged teeth and slots along the blade. it was designed to catch an opponent's sword and hold it, allowing the user to follow up freely with their primary blade. against a rapier or other light blade, it could earn its name with a twisting motion made after trapping it. the blade itself wasn't very effective at causing damage, but was excellent at blocking and very hard to break.))

[Coolrune206]

"I see. And apart from you meeting me, have any of your other dreams ever come true?"
Rune then thought for a second. Something about what she had said was wrong.
"Wait.... what noise coming from the tunnels? I don't hear a noise..."

[DarkArtemisFowl]

TURN FIFTY-THREE: VISION AND (S)WORDS
Ah, right on time.

Warren Drake

"The bounty of nature," Warren comments as he looks at the food. "Do you hunt much? Or are you a strictly foraging kind of girl?"

"Anyway, I just started drinking today, too. It's not helping much yet, but I have faith."

Have a proper swig of booze, then dig into the food.

Warren Drake
The girl sits down politely in front of you while you begin to chow down. The fruits are quite juicy, you notice. She must have picked up her harvest very recently. That brings you to wonder what types of food she collects. Accordingly, you ask her that very question. "Well," she begins, "I prefer foraging most of the time. If it's the winter time and there's nothing available, then I might hunt around once in a very rare while. But even then, I've lived long enough here that I can use the animals to help me find food. It's a mutual relationship that I've set up with the members of the forest. The last time I ate meat was.. four years ago, I think. That was a particularly long and cold winter. I didn't have much choice." You offer her some of her own food, seeing as she is simply waiting there and chatting with you. She shakes her head and laughs, saying, "Thank you, but no. I've already had my fill this morning."

You continue to down more of the booze as you finish your meal. It's not a particularly great blend with the sweetness of the fruits, but you'll manage. You're starting to feel the effects of inebriation, with a slight buzz gradually forming in your head. In your haze, you comment to her that this is your first drink. "Really?" She takes one her orange locks and twirls it around her finger as she talks. "What's it helping you with? Has something happened?" She adds, "I haven't seen a point to drinking. I need my focus and my strength to survive out here. Even if I wanted to, it's somewhat difficult for me to get products like that. I occasionally go to the settlements to find tools, but nothing else. Maybe a book here or there." She sighs as she adds a final bit of information. "I often get a yearning to go and live in the settlements, but.. I've always been unsure about that. I still have a purpose being here."

Eh Ah

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Eh Ah then resumes his walk, taking the woman along.

To the Empress' office, woman in tow. Perhaps the visage of somebody significant will stimulate the insensible individual.

Eh Ah
There's no reason in being anything other than direct for now. Perhaps when you get her off of your hands, you'll be able to look around for something else. Maybe the Empress will lend you some knowledge later on.

It only takes you a short minute to get to the government complex. There, you can see the usual array of soldiers standing guard outside of the building, hinting to you that the Empress might still be around here. Yet again, the same scenes of reconstruction are present even this close to the complex. Roads are being patched up or paved over entirely. One of the things that comes to your mind is the question of payment for the construction. Will that burden be shouldered to the Atis government, or will the Theyin Empire take responsibility for what they originally caused? And, even then, what happens when this island is no longer of importance? Will the Theyins simply withdraw, or will they continue their presence on the island, assuming that they are not overwhelmed by their enemies overseas?

Those ideas float to the back of your head as you come upon the entrance of the building. The guards signal for you to halt. You comply as they ask you for your business, and you tell them that you are there for a meeting with the Empress herself, and that your name is Eh Ah. One of the guards asks you to wait while she confirms that with one of the officers. Another soldier notices the woman you have with you and her blank stare. "Mister, is she alright? Does she need help?" You explain briefly that she might not be of sound mind and that she is a person of concern for the Empress. He nods while keeping his eyes on you, apparently only half-convinced. The other guard returns and allows you entrance.

You promptly ascend to the top floor of the building, where you last met with the Empress. The guard told you that she should still be in her "office." You make it to the doors and hesitate, hearing an argument inside. Deciding not to be particularly rude, you knock on the doors and wait. The voices inside go silent and, a few moments later, the doors are opened for you. A young man in an officer's uniform stands in front of you with fatigue in his eyes. He looks back to Seira Theyin, who has her hands on the president's desk. She straightens herself upright as she recognizes you. "Ah, Mr. Eh Ah. Nice to see you again," she says with a bit of curiosity in her tone. "Have you brought something for me? Or... someone?" she asks, seeing the woman standing idly behind you. The officer stands to the side, allowing you to enter the room.

((Heads Up: After this meeting, you'll be given to option to dilate time to have actions take place over several days. You'll still be provided some information along the way, but this is mainly done to speed up and develop events more quickly than not. However, this is only an option. If you would like to keep the same pace or simply a slightly faster pace, let me know.))

Theri curled up by the fire, putting in mind what she'd do before sleep--extinguishing it and preparing. Her thoughts ran along, pondering on the creature, her basic needs, his basic needs, the road ahead, and the many pontifications in between, like how long this house was abandoned, or what species of the grass was all around the house, given its lower-than-waist height? Or if the word 'species' was the right thought?

She sighed and raised her palm to the fire, feeling the heat wash over her fingers and her wrist, sighing contentedly that she is able to feel all this. She breathed in deep, adding a thoughtful gratefulness into her stream of ideas, being thankful for all these sensations, and how much she grew since her first memoirs.

Theri glanced outside--something easy to do considering the state of the walls of the house--and caught the light of the skies. She wondered how it would be to fly one day, or at least to be free. How were the other residents of this land faring? Surely there'd be construction workers to build such a majestic, albeit currently decrepit house. Surely there's a lot more outside her awareness that was happening, all in the flicker of the fire light.

Theri took another breath, and exhaled, watching the fire sway along. She was grateful for the little things. . .and wondered if sleep was something she could actually take, considering all the danger and peculiarity she had witnessed in the previous days.

She could not get the idea of the 'black goo' out of the periphery of her thoughts.

But she resigns to her sense of security--feeling that everything is currently alright, and that she had done all she could.
All she had to wait for was time, right now. (also check on Flynn). Probably till the morning.

Theri
Your thoughts wander wildly as you nearly zone out, washed over with a warm feeling from the fire. Despite the fact that someone nearly died on you only a day or so ago, you're feeling rather delighted right now. That feeling could be attributed to the comfort of the crackling blaze, the relatively-healthy state of Flynn, or the excitement of picking up a purpose once again. Whatever the cause, you're more than content to relax and take a few moments for yourself. Of course, you continue to keep an eye out for the security of the two of you, but you don't expect much trouble tonight. Deciding to check on Flynn, you climb the stairs to the second floor.

Flynn is still in the same position that you left him in. He still seems to be be breathing regularly, and his pulse is normal. From the look of his wounds, he's healing very slowly, but he's getting there. Still, the damage caused to him won't allow him the ability to have much strength right now. He'll be able to help you in short bursts, but eventually, the pain will get to him. You've seen this throughout the past few hours that you've walked with him. It'd be best to continue to support him fully for now, and let him use his energy to heal.

Your train of thought takes you to what the island's residents might be doing right now. The ones who built this house, how are they faring? The family that you read about in the note, is that family well and safe? Does Flynn have anybody who knows him, and if so, what are they thinking right now about his disappearance? It interests you to think about the entire picture. While you are taking a hike in the woods, everyone else is sleeping, crying, laughing, working, fighting, rejoicing, and, well, living. Nobody knows that you exist here other than Flynn. If you were to disappear, and Flynn were to disappear also, nobody would know of you. Someone might mourn the loss of Flynn, but he, too, would fade away in memory. People would go about their lives, and all that would be left would be the footprints in the forest and the charred remains of fuel for the flickering fire in front of you.

You shake your head, attempting to dispel the gloomy picture that had been painted in your head. You have a purpose - a goal - in the present. It would be best not to worry about the future or the past. Right now, your goal is to get Flynn to somewhere where he can receive medical attention. Then, you can figure out what happened with the creatures in the forest later.
You clear your mind and up next to Flynn, watching over him and listening for anything peculiar outside. As the night takes over and the nocturnal animals come out to play, you begin to slowly nod off, drifting to another world in your mind.

Your slumber is troubled by strange dreams, which seem almost like nightmares. First, a vision of a large feline predator and a wolf fighting. Both of them bare teeth, swatting at each other and attempting to take each other down. But at the same time, they almost seem to be pulling each other up after nearly killing one another. They fight in different environments - through the snow, in the woods, in the marshes; any place you imagine becomes the next stage for their battles. This vision dissolves later and forms into a more sinister picture. You have a bird's eye view over a large expanse of meadows, plains, and small farms. The wind is blowing against the many trees, pushing them to lean and sway. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the horizon brightens with what appears to be a flame burning over the entire landscape. The wildfire moves at an insane rate, blazing everything in its path and burning forests, fences, houses, plants, and living organisms with it. Eventually, you can no longer see anything but the black sky, the rising smoke, and the bright glow of the horrid flames. You turn your view to the right as a single bird cries out to you. It flies in circles before steadying itself in front of you. It gives you a curious look for a few moments. You can feel its eyes burning into you, just as the fire scorches the landscape. Finally, the bird flies away from you, circles around once, and plummets purposefully into the fire. An incredible fireball rises out of the wildfire, consuming you with it.

You wake up with a start. You look around, the fading glow of the fire still imprinted in your vision. You blink a few times to clear your sight and look around the room. It looks just like it was before, but something is missing. No, someone is missing. Flynn isn't where he was before. There's no sign of any struggle here. Perhaps he took a walk outside - though, for what reason, you're not sure.

It might be prudent of you to check on him.

"Although I like the weapon, That's outside my price range at this time, I'll have to look for an alternative."
I slowly circle the room, giving her time to decide if she wants to mark it down while I look for a shorter blade that would match my usual, sword-and-knife style. I also look for a a sword-breaker and any throwing knives she might have, though I have no intentions of buying either right now. I also use the time to look for patterns in the metalwork of the various blades and if they all seem to be by the same maker, looking for anything that might reveal any hidden flaws in the ones I'm interested in, especially works with the same makers mark as what interests me the most.

((a sword-breaker is a sturdy off-hand blade with jagged teeth and slots along the blade. it was designed to catch an opponent's sword and hold it, allowing the user to follow up freely with their primary blade. against a rapier or other light blade, it could earn its name with a twisting motion made after trapping it. the blade itself wasn't very effective at causing damage, but was excellent at blocking and very hard to break.))

Lirian
You express your disappointment in the price range, considering that it is entirely too costly for you. Instead, you take time to walk around and examine the other swords, taking special note of who makes most of the swords. As you walk, the woman comes up to you and says, "Tell you what. I'm feeling good today, and we don't sell our swords all too often. What you're looking for seems to be one of the niche ones, too." You turn to look at her as she puts a hand up near the wall while examining the sword. She hands it to you, allowing you once again to look it over. "I'll sell it to you for half-price at 237 kita, but no less. This is the only time I'm going to offer it, too, so think it over." You thank her for the offer and tell her that you'll look around a bit more first. "Please do," she says.

First on your list, you look around for something that would suit your style of using swords and knives in tandem. After circling the room for a bit, you come across a smallsword that looks like it might be of use to you. This sword appears to be steel also, but doesn't appear to be at the same quality level of the hand-and-a-half that you looked at. It seems to be a little more decorated - perhaps for use as an officer's sword - but does appear to be well-capable of use in combat. It's fairly light in your hand, which could be to your advantage. The grip is awkward, but you think you could manage with time. The hilt is finished with a primary black color and painted-gold accents.

Moving on, you look around for a sword breaker, or something that would work well for more defensive measures. A sword of this kind would be particularly useful when facing against foes with other blades or bludgeoning objects, though you can't be too sure about a sword breaker's efficiency for attack. However, you would most likely pair it with another, more offensive blade. Unfortunately, no blades of this type seem to be kept in stock right now, to your dismay. Looking for throwing knives instead, you find about three or four lined up neatly in a row. They're quite simple in appearance, but seem to be very durable and well-made. Three out of the four are almost exactly the same make: They all have one edge that is relatively flat, and another edge that curves at the end and straightens at an angle to meet with the rest of the knife's body. The last knife is a bit more traditional, with both sides being symmetric and curving down to the sharp point. They all have thin grips and come in various shades of light grey to black.

You notice that not many of the weapons in the room look like they follow a pattern. You assume that they must be from different producers, especially considering the different logos on some of the blades, axes, and tools. The design of the hilts and the blades are enough to hint that these blades are all not from the same maker. The ones that interest you the most come from a maker who is apparently called "Esseker." That maker appears to have made very durable blades that are well-balanced overall and quite simple in appearance. Most of Esseker's blades have plain black or dark-colored hilts, with nothing to mark them other than the name "Esseker" printed in an inconspicuous location. As far as you can tell, there are no faults in these blades, but they demand a high price; the hand-and-a-half that you saw earlier was an example of this.

"So, have you had your full look at everything? What do you think about the offer?" The saleswoman looks at you from across the room.

"I see. And apart from you meeting me, have any of your other dreams ever come true?"
Rune then thought for a second. Something about what she had said was wrong.
"Wait.... what noise coming from the tunnels? I don't hear a noise..."

Rune
She shakes her head slowly. "No. This is the first. I don't think I've seen my other dreams anywhere else." Curious, you also ask her about the mysterious noise that she heard coming from the tunnel.

She tilts her head slightly. "You can't hear it? It's a light ringing sound. Like a wind chime, but echoing through the walls. It's coming from the tunnel behind you." You turn your head around and fail to hear what she's talking about. You're starting to think that she might be a little bit crazy; so far, however, this isn't too extraordinary compared to what you've experienced in the past few days. Pressing the question further, you ask her when she started hearing the noise. "As soon as I got near this tunnel," she explains. "I was the one who convinced my friends to check the area. I heard the chimes, and I had heard them before. I wanted to know where they were coming from."

You're a little bit lost at this point. You've absolutely no idea what sound she's talking about. Unless it's at an incredibly high frequency that your poor ears cannot detect, the tunnel only echoes back your voices and the drip-drip-drip sound of water. There is only one thing that you think might be related to what she's talking about. Now, you remember that odd glow in the cavern that you discovered - the one that had a secret message that you decoded. You swear that you heard something like the chimes she is describing, but it was much, much fainter. Could that be the sound she was talking about? If so, why can she hear it and you cannot?

So many questions to answer. Luckily, you may have just found the person to answer those questions.

Author's Note: Starting to exercise the time dilation thing a bit more. Hopefully, I can make it so that the storyline does not stagnate for anyone. There's still a lot left to cover, but I also don't want to leave out necessary information.
Also, I am happy that I got this update out earlier than before. Yay for that!

I hope all of you have the best of days. Please do post your turns quickly, so that I may post back with more responses.
Thank you and all the best,
Artemis

[Lenglon]

((Actually her not selling a sword-breaker is a mixed thing, neither bad nor good. they pretty much only existed to kill off swordmasters, and were pretty rare as a result. It's good news for Artemis though, because a single one-handed blade style is hard-countered by them. heavy two-handers or another person using two blades at once are a lot better at dealing with them.

basically I'm not likely to have to deal with specialized anti-sword fighters, but I don't get the option of using it against Artemis if we come into conflict.))

"I think I have, and I am quite interested in your offer. It's more money than I'd hoped, but simply put, the blade is worth it. I don't have enough for the blade on hand, but if you'll allow me to make a deposit of 30 kita to hold the blade for me, I'll come back with the other 207 as soon as I'm able."
((assuming here that the 10% rule of thumb, 24 kita, would apply here.))
Assuming she agrees to hold the weapon for me, I make the 30 kita deposit and return to the Kito household, to check on Cromwell and Erin and the Doctor. and to see about a loan. because I suspect tonight will be another hard night and I want to be ready.

[Harry Baldman]

Warren Drake

"I've heard it helps you relax," says Warren. "And I could use a bit of that, honestly. I mean, somebody blew up my island, did I tell you about that? And then there was this lizard thing that was talking to me. And those fucking iguanas, man, what were they even doing there? And then I was a lizard, and goddamn, this is all too stupid to even try to retell. Doesn't help that the talking lizard was a complete idiot, even if you could trust whatever it told me."

"And that's not even getting into the random monsters and the green energies and other stuff. So I'm having a drink to help me take this mushroom trip made reality in stride. Maybe have an ominous nightmare-filled nap later to process all this stupidity, you know."

Have another swig, then close the bottle and relax. Can I perceive the Lifestream or whatever it is?

Eh Ah

Eh Ah bows politely before the Empress.

"Your Majesty, I found this woman in Magis," he says, indicating the insensible woman as he looks her way. "She seems to be unresponsive to basic stimuli, and quite insensible as a result," he explains, waving a hand before the woman's eyes. "However, she is fully ambulatory and capable of supporting her own weight, and seemingly not unconscious, either. I found her standing in the middle of a street, completely alone and staring into the distance."

Eh Ah turns back toward the Empress.

"Her pupils are extremely dilated, leading one to suspect that she may have been drugged. However, in the hours it took to get back here it still does not appear to have worn off, and it would be unlikely that the administrator of said drug would have just left her standing in the street, or that she would have done so in the middle of the street in the first place. And equally doubtful is that this is mere acute stress from observing a horrific event, as there would likely be more variability in response. This leads me to believe that she has seen or been influenced by something supernatural, or at the very least something I have no prior experience with. As such, I deemed her the most interesting find of the day. If she is unusually drugged or traumatized, references to potential information sources in Magis may be extracted from her later. If she has seen something supernatural, she is a potential information source on her own."

"As for Magis itself, it appears that the occupation is going at a sedate pace, and I heard both imperial forces and survivors moving about, presumably keeping the peace and looking for supplies respectively. The city itself is in not too terrible a shape, though its defensive wall appears to have cracked. Not that I understand why exactly Magis has a defensive wall, given the general harmlessness of the Atisi and the overpowering artillery of the more civilized world, but I admit a certain lack of familiarity with their absurd cultural norms."

Report.

[Coolrune206]

"Hmm.... that's very interesting.... .... .......... Well, regardless, errr, whatever your name is, I must say one thing. I don't hear this chime ringing, and I doubt any of your friends did. I think that you might be like me. Different from everyone else. Not the same as me, of course. I am unique. I think. However, it would appear that you might have some kind of extended senses. Now, I'd suggest you head back to your village. If you ever wish to speak to me again, for whatever reason, just come back to this entrance and yell... hmm... 'Potato!' That will allow me to know it is you. Now I must go look for a stray pair of wind chimes..."

Send Jan back to her village, then return to the weird room with the symbols. If nothing is happening there, then have my golems forge some metal wind chimes, just a dozen or so. Then, hang them in the weird room.

[Yourmaster]

((I'm not really sure what I should be doing right now.))

[DarkArtemisFowl]

((I'm not really sure what I should be doing right now.))

This was the last turn that I put up for you. Right now, you're essentially low on energy and not in the best condition for fighting. It would be advisable for you to find some sort of escape or a place to hide. You last saw the soldiers fighting with that horrid monster, which you could continue to observe.
Again, my advice would be to go on the defensive and hide or run, and wait the situation out. Then, you can figure out what to do after. But if you wish to stay and figure out what's happening immediately, that's also a valid option.
If you need any more information, do not hesitate to ask. Thanks!

[DarkArtemisFowl]

Beep, boop! A reminder for those who have not posted to do so before the turn goes up tomorrow (well, today for some people). I want to include more people in the turns if I can, but if the numbers deem it appropriate, I will start updating earlier and earlier.

Thank you very much and hope you like the turn,
Artemis.

[Tiruin]

Beep, boop! A reminder for those who have not posted to do so before the turn goes up tomorrow (well, today for some people). I want to include more people in the turns if I can, but if the numbers deem it appropriate, I will start updating earlier and earlier.

Thank you very much and hope you like the turn,
Artemis.

Boop, beep! Anxiety = slow me! D:

That feeling could be attributed to the comfort of the crackling blaze, the relatively-healthy state of Flynn, or the excitement of picking up a purpose once again.

Lov'it. That writing. ♥

Theri jolted upright as her thoughts glimpsed that gloomy hindsight in her vision--she chuckled at the idea as she readied her equipment for a quick search around, getting that long stick and her cutting instruments.

"Could've woken me up for this, Flynn...or left a whispering note..."

She pondered on awareness, thanks to that thought: Where would one man be who she had little idea about in a wounded condition?

Check the surroundings of the area and fully throughout the house--then check any vantage locations nearby, then check for any spring or watering area.

[Yourmaster]

Move to a hiding spot so I can take a nap.

[Wolfkit]

Since there seems to be a much better selection of plants, look again for something with large leaves to use as bandaging, something like lamb's ear would be ideal, and tie it over my wounds with some long grass. Should be able to braid the grass for better strength.
Then gather and store some berries/fruit/nuts if I can find any, and then resume walking downstream, taking 5 minutes rests as needed.

[DarkArtemisFowl]

TURN FIFTY-FOUR: EMOTIONAL AND EMOTIONLESS
And by tomorrow, I mean a few days.

I'm thinking of shortening the turns a bit to make the turns go by faster. Not that I don't enjoy writing extensively, but I feel that with the shorter list of active players, it only makes sense to deliver quicker. The work I have right now makes it hard for me to stay focused for long, so shortening the turns might also help me in that regard.

Essentially details and most of the fluff will not be subtracted, however. Just maybe a paragraph or two altogether. It won't be much.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled shenanigans.

"I think I have, and I am quite interested in your offer. It's more money than I'd hoped, but simply put, the blade is worth it. I don't have enough for the blade on hand, but if you'll allow me to make a deposit of 30 kita to hold the blade for me, I'll come back with the other 207 as soon as I'm able."
((assuming here that the 10% rule of thumb, 24 kita, would apply here.))
Assuming she agrees to hold the weapon for me, I make the 30 kita deposit and return to the Kito household, to check on Cromwell and Erin and the Doctor. and to see about a loan. because I suspect tonight will be another hard night and I want to be ready.

Lirian
"Sounds like a deal," she says, extending her hand to you as the universal sign of agreement. You return her invitation, give her your deposit of thirty kita for now, and set off back to the Kito Complex to grab the rest of the money. It doesn't take too long for you to get back to the Complex, now that you have a reasonable understanding of the layout of the town and the route back. When you get back, Kito and Erin have already finished their breakfast. Erin has retired to her bedroom while Kito greets you in the front room.

You tell Kito about your predicament and the necessity of being able to defend yourself against the Shadows, as he already knows. Not wanting to drag the conversation, you tell him that you would need about 100 kita to buy your equipment. He thinks over it for a few moments. "That doesn't sound too unreasonable," he remarks. "And if Dimikaelo has reason to trust you, then I do too. Here." He retrieves a coin bag from his pocket and counts out the necessary currency for your expenses. "I just bought something from the town earlier today. This should be all you need to cover. If you need anything else, let me know." You thank him for his hospitality.

As for Cromwell, he is currently taking a nap in the guest room. You're not sure why he would need to nap if he already has his night's rest, but you don't think over it too much. He should be awake by the time you return, if not a little later. You exit the Complex and return to the shop about fifteen minutes later. At the shop, the salesclerk is cleaning the blade that you had put in a deposit for. Seeing you enter, she returns the blade to its sheath and sets it on the table in front of her. "So, are you ready to pay?" She asks you. You nod and set the 207 kita on the table, which she collects and deposits in a register behind her. "Wonderful," she exclaims. "The sword's yours. Would you like anything else?" You politely decline. "Right, then. Thank you for your purchase. Hope to see you again." You take the sword with you and exit the store. Doing the math, you have 50 kita left. Not a huge amount, but enough to buy you some extra equipment or supplies if you so wished. Just don't think of anything too fancy.

Warren Drake

"I've heard it helps you relax," says Warren. "And I could use a bit of that, honestly. I mean, somebody blew up my island, did I tell you about that? And then there was this lizard thing that was talking to me. And those fucking iguanas, man, what were they even doing there? And then I was a lizard, and goddamn, this is all too stupid to even try to retell. Doesn't help that the talking lizard was a complete idiot, even if you could trust whatever it told me."

"And that's not even getting into the random monsters and the green energies and other stuff. So I'm having a drink to help me take this mushroom trip made reality in stride. Maybe have an ominous nightmare-filled nap later to process all this stupidity, you know."

Have another swig, then close the bottle and relax. Can I perceive the Lifestream or whatever it is?

Warren Drake
You recount the events of the past few days in between bites of your meal, injecting a little bit of alcohol-induced humor here or there. The girl listens intently, apparently very interested in your ramblings. She raises her eyebrows when you get to the middle of the story. Once you finish your story along with most of your meal, she remains silent for a few seconds. With a confused look on her face, she says, "That's really strange. How was your island blown up, and why?" Whether or not you respond to that question, she adds, "You said that you saw random monsters. Can you tell me what they looked like?" She looks down and says, "Some very strange things have been happening in the forest. Animals have been acting... rabid. They are becoming aggressive. They weren't like this before."

After you answer her (or not), you take yet another swig of your liquor and settle yourself back against a rock. It's not particularly comfortable, but it does the job in preventing you from falling over entirely. In a spur-of-the-moment thought, you decide to test your ability to detect the bolts of energy that you were using before. If those strange traces of almost magical energy were able to help you before, perhaps they will lead you on to find out what you're doing here. You look to your right - nothing there. To your left, only the forest surrounds you without anything to lead you. Casually, you look behind you. There, you also find nothing. Looks like the spirits of the world have decided to keep you in the dark for now.

Finding yourself disappointed, you sit back once again and let the buzz settle in. This time, you're feeling a little more than inebriated compared to where you were before.

Eh Ah

Eh Ah bows politely before the Empress.

"Your Majesty, I found this woman in Magis," he says, indicating the insensible woman as he looks her way. "She seems to be unresponsive to basic stimuli, and quite insensible as a result," he explains, waving a hand before the woman's eyes. "However, she is fully ambulatory and capable of supporting her own weight, and seemingly not unconscious, either. I found her standing in the middle of a street, completely alone and staring into the distance."

Eh Ah turns back toward the Empress.

"Her pupils are extremely dilated, leading one to suspect that she may have been drugged. However, in the hours it took to get back here it still does not appear to have worn off, and it would be unlikely that the administrator of said drug would have just left her standing in the street, or that she would have done so in the middle of the street in the first place. And equally doubtful is that this is mere acute stress from observing a horrific event, as there would likely be more variability in response. This leads me to believe that she has seen or been influenced by something supernatural, or at the very least something I have no prior experience with. As such, I deemed her the most interesting find of the day. If she is unusually drugged or traumatized, references to potential information sources in Magis may be extracted from her later. If she has seen something supernatural, she is a potential information source on her own."

"As for Magis itself, it appears that the occupation is going at a sedate pace, and I heard both imperial forces and survivors moving about, presumably keeping the peace and looking for supplies respectively. The city itself is in not too terrible a shape, though its defensive wall appears to have cracked. Not that I understand why exactly Magis has a defensive wall, given the general harmlessness of the Atisi and the overpowering artillery of the more civilized world, but I admit a certain lack of familiarity with their absurd cultural norms."

Report.

Eh Ah
Empress Theyin continues to pace around the room while you talk, taking on her usual manner of cogitative action. The other man in the room, who you presume to be a relatively high-ranking officer, stands to the side of the door in an unassuming position. After you finish your report, the Empress continues to walk around the room with a slower pace. Finally, she places one hand on the central desk. Looking to you, she says, I see. She seems to be a peculiar case. I'll have her put under the care of the medical corps. If she appears to be influenced by drugs or other substances, we'll take care of the situation from there. However, if, as you say, this is 'supernatural,' your further help would be appreciated."

Already, you can tell that she has changed in mood from yesterday. She seems to be calmer and carefully chooses her words. "It strikes me as odd," she continues, "that you found her on a street. Was she with anyone else, or was anyone near the location? Was there any other activity in the area? Did you find anyone else with this particular ailment?" After asking her questions (and waiting for your possible answers), she stands up and properly greets you. "Thank you for your work," she says. "I didn't think I would find a local who would be willing to help solve the mystery. Hopefully, the predicament of this woman will leave more trails to follow." She turns to speak to the officer, halts, and turns back to you. "I almost forgot. Is there anything I may do for you? It would be wrong for me to ask something of a citizen without repaying the favor." She tilts her head slightly, awaiting your response.

"Hmm.... that's very interesting.... .... .......... Well, regardless, errr, whatever your name is, I must say one thing. I don't hear this chime ringing, and I doubt any of your friends did. I think that you might be like me. Different from everyone else. Not the same as me, of course. I am unique. I think. However, it would appear that you might have some kind of extended senses. Now, I'd suggest you head back to your village. If you ever wish to speak to me again, for whatever reason, just come back to this entrance and yell... hmm... 'Potato!' That will allow me to know it is you. Now I must go look for a stray pair of wind chimes..."

Send Jan back to her village, then return to the weird room with the symbols. If nothing is happening there, then have my golems forge some metal wind chimes, just a dozen or so. Then, hang them in the weird room.

Rune
If she is indeed like you, she may be able to help you understand your own powers a bit better. She seems at least a little bit knowledgeable of things that would otherwise evade your understanding. Even if she is not as informed as she appears to be, her different "senses" may be of use to you, especially when considering the undetectable sound of a chime in the caverns.

You let her know that she is welcome to come back when she needs to, giving her an odd codeword for your future ventures. "That's... an odd choice for a word, but I understand." With that out of the way, you send her back to her village and continue with what you intended to do. You descend into the tunnel, moving about a hundred meters down before coming upon the same cavern that you saw before. Apparently, this is where the girl might have been hearing the strange chime. It would make sense, considering the type of phenomenal occurrences beginning from this very enclosed area. You carefully step through a hole in the wall and examine the room. As far as you can see, it is pretty much unchanged. The same pedestal exists in the center of the cavern, with its arcane symbols spiraling out from the center. Along the wall, the messages and words that you deciphered are still there, and the ominous gate and clock engraved in the wall both remain dormant. If you didn't know better, you'd say that everything here was part of an ancient structure; but you know that not everything here existed before you discovered it.

You continue to look around, using your ears to detect any ominous sounds. Other than the slow tip-tap of water dripping from the cavern's top, the only sound that reaches your ears is the whisper-soft groan of the wind and the tunnels joining together. Nothing that would even resemble a chime exists so far.

But wait, what is that sound? You are almost hopeful for a moment, thinking that you might be able to hear something out of the ordinary. Then, you notice that it sounds like footsteps. You can hear voices echo off of the walls of the cavern. This time, they don't sound youthful.

You might be in trouble.

 

Theri jolted upright as her thoughts glimpsed that gloomy hindsight in her vision--she chuckled at the idea as she readied her equipment for a quick search around, getting that long stick and her cutting instruments.

"Could've woken me up for this, Flynn...or left a whispering note..."

She pondered on awareness, thanks to that thought: Where would one man be who she had little idea about in a wounded condition?

Check the surroundings of the area and fully throughout the house--then check any vantage locations nearby, then check for any spring or watering area.

Eleri
It definitely would have been wiser for Flynn to notify you if he indeed went out on his own. Then again, perhaps he didn't wish to let you know where he was going in the first place. You're not sure why an ailing boy would stray too far from protection. Regardless of his reasons, you pick up some equipment - including the knife and the stick for your own defense - and hop down the stairs at a hurried pace. Hopefully, you can locate Flynn quickly, before the precious moments of the rising dawn are wasted away.

You start off in the most obvious locations: the area surrounding the house, the sites that you checked out while moving ahead before the sun set, and the path that the two of you took going up the hill. You check the area inside of the fence and find nobody. The front "lawn" of the house also yields no results; similarly, the forest surrounding the house lends no trace of the boy. You extend your search to the locations you scouted out earlier. Still, you aren't able to find anything that would give away the trail of Flynn.

Finally, you backtrack down the hill. You scan to your right and find only the mesmerizing motion of the waves out on the ocean. To your left, the hill rises up and blocks the rest of the landscape from your view. You're about to make your way back to the house when you catch a glimpse of Flynn. There he is, up the hill behind you. He's at the edge of a small protrusion from the mountain, farther away from you than you had expected. Now that you've tracked him down, you begin to walk up the mountain's terrain. It is actually easier to navigate than you would have thought. Once you reach the outcrop where Flynn is resting, you slow down your approach.

Flynn seems to sense your presence, even before he could possibly hear you. He doesn't show it, but you can tell that he has something on his mind. Before you get within five meters of him, he begins to speak without turning to you. "I didn't really tell you about my dad when you found me." His voice takes on a stronger projection than it had before, signaling to you that he is slowly recovering from his ordeal. However, his voice has a hoarse tone that seems to persist through his speech. "I chose this spot because it was bright, and windy, and.. I felt uncomfortable until I got here. I needed to come here. I didn't know why, at first," he says softly.

Move to a hiding spot so I can take a nap.

Alex Raman
In your debilitated state, there's not much that you could do to defend yourself if you are attacked. Having said that, your best option right now would be to get the hell out of there and hide. It doesn't matter if that's the coward's way; at least you'll still be alive the next day to be able to call yourself a coward. Hopefully, by then you'll have recovered enough strength to plan out your next motion. After all, there's still plenty of souls to reap, and you're the perfect man for the job.

You start walking - well, stumbling, really - down the street, looking all around for an empty building or an alley to jump into and hunker down in for a while. All of the houses nearby look like they're occupied, being at least neat enough not to count as run-down or decrepit. You would jump into one of the alleys, but those alleys lead to other streets, where you could possibly be seen. To risk that would be to risk death. With that in mind, you continue to walk in the direction you presume to be west.

Before you are able to make it much farther, you hear a low growl to your right. Your first instinct would be to think that you've intruded upon a guard dog's territory. Your second thought is that you haven't really seen many pets out tonight and that the appearance of large, predatory monsters would suggest that this is something other than a canine. Your attention moves up to the roof of a building across the street, where an anthropomorphic, dark figure perches on top. Your unfocused, degraded vision doesn't allow you the opportunity to discern whether it is truly human or not.

It looks like you won't get the chance anyway. Before you can react, the figure leaps down from the building and begins to move toward you at an unnerving speed. You try to put some distance between you and that freak of nature, but your attempts are futile. The creature lets loose a triumphant roar before pouncing on top of you, allowing your face to greet the concrete in a very painful way. You barely have time to push away from the creature before it attempts to take a bite of the air where you were just at.

You're going to have to react quickly if you want to live this encounter.

Since there seems to be a much better selection of plants, look again for something with large leaves to use as bandaging, something like lamb's ear would be ideal, and tie it over my wounds with some long grass. Should be able to braid the grass for better strength.
Then gather and store some berries/fruit/nuts if I can find any, and then resume walking downstream, taking 5 minutes rests as needed.

Jonathan Eridis
The rich environment will help speed up your healing process; at least, it should. You first look around for some familiar plants that could help you bandage - perhaps a lamb's ear or palm leaves. As you look through the flowers, however, you find yourself more and more disappointed. Perhaps you were too enchanted by the thought of finding something like lamb's ear. However, the best you can find right now is a nondescript, leafy plant and its brethren. Its leaves are long and firm, but they are not particularly smooth on the skin and look like they might tear easily enough under pressure. For now, assuming that you don't try to pull any radical stunts, these leaves should suffice for now to keep your wounds covered and at least partially protected from the environment.

You take a group of about seven or eight leaves together and set most of them to your side. Taking a few in your hand, you set about carefully braiding three of them together. By doing this, you will be able to keep the leaves from tearing so soon; that's the plan, really. However, midway through, the tension on the leaves is too much. Two of the leaves begin tearing through the middle already. Looks like you're going to have to downsize. Instead, you take two new leaves and braid them together. This time, you attain a more favorable outcome. You continue this process for several more "bandages" before stopping. Now, you spend some time trying to awkwardly wrap the bandages around your wounds. Although the leaves feel uncomfortable on your skin, they do the job of protecting the wounds and fitting rather securely to your body. Just don't expect to have total freedom of movement, or else you risk irritating the skin or tearing the bandages altogether.

With that out of the way, you now pay attention to your food and water supplies. Water is easy enough to come by with the fresh water running down the river. However, food is a different issue. It doesn't appear as if you have any animals nearby to hunt down. Additionally, fruits seem to be scare around this part of the forest. Despite this, you're still able to find some berry bushes across the shallow part of the river. Making your way over, you cautiously examine the berries. They seem to run the tiny color range from velvet red to deep violet. You've never seen these berries before, though something tells you not to trust them based on your previous experiences with berries of similar colors in the forest. It would be disappointing for your trip to end to the consumption of a deadly berry in the middle of a godforsaken forest.

With that, you pass over those berries and return to the other side of the river, where you kept the rest of your gear. It looks like it's time for you to head out now. You've got yourself bandaged up and have a great water supply with you. Your food is going to run out sometime, but you've still got plenty to keep you going until you can harvest some other fruits or berries later on.
It'd be best to make use of the remaining sunlight to travel and have the moonlight be your protector in the night.

Author's Note: Wow, actually didn't expect the additionally responses in such a quick time. That is not to say that I don't welcome them. I do! I just didn't expect that.

Nothing much else to say, other than a reminder that some of you will have time dilation in effect soon. Other than that, things are pretty normal. Once again, post as soon as you can and I will reply as soon as I can also.
I hope all of you have a fantastic week,
Artemis.

[Lenglon]

I return to the Kito complex, return the leftover kita, and go to my room to rest and sleep until nightfall, my new blade sheathed but at hand.

[Coolrune206]

Rune sighs. The one time he tried to be nice...

My golems should still be waiting by the cave entrance as I never brought them down. I will move them back from the entrance and peer out, in case the source of the voices is just passing my cave. If it is an army coming to kill me, prepare my golems for war. Have my protector golem stand by and.... protect me.