((Sorry about the long absence. I've been moving house and until today my computer was put in a weird position where it was uncomfortable to sit and write on for any length of time and I've only really just realised that's why I'd not felt inclined to make any lengthy forum posts. If people still want to continue, I do!))
Wait for a moment and see what the driver is going to do.
You wait for a moment and the driver climbs out of the cab and leaps free, rolling on the ground. With her weight no longer holding it in balance the truck teeters and then slides into the river. The driver stares at dismay at the bubbling water where her truck once was.
You hear a voice behind you, "Without that truck and the parts within it, watchboxes throughout the city won't be serviced. It may take a month for full replacements to be found. You have destroyed them without touching them, without being seen."
Another voice says, "Thirty of them?"
"Yes, the few watchboxes in the truck would have serviced fourfold their number in parts."
"Then it it is time," says a third voice. Three kulupu members appear on the rooftop out of the darkness, their faces still obscured by their dark robes.
"Repeat after us," they say as one. "
Pimeja!"
"Pimeja," you say, the word strange on your tongue.
"
Pimeja!" they repeat.
You feel the darkness of the night surround you as the say the word, your voice catching in your mouth and coming out a whisper.
"Pimeja... Pi... meja.
Pimeja!"
You have learned Pimeja.
Go home and retrieve the one hundred shillings I already have. Turn in the shilling quest.
You ransack your savings, pulling out every last penny until finally you have enough. You race back to the rooftop and duck into the lair beneath the air conditioning units.
"Some believe there is a cost for each word we speak," says a voice in the darkness. A hooded figure in a red robe steps forward. It looks taller than the others you've seen, but equally obscured. "That each word sears its mark indelibly on our being. Others say that words are like breathing and that we should not fear to speak them. What is not doubted by any is that the words we know radiate from us, changing the world even in our silence. Do you have the money?"
You pass the figure the unmarked bills and the pile of change and it slowly counts. Finally, it says "This is sufficient. Focus on the money and repeat after me...
"
Mani!"
"Money," you say. "No, that's not right. Meni. No...
Mani!"
The bills in his hand seem to shine with an inner glow as you speak the word and understanding of wealth becomes a part of you.
You have learned Mani
"Maybe we could go to Remembrance Park? It's always nice to go there, and just listen to nature."
Suggest going to Remembrance Park.
You walk with them to Remembrance park. Memorials to the war dead mark every corner of the myriad wooded lanes of the park. The crater lake in its centre is lit up by lights around its edge in the colours of the city. The mechanised miniature fleets that act out the battle of Bombast Bay are asleep on their rails. Lin and Getty take turns skipping stones across to the little boats, Lin never misses. All around you the trees are filled with the soft cooing of birds. The three of you listen to the birds and talk a while about the day and in your presence Getty and Lin begin to realise more about themselves and each other.
"I didn't know about all that at the diner," says Lin after Getty speaks a while about how she's got pulled into a mess of dangerous jobs and conflicting loyalties.
"Yeah, I wanted to keep that away from you," says Getty. "What I like about you is you're not highly strung and dangerous, you're just calm. Mild. It's nice that in this mad world there are still people like that."
"Even friends can be strangers," says three voices behind you. It's the kulupu in their hooded robes. The girls don't notice them at all.
"It's past curfew," says Lin.
"I'll walk you back," says Getty, "It was nice meeting you Sharayna!"
You say your goodbyes and Lin leaves you with a telephone number. No sooner have they gone but the kulupu appear again.
"Words are powerful, but more powerful still is knowing when to use them. Often their presence uncalled upon our tongue is enough to have an effect. Are you ready?" they say as one.
You nod
"
Olin!" they say.
You reflect on your long life and the people you have loved, many of them distant, many more dead. But the love remains. "
Olin," you say. "
Olin!"
You have learned Olin
The next day Sharayna, Shaon, Alurjo are summoned to the rooftop hideaway.
"You three disciples have travelled furthest along the path," the kulupu say together, "and it is time you learned a trick. While you are not yet powerful enough to teach each other your words, you can still work together."
One of them steps forward, carrying a small wooden box. The figure says, "
Open!"
Nothing happens.
A second one steps forward and says, "
Poki!"
Nothing happens.
Together they say "
Open Poki!"
You can sense the power coming from the first then the second as they speak, and the box opens.
"Go forth with wisdom, sewi jan."
1. Impart a sense of joy to at least fifty people - musi
2. Bring back three thousand shillings in unmarked bills - mani
3. Adulturate a meal of a stranger at an elite restaurant without being spotted - namako
4. Paint the town red, or enough of it that it gets in the papers - kule
5. Give 5 people the means to overcome their fears - pipi
6. Destroy 30 watch boxes in the east side of town without them seeing your face - pimeja
7. Give a family the means to feed themselves indefinitely - pan
8. Bring two strangers together from different sides of the river over a shared interest - olin
9. Gain dependable access to the sewers and map the routes safe to travel - jaki
10. Permanently give away everything you own (except for what can fit on your back) - pana
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Topic: Sewi Jan! - A Toki Pona Game of Linguistic Magic (Read 11782 times)