"Ah...this is nice, ya know. Not having to tear anyone limb from limb because they fucked me over. I could get used to it."
One more restings pls
You continue relaxing on the ground in peace and quiet. Relative peace and quiet, anyway. There is the increasing clamor of armored feet, you notice after a little while napping. Some shouting of what sounds like military orders, something about rafts? Shortly the courtyard becomes a little noisome for you, and you arise at last.
Standing over you is the commander. It'll be time in a little while. In the meantime, do you have a convenient method for crossing a river? Tactically relevant information. And how do you feel about infantry support? Do you actually require any? The force in the town is likely meager considering its size, and if what she understands is correct the gifts of your kind tend to have a lot of collateral damage associated with them.
Leif stands up and gives the backpack friendly slap on back.
"Nice to see you on good spirits! I think it is time Lee and I proceed to where we need to go. As for you... well, try to not get cought again. When I left Anglefork castle yesterday one of my buddies kinda burned half of the stoats and their camp onto ground, so either they will assault the castle soon or quit it. So you may want to check out if you can be helpful there. Or, you know, do whatever you want to."
It's adventure time again! To north towards Elizabet, presumably. Backpack can go wherever he wants, just letting him know that situation is probably changing around the castle.
On the road Leif talks again. Mostly for himself, but also discreetly informing Lee that fire and brimstone might fall from sky at some point of time.
"I'm almost hoping some fool will try to rob us on the way. I learned another word of power in midst of my dreams; apocalypse. I want to try it out on something." The Word rolls on tongue nicely...
[The Call To Murder: 5]
Eh, he says. Stoatmen have their charms. Have you heard a stoatman's death rattle, for instance? Very unique sound. But it's all too familiar. He was somewhat looking forward to the challenge of killing some with only one hand, but he's afraid he'd only retread old ground again if he went back. You have to find new audiences, seek new places to ply your trade! That's the path to self-improvement, he's sure you would agree! So he'll follow you to the north for the time being, unless of course you explicitly object to his presence?
You suppose you don't, so you let Lee lead the way northward, mostly on account of her having made what seems to be the reverse of this trip before. She leads you along ravines and deep woods, meticulously avoiding the road for the next ten miles as you trek through the wilderness before rejoining the river. Every now and then she stops in her path, examining a stone here or a set of twigs there and ruminating on their significance. The day is warm and overcast as you move on along, and eventually the woods start to thin out, turning into dry brush after you've been steadily climbing upward for the better part of the day. The road eventually peters out and outlying farms grow increasingly rare, as do forks to smaller villages that Lee seems to have no interest in, and you eventually reach what seems to have been the goal for the day.
It's an odd place to be sure, a canyon that seems to be wholly artificial in nature, two smooth 45 degree slopes bisecting soil and sedimentary rock as they meet from half a mile apart. The river runs into it at a right angle - actually, runs
out of it, in fact. You're not sure how that works, really - there's no spring in the canyon that you can see, the water just seems to appear at the edge, and the river seems to have a weird flowing cross-section just like the rock does.
[The Nomadic Tradition: 2]
Right next to where the river terminates you see an encampment, a circle of what you're reasonably sure are some exotic variety of teepees, colored red and topped with white and black feathers. Lee looks to you for a second, anticipating a question. Stork Clan, she answers in advance. They may prove useful for the crossing.
"I apologize again, good sir! I am here looking for the mother of the lord of the keep. One of the guards was leading me this way but must have had to go back. I don't suppose you could point me in the right direction, please?"
Ask directions.
He stares at you for a few moments, then blinks a resolute yes, and leads you past a few cells to a door at the end of the hall, a forbidding metal affair that accepts a large key from the belt of the man you assume to be the turnkey. He turns it twice and swings the door open, revealing a small dark chamber that'd comfortably host about half a person. Nobody seems to be inside, curiously enough, though admittedly even if there was anyone in it you're not entirely confident you could see them in the lighting provided. The turnkey stands by the door, absolutely lacking in expectation.
Let's set out south toward Speaker's Bridge. Though I'm even more nervous about visiting there after learning about the recent name change. Hopefully I can go around it if it's going to be an issue.
The stoatman finishes his coffee, then yours, and after patting the innkeeper on the head and wishing her a happy hangover heads out with you. The sun is setting, and soon enough it grows dark and lonely in the woods. The stoatman tries to keep your spirits up with a variety of dirty jokes on the way. You definitely hadn't heard the one about the minder and the cannibal before, you must admit.
[In The Dark Of The Night: 1]
And it appears that somebody else hadn't either, because you hear a rather resonant cackle in the woods as the stoatman delivers the punchline, the tone of it reminding you of poorly made wind chimes, an inorganic noise of fine junk clattering. Out of the corner of your eye you notice something orange, glowing. You turn to look, but nothing is there. The bush on both sides of the road waves in a sudden breeze, and the cackle repeats.
The stoatman pauses a moment. Huh. Have you heard the one about the night gaunt and the walrus, he asks, bending a little lower as he casts his eye about, adopting a strange defensive position and pulling out a dagger, seemingly able to twist a full 180 degrees with his spine alone to get a good look all around him.
Alive, if not what I'd expected for a first shot at artificial life. Possibly sentient. Trapped in a skull. Stop for a minute and consider the ethical implications of this.
You suppose Nately could be wrong and it's not sapient at all. That'd be something of a relief. If it actually is, though, you can't help but wonder what failing to feed it phenomena would count as. Animal cruelty? Child neglect? Was the thing contained in it ethically sourced? Have you torn apart an otherworldly family by assisting in the creation of this measure? What does it mean for humanity that the source of its potential doom (that is, if the sea in your visions and wherever this glow came from are identical in some way) is possibly sapient and possesses humanoid desires? Are they humanoid desires? Is it legitimately hungry, or is hunger simply the best approximation for what a thing fundamentally unlike you in physiology feels?
Oh wait, it's shaking now. Are you supposed to unwrap it? Nately seems to think so. But how does he know any of this? And why are there so many soldiers in the courtyard now? Are they going somewhere? And oh my, is it starting to shake more intensely with every moment? What do you do? Should you step back from everyone? It might just explode!
Leif Erikson, Miner
- A Word: INEVITABLE
- A Word: APOCALYPSE
- Mead of Poetry (6 shining revelations remaining)
- Enders' Friend: The Grave of Red Clouds Parting
- Small brass box
- Body Count: 1
- All Broken Up: Saved, Recreated!
- Reappropriated, Clean Skirt
- Inscribed Wooden Stylus
- Iron spear
- 1.03 gp
- The Box: ?
- Induced Lucidity: the Aftermath, or the New Beginning
- Compatibility: Minding
- Tricks of the Mind: Perception, Memory
- Tricks of the Mind: Engagement, Negation, Abstraction, Prestige
- Tricks of the Mind: the Self, the Other
- Gods of the Underground: Did You Just What
- The Voracious Dark: Two Deals Made
- The Voracious Dark: The Promised Sixth
- Moth's Flight: Quest for the North
Eileen Minett, Vinyl Collector
- In Living Memory: Honest Companion
- The Doom Guard: Consorting With The Enemy
- Exotic serrated zweihander
- Reclaimed Hooded Robe (worn, torn)
- Inauspicious Day: Off Into The Horizon
- Giant White Mushroom
- A Word: SEA
- A Word: HUNGER
- A Word: CHAOS
- A Weapon: Explosive Cysts
- The Voracious Dark: Three Connections Given
- Tower of the Mind: There's Something To Remember
- The New Queen: And Something To Forget
- Body Count: 1
- The Impromptu Prophecy: ?
- Sweet Little Children: Fond Farewell
Jack Daniels, Karate Man
- Red and gold vest and breeches combo (worn)
- Leather boots (worn)
- 14033 gp (in sack)
- The Queen's Guard: Unusual Troublemaker
- Powers of the Beyond: Gardener of Thoughts
- Dusty Wooden Speaking-Trumpet
- Crossbow Bolt (in throat)
- A Word: REND
- A Word: SILENCE
- A Weapon: Murder-Thought
- Traces of Mischief: A Bisected Left Kidney
- Traces of Mischief: Ruined Left Hand
- Uncoupled: Strength
- Wooden Door (held)
- The Winding Path of Inspiration: A New Direction
- Tower of the Mind: Endless Well of Mystery
- Induced Lucidity: A Garden Well-Tended
- Elongated Affairs: Enemy of the New State
- A Place In History: Vastly Unreliable
- Anglefork Castle: the Great Serpent
- The Obsolete Class: Suggested Victims
- 2 rats, crushed
- 1 rat, strangled
- 1 rat, live
- Travels In The Fourth Dimension: Sunday ± 2 Days
- The Impromptu Prophecy: There's A Mountain Higher Than We Knew
- Doomstones: So High Up But Such A Bitter View
- The Majordomo: A Great Divide Between Us Now
- The Voracious Dark: Decreasing Demand
- The Voracious Dark: More Specific Requests
- The Good Doctor: A Recommendation
- Body Count: 3
Thomas Minstep, Insurance Agent
- Troubles In Anglefork Town: Bearer of the Sword
- Wounds: 2
- A Word: ABSENCE
- A Weapon: The Sword They Fear
- Traces of Mischief: Nausea's Depths
- A Bowl, Black and Knobby
- Anglefork Castle: From Another Time, Another Land
- Gross Incandescence: Partly Illuminated
- Tight Leather Pants (worn)
- Incredibly Tight Blue Dress (worn, mutilated, mildly provocative)
- Travels In The Fourth Dimension: Sunday, July 25th, 409 S.D.
- The Majordomo: Busy Morning
- The Good Doctor: House Call
- The Queen's Guard: A Reward Well Earned
- Make A Man Out Of You: A Crowning Achievement
- The New Queen: Lasting Gratitude
- Tower of the Mind: Advice Given
- The Obsolete Class: Let Them Be
- The One They Fear: A Satisfactory Contract
- A Place In History: A Worthwhile Associate
- Body Count: 2
Oscar Wilde, Chemistry Teacher
- A Word: REVELATION
- Time-ender's measure (wrapped, ready!)
- 10 m of rope
- Half a candle
- This Is The End: A Grim Prophecy
- 1 rat, skinless and smoked
- 6 gp
- Poor Misshapen Dice
- Lock of Hair (unidentified)
- Iron nail, unused
- An Inauspicious Key
- Burlap Foot Wrappings (worn)
- Burlap Hand Wrappings (worn)
- Moth-Eaten Hat (worn)
- Respectable Brown Skirt (worn)
- Old Brown Waistcoat (worn)
- Bright Yellow Tunic (worn)
- A Wealth of Burlap Ribbons
- An Obsolete Class: Trustworthy Individual
- The Flip Side: the Denouement
- The Doom Guard: The Inquisition Moves On
- Tower of the Mind: An Interruption
- The Voracious Dark: Backed Away
- The Winding Path of Inspiration: Future Hopes