"No shit, you folks have very good eyes." Leif says with genuine respect. "I wish my nigh vision was as good as yours. Oh, Rose? Strong type, rich and orange flavour please. I want to taste all variants eventually, but let's start with those."
Turn around and try to see who's scratching me.
It's really a matter of practice, and honing your sense of touch, Rose comments quietly as she rifles through the supplies. Aha, here's a strong orange, and now for the-
Rose, you hear a voice rasp as you turn around, causing Rose to immediately cease all motion. The long fingernail loses contact with your shoulder for a second before it and two more gently tap on your face, scratching at both temples and your chin in a way that tickles more than a little. You squint your eyes at the dark and you see that these seem to belong to two rather long, bare arms, their owner looking you over as she clicks her teeth together.
What is the meaning of this, the healer asks rather sternly. Why is this differently-fleshed stranger here? And why is she stealing supplies on his behalf? You hear Rose shuffle a little. She wouldn't call it
stealing, it's just... treating a guest? You seemed to really want a drink, and she thought it her duty to accommodate you, and that's
perfectly all right, no? She seems to grow increasingly unsure as the healer does not reply.
[Plight of the Otherfleshed: 1]
Out with you, the healer says through her teeth as her hands retreat from your face. The supplies are for disinfection and formulation. Not inebriation. Rose will stay here. Words must be had, she says, and you see a strange glint not just where you'd expect her eyes to be, but at several points on where you surmise the rest of her occupies. You hear Rose start to quickly put the things she's hastily grabbed back into their proper places, remaining completely silent.
"What the hell was that for? I'm trying to help you!"
You know what? If he's going to be like that he can jolly well forget about getting any useful information out of me. That'll teach him. Next message?
((I'm afraid that I'll be off until Monday once again, unfortunately. Any semblance of an action plan has recently been smashed beyond all recognition so not much to put on that front, sorry.))
Mr. Daniels is strangely convinced by your refusal to play his game, and comes around in a way that you find peculiarly difficult to resist. He dares not look directly your way, and your approach causes him obvious physical discomfort. So much like ripping off a bandage, you decide to get it done quickly. You let go, and the message surges from you.
[Words of Wisdom: 2]
Your words sit on top of other words, so much information to relay, so many perspectives, so many varying signals! Like the breaking of a dam the message pours out, about as intelligible as a flood and as meaningful as a book set on fire. Mr. Daniels shrieks as he involuntarily looks at you, the rift in your face catching him as if in a spotlight, growing brighter and brighter as the signal reaches a crescendo. Your throat feels like it's full of molten gold as you scream the final manifold syllable, and a flash of light envelops the nearby area, and space caves in around you in a soundless cessation of experience.
You wake up much like you passed out, screaming and electrified with revelation. You stand with arms outstretched in a clearing. Night has fallen, your face casting a bright beam on your surroundings, which look like they were scoured by lightning, tree trunks split and wildlife laying charred and cooked on the ground. You stop screaming as you run out of breath, and the light from your face lowers as you suck in the cool night air through it, your repurposed airways humming as you try to get a sense of where you might possibly be.
Thomas thought for a moment. "Oh, the lord of the keep? He's well, just saw him yesterday, before the castle... fell over. His mother, I guess your grandmother then, was able to get out safely as well. Got her her clothes and things and she left the castle before it fell. Nice lady, really. But yes, I am going north past Elizabeth, but I can accompany you if you'd like." He sighed a bit. "I suppose I should offer to take you to Anglefork southward if you would rather and need my help.
He looked up at the calling. "Or yes, Ms. Minett! She'd take you to Anglefork if you rather. Yes, Ms. Minett! There was an earthquake. The castle fell over a bit. I believe your friend here the doctor may want an escort!
Take the doctor northward with me if she'd like. Pawn her off on Ms. Minett otherwise.
No, no. Not the lord of Anglefork. The majordomo! But wait, the lady of Anglefork, you say she escaped? The doctor looks around worriedly. That's- okay, it doesn't actually matter. Look, she says, trying to center herself in the midst of all this confusion.
[Relevant Information: 2]
Look, she says.
Look, she repeats, still not able to think of how to finish or perhaps even start off the thought. She gets lost briefly as she notices the arc in the sky flash before starting to fade. Look, it's probably important that she get to a safer place to think all of this over. And maybe find something more robust than a bedsheet to drape herself in. She lifts up her foot a little. She doesn't even have any shoes, for pity's sake. This is no way to be traveling.
She pauses. Would you happen to know where she could find any clothes, perhaps? Anglefork Town is looking a little bit... ruined from here as well, and the castle is similarly a no-go.
Daniels pauses suddenly.
"Wait, you're not trying to kill me for obliterating your face?"
What's all this about?
It's painful to try to look in Mr. Wilde's direction, and unpleasant to feel him come closer. But you are intrigued, and this momentary pause is all he needs to get close enough. You listen, and he speaks.
[Words of Wisdom: 3]
The oscillating wave of light goes mad before your eyes as he rants defiant of reality and logic, the signal overpowering your senses and threatening to squeeze your brain out of your skull by the sheer forceful drive of its information burrowing into your mind and overflowing. You flail and let your murder-thought fly to make it stop, but Mr. Wilde is impossible to hit, his silhouette indistinct, blending with the wave, as much a figment of your imagination now as anything else you think you see.
The message is hard to grasp, continuing in circles and coming from many directions, containing multitudes of threads and thoughts tied into knots beyond comprehension or unpacking as it overwhelms your interpretation. What little makes it through is admonishment -
you fool,
north,
lights,
doom. And it only grows more incoherent still, referring to concepts you have not the sensory ability to even guess at, let alone understand, layers and levels bleeding in as something not at all Wilde, but something undeniably related in some nebulous fashion, screams at you, screams at El. The message travels through infinite configurations, and for an instant it comes into focus, and three thoughts exactly resolve themselves, a mere sampling of a vast signal that washes over your mind.
El has no king. El has no secrets. El has no purpose.Mr. Wilde, glowing with pent-up energy, flashes with light, the rift on his face a perfect imitation of the wave in your sight, and from residual revelation you feel an unnameable change permeate the air as you are blinded for a few seconds.
When you can see again, Mr. Wilde is utterly gone, the only trace of his passing being a blackened scar on the ground.
"Uh huh." What, is this guy not afraid of weird magic shit? His problem, I guess.
I look back at the doctor. "Where are you trying to go? We can probably head over there after the 'light show' ends."
She doesn't know! Things have, she admits, stopped making much sense even in the nonsense kind of way they did before. She'd like to check if her father's all right, and get some clothes. Maybe shelter as well. Honestly, you look like you could use the same thing. So, she shrugs, maybe you can look together? Mr. Minstep seems quite set on going northward, but she thinks she speaks for both of you when she thinks that the north is no place for people to be around without any form of clothing or supplies. Joining the Rabbits is a doubtful proposition at the best of times - this is just asking for death by exposure or worse, capture by roving clanfolk.
On the bright side, though, the light show seems to be ending on its own, she points at the sky. At least she thinks it's ending - her astrological education, while comprehensive, sure as shit didn't cover anything like this.
Leif Erikson, Miner
- A Word: INEVITABLE
- A Word: APOCALYPSE
- Moth-robe (worn)
- Body Count: 228
- Mead of Poetry (5 shining revelations remaining)
- Enders' Friend: The Grave of Red Clouds Parting
- 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
- A Visit From The Stork: Is What You Yes
- The Voracious Dark: Two Deals Made
- The Voracious Dark: The Promised Sixth
- Moth's Flight: Not In Her Wildest Dreams
- An Ancient Sea: The Hedonist's Inspiration
- The Miracle of Life: An Honored Guest
Eileen Minett, Vinyl Collector
- Naked
- Wounds: 2
- A Word: HUNGER
- A Weapon: Explosive Cysts
- Grenade Jumping: A Solid Technique
- The Good Doctor: Fellow Naked And Confused Traveler
- Higher Tonight: There And Back Again
Jack Daniels, Karate Man
- Naked
- Red and gold vest and breeches combo
- Leather boots
- Traces of Mischief: 90% Boneless
- Wounds: 1
- 14033 gp (in sack)
- The Flip Side: Uh, Yeah
- 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
- Uncoupled: Strength
- Wooden Door (held)
- The Winding Path of Inspiration: Back To The Drawing Board
- 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 Worm
- 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: An Eager Listener
- Body Count: 3
Thomas Minstep, Insurance Agent
- Troubles In Anglefork Town: Bearer of the Sword
- A Word: ABSENCE
- A Word: GOODBYE
- A Weapon: The Sword They Fear
- Traces of Mischief: Whole-Body Radioactive Burn
- A Bowl, Black and Knobby
- Anglefork Castle: From Another Time, Another Land
- 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 Day
- The Good Doctor: An Island of Sanity
- 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
- The Box: Absolutely Delightful
- The Flip Side: One of Them
- Body Count: 2
Oscar Wilde, Chemistry Teacher
- A Word: REVELATION
- Wounds: 3
- Traces of Mischief: Glowing Facial Rift
- The Serpent's Egg: Dissemination
- Body Count: 4
- Time-ender's measure (wrapped, processing? stopping?)
- 10 m of rope
- Half a candle
- 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 Doom Guard: The Inquisition Moves On
- Tower of the Mind: Get Away
- The Winding Path of Inspiration: The Less Dangerous Friend