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@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ src/epistolary/index.md
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src/epistolary/00054.md
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src/epistolary/00055.md
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src/epistolary/00056.md
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src/epistolary/00057.md
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src/bestiary/index.md
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src/bestiary/aetherwael.md
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src/bestiary/aur.md
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---
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title: 00057
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created: Mon, 16 Jan 2023 20:30:44 -0700
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updated: Fri, 20 Jan 2023 14:58:46 -0700
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public: yes
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syndicated: yes
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---
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### 00057 {#00057}
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> Alex lifts his teacup and sips the fragrantly tea, "perfumed of
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> rosehips, and cardamum? An interesting choice. I appreciate it
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> Inky, these past few days have been terribly rough, and I'm rather
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> tired of field rations." Alex takes a sip, and then continues
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> hurridly. "I've been monitoring the Bazar, we are in grave danger.
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> It started with just me, but I fear it's bled over to everyone here
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> at the Milk Market. I can't be entirely certain."
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>
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> Alex looks worriedly at Inky. "There's a lot going on here. As soon
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> as we got back from Kelsun I was sent on an assignment, normally
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> not an issue, but they wanted me to level 3 of the busiest coffee
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> shops in the bazar. I planted those bombs, alongside listening
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> devices, and then I bugged out. My team appears to have been
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> assigned equally bizarre assignments, all rather violent messy
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> things. A lot of innocent lives are on the line here."
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>
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> "We dropped off the grid, I've got an isolated listening post in
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> the sewers here, it's heavily reinforced and that's where I've been
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> hiding out, but I'm not certain it's safe. Agent 5 found a melon
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> vendor dead in the market, and this vendor was specifically seeking
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> out the Milk Market, looking for us. I believe it may be an
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> assassin, could be from HQ, could be from Blavin. It's entirely
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> opaque to me."
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>
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> "As far as I can tell, my agents are all loyal to me, there's 5 of
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> them in total, 6 if you count me. We could man the ship and get the
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> hell out of here in a few hours, and it may be our best chance. But
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> there's the iris letter we need to attend to, and I cannot for the
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> life of me find anything, not a damn trace, of Blavin. And I think
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> all of this bodes very poorly for us."
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>
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> Alex looks worriedly at Inky, and you're telling me we have a
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> ritual we have to perform, to find the iris group's meeting place..
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> I'm leery Ink, I have to be you see. But my uncle trusted you, and
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> I do as well. If you think this is our best shot, we can hole up in
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> the sewers and try to perform this dream walk of your witch
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> friend's. But if this iris business turns out to be a trap, well,
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> how well can you handle a gun?
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~
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> "Your courage and concern are admirable, Master Alex. Caution is
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> likewise advisable." Inky nods seriously.
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>
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> The next moment, they gave the sysorcerer a slightly deranged grin.
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> "I'm sure you have already seen many grave dangers. What's another
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> one for the bucket list? What's life if not violent and messy? So
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> many melons dismembered and laid waste daily—"
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>
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> As if suddenly recalling a detail, Inky pauses and blinks. "Melon
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> vendor? Oh, poor Pepo. He has been complaining about his
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> neighbour's boa constrictors for years. The serpents were drawn to
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> the rodents his fruits typically attracted, which might not have
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> been a problem were it not for them hanging out at his stall and
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> scaring off his customers. Maybe he finally took matters into his
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> own hands, with tragic results." They look at an empty mixing bowl
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> across the table glumly. "He had offered to bring over a few of the
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> new variety as soon as they arrived, as he was already delivering
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> to a household the next district over."
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>
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> They send Master Alex a sidelong glance. "Someone is after you? You
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> didn't do something horrid like help an old grandmother cross the
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> street on sockless skates, for instance?" Refilling the
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> sysorcerer's cup, Inky continues, "As for Blavin, only 3 of the
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> crystals have been recovered. Blavin knows Team 43 is his best
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> chance of obtaining the others. Until he has all the crystals, he
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> will stay his hand. If he doesn't know that, then he is hardly a
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> threat."
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>
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> Setting down the teapot, Inky shrugs. "They seem eager to get our
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> attention. I suppose I could spare them their twelve minutes of
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> fame, for the right price. Enlightenment would probably be too much
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> to ask of a nightmare. If you'd rather take your team and make a
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> run for it instead, that's fine too. If they come knocking I'll
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> just tell them you missed the hotel fondue at Kelsun Peak."
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>
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> Their gaze skips to one of the cups before they shake their head.
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> "No gun." They turn around and take down a bamboo walking stick
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> hanging from a hook on a wall next to a worn coat. Inky grasps the
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> handle and pulls. It slides out quietly to reveal a long, thin,
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> tapered surgical steel tube which, if someone were to lean in for a
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> closer inspection, is sparsely covered in tiny, needle-like
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> protrusions along the surface. On the underside, a transparent
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> sliver ran the length of the tube to end about a forefinger's
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> length from the handle. Visible through the narrow window is a
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> colourless liquid, most likely a sedative or toxin, fills the
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> reinforced steel interior.
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>
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> They smile mirthlessly at Master Alex. "I don't know that Master
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> Corraidhín trusted me, because if he did, it would have been the
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> most foolhardy thing the wise man has ever done. You would do well
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> to not make that mistake."
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~
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> "It doesn't sound like we have all too much of an option", Alex
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> says, as a little Scarab beetle in his pocket chimes, "that'll be
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> the dead man's trigger going off in my hideout."
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>
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> Alex frowns, shame to lose all of that data, those systems, that
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> hideout.. but I hope whoever broke in enjoys thermite, assuming
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> they don't asphyxiate quickly enough to miss the fun..
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>
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> Inky, you're right, life is a bit violent and messy, so lets bring
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> the violent mess to these bastards. If you've got a lead on this
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> with this dream ritual, then fuck it, lets take the risk. I won't
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> run from this fight, my uncle sure as hell wouldn't. And at worst,
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> he'd go out with a magnificient bang. Lets give it back tenfold,
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> for poor Pepo.
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>
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> Nodding his own approval Alex continues, I have another hideout in
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> the eastern quandrant, near the sysorcerer's guild. It's a little
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> risky to head out that way, but none of my Zabbix alerts indicate
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> it was compromised. It has automated IDS and IPS systems, so we
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> should be safe enough in there once we whole up. At very least
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> we'll know if someone comes for us, and we'll have a little bit of
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> time to react on it. We should bring the Toques with us, and little
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> blod clot, and the duck.
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>
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> Looking sorrowfully at Enrique, "I think it might be best if you
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> got the hell out of dodge too friend, it isn't safe, and I don't
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> want to see you become collateral here. Head down to the wharf,
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> I'll have agent 5 meet you there, he'll help you and your family
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> lay low until all of this blows over."
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~
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> At Enrique's deep frown, Inky sighs and adds, "Might as well do as
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> Master Alex says. He can spot danger twelve blocks away, and turtle
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> soup is really out of fashion these days."
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>
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> Then they excuse themselves to pack a few items, returning about
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> fifteen minutes later with a knapsack and a cross-strap carrier
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> draped in a black cloth cover. Inky says, "I hope you don't mind if
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> I bring along a guest as well."
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>
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> The cover is pulled back to expose a dome-shaped birdhouse, with
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> transparent circular rings at the top partially obscured by sliding
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> shutters of the same shape. A wooden hoop with a woven, web-like
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> pattern and adorned with a string of feathers hangs from one side.
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> On the opposite side is a double door with a miniature knob over
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> each door. Inky lightly taps on one of the doors, and at a low
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> click coming from within in response, swings the doors wide enough
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> for the kitchen lamps to illuminate the great horned owl resting on
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> a pillow inside. The bird opens one amber eye for a moment, gaze
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> sweeping idly across the occupants in the room before dozing off
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> again.
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>
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> "This is Fuko. She and her twin brother Futa have certain shared
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> connections. What one sees, the other will also know. I asked their
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> caretaker if I could borrow them for a while. Fuko will accompany
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> me for the ritual. Her brother is at another location and can send
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> a message if a need arises." Inky explains with a wry expression.
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> "Think of it as a minor indulgence of sorts. I was told their kind,
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> along with eagle owls, are very good at negotiating with those of
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> the ravens."
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>
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> They give the owl a small smile. "She may be a little
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> temperamental, but she is well-trained." Closing the birdhouse
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> doors, Inky turns back to Master Alex. "I suppose you'd rather not
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> reveal the location of your hideout to any more people than
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> necessary. Her carrier will remain covered on the way in and out."
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Gliftwirp stands under the branches of a tree, pooled in shadow, far
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from the small gathering. He has been to plenty of funerals. Often
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under these very circumstances, in fact. And he always keeps his
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distance out of respect.
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For one, he owns no clothes but his vest, sash, and trousers. And his
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bright red colors would be a sign of disrespect among the mourners.
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Secondly and most importantly, he himself is the one who put the man
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in the ground.
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Sadly, he had little choice. He had underestimated the sysorcer.
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Didn't realize he had his own agents working for him. When he
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realized that one of the agents had been in contact with the melon
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vendor, he knew that Popplewick could and would identify the
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warpwefter if pressured.
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Gliftwirp had grown to enjoy his daily chats with the melon vendor.
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Popplewick was a kind, determined man. A refugee from the
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Cinderlands, his family came to Vay'Nullar following the Artifice
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Wars when he was just a boy. He grew up poor, and often relied on the
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generosity of others. But eventually he was able to support himself
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and his small family. He was proud of the life he had built.
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So Gliftwirp took no pleasure in what came next. Late one night when
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Popplewick was on his way home from the market, the assassin slipped
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a bag over his head and dragged him into a dark alley. He cinched the
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bag tight, cutting off his air. There was a brief struggle before
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Popplewick passed out and Gliftwirp lowered him down to the ground.
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He held him there, unconscious and not breathing, until he was gone.
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In only took but a moment. And then Gliftwirp stood up and left.
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Now at the funeral, the mourners leave one by one. Until only the
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widow is left, cradling a small sleeping child to her chest. "Oh,
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Pepo," she whispers to the headstone. "What can I do now?"
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When she leaves, she does not return to the main path. She meanders
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slowly as though in a daze toward the back of the graveyard and down
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the hill. She steps into the wood. A flash of red follows her at a
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distance.
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She kneels on the banks of the forest river and sets the child down
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on wide flat rock. It is awake now and looks up at her with solemn
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eyes. "I am sorry, made-of-me," she says to the child. And that is
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all the explanation it gets.
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She stands and turns and walks away. The child watches her go.
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When she has been gone for some minutes, Gliftwirp steps out of the
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shadows and crouches down beside the child. It looks up and reaches
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for him. "Look at you," he says to the child as he scoops it up. "Who
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would throw you away? A perfectly good baby!" He stands and bounces
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the child. "A sweet little melon rind is what you are. Ha! Very well.
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Come, Rind, we have work to do."
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The assassin, child in his arms, walks back toward the city.
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~
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In the aftermath, Agent 5 is found down by the docks. They clearly
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struggled in death. The assassin blamed him for Popplewick's death
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and the widow's weakness.
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Down in the sewers, two tiny mittened hands reach up and awkwardly
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turn the doorknob to Alex's hideout. The bolt clears the latch with a
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faint click. Two tiny cloth hands struggle against the heavy iron
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door, pushing it slowly open, inch by inch. A mechanism clicks inside
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and there is a whoosh of air and then a boom as the bunker violently
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ignites. The tiny figure is incinerated, and blown back into the
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sewer tunnel.
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Gliftwirp steps forward into the light of the blaze and crouches down
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by the tiny figure. He picks it up, a tattered and burned bundle of
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cloth. "Look, Rind," he says to the small child standing at his
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elbow. "You must always acknowledge and be grateful for those who
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sacrifice for you." He starts to untie and unfold the cloth puppet as
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he speaks. It unfurls and smooths out and stitches itself back
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together under his touch. Even the burn marks fade, and soon
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Gliftwirp is once again holding his red sash.
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"Now, Rind," he says standing up and taking the child's hand,
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squinting into the fire. "Let's see what we can salvage here."
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WHAT DO YOU DO
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- The time of the ritual is at hand.
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- What final preparations do you make before entering Dreamspace?
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@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ updated: Sun, 27 Nov 2022 02:24:11 -0700
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<summary>SPOILERS!!</summary>
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**THREADS**
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- scissormen, huskies, dreamforms, gliftwirp the warpwefter
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- Lady in Red ??? Tess, Piskin, Salvia ; Beaker (and Cio) trailing the BANDits?
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- Benefactor wants Crystals to kill a god
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- Golden Iris wants Crystals to make a new god
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@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
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---
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title: sarongfu master
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created: Fri, 20 Jan 2023 14:05:43 -0700
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updated: Fri, 20 Jan 2023 14:05:43 -0700
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public: yes
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---
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### Path of the Sarong-fu Master
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- 0. **Sarong-fu** (Commit yourself to the Way of Sarong-fu): Vow to carry and use no weapons, other than your sarong or sash.
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- 1. **Light-footed** (Wear no armor and carry no shield): You are agile, nimble, and light of foot. You are exceptionally good at dodging attacks, and are skilled at sneaking.
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- 1. **Whip** (Defeat a foe with nothing but your sash): You can twist a piece of cloth into a dangerous whip that you are proficient with.
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- 1. **Entangle** (Fight dirty): You can use your sash or another cloth to trip up your foe.
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- 1. **Bag** (Mug an unsuspecting victim): Swiftly slip your sash over a foe's head and cinch it, leaving them blind, confused, and disoriented.
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- 1. **Rope** (Scale a building and climb in through a 2nd story window): Twist a cloth into a handy rope. When you're done with it, you can un-twist it back into cloth.
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- 2. **Starch** (Do not bathe or wash your sash for 90 days): You can stiffen cloth for extra protection when worn, or to create hard constructs.
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- 2. **Deflect** (Win hand-to-hand combat with your hands bound together): Grip one end of your sash in either hand. When your foe attacks, you can use your sash to deflect the blow.
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- 2. **Bind** (Win a shoe tying contest three times): Swiftly tie two objects together. Such as a person's wrists.
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- 2. **Mending**: (Wear the same garment until it falls apart): You can repair torn or ripped fabric with a touch.
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- 3. **Glide** (Survive a daring leap): You can use a large square cloth to safely parachute down from tall heights, or to glide over a long distance.
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- 3. **Sewing** (Win 3 sewing bees): You can fashion fabric into different shapes and garments and back with a touch.
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- 3. **Disarm** (Successfully deflect 20 attacks): When you **deflect** an attack, you can attempt to disarm your foe by wrapping your sash around their weapon and yanking.
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- 4. **Garrote** (Strangle a man to death): With a thin piece of cloth, you can silently strangle your foe without leaving a trace
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- 5. **Advanced Bag** (Bag 20 victims): When you **bag** somebody and cinch the bag, you can choose to cut off their air, causing them to suffocate, leading to unconsciousness or even death.
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- 5. **Knot** (Learn every knot in the Encyclopedia of Knots): You can tie a knot that cannot be untied except for another Sarong-fu Master of your level. Similarly, you can swiftly untie any knot, save for one tied by a Sarong-fu Master whose level exceeds your own.
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- 6. **Transcendent Sarong-fu** (Fashion a small cloth puppet. Keep it hidden on your person for 90 days. Speak to it every night.): Fabric obeys your spoken command.
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215
www/index.html
215
www/index.html
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@ -317,6 +317,7 @@ Master</a></li>
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<li><a href="#00054" id="toc-00054">00054</a></li>
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<li><a href="#00055" id="toc-00055">00055</a></li>
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<li><a href="#00056" id="toc-00056">00056</a></li>
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<li><a href="#00057" id="toc-00057">00057</a></li>
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</ul></li>
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<li><a href="#bestiary" id="toc-bestiary">Bestiary</a></li>
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<li><a href="#geography" id="toc-geography">Geography</a></li>
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@ -353,10 +354,10 @@ Teale</a></li>
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</ul>
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</nav>
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<h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
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<p>Total length: 74808 words / 319 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
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<p>Total length: 75661 words / 323 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
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length of this entire page, including all the extra bits and bobs. Not
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just the story.)</p>
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<p>There have been 201 messages posted over 191 days since the first
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<p>There have been 202 messages posted over 191 days since the first
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post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of 1.05.</p>
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<h2 id="about">About</h2>
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<p>This is a game that me and the kids in the basement are playing over
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@ -6625,6 +6626,216 @@ your dreamform from your waking body. Which would leave your body a
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soulless husk, and leave your consciousness adrift in the Sea of Dreams.
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But that probably won’t happen! Okay good luck, have fun!</p>
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<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
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<h3 id="00057">00057</h3>
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<blockquote>
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<p>Alex lifts his teacup and sips the fragrantly tea, “perfumed of
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rosehips, and cardamum? An interesting choice. I appreciate it Inky,
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these past few days have been terribly rough, and I’m rather tired of
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field rations.” Alex takes a sip, and then continues hurridly. “I’ve
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been monitoring the Bazar, we are in grave danger. It started with just
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me, but I fear it’s bled over to everyone here at the Milk Market. I
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can’t be entirely certain.”</p>
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<p>Alex looks worriedly at Inky. “There’s a lot going on here. As soon
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as we got back from Kelsun I was sent on an assignment, normally not an
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issue, but they wanted me to level 3 of the busiest coffee shops in the
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bazar. I planted those bombs, alongside listening devices, and then I
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bugged out. My team appears to have been assigned equally bizarre
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assignments, all rather violent messy things. A lot of innocent lives
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are on the line here.”</p>
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<p>“We dropped off the grid, I’ve got an isolated listening post in the
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sewers here, it’s heavily reinforced and that’s where I’ve been hiding
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out, but I’m not certain it’s safe. Agent 5 found a melon vendor dead in
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the market, and this vendor was specifically seeking out the Milk
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Market, looking for us. I believe it may be an assassin, could be from
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HQ, could be from Blavin. It’s entirely opaque to me.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“As far as I can tell, my agents are all loyal to me, there’s 5 of
|
||||
them in total, 6 if you count me. We could man the ship and get the hell
|
||||
out of here in a few hours, and it may be our best chance. But there’s
|
||||
the iris letter we need to attend to, and I cannot for the life of me
|
||||
find anything, not a damn trace, of Blavin. And I think all of this
|
||||
bodes very poorly for us.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Alex looks worriedly at Inky, and you’re telling me we have a ritual
|
||||
we have to perform, to find the iris group’s meeting place.. I’m leery
|
||||
Ink, I have to be you see. But my uncle trusted you, and I do as well.
|
||||
If you think this is our best shot, we can hole up in the sewers and try
|
||||
to perform this dream walk of your witch friend’s. But if this iris
|
||||
business turns out to be a trap, well, how well can you handle a
|
||||
gun?</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>~</p>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>“Your courage and concern are admirable, Master Alex. Caution is
|
||||
likewise advisable.” Inky nods seriously.</p>
|
||||
<p>The next moment, they gave the sysorcerer a slightly deranged grin.
|
||||
“I’m sure you have already seen many grave dangers. What’s another one
|
||||
for the bucket list? What’s life if not violent and messy? So many
|
||||
melons dismembered and laid waste daily—”</p>
|
||||
<p>As if suddenly recalling a detail, Inky pauses and blinks. “Melon
|
||||
vendor? Oh, poor Pepo. He has been complaining about his neighbour’s boa
|
||||
constrictors for years. The serpents were drawn to the rodents his
|
||||
fruits typically attracted, which might not have been a problem were it
|
||||
not for them hanging out at his stall and scaring off his customers.
|
||||
Maybe he finally took matters into his own hands, with tragic results.”
|
||||
They look at an empty mixing bowl across the table glumly. “He had
|
||||
offered to bring over a few of the new variety as soon as they arrived,
|
||||
as he was already delivering to a household the next district over.”</p>
|
||||
<p>They send Master Alex a sidelong glance. “Someone is after you? You
|
||||
didn’t do something horrid like help an old grandmother cross the street
|
||||
on sockless skates, for instance?” Refilling the sysorcerer’s cup, Inky
|
||||
continues, “As for Blavin, only 3 of the crystals have been recovered.
|
||||
Blavin knows Team 43 is his best chance of obtaining the others. Until
|
||||
he has all the crystals, he will stay his hand. If he doesn’t know that,
|
||||
then he is hardly a threat.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Setting down the teapot, Inky shrugs. “They seem eager to get our
|
||||
attention. I suppose I could spare them their twelve minutes of fame,
|
||||
for the right price. Enlightenment would probably be too much to ask of
|
||||
a nightmare. If you’d rather take your team and make a run for it
|
||||
instead, that’s fine too. If they come knocking I’ll just tell them you
|
||||
missed the hotel fondue at Kelsun Peak.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Their gaze skips to one of the cups before they shake their head. “No
|
||||
gun.” They turn around and take down a bamboo walking stick hanging from
|
||||
a hook on a wall next to a worn coat. Inky grasps the handle and pulls.
|
||||
It slides out quietly to reveal a long, thin, tapered surgical steel
|
||||
tube which, if someone were to lean in for a closer inspection, is
|
||||
sparsely covered in tiny, needle-like protrusions along the surface. On
|
||||
the underside, a transparent sliver ran the length of the tube to end
|
||||
about a forefinger’s length from the handle. Visible through the narrow
|
||||
window is a colourless liquid, most likely a sedative or toxin, fills
|
||||
the reinforced steel interior.</p>
|
||||
<p>They smile mirthlessly at Master Alex. “I don’t know that Master
|
||||
Corraidhín trusted me, because if he did, it would have been the most
|
||||
foolhardy thing the wise man has ever done. You would do well to not
|
||||
make that mistake.”</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>~</p>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>“It doesn’t sound like we have all too much of an option”, Alex says,
|
||||
as a little Scarab beetle in his pocket chimes, “that’ll be the dead
|
||||
man’s trigger going off in my hideout.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Alex frowns, shame to lose all of that data, those systems, that
|
||||
hideout.. but I hope whoever broke in enjoys thermite, assuming they
|
||||
don’t asphyxiate quickly enough to miss the fun..</p>
|
||||
<p>Inky, you’re right, life is a bit violent and messy, so lets bring
|
||||
the violent mess to these bastards. If you’ve got a lead on this with
|
||||
this dream ritual, then fuck it, lets take the risk. I won’t run from
|
||||
this fight, my uncle sure as hell wouldn’t. And at worst, he’d go out
|
||||
with a magnificient bang. Lets give it back tenfold, for poor Pepo.</p>
|
||||
<p>Nodding his own approval Alex continues, I have another hideout in
|
||||
the eastern quandrant, near the sysorcerer’s guild. It’s a little risky
|
||||
to head out that way, but none of my Zabbix alerts indicate it was
|
||||
compromised. It has automated IDS and IPS systems, so we should be safe
|
||||
enough in there once we whole up. At very least we’ll know if someone
|
||||
comes for us, and we’ll have a little bit of time to react on it. We
|
||||
should bring the Toques with us, and little blod clot, and the duck.</p>
|
||||
<p>Looking sorrowfully at Enrique, “I think it might be best if you got
|
||||
the hell out of dodge too friend, it isn’t safe, and I don’t want to see
|
||||
you become collateral here. Head down to the wharf, I’ll have agent 5
|
||||
meet you there, he’ll help you and your family lay low until all of this
|
||||
blows over.”</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>~</p>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>At Enrique’s deep frown, Inky sighs and adds, “Might as well do as
|
||||
Master Alex says. He can spot danger twelve blocks away, and turtle soup
|
||||
is really out of fashion these days.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Then they excuse themselves to pack a few items, returning about
|
||||
fifteen minutes later with a knapsack and a cross-strap carrier draped
|
||||
in a black cloth cover. Inky says, “I hope you don’t mind if I bring
|
||||
along a guest as well.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The cover is pulled back to expose a dome-shaped birdhouse, with
|
||||
transparent circular rings at the top partially obscured by sliding
|
||||
shutters of the same shape. A wooden hoop with a woven, web-like pattern
|
||||
and adorned with a string of feathers hangs from one side. On the
|
||||
opposite side is a double door with a miniature knob over each door.
|
||||
Inky lightly taps on one of the doors, and at a low click coming from
|
||||
within in response, swings the doors wide enough for the kitchen lamps
|
||||
to illuminate the great horned owl resting on a pillow inside. The bird
|
||||
opens one amber eye for a moment, gaze sweeping idly across the
|
||||
occupants in the room before dozing off again.</p>
|
||||
<p>“This is Fuko. She and her twin brother Futa have certain shared
|
||||
connections. What one sees, the other will also know. I asked their
|
||||
caretaker if I could borrow them for a while. Fuko will accompany me for
|
||||
the ritual. Her brother is at another location and can send a message if
|
||||
a need arises.” Inky explains with a wry expression. “Think of it as a
|
||||
minor indulgence of sorts. I was told their kind, along with eagle owls,
|
||||
are very good at negotiating with those of the ravens.”</p>
|
||||
<p>They give the owl a small smile. “She may be a little temperamental,
|
||||
but she is well-trained.” Closing the birdhouse doors, Inky turns back
|
||||
to Master Alex. “I suppose you’d rather not reveal the location of your
|
||||
hideout to any more people than necessary. Her carrier will remain
|
||||
covered on the way in and out.”</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>Gliftwirp stands under the branches of a tree, pooled in shadow, far
|
||||
from the small gathering. He has been to plenty of funerals. Often under
|
||||
these very circumstances, in fact. And he always keeps his distance out
|
||||
of respect.</p>
|
||||
<p>For one, he owns no clothes but his vest, sash, and trousers. And his
|
||||
bright red colors would be a sign of disrespect among the mourners.
|
||||
Secondly and most importantly, he himself is the one who put the man in
|
||||
the ground.</p>
|
||||
<p>Sadly, he had little choice. He had underestimated the sysorcer.
|
||||
Didn’t realize he had his own agents working for him. When he realized
|
||||
that one of the agents had been in contact with the melon vendor, he
|
||||
knew that Popplewick could and would identify the warpwefter if
|
||||
pressured.</p>
|
||||
<p>Gliftwirp had grown to enjoy his daily chats with the melon vendor.
|
||||
Popplewick was a kind, determined man. A refugee from the Cinderlands,
|
||||
his family came to Vay’Nullar following the Artifice Wars when he was
|
||||
just a boy. He grew up poor, and often relied on the generosity of
|
||||
others. But eventually he was able to support himself and his small
|
||||
family. He was proud of the life he had built.</p>
|
||||
<p>So Gliftwirp took no pleasure in what came next. Late one night when
|
||||
Popplewick was on his way home from the market, the assassin slipped a
|
||||
bag over his head and dragged him into a dark alley. He cinched the bag
|
||||
tight, cutting off his air. There was a brief struggle before Popplewick
|
||||
passed out and Gliftwirp lowered him down to the ground. He held him
|
||||
there, unconscious and not breathing, until he was gone. In only took
|
||||
but a moment. And then Gliftwirp stood up and left.</p>
|
||||
<p>Now at the funeral, the mourners leave one by one. Until only the
|
||||
widow is left, cradling a small sleeping child to her chest. “Oh, Pepo,”
|
||||
she whispers to the headstone. “What can I do now?”</p>
|
||||
<p>When she leaves, she does not return to the main path. She meanders
|
||||
slowly as though in a daze toward the back of the graveyard and down the
|
||||
hill. She steps into the wood. A flash of red follows her at a
|
||||
distance.</p>
|
||||
<p>She kneels on the banks of the forest river and sets the child down
|
||||
on wide flat rock. It is awake now and looks up at her with solemn eyes.
|
||||
“I am sorry, made-of-me,” she says to the child. And that is all the
|
||||
explanation it gets.</p>
|
||||
<p>She stands and turns and walks away. The child watches her go.</p>
|
||||
<p>When she has been gone for some minutes, Gliftwirp steps out of the
|
||||
shadows and crouches down beside the child. It looks up and reaches for
|
||||
him. “Look at you,” he says to the child as he scoops it up. “Who would
|
||||
throw you away? A perfectly good baby!” He stands and bounces the child.
|
||||
“A sweet little melon rind is what you are. Ha! Very well. Come, Rind,
|
||||
we have work to do.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The assassin, child in his arms, walks back toward the city.</p>
|
||||
<p>~</p>
|
||||
<p>In the aftermath, Agent 5 is found down by the docks. They clearly
|
||||
struggled in death. The assassin blamed him for Popplewick’s death and
|
||||
the widow’s weakness.</p>
|
||||
<p>Down in the sewers, two tiny mittened hands reach up and awkwardly
|
||||
turn the doorknob to Alex’s hideout. The bolt clears the latch with a
|
||||
faint click. Two tiny cloth hands struggle against the heavy iron door,
|
||||
pushing it slowly open, inch by inch. A mechanism clicks inside and
|
||||
there is a whoosh of air and then a boom as the bunker violently
|
||||
ignites. The tiny figure is incinerated, and blown back into the sewer
|
||||
tunnel.</p>
|
||||
<p>Gliftwirp steps forward into the light of the blaze and crouches down
|
||||
by the tiny figure. He picks it up, a tattered and burned bundle of
|
||||
cloth. “Look, Rind,” he says to the small child standing at his elbow.
|
||||
“You must always acknowledge and be grateful for those who sacrifice for
|
||||
you.” He starts to untie and unfold the cloth puppet as he speaks. It
|
||||
unfurls and smooths out and stitches itself back together under his
|
||||
touch. Even the burn marks fade, and soon Gliftwirp is once again
|
||||
holding his red sash.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Now, Rind,” he says standing up and taking the child’s hand,
|
||||
squinting into the fire. “Let’s see what we can salvage here.”</p>
|
||||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li>The time of the ritual is at hand.</li>
|
||||
<li>What final preparations do you make before entering Dreamspace?</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
<h2 id="bestiary">Bestiary</h2>
|
||||
<p>Some of the creatures who inhabit the world of Basmentaria</p>
|
||||
<dt>
|
||||
|
|
252
www/rss.xml
252
www/rss.xml
|
@ -203,6 +203,258 @@ Agent 5 found the melon vendor dead in a back alley, strangled to death, not imm
|
|||
]]>
|
||||
</description>
|
||||
</item>
|
||||
<item>
|
||||
<title>57</title>
|
||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||
<guid isPermaLink="false">57 - Mon, 16 Jan 2023 20:30:44
|
||||
-0700</guid>
|
||||
<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jan 2023 14:58:46 -0700</pubDate>
|
||||
<description>
|
||||
<![CDATA[
|
||||
<h3 id="00057">00057</h3>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>Alex lifts his teacup and sips the fragrantly tea,
|
||||
“perfumed of rosehips, and cardamum? An interesting choice. I
|
||||
appreciate it Inky, these past few days have been terribly
|
||||
rough, and I’m rather tired of field rations.” Alex takes a
|
||||
sip, and then continues hurridly. “I’ve been monitoring the
|
||||
Bazar, we are in grave danger. It started with just me, but I
|
||||
fear it’s bled over to everyone here at the Milk Market. I
|
||||
can’t be entirely certain.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Alex looks worriedly at Inky. “There’s a lot going on here.
|
||||
As soon as we got back from Kelsun I was sent on an
|
||||
assignment, normally not an issue, but they wanted me to level
|
||||
3 of the busiest coffee shops in the bazar. I planted those
|
||||
bombs, alongside listening devices, and then I bugged out. My
|
||||
team appears to have been assigned equally bizarre
|
||||
assignments, all rather violent messy things. A lot of
|
||||
innocent lives are on the line here.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“We dropped off the grid, I’ve got an isolated listening
|
||||
post in the sewers here, it’s heavily reinforced and that’s
|
||||
where I’ve been hiding out, but I’m not certain it’s safe.
|
||||
Agent 5 found a melon vendor dead in the market, and this
|
||||
vendor was specifically seeking out the Milk Market, looking
|
||||
for us. I believe it may be an assassin, could be from HQ,
|
||||
could be from Blavin. It’s entirely opaque to me.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“As far as I can tell, my agents are all loyal to me,
|
||||
there’s 5 of them in total, 6 if you count me. We could man
|
||||
the ship and get the hell out of here in a few hours, and it
|
||||
may be our best chance. But there’s the iris letter we need to
|
||||
attend to, and I cannot for the life of me find anything, not
|
||||
a damn trace, of Blavin. And I think all of this bodes very
|
||||
poorly for us.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Alex looks worriedly at Inky, and you’re telling me we have
|
||||
a ritual we have to perform, to find the iris group’s meeting
|
||||
place.. I’m leery Ink, I have to be you see. But my uncle
|
||||
trusted you, and I do as well. If you think this is our best
|
||||
shot, we can hole up in the sewers and try to perform this
|
||||
dream walk of your witch friend’s. But if this iris business
|
||||
turns out to be a trap, well, how well can you handle a
|
||||
gun?</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>~</p>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>“Your courage and concern are admirable, Master Alex.
|
||||
Caution is likewise advisable.” Inky nods seriously.</p>
|
||||
<p>The next moment, they gave the sysorcerer a slightly
|
||||
deranged grin. “I’m sure you have already seen many grave
|
||||
dangers. What’s another one for the bucket list? What’s life
|
||||
if not violent and messy? So many melons dismembered and laid
|
||||
waste daily—”</p>
|
||||
<p>As if suddenly recalling a detail, Inky pauses and blinks.
|
||||
“Melon vendor? Oh, poor Pepo. He has been complaining about
|
||||
his neighbour’s boa constrictors for years. The serpents were
|
||||
drawn to the rodents his fruits typically attracted, which
|
||||
might not have been a problem were it not for them hanging out
|
||||
at his stall and scaring off his customers. Maybe he finally
|
||||
took matters into his own hands, with tragic results.” They
|
||||
look at an empty mixing bowl across the table glumly. “He had
|
||||
offered to bring over a few of the new variety as soon as they
|
||||
arrived, as he was already delivering to a household the next
|
||||
district over.”</p>
|
||||
<p>They send Master Alex a sidelong glance. “Someone is after
|
||||
you? You didn’t do something horrid like help an old
|
||||
grandmother cross the street on sockless skates, for
|
||||
instance?” Refilling the sysorcerer’s cup, Inky continues, “As
|
||||
for Blavin, only 3 of the crystals have been recovered. Blavin
|
||||
knows Team 43 is his best chance of obtaining the others.
|
||||
Until he has all the crystals, he will stay his hand. If he
|
||||
doesn’t know that, then he is hardly a threat.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Setting down the teapot, Inky shrugs. “They seem eager to
|
||||
get our attention. I suppose I could spare them their twelve
|
||||
minutes of fame, for the right price. Enlightenment would
|
||||
probably be too much to ask of a nightmare. If you’d rather
|
||||
take your team and make a run for it instead, that’s fine too.
|
||||
If they come knocking I’ll just tell them you missed the hotel
|
||||
fondue at Kelsun Peak.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Their gaze skips to one of the cups before they shake their
|
||||
head. “No gun.” They turn around and take down a bamboo
|
||||
walking stick hanging from a hook on a wall next to a worn
|
||||
coat. Inky grasps the handle and pulls. It slides out quietly
|
||||
to reveal a long, thin, tapered surgical steel tube which, if
|
||||
someone were to lean in for a closer inspection, is sparsely
|
||||
covered in tiny, needle-like protrusions along the surface. On
|
||||
the underside, a transparent sliver ran the length of the tube
|
||||
to end about a forefinger’s length from the handle. Visible
|
||||
through the narrow window is a colourless liquid, most likely
|
||||
a sedative or toxin, fills the reinforced steel interior.</p>
|
||||
<p>They smile mirthlessly at Master Alex. “I don’t know that
|
||||
Master Corraidhín trusted me, because if he did, it would have
|
||||
been the most foolhardy thing the wise man has ever done. You
|
||||
would do well to not make that mistake.”</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>~</p>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>“It doesn’t sound like we have all too much of an option”,
|
||||
Alex says, as a little Scarab beetle in his pocket chimes,
|
||||
“that’ll be the dead man’s trigger going off in my
|
||||
hideout.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Alex frowns, shame to lose all of that data, those systems,
|
||||
that hideout.. but I hope whoever broke in enjoys thermite,
|
||||
assuming they don’t asphyxiate quickly enough to miss the
|
||||
fun..</p>
|
||||
<p>Inky, you’re right, life is a bit violent and messy, so
|
||||
lets bring the violent mess to these bastards. If you’ve got a
|
||||
lead on this with this dream ritual, then fuck it, lets take
|
||||
the risk. I won’t run from this fight, my uncle sure as hell
|
||||
wouldn’t. And at worst, he’d go out with a magnificient bang.
|
||||
Lets give it back tenfold, for poor Pepo.</p>
|
||||
<p>Nodding his own approval Alex continues, I have another
|
||||
hideout in the eastern quandrant, near the sysorcerer’s guild.
|
||||
It’s a little risky to head out that way, but none of my
|
||||
Zabbix alerts indicate it was compromised. It has automated
|
||||
IDS and IPS systems, so we should be safe enough in there once
|
||||
we whole up. At very least we’ll know if someone comes for us,
|
||||
and we’ll have a little bit of time to react on it. We should
|
||||
bring the Toques with us, and little blod clot, and the
|
||||
duck.</p>
|
||||
<p>Looking sorrowfully at Enrique, “I think it might be best
|
||||
if you got the hell out of dodge too friend, it isn’t safe,
|
||||
and I don’t want to see you become collateral here. Head down
|
||||
to the wharf, I’ll have agent 5 meet you there, he’ll help you
|
||||
and your family lay low until all of this blows over.”</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>~</p>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>At Enrique’s deep frown, Inky sighs and adds, “Might as
|
||||
well do as Master Alex says. He can spot danger twelve blocks
|
||||
away, and turtle soup is really out of fashion these
|
||||
days.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Then they excuse themselves to pack a few items, returning
|
||||
about fifteen minutes later with a knapsack and a cross-strap
|
||||
carrier draped in a black cloth cover. Inky says, “I hope you
|
||||
don’t mind if I bring along a guest as well.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The cover is pulled back to expose a dome-shaped birdhouse,
|
||||
with transparent circular rings at the top partially obscured
|
||||
by sliding shutters of the same shape. A wooden hoop with a
|
||||
woven, web-like pattern and adorned with a string of feathers
|
||||
hangs from one side. On the opposite side is a double door
|
||||
with a miniature knob over each door. Inky lightly taps on one
|
||||
of the doors, and at a low click coming from within in
|
||||
response, swings the doors wide enough for the kitchen lamps
|
||||
to illuminate the great horned owl resting on a pillow inside.
|
||||
The bird opens one amber eye for a moment, gaze sweeping idly
|
||||
across the occupants in the room before dozing off again.</p>
|
||||
<p>“This is Fuko. She and her twin brother Futa have certain
|
||||
shared connections. What one sees, the other will also know. I
|
||||
asked their caretaker if I could borrow them for a while. Fuko
|
||||
will accompany me for the ritual. Her brother is at another
|
||||
location and can send a message if a need arises.” Inky
|
||||
explains with a wry expression. “Think of it as a minor
|
||||
indulgence of sorts. I was told their kind, along with eagle
|
||||
owls, are very good at negotiating with those of the
|
||||
ravens.”</p>
|
||||
<p>They give the owl a small smile. “She may be a little
|
||||
temperamental, but she is well-trained.” Closing the birdhouse
|
||||
doors, Inky turns back to Master Alex. “I suppose you’d rather
|
||||
not reveal the location of your hideout to any more people
|
||||
than necessary. Her carrier will remain covered on the way in
|
||||
and out.”</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>Gliftwirp stands under the branches of a tree, pooled in
|
||||
shadow, far from the small gathering. He has been to plenty of
|
||||
funerals. Often under these very circumstances, in fact. And
|
||||
he always keeps his distance out of respect.</p>
|
||||
<p>For one, he owns no clothes but his vest, sash, and
|
||||
trousers. And his bright red colors would be a sign of
|
||||
disrespect among the mourners. Secondly and most importantly,
|
||||
he himself is the one who put the man in the ground.</p>
|
||||
<p>Sadly, he had little choice. He had underestimated the
|
||||
sysorcer. Didn’t realize he had his own agents working for
|
||||
him. When he realized that one of the agents had been in
|
||||
contact with the melon vendor, he knew that Popplewick could
|
||||
and would identify the warpwefter if pressured.</p>
|
||||
<p>Gliftwirp had grown to enjoy his daily chats with the melon
|
||||
vendor. Popplewick was a kind, determined man. A refugee from
|
||||
the Cinderlands, his family came to Vay’Nullar following the
|
||||
Artifice Wars when he was just a boy. He grew up poor, and
|
||||
often relied on the generosity of others. But eventually he
|
||||
was able to support himself and his small family. He was proud
|
||||
of the life he had built.</p>
|
||||
<p>So Gliftwirp took no pleasure in what came next. Late one
|
||||
night when Popplewick was on his way home from the market, the
|
||||
assassin slipped a bag over his head and dragged him into a
|
||||
dark alley. He cinched the bag tight, cutting off his air.
|
||||
There was a brief struggle before Popplewick passed out and
|
||||
Gliftwirp lowered him down to the ground. He held him there,
|
||||
unconscious and not breathing, until he was gone. In only took
|
||||
but a moment. And then Gliftwirp stood up and left.</p>
|
||||
<p>Now at the funeral, the mourners leave one by one. Until
|
||||
only the widow is left, cradling a small sleeping child to her
|
||||
chest. “Oh, Pepo,” she whispers to the headstone. “What can I
|
||||
do now?”</p>
|
||||
<p>When she leaves, she does not return to the main path. She
|
||||
meanders slowly as though in a daze toward the back of the
|
||||
graveyard and down the hill. She steps into the wood. A flash
|
||||
of red follows her at a distance.</p>
|
||||
<p>She kneels on the banks of the forest river and sets the
|
||||
child down on wide flat rock. It is awake now and looks up at
|
||||
her with solemn eyes. “I am sorry, made-of-me,” she says to
|
||||
the child. And that is all the explanation it gets.</p>
|
||||
<p>She stands and turns and walks away. The child watches her
|
||||
go.</p>
|
||||
<p>When she has been gone for some minutes, Gliftwirp steps
|
||||
out of the shadows and crouches down beside the child. It
|
||||
looks up and reaches for him. “Look at you,” he says to the
|
||||
child as he scoops it up. “Who would throw you away? A
|
||||
perfectly good baby!” He stands and bounces the child. “A
|
||||
sweet little melon rind is what you are. Ha! Very well. Come,
|
||||
Rind, we have work to do.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The assassin, child in his arms, walks back toward the
|
||||
city.</p>
|
||||
<p>~</p>
|
||||
<p>In the aftermath, Agent 5 is found down by the docks. They
|
||||
clearly struggled in death. The assassin blamed him for
|
||||
Popplewick’s death and the widow’s weakness.</p>
|
||||
<p>Down in the sewers, two tiny mittened hands reach up and
|
||||
awkwardly turn the doorknob to Alex’s hideout. The bolt clears
|
||||
the latch with a faint click. Two tiny cloth hands struggle
|
||||
against the heavy iron door, pushing it slowly open, inch by
|
||||
inch. A mechanism clicks inside and there is a whoosh of air
|
||||
and then a boom as the bunker violently ignites. The tiny
|
||||
figure is incinerated, and blown back into the sewer
|
||||
tunnel.</p>
|
||||
<p>Gliftwirp steps forward into the light of the blaze and
|
||||
crouches down by the tiny figure. He picks it up, a tattered
|
||||
and burned bundle of cloth. “Look, Rind,” he says to the small
|
||||
child standing at his elbow. “You must always acknowledge and
|
||||
be grateful for those who sacrifice for you.” He starts to
|
||||
untie and unfold the cloth puppet as he speaks. It unfurls and
|
||||
smooths out and stitches itself back together under his touch.
|
||||
Even the burn marks fade, and soon Gliftwirp is once again
|
||||
holding his red sash.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Now, Rind,” he says standing up and taking the child’s
|
||||
hand, squinting into the fire. “Let’s see what we can salvage
|
||||
here.”</p>
|
||||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li>The time of the ritual is at hand.</li>
|
||||
<li>What final preparations do you make before entering
|
||||
Dreamspace?</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
]]>
|
||||
</description>
|
||||
</item>
|
||||
<item>
|
||||
<title>54</title>
|
||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||
|
|
|
@ -317,6 +317,7 @@ Master</a></li>
|
|||
<li><a href="#00054" id="toc-00054">00054</a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#00055" id="toc-00055">00055</a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#00056" id="toc-00056">00056</a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#00057" id="toc-00057">00057</a></li>
|
||||
</ul></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#bestiary" id="toc-bestiary">Bestiary</a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#geography" id="toc-geography">Geography</a></li>
|
||||
|
@ -356,10 +357,10 @@ Teale</a></li>
|
|||
</ul>
|
||||
</nav>
|
||||
<h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
|
||||
<p>Total length: 74808 words / 319 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
|
||||
<p>Total length: 75661 words / 323 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
|
||||
length of this entire page, including all the extra bits and bobs. Not
|
||||
just the story.)</p>
|
||||
<p>There have been 201 messages posted over 191 days since the first
|
||||
<p>There have been 202 messages posted over 191 days since the first
|
||||
post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of 1.05.</p>
|
||||
<h2 id="about">About</h2>
|
||||
<p>This is a game that me and the kids in the basement are playing over
|
||||
|
@ -6628,6 +6629,216 @@ your dreamform from your waking body. Which would leave your body a
|
|||
soulless husk, and leave your consciousness adrift in the Sea of Dreams.
|
||||
But that probably won’t happen! Okay good luck, have fun!</p>
|
||||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||
<h3 id="00057">00057</h3>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>Alex lifts his teacup and sips the fragrantly tea, “perfumed of
|
||||
rosehips, and cardamum? An interesting choice. I appreciate it Inky,
|
||||
these past few days have been terribly rough, and I’m rather tired of
|
||||
field rations.” Alex takes a sip, and then continues hurridly. “I’ve
|
||||
been monitoring the Bazar, we are in grave danger. It started with just
|
||||
me, but I fear it’s bled over to everyone here at the Milk Market. I
|
||||
can’t be entirely certain.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Alex looks worriedly at Inky. “There’s a lot going on here. As soon
|
||||
as we got back from Kelsun I was sent on an assignment, normally not an
|
||||
issue, but they wanted me to level 3 of the busiest coffee shops in the
|
||||
bazar. I planted those bombs, alongside listening devices, and then I
|
||||
bugged out. My team appears to have been assigned equally bizarre
|
||||
assignments, all rather violent messy things. A lot of innocent lives
|
||||
are on the line here.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“We dropped off the grid, I’ve got an isolated listening post in the
|
||||
sewers here, it’s heavily reinforced and that’s where I’ve been hiding
|
||||
out, but I’m not certain it’s safe. Agent 5 found a melon vendor dead in
|
||||
the market, and this vendor was specifically seeking out the Milk
|
||||
Market, looking for us. I believe it may be an assassin, could be from
|
||||
HQ, could be from Blavin. It’s entirely opaque to me.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“As far as I can tell, my agents are all loyal to me, there’s 5 of
|
||||
them in total, 6 if you count me. We could man the ship and get the hell
|
||||
out of here in a few hours, and it may be our best chance. But there’s
|
||||
the iris letter we need to attend to, and I cannot for the life of me
|
||||
find anything, not a damn trace, of Blavin. And I think all of this
|
||||
bodes very poorly for us.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Alex looks worriedly at Inky, and you’re telling me we have a ritual
|
||||
we have to perform, to find the iris group’s meeting place.. I’m leery
|
||||
Ink, I have to be you see. But my uncle trusted you, and I do as well.
|
||||
If you think this is our best shot, we can hole up in the sewers and try
|
||||
to perform this dream walk of your witch friend’s. But if this iris
|
||||
business turns out to be a trap, well, how well can you handle a
|
||||
gun?</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>~</p>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>“Your courage and concern are admirable, Master Alex. Caution is
|
||||
likewise advisable.” Inky nods seriously.</p>
|
||||
<p>The next moment, they gave the sysorcerer a slightly deranged grin.
|
||||
“I’m sure you have already seen many grave dangers. What’s another one
|
||||
for the bucket list? What’s life if not violent and messy? So many
|
||||
melons dismembered and laid waste daily—”</p>
|
||||
<p>As if suddenly recalling a detail, Inky pauses and blinks. “Melon
|
||||
vendor? Oh, poor Pepo. He has been complaining about his neighbour’s boa
|
||||
constrictors for years. The serpents were drawn to the rodents his
|
||||
fruits typically attracted, which might not have been a problem were it
|
||||
not for them hanging out at his stall and scaring off his customers.
|
||||
Maybe he finally took matters into his own hands, with tragic results.”
|
||||
They look at an empty mixing bowl across the table glumly. “He had
|
||||
offered to bring over a few of the new variety as soon as they arrived,
|
||||
as he was already delivering to a household the next district over.”</p>
|
||||
<p>They send Master Alex a sidelong glance. “Someone is after you? You
|
||||
didn’t do something horrid like help an old grandmother cross the street
|
||||
on sockless skates, for instance?” Refilling the sysorcerer’s cup, Inky
|
||||
continues, “As for Blavin, only 3 of the crystals have been recovered.
|
||||
Blavin knows Team 43 is his best chance of obtaining the others. Until
|
||||
he has all the crystals, he will stay his hand. If he doesn’t know that,
|
||||
then he is hardly a threat.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Setting down the teapot, Inky shrugs. “They seem eager to get our
|
||||
attention. I suppose I could spare them their twelve minutes of fame,
|
||||
for the right price. Enlightenment would probably be too much to ask of
|
||||
a nightmare. If you’d rather take your team and make a run for it
|
||||
instead, that’s fine too. If they come knocking I’ll just tell them you
|
||||
missed the hotel fondue at Kelsun Peak.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Their gaze skips to one of the cups before they shake their head. “No
|
||||
gun.” They turn around and take down a bamboo walking stick hanging from
|
||||
a hook on a wall next to a worn coat. Inky grasps the handle and pulls.
|
||||
It slides out quietly to reveal a long, thin, tapered surgical steel
|
||||
tube which, if someone were to lean in for a closer inspection, is
|
||||
sparsely covered in tiny, needle-like protrusions along the surface. On
|
||||
the underside, a transparent sliver ran the length of the tube to end
|
||||
about a forefinger’s length from the handle. Visible through the narrow
|
||||
window is a colourless liquid, most likely a sedative or toxin, fills
|
||||
the reinforced steel interior.</p>
|
||||
<p>They smile mirthlessly at Master Alex. “I don’t know that Master
|
||||
Corraidhín trusted me, because if he did, it would have been the most
|
||||
foolhardy thing the wise man has ever done. You would do well to not
|
||||
make that mistake.”</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>~</p>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>“It doesn’t sound like we have all too much of an option”, Alex says,
|
||||
as a little Scarab beetle in his pocket chimes, “that’ll be the dead
|
||||
man’s trigger going off in my hideout.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Alex frowns, shame to lose all of that data, those systems, that
|
||||
hideout.. but I hope whoever broke in enjoys thermite, assuming they
|
||||
don’t asphyxiate quickly enough to miss the fun..</p>
|
||||
<p>Inky, you’re right, life is a bit violent and messy, so lets bring
|
||||
the violent mess to these bastards. If you’ve got a lead on this with
|
||||
this dream ritual, then fuck it, lets take the risk. I won’t run from
|
||||
this fight, my uncle sure as hell wouldn’t. And at worst, he’d go out
|
||||
with a magnificient bang. Lets give it back tenfold, for poor Pepo.</p>
|
||||
<p>Nodding his own approval Alex continues, I have another hideout in
|
||||
the eastern quandrant, near the sysorcerer’s guild. It’s a little risky
|
||||
to head out that way, but none of my Zabbix alerts indicate it was
|
||||
compromised. It has automated IDS and IPS systems, so we should be safe
|
||||
enough in there once we whole up. At very least we’ll know if someone
|
||||
comes for us, and we’ll have a little bit of time to react on it. We
|
||||
should bring the Toques with us, and little blod clot, and the duck.</p>
|
||||
<p>Looking sorrowfully at Enrique, “I think it might be best if you got
|
||||
the hell out of dodge too friend, it isn’t safe, and I don’t want to see
|
||||
you become collateral here. Head down to the wharf, I’ll have agent 5
|
||||
meet you there, he’ll help you and your family lay low until all of this
|
||||
blows over.”</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>~</p>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>At Enrique’s deep frown, Inky sighs and adds, “Might as well do as
|
||||
Master Alex says. He can spot danger twelve blocks away, and turtle soup
|
||||
is really out of fashion these days.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Then they excuse themselves to pack a few items, returning about
|
||||
fifteen minutes later with a knapsack and a cross-strap carrier draped
|
||||
in a black cloth cover. Inky says, “I hope you don’t mind if I bring
|
||||
along a guest as well.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The cover is pulled back to expose a dome-shaped birdhouse, with
|
||||
transparent circular rings at the top partially obscured by sliding
|
||||
shutters of the same shape. A wooden hoop with a woven, web-like pattern
|
||||
and adorned with a string of feathers hangs from one side. On the
|
||||
opposite side is a double door with a miniature knob over each door.
|
||||
Inky lightly taps on one of the doors, and at a low click coming from
|
||||
within in response, swings the doors wide enough for the kitchen lamps
|
||||
to illuminate the great horned owl resting on a pillow inside. The bird
|
||||
opens one amber eye for a moment, gaze sweeping idly across the
|
||||
occupants in the room before dozing off again.</p>
|
||||
<p>“This is Fuko. She and her twin brother Futa have certain shared
|
||||
connections. What one sees, the other will also know. I asked their
|
||||
caretaker if I could borrow them for a while. Fuko will accompany me for
|
||||
the ritual. Her brother is at another location and can send a message if
|
||||
a need arises.” Inky explains with a wry expression. “Think of it as a
|
||||
minor indulgence of sorts. I was told their kind, along with eagle owls,
|
||||
are very good at negotiating with those of the ravens.”</p>
|
||||
<p>They give the owl a small smile. “She may be a little temperamental,
|
||||
but she is well-trained.” Closing the birdhouse doors, Inky turns back
|
||||
to Master Alex. “I suppose you’d rather not reveal the location of your
|
||||
hideout to any more people than necessary. Her carrier will remain
|
||||
covered on the way in and out.”</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>Gliftwirp stands under the branches of a tree, pooled in shadow, far
|
||||
from the small gathering. He has been to plenty of funerals. Often under
|
||||
these very circumstances, in fact. And he always keeps his distance out
|
||||
of respect.</p>
|
||||
<p>For one, he owns no clothes but his vest, sash, and trousers. And his
|
||||
bright red colors would be a sign of disrespect among the mourners.
|
||||
Secondly and most importantly, he himself is the one who put the man in
|
||||
the ground.</p>
|
||||
<p>Sadly, he had little choice. He had underestimated the sysorcer.
|
||||
Didn’t realize he had his own agents working for him. When he realized
|
||||
that one of the agents had been in contact with the melon vendor, he
|
||||
knew that Popplewick could and would identify the warpwefter if
|
||||
pressured.</p>
|
||||
<p>Gliftwirp had grown to enjoy his daily chats with the melon vendor.
|
||||
Popplewick was a kind, determined man. A refugee from the Cinderlands,
|
||||
his family came to Vay’Nullar following the Artifice Wars when he was
|
||||
just a boy. He grew up poor, and often relied on the generosity of
|
||||
others. But eventually he was able to support himself and his small
|
||||
family. He was proud of the life he had built.</p>
|
||||
<p>So Gliftwirp took no pleasure in what came next. Late one night when
|
||||
Popplewick was on his way home from the market, the assassin slipped a
|
||||
bag over his head and dragged him into a dark alley. He cinched the bag
|
||||
tight, cutting off his air. There was a brief struggle before Popplewick
|
||||
passed out and Gliftwirp lowered him down to the ground. He held him
|
||||
there, unconscious and not breathing, until he was gone. In only took
|
||||
but a moment. And then Gliftwirp stood up and left.</p>
|
||||
<p>Now at the funeral, the mourners leave one by one. Until only the
|
||||
widow is left, cradling a small sleeping child to her chest. “Oh, Pepo,”
|
||||
she whispers to the headstone. “What can I do now?”</p>
|
||||
<p>When she leaves, she does not return to the main path. She meanders
|
||||
slowly as though in a daze toward the back of the graveyard and down the
|
||||
hill. She steps into the wood. A flash of red follows her at a
|
||||
distance.</p>
|
||||
<p>She kneels on the banks of the forest river and sets the child down
|
||||
on wide flat rock. It is awake now and looks up at her with solemn eyes.
|
||||
“I am sorry, made-of-me,” she says to the child. And that is all the
|
||||
explanation it gets.</p>
|
||||
<p>She stands and turns and walks away. The child watches her go.</p>
|
||||
<p>When she has been gone for some minutes, Gliftwirp steps out of the
|
||||
shadows and crouches down beside the child. It looks up and reaches for
|
||||
him. “Look at you,” he says to the child as he scoops it up. “Who would
|
||||
throw you away? A perfectly good baby!” He stands and bounces the child.
|
||||
“A sweet little melon rind is what you are. Ha! Very well. Come, Rind,
|
||||
we have work to do.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The assassin, child in his arms, walks back toward the city.</p>
|
||||
<p>~</p>
|
||||
<p>In the aftermath, Agent 5 is found down by the docks. They clearly
|
||||
struggled in death. The assassin blamed him for Popplewick’s death and
|
||||
the widow’s weakness.</p>
|
||||
<p>Down in the sewers, two tiny mittened hands reach up and awkwardly
|
||||
turn the doorknob to Alex’s hideout. The bolt clears the latch with a
|
||||
faint click. Two tiny cloth hands struggle against the heavy iron door,
|
||||
pushing it slowly open, inch by inch. A mechanism clicks inside and
|
||||
there is a whoosh of air and then a boom as the bunker violently
|
||||
ignites. The tiny figure is incinerated, and blown back into the sewer
|
||||
tunnel.</p>
|
||||
<p>Gliftwirp steps forward into the light of the blaze and crouches down
|
||||
by the tiny figure. He picks it up, a tattered and burned bundle of
|
||||
cloth. “Look, Rind,” he says to the small child standing at his elbow.
|
||||
“You must always acknowledge and be grateful for those who sacrifice for
|
||||
you.” He starts to untie and unfold the cloth puppet as he speaks. It
|
||||
unfurls and smooths out and stitches itself back together under his
|
||||
touch. Even the burn marks fade, and soon Gliftwirp is once again
|
||||
holding his red sash.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Now, Rind,” he says standing up and taking the child’s hand,
|
||||
squinting into the fire. “Let’s see what we can salvage here.”</p>
|
||||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li>The time of the ritual is at hand.</li>
|
||||
<li>What final preparations do you make before entering Dreamspace?</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
<h2 id="bestiary">Bestiary</h2>
|
||||
<p>Some of the creatures who inhabit the world of Basmentaria</p>
|
||||
<dt>
|
||||
|
@ -7025,6 +7236,7 @@ embers.</p>
|
|||
</summary>
|
||||
<p><strong>THREADS</strong></p>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li>scissormen, huskies, dreamforms, gliftwirp the warpwefter</li>
|
||||
<li>Lady in Red ??? Tess, Piskin, Salvia ; Beaker (and Cio) trailing the
|
||||
BANDits?</li>
|
||||
<li>Benefactor wants Crystals to kill a god</li>
|
||||
|
|
Loading…
Reference in New Issue