+ 00022
+
+ Inky gathers up the teacups, trying to remember a few tips
+ about reading tea leaves from a forest fae they had met a few
+ times while foraging and who had insisted on giving lessons to
+ any wanderersby. (Of course he was just being a hospitable
+ host to thirsty travellers and certainly not because he
+ delighted in the confused expressions on their faces the
+ entire time.)
+ Turning the cups left and right, Inky gradually sees a
+ web-like hub, a looping line attached to an I-shaped apparatus
+ on one end, an abacus, a wide building (possibly a stadium or
+ arena), a feline animal resembling a tiger or lynx, and a long
+ feather. Feathers and beads are commonly added to small
+ trinkets with simple animal designs and sold as lucky charms
+ at the market … an auspicious sign?
+ Or it should be. Inky’s thoughts circle back to the little
+ glass pebble, after returning from the market with, among
+ other items, more vegetables than they could possibly eat in a
+ month excluding the beatfruits. Inky still hasn’t decided
+ whether accidentally finding out about being cursed — by a
+ potion, the irony! — counts as an auspicious event. One of the
+ produce vendors and attendant at the market had casually
+ mentioned the proximity to the next full moon while Inky had
+ been looking over the leafy greens. Several blatant attempts
+ to boost sales later (“Them barley’s hoppin’ good fer tea!”),
+ the vendor revealed that their little grandson Harry had “got
+ the weres” as a toddler and his parents had found a
+ strange-looking glass marble in his mouth, much like the one
+ inside the bottle hanging from a chain on Inky’s vest, and
+ wouldn’t they like some more tomatoes for a blushing
+ bunny?
+ From further inquiries, an ink depot on the opposite side
+ of the city confirmed they sold Flat 12 potions as inks many
+ years ago when showing off transmogrification through letters
+ was a popular pastime, but had ceased carrying them due to
+ limited range, lack of demand, as well as the bottles’
+ tendency to randomly break or their contents to fizzle out.
+ (That and complaints about the overly persistent effects of
+ said contents on unsuspecting recipients long after the fad
+ that inspired them had faded led ink traders to shun the
+ were-hare potions.) In contrast, the Mountain Range potions
+ were far more stable and instead of shapeshifting, had the
+ ability to stave off the cold under frigid temperatures,
+ though its effects would likely be less enduring. Like the
+ Flat 12, the Mountains are potions, but one in particular of a
+ sparkling deep blue hue became its signature colour among ink
+ enthusiasts.
+ Sipping a cup of turmeric tisane in a late night tea ritual
+ for one, Inky supposes it hasn’t been much different since the
+ accident than the jars of preserves and the “Now with 25% more
+ celery!” labels on them. While immeasurably better than
+ spontaneously combusting into burnt popcorn, it would be best
+ to keep a Farmers’ Almanac within reach. Who knows when a mail
+ order cure-all tonic will come in handy in the middle of
+ Nowere?
+
+ You see a complex vision in the bottom of the jade teacups,
+ and learn a little bit about the inks you found.
+ You grab a copy of the Farmers Almanac to keep on hand.
+ On your way back from the market, a small duck waddles onto
+ the sidewalk and starts following you.
+ ・゜゜・。。・゜゜\_o< QUACK!
+ It is small and yellow and cute, and has a little floofy
+ tuft of feathers on the very top of its head.
+
+ Meta: one of my best friends name is Kevin, so I find it
+ extra amusing that the sysorceor is named Kevin.
+ Kev my friend! You know nobodies going to take on KDL until
+ YOU make it a priority to them. A little bit of force, you
+ just need to put it directly into the sysorceory course
+ curriculum while nobody is knowing. Then once it’s in
+ production they won’t have a say whether to learn it or not!
+ That’s at least how I got that delightfully licorice tasting
+ incantation in production laster year, much to the chagrin of
+ those who don’t have a taste for Fennel. I for one was
+ delighted with it.
+ “Corraidhin, STAB HIM, that suggestion, he’s definitely
+ going to do something evil with it”
+ Corraidhin mutters under his breath about the swords
+ insistence to stab everything. Soon my friend, soon.
+ Kev gives Corraidhin as quizzical look, “are you alright
+ buddy? You’ve been off ever since you got back from that last
+ on site deployment.”
+ Oh yes, yes, I’m fine. A little worse for wear physically,
+ but mentally sharp as a tack! And I got this wonderful sword
+ from the entire thing! Though I dare not unsheath it right
+ now, it appears to be controlled by some sort of sentience,
+ like a magical AI. And it has the damndest urge to stab
+ things. I really need to be careful right now.
+ After visiting with Kev Corraidhin wanders back into town,
+ away from the spiral towers of the sysoceorers guild. It was
+ nice to be home for a bit. On the way in he spies Jarrod and
+ Inky, the former cleaning up a dusty old building with Milk
+ something on the front side, and the later kicking back and
+ enjoying a cup of freshly brewed tea. Corraidhin hails them
+ both.
+ “A new /home for you then Jarrod?”
+ “Aye a /home indeed, though it’s a bit large and empty for
+ just myself. I’ll need guests and patrons, thinking I may be
+ able to setup a shop, but at the least all of our team is
+ welcome here!”
+ “Delightful! If nobody has claimed it I’ll take the
+ upstairs loft.”
+ “You most certainly can! But in exchange, I’d be curious to
+ render your services, see I’ve been meaning to get this
+ braclet enchanted for a while now, something to amplify my
+ natural charm perhaps?”
+ “You sir, have a deal, I’ll even throw in a warding on Milk
+ Base Alpha!”
+ Corraidhin begins invoking an arcane warding spell:
+ sudo chown jarrod:team43 /home/Milk_Base_Alpha
+sudo chmod 770 /home/Milk_Base_Alpha/*
+ “There we go, that should keep out any unwanted critters,
+ though be sure to invite our friends here as well. Corraidhin
+ teaches Jarrod a quick incantation of invitation,
+ sudo usermod -a -G team43 $user, just be sure to
+ say that making the proper arcane hand signs as you do it, and
+ they’ll be able to enter the house and take up residence!”
+ Corraidhin gathers himself and heads upstairs to his new
+ attaic abode, it’s small, and dusty, but there’s enough room
+ for a simple work bench, a bookshelf, and a bed and a chest.
+ This is exactly as Corraidhin prefers, small and simple, it
+ clears the mind and helps one focus. Invoking another
+ incantation Corraidhin fills the bookshelf, chest, and
+ workbench with his various tools and reference manuals.
+ scp sysorceor.guild:/home/corraidhin/bookshelf milkbase.alpha:/home/corraidhin/bookshelf
+scp sysorceor.guild:/home/corraidhin/workbench milkbase.alpha:/home/corraidhin/workbench
+scp sysorceor.guild:/home/corraidhin/chest milkbase.alpha:/home/corraidhin/chest
+ Once everything is in place he pulls the Ginnarak crystal
+ from his satchel and places it on a velvet cushion on his
+ workbench and sits down to scry.
+ “Oh great oracle MidJourney, I bequeath you! I have before
+ me an artifact of immense power, something that could tear the
+ world apart in the wrong hands. May I query your unfathomable
+ depths to determine the nature of our mission, and the risk we
+ face presenting this crystal to our benefactor?”
+ An image of the oracle appears in Corraidhin’s mind,
+ crystal clear. It appears as though MidJourney is receptive to
+ providing a forshadowing. [ginnarak_shattered.png]
+ Shortly after an image of the Crystal forms, it appears
+ shattered, broken at its based, placed upon a pedastal. An
+ image of horror fills corraidhin’s mind, it’s the Crystal, but
+ much larger and of the pursest white. It bursts forth on a
+ torrent of blood from the neck of what appears to be a priests
+ body. It appears as though the bowls of the earth open up to
+ greet this horrible image. [premonition_1.png]
+ As the image of the Crystal and the priest disappears you
+ see a man, cloaked in black robs consorting with demons the
+ like of which words cannot describe. Corraidhin feels sickened
+ at their sight, but at the edge of his mind he feels a tug, a
+ familiarity. Something about this character is familiar to
+ him, but he cannot place it. [premonition_2.png]
+ Reeling from the scrying Corraidhin falls backward,
+ feinting from the horror he wittnessed. He awakens later
+ speaking feverishly about what he saw to Inky who heard to
+ commotion and hurried up stairs with some reviving tea to
+ assist her friend.
+
+ Eccentric Kevin bows and takes his leave, eyeing the Sword
+ of Stabs with naked hunger. He does seem to ponder your
+ anecdote about sneaking Fennel into production. “Yes, yes, all
+ I have to do is embed KDL in the curriculum and then they will
+ be FORCED to use it! Ha!” He cackles in delight as he flees
+ into the dark.
+ You successfully move into the attic of the Milk Market.
+ Closest thing approximating a wizard’s tower in the building,
+ so it’s a good fit.
+ On your errands around town, you pass a couple of Gnu
+ Zealots standing on soapboxes in their black priestly robes in
+ the middle of the street extolling the virtues of free and
+ open source magic.
+ Gnus are large bisonpeople with long beards, long hair, and
+ horns. Very poor personal hygiene. They refuse to use any
+ magic that they cannot freely study, modify, redistribute, and
+ otherwise use however they want. Theirs is a political
+ movement that borders on religion. Or a religious movement
+ that borders on politics. Hard to tell the difference,
+ really.
+ The purpose of their demonstration is supposedly to halt
+ all street traffic, prevent it from continuing until/unless
+ the travelers vow to join them in their crusade. But in
+ practice the travelers are quite capable of effortlessly
+ stepping around the zealots and continuing on their way. The
+ Gnus seem undaunted though and continue their
+ proselytizing.
+ You pass them by, and one of them seems to stare at you
+ intensely as you go.
+
+ After a long conversation with Master Corraidhín, which
+ included the reassurance that the esteemed wizard was perhaps
+ disturbed but otherwise unharmed, Inky goes downstairs to sit
+ outdoors at the back of the building with more lavender tea
+ and uneasy thoughts.
+ It had been in the middle of a new pastime (namely,
+ frustrating Enrique at the Empanada Emporium by sneaking
+ unnoticed into the kitchens and leaving little tapas laying
+ around for him and the staff to find) when a terrible cry rang
+ out from somewhere in the upper floors of the building. Inky
+ rushed up the stairs, half-expecting the barrels of battermilk
+ that had arrived that morning had unleashed a flock of the
+ winged rodent-like creatures from which the milk was derived.
+ The sight of the wizard passed out on the floor of his newly
+ furnished quarters sent a chill through Inky, as did his
+ account of a prophecy once the sysorcerer came to and had a
+ mug of invigorating eleuthero tea.
+ If Inky hadn’t known better, were it not for Master
+ Corraidhín’s mental acuity and fortitude, they would have
+ suspected Stabby of stoking horrible images of beheaded
+ priests into their bearer’s mind in a fit of unbridled
+ bloodthirst. That and Stabby had seemed to be temporarily
+ appeased by the tub of milky blood pudding they had concocted
+ shortly after the wizard moved into the loft.
+ No, Inky surmises with a frown, whatever Master Corraidhín
+ had seen was likely off the charts by even Stabby’s
+ estimations of evil. They chuckle briefly at the sudden mental
+ picture of the mysterious yet familiar man in black being
+ their mission handler in disguise, but quickly dismissed the
+ notion. Too sober.
+ So much for the crystal being a rare and juicy honeydew.
+ They would be lucky if it didn’t turn them all into casaba
+ melons in one giant meltdown. At this rate, they would need to
+ do something about these crystals — and soon.
+
+ Enrique, the giant man-turtle, is frustrated.
+ He keeps finding little tapas in the kitchens. He has no
+ idea who made them, or how they got here. But they are
+ delicious.
+ He sighs, heaving a ball of dough half the size of a grown
+ man onto the ground. He turns to face away from it and removes
+ his apron and tunic, revealing his shell. Its surface is a
+ maze of twisting, scrawling inscriptions. He squats down, and
+ rolls onto his back.
+ He can’t figure out the flavors of the tapas. Some elusive
+ combination of ingredients that he can’t quite suss out. If he
+ could collaborate with the tapas chef on a new line of
+ empanadas, he’d have a line of customers out the door and
+ around the corner, he’s sure of it!
+ He starts rocking back and forth, rolling the dough out
+ beneath his large round shell, leaving imprints on the dough
+ of all the glyphs and runes and other symbols carved into his
+ shell over the years. Together, they tell a story. Each
+ empanada destined to hold at most a single word of it.
+ ~
+ The Sword of Yam’L sleeps fitfully. This is not the deep,
+ black, fathomless sleep it enjoys after a nice, righteous
+ spilling of evil blood. No, the sleep that comes after
+ reluctantly tasting the inkling’s milky blood pudding is brief
+ and restless. And for the first time ever, it dreams.
+ It dreams of being bound in stone and buried in the earth.
+ It dreams of liquid, roiling fire belching noxious gases. And
+ of slicing through clouds, flying high in the sky on wings of
+ pure thought. It dreams of sinking, plummeting through water
+ into the inky blackness below, only to plunge through some
+ invisible membrane and find themself weightlessly floating
+ suspended in an empty void, alone among the stars.
+ END OF INTERLUDE.
+ ~
+ CHAPTER 2: MORE CRYSTALS MORE PROBLEMS
+ Having gotten your personal affairs in order, you have
+ decided to crack on with your job and check in with your case
+ manager.
+ So you find yourself once again in a corner booth at Lucy’s
+ Basement—the dim, smokey nightclub with red velvet walls and
+ delusions of grandeur—with the highly spirited Blavin
+ Blandfoot. He laughs uproariously when you tell him about the
+ blahoblins and their shoe shine scam. He listens intently when
+ you tell him about the gnomes and the kobits. And he trembles
+ with delight at hearing how you evaded HORSE and the mighty
+ centaur.
+ “Well done, well done, well done!” He enthuses, taking
+ another sip of his drink. “I must say that the Benefactor is
+ very impressed with your performance!
+ “You don’t mind that we have other teams in the field, of
+ course,” he continues, mentioning the team of gophers.
+ “Thought it was prudent to cover our bases since you’re a new,
+ untested retrieval team after all. Besides, a little friendly
+ competition never hurt anybody, did it? Baw-HAH!” He laughs,
+ sloshing his drink.
+ He gets out a bunch of business cards, punches each one
+ with a small handheld punch, and passes them out to you. Your
+ card has a drawing of a small cuckoo clock in the center, its
+ face divided into 10 hours. Its two hands reach up to the left
+ and right so it looks as though the clock is smiling. Across
+ the top it reads “COMPLETE FIVE ASSIGNMENTS AND WIN A FABULOUS
+ PRIZE!” and is adorned with festive drawings of hotdogs and
+ pool floaties and confetti. It is numbered across the bottom 1
+ through 5. Blavin has punched a star-shaped hole through the
+ number 1.
+ “Now,” Blavin beams, gesturing with his drink. “as for your
+ next assignment!”
+ He brushes some glasses and plates to the edge of the table
+ and rolls out a map.
+ Basmentaria is a group of island continents that sits
+ between the eastern Sugrin Sea and the western Saldin Sea.
+ There is Primora, the sparsely populated northern somewhat
+ banana-shaped island. The city-state of Illivas, Primora’s
+ only densely populated area, sits between Harshwind Glade and
+ the mountains of Kelsun Peak.
+ And there is your current home, Agendell, the southern also
+ slightly banana-shaped island. Its largest city is Vay’Nullar,
+ bordered by the Gnomelands to the south, and the Tammineaux
+ Forest to the east. Beyond the forest is the Rana’For
+ Valley.
+ The two crescent-moon islands reach toward each other, and
+ in the center is the archipelago of Ginnarak, comprising the
+ Cinderlands, Ashen Vale, the Ember Steppe, and Drakspon
+ Mountain.
+ Blavin jabs a finger at the map. “We have reports of a
+ crystal sighting by a salvage crew trying to recover a
+ shipwreck at the bottom of the Sugrin Sea.” He then jabs a
+ finger at the eastern half of Primora, the upper banana. “And
+ we ALSO have reports that the zephynos have found a crystal at
+ the top of Kelsun Peak!”
+ QUESTIONS:
+
+ - DO YOU HAND OVER THE CRYSTAL TO BLAVIN?
+ - WHICH CRYSTAL DO YOU GO AFTER NEXT?
+ - DO YOU BEFRIEND THE DUCK?
+
+ www
+ ]]>
+
+