quest/src/epistolary/00036.md

title	created	updated	public	syndicated
00036	Fri, 11 Nov 2022 08:02:38 -0700	Fri, 11 Nov 2022 08:02:44 -0700	yes	yes

00036

Prelude:

The gods are missing now. But before they went into hiding, the Trine walked the earth and actively participated in the affairs of mortals.

Sweet, tenderhearted Neddas---god of sages and starlight---fell in love with the worldkin and often gave away trivial little bits of their divinity as gifts to the people. Chief among these gifts were the divine aspects of coin, mirth, lore, craft, and tact. With these gifts, civilizations grew and flourished and accomplished great things.

Then the Artifice Wars rocked all of Basmentaria and the gods vanished. And even with Neddas's gifts, civilization still struggles to reach its former heights.

I watch as the magical bolt sails away overhead meeting its target, receding back into the depths of the hull of the ship as the skeleton drags me down. The fork bomb goes off flawlessly, and the world comes to a screching halt around me, only to slowly rewind itself.

I contemplate the absolutely absurd position I've put myself into as the skeleton pulls me back down into the depths and I watch the would be theif take a direct hit again.

"Okay, THAT was a good shot." I say to myself as the scene repeats again. I could probably watch that a few times. But after about the hundredth time the feat seems a little less epic. And the skeleton a lot less frightful and a lot more dull.

Sigh

Kevin always said this would happen. "Corraidhin, you can't play with dangerous scripts like that, you'll crash your systems". Right you were Kevin, right you were. Corraidhin casts his eyes around wistfully. I guess I got that boat I always wanted? And it's filled with treasure. That's a positive. Oh and um I'm not alone, yeah, that's right. You're stuck here too Mr. Skelly. (The skeleton does not reply). Oh come on now, don't be rude. (still no reply). sigh right, sorta dead, I shouldn't expext more than a loving embrace from you as you try and invite me to look at your treasure right?

After about the thousandth time the Sysorcerer was still in a rut.

I'm stuck insid the crash, not from without. It seems this moment is just going to idle on perpetually. (he rummages in his pockets), okay I guess I still have the Ginnarak crystal, and stabby. Those seem safe enough here with me.

So long as I don't go crazy I guess there's hope. If not, what a damn foolish way to die.

MEANWHILE

An automated alert system triggers as the Sysorceror blips out of existence. And then on, and then off, and then on, and then off.

(Problem: Corraidhin: Entity not found)
Problem started at 19:37 on 2281.67.43
Porblem Name: Deadman's Trigger: Entity not found
Host: Corraidhin
Severity: Critical
Operation Data: (corrupted)
Problem ID: 92746027498

(Problem: Corraidhin: Entity not found)
Resolved in 1d 0h 0m 0s: Entity not found
Problem Name: Deadman's Trigger: Entity not found
Problem Duration: 1d 0h 0m 0s
Severity: Critical
Original Problem ID: 92746027498

Bloody Zabbix alerts flapping again, what the hell does it mean that Uncle Corraidhin is gone. You can't Die then Live over and over and over. Stupid broken monitoring system. Guess I had been check in on him, bloody fool constantly gets himself in trouble.

Alex grabs his shortsword and backpack and shoulders them. If anyone will know what's foolhearty issue his uncle has gotten into, it'll be Kevin as the Sysorcerors Guild.

Corraidhín settles in for what may or may not be a lifetime of stasis aboard the glitch formerly known as the SS RSS. At least Stabby will be good company if it ever wakes up from its blood coma. Hmm, actually that's debatable. Now that you think of it, you're not sure you're up for a lifetime of ranting about blood and evil.

The merbear and the tardigrade are on the ship deck, also trapped in the fork bomb. You're not sure whether you can reach them or not.

You see a flickering of motion and a flash of light outside the ship as what looks like a small school of fish moves darts in and out of view. It rushes past, doubles back, and swims past again, passing close enough that one or two get sucked into the fork bomb with you.

Impossibly, what you thought were fish were apparently small birds? Or, perhaps they were fish after all and some quality of passing through the boundary of the fork bomb simply turns them into birds? Either way, two small blue songbirds with red heads and forked tails hop around inside the ship chirping incessantly. You watch as one of them hops toward one of the sea bunny slugs and pecks at it, and then scoops it up in its beak and swallows it whole. The second does the same. They hop from side to side a bit, and then set to feasting on the slugs. A couple more birds pop through the membrane separating you from the outside world and join in.

~

Alex grabs his perfectly normal, blissfully non-sentient shortsword and heads off to the Cabinet, where the Sysorcerers Guild is. He has to detour around the Wandering Bazaar, which decided to plop down in the middle of the street, but nonetheless arrives in short order.

He finds Kevin working in the library on Kevin's Document Language.

Alex describes the errors and Kevin groans, "Ugh, I told him! I told him you can’t play with dangerous scripts like that, you'll crash your systems! We'll have to try a manual reboot. Well don't just stand there, young person. Come on, come on, try to keep up. We have work to do!"

Inky follows the bundle's path as it sinks downwards and maneuvers the bubblebee to retrieve it along with the eye.

Floating to a stop above the ledge of the trench, Inky looks at the small golden orb, then removes an empty lunch pail from their knapsack and drops the eye and several small glass marbles into it. The contents jostle around inside the pail in a cacophony of whirs, clicks and clatters. With the lid firmly closed, Inky tosses the makeshift percussive instrument into the trench for the harrowkrake so it could jam with its new tanokuma buddies.

Staring at the bundle, Inky suddenly recalls the projectile that had come from the general direction of the SS RSS shortly before the horkosgrampus got to Mr. Not-So-Lucky. Master Corraidhín! They turn back to the shipwreck, only to find the entire ship had turned eerily translucent, like a ghost ship from some tipsy sailor's tale. Inky halts a short distance from the wreckage for a closer look, though something about the apparition told them it would be a terrible idea to enter the ship's hull now. Something had happened to the ship's remains, with the sysorcerer trapped inside. Maybe it was all part of the sysorcerer's plan, that he had teleported himself back to a safe location and this was a mirage, just a remnant from the moment of teleportation.

Or at least Inky hopes so.

Inky drops the improvised goldeneye noisemaker down into the trench. The rattling as it falls is reminiscent of Gerald's laughter. One slender tendril reaches up out of the abyss and grabs the rattle, and then disappears once more into the murky dark.

You are now in possession of the second Ginnarak Crystal. A blue stone with lightly pulsing gold veins. As you gaze at it, it's almost as though you can hear peals of tinkling laughter in the back of your head.

The horkosgrampus, temporarily sated having removed the liar from this timeline, drift lazily away.

The giant, candy-seeking manta ray passes closely by and fondly caresses the bubblebee with one wing in passing. Its little manta face pulled up into a chubby smile.

The bear facsimiles join you and begin crying when they see their "brothers" trapped on the deck of the ship.

You see a small school of fish making multiple passes by the SS RSS like birds skimming insects from the sky.

WHAT DO YOU DO

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