ꙮ Early afternoon at the Obsidian Road, by Luĉja’s reckoning. There’s still nothing remotely like a way to tell time in this space. Salme, Aurelius and the Awoken went on a jaunt back to Almachadta, last night, and in this very moment the Liminal Express curves and soars far above you, following its moonsilver rails in great swooping curves, going this way and that rather than taking anything that could be called a direct approach. But, eventually, it pulls into the station.
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← Active ScenesBlade-Bold, Battle-Born
#full cast session
#chapter 4: the beast
#saranzaya
#kurat
watches its arc, admiring how it moves through the sky, and waves to its passengers as they arrive.
waves as the train pulls into the station. “Didn’t think we’d just leave all of you to save the worlds by yourselves, didja?”
You think the train’s varicoloured wings might have been glowing even brighter, knowing that there’s an audience on the ground watching the approach.
: “It would be unusual,” Wolf remarks, drily.
climbs out and heads to the gathering area once they’ve come to a full and complete stop.
: “That’s the spirit! Just had to visit the family and get some goods to go.”
ꙮ The train’s conductor cheerfully waves the three of you off!
also waves. “We brought a lot of snacks? I’m so sorry we’re late.”
waves to the conductor appreciatively. “No apologies needed! Enough to share with the class, I trust?,” he says with a wink.
thinks that in retrospect, maybe they could’ve outfitted Aurelius’ [Pocket Dimension] with a full-sized FU, but it is what it is. “Of course! Enough to share with most of the Beast.”
ꙮ They’re all in the pocket dimension, probably, but did you know HOW many regional specialties you can pick up in the Courtyard? The answer isn’t “all of them”, because, wow, Almachadta has a lot of regional specialties, even if you JUST limit yourself to comestibles. But still, so many!
looks amused, but also–with a tinge of worry: “How is Almachadta?”
: “…Comestibles.”
ꙮ Don’t you start with me, it’s a word and you know it.
: “It’s a very peculiar word choice.”
can’t stop from barrelling into Wolf with a hug. “It’s the same. It’s … there’s been more of the Canker-Galls, but they’re holding steady. They’re strong. Izaak has a tomestone now too.”
hugs her back and…just slightly, his shoulders lower in relief. “Good. Good…I’m glad.” He certainly doesn’t look happy of the thought of more of the beasts appearing, but…he’ll take his hope where he can get it.
ꙮ Izaak’s hug was delivered appropriately, most excellent.
: “Oh. Actually no it wasn’t.” She steps back, breaking the hug, and then hugs Wolf again, this time putting all of her strength and love into it.
- Salme, The Sword-Saint invoked their 🔴burning gnosis [d10] -> 10! It ✨explodes!
- Salme, The Sword-Saint invoked their 🔴burning gnosis [d10] -> 1.
ꙮ Oh! I see. NOW Izaak’s hug was delivered appropriately.
yelps, just a little, eyes bugging out a little as his ribs creak. “Salme..?!”
releases him immediately. “Oh. I’m so sorry. I didn’t—“ she blushes. “Izaak said to hug you for him, and I was doing my best to emulate it. But, you know, I’m not ten feet tall and. I’m so sorry.” She pats his ribs apologetically.
laughs, and laughs–though he’s also groaning a little, holding his side. “Oh, you…you did it justice, trust me…”
pats again, this time with a bit of flourishing to ease the creak they definitely both hurt. “Sorry again! Forgot you were more ancient than the Palimpsest-King!”
ꙮ The DC on that was 10, by the way.
straightens up instantly, indignation–and laughter–all over his face. “Now listen here, child!”
sticks her tongue out at him, and ducks behind the nearest person larger than her, which is anyone that isn’t Archie. “Anyway, don’t we have a fight world to save?”
rolls his eyes eloquently. “Yes, yes, change the subject…” He makes a gesture with two fingers–pointing at his eyes, and then at Salme. “Your comeuppance will arrive in time, young lady.”
: “You’d think we’d be going there to feed it, with all the jars and confections…”
: “I have to admit, I’m really looking forward to seeing Beast. In large part because of the chance to find Tasna, but also, I’m just deathly curious.”
ꙮ It’s probably Luĉja, I feel like they’re the obvious person-to-hide-behind if you need to hide behind someone for several reasons.
: “Aurelius works too, usually, but Luĉja is less likely to sell you out for a bit, I think.” She ducks behind Luĉja, with that bit of advice and a quick, cheeky salute at Wolf.
: “Time for the beast-y boys to sniff their way home, since it doesn’t sound like there’s anyone coming knocking for us.”
: “Hello, Friend-Salme. Welcome back. Is this an Almachadtan custom? Normally you are in front mf me.”
: “No, that would be weird.”
ꙮ In any event: There’s not any portal static on the obsidian frame, this time - the whole thing’s glowing a surprisingly gentle red, and pulsing in time with some unknown rhythm.
: “Or it could be really easy. Which- I do approve of!”
: “I’d poke more fun if I wasn’t still putting ice on my nose every little while.”
walks up to the mirror and places a hand on it experimentally, “Anyway,” before pushing it through the portal…?
: “No, Luĉja, this is not an Almachadtan custom. I’m just being a little shit,” she says from behind them. “Though … thinking of Almachadtan customs … “ she reaches forward and grabs their … thumb, which passes for taking their hand, and sending a quick pulse of flourishing gnosis through to them. Suddenly, they too know something they didn’t before. “Not that this is relevant, really, considering where we’re going, but.”
ꙮ Not a mirror - just a freestanding obsidian frame, on the opposite side of the cobbled courtyard from where the path to the train station is. When Aurelius touches it, it springs into life - fire which does not burn spreading along the inside edge of the portal, and filling the space; a warm, dry wind which is familiar to Aurelius and Luĉja spills out, making the fire flicker.
At the sight of home, Lučja’s gears spin a bit faster
notices the sound of the whirring and smiles, approaching the portal with a mix of comfort and reverence. “We’ll find you, Tasna. Hang in there.” He pauses for a moment to think about it. “I mean, not like you’re likely in any danger, knowing you, but.”
breathes in that dry wind, nostrils flaring…a small smile tugging at one corner of his mouth, as he waits to step onto the road once more.
ꙮ You step through the fire.
ꙮ On the other side: Red stone, red sand underfoot. A sky lit with shimmering, twinkling stars, much of which is obscured, at the moment: you’re at the bottom of a fairly deep crevice, red stone rising on one side of you, an absolutely enormous, geological-scale piece of half-rusted metal on the other side, forming the other face of the entire canyon, smooth to the rock face’s irregularity.
- You hear — and your Star hears — a song, echoing from the stillness: But We Bite Back
glances up at the sky, wondering if he knows where the hell they came out.
stands, swaying, for a long moment…a smile slowly growing across his face….which widens into a fang-full grin…
’s gears turn to the beat. Part of the song they’ve been missing all along .
…and then Wolf tilts his head towards Lucja, grin fading out into confusion, eyes closing.
ꙮ You think you recognise this canyon. There’s a town with a train station not exceptionally far, it’s just getting out is going to be a hassle, probably.
: “Damn but if I don’t feel like wrestlin’ right now. If something’s gonna crest the canyon, it’s gonna catch a beatin’ to the beat, that’s just how it is!”
raises a foot high and then stomps it down and out to the side, planting himself.
: “There’s only so many deep canyons, right…? I think there should be a town… that way….?”
even found herself tapping out the rhythm, but her eyes are caught on the dark sky and the stars above.
ꙮ From where you’re standing, you can also see one very bright moon glowing in the sky, lending its light to the Beast below. There’s probably at least a few more hidden by the canyon, right?
: “I appreciate your optimism, Friend-Narrator.”
claps Aury and Luĉja on the shoulders (or at least as high-up as he can reach). “Time to show us the locals! We’ll be sure to keep our guards up.”
looks up at the moon in wonder. “It’s beautiful.”
opens his eyes, tilts his head–he’s clearly listening for something, but then shakes his head and clearly has to exert an effort to re-focus on the group. “I’m sorry, ah…where are we headed?”
: “But you don’t know what the moon … reflects? Because moons reflect light, right?” She’s also staring up at it.
squints up at the top of the canyon. Going to be a pain in the ass to climb up, and who knows where the nearest nature pathway up might be, so… hmm… is it top within portaling distance…?
ꙮ Suddenly, you hear the sound of VERY LOUD BARKING, and something pounding the ground that might be an entire herd of behemoths stampeding down the canyon, possibly, perhaps,
unsheathes his blades with a silver-flashing spin, dropping back into a ready stance. “What…?”
ꙮ (you turn around, swiftly, in order to observe, and it’s already too late…! because…!)
is mid-launch through the air, directly at Luĉja!!! ….directly… into Luĉja’s arms? Full-body tackling him the way only another Endjinn or, perhaps, a preposterously large dog-fiend, all red metal plates and ruby eyes and crystals growing out of its back ever possibly could!
: “Kurat?!”
Catches the dog-fiend and attempts to spin out of the tackle, only to collapse into a pile, attempting to hug and pet their hound at the same time.
barks joyously and frantically nuzzle-headbutts Luĉja with a noise like (gently) banging pots and pans together.
: “…Ah.”
returns the headbutt/nuzzle. “Thank you for waiting. It is good to be back.”
scampers out of a suddenly wildly-precarious pocket and jumps up Kurat in three kitten-bounds to hunker down for dear life in the crystal formation around the dog-fiend’s head and neck.
starts to surge forward, then catches himself, slowly lowering his blades. “…I take it this is not an emergency, then?”
does not seem perturbed by this. Kurat is very busy clangingly nuzzling Luĉja.
laughs a little. “You’ll have an entire menagerie at this rate.” But she has stepped far, far back out of the range of the … dog?
: “This is Časid. We rescued them. They will also be your new friend, Kurat.”
lowers his guard with a laugh. “They’re so cute! Are they friendly?”
approaches, and doesn’t really have to crouch to be within arm’s length of the two because they’re so large. “Hey there, big guy!” He’s all smiles as he holds out a hand for Kurat to sniff.
: “No emergency at all!” You can hear the smile in their voice. “This is my hound, Kurat. They are very friendly. They were at my side all while I wandered.”
follows Awoken’s lead, perhaps for the first time, and gently extends a hand towards Kurat.
snoooooofles at the Awoken’s hand, and at Archie’s, and his eyes gleam bright red, but in a friendly way, not in a ‘fiend about to use its murderous special move’ way, and it mercifully does not start headbutting and nuzzling either of them, because Kurat is a very good boy and knows that humans do not handle Enthusiastic Headbutts quite the same way Endjinn do.
sheathes his blade, letting the others have ‘first crack’ at the…dog? But he doesn’t look like he’s trying to stay out of range, either.
then noses at Luĉja again - reluctantly letting them get back up onto their feet, I guess - and barks steadfastly.
rises, still patting Kurat. “I know. I did not mean to leave.”
: “Pretty good senses if they knew to be here, or at least within sprining distance.”
does the this-way, there’s-something head-wiggle and his tail thuds against the ground hard enough to, you’re reasonably confident, shatter some more friable rocks, and also he pads over to snoofle at Wolf too, and then the others, unless they back away from their otherwise-inevitable snooflement. He’ll respect that. But once everyone’s been snoofled, THEN he does the head-wiggle again.
crouches to extend a hand, chuckling softly. “Good…dog? Good dog.”
barks (softly) (and proudly).
: “Right, you’re probably not in this specific location on your own.”
does not back away from the snooflement, and does offer her hand, but carefully, and warily. “Does Kurat mean something, Luĉja?”
lets out a breath, then starts down the canyon in the direction Kurat came from, and is angling to get back to.
: “Kurat is short for a word that means ‘Guardian, ‘ Friend-Salme.”
nods, trotting to keep up with Aurelius and the rest.
falls in behind, long legs easily eating up the distance.
ꙮ Some ways down the canyon, you notice two things.
ꙮ One of these things is a decently-deep, precisely dog-sized crater in the floor of the canyon, rather like a meteorite precisely the size and shape of a preposterously-large dog-fiend impacted the ground at an appreciable velocity from the depths of unknown space, and then promptly got up, shook the dust off, and started barrelassing down the canyon towards something he could somehow tell was approaching.
ꙮ The second thing you notice is a bright red spiral ramp being slowly painted one large, swooping brushstroke at a time into thin air, parallel to the metal face of the canyon; at intervals there’s ties fastening it to the edge of the canyon. Whoever’s painting it - in red silks almost indistinguishable from the color of the paint they’re using - is almost to the floor of the canyon. The brushstrokes get a little uneven at a certain, fairly recent point, like they suddenly started hurrying up; they’re doing a very quick-and-dirty job of the last few turns of the spiral.
: “Er. What the fuck?”
: “What, you’ve never seen a magic stair case before?”
: “(Was that you? Did you do that? Yes you did!)” He points at the crater while enthusiastically egging Kurat on, but loses track of his mind when he watches something become painted onto the world.
: “Magic, sure, but… a drawn staircase?”
Drily, flatly: “No, we have never seen a magic staircase before.”
: “Mm.”
: “You know, I’m not convinced you have any idea what’s happening either.”
: “Almost certainly Zaya.”
blinks and then renews her examination of the staircase a bit more intently.
: “Far from Queenstown, though.”
: “Whomst?”
ꙮ About then, the figure shrugs a hell-with-it shrug and jumps the last bit of the way down, leaving themself something at least mildly-convenient to paint towards, and starts running in your direction.
looks to Aurelius and Luĉja, taking their lead on what to ready himself for.
: “Sure. But we did send word we’d be back, and if ever there was a reason for her to head into the field…”
: “True. It has been quite some time since she sent you to find me.”
shifts from foot to foot, not sure if she should … get out of the way, or stay where she is. “Their friend,” she tells Wolf. “I think?”
: “(Brace for another tackle!)”
lifts both eyebrows at that–perhaps fervently hoping that’s not actually the traditional method of greeting here.
caught sight of Luĉja and the others - they’re hard to miss, but she’s been able to find Lucĵa in a crowd almost as long as she can remember, and that habit would die hard even if she hadn’t very deliberately held on to it this whole time, and if she’s out of breath when she gets to you it’s because of what must have been a solid hour of sustained gnosis-work, although she finds herself, uncharacteristically albeit briefly, at a loss for words when she finally- SEES all of you, sees Luĉja and Annarr or– her gaze fixes on Aurelius without asking her permission to– but then her eyes move past him and she takes in all of you, briefly- “Oh, stars, Kurat was right. Should have never doubted.”
- You hear — and your Star hears — a song, echoing from the stillness: Huǒyàn Yǒng Bù Xīmiè
: “Hey. We’re… back.”
: “Hey. Welcome back.”
does to give Aurelius a quick squeeze on the shoulder of quiet support then.
looks up at him, unsteadily. Softly, carefully: “…Aurelius, right? Is it– it’s good to see you. It’s nice to -meet- you.”
lets his eyebrows go up fractionally, watching intently but silently.
winces slightly. “…SQ already knew?”
: “Yeah. Had to pry it out of her with a crowbar, honestly.”
: “So much for getting one over on her.” Aurelius lets out a breath, briefly meeting Saranzaya’s eyes before looking just past her. “Anyway. Uh. Yeah. Sorry.”
laughs, very softly, because something about that immediate response– felt very familiar, to her. “Hey. I don’t know what the hot buttered fuck actually happened to Annarr, and I’d like to find out, but whatever it was, wasn’t your fault even a little bit. Alright?”
: “…Alright.”
: “Okay. Cool. You and Luce wanna introduce me to your friends?”
: “Or did the dog do that already, I guess he could have learned how to talk at this point, too.”
: “Oh. Uh. Yeah, no, not yet. That’s Wolf, Archie, Salme and Awa.”
waves when he gets to ‘Awa.’
: “Hello!”
waves when her name is called too with a bit of a shy smile.
: “He is a very clever dog.” Luĉja points each one out as Aurelius says their name.
bows, hand over fist over heart.
nods, nods, nods, and nods. And then walks over to give Luĉja a very long hug in which nobody has to see her face for a few seconds.
gives Aurelius’ hand a quick squeeze when Zaya isn’t looking.
returns the squeeze with a slight nod.
hugs Saranzaya gently, but strongly. “It is good to see you, Friend-Saranzaya. I am sorry that I was away. It was not my intent.”
has her composure back fairly swiftly, with an extra last bonus hug that she’s never quite sure if Endjinn can actually even feel or not but either way, they’re there and they’re solid and it’s for her, anyways, and they both know it, and she knows Luĉja’s good for it. “(Thank you.)” And then, loud enough for everyone: “No, you don’t get to apologise either. She gave us a mission, you were on mission. Sometimes awful shit happens, I’m just– I’m glad you’re back. Anyways, it’s–“ -she very BADLY wants to say ‘holy shit’ but diplomatic protocol forbids her to, but you can see it in her eyes- “–an honor to be able to welcome you to the Beast. My name is Saranzaya, which it feels like you know that already, which both answers some questions of mine, and makes this a lot easier. Let’s get up out of the canyon before my ramp starts to evaporate?”
: “Yeah, of course. Uh. Did someone at some point come and tell you guys they got a message from us, by the by?”
picks up Ĉasid and pockets them before Kurat inevitably jumps instead of taking the ramp.
bows to her as she gives formal welcome. “Evaporates? That sounds bad. How long do these structures tend to remain stable for?”
: “At your word!” he starts off towards the sketchy spiraly ramp. “What’s this made of, anyhow? It’s a really neat gnosis-drawing pattern!”
brings up the rear, eyes flickering all over their surroundings, drinking in the new scenery.
: “Yeah, Xi dropped by to pick up a pack of supplies and said some very weird shit about a message they got on the farcaster, which must have been you guys, right?” She starts leading all of you up the ramp, grinning at Archie. “Oh, it’ll be days before it’s actually unstable, I’m very good at what I do. I was just being dramatic.”
: “Xi… okay.”
: “Yeah, that was us.”
makes her way up the ramp, trying not to alternate staring at Zaya and staring at Aury. She’s not … doing a great job, so she starts watching the stars(!!) instead.
starts heading up without much of any concern over its structural integrity.
: “Is Xi still in Queenstown? Or have they already departed?”
keeps stealing glances at Salme and the Awoken, too. The spiral ramp is convenient for that, actually. “Oh, he dipped immediately. They moved camp again and even I don’t know where they are at the moment, he had to go run and help with that.”
: “Predictable. We may have need of finding him. I say may. It is likely a will, not a may.”
tilts his head slightly at the unexpected pronoun.
silently mouthes ‘Hey,’ ‘Hi,’ ‘Me again,’ alternating and improvising on them, whenever he catches Saranzaya catching a glance at him.
explains, for the others’ benefit: “Pack of paranoid eccentrics that live in the hills and very very occasionally swing by to be cryptic at the Queen and I. They’re lovely, you should– oh, huh. Yeah, I mean, if you were in contact with them already that stands to reason. Queen’ll know where they’re hiding, although she’s in a mood lately.”
: “Burning question I gotta ask.”
: “Don’t suppose one of them’s made of water?” Wolf says, in the tone of a quip, but without the expression of one.
: “Have y’all been losing some moons?”
stops mid-stride.
: “…or we could go with that.”
vents a burst of steam.
immediately looks away when she catches Saranzaya looking at her, and settles for looking at her feet, which are wearing her very serviceable boots, and—some people really do have impeccable timing.
frowns. “Yeah. Was gonna warn An– Aurelius and Luĉja before we crested the canyon but it sounds like all of you are a couple steps ahead of me this time.” A soft, but humorless laugh. “Yeah. We’re down to six as of this morning.”
: “…Guess it was updating in real time.”
: “Six? (The last time I checked the folio it was only five…)”
: “You guys get a delivery copy of the What The Fuck Is Happening Daily Gazette, ‘cause if you do, I’d love to give it a read when you’re done, don’t just use that for potato peels.”
laughs at that.
produces a small pamphlet, flips to the Beast entry, then hands it over to Zaya.
nods. “Yeaaaaaaaaaah, we’re cheating. But it hasn’t told us what’s been happening to them.”
looks over to them. “Uh, yeah, something like that.”
: “Aurelius’ fiend-craft has been quite useful, Friend-Saranzaya.”
: “I don’t think that one was fiend-craft, to be fair. That was some other weird loved-by-the-spirits liminal bullshit.”
nabs the pamphlet and then she is not moving for a solid several minutes, and she reads very fast, and she keeps very very softly saying “(What the fuck?)” under her breath. She was not, it turns out, actually literally factually expecting a delivery copy of the What The Fuck Is Happening Daily Gazette, and yet she got one anyway.
: “Yeah, something like that.”
: “You can still surprise us with answers!”
: “Well. Hmm.” She carefully hands the pamphlet back to Aurelius. “Queen’s gonna want to– maybe I should copy down the details and give her the copy, actually.”
: “Sure, you can hold onto it for now.”
: “Eh, we’ll have time.” She seems a LITTLE spooked by it, honestly. “Fiends are going nuts so train service is banjaxed to the stars and back so we’re gonna be stuck in Rifton for the night anyway. On the bright side: they just opened up a new momo place.”
nods. “I have a second burning question.”
: “Fire away with your burning question.”
: “What’s a momo place?”
: “Oh man.”
: “That’s a MUCH more fun answer but words will not do it justice.”
: “Luce, do they not have momos wherever your new friends are from? What a sad existence that must be.” She seems to have gotten her groove back - and you’re near the crest of the canyon.
: “We…have not had exactly a momo in our travels. I had not considered this previously. I could have attempted a burger momo….” Their words trail off as they climb the silken stair.
looks at Awoken with a smile. “Are you really going to say ‘burning question’ every time?” He turns to Zaya. “I look forward to finding out! And perhaps I can give you a little taste of my home, in return. I’m reliably informed at least some of our food will be to your liking.” He smiles, sincerely but a little impishly, thinking about how badly he burned his mouth with the pepper jelly last time.
ꙮ The sky is velvet-black, and filled with shimmering stars; you see, brightest among them, shapes which are familiar to you, constellations in their clearest manifestation (and, you see, in one of the night sky’s many houses, a yawning black, where stars might be, and are not.) And also, in the sky: six bright moons greet you in an arc across the sky.
doubletakes at Archie, and laughs in surprise. “Y’know, I didn’t even realize I was doing it? Burning, being on the Beast, yadda yadda?”
: “Aurelius has maligned the honor of my home’s bread, saying yours is better,” Wolf says, in a tone of perfect seriousness. “I expect to have to duel to avenge the insult.”
laughs with Awoken. “You could have just played it off as intentional, you know!”
: “Hope you’re ready to lose.”
breaks into a wide, fangy grin. “Why? I’ll be dueling bakers.”
half-turns her head at Wolf in something like surprise and then she -grins- a fangy grin. “You’ll have to try ours first, you might agree. There’s a bakery in Queenstown with an avenue wide enough to duel in in front of it, if need be.”
chuckles.
looks up at the sky from the top of the cliff. She’s seen the stars before—in Sanctuary, through the windows of the library, but this is the first time it’s felt real, and she’s had enough time to really notice them. She closes her eyes briefly, listening for the wind.
laughs in response, and his attention wanders, taking in the dark sky, the rich red dirt below, the gait of their new companions, on two feet and four.
catches Salme’s gaze and joins her in looking at the sky, looking for the Lantern-in-Eye.
chuckles, glances up to see what his companions are looking at…and sighs, in deep satisfaction, taking in the expanse of the stars. “Ahh…goodness. The worlds are vast and infinite…”
ꙮ And then, if you’re NOT looking skywards - the disorienting sensation, for at least some of you, of being able to see the curvature of the world you’re standing on. Rather than the comforting presence of the rest of the plane if you look up, like Almachadta, or an infinite sea stretching in every direction, there’s– a gently-curving horizon, and stars peeking nervously over its edge.
: “Oh. We really are on the outside of a sphere.” She taps her foot against the ground, like she kinda has to check.
ꙮ (And, some short distance away, nestled up into some hills dotted with mining tunnels, and with a pair of gleaming railroad tracks going off over aforementioned horizon, a decently-sized town that must be Rifton.)
: “Told ya.”
: “You didn’t say it was beautiful.”
gives Salme a curious look. “What’re you used to?”
rolls a shrug, as if that should have gone without saying.
: “Ah. Er. Um. Almachadta is.” She shakes her head. This is just another story. It’s not a test. “Wherever you are on Almachadta, if you look up you can see the other side of the world curving away from you. In the center of it there’s a light, sort of like a captive star, tethered to the land by an umbilical of flourishing gnosis. We don’t have stars, or moons, though we know the constellations from the patterns cast against the Centrelight.”
: “Aurelius calls it a donut.”
: “Aurelius, do you think it’s a donut, or a momo?”
: “Well, really more of a momo, yeah.”
nods. “And on Samudra, the sea stretches out impossibly far in all directions and the skies are always overcast. We know that the moon and sun are there, and we can tell which is in the sky when, but nobody’s actually seen them like this.”
: “For the record, I don’t know what a donut is,” she volunteers helpfully.
: “More adventures at the bakery!”
: “Oh, wow.” She slows down, rather than pausing, but connects that to the description she speed-read in the pamphlet. And she gives Aurelius a weird look, briefly. “That sounds– like it’s beautiful, too, honestly. Almachadta, Samudra. I hope I can see them both, some day.”
is already plotting a course for when people aren’t looking.
: “They have all been beautiful, in their ways. It is a great pleasure.”
: “Fortunately, I think you’re already used to a ‘train,’ so that’s why we call Beasties ‘one step ahead.’”
: “(A vertical train,)” Wolf says to himself, sotto voce, and can’t not grin.
looks at Zaya with the recognition of one curious soul to another. “I hope you can, too.” He turns to Luĉja. “I won’t say bakery adventures are the best kind, but they’re pretty high up there in my estimation.”
: “Seeing something new in the world always is. I spend most of my time in and around Queenstown, but I’ve never not appreciated the chance to explore.” And then she leads you up out of the canyon, gives the painted ramp an affectionate pat, and there are a bunch of painted way-markers twisting out of the ground like weird flowers pointing the fast way back to Rifton.
: “(…is that like an elevator, but unnecessarily hazardous?)” She sounds intrigued.
just grins and…winks? He winks. Goodness.
ꙮ Gosh!
: “Agreed, Friend-Archie. Bakery adventures however, are among the best to undertake with friends in new places.”
momentarily and abruptly stops walking in shock at the display from Wolf. He raises an eyebrow in his direction before giving him a little smirk.
pauses briefly when he noticed the way markers going all the way back to the city, but catches himself before it’s really noticeable and continues walking.
ꙮ The path to Rifton is uneventful, although Kurat starts barking antagonistically at something that didn’t even get close enough for you to see it as you’re heading down away from the canyon.
doesn’t pause in her walk at Wolf winking, but does notice it and blinks in puzzlement.
ꙮ Then, you’re at the gates - someone there waves to Zaya, and sets off a mechanism which sets off another mechanism which, in turn, powers another mechanism which slowly and methodically opens two heavy metal doors in the thick wall. Within the walls is a town that feels relatively familiar to Salme and Wolf - clearly built around the mines and the products thereof, forges and bloomeries crowned by a market district near the gates and train station, which it seems is also where the nice inns are all hiding.
quietly marvels at the sheer amount of metal, clearly craning his neck to look at the gate mechanism as they go through.
ꙮ Saranzaya’s got a favourite - it’s whichever of the inns is closest to the new momo place, let’s be upfront about this - and she leads you there and makes all the arrangements with a rather more authoritative air than she took in her conversation with the six of you; people defer to her, rather visibly, in her interactions, but she also always seems like she knows the right thing to say, has kept up a correspondence with this person or that, remembers some obscure event that happened, helped them out of a pickle, once…
ꙮ Rifton itself, for all that it reads immediately as ‘market town with a local specialty’ to an Almachadtan eye, is not nearly as colorful– it’s dusty, even the things that look like they’re kept clean are dusty - so there’s a lot of interesting texture work, rough cord in knot-patterns and textured metal and brick. So much metal, used as a relatively casual building material in a way that’s almost hard to process; colors all ones that are drawn from the ground itself, ochres and umbers and metal with all sorts of different treatments.
takes in the scenery, his field guide out and open, hands scribbling down observations as they pass through the main road.
ꙮ The Inn– it’s not the Courtyard Sinks, by a long shot, but it’s comfortable enough, and there’s rooms for each of you as want one, and a room that, without anyone really batting an eye or asking questions, is offered to Salme that is the sort of room that could comfortably hold three people who’d only need one bed.
looks decidedly amused at Salme’s room. “(She’s very perceptive,)” he whispers to Salme, with a smirk.
crosses his arms and nods in assent. These people really know their stuff!
: “Alright. You six get settled in; there’s someone I have to go and see while I’m in town, if that’s all right? And then either tonight, or before the train to Queenstown takes off tomorrow, I’ll get to introduce four of you to momos. Does that sound alright?”
nods. “Just make sure you say hello to Ĉasid before you go, Friend-Saranzaya.” They take the coeurl out of their pocket and give him a few treats.
: “Sounds great! I feel like there’s a clothier or two I have to visit before going much further.”
: “Yeah that… that works.” Aurelius pauses for a moment, before pulling another tomestone out of whereever, and then hands it to Saranzaya.
nods enthusiastically, eager to get a full night’s sleep. “More than alright, in my book.”
: “A deeply agreeable plan.” He bows. “The hospitality is most appreciated. I will not be required to duel the innkeep for our honor.” He says it with a straight face, but his eyes are twinkling.
seems a little baffled by the room and the … everything, but nods.
audibly, but controlledly, yelps and – “Oh, my stars. What in the – is that a baby coeurl? Luce, what in the world are you– oh goodness it’s cute. Your name is Ĉasid? Oh, you’re -fierce-, aren’t you–“ –and then she’s fully just Cat Talking at them, hope you didn’t have anything important you needed addressed for the next moment or two– but she pulls herself away enough to take the tomestone, curiously, squinting at it. “…what’s this, then?”
nods along. “Yes. He is fierce. And skilled. He will make a fine fiend-hunter one day.”
: “He’ll be spoiled rotten, is what he’ll be,” Wolf mutters, chuckling.
: “Upgrade to the farcaster.”
looks at Aurelius, and shifts from foot to foot like she’s going to say something, but doesn’t.
: “He’s bagged prey about this high before–“ He holds a flattened palm up to the top of his head height. “– won’t be long now before… y’know…” He raises his hand higher up to try to get to Lucja-size.
: “Do not listen to the Wolf, brave Ĉasid. He knows not your skill.”
: “Oh, V’s gonna shit herself a hill of bricks when she sees this. Do I get to keep this?” She sounds delighted at the prospect.
: “Yeah, it’s all yours.”
: “Fuck yeah. Thanks, Rel.” Does she seem smug about having obviously been the first person on the Beast to get this obvious technological marvel? Maybe a little bit, yes.
smiles a little.
: “I’m not sure why he would need to hunt when he’s got a nine-foot soft-hearted iron man wrapped around his claws,” Wolf says, mostly to himself.
: “I’m sure you’ll get some experience before long. If the fiends are as bold as they were ere my departure…I’m sure we’ll run into some before long. You might even enjoy it more than Kurat does.”
: “Yeah, you really have to watch out for the adorable fiends and monsters. They’re the ones that’ll get you. Stars, a coeurl kitten. That’s– of course you’d come back with a coeurl kitten from another world, why am I surprised.” She laughs, and shakes her head, and grins at– at all of them, really. “Alright. Alright, if I stay here too much longer I’ll get distracted by Ĉasid again. If you need anything in the next bell I’ll– figure out how this thing works by then, it’s a long walk to the mining district.”
: “Of course.”
laughs a little. “Ĉasid is very easy to get distracted over, no disagreement there.”
ꙮ It’s very true. Even I’ve gotten distracted by the kitten before!
: “We’ll be seeing you!”
ꙮ Anyways– the rooms are pleasant, a little like the ones you first stayed at in Kesset, honestly. A good place to wait a day for the train tracks to be properly de-fiended, or whatever in the world needs to happen to them.
ꙮ One more wave, and Zaya’s on her way to the other side of the city, and the six of you are somewhere that’s– to some of you, at least– both very familiar and very strange.