⏻ ooooookay, and we’re back! it’s been, indeterminate length of time, and we rejoin ourselves in the town of Wider North Rock.
✧ Indeed. By now it’s, what, early evening?
” not quite. or, well, depends on if we’re skipping to after we get settled in or not, i think?
⏻ no real skips, hence no real narration. Gnarlwood leads the other two to a rather quaint lodge, left standing near several others just outside the main town center with indicators if they are vacant or occupied, and ushers them inside.
Winds
“Ah, are these communal? Do they require coin, or other worth rendered?” /ey look around at the place, and back at the town outside the window.
Spark
“Hm? These? No, they’re for anyone staying a night or two. Usually just us Couriers, really.” So saying, she takes off her bags and sorts through them quickly, making sure there isn’t anything in them to deliver here, besides the radio.
Winds
“Ah, I…see. It certainly feels strange, being the one receiving hospitality for once.”
Spark
“Yeah. Can’t really compare to your place, but I think that’s a good thing.” Bags are put back on, and the loose boot can be seen hanging out of one.
” she does really need to get a new one of those, huh?
⏻ yeah. surely she won’t get shenaniganed out of a chance at it, right?
Echo
You've stayed over before, Spark-run?The mild surprise in its voice is unmistakable.You didn't strike mee as the type to sleep anywhere but the road.
Spark
She glowers at it. “Hey, just because I do that usually doesn’t mean it’s preferred. ‘sides, you’d have to be daft to pass up on a chance to get rest as good as that.”
Echo
Or mechanical.
Spark
“No, I’m pretty sure even a body like that one is going to feel drowsy before long. It’d be a pretty good experience to know what sleep is like, but I don’t know if that’s a good thing to learn…”
Winds
“No chance for it, anyways.” /eir voice is soft, as if /ey might nod off right now before setting off again, but /ey do not stop staring out at the town, one hand bracing against the windowsill.
Echo
Not even after this?
Spark
”…Anyway, speaking of ‘after this’, we need to get some things done before we all turn in. I know I’ve got some ground to cover, you two coming with?”
Echo
Well, that depends. What is going on with your Postmaster?Echo has sprawled itself as across the large bed as it can, and while its head won’t really rotate toward Spark, it is still speaking as if it is looking right at her.This seems rather, urgent?
Spark
“Eugh, yeah, okay. Fine.” She plops down at the foot of the bed. “Long, long story short, she’s gone below for her, uh…” Fingers pop out of a fist, one after the other, as she tries to calculate a length of time. “I think it’s every 2 years? Could be closer 3. Might not matter that much.”
Echo
Under?Echo tilts its head, a gesture that remains very visible even in its horizontal state.You aren't the type to use metaphors often, so that must be literal, but under where?
Winds
“Under the Cairn.” Winds cuts in before Gnarlwood can reply, but it’s half-hearted.
Echo
...Come again?
Spark
Sparks shows a wry smile. “Well, a Shrine tender would know something about that, wouldn’t you? Yeah, below the Cairn, below even parts of the Mistwalk, there’s a scattered labyrinthine collection of Ruins and Shrines. We don’t know how far it goes, or if it’s really from the old world, or even how many Deities and their followers live down there, but it’s there!”
Echo
And your Postmaster, shee makes a delivery every so often to...
Spark
“Oh, that I don’t know.” She turns around to face Echo. “I’ve never gone all the way down with her. It could be one, it could be three, it could be all. No, we just get called on to bring things from different towns to her while she’s caught up in preparations. Gone for a few months, and then back before we realize.”
Echo
ii see. Will that be our next destination, then?
Spark
“What?” The smile on her face is the kind you make when someone tells a bad joke. “Hey, I signed up to take you two around the Cairn, not—”
Winds
“I’m following.” Finally, Winds also turns around from the window. “I need to go down there, as well.”
Spark
“You…” Sparks jumps to her feet. “You can’t have known her schedule.”
Winds
Winds shakes /eir head, and says simply: “It’s just lined up this way. I would have asked after this town regardless.”
Spark
“And why should… No, I know what you’re after.” She plops herself back down, cross-legged and her chin on a palm. “I can’t stop you, can I?”
Winds
“If you won’t guide me down, I’ll find a way on my own.” The look in /eir eyes, while distant, belies confidence. “What I am looking for, I can’t find above.”
Spark
“Tch.” Sparks flops backwards on the bed, next to Echo. “Fiiiiine, if that’s how you’re gonna be about this.”
⏻ i’ve been going back and forth on if this is leveraging a bond or not.
✧ I mean, I’m entirely fine with striking the sentence I have on her. It’s a minor thing, at the end of the day, and I think it’d be good to make a new one down the line.
⏻ alright then, let’s run with it!
” i’m just sitting here while my friends are beefing over the metaphysics of going downstairs. this is such a good game.
Echo
ii thought this was supposed to /explain/ things. what part of that needed to be an argument?
Spark
“Hey, not all of us have understanding bosses. It’s already been getting dicey with how things went before this whole trip started, just for the record. If I have to explain you, she might tell you to go back herself.”
Winds
/ey shrug, then turn back to the window. “I’ll make my case, if need be. Shall we look around, before the night falls?”
Echo
ii think you two both need to learn some music.
Winds
”…Remind me when we’re done, maybe.”
Spark
“Is my voice a valid instrument?”
Echo
Debatable. ii haven't heard you sing before.It gestures to its Instrument.Join mee, later?
Spark
Spark sighs. “Sure. I’ll share a couple hiking tunes I know.”
⏻ alright. pick 2 places in town. i have a cobbler, and probably just the post office since it’d be rude to leave a package out for who-knows-how-long.
✧ …Bakery. Person’s house?
” i want to see Argeum’s place anyways, and then the rooftops but later.
⏻ alright, give me one sec… cobbler post Argeum bakery?
” sounds good.
✧ Yerp.
⏻ Scene Change!
Wider North Rock is not a very large town, but it has some depth to it. Quite literally. Aside from the light mesh of support wires and plant life running through the air and over many of the roofs, the road below our feet as we walk through is also latticed, a configuration of tinted glass, all colored very slightly differently as if in an old-world Shrine. The sun falls dappled through the overhangs, and so you can make out the occasional townsfolk or possible other visitor around downstairs, and it gives the sense that there might be more levels below somehow with how the light plays tricks.
Spark-run-gnarlwood makes quick work of the admittedly few turns in the top-layer of town to a very clearly labeled cobbler, empty save for the two running it. One is evidently a Collective, scattered across the counter working on something, and the other seems to possibly be a Human, as there is nothing else that stands out about their appearance. The Collective's frame sits back on the chair behind the counter, patchwork and eyes closed as if sleeping.
⏻ A couple of the Collective turn to you as they hear footsteps approach, and they scramble back into their body. The head turns toward you, layers of brown fabric and leather coasting like hair and skin, and then glittering black-gold eyes open as a hand raises in greeting.
???
“Greetings! I see you’ve brought some friends with you for once, Gnarlwood!” The tone is familiar, and echoes from within. “Something eat your boots again?”
Echo
This happens often?
???
“Ha! You’d best believe it does!” They seem to almost slap the table while laughing, but refrain since they are still working there. “Couriers would rather lose their clothes and gear than the letters they carry, least here, so we stay rather busy keeping some spares tucked away even when our neighbors aren’t coming in for repairs.” They look back and forth between the two strangers. “You’ve never mentioned having friends. They new?”
Spark
Spark sighs, and tosses her now-spare boot up. “Not new new. This is Handspun Winds of Repose, from out in the mountains, and Wish Upon an Echo of a Star, from somewhere in the Mistwalk. You two, this is PinRhythm.” After gesturing to each in kind, she lingers on Echo for a moment. “I… You know, I’ve never actually been to that library.”
Echo
You should, some time.
Winds
“I’ve been, once. A rather nice place, even if you tire of reading more quickly.” /ey peruse the shop with a glance. “This is also a rather nice place. Do you have anything meant more for travel than what I’ve been walking in?”
Spark
“Wait what the. Excuse me? Those aren’t your walking shoes? You didn’t have walking shoes?”
Winds
/ey bend down for a moment to take a shoe off and show off how light and nearly-worn-through it is. “Been busy. And you know I make clothes, not shoes. It’s a very different process.”
PinRhythm
“That it is! It’s a pleasure to see another Tailor. We’ll have to get you fitted, but there’s enough not to do that it can be done tomorrow. I take it you’re staying the night?”
Echo
No sense traveling in the dark when you can spend that time playing music. Say, do you have anything extra heavy-duty?
PinRhythm
The head tilts. “I…suppose?” The head doesn’t turn, but the voice does. “Harrier, bring out the sampler, would you?”
⏻ The Human raises a thumb in acknowledgement, and soon turns to go fetch something from the back. Their mouth is holding on to something, which would explain the lack of verbal reply, and their gaze flits between items and people faster than a bug as they go back and return forward. Incidentally, since I didn’t have a spot to mention it. Silver hair falls over skin a similar luster and color to RinRhythm, and eyes also much the same though with undertones of a more gold-brown.
Harrier
“Here we are. Sorry, you caught me taking inventory for the… Well, Sparks knows.” A shrug tosses the worry of having to explain anything. “Busier part of the year. Be with you in a short while, she’ll have you covered.”
Winds
“Is this the…?” Winds asks the obvious question, looking at the splotches of fabric and material.
Spark
She just shakes her head.
PinRhythm
“Oh, are you not here for the festival?”
✧ Can we do a collective—. That’s not a word I can use right now! Can we do a synchronized head-tilt?
” oh, always. GM Io, we do a sync’d head tilt in response.
⏻ yippie! we love teamwork.
Spark
”…We… Okay I may have forgotten to tell them about the festival, or that it was time for the festival. It’s been a bit of a rough trip.”
PinRhythm
“Oh!” Two deliberate blinks. “Okay, well, do you want me to give the run-down now while you wait?”
Spark
“I appreciate the offer,” she answers with a wry smile. “We’ve got a few other places to get to before nightfall, so I’ll take care of it.”
PinRhythm
“Okay! I’ll let you get to that while we put these together, then?” She slides the sampler more toward them. “Just make your selections and we can measure you real quick. Any last adjustments once you’re back.”
Winds
“That sounds good.” /ey select what is essentially parts for a hiking boot, not too dissimilar to what Gnarlwood has been using.
Echo
Hmm, ii will need to figure out the rest later, but for now, anything flashy will work.It points to a couple things for reference, and pulls out a small pad to write some notes down for later.ii've been meaning to get a festive character put together, so this seems like the perfect time.
PinRhythm
“Will you need extra tailoring for that, or…?”
Echo
This one can create the outfit,it replies, pointing over at Winds./ey know the measurements already. Just need the fabric, but that can come later. There's some tasks to be done first.It pockets the notes again, and nods.See you around nightfall.
Winds
”…Yeah.” Winds nods as well, once to the part speaking, and once to the part working. “Thank you.”
PinRhythm
“It’s a pleasure! Just share some stories when we do the fitting later, ‘kay?”
⏻ she waves as you leave, and Sparks just gives her a small appreciation before leading you out to… where were we going next? Post Office? post office.
✧ Post Office, Argeum’s place, and a bakery. Though I think we can change ‘bakery’ to ‘fabric supplies place’, since there’s an additional outfit we need to work on.
” smiles so smeetly. i actually really like how Echo’s been coming out. might eventually drag it into a full campaign one day.
✧ The library hermit musician is a wonderfully quippy individual, this is true.
⏻ ok so when’s the OJE OST coming out?
” …next aeon. for immersion.
⏻ that’s what i thought. guards,
✧ Oh my fucking god not you too. Gods,
” yay, we all have the same bit now!
⏻ the post office isn’t all that fancy, and it’s to the point that you could mistake it as a normal house with a lot of windows from the outside. the few boxes on the walls and the counter give it a more avant-garde feel than the rest in the town, but there’s not really anyone inside.
” not even 8th?
⏻ not even 8th.
” :(
⏻ Sparks quickly bounds over the counter to check a rather sizeable book left behind it.
Spark
“Gimme a minute, I just need to check where their place is. I don’t remember running one to them before.”
Echo
They did strike me as someone who seems to be used to having things returned to them, at least.
Spark
”…How so? Wait, what? Is this thing not alphabetized—”
Echo
Echo leans on the other side of the counter.
The note didn't seem to be written in a panic, though perhaps in haste. And the radio itself is probably something to be concerned about leaving cats to play with for so long, but ii got the sense they would have been fine if nobody happened to pass by in time at all.
Spark
“I mean, I guess.” She flips forward and back a few pages, and then pauses, and narrows her eyes. “Give me. A moment.”
DOWSE
(3 4) + 1 = 8
⏻ hmmmmm, this is about expected. one of you gets to pick from the consequences. i’m doing “Locate something” and “the outcome is not what you hoped”.
” ok, well. harm time? that’s about the only one that makes sense.
✧ Wake is determined to harm her today. She can’t outrun it forever.
⏻ fiiiine. describe the harm in a second. first, she places the book down, and pulls out the radio from her bag to set on top of it. then, she holds her hands on either side of the radio, and the entire group hears a low humming noise for a few seconds, which gradually fills with static, and then a muffled sentence, spoken. she frowns as she hears it.
” is she doing the ‘listening very intently’ thing?
⏻ yep! i feel like i know what you’re going to say next.
” feedback time! whenever she is about to stop doing her Dowse, feedback from whatever the radio is doing is going to give her a mild but persistent dizziness. i know the reason, but i’ll let you explain it.
⏻ oh, so generous.
Spark
“Ngh!” She staggers for a moment, and grasps the counter to hold herself up. ”…That went way too far.”
Winds
”…Something tells me Argeum doesn’t have a place here. Are you alright?”
Spark
“I’ll be, fine? I’ll need to sleep this off, but we have a night anyway, right?” She gives a pained smile. “Sheesh. Yeah, that was supposed to fast-track me to their footsteps, in a way, but it went way off course.” She pauses for a second, and sighs. “I think they weren’t heading out of town.”
✧ I’m going to re-read that note we had.
⏻ okay! here, i’ll post the full text here for our readers, too.
Hello hello! If you found this, there ought to be a ruin just nearby. Or something ran off with my note. I hope it didn.t... I.m too busy to contact someone for a proper rescue attempt, but some cats got ahold of my satchel while I was poking around the ruin, and I.d appreciate having those items back! Won.t be back for about a week, if a kindhearted soul manages to get it, could you bring it home to Wider North Rock?
– Argeum, Orator of Rainfall
Winds
/ey read out the entire note, and then look up. ”…I suppose this didn’t actually say that they have a home here.”
Echo
Haste makes mistakeste. The radio's home is here, at least? But no indication of whom to return it to.
Winds
“Perhaps we could ask around some? The tailor’s, and the cobbler, and anyone else who seems to be here for this festival.”
Echo
There sure is going to be a festival. Little Spark, now seems like the best time to get those answers.
✧ Cute.
Spark
She leaves the radio on the book and shakes her head. “I’m leaving this here, with the note. We can still ask around, but it’s better to have it where someone can find it instead of trying to hand it off during a festival.” She looks over at Winds. “I know how hard that can be.”
Winds
”…Fair enough.”
Echo
And you can share your own festival tales later.It claps its hands together.Is this tradition, or devotion?
Spark
”…” She glances away. “I don’t know. I’ve never been around for it.”
Echo
Oh.
Spark
“I… I always enjoy being on the road instead of around towns. It’s more fun to gossip in one, and head to another. So when the festival comes around, it’s like… Am I even supposed to show up? And the answer’s always no. I just tell everyone I attended another town’s, or celebrated on my own.” She shakes her head again, this time to get her out of her memories. “At least I do know who’s involved. Which, uh. How much do you two know about the Cairn?”
Echo
...The towns on it? The general culture? There's a fair amount of music from here, if ii recall correctly, but that is probably not what you're asking.
Winds
“I’ve…heard a bit. From my time at the Shrine. No names, but that’s where I learned it’s mostly buried by the Mistwalk.”
Spark
“Buried… I don’t know if that’s really how I’d describe it. You know what a cairn is, as the concept, right?”
✧ Nods.
” also nods.
Spark
“Right. So, what’s underneath has sort of been, carved out in reverse? It’s not something that sunk, it’s not something that was piled over as far as anyone can tell, it’s just something that was constructed underground in the first place. Ruins, Shrines, towns from our time and those before, erosion from the seeping water, all of it just goes down.” She pauses for a while. “It’s…really dark down there. And wet. It freaks me out.”
Echo
You've been?
Spark
“Once. Last time I had to run a specific offering that wasn’t readied in time. Slightly different case than what I’m getting roped into this time, but…” She sighs. “It’s important enough I can’t ditch. If it was just becoming a Blackmark, I’d be weighing my options, but this would probably end this generation of Couriers here entirely if they don’t get their stuff.”
Winds
“Tempermental Deities?” The tone of /eir voice implies it’s something that /ey’re familiar with.
Spark
“A whole deific market, if that answers your question. We bring… I guess you’d call them curios? Oddities and rare items from outside, from above, crafted or found or stolen, and offer them as trade or donation in lieu of Deities topside. Most don’t consider it worth making the trip, but they respect that there is effort put into maintaining the foundation of this valley.” She lets out another breath, not quite a sigh. “That’s about all I have. Festivities above and below can go for a week, and obviously that’s another thing that keeps the ones like Weekend up here. Sometimes we get some stuff back, sometimes it gets turned into a piece of that descent.”
Winds
“Mm. Besides the setting, it doesn’t sound too bad, though.”
Spark
“Nothing I say is going to get you to turn back, is it?”
Winds
“You know there’s nothing that could.”
Echo
...Yeah, okay, so what is The Festival *about*, though?
Spark
“Huh? It’s… Oh, huh. I didn’t actually get to that, right. It’s like, thanks-giving for a stable foundation, safety within the valley, continued happiness, community building? It happens with some specific astronomical feature I don’t keep track of, so it’s not yearly.”
Echo
Oh! Okay, so that at least gives the basis of an outfit idea. Perfect.
⏻ echo really is just vibing most of the time, huh?
” when it isn’t directly attacking people for dancing around topics, yeah. subtlety is only good in like 2 genres. leave implications up to the narrative and talk to your goddamn crush, i swear!
✧ Oh, I thought you were going to say “mystery”, but on second thought that isn’t subtlety as much as it is misdirection and obfuscation.
” never be subtle about anything. which is basically the same thing as what ZUN said about chuunibyou in current year, so i remain entirely justified.
⏻ all game execs please close the page and delete that from your memory, we don’t want you thinking your UI needs more tooltips.
” if i start ranting about that now, we’ll be here until 2027. and we have a Cthulu to call soon.
✧ And we have more art to make.
⏻ and we have more songs to sing! speaking of,
Spark
“Oh. Yeah. You wanna just go grab the material now, then? We can do our asking around tomorrow, before we set out.”
Echo
The tailoring won't take *that* long.
Spark
“The sleeping will! Don’t forget about my headache!” She taps her head, and then grimaces quickly. “Ow.”
Echo
Well, that's true. ii suppose we'll just have to spend the evening, then. How tragic.
Winds
“Sometimes I wonder if you ever actually forget anything.” /ey shake /eir head. ”…But I know eventually, we all have to. Yeah. Let’s go get that fabric.”
⏻ the tailor’s is not too far off from the cobbler’s, though it is more down. it’s a corner off on the layer below, and in the paling afternoon sunlight filtering through the walkways above and below, it’s at first hard to make out that there is in fact fabric inside. Spark calls out as the group approaches, and in response, lights click on across the structure and illuminate the fabric in a strange sort of sterility. there’s not that much on the shelves, but there’s enough to work with.
???
“What? Someone send a—” The voice drops in urgency as soon as the one using it recognizes her, but it remains friendly. “Oh, no delivery. You spending the night here, for once?”
⏻ this is, incidentally, a Non-Condoner. their voice is at once guttural and metallic, bubbling up and echoing through the armor in a way that seems contradictory at times. their shell itself offers a vibrant gules in the otherwise sterile lighting, trimmed with or and layered with artificial flower garlands, and the fabrics on display look better for it in their company. they clink and rustle off of their chair.
Echo
You could say we convinced her to. Our first time up on these stones, so she was just telling us a bit about the usual happenings.Echo steps up in front for once, swiveling its gaze back and forth some.Could you give a bit more /local/ information for us? ii need to make a new outfit and would like to take as much as ii can from this one.
???
“An outfit?” They look at Echo for a moment, before recognizing something about what it currently is wearing. “A Fool, huh?”
Echo
It gives a dramatic, but momentary, bow.
Wish Upon an Echo of a Star. It's a pleasure. ii've been lacking in a good outfit of festive nature—this sleuthing one has actually been out of its element since we arrived, and ii just haven't bothered to go back to the usual.
???
“Ah, I see. Well.” They spread their arms and gesture to both walls. “Fishingline, and if you’d like, take anything. It’s rare for us to get visitors around this time, you know!”
Echo
Haha! ii don't know, but it's appreciated! Either there's nothing in the Mistwalk, or ii've /Mist/ every time it's come up!
Winds
“That one was terrible.”
Echo
You are the least mirthful among us today, so your opinion is discarded. ii will listen to thoughts on fabric, though, after a bit of a lead from the townsperson though.
⟡ /ey just sigh, and start browsing the fabrics.
Fishingline
“Well, uh, where to begin, huh?” They cup their chin in thought for a few moments. “Well, I guess the critical thing here they always tell us is this isn’t a celebration. It’s a festival, sure, but we ain’t really partying the way some other folk do outside the Cairn. Maybe that differs across the valley idunnoanyway, point is, it’s celebrating and thanking the ones underneath us who make sure this doesn’t all sink into the ground further than it is.” They shrug. “Probably do other stuff; it’s a wild place down there but I’ve never really been.”
Winds
Winds pauses for a second. “Would you…happen to know anything about what or who reside down there? Whichever word is more appropriate. I’m still very in the dark about what the feel of the, er, festivities? are?”
Fishingline
“Ah? All I know is there’s…” They start rattling off names and counting with their armored fingers. Or fingered armor. Or just fingers. The distinction doesn’t really map. “A A r r l a, Deity of Sinking. Ambiviol, Deity of Firelight. Trea, Deity of…was it Safe Travels?”
Spark
“Safe Returns, I thought. We don’t keep those names in the phonebook, though, so maybe that’s not it either.”
Fishingline
They make the gestural equivalent of a wry smile (or at least, that comes across in their tone). “Well, normally I wouldn’t mind, but they are quite particular about those things, no? I’ll have to ask around.”
Winds
“I can let you know, later.”
Spark
“Do not make any promises you can’t keep.”
Winds
“I know my limits.”
Spark
“Yeah? Would you care to—Fucking hell. Not the time for this.”
Winds
“Quite. What’s the celebration entail, here? We didn’t have this up in the mountains.”
Fishingline
With a small glance back and forth of ‘what was that about, then?’, they quickly render a reply. “Right. Well, there’s a few more, but I think what sets this place apart from the type you’d have for a new year or milestone or whatever is we don’t really do any lights of our own. Whenever this happens, the Underwalk glows enough to see by, and each town has a script they run about some part of the history of this place or what came before. I used to travel a bit, you’d probably get a kick of of that, Wish. Real lot of weird stories about this place.” They chuckle. “Well, you’ll at least get part of it, later.”
Echo
Hm. Fascinating. Shadowplay?
Winds
“Theatre?”
Echo
Rakugo.
Winds
“There is no way it’s Rakugo.”
Echo
Then what, Campfire?
Winds
“No I feel like it leans more… There’s gotta be a word for this. I guess Shadowplay was closer but it’s like, the—Puppet?”
Echo
Oh *that* is a good line. Tapestry!
Winds
“Okay so Heraldry, then.”
Echo
Yes, but more Illuminated.
Winds
“We might as well just say Manuscript.”
Echo
Ahh, but then we've lost the Puppetry. This is tough.
Winds
“What else is there…? ‘Quilt’?”
Echo
Weave?
Winds
/ey snap /eir fingers. “Yeah. That. Good. Grab two reds and let me find a canvas.”
Echo
As you say!
⏻ hey what the fuck just happened?
⟡ Don’t worry about it. Something between clothes and fabrics autism.
” and terminologies autism!
⏻ uh huh. cool.
Fishingline
They shuffle over to Sparks during all that, and tentatively ask “Uh, what are they doing?”
Spark
“So like, they just kind of go off like that when making an outfit. Don’t worry too much about it. It’s some sort of code I haven’t been able to decipher.”
Fishingline
“Huh.”
Spark
“You sure you don’t need payment?”
Fishingline
“Well, getting to see this is interesting enough. Plus, a lot of this goes unused. You know how subdued people are around here. We’re likely to have half of this around for 2 more generations of Postmasters if the fibers hold! Hah!”
Spark
“Yeahhhh, that’s real. Really should try dressing up more often if you have it, though. Good for the soul or whatever.”
Fishingline
“Well, maybe I can get some involved with whatever Weekend has been setting up if I really want to revitalize the stock. Or try and set something up to draw more people to visit the place. Feels like the world forgets we exist in here, sometimes.”
Spark
“I mean, that’s nice in its own way, right?”
Fishingline
“Haha! Yeah, when you go off and get lost in a walk, sure. But it feels too quiet here, past few years. And you know how faith goes when everyone’s settled down. Makes me worry for the place, a little bit.”
Spark
She shrugs. “Well, if it’s any consolation, /ey will do /eir best to ask. Much as I wish /ey damned wouldn’t.”
Fishingline
“Yeah? Well, I’ll appreciate it if it happens.”
” chat, is this Rakugo?
⏻ aren’t we all? wait, no. bad theoretical.
⟡ “Are headspace conversations Rakugo theatre?” - Discussion in the communal subconscious, locked by whoever caught the braincell after nobody was able to focus on anything else for 3 hours.
” +2.
⏻ i’m so glad most of our bits are self-terminating, or we would actually never be done with this. i mean, as it stands, we’re 6k words in and not even finished with outfits! we’re going to have to wait to cut this until after the cobblers again, or end of night even.
⟡ There are no conceivable problems in any way with how we approach this. Don’t know what you’re talking about.
” right, so are we just making that outfit on the spot? are you? how is this working.
⟡ Well, why not? Should I roll for this? I don’t know what a failure would look like, but it’d be interesting for sure.
⏻ uhhh, i mean, you do have Weave, but that says “when you weave your Motif” in it and i don’t think that’s what you’re doing here. unless you are?
” how do you put Repose into a… well, like, we are making a Quilt at this point, right?
⟡ …I can see how the Motif works with this one. One moment.
Oops!
Looks like they cut that part from the record.
I wonder why?
Oh well. It’s probably nothing important.
⏻ i’ll allow it! you may roll.
WEAVE
(4 6) + 1 = 11
⟡ I’ll be honest, I really was hoping it did fail. But I can still take on the debt. Anything besides information gathering for Fishingline here?
⏻ one additional thing, but please describe the outfit for us first.
⟡ Cracks knuckles. The reds are left mostly whole, as are some splashes of other color snipped here and there, but the beiges and yellows and grays are unraveled in time as they’re put together. /ey softly hum something as /ey work, solemn, evoking the sort of medieval or droning tones common with the feeling of olden stories, pulling fields onto the tassets. The front takes the shape of a quilted heraldry, but devoid of any color highlights at first. Most of the red is laid off the back, forming a simple cape and resting a little over the neck, and some snippets of it are then woven into the front, outlining a cairn in the center and roads traveling down and outward, and digging into the fields beneath it. The sky remains pale at the top, bleak in the mist of what surrounds the center of the valley, but the gradient of colors still manages to pull the image of a sky above that mist. The sleeves take some green highlights onto them to shape mountains out of their muted tones, and a tassel on each is styled in the manner of a small tree or bush, in green and beige. The pants are actually taken from black interwoven with grey, forming a dithered step toward the bottom, and also receive some of the red in them for flavor. Lastly, a run of white is placed to highlight every major separation, and some bits are deliberately hung off in the same way tapestries often have those extra fancy bits.
” extra fancy bits is what this entire outfit is, goddamn! Echo is going to change into it immediately.
⟡ Be our guest!
⏻ i’ll cut in with Fishingline here while it does that.
Fishingline
“Well now, that there’s some good handiwork.” If they have eyes, they’re sparkling. “You said you mean to head down below, if I’m not mistaken.”
Winds
“Ah? Yes.”
Fishingline
“Do me a favor and bring some fabric back from that market, if you can. I’d like to try making something ‘festive’ myself. Maybe that will be enough to calm my worries about faith here, down the line.”
Winds
“That I can… Well, I’ll do my best. I don’t know what there’ll be, but at worst we’ll tell you of what was worn.”
Fishingline
“That’ll do in a pinch, though in that case, I’d pull you to work with me for a week getting things sorted.” They chuckle. “It was a good showing. Not sure I’ve seen one work like you do. You’ve got some history yourself, huh?”
Winds
“That I do.” /ey fall silent while picking up scraps and making sure everything still fits fine on Echo. “I do think I forgot to name myself. Handspun Winds of Repose. I hail from up in the mountains. It’s been a very good time visiting here.”
Fishingline
“Oh, I’m glad to hear! I’d pester you some more, but do run along and rest up. That walk can’t be easy, and I’ve yet to meet any Courier who can pace to someone not used to running. If luck has it, we’ll see each other again tonight.”
Winds
“Tonight?” /ey look at Spark.
Spark
“Tonight?!” She looks distraught for a moment. “Oh. Oh my days, right, they start earlier aboveground. That’s not good for the heart. Do I have a heart? Anyway, we do need to get going, I’m sorry. I’ve got to run something to the Postmaster, you know how that is… I’m not sure if we will see you again until a bit after it’s ended, if we are going down? Oh gosh this is what I get for not checking the calendar, too…”
Echo
Well, don't stress yourself to death.Echo flourishes its new garb, and drapes the detective outfit over an arm.Nice meeting you, Fishingline.
Fishingline
“Aye. Be seeing you.”
⏻ the lights from the shop will click back off as you all leave. Fishingline gives you a wave to see you off, but Sparks has an even quicker pace than usual as she leads the way back to the cobbler.
Echo
Shall we talk about that now, or later?
Spark
“Later, please. Maybe even tomorrow. At this rate I’m going to knock out as soon as we’re back at our room.”
Echo
Alright then. Are we setting out in the morning?
Spark
“Best to, yeah. Time of day makes little difference once you drop into the Underwalk, but I need rest, and I’m going to make you two rest regardless. Dangerous place.”
Winds
“Fine by me. I think… Hm. When was the last time I slept?”
Echo
...Excuse me?
Spark
She sighs again, loudly. “We will sort that out later, and tomorrow.”
⏻ returning to the cobblers, Harrier is out and Pinrhythm has finished whatever she was working on earlier, with some mostly-assembled footwear next to her. she does a double-take at Echo’s new attire, but waves to welcome everyone back.
PinRhythm
“Oh! That looks quite bold. Is that what you mentioned earlier?”
Echo
That it is! Came out very nicely, as I'm sure the shoes... Will? Have? Are?
PinRhythm
She laughs, and moves around the counter. “Some number of those! I just needed to make sure everything was all fine before putting them together. Now, Gnarlwood’s I know, but the other two of you come here and let me check these.”
⏻ Sparks nods in agreement, and goes to slip her own new boot on to confirm things are still fine while Pinrhythm plops herself down on the floor.
” Echo copies her. which, i don’t really think we’ve mentioned it, but its feet are more like a tripod than anything else.
⏻ it really never came up, huh? though i guess it’s more odd for it to be anything of note, normally.
⟡ What’s “normally”?
” it refers to something that’s at a right angle to—
⏻ very funny. Winds?
⟡ Sits. Takes off /eir other shoes to, I guess, slip into the boots? Or have the boots slipped on?
” sort of the opposite of what boots are supposed to do, if you think about it.
⏻ PinRhythm will fit the pieces of each on and make some checks, before nodding, taking them back, and doing the last bits of stitching and finishing right there on the floor.
PinRhythm
“So, what’s it like up out in the mountains these days?” she askes, while she works.
Winds
“Ah. Well, that… I suppose it depends on how you mean? It’s quiet, farther north, like this whole valley is.”
” i’m liking the part where everyone is asking Winds about /eir backstory.
⟡ Which, may I remind, was supposed to come up sooner than it has.
PinRhythm
“Hm, is it really though? Maybe different tunes to different ears, but it’s quite noisy once you know what to listen to.”
Winds
“Not at the Shrine, which is why I—” The words catch in /eir throat for a moment. “Why I liked being there so much.”
⏻ she looks up briefly, but doesn’t add anything else until she finishes.
⟡ Yay, angst!
” yay!
⏻ once she finishes, she places the footwear in front of her and stands up.
PinRhythm
“Well, that was a good way to spend the last day before the festival. Will you be joining us?”
Echo
ii think that depends on—
Winds
“No, unfortunately.” Winds stands up as well and picks up /eir new boots. “We have business below, and a reason to hurry. I don’t…really know how long that will take, but I think we might miss the whole thing.” /ey give a soft smile, and place /eir umbrella on the counter. “I don’t generally carry money with me, but I would like to leave this with you as payment.”
⏻ woah, how daring! giving up an Instrument.
” she says, playing the oneshot that apparently doesn’t have any combat in it.
⏻ it really is amazing how there’s not been any reason for it to come up. which is a shame, because i was expecting we’d get to have debate combat or something.
⟡ Would you like to spar in-character later as a way of talking through this?
⏻ but that would be, like, persuasion, right? we have a common goal because of how things have already sorted out, so the only one to stop us would have to be Echo, and it is more interested in enabling this while also stirring the pot!
” (peace sign)
⏻ anyway.
PinRhythm
“Oh! Am. Are you sure? This seems very well-made, and, not to put our own work down, but those are nothing quite like this…” She seems hesitant to accept, and also surprised at the mention of what is below the town.
Winds
“Please. …And, if it helps, I’d be more at ease with it up here than down below. It misses the sky as easily as I do.”
” oh right, is Winds going to like, get depressed?
⟡ Well, I’ll have to check the rules again on that, but also, /ey already are!
” shit true
⏻ what a fun and joyful elegy this is!
⟡ Yo she said the thing!
” she said the thing!!!
PinRhythm
“I see… Well, if you’re insisting, then I’ll bring it around with me to the festival.” She still is a bit out of sorts, but hesitantly picks up the instrument. “Does it have a name?”
Winds
”…None that I can share. I think it’s best that I carry that down below with me, and it has a chance to receive another one in time.” /ey nod one last time, and abruptly turn and walk out.
Spark
“Oh my god can you—” Sparks starts after /em, turns back to PinRhythm, and then turns back again and goes after Winds.
Echo
...Well! Sorry about it ending that way. ii have to go get those two to talk to each other tonight so they stop doing this as much, if you don't mind.It tips an imaginary hat, and then spins and follows after the other two.Much obliged.
PinRhythm
“Take care…”
⟡ Right as /ey get back, Winds is going to climb up on the roof of the building without saying anything in particular to the other two following, and sprawl out to stare at the sky. It’d be… Dusk, I imagine?
⏻ give or take a bit, yeah. the costuming and all would have taken the afternoon.
” Echo will head inside, grab its bag, and hop up to the roof after. And also verbally invite Gnarlwood up.
⏻ follow she will, but very visibly reluctantly. this is precious time that could be spent sleeping!!
Winds
”…Is this your idea of an intervention?”
Echo
This is my idea of a jam session.It pulls out the Instrument.Remember, you said you would share something earlier.
Winds
“Did I…? Not like me to forget.”
Echo
Oh, that was meant for her. But ii am quite curious if you have anything as well, and this is the rooftop ii claimed for this. So you'll just have to bear with it.
Winds
“Heh. Give me a few minutes, I’m sure there’s something.”
Spark
“What did I say earlier, tunes for a walk or something?” She sits herself down on the edge of the rooftop. “It’s just runner rhythms, really.”
Echo
Well, those aren't in my notes.It strums a few times, then adjusts the tuning somewhere on the neckboard. It sounds more ambient now than before, a few waves intertwined.'Just' is a funny little word, isn't it? Gets you out of saying quite as much.
Spark
“You know that’s not—”
Echo
Oh, of course. But it's interesting, isn't it? We know so little about each other despite this trip we're taking together, and it's still 'just'. People can go an entire lifetime on justs. This is not what ii meant to get into but it's a fascinating thing. What digging into lyrics gets you, ii guess.
Spark
“Uh huh.” She puts her chin on her palms. “Hmmm. I guess there’s this one.”
A Runner's Anthem (unknown, folk)
Towers and trinkets to keep you aware of what, goes, on. Send them a letter to show them you care and we, go, on. Sending your treasures wherever we’re sent to it’s not hard to get to and weathering it through, the roads are our compass our footsteps are song and the mail, goes, on.
Spark
“Something like that. You might get some different words if you ask another Courier, or any of the runners. Been a while since I learned it, so it’s probably changed a bit.”
Echo
Ooh, that's a cute one. Do you sing often while running?
Spark
“Honestly? Not that much. I’m more of a wind-in-my-ears and eyes-on-nature girlie, so even when I’ve been somewhere before, it’s being on the move and feeling all I can of the world that gets me going. Our footsteps are song. That’s what that means for me, it’s why I became one.”
Winds
“You ever been outside the valley?”
Spark
“Nnno, just the mountains a few times. I’d be leaving my job if I did, but I’d also be lying if I said I was never tempted. You?”
Winds
”…I don’t think so, but I’ve been to the peaks once.”
Spark
“Wait, really? What’s it like up there?”
Winds
/ey reach out a hand to the sky. “A bit more like home, but in a way I didn’t like. So I’ve never gone back.”
Echo
Like a memory that's come back wrong?
Winds
The hand falls. “Like someone I never was. I don’t think lighter dreams are lesser dreams, but the ones I like all stick to the ground, and so have I.”
Spark
“You get any of those? The wrong memories.”
Echo
Ah, not for a long time now. Had too many at first; almost tore off an arm trying to find what it used to be.The ambient kicks back over to a low thrumming bassline.Once ii found ii could be anything, and found music, that was basically it. Maybe one day down the line ii won't be a Fool anymore, but why not just act as someone else and then go back to it? You know?
Spark
“I can’t imagine having that many things to get to, but maybe if you settle down, I’ll give up my mark and head out for the world. Gotta see something fresh before I give up the ghost, maybe find my own sort of successor.”
Echo
Ahh, but my successors are all the musicians who will outlive me or be born later! All the actors on the stage ii'll never meet! It's a tragedy, this life, sometimes. Only the Deities get to watch over it all, and those too old to die.
Winds
“You’re never too old to die, I don’t think,” /ey almost whisper.
Echo
Firsthand?
Winds
“Worse. I helped.” There’s a tangible amount of disgust in that line. “The debt I incurred that day is what sends me down below.”
Echo
...ii know this isn't the best thing to pry into, but what do you mean by 'helped'?
Winds
“I threw a fucking festival, is what.”
Spark
“What?” She whips around. “You never told me that was part of that.”
Winds
“Why should I have? The deed hadn’t been done yet, and you were still an outsider to the Shrine. Most still don’t know, because of how it went. …We made sure to invite travelers and people from outside, by pulling a few favors, and then set up a lie while I packed to leave.”
Spark
“That’s… So you were headed down no matter if I had a delivery or not.”
Winds
“Unfortunately.”
Echo
Hey can ii ask what the hell you two are talking about? ii'm also on the "thought this was a nice little getaway trip for a few acquaintances who live in a line" side of things.
Winds
“Well, that’s the sort of lie you tell friends, right? I didn’t actually think we’d all end up heading down like this.”
Spark
“You were planning to sneak off while we were at the festival topside, weren’t you?”
Winds
“Okay. Sneak off, yes. Festival? Actually hadn’t heard of it. I was told about the one beneath, not the ones above, and I’ve never had any reason to visit the Cairn myself until now.”
Spark
“Bitch. You’re so lucky we didn’t have to chase you down after vanishing, because you can bet your ass I would find a trace somewhere and follow you down for answers.”
Winds
“Haha! Yeah, I’ll admit I didn’t know Couriers that well before now. Right. Echo, how much do you know about me?”
Echo
...You're good with your hands, you lived and slash or worked at a Shrine, you're a Reverie. Thought at first you disliked music, but was that related to all this?
Winds
“Oh, well. I think I do dislike music.” /ey let that sentence sit for a second. “That might not be the right wording. I really like quiet, and a lot of music is decidedly anti-quiet. But I don’t find myself bothered by it when something isn’t meant to be quiet, which makes it a lot easier to find some enjoyment in it?”
Echo
The 'Repose', is it?
Winds
“Until recently.” /ey fall silent again, searching for words. “I… Saferest is the name of the Shrine, and its Deity was Knap, of Refreshing. If you rested there, your fatigue would fall away like it was nothing. Being next to that, and witnessing their dreams was some of the most fulfillment I’ve had in my life, so I stopped my own traveling through the mountains and basically moved in on the spot, making and repairing cushions and garments for the Shrine and its visitors.”
Echo
...Now, this is going to sound sacreligious to basically anything, but do you ever feel like being a Deity is inherently dangerous? Like that is just asking to rip people away from anything else.
Spark
“I mean, harsh but I can’t disagree. Especially with how belief works, some Deities are just sorta more of a grey area than, say, the Skylords. But it’s sort of how it has to be, with the way of things?”
Winds
“I can attest that most Deities don’t actually want to be, what’s the word, problematic? The Shrine was very clear that you could only spend a third of your time resting there, because that is the balance of how sleep works for all that do sleep. Now, she didn’t care if you took that all at once or across a few days of visits, because some folk arrived from way off seeking the kind of rest you don’t get most anywhere else.”
Spark
“That’s true. And at least from my own experience, you don’t really feel like you need to come back because it doesn’t really trigger the part of you that wants to go full sloth? Like, you know, getting stuck in bed is more of an oh god this is not going to get better for a while thing, but I met one guy who was really not doing well mentally one time. He was still in a rough patch after, but I caught him leaving before I did and he said that it was helpful enough he was going to head home, so. That’s gotta be something. I think a lot of the minor or more niche Deities can come off as weird, but they have to have the people in mind if they don’t want to just end up doing harm…”
Winds
“Yeah. But it does seem like it’s easy to slip off that balance.” /ey sigh. “I still don’t know what caused it, or if it was lurking in the background before anyone caught it. She went from Refreshment to Restfulness, and then one day, Repose.”
Echo
Not a coincidence it's the same as yours, ii take it.
Winds
“Not a coincidence, no. But I have to stress they are different. Hers became unending to death, and mine is what remains. I have to put her to rest, even if it takes the rest of my life to find someone else to take that place.”
Echo
'Have to', huh? Again, ii won't force the answer—
Spark
“I will, though. I need to know what that day was really about, now. Especially now that it has you going somewhere I haven’t been in this valley.”
Winds
/ey close /eir eyes. “Have you ever met a Dragon?” The question is rhetorical, and waits for no answer. “They showed up after the first eternal sleep found its end. I met eyes with them while tending to the body. I didn’t recognize them, but I didn’t call out until the second, and by then, there were more who wouldn’t wake. Knap had fallen into a deep sleep herself, and was dragging more and more visiting for rest into the same, where they couldn’t be woken from. It was…very hard, making that deal, but I cared more for what the place believed in than who was sitting in front of me. So we raised hell, danced our hearts out, and…” /ey cut out for a minute, eyes still cold, voice gradually losing its energy. Whatever happened that day replays in /eir head. “I’d call it ‘devouring’, but anything that isn’t ‘annihilation’ isn’t doing it justice.”
Echo
What, that quickly? The few tales ii've heard all said it takes time to erode a Deity like that.
Winds
Finally, /eir eyes open again, glistening. “I think she was on the wrong path before I met her. Or at least, the seeds had been sown, and couldn’t sprout until they’d been watered enough. If not that, then this was just that fast of a distortion, I don’t know. There was never any way to ask her, and I don’t know if that Dragon still exists or how one could even find them. There’s just a hole, in everything, and I helped carve it. So I promised the caretaker that I’d search for someone to step up, and that’s what takes me below. I stole her Motif and twisted it, so I can find a better ending for the Shrine than what she was able to give it. I killed her in the waking world, and I will either kill her memory with a replacement, or kill what Shrine she tried to build if none can be found.”
Echo
Hm. Can't say ii understand why try to find a replacement, after all that.
Winds
Winds turns /eir eyes to Echo. “Well, it doesn’t have to be a Deity. But that place has its own life as a resting place, and I’d like it to outlive her in some way. Bury her memory with something new, rather than laying it all to rest. It’s not a place I can take, and it’s not a place I can live anymore.”
Echo
Mmm, ii see. This does explain why you sang a dirge putting this outfit together.
Winds
“Yep. I choose not to sing the relaxing ones now, because those were as much for me as anyone else, and in my dreams, I keep finding her again.” /ey slowly push /emself up to sit cross-legged. “I cannot find rest, so I had to leave it behind me.”
POST SESSION NOTES
⟡ Winds will probably not be speaking much tomorrow.
⏻ the yapperrrrr
” gods this was such a fucking long one.
” also, i’m updating my tag to ∃ for now. there’ll probably be a little thing on it next time, but it doesn’t make sense to go back and change everything else. got a little annoyed at how Quartz renders the single pair of quotes (they look much more like bunny ears when not “prettified” fuck that feature, honestly), and finally found a little thing that i enjoy using.
∃ we’ll see if it sticks.
⟡ Yay!
⏻ yay!
⟡ So, raw word count is double our first one of these, even including the parts that were cut for spacing reasons. Unexpected. The backstory here was already set when we were putting the characters together, and we really did think it’d come up sooner, it just…
∃ they never talked about it! it never came up until right now! s-ing my g d h.
⟡ Yeah. So, big setting drop while everyone talks about everything in the weird roundabout manner we all have going on.
⏻ you can blame us for writing characters in ways we like to write characters. you give opal an in to write someone connected to the gods, and that is the option they will take damn near every time.
⟡ Guilty as charged. Though, I’m actually a lot more interested in how the fabric and music dynamic shook out this time; the title might have ‘Elegy’ in it, but that aspect really wasn’t that formed when we were putting this together.
∃ i did sorta just bullshit my way through tunes, this is true. and i will continue to do so! you cannot stop me.
⏻ it’s rare enough for any of us to do poetry; i’m still trying my best to not be self-conscious about the runnersong… i do like how it came out, but also, gah.
⟡ The paradox of wanting to be witnessed, but not like that.
∃ you can’t just call things paradoxes. that’s a contradiction.
⟡ Paradoxes sound so much cooler. But point taken.
⏻ anyway chat i’m fucking exhausted. next time, we drink deep and descend! there might actually only be two more of these if we stick to one per… location. hey is the market going to be its own location
∃ fuck if i know. probably not its own post? i can’t imagine we get so sidetracked with the location that we end up at 5k words before the market… next-time-GM, your thoughts?
⟡ I refuse to answer that because I am too tired to think. See you when next we Wake.
∃ god you’re so fucking chuuni
⟡ Aren’t we all? 🫶