Outside 48: Hotter than Inside

[Deathkeeper]

[Passing By]

"Only two. Which for my purposes is a good number." Nim replies. He can say he's heard a snake snicker now. That's something.
He follows Prada and stands over the snake as it stretches out.
"Tired? That's alright. Thank you for playing host, by the way." Once the snake feels less tired he might inquire about if they know anything about getting back to other places. It seems rude to ask right now.

[Zefir]

Spider Cave

The giant spider doesn't pursue. Karl's scouts get that far undetected, and can figure out why- the rear legs aren't articulated, and there's a complex hydraulic system carefully concealed behind it to prevent invaders from noticing its mechanical nature whilst letting it reach up and roar. Getting too close is still probably a bad idea- despite being unable to move from the spot, it still has fully articulated limbs and the hypodermic needles that form its fangs are genuinely dangerous. The tunnel passes beyond, and there's a bit of space to bypass the spider entirely, just wide enough for people to walk single file.

Nightmare Forest

"You should sleep. This is not the Fairest of Lands, not any more. It is a barren grey dustbowl, and that is the way we like it. If that changes, and your home returns, its very presence should awaken you, should it not? Go to sleep, let it wake you when it does return, if the Fear succeeds." Makuro is very cautious as she speaks, keeping her eyes on her surroundings to make sure there isn't anything trying to sneak up on it.

Spider Cave

With those things in mind it is worththe risk. Karl still appears to not 100% understand those high tech things but as he sees the gap he orers one of the skeletons to sneak up through it. If that works then another one and a third so they suround the beast. If it still disn t attack by itself Karl will go the path pushing himslf at he wall away from the spider as he tries to pass.

[Rebonack]

[Nightmare Forest]

"It won't," Lapis retorts, standing firm and resolute. "It won't open because we won't let it. It would destroy our world. And we're VIGIL! It's our job to make sure the world endures!"

So nyeh!

"Whatever tried to open the door here failed. It didn't work. All it did is break things."

Important things!

Like...

Arguably everyone who lived here.

All those bodies...

Were they real? Lapis isn't sure. But those pictures they found suggests they were... She's not going to let something kill all those people just because it wants to make the world into a dream again.

[Earl of Purple]

Spider Cave

The large mechanical spider rears up and roars again as the skeletons and Karl walk past it. It tries to strike them, but there's just enough room to bypass it safely.

Beyond that spider, the cave's floor flattens out and the walls become more regular. The floor is poured concrete, and the walls are covered with small white tiles. Occasionally, a patch of tiles have fallen off, and there's dirt and detritus piled in the corners. Mostly old tiles, but there's some bat guano, the shells of dead insects, soil washed down from the surface and occasionally an old bone. There's no lights, still.

The corridor continues like this before suddenly it stops. It looks like a dead end, but the spiders from earlier had to come from somewhere. Their tracks end abruptly at the left wall, and there's a large semicircle worn into the concrete floor from that wall out. There's also a very square-looking patch of missing tiles on the right wall opposite where the tracks disappear.

[Arkhosia]

The Joining House

Blanche isn't terribly used to the ways in which the Frescots seem to regard personal space, nor being such a center of attention. She starts to get a better idea of just why Votsona thought it would be better of them to join and leave early as Kolimi leans over, blinking in surprise and shifting to the side just a tad. "Er, not much of anything, just what I've got on me really," she answers nervously. "Maybe about ten bucks? I didn't think to bring money on a hunt." She glances over for Votsona, hoping for a little bit of support on handling this here, only to notice he's gone with a frown.

[Recaiden]

"Only two. Which for my purposes is a good number." Nim replies. He can say he's heard a snake snicker now. That's something.
He follows Prada and stands over the snake as it stretches out.
"Tired? That's alright. Thank you for playing host, by the way." Once the snake feels less tired he might inquire about if they know anything about getting back to other places. It seems rude to ask right now.

"For your purposes?"
Prada seems skeptical of that. Most people from Nim's side of the mirror want as many arms as they can get, don't they?
Sure, they think it's a bit silly.
"Well, we couldn't have ssomeone new going all confussed at a party, could we?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Passing By]

Nim shakes his head.
"Oh, it's just a turn of phrase. I meant that I use my hands a lot in my work. A lot of climbing and drawing and note-taking. But ah, I guess that's true. Is there a reason you have parties separate from the other side of the mirror? If I'm being honest I'm not from the other side either. I would like to get home, though I don't know how. I don't suppose as an explorer you have experience traveling between worlds?" he asks, hoping he isn't about to be laughed at.

[Recaiden]

"It iss ssafer thiss way." Prada answers, but doesn't elaborate.

Then the cobra nods solemnly.
"On the other sside, if you travel ssouth, you will find the Eagle'ss Relay, a machine to bridge between worldss. But I cannot ssay it will be a short trip."
"Or, you could sstay on thiss sside; everywhere mirrorss shine, we can reach. And thiss, iss the way that I explore."

[Deathkeeper]

[Passing By]

Nim considers this.
"Well, I want to get home, not to the other side. If you can use a mirror to get me to my home, then that does sound just as useful as a bridge that's far away. I ah, am not in the best condition for a long journey." he says, holding up his red-stained, bandaged hands.

[Earl of Purple]

Nightmare Forest

"It may well come back, the greater part of yourself. But it could take a long while, and waiting will not be easy. You have always been here, but it woke you up? Then go back to sleep, wait for it to return and succeed. You will feel it, I think. You are linked to it, aren't you? Even though it left, and to where it tried to open?" Makuro's shooting in the dark, here. She has very little background knowledge in this sort of thing, and is guessing.

[Recaiden]

"Tell me of your home, sso I know in which manner it can be found." Prada begins, bobbing sympathetically.
"And in exschange for my help, you will let me come along to your world. I should like to vissit a new place."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Nightmare Forest]

Quin shakes his head sadly.

"I believe Makuro is right. There may be something keeping it from coming back now. It may not ever return, we have no way of knowing, but sleeping is probably the easiest way for you to wait for it. Surely it would wake you up when it returned?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Passing By]

”It is a place where many worlds converge, which is why we call it the Nexus. I was raised not terribly far from the city of Inside, which is sprawling and disjointed and ever expanding and shrinking and moving and staying the same.
Um, why would you need my help to visit my world? How do you explore if you need someone else’s permission?” Asks Nimrod as he gives it some thought.

[Recaiden]

"Ah. It will lie then near to a well-pillar. We sset out to the northwesst."
Prada says, tilting slightly from side to side.
"Becausse it iss on your sside of the mirror, not made for uss."
"I can passs everywhere in my world, and have vissited many others, with ssuch permisssion. But to go alone and unwelcomed into your Nexsuss would not be ssafe."

[Deathkeeper]

[Passing By]

Nim looks around as he realizes he doesn't know which direction is which.
"I'm afraid I don't know how that works, but fair enough. Why wouldn't someone welcome you? I can't imagine why they wouldn't." Maybe it's an old nation/realm sort of rivalry from the history of this world? Not knowing anything about the local culture does severely hamper his understanding of the situation.

[Recaiden]

Nim guesses correctly.
"The front and the back of the mirror have never gotten along. It iss only in thiss kingdom'ss neutral ground that you would meet me like thiss."

[Deathkeeper]

[Passing By]

"Well, that should not be a problem back home. Unless you plan on making trouble. What do you do when you visit a new place? How are we going to get through the mirror with me anyway?" Nim asks Prada, curious.

[Morty]

[Nightmare Forest]

The only reaction to Lapis' word is a shriek. Makuro and Quin, however, seem to have a better result. The wailing quiets down. The images of the Fairest of Lands are fading.

"Maybe... you're right. Maybe the Fear will come back when I'm asleep. After it has destroyed you, if you try to fight it. It's so far beyond you. And I don't want to stay like this, hanging in-between. It's wrong. It hurts."

The tendrils form into the marionette again, but this time it's kneeling in front of them.

"Destroy me, so I can go back to sleep and wait for the Fear."

[Recaiden]

"Ssee the land and ssightss, meet the people."
"Witnesss what iss there."
Prada explains, like it should be obvious.
"We'll find a dark enough plasce, and I will open the mirror."
"Are you agreed?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Passing By]

Nim nods. "Agreed, then. Just...let me know where we're- going." He almost said walking, but that would be insensitive. He wonders what Prada does if they get somewhere particularly muddy or swampy. He can't imagine it's pleasant to have to make most of your body touch the ground wherever you go. Being able to just take off muddy boots after a hunt seems like a blessing in retrospect.

[Recaiden]

If you were as soft and fuzzy as a human, no, it wouldn't be much fun. But with a coat of scales, there's no problem.

Prada bids farewell to the other partygoers here, apologizing for leaving early, but they've caught wind of a whole new land to explore.
And they set off in the direction that must be northwest, though it's hard to tell how the snake might know that.
On this side of the mirror, the land isn't shattered. There is soft grass, and roads paved here with obsidian, and there with simple cobblestones. As they get further and further from the bonfire at the center of the party, the landscape shifts, idyllic forests giving way to stone jungles - not buildings, but rocks that twist their branches overhead - and glass-still seas.

[Deathkeeper]

[Passing By]

Nim follows duly. "I hope I'm not inconveniencing you." He looks out at the landscapes.
"So this side seems more...I'll say stable? The land seems like land and isn't floating around places." he observes. He isn't sure if the low gravity is the same or not without jumping up and down and probably looking rather silly.

[Recaiden]

Gravity is a only a suggestion here. But a strong suggestion, so if he jumped only hoping to float, he would probably fall and look very silly indeed.
"Thiss iss the mirror of the kingdom, but it wass never part of that kingdom, sso it wass never broken in the ssame way." Prada explains. As this is mentioned, they walk/slither into (or have always been in) a segment that's more like the old kingdom was, with shining roads stretching to the horizon, intact cathedrals wrapped in blooming roses - though their thorns are turning to stone now - that reach up to the heavens.

[Deathkeeper]

[Passing By]

"I see. And your people are native to this side of it?" he asks. He hadn't seen any other talking snakes on the first side of the mirror he visited. But then, while he saw other snakes while gazing into the mirror he's only spoken to Prada.
"Could you tell me about your people? I haven't been able to learn about the peoples of these realms." he asks the serpent.

[Rebonack]

[Nightmare Forest]

Can you really destroy something that never existed in the first place?

Maybe.

You can end a dream.

Uproot an idea.

Burn a story.

Leave them all forgotten.

Lapis doesn't know exactly what this thing is, but she DOES know that 'The Fear' sounds like a threat.

A BIG threat!

The sort of threat VIGIL is supposed to stop.

And they'll start stopping it here.

Lapis raises the thing which is like a sword before aiming to plunge it into the puppet.

The edge cuts and the light burns. It knows nothing else.

[Earl of Purple]

Marlick Bay

Makuro isn't as blatantly supernatural as the others, and her abilities rely on movement and melee. So she'll move in close and try to snap the puppet's neck with her enhanced strength and end things quickly, but somehow I'm not sure that will work very well.

[Recaiden]

"I see. And your people are native to this side of it?" he asks. He hadn't seen any other talking snakes on the first side of the mirror he visited. But then, while he saw other snakes while gazing into the mirror he's only spoken to Prada.
"Could you tell me about your people? I haven't been able to learn about the peoples of these realms." he asks the serpent.

"Yess. Thesse are the landss around the River - no, not that River - which have never belonged to any kingdom. And sso, they have never been." Anything at all.
"There are many peopless in the realm we jusst departed, and many otherss here. Where should I begin?"
The air is growing brighter, with the sunrise of something's that's not a sun, whose light is not quite yellow nor orange nor anywhere in-between. Far off on the horizon, it is always exactly the color it;'s remembered to be, and never the color it actually is.

[Deathkeeper]

Passing By

Nim considers.
"Well, how about we start with yours? What do you call yourselves? You can tell me what you think I should know, if that's all." Serpent-folk aren't terribly common, as are talking animals in general. Nim is curious if Prada's gold scales are a morph or a general species trait. But phrasing it that way is probably rude so he leaves it to Prada to tell him.
"Oh and ah, what do I look like to you? I could swear something about me changed when I arrived on the other side of the mirror."

[Recaiden]

"I think you should not know our name." Prada suggests with amusement.
"We are kingss and queenss of the River, otherss ssay, rulerss of this sside that is Not a kingdom."
"We are dreamss given flesh, dissturbancsess in the Water that ssusstain themsselves."

"You look much like any man. Though there iss ssomething elsse to you - a sharp elegance, which you reject. Even sso you are pale, and quiet. The party sscarcely touched you."

[Deathkeeper]

[Passing By]

"Is this another one of those dangerous knowledge things? That seems to be coming up often today." He doesn't know how a simple name could be that dangerous, but he's no mage. And maybe it's just a cultural secret. Those exist.
"I was unaware I was speaking to royalty. You should have said something." Now he just feels silly. Was he supposed to be bowing this whole time? That person winking at him encouragingly might make more sense now.
"I don't really know if I reject anything. I ah, was the party supposed to leave more of a mark?" He is suddenly alarmed if there was something in the food there...