Outside 49: I don’t remember what it looks like either

[Rebonack]

[Chilly Forest]

The fox is still frozen there by the fire.

Almost as if she's afraid to move?

"You don't understand," the fox replies, a tremor of fear in her voice. "It isn't safe for you to be here."

Yes.

Fear.

But not for herself.

"If you go outside now you'll freeze to death. If you stay here you might not survive the night."

Oh.

Well.

That isn't great.

[bc56]

Journey to the Center of the Elves

Eon looks at his companions but says nothing. He is very concerned by this business, but he has nothing of import to add.

[5a Violista]

[Tidepools]

With a locked box, obviously Seraphina wants to find out what's inside.

She walks up to it and kicks the padlock a couple times. Unfortunately, the box itself looks kind-of sturdy, so she can't just break open the box.
Just kicking it doesn't seem like it'd work, so she looks around for something that could help break it open. Just a log? no. . .
She looks around, and finds a broken-off piece of a door that has a hinge on it. Hinges are pretty tough, right? So, she kicks apart the old door, and grabs the hinge (still attached to part of the door) and brings that over to the chest.

She swings the hinge against the lock several times, hoping that gets it open.

[Deathkeeper]

[Chilly Forest]

Kray scowls.
”You do realize that that isn’t a choice or an explanation, right?” She asks the fox.
She decides that she doesn’t care what a talking fox sees and stands up to make sure nothing horrible and deadly has happened to her from sitting in the water.

[Rebonack]

[Chilly Forest]

The fox' ears fold back at the rebuke.

"The spring is safe," she says.

Well that's good to know.

"I'm not."

That's less good.

"I'm a kumiho. I eat people. I do my best to just scavenge or make sure my prey deserves it, but... it's hard to control myself sometimes. I don't like being alone with people. It's too tempting."

She turns her head, peering out the window, her ears up. Somewhere off in the forest a hunting horn sounds. Had Kray heard that earlier? Maybe she had. The kumiho seems a bit unnerved by the sound. She gives a small, foxy sigh. "Full moon on All Hallows Eve. There's a Wyld Hunt tonight. I thought there might be. So I had decided to hide in here for the night just in case the shee decide to go fox-hunting."

Sounds like she doesn't want to leave the shack, either.

"I'm sorry. I'll do my best not to harm you. Just... stay on your side of the sauna and I'll stay over here."

[Deathkeeper]

Chilly Forest

Kray sighs and reaches over to the clothes rack. This requires turning her back on the fox.
Assuming that the fox hasn’t pounced on her she comes back to her spot with her huge revolver. She grimaces. She needs both hands to shoot it like this. She delicately wraps a towel around her waist.
”I’m prepared to handle if you or anyone else break into this side. Why don’t you tell me about yourself if we have a night to kill? Or you could go back to sleep. Name’s Kray.” It might be half of her real name, but it’s an alias nonetheless and she doesn’t fear giving it out.

[Rebonack]

[Chilly Forest]

The fox watches.

There's no pouncing while the revolver is retrieved. She's still sitting by the fire, looking at the gun.

"Unless those are steel-core bullets they won't stop me if I get too frisky," the kumiho warns. The message is clear. If Kray has such ammunition then use it. It's al quite clear from her body language that she isn't happy about this situation. "I'm sorry it had to be like this. You should have been able to just enjoy the spa in peace."

Names. Kray?

"I'm... a kumiho. We don't get Names. But the name of my favorite face is Fredrick. You can call me Freddie if you like? Freddie the Fox!"

She offers a cute little foxy smile, wagging her tail. She's trying to be less alarming and more disarming.

"It was the first face I took. Or... maybe it was mine before I became a kumiho? I'm not sure which. The Dreamheart it... messes with your memories. Alters your story. Makes you its own."

That's pretty sad.

"I try to be a good fox, but it's exhausting work. I mostly hunt in Skyside. There are lots of people there who deserve to be eaten."

[Deathkeeper]

[Chilly Forest]

Kray frowns and works the ejector, checking her ammo. Mostly standard magnum bullets save one which seems to be a hollow-point with a transparent head.
”How do you feel about iron filings?” She asks, though she puts it back and slides the cylinder back into place anyway.
”I hope you understand that I cannot approve of eating people. But slavers can die in a hole so I guess I can’t shoot you for telling me anyway.
So. Faces are your thing, then? This isn’t the one I was born with, either. Dirty prank from a Lady.” somehow she makes that last capital L sound capital.

[Rebonack]

[Chilly Forest]

"They rip up my illusions pretty bad," the kumiho admits. She seems quite willing to talk about her weaknesses. And speaking of? "Not a huge fan of water, either. You're probably safe in the spring."

The fox' ears droop.

"I'm evil, I know. Kumiho do evil things. It's just the way it works. But I'm trying okay? I'm trying to at least make the world a little less bad," she pleads. She's use to this conversation. Especially with idealistic hero types. "You've never had to do something horrible so that good would come of it? Or at least to stop something worse?"

Then her ears perk up at the talk of faces.

Wait. She isn't-?

The kumiho leans forward a bit and sniffs.

*snrf snrf!*

"You DO have two names. One of them smells kind of like faerie magic. So... that cow-face was forced on you, then? Like the fox-faced was forced on me?" she asks, standing up, ears perking and tail wagging. "Haha! Well then! You know, I might be able to solve BOTH our problems! I could eat that Name and strip that face from you. I would be satiated and we wouldn't have to worry about any 'accidents' tonight. And you would be rid of the curse that got put on you by this 'Lady'! How does that sound?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Chilly Forest]

"Well I can't sit in it all night." She's pretty sure she's heard that you aren't supposed to sit in a hot pool for too long.
"I'm a merc. Of course I have. Fed a necromancer to a nymph last time I used this face. Bastard gutted a settlement, robbed their graves, and poisoned her entire bay. I get how this works. I just said that I can't approve." It is important to note that Krayger and Koshal are very different people, despite how much his nephew looks like him.

Kray snorts at the C-word. She doesn't say anything but from the momentary glare Freddie might realize that she stepped on a landmine with that one. Lucky for you, Freddie, Kray keeps going.
"I'd have to make sure you know what you're doing. I got this face because I let another magic talking animal strip the first curse she put on me. I'll probably be fine now that I have Latrans' protection."
Freddie may or may not know the latin word for Coyote. How many magic animals does this lady know?
"When you eat someone's name do you...take it? Because if you use it I'd want a vow that you wouldn't use it for anything I'd get blamed for." Magic foxes disguised as your weird alter-ego sneaking up on family would be pretty unfortunate.

[Rebonack]

[Chilly Forest]

The kumiho gets it.

That venomous look is pretty darn obvious. It warrants a, "Sorry."

She tries to be a good fox. She really does!

The kumiho gives a little snort at the implication she might not know what she's doing. "I've been at this for years. I know how to eat a Name. It's what I do."

Plenty of experience! Done it hundreds of times, probably.

She nods at the next question. "It becomes one of my masks. I have lots of them. Don't really use most of them most of the time except as extras in my illusions. I've got several that I wear all the time, though."

Sitting down now, she begins swishing her tail back and forth.

"Alright then. I swear that I won't use the Name or face 'Kray' to impersonate you or otherwise do mischief in your stead. On sun and moon, on stars and stones, may my words endure, though all else fades away."

There's a sense of binding finality to those words; deep unbreakable magic.

[Deathkeeper]

[Chilly Forest]

Kray seems to accept this answer. Slowly she puts down the gun.
But she hesitates for a moment.
"This isn't an elaborate trick just to get over here so you can properly tear my throat out, is it?" She feels like she has to ask.
That's probably not the case because if it was Freddie wouldn't be talking openly about what she is and what her weaknesses are. But it does kind of warrant asking.

[Rebonack]

[Chilly Forest]

The kumiho heaves a sigh, her ears falling and tail drooping.

"Okay first-" she raises one tail. "-I don't rip throats out. That's disgusting. I eat people's metaphorical heart."

Also their physical heart by she isn't going to mention that bit.

"I take their identity and make it mine. Second-"

She raises another tail.

"-if I wanted to eat you I would have just waited for you to doze off. Or not even waited. Because third-"

The kumiho fans out nine tails and ceases to be a cute little fox. Her dark fur has become black as night, her burnt orange fur crackles with deep crimson flames. A third burning eye opens in the middle of her forehead as wisps of crimson foxfire ignite at the tips of her tails. Little wisps and embers of ghostly flame drift around her, Names she has devoured. She stands, vaguely humanoid, like a phantasmal were-beast. Her posture suggests she can move as easily on four legs as on two. Running from something like that would be impossible. You would just die tired. Even hunched over she's huge, nearly eight feet tall.

Terrifying. Beautiful.

"-I'm not really a cute little fox," she says, her voice just as lovely as it was before. Foxfire licks at her teeth as she speaks. "So. I eat the Name that was forced on you or not? I could take it. But I won't. Or at least I'm going to try really hard not to if you refuse. I want this to be your choice."

[Deathkeeper]

[Chilly Forest]

Kray sighs again. Blasted magic. She stands up, dripping everywhere.
"You really know how to get a lady to do things, don't you?" she asks. That is sarcasm. Freddie's bedside manner leaves something to be desired.
"You can take it. But if I wake up dead when you're done I'm gonna haunt the hell out of you." she assures the foxbeast, notably not terrified.
And that would be terrible.
Who would want an angry cow-ghost haunting them?

[Rebonack]

[Chilly Forest]

No one wants to be haunted by any sort of ghost, really. Ghosts are annoying. Always moving your keys.

"This is going to feel a little uncomfortable," the kumiho warns as she proceeds to phase her claw through Kray's chest and wrap her fingers around the minotaur's heart. It feels like the icy touch of death. But it doesn't last long.

Because with a sickening wrench the kumiho pulls the Heart of Kray straight out, and with it comes the appearance and personal of the minotaur. To anyone watching it'll look like a sheet with Kray's appearance painted onto it just got yoinked off Kraygar.

And that's it.

Name removed.

There's a still-beating minotaur heart in the kumiho's claws as she steps back and looks surprised.

"Huh. For some reason I was expecting you to be a female human under that enchantment," she says before shrugging, opening her hellish maw, and tossing the heart between her teeth.

Om nom nom!

[Deathkeeper]

[Chilly Forest]

Kray gasps, but staggers back as the Name leaves her.
Kray is gruff, but very formal. She cares very much how people see her, especially when it comes to stereotypes about her people. She loves animals and overly complicated architecture and her nephew. And not so secretly being who she is, because people don't find it weird when a lady goes around looking at things that are pretty.
And underneath that is Rassa, an innocent bovine farmgirl who made cheese, and very briefly existed to make a minotaur into a fey lady's plaything.

Krayger meanwhile, tugs his towel tight around his waist and checks to see if he still has a pulse. "I'll take that as a compliment. I did my best to settle into being a lady." he says idly. Like this he's almost as tall as the fox-monster.
"That heart better be like, a double or something. 'Cause no matter how many Names I have I still need that."
Krayger would be upset if a large fox monster ate his only heart. He needs that for blood related things.

[Purple Eagle]

[Rolling Hills]

Ah, come on Zabb. That might not be the reason. Maybe Selekhael just didn't want to use her shotgun because it would be ineffective from so far away?

"aaaaaaAAAHOOF!" THUMP!

Oh look. Lapis came over to join them. Having just landed near Zabb and Selekhael in a tangle of limbs the little seraph rights herself and decides to start spooling up her CANNON! The weapon begins making an ominous humming noise as she aims her back-mounted turret at the buggane.

Speaking of the buggane, it just mashed another putti.

Poor putti. That's a tutorial fail. They'll have to take it over again.

So!

Arukhael is sprinting away from the buggane, occasionally taking pot-shots at it with his weapon. Zabb's squiggly beam slams into it, searing its flank. The remaining putti are still firing wildly at the monster. And Selekhael just smashed an entropy wave into it that appears as though it is causing its regenerative abilities to HARM it instead!

Oooh. Good call there, Selekhael. This is making the damage really stack up now.

Rolling Hills

It was less "I don't need your help" and more "I need my front paws free to use my eldritch power." Speaking of which, Selekhael is glad it's having an effect. She pounces towards the buggane and fires her shotgun. This time she's much closer, and she can catch it in the temporal shredding the weapon emits.

[Rolling Hills]

Zabb decides to help give La more space by joining Selekhael in firing basic, non-charged shots at the buggane. In fact, just so it'd be more effective, he blasts some blinding holy light at the buggane's face, aiming to both blind and disorient it.

"You're doing great, Selekhael!" He hollers in encouragement.

[Earl of Purple]

Tidepools

The lock's rusted through, it doesn't take much to shatter it and pry it away from the box. There's a rust stain on the brass underneath, where the lock has been pressed against it, but no damage to the box and it opens quite easily. Inside, there's several rather interesting things. No water, because despite being under the sea and tossed out by a giant crab, the chest remains watertight. There's a mahogany hand-mirror, with gilt traceries around the outside, although the glass itself is cracked. A little ivory jewellery-box, originally with four delicate carved feet, but one has snapped off and isn't in the box itself. An antique aluminium fork, with a prong slightly bent out of place and a rampant lion set into the end of the handle. A glass eye, with a brown iris. A white silk handkerchief with a black wolf emblazoned on the corner.

[5a Violista]

Tidepools

Ooh! Cool. It's basically a jackpot.

Seraphina looks at all the treasures. So much of this looks really useful! She...
...
Well.
She glances back at the boat building.
She obviously can't take all of it, but...when they get back, she hopes maybe to get at least most of it.

Seraphina reaches in and immediately grabs several things that look the most useful or that she can put in her pockets. First, the fork she picks up and slips it into one of her cloak's inner pocket. And then the mirror, she picks up. Broken, but still usable. And the ivory jewelry-box looks really useful, too. Jewelry is always useful.

Shifting the mirror to her other hand, she carefully opens the jewelry box to see what sorts of things it has in it.

[Gullara]

[Journey to the Center of the Elves]

Zhareen claps her hands. "That sounds promising, thank you!" She turns to Korrina. "You heard that, Korrina? Do you want to talk to their speaker perhaps? Reaching out to communities like Ramuq's is going to be great experience for you. The others will be so jealous." In fact, the reason she had picked Korrina of all people is that her wife had recommended her. So far she hadn't really been as promising as Vax had made her out to be though. More ambition than caution.

[Journey to the Center of the Elves]

Ramuq summons a messenger, who takes off in the direction of the town centre. Two guards appear to escort the trio in the same direction. Things get pretty chaotic, as people are aware something major is happening, even if they don't know what exactly. The guards will silently lead them towards the spire which they saw from the distance. They knock on the door and enter into what looks like an argument with someone inside. The group will have a chance to confer with each other if they wish, though naturally many eyes are on them. The people here are quiet and stoic, but their curiosity is still palpable.

Journey to the Center of the Elves

Eon looks at his companions but says nothing. He is very concerned by this business, but he has nothing of import to add.

[Journey to the Center of the Elves]

"I can." Korrina replies simply. She draws her breath in, drawing the spirit back to her before it can fade away. She'll get one more chance, perhaps. She guides her carpet to follow Ramuq, pretending not to think anything of the stirring around them.

[Chaotic Bob]

[A Brisk Afternoon Run]

According to the thickly accented voice in the back of his mind and its disturbingly regular marching chant, G'nichi has been running for about three miles.
Strapped to his back is a thick wooden scabbard, housing a heavy and slightly-too-large-to-be-practical sword, the hilt of which is additionally wrapped in a thick layer of cloth, exposing nothing to the open air.
It is very heavy.

This is considered a perk of the current exercise, as the additional weight on this run is intended to cook some more heroic flavor into the heroic not-so-little lizard. Sure, he can go the gym and do push-ups and all that nonsense. But nothing quite beats going out into the world, dressed for adventure.

Which is probably also why he has been running along a poorly maintained forest path, probably last used by some errant deer, after the sword directed him to run off the much more well maintained road a mile or so back. About half a mile in, the sunlight started getting choked out a little by the tree canopy, and a little after that, a pleasantly cool mist started to caress along his feet on the ground.
Ha! Ha! Ha! No slowing, hero, you are almost at three. Ha! Ha! Ha!

It has not elaborated on any additional purpose behind this, only vocalizing that peculiar marching "ha!" and occasional gruff encouragements.
Given the typical track record of the Celestial Arms, this is deeply suspicious.

[Rebonack]

[Chilly Forest]

The kumiho swallows the heart and feels a rush of burning power she's quite familiar with. A wave of foxfire sweeps over her, replacing her with a creme colored female minotaur with oddly curly horns wearing a tasteful sauna robe. Rassa does a little twirl, checking herself out. She's never been a minotaur before so this is a new experience for her. She smiles, admiring her hips, and then abruptly frowns.

"Rassa? That isn't the name you told me," she says, knitting her brow in concentration. "Why... oh. Oh my..."

Then she gives Kreyger a VERY sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry. I hate it when faeries treat people like play things. You didn't deserve the grief you suffered."

Well!

Considering she's calling herself Rassa AND looks different than Kray did it will be pretty hard for Rassa to pretend to be Kray. So... oath upheld, right?

She sits down on one of the benches and pats it with a hand, inviting Kreyger to join her if he wants. "Your heart's just fine. Metaphorical remember? Now! How about we sit and chat? We're both stuck here until morning after all."

A beat.

"I'm not dangerous at all after eating recently. I've got a good eighteen hours at least before I start getting hungry again."


[Rolling Hills]

A whole bunch of chunks just abruptly blip out of existence when Selekhael blasts the fae. Even more as Zabb and Arukhael blast away at it!

And then Lapis fires her SHAPE CANNON.

A coherent beam of clashing, jittering, vibrating energy slams into the buggane, causing it to begin warping and snapping and contorting as the anti-regeneration effect further amplifies the potent weapon. Now too busy just trying to remain upright, the buggane is showered with more and more projectile fire until it explodes in a shower of mud.

*BLORCH!*

"Excellent work, Aspirants!" the Servant announces. "If this is your first time in the tutorial you will all be rewarded with a Perk Point! To spend your Perk Points, focus on your reliquary. While doing so, you must empty it. This will present you with the list of Perks you are currently qualified to purchase. Remember Aspirants! Perks always come in sets of four which must be purchased sequentially with each new Perk adding greater power! Choose wisely."


[Tide Pools]

The two sisters are busy building a boat. It consists of lots and lots of magical vine growing and wood snapping in order to create a serviceable raft. It is either really boring to watch or really amazing to watch, whether or not a person finds growing magical vines to be exciting.

[Deathkeeper]

[A Brisk Afternoon Run]

G'nichi had promised his new friends that he would get training before he did anything brash.
And so he has accepted letting the Arms train him a little.
And going out for a run? Sure. Heroes need good cardio. And luckily, he already has that because why would he have imagined his perfect body as not having a good heart?
G'nichi put on work jeans, a thick outdoor shirt over a tank-top, and a pack full of supplies. He hadn't actually acquired armor yet, but he DID have an adventure bag with supplies ready to go.
It's the only point he's probably earned with the sword today. That and the fact that he hasn't let up. Even though his feet are completely coated in the grit of the road. One small detriment to a culture that doesn't need shoes all the time.
"You know if you wanted me somewhere in particular you could have just told me." he grumbles. Oh look, not so clueless, is he?
He wishes he didn't cave and put on the extra layer, though. He's awfully hot. He's been running and it's not even below freezing yet. He wonders if maybe his silver blood is bad for his fashion sense.

[Chilly Forest]

Krayger cringes but sits down next to her. He almost forgot how nice she looked like that. Luckily, being her for a while still tempers that feeling.
"You may want to be careful. I called her that, but her real name's longer. And she is powerful; had her own little domain and everything. If you go around using her name she might get annoyed at you." he warns. Just being truthful.
"Eighteen hours? That's...not a lot of time." Not a lot of time at all. Lots of wild animals don't even eat that often.

[Chaotic Bob]

[A Brisk Afternoon Run]

Ha! Ha! Ha! We are following destiny, wee hero!
Oop, there it goes again. The sword has definitely been mistakenly calling G'nichi small on and off for the past...entire time it has been present. It doesn't seem to be meant in a demeaning fashion, though, at least.

Ha! Ha! Ha! The currents of fate know no clear destination but the one our feet carry us to! Ha!
Preferably over that root in the middle of the path, rather than tripping over it.
The mist is starting to get thicker on the ground, so keeping an eye on these things is getting harder. The sword is too busy narrating to point out every little road hazard.

Ha! Ha! Ha! Besides! The thrill of the unknown destination stirs the energies of the HEART!

Somewhere vaguely nearby, a small river can be heard babbling its way past the trees. Which is about as good a time as any to realize that not once in this entire run has G'nichi heard anything that would indicate there is life in this wood, beyond the many trees themselves.
More suspicious.

Ha! Ha! Ha! You must be strong of body and WILL in order to be the hero destiny craves! What is it YOU crave, delightfully small hero?

[Deathkeeper]

[A Brisk Afternoon Run]

G'nichi shows the results of days practicing with his big stompy dragon feet and hops over the root he barely noticed instead of face-planting. Good for him.
"Okay so when you say small you mean small-time right? Because I'm still a junior hero. But I'm physically big enough to carry you, and you are NOT small." G'nichi has no problem being called small in the accurate way. He's a junior hero. But in terms of physical proportions, he is large by the standards of anything measuring in units smaller than actual dragons.
"At the moment? I crave simple things. A new house that I fit into. A date with Nala. Some water. The basics." he grumbles in answer to the sword's question.

[Chaotic Bob]

[A Brisk Afternoon Run]

Ha! You are funny! You would still fit in the palm of warriors I once knew!
Poor G'nichi. Will your muscles ever be enough?

Now HALT!
At what is presumably very precisely the three mile mark, the sword gives a commanding cry to stop, with the evident expectation of obedience.
It is also conveniently in time to avoid a very sharp dip in the path, borderline a cliff drop.

The mist makes it a little difficult to tell, but just in front of G'nichi the path becomes fairly steep before veering off to the right, in the direction of the river sounds.
DESTINY pulls us along this trail, little G'nichi! Great rewards lie before you! I SENSE it! It PULLS us...eh? TREACHERY!

It cries out in outraged alarm!
...at nothing!
Nothing at all has changed about the woods. They remain quiet, save the burbling of water, while the mist travels along G'nichi's feet.
The path before remains as it was below, and the path behind remains stretched off into the shaded trees.

[bc56]

Rolling Hills

Selekhael focuses on her... Reliquary? That's the feeling of fullness, right? Ah, and those little motes of power must be her trait points. All three of them. She focuses on them, and is surprised to see a list of traits appear. She cycles through them. Oh, that seems useful. And she can think of a few places in the last adventure where she could've used that. But what about the third one? She puts a point into her spread gun, and holds it out as it changes shape, becoming heavier and longer, a proper cone weapon. Now she shouldn't have as many problems hitting things far away. Her next point goes into her speed. She feels her muscles tense in readiness. She could give a nice burst of speed out of those, and she should be a little faster all the time too. But that third point. She turns to Arukael. "What would you, uh, recommend I get?"

[Deathkeeper]

[A Brisk Afternoon Run]

G'nichi halts as commanded. And lucky, too. He can barely see the lack of road in front of him. He looks about but cannot see any of this treachery.
Still, he is aware that carrying a large sword on your back is pretty terrible if you actually get jumped, so just to be safe he reaches back and with a few pulls extricates the sword from its scabbard.
"Okay, where's this treachery? Uh, are you just Sword? None of the arms has ever given me a name to call them by." Except the reality-warping fork but G'nichi forgot it immediately because it was really long.

[Chaotic Bob]

[A Brisk Afternoon TREACHERY]

The sword is drawn!
Strangely, when G'nichi looks at what he has pulled from his back, it appears to still just be the sword in that thick wooden scabbard.
And weirdly, upon noting this fact, the scabbard on his back is no longer there. Some portion of this sequence doesn't entirely make sense, but the end result is that the sword itself remains sheathed.
Some unspoken detail, similar to how he occasionally learns things about the Arms, indicates that this is The Way It Should Be. Drawing the blade itself right now would be some form of potentially dangerous mistake, related to some quirk of the blade itself rather than the current circumstances.
Also rather awkward to hold, but probably still highly lethal given its sheer mass.

The sword does not answer G'nichi for a long time.

This long time amounts to approximately ten seconds, but considering that it hasn't stopped "Ha!"ing or otherwise verbalizing straight into the lad's brain for hours now, this ten seconds is close to a functional eternity.

There is...SORCERY.

This is said with all the flare and pomp of someone revealing the prize behind Mystery Curtain #1 on a game show, but still nothing in the reality around G'nichi seems to warrant this.
Perhaps realizing this, the sword does sound a tiny bit more subdued as it continues.
Destiny weaves a most peculiar web for us this day, little G'nichi. Forward on! But CAREFULLY.

One suspects that the intelligent thing to do here is actually to just leave.

[Rebonack]

[Chilly Forest]

Rassa makes a sputtery noise. "Any faerie of more than a little power has a domain. I have one. I go there when I sleep," she replies matter-of-factly. "If she doesn't want to be annoyed she shouldn't have left bits of her Name laying around."

If you just leave Names laying around people are going to pick them up.

That's just how it works.

Anywho!

"Most people try to eat three times a day," Rassa replies. "I think once or twice is pretty admirable, considering what I have to eat."

Then she sticks her tongue out.

"Let's not talk about that, though. Let's talk about you. I picked up a few memories, but only things you did as 'Kray'. Tell me a story."