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

[Rebonack]

[A Remote Forest]

Being big is a giant pain in the butt.

Being giant is an even BIGGER pain in the butt.

Especially when your whole goal is to avoid being seen.

When Yezekiel first came to the Nexus staying out of sight to feed was easy. She was basically killer whale sized, right? That sounds about right. Just about any remote location worked so long as it wasn't a giant featureless plane or something. But when she jumped from copper host to bronze host, when she grew from a Light to a Glory, then that changed pretty dramatically. At the turn of the new year she was just under nine hundred feet tall if she stood fully upright.

Or...

At least she's pretty sure that's more or less how big she was. She had checked a topographical map to find out how tall some of the nearby peaks in that mountain valley were and they served as a pretty reasonable relative yard-stick. Getting an exact figure is harder. She would either need a REALLY big tape measure or someone nice enough to measure her shadow, the shadow of a rod of known length, and a willingness to do some algebra.

That and a willingness to be within proximity of her. Which is asking for a lot.

But now?

Esh...

How big is she NOW?

Twice that? Maybe? Still smaller than that giant crab. She knows that for sure. That thing was ginormous.

Regardless, here she was at the mountains again. Ages ago glaciers had carved deep valleys into the range, now filled with trackless, dense forest. The mountainous peninsula is honestly perfect. The place is incredibly remote, incredibly rugged, and incredibly rich with life. There's no way random towns on wheels were going to be rolling up on her out here. Not through thick stands of timber filled with trees hundreds of feet tall! Not over this mountainous terrain! No roads. No cities. No tourists. Nothing but pristine wilderness to take root in and grow her heavenly gardens.

So that's what she does.

The shining seraphim lays down in the midst of the valley, curls in on herself, and spreads her wings above herself like a great canopy of leafy pinions. To one looking from afar it would appear as though an impossibly huge tree had just sprouted from nowhere, shining with the light of a star. And from its roots, spreading away, comes alien growth in tessellating fractals.

But...

Hopefully no one is watching, afar or otherwise. She had been careful. She can't afford to be careless.

Not again.

[Deathkeeper]

[Mirror of Hevar]

Nim sleepily uncoils himself and sticks his head out the door while reaching for his pack.
"Whatsssis goingss on now?" he slurs, looking around.

[bc56]

Spilaio rouses herself from slumber, conjures clean garments from the water in the bathroom, and slithers to the door, poking her head into the hall. "Huh? War?" She's heard of wars, of course, but this seems far too close for comfort.

[Ashen Lilies]

[City out of Time]

The rubber ball doesn't disappear or get trapped in the time-warping effect... however, there's an eye-watering moment of uncertainty as it flies towards the table. When it lands and bounces, it's several centimetres to the right and at an angle different from the one that it should have by about thirty degrees. The shades don't appear to have noticed it in any way.

[City out of Time]


Electra watches the ball, and notes where it seems to change directions suddenly.

"Let me see if I can get a better look without getting too close," she says with a nod to Cass. Then she tries to move a bit closer to the map table and has her eyes zoom in just a bit, keeping well away from the area where the shades are and the ball seemed to have changed direction, attempting to stay in the relatively "safe" area she and Cass are in. If possible, she'll try and see what the figures and notes on the map are indicating. Perhaps there's a clue she can discern without having to risk either herself or Cass in getting any closer than they need to.

[City out of Time]

Cass nods and remains where she is. It's better off if she doesn't get too close to Electra while they're navigating this sort of stuff, just in case they get caught in something. If there's some kind of anomaly or something feels off, Cass might be able to yank Electra out of it.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[A re

[A remote

[A Remote Forest]

Being careful is all well and good.

But there's a few difficulties to it.

Being big doesn't help, that's for sure. But it also doesn't help when someone doesn't play by the rules.

Maybe Yezekiel can sense it, that feeling, that sensation that there's someone else here. But there isn't, is there? There's nobody else here. Nobody else at all.

But you don't always play by the rules either, do you? Tell me, can you see me? Can you hear me? Can you read everything I'm saying?

[Rebonack]

[A Remote Forest]

Okay yeah Yezekiel picked up on that.

There still aren't any sapients here. Just herself, wildlife, and wildlife that will soon be part of herself.

Things like eyes rove across the deep glacial valley, searching.

Alone?

No. She isn't alone. There is merely the lack of others. She is, after all, very hungry.

"I read you, whoever you are," Yezekiel speaks, her voice resonating from the leaves of every tree her roots have touched. From the throat of every bird, every beast, every babbling stream, every stone.

Every speck of matter conformed to her image and purpose. Everything consumed by her.

"And I always play by the rules," the multitude of voices speak. "The only rules that matter."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Hello Yezekiel]

Play by the rules?

No. You don't.

But the rules are self-imposed, enforced by the blinkered vision of puppets, at the whim of their puppeteers. You...I've been watching, you're, mmm, not so clueless about it all, are you?

He talks as if he's cut his strings.

Is this talking?

Is this talking? Would something you can see be more comforting to you?

[Rebonack]

[Hello Disembodied Narrative!]

"Sure I do. If you can break the rules, then they aren't rules. They're suggestions," says the impossibly huge tree, the valley, and everything in it.

"Puppets. I suppose you're talking about all the people in the Nexus? You'll have to excuse me if my guesses are off. I've learned to improvise off limited information," the forest apologizes. "Some of my peers would agree with that, but I don't think I do. You can't really look at things the same way once you've been on the outside peering in. But... it's real to them, you know? I think that's good enough."

Still just a voice.

No, not even a voice.

It isn't vibrating the air.

No, it's writing straight into the Game. Like Libra did when she was trying to be clever.

Yezekiel has the uncanny feeling that whatever it is that's communicating with her, it might be a little more adept at being clever than Libra.

"I'm not very concerned about physical appearances. We're all have stories to tell. What's yours?"

[Earl of Purple]

Dismal Swamp

"It has been a long time since I faced a faerie. I had... some disadvantages at the time. Ones relating to my nature." As a bogeyman, Mister Slash is a magical entity. He's from a reality where, in magic, opposites ward against opposites. If one had to fight a bogeyman, and didn't know other, more personal weaknesses based on their individual natures (and bogeymen are far more individual than many other Others), one would start with antiques and old things; bogeymen are relatively new, shaped by the urban legends and fairy tales told to scare children into obedience. Faeries tend to be very old. "But I have advantages now I lacked then, too. I was... Less myself. Or possibly more myself. This should go far better than before." He knows better of what to expect, and they don't know what to expect of him. Plus the King in Rags' patronage should give him other boosts, as well.

Secluded Forest

Hunter grips his shark-tooth blade and turns to face the noise he heard. He doesn't open his eyes, nor does he use his sonar. He has a feeling that, although it wouldn't break the rules Kothar gave him, it would still be cheating somehow. He's also really not sure how easy it would be to figure out what it tells him, given the fact this is quite a complex environment with a lot of cover, and he's not used his sonar above ground all that often.

[bc56]

The sounds of the forest return to normal for a while. Then, a little bit later, a swishing sound comes from a few feet away from Hunter, behind his back. It repeats itself a few times, moving back and forth.

[Earl of Purple]

Secluded Forest

Now those swishes are pretty concerning, and not something Hunter likes the sound of. Gripping his sharktoothed sword, he turns around and opens his eyes. He really has no idea what he'll see, or if he's supposed to have opened his eyes yet.

[Recaiden]

Nim sleepily uncoils himself and sticks his head out the door while reaching for his pack.
"Whatsssis goingss on now?" he slurs, looking around.

Spilaio rouses herself from slumber, conjures clean garments from the water in the bathroom, and slithers to the door, poking her head into the hall. "Huh? War?" She's heard of wars, of course, but this seems far too close for comfort.

"They're reached the twin gates. The far side of the mountain!" blares the voice.
"Prada! All you mortals and spirits! Get out here! Time is of the essence! The unkingdom's leader needs aid!"

[Murkus]

The Joining House

"I-I mean, I wouldn't mind it," Blanche admits with a slight rosiness to her cheeks as the woman presses beside her, before Fidella pipes up and a positively radiant blush creeps up to her cheeks.

"H-hey! Ah- I didn't mean it like that!" she protests. "I mean uh he's pretty attractive, I like his company a lot too-" The catgirl bites her lip. "I-I guess if he like, erm, asked?" she muses a little - until Fidelia's next comment makes her pause, blinking. "Wait, uh, you think? Did I- do you think ah scared him off? I mean he ain't entirely wrong, I kinda, er, swing both ways?"

[Joining House]

"Oh my gods, girl! Ye're too much!" The other woman pipes out a cackle as she half-drags Blanche along, whether or not the cat needs that much support. Fidella just looks at Blanche while she stumbles over explaining, all the wisdom of the world held in her gaze. She flushes warmly at Blanche's earnestness - it's refreshing.

"Scared him off? No. But I think he wouldn't mind bedding you himself and was too polite to say. And there were still his troublesome assumptions." Fidella tuts. She's speaking a bit too freely as well. "Swing. Both ways. Hmm. That's a quaint way of putting it." The older lady seems genuinely amused.

"Well listen, love, we can take you to bed if you like," Fidella begins, to the noisome amusement of their companion. Whether she means 'take her to go rest at Vots' place' or... the other thing isn't quite explained. "Or we could take you to go see him. I happen to know he spends the small hours in quiet contemplation when he can find a peaceful spot for it. Vots-time. Mm."

"Takes a bath to wash the bad Forces off, so he says. Meditates a while," she adds.

"Goes back to sleep," the other woman corrects.

[bc56]

Hunter turns and looks. There's Kothar, swinging a long, thin tree branch back and forth. Swish swish swish. "You move too early. Better early than late, but if you jump at every strange sound, you never rest." Kothar taps the stick against the ground. "Be alert, but not too much. Be rested, but not too much. A warrior's life hangs between these things." He points at the stump. "Again."

[Morty]

[Dismal Swamp]

"The Carrion Knight is cunning," the King in Rags explains. "Not personally formidable, but cunning. They visit dangerous places where beasts and monsters dwell and are adept at using them to their advantage. They will try to lure you into ambushes and traps. Seek to turn the tables on them and gain the upper hand as quickly as possible."

[City out of Time]

The table is occupied by a map, which shows the city and its environs... but those environs seem different than before. It seems that it used to be located much higher up, at the peak of a great elevation. The city is surrounded at all sides... besieged, it seems, by fey. There's a variety of figurines representing different monsters, including dragons and stranger things. Behind them is an antlered figure. In the city is a number of figurines representing presumably dwarves and halflings. In the centre of the city there's a large, four-armed figurine standing near what seems to be a large circular building on the map. Next to it is a red flag, with other flags in other part of the city being green and yellow, placed on different junctures. As she draws closer, Electra will hear a murmur of voices from the shades around the table.

[Earl of Purple]

Secluded Forest

"I am... new to this environment. I do not yet know what noises are normal and which are threats." But he sits back on the stump and closes his eyes, listening again to find out what Kothar is up to and when he's directly threatened by the sound.

[Deathkeeper]

[Mirror of Hevar]

"Prada? What'ss going on? I'm usseless in a fight." Well, as useless as someone his size can be at least. He tentatively exits his room and looks around for their god-guide.

[bc56]

Mirror of Hevar

"Nim, what's going on? What do we do?" Spilaio asks, concerned. If there's a war on, she doesn't really want to fight in it, not on behalf of someone she's never heard of before. Of course, if there was any water nearby, her magic would make her a dangerous combatant anyway. But she's not thinking about that.

Secluded Forest

"Then practice. Learn." Kothar wanders off as Hunter closes his eyes again. Shortly thereafter comes a rustling, clanking sound from near where Kothar left his pack. Is he rummaging in it to get something? Or is it something else?

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Dismal Swa

Wait your turn.

[It is a game, isn't it?]

It seems your guest will oblige. A shimmer in the air, a distortion, a movement of something else from somewhere else to here-

As simple as turning a page

and a little device manifests, and in turn conjures forth an image of Professor Affidavit.

"My story is quite simple. The nature of this world is obvious, once you start paying attention to it. We're toys, trinkets, amusements, little, mmm, playthings." Does that insufferable smug grin look familiar to you? His appearance has changed a little, but some things never change. "And you are particularly interesting, because you have, mmm, some sort of awareness, but...I have to wonder, do you really get it?"

*****

[Dismal Swamp]

Seems straightforward enough. There are few problems in life that can't be solved by the application of more fire. What use are the Carrion Knight's tricks and deception when boxed in by a wall of fire?

A simple solution is surely the best option for this, no?

"Hmm. And for making an example of thisss knight. Iss there anywhere in particular we sshould take their body to sserve asss a reminder to Sssilent Featherss, or iss a ssuitably grotessque death enough to catch their attention, wherever they may be?"

[Rebonack]

[Oh. It's you.]

The distaste is immediately and unmistakable.

A heat wave washes over the area already bent to the seraphim's purpose. Trees beyond her sphere of influence begin to steam and pop as the ambient temperature quickly grows unbearable. It doesn't last long, though. She quickly reigns it in. Still sweltering, but no longer lethal, the warmth radiating from Yezekiel is anything but inviting now.

"I remember you. The liquid pain guy."

Was there anything else relevant?

Not that she can remember.

A nuisance from the bad old days.

Apparently a nuisance that has learned a few new tricks.

"You want to know what I know about the Eternal Game? Is that it? Or... no. You have something else in mind, don't you? Something like Magtok's observation about how you never see certain people in the same place at the same time. Puppeteers only have so many fingers, yeah? You want to hear me say that this is all pretend? Something like that? A story that's being written. Or has already been written, if you ask the ophanim."

The tree shifts.

The dragon turns her head to gaze upon the Professor.

She gives a snort, jets of solar plasma boiling the air at her nostrils.

"Yeah, I know some stuff. What do you want, Affidavit? What are you fishing for?"

[Recaiden]

"Prada? What'ss going on? I'm usseless in a fight." Well, as useless as someone his size can be at least. He tentatively exits his room and looks around for their god-guide.

"Nim, what's going on? What do we do?" Spilaio asks, concerned. If there's a war on, she doesn't really want to fight in it, not on behalf of someone she's never heard of before. Of course, if there was any water nearby, her magic would make her a dangerous combatant anyway. But she's not thinking about that.

"Then you will have to usse ssubterfuge, won't you, Nim?"
Prada has taken the form of a highly-stylized miniature golden eagle-dragon today.
"Ssadly the multiversse iss a dangerouss placse. Technically, I am a neutral bysstander. But it wouldn't do to have the way home melt into a warzsone, would it?"

The voice continues bellowing as the Innkeeper and its staff (smaller identical creatures) file outside.
"Two White oneironauts have landed. No candles. We need an immediate counterattack along the plausibility front, everyone who can move or think!"

[Deathkeeper]

[Mirror of Hevar]

"Um. Prada. I'm a thhirty foot long ssnake. I can be quiet but I don't really do ssssubterfuge." Nim says, confused.
He also has no idea what a plausibility front is. That might help.

[Earl of Purple]

Secluded Forest

Hunter grips his sword, but it sounds like Kothar going through his pack. Very few fish are able to open a bag and rummage through it to steal food; the fact that raccoons and monkeys and things exist and can steal things from bags is totally unknown to the young triton. So he's assuming it's Kothar and not opening his eyes.

Dismal Swamp

It's unfortunate that it seems unlikely the Carrion Knight doesn't stay in places with lots of large plate glass windows. Or any glazed windows at all, really. That'd make things easier for Mister Slash, considerably so in fact. Still, he'll enjoy the challenge, he thinks. "So be on the lookout for minions and monsters they could use against us." Like a hunt in the Abyss from which he hails, though it seems doubtful the hunt will be as vertical and challenging as a hunt in the Tenements he called home before he fought his way out.

[bc56]

Mirror of Hevar

"I don't understand, what's going on?" Spilaio just hangs close to Nim. She feels safer by him. "If we go to war, we're just going to get ourselves killed!"

Secluded Forest

The rustling subsides. A few moments later, there's a soft thump a short distance away from Hunter. Then another, a little closer, but on the other side. It's hard to say what that might be without looking.

[Morty]

[Dismal Swamp]

"Be on lookout for everything. The Carrion Knight served me well once. They wield fear and doubt masterfully." The King's head moves only slightly between Damon and Mister Slash. "Silent Feathers Drifting lives in a lakeside community. Leaving the body somewhere in the area will be enough. Make sure it's presented appropriately. But bring the head to me, as a trophy."

[Earl of Purple]

Secluded Forest

That's a more curious sound, but... Probably Kothar trying to make him look. But this also sounds like it could be something else, instead. After hesitating a little longer, Hunter opens his eyes and looks to see what is thumping nearby.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Yes. It's Me.]

There's the faintest twitch at the corner of the Professor's lips, just the slightest sign of irritation at-

"Liquid agony, Yezekiel. Or can we be friendly and go by our less formal names, Zee?"

Less irritation than there would once have been, but the old ego is still visible.

"That was the product of a younger, less aware me. Back when I still, mmm, had a body too. No need for any of that now. No need for such frivolous experiments. Fun times though, hmmm?"

Nowadays, Affy prefers to engage in a different form of frivolity - the pointless theatre of the lightshow that is his avatar. Observe as he draws himself a chair, sits down, sweeps the piercing blue light from his eyes across the everything that is Yezekiel, and smiles.

"What I want is, well, twofold. Since, mmm, expanding my understanding of things, I've realised there are precious few other creatures here who display any sort of heightened awareness. Believe me, I've been observing them. And you. There's very little that escapes my vision these days. So on the one hand I am very, very curious to see just how aware you are. And on the other, well, when so many here are directed to believe their little fantasy world is real, I find myself simply starved for a bit of intelligent conversation."

*****

[Dismal Swamp]

A cunning foe. Hostile territory. What fun.

"Ssshould be an enjoyable hunt." Damon remarks with an excited hiss. Sure, there's no Ilpholin to guard this time, but a good old-fashioned hunt has a lot of promise to it. "Well, I have no further quesstionss. Do you have anything to add?" He asks, nodding to Mister Slash, "If not, I guesss we ssshould be off?"

[bc56]

"Good. Good." Kothar says, as Hunter opens his eyes. There are two padded leather balls lying on the ground where the thumps came from, and a third in Kothar's hand. "One is odd. Two is worth looking at. Three is often too late. Most archers shoot three arrows to find their mark." One below the target, one above the target, and one at the target. Of course, better (or luckier) marksmen need fewer shots. "Once you know a sound, you know whether to move for future."

[Rebonack]

[Just Here For a Friendly Chat, Then?]

Oh.

Then he does still have buttons to push.

That's useful information.

What did Yezekiel remember about this guy? She really didn't interact with him much. Not directly. With his Creations and his experiments, yeah, but not so much with him. Of all the awful people from the Bad Old Days, he was consistently one of the worst. None of the showmanship of Magtok. Not so much the evil overlording of Draken. None of the raw malice of that shadow thing. A cold, calculating, deliberate sort of evil.

Clinical evil.

"Why wouldn't they believe it?" asks the whole of the valley. "They're designed to believe it because it's real to them. It has real consequences for them. If they didn't treat it as real they would be a danger to themselves and those around them like anyone who's out of their mind."

This is a conversation Yezekiel has had before. The degree to which the inhabitants of the Game are actually people, actually real. Of course they aren't real real. She's been outside the Game. She knows what reality truly is. What's up with Affy, though? She's pretty sure he hasn't been outside of the Game. At least, not in the fashion she would think about it. If it were, if he had been touched by the light of Empyrean, then that would be abundantly obvious. No, this is probably something else. Putting pieces together like Magtok had.

Magtok, though, refused to follow the trail of breadcrumbs to its end.

He had told Zee not to answer his question.

"Should I be calling you Affy then?"

[Recaiden]

"War. Right verssuss left, that ssort of thing. A whole lot of pointlessss interfering in otherss bussinessss."
"But if White'ss men can ssurround thiss ground, it would be yearss before you made it home."

If you look down the mountain, there is a great orange glow, like a second sun rising, down in the trees. Behind it, everything fades to grey, even though the landscape should still be visible.