Silly Plots 4: It's not particularly silly, is it?

[bc56]

Forman House

"It needs to be destroyed." Saramond sets the knife on the ground and draws her sword. With a swing of the violet blade, the dagger is split in two, and its halves fizzle out of existence. A sense of wrongness that Krayger may not have even been aware of lifts, and Saramond seems to relax. "That's better." With that done, Saramond looks around for a tool, eventually getting a rusty shovel out of the collapsing shed, and helps dig. She's not as good at it as Krayger.

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

It might take a while but eventually they manage to get a sizeable hole to drop the body into. Filling it is easier. Krayger does find a decent sized stone to lay at the top.
"May you find the peace that was denied to you." intones Krayger somberly before stepping away.
"Alright, boss. That should take care of our restless spirit. There's still a few rooms to look through. Though that was probably the notable thing here."
Of course now Saramond would presumably be living in a house with the previous owner buried on-site. But that is also not his problem.

[bc56]

Forman House

Saramond nods and bows her head in a moment of silence for the deceased, then starts back towards the house.
She looks up and says something. "Huh? Oh, it's nothing. You'd do the same for me, right?" Who is she talking to? "I what? So what does that mean? Why me?"

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

Oh good, the magic sword is talking to Saramond. Hopefully it'll inform him on how to get his old shape back. Unless he likes being a lady. Krayger would have no place to judge.
He'll let his boss sort out the magic sword identity issues and goes to finish checking out the second floor of the house. With the spirit laid to rest he assumes there won't be any more danger there.

[5a Violista]

[Blind Date]

Three-headed skeleton lion seems like the kind of thing people would go to a zoo to see.

June agrees: yeah, the magic is pretty neat. "I was a little worried that it would be something weird, like..." like...um...no idea. June can't think of anything weirder than what has already happened and would still be safe for consumption. "Like, um...i dunno."

After some thought, June remarks, "A place without gravity would be pretty neat. Like, you're in space but without all the trouble of getting there. Place without doubt...well, it could feel pretty normal, but I think if it's implemented right then you could make it give very psychological-horror vibes. Might be fun to see a movie about that."

June drinks some more smoothie, to give more time to listen. The flavor is pretty enjoyable. And drinking these is a pretty reasonable blind date, June decides, because it forces you to not talk the whole time and to make breaks for the other person to talk, too.

"Never happened before, never happened since," June confirms. It's not every day you wake up in a crater, after all. "So was it, like, your own airship? Or was it more like a passenger airship or something?" June then asks, trying to learn more about the date-partner.

[Rebonack]

[Enchanted Forest]

"Oh boy okay this'll be fun!" the pooka replies as it bounces over to the stone, that great big crescent moon smile on full display.

There's an exchange between the stone and the pooka. The faerie is... diminished, somehow. Not like it got smaller or transparent or anything.

Like it just became notably less.

Then Adir is in that bunker again. Back in the war. The role imposed by the dream weighs down on him, but there's a difference this time.

He's actually here.

He can push off the dream logic, but it will take some effort on his part. As for the pooka? It's now someone from the memory. Someone Adir knew. It may or may not still be a pooka, however. That's sort of how things go sometimes. Adir is holding a piglet but he knows that piglet represents one of his friends from highschool somehow. Dreams are weird.

And sometimes scary.

Like for Cassie and Melissa?

They are not inside the bunker.

And things outside the bunker in Adir's dream glade just got very, very frightening.

[bc56]

Forman House

Saramond goes back up the stairs and to the secret room again for some reason while Krayger can check out the eastern rooms on the lower floor. The first is a sitting room, with the furniture one would expect: ancient leather armchairs, a burned-out fireplace full of soot. The room beyond that is a library full of old books, some ruined, some probably still readable. Maybe there's information on the artifacts found upstairs there? It's possible.

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

They don't really have time to read every book in the room. But it shouldn't take too long to skim it. Krayger looks for books that were left out or seem particularly old or worn.
Or have really obvious names like Relics or somesuch in the title.
Otherwise he'll simply report back to Saramond that this room is clear.

[bc56]

Forman House

It doesn't take super long to find one of several books laid out on a table, entitled "Artifacts of the Brilliant Pantheon." That sounds promising. A seven-part seal is etched on the cover in flaking gold leaf, depicting a sword, a chain, a fishhook, a needle, a bracelet, a staff, and an orb. That looks like it could be relevant.

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

Ah, perfect. Krayger holds the book out and starts flipping through it. Maybe it has something about these gods and their chosen. Though it sounds like Saramond is already getting his tutoring they'll probably want to know.
Also if these things really are holy then there's probably not any more in this house. Why would there be a third one that wasn't sitting around in the shrine? That would be where you keep it.

[bc56]

Forman House

Krayger reads through the book. It seems that there's a collection of 7 artifacts tied to 7 ancient and forgotten gods, each associated with a different color. The seven gods pass their mantles on to the bearers of the artifacts, if they deem them worthy. The tome is divided into 9 sections. The first gives an overview. The 7 after that deal with each individual artifact. The last talks about the duties of the artifact-bearers. To use the power of the artifacts to protect others, to destroy sources of corruption wherever they are found, and to prepare the way for a new bearer to take up the artifact upon their deaths.
It looks like Saramond ended up with the Sword of the Violet Empress. Which explains her current female and very purple state. The needle belonged to a being called the Golden Protector.

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

Krayger tries to read the section on the needle and the Golden Protector. He can give the section on the sword to Saramond but Saramond is already too far in to turn back. Krayger has to know if this needle is dangerous. He picks up the book and walks back to the western side of the house with the secret room while he reads. Maybe if he looks at the needle itself he'll be able to cross-reference things.

[bc56]

Forman House

The Golden Protector uses the needle to bestow enhancements on others or themselves, in the form of glowing tattoos. Specifically, animal symbolism seems to be important, that a tattoo in the image of an animal bestows some aspects of that animal. Strength for a bear or cunning for a fox, for example. It seems the Protector is aligned to purification and specifically fights against magical corruption.

Oh, and I forgot about the ninth section of the book. It details an unnatural power called "The Root" which is the chief enemy of the Brilliant Pantheon. Most of it is probably not relevant, except one diagram. It's a detailed drawing of a dagger. The same dagger which was found in the corpse's back here, and which Saramond destroyed.

In the secret room, Saramond is sitting in front of the altar with the sword drawn across her knees. "Tell me what I'm supposed to do." She's saying to the sword.

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

Krayger kneels down and places the book down next to Saramond.
"Well, I found some info on this stuff though I'm not sure how much you don't already know. Was your friend helpful?" he asks. Saramond was definitely talking to somebody so hopefully that was good news.

[bc56]

Forman House

"Let me try something first. Then we'll talk." Saramond holds up the sword. "The Empress sleeps, until the people need her." She sheathes the sword, and there's a flash of purple light again. Saramond is returned to his original form. He looks at himself to make sure. "Ah, that's a relief. I was worried I was stuck like that." He looks around. "Huh, she's gone. Okay, what did you want?"

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

"Oh, I just wanted to give you that book in case your friend wasn't being particularly helpful. But it sounds like you're fine. Uh, so I guess you know those things are holy relics? What are you gonna do with the other one? Just gonna store it in your house?" Krayger asks. It doesn't really sound like a smart idea.

[bc56]

Forman House

Saramond nods. "Don't know much else, except I was considered worthy of the power of some 'Violet Empress.' Dunno why. Or why I have to be a lady to use it." He looks at the needle resting on the altar. "I don't need it. If you want it, you can have it. Or if you have any idea where it could be kept for safety."

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

"Well, I don't think it's a great idea to leave it in your closet. I'll see if I can find someone willing to protect a holy relic like this." Krayger slips on a glove and takes the needle off of the shrine. Normally he would just pawn it off but even he wouldn't do that to a holy relic of a benevolent god. That would just be rude. He's sure he can find a temple where they are likely to have someone its patron would like.

[bc56]

Forman House

Picking it up with gloves is probably a safe choice. If that point touches bare skin, who knows what would happen. And it's sharp too. It could go right through leather gloves if he's not careful. "You know where you're taking it?"

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

"No, but a random farmhouse isn't really all that secure. I'm sure someone can find a secure place for it." Krayger says conversationally, wiggling the needle at Saramond.
"Also above my paygrade. I guess since you've got your own you could do that too." He holds it out just in case Saramond would prefer to take it. Not like you can be chosen by two gods at once.

[bc56]

Forman House

"I suppose I could take it to vigil, but I don't know how I could possibly explain all this." Saramond takes the needle. As expected nothing happens. He can't be chosen by both artifacts.

[Deathkeeper]

Forman House

Krayger pulls off the glove now that that’s done with.
”Well, sounds like the job is done, then. Did you have anything else you wanted me to do? Otherwise I guess we can shake on it and I can leave you to your renovation plans.” Krayger gives a small smile. Not a full one that freaks people out.

[bc56]

Forman House

"You got it." Saramond holds out his hand to shake. "I'll have to figure out what to do with this still," He gestures at the sword, "And about what it makes me, and the new duties I apparently need to attend to, but I should be fine on my own. Going to need some materials, of course, but I know how to get those."

[Recaiden]

[The Underground]

"In short?" Mia says as she watches the flow of energy on her device. She also uses one of the working stations nearby(I guess you got one in the machine room) to get the informations from the ship itself. Likly running the selfscan programms most of those high tech structures have.
"The power is working and many places have recived energy." She starts her report. "It is clear that the ship is underground and nothing seems to change that. I got a list of rooms that work again, like bridge, warp room and some more. I will try to improve the system and move the energy from some structures away. After all we won't need the outside weapons. Then we should head for the bridge. There we should have access to all the Systems."

"Good. Let me go first."

The ship will carry out its diagnostic scan and start reporting results to Mia. A lot of it is stuff she already knows.
Emergency! Dangerous aliens aboard, near power plant 3!
Warning! Signs of alien intrusion into the cargo bay, but no life detected.
Power plant 1 - off
Power plant 2 - off
Power plant 3 - on, fuel level medium
Weapons - 60% operational
Artificial gravity - online
Port hangar - inoperable, shields - inoperable, communications transmitters - inoperable.
Warp drive - charging, 2% ready.
One (1) crew member detected - outside the ship, off to starboard.
Ship is off course in an uncharted location. Ship is immobilized by rubble. Warp echoes suggest small number of human ships operating in the Nexus, as well as many unknown vessels.
And it has a long list of minor complaints.

Now that the power is on, they will run into locked doors, unhappy security cameras, automatic guns that pop out of the floor, etc.
But I'm sure that between them, these defenses won't be a problem. After all, they're just machines.

[Blind Date]

Three-headed skeleton lion seems like the kind of thing people would go to a zoo to see.

June agrees: yeah, the magic is pretty neat. "I was a little worried that it would be something weird, like..." like...um...no idea. June can't think of anything weirder than what has already happened and would still be safe for consumption. "Like, um...i dunno."

After some thought, June remarks, "A place without gravity would be pretty neat. Like, you're in space but without all the trouble of getting there. Place without doubt...well, it could feel pretty normal, but I think if it's implemented right then you could make it give very psychological-horror vibes. Might be fun to see a movie about that."

June drinks some more smoothie, to give more time to listen. The flavor is pretty enjoyable. And drinking these is a pretty reasonable blind date, June decides, because it forces you to not talk the whole time and to make breaks for the other person to talk, too.

"Never happened before, never happened since," June confirms. It's not every day you wake up in a crater, after all. "So was it, like, your own airship? Or was it more like a passenger airship or something?" June then asks, trying to learn more about the date-partner.

It's fine to see at the zoo, less fine to discover running wild in your home.

"If it was too weird, people wouldn't buy them, right?" She sweeps a hand through her stardust-looking hair, still amused by it.

"Oh, it was more psychological horror, yeah." Which is different when you don't know it's fiction. "It was too weird, really. Inside is better, except for how loud and busy it gets."

Mei shakes her head.
"It was a pirate airship. We were stowaways. That was a really exciting time." Although at the time, she would have said 'horrible' rather than 'exciting'.
And it's once again her turn to drink a shake and let June talk.


[Temple of Inari]

Jade nods to Honeysuckle. They can talk as soon as class is out.

What? He just said fire wasn't an element! Jade looks a bit annoyed she was wrong.
Then actual magic stuff gets mentioned. Jade doesn't raise her hand. How does that even work? You can't just create fire like that, you need fuel for a reaction, and a source of energy to start it off, and oxygen for it to react with. (Well, there's probably oxygen. But the other two are missing!)
Okay, now something she vaguely understands. This is going to be a fire safety lecture, right? She understands that at least. Don't play with fire, kids.

It is in fact a fire safety lecture. You can't just keep matches out of kids' hands when they have magical powers; you really have to hammer in the lessons.
After that, he explains some of the theory.
How fire is everywhere, like all the primary and non-primary elements are, and is released by chemical combustion, or by magic. Encourages everyone to try to reach out and feel the fire burning behind the world.
Then there's some repeated safety instructions, and then the class is led outside for some practical magic.

[bc56]

Temple of Inari

Fire is in everything? Oh, the whole thing about how everything burns if you have enough energy and oxygen. Jade thinks. But she can't just feel fire around her. Can she?

Jade just stands around looking a bit confused about the whole magic thing. She's not sure how to do this, so she guesses she should listen to the teacher on this. But what's really the point? She doesn't know the first thing about magic. How do they expect her to do this?

[Recaiden]

Well, that's one way to interpret it. But he means something different.
Jade could probably feel it, because fire isn't even everywhere. Some places have more or less. But it's hard to explain how. How do you explain seeing to someone who hasn't done it?

The teacher sets out a candle, lights it (from nothing!) and they get to the things Jade expected at first: a short meditation upon the flame. To spend a while focusing on just the flickering candle, and then after what seems like forever but was actually just a few minutes, try to feel the other, less-released fires around them.

[Murkus]

[Enchanted Forest]

Adir watches the stone and the pooka suspiciously. The dream shift takes him by surprise. He wasn't anticipating a hard right into his own subconscious. He remembers it quickly enough, though; there are parts of this dream he can't forget. The way he saw Cassie, and how it broke him from his reverie.

The thought of her breaks him from it now. He straightens up, stands a little taller, barely fitting in the bunker's less than voluminous space. He looks over at his old friend Strig, a feathered face he hasn't seen in more than a decade. He looks at the pig in his arm. A friend from highschool. Sure.

Wait a second. He didn't go to school!

The stag squats so he can lower the piglet to the floor. Not sensing his daughter or her new friend, the stag moves to exit the bunker and search for them. Whether the pooka is still a pooka or Strig is still Strig, they barely get more than a glance unless they have something important to say.

[bc56]

Temple of Inari

Jade watches the flame.
It's peaceful, but she doesn't know if she feels anything.

Arguably, if someone blind suddenly became able to see, it would be overwhelming. But does this magic fire sense work that way?

He wants her to focus on fire around them that's not lit... does he mean pockets of thermal energy? What is that even supposed to mean? She tries to feel "fire" around her. But she's not sure. Some places feel warmer or cooler than others. Maybe there's something there she can use? But she's not sure. She reaches out to that warmth with her mind, unsure if that will do anything.

[Recaiden]

It's not overwhelming, not a whole new sense. It's mostly a different way to interpret the world. Perhaps it should be overwhelming, burning, but-
-it's not. Magic doesn't have to work the same way as a mundane source of information.

Heat isn't fire. Heat is a fact, a presence, an extant bit of energy. But...it's related. Fire, for all that it has a will of its own, it's drawn to heat and causes it both.
Just reaching out to the warmth, without intention...well, it's warmth, the heat of the air in a sunbeam. That's all.

The teacher goes to one, then another, of the students who said they could do this already, so they can demonstrate.
Maybe Jade will have more luck feeling that, when fire comes forth nearby, from one candle-flame to two, to three...

[bc56]

Temple of Inari

Jade sees each flame ignite, but she barely feels a twinge each time. She's not even sure if she's imagining it. Just like that sense that someone's watching her. Is someone actually watching? She's not sure. She's a fox-spirit, does that mean the fox goddess is watching her? And if so, is that a good thing?
When it comes to her turn, she sighs, reluctantly. She tries to focus. Fire. Okay, fire! Ugh, this is useless. Nothing is happening. She can't create fire. She's not a magician. She's an engineer.