15[20:06] Two days remain until Dryas takes delivery of the captured Anathema on behalf of Nn Tloc. In the meantime, Daizo's given her the impetus to organize an expedition through the unsettled and abandoned lee side of Hamoji, where the jungle is thick with hostile vegetation, Wyld-sick beasts, and apparently, a sage that people from all walks of life consult for her wisdom. 15[20:07] What kind of expedition has she put together? What's the planned route? When do they set out? [20:08] 4Uuuuughhhh everything still huuuuurts. Do we have to leave now? [20:10] 07Dryas has some experience establishing Dynast hunting parties. She (with the diligent assistance of Pale Moke, her majordomo), has secured a number of porters and pack animals, a pavilion, and catering. Of course all that travels much slower than a group of Princes of Earth. They'll only go out half as far as the Dynasts, who on horseback can range out, speak to the witch and hunt whatever prey catches their eye. [20:16] 4Bleh. [20:19] 10Daizo's concerned about the problem of what sort of gift to bring the Witch. Certainly he's gathered an assortment of worldly goods: green and black teas from halfway across Creation, skillfully cut gems (less precious than he'd like—a Tepet's stipend isn't what it used to be), and a selection of books… but when it comes to negotiating with a witch, really bargaining for knowledge (and perhaps a path to more than just [20:19] 10 knowledge), he feels he's a little under-supplied. [20:21] 4Piu will bring her bubbly good nature. Assuming it rises once she meets horsey. [20:24] 10The old standard is to promise that he will repay a service when called on. In both myth and historical record, however, this rarely ends well. Knowledge of the Anathema, perhaps? She already knows what transpires in her domain, and probably better than he does. The vessel of Carmine Road? Too hard-won to exchange, not now. Not now… [20:30] 07Accompanying them are a few dozen men-at-arms - some freshly hired mercenaries, a few harpooners and toughs from the 07Falling Leaf07. [20:30] 4Mmmmm. They're not much in the face, but then, Piu wouldn't want them as dancers. [20:31] 4But Dryas probably doesn't want her fucking the help, and frankly, she's not up for it right now. [20:32] 07They carry spears and polearms in relatively good condition and while Dryas hasn't bothered with uniforms, they wear sashes of charcoal, green, and white as signs of allegiance. [20:34] 10About what you'd expect from Cynis house guard, really. Quantity over quality. But sometimes that's what you need.  [20:37] 10The drill grounds in Lord's Crossing are all empty. They could barely scrape up a company for last summer's sabre dance exhibition. And the cavalry games? Cancelled. [20:40] 07And here's Dryas herself, red-tinted Chiaroscuro glass spectacles pushed back on her head to hold her hair back until the sun rises, sporting a sensible set of blue riding silks. A quiver on one hip, a horn inlaid with silver on the other. She'll pound on the door of anyone who isn't showing signs of being ready five minutes before go-time. 15[20:40] One final question before Dryas's final inspection passes muster and the hearth departs: is Daizo bringing his translator? [20:42] 10Yes. Between Dryas' guard and the four of them, things should be perfectly safe. 15[20:44] Then there's only one problem: the horse Dryas chose for Sadako is thrown into a panic as the pale girl approaches, rearing back, thrashing, and making the most terrible noises. 15[20:45] Sadako recoils, eyes narrowed. Dryas's men encircle the beast, hands on their weapons... [20:46] 07Dryas approaches, cutting her way through the crowd. How unusual. She lays a hand on the horse's flank, getting a sense for its fear. 15[20:50] The horse's reaction is instinctive, visceral. Dryas has seen horses react this way to uncontrollable natural disasters like fire, storms, and shadowlands. [20:51] 10Daizo finishes entrusting his greatclub and armor to no fewer than six porters, and pushes through the commotion.  "What's the ruckus?" [20:53] 07Dryas sighs in frustration at the animal's behavior. "It's dreadfully frightened, as if it was confronted with a fire or storm." [20:53] 4Piu waves from atop her mount. What kind of horse has Dryas provided, anyway. [20:53] *4? [20:56] 07A spirited, tawny fellow with a white mane. [21:00] 10Daizo looks from the panicked horse to Sadako and back again. He'll pull Dryas away for a moment. "This might sound strange, but try hanging a couple of pouches of salt from its harness. It's not a complete warding circle, but it may diminish the effect that Sadako's… condition… exerts itself on the beast." [21:02] 4Piu will spend this trying time playing with the horsey's hair and maybe surreptitiously feeding him. [21:03] "Salt? All right, let's get salt! Then let's calm you down, silly beast..." 07The nice thing about traveling in the West is that salt, at least, is never hard to come by. [21:03] 10High purity, too. Always important for these sorts of applications.  15[21:04] Seiri and her horse seem quite taken with each other. The young interpreter's not a practiced rider but she seems to know the basics and be at ease. 15[21:05] It doesn't take long before salt is procured and the beast is subdued enough for Sadako to mount. She, by contrast, *does* hold the reins like a practiced rider, in fact a practiced aristocratic rider. Dryas's own grip is very similar. [21:06] 4Interesting! Her own style is idiosyncratic. Piu hugs the horsey again. 15[21:06] Any last words or deeds before the hunting party sets out? [21:07] 4Piu would like to sleep some more, but that seems like an unhelpful ask. So no! [21:08] 10Nice. Well… Here goes nothing. Daizo's own mount is neither dainty nor adorable; it's practically a draught horse. Possibly crossbred with a yeddim, from the shagginess of the thing.  [21:10] 10He's never been particularly comfortable on horseback. Less so now. At least once they're out of civilized territory he'll be able to stop binding up the wings.  [21:19] 07Dryas, atop the magnificent Diamond Weapon, canters to the lead. She pulls a full wineskin from a pouch on her saddle and take a swig, offering it to her riding companions. She's unusually relaxed. 15[21:19] The hunt begins! Abalone is quite a large city, physically, and it thins out over a great distance, eventually to huts of straw and stone and people toiling in yam fields at the crack of dawn. Hamoji's light shades different as they begin to trot on (first stone and then dirt) roads around it. From the eastern, windward side, its caldera shone pale pink. It turns more violet by the 15[21:19] pace. [21:22] 4Pretty! 15[21:24] The first sign of civilization giving way fully to the Wyld is that the irrigation canals begin to run crooked, like wires that kinked up over time. The farmers working these fields look up as the entourage passes. Here, an old woman's second eyelids nictate against the dust the horses kick up, and across the way a young man's exposed gills pulse as he sighs in appreciation of the 15[21:24] beautiful animals and people riding by. [21:25] 10Daizo has a death grip on the reins and appears to be concentrating hard for the first fifteen minutes or so. Then, slowly, he relaxes.  [21:26] 07Just one more reason it's best to cater these sorts of things. 15[21:27] A frankly excessive-seeming fortification marks the terminus of safely arable island, and the point where the dirt road becomes rarely-trod path, and the strange farmlands give way quite suddenly to a gnarled jungle. The sky is all but indigo now, and the sun fully risen, giving the full daylight a nonetheless unearthly twilit character. 15[21:28] The soldiers at the post - Governor Kou's men - offer practiced but indifferent salutes as the party rides by. [21:28] 4Piu waves. 15[21:29] Piu can't be sure, because of the helmets, but she's pretty sure a couple of eyebrows go up. [21:30] 07Dryas offers a tip of her head and sends word to have these men sent a good hot meal from the kaypee. (Trans. note: "Kaypee", Ahlat-worshipper slang for military kitchen) [21:31] 4It always pays to be friendly! [21:31] 14It gets responses. 15[21:35] Progress through the jungle is quite swift for how wild it is; this was all once inhabited land as well, and here and there the remnants of stone buildings long since worn down by age and run through with tree roots are visible. The road actually improves, as fragments of the old paved road that encircled Hamoji in ages past remain largely level and smooth. [21:36] 4Well, she was hoping for a slightly more leisurely pace, but the bumps feel gradually better. Or at least number. 15[21:36] It has, however, grown quite dark, as the jungle's canopy thoroughly blocks the sun. Eventually the party needs to stop a bit and bring torches out. [21:37] 10Daizo's engrossed in the scenery. There are, of course, no real Wyld zones to speak of on the Blessed Isle, formed around the Pole of Earth itself. [21:38] 07Dryas seems a bit surprised by this development, and actually pushes the dark crystal spectacles back up her face. [21:39] 10Daizo: "Darkness at noonday. It feels as though we've passed into another world." 15[21:46] The going gets slower as the road is harder to find, and Dryas's soldiers have to take the lead, using short swords to cut vines and brush and widen the path for the party. Animal sounds deepen and multiply, from the trills of many and varied birds to the low hooting of apes up in the trees. Tree trunks writhe with snakes all but indistinguishable from vines and shockingly vivid frogs 15[21:46] whose croaks pile atop each other like the foam in boiling milk. 15[21:49] But... this is halfway. Does Dryas give the order to make camp? [21:49] 07Dryas: "Daizo, it will be relatively safe here?" [21:57] 4Piu is half-snoozing on the white-maned horse when the group breaks for camp. Surely you've all got it, 15[21:59] Dryas and Daizo are able to position the camp well, and the soldiers get to work clearing the space with blade and flame. Daizo's pretty confident that while the Wyld corruption is deep and strong, it would take days or weeks of exposure to risk serious harm. 15[22:01] The rush of activity drives the fauna away, as birds and beasts flee the steadily expanding radius of hospitable land until there's enough room to set everything up comfortably. As the torch-posts are set up and people dismount, it becomes apparent that the soil here is a vivid green, studded with tiny white crystals that glitter like diamonds in the flames. [22:01] 4Excccceellent... [22:01] 10Daizo: "A rule of thumb is that if you start to see 'impossible' things, like schools of fish swimming through the air, you don't want to spend even one night there." [22:03] 4Piu nods while spreading a blanket to comically pass out of spread-eagled with the sleeping snot bubble, etc. [22:03] 10He'll definitely take a couple of soil samples. The crystals could possibly be used as reagents. [22:07] 07Dryas and Diamond Weapon tread their way across the perimeter of the camp. She's got an eye out for any unusual tracks, feathers, or spoor. Who knows what unusual things could be out here! You might not want to eat it but perhaps a fine trophy... 15[22:07] Seiri helps set up, while Sadako follows Dryas on foot in her patrol. [22:08] 4Piu is at least considerate enough to start snoozin' out of the way. [22:11] "Piu? Piu." 10Ah, nothing for it. She did take quite the beating from Bruiser Khang. He directs a couple of the men to build a fortification around Piu with picnic hampers. [22:12] 4Daizo...so cool...-3- 15[22:25] Dryas's inspection is thorough and skilled. The first thing she notices is that the soil is very soft, so tracks are deep and lasting. Wide varieties of smaller fauna, from lizards to frogs to hopping birds, running this way and that, and plenty of grubs and such lurking for them to eat. The only inedible thing she notices are stones that seem to be piled up around the bases of trees. 15[22:25] Upon closer inspection, she realizes they're something closer to owl pellets, hair and bone and other organic indigestibles pressed hard and pale. 15[22:25] Larger than any owl pellets she's ever seen, though. 15[22:29] But the subtlest and most concerning thing of all are the tracks that... stop and start. The shape of the pawprint suggests a great cat of some description, though the size and weight of the creature they imply would more closely resemble those great white bears of the bitter North, said to be tamed by the savage Icewalkers as beasts of war. But they'll continue for a couple dozen 15[22:29] yalms and then stop, only to smoothly recontinue another dozen yalms away. She can't trace any sensible climbing route, and the depth of the tracks suggests a steady gait, rather than what you'd see from, say, a leap and pounce. [22:30] 07Dryas is putting on a clinic for her ward, beginning drily but getting more interested with the discovery of the strange pellets. "So, Sadako - despite the taint of the Wyld here, as you can plainly see, many animals make this place their home. But observe these curious pellets, rather like owl pellets I think. But much larger. I wonder what sort of creature these came from. And then... these tracks, that stop and start again. [22:30] But no leaping, no plumes or toeprints that a leap would bring." [22:33] 07Dryas takes a deep, satisfied breath. "Perhaps, if we're lucky..." 15[22:33] Sadako takes a pellet, sniffs it, and pockets it. Then she crouches down and puts her hand in the pawprint, letting her weight push it deep into the earth. Almost instantly a spasm of worms and great wriggling insects pour from the ground and run over her palm and upper arm like she'd just leaned onto an enormous sponge. 15[22:34] "The life goes deep," she says. 15[22:34] "Down past the corpses." [22:34] 4zzzzzzzzzz [22:34] 10Gross. Amazing, but… gross. [22:35] "More interesting than a lemur on the side of the road, I trust. Just... make sure you wash that hand before you eat anything with it," 07Dryas replies. 15[22:36] Sadako grunts. "If you burned this jungle down... the land would be so fertile. More fertile than anything..." She trails off. 15[22:37] Seiri's unpacking food and tea now, and brings a cup to Daizo. "The Witch lives up the mountain, but supposedly she keeps the path marked. It shouldn't be hard to find." [22:39] "O-oh, really?" 07Dryas inquires. "How interesting to know. I wonder how long it would take to make it a little safer." [22:40] 10Daizo nods, and accepts it gratefully. "I should warn you now… I intend to bring you with me to meet her, to make sure we can communicate. Will that be a problem?" 15[22:41] Seiri: "Sister Dusk said she had to be kept from the children, that she stole their breath to work her magic. But I'm not a child anymore, and I'll be well-protected anyhow." [22:42] 10Daizo beams. "Well said!" [22:44] "You see, what I intend to ask her for is, well, hm. I don't know if she has the power to grant it or not. But if it can be found on Hamoji, she might know how." 15[22:45] Seiri nods. "I've never heard of anyone who went to her for help come back and feel like they didn't get help." 15[22:45] Then: "...though I *have* heard of people who didn't come back..." 15[22:46] The food is good, lots of fish and pork and local vegetables with fluffy pots of imported rice. Sadako, intelligently, eats with her clean hand and rolls the pellet around in the palm of her dirty one, studying it as she picks at a pile of pulled pork. [22:47] 4Eventually, Piu will wake up and sort of float over like a bubbly, hungry dervish. [22:47] "Food." [22:48] 10Daizo: "Ahaha. I hope she won't find me an easy meal. Because what I want to ask her is… if she knows how I can become a sorcerer." 10There. It's out. Everyone probably suspected, but it's out. 15[22:49] Seiri's eyes go wide. "Like S- Like Lady Caxi?" [22:50] 4Piu will descend upon the fish and pork. [22:51] 10Daizo nods. "There are many paths to the same power. The most common way for we Blooded is to attend the Heptagram, but there are others." [22:52] "I don't want to have to keep leaning on Caxi, just standing by and analyzing things…" [22:53] 07Dryas sips spiced wine and reclines on a cushion. "Ahh, the return of V'neef Piu to the world of the living!" [22:54] "nom nom nom nom" [22:54] "I want to be able to protect my— us. All of us." 15[22:54] Seiri: "She asks me how you seem to be doing a lot. Since... since the sacrifice." [22:59] 10Daizo's face flushes. "I appreciate her concern, but… I brought this on myself. I need to deal with it myself." [23:00] "not how it works" 4snarf snarf "thish is good" 15[23:01] Seiri: "Lady Piu is right, you'd never turn your back on someone else who needed help. You deserve the same." [23:02] 4Double thumbs up while chewing and swallowing. [23:03] 07Dryas pops a rice ball in her mouth and nods in agreement with the other two. [23:04] 10It is good, but he's suddenly not that hungry. "This may sound strange. But… it's about debts and obligations. I would… rather owe a debt to a stranger than someone close to me. Someone who will remind me of it whenever I look at them." [23:05] 10Daizo sighs. "Maybe it's just how I was raised." [23:05] "Does sound a little strange," 4Piu admits, washing it down with some tea. [23:08] "Better to keep it in house than give someone else leverage," 07Dryas posits. [23:08] "Seems to me the stranger is more likely to do the reminding!" [23:10] 10Daizo: "I'll think on what you've said." 10A dodge, and not a graceful one either. "Sorry for bringing the mood down. What've you spotted out there, Dryas?" 10And things in that vein. [23:11] 07Dryas: "Fertile soil, but it holds strange tracks - and take a look at this big pellet Sadako brought back--" 15[23:17] The meal concludes, and the kinship and their close attendants mount up to continue the journey. The camplight retreats behind them, vanishing into darkness what feels like too quickly. But the way is better-lit all the same, as a violet aurora shimmers through the canopy, and the wind picks up, peeling layers of leaves back to reveal a sky thick with stars despite the hour and the 15[23:17] weird, Wyld dancing lights. [23:17] 4Pretty! [23:22] 07Dryas runs a finger across the fletching of her arrows as she spurs Diamond Weapon onward. [23:22] 10Beautiful, but ominous. The feeling of being separated from the "real world" is only getting stronger.  15[23:22] It's disorienting in the extreme; the stars match no sky Dryas has ever navigated by, and as the trees gradually mutate into fractal sculptures of translucent crystal, the light from the aurora begins to ripple across the hearth and the surroundings like it might dance off a pool of water. But the huntress is focused and keen, and she spots a human-made marker: a trio of primitive 15[23:22] looking figurines about the Seiri's height, woven from dried fibers and kept standing by posts driven into the ground. [23:23] 14... 15[23:24] Their heads are slightly slumped, and symbols are painted on their faces - symbols Daizo recognizes as marks of the god Hamoji. They stand on one side of a road that's broad and smooth, and though their energy is subtle against the noise of the Wyld zone, Daizo can tell that they are imposing a kind of sanity on the place. The animal sounds are dim and distant. The road leads forward 15[23:24] and upward, turning to broad stone steps as the timberline dies. [23:25] "There," 07she points out. "What are these?" 07Dryas asks. [23:25] 4Less pretty! 15[23:26] The steps - at least as far ahead as they can see - look horse-safe, which is nice. [23:27] 4Piu's feeling well enough to ride up front now. [23:27] 10Daizo: "Hamoji is gone, but his power lingers." [23:28] 10Perhaps it inhabits the Feathered One now. 15[23:31] As the horses leave the jungle proper and begin the trek up the mountain - more dolls on the way up, every time the staircase bends or doubles back - the hearth feels a great weight lift from their shoulders, an easing of subconscious tension that had no clear origin point and seemed to come on so gradually it was only apparent in its departure. [23:35] 10Daizo: "But to answer your question specifically, Dryas, I believe these effigies are anchors. Like pitons in a cliff face." [23:35] "Or posts driven into a swamp." 15[23:38] As they rise, the still air grows colder - a far cry from the tropical weather in Abalone proper, or even the caldera-warmed mountaintop. The direct light of the sun in the violet sky seems to offer little warmth. But the air smells sweeter the higher they go - incense, they judge - and about halfway up the cliff face a broad, flat space makes itself known that wasn't visible until 15[23:38] they drew level with it. Here the stairs give way to a lush garden, full of flowers and herbs - few of which are local and some of which are terribly exotic, Daizo observes - and a path that winds around a pool of clear, clean water. 15[23:39] The air is thin with smoke, and gives everything a gentle, softly-focused look. [23:42] 4Whew. [23:42] 10Daizo leans over to inspect one of the garden beds. At close range, the medicinal aroma is quite distinct. "Don't touch any of the plants. Some of these could go for a full talent of jade if picked under the right conditions…" 15[23:42] At the end of the path there is a row of six posts to affix horses to, and beyond that a stone house with a roof of thatched... glass? 15[23:43] Between them, hanging from a long, slender branch, is a silver bell. [23:44] 4Piu: "Well. This...kinda seems obvious." [23:45] 10Daizo: "I believe we've arrived, yes." [23:45] 07Dryas: "Marvelous." [23:46] 10Daizo wonders. If they'd arrived in a group of seven, would there be a seventh hitching post? It's possible. [23:47] 4Piu will hop off with a bounce. 15[23:49] Sadako hitches her horse and then, seeing Seiri struggle, hitches hers as well. 15[23:49] Seiri: "Gosh! It's like something out of a story..." 15[23:49] Sadako: "A story that ends in a traveller getting eaten." [23:49] 4Piu, brightly: "It is!" [23:49] "Yep!" 15[23:50] Who rings the bell? [23:50] 4Piu will do it. [23:50] 10Daizo dismounts carefully. He didn't bother binding the wings up again after they left the camp, and the mica chips that serve for feathers glitter in the violet light. "As I said, I don't intend to be an easy meal." [23:50] 4Dryas can cover with bow; Daizo can stand guard and watch to make sure nothing weird's happening at the fringe. [23:52] 10Hmm. Piu really wants to ring that bell, huh. Well, if they're all coming to see the Witch together, then it shouldn't matter who rings it. [23:53] "Go for it." [23:54] 4She takes a deep breath... 15[23:54] The bell goes tinkle-tinkle-tinkle and a warm, gentle breeze passes between them. The door at the front of the house opens and out comes the most beautiful woman any of them have ever seen. She's an islander, tall and strong, her hair hanging in a dozen braids. She wears a homespun white dress that leaves her shoulders bare, and it feels like she's smiling at each of her visitors 15[23:54] directly, with the warmth of a long-awaited friend. [23:54] 4!!!! [23:54] 14Caution. 15[23:55] "All of you have come so far," says the Witch of the Far Side. [23:56] 07Dryas pats Diamond Weapon's head and gives the Witch the up and down. 15[23:58] she says in her mellifluous Seatongue. 15[23:58] La’akea, the Witch of the Far Side: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCYPIaJYsBs - It’s only me who wants to wrap around your dreams, and have you any dreams you’d like to sell? 15[23:58] Seiri wipes her eyes with a sleeve. "She's inviting us in." [23:59] Daizo offers the Witch a deep formal bow, the one typically reserved for House elders and one's sifu. "Then, shall we?" [00:00] 10Daizo offers the Witch a deep formal bow, the one typically reserved for House elders and one's sifu. "Then, shall we?" [00:00] 4Piu claps her hands and strides forward. 15[00:01] NEXT TIME: Burdened, blinded, blessed