Sunflower—Joining Forces (EG_005)

[hengest]

...towards the back of the hall. You pass a number of "hearths" on the way and finally see clearly that there are young children and older folks here, too. These must be families organized in some manner that is still unclear to you.

You hadn't seen this before, but there is a beaded curtain here that you pass through easily (Finny does not grab your wrist as in the doorway). Passing into the next chamber, you find that your eyes need to adjust again. 

Apparently lit from below, but bright enough up to head-level, the chamber has an odd feeling to it. There are two people here, a man and a woman, both perhaps a little younger than Alla was, but older than you. Both have dark hair, the man's is close-cropped and ragged while the woman's falls down around her ears and, in the back, to her neck. Hers has a rougher appearance. You learn that his name is Edgebert and hers is Wynne. You cannot help but notice that, while she is somewhat slighter of build, the hands of both of them are fairly ripped with muscle. 

Finny begins explaining about you, but they seem to have little interest in the story of your origin, as if it is old news. 

Rather, they take the opportunity to show you what occupies the floor of most of the chamber. It is an arena that you would expect to be simple rock, earth, or sand, but instead, it is covered with what looks like a gigantic map, but not on paper: the items seem affixed to, or extensions of, the surface of the floor. You can barely interpret what you see, save that you feel certain that a winding path must represent the riverbed you walked along. 

Wynne points to a tiny human figure with no distinguishable features. "See?" She makes some kind of minor motion and the figure returns to a spot not far from the edge of the "map." It then moves along before coming to the riverbed and makes its way along that for a short distance. It then is still and is surrounded by a ring of other tiny figures. Edgebert points to the figure, then to you, and looks pleased.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

<thinking> Strange...I didn't notice this area before.  I wonder what or who is behind the curtain.

I follow Finny into the chamber as he leads me further back.  I focus on remaining calm and taking in the sights around me.  Edgebert and Wynne are cordial in their manner while we are introduced.  They seem to present an air of...."knowing" about them.

<thinking> They seem to know about me already.

"That's the riverbed I was on," I pause before continuing, "It looks like it anyway.".

"That's.  That's ME!" I exclaim softly in recognition. "What is this if I may ask?  Magic?  Something else?". 

[hengest]

The three of them smile and glance at each other. Wynne starts to talk and then laughs. Finny explains for her.

"You said nothing wrong. But that's a grandma word. Or even older. We only use that word in stories now. It sounded funny that you asked about it like that."

Edgebert says, "We don't often have to have a name for it. We call it 'the land' or something like that. No one else can do it anyway. It needs this chamber, the favor of the Lady, and us. Us two."

Wynne goes on. "But this is how you were found. We don't have eyes everywhere. But we have good eyes in here, and this is everywhere we need." She turns over the tiny Ethan figurine and points out, to your eyes, impossibly tiny markings on its feet. "But what are these? Do you have strange feet?"

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

I listen intently at their explanation before responding.  "Magic is known of in my homeland but only the learned ones know of such things in detail.".

"Ahh...okay.  That makes sense." I pause and laugh for a brief moment before continuing. "No.  My feed at completely normal.  I do have these boots I picked up a while back when I arrived.  I've gotten some hints...or a feeling...at times that there is something special about them, but I don't know what it may be.  Perhaps you can tell me?".

[hengest]

You show them your boots, which you have not really inspected in some time. They look a little different now: along where the "seam" should be, between the upper and the sole, you see several tiny mushrooms sprouting, apparently directly from the boot material.

Your hosts look quite interested in the boots. "Can you take one off?" Edgebert asks. He and Wynne are sitting on their haunches near the bit of the "map" that they just showed to you. Finny joins them.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

As I look at my boots with surprise I say, "Weird.  Those mushrooms weren't there when I got them!  I've never seen anything like this.".

I look from the boots to the trio and say, "Sure.  I don't mind taking one off.".  I move closer and sit down and remove the boot I was just looking at.

[hengest]

You pull the boot off your foot. It comes off easily.

The interior of the boot is emitting light as well crawling with overlapping, moving patterns: wavy lines, things that look like distorted and stylized eyes, and things that blur into each other and pass away before you can really identify them.

Wynne looks up and you. "Where did you get these?"

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

<thinking> Okay, I didn't expect to see that.

I meet the gaze of Wynne and respond. "Early on in my journey with Alla.  We came upon a small city that was preparing to defend itself from some invaders.  Alla got a club that looked like a big mushroom of sorts.  She also got some rings that helped us out later.  I got these boots.  The strange thing is that both of us traded for the items.  She gave some locks of her hair, and I traded my worn boots for these.".

[That information is to the best of my memory.  If it should be different, then please correct me.]

[hengest]

"You traded 'worn boots' for these? What, were they made of gold?" Edgebert peers into the boot with its shifting images.

A little hesitant and seeming less masterful in her own domain, Wynne says "The only time there was something like that was...a long, long time ago. You can't have...how old are you?"

Edgebert shakes his head and gets up, moving a few feet away, apparently to look at something else.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

"I, uhhh, thought it was weird as well.", responding as I meet Edgbert's gaze. "No. They were just normal boots that had been well worn.".

"I'm young. I've seen 19 harvests in my life.".

I watch Edgebert's path to see where it takes him...

[hengest]

"Nineteen whats?" asks Wynne.

You watch Edgebert as he moves to a spot not at all far away, still in this section of the "map" as you understand it. Finny also looks after him. Edgebert squats down as if listening and looking for something, and you see a flicker of some kind down on the map. He peers closer.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

"Uhh...years. Every year we have a harvest. I was born 19 years ago." I respond to Wynne.

I move in closer to where they are and try to get a glimpse of what they are looking at on the map.

[hengest]

You lean in closer and look up when you hear the rustle of entry.

Two girls, maybe 9 or ten, have rushed into this chamber. They are not winded. One is slightly taller, but both have their hair tied back, looking loose on either side of the tie, but tightly bound at that spot. 

The smaller one speaks as you all look at her. "Finny should run to the place where the olfend was and bring his gatewalking friend with him. Right now."

You hear an intake of breath from Wynne. Finny is up and on his feet, moving towards the doorway, before she finishes speaking. 

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

<thinking> They haven't done anything harmful yet so I may as well...

I get up and start to follow Finny. I say, "Finny. I'm right behind you." as I follow his movements

[hengest]

Jun 9, 2022 17:42:40 GMT -5 The Semi-Retired Gamer said:

<thinking> They haven't done anything harmful yet so I may as well...

I get up and start to follow Finny. I say, "Finny. I'm right behind you." as I follow his movements

He darts back the way you both came in, back through the previous chamber (you note that you do not see the Lady here now, and that the area seems more active generally), and out through the entrance. He does not grab your wrist or caution you this time, and you feel an inoffensive and brief tingle as you pass through the doorway. 

Slowing down a bit but still moving at a good clip, he turns left on coming back to the passage, leading you further down in the direction you were headed before you came to the hall where you met the Lady. He does not turn back or speak to you. It is a good thing the passage continues to be lit or you could never move through it safely at this pace. 

You continue on at a healthy trot for several minutes, the passage winding gently, passing many doors and some niches in which strange objects figure though you have no time to examine them. Finally, Finny slows down and you see that you have come to a set of stone stairs leading up to the right. He begins ascending them quickly.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

<thinking> Finny is in such a hurry that the person we're going to see must be very important.

I follow Finny as he the twists and turns throughout this area that he is obviously intimately familiar with traversing. 

<thinking> I wonder who it is.

"Finny, I'm not objecting or anything, but who is this person we are going to talk to and what do they do around here?".

 

[hengest]

Pausing on the stairway, Finny opens a kind of cabinet high in the wall of the tunnel and draws two long-handled maces out of it. They look somewhat crudely made, but sturdy. He proffers one to you, adding "We're not going to see anyone. We're going to do what you volunteered to do."

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

I grab the mace and exclaim, "That was quick! Lead the way!!".

[hengest]

Looking back no more, Finny does as you have exhorted him, but has to pause at the "top" of the stairway to struggle up out into the light.

"This one needs work...if you had chased me here, you would have caught me..." he says, awkwardly pushing himself up and onto the ground above with his arms. There is no "trapdoor" here, only a narrow hole through which one can crawl with difficulty. Going down might be even more awkward.

Following him, you find yourself blinking in the bright light of morning, so unlike the light within those passages. Quickly trying to get your bearings, you see that you are in a border area, near another part of the riverbed you have not seen, where the woods fail and the remaining scraggly trees look at you, pained that you have caught them in this state. To your right, you feel that things are more or less as they were, while to your left, the landscape changes, the flora shrinking to knee- and then shin-high scrub. You can see that the earth here has more clay in it and has cracked some in the sun, as there is little shade.

Finny is already moving at a good clip, but not a full run, neither left or right, but uphill. You can see that a good ways to your left, and to the left of where Finny is headed, the crest of the hill drops off almost to the level of the riverbed. In effect, you are at the end of the first hilly area you encountered, and here it narrows to a ridge that, from where you are standing, blocks your view of everything beyond it. 


The crest of the sloping hill to which he is headed is perhaps twenty man-lengths away. You have no idea what lies beyond it.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

I chuckle slightly at his suggestion before responding. "Believe me, I only kept up because it was up these stairs.".

I pause momentarily to take in a breath before continuing, "You are quick and fit.  In the open it's a real challenge to keep up.".

Observing the surroundings and seeing the difference I note that it looks almost like two different areas coming together.  "This looks like I'm at the opposite side of where I was out here.  Is that right?  It almost looks like a natural marking of two different areas of land coming together, if that makes sense". 

I continue following Finny, relieved that the pace is much more moderate that our first encounter.  Looking further ahead I see that the view is obstructed at this distance and state, "I'm excited to see what lies ahead." as we continue on our way.

[hengest]

"Uh huh," he calls back. "This is...near the end. Near the edge," he says, turning his head back and slowing down a bit to make it clear that he's saying "edge" now and not "end" again.

You trot after him as he slows down and you catch up, falling almost into step with him as you two continue climbing. He still moves with urgency but is not racing up the hill now. You hear some sort of faint sound against the quiet, but it does not sound particularly threatening and you cannot identify it. A kind of brushing or shuffling.

A voice calls out to you from behind and to your right. It sounds clear enough, but has a quality to it like medium-coarse sand. "Hey!"

You both turn and see an adolescent girl, on the shorter side, running up towards you. Her garb is like Finny's, her fine and fair hair cropped to neck length, a little raggedly. Her arms are bare and you can see from her musculature that she can swing the hammer she holds in her left hand. 

You see recognition in Finny's face. She is not a threat. You see excitement in her eyes, and you register that it is not for you, for whom she has nothing but a glance of acceptance, not for Finny. 

"They sent you! You have to see it! What will we do?" She glances at you again, giving the barest nod. "Tetyana."

[Marker for reference: You and Finny have your maces and you still have your sword stowed on your back. You have eaten and drunk recently enough.]

[Do you wish to address anything else verbally before you reach the crest?]

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

I nod before replying, "Ethan Greyback.  Nice to meet you.".  

I turn to Finny with a questioning look and back to Tetyana and slightly back towards Finny before asking, "Do you think she's talking about the shape we saw at the cross-barrier?".  I stand waiting to hear what IT is and what we are going to DO about it...

[hengest]

"What shape?" Tetyana asks, clearly not having heard this news. 

"I..." Finny looks a little blank, still looking up and ahead as you all continue uphill. "A strange thing. We both saw it...at one of the gates. The one Ethan came through. But..." He stops talking.

You all continue and finally reach the crest of the hill. Tetyana seems to know what is coming and looks over at you two with anticipation. 

You look down onto a mixed and cracked landscape, quite unlike the wooded area that you have barely left behind.

Finny looks completely flabbergasted, incomprehending. Tetyana lets out an excited breath, almost a laugh.

You see that there is a kind of tear in the air just above the earth, some forty feet in front of you. A gigantic hand extends from it, apparently human, but large enough (you think) to crush you all together. It seems to be struggling or reaching for something, and you can see where the flesh around or just above the wrist is pinched by the edges of the tear.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

"I didn't mean to - what?". My reply broken up by the sudden halt in their conversation.  "...is that?" I mumble weakly as we top the crest.

"What the...," I pause momentarily before continuing, "is that a giant or one of the gods?".  I mutter as I stand in disbelief and confusion.  

[hengest]

Finny had been holding his mace at a semi-ready position as you jogged up the hill, but now slowly lowers it, staring ahead. 

You watch in disbelief. The hand might be reaching for something that is not there (unless it is hoping to get little scrapes of dirt and sand). Or it might be doing something else. It is hard to interpret its motions, although they do seem human enough.

Finny says, "Why...why was I summoned for this? Why were we summoned? What are we supposed to..."

Tetyana replies. "In the message, I just said I needed a 'hand' right away." Finny looks over at her, his mouth opening, and she laughs. "Isn't it wild?"

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

I look from the hand to Finny then to Tetyana as I am still confused and awestruck by what I see. I open my mouth to ask something or make an observation, but I am confused as to how to respond.

Finally, I mutter, "Uhhh..." as I continue to gather my thoughts.

"I take it this is new to both of you as well. What ARE we supposed to do about a giant hand coming out of the sky?" I ask to see if either of them will answer.

[hengest]

"I wouldn't say it's exactly coming out of the sky, but maybe it would look that way if we got closer," Tetyana says, beginning to skitter down the hillside in the direction of the hand.

"Hey! Hey, Tetyana! Don't...what are you doing?" Finny trots off after her, his voice sounding uncertain.

The hand goes almost limp for a moment, withdraws a little ways, looking defeated, then presses back "through" the hole with renewed vigor, really appearing to scrape for something: purchase, at the very least. 

In any case, this is an interesting bit of landscape, as you noted: it almost feels like you are tucked away at the edge of something. The horizon out beyond the hand seems somehow closer than usual. 

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

"Ohh...what is she doing?" I exclaim loudly but not rudely as I follow Finny following Tetyana.

<thinking> What is that hand grasping at?

I look out towards the horizon again feeling as if something is "off" somehow.  Without much pause I hesitantly ask, "Do either of you think the far away horizon looks closer than it should be somehow?  I'm not sure if that's the right way to describe it.  The distance just seems...odd or...wrong somehow.".  I point out in that direction so maybe they can understand what I'm talking about.

[hengest]

Jun 12, 2022 9:53:18 GMT -5 The Semi-Retired Gamer said:

"Ohh...what is she doing?" I exclaim loudly but not rudely as I follow Finny following Tetyana.

<thinking> What is that hand grasping at?

I look out towards the horizon again feeling as if something is "off" somehow.  Without much pause I hesitantly ask, "Do either of you think the far away horizon looks closer than it should be somehow?  I'm not sure if that's the right way to describe it.  The distance just seems...odd or...wrong somehow.".  I point out in that direction so maybe they can understand what I'm talking about.

Neither of them responds to your hesitant question. Tetyana is already well ahead, and Finny is just behind her. She will be at the hand shortly, if she doesn't stop. 

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

<thinking> Well, I said I would help...

I take up a quick pace to catch up to Finny and say, "I may as well not get left out of the fun.".