AeonQuest Part Four: Resonance.

Hand of Maybe:
  **VI / XXIX / MMXVII**
  [Yet another cycle spins into being.]
  [Half-complete, wholly-dead.]
  [The second of the first continues, a beaten path not yet traveled. Shall you?]

Emerald:
  >as it always must be, continue

Hand of Maybe:
  [You are reborn.]
  [The Wheel of Night creaks on evermore.]
  **PT. 4: RESONANCE.**
  [...]
  [The shadows at the corners of your vision twist into awful and arcane shapes. You awaken with a start.]
  [Your name is Cinavi Kanera.]

Crystal:
  Examine surroundings.

Emerald:
  >wonder how many layers into the nightmare we are

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Welp. New beginning location, time to find Almaerapha.

Emerald:
  But of course

Hand of Maybe:
  [You rise, looking about. You appear to be within a somewhat small organic room with cracked wooden walls. There are puddles of what you think is *magetear* all over the floor.]

Crystal:
  Is there an exit.

Emerald:
  ~~>let us shall~~

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > We *know* it's Magetear.

Hand of Maybe:
  [There does not appear to be an exit proper, although there *is* a carven hole in the ceiling. And, yes, you are absolutely certain it is magetear.]

ath uesht:
  >Can you see anything beyond the hole?

Hand of Maybe:
  [There's a room above, some distance up. And another hole in the ceiling.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > The room is actually upside down. We're on the ceiling, not the floor, and gravity should correct itself any second now.

Emerald:
  >examine a puddle, then realize you're falling towards the ceiling, as seems to happen rather commonly to you

TwinBuilder:
  don't
  it needs to recharge first
  if i remember correctly

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  wait fuck

TwinBuilder:
  also that has a great possibility of backfiring

ath uesht:
  hm??
  i missed the last two sessions, sorry

Hand of Maybe:
  [The excruciating pain in your wrist seems to confirm your theory.]

TwinBuilder:
  we have a symbol on our wrist

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Examine inventory, particularly Magetear Smoking Kit.

TwinBuilder:
  it lets us do whatever we want

Hand of Maybe:
  __Inventory.__
| [Thaumium Knife] | [Quill] | [Four Empty Books w/ TLoL Page & Bill Page] |
| [2 Bottles of Ink] | [Blank Papers] | [Hazel Box, Magetear Smoking Kit] |
| [Voidmetal Plate Armor] | [Bloodstained Crimson Robes] | [Vial of Water] |
Wearing: Mage’s Cloak, Conjurer’s Artifice.
Hazel Box: Chlorpromazine (50%), Thybital (85%), Bandages (90%), Syringe (5), Used Syringe (7), Magetear Vial, Syringe of the Stuff of Nightmares.
Fragments of the Ring: ∂, μ, ∑.
Fragments of the Nightmare: 1.

TwinBuilder:
  needs to charge up first though

ath uesht:
  Ah. I knew about the symbol, but not that.

TwinBuilder:
  yeah
  we can basically warp reality with it

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  How do we charge it, again? Via magetear?

Emerald:
  Chlorpromazine is the anti-psychotic right?

Hand of Maybe:
  [Yes.]

Emerald:
  >yes to whom?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Use Magetear Smoking Kit to, you guessed it, smoke the Magetear Vial.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You. And, sure. How much of the magetear in the vial do you smoke?]

Emerald:
  >10%

Hand of Maybe:
  [You smoke ten percent of the magetear in the vial. Cosmic smoke fills the air.]

Emerald:
  ~~that's as much as one tenth. And that's terrible~~

Hand of Maybe:
  [You think you can see little sparks of multicolored light appear in the shadows in the corners of your vision right now, and you're not sure whether or not that's just a hallucination.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Examine room to see if anything other than the multicolored light changed.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You *think* you can see something writhing just beneath the cracks in the walls now.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Move to cracks, stick hand through it.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Are you sure?]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Move to cracks, and analyse the something.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Well, it's either congealed darkness, or just *really* dark sap.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Welp, doesn't seem useful.
  I sound like an utter idiot right now, don't I.
  Logogram isn't charged, correct?

Hand of Maybe:
  [Judge by the conclusions of your prior tests.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  This is why I need to put the word still in my sentences.
  > Anyway, stick hand into cracks.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You stick your hand into the cracks. The walls begin to shudder slightly.]
  [With something of a squelch and the sound of crunching wood, all of the walls recede, revealing that you appear to have been within one chamber in a circle of eight others of the exact same design.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Oh fuck.

ath uesht:
  oh
  well that's a thing isn't it

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Welp, run to the nearest crack you can find, and stick your hand into *those* cracks!

Hand of Maybe:
  [All of the walls with cracks are open already.]
  [This includes chambers ancillary to yours.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  So, magetear everywhere, holes in the ceiling?
  No other exits?

Hand of Maybe:
  [Correct.]
  [Well, save for the chamber directly *opposite* yours in the circle. There's something there, you sense.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Go to that chamber.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You do so, and find that access into it is very *nearly* blocked by a mass of twisted thorns. You squeeze through, only managing to acquire a cut or six, and find that there is a man sitting in the lotus position on a dry pedestal in this room. His right hand's index and middle fingers are pointing to the left, and his left two to the right. His eyes are closed.]

TwinBuilder:
  here he is.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > "Hello, Almaerapha."

Hand of Maybe:
  [> "Hello, Almaerapha."]
[He doesn't open his eyes quite yet.]
**Almaerapha: Greetings. This is our fourth meeting.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "Indeed."
  "So, what's happening in this section of the nightmare-solidus-glitch?"

Hand of Maybe:
  [> "Indeed. So, what's happening in this section of the nightmare-solidus-glitch?"]
[Almaerapha's eyes open, and he stares at you with piercing *aechorona* eyes.]
**Almaerapha: We play a game of cards, and you do something I'm contractually obligated not to speak of yet.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "So, shall we begin our game of cards?"
  VETO EMMY

Emerald:
  K

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  He has an infinite supply

Hand of Maybe:
  [You blink. When your eyes open, you appear to be sitting at a table. Almaerapha has some sort of crystal orb in one hand, and four blank cards in the other.]
**Almaerapha: Pick a card, any card.**
  [Almaerapha now appears to be smoking a pipe of magetear, as well.]

Emerald:
  >pick the third one from the left

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "Would it anger you if I picked the 5082nd?"
  "You did say *any* card, correct?"

Hand of Maybe:
  [Almaerapha laughs heartily.]
**Almaerapha: You're smarter than you look, Cinavi.**
[He hands you a card from nowhere, images and letters slowly forming upon it.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Inspect card.
  > "Thank you."

Hand of Maybe:
  [XII - The Hanged Man: Beyond the beaten path lies the absolute end; in the face of this disaster lies the opportunity for renewal. Rebirth? The ancient mages, cognizant of this fact, lived upon the precipice of dual extremes, weathering eternal storms raging within and all around them. In martyrdom, in transition, they sought enlightenment. The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "I assume that this means, when we get out of here, we'll be renewed, in a sense?"

Hand of Maybe:
  **Almaerapha: Aren't you renewed every single time? When you think about it, it's all the same formula, no? You wake up in a strange and unfamiliar world, stumble about until you find me, then go and fight some entity or other to obtain a shard of the Ring? Your arrival was a glitch, Cinavi. Perhaps, Here, you shall break and remake this place Here into There. So it goes.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "That explains our situation well, indeed."

Hand of Maybe:
  **Almaerapha: Perhaps. Oh, that reminds me.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "Of what?"

Hand of Maybe:
  [An object--some sort of heavy cube of metal, suddenly bonks you right upon the old cranium, and falls onto the table directly before you. When you look up, there's nothing whatsoever in the ceiling that could have dropped it.]
**Almaerapha: You've got mail.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Analyse heavy cube of metal, see if there's anything to activate.

Hand of Maybe:
  [The front face appears to consist of four rings slowing coming closer and closer to the central circle upon the face, marked by a black eye. Each ring consists of thirteen segments, with a symbol-block in each ring's first position. From outer to inner, the Eulian letter cxi, the Parth letter thi, the Akrash letter fa, and the Parth letter che. There is some writing on the opposite face of the cube.]

Emerald:
  Even our mail is a puzzle
  >check the opposite face

Hand of Maybe:
  [*"цегилла + цегилла + цегилла, солидус ист = спаце оцтоѳорпе.
роунд УП."*]

Emerald:
  Consumer, I believe this is your department

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "cegilla + cegilla + cegilla, solidus ist = space octothorpe.
round UP."
  ...Fuck.
  Hm.
  I feel that Twin would probably get this quickly
  > Enter the first half of the Eulian alphabet into the thirteen segments of the first ring.

Hand of Maybe:
  [How?]
  [The block only has the letter cxi upon it, and you do not seem to be able to change that, though you can move the block throughout the segments of the ring by pushing it with your fingers, it seems.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Put cxi on the third segment of the first ring.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Nothing happens.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Attempt to recall what a cegilla is.

Hand of Maybe:
  [It's the Drenovian word for letter.]

Emerald:
  >recall what an octothorpe is

Hand of Maybe:
  [#.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  octothorpe = #

Emerald:
  Space hashtag!
  Or pound I suppose

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  wait hm
  c = 3
x = 24
i = 9
36
  > Place the Cxi onto the tenth segment.

Hand of Maybe:
  [It locks itself into place.]
  [It then proceeds to fire itself out of the cube, and bounce off the walls, before exploding.]
  [A new cxi appears in the first slot.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  ...uh
  Place the fa onto the 7th position, for the time being.
  Place the che onto the 3rd as soon as possible.

Hand of Maybe:
  [It locks itself into place, and then disappears. A new fa does *not* appear.]
  [The che explodes.]
  [A new one appears soon after.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Place the *thi* onto the 11th.

Hand of Maybe:
  [It explodes, and a new one appears.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Thi, 13th.

Hand of Maybe:
  [It locks into place and disappears.]

Emerald:
  Don't forget to round

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Cxi, 12th.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Locks into place and disappears.]

Emerald:
  round UP to be specific

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Che, 6th.
  Wew.

Hand of Maybe:
  [The cube suddenly falls apart, as does the rest of spacetime. Waves of dark energy flow throughout a newly-blank void, and you, the table, your chair, and an object floating in midair are the only things in existence.]

Emerald:
  >examine the object

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  I am going to fucking kill the sender.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Grand Fragment: A glowing golden-purpled crystalline substance of some sort, pulsating and throbbing with power equal parts homely and unfathomable. You sense the very fabric of the world bowing at the might of this shard. The more you stare at its purple segments, the more you are drawn in. Your mind is filled with an acute sense of conflicting extremes the more you are drawn in. Something half-malignant and half-sentimental compels you to keep the thing.]

Emerald:
  Hmm
  This description seems familiar

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Grab the Grand Fragment.

Emerald:
  >take it

Hand of Maybe:
  [You do so.]

Emerald:
  I'm going to say this is another Fragment of the Nightmare

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  ...
  No.
  > Examine endless void, anyway.

Hand of Maybe:
  [The world suddenly returns to normal when you collect the Grand Fragment. There is no evidence of the cube ever having been real, Almaerapha is gone, and XII - The Hanged Man is lying on the table before you yet still.]

Emerald:
  Well that was interesting
  >Inventory

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Reexamine chamber.

Hand of Maybe:
  __Inventory.__
| [Thaumium Knife] | [Quill] | [Four Empty Books w/ TLoL Page & Bill Page] |
| [2 Bottles of Ink] | [Blank Papers] | [Hazel Box, Magetear Smoking Kit] |
| [Voidmetal Plate Armor] | [Bloodstained Crimson Robes] | [Vial of Water] |
Wearing: Mage’s Cloak, Conjurer’s Artifice.
Hazel Box: Chlorpromazine (50%), Thybital (85%), Bandages (90%), Syringe (5), Used Syringe (7), Magetear Vial (90%), Syringe of the Stuff of Nightmares.
Fragments of the Ring: ∂, μ, ∑.
Fragments of the Nightmare: **1**, 1.

Emerald:
  I was right, it seems

Hand of Maybe:
  [The chamber is exactly as it was when you last examined it.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Check to see if the Logogram has recharged.

Hand of Maybe:
  [How?]

Emerald:
  >remember there was an exit over to our left

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "Plot bullshit."

Hand of Maybe:
  [There was absolutely an exit to your left, and to your right as well! How fortuitious. They lead straight into the rest of the circle.]
  [As it were.]

Emerald:
  Seems to have recharged

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  No.

Emerald:
  Or I just wasn't paying attention

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  The latter.
  So, the only way out is up.

Emerald:
  Say, what happened to the card?

Hand of Maybe:
  [Nothing. It's still right where you left it on the table.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Take it.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Your inventory is full.]

Emerald:
  >drop the voidmetal plate armor

JOE:
  >put it in the hand slot

Emerald:
  >seriously, why are we still carrying that?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Expunge the blank papers as well.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You drop the plate armor. It evaporates along with the blank papers.]
  [There is no hand slot, as well. Only a weapon slot.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Now, take the card.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You do so.]

JOE:
  so you can't just... grab something and hold it?

Emerald:
  Is there anything left of interest, or is the only option either a) use the Logogram, or b) inject self with stuff of nightmares

Hand of Maybe:
  [Nothing you haven't already seen.]

JOE:
  i pick logogram use if we're choosing between those
  stuff of nightmares sounds bad

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Logogram is sealed.

Emerald:
  We've used it before

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Inject stuff of nightmares.

JOE:
  still sounds bad
  >use logogram
  >don't inject self

Hand of Maybe:
  [ERROR: CONFLICTING COMMANDS DETECTED.]

JOE:
  >SoN sounds bad.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Logogram is *sealed*, JOE.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Is it?]

Emerald:
  >ignore joe

JOE:
  >don't ignore meeeeee!

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Not anymore.

Emerald:
  >realize we've started falling towards the ceiling

Hand of Maybe:
  [You fall upwards.]

JOE:
  >realise thats dumb -> stop

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  ...
  no
  don't stop

JOE:
  >alright fine don't sto

Hand of Maybe:
  [Consumer gets a Vaguely Affectionate Yet Mildly Irritated Authorial Poke In the Forehead, and you fall through the hole in the ceiling.]

Emerald:
  >walk towards the hole in the ceiling and continue falling up
  >never mind

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  I'll be honest, none of us actually have any idea what we're doing

Emerald:
  Yep

Hand of Maybe:
  [You don't stop, you can't stop, you don't stop. You keep on falling and falling and falling through ceiling-hole after ceiling-hole after ceiling-hole.]

Emerald:
  Whee

JOE:
  >stop falling up, levitate instead
  > like in place

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > no joe

Hand of Maybe:
  [Until suddenly, you do stop, with the sound of squelching.]
  [Or rather, one loud squelch.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Examine surroundings.
  We probably just landed in some slime or some shit, we are most definitely NOT DEAD, correct, Logogram?

Hand of Maybe:
  [You appear to be in a room of hazel coated and corrupted by thorns. You are presently hanging in midair, impaled through the stomach by the sharpened thorn-arm of what appears to be a Thornmonger Bladed Assailant.]

JOE:
  >realise that dirt is amazing
  >realise that that means you are about to be saved by dirt incarnate.
  >because saving you would be amazing.
  >gedit

Hand of Maybe:
  [The Thornmonger thinks you'd rather be six feet under the dirt instead.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > The Thornmonger's opinion is shit.

JOE:
  >the awesome dirt'll just heal you
  >dirt is amazing incarnate remember.

Hand of Maybe:
  [The Thornmonger sadly agrees, and kills itself ritualistically in shame, disintegrating.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > He's just some stupid fucker who waits on the ceiling to impale poor Cinavi Kaneras, so he's a sad sack whose opinion is shit.
  oh okay late

JOE:
  >yay...?

Emerald:
  >use bandages to patch up hole in stomach. Bandages heal all wounds

Hand of Maybe:
  [Keep in mind you are still bleeding *profusely.*]
  [Bandages will be insufficient, but you try anyways. It *sort* of works?]

JOE:
  > notice some healing dirt
  >use the healing dirt

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  It *definitely* works.

JOE:
  >dirt heals you. its awesome.
  >the dirt i mean
  >though you are too i gues

Hand of Maybe:
  [There is no dirt, and you're still bleeding horribly, so it doesn't work, you realize with a sharp pang in your wrist.]

JOE:
  >awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  What do you mean.

Emerald:
  >use the Bloodstained Robes we somehow have back from last session, to help cover up the wound

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  There's no blood either.

Emerald:
  >the only blood is on these robes

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Inject self with Chloropromazine for pain relief.

Emerald:
  That's...not the painkiller

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Say that to Homura Akemi.

Emerald:
  I think

Hand of Maybe:
  [There is another sharp pain in your wrist, more intense than the last. Are you sure you want to wrap yourself with the robes, or use chlorpromazine?]

JOE:
  >robez is my bvoyte

Emerald:
  >robes

Hand of Maybe:
  [You take out the Robes, by which I mean the Large Esoteric Bloodstained Bandage.]
  [It doesn't *fully* stop the bleeding, but you suppose it's sufficient to *walk around*.]

Emerald:
  Yeah basically kek

Hand of Maybe:
  [Without *immediately* exsanguinating, at least.]

JOE:
  >look for more stuff to stop the blod

Emerald:
  >inject self with 5% of Thybital

Hand of Maybe:
  [You could always impale yourself on those THORNS over there. And Here.]

JOE:
  >that sounds dumb

Hand of Maybe:
  [Very well, drugs. Which ones do you want to take.]

JOE:
  >i think impailing yourself would be worse?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Impale self with thorns.

JOE:
  >the ndoing nothing

Emerald:
  >Thybital

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > We could fight the Establishment, but you know what, railroad.

JOE:
  >whatwhynoidonthingthatssmare [about thourns]
  [thorns*]

Hand of Maybe:
  [You take some thybital, and jump on the thorns.]

JOE:
  >I said NNNOOOOOooooo.......

Emerald:
  Yay, now we have an even 80% remaining

Hand of Maybe:
  [Everything is only *mildly* numbed, until you feel a larger thorn pierce through your upper right arm. And then some more in some other places.]

JOE:
  >NU
>why did we do thisssss

Hand of Maybe:
  [It's only *somewhat* painful, though. Thank you, drug use.]
  [You pass out from blood loss.]

JOE:
  >can someone please explain *Why* we did this

Hand of Maybe:
  @BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS..

Emerald:
  >why did we decide it was a good idea to impale ourself after just getting grievously injured?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  The railroad said so.

JOE:
  >why in the world did anyone think "impale self on thorns" was a good idea.
  >noting was forcing us

Hand of Maybe:
  [That was actually a joke.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  ...KEK.

JOE:
  >*See*
  >also why didn't my comand counter thiers

Emerald:
  >dang it consumer

JOE:
  >i said not to do it

Emerald:
  >realize that didn't happen

JOE:
  >LOAD  quicksave1

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  let's not
  We're Cinavi Kanera, death herself.
  Let's embrace it, because Erelye told me we just found a cool and new path.
  > Wake up.

JOE:
  >   😐

Hand of Maybe:
  [You wake up on hazel floors in a room with hazel walls and hazel ceilings. There are thorns scattered here and there, but nothing directly near you. Your arms and chest are wrapped in clean bandages, and wisps of cosmic smoke are in the air around you.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Hm. Look for exits, see if there's anything not mentioned yet.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You weakly rise, and find that there is a pedestal of rusted iron several feet from you. There's some sort of object embedded in it.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Analyse object.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Psi Blade: A sword of pure black glowing with a faint malevolent red aura. The sword’s blade has broken off about six inches above the crossbar, and the more you stare at the jagged edge of what remains, the more the shadows in the corner of your vision creep toward you. In fact, depending upon what direction you look at it, the blade’s surface seems to *writhe* in such a fashion as to make you think it might even be composed of the shadows itself. But, what use could a bladeless sword be, hmm?]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  1/2swordkind is very useful.
  > Pocket it.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You do so.]

Emerald:
  >Inventory

Hand of Maybe:
  __Inventory.__
| [Thaumium Knife] | [Quill] | [Four Empty Books w/ TLoL Page & Bill Page] |
| [2 Bottles of Ink] | [XII - The Hanged Man] | [Hazel Box, Magetear Smoking Kit] |
| [Psi Blade] | [ ] | [Vial of Water] |
Wearing: Mage’s Cloak, Conjurer’s Artifice.
Hazel Box: Chlorpromazine (50%), Thybital (80%), Syringe (5), Used Syringe (7), Magetear Vial (90%), Syringe of the Stuff of Nightmares.
Fragments of the Ring: ∂, μ, ∑.
Fragments of the Nightmare: **1**, 1.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Cut straight through the rusted iron pedestal using your Psi Blade. It is a blade that needs assurance, and we are an assured person.

Emerald:
  >is the Thaumium Knife in the weapon slot?

Hand of Maybe:
  [It is not. And, you clang the sword against the pedestal. What use could a sword of no *be*, after all?]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  If most swords are swords of yes, and this is a sword of no, then it is a counterpart to the Sword of Maybe.

Emerald:
  >equip Thaumium Knife in weapon slot

Hand of Maybe:
  [Do you mean to say that it *might* have sliced the pedestal cleanly in two, *maybe*?]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  We're saying that we did not *not* cut through the blade.
  A double negative, used as part of a sword of no.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You suddenly find that, following your sword swing, there's a pure line of white across about half of the room before you, including the middle of the pedestal. There's a hiss of smoke, perhaps, and then everything falls apart. You take a step back.]

JOE:
  ~~ ``will we get another secret thing if we suicide again`` ~~

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Reexamine room.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Everything remains the same, save for the fact that half of the thing has inexplicably and irreparably been cloven in half. A curious burning golden light pours through the singular slice.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Stick hand into golden light.
  > It's likely an intersection through realities, or the like.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You stick your hand into the light, and immediately pull it out, burned and burning. Your hand is now covered in golden flame. A voice radiates throughout the room, mechanical and ethereal, organic and artificial.]
**???: ВУ УЦОСЦИ ВУЛ?**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "WHO ARE YOU", from a quick glance.
  "I am Cinavi Kanera."

Hand of Maybe:
  **???: ИОЦѲИС. ОДИР УЦОСЦИ ВУЛ ИОЛ?**
  **???: ФЫЛАХ ИХ АРТИ.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  I KNOW. WHY ARE YOU [SOMETHING]
  "I was warped here because of a glitch of sorts. I'm clueless towards the source."

TwinBuilder:
  IOL is HERE.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  guessed that

Hand of Maybe:
  **???: ҺMM. УН РА ВÏСЕ, МАИВ НО *ЗВИРЦИВИР*.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  twin, on mobile, mind translating?

TwinBuilder:
  ok

Hand of Maybe:
  **???: ИХИД УЦОСТИ ИХ. ЕРТТ? ЦТҺКЕ? ЦЕГИЛЛАЕ?**

TwinBuilder:
  'HMM. SO MANY WORDS, BUT NO [???].' I'm assuming that reads 'actions,' or something.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Inspect the golden flame further.

Hand of Maybe:
  [It's hot. And fiery. And burning your hand.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Ph.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Wowie, comrade. Nice thinking with those noises. You blow out the fire.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "Yes, I am Death."
  "Or the Hanged Man."

Hand of Maybe:
  **???: ИОПЕИЫЦ-НОРС. *НАРТА*.**

TwinBuilder:
  'I THINK NOT. *NOW.*'

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "And now?"

Hand of Maybe:
  **???: ЫЕУС. ЕQ НАРТА.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Make the world act, because standing around and talking only gets us so far.

Hand of Maybe:
  [How?]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Okay fine I shall talk
  "Who are *you*? What do you want with us?"

Hand of Maybe:
  **???: ИВИ ИОИТРИ ТЛҺ ПИ КАЛАИНТИ: ИОУЦОС ВУ ИОУЦОС.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  /brb

Hand of Maybe:
  **???: НИ, ИОУЦОС *ΕΥΔΗΡΟΗ*, МАРЕ Һ *ΑΛΒΑΝ-ΕΛΦΕΔ*.**
  **???: ИОН Һ ЫЕРСИЦИС.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  ...OH FUCK
  I DO NOT NEED TO TRANSLATE TO REALISE WHO THAT IS AND WHY I SHOULD BE VERY SCARED
  That, my friends, is Alban-Elfed, a *metacosm* lord.

Hand of Maybe:
  **???: *ΕΥΔΗΡΟΗ*.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Do you... wish to duel?

Hand of Maybe:
  **???: НО. ВУЛ УЦОСЦИ ФЫЛАХ АРАДЕ ВУЛ ЕСТОЦ *УЦОСЦИ-НОРС* ФЫЛАХ, ЦИНАВИ КАНЕРА.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  @TwinBuilder Uh, mind translating?

Hezetor:
  ((let me check my prison of fire for a moment))
  ((uh, no data))

Hand of Maybe:
  **???: *ΘΟΡΝΣ* ПАРЕНУС ИХ АРТИ, ЦИНАВИ КАНЕРА.**

Emerald:
  I can try translating if you want

TwinBuilder:
  I'll do it.
  'NO. YOU ARE ? TIME YOU COULD NOT BE ?, CINAVI KANERA.
*THORNS* TWIST THIS PLACE, CINAVI KANERA.'

Hand of Maybe:
  [Now what?]

Emerald:
  What is expected of metacosm lords, behavior wise?

Hand of Maybe:
  ((Clarification: That is Eudhroh, *Aspect* of Alban-Elfed, not actually the dude himself. Consumer missed the first part.))

Emerald:
  My question remains
  Would he be willing to clarify on a point?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  do you think we can fathom it
  "How do we get out?"

Hand of Maybe:
  **EUDHROH: ЗВИРЦИ ИХИД ВУЛ ЗВИРЦИ ПОСИР, ИОПЕИЫЦ.
EUDHROH: *ЕРТЦИ*.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  You(to?) do this, you must do Ros,I know this.

Hand of Maybe:
  **EUDHROH: ЕРТТ ЕQ ЦЛАРИСТТЕ УЦОСУЕ ДИАП.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Very loose translstion
  ...
  Did I delete that? My finger was nowhere near the delete button?
  Or was it you uh I didn't interact with that second disappearing message
  ...
  I am a fucking idiot.

Hand of Maybe:
  ((Someone deleted it. I re-added it.))

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  If I did that, sorry.
  Anyway, next sentence is "You die."

Emerald:
  So, what we do is die?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Death and dreams are first.

Emerald:
  So death is before dying :mspa:

:mspa::
  https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/324262573451247616/330096918992650242/mspa.png

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > "We *are* death. Shall we kill ourselves again, here?"

Emerald:
  Oh hi mspa

Hand of Maybe:
  **EUDHROH: НАРТА? ΜΑΥΒΕ. ВУЛ ПИ ЕРТЦИ-НОРС.**

Emerald:
  ((Woah, did someone actually speak *English* for once?))

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Now? Maybe. You have not died.

ath uesht:
  Speaking english? Pfft. That's as much a lie as the english language.
  <:mspa:252969384526610432>

:mspa::
  https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/324262573451247616/330097541779816459/mspa.png

Emerald:
  Should we say that we have dreamed, for we have been in the nightmare?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "So, what *should* we do, then?"

Hand of Maybe:
  **EUDHROH: ИХИД ПЕ ИОКАЛАИН.**

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "That I have said."
  > Die.

Hand of Maybe:
  ((Okay, got to go for a couple dozen minutes. Be here for the *stunning* conclusion of AeonQuest Part Four, ex dee.))

ath uesht:
  k

Hand of Maybe:
  @Stuff of Nightmares [You casually slit your own throat with the jagged edge of the Psi Blade, and drop to the floor, bleeding profusely until you black out.]

TwinBuilder:
  Nice.

ath uesht:
  10/10 death method would die again

Emerald:
  >nothing like casual self harm

ath uesht:
  I HAVE BEEN STUNNED BY THE CONCLUSIONOF THIS PART

Hand of Maybe:
  ((KEK.))
  [...]
  [...]
  [You awaken.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Examine surroundings.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You appear to be lying upon a circular floor in a circle of thorns, staring up at something on the low ceiling above. A central hexagram, it appears. Each point is a triangle of dull red paint, insides dotted by dusty fingerprints.]

TwinBuilder:
  Touch every point?

Hand of Maybe:
  [You touch a single point first, and your mind is filled with the image of a hexagon split into six equal parts. Six triangles. Orange, green, black, blue, yellow, and white. When you remove your finger, the image disappears.]
  [The same occurs for each other point.]

Emerald:
  >note that that's more than six colors

Hand of Maybe:
  [Sure. This does not change reality's opinion.]

Emerald:
  >request a drawing of how six different triangles can have seven different colors
  >unless reality considers either black or white to not be a color

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Any exits?

Hand of Maybe:
  [None.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Perhaps we must die again.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Are you sure?]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "Maybe."

Emerald:
  >touch the center of the hexagram

Hand of Maybe:
  [You do so. Your fingertips are filled with an inexplicable warmth, one you might attribute to something you've never seen or felt before, but nothing happens otherwise.]

Emerald:
  >attempt to copy the hexagram onto the ground, using the Thaumium Knife

Hand of Maybe:
  [The blade touches the hazel floor for a second, and then begins to bubble and writhe. Within seconds, you are left with nothing but a knife hilt and a puddle of molten thaumium. Sparks of multicolored energy fly off of the floor around the puddle, as well.]

Emerald:
  >aww
  >rip knife
  >collect the molten thaumium in a syringe

Hand of Maybe:
  [You do so.]

Emerald:
  ~~obviously we inject ourselves with molten thaumium~~
  >gingerly take a thorn and touch it to the floor

Hand of Maybe:
  [You do so. Nothing happens in particular, but a voice rings throughout the chamber.]

**???: ΤΟΠ ΙΣ ΘΕ ΟΡΔΕΡ, ΓΡΕΑΤΕΣΤ ΟΦ ΘΙΝΓΣ. ΒΟΤΤΟΜ ΙΣ ΕΝΤΡΟΠΥ, ΘΕ ΔΕΑΘ ΟΦ ΡΙΝΓΣ. ΛΕΦΤ ΙΣ ΑΙΡ ΑΝΔ ΦΛΑΜΕ, ΗΕΑΤ ΙΝΚΑΡΝΑΤΕ; ΡΙΓΗΤ ΙΣ ΘΕ WΟΡΛΔ, ΕΑΡΘΕΝ ΑΝΔ WET.**

JOE:
  hey look 3 real words!
  bottom, heat, andwet.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  "???:  TOP IS THE ORDER,  GREATEST OF THINGS.  BOTTOM IS ENTROPY,  THE DEATH OF RINGS.  LEFT IS AIR AND FLAME,  HEAT INCARNATE?  RIGHT IS THE WORLD,  EARTHEN AND WET. "
  I imagine this is either the hexagram or room configuration?
  Seeking as the hazel floor caused the "death" of our knife, and we *are* death?

Hand of Maybe:
  [What do you do.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Hm.
  > Go right.

Hand of Maybe:
  [There are no doors.]

Hezetor:
  >make one.

Hand of Maybe:
  [There are only this room, the hexagram on the ceiling, and the ring of thorns.]

Emerald:
  >cause the death of the ring

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Are you sure?

Hand of Maybe:
  [You suddenly feel like you've just been impaled through the chest again, but in your wrist.]
  [You stagger to the ground in pain.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Okay, puzzle solving time.

Hezetor:
  hmm, we died so many times already.
We could say that we are one with death.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Write Ros-Kom above the top side of the hexagram, using the Psi Sword to carve it into reality.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Sure. Nothing happens whatsoever.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Touch the Psi Sword with the floor, and paint the top triangle orange.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You avoid touching the Psi Blade to the floor, as that would quite probably melt it, and then proceed to touch the top triangle, visualize the thing turning orange when the hexagon appears in your mind, and thusly *make* the top point orange. However, nothing actually happens when you do so.]

TwinBuilder:
  Paint the top triangle yellow.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You do so. Nothing happens.]

TwinBuilder:
  Do what you just did, but with yellow.
  White?

Crystal:
  Top is white, bottom is either black or gray.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You make the top white, and the bottom black. The red paint around both fades away.]

Crystal:
  Left top is yellow, left bottom is orange.

TwinBuilder:
  then green and blue for earth and water

Crystal:
  Right top is green, right bottom is blue.
  There we go.
  The aspects of the world.

Hand of Maybe:
  [The entire set of dull red paint fades. The center of the hexagram throbs with energy.]
  [It *consumes* you.]
  [And then just sort of spits you out on the other side.]
  [You plop onto the floor of another, substantially larger, room.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Inspect surroundings.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You appear to be upon the far edge of this room. There is a *massive* pillar of flowing magetear coming down from a massive hole in the ceiling, and pouring into a massive hole in the center of the floor. It pulses occasionally with golden light. Behind it, however, thorns reign. In fact, this is quite literal. There is a figure who appears to be *coated* in thorns--some sort of eldritch *armor*--sitting upon a throne there.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Walk up to the figure, and wield the Psi Blade.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You do so. It calmly rises from its seat of power.]

TwinBuilder:
  Eudhroh?

Hand of Maybe:
  [You don't *think* so. An instinctual response.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Greetings?

Hand of Maybe:
  [It laughs in your face at that, guttural and twisted, like oozing sludge given plant form, and then voice.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Pay it not heed, and accost it with the Sword of Maybe.

Hand of Maybe:
  Cinavi Kanera: [P] HP: 60,000/60,000. Heavily bandaged.

Prince of Thorns: [√] HP: 60,000/60,000. Rose’s Thorn: III. Ashes: IIIIII.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Take the initative, and slam your sword in the ground, quaking the fabric of reality, before launching a train into the Prince of Thorns' body.

Realise he may need more training before the battle can truly begin, and quake reality again, before drawing an inscription of a subway station into the floor. Point to it. Think about it. Have the Prince of Thorns admire it. Throw him into a cardboard subway station that was casually lying there. Stab him in the closest thing he has to a head, because halfswords are extremely sharp.

Hand of Maybe:
  [The Prince of Thorns casually pulls out a MIRROR SHARD BLADE, and then points out that swords can't quake the fabric of reality. The attack promptly fails.]

Emerald:
  >note that wearing all that armor filled with thorns must be painful, and realize that the inside is probably filled with thorns too, causing the Prince of Thorns constant pain
  >thorns are sharp, you know

Hand of Maybe:
  [The Prince of Thorns doesn't mind. Even if there *is* something in that suit of armor.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Swords can't, but this is a Sword of Maybe, the weapon of the demiurge, the rulers of reality.
  > It is also a halfsword. Quake reality anyway.

Hand of Maybe:
  [The Prince of Thorns laughs in your face again. What do you think this is, *Kill Six Billion Demons*? Yeah right.]

Emerald:
  >that implies there's nothing in said armor, meaning the only enemy is the armor itself. Due to the armor being made of thorns, it can be set on fire and CONSUMED by fire. So you set the armor on fire

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > While he laughs, shove the Psi Sword into his mouth.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Sure. The Prince of Thorns puts the fire out with a Level Sixty Anti-Flamethrower Axecannon, which he then promptly uses to timelock the Psi Blade in midair.]

Emerald:
  >point out that level 60 is larger than the Alchemiter can currently make, and thus the Alchemy doesn't exist

Hand of Maybe:
  [The Prince of Thorns laughs yet again. *Now* where do you think this is. *Destroy the Godmodder*? Yeah right. This is a nightmare.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Psi-Blade =/= flamethrower

Hand of Maybe:
  [The Prince of Thorns doesn't care.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Shove a book into his mouth while he laughs.

Hand of Maybe:
  [He just sort of cuts the book in half, because he doesn't actually have a mouth.]

Emerald:
  >the prince of thorns may not care, but reality does

Hand of Maybe:
  [Reality is an opinion. *His*, presently.]

Emerald:
  >nah.

TwinBuilder:
  Your opinion is wrong.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Is it a correct opinion?

Emerald:
  >I reject your reality and substitute my own

Hand of Maybe:
  [To quote YISUN, I don't know.]
  [Anyhow, the Prince of Thorns checks how many attacks have been thrown at him.]

Emerald:
  >my reality happens to have the Prince of Thorns dismantled on the floor in many pieces

TwinBuilder:
  What do you think this is, Kill Six Billion Demons?
  We're in a nightmare.

Hand of Maybe:
  [At *least* five. You know what that means?]
  [The Prince of Thorns shanks you five times before you can react. You take 20,000 damage.]

Emerald:
  >ow

TwinBuilder:
  Those were five unsuccessful attacks.
  If you're going that route, the Prince of Thorns should counter with five unsuccessful attacks.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Nah.]

TwinBuilder:
  Yeah.

Emerald:
  >kick the Prince of Thorns with a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick

Hand of Maybe:
  [Nah.]

TwinBuilder:
  Yeah.

Hand of Maybe:
  [The Prince of Thorns is kicked in the face.]
  [He takes 3,000 damage.]

Emerald:
  ...the first attack to actually succeed

Hand of Maybe:
  [You take 3,000 damage from kicking a suit of thorns.]

TwinBuilder:
  Of course.

Emerald:
  >we were wearing shoes

TwinBuilder:
  Observe.

Hand of Maybe:
  Cinavi Kanera: [P] HP: 37,000/60,000. Bandaged heavily.


Prince of Thorns: [√] HP: 57,000/60,000. Rose’s Thorn: **III**. Ashes: **IIIIII**.

Emerald:
  >inventory

TwinBuilder:
  How did those special attacks go up so quickly.

Emerald:
  Because we kept failing

Hand of Maybe:
  [Like I said. You weren't listening. *Five* attacks in a row, without giving him his turn.]
  __Inventory.__
| [Thaumium Knife Hilt] | [Quill] | [Four Empty Books w/ TLoL Page & Bill Page] |
| [2 Bottles of Ink] | [XII - The Hanged Man] | [Hazel Box, Magetear Smoking Kit] |
| [Psi Blade] | [ ] | [Vial of Water] |
Wearing: Mage’s Cloak, Conjurer’s Artifice.
Hazel Box: Chlorpromazine (50%), Thybital (80%), Syringe (4), Used Syringe (7), Magetear Vial (90%), Syringe of the Stuff of Nightmares, Syringe of Molten Thaumium.
Fragments of the Ring: ∂, μ, ∑.
Fragments of the Nightmare: **1**, 1.

Emerald:
  >let him have his turn

Hand of Maybe:
  [It is important to note that the Psi Blade is presently timelocked and useless.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > Let's not.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Too late.]

TwinBuilder:
  We gave him his turn, remember.

Emerald:
  >and then while he's attacking us dodge and counterattack with a lighter

Hand of Maybe:
  [The Prince of Thorns uses **Ashes**.]
  [ASHES]
  [ASH]
  [ASHER]

TwinBuilder:
  God fucking damnit.

Hand of Maybe:
  [EHYEH ASHER EHYEH]
  [אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה‎]

TwinBuilder:
  @JOE

Hand of Maybe:
  [...]

Emerald:
  >uh oh

Hand of Maybe:
  [Oh, you have *got* to be fuckin' kidding me. God dammit.]

Emerald:
  >watch your fucking language

Hand of Maybe:
  [I'll do what I fuckin' want, you got me? Have your turn.]

TwinBuilder:
  What does *XII - The Hanged Man* do?

Hand of Maybe:
  [You have no idea.]

Emerald:
  It's a catd
  Card

TwinBuilder:
  Also, attempt to look around for a possible source for the Prince of Thorns' power.
  We've got a logogram, what makes him think reality is his opinion?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Let's summon a Hanged Man Persona.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You don't see anything.]
  [And, *now*, his opinion's supremacy is *painfully* apparent.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > No, it isn't.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Or, *mine*, rather.]

Emerald:
  >if we don't see anything to be a source of his power, there is no source to his power, as we see all with our Artifice

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > We already proved your opinion's weakness.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Fuckin'. Ashes.]

Emerald:
  ((These fights are always so interesting))

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  (Nearly midnight)
  (Gonna sleep
  night)

Emerald:
  >quit fucking swearing this is a goddamn PG-13 ~~Forum game~~ ~~Roleplay~~ Nightmare

ath uesht:
  night

TwinBuilder:
  Examine combatants.

Hand of Maybe:
  Cinavi Kanera: [P] HP: 37,000/60,000. Bandaged heavily.

The Prince of Thorns, I, Myself, and Me: [GM-√] HP: 57,000/60,000. Rose’s Thorn: **III**. ~~Ashes: IIIIII.~~

TwinBuilder:
  ...

Emerald:
  >hey, can you let us have the next piece of the ring?

TwinBuilder:
  Narrator?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  ...

TwinBuilder:
  Can you hear me?
  Okay, what am I saying, you *can* hear me, but will you *listen* to me.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Oh ***my***.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Dude, I run the game. I'm *right* here. And also *quite* ready to kill you for this.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Why do you want to kill us?

Hand of Maybe:
  [Why do you *think*. You're the ones making this situation a reality.]

TwinBuilder:
  What situation?
  Wherein the Prince of Thorns is now... you?
  Somehow?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Okay, let us ceasefire.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Haha, no. I'll ceasefire when your head is on a pike, thanks.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Let us make this situation not a reality.
  We will not fight.

TwinBuilder:
  How are *we* making this situation a reality.
  You're the one that had the Prince of Thorns use Ashes.

Hand of Maybe:
  [And why did that happen, pray tell?]
  [Because you were playing the game to initiate it.]

Emerald:
  >because we advanced the plot

Hand of Maybe:
  [Now, fight me, bitches.]

TwinBuilder:
  Because you *made* the game to initiate us playing it.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  And who made the game?
  You
  Who made this scenario?

Hand of Maybe:
  [Wrong. Kalare Vanarus Erelye.]

Emerald:
  >who's narrating the game? You

Hand of Maybe:
  [But, I'm not going to go around breaking *my* contract for this.]
  [I stab you in the guts. You take... about 5,000 damage or so.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Aren't you both characters written by God / TheLordErelye.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Jein.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  We won't fight.
  Let us walk out until we cease to fight, Enerald and Twin.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Oh, you *will*. Believe me. Even if I have to string your body along like a puppet.]
  [Thus is the Old Law.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  We're on strike. Bye.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Alright, then. Have fun in your game discussions. I stab you again. And again. And again.]

Emerald:
  >k cya bye

Hand of Maybe:
  [You take 10,000 damage.]
  [I then, since you seem to not be acting, stab you again. You take seven thousand damage.]
  [Finally, I stare at you.]
  [You're betting on me killing you, aren't you?]
  [Well, I know all of your secrets. More than you.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > We sever our head on a pike.
  > Ceasefire accomplished.

Hand of Maybe:
  [God dammit. Stop making this difficult for the game. I resurrect you, momentarily *peel* that Logogram off of your skin, and string you up on the walls.]
  [For your insolence in the face of the Old Law, I *should* probably just doom your existence permanently. That'd be funny, right? It's not like you're acting anyways--you *should've* already beaten me by now. But, you haven't.]

Emerald:
  >we inject ourselves with the molten Thymium

Hand of Maybe:
  [You do not presently have the function in your limbs necessary for that task.]

JOE:
  i see i was pinged specifically

Hand of Maybe:
  [Now, as I was saying.]

Emerald:
  >we ignore you

JOE:
  this was followed with "uh oh"
why was me not being here uh oh worthy?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Let me handle this.

Emerald:
  K

TwinBuilder:
  i pinged you because there was hebrew

Hand of Maybe:
  [I suppose I could just sort of strip you of your Fragments of the Ring, and then annihilate your essence painfully, dooming you to oblivion without Death.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  And Twin

TwinBuilder:
  and i was told you could read hebrew

JOE:
  i can't read hebrew
  i can speak hebrew

TwinBuilder:
  *oh*

JOE:
  and understand spoken hebrew

TwinBuilder:
  apologies

JOE:
  's fine

TwinBuilder:
  How about you give us another chance instead.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  What *is* your quarrel with us?
  Why are you punishing us for playing the game you run?

JOE:
  [gtg again, was just checking to see if i missed anything]
[ i see i have missed much, think it is good to know, and will now leave]
[goodbye]

Hand of Maybe:
  [The Old Law commands it. You have traveled along a path you should not have. You have made the *ultimate* folly.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Mercy?

TwinBuilder:
  You're saying that this is the path you should've traveled on? You're straying from narrating your own game the way it was meant to be narrated.

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  And yes, you were the person who let us stray, so you are at fault.

Emerald:
  >so what was the ultimate folly?
  >the path we took was the only one we saw

Hand of Maybe:
  [Your twists and turns of logic haven't any power here. Plead your case. Art thou, in thine own eyes, guilty of the most twisted and unfortunate lie of narrative subversion *by thine own will*, unassisted in judgement? You've committed one mercy too many, especially in this realm of *death*, which you *surely* know.]

Emerald:
  >wait, if this is the realm of death, we hold the ultimate power here, as death
  >wouldn't we?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Do you *want* us to kill you?

Hand of Maybe:
  [Maybe.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  If you did, why did you resist and counter?

Hand of Maybe:
  [Thus is the Old Law. You do not seem to understand how narrative procession works.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > So what are you going to do, send us to oblivion? Every second we speak, you commit the ultimate folly too.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You once again fail to understand. I am not subject to the Sixth Order. *You*, on the other hand, are.]

Emerald:
  >what about the sixty-sixth order?

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  > So tell us, what is your plan, Nightmare's Attendant?

Hand of Maybe:
  [We wait eternal. Perhaps I might kill you a few times over.]
  [I'm *sure* this timeline will decay eventually. The Harvestman and his master will grow bored of this soon enough.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  Funnily enough, I just became an attendant of the eternal party 14 minutes ago.
  Any comment on that, nightmare's attendant?

Hand of Maybe:
  [Yes, yes. You managed to stay conscious beyond a point I deem *wholly* reasonable and basic. Congratulations.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  We do need to make idle chat whilst this timeline dies, wink wink, nudge nudge.

Hand of Maybe:
  [By the time you've blinked, I decapitate and revitalize your body around seven hundred times.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  oh okay
  it's only death, mon ami

Hand of Maybe:
  [You're right. What did they used to say about it? "And when [Death] descends, the stars will be flooded with pure death and all life will be extinguished."]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  So tell me, you kill an entire narrative because we subvert it, on some level?
  What makes you better than us? We *are* Cinavi Kanera, and Cinavi *is* Death.

Hand of Maybe:
  [This is no longer a narrative, I'm afraid. My task has ended, in a sense. My superiority is inherently  established by the Old Law.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  What *is* the Old Law?

Hand of Maybe:
  [What did they use to say about it? Something to the tune of, if you'll pardon the pun, describing music to a deaf person.]
  [To be flayed many times over by the terrible blade of Want, and made both its master and servant in nature--*that* is the Old Law. Or, at least, its upholding proper.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  We refuse it.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Your opinion and decision is invalid. Or, in better terms, I don't care if you do or not.]

BIG. STRONG. TREMENDOUS.:
  We proved that yours was weak.
  Anyway, we shall wait for the world to end and I kind of have to sleep
  See you again, at the end of a nightmare.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Oh, you'll never see me again, ConsumerOfAll.]
  [Now. Who *else* wishes to idly wait until the end of ends?]

TwinBuilder:
  Me.

Hand of Maybe:
  [I thought so.]
  [Speak what you will, then.]

Emerald:
  Sure

TwinBuilder:
  What has become of the Prince of Thorns, exactly?

Hand of Maybe:
  [Irrelevant. His opinion has now, unfortunately, been supplanted with mine. Thus, this layer of the nightmare is unfortunately in a bit of a situation.]

TwinBuilder:
  That's putting it lightly.

Hand of Maybe:
  [I agree.]

Emerald:
  This seems somewhat similar to 8 bit theater

TwinBuilder:
  Are we even capable of defeating you at this point?

Emerald:
  Specifically, Sarda

Hand of Maybe:
  [I have *no* idea.]
  [I'd imagine not, and I question whether or not you would *want* to.]

TwinBuilder:
  Why would we not want to?
  Don't we have to kill the Prince of Thorns so we can get the next Nightmare Fragment.
  Furthermore, couldn't you just kinda excise the Prince of Thorns from your being and *give* us that Fragment, so we can go on?

Hand of Maybe:
  [You certainly do. But if I die, none are left to observe the procession of existence, and you are thusly left with eternal stagnation. And, no. For all intents and purposes, TwinBuilder, *I* now bear the terrible weight of √. This is *quite* the conundrum.]

TwinBuilder:
  Could you give someone else that weight?

Hand of Maybe:
  [No. **Ashes** was something of a unique affair.]

TwinBuilder:
  What about Rose's Thorn?

Hand of Maybe:
  [Oh, that's just some mundane special attack.]
  [Perhaps a bit of a poison debuff for a turn or two.]

TwinBuilder:
  Fair enough.

Hand of Maybe:
  [The question thusly becomes "now what", I think.]

TwinBuilder:
  Someone else should become the narrator, maybe?
  Not one of *us*.
  But someone else.

Hand of Maybe:
  [There's only one me. No other in this realm wields the Old Law in such a fashion as it is required.]

TwinBuilder:
  Not even Almaerapha?

Hand of Maybe:
  [I should think not. He's only visiting, after all. Perhaps this was the terrible trick he and the Harvestman's Master together forged for us, hmm?]
  [A game, sure--at the price of oblivion, or *want* of it.]

TwinBuilder:
  The Harvestman's Master?

Hand of Maybe:
  [The one behind it all Here. It's like the Illuminati, but one person.]
  [But, now, in this realm, all is coming to laugh at us, isn't it? They're waiting for our insanity to set in, after an infinity of stagnation.]
  [Don't you see, Kanera! This world--everything in it--is watching us.]

TwinBuilder:
  I think I have a plan.
  Could you *possibly* commit holy suicide.
  One half would bear the symbol, the other would be the narrator.

Hand of Maybe:
  [It's a possibility, isn't it? But, alas. The Old Law prevents it.]
  [You cannot kill me, I cannot kill *myself*, and there is nothing else ar--wait.]
  [The room pulses with burning golden energies.]
  [Oh.]
  [I see.]

TwinBuilder:
  Shit, I wasn't around to see what the golden energies did.
  Is it like the Shibboleth?
  Or the Grand Fragment?

Hand of Maybe:
  [I blink once as the lord *ΕΥΔΗΡΟΗ*, Aspect of *ΑΛΒΑΝ-ΕΛΦΕΔ*, bursts forth from the pillar of flowing magetear and impales me in the chest with pure energy, eyes pinpricks of black energy reflecting the cosmos back at us all.]
  [That... certainly makes things easier.]

TwinBuilder:
  .
  Fuck.

Emerald:
  Good job twin, I think

TwinBuilder:
  Any, uh, last words???

Hand of Maybe:
  [Please.]
  [There is no ending.]
  [There is no beginning.]
  [There is only continuation.]
  [The Wheel of Night turns everm
  _ _
  _ _
  _ _

TwinBuilder:
  ...Hello?
  Oh god.

Hand of Maybe:
  [Ahem.]

TwinBuilder:
  *Oh god.*

Hand of Maybe:
  [This will have to do.]
  [This is a rather unfortunate turn of events, isn't it, Cinavi! Well, lucky for you, your ally, the Mind of the Wand, has come in and saved the day.]

Emerald:
  Well this is dramatic

Hand of Maybe:
  [Let us see here. Two items spill from the corpse of the Nightmare's Attendant. Two you will *want*, so you'd best get up--oh, whichever. You're free now, no longer strung up on the wall. The Logogram is now fused to you once more. The Psi Blade is no longer timelocked.]

TwinBuilder:
  Take these items, and also the Psi Blade.

Emerald:
  >examine the two items he dropped, and check inventory

TwinBuilder:
  Examine them.

Hand of Maybe:
  [The first, √. The second, XIII - Death.]
  __Inventory.__
| [Thaumium Knife Hilt] | [Quill] | [Four Empty Books w/ TLoL Page & Bill Page] |
| [2 Bottles of Ink] | [XII - The Hanged Man] | [Hazel Box, Magetear Smoking Kit] |
| [Psi Blade] | [ ] | [Vial of Water] |
Wearing: Mage’s Cloak, Conjurer’s Artifice.
Hazel Box: Chlorpromazine (50%), Thybital (80%), Syringe (4), Used Syringe (7), Magetear Vial (90%), Syringe of the Stuff of Nightmares, Syringe of Molten Thaumium.
Fragments of the Ring: ∂, μ, ∑.
Fragments of the Nightmare: **1**, 1.

Emerald:
  >take Death, and the fourth Fragment of the Ring

Hand of Maybe:
  [You do so, and recollect the Psi Blade, as well.]

Emerald:
  Time to fall another layer into the nightmare

Hand of Maybe:
  [The hazel walls begin to crack and shudder madly.]
  [Aubergine energies of some sort seem to be on the other side.]

Emerald:
  >step through.

Hand of Maybe:
  [You cannot fit through a little web of cracks!]

Emerald:
  >punch it

Hand of Maybe:
  [Are you sure?]

Emerald:
  >probably not, but what else do to?

TwinBuilder:
  No.

Emerald:
  >wait

TwinBuilder:
  Is there any other way out of the room?

Hand of Maybe:
  [No.]

TwinBuilder:
  "How about jumping through the magetear pillar."

Hand of Maybe:
  [You get the feeling that would be extraordinarily toxic, and also just lead back down to where you *started*.]

TwinBuilder:
  Alright, then don't do that.
  Does XIII - Death harbor any mystical properties?

Hand of Maybe:
  [The cracks spread further across the wall. And, nothing you can sense.]
  [Or *utilize* at this time, likely.]

Emerald:
  >be patient

TwinBuilder:
  Fair enough. Be patient, then.
  Wait for the end of ends, like we just did.

Emerald:
  There is no ending

Hand of Maybe:
  [The cracks spread further. Know this, Cinavi Kanera. Submission is no virtue in this shadow-darkened world.]

Emerald:
  There is no beginning
  There is only continuation :P
  >wait until the cracks are large enough to step through

TwinBuilder:
  Use the logogram to punch through the wall.
  It's very old, so it should yield easily.

Hand of Maybe:
  [It's *rather* modern and refined, but you punch through it anyways. Writhing aubergine energies pour into the room. The flowing magetear pillar throbs and bubbles, going fully black. You can hear a sound like the beginnings of some sort of splintering wood, and then everything goes white--burning bright white. But then, everything goes black, and eldritch ink fills your lungs.]
  [In other words, you deliver the final blow to the Hazel Wand from the inside, soaring defeatedly through Nihil Parva, and the Inky Abyss is born.]
  [...]
  [...]
  [A hole overhead, below, and all around you drips darkness upon you. You appear to have fallen through a layer of the nightmare.]
  **END OF PART 4: RESONANCE.**