New World Epilogue | Carry On

[10:34:37 PM CDT] <[Cy]> +++===---Scene---===+++
[10:37:22 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [You are in a run down building. Despite the distance and language and culture barriers around you, it is obvious that this is--was a place of worship. The entirety of Green Shield and company are here; or were here, the most injured vanished into thin air about a quarter hour after the lot of you were ushered into this ruin.]
[10:40:23 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow checks the attendees: is it only Green Shield? Are their refugees here, as well? Is there anyone clearly not belonging to either of that group?
[10:42:49 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [Green Shield's company are here also: the barmaid and other staff at the tavern, the refugees sheltering at the estate, Glanari who seems to be staring off at nothing in particular in a daze. Earlier, Mist had spoken with the organizational committee of GS, but they've adjourned since and most people are asleep.]
[10:44:00 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow checks the door. Is it open? Has traffic in and out been free?
[10:44:32 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [The formerly ornate door was shut after GS was herded in and hasn't been opened since.]
[10:45:38 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow stands to stretch her legs. How crowded is the room?
[10:48:09 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [This place of worship is quite grand. You can safely assume that it would have been quite grand had times been different. Everyone from Green Shield is keeping to one end of the building, resting amongst the bench seats, but the altar end is far less populated. Mist and a few others have taken up places towards that end.]
[10:51:12 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow walks to the alter end, looking at the seating.
[10:54:51 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [Walking along one of three aisles towards the altar, you find that the benches are in a variety of conditions. Some are as, you suppose, how they had been when this place was active; others, especially those under the holes in the roof, are little more than planks left out in the elements; others still have been broken and torn out, possibly to use as raw material. The fact that the quality does not improve as it nears the altar suggests th
[10:54:52 PM CDT] <[Cy]> at nobody uses this building for worship any longer.]
[10:56:01 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow pauses the the front pews to look at the altar.
[10:59:47 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [The altar still stands as it is made of sturdy white stone. The original divine symbols are gone, though the lack of damage where the slots are indicate that they were removed with care. Perhaps the devout did not want their symbols left in a place they could not keep sacred. Mist stands behind it, looking out the window directly behind the altar.]
[11:01:20 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow looks out the window Mist is looking out of.
[11:01:58 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [It's the ocean.]
[11:03:09 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow looks back about the room. Is River nearby?
[11:04:19 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [River is not around, and had not been seen until just before the locals began herding your group towards and into this building.]
[11:05:43 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Do we know where we are?
[11:12:36 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow continues past the pews towards the altar.
[11:13:56 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> To where we had sent her. Where all this began.
[11:14:00 PM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist turns away from the ocean
[11:14:47 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> To where we sent whom?
[11:16:34 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Not you, us. We had sent River here, to this land.
[11:17:22 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow 's eyes jolt wide open.
[11:17:30 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> We're on the other side of the ocean?
[11:18:42 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Why are you so surprised? We were just on the other side of the great land from your home, now we're across the vast water.
[11:18:54 PM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist smirks wryly
[11:19:49 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I simply wasn't expecting it. I had assumed we would be heading back towards the City.
[11:20:53 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Do you want to go back? You still can. She has provisioned for it.
[11:22:21 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> But why have we come here?
[11:23:45 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Why. That would depend how deep an explanation you want.
[11:24:35 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow draws back her mouth and takes a deep breath through her nose while she considers.
[11:25:46 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Perhaps we can start with lesser, more recent details, and examine their history as it becomes apparent.
[11:26:18 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> What has pushed us to come here and not to the City or somewhere nearer?
[11:29:12 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> River planned for this. Upon succeeding in our previous theatre, she was going to come here sooner or later. We were just brought here out of convenience, to stay temporarily unless we choose otherwise.
[11:30:47 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow looks briefly to the door before looking back to Mist.
[11:31:08 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> And how deep an explanation is required to understand whatever's happening out there? In this land?
[11:32:59 PM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist nibbles on her lip in thought
[11:34:01 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> On the surface, what had happened to this land is what is happening to the Confederacy at Basha's Pass. The Dominion has invaded.
[11:34:29 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Beneath that, this land is the place of conflict to which River was sacrificed for our exodus.
[11:35:21 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> ...and beneath that, we refer to this land as The Old Land, the last rest of the Ancestors.
[11:35:50 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow nods.
[11:36:19 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I've heard echoes of the tale; I was hoping to learn more, but was interrupted by the mission to Basha's Pass.
[11:36:40 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> But do you mean that River wanted to come here for some personal reason? Or for diplomatic reasons? A union against the Dominion?
[11:37:44 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> All of those? More? I suppose there is no harm in telling you now. With what she's become, it is impossible for you to misuse the information.
[11:38:07 PM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist steps up to the altar and gazes out at the GS and company for a moment
[11:39:56 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow watches Mist's observation.
[11:41:19 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Those who stay, by choice or not, will be set against the Dominion. Not out of some respect for the locals here, not to merely challenge the Dominion's power, but to accomplish our hereditary duty: to be stewards of this world. Such was the fundamental purpose of our Ancestors, neglected for millennia; such is that which River became.
[11:43:00 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> The interests of The State is secondary to her now. We are no longer People, her and I.
[11:43:24 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> That which—What happened? Did her "impossible idea" not fail?
[11:44:05 PM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist utters a short, soft laugh
[11:44:16 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> We will see yet.
[11:44:40 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> But by State rights, River is dead. Again.
[11:46:10 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> From what you say, it's not clear what's certain, besides her death.
[11:48:51 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> What can we say with confidence?
[11:53:03 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> That she cannot be counted amongst the Yintem. When she touched the artifact under the mountain, she whispered the Old Tongue phrase the heir is supposed to speak when accepting ascension to the throne.
[11:53:08 PM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist shakes her head
[11:53:45 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Who knew the legends held truth? That the rites outlined in The Ideal had actual function?
[11:54:27 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> What function do you suppose it was?
[11:57:11 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Accepting ascension, to a different sort of throne. She's told me of the possibilities she wishes to experiment with her power, powers that exceed any species or individual known to The State.
[11:57:27 PM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist turns to look at Meadow
[11:57:56 PM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> She believes she can heal the lands ruined by the Dominion. That she must.
[11:59:43 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow looks back at Mist.
[11:59:46 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Do you think she can?
[12:00:55 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> What I think is irrelevant. She will, or she will not.
[12:01:25 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Hmph. I guess I don't have to put it in those terms, now that I'm "dead".
[12:01:32 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> I think she will try.
[12:01:50 AM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist looks down at the altar
[12:02:01 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> But we would not be here if she could do it alone.
[12:02:54 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Do you think she has ascended, then?
[12:05:31 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> A Citizen would say no, as changing one's Ancestor-given form is a sin. But as a measure of ability, then yes.
[12:07:50 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> And if she still cannot right the evil of the Dominion by her own power, are we here to add some power to hers?
[12:10:54 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> In a general sense, perhaps? If she could just slay all the foes and seal the bridges alone, we would not need to be here. But we are, so by design, she needs power of some sort.
[12:12:28 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> What sort?
[12:15:40 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> The sort provided by individuals at arms, from the looks of it. I've never been to The Old Land myself, I don't know the people, their abilities, their customs. I only know enough to break them should that situation have ever had arisen. But it was clear when we arrived that everyone was living war as a matter of survival and not one of culture or pride.
[12:17:13 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> What do you mean, you've never been here? I was told you and River were friends from childhood. Were you not born and raised on this side of the ocean?
[12:18:02 AM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist sighs
[12:19:06 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Recall I had mention she was sent here for a time. But I don't recall ever having divulged my history to you. Who did you hear this from?
[12:20:16 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Echo told me.
[12:20:41 AM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist sets her jaw in annoyance
[12:22:26 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Our home was not The Old Land. The State kept off of it in reverence to our Ancestors. The old Capial was on an island offshore, where The State began, where Yintem grew from ragged refugees without even boats to what they are now.
[12:25:27 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> So it was from the island that housed the State that River was sacrificed to this Old Land.
[12:26:34 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> That was only about six years ago, we had far more lands than just the old Capital.
[12:29:08 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Had she not been raised in the Capital? I knew that she was heiress, before her sacrifice.
[12:36:03 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> She had. The State had discovered the region which would become The City, but could not afford to draw down our population on the old Capital due to the barbaric nature of the Old Land, threatening invasion. A solution presented itself when a tribal chief attempted to unite the warring bands here.
[12:37:38 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Conveniently, and perversely, the tribal chieftain had demanded the heiresses of all the tribes, and so River had to go, but The State made the most of it.
[12:38:13 AM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist looks to the crowd of GS
[12:38:18 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> She came back different.
[12:39:47 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I've heard that the ideas of hers that have lead me here were treated with intense skepticism when she first proposed them. A result of the changes you saw in her?
[12:45:20 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> She returned with what would be considered an unhealthy amount of personal ambition. She interpreted her role in The State's clean exodus from this region as proof of the potential a well placed and well learned individual has. Citizens had always been taught to value cooperation, that efforts were always better undertaken united with peers; and while she did not reject this truth, she returned with alien justification and evidence that
[12:45:20 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> individuals can affect change more efficiently than a community.
[12:46:46 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I can understand how the cheiftain you mention would have offered some evidence to that idea.
[12:52:47 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Perhaps, but that was not her example. Though she never outright said it, she was quite proud of being able to execute a plan of her own creation to nearly the best possible outcome. How, at her guidance, the chieftain was assassinated by a tribal heiress, how she returned to The State alive to demand her repatriation, how she argued for the unconditional repatriation of our soldiers sent with her. The implication of it all was how The
[12:52:49 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> State's fair fortunes were owed to her. The Prime Administrator was deft, of course, and granted her daughter leave to create the Associate Project.
[12:53:12 AM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist turns to look out back to the sea, leaning against the altar
[12:55:00 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> And you see her latest project as another manifestation of this new breed of hubris?
[12:58:38 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> It's far beyond that now. Having "died" once gives a new perspective on life, I've yet to fully grasp it, but for her who had accomplished so much after having died, she's willing to sacrifice everything to right the world, include giving up her own being. It is difficult, but you must not see a Yintem if you look at her now.
[12:59:23 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow cracks a smile, which then grows into a laugh.
[1:00:03 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I'm not certain I've ever seen a Yintem, in her or in anyone. I may have tried, or thought I was trying, but it may be that I was better prepared to see one of the Mimikos.
[1:01:41 AM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist furrows her brow
[1:02:06 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Well, however you see things. She's become her own being now.
[1:04:07 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> What about you? Now that you've set foot on the Old Land, and been sacrificed as she was, are you your own being? Are you still a Yintem?
[1:06:53 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> By definition, no, and I wasn't sacrificed. I had chosen to legally bind myself to River thinking that I could anchor her to The State. I had underestimated her ambition. Anyway, the demonym "Yintem" requires Citizenship. Since mine had been revoked, I technically am not one.
[1:08:19 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> ...If you were to return, then, would you be required to do so as an Associate?
[1:10:44 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> I won't. As someone who technically chose to forfeit their citizenship, I will live by my choice.
[1:10:56 AM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist blinks slowly thrice
[1:11:49 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Will you stay here?
[1:15:41 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> I had declared that I would go where River goes and so am bound to it. I doubt she'll stay here, however, her efforts are required wherever the Dominion had spread its poison.
[1:16:45 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow pauses.
[1:16:57 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> She's here? Is she still bound to her body?
[1:18:47 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> I think so. She's just used that travelling ability of hers to disappear somewhere for now. Possibly escorting the wounded back home to treatment. She will probably send anyone who wants to go back to The City the same way later.
[1:19:54 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Astounding.
[1:19:57 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow looks to Mist.
[1:20:08 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Do you think I'll have another chance to speak with her?
[1:22:44 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> She ought return, though I question her ability to speak physically now. I hadn't heard her use her voice since the tomb.
[1:23:19 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Has she spoken to you in spite of the fact?
[1:25:41 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> She... impresses upon the mind what she wishes to communicate. I suppose she's still coming to a grasp of her abilities, as her ideas were somewhat fragmented. Perhaps she'll regain all her functions in time.
[1:26:43 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow looks at the floor for a moment.
[1:28:01 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> ...And you still see yourself as bound to her, as you were when you accepted your Censorship?
[1:30:24 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Of course. It speaks poor of our nation if its people so carelessly changed their ways when away from the community of The State.
[1:31:08 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> My children will believe this, and so I must live it.
[1:31:23 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> You're a mother?
[1:33:31 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Did that singing busybody tell you so much but neglect even this?
[1:33:55 AM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist crosses her arms
[1:34:34 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow smiles again.
[1:34:42 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I suppose I wasn't asking about it at the time.
[1:36:19 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Do you then know that every Citizen is expected to be ready to have children by their twenty fifth year?
[1:37:11 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> It is law you know. By twenty five, you must have found a partner and have plans to produce two children before the age of thirty.
[1:38:47 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> River had said that the compusory partner laws were suspended. Is this a separate edict?
[1:42:45 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> She was fortunate... yes, she would describe it that way. It came into effect when I was already carrying my first child. The creation of a habitation the size of The City was unprecedented and so demologists petitioned to suspend the law until growth projections could be properly planned.
[1:44:20 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Are the laws returned to effect, then?
[1:48:25 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Not yet, perhaps not ever. The laws are ancient, codified when The State was but a community in the forests of the old Capital with vicious tribes just a swim away. We needed to ensure that we had sufficient numbers to preserve our existence. Now that The State is where it is, we may not demand further population growth as our numbers and abilities are adequate; and that's not factoring River's support.
[1:50:41 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> The laws were never regarded negatively, of course. We were all taught its necessity, and people found that life generally worked out before the law needed to be enforced. Enforcement wasn't exactly a punishment either, The State would match an individual with an eligible partner who was evaluated to be suitable.
[1:50:42 AM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist shrugs
[1:52:07 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> I suppose individuals who had no interest in such partnerships could have suffered for it, but we are born from and for The State, so be it.
[1:54:02 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow ponders.
[1:54:19 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Do you love the father of your children?
[1:55:16 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Of course, we chose each other willingly. If I did not, I would not have bound my fate to River.
[1:58:31 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> That's just the thing I was wondering. Your bond to River seems powerful enough that you're ready to be torn away from your family in order to ensure its integrity.
[2:03:34 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> You are as without tact as I had surmised. Yes. Thankfully I was secure in my family so I could pursue the security of The State. I have spent the majority of my life keeping the heiress' propriety, I would fail my station if family got in the way of my duty. This is the case for everyone, any one of the million sailors, to the Empress herself!
[2:04:54 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow sighs.
[2:06:46 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I've made enough gaffes in my time and still admitted into the Administrator's presence that I've learned that even if I violate some principle of etiquette, I can still ususally get an answer by asking a question. Moreover, it's been difficult for me to learn what's tactless in the State unless I first see that I demostrack a lack of it.
[2:07:51 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> But yes, I understand. A mother need not defend her home if there are no monsters to menace it. Then, she might seek—she might be able to pursue other duties.
[2:08:19 AM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist lets out the breath she'd been holding
[2:08:23 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Indeed.
[2:08:47 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> But there are monsters menacing the world, and that is why I am here.
[2:12:20 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Yes. Monsters of a ferocity rivaled only in few of the tales I've heard.
[2:14:39 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Hah. I wonder what I would have said if they didn't exist, and I was just following River around the world for now reason.
[2:15:17 AM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist steps over to a bundle on the windowsill
[2:16:03 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Did you ever see any of them, in Basha's Pass?
[2:20:01 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> From a distance. We had watched from the ridges. We should be glad that they are so detestable, it will make purging them that much less ambiguous. The Ideal is correct with planar beings, they do not play by the rules of life we do and deserve no leniency possibly graced by we of this world.
[2:23:06 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> And how will our visit here help us accomplish this?
[2:26:17 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> The Old Land is but a day's sail from the Primal Land, home to the Dominion. If River proves her abilities, we may strike at the heart of the Enemy.
[2:28:04 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> We are to be an invading force, then?
[2:29:33 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> If you look from the eyes of the Dominion. We are retaking what ought to be ours, as denizens of this world.
[2:32:07 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> But here, as the aggressors, pushing the front line. In Basha's Pass, we were defenders, attempting to halt its progress.
[2:33:25 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Would you say a defender that has turned the tide is the aggressor?
[2:34:33 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> In some sense, yes, but I understand your point. The sense quickly becomes the matter of pedants.
[2:35:21 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Think strategically, is my advice. You will come to understand The State better that way.
[2:36:57 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I hope I can give myself enough credit to have noticed this, if only to a limited extent.
[2:37:28 AM CDT] * [Cy]_Mist unravels the bundle to reveal a mace
[2:38:08 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Continue noticing it then. Were understanding so simple, The State would be no different than the tribes that dot the world.
[2:39:25 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I've often felt that understanding is difficult no matter which tribe you encounter. To know a people is the work of many lifetimes.
[2:42:33 AM CDT] <[Cy]_Mist> Then you must decide if it is worth your one lifetime.
[11:47:57 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow walks away from her conversation with Mist. She look about to locate Glanari.
[11:49:03 PM CDT] <[Co]> [Glanari is still seated on a wayward bench, by herself, near the main door on the opposite end of the temple.]
[11:50:54 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow walks down the aisle to Glanari's bench and stops, looking at her.
[11:52:13 PM CDT] <[Co]> [She's staring blankly across the way, gaze slightly lowered. She doesn't seem to notice you.]
[11:52:51 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow sits next to Glanari.
[11:55:16 PM CDT] <[Co]> [Whatever preoccupies her mind will need to be interrupted as she seems to be in her own world at the moment.]
[11:55:22 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Glanari?
[11:56:07 PM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Huh? Oh, Meadow. Did you need something?
[11:56:42 PM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari turns to look at Meadow, though her eyes still seem to be focused somewhere else
[11:57:17 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I just wanted to talk. If you want the time to yourself, I don't mind waiting.
[11:57:48 PM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Oh, I'm fine. Just not used to... this.
[11:57:54 PM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari waves a hand around her head
[11:58:51 PM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow chortles once.
[11:59:37 PM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I should say, you weren't the only one taken by surprise by this turn of events.
[12:01:54 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Yeah. When I wanted to live without the use of magic, I didn't expect it to be like this. It's a bit frustrating, but oddly fascinating.
[12:02:32 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Your magic is gone?
[12:03:09 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Not so much gone, but leaking. I can't direct it with any concerted effort.
[12:04:00 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow 's widened eyes furrow in concentration.
[12:04:07 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> That's fascinating.
[12:04:56 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I wonder if it's some property of the place here that we've been taken? Or if you were specifically targeted when we came here?
[12:07:31 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Pretty sure your boss did it. I could feel something happen, and now my energies just leak from the top of my head.
[12:07:53 AM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari puts her hand to her head as if to feel the energies
[12:09:54 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> If you felt something, she would have been the one to do it. Far be it from me to cast aspersions on her competence, but I can't help but wonder how intentional it was; I don't know that she's used to weilding this particular power.
[12:11:36 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> I'm pretty sure I would be in a worse state if this were an accident. Magical accidents are always terrible you know.
[12:12:22 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow laughs.
[12:13:08 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> The last one I was a part of resulted in a murder and threatened to rob me of an ally and her powerful magical equipment.
[12:13:36 AM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari narrows her eyes
[12:13:47 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Speaking of which... I take it that this isn't your home.
[12:15:19 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Yes, that was something I wanted to speak to you about. This is not the place that I had anticipated being extracted to. I've never been here before, in fact.
[12:16:43 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Then I guess you don't know the local tongue. I was going to ask since it sounds nothing like any I know.
[12:17:42 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> You've had a chance to hear the speech of those who live here?
[12:18:08 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> In passing, when we were being led in. I was a bit distracted, but I caught some of it.
[12:19:11 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Perhaps I'll have such an opportunity, as well. But no, I can't imagine that I could speak with anyone that didn't arrive along with us.
[12:20:30 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> That brings us back to the question of where you are from.
[12:21:31 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Yes. I don't suppose you feel as though our contract has been fulfilled?
[12:23:44 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> I am of the position that it had been broken, actually. But I am not in the position to make demands, and you are not in the position to provide. Plus, I doubt the law of this land recognizes Khashwahg suits.
[12:25:29 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I've been told that you will still have the opportunity to visit the land I promised. If you believe that being mislead to this place instead is what has broken the contract, I hope it may yet be made whole.
[12:27:01 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> I'm sure a settlement can be reached.
[12:27:11 AM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari looks about the ruined temple
[12:27:18 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> What do you know of this place.
[12:29:26 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Only what I was just told by my boss's assistant. It is a place my Administrator knew before she came across the ocean. The Dominion has opened a front here, as well, and she seeks to fight them. Beyond that, I don't believe I have any illuminating details.
[12:30:45 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> You don't seem to be nearly as well travelled as your bosses. Do you belong to a different community than them?
[12:31:39 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Very much so. I am a stranger in their land, drawn to it from my home by their display of fantastic power over Nature.
[12:32:24 AM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari peers at the sun and sky through the holes in the roof
[12:32:34 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Tell me about them.
[12:35:20 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> They arrived near my homeland when I was younger, still a girl—as though I've since graduated from the rank. There's an ocean that separates this land, where I understand their people originally hailed, and the place I first knew them; they sailed across it, and founded a nation for themselves on the other side.
[12:37:17 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> So quickly they built their city, and expanded their numbers and their holdings, so complete was their ability to transform the face of the Earth and impose their own order on it, that the people living nearby were quite startled. I've now seen that by their standards, or even the standards of the Confederacy, we knew of no power before their advent nearly as great.
[12:39:08 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> How can you say that when you haven't been to the Heartlands? We have wonders of our own as well.
[12:42:14 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Yes, I'm sure that I've seen only a fraction of what is common in the principalities. I've only spent time on their outskirts, in the borderlands. And still, I would have been astonished at what I've seen, if I had not had the chance to see what I had of the State's power. Mine, and all that I knew, were a meager, backwards people in comparison.
[12:46:06 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Do you actually believe that?
[12:46:37 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow looks up, then down.
[12:49:12 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> ...I love my homeland. I love my family, and the other families in it. I know our stories, by heart, I recite them to myself, I love them and take them to heart. And in some fundamental sense, I don't know that I could ever truly abandon them. Perhaps I say that we were meager, and backwards, because we simply never had the opportunity to grow into the strength that they have shown me; but in my time in their service, I have had
[12:49:12 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> to question many ideas those stories taught me, and rethink the thoughts of great men that I have learned and loved.
[12:50:41 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> If we were meager and backwards in practice, it was always my hope that we might, by association with these strange, mighty people, grow less so. I still have faith in the spirit of my people, even if our strength is pitiful in comparison to theirs.
[12:52:23 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> I've heard similar things from newly integrated peoples on the edges of the Confederacy, though not so eloquently or evenhandedly. Your people still exist, independent, even beside this empire?
[12:52:52 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Yes.
[12:55:31 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> You will return to help them, right?
[12:55:51 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Do they need my help?
[12:57:12 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> You don't think they're under threat?
[12:57:58 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> From the State I work for?
[12:58:41 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> The empire you are so awed by.
[12:59:24 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> They are, if ever they attempt to resist them militarily. Otherwise, I believe they will be left in peace.
[1:01:11 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> It was my hope that I could demonstrate that working peacefully with them was the best way forward for our people, and that fearing and shunning the powers that made them great would be no more than letting a ripe fruit rot on the branch. In this way, I have always been working to lessen whatever threat they are under.
[1:01:45 AM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari frowns, mulling this over
[1:03:23 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> I'd like to say you are naive, but I haven't seen the place myself.
[1:04:30 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I'd be remiss were I to ignore advice from someone whose had the chance to accumulate the wisdom you have, especially when it agrees with my own assessment of things.
[1:08:28 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Empires always grow. It just seems so strange to believe that a powerful neighbour would just leave others be.
[1:12:10 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> That is the strangest thing about them. They are hardly an empire. As a people, they have but one desire, to serve their people and its mission. I would not suspect them to conquer another people out of boredom, or greed; only out of the instinct to self-preservation, or if it were necessary for their grand design.
[1:13:33 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> And you know of this design? That it does not require the annexation of your people?
[1:15:44 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I can't claim to understand it in any depth, but I have some sense of it. I would be surprised if it required them to annex my people, though if it did, I would hope that they allow themselves to be brought into their fold, and that they would resist the desire to take arms against them. That way is our surest destruction.
[1:20:29 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> In the Confederacy, there is a particular order to the world. Mages who have little grasp on magic must be clever to find ways to avoid negative attention from more capable mages. One of their best tools is simply keeping an ear to the ground so they know as soon as possible what may threaten them and then devise a way to avoid it. You know this well enough, but have you communicated it to your people?
[1:23:22 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I'm not ready. I do not understand the State's mission well enough to be able to attempt to spread its message to my own people. And while I have taken to heart the lesson that that thought without action is meaningless—it's by that virtue I find myself here today—so too do I fear a rash action rather causing harm to those I love the most.
[1:24:02 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> And frankly, some of my experiences in the State's service have additionally shaken my confidence in my ability to do so.
[1:26:53 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Aha, taking a wait and see approach? You're far too young for that.
[1:27:29 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow closes her eyes and smiles. She opens them again before saying,
[1:27:42 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> And I suppose I'll always be, in your eyes.
[1:29:25 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> That's the problem with time isn't it? Well no matter, I will still be around for a while longer. If you could get me more of my control back, I'd appreciate it. Right now trying to use magic is like trying to blow out a candle with your mouth wide open.
[1:30:41 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I can try to intercede on your behalf, but I can't make any promises. My Administrator has been weaving plans of her own, and I have little idea how you might fit into them. If she has taken power from you, I doubt it is in my power to convice her to restore them to you.
[1:31:28 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Where is she, anyway?
[1:31:54 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I don't know. I've scarcely seen her since we arrived here.
[1:33:17 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Huh. And what about the villagers that got brought with us?
[1:38:14 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> As you heard at Basha's Pass, they are to be treated as refugees. I imagine they will be given a choice to be sent to the stronghold of the State, or to remain here.
[1:38:57 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> What would become of them if they were sent away?
[1:39:28 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> They would be offered asylum as wards of the State.
[1:41:54 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> But what would that entail? What would their lives be like?
[1:44:05 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> From what I've observed, they would be comfortable. They would be provided food and shelter, though I admit I can't be certain what demands the State would make on them in return. The closest look I've had at the life of refugees may well not be representative, as there were potentially motivations to keep them particularly happy.
[1:45:55 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Well between a foreign battlefield and something like that, I'm sure most would choose to leave. What about you?
[1:46:16 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow sighs.
[1:47:29 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> You asked me earlier if I would go to help my people. I do desire to help them, to be a glorious daughter to them, but the more I learn about my position here, the less I feel that returning would be the greatest way to do them honor.
[1:48:12 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I must consider what the greater threat is: that they be threatened by the State, or that failing to aid the State in its battle against the Dominion, they be overtaken by them, instead.
[1:49:04 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> And being presented with such a battlefield, would I betray the spirit of my people more by staying here to win honor in combat, or fleeing the battlefield to return to a safe hearth?
[1:50:19 AM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari looks Meadow over
[1:51:21 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Now, I haven't seen your people, but you aren't wearing any particular livery that tells me of them. How will you represent their greatness without proclaiming where you're from?
[1:51:44 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow smiles.
[1:54:06 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Now, Glanari, I understand you are still a student, and have much to learn. One may win renown in foreign lands, and gain a reputation far and wide for feats of prowess, but it is not the root of honor and glory that you gain the respect of your people's enemies. What you seek is the honor and glory of your own people; that you stand as evidence of their greatness not to your opponents, but to your compatriots.
[1:54:55 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I would stay here and win glory that I might take home with me. If I can be a hero for them, then perhaps they will listen when I tell them that this glory was enabled only by the valorous efforts of the State.
[1:56:14 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Then you'd better survive to bring it back to them. You are a long way from home and nobody would know who you were if you died.
[1:57:16 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I've had a curious sort of luck about me to have made it as far as I have. and if the threat of Death is not real, then little glory can be won from the venture.
[1:58:40 AM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari shakes her head with a smile
[1:58:57 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> You are too young to say that, but it's because you are young that you say it.
[1:59:56 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> And if I waited so long that I was no longer too young, I would expire before an adequate opportunity ever presented itself!
[2:01:07 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> The paradox.
[2:01:46 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Let me tell you something, Glanari.
[2:01:49 AM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari takes a few wobbly steps and steadies herself by a wall
[2:02:19 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Yes?
[2:02:49 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> When you first arrived at the Green Shield estate, in that form you still wear, to mock me and the position you had manoeuvred me into, I was somewhat frustrated. Upset.
[2:08:05 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Because even though I knew you to be far older than you appeared, though not as old as I do know, your youthful form, along with your affected childishness, had nevertheless a distinct effect on me.
[2:08:18 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> You reminded me of my family, and my younger sisters. That first day, I almost felt once or twice that I was once again in the position of an older sister, leading the next generation to some wisdom I knew I could provide for them.
[2:09:22 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> And every time I recused myself for being misled, it only served as a reminder that I haven't seen my sisters in a long time now, and that I miss them dearly, and that I may not know them if I ever do get a chance to see them again.
[2:15:40 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I say this all as a long preamble to introduce the action I intend to take now, when you seem least capable of preventing it or exacting a reprisal.
[2:16:04 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow rises from the pew and walks to Glanari.
[2:21:54 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow places her hand on Glanari's head and ruffles her hair. She watches her hand for a moment, then closes her eyes. Her hand is stilled, her mouth draws back into a frown, and her eyes clamp shut, her eyebrows crowding them down. She tilts her head down and ruffles Glanari's hair again, briefly. Her hand moves to Glanari's cheek for a short moment before returning to her side. She keeps her head tilted downwards in silence,
[2:21:54 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> struggling through a few labored breaths, before her face relaxes. She swallows, opens her eyes, and looks back up to Glanari.
[2:21:58 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> My apologies.
[2:24:55 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Taking advantage of an invalid, how reprehensible.
[2:25:02 AM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari looks at Meadow with an expression of understanding
[2:25:38 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I know.
[2:25:53 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Take it from a woman far too old: if you had not intended for your last farewell to be the last, go and see them off properly. You may think that it is you who may not see them again, but you must also keep in mind that each of them may also never see you again. If you have the opportunity, go, lest any of them leaves before you. I may be a substitute for them, but who will be their substitute for you?
[2:28:25 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I could not face them, returning in defeat, a coward fleeing both from this battle and my own self-appointed mission. I will not live a life so long as yours; if I let this chance pass me by, I doubt I will see another like it. If I do, it will be only because I failed to seize this one, and war still rages.
[2:30:14 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> You may not live as long as I do, but you have demonstrated that you can live whenever you please. At least, a part of you can. Perhaps you could communicate with them with your abilities with more cultivation.
[2:30:44 AM CDT] * [Multi]_Meadow 's mouth slowly blooms into a smile.
[2:30:57 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Don't tell me you hadn't thought of it.
[2:32:00 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I'm still grappling with the implications of what I've learned in my lessons with you. And I've been rather preoccupied in the time since these revelations.
[2:32:39 AM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari shakes her head in mock exasperation, and steadies herself immediately after
[2:32:42 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Hopeless
[2:32:51 AM CDT] * [Co]_Glanari begins to shuffle away
[2:33:16 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Do you need any help? I can see you're still unsteady on your legs.
[2:34:50 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Just getting used to being a mortal again. I wanted that armour for this reason, you know. But on my own terms of course.
[2:35:22 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I'm sure you could still ask Hanne for it, if you had a mind.
[2:36:48 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Well it's not going to fit while I'm stuck like this. Plus I'm sure she'd take advantage of my current state more than you have.
[2:37:41 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I fear you might be right about that.
[2:38:05 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Would you still like me to try to intercede with my Administrator on your behalf?
[2:38:56 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Of course. If I were to grow old one last time, I'd rather start with a slightly more mature body.
[2:40:25 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> If she is willing to listen to me, I will ask about the prospect of returning your powers to you. If only temporarily, so that you might arrange a more desirable body for yourself.
[2:41:12 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> I hope for such generosity.
[2:43:29 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Do you plan on traveling to the State with the townspeople of Basha's Pass?
[2:44:42 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Maybe later. I'd rather not arrive grouped together with hapless refugees.
[2:44:57 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> A point of pride?
[2:46:21 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Perhaps, but more so that I remain more in control of my own fate. If I were to show up with a bunch of people who have no other choice, I may lose my choice by proxy.
[2:46:43 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> I see.
[2:48:24 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> I don't suppose you'd know of the life of a child in this state you work for.
[2:50:56 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> They are protected as are the rest of their family, and educated in a way the State deems fit for their natural abilities. This I've heard, from a father, but I've seen children only rarely, and never spoken to one.
[2:52:23 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Peculiar, and this is for commoners?
[2:52:59 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> From what I know, it is extremely common.
[2:54:38 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Hm. Seems like parents have less decision in their child's upbringing.
[2:55:42 AM CDT] <[Multi]_Meadow> Perhaps. Mist, my Administrator's adjunct, is a mother; if you're feeling brave enough to talk to her, she may be able to provide more detail.
[2:56:20 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> Maybe eventually. I don't want to seem too interested.
[2:57:55 AM CDT] <[Co]_Glanari> +++===---Scene---===+++
[4:43:31 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [You are in a ruined building with everyone else who had been brought from Basha's Pass, save for the wounded Last, who had disappeared shortly after arrival. The building you are in bears the structure of a place of worship, though it is not familiar to you. The locals had herded everyone in and closed the doors and you have not heard from outside since.]
[4:48:59 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne peers out the nearest window cautiously; her visor lowered.
[4:52:10 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [The dirty, unkept glass shows little. It appears this temple is situated at a head overlooking the sea, and the windows that face back towards camp are high up above the main doors on the wall.]
[4:54:34 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne sighs and looks back at her fellows around the main chamber.
[4:58:04 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [The Basha's locals have kept to themselves, postures that of wariness and weariness. The Associates are a bit more relaxed, many are sleeping since it would be late into the night in Basha's pass by now. Meadow had earlier wandered over to the far end of the temple and spoken with Mist, but most folks are taking the opportunity to rest.]
[5:04:49 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne scans the room for Associates she's acquainted with.
[5:07:00 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [Everyone you know in GS is here. The trio you had worked with are seated on a set of benches midway along the length of the temple.]
[5:12:49 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne walks silently towards the three; her armor plates clanking softly as she navigates the room. Upon reaching them she sets her greatsword down nearby and raises her visor; greeting them with a quiet, tired voice.
[5:13:16 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> Hey. How're you all holding up? Huon?
[5:15:17 PM CDT] <[Cy]> H: Sore! and sleepy. Never got used to this fast-travel, so strange.
[5:15:46 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne gives an exhausted smile.
[5:15:56 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> Any idea where we're at?
[5:17:22 PM CDT] <[Cy]> H: Really far away. About as far as we went from The City to the Pass I guess. Lily spoke with the boss over there earlier but he's a nappin' now.
[5:19:08 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [Huon yawns.]
[5:19:41 PM CDT] <[Cy]> H: Said that the bosses will send us home later if we want to go.
[5:20:27 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne stays silent for a while before responding.
[5:20:33 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> You think you will?
[5:23:17 PM CDT] <[Cy]> H: Yeah, the three of us will definitely head back before taking up any other jobs. We've all got some stuff to take care of back home.
[5:24:36 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> I see. Did Lily mention what would happen should we remain?
[5:26:42 PM CDT] <[Cy]> H: More fightin' the Dominion. Sounds like the people here could use a hand with that. Hah! Looked like it too if what we saw outside was a major camp.
[5:32:45 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> No rest for the weary I suppose.
[5:33:27 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne looks back at the resting persons around her.
[5:34:44 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> Do you think most will return? I suppose the folks from Basha could stay.
[5:39:45 PM CDT] <[Cy]> H: Dunno. But I don't think many will stay. Once the Basha folks hear that there's no war going on at The City, I'd think they scramble for any kind of peace they can get. The bosses seem to know this though. They told Lily that folks who stay would be doing things that the local armies are too slow to do.
[5:40:56 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> Sounds familiar.
[5:42:58 PM CDT] <[Cy]> H: The State doesn't strike me as people who'd field an army anyway. Better doing what they're best at y'know?
[5:43:49 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne stretches.
[5:44:39 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> Yeah, it's true. I doubt there's many who could match the Dominion in an open fight anyhow.
[5:46:16 PM CDT] <[Cy]> H: The locals look like they did it, kinda. They're ragged, but they exist, and the land down the way looks like they've been fighting for a while.
[5:52:38 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> Hmm. We will see.
[5:53:25 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne removes her headgear and sits down on the bench opposite the trio.
[5:57:25 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> Did you recognize their dress? We can't still be within the Confederacy, could we?
[5:58:40 PM CDT] <[Cy]> H: Nope, didn't understand a thing they said. Didn't look like folks I've seen before too, but I never traveled too far anyway.
[6:00:39 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> It's a big world.
[6:02:23 PM CDT] <[Cy]> H: Aye. Though having been here and there, I think I'll agree with the Basha's folks when they wish it were small again.
[6:06:19 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne opens her mouth to speak, but can't find the words. Instead she leans back; glancing at the now-refugees huddled together.
[6:09:52 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> The three of you hail from the same land?
[6:12:50 PM CDT] <[Cy]> H: Oh no. We just ended up working together in the past. It's like every village coughs up someone who ends up as an Associate, but only one. Never met two from the same town or nothing.
[6:17:22 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> I might be seeing a new comrade from Ynnishire or Basha sometime in the future then.
[6:17:50 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne looks up at the ceiling.
[6:18:35 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [The ceiling was once ornate, but is now crumbling. The seating positions of the people are now explained by the holes in the roof.]
[6:25:47 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne yawns.
[6:27:21 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> 'ought to at least catch a few winks while I can...
[6:28:04 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne nods her head; the tiredness from fighting and lack of sleep catching up.
[6:28:17 PM CDT] <[Cy]> H: Aight, I'm gonna go too.
[6:28:43 PM CDT] <[110]_Hanne> Mmmm.... decide what I'll... later...
[6:30:31 PM CDT] * [110]_Hanne fall asleep on the spot; hunch over slightly on the bench.
[6:31:46 PM CDT] <[Cy]> [The snores of the sleeping add to the ambient sounds in this forlorn temple as the sun sails ahead and the world turns beneath.]