Nemnosti session 46

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Session

Session date: May 10, 2026

Negili Reckoning date: IE 769, Pesme

Prologue

[Nemnosti-GM] Greetings, acolytes! I know you are all eager to be done with our fireside discussion tonight, as you have your revels this evening! I promise not to keep you overlong - I remember what it was to have fun, once upon a time. In seriousness, though, Vicha's Promise reminds us of the time when Ravre and Omban were not so well-integrated as we are now. When the ulajeta was new, imagine how it must have seemed, all these pilgrims and holy men traipsing up the Pardopasu. Vicha's Promise is still remembered by the Ravre today - a guarantee made by a hengi's daughter, and held fast to this day, that no matter what, Nemnosti is never meant to expand beyond narrow bounds. We are here to coexist, not colonize. That promise has held for five centuries now. Today, many of you will make promises to one another in honour of it - hardly of the same scope or import, but important to you. You're making them, not simply to one another, but before one another - the kind of thing that you are meant to remember. Life will change, and your lives will change, but Vicha's Promise is a signal that not everything does. Everything is Unfolding, but without Coherence, Unfolding is invisible. All right, then, run along!

Marga awakens to find Meze gone from Momichas, and seeks out Ushukuna to find out where she is

[Nemnosti-GM] Marga, in the aftermath of the suralai, the next morning, various delegations and encampments within the wake are engaged in what you could describe as networking. It is not unlike, you muse, what happened at Zhustir when Sanar Ula and her Sanari were presented to the city.
[Nemnosti-GM] It is strange. You do not really know what is supposed to be done here - which is a feeling you are quite used to, that sense of not really understanding.
[Nemnosti-GM] But while at Nemnosti, you simply tolerate it as the state of affairs that arises when everyone is more learned than you, more integrated than you, here it is different. You have a sense that everyone here belongs, and that you, too, belong here.
[Nemnosti-GM] Anyway, upon arising and crawling out of your tent, you notice that Meze is gone, although her tent is still here. Rechegoko is snoozing away inside the tent, and you see Lijun over in bird form, talking to some of your avian brothers and sisters.
[Nemnosti-GM] Ushukuna Herself is atop the crater rim of Momichas, looking eastward pensively.
[Nemnosti-GM] What would you like to do?
* Marga does a biiiig stretch
[Marga] (maybe I'll go be a bird with Lijun)
[Lijun] Cra-craa, sister!
* Lijun cra-craas to you in vulture-speak.
[Marga] cra-craa!
[Lijun] I thought you might have gone off with Meze.
[Marga] Where'd Meze go?
[Lijun] Hong Sogo. Ushukuna asked her to go. Not sure why, but I wasn't paying much attention.
[Marga] Uh. That's weird...
[Marga] Is my father still here?
[Lijun] Yeah, over there.
* Lijun waves an idle wing.
[Lijun] Maybe something where he would get in the way, if he were there?
* Rechegoko crawls out of the tent and flutters over the short hop to where you are all at.
[Marga] Yeah... like what, though
* Marga 's feathers are ruffled.
[Rechegoko] Cra-craa.
* Rechegoko sounds still half-asleep.
[Marga] cra-craa!
[Marga] Lijun says Meze went to Hong Sogo...
[Rechegoko] Huh. Strange.
[Rechegoko] Well I'm sure she has a good reason.
[Marga] D'you think Mother would tell me why ].]
* Marga asks Lijun.
* Lijun chuckles, in the way only a vulture can in bird form.
[Lijun] Absolutely.
[Lijun] Why not go ask Her?
[Marga] I guess I will!
[Marga] See you later.
* Marga flies up to where Ushukuna is resting
* Ushukuna 's huge body is still moist with morning dew from the soft fog sitting over Momichas on this cool spring morning.
[Marga] Good morning Mother!
[Ushukuna] Good morning, little one. You want to know an unimportant secret?
[Marga] Sure!
[Ushukuna] Did you know that originally, we did not say cra-craa? That was something someone made up, I don't even remember who. We used to say ka-ka-kari. I was just thinking about that. I don't know why.
[Marga] Huh!
[Marga] I guess we just thought cra-craa was catchy
[Ushukuna] Perhaps so.
[Ushukuna] What brings you up here? I thought you might be down with your mate.
[Marga] Well, I was talking to Lijun... and he told me You sent Meze to Hong Sogo?
[Ushukuna] Ah yes.
[Marga] How come?
[Ushukuna] She is retrieving a gift for your other mother.
[Marga] Retrieving?
[Ushukuna] A girl, Usle Zipizmo. I asked Meze to retrieve her, since you have been ... quite busy, and because I have more business with you today.
[Marga] Ohhh. Right
[Marga] I remember about her now.
[Marga] What are we doing?
[Ushukuna] We will need Rechegoko.
[Marga] Should I go get him now?
[Ushukuna] Go ahead.
* Marga will flutter off and do so then
[Marga] Rechegoko! Mother has something she wants us to do! :O
[Marga] You gotta come up with me.
[Rechegoko] Oh! Uhh, all right.

Marga and Rechegoko give Ushukuna each one of their feathers; she binds them together, declares them married, and takes from them their lineage-names

* Rechegoko will dutifully fly up with you to Ushukuna, atop the ridge.
[Ushukuna] Was this your first suralai, both of you?
[Marga] Yup!
[Rechegoko] It was.
[Ushukuna] You seemed to enjoy it.
[Rechegoko] Uh ... yes.
[Ushukuna] It is serious business, for us. We have hardly anything more sacred.
[Ushukuna] I have another ritual to discuss with you, though.
[Ushukuna] With both of you.
[Marga] What is it?
* Ushukuna pauses, shaking off some of the dew, moistening you both.
[Ushukuna] Marga, I gave you a feather, once, in a dream. Do you have it still? Do you keep it safe?
[Marga] Oh yes! I have it with me!
[Ushukuna] Good, good.
[Ushukuna] I think it is time we talked about gifts, and their opposites.
* Ushukuna slips into Mystic Vulture Mom voice.
[Marga] What's the opposite of a gift?
[Marga] Something you steal?
* Ushukuna scowls beakily.
[Ushukuna] Vultures do not steal. We scavenge.
[Ushukuna] I gave you my feather, but it is not a gift that is given freely. Every gift demands a return. After all, we are scavengers, takers.
[Marga] Okay...
* Rechegoko plucks a feather and talons it.
[Rechegoko] Here you go, Mother.
* Ushukuna takes it.
[Ushukuna] Now your turn.
* Marga is confused but will also pluck a feather and offer it to Ushukuna.
[Marga] Of course...
* Ushukuna takes the two feathers, and then with almost preternatural deftness, wraps something around them both. A strand of reed? A wire? You are not sure.
[Ushukuna] There, that will be enough.
[Ushukuna] Each of you has made a choice, and a good one, I think.
* Rechegoko definitely looks confused.
[Rechegoko] I don't understand, Mother.
[Ushukuna] Well, it is not so hard to imagine. You are married, that is all. Mated.
[Marga] Just like that? ... Wow! Thanks!!
[Rechegoko] ...
* Marga hops excitedly
[Ushukuna] The suralai does not cause the reincarnation of our Achoreza, it merely confirms it. This is the same.
[Ushukuna] You were already mated - with some vigour, I might note from yesterday.
* Rechegoko blushes.
[Rechegoko] That's not ... that's not the same.
* Marga bird-snickers.
[Ushukuna] Isn't it? Very well. Then, ahh, how do the humans do it? Oh, right, with names.
[Ushukuna] Well, that will be a problem, won't it.
* Rechegoko looks down at the ground.
[Rechegoko] I cannot be married yet. I have duties to fulfil.
[Marga] Aw, beans.
* Ushukuna tucks your feather-bond into what you have always imagined to be a giant invisible satchel under her wing.
[Ushukuna] I have taken your feathers, in recognition of the bond you have already made.
[Ushukuna] And one more gift will I take from you each now.
[Ushukuna] Marga, you are one of a special few who serve two Mothers. Your other mother gave you a name, among many other gifts, the name she gives to her acolytes, in memory of those gone. What is yours, again?
[Marga] Ivis.
[Ushukuna] Ah, yes. I remember now. Ivis, the Duskwatcher. A good name, and a good appellation.
[Ushukuna] I do not have a name to give you. As I noted, I am a taker. And it seems to me that you already have so many, and are in need of a good moulting.
[Ushukuna] It seems to me that you have another name, one that you are not using.
[Marga] Crackle?
* Ushukuna laughs and it echoes across the crater.
[Marga] Yeah, no one really calls me that.
[Ushukuna] Gago.
[Marga] Oh. Yeah.
[Marga] ].]
[Ushukuna] May I take it?
[Marga] What will that mean?
[Marga] I mean, you're welcome to it
[Ushukuna] What will it mean to you?
[Marga] Does that still leave me all the stuff that comes with it?
[Ushukuna] I cannot say. Perhaps it is just a name. But your Mother does not see names that way.
[Ushukuna] Either one of us.
[Ushukuna] You simply have to give it to me.
[Marga] Well then, I give it to you, it's yours.
[Ushukuna] Very well, I take your name, Marga of no clan.
[Ushukuna] And as for you?
[Rechegoko] Me?
[Rechegoko] Uhh ... is this really how this works?
[Rechegoko] I mean ... really?
[Ushukuna] I cannot free you of the chains of your childhood. Some wounds need time, and that is beyond my power to grant.
[Ushukuna] But a name is a powerful weapon, not only for the bearer, but for those who would use it against you.
[Ushukuna] You simply need release it from your talons. Then you may take up another, or not, as you wish.
[Rechegoko] ...
* Rechegoko looks over at you.
* Rechegoko has a kind of 'what is really happening' look on his face.
* Marga shrugs her wings
[Marga] (I never know what's happening dude just go with it :v)
[Rechegoko] Uh then ... sure, you can have my name.
[Ushukuna] Very well, I take your name, Rechegoko of no clan.
[Ushukuna] Now it is up to you to decide, not anyone else.
[Ushukuna] You have given me your gifts, and that is enough, if you simply will it.
* Rechegoko looks over at you, and begins to shudder, weeping as only a bird can.
* Marga spreads her wing over him.
[Marga] It's ok.
[Marga] Or, it will be
[Ushukuna] And now I have done my duty, as High Scavenger, and taken that which has been discarded. I will keep them safe in my nest, in case they are ever of future use.
[Ushukuna] Now go - I see that Meze is returning, with her gift.
[Rechegoko] Thank you, Mother.
[Marga] Thank you, Mother.

Meze returns to Momichas with Usle Zipizmo, whose face has a decided resemblance to her and her father

* Meze stands down near the base of the ancient volcano, with a girl in tow. She waves at you, as if to call you down.
[Marga] Alrighty, looks like Meze wants to see us now...
[Rechegoko] I guess we should go down there? That girl won't be able to make it up here.
[Marga] Yeah.
[Nemnosti-GM] All right, you fly down to her quickly.
[Meze] Marga, Rechegoko, this is Usle Zipizmo. Coming downhill with us today to the ulajeta, to be an acolyte.
* Usle is dark-complexioned, very tall and much-too-skinny, wearing a ratty old juskai.
* Usle looks from her face to be no older than twelve or so, though it's hard to say.
[Marga] cra-craa!
* Rechegoko turns from feather-form to hair-form. You can see it's as if a big lock of his hair is missing, which is only noticeable since you've been running your hands through it a lot recently.
[Rechegoko] Uh, hi.
[Nemnosti-GM] Something about her is very familiar, Marga, though you can't quite place it at first.
[Nemnosti-GM] You're pretty sure she wouldn't have been alive since you lived in Hong Sogo.
[Nemnosti-GM] (I'll let you make a Perception or K:local check)
[Marga] !roll 1d20+14
* lan-werk2 rolls for Marga: [ 1d20+14 ] getting [ 16 ] which, after the modifier [ 14 ] totals [ 30 ].
[Nemnosti-GM] You can see it now, not so much in the complexion, but in the eyes. Your father's eyes. Your eyes.
[Marga] Aw BEANS.
* Marga also turns into human form.
[Marga] Hi there!
* Usle smiles, but is clearly intimidated by all of this.
[Marga] Welcome!
[Meze] We should get on our way as soon as we can. Just in case. Are you done whatever business you had with Mother?
[Marga] Yup, pretty sure!
[Meze] All right then, can the two of you bring my pack down for me? I am going to stay down here, with Usle.
[Rechegoko] Sure, of course.
[Marga] Sure thing!
[Nemnosti-GM] All right, the two of you head back up and pack up and head out, heads still swimming with everything that has just happened. Lijun is staying around for a while to spend time with his friends, although of course you're sure to let him know.
[Nemnosti-GM] You head back to Nemnosti, with a new person in tow, and a new husband at your side, but having left much behind, up by the shores of the great volcanic lake.

After visiting her grandmother in Hertu, Ifa has an unusual and confusing encounter with Lona Tinef and her husband Zomorde Keronaf

[Nemnosti-GM] Ifa, you've spent a good chunk of the day down the road in the village of Hertu at your grandmother's house. Originally Izu was going to join you, but he backed out since apparently the Voices have some kind of drama going on that only he can take care of. Silly boys ...
[Nemnosti-GM] Hertu is the same as always - village life never changes that much. The one difference is the Rumnoska, or the Sarguni, or whatever lineage they may be claiming. There is still an encampment of them, now becoming more permanent by the week, as carts are turned into shelters and local stone brought in as supports.
[Nemnosti-GM] But you judge there to have been fewer even than the last time you passed through here back in Fikho, on your way home from Zhustir with the procession of Sanari.
[Nemnosti-GM] You spend a couple hours helping out around the house and garden with the help of a couple of bubunne. Uklai is getting close to eighty, and while the villagers help out a lot, they shouldn't have to. You wonder when it will come to pass that it makes most sense to move her to the ulajeta.
[Nemnosti-GM] You set out to return to Nemnosti an hour or two before sunset. Walking along one of Hertu's steep paths, you see your grandmother's neighbour, Lona Tinef, working by her gardens.
* Lona is dressed plainly, with a green fringe on her cream-coloured mebel shawl the only decoration on her. She smiles as she sees you.
[Lona] I knew you would listen to me. Smart girl, you are.
* Ifa smiles at that.
[Ifa] Wise enough to listen to good advice, at least.
[Ifa] How are you?
[Lona] Oh, well enough. The garden should be good this year, as long as it isn't too dry this summer.
[Ifa] Here's hoping.
[Lona] Not staying for dinner with your grandmother? Or were you too polite to take up her hospitality?
* Marga (~Margalns5-pool7-088.adsl.user.start.ca) has joined #nemnosti
[Ifa] I should probably be getting back to the ulajeta, but I brought her food that should make for a few meals.
[Lona] Good girl. Well, you won't refuse mine. Come in, I have tea for you before your walk back to the ulajeta.
* Lona practically shuffles you into her house. You don't think you've been in here before.
[Nemnosti-GM] Lona and her husband Zomorde have a small home on the edge of a steep slope that backs on to the river. There are some old but still sturdy steps that lead down to where the men fish for crabs.
* Ifa looks like she might protest for a moment, but nods and allows herself to be shuffled.
[Nemnosti-GM] It's a simple house on the inside, one room only, with a central hearth. Along one wall is a stout bookshelf with a dozen or so volumes. A warmly painted landscape of a rocky beach lies adjacent to the bed, housed in an elaborately carved wooden frame.
[Ifa] You have a lovely home.
[Lona] Oh, thank you dear.
[Nemnosti-GM] (Can I get you to make a ... hmm ... let's say K:nobility?)
[Ifa] !roll 1d20+10
* lan-werk2 rolls for Ifa: [ 1d20+10 ] getting [ 8 ] which, after the modifier [ 10 ] totals [ 18 ].
[Nemnosti-GM] You could be wrong, but you think you have seen a frame just like this at the ulajeta of Borgegus, years ago. One of the rooms you used to like to hang out in had a shrine to one of Borgegus's former high priests, Remno Janunodus, and his portrait was framed just like this painting is.
[Ifa] Can I ask where you got this beautiful painting?
[Lona] Oh ... yes, it was many years ago, I was working as a lady's maid in a household in Onighus. It was a gift. I've always thought it lovely. I was born by the sea, near a beach not unlike this one.
[Ifa] Oh?
[Lona] Yes, it was a long time ago, of course.
[Ifa] I don't believe I know where you're originally from.
[Lona] Now we're very far from there, naturally, but at least Zomorde gets to spend time with his crabs.
[Lona] A little village called Voskin. You wouldn't have heard of it.
[Ifa] What brought you here?
[Lona] Oh, well, that's a complicated story.
[Lona] Let me just get that tea.
* Lona brings you some tea, and sits down with one herself.
[Ifa] Thank you. :)
[Lona] Now, mostly I wanted to ask you whether you've heard anything from the Rumnoska lineage lately.
[Ifa] (Have I?)
[Ifa] (Checking logs)
[Nemnosti-GM] Not really - the last time was really at Romokh, when they showed up drunkenly and were turned away.
* Ifa shakes her head.
[Ifa] Not since Romokh, really. Why do you ask?
[Lona] Lately, there have been fewer of them around. Rondal is spending more of his time with some of his more able men away from the village. The ones who are left seem uninclined to cause trouble. But one does wonder what they're up to.
[Lona] Why are they still here?
* Ifa frowns.
[Ifa] That's a good question. Do you think I should mention it to someone at the ulajeta? Either go talk to them or try to keep an eye out, perhaps?
[Lona] Maybe. It seems like we would not want to forget about them.
* Ifa nods.
[Lona] Tuvus should not have taken in that first one. Zomorde told him as much. And then with all the nastiness at the ulajeta, with her demise. Unseemly.
[Ifa] I'm not sure how much he could have known what would follow from first meeting, but I take your point.
[Lona] It feels ungrateful of me to be so suspicious, when the village took Zomorde and I in so kindly.
[Ifa] It's good to take in people when we can, but hospitality is a mutual arrangement. I suppose we just have to be watchful, even as we strive to be helpful.
[Nemnosti-GM] As you sit and sip your tea, the door opens and Zomorde Keronaf comes in.
[Ifa] Hello, Zomorde. :)
* Zomorde is dirty and damp from a day working his crab traps. You don't know him especially well, having only met him a few times even though Lona is a regular at the Hand temple.
[Zomorde] Oh! Hand Ifa.
[Nemnosti-GM] (give me a SM)
[Ifa] !roll 1d20+16
* lan-werk2 rolls for Ifa: [ 1d20+16 ] getting [ 8 ] which, after the modifier [ 16 ] totals [ 24 ].
[Nemnosti-GM] Ifa, you get the sense that Zomorde isn't super happy to see you here.
[Zomorde] What a pleasant surprise.
[Ifa] (to Lona) Well, I don't want to impose too much on your hospitality, especially given our current conversation.
[Zomorde] Oh, I don't meant to interrupt. It was just unexpected to see You, that is all.
[Nemnosti-GM] (all right, now give me a Linguistics check)
[Ifa] !roll 1d20+4
* lan-werk2 rolls for Ifa: [ 1d20+4 ] getting [ 1 ] which, after the modifier [ 4 ] totals [ 5 ].
[Zomorde] But of course I understand that you will need to get back to Nemnosti.
[Lona] Do ask about that thing we discussed, when you get a chance.
[Ifa] Of course.
[Lona] I'll see you at the temple soon, I'm sure.
* Ifa nods.
[Ifa] Always a pleasure to see you.
[Ifa] *will get up and make her exit*.
[Zomorde] Come by anytime.
[Ifa] (presumably)
[Ifa] (Can I SM that as well?)
[Nemnosti-GM] (sure)
[Ifa] !roll 1d20+16
* lan-werk2 rolls for Ifa: [ 1d20+16 ] getting [ 7 ] which, after the modifier [ 16 ] totals [ 23 ].
[Nemnosti-GM] You definitely have the sense that this whole visit, from start to finish, is full of things you don't really understand. It all seemed innocuous enough but something was definitely going on there, but you can't piece it all together.
[Nemnosti-GM] You felt very welcome at first, but then less so throughout the visit, really from both Lona and Zomorde, you think.
* Ifa will make a mental note to talk to Lona next time she's at the ulajeta.

Kuspir gets a visit from Pavavi, who brings him a magical leather wrap he fashioned for holding Fracture

[Nemnosti-GM] Kuspir, it is towards the end of the evening, and you've been home for a few hours, fed the kids some dinner, and then go about the stretching you find your body increasingly needs these days. Irdomila is studying in the kids' room, and Rugu is out playing with friends. There's a knock at the door.
* Kuspir will go answer it
[Nemnosti-GM] It is Pavavi, holding a long box in his wizened dark hands.
[Kuspir] good evening
* Pavavi smiles.
[Pavavi] Hello, Kuspir.
[Pavavi] I have a gift for you, at Her behest. She said you would be expecting it.
[Kuspir] ah... thank you
[Kuspir] Come in, can I get you a drink or anything?
[Pavavi] I won't say no to that.
* Pavavi comes in and lays the box on the table.
* Kuspir will pour him a glass of the good stuff
[Pavavi] It was quite a project.
[Kuspir] oh?
[Pavavi] I hope you like it.
[Kuspir] well, let's have a look.
* Kuspir will open the box
[Nemnosti-GM] You open the box to reveal a great wrap of very fine dark brown leather, embossed with angular patterns that nonetheless never seem to come together into coherent edges. Though you are probably just projecting, you can't help thinking of the pattern made by the strange crack in that place where you were deposited after your journey to the deep place.
[Nemnosti-GM] At one end of the wrap there are heavy brass buckles attached to straps, so as to bring the piece together, somehow.
[Kuspir] ah, very interesting - a bold choice of pattern
[Kuspir] how does it go together?
[Pavavi] It is designed to fit the blade.
[Kuspir] Let me get it, then, and put it all together
* Pavavi smiles.
* Kuspir will go get Fracture from his room
[Fracture] Do you require my services?
[Kuspir] Only as a fashion model.
[Kuspir] A fine crafter has made a wrap to hold you.
[Fracture] I see. Very well, I consent to be held.
* Kuspir brings the sword back out and will figure out how this all goes together
[Pavavi] It is a glorious blade. How does it feel in the wielding?
* Kuspir tries to think how to answer that
[Kuspir] Challenging.
[Kuspir] but in a good way, I think.
[Pavavi] You trained in the mastery of pole weapons, no?
[Kuspir] Yes. So this is a shift for me.
[Pavavi] It is good to take on such a challenge, even if it may be a temporary hardship.
[Pavavi] We would not want to get complacent in our craft.
* Kuspir nods
[Kuspir] It does require me to think differently about things.
[Pavavi] I felt that way about making it. And I am ninety-four, so by all rights, I should be completely incapable of thinking differently.
* Pavavi rubs the leather.
[Pavavi] It was certainly a novel construction for me.
[Nemnosti-GM] (give me a Perception check)
[Kuspir] !roll 1d20+17
* lan-werk2 rolls for Kuspir: [ 1d20+17 ] getting [ 3 ] which, after the modifier [ 17 ] totals [ 20 ].
[Nemnosti-GM] It truly is a fine wrap, and you can see that when it is wrapped just as Pavavi shows you, that the angles of the embossing make a startlingly strange pattern - seemingly Coherent but at the same time disorienting.
* Pavavi shows you how to do so and then buckle it up.
[Kuspir] I appreciate your efforts, it's very well-designed. How did you come up with this pattern?
* Pavavi smiles, pleased.
[Pavavi] Oh, it was tremendously interesting. It was actually through reading some old texts of the sigillants of the ulajeta that I came up with it.
[Pavavi] The Source within it is intimately tied into the pattern.
[Pavavi] Anyone seeking to detect the aura of a blade stored within it will instead see merely a mild effect, suggesting some sort of minor change or alteration, but concealing the true power of the item.
[Pavavi] I am more accustomed to working with steel, but embossing leather is not so different, as it turns out. And Source is Source, of course.
[Kuspir] That's fascinating.
[Kuspir] And, I imagine, may be very useful.
* Pavavi laughs.
[Pavavi] One hopes not too useful.
[Pavavi] Alai-who-is-Ozel supposes that she will someday be a crafter of great items. Perhaps, I would not gainsay our Lady's knowledge of such things. The young take so much time, worrying about what may happen, planning for every eventuality.
[Pavavi] When you are old like me, experience substitutes for anxiety. It took some time, of course, but not nearly as much as you would think. The hardest part was picking the right goatskin.
[Kuspir] a drink, then, to the goat that provided its skin for this fine result.
* Pavavi laughs.
[Pavavi] To the goat!
[Fracture] To the goat!
* Fracture chimes in, in your head
[Kuspir] You like it?
* Kuspir asks the sword, mentally
[Fracture] The old mystic seems to have the proper respect for my dignity. So yes, it will do nicely.
[Kuspir] The sword also appreciates your work.
[Pavavi] Fascinating.
[Pavavi] Any word from Alai lately?
[Kuspir] (I assume no?)
[Pavavi] (no)
[Kuspir] I've not heard anything from her.
[Pavavi] I suppose that is not too surprising. It's her nature to keep to herself.
[Kuspir] In some ways, yes.
[Kuspir] She's probably absorbed in her work.
[Pavavi] Well, I should be going. Enjoy - both of you!
[Kuspir] Thank you again, and good night!
* Pavavi departs.

Kuspir awakens to a crash, to find that Irdomila had unwrapped Fracture and picked it up, then it talked to her; she offers her magical services to Kuspir

[Nemnosti-GM] Later that evening, you are asleep when you awaken to a shriek, followed by a crash, from within the house.
* Kuspir jumps up, hurrying to find out what that was (assuming it's a kid up to something they shouldn't be)
[Nemnosti-GM] You rush into the main room where you find Irdomila, seemingly unharmed. At her feet is Fracture, lying next to its new holder, unwrapped.
[Irdomila] It spoke to me, Father!
* Irdomila says, with a mix of awe, fear, and excitement.
[Kuspir] Are you okay? what happened?
[Irdomila] I'm ... I'm fine. I was just startled.
[Irdomila] It's ... amazing.
* Kuspir will pick up the sword from where it fell
[Kuspir] Tell me what happened.
* Kuspir says to either of them ;p
[Fracture] The wrap doesn't do much good if you unwrap me before you drop it.
[Fracture] Tell her to be more careful next time.
[Irdomila] I was curious. I wanted to see it . You won't tell me anything other than 'don't touch it', but then I heard what Pavavi was saying earlier, and ... well. That's all.
* Kuspir sighs
[Kuspir] I said don't touch it because it's powerful and not fully understood, so it could be dangerous. I did not think I needed to explain that to you.
[Nemnosti-GM] As you say the words 'powerful' and 'not fully understood' and 'dangerous' you realize how silly of you it was to have thought that that would not entice your daughter.
* Irdomila looks at you as if your stupidity should be plain.
[Irdomila] You don't have to bear this burden alone.
[Kuspir] It's true, I do not, but my not-yet-fully-grown daughter is not the one who will carry it with me, not right now. I ... I know that you are curious, and you want to learn about it, and you think you can handle whatever might happen as a result, but I cannot bear to have you hurt, especially not by my own shortcomings.
[Irdomila] Yes, but ... I have been learning much from the August Alai, Father. I know about the thing she calls Abyss, which she murmurs in her dreams. I can be of assistance to you, in many ways.
[Kuspir] What did it say to you?
[Irdomila] It simply said 'like father, like daughter'. Then I ... then it fell.
* Kuspir nods, thinking that it could have been worse
[Kuspir] The sword is not your calling. I understand you have been training and have learned much, but unless I'm especially unobservant, one of those things has not been swordfighting.
* Irdomila giggles, and for a second you are taken back to her childhood.
[Irdomila] I'm not going into battle with it, Father. But you have brought an incredibly powerful, ancient, intelligent sword into my house.
[Irdomila] Does Mother know?
[Kuspir] I've mentioned it.
[Irdomila] Was that your latest letter? "Dearest Geme, I have brought an unspeakably strange magical blade into the house and told the children very sternly not to play with it. I'm sure that'll be fine."
[Kuspir] I don't think I phrased it quite like that.
* Irdomila smiles smugly.
[Irdomila] So what is the danger, really? Because it is definitely not that you are worried that Rugu or I would cut ourselves on it. It's sharp, but no sharper than any knife from the kitchen.
[Kuspir] The danger is that I don't know everything about this weapon, including what its motivations may be in any given circumstance, and as you said, it's powerful and intelligent. If the sword tells you to do something, do you have the will to resist it?
[Irdomila] You don't need to protect me from everything.
[Irdomila] My stomach is strong.
[Kuspir] I can't protect you from everything. But I can protect you from this one, very specific thing.
[Irdomila] Don't you think I want to protect you too, Dad? Isn't that what Alai is off doing now too?
[Kuspir] How will you protect me here, hm?
[Irdomila] I bet if Mom knew all of this, she would tell you that you need protection.
[Irdomila] I don't know. But you could teach me.
[Kuspir] Alai is your teacher, I believe. What about when she returns, we talk to her about this?
* Irdomila pauses at that.
[Irdomila] All right, I agree to your terms.
[Irdomila] If you agree not to tell Mother about this little accident.
* Kuspir frowns slightly
[Kuspir] So you think your mother would agree that I need your help, but don't want me to tell her, is that what I'm to understand here?
[Irdomila] She'll be more upset with you than she would be with me, if she knew.
[Irdomila] Think about it.
* Kuspir gives a little laugh at that
[Kuspir] So it's really for my own well-being, is it?
* Irdomila gives a little shrug with a half-smile that says something like 'I see you're catching on.'
[Irdomila] So you agree?
[Kuspir] Do you know how your mother feels about NOT being told something important? I assure you, it is not better.
[Kuspir] But I will allow you to tell her, if you prefer.
[Irdomila] But we don't have to tell her everything, do we? I mean, I don't tell you guys everything - about Rembes, for instance.
[Kuspir] I try to tell your mother things that are important. There are certainly things I don't tell her, but not because I'm worried she'll be angry at me if I do.
[Irdomila] What kinds of things?
[Kuspir] What kind of things do I not tell her?
[Irdomila] Yeah.
[Irdomila] Just so I know what kinds of things I can not tell her.
[Kuspir] I don't tell her what I ate for breakfast every day, or about every person who passes through the gate when I'm on guard duty, or about things people tell me in confidence.
[Irdomila] All right, I understand your point, Father. I'll tell her what she needs to know.
* Kuspir privately doubts that but will nod.
[Kuspir] Go on, back to bed, it's late.
[Irdomila] All right. Good night, dad.
* Irdomila kisses you on the cheek.
* Kuspir returns the kiss and will take the sword, wrap it back up safely, and store it under his bed :p
[Fracture] I like her. She's got character.
[Kuspir] Why am I not surprised?

Jevai brings Eng-dur back to Nemnosti while Saza leaves, promising to investigate star-maps

[Nemnosti-GM] Jevai, you are standing in the fully naked presence of your Upward, Eng-dur Chuchuru. In this world, in the flesh. So much flesh.
* Saza looks him over critically.
[Saza] Guess they don't feed you in that realm. You look terrible.
* Saza remarks archly.
* Eng-dur is breathing in and out deeply, as if taking in air for the first time.
[Eng-dur] So strange.
[Jevai] they do not.
[Jevai] I was not expecting ... this. I would have brought you something to wear
[Eng-dur] What ... now?
* Saza looks over at you expectantly.
[Saza] Yes, Pebble, what now?
[Jevai] I will take him back to Nemnosti, for now.
[Jevai] I
[Jevai] I'm sure that more sensible coulrse of action will unfold once rest and.food and clothes and other.... coproreal concerns are taken care of
[Saza] Very well, I'll check in with you soon enough.
* Jevai looks at Saza
[Jevai] What will *you* do now, Downward?
[Saza] I need to look at star-maps, clearly. Wouldn't you agree?
* Jevai nods
[Jevai] good luck, then
* Saza heads out.
* Jevai looks down at Eng-Dur, and will touch his shoulder and activate her word of recall
[Nemnosti-GM] All right, in an instant, you're back at Nemnosti.
[Jevai] (I can't remember - but we can'rt teleport into the ulajeta, right? has to be outside?)
[Nemnosti-GM] (yes, that's correct. So I suppose that means you need to bring Eng-dur through the West Gate, in his current state)
[Jevai] (Yeah)
[Jevai] Can you walk?
* Jevai will ask him
[Eng-dur] I can.
[Jevai] alright
[Jevai] Come on then
* Jevai will go slowly in case that's a lie or an exaggeration ].]
* Jevai will see if someone at the gate has like. a cloak or something they can spare
* Eng-dur follows you in. The stoneguards definitely give you a strange look but you're allowed to bring in guests, even naked middle-aged men. They will find him a cloak, sure.

Jevai takes Eng-dur to Naka, who finds him to be free of his former disease but discovers that his body is mirrored

* Jevai will bring him to his aunt's house
* Naka opens the door.
[Naka] Ah, hello Jevai and ... and ...
[Jevai] Auntie....
* Jevai gestures at him.
* Naka breaks down in tears, embracing Eng-dur.
[Naka] You dumb old goat.
[Eng-dur] My sweet serpent.
[Eng-dur] I am sorry.
[Naka] I ... where ... how ...
* Naka just breaks down and holds him tighter.
[Naka] Where are your pants?
* Naka says, as she realizes.
[Jevai] years gone
[Eng-dur] I guess they didn't come with me.
[Jevai] Can you looks him over, make sure he is alright?
[Naka] Yes, of course.
[Jevai] thak you..
* Jevai sounds a little shaky herself
[Naka] Come in, and ... let's get you some real clothes.
[Jevai] are you hungry? Thirsty?
[Eng-dur] I ... think so?
* Eng-dur seems confused.
[Jevai] it's been a long time. Your body... I hope it will remember
* Naka brings him in and lays him down and begins to inspect him.
[Naka] Hmmm ...
[Naka] Strange ...
* Jevai will go sit down out of the way, listening but also, trying not to cry now that things are starting to feel more real
[Nemnosti-GM] After a time, Naka completes her checkup.
[Naka] So ... this is going to sound very strange.
* Jevai will try and pull herself back together
[Jevai] what?
[Naka] Eng-dur, you appear to have been ... flipped? twisted?
[Naka] Everything is ... as in a mirror. His organs.
[Eng-dur] Neat!
[Naka] Well ... perhaps.
[Naka] What do I need to know about this, Jevai?
[Jevai] I don't know
[Naka] Well, then, you should both come with me.
[Jevai] Downward is thre one who pulled him from... the shallows.
[Naka] I don't know what that means, but ... all right.
[Naka] We'll need my equipment and materials to know more. He seems perfectly healthy.
[Eng-dur] I do think I'm hungry.
[Jevai] What about his illness?
[Jevai] from before?
[Naka] That's the thing that is also strange ... the illness appears to be ... in abeyance? Maybe even gone? But I need more tests.
* Naka brings Eng-dur a glass of weak wine, and some fruit.
[Naka] Eat slowly.
* Eng-dur takes one bite ... and spits it out.
[Eng-dur] Augh, this is awful! It smells wrong.
* Jevai frowns
[Jevai] wrong?
[Eng-dur] Yes, like ... just bad, here, see.
* Eng-dur holds it out to you. It smells fine to you.
[Jevai] it seems fine
* Jevai will take a bite from the other side
[Nemnosti-GM] Tastes fine.
[Jevai] it is fine
* Jevai frowns
[Naka] All right, the two of you. To my laboratory, now.
[Jevai] how is the drink?
* Jevai nods
* Eng-dur tries it, and winces.
[Eng-dur] Bad.
[Jevai] mmm.
[Jevai] come on, then

Naka takes Jevai and Eng-dur down to her lab, where she determines that Eng-dur’s blood is similarly mirrored or reversed, and they discover that Eng-dur now likes to eat rocks

[Nemnosti-GM] Naka leads you both over to Carver's Hall at the center of the ulajeta, and down into the basement.
[Nemnosti-GM] She takes you down a long hall, which, as you recall, used to be used for classes, before your time, but has generally served for storage for at least the last decade. You haven't been here in a long, long time.
[Naka] Here we are - my new lab. I don't imagine I've brought you here, have I?
[Jevai] no.
* Naka opens the door.
[Nemnosti-GM] The room itself is long and narrow, made of the big, old bricks that are typical of the oldest part of the ulajeta, with broad flagstones on the floor. Two large metal grates cover drains, which you imagine are there in case floodwaters come in from the Pasu, although the prospect that they are to capture any waste liquids occurs to you as well.
[Nemnosti-GM] It's clearly been set up as a sort of laboratory, with various vessels and flasks lining the walls. You remember with horror the exam in your Tenths where you forgot the word 'alembic' and had to resort to a drawing.
[Nemnosti-GM] Along the wall is a great set of twenty or more hooks, each with a strange tool affixed. Some of these, you're sure you never knew their names, nor, you hope, were you expected to.
[Nemnosti-GM] A long sturdy table sits along one wall, its top made of a single slab of blue-grey soapstone that must have been imported from Basai or Nulu at almost inestimable cost, not to mention the difficulty of getting it up here. You wonder where it's been all along as you think you would have remembered it arriving.
[Nemnosti-GM] Ghoko is standing on a stool cleaning the surface of the table with a thick cloth. A pockmarked black leather apron is covering nearly their entire tiny green body.
[Nemnosti-GM] Ghoko has placed various bowls and vessels, some full, some empty, in large crate to the side while they work. The whole place is astringent and vile to the senses.
* Jevai wronkles her nose at ths smell
[Ghoko] Oh, hello! And ... Eng-dur? You're definitely supposed to be dead, right?
[Jevai] what have you been workign on in here?
[Eng-dur] So it would seem. But here I am.
[Nemnosti-GM] (are you asking Naka or Ghoko?)
[Jevai] (Naka)
[Naka] With Her permission I started to clear out this place a few years ago - really shortly after I created Ghoko. But within the past year particularly, as I've begun my work on the Essential End, I've picked up the pace of work, got this table out of storage, got it functioning.
[Eng-dur] Oh, it smells wonderful in here!
* Eng-dur looks about the room, impressed.
[Eng-dur] I don't know what all this is, but this is quite an improvement over the last time I was here.
[Naka] I will need to run some tests.
* Jevai nods
[Naka] This space is not really for treating patients, though. I'm sorry, there isn't much of anything to make either of you comfortable.
[Naka] Some seats, over there.
* Jevai nods, and will look over some of the stranger equipment as she makes her weay over there
* Naka pulls out a long leather and metal tool from a drawer, around a foot long with a deflated leather barrel and a copper plunger, with a tapered end terminating in a minute concave black disc.
* Naka sees you regarding it all.
[Jevai] Let me know if there is anything I can do to help
[Naka] One of the things less appreciated about the fos rush is not just that there is more fos, but that there is so much more opportunity for herbalists to innovate. Much of the kit you see here could not have been purchased for any amount, twenty years ago.
[Naka] It is a remarkable time to be working.
* Naka goes to a locked cabinet and quickly withdraws a familiar vessel - the one you and your team retrieved from the innards of Gil Pirtu.
* Jevai nods, watching this carefully
[Naka] And now, all I'll need is the blood of a very, very foolish man.
[Eng-dur] I suppose that would be me.
* Naka draws a small amount of blood, and then, with the tool, draws up a single drop of the Unkindness, places it on a stone disc, and then mixes in Eng-dur's blood.
[Naka] Oh!
* Naka seems very surprised.
[Jevai] what is it?
[Naka] It's going the wrong way.
[Eng-dur] I've been going the wrong way a long time.
* Eng-dur seems amused, more than anything else, but that could mean anything, for Eng-dur.
[Jevai] how do you mean
* Jevai says, looking mostly at her aunt
[Naka] Widdershins.
[Jevai] hmmmm
[Naka] If I were to take my blood, or anyone's blood, or essence of any kind - even saliva - it would orient itself sunwise with Unkindness.
[Naka] But Eng-dur is ... well, mirrored. Like his organs. His heart is now on the right side of his body.
[Eng-dur] Maybe I'll just need to untwist myself and then twist back the other way, like twine.
[Jevai] so, it is more than physical
[Naka] It is more abstract than that.
[Jevai] (was that to him or me?)
[Naka] (to you)
[Naka] (but probably also to him, who can say)
[Jevai] more abstract than,,, spiritual..?
* Jevai tries the word but isn't sure she likes it
[Naka] Here, come look.
* Jevai will do so
* Naka shows you the quartzite disc sitting on the soapstone table, on which Naka placed the blood and a drop of Unkindness. Sure enough, you can see that the blood is moving, as if impelled by some force, circling counterclockwise slowly.
[Ghoko] Hey, stop that, those aren't for you!
* Ghoko shouts suddenly.
[Eng-dur] These are delicious!
* Jevai looks up
* Eng-dur says, a bowl in hand.
[Ghoko] ... those are *garnets*.
* Eng-dur looks down at them, then grabs another handful.
[Eng-dur] I'm famished.
[Jevai] ...an expensive diet
[Jevai] you should still eat slowly
[Naka] All right, this is all too much.
[Jevai] we don't know if your body can process that
[Naka] You, stop eating my lab supplies.
[Naka] And you ... I don't know what to tell you, Jevai. If you want a quick answer, he appears to be a healthy, inverted man, with no trace of disease.
[Naka] But it is clear that the longer answer is more complicated.
[Eng-dur] I'd really like to see my sister, if you can get her.
[Jevai] of course it is
[Jevai] I can Send to her, and see if she can come
[Jevai] or we could go there... I could lodge a spell for it tomorrow
[Jevai] or... you...could...?
[Eng-dur] You know I've been sitting here wondering what happens when I do.
[Jevai] perhaps try somethign more simple to start
[Eng-dur] I was assuming you'd tell me I wasn't allowed. Not that I would listen.
[Jevai] mm.
* Jevai looks back to Naka
[Jevai] I don't know where to put him...
[Naka] Well there's space, it's just how to explain his presence.
[Naka] I assume you will have to tell Her.
[Jevai] yes
[Jevai] I think She will be very interested, at least
[Naka] What do you need from me, then?
[Jevai] are you tired?
* Jevai asks him
[Jevai] Nothing now. Thank you, Auntie
[Eng-dur] I suppose I am tired? I'm not really used to all these feelings anymore.
[Jevai] if tomorrow his guts are in rebellion from eating rocks... we will see. Or - if they aren't, possibly also that will be notable.
[Naka] All right, then. I'm ... I'm really glad to see you back, Eng-dur. It's been far too long.
[Nemnosti-GM] (so where are you taking him then? Back to your room?)
[Jevai] (uhhh IDK, maybe if that's easiest. And then I can stay in Alai's room, since she's away ].])
[Jevai] (sort out something better rtomorrow when it isn't the middle of the night and I can talk to someone appropriate abut a guest, let Ifa know 'm not dead, etc. a taully I might wanna have her look atb him, too)
[Nemnosti-GM] (all right, makes sense)
[Nemnosti-GM] Until next we gather by the firelight, young acolytes!

Alai visits her old training grounds at the Academy at Ardukh, where she is assigned a minder/guide/assistant, Nombas

[Nemnosti-GM] Alai, you are on a long research trip on behalf of Nemnu Ula and your team, and, of course, yourself.
[Nemnosti-GM] When you left, your plan was to go to the Academy at Ardukh, where you received your training, and see what you could learn about the sword Fracture, and the enigmatic group of five smiths known as the Vashmala who forged it, centuries ago, at the behest of the Emperor Eluli Ula.
[Nemnosti-GM] Inevitably, that was always going to take you into the realm of Abyssal things, and the strange realm where you and Jevai found yourself when you went through the portal up in the Nadenigh caves, traumatizing Nemnu when you did so.
[Nemnosti-GM] But in addition, shortly after your departure, you learned (through communication from Nemnu Herself) about the strangeness that befell Kuspir, who was pulled by the sword into that realm, that Jevai has a Fraction that is trapped (?) by Gunuremai (?) within that Abyssal place.
[Nemnosti-GM] You don't have all the details - honestly you're not sure anyone, even Kuspir, has all the details. But it gives you more to think about.
[Nemnosti-GM] You've also had on your mind the enigmatic Disc of Tethers, the book Nemnu mentioned to you a few months ago.
[Nemnosti-GM] It arose when you were speaking about the crack in the Fingerprint, in conversation with Jevai and Nemnu. You had never heard of it.
[Nemnosti-GM] It is a text of many pages, written in spiral fashion from the inside out.
[Nemnosti-GM] Nemnu reported to you that She had only seen a bastardized copy of it, long ago, in Basai at the Academy at Dundures. But the real version - wherever it is - is supposed to have a set of clay aisamonne attached, spells of strange power that relate to the text.
[Nemnosti-GM] She suggested that the only person She both knows and trusts who might know where it is is Borgegus Ula, the Duke of Needs, in Onighus.
[Nemnosti-GM] So you have your work cut out for you. What, initially, is your plan?
[Alai] (well damn... where to start...)
[Alai] (well I'm in Ardukh... might as well start researching while I figure out the best way to get to Onighus, or get a hold of Borgegus Ula)
[Nemnosti-GM] All right, I'm presuming you're teleporting to Ardukh, which you know well since you went to school there. From there, you can either do a slightly more risky teleport to Onighus, or obviously there are the more mundane means of travel.
[Nemnosti-GM] You travel to Ardukh.
[Nemnosti-GM] Ardukh is a city of 30,000 or more located in northern Khutu at the confluence of the Isikh and Aghong rivers, perhaps fifty miles south of the sea. The city itself is low-lying, and its architectural styles are low and thick.The city lies in a deep basin with rivers and thin canals spiraling out in various directions. This is hardly home, but Ardukh looks very much to the north, to your people.
[Nemnosti-GM] The Academy is probably the greatest structure here, even greater than the lineage houses of the various noble clans. They say that the Academy at Ardukh is third in rank of all of those in the former empire, next only to that of Omba itself, the imperial city, and Dundures, home of the Academy in Basai.
[Nemnosti-GM] As an august mystic, you are treated with honor and greeted warmly by those who remember you and those who know of your reputation. In fact, given your status, you are assigned a young man, Nombas, a mystic in training, whose job it is to attend to your various needs during your stay.
* Nombas is a young pale man of perhaps fifteen, tall and thin, just on the verge of being able to grow a mustache worthy of its name, and clearly intent on doing so. His robes are fringed with vumuri shells, a clear sign of noble heritage, though you suspect, by the somewhat frayed edges of his sleeves, that he cannot be from a family of great wealth.
[Nombas] August Alai, how may I help you?
* Nombas asks, without any hint of annoyance, but perhaps just a little of terror.
[Alai] Since you are here to help me, you can aid in finding and carrying tombs for me. Have you any familarity in construction of enchanted objects?
[Nombas] Oh! Uhhh ... no, none exactly. I will admit that I am fairly new in my training.
[Nombas] But I will help you however you see fit.
[Alai] Is a skill to glean the depth of others work. We mystics can be verbose in our texts. This will be good start for you.
[Nombas] So we will mainly be in the library?
[Alai] At least for today I think
* Alai will head there and start to orient herself.
[Nombas] All right, let us go speak to Uldibura.
* Nombas seems very uncomfortable indeed.
[Alai] (am I familiar with this person?)
[Nemnosti-GM] You remember Uldibura well from your time here. She seemed ancient even then. She certainly did not earn this position through noble birth or through some wealthy patron, but rather through pure tenacity and grit. It is said that she eats books for breakfast, though that surely is a story told by young apprentices.
[Nemnosti-GM] She is, effectively, the head librarian here at the Academy.
[Alai] (off we go)

Alai goes to see Uldibura Vuldi, the ancient librarian in Ardukh, and they talk about the Vashmala and Bantomis Hono, the modern scholar who has written about them

[Nemnosti-GM] The library is on an elevated plain and even so, on the second floor of a great ancient building, to prevent damage in the rare years when the rivers flow is high. This is one of those years, and the waters are still high even now in late spring.
[Nemnosti-GM] Your presence here, and that Nemnu sent you, is well-known, and gets you access that would otherwise be difficult even for an esteemed mystic. So within an hour or so of your arrival, you find yourself in the presence of Uldibura Vuldi.
* Uldibura is a woman who must surely be approaching 90 by now. In her youth, she must have been a woman of great substance. She still seems as if she could hold herself in a wrestling match, although clearly more frail than she once was or than you remember her. She wears a heavy shawl covering her hair, leaving only a single strand of white emerging from beneath the scarf.
* Uldibura looks you over.
[Uldibura] I remember you.
[Alai] I was not here long.
[Uldibura] Are you saying I don't remember you, then?
[Alai] I do not deny your memories. I did not necessarily expect to be remembered.
[Uldibura] Well when the Wellspring sends me one of Hers, I tend to remember them, even when they are small. You are Luetkan, is that right? Or Nuluan?
* Alai eyes narrow a little but relaxes quickly
[Alai] Is Luetkan. My accent is not that faded.
[Uldibura] All right, then. What can I help you with today, then?
[Alai] I've come here for research. Construction of enchanted items, and those who build them.
[Uldibura] A problem that cannot be solved in your ulajeta's library? That is very interesting.
* Uldibura horks up something and deposits it in a spittoon behind her desk.
[Alai] Alas books are not birthed as easily as babes. At least the useful ones.
[Uldibura] That is very true. Are you going to be doing some copying, as well?
[Alai] Is unlikely I will be here long enough for that endeavour, if I can find what I am looking for... delving books can be a very unpredictible with timelines.
[Uldibura] Very well, tell me about it.
[Alai] I am looking for information on magical smiths, specifically. How different matierals interact with the object creation.
[Uldibura] Hmm, that is an interesting subject.
[Uldibura] I can give you access to some texts on the matter.
[Uldibura] Do you have some more specific detail?
[Alai] Who are the best smiths you are aware of?
[Uldibura] Well, that is a matter beyond my direct experience. The best smiths in Khutu, traditionally, were the Vashmala.
[Alai] Then that is where I will start.
[Uldibura] Well, no, you won't.
[Uldibura] That group was notorious for its secrecy. They left no texts of their own describing their work.
[Uldibura] But all is not lost.
[Uldibura] There is a book by a man, Bantomis Hono, a kind of ... compendium of legends and materials about the Vashmala. Written about twenty years ago when he was a young man.
[Uldibura] I do not know if it will give you answers, but it will, at least, give you questions.
[Alai] Questions lead to your own answers and one is better for it. If I have questions, is Bantomis Hono still in Ardukh?
[Uldibura] I am a mere librarian, not a social secretary. But yes, the last I heard, he was still here, though not actively working here at the Academy.
[Nemnosti-GM] (give me a SM if you please)
[Alai] !roll 1d20+0
* lan-werk2 rolls for Alai: [ 1d20+0 ] getting [ 13 ] which, after the modifier [ 0 ] totals [ 13 ].
[Uldibura] Let me just get the book, then. It will give you a start.
[Alai] My thanks.
[Uldibura] You may await my return at Chebul's desk, if you remember where that is.
[Uldibura] (you do, many places here at the Academy are named after some former resident / user, and this is one of them)
[Uldibura] I'll have your boy bring it to you.
* Alai nods and goes and waits, taking a look around.
[Nemnosti-GM] All right, a short time later, you are holding the Legends of the Five Apprentices by Bantomis Hono.
[Alai] (is it useful or crap?)
[Nemnosti-GM] Apparently, as you quickly learn from Hono's introduction, the Vashmala never considered themselves masters - always apprentices.
[Nemnosti-GM] (give me a K:arcana then, I bet that's not +0)
[Alai] !roll 1d20+18
* lan-werk2 rolls for Alai: [ 1d20+18 ] getting [ 5 ] which, after the modifier [ 18 ] totals [ 23 ].
[Nemnosti-GM] It definitely helps that Hono is a mystic, as well as the son of a bladesmith. He writes in an inscrutable style, of the sort that you remember having been shamed out of you at Nemnosti.
[Nemnosti-GM] Sometimes when one comes from a common background, one tends to overcompensate in one's writing by turning to pretention. That seems to be Hono.
[Nemnosti-GM] There is a short section on Fracture. That part isn't actually the most interesting part of the book, though, because (frankly) Hono knows the sword existed, and that it went to the Emperor, but nothing much more about it.
[Nemnosti-GM] What you do find interesting are the discussions in Appendix 3, which is where he discusses forging as it relates to Unfolding. Apparently the Vashmala did a lot of folding in their bladecraft, creating patterns and channels in their blades. You don't recall if you saw any of those in Fracture - but then, it's not like you closely inspected the blade, ever.
[Nemnosti-GM] And who knows how to forge Unkindness?
[Nemnosti-GM] Anyway, Hono says a lot about how the spells used are meant to bind together or tether folded elements of the blade, and that this was, at least for some of the Vashmala, considered to be a signature of their work.
[Nemnosti-GM] It also seems as if, while there are five smiths who were the classic 'Vashmala', that at various times, new smiths replaced old ones as 'apprentices' in the group. That part, again, is very obscure in places, partly because of Hono's writing and partly because the group was so secretive.
[Nemnosti-GM] It seems it was from one of these later apprentices that Hono got most of his information - with the caveat that it is remotely possible that this informant was making it all up. You don't think so, though.
[Nemnosti-GM] But ultimately the book doesn't tell you what you want to know, either because Hono didn't know it, or didn't write it down.
[Nemnosti-GM] All right, what now?
[Alai] (options are to find Hono and learn his source and maybe question them... or take what little I've learned and move on to find the Disc of Tethers...)
* Alai will Divinate Hono's location
[Nemnosti-GM] He apparently lives in his lineage house in the city, which is no more than a half-hour walk.