Session 109: Just A Bunch Of Guys
While the officers were away playing at being heroes, villains, or both in the same day, the crew of the ancient Alternan airship spent their time poking at ancient Alternan cracks, testing ancient Alternan treasures, and breaking ancient Alternan construction.
Thanks to the ingenuity of Celeste, doggedness of Owen, supervision of Chmurka, and general aura of Apoc, the entrance to the small sphere of the Starfall is open, and the officers were the first to step inside.
The sphere holds peculiar machinery, with magical glyphs barring passage to the center until Linnet managed to connect the dots in her mind from poking at the Akademia Deck and put the representations of the Guardian Forces in the same order as the cards in her new Astrologian device, lowering the glyphs and granting the adventurers access to the center of the sphere.
What to do from here, though, is up to them.
We join the officers (minus Orrey and Isa) (plus Celeste) (plus Isa's occasional out-of-sphere commentary) in the center of the smaller sphere...
**
There is a central console here. As they all land, the console retracts into the ground, and then images flash into existence, hovering in the air, purple and green, glyphs shifting into words and pictograms, before settling into three options. * Research * Reset * Relay
"So, yes, we should definitely try 'Research' immediately," says Yves, in complete confidence, reaching forward toward the bright candy-like option in question. It may be for the best that he's not the fastest viera ever, given his lack of hesitation on this point.
"I'm not going to stop you." Linnet hovers a few inches - the floor is still deeply suspicious, and also it's easier to peer over Yves' shoulder this way.
Bast shrugs demonstratively and just as demonstratively takes a step back.
Just to be on the safe side, Linnet calls out through the door, "Isa, Yves is about to poke a shiny button. Any desire to stop him?"
"Why would anyone not want to do research? There's a whole entry for it!" Yves sounds genuinely baffled by the concept, but he is polite enough to hesitate a moment.
"In case 'research' is a euphemism for 'lightning to the face' or something. But I'm pretty sure you're safe." Linnet shrugs.
"Oh, yeah, I can handle a little of that," Yves says, "probably, most of the time, if I put on the right goggles first." He pops the Research with one sharp-nailed finger. "Let's find out more things about this place and/or ship, some of which might not be horrible revelations about the approach of previous generations to the ethical treatment of other types of people!"
A series of purple and teal rectangles etch themselves in the air in front of Yves. The lowest one shimmers into a series of letters awaiting input. Circles blip into existence around the center, twelve in total, each perfectly aligned with one of the glyphs Linnet put into place just moments ago.
The largest screen, hovering above, sits empty and translucent for the moment.
"Uh," says Yves, and looks down at the glyphs, then up at the screen. "Well, you're the one who knows how those cards work. What should we start with?"
"'Knows' is assuming a lot, there. Are we assuming these are our twelve options available to search, or do they have subcategories, or..." Linnet stops herself before she goes down the rabbit hole too deeply. "Try Diabolos, because maybe you can ask him if it comes up with anything really weird."
"Oh, good idea," Yves says, and immediately bops the glyph in question. "Really, I've been thinking about inviting him to lurk in the mess while we're having dinner one of these nights, see if he likes the company? He's such an excellent person."
"...maybe the officers' mess first. By which I mean the bridge while we're having tea and scones during a meeting, or something." There is no 'officers' mess,' unless you count the mess they leave behind.
The text input letters blink in a steady pattern. D-I-A-B-O-L-O-S
More text crawls into view.
Diabolos, Deepshadow, Dark Messenger, Gift: Reaper
A new image shimmers into view behind Bast; a map of Ducorde. Two seconds later, a small purple dot begins pulsing, just to the west of Koehnta.
"...dumb question: is that where we are?" Linnet is well-known for her inability to navigate out of her own galley.
Bast gives the map an appraising look. "Sure looks that way. Celeste?"
Yves leans in, nearly nose to display. "I'm... not great with geography, but where exactly is that? ...is it? I mean, uh. Yeah. That sounds right. But Celeste is the expert! She could do cartography things to this." He waves his hands vaguely at the display. You know. Cartography... things.
"Yeah, that's us. That mask is on this ship." She looks at the map the same way she looked at the Osler map room. "It knows where Diabolos is?"
"Try one we don't have," Isa suggests.
"...maybe? We should pick another one that's on the ship, and then one that's not," Yves says, "and see if that gives us some confirmation."
"That's a little spooky. Try one with a name we know, but a location we don't," Linnet elaborates.
"...or that. Logical order!" Yves sits back on his heels, looking a little thoughtful for a moment. "I wonder if that means we could track the Seventh Dawn if we knew one of these was for sure with them."
Then he lets that thought drift away from him again, and pokes the Midgardsormr glyph.
The Diabolos name erases itself, taking all information with it.
The image of the glyph of the dragon's head flanked by wings slots into place. (The actual glyph itself does not move.)
The text input letters blink in a steady pattern. B-A-H-A-M-U-T
("...whoops.") ("Oh, well. Look! We're already learning things!") ("Uh...")
Bahamut, Dragon Monarch, Omega Flare, Gift: Dragoon. The point on the map is the city of Cardia.
"...do me a favor and poke the ribbon and the swords. It's really bugging me that we don't know those two names." Linnet is scribbling as fast as she can.
"You're getting down the map point, right?" Yves asks. He tries poking the map display first, on the dot, in case it'll, who knows, zoom or enhance or provide more detail or something.
"Unlikely to forget it," Isa says.
Linnet mumbles in the affirmative as she tries really hard to pinpoint things on a rough map of Ducorde. It's a really rough map, but her pinpoints have plenty of notes.
Bast, meanwhile, is examining the map display to figure out how it works.
The map does zoom in a bit. There are no labels on the map, but there is no mistaking where that dot is located.
"...need Orrey to teach me to actually draw, sometime in our copious free time..." mutters Linnet.
"I mean, it would be nice to get a street address, that's all," Yves says, and pokes the next glyph that Linnet asked for. "Ribbon time!"
"He's too slow," Celeste says, scribbling down details inside a small notebook that she had somewhere on her person but no one saw her withdraw. "This isn't art, it's notes."
"At least art would give us a better map. But, point taken."
The glyphs return to normal, until the shimmering pink and blue ribbon slots in. L-A-K-S-H-M-I
Lakshmi, Lady of Bliss, Alluring Embrace, Gift: Dancer. The point on the map is deep within Caerwyn.
"This is great," Yves says. "Except I guess for the part where I have to once again consider how maybe Jobs were derived along the way from the enslavement of sentient beings? But maybe not just derived from that, I'm a little fuzzy on the chronology with the Great Crystal and all, anyway, you wanted the sword next?"
Bast, looking grimmer than you'd expect for a tinkerer who was poking at new Alternan tech a minute ago, leans over with a grumbled "Hang on, got a hunch" and pokes the red husk glyph.
A-Z-I-D-A-H-A-K-A. ("Huh. I guess a lot of these are ones we haven't met," comments Yves.)
Azi Dahaka, The Parasite, Possession, Gift: Corruptor. The Edge of the World.
Linnet wears a look of stricken terror. "You remember that one, Thunderbun. The floor fell out and then we all went kinda nuts and...yeah. It was pretty awful."
"...oh. OH," says Yves. "Yeah, the name part was--I mean, there were a lot of distractions? And... things. Happening. Uh. So. Uh. So that's where it is. Isn't it just."
"Did it match up to your hunch, Bast? ...also, what kind of gift is Corruptor? That's terrible."
Bast nods in response, with a smaller nod after, as if lost - in thought or memories.
"A gift for bad people who should feel bad," Yves suggests, frowning at the display.
Linnet shakes her head vigorously to clear it, accidentally whapping the display with her braid in the process. "...oops."
The tip of Linnet's braid sweeps through the glyph of the castle wall. A-L-E-X-A-N-D-E-R
Alexander, Holy Avenger, Divine Judgment, Gift: Paladin. The Edge of the World.
Yves reaches over to give Principia a quiet little pat of comfort.
"Well, that was unexpectedly efficient." Linnet smooths her hair back into place.
"...huh. Even-?" Bast cuts off suddenly.
Pages rustle, but Principia doesn't go into yet another diatribe about Azi Dahaka and the crimes committed against Alexander.
Yves takes a breath, and leans forward again. "You wanted to try the sword one?" he asks Linnet, and presses that glyph next. "And I am wondering, if the gifts are all, well, advanced sorts of Jobs, what some of the other terms are. Because I bet it's not all just fancy titles."
Isa hms quietly, thoughtful.
The text taps itself out. G-I-L-G-A-M-E-S-H. Gilgamesh, Swordsman of Legend, Perfect Technique, Gift: Kiran. The map shows somewhere in the eastern Cardian mountains.
"...I wonder if Liga knows of this one."
"Maybe he would enjoy meeting Guan Yu," Yves suggests, brightening at this rather less traumatic set of information, compared to the last two sets.
"Isa!" Celeste shouts, incredibly loud in the small sphere.
"Yeah, I know," Isa replies.
Linnet winces. "Celeste, it's an enclosed space, try to yell out the door."
"Linnet," Isa says, "that's where the Forgotten is. The place Kine tried to warn us away from, remember? By trying to kill Celeste?"
"I remember he tried to kill Celeste to warn her away from something; I forgot what." Linnet looks sheepish.
"Oh, that thing where they completely derailed the academic conference!" Yves says. "Now I remember."
"...yes, trust Team Nerd to have our priorities straight." Linnet glances at Celeste. "Right, onward? Let's see how many others of these I got wrong." She presses the purple serpent, supposedly the first she identified.
"It had a lot of really interesting papers," Yves protests, "and all that violence did not help with the presentation of any of them. It's not like when you're just doing a poster session and your prototype explodes, that's completely different, that's fair."
L-E-V-I-A-T-H-A-N. Leviathan, Lord of the Whorl, Tsunami, Gift: Corsair. Alterna itself.
"...well, that's exciting. Um." Linnet screws up her memory and presses the green feathered glyph. "Isa, where the hell did I do the stupid jumping off the ship thing?"
"The Howling Eye," Isa responds. "And c'mon, it's where we did the stupid jumping off the ship thing."
Yves has at some point also produced a notebook to take his own notes. Because everyone else has copying out the data handled, he's jotting down little speculative ideas in shorthand. Most of them are about awesome powers he should totally ask some masks about at the next possible opportunity.
"Yes, but where is the Howling Eye? And I'm trying to give you credit for thinking ahead there; I'm the one who actually flung myself into the abyss, you caught me." Linnet grins at Isa.
"West side, near Augustine," Isa says, gesturing to the map.
G-A-R-U-D-A. Garuda, Lady of the Vortex, Aerial Blast, Gift: Sky Pirate. Alterna itself, again. The dot does not move.
"Probably safe to assume all the rest are in Alterna, unless the Dawn has them or...there's been a catastrophe somewhere that we missed." Linnet ponders.
"We're gonna need a tougher ship before we can go back there and pick up everyone else," Yves says a little woefully. "Though I guess that gives me plenty of time to work out space for more habitats, huh?"
"And to work on your muscles. We need a Thunderbun who's not gonna fall over in a strong wind." But it's affectionate. Linnet presses the turbine, pen at the ready.
T-I-T-A-N. Titan, Lord of Crags, Landslide, Gift: Geomancer. Alterna, same as the last two.
"Someone is having a party."
"Why does Alterna get all the Guardian Forces?" Yves asks, rather indignant. He pauses, and looks down at his notebook. "...or maybe it's better to ask why some of them aren't there. That might be easier to answer, too, since we can ask at least one."
"Prove me wrong, here." Linnet presses the demon's head.
"They escaped," Isa suggests to Yves, without apparent judgment.
Yves nods to Isa. "So if it's on their own, that suggests the others can't. Or don't want to? Maybe just 'can't' because I gotta say, Alterna doesn't seem like it was a good home to many of them. And.... most of them probably didn't have anyone coming by to talk to weird vines and pick up a mask on offer, or the like."
I-F-R-I-T. Ifrit, Lord of the Inferno, Hellfire, Gift: Angbar. Alterna.
"What in all the worlds is an Angbar?" Linnet shrugs and presses the snowflake.
"It's a bar where they... okay, I've got nothing," Yves says, noting it down all the same.
S-H-I-V-A. Shiva, Lady of Frost, Diamond Dust, Gift: Shatterheart. Alterna.
"Well, the good news is that the Dawn doesn't have them," Isa muses.
"Let's complete the set before we celebrate that." Linnet presses the final glyph, the lightning beard.
Yves nods, frowning at the display. "Though anyone who gets in and out of there smoothly maybe could, in one big sweep, and... well. I guess if that's good or bad depends on who does it."
"And they'll have more trouble in trying, now." Bast looks almost vindictively pleased.
R-A-M-U-H. Ramuh, Lord of Levin, Judgment Bolt, Gift: Sage. Alterna.
Just out of curiosity, Linnet pokes the keyboard to see if anything besides these twelve can be entered.
Yves frowns at that result. "I really need to talk to Diabolos about how he escaped. If he just decided to go, and went, or if he got lucky, or... what."
The keyboard accepts input. Linnet, or anyone, can type names.
Linnet tries "Guan Yu."
Yves leans over her shoulder. "Oh! We should ask about--but you're right, him first, of course." His fingers twitch a little. It's possible he's thinking about some people he's built habitats for.
G-U-A-N-Y-U. Guan Yu, God of War, Green Dragon Crescent Blade, Gift: God of War. Just west of Koehnta, again.
"Right, it's consistent. That's good." Linnet closes her eyes and racks her brain.
"Remind me that I need to talk to you about him, Yves," Isa says.
"--wait a minute," Yves says. "I mean, not you, Isa! I will definitely remind you, since I'm always up for talking to them. About them. That too. Yes. But I just realized what the second part is, and I should've sooner. It's one of their summoned abilities. Maybe the most important one? Their favorite? I'm not sure which. I really should try to use that with Diabolos some time, but usually I'm not actually trying to do all that much damage when I ask him for help, compared to turning into bats and more useful things like that."
Linnet types "Selene." (Is it just her, or is there a bit of a very low chuckle in the background when Yves describes Diabolos as "useful"?)
Selene, Light Reflection, Fey Obfuscation, Gift: Nightblade. The Triad.
And one more in quick succession: "Atomos."
"Selene, I'm fairly certain they wouldn't have let out of their sight yet. Atomos is...more complicated."
"So if we have some names, we can at least figure out where to start looking," Yves says to himself, "but if 'research' only gives a few lines of information and a location... I wonder what Relay does, and I'm pretty sure we don't want to try Reset any time soon. Not without a lot more data. It could do something... bad. To someone. We just don't know."
Atomos, Force of Destruction, G-Force 199. Gift: Magus. It does not appear on the map.
"Uh," Isa says, "that doesn't seem good."
"...well, there's a candidate for Reset. Before we do that, though, let me try a couple of possibilities I'm uncertain of." Linnet puts in "Asura."
"Yves, while we're waiting, can you go get Diabolos' mask?"
"Sure," Yves says, scrambling to his feet. "There aren't a lot of dark corners in here, so I'm not sure how he'd like it, but I can ask if he'd be willing to stop by and chat."
"Wrap it in your spare coat, maybe."
Asura, Queen of the Eidolons, Burst, Gift: Berserker. It blinks half as fast as the others. Just west of Koehnta, same as Diabolos.
"...ok, that's terrifying. Nobody poke the engine." Linnet replaces that query with "Pashtarot." (No result.)
Yves gives that slow blink a worried, slightly guilty look, and then hurries off across the ApocThrone to fetch himself a Diabolos mask.
"Right, so that wasn't its name." Linnet steps back. "Well, are we ready to stop our breadth-first search for now and try the other options? Once Yves gets back, of course."
"Try a name that's not an Eidolon," Isa suggests.
Celeste scowls at the strange letter display, and then pecks out "Forgotten." (No result.)
Bast, with a small smile, takes over from Celeste to type in "Saroni." (No result.)
"Celeste," Isa calls over, "try Myrta." (She does. No result.)
Isa smiles. "For some reason I think she'd be disappointed by that."
"Don't tell her." But Linnet smiles. (Celeste cackles.)
"Not sure if that was a name or just a description, but..." Bast tries "Iron Giant".
Iron Giant, Impenetrable Defender, Mighty Guard, Gift: Fighter. The Triad.
Yves clambers back up into the sphere, with a triumphant look and a black shoulder bag that happens to contain Diabolos, or at least his mask. "Right, we're back! Anything exciting while I was gone?"
"We were waiting for you to get to the exciting part." Linnet squints at the display, looking for the "go back to the other thing" button. (She tries typing in "back.")
* Research * Reset * Relay
"So, we were wondering if you were familiar with this system, or what 'reset' or 'relay' might mean, if 'research' pulls up information like this," Yves says into the black bag. "Other things too, but as long as we're here..."
"Actually, I figured we'd just try 'relay,' but good to get consent first." Linnet pokes 'Relay.' "I thought that if it was sending a specific signal - like 'relay'ing a message - we could signal one of the Forces we know to be friendly, communicative, and most importantly, here."
Nothing here is familiar to me, writes the bag over the display.
Dots appear on the screen. Forty seconds go by.
Destination unavailable. Insert Heart of Sabik to override.
Linnet lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Well, that didn't mention a specific force, so we may not have needed you here after all. Thank you, Diabolos." She types 'back' again.
* Research * Reset * Relay
"Maybe it's for the best that this isn't something that used to be common," Yves muses, looking at the set of commands. "I suppose it should be safe to hit 'reset' and see what it says, if we're not giving it any names."
"Captain, care to do the honors?"
"Shit no. But if we've got to check..." Bast doesn't hesitate to push the button. "...I'd guess it seals it back up?"
* Reset Job Crystal?
The center of the pedestal glows, a column of bright blue light just wide enough for a person to stand in.
"Oh." Linnet edges away from the column, then types "back" again.
"...or not."
"Right, at least that wasn't 'reset a mask.' Though we still don't see Atomos, and that's still terrifying."
Yves looks downright alarmed. And... is leaning forward anyway. "Oh that's interesting."
Isa has a look of thoughtfulness that seems out of place on her face.
"Right. Anything anyone else want to poke here, or should we put the door back on for the time being? And get that key back from Owen?"
"Oh, I'll probably be in here for hours," Yves says. "I wonder what would happen if you put one of those instant-Job crystals like Orrey's sister had into that reset function."
"Don't." Linnet nearly smacks Yves again as she whips her head around to glare at him.
While the smart people in the party think of things to do, Bast pokes Research again and types in "Cinnabar." (No result.)
Settling herself, Linnet walks over to a wall panel and lets her fingers play over the Garuda glyph.
"Cinnabun probably had another name before we adopted him. Her. Did we ever figure that out?"
"Not that I recall," Yves says absently, and leans in to try typing something into the search himself: Arcanist
"Oh, wait, I think I recalled another name. For when you're done; gotta see what that does first."
Weiss, Limitless Intellect, Sealed Verse, Gift: Arcanist. The dot centers over Saine.
Linnet whistles. "Hooboy. Well, let's try not to go back there anytime soon. Before I forget..." Linnet types in "Quetzalcoatl," possibly having to try a couple of different spellings.
"So if we know a Job exists," Yves murmurs, looking very pleased indeed, "we may be able to find the one who gave it."
Quetzalcoatl, The Swarm, Thunderstorm, Gift: Thaumaturge. Alterna.
"Scary budgie cloud." Linnet returns to fingering, and occasionally prodding, the Garuda glyph in the wall.
"Well, we've learned a lot of new names today," Celeste says, going back to the first page of her notes. "Bahamut, Lakshmi, Gilgamesh, Ifrit, Titan, Garuda, Ramuh, Shiva, Leviathan, Sabik, Weiss..."
"Orrey will regret having missed this, but I'll share my notes later. If he's nice," adds Linnet.
"And not all of them are in Alterna!" Yves points out.
Bast glances at Celeste curiously. "Figure Sabik is one of them?"
Linnet's pen in her spare hand goes back to Selene. "Well, it's a clumsy way to track the Dawn, but a decent guess."
"Hm?" Celeste looks up. I was just writing names down. Is it not?"
Bast shrugs, and then goes to Research it.
"...now someone needs to be in here the next time we travel, so we can see if the map dots move at an appreciable scale, and if so, that will be useful for spying on the Dawn." Linnet catches up to the conversation. "Oh, you found something?"
"...and how much of the crew do we let in on this, so we can spread out the map-watching..."
S-A-B-I-K. Sabik, F269g2()2tg, 4@9680kdp#, Gift: (#@GWNV_. The map blinks deeper into Alterna, not in the same area as the Garuda/Ramuh/Ifrit... cluster.
Yves blinks. Not at the same rate as the map.
"Midgardsormr," Isa suggests to Bast. "We misinterpreted the icon but indulge me."
"Probably at least the officers, for a start, Jasper would be fascinated and Shula would be decidedly wary, for good reason...maybe keep Rahel out of here, bless her, girl's as bad with poking things as I am..." (Linnet's rambling plans have nothing to do with the content of the archive.)
Celeste stares at the mangled responses. "Who was Sabik? Why is their information... like this?"
"Messed up? Coded? Who knows." Bast looks back at Isa. "You want the icon or the name?"
"We did the icon already."
Yves waves Celeste's question toward Bast, though he asks his mask-bag, "Do you know a Sabik? By reputation or personally, really."
yes, writes the bag. There would be an ellipsis in front of it, if writing one's own ellipses were not terribly pretentious.
In the meantime, Bast types in "Midgardsormr".
"Oh, well," Yves says to the bag, "if you feel like saying more, I'd be interested to hear more, and if not, this Sabik certainly is mysterious, and I can respect that too."
Midgardsormr, Father Of Us All, Akh Morn, Gift: Divine Knight. Slightly west of Koehnta.
Isa just nods.
Sabik, the gold script writes, died. How, I do not know. Sabik died. All that remains of them is their name. If your vessel requires their Heart, find it. They deserve to be known again.
"...oh," says Yves. "Oh. I see. Then... I suppose we'll need to find a way to get in and out of Alterna again. At least for that."
Thanks to the ingenuity of Celeste, doggedness of Owen, supervision of Chmurka, and general aura of Apoc, the entrance to the small sphere of the Starfall is open, and the officers were the first to step inside.
The sphere holds peculiar machinery, with magical glyphs barring passage to the center until Linnet managed to connect the dots in her mind from poking at the Akademia Deck and put the representations of the Guardian Forces in the same order as the cards in her new Astrologian device, lowering the glyphs and granting the adventurers access to the center of the sphere.
What to do from here, though, is up to them.
We join the officers (minus Orrey and Isa) (plus Celeste) (plus Isa's occasional out-of-sphere commentary) in the center of the smaller sphere...
**
There is a central console here. As they all land, the console retracts into the ground, and then images flash into existence, hovering in the air, purple and green, glyphs shifting into words and pictograms, before settling into three options. * Research * Reset * Relay
"So, yes, we should definitely try 'Research' immediately," says Yves, in complete confidence, reaching forward toward the bright candy-like option in question. It may be for the best that he's not the fastest viera ever, given his lack of hesitation on this point.
"I'm not going to stop you." Linnet hovers a few inches - the floor is still deeply suspicious, and also it's easier to peer over Yves' shoulder this way.
Bast shrugs demonstratively and just as demonstratively takes a step back.
Just to be on the safe side, Linnet calls out through the door, "Isa, Yves is about to poke a shiny button. Any desire to stop him?"
"Why would anyone not want to do research? There's a whole entry for it!" Yves sounds genuinely baffled by the concept, but he is polite enough to hesitate a moment.
"In case 'research' is a euphemism for 'lightning to the face' or something. But I'm pretty sure you're safe." Linnet shrugs.
"Oh, yeah, I can handle a little of that," Yves says, "probably, most of the time, if I put on the right goggles first." He pops the Research with one sharp-nailed finger. "Let's find out more things about this place and/or ship, some of which might not be horrible revelations about the approach of previous generations to the ethical treatment of other types of people!"
A series of purple and teal rectangles etch themselves in the air in front of Yves. The lowest one shimmers into a series of letters awaiting input. Circles blip into existence around the center, twelve in total, each perfectly aligned with one of the glyphs Linnet put into place just moments ago.
The largest screen, hovering above, sits empty and translucent for the moment.
"Uh," says Yves, and looks down at the glyphs, then up at the screen. "Well, you're the one who knows how those cards work. What should we start with?"
"'Knows' is assuming a lot, there. Are we assuming these are our twelve options available to search, or do they have subcategories, or..." Linnet stops herself before she goes down the rabbit hole too deeply. "Try Diabolos, because maybe you can ask him if it comes up with anything really weird."
"Oh, good idea," Yves says, and immediately bops the glyph in question. "Really, I've been thinking about inviting him to lurk in the mess while we're having dinner one of these nights, see if he likes the company? He's such an excellent person."
"...maybe the officers' mess first. By which I mean the bridge while we're having tea and scones during a meeting, or something." There is no 'officers' mess,' unless you count the mess they leave behind.
The text input letters blink in a steady pattern. D-I-A-B-O-L-O-S
More text crawls into view.
Diabolos, Deepshadow, Dark Messenger, Gift: Reaper
A new image shimmers into view behind Bast; a map of Ducorde. Two seconds later, a small purple dot begins pulsing, just to the west of Koehnta.
"...dumb question: is that where we are?" Linnet is well-known for her inability to navigate out of her own galley.
Bast gives the map an appraising look. "Sure looks that way. Celeste?"
Yves leans in, nearly nose to display. "I'm... not great with geography, but where exactly is that? ...is it? I mean, uh. Yeah. That sounds right. But Celeste is the expert! She could do cartography things to this." He waves his hands vaguely at the display. You know. Cartography... things.
"Yeah, that's us. That mask is on this ship." She looks at the map the same way she looked at the Osler map room. "It knows where Diabolos is?"
"Try one we don't have," Isa suggests.
"...maybe? We should pick another one that's on the ship, and then one that's not," Yves says, "and see if that gives us some confirmation."
"That's a little spooky. Try one with a name we know, but a location we don't," Linnet elaborates.
"...or that. Logical order!" Yves sits back on his heels, looking a little thoughtful for a moment. "I wonder if that means we could track the Seventh Dawn if we knew one of these was for sure with them."
Then he lets that thought drift away from him again, and pokes the Midgardsormr glyph.
The Diabolos name erases itself, taking all information with it.
The image of the glyph of the dragon's head flanked by wings slots into place. (The actual glyph itself does not move.)
The text input letters blink in a steady pattern. B-A-H-A-M-U-T
("...whoops.") ("Oh, well. Look! We're already learning things!") ("Uh...")
Bahamut, Dragon Monarch, Omega Flare, Gift: Dragoon. The point on the map is the city of Cardia.
"...do me a favor and poke the ribbon and the swords. It's really bugging me that we don't know those two names." Linnet is scribbling as fast as she can.
"You're getting down the map point, right?" Yves asks. He tries poking the map display first, on the dot, in case it'll, who knows, zoom or enhance or provide more detail or something.
"Unlikely to forget it," Isa says.
Linnet mumbles in the affirmative as she tries really hard to pinpoint things on a rough map of Ducorde. It's a really rough map, but her pinpoints have plenty of notes.
Bast, meanwhile, is examining the map display to figure out how it works.
The map does zoom in a bit. There are no labels on the map, but there is no mistaking where that dot is located.
"...need Orrey to teach me to actually draw, sometime in our copious free time..." mutters Linnet.
"I mean, it would be nice to get a street address, that's all," Yves says, and pokes the next glyph that Linnet asked for. "Ribbon time!"
"He's too slow," Celeste says, scribbling down details inside a small notebook that she had somewhere on her person but no one saw her withdraw. "This isn't art, it's notes."
"At least art would give us a better map. But, point taken."
The glyphs return to normal, until the shimmering pink and blue ribbon slots in. L-A-K-S-H-M-I
Lakshmi, Lady of Bliss, Alluring Embrace, Gift: Dancer. The point on the map is deep within Caerwyn.
"This is great," Yves says. "Except I guess for the part where I have to once again consider how maybe Jobs were derived along the way from the enslavement of sentient beings? But maybe not just derived from that, I'm a little fuzzy on the chronology with the Great Crystal and all, anyway, you wanted the sword next?"
Bast, looking grimmer than you'd expect for a tinkerer who was poking at new Alternan tech a minute ago, leans over with a grumbled "Hang on, got a hunch" and pokes the red husk glyph.
A-Z-I-D-A-H-A-K-A. ("Huh. I guess a lot of these are ones we haven't met," comments Yves.)
Azi Dahaka, The Parasite, Possession, Gift: Corruptor. The Edge of the World.
Linnet wears a look of stricken terror. "You remember that one, Thunderbun. The floor fell out and then we all went kinda nuts and...yeah. It was pretty awful."
"...oh. OH," says Yves. "Yeah, the name part was--I mean, there were a lot of distractions? And... things. Happening. Uh. So. Uh. So that's where it is. Isn't it just."
"Did it match up to your hunch, Bast? ...also, what kind of gift is Corruptor? That's terrible."
Bast nods in response, with a smaller nod after, as if lost - in thought or memories.
"A gift for bad people who should feel bad," Yves suggests, frowning at the display.
Linnet shakes her head vigorously to clear it, accidentally whapping the display with her braid in the process. "...oops."
The tip of Linnet's braid sweeps through the glyph of the castle wall. A-L-E-X-A-N-D-E-R
Alexander, Holy Avenger, Divine Judgment, Gift: Paladin. The Edge of the World.
Yves reaches over to give Principia a quiet little pat of comfort.
"Well, that was unexpectedly efficient." Linnet smooths her hair back into place.
"...huh. Even-?" Bast cuts off suddenly.
Pages rustle, but Principia doesn't go into yet another diatribe about Azi Dahaka and the crimes committed against Alexander.
Yves takes a breath, and leans forward again. "You wanted to try the sword one?" he asks Linnet, and presses that glyph next. "And I am wondering, if the gifts are all, well, advanced sorts of Jobs, what some of the other terms are. Because I bet it's not all just fancy titles."
Isa hms quietly, thoughtful.
The text taps itself out. G-I-L-G-A-M-E-S-H. Gilgamesh, Swordsman of Legend, Perfect Technique, Gift: Kiran. The map shows somewhere in the eastern Cardian mountains.
"...I wonder if Liga knows of this one."
"Maybe he would enjoy meeting Guan Yu," Yves suggests, brightening at this rather less traumatic set of information, compared to the last two sets.
"Isa!" Celeste shouts, incredibly loud in the small sphere.
"Yeah, I know," Isa replies.
Linnet winces. "Celeste, it's an enclosed space, try to yell out the door."
"Linnet," Isa says, "that's where the Forgotten is. The place Kine tried to warn us away from, remember? By trying to kill Celeste?"
"I remember he tried to kill Celeste to warn her away from something; I forgot what." Linnet looks sheepish.
"Oh, that thing where they completely derailed the academic conference!" Yves says. "Now I remember."
"...yes, trust Team Nerd to have our priorities straight." Linnet glances at Celeste. "Right, onward? Let's see how many others of these I got wrong." She presses the purple serpent, supposedly the first she identified.
"It had a lot of really interesting papers," Yves protests, "and all that violence did not help with the presentation of any of them. It's not like when you're just doing a poster session and your prototype explodes, that's completely different, that's fair."
L-E-V-I-A-T-H-A-N. Leviathan, Lord of the Whorl, Tsunami, Gift: Corsair. Alterna itself.
"...well, that's exciting. Um." Linnet screws up her memory and presses the green feathered glyph. "Isa, where the hell did I do the stupid jumping off the ship thing?"
"The Howling Eye," Isa responds. "And c'mon, it's where we did the stupid jumping off the ship thing."
Yves has at some point also produced a notebook to take his own notes. Because everyone else has copying out the data handled, he's jotting down little speculative ideas in shorthand. Most of them are about awesome powers he should totally ask some masks about at the next possible opportunity.
"Yes, but where is the Howling Eye? And I'm trying to give you credit for thinking ahead there; I'm the one who actually flung myself into the abyss, you caught me." Linnet grins at Isa.
"West side, near Augustine," Isa says, gesturing to the map.
G-A-R-U-D-A. Garuda, Lady of the Vortex, Aerial Blast, Gift: Sky Pirate. Alterna itself, again. The dot does not move.
"Probably safe to assume all the rest are in Alterna, unless the Dawn has them or...there's been a catastrophe somewhere that we missed." Linnet ponders.
"We're gonna need a tougher ship before we can go back there and pick up everyone else," Yves says a little woefully. "Though I guess that gives me plenty of time to work out space for more habitats, huh?"
"And to work on your muscles. We need a Thunderbun who's not gonna fall over in a strong wind." But it's affectionate. Linnet presses the turbine, pen at the ready.
T-I-T-A-N. Titan, Lord of Crags, Landslide, Gift: Geomancer. Alterna, same as the last two.
"Someone is having a party."
"Why does Alterna get all the Guardian Forces?" Yves asks, rather indignant. He pauses, and looks down at his notebook. "...or maybe it's better to ask why some of them aren't there. That might be easier to answer, too, since we can ask at least one."
"Prove me wrong, here." Linnet presses the demon's head.
"They escaped," Isa suggests to Yves, without apparent judgment.
Yves nods to Isa. "So if it's on their own, that suggests the others can't. Or don't want to? Maybe just 'can't' because I gotta say, Alterna doesn't seem like it was a good home to many of them. And.... most of them probably didn't have anyone coming by to talk to weird vines and pick up a mask on offer, or the like."
I-F-R-I-T. Ifrit, Lord of the Inferno, Hellfire, Gift: Angbar. Alterna.
"What in all the worlds is an Angbar?" Linnet shrugs and presses the snowflake.
"It's a bar where they... okay, I've got nothing," Yves says, noting it down all the same.
S-H-I-V-A. Shiva, Lady of Frost, Diamond Dust, Gift: Shatterheart. Alterna.
"Well, the good news is that the Dawn doesn't have them," Isa muses.
"Let's complete the set before we celebrate that." Linnet presses the final glyph, the lightning beard.
Yves nods, frowning at the display. "Though anyone who gets in and out of there smoothly maybe could, in one big sweep, and... well. I guess if that's good or bad depends on who does it."
"And they'll have more trouble in trying, now." Bast looks almost vindictively pleased.
R-A-M-U-H. Ramuh, Lord of Levin, Judgment Bolt, Gift: Sage. Alterna.
Just out of curiosity, Linnet pokes the keyboard to see if anything besides these twelve can be entered.
Yves frowns at that result. "I really need to talk to Diabolos about how he escaped. If he just decided to go, and went, or if he got lucky, or... what."
The keyboard accepts input. Linnet, or anyone, can type names.
Linnet tries "Guan Yu."
Yves leans over her shoulder. "Oh! We should ask about--but you're right, him first, of course." His fingers twitch a little. It's possible he's thinking about some people he's built habitats for.
G-U-A-N-Y-U. Guan Yu, God of War, Green Dragon Crescent Blade, Gift: God of War. Just west of Koehnta, again.
"Right, it's consistent. That's good." Linnet closes her eyes and racks her brain.
"Remind me that I need to talk to you about him, Yves," Isa says.
"--wait a minute," Yves says. "I mean, not you, Isa! I will definitely remind you, since I'm always up for talking to them. About them. That too. Yes. But I just realized what the second part is, and I should've sooner. It's one of their summoned abilities. Maybe the most important one? Their favorite? I'm not sure which. I really should try to use that with Diabolos some time, but usually I'm not actually trying to do all that much damage when I ask him for help, compared to turning into bats and more useful things like that."
Linnet types "Selene." (Is it just her, or is there a bit of a very low chuckle in the background when Yves describes Diabolos as "useful"?)
Selene, Light Reflection, Fey Obfuscation, Gift: Nightblade. The Triad.
And one more in quick succession: "Atomos."
"Selene, I'm fairly certain they wouldn't have let out of their sight yet. Atomos is...more complicated."
"So if we have some names, we can at least figure out where to start looking," Yves says to himself, "but if 'research' only gives a few lines of information and a location... I wonder what Relay does, and I'm pretty sure we don't want to try Reset any time soon. Not without a lot more data. It could do something... bad. To someone. We just don't know."
Atomos, Force of Destruction, G-Force 199. Gift: Magus. It does not appear on the map.
"Uh," Isa says, "that doesn't seem good."
"...well, there's a candidate for Reset. Before we do that, though, let me try a couple of possibilities I'm uncertain of." Linnet puts in "Asura."
"Yves, while we're waiting, can you go get Diabolos' mask?"
"Sure," Yves says, scrambling to his feet. "There aren't a lot of dark corners in here, so I'm not sure how he'd like it, but I can ask if he'd be willing to stop by and chat."
"Wrap it in your spare coat, maybe."
Asura, Queen of the Eidolons, Burst, Gift: Berserker. It blinks half as fast as the others. Just west of Koehnta, same as Diabolos.
"...ok, that's terrifying. Nobody poke the engine." Linnet replaces that query with "Pashtarot." (No result.)
Yves gives that slow blink a worried, slightly guilty look, and then hurries off across the ApocThrone to fetch himself a Diabolos mask.
"Right, so that wasn't its name." Linnet steps back. "Well, are we ready to stop our breadth-first search for now and try the other options? Once Yves gets back, of course."
"Try a name that's not an Eidolon," Isa suggests.
Celeste scowls at the strange letter display, and then pecks out "Forgotten." (No result.)
Bast, with a small smile, takes over from Celeste to type in "Saroni." (No result.)
"Celeste," Isa calls over, "try Myrta." (She does. No result.)
Isa smiles. "For some reason I think she'd be disappointed by that."
"Don't tell her." But Linnet smiles. (Celeste cackles.)
"Not sure if that was a name or just a description, but..." Bast tries "Iron Giant".
Iron Giant, Impenetrable Defender, Mighty Guard, Gift: Fighter. The Triad.
Yves clambers back up into the sphere, with a triumphant look and a black shoulder bag that happens to contain Diabolos, or at least his mask. "Right, we're back! Anything exciting while I was gone?"
"We were waiting for you to get to the exciting part." Linnet squints at the display, looking for the "go back to the other thing" button. (She tries typing in "back.")
* Research * Reset * Relay
"So, we were wondering if you were familiar with this system, or what 'reset' or 'relay' might mean, if 'research' pulls up information like this," Yves says into the black bag. "Other things too, but as long as we're here..."
"Actually, I figured we'd just try 'relay,' but good to get consent first." Linnet pokes 'Relay.' "I thought that if it was sending a specific signal - like 'relay'ing a message - we could signal one of the Forces we know to be friendly, communicative, and most importantly, here."
Nothing here is familiar to me, writes the bag over the display.
Dots appear on the screen. Forty seconds go by.
Destination unavailable. Insert Heart of Sabik to override.
Linnet lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Well, that didn't mention a specific force, so we may not have needed you here after all. Thank you, Diabolos." She types 'back' again.
* Research * Reset * Relay
"Maybe it's for the best that this isn't something that used to be common," Yves muses, looking at the set of commands. "I suppose it should be safe to hit 'reset' and see what it says, if we're not giving it any names."
"Captain, care to do the honors?"
"Shit no. But if we've got to check..." Bast doesn't hesitate to push the button. "...I'd guess it seals it back up?"
* Reset Job Crystal?
The center of the pedestal glows, a column of bright blue light just wide enough for a person to stand in.
"Oh." Linnet edges away from the column, then types "back" again.
"...or not."
"Right, at least that wasn't 'reset a mask.' Though we still don't see Atomos, and that's still terrifying."
Yves looks downright alarmed. And... is leaning forward anyway. "Oh that's interesting."
Isa has a look of thoughtfulness that seems out of place on her face.
"Right. Anything anyone else want to poke here, or should we put the door back on for the time being? And get that key back from Owen?"
"Oh, I'll probably be in here for hours," Yves says. "I wonder what would happen if you put one of those instant-Job crystals like Orrey's sister had into that reset function."
"Don't." Linnet nearly smacks Yves again as she whips her head around to glare at him.
While the smart people in the party think of things to do, Bast pokes Research again and types in "Cinnabar." (No result.)
Settling herself, Linnet walks over to a wall panel and lets her fingers play over the Garuda glyph.
"Cinnabun probably had another name before we adopted him. Her. Did we ever figure that out?"
"Not that I recall," Yves says absently, and leans in to try typing something into the search himself: Arcanist
"Oh, wait, I think I recalled another name. For when you're done; gotta see what that does first."
Weiss, Limitless Intellect, Sealed Verse, Gift: Arcanist. The dot centers over Saine.
Linnet whistles. "Hooboy. Well, let's try not to go back there anytime soon. Before I forget..." Linnet types in "Quetzalcoatl," possibly having to try a couple of different spellings.
"So if we know a Job exists," Yves murmurs, looking very pleased indeed, "we may be able to find the one who gave it."
Quetzalcoatl, The Swarm, Thunderstorm, Gift: Thaumaturge. Alterna.
"Scary budgie cloud." Linnet returns to fingering, and occasionally prodding, the Garuda glyph in the wall.
"Well, we've learned a lot of new names today," Celeste says, going back to the first page of her notes. "Bahamut, Lakshmi, Gilgamesh, Ifrit, Titan, Garuda, Ramuh, Shiva, Leviathan, Sabik, Weiss..."
"Orrey will regret having missed this, but I'll share my notes later. If he's nice," adds Linnet.
"And not all of them are in Alterna!" Yves points out.
Bast glances at Celeste curiously. "Figure Sabik is one of them?"
Linnet's pen in her spare hand goes back to Selene. "Well, it's a clumsy way to track the Dawn, but a decent guess."
"Hm?" Celeste looks up. I was just writing names down. Is it not?"
Bast shrugs, and then goes to Research it.
"...now someone needs to be in here the next time we travel, so we can see if the map dots move at an appreciable scale, and if so, that will be useful for spying on the Dawn." Linnet catches up to the conversation. "Oh, you found something?"
"...and how much of the crew do we let in on this, so we can spread out the map-watching..."
S-A-B-I-K. Sabik, F269g2()2tg, 4@9680kdp#, Gift: (#@GWNV_. The map blinks deeper into Alterna, not in the same area as the Garuda/Ramuh/Ifrit... cluster.
Yves blinks. Not at the same rate as the map.
"Midgardsormr," Isa suggests to Bast. "We misinterpreted the icon but indulge me."
"Probably at least the officers, for a start, Jasper would be fascinated and Shula would be decidedly wary, for good reason...maybe keep Rahel out of here, bless her, girl's as bad with poking things as I am..." (Linnet's rambling plans have nothing to do with the content of the archive.)
Celeste stares at the mangled responses. "Who was Sabik? Why is their information... like this?"
"Messed up? Coded? Who knows." Bast looks back at Isa. "You want the icon or the name?"
"We did the icon already."
Yves waves Celeste's question toward Bast, though he asks his mask-bag, "Do you know a Sabik? By reputation or personally, really."
yes, writes the bag. There would be an ellipsis in front of it, if writing one's own ellipses were not terribly pretentious.
In the meantime, Bast types in "Midgardsormr".
"Oh, well," Yves says to the bag, "if you feel like saying more, I'd be interested to hear more, and if not, this Sabik certainly is mysterious, and I can respect that too."
Midgardsormr, Father Of Us All, Akh Morn, Gift: Divine Knight. Slightly west of Koehnta.
Isa just nods.
Sabik, the gold script writes, died. How, I do not know. Sabik died. All that remains of them is their name. If your vessel requires their Heart, find it. They deserve to be known again.
"...oh," says Yves. "Oh. I see. Then... I suppose we'll need to find a way to get in and out of Alterna again. At least for that."
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