Letter 24: An Interesting Time

General Summary

Dear Mother,
It remains difficult to describe the strangeness we experienced. With the people screaming and running and chaos surrounding us, keeping track of events proved a challenge. Fortunately, I had multiple opportunities.
You'll understand better if I simply continue.
But first, what happened. A huge silvery dome suddenly encompassed the city. We were inside the dome, the bubble. You could sense it in so many ways, not just visually. The screams suddenly gained a slight reverberation. Not quite an echo, but near the feeling of hearing a music performance in a large ballroom. The sound filled the space...and didn't leave.
The wind also stopped. A small breeze, yes, but the larger movements no longer perturbed the air.
Also, when we first appeared it was daytime. Late afternoon perhaps. But when the dome went up it became night. But not like the dark night of home. With the numerous lights everywhere, all of them reflected in the dome above us, it was more of a twilight.
We were inside a dome.
When that dome appeared it bisected a skyship. The part remaining inside the dome rapidly approached the ground, people (and parts of people) spilling out. This had, as you might imagine, the attention of everybody around us. It had our attention as well. The first time it was a stunning sight, captivating.
We gawked.
I looked around and saw a military structure across the street. Perched on top was a Sylvan soldier, looking directly at us, pointing, and shouting. I had been thinking that perhaps this was a dream, illusion, hallucination...but wherever we were, we were actually there.
So I focused in and shot the soldier. He seemed surprised to see me. One of my shots glanced off of his armor, but the other two landed. He seemed barely affected. He looked at Ingoria and began shouting “Knight Claw Assassin!”
Well!
Alyonna cast a neat spell on Ingoria and I, giving us a small blessing. She then ran under the balcony, out of sight of the guard above.
Who shot at Ingoria. With a gun! He missed all three. Probably due to the blessing.
Another guard appeared on the balcony, casting a spell at Ingoria and I. I felt my muscles start to tense up, but slowly, barely, came through. Ingoria, however, stood stone still.
Yet another guard appeared on the street behind us, firing a gun at Ingoria, who remained unmoving.
Part of me looked upon Ingoria's peril with relief. It was nice, mother, not to be the center of attention for aggression. But most of me, by far the most, worried at her predicament. I have become quite adept at dodging missiles, spells, swords. But Ingoria, sneaking from bush to bush, doorway to doorway, rooftop to rooftop, was utterly unaccustomed to such focus.
And she was quite still.
As I debated actions, Ingoria shook off her paralysis with some magical help from Vessyr, and Baermak cast a silence spell on the 1st guard and his companion. No more spells from them. Vessyr then began shooting at the same guard I had hit, wounding him further. The guard was overcome by conflicting emotions when Vessyr hit him. I think Vessyr was using a special Sylvan bullet, and somehow the Sylvan could tell. He glared at Vessyr in both surprise and anger.
I shot him again. He was looking away, so I found good gaps in his armor, landing quite painful hits. He was clearly a mess. Vessyr ran to the partial cover of a topiary, and I joined him.
Alyonna scrambled up the wall of the building, suddenly appearing on the balcony. Surprise!
She also focused on the bloody soldier, pummeling him brutally. He ducked out of combat and scrambled away, blindly firing at her as he did. He hit her with at least one of the shots, and she was unhappy. The other soldier joined him, ducking both away from the silence and also from my sight.
Ingoria fluffed up her fur, seeming to triple in size! Any more shots at her were more likely to hit fur than 'Baxi. She ran to my side, trying hard to hide behind the topiary. She did absolutely not like being the center of attention.
And for once I was not! Not a single person had shot at me!
So I leapt into the air. I could no longer see my original target, but I could sense where he was, so I continued to focus on him. And there he was! My first arrow went right through his battered armor and he fell sideways, limply hitting the ground without even extending a hand to stop himself.
Thud.
His companion was now multiple companions…three or four. Shimmering. A neat spell. Vessyr has that spell.
And that’s not what frightened me.
Coming up the stairs from the passageway behind them was a Sun Knight. He dragged an enormous sword behind him, sparking as it bounced along the pavers. He had a slight smile and looked directly at me.
I shot him.
He smiled broadly and sent some spell or other my way, but I dropped back down to the topiary and his spell did nothing. Alyonna scrambled back down off of the balcony, running to the topiary as well.
We should not have clustered together so closely. The other soldier (with the multiple images) ran to the balcony and cast a fireball on our little group, lighting the topiary on fire as well. I captured some of that incoming energy, ready to send it back. But Alyonna and Ingoria did not fare so well.
Vessyr moved away and shot at the soldier who had appeared on the street, hitting only once. But that once! That gun sure does do a lot of damage.
That’s when the Sun Knight appeared on the balcony and a shaft of fire and heat appeared above us. A concentrated fireball that dropped from the sky. Alyonna and Ingoria fell to the ground.
I remained standing, but felt that I might join them at any moment.
The Sun Knight looked at me; he seemed to be impressed. He spoke the words. He knew the words. He looked at me and spoke them.
But I somehow shrugged off the effect. I know not how, but I did.
And I hated him.
In that moment, I hated him with all of my body, to the tip of each feather. My eyes shot beams of concentrated hate slicing his head from his body.
But only in my mind.
Baermak healed Alyonna and ducked into a building, shouting “this way!”
I fed a healing potion to Ingoria and sprinted to the building with Baermak. Alyonna appeared behind me, carrying Ingoria. Vessyr was already there.
I turned back to the door, bow in hand, waiting. The Sun Knight, who knew the words, would surely follow. I knew with certainty. And we would be waiting.
The Sun Knight leaped to the ground; I couldn’t see him, but I absolutely heard him hit the street. Bolts of fire shot through the doorway, in front of which Vessyr stood, but neither hit Vessyr. One of them flashed right past Vessyr, not remotely touching him, and vaporized a Sylvan diner behind him.
We were in a cafeteria of some kind, Sylvan diners running, screaming, dashing for exits, leaving full meals, dropping cups of ale. Even the cooks scrambled for an exit.
Baermak saw a window and charged towards it, Ingoria scrambling to her feet and joining him.
Our ambush was not proceeding as I had imagined.
Two Sylvans appeared in the door. I turned to shoot, but Vessyr looked at me, cast web outside of the door, slammed it shut, and ran to the window.
Looking back at me; then gone.
So badly mother, so badly I wanted to open that door! Easy kills, right there!
But I was so hurt, and now I was alone.
I knew I would take those two out. One, two. But then the Sun Knight would remain, unharmed, looking me right in the eyes.
My blood dripped from my hand, and the smell of burning feathers had followed me into the cafe.
I sighed. As they say, "A man is not measured, by the number of his feathers."
I sprinted to the window after the others.
Ingoria led the way, as she has a good sense of these things, taking us to some poor Sylvan’s empty house, which we took as our own.
As we caught our breath, Baermak explained that he believed we had traveled to the past; this is an ancient Sylvan city that once existed.
Alyona thought that perhaps this ancient place exists only in this bubble of time, which we entered when we jumped inside the anomaly.
Or perhaps even...
After much discussion, we rested a bit. Baermak set out his meditation circle and began his chanting.
Then there was a huge fireball outside somewhere and light suffused our little hideout and we were standing on the street. Across the street a soldier stood on the balcony of a military-looking building, staring at the sky where a dome had appeared, bisecting a skyship.
We were back where we started!
Alyonna ducked into the cafe, and the rest of us joined her.
Nobody had noticed us!
We decided our best hope of getting out of here would be to understand where (and when) we were, locating either information or artifacts to extricate ourselves, and then doing so.
And the best way to do that would be to reconnoiter the city.
And the best at such reconnaissance would be me.
Vessyr made me invisible and I flew above the city. The shield that surrounded us was shaped, though much bigger, was shaped just like the anomaly. It seemed that this city was inside the anomaly somehow. Where the anomaly ended, so did the city. And quite abruptly.
The military structure was a citadel, with a main keep, barracks, a forge, commissary, and other such buildings as you might expect.
But more interesting than that was a university. Most of the campus appeared to be outside the anomaly. But remaining inside were the engineering, magic, and life sciences buildings. I spied a group of older people in a small circle, discussing something.
I landed (still invisible, remember) and got within earshot to listen in. They were discussing what had happened, trying to understand, wondering what was on the other side. They had tried to get through by casting a portal, but had not been able to use the portal.
They had no more clue than we did.
I went back to the group and explained the layout of what lay within the bubble. We started with the engineering building; Vessyr was very interested in that! We didn’t find anything he really wanted, so he was disappointed. But we found a firing range.
Another firing range, similar to the one we found before. And similar to that one, some of the targets were shaped like people.
…
I sat, staring at the obviously well-used targets.
Their hate for us shall simply be redoubled and sent back at them.
In the form of me.
I sat, glaring at the targets.
As the rest of the group searched through the building we reappeared in the street outside the citadel.
Again, we ducked into the cafe, then headed directly to the university. Again.
But this time we went to the life sciences building. We found some corpses, and they were…they were not people, but … they were almost people.
Autopsied. As if they were...
We also found a locked door, which Ingoria easily opened. As she opened the door I noticed chairs on either side of the door with cigarette butts on the ground: this door had been guarded!
Before I could warn her she opened the door.
It was an observation chamber. In the middle sat an operating table. On it lay a ‘Baxi.
Quite dead, and splayed.
Ingoria slowly approached the corpse. I stayed behind, watching her.
She reached out slowly, caressing its fur and resting her hand on it. I left her, but stayed by the door.
We found nothing else of interest. Vessyr grabbed a couple of rocks. And the world reset.
Vessyr no longer had the rocks. So we knew we could not bring anything with us through the reset.
This time we decided to split up. Baermak and I would head to the half of the library that remained inside the anomaly, the others would head to the magic building. We didn't know how many times this would happen, or what might happen if it stopped. So expediency seemed the prudent course.
As I flew above the crew, headed for the library, I saw my team walking through the archway at the entrance to the university, and I saw behind them…footprints. Footprints in the grass. Somebody was following them, invisibly.
I diverted from my library scouting plan and followed the follower.
The follower followed Vessyr to the magic building, waited a bit, and then left. As soon as they stepped on the pavers I lost them. I could not see them to apply my focus and help track them, so they were gone.
I assumed they were close by, so waited above the door. But when Vessyr finally left the building, the follower did not reappear, as far as I could tell.
While I watched the watcher Baermak found some library books on our people. One book described...it described how they went about sterilizing us. So they could control our population. And sell us like a product.
Again I was...it's just...
The other explained the species selection for the bird genetics they used and that the humanoid genetics they used were Sylvan.
This is not something I am able to make sense of.
I wanted to go back and see the books. But we all agreed that we needed to both explore the citadel and also find the invisible follower.
The day reset.
Vessyr, Ingoria, and I were invisible. We decided to take out the guard (who I had already killed earlier).
Baermak silenced the area in case the guard got a chance to cry for help, and I shot him. All three arrows hit well (and how could I miss?), but he still stood! Somehow.
Alyona closed with him and started beating on him.
But still he stood.
Vessyr scrambled up to the balcony and stood next to the bloody guard. But not before Ingoria appeared on the other side, digging her claws into him. He turned to her and I put an arrow into the back of his head.
Baermak joined us and Ingoria disguised herself as the dead Sylvan.
We snuck down to the courtyard, past two guards clearly more interested in the chaos unfolding above and around them.
From the courtyard we could see dozens of Sylvan guards, many rushing to and fro. But most of them formed up outside the keep. With the Sun Knight.
So badly did I want to kill that Knight!
Vessyr sensed it, and glared at me out of the side of his eye, cocking his head.
But the Knight flew up and over the wall, entering the keep itself through a window with a balcony.
Vessyr made me invisible and I immediately flew to the balcony. Torches lit the balcony in the dome's darkness. If I doused the torches, Alyonna could find shadows to move through and join me. So I doused a torch.
As I moved to the next torch I heard the Sun Knight exclaim from within and two bolts of light came screaming through the window at me. I leapt to the side and headed into the air. My invisibility didn’t work well on him, apparently, as he ran to the balcony and shot me twice. I flew up, over the top of the keep, and back down the other side. I heard shouts and armor and running Sylvans and I kept going.
I left the citadel, and kept as low on the city streets as I could manage. The team was behind me, but had surely realized that our plan was moot. The Knight might be chasing me, but…perhaps not.
Even still, I zig-zagged through the streets…headed to the library. I really wanted to see what was in those books!
So that's where I went.
I started with the book on genetics. As I read I heard a floorboard creak behind me. I didn’t flinch.
Eventually I shifted in my seat to face that direction, but saw nothing.
I closed the book.
“I hear you,” I said.
“I see you,” somebody responded.
I set the book down.
“Why are you here?”
“Why are you here?”
It turned out that our follower was no threat, and was actually quite an interesting person!
He was very surprised to see us; we were the first new thing he had seen in a long time. He asked how we got there, and I tried to explain the anomaly. He asked if we were forced, and I told him that we weren’t forced, necessarily, though we were certainly rushed. However, in all honesty, we would have entered the anomaly even without being rushed.
He asked again why we were here, and I told him that we were unsure; that was one of the things we were trying to discover.
I asked him how he had arrived here, and he said that he had been here since the beginning.
Since the beginning! Trapped in this loop!
I suggested that perhaps we could work together. “That…that would require a certain level of trust.”
“Well, I assume we’re working toward the same goal.”
“And what would that be?”
“To stop this cycle and get free. Yes?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s work together.”
I thought perhaps we could be allies. He asked me who I served.
“I serve no one.”
He was stunned to silence. It took a while to explain to him that the people had a nation, and that I was loyal to that nation. He couldn't comprehend that the people would have a nation, much less be free of a Sylvan master. He thought of the people as constructed property.
I asked if he had anything to do with the creation of the people.
“No.”
I told him that things had changed in the time that he had been in this loop.
“How much time?”
“I…that would be better answered by my compatriots.”
He asked if the Sylvan Empire remained. I told him that remnants remained and were working on regaining their power. He then asked if “we brought it down?”
That’s when I knew that he could be an ally.
“I’m not good with my history, so that’s another question that would be better asked of my compatriots. Do you know how to end this?”
“Yes.”
“Have you tried?”
“Yes. And I failed.”
“Is it something we could help with?”
“...yes.”
“Then let’s work together.”
He became visible. As I feared, he was Sylvan. But not wearing the clothes of the guards or anyone else.
“After the next reset, tell your team to meet me at the Golden Chalice.”
“What’s your name?”
“Verryn.”
“I’m Skreek. See you there.”
I flew back to the citadel, and saw that there was a bloodbath. It looked like pieces of Baermak and chunks of Vessyr. I was stunned, never having seen any member of our troupe fail so.
Then I was in the street, ducking into the cafe with the rest of the team. Including Baermak and Vessyr. So we knew that you could die and would come back.
I immediately told them of my meeting and led them to the Golden Chalice to meet Verryn. The tavern was on the way to the university, and he had been drinking there when he saw us pass, the first new thing he had seen in...in a very long time.
We walked in the door and he was waiting for us with an open bottle of wine. We joined him at his table and immediately began discussing.
We told him how long he had been in here, how much time had passed outside. He was curious about the ‘Baxi, again surprised that they were an independent people.
Baermak told him that the same emperor, who called himself immortal, remained, even in our time.
“Then we failed.”
That’s when he told us that he had created the stasis shield that surrounded the city.
There was a rot in society, he said, and he claimed it was from outside our plane. I don't entirely understand such things, but he said that the Sylvans with the silver eyes (such as the Sun Knights) were the ones infected by this extra-planar rot.
The reason the emperor is immortal is because the emperor has … clones. If he dies, a clone takes his place. We asked if one of the clones was here, and he said, “Yes, under the keep.”
Which explained the guards around the keep.
The clone, like Verryn, is outside of the time loop. So aware of what is happening.
Verryn thinks that killing or incapacitating the clone is the key to stopping the loop. The looping was not part of the plan; something disrupted his magic, creating the loops. And the clone appears to be the cause.
He thinks.
Verryn apparently tried to kill the clone, identifying a path to the chamber and breaking the seals, but the clone almost prevailed. Verryn refined his plan for another try...but on the second attempt the clone was ready. That’s how Verryn knew that the clone was also outside the loop.
He said that the Sun Knight always casts See Invisible at the beginning of combat (I nodded vigorously), so we needed to avoid him. The way Verryn gets in is to step through the shadows to get inside, work his way down to the chamber, break the seals, and attack the clone.
Alyonna asked him about his status, and he told us that he was a Shadow Knight. A leader of the Night Shades! Alyona and Vessyr were stunned. I don't begin to understand the political implications of this information, but it sure affected my friends.
Ingoria asked him if he had been involved in the creation of her people…and he said yes.
Then we got down to formulating a plan.
As I listened I knew that part of that plan needed to include: killing that Sun Knight.
Let them hate us! Let them look down on us! Let them see us as slaves to be traded for trinkets!
And let me embody that hate. Let me be the mirror of that hate, reflecting it back upon them and magnifying it and searing forever into their minds the image of The People as a power to be feared!

Report Date

07 Jul 2023