Four had awoken in the year 86. Strange wood amidst a forgotten bargain with a young witch. A passage through a red door had brought them to a land known as Half Moon Valley. Sam, a young woman who held on to her father's wishes for her to venture into the world had become their first traveling companion. After the death of her father, Cladio, their time in the great city of Sunrest, they bade farewell to Sam. Derigible, a stone scarab named Frederick, and a small gambit of moondust was the parting gift. The valley was a peaceful resting place for Claudio. while not offering the same compassion to its denisens of ages past. Slow desperation for a valley of a time long gone, sewed seeds for a wood of pale trees, devices for a heartbroken man to pay the price of others lives. The four had always been given the same advice. You should leave this place. When the opportunity arose, they took it. Leveraging their goodwill and cooperation with those who took Sunrest's fate into their own hands, they struck a bargain, strange esoteric magic, in hopes of traveling across the earth to the great sea of sand in the south. It was not the sand that had met them, but instead the year 131. A new beginning for the four strangers amidst the corpse of an old memory is now they awaken. What do we feel like? You feel the same as you had. No real physical effects that stands out. If there are any, they are most likely psychosomatic. You are oddly fine. The same can't be said for the wooden objects that had once been in the back of Frederick. The chests and cupboards. Everything has faded. One does stand out, however. The clock corner of the room. Iligan had sworn he had seen it spinning for brief moments, and now it remains still. It once had. The clock has stopped ticking. But as you travel, I swear I seem to move faster and faster. That is very strange considering that the clock had never worked in my experience. Sarah will bend down and begin picking up the alchemy jars that had once belonged inside of the crate. They seem undamaged, but they're sprawled about. Some on their sides rolling around. Um, the back window of Frederick. Uh, out. What do I see? The back door of Frederick is cracked open a bit. A half moon crescent exposing the air outside. In the distance, you can make out a figure walking towards you. A white robe. The feeling of familiarity down spine. Perhaps the person or it's the image of could only be a witch. She approaches like a Frederick. His um his tail will whip and say to everybody, "Hold your feet. There's someone outside. Hold it right there. My my it's been a long time since we've had guests in Sunfall. I don't recognize any of you. My name is Belinda Butcher is yours. Uh Belinda. Um I'm Arando. Who? You said we're in Sunfall. Yes. Are you lost? No. Belinda, I recall that name. Uh, are you still at the uh pottery trade? What are you doing here? We are we not in a These do not look like the sandy dunes of Ulum. She will take a pause and look at you curiously. She will clasp her hands one above the other, revealing decayed lines in the beds of her fingernails. I used to be a potter a long time ago. That was some four decades, I believe. As for Olm, your map must be upside down. You are very far from it. I see. Uadine did. Do you perform your statueette thing in the way instructed? U you see Baredine is about to pull out his dad book but pauses as you start speaking to him and he looks up uh BD eyes rattling a little bit. I uh according to everything that they told us then yes everything is instructed. Hey, Belinda. Um, towards you as she had been distracted by placing her hand on Frederick as if looking for something or trying to find some kind of connection with the ritual. Uh, Belinda, um, do you have a a friend named Sam? I knew Sam a long time ago, actually. Her name had just come to mind because this vehicle, vaguely familiar to me. Her eyes glaze over a bit like she's looking almost through you. You perhaps do you perhaps remember us? I believe we may have been acquainted and come over to your home some time ago. I'm Gilligan and this is my father Armanda. He turns back and shakes his head like Gillian. I haven't had um I haven't had guests in my home for quite some time. At least not any that look like the four of you. I think if you had brought this vehicle to Copperton stick out like a sore thumb or at least be memorable. Copperton and Sunfall. When did these places names change? I don't recall them from any map. And yeah, cuz we we knew the city has sunrest, not sunfall. Look of concern will dawn our face. She will begin. How did you guys arrive here exactly? Uh he looks at his father like see if he should explain or if he still shakes his head at him. Um he's going to look to Baradine. You see Baradine is watching the exchange uh scanning more uh Armando and Gilligan for indications of trust of uh basically what what level of rapport they have with this person before he speaks. You can tell Armono's body language is he's he's very tense. He's suspicious. Uh Berdine will speak up. Uh I suppose it was an esoteric kind of magic. It was used with the intent of getting us to a a goal, a place. We're not quite sure how it landed us here, however, as none of us are the actual practitioner of such effects. She will move herself, leaning into the door to get a better look at you. Such effects, what would the intended effect be? Which place? Uh, Olm, I take it. He'll nod. Uh, the intended effect was a expedited transportation to Olm to fulfill a a task we were entrusted with for Mr. Copperworth. 45 years. Mhm. His eyes flash open in recognition. Yes, that was it. We will take a step back. She begins to eye the derigible with a mixture of confusion and perhaps wonder. Sirill is pouring through the u the book on the geographies of Sulu and Siru and Dulu looking for Copperton. There is no mention of any place like I guess that's how she's like stepped out for a second. Gillian will turn to Romano. Father, I I think it really is her, but it it seems strange. It seems as though things have changed somehow. Well, of course. I mean, you see what Linda looked like before. And the first thing that the second she didn't recognize us, that might be Belinda, but it's not the Belinda we knew. Such strange hands. However, she does. Perhaps I should back up. I have recognized the name of Belinda Butcher. I was referred to her by the alchemist of Sunrest as a potter, one who could make jars for containing alchemical reagents such as the ones you see here. She has said it's been quite some time since our assignment from Comfortworth to 45 years. Did she say it was zero step out of Frederick? She looks at you with a bit of suspicion, but not fear or any other emotion. Her eyes will dart back and retain focused on the massive stone object now within a place of familiarity. Detour. Gentlemen, I have come to do something to pay my respects. I'm starting to believe that uh well, you somehow arrived in the present from the past. But I have a duty to perform. I don't want that to get to my head. Perhaps a dinner between us. There is a quiet place is along the ridge. The mountain towards the east used to be home to a giant tree. among the rocks there. You'll find me as the sun falls. We can meet there and perhaps answer each other's questions. Very well. Uh I believe we can oblige to those conditions. Yes, thank you for your gracious offer. Yes, I have many questions. My original one still remains on the renaming of Sunrust. But if you would tell me, you will return to Frederick. And do any of these al uh alchemy jars are they are they clay? Are they ceramic? And no, they're glass. My mistake. Well, suppose a dinner would be amanable. Yes, I will get going now. Hopefully, I'll see you there. If not, um, ciao. He will give Frederick a wide birth. Steps around it consistently glancing back and forth. Ardan will after she leaves actually pull out his um debt book and flick through it. Does the book add things of its own accord by your Yes, it does. Okay. Does he makes notes on things but the book can track independently? Does it track interest? Uh it does but I am not doing that currently cuz that's a lot of finagling and dealing with that. The intent at the moment is a simple document that tracks exchanges. Well, considering our our track record with dinners and the suspicious nature of that young, I'm not inclined to stay. Mhm. I suppose it would be best if we could at least find our one a way to provide for ourselves or have some food on hand at the very least. But if we really h if it really has been 45 years somehow and it might be worth to venture to learn more from Belinda and risk another ambush. We know not what has happened in the time that we've been gone. If she has survived and the black wings had prevailed in Sunrust, she very well could be an informant for them and old grudges may still live. How do you know her? Met them on the street as we entered. Well, she was um friend of the professors as well. Just happened to align that way. And after a dinner with such um we went to her place to party in the evening, that's how we actually um got apprehended. I see. So, the woman with the strange hands similar to that of Sam, who I believe is bewitched, or a mage in some fashion, apprehended you after a night at her place, and you still trust this woman? Sure. I'll remind you that Professor Thsby, a friend of Professor Thsby, the one who had recently addled our minds. I wouldn't forget. I feel like even if it's trapped that she has the information we need and I think we have to take that chance whether we trust her or not. We can come up with our own plan to cover our own asses. But I feel like it would be fools to not hear her out. If we must, I advise caution. N agree. Very well. But I do believe we can we will be able to trust her. I don't She seemed to be an, as you mentioned earlier, an artist of pottery in her own right. And I did not believe she was involved too much in the dealings for worth and the going on in Sunrest. Um, would you wager your freedom once again on the assumption of her uninvolvement with your initial capture? possibly even your life at another trapped dinner. Well, even if we don't, what choice do we have? Do we walk aimlessly and bank on the next person we see? Trusting you after all, when you're a thief, I beg your pardon. You can't pretend I haven't forgotten that you just took the opportunity to loot from all those people. Dead men who would have your life. Should I allow them to rot and their precious resources as we are to flee from a war torn city with no food? only referring to the when you brought in that wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow full of alchemical materials. Yes. From whom do you think I acquired them? Were those yours then? Is that what you're Is that what you mean to say? As I have stated many times in my employment with Copperworth, I have been under the toutelage of both Tigran and Master Eert. We were collaborating to try to find solutions to the concern of the Whitewood. These materials are from my partner in this endeavor. If you say if you say so. He sort of crosses his arms. You may inspect them. Perhaps there is some I don't know some marking. I I do not know how to prove to you that they are But what other alchemist are you aware of in town? What other tradesmen have you been in contact with while in the employee? Professor, pardon of Mr. Copperworth. I've spent much of my time, or at least I had, 45 years ago, working to try to save the city of Sris and the larger portion of Half Moon Valley. And you call me a thief. And my apologies. I suppose I may have been a bit hasty to judge you. I have been a bit anxious lately. I suppose this how well our dealings with Coffer I suppose. Well, if a if a gesture of goodwill is necessary, please, as he returns inside of Frederick, he will remove from his coat pocket the pouch of gold here. He will hand you over the entire packet of gold minus two cubes. The remainder is what I obtained in my payment from Mr. Cavern at Copper Wars. I believe that we should split this amount amongst us, perhaps even contributing our a portion of our shares towards the upkeep of Frederick as agreed upon with Sam. I will leave it to you to distribute it how however you see fit. He like feels the weight of the money in his hand. like looks at it for a moment before like splitting it splitting the the value in half. He hands you like half the gold amount and not as you as he says. No, no, I am no thief. No. You said I could split it the way I saw fit. It was my mistake to regard you as a thief. I believe you are. I trust you to be responsible. Cash, would you would you deny Mr. Baradine his portion? He is just as entitled. Your father as well. We are all on this endeavor together in a strange time. An unfamiliar surrounds. I will accept your apology, but no more than an equal share. Half is equal, is it not? He will frustratedly sai and look at Baradine. You see Baredine is is looking over the staff. He's somewhat distracted uh as he's sort of tracing circles with his finger. Knowing the lull in your conversation, he turns, sees the money in hands, and sort of looks at Gilly. You know, it was already agreed upon that the money would go towards Frederick's upkeep. It looks a bit like he needs quite a lot of it. So, as much as you can call people a thief or an opportunist or whatever blasphemy you feel is suitable coming out of such a young man's mouth, our situation demands that survival goes above it. Set the money aside and we'll distribute it and spend it when we actually have the means to do so. It's worthless where we are. Figure out that first. Well said. And the upkeep of Frederick will require its upkeepers to be fed and to be housed, to be protected. I will leave you with that. He will hand back the portion to you. He'll walk outside and look around the surroundings. He'll keep it and then he'll just sort of nod to the old man. We'll walk beside him. Arando, the large town of Sunrest, a small nation. What was once home to thousands is now just a decayed memory of what it once was. The suggestion of buildings offer no immediate solace to the question of whether or not this place held life just 45 years prior. What could have been books, pictoraphs, or tapestries that held sentiments are all but mulch evenly mixed in with the green grass that is tinged ever so slightly gray. In front of you stands stone pillar carved by man's hands and upon it are countless etchings of different words and phrases. You're unable to make them out at this distance. It seems some kind of strange piece of art. Are there actually white trees around us? There's gray trees around. They look brittle, perhaps similar to the white wood. There is less of a threatening tone that rests with them. If anything, they're accessories to the sense of quietness and death around you. Okay, he's um he's got the shakes a little bit, so he's at first he was just walking around to explore. He'll come up to this tree um seeing the tapestry as well. But as he walks up to the tree, he'll pull out the book of the Silent Valley of Witches, and he'll just kind of go through it, looking at the tree, seeing if there's any anything on it that is close to anything in the book, or just trying to catch any correlation. Depending on how Armando feels in the search in this situation, perhaps he could tie the tones together between ominous sense of the trees depicted in the book. There is a few stark contrasts that stand out. Uh, this tree is not pale. It is more ashen. There are cracks along its surface. is grown as if it had once lived, but it is certainly at least seems to be dead. Do I see any that look white or pale or are they all similar to that? They are all similar. Okay. Some trees are green, some are brown scattered about. Most of them are in ash and gray. Um, you said the the stone or whatever. Um, he's going to take a closer look at it. Uh, you said it was kind of hard to see from the distance. Can I get closer? As you get closer, it was difficult to see from the distance because the writing was so small and there was such a tremendous amount of it. But as you move closer and you look upon its surface, you can discern that they are in fact names. What stands out, what gives it away is there are a lot of names that you recognize. names of some of the shopkeeps, Mr. Hams. As it goes towards the bottom there, Eert and Zar are at the bottom next to one another. Below them is Mr. Calvin Copperworth. Um, I don't see Belinda's name on here, do I? You do not know. Damn it. He'll take off his hat. Um, he's afraid to if he's right about what this means, but taking a last reserve of what he has, his smokes, his flask with only a bit of booze in it. um to light one up and we'll start heading back to Frederick. You're right. Of course, we should be um more prudent about what's practical that matters most. And it's likely that some of the shops might not even be around anymore. So maybe a close 90 doesn't even matter. Revival comes before petty bickering when the money was entrusted to the group as a whole, not to individuals within it. As much as I disagree with its giving or circumstances mean that repaying it will come in different methods. And who knows, if Linda's around, Sam could be around and we can hand the whole [ __ ] lot back to her. So, none of that matters. Let's just figure this out. You said you saw the clock moving when we were traveling here. Did he told us he told us to keep our eyes shut and so I did. But I was curious and I I took a look at how and to see how fast things were moving. And oddly enough, that old clock seemed to move quickly as well. And I thought that was weird. But it really mean that we somehow this sounds ridiculous to say out loud, but how would you even say it? Moved u traveled traveled through time. I don't know. Esoteric magic doesn't particularly exist back home and time is a a sacred thing. It shouldn't be tampered with, but in this instance, it appears it has. Uh Baron will start running his hands over the grain of the wood and particularly around the uh rim where the clock is indented. Now looking for signs of any um uh my brain rings because you can set rings on things. Looking for signs of of rings or runes that would have tampered with the transllocation and altered it. There's a groove around the seating of the clock face in as a practitioner rings yourself. This would be a very apt place to place one. However, there is none. No trace of one. Perhaps artistic design, perhaps uh something utilitarian. There are no signs of anything magical about this clock. Despite the fact that it is, as well as your staff, the only surviving wooden objects. Uh would it be feasible within that groove that somebody had carved a separate ring of wood and had it sitting in there such that that piece could have rot while the rest did not. Certainly a possibility a fine artist could do something like that. his mustache. Not really finding a an answer. What may be ridiculous to say, young Gilligan, had any of us thought about transporting through teapotss and vessels that can hold thousands of books and coming from what might as well be a different world. All such things are [ __ ] ridiculous and we're dealing with them every day. It is prudent to remember the baser pieces of life that you have here. We'll be stuck for food as we assumed settlement and we're accosted on our exit. We'll need shelter as we don't know what the elements have done to this valley in the time we were gone. And most of all, we'll need some way of communicating with those that are trustworthy. Check those boxes before you worry about what time period we're in. He will uh heed Paradigm's advice and uh do the use common sense and just uh check over what uh uh take stock I and stock and inventory of what uh Frederick has to meantime. While he's doing that, I want to set up a few rings. I am going to make two rings closed on myself. [ __ ] it. Three, which will be three mana, I believe. Sensory detection. um reveal and one of uh the quanta alter velocity. Got it. Now serial will also uh approach one of these gray trees. Does this all have basically the same questions uh from a different point of reference than Armando? Does the tree resemble the uh the flesh or whatever you would call it of the severed that I saw in Tin's lab? It does not. Okay, that's down. Um, how far into the distance can we see? Do we see any signs of city or ruins or settlements? There are two plateaus that make up Sunrest, the lower and upper. What had prevented your vision into the upper before had been a great wall, large staircase leading through its opening gates. At the top of the upper plateau, there is what could have once been a wall. Signs of man-made stones, some of which are still on the top, some of which seem to have fallen down edge of the cliff. There is dense forest, ashen and green alike, spread throughout the horizon of the lower plateau. But little traces of ruins stick out, visible, but nothing resembling a home or a town, even a building. From the footprints of the buildings, rubble, you make out that you are somewhere in the center of the lower plateau. So, possibly where the fountain once was. Yes. He will also spy the monument that Armando was looking at. Do I see the names of copper words cavern slope? They are right above his own. Uh, Tren, is he on here? Sle and, uh, Sawtooth. Sawtooth is, but Tigran is you hear um, steps coming up behind you. Uh, and a voice. I'm afraid to theorize that the names you see there might be considered like a giant gravestone. Perhaps it is too soon to say, but he just has a bewildered look on his face. Maybe my efforts, maybe all that I've done here was for not. The city is no longer these trees, although they might be similar in color. They are not the Whitewoods, so perhaps they did prevail. But none remain except for my instructor, who I should hope has returned home. I'm left with nothing. Two cubes and the possessions of a dead man. Several dead men. In fact, pants's pouch on the side. Remembering? Sounds like a stepping stone to a new start. Perhaps it's not over yet. Perhaps so. We're the anomalies here. So, if anything's going to act out of whack, it'll be us. Well, at least with the supplies I've gathered from my former instructor, I should have a modest starting point. Need some time to perform some of my works. But for who? Perhaps you ate all of you. But it's nothing for me here anymore. You know, I was wrong about you. impressed. I thought you were the run-of-the-mill salesman walking just making a buck wherever you can get it. But I'm starting to feel like there's passion behind what you do. Of course, there is passion behind what I do. It is my life blood. Interesting. It'll be interesting to watch that start from scratch all over again. Frustrating as it may be, at least the valley is still here and not covered with white bramble, I would like very much to know if perhaps I had contributed in the form of the works I had performed with Master Todd. If my inventions had rendered any aid to saving this place. Well, perhaps we'll have some answers. Fortunately or unfortunately so. But uh there's plenty of time for questions. So hold your thoughts until then. Don't despair just yet. It ain't over. Far from it. Sirill will look for a loose piece of stone from the uh the monument. There are a few scattered about the ground. Although its surface seems oddly well taken care of. As your eyes wander searching for the stone, something clicks in your mind. It's the handwriting names all uniform handwriting and it is a perfect match to the name butcher that was carved in the finely crafted pots in Tigran's laboratory. That poor girl. Uh he will he will take one of the uh loose pieces of the monument and put it into his coat pocket. Um are the names of the triumpvirate on here? They are. Seems to be a total loss. spare Belinda. Believe this is her handiwork. Now, we don't know that yet. I have an inkling. Lots could have happened in that time. There's still tons of stones to turn. Well, perhaps I should learn to move this bug. I have some instruction from Sam, but we should see if it is mobile. Sam? Yeah, sounds good. I will go to the clock and I will ask and Baradine if he can give me some room. He'll now pull down his sleeves and sit down. Uh Sarill will open up the bottom compartment of the clock um just enough to fit his hand through and uh search for the active crystal is there amongst the other crystals. Okay. He will he will take it out and he will he will close up the uh that bottom compartment and then he will um he will sit and begin reviewing his alchemy books and recalling the um actually no he will take it and place it into the conveyor belt like area here whatever it Oh, it recall. Well, damn. I had forgotten she had mentioned that it requires water. It she did. So, um I'm going through like the supplies. Did like did Frederick have any water on it or any food of that matter? No. And uh any like like blankets or like clothes or anything like that? Any fabrics? It had Sam's blankets which I believe was used for something. Uh, I think that has the idle in it. Had the idol in it and has a hole cuz that's what was used to smash the figurine. Also, if the wood cracked, I'm sure the threads would have like frayed. And so, are her journals just kind of like straight around since this chest is gone now, too? Yeah, her blanket is there as well. would have uh gathered those together, put those in a corner. It's a sad look on his face. You can traverse pretty much everywhere in Sunrest as well as like even the upper city plateau within the day if you wanted to. It's about anywhere from 6 to 10 miles squared. What time of day is? Uh, it is it's about 10:00 a.m. And she said dinner. Yeah. And Bardin finishes with uh setting up his circles that he had ready. Um before stepping out and similar to Armando and Sirill is sort of surveying the landscape curious about what's changed, what's remained the same. I'm just getting a better grasp if we're there. From our position, can we see smoke rising from anywhere? Uh maybe somebody setting up a camp or any other indication that there are people here. Farther north, you see a cliffside. There is a stairwell carved into it. Above it, a wall surrounding the lip of the cliff that is all but crumbled. The primary gate that served as the entrance to the upper city has also crumbled, leaving a simple pathway down along the stairs. To the west, a building sticks out. It is an old windmill. To the east, where there had once been a giant tree, is now nothing, as it fades into the rest of the trees. The position that Belinda mentioned for dinner was far over to the east in the remnant of the tree. Uh, north was the crumble upper city, east is the remnant of the street, and it was west. Um, west the largest building. Yeah. The largest building that you can see that pokes above the trees is a windmill. See, um, Armando's deep in thought about something until he finally figures out what he wants to say. Um, all right. All right. Um, to anyone who would want to hear me, um, there is questions. I have no doubt for this blind, but uh, we got to figure out how we're going to ask them. As far as we know, maybe something happened to her mind. It seems like the the white robes are awfully familiar. We need to coax what happened out of her without exactly telling her where we came from. If she doesn't remember us, the fact that she might, and if we trigger that could alter something. I'm just thinking about how to go about it. Remind me why uh you would have an interest in what has happened here. Many of these people that we have served are our task ostensibly is done. Is it a curiosity of yours to see what happened? Is that why we're engaging with this woman? Well, I I suppose so, but all these people here, I mean, I guess I didn't know them for a very long time, but I I worked with some of them. I I spent time here. These people are just gone. I mean, was there nobody here you cared for at all? Certainly. So, I lost much in our transposition until the current day, I guess, is what happened. All of the connections that I had cultivated, all of the all of the agreements, all of the friendships that I had built in jolly cooperation with the people of Sunrest have been for not. The city is fallen. Its people are gone. Well, don't you want to find out what happened here so it doesn't happen again? Somewhere else, maybe. I mean, if not, what would you have us do? Just turn and walk away? After you've sat your curiosity with Miss Belinda, I do not see any other reason to remain here. Um, I suppose, but it could help us give a direction for where we might be going next. What's left in this place? What happened here? Suppose the question still remains if the danger of the white of woods is still evident um in these trees here, the gray ashen ones. I am academically curious, but outside of that, I there's not much left to do here, unless you wish to reconstruct from sentiment this fallen town. No, I I just want to know what happened. I want to know where Sam is. Did she not leave with the with Maple? I believe it was. Yes, she did initially. That was some time ago. Who knows where she could be, but I'm I'm guessing that if anybody were to know what's going on here, I I I think she might. Maple, too. We'll get there. You think there's a chance that Sam might actually be around, father? I hope so, boy. Really do. Her name, fortunately, was not on the memorial stone outside. I imagine her leading prior to the attack on Sun Crest. afforded her enough haste to escape its the wrath of the black wings. The same strangely with Professor Thisp who I believe is in Ableton some cabin outside. Would you not be curious to follow up with her as well? I'll talk to anybody with answers. First thing you need to do is find out what you have that's worth other people giving you answers. It's a good way to put it. I've been trying to think of that actually. Uh it's going to be tricky. I'm afraid I have not much but my service to offer, but I I doubt that there will be much use for me here as um I doubt the goodwill of trying to save a city that was destroyed in my absence is going to go very far. Miss. Well, uh, think about when we first saw her, she she seemed enamored by Frederick. I perhaps what she's interested in is well, remembering maybe it's clearly she was fascinated enough to meet and talk with us. So, I think that's where her curiosity will lie. We have to use that. My father makes a good point. Perhaps she has questions of her own that we can answer answer for her. I struggle to understand what you could what answers you could offer her. We had been absent from this place for over 40 years. It seems I reckon something in her mind clicked when she saw us. She didn't know what it was, but she wanted to find out. That's enough right there to work with. Well, very well. But if you were looking to travel with Frederick, there is the necessity of sourcing water. His engine, if you will call it that, requires it to process the stones. And what's the odd? There's an odd river or pond lying around here in these gray woods. Slim than none. I believe I spotted one about oh fewer than an hour to retrieve. We could possibly use the wheelbarrow to retrieve that water and wheel it back. I would require assistance to do so. But as dinner is our only item on the itinerary today, there's quite a bit of time between now and then. If you are curious, there is the ruins of a town if you wish to explore them, including the upper city, which was so coveted by us. to gain access to lies bare unobstructed. You raised a good point and actually sold um while I got you there is something I thought about asking. You see um he'll pull out the um revolver from his pocket uh and kind of crack it open showing nothing inside. Um well this um had this guy here. I mean, you've seen it before at the uh Smith there, but I uh I got nothing to shoot with. Um I don't know if you could whip me up some ammunition or anything like that. Sirill will like pull open his coat and reveal that hoister holstered on his side is a similar barrel that looks um just very It It resembles that of yours with some embellishments and some decorative handles and and things on it. Whoa, that's a fancy looking one there. I believe we're in a sing similar predicament we have from the study of to construct this one as well. Just passing curiosity at the marvel of a repeating hand can but similarly I lack the proper the proper ammunition to utilize it as more than a showpiece. I see. Well, um, by all means, if you, uh, if you think such a thing's possible, well, normally I would suggest engaging in in honest trade with those who can produce such armaments and ammunition uh, instead of taking the time to tinker it out ourselves. And uh but as it seems that we are isolated from uh most of civilization now, I could endeavor to look into finding some solutions. I would uh certainly appreciate that. And by all means, if um if this guy here interests you, I mean, I wouldn't mind allowing you to take a look at it. I mean kind of useless to me right now. Um certainly I could attempt there are many materials from Professor Aert that would help us on our way towards. Okay. You see he's holding it out for you in case you wanted to hold it or take a look at it or whatever. Perhaps you should hold on to it for now until ammunition can be sourced or produced. The appearance of being armed may be a deterrent against attackers as with their lack of knowledge of your defend weaponry. He'll uh smirk and then he'll crack it back. Very well. Slides in a pocket holster. Even at a cursory glance of the barrel as he offers it towards you, you can tell that your work had been successful in producing a barrel of your own that was of equivalent size. Should you find the means of making beads, and with your capabilities at the moment, you would be able to make ammunition for both yourself and Armando. Okay. I would just need to find the requisite material to be able to press ammunition or for beads specifically. Um it would need a glass blower and and then my I would have to work with the glass blower to make the beads, but any other form of ammunition uh I would have to sit down and try to invent. Is that about right? any other form of ammunition that um will trigger upon being struck by a hammer. It would be functional. Uh zero then should suggest in the meanwhile should you need to protect yourself. I believe Mr. Baritine is quite skilled in the propulsion of objects. Have you not inquired about this to him? Not exactly. There could be much fruitfulness in a joint venture between Mr. paradigm in myself in finding a mode of operating your weapon without the mundane alchemical interactions of material. And if he is able to work his magics upon the weapon to I imagine project a object out of the cylinder, you may find a similar effect. All right. It uh sounds like we got a bit of time anyway. Um I could help out while I think. I appreciate it. Very well. Um so shall we venture around town to explore the ruins of this forgotten nation? Shall we be a bit more productive and start fetching water for Frederick? We could uh we could do a little split up. Maybe um maybe a little two and two. Would that be wise? And we don't know the nature of this place we've chanced upon. If there's beasts or ravagers or scavengers about, it'd be more prudent to stay together. This place looks long since picked dry. Although there is a windmill perhaps. How much um how much time do we have before the dinner? Uh supposing that the dinner is on average anywhere between 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. You have anywhere from 8 to 12 hours? 8 to 12. And what's the time to actually like go in town like surge and kind of come back? Is that within the time frame? You probably sprint throughout the whole town, do an entire lap in like four hours if you want to stop and smell the roses or like dig through stuff. That's as much time as you want to spend. Okay. So supposing that um if you wanted to be prudent about arriving a little bit earlier on time and you want to be anywhere in the city and like run to that position, I would give yourself an hour an hour to um get to the east side of the mountain. So, playing it safe. Um, that's seven hours of of exploration time. What do y'all think? Okay. Uh, I'm interested in going to the wound um and and fetching water for Frederick, but the question still remains, what shall we do with Frederick? It is far too large to be able to hide. Should, as wise young Gilligan has mentioned, there be benditons about. Well, as long as they don't have enough water, they won't really be able to do much with it unless they dismantle her. Could leave one of us behind, but I've seen what happens when you do that. Yes, you have some things inside it, father. Yes. The lifeblood of my aunt resides with it. How about this? Fashion a lock perhaps. I not sure how quickly I can do so. And I would need some material to be able to construct one rudimentary, but windmills do have tools generally. We can go to the windmill together. We can go get water first together. Get Frederick up and running so we can at least move it around. I like the idea of securing water first. You would need to keep ourselves hydrated as well. After all, one of us choose to stay behind and guard Frederick. I'd be willing to help use the wheel wheelbarrow to secure some water. as said, uh, some kind of fashioned lock. You got some leather strips. We could tie some kind of knot in it. Worst case, we use something sharp to undo it. It's unlikely to stop everything, but we don't have much choice other than carrying all of that [ __ ] Well, I suppose first thing is first. I will Gilligan, could you retrieve the wheel bever? Let us take it to the windmill and I will gather scraps of metal and wood from there if possible, and I will use it to fashion a proper secured entrance and exit from the rear of Frederick. Then once emptied, you may take the wheelbarrow and retrieve water. Uh, he knows. Send a minimum, I'd say. So, wonderful. Very well. Um, in preparation of this, I would like to um string that I've gathered and processed, I'd like to connect um one to uh I'd like to uh loop it the um one of uh body to make it so that he's able to um fill They're more weight and like carry more water or whatever. Serill is going to place the alchemy stone that he took out that he was trying to put into Frederick and put it back into the block. Uh, and then he's going to take the carpets and start wrapping up the objects that had been kind of string around to kind of secure them in place and shove them into the corners and do so here as well. And then he ran the wheelbarrow. Wheelbarrow is missing handles. It is a effectively a large bucket with wheels. Oh, dude. A cursory search around reveals that the handles are missing. Well, no need. I'll uh my two remaining strings. I'll connect them to where the handles would be and just to serial and everyone else. It looks like I'm just lifting it up invisibly where the handles would be. I like to just move the wheelbarrow as if it had handles. Just got it. My two other strings. That is an incredible talent. Thank you. I know. I understand why you asked a couple and uh put you into his employee. Thank you. It is the art by which I manifest connections in this world. You are wise indeed, young Gilligan. I feel we are not too different. um from from the uh so I'm I'm bringing the um I'm bringing the umbrella, the toolbox. I'm taking the whiddling knife from the objects that were taken from the uh from the from the knights that I looted. Um and that's that'll be that'll be it for what I'm taking with me. Are you guys headed westward toward the windmill? Yeah. Yeah. Uh, real quick as we're heading over, um, Badin is going to find one of the trees sort of along our path. And hold on a second and pull out the kinsman flower and sort of compare its odd stone factors against what has happened to the wildlife here. The wildlife around you looks the trees. They're not a solid stone. They look to be made of something organic or perhaps once organic. thick tree bark that looks brittle as well. It's definitely not as smooth and solid as the flower that you carry. He considered it a few moments before sort of standing and beginning to walk back to the others. Did you notice something, Sir Badine? Just trying to make a comparison. Always mentioned that the white woods would take over. Yet the effect on this land is different. Or at least as far as I understand it. It's a bit beyond me, but it's a curiosity sated I suppose. On a superficial analysis of these trees, they had initially resembled something akin to the white ones, but they are not. I am curious whether or not there has been some alchemical treatment of these trees. If my if the fruits of my labor and master tots proved and young Gilligan of course had been successful in transforming the impending white woods perhaps this is the result of it. I've taken a bit of the bark which I intend to further inspect in the alchemical equipment. I bet Larker would have a good understanding of this. They always seem to be in tune with the way plants lived. Armando hides his face. Well, at least he was spared the gruesome slaughter that may have befallen the people of Sun Crest. And even if he was here, it's not like he can traverse this [ __ ] landscape with his legs. The old man grimaces at the route they're going to have to take and some of the rubble that seems to be in the way. It also dawns on you that um after a good day's worth of travel, you would definitely be deplete of stamina without having something to eat. Perhaps that problem will be solved by the offer of dinner from Belinda. However, this is a problem that you will have to readress every single day from this point forward. Is there any birds or like wildlife above us or just around? There is the soft breeze of the wind that passes through the trees that do not have leaves on them. It isn't a unnatural silence. However, the chirping of birds and scurrying of life is not present. Man, what the what the hell are they eating out here? Land is oddly desolate. There's no animals. I wonder if the stream ahead has any fish. I was young again. Where there is water, there is life. Yes. But perhaps the windmill may still be in use. Perhaps some of the survivors may have grain or something stored there. Let's hope so. With these um the capacity of your strings, you would be able to carry it will use all of your lug weight, which is your back carrying weight. Um but you would be able to carry something in each hand, your typical carry weight. Um which for you is actually extremely high. So you could probably drag a pretty heavy like bastard sword in each hand as well as a full um wheelbarrow behind you. Uh you couldn't fit, you know, five people in the wheelbarrow and carry it, but um maybe two, three. Gotcha. At four towards the windmill offers much of the same as the rest of the surrounding setting. Crumble down ruins, mostly just footprints of buildings, ashen trees, and new growth green trees mixed in between. Path forward is simple and direct. Leaves underfoot erode towards the windmill. Behind the windmill, there are a few patches of look to be wheat or whatever crop they had been growing. Some old scarecrows ruined with time scattered about through them. The windmill shows signs of age and wear. A simple glance, Sirill, the functionality of this place is would be a very large endeavor to try to get working again. [ __ ] doesn't look like anyone's here. And I fear that it may not have been used for quite a while. Seems to be an awful disrepair. Should we look inside? May as well. But stay close, father. Haven't any ammo in your chamber, remember? From your perspective, there are no entrances from this side, but there are plenty enough holes to reveal the inside. It is shaded from the the light from the outside, the sun that is closely approaching noon. What little light enters inside reveals a empty room. There's your typical grinding stone in the center of the windmill as well as odds and ends broken down pieces of wood and other apparatuses. You can see to the left there is a door that is closed and entrance. Looks uh looks pretty abandoned in there, but entrance on the uh west side. Is there a Looking looking at the area on the approach, is there a wellbeaten footpath like anywhere around here or is it just entirely under overgrown? It is entirely overgrown. At a glance, you can make out what must have been the road as there are not trees growing on it and there are more stones uh worn down stones, but a equal amount of fallen leaves and grass has grown over it. Hey Sarah, you think you can uh fashion this ladder as handles for the wheelbarrow? I can certainly try, though I lack I lack an axe or a cutting implant to be able to effectively remove the prongs of the ladder. I was a farmer. I had an axe and a windmill. Where would I put it? He's going to try and open the door. There's a latch closing the door. However, there is no locking me mechanism and the latch is rusted and old. You could most likely pull off the entire latch with a little bit of effort. I do it so it's not very loud. Um, and then I open it up. Door opens. the creek. Not too loud. I imagine it's like very dusty in the air. It's very um as you described, I guess abandoned. It's not too dusty. The air is a bit stale. However, there's a dryness to the interior. Along the some of the boxes towards the entrance where the door is, there's a bit of mold growing on the boxes. However, everything else is dry and stale. I'm going to I'm going to look around in here, but don't be too loud and don't be too destructive. Uh, who knows what's barely holding this thing up wait as a as a practice carpenter or woodworker. Um, does this place look like it's going to fall apart? Like say if we take steps onto this ladder, does it seem stable? As you examine the ladder, the wood is definitely old and a bit brittle. It's difficult to tell whether or not it could support your weight. Structurally, it seems fine enough. However, it is a risk. At the top of the ladder, there is a latch leading to the top of the windmill. I see the floorboards around you are supported by the dirt beneath them. Okay. So, I imagine they're still creaky. Like if I put my full weight down on one of the boards, does it seem to give like a crack splinter? The creaking of the wood is by your pressure on the wood itself, but there is no hollow space beneath the windmill. Okay. Who would you say is the lightest among us? Billy's pretty light. You're not too heavy yourself, father. Smile. Could also throw the old man up there. It's about a paper weight at this point. Well, I can account for the safety of taking this ladder to the upper reaches of this windmill with the full weight of my toolbox. I I think this duty is probably a bit more fit for the more spry and texturist among us. Not you, boy. He sort of lets the wheelbarrow down. Suppose I could give it a shot, but I've got all my strings tied up in other things at the moment. If I fall, I wouldn't be able to catch myself as easily. Well, I would not put you in harm's way if you are unworthy. I could venture it myself. I keep resourceful guy. You could keep your toolbox down here. I'll keep an eye on it. Am I able to see the the latch heading to the top from the bottom? Are you you are? Yeah. Uh, from this distance, does it look like it's secured shut by any kind of uh any kind of lock mechanism or anything like that? Uh, there's a handle and no locking mechanism. Very well. You see Armando will place himself on the back of it. Um, anchoring himself down, holding the ladder for you. I'm about to break both my legs. Here we go. This learning to version two here. All right. Uh, Sirill is going to take very measured steps rung by rung, the first couple of ones at first to test his weight on it. and Gilligan will like stand behind him in case he does in case he falls. So like he's just poised to catch him. Your foot placement seems secure. However, you might want to be a bit quick about it. The pressure applied to each rung is effectively a gamble every run. Okay, so that's the first three. Um, feeling the creaking, you will begin to hasten up the ladder. You make your way to the top as you found a place to secure yourself. The latch is right above you. Okay. Um he will kind of does does it swing uh downwards to open or like a push upwards? Yeah, it's an upward. Uh how high am I right now? You are um you are 10 meters high. Okay. Um, looking looking about on this upper platform here, um, with this with the I guess the spoke of the windmill. Uh, is there anything of note in this area? Have you gone through the latch onto the top? Uh, no. Is this a landing here or is this where I have to enter the latch to get onto? You have to So the ladder goes underneath the platform and the the only thing you can see above you is the door upward. Okay. Um then I will push the uh then I will I will push the latch uh open and try to climb my way through to the top. As you push the latch open, you can see a rusty mechanism and pole. That is the main axle for the windmill. Okay. Is there anything else of note up here? There's a metal spy glass on the ground. Is a bit rusted, but the glass on both ends seem to be fully functional. Okay. Um he will he will try to stow it on his person. Okay. Um he'll he'll dust off the spy glass. Um using his handkerchief to wipe down this place where his eye would be placed uh on the lens both ends. kind of blow it a little bit to shake some dust off of it and then he'll hold it um he'll hold it in front of his eye first looking through it but not outside. Are the lenses cracked? Does it look in good working order? Is there something inside of the spy glass? It is a perfectly functional spy glass as you can see the ground in front of you in extreme detail. It is a bit fuzzy though. Okay. Um, and he will lean out of uh he will lean towards the aperture uh direct the spy glass outwards and uh and gaze as far as you can see with the smart glass. As you look around, you can tell that you are definitely on a plateau of sunrest. The lower city is entirely in ruins, most of which does not poke out from beneath the trees. There's a bit of a clearing towards the east where a large stump of another tree had been. This is most likely the place that Belinda had mentioned. You can also see the wall as described prior. Along the wall, along the carved out stairwell upwards, there is a small brook, a tiny waterfall. He'll he'll really carefully move about the room like going to different apertures, getting a view of north, south, east, and west. Uh, is there anything notable in the horizon of any of these directions? There is not ruins enforced. Okay. Um, are there any tools in this area? None that you can see. However, Arando, as you're looking through the barrels and objects scattered about, there are two objects of note. There is a steel bucket and there is an axe. A wood cutting axe. How um what kind of condition is the axe looking? Both are poor but usable. Okay, I'll grab both of them. Um kind of look up. Is the latch uh hole open? It is. Yeah. Okay. Got to kind of try and speak loud enough that serial can hear. Um, I got a I found the axe. Um, not in the greatest condition, but I think we can use it in a bucket, too. Very good, Master Armando. I'll be down there shortly. We'll uh we'll wait for you just in case. He'll position at the ladder again. All right. Are there any nails or anything up here? like any um any metallic uh materials that could be used for woodworking. There are, but they're they have a home. They are embedded in wooden parts. See if uh see if you can find a wet zone up there. Okay. You will look about for a like a wet stone, millstone, grindstoneone, something like that. Uh the entire device that you are standing on this building is effectively a large grindstoneone. There are no handheld small grindstones or wet stones. I'm afraid not. I'm coming down. Please, if you would secure the ladder. Yeah, we're ready for you. Come on. Don't be scared. I got you. He uh begins coming down. It can't be heavier than what uh 125. Your descent is secure. Most likely due to the fact that you have only added a few feathers worth of weight to yourself and nothing large. There we go. Easy peasy. He he makes a grand display of like patting his forehead down even though he's covered with fur and placing his handkerchief back in spot. His tail wet. I wish to join Barard. I think uh I found everything I needed over there anyway, but pretty strange. The matter of storage for Per Frederick is still one that presses upon my mind. Were you able to find any chests or uh boxes that we may store the alchemical equipment in or anything else we find on our travels? Did uh any of the barrels or boxes look um intact? The barrels and boxes are all Well, there are enough that are intact for you to take. Inside of them are the um the hint of what must have been some kind of grain. A offcoled dust around the cracks and edges. They are fully functional barrels and boxes. Well, I could uh I could roll one of these barrels out with uh with Gilly here if you want to um take a stab at trying to make that ladder into a handlebar. Certainly, that would be a that would be a great idea. Um barrels and chest may have nails or screw well nails which may be useful in the designs of a way to secure Frederick shut as a deterrent towards the burglars while we are didn't take a great look at them if you want to look it over but I'll uh I'll go chop the ladder for you now one moment I was able to find this up there. And he will produce these spy glass. His eyes are widen. What the? Wow. This is quite defined. As as you have presented yourself as one of a curious and studious mind, I hope this will aid in your curiosities. Explore well and you will hand it over. That's uh that's very generous of you. Um I'll I'll make good use of it. Uh and if you need it, you uh all you need to do is ask. He looks at it. I'm quite excited. Um, Sarah will begin dumping the contents of barrels and boxes out and start dragging them towards the exterior of the building. They are all empty. There are four barrels and three crates that are intact. Uh, easily salvageable or usable as storage. There are enough pieces of barrels and crates around that have nails in them for you to be able to use those nails to reattach handles onto the wheelbarl. However, the process of reattaching the process of removing nails, reattaching the handle, and the handles to size would take about an hour. Okay. uh two two if he roll two once. Yeah, he's uh he's going to begin starting on um using Well, barrels would be useful for food. Uh are these are these barrels do they look like they could be watertight? They would need help. They would need some kind of uh sealant, some tar or something to seal the cracks or like a heavy canvas to like waterproof them inside. Well, yeah, canvas wouldn't waterproof. Okay. Like a like a wax or something. Uh you could definitely watertight these barrels if you had the appropriate supplies. Did the um did the like arms of the windmill still have the the canvas on them or is it like all torn up? Mostly torn up. Torn up and moldy. Any of that is salvageable? We could have used that perhaps. Okay. Um, are there any other spare metal parts around it? There is the uh fingers of a rake, although the handle is missing. Okay. Um, inspecting the uh the millstone here. Uh, is there anything within um is there anything like of particular interest like mechanically about how this operates? Is this operated by alchemy stones or is it just the mechanical movement of the windmill? Is the the movement of the wind. You notice that in the trough of the of the mill where grain is to be placed, um there's no grain, but there looks to be a few um rat pellets. Okay. All right. Um, so he will continue to move um objects out of this rickety windmill and um try to prop one of the barrels up outside as a as a sort of makeshift wood like a workbench. Like he'll he'll prop up two barrels like a and then Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Um, very likely going to keep the three crates, dismantle at least one of the barrels, use the whiddling knife to try to make handles for the wheelbarrow. Um, serial, I don't believe it's of an immediate concern to make handles. sort of got that covered for now. Well, if we are if we are to see if we can I don't know, perhaps an inspection of the fields to see if there's any food that could be obtained from them. It would be a bit more economical to use the wheelbarrow in its proper function instead of hauling back the materials to rebuild it. We have a bit of time before the dinner tonight. All right, I'll trust you on that then. As the weight is still usable, we could make use of the mill. If you like with the saworse, you're able to disassemble two short planks from the crates from a crate. However, uh whittling them and shaving them into functional handles will take the hour of crafting. Okay, so deconstructing a barrel um is one thing. I I forgot that Armada said he was going to chop this ladder up. Uh would the would the uh spokes of the ladder work better for handles? Uh they would that that would be an hour guaranteed without risk of two hours. Okay. Uh I will take I will take up Armando and his offer to chop that letter into pieces and uh and then work on whiddling them to a proper size where they can be secured onto the wheelbarrow. Right. That is an hour of I'm pressing X. Nothing's happening. That is an hour of um crafting time. Um D3 would like to do something else. I'll head towards the fields. Pick out the wheat. Yeah, I'll stick with Gilly for now. Open zero. two planks from barrel. Uh, how many nails or are they all expended to put onto the wood barrel? Um, you can gather the rest of the time you can gather a dozen nails from the rest of the pieces inside. Okay. He would destroy the planks the nails are embedded into and just very crudely remove the nails. Gilligan, as you approach the fields, they used to be a very thick wheat. Looks to be um almost akin to corn. They're very large um grains. They are however all dead. It's a field of dead crops. What a shame. Look, no one to tend to them, no one to eat them. Knowing our luck, if we uh ever manage to get it back to Copper Worth, we'll find a few carrots. damn things. Oh. Oh, hopefully. Yes. Really use some carrots too right now. Approaching one of the scarecrows and we'll look over it. Um, is there anything odd that stands out about them, either in position or posing, or maybe even carvings on the material that would suggest it to be anything other than a just mundane uh feature to keep birds up? He's a mundane scarecrow, all but decayed. Does it still have its hat on? It does. The hat is just as decayed as the rest of it. Perhaps you could because of the fabric somehow. There's just holes in it. It's made of like a thatch. It's like a typical farmer's hat. What about like the rest of his clothes? Those are just similarly like rolled up. It's a a thatch or a canvas. It's um there are also holes. The clothes seem to have been made out of some kind of potato sack. What do you suppose, Mr. Barai? Think we could make use of his old clothes? Sure, they're ugly, and if you need extra fabrics to carry stuff, they're worth taking. But I'd sooner find something that wasn't exposed to the elements. Right. Um, the crumbling like latch mechanisms on the door that enter the windmill. Yeah. Is that salageable at all? Can that be like straight? If you want a If you want a rusty hook and like some rusty hinges, you can prime off. Uh Armando was, you know, he had a higher brun than uh precision that he'd probably just rip the whole thing off. Yeah. I have no metal working ability, no equipment to do that [ __ ] I can't form a proper latch here and not a metallic one. Yeah, you also don't have a functioning workshop inside Frederick either. It's mostly just a storage thing. The closest thing you have to a workshop is the two barrels set up as a saworse. Yeah. Does Gilly take the scarecrow's hat? Yeah, Gilligan is strips this scarecrow of his clothes. Taking the shirt, pants, hat, and all. And yeah, I'll I'll put that in the wheel those in the wheelbarrow. Oh, I guess I'll I'll wear the hat for now. Hell yeah. Oh, heading back. How do I How do I look, sir? I His expression is readable. Um, his nose twitches. I uh's nose twitches and he goes, "I you know, Gilligan, a lesson from a an older man. Don't give false compliments. All right. He'll he'll just start leaving. Um they're still working on their stuff. Um Luke, how long is a rest period generally? Like a short Uh, you can rest in a 10-minute increment, an hour, or an hour increment. What's the difference between the two? Uh, 10 minutes gives you focus. Uh, hour gives you mana, and if you do consecutive hours while fed, you get stamina. Okay. Um, I have the mage path at rank three, so I can spend a focus to regain all mana during a rest. Yeah. So, instead of doing if you wanted four mana, you'd have to rest for four hours, but instead you can drop a focus and rest for one hour to get your mana back. Your mana is however bonded into your circles. Oh, true. So, it doesn't regenerate while the circles are active. No, no. If that was the case, then there's like effectively infinite mana and you can just like make a million circles over 10 years. Oh, it's I mean they I don't remember if they fade. I I used both anyway. Um yeah, the bonded thing is the piece I was missing. Uh you could use the circles and then just use them now to gain gain an effect and then spend an hour and then regain the expended mana. Cuz when you release the bond, you don't gain the mana back. You just gain the ability to gain the mana back. That makes sense. Yeah. The the slot isn't locked anymore. Yeah. Um yeah, I'll do with at least one of them. I think uh stepping into the windmill, Verdine will sort of cast his eyes around in the uh more crumbled places, areas that don't look quite as disturbed by his party members. He is not going up the ladder despite how light he is. And to flex his capacity for these kinds of magics, uh he will raise his hand and sort of close in a fist and attempt to use the divination ring he has on uh to have unknown or hidden information be revealed. The ring around your wrist will glow and then fade as a ring will appear in front of your hand. Immediately upon its arrival, a rune of divination will flash and dissipate. In your mind, you hear this. The old witch has probably even forgotten her name. She couldn't even tell east from west, I assume, at this point. That is what you hear. He kind of scratches his head hearing it. The voice is clear, but also um it is an echo. It is definitely distinct from something that you would hear as a voice next to you coming from, let's say, Armando. Mhm. He sort of mentally notes what has happened. Um, shrugging and satisfied. He will head outside. Uh, he begins to look through the scrap pieces that they're not using so he can load up on quant ammunition. a bunch of bits and bobs. Picks up bits and or bobs, including the uh teeth of the rake if they're not using it. The rake teeth is the entire head of the rake. Uh with rank two quanta, you could probably launch that whole [ __ ] but uh in front of you, it's just uh scraps of wood, like um shards of wood as well as nails. Uh yeah, but they're using the nails. I'll just take shards of wood. How many shards of wood do you want to carry? Uh let's go with three. I see you're taking interest in the traits. He looks at you, blinks, reaches down, picks up another shard of wood, and chucks it, activating the quant rune, and just having it propel forward. Uh, roll me a Where are you throwing it at? Uh, just just off into the You know what? Actually, for style points, I will aim it at the scarecrow. Uh, roll me a d20. The shard will fly forward. A slight concussive blast from your hand as the ring fades. Shard will end up far in the distance cutting a path through the dead wheat field in the middle. Uh yeah, Sel not so much of a trade. Just you keep mentioning bandits and you know better to have something. He'll reach down and replace the steak he just threw into the [ __ ] ether. I see. Uh, did you visibly pick up the rake to inspect it? Uh, I did inspect the rake. Uh, noticing that and noticing the prongs, the teeth of the rig, you will gesture to them. Perhaps the I do have a file in my toolbox. With a bit of time, I could fashion you some more aerodynamic projectiles for you to use. If we end up with the time and you have the tools and the space to carry it, sure, we'll figure out how to pay you for your services if it doesn't come into play. As I'd imagine, uh, helping to save your life and keep it secure is quite the exchange. Certainly. I'll continue working on the handles. And will rest, expend the focus, uh, regain the mana, and then bond it into the same quanta and discovery runes. Were you able to turn up any food out there? You were cut off mid-sentence. As when Baradine conducts to rest, one of the flowers on the staff will shrivel up and vanish. An Arando's side. The spout and the handle of the teapot will crumble. Hey, hey, hey. Something's wrong here. It'll gently kind of pull it out, holding the pieces of the handle. That's That's new. As you look at the teapot, on the inside, where the candle had once been is now a white flower with black inlay. There are now three holes in the teapot. One where the handle had been at the top, one where the spout had been at the top, and the hole that has the latch. Just making note. Mhm. uh even though the rest was uh interrupted as he sort of notices this and the subject of the T-bot has come up a few times and the mystery of it. Uh I will bond my last mana to refresh the unknown or hidden information rune and then approach Arando with a hand out. Can I uh just take a look for a second? Yeah, I suppose so. Um, he'll gently hand it over to you. He'll gingerly hold it, running his thumb over the edges and looking around it uh before holding it in one hand and clenching the other and activating the rune to see if he can discover any hidden or unknown information. uh specifically looking to see if this is a natural decomposition of the item because of the time difference or any other secrets he can unveil. A voice in your mind arrives. Mhm. Venill, I know you like the candles, but the flower is much much easier. That is all you hear. Venic. Okay. Well, there's something about candles here, Amando, right? Uh the Sam lit one, and you mentioned there was a candle in this at some point. Uh well, the it seems it feels like the the candles are like the it's the key to the door to enter or the door itself, something like that. It's the way in and out. the way in and out of wire. Uh, places. It seems Sam sent us to a place. Maybe it's like a timer. There was a candle in on the shrine you showed me when we first met, Sirill. They're important here. This pot and the flower within. I tried a bit of magic. something that uh [ __ ] I don't remember the old man's name. [ __ ] yeah. Thank you. All I could remember was Luke going I I I was trying to do something that Eert gave me a book on. Uh it's divination. It's it's the reason he had the [ __ ] up eyes. And I tried it in the windmill and I I heard a phrase like a like a conversation from a time before uh speaking of a witch and slandering him. So I decided to try it with this cuz if there's information about this, it's it's relevant. And it was a woman's voice saying, "Venicle, I know you like the candles, but the flower is much easier." There's a lot of possibilities. But one is that even though we shifted through time, the things we had didn't. This teapot is linked somewhere. Maybe this is it catching up. It might still serve the same purpose, but it's it's composition is different. We should try and figure out how the flowers have replaced the candle. I don't think we should light it on fire. Well, certainly that teapot is an interesting work of craftsmanship. I confess I am not a master in any regard regarding some ceramics, but as I recall uh Miss Belinda had been a potter. Perhaps she can take a look at it, right? She might know. Perhaps it still holds its intent. Um, looking at the the pot before uh upon the ceramics, was there the different runes of magic or was it just like an aesthetic film over the top of it? No. There is however a ring around the top lid denoting small could be writing. However, it's not um in a language you understand or legible. It could be just decorative. The images on the um teapot are the same as they has they had always been to be a watercolor painting. Just finished stripping the second scarecrow. How are you all holding up? Well, the teapot's changing and Well, where the [ __ ] was the second scarecrow? You'll step aside to peek and realize Gilly was not was not in the line of fire where the shrapnel shard went burrowing through the the wheat field. He'll assign to himself and then return to where he was. Teapot is lark's first teapot. It's a teapot. Be very difficult to make it a teapot as There is no spout or handle. Could potentially fill it with tea and uh pour it out the window. Looking over the teapot itself, does it have any like for Baradine? Is there any holy or unholy properties or vibes from it? It feels inert. Uh perhaps there is no quantitative amount of holiness or unholiness or perhaps both are of equal measure but it is perfectly balanced and inert and its holy or unholy qualities. Okay. Uh as Arando starts speaking, Bardine will hand him back the pot carefully and sit down uh beginning to tackle the rest period as people are discussing things. Sir will interrupt your rest. You can't. So, as you are most astute in observing, the candles seem to have some sort of significance here, either culturally, perhaps ceremonially. Uh, do you believe that to be the case that they are simply ceremonial, holy in nature, as you are a holy man? I presume from my first interaction, I think in the way that this place, how do I explain it? The candles are a piece of equipment that you use to tap in and have access to a further kind of magic. It is a a vessel representative. Now, is it ceremonial? Uh like incense, for example, if that's common where you're from uh or whether it is material as in the wax itself has some ingredient applied to it that reacts with the flame or even just representative. A candle is a timer. It is a a process, one that destroys in a way that reconstruction is possible, but they'll never quite be the same. It could be any of the three, but it's it's a pathway to something more. I suppose that brings up a an interesting point. I was asking for your perspective as a holy man presumably, but are you from circle? No, I'm not. My presumption or my leaning is that it is a material consumed in exchange for something better. So, one of the pedals is missing from the teapot and it's on the staff now. Other way around. Staff to teapot. Staff to teapot. Oh, the candles suddenly hemorrhage into the toilet bowl. Um, the flower inside of the teapot, does that resemble the flower on Veradines's? Yeah. Yeah, it's a one for one. It's a one for one. A one for one. Disappeared from stuff. Appeared in teapot replace. Uh, not on the staff. Your stone flower. No, the stone flower is uh six pedal um two layered uh perfectly symmetrical. These flowers on the staff are um 100 pedal uh like dalas okay continue well continue working I don't the stuff was I think lark so I thought about it I was like no that was that was lark and gillian first time we met him so I I'm trying to figure out if I can do anything with the stick and the the teapot. I outside of being like, oo, I I try and magically [ __ ] attune my balls to the flower. I don't think I have any like I I guess working knowledge on it currently. I mean, she did say it works better. Hold up. This This might be stupid. Um, I still love the book called Pedals by [ __ ] Oscar Oswald or whatever his balls was. Just Oswald. Just Oswald. Oscar Wild is a different that's another book. He's a He's a fellow one of Craig Spooks. I'll look at my notes on on pedals real quick. But it is through using divination to read pedals and do the whole river sequence is what turned the staff black and white which is why I have that association. But I think that's more in I don't know. Perhaps they're turning black because you're in the possession of possessions of a dead man. Dead woman. And I paid for the stuff. I did not imply that you didn't. Very topical that the possessions of a dead person is free taking. I'm just covering my bases. S return to his work. Sir Paradine, how often have used magic since attaining this staff? Pretty much every actual application of magic has been while I've had the staff. It is the it's the vessel that allows me to bypass some of the materials needed to do more elaborate things. I was just wondering if your magic somehow had an effect on this staff. I look at it kind of shrug a little. Well, that's uh or it was druidic in nature. I am no druid. I'm a fair cry from it. Maybe it's just dying. I guess Gilligan will um add the scarecrow both sets of the scarecrow clothes to the um wheel barrel and will uh wear the more non wear the better worn like the one that's like got less holes in it and stuff. You'll wear that one and just put the other hat in the cart. Oh, wait. You're wearing the the potato sack that was from the scare. That was like used as one of the scarecrow's hats. Yeah. Oh, you're wearing You're wearing the hat but not the clothes. No, I don't need the clothes. Just the hat. Yeah. Okay, cool. Cool. You put a 40-year-old burlap sack. It's like, "Hey guys, my new shirt. I will write out my bonded rings. There's one last thing I want to do before we move away from the windmill. Got it. Um there is a divination um form for comprehension. Yeah. Uh I want to ring around my wrist. uh take a closer look at the um the the ring at the top of the teapot. Not even to get a sense of its um not as like Google Translate, but like to get a sense of uh if there's any meaning in the construction of the ring to try and infer the information rather than just read the the text if there is one. Yeah. Okay. You understand? The lid isn't a lid. It's a dial. That's all I can give you about your rig. What the [ __ ] Okay. So, is this ring on the top of the teapot or on the bottom of the lid or both? Uh, it is it is it is around the rim where the lid sits. I'll put my current rings into general. And I have one mana left over. The wheelbarrow is finished. There are two usable carrying handles. There are a few burlap um scraps inside the wheelbarrow. Ardine, you are fully rested. We expended your focus and your mana is now available to you. It is now noon. Well, let's pack up and roll these barrels and get these crates back to Frederick. Perhaps then I can um Well, there is the amount of water we still need. I did spy a waterfall near the walls of the upper city. could be a bit closer than the other stream, but likely well, it may still have fish. Any other suggestions for what to do with the rest of the day? No, food and water is definitely the right way to be looking. Read. I don't suppose we can stick a kibble in the top of the teapot and it'll just spit out food like those things from Hashi. I'm unfamiliar with the workings of that teapot, but uh Hisks, I believe you're referring to, you know, yes, in the spirit of ingenuity, you're welcome to try. He frogs looks at it and decides not to. Let's Let's just get back first. So, we got four barrels, three crates of spy glass, an axe, a bucket, a dozen wood nails, and some scarecrow clothes. That's our hall. Uh, for the four barrels and three crates, pick three of them. That's all you can fit in the wheelbarrow. Can I keep the axe? Yeah. Cool. No. So, pick pick three of the barrels and crates. Yeah. It's not a weight thing. It's a size thing. Yeah, I figured. Gotcha. Uh, we'll put the three crates in and then maybe you guys can roll the the barrels. Oh, yeah. I guess we could roll them. That would double the amount of time it would take to get back, which is effect. It would take you about an hour to get back to the brook. Are you heading back to the town square? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um, is everything still intact inside? It is. So look like it's been entered. Okay. Uh serial will start taking the crates and placing the alchemical equipment inside of it. Storing it roughly in the same spot that uh they had been before. Here and uh and here. Uh then he will take the the carpets and he will cover each of those graves. Got it. Helps him uh take stuff out of the wheelbarrow and store them in Fedric. Okay. Um then he will also take how many how many barrels do we think we probably need? One full barrel of [ __ ] water for Frederick. So that'll with the with the heft of a full bear. Well, I need to seal them as well. I don't think I have the material to All right. Um, after completing uh like getting his items in order inside of Frederick, as Sir will suggest, if we are to use the barrels to store water for Frederick's locomotion, I will need to proof them so that the water will not drain from its many cracks and orififices. Uh perhaps in the supplies that I obtained from Master Peckard, uh there will be some wax or other substance I can use to seal the barrels tightly. We may be able to use them to store water for ourselves and also for our mode of transit. I will need some time here. I will stay behind with Fred. Right. Well, I I just had an idea. Sorry. I'm I'm big cooking with all my tools right now. Um presuming the wood in the barrels is of like uh decent quality with quanta. I I would probably be ranked like a higher rank than just base quanta. Could I alter physicality to uh increase the like tension between the planks to create a seal? These are change its shape. Huh. Rank one is standard small size category. A barrel is not small. Guess it wouldn't be um that that was that was under the presumption that you were higher ranking. Yeah. Uh I'm just looking at where barrel ceiling comes in. So my proposition is that I stay behind with Frederick and look through the alchemical items that Pastor Eard was so kind to leave on to me. And perhaps you can investigate the stream for possible sources of nutrition. Last time I went to get water for Frederick and the last guy stayed behind, he uh we came back to his corpse. Just saying. He's not wrong. A curious cautious note from you, Arando. After my observation that our last dinner that we attended, we were assaulted by armed men. What the [ __ ] the [ __ ] He actually says, "What the [ __ ] lyrics?" Is there an actual cat? Yeah. A small cat approaches you. What the little He kind of bends down holding his hand out to let him like rub his face on it and sniff it. He doesn't either, but just kind of sits and stares at you. Okay. Um, kind of bend down to him. What the [ __ ] this little guy come from? It'd be one of Belindas. Very well. Could be. Yeah. She used to keep a lot of cats. Hey, you you okay? Show his rectum. Oh no. That's Get the [ __ ] out of here. As unsavory as it may be, we do not have food as the cat. Yeah. The next thing that shows me it's [ __ ] dinner. Yeah, we'll turn around. We can hold off at least till Belinda's and we can find out how people are even eating out here. Where where all that's happening. It just got to hold off a few more hours. I am with the cut. I am a bit curious to see if my irrigation system at Copper Worse was able to of course not. Roughly where is Copper from our position now? Oh, it's it's within eyesight. It's uh to the northwest. Uh would would I have seen what it looked like when I was viewing from the tower? Nothing of it remains. It's a footprint of a building literally. Perhaps not. But life is tenacious. There may be some There may be some food there growing in the gardens, untended, wild, but still edibles. It's worth investigation if you don't wish to eat a cat or fish perhaps. But we should um secure the water first. We know for certain there's a stream out there. Well, if you believe that the wheelbarrow was in conjunction with the bucket that Armander was able to retrieve will be suitable, he may wield it back. But the matter of storing the water in these barrels might still prove difficult. That is why I propose that I remain and try to find a solution. Well, um, have you do you remember picking any uh such wax? We do a quick preliminary search right now. I intend to, but as these are delicate materials, I will need some time to sort them, categorize them. take an inventory. I don't wish to just fling the lids open on 20 perhaps volatile substances in search for wax. Just um we should wait for you to confirm if you have if you find any wax because the trip wouldn't exactly be meaning would be quite meaningless if you just came back with water and weren't able to store it. Well, ideally you wouldn't be looking for fish as well. Leave is what we had agreed on. But very well. I can I would appreciate the company either way. What do you think, father? Well, I can stay here with Baron. You and I can go for water. You and you and I a fatherson fishing trip. Classic. Yeah. Real [ __ ] wholesome. Verdin who was just stood with the cat as you're talking about it just called it. Uh Armando if you're going to be heading out uh leave the teapot here. I'll spend some more time going over it. See if I can learn a thing or two. Then I'll uh I'll put it safely in Frederick. I'll find a nice safe spot for it and place on one of the chairs for something to be seen. Mhm. Oh, come on, boy. Let's get this over with. All right. Um, real quick. So with one one if I maintain the current setup with one string around each barrel I assume once those barrels are filled up with water. One string would be sufficient to hold them up. Uh you would have to you'd have to loop a string, do the two strings connected to the barrel and then hold it with your hands to do an entire barrel filled with water. I believe that's 50 gallons of water or like three million [ __ ] pounds. And they'll be leaking because they're not watertight. Yeah. What you could do is do the same barrel set or the same setup you did with the wheelbarrel and fill the wheelbarrel with water. Here's the issue with that though. It would take you 10 minutes to get to the stream, but it would take you an hour and a half to get back. Presuming you want to keep most of the water in the wheelbarrow. How much do we need? That's up to you guys. Do we have an idea of like how much will at least like get us far enough to the water? What do you mean? Um how much will get you to the water? Like like if I walked to the water with two buckets each and I filled them and I came back, you know, how much would it take to get Frederick to that source of water so we don't have to carry it back and forth? First, you have to figure out how to turn Frederick on, get him to move, and what to do with the water once you have it. You do remember from um getting buckets of water with Sam prior that a a single bucket of water uh isn't enough. You need about three the same size of the steel bucket that you currently have. Okay. Um I'd have to do the math on how many how many like refreshes a single barrel will give you. like convert barrel to bucket to Frederick kind of thing. Um but it's a lot. It's plenty enough for you to go kind of wherever you want to go for the time being. Yeah. Okay. Cuz we had three buckets before that got us like two um Sunrest. Yeah. There's also one other thing that um you should consider uh the nature of the water that you were tasked with getting with Sam. H we don't know. Okay. Still be worth like for drinking. I guess we could filter it out. If it's not useful for bedric, we could just still drink it. There's also the other water source ser uh was over by the upper city. So there's one by the one that I'm suggesting they go to is the one by the upper city wall since it's closer. There's another one 30 minutes away. Ah, sorry. There's a there's a brook in the lower city, very thin brook that you can kind of see. And then Zero got a good vision of it. And then he saw that there is a waterfall from a larger water source in the upper city that creates the brook. Technically, it's one water source, not one water source, but technically it's a single line, but two water sources. One being the upper plateau, one being the lower plateau. Mhm. Further more further away, but it'd be feel like it'd be better to go to the waterfall. The natural tunnelings of the water upon the rocks may provide the clear water that is necessary to create an emotive force in the joints and limbs of Frederick. I suggest you attend to the waterfall. It's probably better for her in the long run, I guess. All right. Probably better for all of us, honestly. Last question. Um, how big is a wheelbarrow exactly? Like in terms of number of buckets, how much like uh whatever the math is from bucket to barrel, the wheelbarrel can fit two barrels side by side with half the barrel sticking up and then you could fit another barrel or crate in between those two like a pyramid. So it's effectively one and a half barrels worth of water. H then we'll forgo the barrels and I'll just put all my um I'll continue with the double strings on the wheelbarrow and uh loop a string around me so that it's like easier on my back. Get the get the wheelbarrow back faster. Are you going off to uh get water from the waterfall? Yeah. Right books or Yeah, that's the plan. Yeah, that's what you do. You have about two hours. So, yeah. Surl is going to start opening the jars and inspecting the contents. You're opening all the jars. Yeah, I'm going to Yeah, I'm I'm going to see if I can recognize any of the materials or if they fit any descriptors that were inside of the books that I have on my alchemy. Um, I'll begin with the jars themselves. There are eight powders of various colors. There are four jars that have crushed organic um perhaps they look like tea or the foliage. There are two waxes, three butters, three liquids, and one crystal shards. They look like they're crust pieces of glass. Okay. Um, I'm going to take them some time to see if I recognize what any of these are. Uh, which what would you which category would you like to start with? Um, I suppose I can start with wax since that's what um I believe I'm looking for for the barrels. One of them is beeswax. the scent and the it's like thick and honey and the uh it's clearly beeswax. The other is a white wax that is scentless that you do not know what it is. Okay. Uh what's the rough quantity of of beeswax if we were to put it in terms of stocks for uses? Uh four stocks of the beeswax and it would take the entirety all four stocks to patch up the inside of one barrel. Okay. Approximately how much time would it take to do that? About 30 minutes. All right. Uh, first things first then, uh, he will expend all four of the beeswax to to do so for one of the murals. All right, Meridan, what are you doing that time? Uh, he's been stood with the cat. I'm curious. Not really making any emotions, but just finding the oddity that breaks the like intense mode of living that they have been thrust into. Uh, intriguing. Yeah. It sits next to you. Does not meow. Its tail does not wag. Simply sits as if it is a tired old man. Perhaps it finds you intriguing. If it does, it does not show it on its face. Seeing it's sort of calm nature, he will reach out and like awkwardly pet it on the head. You can live out here. I suppose anyone can. It's probably a good sign there's fish. We'll set another few minutes before uh standing stepping inside picking up the teapot and then stepping out again. Oh my god, he almost drops the teapot. That's not true. I love cats. I don't know if Barend does. He's about to though. will roll over revealing his uh rump. You will pet the cat and try and see if it's wellfed or if it's more scavenger skin and bones. It seems to be enough. It is rather fluffy. You will sit there and pet it as he contemplates what to do with the teapot. I think he'll just sit here and consider while he's petting the cat. Don't really have an activity for him to pursue at the moment while I'm still trying to figure uh some of the stuff out. Zero, you have a watertight barrel. Sick. You'll push that off into the corner to the right of the engine. uh he's going to spend the remainder of the time identifying everything else, which is something you don't need to do right now. I don't think um we Yeah, that would take a lot of time. I don't want to do that. What I can do is uh privately we'll do rolls and then I'll fill out your spreadsheet. Okay. Yeah, I already uh I'll take a screenshot of what I have and then I'll send it to you. send you the full spreadsheet. Cool. Cool. Is there anything else you'd like to do for about an hour? Uh Bar's hesitant to do anything with the pot because if it can transport him, he doesn't want to accidentally trigger anything. So, I think uh actually no, there is something I'll do. He will set the pot aside. Uh, quick aesthetics question. Uh, when using rings or magic in general, is there a sound? There's a light hum like um the pulse of electricity through a um power line. H uh noticing the cat has sat up. Yeah, he will also stand and sort of step a couple steps away. The cat's looking at the teapot. He will step back and pick up the teapot. H He will step aside, put the teapot down next to him so it's in like reach. The cat looks at you, then the teapot, and then looks back at you, then down. I'll hold at the staff. One eye flex at the cat to see if he cares. Is it just the the cat's legs will uh dart a bit as if it is um a bit frightened, but then we'll return to um its apathetic disposition. You're you're you're rapidly waving a stick at it, right? A little bit. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. He'll pull the stick back. Sorry. Curious. Uh and then I will expend one of my rings. I will expend the unknown or hidden information ring uh on the staff itself. uh if possible specifying on the pedals to try and discern the uh associated material between the staff and the teapot. A vague image in your mind, almost a memory of your own at this point, but also the memory of perhaps somebody else. A depiction of a woman in blue hair holding both a staff and a teapot, one in each hand, as if they go together. Hold on. Carefully picking up the teapot. That's it. You'll go sit with the cat again. That looks like you completely unenthusiastically. I will pet it anyway. All right. Armando and Gilligan, you have a wheelbarrow and a waterfall. How are you collecting this water? Oh, we brought the bucket with us, I presume. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I got I You're You're letting it fall into the bucket and then you're just dumping it. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Dumping it like carefully filling up the wheelbarrow with the bucket. Yeah. All righty. Uh, Gilgan. Mhm. You can expend his stamina to maintain the bucket, the we wheel wheelbarrel from tipping over, or you can risk it. And if you hit a bump, you're going to lose some water. No, I'd uh I'd spend the stamina. Got it. Want to conserve as much water as we can during this trip. It is a long and focused journey back, but you make it back. a wheelbarrow pretty much entirely full of water. Small cat looks at you as if you are uh mentally uh challenged. Oh. Oh. Hey, stop looking at my son like that. He will look at you with the same exact a effect. Oh, you little [ __ ] [ __ ] Armando, don't you start talking to my cat like that. Oh, what is your cat now? You drugs. He's been here keeping me company while Sirill is going through his supplies. And you're off getting water. Also, the cat will roll over and show you his [ __ ] and ball's an [ __ ] Armano nods in respect. He started suck. Why? He'll uh look over him. All right. Well, you're kind you're taking care of it, I guess. So, don't worry. We'll just [ __ ] wheel all this water over you. Come on, boy. It'll [ __ ] off with time. Well, for now, all things do. You see Sirill at the back struggling to lift the um the barrel and gently try to place it down at like looking for help to place it down on the ground outside of Franklin. Oh, hi cereal. Cereal if you would. I miss this cursed. I [ __ ] everything up. Are you going to help lower the barrel down? Kind of handling the wheelbarrow right now if father could do it. All right, together. Here we go. Nice and easy. Big step. Big step down and sets the barrel in front of us. Well, I was able to seal it with the beeswax left behind by Mr. Eert. Uh, this should prove to hold the water tight for our uses. Ah, wonderful. That'll do. However, there was only enough wax to store. There was only enough wax to treat one of the beds. Shall we? All right. Yes. Let's You will begin tipping the the barrel down, hoping to catch the lip of the wheelbarrow. Well, now it's outside of Frederick and it's super heavy. True. And so you have a barrel full of water. You have a wheelbarrow with half a barrels worth of water in it. And there is a very heavy barrel outside of Frederick. Okay. Uh, how's the water look? Is it clear? Um, sure. Looks drinkable. or I'll take it. I guess I'm not a survivalist. I'm not going to say anything about start scooping the water back into the wheelbarrow to lessen the the load to try to lift it back onto Frederick. You have a wheelbarrow with a single barrel's worth of water and a water barrel full of half of water half a barrel's worth of water. That was complex. Okay. Can you lift the barrel back in? And we'll just do it inside bucket by bucket. Just like the three of us, we can just like help carry like into the Frederick like don't spill it. All right. Um, now we have a barrel full of Let's just say we have a barrel full of water. Ready? Let's do that. Sorry. This entire process, the cat is watching with wonder. Sarah flicks his wet hand and let him droplets hit the cat. Cat is undisturbed. This cat's baller. I love him. Zero is suspicious then. He's not been doing cat things much. Gilligan will remark to zero. You know, I didn't take Sir Bar to be a cat person. He certainly is not a people person. [ __ ] savage. Jesus Christ. True. True. Sorry. You have a barrel of water. You have a wheelbarrow with half a barrel of water. We could drink from the wheelbarrow and maintain the water in the barrel for storage. As for whether or not this water is usable, Frederick, you'd know better than I, Zero. Sir, one of the um various Olympics or uh what the [ __ ] are they called? Test tubes. take out a tube and like dip it into the barrel of water, pull it out and inspect the see if there's any impurities inside of it. There's a little bit little bit of pond or little bit of river dust in there, flex of sediment, but it's uh it's pretty clear. This should suffice. Do you do you wish that we should go to the stump? Is there anything else you would like to do in this ruined town before we spend the rest of our day waiting for dinner? Well, I don't think so. Yeah, blood now. I'm I I'm satisfied. Okay, sir. Will dump the pond scum water back into the bucket and go back to organizing as [ __ ] Yeah. Yeah. I'll ask I'll ask Arando for the axe and start chopping down the not ash trees to make lumber for a workshop bench. He'll uh he'll just assist you um in doing that. Sick. Sounds great. Let's [ __ ] lumberjack. [ __ ] yeah. Got this [ __ ] down. Do you want to make it out of the [ __ ] ash trees? I don't think I have an issue with them. Welcome. Let's [ __ ] roll the dice. How many trees and what kinds of trees are you trying to cut down and process? You want to just go for all Ashwood books? Sure. I don't give a [ __ ] Neither of you are lumberjacks, but you are artists, so you have the ability to gather, just generically speaking. Um, if you're trying to cut down a whole tree, cut off its limbs, and make it into like split logs. Yeah. Like I I don't think you can make it into plywood, but you can you can probably split it four ways, you know, really thick logs or something. Okay. Um, that would take hours. Okay. Uh, is that expending the four hours needed to not all of it? There's still enough time for you to do alchemy stuff, but the vast majority of it, probably close to two or three. Yeah, I need a work desk. There's something resembling like a workspace for alchemy and for engineering. Yeah, I I'd figure that um chopping the logs that's going to take some time. uh than using the whiddling knife and the other like chisels and mouths that I have. Uh shaping them into legs for a a workbench table. Uh that would take a fair bit of time and then the planks themselves having to be sawed individually and then I don't think I have any sanding tools. would they would be just a super rough planks made from logs and then using the nails to try to bind them together. That's like I would imagine that's a big CV with uh with the lack of tools and materials over here. So, uh I'll just say that I'm going to begin work on that today inside of rhetoric um because I want to get a workbench going. Got it. is a few hours of journey towards the eastern side of the cliff, the lower plateau of Sunrest. You walk past the ruins of places that you had been familiar with, the houses of the blind woman, the tor, Belinda's house. You make your way even further to places that you had not ventured to, but had suffered the same fate nonetheless. The large stump of an old tree sits in front of you. As you are at its edge, a smaller cliff fates unto itself. At the base you can see a wooden gateway, and through it is a woman in white robes bent over a small rock. She finishes whatever she was doing. She looks up and back towards you. She'll give a polite wave. Turn to face you. All right. Waves back. I guess are there candles in these lanterns here? There are not. They are old stone that had been covered with moss through time. Good evening. Uh, Belinda, how how have you been since our last meeting? I've been quite all right. I've been thinking a lot about your strange passage. It reminded me of when I was younger, making pots for the storage of organic materials. The cat will sit next to her. Ah, let's see. This is uh your little friend. He uh found us at one point. Ah, that's his name is French Toast. He is uh I'm afraid the only denisin of Sunfall now. Very sorry to hear that. Of course. French toast. What kind of ingredient is French? I don't know. I had well adopted him when I was younger. He was given to me as a gift from one of the librarians. Well, he certainly seems to be wellfed in a place so desolate of life. That is a curious question. Um, I suppose he eats mice or whatever is around here. Well, certainly I am very grac thankful for your invitation to dinner. Likewise, suppose I'm speaking on my stomach. He will nod him. She will lean down, cross her legs, and she will weave a rune of conjuration. As she holds the rune in her hand, three rings extend from the weave in front of her. She will pull a material from her inner robe. Looks to be a portion of clay. The ring will cease as the clay will shape itself into a small table. She'll weave a few more runes back and forth, rings emanating from her hands as a teapot is conjured. Sprinkling in tea, she'll weave a final rune of evocation. As the teapot begins to boil, that certainly is fascinating. You know, I had to use for a table I was working with Armono here to construct one. She'll raise her eyebrow at you. Wow, Belinda, you're quite the magician now. Had a long time to practice. Learned a lot from my mentor, Mr. Eert. Yeah. Master Eert apprenticed under Mr. Eert. Well, [ __ ] Go. Go ahead. Good. Well, in the interest of keeping arrangements in order. Oh, wait. [ __ ] I don't have that book anymore. [ __ ] Never mind. Yes, I do. He gave me the process of magic circles. Uh Bardin will reach into his pocket and pull out the process of magic circles and approach Belinda. When I was speaking to Mr. Eert, he insisted on me not um paying him for this. I had anticipated getting the time to come back to him with it with interest, of course. If you were also his student, this is the only way for me to repay that debt. He'll hold out the book. She'll reach out and take it. You will give a satisfied nod and step back. Thank you. No, thank you. Sorry. What What was your name again? Uh, all of you. Well, I'm Baradine. Baradine the I am Gilligan Gallos and there's my father Armano. I am sir. Is there any reaction on her face when me and Gilgan introduce ourselves our names? No, just a nod. Okay, of course. Then um if I could uh Linda, I hate to even ask, but what happened to Akos? What happened here? Perhaps something to eat. While I explain, she will open a vial. She will create a circle on the table with the powdered contents. She will draw a quanta rune at the middle of the circle. The rings from the weave will pass through the pass up until the circle of powder. As the powder will simmer and evaporate and in its place they humion of meat will be will arrive. Fortunately, I um did not bring any utensils other than my own, but uh perhaps I can cut portions. She will divvy up the large haunch into five equal shares. Cutting off a little bit for Mr. French Toast. She will hand it to him. I'll try to remember what it was like 40 years ago. A lot has happened. Most of the denisens of this valley were taken. They were taken alive by the hoglin, the creatures of the Whitewood. They had all been transported to the center of of the lake. decision. Um, they were to be killed a later point a few years later. Fortunately for us or unfortunate in some sense that Mr. Aert, myself, Caitlyn, and Copperworth were amongst those who had not been taken. However, we had arrived later. Find out what had happened to our townsmen. Not many of us survived that encounter. What you had known of Lunafall, Rada, Sunrest, even High Tower were swept over. They were all consumed. I tower managed to attempt to build their wall, but it was not enough. She will eat slowly, deliberately, and thinking with every chew. And I mean, look at you now, huh? You've changed. I'm more surprised that um you haven't. It's complicated. you um you spoke before you you remember Sam. I do, although vaguely. So, it's been a long time. 40 years you could say. Yes. I see. Um then I guess you haven't I seen any other [ __ ] any other woman in white robes like yourself? Any fireflies? I've met a few fireflies since in the past 40 years. I've met some women in white robes as well. I assume you're talking about the hummingbirds. I myself am part of their order now. How did you become a part of them? Was it your choice or theirs? It's mutual agreement. Okay. Uh, what did you have to do to join? I would ask another hummingbird those questions rather than myself. Very well. You didn't meet anybody named uh Maple, did you? Maple? Um, a firefly, I take it. Well, nod. No, I have not. What's this order of fire of uh hummingbirds that you're a part of? We're a lot like the fireflies in some sense. They have their duties to the the land of the dead and ours to the land of the living. Cousins, odd bedfellows in some respects. The order is very, very old. Although I don't know how much of their tradition I carry with me, being a new me new member myself. You you mentioned that you were coming here to pay your respects. She'll give you a nod. Is this uh shrine or hillside a shrine a place of prayer? What is it? It's a bit of all of those in some sense. It is a single gravestone for me. You will not. So became Oh, go ahead. Zero. Yes, of course. So what became of the hug of the white? You say they were conquered where they wholly destroyed what of the rest of the valley. A creature responsible for this seemed to have been convinced of something that if enough life had been paid at the same time a tear would have been made. A a demand for new life from the tree of life to fill the severed branch. and upon it he could return his people. He had gambled wrong. The lives of all of our people and all of his people were paid. And this this returning that he had hoped for was not for his people but for new life itself. She will glance around at some of the trees, namely the ones that are green and not pale. I don't know what happened to the hoglin or the nature of well the technicalities behind the nature of their predicament, but I assume that they are lost. This man you mentioned who was convinced, do you know who he was? What was his name? His name was Jen. Apparently, he had lived here long ago. By the time we had arrived to his temple, he was about a A golem. Golem made of stone. What remained of him? Stone. Yes, he he had transferred himself to the core of the golem, the crystal that resided within it. Mando looks at Baradine. He uh fiddles with the uh sixpedalled flower in his liel. Cat will look at Baradine, then I'll look over at Gilligan. I'll look back at Belinda. Right. I will reach down and bet the cat. quite an exchange of life to replace it with what remains now. But from what we've seen of sunfall, the wheat fields are fow and dead. Suppose it wasn't enough. I don't know what would have been enough. Certainly a wall wasn't nor political dilemma or the small amount of defenses our town managed to muster. Belinda, was it you who created the um well the the stone mural? It was something to remember the people that I wanted to remember. Supposed I I leave or die. I I see. So the names on the stone are only people you wish to mourn. You don't know if anyone actually survived. A few of us did. Um Caitlyn Quelyn Copperworf her son. I have um I consider him my son as well now. Everyone from Silver Run survived, although they are far up in the mountains and I assume they were out of reach. Although they have their ways of survival up there. A few people took to the north. They had returned back down. There was a man by the name of Mayor Shushine. He had uh expanded his town after the dust had settled, which is now known as Gold Vein, but that was rather recent, past 30 years. I assume this is news to you. Very much so. What do you mean he expanded? Well, his town was destroyed. Town, I guess you could call it. The few buildings he had constructed. Him with a few of the survivors, as well as some of the guests after the gate had been reopened, collected themselves just south of the lake. Aside from Coberton, which is a small place that Caitlyn and I had built for ourselves out of the wreckage of High Tower. Aside from that, uh, Gold Vein is the one of, if not the only city in Ashoon Valley, as the foreigners would call it. All right. Um, so I take it that Oh, please go ahead. No, I didn't. I just asked. Go ahead. So, I take it that this conflict happened over 30 years ago. What was resolved? in about five. Settling the wreckage was something that we could not even begin to do till another five. Shujine is a very um opportunistic man though made quick work of the open land. If I could, Belinda, I need you to think real hard. Um, the last time that you saw Sam in Sunrest, do you remember that? No. These were the days before um uh Caitlyn and Copperworth were together. We had lived in a house. Every day seems like a blur. Simpler time. Did you not remember your life before? It's fuzzy. It's a collection of feelings. If I close my eyes, I can probably remember what the inside of my house looked like. But if I wanted to remember the songs I had I had loved and listened to, I don't think I could recreate them in my mind. She says this, "Is there any way I can take a closer look to discern whether the lack of memory is just from trauma of the intense period of time, the need of survival, or if it's from uh using Memorialia and her memories of that time being part of the cost paid? You have no idea or any ability to figure that out, but that is a fantastic [ __ ] guess. Uh, Miss Belinda, you mentioned that the hummingbirds are are those that look after the living. Is this uh I'll call it a pilgrimage out here just a uncommon occurrence that you do out of respect for the dead? Or is it part of your duties? They are not a part of my duties. There's not much living here other than the plants and Mr. French Toast, of course. thought this is um it's my own ritual I guess you could call something for me to remember and find peace. Am I together that the There certainly aside from the cat has been a lack of wildlife and explorations of something. Am I to take it that the rest of Ashoon Valley is also barren of wildlife and of vegetation that is edible. There's enough vegetation that's edible. There's also quite a bit of wildlife. However, more of the predatory kind, the hundhanded, the centipedes. They found themselves eating most of the things below them on the food chain. Nuisances, yes, but they typically eat the themselves. Are they themselves edible? Um, edible enough of kitan, depending on which kind of centipede. I fear in the troubles ahead that it may be difficult for us to find portable lable food should we wish to venture out of Ashwang Valley. We are as far as my recognition serves not as talented as you are in the production magically of food. How would you suppose we rectify that? Is there is there any service we can render as you've rendered service to the souls of our former acquaintances here in exchange for that pulled? I can spare some food. I will have to leave home though. Relief to return home. I can have it transported here in about a day's time. This would not be a burden on me. You're most gracious. Out of a curiosity, will your apparition of this big hunk of meat seem like he used quanta likely to draw supplies from a storage area? I would surmise. Is that a simple? Is that a simple thing to learn? It's relatively simple. I had a ring prepared back home. A storage mechanism. I guess some meat on the table in case I needed it. The ring remains. However, the meat on the table does not. She'll gesture around to the meat that's you're currently eating. Does Kibble hold any worth anymore? At least to you. To me, no. I'm sure to the foreigners in Gold Bane hold as much value as it would in their homeland. How can we repay this kindness? I hadn't quite thought of that. You can tell Baradine is mulling something over in his mind. He doesn't want to say it. Not yet. I will be so bold to venture as well another request as you were a well renowned potter in the town of well what was once sun Chris. We are in possession of an item. He kind of looks over to Armando. That may be in need of repair if you recalled any tricks of your former trait. That depends. But um I've kept a few of my aptitudes. Certainly the memory of one's trade is very dear and reluctant to leave oneself as falling off of a bicycle would be whilst riding. I don't know what a bicycle is but the memories of a well-earned trade are hard to forget. You have a broken pot. That handy. That seems rather serendipitous. Sirill is still eyeing Around to see if he is willing to pull you. He's uh definitely hesitant. Um, but with the cat out of the bag, um, French toast will look at you and look back at Bara. I flip it off in two micros seconds and then uh, yeah, slowly we'll reveal it. Still holding in my hands, but gauging her reaction. She will look at it. I take it the holes on the sides. Um, you want to cover them. You seem well verssed. Do you know why this would happen in the first place? I assume you had taken a chisel or drill to it. Although they're very finely made. You say happened, but it looks like it was made this way. Say it again. It was in his possession with a handle. And when we were venturing, trying to certain supplies and water, it crumbled in a way I've never seen before. The flower inside. She'll look at the staff and look at the flower. It's a flower holding receptacle. Ban looks at Armando for a second and then softly shrugs. The item is uh magical, I suppose you could say. It has some links to places. We're not quite sure. When it crumbled, the candle within faded and was replaced with a flower from this stuff, though I did not place it with him. Do you mind if I She will extend her hand forward to hold the teapot. He'll hand it over. She will weave a rune of divination. A single ring will emanate forth as her eyes will roll back in her head. Similar scarred u similar scarred sigils align the whites of her eyes, giving it a strange grayish color at a distance. Her eyes will roll back into place. She will say, "Oh, this isn't a teapot. It is a She will twist the top of the lid of the teapot 90° as all of you vanish.