Everwake (Tim)

[Bannanachair]

"In that case, Duck, can we trust you to watch the airship while we're gone?"

[Tikobe]

"Why, but of course I could. Have a pleasant trip, you folk," Duck smiles as you.

The road through the ruins went on, and at one point Kiele asks a question.

"What is this place? Why did you humans abandon it?"

"No idea," Bayod answers. "It's ancient at least."

"For my part I also can't tell much. This city isn't much younger than the earliest day of the Empire, way back when it was still Feralclaw. That being said, history that old isn't well known, and what is isn't particularly clear. We can just say that it's a town we just simply forgot exists," Enoise adds on.

As you continue you eventually find an individual other than yourself. It wasn't Listene, but a man who seemed incredibly familiar to you. He stood in front of a giant metal blade, so large that it couldn't possibly exist, and with so many signs of wear and tear that it was clearly as old as these ruins. He eventually turns around as he notices you all.

"Ah, it's a blessing to see survivors other than myself," he says as he approaches you.

"Survivors?" Bayod questions. "We walk towards Saffur, not away, and yet you can tell?"

"Perhaps he recognized you, Bayod?" Enoise pondered in response.

"Sorry, but it's nothing that simple. I was just stopping by Saffur at the time. The one I recognized here was this man," he proclaims, nodding to you. "Do you recognize me? I helped you up when you fell down while trying to look for your friend."

"Friend? The only one I can recall him looking for was..." Bayod takes a deep breath, "most definitely not a friend."

[Bannanachair]

"The man I was looking for wasn't exactly a friend of mine," I say, "But thank you for helping me find him nonetheless. We're actually looking for another friend of ours now, a woman named Listene who you may have seen me with briefly when we were in Saffur. Have you seen her at all?"

[Tikobe]

"It would be hard to say, but yes, I probably did. If she went northbound at least. Most refugees wished to go west towards Chasre, or south towards Centerpiece. Few wished to go north like I did, and those few did so either because they had a reason that took priority over their life or because the other paths were no longer available. I, myself, fall into that latter category, having already left north just before Gen Saeyi's release, and too far to change course."

"And would you have any idea where she is now?" Bayod asks.

"Most of us grouped up together and ventured north as a party for as much as we could. Unfortunately, there was a dispute of sorts."

"Dispute?" Kiele questions, seemingly concerned.

"Yeah. It was certainly petty. No less than twenty three refugees, but there were two who stood out as trying to lead the group. One was a former member of the guard, named Isaie, who deserted the city once it was clear that things were too dangerous. The other was the son of a Baron, Abelin Chauve. They both kept trying to take command, be the valiant hero, but they never could agree with each other. Things, however, got bad once we reached this ruin and camped for a night. The topic of the night was 'What should be our destination from here on out?' And as one could expect, Isaie and Abelin had two different views on the matter."

"Isaie, huh, not the best name," Enoise mutters.

"Is there a problem with this Isaie?" Kiele questions.

"Mm, sadly, yes. Among my men, Isaie was well-known as a trouble maker. He was standing on his last citation before being court marshalled. As soon as that reality sunk into him, he maintained good behavior. Now that this has happened though and those citations don't mean a damn, I'm a little worried hearing his name."

"Yeah, that would be right," the man sighs. "Abelin was just an ordinary noble kid. He just wanted to make the most of the situation and spread the story to the rest of the Empire that he saved the refugees fleeing from Gen Saeyi. The motives may not be pure, but certainly the end goal of making it to civilization alive was commendable. Isaie, however, argued that there may not even be a home anymore. He said that the times are over, and instead of returning to a doomed land to repeat this process all over again perhaps it would be better to continue hiding. He tried to entice us men with this ideal life hiding out, enjoying the women and becoming kings when Gen Saeyi had finished her rampage. The unfortunate aspect to all of this was that there were some who agreed. But for the most part, most were disgusted, and chose Abelin's side. We didn't expect Isaie and his followers would pull out their arms against us as a result."

"That damned fool!" Bayod curses.

"Three of us were killed that night, six followed Isaie and five despised Isaie's actions and joined Abelin in resisting against him. The remaining four, which includes myself, decided we wish to have nothing to do with the violence. Now we've found ourselves lost in this ruin. Isaie has made a stronghold hidden from the rest of us, and Abelin hiding and waiting for the opportunity to strike back. The four who retained neutrality were foiled by Isaie, who used a spell that separated us from the main road. I'm the only one that I'm aware of that managed to find the road again. I don't know if all of this helps you, however."

[Bannanachair]

"It's been two days!" I shout. "How the hell did it get that bad in the course of two days?" Then, in a calmer voice. "We're going to need to find Isaie and Abelin, aren't we? If I were to guess, I would say that the women probably all chose to side with Abelin, so we should try to find him first. Do you have any indication of where his little group of refugees has gone?

[Tikobe]

"Two days, huh? Yeah, it's certainly impressive in it's own right. I'm almost afraid for what's in store for humanity if it's gotten this bad," the man says with a wry smile. "Sadly, I don't know where Abelin's location is. Last I checked, I saw them run in that direction, towards the east. I think that Isaie intentionally went west in order to trap Abelin. But I could be wrong, it was pretty chaotic."

"...You, your name," Kiele orders.

"Ah, it's Maes, hailing from the kingdoms east of the Empire," he says.

"With all of this going on, why would you spend time staring at this piece of metal?" Kiele questions. It wasn't just a suspicious tone of voice, but genuine curiosity, as if she had noticed something strange.

"Ah, well I suppose from your viewpoint that's a great question. As I made my way out, I couldn't help but to notice this here. It's certainly an impressive relic."

"You know what this is?" Enoise inquires, seemingly confused.

"Of course, it's a weapon created by Zis Foluus, the Wyldun known as the Echoing Warrior. He was a terror in battle, summoning massive deposits of metal buried deep in the earth and changing their form into powerful weapons. On rare occasions, one may find one of these weapons, even though most now have been taken away by civilization to produce more tools. I've spent my time as a researcher of history with the Wylduns. I couldn't take my eyes off of it," Maes says.

"Then might you know something about this city?" Kiele blurts out.

"No. Times change too frequently. It's hard to keep up with it all. The Kingdom of Feralclaw back when this city was still used is nothing like the Empire of Everwrath it is now. And not one version of what it was like is the same as the others. I've seen three different maps of Historical Feralclaw, and the only thing that two of them agreed upon was the location of Chasre. The third claimed that Chasre was on the the other side of the Lake of Memories. The one thing that I can say with confidence is this: Cities this old were around when the Folk and the Wylduns were still friends. As such, these cities tend to carry their blessings. Ancient powers run through them, doing many crazy things. Well, most of these blessings have faded away due to the passage of time, but some ruins still contain them. I'd be on guard in this city if I were you."

[Bannanachair]

"Maes, if you're a historian of the Wylduns, we could certainly use your assistance after we find Listene," I say. "Would you care to travel with us? I have an airship, and after we find her we're headed to Chasre. If need be, I can make it worth your while - but the knowledge that you would have, especially of Gen Saeyi, would be of immeasurable importance."

[Tikobe]

Maes closes his eyes, and he go silent as he ponders you question. However, he eventually open his eyes, and holds out his hand.

"Very well. I'll take your offer of employment."

[Bannanachair]

"Good to have you on-board, Maes," I say, as I shake his hand. "If you know how to use your sword, we could use your help as we look for Listene. If you'd prefer not to fight, our airship is that way; it's the one crewed by Amarzi."

[Tikobe]

"Ah, then I best head off to your airship then. I'll see you all onboard," Maes says as he heads up north.

"What a strange man we've recruited," Enoise mutters. "Generally speaking, most people refuse to touch subjects related to the Wylduns. After all, the Doctrine does consider those beings as demons. Well, he is a foreigner."

"Either way, we need to start heading off east. We should move to find Listene as soon as we can," Bayod states.

[Bannanachair]

I head east.

[Tikobe]

Your team journeys around for an hour or so, but ultimately, no progress was made. The city wound up being much larger than you realized.

"How come we haven't found anyone yet?" Kiele mutters.

"There's only 19 people in this city if we don't include Maes and the three that died last night, and it turns out the area was much larger than we thought. When we also consider that they may have made base not just in the city but outside of it we have a lot of work to do," Enoise replies.

"Well, there's another way," Bayod states. "Perhaps we've already been noticed, but they haven't made contact with us because we're too large of a group."

"But there's no reason for Abelin to avoid us?" Kiele questions.

"Oh there's plenty: Whose side are these strangers on? Why haven't they been attacked by Isaie? Why are they even here? The situation escalated abnormally fast and that has to cause them to be nervous. They won't think logically. And more than that," Bayod begins as he scans his surroundings, " I never said that it was Abelin's group who might notice us. If Maes' story is right, then they're on the defensive. Isaie's group is playing the hunter, but they're only as large as we are, meaning that they may not win an attack against us. In other words, they won't move until our group gets smaller."

[Bannanachair]

"We can split up into groups of two," I suggest, "That way we can cover more ground without leaving ourselves open to being picked off one-by-one. So long as we remain within a reasonable distance where we can hear if someone shouts for help, we should be fairly safe."

[Tikobe]

"... Very well. However, I'll stay with you, Therinean," Kiele declares. It seems she doesn't want to have her prime suspect go.

"And the rest of the harpies?" Bayod asks.

"They'll be going on their own as the second group. They're trained soldiers and good at getting off the ground when they need to."

Some time continues as your groups set off, before two strange men come out from behind the building.

"Stop!" Kiele shouts. "State your purpose."

The men say nothing, but not out of disinterest. It's as if they can't notice anything at all.

[Bannanachair]

I approach them. "Who are you, and what are you doing here? Do you know where I can find a man named Abelin?"

[Tikobe]

Once you approach them, the men panic, saying nothing short of a few grunts before running away.

"Uhm, excuse me, did I just run into some strange human hobby?" Kiele ponders.

"Perhaps it would be if we were behind the doors to the bedroom," Enoise teases.

[Bannanachair]

"We're not here to hurt you!" I shout after them, as I follow where they're headed.

[Tikobe]

You continue to chase, but eventually they spread apart from each other.

"I'll get the other one," Bayod exclaims as he races after his target.

"He'll probably do something to get himself killed. I should go watch his back," Enoise says, as she goes after Bayod.

Meanwhile, Kiele stares at the one that Bayod and Enoise left to you two. Having run himself into an alleyway, he begins to desperately try to climb up a wall in a clearly deranged state of mind. He doesn't say anything, only giving grunts and strange noises.

"What in the hell is going on?" she questions. "I can't say I'm an authority on humanity, but I've certainly never seen this."

[Bannanachair]

"Maybe he ate some bad mushrooms," I suggest. "Look, we're not here to hurt you, I'm just looking for an associate of mine."

[Tikobe]

The man panics as you draw near, until he snaps and charges straight at you...

...only to be tackled and pinned down to the ground by Kiele.

"Talk!" she commands.

The man whimpers, provoking her to press down harder.

"S- Stop! Please... stop! Don't. Don't hurt. Please!" he cries out.

"Talk like a normal human!" she spits out.

[Bannanachair]

"Kiele, the man has done nothing but run away," I say. "We're not here to threaten or intimidate him, just to ask him for his help."

[Tikobe]

"If I let this man go, all he'll do is cause more problems!" she yells back, loosening her guard just enough to be throw off by the man. She turns around to face him, her hand on her sword's hilt, but then sees the man cowering against the wall in tears. He did nothing to fight back, just tremble down and mutter words.

"Ugh, fine," Kiele scowls as she turns around and keeps an eye on the streets leading to the alleyway. "Handle him how you want to, damn humans."

[Bannanachair]

I kneel down with him. "Hey, buddy, I'm sorry for what my associate did to you just then," I say. "Are you injured at all?"

[Tikobe]

"N- No. Fine. I'm fine. I'm fi...ne," he says, before starting to go twitchy. "No, not fine. Not fine at all. When get here, get in this place, it felt so... weird. Like someone, watching us, talking to us. It told us, do things. Do terrible things. E- Everyone heard it, everyone but Maes. We, we all ignored, all but Isaie. Isaie was already off. Because of him, some of us listened. Fighting started. But I was fine. I didn't know, didn't know I was fine. And then..."

He looks disturbed, becoming progressively more agitated and his speaking more rushed.

"Red. Red all along the wall. Lots of red. And then there, there was that girl. That girl who ran ahead of us. Wouldn't sleep, wouldn't eat. She wanted to move, as much possible. She was on the ground in front of that red. Is it... her curse? Is the talking because of her?"

The twitching gets even more erratic, and panic is starting to set in.

[Bannanachair]

"We're looking for the girl," I say. "That's why we're here. Do you think you can bring us to the red? Or tell us where it is?"