So how well did our new recruit choose, Kinsalia? Will he be of any use? Do you have any suggestions to make before we head out again?
As Kong walks around his compound he sees Liisa out watching the new guy. Kong strolls over and approaches just as she chuckles. "I guess this is as close to TV as we are going to get. Mind if I join you?"
Kong sits down and watches Daichi for a little bit then says to Liisa, "Would you pass the popcorn and the bottle?" and then chuckles.
"Yeah, sit down." Liisa replied and grinned. She passes her small pouch of berries to Kong as well as a leafy cup of magiced wine. "Haven't figured out how to make proper popcorn yet - more of a chips person myself. But now that you mention it maybe I ought to give Neri some corn and have him bring it to the volcano ..."
Hey Selvaria! You remember anything about the 'Holy Knight'? Was she a nice type or more along the lines of 'fire and brimstone'?
"So whatya think? Will new-guy fit in our merry band?"
............About as well as that idiot with the fire stone, it seems. I shall never understand why mortals persist in choosing that which is anathema to them. I suspect it is an echo of the flaws in their original maker, which gives rise to perversity within them of wanting that which is not good for them.
She was... not unkind. She was rather more ordered in her approach than I prefer, but did not insist upon that order if it was counter to Nature. Her companion I see was hiding in the temple all this time, I should have known. He was the terror of all the companions.
Neri, seeing that Daichi was in for a long afternoon of 'fixing things' contemplates helping him out, then slips away, instead. He hadn't thought about it until now... but what was to stop them from tending some of the buildings that needed tending? It surely wouldn't hurt anything, and not all of them had sharks willing to lunge their way onto the beach.
'Is there any harm in trying to fix them up a little? I know there's no chance we'd be able to get them back to their ideal shapes, but... it feels odd moving past these broken down buildings every day.'
He moves past the compounds between Daichi's and his own. He had an afternoon off... at least. There was likely to be significantly more time available. As such, he'd check in with the spirits that had been tending his volcano... those spirits he'd only spent a small amount of time with the last time he was here.
"Have you learned anything new about this place while I've been away?"
"Careful giving him corn, it may hit him in the eye. Kinsalia doesn't think much of his choice. Says he chose as well as Neri." Kong laughs long as he finishes. "Hopefully he'll do better, but we will see."
Kong's raven, Edgar, lands on the ground next to him and tosses him a few berries. "No booze for you. What do you think of the newcomer and his horse my friend?"
"CAW! CAW! FOOLISH! CAW!!!" The bird says, somehow the word 'foolish' sounding like a natural caw.
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One of the former villagers looks at Neri. "Well, I'm not sure, there are tubes of lava below like a maze, I think they lead somewhere, but every time I follow a new tunnel, I end up somewhere I've already been... but there wasn't a tunnel there before, and I can't find my way back later. I think something weird is going on..." The boy says, shaking his head in confusion.
A woman nods. "He's been driving us mad with his 'tubes' exploration. I think there was a path to the Builder's compound, I found a destroyed tunnel that led in that direction. Like heat had been going there, but it's broken now."
As Kong & Liisa deal with the downed Daichi, the ground vibrates under them, and then the massive unicorn comes out of the stone walled compound. It has to dip it's head under the massive gateway to get it's horn out, and it pauses to look at the duo.
The horn dips in Liisa's direction. The massive voice reverberates through their bodies. The crow cries out and takes flight, landing on the unicorn's head. The unicorn's eye rolls up. The unicorn says in a voice that has neither like nor dislike in it. The horn dips toward Kong, the bird not losing it's balance at all as the head dips. The voice is cool but cordial. The head whips around, making Edgar flap in surprise and caw.
A roly-poly raccoon fades out of the stonework behind the unicorn, and makes annoyed chittering sounds at the stallion. Then it fades from sight. The unicorn turns and begins to trot away, pounding divots in the ground. The rumble grows as it moves into a canter, and then a flat out gallop, resembling a massive locomotive getting up to speed.
'Id, this is going to sound ridiculously stupid, but is it safe for me to go into the lava if I'm wearing your breastplate? It makes sense that the spirits can, since they're already dead... then again, I guess I am too.'
Well of course it sounds ridiculously stupid. It's my temple, why would something in my temple hurt me?
Unlike some of the others Luna would stay separate from the newcomer, instead of watching him and his compound come to realization she would turn to her own compound to figure out what they knew about the holy knight.
'I was supposed to stick the nine-ring sword in the lava, wasn't I?' Neri asks, figuring he already knew the answer to that. He summoned the armor and huffed as its weight settled on his shoulders, and the rest of his body... then headed down to the side of the lava. This was a terrible idea.
He took a deep breath and moved closer, heading for the lava. Ptaleon would almost assuredly prefer Neri not die, after all.
As Luna walks around the apartment complex, she bumps into various people who live there. They all give her a smile but don't talk until she does.
When she asks about the Holy Knight, they blink in surprise, and look at each other, and then nervously talk.
"Oh, Hello, Lady Luna. I uh.. I didn't expect.. Oh, right, uhm, the Holy Knight? Well sh.. sh.. He is uh, not really approving of uh... our kind? If you take my meaning?" The house frau from 2D says, her face flushed. Her daughter, a small blonde moppet who's been staring at Luna since she talked as if she had grown an extra head hugs her mother's hip tightly. "We uh, don't exactly, uhm..."
A teenage boy from 2G snorts. "What she means is the Picky Bi.. Bi. Bastard don't like thieves and cons. Unless you count liking them in jail..."
A woman cuffs the boy on the back of the head. "Watch your manners you little idiot! She's talking to us! Don't annoy her again!" The woman hisses, then turns bright red and looks at Luna with a bit of fear on her face, before she cries out and runs back into her apartment, slamming the door.
The lava is hot, incredibly hot, but upon stepping into it, the heat is actually relaxing, like an intensely hot shower after a hard workout. The tension and muscle aches slowly drain out as he steps down into the lava. As it closes over his head, he can breath normally, and see but vaguely, like looking through a curtain of yellow light. It's a bit like swimming in honey.
He tries to maintain his concept of 'north' while he's under the stuff, entirely surprised to be able to see once he's submerged.
'Can you remember if you kept anything important down here? From the sounds of it, it used to be connected to the builder... which means it was probably also connected to some others. And even barring that, it's likely to reach down below. It makes sense that the kid couldn't leave; they can't leave, after all. So... let's get familiar with the parts of the volcano we haven't been to in ages, eh?'
Once he determines that this does indeed seem to be Daichi's compound and that it doesn't look like anything plans on eating him, Johnny takes his leave, heading back to his wagons. The new guy would likely be busy for a while. Even with his little minions, he didn't seem to have the help of magic like he or Liisa had had.
He briefly considers asking Kiks about the new guy before quickly deciding that he didn't really care. After all, why should he care about reputation? Even if his gem was planning on stabbing him in his sleep (something that he doubted just based on what he had learned about the different gems thus far and their various depictions), that didn't mean Daichi necessarily wanted to. And while the gems seemed to be able to influence their owners, he hadn't seen any actually take control. But perhaps that was more luck than anything else.
Either way, it was actions that matter and that's what he'd judge the new guy on. And really, short of going all evil megalomaniac on them, he didn't really care that much what he chose to do.
It was at this point that Johnny realized he probably never would of thought all of this out before. Scowling to himself, he pushes aside those thoughts and focuses on trying to go to sleep.
Lina assumes her gem, as usual, has nothing to say about the newcomer, and keeps on training.
The next morning, however, probably after the unicorn's left, she heads to Daichi's compound to see just what the new guy brought to the table.
She regards the presence and number of servants with a bit of disappointment—the Japanese kid did seem a bit of a rich brat already, and this won't help—but then reminds herself that they're just ghosts. "So..." she muses, looking over what is essentially an empty stone square with nothing interesting but walls and lanterns, and then approaches one of the more competent-looking retainers, waving Daichi over if he's in the courtyard. "I'm the ascetic. Emphasis on, I dunno, the martial arts part. What exactly do you do here? Is it just another fighting school, or does this castle have any industries?"
One of the retainers see's Lina, and then runs over and bows deeply. "My apologies, Lady Yo.. Lady Yo.. Lady Lina. Your sis.iss brother is not here right now. My apologies also for not being able to offer you tea, or any refreshments at all. The Builder's storehouses are.. gone... and we have no lumber to rebuild with.." The man is wearing an ornate set of armor in an eastern style, but it looks more ceremonial than functional.
"Right..." Lina replies, a bit surprised by the comment. "...Well... I suppose that's no good. If we found enough lumber, what, exactly, would you be able to build? It's been a while since I spoke to my 'brother,' and I'm having trouble remembering."
Johnny walks up just in time to see the giant horse monstrosity go galloping off somewhere. With wide eyes he addresses the picnicking Liisa and Kong. "Holy s**t! Was that the unicorn? That thing was MASSIVE!" All thoughts of "pretty pretty princess" have been banished from his head.
Once he has suitably recovered from his shock, he walks in to check out the place as well. "Hmmm, not a bad building block. Clearly more defensible than my wagons. But also a bit less comfortable looking."
When Lina enters and greets the retainer, Johnny solemnly places an arm on her shoulder. "So now we know: I'm Kiki and you're Yoyo. But in all seriousness, do you think your two gems are just sisters? Or twins? Maybe even triplets since weren't there 3 pictures all with the same woman on them?"
"Yes, Johnny. That would be the rather obvious deduction."
The retainer turns as Johnny enters, and bows deeply. "Lord Kei... Lord Kei.. Lord Johnny. It is a pleasure to have you here. I am afraid my Mis.. Mis.. Master's home is not in a state of repair that we would prefer. The Builder's storehouses are empty." He looks very distressed. "If we had the lumber from the Builder, we could... rebuild the Castle proper..."
"Right, okay. We've cut down trees before, and we could set some villagers to lumberjacking. But what would the castle do that makes it a worthwhile priority?"
The retainer draws himself up, somewhat offended. "It protects us from attack, it upholds your family honor, Lady Yo.. Lady Lina! It is the home you were raised in! How can you ask 'what good is it'?" He looks very troubled. "I.. I am sorry, Lady. You should leave right now..."
"Yep," Lina agrees. "I think I'm done here, for now."
And to Johnny, as she leaves, "Have fun, Kevin."
Luna is a little taken back at the reaction of the residences, they've always seemed to be afraid of her but that was a new level, she shrugged and focused on the man that had started talking first. "Thanks for the recap, anything else I should know about him besides 'he doesn't like us'?'
And to Johnny, as she leaves, "Have fun, Kevin."
Johnny lets forth a fearsome battle cry.
Then once Lina's gone, he turns to the retainer. "Don't mind her. She's grumpy in the morning. And before bed. And when she hasn't had a nap. And basically just whenever she's awake." He winks at him.
"Anyway, in case you didn't know, my wagon caravan is over there." He points. "We may not have the lumber of the Builder, but we have a few other things. If you ever need anything, just send someone over." Then, completely straight-faced, he adds. "You can count on Kiki's Delivery Service. I'm going to head out now, but when your Lady awakens, tell her I say, 'Yo, Yoyo.'"
With that he turns on his heel and goes to sit with Kong and Liisa.
"Hmh..." Liisa mumbles as the unicorn races away. "Is it just me or did he remind you too of trouble?" If only due to hubris. Hmm. "I wonder if he is aware of the corruption brought about by the wall ..."
"And *that* doesn't feel all to reassuring!" Liisa chuckle at Kong's 'picked as well as Neri' comment. "They do seem to quarrel a bit at times."
When Johnny comes over Liisa greets him with a friendly wave and a yawn.
...I think I did... but... until we restore more of the shrine... I don't think we can get there yet... and the loss of the Builder's shrine may have disrupted things more than I thought... The Holy Knight's shrine requires repairs that can't be completed... that is.. unforeseen...
The volcano goes VERY deep and spreads out in ways Neri is fairly certain do not correspond to physical reality outside the shrine.
"I.. we have never been allies with he..he.. his people. But, we are not active enemies either, so long as we do not cross their path, they are not going out of their way to hunt us down... usually."
Johnny stares down at the unconscious form of the second Lady Yoyo. "Oh, so that's where he got himself off to." He tilts his head to one side and squints at him. "That doesn't look like a very comfortable position.... You two want to help me drag him to an actual bed? Might be more comfortable without that armor, but I'm not sure if you can just take it off like normal stuff since I haven't tried yet."
With hopefully some help, Johnny drags the man's unconscious body back to one of his spare caravans, trying to make him as comfortable as possible for the remainder of his nap.
...No, we would need to find an elder soul they are compatible with to carry them... then feed them fragments of a gem from the others, to heal them...
"Thanks, Id, I'll see what we can do."
After several hours of burning mudbath massage, Neri returns to the surface and moves to his room to get somewhat cleaned up, then get some rest in for the next morning.
He'd pushed himself a little too long, so that by the next morning there was an hour of him simply not being around. But he eventually joined back up with Liisa and Johnny.
"Id says that the Builder's current weakness is causing... problems. We can't completely rebuild compounds until we've filled in that gap, and I'm pretty sure that parts of my compound aren't... growing... properly. There's apparently a lava vein that moves from my volcano to the general area of Garaleth's foundry, but the spirits can't use it without simply reappearing back where they'd come from. Ptaleon might have been loaning Garaleth heat, or that might be how supplies were meant to move between his forge and mine." Neri offers with a small shrug.
"The go-to way of getting the Teacher and the Builder going again, is to wait until we can sneak more souls in... and be picky about gathering a soul that will match up well. Then we give them pieces of an enemy's gem to rebuild their strength. Have you two gotten a good look around your compounds?"
"Nah lets just keep him in his suit. I mean, it would be sorta awkward if he came to his senses with you tearing his pants off right?" Liisa chuckles as she helps Johnny get the sleepy knight to somewhere soft.
On their way back to collect their things they meet Neri again. "Hey you missed the show." Liisa greets him with a tired wink. But she grew serious as Neri mentioned their predicament. "Hmm. New-guys house didn't really finish either; citing a lack of lumber. So yeah things doesn't really seem to be running tip-top... But I haven't really paid much attention to it earlier - my domain isn't really likely to have suffered much due to a missing builder. Neither would Johnnys I guess. And I *think* I gave my place a good check-up earlier, but things can change as it seems. But now I'm mostly looking for a nap too!"
Luna thanks the man for the information before heading out to join the others, "Make sure he stays out of my compound, the people there lost it when I mentioned him, seems he has a reputation of hunting them when they get in the way."
"Hello to you too!" Liisa grinned and waved at Luna. "He's out cold; we let him rest in Johnny's camp. So that probably won't be any trouble for now. But yeah I guess it makes sense - I mean he is probably the police of the pantheon." With a small nod she added - "Selvaria didn't really mind hir."
"Well... If this is anything like when you guys arrived, we should give him more time to get into his groove. If he's up for it, though, we should try to hit more quickly than they'll expect."
"Nah lets just keep him in his suit. I mean, it would be sorta awkward if he came to his senses with you tearing his pants off right?"
"You mean to say you wouldn't want...wait, yeah, actually I can see how that might be misinterpreted. I guess this will have to do." With a wave, Johnny makes the new guy's armor seem to melt into a soft robe.
When Neri shows up, Johnny also responds to his question. "Well, there's not exactly much to look through in my wagons. I did search around the main one a little, but as expected, didn't find much."
Kong looks at Neri as he gives the news. "Not sure now is the time to go out again but we need to do something about the Builder it seems. I haven't taken a look around my place so I'll go do that and see if I turn up anything."
Kong walks back to his compound and then goes through it with a fine tooth comb looking for anything out of place.
Do you see any issues here? Is it possible to find a connect to the outside do you think or will we have to repair the shrine outside first? What does this place produce. Ghosts?
What does this produce, what can you get for me. You all seem so greedy. Some things are not about what can be done for you. Some things are about what you can do. When does a volcano erupt and cause the land to cool? When does a disease sweep through a forest to kill off overpopulation of certain animals? What trees die so that others can get light to grow in their place? What spirits are sent to help others, and which ones are sent back to try again to be more true to themselves, and which ones should be ended because they cannot be unleashed on the world again?
...My apologies. This shrine is where you would sort the souls of those who are in the world. This has been usurped by She of the Ice. Only souls with ties to you and the others will come here now. That may change, if you can find any remaining shrines and repair them, as your comrade did. Until then... There will be unfortunately little to do within this shrine.
"Right, well... Send a bird or lizard or something when he wakes up. I'll be in my volcano.". Neri responds, before double timing back into the huge structure.
He'd spend as much of the day as he could working with the scrying bowl... First trying to map the lower portions of his own compound, if it could scry on itself, then working to zoom out. He recognized that it would be fuzzy on the overland stuff... But figuring out how far out they had been, and the path that they took could be worthwhile. It would also give a general idea of how far away the sea was.
From there, he'd try to zoom out still further, looking for any obvious anomalies. Something that maybe Ptaleon or the volcano would know that he didn't.
Once their holy knight hard recovered, he'd aim for a group meeting, possibly at Lina's... Since she likely wouldn't bother to leave her own compound, given her zealous training.
Trying to map the underground of the shrine is an exercise in futility, as it keeps changing. It actually reminds Neri of a fight between an octopus and a squid, with a few cthulhu creatures thrown in as fun additions.
However, after zooming out, he does find an anomaly. The forest outside the wall is now clear, at least in one area. A massive tap root drives down, and for a mile or two around it, he can see the ground clearly. After that, it begins getting fuzzy again.