with foes ahead behind us dread

[hasapoint]

[It’s just Elle and Lloyd ‘on screen’, since Raistlin doesn’t wanna and it’s pointless with Need, but her gravelly Mindvoice still sounds:] We’ve found something important, children.

[Elle:] Ooooh boy did we find some shi-stuff. We have good news and bad news. Well, bad news and worse news, really.

[Lloyd:] Elle and I made contact with the spirits of some of the previous inhabitants. They told us that other worlds are being pulled in–or parts of them, in some cases–and that the bigger this amalgam gets, the more unstable the magic holding it together becomes. The whole thing is in danger of collapse, if things continue the way they’ve been going.

[Elle:] Any world with magic is at risk of getting dragged in and torn apart. Non-magical worlds have a chance, too.

[Need:] The Market’s living inhabitants also left us some messages. A letter describes this place as a patchwork, like the two just said, and that it’s called the Wilderlands. Now, the Trolls who used to live here were harmed by the cavern roof being breached when it crossed over and their Heartstone was already dying, so they left to find refuge in a place called Rivendell.

...By the by, the little folks with the red hats are also people. This is their home. Speaking to them is difficult, but if they’ve taken anything of yours, come to me. I think I can negotiate to get it back. They're not going to try and steal anything else if we treat them respectfully.

[Lloyd:] One more thing. [ His expression sobers. ] The spirits we were talking to have disappeared–the Heartstone’s magic was helping them stick around long enough to make contact with us. We’re going to have to make a decision on what our next move is, and soon, because I don’t think we’re going to be safe here for much longer.

[Need:] The Trolls’ mages suggested we follow them across the desert to Rivendell. Supposedly, that's a place of greater safety and more answers.

Comments

[hasapoint]

That letter's on the wordy side, but I'll recite it for everyone here and let anyone who wants to see it take a look.

[and I'm just gonna link that part of the thread and only copy-paste Please. Remember us. Even if all that you know of us is "they cared for their own, grieved those they lost, and tried to guide those that came after."

Need likes to keep secrets but sometimes you just gotta not:]

The device this fellow mentioned is with my bearer. I suppose the 'appointed time' hasn't come yet.

[unsealthecatbox]

[Ange listens, her expression turning sour with every paragraph after the halfway point. Oh, this is a lot to take in at once, and she doesn't like it at all. 'Bound to a greater destiny in this world', it says. There's some predictions, given the part that describes Need and Raistlin. There's even a word about how sorry they are these 'chosen ones' have to go through this trip]

'Sorry', they say. Spare your insincere words of sympathy.

[Her fists tighten until the letter is all read. Once that's done, she grits her teeth, visibly takes a moment to calm down, and says, although it's very strained]

So this is how it'll be. 'Go save the world, best of luck', and that's it. What a load of crap.

[Truthfully this Merlin's reticence to leave any answers or information is what gets her goat right now. The writer of this letter even had to insist until he gave indications to leave it! It's completely unreasonable and, of course, it's not like she joined this willingly. She got dragged from her own problems to deal with an entire world's and that's just not fair]

[millenyal_pink]

[Elle takes a moment to process Ange's reaction. then she speaks gently.]

The Trolls were forced here much like we were. If anything, their entrance to this world was more violent and terrifying than ours. They may not have been given the ridiculous quest we have, but that doesn't mean that it's fair to blame them for doing what little they can to help.

[She doesn't want to sound preachy, but building resentment against the people whose home they've been occupying doesn't seem right to her.]

[skinlotion]

[Mona has a lot of immediate, paranoid thoughts about this (starting with "oh, convenient, the letter happened to be found and shared by the very people mentioned in the letter" and expanding from there to "ambushes in the desert") but she knows better than to show them. Especially not in a place where anyone could hear.

Instead, what she says is:]

What does the device look like?

[the_hit_list]

I would like to take a look at the letter, please.

[rambles_on]

Rivendell? Like... The Rivendell? As in "The Last Homely House East of the Sea" Rivendell?

[Dean has no idea what to do with this.]

...Are you guys messing with us?

[hasapoint]

Have you heard of it, boy?

[unsealthecatbox]

That's...that sounds familiar to me too, but not exactly the same.

[Umineko has a thing for very obvious references, with names changed a little bit. Gotta dodge that copyright, y'all]

[konman]

Are you really that shocked? I mean, I'm fiction where you're from.

[His answer to "Do you have superheroes back home?" was "no, just actors," yet he recognized the S. He figures it's like a Prime Earth type dealie.]

I guess that means there's gotta be stuff that's fiction to both of us that's real somewhere. And it's somehow been pulled here. If a weird broken dimensional place was drawing from dimensions where fantasy stuff was real, Lord of the Rings is prime real estate.

[steelandtemper]

Through a desert? We're not equipped for that.

[hasapoint]

It's supposedly small enough to be crossed in a day, but these Trolls are big enough it might take longer for the Chosen here.

[millenyal_pink]

If we start prepping now we'll have a better chance. We may not have a choice depending on how long the Heartstone lasts.

[okayimin]

[ Listen, Sawbones is already packing, but also: ]

Will that Spartan of yours be all right on a march like that with his knee?

[skinlotion]

Hold up, are we really just going to take their word for it that we can just head through the desert for safety? Like, even if the guy writing the letter believed it, what if his info was wrong? We're just going to leave a source of water and food to wander around in the desert and hope we can meet the elves on the other side?

[zerg_rush]

I doubt the things that attacked us at the fair are going to give up. This place was always going to be temporary. Even if we don't take the desert option—I'm not wild about it myself—we do need to head out sooner rather than later.

[millenyal_pink]

Do we have another option? The protections in this place are going to fail, and soon. Moving ahead of them probably gives us a better chance than staying here like sitting ducks.

[slowmotionbuscrash]

Thank you! This is stupid, and I don’t want to walk through a desert because some sprite in a hat said so!

[71lines]

I don't see what everyone's complaining about. It's just a day's walk through the desert. We can probably run and be there in less than twelve hours.

[cspd]

[ now listen here

actually, no, just a deep sigh. ]

Unfortunately, we all can't be that awesome.

[ This is actually a pretty funny statement from a guy who punched a Sept-Terrion in the face, but w/e. ]

[ahelpingpaw]

You can run for twelve hours?!

[Wow. Humans are some spry creatures when they want to be, he thinks]

[konman]

Okay, I know I'm going to sound like a Polyanna, but it sounds like the people who lived here were just scared people trying to survive, with maybe one asshole wizard who wouldn't tell them enough.

They might be wrong about the desert but it sounds like they probably weren't outright lying about it. They mentioned people making the journey and coming back to tell them.

But since we can't know for sure just based off this dude's word, we should probably confirm the things we actually can be sure of.

[He scratches his chin.]

He said those things were scared of the sun, which means they're hurt by it, or it has some other effect on them. We can try to figure out of that's true. Send a scout - or a few - back towards the faire to see if those things are moving around in the daylight. If they're hiding, or frozen in place, or something, we'll know that sunlight is maybe a weakness, and that means they probably would be scared of the desert - no shelter if they're caught out at sunrise.

[His hands drop and he puts them on his hips, unconsciously holding his chest out a little. He's learned to mimic a certain someone in that respect, without even thinking about it anymore.]

I'm willing to go. It should be people who weren't as affected by the flashbacks. I had a few but I was able to work through 'em and stay up to the wire. I only left because there were way more monsters than people at that point.

[And also because he had to help Tim get out of there.]

It'd be great if someone else was willing to do it with me, but I'm willing to go alone if I have to.

[cspd]

[ Lloyd likes this. Take the witness statements, confirm what evidence they can. ]

I did okay with the flashbacks. [ He's done well enough at working through issues in his own life to help him not get doubled over by the flashbacks of them. ]

I'm willing to go with you.

[71lines]

I can just check there and be back shortly. No need for a group. They won't even know I'm there.

[Besides, it gets her away from everyone else for a bit.]

[unsealthecatbox]

If those things are weak to the sunlight then the suggestion about going during the night won't work. I would rather do whatever it takes to not have to face them again.

[So yeah, if it gets confirmed the Nightrenders are weak to the sunlight, Ange firmly wants them to go during the day, even if it's going to be a painful, horrible and sweaty time. The Nightrenders aren't to be messed with]

[hellbentley]

Alright, well, if we do wind up taking on the desert and have to go by day, I can give everyone a few pointers in desert couture. If we're lucky enough to find the right materials, that is. I haven't exactly been able to look inside the market near the stone.

[Any material he's seen was brought outside.]

Spent quite a bit of time in the early days of the world in the middle east. Lots of goings on. A lot of the clothes they wore back then didn't need much - or any - sewing. You could do something up with the right folds, ties, and strips of cloth.

Water was precious. The main way everyone kept cool was how they dressed.