[] Sever the connection. You will alway cherish the memories of your Mentor, but the dead are dead, and you yet live.
Lirra will recover her memories and won't risk getting overwhelmed when Pyring ever again.
I'd like to draw attention to the fact that the currently losing vote does exactly what we wanted when we started this whole meditation thing.
We wanted a way to pyre bodies without having a mental breakdown, and severing the connection gives us exactly that.
It also summarizes my feelings about the past pretty well, so I may be a bit biased. Leave the past in the past, we can't change it. We can prepare for the future though, so that we won't have to lose anyone else.
Point of order, no it isn't what everyone wanted. We wanted to know what knowledge was locked away in our mentor's spirit. That sweet, sweet Master level Necromantic Lore.
Now, a few clarifications about magic, since maybe I went too hard into writing the worst teacher ever.
It's really hard to dip into several school of magic, as they all are a fondamentally different way of viewing how magic works. All mages are kind of insane subtly influenced by their magic (for exemple, Chloe, a telepath, can barely communicate without her magic), making it hard to have more than one school (unless you're a genius who's about to create your own school, like for Creation, but that probably won't be the case since you didn't go for Star and are as such more interested in practical solutions).
- Elemental magic, as stated, is about the greek elemental system. Everything is composed of various parts of fire, earth, wind, water and aether. This makes it easy to throw a fireball at people, since it's just "let's add more fire", but makes it hard to create something that's not a basic element, since you need to know and carefully dose each various elements. The "Nivian excesses" mentionned is that, well, if you need a big fireball, you need a lot of fire. Now, if only, say, people, were also made of various elements, you could probably grab it from them. And if you were a mageocracy, surely the commoners don't have that many rights, right? And if you could write the laws yourself, surely you'd have criminals with even less of those. This possibly explains a bit about why Rinagi aren't well liked, given they had a massive empire and invented this school. Not that it justifies treating them badly now, since they don't anymore, but there's kind of a theme about old grudges in this setting.
- Illusion magic is about stories and believing things. After all, if see something, smell something, feel something, taste something and hear something, it's basically real, right? This makes it very hard to do direct things, although if you convince someone hard enough that he's on fire, maybe he'll be just as dead as if you threw an actual fireball. Its great advantage is about scale. Since it's all smoke and mirrors, you can cover massive areas with little power. The difficulty is to enact actual effects and not to miss details. It can only affect creatures, since you can try as you want, but a wall won't be convinced of anything since it's a wall.
- Mind magic is about memory. While it has some similarities with illusion, it's internal rather than external, meaning you modify the memories of someone so they think they saw a dragon, instead of showing a dragon. It allows someone to read minds, read and modify memories and stuff like this. While very powerful, it's hard to work it fast or on several people at once. Moreover, there are dangers of contamination if you go into someone's mind without being careful. After all, you now have seen the same memories, are you sure you're this person? Or are you the other? Maathian schools (mind and alteration) demand a high technical skill.
- Alteration magic is a descendant of Elemental magic. It agrees that everything is composed of different bits and pieces, and focuses on switching those around to transform things. While it lost some ease of "you're now on fire" and doesn't allow sacrifices to boost your power for great workings, it can create the complex objects that elemental magic struggles with. Most healers use that school, as while elemental magic allows you to just go "eh, let's push some vitality back in that guy" it lacks control and can have uncontrollable side effects. If you focus on living things, you can also create chimeras, transform people into ducks and so on. Overall, it's a great support magic, although a bit too complicated to be used on the fly as battle magic, for most. Maathian schools (mind and alteration) demand a high technical skill.
- Creation magic is the newest school, and is basically a mix of several others. Illusion's perception and elementalism/alteration's material understanding are combined so a mage could just go "meh, I want that and surely things are floating around to create it" and then the mage has it. It sounds stupidly broken (and it would be), but is prone to malfunction, insanely high costs and a mind warping weird understanding of the world. As such, it's still in high need of study and development. Its potential is literally limitless, though.
- Forbidden magic is forbidden.
All in all, all schools can imitate the effect of others but it's harder to do something that's not in your paradigm. Let's take the exemple of the fireball, that I kind of forgot in the middle of writing this.
Elemental magic says "fire go brrrrrrr". Illusion says "hey, you're on fire, it's super painful and you can't see anything and you're overwhelmed" and eventually the target's body will agree that indeed it's burning and quite dead. Mind says "actually, you were on fire all along, let me just shut down a few things here and there so you die" and the target will be dead, although not burnt. Alterations says "ok, so this rock's bits needs to go faster to heat up and now it needs to go there". Creation says "fireball" and maybe it'll work.
On the other hand, table creation magic would go like:
Elemental magic says "uh, so that's solid, so probably some earth and uh... water to create wood? Maybe? Damn, it's hard to keep it euclidian". Illusion says "this is a table, believe me, ignore the mug that fell through it, you could lean on it and be fine, for real". Mind says "there was a table there, for sure, you used it for things. What do you mean you want to use it now? Uh... yes, here's a table, no you didn't just go grab some wood and a saw, it was there all along". Alteration says "Ok, so this rock needs to grow like this, and turn to wood, and there". Creation says "ok, so a table could be there, right? Like, this air could have been a tree, and this tree could have been cut down into a table, so clearly this air is, in fact, a table. Boom." and maybe it works.
But really, you should buy the book of that teacher, it's only 5k gold coins. And it's mandatory for his advanced classes anyway, so...
EDIT: or, as I put it in the shop
Elemental magic is the magic that interacts with the basic elements of the world
Illusion magic is the magic that interacts with one's perception of the world
Alteration magic is the magic that interacts with the properties of the world
Mind magic is the magic that interacts with one's comprehension of the world
Creation magic is the magic that interacts with what could be in this world
Forbidden magic is the magic that interacts with what should not be in this world
Huh. I can understand why, but those really don't sound like they synergize well with our class. Or most classes. Probably why classes tend to stick too their lanes rather than doing a lot of mix and match. In a dedicated mage I can see the utility, otherwise? And they all sound bad for the brain, barring Elementism which has a horrific history attached. Guess we can cheat the system some with our Echos, but while a light touch of a couple schools probably isn't that bad, two deep dips sounds like asking for trouble. And lesser effectiveness if I understand the explanation right.
Huh. I can understand why, but those really don't sound like they synergize well with our class. Or most classes. Probably why classes tend to stick too their lanes rather than doing a lot of mix and match. In a dedicated mage I can see the utility, otherwise? And they all sound bad for the brain, barring Elementism which has a horrific history attached. Guess we can cheat the system some with our Echos, but while a light touch of a couple schools probably isn't that bad, two deep dips sounds like asking for trouble. And lesser effectiveness if I understand the explanation right.
Mostly that you'll be a wreck and likely weaker if even functional.
Imagine mind and elementalism. So you think everything works because of a balance of elements and it's all in people's heads. What can you do? How does it even work?
Now, ok, you manage to do mental gymnastics hard enough to make it work. Now, you both have a communication disorder and a temperament that goes into one specific direction. Or maybe you're like Chloe and can only communicate with magic, but your magic is fireball.
Or you could go with illusion and alteration. Clap if you believe and things can be what you want. Well, first of all, why not just go with creation, and second, what is real? You thought of this chair and it exists, but is this bridge real or will you fall to your death? No way to know but try.
There's a reason why creation magic, who went for the classic quester's "[*] all the things" requires a batshit crazy view of the world and is unreliable.
- Illusion magic is about stories and believing things. After all, if see something, smell something, feel something, taste something and hear something, it's basically real, right? This makes it very hard to do direct things, although if you convince someone hard enough that he's on fire, maybe he'll be just as dead as if you threw an actual fireball. Its great advantage is about scale. Since it's all smoke and mirrors, you can cover massive areas with little power. The difficulty is to enact actual effects and not to miss details. It can only affect creatures, since you can try as you want, but a wall won't be convinced of anything since it's a wall.
Illusion magic looks really powerful since you can cover an entire battlefield worth of enemies with it.
Even better, I bet we can send messages using illusions. We can create a huge area of effect that just gives the illusion of our voice saying whatever message we want to send. For example, once the 'surprise' happens, we can do this to make everyone in the school hear our voice asking Tanwen, Chloe, and all the rest of our friends to meet us at a specific spot, for example the school armory. That way, we can choose our entire party as long as they're willing and able to get to us.
- Alteration magic is a descendant of Elemental magic. It agrees that everything is composed of different bits and pieces, and focuses on switching those around to transform things. While it lost some ease of "you're now on fire" and doesn't allow sacrifices to boost your power for great workings, it can create the complex objects that elemental magic struggles with. Most healers use that school, as while elemental magic allows you to just go "eh, let's push some vitality back in that guy" it lacks control and can have uncontrollable side effects. If you focus on living things, you can also create chimeras, transform people into ducks and so on. Overall, it's a great support magic, although a bit too complicated to be used on the fly as battle magic, for most. Maathian schools (mind and alteration) demand a high technical skill.
Alteration magic looks like it could be good for buffs, but they would have to be done ahead of time.
We could do stuff like modify our body to be stronger, or create weapons that don't suck. It would also be good for magical healing, and the more healing we have, the better. Certainly a solid choice.
Both Creation and Mind magic are powerful in the long term, but are dangerous. Especially for someone like us who doesn't have the time to perfect her understanding of them. I don't think they're a good idea, unfortunately, since we need power soon in order to keep us and our friends alive.
Edit:
So I think we should pick either Illusion or Alteration magic. The good news is that we'll be able to save up all our echoes for that one school. The bad news is that we can't even dip into another one without mind-f*cking ourselves.
Alteration magic is probably best. It's incredibly useful out of combat, and in combat we should be stabbing things anyway. Illusion's best out of combat use is being able to call our friends, and Alteration could probably do that anyway by manipulating the wind or something.
On the other hand, Illusion is REALLY powerful in combat. Blinding and deafening all enemies is very helpful, and making them think our party is somewhere else is just absurdly good. It would also be really helpful with Stealth. It can also hide our hair and the fact that we're a changeling.
[] Open the connection. Your Mentor, Ilinca, and even Chloe if you had hesitated a minute longer… Why should you ever say goodbye when they are right here.
Lirra will permanently lose her memories but will be able to sacrifice memories to permanently bring Echoes back as "ghosts" visible only to her. (However, as it goes against every theme of the story, I won't risk it so no, you can't vote for that one.)
And yet, she could sense there was a way to know. A way to fall deeper down into these ashen wastes, perhaps even drown until she touched the very bottom of these ruins, until she found the first of these crumbling pillars.
Which feels very similar to the one we are facing, and which had a good third of the questers voting for it. Either a significant part of the readership doesn't get what the story is about, or I am misunderstanding some fundamental difference about the two choices that have Lirra sacrifice a part of herself to call back to the past. The motives may differ, of course, but the underlying principle is the same.
In fact, I thought that choosing what to make of and how to treat the past is one of the themes of the story. From the ancient curse that the Gravediggers bear even without knowing what it is yet having their lives defined by it; to them being hailed as heroes only to be discarded once their time ran out; to the way they can bring back old memories, secrets and feelings that would otherwise be lost forever.
...I would confess that even though I voted against it, I hoped to revisit the earlier choice when we were better prepared to face it.
Maybe Lirra isn't in the right headspace to make use of the connection, and would waste it to spend time with people long dead while forsaking her bonds with the living... but I thought this would be up to the players.
I would probably be very cautious around such an option myself, but I was wondering why it was crossed out outright.
Edit:
[x] Close the connection. Your Mentor is and will alway live in your heart, but it is time to move forward.
There is no way I am severing it. The past is a foundation upon which the future is built.
It's really hard to dip into several school of magic, as they all are a fondamentally different way of viewing how magic works. All mages are kind of insane subtly influenced by their magic (for exemple, Chloe, a telepath, can barely communicate without her magic), making it hard to have more than one school (unless you're a genius who's about to create your own school, like for Creation, but that probably won't be the case since you didn't go for Star and are as such more interested in practical solutions).
Well, that throws quite some of our planning into disarray. I'd rather assumed that we'd have some strong advantages to learning certain styles of magic - Fire and Death from being a Gravedigger, Illusion and Nature from being a changeling - which would allow us to learn all of them without major problems, and as far as I can tell that assumption is what we based our character build on.
We might already have done Mind magic too, every time we've experienced someone's memories and skills while pyring them? Definitely while meditating.
For that matter, what schools would those above examples even fall into? Fire is obviously elementalism, at least from a 'fire as a purifying force' standpoint like we're predisposed to.
Death is propably forbidden magic? Might be Alteration, depending on wether souls, stasis/entropy and death in general can fall under it's umbrella as things that are real and physical and can be understood.
Illusion, again obvious.
Nature, might be Alteration for controlling plants, and Mind/Illusion for controlling animals/nature spirits, but both are a far cry from the 'harmony with nature' style I was thinking of. Elementalism should easily do weather, but apparently can't really do wood, if the table example is anything to go by.
Though, you said Elementalism is about the platonic elements, but you also said that it can do healing by pushing life energy into people? Is Life a sub-element of Aether? Could you pull life energy out of things in order to harm them, or is there maybe a corresponding Death sub-element? Could you archieve nature magic by manipulating life energy?
What is Aether anyway, in this world? IRL, there's multiple definitions of it, even if we completely ignore the eastern Void equivalent. What personality traits are associated with aether elementalists?
What's the mental damage associated with Alteration, for that matter, assuming it has one?
Does any school always manifest the same mental damage in all it's practicioners, or does it vary? If the latter, what controls how it expresses itself?
Are our innate Geasa mind magic?
Completely unrelated and propably dangerous and ill-advised idea: Could you use Mind or Illusion to cheat and very briefly hypnotize yourself every time you want to use another school in order to temporarily convince yourself of that school's mindset?
Well, that throws quite some of our planning into disarray. I'd rather assumed that we'd have some strong advantages to learning certain styles of magic - Fire and Death from being a Gravedigger, Illusion and Nature from being a changeling - which would allow us to learn all of them without major problems, and as far as I can tell that assumption is what we based our character build on.
We might already have done Mind magic too, every time we've experienced someone's memories and skills while pyring them? Definitely while meditating.
For that matter, what schools would those above examples even fall into? Fire is obviously elementalism, at least from a 'fire as a purifying force' standpoint like we're predisposed to.
Death is propably forbidden magic? Might be Alteration, depending on wether souls, stasis/entropy and death in general can fall under it's umbrella as things that are real and physical and can be understood.
Illusion, again obvious.
Nature, might be Alteration for controlling plants, and Mind/Illusion for controlling animals/nature spirits, but both are a far cry from the 'harmony with nature' style I was thinking of. Elementalism should easily do weather, but apparently can't really do wood, if the table example is anything to go by.
I was under the impression that we hadn't yet forced ourselves into a particular branch of magic, implying that the things we can currently do are separate from the fields of magic since they are innate and not learned the way magic is.
I have to ask that question. What are the themes of the story?
Because a few updates ago, I remember there being another choice.
Which feels very similar to the one we are facing, and which had a good third of the questers voting for it. Either a significant part of the readership doesn't get what the story is about, or I am misunderstanding some fundamental difference about the two choices that have Lirra sacrifice a part of herself to call back to the past. The motives may differ, of course, but the underlying principle is the same.
In fact, I thought that choosing what to make of and how to treat the past is one of the themes of the story. From the ancient curse that the Gravediggers bear even without knowing what it is yet having their lives defined by it; to them being hailed as heroes only to be discarded once their time ran out; to the way they can bring back old memories, secrets and feelings that would otherwise be lost forever.
...I would confess that even though I voted against it, I hoped to revisit the earlier choice when we were better prepared to face it.
Maybe Lirra isn't in the right headspace to make use of the connection, and would waste it to spend time with people long dead while forsaking her bonds with the living... but I thought this would be up to the players.
I would probably be very cautious around such an option myself, but I was wondering why it was crossed out outright.
Edit:
[x] Close the connection. Your Mentor is and will alway live in your heart, but it is time to move forward.
There is no way I am severing it. The past is a foundation upon which the future is built.
The themes are about loss, dealing with it and moving forwards, getting over depression and so on (the fact that you had so few open slots for actions and so many things to do that everyone complained about was to make you feel the fact that yes, you can do so little. Depression sucks like that). Remember that the vote for why you're here was "making friends", not "acquiring unlimited power", so I'm trying to guide the story in that direction.
I started the quest with lots of freedom left for the votes, and as things go forward, well, things get established, which is why some options aren't there anymore (also, I plainly didn't want to write what would happen with the crossed vote, which would likely kill the quest or make the updates even slower).
Finally, as we've noticed with the fact that I updated like once a year, having everything up to votes is hard for my productivity, so I decided to narrow things down so narrative arcs would actually exist. The next update or the one after will likely be the end of this first part of the quest, as Lirra finally accepts her past thanks to trusting in her friends. Then there'll be a vote for the general idea of the next arc, with some ooc info about the plot you choose and possibly an interlude to deal with the "surprise" or put it in the next arc, still thinking about it. The general idea is to get closer to the structure of quests like maugan's wizards and winter, which will probably be easier for me to write, and more fun for you to read, with my slow update "schedule".
Finally, as we've noticed with the fact that I updated like once a year, having everything up to votes is hard for my productivity, so I decided to narrow things down so narrative arcs would actually exist. The next update or the one after will likely be the end of this first part of the quest, as Lirra finally accepts her past thanks to trusting in her friends. Then there'll be a vote for the general idea of the next arc, with some ooc info about the plot you choose and possibly an interlude to deal with the "surprise" or put it in the next arc, still thinking about it. The general idea is to get closer to the structure of quests like maugan's wizards and winter, which will probably be easier for me to write, and more fun for you to read, with my slow update "schedule".
To clarify, we still have to worry about keeping our friends alive during this "surprise," right? Having only about 1-2 updates until then means we'll have to focus on the absolute most important things we can do to prepare. It would be a lot easier to do friend stuff (and thus character growth) if we knew the "surprise" wasn't going to kill off all our friends if we don't somehow keep them alive.
To clarify, we still have to worry about keeping our friends alive during this "surprise," right? Having only about 1-2 updates until then means we'll have to focus on the absolute most important things we can do to prepare. It would be a lot easier to do friend stuff (and thus character growth) if we knew the "surprise" wasn't going to kill off all our friends if we don't somehow keep them alive.
edit: as this isn't a useful answer, I'll point out that your goal is to make friends, and so having me randomly killing them because you've tried making friend instead of unlocking phenomenal cosmic powers would be a dick move.
Why not try making our own magic? I have a great idea! I call it Naturalism. It is based on the simple observation that all thing naturally tend towards their nature. Nature is, thus, the easiest state for a thing to occupy and easily inflicted upon anything. Further: Nature can easily be deduced by observing a thing's state over time and deducing the average. All things, at least those things that are manifest in our surroundings, will, in the course of all time, naturally "exist" for a certain length of time, and "not exist" for a sufficiently greater length of time that the average state is so near to nonexistance as to be functionally identical. It is, then, simplicity itself to merely remind any given manifest entity within our observation that existence was just a minor error of judgement and that it should hurry up and get back to its natural state, or lack there of.
This should be a quick, easy, and highly effective tool for all manner of tasks, from dismissing spells, smiting monsters, rapidly disrobing, emptying latrines, helping the perfect statue emerge from a marble block, sharpening weapons, cutting celery, peeling grapes... anything that just requires a netgross pure reduction of our surroundings. As should be quite obvious, such a natural view of the world should be completely harmless mentally with just a few perfectly-natural defeatist nihilistic tendencies that surely won't be any trouble at all.
Then again, we cannot trust our own senses. The only reality we can truly interact with is a collaborative effort between external perspectives that we can never truly know. Reality is just a product of what people think, and other people could be thinking anything...
We really need to dig up some philosophical horror-stories...
Making our own school would require a major shift in trajectories that is unsupported by any of our current skills, would be a massive undertaking in its own right, doesn't help Lirra make any friends and just isn't something I want to do.
I'm with the Tree, Alteration seems the way to go, especially in its methodology. It works well in making stuff, which we're kinda doing with our smithing and other skills, and it sounds like that rune magic that around kinda fits into that as well. And if methodology is more important then spells, that would work great with Lirra. As has been noted, she's got elements of life, death, nature and fire as core parts of her being, we could use Alteration to bring those forward and apply them to things. Plus you can kinda see how it might apply to her Echos, taking part of someone and making it hers, changing Lirra in the process.
More then that it fits Lirra's nature. She's a conglomerate of contradictions and alterations. Some by choice, others foisted on her. She was born both a changeling and a gravedigger, a being of life and nature consumed by fire and ash. The history of her people makes most distrust her out of hand, yet her goal is friendship. Her body lends itself best to sneaking around and providing support, but she's training to be out at the front slaying her enemies and protecting those that need it. Change and trying to be something she's not is one of her strongest themes, and Alteration sounds like it slots right in. It is supposed to be more difficult, but we can cheat with Echos, so it shouldn't be too bad.
[X] Close the connection. Your Mentor is and will alway live in your heart, but it is time to move forward.
-----------------------
Lirra bit her lips. Stabilizing the connection, getting her father back... She looked at the mass of parchment and stars that was Chloe in this world, weaving magics she had no idea about to help her without asking for anything in return. She thought of Lucilia, so determined to help her yet so fragile and broken herself. And then she imagined a nameless, faceless friend, who she had no memories of, yet would have likely done the same.
Some say that no one is really dead while at least one person remembers them. Was this the person she wanted to be, to repay kindness with oblivion? She couldn't live in the past forever. She had to move forward.
"Close it." The words broke her heart, but she knew that as long as she wasn't alone, it'd heal. None living could go against time, this cruel ruler, but this once it would give instead of taking.
This would be the best way to remember her Mentor, her father, and the love he'd given her when he had received none. He'd done his best to guide Lirra towards a life that wouldn't be filled only with loneliness and death, so now she had to let him go to honor his memory, and pass this love along. She knew, anyway, that in the end she'd find him again, as another pillar crumbling deep in the soul of her successor.
As the winds blew ash around her, the pillar crumbled down to what it was before she touched it, and as it fell down, she could see his smiling face.
"Farewell, I love you," whispered the wind.
"I'll see you again, you'll always live in my heart," she answered.
And then all was light, and silence.
...
"And so you are attempting to achieve meditation?"
It was late in the afternoon after classes and Lirra was sitting against a tree alongside a friend. She was a short woman - although Lirra couldn't really comment on that with her own diminutive size - with exotic features that marked her as coming from faraway lands. They had finished sparring for the day and were now relaxing with small talk while waiting for dinner.
"Ah, uh… yes. But I'm kind of unsure of where to start. Truth to be told, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but uh… how do you even go about it?"
The friend - Lirra could almost remember her name, it was on the tip of her tongue - drank some water from a skin, taking some time to gather her thoughts, before offering it to Lirra.
"It is not an unwise thing to do meditating. Stories tell of the old masters grabbing deep inside through meditation to get overwhelming power and the secrets of heavens." She let out an uncharacteristic bitter laugh. "But they have left for the peaks and we have to learn the secret of the land: "how do you not get stabbed", so the meditating I learned was to ready the self for fighting and facing terrible things."
Lirra remained silent for a bit at that, looking down.
"That's, uh… I'm sorry," she finally said.
The two stayed like this for a while, lost in thoughts.
"We cannot change what is happened." The friend finally concluded somberly before turning to Lirra. "Anyway, I have objects for meditation. I don't suppose I will need them soon, so I can offer them to you. Plants that make a smell that helps with a mind too full and a bowl to burn them in. I have moved beyond the need for them to arrive in meditation now. Come."
They went into the building and made their way to the friend's room. It was rather spartan, the only decoration being a hanging scroll depicting a mountainous landscape in black ink. The illustration was under a symbol that Lirra had seen on some of the clothes her friend wore from time to time, a heavily stylised dandelion. The bed was so well made that it felt as though no one ever slept on it, and a sword and a spear of a different make than Lirra was used to were carefully placed against the wall under the window.
"Offer me a moment," the friend said as she started moving things out of a bag until she found an ornate bowl and a bundle of wrapped dried flowers.
She drew a hand across the bowl, her fingertips running along the carvings of a battle amidst mountains and clouds before closing her eyes and exhaling. Then, she passed it to Lirra.
"Here it is. Sit somewhere where you are in comfort, then light the flowers and try to make the void in your mind." She instructed. "Do not worry about the flowers, but give me the bowl once you are done. It has… value to my heart."
"Ah, I, uh… Thank you, I will." Lirra looked at the carvings more closely. "What's shown on it? It looks like a battle, but I can't seem to find what they're fighting..."
"Well, it is..."
After some hesitation, the friend started talking. She told tales of a land far above the clouds, of a distant peak where old masters once retreated in their quest to transcend their flesh. Of a distant peak where power flowed and the secrets of the gods could be grasped. Of a distant peak where air was thin and the land barren. A distant peak where too many servants had been brought before being discarded and now fought and killed for the scraps of arable land that they could find. And who were those poor warriors fighting? Some terrible monsters or an invading force? No, despite being brothers and sisters, bound by the same trials, they were fighting each other, like a snake eating its own tail in an endless cycle. All while those ancient masters laughed and were the sole beneficiaries of the damned quest that had seen those wretched souls ripped from their homes only to be left to die once they were not needed anymore.
"... and that is what it shows," the friend concluded. "Nothing that one should be wanting to see, but all the same, it is… home. And I am far away." She sighed. "I am apologizing, please leave me lonely for now. I do not wish to show myself with such emotions."
Lirra was halfway through an hesitant hug as her friend said that. She stopped herself and took a step back with visible effort, desperate to help yet wishing to respect her friend's wish. Stepping back, she held the bowl and flowers close, almost as a replacement.
"Ah… alright. I will… well, I'll try to use this, then and uh… I'll see you later, ok?"
The friend gave her a slight smile as Lirra left her room.
Later that day, Lirra was sitting cross legged on her bed, the bowl placed on her thighs. Carefully, she tilted a candle in the bowl and lit up the herbs. As a thick purple smoke lazily rose from the bowl, she tried to empty her mind before breathing in deep and…
…
"Furuta!" Lirra exclaimed as her eyes shot open. "Oh no… No no no..."
She woke up on Chloe's bed, half buried under the diminutive mage and her collection of books. The first was light, but the other not so much. Still, it was nothing compared to the weight of her guilt now that she finally remembered what she'd forgotten these last few weeks. She looked at the window and saw the familiar golden hue of the end of the day. Would someone be waiting for her under that tree?
"I'm sorry, Chloe, I have to go!" Lirra said as Chloe blearily moved off from her. "I… Thank you, I'll see you later!"
The door closed behind her, leaving Chloe absentmindedly waving a hand before she fell back on her bed, drained by the magical feat she had just performed.
---
The sun was starting to set as Lirra reached the training grounds where she knew Furuta should be. And she could see her there, framed by the burning light of the setting sun, repeatedly going through her stances, alone. The simple, perfected beauty of her strikes had Lirra just as entranced as the first time she'd seen them. Just like now, she'd been stuck in place watching from a distance. However, this time it wasn't simple awe that rooted her in place, but her familiar companions: guilt and remorse. Furuta was nearing the end of her set when Lirra finally gathered her courage to advance. "A chance for a new me, someone I could admire", she'd proudly declared during the first test. But was she really? Thinking back on the last month or so, she was surprised that, for the most part, the answer was yes. The only thing that soured her self-assessment was what she'd accidentally done to her friend.
Certainly, what she'd done to Furuta was terrible, but wallowing in self-pity instead of fixing things would be worse. A better self didn't mean she would never make mistakes - that simply wasn't a standard anyone could achieve - but that she would do her best to fix them.
With that in mind, she took a hesitant first step, then a more determined second, then a third, a fourth and more, until she was standing in front of Furuta. She gulped, her lips felt dry yet she held onto her determination and spoke.
"H-hey, Furuta. I'm so sor-"
She was interrupted by a training staff thrown her way. She grabbed it and got into a guard stance by reflex. Looking up she could see Furuta picking another one up after sheathing her sword.
Well, Lirra thought, I suppose I deserve to get beat up for what I did.At least she made it as sporting as it could be.
Silently, Furuta raised her staff and after an instant to check Lirra was ready, began her assault. To Lirra's surprise, it wasn't a deserved beatdown. It wasn't even a methodic one, which would admittedly fit Furuta more. No, it was their usual sparring, as if this cursed empty week hadn't happened, or as close to it as was possible. Furuta's blows started more hesitant than usual, her probing strikes studying not only Lirra's guard, but also the state of their relationship. Eventually, Lirra left the defensive and struck towards her friend, her forms following what she'd learned in their past spars. At the end of her attacks, Furuta locked their staves in a low parry then, with the ghost of a smile on her lips, started fighting in earnest. Time and time again, Lirra found herself on the ground after no more than three blows, but by the end, their bond was as healthy as Lirra was bruised.
Battered and covered in dirt, Lirra accepted Furuta's offered hand and got back to her feet. They then went to sit under their tree, getting their breath back in silence. Surprisingly, it was Furuta who broke it first.
"This time without you has been… difficult. I ignore if it was the weakness in a sparring partner that left you away, or if I made a wound with asking you to leave, or the telling of bad things about my place of origin, but I demand you to forgive me."
She bowed while sitting, leaving Lirra to stare in awkward confusion at the conclusion Furuta had reached. She wasn't the only one prone to overthinking her interactions, it seemed. She put her hand on her friend's shoulders in a hurry to get her back up, so she could look into her eyes.
"Wh-what? No! Furuta, I… Why would I think any of that!?" She exclaimed, almost angry at the person bad mouthing Furuta, even if said person was Furuta herself. "You are a superb companion, and… and the only bad thing after your story was that I didn't know how to comfort you! I would never think less of you for… what, feeling things?"
Despite her control, or perhaps it was but a trick of the light of the setting sun, tears gathered at the corners of Furuta's eyes. She took a short breath before asking, the words almost stuck in her throat.
"But then… why?" she almost begged, desperate to know why her first friend in this foreign land had left her with no explanation.
"I… I didn't mean to. The meditation… Something went wrong, and… all my memories of you just… went away. And after you'd just lent me a precious memento of your home… I'm sorry, Furuta, I'm so sorry!" Lirra explained, finally able to apologize for the pain she'd caused her friend.
Lirra felt hands grasp her back, and thin, wiry arms bring her close until all she could see was Furuta's back. They stayed like that for a while, and if Lirra felt her friend trembling or heard sobs, well, it probably was just a trick of the light.
As long as she didn't say anything, it wasn't as if she lied.
After quite a long time, Furuta's arms relaxed, and her breaths came out in a laugh.
"What fools we are, to think that this all was the guilt of an accident of meditating," she said. "It almost makes me glad that the spell of translating in this school does not know my tongue if magic of the mind can make trouble like that. As uneasy as it makes talking sometimes."
"Well, you're much better than just a few weeks ago, so…" Lirra answered, trailing off.
"It is good to learn- wait, no, to know…" Furuta said, smiling. "Friend?"
Sitting next to her Lirra squeezed her shoulder and got closer, careful not to hit her with her horns.
"Of course! Friend."
And with that, they looked at the stars rising after the last rays of the setting sun.
"To your success, then, friendmaker, we'll have to drink tonight!" Furuta teased, drawing a giggle from Lirra.
—
Deep into Lirra's soul, there stood a pillar. It had been broken once, then stood tall, and finally fell again as its time had come. If rock could feel, and this one was a good contender for it being possible, it would not weep at its state. It had done its time, gave what love it could while it stood, and even in ruins, its legacy endured.
In its shadow, safe from the scouring sun of that desert of ashes, three flowers had grown. A red rose, fragile, whose thorns did its best to keep others from coming too close, afraid it would dirty them. A blue iris, watered by ink, whose petals weighed down by secrets would still do all they could to shelter their friends. And a dandelion, whose seeds had flown from afar, and whose seeds would yet continue on, in order to bring life wherever they could.
And under those ashes, the pillar knew, yet more roots had taken, just waiting for the moment to break out from underneath and turn this desert into a lush field.
Yes, the pillar had fallen, but it was happy.
----------------------
The end.
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^rude
And with that, our cute goat's adventure ends, not with a random cliffhanger because I forgot I had an update 90% written down two years ago, but with an acceptable end point.
For those who read this, well, hey, thanks for reading (and probably re-reading given how long it's been). Sorry for my (lack of) update schedule, but hey, better late than never, right?
And for those who want more, well, I kind of do as well, and for those who are curious of just what the hell is that surprise that we should have almost reached by now, well, it's a surprise. I might do a continuation in a new thread, but I probably should plan some more so we can hope for updates that, you know, happen more than once a year.
If so I'll post a link there for Gravedigger quest 2: grave harder, so stay tuned.
(and in case you want the non meme illustration of Lirra at the top, it's right there, in my art thread)
Well, you crushed my hopes for more updates, but I respect that you at least tied it off with this last chapter. Most authors here don't do that it seems.
Well, you crushed my hopes for more updates, but I respect that you at least tied it off with this last chapter. Most authors here don't do that it seems.
Gravedigger 2: grave harder is definitely coming out in the next five to ten years, don't be sad. (more seriously, I'm trying to get back into writing, it's just that this thread is a bit messy and old, with mechanics I planned on using at some point but find kind of annoying now (the shop and skills, why did I do this) so I want to start again in a clean thread)
