Heimurn Chronicles (No, SV, you're a young valkyrie in the middle of a bizarre and dangerous journey)

[Teloch]

It took a considerable effort to draw the attention of the footman who was already dead-set on venturing forth. After a series of pulls by his arm and a couple of irritating shakes from his side, he finally turned towards you. You pointed at those two spots in the snow that brought you to discomfort with their unusual nature and suspicious lack of activity. The stubborn side of Kyres made itself known as he turned to see the places you pointed at and then back at you, considering the reason behind your disturbance, and the validity of your warnings. For a moment, you could almost feel the skepticism scratching at the back of his helmet, but, eventually, he came to conclusions that made him slightly reconsider the approach. Maybe you were convincing, or perhaps something triggered his memory or expertise. Regardless, he quietly reached for his mace, changed the head of it for the one more silverish resting in the belt bag, enclosed the dagger which he had given you yesterday into your hands, and waved off, as if saying to keep the distance.

After making a little adjustment to his weapon, checking the sphere on his belt, and assuming the low, assault-ready stance, he sharply changed the course of his advance from the carcass of the mount to the closest snowbank you pointed at. It was at that exact moment when the sources of your worries made themselves clear: with some brief difference in timing, two short whirlwinds of cyan ether began to rise from the snow, enthralling the snow and icy shards with their spinning. These whirly movements caused the surrounding snow and ice material to assemble in what appeared to be their 'cores.' In addition to being encircled by the ghastly flows of green-blue aether, the fiends possessed rather grotesque shapes, reminding some sort of frozen partially dismantled torsos.

Your companion, however, did not seem to share your hypothetical fascination of the new discovery and has had much more violent intentions. Using the initiative opportunity provided by your earlier observations, he charged onto the closest whirlwind that only barely managed to form itself, slamming the crystallized 'core' of the latter without any hesitation or doubt. Under the first strike, the thing somehow vocalized an unnaturally nasty screech, more resembling the scratching sound between two smooth stones than something to be heard from a living creature. The animated assembly turned out to be quite nimble, evading from the path of a couple of successive strikes, and attempting to disengage from the melee. Yet, Kyres did not let it get away from the immediate proximity via mighty diagonal slam following it up with an accurate shield slap. After sustaining the bash and shrieking for the second time, the frost fiend's core literally exploded, showering Ulren with a cloud of sharp icicles, which clanged against his armor and shield. The aether released from the cracked heart stone descended to the ground, forming into prolonged tendrils and slipping into the half-frozen corpses of the former travelers like a bunch of rabid serpents. The dull shade of malachite light sparked in the eyes of the dead, after which they began to move once again, raising from their chilly places of perishing and advancing at you like obedient soldiers.

Now, both of you were facing seven hostiles in total: one remaining ice fiend that was floating behind the pack of the undead and shooting at the actively-blocking Ulren with icicle projectiles. The said undead contingency consisted of two armed corpses that once belonged to mercenaries or soldiers, two reanimated males of varying ages clad in once high-quality clothes, a well-off adult female who's charm was long-ruined by signs of the untimely death, with the undead mount completing the pack. The young man's corpse ventured in your direction while the rest of the zombie pack concentrated on surrounding, tackling, and dispatching Ulren.

Once again, you were forced to fight for your life. Still, in contrast to the wargs from the yesterday encounter, the undead was slow, unrelenting, and downright stubborn, which caused you to land strikes after strikes at the persistent corpse with all your strengths in hopes that it will shatter before you run out of vigor.

Ulren, however, fought much more graciously against remarkably higher odds. Despite the foes acting tactically, separating the mobile fiend capable of tossing high-velocity ice shards from threat via the pack of walking carrion and a dead charger, he carried out a perfect balance between blocking projectiles, dodging the mount whenever it jostled at him, and delivering per one or two crushing blows whenever an opportunity arose. After a few 'rounds' of this aggressive defense, he managed to break the mount's frontal knee, causing it to helplessly collapse in the snow obeying the force of inertia and was methodologically binding the remaining ice fiend in melee engagement.

In the meanwhile, using all of your strengths, you managed to land the blow that ultimately broke the solidified neck of your opponent, causing his decapitated body to collapse after an eery ten seconds of walking blindly and flailing hands helplessly. The second sound of shattering explosion and ice shards swirling in the air emerged seconds after the collapse of your opponent, signifying that Kyres has also dispatched his much more numerous adversaries. Slightly limping, he proceeded to inspect the remnants of the twice-perished travelers. Because of the exhaustion, you sluggishly joined him.

_________________________​

In about an hour, you were both sitting at the freshly established campfire, not that far from the place of your latest encounter. Among other things recovered from the bags were a set of spare female clothes, including a leather waist corset, a green robe dress, per a pair of boots and gloves, and some minor garments. That was a welcomed change to the rugs you were wearing, even if quite a bit loose at some places. There was also a set of oddly shaped little bottles with odorous liquids inside, some bandage rolls, and three books, two of which seemed to be printed, and the last one was handwritten.

Ulren was sitting against you, fiddling with the apothecary bottles and fabric. You were sitting near the campfire, heating up in your new garments but still enveloped in Kyres' cloak, and looking through the written book and the illustrations in it. Ulren was periodically looking at you with a slightly gloomy face whenever he thought that you are too consumed by the book. Maybe it was a lack of food supplies that will run out tomorrow, irritation about the wounds he might have sustained during the fight, contemplations on the nature of your spirit sensing ability, or something entirely different. The style of entries and several hand-drawn pictures of surprisingly high quality in the book you were inspecting convinced you that it might have been a journal of sorts. Judging by the resemblance of the images to those corpses you had to take down, it seemed that they were close to each other in life and decided to move from their previous habitat for the reasons unknown. Alas, all that they found was an untimely end by the ice fiends. It appeared that the icy entities were above them in the metaphoric feeding chain and ultimately used them as their servitude extensions. You avoided thinking of what might have happened with you should you fail to defend yourself.

But as much as you tried not to think about it, the idea that even organized groups do not always seem to survive in this world descended upon you. What resulted out of it was the admittance that you are not likely to survive even a couple of weeks should you not put effort into adapting and improving. With this sore idea stuck in your head, you diverted your gaze to the campfire. You have some time before moving out; best to use it wisely.

_____________________________________________________

Limit - 10 time points

Providing assistance

[] Help Ulren out with wounds treatment -3p
Easy intelligence attribute check (13), very easy pharma and treatment check (13), your luck roll; non-repeatable.
You're sure he's not as scratchless as he tries to appear. Perhaps you may help, or at least learn the basics of medical aid. (+1 pharma and treatment skill, consequence of the rolls in the story)

[] Help out with managing camp -3p
Easy intelligence attribute check (13), very easy daily craft check (13), your luck roll; non-repeatable.
You've seen how to run camps. Perhaps, you'll be able to save your guide some time by offering help? Maybe you would even learn how to cook given that your friend finds something edible (+1 daily craft skill, consequence of the rolls in the story)

[] Help with foraging -3p
Easy perception attribute check (13), very easy nature lore check (13), your luck roll; non-repeatable.
You still remember those edible berries, right? Might help with searching for edible plants in the morning (+1 nature lore skill, consequence of the rolls in the story)

[] Help with hunting -3p
Easy perception attribute check (13), trivial huntsmanship skill check (11), your luck roll; non-repeatable.
You can barely understand the principle of the hunt, but maybe you would learn something or even prove useful? Besides, you can sense living things! (+1 huntsmanship skill, consequence of the rolls in the story)

Training

[] Asking Ulren for some training -3p

-[] Ask for melee practice
-[] Ask for defense practice
-[] Ask for ranged practice
Very easy persuasion skill check (13), your luck roll; non-repeatable.
He is more than adequate when it comes to the rough sort of confrontations. He might be busy performing the survival duties and not feeling too well after the latest fight, but he seems to like you, so persuading him to show you some moves might not be a big deal (+1 to the one of your choosing).

[] Study/train your wings -2p
No rolls; your wings proficiency is the separate skill; you need it at 4 to assist with overall mobility and glide, 8 to fly, 12 to perform complicated tasks and advanced flight; repeatable.
If you have them, they should be useful. As far as you have seen, the nature of this world does not tolerate redundancy. (+1 per a round)

[] Self-study the thaumaturgy aspect -4p
Normal intelligence attribute check (15), easy arcane skill check (17), your luck roll; +1 is warrantied, additional +1 is granted if both rolls are successful or one failed roll is compensated with the luck; non-repeatable.
You've been studying this issue of late, observing its functions in the realm. You believe that you can advance this knowledge.

[] Self-study the spirit aspect -4p
Normal intelligence attribute check (15), easy arcane skill check (17), your luck roll; +1 is warrantied, additional +1 is granted if both rolls are successful or one failed roll is compensated with the luck; non-repeatable.
You've been practicing this aspect actively, managing to earn hypothetical benefits. You think that you can advance your skills in this direction much, much further.

Pastime and other activities

[] Communicate with your companion on the matter of (write-in) -2p
Easy Intelligence attribute check (12), easy Wisdom attribute check (12), The action itself and each successful roll decreases the - wisdom ignorance debuff by 1/3 point if the topic of the question is correctly picked; repeatable.
You have so much to learn about this world...

[] Ask Ulren to read (and explain) one of the recovered books -4p
Normal persuasion skill check (20), easy intelligence attribute check (12), easy wisdom attribute check (12), your luck roll; If the persuasion roll is successful (or compensated with luck), the action itself and each of the remaining rolls decrease the - wisdom ignorance debuff by 2/3 point and earn additional benefits; non-repeatable.
The books! Ulren might be upset by the fact that both of you have risked for some lousy print, but you absolutely want to know what's written in them and even more, you want to learn how to read. Persuading him to spare a lot of time with you may not be that easy, but this might be very beneficial to you... if he can read, that is... he is literate, right?

[] Inspect (write-in) -1p
Pick to gain more insight on whatever object (or subject) within your reach, no benefits past the detailed information, repeatable.
There is a lot of new things around, you feel the itch to study them.

[] (Write-in)
You may have some interesting ideas, aren't you?

 

[Teloch]

About continuity of the story. Basically, the updates will be like varying phases of event chains, camping, and specials. For example:
E - E - E - C - C - E - E - E - S - C - C - E - ...

As for the voting time, I'd give it a couple of days. The odds are, I'll be able to deliver the next update quickly

 

[Teloch]

Doubts and hesitance - the hobgoblins of all young persons - held you in their grip while you were observing the person to whom you owe your survival experiencing bodily suffering. Possibly, it was the benevolent nature that drove you to be helpful on this journey, or maybe you behaved so out of the cold calculation, regardless, you approached Ulren, who was fiddling with the salvaged bottles and bandages and looking at you questioningly. It took little effort for you to express your concern.

Resisting the disgust caused by the sight of the fresh wounds and blood, you attempted to help your partner to apply and fixate the medicated bandages. Because of a couple of icicles tossed by the snow fiends managed to get in the gaps of his armor, stinging below his right armpit, your assistance in wrapping the cloth around that zone was well-timed and meaningful. The second wound found its place on the inner side of his left thigh, and even though your assistance was no longer required, you still helped him out, medicating the bandages and managing the inventory. The wounds were minor, but they seemed to cause plenty of discomfort to your 'patient.'

Thorough having to observe the unnerving scenes (such as Ulren hissing angrily when washing the wounds) and struggling to understand the reason behind your friend's actions, you have learned the basics of the first aid. Among the lessons learned, there was the importance of cleaning the wounds from the outside irritants, the methods of fixating bandages over easily and hardly reachable surfaces, and the necessity of preserving blood within a body. Peculiarly enough, the process of learning was as easy as remembering something long-forgotten. This realization left a little mark in your memory. Besides learning some practical skills (your very first skills, nonetheless!), you also pinpointed a couple of observations regarding your friend's race and, possibly, him personally. First - the skin around his older scars that peeked from under the rags seemed to be thicker, forming on his hide in leathery plates, and his left hand seemed to be of slightly lighter tone compared to his right one (and also less hairy). These peculiarities of his constitution, as well as the overall differences in your species, sparked curiosity within your mind: how many races exist in this world? What are their traits and behaviors? Unfortunately, neither the time nor the set of circumstances was favorable to explore on this question, and so, you turned around in retreat, only to feel a hand on your shoulder and turning around curious of what can it be.

The answer was unexpectable - your friend wasn't finished addressing the matters of health, uncorking one of the recovered jars, taking some oily white substance on his two fingers, and busily dabbing it against your face! It was unexpectable, the substance was cold and horrendously stinking (you would probably characterize it as the stench of a rotten fish, should you ever smelled that), and he was methodically rubbing it in. For a few moments, you were struggling (and squeaking) like a kitten, demonstrating all of their dissatisfaction of being licked by their mother. Your comical protest was short-lived, however; the smell transformed into something pleasant, reminding of the herbal oils, your face - impudently and unmotivatedly bruised by one of these "Bhiroth" creatures - began to feel soothed. Gee, for someone as hulking and brutish as your friend, he has very soft palms. Alas, when you began to enjoy this show of care, he was done. Still, you were smiling - it felt good to have that trauma addressed and heartwarming to see your efforts acknowledged and repaid.

A bit later that night, you approached Ulren once again, now clutching the recovered books and handing them to him. Judging by his facial expression, he understood your plea in an instant but was not all-that-willing to indulge it. Registering that, you tilted your head slightly and smiled wider, attempting to break his resistance with your cuteness. That made him take the books unwillingly and to inspect them in the light of the campfire. One of them he flipped over in an instant as if it contained nothing he found fitting of explanation; the second one made his sarcastically-lopsided smirk to fade for whatever reason; the third one also evoked an emotion - a complex one that shown itself in his gaze shifting to you, to the book, and then to the campfire. You were beaming all this time while he seemingly heeded you your request. Alas, your optimism was cut short when he handed the books back to you with the slightly apologetic expression. Perhaps, it was too late for night reading, or maybe he found the contents inappropriate for you, but regardless, your curiosity left unsatiated. Bummer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

You are soaring high in the skies of the strange realm. It seems to be composed of the darkness below and the scarce sepia-colored light, seeping from a huge halo eclipse above and illuminating scarce patches of this strange space. Below you are rocky canyons that seemed to shape chaotically into intricate figures and then disintegrating into particles carried by the winds only to get re-assembled later. The scene of the chaos below is empowered by dynamically expanding and evaporating clouds of onyx shades. The time seems to run differently in here - much faster, judging by the dynamics of the changes happening around you.

Nevertheless, this is not what captivates the focus of your attention - you are flying by using own wings! The whole spectrum of the feelings of being elevated, the sense of power and shifting balance, the excitement of motion - all these sensations are invigorating you. Moreso, you are basking in the warm sepia light, that spreads through the skies like traces of blood through the water. You can bend and command it, shape however you like. At this point, you want more of this light and warmth - you want to reach the celestial object that produces it!

While cutting your flight through the dark, cold clouds, you grow even more agitated as you are starting to feel the odd sense of familiarity. This object - this obscured sun - has strung you very earliest memories of the great entity. Can it be it? With even more rigor you break through the blockade of chilly clouds, desperately trying to approach this 'Sun'. As you were seemingly getting closer to it, the whole spectrum of feelings began to course through your brain: familiarity, awe, burning curiosity, and something strange, something like the desire of a child to be recognized by the parent. The obscured sun began to react as well: it began to seep even more light from its corona, and a thin horizontal line of light formed on its darkened 'body' surface. It reminded you of a giant eye, and as you began to run out of the strengths, the gap began to widen. Thrilled, you anticipating the revelation, but what you have sensed was a push. And then another one. Then, this surrealistic dream shattered.

It was already late morning, it appeared that you have slept a bit too much than usual, and Ulren was standing at your side with his sarcastic mug and a bowl of wild berries stew in his hand. A poor breakfast that was (even if sweet) considering your energy spendings, but still better than nothing. And moreover, your face wasn't aching! Not a bad start of the day, isn't it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
​

Still feeling invigorated and slightly excited after that dream, you approached your guide with yet another request. Following your yesterday practice on wounds treatment, you figured out for yourself that you need to learn how to evade injuries as well. It took you quite some time, gesturing, and persistence to make him guess correctly of your request. It seems like he wasn't expecting this from you, but he wasn't reluctant. Perhaps, he felt guilty for turning your plea the previous night, or maybe he considered it to be the much better investment of time. Anyhow, soon, he was teaching you how to work with your legs in terms of dodging sideways and descending strikes. After showing you the basics, he took one of the dead bush branches to telegraph the practice strikes for long enough for you to react. Although you comprehended the principle, mastering it in practice was a little bit complicated, as you often found yourself stumbling and digging the snow piles with your nose. But you took that joyously, as a game, and he didn't seem to be annoyed by your failures and general line of behavior. In fact, he held himself very patient and professional. You came with two possible explanations for this observation: he either indulged you, used to train people in the past, or, perhaps, both.

You began to do better but also grew a bit tired. When you slumped down into the snow for the last time, you sensed a spark of sudden mischief twinkling within your mind. As you recovered, you have done so with the arms full of snow, which you used to instigate a sudden snowball fight. Judging by the look on your companion's face, he wasn't expecting that. Judging by a number of snowballs flying your way, not in a slightest he was against the general idea of having fun. During this act of lighthearted tomfoolery, you figured out that you made your friend sincerely smiling for the second time in almost a week, you rejoiced in having an emotional contact, and that you have had way more strengths left than expected when you decided to disrupt the practice. But hey! Dodging snowballs can also be considered as a part of a defense lesson, is it not? Is it?

Unfortunately, good things don't last for as long as one would hope, and soon, after catching your breath and packing the belongings, you both ventured forth, to the endpoint known only to one of you. Ever after that vivid dream, you still felt slightly agitated, and thus you mentally prepared to face whatever lied ahead (like it happened for three times by now). But today, the road was boring, contrary to your fears and expectations. Your guide raised his social defenses (again), the weather was cloudy and suggesting of the coming storm, the number of forest animals and fertile plants was low, making it virtually impossible to try to forage or catch anything that would pacify your rebelling stomach. You have had little to do but to think of your own devices and trying to figure out questions regarding your current situation and to build assumptions on what you know. In such introspective silence, you moved after your guide until you've reached one of the scarce forest hilltops.

The snow began to fail, obscuring the panoramic view. Far to the South, you and Ulren could see a stripe of light on the horizon. One would suggest that it was a cluster of campfires placed far far away. Your friend didn't seem to be very glad of that observation for some reason. By the opposite side of the woody scene - on the far North - you could see a different horizon pattern - fractured and dark, artificial and massive, visually distorting the natural order. Perhaps, that was your destination. Nevertheless, before ascending this hill, you began to feel uneasy, like sensing something stressful is about to happen. Your sudden anxiety grew stronger once you registered a wide wave of dark clouds swiftly approaching the hill you were standing at from the East. These clouds moved fast, periodically emitting lime lightning bolts and thundering booms as their disturbance mounted. You did not like it a tiny bit, as the thunder resonated against your bones. The tension was growing higher, the closer this aerial anomaly approached, and the more terrified you grew. Ulren, however, seemed to be blind and deaf to this event, acting as if there was nothing strange taking place. He even gave you a weird look when you began to pull him by the arm in hopes to make him move from this unnatural storm as fast and as far as possible.

Your attempts were futile. And even if they weren't, how could you possibly outrun the rising storm? There, on the hilltop, the uncanny gale reached you, reducing you to a scared little beast. When the darkness fell upon you, you could swear the whole universe roared, howled, sobbed, and yelled at you simultaneously. And then, there was silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
​

You slowly woke up from deep but uncomfortable slumber. It took you some effort to straighten up and to refocus your sights. Your body was rebelling against your first attempts to regain senses, but once you retook control over them, you found yourself in a place like you have never seen before - sheltered, relatively warm, and too symmetrical to be of natural origins. You slightly lifted your torso on your elbows, assessing the surroundings. You were lying on an improvised couch, made of the folded fabric that served as a tent cover during your campings. The familiar bags were lying nearby, still containing the tools and items you saw previously. The room was illuminated by the rays of the daylight sun, slipping through the partially-curtained windows. It also contained a number of furniture articles of varying degrees of integrity. Is this Ulren's den? Even though more comfortable than a frosty den in the middle of the forest, it still looked too old and unkempt for a long-term stay. When sat straight, you spotted a bucket of water next to you, which you used to quench your thirst on an instinct. But when the glassy surface of water subsidized, you froze on your spot.

You saw a face staring at you from the other side of the compact watery tide. A young, pale face with delicate features, piercing blue eyes, long wheat-blonde hair, and a tiny patch of purple skin on the left cheek. You reached for it with your palm, feeling the fading discomfort of touching what remained of your bruise, and the reflection copied your motions synchronically. You saw yourself in details for the very first time, and what you saw made you feel (WRITE IN).

But wait... how did you get here? What happened on the hill? Where is your friend? Why did he leave you all alone?! The questions began to swirl like a pack of sparrows fighting for breadcrumbs. Thinking of no other way to find it out, you decided to gather all of the recollections of those events that your memory might have still stored. Painstakingly, you began to dig the dreamy mist that was your mind.

The first thing that surfaced was the flashback of the panic attack. When the storm reached you, all your senses were overwhelmed and you behaved like a deranged animal, convulsing wildly and painfully to your friends greater startle. Then, the memory clears up a bit, allowing you to recall how Ulren carried you on his shoulder through the intense snowfall while you were recovering from the initial shock. When he noticed you regaining consciousness, he put you on your feet, tied a rope around you and himself (so you won't lost each other in the snowfall), and proceeded forth, bulldozing the trail for you to follow. Maybe, he even tried to inquire something from you, but all of your senses except for the sight seemed to be either numbed or deceiving you.

Recalling what followed next made you wish it was only your imagination: your supernatural sense of beings was telling you that they were literally all around you - hiding in the woods, gliding down with the snow, and bustle off from the way of your might procession. What is worse, you could hear them whispering, mumbling, and even weeping. To say it was scary is to say nothing. The only thing two things that kept you from falling into helpless panic was the fact you could not understand the meaning of the conversation of these souls unborn (or already dead?), and that you managed to find a shelter in your inner voice, using it to think about your fears, concerns, and hopes. For the continuous stretch of time, there was nothing except the road, the rope entangling you to your unperceiving to the surrounding madness friend, the darkness, the snowfall, and no sounds at all except the haunting whispers. You recall that you grew tired of being afraid after some hours spent in this surrealistic circumstances.

The next memory you managed to grapple out from oblivion was a scene where Ulren left you with the belongings hidden not far from the old, damaged stone wall, rising above the surface like a ribcage of a titanic creature. He gestured you to stay put and quiet. You did not want him to leave you, but you were too tired to protest or plea. Giving up to exhaustion, you dozed off.

The last memory that you managed to grasp was more like a short dream of him watching down on you, pointing somewhere and gesturing not to go away and not to let anything in. Repeatedly. Four-times-in-a-row repeatedly. Perhaps he would've gone for the fifth round, but you seemed to nod in acknowledgment. Weird.

You failed to pick up more recollections from the haze of your recent memory, but what you've got raised more questions than answers. So many questions you could not even ask properly. You sighed disappointed and looked around, deciding to peek through the window. What you saw there, ignited your curiosity even more: you were watching on the city from the window of a somewhat distanced manor. There were other buildings nearby - some of them damaged by fire or force. The trunks of trees were plentiful closer to your observation point. At the distance, you could see the building better preserved, mixed with some spires rising above them. But what really fanned your pry was the small silhouettes of people and even their mounts occasionally appearing far away. The life was going on past the borders of this manor's district, and you were totally thrilled to get to know it.

It took you a considerable effort to chill down a bit. You were safe, warm, and alone? You tried to reach the area around with your soul-sense, confirming the fact that you were no one nearby. You were rested, hungry, and alone in the unknown place in the unknown area.

Now what?

________________________________________________________

12 time points Manage the actions within the quota.

[] Idle
Ends the day. Just in case you're desperate to go "Screw it!". May not be the wisest decision, but still a decision nevertheless.

[] Discover the manor This place is big. Big means a lot of interesting concealed inside. Possibly.
-[] Search it a bit -2 time points, one perception roll against very easy perception check (11), luck roll, the higher difficulty rank beaten (with or without +1 success tier from successful luck roll) the more rewarding the search will be.
-[] Search it a lot -4 time points, the best score out of two perception rolls against very easy perception check (11), luck roll, the higher difficulty rank beaten (with or without +1 success tier from successful luck roll) the more rewarding the search will be.
-[] Search it rigorously -6 time points, the best score out of three perception rolls against very easy perception check (11), luck roll, the higher difficulty rank beaten (with or without +1 success tier from successful luck roll) the more rewarding the search will be.
-[] "Dig" this place -8 time points, two perception rolls against very easy perception check (11), luck roll, the higher difficulty rank beaten (with or without +1 success tier from successful luck roll) the more rewarding the search will be.

[] Explore outside Perhaps, you should really avoid throwing yourself into the unknown all alone. Perhaps, you are too thrilled to give it a rational thought.
-[] Explore the surroundings -3 time points one perception roll against very easy perception check (11), luck roll, the higher difficulty rank beaten (with or without +1 success tier from successful luck roll) the more rewarding the search will be, reconnaissance skill roll against the elementary difficulty skill check (8) to find a way back. +1 to reconnaissance skill if successful.
-[] Explore the district -6 time points, the best score out of two perception rolls against very easy perception check (11), luck roll, the higher difficulty rank beaten (with or without +1 success tier from successful luck roll) the more rewarding the search will be, reconnaissance skill roll against the trivial difficulty skill check (11) to find a way back. +1 to reconnaissance skill if successful.
-[] Hit the streets! -9 time points, the best score out of three perception rolls against very easy perception check (11), luck roll, the higher difficulty rank beaten (with or without +1 success tier from successful luck roll) the more rewarding the search will be, reconnaissance skill roll against the very easy difficulty skill check (14) to find a way back. +2 to reconnaissance skill if successful.
-[] Hello world! -12 two perception rolls against very easy perception check (11), luck roll, the higher difficulty rank beaten (with or without +1 success tier from successful luck roll) the more rewarding the search will be, reconnaissance skill roll against the easy difficulty skill check (17) to find a way back. +3 to reconnaissance skill if successful.

[] Manage the place
-3 time points. A daily craft skill roll against trivial skill check (11) + an intellect roll against very easy attribute check (11). One success roll equals to +1 to daily craft skill.
You've been left here with the supplies. Maybe it is worthwhile to organize them and the place.

[] Medicine practice
-3 time points. A pharma and treatment skill roll against trivial skill check (11) + an intellect roll against easy attribute check (13). One success roll equals to +1 to pharma and treatment skill.
Perhaps you should see to yourself and Ulren once he hopefully return. You are not sure how well he is right now, or even where he is.

[] Study/train your wings -2p
No rolls; your wings proficiency is the separate skill; you need it at 4 to assist with overall mobility and glide, 8 to fly, 12 to perform complicated tasks and advanced flight; repeatable.
If you have them, they should be useful. As far as you have seen, the nature of this world does not tolerate redundancy. (+1 per a round)

[] Self-study the thaumaturgy aspect -4p
Normal intelligence attribute check (15), easy arcane skill check (17), your luck roll; +1 is warrantied, additional +1 is granted if both rolls are successful or one failed roll is compensated with the luck; non-repeatable.
This issue defines your physiology, as your senses of aspects were dampened by the eery storm. You absolutely need to learn more. Maybe, that dream you have had also has something to do with it.

[] Self-study the spirit aspect -4p
Normal intelligence attribute check (15), easy arcane skill check (17), your luck roll; +1 is warrantied, additional +1 is granted if both rolls are successful or one failed roll is compensated with the luck; non-repeatable.
You can sense freaking storms full of wild souls. If this is not the sufficient incentive to study your talents...

[] Interact with Ulren when he returns and if you avoid getting into trouble (more than one option available)
-[] Ask for melee practice -3 points, very easy persuasion skill check (14), +1 to melee combat skill
-[] Ask for defense practice -3 points, very easy persuasion skill check (14), +1 to defense skill
-[] Ask for ranged practice -3 points, very easy persuasion skill check (14), +1 to ranged combat skill
-[] Ask to read one of the books, dammit! -4 points, very easy persuasion skill check (14), easy intelligence attribute check (12), easy wisdom attribute check (12), your luck roll; If the persuasion roll is successful (or compensated with luck), the action itself and each of the remaining rolls decrease the - wisdom ignorance debuff by 2/3 point and earn additional benefits

[] Socialize with Ulren
- [] Ask about (WRITE IN) -2 points Easy Intelligence attribute check (12), easy Wisdom attribute check (12), The action itself and each successful roll decreases the - wisdom ignorance debuff by 1/3 point if the topic of the question is correctly picked; repeatable.
- [] Try (WRITE IN) Costs, rolls and effects are at QM's consideration

[] Inspect (write-in)
-1 point Pick to gain more insight on whatever object (or subject) within your reach, no benefits past the detailed information, repeatable.
There is a lot of new things around, you feel the itch to study them.

Spoiler: Trivia from the QM

Sorry for keeping you wait for THAT long. I have had tons of work (I still do, actually), a previous update wipe-out (informed means armed), and a horrible writing block (which I seem to overcome). So all's good. Having this behemoth update out of the way, I'm going to try to squeeze them in 1k-1.2k size.

Also, thank's for following!

 

[Teloch]

The world outside... so thrillingly unknown and dangerously luring. You breathed in the cold winter air in full and... curtained the window more properly. Nope, you have had enough of random encounters all of which ended up either in struggles or/and traumas. Nope, you don't think that you would enjoy getting lost in the maze of the unfamiliar streets all alone. Nope, you have seen too many hostile soldiers, zombie horses (horse-zombies?), ice apparitions, rabid wolves, and giant progenitor-knows-whats that roared loud enough to be heard miles away. You've had way too many troubles during your first week in this world, so away from the temptation! No, na-ah, nein, nyet, NOPE!

Besides, you have the much better things to do like organizing the isle of the relative safety and stability this room offered. Judging by the uncommon chaos in your friend's belongings, he left this shelter hastily for whatever reason; and based on the state of the interior, you gained a suspicion that you ended up squatting in an abandoned house. You sighed lightly and rolled up the sleeves of (for now) your robe-ish dress. Time to tidy up this place a bit.

Unneeded fabric pieces folded and tied with ropes, medicine gathered, checked for proper sealing, and put in a single bag section with fragile containers above, the tools put in bags pockets, the food sacks checked for provisions remains (which were none), washed, and hanged out to dry near the fireplace, the piles of unusable furniture disassembled on firewood and piled up, the second sleeping mat unrolled nearby to yours, the fire kept at minimal but essential level - all these actions took you a couple of hours, resulting in cleaner interior, substantially more free space in the bags, and warmth inside the room; you noticed that it was figuratively easier to breathe when everything was as ordered as possible. Ergonomical, comfortable-ish, cozy.

Perhaps, you would've admired the results of your work a little longer, but your glance slid across the object that you have missed - the dusty piece of a broken towering mirror lying with its glassy surface down to the floor. You piled up the broken pieces with as much carefulness as you could only muster, put the better bottom half of the mirror on its half-broken 'legs', dusted its surface, and froze in contemplation.

Just like in the bucket of water, the reflection of a goodly young creature with piercingly blue eyes was staring back at you, repeating all of your motions and mimics. You have seen yourself before, but you have never seen yourself in all the details, and it made you wonder. After throwing a swift glance on the mostly curtained window, obeying the feeling of bashfulness that appeared out of nowhere, you undressed all of the salvaged clothes and Ulren's borrowed cape to inspect all of yourself in the dim and comfy light of the hearth.

Nearly waist-long, wheat-gold silky hair, almost asking to be gathered in a fancy shape; the hourglass figure, beaming with health and freshness from the shapely torso and lightly chiseled abs to the long, elegant legs; pearl-white wings, which you barely managed to unfold without having painful impulses; delicate neck, limbs, and perfect facial details - the whole portfolio of 'assets' made you feel content and perhaps even prideful a tidbit, despite being stained with a few bruises, scratches, and other signs of a tiresome road from before such as dirt. It wasn't like you have had a lot of experience in aesthetics before and thus a proper denominator for comparisons, but somehow you felt that your looks might be one of your 'trump cards' as wells as a masterpiece yet to be finished.

However, you grew tired of this self-contemplation once the questions began to emerge in your mind. Who are you after all? Why do you seem to be so different from the entities you have seen so far? What are your goal and destination? Why do you feel these strange connections to the world and can sense it in a way Ulren supposedly cant? How and in the result of what you came to this reality? These heavy questions were gathering in a metaphorical snowball while you were putting the clothes on and searching for a cozy place to sit near the fire. Struggling not to drown in this ocean of unanswered questions, you considered concentrating on a topic that made at least some sense - your possible relation to light, its attributes and capacities, and the celestial body that produces it. After localizing a smaller bit of the questions, you were blankly staring at the dance of the flame tongues while assembling the intricate puzzle of guesses and pieces of evidence within your mind.

After desperately trying to distill a token of answers or, at the very least, some hypotheses on this matter under the sounds of your empty stomach rebelling against inadequate upkeep, you came to a few basic conclusions: this realm is composed of the various aspects like a tapestry of epic complexity and scale, the light is a substance and the aspect that acts as a fulcrum of balance for all the other aspects, and it is produced by the mysterious celestial body or entity that seemed to appear in your dreams from the very beginning and towards which you can feel the unexplainable bonding vibes. What is that thing? Is it alive? And how is it related to the Sun you can see each and every day?

Ulren crossed the border of the room while you were theory crafting ferociously. His face showed signs of disturbance, fatigue, and cautious suspense, as he was probably thinking of what would he see at the place he left you. The sight of you giving him a brief smile from the depths of the intact and cleaned room relieved him from at least one of the burdens adding to his unrest. After greeting you with the hand gesture, he proceeded closer to the hearth, beginning to fiddle with the appliances and the bricky packages he brought from the outside. Alas, you weren't paying much attention to him, as you returned to your struggle to understand your situation at least partially.

Your mental exertions brought you back to the recollections of the previous 'proper' dream you have had - the one of the colorless realm and the cyclopic Sun. In that dream, you were able to bend the light with the ease needed to bend fabric. What if you able to do so not only in the dream? After taking a deep breath and gathering all the recollections concerning your experiences in that dream, you attempted to concentrate on your stretched hands and the space in front of you. At first, nothing extraordinary was happening as you were picking the right measure of the willpower effort and exhausting your concentration. But then, suddenly even for you, the room lost all of its colors for a fracture of a second, after which the hearthfire Ulren was using to heat up the provisions he procured extinguished without any clear reason. Considering that your friend only expressed the annoyance caused by the hearth's unpredictability and proceeded to light it up again, he failed to sense the disruption of the aspects flow in this room unlike you did. This was clearly not the result you expected to get. Well, at least it was something. Perhaps, you could even use this 'trick' to counter the entities that use the aspects to manifest themselves, just like those corpse-raising frost abominations, or even to make pockets of safety from the mysterious storms like the one that reduced you to a convulsing animal yesterday. Perhaps. But what you understood for sure, was the fact that this facet of your nature will require much more time and effort to understand and, hopefully, master.

When the smell of edible meat filled the room, you were trying your hardest to understand the nature of the soul sparks that you've met on your way - from your own to the ones brought by the uncanny storm, and the possible connection of this aspect to the entity that occupied your first memory ever made. Alas, the mental search was even less resultful than the previous one. All that you managed to come up with was the comprehension of the fact that each and every living and un-living being in this realm has its "spark" and the realization that each and every spark varies in its properties depending on the factors you haven't figured out yet.

As you dropped your shoulders in frustration, Ulren approached you in his stompy manner, drawing your gaze to his face and to the warm meaty slices he was handling to you. It seemed like he misinterpreted your lack of communication this evening as a sign of exhaustion, hunger, or even sickness. Maybe these concerns made him give you his share of the grub.

Lightened up by this gesture, you took the gift with a bright smile and began to chomp the food with gratefulness and enthusiasm... until you discovered the taste of it. You could swear that the soles of your boots would probably taste better in the equal circumstances, but at least this 'meat' was edible, and that is what ultimately matters. Ulren watched you with an apologetic smirk and slightly nodded his head, showing that he understands your distaste but can't offer anything better. You had to dump your taste receptors via sheer force of will to continue to chomp to the proviant with gratefulness even if without the initial enthusiasm.

When you finished it, you froze on a reflex, fixating a slight but significant change in your perceptions: ridden of all the interruptions and outside disturbances, you were sensing your companions' spark in more details than before - you were "reading" it. Hopping at this opportunity to explore your powers, you concentrated once again, trying to memorize the method and your state while doing so.

The dynamics and the pattern of his soul spark unfolded into the impressions you could interpret: the kind soul that picked you up from the woods was youngish but already scratched with hardships and the experience. You could distinguish at least three deep dents - the proof that he had lived through at least three life ordeals that nearly broke him and from which he never fully recovered. The uneven but persistent intensity of the glow suggested that for some time and up to this day, he was under the constant pressure of the circumstances beyond his reach. He was like that tree that bends to the vagaries of nature but refuses to surrender and fall to overwhelming odds out of the sheer recalcitrance and something else, something buried deeper than your senses could reach.

You snapped out of the trans-like state with even more questions on your hands. If only you could ask them comprehensibly... You shifted your gaze to your friend: he was already sleeping, snuffling gruffly and unevenly. The darkness behind the windows also suggested that it was already a little bit too late for evening conversations. Ultimately, your exhausted mind sent you a signal that it is time for you to rest as well. Today you have learned some new things, even if gathered more questions, and avoided peril, even if missing on vague opportunities.

"And no cataclysms either..." was your last thought before falling into the soft and quiet oblivion of the dreamless sleep.

________________________​

"Ho-ot... Ho-ot?"

The familiar echoes of the first living being that met you in this world - that creepy bifurcated owl - made you sprung from your bedding place and rush to the window to chase the pesky thing away. However, you saw nothing except the landscape of a winter settlement. Blaming it on your imagination, you sighed in relief and scanned the room with your glance. Everything was at its places except for your friend. Why? Why does he have to leave you alone again?! Slightly disappointed, you went back to the depths of the room, reflectionally washing your face with the water in the bucket and planning how to occupy oneself today.

Your hygiene ritual was interrupted by a series of strikes against wooden surface somewhere from below. This is wrong. Carefully, you approached the window, peeking through one of its edges with all the subtlety you possessed. Below, there was a figure. Two figures, actually. The bigger one - the one belonging to a thin and round-shouldered woman covered with dirty rags of gray and black colors was holding to a cloth roll with a pale face... Is that a toddler? Is that her toddler? While you were wondering, the woman struck the door again with her shivering hand, lifting her gaze up and seeing you peeking at her. Her face was pale as of those animated dead you've encountered two days ago, with muddy, colorless eyes, and rare curls of gray hair. She stared directly at you with her paralyzingly scary glance of a creature so exhausted that it wasn't a fallacy to say that she was more dead than alive.

Trying to figure out what to do next, you attempted to assess the whole situation and put your sense of souls into the action. The feedback that you've got from it confused you even more: her soul was withered and devastated by exterior forces, reduced to the state of a dumb predator like those wargs you've met on your way here. The toddler... has had no spark at all. As much as you could understand, it meant that It was dead. And instead of the child's spark, you sensed two other presences, hiding from your view outside, behind the assumed corner of the building.

[] Descend and open the door.
She may need help. Any help.

[] Ignore her and hide deeper.
She noticed you, so it would be impolite at the very least and heartless at worst. But you've been told not to let anyone in.

[] Chase them away!
You've seen enough of this world to know when something fishy is about to happen. And this is fishy. Let's see if some projectile tossing would fend them off...

Spoiler: Trivia from the QM

Sorted out that horrendous bulk of work! Yay!

 

[Teloch]

Updated the character sheets (there were status and stats changes, so be aware!) and the codex points of interest

With the next update, which I will start typing in ~23 hours from the moment of this post, I will also open the vote for the next side story (or omake, or whatever you call a spoilerific bit of lore)

I sense that those are a nice addition and so will let you chose between them whenever an appropriate moment will arise.

 

[Teloch]

Backwards! Being caught at the disadvantage by the uninvited visitors, you decided not to compromise your security. You felt guilty for possibly turning down a needy soul, but the whole layout felt way too suspicious. Slowly and quietly, you retreated to the wall opposite from the window - just in between the pile of the wood awaiting incineration and the only survived carved drawers chest. Not letting your eyes off of the improvised heavy curtain, you held your breath and clenched your fists in the nervous expectation. You hoped that the invaders would simply go away, discouraged by the lack of your positive or negative reaction. The seconds stretched painfully...

... and rushed like a mountain river once you've heard the noises of something clutching to the stony ledges of the outside wall. Your sense of the sparks confirmed your worst fear: the visitor who seemed to be too exhausted and famished to run, not even speaking of demonstrating acrobatics, was clawing up to the window. You understood with the underside of your adrenaline-rushed mind that she took your idleness and so perceived it as an invitation to advance their agenda. Still, the explanation of how something as visually exhausted as you saw can climb the walls eluded you.

In a couple of moments, a pale, bony palm with yellowish stains opened the heavy fabric isolating the glassless window from nature behind it, exposing the sickly face with muddy eyes, that grinned with half-rotten and half-broken teeth from under the dark rags. No doubt - it was the assumed 'mother' that decided to get in and to open the doors herself despite your hesitation.

Clutching to the windowsill, she scanned the interiors with the unnaturally measured move of her head, training her uncanny eyes on you, 'grinning' even wider, and tilting her head to the other side before making a push inside. What stopped her from doing so was a piece of wooden log crashing against her physiognomy, followed shortly by the second and the third ones. You were tossing the firewood and furniture pieces at her with the vigor and frenzy you demonstrated when fighting the wargs earlier. You attempted to shot her down from the windowsill, to make her lose balance before she could get a foothold inside since that would place you in the position of an open confrontation. A few projectiles missed the target while a few less reached it, causing the sound of a matter smashing against a half-rotten meat echo in your ears. When you ran out of the things to toss, the invader was still clutching to the window frame, although mostly hanging outside.

Unwilling to give up the initiative after running out of the 'ammo', you instinctively swiped the room with your glance, seeking for a better tool than the knife that was given to you a few days ago. Your eyes stumbled over the forged poker sticking out of the hearth, with which, in a second, you slammed on the face of the 'mother' who was about to regain her progress in crouching in.

You could sense the smells of rot, blood, and swill while you were striking on the head and the hands of the intruder. This husk of a person struggled not to fall, but you were furious and persistent, pounding again and again. It hissed and groaned like a rabid animal; you cried out in rage and struggle. After about a dozen of strikes, the assaulter succumbed to traumas and gravity, flopping down on the snow-covered rocks, in between two equally disgusting creatures that were watching the progress of their 'packmate'. Unwilling to provide them with the second opportunity, you rushed back to the lonely wooden bureau, pushing it to the window and flipping it to a side with the remnants of your strengths, and making an improvised blockade behind the curtain.

After that, your mind went a bit blurry. You remember that for a couple of dozens of seconds you prowled the room like a cornered animal, expecting the attackers to make another move even when your sense of soul sparks indicated that they left the perimeter. What if they went for help? Wide-eyed and with the heart wildly-beating, you had barricaded the room to your best ability before taking place near the slowly dying heath, clutching to the weaponized iron poker. You counted the seconds off painfully, hoping for your friends soonest return and thinking about how much you hate being left alone. Eventually, you lost the trace of time to your inner tensions.

Fortunately, the familiar clang of armored plates coming from downstairs disrupted the oppressing silence and pulled you out from the sub-catatonic state. Ulren was back before the sunset, he was walking fast, and after two punches at the door leading to the room, you could finally see him with your own eyes that barely withheld the tears. He, however, did not seem to share your sentiments, as he sheathed his mace, he approached you to inspect whether or not you were injured or otherwise affected during a struggle, trails of which were sufficiently visual from outside the building. After making sure that the damage that you suffered was of the mental nature only, he pulled you up to your feet, grabbed the bags you repacked the day earlier, and equipped you with the backpack. Without a word or any trace of emotional contact, with the confidence of someone who understood the situation that happened and, its implications, and the further course of actions. It came unto you that you are leaving because of what happened. In bare minutes, you were ready to leave.

Your tour to the city began from the halls of the building you spent the previous day: it was big, yet almost free of furniture; scarred with the signs of a minor fire outbreak that supposedly took place within a long time ago. closer to the exit, you spotted a characteristic stain on the wall - the old bloodstain of prodigious sizes. These sights made you feel easier about the fact that this mansion's history is none of your concerns any longer.

The immediate outdoors contained all sorts of pieces of evidence on what happened today: the footprints, the scraps of rags, the trail of orange-ish red blood leading to the alley, and... the dead toddler lying unwrapped in the snow either discarded or left as a mockery, as pale as clay, staring at you with its half-opened right eye, with the unnatural grin perpetually frozen on its face. The sight made you feel uncomfortable weight building up in your stomach.

Earlier, you observed the city from the hight of the room and from afar; back then, your mind was painting the picture of an urban winter fairytale, luring you to explore it. Alas, the further you delved with Kyres into the streets, the more the reality contradicted that idealized pastorale. Burnt, unkempt, partially shattered, and collapsing building stood for one to two-thirds of the overall structures depending on a district. The streets were littered with broken cartwheels, containers, bottles, and torn rags, suggesting that many of the houses were plundered. The visual proofs of street violence were reversely-proportional to the number of people you managed to get a glimpse of, some of which hastily closed the shutters of their windows or rushing to cover should they only hear or see the approach of you and your guide. You could hear sporadic yells of other people emerging from distant streets and humbled murmurs behind some closed doors. One of the city districts was totally devastated by the fire, exposing the charcoaled remains of their residents to the winds. Another gruesome sight appeared before your view when you saw a ghoulish creature like the one that attacked you digging in the pile of corpses of varying freshness. Before you could grow scared, Ulren put a bolt from his hand crossbow into its surprised mug. You turned away.

Regardless of the overwhelming experience, you came with the two observations: the city seemed to be less damaged and foul closer to its center as if it all the foulness and destruction were eating it from the edges, and there were faint vibes in the air, feeling somewhat like those sparks in the air before the storm from two days ago but yet different. It the atmosphere that domed this settlement felt wrong, utterly alien. Yout gut feelings were telling you that there is something on the streets. Something not from this world. Or, perhaps, it was just your imagination, overloaded with the sights you have seen today.

Closer to the dusk, you arrived a sturdy but compact structure, hidden in the 'better' (or less foul) part of the city among many houses with shuttered entrances. Ulren forcibly unbarricaded the entrance to it, letting you in, and then shuttered the entrance again. Minutes of fiddling with fire, and you found yourself in a small stone chapel with the old wall painting stretching up from the altar to the dome. The shattered sitting benches became firewood, the handful of remaining candles in candelabras were giving their chance to serve for the last time, you were sitting against each other in silence, casting long, dancing shadows on the walls. The belonging unpacked, and the bags unrolled. The silent scene of peace, for now.

Your friend took off his helmet and with it his mask of indifference. You could read tension lying on him. He was deeply concerned or in the state of intense internal struggle, staring on the flame with the absent gaze and with the face of someone pressed with the metaphorical burden from all the directions. The fact you have never seen him this way wasn't encouraging at all. You, after today's 'adventures', felt (WRITE IN), and wanted nothing more than (WRITE IN). The only things that prevented silence from taking over were the crackling of the bonfire you established right in the middle of the chapel and the steady howl of the wind outside.

Despite the tranquil atmosphere, you were not feeling like sleeping yet. You have had some hours on your hands and the need to decide how to invest them.

_________________________________________________

5 time points Manage the actions within the quota.

[] Take the day
On the second thought, you'd rather end this day as soon as possible.

[] Study/train your wings -2p
No rolls; your wings proficiency is the separate skill; you need it at 4 to assist with overall mobility and glide, 8 to fly, 12 to perform complicated tasks and advanced flight; repeatable.
If you have them, they should be useful. As far as you have seen, the nature of this world does not tolerate redundancy. (+1 per a round)

[] Self-study the thaumaturgy aspect -4p
Normal intelligence attribute check (15), easy arcane skill check (17), your luck roll; +1 is warrantied, additional +1 is granted if both rolls are successful or one failed roll is compensated with the luck; non-repeatable.
Maybe, just maybe you would find comfort in practicing your abilities?

[] Self-study the spirit aspect -4p
Normal intelligence attribute check (15), easy arcane skill check (17), your luck roll; +1 is warrantied, additional +1 is granted if both rolls are successful or one failed roll is compensated with the luck; non-repeatable.
You haven't satisfied your curiosity on this aspect of your being yesterday.

[] Interact with Ulren he doesn't seem to be very lively today... Or even less than usual.
-[] Ask for melee practice -3 points, easy persuasion skill check (17), +1 to melee combat skill
-[] Ask for defense practice -3 points, easy persuasion skill check (17), +1 to defense skill
-[] Ask for ranged practice -3 points, easy persuasion skill check (17), +1 to ranged combat skill
-[] Ask to read one of the books... -4 points, very easy persuasion skill check (14), easy intelligence attribute check (12), easy wisdom attribute check (12), your luck roll; If the persuasion roll is successful (or compensated with luck), the action itself and each of the remaining rolls decrease the - wisdom ignorance debuff by 2/3 point and earn additional benefits

[] Socialize with Ulren
- [] Ask about (WRITE IN) -2 points Easy Intelligence attribute check (12), easy Wisdom attribute check (12), The action itself and each successful roll decreases the - wisdom ignorance debuff by 1/3 point if the topic of the question is correctly picked; repeatable.
- [] Try to (WRITE IN) Costs, rolls and effects are at QM's consideration

[] Inspect (write-in)
-1 point Pick to gain more insight on whatever object (or subject) within your reach, no benefits past the detailed information, repeatable.
Maybe they are humble, but yet again you are in the new surroundings.

[] Write-in
Feeling creative?

__________________________________________________

Bonus material vote!

You would like to see the situation from the perspective

[] Of someone by the bonfire in a chapel
[] Of someone prowling the roofs in the night
[] I want no extras, I want the next update faster!

Spoiler: The now-traditional QM's trivia

You don't like the rainbow madness that the colored speech lines create? Fine by me!

 

[Teloch]

Perhaps, you were adapting to this harsh realm, because even seeing new horrors, you were feeling slightly content, or, even, proud of yourself due to managing to solve the crisis in the morning. With advantage, with lots of scare and effort, not decisively, but still on your own. It felt pleasant to have something that you accomplished personally, but also you were cautious about not overestimating yourself. Contrary to you, your friend looked extremely concerned with something. He wasn't showing any signs of emotional contact or any trace of willingness to participate in such. Was it something that he saw? Was he hurt? Was he hungry or upset for another reason? Regardless, the sight has taken some token of your optimism away. If someone as self-collected as your friend showed signs of anxiety, then something has to be really wrong. You felt like trying to lift his burden a little, to make things better for him, but without knowing the cause of irritation, you could not figure out the way to approach him. For now.

Thinking of what else to do, you swiped the walls of the chapel with your gaze, finding little interest in the painted wall and the altar. This place felt solemn and abandoned, old and dull. Eventually, you caught by the corner of one's eyes the relatively most lively motion in this sanctuary - the dance of your shadow on the wall behind. It looked disproportionate, with a hunch like of those mounts that you saw. Yes, your wings were covered by Ulren's cloak all this time, mostly because the dress you salvaged was not designed for someone with two big addendums growing from their back and took a couple of cuts, exposing your back to the winter cold. If there aren't that many people with wings in this realm (as you began to suspect), finding clothes you can wear would be your headache. Bummer.

You took off the cloak and exposed your two white annoyances, as you thought of them. The flight in the dream felt very exciting, but the sense in your corporeal wings was absolutely different from the one implied by your imagination. You wanted to believe that yours can be useful, not obstructing or even annoying. Thinking of it, you decided to inspect them, unfolding them forward and taking a closer look, hoping to understand the reason behind your clumsiness using them.

You glid your fingers across the upper row of feathers. Those that were concealing your wing limbs (marginal wing coverts) were shorter and relatively soft, almost fuzzy to the touch, while the ones that followed after the bend (the main wing joint) were slightly longer and more elastic in comparison. Then, there was a row of medium-sized feathers that seemed to constitute for about 40% of the overall width оf your wings (the primary and the secondary wing coverts) seemed to be the most elastic, while those longest ones at the bottom were also the widest and the hardest. The average length of your wings seemed to be comparatively even, getting slightly longer when closer to the tips and a little bit shorter when closer to the joint. The overall state of your wings seemed to be satisfactory - little bit dirtied and with a couple of feathers plucked by the wargs earlier, they felt free of parasites and generally intact. One of the feathers, however, remained in your fingers, suggesting either that it will be replaced by a new feather, or that you were not eating enough during your trip.

Aesthetically, you rather liked the way they looked, but functionally it was not so easy to operate with them. Even though folding and unfolding them felt easier than a few days ago, the feelings were still unpleasant. It came to you: what if you have to flex them now and then? Thinking of nothing else, you began to methodically unfold, spread, and fold them, registering minor changes to how it felt. When the sensorial uncomfortableness became negligible, you complicated the exercise set, trying to "work out" the numbness. And it worked! It really worked!

You grew so excited that you lost the track of time, complicating exercise sets even more, to the degree when you were spreading wings in the opposite direction asynchronously. With a merry grin on your face, you repeated the sets, littering the floor with three more pearly feathers and drawing Ulren's strange look just before your wing muscles grew too fatigued to continue. He couldn't feel the excitement you were experiencing, but at least he was paying you attention for the first during this evening.

Understanding that the hour was far too late for conversation attempts, you were thinking of the ways to use this opportunity to cheer him up. The first thing that came to your mind was the night when you met him: back then, he used the tactile contact (literally pat your head) to calm you down when you were confused. Maybe, if that's how his species communicate in this particular instance, you could try the tactile contact as well? It might be hard to mimic his pat, considering the difference between your sizes, but you could try something anyway, aye?

When you have done with plotting and assessed the layout, he was still sitting by the fire but looking not at you - he was reading in his maps, grim as death once again. Because he was busy, you managed to sneak behind him, and... hug him from behind (if rearing and throwing your hands around his neck can be classified as giving a hug). You could not see his face, but you think you got him surprised. Not cheered but definitely confused. Not willing to give up that easily, you decided to proceed the next stage of your plan, and applied the skills learn today by unfolding wings, embracing with Ulren with those as well, preventing him from looking into the maps. He visually froze on his spot. Was it a good sign? Regardless of the answer, it was too late to step back, and you concluded your effort via nestling your chin on his vertex (with the quite spiky hair!). You think you made him stop breathing...

In about ten seconds, he relaxed and lightly clapped one of your wings, signalling that it might be enough. After releasing him, you proceeded to the designated bedroll, looking whether or not you managed to lighten his mood. Well, his face certainly changed: the gaze with which he followed you was the mixture of surprise, embarrassment, and musing. That's better than grumpiness and anxiety, isn't it? While trying to measure the amount of positive change, you waved a "good night" gesture at him and hit the bedding spot, fleeing from the thoughts of how awkward this scene must have looked from the side.

The sleep was around the corner, knocking you off into the dreamless nothingness. Well, almost dreamless: you are not sure whether it was a dream or not, but at one moment it felt like you were tucked carefully and thoughtfully, enjoying the comfy warmth after.

_________________________
​

The tender warmth turned into the heat. Then, things began to happen disturbingly fast: the sounds of crushing stones, the tall fires, the snow and the air, the time just before the dawn, Ulren hastily pulling you by the collar, the sight of the chapel half-collapsed and ablaze, the distanced shrieks and the cacophony of clanging metal. The thundering sounds of the distanced blowing horns. Things were happening faster than your consciousness was regaining its functions. What you understood for sure was that it seemed like the hell broke loose, all that you and Ulren carried were your normal armaments, and he was pulling you by the hand with the persistence characteristic to someone fleeing a pack of those beasts that disrupted a bhiroth patrol about a week ago.

He was dragging you

[] To blend with the crowds of fleeing citizens
The sum of your and Ulren's melee combat rolls (or Ulren's melee combat/2 + ranged combat/2, substitutes a legit alternative throw) VS composite melee combat skill check 28 (17+11); The sum of your and Ulren's defence rolls VS composite defence skill check 28 (17+11), your and Ulren's individual rolls against very easy mobility check (11); your luck throws against each check.
Sometimes, it is better to withstand dangers in flocks. Slower but safer.

[] To the heights of the roofs and walls
The sum of your and Ulren's defence rolls VS composite defence skill check 28 (14+14), The sum of your and Ulren's balance rolls VS composite balance skill check 28 (14+14), your and Ulren's individual rolls against easy mobility check (13); your luck throws against each check.
Avoid the immediate reach, but don't think you're safe. Medium speed for medium risk.

[] To the... sewers?
The sum of your and Ulren's melee combat rolls VS composite melee combat skill check 25 (17+9); your and Ulren's individual sneaking rolls VS sneaking skill check 11; your and Ulren's individual perception rolls +5 (because of your soul sensing) VS perception attribute 18. your luck throws against each check.
Undergrounds? Now that's original. Medium speed for medium risk. Failures can be more punishable.

[] To the breach in the fortifications
The sum of your and Ulren's melee combat rolls (or Ulren's melee combat/2 + ranged combat/2, substitutes a legit alternative throw) VS composite melee combat skill check 37 (24+13); The sum of your and Ulren's defence rolls VS composite defence skill check 37 (24+13); your and Ulren's individual rolls against very easy mobility attribute check (11); your and Ulren's individual perception rolls +5 (because of your soul sensing) VS very easy perception attribute check 11; your luck throws against each check.
The shortest path to safety is often the most dangerous one.​

 

[Teloch]

Being pulled deeper into the city by Ulren, you had little option but to regain awareness of the surroundings and to shake off the remnants of the drowsiness. The cacophony of yells, iron clangs, and voracious arsons consuming everything on their way was soon empowered by the sound of the distant bells - the signal the city was under attack. The dreadfulness of the situation emerged even brighter once you understood that neither you nor Ulren was carrying any of the supplies. They were buried under the collapsed dome of the chapel, and most likely reduced to ashes. All that you got left were the clothes you wore, a cape, and a knife. Ulren as well was carrying only to his armaments including armour, a pouch of bolts, and a lonely small sphere hanging on his belt. It occurred to you, that should you manage to escape the immediate danger, your survival will be much more complicated, especially if you would have to venture into the wilds again.

You were following your guide, with the wild heartbeat and the mental entreaty that whatever deity runs this world would have mercy on you and withdraw you from violence. Judging by how your bhiroth friend adopted a semi-offensive stance while charging through the streets and turned around the pommel of his compositive weapon, turning his mace into a chained flail, even if he prayed, he prayed for the different sort of blessing. When you eye-witnessed two chainmail-clad humanoid creatures of your sizes standing by a fresh human corpse in the alley, when your friend took the opportunity to charge at them, it was at that moment when you realized that Ulren's gods were faster.

However, you had little to no time to watch how your friend was mauling the individuals, as the third invader appeared from depths of the house they were apparently ravaging. Armed with an axe and a shield, clad in chainmail and barbute helmet, with the red and yellow tabard and the emblem of a solar corona on its chest, the raider, drawn outside by the sounds of commotion, attacked the first thing in sight - you.

Possibly recalling the lesson you took earlier on how to dodge strikes, you receded from the first horizontal strike, dived under the follow-up aimed at your neck, and sidestepped the descending strike, causing your attacker to shift forward and waste some time on poise recovery. You were less skilful and decisive in countering, however. Perhaps, you felt emotionally reluctant to cause harm, or maybe you did not know how to counter an armoured target with a knife, regardless of the reasons, all that you managed was a triplet of strikes. From this triplet, one slipped, one was absorbed by the armour, and the last one, even though reaching the flesh, seemingly failed to cause any substantial damage. Realizing that you might be a nastier adversary than the commoners he had probably butchered, your assailant assumed the parrying stance and advanced at you, possibly hoping to strike you out of balance with the shield and to make short work out of you lying on the ground.

You prepared to evade and increase the distance, but that turned out to be unnecessary, as the unsuspicious head of your foe collided with the swirling weight of Ulren's flail in an impact that emitted a loud but deaf hum, and sprinkled a few blood droplets at you out from the struck helmet's cleavage. The strike was strong enough to send the body of your adversary one and a half meter away, convulsing for a couple of times but never getting up again. Ulren continued the spree, as after turning back to the remaining adversary, he deflected the lunge of the latter, countered with a juicily-sounding shield bash, used the opening to crush the knee of the unbalanced target, sending it on the ground, and finishing it with the heavy downwards strike, thundering the surroundings with the sound of the crushed spine.

You had no time to proceed the event that happened in this alley and your thoughts about it, as your companion quickly inspected you for the subject of possible injuries, after finding no evidence of such, he took a shortsword with sheaths from the belt of his first victim, and pulled you again towards the exit of the alley. After leaving the narrow, smoke-filled alley littered with the bodies lying on the cobbles, you witnessed a wide city square with the scene of disorganized packs of civilians trying to flee the soldiers who were hunting them as a game. Unarmed or equipped with improvised weaponry such as woodcutting axes and butchering slicers, the bravest of the citizens were grouping in small packs and showing sporadic resistance, trying to win some time for the others to flee to the streets opposite from where the invaders were coming. Most of them were either stuck dead or shot, before having a chance to cause any sufficient damage to the attackers. The crowd of civilians was slowly dispersing towards the Northern city streets, showered with the bolts of hostile archers, who took firing positions at the buildings of the southern square. The big projectiles fell from the skies on the roofs of the neighbouring districts, leaving smoky trails and causing fires. Panic, terror, bloody rapture, havoc, smoke, and lots of deaths were overwhelming the city streets you were curious to explore a couple of days ago.

In an instant, you and friend became the actors in this play: trying to mix with the streams of retreating folk, Ulren went on a violent spree, crushing through the human soldiers and paving the way for you and, as it turned out, other refugees. You were attempting not to get hurt by the pikes, swords, and maces of the attackers, and not to fall behind your guide. Witnessing the unexpectedly high level of threat and the racial belonging of Ulren, the soldiers somewhat divert their attention from civilians to him, advancing at your friend in squads. He, however, was masterful in defence and was more than apt with his mixed 'block, counter, and attack' style, breaking limbs and confidence of the offenders in equal measure. Unfortunately, the extensive melee rumble slowed him down, making it difficult to reach the main flock of runaways.

In the meanwhile, even though trying to follow Ulren, you failed to keep him in sight due to all the confusion and chaos. The prospect of being left alone terrified you much more than the unsuccessful attempt of one of the soldiers to capture you (which you dodged by diving under the grapple), the risk of being trampled after stumbling over a dead body and falling to the ground, the bolt arrow that whizzed uncomfortably close to your head, and the fallen citizen with the cut shoulder lying on the cobbles and grappling you by the leg in agony. With the panic brewing in your mind, you desperately attempted to find your companion in this theatre of violence.

Be it your watchfulness or the divine intervention, but before the desperation managed to take over you, the sounds of the crushing limbs and shattering steel opened the location of your friend - he was relatively nearby, fighting off at least three heavy footmen at the same time. A group of civilians was also passing nearby from him, using the opportunity to slip to safety while the hostiles were preoccupied with your friend. There was a little covey, featuring an adult human male armed with a hammer, a female human child with red hair and piercingly green eyes, and an adult human female carrying to a small sack. There were also two more adult females: one with the protuberant abdomen and a living soul spark in it, and a tall, dark-skinned, grey-haired horned woman clad in leather armour and armed with a long sword and a dagger, fighting her way through the soldiers to the exit from the square. The last two persons were two males: a young, barely crossed the border of infancy man, trying to support an old human gaffer by the shoulder. Due to the significant differences in age and race, the group was rather slow.

Before you could do something, your gaze shifted South - across the square spanged with dead and wounded - the second wave was coming. The attackers have brought the cavalry to comb the streets from possible survivors...

[] Run!
The sum of your and Ulren's defence rolls VS composite defence skill check 25 (14+11), your and Ulren's individual rolls against very easy mobility check (11), your and Ulren's individual perception rolls +5 (because of your soul sensing) VS very easy perception attribute check 11, your luck throws against each check.
If you decide to retreat now, the people around you will be endangered, although, you will have better odds to live another day.

[] Hold for as long as you can!
The sum of your and Ulren's melee combat rolls (or Ulren's melee combat/2 + ranged combat/2, substitutes a legit alternative throw) VS composite melee combat skill check 31 (20+11); The sum of your and Ulren's defence rolls VS composite defence skill check 34 (24+11), your and Ulren's individual perception rolls +5 (because of your soul sensing) VS very easy perception attribute check 11, your luck throws against each check.
Not the smartest thing to do. Definitely, a heroic thing to do.

[] Hit the roofs!
The sum of your and Ulren's defence rolls VS composite defence skill check 28 (14+14), The sum of your and Ulren's balance rolls VS composite balance skill check 28 (14+14), your and Ulren's individual rolls against easy mobility check (13); your luck throws against each check.
You were too slow to have the alternative options

[] Down and below!
The sum of your and Ulren's melee combat rolls VS composite melee combat skill check 25 (17+9); your and Ulren's individual sneaking rolls VS sneaking skill check 11; your and Ulren's individual perception rolls +5 (because of your soul sensing) VS perception attribute 18. your luck throws against each check.
It is a little bit impossible to search for a sewer entrance while under the constant risk of being stabbed, shot, and with a cavalryman on your tail, don't you think?

[] Write-in
You must be very creative to pull out something in such circumstances

 

[Teloch]

It was at the moment when the approaching sound of horseshoes and heavy armour plates made you realize - it is time to leg the heck out of here excessively fast. Driven by the self-preservation instinct, you slipped through the scuffle that was separating you from your friend. While doing so, you barely managed not to steal with your body a bolt meant for a man who at some moment was behind you, dodged a few blade lashes that more likely than not were aimed at your fleeing self, and successfully dived below a row of short spears. After the short rush through the scrimmage between numerous soldiers and scarce civilians, you reached your friend who was withholding the advance of three footmen. After recognizing the familiar shape in the vicinity, he performed an arcing series of strikes meant to suppress the attackers before executing an imminent fallback right after you.

After forcibly creating the "escape window" and using it for retreating, both you and Ulren rushed down the streets, leaving the few remaining strugglers to the mercy of attackers and outrunning the impending danger among other survivors. This retreat caused its implications on those left behind: at the very start of your sprint down the streets, you looked over your shoulder, startled by the distinguishable woeful shriek of a girl. What you saw was the woman you saw a couple of moments ago leaving behind the sack in order to drag presumably her red-haired infant who cried and stretched her hands towards the up-and-downer at the street entrance. The male associated with this little pack hasn't emerged from the fray. Your consciousness knew the answer why, but that was neither the right place nor the right time to indulge the feeling of guilt.

The path down the street proved to be only relatively easier since, in addition to dodging stray arrow bolts, you had to avoid those escapees who fell on the cobbles wounded or exhausted, becoming the barriers for those behind them. The previous barrages of the siege projectiles caused extensive arsons, which were turning into one massive conflagration the further you ventured from the city square. Eventually, you, the horned purple-skinned woman, Ulren, the mother with her daughter, the girl with two sparks, and the young bloke leading the exhausted creaker became witness to the scene of a tower collapsing straight on top of the bunch of survivors ahead, burying the better half of them under the blazing press, cutting you out from the path of retreat, and trapping you between fire and the possible pursuit.

Spoiler

While catching your breath, the thoughts were swirling in hopes to conceive a decision. Going back was not an option, same as heading through the inferno. The sounds of approaching hooves revealed that you all were short on time, and the whole group seemed to lose confidence for a bare moment. All expect the suspicious woman of the race you haven't seen before: she caught the sight of a relatively safer side alley visually leading to the massive spandrel walls of the rocky bridge connecting the upper city districts. To acknowledge everyone about her finding, she merely tilted her grey-haired head in that direction, bolting immediately before the fires cut off this last pathway.

You knew what to do, and rushed after her, evading scorching fallout and running fast not to get burnt. The rest of the spontaneously-established pack followed you two at the different speed. The horned woman was fast and agile, outpacing you - the one running from all the strengths you could have mustered. When both of you approached the dead end of the alley, it became clear that you will have to climb towards the voussoir ledges of the bridge across the roofs. With the wild heartbeat and burning blood, you followed the mysterious female, who turned to be not only a nimble sprinter but also a gifted acrobat.

Be it because of your high-adrenaline state or the sheer luck, but you made to the bridge way surface almost as quickly as the agile stranger, accepting her helping hand hanging from the bridge right after the final leap from the closest roof. After being helped, your blue pair of scared eyes met her amber in the momentous and silent exchange on what to do next. Your gut feeling told you that she expected you to help others out as well, and despite the sense of danger, you weren't going to argue with that.

The rest of the group moved slower because of the variety of reasons: the mother had a daughter, the two-sparked lass was not in the right shape for complex acrobatics, and Ulren was just way too heavy to hop from balconies to roofs and vice-versa without the risk to blunder the prior and fall through the latter. The young lad found himself in the worst circumstances because the gaffer he was trying to support was too fatigued and limping to keep on moving. Perhaps, they would've both died in the flames, should the old man failed to understand the bitter irony of his fate and shoved the greenhorn away from himself. They have had the last glimpse of each other before the collapsing building buried the gaffer, releasing the teary-eyed youngster from his 'burden'.

In the meanwhile, both you and the blue-skin helped the red-haired girl, her mother, and the pregnant lass to get on top of the bridge way. Most likely, you would've helped the youngster as well, but when he caught up with Ulren, your friend grabbed him by the scruff and tossed him like a projectile on the bridge before jumping himself. The greenhorn loudly (and most likely painfully) slumped on the bridge stones, while your friend made it only thus far to clutch the bridge parapet. Seeking to aid him, you grabbed Ulren's armoured hand in hopes to help him out. Alas, your strengths alone were insufficient to pull him up and... no one else, including the horned lass, thought of helping you out or even was within your vicinity. You attempted to cry for help before your hand slipped from the Kyres' gauntlet, your rear hit the bridge because of tensile strength, and the giant hung on the left hand alone. With quiet grudge and numbed senses, you stood up and turned around to see those who received help and refused to repay in kind, but what you saw was not what you expected to see.

Your glance landed on the tip of a long lance, carried by the armoured horseman, who was walloping forth with the clear intent to run you - the tousled and unsuspecting victim - through on full speed. The time seemingly slowed down to a near halt as your mind was shocked with the instant realization of the approaching doom, and your knees suddenly felt overburdened.

...

In fact, your knees felt even heavier as something tackled you sideways to the bottom, making you feel the pain of your occiput hitting the cobbles. You almost blacked out after that impact, with struggle standing up, registering that it was the horned damsel who tackled you at the last moment. After recovering hastily, you attempted to identify whether or not you were hit, receiving the signals about the present difference before and after the impact. It took you a couple of seconds and a glance over the cavalryman who carried a lance with the cloak Ulren gave you earlier on it. You could feel his immense, uncharacteristic confusion as he stared at you through the slit of his helmet. Well, not as much at you, as at your slightly unfolded ivory wings that were unrestrained by the missing cape now.

There, on the bridge, in the first bronze sunlight of the dawn, everyone from the archers standing on the wing walls of the upper city and the horseman himself to the survivors who followed you and anyone looking at the bridge at the time can see you and what makes you different. The scene of chaos and violence around you figuratively slowed down as no one seemed to know what are you. Or knew but failed to figure out what to do next. Unlike Ulren, who finally managed to throw his torso over the parapet, to sprint from the low start, to grab you under the arm, and to toss the last spheric object from his belt at the horseman who attempted to turn his mount for another charge but ended up getting de-saddled by the steed, who was in turn scared and blinded by the flash of light caused by the projectile's explosion. Ulren (with you under his arm), as well as remaining runaways, bolted to the opposite side of the bridge - past the dismounted knight. On your way across the bridge, you spotted a few routes leading behind the remnants of the city walls - one was lying through the half-frozen moat below, filled with the silhouettes of the creatures that attacked you in the mansion, the second one stretched through the moat's embankment, heavily showered by arrows from the opposite side, and the last one spanned through the slums of the Northern part of the city, from where the sounds of an epic commotion echoed.

Noticing the same ways of retreat, Ulren put you down on your feet, swiftly considering what would be better. All the other people were still shocked by you and had been giving you strange gazes before you finally moved

[] Through the ice-covered moat filled with the ghoulish creatures.
The sum of your and Ulren's melee rolls VS composite melee skill check 19 (11+8), your and Ulren's individual mobility rolls VS mobility attribute check 11, your and Ulren's individual balance rolls VS balance skill check 11, your luck rolls.
You are unsure what is the bigger threat - the thin ice or the leper fiends.

[] Through the embankment
The sum of your and Ulren's defence rolls VS composite defence skill check 31 (17+14), your and Ulren's individual perception rolls +5 VS perception attribute check 11, your luck rolls.
Arrows, arsons, occasional brawls.

[] Through the slums
The sum of your and Ulren's defence rolls VS composite defence skill check 25 (14+11), The sum of your and Ulren's melee rolls VS composite melee skill check 25 (14+11), your and Ulren's individual perception rolls +5 VS perception attribute check 11, your luck rolls,
The shrieks, clangs, and crushes don't reassure you in the peacefulness of this route.

Spoiler: A little sentimental trivia from the QM

I started this quest before the trip that changed my worldview and the thoughts on my place in this world. The experience was not always easy or familiar, but certainly worth it. And in that new environment, you gave me some sense of familiarity by following this humble quest, for which I sincerely thank you, my awesome readers.

PS: Even though I'm back from when I started, now I have much better odds braving the international workforce market, and I will do my best to venture on another journey as soon as possible

 

[Teloch]

You sit near the improvised campfire made of the broken sitting benches in an old stone chapel. The snowfall outside gently scratches against the walls and the small stained-glass windows that miraculously preserved their integrity in this hellhole. You didn't have much hope to see the city of Beilford in any decent state, but the layout you witnessed proved to be much worse than you feared. The Chalk fewer - the disease that ravaged across the northern and eastern kingdoms since the early months of the previous year, causing the neural systems of the affected to degrade, degrading them to the states of animals or even worse, it dug its roots in Beilford especially deep. The numbers of the 'turned' were surely way too high, and their reach spanned far from the channels, undergrounds, ghettoes, and sewers where they usually dwell.

Today, you have had to take Lucy out from the shelter that was compromised by the Chalk husks, because where's one - there will be a pack. Wasting time was not something you could afford in your situation, but the circumstances were stronger than your planning in this case. Speaking of circumstances - you searched for your mark for two days, trying different methods from gossips collection to bribing, but no one from the stubborn or desperate locals that remained didn't seem to possess the intel you needed. The raw search also turned futile, and, considering that the Olfadir theocracy's corps were advancing at the city, your time to capture the mark was extremely limited. Even staying here was complicated due to the dire lack of any provisions available for purchase or scavenge, implying costs at your strengths and health.

Disappointed and nervous, you swiped the wall by the altar with your gaze. The wall fresco depicted an old, bearded man, crowned with the sun halo - this is the Highfather - the single and thus the central deity of the Westlanders and their church. You could taste the foul irony of this situation: the once-mighty theocratic state losing some of its territories to secular nobles right after the war, and finding no better way to regain the borders than embarking in the terror raids at the weakened neighbours, who also happened to share their religion and ideology in general, and thus sending a message to the rebellious provinces. That's the essence of the better half of all the landers - claiming to be the most moral and righteous species, but turning at each other should they smell the tiniest prospect of material or status gains.

You shook your head after digesting this thought. Perhaps, this statement would've been more legit should it only be formulated not by a representative of the race which committed a genocide towards its related species as the culmination of the centuries-long conflict. Catching oneself on hypocrisy isn't the most pleasant feeling, and it only soured your foul mood, convincing to return to your previous musings.

Indeed, there will be no organized defence of Beilford, as most who could and knew where to run done so already, and those who remained would not be able even to slow down the Cardinal's troops, not even mentioning stopping them or holding a siege. The walls were predictably destroyed during the previous years of poverty, shocks, and crises, so the advancing forces would have no problems avalanching on the city. The only delay that the Westlanders might experience is taking a day to prepare for pillaging... if they are interested in marauding what remained of the city, that is. All in all, basing on the visuals of the army manoeuvres and your own Bhiroth army officer (casually nicknamed "Blacks" by the Lander races) expertise the assault will start roughly in a day or a day and a quarter, unless the zeal or overconfidence will take over the greed, and they will attack straight from the march.
In any case, you and Lucifina have the maximum of a half of a day at best.

Remembering about this mysterious creature... no, actually a person, you looked at her, watching her flexing her wings as if training them for the first time. Indeed a mysterious entity she is - surely not an outlander, as the degree of life experience and technical knowledge hinted at her unfamiliarity with the world. But on the other hand, she proved to be quite clever and empathetic - trying to assist you in harsh events and struggling to understand the rules of this realm. In addition, she surely possesses a character and individuality, and a good one. Even more so, she somehow happens to be "awakened" - the term your fellow Roth use to mention someone who opened their aspects affiliation. You feel guilty for dragging her through the peril and even more guilty for having someone as sweet to endure what they clearly don't deserve.

In the very beginning of your joint journey, you wondered how did she end up there, but witnessing her behaviour made you remember of the theory of the familiar scholar you worked for in the Lyf kingdom six years ago. That scholar was, and probably still researching the natural sciences, specializing in the peculiarities of the Gaian "overflow" season. The theory revolved around the hypotheses that some of the new species spawn during these seasons, integrating into the biosphere or dying out trying. The development of this theory barely hinted at the possibility of the sentient races being spawned this way, as the thought itself is blasphemous to almost each and every popular religion. Regardless, you have no better explanation of Lucy's origins.

The thought of abandoning the initial plan and moving North - to the Lyf kingdom, where you achieved first significant successes as a mercenary working for scholars, pulling Lucy and yourself from the harm's way, tortured you during the latest two days. But that would mean that you will have to start from a scratch, forfeiting any hope to return to East Kingdoms or Gvuroth polises - the places that soothed your pain of exile from the homeland. Caught in between your kindness and your responsibility and ambitions as a mercenary, your inner world turned into the battlefield between your heart and your brain. And the closer you approached the moment of carrying out the decision, the more it hurt.

You unveil the maps in hopes that assessing logistical opportunities would grant the final argument towards one of the solutions or, at the very least, divert you from the inner tension of having to decide right now. It doesn't work. And the emptiness in your stomach contributes to your irritation even more.

As you were about to call for your strength of will to calm down, something tender and warm grappled you in a hug from behind. She caught you by surprise and your mind switched to trying to identify the message she tried to convey through this gesture. Roth has a gesturing language different from those of the Landers, and because of that, you found yourself confused. The bewilderment grew even stronger once she embraced you with the wings. White, soft, warm wings. You could not know this particular xeno-species body language example, but it felt... good? And then, she rested her chin on top of your head...

...

She probably noticed your tensions and attempted to lighten up your mood. Such a sweet girl... she certainly succeeded in pulling you out from the brooding state. You gently clap her wings, even though find it hard to break this awkward but sincere hug. Your sister also used cheer you up when she was a kid and you were a troubled initiate, facing hardships of preparing for the demands of your future caste. Trying not to disturb your memories further, you watch Lucy heading to her bedroll and waving you goodnight. Your face is graced with the faint smile for the first time today. And mind clears out in a wake of the answer.

Damn the South, damn this assassin mark, damn the Eastern kingdoms and your mercenary ways. You just can't expose her to more risks. You are already carrying too much regret, and if something goes wrong, you are unsure that you'd endure even more rue. As soon as the morning light grace the land, you will venture North to the Lyf lands. You will try to work for the Lyf royal academia once again and show Lucifina to your scholar friend... if the latter forgave you in the six years of your absence. Even if not, this is what your good reason, your conscience, and your heart identify as right. A week ago, in that camp in the woods, you wished for a sign from above, and you will be an idiot if you refuse to take the appearance of this girl in your life as such. You will start over, and you will pray that this would be the last time, the time everything will go right.

With the mind relieved of doubts, you quietly approach sleeping Lucy and carefully tuck her into the additional blanket. It's surprising how similar she is to your sister or, perhaps how you see her similarly. Regardless, she subconsciously smiles in response to you tucking her and gently patting her head. Lightened and warmed inside, you step back and lean against the wall. Now, you must rest, because the road awaits you both in the morning

Spoiler: Trivia

Well, you did recognize what to do in the voting preceeding that update. Should you ignore him then, he would've decided to spend the morning in the last attempt to search for his contracted mark, unknowingly leaving you to flee the besieged city alone.

And yes, this side story is my payment for your patience during the two-week-long absence of updates