Kinda forgot to mention that earlier: The food in the hospital you're in is often praised by the patients and the most common complaint is that the portions are too big.
[1][Dream] A small trick to help you burn things into your mind.
[2][Dream] The whereabouts of those dear to you.
[3][Dream] The knowledge how to utilise fear more productively.
I like memory skills more than a tracker, but both are useful. Fear... nah.
What do you want to do today?
[2][Day] Get better food. Maybe some more meat?
[1][Day] Spend time with Anna, if she is available.
[4][Day] Explore the building you are in.
[3][Day] 'Talk' with other people.
[1][Day] Focus on figuring out the language, with Anna or anyone willing to entertain your efforts.
More language! Also, spend time with Anna.
Or do you want to leave? It is dangerous to stay in the same place for long after all.
[2][Leave] Stay.
[5][Leave] Just try to leave.
[4][Leave] Take the form of a random person and try to leave.
[3][Leave] Take a new form, get some different clothes and then try to leave.
[1][Leave] Stay, unless you get a clear indication somebody is hunting you, in which case you leave as well disguised as you can and as fast as necessary. [If the clear indication is somebody hunting you stumbling across you, it's obviously going to be Run Away As Fast And Far As You Can; unless help is nearby, in which case Run Into Direction Of Help.]
I'm for staying, but - if we think somebody's coming after us, we'd better run.
[1][Leave] Stay, unless you get a clear indication somebody is hunting you, in which case you leave as well disguised as you can and as fast as necessary. [If the clear indication is somebody hunting you stumbling across you, it's obviously going to be Run Away As Fast And Far As You Can; unless help is nearby, in which case Run Into Direction Of Help.]
Someone will certainly notice if you just walk out the front door, but it is well within your rights to visit the garden, as long as it is before 20h. I don't think there's someone watching you at all times. (But it is incredible hard to find out anything about the internal procedures of our hospitals...if you want to try, that's the website of the hospital you're in.)
Edit: Also you're technically allowed to leave at any point, though they'll ask you to sign something saying that you know you're going against your doctor's advice. The problems with that are
a) You don't know that.
b) Language.
c) You're obviously a minor.
(But it is incredible hard to find out anything about the internal procedures of our hospitals...if you want to try, that's the website of the hospital you're in.)
Fair enough, I only know one and thats because my friend works there...
Basically they don't spend a lot of active attention, but stairs and lift entrances can be expected to be under security cameras so if some disoriented patient wanders off you know where to look.
[2][Dream] A small trick to help you burn things into your mind.
[1][Dream] The whereabouts of those dear to you.
[3][Dream] The knowledge how to utilise fear more productively.
Since I prefer being able to keep track of our friends and having a concrete goal to work towards over increased memory (possibly eidetic or photographic memory) or knowledge of emotional manipulation, whether it's compartmentalizing our fear or channeling it for constructive purposes.
[5][Day] Get better food. Maybe some more meat?
[2][Day] Spend time with Anna, if she is available.
[4][Day] Explore the building you are in.
[3][Day] 'Talk' with other people.
[1][Day] Focus on figuring out the language, with Anna or anyone willing to entertain your efforts.
Because learning the language with Anna or others should be our top priority (language barrier is a big problem any social interactions), and socializing with friends and meeting new people is important. Learning more about the building and getting better food can wait, since learning more about the language could give us deeper insights to the layout of the hospital and the quality of our food is not our most pressing concern.
[1][Leave] Stay.
[4][Leave] Just try to leave.
[3][Leave] Take the form of a random person and try to leave.
[2][Leave] Take a new form, get some different clothes and then try to leave.
We should learn the language so that if/when we leave here we can actually understand what people are saying to the extent that we can find necessities (like a restroom, place to sleep, food, etc.) first. However, if we're gonna ditch the hospital, best to do it with a plan that is more thought out than 'just book it and head for the door'
On the plus side, I don't have to write any dialogues
Since I've seen this mistake twice now (and I'm currently quite entertained): Language is important, think about how things are worded and never assume others to be benevolent. Especially not Others.
Chapter probably Thursday night. I'll have a friend over Wednesday night, but I want to have enough time left after the next chapter to write another one this month.
I should just stop saying when I'll update, it never works out that way anyway.
Well, voting is closed.
Dream
Condorcet Winner:
[][Dream] The whereabouts of those dear to you.
That really shouldn't surprise me on SV.
which is also the Plurality Vote winner, with 8 points out of 10 votes.
The Condorcet Loser is
[][Dream] The knowledge how to utilise fear more productively. No love for Autumn, huh?
All of this is rather obvious, since among 10 votes, only 3 were unique, with 8 of them being identical.
The favoured order was:
[][Dream] The whereabouts of those dear to you.
[][Dream] A small trick to help you burn things into your mind.
[][Dream] The knowledge how to utilise fear more productively.
All votes were total orders, feel free to use Democratix.
3
1,The whereabouts of those dear to you.
2,A small trick to help you burn things into your mind.
3,The knowledge how to utilise fear more productively.
10,10,3
8,1,2,3
1,2,1,3
1,3,1,2
Day
Since this is about multiple actions, the entire Kemeny-Young order is relevant:
[][Day] Focus on figuring out the language, with Anna or anyone willing to entertain your efforts.
[][Day] Spend time with Anna if she is available.
[][Day] 'Talk' with other people.
[][Day] Explore the building you are i
[][Day] Get better food. Maybe some more meat?
The first place is also a Condorcet-Winner and Plurality Vote winner, with 7 of 10 people placing it first.
The last palce is a Condorcet Loser, with 6 of 10 people placing it last.
There were 10 votes, 6 of which were unique.
All options besides
[][Day] 'Talk' with other people.
were placed first and last at least once.
The talk option somehow always was in them middle.
Two votes were weak orders, use of Democratix is discouraged.
5
1,Focus on figuring out the language, with Anna or anyone willing to entertain your efforts.
2,Spend time with Anna, if she is available.
3,Explore the building you are in.
4,'Talk' with other people.
5,Get better food. Maybe some more meat?
8,8,4
5,1,2,4,3,5
1,3,2,4,5,1
1,1,5,2,4,3
1,5,3,1,4,2
5
1,Focus on figuring out the language, with Anna or anyone willing to entertain your efforts.
2,Spend time with Anna, if she is available.
3,Explore the building you are in.
4,'Talk' with other people.
5,Get better food. Maybe some more meat?
10,10,6
1,3,1=4,2,5
5,1,2,4,3,5
1,3,2,4,5,1
1,1=2,5,4,3
1,1,5,2,4,3
1,5,3,1,4,2
Leave
Condorcet Winner:
[][Leave] Stay
Only esktasy wanted to leave, I won't examine this vote any closer.
First off, I'm sorry.
I wanted to write one or two more chapters before I leave, but I got a bad case of "too little to do". Somehow not actually having to do anything makes me nearly as unproductive as having too much to do.
There won't be a chapter in August, since I'm going to travel to Scotland tomorrow (well, Amsterdam first, I'll travel by bus).
When I'm back I'll be busy with a conference for a few days, but there should be at least one chapter in the first two weeks of September.
(Also I have some trouble with the next chapter...an important character has appeared in my offline games before and I want to do him justice.)
Soo...a little update.
Getting back into writing after being away for a while was harder than I expected, especially since I was also rather busy.
From tomorrow on I'll be away for five days again, afterwards I'll try to continue and, since university starts again, aim for a chapter at least every fortnight.
The next chapter is partially done.
To those once taken and now Lost,
to empty shells no more than husks,
he offers knowledge, at a cost.
The prices change at dawn and dusk.
[][Dream] The whereabouts of those dear to you. With the fire trick you would have learned the language so much faster...
[][Leave] Stay
[][Day] Focus on figuring out the language, with Anna or anyone willing to entertain your efforts.
[][Day] Spend time with Anna if she is available.
[][Day] 'Talk' with other people.
To those once taken and now Lost,
to empty shells no more than husks,
he offers knowledge, at a cost.
The prices change at dawn and dusk.
A beautiful scene of green is spread out before you. Trees of impossible height giving even the light a verdant colour, but allowing enough to reach through for a multitude of smaller plants to cover the ground. To the side is the all familiar thorny hedge you have seen wherever you have come to, be it forest or desert.
At another time you would have stopped just to take it all in, maybe you would even have risked a short break, even though you know perfectly well how dangerous it would be. However, this would require you not to be actively chased, as is the case in the moment. You have never even seen the beast, its fearsome growl and a few moving bushes here and there telling you that you are still being followed.
Sometimes you managed to avoid it for a bit, the cuts on your leg showing when you had to dive into the razor sharp thorns.
Thorns, and of that you are sure by now, which take away parts of your memories with each scratch, but also seem to give back some of who you had been before, though not to an even amount.
Be it as it may, you are hurt and exhausted and while you do not dare to stop, walking slower is a necessity.
In front of you the trees part to give way to a clearing, perfectly circular, like many you have seen before in this strange world between. What you have not seen on the previous ones, is the market stall in its exact centre, facing in your direction. Behind it is an old man, short, but not quite as small as the little red man. Luckily this is where the similarities end - his skin is the light brown, fitting for someone working a market stall in the sun, though you are not sure if the light green tint is because of the light, and his nose and ears are very nearly comically large.
While you are still deciding whether to sneak past or to talk to him - you will not be able to escape the beast behind you for long anymore and he might be a way to distract it - he calls out to you.
"Greetings to you, young one! Come closer and have a look, what I sell may interest you!"
Young one? Can he see through your transformation or does he simply consider all not as old as him to be young?
"Don't be shy now," he continues, "or do you wish for old Groll¹ to catch up to you? And show your real form, will you? It is far more fitting."
Well, that is one question answered and two more raised.
"How do you know?" you ask him. "Both I mean. The monster following me and this not being my real form."
"I know many things, otherwise there would not be much for me to sell. Maybe you wish to learn about a place where you are safe from the bearish brute?"
That answered nothing. Still, he is more straightforward than most anything else you have met since the little man took you, and if he is as powerful as you imagine him to be, trying to flee is futile anyway.
You walk over to his stall and notice a stool on your side, on which you sit after he gestures for you to do so.
For some time you sit there, resting for the first time in too long, while the old man seems to watch his own reflection in a polished piece of silver.
After a few moments you decide you cannot wait any longer, the beast is surely coming closer.
Trying to get his attention, you ask, "Where can I find a place where I will be safe from Groll?" And after a few second you add, having learned from previous mistakes, "if that is the beast following me, anyway."
Apparently he was even more distracted than you thought, your query only earning you a "Hm?²" when he looks up.
Sighing you ask again, "You said you could tell me about a place where I will be safe from the beast hunting me?"
This time his answer comes instantly. "This I can tell you, sure. Just give me one of the amaranthines you are carrying", he says, gesturing to the small bag in your hand.
Well, he told you he sells information, a price is to be expected. The three small red fruit, resembling eggplants might be the only food you carry and they are even able to heal small wounds when consumed, but that is not the reason you hesitate. They were given to you by someone who helped you escape though, someone the thorns already made you forget otherwise.
A roar in the forest behind you cuts your contemplation short, the fruit would be of no use to you when you are dead, so you hand one over.
The old man takes it without a word and looks back to his reflection.
"My answer?" you enquire.
He only looks up for a fraction of a moment, "Ah, yes."
"How is that supposed to help me find a place where I am safe?"
"It doesn't, of course." This time he does not even move his head. "That is not what you asked for, after all."
"That's ...", you are about to refute him, when you remember that might not be a healthy idea and that you indeed have asked a different question after failing to get his attention the first time. Missing something like this, you must be wearier than you thought.
You consider leaving him without further questions, but it seems likely for him to actually have the answer you seek and anyone around here is going to give you a hard time, if you do not take care of how you word your questions.
"Where is a place I can reach, where I am safe from the creature that has hunted me for the past day or more?" you try again.
A small smile shows on the man's face when he answers, "Ah, more careful now? The answer to this question will cost you rest of your fruits."
Not an unexpected price, but one you are willing to pay for a chance to rest, you hand them over.
"Thank you, dear. This clearing will keep you save enough as long as I am here, Groll will not dare to enter it."
Your anger must be visible on your face, as he adds, "Now, now. I will even tell you something else for free: If you stay here long enough, Groll will start to search for new prey. Isn't that helpful."
It is probably the best you can expect to get, but you do not answer and simply lie down on the grass. Of course you do not trust the old man, but your attempts to stay alert soon fail, when exhaustion pulls you in a deep sleep.
Huh, sleep during a dream.
Loud clatter of wood against wood wakes you up. It feels like you slept for a few bells, though the sky gives no indication of this. You feel somewhat refreshed, but not as much as you would have liked.
When you look around to discover the source of the sound, you see the old man packing away his stall, somehow folding it into a cart less than a quarter of the size.
Hurriedly you get up and talk to him. "Hey, where are you going, is Groll gone?"
"I'm going to my next customer. It didn't seem like you would buy anything else." He answers matter-of-factly. "To answer your other question, he is probably still there. It usually takes a day or so for him to give up."
It was stupid of you to think he would stay, obvious now that you are less tired. And you traded all of your food away too.
"Of course, if you still want to buy something, I could stay for a while longer..." he continues, while also carrying on with his work on his stall. "Maybe a small trick to help your memory? to burn things in your mind? Or would you like to learn how to utilise all this useless fear you are carrying around?"
Again it is a roar from the forest that motivates you over your reservations with dealing with the old man, or creatures like him in general.
"Yes, please, stay. I'm sure you have something I'm willing to buy."
After you wake up, you continue to lie still for a while. An image of an old man is your mind, someone you have dealt with and, as is now apparent, who you have sold your language to. In return you received a set of numbers that you now somehow perfectly remember.
48.2083049 16.3723155
48.2085159 16.373278
48.2041521 16.3799387
No explanations what they could mean comes to your mind, and only for the last set you remember a description of a path, sounding so out of this world that is must be in the hedge or further.
When you cannot think of any way to use this information after musing for some time, you open your eyes and start to look around. Not much has changed, but before you get bored, someone enters the room.
Anna, as it turns out, and with her a woman you have not seen before.
"Hello Beatrix. My name is Agatha Lechner. Do you understand me?"
Write in topics you want to talk about and questions you want to ask. Different voting system from usual.
As this will only be write-ins, preference voting is...sub-optimal. Instead we will use approval voting.
To do so, vote for any amount of questions or topics with [X] (like the commonly used plurality vote, but with more than one option selected).
Write-ins so far:
[ ] Ask where you are
[ ] Ask who are the people helping you.
[ ] Ask what's going to happen to you now.
[ ] Ask how you can pay for all this.
[ ] Ask for the exact date; if they don't volunteer the year, ask for it and play it off as a joke
[ ] Ask about Anna and Frau Lechner; try to get them to tell you about themselves.
[ ] Ask why nobody understood you.
This chapter was partly betaed by esktasy, who receives a part of my time yesterday in thanks.
¹ Have fun figuring out the multi-pun.
² Googling for "questioning sound onomatopoeia" was not as helpful as I hoped.
Well, that took a while. Getting back into writing after being away for a month is even harder than I thought. At least it I'm still within the last time estimate I gave.
For some reason esktasy won't allow me to play a character like the old man in one of their games...
Apparently being pissed off helps me with writing the old chap.
It is not a mistake that you remembered something while waking up last chapter that is not mentioned here.
[X] Ask where you are.
[X] Ask who are the people helping you.
[X] Ask what's going to happen to you now.
[X] Ask why nobody understood you.
[X] Ask how you can pay for all this.
I promised you a running commentary, didn't I?
Also, I'd like to add that there's some spoilers in there because @Unseelie has this tendency to go on about stories IRL.
A beautiful scene of green is spread out before you. Trees of impossible height giving even the light a verdant colour, but allowing enough to reach through for a multitude of smaller plants to cover the ground. To the side is the all familiar thorny hedge you have seen wherever you have come to, be it forest or desert.
At another time you would have stopped just to take it all in, maybe you would even have risked a short break, even though you know perfectly well how dangerous it would be. However, this would require you not to be actively chased, as is the case in the moment. You have never even seen the beast, its fearsome growl and a few moving bushes here and there telling you that you are still being followed.
Sometimes you managed to avoid it for a bit, the cuts on your leg showing when you had to dive into the razor sharp thorns.
Thorns, and of that you are sure by now, which take away parts of your memories with each scratch, but also seem to give back some of who you had been before, though not to an even amount.
Be it as it may, you are hurt and exhausted and while you do not dare to stop, walking slower is a necessity.
In front of you the trees part to give way to a clearing, perfectly circular, like many you have seen before in this strange world between. What you have not seen on the previous ones, is the market stall in its exact centre, facing in your direction. Behind it is an old man, short, but not quite as small as the little red man. Luckily this is where the similarities end - his skin is the light brown, fitting for someone working a market stall in the sun, though you are not sure if the light green tint is because of the light, and his nose and ears are very nearly comically large.
While you are still deciding whether to sneak past or to talk to him - you will not be able to escape the beast behind you for long anymore and he might be a way to distract it - he calls out to you.
"Greetings to you, young one! Come closer and have a look, what I sell may interest you!"
Young one? Can he see through your transformation or does he simply consider all not as old as him to be young?
"Don't be shy now," he continues, "or do you wish for old Groll¹ to catch up to you? And show your real form, will you? It is far more fitting."
Well, that is one question answered and two more raised.
"How do you know?" you ask him. "Both I mean. The monster following me and this not being my real form."
"I know many things, otherwise there would not be much for me to sell. Maybe you wish to learn about a place where you are safe from the bearish brute?"
That answered nothing. Still, he is more straightforward than most anything else you have met since the little man took you, and if he is as powerful as you imagine him to be, trying to flee is futile anyway.
You walk over to his stall and notice a stool on your side, on which you sit after he gestures for you to do so.
For some time you sit there, resting for the first time in too long, while the old man seems to watch his own reflection in a polished piece of silver.
After a few moments you decide you cannot wait any longer, the beast is surely coming closer.
Trying to get his attention, you ask, "Where can I find a place where I will be safe from Groll?" And after a few second you add, having learned from previous mistakes, "if that is the beast following me, anyway."
Apparently he was even more distracted than you thought, your query only earning you a "Hm?²" when he looks up.
Sighing you ask again, "You said you could tell me about a place where I will be safe from the beast hunting me?"
This time his answer comes instantly. "This I can tell you, sure. Just give me one of the amaranthines you are carrying", he says, gesturing to the small bag in your hand.
Well, he told you he sells information, a price is to be expected. The three small red fruit, resembling eggplants might be the only food you carry and they are even able to heal small wounds when consumed, but that is not the reason you hesitate. They were given to you by someone who helped you escape though, someone the thorns already made you forget otherwise.
A roar in the forest behind you cuts your contemplation short, the fruit would be of no use to you when you are dead, so you hand one over.
The old man takes it without a word and looks back to his reflection.
"My answer?" you enquire.
He only looks up for a fraction of a moment, "Ah, yes."
"How is that supposed to help me find a place where I am safe?"
"It doesn't, of course." This time he does not even move his head. "That is not what you asked for, after all."
"That's ...", you are about to refute him, when you remember that might not be a healthy idea and that you indeed have asked a different question after failing to get his attention the first time. Missing something like this, you must be wearier than you thought.
That answered nothing. Still, he is more straightforward than most anything else you have met since the little man took you, and if he is as powerful as you imagine him to be, trying to flee is futile anyway.
You walk over to his stall and notice a stool on your side, on which you sit after he gestures for you to do so.
For some time you sit there, resting for the first time in too long, while the old man seems to watch his own reflection in a polished piece of silver.
After a few moments you decide you cannot wait any longer, the beast is surely coming closer.
Trying to get his attention, you ask, "Where can I find a place where I will be safe from Groll?" And after a few second you add, having learned from previous mistakes, "if that is the beast following me, anyway."
Apparently he was even more distracted than you thought, your query only earning you a "Hm?²" when he looks up.
Sighing you ask again, "You said you could tell me about a place where I will be safe from the beast hunting me?"
This time his answer comes instantly. "This I can tell you, sure. Just give me one of the amaranthines you are carrying", he says, gesturing to the small bag in your hand.
Well, he told you he sells information, a price is to be expected. The three small red fruit, resembling eggplants might be the only food you carry and they are even able to heal small wounds when consumed, but that is not the reason you hesitate. They were given to you by someone who helped you escape though, someone the thorns already made you forget otherwise.
A roar in the forest behind you cuts your contemplation short, the fruit would be of no use to you when you are dead, so you hand one over.
The old man takes it without a word and looks back to his reflection.
"My answer?" you enquire.
He only looks up for a fraction of a moment, "Ah, yes."
"How is that supposed to help me find a place where I am safe?"
"It doesn't, of course." This time he does not even move his head. "That is not what you asked for, after all."
"That's ...", you are about to refute him, when you remember that might not be a healthy idea and that you indeed have asked a different question after failing to get his attention the first time. Missing something like this, you must be wearier than you thought.
You consider leaving him without further questions, but it seems likely for him to actually have the answer you seek and anyone around here is going to give you a hard time, if you do not take care of how you word your questions.
"Where is a place I can reach, where I am safe from the creature that has hunted me for the past day or more?" you try again.
A small smile shows on the man's face when he answers, "Ah, more careful now? The answer to this question will cost you rest of your fruits."
Not an unexpected price, but one you are willing to pay for a chance to rest, you hand them over.
"Thank you, dear. This clearing will keep you save enough as long as I am here, Groll will not dare to enter it."
Your anger must be visible on your face, as he adds, "Now, now. I will even tell you something else for free: If you stay here long enough, Groll will start to search for new prey. Isn't that helpful."
It is probably the best you can expect to get, but you do not answer and simply lie down on the grass. Of course you do not trust the old man, but your attempts to stay alert soon fail, when exhaustion pulls you in a deep sleep.
After you wake up, you continue to lie still for a while. An image of an old man is your mind, someone you have dealt with and, as is now apparent, who you have sold your language to. In return you received a set of numbers that you now somehow perfectly remember.
48.2083049 16.3723155
48.2085159 16.373278
48.2041521 16.3799387
No explanations what they could mean comes to your mind, and only for the last set you remember a description of a path, sounding so out of this world that is must be in the hedge or further.
When you cannot think of any way to use this information after musing for some time, you open your eyes and start to look around. Not much has changed, but before you get bored, someone enters the room.
Anna, as it turns out, and with her a woman you have not seen before.
"Hello Beatrix. My name is Agatha Lechner. Do you understand me?"
[X] Ask where you are
[X] Ask who are the people helping you.
[X] Ask what's going to happen to you now.
[X] Ask how you can pay for all this.
[X] Ask for the exact date; if they don't volunteer the year, ask for it and play it off as a joke
[X] Ask about Anna and Frau Lechner; try to get them to tell you about themselves.
Well, it's more like I had a completely mundane explanation of what has happened in my head, then it got turned around with 'you sold your language', and now I struggle to understand what that means and how it affects us.
I also wonder what exactly is that thing we traded here was:
When you wake up again, you remember little of what you have dreamt. Only the phrase 'Remember, the prices change at dawn and dusk!' and a trade of sorts. It involved 'The last thing your parents gave you that you did not let burn away.
Well, it's more like I had a completely mundane explanation of what has happened in my head, then it got turned around with 'you sold your language', and now I struggle to understand what that means and how it affects us.
