IC INBOX: STORYTELLER

[story_teller]

   IC INBOX: THE STORYTELLER

The Storyteller's temple on the central island of Ensō is, unsurprisingly, where your local deity can most often be found. Those seeking to strike up a conversation or pursue the Storyteller for answers are not guaranteed an immediate answer, but they can certainly try. If one waits for long enough after posing a question, their expectation for a response from the deity in question may very well prompt them to happen along...eventually.

If you're looking to request an item, this is not the place to do it. Our Item Requests page is where you ought to pose those inquiries!

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Comments

[crosslaced]

[Don’t take it that personally. As a prince he’s never expected to have control over the details of his own wedding- everything would have been whatever was most appropriate, most traditional.]

I don’t know of other options.

[That, and the ST’s relatively respectable now, so that’ll do pretty much.]

It won’t be for another few months, at least. If your circumstances or standing changes by then…. we’ll see. Don’t think of it as a definite invite- I’m asking if you’d be willing, is all.

[story_teller]

No, it...

[Do not think of it as something emotionally driven, of course. It is a necessity, and nothing more.]

It would be my honor.

[crosslaced]

We appreciate it.

[For once, there’s the weight of sincerity in his words. Really, thanks for RVSP-ing.

Anyway. He has a multi-itemed agenda. #2 is plot puzzles.]

With that settled, I have other things I wanted to discuss. You’ve said that when people disappear from Enso….. they’re “lost”, to you. Then- whether someone disappears temporarily or returns to where they came from, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference? Do you sense anything at all when disappearances happen?

[story_teller]

Given the small number of you here, I would be a sorry god indeed if I could not discern when one of you has dispersed.

[So that would be a "yes," they can definitely tell when people...disappear.]

But once they are gone, I cannot say if they will return, or where they have gone to.

[crosslaced]

[That was not what they said the last time. He thought they were sure a missing person would go home, if they didn’t return.

>:( ]

So you know little about disappearances. Neither do you know who brought us here and how.

[He unties something from his belt, and holds out his En-Compass.]

It’s curious, how I was given one of these when I arrived. It’s calibrated to point to your temple. Recognise anything about it?

[story_teller]

I think you will find that my knowledge of many things is more limited than I would like.

[Oh, but they do sound sour. They're a busy god who's managing every part of this island what do you want from them.]

[The Storyteller flutters closer to study the tool, head quirking to one side.]

Interesting. No, I cannot say that I do. It points here?

[crosslaced]

Yes. Once I step out of the temple it points back to it.

[Because the needle’s spinning confusedly now. Laurent doesn’t give the Storyteller’s earlier statement much of a response- life sucks on this bitch of an archipelago, it seems. He’s just going to have to continue living with it.]

Do you wager it's likelier that some past civilisation produced this, or another god?

[story_teller]

I would hope not.

[Their tone is one of puzzlement.]

I'm not certain what occurred while I slept, but I certainly don't remember anyone capable of such a thing. [Connect the dots if you will, Laurent; this means that all sorts has transpired while the Storyteller slept.]

[Take comfort in that.]

[crosslaced]

[THAT’S NOT COMFORTING AT ALL. Laurent’s mouth twists, worried.]

Do you… know anything about those glyphs that warded you away on the mountain, either?

[Is the answer another ‘no’. It’s somewhat rhetorical, his face and voice hints that he’s expecting a ‘no’.]

Are there ways for you- or us- to find out what happened while you slept?

[story_teller]

I do not know who made them. Or how.

[It would be more difficult, naturally, than simply drawing a symbol. If that were all it would take, the Storyteller would be out of house and home by now.]

If there was anyone in the vicinity of Ensō in that time period, I suppose I would ask. But... [Well, it is not as if there were a lot of sapient creatures here when you all arrived, now, were there?]

[crosslaced]

I hope I can assume you're similarly uneasy about this. .... how feasible is reaching out to the other gods, perhaps? I don't know how much you've been communicating.

.....is there a god on Umui?

[story_teller]

Oh, yes. It is not a very kind feeling, to know that someone is capable of such a thing.

[The owl's talons dig into their perch, briefly. Then they flutter, briefly, to perch at a spot on the Temple floor. Strange, how their tome seems to have always been there, as if waiting for them.]

Hm. None that I can detect. But I think it is quite apparent, how that island has been bereft for some time.

[crosslaced]

Hm. I appreciate your confirmation.

[Inexperienced in the lore of the land, he’d seen the outward similarity to Ziziphus and thought-.]

....did you expect us to find a god? I hope you’ll pardon my rather extensive curiosity.

Why allow us access to these few islands? Did you expect them to be merely resource mines? I’m- unclear.

[story_teller]

That is my hope, yes. Plants, civilization, ore...these are all fairly basic amenities that Ensō does not entirely boast in abundance. If you are to last here at all, it is my duty to provide for you as best as I can. I cannot predict what perils might be in wait in the process.

I know what gods frequented what regions before I last slept. Whether they still frequent those regions...I cannot say.

[crosslaced]

...would you tell us? What this region was like before you slept?

[story_teller]

Ensō in particular, or...?

[LifeAftr is an expansive place, after all. There are a number of islands, uncharted or no, that make it difficult to progress in a linear fashion.]

[crosslaced]

As many islands as you know anything about.

[That’s fine. He’s not daunted. They can go through as much as they can and he’ll carve out the time to make sense of it. ]

Enso isn’t a bad start. If you know anything about Umui’s past, I think it might help as well.

[story_teller]

You will have to be more specific. What answers, specifically, are you seeking?

[crosslaced]

... What state was Enso in when you went to sleep? And how long ago was that?

[story_teller]

Not nearly so overrun with predators as it was when you arrived. That particular race of simians were not nearly as hostile - they were an important part of this island's ecosystem, if you might recall. Perhaps the presence of other sapient beings in their territory roused something fierce within them...

[They trail off, for a moment lost in thought before they swing their attention back to the conversation at hand.]

A thousand years. Give or take.

[crosslaced]

[....]

I wouldn’t be surprised.

Did you have access to Umui back then? [Hm.]On that note, have you gods always... communicated as little as you do now?

[His viewpoint is incomplete at best, but it seems like everyone is rather estranged. That, or the Storyteller hates having CR and never checks on the rest of their pantheon. ]

[story_teller]

No. We did not. Many of us were close.

[But they do not elaborate.]

I had access to most any island back then, as well. I...generally did not coax them toward me unless I had to.

[crosslaced]

.... and now... [Raspho.

What went wrong?]

It appears that your slumber was at a most inopportune time.

[story_teller]

It was.

[Their head lowers. It may be difficult to discern in earnest, but something about the arch of their feathers almost indicates shame.]

You may not believe it, but there was a time when this place was beautiful.

[crosslaced]

[He tilts his head back to take in the mossy ceiling.]

It’s not so bad. I think we could do much worse.

Even with your absence, I find myself wondering if someone saw fit to take advantage. An unguarded nest does not raid itself.