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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[thermalwind]

[The knowledge rocks him to the core. His irises shrink and narrow to match his slitted pupils. He sucks in a short, sharp breath and tries to pull himself back in order.

He turns his head to the side and there's a flash of sharp fangs in his mouth. He needs to get a grip. One more breath. He pushes it all back inside.]

...Will it always be there? Or will enough time passing and enough of our stories being...different make it go away?

[He has a sinking feeling that there will always be flowers among their fur, feathers, scales...whatever shape they take.]

[story_teller]

I cannot say.

[It's said with the affectation of a tired little shrug, even if they are not currently in a shape that lends itself to such movements.]

I suppose one might call it an unresolved plot point. The only way to know for certain is to...read on.

[thermalwind]

...okay. We can do that. I'm going to keep checking back on you. If...if this does go away at least we'll know.

[But how to avoid such things in the future? Or find a way to shield Storyteller from this damage? He's worried that he can't. That's an unsettling feeling.]

Was it worse while all of us were sick?

[story_teller]

Yes.

[The word is nearly inaudible, but the soft hiss of the "s" gives it away.]

I am not at my strongest. Your latest offerings... [Forty stories is a lot, after all.] ...it helped more than I realized, but I cannot say when my strength will return in full.

[thermalwind]

[He watches them with a frown on his face. The latest offerings. He is sitting on a trove of offerings. He can safeguard both sides of this equation just a little bit.]

...I think I know how to help now. It might...be a little bit, but I'll give you offerings too.

Is there anything else I can do besides helping others recover that will help you?

[story_teller]

It is not as though I can take another thousand-year nap to save my strength, now, can I?

[The lemur sighs. The crisp white holly petals prickle out from the dark fur ringing their tail, shivering slightly at the sound.]

No. I will simply have to take the slow path, as it were, and learn to trust that linearity will do its work.

[thermalwind]

[His eyes snap to the white holly petals and narrow. He's still concerned but if they can't do anything to fix this right now. They need to what they can repair.]

And trust us. I can talk to the others see who will be willing to help. I already know a few who would be.

[story_teller]

You have sacrificed enough on my account.

[Their tail sweeps back and forth, as though clearing dust from the surface of their old tome.]

In any case, I will have to take a brief...departure soon enough. With the current selection of new lands exhausted, I must seek more for your continued survival.

[thermalwind]

Wait. [He holds up his hand.] Are you saying you physically leave to search out islands?

Was it always like this?

[story_teller]

"Physically" isn't the term I would use for it. But I doubt there is a more accurate alternative, so I suppose for the sake of discussion, one could say physically.

No. It was not always like this. Things were not always so...fragmented as they are now. But this is the way things are, and so I must accommodate that change.

[thermalwind]

Is there a way to fix how fragmented everything is? [He locks onto that point. There has to be something. Somewhat to help.]

[story_teller]

What about the situation suggests that, were such a thing possible, I would not have already done it?

[thermalwind]

[He stares at them, watching them with a calm stealing over him. All of him settles into place. He leans forward placing his hands on the stone floor of the temple.]

...okay, so it's not something obvious or a way that you can see but not affect. If it exists...it has to be found.

[He takes no offense. It's a valid point. But he's thinking.]

Do you mind if I keep looking into this matter? I know it looks like it might not be possible. But I want to see that for myself.

[story_teller]

If there is some detail that a deity would miss but a mortal would not...

[A sigh. It makes the sprigs of holly petals in their tail shiver.]

I suppose anything is possible.

[thermalwind]

For all, we know the answer is being shielded from you. That is possible, right?

[What kind of story would it be if the reason or the solution were easily visible?]

[story_teller]

The way the caves were?

...I admit that is possible, in a sense.

[thermalwind]

What do we need to look for? I heard about the caves...dreamed about being there. But I never saw what barred you from entry.

[story_teller]

A particular sigil.

[For perhaps obvious reasons, they are reluctant to sketch it out.]

To draw it is not enough, however. There must have been some...particularly potent power at work to have imbued it with enough force to keep me out. To blind me to even what lay behind those doors.

[thermalwind]

...it’s possible we’ll run into this ourselves. Not just the sigil, but whatever is behind it.

[Two years ago this would have been a very differentl conversation. Keith rubs at his jaw and stares into the middle distance. Then his gaze fixes back on Storyteller.]

If we gather information...we might find a way to counter them. Possibly even make our own guarded areas. And if there is a someone behind it there has to be a source to what they’re doing. Any ideas?

[story_teller]

I have no idea who would, or could. Not everyone was my ally - you know this.

[The people of Ai'tuoh were one example; they did not favor stories, or the written word, or anything that could be construed as a lie or even an embellishment.]

But to devise something like that requires a certain amount of power that I'm certain few creatures of this world could possess.

[thermalwind]

And that's a good enough start for now. [It's something to think about. Keith climbs to his feet. He feels tired but he needs to check up on his team and make sure everyone is recovering.]

I'll think it over and start gathering what I can. Thanks for meeting with me. I'll try to swing by more often.

[story_teller]

[A subtle, almost imperceptible inclination of their head.]

You know where to find me.