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You rise to your feet as it reaches the riverbank. You would be standing nose to nose if it had anything fitting that definition on its face.

“What brings you to this land?”

“A long string of promises made and obligations fulfilled,” you answer, trying hard not to blink as it stares unceasingly into your eyes. “May I know your name, guardian of the waterway?”

It continues to stare silently for a few tense moments. It tilts its head a fraction of an inch to the right, and you feel its gaze slide past you.

Then, “You are addressing me with this query.”

You nod slowly.

“I do not guard this waterpath. Its guardian is no longer extant.”

A river without a spirit? As far as you know, that's more or less unheard of. “What happened to them?”

“It was consumed,” It states simply. “Some time ago. I have resided here since, trapped by the vacuum of the ley-lines. The inexorable gravity of a home without an occupant binds me here.”

> What are you, then?
> I could free you, if you can help me. I know someone who could take your place.
> Did you consume that spirit?
> I never got your name.
> Write-in

–--
You are Osyki, journeyman Totemist and first line of defense for your village against the rabid Behemoths wandering the land. Your master, the previous Totemist, fell in a battle against a terrible Behemoth, leaving the duty of defending your settlement to you. In the kingdom of Eluneia Alastacia you have made your case to the High Council, then spent most of the day helping to repair the damage your previous battle inflicted. Now you prepare to leave for home, with only a few side errands to tie up in the mean time.

[[Previous Threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=totem

Plot Summary: http://pastebin.com/dqBSNUTM (Current to thread 62)

The Cast Thus Far / Binder's Log: http://pastebin.com/VsJpEUx3

Ask: ask.fm/DiarcaEXE

Wiki in progess: http://totemistquest.pbworks.com

Quest Twitter: @TotemistQuest]]

>>43104293
>> What are you, then?
>> I never got your name.

Also did the moon spirit consume them? She seems power grabby.

Also alsp can Boand have two domains at once? If not, let's be careful promising anything bc I can't remember if we have anothet water spirit that we can just insert in there or not.

>>43104293
>What are you, then?
>I never got your name.

>>43104284
>3 30 AM
dang nabbit diarca

>>43104293
>> I could free you, if you can help me. I know someone who could take your place.
>> Did you consume that spirit?

>>43104293
>> What are you, then?

>>43104293
> I could free you, if you can help me. I know someone who could take your place.

>>43104555
What part of the world do you live in that it's 3:30? It's only 2:30 in aussieland right now.

>>43104293
>> What are you, then?
> I never got your name.

You frown, taking a step back from the strange ivory-skinned spirit. “If you aren't the guardian of the river, then what -are- you? How did you manage to get trapped here?”

The only sound for a few tense moments is the soft rasp of the dirt and grass beneath your feet flowing in an unceasing tide down the rollings hills beneath you. The spirit straightens to its full height, standing suddenly nearly double yours, and with infinite grace simply shrugs.

“I do not remember.”

“You—what?”

“I do not remember,” it repeats, as if a prerecorded message had spilled once again from its mouthless head. “I am... unwhole. A part of me is missing, Totemist, and I must find it to remember what I am.”

The strange being blurs momentarily at the edges, its inner coloring leaking out into the air around it before being sucked back in.

“Three scattered shards of myself. I was looking for them when I was trapped here.”

You put a hand to your hip, considering the unusual thing.

“I never got your name,” you tell it.

“I have none to give you,” it admits. Its face is a strange inversion of Modi Magni's—where Magni's blank face is a perfect mask to cover the rage barely restrained beneath the surface, this creature's eyes are almost as expressive as a human's. “I am only a fragment of something much greater. A Fourth.” A note of melancholy lingers in the air.

You nod. Fourth. It's as good a name as any.

“Can I help you, Fourth?”

It mirrors your nod, a strange affectation of human speech. It comes across as incontrovertibly alien on its stretched ivory frame. “I hope so.”

> Call to Boand to have her take control of the waterway. She can free him.
> Make a Celestial Pact with Fourth. You'll carry him away from this place yourself.
> Slay the poor creature. He's not long for this world.
> Walk away. You don't have the time or energy.
> Write-in

>>43104905
>> Make a Celestial Pact with Fourth. You'll carry him away from this place yourself.

>>43104905
>Call to Boand to have her take control of the waterway. She can free him.

>>43104905
> Make a Celestial Pact with Fourth. You'll carry him away from this place yourself.
then
> Call to Boand to have her take control of the waterway. It's unoccupied now.

>>43104905
>> Call to Boand to have her take control of the waterway. She can free him.

We should be concerned in all likelyhood, this isn't normal for spirits to be split like this, either it was something VERY VERY dangerous or someone was experimenting with some seriously dangerous shit and broke it.

>>43104905
>> Call to Boand to have her take control of the waterway. She can free him.
>> Make a Celestial Pact with Fourth. You'll carry him away from this place yourself.

>>43104996
Seconding this!

>>43104905
> Make a Celestial Pact with Fourth. You'll carry him away from this place yourself.
Let's go on a quest to gather his missing shards. That should be fun!

We can have boand
> take control of the waterway
afterwards.

Hello lads, that one autist from Diarca's ask page here, have you implemented any of my spirit binding ideas/suggestions or done any of the research related to it(e.g. grafting) yet?

You take another step away from the river's edge. There is a subtle gravity to Fourth's eyes that it takes a moment of genuine willpower to wrench yourself away from. You can feel its (his?) eyes boring quietly into the side of your skull as you fish the Whirlpool Pearl from within your shirt. It's startling how easy it is to open a link with Boand here—you're not sure whether to attribute it to your proximity to water or some strange influence of Fourth's.

“Boand. You awake? I think I've got something you'll like here.”

Boand manifests in your mind's eye after a momentary delay. She's clearly underwater, her hair rippling out in a graceful halo around her.

-I'm up,- she tell you. -What it is?-

“There's a spirit here willing to give you a river.”

-A river?- That attracts her attention. She straightens, and he hair plunges into its usual perfect curtain around her shoulder. -I could do excellent things with another river. What are the thing's terms? Are we talking a Naiad? Nymph?-

You shake your head. “Something altogether stranger. And there's one catch: You assume stewardship over the river. The thing that lives there now doesn't strike me as a water spirit, and it wants out.”

She frowns at that. -Interesting. Hold on. I'll open a tunnel.-

She swims to the right and out of your mind's eye entirely. You open your eyes to see Fourth leaning over the riverbank toward you, his elongated body precariously balanced on one slender hoof.

“Who were you talking to?” he asks.

You open your mouth to respond when the river beneath his feet suddenly pitches. A familiar cerulean glow erupts from the depths, and your Whirlpool Pearl burns alight with matching radiance in your palm. After a moment Boand breaks the surface of the still water in a plume of still water. Droplets hover in the air around her where they flew, diamonds hung from the sky in perfect constellations. She sucks in a deep breath and opens her eyes.

>>43105309

“Didn't think that would work so smoothly,” she says, fixing her gaze upon you. She turns on Fourth, her mouth already curling into a genial smile, and freezes.

“...What?” she stammers, an aborted half-phrase. “Uh--”

“Hello,” Fourth says to her. He has returned to his usual stance now, hunched slightly to attempt eye contact at Boand's level.

“Boand,” you say by way of introduction, “This is fourth. The current tenant. Fourth, meet Boand.”

“Hello,” he repeats in precisely mirrored syllables.

“Hi,” Boand manages. She seems dumbstruck for the first time. “You live here?”

Fourth nods. “But I would like not to. Will you?”

“I, uh--” she runs a hand through her hair, swimming a few feet back. She has to crane her neck back to maintain eye contact. “I could. No strings attached?”

“No. You cannot attach strings to a river.”

You're not sure if that was monumentally profound or childishly simple.

“Boand, -can- you even take ownership of this river without abandoning your pool?”

She breaks eye contact with Fourth in a visible moment of sheer willpower. Her gaze sweeps from right to left. “I could try,” she tells you. “I've never worked with a body of water this big. I figured I'd be visiting every so often, not growing my actual real estate.”

> If you're not prepared, we can find something else.
> You had better go, then. When I take Fourth this place could trap you.
> Ask Fourth a question. (what?)
> Write-in

>>43105324
>> If you're not prepared, we can find something else.
>> You had better go, then. When I take Fourth this place could trap you.

>>43105324
>If you're not prepared, we can find something else.
> You had better go, then. When I take Fourth this place could trap you.

>>43105324
>> If you're not prepared, we can find something else.
>> You had better go, then. When I take Fourth this place could trap you.

>>43105324
>> If you're not prepared, we can find something else.
>> You had better go, then. When I take Fourth this place could trap you.

>>43105324
>> If you're not prepared, we can find something else.
If we get her stuck here, could the we take her with us when we use the Quick Recall Totem?

>>43105324
>> If you're not prepared, we can find something else.
Fourth is suspicious as fuck

>>43105324
>> Write-in
Ask bonbd if shes heard if this "i got trapped bc its empty bs before"

>>43105324
Use the pearl to telepathically ask Boand "You know what he is, is he trustworthy?"

>>43104284
>totemist quest
>alive

Diarca you saint

>>43104555
>>43104682
Its 18:55 here.

>>43105324
>If you're not prepared, we can find something else.

>>43105467
Its not like we cant take them away on our own anyway.

>>43105324
> If you're not prepared, we can find something else.
> Ask Fourth a question. (what?)
Would whatever affected Fourth affect Boand, keep her from leaving?

>>43105820
surly as an actual water spirit she could just teleport like she did to get here.

>>43105655

Boand glances to you. It's strange to see her simultaneously in your mind's eye and in person as she uses the Pearl to speak with you.

-That's just it. I have no idea what the hell this thing -is-. It's not like any spirit I've ever seen. The energy it's made of is incredibly dense. I couldn't get a read on it if I tried.-

Troubling.

-You're telling me,- she mutters. She floats where she is, sizing up both Fourth and the river he dwells in with surreptitious glances. -It does seem to be stuck here. The flow of the river is bound up fairly inextricably with it at the moment. I could redirect the flow through myself to free it, but only if you think it's a good idea.-

You hum thoughtfully aloud.

>>43105820

“Fourth.” The pale humanoid looks to you curiously. “If Boand were to take the river from you, would she be stuck here as well?”

“I do not know,” it says. “She is of the water, and so perhaps she will flow freely from one place to the next.”

You scratch at the scruff on your chin thoughtfully. “Maybe. Boa, if you don't think you can do this we can find something else.”

She shakes her head, luminous blue curtains rippling as she does. “I -can- take the river. That's not really my main point of concern.”

“And you don't think you would be trapped here?”

“Doubtful,” she says. “There's still an open door between my sanctum and this place. I think it would take more than that to unseat me from my place in the forest.”

“If you're confident.”

“When am I ever not?” she smiles impishly at you.

Fourth watches your conversation silently, the points of light in its inky eyes softly luminous in the night air.

> Form a pact with Fourth and give the river to Boand.
> Attack Fourth and perform a Feral Bind on him. Give the river to Boand.
> Back out of this. You don't need to be messing with unknown spirits.
> Write-in.

>>43105909
>Form a pact with Fourth and give the river to Boand.

>>43105909
>Form a pact with Fourth and give the river to Boand.
Plunging recklessly into unknown contracts always works out.

Ask him what he remember of his 1st moments? Did anyone/thing came around to look at things.
How long as he being aware of itself and his unwholesomeness?

>>43105909
> Write-in.
Back out for now, but resolve to learn more and come back once we understand Fourth's nature better. We could read Ayren's notes to see if there's anything similar in there, talk with the natives to find out if they know anything about him, and (if we can find a suitable sacrifice of knowledge) use that dowsing ritual Saeri to find Fourth's other pieces.

>>43105909
>> Form a pact with Fourth and give the river to Boand.
So long as her main point of concern isnt something other than "this thing might be evil". I hope shes not holding something back.

>>43105909
>> Form a pact with Fourth and give the river to Boand.

>>43105909
>> Form a pact with Fourth and give the river to Boand.

>>43105909
> Form a pact with Fourth and give the river to Boand.

If we can help Fourth find his fragments, he might become very useful.

By rights, this could be a painfully obvious trap. This being could be something sealed away long ago in this river, some dark figure of ancient myth imprisoned by the moon and forgotten by modern man. Ayren would call you a fool for unleashing this thing without precaution or research beforehand, especially so close to a settlement full to the brim with ordinary people.

But you're a Totemist, and that means you have to go with your gut instinct some days.

“Alright, Fourth. Let's see what we can do about taking you from this place.”

The being nods, sinking to its knees to place itself on eye-level with you. It flexes its finger once and then reaches a hand -into- its own chest, its questing fingers parting pale flesh like water. After a moment's search it withdraws a dark iron rod and proffers it to you. The surface of the metal is freezing to the touch.

“What can you offer me?” you ask it as you turn the rod over in your hands. Obsidian flesh leaks from the triangles on the back of either hand to insulate your skin from the unforgiving cold that radiates from the metal bar.

Fourth shrugs.

“Me,” he says simply. “I change things. The river stops and the earth flows. The moon reflects the earth.”

You pull your sleeve back, glancing down at the Bracelet of Binding Threads. Complex runes unspool from the surface of the metal links as your eyes rake over them, spinning into a dizzying storm that orbits the two of you.

> Roll 1d100 for pactmaking.

Rolled 47 (1d100)

>>43106502
>inb4 happening

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>43106502

Rolled 67 (1d100)

>>43106502
pls

Rolled 54 (1d100)

>>43106502
Panic.

Rolled 68 (1d100)

>>43106558
How dramatically mediocre

Rolled 65 (1d100)

>>43106502
We should've prayed to the primal spirit

For this is its will

>>43106565
I'll take mediocre over a critfail :D

>>43106565
>>43106594
At least its high mediocre.

Rolled 1 (1d1)

>>43106594
I bet you would

>>43106603
>1d1
I am ashamed of you anon

The threads of language that swirl around you are a literary blizzard. You hear Fourth make a small noise of interest as the dome of swirling runes expands to encompass the two of you and the river below, the runic seals of light practically buzzing with restrained potential. You focus in through the onslaught and narrow your focus along with your eyes, seeking out and plucking the terms of your contract with the odd thing known as Fourth from the very air around.

> 68

It's far from a perfect binding. The seals inlaid into the iron rod seem almost crooked to your eyes, and there is a sense of grammatical imperfection to the way the characters interact with one another. Still, the intent is clear. In exchange for freeing Fourth from the confines of the river, he will travel alongside you and lend his power to whatever endeavor you see fit. The structure of the language forces you to set a time limit, and with Fourth's consent you agree that you will revisit the contract when you find the first shard of his scattered self.

The immediate problem you run into is a fairly glaring one: there doesn't seem to be a word in the celestial alphabet that circles you for what Fourth is. You work around it as well as you can, leaving blank spaces to return to when you should include his personal sigil. As you near the end of your work the pale thing leans over and presses his finger to the first of the blank spaces. The metal rod shifts and warps under his touch as your contract mentally clicks into place.

¼

The sphereoid of celestial tongue orbiting you and your newfound spiritual partner collapses in on itself, packing a small dissertation of content into a few spiraling lines of celestial text inlaid upon the surface of your new Focus. Fourth shimmers and wavers at the edges as he did before, but this time his outline breaks entirely. The cold milky color of his flesh flows into the metal rod, suffusing it with pale radiance. The outline he leaves behind is filled with utter darkness for the briefest moment before it collapses entirely into nothingness.

Beside you a secondary lightshow has been taking shape as Boand takes ownership of the Eluneian river. Her hair flares around her head as if she were underwater as the essence of the river departs from Fourth and ties itself conceptually to her, instead. All at once Boand seems much... more. Her presence is more notable, her features more graceful. Spiritual pressure ripples off of her in waves, a stone thrown into the pond of reality that surrounds her.

From the Eluneian walls the pair of you must make quite a spectacle indeed.

When the dust settles, the river flows anew and you hold a new Focus in your grasp.

>[[Focus Acquired: Fourth's Control Rod.]]

Boand brushes her hair over her shoulder. The motion of it evokes a river spilling over its banks.

“Mmmh,” she sighs, a satisfied noise if you've ever heard one. “Osyki, you are the best.”

> I know.
> I just hope this doesn't come back to bite me.
> Do you think you could take me to and from the village now?
> Write-in

>>43107040
>Shut up baby I know it

>>43107040
>> I know.
> Do you think you could take me to and from the village now?

>>43107040
>I know because your with me
>> Do you think you could take me to and from the village now?
Sup Dia

>>43107040
>> I just hope this doesn't come back to bite me.
So we got something for boand after all!

>>43107040
> I know.
> Write-in
"So how much is this going to expand your domain, now? Connecting you to the stream let you add an entire river valley, what's an actual river going to do?"

>>43107040
> I just hope this doesn't come back to bite me.
> Do you think you could take me to and from the village now?

>>43107040
>I try.

>>43107040
> I just hope this doesn't come back to bite me.

>>43107040
> I know.

You can't help but grin. “I know,” you say with an easy shrug of your shoulders. “It's what I do. This should do good things for your domain, yes?”

She nods. There's still a subcutaneous light that spills from her pores with every motion, tracing streamers of blue-white in the air with every motion. “Oh yes. Sylviannis' court just moved up in the world, Osyki, and my place within it at that. I'd like to see the Mother of the Swamp try anything now that I've got an entire river's worth of essence.”

“Is that a scenario that's particularly likely? I thought we were on good terms with her.”

Boand checks herself, placing her hands on her hips. “Well, no. Now that she and Sylvia have patched things up I suppose it's not something I need to worry about anymore.”

You nod. “I'd worry more about that spirit that's been stalking around the forest, were I you.”

“Let him try to hide from me,” she says with a dangerous glint in her eye.

You flip Fourth's Control Rod in your hand. It's about as weighty as you would expect an iron rod to be, though the surface is pitted between the pristine characters of the celestial tongue.

“I just hope this doesn't come back to bite me later on.”

She shrugs. “You'll be prepared if it comes down to it. You're always prepared, right?”

You nod, tucking the Rod into your pack. “Damn right. So is this river a portal between the forest and here, now?”

Boand considers that. She places her palms on the water's surface, concentrating.

“Not at the moment,” she decides after a moment's contemplation. “My control hasn't suffused the structure of the riverbed yet, nor has it spread further downstream. Give me some time to do some home improvement. For the time being I think I'm the only one who can skip back and forth.”

>>43107800

You shrug. “It was worth a shot.”

“Definitely,” she agrees. Her fox-like smile softens to something tempered with genuine fondness, and she glances to one side with a slight tinge to her cheeks that you would call 'embarassed' if you didn't know better. “Thank you, Osyki. This is—I mean, no one has ever done anything like this for me. This is much more than I expected.”

“You're welcome,” you tell her. “I think you deserve it.”

The tinge in her cheeks blossoms into a full blush at that, though she nods in agreement with you.

“Go get some rest,” she mutters, still not looking at you. “You have a big trip in the morning.”

> I do. Good night, Boa.
> I'd like to stay with you a little longer, actually.
> I have a spirit to interrogate first.
> I may as well make the jump now. Eluneia has exhausted its charm, for the time being.
> Write-in

>>43107822
> I do. Good night, Boa.

>>43107822
>> I have a spirit to interrogate first.
Lets find out what a quarter of this dude can do.

>>43107822
>> I may as well make the jump now. Eluneia has exhausted its charm, for the time being.

>>43107822
> I do. Good night, Boa.

>>43107822
> I do. Good night, Boa.
Best to do the trip in the morning. We want to be fresh for it. Besides, our new friends deserve to be told where we're going so they don't get confused when we're nowhere to be found. And I don't think interrogating Fourth is going to get much answers, it seems he doesn't really know much about himself. Or at least, not much that he's willing to tell. So yeah, let's just sleep for now.

>>43107822
>I may as well make the jump now. Eluneia has exhausted its charm, for the time being.

>>43107822
>I do. Good night, Boa.

>>43107040
>[[Focus Acquired: Fourth's Control Rod.]]
>Control Rod

So, hows betting on the chances were not just dealing with a spiritual entity, but a COSMIC spiritual entity here?
Something not from our neighborhood maybe?

>>43108050
Like a meteorite?

>>43108071
I was thinking something like that.
And it fits it story.
It fragments.
It changes things(The landscape)
Its trapped in water, a large meteorite could have formed a lake, which over time could have split off into some rivers, carrying pieces away.
it's focus is made of iron, I think thats common in meteorites, along with like, ice and such?

This is all just wild speculation but I like it.

>>43107822
>I'd like to stay with you a little longer, actually.
I like her. I like the healer girl too but they can share right? Boa, for sure, can share.

>>43107822
> I do. Good night, Boa.

>>43108153
That sounds incredibly like something I suggested on Diarcas ask a while ago.

>>43108153
Didnt he say there used to be a spirit in this river?

>>43108153
>>43108214
This is some cool beans

>>43107822
>> I'd like to stay with you a little longer, actually.

>>43108162
Elana has classically been bad at sharing.

>>43108301
We can change her mind. I mean, one of them is a spirit. That gotta change some things?

>>43108332
I don't think "She's not a human" is going to change how the girl defines infidelity.

>>43108153
I wonder...when describing his powers he said "The moon reflects the earth". Eluneia is said to have been founded on land touched by the Moon Goddess. What if that was literal? Not just her spirit blessing this place, but actual material from the moon impacting the earth. A good portion of the meteorites that land on our Earth originated from the moon, blasted free by other meteor impacts. Maybe he's something similar, a piece of the original "blessing" that the Moon sent down that's developed its own consciousness. Lunar symbolism is classically associated with change, so that fits his abilities. Though that would imply that the other pieces of him are likely holy relics of the Eluneian faith, and reuniting him with them is going to be very difficult.

>>43108383
He could just be some spirit. Spirits are nuts man, like the guy with the mirror for a face.

>>43108415
Yo Caethos is a bro don't talk shit

>>43108449
Bros can be nuts. Especially ones that have no necks.

>>43107822
>> I do. Good night, Boa.
experimentation time!

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You draw Nocturne's Embrace around you to ward the chill of the autumn air. “I do,” you agree. “Hopefully not a long one, though. Rest well Boand. I'll see you tomorrow.”

She turns to look you in the eye, giving you a little wave. “I look forward to it,” she says. Then she pivots on the spot and disappears below the water's surface, suffusing the water's surface with motes of dancing light.

As you depart the ribbon of water that cuts through the rolling hills of Eluneia, you leave it glowing even brighter than you found it.

–-

Cloudwalker Stride brings you back to Eluneia Alastacia in a few short minutes of grasshopper leaps. You vault the city walls in a single bound, no doubt startling the two guardsmen whom you hurtle past. You give them a friendly wave from the ground as you make your way toward your rented abode. No need to raise a panic in this tense climate, after all.

Though your bed is unfamiliar anything is an improvement from the prisoner's cot you spent the last night recuperating on. You sink beneath the warm sheets once you strip yourself of binding and armor, letting out a soft sigh as your head hits the pillow. A productive day, and one free of bloodshed. Both are tricks you hope to replicate.

When you find your way down the gossamer road to slumber, you find it devoid of dreams.

–

In the morning you make your arrangements swiftly. Lance Corporal Rookwood meets you at the gate to your yard. The two of you make your way to the barracks where you inform Corporal Rime that you will be departing the city pending the Council's decision.

“I understand, Totemist,” he tells you. “I hope your stay in the city was not too taxing on you, all things considered.”

“On the contrary, Corporal,” you tell him, “I honestly can't wait to return.”

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>>43108791

You make arrangements for another messenger bird when the council is ready to speak with you once more. As you depart, Rime hands you small polished silver disc emblazoned with the Lady Argent's face.

“As I am concerned, you are a friend of this nation, and thus may bear her seal to mark you as a friend of Alastacia.”

You tuck the emblem away, thanking the captain again for his hospitality.

Pruisa departs from you at the city gate after promising to send your farewells along to Jun and Tybald.

“Safe travels, sir,” she tells you with a sharp military salute.

“Until next time, Pruisa.”

You head a ways away from the city on the offchance your apprentices have constructed this totem catastrophically wrong, then reach out to Boand.

-Good morning!- she chirps into the back of your mind, swimming into view behind your eyelids. -Ready for transit?-

“As I'll ever be,” you tell her. “Clear the area. I'm coming home.”

You stow the Pearl safely inside your shirt. After double-checking that you have all of your belongings, you close your eyes and open your second sight. A faint ray of light shines out from the northeast, warming your skin and smelling of the fields of home.

You seize hold of it and refuse to let go. The world around you falls apart.

There is a brief sensation of utter -other-, a momentary but inescapable impression that you are passing through a place in which you do not belong, in which you are not allowed. Your spiritual sight goes utterly black, and you dare not open your eyes.

It is a distinct relief when you feet touch the earth and the smell of autumn leaves fills your senses.

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>>43108811

Before you can even fully open your eyes, a violent impact jars you from your feet and drives you to the ground. You half Constrictor's Fang halfway from its sheath when Terra's squeal of delight manages to wander in through your befuddled senses.

“Welcome home!” she crows, sitting triumphantly on your chest.

“I'll be damned,” Quinn says, lifting the Recall Totem from the dirt of the practice field. “It actually worked.”

> I had no doubt it would.
> Oh god, my head.
> Next time, we set that up for a softer landing.
> Write-in

>>43108827
>> I had no doubt it would.
>> Oh god, my head.
>> Next time, we set that up for a softer landing.
All of 'em

>>43108827
> I had no doubt it would.

>>43108827
> I had no doubt it would.
> Next time, we set that up for a softer landing.

Damn, that's a nice totem. I figure we'd need to at least use the veil-crossing ritual first, but this pulled us through and dumped us back out all on its own. That's some fine craftsmanship, Quinn.

>>43108827
>I had no doubt it would.
>Next time, we set that up for a softer landing.

>>43108827
> I had no doubt it would.
> Next time, we set that up for a softer landing.

>>43108827
>> Next time, we set that up for a softer landing.

Reminder that Boand is a slut that has fucked everyone in the village.

You get approximately halfway through telling Quinn you had no doubts in his craftsmanship when a sudden wave of nausea hits you. With no time for explanations you push Terra off of your chest and roll to the side opposite the one she tumbled, retching and dry-heaving for a few minutes while she makes worried noises behind you. You're glad you skipped breakfast. When the world finally stops spinning around you, Quinn hands you a mug of water.

“All settled, then?”

“I think so,” you tell him. “I guess being pulled that far that fast was bound to have some side effects. Next time, we arrange for a softer landing.”

“You got it, boss,” he tells you.

He and Terra help you back into the workshop. The smell of sage and leather is a soothing balm for your frazzled nerves. You settle into your seat at the workbench and at once, everything feels a little less like impending doom.

Home again.

“So,” you say as you begin to unpack, “What happened while I was away?”

Quinn and Terra spend the better part of an hour bringing you up to speed. They've been busy repairing (to the best of their abilities) some of the minor totems that have malfunctioned with Ayren's passing around the village.

“Once we fixed up the Recall Totem we got a little carried away,” he admits. “We were out pretty late hunting for spots Ayren might have squirreled away a totem or two.”

“We fixed a buncha road totems!” Terra chimes in.

Quinn nods. “Aye, and a fair few threshold wards as well.”

“Nice work,” you tell them. “I don't know whether to be more proud of the initiative you took in attempting this big a project or the results. You did really well.”

Terra beams, and Quinn looks fairly pleased with himself too.

>>43109520
>Reminder that I really don't like the fish lady, and I'm going to exaggerate why.
ftfy

>>43109571

“How has Boand's training been?”

“Different,” he tells you. “Not so brute-force focused. She's training me to be flexible with how I distribute what spiritual power I have, rather than expanding my reserves.:

“Both are important. Any headway?”

He shakes his head. “Not as of yet. I didn't have time for more than two tries, though. You haven't been gone -that- long.”

Sometimes it feels like you have.

> Deliver your gifts.
> You have access to your workshop and a pack full of totems. Time to experiment.
> Sleep off the worst of the trip fatigue first.
> Walk the village with your apprentices and check in on the people.
> Write-in

>>43109593
>Go to the library, try and figure out what the fuck the Fourth might be
Hell, maybe ask Thane and... that geometric shape that's our oldest bind if they have any clues.

>>43109593
> You have access to your workshop and a pack full of totems. Time to experiment.
"SCIENCE!"

>>43109593
> Deliver your gifts.
> Walk the village with your apprentices and check in on the people.
We'll have to go out and about to give Elana and Aurora their gifts, anyway.

>>43109616
Amal. The geometric shape is named Amal. And apparently he's not really a geometric shape, he's just such a weak spirit that he can't manifest himself properly in the physical world. He's actually a humanoid, the triangular prism is just the most complex form he can do without exhausting himself.

>>43109593
>> Deliver your gifts.
Gather round, children.

>>43109593
>> Sleep off the worst of the trip fatigue first.
then
> Deliver your gifts.

>>43109719
Second

>>43109593
>Deliver your gifts.
>Walk the village with your apprentices and check in on the people.
Elena(?) would be mad if we returned and didn't check in. Also i would imagine that we got a gift for her as well, so, if we are delivering gifts we would probably have to leave home.

>>43109593
>> Deliver your gifts.
>> You have access to your workshop and a pack full of totems. Time to experiment.

>>43109593
> You have access to your workshop and a pack full of totems. Time to experiment.
WE NEED A SADDLE!

>>43109948
We did get a gift for her. What we got everyone was detailed last thread. A pretty ribbon for Aurora, a cloak for Terra, nothing particularly for Quinn though he's welcome to the weapons and tools we bought, and a brooch with a hidden container for a vial of medicine for Elana. And in this thread, we got Boand a river.

>>43110188
I got this bitch a river, bitches loves rivers.

Your first order of business is, of course, the distribution of the gifts you have collected.

“Gather round!” You tell your apprentices. “Souvenier time!”

Terra nearly takes down the table she was sitting at scrambling over to you. You stoop down and, with the prerequisite dramatic flourish, throw the hooded travelling cloak you bought for her over her shoulders. She lets out a soft gasp of excitement as you cinch the crescent moon clasp on the cloak. It's a little long, but she'll grow into it.

“Every Totemist needs a proper cloak,” you tell her. “Now you have one, too.”

She throws her arms around your neck, squeezing for all she's worth. “Thank you!”

You rise from your crouch with her still hanging from your neck. You hand over the tiny porcelain rock turtle figurine and the crescent-bladed spear to Quinn.

“Something for your puppet totem experiments, and something for your regular training,” you tell him.

He gives the turtle figurine an amused once over before he carefully sets it aside. He tests the weight of the bladed staff, twirling it to and fro. “It's lighter than I expected.”

You nod. “Should give you a little more reach than that hunk of iron on a stick.”

He puts a hand on his mace's pommel, looking defensive. “Hey now. This hunk of iron's saved my life more times than one.”

“And now you have another tool to do just that,” you tell him.

He glances down at the polearm in the opposite hand. “Thanks, Osyki,” he tells you. “I guess I'll be out in the yard trying these out, unless you need me.”

You shake your head. “I just have a couple of stops to make, and then I'll be back to join you.”

He nods. “C'mon, squirt,” he says scooping Terra from where she dangles off of you. “Let's go see what we can make.”

“Okay!” she agrees in a sing-song tone.

>>43110545

You make a brief stop by the raising house to drop off your gift for Aurora. Her eyes go wide at the beautiful length of blue ribbon, and she immediately pulls the simple band from her hair to replace it. “It's the same color as Miss Saeri's dress!” she exclaims happily. “Now I can be strong like her!”

You do your best to extricate yourself from the gaggle of children around you and head onward to the Healer's Hut.

When you arrive, the Healer is helping one of the lumberjacks you rescued before you departed from the hut. He's leaning on a crutch, but the bandage wrapping his leg tells you that he'll be alright in the long run.

“I had wondered when you would return,” she tells you. “Come along inside. Elana will want to see you.”

You give the woodsman a friendly pat on the shoulder as you head past him. Elana seated beside one of the beds inside, careful straightening fresh sheets. She looks up to greet you, and a small smile works its way over her lips when she sees who it is.

“Welcome home.” She crosses the space between you in a few steps, wrapping her arms tight around your shoulders. “You look like you're actually in one piece, for once.”

You laugh. “Don't let the lack of limp fool you. You'll tan my hide when you see the bruises I got out there.”

She shakes her head. “Boand told me that you fought another shadow of that awful man. I'm just—thank you for coming home.”

You place a gentle hand atop her head as the Healer excuses herself to the back room. “Where else would I go?”

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>>43110576

The two of you make your way out onto the back patio. You produce the brooch for her.

“Oh!” she takes the cameo, turning it over in her hand with quiet fascination. “How beautiful!”

You show her the tiny capsule hidden inside.

“Beautiful -and- practical,” she says with a little smile. “I know just what to put in it.”

You nod. “I thought it suited you. Like you said—beautiful and practical.”

She turns an astonishing shade of red, but the smile stays firmly fixed on her face.

“Flatterer.”

“Guilty.”

“Keep it up,” she says, leaning toward you. Her lips press gently against yours (so soft, even with her habit of chewing on her lower lip when she's thinking), and she makes a soft noise of contentment in the back of her throat. When he moves back, surprisingly, she keeps eye contact. You can see a spark of something glimmering in her eye.

“Let's take a walk tonight. Just you and me.”

> Definitely.
> Can we make it tomorrow? I think I'll be dead on my feet later.
> I have plans. Sorry.
> Write-in.

>>43110610
>Definitely
We'll be fiiiiine

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>>43110610
>That Zettai ryouiki.

>>43110610
> Definitely.

>>43110610
>You nod. “I thought it suited you. Like you said—beautiful and practical.”
Ösyki you cheeky fucker. You got her moist to her ankles.

> Can we make it tomorrow? I think I'll be dead on my feet later.
i dont want to roll not to pass out.

>>43110610
> Definitely.

>>43110610
> Can we make it tomorrow? I think I'll be dead on my feet later.

>>43110610
Whenever you say "spark" and "eye" in the same sentence with Elana, I panic a little.

>>43110610
Before I vote, how tired is Osyki actually? I mean, he got a nights sleep last night and he didn't really 'travel' but just teleported. He should actually be more restful than he is on an average day?

>>43110610
> Definitely.

>>43110764
Considering his average day is fighting monsters, experimenting and getting mangled I'd say hes fine.

>>43110610
>Definitely

A stroll with an old friend will be a great break from the endless totem experimentation that will soon be coming.

>>43110828
Noooo. We never have enough time to experiment.

>>43110610
>[x] Can we make it tomorrow? I think I'll be dead on my feet later.

>>43110889
She said tonight, plenty of time to experiment before then.

>>43110914
No such thing as too much experimentation time.

>>43110934
Don't worry, I agree.

>>43110610
>> Can we make it tomorrow? I think I'll be dead on my feet later.
I would like more Quinn instead pls.

>>43110610
>> Can we make it tomorrow? I think I'll be dead on my feet later.

>>43111003
Screw Quinn, time for binding!

>>43110610
>Definitely.

I smell advancement of romance.

>>43111039
I mean...why not both?

>>43111063
No. Need more time to bind.

>>43111039
Kinky

>>43111063
>Qiunn + Maw = ?

>>43110610
>Definitely.

So, seeing as we all want to bind, whos up for binding more weird and utilitarian things, like tools food, maybe a chair.

>>43111273
Still think a water satchel might be interesting. The satchel itself.

>>43111273
Thane would make for a comfy chair, if you could find it.
You'd be looking suave as fuck just by having your ass sitting on it

You nod. “I'll be there. I promise.”

She reaches out, threading her fingers through yours. This close, you get a whiff of harvest apples and a faint antiseptic tinge. “I'm glad,” she says quietly. “Y'know Osyki I—I know that this is a lot for you. All of this. Being Totemist, traveling so far from home... I just want you to know that I--”

“Elana!”

The healer's voice carries across the open air, and Elana straightens, then falters. She glances over her shoulder hurriedly, then turns back to you. For a moment she bites her lip, trying to make a decision, then nods.

“I'm glad you're around, Osyki. Not as a Totemist, but—you.”

She gives your hand a little squeeze.

“Elana!”

“Yes ma'am! Coming!” She pulls away from you, taking the steps to the hut two at a time. She looks over her shoulder giving you one last smile before she slips inside.

You set off for your workshop once more with a smile on your face.

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>>43111273
Cordia+chair back when she was still the Bone Warden

>>43111367

By the time you return to the practice fields, Quinn is already hard at work. He holds a long, twisted spire in his hands adorned with green scales and chitinous spikes. The rod is crowned with a curved blade seemingly arranged from two Verdis Wyrm stings laid end to end. The weapon bends and undulates unnaturally in your apprentice's grasp, sweeping out in crazed arcs with every swing. Terra sits by the house, taking studious notes in a leather-bound volume as Quinn works.

You gather up your Foci and a few odds and ends, then head out to meet him.

> [[ This will be an extended session of experimentation. We'll begin by choosing one Focus to experiment with for a time.]]

> Choose a Focus.

> Crystal Spear (Rock Turtle), Sealed Earth Sphere (Cordia), Raptor Bone (Alpha Raptor), Stalker Pelt (Thane), Ykree Fin (Swamp Ykree), Crystal Scale (Plate Wurm), Razor Wing (Skyscythe Drake), Siren's Heart (Deep Siren), Glimmering Eye (Glimmerwing Moth), Basilisk Cryst (Basilisk Wyrmling), The Eternal Maw (Avatar of Hunger), Boand's Whirlpool Pearl (Boand), Emperor's Crown (Emperor Cobra), Fourth's Control Rod (¼)

>>43111380
> Sealed Earth Sphere (Cordia)

>>43111380
>Ykree Fin (Swamp Ykree)
Let's have some fun with some of the underdogs.

>>43111380
>Siren's Heart (Deep Siren)

>>43111380
>Sealed Earth Sphere (Cordia)
She's a totally unique spirit, I wanna see what else we can do with her

>>43111380
>Fourth's Control Rod
Check out the new focus, see what it can do.

>>43111380
>Quinn got a gargoyle axe
>>43111425
Supporting. Better to find something useful for them to do rather than just sitting there.

>>43111380

>Fourth's Control Rod

We're gonna bind a chair though, right?

>>43111380
>Sealed Earth Sphere (Cordia)

>>43111380
>Boand's Whirlpool Pearl (Boand)
I want to try this with jewelry.
A necklace, ring, monocle etc?

>>43111379
>that filename
Happy days

>>43111761
Siren+monocle=laser eye?

>>43111380
Let's try Tryd out for size.

>>43111379
>>43111765
Oh the memories.

>>43111380
>Fourth's Control Rod (¼)

>>43111380
Sealed Earth Sphere (Cordia)

>>43111380
>Fourth's Control Rod (¼)
ITS TIME

>>43111380
>Fourth's Control Rod (¼)

Lets see what our new friends can do.

You pull the Sealed Earth Sphere from your pack. Cordia has been a steadfast ally, and her bindings are never far from your person. It would be good to know the extent of her abilities.

She also gives excellent massages, so there's another point in her favor.

> Please suggest an object to bind Cordia's Sealed Earth Sphere to.

>Cordia's currently known bindings are:
Armor: Gnome's Garb. Greatly boosts the wearer's constitution and defensive capabilities. Capable of ejecting rock shards when attacked as reactive armor.
Boots: Golem Rising. Grants stability of stance. Ferries the user on waves of rolling earth.
Bow: Plummeting Stone. Sends resonant waves through pierced targets, shattering them with powerful seismic waves.
Gloves: Obsidian Touch. A pair of earthen gauntlets that spike outward when attacking. High defensive capabilities.
Lantern: Gorgon Lantern. Temporarily petrifies any living material its light shines on.
Mirror: Gnome Guard. An orbiting sheet of metal to deflect attacks. Further properties unknown.
Shovel: Terra Disruptor. Capable of lifting and hurling massive spheres of earth from the ground.

>>43111855
What objects do we have?

>>43111855
I'd like to see what she does in a cloak. Seems like something flexible and flowing would interact strangely with an earth spirit, and I think that would be interesting to investigate.

>>43111855
Fruit or filled waterskin

>>43111855
A chair, our cloak

>>43111870
Our usual binding slots are:

Cloak
Armor
Shirt
Gloves
Pants
Boots
Bracelet
Bow
Sword
Dagger
Mirror

Check out the binder's log for other stuff we've done.

>>43111855
rip, 4th

CORDIA IN MASK
CORDIA DOUBLE BOUND WITH... light prisim guy IN MASK

>>43111855
Fruit. or a piece of meat.

>>43111855
Let's try our sword.

>>43111893
One of these, I wanna find some more unique uses

>>43111855
What was the mask that let us mess with rocks by singing? Wasnt that cordia?

>>43111934
We've already bound Cordia to the mask on her own, it lets us Earthbend with our voice.

>>43111951
Yes.

>>43111855
Definitely try a chair.

>>43111969
the double bind then.
I just like mask cordia ok

>>43111855
Mask, some kind of earthenware jug or pot, a woven basket, a hammer, a blanket.

>>43111855
FRUIT

>>43111984
Yeah alright, chairs might be fun.

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>>43112051

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Our current known bindings:

Is there any size limit to what we can bind?
Can we for example bind a spirit to a building?

>>43112359
I do believe amulet + turtle would give us something that lets us shoot little lightning balls.

>>43111951

Thank you for the reminder, anon! Log has been updated.

>[[Stonesinger's Visage: Molds natural earth, rock, and metal based on the wearer's vocal projections. Singing produces strange, fractal structures.]]

One bonus for catching that for me. Post coming shortly.]]

>>43112407
That reminds me, we've got to deal with the issue with the workshop. Apparently there's a big part of it that's been hidden in the Mist all along? Definitely something to deal with before it becomes a bigger issue.

>>43112407
What if we made a stone replica of cordia and bound her to it?

>>43112407
Also If possible I'd also like to try stuff like a wagon, a boat, a door and a carpet.

>>43111855
Glasses please.

>>43112359
>>43112414
As in I believe we already found this out and its not on the list.

>>43112414
That's the rock turtle bracelet. Ixion charm.

>>43112359
Jewel of the Maelstrom should be under amulet.

>>43112508
Shit.

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As Quinn swings his (faintly howling) bell-bladed weapon across the practice field in wide strokes, you pull a small chair up from beside where Terra sits. She cocks her head to one side as you give Quinn a wide berth, lugging the wooden seat to the far end of the field.

“Alright, Cordia,” you say curling the Earthen Sphere into your first. “Let's get a little weird.”

The acid-green flash of light echoes outward with the last word of the Litany of Unification, sweeping strange patterns into the churned dirt of your practice field. You take a step back, staring at the construct before you.

A tall, high-backed throne of obsidian and jade sits before you, adorned with leering green skulls and topped by an emerald eye. The earth around the throne seems to have merged with the base of it, tendrils of dirt spiraling upward to stop just short of the seat.

It does not look very comfortable. None the less, anything in the name of science.

You settle into the chair. The cold stone at your back seems to hum with your presence, and runes of blocky green flare to life under your skin.

Interesting.

Acting on instinct you make a kingly gesture, raising your hand to point at a patch of dirt a few yards away. The earth twists and warps where your finger directs, and after a moment the ground splits to allow a trio of small rock golems entry to the surface.

>[[Tectonic Council: A jade and obsidian throne that allows its occupant to control soldiers of the earth.]]

The golems only respond to simple commands, but their limbs are tipped with jagged, sharpened rock edges. They're not terribly fast, but they do not stop until their assigned task is complete.

(cont.)

>>43112854
Oh, damn. The immobility means it's only got limited usefulness, but that's still really cool.

You pull Cordia's sphere from the chair and the golems collapse into a pile of rounded pebbles.

“A chair?” Quinn asks. “You're just goofing around now.”

“It worked, didn't it? Think outside the box.”

Still, you can't reliable carry a chair with you into battle. You decide to go for something slightly more practical. You lay your cloak out before you, kneeling down to press Cordia to its folds.

The brown cloth of your cloak shrinks and hardens into something resembling a harness to support two black-green shoulder-guards. You cinch the straps across your torso and allow the domes of malachite to settle over your shoulders. The runes of green flare again beneath the skin of your upper arm, and you feel a surge of stability overtake you.

You find one of the boulders that dot the field (this one bubbled and warped from your previous trials with the Siren's Heart) and place your fingers to the base of the enormous stone. The pauldrons on your shoulders hum and groan, and you slowly but surely lift the several hundred pounds of sheer rock from the ground.
>[[Atlas Pauldrons: Confers enormously enhanced physical strength and endurance for the purposes of feats of strength.]]

The longer you hold the boulder, the easier the weight becomes to bear. When you finally drop the stone back onto the earth, it cracks down the middle.

You glance over at Terra who gives you a little wave as she scribbles in her book.
(cont.)

>>43112854
>Osyki becomes an RTS commander

>>43112974
>Still, you can't reliable carry a chair with you into battle.
We must invent folding chairs.

>>43112974
>Still, you can't reliable carry a chair with you into battle.

Yet. We can't reliably carry a chair into battle YET.

>>43112974
So it would do nothing in a fight?

>>43113077
Nothing but let you summon golems to fight shit.

>>43113077
>>43113086
Whoops wrong one. There are surly feats of strength in the middle of fights.

>>43113099
Throwing giant rocks at people, for example.

>>43113077
It's kind of giving me ideas for how we'll ger Cordia to protect Grisoch, depending on how we bind her to the town, it would be beneficial to work that function in to the binding.

>>43113138
Or suplexing monsters.

>>43113142
If we bound her to a stone statue she would be near invincible like all foci.

The longer you hold the boulder, the easier the weight becomes to bear. When you finally drop the stone back onto the earth, it cracks down the middle.

You glance over at Terra who gives you a little wave as she scribbles in her book.

Your wave back, pulling the Sphere from your cloak again. The runes of green surrounding your shoulders sting slightly as they fade away.

You move back to your pack to retrieve some rather esoteric ingredients for the next binding. You retrieve the Link to the World Without as well as Amal's carved amber charm. Quinn plants his writhing weapon nose-first in the ground, leaning on it as he watches you with marked interest.

You wrap the charm and the Sphere in the loops of the chain. The ruby connected to the far end burns with otherworldly light, and you press the entire collection to the forehead of your mask.

There is no flash of light, though you wince away expecting it. When you speak the final word of the Litany the ruby burns with green-blue fire and the sealed earth sphere -melts-, coating the surface of the mask and eating away at the wooden surface. You watch as the usual twin gems of the Stonesinger's Visage begin to emerge, but there is a definite difference;

The crystal that hovers before your brow has emerged not in the usual diamond shape, but carved in the likeness of Amal's lizard-head charm. The one that hovers at your throat is a triangular prism.

-Oh my.- You've never heard Amal sound so surprised. -This is new. I see. Yes, I see...-

The twin crystal flare with brilliant emerald light. You face away from your apprentices and open your mouth.

-Aetheric modulation transmitted via sonic energy to shape earth-aligned structures at a base level. Crude, but effective. But...-

>>43113174
That is true, though I was thinking more along quantity, not quality.

>>43113245

The ground etches itself with fractal patterns as you begin to hum, interlocking and infintesimal triangles spiraling outward in the dirt around you.

-Inefficient, and imprecise. Let's fix that. Osyki, please use your words.-

You cut off your hum and think for a moment.

“W A L L.”

Your voice booms out like a thunderclap. The ground before you erupts into crazed fractal designs from a moment before erupting upward in a wall of packed dirt.

“B R I D G E.”

The wall is razed in a single utterance. A long, thin stretch of ground is similarly inscribed to produce a narrow arch of raised earth.

>[[ Combination Binding Discovered! Stoneshaper's Authority: Allows Osyki to create simple constructs from the ground around him by voicing his desires. Disables ordinary speech for the duration of the binding.]]
(cont.)

>>43113267
So adding Amal to a binding lets him use his analytical skills to give us superior control over a totem? Oh, I can see some wonderful uses for that.

>>43113267
quick make a stone body for cordia!

>>43113313
I back this]
>Say G O L E M

>>43113267
Try the same thing with Tryd, little guy's been feeling inadequate for a while, maybe give him a slight ego boost

>>43113313
lets etch some of our green runes into it too

>>43113359
I second this

>>43113344
also this

voted for amal in mask, TIME FOR FIRE BROOOO

>>43113267
Try HOUSE?

How about we try to bind something to the wall around the town.

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>>43113267
>>>

As all bindings enforced by the Link, you can feel the Authority draining a tremendous amount of energy with every use. For the sake of your further experimentation you reverse the binding. You feel a lump in your mouth as the mask pulls away from your face, and you spit a wad of clay onto the ground.

“Eurgh.”

Terra sees you attempting to scrub the earth from your tongue. With a giggle, she puts her book aside and approaches you. In her outstretched hand are a collection of wildberries.

“Thank you, little one.” You pop one berry into your mouth. Looking down at her palm a moment of inspiration passes over you. You pluck another berry, pressing it to the surface of the Sealed Earth Sphere.

The fruit grows significantly in the transformation. As the light fades you find yourself holding a blocky black square fruit with a stem of jagged obsidian. A single perfect green crystal leaf sprouts from the top of it.

“You're not going to eat that, are you?” Quinn asks.

“Quinn, how long have you known me? Of course I'm going to.”

The hard skin is tough—not stony in consistancy, but still like biting into the rind of a melon. The taste that leaks through is unsurprisingly earthy, but more akin to the taste of a radish or a potato than the dirt. You chew the mouthful of Stone Fruit carefully before tentatively swallowing, feeling runes of earthen might emblazon themselves on your throat as the morsel slides down.

-Osyki?- Cordias voice echoes within your mind. -What did you—-

For a moment you are wracked with intense pain. You stagger to one side, feeling a pit grow cold in your stomach. You fall to one knee, teeth grit as the pressure within your body builds.

As all things do beneath the weight of the earth, the pressure finds a breaking point.
(cont.)

>>43113566

At once, your body is limned with green spiritfire. You can feel yourself rising slightly from the ground, and the earth beneath you warps and distends into a bowl beneath your feet. Unbelievable -power- courses through your veins, tracing runes of witchlight along the pathways of your spiritual energy. You let out an exclamation of pure exultation as the power of the earth itself courses through your body unfiltered.

“Osyki!”

You turn to see Quinn standing a dozen paces away from you, his weapon discarded. “Are you alright?”

“Quinn!” Your voice is backed with an echo of Cordia's. “I am ALIVE!”

You throw your arms out to either side and watch as the earth beneath you dances to your command. A blade of rock pulled from the strata below the loose earth flies to your grasp, and a shield tears itself free in whole cloth from a boulder at the edge of the field. You armor and gird yourself in the earth as easily as one might draw a blade from his scabbard.

The rush of power and adrenaline falls all too short. Perhaps a minute of wild-eyed experimentation comes to an anticlimatic halt. The runes beneath your skin wink out as if they were never lit, and your aura of earthen energy peters out to a faint trail of green smoke. The Stone Fruit comes undone, and the Sealed Earth Sphere seems... muted somehow as your gauntlets of earth turn to sand around your arms.

>[Binding Discovered: Spirit Fruit Cordia. Imbues the consumer with a limited but potent surge of control over elemental earth. When the power fades, the Sealed Earth Sphere cannot be bound again for twenty-four hours.]

“Holy -shit-.” Quinn mutters as you pull yourself free of the pile of sand accumulated around your feet. He looks absolutely flabbergasted.

> Please choose a new Focus.

>>43113589
...Don't we kind of have a terminal case of Elemental Corruption? I feel like that wasn't the smartest thing we could have done.

>>43113589
Control Rod.

>>43113589
Control Rod, let's see just what the fuck we found.

>>43113589
See, that was a bad idea, because we're specifically trying NOT to get too much elemental Earth in us, remember? People should not have voted for that.

Oh well, what's done is done. Let's just go for Fourth's Control Rod. I want to see what that does.

>>43113589
I wonder what would happen if we bound all our Foci into fruit and at them at the same time

>>43113589
Right so leave food for last if we try them.
Time for rods.

>>43113648
Become a god for 30 seconds, and then explode?

>>43113589
Let's play around with the Eternal Maw, see what esoteric stuff the Hunger Avatar can do.

>>43113589
>Rod
If Amal grants some extra control over earth, What would he do for hunger?

>>43113589
Control Rod, lets see what Fourth can do.

>>43113589
I think we can all agree to not eat a hunger avatar fruit.

>>43113704
Probably get eaten. I dont think we want to mix anyone with hunger.

>>43113672
Probably more of the second than the first

>>43113589
Hahaha

Consumable bindings are awesome.

Water Flask + Crest

>>43113704
I really don't want him anywhere near the Maw

>>43113734
I still think Thane could do it. He's a spirit of darkness and blood, that would probably synergize with the hungering void pretty well.

>>43113589
Control Rod

>>43113589
try out our new thick rod

>>43113768
Yeah I bet he would synergize real well in hungers gut.
>>43113779
>its big
>Its Thick
>ITS OUT OF CONTROL

>>43113734
Fourth might work.
>“Me,” he says simply. “I change things. The river stops and the earth flows. The moon reflects the earth.”

>>43113589
FRUIT + ETERNAL MAW

>>43113589
Tryd and the ykree or whatever

>>43113843
I think it might be safest not to try.

>>43113608
>>43113633
We should probably visit the Stone Emperor for more meditation? That helped a bit, didn't it?

>>43113854
No fuck your fruit.

>>43113854
Jesus.

>>43113941
That reminds me, can we not eat the Control Rod fruit until we figure out what it is?

>>43114079
We could have at least ask Cordia if it was cool to eat her.

yall a bunch of idiots.

Control rod next, in bow

>>43114241
what about in the crossbow?
what about a large rock?

You take a moment to recover, watching the strange cyclopean structures of earth that your fruit-fueled madness constructed slowly dissolve in the wind. Terra brings you a mug of water, and together you watch streamers of sand fly in the breeze off of the twisted archways and walls.

“You 'kay?” she asks, glancing at you sidelong.

You nod. “I am. I just wasn't as careful as I should have been.”

She wrinkles her nose. “Last time you said that, Quinn says you gave yourself a concave shin.”

“A wha-- a -concussion-.” you clarify. “It's a head injury.”

“Oooooh.” She nods, then makes a note in her book.

After a few minutes you stand again. Quinn is muttering a Litany beneath his breath, the Raptor Spine in one hand, his new bladed staff in the other.

Fourth's Control Rod. You spin it around your fingers as you contemplate the bar of pitted iron. Experimenting with a new focus always straddles the border between exciting and worrisome; You remember nearly suffocating yourself with the Siren's Heart all to well.

Perhaps it's best to start small.

> Suggest objects to bind the Control Rod to.

>>43113854
THE UNFOOD.
EAT AND BE EATEN.

>>43114323
BOW

and ... borrow Quinns puppet.

>>43114102
>[suggestiveeyebrowwaggle.gift]

>>43114323
a knife, or the mirror.

>>43114323
Lets start with the amulet to be safe. I dont know after that but mask at some point.

>>43114323
fruit
amulet
bow
armor
boots
gloves
sword
knife
mask
chair

>>43114323
The cross bow
A large rock
A horse saddle

>>43114323
She knows what "concave" means but not "concussion"? Weird.

>>43114323
Ooh try an empty water flask. Thats small.

>>43114323
Bow is always solid...
Didnt we get like, a crossbow or something from the city?

>>43114323
Sword, bow, gloves, the chair.
We should bind everything to the chair. Last time we got a throne, which means royal kingly powers are apparently the theme for that shit.

>>43114323
Sword

>>43114323
Gloves. He changes things, glove bindings tend to give us the ability to shape things, there should be some good synergy.

>>43114383
Save the saddle for something more rideable.

>>43114323
Gloves, boots, mask, bow, shovel, and hammer.

>>43114409
Like Boand?

>>43114323
A musical instrument, like the harp we have lying around somewhere.

>>43114323
>bow
>shoes
>mail
>hat

>>43114390
She's spent the last two weeks reading through Ayren's library. I'm sure she knows all kinds of words with no real world context for them now.

>>43114440
Zing.
No but seriously something like the raptor.

>>43114323
Bow first.

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119 KB JPG

>>43114440
Yes.

>>43114323
Flask flask flask

File: 1440615315771.gif (448 KB, 250x232)

448 KB GIF

>>43114440
Boand a best

>>43114440
I want to do this just to hear her make that joke.
After that, bind her to our pants.

Wait do we even have saddles? Do we have horses?

>>43114475
are you saying you don't want to ride a meteor?

>>43114323
Lets get some standard ones out of the way first. Define the box before we think out side it.

Gloves
Mask
Bow

>>43114557
ssssshhhhhhhhh

>>43114561
A quarter of a meteor.

>>43114603
clearly we need to find all the parts

>>43114323
Harp sounds good.

>>43114550
>After that, bind her to our pants.

>when I said I wanted to get in your pants, this is not what I had in mind.

>>43114550
>>43114677
HA! Do it!

Just a few more minutes and we can fire up the summoning circle.

>>43115399
God damn it I saw the (1) and got excited.

[[ Apologies for the delay.]]

It's become something of a habit, you suppose. Nearly every Focus you've ever picked up has, at one point or another, found its way into the shortbow the bowyer and his apprentice helped you pick.

Start small. Start reliable.

The pitted iron emits a flash of truly brilliant light when you hold it to the bow's limbs. There is a momentary sensation of emptiness, and the wind howls past you to fill the vacuum the bow's union leaves behind.

The limbs of your bow are pitted as the control rod was, twisted wroughtwork iron etched in a language you've never seen. The strange curling characters seem to blend together, confusing your gaze into a tangled clockwork pattern that's nearly painful to look away from. The string of the bow hums in tri-tone beneath you fingertips, beads of refracted rainbow light running up and down its length. As always, the surface is bitterly cold.

You pull an arrow from your quiver, fitting it to the string. No strange change overtake the projectile. It does not erupt into crackling electricity or morph into a basilisk's quill. Shrugging, you square your footing, aim toward the cracked boulder, and pull the string.

The world around you goes deathly quiet as the string stretches toward you cheek.
(cont.)

>>43115408
I saw the (2) and felt the same way

>>43115436

When you release the string, it simply hovers in place for a moment, as if the kinetic energy stored has simply forgotten to flow. The momentary lapse is quickly resolved as the bow erupts in a ball of concussive force, throwing your hair back on your head and sending your cloak whipping in the wind behind you. The sound is at once muffled and impossibly loud, an explosive, earth shattering -thump-.

The arrow stream through the air, and the world is dragged along for the ride behind it. Where the arrow passes the earth below and the air around are warped, forcibly dragged for meters along its path. The arrowhead punches into and -through- the stone boulder, pulling spiraling threads of solid rock out of the back of the rocky edifice.

When the arrow touches the earth, it simply ceases to be.

>[[Binding Discovered: Accretion Volley. A powerful gravitational force trails the arrows fired from this bow, warping physical matter that the arrowhead passes near.]]
(cont.)

>>43115451
CROSSBOW NEXT! OMG!

>>43115451
>>>>
we are so recovering the other three bits of him. goddamn thats awesome.

>>43115451
ohmy.... WELL HOP TO IT, PUPPET IS NEXT

>>43115451
...we have a singularity bow. Holy shit. And this is only a fragment of the full spirit's power.

>>43115451
That's a keeper.

>>43115451
CELESTIAL OBJECT THEORY INTENSIFIES

>>43115451
Okay, so that's "earth flows". Let's see if we can get "river stops" or "the moon reflects the earth".

>>43115451
I think Fourth might be from space guys.

>>43115703
I dunno anon, I cant see what might give you that idea.

>>43115561
A shield? or the mirror? If you want to try the most literal routes.

>>43115730
What I want to know is why a space man has hooves.

>>43115451
Jesus that's 2stronk

>that spirit said we'd revive his master willingly
>anons are planning to gather all his pieces
>all according to the keikaku

>>43115810
Yeah, but the fact that the arrow pauses before moving means we won't be able to use it against small or fast targets. Against huge monsters, though...well, those behemoths that are looking to move into our territory might not be as scary now.

>>43115777
Why can Boand have legs if she's a water spirit?
They're spirits, they probably don't have the same rules as regular animals.

Both Quinn and Terra have abandoned their work, simply watching the Totemist at work. You pull the Control Rod from your shortbow, spinning the length of iron in your hand as you peruse your selection of focus shells.

Weapons are a theme today.

You take the short sword from the ground, doubling its handle and the Control Rod in your grip as you chant you sixth Litany of the day. Your reserves are definitely feeling the effects of this, but—as always—your abilities are ever improving through diligent practice.

The sword you spin through the air is physically unimpressive. A length of pockmark iron beaten into the rough shape of a blade. The Control Rod serves as the weapon's hilt, runes of Celestial import trailing spiritual mists through the air with every motion.

You note a strange disturbance in the air around the tip of the sword. It looks like a condensed heat shimmer, the sort of wavering disruption one would see over the forge in Merich's workshop. You take a step forward, spin, and throw your weight into a brutal sideways chop with the blade.

A line of condensed light shimmers to life along the blade's cutting edge. Where it passes through the air you can feel the air itself divided. A rift is torn in that which was once an undisturbed whole.

As Fourth told you, nature abhors a vacuum.

The rift you've torn in the air quickly collapses in on itself with a popping noise. You find yourself nearly dragged from your feet, caught unaware as the torn air around you rushes to fill the gap. Even the earth beneath you spikes upward, weird tendril-like towers of churned earth and sand stretching skyward for a moment to fill the gaping wound in space.

When you find your footing, the sand in a meter radius around you bears the mark of being thrown toward a single point in space.

>>[Binding Discovered: Hypoxian Razor. The edge of this blade is keen enough to tear a vacuum into the air when swung, explosively decompressing the environment in a meter radius.]]

>>43115840
>implying they cant just tank it
One of them sounds like a giant mud monster.

Fourth is a void spirit

>>43115903
Comet, or meteorite, which got worshipped every time it turned up, developed a spirit and then its orbit decayed until it broke up in atmosphere.

Any other theories?

>>43115871
holy crap. The razor will be useful for subtle loadouts.
>>43115926
I can see it.

>>43115926
He is the master that other spirit told us.

>>43115926
Could just be there are spirits in space.
Spirits don't need to be worshiped do they?

>>43115957
I fail to see how explosive decompression is subtle.