Cross Hexagram... Hey, mind asking Beshieed if she notices anything weird about you? Particularly when she did the ritual hi-jack earlier, notice anything odd?

play your line square next, and yes, check out what Zaealix is saying

>>511226

You decide to play the cross-hexagram off of Besheed's most recent play, drawing the line-pentagram afterwards. You pose the suggested question as she plays the square-hexagram and draws. She says that she hasn't done it to very many people, only you, her sister, and a third person who she does not want to talk about. Out of those three, you do seem more like the third, rather than her sister, who she knows is strange. You're mostly similar with the third in the way you dream, though. She does seem to think there is something weird about you, though she has some trouble putting it to words. After a moment, she says that there was subtle sort of glowing when you took hold of ritual-stuff, almost sort of like light from the star, though she gives at that point.

You're really not sure what to think of that, so you leave it, as well what card to play next, up to the voices.

Pretty sure you can only play the double triangle right now, so do that.
The claws, how big are they in comparison to your hands?

ditto that

>>511746

You check the cards in case you forgot the state of play. You can actually play any of your cards, your line-square off of the cross-square that Besheed and you have basically ignored up to this point, your line-pentagram off of Besheed's double pentagram, and your double triangle off of any of the other doubles that down. You think you'll let the voices speak again on that subject.

About your claws, right now they fit around-- agh! How did you get them back from Toliingir without even noticing? You sigh and remove them, before continuing the thought. They fit fairly well around your hand, though they've got gears to adjust the size, which, now that you think about, probably was how Toliingir opened it up when you let him look at it. Testing it a bit, you can get them a lot bigger than your hands, maybe twice as wide, though the blades don't much longer, if at all.

How? They were out of sight, and you stopped watching your hands, that is the rule of them right?
Or maybe it's a case of out of mind, out of hand. Anyhow, this is...curious. Apologies in advance, I'm not going to be able to think up all the things those claws can do right away!
For now, I only have one question-
Can you make one of the claws big enough to hold a man's head in your hand?

this seems to be going in a scary direction

Line- Square then, save the double for later.

@Santova- Didn't mean to start sounding dark there, sorry.

>>512101

You can, almost, not that you can really use them at that point. What you were really surprised by was that you thought Toliingir still had them, though you suppose he might have put them down while you weren't paying attention. You might try and ask what someone else sees the next time you end up with your claws on.

You play the line-square on the neglected side of the game, drawing the double square in turn. Besheed plays the line-cross and draws, and you wait for your next turn.

Can you play your double square?

I'd like to say pentagram card, but I'm personally fond of saving doubles for getting out of a jam.

Yeah I'm down for that if it works

>>513670

The line-pentagram? If that's what you want me to play, there are a couple of places I could play it.

Hrm... We've got multiple doubles in our hand, so let's use this to spoil one of the on-field double slots that are availible, if we can.

any places we can put it that'll hurt her chances?

You could play it off of the double pentagram, but that wouldn't leave her any worse off, since once you play your line-pentagram, all of the pentagrams are going to be down, though you guess Besheed might have a double as well, though that feels unlikely. You could play it, or one of your other cards, on either end of the cards, but given what cards aren't down or in your hand, she'll be able to play a card no matter what.

You decide to play the line-pentagram off the double pentagram, since it opens up a third card-end, which is all you need, since as long as you play a card for the next two turns, you think you'll win. You dray the double circle as Besheed plays the cross-triangle off of the line-pentagram. She draws the penultimate card, and says you've been asking a lot questions since you woke up, and that she wants to know what you're using them for.

You have a couple of guesses as to why the voices having been asking these questions through you, the most obvious seeming to be that they just don't know a lot about the world, or at least the situation you're in, but you leave it to them to tell you what to say, since they're the only ones who really know.

Card structure
12/14/01/05/45/24/06/36/66/56/16/13/35/55(15)/25/02/26/46

Curiousity! Your world is quite interesting and curious and I'm just trying to make sense of it all? It's a world I don't know much of anything about, so I'm probably going to be perpetually asking questions like a young child might, Kuch.
Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind telling Beshieed about us, buuuut I'm none to sure how to prove our existence to her, so maybe mention this but wih a grain of salt, which if it isn't a saying in your world, means to not take it too seriously.

Yes, as said before we are in a strange new world and we want to know as much about it as we can! You live in interesting times

You take a reprieve from the game, which you just realize was becoming somewhat boring, to answer Besheed's question.

You say to her that before you gathered them, before you even came to that mountain, you were troubled. So troubled that you sought the help of void voices, despite the corruption you know that they wrought on those who heeded them. She doesn't seem to be familiar with the idea of void voices, but doesn't stop you. You continue, that by some fortune, you have been noticed by void voices but some other voices, seeming innocent and unknowing to you, who helped you through those times. They are still with you, and seek to learn, so they ask you to learn for them. One, called Zaealix, which you completely fumble pronouncing, was curious about what she felt when she did whatever she did as you were trying to perform the ritual, hence your question.

Besheed chuckles, and says that's awfully complicated excuse for your curiosity. You sigh, and suppose it wouldn't be so easy, but you notice the way that Besheed looks you in the eyes, and get the feeling she's convinced. You'll need to talk her about that later, maybe outside.

The remainder of the game plays out uninterestingly, since there is no way for either of you to prevent the other from playing cards. The games, you with two cards in your hand, Besheed with four. You pack up the cards, and she goes to the front of the cart, seemingly to talk with Vyunuuataarer, though about what you're not sure. Toliingir is tinkering as he always seems to be. Abisheed is reading a book, though it's title is unfamiliar to you. Djaudthig is slumped against a wall, eyes glazed.

You once more have no preference for what to do right now, though Djaudthig's state is perhaps more disturbing to you than it ordinarily is, and so clear your mind and await the voices.

Well, we've just spent quite some time with Besheed, so we should let her be for a while. We could talk to Toliingir but I doubt there will be anything new to say since we last spoke to him about the claws. Since Abisheed is reading she'll probably be even more desondant than usual, although I'd be curious as to where she got the book, I don't remember having one in the caravan before. Currently I'm most interested in Djaudthig, we should check to see if they're okay, make sure nothing is wrong. If they aren't responsive call Vyunuuataarer over to help you

Her eyes are glazed over? That sounds concerning, especially since you are concerned as well...
I think we should get Vyuuthar and at least tell him what's up with her.
Ah, and as for my name, you say it like this: Zae Ah Lix.

You decide to check her quickly before going to get Vyunuuataarer, in case it's not as serious as it seems. She doesn't respond as you walk up to her, or when you ask her if she's okay, but when you poke her in the side, she snorts loudly, swats your hand away, blinks a few times as some tears roll down her face, and stands up straight before asking you what you bothered you her for. You say you just wanted to see if what was wrong with her, and she scoffs at you before turning away, pulling out short pipe from her coat, lighting it, taking a long breath from it, putting it away, and returning to her slumped position.

You heard about this kind of thing during your stay at the mountain, it was similar to the sort of meditation the drivers from your old caravan did when met with sand-painters, but they always seemed to come out of the more lively than they entered, and Djaudthig hardly seems lively to you.

Your thoughts are interrupted by a the incredibly loud sound of a silverhorn enters your ears and does not cease. Your eyes are shaking in your head, and you're getting dizzy. You hold yourself together for long enough to look around the cart again, but the only one who seems to be reacting to the sound is you.

You try to block it out with your hands, but it only grows louder. In moments it feels as though it's shaking your entire body, and an instant later the cart seems to have blown apart before your very eyes, revealing the frozen landscape which you have seen three times, now. You prepare yourself to be attacked, unsurprised that your claws are at the ready. You are surprised, however, to notice that you are totally alone. You look around, seeing the glistening white landscape, empty of anything excepted for the immense ice sculpture, standing where it was before, over the watering hole. The sky is a bright white, with the dark circle small and on the horizon instead of directly over head.

"H-help me!" You call out to the voices, not realizing through your dizziness that you had actually spoken, or that you had spoken in the language they seemed to use.

! [attempt to fend off the attack]
Go to the statue if you can! Try and reach the watering hole. Zaealix can you help me?

Relax Santova, there are no more of the white ones here to disturb yough Kuch.
Now then, first thing that comes to mind is to examine that statue, but first, call out, and trust me on that one.
Then get goin and see how far you get.

You steady yourself, pondering the audibility of the voices as you reach down and throw some cold-sand in your face. The silverhorn sound is gone, in fact there's only silence, that or the sound deafened you. You're still incredibly dizzy, and your every movement seems to make the world around you shake. You plod through it, eventually reaching the base of the statue.

Taking a good look at it, it seems to be a six-armed figure, wearing armor, wielding a variety of weapons in four arms, a stylus in one, and a tablet in another. There aren't any letters on the tablet, as far as you can see. The longer you look at the statue, the more disturbed by it you are, so you turn away, and decide to start walking towards the dark circle, since the only really discernible direction other than away from the statue. The shaking is hard, but after falling on your face a couple of times, you notice that running seems to shake less than walking, so you end up going a quite a fast pace for a bit, until another unexpected happens.

You are on the floor of the cart, nose and forehead hurting pretty badly. Everyone's standing around you, looking fairly worried. You're still dazed from having apparently run into the wall of the cart, but you hold on to just enough focus to be receptive to the voices.

Hrm. Whatever this is...Well, this is why I requested that you call out, so as to warn any companions of the state that befell you. At any rate...Ask Vyuathaur and Beshieed if they noticed anything weird, as far as they may have noticed with their skills and abilities.

I think perhaps questioning can come after you rest for a moment, maybe drink something and have a small bite to eat. Steady yourself, try and sit up if you can, use the cart walls for support

>>516848

You are partial to this suggestion, though you stumble and fail to stand multiple times. You ultimately do stand yourself up with the help, of Toliingir, Vyunuuataarer having brought you a cup of steeped drink before you could ask. He asks you why you just broke into run inside of the cart, which you're unsure of how to answer. You say that you must have been hallucinating, probably because of the darkness, but you know to yourself that doesn't explain why you seemed to be in that frozen place. When you think about, though, out the times you've seen it, it has been dark, so maybe there is a connection. You leave that to ponder sometime when you aren't recovering from having slammed yourself in a wall.

You're recovering for quite a while, seeming to have hurt yourself a bit more than you felt at first, and by the time you're feeling back to yourself, the light's just beginning to return, which means you should be heading north soon. There's nothing you can particularly think of, but this will probably be the last time you here for a long while, by your judgement, but you make sure to keep your mind clear enough to hear the voices as you and your company prepare to leave.

Hrrm...Wellp, I can't think of anything much to say. Be sure you aren't leaving anything behind that you'll want, with the exception of the claws, cause they are the claws.
If I had to guess? I THINK, and this is kinda a wild theory, that you are a Mutator...Whiiich has a few holes in it, but if you have exceptional trouble with Rituals, even when performed properly, it might be accurate.
Beshieed strikes me as Cacher, which suggests that your 'trips' to that other world is somehow a function of essence or some sort of strange...Ah, ritual, I suppose? Might want to refer my ramblings to Vyuuathar to fact check them, and please don't be offended if he laughs it off.

I think we have all we might need, let us set off! To the wild north we go

With the the voices response, you decide to spend the remaining time with Vyunuuataarer, speaking to him about some of the strangeness you've encountered.

You do your best to convey Zaealix's speculations to him, first asking him simply what he believes Besheed to be. He says that he can't be certain, since he hardly has any of the tools that he had available as the small hall he had run, but given the feeling he's had around her since the beginning, and ultimately because of her display earlier, he would describe her as "'witomi", empty, you think. You ask what that means, beyond what Besheed might be, and he gives you a little of perplexed look, then explains that, in most people, people like him and you, their souls are solid in a sort of way, they can't touch stuff, but they can touch the essence of things, which is how rituals work, just like making things with your hands, but with a different kind of hand, and a different kind of thing. He goes, that if what he thinks is true, then Besheed doesn't have a soul, in the same way, but sort of have an empty space in place of one. She can't do rituals, at least any ordinary circumstances, like how it's a lot harder to make stuff if you don't have hands, but, well...the analogy kind of breaks down, but she kind of has cups for hands. She can hold the essence of things inside of her, it even wants to be inside more than outside, and she can let it out too, though she doesn't seem to know exactly how to control it. You nod your way through, hoping that the voices, or at least Zaealix, got what they wanted out of that.

You move on to the topic of yourself, but Vyunuuataarer only chuckles and says that you're just like him, except those claws of yours, at least as far as he's seen. Misjudging why you asked, he says that just because you don't come from the same place as him or the others doesn't mean you're different, not in the way Toliingir or the sisters are, anyway. You're experience can't help but lead you to think otherwise, not to the mention Zaealix, but you decide not to mention that.

Hitting on a topic you'd just thought of, you ask him if he has any thoughts on the claws. He says that you saw as well as him that nothing appeared when he waved the seeing glass around it earlier in your journey, and that for matters of its construction, there's nothing he could say about it that Toliingir couldn't. You persist, taking the claws off, unsurprised by their presence on your hand, and expand them,showing the strange network underneath, and say that even Toliingir didn't completely what it was doing on this level, and you think that it might be doing something strange. He sighs, but as you hand it to him, his expression changes, just barely, and agrees to try and use the seeing glass again, now with the claws open. You and he search for a bit, him finding it in the pile of things that Toliingir has examined, towards the bottom. Finally, Vyunuuataarer inspects the claws, but instead of the null response which he found before, he now finds thin, bright lines descending in tight arcs from the white-metal leaf within the claws, weirdly characteristic, he says, of a soul. It's certainly strange, he says, and he suggests that you let him inspect it further the next time they stop at a mountain, or any place with a Practice hall, to see exactly what is inside that's looking like a soul. He warns to not let let anyone else outside of this group know, since no matter who it is, this won't make them your friend. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Djaudthig quietly focusing her attention on your conversation, and you have the undeniable feeling that she's interested in something besides not making friends.

The darkness is fading now, and everyone sets about for moving again. You have woken the halule and are sitting in drivers seat, and the rest were tidying the cart the last you saw, except for Abisheed, who was and probably is sitting quietly as ever. Before long, you're off again, now northwards.

Time passes idly, everyone strangely quiet, again except for Abisheed, who is quiet in the ordinary way. You and Vyunuuataarer take shifts driving the cart, and the thought strikes you that he's been spending a lot less time just thinking, compared to how he was in the beginning of the journey, and some part of you wonders what's changed in him. Soon, the cart stops, and Vyunuuataarer comes in, having finished his third shift, and suggests that everyone gets some rest, since everyone seems tired. You, and the others but for Abisheed agree, and with the smallest gesture possible, she confirms that she'll take watch over you.

Everyone cobbles together something soft to rest their head on and lays down through out the cart, Besheed giving a quick, serious glance before laying down next to you.

Falling asleep normally almost feels alien to you even as it is comforting. Either way, you're asleep fairly quickly.


Your eyes are shocked open by the cold beneath you, and see only a blinding white sky. Standing up, you see the familiar frozen landscape of this strange realm, with a couple differences. The ice statue is gone, nothing even on the horizon. Likewise, the pearly ones aren't present. The shapes of four of your fellows are around you, though, seemingly frozen. Finally, the dark circle is not in the sky. Instead of the sky, it is standing next to you, and instead of circle, it is the perfectly black silhouette of Besheed.

She speaks in the words of voices, commanding "Show me the voices, Zaealix and any others."

You're baffled, and can only follow her command. "Santova, Zaealix, please speak, if you can."

Hello Beshieed! I was wondering if we would get the chance to talk to you! So! Your thoughts as to what this...World is? I honestly can't say I have even the slightest clue!

..."It's Kuch's soul, I think. Though now that I'm really here, it feels completely different. It feels almost real. If you wouldn't mind, which of the voices are you?"

I'm Zaealix. Rather curious as to how your world works...Hrrm...Mind doing me a favor? Could you keep an eye on Djaugthig for us?
I suspect she's out to basically wait for the right time to leave the caraven with as much stuff/money as she can get her hands on, or something. She's motivated by greed, and kinda acting fishy right now sooo...Yea. I'm hoping I'm wrong though!

..."Absolutely. I've been fairly certain since I met her that she's a heretic. Never can trust them, not ever. How much have you learned, so far?"

It's somewhat jarring to hear Besheed's voice come from the silhouette, in the voices words, and to Zaealix at that. And your soul? Almost real? Heretic? You're beyond confused, and can't help but ask, "What is happening?", your confusion snapping into frustration sending out a shock wave through the cold sand.

..."Woah, Kuch! Check yourself, I don't know what you can do, but I don't know what you can't do either, like hurt me, or Zaealix here, even! You're dreaming, I'm picking up the dream from next to you, and I don't even know what Zaealix is, but presumably you're used to them."

Here-Ooook...Sounds like this Djau is an Artisan, which...means someone from the Practice who does it for money. I wouldn't care normally, but if she's looking to backstab us, then it becomes an issue.
Hrrm...Well, I kiiinda had the idea of her and Tollingir work together to spread machines-He's in charge of seeing if anyone else can figure out any fun tricks with them, while she's in charge of the business of it, charging for a chance to try to figure out the tricks, and also reclaiming the parts if the person fails. If they suceed, they keep parts.
The idea WAS to balance her greed with his vision...But if she just goes and gets too greedy for her own good then there's no point in trying to appease her.
At the same time...Heretic is a word I associate with 'fanatic', err, might have misspelled it, but the thing I'm getting at here is you seem to have a bias against her, which makes judging tricky...
Ok. so this is tricky. I have reason to believe she may try and blackmail Kuch in the future, and I know WHAT it is...But I don't necessarily know the WHY it would be bad, and I can't say I trust you not to flip because of it. It might be something only Practictioners find repulsive, could be something everyone will recoil at. I don't know and this makes it tricky. I reconize you are curious, and will want to know more. If I'm right, Djuag will tell you the rest, should she act on it. That, can be your signal to burst her bubble/make your move, so to speak, ok?

..."Okay...It's a little off-putting that you won't up say it here, but I'll let it go. What else have you got, not about her?"

You take a breath and sigh, and though you're still somewhat tense, you speak "Betrayal? If there is even a chance that Djaudthig will take anything from me, I will abandon her now. I can already hardly stand her presence."

I would like to take a moment to introduce myself, as Santova, one of the void voices or some other concept. Zaealix and myself, whatever we may be have been attempting to assist Kuch.
I cannot say one way or another on our greedy friend, as I had not noticed this before. However, if we are in Kuch's soul, perhaps you can help us understand the battles he's been constantly fighting and strange figures we keep seeing.
On a side note, we believe the claws may have a soul of sorts. Seeing as you are more in tune with this sort of nature and energy, perhaps there is a way for you to investigate them someone, and help to unravel their mysteries?

Weeeeellp.
Since Santova here said it, I'll say that the thing that Djuag overheard, and what I was trying to keep under wraps.
Sorry about the cloak/dagger-stuff, didn't know how bad or not it was to find an ensouled item...

Pudd here,How yuors abilities works exactly? We have been given some sort of explanation,but I wuold like to ear it from yuo, if yuo don't mind,of course

Hiatus until 2013/7/21.

You're somewhat surprised by the appearance of new voice. The thought crosses your mind that maybe Besheed's presence has attracted them, or maybe more specifically her presence within your soul? From what you remember of your talks with Vyunuuataarer, souls in general didn't seem like a place.

Besheed asks you for your claws, presumably to consider Santova's question, and you remove them and hand them over to her.

..."Eugh...these things definitely have something in them, but it's...limp-feeling, like it's mostly empty. Whoever did must have been pretty nasty, even just to put a soul in something like this, but take out the inside, I...I don't even know how someone could do that. As for those weird people-things that are here sometimes? I can't really help with those. Like I believe I've said to Kuch, he's the only one I've seen them in. I don't feel anyone else in here, I don't even really feel you guys, so they might just be a part of Kuch. Then again, except for the cold stuff, he's been all new to me, so maybe there's something else going on.

How my powers go...Really all I know is what I feel, and what I feel is that there's stuff, everywhere. Most people have their own stuff, their soul but also some more, and they can kind of push stuff around, sometimes even make it into something useful. I, and maybe some others, I haven't met any but I've heard of them, we don't have souls. We don't push the stuff, it comes in and goes out of us. It moves as it pleases for me, but that's a matter of practice, I think.

So, what about yourselves? Have you tried doing anything, or have just been talking to Kuch this whole time?"

errr...We've mostly just talked? To be honest, if we can do anything, we haven't tried...I'ma give it a shot!
[raise a hill from the sand]
see or feel anything?
...
Well, anyhow, by the sounds of it, these things were made from someone finding a guy with a power in his soul, ripping it out, and stuffing it into a device. From what I hear, soul-rippy stuff tends to be highly taboo more often than not, and also extremely painful for the person being taken from. I don't envy whoever's in those claws...

On indefinite hiatus.