Private Eastern Brisshal Sticky Spirits

[Corsair]

Corsair wandered the perimeter of the village, checking periodically to keep the red shingles of Honeyhome's rooves in sight. She slipped around a shrug, letting the branches brush up against her steel frame. I can't stray too far. Not until I have some spirits to protect me.

Now that she's had time to sit down and read through her masteries, she was confident in her choices. Her robotic form had already been equipped with the basics right out of the gate: a set of small wrenches, some base metals for crafting, and a magical bracelet. So much potential. All that remained was figuring out how they all fit together and how to do...anything.

And so here she was, circling the city, on the lookout for spirits. Her bracelet was apparently some sort of magical focus, and she held it out in front of her as she walked, like a man on the beach looking for bottle caps with his metal detector. Will it beep or something when there's a spirit nearby? Or vibrate? Then what? Assumedly I must capture the spirit in some way.

Corsair pushed through the sparse forest, and crossed paths with one of the well-worn roads that lead into town. As she did, her bracelet began to hum. A low, almost sub-sonic sound that sent a tingle up her arm. Her eyes went wide and she held her arm out straight, swinging it back and forth, trying to detect the source of the energy. She pointed her arm down the road and the humming grew stronger. A spirit! She set of down the road, arm outstretched, almost clotheslining NPCs and players alike as she searched for the source of the strong spiritual energy.

@Haru

 

[Haru]

As a matter of fact, it seemed to work as a dousing machine of sorts. As she grew closer to the source, the bracelet would hum more strongly. First it grew in strength as she approached. Then it began to spark. The first arc that flew up Corsair's arm was shocking-not in a painful way, either. It felt good, revitalizing to experience the flow of. She'd selected her own traits in the creator-was this a burst of magic?

There weren't any further disturbances that came from the bracelet, though it was still humming quite powerfully nonetheless. It had gained more than strength after the glitch-it had begun to give Corsair direction, having started to pull her straight into the town, past the front gates and a pair of bewildered guards all the way to a cute little open-air restaurant by the town's edge.

There at an open table outside in the grass seemed to be a man alone with a cup of warm tea and two empty chairs. He fit into the scenery so naturally, as if he were one of the many rays of light that shone straight past the umbrella. He might have really been an illusion, as he didn't actually have a mark on the UI.

It felt like she was being pulled towards him, a draw that moved the bracelet. Was the bracelet calling her towards this man at the restaurant, or the unmarked graves that were just barely on the horizon-side now? That very pull lessened as she grew closer to the man in question, who seemed to have noticed her.

"An envoy of Tertoria..? What a strange sight, indeed. Are you aware that you may be lost, young lady?" The way his gentle voice carried on the wind, it sounded as if he held no small amount of concern for the girl. Clearly, Magia weren't seen around here often.

 

[Corsair]

Corsair took a seat next to the stranger. She kept her bracelet arm on the table, and it hummed and sparked next to his tea. "Lost implies I should be somewhere else, or that I've wandered. This was the closest starting settlement. Where else should I be? Tertoria?"

She'd spent approximately six minutes glancing at maps and history modules since arriving, disregarding all of it as fantasy background knowledge that would be useless for her current goal. Would knowing the name of a foreign king help her craft better magitech? Not unless he was a famous scholar and creator in his own right, in which case she'd find out about him through other means.

She focused on the man, though her UI gave her no indication that there was anyone there at the table with them. Is he dead? A Spirit? Perhaps the game puts class mentors in the starting town, and who better to teach Spirits than ghost?

A waiter for the restaurant approached them, and she gave him such a withering look that he avoided their table entirely. She'd finally found a half-decent lead! What use was tasteless lemon water or a slab of unflavored nutrient. Just like in the real world, food here only slowed you down.

"You'll forgive my ignorance, but are you a Spirit?" she asked, with the casual inquiry of someone asking about the weather, or how your aunt has been.

 

[Haru]

She had hooked his attention onto her even before so much as asking a single question. She could hear muttered on his breath, "...You're a Traveler. A Magia..?" As his face twisted into one of understanding and shock. Such a face only lasted for so long on such a beautiful man, who clearly enjoyed to paint his face with expressions of mirth and warmth.

He set the cup down onto the table with a smile. "You have my apologies, miss, but I am hardly a spirit. I've not come to give you my long regrets and a quest aside them. I'm only dead, that's all. Ha, ha, ha..." To a more whimsical person, the gentle tenor of his voice alone would have lulled away the ominous tone of the words. Corsair was not a whimsical woman. Her bracelet was surely directing her towards this man, of that she was now sure.

He was sure of it as well, which she could also tell. She wanted something useful. He would oblige, "You're looking for 'summons', yes? I'm hardly a master of the matter-when it comes to binding spirits, you could even call me a fraud. Ha, ha, ha... But a fraud has lessons to teach. I could show you how to start, if you'd like. Would you prefer a story of how they work, or would you like me to simply show you in practical matters? You seem like the kind of woman who would like for me to get to the point. Is this not so?"

He arose from his seat. His tea was already gone the moment he'd first set it down. One of the table's legs had not actually been so-a staff of gnarled and warped wood was in the clutch of his hand. The Sage gestured behind himself as he turned, as if to beckon the girl to follow. Where did he walk? Not towards the graves in the distance, he didn't. Instead, his path seemed to walk towards the only point of the woods that grew thicker and darker, the entrance to the Brisshal Woods.

 

[Corsair]

Corsair filed away the stranger's words like business cards in a rolodex. Everything he said raised new, exciting inquiries, but as he offered to show her how things work she zeroed in on the opportunity. "I appreciate theorem as much as the next," she said, synthesized voice buzzing as she stood up from the illusory seat. As it disappeared her eyes widened. "Though I find myself entranced by your practical displays."

She walked swiftly behind him, following the sage out of the town. Her bracelet hummed at her side. I'll have to tune it to known quantities, she noted, or else as I become more proficient I will become a source of interference.

She replayed his words in her head as the woods darkened around them. Leaf-litter piled up in the spaces between raised tree roots, and the calls of the birds were different here. More predatory, or frightened.

"If we are in for a lengthy walk, then a story would be admirable use of the time," Corsair said, stepping around a set of long bones that were poking up through the soil. She couldn't feel the damp, not without enhanced sensors, but she knew that the light and airy market was far behind them now. "Unless you would prefer to explain how you can be dead but not a spirit? The separation of soul and substance is somewhat different in this world, I presume."

 

[Haru]

"Perhaps," He admits, a wry smile on the lips, "And yet we haven't the time at all. Why, would you just look at that?"

The sage's gesturing hand parted way the forest side to what one would call a 'half-clearing', kind of like a clearing, though too small to actually be called one. It was more like a wide ring of trees which beheld a puddle between them, water locked in a bowl of roots.

Was this what he wanted her to see? A particularly warm puddle with steam..? The thought occurred to her that it was awfully cool today, and that she wasn't looking at steam at all. Indeed, the shimmer she barely saw in the air was hardly a sight at all. Yet as she came to recognize it, the words <Fading Puddle Spirit> came to life upon her HUD.

"It's hard to see, is it not? And the radar on your wrist hasn't been helping, either... Though I'm sure that I'm to blame for that. Ha, ha, ha. People aren't made to see Spirits. They can only be felt-and for a Magia such as yourself, you can't even do that. This is why the art of binding is a lost art of the Tangleweaves. Though..."

Was it just her imagination, or was the man's voice growing cooler? He he did not sound reproachful, yet his words were a warning all the same, "...Perhaps that is for the best. You can tell, can't you? This tiny thing, a little puddle, will be gone soon if you don't snatch it now. It will be taken by the roots. Even then, a quiet echo of the world would be of no use to your studies. That is how spirits are, young lady. Fragile little fragments, none with the power you seek."

The sage told her so. Why had he taken her to see this spirit at all if he was just going to rebuff her for even trying? What had he helped her for, if these spirits were truly so weak? It was simple-he was curious, wanting to see what the girl would do about it. What would she do, when given a shell and told that it could do nothing as it was?

 

[Corsair]

"Fragile doesn't mean weak, and it certainly doesn't mean useless," Corsair said, stepping across the roots and kneeling by the puddle. "Glass is remarkably fragile, and yet it can slice right through flesh, and has a thousand uses, even if it still shatters when dropped."

She reached out into the spirit. There was no resistance to its form, and she found herself clutching at mist. "Interesting." She withdrew her hand, and pulled a piece of magitech from her pocket. It was a construct, small enough to fit in her palm and styled after a frog. Its hinged legs and suckered toes flailed at the air as he held it up into the mist. "Come here, spirit. I have a home for you."

Her bracelet let out a high-pitched chime, and the cloud of spirit vapor rippled. "I'm not here to bind anything against its will," she said, as the vapor siphoned into her construct. "I want to prevent it from fading away. And what spirit truly wants to die?"

The air over the puddle cleared, and she was left holding the same frog, only now she could see mist swirling through its transparent body. Her HUD now showed a new tag above the creature. <Puddle Spirit Frog>

 

[aledog]

i post on ooc account

 

[Haru]

"Oh, and be sure to give it what it loves. Ha, ha, ha..." As if he had never spoken against her the entire time, Haru was now giving advice instead. A snap of the fingers redoubled the water in the fading pool... and made the frog kind of wet. While rude, the effect was noticeable at a glance-Corsair could all but read like an open book how the little spirit became capable of more things in the presence of water.

Perhaps a fuel-system for the spiritual machines was possible? It seemed efficient, even. Why was he suggesting this so kindly all of a sudden? Had he been testing her or something?

"Oh dear, there's no need to look at me so... I am merely guiding you. It is true, I promise, that binding is an art lost to most-myself included. I'm happy to see that you've come into this practice knowing exactly what it is that you wished for. Think of this little friend as a gift from me to you. Ha, ha, ha..."

This man had a way of making everything he said sound shady. And yet, the gentle tenor of his voice yet again almost washed away the mischievous edge to his words. As well, he had an actual gift to give-a little flower from the palm of his hand, neatly woven into the crook of the frog itself. The moment he entwined the two with but a flick of the wrist, the life of the frog appeared to blossom along with the petals of that flower.

[Soulbloom], it was called. The game seemed to take it as something of high rarity. Perhaps such a gift would be enough to tide over his harsh words from before?

 

[Corsair]

"How fascinating," she said, as the frog came to life in her hand, gaining new facets of power with each movement from the spirit sage.

The water soaked into its form, and the frog seemed larger, fuller now. "Now that it's housed, exposure to its formative element strengthens it. Perhaps it was drawn to this pond but unable to absorb the water without form? Or was it just too weak?" She stared at her mentor, eyes gleaming as if her Investigation Mode could draw the answers right from his mind. There is so much I do not understand yet. He is my gateway to knowledge.

He moved close, weaving the [Soulbloom] into the frog. If the spirit had breathed life into the construct, and the fresh water had woken it up, then this new flower overclocked the creature. Instantly it was on the move, crawling up her arm and over her shoulders. Looking around with wide, glowing eyes. A small insect hovered nearby, and it locked on before launching itself from its high vantage point, snagging its meal midair and landing in one of the pools with a satisfying splash.

Corsair laughed, a high, synthesized sound filled with long-contained joy. This was it! This was true sentience in the body of a machine. The union of spirit and body that she'd come here to find!

"You," she said, smile still bending her words. She was full of questions. Now more than ever. If the Soulbloom was the key, then where did she get more? It seemed rare. She'd never seen it in the shops in town. Would she need to travel to get more?

Her mind moved faster than her mouth, and before she could spill her questions on the stranger she stopped, realizing that he was still just that. A stranger. "What is your name?" she asked, long overdue. "I am Corsair, and it is truly a pleasure to meet you." She nodded her head in respect.

 

[Haru]

"Ha..." Haru relaxed. He had wondered if he would have been able to get her attention. The sage relaxed now that he had been able to do so. Something about him still seemed so very strange, but it was clear now that he was probably here to help.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, fair Corsair. My name is Haru, and I liken myself to a helpful guide. An introducer of this beautiful world to otherworldly Travelers such as you. I like to see budding flowers bloom, as you might say. Ha, ha, ha..."

His eyes glance towards the wound and life-filled frog. The sage Haru's gaze was wistful, as if he had dearly missed the sight of such a creature. Quietly he warns, "Terrasphere is a very dangerous world, you see. I wish to keep an eye on those who enter it, so that nobody ends up with a fate they didn't deserve. Should you need advice, or you feel lost, I wish to be that guiding hand that may reassure you."

After all... many have ended up lost. Such words were not said, yet Corsair could almost feel them hang in the air. Perhaps that was the strange quality she had been missing about his behavior-he was a somber man, and it colored his words.

 

[Corsair]

The strange sage looked like he'd been travelling in this foreign land for years. He was off, in some strange, intangible way. His speech, his movement. It all seemed a little...wispy. Immaterial, as if something about him was missing. Must be a result of his spirit training.

Corsair brushed off his warnings about the danger of the world, cutting straight for the core of his offer. What could be so dangerous about this world anyway? "I would welcome any advice you can provide when it comes to spirits. How do I build my skill? What should I avoid?"

The frog climbed from pool to pool, as if testing each of them for some unknown quality. She followed it, keeping one eye on Haru. A weeping oak leaned out over the pools, and as the frog climbed up its bowed trunk she picked it off the bark. The magitech stilled, and she watched the mist swirl inside. "How do I find more of this?" Corsair asked, tapping the Spiritbloom with her finger. The petals stirred, rippling as if she had submerged it in slow-flowing water.

 

[Haru]

"You don't. Not yet. Remember that a game is a play of ramping progress. As you progress, more avenues open. These flowers lie deep in lands that hold far too much death for you to traverse. To open the gates that hold these lands behind would be to invite your end. Ha, ha, ha..." His words made sense-most of them, anyway. He had spoken like a man of fantasy so consistently that the mention of this world being a game came completely out of left field. The question came again-was this man a part of the world, or was he a hand that played it?

"Turn your eyes to the question before your last, as well as the one before it. Those are that which are pressing to you. Wouldn't it sound more fun to learn of new ways to engineer that which lies within the heart and manifest it in your craft? You can find ideas that none else have found. This world isn't a solved equation-it's a book. It awaits your practiced hand to turn the page so that it may reveal more. That is why... you practice." He gestures towards the diabase polymer frog. Appreciation was in his voice as he adds, "You seem to have made something far more beautiful than a flower bloom in that palm of yours, after all. I'm curious to see what you can do with that ingenuity of yours. Don't you?

So try, and speak to me if you feel lost. I will tell you what roads are dangerous as you come to them. You may trust in my word, by my name the sage Haru." The way he bowed was beautiful, full of grace. There was no way that he hadn't practiced the motion.

 

[Corsair]

Well that wasn't very helpful. The sage was starting to remind Corsair of one of her college professors. The kind that always told their students to pair up and learn from the textbook, brushing off questions with 'what do you think?'. But then again this man was a wandering sage, not a paid educator.

Corsair was looking for a mentor, not for self-study. But in an ironic way looking inwards for answers to spiritual matters made a kind of twisted sense. Perhaps there was some innate knowledge of spiritcraft already deep inside her. Unconscious competence already fused to her false muscles. Certainly she'd done well acting on pure instinct so far.

She slipped the enspirited frog inside her jacket, where it glowed dimly. "Thank you for your advice. As you advise, I will forge my own path through this world of spirits." She bowed back to the sage. "If I need you in the future, I'm sure I will be able to find you. After all, it already happened once."

Corsair jumped nimbly over the pools and exited the clearing, not heading back towards town but further into the strange woods. It was time to turn the next page, and see what lay in store.