Episode 10 | Stone Serpent

Lyn:     Is it alright that we just march in here like this?

Malaki:  They didn’t stop us.

Raka:    An open gate is usually an invitation to come in.

Lyn:     Are you sure? These guys don’t look so happy to see us.

Raka:    Ignore them. We’re just looking for-

Tyne:    Hey! Hey!

Lyn:     Do you mean me?

Raka:    Lyn!

Vora:    For Skadi’s sake…

Tyne:    Halt, Greyfur!

Lyn:     What?

Vora:    How did one like that get in here?

Tyne:    Excuse me. What do you want here?

Vora:    Let me handle this, Tyne.

Vora:    You there, filthy greyfur, what do you want in our village?!

Raka:    Fiyar’ta- I’m- We’re not looking for a fight, your gate was unguarded and open!

Tyne:    Was it?

Lyn:     It totally was.

Vora:    Damnit, Sarek is slacking again…

Tyne:    Vora, tell him-

Vora:    I know. He deserves a good spanking later, that slacker.

Tyne:    Well, not necessarily that, but…

Raka:    We just came here to speak to your headmistress.

Vora:    Oh for Skadi’s sake…

Tyne:    Our headmistress? Excuse me, you have grey fur, black hair but no horns. You do realize that doesn’t exactly make you utterly trustworthy, does it?

Vora:    Yea!

Raka:    I do. But we’ve not attacked you yet, have we?

Tyne:    What exactly are you?

Vora:    A filthy mongrel is what she is! Same as with that brown one behind her.

Crowd:   That brown one is definitely a Skur! I’ve seen one before! What’s a Skur doing this far down the mountain?!

Lyn:     Oh shit…

Crowd:   It’s a raid! The Skur are raiding us! Get the headmistress!

Raka:    No, no, No!

Malaki:  I told you I should’ve stayed outside.

Tyne:    Calm down, everyone, if she says she doesn’t want conflict, lets hear her out before we call Kilentäa.

Vora:    You let me handle this, Tyne. Your mother wouldn’t be happy if I let anything happen to you.

Tyne:    Ts, don’t patronize me, Vora. I’m perfectly fine of taking care of my-

Vora:    Shut it, Tyne. You there! Tyne asked you what your Rontar is!

Raka:    My Rontar are the Miru.

Tyne:    Aaah, a Miru! So that rumor about them having a gem on their foreheads are true. How curious.

Vora:    I’ve never heard of Miru with grey fur.

Raka:    I kindly request to speak to your headmistress.

Vora:    You bring hostile company to see our headmistress?

Lyn:     What hostile company? Mal is pretty tame.

Malaki:  Don’t shorten my-

Lyn:     Oops, sorry.

Vora:    A tame Skur? Ridiculous! That’s like calling a blizzard a gentle breeze!

Tyne:    If you have anything to say to Kilentäa, you can say it to me. I will pass it on to her.

Raka:    No. I’ll tell your headmistress myself.

Tyne:    I’m sorry, but if you haven’t noticed, we don’t particularly trust Grey furs.

Raka:    So I have noticed.

Vora:    Yea! If you have grey fur, you’re either a Skur, or related to one. And not only did you bring a disheveled Skur mongrel along, you also brought a disgusting human.

Lyn:     Oh come on, disheveled? I just brushed him this morning! How dare you bully my pet!

Tyne:    Your choice of company doesn’t make you particularly trustworthy. So if you would be so kind as to tell us what the issue is so we can decide whether or not to involve our headmistress, we-

Raka:    Listen I don’t have time to explain it to you. I just want to speak to the headmistress, I’m not asking for your hospitality.

Tyne:    Leave it to me to discern whether or not it’s urgent enough to-

Raka:    Frankly, I don’t think this matter concerns a simple peasant. Just tell me where to find her, I’ll-

Tyne:    Peasants?! I’m her son!

Vora:    And YOU’RE a filthy grey fur with bad manners. Our headmistress has more important things to do than speak someone like you.

Lyn:     Oh come on, just tell them already, Raka!

Raka:    Your village might be in danger, if you don’t-

Tyne:    Are you threatening us?!

Lyn:     Woa, no, stop! Raka, just tell them about the stone ser-

Vora:    Hey Tyne, know what I think?

Tyne:    Hm?

Vora:    A brown Skur and a grey Miru seem like the perfect couple to produce offsprings that correct the failures of their parents, don’t you think?

Tyne:    Indeed. Perhaps they have already spawned a litter of little grey mongrels, and they want to warn us of their brood coming to take our food from us.

Lyn:     Wow. First you guys were just offensive, but that’s plain rude.

Malaki:  We shouldn’t be here…

Raka:    If you’re the headmistress’ son, maybe I should remind you that you’re expendable! Son’s are worthless, so don’t think I wouldn’t hesitate to-

Vora:    Bite your fangs, your grey bitch!

Tyne:    Oh, so now you ARE threatening me?

Lyn:     Okay, calm down guys-

Lyn:     Hold up, guys! Where are we going?!

Raka:    Back to the stone serpent! I’m going to unleash that thing and it can plow right through that village for all I care!

Lyn:     Woa- hold on, no, no, no, we’re NOT doing that Raka!

Raka:    Don’t try to stop me!

Malaki:  Are you- Were let you- Are you… Want you to-

Raka:    Get to the POINT, Malaki!

Lyn:     What are you trying to say?

Malaki:  Gah, You want to let a whole village get destroyed for things two people said! And then you call ME impulsive!

Lyn:     Yea!

Raka:    I don’t CARE if it was one person, or the entire village! If that one was the headmistress son, who do you think he got his opinions from? That’s right, from his mother! The headmistress reflects the opinion of the whole village! We tried to WARN them, yet they insulted me instead!

Lyn:     They insulted all of us!

Malaki:  Yes!

Raka:    That last one didn’t involve you, you wouldn’t understand.

Malaki:  They insulted me as much as they insulted you!

Lyn:     Yea, see, and Malaki could’ve made the earth turn into quicksand and swallow the entire village right there, but he didn’t.

Malaki:  No, I couldn’t…

Raka:    I’ve had to deal such insults my whole life, I’m not letting this one pass!

Malaki:  My Rontar had to deal with this! For generations!

Lyn:     Yea, and do you see other Skur running off to free a giant stone-beast to crash through villages? Hell no! Why did we even stop by that village in the first place?

Raka:    I thought they at least deserved a warning about the serpent, in case we don’t manage to get back to it before it frees itself. And… I wanted to ask them if they knew of any suitable places nearby to commute with spirits.

Lyn:     To summon a Væron?

Raka:    Yes-

Malaki:  We agreed not to do that!

Raka:    We didn’t agree on anything, we were focused on keeping the serpent in check.

Malaki:  You want to summon Væron over such unimportant reason! We can figure this out without one!

Raka:    There are spirit’s that just took a bunch of stones, pretended to be a living being and destroyed a good portion of the surrounding cliffs, something like this is of interest to a Væron!

Malaki:  No! Any Væron you’ll summon over THAT will rip your soul right out of this world and tear it into tiny shreds!

Lyn:     Do Væron really do that?

Raka:    Of course not!

Malaki:  Yes!

Raka:    Sure, Væron can be intimidating, but they aren’t as needlessly brutal and easily offended as he keeps claiming them to be!

Malaki:  If you believe that, you know nothing about them!

Lyn:     I still don’t know whether to be chill about them, or very, very afraid.

Raka:    Of course YOU would have other experiences, Mongrel. Insensible Skur.

Lyn:     Hey, why are you attacking us now? No need to be insulting!

Raka:    A Skur wouldn’t know how to formulate a suitable pledge to summon Væron without causing offense right away.

Malaki:  You prejudiced Kyrjir!

Raka:    Skur don’t know how to ask for a Værons aid, don’t know how to demean themselves before them and are too proud to sacrifice a part of themselves to seal agreements with them!

Lyn:     Woa, calm down, Raka! We’re all edgy here, but no reason to take it out on Malaki-

Raka:    This has nothing to do with-

Malaki:  You Kyrjir confined us to Skaudr’s Horn!

Raka:    Yea for good reason!

Malaki:  You Kyrjir forced us to adapt to the harsh climate of the Skundr!

Raka:    We did nothing like that-

Malaki:  Skurka were forced to focus on survival so much, there was no space to build social structure!

Raka:    You’re not capable of-

Malaki:  All while you Kyrjir live IGNORANT on Skaudr’s rotting head, –

Raka:    What?

Malaki:  -eating the plentiful fruit of his decaying flesh,-

Raka:    What are you talking about-

Malaki:  -while we starved! You don’t care what becomes of us, except when stray Skurki step over the borders to seek food – then you call us the spawn of evil!

Raka:    You could just have stayed up there!

Malaki:  Yet you don’t know what Skurka are really like.

Raka:    I know enough!

Malaki:  No! You CAN’T know. Because you are prejudiced and don’t allow us in the Kyrja. We’re just trying to SURVIVE, so if we lack the subtleties of YOUR complex society, DON’T hold that against us!

Lyn:     Guys…

Raka:    Stop trying to play the victims in this! You Skur have earned your inglorious reputation as “grey demons” long before you were confined to the Skundr!

Lyn:     Calm down, Raka!

Raka:    Pillaging, murdering, raping! You Skur plunged the whole of Zäa into turmoil in the Kosvaïr war, we didn’t just repress you to the Skundr on a whim or because we thought you looked funny!

Lyn:     Guys, enough of that already! You hate each other’s guts, I get it! But playing the blame game won’t help us here!

Raka:    Stay out of this, what do you know?!

Lyn:     What do- What do I know?! Well for one, I know that you’re pretty much restricting yourselves from getting to know each other as PEOPLE, because you can’t get over your friggin prejudices! You’re just throwing insults at each other for something your ancestors did! But was it Malaki who killed people and raided places in that war?

Raka:    Of course not, but his roots are there-

Lyn:     Yea, didn’t think so. Malaki, was it Raka who restricted the Skur…ka to the Skundr?!

Malaki:  She restricts my äthwar now. She repeats the actions of her ancestors.

Raka:    Because you’ve PROVEN to be at least in part responsible for the tearing of the tangleweave-

Lyn:     Calm down, Raka…

Malaki:  That proves nothing!

Raka:    Of course it does! The way you’ve been using runes is proof enough for that!

Lyn:     Okay, okay, STAHP! STOP! Damn you, as soon as one of you starts with the GRRRR the other’s also like GRRR and you stop thinking straight at that point – it’s so damn annoying!
I’m glad you both moved on from insulting each other’s race to insulting each other personally now. But for gods sake, can this growling just stop?! I’m getting hoarse just listening to you! Malaki has a point, Raka.

Raka:    What?!

Lyn:     You’re restricting him because you SUSPECT he was involved in that tumbleweed thing, but he’s been pretty forthcoming and helpful for our group thus far!

Raka:    Helpful?! Like that time when he brought us a Golem to deceive us? Or when he summoned a stone storm around you? Or earlier, when he almost made a cliff collapse on top of us?! He is unpredictable, that is why I keep him on a leash! He needs to know his place!

Malaki:  I know my place, it’s not at the end of your leash, bitch mistress!

Raka:    I’m NOT a mistress-

Lyn:     Honestly, just stop! I’m tired of this shit… Raka! You better stop that right now or you’re not getting any treats! Great! Thanks! Look, we’re not here to fight each other, we’re trying to figure out how to get the spirits out of the stone serpent, remember?

Raka:    Right…

Lyn:     See? So let’s get back to doing that.

Raka:    A’sarkra nah’flæþis… You’re right.

Lyn:     By the way, did you notice that the Windshell is still on?

Raka:    What?!

Lyn:     I don’t get it, I’m sure it was- Oh.

Raka:    Well it was off when I checked-

Lyn:     It JUST turned back on! Maybe it’s the proximity to the stone serpent?

Raka:    Shouldn’t be… We’re not that close to it. Sure you don’t see any major spirits around?

Lyn:     Nope, nothing.

Raka:    Malaki, you?

Malaki:  No.

Lyn:     Could it be a Malfunction?

Malaki:  Mal-func-tion.

Lyn:     Malaki-function?

Raka:    I don’t think it is. It’s far more likely that someone that knows or understands the enchantments is playing around with it.

Lyn:     Maybe your friend in university is trying to call you?

Raka:    Or he could be testing new enchantments… Whatever it is, I don’t think it is a spirit’s doing.

Lyn:     Could it be a Væron?

Raka:    Don’t be silly, Væron wouldn’t interfere with our affairs.

Lyn:     How do you know? Malaki?

Malaki:  Yes…

Lyn:     You’re knowledgeable with magics right? What do you think this is?

Malaki:  I don’t know and I don’t care.

Raka:    At any rate, it might be someone trying to contact us.

Lyn:     What if it’s a genuine spirit activity and Auril only just updated the windshell to turn off when they go out of range?

Raka:    If it had been, you and I would hear sounds nearby.

Malaki:  Try speaking with tongues of flame. If Vær listen, they might respond. Your augmentation would finally prove worth butchering your face.

Raka:    Bite your fangs.

Lyn:     Are you still angry at her about earlier? Or are you hangry?

Malaki:  Neither of her rune carvings are useful. She just relies on you or me to be her eyes.

Raka:    Just because it hasn’t been useful yet doesn’t mean-

Malaki:  You haven’t heard any flow of knowledge nor spoken with tongue of flame ONCE.

Lyn:     I know, right? You had one job, Raka, one!

Raka:    Don’t make me unleash the stone serpent on the two of you.

Malaki:  You’d have to go through my vines first-

Raka:    Don’t underestimate me, runt. My fire runes do come in handy and they will make short work of those-

Lyn:     Have you tried turning it off and on again?

Raka:    What?

Lyn:     The windshell. Maybe it DOES have a malfunction?

Raka:    I already told you that’s unlikely-

Raka:    Well this is getting annoying. Auril, I don’t know if you’re currently working on the enchantments and causing it to turn on and off. If that’s the case, I want you to give me a signal. I’ll turn it off. Then I want you to turn it on and right back off again. Then I’ll turn it back on manually to let you know we got that. Just so we know if we should be looking for spirits or if you’re just fooling around!

Lyn:     And what if it’s not Auril?

Raka:    Who else would- Okay, if you’re not Auril, I want you to repeat turn the windshell on and off twice. I’ll wait a few heartbeats in between.

Lyn:     And if you’re a malfunction, just don’t take any action at all!

Raka:    Lyn…

Malaki:  Human logic…

Lyn:     Not? Okay fine, I’ll stop.

Raka:    Okay, remember, once if you’re Auril, twice if you’re someone else. I’ll turn this off.

Raka:    Okay, once. Now turn it back off.

Lyn:     … Oookay? Raka, was that you?

Raka:    No.

Lyn:     Creepy…

Raka:    Alright, this counts as twice.

Lyn:     What do we do now?

Raka:    Either of you see anything unusual?

Malaki:  No.

Lyn:     I… kinda see a blue and green thread connecting to the windshell now. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t there before…

Raka:    A thread?

Lyn:     Yea, I don’t know how to explain it…

Raka:    No, that’s fine. Do you see it too, Malaki?

Malaki:  I- I only see runes and spirits, not the weave.

Raka:    Ah, right. Lyn, do you think you can follow it?

Lyn:     I think so.

Raka:    It’s the only lead we have, we might as well see where it goes.

Lyn:     Okay, let’s-

Auril:   Um… Hmm… Well this is getting annoying.

Yosha:   I think that’s the last one.

Auril:   What on Aisanmei’s Dune is causing this?!

Yosha:   Was this supposed to happen?

Auril:   Hm? Of course not. I only recently added the enchantment that would string shorter recordings together, but that shouldn’t… rebound like this… that aside, the last two sounded deliberate and in response to Raka’s instruction.

Yosha:   Like someone was interfering with it.

Auril:   Yes, exactly. Umm… Ah, that makes for a good new entry for my to-do list. Write that in this book, please.

Yosha:   Yup.

Auril:   Things to work on: In addition to a direction indicator, work on a protocol that shows what or who caused the windshell to turn on.

Yosha:   Do you think that can be done?

Auril:   I don’t know. But I imagine that the enchantment would be similar to the Sujan Yari coins. Have you heard of them?

Yosha:   I… think so. Are those the coins with the small spheres in their center?

Auril:   Precisely. See, this is a Yari. The enchantment on the sphere records to whom the item was last given. Thus they can only be given, but never taken. Which made them a great currency to ward off theft, but very bad for inheritance. Their introduction on the Sujan market ultimately caused their society to shift from a monarchy to a democracy. Makes you think just the kind of power money can have, doesn’t it?

Yosha:   What happens when you tried to take one?

Auril:   Try.

Yosha:   Ow! It burns!

Auril:   Exactly.

Yosha:   Not cool…

Auril:   The sphere at it’s center bears a node to the fire layer and will heat up the sphere and metal if touched by someone other than the items last recipient.

Yosha:   I’m pretty sure sujan adolescents could do really creative pranks with this kind of money.

Auril:   I heard some very rich sujan’s used to put these on the ground around their home so unwelcomed nightly visitors would step on them.

Yosha:   Still not cool…

Auril:   At any rate, these spheres were able to keep protocol on who the item attached were last given to. If I examine the enchantments a little, I’m sure I’ll be able to find the right enchantment to protocol the reason for it activating. I’ve been meaning to study the enchantments anyway, but never really got around to it…

Yosha:   I hope you’re right. Ah, Akasar, I think there was another recording being enchanted earlier.

Auril:   Hm? Oh, you’re right.

Yosha:   We have a slight delay to Raka, maybe she figured the issue out by now? Can we listen?

Auril:   Don’t you have classes to attend to?

Yosha:   It’s Arepanuka.

Auril:   All the more reason you shouldn’t be here anymore, you should be home studying!

Yosha:   Nah, screw that…

Auril:   Hm?

Yosha:   That’s for nerds…

Auril:   Well…

Yosha:   That’s exactly why I came here. I couldn’t focus on my studies and you offered me to listen to these to take my mind off…

Auril:   Ah. Right.

Yosha:   I don’t think I could focus on my studies with this issue unresolved!  And I’m really enjoying these. I want to hear more!

Auril:   Sure, fine. But first, the references.

Yosha:   Gotcha.

Auril:   Date of recording was the same as the last one. Vocal enchantments were woven by Kessi Riliniki, Carollyn Monterola, Eyþór Viðarsson, Hem Brewster and Travis Vengroff, with special enchantments provided by… @-Rune Arch_DnD and @-Rune childofginvera?

Yosha:   childofginevra

Auril:   childofginevra, thank you.

Yosha:   Yea, I know those two!

Auril:   You do?

Yosha:   Yea! We hang out at this tavern every week – “The Lucky Die”, have you heard of it?

Auril:   I haven’t, no. Sounds awesome, though.

Yosha:   We play this little game together where we take dice and pods and cast them into the web.

Auril:   You cast pods? Into Aetherweb?

Yosha:   Yea! Well, kind of? It creates a different form of magic. A magic told through stories, and the roll of a dice, and companionship, and the ability to hang people at will and- and then there are these giant battles-

Auril:   I’m starting to understand Ethiovar’s frustration with students doing strange things with the weave. No wonder there’s been a whole lot more Tangleweaves around Kaerun lately…

Yosha:   Hey, those weren’t us!…

Auril:   Oh sure…

Yosha:   Though it did give me more chances to see Raka work her magic first hand…

Auril:   Sure… Anyway, Walla was provided by the amazingly talented Karim Kronfli, Matthew Boudreau, Tal Minear and Lucille Valentine. Music-Shells provided by Fuimadane.
Audio-Enhancements by Sarah Buchynski of Polarity Audio Works.
Written and Produced by Kessi Riliniki.
You can find ways to support us financially or emotionally on trilunis dot com.

Yosha:   But no Yari, please!

Auril:   I wouldn’t be opposed to some Yari, if they are given to me.

Yosha:   But they’re really hot.

Auril:   But they’re still worth a lot.

Yosha:   But not as much as your love. The emotional love you give us is worth a whole lot more.

Auril:   Well…

Yosha:   Although money is good, too. Except Yari.