Episode 15 | Equilibrium

Lyn:      (muttering) Is it this? (licking and smacking her tongue to taste, then spits) Nope, just flour…

Ferryce:  (chuckles)

Lyn:      Can’t you tell me where she keeps the spices?

Ferryce:  I wouldn’t know.

Lyn:      You are directly above her eyes, you see what she sees, you should- (sighs) Great, the windshell is on. Is there a spirit nearby I should watch out for?

Ferryce:  Just a cloudeater gliding through the sky. These things happen, now that you’re in the tangleweave. You’re in no immediate danger, however.

Lyn:      Thank stuff for that. Let’s see what else we find. Ah, her journal. I wonder if she noted down anything that would explain why she reacted the way she did earlier.

Ferryce:  (chuckles) Something like that seems like a secret she kept buried as deeply as she possibly can. I don’t think she would write about it.

Lyn:      (sighs) Well, I can’t read this anyway. Malaki taught me like five runes, but this doesn’t seem to be written using any of them.

Ferryce:  (chuckles) Even if she stuck to using a single element-set, you’d need to know at least 15 to patch any meaning together by context.

Lyn:      Yea, never mind then. It’s too dark to read anyway. And her handwriting looks pretty bad. Oh this is where she stashed the remaining flatbread! Ow! Damn this is dry as hell and tough as Malaki’s jerky…

Ferryce:  (chuckles)

Lyn:      (sighs) What do I need to do to get some normal food around here…

Ferryce:  Try being less picky.

Lyn:      Oh this could be the spices- Oh. Nope, just… a bag full of stones with runes on them. Dangit.

Raka:     (groggy) What… What are you looking for…

Lyn:      Raka! You’re alive!

Raka:     Urg… Am I?

Lyn:      Well, I hope so.

Raka:     I’ll let you be the judge of that… (groaning) What… happened?

Lyn:      Gee, you tell me. What do you remember?

Raka:     We were on that bridge, and then… I…

Lyn:      You had an episode?

Lyn:      C’mon, you saw me lose my shit before. You can tell me.

Raka:     (hesitant) Where’s Malaki?

Lyn:      Hunting. He said it was his turn anyway.

Raka:     How did we get here?

Lyn:      Apparently you lost your grip on the Edgars. Your headlight went off, and Malaki got Edward back.

Raka:     What?! And you let him go to find food despite that?!

Lyn:      What should I have done, tackle him to the ground and keep him in headlock until you woke up again?

Ferryce:  You have to learn to trust him, Raka.

Lyn:      (sighs) Seriously. He could’ve ran and ditched us the moment he got Edward back. Both of us! But he didn’t! He helped me get you off the bridge when that giant bird appeared, he could’ve-

Raka:     There was a Rygiel?!

Lyn:      Yea, a wild one. Your screaming lured it to our location and it was just about ready to grab us for a late-night snack, when you lost hold of the Edgars. We couldn’t get you off the bridge, you were clinging to the rail. You really do have a grip like a retainer-bot! Even if we had managed to get you off the rail I’m not sure Malaki and I could’ve dragged you off the bridge, even together!

Raka:     So… he flew all three of us off?

Lyn:      Urg, yea. That was one weird ride, I tell ya. Be happy you were unconscious. Becoming one with the wind was really… weird and disorienting. I almost puked right there. But anyway, he brought us here and made sure this place was secure, helped me peel you out of most of your clothes and tuck you into bed. We even gathered foliage to isolate you… Then he dug that pit over there and put the kettle on it with some water because he wants to cook us a stew when he comes back.

Raka:     Stew?! Wait, is that water boiling? What about the fire?

Lyn:      Dunno, he said he used charcoal, no clue where he got that from. Said those would suffice to get the water cooking without me shitting my pants in fear of the flame.

Raka:     What about the Heatsphere?

Lyn:      We tried that, but neither of us could figure out how to use it. Speaking of which, can you turn it on? Or your headlight. It’s pretty dark.

Raka:     Sure… where is the heatsphere?

Lyn:      Uhh, hold on… it was around here… somewhere… I kinda tried finding stuff in your bag, but these mushrooms aren’t giving enough lights to really see anything.

Raka:     M- mushrooms?

Lyn:      Yea, up there, see? Oh, found the heatsphere.

Raka:     Huh. I didn’t know mushrooms glow.

Lyn:      I didn’t, either. Malaki told me to keep you from eating them, though. He said he knows how you like mushrooms, guess he was afraid the first thing you’d do was nibble on them.

Raka:     I wouldn’t dare to eat THOSE.
Ronturi! (Fire rune: torch)

Lyn:      Aww yea, thanks! Much better. Anyway, bottom line is, he went through so much trouble to get us set up here, I don’t think he will ditch us.
Malaki: Of course not. I made that clear. So I thought.

Lyn:      Yea, Multiple times.

Raka:     (surprised and slightly angry) Malaki!

Lyn:      No, Raka! You shouldn’t get up yet, you’re-

Raka:     Pafyrinrir! (Fire Rune)

Malaki:   (defensively) No- no!

Raka:     (exhausted) Lynar… (Water Rune)

Lyn:      Raka!

Malaki:   (strained) Get- off me- you’re- too heavy! I-… proved to you that I won’t leave!

Raka:     I don’t trust you!

Lyn:      (accusingly) Raka!

Ferryce:  (eyerolling) You’re really stubborn…

Malaki:   You don’t…

Lyn:      I’m beginning to think that Malaki isn’t the problem here.

Malaki:   (growls) Let me clarify this, feather-duster. You use my äthwar against me. But I DECIDE to stay. As long as you fix the hole, you and the human are my pack! And Skurki never leave their pack behind!

Ferryce:  (chuckles)

Raka:     What?

Lyn:      Aww that’s so sweet!

Raka:     (suspicious disbelief) Why would you think of us as your Pack?!

Malaki:   You fix something wrong with the Skundr. My home! You’re the only one that knows how. I don’t have your knowledge. I can’t fix it.

Raka:     That is… a brutally honest confession.

Malaki:   That is truth.

Lyn:      See? And this is WHY I keep saying let’s finally get to know each other!

Raka:     (after a moment of inward struggling, she sighs, giving in) Fine… Fine! How about we play a game.

Lyn:      Ooh, yes! I like games!

Malaki:   (sly) Games! Yes, I like games. I will throw these into the stew. It can cook while we play. (*Eythor might wana rerecord these later)

Lyn:      Never neglect the food!

Malaki:   Explain your game. I will cut these.
Malaki clears up a flat stone nearby and starts cutting the roots and mushrooms he gathered.

Lyn:      Yea, what kind of game were you thinking? Something with cards or dice?

Raka:     Neither. We play with these.

Lyn:      Wait, I looked into that pouch earlier. Are those stones with runes on them?

Malaki:   Y-you-You PLAY with RUNES! That’s disrespectful!

Raka:     That from a guy that beats up spirits… (challenging) Yes, bored students in the university invented ways to play with Runestones. It’s not just a GAME. It is a theoretical exercise to help memorize the runes, but this game also reveals a lot about the way a person thinks.

Lyn:      What’s the game called?

Raka:     “Equilibrium”

Malaki:   Like the Poem.

Raka:     (agreeing) Like- (concerned) Like Nesþar’s poem, yes. Malaki, I have been wondering about that. How do you know about the Equilibrium? I didn’t think Skur had aural traditions.

Malaki:   We don’t. Most Skurka would rather fight than recite poems to each other.

Raka:     Then how did you get to know that poem by heart?

Malaki:   I READ it.

Raka:     I didn’t think Skur could read.

Malaki:   They can’t. Skurka are too dumb to read. *I* can read.

Raka:     I see…

Lyn:      So how do we play this?

Raka:     Two of us will reach into this pouch and pull out ONE runestone.

Lyn:      Wait, can Ferryce play?

Ferryce:  I take no interest in the games mortals play.

Lyn:      (singing) A-ha. Every night and every day, Na-ha~

Raka:     That’s alright. This game is best played with three. Come, Lyn, draw a stone.

Lyn:      Are these… like… four-sided dice?

Raka:     They aren’t dice. Malaki, take one.

Malaki:   I don’t PLAY with runes.

Raka:     These are not the actual runes.

Malaki:   I can SEE the runes through the bag! There is energy within them. They ARE imbued runes!

Raka:     Imu- Wait… really?

Malaki:   Yes!

Lyn:      Oh yea, I can see them too. Is that bad?

Raka:     Hm. I didn’t imbue them…

Malaki:   Imbecile.

Raka:     What was that?

Malaki:   I said you’re an idiot.

Raka:     (growls)

Lyn:      Why are you insulting her now?

Malaki:   Carved runes are VESSLES! They fill with energy over time!

Raka:     (growls even more)

Lyn:      Stop that, Raka!

Ferryce:  What he says is true.

Raka:     (subdued grumbling, slightly embarassed) I… I didn’t know that.

Ferryce:  Well done.

Lyn:      Wow. Did you just.

Malaki:   Hm. You stepped down. Fine.

Malaki:   I don’t like it. But I will play.

Lyn:      Yay! So how do we play? Teach us, Sensei!

Raka:     (still slightly embarrassed) Very well. Each of the four sides of your stone holds a rune from the four elements. What you do is roll the stone, like you would roll a dice.

Lyn:      Alright- Gee, these don’t roll as well as regular dice.

Raka:     Because they AREN’T dice!

Lyn:      Your turn, Malaki.

Malaki:   They roll better sideways.

Lyn:      Really? Wait, can I try again?

Raka:     (sighs) Sure, since this is the first time.

Lyn:      Oooh, yea, they roll much better like this. Alright. Your turn, Raka?

Raka:     This game is played one on one, a third person plays the judge.

Lyn:      Judge on what?

Raka:     We’ll get there.

Lyn:      Okay, so what did I roll?

Raka:     Your rune is Feruïl, the “leaf”.

Malaki:   Mine is Margiel, the “wing”.

Lyn:      Okay, great. Now what? Who wins?

Raka:     No one wins yet. Now comes the interesting part. Both of you have to come up with a scenario how you would use your rune to overcome the rune of the other.

Lyn:      Leafs against Wings? What kind of combat is that? What kind of wing is it anyway? Is it severed, or is the bird still attached to it? Is it even a birds wing or rather an insects wing, or a bats?

Raka:     (slightly annoyed by the questions) That’s not how- Runes are concepts, synonymous to the things they stand for, not necessarily the thing itself. Sometimes a rune is a word, or a thought, or a pattern-

Lyn:      Or the thing itself?

Raka:     They can be, yes. In your case, Margiel, the wings are sturdy, able to ride air currents, yet flexible enough to change your course with a single beat. They are strong enough to lift your weight, but the cost to do so is high.

Lyn:      Oh okay… Well, then I use razor leaf to cut the wing off!

Raka:     What…

Malaki:   I don’t understand…

Raka:     Me neither…

Ferryce:  (laughs) I have heard of the creativity of humans, but this surpasses anything I could’ve imagined.

Lyn:      Well some leafs are sharp like knifes, right?

Raka:     Sure, but sharp enough to cut off a wing?

Lyn:      If I had a leaf rune and had to fight against a wing rune, that’s what I would do.

Raka:     Erg, let’s just go with that. What about you?

Malaki:   I start a fire, use the wing to fan it. Then throw the leaf on the flame. This is… right?

Raka:     Yea, that’s how it’s played.

Lyn:      So Malaki and I both gave an answer, now what?

Raka:     The judge decides which answer they thought was better or more plausible. And to make it more interesting, the winner gets to ask the loser one very personal question. And the Loser HAS to answer. Can we all agree to that?

Malaki:   Yes.

Lyn:      Oh okay. Fine, hit me with it Mal, whatcha got?

Malaki:   Don’t call me-

Raka:     You’re not gona wait for my decision?

Lyn:      Nah, obviously his answer was better.

Raka:     Not by much, but better regardless. Malaki, now you get to ask her something.

Malaki:   Ehh… Tell us… about your pack. Family?

Lyn:      If I had any?

Malaki:   Where they are. Why you are here. Alone.

Lyn:      Well… I have parents. But I didn’t get along with them, so I ran away.

Raka:     Was this… before the spirits attacked your village?

Lyn:      Sort of… it was on earth. Not… here.

Malaki:   You have… siblings?

Lyn:      Nah, I’m an only-child- wait, we agreed to one question!

Raka:     Right. Okay, winner faces judge next. Just to make it fair, you should look away from the bag.

Lyn:      Me too?

Raka:     No, just Malaki.

Malaki:   You think I will pull runes that will benefit me.

Raka:     Just to make it fair. Lyn doesn’t know the runes. You do.

Malaki:   Fine. Hold up the bag.

Raka:     Here.

Lyn:      So I’ll be the judge now?

Raka:     Yes.

Lyn:      What do I judge by?

Raka:     Which scenario you find more convincing or plausible.

Lyn:      Kay. But you’ll need to guide me here, who got which rune?

Raka:     Malaki got Ræwyn, the Root-Rune. Mine is Kuneþ, the Arrow.

Lyn:      Okay- Raka arrow, Malaki root. Got it.

Malaki:   Arrows, made of wood. Wood calls to kin. Ræwyn reminds it of it’s root, it’s origin. Tells it to return to its kin, it’s roots. Become what it used to be. Roots make the arrow remember to become wood again.

Raka:     Interesting…

Lyn:      Runes can do that?

Raka:     If he did that to an actual arrow, it might work. Not so much on a runic arrow, but we didn’t specify that it couldn’t be a real one.

Lyn:      I see…

Malaki:   Speak your scenario.

Raka:     Hmm… Ræwyn the root is the rune of stability, unbending firmness, but also that of unyielding stubbornness. It does not support progression. Holding on to Ræwyn means holding on to the past, to old grudges or guilt.

Ferryce:  (sarcastic) It suits your personality, Raka.

Raka:     (slightly distracted) Kuneþ the arrow, however, is a rune that pursues a goal, a target. While Ræwyn holds on to the old ways, Kuneþ looks to the future, fuels progression. This is how Kuneþ overcomes Ræwyn.

Lyn:      Wow… That’s deep… I have no idea how to judge that.

Malaki:   THAT is what you learn in university!

Raka:     (with a smirk) I’m not answering personal questions unless asked by the winner of this match.

Lyn:      But wait, your scenario wasn’t very concrete! I thought we were supposed to imagine someone throwing their rune at us and we only have the one rune to defend ourselves with and we say how we would use it as defense!

Raka:     The scenario just has to explain how one rune would overcome another. In what way it would do so, spiritual or physical, doesn’t matter.

Lyn:      Oh, so your explanation is kinda… esoteric, right?

Raka:     Yes. The point of the game is to learn and see the pros and cons of a situation whilst viewing it from both angles. That is why it is called Equilibrium.

Lyn:      Well, in that case… I like the deep thoughts, so I’ll pick that. Raka wins.

Raka:     (smirks) Who was the person you sought when we first met?

Malaki:   I… Azeri.

Raka:     Not their name, WHO were they?

Malaki:   (low growl) My- He… is my vannir aurki.

Raka:     Your “other horn”?

Lyn:      What does that mean?

Malaki:   (helpless, trying to make them understand) My… my vannir aurki, my… my pack-mate. Yes, pack-mate.

Raka:     Your… Pack-mate? But you said we are your pack now, does that mean you-

Malaki:   We agreed on one question.

Raka:     (slightly disappointed) Fair enough.

Lyn:      I’m next, right?

Raka:     Yes.

Malaki:   (laughs)

Raka:     (amused) The irony.

Lyn:      Wait, is it?

Malaki:   You got Lynar, the river rune.

Raka:     Also called Lyn.

Lyn:      There is a rune with my name?

Raka:     You didn’t know?

Lyn:      No, how would I- You know I’m illiterune, how WAS I supposed to know?

Raka:     Hm… I thought you picked the rune for your name.

Lyn:      So what’s yours?

Raka:     I got Yoraĥtar, the branch rune.

Lyn:      Um… okay… So, the LYN rune beats the… branch rune, because… branches… aren’t liquid. There.

Lyn:      No, that’s it.

Raka:     What?

Raka:     That makes no sense.

Ferryce:  (chuckles) It’s not wrong, though.

Raka:     It- (exasperated) No, it’s not wrong, but… That doesn’t MEAN anything!
Malaki: Agreed. It doesn’t explain.

Lyn:      Okay, then how about… BECAUSE a branch isn’t water, it floats and gets carried away by the river, that’s why river beats branches. Is that better?

Raka:     Eh… that’s slightly better.
Malaki: Tell your scenario.

Raka:     Alright… Lyn is the rune of flow and motion. It’s force can carry you onward a long distance. However, while it’s destination is uncertain, it is preordained. Like a riverbed, it can’t help but follow a beaten path, whether it wants to or not. Yoraĥtar the branch is the rune of crossroads and decisions. By itself, it does not carry you, yet it’s force unfolds through choosing a path. It gives you the freedom to make a choice, a decision, whereas Lyn’s path is predestined, unchangeable. Freedom of choice is how Yoraĥtar overcomes Lyn.

Lyn:      Oof… That’s a lot to take in. Are all your scenarios gona be like this?
Malaki: I don’t understand that. The human’s was better.

Raka:     What, really?!

Lyn:      I win? WOOHOO!
Malaki: Hers made sense.

Raka:     Can’t wrap your head around abstract concepts, hm?
Malaki: (scoffs)

Lyn:      How long’s that stew gona be?

Malaki:   Until the roots are through.

Lyn:      Mhhh, can’t wait, I’m getting hungry! So I get to ask you something, right?

Raka:     Was that your question?

Lyn:      Oh, oops, no. Sorry.

Raka:     Normally I’d have counted that, but… I’ll just let it pass this once.

Ferryce:  (mock sarcasm) How generous of you.

Lyn:      Ok, so… what exactly triggered that episode on the bridge?

Raka:     (low growl)

Lyn:      C’mon, you cost us a lot of nerve today, at least tell us what happened so we know what triggers it!

Raka:     Fine! (sighs) I… I saw something there. Something I had hoped I’d never have to see again. It… distracted me.

Ferryce:  “Distracted” is a mild way of describing the constitution you were in.

Lyn:      What did you see?

Raka:     … Nothing.

Lyn:      Oh come on!

Raka:     Look, I’ve got it under control now, don’t worry about it.

Lyn:      What do you have under control?

Raka:     We agreed to one question!

Lyn:      Wow, really Raka? You only ever force Mal and me to open up, but you barely ever do!

Raka:     I answered your question. Two even! Now let’s move on.

Lyn:      Why are you so evasive?!

Raka:     I answered your question. Let’s move on.

Lyn:      Urg, fine.

Raka:     Turn your head.

Malaki:   (eyerolling) Yes.

Raka:     Lyn, you got Myr, the flame. Malaki got Pryneþar, the hill. What will you do?

Malaki:   Hmm… I split the hill. Throw the flame in the gap. Close the hill again. Flame smothered.

Raka:     That seems like something you’d do…

Lyn:      You’re asking me how a fire would win against a hill?! I have no clue!

Malaki:   Try Raka’s way.

Lyn:      Urg, okay, so… A hill… is immobile, so it can’t run away, right?… So… I’d dig a hole into the bottom, drill a channel up to the top and put the fire in there… (helpless) using the hill as stove?

Malaki:   Not exactly Raka’s way…

Lyn:      Wow, I’ve never heard you lol before. That bad?

Raka:     (still laughing) No no, it’s good! I like the creative way you would utilize both things rather than try to destroy either. In my book, you win this round.

Lyn:      Two points for Gryff-Lyn-dor, woohoo!

Malaki:   Fine. What… you… do- want you to hear.

Lyn:      I was meaning to ask you this before, but can you actually see with your white eye?

Raka:     THAT’S the question you’re going to ask him?

Lyn:      (shrugs) Well sorry, I ask him stuff about himself all the time, and he usually gives me an answer.

Malaki:   Because you’re nice. Raka isn’t.

Lyn:      See? I don’t need to FORCE him into telling me about himself.

Raka:     (sighs) Fine.

Lyn:      So, what about your left eye?

Malaki:   I see Vær and runes with it.

Lyn:      Nothing else, just that?

Malaki:   Just that.

Raka:     Really? I thought a Skurs eyecolors just changed depending on the äthwar they have. Was that eye always white?

Malaki:   We traded sight for äthwar. That was the oath.

Raka:     Not a price I would pay.

Malaki:   Focus on runes and Vær is easier.
Lyn: But it also makes it hard to focus on either the real world or the aetherstuff. At least I can’t imagine its any more or less pleasant than my overlapping sight. Especially annoying when you want to sleep but can still see things with your eyes closed.

Malaki:   I sleep with that eye to the ground.

Lyn:      Oooh, yea that makes sense. I should try that.

Raka:     That’s why I never wanted to have that kind of augmentation…

Lyn:      Well, hearing all these noises isn’t much better to be honest. I get both, the visuals and the audio. Gives me a headache.

Malaki:   Tell me when you need more herbs for that.

Lyn:      Nah, I’m good. I still got some of those you gave me, should be enough for two of three more cups of tea.

Malaki:   I will bring more when I see them. Not common further up. Better to have a supply.

Raka:     You sure seem to know a bit about herbs.

Malaki:   Enough about me. Lyn had her ask.

Raka:     Her “ask”? Why is your grammar so messed up sometimes?

Lyn:      Oh, he said Skurkis don’t really do questions so they don’t really get them-

Malaki:   I said enough about me!

Lyn:      Look, the point of this game is to get to know each other better, right?

Malaki:   … Yes.

Lyn:      It just seems that your trouble formulating questions might add to the friction we have in our group! It’s super impolite to go around demanding and giving orders all the time!

Raka:     That sounds like a fair assessment.

Lyn:      Same goes for you, Raka.

Raka:     For me?

Lyn:      If you’d just let us know that something about crossing bridges at night would trigger such a reaction in you, we could’ve found ways to avoid it!

Raka:     Look, I didn’t KNOW that would happen, I’m neither afraid of bridges nor heights nor the dark!

Lyn:      Look, you both need to give the rest of us a chance to understand you better. Then you two might end up less growly towards each other!

Ferryce:  (chuckles) Right, I agree with the human. Malaki, why not tell your two new “packmates” how you learned about questions. That’s the least you can do to round up that topic.

Malaki:   (reluctant, then sighs) Someone taught Azeri and me Vær want to be asked. Not given orders. That is when we first learned of asks.

Raka:     It doesn’t seem like you ever ASK them anything, though.

Malaki:   They upset me. I used to ask. I don’t anymore.

Ferryce:  I can attest to that.

Raka:     What did they do?

Malaki:   (with a challenging smile) Win a game. Earn your ask.

Lyn:      What’d you get?

Raka:     He has Hwyþ, the calm. I have Duhæ, the burning.

Malaki:   You first.

Raka:     (challenging) I would use the burning rune to stir the air currents, disrupting the calm.

Lyn:      Well that was quick.

Malaki:   I use the calm to sap away the air around the burning rune. Without air, Duhæ can’t persist.

Lyn:      Um… I can kinda get behind both scenarios? Can we have a- (draw?)

Malaki:   No draws.

Raka:     I too think both scenarios are legit, let’s go with the draw.

Lyn:      Sorry Mal-Pal, you’re outnumbered two to one. Hey, on the bright side, that means you both get to ask a question right?

Raka:     What happened to Azeri?

Malaki:   (growls)

Ferryce:  Straight to the point…

Malaki:   Azeri is NOT your worry!

Raka:     You know, I get the feeling it IS my “worry”. You said Azeri IS your pack-mate, not WAS. And you also said Skur never leave their pack behind! You were looking for him, when we first met you. I assume you haven’t given up your search for him, and you’re just tagging along because you’re hoping to find him with our help.

Lyn:      (fake gasp, then mockingly) What is this?! An ulterior motive?

Malaki:   I’m NOT just tagging along, you have my äthwar!

Raka:     Pafyrinrir. Lynar. Thamratu Malakiri Wyv!

Malaki:   (screams in agony as his äthwar is removed again)

Raka:     NOW I have your äthwar.

Lyn:      Why’d you do that?

Raka:     To prove a point! You had multiple chances to leave, you’ve had your äthwar this whole time! Yet you stayed. And except for the few lapses when we encountered spirits or Ferryce, you have been quite helpful, which is NOT something I would expect from someone I practically hold hostage.

Lyn:      And for someone treated the way you treat him.

Malaki:   (growls, more out of helplessness than of anger)

Lyn:      Well, maybe you misjudged him.

Malaki:   (embarrassed and frustrated) No… she is right…

Lyn:      Hey bro, I just had your back!

Malaki:   I do want to find Azeri. With your help. You’re… knowledgeable. Worthy to be called RaKA. You know more about Vær than me.

Raka:     Hm. I see. What happened to him?

Malaki:   (growling, as the memory is still sore) A Væron took him.

Raka:     That… explains a lot…

Lyn:      It kinda does…

Raka:     Do you know what the Væron did with him?

Malaki:   I think he was pulled into the weave. Maybe he is still there. Trying to get out.

Lyn:      Væron do that?

Ferryce:  (chuckles) You have to offend us grandly to make us do anything like that.

Raka:     Ferryce, do you know anything about this?

Ferryce:  I know the Væron responsible, and I know why it was done. But it is not my business, so I’m unaware what happened to Azeri past that.

Raka:     (sighs) This is why you reacted the way you did when we stepped into Ferryce’s grove.

Lyn:      It all makes sense now!

Raka:     Right. Well-

Lyn:      Hey, is that Stew almost done yet? I’m starving!

Malaki:   I will look… but I still-

Raka:     Right, let us end the game for today.

Malaki:   I still have a… a question!

Raka:     (sighs) Fine. I owe you that much.

Malaki:   (awkwardly trying to formulate a question) Can there be- W-Will you find… help me… find Azeri?

Raka:     We will figure something out.

Lyn:      Will you turn off the Windshell?

Raka:     Wait, that thing was on?! Why didn’t you tell me?!

Lyn:      I kinda forgot, I’m sorry!

Yosha:    (almost tearing up with emotion, excited) That. Was. SO adorable!

Auril:    (sighs) I didn’t expect Raka would be one to play such games…

Yosha:    (laughs) See, I told you. Bored students get quite creative with dice and rune stones. (excited) Fiyar’ta, I can’t wait to write to my brother about this!

Auril:    Write your… Your brother? About Raka playing games with rune stones?

Yosha:    No, no- about Raka, Lyn and Malaki-… that is alright, Akasar? Speaking to someone uninvolved about the content of your invention, I mean.

Auril:    That’s alright, I guess. But why would your brother care about this?

Yosha:    Ah, our family has been in service to the twin goddesses, Kælyn (Kay-lin) and Aisu for many generations.

Auril:    Isn’t Kælyn the namesake of Kærun?

Yosha:    Yes, that’s the one. The city was formed around a chapel built in her honor.

Auril:    I still don’t understand how what we just heard has anything to do with your family’s involvement in religion.

Yosha:    The twin goddesses are advocates of emotional growth and bonds. My brother and I have always discussed the growth of those around us, to appreciate it. This recording had a lot of that in it, don’t you think?

Auril:    I suppose. I’m surprised Malaki stayed despite the fact that he had his äthwar this whole time.

Yosha:    That’s part of his growth! (relieved) And I’m so glad Raka is alright. I was so worried about her. I’m happy she’s starting to warm up to the others a little.

Auril:    (laughs) Were you listening to the same recording as I was? I heard nothing of her warming up to anything.

Yosha:    Because you’re not paying attention to that!

Auril:    What did you think of the whole Azeri issue?

Yosha:    I think he must be very dear to Malaki, for him to put his prejudice aside in order to latch onto any opportunity that might help him find him. It seems like a good basis for a theological discussion.

Auril:    (weary) Theology? How is Malaki’s care for Azeri any way basis for a religious debate?

Yosha:    The church of the twins teaches, that all mortal beings are capable of forming deep, emotional connections, even Therion. Only Skur are incapable of forming such connections, not having the capacity for emotions and sympathy. This has lead other Rontar adapting a human term to refer to them, a term that allegedly means “beings that don’t feel”.

Auril:    Err… what’s the word? Dem-… Demhanem? (dem-HUH-nem)

Yosha:    Yes, Demhanem. I think the humans pronounced it “demons”. So by that belief, should we Skur not be considered people because we believe they don’t feel? And if that is the case, what does Malaki’s alleged connection to Azeri imply? He proves the contrary, showing that a strong bond among Skur is possible- that is, assuming Azeri is a Skur.

Auril:    (sighs) I see. Err, I’m not very versed in zäan theology, to be honest.

Yosha:    (laughs) Of course, you’re an almirian.

Auril:    Almireus.

Yosha:    Almireus, yes. Sorry, I forgot. What do your people believe in?

Auril:    They believe in a masked god called Aelmir. I personally though believe more in the things I can affect myself. Like my enchantments. I believe very much in my enchantments

Yosha:    (amused) Of course you do. That is like a farmer believing in his wheat, after all.

Auril:    I suppose. Anyway, should we wrap up the recording?

Yosha:    By all means!

Auril:    Date of recording waas Nesþanuka (NES-tha-nook-ah) on the 102nd day of-

Yosha:    We already got that on the last recording.

Auril:    Did we? Oh yes, yes. Alright, Vocal enchantments were woven by Kessir Riliniki, Eyþór Viðarsson, Carollyn Monterola, Chad Ellis, Hem Cleveland and Travis Vengroff.
Music-Shells provided by Fuimadane.
Audio-Enhancements by Sarah Buchynski.
Written and Produced by Kessir Riliniki.

Yosha:    Any more recordings that came in?

Auril:    That’s all for today, I’m afraid.

Yosha:    Can I stay a bit longer and write that letter to my brother? I’d rather write it right now, before I forget everything, and while I can still go through the transcripts.

Auril:    Hm? Ah, yes, of course.