2020 June Summer Solstice Plot - Catch All!

[tramitem]

Who: Anyone and everyone in Trames - Please use this as a catach all for all your Summer Solstice Plot fun!
What: Exploring a whole knew world
When: Anytime between June 20 - July 4
Where: Around Krajina Božstiev
Rating/Warnings: Please add warnings to your top-levels/threads as needed


The streets of Krajina Božstiev are dusty and crowded. So many people on their way to live their lives. Markets, taverns, the Temple, the Palace. What do you look at first? What do you buy? Where to do you find yourself exploring?

Take a moment to appreciate the shine of the Temple. The beauty of the Palace gardens. The quiet serenity of the Library. The simplistic, but filling food in the taverns. Or the peaceful quaintness of the hills. A new world has opened up and somehow it all just seems simpler over here. People seem happy (mostly) in this existence.

Maybe...

Watch out for the occasional person going into a rage on the other side of the street or tavern. That can't mean anything...

Comments

[howkickassiam]

He chuckles.

"You've got that right," he says.

He gives her a look of concern when she says she's been feeling off.

"I mean, it wouldn't surprise me if we don't have to deal with some kind of effects from going through the portals. Maybe that's why they don't want us doing it."

As if they were that benevolent.

[traceofeffort]

"Yeah, no, they're not that nice," Lisa says with a light laugh. "They probably just want the loot. Or want us where they can see us, and this isn't it. It's just way too convenient that we come through the portals and they make us sick, but only some of us?" The look on her face is a pretty good idea what she thinks of that.

[howkickassiam]

He snickers.

"Pretty sure you're right about all of that. Anyway, I haven't felt sick, but...I've been kind of grumpy. I'm not normally like that, but I can't shake it."

Does that really mean anything? He is kind of worried about calling off work so much in one week to explore this place.

[traceofeffort]

"Well, sick is relative, right?" Lisa's head tilts slightly as she considers it. "We don't really know what it is, so until we do, it could be anything. Clearly you should take time off so you don't infect your coworkers." It turns into a sage nod, before she smiles slightly, looking out to the hills. "Be careful, okay? Things have been weird in the city proper - this side, I mean - and I don't know if any of it's related."

[howkickassiam]

"Same goes for you," he says. "We ought to go back."

He glances to the side. He had been trying to find the city when he met up with her.

"If we can find it."

[traceofeffort]

Well, it's not like she's finding much of value out here. There are the weird guys running around, but she's not sure she wants to talk to them - she's got enough crazy to deal with without adding more of the local variety. "That's fine! I'm pretty sure it was this way." If pressed, she could not identify how she knows, but it's just a feeling, as she points in a direction different from the one York came from, or the one she'd been heading originally.

[howkickassiam]

"You sure?" he asks, but immediately turns that direction and starts moving. It seems as good as anything he had tried.

[traceofeffort]

"No, but standing here isn't going to get us any closer either way, right? And I dunno, I just have a hunch." She starts walking too; she's clearly good to double down on this despite her lack of certainty.

[howkickassiam]

"Hunches are good," he says. Never dismiss a good hunch.

The hills are hot, like a typical summer day in New York. York swipes some sweat off his brow as they continue walking.

[traceofeffort]

As they walk through the hills, Lisa starts getting... a little jumpy again. Not strictly at York's presence, but more generally, as she glances around. She's also sweating, but more than the heat explains. Thankfully she's got water with her - and she pulls a bottle out to take a long pull from - but it's kinda. Strange.

"I wish I could find anything to help our investigation along. I feel like I already shook everything useful out of the townspeople." It's conversational, but almost absent, as her gaze sweeps the countryside, snapping to motion.

[howkickassiam]

He glances at her.

"What kind of stuff did you 'shake out' of people?"

He doesn't really understand what she thinks she's investigating, so he figures he'll ask.

[traceofeffort]

"Rumors, historical accounts - factual or not - that kinda stuff," she says idly without switching her attention to York, wiping her brow with the back of her hand. "Elliott's got this... I don't wanna call it a theory, because if you put some of the stuff we've all heard together, it sounds kinda weird but the numbers add up to something kinda scary. We think something's... off-balance? With the deities in this place's religious lore?"

She stops talking a second, head bobbing as she tries to make sure she said it right, before she nods sharply. "Something like that. Anyway, we think it's connected to why people are going crazy and beating each other up over nothing."

[howkickassiam]

He takes this in with some skepticism, but tries to keep an open mind when he responds.

"So you think the deities here are real?" he asks. "You sure they aren't like...space aliens or something, that are trying to take control?"

[traceofeffort]

"It all lines up too nicely," Lisa says with a shake of her head. "We keep finding people that are clearly named for them in and around the city, the stones the festival is handing out all tie to them, the altar in the temple's all wrong... If it is something else, they've done their homework."

Come to think, did she swing by the market that morning to get a fresh stone? She almost had a complete set...

[howkickassiam]

"Huh." He shrugs. "What's wrong with the altar?"

[traceofeffort]

She thinks for a long moment. "What was it, I don't wanna... oh, right, got it!" She raises one finger, shaking it for emphasis with each point she makes. "So there's a ring of stones around the altar. Like the ones the Stone Festival's handing out. Sixteen of them. That's eight pair. And from what we've figured out, there are eight patrons in this place's pantheon. But instead of there being eight pair of different stones to match the eight of them, there are instead eight pair of the same stone. And if the stones influence something, like they're claiming..." She trails off, letting York come to his own conclusion.

[howkickassiam]

The gates of the city come into sight then as they crest a hill, which is a relief. He hadn't been sure what they would do if they'd gotten lost in this place.

"Hm," he mutters. "Who put 'em there, then?"

[traceofeffort]

She huffs mildly. "If we knew that much, I think we'd have made more progress. But we're getting there, and I don't think it'll take us too much longer, if we're lucky."

But Lisa sees the gates then, and chuckles. "Speaking of being lucky, though, looks like we made it! I wouldn't have enjoyed staying out there all night."

[howkickassiam]

"I hope we do figure it out, then," he says. "If it's important, I mean."

From what she said it sounds important. If the gods are real.

[traceofeffort]

"We'll keep working on it," Lisa assures him. "We're too invested to do anything else at this point, y'know? And I'm a little too stubborn, besides."

[howkickassiam]

York chuckles. "I'll keep that in mind," he says. Always important to keep someone's self-assessment in mind, even if you know they're dead wrong.