DUNGEON LOG - TELOVIA MINES

[phantasmods]

The day dawns bright and early - the same as most every expedition. The only difference is that you'll need to take the teleportation pad to Lodestone as a starting point - the gliders and drones are already there. There's clouds on the horizon, though, so if you're going to take a glider and go, you'd better get going.

There's some new additions, though, to the usual group of androids seeing you off. Tau is checking over the drones ready to carry those who can't or won't use the gliders, and Muon is practicing opening and collapsing the wings of a glider with bright yellow sails. She grins at anyone who approaches, shooting them a thumbs up.

"Don't worry about getting lost or falling behind! As long as Tau's here, they'll keep us all together."

And with that bit of bright cheer, it's off towards the mountains you go...

----

From the air, the remains of the mining town are almost impossible to tell from any other part of the forest. The trees - especially the old ones - are much thinner, and that's really the only sign of what's below.

But Muon's bright yellow glider, leading the way, dips down into the treeline before landing in an open space, and anyone who isn't paying enough attention to follow will feel their glider being herded in the same direction by Tau's power - control not outright taken, but more of a nudge, like, hey buddy it's this way. The group lands just beyond the border of the Fissure - a tiny stable spot in whatever's left of this world.

And a good thing, too, because landing in the Fissure itself could prove quite difficult...

Comments

[daughterofthemark]

[The plant immediately goes down. Told you it was pathetic.]

{I suppose not! It's best to be careful nonetheless, but you truly are strong.}

[redmeguca]

{Alright, maybe it would be a bad idea to keep it in the greenhouse with the other plants. Plant the seeds somewhere else, maybe put up a sign?}

[Kyoko is both harvesting the leaves of the plant and searching for seeds.]

[daughterofthemark]

[There may or may not actually be seeds. The biology of Yggdrasil is kind of "special."]

{I'm not sure of its needs, either, and I'm a bit concerned about whether it truly would grow...}

[redmeguca]

{Then I'll just keep a few leaves in reserve for if Mami-senpai ever shows up. And hey, if there's one there may be more.}

[daughterofthemark]

{They do sometimes regenerate. Perhaps we'll find another one here tomorrow.}

[you cannot escape the etrian logic]

[redmeguca]

{Well then, let's see if there's anything else that's interesting around here.}

[daughterofthemark]

{Of course.}

[Arianna Armigers what Kyoko didn't take, and gets looking.]

{Thank you for allowing me to accompany you.}

[redmeguca]

{No problem. Us mutes gotta stick together, right? Especially when one of us has telepathy.}

[daughterofthemark]

{I can't stand not being able to communicate. Or use orders.}

[redmeguca]

{Well that's why I'm here, right? So you have at least someone you can "talk" to.}

[daughterofthemark]

{I always enjoy your company, but I'll confess to that having been a strong incentive.}

[redmeguca]

{Too bad it's only one way for you. Kyubey could let anyone he wanted talk to anyone within range, even if they weren't a Magical Girl. Fuzzball was awful, but he was pretty useful.}

[daughterofthemark]

[A pause.]

{That is much like with Nina. It's because of her that I can speak with animals, and that I've met so many important people... but that doesn't excuse her actions.}

[redmeguca]

{Nina?}

[daughterofthemark]

[oh boy]

{You've seen the "weeks without murder" sign?}

[redmeguca]

{Yeah. Jetshard even told me what it's about. ...You were one of them?}

[daughterofthemark]

[Nod, nod.]

{It was where I met my family. Nina was the name of the mastermind behind it.}

[Hm. Can she think images to Kyoko? That seems like it might be possible. She can try, anyway.]

[redmeguca]

[Kyoko didn't seem to react to the image, so apparently it doesn't work like that.]

{I can't even imagine what twisted thought process would make anyone think forcing a bunch of people to kill each other would be a good idea. It sounds like something a Witch would do!}

[daughterofthemark]

[Oh, well. Hopefully it'll never be important anyway.]

{It was something to do with creating a new society. She was sending people's consciousnesses into a simulation when they died.} [That's something of an oversimplification but shh.] {I suppose she felt that justified it.}

[redmeguca]

{Really? If you want to make a new society, there are better ways to do it than making people kill each other. Hell, if that was the end goal, why have the murders happen in the first place?! It doesn't make any sense!}

[daughterofthemark]

{She was broadcasting our experiences as a television series. My understanding is that she was trying to fund the development of her simulation.}

[Arianna "sounds" a lot more bitter than Kyoko has ever "heard" her.]

[redmeguca]

[Kyoko has stopped responding telepathically and is just soundlessly moving her mouth. She cannot. She has lost all ability to can.]