"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"I can't believe it," he mused. "That's...I never thought I would ever see something like that. I thought Rönn was all that was out there. But trolls are real, and the Stone Mother is real...this is amazing."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"You didn't think Rönn was out there two weeks ago," Ky pointed out. They were to the fourth-floor landing now and she didn't know what to do. Should she leave Gaius here for a minute and go drag Emery out of his bed so Gaius could order him to go get Rönn? Something told her that he'd be less than willing to obey orders like this, with how terrified he'd been of Rönn even from behind the safety of the wall. And now Gaius wanted him to go out and meet him face to face by himself? He wasn't going to be happy about that at all.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"No. But thanks to you I know it. And you told me about the troll as well." He glanced at her. Maybe it was her. Maybe she had woken something up. There was a commotion behind them as a door on the fifth floor flew open, then there was the sound of feet running down the hall. Gaius paused, turning.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(lmao Gaius: look, i'm not saying it's your fault, i'm just saying coincidentally-- xD)
Ky flinched, looking up the stairs fearfully, subconscious almost expecting the troll to be coming to squish them both.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Whoever it was knocked on a door a ways down the hallway.
(That'll be Pratik's door.)
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Pratik's eyes snapped open in an instant and he bolted upright in bed. He blinked once... twice... orienting himself. It was dark in the room -- of course it was, he'd been sleeping. But his eyes were adjusted to it and the very dull glow of the embers of his fire confirmed to him that the room was empty. Which meant that he was safe. He took a deep breath and stood up, striding towards the door as he glanced out the window. It was still dark. What could possibly be worth waking him up in the middle of the night for? Surely if someone needed killed, one of Gaius's guards could do it. Or maybe not. He cracked his back and pulled the door open.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Ada was standing there in her nightdress, eyes wide. "I need to talk to you or Ash, right now. Right now. Something is terribly wrong."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Pratik furrowed his brow, concerned. "What happened?"
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"I had a dream. It was different..." She rubbed at her head. "It was very different. Wrong."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Pratik took a deep breath, deciding to focus on calming his energy so that he could help ground her. His voice was gentle when he asked, "What about?"
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Sixteen stones, tall and wide in the middle of a pine forest." She looked around for a chair, then sank into the nearest one. "They had...animals, symbols on each one. And the stones spoke to me. They told me to leave them alone, that I was seeing things I shouldn't be seeing. My head hurt....it still hurts....when they spoke, they were so loud, like they were inside my ears. And the ground began to rumble and they started chanting in Nortung, I think. I'm not sure what they were saying but my ears were bleeding when I woke up and my eyes were all wet..." She took a deep breath. "Whatever this is, it's different from my other dreams."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Pratik shut the door behind them and walked to the fire, contemplating this in silence as he lit a lamp and then another, casting a small ring of light for them to sit in. “Were the stones a collective being, or just a cluster?”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"They were all in a circle. Standing stones." She clasped her arms around herself. "Each with a symbol, like I said. Northern-styled stone carving."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Could you reproduce the symbols?” Pratik suggested. “Maybe there are books about them in the library.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
