Rituals

Sakiran told Jaxon that she wanted to talk to him and he invited her to go ahead. She wished to apologise to Jaxon for misjudging him, saying that she knows how it feels. Jaxon looked at her but offered no response, not knowing what to say, and Sakiran continued reading her book nervously.

Flea saw Carlos, the man who had tried to cheat him, on a noose - he had been strung up for being a thief. Flea found this amusing. A villager explained that he had been caught stealing and strung up. He went over to Gregor, who was sipping straight from a bottle of vodka and was very merry. Gregor greeted him warmly. Flea responded positively too, and Gregor poured him a drink. Flea said he wasn't one for drink, and asked him to fix his truck. Gregor agreed and Flea handed him some more alcohol. Gregor sent some of his workers to fix the APC.

Sakiran told Jaxon that she needed to venture out and asked if he would come with her. When she received no response, she asked if he was going to or not, or if he would continue to stare at her. He said he would come and they ventured into the village while the men fixed their vehicle. Sakiran asked if he knew what painting supplies are. He did and agreed to help her. Jaxon looked around and saw Eloweon, who he thought may look like an artist. He asked for his attention and where they could find paints and canvasses. He was tinkering with a humanoid looking machine and was shocked by it. He asked what kind of paint they would like and produced a box of the cheapest. He poked gentle fun at her for getting beat up by Keratan and she grimaced, though acknowledged it was true and amusing. She excused herself to experiment with the paint. Jaxon and Eloweon exchanged their own goodbyes.

Flea was in the food market, amazed by the lovely smell and merchants calling out their wares. He tried to barter with the nearest meat vendor. A woman, the armour-smith Alice, insisted she was first and Flea tried to put her to sleep, but it didn't work on her. However, her children pass out. Alice purchased her meat and elbowed past Flea. He asked for ten days' worth of meat and if the butcher had kept animal blood. The halfling butcher answered that they may have some, but it would take a while to drain it. He asked for a barrel of blood. She offered half a barrel in exchange for a barrel of alcohol. Flea agreed and gave them the one that had already been opened.

After ten minutes of draining a carcass into a barrel, he had the blood. Jaxon saw him with a trolley of meat and blood. He called to him and asked what he's doing. Flea greeted him as el diablo, and told him that he had blood for him. Jaxon thanked him hesitantly. He understood the sentiment and tasted the blood. It was disgusting, but he could keep it down. He thanked him with some hesitation and told him not to do it in the middle of the street anymore.

Carl finally woke up, bleary eyed, with hammering and tools going on outside the APC. Carl saw the workers welding on more metal. Carl told them that they are rude and he was trying to sleep. They tell him it's like a clown car in there and don't want to talk to him. Carl went in a huff to the same place where he awakened the bad voice again in order to sleep with silence.

Sakiran thought about what she should paint and the book advised her to paint what she feels. She tuned into her feelings and was overcome by sadness, so decides to paint in broad strokes and with blues and reds to represent the rage. It turned into a muddy, purple mess on the leather. She took her dagger out and slashed it in frustration, still feeling unsettled and wondering what she had done wrong.

Jaxon and Flea were still in the middle of the road. They saw a figure in a black cloak being escorted by two men in armour. They nodded at them and asked them to move out of the way. They stepped aside and the guards thank them. Flea flicked some blood at Jaxon as he questioned why he did that. Flea said he owns it and can do what he likes. They both made their way back to the APC.

They saw someone with heavy, laboured footsteps approach, as Gregor came to them and asked if the workers were done. They confirm that they were and Flea asked Carnell if they stole anything. He confirmed that they did not.

Jaxon told Sakiran that he appreciated what she said before and he's sorry that he didn't respond when she said earlier. She smiled at him and said it was strange that they were able to make up without fighting with their fists to clear the air. He nodded and she carried on knitting her new outfit. They retired for the night.

The party struggled to sleep but did manage to. Carl had disturbing dreams of what happened while he was under the influence of the no-no voice. Carl was still in the top of the Titan. He asked if he can talk to the bad voice. He covered his ears when he heard things other than "bad voice" and says he's sure the bad voice can see him. He was met with silence. Carl heard a voice back that says "one". He questioned if he was "two". He then heard the word "wrath" and questioned if he is angry. Silence. Carl asks why. "diligence."

Carl said if he wanted to take control again then he should ask first. Silence. Carl fired a banishing arrow at his foot to try and meet the being. He was ripped from reality and saw tendrils lashing up at him and he came to a complete halt. Carl heard "weakness" in a rattling voice. "Stupidity". His nose started to bleed. A tendril grasped around and brought him closer towards a maw as he was taken inside of it. He saw that his arm has been taken away and pulled apart. He felt as if his body has been displaced with an overwhelming pressure in his head. "Unworthy". It spun and smashed his body together and threw him back out of the dimension. He impacted with a lot of force into the wall of the Titan. It felt like a deep pain within. Carl tried it again, firing at his foot and demanding an answer. "Insignificant". Carl asked what it was. "One". Carl said he is trying to scare him. "Insignificant." It pulled him apart. He felt actual pain as it pulled on his arm. He felt incredible pain as he was pulled outwards. Carl had annoyed the being and it was exacting its revenge.

Carl was being ripped apart, though still conscious. The voice was getting louder and louder, "question not. Obey." Carl questioned why. "Obey." The being started crushing him. "One is phage. One commands. One is you." Carl asked what he wants him to do. "Obey phage, One." Carl expressed frustration as he realised he can no longer speak. The being says "you obey." It threw him out again and he was covered in a sticky substance. He hit the ground with force. Carl insulted the being in a puerile manner. Carl offered to jump off the titan. Silence. He swore at the being again and climbs down to search for his friends.

The rest of the party woke up. Sakiran had suffered from nightmares and flipped the dagger over and over in her hand. She said she won't be joining the party in searching since she needs time to herself. Jaxon tried to find Carl again, noticing that he had not yet returned. Flea went with him to try and formulate a gift. As they went out, Flea felt a halfling attempt to pickpocket him. He cast sleep as he grabbed him by the scruff and said "night night, gringo". He then had a look through his pockets. He found seashells, a single Gratus rand, a bullet casing with a small stone stuck inside and a piece of red ribbon. He takes the things, kicked him and walked off.

Flea sees Gregor arguing with a Gratus official and he was still a little bit drunk. He was arguing about something being sold to him and he didn't know where he got it. Flea wandered over to him. The official was very well dressed. He said the armour is only produced in one area - someone has either stolen from us or killed one of troopers. He was pointing at heavy armour that Carl had traded to him. Flea interrupted and said he knew where it's from. He said a friend of his worked at the Gratus and he was a traitor. He saw him sell the armour and last he saw he was headed to the slavers' camp but he doesn't know where he went.

The official believed him and gave him 5 rands. He asked for his name. Flea gave him the name Markus. The official told Gregor that he can keep it but to get rid of the iconography and to keep it hidden. They walked off and Flea said he saved Gregor, so perhaps he could have more help. He thanked him and asked what he wanted. Flea asks if he can make a turret on the APC. Gregor told him to trace it, handing him a knife and parchment, but he wouldn't do anything else for free. Flea took it back to the APC.

As Jaxon was wandering in the market, he started to smell something like incense, though slightly off. It stung his nose slightly. It was coming from an area within the titan, so he went to investigate. As he went in, he saw something curtained off and it looked like someone's home - occult charms, something cooking in a cauldron and a figure hunched over with a mask and hood. He turns to him and as he traces in the air, Jaxon's name appears, then the shaman wipes his hand and it is clear. Jaxon isn't sure what to say and sits down when invited. The shaman dipped a cup into his cauldron and offered Jaxon a drink. He noted that Jaxon was afflicted. Jaxon asks how he knows and questions who he is.

The shaman looked down, saying he has long abandoned his identity and he is a vessel for Estel, now. His mask went down, revealing sunken, silvery cataract eyes. He said he can see a lot, especially within Jaxon. Jaxon asked what he saw. The shaman threw some bones. "First, anger, pride." He scattered them towards Jaxon as they floated and travelled around him. Jaxon said he didn't understand. He offered to read his bones. Jaxon let him and he ran his hand across his face bones. He saw his bloodline was tainted with cruelty and ambition and asked if Jaxon will be the same. Jaxon said he tried not to be. The shaman cups his hands together, then brings out a mortar and pestle and made a brew. He promised power and greatness, though Jaxon may not survive. Jaxon agreed to drink it. He said to drink from it, and be transformed. As he drank, it burned his insides. He started losing his grip on reality.

Jaxon envisioned himself walking through a shifting desert as he is completely parched. He came to the front of a manor and recognised it as his childhood home. As he walked through, he opened a door and saw a corridor on fire. He hesitantly walked in. As he went through the burning corridor, he saw the main hall of his childhood estate.

His father was fighting the orcs as they grabbed the mother and two sisters. He was trying to charge them. As Jaxon stepped forward, he saw the frame shift to his father with broken legs and deeply wounded as the orcs pulled his mother and two sisters away into a transport. As he took another step, it shifted to his father's office again. He addressed Jaxon, with his old face and harsh eyes. He asks, "what do you want, boy?" Jaxon stayed silent. His father tuts and asks why he had to get a son like him.

His father turned his chair and looked out the window. "My own boy, an orc sympathiser." Jaxon says he misses them too, you know. He wished it hadn't happened. His father said "if you really meant that, you wouldn't see the orcs that way. Little more than beasts. Do you know what they do?" Jaxon admitted he doesn't as he looks down. His father said Jaxon did know but didn't want to admit it. He called him a failure and told him to get out. Jaxon didn't move. His father said he told him to leave and asked why he was still there. He told Jaxon to waste his life cavorting with orcs, while he held the pieces of their family together. Jaxon again refused to leave, looking him in the eye. He turned again, asking why he wouldn't leave. He said this was our legacy, our family, where they implant neural nails into the orcs. Jaxon says this is his father's legacy, not his.

The image shatters as he came back to reality. The shaman congratulated him. He said he thinks Jaxon knows how to use this now, as he hands him a long golden rapier - the very same his father used to try and hold off the orcs. He said his friend is upstairs and he'll need to watch that one. Carefully. Jaxon turned to leave and the shaman had left. The curtain that was there dropped to the floor.

Flea came back to the APC to find Sakiran's arms bandaged as she flipped the dagger over and over in her hands. Flea asked if she is injured and she nods vacantly as if she is far away. He casts healing word on her and she thanks him, still flipping the dagger restlessly. Flea hears the Gratus who had followed him on the way back. They saw the official again. He addressed the party. Flea said he is available to talk. The official noted that it was funny that Gratus arms and armour appeared when they pulled up in an APC owned by them. Flea cast Charm Person but it failed. The official sighed and said he knew who Flea works for. Flea feigned innocence. They allowed the official into the APC and he pulled out the GPS tracker hidden within it.

He said they were tracking them the entire time. Because of them, they have an entire town missing and dead. He said to tell Nyra, who was in Bastion, that she needs to be careful. Gratus Intelligence knows who they are now. Flea asked how he was going to get away with it if they knew he'd spoken to them. He says he will ask to transfer to Bastion as they "assaulted" him and the sergeant was incapacitated, and the experience traumatised him. He said they have friends within the Gratus. He introduced himself as Indres. He said he will probably be around and turned to leave, telling the party to be careful.

Carl had just been thrown back into reality and Jaxon was calling to him. Carl called back to him. They met each other and Jaxon saw him covered in goop and in the foetal position. Carl admitted he did a no-no. Jaxon was shaken up himself but listened anyway. Carl admitted that he sent himself away twice with his no-no arrow. Jaxon asked why and Carl said he saw everything that went on the bad place and he couldn't do anything. He said it was too late and the no-no voice did some very bad things.

Jaxon put his hand on his shoulder and said something had spoken to him while he was banished. Carl was in tears as he admitted he didn't know what to do. Jaxon said he wished he could help. Carl said he doesn't want to send anyone there, but if he has to, he will. He said every time it asked for his name, it kept saying different things that didn't make any sense and he didn't know what it is. He said he wanted to see his family and they needed to go to Bastion. He then asked where Lock was. Jaxon said he was missing and Carl was upset that he didn't teach him things. He said he will try to learn how to read.

Carl and Jaxon both climbed down the titan, and Jaxon saw there was no sign of the shaman. Flea and Sakiran both bumped into Carl and Jaxon, who both looked fairly haunted and Carl's clothes are wet. Sakiran walked off as Carl was trying to tell a story, and he calls her rude. Jaxon told him to let her be. The men all decided to go to the bathhouse.

Flea summoned a fey spirit to hold a towel up for him. It clawed itself out of a tear in reality. It was a deformed creature about the height of a goblin, and it greeted him. Flea bent down to it and tried to re-position its jaw. It asked him to please stop. Mending didn't work. He had summoned the joyful being to guard his things as he bathes. The being grabbed his sheets and gave Flea some privacy within the bathhouse. Carl waved to the fey spirit that introduced itself as Pog.

Sakiran met with Eloweon and he didn't notice her at first. She asked for a new blade from him, closer to home. She took the most rusted one and offers labour rather than goods. He asked if she could work on the machine, though she didn't know where to begin. He told her to bring him the next Altarnie artefact that she finds. She agrees as she took the blade and made her way to the bathhouse. They relaxed and bathed together.

Carl asked if they did good things. Sakiran asked what he meant. Carl asked what they did in the city. Flea said they did some good and some bad. Then he said he found the APC and saved all those people, but the Gratus were shooting at people that were just trying to run away and they shot them. As he said this, he motioned towards Sakiran's head and shouted bang as she jumped and recoiled away from him. He recalled the being that was him was in combat and he was scared of dying. He wanted the party to stop him from going away again. The party remained silent as they looked away from him, tired and weary after the events. He got up and walked away, displeased with their silence.