Somewhere... Else?
20 Solmes, 333
Fate
Stu furrows his brow. "What do you mean by 'ate the warmth' and 'find their warmth'?"
Daina
Daina frowns as she offers what she hopes is a simple enough explination for the moment. "You know the .. warmth that's in everything . Only... it's not quite like that here.. it's all empty, the warm is gone. S'why it's so.. stagnant I think" She suggests looking to the others to confirm, deny or add to her posed idea.
Aaren
Aaren returns her voices to singing the world, full-force. Looking for answers, and for the ways the songs are changing in this new place. It's like being back in the Tzar-bog's palace, in the big echo chamber.
Aaren stumbles, and then sings that memory loose and lets her sorrow flow away. Just for the moment. There'd be time for that later, really...
After a moment, she spares a voice to answer Stu. "It's not near anyone, no. It's that way." Aaren points at the far wall.
(Singing-Notice to understand how the songs are different here: 11)
Aaren turns a voice to Daina. "I don't think putting warmth in a searching song will work here." She frowns in thought at Daina explination. "I would agree that's plausible. It sounds like peices of song are just vanishing, as if the song-scape is being bit through and then vomited back up. I'd belive that the effect is caused by the same thing—sucking warmth out or whatever."
Slavina
Slavina shrugs in response to Daina's look. Could be. She wouldn't know. "We're only sort of Somewhere Else. Not fully. Everything behaves oddly, and all the signs are missing or out of order. It's difficult to interpret." Then, abruptly changing her focus, she says, "Aaren, will you sing me a short part of my song that's unlikely to change and easy to sing?"
Fate
Stu stares a little at Daina as he tries to figure out whether he understands what she's saying. Then his attention is drawn to Aaren, to the spot where Aaren points, and then back to her. "Alright. We can worry about that thing later, then."
"So... what do we do?" Kelly asks.
Stu looks to him and says, "Let's wait on more intel," he gives Slavina a good-luck sort of look, "and then I'll lay out the plan."
Aaren
Aaren sings the world for a moment longer, thinking again, then turns a voice on Slavina. "Sure! This is the song of your mother's propensity toward five extra teeth, hidden in one of your broken eggs. It'll be stable for about four to six minutes. Things are fluid here."
Slavina
She nods. "Thanks. When I'm ready I'll give you a signal, please start singing with that and then gradually expand it to include as much of the song of this place as you can sing."
Fate
Vievka examines Aaren, her gaze intent. "Does everything have a song?"
Aaren
Aaren sings ascent to Slavina, and prepares two voices for that. A third voice she turns to answering Vievka's question. "Everything that I have heard—run into so far." Aaren stops. "Except She-Who-Hungers." Here her hand passes over her mouth, as she swallows the name to feed the goddess. "Well. She had a song, it was just, it ate the other songs." She wrinkles her nose in unconcious imitation of Daina. "Kind of like this place, only without the random coming back and leaving."
Daina
Daina looks at all the wee tots and pauses a moment before summoning one of Aaren's hair butterflies to her. She smiles faintly and lets it rest on her hand as she moves through a series of steps. The butterfly returns to the group and picks another. The two dance around the room, the children especially. Returning to Aaren they lay a few eggs. These are bigger..and Aaren and Kelly likely notice 'louder' than usual. They hatch quickly and the almost glowing irredecnt butterflies fly off where Daina last 'felt' the creature. Beautiful lures. The parent butterfly flowers return to the children hoping to help keep their spirits up with a game. Daina smiles to Aaren "I'll make you some more if I need to once we're out of here ok?" as she summons more of the butterflies. "anything you can think of I should have them searching for especially..?" questioned as she's already moving in a sort of interpretive dance, miming sneaking at one point, searching at another, rolling and springing up as if escaping before spinning in a wide armed circle and then almost with the smooth ease of someone on ice skates she twirls and draws her arms inwards.
Fate
Vievka tilts her head, considering this.
Stu levels a look at Aaren. "You've run into She-Who-Hungers."
Truong puts a steadying hand on Stu. "You get used to it."
And then the butterflies swarm. This draws the wide eyes of Vievka and Janin, among a great deal of others. Several children gasp and laugh and chase the butterflies around. Others wonder, or flinch warily from them. There are similar reactions from the adults there, suddenly bombarded with something entirely unexpected.
"Wha—" Stu looks at Truong and spreads his hand. "You get used to that?"
Truong's mouth opens and closes as he searches for something to say.
"Takes practice," Soheila offers, her mouth a little dry.
Stu rubs a hand over his head, brow tight but eyes weary. "If they can find everyone here or any more potential... ah... complications, then great," he requests of Daina.
Aaren
Aaren smiles at the explosion of butterflies, and the partinering cacophany of song. "Agreed, Daina. Maybe send them beyond hearing range?"
Slavina
"Daina, when you have a moment I need your assistance." Slavina says. "I'd like you to prepare the powder for my gourd while I get everything else ready."
Daina
Daina looks up from her dance, though gods know it doesn't end. She flicks her eyes to the others when ever a turn or pose allows. She nods her head to Stu and then to Aaren. Once the butterflies that have swarmed now flee the room in a rush that .. leaves the room -feeling- colder even if it isn't. She runs her hand back through her tousled hair and gives Slavina a big smile "Oh sure I can do that.. wait.. do you want me to taste it or make a ya know.. recipe style mix?" pursing her lips slightly before complying with either method. A small smile on her lips as her body still seems to be dancing even when moving through apointed tasks. Hips and feet moving and swaying as her hands are steady in the fine work of making divination supplies.
Slavina
Slavina shrugs. "Make whatever you think is best. I want you to use your intuition."
Fate
Tightness strings Janin. He draws a little closer to Slavina, keeping his voice low enough for just the immediate group to hear. "Are you sure about that?"
This question also strings Stu a little tight, but he waits. This Slavina is the expert, after all.
Questions begin to swarm in Vievka, making itself evident in her slightly widened eyes, intent looks, and furrow of concentration and imagination. Questions about Aaren, questions about Daina, questions about Slavina. And then some. An easy read, all told, to those paying attention. But she remains silent.
Slavina
"Yes." Slavina says, flat. Then her tone softens as she tries to make the incredibly uncomfortable situation a little less uncomfortable. "Part of wayfinding is interpreting the influences and desires of the gods. Daina is... appropriate."
Aaren
Aaren has been put on hold. She closes her eyes and listens to the group-song, searching out how she can be helpful, her loose songs transiting to mimic her thought. Kelly's eyes flash over when he hears the familar song, and he joins in almost automatically.
(Wits-Knowledge Backstory, +2 from Kelly to discover what would be helfpul: 7)
Fate
(To Aaren)
Not springing any surprises on Stu would be helpful!
Figuring out where all the missing people are would be helpful.
Making sure no one else springs any surprises on Stu would be helpful.
Learning more about this thing would be sorta helpful.
Waiting for Stu to get all the information he needs before he lays out his plans would be helpful.
Daina
After a few moments spent standing in one place and yet moving more than anyone else in the room she smiles and starts to dance around the table top. Her fingers plucking a pinch of this one a scoop of that.. it looks like static electricity picks up a couple of particles of another the colors of the minerals and such blending and being laid out in such a way to form almost a picture.. is it an eye.. or a flower.. both? She pauses and leans down, blowing a soft breath over the ingredients and her golden eyes seem to shimmer a moment as a few particles arrange differently and then the mixture settles again. Ready for use. Straightening Daina smiles to Slavina again. "I think this is a good one" she offers as she spreads one hand towards it, stepping away to allow Slavina to gather it up for use.
Slavina
Slavina hands Daina her gourds as she starts the powder-making process, so she'll have something to put the stuff in. Then, while Daina does her thing, Slavina wades through the crowd into the center of the room.
Once there, she stands up straight, spreads her arms wide, and pitches her voice just so - in that way that floats over the clamor and nips at the ear and makes the head turn. "Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please!" She waits there as all conversations fall silent and all eyes turn to her.
In succinct, well-practiced terms, she describes what she will be doing (a wayfinding dance), why (to find the missing people), and what they should expect. As she gives this little introduction she becomes more fluid, more demonstrative, more gregarious... more like she's always been in front of an audience. Finally, she claps her hands together and grins. "Okay! Time to get started! I need the center of the room clear. Will the ladies please move to my left-" she indicates where Soheila stands, "and the gentlemen to my right?" She points them towards Janin.
"Wonderful!" She spins around a full turn, making her skirt flare up almost hip-high, and stops facing Janin's group. "Gentlemen... you have my heart. Will you make it beat? Da dum, da dum," she pairs the words with a clap-stomp, clap stomp, then waves for the men to join her. Once they've got a good beat going, she spins to face the other way.
"Ladies, you have my spirit! Now make it sing..." she gives them the melody Aaren laid out, set with easily-memorable lyrics. By the time they're all singing and clapping and stomping, the impression is no longer that of a bunch of inn patrons in a oddly-solid dreamworld - the rhythm seems to come from skin drums and korobochkas, the melody from hornpipes and gudoks. Slavina closes her eyes and drinks it in, completely still, waiting for Daina to bring her the gourds.
Aaren
Aaren does her part, as Slavina requested. Slowly joining her voices to the song of the crowd, bringing more and more complexity into the song, more and more of the world into the song.
She reserves an eddy of music for Stu. To keep him from being too surpised, because that's all she can do right now.
Daina
Diana's voice pipes up as soon as she's out of the way of the powders that might be carried on her breath. She smiles to the others and her voice rings out with the music , her dance something in tune with the ladies singing instead of the stomping of the men.
Slavina
Slavina accepts the gourds from Daina without opening her eyes. She starts spinning agian, slowly at first, with the gourds swaying like mangos in a sluggish breeze. Gradually she goes faster, until she's leaping and twisting in the air through a blur of gourds and hazy trails of glittering dust.
wayfinding plus mystery roll, 11 successes
When the gourds run empty she becomes still, standing in the exact center of an intricate pattern. Slavina holds up her hands for silence as she studies the marks.
Aaren
Aaren drops into silence at the sudden movement. For the first time all day (if it is, in fact, still day), she is quiet.
Fate
Stu waits, tense with anticipation. Sweat has sprung on his brow again. Truong's jaw is clenched, and Soheila is absolutely still, throat still open from singing.
Though silent, Vievka leans in, craning her neck, as if trying to consume the sight with her whole body rather than just her wide eyes and rounded mouth. Leaning with her is Kadir, Sharif, and Hao. Vievka grabs and steadies Hao just after she overbalances and just before she smudges the powder, all without once looking away from the scene.
Oddly enough, Kelly and Janin both seem calm. Alert, but apparently without expectation.
The silence is tight, loud, even, as everyone waits on Slavina's mystic verdict.
(To Slavina)
The rhythm pounds clear in your pulse. The singing guides your intuition, which guide your movements. Neither fit with this place, this strange Somewhere Else that's actually somewhere else. But it is strong enough for you, for what you seek. Your dancing comes smooth and true, and the powders fall into legibility. You are able to discern:
- Which groups of people are in which rooms. The way to get there will become clear upon the journey, as often is true with wayfinding.
- There is one group of people within Aaren's Thing Which Lurks. It has swallowed them, but they are alive. For now. One of them is bright and clear, like a lamplight perhaps, shining even in the Thing's belly.
- This place, this something else to Somewhere Else, is not only warped but it warps. It'd take years to warp corporeal beings, but spirits and demons would twist easily to this realm...
Slavina
Slavina looks up and to the right, looking at Stu through a torrent of curls. There's a spark of lightning in her eyes, and her voice has an edge of breathless excitement. "I know where they are."
Daina
Daina beams at this revelation and does a little fist pump. "That's what I'm talkin' about" she enthuses as she pops up onto her toes and does a spinning step towards the markings. Careful not to smudge them but trying to 'read' them at least a little. She'd learned from the Ludzi after all but she didn't exactly practice this still often.
Aaren
Realsed by Slavina's movement and the bright sound of her voice, Aaren bursts back into song.
Quiet song. She spreads calm, focus, stillness. Just a touch. Just enough to help.
Fate
Stu's pulse picks up with the music, driven forth by the enhancement of tension in the silence, its breaking, and its rebuilding. "What, all of them?"
A murmur goes up from the crowd.
And then one person asks, "Where's Abazu? Can you tell me where Abazu is?"
"Omran?" another asks.
"Marina! Where is Marina!"
"Lukas!"
"Halil and Anton!"
Stu bites back a curse, realizing he just involved a whole lot more people than he wanted.
"Let her get a word in edgewise, everyone," Truong says, his resonant voice carrying through the lobby.
Aaren
Aaren quiets the crowd.
Daina
Daina smiles all the more even though it's a disruption to the plan she's warmed by the outpouring of concern for people and their loved ones. Her cheeks holding a happy flush that almost glows in this 'dim' enviroment.
Slavina
(To Fate) How many separate groups are "indoors?"
Fate
(To Slavina) Five bigger ones, including the swallowed group; six smaller ones (like three or fewer); nine stragglers.
Slavina
Slavina holds up her hands in a semi-helpless gesture. "I'm afraid I can't tell you where they are by name. What I can tell you is that everyone who was trapped here is still alive." She spins slowly around to survey the whole crowd, tucking her hair back into position as she does so. "I need to speak with the champion, since he is coordinating the rescue. Stu?"
Fate
Stu's shoulders drop in relief. He gently works his way forward through the crowd with all the requisite excuse mes and sorrys. "Yeah?"
Slavina
Slavina speaks quietly enough that her voice won't carry farther than Stu. "The people are spread over twenty separate locations. Five locations have large groups, the rest have three or less each. I'll be able to find them all, or give directions to someone else who knows how to find things. Another wayfinder or guide, or something like that."
She looks down as Sharif glomps onto her leg, and she picks him up again with a grunt. "One of the bigger groups is inside the Thing That Lurks."
Fate
"The Thing... this is what..." He searches for a name, then settles on motioning to Aaren, "mentioned?"
Slavina
"Yes."
Fate
Stu's jaw shifts and his eyes slide to the side as he tries to glare his way through this new development.
"Okay." He straightens and looks up and around, then motions over Aaren and Daina.
Aaren
Aaren moves foward, singing the crowd away as she comes.
Daina
Daina looks up from where she'd tried to read the wayfinding can I roll to get some insight from the pattern as well or no? different perspectives and stuff? eh She turns from it reluctantly but her smile returns as she moves to the small gathering. 'What's up?"
She rubs her cheek with one finger and ponders how what she saw might fit with what Slavina saw 4 succs was it all just the same thing after all? Hmmn
Fate
(To Daina) What you see in Slavina's wayfinding powders confirms what she said about one group being inside the Thing That Lurks. But you can't find anything new about it. Maybe something pointing to the nature of this realm? But it's unclear.
Fate
"Yes. You two said you can find people?" He stops, then re-considers. "You," he looks to Aaren, "said you can hear them, and you," he looks to Daina, "said maybe you can find their warmth." Having answered his own question, he rubs his head again, the gears turning rapidly behind his eyes.
Not long after, a small group of butterflies fly back in, settling on various parts of Daina's person.
He regards them all as a whole, presenting this question to whoever can best answer. "Can you take directions from..." He pulls up short on the name, searching Slavina as if he could find it somewhere on her.
Aaren
"Slavina!" Aaren pipes in. "And I'm Aaren and this is Daina." She points the butterfly covered mini-goddess.
Daina
She smiles a little bit and looks to all the sweeties and then looks a bit saddened and concerned. She focuses for a moment on them and lets a little of her warmth radiate into them so they might feel better. "Sorry guys, hopefully we'll be out of here soon" She offers as she sends the butterflies silently towards Aaren and her beflowered hair for rest or food or something. Assuming I can remember where they said the people are?
Aaren
Aaren sings the butterflies over to settle back in to her hair, if they'd like. "Daina can take directions from Slavina. I can't, but I can find the people I can hear."
Slavina
Slavina taps a finger on her lip. "Hm. Dainya for sure. I don't think I can explain this to Aaren though. I'm also pretty confident in Jansco's abilities."
Aaren
Aaren smiles in amusement as she and Slavina answer at the same time. She points to Janine for Stu. "That's Jansco."
Daina
Daina pauses a moment and makes a gentle fluttery hand motion that draws one of the butterflies back to her. She uses her other arm to glide through the air and roll almost serpintine, the end of the motion a flick of hte fingers towards Slavina. ~Butterflower friend, can you read the dirt here, can you understand Slavina if she tells you where to find something here?~
Fate
(To Daina) The butterflowers "titter", uncertain. But they seem eager to try, to please.
Fate
"Slavina." Stu nods her way. "Aaren." Another nod, in the correct direction. "Daina." A third nod. "Jansco." He flicks a hand Janin's way. Then he takes a cleansing breath. "And then maybe this Nikoak... Nik guy. The brother." Another breath. "Okay. I've got a plan."
He begins gathering the prior group of helpfuls together.
Daina
Daina smiles faintly at the butterflower and glances to Slavina "wanna try to get these guys to lead the way a bit, I mean .. they're not -sure- they can help but they do want to try" She keeps her hand extended and the butterfly in the other hand flutters it's wings, moving in a circle around her torso and then a swirling movement around her extended arm before flitting towards Slavina and hovering politely waiting for some sign from her that she's accepting of the landing.
Slavina
"You want me to... talk... to butterflies?" Slavina thinks about this for a moment, her mouth pressed together in a not-quite-frown. But the lightning spark is still in her eye, and she's tried weirder things than talking to butterflies. "Sure. Why not! Can I rub my hands on you?"
Daina
Daina shrugs a little "Uh sure go for it.. " not quite sure why but.. meh what would it hurt?
Slavina
Slavina rubs her hands all over Daina's head until they're covered in pollen, and rubs it all over the soles of her feet too. Then, doing her best to mimic Daina's sweet butterflower dance moves, Slavina does a dance for the butterflies. As she dances, she marks the ground with pollen to indicate where to find some of the solo-people.
(I'd like to roll dance/intelligence to do this, plus my mimicry knack for imitating Daina's dance?)
Fate
Okay!
Aaren
Aaren sings the Daina's Butterflies' song, almost automatically.
Slavina
9 successes!
Fate
Slavina can, in fact, communicate with Daina's butterflowers now. Quite effectively.
Okay! I'm gonna give y'all the sum-up of the plan in a second here.
Daina
wtg Slavina :smile:
Fate
THE PLAN
- Vievka will stay in the lobby and keep spinning thread for each of the search parties.
- Janin will take a thread and tie it to the exit. (i.e., where Stu and co came from.) Then he'll return and take a butterflower guide contingent to another group of people.
- Kelly will convey people in groups of fives to the exit.
- Stu will allow six volunteers, group them in twos, each take a butterflower guide contingent and a thread.
- One of Truong or Soheila will stay in the lobby to receive people; the other will stay outside to receive people. (After a brief, harmonious back-and-forth, Soheila quickly volunteers for the former and Truong for the latter.)
- Stu will go towards the Thing Which Lurks and attempt to lock it in a particular wing of the premises so it won't eat anyone else and so they'll be able to deal with it once everyone else is out safe.
- Aaren, Daina, and Slavina will each take a thread and seek a different group of people. If any of them find Nikukas, the plan is to bring him back to Vievka and wait for Stu's return for a brief interview.
- Tug sharply twice on the thread if you require assistance, and then come back to the lobby if feasible. Vievka will tug Stu's thread (she assures him most confidently that she'll be able to keep track of which thread is whose) and he'll return to the lobby too to help or tug to indicate that he can't, at which point Vievka will tug the next person's thread. And so on.
Any objections/adjustments?
Slavina
No objections here! Thank goodness we have Vievka though!
Aaren
Nope, but Aaren is highly impressed by Vievka's ability to keep track, and will say so.
Daina
sounds good also Daina beamingly calls Vivi 'little spider'
Slavina
oh, uh, can I give some info that Slavina woul've brought up in the planning?
Fate
Yes!
And Vievka would be puzzled about all the praise, but accept it gracefully.
Slavina
Things here are unstable and the force of the place is twisting or deforming everything in it. She'd explain that things with a corporeal component are more inherently stable, so will warp less quickly. But the less corporeal something is, the more easily and severely it will be warped - she's particularly concerned about how this might change spirit-beings.
Aaren
!!! Frankie???
Does Frankie sound normal? Aaren will make sure to warn Stu beofre he comes out if anyone asks him to come out.
Fate
As far as Aaren can tell... ? She's still having trouble getting the big musical picture.
Aaren
Well, Aaren will let Daina know. Sorry, please continue.
Fate
Okay! Anything else, Loral?
Slavina
Nope, don't think so!
Fate
Is Slavina worried about any spirit being in particular? Stu would ask her if there's any immediate threat in that regard, basically.
Daina
Daina prods her tummy a bit and frowns softly. "Frankie.. you feeling ok in there buddy?"
Slavina
No, although now that they mention Frankie the thought of him being twisted is downright terrifying. Maybe Daina should ask him to wait outside with Truong?
Fate
Janin accompanies Daina to the way out, opening the closet door for her before he begins tying that one shining silvery thread to the handle.
Stepping outside is like a breath of fresh air. A breath of city-smelling air, with all the people, livestock, waste, chemicals, food-scents, and etc that entails, but it's definitely fresher than... wherever that other place is.
When summoned, Frankie slides out and sits there, flat against a nearby wall, waiting, with eyes that glow with moonlight.
Daina
Daina takes a deep breath and stretches in the sunlight. She glances over to Frankie and smiles with worry. "hello buddy, how are you feeling there? .. is that place.. bad for you?" she questions as she tries to 'eat' as much plant food as possible while she's out here. "They're worried you're gong to warp or something and I wouldn't want to risk that!"
Fate
"I will warp." It's unclear from where Frankie's voice is resounding. But it's deep, the kind of deep that grabs the guts.
Daina
Daina grimaces. "Oh well no.. we're not doing that" she mutters "Hey... how about you go visit Babushka for a little while, I'll call you when I'm outta there ok?"
Fate
"Jo." Frankie curls. His shadow separates from Daina's, and then slides into another, disappearing into nothing.
With their directions, everyone sets to work.
Traversing the twisted corridors. Opening door after door, climbing through window after window. This place is labyrinthine, seemingly endless in its warped intricacies.
And it's hungry, too. Openings yawn, inviting. Ways to "outside" occasionally appear, giving the illusion of freedom. If wayfinding instincts don't twist the stomach then the butterflowers avoid all these places with a broad berth.
The people, once found, are grateful, or frightened, or wary, or relieved, or confused. This range of emotions paints itself in varying ways over varying faces many times throughout the search. If they cannot be consoled, or persuaded, or cajoled, or calmed, all it takes is the Champion. Sometimes the mention of him, sometimes the presence of him.
Vievka does in fact keep track of the threads, and more besides. One or two incidents that require interference are deftly relayed. Once per party, she delivers the news that Stu has successfully managed to lock the Thing Which Lurks away. As each party returns, her eyes search them almost urgently for something. She begins to string tighter with each group that passes through the lobby.
The process takes a long time or a short time—long in the sense that many people pass among each of the search parties and a lot gets done; short in the sense that there's so much happening and always more to do that the time seems to pass quickly even as long as it is. The workload diminishes, and quickly too.
Finally, as Kelly conveys the last group out, Stu dismisses the other volunteers but calls togther the group of god-blessed or god-touched or god-begotten or whatever they are.
Stu, surprisingly not the worse for the wear, grows intent. "We need to do something about the people inside the Thing. I'm takin' ideas."
"Make an emetic," says Vievka, right away, like a string that held onto its last fiber too long while being pulled apart. "Get it drunk enough to pass out, go in, pull people out. Make it laugh till it pukes. Ask nicely. Get its mouth stuck open on something and pull people out with the thread." She pauses in winding the excess thread around the spindle's shaft (which never seems to wind much further than a couple layers) and holds her brother's thread up for emphasis.
"Uh... something... that... we have the supplies for," Stu amends gently, opening up the floor.
Daina
Daina gladly lends a hand, having butterflies hang out on 'bad' doors as warning then dismissing them from that duty once everyone else has been ushered out. She purses her lips softly and her head sways lightly and Aaren can likely hear her thinking song. She momentarily unpurses her lips. "I can grow something that will make it sick.. if it gets sick off normal things.." she pauses "Or .. I can grow some wolfsbane or something like that.. it can cause vomiting can cause sleep.. can kill.. all of those seem like they'd help with extraction." She bites her lower lip a bit and frowns. "I think though... to be fair and kind ... even though we don't like what this creature has done.. we still should be the kindness we want to see in the world and ask politely to give us our friends back and stop eating people?"
Slavina
Slavina listens to all of Vievka and Daina's ideas, and says to Stu, "Whatever you think is best, but I'll be most useful if we try to negotiate with it. I'm really good at getting what I want in negotiations. I'm not sure poisons will do anything to it though - it's not corporeal."
Aaren
Aaren heaves out a slightly annoyed song. "I was wondering. I've been trying to find it's friggin' heart beat for the last... well, since we got here." She brightens. "On the positive side, that means the people inside aren't being digested!"
Daina
Daina hmms "I perhaps I can make a... spirit flower for this?" she suggests.. "If asking nicely doesn't work I mean.."
Fate
Janin rubs a palm into his eye. "I'm with Slavina. It'd help to know exactly what this thing is and what it wants."
"Aside from eating people," Kelly supplies, with a slight but dark touch of light-heartedness.
Janin gives Kelly a deadpan look. "I was kinda hoping that would go without saying."
Stu nods. "Okay. Negotiate... or ask nicely... it is." He takes a deep breath. "You're the star of that show, Slavina. Which of us will be most helpful to you?"
Daina
Daina pauses a moment. "I.. um should I try to make the flower .. just in case our first plan doesn't work? "
Fate
Stu furrows his brow in thought. "Will it poison anyone else?" he asks. "I'm assuming it's going to the same place as... to the same place everything it swallows goes. Wherever that is."
Daina
"It won't if I tell it not to.. " she shrugs a little already thinking about how to do this thing.
Slavina
Slavina unwinds the gourds from her waist and rewinds them in a slightly different arrangement, and smoothes the braids of her skirt. "Aaren and Daina, of course. I don't know what you can do, but you're Lady Baker's champion so presumably you're good at this. Vievka, I'd be honored to have you." She says the last one with the assumption that Vievka will do what Vievka wants. She pauses as if she's done.
"And Janinaitas, if you don't mind." She directs the please to Janin, not to Stu. "I'm pretty sure I'll... it would be very helpful to have you along."
Aaren
Aaren chuckles at Slavina's choice to include her and Daina on the list. But she doesn't say anything, instead singing a group focus song, and of course Daina's thinking song to help her with her plant-planning. She also sings a little melody to help her butterflowers settle back in.
Fate
"Yes," says Vievka, like another snapping thread.
Stu nods.
Janin takes a breath, squares his shoulders, and says, "Alright."
Kelly's eyes flick around briefly as he thinks.
"You can wait here with me," suggests Soheila. "I'd really rather not be alone."
Kelly looks to her, then nods, once.
"Okay." Stu rolls his shoulders a little. "Let's get this..." he looks to Daina, "this flower grown just in case and then..." he looks to Slavina, "lead on, wayfinder."