Time
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Post by Time on Sept 11, 2023 16:49:46 GMT
Roman pondered, before quickly shaking his shaking his head negatively. "No, it wouldn't be right of me to do so. I could exploit my position as "him" but that would make me no more different than the bulls in their intentions. I won't force people to do things they are fully against.". Roman stated, looking at the storyteller.
Letting it finish, Roman realized that King was more revered than anything else. To them, he was basically a hero, guardian deity, or even simply a savoir. Their SuperGuy in a sense. There was something of a sense of nobleness to the ritual that this storyteller stated it would take. Maybe a bit over the top, zealous, and medieval, but what cult or religion wasn't in times before technology made leaps and bounds?
That said, Roman sighed a bit, his face skewed as he looked at his assistant. "Thank you for telling me your Kin's story. It's reassuring to hear something like that. That said.... Simply think of your work with me as preparation. I know I can not compare to what you will need to do as King's Aide, but I hope this partnership can help us both."
Roman held out his hand for a moment, but realized that perhaps thr Stone Kin did not do handshakes. Awkwardly he withdrew his hand, "Sorry, it's a Sun Kin Gesture. It's a physical gesture, usually to establish a greeting, agreement, or trust. Depends on what is being said..."
With that said, most of the stuff had been moved by now, "Let the others know that this is enough, and to rest and relax for a bit." . He stated, letting the storyteller speak before Roman asked yet another thing, "As much as I do not mind being called Him, or calling others by he or you.... I will need something to call you by. Do you care if I address you as Secretary, or is there another such title you hold?"
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Post by swapgo on Sept 12, 2023 0:51:17 GMT
The aide nodded along, although he wasn't looking at Roman, and instead was frantically ruffling through the book, to try and piece everything together. ROMAN would, in fact, not be given time to retrieve his hand, and the stonekin returned the handshake, quite vigorously, actually, and without even turning his sight away from the page. He gripped Roman's two bottom fingers, and more or less yanked him up and down, a rough quality of smooth stone, apparently he was familiar with the gesture, but not with the whole idea of politeness and looking at the person who is speaking to you. "Got it, I think", he barked, apparently having pieced together every complex word Roman threw at him at once.
"I don't have a call, no Stone Kin does, not even him", he said, at the very least understanding the concept of names. "Why is your call? Are you from Roman Colony?", he asked not what was his name, but why.
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Time
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Post by Time on Sept 14, 2023 4:40:45 GMT
Roman's face was a mix of astonishment and amazement as he watched how quickly the little one scanned through the entire dictionary at a rapid rate. He realized that he was still using very complex language and ideas as the Stonekin spoke asking about calls.
"Right... I forgot King mentioned that. No, Roman is not my colony. Dimitri is my colony...... Was my colony. I am the only one left.". Roman stated as he looked up at the moss. It was the closest thing he could get to looking at stars. "I am called Roman by other Sun Kin. Just as King is called King by your kin. For sun kin, a name is important. It addresses one specific person....." , Roman said, as he waited for the little one to scan through the book once more.
When he finished, Roman spoke again, "It avoids confusion for us Sun Kin. Names and Calls are personal to us. They identify us as One in Many. I am Roman. It was name given by other Him. Other him was one who.... Dug me out in a sense.". Roman didn't know why he was bothering to tell this creature about his personal life. Shaking his head, Roman pointed at the greener creature, "Old him. Did he have word for you? If not, do you care if I give a name? That way if you hear it, you know I need you?"
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Post by swapgo on Sept 14, 2023 13:09:17 GMT
"King not called King by Stone Kin, but by all of realm", the critter clarified, "Assailants cower before this call, so we say King, and King accepted. Your word book says it means 'a male ruler of a state, by birthright', don't know how big a 'state' is, but it must be bigger than realm", he concluded. King's name remained a mystery, but his title seemed to still linger above the yet unexplored realm.
"Complex. Words are not ours. We took from realm, from King, from Sun Kin", it continued to clarify as he riffled through his book simultaneously. "But realm and King and Sun Kin hear bad, so you can't call him from him or him or him or him, also", he started pointing haphazardly, Dmitri could almost make out a difference in enunciation each time, but it wasn't something that a human could perceive as more as a mild desire to not repeat oneself so mechanically. "Not met Him, cloistered with books. I hear he chanted and all were called, 'exkyuzme', did not hear", he said, apparently his father got the collective Stone Kin's attentions by asking politely.
"But you want to beckon me, not all Kin of Stone. I will commit call to brain as I commit words from book"
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Time
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Post by Time on Oct 8, 2023 15:13:59 GMT
Roman nodded at the correction. Still, listening to the creature, Chase could barely hear any difference at all, and he felt a bit irritated that he couldn't. "Excuse me. It's a word that has several meanings based on.... the situation." Roman had to try and use less complex words, but he was quickly realizing why language teachers always looked exasperated. Still, the creature continued to astound him as the stone kin spoke up. "Okay..... Uh.... I've never been good with names, so if you don't like it, just tell me so. How's about......" Roman looked at the stonekin and then around trying to find something that could work. Sure, he couldn't exactly name the guy after a store or item. And calling him translator or librarian wasn't a good idea either, especially if there were others who also did the same, or who would eventually do the same. He considered using the names of a gemstone, like Emerald or something, but that could also be offensive.
Maybe...... He looked at the book the stone kin was holding.... as well as a thought of old humans. "Franklin." He said, before nodding. He could imagine this creature wearing bifocals and it made him smile. "Your Beckon name is Franklin. Does that sound good?" With that said, Roman stood up. "Alright then.... Since most of the stuff has been moved.... Why don't you show me around this mountain? That way I can walk around without getting hopelessly lost." Taking a moment, he considered going to pick up a glowstick, only to realize that they had taken them to the front. "Oh... Could you get one of the others to fetch me a glowstick, or perhaps some of that moss up there if that's easier? I'm certain I can fashion a lantern of some kind while you do that." Roman stated, quickly going by one of the furniture shops. They had wall scones, and while it wasn't a perfect thing to hold, it could work well enough to hold a patch of glowing moss and not blind every resident of the cavern, unless Franklin expressed otherwise. In which case, he'd simply leave it be and follow his guide.
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Post by swapgo on Oct 9, 2023 0:15:00 GMT
"Frankiln, I will appear at this call", the critter proudly proclaimed.
Franklin's response to Roman's directions was to scour through the pages quite expediently, he seemed flummoxed for once. "What do costuming contrivances have to do with light sources?", he asked for clarification, synonyms would be the death of Dimitri, wouldn't they. "You want bright plant?", he confirmed the meaning of moss in his dictionary, at the very least he followed along that much, "Craft is no longer a tradition of ours. Is it yours?", Franklin asked. He spoke earlier of how they carved monuments of King, both as reverence and deterrence, it was likely that that changed with King's acceptance of their subservience. He, however, did as he could and gave some shouting orders, beckoning a couple of working stone kin to approach with their grips full of freshly unearthed bright plant slurry, it felt sticky to the touch, yet the gravel made it feel much more maleable than at first blush.
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Time
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Post by Time on Oct 11, 2023 22:29:41 GMT
Roman actually caught himself wondering what Franklin was talking about. He had absolutely no fucking clue what "costuming contrivances" meant. He debated and thought about the word, but the best he could assume was that his choice of word "fashion" had been taken literally based on Costuming. The clarification of crafting made a bit more sense, as he took the sticky and strange plan and placed it into the scone. Sure enough, a wide dull glow filtered through, not nearly as bright as the moss by itself, but enough that he could clearly navigate without tripping on something. "No.... Maybe? Sun Kin are known to make many things, but not all can make the same thing. I am more of the one who exchanges one crafted object for another. A Merchant."
Merchant would likely be a well enough word to use, though perhaps even then that may cause Franklin to scour the book several times. "Thank you", Roman said to the two assistants who brought the moss. "Now wipe that stuff off. I know it hurts your eyes a bit."
Turning towards Franklin, Roman breathed in, and out to ready himself for a world he was alien to. "Right . Franklin, would you please show me the home of the Stone Kins?"
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Post by swapgo on Oct 15, 2023 22:15:28 GMT
Franklin and his aides observed the process with interest, gawking with a certain level of boorish disbelief, it's not like Roman did something very complicated, sounding more like a "how did we not think of that" double take. "No, cold bright, no burns", Franklin corrected him, the dull light did not hinder the stone kin at all, surely they would've stamped it out if it did. "Peak is colossal, you would collapse", Franklin stated, "But contains curiosities it does! Follow, Roman!", he shut down his book and lead the way into the tunnels.
Now that he could actually see further than his footsteps, Roman could actually see the Stone Kin behave. The atmosphere had a certain haste behind it, Stonekin toiling at the walls or whizzing past each other. There was no discernible goal to their momentum, or even a discernible authority, in fact, in the midst of what was indiscutably toil, he could notice one of them flat out running in circles, and two more sitting still in disbelief. The glint of magic could be seen here and there. The glint of sapphire was visible from afar as one of them hoisted another unnaturally upwards to retrieve some of the salty fruit from the ceiling, an opal colored critter was staring at the wall, its eyes glinting in pure white, muttering something while his cohorts took notes. The quarters were carved onto the walls, small holes on which they crawled into and rested peacefully. Roman might catch a Stone Kin yawning and crawling out from one of them, just for another to wearily climb in and take its place. Franklin was quite dilligent at making sure Roman didn't stray too much on these little moments.
The sound of running water was fast approaching, and a left turn later, Roman could see it illuminating the scenery, a waterfall, or rather, a spring that leaked from the ceiling into an underground lake of sorts. Most importantly, it was bright, glowing in a dazzling spectacle of colors that engulfed the area around it. In doing so, it illuminated how crowded it was with bathing Stonekin, their chittering language overcrowding the gentle running water. "Well!", Franklin piped up, motioning towards the makeshift pool, was he probing for a question, or was he describing an underground water source. "Peak has plenty, water of birth, of life. King wanted you to assess this", he added, though why would King specify such a thing?
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Time
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Post by Time on Oct 16, 2023 22:54:10 GMT
Roman noticed the dumbstruck looks on their faces as they looked at the makeshift soft torch he had made. It wasn't outright shock, or mystic awe, but a practical kind of dumbfoundedness. Like when someone realized something that seemed like something they should have known.
Roman half breathed a single chuckle, as he nodded to Franklin and followed him. Following along, Roman would be able to see what he had heard earlier, and his imagination of a city of stone creatures toiling away like dwarves was somewhat shattered. The way they acted while looking hurried and busy, was mostly just the sheer number of strange things occurring. From floating Stone Kin to ones crawling up walls, resting, or even the pair that were running in a circle for no apparent reason and two more watching their activity with what Roman could only assume was rapture.
Shaking his head at the two circling, Roman quickly followed behind Franklin, considering he couldn't afford to wait if the peak was as large as stated. Even as he continued on, he didn't know exactly what to expect outside of maybe glittering walls with gemstones, a hall of stalagmites and stalactites; and perhaps carvings of King.... But he absolutely had not expected to be brought to a literal waterfall of what appeared to be mystical glowing water. Along with a stonekin community bath from the looks of it.
Did.... Did stone kin actually produce filth and sweat? He didn't want to know if they did or not in this cases, as Franklin broke his wandering train of thought as he explained a few things that made Roman perplexed. King wanted him to assess the water? It was also life giving? Did that mean the water was what animated the Stone Kin? Or.... No, surely it couldn't be healing water in a literal sense. Maybe the glow was from microorganisms that aided healing. He was certain he heard about that in some health article or new feed on his phone's internet.
Looking at it, Roman didn't touch it, rather he took his time to crouch down a meter away from the edge, and watch what the Stone Kin were doing, and hopefully see something that could explain things. The first was to watch what happened when the Stone Kin were resting in it. Was this a blend of "hatchery" and spring? He wanted to place a hand into the water, but chemistry classes told him the basic safety rules.... Though on second thought, perhaps touching glowing sticky moss was also violating that rule....
Wait.... Did that mean....
Taking his hunch that the glow from the moss was a possible source of this, he tenderly dipped a single digit into the liquid.
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Post by swapgo on Oct 20, 2023 16:52:12 GMT
Franklin was interested in watching Roman, though he remained at a distance, perhaps understanding that books do not enjoy water. This 'water' had it had the consistency of water, or at least similar enough to not notice the difference. It wasn't as transparent, however, making it harder to judge how deep this pool was. The water itself wasn't the source of light, and should he look at his feet, he could see it; hundreds of small, pebble sized gemstones, flickering with light when they made contact with the water. The bottom of the pool was fiercely illuminated with all colors of the spectrum, a lightshow that did not seem to hinder the lounging Stone Kin that barked and chittered at each other as if this were an ordinary vacation home.
One of them surfaced from the water and exited the premises next to Roman, threatening to soak his sneakers as he did. His soaked steps left a spattering of rubies in his wake.
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Time
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Post by Time on Oct 28, 2023 0:00:34 GMT
Roman considered that for the most part it didn't seem all too special. If it wasn't water, it at least seemed similar enough to it that he suffered no ill consequence for touching it. Looking more closely he realized that it wasn't the water that was glowing, but the stones at the bottom. Hundreds of them, like crystalline gravel in a sense, except they flickered.
Instantly, a scene appeared in Roman's head, of animal documentaries of fish guarding fish eggs, the young being visible from outside twitching in their development. Had that been what Franklin meant by life giving waters? If so, then that meant these waters could be a spawning ground.....
Or maybe he was making assumptions. Seeing the Stone Kin exit with a splash of rubies behind him, Roman guessed that perhaps the if the water did give life, it was more akin to like how a battery could be recharged with electricity. Still, no shock or anything, so that was out of the question. Taking his finger out of the water he scratched his head. Perhaps he was trying too hard to add reason and scientific logic to what could essentially be magic. If so, then this was all pointless for him to try and figure out himself.
"Alright, so aside from the glowing stones, what's so special about this place? I didn't think hygiene..... I mean cleanliness would mean much to Stone Kin, so what exactly is the purpose of this?". Perhaps he was trying to find something out of what was essentially nothing. Besides, unless this water could turn lead to gold, he doubted he could even consider selling such water.
Hell, even if it did have a special property like healing wounds, the World Health Organization and US FFA would likely try to test it, if not acquire it. Greed was a powerful force in the capitalistic world he came from. He knew that you could buy anything with money if you applied it to the right resources or services.... Even illegal ones.
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Post by swapgo on Oct 28, 2023 1:54:47 GMT
Frankling visibly leaned in to listen before rustling through his dictionary, still hydrophobically far away. "It is comfort!", he yelled. "Water aleviates, we come bathe when battered or bored, or when backs burden us with stone", it was a bath, apparently, though why would a creature made of stone be burdened with stone. "We are Stone-Kin, but we are all born with memories of water. We know this is our birth, but not why, not ask why. Just know". He added, there being some sort of ceremonial aspect to using this spring. There was clearly some unnatural aspect to this water, after all, they were in a Peak, how did a spring flourish with so much water at the top of a mountain? However, Franklin also described unburying his brethren, not necessarily scooping them from underwater, something that he would see none of these critters were doing, none of them was acting as if this was something to be fiercely defended or overseen.
Something settled in the water in Roman's hands, specks of emerald that shone brightly despite their size, they were not unalike those that his new assistant had across their hide.
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Time
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Post by Time on Oct 28, 2023 15:49:41 GMT
Roman would have jumped at the sudden yelling if he was not now use to the volume and noise around him. Still, hearing it, these waters were sounding more like hot springs than a river to take a bath in. What's more Roman considered the temperature of the water, and realized something. It wasn't cold. Water from mountains, especially their peaks were generally cold because they consisted of melted snow.... Yet this water wasn't the least bit chilly.
Listening, and thinking, Roman felt something settle in his hand that was submerged in water. Emerald looking stones? Why.....? Sudden realization struck Roman, as he looked upstream. He had an idea on why the river was full of stones now. He just needed to confirm it, as he took the emerald pebbles in his hands and moved upstream, hoping to see if a theory was at least relatively correct.
What if these weren't just stones. Stone Kin looked like lizards in a sense, so what if they did some of the same things as lizards in his own world?
What if they shed?
Or maybe what if these were fragments of the gemstones that birthed these creatures? Squeezing the pebbles in his hand tightly, Roman suddenly realized that he might have settled upon a possible way to make a profit while not harming the Stone Kin!
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Post by swapgo on Oct 29, 2023 2:23:14 GMT
Going upstream and looking at the source wasn't possible, the water fell from within a crevace high in the tunnels, however, it also didn't stop flowing, yet the pool remained level, which suggested the water must be flowing downwards further into the Peak.
Regardless, the discovery was palpable, dizzying, or at least it must have been, for his vision erred for a moment. Flashes of uncertainty, for a split second, the amount of Stone Kin was uncountable, for another, the stream seemed to have diverted, he would see a flash of pure darkness, a flash of obsidian, a flash of alien creatures, a snippet of a song, a deafening pop of light. Hopefully, he was mindful of his surroundings, stone might not be as slippery, but they were still wet.
"Are you alright, Roman?!", Franklin yelled with apparent concern. Should he still hold tight to the gems in his hand, he could catch a glimpse of their luster before they shone only with gentle humility.
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Post by Time on Oct 30, 2023 3:19:13 GMT
Seeing how everything worked, Roman realized that while he couldn't find the source effectively, the fact that the river had not overflown meant he could likely travel further down..... Only for him to suddenly become dizzy... or.... something? Looking around, or rather spinning from the sensation; Roman would see.... something.... Nothing made sense as he tried to understand what was happening. double the stone kin... No, uncountable amounts..... alien creatures he'd never seen before, light, obsidian, and..... He came back to his senses looking at the cavern ceiling, hearing Franklin calling for him to ask if he was alright.
He..... He wasn't sure.... What had happened?! Sitting up suddenly, his head ached, testing the tender spot. He had been lucky he hadn't cracked his skull, as he made sure he wasn't bleeding. Looking at his hand to confirm it, he realized he had been holding tight onto the gems in his hand; only catching the glimpse of their luster, before they seemed to dim back to their former light.
Roman's thoughts raced..... He tried to recall what he had seen....... Were.... Looking at the gems, Roman remembered their color... a brilliant emerald... just like....
Looking at Franklin, still in a bit of a daze, Roman nodded. "I'm alright I think...... Franklin.... what is your Gift?" Roman asked. "What does it allow you to do?" Realizing it, Roman hadn't actually known or seen what his glowing had done when he did use it back in the mock mall.
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