4443/Exploration: Pristine Plagueway

Exploration: Pristine Plagueway
Date of Scene:	19 August 2016
Location:	Lumiere
Synopsis:	The Wall of Cruel Customs falls, explorers proceed, they meet :D on the way.
Cast of Characters:	974, Kushiko, Count Kord, 984, Athela Valemore, Inga, Staren, Priscilla, 1014

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Carna (974) has posed:
    Where once there was a wall of potentially infinite length, the very reanimated Concept of Borders infested by Unlit roaches, there is now a wide open space. Further, the pale radiance of Aetheir Cathedral, far-distanct, which has thus far only been glimpsed as a tiny sliver of something less than moonlight and yet as close as this place ever sees to the sun, now spills into this sunken section of the City Limits, on the very borders of the Urban Decay.

    A massive plain of black grass stretches forth, where Lanterns have begun to set up shop. A refugee village of sorts that has sprung up since last visitors came through here. But it is no simply refugee camp, and includes both civilian Lanterns selling scavenged equipment, weapons, and treasures, as well as junk, healing items, an an assortment of other things, to the combatant Lanterns, the Unlit Hunters, who are taking this opportunity to explore areas that have been closed to them for far too long.

    Paths begin and end from this black-grass plateau on the boundaries of the Urban Decay. Bridges and roads that snake through mid-air, sometimes supported by enormous stone pillars that rise from far below, in the misty pit that the Elites now know contains worlds of distance and ends in a hellish expanse of countless Unlit who even now try to climb up towards them, though they are not visible from here.

    Other roads and bridges are supported by metal rods and elaborate suspension systems that were clearly added after-the-fact to extend travel routes, though whether by Lit or Lanterns isn't obvious. Then there are paths that seem to just... Float there unsupported, structurally unsound from an architectural standpoint, and yet continuing to be there in defiance of common sense. This scarcely the strangest thing seen in Lumiere thus far however. The guard stations, some no more than small booths that serve as check points, or in other times elaborate mansions or whole islands floating alongside the roads, provide additional places to explore or to set up, and there are no doubt Lanterns and Orders that have claimed some of these for themselves already.

    One thing that seems to be relatively absent, however, is the Unlit. And there is almost, ALMOST a sense of hope or excitement, as Lanterns prepare to set out and explore. There's the sense that the Elites have had a real impact on Lumiere, and are making lasting changes.

    This may be tempered, however, with the knowledge that they may have a long way to go still.

    Enark is still working on toxin resistance methods for a certain project, so he is not with them this day. But Carna is, and she is sketching out what she sees in considerable detail, improving her art skills by rendering exactly what lies before her so she will not forget.

Kushiko has posed:
This place was familiar, yet unfamiliar; familiar due to /where/ but unfamiliar due now to /what/. Even without the wall, it was nice to see people at least try to set up some semblance of living and working together.

The figure that arrived here was one of contrasts: darkly rich shades of purple and orchid and black highlighted by what resembled silver edging certain lines of the Warframe that was used by the Tenno. She arrived in silence--in fact, studying some of the physics defying architecture a little directly before she landed. Carna would likely be the first to see Nova Prime delicately but assuredly moving through the broken and unbroken paths and pillars.

Sometimes she stops on the side of a pillar, using energy and some measure of skill to remain momentarily attached before pushing off, almost treating some of the terrain and structures as a faux obstacle course, a ribbon of pure synthetic woven energy trailing elegantly down from her before she ends up where Carna is.

Granted her arrival is via a leap that seemed to have turned into a glide, the Tenno channeling energy through the suit to allow it to defy physics to air glide her way down to landing firmly a few feet from the Lantern. "Too quiet," comes the Void-projected voice. "... but kind of nice."

Count Kord has posed:
    Kord is mingling.

    The Count walks from booth to booth, speaking to any Lanterns he comes across with relative confidence, making it clear that he is curious about everything they have set up. Because this sight of hopeful Lanterns, of a glimmer of excitement and light that doesn't come from the bloodied chest of another creature... It makes him happy. Genuinely happy. His Murkrow, normally a grouchy thing, has caught this infectious cheer and only makes the dullest of little squawking noises at people. People may not realize that she is on his shoulder to act as a contingency.

    Aas the Murkrow wants to make sure her Trainer is safe, and keeps an eye on all of these hungry Lanterns that might take any opening to slide a dagger into the back of a living man just to sup on his sweet life force. She recognizes everything around her as a potential predator, but they are docile predators compared to the terrible things Kord has been known to fight, and so she is not as tense as she would be.

    Eventually Kord ends up back where Carna and Kushiko are, conveniently timed to when everyone's gathering up. "This is far better than it was," he agrees. "I find myself at a loss on just what direction to pick. I may just..." He points out in the unknown direction, past the area where the Wall of Cruel Customs was planted, to the unexplored regions, and says, "Leap out there and fly until I find something worth stopping for."

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Lin's spent several hours passing down a few knacks of her arts to those who make weapons and armor, while perusing the wares. Nothing's stood out as worth going after herself, but some of the STYLES on display have given her ideas of things to try in the future...

    After browsing through the Lantern Bazaar though... events brought her traipsing over towards the others. She leans over Carna's shoulder briefly to peek at the painting, but gets out of her way just as quickly.

    All she can do is press her lips together thinly and shrug at Kord's suggestion.

    "When all you've got's a big unknown... one direction's as good as another. But uh. Not... sure... I trust some of those bridges..."

Carna (974) has posed:
    It's not so much a painting as drawing. Sketching. In her journal. She uses pens, pencils, charcoal, whatever she can find as writing material. Though lately she has gained more reliable access to the proper materials via her affiliations, the habit of scrounging and scavenging remains. She looks over her shoulder as Karal approaches, but not at Karal herself. She may be mistaken, but the smell of some of the people at the Bazaar... There are Living among the Lanterns. She wasn't able to identify which were which.

    It's a pretty busy area. And she might even be mistaken.

    But if the people who have been helping so far can simply come here, so can others from the Multiverse. And the threat level of the Urban Decay was recently reduced. It's possible that strong enough fighters or similar may have banded together to get through any lurking Unlit, or otherwise navigated their way here. Though there is still the matter of there not being any Shrine of Light in this area so far, so travel is somewhat impeded for the ground-bound among them. It's unclear what criteria are necessary for an area to have a Shrine of Light. Sometimes they show up in very strange places. Sometimes they do so at seemingly suspiciously convenient moments.

    And then other times they are left to trek back through treacherous territory because there either aren't any Shrines or they simply didn't manage to find them. Someone like Kord might have ideas about that, given his communion with a whispering force and the prophecies related to some of those present. That maybe he only finds these convenient restoration and travel devices when he is on the path he is desired to be on.

    But maybe there's some other factor they haven't considered, or simply aren't aware of yet. Carna looks out over the roads and bridges as Karal looks over her shoulder.

    "There are Unlit capable of flight, if you recall. I would approach the prospect of simply flapping one's way through with caution, and not assume safety based off of superficial appearances." That said, she snaps her journal closed after jotting down some notes about things she has noticed or was thinking about, and then tucks it away within her cloak. "But the premise of that method of exploration in and of itself is not necessarily bad. Some of us will simply not be able to join you."

    She lowers her head, some of her red hair escaping out from under her hat as she asks of her companions, "Did you notice anyone unusual while looking around? I am troubled by the possibility that there are more changes taking place than we may have thought."

Kushiko has posed:
"Can't fly myself. I mean, not sustained." Not with this frame nor this condition or so the Tenno admits. The faceless domed head cants slightly as some of the suit's optics are shifted to directionally focus elsewhere; in that moment, Karal and Kord undoubtedly feel that weird sense of being looked at by something /else/ but it passes as amicably as it could.

"Honestly, it's really deep down there. And it's more quiet than I think it has any right to be." As to the question of the structures and unusual aspects, the voice takes on a slightly contemplative tone, "Like, here's the thing... I kill. I kill a /lot/. And I'm not saying that to brag about it or anything but when you do that you get a sense for when something's out there that wants to kill you anyways."

One could imagine a slightly faraway look in the Tenno if they had eyes. Or a face presented by the frame. "I don't feel anything like that. Enough of a look around and putting my feet on it seemed stable enough. Some checkpoints but I didn't really feel like they were trying to extract from anything. There's optimism I guess. Which is weird. Most times I've been here I just feel like there's a lot I need to kill or take down."

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
"No flying here... must be nice, being able to..." Of course, maybe, if she practiced a lot more... cultivated her Essence further... did a lot more stretches... she might be able to FAKE IT. Leap long, fast, hard enough... you don't need to fly, exactly...

    It's a thing to work on, one day.

    For now she looks Kord's way with a bit of innocent envy...

    "Yeah I don't think any of us can join him. ... and unusual? The entire bazaar's unusual. Very surprised these folk have gotten their act together so fast!"

Count Kord has posed:
    "And what will they do? Kill me?"

    Kord's rhetorical question makes it quite clear that he knows the dangers that are ever-present here in Lumiere. He seems to be in a good mood, in any case. When he says that, though, Aas puffs up her feathers and raps on the side of his helmet with the end of her beak three times, sparking quite a comically startled hunch of Kord's shoulders as the sound rings through his skull. "Okay, okay..."

    "I can move around quickly and without being easily detected," he explains, "I have run off ahead before. I have seen what problems arise from treating this place too carelessly. But it is not easy to kill me, whether it be by monster, animal or man. So... Don't worry."

    "I did notice there was no Shrine," he mentions aloud. "Aside from that..."

    Kord scans his surroundings.

    "I haven't seen them in a while..." he murmurs almost to himself, meaning the Gargoyles. Some of his instincts tell him he may have been overdue for a visit from their more militant members, but the lack of response and damage here... It makes him worried. Could that group have been a fabrication? Or is there something he's missing?

Athela Valemore has posed:
"Not that being hard to kill has stopped many from trying," a certain familiar voice speaks up in response to Kord's comments. Athela had been simply looking over the place when she noticed the familiar dark clad form passing nearby and had come to see for herself. "Then again, mayhaps surviving such is what makes the wiser avoid the one that walks in Death's shadow."

It's.. actually said with some vage hint of at least professional respect. She knows Kord is a stronger force. And he has helped in matters back 'home' before, even if it has likely been for his own interests. So she's certainly not trying to get on his nerves.

They aren't really directly enemies, really. More like two people with very different ideals on how the issues of Bayern need to be dealt with. But that is not here, and Athela is more than happy to leave those conflicts to the lands they belong in.

Inga has posed:
The Wisewoman has been wandering through the market for a little while now, hovering near where healing items have been sold, talking with the merchant and examining the wares. She's curious how healing works...how those already dead can be healed and why they would need to be. It is a fascinating place. Disturbing of course, but also very intriguing. She finds that she is not uncomfortable here. It is actually a bit less creepy than the spirit world she occasionally finds herself in. At least there are others here. At least one does not feel spectacularly alone in a cold, grey world...

Inga approaches the gathering group, dressed a long black dress and boots, a green woven belt around her waist from which hang the usual ornaments, talismans and useful items. There's runes drawn up her arms in what appears to be blood. Her white hair is neatly plaited in two braids that hang over her shoulder.

"A somewhat more encouraging sight than last I was here," she comments, looking around, lips pursed thoughtfully as keen dark eyes take in the landscape.

Staren has posed:
    Staren... isn't one for excessive socialization. He may ask some of the merchants some basic questions to ensure that things are going as well as they look for the people of Lumiere, but beyond that he has no desire to force himself to talk to people for no reason.

    He makes his way to where the others are with a smile. "I'm glad to see the people doing better. I thought it might take a lot longer to get this far, honestly... So. Do we have any ideas at all where these roads might go, or is it a complete surprise?"

Priscilla has posed:
    Did Priscilla just get here, or has she been around the entire time like a spooky ghost? It's always convenient to answer neither way, since it's not like the truth would really be easily discernible anyways. Despite the drab colours, depressing dark, and the dangerous looking architecture however, she is happy to be here, in a sense. Seeing these Lanterns making the best of it reminds her of the pilgrims of her home; those she had allowed to make their livings in the city she now owns after suffering their own Curse for so long, as reward for daring to try and do what the Union is basically doing right now.

    Union and Kord, at least. Apparating somewhere nearby, and standing out dramatically against all the black while wearing all that (and being) stark white, as well as that Hollowing Gem circlet thing, Priscilla seems a little glad to see some new faces, and has one along of her own. "Well met, and very much agreed, wise woman." She says. The naturally mute and lifeless kind of air that Lumiere seems to have most times makes her voice carry further than it usually does.

    "And far more than what it was, stretching further back still. I am hopeful that we shalt see this as the worst put behind us, but only just. There is no insignificant chance that much the same, or much worse, lieth between us, and our only truthful destination." the crossbreed then says while gesturing towards that single point of light, far in the distance.

    Ultimately, scary-ass falls have lost a lot of their shock and trepidation factor for her; especially after seeing what Princess Sarracenia had almost fallen into. She picks the pathway that looks the most stably supported, but otherwise seemingly at random, so long as she can keep people in her sights, unbothered by the prospect of potentially a very long walk.

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    Svala is here, alongside Priscilla. She appears at much the same time, or did appear, whenever Priscilla decided to. The seemingly-younger seeming-girl strays a little for brief periods, going here and there to look at the various preparations of the Lanterns, only to return and move in step, like some noble's attendant--which isn't too far from the truth, but not correct, either. She gives a nod in greeting to some as are passed or otherwise greeted, as in Inga's case, but has little to add.
    Instead, a question, to Priscilla, "Do you already know them, or they you? The ones who are here." She might mean either presently or 'from this world.' Or both. But there is Carna, here-ish, and that one the Armament has met.

Carna (974) has posed:
    From the merchants and those in the vicinity, Inga would receive the information that Lanterns incur injuries in the process of existing in a place such as this. Though mostly the ones who go out and fight Unlit (or other Lanterns), hoping to obtain Dead Lights so that they can retain their sanity, grow in strength, and trade for things they may need (like healing supplies). They use potions which are said to use waters from the River Styx itself.

    They are unnaturally cold to the living, provide some vague form of sustenance but the waters evaporate to nothing once consumed, and heal the Dead by restoring the spirit matter that composes their bodies. The Dead do not naturally heal, so they need things like this when they are wounded. A deteriorated appearance, however, comes from dying and coming back repeatedly. Healing potions do not fix that. Only Dead Lights, the fragments of others' souls or 'essence'.

    Likewise, anyone else who asks around gets viewed with some degree of suspicion, apathy, or barely-disguised predatory intent. Some Lanterns are actually friendly. But no one gets attacked, killed, threatened, or bitten, and that's a lot better than one would get from the Unlit, so this is practically pleasant by comparison.

    More people suddenly approach and the Lantern looks towards them. Inga, Carna has met before, at the Church of Bleak Mercy. Carna nods to Inga as she approaches, but does not recall if she has met Athela. If she has, then she didn't write the meeting down. But Athela seems to know Kord and they seem to be on not-hostile terms, so her presence is accepted. When Staren, too, approaches, Carna definitely recognizes him, and nods in a more familiar manner, as she has seen others do.

    The Lantern faces the new arrivals and decides that her recollection of the scent of the living among the Dead is explained by the presence of these ones, or that she was simply mistaken about what she detected. She doesn't bother writing it down. "We do not yet know. Our companion..." She indicates the Tenno, "Has done some preliminary scouting. There are no signs of Unlit here. It is possible that the death of the Wall of Cruel Customs interferes with the previously barely-restricted access they had. That hellscape, and the ledge they were swarming over to reach us, are both absent. There have been no reports of Unlit coming onto this plateau yet. By slaying Borders themselves, we may have fundamentally altered the layout of Lumiere." Whether that is good or bad is yet to be seen, but the statement is made regardless. They have changed the world. That is more than they had hoped for when Elites first came here and wrote it off as a place whose time had passed and could not be saved. Before that involvement, that might have been true. But now... What else can they accomplish?

Carna (974) has posed:
    Carna turns to face the roads and pillars again, the soupy fog below giving an ethereal appearance. She flips the page of her journal and resumes sketching. "As long as we are not opposed in our exploration, that is the second best thing we can hope for. The first, of course, would be to explore unopposed and find something useful." She ponders Karal's words and then Inga's. "Things are changing very quickly. If Sir Enark's estimate is correct, he was alone in the Tower of Escher for one billion years before he lost access to his time pieces and thus lost track of how long after that before we met. The Unlit wall we faced said it had access to billions of years of scrounged Dead Lights as well. But we do not know by how much that preceded Enark's imprisonment. My understanding of 'years' is nebulous at best. I can not tell if one has passed since first encountering you all, or if it has been 'weeks' or 'months'. I have come to consciousness and sanity only recently, as far as I know. Out of all the Unlit to climb to Lumiere, and then out of those relative few, to consume enough of others to gain sanity, I have been here as a Lantern for the merest fraction of a time that others have."

    Carna looks over her shoulder at all the other Lanterns expanding out into the demi-light, paler than a moon's reflection on water, and yet still as to sunlight in this dark place. At least the fog below catches that meager illumination and sends it back up to them. Though there are dark gaps that appear in the rolling mist. And when the wisps contrast with that blackness, it may appear as a skull's eye sockets, or as hungry mouths. Looking too closely or too long at the environment of Lumiere isn't the greatest for one's sanity. As Priscilla and Svala approach as well, making themselves known, and the former beginning up a ramp at random, Carna finishes her thought while bowing in greeting to the two of them. "This place is like a coiled spring. Tension building and building, that I have only a shred of an inkling of. I am not that surprised that being released from that pressure and confinement has resulted in such rapid expansion into new territories. The alternative is to stay in squallor and madness. Work has begun to refit the Urban Decay around the Church. But repainting the old is not enough for those who still yearn for the world above."

    Carna puts away her journal for now, which has begun to double as a sketchbook. And moves to follow. She would rather walk in the shadow of those like Priscilla and Kord than walk before them. Once, it was because she preferred they be between her and danger. Now, it is because she wants to learn from them. They, and Staren, and Kushiko, and Finna, and Karal... And everyone she has met so far. Even what's-his-name-of-the-Abyss from Priscilla's world. Everyone is teaching her, even if they don't know it.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Once the procession begins, they have a bit of a walk ahead of them without incident. Travel and traverse, mapping out which roads lead to what, what bridges connect them, who has a hold-out alongside where and if any of them are friendly or hostile. They got without being attacked by even hostile Lanterns, however, unless they trespass. There is simply, unlike in the Urban Decay or in Escher, the opportunity to explore and sight-see without fear of unexpected ultra-death. For Lumiere, that's practically nice.

Inga has posed:
Inga turns to look over her shoulder as Priscilla approaches. She blinks, then recognizes her voice. A smile and a nod of greeting. "Priscilla," she greets. It is good to finally put a face to the voice. Inga nods to Svala too, though she is unfamiliar. "Greetings."

Inga does wonder what they will find on their paths. The wyrd here is...strange. Disconnected. That's rather the problem, isn't it?

Priscilla starts along a path. Inga was about to consult her runes, but that was is as good as any she supposes, leaning on her walking stick to follow along. It won't be long until she's toward the back of the group, not being much of a power walker. Inga doesn't mind, so long as she doesn't fall too far behind, at which point she expects Staren will lend his aid, reliable as he is for such. She's getting around safe places much better with Jodis, but she's so fond of the horse she's loath to put her in any danger.

Inga keeps her senses alert, remaining quiet so that she might Listen--that is to say, keeping her magical senses open and searching ahead (and behind) them. She is careful not to focus too much below, however.

Kushiko has posed:
... hmm! New people. Or rather, some people she hadn't seen in quite some time. Priscilla of course was familiar, as was Kord to varying degrees. The antimatter wielding Nova Prime, despite her petite, almost 'porcelain' appeareance belied a great deal more strength than she let on as the faceless Warframe shifted her stance slightly.

Though given Kord's last words, she couldn't help but have a hint of mirth herself--not that it was /easy/ to see in the Warframe's 'face'. "As can I. But then again, we have different focuses in the realm of, 'get somewhere unseen, be hard to kill, and wanton abandon' but there's always the caveat I've had of 'assume everything is here to kill you, and kill them first.'" The Warframe's shoulders shrug slightly, the synthetic energy fibers of her Syandana shifting slightly behind her.

Nonetheless, she's studying the pathways that lie ahead. There's a few options she herself sees that she can take advantage of in different ways, though the Warframe did give a slight canting of her head towards Priscilla and Inga. She wasn't too familiar with Athela, nor Svala... or was she? Hn. Memories were fuzzy for Kushiko. Probably not.

If she could, she'd spare a sympathetic look for Carna at her mention of the concept of 'years' being nebulous, because she very much /is/ sympathetic on that notion. Maybe not for the same source cause, but it is a problematic issue as perceptions and memory go. All the same, she breaks into a modest little sprint to move forward, and as she does she reaches behind herself and unholsters a previously 'hidden' weapon from her back between the two funnels of energy emanating from the recessed control rods, an elegant looking twinbarreled shotgun. At least it looks like it: the refinement and profile of the weapon is... considerable, to say it plainly.

"It's certainly waiting for something bad to happen. How bad probably depends on us," comes the ethereal, Void-given projection of Kushiko's voice as Nova's head regards some of the others. Sometimes she simply jumps, energy surging into the fibrous sleeves of her legs launching her a good 30-plus feet into the air to reach one of the floating structures in order to map that one out or mark it out. She's extremely mobile and coupled with the occasional ability to open one-way gates?

Yeah, she's going to put that to use.

Count Kord has posed:
    Kord chuckles at Athela's words and presence. Her remarks about his history of people having tried to kill him just gets him to turn his gaze elsewhere. It's clear it bothers him a little that she brought that up, but only if you're paying very close attention to his posture. Once it's clear there isn't anything left to say or see about this area, he finds himself leading the group only in the sense that he's boldly setting ahead with the intent to familiarize himself with a new area of Lumiere to explore.

    He has the ability to fly, and he takes full advantage of this while they travel. He uses it to leap to paths the others aren't yet covering, the criss-crossing spiderweb of walkways proving quite fun for him to explore, especially since... nothing is trying to murder him the entire time. In fact, he finds it pretty relaxing, and for the first time he feels like this is a place he should be. The feeling clings to his heart, and this is when a familiar voice causes pause when he's on a distant path. In his head, Yveltel speaks:

    This is just as much a part of Death as the chaos of before. Some die in agony. Some pass peacefully to the next world. Do you understand?

    Kord frowns behind his mask, and just continues. He has no comment for that strange remark, and he is unwilling to accept that kind of common ground with the only god he so much as tolerates, and only out of necessity.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Why Karal Rei Lin's a part of this madness so long, well... that's easy. The more she sees of all the pointless suffering, countless spirits all drawing from the last dregs of the same well, all denied reincarnation, the more this forsaken place's plight BOTHERS her.

    Lending a little aid's just something any decent person with divine power should want to do, isn't it? Should the suffering of countless dead be ignored simply because they are already dead? A proper cycle of reincarnation is just as important to the living as the dead, isn't it?

    These are the reasons she'd give anyone if they asked why she's here.

    Lin ends up migrating through the procession carefully, ending up near the one person of this bunch who doesn't exude some kind of weird vibe to her sensibilities: Inga.

    All the while, the robed swordswoman sharpens her senses. Magical, those aren't so good, but her eyesight and hearing benefit greatly from the divine concentration she puts into filtering them for anything interesting - no matter how slight.

    "Into the great unknown! If it wasn't in the Underworld I'd be more excited than uncomfortable... that accursed wall was probably just one of the Emperor Rat's many heads..."

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods and smiles to those he knows, "Good to see you all again!" And now: Lots of walking!

    Staren gets bored fast, and pulls a broom out of his bag and rides it, with it floating just off the path. He may even be playing a game on his headware and only intermittantly looking around.

Athela Valemore has posed:
Athela nods a bit at Carna's explainations, and the hope that this will go without much difficulty. She knows how well that may or may not go. "Hope for the best; prepare for the worst." Focus on your exploration, people like her are here to step in if things do go bad. Though she won't complain if she doesn't -have- to. But she is definately taking her own advice.

She turns a moment to give a short whistle, and her Samurott slides over from where he had been standing offsides waiting. Probably giving his own dirty looks at Kord, but it's unseen beneath the visor of his helmet. Though in the end he just huffs out a breath, causing his whiskers to flare and bristle briefly.

"I know, I know." Athela does give the plating over his neck a brief reassuring pat. She doesn't expect her stalwart mount to trust him, just tolerate that he's here to help. "Escort mission, typical defensive flanking." Lancer gices a nod, and moves to take position on the left side of the group as they start to begin their trip, while Athela takes the right, so there's a defensive on both sides in case of trouble.

She doesn't draw her weapon yet, but one hand remains at the ready on Resolute Blade's hilt, so she can unsheath it at the faintest of notice.

Priscilla has posed:
    A neat little trick of toying around with recently expanded invisibility prowess, Priscilla has brought Svala's physical body in a way that doesn't make it immediately obvious she is armed. Specifically, because she counts as a personal possession, and is an object smaller than an actual human, Priscilla can carry her across her back selectively unseen.

    It's only when they get going on the dark and misty paths into nowhere that she pulls the lengthy, silver spear out from under one shoulder, pivoting around her arm. It's big enough that it seems to have been designed for someone very strong, or someone as exceptionally tall as she, and looks rather attractive with that mirror polish and red wrapping, though the design of the spearhead is somewhat unusual, forsaking a standard design for a narrow, angular blade that helically crosses folds on itself several times like a Norse knot.

    Walking stick aside, Inga's appearance catches Priscilla just a little by surprised. "I admit, I had expected one so experienced in the crafts and lore of their age to be one much older than thee; or else thou art one who ages exceptionally gracefully." Something ironic about that. Priscilla's getup isn't actually that far out, culturally, anyways; sort of like if the old anglosaxon, scandanavian, and celtic sensibilities blended nebulously together over time, and then survived to an age where craft techniques were much more advanced, and thus easier to make expensive and sophisticated. It helps that she also looks a little like some Fair being out of folklore; just a little.

    "If it aids thee in gaining perspective, thou hath known us for very much less than a year. Reflect upon the number of pages in thine journal in which we art mentioned, as reference of scale, though most imaginations fail once they art to reach the millions." She says to Carna, rather conversationally while walking. Even Priscilla hasn't lived /that/ long. Flying around and teleporting aren't things in her arsenal, and she would rather not leave the woman with a walking staff in the dust either way.

    "More akin to the many lesions of a great disease." She then remarks to Karal, equally conversationally. Almost absent-mindedly, she upturns one palm, and seems to conjure a swarm of tiny, colourless fire lights, circling around each other in coherent orbit. They cast a very small circle of pale illumination on the path, before she closes her fingers and they disappear. "I admit no form of trepidation in its demise. To see what lieth ahead of us now is to speak volumes of its perverse distortion of even the pathways about these lands."

    Of note, she uncommonly seems to pay no significant mind to Svala's reliable nearness, barely reacting to the girl within the rather wide zone she usually tries to keep between herself and other people. It looks oddly appropriate, with how she matches the spear's aesthetic, and looks like she wouldn't be too suspiciously out of place in Lordran. "I knoweth of all of those assembled here, though I knoweth only some in person. I believeth this is mine first time in greeting the Knight Valemore and Lady Freyjasdotter."

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    Svala has seen Kushiko, previously. At least, she's seen some Tenno. Whether it was Kushiko, or another, might be hard to say. She's no stranger to the concept of masses of people all wearing the same armor and being shy of elucidating conversation, even if she's spent comparatively little of her life in her most recent home. Either way, the Tenno has gone ahead, and so Svala only continues to notice her in the process of looking out over the landscape--such as it is. The interconnecting walkways and their support, or lack thereof, seem particularly fascinating to her child-like sense of curiosity.
    When Priscilla speaks to another, Svala pays that other careful attention. This moves naturally from point to point, though one might notice something unnaturally intense about her concentration, as of a trained behavior that serves no immediately apparent purpose. But then, red eyes would already mark her as something unusual in most worlds, her appearance deceptive. Neither she, nor her sisters, carry their duplicitousness of form very far, much as they could, if they so wished.
    When that attention returns to her self, Svala gives a nod and, momentarily happy for some cause, a smile. Momentarily, for she then turns to look at Karal, asking, "What rat is this?"

Carna (974) has posed:
    The initial exploration continues to be uneventful. Aside from some guards at newly-claimed road-side 'islands', who warn away casual trespassing or simply stand there menacingly, there is not much in the way of threat. Carna isn't sure how she feels about that. Mostly because she views each and every one of these Lanterns she encounters as a possible threat. They manage to avoid (by jumping/flying/navigating the labyrinthine roads and bridges) most of the check points where some have decided it's a great idea to set up shop and attempt to extort travelers a toll. But eventually, they'll run into one of them most likely and find it's not feasible for the non-flying and non-teleporting among them to bypass it.

    As the more ground-bound among them begin to approach a point like that, a shadowy form crawls out from underneath the road ahead of them, perches atop the path, and stands up straight. And then the shadow, an almost cartoonish-looking thing with two ear-points atop a head of shadows, two gleaming round circles for eyes, and a body that seems to literally be a shadow stretched up off of the 2-D plane and into the 3-D, looks at them all, and says in a cheerful, child-like voice...

    "Hi!"

    The Shadow is smiling at them expectantly. :D

    Carna tries to lean around those ahead of her, looks behind her towards Inga to make sure she is with them and that nothing is popping up behind them while they're distracted, notes that Staren isn't paying attention at all or doing any of the scans or scouting he usually does, and then peers around at everyone else.

    Magical senses, Listening, superhuman normal senses, whatever people have available... None of them detected this shadow until it was upon them. The fact it decided to say hi instead of ambush them, despite that advantage of stealth, could say a lot of things. But at this point, there is only one reasonable response, and it is up to Carna, who has been learning social manners from those around her, to handle it.

    "You are blocking the path." she says to the Shadow. That was right, wasn't it? That's how you social? Is she doing it right, guys?

Inga has posed:
Inga sighs as Kushiko and Kord fly or bound ahead, scouting the area before the main group. What must it be like to move with such freedom?

Staren looks to Staren. Blinks. Pouts. Where can she got one of /those/!? Rolling her eyes slightly, she then looks toward Lin as she approaches near. "It is a fascinating place I must admit. Broken...but that is what makes it to interesting. I have never seen nor imagined a cycle just..break like this. Even in the stories of ragnarok there are some who survive and a new world begins. This place is /stuck/. It stands still, and that is just....wrong in a fundamental way," she comments. Lin has a certain familiarity...a brightness. Hmm.

Inga looks to Carna, noting how she lets others take the lead. Frowning as she thinks of the way she has difficulty judging the passage of time. That happens to Inga too in certain circumstances, when she lets herself drift. How long has Lumiere been this way?

The wisewoman's attention is drawn back toward Priscilla. Her comment is one Inga has obviously heard many times before judging by the grace with which she addresses it. She smiles, pride an obvious possession without being overbearing. "I am young yet, that is true. But I have trained since I can remember and had a very good teacher," she responds. Besides, the gift of Sight...Inga has experienced for more than she has actually lived. She comes off as an old soul, as people say. She's seen some things. Wisdom is always hard won.

As for Priscilla, she is close to what Inga had pictured, but...taller. Considerably taller. Stunning, naturally, leaving Inga feeling slightly drab in comparison. Impeccable fashion sense. Inga left her nice dresses at home, wearing something she didn't mind getting bloody or torn or disintigrated...one never knows what will happen.

What she did not expect, was the smiling dark shadow that greets them. Inga steps back, having no warning--which for Inga is very unsettling and upsetting! It does not yell or try to eat them however...

Carna steps up. Inga noticed how she watches them all, trying to perhaps relearn what it is to be human--or something close, anyway. Her social skills though? They could use a bit of work.

Inga sighs quietly and walks forward, lookin up to the Shadow as she places both hands on top of her rune-carved staff. "Hello. We would like to continue travelling in this direction. I assume you wish to collect some sort of toll. I am willing to bargain," she says. If there will be no bargaining, well, then she's ready to start with the magic instead.

Athela Valemore has posed:
It's arguable what is more surprising, the shadowy being appearing without detection... or the manner it greets them in instead of attacking.

Athela's reflex is to go for her weapon, but she only gets it partially drawn before the 'Hi!' and pauses. Was that it, or was this a ploy to try and get them to drop their guard?

On the other side of the group her Samurott is clearly thinking the same things, as he lowers his head to keep the blade of his helmet at the ready, but doesn't make any actual hostile moves. Especially when Inga steps forward to offer some better interaction conversation than Carna's blunt observation of the obstruction.

Attempt to negotiate for passage first? Okay then. But just in case, Athela does fully draw her sword, if only to hold to down at her side. Just to be ready. Just in case.

There's always that damn 'just in case'.

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    A shadow appears, or perhaps a Shadow, with Significant Capital Letters. In any case, Svala reacts appropriately by moving from a step to the side and half a step behind Priscilla to entirely behind her, looking the other way for the same reason as Carna just did, and then back again as Inga takes the lead in addressing what is hopefully the sum of their present problems.
    "We could walk... on the other side of the path." Her voice is quiet, if still not particularly stealthy. "Though, avoiding this meeting may not be the most desirable outcome, either."

Staren has posed:
    Staren told Inga, the broom was a gift from Verðandi! He has no idea whether the Verðandi from her particular world is as friendly, though.

    Staren /has/ noticed they're coming up to a toll they can't get around, and has stopped gaming, but... He wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary here. Then again, what's 'ordinary' for Lumiere? He eyes the shadow, landing next to Carna and putting the broom away. "Hi." He hasn't seen anything quite like it, but that doesn't mean it's out of place here. "A toll, just for exploring and seeing what's out there, to help all the fine folks of this world? Come now, surely none here would wish to halt the expansion of this newly-recovered civilization..." He looks back to the shadow. "What do you want, though? Can we help you?"

Priscilla has posed:
    "Then we art of like mind, in that sense." Priscilla comments to Inga. "I hath once seem the breaking of the cycle of a world, and its result was a spiral into something else; hardly this dead, breathless stasis, achieving nothing but absolute entropy." Thoughts of teachers and the fruits of training linger more quietly in the Archlord's head, perhaps dwelling on how common it is for the young people of the Multiverse to be fixated on one or both, and yet rarely achieve as much with any grace.

    Walking steadily along in thought is, admittedly, a great time for a spooky (and weirdly kind of cute) shadow to pop up out of nowhere to say hi. The fact Priscilla startles visibly, if only slightly, comes down to as much that she hadn't sensed the thing's arrival whatsoever. The fact that she hadn't is what makes her immediately leery of the figure. She remains pretty firmly in front of Svala, clearly determined to stay there, though she makes no aggressive moves with the spear yet.

    "I cannot imagine why the two of our parties passing one another by without a word couldst be considered less desirable." She remarks in stoic disagreement. Nothing good ever came out of talking to strangers like this. To be frank, it's rare anything good comes from talking to strangers at all. All the same though, it looks like they won't be avoiding him (her? it?), and she knows leaving the group's image to Staren and/or Karal is usually a recipe for disaster.

    ". . . well met, ah, . . . denizen of Lumiere." It's hard to tell if this is a Sir or Lady. "Is there ought with which we couldst aid thee? I admit, we hath somewhat pressing need to move on, but thou art welcome to walk with us, shouldst thou harbour no objectionable intent."

Kushiko has posed:
Freedom is a funny, relative thing in terms of moving about. The truth of the matter is a bit more nuanced, but nothing that deserves being dwelt upon just yet.
All the same, the combination of bullet jumping and the use of her frame's ability to open directional wormholes (which, the lilac-pink folds in spacetime /do/ dissipate after enough use or time) is good enough to get a mental layout of the varying islands in short order. Sometimes, the purple-black bioframe is... /perched/ for lack of a better expression with some strange energy telling conventional and unconventional physics alike to slag off, one hand hovering over the surface of a structure with her legs doing the same to wall-cling.

This continues for a modest stretch of time--the Tenno keeping an eye on the others in varying degrees--from Kord to Staren, Svala and Priscilla, Inga and Athela and of course, Carna. Every so often she drops to the ground--though it's more of a slight glide through some supernatural force as the technorganic frame puts herself down nearby due to that Shadow.

At least the lights did not flicker abruptly.

"What the heck are you?" is all the projected voice can--at least at first--offer. Hmm. Hopefully Carna does not learn any manners or social mores from the Tenno, because right now hers are on the stronger side of shy most of the time, though with the amount of people she's been exposed to, at least that's begun to change.

Back to the remaining matters at hand, Nova's head cants slightly. She feels she should know Svala some and the longer she's here she thinks she recalls properly. Oh yes. That was because it was Valkyr--now the pieces fall back into place. She'll remember that for later, yes indeed.

Honestly, she chooses to let the others speak and make the questions known: she may try and scan it with her suit's systems and other senses but she'll be discrete about it. First rule of new thing: record everything!

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
"Billions of years of being broken... I hardly grasp how big of a number one billion years. My world's existed for only a few thousand, I think. Maybe... ten thousand, if the scholars are right. To be dead for billions..." Lin's voice trails off. It's literally beyond her comprehension, and she's one of the Chosen.

    The scale of this place is just that insane.

    "You look like... a wisewoman. Healer? Astrologist? What brings you to this forsaken land? Just the novelty?"

    Her advance siilarly pauses as the Shadow emerges from seemingly NOWHERE. A hand goes immediately to her sword's hilt.... but she doesn't touch it, or draw it. She's simply wary.

    "Oooookay! Hello? You're a different one... friend or foe?"

    She just had to bite her tongue and not freak out... the thing almost looks like a Bloody Hand, among other unsavory spirits. But it's HERE, so what she knows might not apply.

Count Kord has posed:
    Kord had halted when the shadow blocked everyone's path. He didn't do anything rash, but he did stare as if baffled by the appearance of something that seemed to startle pretty much everyone in the whole group. Even him! And yet it took the mannerisms of a simple and friendly child, taking him off-guard.

    "Hello," is all he can offer in reply. He sounds uncomfortable. Children have always had a frankness that made him uneasy, and a shadow child makes that discomfort even worse.

Carna (974) has posed:
    The Shadow's smile changes a bit at the first words exchanged between it and others. "Oh, sorry." :( It doesn't move from the center of the path though. When people start talking about tolls, its expression changes again. "Huh, 'toll'?" :o Then it turns around somehow, mostly seeming to amount to its face disappearing from one side and probably appearing on its 'back' where they can't see as it looks towards the guard station ahead. "There was a guy who wanted one of those. I didn't know what that was and he tried to poke a metal thing in my face. He went through me though and fell over the side. This is a true story. It was very sad." The Shadow's face when such appears again doesn't look all that sad, just smiling cutely. :>

    "But now you all are here! Hi! I'm a Shadow! There sure at a lot of people coming through now, but gosh it's been a long time. None of them wanted to tell me what happened either..." Then the fateful offer is made by Priscilla to come with them.

    "REALLY!?" the Shadow says excitedly. It slips off the path and stops blocking them immediately, popping up towards the back and staring directly at Svala from like a foot away with a fixed :D face. Its edges wiggle excitedly. "You can call me 'Crow'!" it introduces itself when it remembers there was some confusion about its identity. Did it say its name was 'Crow' or 'Kuro'? Is it Japanese? Do shadows even have nationalities? 'Crow' looks to Staren next and says, "Cool ears!" :D Then to Inga, "Cool stick!" :D :D Then to Kord, "Cool mask!" :D :D :D And so on, commenting on some identifiable trait of physical appearance or equipment for each person present. "Cool hat!" Crow finishes with Carna.

    Carna does not seem prepared to just accept this walking emoticon as a traveling companion and looks somewhat balefully at Priscilla for making the offer.

    "You want to be my friend?" Crow asks, interpreting Karal's question as an invitation.

    Carna answers for the Solar, "We would like for you to give us any relevant information you possess about where these paths lead and any threats there may be, and to otherwise keep fruitless lines of dialogue to a minimum." Then, after a long pause during which Crow makes a :< face at her, Carna says, "...I am Carna."

Carna (974) has posed:
    Crow seems to forget the rudeness immediately after receiving the introduction and says, "This path you're on leads to this big mean place called Guillotine Square! Lots of bad there. People get hurt and killed, like, ALL the time! Lots of Unlit, but they're down below under the square, and I think the people on top are trying to keep them there. But it smells bad and it is VERY dangerous. They don't like Shadows much so I try not to go there. I found a sandwich lying around once though! A sandwich is the thing with fingers right? Finger sandwich?" Then Crow looks at Athela's hands. "Oh, hey! Sandwiches! Anyway, I ate it and it was kind of gross." Conspiratorily to Samurott, "Dont eat sandwiches if you find them."

    Carna tries very hard to ignore the blabber and points at that distant point of light. "How do we get there?"

    Crow looks where Carna is pointing. Then it looks back to Carna. "Get where?"

    "There, where I am pointing."
    Crow looks again. "I don't see it."

    "That point of light. The only thing in this entire place that produces any without the judicious application of fire or magic. In a direct line from the tip of my finger." Carna is trying to be patient. Really.

    Crow looks again, then looks to Carna, then back. Then to Inga. It makes a helpless noise and says, "I dunno'. I only follow the paths. If there's no path, I can't get to it. But hey, there's this really cool little island I like to hang out at over by one of the pillars? You could go there! It has bugs!"

    Carna lowers her hand and says, "I have had quite enough of bugs. Shall we head to Guillotine Square? I feel that a year has already passed while standing here talking."

Inga has posed:
Inga nods to Priscilla, raising a brow in curiosity. "I would like to hear the story at some point," she replies. That sounds very interesting indeed. Priscilla has been around for a considerably long time. She must have so many stories. Inga makes a mental note to invite her for tea.

Kushiko gets right to the pushiness and Inga represses a sigh. Social party, this is not. Please don't let Staren say anything, please don't let Staren say anything...

To Lin Inga nods. "I am two of those things, though wisewoman generally involves knowledge of healing, yes," she answers.

It seems 'Crow' does indeed wish to come with them. Well, alright. Inga is already speculating on what this must be. The spirit of a child perhaps? "Hello Crow. I am Inga. I like your...smile," she compliments back. Its the nice thing to do. "I will talk with you if you like," she offers, since Carna is intent on shooting the poor thing down and making it frown adorably...
Then Crow has to go and talk about 'sandwiches'. That changes things. "Ah no, those are called hands. Not sandwiches. Generally not for eating," generally.

At the description of Guillotine square, Inga frowns. "Yes, it sounds as though we have work to do."

Staren has posed:
    Staren stares at the shadow. Did Priscilla just recruit a new party member?

    He stares at it for a long moment as it rambles on. "What do you mean by... 'what happened'? What's the last thing you remember...?"

    "So... You can't see anything, that isn't connected to the paths? And if the light is off the ground... you can't see it? ...Did you see me flying before I landed here?"

Athela Valemore has posed:
Athela Valemore reflexively jerks to the side when 'Crow' blips through the group, complimenting odd things, and then blips by her again talking about finger sandwhichs. Which means as little to her as it does to anyone else. Why would you want to back sandwhichs out of fingers? Her pokemon on the other hand just -stares- at the creature from behind his armor visor. It's just... weird.

The shadow figure blinking around reminds Athela of a Ghost type pokemon... and suddenly she's rather glad they don't -talk-. Trying to curse your shadow and steal your spirit is frustrating enough.

On the other hand, being familiar with dealing with... eccentricities allows her to just exhale slowly and patiently deal with it. "If our new.. companion," did you really have to invite them along Priscella? "does not know a direct route, then prehaps investigating the other matters being mentioned would help us uncover more clues."

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    Svala is particularly startled by the Shadow's movement, backing quickly around Priscilla again, though not quickly enough for whatever it is it just proved capable of doing. Her surprise doesn't actually show in her expression, which is oddly stony, until the moments pass and she's relaxed enough for her curiosity to return. She looks up toward her wielder for a moment, with what could possibly have been a moment of smugness. Maybe. She's surely too polite to have really done that, and who knows what it could have been about, had it even happened.

Kushiko has posed:
Silence dominates the Nova Prime Warframe a bit more than usual. Given the typical silence--and the fact that the Warframe itself... herself? doesn't speak?--this is a bit more heavy than the usual.

All the same, the listening, observant Tenno would be frowning in consternation if she showed a face right now... at least with the explanations that come, some of her instinctive knowlege begins to play forward. Still, she does get at least a feel for some of the others to an increasing degree -- if on the periphery. This is okay, however--because... well. Her memory of things from her own perspective is muddled--some of the conversations between Priscilla, Inga, Karal, well. This helps things out as it were.

Remarkably, the frame itself doesn't recoil or startle at the proximity of 'Crow' to the domed, twin 'tail' helmet of hers. If anything, the control surfaces separate and expand as though it were some approximation of raised brows, the conical shapes behind her head moving and shifting slightly. Well, at least the shotgun wasn't needed.

Stowing that for now, the Tenno's voice projects anew: "Like an actual shadow to be cast somewhere--like the surfaces, I guess?" she wonders quizzically. She gives a helpless little shrug otherwise, only now does any hint of tension or readiness give any indication of passing from her.

There had to be a connection given the source of light--being well, the /only/ source of light beyond the light she and others here gave off and how 'normal' shadows might work, if one simply expands that line of reasoning. "... might do some good to at least know where this 'bug' island is. Even if it sounds well... simple."

Because you know, everything here is totally simple, right? Right...

Priscilla has posed:
    Though she hadn't truthfully believed her attempt at politeness would amount to anything more than being able to say 'I tried' when the shadow tried to eat them all, Priscilla can hardly /complain/ about meeting something here that doesn't want to kill them or confuse them. Enark had been the last one in quite a while, and he was quite a pleasant surprise. She will . . . give this one the benefit of a doubt.

    "Crow it is then." She states very plainly. The accidental relation to the significance of the crow from her world is almost amusing. "Thou may refer to mineself as Priscilla, for I doubt titles wouldst intrigue thee much if at all." She does, however, protectively shift herself in front of Svala when Crow leans really close. It's a little ironic, seeing as the refined young girl is only the extension. "I rarely object to any who wish to offer merely their aid, provided it is well reasoned and without disastrous result. Thou art welcome amongst us for the time being, shouldst thou be able to conduct thineself appropriately, yes." Screw you guys, this is clearly another great optional recruitable storyline. This was her idea and not Svala's, shut up.

    She seems to feel little continued threat from the shadow moving on though, as evidenced by the fact that it doesn't even seem to fully understand physical violence, if its story was told truthfully. "The reason many pass through now, is that previously there was another impeding them. Thou hast been alone for a very long time, due to the fact this other being demanded that none be allowed this way at all. He has now . . . been sent elsewhere, and thus many art free to meet thee."

    She is vindicated by the quantity of potentially useful information being gleaned through Crow's naive rambling. "If we art to pass by it on the way, perhaps we may dally shortly. However, our destination is most unfortunately this square, though fear little, for it is our intention to . . . maketh it . . . less bad." She attempts to communicate. "For what reason do its people mistrust thee? I see little harm in a shadow." Shen then makes a half-hearted shrugging motion at Staren. "It is traditional that a shadow requires a surface to cast itself upon." And then something less noncommittal to Inga. "It is a lengthy one, but one that a few here wouldst be familiar with. It is a great testament to the mettle of many of the Multiverse, and one which I am certain wouldst be well told if thou were to pay visit to Anor Londo, where I guarantee thou shalt be well received."

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Well. karal Rei Lin seems to at least accept this strange creature as friendly enough. She returns to a friendlier stance, instead of 'twitch the wrong way and I'll cut you in half.' But she can't help but purse her lips and STARE WEIRDLY at the Shadow, having a bit of trouble it can have such a mindset after A BILLION YEARS or fifty.

    Huh.

    "Well, for why people are coming this way again... there was this biiiiiiiiiiiig Wall around here, you know. It's gone now." Can it be put any more simply?

    "Karal Rei Lin of Grantine. Dangerous as it sounds, I'll pick Guillotine Square. If there's Lanterns there... they might have things to say!"

Carna (974) has posed:
    Carna is in vague agreement, at least as it pertains to getting stuff done by going where they're needed. If she were a normal person she would not relish the fact she is going into almost-certainly-dangerous territory, pursuing such hazards means, at least to her, progress. It means going closer to the destination that calls to her. She looks up towards the 'sky' now that they are in something approaching 'the open'. Between the roads and paths that criss-cross over their heads. She can't see much up there. The fog that lies below them seems to be above as well.

    The blue skies she has seen outside of Lumiere have never really seemed... 'Real' to her. She can not appreciate the beauty of sunlight or the sereneness of a waterfall in other worlds. They're props. Scenery. And not hers. She needs to go up there and see the World of Ashes for herself. Even if there's nothing left to see, she needs to know for certain or she'll never be able to rest.

    Crow is distracted with the others, so happy to have so many people to talk to that he or it can not stop quivering along its edges. "Ah! Hands! Not sandwiches. ...What was the thing I ate then?" Crow looks at Inga's 'hands' carefully, seeing how they connect at the wrists. Then it bends its body to look down at itself it quivers its edges harder but that does not resolve its lack of hands. Hm.

    It is soon distracted by Staren and says, "Remember? About what? I remember all the best bug-hunting spots! I remember the places Shadows like to be." Then Crow leans way far forward without leaving its current anchor on the path. It leans right towards Staren, stretching across whatever distance lies between them, and looks him right in the eyes. And without changing its cheerful tone at all, Crow says, "And I remember when people hurt me." And then it just stays there and stares at him with gleaming, round eyes, and a fixed smile.

    Then Crow snaps back to its original position and it is all innocence again as it says, "Anyway, you were flying? Like a fly? I thought you were falling! Wow! You're amazing, mister!"

    Didn't directly answer if it can see stuff that isn't on the paths, but maybe it's more of a range limitation than a structural one. Then Crow is on to the next person.

Carna (974) has posed:
    "Did I help? Was I helpful? If I keep being helpful I can stay with you, right?" Crow asks of Athela. "Ohhh, man! You guys are so cool! You're going to make things WAY more interesting! I like bugs, but these paths only go so far, and the places they go to aren't always good."

    The Shadow bobs up and down a bit. Or more like... Squishes down and then back up. Bouncing in place kind of, as it looks to Svala, and then to Priscilla, and then to Carna, waiting for the next thing to respond to. If no one does, it might just start talking on its own agai--

    Oh, good, Kushiko saves the day. Crow's face shifts to its 'back' to it's facing the Tenno. "Yeah, I'm a Shadow! Surfaces are easier to move on. Standing is kind of exhausting. That's what you call it, right? Standing? Or hanging? No, wait, hanging is that thing you do with the ropes on your necks. Or sometimes it's chains. Or hooks. Lots of hanging up ahead. You guys are sure you want to go there?"

    Crow focuses on Priscilla again and says, "Prisszilla! Hi! Pretty sure they don't like Shadows because they think we should be locked up and we're not. I think we used to be though? But then we got out and now every time they see us, they're all, 'Hey, I'm going to put you in a box and you'll stay there alone forever and you'll never, ever, ever get out again, and stop crawling into my eyes I need those to see aaaaaaahhhh'. That last bit always gets me. 'I need those to see!' Heehee."

    Crow bobs a bit more and then says, "But seriously, I don't want to be in a box. I guess the one stopping people from coming here was keeping them in a box too?" It looks to Carna, and then Kord, and then Inga for confirmation. Finally, Karal explains in more detail. "Wow! A wall is kind of like a box! Glad they went away then! Putting people in boxes is, like, really mean! Same for walls too probably. Anyway, I'll lead you there! Don't worry! We're all friends now! So I'll help you! And no one will go in a box ever again!"

    Carna watches the Shadow leading the way. And someone who is suspicious of and paranoid about just about everyone even after they've offered abundant proof of loyalty and trustworthiness, is most bothered by the fact that, even with the innocent behavior paired with the menacing, she can't tell... How she feels about Crow. She just can't tell at all.

Kushiko has posed:
For the benefit of what little generalized sanity she has, Kushiko elects not to elucidate on the exactness of what she's doing. Mostly cause she's both sitting and standing, being the oddness that she is by existing in two places at once.

Not that people need to know too much on that yet. Hurts the brain it might, and we've had our fill of that with Crow.

"Well, I suppose that makes sense," she dryly notes. "Shadows. Light. And the fact light isn't light." The temptation to be loquacious comes and goes like a flicker of light much the same and dismisses the contemplativeness. Well, at least now they know this area. On to the next; and the one that probably explains why things have been so disquietingly quiet.