liberazoth | nevertheless the people still sketch the flame of their undying lives;

[ the third morning after the first breaks, and after being a busy bee during the rest of the day vayne can be found ... in the adventurer's guild! with intent, it looks like; he seems to be going through the cabinets and actually putting together a pack with the assorted supplies recommended for this kind of expedition. an oil lamp in decent condition sits right off to the side of all this, and he seems to have picked out one of the swords in better condition, as it's set aside from the rest of the ones in the cabinets.

though he seems to be debating on the rope. are. are they going to need that for something. for what, finding their way back to the entrance, or having to rappel their way down a sheer drop? ]

I wonder how much of this someone would even need...

[ he muses out loud, to himself, glancing absently off to his side and down like it's a familiar habit. it's unclear whether he means to actually address anyone, but it doesn't seem like anyone else is present, and after a moment he seems to catch himself with a blink to refocus on the things in front of him. ]

Dunno, it depends on the terrain. If you have to rappel down straightaway, you'll be able to reuse the same piece a few times... unless you need to tie off to leave some behind to get back.

[Mio's interest in the mines has far less to do with what materials can be found there and more with her hope that there might be a passage that no one's considered, but her interest is piqued nonetheless. She is by no means a caver and only average when it comes to tactics, but she can handle a little forethought. She won't be rashly running into the mines based on mere optimism that some road to salvation might be down there. While she's already tested some of the blades (not Blades) here, right now her focus is on trying to see if it's even possible to plan a route into the mines.]

It's probably a good idea to have food and water. If you're too exhausted to climb out, those little phones might be your only hope of getting in touch with people still up here.]

I wonder how deep these mines might go, in that case. It'd be inconvenient if we ended up having to come back early because we ended up needing more supplies than we thought, or the lanterns burning out when we wanted to go further. Maybe we'll just have to do one part at a time ...

[ mio has the right idea, though. vayne's no expert caver either, but he's done his fair share of expeditions into the unknown to map it out and gather resources ~~and suddenly misses the standard jrpg quick travel options intensely~~. adela said there was no known exit by land or by water. they can't fly. but maybe, instead... ]

And ... I don't know.

If we're supposed to be growing this Astera as an offering to these spirits, or ... whatever they are, do you think there might be ruins buried somewhere that might tell us more about all of this?

[ if not an escape route, then might there be secrets hidden underground? a crumbling altar, a dais, some environmental storytelling scrawled haphazardly out on the wall detailing how exactly they screwed up and doomed the town for generations therefore? a stone coffin, a sealing array disturbed when it shouldn't have been?

he seems a little self-conscious suggesting it, though: ]

... Maybe it's just a silly thought.

[Pour one out for the fast-travel AND the easy-access maps... this would be much easier with a functioning Iris.

Just as Vayne is pulling back into his shell from the suggestion, Mio leans forward to seize on it.]

No! It's not silly at all. I think that theory could hold merit, even if we don't find remnants of whatever was here before. If it's really that expansive, someone might have hidden something there or left something behind.

[She sobers.] A memory of someone who's been down those paths before and isn't here to share it anymore.

Yeah ...

[ that sobers him real quickly too; he pauses while pulling out an extra length of rope to set aside. these farms are so haunted. ]

Miss Makima seemed pretty determined to learn more about this place. She's probably already been down here, in that case. Still, it can't hurt to look for anything hidden.

That's true. They both kept saying there were many things about the town that they didn't know. Since they chose to stay in town, I'd like to believe they have our best interests at heart... I can't help but wonder.

[She might have more thoughts on the matter, but maybe she's interested in hearing Vayne take on it all first, setting the floor for him to come in with his own take.]

[ and he'll offer it, after a moment of rummaging through the supplies to gather his thoughts. ]

... I wonder too.

In the end, we still don't actually know if the people who took the offer to leave ... Actually made it home or not. They could have chose to stay just because it was the safer option. Even though they don't know much about the town, they know more about it than they do the spirits, it sounds like.

You're right. We can't know the how of getting home when we haven't got a good handle on how we arrived here in the first place, either.

[She looks pensive. Mio knows how easy it is to fall into patterns just because you're told it's the thing things should be and how they've always been; she both completely believes that things could have unfolded the way they were told and suspects that things might be being downplayed as commonplace.]

Do you think it's strange at all to not see spirits that apparently have such extreme demands? I can't quite look at it rationally myself.

Where I'm from, there are beings who are invisible to those who don't have a certain aptitude for, ah, working with or partnering with them ... So I guess it's not too far-fetched to think we can't see these spirits normally.

[ that is, if they actually do exist. it really could go either way. they can choose not to believe both of the ladies, but that leaves them knowing nothing at all. or they can believe that everything told to them was truth in its entirety, and that they might not still be getting the whole story. but for what reason, though...?

(truths that might at the same time be lies of omission. ...not again.) ]

Still, this all would sound more like a bad ghost or horror story... if it weren't for how we're the ones stuck in it.

nevertheless the people still sketch the flame of their undying lives;

w1, tuesday;

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