handwritten text; day 6?

[bearshermark]

sweet lily of the hidden valley:

I have healing magic

[Then, after a few minutes, he decides signing it might be a good idea, in case this works as he's been told]

-Eleven

Comments

[darkeststars]

So how does it work? This birthmark of yours. I'm always quite curious about regional legends.

[ Though he's already had Mingyu insist to him that his 'magic' was quite different from the Force sorcery Arche is familiar with, it seems sensible enough to him that it must all still be the same underlying thing. Considering there's precious little of the positive about this place, might as well enjoy trying to talk shop about nerd things for a bit. ]

[bearshermark]

[Er, well. ..But at least through writing it's easier to talk about]

It's meant to channel the will of Yggdrasil. She represents Life and Light in Erdrea.

[darkeststars]

The will, hm? Does Yggdrasil speak to you?

[bearshermark]

Not as such. She is the world tree. But She has given me visions through Her roots to guide me.

[darkeststars]

Hm, I see. Quite convenient for those with the gift to be physically marked.

[ Yes, this is all sounding quite familiar. ]

I too know a will that speaks without speaking. Though visions have never been my personal speciality.

[bearshermark]

Really?

[He well understands the curiosity now]

What sort of will exists where you're from?

[darkeststars]

We call it the Force. The energy that suffuses the universe, that binds all living things together. And a power that can be wielded by one with the capability.

It calls to only a few of us. But just one of the greatest among us might be enough to topple an army.

[bearshermark]

[An energy that binds all living things...]

Are you one of those strong wielders?

[darkeststars]

I do all right for myself. I don't know about an army, but I can take a few platoons. Preferably not at once.

So what exactly is expected of those who bear the birthmark, hm? Are there many of you? Does your society consider you in a special class, or? [ He's got a friend who will be dying to hear all these little anthropological details later. Assuming 'later' comes. ]

[bearshermark]

[Now these questions are considerably harder. There's a considerably long pause before he responds]

I'm the only one with this mark in my world. It means I'm meant to defend the world from darkness.

But I'm not the only one with magic. Like your Force, not everyone has it, but it isn't terribly rare.

[darkeststars]

Interesting. Now this phenomenon I can't say I have heard the like of.

[ Perhaps... a potent enough concentration of the Force within one being could lead to physical anomalies?... His mind is busily trying to fit it into a framework he understands. ]

But let me see then. So -- because of an accident of birth, you find yourself shoved into the spearhead of someone else's battle cleaning up someone else's messes, is that right? Seems things truly do never change no matter where in the galaxy one turns.

[bearshermark]

[He might have argued against the accident bit once, but he's not sure Yggdrasil didn't make a mistake.]

Well, Yggdrasil is a tree. She needs to be protected.

[darkeststars]

Wait, so -- there is a literal, actual tree involved here?

[ You've been around him a fair bit, Eleven, you can definitely picture the nose-wrinkled squint of 'what' he's making right now. ]

[bearshermark]

[Woops. He'd thought that was clear]

Yes.

Not an ordinary tree, though. She hangs in the sky, large enough to be seen from most places in Erdrea.

[darkeststars]

Fascinating. An orbital semi-sentient botanical lifeform. There truly are mysteries left yet in this galaxy.

Perhaps I will have to come see for myself at some point. One of my crew would be absolutely beside himself to witness such a thing. [ A giant sky tree that can communicate with locals and forms a basis for their whole culture? Talos's specialty is more archaeology, but he could definitely wrangle two or three promotions out of an unprecedented find like that. All depending, of course, on whether Arche is willing to subject this Erdrea to the Empire's loving attentions or not. ]

[bearshermark]

[UH...]

That doesn't sound possible.

[darkeststars]

Oh? Does your world have some policy about outsiders? Or is your great tree part of a nice orbital defense system or the like? [ He's not really clear yet on whether Eleven came from Somewhere Else Entirely, or some neighbor civilization to the city they're in now, but given that he hasn't noticed any Yggdrasil in the sky over Sa-Hareth yet the former seems like a safe bet. ]

Probably just as well, really. Opening one's shores to the wider galaxy has its benefits, but the dangers are many.

[bearshermark]

I just don't really know anything about travelling to other worlds. I mean we're here, so I guess it must be possible..

Erdrea is in enough danger right now though.

[darkeststars]

Well, if I were going to come by, I would visit via starship. You've seen sea ships, I'm sure? [ That's a thing they had pretty early back in history, right???? Then again, if Eleven's planet hasn't had any outside contact at all, who knows... ] Traveling between planets is not so different in principle. Only in the distance and scale.

It did sound as though this mission of yours was rather urgent. What was it you spoke of when we met -- the Void?

[bearshermark]

I have sailed on the sea before, but I haven't heard of ships that can sail between the stars.

[That's going to take some time to sink in]

And yes, the Void is meant to be a dimension between life and death. I thought that was where we were, here.

[darkeststars]

Between life and death... Hm. Give me a moment.

[ Several minutes pass before Eleven gets another message. ]

Don't know that I feel anything out of the ordinary hovering between those two states around here. Plenty of the living, and some energy of the restless left behind. Then again, the local walking corpses seem to have no presence in the Force at all, so it's still possible my senses deceive me and you have been sent somewhere just off-course from your destination.

[bearshermark]

[Both possibilities are terribly alarming in their own rights]

I hope we can find a way back in either case.

[darkeststars]

Even if I have to spend 20 years building a comm relay from scratch to contact my people, I will get off this rock.

You are certainly free to come along in such a case. But I doubt it will come to that.

[bearshermark]

[Erdrea will not survive 20 years under darkness. His handwriting is a little less steady when it comes]

I appreciate the thought.

[darkeststars]

[ He frowns at the output on the other side of this strange contraption. Is it the technology on the fritz, or...? ]

Don't get all doom-and-gloom on me now, I speak only in hypotheticals. You're not the only one who would rather be home yesterday, believe me.