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Tamamo	For those who haven't been here recently, there's a dramatic contrast to that time before. In total, it's graded over kilometers, passing through a low-threat no-man's-land, a place visibly touched by what's most recently been dubbed the Pandemic Threat, only for that alien vista to fade away into what's somehow even less usual -- ordinary earths, tough grasses tolerant of poor soil and, ever so gradually, more and more green. It's semi-clear where a boundary is passed, as every stone has moss or creeping vines, trees dip their roots in the riverwater. Water flows lazily, then quickly, finding gaps where nature that looks far more than a year old grasps it. Brush grows densely, the bite of winter still a good ways off, from ankle high on up to trees tall enough to form a comfortable shade.     Not too high. There are limits to the growth, as much as the rules have been bent. One can see, too, where all of this started, there on the stretch of land between two winding courses of water, a tiny island that can barely be called such, having been just large enough for what Tamamo had intended.     . . .     Arrival, as ever, is fastest by boat. It would be faster by air, in theory, but that presents dangers best avoided. There remain no nearby gates, no means of instant transmission, the remoteness of the place an intentional aspect. This place was not meant to be discovered, which is exactly what makes it odd, to Tamamo, that the alarm boundary she'd left just last week has already been triggered.     As was the case, then, the island isn't their immediate destination -- at least, not solely. Different than last week, Tamamo does suggest they should check in there -- in fact, "It would be best to give the area a broader examination. I know that someone or something passed a boundary, but not to where that intruder did go. If they are no longer nearby, we should check for traces of passage."     To either side of the valley, slopes ascend to what are largely more 'hilltop' than 'mountaintop,' but do present a significant hike. To the right is where the sealing array mentioned by Tamamo has been left, and is where she, herself, will be first going.
Petra Soroka	Petra is rowing again, despite this not really being necessary. In addition to her, Matilda is also rowing, because Petra gave her an oar to do so, for the bonds of girlhood.     Along the way, she's chattering to Matilda about the state of the island, and everything she missed while she was hospital-bound. "So, like, after talking with the little fairy spirit-- she was *so* cute, like, wearing this super bright pink flower and stuff-- we went and found the creature. But it was just, like, a previously living spirit from before the Onslaught, who'd adapted to the fucked up terrain of no-mans-land, and even though it was hostile to *us*, that didn't really feel like a great justification to hurt it more than we had to to calm it down and trap it so it didn't bother the little fairy town anymore."     "Also, like, also unrelatedly while you were sick, we met this giant robot guy from way before the current whole, political system of the sector existed. He was apparently knocked out in his robot war when I was, like, a baby. And then after meeting him, for some reason the old superfactions have just been relevant a whole bunch lately, and I don't know what's up with that. Baader-Meinhof-ass."     Such useless things fill up the couple hours it takes to row and float the whole distance from the warpgate down the river. Once there, Petra glances at Lilian-- who'll surely be accompanying Tamamo to the seal, and for efficiency's sake decides to go the other way.     "If you think the seal won't be, like, immediately dangerous-- it's not broken free or anything, right?-- then Ange and Matilda and I could all check out the island and see what's up."
Tamamo	"It does seem that the danger is not immediate," Tamamo says to Petra. "It should be rather apparent should anything happen within the area of a 'shrine,' as 'that' tree may be considered." So reasoned, Tamamo has no issue with splitting up this way.     For her own part, she's spent it reading tea leaves and sitting with Lilian. This isn't a very precise form of divination, so it's little surprise that it doesn't tell her anything she didn't already know. Even so, she says it is, "...unusually vague."     While so seated, she has a lower conversation, ostensibly couple talk and secretly excluding Matilda. "I did ask her myself, but you might wish to also join us. Considering what happened the other day... a talk about boundaries might be... no awareness of... taken advantage, or taking..." This only excludes Petra by proximity.
Angela	Angela wasn't here the last time, or the time before in fact, because it was Netzach who was around, but she wants to check in on the kodoma, and of course she wants to check in on the area around the kodoma. She didn't exactly give a reason why, but considering her tree talk earlier today maybe she's feeling like she might owe some responsibility to the forest spirits. It isn't that she doesn't trust Netzach, even though she absolutely doesn't trust Netzach, it's that she has largely let these little guys do their own thing without any interference with her and this is the only way she can really see them in another element. And hey, if she has to check out an array first, she might as well do that. Not that she really knows anything about sealing arrays or, really, ''arrays''. But she can summon EGO and hit something if she has to. Hopefully not though, she doesn't enjoy violence and she has to generally rely on her EGO to do the work because it's not like she's taking lessons from Gebura and she'd rather implode than do that. rShe isn't rowing. She wasn't given a paddle. She wonders if she'd get tired if she engaged in rowing, it is a particularly strenuous physical activity, but she's not about to step in and join in. "It is strange, honestly, that I'm even hearing of 'Paladins events' and the like lately, to say nothing of the days even prior to that. I hope it is not a sign of a return to bad habits." Angela is volunteered to investigate the island but, well, she has to go with Petra anyway. "I will follow your path, Petra," since it's a longer outing she doesn't really want to test the boundaries too much. "I doubt it is anything beyond what this group can manage, but that does not mean there is no possibility of complications. Ideally, it will not be too difficult to uncover their movements. But we do have a diviner with us--Would your abilities work here, Miss Matilda?"
Foundation Scions	Matilda Bouanich, Monitor Assistant of the SPDM, prodigy diviner and forseer of far-off fates, is the type to stand up on a boat that shouldn't be stood up in, to wobble it meaningfully, in order to assume a stance with one foot up on the edge, one hand on her hips, and another hand shielding her eyes from the sun in order to excitedly gaze outward- "Ah! The plant growth- c'est incroyable! All of this in only a year..?"     As such, Matilda Bouanich is also the type who ought to then be made to sit down, stop wobbling things, and row the boat alongside Petra! It's fine, and she isn't grumbling at all- in fact, as she makes a show of, she's brought work-gloves to wear (olive colored, fitting her adorable shorts-overalls adventure getup) work gloves, to not get pricked or splintered, or blistered, from rowing! Matilda Bouanich always comes prepared! She even, properly, tries hard at it! But this isn't about rowing! No bonus points for Matilda. '- she was *so* cute, like, wearing this super bright pink flower and stuff-'     "Ah! That is exactly what I was imagining in mind! Very good, Petra!" A little thoughtful-grumblier, and then sympathetic, "It must have been very difficult for some manner of critter to subsist, how it was before! The rocks were quite-bare, and sharp!" That's only really a small part of the no-man's-land hostility.     "Good job, again, in not being mean to it! I am sure it was acting to its nature, only!" 'Also, like, also unrelatedly while you were sick,'     "He was not, by any-chance, very large, very purple, and somewhat-rude and monocular?" A pause, "It would be quite a coincidence if I met another very-large robot, in- er, a strange circumstance! He was unfamiliar, but familiar to some, than the one you spoke of! Imaginez un peu!" 'then Ange and Matilda and I could all check out the island and see what's up.'     "Yes! I, for one, am an excellent finder-of-things, and an examiner- er, no, investigator! It would only be prudent for me to come-with, there!" A pause, which is momentarily un-balancing, as she pauses right when she hoists up her crystal orbuculum into a carrying-stance. A little sad at the notion of opportunity cost, "Though, to see the handiwork of a seal that has been woven, that would be quite interesting, too! Mrs. Mizukume Rook- you do not happen to have a report, or diagram, of the seal in question, do you?"
Lilian Rook	Lilian has been here twice in less-than-that-many months! Which actually makes her pretty happy! It's actually the thing she has been the happiest about in a while now, between the-- uh, well, the umm . . . and the-- oh, oh dear. Well there was the-- hmm.     Matilda! There's Matilda this time! The last time Lilian saw her was at the-- A-ahh. Right.     Well, she's here! With her wife. And Petra. And gradually less misbehaviour-prone triangles. It's autumn, so she gets to wear a nice sweater and pants without anyone questioning it, and it's a long outdoors trip, so she gets to bring her smallest, cutest backpack and avoid being bothered for a long time by reading a book with earbuds in. For some reason, she seems to read much more slowly while listening to music, easily half the speed. She packs boths items away when the last bend comes up, more by memory than attentiveness.     'It would be best to give the area a broader examination. I know that someone or something passed a boundary, but not to where that intruder did go.'     "I may as well give the area a once-over for the obvious signs while it's still convenient." Lilian says, breathing out in the little pause between arching her back and stretching her arms out over her head with a matching Noise. Zipping up her bag again, she hefts it over one shoulder, says "If Matilda is here, I may as well take the opportunity to check the accuracy of my prototype system against her divination." and unspools her tactical belt from the inner compartment, clipping it around her waist at an angle over her preexisting one.
Tamamo	Arriving at two destinations with one boat is a little inconvenient, but they are close enough by, and -- well, the river's not really wadable at any point, even as slow as it gets here, but given Petra's mobility, jumping from one bank to another and poling the boat where it needs to be is entirely within the realm of possibility without asking anyone else to swim. Lilian could do the same, if she weren't occupied and Tamamo hadn't already told Petra to "see to it."     Without a dock -- and without expectation of any being built -- dragging the boat to the point of grounding on the shallows remains the best method of landing. If one does it carefully enough, and happens to know where the shallows are, it's not even all that difficult or messy to get it moving again.     . . .     The spirit homes are much as Netzach last saw them, which is only a bit different from Matilda's last sight of them. The sun is a bit too high right now but, given the river's northwesterly flow and the resulting terrain, twilight begins early here. That's good for anyone interested in seeing kodama, as they're very faint presences at best up until the light wanes and lanterns take over.     Even so, if one looks carefully enough, and moves carefully enough -- something Petra's already familiar with doing at least once -- one can see them now, here and there, more by the edges of one's vision than the center. There are so many of them. Ghostly little blobby-bodied spirits, glowing eyes the only real feature on their faces.     With everything people made back then, it's like a miniature town that's heavily populated only where one isn't focusing, whether by trick of the light of the shyness of the inhabitants. It's easy to get a sense of how they walk on the flower-overhung paths or sit on the benches or circle around the field in front of the castle Sarracenia built them in an aggregate sense, but harder to focus on the individual sitting atop one of Lala's trailer homes while kicking its pointy feet.     If everyone hangs around, it'll be easier to take in the sights, of course. As long as no new reason is given to shyness.     The tallest tree is, of course (to those who were here and recall) a cypress, planted and accelerated in its growth and nurtured by a great deal of Lilian's own effort, a year ago, and then decorates with thin red ropes and lanterns. Among these hang a cloth with the words, 'Let us not be greedy, yet hold a myriad of wishes.' It is vibrantly healthy, to the point it's a wonder it's not overgrown.     Tamamo isn't here to give introductions this time, but that seems to not be necessary. Netzach's kodama are pretty close by, rather more visible than the native spirits at this time of day, but there's one more with the greater strength of presence to show up as a near solid, and they appear from the same hollow in the tree as last time, stretching like its morning.     Leaf-clothed and with a layered pink-petal flower for a hat, the not-really leader of the town is distinctly recognizable even before speaking. "Ooh~ You're back. I knew you would be, after 'that guy' showed up. Ohh, thanks for taking of 'that one,' too. Maybe 'that one' will want to join us after calming down. Do you think so? We've got plenty of room now, too. Ohh~ But I haven't seen you before! And yooou, I haven't seen, but this tree remembers. I saw them waving to you, too~" Matilda didn't get to see anyone waving to her with any clarity, but this last is directed to her.
Tamamo	Matilda asks about the seal.     "Because of the type of spirit involved, I used an array invoking the five elements and the four directions, anchoring the figure in the West, with a balance of a two-sided nature. Oh, but I do not have a diagram, here. It is rather simple, once the principles are understood, being something well-refined." There's no telling the standards by which something like that would be 'simple' just from Tamamo saying so. "You may have a look at it later on, of course."     . . .     To get to the sealing array is a bit of a walk, if taken leisurely. The sealing array is also the site of the ambush, though there's nothing especially dangerous about the outsider-foliage on its own. It was only with the spirit's help that it could accelerate growth to the point of seeming as if it were moving to attack. The dust is still here, rolling like an ankle-high fog. Despite knowing it won't be reaching any higher, Tamamo takes a brightly colored handkerchief, orange-trimmed in navy, and gestures to Lilian to tie it for her as a dust mask, helpfully holding her hair up from her nape, before seeing her off with a hug and then a wave.     From the air, the battle site is something Lilian notices before Tamamo nearly reaches it. The 'kelp' hasn't even reclaimed the area cut down by everyone's bladeplay in the week since, producing uneven areas of battle damage and wind blasting -- though it's rather resilient to the latter hazard, overall. It's actually the greenery that's advanced further, doubtfully buoyed by the continued efforts of the spirits, now that nothing is directly combating them.     . . .     The sealing array is just as it was left. The stone in the center of the array is only obviously of mystical significance to someone with the right senses for such things, but that includes Tamamo, so she's able to quickly determine, once she gets there and with some small relief, "It has not moved." The spirit is still in there, waiting for an opportunity to perform purification -- or readaptation, to be very specific. 'Conversion' feels a bit unwholesome, so she won't be using that one.     Because she's that sort of meticulous person, Tamamo takes her time examining the array. This will keep her for a while.     . . .     Besides being able to spot Tamamo's work from the air, Lilian can see the island well enough, the growing brushland spreading away from the increasingly forested river valley, the broad fields of red and black, and...     A magical ping where there really shouldn't be one. Nothing visible, just 'something with an arcane signature,' transmitting as intermittently as a half-dead flare half-buried in the dirt, a bit downriver. Right where there's a natural walking path, though not the one Tamamo just used, to get between the valley and the northeast plains, over the hills. It might actually be under the plants growing there, if it's not just invisible in some way.
Angela	Angela gets a chance to check out the kodoma for a spell. She doesn't suspect she ought to linger long, considering the circumstances, but it's hard to resist the urge to just take in the world around her and just enjoy the vibes around her. She has to remind herself that she may have her personal reason for coming, but she can't let that affect her offer of assistance. The Library has been a strain on everyone so she ought to try and help them here and there. Not that she's expecting to be able to do much. She's not a ritualist or magician. She thinks of Druvis, wondering if it'd be possible to just move the whole tree somewhere nicer. But she supposes that would effectively preempt her goals and be accepting that she'd have to lean on Petra forever. And that's no good. The blobby-bodied spirits with glowing eyes and the kodoma might as well be cousins, Angela thinks. She extends out a finger but the kodoma don't immediately approach. They just sort of look at her and wiggle as is their wont. At least they seem to be ... doing well? She has a feeling they are doing well. Maybe it's a nicer place for them. More who found their way out and a new home, she supposes. But then--flowerhat! Angela isn't exactly startled, since she heard about this one from Netzach. Angela dips her head in a polite bow, figuring it's only polite, and says, "Ah, yes, you are correct. We are here because of 'that guy'. Miss Tamamo sensed that someone crossed the boundary and we felt we ought to investigate to ensure they do not present a danger to the ecosystem and, well, to just sort of check things out safely." ''Maybe 'that one' will want to join us after calming down.'' "That would be nice, it is kind of you to keep your door open for a troublemaker."
Petra Soroka	"It is strange, honestly, that I'm even hearing of 'Paladins events' and the like lately, to say nothing of the days even prior to that."     "Huh?" During the trip up, Petra tilts her head at Angela. "I hear about Paladins events all the time. I mean, there's always Paladins events. Do you mean something else?" "He was not, by any-chance, very large, very purple, and somewhat-rude and monocular?     "That's the one. Very big and somewhat-rude. Real weird guy, but I don't know how much I can blame him for it on account of the lobotomy. --Wait, where'd you meet him?" Matilda's so little!!! How could she have met the giant robot! "If Matilda is here, I may as well take the opportunity to check the accuracy of my prototype system against her divination."     For whatever reason, Lilian's slow reading makes Petra very pleased with herself the entire time traveling the river. Inexhaustibly, she sways back and forth while rowing, humming tunelessly.     "--Your system? Oh, you mean your thing?" Somehow these have different meanings to her. "I wonder how else we could test that?" She's thinking about divination-based guessing games, now.     When it comes to actually getting to the island, Petra is a perfectly obedient little gondolier. It's simply obvious to taxi Tamamo and Lilian to the closest part of the river for a direct path to the seal, and then bounce around and relocate the boat to the shallows of the island. She's ended up getting the cuffs of her jeans wet, despite not wading; her jumping around ended in a bit of splashing when dragging the boat ashore, which she doesn't mind at all. "Maybe 'that one' will want to join us after calming down. Do you think so?"     Petra squats down in front of the tree to chat with the spirit leader, gingerly moving to not worry the pikmin-esque townsfolk. "I hope so! I'm sure that one would be honored to be welcomed so generously into your home, once they're settled down. Maybe they'd even help you grow it." "And yooou, I haven't seen, but this tree remembers. I saw them waving to you, too~"     Sideways to Matilda, Petra hisses, gossip-style, "See? Isn't she so cute? It's a little fairy town diorama!!"     Speaking at a normal volume again to address the hatted-one, she says, "So, where did that guy show up? Did they do something to you, or leave something behind?"
Foundation Scions	'You may have a look at it later on, of course.'     "Merci beaucoup- I would very-much like to! It is rare that I get to see this manner of binding-technique used in a practical setting, as-opposed to textbooks that are more dust, than book or text! Ahh..." 'I may as well take the opportunity to check the accuracy of my prototype system against her divination.'     Matilda's expression lights up exactly as if she had a glowing '!!!' pop up overtop her head- "Yes! My divinations, they are, of course, flawless- a perfect metric to test against! Hm!" She hoists the orb up a little higher, very briefly, for unclear reason. "You aim to seek-out the boundary interloper, no? I will tell you my results, once I have them! And, not before, or it would disrupt results, no? Oh, I hope very-much that it works well, though!" . . . 'And yooou, I haven't seen, but this tree remembers. I saw them waving to you, too~'     "Ah! From where?" Matilda, holding onto her orb, can't more than wave with a couple of fingers at a time- which she does, in one direction, and then another, not certain where would be proper! "Hello! I heard about you! I hope you have been enjoying the very-small town!" An 'Ah-hem' before, "I am none-other than Matilda Bouanich! My handiwork is, a part of the town! You are very welcome for it."     She can't not be a little boastful! 'ee? Isn't she so cute? It's a little fairy town diorama!'     "Yes, yes!" She's nearly squealing, but still awkwardly clear her throat and remain Normal, all while basically curling over her orbuculum to lean down and see the spirits closer, and holding her breath slightly in hopes that the quiet will make the others braver! To the dignitary-spirit, "Your hat is very pleasant!" 'So, where did that guy show up?'     This is as good of a spot as-any, to find a quiet (and less-used) patch to sit down, set her orbuculum on her lap, and get to work! With the right lighting, and the vibe of the environs, all that's left is to ask the orbuculum, politely: "Oh boule de cristal, montrez-moi où se trouve l'intrus, s'il te plaît." Images will come, and give her clues, in-addition to the spirit's words! How time-efficient! It may not matter for more than the data-point for Lilian, but... it's fun to divine, regardless! It's Matilda's thing! Wahoo!
Foundation Scions	'-Wait, where'd you meet him?'     "He was outside of a very-large window, of an even-larger building! He was to be lectured on proper behavior for communications-lines, and-" Well, now she's saying she was at the devil's sacrament, abort before self-damnation, Matilda!- "And, er, I saw him leave from it quite quickly! He speaks like Mesmer does, in some ways!"
Lilian Rook	'--Your system? Oh, you mean your thing?'     "My thing." Lilian says, fond-relieved in a strangely leaky way. Even if the context was miserable, "You were there, remember?" Of course the finalized (prototype) version goes further than what little she'd seen, involving Lilian clipping something like a flat, gold-faced buckle over the hip-facing side of her belt, and slotting a titanium cigarette carton into the reverse latch behind it. The gold is engraved with an elaborate array, while the metal behind it is slotted with four spring-latched nodes for whatever comes from the case.     . . . . . . . .     Thinking about the kodama as stars-- little lights that can only be appreciated without directly looking at them-- endears Lilian to them more than she expected it would. After a while of playing little vision games, looking toward and away, toying with the exact threshold at which she can make them out, Lilian squints, then focuses deep into the center of the vision, rubs her eyes, and then finally says, uncertainly poised between worry and heavily reserved excitement, "I could swear my vision has been getting better."     . . . . . . . .     Lilian ties Tamamo's mask with the slightest indication to do so. The swarm of metal shards, having by now condensed down to just over a score, moves in a way oddly suggestive of trying to help, but there is clearly nothing they could do.     'It has not moved.'     'I hope so! I'm sure that one would be honored to be welcomed so generously into your home, once they're settled down.'     "Hopefully it's just feeling relaxed. I'd have to have severely wounded it." Lilian says. "Freaky evil deer spirit or not, all of us are scarred by the Onslaught in our own ways; some more than others. I'd like to show that patience where I can." The patience she wasted on people who didn't deserve it, which was never repair. "I'm going to check out the arcane signature to the south. Be safe, okay?"     . . . . . . . .     Lilian touches down in the foliage before long. Her sword is worn at her waist, arm carefully laid on it, but not yet drawn, in case of another spirit. She uses her utility knife to cut away the growth where it's too tangled, paring away only what she really needs to in order to home in on it. Just before, however, she inserts a black tungsten carbide-steel rod (coincidentally long-cigarette-sized) into the gold-faced greeble slot, which sparks a moment of blue-green flame and steadily hisses at her side.
Tamamo	The tree spirit -- who has a very close resemblance to something out of a 20th century illustrated British children's book on fairies, but for the vagueness of facial features -- seems to be halfway between 'still waking up' and 'enjoying the attention.'     'Miss Tamamo sensed that someone crossed the boundary and...'     "Oh~ That's right, she set up something like that, huh~ so she knows about 'that guy,' too." Tamamo doesn't, though. She only knows that the alarm went off. "'That one' might have been more like us, but 'that guy' is the one who wants to join us, here. He can't really~ though, since he's so big and clumsy. Oh, it's different for our cousins here, of course~ They're pretty 'like us,' too, but maybe lazier." The way the little spirit laughs is very animated. Then they settle down again, leaning over a bump in the wood like they were gazing up at everyone over a balcony railing.     "It's pro~bably not dangerous, but maybe it is?" This is said with a near total lack of urgency. "Oh, that 'troublemaker,' that's a good word. There's lots of space, so there's lots of doors, too~"     'Maybe they'd even help you grow it.'     "Oh~ Do you think so? They wanted to grow the red, which was the whole problem! But if they change their mind, that'd be nice for everyone." There might be more to say about that, but Tamamo had said that this one was, if not as young as the tree is (nominally, a little over a year old) still a 'young spirit.' Or maybe they're just not into going on about the state of the archipelago.     'Did they do something to you, or leave something behind?'     Hand-to-chin thinking is within the easily read emotes of even someone whose fingers are a bit indistinct in the light. "Mmm, now that you mention it, they did leave something behind, didn't they... 'that guy' left things here and there... but it was all out at the edges, so it's not real~ly a problem for now, is it? He only got a bit close to the island, and then--" They break into tittering laughter again, but don't explain the memory. "--and went off again!"     'I hope you have been enjoying the very-small town!'     "Ooh~ Yes~ Everyone likes it a lot. It's so much nicer than being 'out there.' We have everything we need here, which is why we can make things grow~ But you know about that, don't you? You need to have everything, first, if you want to spread out in the sun. You can't relax if the ground's all sandy." It's unclear whether that's a metaphor or a personal preference.     'Your hat is very pleasant!'     The little spirit twists side to side, arms low and hands(?) together, then does a little spin. "Isn't it~?" It looks rather like a China aster. None of the other little spirits seem to have hats. Perhaps they're rare, or perhaps they require tree power. It is presently a mystery.     Matilda sits down and consults her orbuculum. Images begin to show, of... bushes? The same sort of brushland Lilian's looking at. Images flash one after another, similar but different. Many specific bushes? They'd be a bit hard for her to identify among all the other plants, though. Trees are easily hidden in forests, and the same applies here. One image, however, shows a bit of paper half-buried in the ground, and near it is what resolves before her eyes as a footprint. A human footprint, though from an oddly flat shoe with no distinct heel.
Tamamo	'Freaky evil deer spirit or not, all of us are scarred by the Onslaught in our own ways.'     "Some are left without comfortable options," Tamamo says, potentially thinking of a thousand different things. "This time will reward your patience, I think. You have such warmth to give, and some do realize this." Still, she's going to give this deer time to lose any bitey urges before suggesting Lilian approach.     . . .
Angela	''Do you mean something else?'' "Mm... No, I mean, there have always been 'Paladin events', but it feels there has been an uptick lately." ''Thinking about the kodama as stars...'' Angela looks towards Lilian for a moment. She stares at her for a long moment while she's looking and then turns her head aside as they move on, fingers curling inward then stretching out. ''He can't really~ though, since he's so big and clumsy.'' Angela feels a little empathy for 'that guy' already, but of course 'big and clumsy' can mean something pretty broadly more serious than what Angela's initial expectation would be upon hearing those words together. "Mm... Well, perhaps Miss Tamamo or our other ritualists will know a way to help him--if all he wishes to join, I can't imagine he'll be hostile so long as we approach with the intent of finding a solution." She hesitates and then adds, "Thank you for looking after the little ones. It was a bit of an off the cuff suggestion on Netzach's part, I suppose, but it is good to know they can find places to be welcome on their own." Well more or less, Netzach seems more capable of shepherding them about than her because they're always lingering on his floor, and not her. "We should probably check out those 'edges', Eonni."
Petra Soroka	"You were there, remember?"     "Yes!! I do remember!" She was there, during a kind of difficult and awkward conversation, but it's a positive memory nonetheless. Both symbols contained within the creation of the divination tool-- Lilian's encounter with Arcana, and Lilian's execution of Zephiel-- are ones where friction was created, and then resolved, even if not perfectly. Ever since Ash apologized to her so easily at the wedding, Petra's been a little bit addicted to the concept of forgiveness and interpersonal durability.     "I didn't think the end thing would look so, like, sleek. Or, fashionable. But I should've." "My divinations, they are, of course, flawless- a perfect metric to test against!"     "Aren't they a little flawed? Like, just by the nature of, divinations? Being interpretive?" "I hope you have been enjoying the very-small town!"     The very-small town... it's so cute.... Petra is so endlessly fond of tiny little dollhouses and the little glowy spirits that reside in them, and seeing them clamber around ignites this feeling yet again. Her cute aggression gets funneled into instead a surge of cute-productivity, yearning grippy hands reaching in the direction of the little houses.     "I wanna make something for them. Next time I wanna bring a little-- or if we have the time, maybe make something here. Even if they're all settled now, I wanna expand the town." "He was outside of a very-large window, of an even-larger building!"     "Oh, okay. King Kong style."     Petra doesn't immediately register anything at all from Matilda talking about behavioral lectures, even though she received the letter too. It's kind of the most Matilda thing ever to be in a very-large building, lecturing someone about proper behaviors! Also, lecturer or lectured, Petra can only sympathize with being a nightmare for HR.     "I guess he does kind of talk like Mesmer. Maybe that means we should-- no, that's kind of too mean to say. Let us know what you see, anyways." "He can't really~ though, since he's so big and clumsy."     "Hmm." Taking the things the spirit says as directly, materially literal probably isn't true, but there's at least a nugget of actionable information in there. "Maybe he'd like a bigger house? That way he could be your neighbour and the clumsiness wouldn't be a problem."     Petra wants to build a house here. Whether it's small or big!!! Preferably small, but imagine if she made a normal-size house for whoever that guy is, and then a little teeny tiny hotel for visitors! Imagine a teeny tiny hotel! "Mmm, now that you mention it, they did leave something behind, didn't they... 'that guy' left things here and there... but it was all out at the edges, so it's not real~ly a problem for now, is it?"     "Well, that's where we'll go, then. Littering's not allowed. Thank you!" "Mm... No, I mean, there have always been 'Paladin events', but it feels there has been an uptick lately."     While heading towards the edges-- presumably the outer reaches of the terraforming, but if it's really a lot of ground to cover, Petra has the Beauty of Ash-- she chats with Angela, who she can't stray away from for long. "But like-- there's probably a hundred or a thousand 'Paladins things' every day we don't hear about. I mostly know what Lilian gets up to, and she doesn't even know all of it. Right? I really have no idea what you mean."
Lilian Rook	'This time will reward your patience, I think. You have such warmth to give, and some do realize this.'     Lilian sighs. She isn't quite sure whether to feel happy or remorseful about it. "Each time you've said that, I think I've been of a mind to believe it a little bit more, but then I think 'no wonder no one wants to accept it'."     'I didn't think the end thing would look so, like, sleek. Or, fashionable. But I should've.'     Laughter. Tired-self-conscious. "I'm still working on it. The ratio of gold was unavoidable in the end, so a fixed accessory was the best route in the end. I took a bit of Lowell's punchcard idea and had the primer and incense lamination worked into the striker itself. Locking it in keeps it secure during combat especially. It's a pain to change right now, since it has to screw in, but I'll try a few versions. Perhaps even get a lily shape going. For thematic consistency."     She pauses, staring off oddly. "Though perhaps some subtle crow-touches might not go amiss? I never much cared for the symbolism until I heard Senén enough times to grown fond of it." She's thinking of her anonymous pixiv account now.     'Aren't they a little flawed? Like, just by the nature of, divinations? Being interpretive?'     Lilian reminisces on a certain dream interpretation, and warily side-eyes Petra. "Well, nothing is literally perfect. Even me."     'I guess he does kind of talk like Mesmer.'     "If she were aware of pop culture, were somewhat more relaxed, and also, like, more evil? But normal about it? It's odd." Lilian shakes her head. "Somehow more casual and social yet less 'ensouled'. I've been thinking about it since seeing them interact. He tried to get her number."
Tamamo	'Even if they're all settled now, I wanna expand the town.'     The little island is having most of its space used, by now. And yet... there is some space between the various creations people left. Mostly because they all worked separately and in totally different styles, with the exception of contributions like Chuyao's humble huts beneath the castle. More grandly, of course, there's also the space on either bank. Tamamo would have things to say about this, but she's still several minutes of hiking away. The little spirit doesn't register it as directed their way, and is therefore still spinning, post-hat-compliment.     'That way he could be your neighbour and the clumsiness wouldn't be a problem.'     "Well~ A Boundary would work, too!" The capital letter was audible, there. Something about houses and borders. It'd be clearer with someone like Nika here.     'Thank you for looking after the little ones.'     "Of course, it's no problem~ If you're thankful, you can bring gifts, you know~? 'She' hasn't let us down, but who doesn't like more gifts?" 'Offerings.' That's what Tamamo had called it. She hadn't explained relevant rituals in-depth, though.     Angela and Petra are in agreement to get out and look, and Matilda has at least some idea of what they're looking for. Onward, then, off the island and into the brush. Maybe the orb will give clearer and more useful pictures when they're close. Or maybe they'll stumble into them.     . . .     Lilian doesn't stumble into it, but it's a near thing. Without any divination active, or without a danger-sensing technique like she's using, the little paper in the ground, attracting her to check it out, would do just what it's meant to do while she was in range. Instead, she has the chance to juke out, letting that half-buried talisman trigger without being caught in the blast. And it is a blast -- not, probably, deadly, but the electric arcs could have left her convulsing if she'd either stood there for a tiny fraction of a second more, or if she'd tried to avoid it by moving either to her left or directly backward, where otherwise inert, and therefore much less noticeable, metal needles were camouflaged.     There's not much chance to examine it, since the talisman is the type that burns away on use. There is, at least, the chance to consider why there'd be an electrical trap, specifically, left here. One that would be nasty to experience, but not reliably lethal.     Her radio, despite being a properly hardened piece of Paladin equipment, didn't like that. Reception will be fuzzy for a minute.
Angela	''But like-- there's probably a hundred or a thousand--'' "Oh I'm sure there are plenty, but I'm speaking as to a personal impression that in my field and reach, I am hearing of them more frequently." Angela says, glancing over. "But I apologize for being befuddling. It's a stray thought, nothing to be taken too seriously." ''Well, nothing is literally perfect. Even me.'' Poetic evocative perfection is better than literal perfection anyway." Angela adds, looking back over to the kodoma, who while perfect are, by most accounts, not. ''If you're thankful, you can bring gifts, you know~?'' "I would be happy to. What sort of gifts do you like? I'll bring some next time." Maybe she can just, like, learn a little bit about the arcane world here, step by step. She doubts she'll ever be comfortable in it, but it's good to expand one's horizons. Especially if she intends to work with Manus Vindictae in the future. And she's increasingly sold on it, even if she doubts it'll make Roland happy. A Boundary would work, too! Angela pauses for a moment before looking back to the guardian. "Boundaries, I understand they are protection, but you seem comfortable with them. Do you--" She realizes she's about to say something very silly and she shakes her head. "Nevermind." She nods to Petra, ready to move on.
Petra Soroka	"Though perhaps some subtle crow-touches might not go amiss?"     Earlier, with Lilian, Petra babbles enthusiastically on the topic of symbolic design, in the company of arcanists. "Oh, it's gotta be crow. Obviously the lily theming is super cute, but there'd be, like, a weighted imbalance if you went with that. Because you'd have the lily encoded in your hair, your face, and then your, like, belt?-- Er, your face I mean, because that's where your you is stored. You know what I mean."     Petra's hands gesture around in ways that are totally meaningless, cupping her hands at a distance from each other like she's holding a basketball. "But, if the lily symbols are slotted into 'identity and personality', then the waist, where Night Mist is, then that's 'action and intention', you know? And that's where the crow fits in." "Well, nothing is literally perfect. Even me."     "You set the upper limit, then." Petra does not know about the dream Lilian had! Matilda does, though! . . . "Well~ A Boundary would work, too!"     Talking to the fairy spirit, Petra nods thoughtfully like this makes sense. Of course, asking for clarification on what that means is probably pointless, and hopefully Tamamo knows, but she can at least ask something.     "Right, I'd love to build a Boundary for them. What'd be the first step for that?" . . .     Then it's stumbling around in the outskirts time, while snooping and maybe getting better information from Matilda! This doesn't feel like a situation that warrants a rush, though, so it's fine. Petra's happy walking, even, rather than using the Beauty of Ash, because of the clumsiness required to carry two other people and not leave either behind.
Foundation Scions	'Aren't they a little flawed? Like, just by the nature of, divinations? Being interpretive?'     "Hmph," brushes off the superficial contesting of her claim, but Matilda quickly does follow up, "Yes, you're correct, that they are interpretive, but amongst many things, a diviner's intuition is their most-important skill! Their talent, instinct, arcanum, and deep knowledge of the world and of themselves, symbols and memories and feelings, all contribute- ah-hem, and so! Clearly, I, am one who will not be mistaken in my divinations!"     A little hum, "Besides that, the omens witnessed in a divination, where-ever, and how-ever, they are seen, can only be mis-read; they are not a lie, or mistake, in of themselves. It is like solving newspaper-published puzzles, a small bit! With some forms, you can just try again!" Now she's just to the enthusiastic babbling. 'Oh, okay. King Kong style.'     "Oh! The very large monkey." Good job, Matilda! ''She' hasn't let us down, but who doesn't like more gifts?'     "Very true! Gifts stay around, and maintain such sentiments!" A little pause, cheery-muttered, "I like receiving gifts too!" To that end, with a tongue half-stuck out of her lips in cartoonish emoting, Matilda fishes out a small gemstone she picked up earlier in the day, a common, but somewhat notably rosy, quarts, with slight natural faceting! It was just by a riverbank, and it would become smoothed-out and duller, had it fallen in! "This is a 'thank you' for how perfect and charmingly small your flower hat is, for instance! It compliments the color. Somewhat!"     She kneels down to place the tiny stone where it's pleasing! Yay! 'Right, I'd love to build a Boundary for them. What'd be the first step for that?'     "Usually, any-such array, begins with the drawing of an out-line in the substrate!" She's read books! That might not be a cohesive answer to Tamamo's still-to-come, but she still sounds just so confident! . . .     Matilda hikes close-by to Petra, because her eyes are on her orbuculum, and not the path, and doing otherwise, she would risk tripping! That slows her pace two-fold, of course, and she's a bit fussy about the bulk, but, it is always somewhat fun to orienteer using it, and not a compass, towards somewhere other than a coordinate on a map! She has to, too, prove her divinations flawless!
Tamamo	'Right, I'd love to build a Boundary for them. What'd be the first step for that?'     "You know~ A Boundary's gotta be Bound-Around-y." The little spirit says, initially unhelpful, then makes the incidentally helpful assumption that Petra is 'a bit silly' and explains what everyone else 'obviously' already knows, after giggling wobbily at her. "It has to mark one side and the other, and you have to really know it's there, right?"     She kneels down to place the tiny stone where it's pleasing! Yay!     Yay! The spirit does a little dance. Or maybe a two-arm wave? Or a cheer? It's very positive, in any case.     'Usually, any-such array, begins with the drawing of an out-line in the substrate!'     "You can do that, to start~" A true answer. Points to Matilda.     . . .     Getting around some of these places is a bit difficult on foot, just because it's purely wild growth, without even the paths made by larger animals. In fact, there aren't many animals at all. One has to really look around carefully before finding something like a beetle standing perfectly still on the side of a sapling.     As everyone could see on the way in, the shift in growth is gradual as one gets closer to or farther from the origin point of the little island in the river, with a starker difference over the hill ridges in particular. For as intentional as this is, it makes it easier to follow than if this were from decades of untouched and unassisted growing. One can't see exactly what kind of war is taking place between the green ecosystem and the Antegent red, but it makes for visually clear lines and gradients where the two push against each other -- metaphorically, mostly, in that everything here is sessile but the few recognizable insects -- and that makes it easy enough to think of where the 'edges' are.     It doesn't make it easier to spot the traps, though. It's exactly what Lilian is running into at around the same time -- a paper talisman, of a similar style if different color and material to Tamamo's -- giving off a little mystic energy that's not enough to identify what it is, and then burning away for a big arcing zap, potentially painful and paralyzing, and definitely mucking up electronics and reception in the immediate area.     The first one they find isn't near Lilian's discovery. It's about a third of the circle around from hers, in fact, if at about the same position in the green to red gradient, out where it's just stubborn brush trying to take hold of the land, and not yet to the point of trees.
Tamamo	Before leaving...     'I would be happy to. What sort of gifts do you like? I'll bring some next time.'     "Ohh~ you could bring rice cakes. Everyone likes those. But some like sweets better. There's pretty things like that~" a gesture that's probably toward the stone Matilda added, "and sometimes a poem is good, too~" Have there been any poets coming out here? It can be harder to judge those between cultures, even with easy translation.
Petra Soroka	"You know~ A Boundary's gotta be Bound-Around-y."     "Oh! Of course." Matilda's explanation is practically helpful-- Petra is not a spell-studier, whatever dubious Kepler-sources arrays she might have drawn-- but the fairy makes perfect sense in their own way too. "We can totally bound-around them, so it's you and them separate." "Oh! The very large monkey."     "The very large monkey." Petra confirms. The way Matilda says literally everything is so endearing, and Petra's constantly compelled to play around with the sounds herself like toys.     While scuffling around through the underbrush, where Petra becomes primarily responsible for making sure that Matilda doesn't trip while she stares into the crystal ball, Matilda and Angela end up subjected to another one of Petra's rambles about old movies. Cutting the undergrowth seems cruel when it's all so new, so she lays down Silver in a sheet to press it down like carpet for Matilda to walk on, or parting it with two walls of Silver when she can.     "It's a pretty cool movie, though; the original King Kong is. Like, you can tell it was made with evil in the hearts of all the directors, because American movies always are, but it's kind of a technical marvel. Sure, like, it's kind of the worst of the major monster movies of the midcentury, but it was also the *first* one, so it's neat to watch it and see how much it inspired Godzilla and stuff."     "Incidentally," She continues, while giving Angela a hand through a thick tangle of branches, "The directors' intention was obviously for King Kong to be a really clear racial-fear type stand-in. But in terms of reception, King Kong ended up being the only sympathetic character to the audiences, despite being the source of the horror. I just think that's neat."     Also there's lightning! It is nearly a sure thing that Matilda warns beforehand, or else Petra would stumble blindly into the talisman. With her being warned, though, Petra instead scoops a palmful of Silver off her tail, and sends her brave little morphmetal scout ahead to trigger the trap and observe its effects.     "... Woah. Weird. That's, like, manmade for sure, right? But who would be doing that?" The Silver goes lifeless when it's zapped, and Petra has to scrounge around and scoop it up with a handful of dirt to retrieve it.
Angela	''And sometimes a poem is good, too~'' "Rice cakes should be no trouble, I know how to make those now. Perhaps I could try Tteokbokki if you don't mind sauce? As a for a poem, I will try." She reaches into her coat, drawing out a crow feathered quill and pulls a blank page from her book, the glow of which fades as she stares down at the blank page. Even now she struggles to write poetry despite poetry being something of a dream of hers. Perhaps she would be best focused on non-fiction? She stares at it for a long moment before hurrying to follow after Petra. ''A diviner's intuition is their most-important skill!'' "I would say intuition is any occupation's most important skill." Angela says to Matilda. "Though I know of someone who reads the future the way one reads a book. You have not met 'Woz', have you, Matilda? ... I ask at the very least you do not divine my future, I've already had too much of that spoken to me. I already dwell too much on what is to come rather than focusing on the present." She looks to Petra, still thinking about poetry. "Do you care for haiku, Petra, I have always felt very little information could be conveyed in such a short number of syllables, but it is a local system so perhaps I should do one of those?" She taps the quill against her cheek, thinking, then nearly walks into a tree. Petra's the only person looking where she's going apparently?! "Many of Tennant's movies were at least a little evil, but I suppose most of them were American. It feels terribly easy for a film to be corrupted by its environment. But still, we can view a film and draw our own conclusion so long as we continue to think rather than be thought for." "Prototypes are often more flawed than what comes after despite what, well, Tennant's science fiction flicks might sometimes suggest. An understanding of the historical development of film would be of interest to any film-maker, or any afficianado, and if one was shrimply put off by cruelty there may be precious little media to consume. Of course, much is slop all the same, but you can still derive something so long as you are not careless to see slop as fine dining." She pauses her consideration of a blank page to allow Petra to pull her along. "It is also rather common for people who have seen their own humanity decay to accidentally create something that touches hearts. The author's intention dies as empathy crushes the ambitions of the frothing and fearful." She bumps into Petra when she suddenly stops. Angela frowns. "Is this ... some sort of rival for Mrs. Rook?" She means Tamamo not Lilian in this instance.
Lilian Rook	'Because you'd have the lily encoded in your hair, your face, and then your, like, belt?-- Er, your face I mean, because that's where your you is stored. You know what I mean.'     Lilian pauses long enough for her confusion to fully show. One hand reaches to her scar, touching the faint line and drawing outwards, as if to experimentally determine if it could be repeated six times in some sort of lily pattern-- only for her to crack up and sneeze-laugh into her hand at the clarification. "Shakespeare is turning in his grave." she giggles, head over heels for the clumsiness itself. "Careful though. If I wind up with a third thing, I'll end up having to make something out of my middle name; and nobody would like that."     . . . . . . . .     A talisman is very much the last thing she was expecting. If she were forewarned of hidden danger, she'd have guessed a sinkhole or crevice first, a landmine second, and antegent fallout a distant third. Considering the obvious expertise with which the trap was laid, the decision to test out an experimental continuous-divination catalyst now feels absurdly ill-timed and dangerous, but Lilian only gets to make that regretful judgement after jumping back from the synaesthetic forewarning of prickling fingers and numbness on her tongue. Shielding her eyes from the arc flash is enough time to mentally kick herself.     Backing up another twenty feet, Lilian taps her communicator once, twice, three times, and gives up when the noise in her ear fails to clear, quickly shoving it into one of her carry pouches instead. She considers rushing back to Tamamo straight away, but if she had to come all the way out here for arcane traces, it's unlikely that the problem is in two places at once. Scouring the area for any more of these things is very quickly her second thought; rejected, because doing that while her radio doesn't work properly is just asking for it.     Instead, she crouches down to carefully examine the needles that must theoretically be involved in the trap; first by lobbing pebbles at them, then by placing her hand over the golden greeble and depressing the incense catridge further in, focusing all of her continuous 'what happens when I' on retrieving the needle herself. Ultimately, she wants to get one or both (with gloves on) to take back to her wife, who might then be able to trace the person who left them there.     She still leaves one hand on her sidearm while she does it, though, obsessively checking her environment for any signs of someone watching; or someone summoned by their trap going off.
Tamamo	With the trap having been set off, Lilian has little difficulty finding an untripped thread. While it could have been tied to a different trap -- it isn't. All these delicate tripwires, strung between hardly-noticeable needles, are arranged to catch someone investigating that one talisman that went off. Fortunately, the needles themselves aren't so delicate as spiderweb, so she can gather a good few without breaking things, if she's careful -- which she is.     Tamamo has, meanwhile, made her way back to the riverbank. "Everything appears to be satisfactory with the seal." Then she pauses, and retrieves her phone-shaped radio from a pocket. She has jewelry that acts as a pickup, but needing to press a button -- she presses transmit a couple of times. "Is there a bit of interference? I thought I heard some static, just now."     But there isn't anything seemingly wrong on her end. "Oh, well. I shall wait here, for the moment." She's not getting her feet wet.     . . .     And that's where Lilian finds her. "Dear? Is something the matter?" The communication difficulties. Tamamo gets on edge about a few things rather quickly, and 'losing touch' is terrible even as a phrase.
Tamamo	A little later, Tamamo can give an explanation about the needles. Not much of one, though. "This is a bit outside my field. However, I am reminded, that of those who practice similar skills, there are..."     . . .     It's been falling to Petra to make sure Matilda doesn't trip over anything, as the latter pays attention to what's keeping her hands full. It's only the tactically obvious answer, then, that when a rather stocky man bursts into sudden being, as if rising through the ground -- though that can't be it, since the ground's not disturbed -- it's Matilda who gets grabbed. It's the kind of swift, trained action that's hard enough to follow without blinking, hands faster than the eye, locking one arm around hers so she has to struggle if she wants to maintain balance and also not drop her precious orbuculum, to the point she might not even immediately notice the blade poised near her throat. It's a hiltless piece of sharpened iron, and looks perfectly at home in the grip of a man covered in earthtone rags, his face and black hair mostly covered with a tied cloth, but not hiding the age lines around his eyes.     "Do not move, please." His voice is hoarse. Polite, business-like Japanese, despite the situation. "Even cornered rats will bite." Not as archaic as Tamamo's speech, but not casual-modern, either.     "I must ask which clan has sponsored your expedition."     . . .     "...do you recall that time we rescued an Immune," Tamamo is saying, "and his shinobi retainer?"
Foundation Scions	'and sometimes a poem is good, too~'     "I should bring Sonetto here... It is so likeable! Surely, she would accompany me, were there an opportunity... She likes poems!" . . .     Matilda does warn Petra beforehand- by putting her entire orbuculum in the way of Petra's torso to halt her, because she can't one-hand it, so that's a heavy orb to the sternum! That's good at stopping someone from taking steps forwards! "Faites attention! Look!"     And look, and then more-so, Petra does! Matilda gasps at the Silver getting zapped- "Does that hurt?!" is a fussy chide, and it going still, is scary! More hushed, as Petra scrounges (Matilda helpfully points at little clumps!) "Will it grow back, or get better..?" is more actually-worried. 'But who would be doing that?'     "And, for what purpose..? Is it something-else that is being defended, or is this, zappy shocking, completing its purpose in of itself..? We should look around, a little! Yes!" . . . 'Do not move, please.'     No!!     The efficacy of the orbuculum-keystoned arm-lock, is, unfortunately, unmatched! "Ah-! Hey! Let *go*-!!" and the requisite, helpless, shoulder-wriggling stops at the moment she notices the blade. Upset-angry pouts are her superficial expression, with little 'Mhhf's scattered in, but her eyes are wide, and her lips are trembling. Still, in that sort of nervousness, overconfident talk comes with more necessity than silence. "Excuse me! Ex-cuse-ez-*moi*!"     "I am not sponsored by a clan!" Is, as far as Matilda knows, true, "You are mistaken, and so- you can let me go now. Dépêchez-vous! Go on! Please unhand me, Mister assailant!"     "Petra?' comes after, as a sad-little 'help'. . . .
Angela	''Petra?'' Angela has gotten the impression that Matilda is ignoring her by this point and as such is pretty ambivalent towards the idea of helping or, frankly, acknowledging she is in danger but this is probably the person they are here to investigate so she takes the middle option of staring at the man with the sharpened iron rather than at Matilda. She can get a good long look at him slowly reaching to grab her, slowly bringing the iron up to her throat. She visibly starts to sigh even before the threat is made, as if this entire sequence of events is incredibly tiresome. Why did he go for her when he could've made it so much easier by taking her hostage instead? Something like that would probably snap against her throat, though she supposes she can't be entirely sure of that anymore. "We weren't even looking for you to harm you, imbecile, and we have no idea what you are talking about. Does this seriously look like a place suited for spilling blood? You can still protect the tranquility of this space by dropping that piece of junk." Without so much as a gesture, she decides to share her sense of time with theman. The world slows down for him, words become incomprehensible as they slur so slowly you forget the beginning of the word before the end. And she walks towards him, intent on prying the iron from his hand though her casual gait gives Petra plenty of opportunity to make a move first.
Lilian Rook	'Dear? Is something the matter?'     "No no, I'm fine." says Lilian, who is not strictly answering what Tamamo actually asked, but clearly answering what she thinks she actually asked. "The signature was a trap. It's very likely they all are. They aren't clumsy, either; someone with genuine field experience set them up with a second layer of failsafes." Her skin crawls at contemplating the one factor she hasn't mentioned by then, which travels all the way up into a shivery sideways judder of her background fragments.     "I can scarcely imagine why, but it seemed to me that they were deliberately designed to subdue. It's far too much effort for hunting, and I somewhat doubt that it'd have any effect on the kodama, so . . ." She carefully retrieves the needles she has for Tamamo, wrapped up in cloth from her bag. "Careful not to prick yourself. I don't know if they're coated in sedatives or something too, but they were being used as impromptu triggers."     '...do you recall that time we rescued an Immune'     Lilian takes a deep breath. "Ohhhh I was already hoping you wouldn't say that." There aren't exactly a lot of possibilities anyways, but, "All the way out here? I know I sort of waxed wistful about the idea of a straggling traveler finding this place one day, but that's just-- I would really rather not." She stops and rubs her lower face, muffling a noise of concern. "Satsuki joined the Immunes practically just to get away from hers."
Petra Soroka	"I ask at the very least you do not divine my future, I've already had too much of that spoken to me."     "Is it rude to ask a diviner not to divine you?" Petra wonders aloud about a thing that absolutely isn't true. She would normally think that that is both a perfectly reasonable request, as well as a sympathetic one, but most of her thoughts about magic lately have either been around Nimue or arcanists.     "Like, it's kind of just a way they navigate the world. If everyone around Matilda insisted that she not do readings about them, she'd be so soggy and lonely." "Do you care for haiku, Petra?"     Petra wobbles her hand back and forth, a motion matched by her Silver. "I think haiku's cool. But, like, I don't speak Japanese, and the Understanding kind of ruins it without that. Never got really deeply into it." ". . .and if one was shrimply put off by cruelty there may be precious little media to consume."     "Yeah, wouldn't there just. I feel like film especially demands you to be, like, an active critic of the cruelty displayed on the screen, because not only is it being consumptively fed to you, but also unlike books, the actors usually *were* abused during filming! Dunno about in King Kong, though." "We should look around, a little! Yes!"     "Surely the zappy shocking was for some bigger purpose." There's zero trace of mockery in Petra's voice when she repeats that. It just seemed like the most accurate phrase to use to refer to it!     She tilts her hands to show Matilda, the Silver sliding semi-fluidly around while spasming into crystalline shapes. "Normally, just getting hit wouldn't do all that much to it. That was like, some kind of EMP shit. So it'll be disabled for a bit, then come back online, but that implies, like...."     Well, it implies what happens a minute later. But before then, Petra backtracks to deflect, "It doesn't hurt that much, anyways." "Do not move, please."     The flurry of movement makes Petra whirl around, Silver spiking into an array of blades, then instantly freeze with her heart leaping into her throat when it's *Matilda* that's threatened. It has to be her responsibility to make sure Matilda gets out of this safely, but the knife being so close to Matilda's throat makes every action in the next several heartbeats critically important. While she talks, her mind is already racing to consider where Tamamo is, and whether Petra would become incapacitated if forced to use Sakura's power to keep Matilda from bleeding out, and whether Angela could be trusted to get both of them to safety.     Petra raises her hands, and the Silver softens into blobs behind her. "We're not sponsored by anyone, and the extent of the expedition is the greenery you see here. We're not aware of who you are and have no grudge against you. You're--" "We weren't even looking for you to harm you, imbecile,"     Petra doesn't have time to groan in exasperation. In a single simultaneous motion, Petra's tail whips around to wrap Angela's waist and throw her to the ground, then vanishes along with the rest of Petra and the Silver to close the gap to the man in one step. In the blink of an eye, Petra's hands are gripping his wrist and elbow, and the undamaged Silver interposes itself between Matilda's neck and the knife.     "Seriously?!" Petra complains, before rushing through her words to the man again. "You're not in danger from us. We had thought no one lived in this area. Do you?"
Tamamo	"No, no, there could hardly be anything worth hunting just yet. I have not introduced so much as rabbits to this place." Tamamo gives it some thought, trying to speculate ahead of time for the motives. "If I could see one of the traps, perhaps... I could tell more about the curse being placed. Perhaps there are additional, less obvious effects? Ah, however, that would not change the nature of what you did experience."     She does check the needles. "They are for stabilizing, only, I think. These ones, at least, would not be suited for remaining poisoned for a long period."     'All the way out here?'     "Its remoteness from anything worth investigating, controlling, or destroying was part of the criteria I used, to be sure. There are... well, no, there are more people surviving 'out there' than those in the Urban Centers believe. We have learned of such things, over time. Still, I would be surprised at someone stumbling by." Tamamo's never had to worry about orbital spying, either in this life or her last. Only many other kinds of spying. "It would be rather concerning for... certain groups to become involved. Though they have no true claim over this place, there are many arguments I would rather avoid."
Tamamo	'You are mistaken, and so- you can let me go now. Dépêchez-vous!'     It's hard to read his expression with only his eyes really visible and his hands perfectly steady. "Furansugo?" is more of an involuntary mutter than a response. "If you are not sent by a clan, then--"     'Does this seriously look like a place suited for spilling blood?'     His voice hardens. "Sadly, this world is such a place."     That's as far as he can get before Angela gives him a likely unprecedented experience. Unfortunately for Matilda, making her captor experience the world much more slowly, with time to think about it, followed by Angela's walk toward him prompting him to move, causes an immediate overcompensation for the 'slow' feeling in his limbs, which Matilda gets to experience as a jerky-hard tightening of the grip on her arm, a backward-yanking in process, and the blade moving now much less than steadily, as unused to 100x speed as he is, very, very dangerously close to her throat. Could the great Matilda Bouanich's story be ending in pure accident?!     ...No! Petra gets there first, made possible only by the specific manner in which she does her vanishing act, and gets her Silver in the way. Able to react, but not able to properly measure any reaction he's taking, the man's knife the wall and stops. His hostage-taking grip loosens, and he backsteps, clearing twenty feet, once Petra's in his face and Angela's down, whether out of loss of the tactical use of a hostage or from an admittedly rational worry that Petra could stab him from there even more easily than she stopped a stabbing. He takes a moment to find his words.     "What do you mean by, 'the expedition is the greenery'? Are you already involved with this place?"     'We had thought no one lived in this area. Do you?'     "I..." He glances between all three women present. "I happened across this place, while I was... in need of a place to rest." It doesn't take an expert to read 'guilt' off those pauses, and it's not related to anything that happened just now. "I did not expect to find a holy place in the middle of the wasteland. I may have... wrongfully assumed that someone arriving after myself, attracted to the snares I left, would have evil intentions. I apologize." Sometime while he was talking, he made the blade disappear, and his last words are accompanied by a stiff bow.
Petra Soroka	"What do you mean by, 'the expedition is the greenery'?"     Petra pants as the guy gradually eases off, more out of the sudden spike of her heart rate than from actual exertion. She extracts Matilda and drapes one arm around her shoulder and neck as a protective half-hug, Silver orbiting both of them in a ring of shiny little polyhedrons.     "The shrine here is a project to reclaim no-mans-land from the aftermath of the Antegent. We've been--" She hesitates, considering whether it's worth elaborating on the 'we', and does so in a way that's hopefully more helpful than confusing. "We're a group consisting of Enlightened and Immunes. All this regrowth is a product of what we've been doing." "I happened across this place, while I was... in need of a place to rest."     Petra sighs, the Silver smoothing over into spheres. Her tail thrashes twice, working out the restless energy of an aborted fight. "Well. That's awesome, then, because that's sort of the goal."     Tamamo hasn't actually said anything about the end-result hopefully being a safe place for travelers to sleep, but, like, it's a pretty easy assumption to make that she *would* say that. "Apology accepted, bud. All the regrowth here is still a work-in-progress, and we've been having to protect it from various challenges, so."
Angela	Angela is thrown back, which is a bit of a novel experience. It's been ages and this is the first time she's been this fragile (only tougher than most people as opposed to practically indestructable). She hits the ground. She looks at Petra for a moment, then stands up and dusts herself off. "Yes. There are spirits here. And they are kind. Do not do harm in a way they can sense. They do not deserve that. We have already communicated with the..." She tries to think of how to explain the head spirit to this guy. "...Land. They do not mind you as a neighbor. They surely will if you spill blood. Delivering a gift may be appropriate to show you mean no ill will." ''I may have... wrongfully assumed that someone arriving after myself.'' "You did wrongfully assume." Angela says. "Is this world really so cruel that you take hostages first?" She thinks of Lilian, long ago, saying The City made a certain kind of sense to her. "Be gentle with the kodoma and other spirits here and I'm sure they'll allow you your rest. Who is after you? Do you think they will come here? If they do, do you believe they will respect the land here?"
Lilian Rook	'They are for stabilizing, only, I think. These ones, at least, would not be suited for remaining poisoned for a long period.'     Lilian sighs in relief, though without really knowing why she should. "Good. Excellent. I suppose I needn't be so worried, then." she says, assuming that this means nobody was trying all that hard to capture people alive out here for nefarious reasons, and thinking not at all about why her beautiful and perfect wife knows enough about poisoning to draw that conclusion.     "I'll try and find another one. I'd feel a tiny bit safer doing so if you were close by, I admit." Lilian says, because she really doesn't like how close she came just then, and the fact that the subject is 'divination', again, reinforces a very specific, still-fresh worry.     ''It would be rather concerning for... certain groups to become involved.''     "More importantly, it'd make me so, so unhappy." Lilian says, frowning. "Because it'd be trampling all over your hard work, by people who have to take everything because they can't build anything themselves." Lilian adopts the pose with her arms that motions Tamamo to hop up at her ready. "If they want to argue about it, I'll deal with them. Same as usual." Which is an implicit 'ready? let's go'.     . . . . . . . .
Foundation Scions	Matilda can't quite follow what happens with Angela and Petra, but one moment, she's at quite-dire seeming threat, and the next, Petra's blades are at the shinobi, and her Silver is forming a shield, and there's an opportunity to squeeze and scramble out. She takes it, with a little yelp, and scrambles away until she's half-collapsed to kneeling in the grass, woozy, and hugging her orbuculum. Fear and embarrassment, are a bit delayed in when they hit, and leave her trembly.     "Ah! Ah, merci beaucoup, Petra..." The half-hug is a reassurement, and, with her orbuculum on her lap more-so, Matilda raises up a hand to hold onto Petra's wrist. Matilda doesn't have to admit, of course, that that was a dreadfully bad circumstance for herself to wind up in, but, it sure isn't pleasant to know that she was put into it. 'All this regrowth is a product of what we've been doing.'     Babbled just a little bit, for some point of additional context, to the shinobi, "It has been going quite well I think! Work went into it." Tugging at Petra's arm, she wobbles on up back to her feet, and dusts herself, and her orb, off. 'I apologize.'     It takes Matilda a good moment to call back at the (still lip-trembly) attitude to 'hmph!' about the apology, or think much on it- and it's not as if it's as-much directed at her, and holding her at knife-point. "W-well! Provided, only, that you act much nicer- I can accept your apology?" She sounds a little uncertain! This is a dangerous world, other than spaces made-safe. Which, this is one, and that's what he was looking for, so her hasty forgiveness-granting, is retroactively made noble and correct! Yay!     "Er- do you have a name? At all? Or something to stand-in for it..?" 'Apology accepted, bud.'     "Clearly, the apology was to me, Petra." Sure, Matilda.
Lilian Rook	'We're a group consisting of Enlightened and Immunes. All this regrowth is a product of what we've been doing.'     If Lilian had actually heard that, she would have been soooo pleased with Petra. Instead, she arrives without any particular timing at all. Te nature of her !'teleportation', obviously, means that she can't be surprised by the newcomer once she gets there; she sees him from quite a ways away while manually carrying Tamamo in that general direction, and has to get all the way there and wait for someone else to say something afterwards.     'W-well! Provided, only, that you act much nicer- I can accept your apology?'     "I see. So this is him." Lilian says, unfortunately 'out of nowhere', sneaky even by a shinobi's standards, which is why she elected to simply be visually obscured by Angela for a second, rather than behind the poor guy completely. She puts Tamamo down only after a couple of crunch-audible footsteps, too.     'Name.' comes to her lips, then is discarded before the demand is voiced. Likewise any variant of 'what are you doing here?'. She's just going to assume any guy actually dressed like that here is the real deal. "What do you think you're doing? Do you think it's finders-keepers out here?" she says, switching immediately to Japanese. "I don't see a camp. I'd better hear that you were being pursued." She'd keep going, but she wants to leave Tamamo space to say anythng.
Tamamo	Petra gives a vague but largely reasonable and plausible summary of her affiliation and the surroundings. It's common knowledge that the Immunes are internationally active while obeying local authorities only in limited circumstances, with protective insulation against divulging secrets. The man nods, his stance relaxing by degrees. After hesitating, he follows Matilda's 'additional context' with, "It is impressive work. I hadn't thought it possible. Not without... many resources I don't see here."     Angela asks something pretty close to what she'd asked a minute ago, and the man gives another answer, on the subject of cruelty. "I wouldn't expect to find anyone who has lived a blessed life, free of cruelty, to be 'out here.'" He might say more about that, but...     'Who is after you?'     '...do you believe they will respect the land here?'     Half-heartedly evasive, given that he's answering this at all, "It may be that my trail will be followed, despite my efforts. I hope otherwise." Resigned to not just keeping mum, at this point.     Only then does he focus on, "...you've spoken to the spirits? ...no, of course. You must have a priest of some kind." That makes sense. "If I have their permission to remain, then..." But there's still that 'people maybe following him' issue.     Matilda asks for a name. "I'm Tanaka. You can call me Tarou, if you prefer." She might not realize that this is a somehow less believable 'John Smith.' He pulls down part of the cloth covering his face, revealing a rather unremarkable black beard, apart from the implication that he's been keeping it perfectly trim while on the run in no-man's land.     Lilian appearing puts him further onto the back foot, though after that is a flash of recognition that's -- good? He looks less confused, at least. Maybe because Tamamo answers the 'you have a priest' by obvious factors of her appearance and dress.     'I'd better hear that you were being pursued.'     With that extra pressure, he gives a fuller answer. "The Takeda are displeased with my performance." There's that strained, guilty tone again, tightly wound while forcing what words he can stomach. "I may have disappeared from their sight. I might not have."     Tamamo doesn't say anything to 'Tanaka Tarou' immediately, but leans close to Lilian to whisper, "A deserter. Not common, is it?"     "...regardless of your aims here, the result is clearly a sacred space. I made an attempt to protect it, but if you will not permit someone of my, circumstances, to remain nearby, I understand."     Seeing that Lilian's giving her the chance, Tamamo says, loudly enough for everyone, "There will be a third trouble. I have already foreseen this. It will not be avoided by any decision made today." That's not a no.
Angela	Angela looks back to Lilian for a moment but is happy that Lilian is being a little coarse with the guy. He's earned some coarseness! "I may have experienced cruelty but killing someone in a gentle place for no reason..." ''It may be that my trail will be followed, despite my efforts.'' Angela sighs. She's obviously not very happy with this answer. For someone who runs a Murder Library, she sure seems displeased at the idea of possibly having to kill a whole bunch of pursuers in order to protect this land and, also, this jerk. But of course, those people aren't really any inherent enemy of hers, or anyone's here from what she knows, but if there's hostiliy between them and this guy then it may be more difficult to get them to respect the spirits of this land. "We do. Be more polite to her than you were to Matilda. That is advice, not a command." ''There will be a third trouble. ... It will not be avoided by any decision made today.'' "..Then there is only three troubles. At least we have some idea of the sort this time. Since throwing you out won't prevent it, then I see no reason to bother doing so." Though it's really more up to Tamamo than her, but it's at about this point that Angela returns to her page, tapping her quill's feather against her cheek and then as if none of this happened, "You know how I am about privacy." She says, calling back to their previous conversation. "But perhaps I can prepare a Divination-safe place so that we can respect both of our needs." Is she ... actually taking that seriously? "I don't speak Japanese..." She murmurs. Should she try to make a poem about poor King Kong and poor King Kong's actors?
Petra Soroka	"Ah, merci beaucoup, Petra..."     Now that the danger has passed, Petra absentmindedly starts woobling Matilda, with her already being in a hug. She's passively squeezed and squished, and Petra rubs her fingers on Matilda's wrist reassuringly. With no more hostile actions being taken, Petra twists around as much as she's able to try and help Angela back up to her feet too.     "Sorry, Ange. I just super duper didn't want this to get, like, wildly escalated for no reason." "Clearly, the apology was to me, Petra."     "Well now I've stolen it from you. Nyeh." Matilda gets squeezed again. "I see. So this is him."     "Lilian!"     Petra's tail motors into motion the moment she speaks up. Her positioning, with her arm around Matilda's neck, weirdly looks like she's the one holding Matilda hostage at a glance, now that the guy's stepped a short distance away. "This is the guy." "I wouldn't expect to find anyone who has lived a blessed life, free of cruelty, to be 'out here.'"     "Not yet, no." Petra sighs slightly. The terraformed island seemed like it was totally disconnected from the world for a while, but, for better or for worse, it can't be isolated forever. One guy knowing about it is the trigger that can begin a whole cascade of civilizational interference, to a project still in its early days. "If I have their permission to remain, then..."     "Ange is right. You troubled them a bit, but I think it would be patched over just fine if you leave some offerings for them." Surely this guy knows better than Petra what kinds of offerings, anyways! "There will be a third trouble. I have already foreseen this."     Petra is absolutely not fully informed as to the political landscape of the clans in this Japan, but she doesn't really need to be. Tanaka Tarou is an obvious bullshit name, and what matters is that there's potentially guys coming after him. She looks between Tamamo and Lilian, uncertain how much decision-making sway she really has here.     "If you're not going to cause problems for the spirit rehabitation stuff, then I see no reason to kick you out. It's, like, idealistically representative, of the healing of the land, if this is a 'safe place' for people on the run, and judging you for your circumstances doesn't seem appropriate."
Angela	''Sorry, Ange, I just super duper didn't want this to get, like, wildly escalated for no reason.'' "...You did nothing wrong. I don't want blood spilled here either." Angela assures Petra, apparently of the mind that if Petra throws her it's for a good reason. She does take her hand up, though, which naturally soothes over the possibility of lingering on the matter. ''Well now I've stolen it from you. Nyeh.'' Angela can't help but smile at this. Somehow this puts her more at ease. "If you don't have anything to offer, you can help me with a haiku and I will say it is from the both of us."
Lilian Rook	'The Takeda are displeased with my performance.'     "A familiar story." says Lilian, who knows very, very little, besides what snippers Satsuki has shared in complaint, and what Sakura has in passing 'mission relevance'. It's a spontaneous decision to take this guy's side for no other reason than principle; this spot is meant to help people, and he is neutral-positive towards Tamamo at a glance. "But running from them, much less so."     '...regardless of your aims here, the result is clearly a sacred space.'     She adjusts her stance to rest her elbow on her sword, not her hand; a habitual posture for the center of balance of such a long blade being at her waist and not her hip. "Lilian Rook. Immune corps, rank O-5. You're fortunate." she says. "You're right. This is a sacred space. It's also a private project to determine the viability of Earth-restoration using such places as nucleation points. It's not so official that you need to be worried at the moment, but I can make it one if you drag trouble here." she says, matter-of-factly.     'There will be a third trouble. I have already foreseen this. It will not be avoided by any decision made today.'     Sigh. Still, that means this guy isn't the cause of it. "What about the Garden?" she says, looking to Tamamo in a suggestive sort of fashion. "Or no?" Thinking about it clusters the shards again, nearer together, precipitating a few errant drops. Either way, what comes next on her list of priorities is: "Are you injured? Ill? It'd be counter to everything we're doing if you dropped dead here."     'Lilian! This is the guy.'     She falls into absentmindedly petting Petra's head. Good job! "Thank you for handling this so agreeably, Petra."
Tamamo	'I may have experienced cruelty but killing someone in a gentle place for no reason...'     "That was not my intention." He's not the most forthcoming about this past having apologized.     'A familiar story. But running from them, much less so.'     He nods, hesitates again, and adds, "Most have greater bravery than I." Tamamo gives Lilian a 'did you catch that?' glance. It's probably not important to go over right now.     'What about the Garden?'     Tamamo gives it a little thought, and then shakes her head. "It is a far safer place. However, it is a place with many more important things in need of protection." If there's any concern about a rogue ninja bringing trouble, then the Garden has a lot more things she'd like to avoid the risk of being abused.     'Are you injured? Ill? It'd be counter to everything we're doing if you dropped dead here.'     "I am healing. I've had little to eat in three weeks." He sounds like he hasn't had much to drink in days, either. "If you're feeling charitable, I could not refuse a share of rations." He has to just stare for a bit when Lilian goes to pet Petra, then.     He's pretty sure Petra is an animal spirit, so this is fine, actually. It only looks odd because of how human she appears, as is common for older animal spirits. That means nothing particularly socially inappropriate is happening.     'Since throwing you out won't prevent it, then I see no reason to bother doing so.'     'You troubled them a bit, but I think it would be patched over just fine if you leave some offerings for them.'     'It's, like, idealistically representative, of the healing of the land, if this is a 'safe place' for people on the run, and judging you for your circumstances doesn't seem appropriate.'     Relief in his voice, he holds the back of his arm over his eyes for a moment. "Thank you. I'll do my best."