Apocalypse Junction

[Keeper]

Green Goo

Ignoring minions? That's a paddling.
In this case pretty literally, as Rowan attempts to batter the slime with his big staff while it's busy flailing around. How well does blunt force work against slimes?

[bc56]

Green Goo
"Let's grab the crown and get out of here!" Mariblex calls, scooping up the crown in their tentacles and bounding towards the exit. They don't need to kill the queen slime, just to put the crown on the statue. The flames are a great distraction.

[Rebonack]

[Green Goo]

Mariblex has about the right idea; the objective is the crown! Not fighting the queen slime. The queen slime is just a challenge to overcome in order to GET the crown. For now it's time to run away!

Rowan, however, is focusing on paddling the queen for the terrible crime of not being aggro'd by Ratticus' summoned minion! He may be rewarded for this valiant effort at upholding his pet rat's honor by getting clobbered by a flailing psuedopod. Which would not be, it should be noted, pleasant. At all. Even a little bit.

At the very least the limb in question isn't weaponized with... well... weapons like the attack that was used against Mariblex earlier. Just a big whollop to avoid.

Maybe Rowan's cartoon physics will save the day?

"Rowan! Come on! We got what we came for!" Mariblex calls back to the round dragon.

[Keeper]

Green Goo

Gosh. Rowan was trying to cover Mariblex but then they want and just booked it without him!
He turns back to the queen slime-
and promptly gets slapped across the room. Ow. Somehow this does not shatter all of his bones, but instead leaves a dragon-shaped hole in the wall to the previous room that he is now sitting dazed in.

[Ironsmith]

[Abandoned Motorway - Alice's Camp]

Huh.

Well, she did see the resemblance. But that's still kinda surprising. This is some grade-A Nexus serendipity right here for sure.

"I'm Khannie Vallarm," the unicorn replies. This lady musta seen some weird stuff on her travels to totally fail to blink at the talking ungulate. "This place is called Apocalypse Junction; it's part of the Nexus. Sorta like a... crossroads between places. Lotsa broken worlds lead here. I guess yours counted."

From what she's gathered 'broken world' is a bit of an understatement.

She glances back at the others, expecting them to introduce themselves. Once that's done she's got another question of her own.

"Do you know Arthfael Ty-Maldwyn?" Khannie asks, ears perking forward.

Abandoned Motorway- Alice's Camp

"I'm Harmony. Harmony Carter. I've come from Great Yarmouth, but I'm from a place called Dereham, in the United Kingdom. This is Alice's camp, and Yaltos'. He's the one who found you, I think?" Harmony's eyes flicker again as she goes back into heat-vision-mode, trying to see if Rhiannon has heated up at all.

[Abandoned Motorway - Alice's Camp]

Rhiannon has indeed gained some amount of body heat; she now reads as somewhere around "concerningly hypothermic", compared to her earlier reading of "ambient". Her body temperature is also trending upward; at this rate she'll be back up to normal levels within a few minutes, faster if she has a heat source handy.

"...A... a pleasure to meet you, miss Carter." She says after a moment, offering her a demure smile and an encouraging little nod. "And you, too, miss Vallarm. And... Alice and Yaltos?"

"It's pronounced 'Yatos'. 'y 'eo'le's word 'or 'kitten'." Alice corrects.

"...So noted." She turns back to Khannie. "...You... said you wanted to know if I knew an Arthfael Ty-Maldwyn?" She pauses, lacing her fingers together. "...I do, in fact. I know two. One is my father-in-law, born Arthfael of Redmont. He'd be a... very old man, if you've met him. The other..." She sniffs, steepling her hands around her mouth and nose to mute the sound. "...The other would be my son. I haven't... I don't know how long it's been since I've seen him. He was so small..." She sniffs again, her voice cracking a bit. "...The tiniest baby boy. I..."

She trails off, wiping her eyes on the blanket and shaking her head. "...I don't know why I said anything." She sniffs. "He couldn't have made the crossing. I'm sorry, I'm... I'm not quite all here right now."

[Gold]

Ruined Motorway- Rapid Robots Not Rabid, I keep wanting to make that joke

The ladder was clipped to the roof, and is easily freed. Climbing up is... no harder than TALBot expects, though the smooth metal shell of the tripod doesn't provide a firm anchor for the ladder so it might slip if he's not careful. Inside there's a large hammock-style seat and a large array of controls. A human-sized person sat in the machine would struggle to reach them all. There's an area behind the seat and controls where some kind of generator and engine sits, and also the vessel's long-dead pilot. They've been heavily scavenged, so little remains; a large non-humanoid skeleton, a large ribcage, shoulders, shrunk and atrophied arms but large hands with a number of excessively long multi-jointed fingers. The skull takes up a lot of space, stretching back along the vertebrae, and has a pair of large eye sockets and an immense cranium for a vast brain. There's no teeth in its mouth, and barely a lower jaw. The dead Martian doesn't leave many clues as to how it died, but die it did, a long time ago.

[Ruined Motorway- Rapid Robots]

An oddly proportioned skeleton was nowhere near the top of the list of things TALBot expected to find inside the tripod, but on second thought it began to make sense; being dead would prevent you from moving your vehicle out of the way, and oddly shaped people often drove oddly shaped vehicles - just as he, a beautifully shaped machine, drove a beautiful vehicle.

TALBot stares at the skeleton in the cockpit for a couple moments, wondering what to do from here. The first thought that strikes him is to move the contraption out of the road, but to do that he'll first need to extract the corpse of its original driver. Gently, compelled by some subconscious force to avoid damaging them, the robot scoops up as many bones as he can carry in his arms and steps steadily down the ladder to deposit them at the side of the road. With that out of the way, TALBot hastily climbs back up the ladder and takes a closer look at the tripod's controls.

Lacking any documentation or frame of reference for a control panel as complicated as this one, TALBot's gameplan consists of "push random buttons and hope for the best". TALBot is as human-sized as any human, however, so he finds himself having to hunch over and shuffle around awkwardly to reach them all. Once he gets the hang of it, he'll try hitting buttons until either it's clear the ship isn't going to move, in which case he'll stop, or it does move, in which case he'll retrace his button presses, dial turns and/or lever pulls to locate the movement controls.

[Earl of Purple]

Ruined Motorway- Rapid Robots

So TALBot experiments with levers! There's not many buttons, the Martians preferring to wrap a long finger around a lever and pull or push than jab at buttons, especially when manipulating things they aren't exactly looking at. The only button is behind TALBot, on the engine- and pressing it will start the tripod's motive generator. Without that button, all of the other levers are locked in place and refuse to move.

One lever moves a nozzle under the vehicle's cockpit, and it has a trigger. Pulling that trigger shoots an invisible (unless TALBot can see microwaves, anyway) beam that... doesn't do much so long as it's pointing at the burnt-out wrecks of cars, although some sparks may be produced. If pointed at the undergrowth and trees off the side of the road, they burst into flames as the heat-ray does what it's supposed to do. Moving is also possible, especially if TALBot has extendable arms; there's a lever for each of the machine's three legs, so it's awkward and clunky and unless he's lucky there's a decent chance that TALBot will overbalance the machine whilst trying to move it- especially if he discovers the legs are independently telescoping before he figures out how to move them.

[bc56]

Green Goo
Mariblex hops through the hole Rowan made in the wall and runs past him. "Once we lose her, we can go straight back to the weird slime hole and open it up," they suggest. They've been in this dungeon long enough, they need to finish up, grab their magical loot, and head home to see if their mum can fix them.

[Rebonack]

[Abandoned Motorway - Alice's Camp]

Khannie just stands there dumbstruck for a few moments as she process what's she's just been told.

This is Arthfael's mom.

The unicorn offers a broad smile, her tail giving a little lash behind her.

"Okay so I got some good news then! Your son Arthfael's here. I dunno about the other guy, but Arthfael's kinda my boyfriend?"

How's that for an announcement?

"He's been through a lotta stuff but he's okay."

For some measure of the word okay.


[Green Goo]

Turns out losing the Slime Queen isn't very difficult. Once they're out of sight the monster largely loses interest in them and they'll be able to make their way back to the statues flanking the entrance into the Slime Pit. Or maybe not exactly-

"I think this is an Abyssal Mouth," Mariblex says. "A place where the Abyss is really close to the world. It isn't ACTUALLY the Abyss but it's close enough to the Slime Pit that it's easy for all this slime to come through."

Placing the crowns atop the statues, there's a low groan from the entryway as the bars preventing access rise silently into the ceiling. Apparently all the slime makes for good lubrication. The tunnel beyond is a veritable jungle of growths and fruiting bodies, slime and fungus alike. It opens up into a chamber that looks more like a shrine than anything else, decorated with human skeletons that have been melded into the gelatinous walls.

Definitely not a cheery sort of place.

The centerpiece of the shrine, though. Is where attention will be drawn. The source of the goopy corruption. An amorphous blob of green shot through with tarry black, its surface covered in weeping crimson eyes that watch our heroes with a sort of eager anticipation.

Mariblex narrows their eyes. "Juiblex!"

"Doh ho ho ho! Indeed!" the blob atop the altar burbles. "My defective half has returned at last!"

Mariblex isn't quite sure what to make of that. "What?"

"My servants were to perform a ritual that would provide me with a vessel to enter the world! And through that vessel I would extend the blessing of jiggliness to all life! But my vessel split. One half a perfect reflection of myself. But the other like me, yet not! You, my imperfect half. And with the infernal power you have gathered I will be even MORE powerful once I am whole!" the blob replies, jiggling all the while. "So come, embrace me, and we shall cover the whole of creation with slime!"

Sounds like a boss fight about to happen.

[bc56]

Green Goo
"What? That doesn't make any sense," Mariblex responds, "Besides, we already belong to a different demon lord, so there!"

Bleh!

They stick their tongue out at Juiblex and prepare their hellfire tendrils for a fight.

[Keeper]

Green Goo

Rowan glances between the two slimes.
"Honestly I don't see it. But I can say that everyone here is quite jiggly enough." He shakes his belly for effect. He definitely hasn't been helping in that situation. But Thaddeus will probably be fine. And Eesha is more wiggly than jiggly now. Pokemon says that's an improvement.

[Rebonack]

[Green Goo]

Burning tentacles are definitely intimidating!

Going "Myeh!" is a little less so.

"You refuse to embrace me of your own will? Doh ho ho ho! Spoken as if you had a choice!" the blob burbles as several red, weeping eyes begin opening up on Mariblex! Their legs will begin trying to move of their own accord, walking them closer to the idol of the Faceless God! "All slimes and oozes are part of me! You are no different."

"Ah!" Mariblex gasps as their legs try to betray them. Since their legs don't seem to be listening they wrap their tail around a nearby mushroom tree-trunk to prevent themselves from getting any closer! "No! We're not going to get eaten by you! We have to get back home to mum so she can fix us!"

"The demon princess you absorbed? Doh ho ho! That was quite the unexpected treat! With her connection to hell I will be able to extend my slimy domain to hell as well! And from hell to the world she hailed from! All will know the joys of jiggling!" Juiblex laughs.

[Ironsmith]

[Abandoned Motorway - Alice's Camp]

Now it's Rhiannon's turn to look dumbstruck. That's certainly a lot of news to be hit with at once. "He... he's alive?" She sniffs, steepling her fingers against her nose again. "And you're... he..."

The woman surges forward and pulls the unicorn into a tight hug. "The Lovers must be happy with me." She sniffs. "Showing me two miracles so close together."

She lowers her arms and makes some attempt at returning to a more dignified posture. "...It may be too much to ask..." She continues. "But have you heard anything about the others? My husband Maldwyn? Or my other children? Owena? Siana? Bryn? Gwyn?"

-

Meanwhile, Alice pulls away from the meeting with a vaguely disgusted sneer on her face. That is entirely too much joy being shown to a wizard, of all things. She's starting to think she liked that lady better when she wasn't lucid.

Oh, well. Better to distract herself with something more pleasant.

"Right, then." Alice crouches down next to Harmony, pulling her knife from her belt and setting it to one side. "Let's get that arrowhead out o' your 'elly." She reaches the bandage and starts unwinding it.

"This'll go 'y 'aster i' you talk." Alice advises. "So get to talking. Doesn't 'atter a'out what."

[bc56]

Green Goo
"Nononono!" Mariblex protests, struggling against the eyeballs. "We're our own person!" They shout.
"YOU CAN'T HAVE US!" Mariblex narrows their their eyespots in rage and explodes in a burst of undirected demonic power.
The Princess of the Scorching Depths is not weak by any stretch of the imagination, and her massive attempt to break free is one of the few times she's ever drawn on her full might.

[Keeper]

Green Goo

Rowan tosses Mariblex a Cookie of Protection! It wards against outside magical effects. Not usually useful against killer slimes but sometimes he has forethought.

The dragon stands defiantly in front of Mariblex, crossing his arms.
"It's overrated." he taunts.
"The hat! Pass him the hat!" Ratticus hisses to them.

[Earl of Purple]

Abandoned Motorway- Alice's Camp

Harmony lifts her shirt up, revealing that Khannie already removed the arrow and packed the wound before bandaging it. This close, it's rather obvious she's not had much opportunity to bathe recently, and unlike some of her companions at this camp, she's alive enough that she still sweats. "Khannie removed it already. I'm... kinda glad someone still has family. My sister was deaf, and... Did I mention that guy who had a persuasive voice to you? The more you heard him speak, the more you believed what he said. Even if it was blatantly false. He's got several hundred people in his community, so we didn't meet or interact with him directly for months, though we had to attend seminars with evening meal. When he discovered my sister couldn't hear him, he thought she was a threat to his power. And... yeah, she was. He had no power over her. The next day, he named us a threat to the community- my sister, and me. I narrowly escaped. My sister... didn't." That might've been a discussion with Khannie, that Alice didn't hear. Harmony's lost track, just talking about something as Alice asked.

[Ironsmith]

[Abandoned Motorway]

"She re'o'ed the arrow, yes. That's not what I' worried a'out." Alice explains as she begins systematically unpacking the wound. "...I had a sister, 'ysel'. I won't s'eak her na'e, lest I distur' her soul 'ro' its right'ul rest." She produces a lighter from her belt and flicks it on, running the flame under the blade of her knife. "...S'artan arrows are traditionally ti'ed with our eggs, 'or when we ha'e a city under siege. E'ery 'olley takes de'enders out o' the 'ight and seeds the next generation, 'or when we e'entually take the city." She holds up her fingers, indicating a distance across the size of a soda can. "They can g'ow in nearly anything that li'es, so i' you get an arrow in you, it'll get lodged under your skin and gestate to a'out that size. I don't care where you get it, a cyst that size is de'ilitating... and that's 'e'ore it hatches."

Alice snaps the pointed tip off of her knife and sets about a cauterization process that will go undetailed. "I ne'er cared 'or it. 'ut 'y sister was a 'it o' a traditionalist, and I ha'en't 'een an archer long enou' to 'e a 'letcher, too. So I'e had to 'orrow her work." A rueful, almost apologetic smile crosses the quilled woman's face as she works. "...We'e led 'ery di'erent li'es, it see's. I can't i'agine s'ending any a'ount o' ti'e li'ing in a cult."

[Rebonack]

[Green Goo]

Mariblex explodes! Figuratively. Mostly.

Mostly figuratively.

They strain against the attempted control and it's working mostly okay! They aren't moving forward, but then again they aren't having much luck controlling their own legs either. But then they get a cookie tossed on their butt! That's enough to give them the edge they need, the alien eyes popping like bubbles in a boiling pot of water. And with the eyes goes Juiblex' control over them.

"You resist but it won't do you any good, silly slime! You are already part of me!" chortles Juiblex as he attempts to worm his will into Mariblex again.

BUT!

Mariblex does something very important!

The pull that chef hat they found out of their bag and plop it on top of Rowan's head.


[Abandoned Motorway]

Packing the wound and bandaging it isn't... quite an accurate description of what Khannie did.

She used trauma foam and a patch, fairly advanced medical technology she discovered that she can scrounge from the Neon Bunkers. The foam is an antiseptic and analgesic agent that serves as a scaffolding to heal around. The patch is, in effect, a synthetic scab that interfaces with the foam and gives it 'smart' capabilities, directing it to actively close wounds, rejoin bones, and expel foreign objects such as dirt, arrowheads, and weird eggs.

So there isn't a bandage to unwind. The patch looks more like a square adhesive medical strip of an off white, slightly pearlecent color. It has also bonded to the surrounding skin exactly as a scab would and removing it would be about as unpleasant as ripping a scab off.

Meanwhile!

Khannie gets hugged!

She wasn't really expecting a hug and hugs are slightly awkward when you're a quadruped but what are you gunna do?

"Um... I dunno about your husband but two of his sisters are here. Owena and Siana," Khannie replies. She doesn't know either of them that well. And she doesn't bring up the whole... Salt thing. Because wow that sure is a thing and she doesn't want to dump too much on Arthfael's mom all at once.

"Did you guys all get separated or something? Like... they've been here a couple years now."

[Ironsmith]

[Abandoned Motorway]

"Yes, we... were split up." The woman confirms, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm herself. "Redmont fell to the usurper queen's armies just before the calamity struck. My husband was away in the capital when it happened; he left me and a few of our stewards in charge of the city's maintenance in his absence. We had no reason to believe we would be attacked, our place was strategically unimportant and out of the way, and..."

Rhiannon shakes her head. "It doesn't matter. We were unprepared and forced to evacuate. I sent my all of my children with the caravan, save for Siana, who was too sick to move; I stayed with her and hid under the floor of our manor. I didn't know what we were going to do, but I was not about to leave her helpless to the invaders."

"But after a few weeks of occupation, I was caught trying to sneak food into our hiding place. I begged and pleaded with the soldiers to let me tend to my daughter, but when they went to fetch her from the manor, they said they could not find her. I never saw her again after that."

[bc56]

Green Goo
They're free! Mariblex conjures a bolt of hellfire at Juiblex, jumping back away from the other slime. They don't want to be absorbed, and the best way to avoid that fate is to not touch, right? That means they're going to be artillery this time around and Rowan will have to take the front line.

[Earl of Purple]

Abandoned Motorway- Alice's Camp

"They had food, water, shelter, electricity- limited, but they had it. After the Event, people were desperate and mad, and electricity went out the window. And we were too interested in the shelter. We'd tied the cannibal chef to a tree and stolen his car to escape him, and I don't know if he's still out there. I wanted to kill him, but my sister disagreed. He'd looked after us when he didn't have to, and despite being a cannibal murderer he was actually quite nice." Harmony looks away as Alice prepares herself, knowing what's going to happen and not liking it one bit.

[Rebonack]

[Abandoned Motorway]

Geeze.

That really sucks.

But then war really sucks, doesn't it?

It isn't something Khannie has ever experienced. She hopes she doesn't ever have to.

"Well, I met Siana on one of the trains here when it got stuck at this weird castle," Khannie recounts. "She seemed okay? I guess her leg was hurt but that looked like something that happened a long time ago. She's living over at this place called Midnight Park now with this knight guy."

Leech knight guy.

Which is kind of gross but Khannie isn't going to get into that in detail.

In all life could be quite a bit worse for her.

[Keeper]

Green Goo

Rowan feels odd with the hat on. Almost...tingly? He starts to ask what he's supposed to do with it, but he's interrupted by Ratticus clearing his throat, sitting on the end of Rowan's staff.
"Thus do I-" a Name is spoken, but the slimes present are not who are meant to hear it, and despite where they are the wind sweeps it away before it reaches their ears. "-do swear loyalty to Rowan, Dragon of Indulgence, and only to him. 'Til our souls are wiped clean in the Oldest Lands." Quietly he adds, "Say it, kid."
"I don't know-" "Yes, you do." "I'm not-" "Yes, you are." "It isn't-!" "Say the words, Rowan."
Rowan blinks, gulps, and says very quietly but definitely out loud,
"I like being me. I like baking even though it was chosen for me. I like the way people notice me but usually smile. I like that kids think I'm funny. I like not wearing shirts anymore even though that's weird. I like being a dragon. And I think I even like being huge.
And I can like all of those things and still think Granny was wrong to force them on me."
There is a soft glow about him. Somehow, Rowan seems more there than he was before. As if somehow up to this point he wasn't entirely real. Which is naturally odd because he still doesn't match the reality around them with his appearance.
"And speaking of outside entities forcing things on people, I believe my friend gave you an answer. That means you get nothing." Rowan reaches back with his staff as Ratticus hops back onto his shoulder. Somehow as he does so a large translucent pie appears on it. "Good day, sir!" Rowan flings the magicked pastry at Juiblex, a bolt of magic that strikes like three months of fasting all in a moment.
Somehow, it's also still fattening.

[Rebonack]

[Green Goo]

And thus Rowan hurls a MAGICAL PIE!

Now, the thing to remember about goopy creatures, slimes and oozes alike, is that they are fundamentally hungry. Hunger and the need to divide is the main thing that drives them. And if they can't get enough to eat they go into various dormant states. Oozes dry up and wait for better conditions. Slimes form fruiting bodies and wait for victims.

And when that hunger hits Juiblex he reacts like any starved slime would.

By beginning to shrivel inward.

"No! NO! I will NOT be defeated by a simple pie!" the Faceless God bellows as he lashes out with tentacles at our heroes! The tentacles are dry, though. Brittle. They could break easily. Or burn.

[Ironsmith]

[Abandoned Motorway]

"That was the right call." Alice replies, between rounds of meticulous cauterization. "Sacred hos'itality works in 'oth directions. The gods are no kinder to ungrate'ul guests than they are to treacherous hosts. Your sister sounds as though she were wise."

-

"It's been that way since the day she was born. The midwife was worried she would never learn to walk." Rhiannon gives a small, sad smile. "Her first steps were a sight to see. Somehow she still figured it out. She would stretch herself like a cat, holding onto the side of our kitchen table, and then she'd cry until Maldwyn or I came to help her. Then she'd grab our hand and she'd just hop, hop, hop, until she lost her grip and fell on her little bum." The woman chuckles fondly at the memory. "...I am glad to hear she is safe. Sharing a home with a knight would make her more well-defended than most."

Rhiannon sniffs and wipes her eyes. "Oh, I have a thousand questions." She smiles. "But those can wait for when we meet in person. For now, I want to hear a little more about my future daughter-in-law."

[Earl of Purple]

Abandoned Motorway

Harmony winces and gasps as her injury's cauterised.

"The sun disappeared for thirteen hours. When it came back, the stars were different, and people started changing. Anyone who thought God stuck around after that didn't make it through the next year." Harmony doesn't think anything is sacred, and mostly treats others as she wishes to be treated, or in self-defence. And avoiding being turned into barbeque ribs with a thyme and garlic sauce, a variety of gourmet sausages and roast sirloin of person served with yorkshire pudding and seasonal vegetables, in Harmony's mind, is self-defence.

[Rebonack]

[Abandoned Motorway]

Okay that's really cute.

Khannie can't help but smile at the image of Siana fumbling around as a toddler. Thankfully she met Siana before the whole Salt thing because otherwise she would probably be thinking of a kirin foal stumbling around without much else to go one. But obviously she wasn't like that to start. Turning into stuff's kinda because of the curse, right?

Like if Arthfael's mom keeps eating crows she'll start looking like a crow.

Which is kinda weird but whatever. Does she know that's how it works? It seems like she was just super out of it so maybe not?

But then.

THEN!

Oh no. Future daughter in law. Somehow Khannie hadn't been thinking about it in those terms and Arthfael's mom saying it like that causes the thought to crystalize in Khannie's mind. This means her ears fold down and she suddenly looks kinda skittish and Rhiannon is treated to what is perhaps her first look at a blushing unicorn.

"Oh... umm... I mean..."

That isn't answering the lady's inquiry, Khannie.

"I mean, I guess what sorta stuff do you wanna know?" the unicorn deflects lamely while she tries to come up with something worth saying about herself. She can brave villains and dangers but chatting with people about herself? That's scary. What if Arthfael's mom thinks she's lame? Or weird? Or not good enough for her son?

[bc56]

Green Goo
Now's the chance they've been waiting for!
Mariblex raises their head up and fires a massive bolt of hellfire up into the air. As it arcs back down it splits apart, raining flaming missiles down on the withering avatar of Juiblex.
"Go back to Hell you big wimp!"

[Keeper]

Green Goo

Rowan awkwardly bats the tentacle away with his staff, but he feels SUPER COOL as he does so.
"You sure changed your tune fast.
I guess now it's humble pie you'll be eating." he declares with a curled smile, as he conjures a second pie to throw right in the creature's face.

[Ironsmith]

[Abandoned Motorway]

"Hmph." Alice grumbles, giving the wound a particularly deep intrusion that probably feels a little more personal. "Then your 'eo'le know no gods. I' all it takes to lose 'aith is a 'ew hours o' darkness, you ne'er had 'uch to start with. The gods o' S'arta 'ro'ise cala'ity. Desolation. War. 'A'ine. E'ery kind o' 'lague and 'ain you can i'agine, and 'any you can't. They also 'ro'ise to 'ake us strong enou' to weather the'. And they kee' those 'ro'ises."

-

"...Oh, dear, I know that look." Rhiannon gives Khannie an apologetic smile. "That's how I felt when I first met the Tillers... Maldwyn's parents, before he became a Lord. It'd all right, nobody is judging you. At least not unfavorably; saving my life has to be worth some leeway, yes?" She smiles and gives Khannie's flank a playful nudge with her elbow.

"So... let me try this again. What do you like to do for fun?" She asks. "You can learn a lot about a person from that. And it gets you thinking about things you enjoy, so that will be helpful, too... sorry, I just realized I'm thinking out loud here, please ignore me."