Chapter 351: Aye, Eye
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Chapter 351: Aye, Eye
Tala looked up at the wall of the cell antechamber, barely illuminated by flickering flames. The light was reflecting from where their assigned Paragon was working.
What the rust is that?
There was a creature depicted on the wall, faded and seemingly translucent by intention as well as time. The effect was likely meant to depict the beast as insubstantial, or an illusion, or something like that. But that wasnt what had her confused.
It looks like a hydra, but with eyes instead of heads, and someone has been fighting it who doesnt get the concept.
In essence, the creatures exterior was covered with eyestalks.
The only exceptions were a singular, central eye on its body, its four little legs, and a disproportionately large, fang-filled mouth around the region that Tala would have expected a heart.
Master Limmestare was walking by, and he lifted his face from his book. Its an eyedra.
She turned on him, disbelief obvious in her response, No.
But he was already reading once again. Even so, his slightly shaking shoulders were betraying stifled laughter.
Tala turned toward Master Clevnis, not trusting the other Refined at the moment. What is this called, Master Clevnis?
The man looked toward his wife before looking back and shrugging. She always calls things in that classification, Dont cut that. So, its a dont-cut-that, I suppose.
He was worse at hiding his humor, so Tala rolled her eyes and turned to Mistress Cerna, Mistress Cerna?
I mean, hes not wrong? She was grinning openly.
Talas mouth formed a compressed line. Please, Mistress Cerna. Whats it called?
The co-leader for their unit shrugged. Uncomfortable Eye Contact.
Tala grimaced and shook her head. Fine. Ill go ask someone more reasonable.
She walked through the almost maze-like corridors until she found Mistress Vanga.
Mistress Vanga, have you seen the depictions of the beast held in this cell?
The woman looked up from her Archive tablet. Hmm? Oh, yes.
What is it called?
The healer smiled, Well, Ive always thought of it as the 20/20/20/20/20/20/20
Tala threw up her hands, turning and walking away as Mistress Vanga continued, a massive smile across the healers face.
Tala found Master Girt a minute later and skipped the preamble to simply ask, Whats this creature called?
Hmm? He had been shaping a stone chunk into a mimicry of the thing depicted on the walls. Not sure, but Id call it the unfair-seeker.
Tala frowned, not understanding. What?
You know, if youre playing hide and seek, this thing would have an insane advantage.
Alat burst out laughing within Talas head.
Do you know what its called?
-Oh, absolutely not. The book containing that is still sealed. I think this is a god-beast, or near enough.-
Great
Are you sure you dont know what it is?
Master Girt shrugged. At the level we think this thing is, beasts are too unique to have specific names for the species. I like my name though.
Tala sighed, turning to go find the Paragon. Thanks anyways. For nothing, she added within her own mind.
She knew they were probably messing with her, but it was becoming a burning question. She really wanted to know what it was called.
Her mirrored perspective caught the Refined behind her breakout in a broad grin.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.
Tala narrowed her eyes but didnt turn around. I knew that they were messing with me.
-Thats likely.-
No matter. Mistress Suile would know.
The woman was back near the entrance, reading a large slab in a dead language. Two balls of dichotomous fire floating beside her, one over each shoulder.
The fire was dichotomous because it was at once blindingly white, and dim enough to look at without damaging even mundane eyes. Tala felt like the blinking brilliance had to do with something deeper than luminescence, color, or intensity. It was nice and warm, cutting the winter chill from the air. Though, to be fair none of them were in danger of becoming too cold, not with the relatively mild winter theyd been having so far.
Regardless, theorizing about the womans magic was not why Tala had sought her out.
The writing being in a dead language said a lot about the cell.
This was one of the cells that had been around for a long time. That meant theyd put in the extra effort to keep it sealed even longer than usual before the first required repair.
Obviously, many things would contribute to when a cell degraded, otherwise there would be regularity to their need of maintenance, but bad luckor some other confluencehad made this waning an insanely concentrated time for such.
But that was also beside the point. The Paragon whod come with them for this cell was examining the script, and Tala had a question.
Pardon me, Mistress Suile, but do you know what this creature would be called?
Hmm? She glanced toward Tala. Im sorry, I havent laid eyes on the depictions yet, so I dont know. Ill get to them once Im done, here.
Tala felt her face twitch. It was just an unfortunate choice of words, Tala. Dont get frustrated.
Tala took a deep breath, calming herself for a moment.
But seriously, we follow the plan. Remember to keep your sight lines clear.
More laughter.
Dont let your eyes be bigger than our stomach. These will be hard beasts to swallow.
Master Girt added, Obliterate them with extreme prejudice. If we let them trade us an eye for an eye in there, were going to come up short in a bad way.
Mistress Cerna shook her head, Stay focused, stay sharp, this whole thing will be done in the blink of an eye.
Master Limmestar grinned, Dont forget that theyre going to be hard to surprise, those things have eyes in the back of their heads.
Mistress Vanga even got in on the fun. Even though they might be sapient, I doubt there will be peace. We just wont be able to see eye to eye.
Tala was chuckling along with everyone, and she was the last to speak, I see what you all are doing. Well, this mission is more than meets the eye. Lets be blindingly brilliant at our jobs.
-Not a bad effort.-
Hush, you. Im trying.
But it was time to be prepared.
Her iron roiled into existence, covering her from head to toe, her white steel encasing that all under her scale mail hauberk.
She relaxed a small part of her mind, and her through-spike activated, the illusion smiling at her near-subconscious direction.
The resonance building within her enhanced all of her scripts, making her rise up on the balls of her feet in anticipation.
Connection established?
-Connection established.-
Because these enemies could hear, and react, the unit had decided to have Alat coordinate through the Archive on this mission.
With no further waiting, the entrance was fully open, and the unit stepped through, immediately coming out into a wide, stone-worked plaza.
That was a shame, because if this was one of the tunnel-entrance cells, theyd have had a convenient choke point.
Sadly, that just wasnt meant to be.
Instead, the entrance was set into a decorative wall of what might have once been a central governance building.
The remainder of the building was lost to time, only this one wall being included in the prison cell.
The open space before them seemed to have been designed for a large number of people to gather to hear from their leaders, and the square was surrounded by low buildings of well cut stone.
The buildings were clearly ancient, though they were less abused by time than Tala might have expected. She supposed that was due to a lack of people physically interacting with them much.
-And no animals or plants-
Tala noticed it then.
There were no plants that she could see anywhere.
Nothing growing up through the paving stones, no gardens, no moss, nothing.
There were even open patches of dirt that Tala now suspected had been gardens, but nothing living remained.
There was nothing in the cell but cut stone and dust.
Master Clevnis took command of the combat situation, drawing all of their attention back to the task at hand. His words came into Talas mind, facilitated via Alat on the Refineds own connections to the Archive. Plan Herding Cats.
The unit always had funny plan names when they let Master Limmestare choose them. Even so, the names were memorable and usually pretty explicative.
Plan Herding Cats was exactly what it sounded like. They would be doing their utmost to herd the manifestations into a kill box, set up by Master Girt and manned by Master Limmestare and Tala.
-I dont know if I should be disturbed that you think a plan called herding cats obviously includes a kill box.-
Hey, this is a plan to deal with enemies, so
-Excuses, excuses.-
Master Clevnis had wanted to be a part of the kill box team, but there was actually some legitimacy to the silly name hed given to the creatures. If one of their eye stalks was cut off, they would regrow twice as many as were severed, each new one coming with new magics to increase the effectiveness and breadth of the creatures arsenal.
Thus, Master Clevnis was on harassment and herding duty rather than tasked with finishing them off.
Terry had also indicated that he wanted to be on herding duty.
Honestly, Tala almost pitied the monsters.
They quickly assessed the terrain, and Master Girt pulled up stone, creating ramps away from them that would have sheer drops on the other side.
He left open a single, relatively level path, then covered the ground through that path with hardened stone spikes.
Thatbetween the defensive positions on either sidewas their kill box.
Tala and Master Limmestare took up positions on either side of that passage, sheltered behind machicolations that Master Girt had been sure to include in the defenses.
The others took up their positions, their job simply to keep the enemy from breaching the walls and incentivize them to head toward the gap.
The unit would change plans if the beasts were more intelligent or coordinated than they had planned for, but it was as good a strategy as any to start.
As the first of the odd, purple-skinned beasts came into view, Tala felt her nervousness fade and her focus sharpen.
This was her role. This was her unit. She knew what she had to do.
Alright. Lets do this.
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Chapter 351: Aye, Eye
Tala looked up at the wall of the cell antechamber, barely illuminated by flickering flames. The light was reflecting from where their assigned Paragon was working.
What the rust is that?
There was a creature depicted on the wall, faded and seemingly translucent by intention as well as time. The effect was likely meant to depict the beast as insubstantial, or an illusion, or something like that. But that wasnt what had her confused.
It looks like a hydra, but with eyes instead of heads, and someone has been fighting it who doesnt get the concept.
In essence, the creatures exterior was covered with eyestalks.
The only exceptions were a singular, central eye on its body, its four little legs, and a disproportionately large, fang-filled mouth around the region that Tala would have expected a heart.
Master Limmestare was walking by, and he lifted his face from his book. Its an eyedra.
She turned on him, disbelief obvious in her response, No.
But he was already reading once again. Even so, his slightly shaking shoulders were betraying stifled laughter.
Tala turned toward Master Clevnis, not trusting the other Refined at the moment. What is this called, Master Clevnis?
The man looked toward his wife before looking back and shrugging. She always calls things in that classification, Dont cut that. So, its a dont-cut-that, I suppose.
He was worse at hiding his humor, so Tala rolled her eyes and turned to Mistress Cerna, Mistress Cerna?
I mean, hes not wrong? She was grinning openly.
Talas mouth formed a compressed line. Please, Mistress Cerna. Whats it called?
The co-leader for their unit shrugged. Uncomfortable Eye Contact.
Tala grimaced and shook her head. Fine. Ill go ask someone more reasonable.
She walked through the almost maze-like corridors until she found Mistress Vanga.
Mistress Vanga, have you seen the depictions of the beast held in this cell?
The woman looked up from her Archive tablet. Hmm? Oh, yes.
What is it called?
The healer smiled, Well, Ive always thought of it as the 20/20/20/20/20/20/20
Tala threw up her hands, turning and walking away as Mistress Vanga continued, a massive smile across the healers face.
Tala found Master Girt a minute later and skipped the preamble to simply ask, Whats this creature called?
Hmm? He had been shaping a stone chunk into a mimicry of the thing depicted on the walls. Not sure, but Id call it the unfair-seeker.
Tala frowned, not understanding. What?
You know, if youre playing hide and seek, this thing would have an insane advantage.
Alat burst out laughing within Talas head.
Do you know what its called?
-Oh, absolutely not. The book containing that is still sealed. I think this is a god-beast, or near enough.-
Great
Are you sure you dont know what it is?
Master Girt shrugged. At the level we think this thing is, beasts are too unique to have specific names for the species. I like my name though.
Tala sighed, turning to go find the Paragon. Thanks anyways. For nothing, she added within her own mind.
She knew they were probably messing with her, but it was becoming a burning question. She really wanted to know what it was called.
Her mirrored perspective caught the Refined behind her breakout in a broad grin.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.
Tala narrowed her eyes but didnt turn around. I knew that they were messing with me.
-Thats likely.-
No matter. Mistress Suile would know.
The woman was back near the entrance, reading a large slab in a dead language. Two balls of dichotomous fire floating beside her, one over each shoulder.
The fire was dichotomous because it was at once blindingly white, and dim enough to look at without damaging even mundane eyes. Tala felt like the blinking brilliance had to do with something deeper than luminescence, color, or intensity. It was nice and warm, cutting the winter chill from the air. Though, to be fair none of them were in danger of becoming too cold, not with the relatively mild winter theyd been having so far.
Regardless, theorizing about the womans magic was not why Tala had sought her out.
The writing being in a dead language said a lot about the cell.
This was one of the cells that had been around for a long time. That meant theyd put in the extra effort to keep it sealed even longer than usual before the first required repair.
Obviously, many things would contribute to when a cell degraded, otherwise there would be regularity to their need of maintenance, but bad luckor some other confluencehad made this waning an insanely concentrated time for such.
But that was also beside the point. The Paragon whod come with them for this cell was examining the script, and Tala had a question.
Pardon me, Mistress Suile, but do you know what this creature would be called?
Hmm? She glanced toward Tala. Im sorry, I havent laid eyes on the depictions yet, so I dont know. Ill get to them once Im done, here.
Tala felt her face twitch. It was just an unfortunate choice of words, Tala. Dont get frustrated.
Tala took a deep breath, calming herself for a moment.
But seriously, we follow the plan. Remember to keep your sight lines clear.
More laughter.
Dont let your eyes be bigger than our stomach. These will be hard beasts to swallow.
Master Girt added, Obliterate them with extreme prejudice. If we let them trade us an eye for an eye in there, were going to come up short in a bad way.
Mistress Cerna shook her head, Stay focused, stay sharp, this whole thing will be done in the blink of an eye.
Master Limmestar grinned, Dont forget that theyre going to be hard to surprise, those things have eyes in the back of their heads.
Mistress Vanga even got in on the fun. Even though they might be sapient, I doubt there will be peace. We just wont be able to see eye to eye.
Tala was chuckling along with everyone, and she was the last to speak, I see what you all are doing. Well, this mission is more than meets the eye. Lets be blindingly brilliant at our jobs.
-Not a bad effort.-
Hush, you. Im trying.
But it was time to be prepared.
Her iron roiled into existence, covering her from head to toe, her white steel encasing that all under her scale mail hauberk.
She relaxed a small part of her mind, and her through-spike activated, the illusion smiling at her near-subconscious direction.
The resonance building within her enhanced all of her scripts, making her rise up on the balls of her feet in anticipation.
Connection established?
-Connection established.-
Because these enemies could hear, and react, the unit had decided to have Alat coordinate through the Archive on this mission.
With no further waiting, the entrance was fully open, and the unit stepped through, immediately coming out into a wide, stone-worked plaza.
That was a shame, because if this was one of the tunnel-entrance cells, theyd have had a convenient choke point.
Sadly, that just wasnt meant to be.
Instead, the entrance was set into a decorative wall of what might have once been a central governance building.
The remainder of the building was lost to time, only this one wall being included in the prison cell.
The open space before them seemed to have been designed for a large number of people to gather to hear from their leaders, and the square was surrounded by low buildings of well cut stone.
The buildings were clearly ancient, though they were less abused by time than Tala might have expected. She supposed that was due to a lack of people physically interacting with them much.
-And no animals or plants-
Tala noticed it then.
There were no plants that she could see anywhere.
Nothing growing up through the paving stones, no gardens, no moss, nothing.
There were even open patches of dirt that Tala now suspected had been gardens, but nothing living remained.
There was nothing in the cell but cut stone and dust.
Master Clevnis took command of the combat situation, drawing all of their attention back to the task at hand. His words came into Talas mind, facilitated via Alat on the Refineds own connections to the Archive. Plan Herding Cats.
The unit always had funny plan names when they let Master Limmestare choose them. Even so, the names were memorable and usually pretty explicative.
Plan Herding Cats was exactly what it sounded like. They would be doing their utmost to herd the manifestations into a kill box, set up by Master Girt and manned by Master Limmestare and Tala.
-I dont know if I should be disturbed that you think a plan called herding cats obviously includes a kill box.-
Hey, this is a plan to deal with enemies, so
-Excuses, excuses.-
Master Clevnis had wanted to be a part of the kill box team, but there was actually some legitimacy to the silly name hed given to the creatures. If one of their eye stalks was cut off, they would regrow twice as many as were severed, each new one coming with new magics to increase the effectiveness and breadth of the creatures arsenal.
Thus, Master Clevnis was on harassment and herding duty rather than tasked with finishing them off.
Terry had also indicated that he wanted to be on herding duty.
Honestly, Tala almost pitied the monsters.
They quickly assessed the terrain, and Master Girt pulled up stone, creating ramps away from them that would have sheer drops on the other side.
He left open a single, relatively level path, then covered the ground through that path with hardened stone spikes.
Thatbetween the defensive positions on either sidewas their kill box.
Tala and Master Limmestare took up positions on either side of that passage, sheltered behind machicolations that Master Girt had been sure to include in the defenses.
The others took up their positions, their job simply to keep the enemy from breaching the walls and incentivize them to head toward the gap.
The unit would change plans if the beasts were more intelligent or coordinated than they had planned for, but it was as good a strategy as any to start.
As the first of the odd, purple-skinned beasts came into view, Tala felt her nervousness fade and her focus sharpen.
This was her role. This was her unit. She knew what she had to do.
Alright. Lets do this.
Chapter 351: Aye, EyeTala looked up at the wall of the cell antechamber, barely illuminated by flickering flames. The light was reflecting from where their assigned Paragon was working.What the rust is that?There was a creature depicted on the wall, faded and seemingly translucent by intention as well as time. The effect was likely meant to depict the beast as insubstantial, or an illusion, or something like that. But that wasnt what had her confused.It looks like a hydra, but with eyes instead of heads, and someone has been fighting it who doesnt get the concept.In essence, the creatures exterior was covered with eyestalks.The only exceptions were a singular, central eye on its body, its four little legs, and a disproportionately large, fang-filled mouth around the region that Tala would have expected a heart.Master Limmestare was walking by, and he lifted his face from his book. Its an eyedra.She turned on him, disbelief obvious in her response, No.But he was already reading once again. Even so, his slightly shaking shoulders were betraying stifled laughter.Tala turned toward Master Clevnis, not trusting the other Refined at the moment. What is this called, Master Clevnis?The man looked toward his wife before looking back and shrugging. She always calls things in that classification, Dont cut that. So, its a dont-cut-that, I suppose.He was worse at hiding his humor, so Tala rolled her eyes and turned to Mistress Cerna, Mistress Cerna?I mean, hes not wrong? She was grinning openly.Talas mouth formed a compressed line. Please, Mistress Cerna. Whats it called?The co-leader for their unit shrugged. Uncomfortable Eye Contact.Tala grimaced and shook her head. Fine. Ill go ask someone more reasonable.She walked through the almost maze-like corridors until she found Mistress Vanga.Mistress Vanga, have you seen the depictions of the beast held in this cell?The woman looked up from her Archive tablet. Hmm? Oh, yes.What is it called?The healer smiled, Well, Ive always thought of it as the 20/20/20/20/20/20/20Tala threw up her hands, turning and walking away as Mistress Vanga continued, a massive smile across the healers face.Tala found Master Girt a minute later and skipped the preamble to simply ask, Whats this creature called?Hmm? He had been shaping a stone chunk into a mimicry of the thing depicted on the walls. Not sure, but Id call it the unfair-seeker.Tala frowned, not understanding. What?You know, if youre playing hide and seek, this thing would have an insane advantage.Alat burst out laughing within Talas head.Do you know what its called?-Oh, absolutely not. The book containing that is still sealed. I think this is a god-beast, or near enough.-GreatAre you sure you dont know what it is?Master Girt shrugged. At the level we think this thing is, beasts are too unique to have specific names for the species. I like my name though.Tala sighed, turning to go find the Paragon. Thanks anyways. For nothing, she added within her own mind.She knew they were probably messing with her, but it was becoming a burning question. She really wanted to know what it was called.Her mirrored perspective caught the Refined behind her breakout in a broad grin.The roots of this story extend from novell bin origin.Tala narrowed her eyes but didnt turn around. I knew that they were messing with me.-Thats likely.-No matter. Mistress Suile would know.The woman was back near the entrance, reading a large slab in a dead language. Two balls of dichotomous fire floating beside her, one over each shoulder.The fire was dichotomous because it was at once blindingly white, and dim enough to look at without damaging even mundane eyes. Tala felt like the blinking brilliance had to do with something deeper than luminescence, color, or intensity. It was nice and warm, cutting the winter chill from the air. Though, to be fair none of them were in danger of becoming too cold, not with the relatively mild winter theyd been having so far.Regardless, theorizing about the womans magic was not why Tala had sought her out.The writing being in a dead language said a lot about the cell.This was one of the cells that had been around for a long time. That meant theyd put in the extra effort to keep it sealed even longer than usual before the first required repair.Obviously, many things would contribute to when a cell degraded, otherwise there would be regularity to their need of maintenance, but bad luckor some other confluencehad made this waning an insanely concentrated time for such.But that was also beside the point. The Paragon whod come with them for this cell was examining the script, and Tala had a question.Pardon me, Mistress Suile, but do you know what this creature would be called?Hmm? She glanced toward Tala. Im sorry, I havent laid eyes on the depictions yet, so I dont know. Ill get to them once Im done, here.Tala felt her face twitch. It was just an unfortunate choice of words, Tala. Dont get frustrated.Tala took a deep breath, calming herself for a moment.But seriously, we follow the plan. Remember to keep your sight lines clear.More laughter.Dont let your eyes be bigger than our stomach. These will be hard beasts to swallow.Master Girt added, Obliterate them with extreme prejudice. If we let them trade us an eye for an eye in there, were going to come up short in a bad way.Mistress Cerna shook her head, Stay focused, stay sharp, this whole thing will be done in the blink of an eye.Master Limmestar grinned, Dont forget that theyre going to be hard to surprise, those things have eyes in the back of their heads.Mistress Vanga even got in on the fun. Even though they might be sapient, I doubt there will be peace. We just wont be able to see eye to eye.Tala was chuckling along with everyone, and she was the last to speak, I see what you all are doing. Well, this mission is more than meets the eye. Lets be blindingly brilliant at our jobs.-Not a bad effort.-Hush, you. Im trying.But it was time to be prepared.Her iron roiled into existence, covering her from head to toe, her white steel encasing that all under her scale mail hauberk.She relaxed a small part of her mind, and her through-spike activated, the illusion smiling at her near-subconscious direction.The resonance building within her enhanced all of her scripts, making her rise up on the balls of her feet in anticipation.Connection established?-Connection established.-Because these enemies could hear, and react, the unit had decided to have Alat coordinate through the Archive on this mission.With no further waiting, the entrance was fully open, and the unit stepped through, immediately coming out into a wide, stone-worked plaza.That was a shame, because if this was one of the tunnel-entrance cells, theyd have had a convenient choke point.Sadly, that just wasnt meant to be.Instead, the entrance was set into a decorative wall of what might have once been a central governance building.The remainder of the building was lost to time, only this one wall being included in the prison cell.The open space before them seemed to have been designed for a large number of people to gather to hear from their leaders, and the square was surrounded by low buildings of well cut stone.The buildings were clearly ancient, though they were less abused by time than Tala might have expected. She supposed that was due to a lack of people physically interacting with them much.-And no animals or plants-Tala noticed it then.There were no plants that she could see anywhere.Nothing growing up through the paving stones, no gardens, no moss, nothing.There were even open patches of dirt that Tala now suspected had been gardens, but nothing living remained.There was nothing in the cell but cut stone and dust.Master Clevnis took command of the combat situation, drawing all of their attention back to the task at hand. His words came into Talas mind, facilitated via Alat on the Refineds own connections to the Archive. Plan Herding Cats.The unit always had funny plan names when they let Master Limmestare choose them. Even so, the names were memorable and usually pretty explicative.Plan Herding Cats was exactly what it sounded like. They would be doing their utmost to herd the manifestations into a kill box, set up by Master Girt and manned by Master Limmestare and Tala.-I dont know if I should be disturbed that you think a plan called herding cats obviously includes a kill box.-Hey, this is a plan to deal with enemies, so-Excuses, excuses.-Master Clevnis had wanted to be a part of the kill box team, but there was actually some legitimacy to the silly name hed given to the creatures. If one of their eye stalks was cut off, they would regrow twice as many as were severed, each new one coming with new magics to increase the effectiveness and breadth of the creatures arsenal.Thus, Master Clevnis was on harassment and herding duty rather than tasked with finishing them off.Terry had also indicated that he wanted to be on herding duty.Honestly, Tala almost pitied the monsters.They quickly assessed the terrain, and Master Girt pulled up stone, creating ramps away from them that would have sheer drops on the other side.He left open a single, relatively level path, then covered the ground through that path with hardened stone spikes.Thatbetween the defensive positions on either sidewas their kill box.Tala and Master Limmestare took up positions on either side of that passage, sheltered behind machicolations that Master Girt had been sure to include in the defenses.The others took up their positions, their job simply to keep the enemy from breaching the walls and incentivize them to head toward the gap.The unit would change plans if the beasts were more intelligent or coordinated than they had planned for, but it was as good a strategy as any to start.As the first of the odd, purple-skinned beasts came into view, Tala felt her nervousness fade and her focus sharpen.This was her role. This was her unit. She knew what she had to do.Alright. Lets do this.
