The Ninth Trial

[advisories]

Who: everyone
When: Day 18, starting just after dawn
Where: The Hermit's Tent, and all around

[This morning as the sun begins to pour through the train's windows, there's the tremor that signals a Trial.]

Come hither, Heroes. Prove thy worth. Or something like that!

[It's the same older man's voice from the sixth trial, and outside is the same fortune teller's stall. Today the front flap is lifted to show a normal interior -- there's a wooden table, carved with geometric patterns and painted in bright colours, lit by teal-coloured carved candles.

At the table sits a man of indeterminate age, somewhere between 30 and 60. He's wearing what appear to be monk's robes, teal with patterned trimming. In front of him is a crystal ball and a stack of bingo cards, along with a stand-up sign bearing the rules of this Trial.

Across the top in large font, it says:

Icebreaker Bingo

Good luck and have fun!]

Comments

[bad_crowmance]

[ He pounds his fist into his other hand. ]

Sounds like fun!

[nihilmancy]

[Floats off the ground and starts heading outside.]

Flying is pretty fun sometimes, I guess.

[bad_crowmance]

It's a pretty impressive skill.

[nihilmancy]

[But then she goes back to the ground and walks the rest of the way.]

Tires me out, though.

[bad_crowmance]

That's not a surprise, either. How do you do it-- some kind of magic?

[nihilmancy]

That's right. It's a form of Star magic, which is concerned with space and movement.

[bad_crowmance]

How does it work?

[nihilmancy]

I must speak words of power- even if just in my mind, form the patterns of mana, and breathe it through my three souls. Then I become an image of the cosmos through imitation, wandering the heavens like a lost star.

[bad_crowmance]

[ Wait. ]

Three souls?

[nihilmancy]

Blood Soul, Bone Soul, Breath Soul. Well, different cultures call them by different names, but that's the shape of it, as far as we know.

[bad_crowmance]

The entire concept sounds completely unfamiliar to me.

[nihilmancy]

Somehow the idea of basic metaphysical concepts only being a local point of view has ceased to be surprising to me.

[bad_crowmance]

It's interesting, though, how many different ways there are to think about things.

[nihilmancy]

The souls are real. I feel them whenever I use magic. But maybe they're only real for me.

[Floating into the air again.]

We'll race to the tree line.

[bad_crowmance]

I can't feel my soul at all, I just assume it's there. On the count of three?

[nihilmancy]

The question of whence consciousness and perception arises is a fascin-

ah, yes, the race! On the count of three.

[bad_crowmance]

[ He casually slides himself into position. ]

One!

[nihilmancy]

[Smooths her unnecessarily ruffled skirts.]

Two.

[bad_crowmance]

Three!

[ He takes off with ease, completely comfortable with himself. His legs are long and he's athletic, so he's a pretty decent runner-- but he's got human limitations, naturally. Still, he's a competitive asshole and he's putting forth a good deal of effort into surging forward. ]

[nihilmancy]

[Hlasoh flies at her normal running speed- which is to say, quite a bit slower than Crow's. But she also lacks any sort of impediments on the ground- she has no need to pay attention to her footwork, and she isn't tiring. Not any time soon, anyway.]

[bad_crowmance]

[ Crow's endurance is pretty solid, good enough to last at least for the length of this race. There are things on the ground to avoid though, and he makes minor course corrections in advance enough that they don't cause too much difficulty-- but it does slow him down slightly in the process.

He's not taking a win for granted just because she's slower than him-- he knows the old adage that "slow but steady wins the race." But he's still determined to try. ]

[nihilmancy]

[Ultimately, he will win, in fact, like she predicted- but she does exert herself as well- magical flight requires as much, and she looks rather winded by the end when she floats down.]

Ah, it seems like you were able to prevail.

[bad_crowmance]

Yeah, but you gave a good race.

[ He reaches his hand out to shake. ]

[nihilmancy]

[shakes.]

Er, likewise. Ah, I really do need to work on my physical fitness a bit more.

[bad_crowmance]

It's not a bad idea. It's important to keep in shape.