[Voice]

[tailforbrains]

[A somewhat nervous voice comes across the telepathic connection, trying to get people's attention but obviously feeling uncomfortable doing just that. She rambles more than actually imparts, but hey, at least the information's coming across, right?]

Okay, so. Um. I know everybody's all focused on dragons and stuff, but there's that missing queen problem, too, right? And there's this illuminated guy who was selling riddles about it. I don't know what to do with them, but I guess somebody out here does, right?

[She hopes. Because while she can tell what they mean, for the most part, she doesn't have the knowledge to finish the puzzle-- nor, really, the desire to risk herself in trying.]

So, uh. If somebody wants to find the "lonesome thicket" where the throne is hiding with a "magic flower", bringing it back to where it belongs is supposed to be the first step to getting the queen back.

[If she's got the answer right, anyway.]

I can read you the riddles if you really want-- I wrote them down after I left-- but they're kind of dumb. The first one was so easy I got it in, like, a second. The second one's harder, but I think that's just because I don't know this country very well, and I got most of it.

Comments

[amadine]

I sit while others bow and kneel, but do not rise when others stand.
I have two arms which always rest, but cannot grasp a single hand.
I have four feet which cannot walk, a sturdy back which cannot bend.
Alone I am but half my strength, my purpose filled with noble friend.

In lonesome thickets do I rest, my company a magic flower,
Who wrested me from home and hearth to grow upon my sovereign power.
From Keep to Keep I must be brought, by proof of constant loyalty,
Through sights unseen and heights unscaled. Thus I restore her royalty.

[There's no voice, as such - Sabetha hasn't learned that particular trick - but even lacking that, there's the cadences of recitation to the projected thought. Poetry has a rhythm of its own, and she recalls it as much by that as by word.]

Is that the one, or is the sorcerous mummer dispensing more?

[tailforbrains]

... yeah, uh, that's exactly it, I think.

[It's really close to what she wrote down, anyway, but she probably replaced a word here and there with a similar one.]

So he only had the two, then, huh? I guess I'm not the only one who knows about it, then. Good.

[amadine]

Maybe not. He gave me the second verse only when I unraveled the first one - there may be more to it than either of us heard.

And if not, it still must be something he considers important...or amusing.

[tailforbrains]

Yeah, and I didn't figure out all of the third verse, either. Though I did get some of it. You'd think that'd be enough to get a third verse if there was one, don't you?

[Neeshka is ever hopeful, despite also being ever-suspicious.]

Anyway. I guess you don't know where that thicket might be, either?

[amadine]

That's not how those games work. You either have the answer, or you don't.

And I might know...if the answer's the obvious one. There's a forest near the festival ground we arrived at.

[deconsecrate]

Can't we just start accosting the locals? 'Pardon, serrah, but have you perchance seen a thicket? ...my goodness, you've seen seventy of them, have you. How about a magic flower?'

Anyone who makes it through that conversation without a punch in the mouth should learn all kinds of useful things.

[tailforbrains]

[If he were in front of her, she'd be glaring. As it is, she just sounds annoyed.]

Hey, I'm just passing along the info, okay? You should be glad I'm not even making you pay for it!

[deconsecrate]

[ Ah, glaring and annoyance. Must be Tuesday. ]

Goodness, I didn't mean to convey the impression I'm not appreciative.

[tailforbrains]

Maybe if you wanted people to think you appreciated something, you shouldn't make fun of them.

[deconsecrate]

You didn't write these, did you?

[gangstering]

Yeah the queen thing seems like it should be a big deal. The way those Illuminant guys were talking about it.

[But dragons are immediately lethal so that's a tough distraction not to get distracted by.]

Do you mind reading the riddles? I haven't heard them, and it's not like I'm great at solving them or anything. But... [He's from a background of having to investigate to survive so, it's habit by now.]

[tailforbrains]

Sure, if you want.

[She pauses while she pulls up the bit of parchment she scratched the lines out on, and reads:]

"I sit while others bow and kneel, but do not rise when others stand.
I have two arms that always rest, but can't grasp a single hand.
I have four feet that cannot walk, a sturdy back that cannot bend.
Alone I am just half my strength, my purpose with noble friend."

-- That's the first part. I got it right away, it means the missing throne. The illuminated guy said so. Anyway, this is the second part:

"In lonesome thickets I do wait, my company a magic flower,
Who wrestled me from home and hearth to feed upon my power.
From Keep to Keep I should be brought, by proof of loyalty,
Through sights unseen and heights unclimbed, thus I restore the royalty."

-- sounds like it's about the queen, right, and her coming back? Just gotta find where the throne is.

[It's not always quite right, since she wrote it down from memory after the fact, but the gist is there.]

[gangstering]

[...wow. Yup. Those are riddles.] Yeah, that makes sense. I talked to one of those illuminant guys too, and he didn't have any riddles, but he talked a lot about the queen. He said that the whole land would sort itself out if she were back.

[Though give him a second while he mulls over the second bit of that.] What magic flower though? How do you tell a magic flower from a regular flower anyway?

[A pause and he remembers his manners.] Thanks for sharing them with me anyway.

[tailforbrains]

Hey, it's not like I can do anything with it. So sharing's not going to hurt me any.

[Hey, she got thanked! That doesn't happen often enough that it isn't still pretty memorable when it happens.]

So, you know. You're welcome.

But magic flowers, huh? I guess that could mean some kind of, like. Plant that's used in magic. There's all sorts of things back home you can get magic essences out of, so maybe that's it?

[gangstering]

I suppose there's that. But people can be stingy with information sometimes.

[He's considering though.]

It's a riddle though, right? If it's a riddle, maybe it doesn't mean an actual flower. Maybe that's a symbol for something. That's how riddles work, right?

[It can't be seen but wow is he making a face. Damn riddles. Damn mysteries.]

[voice]

[starcaptor]

You talked to him too? [he had seemed very nice, genial enough even if Sakura felt uneasy for all of two seconds right in the beginning.]

About the flower -- since it's magic, then that might mean someone else with magic might have it, right?

[tailforbrains]

Well, maybe. It could be some kind of, I don't know, metaphor. I mean, it's a riddle, things don't always mean what they look like they mean.

... but yeah, I talked to him. And ate the "tasty" food, too. Ew.

[starcaptor]

[ riddles and metaphors all fly over sakura's head damnit ]

Maybe we can find out for sure whether it's real or not by asking other people with magic...

[tailforbrains]

[Neeshka's actually not bad at them. But then, she's a bit further along in cognitive development than an eleven year old. Not a lot, but a bit.]

Hey, if you know some, go for it. Orange wasn't really all that helpful, besides giving out the not-that-hard riddles.

[notinthecards]

The forest between Rivergard and Westgard is called the Thicket. And the Violet Illuminant makes his home there.

A violet's a flower, too, last I checked, chere.

[tailforbrains]

[There's a pause before Neeshka responds, and then she sounds somewhere between defensive and sheepish.]

... so I didn't actually know there was a violet illuminant too. I guess that makes it pretty clear what the answer is, huh?

[notinthecards]

A little clearer, I think.

[tailforbrains]

Well, clear enough to know where to go, anyway. If, you know, there weren't dragons in the way, right now.

[manyfacesof]

A new mental 'voice'. Gruff. With a bunch of thoughts whispering and jostling for position in the background. A busy mind, learning to be disciplined on the network. But still learning.

"Yeah, Ambiguity and Royalty the Violet one said it was in charge of. Someone with more patience than me might be able to get something out of it. Let myself get angry and blew it."

A pause.

"Wait, there's more of those Illuminants than just the Lilac? Ugh..."

[tailforbrains]

"At least two." Neeshka's mental voice isn't particularly disciplined, either, but it's also all out there in the open, so there's not much hanging around in the background to distract. Maybe she's just straight-forward, like that. "This Violet guy, and the Orange guy. Orange has to do with taste. Half the food in his tent was all gross and crazy-spicey, or... something. That kinda makes me think there's more, too. Like, a whole rainbow worth maybe?"

See? Not much discipline. Mostly just a thought-ramble.