Oasis

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Indeed... We were lacking in time to do much more than gather what forces we could and march towards this site, in a region with so much old death... A lich would grow his forces and power more with every passing day, and with the Uhar caught unawares they may not have survived too many days of delay".
After all the Uhar had been trickling in as small groups to investigate the sudden lack of communication from their winter home, which was how so many had been captured by the time Ratty arrived.
"Even so, if you had been within reach... I would have asked for you help, begged if required, it would shame me but you have proven to be an extremely competent solver of problems... And would surely have led to many fewer casualties if we were to storm the fortress, of course, you simply solved everything yourself".
Pragmatism despite her personal feelings of shame it seemed.

"Oh? I am surprised you can feel that... It carries the weight of responsibility... And quite a few spells and enchantments too of course, most tend to simply dismiss it as nothing.... Worry not though, it shouldn't cause any trouble for you, and this way it's much harder to lose".
Her tone was light, it would be difficult to work out if she was being entirely serious, though just a spell to make the ring harder to lose WOULD count as an enchantment.

"Indeed... it was natural that you would need to interact with the Periphery at some point if you intend to create any sort of lasting settlement in this region, their position makes them invaluable as a connection between our own settlements and the wider empires outside of this forest, without needing to worry about the difficulties that would normally accompany such commerce... And of course, they consider themselves something of a local peace keeping force, ignoring their recent... Inactivity, I am sure they would have sent a party to investigate your actions soon enough once they had heard of you".
She sipped some tea that had been sitting nearby.
"As for trading with them... The people of the Periphery are former adventurers and their descendants, their cultures and tastes are as varied as they come, they were also not originally dedicated craftsmen, while common foods and basic necessities of life such as furnishing are within their reach, they lack easy access to many luxury goods, so I would suggest finding something along those lines to offer".

"Yes... Long range communication is very useful... But it is also very difficult to learn, and even more difficult to maintain for more than a few words, I am cheating somewhat with mine by using such a powerful focus".
Presumably she meant her crystal ball.
"Being able to see who I am talking with helps as well".
She added.
"Those stones... I did examine some but they are made with a method of enchanting I am not at all familiar with, if you can decipher their secrets then you would be welcome to the ruins filled with them throughout this forest".

 

[Fyrra]

Well, Pellinta had opened up to the point of being very upfront about her methods and what to expect of her. As awkward as it was to hear about somebody saying they would have begged for help if necessary, the thought of mother-syol groveling stirred up a frown: how many cycles had this one endured, only for the habits of one deemed a lesser by societal standards to stay with her well past her prime? Once again, she had the rat thinking about things it possibly would have never considered with its short attention span and conversational habits.

"Don't grovel. If we are to survive, we should do so as equals, neighbors, and maybe even friends. Especially don't grovel to me. We can't have our people thinking strength sets a chain of command or respect among our people. But we can help one another." All in all, this was a significantly different response from the last disaster... in which Pellinta did cast her pride aside, and it moved the rat to drop what it was doing. Was that growth? "On that note, I should go find Nulyth. Maybe we'll get lucky and catch her at a meeting." The rat grinned at the thought of tactlessly barging in to interrupt something important. "Safe journeys, talk again soon."

And with a wave, the ratling was off, just as suddenly as it had appeared, leading Hin on another walk through the tents and the ruins, with but a few moments of awkward but otherwise pleasant silence once the creature was able to tune out the voices of other people passing by. The periphery settlements going silent was troublesome, but apart from the idea of isolationists suddenly cutting contact over a perceived slight, the other possibility was that something overran... all of them? What could have done that? If these were former adventurers, and adventurers were what sealed the lich in its little tomb to begin with, how long could investigating that be delayed?

For a moment the rodent pondered, once again curious about the kinds of talent it could pull from the other settlements, but Pellinta echoed what the leatherworker said some days ago and provided some reasoning behind the lack of complex goods: these were people whose primary skills were exploration and combat. And teamwork. And planning. If it came down to a fight, barbarian tactics would not last long against them. It might surprise a few, but they'd likely adapt faster than the lich did. It might not be long before some of them catch wind of a strong rodent: better not to encourage that any more than circumstances already have.

But what could a rat offer adventurers that they did not already possess? It had mostly the same knowledge, right?

~Ping~

No, it knew... the basics of a lot of otherworldly topics. Just not enough to replicate any of them, even if it had the tools on hand. And what the creature knew, it also knew it wasn't very good at any of them. It all sounded like work. Dreadful, boring work that required training and discipline, and patience. The only thing it enjoyed was music.

But, those basics and Lumina's magic were enough to save the life of somebody the rat almost killed, and idle thoughts were hard at work finding improvements for that scenario, in the form of frustration for not having something basic on hand. It probably wouldn't take much to find something to offer those people for trade: the ratling just needed to build itself a workshop, and more importantly, find somebody else to pass off as the inventor of anything it made.

"Thanks for coming with me, Hin. I know this is dreary, but there is something important to show you. We would rather keep it between as few ears as possible."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"I know... Groveling sets a poor precedent... But in the face of potential annihilation... I didn't have room to make such considerations, perhaps it is a bad habit of mine... When I first gained some measure of authority, we were always teetering on the edge of crisis, the towns and tribes would barely cooperate, the bonds with the Uhar were strong but they had issues of their own, and the influx of escaped slaves and refugees lead to food shortages and conflicts... Often I would need to beg, grovel or fight to make things work, it is only in recent years that last stability was achieved... And yet it was all upended so quickly".
The strain of past scars and stressed coloured her tone as she excused her habit of begging for aid, something she had seemingly developed due to the perpetual helplessness of her people.

"I will do better to act as equal neighbors, and will also do my best to ensure your people have far more stable formative years as they create their society... I am sure Nulyth would appreciate that, she has less patience for lengthy meetings than I and has seen no end to them with recent developments... Centralizing a nomadic people into a settled people is no easy feat, though at least many of them came from backgrounds that will help with that..."
She seemed to encourage the rat to go and interfere in important meetings, perhaps not the most mature advice.

Hin followed along quietly, he didn't have much else to do it seemed, not in what was currently most likely the safest place in the region anyway.
It was unlikely that the periphery had been overrun or otherwise destroyed, that kind of thing tended to lead to rather obvious consequences, such as refugees and human armies seeking revenge, Pellinta's tone also hadn't seemed quite heavy enough to imply that she thought that was possible.

Lumina was hard at work trying to think up ways to trade with the periphery... But almost excitedly pinged it's host as something occurred to it.
"The periphery is fille with former and active adventurers... Such jobs lead to many injuries, some... Not fixable with normal means".
Lumina drew a simple picture of a rat waving it's hands at a scarred stump.
"With work... And more power, repairing such losses may be possible..."
Of course they would likely need a far more intimate examination of the human body to be able to produce more than a cancerous lump of flesh when attempting such a complex repair, and they didn't have the benefit of the literal assembly guide that the Uhar had been able to provide.

"Alternatively..."
Lumina suddenly showed a crude image of a... Bicycle?
"This... Otherworldly creation... I have no memories of such a thing existing within this world... It offers benefits like a mount... With no concern for aging, disease or feed".
Lumina actually seemed quite impressed by it... And had also apparently been digging into the other worldly memories and saving things it liked?
Was Lumina perhaps bored? Or just trying to be helpful?

Hin shrugged in response to the thanks.
"I was going to be here anyway, better to follow a friend around than stand still or go on yet another pointless patrol... I do not think I have seen so many people in one place within the forest outside of the liberation festivals..."
That sounded like it could be a regular or semi regular event, maybe with food.
"Well I swear not to go spreading... Whatever it is you will show me, I know the value of secrets".

 

[Fyrra]

As more time passed after the meeting with Pellinta, the little rat-monster slowly started to realize that she was having a rough time of everything. She held together pretty well, considering everything that's happened in the past week, but disaster after disaster had certainly taken their toll. No wonder she was so quick to encourage the rodent's disrespectful way of just barging in, but it did raise the question, was that from Pellinta enjoying the novelty of having somebody who could get away with acting brash, or another extension of her habit of trying to appease somebody who could become a threat if offended? Or, was this just one of the few times the ratling acted as young as it looked?

Perhaps... the rodent could be a little softer around her? Or kinder in general? How many times had it responded to Lumie with the abrasive tone that other voice had?

In any case, this was clearly a lot, and pondering with Lumina about a different subject was not just welcome, but exciting! Imagine: bicycle jousting! That's certainly never been done befo- well, it'd never been done here. Apparently the thought of combining two wheels with a cushion wasn't very novel out here, let alone adding a steering bar to it. As for the other idea, well, it was the opposite of not advertising the presence of a magical anomaly, but what was a rodent to do in a situation with strangers in need? Not share witchcraft with the world and get these people to have disagreements with the church? Besides, heavily armed strangers who lived in the jungle were just friends waiting to be made. Mostly.

Clearly something has upset the local adventurers into silence. Something like an elf telling people to stay out of the ruins? Oh. Oh, right, that was the rodent's doing. And a lich? A lich that adventurers had supposedly slain many many moons ago. Yeah, most people would be a little shy if they could sense things like a great darkness swallowing up a town. All the more reason to prepare for surprise guests.

"Mmn. You are all my people, I would murder any number of bony old wizards to see you not just living, but thriving out here. In cold blood." The creature faced Hin, flashing a cheery grin. "Our next mission should not beg such a response though... There is no need to swear yourself to secrecy. At least not here. There have already been witnesses."

Looking around, the rodent stopped. "Hm. There's not a mustering grounds around here, is there?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lumina seemed to disapprove of jousting... It was a needless danger that could lead to it's host being wounded after all... But also, and perhaps this was it's host's memories rubbing off on it... But Lumina did not like the idea of having a hand in something to be turned into just another tool for combat, making a spell for it's host or a weapon for defense was one thing, but something intended for non violent use being turned into such a tool was a horrid thought.
Briefly, Lumina did start to wonder what it was created for... But quickly squashed the stray questioning, there was no way to find out and really, it was too much trouble to be concerned about right now with so much going on, all that mattered was that it would aid it's host in gaining strength and accomplishing goals.

Instead Lumina focused on offering helpful advice in the moment!
"Adventurers... Living on the edge of civilization... They seem to prefer privacy, perhaps they would be less willing to report such things to a central authority?"
There was also the fact that adventurers were likely to be a lot more experienced in the ways of the world, and able to accept strange things and unique people without calling for an inquisition... After all they until recently had friendly relations with a society born of scattered tribes and escaped slaves.
And who knows?... Maybe they had a few among them who were less than fond of the churches... It took a certain kind of person to both become an adventurer on the fringe of society AND survive long enough to retire and set down roots after all.

Hin flashed a grin right back.
"Well, I hope you don't have the opportunity to murder many more bony old wizards... You deserve a break more than anyone here".
There was also the unspoken issue, that if more of the ancient horrors of this great forest were to begin waking... It would likely end up drawing a lot of attention, not to mention the potential casualties.
"A mustering grounds?... Our... Armed forces such as they are, are not really a professional standing army, there's nothing so complex as that, I suppose this old fort probably has a training ground that wouldn't be in terrible shape?"

 

[Fyrra]

Sensing distaste at the idea of jousting, the rodent countered its argument with thoughts of how dumb and inefficient the idea was for actual combat: a bicycles wheels were an easy enough target for disruption, and the chain to the pedal was another, but most importantly, the entire thing depended on the rider's legs being in motion to maintain power, and taking one's hands off the steering handle made any physical impact at all a risk for crashing, assuming a rider was even capable of maintaining enough balance to keep the contraption upright without at least one hand held fast. Inefficiency never really did stop the human spirit when it had a way to clown around though. For a moment the creature also pondered about why the device would be immune to aging... until it remembered that aluminum was a lightweight metal that didn't rust. Yeah, that'd do it: a bicycle could run forever with just a little periodic maintenance, and.... oil for the chain? And occasionally fresh rubber tubes for the tires?

This sounded like either a headache or a multiple-person project, but more than that, a reason to learn how to delegate tasks to other people. There might not be a greater gift for the outsiders of civilization though. This was certainly how to leave a lasting impression upon one's frontier neighbors.

Hin's response about the mustering grounds left the rodent at a pause: it must have asked the wrong question, if Hin was talking about soldiers, but the training grounds could be useful if a rodent weren't otherwise engaged with errands, but at least he was starting to engage the rat in uncomfortable subjects. Maybe he didn't like sidestepping the subject of just what the young rat's line of work was? Or maybe he noticed the way it was said was just a little uncomfortable. Either way, a big open area would probably be the place to find at least one of the elders, if the magic-wielders were up top instead of downstairs trying to clean the place up: a big open area would be the place to receive more guests, unless it too was full of tents.

But then again, this was still over complicating things. There was a much easier solution than just scouring the entire fort room by room. The rodent stopped and waved the nearest adult-looking uhar over for a quick question: "Hey, where would I find the elders?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lumina seemed to approve of the recognition of how terrible an idea bicycle jousting would be, though did gain new concerns at the mention of aluminum, this was not a metal Lumina had encountered, or even knew of, if that was a must have for bikes, then it may put the project in jeopardy!
Even if the metal ore did exist in the world, Lumina knew nothing of how one would go about processing it, which was odd as it at least knew the theory for other metals such as iron or even steel, magic might make said process easier, but as far as Lumina's admittedly outdated and rather... Incomplete knowledge went, there was no magic to create a lightweight metal that matched the one in the other worldly memories.
And that wasn't even going into things like rubber, while Lumina could compare Aluminum to other metals, there was no reference for a material as odd as rubber... Or knowledge on how to make or find some, though it would certainly be useful if they could.
At least oil made sense, Lumina knew of all sorts of oil used for things like food or massages!
Though it doubted even the gods would know where it got THAT knowledge from... Maybe massages were just somehow useful to it's host? Or an interest of it's last host...
That thought stopped Lumina for a while, and it retreated into it's own core for a while.

The uhar seemed surprised at being addressed, looking around as if expecting to find someone important next to or behind them, before finally realizing that yes, they were the one being addressed and speaking up.
"Oh! They are... In the big tent? That one".
The uhar pointed out a tent slightly larger than the others, of circular build, with a gap at the top that was venting smoke, while the other tents were mostly plain or with some small decoration, this one had many symbols and runelike objects sewn into it, perhaps some sort of ceremonial tent designed for meetings between the tribes? If so the symbols that adorned it's surface were likely culturally important or at least tribal emblems.

The elders would indeed be found within, all of them drinking tea, taking a break from whatever difficult subject they were speaking about, and it was certainly difficult judging by the large amounts of maps of various quality, and several sheets of hide parchment with what was recognizable as numbers and figures... And exchange rates of certain goods?
Complicated adult stuff to do with economy and territory most likely, which made sense, suddenly going from mostly nomadic to mostly settled probably brought up a lot of logistical and boundary issues.

 

[Fyrra]

Not having aluminum wasn't the setback the rodent's symbiote was making it out to be: humans were weirdly strong in this world, and even if they didn't match up to the mallard, they still led lives a lot more physical than those of the rat's point of origin. The prototype didn't need to be an aerodynamic device built for stunts and catching air than it needed shifting gears for uphill climbing; all it needed to do was perform well on roads and not fall apart, but maybe brakes were still a good idea. As for rubber, it was made from tree sap! And it was... not for children? Really? Those memory-locks really needed a lesson in consistency. Well, one barrier at a time. The duo could start by getting a workshop set up for these experiments, and maybe work out the features of the contraption's hill-climbing variant some other day.

Or... maybe let those ideas cook for a bit longer, if Lumina needed some alone-time? Having a former host was certainly a significant memory to dig up. Might explain how to know somebody was 'just showing off' with the way the airflow was set up back home. Maybe more would come back with time?

All this time spent conversing with Lumina must have been a little awkward for the uhar civilian, what with the ratling in its torn and singed robe spacing out and staring at them after asking a question that should have a relatively apparent answer. The creature made things awkward again... but just as suddenly, it gave the fellow jungle-dweller a nod and a verbal 'thanks' before wandering off to the tent, and then inside, with little regard to whether a guard had the initiative to obstruct the rodent's progress. Well, maybe a little regard, but if there was a guard present, this was probably one of those places where a seemingly absent-minded rat-person interrupting a meeting could be assumed as a necessary interruption. But hey, it was very convenient that almost everyone important to the conversation was present: a better opportunity would not present itself without some effort.

"Hello, hello, apologies for disturbing you all. And, further apologies, it seems: that is an awful amount of parchment and this will certainly complicate things further."

Seems the novelty of barging in and stirring up the nest couldn't quite overpower the ratling's sympathy for having a lot of work to deal with. Good start, though: for some of these elders this was a first impression. Better to not do irreparable damage here.

"So, before everything else, you have my gratitude for letting us stay with you these past few days. At the risk of repeating it too often, it has been a pleasure. May the next time be under circumstances less dire..." The youth trailed off, before suddenly changing its tone to something less foreboding and more upbeat. "But on that subject, our new friends downstairs have decided they want to teach some people how to work the land and grow crops. They still need some time to rest up after that incident the other night, but that gives me time to go secure the relevant tools: a mere walk in the woods compared to my usual work."

Well, that last part wasn't exactly relevant, but maybe somebody here appreciated jokes and wasn't horrified by their implications?

"Right, so, first question: do you want in on our little project? We are planning to share most of what we grow between our settlements until the needs of our nest require otherwise. Second question: is everything okay? As much as I cherish a day with nothing to do, and this past week has been exhausting, we are neighbors, and your problems are sort of also my problems. If anything comes up, you can ask for help. We might need some time before we can host guests though."

Inhale. Exhale. That was a lot.

"Okay. Third question: any questions for me?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Tree sap?... Well, Lumina didn't know of any such thing, but there were certainly a lot of trees to be found in the area, and many types of tree at that, so at least they would have plenty of saps to try and turn into this 'rubber' thing that was supposedly not for children, did that mean it was dangerous? Or just too valuable to be handled by someone young?
Though the mental image of the 'bike' seemed to imply rubber was quite durable...
Briefly Lumina imagined making armor out of this new material, if it was light and durable enough it could offer full coverage! Though that all depended on how good it was against being hit or stabbed... Something for the future perhaps.
All these thoughts came before Lumina retreated into it's core, of course if Ratty needed it, Lumina would come out immediately, always being there to be reached as long as it wasn't 'sleeping' from lack of energy.

Oddly the Uhar didn't seem to mind that Ratty was off in their own world in the slightest... They DID someone associate them with a legendary hero who had contact with spirits, so maybe they just assumed that kind of thing was happening?
Communing with the spirits casually in front of others, and to be fair, they WERE communicating with a disembodied presence with strange powers... Maybe Lumina counted as a spirit in the loosest sense?

Honestly the assembled elders seemed relieved to have some sort of interruption, they were leaders yes, but their daily duties usually amounted to giving advice and making sure they had enough food stocks and no one was sick or injured.
But now? They had to deal with working out what territory their new settled nation would include, work out boundaries and resources and numbers, see who had what and how much food they could produce, they at least had the benefit of fairly thorough record keeping, a shared language and decent literacy rates but even with that, the interruption of perhaps the most interesting visitor in a generation was quite welcomed as a break from so much reading and debating.

One Uhar, the only one with glasses which seemed to actually be quite well made with metal rims seemed to decide to speak to their visitor before the others could make a decision.
"Ahh of course, you are a welcomed guest among the Uhar and sheltering and caring for guests is merely basic politeness".
He seemed quite well spoken, not that the Uhar were slack jawed bumpkins but there was a certain rural charm to them that this Uhar lacked.
None of them chose to respond to the comment on how much parchment they were dealing with, firmly choosing to put it out of mind for as long as they possibly could.

The talk working land and growing crops DID earn some interested sounding noises which the well spoken Uhar allowed to fade before speaking up.
"We had, in fact, been discussing such things prior to your welcome interruption, as a nomadic people foraging and minor herding was more than enough to keep us all fed, but with the decision to settle down more permanent agriculture would certainly have become a necessity... As such we would of course be pleased to contribute in any way possible, we do have access to funds that could be used to purchase or produce essential equipment of course".
He sipped the strong smelling tea that they all seemed to have to soothe his throat before addressing the other questions.
"There are... Many minor issues of course, but these are all of the sort to be negotiated away, and not something that others would be able to resolve for us".
He assured the rodent hero, all their current issues were simply disagreements and some minor diplomatic issues, alas, such issues were generally not best dealt with by tooth and claw.

"Ahh... Well, we did not have many questions for you, as far as we are concerned your business is your own unless you ask for aid... At least, for the most part".
So it seemed they DID indeed have a question that also seemed to make the speaker somewhat awkward compared to his prior confident tone.
"That is, we were wondering what your plans were? In the long term, you are a new people to us, and while if the rest of your people are even a fraction as friendly as you are I am sure your people will make good neighbors, but... As I am sure you can understand, such a large potential change to this region has caused some nervousness".

 

[Fyrra]

A silent and listening room: what an eerie feeling. The ratling let its gaze wander over the crowd, not trying to single any familiar faces out, but still taking in the sight. That nobody asked for a name was something of a relief in its own right, almost as much as the lack of pressing concerns, but the mention of wealth for acquiring tools and such was even better: the rodent could supply extras to the farmers without dipping into its personal funds as it originally planned, and distribute those amongst the apprentices for them to keep after they learned all they could.

As for the questioning of the rat's plans? That caused a slight tremor of anticipation that Lumina might feel. No fear, just the desire to do anything but address something specifically. It needed a moment to think about how much to share, because there were plans, and countermeasures, and back-up plans, and things to do to pass the time, and fun pursuits that were bound to upset the world at large. Where would one even begin? With a summary? All in all, the majority of the rat's plans led to a single concept that could be described as... destroying the world? Well, maybe it shouldn't lead with that.

"Nervousness? Heh, someone's been talking about me." The rat smirked. "Guess it can't be helped."

"We are in the same boat," the creature corrected its course, "A week ago, my people did not know walking on two legs like this was something we could do. Most of us are intrigued by the idea and have expressed a desire for it, so that will keep me occupied for a time. That, building a farmhouse, fixing up the nest. Food will become a concern for us as well once we figure that out."

Cue a blink, a forehead rub, and a slight frown.

"I have learned of the migration. Most of us are too young to take this story in, to understand it. The kittens will need to know at some point, but it illustrates too well why our elders and ancestors preferred isolation. To know that that is what we are dealing with outside this jungle, allow us to just say that we would be proud to call you our neighbors."

The plans, though? The creature might have been trying to determine how much it should share, before deciding it should at least show the uhar a little trust.

"It's... just me, though. I was supposed to just be a scout, but I'm bad at that job. Our hunters are past their prime, the rest of us are kittens, there is much jungle to clean up, I cannot find other nests to bring back to mine, and if somebody out there is smart enough and has the funds to send people out this way in search of magical artefacts, then the moment word gets out that there is a single rat at the root of a number of their expedition parties suddenly vanishing, they will likely come stir up a fuss and I need to be ready for that."

Okay, deep breath. Inhale, exhale. Focus on the short-term. Everything can be broken down in to little pieces.

"Right, plans, not rat problems. A moment." Once more. In. Out. "Forgive us, it is much to hold in. All of that aside, our plans? Just, watching over our nest, mayhap build some stuff, improve society a wee bit, see what this periphery is about." The creature paused for a moment. "....mmmmmmmitigate threats from the people that hate it when society is improved a wee bit."