The townspeople have begun to build up walls and ditches to defend themselves against the abhuman threat. I, personally, believed that there had to be something more productive than a wall or ditch that could be found.
To this end, I found myself once again in the town square, staring at the trilling shard. There were many stories in which it's vibrations had sent out shockwaves-destroying those it deemed as enemies; generally the monsters or clear villains of the story. And yet, no one knew how to make it work.
There is no such thing as magic, there are only machines. The Convergence had been very clear on that point. The shard was not a magical floating stone, it was a long ago discarded machine. Perhaps it didn't even have stone around the outside to begin with. Regardless, every machine had to have its function. If the stories were true, if the shard could be directed against foes, how could I activate it? What were the conditions necessary to cause the function to run-and run in a way that would specifically target the abhumans and not the townspeople nor the structures of the town itself-limited though they were.
If the stone were hollow, I believed that I could get inside and then I would be able to see if I might find answers there. However, I didn't know if the stone was hollow, and touching it-and subsequently passing through it-might be seen offensively through the town. It probably wasn't hollow anyway.
I returned to my original question. Does the device create its vibrations, or do they come from another dimension-one that I might find and enter. I do not know, but I would like to. If the device is merely a gateway, and the true source of the vibrations lies in another realm, then perhaps I can get to that and utilize it in order to fight the abhuman threat.
Then the townspeople would be grateful enough that they would aid me in solving the puzzles that I was trying to work through.
As I wondered about this thought, I noticed many of the villagers moving past me. They weren't running, but they had a quickened pace that I associated with fear. What were they moving towards? Well, they were all going in different directions-maybe to shelter? What were they moving away from? Had the abhuman hoards arrived already? Nieten had seemed to indicate it would take more time before they got here.
I traced their movements back and saw, moving slowly through the town, a large-nearly humanoid rock creature moving about. I sighed. People always feared what they didn't understand, and these villagers certainly didn't understand this creature. Maybe they did think it was an abhuman, or some other monster come to haunt them.
I knew it to be a Diruk from my studies. A visitant. Its was descended from beings that had come to the Ninth World well before it was the Ninth World and that had since lost all knowledge of their origins, let alone any path back there. Diruk, I knew, were not traditionally violent or threatening to local communities-provided those communities let them be in peace. Whatever had brought this creature to the town, I believed it wasn't a threat. With this in mind, I moved to greet the creature, hoping that I might make things easier and less chaotic with its arrival.
Previous Post: Branches
Next Post: Helping Hands
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/montecookgames/numenera-2-discovery-and-destiny/posts/1995963
No comments:
Post a Comment