Note: please be as cryptic as possible regarding any specific actions your character takes when discussing them in the game channel to avoid influencing everyone else!
[You seem to be inside a house. There are three children sitting on the floor, looking excitedly at an old man who's sitting on a chair. It’s warm and it smells like someone who knows what they're doing is baking something. You've seen these children before-- it's Sol, the girl who looks a little like Selka and the black-haired boy from earlier.
Sol turns around to look at you, and glances at the other two as if to ask them what to do about you. But they are too interested in the old man’s stories to pay attention, so he gives up and stands up to greet you on his own.]
Who are you? Did you come to hear my grandfather’s stories too?
[He pulls a chair for him. The black-haired boy glances back at him with suspicion, but Sol waves his hand at him and he shrugs.]
You're an adult, so sit here-- grandpa, can you start again? He wants to hear Bercouli's story too.
[The grandfather nods kindly and begins his story again: “Bercouli and the Northern White Dragon.”
Of all the founders of Rulid, Bercouli was the most skilled with the sword, and he served as the first chief guard of the village. He lived there three hundred years ago, a number of stories about his exploits had been passed down and inflated in the telling. This was one of the most fantastical tales about his exploits.
One midsummer day, Bercouli saw a large transparent stone rising and sinking in the Rul River. He fished out the object and was mystified to learn that it was a hunk of ice. Bercouli followed the river upstream until he reached the End Mountains, the very boundary of the human realm, where the river narrowed down until it met the mouth of a massive cave.
Bercouli made his way inside, pushing against the freezing winds that blew out of the cave, and, after braving many dangers, he arrived at the great chamber in the very deepest part. In it, he found an enormous white dragon, which was said to protect all the borders of the human world. When he saw that the beast was sleeping atop an immeasurable mountain of treasure, Bercouli boldly snuck forward and chose a single beautiful sword from the pile: the Blue Rose sword. He carefully picked up the sword so as not to wake the dragon and was about to scamper off for safety when blue roses grew around his feet and locked them in place. He fell over on the spot, and the dragon woke up...
The children look very interested!! Unlike this, which was written by SAO's author, Sol's grandfather's storytelling is actually good!
...Anyway, Sol has been watching Shu instead of his grandfather for a while now. jiiiiiii]
[ The content of the story is such that it could be found in any heroic tale-- but he respects the story-teller's manner and ability to captivate his young audience. And, the Blue Rose sword catches his attention.
Not enough that he's distracted from tiny!Sol, though. Quietly, so not as to talk over his grandfather's story: ]
Your favorite, you said? Is it the story's sword that draws your attention?
It does. You never know when the future will bear down upon you, but it has not yet. In fact, that makes the present all the more precious— so you may at least hold fast to that memory of your efforts and joy, before what you hold so dear was shattered before your eyes.
[ Which, maybe isn't something he should tell a child, but he's very tender and sincere in saying so. ]
Shu may also notice that the door he came from is glowing again. It's a gentle glow this time, not urgent and not fading in any way, almost like an invitation.]
...At least, until the black-haired boy elbows the girl, and then the girl looks back at them and clears her throat while looking away.
Sol immediately jumps and glances back at them. The black haired boy grins at him, and Sol sticks out his tongue at him. Then he looks back at Shu, with a shy smile again.]
[ Shu has to pause, both to think about his answer and to think about scolding the children, but offers up after the small gap: ]
There is no need for children to be worrying after me. If I desire a better future, I will build it with my own two hands— if someday, I can say yes, decisively, I want to have earned that answer myself.
[He goes out the door and finds himself back in the basement again! The door he just came through is fading in real time, and he'll find that the basement is... intensely cold. So much that there's frost on the same random items and furniture he saw when he first came down here.]
[He can find the way he entered the basement fairly easily! But the door is, well, completely frozen. In fact, it might as well be made of ice...? Part of the wall around it, and some of the steps, are also frozen.
If he plans to go up those steps normally, he'll have to roll 1d2 and hope he doesn't slip on the ice and fall down the stairs. Definitely unideal!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Sol turns around to look at you, and glances at the other two as if to ask them what to do about you. But they are too interested in the old man’s stories to pay attention, so he gives up and stands up to greet you on his own.]
Who are you? Did you come to hear my grandfather’s stories too?
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I did not come to interrupt them, at any rate.
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This story is my favorite, but I've heard it before. Many times.
Um, do you need anything?
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If you do not mind, and I would be no intrusion, perhaps it would be nice to hear a story so fondly treasured.
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Sure! Come sit with us.
[He pulls a chair for him. The black-haired boy glances back at him with suspicion, but Sol waves his hand at him and he shrugs.]
You're an adult, so sit here-- grandpa, can you start again? He wants to hear Bercouli's story too.
[The grandfather nods kindly and begins his story again: “Bercouli and the Northern White Dragon.”
Of all the founders of Rulid, Bercouli was the most skilled with the sword, and he served as the first chief guard of the village. He lived there three hundred years ago, a number of stories about his exploits had been passed down and inflated in the telling. This was one of the most fantastical tales about his exploits.
One midsummer day, Bercouli saw a large transparent stone rising and sinking in the Rul River. He fished out the object and was mystified to learn that it was a hunk of ice. Bercouli followed the river upstream until he reached the End Mountains, the very boundary of the human realm, where the river narrowed down until it met the mouth of a massive cave.
Bercouli made his way inside, pushing against the freezing winds that blew out of the cave, and, after braving many dangers, he arrived at the great chamber in the very deepest part. In it, he found an enormous white dragon, which was said to protect all the borders of the human world. When he saw that the beast was sleeping atop an immeasurable mountain of treasure, Bercouli boldly snuck forward and chose a single beautiful sword from the pile: the Blue Rose sword. He carefully picked up the sword so as not to wake the dragon and was about to scamper off for safety when blue roses grew around his feet and locked them in place. He fell over on the spot, and the dragon woke up...
The children look very interested!! Unlike this, which was written by SAO's author, Sol's grandfather's storytelling is actually good!
...Anyway, Sol has been watching Shu instead of his grandfather for a while now. jiiiiiii]
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Not enough that he's distracted from tiny!Sol, though. Quietly, so not as to talk over his grandfather's story: ]
Your favorite, you said? Is it the story's sword that draws your attention?
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Yes, and Hero Bercouli! I want to be a swordsman too when I grow up. I hope I get that Calling...
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I'm turning eight soon. All three of us are, so we only have two years left... That's why I'm worried.
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[ He puts a hand on his shoulder, to try and be supportive ]
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But if I don't get that Calling, it's going to stay as a dream. My father and my brothers say I should give up. Does my present matter?
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[ Which, maybe isn't something he should tell a child, but he's very tender and sincere in saying so. ]
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I want this to go on forever. I don't want to be separated from my friends...
[then he looks back at Shu and smiles]
Thank you. I'll never forget that my present is important.
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[ He reaches up to ruffle his hair. ]
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(The black-haired boy is glaring openly at Shu.)
Shu may also notice that the door he came from is glowing again. It's a gentle glow this time, not urgent and not fading in any way, almost like an invitation.]
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AND IGNORE THE BLACK-HAIRED BOY!!
And the light for now, since he's hugging Sol. ]
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...At least, until the black-haired boy elbows the girl, and then the girl looks back at them and clears her throat while looking away.
Sol immediately jumps and glances back at them. The black haired boy grins at him, and Sol sticks out his tongue at him. Then he looks back at Shu, with a shy smile again.]
Do you like your own present, Mister?
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There is no need for children to be worrying after me. If I desire a better future, I will build it with my own two hands— if someday, I can say yes, decisively, I want to have earned that answer myself.
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Building a future with your own two hands...
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Yes. You will find things you grasp through your own effort are far more fulfilling than things handed to you.
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nods slowly, but emphatically...!
The door is glowing more brightly now and the black-haired boy is standing up to (obviously) come pull his friend back to his side.]
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[ Straightening, to look at the door. ]
I have intruded long enough.
[ And time to go to the door ]
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furthermore, what happened?? Are Selka, the children, and the nun alright??
He'll pull his coat close around him and try to find the way he entered the basement before this, calling out]
Selka? What has occurred here?!
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If he plans to go up those steps normally, he'll have to roll 1d2 and hope he doesn't slip on the ice and fall down the stairs. Definitely unideal!
Of course, there's no reply.]
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