On the deck of the shrieking ship of Shriekpot...
Niklas tries to achieve mental unity with his cleaver, to become the cleaver!
[Meditation roll: 6]
This he knows how to do. You just think about chopping. You chop things. Cleave them. Chop away the unneeded things, separate all. The things in the way, you chop them. Chop them right up. Chop them away, slice them to bits until you can use them once more. Chop, chop, chop. Keep on chopping, never stop. Don't ever stop. Keep at it. Chop it into even bits, then chop the bits into even smaller bits, get them just right. Then chop the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing.
Oh my, he's becoming quite agitated. Fortunately, he doesn't quite get to the point of questioning the entire point of becoming an inanimate object and just focuses on the chopping.
"Yeah, I think it was actually blanking your mind that you're supposed to do. I forget these things so easily."
Chop, chop? Chop chop chop! Chop.
In the cargo hold of the shrieking ship of Shriekpot...
Kevin makes an introduction. Again. He gets the feeling that he'll have to do this at least two more times today.
"Oh. I'm Kevin. You know, jester skeleton guy. I jumped in the portal thing that turned Mort into a desk."
"Oh, SKELETON GUY! MY, how you've CHANGED! And who's this MORT FELLOW? Is he THAT NICE BUTLER MAN?"
It's a neverending parade of exposition here, isn't it?
In the streets of Shriekpot...
Mark, seeing how there's not much more to it, decides to head back to the ship.
However, he is approached by a man wearing mail who looks pretty jovial and personable, and a tad on the middle-aged side.
"Hello, good sir. Those books look awfully heavy. May I help?"
That's an awfully kind offer, Mark thinks.
In Stuart Allen's home...
Morton keeps the conversation going just a little longer.
"Yes, you are correct. Nothing wrong with it though, one never has a dull moment. If you don't mind, though, I believe I should probably get to heading towards the others. It was nice getting to know you, good Toymaker Stuart, and I thank you again for the arms and the chat, and you can keep the rest of the tea as well as the flask if you like."
"That's very kind of you, Mr. Morton," Stuart says, taking the pitcher off Morton's surface and setting it down on a nearby end table. Morton would cringe if he knew of an effective way to do it in this shape.
"It's been a pleasure, but I don't want to keep my friends waiting too long, never know what kind of situations they might wind up in."
"That's reasonable. Farewell, Mr. Morton. I hope the world treats you well, as it was certainly a pleasure to work with you."
Morton, now liberated of tea and his flask, heads out of the house and back to the ship. He finds the deck to be suspiciously barren aside from a very comfy-looking chair. Huh. Guess he hasn't missed anything much.
Outside Karina's home...
Darren, supposing he's ready, goes back into Karina's room and sets up expectations accordingly as he moves mysteriously and magically onto what will be his stage today.
"Prepare to be amazed."
[Magic act roll: 5]
First off, he does a coin trick, doing this thing he learned way back in school - he takes two coins and shows them to Karina, who nods accordingly. He then wraps the coins in one of his kerchiefs and claps his hand over it, then shakes the thing expressively, demonstrating that the coins are not there anymore! The magician waves the kerchief dismissively, finally blowing his nose in it. He looks into the kerchief with expertly feigned wonder, showing Karina that there are now three coins in the kerchief. She looks a bit impressed by this.
Next up is a card trick. Darren takes out his deck of cards, asking her to pick one - standard fare so far. Karina picks a card, which Darren reshuffles into the deck, which he then hands to Karina to shuffle herself. When she's done, he asks her to take a look at the bottom card - it doesn't match the one she picked. He asks her to check her pocket - the card in there doesn't match either. He asks her to look under the collar of her blouse - that one doesn't seem to be the one either. Well, what about the one behind her ear? That the one? No? Hm. How about the flaming one on the ceiling? Yeah, that's the one, isn't it? Thought so.
Extinguishing the card and reshuffling the deck, Darren does his final trick. He takes out a white kerchief and ties it around his head like a blindfold, then takes out the others, which between them represent most primary, secondary and other colors, each in its own color. He takes a blue one and a yellow one, mashing them together in his hands, producing a green handkerchief and handing it to his spectator. Then he takes a brown one, pressing it between his palms, then releasing them to produce a green and a red one, handing the second green one to Karina as well. He then takes the two green kerchiefs, plus another green one he already had, and presses them together with a black one, seemingly creating a dark green kerchief out of thin air. And finally, he takes the dark green kerchief along with the red one and presses both in his cupped hands. When he pulls his hands apart, one blue, one yellow, one brown, one green and one black kerchief are revealed. At this point, Darren puts them all away and removes the blindfold. He then takes a bow.
Karina applauds enthusiastically at the show, looking fairly entertained.
"You're a pretty good magician. Well, I think. You're the only one I've seen. Was that actual magic? You know, the kind where you have a focus and whatnot?"
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Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 540894 times)