Laroon - The Plan Starts

I stood in awe of my new tattoo. Triple shell. I had been branded. Part of me was ecstatic to be part of the plan; part of me heard my mother's chastising about getting a tattoo. I shook her voice from my mind. It was time.

I linked into Esto's Relto and awaited his return. Sweat poured down from my temples as I rehearsed the plan in my head. I would wait for Esto to pass me the book, then Relto to mine where Adelia would be waiting. Oh Adelia... she had been so distant lately. Had we grown apart these past months? Absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder, not promote disinterest. Again, I shook the thought from my mind. More important things were at stake.

Esto appeared, a slight grin on his lips of seeing me, but imperativeness in his stare. He handed me the book, his palms damp with sweat. I reltoed.

Adelia was there in my relto, waiting for me. She smiled at me as I handed her the book. Her quick glance and then she was gone. What did that mean? Was she suppressing feelings? Or was this just because she was happy to get this plan in motion? I went to the city to find Esto. One loop down, countless to go.

I hope the Bahro work quickly. Rapid linking makes my stomach churn. 

Laroon - A Recipe for Intrigue

We had a plan. He would go below through the Annonay stone. I would go above, via the Ercana stone, only I would have a pellet in hand. I would light up the cave below, and he would see if anything would happen in the lower cavern. There had to be something worth seeing. This seemed too complex to result in nothing. Right? I hoped all our research wasn't in vain.

I stood silent, collecting my thoughts in Ercana. I was waiting for the signal. Pantaleon would signal me when he was in position. Then we would begin.

He signaled. I grabbed a pellet and linked through with it in tow. I called down to him. "Ready?"

"Go for it."

"Okay. Step back." I heard some shuffling from his footsteps. "Dropping in 3. 2. 1."

I dropped. The pellet fell. Light nearly blinded me. I held my breath, hoping I didn't just kill my friend.

A long moment passed, and then, "Woah...".

"What is it??"

"There are... woah there are so many of them!" He was clearly awestruck.

"So many what? What is it?!" I could hardly contain my curiosity.

"Bahroglyphs! I don't know what they are, but they are surely important. Let me write them down. One minute." I heard him undo his backpack and fish out a few things. Then he was silent.

"Laroon?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh... the light faded. The bahroglyphs aren't visible anymore. We have to be quick about this."

"Pictures?"

"Yeah. Can you go get another pellet?"

"Sure thing."

Laroon - Deciphering Kadish

"So you're telling me that Kadish was lying to everyone?" I stammered to Pantaleon. I couldn't believe that there was such foul play between such great figures in the D'ni community.

"Sure looks that way. I mean we saw what we saw, you know." We were back in Tokotah II, in the apartment, resting up from the long journey through Ahnonay.

"So why construct the age in different ways?"

"Well legend said that the Grower would be able to write impossible ages and travel through time. I guess he just wanted to be the leader of his people. Hold all the cards."

"Yeah but that's acting as a false prophet. Surely if anyone ever found out..."

"But they never did. The age has changed severely over the years. We were able to solve it due to a fluke in the system," he pursed his lips. "Kadish got away with it, Laroon. Plain and simple."

I paced the room for a few moments. "So what was his plan, then, if the Grower were to show up? I mean the real Grower would be able to write circles around this guy."

Pantaleon shook his head. "That's true, but we know that he didn't have to worry about that in his lifetime. He was the best that the D'ni had seen so far."

Laroon - Ahnonay and The Cathedral

We walked back to Takotah II.  Almost immediately Pantaleon began to make preparations for our next journey.  I started rummaging through drawers and shelves to find supplies.  I opened a dresser drawer.  A backpack fell from a higher shelf.  I'd never seen it before.  I didn't see it when it hit my head.

Somehow Pantaleon tricked me and despite my pain and interest, he took the backpack off my hands / head.

"So, Er'cana's done for now. You ready to tackle Ahnonay?"

Pantaleon tightened a strap on the backpack. "Yeah. Let's do it."

We linked to the watcher's pub, and I looked out at the tree once more through the glass.

I watched Panteleon link, and followed behind. We appeared in a small, bright, circular room. The depictions on the walls loomed over us with incredible detail. Very circular. There was nothing else interesting except the door. We approached it and it opened into a hallway. This cathedral was appropriately named. The long corridor was bordered by more decorated walls, heavy on the blues. The far end of the walkway brought us to a book on a pedestal. We looked around for a minute more, then looked at each other, and finally linked through.

This age was much more spacious than Er'cana. Talk about views! Though this was an island, we could see other islands in the distance, across the water. The water was a beautiful blue, and was warm to the touch. The current seemed strong, though, and wasn't exactly amicable for swimming.

The island was shaped in a horseshoe, with the current pushing water into the center, where a monolith protruded out from the center, with a clock face at the top. But it didn't look like any clock I'd seen before. Around the rim was a band of blue cells. I swear this edge was obsessed with the color blue and circular arrangements. The clock face must be measuring time some way that I couldn't figure out.

We looked around the island a bit more, and saw little creatures running around. Quabs, they were called. They were funny looking things, similar to crabs at the beaches back home. Pantaleon and I took turns teasing them and chasing them up and down the coast. After a couple hours of hanging around the island, we decided there was nothing left except for one more book at the end of the horseshoe, atop another pedestal. We linked.

I didn't get it. We were back in the same cathedral. Same designs on the wall, same pedestal and book at the other end. Same age when we linked through again. We scratched our heads. We decided to go hang out with the quays while we thought this over. After all, the sunshine in Ahnonay was better than the dank smell in the cathedral. While sitting on the sand, Pantaleon had his hands stretched out behind him, basking. I didn't notice when a curious quab came up and pinched his finger. But I was totally away of the result. He snatched his finger back and stood up, then ran after the scuttling quab. The quabs aren't very fast though, and Pantaleon was much quicker. He caught up with the quab and punted the boisterous little thing into the water. I couldn't help but laugh. I looked up.

The clock face caught my eye. One of the blue cells around the rim was no longer blue. Like the bulb had burned out. "Do that again!" I shouted to Panteleon.

"But it's already in the water..." he retorted.

"No, with another one. Kick another quab in the water. I want to see something. Trust me."

He did, but as he turned back to see my reaction, he slipped and fell in the water himself. I watched the clock face as two more lights had gone out. So it wasn't just the quabs, but us too, Ι thought. Finally, thanks to my soaking, now swimming friend, we had a lead. I hoped that backpack was waterproof...

Laroon - Return to Er’cana: Part I

     I packed up what few belongings I had and and tidied up his notes while waiting for Pantaleon to do the same. I always get this anxious feeling before linking to a new age. Er'cana was a new place for me. I had heard mild stories about it, but never actually had reason to go. Now, I had a purpose - to to find answers to the whereabouts of my fellow friends.

     We linked to the Watcher's hub and stopped a click fore we linked to Er'cana. Through the glass window that bubbled out from the nook with the linking books, I could see the tree looming in the darkness. I remember thinking hard about the secrets the tree held, and wondered if we'd ever find the answers we were looking for. We linked through.

     The sun shone brightly down from the clear blue sky. The air was chilled and crisp despite the sunlight. It was lovely in the sunshine, but I hardly felt comfortable in the shade. We walked along the sand rock floor through a canyon path.

     "What do you suppose those are for?" Pantaleon asked while we came to a clearing. He was pointing at some looming tracks of metal going off in the distance and around the bend of the canyon walls in either direction.

     I shrugged quickly. "Not a clue. Shall we head left or right?"

     "Flip?"

     "Mmkay." I picked up a flat rock and studied it for a moment on both sides. "Heads right?"

     "Sure."

     I flipped it and it landed heads. Off we went, following the track.

Laroon - Kirel Connections

     Today I walked into the city. I took a path and cut through the tree tunnel, running my hand along the inside wall side. Standing atop the main staircase, I descended down to the dock. And there I saw him. I rubbed my eyes; I wasn't sure they were being honest. Was this Pantaleon? In the flesh? Skipping rocks out across the water? I thought I had seen him at the meeting in Kirel but he left before I had a chance to speak to him. Our only connection was Adelia, but she's still missing and no one I've talked to has found any sign of her. Some people almost seem to not remember her. I walked up to him. ".Shorah"

     He turned to me and looked at me, squinted for half a moment, then recognized me. "Laroon! How have you been?"

    "I've been well. It's been a while since I've been to the city. You know, I just can't get enough of Negilahn. I love studying the wildlife there. I even built a little hut there! Have you been there yet?"

"No, but it's on my to do list. I've been running through Yeesha's journey. I'm discovering so much about the history down here. The D'ni were incredible!"

    I smiled, remembering when I completed her quest myself. "Yeah. It's good to see you again though, my friend. What's new around here? Have you found any trace of Adelia?"

    Pantaleon pursed his lips and shook his head. "I'm afraid she's still missing. In fact, she's not the only one missing these days."


    "Oh? Who else?" my eyebrows raised.

    "Yeah, Dean and Esto are all I know of. I mean they haven't been around for a while. But perhaps there are others. The other explorers here, we don't know how many there are, perhaps a couple hundred? But it might be useful to take a tally of them so we can keep tabs on one another easier."

    "Buddy system, eh?" I replied.

    "Exactly," he got more serious. "People go off, and we don't know if they're still well, taking a vacation, or if they're in trouble."

    "Yeah, maybe we should bring that up sometime."

    "Look. I'd love to chat but we should really be talking elsewhere. I have my notes back at the apartment. Let's go there to catch up."