You are Not Alone: Comms

[voidtreckermods]

Talk to All

Talk to Team

Talk to Individual

For the third option, a list of passengers appears and names can be searched for by letter. Anyone who has been working to try and make communications happen on their own devices will find those linked in to this network- though it is still only possible to use voice. If they have headphones from the music room they can make it so they work like earpieces.

Comments

[fivemilesdeep]

[The one that draws his attention is the Princess in the Coffin, but from the title, it sounds like that might get dark, and that's not what he's looking for here.]

Maybe the Star Brothers or the Water of Life?

[redprayer]

[It involves a zombie princess, so, kind of?? Rezo has the courtesy to warn Ryo:]

The Star Brothers is a bittersweet story, but the Water of Life has a happy ending. Which would you prefer?

[fivemilesdeep]

[Look, after hearing about the state of Inigo's world, he's not exactly in the mood for stories about revenants.]

[The warning is much appreciated, though, and Rezo goes up a notch in Ryo's estimation.]

Water of Life, please. I think happy endings would be best right now.

[redprayer]

Very well. Three brothers and one sister lived together in a small cottage, and they loved one another dearly. One day, the eldest brother said to the others…

[And so Rezo launches into a fairytale, and as it turns out, Rezo is very good at telling bedtime stories. He has a deep, calm voice, and he does character voices for the sparse bits of dialogue, such as a rumbling near-growl for the giant’s voice or something soft and slightly higher than his usual pitch for the sister. He also clearly has a good memory for this sort of thing, or at least an ability to improvise and smooth over what he doesn’t remember clearly, as there isn’t stumbling over any of the parts.

The cliffnotes version of the story is that the earlier mentioned siblings build a fancy palace that attracts a lot of visitors, one of whom says the palace only lacks ‘A pitcher of the water of life, a branch of the tree the smell of whose flowers gives eternal beauty, and the talking bird.’ The various treasures are found at the top of a faraway mountain, and the eldest brother goes in search of the mountain. He leaves behind an enchanted knife that will become covered in blood if something befalls him, so his siblings will know if he gets into trouble.

The eldest brother finds the mountain, which is guarded by a giant who warns him that the mountain is covered in rocks that jeer and mock at anyone who tries to climb it. The trick is to ignore them and to climb the mountain without looking back or getting distracted, or else you will be turned into one of those rocks. Naturally the eldest brother fails, the enchanted knife turns bloody, and the second brother goes in search of him, and so it goes until all three brothers are turned into mocking stones and just the sister is left.

The sister is able to succeed and retrieve the three treasures, including the water of life. She pours a little on each of the stones on her way down, restoring not only her brothers to life but also all of the people who had been previously cursed trying to climb the mountain. They all return to the family palace and eventually a prince hears of the palace’s wonders and the courage of the sister who saved everyone and proposes marriage to her.]

…Then the bridegroom took her to his own home, where they lived happy for ever after.

[fivemilesdeep]

[Ryo listens, closing his eyes after a minute or two. He knows he should be committing this to memory, so he can tell it himself the next time he's with people in need of comfort or distraction, but for now he can't help but sink into the story. Rezo is good at this; in the process of gaining a powerful mage, Rezo's world lost a talented bard.]

[He smiles, relaxed for the first time since the start of the mission. He'd asked for a happy ending, one borne of compassion is better than he could have hoped.]

Thank you. You're very good at this.

[There's a moment or two of silence, and then he can't help but ask:]

Do people turn to stone very often in your world?

[It's a worrying pattern from world to world, it keeps coming up, and he's a little concerned that this is a known issue for so many people.]

[(He has no idea.)]

[redprayer]

[Maybe Ryo himself is in need of comfort and distraction.]

Thank you.

[...Then Ryo asks his question and Rezo hesitates.]

Not very often, although there are curses that can turn people to stone. Why do you ask?

[Ryo has given no sign that he knows anything about Rezo beyond the readily apparent, but it still hits a little too close to home for comfort… although at least Rezo’s hesitation can be read as confusion rather than an admission of guilt.]

[fivemilesdeep]

[Generally speaking, Ryo could always use comfort.]

[He reads that hesitation - misreads it - as pain. Did Rezo lose someone to that curse?]

It's not the first time I've heard someone mention it, but it's not something that happens in my world. I was curious.

[redprayer]

[WELL…]

I see.

[He decides to clarify:]

The Water of Life from the story is just a fairytale, and I have never found evidence that a mountain of cursed stones once existed, though it seems plausible that the story took inspiration from many real incidents. [Though if Rezo had ever had any reason to think the story was grounded in reality you can just bet it would have resulted in yet another harebrained scheme to cure his blindness…]

But regardless of the reality of it, I hope it will bring the people here some pleasure.

[fivemilesdeep]

[YOU WERE HARDLY THE VICTIM IN THAT CASE, GOOD SIR]

[But it's an explanation, and he doesn't pursue the line of questioning, especially when Rezo deflects.]

I think it will. Thank you for sharing it.