Dun Loireag - Exploration

Is is a strange, for two people to be following the same path. Yet, withought moonlight to guide both of them in the same direction, their path is quite different.

Hifumi, cook, owner, has been working his craft for over a year now with very little to stop him. Each dish bringing him closer to the next culinary discovery. Certainly, within another world, the idea of instant noodles would have people scoff at him. But in this world, the need for the easily traveled, and long-term-kept food has been wildly imporant due to the impact that the quantity of Adventurers have had on this region. Visited today by his Patron - stepping into his store just after closing. The slender man rapping his finger on the counter, and calling out to the establishment's owner.

June, Sleeping Knight, scribe, and inventor of a new combat technique using the power of the letter itself, who has been infusing runes and giving them their power. Bringing a new 'rule' to this world, it would almost seem. They are not so lucky to have a patron visit them today. There is no guide for her. Instead, seeking information and a path forward, they follow in the shadows of the streets themselves. Where Hifumi is meant to follow in the footsteps of those who came before him, June needs to find a legacy. Something very different.

They had planned to visit the Tower of Mages, only to be rejected once more. And instead, within the dark, her wandering brings her down a broken set of steps that lead down to a hovel of a building, its doors open... yet abandoned. A piece of paper suddenly picked up from within by the winds, and being pulled outside - threatening to fly away.

    Hifumi lifts his head at the entrance of a customer as he so often does from behind the bar where he keeps the quick foods coming and has his staff dish him the longer cooking items when they're ordered. "Welcome to the Isekai Ryoken." he gets out in his usual greeting before he spots who it is, a large smile spreading wider. "Ahh Lustra-sama! A pleasure to see you, please come in sit, what can I get you to eat?" he says cleaning an already clean space at the bar. "I have a lovely juice I've been enjoying lately or I can get you water or tea? Would you care for a meal?" he knows his Patron drinks as much as he does, to say not at all, so no need to involve his bartender.

    June... well June is June. Getting rebuffed by the wizards is about as terrible as pouring water on a duck. Sure it's wet now but it was gona get wet anyway. Her Ofuda case rests on her hip, and the mousey middle aged woman in her barbarian finery walks down the streets of Dun Loireag. Wandering at random, she's sure to find a bar, or a random quest from some Lander who needs a zombie cleared out of their basement, or buns from their garden patch.

    The sleeping knight making her way down the stairs into a place she isn't likely to be wanted and might lead into the kami only know what kind of random dungeon, she instead ends up snatching at the scrap of paper flittering towards her. It moved so of course she needed it that's how impulses go with with fractured Sleeping Knight

Lustre waves his hand idly at Hifumi's offer for food. "I appreciate you food business, do not get me wrong. But I've already eaten. It is late, mister Hifumi." He points out to him. "No, I actually need to show you something. I think it's about time that you come to understand a bit more about this city you are living in. If you would follow me." The man suggests, before motioning his hand.

When Hifumi's preparations are complete, presuming he would follow his patron, he ends up being able to step onto a fine cart with his Patron. Zanis Lustra explaining, as the Peko begins to move; "Have you ever wondered, why there is no finer alcohol, than that of my own?" He asks.

Behind them, unheard and unseen by the both of them... red light springs up.

Red light, as June reads; 'I prepared explosive runes today', right before the piece of paper detonates within her hand into a flash of red light... which then fizzles out. It almost seems like an old joke someone is playing on her. Though this felt... different. An old white haired woman stepping out, looking at the no-doubt-surprised June. Hunched over and amused. "That man always had a sense of humor about him." She croaks.

    June waves her hand infront of her face to clear away smoke, that may or may not have occurred. However after the flash of red light in the place of a mousey middle aged woman is a female minotar plated in iron scales. She looks at the hand that held the paper. "That... is one of the oldest written spell jokes I know of..." she blinks and starts talking to herself in Elvish "Junie, if the paper exploded because you read it... someone else figured out scripture magic..." she looks at the woman switching to Japanese again "Who? Who else knows? Do they know other ways? Things like engraving? The Chaos Gates? Maybe just weapons with words of power carved into the blades?" she stops switching to Elvish again. "No Junie... it's not like that, reading the runes powers them... so weapons would be silly... unless it were to be Elbereth then maybe... but no that's the same as my Ofuda." she switches again looking back to the woman "Tell me old woman... do you know who wrote that page?"

    She switches to English "Tell me or I shall say Ni another time." June is probably one of the reasons Landers don't trust Adventurers... hard to trust people who flit from thing to thing and talk to themselves like that. She misses the days when it was just rude to talk to people in languages they didn't know rather than broadcasting just how fractured she was to become a Sleeping Knight.

    Hifumi nods his head when requested to follow. He pats his bartender on the shoulder. "I'm going out, I'll be back." he calls to one of his cooks they aren't him but a head chef knows how to hire and train people to run the food for him no need to make things harder than they are right?

    He follows after Lustre-sama and mounting up. "I just figured you had the lock on the best brew masters and vinters." he says "And as they say, you don't sample the product so no need to worry about revenue streams." he smiles a bit. His right hand moving almost of it's own accord to stroke some particularly rough or smooth bit of trim, a nervous habit he's picked up since being in game, always testing to make sure his 'phantom' limb is solid and sending him feedback.

"Hmmm, nothing so grand, I am afraid." The old woman answers. She then motions into the house. "I do. Though I do not understand some of what you are saying." The old woman steps back into the hovel of a house. Within, June would come across many pieces of paper, various runes written on them. Many of them are just utter gibberish. Badly written. Badly drawn. This is the place of someone who sought to be an artist... but had a very rough start in doing so.

"I suppose his name is lost to the ages now. But this is the home of an Imp Hero." The old woman answers June, looking at the many pages of paper. Some of them are less 'paper' and more written on pieces of bark even. "The Hero of Runes. Sage of Scription. Yet, his art was so esotheric, so demanding, others chose an easier path. I suppose it's normal though... Heroes often find a craft unique to them." He creaky voice wanders as her milky eyes stare at some of the runes.

----

Out with Hifumi, Zanis Lustra sounds amused. "Oh, I do. I have the best vinters. The best vineyards. The best wheat farmers and the greatest brewmasters. Yet, there is so much more to making a good alcohol, than merely the amazing supplies that go into it..." He continues to talk a bit about some of the farms that have been supplying him, dropping names. Many of the farms apparently not owned by his Dominion, but that of the Farmers one.

Eventually, they pull up to a massive mansion, and Hifumi is led inside. Many maids are taking care of this place. But Hifumi is led further in, down, and then finally into the basement. There, he would find a beautiful series of machinery. Almost modern looking brewing equipment, with various gems glowing within them. There's a constant huff of machinery down here.

"The legacy of the Alv." Zanis reveals to Lustra.

    Hifumi looks over the brewers equipment. "Hmmm, looks almost like what we had in the old world." he says looking over it. "I honestly haven't been sure stuff like this would work." he chuckles "I mean I've gotten cup noodle down, and pickling and fermenting works normal." he strokes the metal with his right hand lightly. "I've been wanting to start trying to work out freezedrying but I haven't been able to come up with a way other than literally having my summons do the work for me and I don't even know that would work." he offers.

    June looks at all the papers, and non papers. "Writing and languages is what I do." she says picking up pages and setting them down. "I've managed these." she says opening her case and pulling out an Ofuda. "Once they're written and applied or damage they activate... kind like putting Wave arts into words, been proud of it but I know there's more. Got to be more... the Alv's managed Chaos Gates and they're powered by reading and understanding... the WORDS hold power... hell their whole language seems to have power." she shrugs her metalic shoulders and shifts back to human form.

Zanis Lustra looks aside at Hifumi, and notes; "There is more like this out there. And with the Palace Lands revealed, you might understand my concern and my reason for revealing this. Yamato, compared to the Palace Lands, seems to have a rather small amount of relics within its Root Towns. I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but I know that the things I hear are enough to be concerning."

He touches his hands behind his back and lets out a bit of a sigh. "But whomever created this city, clearly had a love for food." He moves his hands back to his hips, approaching one of the vats, and touches it. "They loved food. They did everything they could to improve upon it as much as they could." There's adoration in the man's voice in that moment.

An adoration that seems to echo within Hifumi. A sudden beat that seems to recall the emotions he felt during his strange mood trying to find out how to make those noodles the best way possible. An echo of a memory, like he could see the being who once moved through this place. Trying to tinker with these machines. At the edge of the room, he sees a bunch of machine that are unfinished. Dented. Broken crystals. Attempts to advance it all...

Emotion wells up within Hifumi...

---

"He tried that too." She motions to a bunch of objects on the wall. Each carrying words of the Alv. Symbols. "But those symbols, he decided, were not meant for battle. They were not meant for the kind of enchantments we use. The words hold power over the world - their songs did. But we don't have the qualification, the qualities to do what they did..."

She taps on a bunch of wooden planks. "So he made his own. He added triggers to them. This is one of his greatest inventions though." The old woman approaches June, and presents her a simple... box.

"Open it."

Once opened... music begins to play. A red light showing a scripture that it seems to almost be reading. The red light following the runes, the notes. As sonic magic plays out.

"The pen is mightier than the sword. But the pen need not be used for war."

    June looks at the words playing "I've been thinking... there has to be a way." she says "There has be a way to get the words to work over and over... not just burn away." she says looking captivated, her eyes sparkling with the red light. "And here it is... writing that doesn't just happen once." she licks her lips. "Now to figure out... how... the inks the papers the words chosen the structure and perfection of the stroke of the pen. How does that become this..." she chews her lower lip.

    Hifumi walks towards the damaged machines. "Were these damaged before? Did something happen?" he asks as he walks along touching broken and dented peices with the same right hand, sharp edges bent metal. He taps on it, strokes it, looks around it. "Food is my life you know? I spent all of my youth, burnt it away in other peoples kitchens..." he smiles a bit saddly "Never have told you why I don't drink... it's not from seeing other people do stupid things you know?" he moves to the next machine. "I finally got to where I would have my own resturant, where I could perfect the old recipies. Build on the flavors of my forefathers and bring joy into the world one small bite at a time."

    He punches a dented section of metal with emotion but little force. "We decided to celebrate." he offers up "We drank, and laughed, and talked about the future... and then it was gone... like smoke up the vent hood." he flexes his hand. "I was hit by a lory... an elemental powered carriage..." he says "Broke my back, destroyed my arm... left me a criple." he smiles "And then... then I got the chance to come here." he waves his arms at his body "New me, new body, magic..." he says as Snapdragon appears in a sparkle on his shoulder. "And now I have my dream, but my people... our people." he says looking to the Lander. "Have to worry about eating... so many more mouths to feed than you had before my kind got stuck. So I made noodles any of the Adventurers could eat so they'd leave Landers alone, but there are things from my old world, techniques that would help out even more, allow for longer storage better food for the army, better food for adventurers, and even famine protection if it was sealed and stockpiled properly in good years. I want to bring that HERE like I did cup noodle."

"Time, and patience." The old woman answers, closing the little box, before she pushes a bit of magic into a gem at the base of the box, resetting it, and then puts it back down. "Now, with that said, I believe it is time for you to leave, so an old woman can get some rest. Hmm?" She asks June with a soft and wrinkled Imp smile.

Right as a notification appears on June's HUD. 'YOU HAVE DISCOVERED THE LEGACY LEFT BEHIND BY A HERO OF OLD' followed by the next Moonlight quest opening up for her.

----

Lustra looks aside to Hifumi as he asks about the broken and dented machines. "No. No, that was left by the Alv who slaved to make this all a reality, well before I was even born." The man notes, tipping his finger to his glasses, moving with Hifumi.

Then, his hand touches along his shoulder and grips him. "I do not know much about your old world. But I've come to understand that you had no magic there to restore a body. No doctors who understood how to fix that which is broken. Yet, have technology beyond our understanding." Lustra notes.

"Yet, food has connected our people." The man notes, then releasing him and looks down at Hifumi. Lustra is a rather tall male. "Whatever the case may be though, I am glad you came here to bring your dream to life. Your invention certainly helped all of us. But we're not done yet. There is still much to do. And we still have to improve our ability to harvest and make less food feed more people."

He then pulls Hifumi away, and tries to bring him upstairs - all while Hifumi sees on his hud:

'YOU HAVE STEPPED IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE YOU' followed by the next Moonlight quest opening for him.

    Hifumi smiles at the prompt. "We'll find the way Lustra-sama, we'll find the way. Many others fight to protect the crops... and I'll find a way to make them feed more. Less waste is a good place to start and knowing machines like this CAN work... well that's what I needed to know to start making them work."

    June nods her head "Thank you for showing me this Obachan." she says looking once more at the papers and drawings. "This is... a place to begin. The pen may be a mighty tool, but tool it is to be bent to our will." she smiles and draws out an ofuda, quickly marking out the script for a healing. "Hope this helps with any aches and pains... I know I sleep better when I don't have to worry about them." she says lightly touching the paper's tacky edge to the Imp's shoulder before it flares away in a burst of healing light. "Sleep well Obachan, you might see me again, or maybe you'll just see me written in the stars if I keep going." she heads out climbing up the stairs and away from the rickety home with it's treasure trove of scripture.