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--- campaigns:taika-daagru:2026-03-22 [2026-03-29 02:29] – Today's session pinkgothic
+++ campaigns:taika-daagru:2026-03-22 [2026-05-24 02:30] (current) – Concluding this session! pinkgothic
@@ Line 67: / Line 67: @@
 After the brief wavering, the sergeant had steadied herself. Perhaps she had simply conquered her unease, or perhaps the vision had become so terrible that it felt less real. " 'Flames extinguished, breath arrested, the Egg as one is still as frost.'." She had quoted old scriptures about the world-egg cosmology, slowly developing as the hot primal chaos, which still churned below the ground, yielded pace by pace to the cold stillness of the stars. //Closed the summer-day of 'ikra, the deepest heat as well is lost//.
+**pinkgothic**:
+Kukri knew better than to speak of the scriptures as one might of superstition - and besides, the citation had thrown her off guard, an unexpected cultural ally amidst a tense scene that had felt more like a public debate than anything that might yet yield an ally. Respectfully, she remained silent, gathering her thoughts. Then, haltingly and gently, trying to dampen what might well be the sergeant's cosmological terror: "I don't think we're at that stage."
+**Concavenator**:
+"I should imagine not", she responded, somewhat more brusquely. "Spring seems to be coming as well as always. I doubt my generation will be the one see its end, for all that I'd like to see exactly where the sun will stop to move. I know what you're thinking: I'm not under the impression that the world is actually a plate between two half-shells. or the sun a floating candle. I'm well aware that there is more nuance to those words. If you're telling the truth, it is uncanny that the end of all may be so straightforward."
+**pinkgothic**:
+"I would hope it's a little more complicated," Kukri smiled weakly, nodding mildly. "I think we've already achieved a lot as a civilisation," she added. "And if we have generations, even if the worst comes to worst, I would think we could find a way to perhaps darken the ice and reverse the process with the tools we have forged for ourselves." A brief pause. "And A'ua's blessing," she added. "But all of this is speculation. We shall see what the numbers say. Perhaps all is yet well."
+**Concavenator**:
+"Perhaps. Thankfully it is not up to me to think of all the ways this Republic may be saved or lost. But among my many duties, philosopher, is to imagine the ways one could harm this district and use its defenses against it. Which is why I must consider the possibility that you thought me more superstitious than I am, and made up a story to appeal to that. But I suppose we will know once the bats return, and you do not seem as concerned as a criminal should be in such a situation. And if that is not the case, and your threat of winter is true, than I certainly wish you success."
+**pinkgothic**:
+Kukri took it as encouragement, and smiled amicably. "Thank you," she said, and left it at that. It was quite a relief that the sergeant was reasonably level-headed about her religion; that whole topic was a minefield that Kukri was hardly an expert at, though she at least knew to respect it. It calmed her considerably that she could have a reasonable conversation about the sciences instead.
+**Concavenator**:
+The sergeant paced around the room, perhaps pondering this exchange. Her posture was unnaturally rigid, as if she were straining to stop herself from fiddling with her uniform. After a while she said: "And your associate, there, can she be trusted with this momentous task of yours?"
+**pinkgothic**:
+"I already owe her my life," Kukri remarked, not altogether sure if she had already said so before, keeping it short and matter-of-fact if it was indeed a reminder. "But necessarily, only time will tell whether she will make a good protégé of philosophy. I have no reason at all to doubt it, though. She has already put a great deal of effort into it so far, and it is perseverance a philosopher needs most of all."
+**Concavenator**:
+"That is good", the sergeant said, and it was not obvious how heartfelt that was, "Because until she is a fully registered and accepted member, you will answer for all her actions. Possibly for a while afterward too, though I will not tell you how your own guild works. If you are comfortable with that, as you apparently are, there will be no complaint from myself. If the two of you are to stand between the world and disaster, well, we shall see how that works out".
+She stepped aside, was quiet for a moment, and then said: "The bats must be close now".
+**pinkgothic**:
+'Standing between this world and disaster' was not how Kukri would ever have self-described her work - if something was to be done, it was unlikely Kukri would be contributing a great deal to the doing of it. At most she was making a case for it being done.
+The overwhelming feeling in Kukri's chest about the arrival of the bats was relief. The waste of anyone's time was unfortunate, and no doubt someone would make her apologise for having had the gall of taking a ride with people who were not of utmost repute (realising not that there had been no other options), but at least there was very little question about whether she belonged to the guild or not, and what mission she had been sent on. It would have been quite perplexing if someone decided to disavow all knowledge of her just out of spite.
+**Concavenator**:
+Since no answer came, the sergeant said: "Unless there is something you wish to add, I shall leave you to yourselves for now". She quickly disappeared through the door, and a movement could be heard behind the only window: perhaps guards ensuring their superior officer's safety as long as she was in there. Only then Giya seemed to release her breath. "Did she believe you, Kukri? Are we still going to Grikaa?"
+**pinkgothic**:
+"Sometimes there is a strange dance once must do in polite company - the sergeant must do her job and is expected to do it well, so she can only be so kind to us until she gets confirmation, for if we were to be stringing her along and it come to light, it would look quite bad for her to have let us go or offered us too many amenities," Kukri remarked.
+"But the best argument for the truth of my words does not come from the words themselves, but from that I am clearly not very anxious about our situation. So I would be quite surprised if we were not going to Grikaa soon. Thoughit is also true that surprises sometimes happen, and we must make do with them," she shrugged, but amicably so, her body-language encouraging.
+"The threats in Grikaa are generally very different from those of the harsh edge of the glaciers, but there are threats all the same. The one creature with the biggest teeth in Grikaa is politics, like what you just observed here. The bites lose some of their strength when you learn the rules of the game, though."
+**Concavenator**:
+Giya seemed somewhat encouraged by Kukri's confidence, though not pacified completely. If peace of mind really was Kukri's strongest weapon, there was little help Giya could offer but stay out of the way; perhaps she'd rather brave the teeth of the yachakri. "Then teach these rules to me, if you please, to be less afraid".
+**pinkgothic**:
+"I'll add it to your curriculum," Kukri promised, allowing them both a moment of humour.