Soul Bound

1            Soul Bound

1.1          Finding her Feet

1.1.5        An Inscrutable Mastermind

1.1.5.4      Galoots

Location : The Frag Blog

Subject : We challenge you

From : Nastya @ Fra Gamal

To: Nevermere, Screw Reality, The Crew, The Immortals, Ultra Bombastic, etc.

“ We’re in your Soul Bound, killing your bosses. “

The bloody girls from Fra Gamal have arrived in Covob, and we’re loaded for battle.

We’re going to be getting first kills on as many of the new bosses as we can, so watch our blog for the take-down recordings.

Think you’re a first rate clan? Prove it! All you have to do is take ‘em down before we do.

Signing off, we’re:

CrimsonMoon        Denmark

Nastya             Russia

Char               Thailand

Blaze              China

ChocolateTrain     Brazil

Mary-Lynn          America

She roused briefly in the night, as something changed. Perhaps a smell. She had no sense of danger and fell back asleep, to dream strange dreams.

A few hours later she yawned and reached out. Huh? This wasn’t her bed. There were no sounds from a courtyard below, no birds greeting the dawn.

She snapped awake and looked around her. Oh, yeah. She sagged back again, relieved, looking at the ceiling of the small sleeping room in the Sanctum. That’s right. She’d had an idea last night and had gone to bed wearing her crown. She’d told Minion to connect her to Soul Bound at any point after 3am her time, when it would be night time for Vessel-Kafana, as soon as both of them were sleeping soundly. She’d wanted to give dreaming her Vessel’s experiences a good go, rather than rely upon reviewing the recording of them made by Minion.

She closed her eyes, and tried to capture the last vestiges of dream state, before they entirely fled. =Walking through Mercato with Vessel-Alderney and a tall man=, =eating soup at a long table with lots of priests, and passing a wonderful smelling loaf of freshly baked bread still warm from the ovens=, =ducking a thrown cushion while singing a nursery rhyme=, =looking at an embroidered cat=. The images were disjointed, but she picked up the emotions associated with each.

She opened her eyes and got up. Well, that was interesting. Let’s see if Vessel-Kafana had left her anything in storage. The books were neatly piled on one shelf, now labelled “Library”. The mittens were on a shelf in the middle labelled “Transfer”, alongside a hand mirror and a note.

She looked at the mittens first. Alongside the cat was now a copper kettle embroidered in a reflective metallic red thread.

Next she took the mirror and looked in it. Her hair was beautifully brushed, and had obviously been washed and treated. She got a flash of the dream of walking through Mercato in a bit more detail and ‘remembered’ buying scented body-care products. The hair had been mostly left loose, but scattered through it were half a dozen tiny hair clips shaped like butterflies, that glittered in the light.

Lastly she read the note:

Dear Spirit Kafana,

Wheeeeee. We flew! Oh, I’m so glad we’re linked. Volunteering was the best decision I ever made. You’re very brave. I don’t think I could have gone down the rope like that, but it was thrilling to dream it second hand.

Leafing through the books was no problem, and some were rather interesting, so I went back and read several chapters for my own enjoyment. Keep them coming; I enjoy feeling that I’m contributing to helping make Covob a better place. Talking of which: trainers.

Carlo is very charming, but not my sort. I wasn’t much good at staying hidden or opening locks, but he said my dodging while singing is improving. He’s spending a lot of time with Vessel-Alderney, though, and he’s done drawings of everyone. My singing voice seems to be a lot nicer sounding and in tune than I ever remember it being. Maybe this skill transfer thing works both ways? If you write down a song and tune for me, along with what you want me to feel and imagine, I’ll give it a go.

Gregorio, on the other hand, is a sweetie! He looks like a mountain, but underneath he’s such a gentleman. I passed on your warning about unfriendly eyes, and he’s been escorting myself and Vessel-Alderney all around the city. I asked him what he likes to eat, and he said he eats quite a lot of meat and salad. Please, can you cook something special for him, and leave it on a shelf so I can surprise him with it?

Have fun today. I’m cheering you on.

Love,

Vessel Kafana

[Vessel Quest : Cook a meal that Gregorio the Skull Crusher will enjoy eating.]

Hmm, time to let the others know she was awake, and test out the dodging skill.

She tried some basic stretches, touching her toes, while singing a verse from "I Could Have Danced All Night".

Not too bad. Her chest felt cramped when doubled over, but she knew in arlife she was flat on her back, so any problem with breathing was imaginary. She opened her door for the next verse, and tried running as fast as she could into the next room.

She was approaching Tomsk at high speed. He held out both hands, as for a dance partner, like it was something they’d practiced many times before. She finished the last bit while being twirled around the room in an energetic waltz.

Everybody poked their heads out when she hit the last and highest note, and she finished the dance standing very close to Tomsk, face to face with him. He got a strange look on his face, then stepped back and executed an elegant bow to her. She nearly fell over giggling.

Bungo: “Get a room, you two”

Bulgaria, entering from the Sanctum: “Hush now, Bungo. That’s a lovely way to start a day.”

Alderney: “Yeah right, Bungo, like those two are ever going to..”

Tomsk blushed, which was most unusual for him.

Wellington: “Right, we’re all awake. Kafana, you could come with Tomsk and myself, get the jewellery and see if we can get Isabella’s help enchanting Tomsk’s sword. Alderney, can you pick up armour and the cloth to make clothing for the orphans? Bungo, we need to go pick up a good supply of low level heal and mana potions for today, from the potion storerooms we were promised ongoing access to. Bulgaria, can you find out how we set our pendants to this particular Sanctum. Any questions?”

Alderney: “I have a question. Are you out of your mind, Wellington?”

Wellington looked startled. Kafana touched Alderney’s hand, and said to her “Let me have a go.”

She spoke to Wellington gently: “Wellington, we really appreciate the effort you spend in coming up with efficient plans, and how carefully you guard against time being wasted and inefficient use of other resources. I’ve never met anyone as good at coming up with plans that work as you. It is a rare skill.”

“But?” he said, waiting for information, not showing any nervousness, just wanting to know what factor he’d missed considering.

“But, in the context of this project, time spent interacting with each other in a way that viewers find relatable isn’t a ‘waste of time’. It is practically the entire point of the project. All the other stuff is just window dressing to get them to pay attention to how we think and interact with each other.”

Alderney chipped in, unable to restrain herself. “Look, watch me model it for you.” She turned to Kafana, and put a smile on her face and a warm tone of voice:

“Good morning, Kafana!”

“Morning Wellington” she said, addressing Alderney. Bungo sniggered, but they ignored him.

“I like your hair this morning, are those butterflies?”

“Yes, they’re pretty. I hope you’ve all checked to see if you have a reply letter from your Vessel this morning. Mine gave me a quest!”

Tomsk looked embarrassed, and a letter appeared in his hand which he started reading.

“So” continued Alderney as Wellington “I’ve a provisional plan for this morning. Want to hear it, and then we can modify it as people chip in ideas and additional requirements?”

“Sure, go ahead” said Kafana.

“Tomsk, your sword is now level 15 like we are, and you haven’t yet filled its first enchantment slot, right?”

Tomsk: “Right.”

Alderney: “Ok, I’ve read up on how to use rune magic to enchant items, and I think I can enchant it for you, especially if we can get back from Isabella first the jewellery we lent her which boosts skill levels. I believe there are some pretty nifty enchantments which the Sanctum could help with powering. If we do that, we’ll want Kafana with us. How about the three of us start the morning by paying our respects to Suor Isabella and doing that?”

Alderney turned back to face Wellington, who was paying careful attention. “See? A bit more relaxed, treat the other person as an individual, show you care about them, explain your reasoning a bit more.”

Tomsk added: “Unless we’re in combat or it is a real emergency, in which case, snap out orders as fast as you can plan, and we’ll follow first and ask explanations later.”

Bulgaria: “Think like a Womble. The plan is to free people’s minds. It isn’t enough to come up with out-of-the-box solutions ourselves. We have to demonstrate how we came up with them as a group, so the viewers can learn the process and come up with their own solutions to their own problems.”

Kafana: “I don’t want them to just admire you, Wellington. I want them to like you. Care about what happens to you.”

Wellington blinked his eyes, his surprise showing.

Kafana patted his shoulder. “You don’t have to say anything, Wellington. We love you. You’re part of our family.”

Tomsk gave him a pat too. Alderney, her emotions as fast to change as always, give him a great big hug. “Ya galoot. Of course we love you. All that brain, and you didn’t realise?”

Bungo sniffed back a tear: “Group hug!” and enfolded them all in his long arms.

Bulgaria joined in and, after a half minute had gone past, whispered: “This is a pretty good way to start the day, too.”