forward-dated to very early on the 14th

[yourattention]

[for those of you who are having trouble reading the font:

top text:
found this on umui w/ lup in a locked drawer
come find me if you wanna see the og ver

bottom text:
found these on a different pg w/ blood

and the rest of it is just a transcript of this.]

Comments

added early on the 17th

[hellawrath]

found another diary page. Umui was a fucking plague colony.

we're keeping the page in The Store, come check it out if u want. it's not great.

it was written by a kid.

action

[tokenflavortownie]

[Right. The Store. The store she knows is somewhere. In. this world?

Whatever, Pyrrha will find it eventually, and enters morosely. Should be as plain as the look on her face why she's come all this way.]

Excuse me? I hope I'm not too late but... I came to look at that page that was being kept here.

[hellawrath]

[The Store, you know, the one that's in the entrance area of the temple and has been since day two of Fantasy Lost? You can't miss it, it's even got a sign. Which usually says stuff like 'Spicy Treasures' or 'Cry n Buy' on it so maybe that's not super helpful, actually.

It's currently staffed by one bored as fuck elf, who looks up hopefully as the girl enters. Please be here to trade some cool shit! Or just gossip, gossip's fine too!

But nah, she's just here for the diary. Oof.]

Oh yeah, for sure. [Lup doesn't look thrilled about it either, but she dutifully digs it out from her bag under the 'counter' and hands it over. It's actually a whole book, though slim and all pages but one are faded with age.]

You been to Umui yet, sweetheart?

[tokenflavortownie]

[Ah, yes. The Store. The place Pyrrha probably would have a better idea of, if she didn't spend a large chunk of her time in this world barely leaving her and Nari's cottage. Honestly, she needs to get out a little more.

She'd probably trade something if she had anything she felt was worth trading. Whoops.]

Actually, yes. I think my group was the first one to step out of the mana pool. [And Pyrrha thinks that's kind of neat, despite it all.

But the good feelings are diminished the further she gets into that page.]

We never found anything like this on our first day. God... it's horrifying to think about. There must have been so many children separated because of the disease.

action

[thermalwind]

[He'd heard about the store and seen it before when he checked on how many first aid kits he'd left were still around, but never stepped inside it. The journey from the island takes a little while. He enters the shop as he pulls his hood off and the mask with its glowing eyes fades away to reveal his face.

His expression is neutral and hard to read. He's here to continue doing his job. Nothing more.]

Hey. Sorry to bother you. I came to see the dairy page if you're still keeping it.

[hellawrath]

[This thing sure is bringing a lotta new faces into the store, huh. Or, new-to-the-store faces, anyway. Maybe they shoulda done this sooner, keep a depressing relic of a horrible tragedy around for people to ogle at.

Lup watches the de-masking with some interest carefully hidden behind hooded lids. Anybody can have glowy eyes, he's not special.]

Yeah dude, knock yourself out. [She waves at the small volume on the counter among stone bowls and soap and whathaveyou, still out from the last person who looked at it.] It's... not super informative, that's why I didn't put the whole thing on the Rock.

[Nah, it's just sad.]

[thermalwind]

[He picks up the small volume with care and makes sure not to disturb anything around it. Any scrap of information is precious and the people that keep it respected. He slowly turns the pages until he comes across the readable page. He stops at the date and frowns.

It takes him a moment to read through the letter. His voice is soft, not sad but gentler than his previously brisk tone.]

It's not, but it's another piece and helps establish an idea of how their date system worked. This has to be one of the earliest accounts.

I think I can put them in order now. [He shuts the book and sets it back where it was. He steps back and glances to the side, less serious and more slightly embarrassed.] Thanks and uh, I'm Keith, by the way. Sorry for not introducing myself.

[hellawrath]

[Oh look, the boy isn't all intense broody business. That's kinda endearing.]

Hey, buy something and I'll forgive you. [It's obvious she's kidding, but also for real tho, buy something.] I'm Lup. What other pieces have you got?

[thermalwind]

I'll buy something next time. [He will make good on his word next time. Keith is that sort of person. He unslings his backpack and carefully produces the scroll. Keith offers it to her.]

This one is the oldest. I...think the entry dated A. E 1012 was next. This one comes after that at A. E 209.

The plaque about those they can't save was Est A. E 21. So any entry between those is in that timeframe. So in total, either a 100 people died on Umui or, they were the ones recorded.

I'll double check the dates to be sure.

[hellawrath]

[Lup takes the scroll carefully and studies it with a frown, the cant of her ears growing sharper with tension. She'd heard it being read on the network, but seeing it in person is a whole nother thing. There's just something about it rubbing her the wrong way, something sounding awfully familiar.

It takes her a moment to register what he's saying, and when she does her eyes snap up to him.]

Wait, you're thinking they were, like, counting backwards? Wouldn't it make more sense for them to start counting again after their uh, their exodus? The plaque could be talking about the people lost in this disaster. [She tips the scroll for emphasis and hands it back to him.]

[thermalwind]

[He stops and listens. It makes sense, they could have started counting after. He crosses his arms over his chest to really think about that. ...but what about?]

...it is possible it's the reverse, yeah. But the higher numbered entries still talk about other places. If it's later then...seems like this disease or illness escalated.

But it sticks in my head. 'May his image be forever burned in my mind.' ...and the plague was 'They lived and died free of the draperies of their fiction.' Like Ai'tuoh.

[Keith takes the scroll back and carefully slips it back into his pack. He makes sure its safe and secure before he sighs and says,]

Guess it all boils down to we need more information. We just have a little more of it than we did before.