delight_in_wt | 25 Lage 4385: MENTAVORE!

delight-in.livejournal.com posting in

[[ OOC: Delight is reacting to Kijji's diary, which was written by

terrycloth. Delight covers the points which are salient to her in her raving in this entry, but if you're curious you can read the original story starting here. ]]

Soooo ...

I guess I should explain that last entry.

After I got home from the Guild I went to read my scroll again and I decided to see what else nonprimes had been written in the last entry from the 22nd, after I'd stopped looking at it.

Jonathan-who-goes-by-

gavinfox had originally warned me not to go look at what Kijji had written because it was evil and awful and depressing. Also Kijji was thousands and thousands of miles and branches away so even though he was writing in my journal that didn't mean I needed to worry about him.

But Gavsy had left a note later saying that I should read it because it would tell me all of the monster's weaknesses and vulnerabilities so JUST IN CASE it might be a good idea to know about it.

So a bit after sunout I went looking and looking and looking back and back and back through Terrycloth's scroll (a lot of different nonprimes write there!) until I found where Kijji's picture started showing up. Then I went even further back to get to the very first entry from him. And started reading.

D:

I'm going to have nightmares for the REST OF MY LIFE. And in each of those nightmares, I'm going to be wondering if this is the one where Kijji really is EATING MY BRAIN.

I read each entry which was worse than the last because I couldn't look away and I didn't write a word because I don't want to talk to THAT THING and then I got to the end which wasn't really an end it just stopped --

-- and then I thought about how I already had talked to THAT THING.

Kijji read my scroll.

In which I've mentioned that I live in Vheshrame on Choinxeia.

It's an immortal mind-eating body-stealing monster that can easily travel between branches.

Its journal had no dates and no place names. It could be anywhere now. On the World Tree. In my universe.

IT READ MY SCROLL AND IT KNEW WHERE I LIVED.

...

Around three hours before dawn, I was pounding on the door to Void-Dancer's house. I wasn't yelling because I was too busy panting after running all the way there. After somewhere between a minute and eternity, Void-Dancer opened the door. He was wearing a nightrobe and roaring, "Enough! Delight-in-Justice, what is wrong with you?"

"YouhavetohelpmeITKNOWSWHEREILIVE!" I squirmed past him and dashed for his kitchen.

"What? Who?" Void-Dancer trailed after me. "Are you drunk?"

"No!-no-drinking-it-eats-you-while-you-sleep!" I grabbed his kettle and put it on the stove. Then took it off the stove, filled it, and put it back on the stove.

My brother rubbed at his eyes. "Then we must be safe. There seems no danger of any sleep happening any time soon."

"NO SLEEPING! MUSTHAVEKATHIA!" I dumped two scoops of kathia berries into his kathia press. Then added two more to be sure.

"Sister, what are you babbling about?"

I stared at the pot, which wasn't heating nearly fast enough. I sponted a spell to make it boil instantly, sending a gout of steam blasting out of it.

"Gah!" Void-Dancer grabbed me and yanked me back from the steam. "What are you, six? What's after you?"

"Mentavore!" I wiggled free and grabbed the kettle, pouring boiling water over the kathia berries.

" ... all right, that actually does sound bad. But -- inside the city?" Void-Dancer gave me an incredulous look.

"Itcouldbeitcangoanywhereit'sintangiblewhenit'sdisembodied -- " I stared wildly around. "Mentadorprotection!" I cast The Raven's Beak because it's the only pattern spell I know which gives protection from Mentador.

Void-Dancer seized my shoulders and spun me around. "Delight-in-Justice. Stop. Look at me. Breathe."

I stared at his amber eyes and inhaled.

"Now. Tell me what's got you in a Wild Rush."

"Kijji! It eats minds steals bodies kills Primes I read its diary it's been in my scroll it knows where I live!" Wild-eyed I waved the scroll for proof.

He growled and rolled his eyes at me. "I should have -- never mind! Give me that blighted thing." He snatched the scroll from my hands.

I got it set back to Kijji's journal so he could read the HORROR for himself. While he read, I got a mug of kathia and took a sip which scalded my tongue so I cooled it with guntry milk. Then I crouched on a chair opposite him and tried to work out how to improvise a better mental-defense spell.

At length, my brother came to the end of the scroll. He put his elbow on the table and rested his forehead against his palm. "Everyone else in the family disowned me. Why couldn't you, too?" he muttered.

"What noooo everyone didn't disown you Voidsy!"

"Never mind. Look, what made you think this thing was interested in you?"

"It wrote to me!" I got my scroll back to the right place and pointed to the offending comment.

"I see." His eyes narrowed, then he shook his head. "Delight-in-Justice, I will grant that this monster is unusually disturbing and reprehensible -- "

"IT EATS MINDS AND POSSESSES PRIMES!"

" -- yes, yes, I got that. Nonetheless, based on its own testimony it is (a) incapable of passing through city walls (b) several thousand miles away from Ketheria (c) avoiding the entirety of Ketheria, of which Vheshrame is a part in case this had escaped your notice (d) avoiding wizards and anyone who knows them, and you count a capable wizard among your acquaintances (e) it may know where you live but it does not in fact know where it is itself, making tracking you to Choinxiea rather more problematic (f) its method of locomotion when disembodied is nowhere described as "rapid", and if it were moving at a Khtsoyis's or even a Zi Ri's pace it would still take literally years to get here from several branches away even if it wanted to which, see points (b) and (c), it doesn't, and (h) it's three hours before dawn. May I go back to bed now?"

I stared at him, still wide-eyed. "What was (g)?"

"It's the middle of the night."

"No, that was (h). You skipped (g)."

"Yes. I did. It is three hours to dawn, I am tired, I lost my place. I reiterate: may I go back to bed now?"

" ... so you don't think I need to worry about it?"

"No. Not so long as you're within Vheshrame's city walls, certainly."

" ... you're sure the walls will stop monsters that don't have bodies?"

"Delight-in-Justice, the walls will stop chromodon. Nendrai's spells cannot penetrate these walls. They will stop anything short of a Locador angel, which this Kijji clearly is not."

" ... so Kijji's not going to come eat me while I sleep and possess my body and then turn waterform to lure my friends to their doom?"

"No. The monster lives by eating minds. I assure you, sister, you are perfectly safe from it."

I stuck my tongue out at him. Void-Dancer smirked at me. I uncurled from my perch on his kitchen chair. "I guess I did get sorta carried away."

"No! Really? You?" He started rolling up the scroll to put it back in the case. "In seriousness, it does concern me that monsters from our own universe may be contacting you via this artifact. I would recommend that you leave a note on Sythyry's version to see if he has encountered this phenomenon before. But there is nothing to indicate that a monster can use your scroll to do worse than leave an unpleasant note. But do be careful, Delight. While you remain in the city, I am confident in the protection of these walls. But if you travel, try not to leave a detailed itinerary for your monster friends in this thing." He offered me the scroll case.

I took it and beamed. "I won't Voidsy! Promise!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

sythyry.livejournal.com

Kijji is certainly a vile piece of work. But the city walls of Vheshrame are quite good; they were designed for civic pride, rather than for mere necessity, and necessity alone requires that they be sufficient to keep out Vae, Oixe, and several allies, at once. Kijji, I daresay, would be shredded if it made the attempt.

I have chatted briefly with Kijji myself. For what it's worth, the beast isn't a great threat to the upper echelon of the Vheshrame city guard. If you have some evidence that it's in the area, tell Darkfox, Miriaxony, or Khirijay. Feel free to show them this note, as well as Kijji's diary, and let them know I recommend taking it seriously.

Kijji is the only World Tree monster I can think of who leaves me notes. A scattering of primes do too. For what it's worth, the notes do not serve as arcane connections.

From:

delight-in.livejournal.com

Ohhhhh.

*phew*

That's really good to hear about the walls not that I didn't believe Voidsy OF COURSE but you're an enchanter so you'd really know how good they were. I'd never heard of a monster that could live without a body before so I was afraid at first that the walls wouldn't be properly designed to stop it. But of course they are.

I'm glad there're people in the guard who could stop it too! I don't really have any reason to think it's here I just sort of freaked thinking about it having *talked* to me. O.O It's really a relief to know the notes aren't arcane connections! Thanks Sythyrs!

*squirmy Orren hugs*

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25 Lage 4385: MENTAVORE!

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