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Jack returned with the backpack, dragging it along out of shadows, and said that he had seen one of the younger kathel swimming in the shadows. It seems that they can go into all the realms (shadow, all-wood, likely all-stone...), which I suppose isn't exactly a surprise, given their (lack of) limitations. Swimming in shadow, though, that's odd.
Thymelixsen said that the workers in the field were making motions on the plants like those used in thread working.
Jack said that after he'd killed, or at least, deactivated, one of the workers, he had opened its torso, and hard things had floated up, but there were no threads. I still don't understand the workers, who need to eat, but have no threads, unlike the ones made for the kathel (who are also from here, so it's not about whether people are from the roots or are from here). I'd been thinking that those with threads are those who are alive.
Thymelixsen sensed magic, and while the backpack and contents were not magic, there were two other sources nearby, having to do with regeneration of plants, in the hut where Jack had killed (or not) the two workers.
Jack rushed to the hut, and reported back that the workers were awake, but acting oddly. We decided to leave, regroup, and make a new plan. On the way back to the main path, we hid the backpack. Cor had thought to put it under some leaves, but the woods are so open and uniform that that would not have been very hidden. I suggested putting it up in a tree instead. Thymelixsen would have put a fetish on it, to be able to find it later, but he has none currently. Before we left, I suggested that Cor put his fetish on it instead.
We headed towards the path.
And then suddenly there was a rush of yellow, which turned out to be a young kathel, which hit Thymelixsen with its hand, and Thymelixsen fell over, paralyzed. Then it went after Cor, who fought back as best he could, even severing its arm. But in the end, it hit him too with its hand, and Cor fell over paralyzed. As he fell, the kathel jumped on him, and they both vanished in a swirl of leaves.
I went over to Thymelixsen, but there seemed to be nothing I could do to help him. May went over to the kathel's arm, touching it, then bandaging it; it was still alive. I wondered if there were some way to use kathel powers through the hand to help Thymelixsen, but it seemed not to have those sorts of abilities. Jack stayed up the tree he'd climbed.
And then Cor reappeared, asking for the arm. May gave it to him (she'd been stroking the soft fur), and he pushed it into the leaves. It went in, somewhere. Cor said it was an all-leaf place, with dead things, and he was sending it back to the kathel. Thymelixsen woke up.
Cor told us we needed to return the backpack: there are two Mothers, and the one who likes to control things was the one who sent the vision to May. The kathel had told him that the Hidden Lord sends bugs to sit on the kathels' necks and control them, and the spray kills the bugs. Some kathel say to cooperate with the Hidden Lord, to get back to the roots. In any case, this kathel said to return the backpack to the farm, or be eaten by his friends.
Thymelixsen said that the farm workers had been using Mother magic to regenerate, which also gives weight to this new view of things.
Cor said that the kathel had looked through his memories, especially the ones about rainbows, Bo's Point, and Fashrun. The kathel said that everything was rainbow, then some stepped out, and became individual gods. The gods made the roots. The god of death made a way to keep the rainbows out of the roots. This one was a third generation kathel, who will be in the third wave that will attempt to get to the roots. Time doesn't work in the same way here, and he knows he will be part of that attempt. If they make it to the roots, they become part of the roots, and mortal. Still, many kathel want this. Interestingly, the bionlear is a creator, but not a god. Somehow. The bionlear is always an interesting conundrum in how the universe fits together... Also, the kathel confirmed that the edge is inside us and all around, and we need to learn how to find it.
Cor was shown a vision of humans talking of attacking with the lord of death (Cor saw things from Death's point of view). The lord of death said he'd teach them to make them into different things, and they offered to teach what they already knew. Death's price was that all things will end, that they would be mortal, and all things would come to an end. Cor said there were hundreds listening and talking, and he got the impression that they might have been other gods, from other roots.
The edgewalkers can show us the edge, but can kill us to get power, to get home (sharing the threads they harvest with the rainbows), and there's no way to tell a killing one from a helpful one.
The kathel also told Cor that he hadn't seen Cor here before, but had seen Thymelixsen. And that we don't need much essence to go back, but we would be weaker if we go back with little essence. We can take out others' threads right before returning, but that is risky. Older kathel (first and second generation) can make pure thread that becomes oneself properly (I started wondering how we can be of service to them, to get more threads...).
Cor mentioned that he was the only one who'd cut the kathel's arm off, which made Cor interesting to the kathel. I'm so relieved it worked out that way...
Thymelixsen said that the workers in the field were making motions on the plants like those used in thread working.
Jack said that after he'd killed, or at least, deactivated, one of the workers, he had opened its torso, and hard things had floated up, but there were no threads. I still don't understand the workers, who need to eat, but have no threads, unlike the ones made for the kathel (who are also from here, so it's not about whether people are from the roots or are from here). I'd been thinking that those with threads are those who are alive.
Thymelixsen sensed magic, and while the backpack and contents were not magic, there were two other sources nearby, having to do with regeneration of plants, in the hut where Jack had killed (or not) the two workers.
Jack rushed to the hut, and reported back that the workers were awake, but acting oddly. We decided to leave, regroup, and make a new plan. On the way back to the main path, we hid the backpack. Cor had thought to put it under some leaves, but the woods are so open and uniform that that would not have been very hidden. I suggested putting it up in a tree instead. Thymelixsen would have put a fetish on it, to be able to find it later, but he has none currently. Before we left, I suggested that Cor put his fetish on it instead.
We headed towards the path.
And then suddenly there was a rush of yellow, which turned out to be a young kathel, which hit Thymelixsen with its hand, and Thymelixsen fell over, paralyzed. Then it went after Cor, who fought back as best he could, even severing its arm. But in the end, it hit him too with its hand, and Cor fell over paralyzed. As he fell, the kathel jumped on him, and they both vanished in a swirl of leaves.
I went over to Thymelixsen, but there seemed to be nothing I could do to help him. May went over to the kathel's arm, touching it, then bandaging it; it was still alive. I wondered if there were some way to use kathel powers through the hand to help Thymelixsen, but it seemed not to have those sorts of abilities. Jack stayed up the tree he'd climbed.
And then Cor reappeared, asking for the arm. May gave it to him (she'd been stroking the soft fur), and he pushed it into the leaves. It went in, somewhere. Cor said it was an all-leaf place, with dead things, and he was sending it back to the kathel. Thymelixsen woke up.
Cor told us we needed to return the backpack: there are two Mothers, and the one who likes to control things was the one who sent the vision to May. The kathel had told him that the Hidden Lord sends bugs to sit on the kathels' necks and control them, and the spray kills the bugs. Some kathel say to cooperate with the Hidden Lord, to get back to the roots. In any case, this kathel said to return the backpack to the farm, or be eaten by his friends.
Thymelixsen said that the farm workers had been using Mother magic to regenerate, which also gives weight to this new view of things.
Cor said that the kathel had looked through his memories, especially the ones about rainbows, Bo's Point, and Fashrun. The kathel said that everything was rainbow, then some stepped out, and became individual gods. The gods made the roots. The god of death made a way to keep the rainbows out of the roots. This one was a third generation kathel, who will be in the third wave that will attempt to get to the roots. Time doesn't work in the same way here, and he knows he will be part of that attempt. If they make it to the roots, they become part of the roots, and mortal. Still, many kathel want this. Interestingly, the bionlear is a creator, but not a god. Somehow. The bionlear is always an interesting conundrum in how the universe fits together... Also, the kathel confirmed that the edge is inside us and all around, and we need to learn how to find it.
Cor was shown a vision of humans talking of attacking with the lord of death (Cor saw things from Death's point of view). The lord of death said he'd teach them to make them into different things, and they offered to teach what they already knew. Death's price was that all things will end, that they would be mortal, and all things would come to an end. Cor said there were hundreds listening and talking, and he got the impression that they might have been other gods, from other roots.
The edgewalkers can show us the edge, but can kill us to get power, to get home (sharing the threads they harvest with the rainbows), and there's no way to tell a killing one from a helpful one.
The kathel also told Cor that he hadn't seen Cor here before, but had seen Thymelixsen. And that we don't need much essence to go back, but we would be weaker if we go back with little essence. We can take out others' threads right before returning, but that is risky. Older kathel (first and second generation) can make pure thread that becomes oneself properly (I started wondering how we can be of service to them, to get more threads...).
Cor mentioned that he was the only one who'd cut the kathel's arm off, which made Cor interesting to the kathel. I'm so relieved it worked out that way...
