Ah, Eyes. Both My Bane And My....broth? Help

Aaaand we’re back!

Trick or treat Muddafugga

They say the pen is mightier than the sword... Unless, of course, it is chocolate Writer Buddies™.

Needless to say, I followed the wax like will of the wisps and immediately lost all my light.

Someone got into the nip!

A sketch of @mindl3ss-kitt3n​ ‘s shiny new WC OC, made as a joke (I think) but now he’s our son. Say hello!

@pastelpixels suggests: > Inspect the rocks and see what, if anything, lies beyond

------

The sand crunches under my feet as I move forward, step by step, over to the rocks up ahead. Three of them sit mostly upright in the sand, in various states of disrepair, and I pause.

That is... an awfully familiar sight, unfortunately-- the positioning, the design, all scream "not a rock". My ear twitches nervously, and I take a step back, uncertain.

My mask breaks me out of my thoughts before they can delve any further.

"NOT A ROCK, DUMBASS," says the notification that pops up, helpful as ever. A startled laugh escapes me, and I wave the popup away. "No," I agree, "I suppose it isn't just a rock."

Fear subsided, I crouch by the tombstone, brushing sand off of the worn smooth surface. Despite the cracks, the stone looks rather undamaged, as if it's never seen a proper storm-- or, more accurately, as if it got stuck in time somewhere down the line.

My fingers linger on the stone for a moment, dread beginning to bubble in the pit of my stomach again, before I grab it by the scruff and throw it into the ocean.

No.

We are not going through this now, I decide. There's no reason to assume this planet is empty-- though the first sight being tombstones is a little unnerving. I refuse to believe there is no life here other than hostiles, not again.

And if it is...? A little voice inside me whispers, and I scowl.

If it is, it simply isn't anymore. I am here, and I refuse to believe it.

I stand, turning sharply, and walk to the stairs, the cool stone and familiar sound of my staff against something solid clearing my head as I scale them.

I stop at the top of the stairs, taking a moment to get my bearings. The large rock (boulder? Mountain? Listen, I'm not an expert on rock terminology here) that looms before me has, luckily, a cave at its base, well lit enough that I could safely assume that there was an opening on the other side somewhere.

There is also, towards the wall near the entrance, a small bundle of candles.

------

Suggestions:

> Inspect the candles

> Go back to the tombs Page 3 < Prev // Next > // Tag for scrolling through!

I can't stop using the language deciphered from concept art! (Linked below, I made some letters/symbols of my own to fill the blanks though!) Something about it just makes it so fun to use. Hermes and Fig belong to @oldspikedcollar!

Translations:

Hermes (top left): "You fucking shark... I've got my eye on you."

Figaro (top right): "!!Fig fi figaro!!"

Bottom pic: "Y'know, last time I held a guy's hand, he died ^^"

dianthe!

dianthe!

Thank you skyblr for deciphering the ancient texts Chart by @lidrens

Trick or Treat!!! :D

Might want to eat this one before it starts biting you back...

@pastelpixels suggests: > Inspect The Mask

@mindl3ss-kitt3n suggests: > Inspect The Mask (and also your staff)

------

I cross my legs, and pick up the mask from where it lies on my hip, brushing off the last bit of sand clinging to it. 

Two pairs of faintly glowing yellow eyes stare up at me, with the set on the damaged side occasionally flickering and going dim before weakly lighting back up. The other side bears a small horn, curved on the inner side as if it wrapped around an actual horn. This mask, with its damage and its one, singular horn, reminds me of a similar one I had before… though that one I had crafted myself as a crude combination of the tech and magic of the world I was on at the time.

Which, perhaps it is the same mask? Just modified for this world in the same fashion my clothes are? The main body of it seems to be petrified wood, though, with the eye holes being made of light magic rather than being holes at all-- the old mask was more heavy on the tech than the magic aspect, with most of it being metal with a digital interface.

I flip the mask over, finding the inside scratched with a few runes in what looks like my own handwriting-- one for durability; for activation; for translation; for better sight; for harmony with technology; and for energy for the mask. Same as before, solidifying the theory that this is (was?), in fact, my old mask. Why it would show up again now of all times, changed so drastically in look, I can't be sure. 

I press my fingers over the activation rune and slide it on, allowing the magic to "click" it into place over my face. I blink, squinting as my field of view is filled with Very Important Information. At least it still gives important info related to what I'm currently focused on. ...Unfortunately, this version of the mask isn't any smarter than mine used to be, and its idea of important info is to tell me that there is sand on the ground.

Well.

I guess it isn't wrong, at least?

I sigh and bat away the notifications, turning my attention back to my hip, where my staff sits, waiting. I lift it a bit awkwardly from my belt, flipping it around in my hand until it's in a good position, and examine it. It consists of two portions, really-- the "lamp orb", which is made of milky white glass containing a constantly reforming mass of light, not unlike a lava lamp; and the actual staff bit, which curves around the lamp orb, and is made of dark colored wood with a teal grip. As far as I can tell, it is my exact same staff. 

A notification pops up.

"MEGABIRD" my mask informs me, helpfully, pointing to the orb of light inside my staff and a few various other sources of light, like the sky and the water reflections, before changing its mind and telling me that those are actually light.

Okay.

What the fuck is a megabird?

I stare at the notification, puzzled, waiting to see if it changes back-- even jiggling the staff to see if it would catch "megabird" again. It doesn't work, though, much to my disappointment. So, instead, I extend the staff to actual staff length by pressing one of the extension runes on the grip, and then open the storage compartment to see if any of the items in there get labelled weird.

Unfortunately (fortunately??), they do not. All the enhanced space has is some snacks, a container of water, my necklace (how'd that get in there?), and my hairtie. I dig out the hairtie, carelessly warping the opening for a moment while I grab it, and use it to tie most of my hair up and out of the way, before grabbing the necklace and clipping it on as well.

I eye the snacks and water container, contemplating if I'm really that in need of them right now, and close the compartment when I decide I can wait. 

Shoving the staff into the ground, I use it to help lift myself onto my feet and keep steady. Once I'm sure I won't eat shit if I let go of the staff, I dust the sand off of me and take a look around, yoinking the staff back out of its sandy half-grave.

There really isn't much but sand and water around, though. Behind me, there's water, before me, there's sand. Oh, and rocks, I suppose, and what appears to be a good sized one blocking any view of what might be ahead.

I sigh. 

If I'm on a tiny island again I'm not bothering with swimming this time.

-------

Page 2 < Prev // Next > // Tag for scrolling through!

*note: Trick may now get your asks directly as notifications from their mask. They will reply accordingly, and I will attempt to do mini doodles for any that aren't used for the main story.

So you’re saying you came here...from another world?

Spotted at the local target today.