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Irwin's Journey 397: Giving someone a break

"..."

Irwin was stunned as he looked at Rindiri before taking a deep breath.

"She can talk with all of her descendants? No matter how far?"

"I think that's what she implied," Rindiri said. 

"Did you ask if they can speak to her at any time, or does she have to ask them a question first?" Ambraz asked. 

"I… did not," Rindiri said, leaning back.

"Well, I'm mostly done here," Irwin said. "Nisziz and the others are, too, so they can take ca...

Irwin's Journey 396: Wrinkled like Fire Plums

Rindiri followed Dagger through the narrow alleyways of Urlar's inner districts. She moved the heavy bag from her left shoulder to the other

Rindiri followed Dagger through the narrow alleyways of Urlar's inner districts. She moved the heavy bag from her left shoulder to the other, wishing her soulscape was more stable so she could keep things inside.

The only light came from the occasional set of light runes that were engraved in the ceiling of the cavernous building complex that...

Bleedingheart station - chapter 23: Gravity gradient thrust

Norrington hummed thoughtfully as he stared at the short video. Although not a paper report, he still enjoyed seeing the enormous ship moving out from behind the moon.

Malcolm stood beside him, grinning like a madman. "She's something, isn't she? Able to house a hundred and forty thousand cryopods and over forty thousand waking crewmembers."

"She's magnificent," Norrington said as he looked at The Diaspora. 

Only a few months after he had ordered the final steps to prep...

Irwin's Journey 395: A sentimental Ganvil

Irwin sat down with a thud, drained and tired but incredibly content. Ambraz stood beside him, letting out a soft sigh.

"Kid… whatever you do, don't take that card out of your soulscape. Or any others in the future, for that matter."

Irwin sighed as he held the card he'd just taken from Ambraz's back and looked at it.  Just a quartz rank, with the image of a flame that hovered in front of the faint outlines of a forehead. It would let its wielder summon a small flame that t...

Irwin's Journey 394: Foppish

Terlo yawned and stretched himself. Should he go out and have some fun, or was it about time to head back to Suderfuix? That old root, Seizer, was sure to value all the information he'd been able to unearth about the upcoming trade war.

Besides, that smith, Irwin is going to remain here-

Terlo shot up, triggering his soulcard. For one moment, he thought he was fast enough, then a hand clasped around his arm, and he felt something 'click'. Then all sense of his cards was g...

Irwin's Journey 393: The first step, something from something

Irwin stared at the card, using his soulforce to power the temporary barrier Zir'dor had wrapped around it.

"So," Klatzi asked, holding an arm in front of her nose. "Think it's useful?"

The cloud of superheated steam that Irwin had used to clear her was slowly fading away, leaving her glistening and clean. She looked incredibly comfortable and unwilling to move, perhaps in the hopes that some of the steam would linger a little longer.

"I'm not sure yet," Irwin said, frowning...

Irwin's Journey 392: Price hunting

If you're supposed to help me, why are you even saying this? Irwin thought as he glared at Bleak. 

"Meh, don't look that upset," Bleak said. "If someone bothers you, I'll get them out of your hair. Like I said, everyone already knew!"

"I didn't know," Suein whispered.

Irwin glanced at the Snaketribe leader and saw her eyes were fixed on him, gleaming slightly.

"Smith Irwin, would you mind sharing your rank with us so I can properly greet you?"

Irwin...

Irwin's Journey 391: What are Amnathair?

Irwin was sitting in the large captain's quarters, dully staring at the wall. His giantself was asleep in his soulscape while images of what he'd seen played through his mind. Ambraz sat beside him, waiting patiently.

"The last ones I saw were images of the Titans," Irwin said, reliving the moment as best he could. "They were definitely more vivid but also short-- almost like a single moment in time. I saw how they appeared in a mountainy world, though there was already a sense of belon...

Irwin's Journey 390: Shattered consciousness

Captain Hyrmine felt her soulcards shudder as a wave of soulforce rippled out. The Atriguul's barriers were rippling like a pond during a hailstorm. On one side, the shape of the giant stood, holding something that was causing a screaming sound. It had to be an instrument, though she'd never seen one that looked like a piece of sharp metal. The sound was like a mix of one of the soulbirds she'd seen at a wandering circus and a scream of anger and rage. There was a song there, though the barri...

Bleedingheart station - chapter 22: The skeleton

"So you remember nothing…" Garrick said, looking at Hilbert.

It wasn't really a question, and the man who he wanted to be his security officer shrugged. "Sorry, Captain. The best I can tell you is that I remember how we moved through that hallway. You said I looked at Captain Braddock, but I can't really remember that."

Garrick nodded, surprised at how calm Hilbert was, having to answer the same question again. He'd already answered it during multiple LLM inquiries and&...

Irwin's Journey 389: Old memories

Rindiri watched Irwin talk with the three shadewalkers, and slowly, the worry that they would need to make a quick getaway faded. 

It's a good thing the Captain is so delicate with his pressure, she thought, shivering at what he'd done. 

Ever since he'd begun practicing with Gloom, she'd noticed that he had become increasingly adept at focusing his pressure. 

One of the guards glanced around, his gaze moving across her without as much as stopping.

Irwin's Journey 388: Bad squeeze

Daakr walked through the room, watching Smildigan inspect the card. She'd been too busy and unwilling to inspect it in the last few days, and it had taken a ton of promises to finally get her to examine it. 

He knew it did what Irwin had told him, but that was about it. Like any decent merchant, he was able to get a card read pretty easily. The problem was that it just gave him a general overview. If he wanted the details, things got way more difficult. In Dimwacht, that meant eith...

Irwin's Journey 387: Deals and merchandise

Irwin and his crew turned to Daakr, the Granitian merchant.

"That was weird," Dagger snapped, shaking her head. "Since when are you waylaying merchants just as we arrive?"

Irwin was surprised at her outburst, but she'd said exactly what he was thinking.

The merchant turned to Dagger, looking her up and down before frowning. 

"Yuurindi," he said before glancing around and up, eventually turning to Irwin. "You only have Yuurindi crew?"

"No," Irwin said, raisin...

Irwin's Journey 386: Tall tales

"You are telling me that the two of you broke and then reforged heartcards without the help of the Chaoswhales!?" Zi'dor exclaimed.

Ambraz grinned widely as he stared at the other two Ganvils. The three of them sat on the front deck of the Nocturna, exchanging stories. Ambraz had gone last, and although hearing Kesdor retell the horror he'd gone through had dampened his enthusiasm, now that he saw the other two stare at him in utter disbelief, he couldn't help himself.

"W...

Irwin's Journey 385: Will it fit?

"Alright, it looks good," Irwin said as he nodded to Parka. 

It was over a day ago since he'd spoken with the guild master in his soulscape, and they were sitting in the common room of a small Inn. As soon as they had entered, the guildmaster had asked the proprietor to send the other people away, promising to reimburse him.

Now, Greldo was hanging on a couch, showing zero decorum, while the Guildmaster sat beside Parka, looking at her. 

The Onyxian teacher just no...

Irwin's Journey 384: That will teach her to call Ganvils tools!

Irwin quietly looked at the Guildmaster, trying to figure out what she was saying. There was no way she could know about The Galladin or Eluathar, so what did she mean your people? Even the talk about the worldcard was suddenly forgotten. He tried to come up with a proper answer, failed, and eventually settled for the only thing that came to him.

"What do you mean?"

Mei was quietly observing him for a few moments before leaning back thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry for springing ...

Bleedingheart station - chapter 21: Turning into cyborgs

Garrick stretched as he unlocked himself from the chair of shuttle seven. As he gently drifted up, he looked out of the window at the business occurring outside. A dozen engineers were hard at work, connecting and welding what would be the first section of their eventual space station. Currently, it looked like nothing more than a simple scaffolding of beams of repurposed graphtanium which they salvaged from The Sibilis and the nearest other ruined ship. Three semi-functional shuttles were at...

Irwin's Journey 383: The final impression

Irwin stared thoughtfully at the second card he'd gotten. It showed a small bush with tiny berries of some sort and had started out as a simple twig with one berry on it. It was ruby-rank by now, though at ninety-five percent, it wasn't perfect. Still, for a card none of his own had any affinity with, it wasn't that bad. Besides, he'd mostly been testing something out.

"Alright," he said, turning to the two tiny figures beside him. "I'll be attempting to reforge this to diamond, and aft...

Irwin's Journey 382: The second impression

Irwin took a step back from the ruby-bordered card, feeling elated. He'd managed it! At two points, he'd felt the card rebel, but his own words to Tindria and Mia, that brilliant little daughter of his, her words said what felt like ages ago on Mudball, had made him choose finesse over force, increasing the complexity of his song to make the card's resonance follow his will. The result was another thing he wanted to talk to Ambraz about. Although he'd tried softening his voice and reducing hi...

Irwin's Journey 381: The first impression

Irwin hummed thoughtfully as he looked around, examining the other smiths, all hard at work and completely focused. 

Roughly twenty minutes had passed since they began, and he'd calmly reforged two of his cards from quartz to amethyst, each at a hundred percent. He'd made sure not to move too fast, as he didn't want to disturb the other smiths. Even then, he'd already finished with two cards while a quick look showed that most of the others around him were still slowly working on t...

Bleedingheart station - chapter 20: Tricks

"Ugh…" 

Garrick looked at Macdewil, who'd been blinking and shaking his head for a few minutes. He'd even gone as far as to remove his helmet, rubbing his head and neck.

"You have a few more minutes," Garrick said. "Better have Turing reduce the pain and put your helmet back on."

"Yes, Captain," Macdewil grunted as he looked up with bloodshot eyes.

"Crux, Turing, a status report on Macdewil," Garrick asked.

"Not funny," Macdewil muttered.

Garrick ign...

Irwin's Journey 380: Large scale testing

Guildmaster Joulihn quietly watched the old Viridian walk out of her office. That annoying Shadowleaf Jablin glanced inside, nodding at her before closing the door, and she sat back down.

Well, that's just great, she thought, rubbing her head.

The door almost immediately opened back up, and Mazzareth glanced inside, looking worried.

"Is everything alright?" 

Joulihn smiled at the younger Scrimaril, somewhat surprised at how caring she still was during her...

Irwin's Journey 379: Old friends

"I'll see you in a few hours, Captain," Rindiri said.

"No rush," Irwin said. "You know where you can find us, just find us enough supplies to last for the trip."

Rindiri nodded at him, and Irwin saw her eyes flicker to Greldo before she turned and walked away. The other two Yuurindi; Youritz, and Dagger, followed after her quickly.

"I get the feeling those two are a bit afraid of you," Greldo muttered, using a long twig to poke between his teeth.

Irwin didn't reply, hi...

Irwin's Journey 378: Ruadh'trom

Greldo floated through the enormous city, zipping from shadow to shadow. He hummed as he absently caused some of the surrounding shadows to stretch just enough to overlap, giving him the bridge he needed.

When he finally reached his goal, he hovered in quiet admiration. It was an enormous square, the center of which held a beautiful bed of flowers surrounded by narrow channels of water that continued along two of the roads. Trees lined the channels, giving the entire area the look of a ...