video;

[bearshermark]

[A wide-eyed Elliott appears on video suddenly, hair tousled like he's been running his fingers through it a lot. His voice holds a note of urgency]

Guys.

I've been looking at my notes, and there's stuff about- about all this. Like I don't fully understand everything, but I just--

The stones are- the gods-

[He reaches back for something and reads off of it]

Even the altar. Like. They're all malachite?? Malachite is 'a gift from Nevedomost'. The priest's name is Neved?? 16 recesses. But there's only 8 stones listed.. Oh, he's- he's unbalanced.

Even- even the palace guard Uspor- Usporiadat? Zmat in the market. What kind of--

The King being sick or possessed after he went out there. Anthony could sense it- the deities battling in the hills?? Are there really?

[He glances around, possessed by a growing frenetic energy]

This is- I can't- I need to do.. something with all this.


Edit:

My notes. Add stuff if you want?

Elliott N. would like to share a document with you.

Comments

[not_as_i_do]

For what it's worth, they seem to have a pretty heavy focus on eggs. Have you found out if there's some particular meaning to these little stones they're giving out to people? I've got one, and a bunch of little wooden beads.

[bearshermark]

Just their blessings and the gods they're tied to like in the book passage there.

The altar in the temple has 16 slots shaped like them though, full of malachite. They might have a use there but I dunno exactly what that might be or if it would be safe to do even if we had access to it.

[not_as_i_do]

... Interesting. So logic dictates malachite might be tied to one of those gods, at least from one angle. Forgive me if I'm getting involved too fast for someone so new to all of this: I admit I enjoy a good puzzle. Keeps the brain sharp for other things!

[bearshermark]

It seems that way. According to the passages from the library, malachite is the stone of intuition and said to be a gift from Nevedomosť.

And.. the high priest's name is Neved.

[not_as_i_do]

You say that as though you're not entirely convinced it's a case of religious names being common here ... like people who name their children Biblical names like Jacob, Abel, or Joseph...

[bearshermark]

Could be, but it'd be a heck of a coincidence in several cases. Nevedomost, faith and intuition as a priest, unbalanced with the malachite and ignorant with all the gold in the temple. There's Vedom- spirit of wisdom and learning- did her parents know she'd become a librarian? Uspor's a guard at the palace..

Makes me start to wonder, though. Seems like naming your kid after an actual deity wouldn't be the best idea. Religious figures if not divine in nature probably a safer bet. Though Jesus would be a demigod by definition, I think? So I wonder where that falls on the scale..

[Excuse his rambling]

[not_as_i_do]

.... I see where you're coming from, now, I think.

[he gives this a moment's thought, fuzzy brows knitting with the effort]

But even if these gods really are ... walking amongst us ... this is someone else's universe. They're not our gods. It's probably best not to interfere, don't you suppose? In fact, it may be why we were told not to come here in the first place.