My Village is Number One

[Brian]

"That solves it, then," Kyle murmurs to himself, staring into a cup of orange juice.  Phae is curled up on the bench next to him.  "He must have been the sacrifice to set the spell in motion."

[Bjorn]

"I'm sorry," Bjorn says confusedly, looking over at Kyle.  "What was that?"

[Dracos]

Fair enough.  I understand.  I'll keep quiet on that front.

"Woah, woah...sacrifice?"  Dracos turned his attention fully to Kyle.  "Please elaborate?"

Dracos

[Brian]

"Well," Kyle begins.  "The way Alan explains it to me, this, right here, right now, was all set into motion by someone else.  A spell was cast that draws common people together to for a cause, and gives them tools to help along that path.  Such a potent work would be easy in the Dream, where reality is maleable.  It would require little sacrifice.

"Here, in reality, power is much rarer and difficult to come by.  We are fettered, essentially.  Overcoming those fetters requires a substantial sacrifice.  In this case, a soul must be destroyed to release the power for the spell, and then, the spell would be dependant on that person for the connection to draw others together.

"This person is your common thread.  He was sacrificed to bring you here," he concludes.

[Bjorn]

There isn't much to say to that, so Bjorn just looks down at his breakfast plate, his face blank as he goes through the implications.

[Brian]

"So, who sacrificed him, then?" Sterling asks.

Kyle shrugs at that.  "It's impossible to say, for me.  An oracle might know," he answers.  "But Alan asked, and Pandora did not."

[Dracos]

"Hum...  The wanderer perhaps?  He seems to pull plenty of strings."

Dracos

[Brian]

"That's just speculation," David says.  "I think we're losing sight of the big picture.  The why of our situation not being as important as the what of it all?  At least for the moment, anyway."

Sterling grimaces, but nods agreement.

[Bjorn]

In his Dream, Bjorn sends the mists to touch the anchors of both Bart and Lazarus.  Good morning, he says, as a substitute for whatever proper inititiating direct mental contact etiquette is appropriate.  Do we have space enough for these gentlemen in the village?

[Halbarad]

"I think the what is relatively clear, at least for the short term. We're here, there's apparently no imminent danger of the Forge or the NSA coming down on top of us, and we've got time to catch our collective breaths and figure out what each of us is at least capable of doing. For the longer term... well, I suppose we can figure that out with the time we've got at hand."

Tim rises from his seat. "That said, I think I could stand to take a walk. I've got plenty to think about, at least for now. Sleep would be better, but I doubt my thoughts will slow down enough for a while for that."

[Brian]

Yeah, Bart replies immediately.  The guys I know, which is about half of them are good people.  They helped me fight off some Forge terrorists.  Or maybe Workshop guys.  It was a mess, but they saved my life.

Well, that's reassuring, Lazarus sends, somewhat dourly.

Bart doesn't visibly react, but the sensation of his cringe is clearly felt.

However, we can house them easily.  They will need to share room, at least until we can raise another building.  Relm mentioned that constructing an extra would be wise.

[Bjorn]

Which house for the meantime?  Or are we going to have to split them up?  Bjorn's face stays blank, but the mists darken slightly.  Might be best to do that, just to be sure.  This is a lot of newcomers at one time.

[Brian]

The only way we can really split them up is if they share your house, Bart warns.  The open one is building number nine.  The plan is to eventually build enough that everyone has full-sized rooms to themselves, but ... well, maybe with some more manpower, things will go a bit faster.

[Bjorn]

Rising from the table, Bjorn addresses Tim.  "We're a little bit short on space.  Maybe putting up another house is one of the things you guys can help us with.  In the meantime, though, I can show you where you'll be staying, if you want."

[Halbarad]

"Fine with me," Tim nods. "Doubt I'll turn in just yet, but knowing where to go when I'm ready is a plus. Lead the way."