Session Two:

“How much of this do I really understand?

Should I be trying to trick you or outsmart you?

Do I even know you’re there?”

You consider me to be an abstract representation of some aspect of yourself and the world around you.

You see what you see, not the words written here.

* Table talk

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‘What exactly is this humongous creature you’ve come in on, child, and what is it you intend to do with it in our streets?’

He’s got a flat face that’s mostly hairless, but tufts of fur jut out from all the gaps in his armor, which is a simple tanned hide, strapped with buckles across his otherwise bare torso. He’s got green denim pants on that seem standard issue.

His partner, who’s got the same pants but a matching green vest of the same denim, with some manner of emblemage of the city, says, ‘Clutch, I don’t think that's a kid. I think it's like a gray gremlin guy or something.’

They’ve both got spears and shields, but they hang down by their sides, having dropped their guards for the moment.

‘This is the Hoardosphere. I want to ride it around this city and collect things for them, and cook my food in the oven in its shell. And to find Thremp.’

You’re met with blank looks of disinterest.

The one called Clutch responds, ‘Can’t be having you parade this thing around our streets too long. You can take the freight path up to one of the ring gates, buy what you might need on the way at our shops and find a different slice.’

There’s a low hanging bit of smoke beneath Accretio’s feet beginning to amass. White ash kicks up among the heavy dirt.

I ask, ‘Is there somewhere I could just leave them for a while?’

Clutch’s partner responds, ‘The 3rd Position here is for trade, sir. Sorry. If you’re trying to sell something you might try to start a booth, but you’ll get kicked out quick if you try to enter the Castle Complex.

They point out the freight path to you and dismiss themselves. They tell you they’ll be listening for complaints, and are prepared to deal with you.

I guess I’ll just go. I’d like to look at any of the shops I can see from the path along the way.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Okay. As you take this freight path you can see a lot of stalls are packed up and inactive towards the outer edge of the 3rd Position. A lot of industrial looking equipment is stored for later use and you get the impression this initial section is a lot more active when in Port Position..

But as you get further in there are a lot of food stalls, clothiers and cobblers. You see the odd stall that has stacks of bespoke painted plates, similar enough to yours that you recognize them, but different in their geometry, size and general shape.

Some are small heating plates for home cooking, some have little game board painted upon them with moving scenery and little carved pieces plated atop them. You see one stand that has several heavy objects suspended above the ground by some plate based hovering mechanisms affixed to them.

None of the inroads from this freight path are wide enough to accommodate accretio but you could hop off and enter the market if you’d like. They’re kind of like little alleyways that cut through the stalls.

No, it's fine. Do the shops have names? I want to remember where the game plates are sold.

They don’t really have names or big signs or anything. They seem content to have their wares displayed and bark at passersby. You feel like you’d be able to make your way back to the game shop easily enough. You do see some crates behind the facade of the stall with an emblem painted on them that reads “The Eternal Workshop.”

What's on the other side of the freight path? We’re moving along the edge of this sector or Position or whatever, right?

Yes. It’s a brick wall to the left of you, hugging the market to your right.

A moment of quiet travel passes before you are approached by a thin woman, human at first glance but as you get a closer look you see her skin is that of finely sanded pale wood. Her joints are well socketted but thin slits of shadows give away the constructed nature of her body. She wears a blue-gray suit, cuffs at the forearm and a cap that has bunches of straw-colored hair tucked into. Her features are painted simply but effectively, with subtle cartoonish flourishes, and move animatedly as she talks.

‘This is some beast you have here, mister. Think I’d recognize you if you weren’t new around here. You headed to the guilds?’ she asks,

You gather by her tone she sees an opportunity in you and Accretio, and is preparing a pitch of some kind.

I say ‘I don’t really know where I’m going.’

It looks like she finds this encouraging. She’s doing a little backwards jog to keep up with you, straining her neck and keeping one hand on her hat to keep it on.

‘Well if you’re heading the way you’re heading, you’ll be on your way to the Guilds. If you don’t mind my saying, they’re likely to be pretty unwelcoming to you without some business for going in. Especially moving about on that living mountain of yours.’

You can just now see a spot on the wall where it grows taller to accommodate a large ring shaped gate into the adjacent Position.

I ask if she has any business I can have.

The street you approach is paved in stone, and better manicured than the markets you’ve been moving through. Stalls turn into fine brick buildings and further ahead there is a distinct lack of dirt and dust.This wooden woman hesitates and does not approach this next street.

The woman tells you her name is Joist, and that if you use her name at the gates and tell them you’re headed to the Slab Cutters, you’ll be able to get through. Apparently they have a lot of heavy things that need moving between Positions and she wants you and Accretio to do it.

Then we step out onto the street and toward this Ring Gate.

The ground continues to shudder only a little with each of Accretio’s steps, while the white ashen wake behind you quickly stirs with gusts of dust.