what in the longdark spitting-pit is that

[inourhead]

This was a bad idea this was a bad idea this was a bad idea.

Holly runs as fast as she can but the demon's faster. She has no idea where Lightning's gotten to; maybe he found a tree to climb. She on the other hand has been diverted into a treeless hill and she's careening down a slope, trying very hard not to trip.

And the demon's gaining on her.

She's never seen anything like it and neither has Crystal; maybe Book knows what it is but Book's asleep. It's mostly mouth - it looks like a cross between a floorlength mirror of a mouth and a snake to propel the mouth along.

And Holly's not fast enough.

The mouth catches her.





But it doesn't hurt.

Where are we?

----


with Minus (kappa)

with Mark (kappa)

with Max (Benedict)

in Terraria (kappa)

with Emma (Marri)

with Erin (Rockeye)

Comments

[follow_the_leader]

Well, they've already begun this. So Emma writes down all the words they've already gone over (it's a fairly short list so far, thankfully) and then hands the supplies to Crystal-Pyay. She points to the first word. "Bag," she reads, and then looks expectantly at Crystal-Pyay, so she can mark down her own word. Emma doesn't need to learn the language, necessarily, but Crystal-Pyay probably wants some way to remember what is what.

[inourhead]

Crystal-Pyay writes two things in her own language, actually, in neatly spaced columns. "Bag," she repeats back, strongly accented but understandable Welchin. She hands back the pen.

[follow_the_leader]

Emma runs down the list she's already written, repeating pronunciations. When they finish, she can start on other words; this is, handily enough, a library full of books, occasionally with helpful pictures.

[inourhead]

That's indeed very helpful! Soon Crystal-Pyay has a vocabulary of variously pronounceable nouns.

[follow_the_leader]

Once Emma has gone through basic nouns, she decided to attempt basic verbs. Starting with mime-able things, because she is lazy. Things like eat, walk, sit, sleep.

[inourhead]

Crystal-Pyay seems to find 'sleep' worthy of giggling, but appears to have a word for it, or at least fills in both columns next to the word with her own strange characters.

[follow_the_leader]

Once they've gone over come, go, and Emma thinks Crystal-Pyay probably gets it she points at Crystal-Pyay. Then she says "come", and then points to the ground, and then makes as confused a face as she can possibly manage.

[inourhead]

"Tlaaaah," says Crystal-Pyay, shrugging, unhappy, also confused.

[follow_the_leader]

Well, a confused face isn't encouraging. She'll try again when they have more vocabulary.

So, as long as Crystal-Pyay is humoring her- more vocabulary it is.

(Emma is a little bit of a language nerd. This is, when not mind-bogglingly strange and unexpected and occasionally frustrating, rather a lot of fun.)

[inourhead]

Crystal-Pyay doesn't seem to be having as much fun as all that, but she studies doggedly. Prepositions. Conjunctions! (She confirms that "roooom" means "and".) Numbers. And -

"More mouse?" she says, when she's learned to say "more". "Mouse" was one of the original noun. "Sleep."

[follow_the_leader]

Emma consults her list of "words Crystal-Pyay knows". "No know," she says carefully. "Emma no mouse. Emma sleep."

[inourhead]

"Pyay mouse, Pyay and Crystal not sleep," says Crystal-Pyay. "More mouse?"

[follow_the_leader]

Okay, Emma is confused by how the name thing is working here, but she doesn't really have the vocabulary to ask yet.

"No know," she repeats. Hmm. Does it have to be a mouse? "No mouse, yes cat, yes horse. Crystal Pyay cat not sleep?"

There is a handy reference book of various animal species she can point to, here. They do in fact have a cat- there's one in the stables that keeps the mice out (which is apparently suboptimal, at the moment)- so if Emma can find it, maybe Crystal-Pyay can use that.

[inourhead]

Crystal-Pyay shrugs. "Horse," she says. Apparently horses are better than cats for this purpose.

[follow_the_leader]

In that case, Crystal-Pyay is welcome to a tour of the stables. There are only three horses, so the tour will not take very long.

[inourhead]

"Horse sleep," Crystal-Pyay points out.

[follow_the_leader]

Emma had not actually gotten to time words. She is now regretting this. "Horse sleep, horse sleep, horse sleep, horse no sleep," she tries as an alternative, complete with waving-forward-because-time-moves-I-guess hand gestures. "Horse no sleep, Crystal Pyay horse, Crystal Pyay no sleep?"

[inourhead]

Crystal-Pyay nods. "More mouse," she mutters. "Mouse sleep sleep sleep sleep."

[follow_the_leader]

"No mouse, Crystal Pyay sleep... bad?" Emma guesses.

[inourhead]

"Emma and - zero?" says Crystal-Pyay, improvising with her number words. "Emma sleep? Sleep not - bad bad bad. Sleep bad."

[follow_the_leader]

Emma shrugs. "Emma sleep. Jenny sleep, Alli sleep." She waves her hands vaguely around her head. "Chialto people sleep. Sleep not bad in Chialto."

She can see why sleep would be bad where Crystal Pyay comes from. If she can make herself be awake all the time, why wouldn't you? You'd get so much more done. Emma's rather jealous.

[inourhead]

"Not -" Handwave. "Tlaaaaa. Klaonso - eat sleep."

[follow_the_leader]

"No know-" Emma tries to get the drawn out vowel- "Tlaaaaa. Sleep not bad. Klaonso... eat sleep?"

The image she has is of them somehow eating the concept of sleep and people never being rested. She's pretty sure that's wrong.

[inourhead]

"Sleep, klaon eat - sleep person. No klaonso?"

[follow_the_leader]

Well, that is a very alarming image and Emma is no longer quite as jealous.

"No- klaonso." She giggles. "Um, Emma not know klaonso, but. Sleep, no klaonso eat Emma. Sleep good."