fallingstory

[fallingstory]

[fallingstory]

> Tell Mama Rye that I'm not ready to let go of my Tether just yet. Head to the tower alone to try to bust in and retrieve sleep.

"No need to be jealous of me", you say. "Looks like you've got a lot going on - the toffee-running operation, contacts among the guards and priests, whatever flexibility routine you're doing."

"Yet you are an Emian, with the authority of the Descenders behind you. Commoners can still dream of the notoriety which power brings, can't we?" Mama Rye reaches out a hand to you. "Prove your usefulness to me. Get our goods into the Tower and I will help you find your friends."

"And sleep? I won't leave them in a cage."

Mama Rye takes back her hand, "A Tether is a precious thing to the Shlackta." She sighs, "Proof of the divine right of the Emians. They won't let one go willingly, especially not to an untethered Descender."

"Fine, I'll help you get into the Tower. But when your fear of whatever powers rule here get in my way, I'll do things myself." It's your turn to hold out your hand.

Mama Rye hesitates for a moment, but shakes it. Your hand is only briefly crushed by her soft leather gloves, before she turns to the workers. "Tomek, come with us to the Tower. Tomeka, you'll look for another way to contact the city guards."

It takes a few minutes for Tomek to load a hand cart with crates. While Mamar Rye is giving instructions to Tomeka, you take the opportunity to sneak a couple cubes of toffee from a loose crate. Then, your group leaves the shop by the back entrance. Mama Rye takes the lead and Tomek trails a short distance behind you.

You make your way through a narrow alley. Doors occasionally materialize from the surrounding buildings, but all are shut. Mama Rye is keeping a brisk pace, never pausing at any of the branches in the route, and you have to trot to keep up. The buildings are tall enough to prevent you from seeing the Tower, but you remember its general location and know that Mama is taking an intentionally meandering route.

After walking for a few minutes, you've slowed your trot to a fast walk. There are now a few meters between you and Mama Rye, likewise between you and Tomek.

At the next fork, Mama Rye makes her choice, right. From above, you can hear the flutter of wings and click of claws on tile. With your foot on the cusp of the right path, you break stride and sprint to the left.

It will take a moment for Mama Rye to notice what happened, and Tomek has to disentangle himself from the cart. You try to take advantage of the head start to get as close as possible to the Tower.

Sooner than you'd hoped, you hear pounding feet from behind. "Can't lose my ticket before we get to the theater", Mama Rye says, her voice low but carrying down the alley.

You flash back to your earlier run through town and remember the aerial assistance that slowed down your pursuers.

"No need to be nervous, if you-". You hesitate for a moment at a loud crack and pause a moment more at the louder thump of a body crumpling to the floor. But, without looking back, you continue in the direction of the Tower. This time as a party of one, walking in silence except for the occasional flaps overhead.

Your memory of the Tower's location proves accurate. You are soon out of the alleyway and standing at its base. No gates protect the building. Its lower levels are jostled by the city's small shops and houses. A narrow set of stairs coil around to the back of the Tower, to what would be the second floor of one of its neighbors. From a distance, the Tower appeared to have no windows, but from up close you can make out narrow slits placed seemingly at random on its surface.

As you approach the base of the steps, you hear voices coming from behind the Tower.

"Heard you've finally caught yourselves a Tether. Mind if I take a look?"

"Sir, I can fetch the Tropos if you would like, but noone is allowed in."

"'Waiting for a Tropos', is that what you propose? But, if I am hurried, then you should be worried. Is that too on the nose?"

"Sir, it will just take a minute...Help! Quick-"

You hear unfamiliar wings beating in front of you. The Tower entrance comes into view. A guard lies spasming on the floor, one eyehole of their mask stained red. A magpie returns to the shoulder of a familiar figure. He turns and his one unscarred eye widens in surprise.

"Last one there has to buy dinner", and he jogs into the Tower, towards the shouts of approaching guards.

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Turn towards the shabby buildings and attempt to hide from my pursuers in a dark alleyway or someplace similar.

You briefly hesitate at the junction. On the one hand, stopping to smell the flowers would be nice. On the other, who couldn't do with some new "goods"?

With the voices of your pursuers growing louder, you pick the shabby buildings. The Goo shop is shut, you'll have to wait until morning to check it out. You stop at the alleyway between Warren's Wares and the toffee shop. It looks like a tight squeeze. Instead, you peak your head into the open toffee shop.

"Babies and mental men! Not that's not it. Rabies and rental gum!"

The interior is a large, gloomy room, with an open door at the back and workers stacking crates along one wall. In the center stands a tall figure talking to themselves.

"Welcome, maybe a helpful Peg!" With a flash of fabric and hips, the figure turns to face you. "Close the door behind you, we don't want any pigs sniffing around."

You do so and approach the apparent ringleader. Their jacket is long with coattails that flap each time its wearer's hips swing. And those hips swing as if to punctuate each sentence. Getting closer, you recognize the two workers from the Green Apple Circus cart. If they seemed tall, then their leader is huge.

"Thank you for letting me in. The guards might come looking for me soon. Do you have a back exit that I can use?"

"No, no. No guards will come here. We have an understanding. Even the swine want sweets."

You back away a step, "My friends will be waiting for me. We planned to meet up in the market square."

"Yes, yes. Yesterday's commotion means that today your friends can meet you in Lublin without drawing suspicion. This one's clever."

"Thank you."

"But, maybe you've overlooked tonight? A Descender cannot stay down here forever without drawing suspicion." You had been inching toward the entrance, but your host suddenly lunges toward you. As you bring your hands up to defend yourself, they spin and are now standing between you and the entrance. "Mama Rye takes care of her family, but will your leaders accept a Descender without his Tether?"

"How did you know they took sleep?"

"Lady Larch sent word ahead, a plea for us to aid a noble Descender and his Tether. I see the one, but not the other."

"So, will you help me? If I can get sleep back from the Tropos, then I'll be able to go back to the ship and meet my friends tomorrow."

"The military is one thing, but the Shlackta and your Tropos are another. No treats for the pious. At least, not openly."

"Then, can I stay here tonight? Tomorrow I'll meet my friends and we'll get sleep back together."

"Yes, yes. Yesterday's debt has been repaid. You helped Lady Larch, and we have saved you from the guards. But, sheltering you from Emia is another thing entirely. The longer you wait to return, the more suspicious your people will get and the heavier the weight when it comes down on you. I won't risk my family being near you when that happens."

"Lady Larch was kind to me, can't you help me on her word? I promise to repay you when I can."

Leaning down and toward you, the Giant says, "I cannot accept a stray, useless Descender into my family. Not one who will only endanger them!" The last part is almost hissed through gritted teeth. "But, we can sever the connection to your Tether, then you'll be free of Emia forever."

Starting to despair, you're unsure what to ask. The Giant doesn't seem to want to let you leave or stay, so what else can you do? The two workers have stopped stacking crates. The woman asks The Giant, "The guards won't be able to pick up their usual shipment with this kid missing. And it'll be hard to sell more than a few pounds with them on high alert. Can we get the Shlackta to increase their share?"

The male worker chimes in, "The tower's been shut since Goray's Tropos came back empty-handed. We saw him enter with this one," gesturing at you.

"Interesting, you are wanted by the pigs and the priests. I might be getting jealous."

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Thank the bird for ... whatever it just did and book it out the window. Run around the city making a ruckus by shouting out that the Tropos and the Lendian military have conspired to imprison an innocent Descender.

"Thanks birdie! I mean, caw caw." You flap your arms and run toward the window. The bird flies off and you follow, leaping through the window with the grace of a book whose reader just tossed it out a window.

As you land, the door crashes open. You dash across the courtyard for the gate.

Two guards stand at the gate, ready to stop you. They have not barred the entrance and the surrounding walls are too high to leap, so you head straight for the guards, hoping to catch them off guard.

The guards do seem surprised by your aggression and both retreat a few steps. Their backs are now up against the masonry of the gate.

From above, you hear another whistle. Chunks of the gate crash down on the heads and shoulders of the guards, felling both of them. You are able to dash through the open gate.

Running among the townhouses, you shout for help. "The guards are after me!" "They arrested a Descender!" "The Tropos abducted me!" While lights are visible in most of the houses, their doors remain shut.

Occasionally, you spot a guard run toward you from one of the side streets. Whenever they enter your range of vision, you hear the whistle and a falling drainpipe or shingle slows the guard.

Since the wealthy district seems unwelcoming, You continue running and shouting, sticking to main streets. Returning to the commercial district, you spot food stalls ready for evening diners and shops selling trinkets. All the workers and customers retreat into nearby buildings when you run past.

The way to the city entrance has more guards, so you continue deeper into Lublin.

The street you have been following has become winding and narrow. The stallworkers here do not hide as you approach. Some shake their heads. A few whisper encouragement. Most have no reaction to a young man sprinting past them.

You begin gulping down air rather than sipping.

You have reached a junction. Down one path, the buildings become shabby and lean precariously into the street. In the other direction, a tower rises a couple stories above the buildings, which are small but neat. Snarling masks decorate the top of the tower.

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Tell the Lendian military officer that this man, the Tropos, has assaulted a law-abiding Descender like myself completely unprovoked. Attempt to make a sign with the wooden whistle I was given to show the people by the Green Apple Circus wagon that I see them and am on their side before I am hauled away by the Lendian military.

"Yoohoo, policeman." You bat your eyelashes at the tall guard. "I am a law-abiding-"

The guard ignores you, but the Tropos says, "Then, I shall relinquish this charge to you. I only hope that your Captain knows how to properly entertain a guest of such status as you now find in your care."

Leaving the guard slightly confused, the Tropos gives you a final sad smile and walks into the city. Trailing him come the two goons, bringing sleep with them.

With the guards watching the Tropos, you reach into your pocket and bring out the whistle. You make a violent motion with your hand holding the whistle, trying to shield the movement from the guards and still catch the attention of the circus-folk. The woman definitely sees this, but so do several of the farmers waiting in line and it's hard to tell if she reacted any differently than them.

"Descender!" At a shout from the guards, you return your attention to the gate. "Sirs, can one of you release me from these ropes?"

"Can we release him?" the short guard simpers to his friend.

"Let me think", the tall guard cocks his head in imitation of thought. "Seems like this Descender was a prisoner of the Tropos first, so we don't have the authority to release him."

They march you into the city, the tall guard leading the way and the short guard trailing behind you.

While you walk, the shorter guard occasionally asks questions. "What does a Descender have to do to get arrested by a Tropos? Thought you were supposed to be lighter than air." "You ever had Lublin fudge? I get a roll on my way home every day." "You got desserts on those ships of yours? Anything better than fudge? Probably not, can't fit a cow onboard, right?" You limit your responses to grunts, but the guard doesn't seem to mind.

You enter a more wealthy section of the city and approach the white castle you had seen from the countryside. The shops which had lined the streets begin to make way for large townhouses.

You are brought past an ornamental gate and led uphill into the castle yard. Inside the complex, most of the structures are made from red brick with stone ornamentation. You are led into the keep and down a dark hallway. Your hands are untied and you are left in an empty room.

You call out through the door. "I need sleep!" "Let me speak to the Captain!" From right outside your door, a voice shouts for you to quiet down. "You'll speak to the Captain when she wants to speak to you!"

Feeling antsy, you inspect your surroundings. The room has a fireplace, bed and desk. Tapestries cover the walls, with geometric depictions of plants, animals and farmers in greens, oranges and reds. Behind the hangings, the walls are rough stone and mortar. Solid but visibly aged. There is a single window, but it is only wide enough to fit your arm up to the bicep.

The sun is setting and you recall your shared mission with Nail and Dowel. You place Lady Larch's whistle to your lips and blow. Instead of feeling the rattle of a ball in the whistle, you see a blade of wheat shoot out. The whistle's tone shifts slightly after the wheat is unlodged.

From outside the door, you hear activity, then hurried footsteps moving farther away.

You try the door but find it firmly locked. Placing your ear to the door, you hear voices in the distance but coming closer. "We were told not to search them." "Enough, you were right to some streight here, now we deal with him discreetly."

Suddenly, you hear furiously beating wings and a thunk. A brown and white mottled bird with a short beak has slammed down onto your window.

As the voices come closer, you notice that the window seems slightly wider, the mortar along its sides showing cracks.

The bird opens its mouth and produces a tone like Lady Larch's whistle.

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Ask the informant if she has any advice about how to contact the Chlopsky and for directions to Lublin, Thank the informant and offer to pay her back for her help if I see her again at a less busy moment. Head north to Lublin.

"Can you tell me how I can contact the Chlopsky?"

"Well, Lublin's the closest big city and its got to have a fair few members." She pauses for a moment. "I prefer the countryside myself, and most of the members hide themselves away from cities, in the farming villages or out in the mountains. But, they still need to have some ears in the centers of power."

"I need to get to Lublin, so do you know anyone I can get in touch with over there?"

The informant smiles slightly, "I've got someone in mind, friend of mine working in some of the theaters over there. Second-best way to meet up with all sorts of folks from out of town - after working at the post office. She's gone by a few names, "The Giant", "Mama Rye", "Hannah", but I can't guarantee she won't have a new name by now. The Tropos' people are all over the city, so you've gotta be willing to shed a name or two if you want to stick around there."

The informant tells you that you should head north if you want to get to Lublin quickly. There is a road directly north that should bring you there in a few hands, but you'll have to pass the Tropos' tower. Otherwise, you can try to go south and double back along a side road, but that will more than double the travel time. She also gives you a wooden whistle, "This should help you find members of my cell in any towns you come across, just blow it after sunset and follow whomever comes to guide you. If anyone asks tell them that Lady Larch vouches for you."

You thank her and tell her you'll return the favor when you cross paths again. The corners of her lips twitch slightly upwards and she wishes you safe travels.

You leave the workshop and head north, you've decided that making it to Lublin before the day is over is your top priority, no matter the risk.

It doesn't take long to reach the outskirts of town. Here the trees are thicker than they were on your path into town. Roots have been growing through sections on the edges of the path.

You take a moment to look up at the Tropos' tower. You can make out cracks in the stone and gaps in the roofing. From the corner of your eye, you spot the butcher, a large man, peering at you from around the corner of one of the houses on the edge of town. You turn and walk a bit further down the path and, when you hear him leave his hiding spot, quickly turn around. "Aha! Why are you following me?" You feel sleep shift around on your back, moving their weight from your neck to the middle of your back and sends you a light knock.

Fiddling with the pockets of his large apron, he says, "I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier. I-I was just taking orders from the Tropos to harass folks."

"Apologize to the people you bullied. Why don't you have a sale or something to show you're trying to make things right?"

His eyes widen and he backs away from you. sleep knocks lightly several times.

"Okay, okay, I don't know about your finances." sleep knocks, "Ba..ck."

You turn around and see that two masked figures have got to within arm's length of you. sleep makes a particularly strong knock and one of the assailants drops to the ground, felled by a root. The other knocks sleep to the ground and then grabs you, pinning your arms behind your back. From within the trees, two more masked figures emerge, flanking a man dressed in pale blue robes. He appears to be in early middle-age, with short dark hair and a sad expression.

The butcher, who remained on the sidelines during the brief struggle, suddenly exclaims, "Tropos! I've brought you the rebel!"

Without turning, the Tropos addresses him, "Would that I could believe those were your true intentions by approaching a young traveler with a knife in your pocket."

"No, sir, this is just a-"

"Enough", the Tropos sighs. "Be thankful that you have been lucky enough to only be caught harassing traitors and rebels."

"Y-Yes", the butcher retreats back to town.

"Now, are you aware that, as the governor of Goray, one of my duties is to lend aid to Descenders such as yourself?" You see that the masked figure who had tripped has moved to a spot behind the Tropos. They are holding a sturdy wooden cage, inside of which is sleep, who is still apart from one tentacle reaching through the bars which occasionally twitches as if trying to reach you.

"Well, you can lend me aid now by letting me go and returning my Tether." You make a valiant attempt to sound courteous.

"While it would give me no greater pleasure than to help one of our valiant Descenders on their mission", the Tropos continues morosely, "Are you a valiant Descender? A passing troublemaker? Or a rebel?"

"I'm on a mission! That's why I'm heading for Lublin."

The Tropos smiles, "How wonderful, then I shall accompany you there. Why, we can even go to the Mesos together to pay our respects. You as a valiant Descender on a mission of peace and me as your humble servant."

The goon pinning your arms shoves you to your knees and ties your hands behind your back. Then, you are hauled up by the armpit and shoved down the path. You can hear the Tropos following behind with at least one other masked helper.

When you try to slow down for the others to draw level with you, the Tropos clicks his tongue. "Let's keep going forward, valiant Descender? I think your Tether will find the trip much more pleasant if we can manage to keep the pace up."

Seething, you continue north. Occasionally, the Tropos will ask you a question. "What were you doing in town?" "Did you enjoy the sights so much the first time that you had to return?" "Which ship are you from?" You don't respond and he doesn't seem to mind, or at least doesn't care enough to threaten you for an answer.

As Lady Larch said, after only a couple hands you notice that the tree cover is thinning and some roads from the east and west are merging with the one from Goray. Soon after, you spot Lublin.

You can see that Lublin's houses are made of stone and many are two or three stories tall. Dotted around the town, copper domes and stone towers give the city a jagged silhouette. In the center of town, a white castle rises clear above all the surrounding structures.

As you grow closer, you see a line of folks awaiting entrance. Mostly they are farmers pulling carts, but a few have large beasts to haul their goods, and there is one enclosed wagon painted a brilliant green with gold decoration toward the front of the line.

Now, the Tropos steps out from behind you and leads your group past the line. Several farmers seem ready to berate your poor etiquette, but look away when they notice the Tropos and his masked entourage. As you draw level with the green wagon, you see that the decorations were actually lettering - "Green Apple Circus". Two tall, muscly people pull the wagon, one man and one woman, both with close-cropped hair. The man glances at you, he stretches one large arm and you can spot a tattoo of a sheaf of wheat on the inside of his bicep.

You can hear the Tropos conversing with the guards at the gate, two men in long mail hauberks with spears in hand and short swords at their hips.

"Tropos of Goray returning with a Descender for the Mesos."

The shorter of the guards says, "I can see that. Only problem is I've been given orders to send any Descenders straight to my Captain."

"That's not a problem at all. I order you to stand aside so we can go to the Mesos. You know, the current governor of Lublin."

The taller guard speaks this time, "Say, sounds like you might be a bit confused. We don't take orders from the Mesos. We're Lendian military, reporting up to the Emian brass. We don't have to listen to you."

The Tropos' two goons have gathered up by his side, including the one with sleep, and they suddenly have cudgels in their hands - you're not sure where they got those from. The Tropos glances at you and back at the taller guard.

You are a few paces behind and can see that the circus man is now beckoning you over.

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Assure the carpenter that I'm not going to start any trouble (yet) and that I'm just shopping around for some popcorn for a friend of mine. If she's still willing to talk, ask her about what it was exactly that I did when I was here last and who this "Tropos" is that would report me.

You glance around the square. None of the hawkers or their customers are looking to you or the carpenter, but all their conversations have fallen silent. From the bakery, a woman peeks her head out from a window. The silence is only broken by meaty smacks as the butcher continues meat cutting. He has not looked up from his work.

You walk over to the carpenter, giving a hesitant wave. "Listen, I don't want any trouble."

The carpenter, a graying, stern woman, fixes you with a glare that says, "Well, you're fixin' to get some."

"Do you know where I can get some popcorn? Don't suppose the butcher will have any, do you? Sure doesn't sound like he's cutting up heads of corn though."

The carpenter's eyes widened during your question and she quickly scanned the square as you were trying to land another joke. During the pause that follows, you notice that the butcher has stopped butchering, but the people in the center of the square are resuming their business.

"I've got just the chair for you. Just wait 'til you get your butt on it!" The carpenter grabs your arm and pulls you into her shop. The aggression is startling and, before you can protest, you find yourself in her workshop.

"So, do you keep the popcorn here?"

The carpenter looks puzzled. "Kid, I brought you here so we don't have to talk in code. Now, last time you were here, you asked around at all the other shops before you came to me. I thought you might be clever, not coming here immediately. But, now you're back in town again. Marching right up to me without a care in the world!"

She studies your face while you feel embarrassed because you tried to be friendly. "My memory is gone", you mumble. Finally, she clicks her tongue, "Great, that's what I get for working with Descenders, I'll have to ask one of my contacts whether you were able to find the Chlopsky. A few days ago, you came through this town, Goray. You'd been traveling through small towns like ours, trying to make contact with the revolutionaries, the Chlopsky. I work with them as an informant." At this last statement, she sits up a bit straighter.

"It will take some time to get a response back, and if you're here for too long the governor of the town will arrest you."

"The 'Tropos'?"

"Right. Took over the old church when he moved in. Now, I can't say I understand why you're back, but I'll help you, within reason. I owe you that much for dealing with the butcher for me."

You nod your appreciation for the offer.

"But, seems you've at least got your Tether under control this time, so maybe you want to head north to a bigger city like Lublin?"

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Attempt to tell sleep that I have something very important that I need to do and I'm going to need them to just trust that I'm doing something productive. Just this once. Give sleep another dried fish as an attempt at a bribe. Head down the worn out path in the direction that the man pulling the cart came from.

You reach for sleep. They twitch away from your hand, causing you to hesitate. You keep your hand still for a moment, and then sleep reaches back to you, wrapping a feeler around your feeler.

You try to think, "Hello" at sleep. Nothing happens.

You think harder, "Can you hear me?" Nothing happens.

You say, "Hello?". sleep knocks tentatively, "Pe..g..go?"

These knocks don't feel violent. The sensation is restricted to your arm and upper torso, and their echoes fade more quickly.

"I need to get to a town."

"Go..ba..ck?"

"I don't remember if we've been there before, so does that really count as 'going back'?"

"Go..ba..ck..ba..d."

"What if I give you a fish?"

sleep moves towards your head and a feeler reaches toward your chest.

"One fish now and two when we get to town? Ten fish when we find Tenon?"

sleep has one feeler on the center of your chest, "Ten? Ten..ba..ck?"

"That's right, ten, twenty, as many fish as you can crunch!"

".... Go..town."

Taking that as agreement, you reach into your pack for sleep's down payment. You set out for town with sleep settled on your upper back, crunching away at their fish.

The few trees rooted close to the path sway towards you, giving you a little bit of shade.

You walk, taking a couple breaks for water. Once in a while, you try to chat with sleep.

"Is fish your favorite food?" "Pop..corn." "How old are you?" "Pe..gol..d." "Do you remember what happened to Tenon?" "Pi..cke..d..bas."

The landscape shifts from grass with isolated trees, to fields of wheat with small stands of apple trees. You see a couple farmers in the distance, but don't call out to them. Even though sleep has been agreeable, you don't want to pass out before making it to town.

After walking for four hands of sun, you come upon a town. Most of the structures are one- or two-story wooden houses, but a single stone building sits along the northern outskirts with a bell tower more than twice as tall as any of the houses. It is distant enough from the center of the town, that you figure either the house-builders are keeping their distance from the stone building or the converse.

As you enter the town square, the proportion of two-story houses increases. But you can still spot the stone structure in the middle distance. There are a few workshops at the periphery of the square - including a baker, butcher and carpenter. In the middle of the square are a few open stalls. You can see that one of the stalls is selling trinkets, but as you are draw closer, you hear a shout.

"Oy! What are you doing back here? We don't want any trouble, but if the Tropos sees you, they'll report you." As she says this, the carpenter shrugs a shoulder towards the stone building.

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Try to tell Dowel and Nail where I last was on Bas, by the less-treaded path where I met the man carrying the cart. Tell them that they absolutely figure into my plan and I want them to try to find me because we'll be safer together. Say that my plan of action for now is to continue following orders to try not to get dumped and try to rise in the ranks for more classified info all while looking around Bas to find Tenon and find out what all this rebellion business is about. Tell them to be careful and keep a low profile until we can figure out what side is in the right and is safest for us. Retire to my bunk and prepare for the descent.

"I want to follow orders as long as it's safe or useful to do so. But, I may not know exactly how far is too far. So, please help me investigate and find Tenon."

Nail nods her support. Dowel sniffs, "'Course we will. Now, if we want to meet up on a descent, we should all pick a landmark to shoot for."

Nail says, "Peg's memories don't go back further than the last descent, and from what you reported to Bruxis there's not much for us to work with. If you knew which town you were near then we'd have a direction."

You offer, "There was a weirdly high mountain to the south-east."

"It's hard to navigate by those, they're called Gora," Nail answers. "The Agogia is staying in the neighborhood of Samot Gora, but we've all traveled quite a ways from the base."

Dowel sighs, "I think our best shot would be to meet near one of the larger settlements, the trouble will be getting enough slack from our Tethers. If we look like we're retreading old ground, they're likely to force us back to the ship."

You remember something, "What if we 'convince' our Tethers to help us, like Alu suggested?"

Dowel looks a bit shocked, "You know, I figured that was 'convince' in the old 'the thunderstorm convinced me to stop playing outside and return home' sense."

Nail picks up, "We could try, but I'm worried that if one of us fails to 'convince' their Tether, they would be brought back to the ship immediately. Instead, what if one of us causes a disturbance in the largest town they can find. Then, the others have an excuse to travel there to investigate."

Dowel, "That could work. From Peg's description of the man he saw with the wagon, I'd bet they were in Lendia. Nail and I should be fairly close and, if our Tethers don't stop us, we should be able to make some headway to you."

Your group has settled on creating a "disturbance", but their warnings haven't entirely discredited Alu's suggestion to get support from sleep.

You say, "Stay safe, and when we meet up we'll go after Tenon, so keep an eye out for any leads."

"Roger", Nail and Dowel both tilt their heads to the side and slightly back.

You mirror the two of them as they get ready for a descent. New sets of clothes are put on, teeth are brushed, and covers are drawn.

In your bunk, you lay back and close your eyes.

You wake up beneath a tree on the side of a path. This time, you recognize the area, you are just a few footsteps  from where you passed out on the last descent.

In your rucksack is your waterskin, the dried fish and a fresh hunk of bread. sleep is resting on your chest and has not moved yet. There are no people around.

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Reassure Dowel and Nail that, if they'd let me, I can be their leader until we find Tenon again. Tell them that I'll think of something to get us all out of this without anyone getting snapped in half. Tell them to look around for any info on the special mission Tenon and I were sent on or anything else about people disappearing then part with them for now. Leave to look for Alu by the veranda and ask her about if she has also been assigned to this special mission to "identify landing spots" and what she knows about it.

You say, "Don't worry, I'll protect you!"

Dowel and Nail look somewhat sympathetically back at you.

"For now, you both should find more information on the special mission and disappearances. I'm going to ask a certain person some questions."

Dowel asks, "Who?" Nail asks, "What questions?"

"I will figure that out later." You leave the room and head for the veranda.

Alu is still standing out there. You approach her. "Excuse me, I'm the 'Excuse me, do you know where we are?' guy from earlier."

It takes a moment for her to react, but then she turns towards you. And keeps turning until she's back to her starting position. "Agnes isn't here, so I can talk to you."

"Great, I wanted to ask about the special missions."

"To colonize Bas? Or to crush the resistance formed from Descenders who have convinced their Tether to keep them on Bas instead of returning them to the airships every morning?"

"Both, I guess."

"Well, doing the first one is what caused the problem with the resistance. And your friend Tenon probably joined them, that's why she disappeared and nobody wants to talk about her anymore. On the next descent, you should probably decide if you want to do the same, go along with the missions, or just defy everyone and get yourself dumped."

"What would you do?"

She smiles, "I've already made this decision. And I'm still here, aren't I? Now, unless you have any other questions, I'm going to retire for the day."

"Just one thing. Will you report me to Agnes?"

She looks puzzled, "Agnes? No, I won't report you to him. Even if I did, he's mostly harmless. Depending on your choice, you should be more worried about the Captain. Or about me." She turns and leaves the veranda.

You stay on the veranda for a moment, watching the sky and thinking over what you've been told. Alu said that you could join the resistance, follow the Descenders' missions, or defy both groups and get dumped on a station. You think that Captain Nea should pursue you if you don't follow your mission, but does the same hold for Alu? You wish you knew more about this "resistance", but only people who've been given the second mission should know anything about them - Alu just vaguely threatened you, the Captain creeps you out, Wint seemed to be toying with you, and both Bruxis and Agnes are ... abrasive.

Then, you head inside. From the speaker system, "All Descenders to your bunks and prepare to drop."

You go back to your room. Dowel and Nail are on their bunks, waiting for you.

"Did you find anything out?"

Nail answers, "I went back to Wint, but all he'd say about the disappearances was, 'Got to thin the crop' and 'Light as a feather / Stiff as a board / Defy your Tether / I'm getting bored'."

Dowel reports back, "And I went to the other senior Descenders, to ask if they've heard of any disappearances. But they're tight with the XO and just ignored me."

You tell them roughly what Alu told you about the secret missions.

"Peg, when we descend, we all return to the last spot we occupied on Bas. It's extremely difficult to meet up there," Nail says.

"If we figure into your plan, tell us before the descent," Dowel says.

"There's no guarantee we'll be able to find you. So if you disappear after tonight, goodbye."

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Return to my bunk to meet with Dowel and Nail again.

You leave Agnes and walk back towards the bunks.

Passing the Descender Mess, you spot Captain Nea sitting on the floor, reading one of the books. You think it is titled Epistles.

Passing the veranda, Alu is still looking out over the railing.

Continuing down the hallway, a couple more doors have opened, revealing a cafeteria and kitchen.

You descend to the bunk-level. You can see that the room opposite yours has three Descenders whom you recognize. They were in the front row with you, Dowel and Nail in the Mess.

From the hallway, you hear Dowel and Nail. "So, Nail, I really couldn't care less that one of our friends disappeared." "Right." "Everything's fine, as long as we all keep our memories. Which we all definitely have."

They spot you in the hallway and wave you over to a corner of the room.

Dowel whispers to you, "What took you so long, it's really hard to keep up an inconspicuous conversation with only two people! It was even harder before Nail got here."

"I-"

"No time, we'll get your memories back and then we can plan. One, we're on an airship, in the air."

"The nurse told me that before I reported in."

"Hm. Two, we're Descenders from the empire of Emia, and every night we go down to the surface, a place called Bas."

"I might have heard that, too."

"Hmm. Three, most of the time our mission is to patrol around Bas, keeping people safe and reporting back."

"I've heard tha-"

"But, for some Descenders, there's another mission. You and Tenon were chosen. And you told us they wanted you to 'identify landing spots'. Within a month, Tenon came back from a descent without her memory. On the next descent, she disappeared."

"..."

"And now you've lost your memory. Get it, you're gonna disappear, Peg!"

Nail reaches over and puts a hand over Dowel's mouth. His low whisper had become a stage whisper, which had become a stadium whisper.

"Peg, Dowel and I don't think that 'identifying landing spots' is all you and Tenon were doing. Take Wint and Rin. There's a rumor that a while back Wint was assigned the second mission, and then two of their bunkmates were deposited. A 'deposit' is what happens when a Descender exceeds their weight limit. They're left at a station, no longer able to make descents."

You venture, "We get heavier if we resist our Tether?"

Nail answers, "That's right, sorry, I didn't think you'd forget that, too. We're all told about that stuff as kids on the stations. You know, your parents point out a deposited ex-Descender in the streets and warn you not to enlist or you'll wind up like them."

"Hmmmhmhmm." Dowel had been humming loudly as you and Nail spoke, but now he speaks up. "Now that you have your memories back, what are we going to do! Tenon was always the leader. The best plan I could think of was to mutiny and become air pirates. But Nail said no."

"I said 'XO Bruxis would snap you in half like a thin, cylindrical rod'."

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Salute Captain Nea and bid her farewell. Tell Nail to return to the bunk without me to avoid suspicion and apologize to her for being so pushy. Head to the nurse for a check-up as XO Bruxis suggested. Attempt to see if there's anything concerningly wrong about my body but make sure to leave quickly with some excuse if the nurse questions my memory loss.

You straighten up and angle your head in an approximation of Captain Nea's previous tilt, "Captain."

Turning to Nail, "Thanks for sticking with me, I'll meet you and Dowel back at the bunk." She lets out a sigh, "We really just want to help you, Peg," and leaves the room.

You amble toward the window and catch a look at the titles of a couple books: Report Logbook of the RDA Agogia, Bas Order of Battle, and Bury Us Upside Down.

Wint and Rin are heading for the door and you follow them out, staying at least a few paces behind them. They turn back towards the direction of the veranda and bunks, but you go further down the hallway to the nurse.

Inside a brightly lit room with a red flame on the door and a nameplate which reads "Agnes", you find the man you met on the veranda earlier. You are standing in the doorway when he spots you.

"Woah, Peg! Wouldn't have figured you'd show up for a weigh-in today of all days, maybe you didn't trust me earlier, eh?" He winks at you.

"You know, XO Bruxis told us to get weighed and I need to be in good shape to compete with Alu, right?"

"That's what I like to hear! With Tenon going missing and Wint getting weirder by the day, I was worried she'd not have any serious rivals left. Well, let's start the exam then."

While taking notes, Agnes instructs you to open and close various openings, to breathe in certain rhythms, and move a selection of appendages.

"How have you been sleeping?"

"Like normal."

"Any persistent pain, dizziness, nausea?"

"No, to all of them."

"Hm, how are you dealing with Tenon's disappearance?"

"..., I've not thought about it much, just trying to get on with the missions."

"That's cold man! But that'll make you a good rival for Alu. You know, it took determination for her to give up a comfortable place in the royal household and become a Descender. Maybe Tenon's disappearance will turn you into a machine like her, eh?"

"Heh, maybe."

"Last one, hop up on the scale for me," he gestures towards a green metal spring scale which comes up to eye level.

Stepping on, you see the scale's indicator hand move through a sequence of numerals. The hand settles on 52.

"Yeesh! So as this ship's nurse I have to say that, for your height, 52 ADP is concerning. And I have to remind you that at 63 ADP you will be considered ballast. But, as your friend-".

Despite missing most of your memories, you know that he has never your friend.

"I need to tell you that some of the best Descenders go through this kind of thing. When Alu was starting out, she also stretched her Tether. Honestly, if I hadn't been hiding some the measurements from Bruxis, she might have been dumped right before she relaxed and started rising the ranks."

"That's comforting, I guess."

"'Course, I can't fudge your measurements, can I? You'll just have to sort things out even quicker. Or get dumped."

Seemingly done with the exam, he gestures toward the door. You get off the scale and exit the room.

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Bring Nail with me to ask Captain Nea about what her instructions for my next descent are.

Nail says, "Time for us to head-". You've already started over to Captain Nea.

Unsure of how to draw her attention, you hesitantly begin, "Excuse me, Captain?"

Without opening her eyes, the Captain turns her head to you and nods her head. "Descender, how can I help you?"

"Captain, what are your instructions for the next descent?" She tilts her head slightly. "It would help me to do my best on the next descent, Captain."

Tilting her head further, in what you imagine to be a rather painful position, "You are to fulfill your duties as an upstanding Descender and Emian citizen: locate indigenous peoples or potential landing spots and report back, in a timely manner." Her head realigns to a more normal position, "I'm sure Bruxis has a poem about this, 'Hip hip hurrah/Glorious Emia/We go to Bas/You have anemia'. Sounds about right."

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Go with Nail to strike up a casual conversation with Cross-eye and Spiky-forelock. Attempt to chat with them about recent descents and other events just to get to know them and feel out what they think about me while avoiding bringing up what has happened to me. If they ask questions that I don't know the answer to due to my memory loss, attempt to get Nail to cover for me there.

As Nail is leaving the room, you call out, "Hold on." Then, to cross-eye, "Hey, sorry I missed all today's reports, would you mind filling me in a bit?" You walk up to him and and spiky-forelock. Nail trails a few paces behind.

"We'd be glad to help out. isn't that right, Rin? Only, we'll need you to answer some of our questions in return. In the spirit of fairness, you know?" Rin turns to you and you get a good look at him for the first time. In contrast to cross-eye's near-constant smile, you might think he was sullen, but maybe he's just more subdued. "You took the initiative, so why don't you ask first", cross-eye gestures for you to go ahead.

Not wanting to show your hand this early, "How've you been feeling after descents lately? I guess well enough to report in on time."

Cross-eye affects a sigh, "You know how it goes, right? Anyone would start to question things even after a normal ballast dump. It's natural that folks are shaken up when a Descender up and disappears." Rin continues, "Since we were children, we're told stories about 'cursed' ships. One Descender goes missing in the night and the whole ship is doomed; whether from ghosts, monsters, -."

"It was always the crew turning on each other in my stories," interjects cross-eye. "My turn. At the fork in the road, why did you defy your Tether?"

"You know, just taking the road less-traveled," you venture, but they don't seem satisfied. "I considered what my Tether wanted me to do, 'Go down this path', and decided that I'd rather not." Fidgeting a bit, Nail jumps in, "Tenon's disappearance really shook Peg up. Wint, you should understand that." She looks at cross-eye in what you think is an attempt at intimidation, and his smile wavers for a moment. "Of course, enough said."

Sensing that direct questions will meet resistance, "If you were in my place on that descent, how would you have acted? Got any tips?"

Wint, with his smile back, "Not sure you should be taking advice from someone like me, but I'd say your choice was fine...if you're trying to get yourself dumped. 'Course, if you want to figure out what happened to Tenon, you'll probably want to avoid that. If you want advice, you should probably ask Alu or one of the 'proper' Descenders, but pursuing a missing friend might not be 'proper' to everyone. 'Always follow your Tether / You'll be light as a feather'." He swiftly straightens his back and lifts his chin in an imitation of Bruxis, before slumping and winking at Nail and you. "You might want to find out what your Tether wants before accepting or rejecting it."

Rin looks over at Wint, "Last question. During the next descent, where are you going to go?"

You hesitate, but Nail responds for you, "Of course, Peg is going to keep searching according to Captain Nea's objectives. Just like all of us."

"Of course, and we're all eager to do our part for these worthwhile missions", stretching his smile still wider and looking over at Captain Nea. Her eyes are shut.

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Speak with the two Descenders. Explain that my head is a bit fuzzy after my last descent and ask them to jog my memory about what is going on here.

The two Descenders move in front of you.

You start to ask for information, but the woman says, "Sorry Peg, we-". The man interrupts, "Nail, you don't have to apologize. Peg, we know things have been tough on you and this morning you were still asleep, but we knew Bruxis couldn't chew you out too hard. So Nail and I let you sleep." He looks at you defiantly for a moment, but Nail nudges him. "I didn't know things would have affected you so much, we should have stuck with you this morning, sorry", he starts out defiantly, but sounds a bit sheepish by the end.

You're not really sure if what happened was that bad, so you shrug off the apology. "This stuff happens, right? Actually, right now I'm more concerned about something else. You mentioned that I've been 'affected'."

Nail and the man relaxed a bit when you accepted the apology, but Nail tenses up slightly. You try to maneuver them so that you have a view of the other Descenders chatting in the corner - cross-eye and his friend, spiky forelock.

"I'm a bit fuzzy on the last however-old-I-am years."

"What?"

"You know how sometimes you wake up with a really vivid dream? Well, I only remember that dream."

Nail whispers to the man, "Dowel, isn't this-"

"I think you're right, let's get back to the bunk, we need to hide this from the others. But we can't act suspiciously." Dowel had been directing this to Nail, and he now looks back at you, "Don't worry, we're going to help you. We couldn't help Tenon, but this time-." Nail finishes, "We're going to help you, Peg."

Dowel nods, "Like I said, let's meet back at the bunk and we can plan. We'll leave separately to avoid suspicion." He leaves the room, leaving you and Nail.

"You won't remember this of course, but he felt really guilty after Tenon disappeared. Oh, Tenon was our old bunkmate, she had the same memory loss after a descent and then...We should wait until we're all at the bunk." Nail leaves the room.

You realize that, at some point in your conversation, the cross-eye man has started to eye you, his good eye locked on you with curiosity. And pity? Captain Nea is still looking at the map.

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Report in to the uniformed man, pretending that I am this Peg fellow all the while. Play along with whatever is happening here and try to avoid suspicion while looking for any leads as to the location of sleep and how I got here.

Unsure of how to report, you blurt out, "I woke up in a bunk one floor down, walked to the veranda and was told to come here by an overly familiar, antsy man."

In the back row, a couple Descenders snort.

The man takes visible effort to unlock his jaw. "Report the descent! You're already a person of interest in the disappearance of your bunkmate, don't anger me further or we'll ... anchor you!"

The window-facing woman slaps the sole of her foot on the floor, startling the room. The man inclines his head abashedly in her direction, "Captain".

The man, who you take to be XO Bruxis, looks back at you. He juts his jaw forward, which you take as a request to "report in" again.

You retell other events of the last few hours: waking up beneath a tree, walking down the path, meeting the man and blacking out. At one point, you start to describe sleep, but Bruxis' jaw starts to work and you decide not to dwell on them.

When you finish, Bruxis grunts. Puffing his chest out a bit, "These last couple days have been tough. I know this is not what you leadfeet signed on for. But, if you stick to regulation from now on, we can get through this. Together! Individually, we are but blades of grass in a rapidly rushing river, but together-".

Captain Nea slaps her foot again. Bruxis collects himself more quickly this time. "You are dismissed. I know we've been lenient recently, but anyone who hasn't weighed in for the last couple days, be sure to visit the nurse."

Bruxis and some of the Descenders make their way out of the room.

The two Descenders who made space for you in the front row turn slightly toward you. From the back row, the Descender with a cross-eye and their neighbor have remained and are chatting together. Captain Nea finally turns from the window and looks at the map on the wall.

What do you do?

[fallingstory]

> Ask the people on the veranda where I am and how I got here.

On the veranda are two people. One thin figure peers into a spyglass by the far edge and a stockier man gazes over the side, taking antsy steps from time to time.

You approach the spyglass-peerer, but keep your voice loud enough to be audible to the non-spyglass-peering man.

"Excuse me, do you know where we are? I came from one of the lower floors and-".

The antsy, non-spyglass-peering man coughs and scolds you, "Don't interrupt Alu when she's planning. I know they encourage competition on the Agogia, but there's still certain etiquette to follow."

"Sorry. But what's the Agogia? And can you tell me where we are exactly?"

"New recruit, eh? XO Bruxis should have explained this when you came aboard, but can't exactly fault you for ignoring him."

"Right...", you approximate a smile to mirror the man's conspiratorial grin.

"You're on the Agogia! Just one of the most well-respected dirigibles in the world? Refitted from a royal barge and now making a name for itself as a descender transport? You're going to struggle here if you came aboard without even knowing that much."

"Sorry again, I just woke up and it'd be a big help if-".

"Hey, you're not a newbie! Peg, I didn't recognize you. Not looking so light, eh? That's understandable, we've all been there, but that's no excuse for reporting in late. Better get to the Descender Mess before Captain Nea blows a gasket."

"Right, thanks for the...help." The man looks from you to the hallway, so you go back inside, casting one last glance at Alu, who hasn't moved a muscle during this exchange.

You continue around the hallway's curve. On the other side, you find an open door and enter.

A uniformed man steps toward you and seems to gesture you to get in line with a thrust of his jaw.

You hesitate in the door frame, scanning two ranks of Descenders. Noone meet your gaze. But a slight space opens up in the front row between a short, square-jawed man and a tall, thin woman.

You step into line and imitate the others' posture, hands behind your back.

The uniformed man paces the room and you have time to look at the woman standing with crossed arms by large floor-to-ceiling windows. She wears a similar uniform to the man, but showed no interest in your entrance and remained staring out the windows.

After a few peaceful moments, the uniformed man stops in front of you. "Well! Report in!"

What do you do?