►►

|| TRANSIT​

Southern Light ►► Southern Light: Worn Sign​

►► Southern Light​

You move towards the worn sign, and take a closer look.
It just look like it's a bit of dust, so you wipe it off.

In the dim light, you see the name of the station.

​

​

Q U E R C U S​

You appear to be at the Quercus Station of the Malkhut Line.
Well then, that'd be helpful if it meant anything to you.

Oh, what's this?
At the bottom corner of the sign, you see something scribbled in black marker.

... Uh.
Well, at least that explains the times on the tickets. So, that would mean they expire at around 6:00 PM.
Shame there don't seem to be any clocks nearby.

You think you've looked through this place enough, but you're not sure if you've covered everything yet.
The first bench was to your north, right?

Where do you go?

►► North: EXIT Door​

►► Northeast: Bench​

►► East: Garbage Can​

►► Northwest: Worn Sign
►► North: Origin Bench ​

 

►► Northeast: Bench

 

►► North: Origin Bench

 

►► East: Garbage Can
Hey, We have Sloth, Envy, and Wrath all on the same thread.

 

►► Northeast: Bench

 

​

​

Q U E R C U S​

|| TRANSIT​

Southern Light ►► Southern Light: Bench​

►► Southern Light​

You return to the bench.
Just as rusty as it was before, but you remember that there was some kind of oily rag just dangling off one of the edges.
Hey! You never know, maybe this thing could come in handy, especially if you needed it to stick your hand inside something gruesome ...

You pocket the rag.

[ 4 | 5 ] SPACES FILLED
►► YESOD INTERCHANGE || 19:00 Ticket
►► YESOD INTERCHANGE || 19:00 Ticket
►► Conductor's Card
►► Oily Rag
►►


The light above you flickers.
Oh-- oh great. It could go out soon, couldn't it?


Where do you go?

►► North: EXIT Door​

►► Northeast: Bench​

►► East: Garbage Can​

►► Northwest: Worn Sign​

►► North: Origin Bench​

 

►► East: Garbage Can
Am I the only one who picks tha garbage can?

 

►► East: Garbage Can

 

►► East: Garbage Can

 

​

​

Q U E R C U S​

​

|| TRANSIT​

Southern Light ►► Southern Light: Garbage Can​

►► Southern Light​

The familiar stench of rotting fish corpses floats around your face in a cloud as you reach the old garbage can. How old was this thing anyway? How long had the junk just been ... decomposing, down here, who-knows-where? Ugh. And you really don't think you'll be able to go anywhere else, or learn anything else about where the hell you are unless you pick up that submerged book.

You hold the rag in your hand, and wincing, slowly bring it down into the stinky rusted can.
Uuuugh ...

Squish.

... You-- you don't even want to know what that was.
It takes a few minutes, but you eventually feel the solid surface of that book. You're-- you're not quite sure why it hasn't decomposed yet either. Maybe someone put it in here recently?

You puff out your cheeks and hold down your stance as you attempt to wrench the book out of the mush. One, two ...
Ah! There we go!
You rip the book out of its slimy mattress, beads and marbles of strange green muck flying off in all kinds of directions.

But the displacement of the goop made the ticket sink far below ...
Ugh, yeah, there's no way you're going to get that.

You leave the oily rag in the garbage can and hold the book squarely in your hands.


[ 4 | 5 ] SPACES FILLED
►► YESOD INTERCHANGE || 19:00 Ticket
►► YESOD INTERCHANGE || 19:00 Ticket
►► Conductor's Card
►► Old Book
►►


It definitely looks like its missing a few pages. Or maybe they just decomposed? You don't know.
The book was musty and damp in places, yet it seemed to be fairly intact. The thick leather cover seemed stained and yellowed in places, with the skin lashed or cracked into hard, shattering daggers. What was left of the title was a faded chorus of letters that were practically illegible.

You open it up to a random page.
Surprisingly, the text here still seems pretty readable.

Spoiler

IX.

The City on the Hill

1 By this point, the people who called themselves the Wanderers had in their hands the blood of earth and blood of heaven. And with this, they built the City on the Hill to overtake the Scarlands.

2 The Wanderers had only seen such blood back in their Homeland, and to see it in these Scarlands was truly a miracle. The Wanderers tasked themselves as being the stewards of a prosperous future, and set themselves to using the blood of earth and blood of heaven to their advantage.

3 Life sprung forth in the Scarlands. They spilt the drops of the blood of earth. The blackened blood was used to power their machinery, and their golden blood served as the substitute for the lifeblood of their own society. And through this, they were able to draw the blood of heaven.

4 The blood of heaven would drop in scarring bolts from the heavens, whenever a god of the Scarlands was slain. But the Wanderers learned to draw upon the blood of heaven and use it themselves. And as they spilt the drops of blood, of heaven and earth, to the ground, the City on the Hill sprung forth.

5 This city would be built on heaven and earth, and it would come to dominate the Scarlands. It would expand, like a virus, over the Scarlands, and replace ruinous, blackened earth with metal and steel and the blood of heaven and earth.

6 And the City on the Hill would begin to extend to the heavens, and it would begin to extend beneath the earth.

7 The Wanderers settled themselves down, and began to record the glories of their civilization. They named themselves after the large texts, codexes, and records they collected, called

That was all.
Why was it in the garbage? Huh.
You weren't sure what it was. It sounded like a mythological text, but it seemed plausible enough to be a history, too.

Suddenly, you feel a familiar warmth grow colder on the back of your neck.
Looking up, you see that the light is beginning to dim ...
Oh dear, you probably should leave quickly, before you're trapped in the darkness!


Where do you go?

►► North: EXIT Door​

►► Northeast: Bench​

►► East: Garbage Can​

►► Northwest: Worn Sign​

►► North: Origin Bench​

►► North: Northern Light (move past origin bench through two dark patches: drains confidence)​

 

►► North: Origin Bench

 

►► North: Origin Bench

 

►► North: Origin Bench

 

​

​

Q U E R C U S​

​

|| TRANSIT​

Southern Light ►► Origin Bench​

►► Origin Bench​

You return to the familiar bench, your origin bench. Thankfully, moving through the darkness did not, at this time, take a hit on your confidence, but you still feel shaky and uneasy moving through those patches of darkness.

As you approach the rusted old bench, you hear a buzzing sound behind you. Turning yourself back to the southern light, you see that it flickers and dies out, leaving whatever island of stability there in complete shadow.

It appears you only have the northern bench to visit, for now.
You hear another soft buzz. Looking up, you notice that the light above you is dimming, a bit.

Where do you go?

►► North: Northern Light​

►► South: Southern Light​

►► Centerpoint: Origin Bench (restores confidence)​

 

►►North: Northern Light.

 

►► North: Northern Light

 

►► North: Northern Light

 

►► North: Northern Light

 

►► Centerpoint: Origin Bench (restores confidence)​