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month record rogue 4 1 3
The night is late. All is quiet; even the machines have stopped rumbling, and the city slumbers. The Soul Furnace and its nodes, however, continue to burn bright.
Nymph and Ermengarde found a furnace node in a remote district, away from prying eyes, and set up a mini-altar, placed a statue in the middle, and recited the incantations.
After a while, the Soul Furnace in the distance lights up, a signal that it is transferring energy to the nodes. The furnace network connects all of Kazdel, and revenants may, in theory, travel through it.
Nymph writes the words of summoning on a piece of paper and burns it, while Ermengarde continues to recite the modified appeasement incantations.
The furnace lights up, then goes dark again. The heart of the district pumps energy into thousands of homes.
Ermengarde finishes the incantation, and Nymph's greeting has been communicated to the furnace node by flame. They await the answer.
'It's not surprising that the revenants don't answer. The furnace nodes already took this into account in their design. Their materials are hardened by the Children of Soil and Stone, preventing the power of the revenants from leaking out.'
'Ermi.'
'What?'
'When the Soul Furnace is modified into a power plant, where will our ancestors go?'
'Hm... Master didn't say anything about it, but the ancestors had so many weird ideas. I doubt they'd want to hole up in the furnace their entire lives when they've got a bunch of free time.'
'If, just hypothetically, they could talk to the Sarkaz who pass by and give them life advi—'
'Then the entire city would be doing nothing but whining about how much they hate their lives in two weeks. Not everyone is like you, willing to help others all the time. And I doubt the ancestors want to have hundreds of people asking them questions every single day.'
'You're right... Sorry, I guess I've been giving you trouble again.'
'No problem. I was just glad to have a chance to try out a new incantation.'
'Did it work?'
'Don't think so.'
Another flash, another pulse, but nothing happens, except the statue in the middle of the altar, intended to be a vessel to tether the revenants, falls over.
Nymph picks it up, cleans it, and puts it back.
A split second later, she realizes something.
'Ermi!'
'What is it? I'm trying to adjust the incantation so the revenants can receive our signal.'
'Is it just me, or did the statue's pose change?'
Ermengarde had grabbed the statue off the shelf before coming out. Its hand had been pointed towards the sky, but now it is pointing towards Nymph.
'Maybe the revenants are already here, but we just didn't realize it?'
Ermengarde writes down 'Yes' and 'No' on two pieces of paper, places them before the statue, and asks—
'Are you an ancestral revenant?'
With one hand pointed towards Ermengarde, the statue's other hand points towards 'Yes.'
'So it worked?'
'I guess so... this level of communication should be safe. No need to worry about being threatened by them, at least.'
The statue points both hands at Ermengarde, perhaps in indignation.
'Should I ask now?'
'Yeah, go on.'
'Ancestors, please tell me—
'Can I predict the future through the ritual of appeasement?'
Nymph hears a long sigh from behind her as the question comes out of her mouth.
She feels a gust of wind, then the statue falls over onto the paper with 'No' on it.
