You have 16 Days Until Your Place of Business is Shut Down

> "I don't know. It's not like anyone else has an answer, right? Why, what do you think it is?"
> after, ask her if she sees someone following you.

"I mean, yeah...maybe? Sometimes? But it's just a weird dot in the sky, so I don't really know what I would guess," you say. "And nobody else knows either. What do you think it is?"
"It is a mystery worth solving," says Miriam. "I have been able to learn some things about it, but from a distance it remains thoroughly inscrutable. Even looking at it with a telescope, it's just a big black circle, or more accurately it seems to be a sphere."
"What things do you know about it?" you say.

"Well, first of all, it's been around for several generations, and doesn't seem to have changed at all during that time." She seems pleased to have someone to talk about this to. "Records from over two centuries ago record its existence as an unknown mystery. Old mana willing to be interviewed on the subject report its presence for as long as they can recall. Secondly, it's geostatic."
"Geo-what?"
"It's.." She waves her hands briefly, attempting but failing to draw something out in gesture. "Okay, you know how the sun and the moon and the stars all move around in the sky as the day or the year goes on?"
"Yeah..."
"That's because they're very far away from us. Farther than the whole world is big, by several orders of magnitude. We can only even see those things because they're huge. But that dot up there in the sky, it stays in the same place at all times. That means it's small by comparison, and it moves at the same rate as we do."
"..Wait, so you mean it isn't moving right now because we're not moving?"

"No, I mean it rotates at the same rate as..look, let's just say that it's hovering over a single spot, but really high up from that spot." Something in your expression probably indicates that you still don't understand what she's talking about, so she sighs. "Okay. Imagine, someone built a really tall tower, and then put a black sphere at the top of it, and then made the tower invisible. That's what it would look like," she says, pointing to the actual dot in the sky. "It's different from something that's actually really in the sky. With enough materials you could build a tower tall enough to get up there. But first you'd have to get to the right spot down here on the ground."
"Oh." This at least sort of makes senses.
"Since I know about your situation, I'll tell you about mine," says Miriam. "I'm sure you've heard that I am no native of Syzygy. I moved here a year and two months ago for one reason and one reason only. That." She points dramatically to the dot in the sky again. "It demands to be understood, and I intend to be the one who understands it."
"Soo, why did you move here then?" you say.

She sighs. "The third thing I know about that thing in the sky. The lands surrounding the point beneath it are owned by Syzygy, and they keep a constant guard of the place. They claim that it is home to extremely dangerous monsters and beasts, and even objects capable of destroying anyone who picks them up. They guard the borders of that land not just to keep people from going in, but to stop the worse monsters from getting out.

"So they won't let me in without a permit. I can't get a permit without proving that I am sufficiently capable of defending myself, or that I am in a group capable of defending ourselves. So to get there I work here, and eventually I intend to accrue enough revenue and/or local trust to hire some of the very knights guarding that place as bodyguards, so that I may go inside and examine that thing in the sky from as close a vantage point as physically possible. That is why I cannot afford competitors in making explosives, since it is a highly profitable niche I carved out for myself. I would rather find some way to cooperate if possible."

"So that's why you had a request for a bomb with Stahl, and then came after me when I turned it in," you say. She nods. "Hey, by the way--since you've been looking toward me this whole time, do you see anyone just staring at me back there? I've had the feeling someone's been following me for a while now.."
"Hmm.." Miriam seems to take the request seriously, adjusting her glasses again and giving an intent glare to the area behind you. "Nobody in particular. They might not be hiding in quite so plain sight, however.
"Well, since I answered some of your questions, is there anything you'd be willing to tell me about al-chemistry?" she says.

>

Date: 1/11
Time: About three quarters

Status & Inventory:

3716 Cole

Location: Syzygy

Character Status:

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SpoilerSarah Kennigan: Barely Scratched, Just Fine
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

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SpoilerEther Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Barely Scratched, Just Okay
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

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Spoiler

• Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.
  
• Slice & Dice: Chop-chop-chop-chop! Attempts 5-10 normal attacks, all on the same target, at reduced accuracy.

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

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• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Dual Techs:

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SpoilerSarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info

A/N:

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SpoilerThis wound up a little long, whoops. Oh, the woes of being among the first "round-worlders" of your world.