Ivory's situation was uniquely unique, if such a thing was possible, because it wasn't unique.

It wasn't a groundbreaking event when someone got lost in a forest-type—or, say, are stranded at sea. Unlucky if it happened to you, but on the same token, you would have at some stage made a pretty critical error to end up in said predicament. Took a wrong turn? Swam against a nasty rip? Avoidable, often-occurring circumstances brought about by at best, bad luck, and at worst, ignorance.

Being teleported consentingly into an unknown location—in Ivory's case, teleported into a rainforest—was in the realms of the [Assassin], [Kidnapper], and a vast array of similar classes. It happening to an Earther was… auspicious.

But to also be under the neutral, disinterested gaze of another society? For that to happen twice? It must be said that the former [Rower] had had it far worse than poor Ivory, but that was neither here nor there.

—--------

When Thissix began her twilight shift last night as perimeter watchwoman—not [Perimeter Watchwoman], mind you—she was told by Kegama from the day shift that a Human had teleported just metres away from the village's edge. A warning was going to be issued to the [Scalekeepers], but it was judged that it was just some [Novice Mage] that tried magic they were not prepared for.

It amused her when her name was drawn from this week’s lottery to man the Stake—twice, and on the same cardinal Stake to boot! She had the option to choose one or the other, but she hadn’t been called for almost a year now; she was going to make the most of it.

It amused her when her name was drawn from the lottery to man the Stake—of the four times this year, all had been to man the western Stake. It was an exciting time, too: the denizens of Yurluxiamo had little want to venture into the wilds of Dejima, as the village was mostly self-sustaining; the [Scalekeepers] dealt with any beast brave enough to encroach.

In truth, it was no village at all. It began as such long, long ago, but Drath was not built in a day. It was more akin to a large town: it was approximately 15 square kilometres in size, which was not an accurate representation of its true size, as Yurluxiamo was as much a subterranean city as it was an above ground one—if not more so.

The lottery was an opt-in, and was as serving you hope you won as it was a public service. As most didn't leave the village, it was a way to safely see—and feel—far out of the village: each cardinal Stake gave its user a 135° of ‘vision’ for approximately 10 kilometres above ground, and upwards of 20 kilometres underground. The latter was more useful when Wyrms were more prevalent; its use was now considered to be a novelty.

After descending down into the Stake Den and attuning herself to one of the four Stakes of Greater Sonic Vibration, she saw it—he—as clear as day. Thissix instinctively knew the scene well: under a bed of leaves and other scrap forestry was a young Human. What was curious, though, was the other force she felt in the vicinity: it was no ape, chameleon, tiger or any other of the myriad animals that call Dejima home. It may very well be a Human infant, for all she knew: either way, it was another reason she put her name into the lottery.

Thissix did not think of herself as cruel for finding interested amusement in this Human’s situation—it wasn’t the duty of the perimeter watchperson to act a weeping hatchling over every potential injustice. All who put their names down for the lottery go through a two-week induction into what it means to be a perimeter watch person, including a range of lectures on biology and geography, so that they know exactly what they should be looking for. This also included when to report to the [Scalekeepers], but it’s always stressed that the list of reasons is not exhaustive, and up to one’s own discretion. If, say, Kegama had decided to alert the Scalekeepers of the teleporting Human youth, they likely would have made a quick assessment in the negative and gone back to work. It wasn’t the end of the world to check.

So, back to the near-present. When Thissix headed down to the Stake Den to be briefed, she saw that day shift was sitting down, still attuned.

("Hello?") she called softly. ("Morochi?") No response.

She grinned, remembering her first time. Thissix had left red faced after her first time; the [Senior Scalekeeper] wondered why so few were manning their posts, only to realise that they had been called down to wait and see how long it took her to realise. The [Senior Scalekeeper], kind as he was, tapped her on the shoulder and told her that her shift had ended, and shooed the laughing [Scalekeepers] back their posts.

Thissix wasn't going to pull that, so she went and put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a light ruffle. Without turning around, he responded to her.

("You have got to see this! Look!)

Thissix took a set on the lacquered bench and attuned herself to the Stake. She took a sharp intake of breath as her senses were overloading. After a few uncomfortable seconds, she 'saw' clearly. She homed in on the signal that Morochi gave her, and she soon saw the scene. Ivory was watching the three apes discussing Ivory's fate.

("That Human from yesterday!") she blurted out.

("You should have seen it! He ran into an entire colony of those awful Ger Chameleons! I have no idea how, but he made 'em all run for their lives!")

The two Snake Beastkin were watching the scene on the edge of their seats. The gorilla made its move.

("Aaah!")

("Rotting moult!")

Morochi and Thissix's shoulders sagged with relief as they still perceived a whole Human, and not half a one.

The emotional rollercoaster wasn't finished.

("It doesn't look like they're going to kill him; I'll let you know tomorrow what happens,") Thissix said. She didn't like to be a prude on such a matter, but it would serve then both some good if she played the role model. This may well be his first or second time as perimeter watchman; she had seen him at the yearly introductory seminars that all prospective volunteers needed to attend. All current volunteers were encouraged as well, and some were asked to provide their insight throughout.

("Thanks, Thissix,") he said with slight disappointment, but was nonetheless appreciative. He knew of the incident of Thissix's, as she was asked to recount it at the introductory days. Morochi removed his feet from the carved bone exterior of the Stake, unattuning from it. He bade Thissix farewell, and she to him.

She refocused on the scene to see one of the apes sifting through items on the ground—she could make out some potions clothes and gold. There were some unidentifiable items in the mix, too.

This was surely unheard of. She was just about to call for a [Scalekeeper] when she saw the apes gather everything bar the potions.

("A Bag of Holding…? Wait, that's his? Dead gods!)

A [Scalekeeper] came in to investigate the sustained, boisterous laughter.

("... Is something the matter?")

("No, no… nothing. My apologies. Everything's fine,") she said, trying to sound composed.

The [Scalekeeper] narrowed his eyes and left the Stake Den, resuming his duties.

Thissix was unfocused for but a few moments—when she refocussed, the scene had changed considerably. No longer was there a large audience of apes; they had all dispersed, bar one. The remaining one held the human and was… being dragged by one of the long-armed apes.

She watched, for a moment, as the Human was looking around their Habitual Zone, before her tail curled up in embarrassment. She recalled one of the most important responsibilities of this position

Act in service to Yurluxiamo. Neglect not for the indulgence of your curiosities. Or something along those lines; it was old Dejimaen, at a time when the village was complacent.

Thissix blushed as she began scanning the vast area she was charged with—though, she did sonically mark the Human, so if anything developed further, she would know.

And so, she got on with it. The big cats were napping, the Vambats were stirring into consciousness, the chameleons were—save for one particular bunch—skulking around, the [Explorers] and [Archaeologists] were doing their thing… and the apes were doing ape things. A point was made to all volunteers that they did their own thing, and not to interfere—they were intelligent enough to know not to try Yurluxiamo. Apparently, they still remembered their humiliating incursion, long before even the Creler Wars.

Ah. Thissix really did enjoy this. The best part was that it didn't really take much effort—the artefact was more or less taking a Snake Beastkin's innate sensory abilities and putting them into extreme overdrive.

Things were looking alright for now. She began moving her third person field of view towards where that Human was—she could have just 'gone there' in but a few moments, but she felt it a good idea to keep working as she indulged herself.

She was not prepared to hear and feel that all too familiar gurgle.

("He has not eaten…? There are fruit bearing trees all throughout the forest—woah!") Thissix exclaimed as the Human collapsed, and the bundle he had been holding so dearly rolled onto the ground.

(“Oh! [Scalekeeper]! Quickly!”)

—--------

Time is a funny thing. For Ivory, a little over a few seconds had passed between him falling unconscious and waking up. They were purely sequential events, unmarred by flittering half-memories of potential dreams.

The moment Ivory was fully conscious, his eyes immediately snapped open in response to being in a completely different environment from where he was a moment ago. For one, he wasn’t up against a tree: he was lying on his back, and was quite comfortable actually—this he would realise after the fact, as comfort was at the bottom of his list of issues at the moment.

“Wh—”

Ivory couldn’t finish the word, as it had seamlessly morphed into quite a loud series of coughs. “That’s better,” he thought. Actually, he felt… fine?

“A… tent?”

It was obvious that he was in some kind of structure—above him was some kind of tarped ceiling. He seemed to be smack bang in the middle of this tent, as he was staring straight into the adjoining section of each side. Or whatever it was called—camping sucks, and tents sucked more.

Ivory did not notice the figure that walked into the private ward until a serpentine head appeared over him.

“Holy—”

This time, the remainder of his short sentence refused to exit his mouth, as the figure had spoken a Skill.

[Restrain Patient] was what Ivory heard, courtesy of his Skill. A patient… was he in some kind of jungle hospital? Had he been rescued by the [Onmyouji]? By Nozumu?

No… Ivory tried to turn his head, but he was almost completely paralysed. He left to his left and saw a… triumphant looking snake peering back at him. That smirk was undeniably one that said “now what you gonna do?”. There was no denying it: that was a snake. Easily eight or nine foot in height, it was lime green in colour, there were two Voldemort style slits for a nose, and its eyes were a dull yellows, with black slits for pupils. The head was wider than it was tall; the position of its eyes was such that it looked almost like a… frog emoji.

The Snake Beastkin turned towards the door-flap and called something out. Ivory caught ‘[Emissary]’.

And so, he lay supine for a few minutes. He heard this [Emissary] before they had walked into his ward: the clang clang quite gave them away. It was a terrifying feeling—the sound got progressively louder, until it was right outside his room. The Snake Beastkin spoke again, and Ivory heard the [Emissary] enter. At the same time, he felt the paralysis of [Restrain Patient] leave his system. He hoisted himself up against the headboard and was greeted by a… [Knight]?. A [Knight] with a glowing stump at the top of its neck, and its head rested on its right shoulder. If he wasn’t in a rainforest, he’d have thought this was the Headless Horseman. There was also no horse.

Headless Nick over here was just about to open his mouth, but Ivory got there first.

“Where the hell am I?”

“You are not on Rhir, Human. You are being provided sanctuary by the fair Snake Beastkin of Yurluxiamo, on the island of Dejima of the Drathian Archipelago,” the Dullahan [Emissary] said.

“I am Therepentous, an [Emissary] of The Iron Vanguard, a Great Company of Baleros, to Drath. There are few who speak the common language present in Yurluxiamo, and fewer still who were available to heed the call to investigate the mysterious Human who appeared suddenly on the island, and deep in the rainforest. I am here to provide answers for the relevant authorities.” The Dullahan moved a chair by the end of Ivory’s bed and sat down. He extended an arm, and with a pop, a five legged circular table materialised. He placed his head on the edge facing Ivory along with a small stack of parchment and addressed him once more.

“Please recount the steps that lead you to appearing on Dejima, culminating in your lack of consciousness. It would behove you to leave nothing out, and speak chronologically. [Dictated Translation: Drathian (Dejimaen)]. What is your name?”

Being slightly interrogated minutes after waking up wasn’t something most would take well, especially after waking up somewhere foreign.

“Ivory Henderson. So—”

“Any questions you may have will be answered after I bring your explanation to the [Senior Scalekeeper]. Your coming is, all things considered, an anomaly—it also presents some unique issues for the city.” Oof.

“A-alright. Just for reference, I did not just ‘suddenly appear’ on Dejima—I was invited by a [Merchant], Hidenori, and travelled with him on his trading boat. From Terandria.” He had forgotten the name of the place he set off from! “I was… sponsored by Heito, an [Onmyouji] from their academy and was shown around by one of their students, a Peacock Beastkin named Nozumu. On my second day, I saw that a man had dropped someone, so I went to pick it up for him… but when I touched it, I was teleported into the rainforest. That is how I got here.”

The [Emissary] had, thus far, remained professionally stoic. Upon hearing the final part of Ivory’s explanation, though, he raised an eyebrow.

“That is worrying. If you would permit me to ask, did you make any… enemies during your brief time there? Perhaps get on the wrong side of anyone? I am attempting to rationalise how someone might want to cause you such harm, be it from an [Assassin] or [Ninja]. Such mighty artefacts are typically used to ensure discretion for whatever nefarious purposes the assailant wishes. That you were left to fend for yourself, and were not immediately killed, raises further questions that we are not at liberty to attempt to answer. Yet.”

“So what you’re telling me is that someone has tried to get me killed by using a powerful artefact, but they just assumed I’d die eventually so they didn’t bother to finish the job?”

Therepentous was silent for a moment, before crossing his legs the other way, making a light ding.

“That appears to be the case, from my perspective.”

“I see.”

The stack of parchment rustled lightly, and a new sheet appeared at the top of the pile.

“Is that just transcribing our conversation into Drathian? With your Skill?” Ivory asked.

“You are correct. This will be provided to the [Senior Scalekeeper].” Ivory figured that that guy was some kind of… [Mayor]? [Police Chief]? Or some equivalent. This Therepentous was assuming Ivory knew what he was talking about. Actually, he realised that this wasn’t even his business—he would have been obliged to give his aid. Still.

“Can I ask, though… why is your head detachable?”

Surprisingly, a smile appeared on his face.

“I am Dullahan, native to Baleros. We are able to detach our limbs at will. I take it that I am the first Dullahan you have seen, which means that you have likely never seen a Snake Beastkin before.”

“Yes.”

“You have my apologies for such a questioning; I am sure this is quite a strange situation this is in. Unfortunately, it is imperative for me to obtain this information.”

Ivory’s shoulders relaxed a bit. He should have led with that!

“I understand,” Ivory glanced at the Snake Beastkin who was leaning against a wall, looking bored.

Ivory barely got a few sentences in before he remembered something quite important.

“Misoe! How could I forget! Where is she? Is she alright?”

“Are you referring to your seal companion? It was being looked at by the [Venomancers]; it is in good care.”

“Far out…” he whispered. Better now that he remembered about her than later!

“Please continue.”

Ivory continued playing the [Storyteller]; thankfully this one was less complicated; the intricacies with his Skills probably weren’t relevant.

“Thank you for your cooperation. I have been asked to check on your health. Are you feeling well, and are you able to move about?”

“I feel way better than I did before,” he said as he got out of the bed and did a few stretches to check everything. “I feel okay; just a bit stiff. My throat hurts a bit.” Therepentous turned to the [Medicine Woman] and translated. She nodded, giving her response.

“You are discharged. There are others who wish to speak to you on other matters relating to your appearance here; please come with me."

He obliged, of course. The lesson that Ivory was beginning to learn was to just go with the flow. He was not particularly enjoying the lack of agency for the past few days, what with the teleporting and being mugged by some monkeys! At least here he was safe.

Therepentous held each of the semi-transparent, glossy flaps in the doorway to one side, beckoning Ivory through; he smiled at the courtesy. Thanking him as he passed through, Ivory was greeted to a short, very white hallway. It looked like he was in the halls of a stereotypical mental institution, though he kept that to himself. It was difficult to see if there were any other rooms, since the flaps were of a similarish colour to the lovely walls. There was at least one other, as another Snake Beastkin dramatically erupted from it. Therepentous’ eyes went wide, and swiftly placed his head onto his shoulders and bowed from the waist. The woman waved her hand.

“Rise, my dear [Emissary]. I apologise for coming unannounced—I take it this shellshocked young Human is he?”

Ivory didn’t realise that he was staring—compared to the previous Snake Beastkin he had just seen seconds ago, this one was wildly different. She was several feet shorter, standing an inch or two taller than Ivory, andentirely Human-like: she had a bald head, sure, but it wasn’t as alien as that [Nurse], or whatever she was.

“I greet you once more. Ivory Henderson, this is the Guardian of Yurluxiamo, Jiliansuthus di Ress—”

“Therepentous, honour bound as you are, we would be here all day,” she said, sounding artificially official. He broke into a forced smile, uncomfortable with the level of familiarity he was afforded.

“My apologies, Jiji—” Ivory smiled and gave as good of a bow as he could, trying not to giggle at the puerile name—“To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”

“I’m here to see our little troublemaker over here! Our [Hierophant], ever the worry-wart, almost shed his skin after reading the [Senior Scalekeeper]’s report. The old man works himself silly. Therepentous as gone above and beyond in his role; I wouldn’t want to trouble him further.”

Therepentous knew better than to insist; been there, done that. A genuine smile now on his face, he picked up his head from his shoulders, gave a not so deep bow this time and returned to continue his business.

“D—”

“Truthfully, I relish the opportunity to speak the common language. When I have cause to converse with Therepentous or any other [Emissary], [Diplomat] or [Ambassador], it will be in Drathian—after all, said professions tend to speak in the tongue of their station! Seldom does the occasion present itself.”

“Go with the flow…” Ivory breathily whispered.

“Hmm?”

“N-nothing. Pleasure to meet you.”

“And likewise to you!”

Jiji stationed herself beside Ivory and linked her arm around his.

“Now, let us talk of fate.”