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Oh man...
So glad to see this continue. It's so addictive. Moar please!
I'm wondering how the beta key people will take finding out that they are probably dead on Earth.
-- Sleethr
I'm trying!
Unfortunately I write really slow, it usually takes me a week to get five hundred or a thousand words in how I want them, and because the story takes me where it wants to go (and not the other way around) most of the time, sometimes things go a little longer than I'm expecting too.
As for how the beta people will react... depends on the person most likely. Some are obsessed with getting back or are waiting for someone else to find a way, but there are others who might even be happy with it. You have to remember that silver Keys went for exorbitant amounts of money before the 'launch', so unless you really liked Ilos or were stupidly rich, you don't have a silver Key.
The good news is that I'm 1700 words into the next part, so it shouldn't be too terribly long before part two :)
-Tas
3rd Instance
Makes me wonder if there is a 3rd instance were the leaders from before are located.
Instances
Remember that Aria was one of the leaders and shes in the same instance as Gale (not one of the leaders), so nope, just two instances it looks like for now.
-Tas
Wow!
Great to get more information, and to see that the Sweet Dreams folks are doing the same.
Still some unexplained complications. Seems surprising if both Black and Silver Keys can use the same tavern that Vivika and the wait staff haven't been running into this on a regular basis, so I assume there's more to it than we know so far. My guess is that the crossover is limited either to certain places -- in this case, the Key Room and not the tavern floor -- or certain people -- Lorilee and other special cases can simultaneously be in both worlds, but most of the "real" Ilosians have NPC duplicates on Black-Key Ilos who don't use contractions.
There's also the severe jolt that hit Lorilee when she went into the Key Room and saw both Lassea and Tasalin there -- and the fact that nothing like that happened to the serving girl Tricha (who, btw, said "do not" rather than don't, even though she's from Silver-Key Ilos, and thus shouldn't be an NPC). Tricha did see all three people in the room, and served the wine accordingly, but that's to be expected if Lassea physically made the shift -- and since she couldn't log out while she was on the Silver-Key side, it appears that she did.
It certainly explains how Lorilee knows details from both the Lassea/Finn side of things and the Tasalin/Corvid side. How much she'll be able to put together now that she knows the two sides exist remains to be seen. We've seen how Tas intends to use this new resource, but it remains to be seen how useful it'll be to Lassea (and Daisy, and any other Black Keys or Earth people she's in contact with).
Meanwhile, Ilos's capital is waiting for the Ascendent to take over for the Regent. (And Lorilee didn't provide a gender.) From the name, it sounds more like someone who hasn't arrived than one who's temporarily gone. Can't help wondering if that's what Aria's being groomed for, though Xynus didn't say anything at the start that would suggest that Ilos's true ruler is a Champion from Earth. (At least, not in English. The incantation hasn't been translated.)
Eric
Interaction between instances
I wouldn't say it is too limited, as it seems like Aria is in the same instance as the other silver keys. Yet Aria was remembered and commented on by Illosians in the northern villages. So it doesn't seem to be limited to certain people or places. Simply that they cannot see, or interact each other. There's the question of why issues haven't come up before now, but that could simply be a subtle form of spirit magic affecting Illosians who don't know how to shield themselves. Without knowing more about how instances work, I hesitate to try and explain it yet however.
Chapter 4
Chapter 6
You're Right...
...that my theories, such as they are, founder and probably crash on Finn and Lassea hearing stories about Aria's Silver-Key travels and successes while traveling north in Black-Key Ilos in Chapter 6.
A couple of ways I can think of to explain it under my system, though somewhat awkwardly:
1. They were reports by two-world types like Lorilee, none of which actually happened on Black-Key Ilos -- but the two-worlders hadn't realized that, since like Lorilee they weren't aware of the two-world situation.
2. The Black-Key NPCs get information from or about their Silver-Key counterparts, but only assimilate what they can accept along with their own experiences. So none of them remembered anything inconsistent with Aria's accomplishments and were therefore able to "recall" them when asked.
Not sure what you're saying about Chapter 4; those are all Silver-Key people: Tasalin seeing Aria and Nameless racing out of the center plaza.
Eric
I was just using the quote
I was just using the quote from chapter 4 as confirmation that Aria and the rest of the silver key are in the same instance.
I do think your 2nd explanation makes sense, I just don't think it requires 2 sets of NPCs. I've been under the impression there are no NPCs, just a set of people from a different world who are interacting with the adventurers in odd ways. With them having a hard time recognizing or remembering inconsistent information.
Speculation
I absolutely love it when you guys do this kind of thing (and by the way you both are close), it really helps me see what I'm doing a good job making clear and what I'm not. It seems I've done a fairly good job this time around, because you're questioning the things that are still supposed to be unknown but at the same time are very close to the true answer.
Anyway, I'm glad y'all are enjoying the story :)
-Tas
loved this story from the
loved this story from the first glad to see the start of book two.
thanks for writing you're one of the best
Awesome
I'm glad you like it so much, and thanks for the complement :)
-Tas
So people are slowly figuring
So people are slowly figuring out what's going on. Meanwhile the force of evil is slowly breaking out. Let's hope the heroes learn faster than their enemies.
Noooo!
Need more!
Good stuffs, keep up the good work! ^_^
Yes she does speak differently
It seems Lorilee has contracted a case of, er, contractions.
She is something special, and not just an accomplished lady warrior.
Arlanus is way too pleased that an Air Gate is activated, and yet such is the goal of the Champions. The prison has a flaw and would surely be breached but why would it be made thus?
Teri Ann
"Reach for the sun."
Probably...
Probably because it HAS to have flaws. Even if nothing else, Xynus would eventually run out of strength to maintain it. If there is an additional flaw or flaws, they were put in the working by Xynus on purpose to ensure that the failing that was inevitable no matter what could happen on HIS terms, and in that case, Arlanus is likely playing right into Xynus' Xanatos Gambit and is simply too full of himself to recognize the danger.
My guess is that Xynus is ALREADY severely weakened and weakening by the day, by the time the prison fails, even if it didn't kill Xynus, he'd be in no condition to fight Arlanus again. And so he needs Champions. In order for the Champions to grow strong enough to stand against someone who even Xynus could only temporarily imprison, they need to grow stronger, in order to grow stronger, they need to fight through the gates, so Xynus intentionally designed these gates into the prison working in some fashion in order to ensure that the prison weakens ON PURPOSE with each gate re-opened. All Arlanus realizes is that when the last gate is re-opened, he'll be free of his prison. He then believes he's so powerful no one but Xynus would be able to stand against him, and Xynus will be weakened by his great working coming undone. He doesn't see how the Champions could become strong enough to challenge him!
Abigail Drew.
Theory crafting
I love it when people make guesses at my plot, because if you don't already know, I have a base storyline and then the characters make it up as they go. When people guess at things, it gives me ideas, and ideas make me write faster :)
You're right on a lot of stuff. Xynus is very weak now. He's expended a massive amount on keeping Arlanus imprisoned, keeping the wild creatures of Ilos in his Great Sleep spell, and also finding the champions he needs. We'll learn a lot more about Xynus, but not yet :)
Thanks for commenting on an older part, like I said, it really does help!
-Tas