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Pinglist was here!
The votes have been so close recently! I admire everyone's determination. :P
Let's check out the results of Dusk Choice 5...
Let's check out the results of Dusk Choice 5...
You know casting the Attenuation spell ought to be your main priority, but you’re still curious about the book of prophecies that was mentioned in the notes you found. You can’t remember the exact details of the book, so you hurry back to the Astronomy section as quickly as your legs can carry you. After you’ve collected the crumbling paper back from between the pages, you use the reference number on it to navigate through the library.
It leads you to the Divination section. You find the right shelf and scan over the books until you find one that looks like it fits the description. You pull out the fat, green tome and read the elegant gilt lettering on the front: ‘The Prophecies of the Seer Villanelle’. You check the chicken-scratch note again. That could be what the awful handwriting says.
The book is old, but according to the foreword, the prophecies are older still:
Villanelle was a seer long ago who recorded her visions in poetic form. The introduction states that no one knows whether she did so to be deliberately obscure, or because those were the words that her visions gave her. Lots of notes are scribbled in the margins—a cramped but passionate scholarly debate between the author and a scholar. You compare the handwriting on the note to what is written in the book and confirm it is indeed the same dragon. You also notice that there’s another number beneath the scrawled title. After a flip through the book, you promptly realise that the prophecies are numbered and turn quickly to the corresponding poem. Your eyes pore down the words.
Prophecy #3141:
’Neath the crystal dome of Arcane glass
Dragons shall repeat their festive scene
When the three-tailed comet comes to pass
Starfall celebrants will come en masse
Revelling astronomers so keen
’Neath the crystal dome of Arcane glass
Wishing expectations to surpass
Trails of purple, blue and pink are seen
When the three-tailed comet comes to pass
Yet this comet is a different class
Bringing a new temporal routine
’Neath the crystal dome of Arcane glass
Daily festivities will alas
Reproduce what has already been
When the three-tailed comet comes to pass
Time will turn into a strange morass
These are things that I have long foreseen
’Neath the crystal dome of Arcane glass
When the three-tailed comet comes to pass
’Neath the crystal dome of Arcane glass
Dragons shall repeat their festive scene
When the three-tailed comet comes to pass
Starfall celebrants will come en masse
Revelling astronomers so keen
’Neath the crystal dome of Arcane glass
Wishing expectations to surpass
Trails of purple, blue and pink are seen
When the three-tailed comet comes to pass
Yet this comet is a different class
Bringing a new temporal routine
’Neath the crystal dome of Arcane glass
Daily festivities will alas
Reproduce what has already been
When the three-tailed comet comes to pass
Time will turn into a strange morass
These are things that I have long foreseen
’Neath the crystal dome of Arcane glass
When the three-tailed comet comes to pass
It’s very clearly referring to what is happening right now. That’s astounding in a way; you can say you were there when one of Villanelle’s prophecies became reality!
The blank space on either side of the printed poem is filled with scribblings from the same dragon who wrote the note. They’ve obviously cross-referenced this poem with the book in the Astronomy section and are concerned about finding a way to stop the time loop when it happens. Their handwriting is truly appalling, and you can’t understand much apart from another reference to ‘The Spellbook of Charn’ with several question marks beside it. From this, you glean that they must have thought the Astrolodome Attentuation Spell was a potential solution, too!
You wonder what happened to this scholar. When did they give up on their research? For what reason? Was it something out of their control? Are they out there now, still trapped in the time loop just like you? You have no way of knowing, and that thought discomforts you more than you were prepared for.
A claw lands on your shoulder. You jump, startled, and look up to find an Imperial in librarian’s robes towering over you. “Hello!" they say, in a surprisingly soft voice. "I’m afraid the Library is about to close—for the Celebration, you know. I kindly have to ask you to leave.”
“Oh,” you say, “already?”
“I’m afraid so. All of us working here would like to watch the comet too,” the Imperial responds apologetically. “Can I help you check those books out before you go?”
You decide to take the books with you even though you know you won’t have much time left. You look around, hoping you might bump into Serenity and the others, but there’s no sign of them as you make your way down the steps outside. You keep an eye on the doors, but they are shut firmly, and your hopes are quickly dashed. They must have left earlier—or hidden inside somewhere, you suppose.
It’s not long before the crowd goes wild as the comet appears in the sky. You look up to watch it, taking in the pulse of light with a strange calm. Unlike the rest of the dragons, you actually know what is happening. It’s a bit frustrating, but sitting here with a lap full of answers, you can appreciate the beauty of it as the light dapples across the surface of the dome. It’s quite an amazing sight to see the night banished like this by the comet’s light. You close your eyes just before the flash—
—and when you blink open your eyes, you’re sitting in your ward circle, back in your room, Erasmus scribbling at his desk.
You take a deep breath. These resets are a nuisance, but you know what’s going on and you have an idea of what needs to be done to stop this from happening over and over again.
Where do you start this loop?
Dawn Choice 6 What do you do?
Make your choice via the Google Form linked above.
This Choice will be open until 11am FR Time on Friday 1 October.
