A Snowed Abode

Out

After coming out of that bizarre concoction that somehow flies... Pax, along with Clemens, named because his parents presumably thought he was kind as a toddler, although as an adult one would think it would be difficult to equate, and from now on will be referred to as Clem since, I do not know, but he might look like a mollusc... the two, at any rate, start to think about making their way out of Nix, mostly the only place they know of and have lived in, but they might have wondered around the corner every now and then in the past... anyway, in order not to procrastinate too much the two shall... talk to some of the people in Nix again, because why not, no? Talking, after all, can be said to be the heart of the narrative, but not all are impressive...

The first two in the shell do not appear to say much, so Pax thought better than to waste time with them for now and went over to the next couple of people on the outer edge, the moustached one, who simply said...

"I see you have thus resolved to go and seek out our possible ailments? Well, do remember that even if Pons is always available to consult - it might be merely anxiety. Still..."

And... no, the other one will only help with ethereal matters, whatever those are, so presumably we are not at that stage yet... and so, Pax exited the shell into the main town, and noticed the bearded, slightly militaristic fellow who earlier mused about streams, say...

"I wish luck in your quest to resolve our problems, Pax and Clemens, for if the last monarchy fell... what a possibility for a merciful peace... if only..."

Pax then thought, possibly... that it was nice to be so relied on, was it not? Or, perhaps, too much pressure? And why is it these people all around are just there to talk to, anyway? Why can there not be, possibly, a big party of villagers to ever so politely ask this monarch to dampen down his aspirations lest there be consequences? It is not as if the French revolution only happened because a couple of guys went to play tennis or something... well, perhaps the latter bit... also, why tennis specifically when there are so many other similar sports, who knows... but anyway, the point is, verily, one knows not how it is always a few people who happen to resolve some grand, complex narrative (besides the rationale that to the perceiver the individual is more important than the collective, since it is usually a singular spectator, per se)...

Either way... Pax suddenly glimpsed a shop, and thought why should he not visit it just before going into the wide, wild world... in it, a variety of items, although most were for show one suspected, like the façade of society itself, at any rate...

As soon as Pax entered the shop, the thing is... something strange occurred as soon as he jumped on this... magic circle thing; a certain amount of visual noise was suddenly in the air, as if the brain's neurons were not seamlessly passing information along synapses anymore, or perhaps that twilight state in between sleep and wake, when the world has not quite switched to high definition, and was possibly a few decades behind still (due to subjective perception being so). This happened as soon as Pax went on this symbol (so it must have been it, he inferred), and there was not quite any other way he could have gone, either, as the corridor was narrow. Appropriately, now, there were also a couple of those wizard statues that he saw previously, which said the same thing really, with the exception 'art' did not match 'heart' now, it went along with... 'mart', and so the inscription proved comedic, he thought. In any case, he went along, and the owner proffered...

"Hello there, Pax, I have heard this is but a lull in a potentially upcoming conflict, and so... I would have thought my items could prove useful, especially if you venture outside..."

He had a variety of items, but suddenly one did not seem so interested in getting any for some reason... whether one would regret this in the future, when they might be needed, is another matter... but, living on the edge has its interests... the shopkeeper then clarified...