The Value of Hard Work

A brief conversation between Silent Dream and The Man With No Name.

With the latest crisis literally behind them, CrIsis gathered to discuss their next course of action. Everyone’s attempts to speak and be heard created a general chaos of sound. Within the cacophony of noise No Name once again very simply said that Steve needed to be their next destination. And once again, his statement was drowned out by their own personal desires and conflicted interests. His concerns dismissed, No Name saw no need to remain and simply left the room.

CrIsis was so absorbed in their discussion that it took some time before No Name’s absence was noted. Sensing the exasperation which filled the air at this realization, Silent Dream offered to go find him. Xerx’ses, the recently resurrected Indaris, Grignak and Ursus let him go and immediately resumed their deliberation.

The Gods had one directive for CrIsis – find the pieces of Osiris. Yet they desired to balance this quest against the many cries for help which they received from friends and those in power across the world. This was not an easy task. Every decision had the potential to save lives or condemn countless others, alter the political landscape, and at times even affect the Gods themselves. The difficulty lie not in choosing who to help, but in choosing and accepting who would not be helped.

Meanwhile, Silent Dream searched the ship for No Name. He checked No Name’s room as he walked by it and was unsurprised to find it empty. He kept walking towards the aft of the ship where No Name’s construction project was. Sure enough, No Name was there. He already had his tools in hand and was hard at work continuing to build the sauna.

Silent Dream approached No Name. “Nameless Man,” Dream said to him. “Why did you leave?” No Name said nothing. Instead he held out a hammer towards Dream and kept working.

Dream took the hammer and began working alongside No Name. The two had been working on this together for many days now so this was nothing new. Dream kept trying to talk to him. Though No Name was listening he wasn’t very responsive, choosing instead to work while Silent Dream talked.

“How do we get to Steve?” No response. “I’m not sure how you got there before.” Still no response. Dream paused briefly to think of a different strategy before continuing. “If you aren’t there to remind us all of the danger, they will keep forgetting.” This got a reaction!

“Do you want to see what Ive seen?” No Name quietly asked as he pounded a board into place. “It wont be pleasant.”

Dream stopped working and looked right at No Name. “I would. I could help all of CrIsis see it, too.” He didn’t even try to stop from radiating his emotions of sincerity and concern towards No Name.

No Name nodded as he continued working. “Don’t prod beyond what I am thinking of currently,” he warned Dream.

Cautiously Dream asked, “Are you giving me permission to look? I will do that then.” No Name simply said “Yes.”

Silent Dream focused on the surface thoughts of his companion. Under normal circumstances such an act would yield fragmented or partially-formed thoughts. With No Name today this was not the case. The Man was so focused… so driven, that the thoughts came clearly and easily. They quickly coalesced into a vision, and it was terrible.

No Name’s voice spoke to Silent Dream, cutting through the horrific vision. “What good is saving a world that isn’t there anymore?”

Dream’s emotions went from concern to mute horror as he witnessed vision. “Then we need to tell the other this,” Dream said shakily. “You need to tell them. I can help you show them.”

“I have,” was No Name’s simple reply. “It falls on deaf ears.” He continued hammering.

Silent Dream went back to hammering too. His emotions were tough to read – they had become a swirling turmoil as he silently considered all of this. In the silence No Name continued to speak.

“The god of Oaths told me we would go deal with Steve next, but outside of actually swearing an oath he will not keep it.”

“But Nameless Man,” Dream pleaded again, “you should bring that up to them. There is so much in the world trying to pull CrIsis in different directions.”

“No. I made my case and that is it. I am bound to the quest so I will follow. The blight will hit the north and east first. The west may be ok.”

Dream silently listened and kept working, but his emotions slowly went from a roiling swirl of chaos to a bundle of determination. No Name stopped talking and kept hammering purposefully. Silent Dream also stopped talking and focused on the project. He had come to realize and respect that The Man preferred to silently work through his issues rather than talk about them.

The two of them kept working like that, silently, until lunch time. Dream put his hammer down and finally spoke again to No Name. “This is it for me for now,” Dream said as he got up and prepared to leave. “Don’t give up, Nameless Man. I agree with you about Steve, but if you keep silent the others can’t understand.”

Note: The events of this log occured on the 26^th day of Majestic, in the seventy-second year of the Great Wolfen Empire.

Image Credits:
Sign: Idiotips.com
Sauna Interior: Booked.net
Purple Portal: Aphmau Gaming Wiki
Army of Undead: Samarskiy