Active [Thistmal Town] We're Where???

[Etymarchen]

So.


Where was Lacie?


The girl randomly popped out of a portal and into a random town square somewhere in this small town.

"Hello." She walked up to a random villager, waving a hand. "Where might Lacie be right now?"

"Lacie?" The villager being questioned appeared confused. "Who's Lacie?"

"Lacie is Lacie."

"But...who is...Lacie?"

"Lacie. The girl speaking with a random passerby that is carrying a parasol and has black hair and a blue dress and --"

"Wait, are you just referring to yourself --?"

"Indeed. Lacie is Lacie. Where is Lacie right now?"

"...Uhh...Thistmal Town...?"

"This small town? What is its name?"

"Thistmal Town."

"No, no. Lacie is asking -- what is this small town's name?"

"Thistmal Town's name...is Thistmal Town...? You just said it just n--"

"This is too hard. Lacie gives up."

Blinking with confusion, the villager would watch as the girl would walk away, muttering something on her being weird. Not that it was too strange -- her titles had already plainly written her as such, and the many multiple bunnies following her around were probably already enough to make her stand out as is.


Anyways.

Bump.

A bunny walked into somebody.

Who might that somebody be...?!?!?

THE ONE.

THE ONLY....

 

[LightningJay]

​

John.

Yes, that John—the plain, unassuming guy dressed in simple brown farmer’s attire, whose greatest ambition was to live a quiet life far from danger and drama. And yet, for reasons he could never quite grasp, trouble seemed to follow him like an unshakable shadow.

Today's troubles were no exception.

John had been wandering the unfamiliar streets of Thistmal Town, enjoying a rare moment of peace as he took in the new sights. For once, he hoped his walk wouldn’t lead him into some bizarre situation—no surprise adventures, no monsters to slay, just a nice, calm day.

Then, of course, the inevitable happened.

A small figure bumped into him, throwing his peace out the window. John glanced down with a sinking feeling, already bracing himself for the worst.

A girl. A little girl.

"Seriously?" John muttered under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck. Again? This was getting ridiculous. The last time a little girl ran into him, he wound up on a perilous goblin-slaying quest. He still had terrifying nightmares from all that mess.

He sighed, resigned to his fate, then spoke up.

"Hey, you alright there?" John asked, trying to keep his voice casual—though in his head, he was already imagining the wild goose chase this girl might drag him into.

Because that’s just how his life worked, wasn’t it?

 

[Etymarchen]

Thistmal Town was certainly a welcoming place -- if quite normal as compared to most other settlements in Ryke, even with its strange method of worship. So, for something so bizarre to happen in this place, it could only be natural, yes?

Of all the people to run into today, certainly, the predictions of today could only lead in one direction -- especially with how [weirdly] she was dressed and how she walked about akin to a puppet on strings. With all these weird black plush rabbits surrounding him and running about in shock with the little girl's sudden appearance, it was inevitable that this day could only lead into one direction with one blatantly strange and bizarre outcome.

Slowly, as the boy went out of his way to check if she was alright, her head would turn upwards, tilting robotically as she would sooner
finally

eventually

make her response:

"Lacie is fine."

The girl's blue eyes stared at him uncomfortably long as her five rabbits would proceed to climb all over her.

"Hi."






Yeah, that. That was all she said.

 

[LightningJay]

John blinked.

Once. Twice.

What... in the world?

He stared at the girl—Lacie, apparently—who had just declared herself "fine" in the most unsettling, puppet-like way possible. Her head had moved in stiff motions, her gaze locking onto his with an intensity that made his skin prickle. The five black plush rabbits—no, were they even plush? They moved far too fluidly—had now taken to crawling over her as if this was all completely normal.

John was not a stranger to strange things. He'd seen his fair share of oddities during his time as an unwilling adventurer, but this? This was... new.

For a moment, he debated his options. He could simply walk away, pretend this never happened, and salvage what little peace he still had left. But then again, he could almost feel the storm brewing. Trouble had found him again, like it always did, and this time it came in the form of a girl speaking in third person and surrounded by creepy rabbits.

With a resigned sigh, John ran a hand through his hair.

"Uh... alright then," he muttered, trying to process what was happening. "Well... Lacie... good to know you're fine."

He paused, glancing down at the odd rabbits scampering around. Were they following her, or was she controlling them somehow? Either way, it didn’t feel like the kind of situation he could just ignore and walk away from.

"So... do you, uh... need help with something? You know, aside from staring at me like I'm the weird one here?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. Don’t encourage this, his brain screamed. Just don’t.

But of course, it was too late. He'd already opened the door to whatever bizarre rabbit hole awaited him.

Literally, in this case.

 

[Etymarchen]

As John's eyes continued to observe the rabbits he would notice...They were...uh...scampering towards him? For some reason???

Meanwhile, the girl -- Lacie was just --

She had


the same expression as ever

as she just


yknow.


continued to stare at him.

. . .

“Appraisal.”

That one singular word broke an awkward silence between the two, before she would eventually continue on to answer his query with the nod of her head.

“Lacie does not inject her thoughts,” she stated in response to his question. “Lacie is merely a vessel for observing and recording. Observers must minimize their presence to produce a most accurate recording.”

In other words, she seemed to prefer against injecting any particular opinions.

As Lacie would speak, one of her rabbits would, following a small wave of her hand, speedily sprint towards her with a small pen and paper for her to use, eccentrically beginning to bumping its head into the ground akin to a seiza once she picked it up, before continuing to cheerily scamper in a circle around the two of them with the others.

Ah. That’s what they were doing.

“Lacie is trying to know the name of this town. Does the [Human] John know what the name of this town is?”

That…sounded to be a simple question, right?

 

[LightningJay]

John stood there, completely dumbfounded, watching the rabbits scamper toward him like they were on a mission, only to start circling him and the girl like tiny, furry sentinels. Meanwhile, Lacie—who hadn’t so much as blinked—kept her unnerving gaze fixed on him, her robotic demeanor somehow becoming even more unsettling with each passing second.

Appraisal? What in the world was she appraising?

John opened his mouth to say something but immediately snapped it shut when Lacie finally responded to his earlier question.

“Lacie does not inject her thoughts.”

What?

“Lacie is merely a vessel for observing and recording. Observers must minimize their presence to produce a most accurate recording.”

John furrowed his brow, trying to make sense of what she was saying. Was she... some sort of walking, talking journal? And what was with the whole "not injecting her thoughts" thing? This girl was quickly becoming the strangest encounter he’d had in quite some time—and that was saying something.

Just as he was trying to wrap his head around it, one of the rabbits sprinted forward, carrying a pen and paper like a well-trained assistant. It even bowed, kind of, bumping its head into the ground before resuming its weird, cheerful dance around them. The others followed suit, circling in what felt like some kind of bizarre ritual.

John rubbed his temple. He was going to need a drink after this.

And then came the question.

“Does the [Human] John”—was that how she saw him? Just a mere human? Does that mean she wasn't human or something?—“know what the name of this town is?”

John exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose. A simple question. Keep it simple, John.

"Yeah," he replied, trying to stay calm. "It's Thistmal Town."

 

[Etymarchen]

It was hard to tell what exactly was on her mind, going as the girl’s expression did not change.

And so, the girl

simple just stared at him blankly for quite some time with his response, the air growing colder and more eerie as the bunnies would, in their odd, ritualistic manner begin to line up with John’s response. They then began to grab some…more pens and paper…? Quickly, they began to jostle scribbles onto them, before they would turn and show the contents to him.

Her eyes merely stayed on him, before she would soon speak up.

"Lacie understands that she is in this small town," she affirmed with a nod, “but…her question is not yet answered —“

As if to emphasize on her confusion, they produced and turned “????” signs in John’s direction, bobbing the signs up and down.

“…what is this small town's name…??”

 

[LightningJay]

​

John’s eyebrow twitched.

The air around them seemed to grow colder, more bizarre by the second, and it wasn’t helping that Lacie's expression remained as blank and unreadable as ever. Her words barely registered before his attention shifted to the strange procession happening in front of him—those rabbits, now eerily organized, holding up pens and paper like a tiny, unsettling army.

And then, the signs.

John stared at the jostling bunnies as they proudly presented their scribbled "????" in unison, bobbing up and down in perfect rhythm as if to hammer home the confusion.

Are you kidding me...? His patience, which had already been wearing thin, was rapidly fraying.

With a heavy sigh, John rubbed his forehead, feeling the beginning of a headache. “Okay, listen,” he said, speaking slowly as if explaining something to a small child. “I’ve already told you. The name of this small town… is Thistmal Town. That’s it. There’s no trick. No hidden meaning. Thist. Mal. Town.”

He paused, watching to see if anything would click behind those blank blue eyes.

“And yes, it’s a small town. And yes, it’s this town,” he added for extra clarity, gesturing at the buildings around them. “It’s not a metaphor. It’s just... the name.”

John exhaled slowly, hoping he’d managed to explain it in terms simple enough for even the plush-wielding, robotic girl to understand. But deep down, he already knew.

It probably wasn’t going to be that easy.