I’ve got this funny feeling that I just can’t shake

[art_of_war]

WHO: Thrawn and you?
WHERE: Temba and then Sh'ka
WHAT: Exploring Temba first, then checking out as much of Sh'ka as he can in one day
WHEN: Late October
WARNINGS: None anticipated


Temba

Diner; Granted he had not been here long, but he was making headway in cleaning out the structure close by it, but not attached to the Diner that once he and Eli had shared. At the moment he had offered to help out however he could so it would most likely be a very tall (as in 7'6") blue-skinned man with red-on-red eyes and wearing noticeably dusty pants that you would find in the kitchen rather than Tommy. He is cold and stoic in demeanor, hands clasped behind his back.

"Greetings."

Greenhouse Thrawn was exploring here as well. He was taking his time examining each plant on each floor and was delighted to find the subterranean "night" floors were still being maintained. Since his vision allowed him to also see in the infrared spectrum as well as the light spectrum, his eyes had the unsettling effect of glowing in the dark. It meant that as Agra-10's sun set, Thrawn stayed in the greenhouse. It wasn't helping matters that he moved silently as well, so anyone he came across would see those glowing eyes and hear nothing until Thrawn was right next to them.

"Excuse me, but would you happen to know where the plant called "Crunchy Persimmon" is?"

Sh'ka

Museum Anyone that knew Thrawn even a little bit would not be surprised to find him here. He first examined the murals from afar but the part that he truly found fascinating was examining them up close. Very carefully, almost reverently, he had touched one of the ridges that made up the mural with a single finger. The paint was fading on it but the sculpted stone still shone through.

After some time he did move on to find that beyond the beautifully decorated walls much of the rest of the buildings were collapsed in on themselves. But despite that, Thrawn could see where different areas, though collapsed, had originally been "niches" so he got down on his hands and knees to very carefully but very persistently clear away some more rubble.

The University/Library He had picked his way carefully past the broken stone and then paused to look through the shelves. Obviously, this had once been some form of library but it looked to be derelict now. Thrawn picked his way through it carefully noting the sundial in the garden. Past it, there were lecture halls and what was most important to him; boards meant for writing on and displaying to classes.

"So this place did have written language, and they were teaching with it."

Comments

[quark_assassin]

"Controlled, but inelegant," Dustin explains. "Like a finger painting? Maybe it would be easier to describe if I just--"

The boy reaches into a side pocket of his satchel and comes back with a stick of charcoal, stabilized with wood and twine to turn it into a more comfortable writing utensil, which he then turns on a particularly large bit of rock rubble. It takes several minutes of printer-like drawing for Dustin to precisely recreate, in monochrome, what is visible on the Temba mural: A pictographic history of the Agrii from a Funfrond's perspective, starting with a peaceful, nature-based coexistence, followed by the appearance of advanced civilization and storms at the outer edges, with tiny Funfronds and other plant-like creatures interspersed between. Dustin includes the odd dots and lines found throughout the mural as charcoal exclusions, and completely blacks out the top rim that is still missing.

[art_of_war]

Thrawn does come around the side to see Dustin's work. He has not seen the mural in question, but since Dustin had an almost machine-like way of drawing it stood to reason the recreation was very good. Thrawn made a mental note to go see the mural itself.

"I see the sapient mushrooms you were speaking of but what are these."

Thrawn pointed out the other creatures next to the funfronds.

[quark_assassin]

"Barrys," he answers, slipping the makeshift charcoal pencil back in his satchel and dusting off his blackened hands. "That's what I believe to be the case, anyway. The Funfrond I spoke with mentioned that the Barrys have potentially been around longer than they have. Part of the reason why I'm here."

[art_of_war]

"I see."

Thrawn turned his head to regard the mural beside them.

"Is it possible these 'Barrys' you speak of created this mural?"

Sh'ka was markedly different to Temba after all, and if these 'Barrys' predated the funfrond mushrooms then it stood to reason their art would also predate the mural in Temba too.

[quark_assassin]

"Possible? Sure," Dustin says, rising back to his feet with an exaggerated stretch of his back and legs. Recreating that mural had taken a lot of focus and, aside from his arms, he had barely moved at all in the process. "Probable? Don't think so. I haven't seen what the Barrys are capable of in terms of stonework, but this mural seems more in-line with the stone-shaping throughout Sh'Ka. A product of the Graq, more likely."

[art_of_war]

That is another species that Thrawn hasn't heard of. Thrawn curiously tilts his head back in Dustin's direction.

"Has there been further evidence of these 'Graq'? Especially here in Sh'ka?"

Sorry Dustin, you're getting even more questions since you've proved an invaluable resource for information.

[quark_assassin]

Dustin's face settles into a deadpan stare.

"...Yeah." He makes a wide, sweeping gesture at the crumbling architecture around them. "Look around - this whole city was made for the Graq, presumably by the Graq. I'm sure you've noticed the difference in building scaling and materials."

[art_of_war]

Thrawn is unaffected by Dustin's antics and looks around with interest.

"I have, but I did not realize the second architect species was already identified. Are their any samples of their written language here? A tablet or stone would suffice."

[quark_assassin]

Dustin considers for a moment, eyes flickering in that odd way that they often do when he's remembering something. He hasn't explored nearly as much of Sh'Ka as he has Temba, for various reasons, but he's definitely looked through network records about its locations and studied descriptions on the two cities' respective maps to competently answer this question.

"The University," Dustin replies a second later. "There's a library attached to it, but it doesn't have any books in usable condition. Check the sundial in the courtyard."

[art_of_war]

"I see."

Thrawn tilted his head curiously.

"As you know more about this subject than I do, would you please show me what it is you are referring to?"

[quark_assassin]

Dustin eyes Thrawn critically for a couple of seconds.

"...No," he says curtly, waving a dismissive hand as he turns back to the mural. "I'm busy and you have a map. Find it yourself."