un: raven master | audio

[pulvisetumbra]

( The single most exasperated sigh of this world, returning to defend the title: ) Good morning. This is the Merchant. I trust you are not adding to the blood, bones and burning of your present accommodations.

( But if this tone is to go by, that trust is... short-lived. ) You are aware I negotiated your stay at castle Netvor as a last-minute arrangement. We owe the prince a debt of gratitude. Master Anurr, a lord of dead and winds of the west, has decided to pursue what he believes to be his right of claim against the allied Brotherhood of the dead in nearby terrains. The blizzard we experience are echoes of Anurr's impressive and growing prowess.

( A pause, then, almost academically: ) In recent months — in the time since our acquaintance — certain matters have come to light: the first, that the sickness of the undead that spawned the Brotherhood was been born in my motherland of Ellethia, now decimated. My people raced to prove their supremacy over the magical prodigies of Taravast. We both succeeded and failed.

The man who oversaw that... endeavour appears to have since been walking the realms and spreading the dark waters that propagate the undead, seeking to itself gain physicality by inhabiting corpses. Once risen, the dead tend to assemble under warlords, the most notable and substantive of which is the allied Brotherhood. That much is straightforward and direct. The intentions of Matthias are less clear.

After your rest here, we must pursue him. Whether he can be undone by word or deed, his defeat appears to be the only worthwhile solution. We head to Hatthevar, on his footsteps. Not only in search for him, but also to reach a necklace of beacons that will hopefully end your stay here.

Until then: gather your strengths. Learn to cooperate. And do not make more enemies we cannot afford. I remain your devoted collaborator, if not your friend.

( ooc: threadjacking encouraged! )

Comments

[redhourglass]

Seems to me like that puts us at a distinct disadvantage.

[pulvisetumbra]

And so it does. How thoughtful.

[redhourglass]

Not very 'devoted collaborator, if not your friend' of you, is it?

[pulvisetumbra]

How is my collaboration anything but beyond reproach?

I foster you, resource you, cover your incursions and arrange your next expeditions.

[redhourglass]

I appreciate it.

( well, maybe not her specifically but it's the general spirit of the thing. )

Enough to want to thank you by learning more about you.

[pulvisetumbra]

I foresee this will be a sticking point. Very well. How may I assist you?

[redhourglass]

( she's learned the hard way not to blindly trust information handed down. )

The Merchant - a title, or a name? Gotta know who to address my thank you card to.

[pulvisetumbra]

I am, by current profession, a merchant, as I have been for many years. It satisfies me as a moniker. As you are aware, you are at perpetual risk of capture. If that should happen, I do not wish for my actual name or those of my collaborators to fall in your hands and be extorted from you through torture. It is a reasonable precaution.

[redhourglass]

No faith in us?

( hey, at least this one would do fine under torture. still, her voice sounds amused, so she's clearly not being entirely serious. )

What was Ellethia like?

[pulvisetumbra]

Excessively committed to catching up with Taravast in magical developments and the banishment of death. Overly-ambitiously so. We have seen to what result.

[redhourglass]

Did you know Matthias personally?

[pulvisetumbra]

Ellethia was a small citadel. Smaller than any of the ones you have personally visited in Akhuras.

And I am a merchant. Positioned to know people.

[redhourglass]

You know, 'yes' is a little more succinct.

( gentle, gentle teasing! don't cut her off, mr bank! )

What was he like?

[pulvisetumbra]

( A pause, then bitterly laughing: ) Utterly forgettable.

[redhourglass]

Sometimes that's how it goes.

( jasper sitwell had flown under the radar for ... how long? )

No words of wisdom as we're trying to track him down?

[pulvisetumbra]

He will lie, he will cheat, he will kill, he will promise emptily and do everything in his power to prevent you from achieving your goal. Do not be his fool.

[redhourglass]

( that just sounds like good sense — but from what she's seen from others, maybe not. she's not exactly the bleeding heart type. )

Here I thought you knew me better than that.

[pulvisetumbra]

I have seen disciplined men and women waver before him. He has a certain gift.

[redhourglass]

Magic?

( she hates that she even asks that question. it’d be easier if it was a gift like hers — well honed, trained over many years, and mundane. )

[pulvisetumbra]

Charisma.

[redhourglass]

( a quiet huff on the line. ok, she can deal with that. )

I’ll be on guard. And warn the others.

[pulvisetumbra]

We're past warnings, aren't we?

[redhourglass]

What do you want me to do? I can't force them not to fall for it.

[pulvisetumbra]

Not with that negative attitude.

[redhourglass]

So I just bat my eyelashes at them, 'pretty please don't fall for any tricks'?