aprescoup: (karsa)
destination: still east ([personal profile] aprescoup) wrote in [community profile] eastbound2021-10-06 09:57 pm

username: lady of the willow tree | audio

( She has long suffered, her great sigh speaks, every fool that's walked this world. ) ...you took more dead. Why are you like this? You want friends? I buy you friends. Three for five coin pieces, at the market. You are ugly, maybe I pay seven. And you are fools! No one likes you. I pay nine.

Pah! What is your luck? What is my luck? These other clapping seals in their little frills, with their little cakes and their little cups, they are playing their little games. And they come to me with messages. I I have the look of a saint now, who delivers word. How fortunate Karsa is. How grateful.

Look here. Pay attention. ( She spits out the words: ) First come the beggars, the Bessis. What is their puny fire worth now? I breathe hotter each morning. They ask for their captives, to hide their shame. Imagine! You kill, and you kill, and you kill, and then you keep your dead 'allies' like vermin, and it is not good, when you are found out. Who could have thought?

( And softer: ) The others. The Attaryl, for whom speaks the red woman, Vannozza. They want their dead. For burial. Ha! As if she will not use them to say, looooooooooooook! Look what my cousin's good friends! Look. But the witches... these are their dead.

So, talk, choose, and — ( The transmission seems to flicker, her voice first feeble, then doubled, then she shrieks: ) No. No. You do not dare, you do not presume, you do not, you fur-clad pink pig, you do not dare

( But Karsa falls silent. To a quiet backdrop, broken only by a rhythmic drip, speaks undead Lord Anurr of Sa-Hareth — who has not been seen since arriving in Sa-Hareth. He seems to borrow the voices of multiple men, women and children, never settling on the one: )

H elLo   Li TtlE   FrIenD S. HoW   Ha VE   YoU   Be EN?   GoOD?   Yo U   ArE   Go OD   peOPlE.

Go oD   ThIn Gs   SHOUl D   HaPpE N   T o   GoOd   Peop Le.   And   GoO D   EnDing S   to   Th Ose   Who   HAV e   SuF f e Red   LoN G.

N o?   Y E s.

And   Th E y   havE SuFFer Ed,   ThEse   AtTa ryL.   An D   N oW   ThEY WoU l D   Be   Use D   aGA in?

No.   So   Man Y   BuRNs. So   ManY   WA I Ls.   I heAR   ThE M   FroM   HerE.

GiVE   Them   To   ME.   Th E Y   Will   Be   O U R   BrothER s   In   SA-HARE Th.   Fr E e.

( As quickly as Anurr interrupted, his voice disappears. A long heartbeat's silence. By the time Karsa recovers command of her own transmission sorcery, she is quieter for it, rattled. )

You... that. That disgusting creature. That... well. Well, you heard him, didn't you? You heard him. Tell me what you wish done. You cannot have it all ways. Only one answer.

( ooc: the floor is yours, threadjack away, debate the fate of the six undead claimed in the Bessis tower disaster, plus the three previously weaponised by Wei Wuxian. Characters with 'ownership' of the dead get final say — please state it! All the undead will go to the petitioner with the highest number of votes. Haltham Anurr will not be answering any comments. )
funnylittleclown: (You are ridiculous)

audio

[personal profile] funnylittleclown 2021-10-07 05:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ ...
Pardon him while he frowns momentarily at this communications device. ]


As there seems to be a choice to be made, I'm curious which you would chose?
in_theworks: (pic#13877377)

[personal profile] in_theworks 2021-10-07 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
You say to-may-to, I say to-mah-to.

[same difference, lady]

But, okay. Backing way up. Can we not just, like, take a sledgehammer to the zombies that are still hanging around? [that would make her happy, that would make Anurr unhappy. win-win, right? why has no one considered this option?]
funnylittleclown: (Why do you want to blow up the world)

[personal profile] funnylittleclown 2021-10-07 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
It's hardly meddling to offer an opinion.

[ So says the master meddler. ]
downswing: (magnolia)

[personal profile] downswing 2021-10-07 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Recall patience.
downswing: (theodora)

[personal profile] downswing 2021-10-07 06:00 pm (UTC)(link)
You yearn for words.
scrapgege: (018-01)

[personal profile] scrapgege 2021-10-07 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
... I think they are conscious enough to decide for themselves. They should get to choose. They've been kept as slaves for so long, the least we can do is allow them the freedom of what comes next.

I have nothing against Anurr, but you don't just... give people like that, even if they're dead.
valeas: (☾ 2 6 8)

un: vast & furious | audio.

[personal profile] valeas 2021-10-07 06:20 pm (UTC)(link)
( emilia reads. and she listens. and she contemplates her own thoughts, not quite in full-form yet.

first, to karsa:
) Are you all right?
inferus: (🗡️ 0 1 5)

[personal profile] inferus 2021-10-07 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Why not create that as a stipulation for their return?

Their people can have them back so long as at least one of us is allowed to witness their promised burial.
valeas: (☾ 2 6 7)

[personal profile] valeas 2021-10-07 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
( emilia knows all about wounded pride. the least she can do is not wound karsa's any further, and accept her answer for what it is. she can't help but think of antonio, though. his sweet and dark eyes turning bright blue once he stopped being his own. those captive in the bessis tower, mind-controlled by the undead. )

You think us fools.

( to state the obvious. )
valeas: (☾ d i s c u s s i o n e)

[personal profile] valeas 2021-10-07 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
( well damn, karsa. emilia cannot and does not wish to disagree. )

With the role I've been assigned, I'm afraid it is a necessary evil.
valeas: (☾ i m p r e s s i o n e)

[personal profile] valeas 2021-10-07 10:48 pm (UTC)(link)
As opposed to a walrus with much spit?
valeas: (☾ s o s p e t t o)

[personal profile] valeas 2021-10-07 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
I am neither a seal nor threatening you.

But yes, I can spit back if I wished. Be glad I do not.
inferus: (🗡️ 1 9 0)

un: civil serpent

[personal profile] inferus 2021-10-07 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Their awareness appears to be limited to despair, urgency, and the images and reminders of burning to death. It may be difficult for them to make a choice under such circumstances. ( as much as his preference is to protect free will, they are not in a position to have any of it simply due to their circumstance. they can only think to end their own suffering, and they are not likely to think of lies that may be told to them. )
in_theworks: (pic#13877380)

[personal profile] in_theworks 2021-10-08 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
Hey, you were the one offering to buy us friends, if we stopped with the zombies.

[so, clearly she has some stake in what happens to them]
malicing: (rushing here and there)

[personal profile] malicing 2021-10-08 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
I will learn. I have no choice but to prove myself equal to the task.

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