audio | un: wei laozu

[weifinder]

Master Zenobius was recovered from where he'd collapsed in a dry well. We have him resting and sleeping safely now, to those who may be concerned.

Ah, and for those of a mind for it, several... memories of his were shared in not entirely useful ways with me. I'll run through them for those wishing to hear about them, if there are any of you. After answering initial questions, ah?

( ooc: first comment will be wei wuxian's sharing of what he learned via Empathy, please go "..." and yell at him, Jiang Cheng or Lan Sizhui, or Wen Qing on principle. )

Comments

[weifinder]

Mm? Yes, energy isn't limited to one presentation or emotion. It can be individual aspects, or something most strong, or something called, I imagine.

( More and more, he's simply studying Five. )

Each and every one left with one of the Undead Lords. Previously, they were of limited, but individual minds in some cases, such as the witches I put to final rest. After, they were followers. Unlike those alive who are steeped in death, there was no recovery for the dead.

( Every single undead in the area was claimed, consumed in some form, some literal forms and other figurative ones, by the undead lords. Anurr, the Beastmaster, and the Lady of Sorrows and Pestilence and Horror on her steed and steady in her endless tears. )

[somebadnews]

[ It's probably not as simple as he puts it, much like Five is used to dumbing down concepts of teleportation or time travel to be understood, he's trying to feed him the basic concept of souls. Getting hung up over a word isn't useful, or maybe even accurate, but it makes him uncomfortably aware of what he's continued to absorb even after he used the shards to extract most of it.

When he notices how he's looking at him, he crosses his arms and gives him a dark look as he forces himself to pay attention to the more relevant information. It wasn't just Anurr adding to his army of undead, so not everything could be blamed on regaining his power. But it also makes him wonder what their strategy was, and why they were satisfied with only picking up a few extra soldiers.

And yes, he can read between the lines. It's partially his fault that they nearly lost a powerful ally in Wei Wuxian to the warlords, but he can't change that now. (Even if he theoretically could.) ]

You mean that you would have left with them, but you recovered. [ He could have gathered that much from the way Lan Wangji reacted at the time, this just confirms his assumption. ] Do you remember anything about it? Anything else you learned about them?

[weifinder]

Not only I.

( so little he gives in return for his tells this conversation, but that happens when he's tried, when he's masked so thoroughly all he is becomes the calm found in the middle of a storm. dark eyes track five's actions, each small twitch, and he blinks before he snorts, shaking his head. oh, if only, if only. )

Of the undead lords? They hunger, to no surprise, but I couldn't say I learned enough of them when compelled, nor was I the only one. That we resist has more to do with the pulse in our veins than anything else I suspect, but it was hardly like they cared about us personally. Not even Anurr.

[somebadnews]

[ Five is trying his best not to get derailed by the attempt to play at his conscience. Which he can only assume is what he's doing, however subtly.

He is relieved that it wasn't as bad as it could have been. It was still a steep price to pay for some relief from the mirror, and he wouldn't have done it if he'd known at the time. He's just not the greatest at expressing these things. ]

In that case, why didn't they kill you?