un: a civil serpent | video

[inferus]

( Emilia di Carlo's hair has seen better days.

It looks suspiciously nest-like, and one of her sleeves singed and torn. The further she and Wrath walk back into the village, the more she feels it: the mark of hollowed things. The withered trees and the dying river beds. ... To say they have missed out on recent developments is an understatement.

But they do not come without news of their own. )

We were able to go very deep into the volcano and discovered something in the process.

( For this rare moment, Wrath appears to be somewhat disheveled as well. His hair is out of place. There's light scratch marks upon his cheek. His suit is singed. His sleeve on the right sight has been entirely burned away, revealing a muscular arm. In his pocket, he carries with him a piece of what they found though he has little interest in mentioning that out loud just yet. He wants to understand what it is first, and so he glances at Emilia with a grim nod and then supplies further: )

At the center of the volcano, an apparent naturally made mirror is being used as a cork to hold back a mounting level of lava, a potent flow of magic, and an unimaginable number of spirits. The pressure appears to be mounting.

( ooc: vi and i had a hiatus in april, and this help explains the absence of emilia and wrath during that time. EDITED the following day when i realized i missed a detail about the volcano. it was naturally made from a large pool of dark water. )

Comments

[valeas]

At least something remains predictable.

( She forces herself to unclench her jaw. )

These sacrifices.

[downswing]

Superstition. Cruelty. Futile.

Spirits are not sated by blood. They misunderstand it. Too long parted of bodies.

[valeas]

The volcano is not sated, either.

The spirit returns to the volcano with the power it was meant to hold and the threat of eruption remains.

[downswing]

Suffering, cycled.

Cleanse yourself. You sullied in hurt.

[valeas]

You should know by now I don't respond well to being told what to do.

This took priority.

[downswing]

Corruption lingers and erodes.

There are songs of ablution. Clarity.

[valeas]

( She is to marry the devil, Lan Wangji.

...But also, this does give her pause, once the flame of her temper douses. As a witch, she has rituals of her own, and she did spell a candle for Lan Wangji once for that very thing: clarity. ) That is all required? A song?

[downswing]

That is our habit. It need not be your own.

[valeas]

No, it need not.

[downswing]

Ablutions protect the spirit.

[valeas]

( some time later after a shower is had NOT because she was listening to Lan Wangji but only because she felt gross ☝: )

There were so many of them, spirits.
Some fractured, some burned. Most overwhelmed.
I'd never felt anything like it.

[downswing]

You transact sorcery through the elements, not the dead. Inexperienced.

[valeas]

I am. It was my sister who was fascinated with matters of the dead.
But I could, in theory, learn to?

[downswing]

Do not crave death.

Not to match your suitor.

[valeas]

Yet again, you presume.
Why should my interest lie in a suitor and not the world we find ourselves in, rife in death and spirits as it is?

[downswing]

You would seek death on its own count?

[valeas]

I did not seek it. It found me.
As I said, it was my twin who was fascinated with the subject.

[downswing]

She whom we seek.

[valeas]

For as long as I've breath in me.

[downswing]

Her name.

[valeas]

Vittoria.
Vittoria di Carlo.

[downswing]

We shall seek her shadow.

[valeas]

Thank you.

[downswing]

The volcano. You have strength to return?

[valeas]

Strength and means. Now that we know where the core is, Wrath can transport to it in an instant and bring me with him if need be. He and Wei Wuxian were discussing relieving the pressure by way of spirits.

( it's only one step, but she thinks it might need to be the first one. )