eastbound | un: a civil serpent

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un: a civil serpent | video

( 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. )

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Ah, with the way it's holding back, does it look like it's voluntarily moved to relieve the pressure, or is it the reason for the impending...

( here's a whole hand motion to indicate: VOLCANIC EXPLOSION. )

Another mirror. There's certainly a pattern here. 'They appear to take and give, though the guiding principle is unclear.' That is how the Merchant described them. I wonder what this mirror has been taking, in exchange for holding back the volcano.

How long do you anticipate the shield to hold?

[hm. sounds bad.]

What do you mean, unimaginable? Please quantify. Real numbers, thank you.

[tiny gasp] You're back. [there's relief in the way she says it, though it is possibly as much aimed at wrath as it is as emilia because - they're valuable allies.

and man, you missed sex ed, emilia.]

The spirits, are they causing damage to the mirror, or are they trapped there?

[Given all the sacrifices, she wondered if they were related to the spirits there.]

Yet another mirror. Curious. I wonder who put it there. No one here has mentioned a breath of it before, and if it's very deep into the mountain, it's doubtful anyone here did this. It probably dates back to the last eruption.

... Could the Beastmaster have come to replace the mirror? Or remove it entirely?

[ Not that Five missed Wrath, or that he hasn't gone to his house several times hoping to share his theories and rant about how poorly everything is going, but... well, he's relieved to hear from him, so sue him. Then they have to mention another goddamn mirror. Just when he thought they were getting away from them for a minute. Again he has to think of how they absorb spirits, and he feels that uncomfortable twinge inside.

He's of the same mind as Moran in suspecting the Beastmaster at least knows it's there. Likely the Huntress too. ]

That doesn't give us much time. [ He doesn't want to think about another mirror breaking, and he's not thrilled about calling in a favor to stop it. ] If one of the warlords try to harness that magic...

[ How fucked are they, is what he's asking. ]

[ They went into the volcano? He knows Lorna went with them the first time, and he wonders why on earth anyone would choose return. Except maybe they never left because they were trying to help. Something he should be doing a lot more of, and he tries to logic himself out of the apathy that he's been battling with.

None of this sounds good. He knows that much. ]

Thanks for the warning. [ He's been listening, so he knows that they've said they're alright. But he's also heard that same thing from Lorna when she could barely speak from her curse, so he takes it with a grain of salt. ]

You're not planning on going back again, are you?

Well, that seems safe.

[ She is being sarcastic. And slightly flabberghasted. ]

[Well that's certainly concerning.]

Do you think there's anything we can do to ... relieve the pressure before it erupts?

[Well, that doesn't sound good.]

I am good with barriers. Perhaps one can be laid over the mirror for now, but it is unlikely to hold for very long if the pressure becomes stronger.

[But a little time was better than none, surely? Even though...as someone with a wood spirit core how effective would his spells be against something that was probably a fire elemental...?]

( The volcano was unbearable with its confusing passageways, the itchiness brought forth by the heat, and its lingering threats. But no sooner they return to the village, what stays of Emilia's curse returns, and she all but recoils the longer she remains in proximity to Wrath.

And so she makes herself scarce.

But upon returning to his abode, with its braying fish and other oddities, he'll find an ointment has been left for him. It's a twig, in its own way, for the scratches. For a lot of other things. )

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