un: a civil serpent | voice.

[inferus]

Be certain you are somewhere you cannot be overheard when you listen to this. ( The warning comes first - sharp with a hint of a command that can only come from the King of Hell. )

I found a fissure at the bottom of the sea spewing dark water - the same we found at the village, in the volcano. Emilia learned from the ghosts many were after an 'unthinkable power' lost at sea - the dark water may be related. Surrounding the fissures, there were bodies - preserved and cored out so only their outward appearances remain like suits to be worn. They were lured there.

( By what, it is unclear. Was it the call of the dark water itself or some creature? Wrath does not have all the answers but knows the information is vital to share. )

Jon Snow's experience in the mirror is a reflection of what occurred at the fissure. He confirmed a presence fought him from within, attempting to take his shape and form.

None of the crew has ever been trustworthy, but we must all be aware any could be wearing skin that is not their own, pretending to be something they are not. Allison confirmed Quicksilver has been to the Crossing previously where he lost his vessel and crew. Given that and his strange behavior, I am most suspicious of him, but with Kreil's threats and the doomed voyage we appear to be on, we should not sit idly by.

Comments

un: absterge

[downswing]

You had yet to join us in Sa-Hareth.

There, hunger and the cold sought house in the dead.

[inferus]

The dark magic spewing from the fissure felt of cold. Nothing lived around it - not even the creatures that might ordinarily inhabit the floor of the sea.

Did the hunger and cold specifically seek cored bodies, or did any dead body suffice?

[downswing]

They took advantage of the dying who willingly yielded their bodies to control.

To end agony.

[inferus]

( wrath frowns. that hardly seems a choice at all - suffering or yielding to cold, darkness to end it. )

I see.

Perhaps that is what they need - willing yielding or a skin suit entirely empty of what was once within it.

[downswing]

An undefended target or an invitation.

You speak of parasites.

audio | un: yiling patriarch

[weifinder]

Lan Zhan mentions Sa-Hareth, and he's not wrong. Most the dead who walk are those who don't carry the spark of whatever would fit their form, but a spirit that fits... more or less poorly. New, invasive. Even the ghosts of those who've died in prior ship's attacks at the seas report some of the bodies standing after they fell, and it's not with the same spirit brought back or controlled.

( all said amicably enough, which is more for tone than anything approaching how he's feeling. )

The dark water, the tar we've seen in many places in the past. There's an element of mimicry the tar takes, and bodies resurrected to fight later have been stitched with that tar, trusting in the words of the spirits we've been laying to rest.

My question: if the fissure here leaks, does it have a cracking plug, much as the volcano did? With much the same cycle of a problem.

[inferus]

( wrath rolls his shoulders back as the information hits him in its unnatural state, in its wrongness. this world has already proven to be wrong in many ways when it comes to death, to the afterlife, to all of it. )

So something else inhabiting those that have died - not the original spirits. I remember the dead of Taravast - more feeling than any sense of one individual. They felt of burning while this fissure feels of cold but both are full of death.

( nothing can or does live around it. )

It is possible. The pressure may have grown too great, and the dark magic was able to pour free.

[weifinder]

Sa-Hareth it was hunger for those of Unhalad's, and cold winds and vengeance for Anurr's. Though you may be familiar with his, given the, ah, explosive introduction he had in Taravast.

( and his sweeping through to take half the dead and spirits, while the Huntress and Beastmaster rolled up the rest. cleaning out Taravast in such a manner was hardly... better? but sure did speak to what was rotting underneath everything. )

Mm, that's my thought... think there's any chance of binding or cleansing a smaller one, or a fragment?

[inferus]

It would be difficult to forget such an introduction.

( so do each of the undead warlords have certain feelings associates with them - cold and vengeance, hunger. the beastmaster seemed to be associated more with beasts than anything specific, and the huntress-

wrath frowns. )

Perhaps. I wonder given the state of the Crossing if there aren't multiple fissures at the bottom of the sea. ( that might explain the darkness of this place. ) We believe there's a fragment of a mirror on board, correct? And that they are using it to find a fully formed one.

un: white pawn; voice

[chosenbylight]

[Dated after Anduin wakes up from his arrow-induced slumber...]

I -- recently had the misfortune of over-extending myself, while trying to ward off the spirits haunting the ship. While I was unconscious, I dreamed of something -- not unlike that which Jon Snow had experienced.

Deep, dark water. And -- something yearning to be born with a shape.

Given what you have found, it can be no coincidence.

[inferus]

I agree. It must be related.

You said you had this dream after over-extending yourself, warding off the spirits of a ship? I wonder if those spirits you warded were from the bodies I found beneath the sea. Or if there are many more dark fissures within the Crossing, dark magic pouring out throughout it.

It would explain why so many are lost to this area.

[chosenbylight]

I think it is likely that they were.

They claimed that there was something beneath the water, holding them there. That there was something on board the ship with a similar power, drawing them to us.

[inferus]

It would explain what is happening in the Crossing - the dark water, the promise of power draws them to it then they are lured below, carved out, and used.

The group needs to find this item on board as soon as possible.

voice; un: iwannahexyouup

[incantates]

I don't suppose I could trouble you to show me the exact location of the fissure. I am hoping with a bit of magical tinkering I could find out a bit more about what's in it.

[ If the answer is an undersea volcano, he may have to double his alcoholic intake while on this journey. ]</small.

[inferus]

I can if you are you capable of surviving deep under water - the suits they provided for our underwater exploration do not extend so far beneath.

( there is a phrase within that sentence that interests wrath, however. ) Magical tinkering?

[incantates]

With a little magic, I'm sure I can manage the underwater issue with little trouble. I'm more concerned with what's inside the fissure and whether or not we should close it before it becomes a problem.

[ Assuming he even can close it. His magic is a little compromised in this world. ]

[inferus]

You will want to protect yourself against a lack of oxygen, the deep pressure of the sea, and if you have any mental wards, I would suggest utilizing those as well. The dark magic will make you feel cold and listless.

I believe it has already been a problem thus the skin suits surrounding it, but a means of closing the fissure or stopping the dark magic from pouring out might clear up some of what has been occurring in the Crossing. I worry this is only one fissure of many.

[traaaaaash]

oh

bodysnatchers

fun

[inferus]

It would appear so.

You have bodysnatches in your own world?

[traaaaaash]

sure we do

i do enjoy a good bodyswap myself occasionally

[inferus]

When you swap into another person's body do they then occupy your own? In this particular situation the sailors were emptied out and destroyed before they were worn

un: ut malum pluvia | text

[somebadnews]

[ He sits with Wrath's recounting for a while, debating how much he wants to delve in. On the one hand, he had Winnie "test" one of the crew to see if there was anything odd about... their souls, but doing that en masse isn't realistic. He could potentially ask her to try it on the captain, if given enough reason.

Then there's the mirrors and Jon's experience, which has been unsettling him for a while now. It's all incredibly distracting. ]

Have you been able to sense anything, from the captain? Or could you, if we brought him to you?

[ He can sense Five's mirror, so it would stand to reason. The unasked question of how worried about that point he should be... is going to remain that way. They both know their priorities. ]

[inferus]

( The question remains unanswered and held between the both of them. It is not and never has been Five's priority, and Wrath cannot convince him of the necessity of doing something about it sooner rather than later.

But if there is another mirror on this ship or out at sea, it's impossible to know how it might react to Five's. )

Assuming this world or another influence doesn't interfere with my abilities, I should be able to sense anything cursed or magical about him, or anything else that might be not-so-human.

I have not actually seen the captain in person, however. Has anyone?

[somebadnews]

[ He still doesn't know if his experience in the lighthouse was influenced by his condition, but the mirrors there felt like his. It hasn't helped him pinpoint anything on the ship though, as nice as it would have been to find a use for it. ]

Someone must have. I just assumed he spent most of his time in his quarters.

Do you you think he's been locked away for a reason?

[inferus]

Perhaps. People have said he has lost his mind and he intends to take us on a suicidal trip to have his revenge. I believe those who have spoken of him mention how frightened he appears as if he is being chased by something. Yet he takes us further into the Crossing where his previous crew and ship were lost.

He does not act like a man seeking revenge but a man who is terrified, who is aware he is prey. I can only imagine he is afraid of what he encountered previously but then why return? Unless that was the condition of his escape, unless he is bound to follow that condition - to bring more bodies, more ships.