audio | un: yiling patriarch | early on during the summit

[weifinder]

I've been whistling while I work, and I have yet to find any response whatsoever. Which is to say, ( he continues, almost at a laconic drawl: ) to any and all of my fellow ragtag members of the eastward bound Merchant's caravan with a gift for detecting life, death, or anything of the spirit: have you felt anything?

( he freely admits to how unnerving it is to him to have no reaction, no response whatsoever, when he reaches out to find the resentful energies that have been throughout all of this world they've wandered since his arrival, well over a year before. )

Because I, for one, can't find a damn thing.

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[matermali]

[ He's so quick to offer. Vanessa shouldn't have teased, hardly wanting to give the impression that she yearns for beautiful jewelry.

She's curious about Miss Karsa, so she'll save that inquiry for a bit later. How freely he talks about magic is way more interesting. Sects, hm? ]

I am not so vain as that. The watch has a use, however...it reacts to the movements of the city in time with the other clocks. The bearing on these time pieces ought not to be ignored, and so I am reluctant to part with it despite my misgivings.

[ Thralling... Such a foreboding term. ]

'Barely', you say, suggesting such limits do not apply to you. You can cast such a spell on anything, then?

[weifinder]

( an unseen smile on his end, for the moment. )

We all have limits. I don't necessarily accept that finding one means it can't be surpassed, is all. Anyhow, applying the thralling logic, it's not impossible. Some materials keep the thrall better than others. Back home, my techniques are... different in nature. The way energy flows is more visible.

( but she's mentioned this clock, and now he's very curious. )

Reacts in which manner?

[matermali]

Fascinating.

[ Oh, fine, she can be patient and prod him more about his magics later. She knows something of having different magic from others, but she can't quite know what he means about 'visible' energy. ]

The ticking grows incessantly louder the closer we come to six o'clock, both morning and night, before releasing a most irritating sound that sets the spine rigid. It is not pleasing to hear, though it is quite apt at keeping me from losing time.

[weifinder]

I had noticed something with the clocks, even when I'm not using them for time telling... such a fascinating invention, clocks. Sundials and moondials, I knew those, and other timekeeping devices, but not these clocks.

( A pause, because he doesn't wish to remain distracted. )

When you were in the Mouse House, it kept the same time as within the citadel proper?

[matermali]

Yes. The strike of six still unsettles me, though I think that better than losing oneself in comfort.

[ She's busting at the seams to ask him all about where he comes from, but now is not the time. One mystery at a time, Miss Ives. ]

I could allow you to listen when next the moment approaches, should you wish, though I can't imagine it would offer any enlightenment. I sense no malice in the object itself.

[weifinder]

I may take you up on that in the future... ( and he sighs. ) Let's get through this summit or whatever it's called first, ah?

[matermali]

No doubt it will be a success, and we will then be better at ease to learn more of our surroundings and purpose.

[ As usual, she will be a jinx. ]

Good luck.