video; (Emilia and Dany)

[thebrideoffire]

A bit of time has passed since we traveled to the Relint. There is something that happened while we were exploring that Emilia and feel should be shared. While we were exploring, she and I both encountered dark water. I'm certain that you must have seen it. We were both foolish enough to touch it and after we did, there were strange visions we witnessed.

It is not the first time that something like this has happened to any of us, as I am certain you know. We have come to the conclusion that we witnessed the crashing of the Relint. Emilia has said she is willing to go over the full timeline of events. What we felt was the strangest and most important part involved those mannequin bodies that were at the pilot seat. There were no other bodies present, if you recall? No sign of a crew.

It seems that the crew was the mannequins. Something had been controlling them, moving them about as puppets on a string, operating them. In the vision I saw, I could hear a voice over...what I think was the mannequins shoulder. It was directing it how to fly, obstacles to expect until the ship crashed.

What do you make of this?

Comments

un: absterge

[downswing]

Two other groups encountered mannequins. One appeared... moving.

[valeas]

I was able to bring back a piece of the burlap.

( for the sake of confirmation, it would be good to compare... notes. )

[downswing]

Let us reunite and study.

[valeas]

Name the time and place.

[downswing]

You remain in Minaras?

[valeas]

No, I am in Eidris, but Wrath can transport me there if need be.

[downswing]

Rest. I shall come.


( Any excuse to see his family alongthe way, okay.......... )

[valeas]

( They deserve quality time... )

un: headless ragdoll

[matermali]

I can't fathom how such instances occur here without possession. The nearest connection that my knowledge can broach would be that of fetishes, but this seems to be the reverse. The dolls, or mannequins, are controlled instead of controlling others.

Perhaps a spell has been cast upon us all. The strings that move the puppets are hidden from our viewing.

[valeas]

I believe Chrichter, leader of the Remembrance, is the one pulling these strings. At least in this instance. The memory I saw suggested the mannequins belonged to him, and the men he tasked with preparing the ship and putting the mannequins inside, were doubting his sanity. ( ...which, fair. )

[matermali]

So, not all who follow are thoughtless instruments. His men can be reasoned with. In theory.

[valeas]

In theory.
They looked human in the memory, but we know that is no guarantee.

( In a twist of fate, the place safest from such a warped reality is the Mouse House. )

[matermali]

Yes, visions can easily be twisted to suit our own perceptions. Still, I would not dismiss what you have seen. No matter what may have been altered, you witnessed it for a reason.

Unfortunate that you could not return with some of the water. It could be key.

[ That would have been her next question, but she can see from Emilia's conversation with Wrathion that it wasn't possible. Vanessa doesn't blame her, but she's disappointed. ]

un : dappled peals of the parted seas (voice)

[beitangmoran]

So someone was operating this ship with mannequins, remotely... and something happened that somehow severed the connection and made it crash.

But why the mannequins, and how does that even work? They don't even seem as evolved as the droids we have here in Minaras.

[valeas]

My belief is someone named Chrichter, along with this Remembrance group, have manipulated the dark water to the extent the mannequins appear human, burlap turning to flesh if only for a time. The memory I was able to glimpse — dark water was leaking from the viewer's perspective.

That said, they may not be working alone. The memories also contained someone sounding not unlike Arabella did when we read her note aloud. A dragon later on as well, though the voice of the rider was too muffled for me to properly identify. I could see no faces.

[beitangmoran]

I am wondering...

The people in the city might not be dead. They might just not be people at all.

[valeas]

If this is the case, they themselves are not aware of it. Like Arabella. Something about Serthica itself warps their memories, limits what they do and do not know. ( it's frightening, and hits a little too close to home. )

[beitangmoran]

Would that make the people of Remembrance the only living people? Some of them a least? Someone has to be aware of what is going on to keep it going.

[valeas]

( emilia considers this, wheels turning, and says quietly: ) Those in the Mouse House, I suspect, might be as well. Unlike our halved citadels, spirits can be sensed there. I am less familiar with the land, but it may be time to change that.

[beitangmoran]

That's still, what... less than a hundred people who might counted as such? Given the 'population', that doesn't look good.

[valeas]

No. No, it doesn't. I fear the Merchant was right and this is an escalation we're only just scarcely beginning to understand.

text; un: Black Prince

[blackscales]

'Relint' is the name of the ship?

[valeas]

They call it Relint, but I'm not certain that is the official name. The ship itself was very battered, and those letters are truly its only distinguishable markings.

[blackscales]

Were they together, as a name, or do you mean to say the rest of it was faded so the true name could not be discerned?

[valeas]

The latter. There was enough spacing between the letters that it's safe to say its true name is longer.

[blackscales]

I ask because I wonder if the name could lead somewhere, if it could be cross-referenced. I might be able to compare it to Minaras ships. Is the ship far out, or would a journey to it be reasonably possible? Would you be able to sketch its likeness in some way? It was some time ago now, I realise.

[valeas]

The journey itself, while challenging, is not impossible and you could arrive in days. The potential issue I see involves the crashing site. We found the ship stranded between two steep cliffs that house several large hawk nests. The slightest imbalance would cause it to plummet, which is why I could only bring a small bit of burlap back with me.

I don't know if it's still there, but it would be worth confirming.

For what it is also worth, I do believe it is a Minaras ship. The memory glimpses we received from the dark water are hazy, but I ( there is a pause, here, as if she is still struggling to piece it all together, when the memory came with such blinding pain ) think one of the masked men in it was speaking of how fortunate they were to find a vessel of this fleet — that he'd believed the entire medical fleet burned down with the last signs of the coal sickness.

[blackscales]

Medical fleet? This was a medical vessel, specifically?

[valeas]

That is what he said, yes.

[blackscales]

Interesting. I wonder what it was about the medical vessel that they required. Some mechanism they carry, that others do not?

[valeas]

( ooh good point sir )

Or specific supplies, in case the mannequins required assistance mid-flight. They wanted to make sure the mannequins were taken well care of, not because they themselves care, but because someone named Chrichter does.

[blackscales]

The leader of Remembrance.

Perhaps a better idea of what the medical vessels are capable of would help answer this. I'll see if I can dig up some specifications. How long did the vessel appear to have been there? It was faded, you say, so it did not seem like a recent crash? Or was it more that the vessel was old, but the crash more recent?

[valeas]

More that the vessel was aged. The conversation involved their difficulty in finding parts old enough to match the vessel's requirements.

And this leader. Their confidence in him seemed to be shaky. Another fragment of conversation involved them stating he was 'losing it.'

[blackscales]

Certainly he seems... unstable.

Interesting as well, the dark water causing visions. None that I touched previously had that effect, and the signature feels the same as in Ke-Waihu. I wonder what was different here, on that ship, to cause such a thing?

[valeas]

It might be the water itself or how it interacts with different elements. We know that no one mirror is the same, necessarily, and can create different consequences. Might be that the same can be said of the dark water.

In the wake of the earthquakes back in Ke-Waihu, the dark water seemed to have healing properties, which I wouldn't have expected.

[blackscales]

That appeared to be caused by a temperature change, a reproduceable thing. When cold, it seemed capable of healing. When hotter, it seemed to begin to cause mutations. Perhaps something environmental here is being done again which makes it capable of... animating these mannequins, and causing visions.

[valeas]

That is entirely possible.

My desire to study this more closely is what led to the visions, though I'm afraid I was unable to bring any of the dark water back like I'd hoped. I did bring back a scrap of burlap, however, if you'd like to take a look.

[blackscales]

I would be intrigued to examine it. Kirk obtained a whole mannequin from the remembrance base which I had plans to visit, and I would be curious to see how the one on your Minaras ship compares. If the feel is the same or if there is some difference to it. I'd presume the same creator, but we cannot know for sure until we compare -- and of course they may have been made at different points in the experimental process.

[valeas]

Of course.

( Wrath, Wrathion, the others — they gained information and experience with the Remembrance group while she was off in the Sibilant Sands. If they wish to look at it, they should, if only to be absolutely sure. ) This mannequin now in his possession. Was it ... animated?

[blackscales]

Not on collection. It may not remain that way, of course. Given it was collecting from the base where others animated, it may have already had something done to it.

[valeas]

Yes, it may only need activation. Like Arabella and those specific key words. They never worked on anyone else, but the method must be similar.

[blackscales]

I agree. There was a music box found with it, and I would suggest it was likely was used in a similar fashion.