audio | user name: raven master

[pulvisetumbra]

( White sound, fragments of murmurs. Two men and a woman drowned by the tinny crescendo of a strained musical instrument. The music rises shrill and shrill, until it nearly deafens — then all is inexplicably quiet. At last, a man’s voice: )

...good afternoon. Following your... discoveries in Serthica, it appeared only prudent to reinforce every measure that protects our conversations. Our discretion is your survival.

You speak to the Merchant. We number a wealth of new... associates. I bid you welcome. Know this: whatever trials await you in your travels, they are as nothing before the ruthless undead enslavement the warlords would have intended you.

( A pause, then carefully: ) You are in Serthica. My initial recommendation was for you all to investigate which of the citadel’s halves houses undead and unnatural creatures. Since, Karsa has relayed the results of your efforts.

If I follow well, then you have unveiled the Remembrance insurgent group whose mannequins gain human likeness. I hope we have not chosen to bring home cursed dolls. ( His gritting teeth suggest otherwise. ) You have found that the old sickness that once splintered Serthica remains... alive. To that end, I salute the sacrifice of Master McCoy. We shall aim to recover your health, sir. And there is the matter of dragons, some living, some... troubled.

( A long, deep sigh rip from him. ) I fear Eidris and Minaras may have both been compromised. I first urged you to keep your head bowed and await the yearly opening of Serthica’s Neutral Zone beacon. We can no longer afford this passiveness. We must know what we protect against and how deeply the rot of Serthica runs.

The great Neutral Zone clock of Vassarizhia is the old heart of Serthica. Its beats regulate the rise and fall of Eidris and Minaras. Before the sundering, it was Serthica’s foremost watchtower, with vantage across the citadel whole. Karsa toils to finalise magical instruments that will allow us to forcibly but briefly reveal the state of this world, if you can reach the topmost levels of Vassarizhia and its enhanced telescope and watch monitors. I understand security will ease within the week, when Eidris and Serthica hold further summits.

( And now, a sprawling silence: ) As for the... white wanderer. I thank the consummate professionalism of Master Constantine and Mistress Pitts in delivering the uniforms of Ellethia. I understand one such garment was worn by the man who visited you during the Unwinding. The same intruder who haunted Ke-Waihu.

Let us be candid. I believe we speak of a former member of the institute of technology and magic of Ellethia, where the undead first surfaced. If this is correct, I can only recommend caution. I cannot say if the white wanderer is friend or foe. I know my preference.

Irrespective of this: onwards, upwards. To Vassarizhia. I leave this with you.

( ooc: threadjack away! You will get further details on the tower infiltration and our Halloween event mid-week for your plotting purposes. )

Comments

@wooden dice.

[strewth]

Alright, you lot. S'Constantine the consummate professional here. Do us a favor, would you?

Tell me all about this bloody plague turns folk into Twilight Zone mannequins. Everything you know.

un : dappled peals of the parted seas (voice)

[beitangmoran]

I spoke to a... survivor, I guess I should say although there is no guarantee that the man I spoke to was actually alive at the time, even if he looked to be.

The epidemic happened about five years ago and tore through the city. People would be fine one day, then start coughing, then get a high fever, and then drop dead. The man I spoke to said people literally dropped dead on the streets.

But somehow, no one seems to remember how it stopped, or how the authorities took care of the problem if they did. But someone must have done something, or else how would Minaras have containment contingencies for the sickness?

[strewth]

Magic plague. That's a sodding classic, that is.

You brought his spirit up for a chat?

[beitangmoran]

He looked like a person. At the time, we had suspicions that something was wrong, but we did not know exactly what it was. Our discoveries that most of the people int he city might not be actual people came later.

We just had a conversation as people might have. It was a difficult one because he was a prisoner likely to be executed and he had no particular incentive to be forthcoming.

I myself do not possess any ability to converse with spirits, but a few people here are capable of it.

[pulvisetumbra]

The mannequins appear unrelated. Although they gain likeness to man, after... being preserved in a substance to which we have become increasingly acquainted. I would not be able to confirm whether these — your companions name them 'dark waters' are death-born, death-calling, or death-touched. Perhaps they are that which generates undeath, perhaps they result from it. All we have been able to determine is a correlation between their presence and disaster.

[strewth]

Everything's related, mate. We're in a bloody snow globe.

Undeath, that's a word. You're talking like it's an element. Water and fire and air and the shit that makes the dead come back.

Is it?

[pulvisetumbra]

I expect that is the only approximation we have... mate.

[strewth]

[There's a wheezing laugh. Priceless.]

Then it can be measured'n studied, poked and prodded. Have a little faith, after all. I'm dead professional.

[pulvisetumbra]

I am not unappreciative of your efforts and success to deliver the material requested. Were we anything but beggars, we might afford to choose. But, whatever your methods, they work.

[strewth]

Don't need to butter me up, now.

[pulvisetumbra]

Of course not. I pay for your accommodations already. The interest to flatter or bribe is entirely your own.