un: magic wand (video)

[faceblocker]

So, I saw the blood, I just wanted to see if someone was really shitty at hiding bodies, but—

[ Out by the trio of wells, Vi's sporting a cozy red jacket that she 'liberated' before leaving Serthica. This close to the pocket watch, the scarring on her lip and brow is visible, along with her nose piercing and the VI tattoo under her left eye. She isn't wearing a hat despite her short hair and undercut, and when she leans over and swings the watch to face down, it's visible she's opted to do without gloves for the moment, too. One hand gripping the well is only protected by some dirty hand wraps.

The well she's leaning over is the one that should be lidded, but...that lid is a little bit broken and leaning against the side after a certain someone wrenched it off.

It's not easy to see from this high up, but the well is mostly empty, and down below is a skeleton dressed in a gown. ]

Not the kind of dead body I expected.

[ The pocket watch is tied around her belt so anyone watching can enjoy some Hardcore Henry motion sickness as Vi hops over the edge of the well and ping-pongs off the narrow sides to keep from dropping down into the three feet of what looks to be very dirty water. Somehow she manages to keep a grip without falling, but the watch stays on her waist so she can have both hands free.

Down here, the skeleton's dress is visibly tattered, and the water is filled with silt. The partially submerged skeleton is posed...almost like it's sleeping?

Just as Vi's trying to scrape closer for a better look, one of the innkeepers is heard fretting up above to not disturb the skeleton's napping spot. Something about the sun's glare. Since there's nothing else to see, Vi concedes and climbs back up, the pocket watch bringing the innkeepers into view when she lands back on the ground. Vi's husky voice can be heard 'asking' for (demanding) an explanation: "Sorry, but, what the hell?"

The innkeepers explain that they suspect the lady of the bones forgets each night where her final resting place is and keeps trying out each of the very similar wells. They lid the well they find her in every morning. The water returns in that well, nicely purified, once she's out each night.

It isn't until the lid's back on and they've left that Vi looks back to the video, more disturbed than when she had started. Are they getting their drinking water from magic haunted skeleton wells? ...Probably still better than the water she had back home. ]

Feels like we ought to pour one out for her. [ A softer mutter: ] And she should have a better grave marker...

Comments

[faceblocker]

Pretty sure she wasn't actually 'sleeping' there, pal. She either killed herself or was thrown down there. Guess she could have fallen, but seems unlikely.

[ Either way, the innkeepers sure seem to think it's cool to just leave it like that, which just feels all kinds of wrong to her but whatever. ]

But yeah, that's a pretty shitty grave. She deserves a real one.

[ Vi knows that not everybody gets a proper grave in the real world, especially in wartime, but there's no excuse for this. ]

[kahl_175]

Kahl know. It just what Grineer day about dead. Better word. Live hard, then rest. [Grineer might not always be good with speaking, but that didn't stop them from making new things with them.]

But Grineer dead not wake back up. Dead lady should rest. Find better place. Or burn? [Bones can burn, if a fire gets hot enough...]

[faceblocker]

[ She's never heard of Grineer, but she hasn't heard a lot of things before arriving here. ]

Pretty sure a pyre would get everyone's attention, including the innkeepers.

[ The innkeepers seem to have strong feelings about this. Which she wouldn't care about, but she doesn't want to get Caitlyn thrown out into the wilderness... ]

Kinda sad she doesn't have a name.

[kahl_175]

Hm. Kahl have fire grenade. Could drop down well, but... Magic Wand right. Not good plan. [That's probably not her name, but it's the only one he sees at the moment.]

Could dig, but. Hard to move body now, people watch. But body move self later. [And it probably wouldn't be a fan of getting picked up and dropped in a different hole.]

Inn people not know? They keep names.

[faceblocker]

[ Vi's eyebrows shoot way up at the mention of blowing up the well. Overkill, my man. Even for her. He gets credit for spirit, though... ]

They just called her the lady of the bones, and I'm pretty sure getting blown to smithereens isn't gonna put anyone to rest.

[ Not like she even believed in any of that before coming here. Dead was dead...was dead... Back home, her memories were the ghosts. ]

...It's Vi, by the way. I don't know who the hell came up with magic wand.

[kahl_175]

Blowing up make lots stop moving. But... not nice or sneaky. [Kahl knows from experience on both sides of the explosion. The fact that he's missing an eye probably makes that obvious.]

Vi. Good name. [Simple. Sounds Grineer enough that he can pronounce it fine.] Kahl not know why call sign 'tagged' either.

[faceblocker]

[ It's short for Violet, but nobody here calls her that except for the Merchant, much to her irritation. Not something she shares.

'Call sign'. That's a pretty specific term. A touch of wariness enters her tone and her expression sobers considerably. ]

You some kind of military?

[kahl_175]

Not anymore. [The way Vi asked means she doesn't know Grineer. The wariness is familiar, though. He'll... try and explain.] Kahl, Grineer. Clone. Grineer Empire make Kahl, for army. Tell Kahl and brothers lies. Kahl free now. Not fight for Army, or Queens. Fight for brothers.

[He shrugs.] Now Kahl fight undead lords. Make sure brothers not get taken too. [He's the only one the undead have stolen so far, but that might not last. So, he stays. Get the job done.]

Vi have brothers here?

[faceblocker]

[ The concept of him being a clone is...something that hangs her up momentarily, but she's able to keep up. At the very least, she can understand fighting for brothers...and a sister. The question catches her off guard and she flinches before turning the watch so that it's looking at one of the wells over her shoulder instead.

Oh gee maybe that's why other people don't like using video. Unexpected gut punches. ]

They're dead.

[ She still has a sister, though, doesn't she? Maybe she doesn't. Vi isn't eager to volunteer any of that, and her expression's mellowed out (a little) when she comes back into view. ]

I've got people here from home, though. ...Sort of. [ Still the only real person from the undercity, since Viktor defected. ] You got anyone from home here?

[kahl_175]

[Oh.]

Kahl sorry. Know how that feel. [He's lost brothers before. Every single one he had before the Worms attacked. They're still part of him, but that doesn't mean he doesn't miss them.

He shakes his head.] Just Kahl. Meet new brothers here, though. Kahl not alone.

[faceblocker]

Yeah? ...Guess we're not.

[ Not alone, that is. Little weird, since she's been alone for the past seven years. ]

Does it get this cold where you come from?

[kahl_175]

Mm. Kahl see colder before. No ground anywhere, just snow. Use machines to not freeze. [Not a nice deployment. He's enjoying the snow here more, though. Finally a chance to just look at things, and not be on guard.]

That not Kahl's home, though. Live in forest with brothers. Good place. [Warm enough that his brother Jarka can go sit in the stream and watch the fish.]

What Vi's home like?

[faceblocker]

Some machines out here to melt the snow would be nice. This is my first time in a real forest. Smells weird out here... Like...nothing. I guess the trees are great for climbing, but not a fan of the snow.

[ Ice is not a friend to parkour. ]

Where I'm from is...more like the Mouse House. The undercity, we call it Zaun. Got some people from 'home' if you want to be literal, but...they live topside. Piltover. It's a little like a mix of Eidris and Minaras, I guess.

[ More or less two different worlds. ]

[kahl_175]

[Kahl brightens a little as they keep talking. He likes sharing stories like this.]

Should see trees on Earth. Grow very big. Kahl use jetpack to climb.

[He's missed that jetpack a lot since he arrived. Would've been nice to have during the Unwinding. Or when dealing with that tower.]

Kahl never see city before this planet. But Mouse House more like Grineer places. Lots of machines and smells. [He definitely gets what Vi's talking about with the smells.]

Vi learn climing in Zaun? You good. Like Tenno.

[faceblocker]

Yeah, most trenchers need to know how to get creative with travel if they want to earn a living. [ She is definitely better than most of them, though. ] Bet I could get to the top of your Earth trees without a jetpack.

[ He should have seen her climbing and jumping around Eidris. ]

Who or what's a Tenno?

[kahl_175]

Tenno... [That's complicated. He keeps forgetting not everyone knows what they are.] Tenno old things. Do magic. Move fast. One strong Tenno, take on whole galleon, easy. [They aren't invincible, but they can fight things Kahl never could.

Tenno can't fix everything. So Kahl keeps fighting.]

Kahl climb a little. Good for sneaking. Kahl sneaking lots now, not in army. [He still knows more about blowing things up, but you can't shoot through everything.] Vi teach Kahl some later?

[faceblocker]

I don't know any...magic. Guess my gauntlets do, but still figuring that out.

[ He's not the first person to ask for lessons! Vi isn't sure how to handle this. She's never taught an adult. Ugh, she hopes none of them climb like Caitlyn, or it would take ages... ]

Sneaking or climbing?

[ Of course they can go hand in hand, but he can learn one without the other. ]

[kahl_175]

Vi have magic gloves? Cool. Zaun have magic? [He might be one of the only people here who doesn't have any at all.]

Both good, if Vi want. Kahl big, though. Heavy. Have metal parts. [He points the little communicator down for a second, so he can show his cyborg 'boots'.]

Kahl climb on most thing here, probably break stuff. [Like...]

Kahl fall through ice on lake already. Not do that again.

[faceblocker]

[ What! ]

Oh shit, did you have to fight that thing down there under the ice?

[kahl_175]

Huh? [What thing??]

Kahl not see anything. Fall in, sink, then magic lady pulled Kahl out. Kahl thought lake only had fish. [Was that why nothing was biting?]

[faceblocker]

That was lucky as hell. There's definitely something down there. [ Vi's pretty used to leviathans in the water, though. She remembers he asked a question, but she'd been too surprised to hear he went through the ice to answer at first. ] Uh, anyway, no, Zaun doesn't have magic. It's...complicated, I guess. Whatever makes the gauntlets work is called hextech, and it's not really from Zaun.

[ And she doesn't understand it enough to go into it. ]

I liberated it for a good cause.

[ Careful Vi you sound a little like your sister. ]

[kahl_175]

[Okay. Staying away from the lake. Staying away from any water he can't see the bottom of. Talking about better things now, where Kahl doesn't drown and fight water monsters.]

Oh, magic tech. That cool too. ["Liberate" was a word the army used in propaganda. He wouldn't trust it now, except for the fact that Chipper and Blue Girl used it too. When they said it, it meant stealing from somebody bad.] Kahl liberate stuff too. Lots of bad places at home, with good tech. Kahl take. Not bring any here, though.

Vi fight too?

[faceblocker]

[ Vi would have been curious to see the kind of tech he might have brought, just to see something new. She definitely misses the wild markets of Zaun. ]

Yeah, I fight. Don't need the tech for that.

[ Hopefully she doesn't eat those words. ]

You ready to fight whatever comes next?