un: raven master - audio | day ii

[pulvisetumbra]

Good afternoon. As ever, we have scant time for well wishes and compliments. This is the Merchant. To those freshly in my care, I bid greetings and remain at your service. To the rest: your ongoing survival is a matter of celebration.

( And... incredulity, though he will not be the man to say so. )

I am given to understand you remain in — a part of Yancai. I speak to you from five years onwards. We have succeeded to break the time's weave for precisely one hour to allow this communication, after which I regret to bid my leave. Let us employ our time wisely.

My hope and concern is that, in your attempts to remedy the harms of this village, you will succeed, as you have before, and break the flow of time. If you do — when you do, know this: just as there are territories outside of land, there are those beyond time. Often, they are wastelands or exist independently under the rule of tyrants without reason.

( A distasteful concept to him, for how his voice sours. ) Many of Akhuras' least... favoured sorcerers were exiled in such pockets. I hold minimal sway there, past episodes of commerce.

( Hesitantly: ) If you arrive in such regions, seek out waypoints bearing the carvings of an eye with the sun for a pupil. They were put in place to return Ellethian trade caravans to their true place in time.

( And might, on this occasion, serve the party. ) If you do not break time, if you merely wait out Yancai's next transition and return to five years onwards organically, ignore my cautions. Either way: see what may be gleaned from this Yancai of old. I trust no village whose House of Commerce once dealt on friendly terms with the warlord Anurr.

( ooc: please assume all interaction with the Merchant on this post happens within the span of an IC hour — thank you! )

Comments

un: nah | audio

[damnable]

( Well, that seems like a lot, and she gets they have limited time so this might be the best opportunity to ask even if it's not relevant to fucking with time itself and what happens if they succeed. )

Appreciate the warning, think that's the plan to undo the ritual they started with the moon, and in the interest of not losing limited time, what do you know about Kathul? It's a location to the south - possibly related to the Huntress.

[pulvisetumbra]

...oh, for... ( A moment, while the Merchant either mutters or curses in the background. ) Yes. More south. I thought to route us through there, but we retain some standards.

Kathul is where men flee to disappear. An outpost of mercenaries and other, less savoury characters. They say Rathakku attempted to conquer it, but failed. I thought perhaps even he wanted better. But if it is true the Huntress is present... it may be that at heart of his withdrawal was a conflict of territories. Rathakku is young to this world, compared to the Huntress. He would have bowed.

[damnable]

I can't say for absolute certain, but Kathul was etched into a ring associated with her - with a compartment that likely had some of her son's hair in it. ( could have been her husband's instead, but Wrathion's response makes her think that she would want nothing to do with him. ) That's pretty heavy evidence she has some strong association with the place so you're most likely right about the bowing.

There's plenty in the group that wants to undo what she's done. Doubt they would mind the routing that way even if it means interacting with unsavory types. But I know the ultimate goal here for most is the beacons.

[pulvisetumbra]

As it should be. We all share one interest: to see you out of Akhuras.

un: Black Prince; voice;

[blackscales]

[ It's your favourite frustration, bet you are glad to hear his voice sir. Wrathion cannot wait for the Merchant to try and force him through the beacon as soon as possible. ]

I presume you've heard our revelation about Matthias, that he did indeed grant both the Huntress and the Beastmaster their powers -- lacking any warning of consequence.

[pulvisetumbra]

( Laugh... ing. )

And? Shall we weep for them?

[blackscales]

[ Mildly: ]

No, it was context for a follow-up question. I was trying to ascertain what his ultimate goal might be. That may help us given our path has consistently followed his trail. She mentioned that Matthias had mentioned his own child, that his having had a child seemed important. Do you know how the child came to die?

[pulvisetumbra]

As I understand, a... regrettable but common sickness. This was before the dead emerged.

We all suffer the misfortunes of life, Wrathion. We do not all betray the world for it.

un: taken for granite

[somebadnews]

[ Son of a bitch. How many more are there? (Ignore the username. He'll give Allison's pendant back eventually.) ]

What would Anurr have wanted with them? [ He had no interest when Five tried to prod him about it. More importantly: ] ...Who created the other time pockets?

[pulvisetumbra]

I believe some created themselves. Time is... a perpetual anomaly. Others likely manifested through sorcery.

[somebadnews]

[ ...wildly unhelpful. Five knows he knows more than that. ]

And that seemed like a perfectly reasonable solution to you?

[pulvisetumbra]

You speak as if I somehow personally perpetuated them.

un: dollhouse | audio

[thedreamer]

Very good to hear from you. Question: however these pockets of time manifested, have you heard anything, even rumours, about people transiting through them? Outside of Yancai, obviously.

un: lockwood

[recklessenough]

Hello. Thank you for the welcome, and likewise in the interest of time, please accept this pithy words as my expression of polite pleasure at making your acquaintance. [ Is he being sassy? It may be hard to tell since his tone is perfectly polite, posh tones measured and tinged with just the right amount of deference. ]

As I'm new here, I will keep my questions to more immediate concerns.

Present company excluded, I would not say that our encounters with Akuras' finest have been particularly warm and encouraging. [ He's thinking the Huntress and what he's heard of the Beastmaster. ] It makes me wonder what we should expect from those who would be termed least favoured?

[ A hundred words to basically ask; how screwed will we be in these wastelands? ]

[pulvisetumbra]

Hello, Mr. Lockwood. In truth, I would say creatures with less strength than the dead, but fewer morals. Humans, in every sense of the word. Malign, repugnant and possessed of some skill.

...of course, you could choose not to break the time loop.

[recklessenough]

[ Lockwood's smile works it's way into his words. ]

That decision, ultimately, is not up to just me. [ Which isn't to suggest his choice of actions won't work towards that result. Rather, he's accepted that the actions of the group are not something he can control to his whims. ] I was merely wondering how we might best prepare ourselves for all eventualities.

un: headless ragdoll | audio

[matermali]

In a realm such as this, what crimes could these sorcerers have committed to be so condemned?

[ What are we in for if we run into one of these fellows? One must ~prep~. ]

[pulvisetumbra]

Oh, the usual trifecta of treason, massacre and blasphemy, I imagine. These are not good people, Miss Ives.

[matermali]

And you would claim us as good?

[ Always the time for teasing. But really, sir, have you looked at us lately. ]

We must not disappoint. I would hope that whatever these sorcerers are capable of, so long as we are swift in our travel we ought to remain safe. They should have no power over us once we are beyond their realm, correct?

un: protector izumi | video;

[fushichou]

Are these exiled tyrants in time pockets or different timelines? Just to clarify.

[pulvisetumbra]

In truth, the distinction is largely academic. They exist in small pockets of lost time and space, entirely contained. Dare I say it, in... glamorised prisons.

[fushichou]

But contained is the important detail here. They can't escape even if we can apparently get in, right? Because if that's the case, then I wonder why breaking the Yancai time loop is really so bad. If those pockets already exist anyway, then why should we let these people die all over again in five years if the time pockets or timelines or whatever you want to call them academically won't cross paths?

pretend I'm not late to this post

[northerndragon]

I spoke to the Huntress. Don't know how seriously to take her. She agreed to stop attacking Yancai.

She said we would find Matthias in Zakhara. But to you, it would have been five years ago. Is what she told me of any use? Where might he be now?

[pulvisetumbra]

His whereabouts are unknown to me.

But Zakhara is a wasteland. I cannot fathom what he might encounter there.

[northerndragon]

How long has it been a wasteland? Long enough for him not to have been the cause of it?

If some of these people can trouble time... might he be hiding there? Or might she only be lying? I cannot say that I trust her, but I do trust that she hates him.