exit, stage e a s t

( Some might recognise the calm, glacial voice. Others might despise it. ) Good afternoon. For those whose acquaintance I have failed to make already: I am the Merchant.

It seems several of you have misunderstood your remit. You were sent to the ruins of Ellethia to grasp the stakes of our enterprise, and why your role in ensuring there is no repetition of this catastrophe is critical. You were assigned in hopes that next you are told those who willingly inflict the dead upon innocents deserve retaliation, you will heed your instruction.

Instead, you have opted to meddle. It is in your natures. I have come to accept it. But there are lines that should not be crossed — ones you have trampled with impunity.

( A pause, while he collects himself. ) Our associate Enam informs me that you have taken it upon yourselves to terminate the lives of the... sleeping tower dwellers. without cause, remit or invitation. Perhaps slaughter is commonplace in your homelands. I have clearly miscalculated your appetite for bloodshed.

No matter. You have killed good men and women. Ensure that you dispose of their bodies at sea, before the cycles of the land inevitably wake them. I trust, seeing as you had no qualms in ending their lives, you will be equal to the task of disposing them.

I expect our friend Zenobius will now have to seek out an alternative to his life's work. A pity.

( Silence, as if the Merchant might have neglected to end his communication. When he speaks, it's deeper, forcibly collected: ) Should that happen, seek out stored supplies, forage and maintain the wells. Your ship arrives within days. I bid you well on the next leg of your journey.


( ooc: in response to Moiraine, Eleven and Yennefer's decision to euthanise the Sleepers: on 11 February, characters may notice Zenobius is no where to be found. Characters can find him in a deep sleep akin to that of the Sleepers, at the bottom of one of the semi-dried wells previously inspected by Kaneki and John Connor.

Over 11-13 February, characters may notice the garden legumes and food supplies stop replenishing. They may have to leave the lighthouse to hunt for their sustenance. Water can still be procured from wells.

The voices and echoes that haunt the lighthouse become even more vocal, if not yet more violent.

The ship arrives to collect to group on 14 February. )