downswing: (十一)
[personal profile] downswing


( Behold the beautiful view of one [1] Lan Wangji, blood-drenched in one of the dusty, downtrodden streets of Hatthevar, while rains weep down — clear, for a change. In the hand that isn't holding his pendant, his sword's drawn, bloodied. )

Slave masters know little of the man Matthias. ( A pause, then almost sheepish: ) When they yet speak. Their victims recall with difficulty. Shall search the waters for signs of his whereabouts.

( Small chance of it, but carrying on ) Beware wish makers. They tempt with that which is not theirs to give.

pulvisetumbra: (broker)
[personal profile] pulvisetumbra


( The single most exasperated sigh of this world, returning to defend the title: ) Good morning. This is the Merchant. I trust you are not adding to the blood, bones and burning of your present accommodations.

( But if this tone is to go by, that trust is... short-lived. ) You are aware I negotiated your stay at castle Netvor as a last-minute arrangement. We owe the prince a debt of gratitude. Master Anurr, a lord of dead and winds of the west, has decided to pursue what he believes to be his right of claim against the allied Brotherhood of the dead in nearby terrains. The blizzard we experience are echoes of Anurr's impressive and growing prowess.

( A pause, then, almost academically: ) In recent months — in the time since our acquaintance — certain matters have come to light: the first, that the sickness of the undead that spawned the Brotherhood was been born in my motherland of Ellethia, now decimated. My people raced to prove their supremacy over the magical prodigies of Taravast. We both succeeded and failed.

The man who oversaw that... endeavour appears to have since been walking the realms and spreading the dark waters that propagate the undead, seeking to itself gain physicality by inhabiting corpses. Once risen, the dead tend to assemble under warlords, the most notable and substantive of which is the allied Brotherhood. That much is straightforward and direct. The intentions of Matthias are less clear.

After your rest here, we must pursue him. Whether he can be undone by word or deed, his defeat appears to be the only worthwhile solution. We head to Hatthevar, on his footsteps. Not only in search for him, but also to reach a necklace of beacons that will hopefully end your stay here.

Until then: gather your strengths. Learn to cooperate. And do not make more enemies we cannot afford. I remain your devoted collaborator, if not your friend.

( ooc: threadjacking encouraged! )

cartographie: (pic#16797232)
[personal profile] cartographie
[ Instead of pointing the pendant at herself, Nami aims it so that the top of the table she's sitting at is what's in the frame instead. ]

This is a book I took from the chained god's room. [ She begins as she opens the book and starts leafing through the pages, making sure she lingers on each so the people watching on the other end of whatever this not den den mushi based network can get a good look at the contents while she thumbs through ]

There's a lot in here, and, weirdly, some of it looks like it was written recently. From what I've read, it sounds like the men of Ephes turned on the god and chained him up. One historian in here, Gallia Salusa, mentions that because the god didn't have a physical form to start with, the men waited until the timing was on their side, and this god - put himself together, or whatever it did, gaining a form - they think just from slowly accumulating power - so could be chained in the first place. [ She's seen that thing, it's gross. ]

The book also talks about how that worm god thing isn't the only being like this around, but like the chained god before whatever happened to him, happened - they don't have a physical form, and want one

[ Nami shuts the book finally turning the communicator around on herself so she's visible, along with the interior of the rundown windmill she and her crew have posted up in. There might even be one or two straw hats or perhaps an errant clown pirate milling around in the background, who knows? ]

Oh, and, that whale fishman told me about how the borders of Ephes - both land and sea - are much bigger than the space this place is occupying, but after the chained god was captured the dark water's been encroaching from many sides - something that's obvious to the farmers and the fishermen but not as much to everybody else.

[ She sits back in her seat, shrugging plaintively at whoever's on the other end of this not-a-snail, tempted to just end the message there before she remembers herself– ]

I'm Nami, by the way. If you want to meet up, take a look at the book, and tell me more about what's going on here, that's fine with me. I've got a crew to get back to the East Blue and any information is useful at this point.


[ ooc: a link to the initial comment with this info about the book, since Nami is slowly paging through it for the network, feel free to use the info in the comment if you want to let your character clock a snippet or two as she goes or something.

and threadjack away,
]

un: karsa

Nov. 8th, 2023 06:47 pm
aprescoup: (karsa)
[personal profile] aprescoup


( And now for a beautiful interlude featuring the party's witch Karsa and an especially plump, smug pigeon chasing her legs on the Senate steps. )

- go. You hear me? ( The pigeon only comes closer. ) No! No food. No food. You hear me? No. ( Fireball? Fireball. A startled pigeon briefly flies away, while Karsa cackles. Finally, she returns to the pendant. )

You. What are you doing? Not speaking. Not organising. Fools. Why do you never speak? Mouths too busy? I put mustard seeds in them. I put brine. We make pickles. At least we know.

( A pause. ) I am told you are... kingmaking. Wonderful. Very wonderful. I am delighted. If you think this makes you special, I step on your backs.

I know the choices: Caius Justus. A tyrant who is not dead, but that can be helped. Messalina. She is dead. No one helps that. And the man without opinion, Caelius Silvanus. So he says, delay the vote! Always helpful, to say nothing concrete. Someone must have stepped on his back.

Talk and decide among yourselves. You cannot work at odds, or what one hand does, the other undoes. And you are stuck no where, doing nothing. ( Another pause, while the pigeon appears impudently in the horizon, and she sends a warning shot towards him. ) Except for me. I am eating pigeon.


( ooc: this is your convenient post to give your character's $0.02 on whether to support:

— undead lady Messalina, who wants to gain the elite Hand army of Ephes
— the despot Caius Justus, who wants to keep the Hand for his own design
— Caelius Silvanus, who wants to put off the vote

...during the upcoming polls. Please feel free to threadjack — Karsa will only be commenting sparingly. You can have your character factor all this in when submitting threads about swaying votes, if you like! )

wifedup: (xx.)
[personal profile] wifedup
( There is absolutely someone out there fucking with Wen Kexing, and so if anyone mentions the state of his new name he's going to commit Attrocities. He's here for a reason ... admittedly a potential wife reason, but still! You mention being a worm one time and fate laughs at you. )

It's come to my attention we're all very demure about our own skill sets. When it comes to trying to work together that reticence might be to our detriment. Especially considering the wealth of people we have here, what if one of us is in need of a carpenter and we don't know where to go? Or a scribe, those might be handy with all the terrible meetings we have to listen to. Or a healer, even.

( A healer especially, but he is the most subtle and anyone implying otherwise needs to be quiet. )

And so, I thought it might be a good idea if we instead shared what we were good at. I can go first.

Cooking.
A pursuer of scholarly endeavours.
Passable martial arts.
Provider of wine.

If anyone needs any poetry or lessons in how not to burn water then I am certainly your man. I know these aren’t exactly the more useful of skills, but there are bound to be more capable people out there. We need to help each other in these trying times, after all.


( We also need to not be lying bastards, but oh well. )
valeas: (☾ f e r i t o)
[personal profile] valeas
( Wei Wuxian and Emilia are perched up on a tall building.

Two dragons act as their wind buffers — recent arrivals from Serthica, for those who remember the fissured citadel. The narration feels compelled to stress that despite the buffering in question, the hair of these characters billows fabulously behind them, even as they look a bit rundown.

Emilia's anger has smoldered away somewhat, a low murmur in the background.
)

Yesterday, a soldier of the Hand requested Wei Wuxian and I demonstrate hand-to-hand combat for the new recruits of the army. These recruits were ferocious, unpredictable, and ... eerily good at mimicry.

Their handlers were frightened of them.

After this session concluded, we were offered a 'booster' to replenish our strength. We refused, as we learned it was essentially diluted black water. The same black waters that resurrected the dead in the arena today.
downswing: (footsteps)
[personal profile] downswing


( Behold: that inexorable moment when a man with the tolerance of a baby kitten has infiltrated the nefarious tavern of Livius Decimus, had precisely two licks of the obligatory drink, and is now alone, sword drawn, brooding morosely at a vast table covered in castaway parchment pieces that two large brown and spotted rabbits are diligently chewing on.

After fifteen seconds of blinking at the pendant: )


Greeti.. ( ...nnnnngs? ) What. did.. what did the... ( Wake up, Lan Wangji, wake up — ) Pro - presss... pros. Proscription lists. What did they look like?

( ...possibly like the parchment scraps one of the rabbits annihilates on camera, while a nearby thug gentleman of criminal arts, seemingly in the know, mutters, You son of a — )

...my son? Mmmmmmmmm. Gentle. Little... not so little? Was little. Kind. Wise. Speak of... yes. Let me speak of my son. He will never marry. Must stay little. In my coin purse. Children are... for safe-keeping.

( ...in coin purses. Does the thug agree? How can he not. )

pulvisetumbra: (vendor)
[personal profile] pulvisetumbra
Good day. This is the Merchant. I am pleased to say your days of sunning in Unkharil's melting brilliance are nearly done. I have made arrangements for you to graciously and gratefully depart with the next convoy of shepherds. ( Good luck with the transport scents. )

You will travel to Ephes, a citadel of some education, a wealth of decadence and an accelerated sponsorship of its armies. These militia are now renown as some of the most cunning, ruthless and brilliant forces in the world.

Last I traded in Ephes, the local administration were content with choice opiates, wine and... a degree of revelry I shall keep under wraps for the sake of the more delicate or immature ears among us. They were at the time... at best, conniving politicians but military dilettantes. Now, I understand they foster ambitions of conquest and empire.

( The click of his tongue. Perhaps he has heard that before. ) No matter their... numerous personal difficulties, they possess a functioning beacon. That is, as ever, our chief objective.

Wrathion brings to attention that Matthias has been sighted in the nearby region of Zakhara. For the education of our latest additions, I shall only mention that this gentleman has repeatedly appeared to patron or create several of the undead lieges encountered in our travels. We do not yet know his intentions.

...but I am told the latest force of the dead who seeks the support of Ephes openly challenges him.

As ever, you will receive passport papers and my personal best attempt at resources on arrival at Ephes. Safe travels, one and all.

jatharin: (deimar)
[personal profile] jatharin


( Ah, but did you miss King Deimar's jovial face? He appears well acquainted with a cup of wine, sunning as he speaks.)

Greetings! Your king speaks. Deimar. And how are you? You all look so much more resplendent than I remember you — which is to say, no longer drenched in my people's blood.

Master Strange, I'll beg you to refrain from ruining these ancestral halls. Yelena, I could yet do with a guard. ( More cutting: ) As for those of you who... witnessed my brother's... heroic sacrifice, as ever, I appreciate your discretion in this time of my people's mourning.

( But perky, once more: ) Now! As it happens, mistress Hermione returned from her jungle pilgrimage, intoxicated but bearing the wishes of a... runaway divine serpent. Sceptics might question the wisdom of heeding a hallucinating girl and an invisible snake, but she has retrieved some of the venom my uncles require for my coronation, so we object no further.

In exchange for his venom, Kharil-asuk has demanded the purity of the citadel's new residents. Delightful! It seems that, after bearing with child traffickers and nearby human sacrifices for centuries, the snake god has lost his appetite for blood. A troubling thing, since I find myself short-supplied of people who have not touched sword and bloodshed after years of siege. To cut things short: the new holy watering stations posted at Unkharil's entrances are here to stay. Bask in the brilliance of your new innocence. Do get more water! And don't unsheathe a sword where a snake can see you.

I remain grateful for any other anointment venom you procure from Kharil-asuk. He of questionable existence, but indubitable control of my fate.


( ooc: from this point onward, characters may find members of the Unkharil city watch randomly dumping buckets of holy water from the golden stream on them, near the citadel's entrance points. Bathe well and thank Hermione! )

reparo: (muggle studies)
[personal profile] reparo
A moment of your time while we await the next wave of...whatever forces come our way. Let's share our findings, please - there have been many pieces moving on this board.

We know from Wrathion that the Huntress credits the Man in White for her powers, but despises him. Some of us have witnessed her somehow ripping out her heart and cutting it into pieces, and handing it to Miang-Si to bury them around Yancai - she mentioned it would make her powers take root.

A word of warning: do not touch the heart slivers with your bare hands. They hold powerful magic, and we can probably fairly assume this to be necromancy, and may sway you to - well. Eat it. I don't recommend doing this part either.

Red and I healed one of the beasts that hunt for her in the woods, and he (I am unclear if it's a he, but it feels unfair to call it an 'it' when he's been so helpful) took us to the hiding place of one sliver. On the way we unearthed a box that belonged to the Huntress and inside it a lock of hair, black hair - which possibly belonged to her son. It feels odd that she would still hang onto that, considering that she gave him into the care of the House of Ravens. Was this a demand from Matthias in exchange for power, or just zealotry?

Either way, there was a location engraved on the box, Kathul - we can thank Red for cleverly figuring out it was a location. It's south of here, and might yield nothing but also might unravel some mystery so I thought it was worth sharing with the rest of us.
pulvisetumbra: (Default)
[personal profile] 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! )

downswing: (十四)
[personal profile] downswing


( Two men and a xenomorph walk into a tavern —

...alternatively, stumble down a woodland road, breath staggered, seemingly drained — if not by the weight of the enormous forest creature they carry, bled and bound to a makeshift pallet of decayed logs, then by the constant, jittery effort to evade the strikes of its tail.

The Doctor drags the animal’s wooden bed by long, loosely woven strips of ripped cloth. Lan Wangji holds the pendant with one hand and his own cutting strings that fetter the beast with the other.

For their trouble, the creature’s tail lovingly smacks the Doctor on his flank, then thwaps Lan Wangji’s temple, on the swing back. It growls its thanks after, before settling into a... disturbing... purr... that seems to indicate the time to nap is nigh.

The Doctor, then: )
It's settling down a bit already! Just needed a proper looking after, really, like anything.

( Well said, Doctor. For your effort, have a nice, friendly, sleepy tail smack on the back. So Wangji doesn’t feel jealous, the snoring beast peers over his shoulder, drenching it in a sea of... drool. He sighs. )

We bear one of the Beastmaster’s creatures. Feral, wounded. Enemy of the Huntress in the woods.

( Who should have been long culled, but don’t let Lan Wangji’s long-suffering expression convince you of that. The enemy or their enemy, so on. )

It requires... healing to resume duties. We number those who know the care of animals?


( ooc: ...sorry, cave buddies, just going to park Fido in the back real quick! Any veterinarians in the house? )

aprescoup: (hatisse)
[personal profile] aprescoup


( The party's second, more elusive, revived witch appears on everyone's devices — enjoying a steaming, bubbling bath, in a sign that comfort is only unattainable for the unattractive. )

...now, aren't you beautiful, my sweets? And so many more than before, and lively, your flesh teeming with... youth.

This one is only an honoured and unworthy servant, so spare a moment, won't you? There's nothing to fear, I hardly bite, unless... have we still... virgins, each way the eye sees? ( Short, knowing laughter. ) We must relish in innocence.

( If her smile were thinner, it would be the ghost of the party's coin purse. )

Of course, this isn't why I would presume to take up your time, no, not your Hatisse. I only wish, with utmost respect, if I may. A humble warning.

( Her voice briefly ices, while she picks up a diminutive sponge to slowly, sloooooowly rinse her right arm. )

Here, in this gods-forsaken quaint little pedestrian village, where husband is uncle and brother and of the same blood as goats, you do not cross paths with... true witches, no matter what they name themselves. 'Ladies' of... 'lakes.' Remember, the clumsiest, easiest sorcery is the elements, and if they rule water, in a land of waters, don't be impressed.

( Briefly disgusted, as if she prepares to spit out a soured thing: ) They're hedge witches. Primitive, barely trained, and of course, your Hatisse is the daughter of a school, and so perhaps there is the lightest... prejudice, but may I say. Time is not the work of witches who, if rumour is to be believed, can do no better than play in puddles. There must be more. Something or someone.

( And now for an interlude where Hatisse raises herself from the bath, and much of the more risque parts of her body are strategically covered in foam. )

Now... we are friends here, all friends, friends of convenience, but friends. And Hatisse has shared what little was hers to give. But this is a land of the dead, and she cannot do more for you, if she is unknowing. Tell me, my sweets: how many of you are mired in death? How did you come to it?


( ooc: threadjack away! Hatisse will be regrettably available. )

downswing: (Default)
[personal profile] downswing


Before her second disappearance, Prassenze ravaged her compartment for a hidden box.

( 'How do you know this, Wangji?' 'Any details?' No. )

Separately, forge or jewellery master begged sought. A trinket for powders.

New arrivals, be welcome.



( ooc: CONTENT WARNING that he is looking to make tokens to hold hell demonic lizard creature ashes, if that creeps anyone out OOCly ;; )

slippin: (pic#16001035)
[personal profile] slippin
Hey. [ The voice coming through your magical doohickey is low and maybe congested. Whatever this is doesn't sound like good news. Then the speaker clears his throat, continues in lighter tones, his cadence practiced: ] Are you somewhere private? Because that would be a good place to be right now.

[ There's a good twenty-second pause filled with ambient train noise. Time enough to close your communicator, make your excuses. ] Great. [ Again: it doesn't sound great! ] Um. So, uh, earlier this afternoon as I was leaving the movie theater, I bumped into the bride-to-be...or not-to-be...Like. [ A single solid clap. ] Bam. Well, her little attache case went flying and in the course of helping her, you know, recombobulate herself I may have glimpsed a thing or two relevant to our present circumstances.

[ A beat. Hastily: ] Not weapons. Nothing like that. [ Please don't commit unilateral or joint murder based on his intel! ] But, okay, before we go any further, I've got a few questions for you:

Do we know anyone onboard whose name starts with C? As in crazy, or camembert.

Have any of you talked to Prassenze? [ Rest assured: he mangles the pronunciation. Maybe he'll figure it out by the third wedding. ] Had a little heart-to-heart?

Uh, and last but definitely not least, what the hell?

Great. [ Great! ] Thanks. Over and out.



[ ooc: threadjack away! mod-provided deets on the suitcase's contents are here, since jimmy will share all that info but it'll be run through a jimmy-filter and he's allergic to being direct.

(also if your char would want to talk to him in person, lmk and I can do a starter for that!) ]
valeas: (☾ d u r a r e)
[personal profile] valeas
( Emilia di Carlo has seen better days, by the look of her. Her battle leathers are torn, soot and cuts still on her face — but she doesn't give in to the exhaustion just yet, nor the bile in her throat. First, she addresses the people of Alem, dignified and resolute. )

Prince Haiva sacrificed himself and leaves his sister, the young Cle-Florens, spared.

I was witness.

( A pause, then, as she allows that to sink in. )

Hell is sealed.

You fought with valor so others might live. I'm glad to have fought beside you, and will remember your fallen just the same.

If you've yet to evacuate, the time is now. Hassir awaits.
downswing: (〇)
[personal profile] downswing




A child failed in Ke-Waihu. Again, in Serthica.

Here, young Princess Cle-Florens, convinced of duty as sacrifice. We cannot abandon.

Elsewise: beware the Wards, the Gut's Bind. Death wanders.

If you have come possessed or hell-tainted, speak.

jatharin: (kerasstone)
[personal profile] jatharin


( It's all gunshot, arrows, a flurry of projectiles and the passing downcast shadow of a creeping, large flying creature — then the scowling, scratched face of Watch Tower Master Kerasstone — ...before his pendant drops down, and you're treated to footage of rushed feet kicking the device back and forth between tower floor stones. At long last, Kerasstone's slammed to the ground, landing close enough to his pendant, grinning bloodily. )

WHAT GIVES THERE? GOOD MORNING, LADS! YOU SEE, IT'S BEEN RAININ'DOOOOOWWWWN! ALL ABOARD, EH?

( Excuse him, more... skirmish, with something like a harpy. Back to howling at the pendant. )

IT'S STARTIN' TO SMELL ALL ROT IN THE AIR. OR PIG. CAN'T TEEEEEEEEEEEEELL. BUT MEANS, USUALLY, THE LIKES OF HIM IN THE WOODS, HE'S PLANNING HIS NONSENSE! WITH THE CLAAAAAWWWWIIIIIIING. GOT TO KEEP YER FINE SELVES READIED! AND WATCHFUL! AND JOLLY, HAVE A DRINK, EH?

( ...he, for one, is somehow materialising a battered iron flask from behind his shield. ) NOW, I'M TELLING YOU: YOU FEEL A CAAAAAALLLLIIIIIING? TO THE WOOOOOODS? ALL A SUDDEN? AND IT AIN'T NATURE? DON'T BE SHY, WE ALL DO IT! OR YOU'RE A MITE MORE ANGRY, BUT IN THAT MIGHTY FINE WAY THAT LEAVES BEHIND A WEE BODY? AND YER UNCLE GRASSHIM HAS TO LOOK AT YOU ALL AWKWARD, GOING, LAD, AIN'T GOT NO WHERE TO BURY IT? YOUR AUNTIE WANTED TO RAISE'EM PETUNIAS IN THAT YARD???

( Look at this smiling face. Surely he's joking. )

YOU GET THAT ITCH, YOU KNOCK YOURSELVES OUT WITH THE CAST IRON PAN! OR A BOOK! AIN'T NO USE FOR THEM ELSEWISE! NOT THEM KITCHEN ONES, WE NEED'EM, THOSE... THE ONES WITH BIG WORDS! YOU CAN CHAIN UP TOO, I SUPPOSE, JUST NOT TO A WOODEN POST! SOME'S BROKEN FROM IT BEFORE! MAKE IT STONE AND BIIIIII —

( ...regrettably, an incoming catapult briefly brings him down to ground, and Deputy Watch Master Vataz, equally battered, sighs along the rest of the instruction: )

Yes. Keep watch of yourselves, knock yourselves out, drink, and... whatever he said about the frying pan. Don't be alarmed. Rathakku only Claws those who've been touched by death, when he despairs of his lack of progress. He can't hold it up for long. If he's starting now — it'll only be days. But he will be ruthless, and he will try to turn us to seize the Chamber of Seals. Hold the lines, and you will be victorious. We will all overcome this. We are better than him, stronger, braver, more lasting. We will persevere. Do not let yourselves be Claw —

( Wait, Kerasstone is sitting up again, as a blast rocks the tower. Scrambling to catch the pendant, he points it at... an explosion by the Castle's entranceways. )

HELL'S BELLS, WHASSAT BY THE LOWER GATES? SOMEONE LET ONE RIP??


( ooc: dated to the very late hours of 6 February / the start of 7 February, as Rathakku begins his Clawing of Feb. 7-10. On a voluntary basis, necromancers, characters who once died or who are very sensitive to life/death energies can be conscripted into Rathakku's army for this duration.

A Clawed Stephen Strange kicked off the mayhem with an explosion in the minor merchants' entryway.

Threadjack away in the comments! Kerasstone and Vataz can both answer — specify in your comment header if you prefer one over the other! )

jatharin: (deimar)
[personal profile] jatharin


( The first transmissions is recorded footage, clearly captured by a pendant held by a shaking hand. Before it, legions of heterogenous, misshaped demons part for the gilded palanquin of Duke Rathakku, his long tendril legs seeping off his cushions.

Beneath his litter, death hounds feast on the fresh remains of a man carrying a peace stindard.

Rathakku appears untroubled, unhurried, indifferent: )


Tell your new king... he will have the peace of the old. And we, we will give it to him. If you can reach him.

( Only more seconds capturing footage of fumbling feet and gracel, the pendant carrier stumbles back, starting to run —

Before the transmission switches to the lightly amused face of Alem's king Deimar, whistling: )


...friendly sort, isn't he? That was four months ago. He's softened since. I'd say the colder weather agrees with him. It's good for you new recruits to see that. To see him. It builds character. ( A pause, then helpfully: ) ...spoils appetites, too! Means less dinner for you, more supplies for the morning. We've all won here.

( But the joy seeps from him. ) I know what you have come for. The beacon. I accept you. It's honest trade, we need the hands. Hells, fond welcome. And to those of you serving as envoys, we'll raise a cup to you first. I should hope there's meat on your bones!

Now, a few... guidelines! As it were. What are you? Madmen, criminals, thieves, mercenaries? I don't care to know. Under my roof, I'll have none of that quarrel. ( Steely: ) No squabble, no torture, no rape. We're in tight quarters, blood runs hot. But you'll somehow prevail over any instincts. No... innocent stabbing. There's enough of that in the Wards of late.

I understand some of you are joining the watch towers. I'll come see you. It's ugly work, and you won't thank me. But I thank you. If that bitch Irenia flies by, remember: she's an ugly, slow whore, and you can take a sharp stick's end to her throat. ( Silence, then breezily: ) I don't mind if you do that our merchant friends, either. Just make sure you've learned where they've stored their grains first. ( Light coughing. ) Don't let Haiva hear that. We're to be friends with one and all! Even when they skin us for gold.

As it stands, the day's news: we prepare to evacuate new convoys of our weakest civilians every five days. Unfortunately, Rathakku is... either remarkably intuitive or well informed. He seems to find our escape corridors in the mountain and blockade them. So! We start anew, with fresh escape routes. Do help. And if you can keep our vulnerable on their feet and not trip up the paladins who are working in the Gut's Bind, even better.

By the way, we cut any hands laid unkindly on healers. We can likely spare you more than them.

And the punishment for snitching to uncle Thyvault where the last of the good wine sits is worse than that. I'll deliver that one personally.

Now, good to have you! Die well.

( ooc: welcome to Alem & threadjack liberally c: )

valeas: (☾ n a t u r a)
[personal profile] valeas
( The video opens with Emilia sitting in the snow, clad in a velvet cloak to shield her from the day's chill. She isn't much of a presence lately, her recent stint back home having left her in the foulest mood. Those that know her probably sensed the proceed with caution vibes she emanated the days following the beacon disaster.

But today is a new day, and some things need doing. It starts with contacting Red for a personal heads up, and now:

Standing behind her is her husband betrothed in his trademark suit, not looking the slightest bit bothered or affected by the weather.

And behind Wrath is — well. The reason for this transmission. A creature the size of a medium horse plays in the snow, one of its three heads gnawing on a bone. Needless to say, the threat posed by one of the more vicious wolves has since been eliminated.
)

This is ...

( At Emilia's careful pause, Wrath fondly supplies: )

A puppy.

read more. )

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