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westwhere2024-01-13 06:35 pm
groundrules) wrote in westwhere2024-01-13 06:35 pm
Entry tags:
- arcane: caitlyn,
- assassin's creed: ratonhnhake:ton,
- baldur's gate 3: the dark urge,
- blade of the immortal: asano rin,
- doctor who: river song,
- harry potter: hermione granger,
- kingdom of the wicked: emilia,
- kingdom of the wicked: wrath,
- last case of benedict fox: benedict fox,
- mcu: america chavez,
- mcu: carol danvers,
- mcu: kamala khan,
- mcu: natasha romanova,
- oh! my emperor: beitang moran,
- original: red,
- owl house: eda clawthorne,
- penny dreadful: vanessa ives,
- star wars: merrin,
- tian guan ci fu: xie lian,
- umbrella academy: ben,
- umbrella academy: five,
- untamed: lan sizhui,
- warcraft: wrathion,
- wheel of time: elayne trakand
hatthevar | blood rains
Drawn to undead creator Matthias, the party heads into Hatthevar — former wasteland of myth and superstitions, now city of ghosts.
The first log of Hatthevar spans until 31 January.
A small part of the event is open to players both in and out of the game, who can bring dead characters in the bazaar!
The party enters blood-rained Hatthevar during a daily one-hour truce between the citadel and the undead forces that assail it. At the gates is undead Lord Rathakku of the Brotherhood, keen to usurp his distracted maker Matthias; in the skies dart the forces of dead wind lord Anurr, who has no love for the Brotherhood.
Hatthevar’s ghostly champions — including enormous ghosts that consume men and floating spirits that strangle with chains — defend the grounds. Matthias neglects the war, persistently summoning spirits from various worlds and points in time to revive them.
KNOCK, KNOCK
Wispy, shadowy silhouettes closely watch the lone gate of Hatthevar. The party infiltrates at sunrise.
Characters who have died, practise necromancy or are death-touched enter freely. The living must consume Karsa’s foul potions that absorb their shadows and partly mute their powers to pass for dead. Holders of Matthias’ severed limbs or organs, or of dark mirror shards or dark water, are closely watched by the dead and perhaps pursued.
Everyone must create new names and stories covering their identity and circumstances of death. Crafty ghost sellers will try to learn your true name to capture you in slavery.
Spend a few days acquainting Hatthevar, its constant rains, vicious gambling dens, bazaars, oracle halls, wish shops and nests of memory thieves.
Show kindness to the newly revived spirits who struggle to remember themselves and roam in the citadel’s bazaars of curiosities.
Optionally, some characters are struck by misfortune. Capture a crafty, palm-sized spirit rabbit to improve your luck… or stumble upon a larger, dark hopper to ruin it.
Most sleeping quarters are available at downtrodden inns or in lavish gambling dens, for exorbitant prices. You can’t shake the feeling of someone watching through holes in your walls.
MATTHIAS
Three days after arriving, the party receives a note from Matthias that reveals the origins of his pact with the dark water to propagate the dead in Akhuras. Matthias says he has been working to bring the spirit of his dead daughter Cosette through the beacon for revival. She materializes briefly in Hatthevar but disappears before he can find her. Retrieve Cosette, and he will surrender the party his power over the undead.
Full note
| ” Well, hello! Is it nippy beyond the walls? Not cold here, just… the rain. Tried wishing it away, but… waste of money, those wish shops. Not like, what is it you call it? The dark water? It’s ancient. Back in Ellethia, we thought it came from the sea. All began with a mirror shard. That, and constant pressure to race against decades of Taravast research into curing death. We got there first! That’s… my claim to fame: I wished death gone. It was work. Work ate me. Then, the dead woke up, killed everyone, and there wasn’t much of a profession left. Or of Ellethia. The dark water wants flesh, so… I’ve made it death lords and armies, and I’ve left parts of me to anchor it. In return… it gives me revival. But, look. I had a… daughter. Cosette? Blonde and eyes green and blue and like her mother’s, and only five summers old, but she thought she was so clever, kept telling her doll so. That’s all you’re left with. Memories. She died, of course. I’ve been working to resurrect her, and her spirit shows up every few days in Hatthevar. She disappears before I can find her. I’m not… good at bargaining. I’m a magical engineer, really. Tinkerer! But my time’s running short, isn’t it? Just look outside. And all I want is Cosette. You want the beacons? Have them. You can have my power whole. I’ll give it. Some of you will need to help hold the walls up, and others might want to look into the funny business in the lagoon, if it’s linked at all to Cosette, though I doubt it. But, truly. Bring me Cosette, and the deed’s done. You can have everything.” |
The Merchant distrusts Matthias’ proposal, but sees potential leverage and urges the party to investigate the girl and the lagoon. From here onward, everyone heads to their assignment:
COMBAT
Assigned: Bucky Barnes, Carol Danvers, Deimos, Emilia, Jiang Cheng, Luffy, Natasha Romanoff, Nynaeve, Stephen Strange, Wrath, Wrathion, Zoro
The first line of defence against the swarming undead, you must hold off swathes of enemies across three territories:
THE WALLS
Despairingly tall and uncomfortably narrow, overseen by Matthias’ ghostly cannibal titans, who neglect to discern between friend or foe in their broad, relentless strikes. Blood rains pour down thick and nearly blinding. From the skies, you face the frost-breathing 10-15 meter-tall wyrms of undead blizzard lord Anurr, unaffiliated with the Brotherhood. Stick together: when alone, Anurr’s winds speak to you of your deepest doubts and fears, compelling you to surrender — or to let go of restraint, briefly berserk, and attack your own.
■ Serthica survivors may call their dragons to assist. Through Jon Snow, the party can also summon the giant, but slow and poor-sighted frost dragon Irenia to help on three occasions.
THE COLD PLAINS
Just outside of Hatthevar sprawls a desert-like cold plateau, where treacherous dunes shift to swallow you whole and the bestial forces of the Brotherhood’s most capable undead general, Rathakku, hide in wait. Hard-shelled, slippery and sleek his creatures lie buried and thrust up their arm-rows of hundreds of blades that cut into the legs of passers-by, drawing them into sand.
THE UNDERPASS
A series of subterranean tunnels connects Hatthevar with the cold sand outposts. Scour the myriad of dusty, tunnels and purge it of large scorpion-human hybrids that carry multiple weapons and whose sting leave men hallucinating. Oversized serpents abound, their venom prone to paralyzing their prey. You can make or procure antidote potions from Hathevar. Matthias’ ghostly titans are closing off all tunnel entrances to Hatthevar — don’t end up sealed in on the wrong side.
! Collectively, the party must kill at least one frost wyrm, one scorpion/serpent and one sand lurker to keep all three levels safe. Turn in your threads before 28 January… or let the citadel suffer in part II.
EXECUTION
Assigned: Five, Lockwood, Mo Ran, Vanessa, Yelena, Wen Kexing, Zhou Zishu
Your objective is to locate Matthias and secure the beacons that are currently in heavy use. Securing one or more beacons will help you get home.
- ■ Your best bet for intelligence are the treacherous networks of underground memory thieves and slavers, who attempt to steal your freedom or your recollections.
■ Your next option is the gang of Erkul, who ruled over local oracles and Hatthevar whole before Matthias’ arrival. Coarse, slippery but cunning, Erkul sullenly nurses his weight in wine at the gilded Sanctuary, Hatthevar’s foremost gambling den. Street sources say the establishment’s passcode each day this month is a fruit name. Erkul’s crew sell highly potent opiates.
■ Ransack some Whispering houses for information, equipment, poison or arsenal. Small, dusty, cluttered and often creaking, Whispering houses hold a wealth of dangerous artefacts, from haunting poltergeists you might accidentally release by reading out their names from tomes to flying rope that throttles you. Large dread hounds instil blood-curdling fear in anyone who looks into their eyes.
■ The five beacons of Hatthevar are only briefly active each day as Matthias makes his summons. They are guarded by swarms of colossal leonine-shadow creatures that only attack if they feel any fear in your soul (of it, or anything else), pouncing to claw and shred you apart. To claim a beacon, Karsa may provide a cold, coal-like token that must be placed in the middle of the transport dais, within inevitable sight of the shadow lions. You must wait 15 minutes in place for the token to take root. Report your conquest before 28 January!
■ Every six hours, Matthias sends ravens to check on the shadow-lions. You must either trick them, leave the lions alive or capture the ravens.
CARE
Assigned: Allison, Eda, Hermione, Kamala, Lan Sizhui, Sanji, Winnie
Carer’s have the lion’s share of all duties — and the party’s few lingering resources. You must look after the group and the ghosts of Hatthevar: meandering, disoriented and fragile, the spirits who were freshly wrenched from death’s snare become easy prey for the Undead Brotherhood, the elements and the ghost slavers. Rescuing or attending vulnerable spirits can gain you allies.
- ■ comfort ghosts who recover from revival or struggle with their memories. Many are stranded in the Whispering houses or chained into servitude in the gambling dens.
■ rescue spirits from the immense slaver clan of Ras’Kalur, which tricks newly summoned, dazed spirits in the bazaars to sign away their freedom, promising someone to look after them. Ras’Kalur’s people often raid streets and shelters, forcibly dragging spirits back into their camps at the outskirts of Hatthevar.
■ barter to rent or buy abandoned taverns to give the party a resting space during their stay in Hatthevar. You may need to pay locals in favours, from helping them carry out petty acts of revenge to making up with a grudge-bearing wife or paying penance to their ancestors.
■ heal, cook and provide for combatants on the walls, taking care not to fall in the crossfire or frost wyrms or of allied but negligent 12-feet ghostly titans.
■ as the least suspicious party members, negotiate for information or supplies on behalf of the group: make friends with gambling den owners and the two-bit shady crooks who know their daily passcodes to enter, or with the regulars of the Whispering houses.
INVESTIGATION
Assigned: Ben Hargreeves, Benedict, Caitlyn, Cal Kestis, Jon Snow, Merrin, Nami, Rin, River Song, Wei Wuxian, Wen Qing
- ■ You know from Matthias that, as a result of his beacon summons, the spirit of his daughter Cosette appears every fifth day in Hatthevar for a few hours at midday. Despite this, a young girl matching Matthias’ description (5-6 years of age, green-blue eyes, blonde, prone to laughter) is never seen. Matthias alerts you whenever Cosette appears.
■ Day of first appearance: Matthias feels her presence in the bazaar, where the day’s main attraction is a puppet show that draws a heavy crowd. At midday, a chime sounds, and the puppet show performs the sad story of a daughter quarrelling with her father over his absences. The daughter-puppet flees into the woods, while the puppet-father refuses to reconcile and follow her. The girl is killed by animals, and the puppet-father grieves, heartbroken. All the women or girls in the crowd, including you, find they burst into tears.
■ Day of the second appearance: Matthias senses Cosette is in the alley of Whispering Houses. You notice the typical bustle of the alley and shady movements, as discreet, embarrassed, or desperate patrons scuttle. You see no small girls but hear of three trades that took place at the Whispering Houses, carried out by different women: one bought a memory, one sold one, one had a memory replaced. Pay for a memory trade to learn more.
■ Day of the third appearance: Matthias feels Cosette near the Oracle Hall. The hour passes by the time you climb the stairs and are received. The Oracle confirms only one person has visited — a blonde woman — and says to “tell your master that an hourglass keeps track of new time, but can’t give the old one back.”
You get three clue questions/character and should communicate with fellow investigators. Please share key findings by network before 25 January!
EXPLORATION
Assigned: America Chavez, Buggy, Connor, Elayne Trakand, Lan Wangji, Licyn, Red, Wen Ning
The river Liu neatly divides Hatthevar, its clean waters progressively darkening towards the edges of the citadel, where they pour into a vast, serene and heavily misted lagoon. Veterans sense an eerie chill from the familiar dark waters that so often accompany the undead.
Like Matthias, Karsa says a strange power sleeps at the heart of the lagoon.
- ■ travel by raft with a companion through the lethargy-inducing fog, as tar-like people peer up from the waters or swim below, never quite attacking you unless you fall into water. They (and the currents) try to upturn your boat.
■ Scattered lit candles drift on water as you advance. Pick one up, and you find one of the floating creatures of Hatthevar has joined your raft, carrying a rope-chain. It says it and its kind are former oracles and truth-speakers of the citadel — and urges you to speak, pledging to kill the first person who lies before you leave water.
■ Farther out, you discover four half-sunken ships that have crashed into each other over time, their decks now forming a rocky square-like structure. You can carefully navigate your raft to reach this construct, or make your way by hopping onto floating deck parts and the debris of other rafts.
■ Once aboard the square structure, you find all the decks are heavily rotten, creaking and prone to collapse. You hear a maddening, shrill scream that steals control of your now convulsing body, until you find yourself driven closer and closer to the end of a plank or a deck hole against your wishes — unless you are physically detained until the shrieking ends.Sharp-toothed mermaids swim below.
■ Reach and explore the curious ships’ graveyard, to peer into the black well in the middle of the square infrastructure.
NPC INBOX
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( Bowed, dust-laden, downtrodden. Houses like tombs, suffocating. He chases them not as ends, but as means, hungry for the opportunity to choke down supply chains for slavers. It should not rile him so, like a blood sickness: they have witnessed forced servitude and labour prior. It is no stranger to them, among the living.
But these are the dead, already deprived of hope and memories, and theirs is suffering none of the living may envision. It is too ugly a thing — unnecessary. Mouth rigid and head downturned and his cloak shielding the better part of his face, he feels a stranger to this world, if not to himself.
He stumbles upon Five — almost literally, the elder's height be forgiven — when he moves from Whispering house to Whispering house with purpose, searching for traces of men touting wishes in exchange for freedom. )
I do not hunt honest wish makers.
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It'd help if he had something to keep him going and set his powers straight. What would it take for Lan Wangji to give him a jolt like he did when he was poisoned in Taravast? Or would that draw too much attention? ]
That's an interesting word for them. [ Assuming any of them are honest. Although now he's wondering... ] What do you mean by hunt?
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You know my meaning. ( Stringent, acidic. Perhaps unkind. There is a ruthlessness they share, metallic, like poison in their blood. Both Five and he are fast friends of that sickness.
He looks askance at the door, ajar, at the gossamer of ropes on which various talismans hang within the nearest Whispering House. It is well peopled, highly trafficked. He has seen at least three spirits drift in within the past half-shichen.
Already, he suspects he knows what manner of brokering is done within. Who benefits and who weeps following the transaction. His hand on the sword steels.
He reconsiders. ) Speak. Which Whispering house is best?
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It's interesting that he's set to be the voice of reason when Five would like nothing more than to burn the houses down before he risks temptation. Which one is 'best' he says. ]
...You've seen the ones with shackles. [ He nods his head down the last alley he explored. ] The house over there has three.
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( The one with shackles. Yes. Reduced, now, in the wake of Lan Wangji, to only three supporting pillars, two on the brink of erosion. He remembers the establishment; Bichen, far better.
And then, this new opportunity to put the unworthy to blade and blood. He concedes a nod, hand already bound for his sword's hilt — only to waver, casting Five a withered glance. So helpful, isn't he, this favored elder? In a dark, peculiar street. )
What brought your steps here?
( Clearly, no love of spirits. Five has made his allegiance transparent often enough, to date: his family. His blood. No more. )
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Do I need another reason? [ They're here for Matthias, and there's nowhere he's more popular. The other reason gets a shrug, stiffer than it ought to be, but he still gives it. ] If you really want to know, I was hoping to see how it worked.
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( ...ah. Of course. Dozens of Whispering Houses looming large, and a certain brittle, decayed exuberance to their magic. There is power here, yes. Perhaps even the strength to deliver all that which these sorcerers pledge.
He turns, for once, kindly as he searches Five's face for a moment — for the despair that brings so many people before foolish attempts to achieve the impossible. )
To what end? ( Then, reasonably: ) You know better.
( He lacks in sorcery, perhaps, does Five — but not in the mental capacity to understand that all bargains come at a price, and the people who promise to deliver the world will not trade cheaply. )
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Coming here holds the dangers of presenting an opportunity, but not in the way he's suggesting. Whatever he finds he's running by known experts... who likewise refused to treat his issue, for lack of knowledge. ]
The first step in knowing how to solve a problem is understanding what we're dealing with. Call me optimistic in assuming there's something we can learn from this.
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( He hears him. Listens to voices sharp and shrill beneath and the sound of a deeper want, the hidden subtleties of that which Five folds and shields, like cards withheld unto his person.
If Five were a child, or a man of confessed hurts, or not a monster, Lan Wangji might offer him a pat on his back, now. A silent, steadfast embrace.
But they are as stone pillars, constantly witnessing each other, never truly connecting. Yet he asks again: )
What is your wish?
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But he isn’t the one who was one nudge away from unprovoked murder. Even if he gets it. ]
You can relax, I’m not making any wish. I won’t end up like them. [ He’s not the liability he was. This is more personal. It only hurts him, and he won’t risk the rest of his family to recover the one he forgot.
Never mind that he worked out the math to go back to the point it happened, to undo it, before he got talked out of it. Not that anyone else had to know; Lan Wangji would have only used it to build his case. He’s always been an ally only because he had no other option, and that would have changed if he’s proven too much of a threat.
Still, he lingers, if only because his powers aren’t currently cooperating with him. ]
You don’t wonder where the memories go?
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Consumed or traded. ( A simple, blunt-edged, foul conclusion. But factual, he anticipates: there is no honour among thieves and sellers of intimate possessions — flesh, souls, memories.
He watches a string of silhouettes cut their way down the streets, eyes downcast, and does not think to question whether they fear this amputation of their person, whatever the wish maker must surgically remove to fulfil them in ways likely desperate and little known. Is it worth it? A woman slithers out through a crooked door with a low, splintered sob. )
These are not kind places. ( Men, he needn't say, should not have what they desire. But then, it strikes him — ) Your will be done. Let us speak to a wish maker.
( — Lan Wangji too has a wish that burns him. )
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Wangji seems to be contemplating something similar with how he watches those passing by. Considering he was ready for murder a moment ago, Five doesn't expect the suggestion that follows, and his gaze snaps back as he tries to decipher his meaning. Years later and it's still a challenge for him, for as little as the man says but how carefully he chooses his words. Staring at him doesn't help; he can't tell if he wants an accomplice or if he actually thinks one of them could deliver what Five is after.
Has to be the former. ]
What's that now? [ Not that a con wouldn't work for them, but he needs to know that upfront. ] You want to use me as bait?
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( ...ah. The prickling, the stirrings of outrage. This is the Five they never love yet often remember. Earlier, he had been tickled by the possibility of entering the Whispering Houses and their domain. Now, his intent given voice, he shies.
Lan Wangji considers, for a moment, tempted to drag him along for the sheer novelty of coaxing Five into a dreadful affair, for a chance. What must it be like, for him not to instigate, but follow? Shocking, no doubt.
But they have no time to squabble. Never time, even to know their own thoughts. Then, half shrugging: )
I have no need of you.
( Beyond a pale veneer of legitimacy to balm his conscience. )
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He could leave him to it, and he nearly does, but for the fact that he'd been telling the truth before. Tracking Matthias is a priority, just not his only reason for coming here. It's not out of the realm of possibility that he isn't alone in that. The fact that he pivoted from murder to investigation when Five revealed his intent means he's not the only one curious.
For a moment he studies him. Weighs the reasons he would have invited him if not to deceive or murder the merchants. Five wouldn't allow his sympathy, but maybe it was his attempt to relate. It's not like he's kept score of who else might have suffered curses they've picked up along the way. ]
What's your wish?
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( He should not answer. The words do not belong to him, their biting, banal truth. What is it the man said, Matthias? He has a daughter. And Lan Wangji, starting to saunter, does he not have family?
It is a selfish, visceral, dogged want. Something at once above and beneath him. He thinks, more fool he, that Five would understand the obstinacy, the profoundness of a need that brings men to their knees. )
I love him. ( Need not speak the name, of which circumstance has only ever allowed three in Akhuras: his brother, his son, Wei Ying. The name nearly inconsequential. ) This door?
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Which means he shouldn't let him go in there alone.
It doesn't matter if he says he needs him or not once he's decided that. There's few places he can be kept out of, so it's hardly a choice. Eventually, he shakes his head and points to the second door over, while making it clear as he steps closer that he's following him inside. ]
That one.
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( This one.
Five walks, first. He follows, hands suddenly breaking when he attempts to fold them neatly atop each other, ridden by tension. Mere moments before, it had not occurred to him. He had thought, only fools —
He is most foolish a creature, most self-serving. As they walk in, the door snows down silt. Dust and decay pervade, the air stale, insalubrious. What manner of creature might live here in gladness? Lights dimmed, thick and cloying scent of — opiates. Ah. He has his answer.
They are welcomed, first, by a young woman in highly ornate robes, tattered at their edges. Worked carefully, but clearly worn in. Lan Wangji would not be surprised if they are the fashions of many years prior.
The mistress, she says, will see them shortly. Take a seat on these cushions, enjoy the establishment's finest tea brew.
He accepts, with a nod, in the way of a man who knows all too well that he is taken for a fool but has no alternative but to play this game. There cannot have been a single silhouette that passed the threshold of this house for the better part of a shichen. They wait on no one, the mistress has no company. This is merely — he takes the knee on a cushion — to bolster anticipation.
And to Five, once the girl has gone: )
Do people of power not tire of games? ( Can this not simply be done? )
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The question gets a raised eyebrow. Is he nervous? Well, not everyone can teleport out the moment they decide this was a bad idea. ]
How else would they spend their time? [ It's all part of it. Making them comfortable. The same way the Commission held orientations to get the recruits comfortable with murder. ] They probably want to attract to a wider audience than the thieves in the alleys. This way they look reputable before they swindle you out of whatever they can get their hands on.
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I have nothing. ( It should surprise no one, least of all Lan Wangji himself. Throughout this entire endeavour of the past three years, he has owned nothing past the silks on his back, on rare occasions when they were not substituted for local garments or borrowed.
No, he is not the rich brother of Gusu Lan, nor the second son of a foremost sect here. He brings nothing beyond his intensity in battle and the apparent advantage of his allegedly not displeasing looks.
Perhaps Five, who seems to at all times orbit profit, neglects that. )
Do you?
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He side eyes Lan Wangji; the audacity of asking for a loan after saying he doesn't need him, and he leans over to whisper back. ]
You think they want money? [ He's convinced they're after much more than that. But Five does carry a few things on him. Most of what is on his person are trinkets he's collected on their journey, along with Anurr's finger, but he's not empty handed. ] ...I have a few things I could barter with. Nothing I particularly want to give up, but we can make them believe.
[ Again, he's always got teleportation on his side if they try to take something he's not prepared to lose. He'll be fine. ]
What was your plan if I hadn't gone with you?
no subject
( Lying is forbidden. As is the gentle, lapsed shiver of his lips, the tension that pinches the corners of his eyes. He bows his head minutely, allowing the moment to drag and drag and fester long, until he hears footsteps, feels licks of warmth around his flesh.
Flame-lit skin and bright, feverish eyes: he is meant to rise, the servant says. The mistress will see them. And to Five, in passing: )
There was no plan. No intent. ( Is it cruelty, then, to confide this? Five has been ruthless first, before. ) You inspired.
no subject
When the servant returns, his gaze snaps to her. He rises with Lan Wangji, still the shortest of the bunch, but his hardened stare makes it clear that they're not going to be an easy mark.
He'll be blamed either way. It wouldn't be the first time. ]
Then it better be worth it. [ The servant glances at him and is greeted with a tight smile. ] We'll go together, if she doesn't mind. I'm sure she'll go over the finer details once we find out what we can afford.
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( Nothing, most likely.
Even less so, that which Lan Wangji most desires. He turns his gaze away from Five, at once indisposed and comforted for company. What can he say, when he walks alongside a boy at once child-like and elder? That he is neither crowded nor alone.
They traverse a first room, then a second. Walk into a third, and a part of Lan Wangji understands, peripherally, that the establishment is prey to sorcery — that there is no way so many chambers would fit beneath one room. Yet they did. They do.
The mistress is a pretty young thing, no doubt, as Five, aged to ten times her years apparent. She asks after their welfare. Their purpose. Pays them flattery, pinches words and teases. Gazes far too deeply into Lan Wangji's eyes, like a predator who has rounded upon the prime, plump target, and he says, unbidden: )
A golden core, mature. Prime for growth still. ( Her mouth opens, luscious. He stays her. ) Not my own.
( And her teeth are fine and firm and sharp, feline-like in a grin so pearlescent. Years, she translates. Life.
No. Immortality to come. )
To cultivate. ( Yes. She seems, all at once, to understand. To pity him, eyes soft and head tipped and her grip on her cigarette stick nearly gentle.
One gift for one of equal worth.
He understands better than she expects. )
As many years bought, you may take. ( Of him, he need not say. That much is plain. She nods, once. Again.
It is no small thing. It is not.
And he does not question her when she shoos them dismissed, saying she will send word with her final pronouncement on his request. After, she turns her gaze on Five, to ask if he too brings a request.
Here, at least, Lan Wangji is silent. )
no subject
It feels like something he should stop before they make up a contract, and then he's asked if there's something he wants, and his mouth goes dry. He can't trust them, no matter how much he's been tortured by his lost memories. All he'd be doing is opening himself up for betrayal. He could end up trapped here. ]
I came for him. [ Lan Wangji, who just decided to make an offer without hearing the options. ] He needs to think it over. Get some assurances that you can do what you say you can.
[ They need to talk. ...He could leave at that, but he reconsiders. Curiosity wins out. ]
One other thing. I'm interested in memories; to restore a person erased from the mind. If you have any customers, I'll pay to see you do it to someone and watch it work.
You can include the cost when you send your proposal.
no subject
( The woman laughs.
Later, he will remember this, slap to the face: that she laughs, for all she agrees to Five's request. That they are as nothing to her, slivers of misplaced want, irrelevant and ephemeral. That they are allowed to go just as they have come, without constraint or duress.
That more supplicants wait in the room of cushions that they only glimpse, passing by through a secondary, narrow corridor. Perhaps this is how their predecessors were also seen out, excused from sight and mind.
It rains, when they step out in crisp, battering air. It rained before, also. It rains at all times.
He lingers by the door. )
This need not be something spoken of.
( Translation: they will not speak of this. )
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