( video ) [ BACKDATED TO LATE ON 4/9 ]

[heelies]

[ What broadcasts over the network is the picture of a peculiar pair: Achilles and Helga, serious of countenance both, as is each's modus operandi. The metallic shell of the submarine's curved insides serves as their backdrop. ]

I should like to call to assembly the members of this crew, and I understand that this is the best means by which to reach the ears of all men, although it is more to my liking to see those to whom I give these words. It is Achilles, son of Peleus, who wishes to speak to you: I have journeyed, with a crew led by gold-clad Gilgamesh and fair-haired Kida, to the darkest reaches within the sea, which lie beyond where the imagination of men can fathom. I shall tell of that to which we have borne witness.

Down there dwells Ryba, the goddess of the sea, who is Nalanni's sister. She knows not to where Nalanni has gone, for her eyes cannot see beyond that over which she presides - but we have her reassurance that Nalanni who delights in volcanoes has not vanished in full from this land, for she would know if such a calamity has come to pass. We are told that sea and rock are anchored one to another, as life is to death: either both must make this land, or nothing at all remains. Therefore, hope has not scattered to the wind.

Wave-ruling Ryba soon grew weary of our audience, and although she welcomes supplications the price she demands is steep. It is imprudent to test the generosity of the gods. Thus we parted with little solved: still, the answers she granted ought to be shared among all.

[ Helga looks as if she would have loved to interrupt him a fair few times already, but she kept quiet in spite of herself until now. Achilles, for his part, looks none too thrilled at having to share the floor thus. ]

Ryba has not been straightforward in her answers.

[ Surely, she hasn't shot a sideway glance at Achilles when she said this. ]

What we gathered from her is that the Dakal have been driven to (or near) extinction by the Nalawi during the war between them. They had been "sent to the bottom of the sea", either literally or figuratively. It checks out, if I'm allowed to hazard a guess: on our way to Ryba's lair, we came across plenty of wrecked submarines, none of which seem to fit in with the near complete lack of technology on Komo and the other islands.

The goddess mentioned one specific Dakal, who sold her soul in order to return to the surface world. In the process, she may have been granted powers by Ryba herself, but we do not know what became of her, what those powers were, or if she did anything with them.

I have been told by the Nalawi innkeep that minor gods exist alongside Nalanni, albeit no one worships them here. Ryba proves that they are tangible to the point of concern, so I urge all of you to take great care during your exploration.

Comments

VIDEO | un: FruitsParfaitSamurai

[naturallywavy]

<sub>[ He has a hard time following, but you know, he thinks he gets it. He appears to be outside, resting against something that is big, white, and fluffy.. but whatever it is can't be determined because it pans out of the camera view.

There's sand and dirt on his face, like he's been busy with something. What a surprise. ]</sub>

Sounds like they didn't wipe'em all out like that said they did.
When I had a conversation with them, they couldn't even tell me what they were fighting about with the Dakal since it had been so long ago.

It's like one of those pointless plot twists that has action just to draw viewers back in.
_{[ gintoki... keep the 4th wall in place. ]}

video; un: adlantisag

[adlantisag]

Wipe them out...?

[ That's certainly a lot more specific--and less euphemistic--than what Pearl had heard. ]

Gintoki, explain yourself.

[naturallywavy]

<sub>[ Gintoki's posture visibly stiffens a bit when he sees Kida respond to him first instead of Achilles or Helga. HE'S SEEN THIS GIRL MAD. And not even really, really mad. Like moderately upset mad. Like when you step on a Lego kind of mad.
Not mass genocide mad, so he can only imagine she won't like his news.

His arms cross as he sinks down in his seat slightly, gently sliding further down the flank of his horse-sized dog.
(Sadaharu was the best pillow, it's true.) ]</sub>

They weren't as detailed as I would have liked, oi. They said, "we were at war because we were at war, it was so long ago." Also, one said the Dakal was the "last of their enemy and they were wiped out—" do you think they had more enemies than just the Dakal?

Kind of a flippant answer for an entire war, don't you think?

[adlantisag]

[ We were at war because we were at war. How familiar, those words.

Anger isn't a good look for Kida; it's like an inky shadow passing over her face. The reaction isn't towards Gintoki but simply visceral, as she comes to grips with her vivid memories of Atlantis' fall and what she imagines the end of the Dakal must have been like. Atlantis was a continental landmass and took a day to collapse; the Dakal must have had hours. ]

Our hosts are not so innocent as we would presume them to be. Ryba said the Dakal were all with her, now. If they had other enemies, I do not know--but I no longer doubt their capacity to dispatch their opponents.

[naturallywavy]

_{[ He notices that look on Kida's face, but for some godforsaken dumb reason he doesn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth: ]}

Yeah, well.
Our hosts are the ones who we're supposed to help.
It's not a matter of determining judgement and picking sides.

_{[ WHY. ]}

[adlantisag]

[ She snarls. ]

How can you speak so lightly? Thousands are dead! Are you condoning their actions?!

[naturallywavy]

_{[ Kida, you're talking to somebody who has killed thousands with his own hands.
...Well, at least hundreds.
Unlike when they were in the water, Gintoki doesn't bend to her will and word— he becomes more argumentative. This is a more important matter that he wants to discuss. ]}

Oi, but we don't know why. They could have been protecting their land. _{[ again, him with all of this "protect" stuff... ]}
Even if it's kinda strange we don't know why they were fighting, you can't assume what was done was just because they were bored.

_{[ He's an odd jobber— a freelancer— and a lot of times, he's given very difficult and sometimes morally incorrect tasks. He's not saying anything was invalid, but he feels it isn't fair when they don't understand their new mission still. ]}

Kida-san, _{[ oh wow her actual name ]} we're not here to cause more trouble.
_{[ siding with the Dakal seems like it would be insubordination. ]}

[adlantisag]

[ Very few people here are innocent to death; Kida herself certainly isn't. She's hurting for the Dakal because they were wiped out the same way her people were--except in Atlantis' case, the threat came from within. The Dakal don't even have that. ]

Defense cannot possibly justify the slaughter of every man, woman and child! [ She's stupefied that he'd even argue this, but she's very visibly taking this personally. ]

We have been sent here to protect the Timeline--to protect this world, Nalawi the land rather than Nalawi the people. What if the Dakal's revenge ties into that?

[ Their briefing was clear: This world has been indicated as an instability in the Timeline, although ALASTAIR is still working to find exactly what it is about it that has flagged it.

Maybe it's not all so clear-cut after all. ]

[naturallywavy]

<sub>[ He's obviously listening, and an expression twists on his face that isn't favorable either.
He's accustomed to job requests— usually the client comes into his home and explains what they need help with in vivid detail, and sometimes it is a request with money dropped off in an envelope. Never has he worked with a client who didn't give enough detail about what work needed to be done.

Except here.

Anyway, he disagrees with Kida. Gintoki will kill to protect, regardless of age, sex, or species if he knows it is what needs to be done. He's a different shounen hero in that regard. ]</sub>

You'd think they'd be a lot more detailed with our work here over something crucial like this, aah?
It's just more evidence that more research here needs to be done before we come up with any conclusions about anything.

_{[ By Kida's reaction, he knows this is hitting close to home with her, but he doesn't pry at it. Maybe another time, another place.. or not at all. Gintoki has his own problems he doesn't want people prying into, so he respects others'. ]}

We should try to research their history even more than ever before.

[adlantisag]

[ If the choice came between slaughtering a foreign people and the wellbeing of her own, the answer would be painful but clear for Kida. But she'd try just about anything else before getting to that point...and she'd carry the weight of that choice for the rest of her long life. It isn't just the taking of life that gets to her--it's the scale of it. If this is true, it's nothing less than genocie.

Right now, all his words are succeeding in doing is making her angrier. She doesn't want to be rational, or wise. Water is not a quick, painless killer. ]

And how do you suggest we do such a thing when ALASTAIR itself is without answers for us?

[naturallywavy]

Asking the right people, but it appears like we're getting vague answers. We have to research ourselves. Better yet, get answers from the Dakal.. if there are anymore left like we are suspecting.

_{[ He scratches his head, honestly perplexed himself. ]}

What's this mention of "minor gods?" An unaffiliated party could shed some light on the truth.

[adlantisag]

If there are any more. [ But she recognizes that arguing is pointless, even though she's still bristling. ]

Unaffiliated party? Are there any?

[ As far as they're aware, all the Nalawi worship Nalanni, and the Dakal...well. Who knows? ]

[naturallywavy]

_{[ exasperated: ]}
That's what we need to figure out. They could give us an unbiased opinion on all of this crap instead of us all just making assumptions.

_{[ Gintoki. Genocide isn't an assumption, but he's giving these deer people a benefit of the doubt. ]}

[anteil]

| OH NOT YOU AGAIN. |

When you're done talking nonsense...

| Drawing viewers back in? They didn't do that in 1914. |

The Dakal was in a right state, if Ryba's judgment can be trusted. They were successful enough, unless you have seen any of them around?

[naturallywavy]

_{[ not you again either. The feeling is mutual. ]}
Being a nearly extinct kind myself _{[ gintoki what the actual fuck ]} I wouldn't so easily tread into enemy territory.

This last Dakal you mentioned, if it exists, is probably linked to the absence of the powers. It's probably trying to seek revenge, but not so openly.

It's like me _{[ here we go ]} with my wavy hair _{[ why does he always go back to his hair ]} I can't go into just an average salon. I gotta go to a place who specializes in wavy hair.
If I go to a normal salon, I'm doomed for sure.

_{[ this is hardly an analogy; he just wants to gripe about his curly hair. ]}

[anteil]

| Last Helga checked, assholes were far from extinct. Though she has a bullet reserved for one particular bastard back home, all she needs is a good chance...

Be that as it may, he's got a point. |

If you would join the army, they would absolve your of your dilemma. Crew cuts aren't terribly in fashion here, but when you are unwilling or unable to stomp out a problem at its root...

| Which does relate back to her original point. |

If we caught that Dakal, we would be one step closer to leaving these deer to their own devices again.

[naturallywavy]

_{[ The funny part here is: he's already a military man. He's already made history, though through a title 'Shiroyasha' and was on death row for the work he did.. the people he killed.
Though, the average guy who is trying to prove a point might bring up this argument to also boast, but Gin sees no need to. She doesn't need to know this about him. ]}

Easy enough.
Let's find it.

[anteil]

That is the plan.

| She's almost a bit startled herself, but for the first time, she looks at him with something that is... almost respect. Not quite, but a close call. |

How do you propose we subdue it?

[naturallywavy]

There's a lot of animals around here. Maybe they could use their instincts to track it down since all these magical people are useless— which isn't a surprise.
It's probably also strong, so plenty of weapons should be ready— weapons that work.

Or—
We should research some more. Set up a good ole fashioned ransom of some kind and let it come out on it's own to us.
_{[ basically it's a trap. ]}