( 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 | username: NAILS

[nichocolatine]

[ amidst a cloud of smoke, badou tries to make sense of all this... information? look, he likes a good scoop as much as fhe next guy — i mean, shit, he pretty much deals in information — but he's struggling to find how any of this is all that relevant. it still doesn't tell them how to get the nalawi's powers back, it still didn't tell them where nalanni went.

but he supposes he appreciates the context.

aka, congrats, recruits! the victims you're working so hard to help weren't always such victims. ta da ~ ]

Not to rob you guys of your glory and shit, cuz that's all pretty cool and all, but...

So what? We already got a way to get them their powers back, right? I know we all ain't a fan of the bomb idea, but ain't that all our job's asking of us here?

video | username: apocalypseArisen

[timebender]

Actually, I thought to ask ALASTAIR about that very same thing! Inciting an eruption now is just a stop-gap measure to help some of our more magically-inclined team mates.

So, it is to help us, more than it is to help them, at least for right now.

[nichocolatine]

[ oh it's alien girl! it takes badou a moment to respond, mostly because he's busy arching a brow at that colorful username of yours, aradia... nice. where does he get a cool one like that huh! ]

Hang on hang on—

[ he holds up a hand while the other reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose. ]

Y'mean t'say that bomb ain't really for them? It's more for us?? Can I take back my support then cuz that sure does sound like a good way to get some deerfolk real angry at us, and fast!

[timebender]

Hmm. Well, I think it will help them temporarily as well. Maybe it will be a morale boost? They do seem pretty despondent and I can understand why!

[ She shrugs, but something in her face is sharper than before, like she's trying to measure something up and finding that her measurements are off. ]

Not doing it sounds like a good way to lose the help of many of our teammates. If the loss of their powers doesn't outright destroy them, they might be weakened, or lacking some of the abilities that might be a great help to us.

[nichocolatine]

Ugghhhhhhrghhhhhhhhhhhghh.

[ it's a low, rather pathetic sound, slightly muffled by the hand he's placed over his face. somehow, though, he still manages to keep the cigarette between his lips quite intact. ]

I officially hate magic, [ he proclaims, quite helpfully. ] It ain't been nothing but trouble so far!

[timebender]

[ Aradia's face softens again, and it gets a good laugh out of her. ]

Don't be so hard on it! Magic isn't so bad once you get to know it.

[nichocolatine]

[ there is a pause as he looks her over — noting the easy shift in expression.

with a sigh, badou leans his chin on his hand, delivering a look of utter melodrama. ]

You trying t'tell me magic'a got a decent personality or somethin'?

Whatever happened to cute bunnies outta tophats, huh? Whatever happened to the good ol' days?

[timebender]

[ If Aradia hadn't been inundated with the supernatural all her life, she might be a little perturbed herself. ]

I don't know anything about bunnies, but I have been told on occasion that I am pretty cute, if that's any comfort.

But at this point, I don't think a rabbit would help us more than being a meager sacrifice for a sea goddess.

[nichocolatine]

But can ya wiggle yer nose an' do a lil' hop?!

[ that's what's #important here, aradia! he'd rather not have to think about sacrificial rituals tyvm ]

[timebender]

[ Eh. She's seen worse. She's not keen on actually doing any sacrificing, but talking about it can't hurt.

Might creep people out though. ]

Yes, but I choose not to. I hope you'll understand. It's just not very efficient for me, being on two legs and all.

[nichocolatine]

[ those kinda talks are best had with a fresh cig and maybe some comfortable pillows for cradling. y'know. for science. ]

Dunno, that's sounding pretty damn selfish if ya ask me.

[ also, he is a child. ]

[timebender]

I can fly around some, if I get my wings back. How about that?

[ She's not actually going to fly around for him, but she's having fun entertaining the notion. ]

[nichocolatine]

[ that ain't really the same as hopping, he'd say, except he's too busy thinking the fuck? ]

No shit, you got wings too?

[ how fair is that... he doesn't even have both his eyes! ]

[timebender]

I do! And many other tricks. They come in handy, when they're actually functioning.

[nichocolatine]

No kidding. Like what?

[timebender]

How about time travel? Unfortunately, it hasn't been much use to me here, even without everyone losing their powers. I need to talk to ALASTAIR about that when I get back.

[nichocolatine]

Bullshit. You serious? Y'mean you can go back and forward and change shit up however you please??

[timebender]

I am very serious! I could, but I wouldn't. I don't make a habit of changing the timeline just for kicks.

[nichocolatine]

Why not? These people don't seem t'mind doing it.

[timebender]

I have to trust that they know their own timelines better than I do! I'm afraid that the ones in this universe are unfamiliar, which is exactly what I'd like to talk to them about.

[nichocolatine]

So what's the point? You got all those powers, but if you ain't using 'em, don't it just seem meaningless?

[anteil]

I'm guessing we aren't unlikely to piss off something if we toss a homemade pseudo-bomb into a volcano to see if it solves our problems. Now we know that something might be a god.

| She scowls. This isn't going to her satisfaction, either. As an afterthought: |

Or genocidal deer people.

[nichocolatine]

[ there is a pause, and then a rather deliberate shrug of his shoulders, his expression blank — as if that kind of apathy took more effort than it should have. ]

Everybody's somebody's bad guy. [ he may not have fought in a real war, but he's been in enough battles to know that in a fight like that? nobody is ever a "good guy." if the nalawi hadn't done it, who's to say if the dakal wouldn't have. ]

Not like any of us can really afford morals 'round here.

A job's a job, right?

[anteil]

A job's a job if you actually get paid.

| ....................... Yes, Helga, that's the problem here. |

This is a forced draft, but since death is a likely possibility, we might as well mess with matters that are none of our business.

| Because really, Helga cares about keeping her ass on ground level, as opposed to the hundred feet drop she was facing back home. Deer people, cat people, she doesn't care either way. |

[nichocolatine]

[ HOLD YOUR HORSES ]

—WE AIN'T GETTIN' PAID?

[ THEN WTF IS HE RISKING HIS LIFE FOR YOUR LOGIC MAKES NO SENSE HELGA ]