futurology | video; un: eraserhead

[ Aizawa's lolling against some tree somewhere. Terrible, slumped posture; hair wild about his face. His expression is neutral, bordering on irritable, and his voice is an exhausted monotone. He sits with one leg folded over the other, idly tossing a cat figurine from hand to hand. ]

Hey. Myself and a few others did some looking around. Apparently, both the sea clan and the mountain clan have their allies--but they're not within easy reach. In the case of the sea clan, the empress's brother is married to some far-off queen. The mountain clan's allies aren't too nearby, either.

[ He shifts minutely. His eyes flutter briefly shut, and he sighs. ]

Point being, war between these two would be irrational. The old man we spoke with said no one really wants to start anything, but I don't know how true that is. I haven't tried to approach the nobles.

[ He really doesn't look or act the part, and he knows it. Nor does he have an escort. ]

If you've spoken to any of them, what's the mood? What do they want?

[ He cards a hand through his hair, frowning slightly. ]

They're the key to this, I think. Certainly the key to actually meeting that empress of theirs. So if you've got info, or if you've made any connections, spill it.

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Speakin' of which, Hayame-han -- heard ya spent some time in the noble's district. You get any promising namedrops while you were out there?

[ or would that just be too easy ]

Not any that I could say for sure were the more prominent in their factions.

[hnnnngh she should probably mention...]

I have full faith that I could blend near flawlessly with these people if need be- and did, in the noble’s district. But it requires use of a ring from ALASTAIR that turns me human, and it cannot be used freely.

I have only two uses remaining.

[ well that's

weird but okay he can accept this, he saw a guy turn a woman's head into a book ]

Don't suppose there's anyone in this group good at illusion magic?

[ I mean WHY WOULDN'T THERE BE ]

... I have heard of one.

But I am not in position to request a boon of him.

[ he honestly couldn't tell if this was a Hayame thing or a This Other Guy thing ]

What if ya fed some lines to another team member over the comm?

I am already in his debt, to increase it would be shameful- I will use the ring again if it can be ascertained that doing so would result in something worthwhile.

Oh. Sorry.

[ HE STILL COULDN'T TELL, but it was clear he'd hit a sore spot. ]

Feel like we're chasin' our tails here.

[she’s “reading” over some of these replies as she goes along so give her a sec but]

In the absence of a Mountain clan minister, that lord Doro may be suited as an intermediary... though his relation to the mountain Empress could bring neutrality into question.

His lands being between the two could balance that, however.

Huh. It's true that he's gonna want to avoid having his lands go up in flames. But sounds like from his perspective, the Crashing Wave came outta nowhere... that's in addition to those ties to Nama ya mentioned.

What's the ask?

And I suppose the mountain clan, to the sea clan, also came out of nowhere.

The ask?

[That accent sometimes...]

No, I'm sayin' both the mountain clan and Doro have the same perspective on this. When the worlds merged, the mountain-world Doro must've been the one who made it.

[ or whatever, he didn't know how this multiverse shit worked. ]

Doro's a busy guy, right? Never seen any boss who liked havin' his time wasted. So if we got in mind what we want from him from the start, things'll go smoother.

Do we know if there was a... “sea clan Doro”?

[MULTIVERSES MAKE HER HEAD HURT]

It seems a party has already approached him and made a decent impression. We could use that to begin with, at least...

If representatives were willing to attend a banquet in Doro’s lands, it would save either Empress the disgrace of being new seen as the first one to bend in fear of the other.

You'd think if there wasn't, the Sea Clan would be makin' noise about the sudden change in leadership. 'Course, we are outside of their territory at present.

[ They should fix that.... ]

By now, news of the attack should've reached the Sea Clan. If Youmi really does want to avoid conflict, should be some added incentive to make some conciliatory noises.

...Gettin' a little worried about the lack of public response from that quarter, actually.

It is not as if outsiders in the mountain clan territories would be privy to the decisions of the sea clan empress yet, I would not worry for that particular point.

But Doro should be approached, and if he is not willing of his own it seems there are those here who can manipulate things.

[“Things”]

Sure, but we've got upwards of fifty people sniffing around, and you know how fast gossip travels. Should've seen some change in tenor, or else those advisors are a whole lot cannier than everyone's figuring 'em for.

...I ran into least two people who seem more than happy to help in that regard. Happy bunch.

[ """Things""" ]

This gossip has to actually travel first, though. And there are far less than fifty people sniffing with any experience in culture such as this. Not to mention there must be some things men are less likely to be made privy to.

I do not like to rely on such magics, but if we must.

Even with a couple of days to a week's travel between kingdoms, though, that shit should have wings. I know if it was --

[ oh wait

he'd been about to say something super sketchy

back that shit up ]

Anyhow, I don't like it. Call me a product of the modern age.

[ squint ]

[ squint all you like, you shady-ass motherfucker ]

Well, in my experience, such news has far less speedy wings towards those in a position such as we.

[call her a product of the warring states]

Hmph.

[ He said with a little smile. ]

Fair enough.

video; un: eraserhead

voice; un: kyouken

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