4924/The Nature of Darkness

The Nature of Darkness
Date of Scene:	23 December 2016
Location:	Lumiere
Synopsis:	After the Multiversal reordering, the fall of the Super Factions, and many other changes, a return to Lumiere occurs to decide what to do about the Stone Devils.
Cast of Characters:	974, Kushiko, Count Kord, Staren, Inga, Seifer Almasy, 984, 986, Tomoe, Priscilla

---

Carna (974) has posed:
    The Cavern of Death, where the entrance to Lumiere once lay, has been... Altered. It has been interwoven with the Cavern of Life, Cavern of Fire, and Cavern of Ice. Their borders are no longer distinct, but instead overlap or cease to exist entirely. And yet, in a part of the caverns with moss-covered ruins, where skeletons woven through with vines arise to attack trespassers, a place where even the foliage seems as though it has been dry and lifeless for a very, very long time, there still lies a pit with a supernatural fall through darkness until one alights upon an endless expanse of black marble, with a single set of doors made of stone-wrought skeletons.

    And beyond, the apex of the underworld known as Lumiere waits as always, near-lightless, full of murk and danger, and the decay and death that has accumulated over an eternity of stagnation. The trip to meet Enark and Carna at the former's study in the Tower of Escher is as uneventful as usual for those who make use of the strange glowing spires known as Shrines of Light. The mimic recliner, Wilson, has been cordoned off so no one accidenntally sits on it and gets bitten in half, but other than that, the only ones initially present are a hook-nosed dead man in tattered robes, and a different sort of dead woman garbed in a cloak and a very large hat.

    There is also a flat shadowy thing called Crow with a cartoonish smile on its face and a pair of pointed 'ears' atop its 'head'. It seems quite excited to be meeting new people and re-meeting familiar ones.

    The meeting in this dismal place is to discuss two matters. The first is a research project that Priscilla asked Enark and Crow to undergo related to a city known as Barad-Ghul, which is close to the link point between Lumiere and the World of Ashes. The other is the recent matter with the Stone Devils, and their apparent insistence upon sabotaging and disrupting all efforts to make Lumiere less awful.

    Previously, a rogue Stone Devil fearing that her Order has been corrupted from within by a man named Luc, was told that devoting resources to fighting off a bunch of extremely experienced combatants was not viable. There was simply too much else to do.

    But then the Stone Devils attacked an effort to create a habitable space for civilian Lanterns, those Dead who can not fight.

    What will be the action taken now?

Kushiko has posed:
Always with the choices--stay, fight, hunt, kill, reject and accept, all different shades, all different nuances of 'choice' the Tenno found herself in the midst of. Despite this, it was nice to see Carna again--the Tenno in this case having the shape and frame of the Gunslinger--Mesa--though her aesthetic of familiar orchid and dark purple colors tended to be a dead giveaway that it was her.

In tow with her after an alarmingly discrete arrival (goddamn ninjas) was a rather massive hound that puts Irish wolfhounds to shame as the blindfolded gunslinger made her way to where Carna was and extending her hand first to hers to clasp at the wrist in a firm handshake. <"Good to see you again, Carna."> In person this time, and not just over the radio as her voice projected with that odd discordant echo. <"And the same of you, Enark. Even you, Crow."> she offers, tilting her head slightly towards her.

And then to the matter at hand: <"Has anything changed since the incident?"> Since they had to fight off so many of the Stone Devils and worser still, the Unlit that made themselves known like the Vulture-types.

Count Kord has posed:
    Kord is here for the first time since the Multiversal Upheaval. He has undergone some predictable affiliation restructuring, his priorities still clear to him. When he arrives to meet Enark and Crow, he pauses to regard Crow with some idle suspicion. The kinship felt there, in a manner of speaking, made the edgy armored Pokemon-themed knight pretty uncomfortable. Nothing bothered him more than something that felt that familiar.

    Of course, because Crow keeps a foot in both creepy AND cute, he raises a hand to wave at the animated shadow to relay that his clear discomfort is complicated.

    "I am ready to focus on matters other than assisting the dead of this world and getting my efforts toppled by agents of chaos. What else do we have to talk about?" he prompts, his tone seeming distracted. He just can't stop staring at Crow from a safe distance. Kord isn't familiar with what Priscilla said to Enark, though. He's been a little out of the loop.

    That shadow really freaks him out. Everything about it.

Staren has posed:
    The Multiverse has reshuffled (again,) so Staren is relieved to learn that Lumiere is still accessable. "Carna, Enark. ...Crow. Good to see you again. Has anything happened here since last we visited? I notice the entrance topside has... changed, somewhat."

    He gives Kord a surprised look. "You're giving up, that easily?"

Inga has posed:
Of all the places she's visited in the multiverse, Lumiere is one of the more depressing. It is a dead world--and underworld with no Up Above. No great halls of the gods, no smiling ancestors. Just a death that mocks life, a world with a broken cycle. She must think there is something that could be done, or she wouldn't be here.

The wisewoman limps toward those gathering to discuss the situation, leaning on her staff, her lips turned in a small frown. She'd outfitted in all her usual talismans, bone and iron and amber, with a long grey skirt and a blue sweater, white hair braided neatly over her shoulder.

"Greetings," she says, subdued. It's been a hell of a week.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     Seifer Almasy doesn't know shit.

     ...that's not a general statement. Seifer knows a lot of things. He's quite clever, despite the stereotype of JRPG heroes, he's quite well-learned about a weird array of topics, and he's even capable of being thoughtful and having profound opinions formed over periods of more than five minutes.

     It's just that he doesn't know shit about *this* situation, these people, or what he's doing here beyond 'it's a job' and 'probably protecting somebody' and 'possibly meeting somebody cute.' So currently, Seifer is doing that touristy JRPG thing that he does when he doesn't know what's going on or who he's dealing with or what the situation is: he's going around looking at all the items present in the room to get his companions' opinion on them while he waits to see which one of them gets someone important to say something.

     Also, he killed a skeleton to get here, and that was pretty weird.

     Seifer leans over the mimic recliner. It is very interesting. "Huh," he says thoughtfully, "I wonder if that's normal."

     Nothing responds.

     "Yeah, yeah...y'know, between the two of us, you're definitely the weirder."

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
"We're not going to get very far with this city building so long as this order's harrying our efforts." Is KAral Rei Lin's assessment of the situation. She's frustrated, because she'd been looking forward to seeing what comes of this crazy endeavor.. and look what happened!

    She's dressed as usual, with sword sheathed at her side. This time though, her brow's furrowed and lips are pressed together in a thin and pensive manner.

    "The scary thing is this cult might not be full of hot air! We really need to figure out what they're yammering about..."

Staren has posed:
    "Only in Enark's library. Don't go there alone." Staren comments aside to Seifer.

Soma Cruz (986) has posed:
Soma Cruz arrives without fanfare. His hands are stuffed in the pockets of his long white coat, which really stands out in the darkness, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The expression on his face is a strange mix of comfortable and anxious. His brain does not like this place. It's like the Demon Castle but /worse/. It doesn't burn with the fires of chaos, but the death and stillness is very similar to certain places in it.

What may remain of the Dark Lord, Dracula, in his soul is enjoying it. Probably. It may be where the comfortable sensation is coming from. That same sensation that's making him anxious.

As he enters the meeting spot, he surveys the occupants before settling himself out of the way, trying to get his head on right.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     Seifer scoffs. "I'm pretty sure I could kill a chair. Maybe you just suck." It's unclear if he's talking to Staren or the unusual phantasmal nothingness he occasionally directly addresses.

Staren has posed:
    "/A/ chair, sure, but there was a huge horde of mimics there. It was not a fun time." Staren replies, just sort of... confused at some random guy insulting him out of the blue.

Tomoe has posed:
The Cavern of Death held more fear for Tomoe now but she was hear. She had promises to keep and didn't want to leave people in the lurch, she'd arrive her best known Salamander self. She looked ready for troubl one way or another given the Stone Devils are going ot ahve to be handled one way or another she took a deep breth and was ready as she move to catch up with everyone else. It was good to see so many people had endured the end of the war and all the mandess there within on it. She also sees the huge dog like thing to shame and she looks at it figuring that it shouldn't be an issue as she arrives.

"Sorry I have been off the map but things have been insane for me since Najourn went up."

the Iron Lily looks at Seifer for a moment.

"Your new hi, name's Tomoe The Iron Lily."

Soma gets the same look and greeging and she looks over to Lin.

"That's what really worries me too Lin."

Priscilla has posed:
    Though often the first one here, today Priscilla wanders in last. Enark's little study is a place she will not be forgetting for a very long time, after the process of getting there, and so she seems to have felt a small detour was acceptable.

    Judging by the faded book she arrives with, spread open between her fingers so that she can read while she walks, it had been to another floor of the same tower. Considering she is once again staring at an artist's interpretation of the same, relatively simple circlet on her head, affixed with its Hollow stone that reacts weirdly to the dark down here, it hadn't been all that productive without Enark's power of 'knowing where to find all the books' in that preposterously huge library.

    "Pray, heed Sir Staren for this one issue: do not." Priscilla follows up to Seifer on her way in, affecting the distracted tone of a parent who is used to her kids fighting all the time, busy reading the newspaper. "No level of skill with the blade shalt aid thee in navigating any space grand enough to house all knowledge ever burned throughout history. If thou fear not the thought of any given item of clutter baring teeth at thee, consider at least thine ability to find thine way back."

    The book snaps shut, complete with a dramatic puff of dust, and a disinterested sigh from its holder. "The prophets art as impenetrably grandiloquent as ever, no matter where it is that one searches through their works. Sir Enark, I wouldst be gladdened to hear the results of thine own searches, provided there art any to speak of. As it wouldst seemeth, I now bear some responsibility for ensuring most within this room hath proper context."

Carna (974) has posed:
    Carna looks at the hand offered to her initially, rather than accepting it, but seems to realize what's expected of her eventually, and follows through with the ritual greeting. "As you say." she answers Kushiko.

    Enark and Crow seem more enthusiatic, though even Enark is slightly more subdued than normal. He at least has the courtesy to smile and nod his head.

    Crow, on the other hand, feels the need to introduce itself to every person it sees here. "Hi! I'm Crow!" is repeated at least once for each person, possibly more than that. It extends a length of shadow into a noodly arm with a 'hand' at the end of it in order to wave back to Kord enthusiastically. Could it do that before? It produces an additional hand and arm for each person, until the Shadow has limbs waving all over the place.

    Enark answers the question of changes, nodding to Staren's assessment of the area 'outside' the entrance, with, "Not a great deal. There have been no further attacks upon the Church of Bleak Mercy, if that is what you mean. After that... Event on Hallow's Eve, I have been researching the city of Barad-Ghul, as-requested."

    "I helped!" Crow interjects.

    "Crow has, indeed, helped. Mimics can not eat it while retrieving materials, after all.--Ah, that's another new feature of our Shadow friend. It has learned how to manipulate the shadows of inanimate objects to affect the objects themselves. No luck thus far on touching people, but..." But perhaps that's a good thing, Enark leaves unsaid.

    Crow takes the time to sliiide across the floor over to Inga, controlling the distance it extends off the flat surface so that it's as 'tall' as the priestess. "You seem gloomy. Like you're drained of energy." Its smile widens. "That's great! You'll fit in here just fine!" Crow then just keeps smiling at Inga with its glassy little round eyes, without explaining what that's suppose to mean. Maybe it's just a reference to how depressing the place is and how everyone here seems miserable. Except Crow.

    The recliner growls at Seifer as he leans over it, scooting on its wooden 'legs' a bit at a time, to not betray the limits of the chain that tethers it to the floor. Probably unhealthy to get too close to, even with the furniture and boxes stacked around it. There do seem to be some interesting things lying around though. A wax skull that occasionally chatters its teeth and produces whispers that sound like distorted scraps of conversation that others may be picking up on radios. A bunch of diagrams of the tower they're in, even if there's a whole lot missing. A Halloween Costume of some kind of... Mystic... With a turban or something? And a book thick enough to be used as a blunt weapon lying atop a bunch of other books on Enark's desk. It just says 'Directory' on it. And is readable regardless of one's native language.

    Carna looks to Soma briefly, analyzing him and Seifer both, being new faces, before turning her attention from the former to a more familiar one. "Karal, it appears to me that the veracity of their beliefs is irrelevant in the face of their efforts to kill us and those we tried to protect. Examining their motives can wait until they are no longer a threat to our own progress."

Carna (974) has posed:
    Enark waves off Tomoe's apology. "Apocalypses tend to be jarring experiences. I do not blame anyone for loss of contact or absence from the affairs of this dead place. It took some time for us to 'teach' our Chattering Skulls to 'talk' on the new communication bands as well." When Priscilla arrives, Enark makes a show of bowing to the queen, and Carna tilts her head briefly likewise.

    Crow just scrunches itself down, and then back up, emulating a curtsey.

    "Well, I shall begin with the bad news." Enark is not going to waste time asking which people prefer. "We could find no records of anything by the name Barad-Ghul. If it exists, it exists outside the bounds of human knowledge. Though the supposed locale of it may have some explanation to it. And to explain THAT, I will have to start over." Enark shifts a bit, feeling like he already messed up, clearing his throat.

    "The Dead do not keep their names." he says simply, taking it one step at a time. "When we 'arrive' here, it is at a processing station of sorts, where we are divested of our living identities. Many times, our memories are already fragmented. By disassociating ourselves from the names we held in life, the process of breaking down our ties to our living selves begins. As you may recall..." He begins to pace the room, but pauses to add on, "Or those who have been here before at least. Greetings, I am Enark, by the way. This is Carna, and that is Crow." He then proceeds with walking. "...Lumiere's original purpose was a reincarnation mechanism. A way of reintroducing departed souls to the world. But one can not just stick a soul with all its past experience and memories intact into a new-born body. There all sorts of troublesome things that can occur from that. So a soul begins down here, in the First Candle, known as Lostrata. This is the one most closely representing how things were in the World of Ashes, to minimize the shock experienced following death."

    He turns around and starts pacing back the other way after reaching the far end of the study. He takes a moment to take in everyone and make sure they are paying attention. "But the process has to begin somewhere. So we are given new names. Enark is not my name from life, to be certain. None of the other Lit like myself have their birth names either." He gestures vaguely at Carna. "Do not ask me to guess at where Lantern names come from. Cobbled together from those they ate when they were Unlit, invented on their own, imbued by whatever nonsense lets them exist in the first place? I have no idea."

    Crow remains silent on the matter of names, having been given a warning from Enark before now. Well, silent except to say, "I'm Crow!" Again.

    Enark waves the Shadow off.

Carna (974) has posed:
    "The POINT is, each Candle is further and further removed from a simulation of mortal existence. By the time you reach the highest Candle, Ashron, one is in a place almost devoid of impression or similarity to the living world. I've never been there before, but from all description, it's possible the reason why we know so little of Barad-Ghul is the simple fact that it is a place where things are less..." He gestures vaguely, looking for a word. "...'Definite'. It is hard to say what does or does not exist there, in a place so close to erasure of the self and the memories that come with it. But some have gone there. And one of the current Lords of Silence, King Solumnus, rules or ruled there. So I began researching names to see if there is anyone here in Lostratra who once ventured to Ashron. And I came upon an anomaly."

    Enark pauses, having reached the other side of the study, and turns around once more. "There are some were not given 'Death Names' upon arrival in Lumiere. Not many, but that there are any is very strange. It means that these individuals would never be reincarnated as long as they retained their names. For whatever reason, they were planned to remain in Lumiere indefinitely. Which brings me to my question: How familiar are you all with the 'Arthurian Mythos'? Because King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, or at least whoever inspired those stories, were allowed to keep their identities and remain right here in Lostrata. And I believe it would be worthwhile to seek them out."

    Carna then blurts out what Enark has been dancing around, having run out of patience for this piece of theater. "What Enark discovered is that this 'King Arthur' and his minions set up a new court as protectors here in Barrowville, in the place that is currently the Stone Devils head quarters."

    Enark gives Carna the stink eye for pre-empting him, but just sniffs and says, "I was getting to that."

Soma Cruz (986) has posed:
Soma listens to exposition, frowning slightly. "So...these guys are hiding out where these devils are?" He says, looking thoughtful. "Does that mean they're secretly in league with them, or just can't really be assed to deal with them at all?"

There he is, asking the important questions.

Count Kord has posed:
    "Maybe they /are/ the Stone Devils." Kord offers this possibility to the air, to support Soma's train of thought. "An unfathomable amount of time occurred between their deaths and now. They could have changed a great deal in the interim. But I believe Enark has more to say." The bored tone he takes is a little rude, but he IS listening to Enark and watching with about as much attentiveness as a lazy bird of prey.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe was happy to see Priscilla was up and about too and give her friend a nod. She gives her a nod and a bit of a grin as she arrives here. "Lady Priscilla good to see you as well."
D She didn't doubt Priscillai would surive what hapned but it was good to see here none the less. Still now isn't hte time for being social she looks to CArna and then to the others Crown and Enark most notabley she listens.

"Then no harm done then Enark. Still I'll try to make sure I have alternate means of contact later as I'm a free agent at this point now."

She now listens to the bad news.

"It still doesn't sit right, I just pray I keep myself of self after I meet my end."

She knows she won't live forever she's shocked she's made it this far given the Death game. She also listens as things are further explained.

"They are pretty big on my world some of it helped me not to .. become a savage during the death game. WAit... are you saying they are the Stone Devils...?!"

Kushiko has posed:
Inga gets a modest bow of the Tenno's head as she spots her. Granted, some of what she was doing here herself was asking things as to get herself and everyone else fully acquainted. Given the general chaos of what went on before, and the Multiversal Boogaloo, well. Yeah.

Seifer gets a slight 'stare' from her. As much as a faceless, eyeless thing can stare.

Given that Priscilla says what she herself might, she elects to not add much to that. Except internally ponder why the Multiverse is making Staren the reasonable one more lately. No, not really.

In any event, once greetings and the like are exchanged Kushiko falls back a little bit; mostly to allow Crow to introduce themselves properly to /every single person/ as it should be, though the change in shadow control is something new and, following the explanation, merits a slight 'stare' from her again, the hound making a faint *wuff!* before she turns once and curls up next to where Mesa is for the time being.

The other part of why she falls silent is owed to what other things have been going on here. She heard only rumors and vague notions regarding that Hallow's Eve incident, so some of this is fresh and new to her, and the growling chair earns a slight head swivel. And as Enark begins his explanation, if Kushiko could demonstrate a frown on Mesa's face, it would be one of the darkest ones she could ever sport. The aspects of memory--some of them at least--ring with her, even if the reasons are different. Couple everything else, and it's clearer still on Carna's own reasons for keeping track of everything via notebook.

That's troubling... and it becomes more troubling once she recalls matters regarding that prophecy, hell, regarding the World Mimic; even if they were pretty sure those there were facsimiles of themselves. There comes a faint grimace from her, though she doesn't elaborate fully.

And then the matter of Arthurian mythos. <"We ourselves are somewhat... passingly familiar. The first of us was christened 'Excalibur' against the enemy we faced."> A slight pause. <"Though at the time it did not matter. It was simply a name chosen. I got curious myself. And in this matter, I think we should find out more about them and the situation without violence if we can help it.">

After all, given how things were regarding the Stone Devils, further combat wasn't the best of ideas, and the Tenno falls silent in order to allow Enark to continue; she suspects that opening a dialogue won't be terribly simple.

Staren has posed:
    Staren listens to the long exposition. "Isn't the idea of a Lantern's 'birth name' nonsense anyway? You're amalgamations of a bunch of souls..."

    Arthurian mythos? Staren nods. "I've talked to a couple of king Arthurs."

    His face darkens as Carna gets to the point. "So... it seems likely that King Arthur and his... or her, knights, were to rule here and they've decided they like the current state of things, rechristening themselves the Stone Devils and getting in our way?"

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
"Bregh.." One downside to not coming from an Earth world is that Lin's legends are totally different. "Only know the gist of it. A King who pulled a magical sword from a stone to prove his worth."

    She snaps her fingers at some of the theories being thrown around! "Too early to say if they're these Stone Devils. It's a thing we've gotta investigate!"

Inga has posed:
Inga nods to Kushiko in return, looking for a place to sit. It is always funny for Inga to be in a library. Surrounded by so much knowledge that she cannot access.

To Crow, she smiles slightly. "It has been an interesting week. Worry not," she responds, only for Crow to shift his attention elsewhere, as he is known to do.

With a quiet sigh, Inga keeps her attention on Enark as he speaks, listening and taking it all in. When he asks if they are familiar with Arthurian legend, Inga cannot help but smile. "I am passing familiar--I am personally aquianted with several of these knights on another world," she comments. No telling how useful that migh be, but one never knows.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     "OK," Seifer says to Crow, because that is all he can say to a shadow introducing itself. The recliner growling at him like a dog gets Seifer to sneer and nearly growl back, only stopping because he is either reminded or suddenly recognizes that there are ladies present and it'd be pretty stupid of a knight to get into a dog-growling match with a piece of stupid furniture. He does make a note to himself that he hates that chair, though. He hates it. He also looks at the wax skull, the diagrams, the halloween costume, and the book before coming to the conclusion:

     "All of this shit is weird."

     Then he sits to listen to Metaphysics 101.

     "I don't know shit about this King Arthur guy except that he said something to me on the radio," Seifer helpfully catches everyone up with the fact that he is not from Earth, "But you gotta go through some deep gang turf t' get t' these guys you wanna talk to, 'cause they kept their names or somethin' like that and you wanna find out how, right?"

     "Alright, I kinda get it."

     Seifer shrugs at thin air, looking off at nothing. Then he says, "Yeah, you're right," seemingly without prompting, and looks back at the group. "Alright, so, how do we beat the crap out of those guys? I mean, if it's stealth, a big enough party's gonna get found, or leave holes, or get spotted."

     "Or if that guy," Seifer jerks a thumb at Staren, "Is right and they're the same thing you're gonna have to do some violence anyway. So you might as well get ready for a fight either way, yeah?"

     Seifer turns to Karal. "A magic sword?" He scratches the back of his head, looking away from her and off into the distance again. "Yeah, yeah...shut up." He looks back at Karal. "I guess you're as lost as I am, but on the off chance, what sword is it? Call it, uh, personal curiousity, I guess."

     That's an open invitation for anyone to answer him, Karal's just the one who brought it up, so he's facing her.

Priscilla has posed:
    "I am most certain thou didst." says Priscilla to Crow, in no sarcastic terms. Ever since she had deigned to pick the little Shadow up off the walkway outside of the city (much to widespread discontent), self-titled Crow (or Kuro?) had revealed myriad uses for his bizarre, two-dimensional body, and his derpy little shadow noggin. The weirdness of his existence has long since washed pale on her. His helpfulness is constant, reassuring vindication of her snap decision.

    Plus his attempt at a curtsey is adorable. Priscilla waves Enark and Carna on, appreciative of the show of respect, but here for practical reasons. The information she gets out of the two is partly something she had been suspicious of, but mostly unexpected, and it would be a lie to say that Kord's offered opinion hadn't occurred to her as an unfortunate possibility.

    "Thou hast done well in thine duties as a Scholar, Sir Enark, and for that I thank thee." Priscilla says, briefly looking about as if she intends to sit down, before laying eyes upon Wilson again, and surreptitiously sliding her tail behind her. "Let us briefly dispense with the density of esoterica, however, for those who were given not the opportunity to explore the Hallow's Eve memory. I restate as thus:"

    "The dark realm all about us belongeth to the dead. The Caverns, even now, can place none in the portion of this world belonging to the living. All evidence wouldst suggesteth that this is simply because no such thing exists any longer. Though a number of 'afterlives' art said to exist in this darkness, the one with which we art concerned is this 'Lumiere', and as Sir Enark hast said, it is a realm purposed towards rehabilitating and reincarnating the deceased. As of some unfathomable time prior, Lumiere was flooded well over capacity, by what wouldst seemeth to be the death of the entire world above, as nothing hast arrived since."

    "Lost to time, was some attempt by figures of old to reestablish a link to the world above, and determine the cause of its destruction, but most obviously such was unsuccessful, and the details hath long been lost to the complete collapse of all social and metaphysical order, whence Lumiere was taxed beyond its limits. 'Barad-Ghul' is supposedly the name of a city, somewhere within Lumiere, that was once the final staging grounds for those who departed for the living world, and thus logically must lay close to our objective. Such is why I believeth it a worthy point of pursuit, for the time being."

    "The Stone Devils art . . ." Priscilla (finally) pauses for words. "I hath made mine opinion known. They art too well armed to be considered a mere nuisance, but their goal as a covenant, in practicality, wouldst seemeth only to functionally run counter to our own. They art an obstacle, as I doubteth they art lead by this King's knights, or else if they art, we hath already been told their leaders to be long ago slain by the traitor Luc."

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     "Hey, wait," Seifer says after a moment, waving his hand in the air as if to dispell some smoke, "How do we even know these guys are the same guys? What if they got their, uh, weird Candle names from this Arthurian lore thing?"

Staren has posed:
    "I think we're pretty much always ready for a fight..." Staren comments. "I'm Staren by the way, researcher for the Un... the League of Progress." He turns to look Seifer over. "I don't believe we've met..."

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Lin also looks to Seifer... and shrugs, but sprouts an approving grin nonetheless. "We don't! Don't have a CLUE. Lots of unanswered questions..."

Carna (974) has posed:
    Enark answers Soma's question with, "Unwilling or unable, if they even still exist. We HAVE been through two local armageddons. The second one resulted in most of the 'native Dead' of Lumiere getting gobbled up by..." He looks towards Carna. "...Well, by things. Some of which became like Lady Carna. Many brave champions and defenders have fallen. They were supposed to be guarding something, but I do not know what."

    Semi-whispers have been a nearly-inaudible undercurrent since arrival, like the sound of the ocean. A background noise that's not-quite-there. They become a little bit louder.

    One present receives a clearer message, that only he hears.

    Enark points to Kord when he asks his question, like a teacher pointing out a student who has asked a very relevant question. "My thoughts might have gone the same way, had not a meeting taken place on Hallow's Eve. Some here met some of the Stone Devils we know before they became what they are. But they were then known as 'Gargoyle Knights', and the Dead who comprised it were children. They bore the same 'Death Names' as other Lit. It was... An echo of past events. Too complex to get into right now without derailing everything. Suffice to say, those children, back then, were not 'Knights of the Round Table' material. They may well have been eaten by the Unlit who eventually became the current Stone Devils."

    He looks around for anyone who does not know what an Unlit is, and makes wiggly gestures with his fingertips. "Unlit are like 'zombies' but worse because they outnumber us several trillion to one and embody everything from dead humans to dead concepts, reanimated and hungering for what gives other their identities and awareness. They extract this forcibly, until there is nothing left but scraps within the hollow things."

    Crow is mimicking Enark's finger waggling behind him.

    Enark says, "Suffice to say, if Arthur still exists, I can not be certain he can help us. But he was still around when the Stone Devils were but innocent children. In that same time frame was when we heard the name 'Barad-Ghul'. He and his knights were permitted to retain all memory of life, their true identities, so they may be immune to the memory-erasing effects of Ashron. If nothing else, perhaps some record was left behind."

    He waves off Tomoe's panic, saying, "We can not be certain of that without further investigation."

Carna (974) has posed:
    Carna, however, just says to Staren as he also runs with the idea of Arthur and his knights being enemies, "That is a possibility I would like to plan for. But as Sir Enark says, we can not guarantee that is the case. I would still rather be prepared for a conflict than not."

    Enark seems uncomfortable with planning for battling a legendary king like that, but at least nods reluctantly. He seems more enthusiastic about Karal suggesting they should 'wait and see'. "Too early to tell, indeed! I do not deny that the aeons do strange things to people... I've gone insane more times than I can count while I waited alone for who-knows-what. But it is also possible to come back from that, as I hope that I have sufficiently demonstrated."

    Carna is less familiar with the significant of 'Excalibur' and asks, "Can you elaborate on the nature of this 'Excalibur'? Is it connected to the magic sword that Lady Karal mentioned? I know little of these mythical figures beyond what has been said here and by Sir Enark prior."

    Seifer's interest in the magic sword has Carna pausing and pulling out her journal, looking through the pages for something. She had interest in a magic sword as well, at one point, did she not? It was the one that belonged to... That... Guy. Of the Abyss.--Ah, here it is. Artorias. "If the sword is useful, I too have a curiosity in it." she tacks on, throwing her own interest in the pot if it comes down to duelling for a legendary sword.

    Enark shushes when Priscilla begins her explanations, allowing her to summarize what he, with his social issues, might make too unwieldly to truly summarize, or too involved in academic mumbo jumbo. He eventually just gestures at Priscilla and says, "What her majesty said. I had actually forgotten that... Yes, it seems that if the leadership of the Stone Devils was, at one point, Arthur and his knights, Luc may have already slain them." He seems a bit despirited by that.

    "On the other hand, if he did not, if the continue to guard whatever it was they were set to protect, we might still find someone who has answers. Or at least some manner of records left behind. Stealth is one option, but I know little of the layout of their headquarters. I believe Sir Kord has been there previously?" he prompts, hoping that their only 'insider' might have some info he can share.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Crow 'turns' its flat body by sliding its face until it is looking at Inga. It is completely silent for once, but seemingly whatever she just said drew its attention. After a little while, Crow says calmly and clearly, "Some are still here." Then it turns its attention back on Soma and cheerfully asks, "Can I have your coat?"

Soma Cruz (986) has posed:
Soma eyeballs the shadow creature. Dark eyes look it up and down, frowning slightly. "I....no. I like my coat." He blinks a few times at Crow.

"You don't even have a body to wear it!"

Inga has posed:
Inga looks to Seifer. She tilts her head slightly, brow furrowed. She studies him like she's trying to read his fortune in his entrails. The pupils of her eyes rapidly dialate, the black swallowing the iris.

After a moment, her eyes close, and when they open once more they have returned to normal. She purses her lips, curious and troubled, apparently, by what she finds.

"What is your name?" she asks quietly, not wanting to interrupt Priscilla. The explaination is appreciated. Most of this she knows, but this city is new information to her. "Troubling. I would explore other means of locating this place, but everything works so...strangely here. Reading the wyrd here is very difficult, and it seems the gods have long ago abandoned this world," she comments, resting her hands on her staff, her thumb tracing a few of the runes carved there.

Looking back to Crow, Inga frowns gently, her expression turning thoughtful. "Oh," she replies, something like realization sparking in her eye. "Will you tell me more, Crow? I'll bring you something nice," she offers with a tempting smile. This was something she might be suited to explore on her own. It wasn't exactly enjoyable spending time here, but she was sure a bit of her wyrd would be woven here.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     Seifer grins at Lin. "I guess we're in the same boat, then. Seifer Almasy. Anyone ever tell you you have gorgeous ey-"

     Excalibur gets name-dropped. Seifer visibly winces *mid-sentence* and sticks his finger in his ear. "Dammit! You don't have to shout, you over-eager jackass!" he yells at the air, in that same perplexing manner. "Guardian Force, like hell! More like Grabby Freak! I heard what they said! It's Excalibur! Fine, okay, I get it! You really want it! I know! I know you do! Okay! Stop talking so I can hear the rest of it, huh?!"

     Seifer rubs his eyebrows and turns back to the rest of the group. "Yeah, okay. Sorry. My Guardian Force collects swords and can't keep his hobby-"

     Another wince. "/Destined Mission/," Seifer visibly grits his teeth, "On hold for more'n ten minutes."

     "OK, so, before he gets loud and stupid again, let me see if I have this right. We don't know who our enemy is, except that they're the Stone Devils, whoever they are. We don't really know what they want. We don't know if this Arthur ghost is or is not the real Arthur or if he's in charge of the Stone Devils. We do know that we assume he is, and we want to find out, because it might help fix the fact that everything is broken down here. But we can't just go *ask* him because it's all wrapped up in murdery zombie territory. Is that, like, kinda close?"

     "So what are our *options* for dealin' with this problem? We've talked circles around the problem - what've we got for ways into this Stone Devil place? Means of entrance?"

     Inga asks his name. Seifer rolls his shoulders and grins at her. "Seifer Almasy."

     He shrugs at Staren. "Yeah, nice to meet you, I guess."

Inga has posed:
"Seifer Almasy..." she repeats, testing the name on her tongue, memorizing it. "I am Inga Freyjasdottir," she says, extending her hand. "What, may I ask, is a Guardian Force? Does one of your gods speak to you?" she asks. Inga is very curious about people who have powerful entities chatting to them all the time. It's something she has some experience with, after all.

Count Kord has posed:
    Something makes for a shift in Kord's behavior. It's subtle, but the way his head turns, the way he shifts on his feet, suggests a growing tension in the mostly silent warrior. He looks up to Enark, and then to Priscilla, and decides to speak up, following Seifer's ... outbursts and following questions. It is bound to be enlightening.

    "Whatever Arthur had done, destroyed or still among this stagnant afterlife, there was something he was guarding in the place the Stone Devils now reside. There is another entrance, a way to get down there without alerting everyone. If I were to go on my own, I could investigate without being noticed. It is a specialty of mine," he says, with a counter-intuitive swish of his cape in the midst of his animated had gestures. "But... I could take a few of those who are mindful not to make noise, or all of you if key examples demonstrate appropriate restraint." He glances aside at Priscilla, in particular. She can turn straight up INVISIBLE. He can't even do that. "If we are not quiet when we go there, we invite the Stone Devils and their Gargoyle Knights onto our heads en masse. I can get us to what they are guarding."

Kushiko has posed:
It is rather nice to have a double-ended bit of explanation--Kushiko wasn't present for that particular incident, and as Priscilla makes her opinions--and knowledge, known to all. Followed swiftly by the others, Carna, Enark, Kord's questions and Karal's own make the Tenno seem pensive for a few moments.

<"I know of some myths. Excalibur was the blade of the King, given to him by the Lady of the Lake. Or pulled from a stone. I don't know for sure, but..."> She shrugs once. <"I do not know if it is the one Karal thinks of."> If there is one thing the Tenno knows--or has begun accumulating knowledge on, it's weapons. Legends. Maybe not to the extent Seifer's Guardian Force is inclined but...

Yeah, she's not going to explicitly share that massive store of weapons she has elsewhere, nope.

<"Some have been forgotten by us. Some we've learned about since, when we are not actively carrying out operations."> A light shrug from Kushiko's Mesa. <"Given the nature of concepts here, it's something to be prepared for in any event, I suppose."> Seifer's point is one the Tenno picks up on.

<"We would like to conduct reconnisance to find out more."> Stealth is a method that she is exceptionally gifted at, after all.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe says "So have I, though it can be pretty wild so I don't thnk any experiance I have with them or even the legends will help very much to be honest. "Yes that's the very short of it I could tell you more later and you have a point Lin still it's a possiblity."

She looks to Seifer for a moment and nods saly.

"We should be ready for a fight regardless given our history with the Stone Devils."

She nods to Priscilla for a moment. "So they might be impersonators? Posers if you will to use the term from my world for it?"

She's not sure what to think of Seifer yet but he seems to being paying too she does however /stare/ at Seifer's weaopn and she wonder how does it work? She has no idea how it works and that's saying something given what she is. Still Seifer seems all right enough and so she's not going to ahem. She looks to Enark

"Right I was getting ahead of myself there. Seifer the name is Tomoe the Iron Lily."

The nickname's stuck after.

"There's try to dig up more information so we can plan a better means of delaing ith them by combat or any other way, we could just run in screaming our own names and it's time to do this. Though that tends to go badly , so we'll need a plan of attacka and reeson if we do go for a fight ort even try to do anything else."

"Excalibur? The sword of the lady of the lake at least in the legens on my world was a supernatral blade, did not dull could not be broken, and it's scabbard was of even more imporannce, if you held it you could not bleed from any wound you suffered so long as you held it. That's just with the legends in my world though. Here all I have is the name to go on thats in common."

Staren has posed:
    For a moment, Staren wonders if Seifer is crazy or having a radio conversation... Oh. Okay, he has a Guardian Force, whatever that is. "...It sounds to me like the plan is to go see if 'Arthur', or any of the children, are still around, guarding something. And if the stone devils are there, we fight."

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Blink blink blink WAIT WHAT?! This Seifer guy's complimenting her out of nowhere! Caught by surprise, Lin's eyes go a bit wide! But... whatever she was going to say at first is choked down on when Seifer transitions into seemingly having a fit arguing with his own head. "U-u-uuuuuhhhhhhhhhh..."

    Lin's left leaning forward in her seat, wearing a disbelieving stare, mouth slightly agape. ... Until Seifer regains his composure, then she adjusts her posture back to normal. "... 'Excalibur' is the name I heard thrown around. That's ALL I know about the story. That and it's myth in some worlds but real in others. Karal Rei Lin! Just Lin if you like." She continues grinning at Seifer he seems to hae caught her eye for the moment.

Priscilla has posed:
    Oh good. Seifer answered it himself. Priscilla really wasn't sure whether it would be polite or not to ask who exactly he was yelling to like a mad man, if anyone at all. 'Guardian Force' is almost a non-answer, but the conversation can remain un-sidetracked on the subject of her new ally's sanity.

    "The Stone Devils art a cabal of dead warriors. I hesitate to maketh use of the word 'knight', for their recent behaviour, as of a shift of leadership, wouldst seemeth to be entirely comprised of raiding and murdering for profit and vague assurance of purpose from a deity they hath never made contact with. Their current leader is, as named, a man named Luc, who is to be noted for slaying and replacing a previous council of rightful leaders, and possibly swaying the minds of his brothers with magic. If his removal wouldst be such a lynchpin as to neutralize the threat presented by the Devils, so be it, but I am not of mind to engage in restraint against them for the thought that they may be acting under duress."

    She looks to Kord with significantly less 'politely restrained, possibly contemptuous, vexation' than she ever has previously, now glad to have heard him out and borne with him for this long. "If there is something we seeketh beneath their very stronghold, however, mine feelings towards paying them as little mind as possible art of little import. The matter of King Arthur and his knights is something to be determined as it is encountered, but the Stone Devils in the way art an impassible fact."

    "As well I wouldst like to say that such be left to covert investigation, such does little to further our aims, and not all amongst us here art blessed with the gift of stealth. If we art to make a proper infiltration and exploration of this hold, eliminating Luc shouldst be considered a logical extension of the task. If his removal dissolves the compulsion upon the rest of the warriors who wouldst bar our way, we hath saved ourselves much hardship. If it does not, we hath saved ourselves a small amount regardless. I ill like the idea of asking so many to stand about and entertain themselves whilst we run about prehistoric catacombs in hopes of encountering something that may not existeth."

Inga has posed:
Inga looks to Kord. She blinks in momentary confusion. "I see...I can go unnoticed by use of a spell...but alas I am slow, and I fear I would not be able to keep up with yourself and Priscilla," she replies.

To Priscilla's reply she offers a small shrug. She cannot argue against taking out Luc.

Count Kord has posed:
    "I have no complaint with slaying Luc. I did try to kill him myself the last I saw him."

    And that's all Kord has to say on /that/.

Kushiko has posed:
<"Reasonable consideration."> Sometimes the Tenno was modestly absentminded. Then again, assassination contracts were a standard thing she tended to carry out after all.