Scene #5901: 6000 Years Before

Owner	Pose
Carna	It's been awhile for some since their last trip to Lumiere. For others, they've never been here. It's an unpleasant realm located at the apex of the underworld, an afterlife that once survived as the resting place for the dead while they waited to be reincarnated into the living world, by ascending a staggering structure floating in the darkness. That structure is Lumiere, described as a sword of candelabra with five 'candles' each of which is a separate worlds-spanning pillar, ringed by smaller disc worlds, called 'Planes' or 'Coins' (depending on if one is using local lingo or easy-to-understand-lingo) in multiples for each Candle. It is a very, very, very dead place. Full of stagnation, rot, decay, dust, rust, ashes, darkness, and despair. And though there are dead things all over, that doesn't mean they've stopped moving. Or that they don't hunt down both their fellow dead and any living or otherwise not-dead people who come here. Thanks to the efforts of those who came before, the Warp Gate system has been linked to the local teleportation system, Shrines of Light. So one can go directly to any previously activated Shrine of Light. And so, the mission today is to explore the Tower of Escher, a ridiculous tower of near-infinite height, a demi-plane itself in a way, and also the repository of all knowledge obtained by living humans from this universe's Earth. The goal is to secure it for the use of those trying to learn more about, mend, or at least stabilize Lumiere, and perhaps gain something for themselves in the process. The issue is that it is infested with the product of one of those accompanying them this day. A scholarly wizard named Enark, who invented creatures that everyone has taken to calling 'Mimics', after the acronym for their name. Monstrous Invader-Murdering Incognito Constructs. As well, who knows what other dangers have taken up residence over the incredible lengths of time since Lumiere was broken? Also accompanying them on this mission, finally returned from being trapped in one of the paintings that had mysteriously appeared downstairs, is a cartoonishly-faced stretchy shadow with gleaming circular eyes, and two little horns or ears silhouetted on its depthless 'head'. Crow has a lot to catch up on too. The gathering place is inside Enark's study, a large but crowded room, full of furniture (bolted to the floor to make sure it's not a mimic. If it's not secured, assume the worst!), and of course wall-to-wall bookshelves. Enark and Crow wait together for everyone to gather before setting out.
Staren	Staren arrives still in his robot body from yesterday. The armor has seen much better days -- it's scorched all over and has a line of re-solidified slag running down one side from being a lightning rod, and there's an obvious, ugly patch over the left side of the chest where the Shadow punched him and melted through. "Good to see you again, Enark. I don't suppose the fish monsters have moved on?"
Kushiko	This place... had begun to have more and more memory associated with it, at least for one particular Tenno. For better, or worse, she wasn't certain anymore. It was enough of a thing that she had begun taking deliberate notes when she could, not simply trusting it to the Lotus or Ordis watching through her suit's feeds--in fact, there were times where that simply wasn't viable. Sure, she herself had no issue seeing, but actually recording was something she actively needed to do now. Emblem City. Places below. The 'program' aspect that was hinted at. If Mag, Kushiko's current frame, could scowl, it certainly would. But it lacks such things--the slender feminine figure not... /really/ something most people might easily spot on the way in. But she would come armed for battle--for her own curiosities to be sated regarding the past histories of this place, and to see where her place might just be in this, as the 'Pious', a role once played. The girl shook her head, a motion that the Warframe did not mirror by deliberate intent. "Can't get distracted," she murmurs softly to herself. It was then that she was simply there, a near noiseless drop from some part of the study itself--actually seeing her come in would have been something that one needed to take a lot of effort to do. She might not have the ability to render herself invisible like some, but she could still avoid being seen and heard. Purple, black and silver-castings marked the tabi-footed figure when she made herself known; an elegant looking pistol on one side, a shrunken, three-bladed disc on the inside of her wrist, and an angular, glowing weapon magnetically attached to her back. Much like some other magnetically held adornments that simply floated in perfect sync with her movements. <"Crow. Enark. Good to see you both."> For Crow, she gestures with a hand, making an energy construct briefly appear that goes :D for him before it fades.
Empty Tidings	Empty Tidings is here. Eve Ren no longer exists, or perhaps never existed in the first place. She's presently pacing the perimeter of the study, curiously examining all the crowding objects filling it without actually touching anything. She's feeling a little restless after last night, so she isn't in the mood to sit and wait for everybody to arrive. Curiously, she's also not particularly talkative, having been apparently absorbed in thought since she showed up and made her brief 'hello's. It's as far as her courtesies go right now, for one reason or another.
Nova Terra	It's side missions like this that can actually turn out to be incredibly important. Or at least, that was Nova's hope when she learned of this little adventure. She had offered to come along with her allies to help, which is what has led her to this dead world. Nova has visited plenty of barren worlds in the past, but this one... There's just something unnerving about it. Right now, Nova is leaning back, legs crossed, in a chair in the study. She's thumbing through a random book she had picked up when she sat down. It's unlikely she understands anything within it, if she can even read it which is equally unlikely. But it's something to pass the time while she waits for people to show up. Her large rifle is resting against the back of the chair. As people begin to arrive, Nova gives them nods in greeting before returning to looking a little confused as she flips through the book.
Tomoe	Tomoe has been away from Lumiere, a very long time. Things have been going on back home and in the multiverse at large to the point she'd just not ben able to spend too much time in this dead place. It's once again worried her with the very dead nature of the place. She arrives in Enark's study with no real issues in getting there but she has things she knows she has to look for. Jeci's memorie still are bouncing about her own head to the point she feels like she's carrying someone else's soul along with her. "Crow! Enark it's good to see you." SHe pauses looking over Nova for a moment and tilts her head. "Hey, your not a Gun Gale Online player are you?" SHe asks Nova looking over the outfit she's waring that looks like it would be at home there, she's friendly enough though.
Finna	As usual, Finna is more comfortable traversing Lumiere in her fox form. It makes her harder to spot by conventional means, able to better hide in weird places, and much more ready to FLIP OUT AND maneuver like a beast! And she has answered the call this day. The white fox has bolted straight into the study, tail wagging up a storm. She appears to be comfortable letting instinct drive her for a few moments of sniff-snuffling around the room before remembering herself and hopping up onto a bolted-down-chair, laying astride the armrest. "We should meet more often without all the big happenings! Just hang out sometime!" The fox croons out in greeting!
Captain Flint	"Enark," says Captain Flint upon arriving in the study. He, John Silver, and a small contingent of the Walrus' crew file into the study in a disorganized fashion, with Flint and Silver at the head of the crowd. The captain wears a slight smile as he confidently strides in, stopping before the scholar and clapping him firmly upon the shoulder. "It's been some time since last we met." Silver gives the scholar a nod, and behind the two men, the pirates mill about awkwardly, without leaving earshot of the captain. This sort of place is much more in Flint's wheelhouse than the average member of his crew, and it shows--where they seem sullen and uncomfortable, Flint brims with quiet satisfaction, pleased to be in such a well-stocked place of learning. He exhanges a few pleasantries with Enark while John Silver casts a furtive glance towards the familiar Lunar Exalt he'd seen in the audience of a play some time ago. After the pleasantries are exchanged, he takes a moment to peruse Enark's bookshelves, much as Silver and the crew figured he would. In particular, he searches for anything pertaining to Lumiere's many deities, major and minor--something he might be able to peruse for information on Mnemosyne. He doesn't let his search keep him from joining the others, should they choose to leave, but the furrow in his brow bespeaks his interest.
Count Kord	Kord is here. He is basically a shadow with a face. He's lingering on one side of the room, smiling faintly. He looks a bit like a malevolent cartoon character, the way the shadows billow like smoke around the feet of his dark silhouette. Something obviously inspired by Crow's own appearance... or maybe just a consequence of so much exposure to this place before his transformation. He's staring at Crow. He just can't find the words for what he wants to say to the shadow, since the last he was active Crow was absent from these adventures. And Crow hasn't seen him, either, one might imagine. Eventually he blurts out, "So why are we here?" Not pushy, more confused about the gathering, his gaze finally following to Enark.
Carna	The hook-nosed, blue-robed, supernaturally-aged scholar blinks for a moment in response to Staren as he looks up from his notes. "...Ah! I do not know. I have not been down there again after the last time. Too dangerous for me to go alone and with everything going on of late, it didn't seem wise to prepare another expedition until we were ready." "Fish people?" Crow asks. =:o "I will explain later." Enark says, not wanting to delay things too much with recaps. When Kushiko greets him after making a surprising appearance that has him jumping a bit, he smiles and nods. "And you as well. I believe Lacey is around here... Somewhere..." he turns and searches for her. A white-haired girl with dark skin pokes her head up from behind a couch, then ducks back down. Enark looks back to Kushiko. "She will be staying here. I do not know where Carna is. She wandered off weeks ago." Crow wiggles its edges to produce a series of stubby tentacles like a shadow octopus and waves them at Kushiko. "Hi!" =:D Then the shadow stretches itself up and causes its face to float around to the opposite side to try to catch sight of Lacey. "Who is Lacey?" Enark waves Crow off. "I will explain later!" Crow puffs out its shadowy 'cheeks' in annoyance as it reorients its face to a'side' of its 2-D body it can look at Enark from. =:I As Empty Tidings wanders about, there is equipment laid out on a desk that looks like it could belong to a blacksmith, or electrical engineer, only with a more arcane bent to it. No sign of what it might be used for (or have once been used for) though, if there's a project in the works. There is also a hole in the floor in one place that looks something was once bolted there but isn't anymore. An escapee, perhaps? The book Nova picks up is in English. It seems to be a recounting of local history. Names and dates and events, described in one to three paragraph blurbs, encapsulating what transpired but not giving a great deal of context for its importance. The most eye catching thing is the amount of detail put into providing a highly-artistic 'title box' for each event, more than is deserved for such sparse and uninteresting text. 'The Battle of the Unshaper' for example. "Yes, good to see you as well, Lady Tomoe." Enark says, passing out yet another greeting, as Crow just wiggles its tentacles a bit droopily this time, disheartened about being out of the loop. "Certainly, Lady Finna. When there are fewer pressing priorities." Enark agrees. Crow forms into a shadowy representation of a cat and loafs next to her, since maybe Finna will spare it the time of day. Enark takes the time to face Captain Flint as well. "Ah, yes! I actually do not even recall the last time." Has he actually met Flint before? So much has happened. And he's so weary now, weakened after giving a piece of himself to offer Lacey a second chance at existing. Sometimes it feels like large portions of his vast accumulated knowledge are not lost, such as with his fluctuating madness, but simply gone.
Carna	Flint's perusal of Enark's library is not questioned or frowned upon any more than he did when others poked at prodded at what is essentially his house. It's too big a room to immediately find what he's looking for in the time allowed, if it exists here, but there's a much bigger library right outside the doors. Surely they can find what they seek out there, yes? Enark, in fact, wanders over to the double doors leading out of his study, just beyond the circular space where the glowing waist-height shrine that served as their arrival point sits, and peers out of the smoked-glass windows set in said doors. But even cleaned, they reveal little of what might be lurking outside. Crow perks up its ears as Kord's voice, orienting on him, while remaining in cat form. The change is weird. But cool! Since everything else was met with 'later', Crow just kind of assumes it will get an explanation of THAT later too. Enark answers, "We have very few 'safe' areas in Lumiere. And one of those might not be as safe as we would hope. We need places to serve as beach heads. As bases. Incursion points. Places we can go to regroup, recover, and rearm. No more fleeing from hordes, but instead dismantling them from behind the safety of fortifications. The Library of Murdered Knowledge is too rich a resource to leave in the hands of Mimics and faux Blue Scholars and... Fish people, and whatever else! The information contained here could be critical to making progress in Lumiere. So we are simultaneously going to explore, and secure, the Library, and drive out anything or anyone infesting it. Escher will be ours." After that dramatic little orientation briefing, Enark asides, "Be cautious of all inanimate objects you encounter. They might have teeth. Also, be aware that books and other physical storage are not the only medium information can be contained in, and that both dead dreams and the memories of the deceased count as 'human knowledge', so you might encounter them in such a form." Then he turns to the doors and says, "Unless there are further questions, or people need more time to get ready, let us proceed." Then, once all concerns are addressed, he pushes the doors open. The hinges groan loudly into the vast space on the other side. A huge circular room, with far more books than are in Enark's study, from floor to ceiling. And this is merely one room, from the sound of it. Hallways branches off from this room, walls composed of books and shelves, leading off into dark places, as well as places lit after all this time by charming lanterns and hanging braziers with mystical smoke rising from them.
Count Kord	The shadow known as Kord steps forward when prompted to enter this new chamber. His steps are as silent as a ghost, and his movements are with a slow sway of his hands, and a swish of a long tail seemingly adorned with claw tips that shine in contrast to the fuzzy edges of his remaining silhouette. A tail that is sharp and could quite easily stab something. As he passes the others, eagerly stepping forward into potential danger as always, he lifts one MASSIVE hand and curls all but one finger, making a circular motion in the air. A shadowy tendril arm rises from the area around Crow and gives him a gentle pat on the head. Pomf. "Yoo hoo~" calls the baritone elemental thing, "Monsters? I'm here, come and get me." And then he just whips his arm back and takes a vicious swipe at one at a reading chair as he passes it, smashing it into bits with a violent wooden noise, sending dust flying. "Hmm." He plumbs the corners of the room with shadowy tendrils, curiously trying to provoke the hiding predators into a fight.
Staren	"And Crow! Good to see you again." Staren walks out with the others. "But seriously. We don't have Asterios here so we can't use his maze. What makes this any different from last time, when we got stopped and had to retreat?" He follows Kord, sending out drones, drones, and more drones to dive down through the center opening and spread out to other floors, seeing how low they can get before encountering resistance. "I guess we just have to be more methodical..."
Empty Tidings	Tidings picks her way around the room, drifting around like a slow-moving shadow. She's taking in the structure of the place, gathering up the sum of it and learning about the person who lives in it all the while. She wouldn't mind spending some time here looking over the books and tools a bit more thoroughly. Absently, she passes the desk full of equipment, eyes and fingers wandering, tracing over the odd tools and objects. She plucks something slender and pointed off of the desk. She isn't sure if it's supposed to be a chisel or some kind of esoteric measurement tool. She spots the hole. Crouching, she examines the hole itself and the space around it, trying to get an idea of what was here. She touches the edge of the hole with her fingertips, and then the tool, thoughtfully. After a moment, Tidings straightens again, sighing quietly and moving along, keeping an ear open for the question-and-answer going on with the others. Eventually, the door opens, and she sighs again. "Finally." Tidings strides out, looking around the corridors. She can see perfectly well in the dark and through anything like fog, dust or mist, so the shadowy nature of the place doesn't seem to bother her any.
Kushiko	<"Been worried about her,"> Kushiko murmurs softly, barely audible to scant few save Enark. The way she can direct her voice through the auspices of her Void power is pretty useful for being discrete, and she gently admonishes Crow a little more audibly, <"Promise, he will. For now, she's a friend from another place, okay?"> Which is true. It's not the whole story, but it is true. <"Thank you, by the way."> For what, she won't actually say. A turn of the enigmatic, perhaps. Her head does bob briefly, a gesture of greetings towards Captain Flint and some of the Walrus' crew. To Staren, Tomoe, Nova (given she had helped her at some point!), Empty Tidings and even Finna, though they may have had their differences on occasion, there's an old saying: being polite costs nothing. ... Alternatively, she might have just forgotten about some of the reasons for not liking the Lunar Exalt. It's entirely plausible. As to why they're here, given Kord's somewhat blunt demand, she elects to not say anything, just yet--favoring Enark's inclination--and ability--to explain far better than hers. Meanwhile, Mag steps over, quiet as can be, in order to peek--as much as a faceless Warframe with a cyclopean-looking 'eye' of light can--behind the couch at Lacey. While it may be good that they're staying here, Kushiko offers softly to Lacey, <"We'll be back as soon as we can. I don't like showing off in front of a lot of people, but I promise to come back, okay?"> It's words exclusively for Lacey, and definitely sound a lot like the former Emblem City resident's friend. The Gargoyle Knights. The Stone Devils. It's something that had both not come into play, and had already well come into play. She's listening, keeping her partitioned mind aware as the Blue Scholar explains to others. <"Noted. We are ready here,"> Kushiko-Mag states, pulling loose her personal weapon--sometimes, it's been a sniper rifle. Right now? It's the Corpus-made but Tenno-modified Supra Vandal, a tri-barrel repeater rifle about the size of most modern LMGs. But with the energy shimmering within it's main body, it's patently obvious the kind of projectiles it'll be throwing. <"We have had a painful lack of knowledge with regards to some things here. Past, future. Incomplete knowledge. It will be a lot better... fully armed, at least."> She can imagine a certain Tevinter mage being more than happy to be able to research things like those paintings in safety. And with Kord deciding to play aggro, it's perfect for her to simply cover him. Her sensors won't be as helpful with things here undoubtedly actively concealing their power signatures, but that doesn't mean she can't be watchful.
Captain Flint	Enark's explanation of the library's potential dangers is met with a nod. "I thought you'd say something like that," says Flint, placing a book of Enark's back in its place. "Mr. Comstock!" The captain calls out one of the crew, a stout, sun-beaten man with nary a hair left upon his head. Burdened with a heavy, thick wooden chest, the pirate steps in front of his peers and sets the chest down, unlocking it and pushing the lid open with a grunt. The Walrus crew, sans Silver and Flint, approach the chest, and arm themselves with firearms--some of which are distressingly modern for such a hardened group of ne'er-do-wells. A chorus of menacing locking and loading sounds briefly fills the study. Flint turns to Silver as the shadowy count enters the chamber ahead of them. "Take the men with you, accompany..." he gestures vaguely towards the shadowed figure. "Him. Let him do the heavy lifting, and don't spread out too thin." "You're going to be researching, then?" Silver leans upon his crutch, the dark curls of his shoulder length hair swaying slightly as he fixes the captain with what might be a concerned look. "I can handle myself," says Flint. "As well you know." With that, the two men part. The vanguard files in behind Silver and accompanies Kord and Kushiko. Despite the hodgepodge of modern and archaic weaponry, the pirates fire only upon Silver's command, and all at once, making for a cacophonous fusillade that serves both to riddle the opposition with bullets and possibly to draw more monsters and countermeasures to their position. Flint, meanwhile, resumes his search and, owing to the sheer wealth of information, broadens his parameters a bit. Though he more or less trusts the goddess of memory, it never hurts to read up on one's benefactors, and so he searches for books which tell of her portfolio or her deeds. There is a lot to get through, and as his eyes squint at dusty spines, his fingers tracing over forgotten shelves, he also entertains another possibility for research: the mysterious Dead Seas which she spoke of.
Nova Terra	Okay, so maybe she can read it to some degree, Terran having a strong basis in Earth English. Still, Nova glances through the various retellings of this world's past. She's doesn't read in great detail, just picking up bits and pieces. In some ways, such a history is more alien than the aliens she's faced in the past. Maybe due to the 'human' connection. At the question from Tomoe, Nova looks up in confusion, "Gun Gale Online? Never heard of it. I don't really play video games." Yes, Nova would definitely fit in to that world. It seems that playtime is over. Nova puts the book away on a table beside her and then listens to the explanation of what everyone is doing here. Straight-foward enough. Funnily enough, Nova gets a little feeling of familiarity from some of her previous missions. Establishing a foothold in hostile territory. Not her usual work, but she's been in enough frontline missions to adapt. The mention of hostile inanimate objects does bring some concern to Nova's face. Hard to shoot the enemy when you don't know if it is an enemy or just a stool. But, Nova is up for the challenge! The Ghost stands, walking around and picking up her rifle. There's a slight pick up in light from the glowy bits of her suit as Nova says, "So what you're saying is..." She slides the bolt of her weapon, chambering a round with a chunk and then finishes, "Shoot everything that doesn't move?" Nova smiles, clearly joking. Nova follows the group into the Library, looking somewhat in awe at the sheer size and amount of books. Books are a rarity in her own world, most everything on computer. So it's quite a sight. But Nova doesn't let the feeling throw her off as she gets down to business. Reaching up she brings her visor down over her eyes, tapping a few controls on her wrist computer to adjust the nightvision for the light levels in the Library. She then takes hold of her rifle in both hands and begins to stalk through the corridors behind those who have gone ahead, happy to let them take the initial assault.
Finna	Oh, Finna has a visitor now! The fox looks over towards the cat-shadow, her own ears on full alert. Because Crow is WEIRD. Finna can't help it. She gives into curiosity, and attempts to poke Crow with her nose. Because seriously, what does a living shadow FEEL like? "Don't feel bad! This place is madness. I have to catch up too. ... And find the moon." She glances Enark's way now, listening closely. Her ears press down hard now as she remembers... THOSE BLASTED MIMICS. The Staircase that once tried to eat her. A low, displeased growl begins in her throat... and she stands up on all fours and SPRINGS off, tail shifting back and forth less enthusiastically now. A faint silvery glow shimmers forth across her body, Moonsilver Tattoos shining through her skin and both claws and teeth taking on a strangely energized vibrance. Yet.. she remains in fox form, apparently not of the opinion that she'll need to be TOO serious for this trek. ONWARDS into the halls of infested knowledge!
Tomoe	Tomoe is faily laid back today though as ever she's in armour, then again? When she's here? You never know when a mimic might have replaced a chair in the room your in. She takes not of crow seemingly a bit down about being out of the loop. She's not sure what to day. "Well nothing ventured nothing gained and I admit? I have things I want to look up once we have cleaned house a bit. Oh I see you look like you would and to be honest? Games have merged with a large portion of my worlds GGO is one of them." With Kord going out there? Tomoe will join the front line as well and she grins a bit. "Oh hello Monster I'm a fairy with pointy ears and look like I fell out of an anime! I must be delicous!" She's going full taunt mode with people here like Kushiko Staren and Empty here she also presume Nova knows what she's doing? They have DPS that knows what it's doing, so she's in a good mood and disturbingly playful and chipper today as she goes taunting the monsters that might be lurking.
Carna	Crow is patted, and vibrates its massless form, disturbing light in such a way that it alters the air too, and in so doing, produces the sound of purring. "It's good to be back, Kord! How have you been? I like your new look!" Unfortunately, Finna's attempts to touch Crow would cause her to pass right through, but Crow obligingly shifts its silhouette in order for it to appear as though contact is being made, even if there's no actual sensation. Enark says, "We aren't wandering off haphazardly. We are scouting the perimeter of this ONE area, ON this level, so that we can find where the minimum safe distance we can secure is. When we fortify that, in order to keep anything from wandering into this area outside my study, we can then have Asterios use his ability to 'breach' into the areas outside our fortifications, and back again." Enark gesticulates in a circular manner at everything around. "We will form a defensible central hub, and then proceed from there." Lacey hesitates when spoken to by Kushiko, timid around all the unknown faces, but at least nods in response to Kushiko, recognizing her despite her form. The voice helps as well. It's still strange to her, but she is a memory ghost from a place that never existed and installed into the unactivated body of a humanoid mimic, so everything is strange for her. "Please do." she pleads in reply. Too many people haven't come back to her. She settles with her back against the couch, knees hugged to her chest, surrounded by a sort of 'book fortress'. Empty Tidings touching the instrument to the hole does little. The signs of rust indicate something metal was implanted here. And the cracked and worn nature of the hole indicates whatever it was was worked extensively until it came loose. Perhaps more interestingly, are the specks of black that seem to manifest out of nowhere, like tiny little polyps made of black mist. They wave and move in accordance with the pointed instrument, though the erratic movements make it clear that actually controlling them will be something requiring practice or knowledge she doesn't have yet. They don't grow bigger over time, but they do meld together when they meet, combining their forms into large lumps. Traces of something. Perhaps a larger sample will yield better results. Enark looks back semi-nervously at the sound of firearms being prepared but just reminds himself Flint and his crew are friendly. "There is a property only possessed by the Blue Scholars, of whom I am the only survivor, to locate what we are looking for in this vast place. Hypothetically, anyone can do it, but we can do it much faster, and with much less aimless wandering. Call it a... Sixth sense for 'finding knowledge'. Once we have a secure zone, expeditions to find specific types of information will be much more viable."
Carna	Enark gestures around as people increasingly exit the study and enter the large area beyond. Mostly just a circular pathway around a big gold-railguarded hole in the center, with the various hallways branching off, noted previously. Enark almost protests the destruction of the furniture right off the bat by Kord, but recognizes its necessity. He certainly does not recall if that chair was here before. He also hesitates at Nova's question about shooting things, but honestly, he can't afford to keep trying to protect the memory of something the Library can likely never be again. "If you must," he answers. "Our safety is of a higher priority right now than any material gains. That is what we must emphasize " The corridors are either long or switch-backy, turning into tangles of corners and short passages, interrupted by bookshelves. Books replace so many of the walls, that it's hard to say where the ACTUAL walls are, or, indeed, if there even are any, of if the Library just expands out infinitely without any end. There's a clattering as Nova scans ahead, from off to her left, a passage that no one has gone down yet as they take their time. There's a standing lamp there, but no sign of anything else. And it may be unclear whether the lamp was there before she heard that noise. It just stands there, innocently. And may increasingly give the Ghost a skin crawling suggestion of 'not right'. Something about it... It looks totally normal, almost... But the lampshade... The metal base... The designs on its surface... There's just something... The base sprouts an array of tiny mechanical legs under its round anchoring surface, like a multitude of crustaceans have gathered there, and then dashes towards her, the lamp shade titlting back to reveal a collection of metal mandibles and glistening artificial eyes. Crow pipes up to Flint with, "Not splitting the party is a good idea! We don't even know what else is in here after all--" and breaks off when the lamp attacks, as if to prove the point. The Shadow moves to shield Enark first and foremost, trusting the others can take care of each other, and making sure Tomoe can stop anything that tries to attack them while their rear ambusher is distracting them. Which turns out to be necessary as one of those hanging braziers, one not emitting any smoke, drops from the ceiling and inverts itself, turning into a whirling, predatory blade dervish aiming to latch onto her head and blend her brains into a slurry. So it begins already.
Carna	Meanwhile, Staren's drones run into an obstacle. They keep hitting a barrier of some kind. A huge metal plate sealing off the lower levels. There's another one in the ceiling. When did someone block those off? Was it Enark? Or has Something Weird Happened and Lumiere rearranged itself again? It's hard to say, but it appears travelling vertically is no longer an option. At least not for now. On the other hand, nothing can climb up/down the shaft behind them to attack from the rear either.
Count Kord	Kord turns his head to regard the lamp as it approaches with rapid, vicious hunger. Then his head turns to regard the lamp as it descends toward another in the party. He breathes a little hissing sigh of annoyance, and lifts one of his hands. "No. Bad mimic," he chides. Lightning crackles and ethereal energy collects in the air above his palm, forming a ball made of ghostly energy that shines with an odd not-quite-light. It casts shadows far through the room when he fires it into the air toward the dropping fake light fixture, with a sound akin to a cannon firing. The blast has purple lightning arc off his arm and the ground that follows the ball of energy. Cannon shot is accurate. That Shadow Ball will do serious damage to whatever it hits, intentional or not.
Staren	Crow purring. That's weird. Don't split the party! "That's what the drones are for." Staren comments. He's fairly certain people can handle the monster lamp, so he keeps looking around... And then the hanging brazier drops down. "WHY did you disguise them as common objects?!" Staren shouts as he dashes over to grab it and pull it away from Tomoe's head! "By the way, my drones are running into metal plates all over. Could the fishmen be securing the library too?"
Captain Flint	Flint looks over his shoulder at Crow and nods. His mouth opens as he prepares to give some reply, but quickly closes upon the sight of the lamp in the distance. He's not advanced as far as the others, and the advancing mimic is a tad out of his effective range--but not so for Silver and the crew. There is a moment as it spindles towards them where the men all stare in disbelief. Monsters, they're used to by this point, as well as all manner of supernatural beasties. But animated furniture is so strangely mundane as to become bizarre in itself. Silver's voice lights a fire under them, the quartermaster barking an order. "Shoot for the legs on my mark! Ready... aim..." The lamp trundles closer, until it's within range of those few pirates which prefer more archaic arms. "Fire!" Silver himself opens fire with a flintlock pistol, Kord's shadow ball briefly roaring louder than the firing squad's. Musket balls and bullets of every size zip through the air like pissed off hornets, heading towards the approaching mimic's feet in an effort to halt its advance. A few, likely to Enark's disappointment, ricochet off of the floor and strike innocent books and furniture. Flint, meanwhile, closer to Tomoe than the rest of the crew, spies the falling brazier. There's not much his pistol will do against something that large, but he's not one for sitting on his hands when a solution isn't immediately obvious. Hopefully Tomoe can get clear of the brazier, or his allies can dispatch it in due time. But if not, Flint attempts to dissuade its attack by using its purpose against it. "My apologies, Enark!" A book is thrown into the mimic's path. If they were put here to defend the place against intruders, maybe, just maybe, they value the library's knowledge as their creators did. If not, it'll probably just be a shredded book. Either way, he draws his sword and advances after the fact, preparing to enter melee with it, provided Kord's shadow ball doesn't murder it with extreme prejudice before it hits the ground.
Nova Terra	Nova is a little uneasy. Not knowing your enemy is always a concern. Even more so when they can supposedly take the form of innocuous objects. Despite being told of such ability, Nova still doesn't really know what she's supposed to be looking for. So when she comes across a certain lamp she just looks at it. That's... Not... Right... Nova quickly raises her rifle to aim at the lamp. She's not certain it's a Mimic, but she's choosing to be cautious. Unfortunately though, it's too late! Nova raises her arm in defense as the Mimic makes it through the pirate fire to close into biting range. The living object's mandibles chomp onto Nova's arm, who grunts and tries to struggle to get it free. She starts bashing the lamp top with the butt of her rifle, finally shaking the Mimic off with a heave of her arm. Bringing her rifle down to aim at the lamp she sent flying, Nova unloads a number of bullets towards the creature's 'head'.
Kushiko	With some reassurance behind her, and conflict in front, Kushiko stays focused. As it went to the remark about just shooting everything, well. It's not the worst idea, but she humorlessly adds, <"It probably would take too long. Maybe."> She considers for a moment, then begins to let some electromagnetic energy flow into her hands at the ready. Just in time, really--wait, was Crow purring? No, no time to think about weirdness like this now. She reaches out for two reasons--sure, she could blast at the thing, but it also might prove a good thing to get /Tomoe/ out of the way of friendly fire. Which is why electromagnetic force--strangely not harmful to Tomoe--wraps around her as Mag makes a simple yanking backward with one gesture. Probably enough to pull her back towards herself and Flint, but maybe not. Either way, the point of 'get Tomoe out of it' is quickly accomplished before she turns around and levels her weapon at the lamp. And from that weapon is an unholy stream of laser pulses in a confined stream--easily dozens of shots, even some right on top of one another as the weapon spools up to rapidfire.
Tomoe	She expected trouble she was also looking for something to take some frustrations out on and whatever is coming after them seems to be a good target for that she will make use of her abilities as a tank. To Nova, it seems she may have walked out of a Video Game of some sort. She has her shield out strange names which look like gamer handles ripple across it changing every so often. She is about to do something else as she moves to get into the hostile lamp things way. Then Kushiko has a plan of some sort, she's pulled away by Mag and does not complain at all, once she's pulled clear she'll turn right around to move to cover her allies while they just lay into the lamp horror. "It's always mimics..."
Empty Tidings	Empty Tidings stands near the back of the crowd. She's toying with the little tool she picked up and never thought to put back. The little motes and specks of blackness are curious, and they draw her attention more than the increasingly loud violence in their midst. Frankly, she isn't even the fightiest person here, so it'd be a waste of her talents to twist inanimate objects into increasingly complex hunks of broken scrap. She shakes it, rattles it, rolls it in her hand. She's going to have to take some time toying with this thing to figure out exactly what it does and how to use it, but the purpose of it... ah, that's the real trick, isn't it? Tidings drifts back a step, apparently not looking up, waiting for the noise to clear up and allowing Tomoe to body-block for her whenever she feels the need. When Tidings feels the need, that is. Tomoe doesn't get a say in the matter.
Finna	Huuuuuuuh! Shadow be shadow, it seems. Finna tilts her head quizzically at the time, but... Oh well! As Finna reaches the hall of halls... she focuses her spirit drastically, surging her reflexes and instincts to their greatest heights. The wafing Lunar energies burn just a bit brighter as they drift from her fur! She's not afraid of wandering near some of the furniture and poking it, only to JOLT BACK AND AWAY like a cat at hyperspeed if it responds!
Carna	The Shadow Ball knocks the whirling death plate away before it can hit Tomoe's head, causing it to bang against a wall of books, half its domed 'shell' gone, and most of its blades broken, knocked off, or destroyed. It spins haltingly in place, unable to either orient on targets or move from its position. It's (maybe) not a threat unless someone sticks their digits under there where it can dice them. Thankfullt, the book that Flint throws seems pretty tough, as it doesn't even take damage when it hits the Mimic brazier, knocking it onto its 'back'. The tendril-like chains it was using to hang from the ceiling whip about uselessly, unable to dislodge the book or to grap it. No matter how its blades spin, the book tanks the sharp impliments stoically. If this was a video game, 'NO DAMAGE' might be floating up from the book with every attack attempted. It is not a video game though, so the unsettlingly almost-animal not-quite-machine creature continues to squirm, with no preservation instinct at all, just the programming to kill anything it encounters aside from other mimics. Flint's men blast the lamp over and over with their muskets, at least the parts that actually get hit. Its 'body' is pretty narrow, being just a metal rod through with electrical wiring would normally be routed, making its base, where they seem to be aiming, one of the two parts wide enough for a rushed barrage of gunfire to hit. The metal carapace splits and shatters, exposing yet more vaguely insect-like and unnatural inner workings that belong neither among man-made devices or the animal kingdom. Articulated legs pump rapidly trying to get the lighting fixture to its target, but the destruction of its base limits the force it can launch itself with, allowing Nova to hopefully not sustain TOO gruesome injuries from the many clicking, pincering 'mouth parts' of the artificial horror before she beats it back and starts tearing apart its 'head' with large volumes of bullets, as Kushiko finishes getting Tomoe to safety, and then fires alongside Nova with lasers to melt the metal monster, further reducing the chances it will 'survive'. In the end, at least one mimic will be on the ground in fragmented pieces, what's left of it incapable of being a threat even if it were still functional. The other can be finished off easily with a shot into its core now that it's trapped on its back.
Carna	Once everything settles (FOR NOW), Enark wipes his brow of imaginary sweat, Crow having been acting as a sort of shadow armor, enshrouding the scholar as though it were Crow's body instead of Enark's. Sweating is something the Dead don't geenerally do. "It is fine. The information storage mediums here are..." He pauses, decides to spare the lengthy explanation. "Essentially indestructible. This entire demi-plane would need to stop existing for a single post-it note to cease to be." The scholar gets out a number of barrier wards he has prepared as he peeks around the corner and down the passage the lamp came up from. "Well, we are off to a good start. We would not want those things being on THIS side of our perimeter when we establish it." He bends back to look at the hallways and passages they've already started to go down, wishing on the name of his god that he could recall whether it used to have this layout billions of years ago when he was free to roam without fear of being eaten. "Let us determine where each of these corridors on this side terminate. That would be right before any intersections or branching passages, and the point I will set up our barriers. We need to 'cap' each of these paths at a point where nothing can come in behind us after we've cleared it. Any further exploration can wait until after we have determined where our safe area begins and ends." Enark turns back to squint at the drones banging into the barrier to descent from this level. "They did not seem inclined to delicate craftsmanship, but one never knows, I suppose." he answers Staren. "Though how they could have blocked us from accessing the higher levels too, I can scarcely imagine. And, if you may recall, my MIMICs were originally designed to ambush Unlit, who did not recognize inanimate objects as enemies because they contained no spark of life or death. You may also recall that up there, those fake-scholars were siphoning magic paint to create their own mimics. I have no idea what forms they've taken since then. Those mirrors that resulted in Carna's demise were not my craftsmanship, for example." A bit defensive about his Mimicrafting, it seems, now that he's allowed to use it again (with caution)." A voice says, "Something is wrong." Enark squints and turns to look back down the passage behind him, towards the central area, half out of sight around a corner now as they delve deeper into the Library. Empty Tidings is out of sight from Enark, but something black is wisping through the air. Smoke? Finna is also still back there, the fox visibly prodding at a podium with a guest registry on it. He didn't recognize as belonging to either of them. In fact, he did not rcognize the voice at all. He tries to account for everyone, and while he's counting, everything changes.
Carna	The bookshelf walls 'fall' backwards, as though being peeled away by some unseen force, to expose a wisping ghostly, half-void. The ceiling flies upwards into nothing, making the void on all sides but their feet total. Then the ground changes, but thankfully does not fall away. New featurs and a new environment rise up into place. The corridors different people were down are gone now, so they're all within line of sight of each other, regardless of any barriers between them before. It seems there's four people sitting on the edge of a cliff, but everything is so smokey and indistinct, it's hard to say. One of the figures turns to another and says, "What do you mean? What's wrong?" The next one to speak was also the first, who said 'Something is wrong.' They gesture around. "This. All of it. Eternity. It's so flawed, and no one is trying to fix it. They don't even see what's broken." A third figure says, "The gods, titans, and eternals are inscrutable. We are not the same as them." The first grunts. The fourth says, "What do you think we should do?" There is a long silence, and then the first figure stands up. They turn to look back at the other three, and the only details visible of them are their eyes. Bright and human-looking. "I say we do it our way."
Count Kord	In the wake of the brief chaos of combat, Kord idly pokes at the shelves, lifting books off their roosts to peer behind them, gently pushing things aside or nudging lamps or furniture in his meticulous search. He uses a foot to push at a table to try and disturb it into attacking him, but overall there's just no sign of any sort of attack. And then their environment shifts around them, revealing some kind of warped view into a conversation they aren't a part of. He doesn't seem particularly enthused by this bizarre view into something that further obscures his understanding of this world under confusion. He watches with a calm indifference, though. His voice is what gives away his feelings. "Idiot." He speaks it loudly and clearly into the void, purposely trying to get heard by what might just be an echo of something said untold ages ago. "Shall we return to the library now?" he tells the void with a venomous impatience, his head tilting back and arms spread out in a waiting gesture.
Captain Flint	Flint grins as Enark's explanation is proven demonstrably true. "How fortunate," he says as the overturned brazier struggles in vain to wrest the indestructible book from its maw. His seafoam eyes have a look of thought to them, his expression hardening into a pensive frown but a moment after his remark. He makes to sheathe his sword and regroup with the rest of the crew, when that voice gives its warning. Flint, Silver, and his men ready their weapons, gripped with suspense as the very environment changes around them. One of the pirates, a man with unkempt stubble and squinting granite eyes, levels his gun at the two figures--but Silver shakes his head and raises a hand, staying the would-be attacker. "They're not there," he explains. "At least, I don't think they are." A dour man with brown hair and a satchel at his side scoffs. Howell, the ship's doctor. "They look plenty real to me," he retorts. Flint is the next one to weigh in, sheathing his sword as he observes. "I'll not begrudge Mr. Silver his opinion," rumbles the captain. His brow furrows thoughtfully, eyes flicking between the shadowed figures. Kord's remark does draw a bitter chuckle, but he shakes his head. "In fact... come to think of it, I agree. This is the past. Some time ago, Silver, myself, and a number of those present here today patronized a certain play. The first of its kind in many years, if the state of Lumiere is any indication. I can't help wondering if these figures were the inspiration for the story." That last comment gets Silver thinking, too. "If you /can/ hear us," he says with evident doubt, "We're trying to fix it, too. Or... at least, unfuck it. Can you help us?" He mutters something under his breath about the likelihood of this getting a response, but hey--it's worth a shot, right?
Nova Terra	While Kord is poking at shelves, Nova is poking at the wound on her arm. Her suit had absorbed part of the damage, combined with the weak attack the damage isn't that bad. A little blood where the sharper parts had cut through the artificial muscle fiber and reached Nova's more vulnerable flesh beneath. Nova hmphs and walks over to the downed lamp. She plants her foot onto it's pole 'body' and then brings her rifle down. She fires several shots to finish it off. Before Nova has time to examine the unusualness of the Mimic, things suddenly get weird. Er. Weirder. Nova quickly brings her weapon up and sweeps it around as the walls fall away and the ceiling recedes. Suddenly they're somewhere else! Was it teleportation? A trap? Initially on alert, Nova relaxes a little as the details begin to become clear. Reminded that the information stored here wasn't just physical, Nova lowers her weapon as she watches the scene play out. There's not a whole lot of specific information available in the conversation the group is apparently reliving. But Nova grasps the basics of it. Crappy world. Uncaring gods. People with the will to do something about it. Sounds like fun. As the conversation ends rather dramatically, Nova remarks, "Well, that seemed important somehow. Anyone know who they are?"
Staren	Oh great, more reality warping nonsense! Because of course mere MONSTERS would have been too sensible! Dammit, Lumiere! Staren takes aim at the figures, warily. "Who are you? What do you want with us? WE'RE trying to fix it, are you going to stop us?" Flint's reaction seems rather different. "What do you mean? What do you know about what's going on?" Staren asks the pirate, watching the figures warily.
Tomoe	Tomoe keeps her head and doesn't end up like a headcrab zombie thanks to some help from Kushiko. She sees Flint throwing the book at the mimic and that seems to do quite well at weaponizing it though Empty? Well, she needs up using Tomoe as a shield a lot so much so she's got several red wireframe rents on her body by the time it's all done. With the Mimics down though? there's a chance to pause to think and reassess things. "Got to admit we need to make sure there's no more mimics lurking about before we set up things. She looks at the four and just grimaces. "So going to be cryptic huh? Look we're trying to fix things but need help" Her brow furrows she twitches her ears twitch noticeably, she just says nothing else on the matter she'll turn back to the rest of the party she looks to Nova and frowns "I'm afraid not Nova."
Kushiko	After a cursory check on Tomoe to make sure she's no worse for wear, and a look towards Flint's crew in the aftermath of taking out that Lamp, but more important right now is to see if Nova took a few too much damage, given she was focused primarily on melting that mimic in the first place. <"Are you going to be alright?"> She listens to the others--nodding a bit in regards to the objectives. She may well keep an eye on Nova--having someone fall in the midst of this excursion would be an overall detriment. And that's when everything changes. She abruptly turns herself, no longer focused on any one of the people nearby, but to the walls, to the source of the voices as she keeps her weapon leveled. Electromagnetic energy begins to roil slowly within her, the Void energies feeling... /off/ to some who might have extraordinary senses, like a tensed predator. But as the group begin to speak between one another, she relents a little bit, moving towards the figures. <"... are we being shown something from the past?"> she wonders aloud, loud enough for all of those present to hear. It's a guess, given what she's learned and seen--maybe something to do with the paintings, maybe not.
Carna	"This is not the first time this has happened. Not in Lumiere, and certainly not in this tower." Enark admit to Flint and Kushiko. "Memories of the past. They are like ghosts in a way. And the haunted husk of a destroyed afterlife is certainly a place to find ghosts." The attempts to talk to the figures (or seemingly reality itself in Kord's case) from Staren, Tomoe, anf Flint gets Enark shaking his head. "These tend to be non-interactive. The only ones so far who have acknowledged our existences outside of a perfect reenactment of the past were part of an elaborate illusion that manifests on Halloween each year apparently. Only two figures did so, on separate occasions. One was a recreation of Constance Lorethal, a legendary heorine. The other was the court wizard to the Crimson King, a figure named Prospero, who we believe has... Another identity. Everyone else followed a script that adjusted slightly based on our actions but did not deviate from the central 'story' of what had transpired in Lumiere's history." It's good that Flint brings up the idea that he does, and explains some on the radio. A lot of people didn't attend the Midnight Troupe's play. They don't know yet. About the Crimson King's background. About King Solumnus. About Maretta of the Hollow Children. About the legendary heroine, Constance Lorethal. But as the memory progresses, there's no OBVIOUS correlation between those figures and this memory. It might be there, but there's so little to go off of that particulars are as nebulous as this smokey void. The memories do not respond to people speaking to them. But the third figure replies to one of the others in the memory, "How? How can we change infinity? How can we show them that human life has worth? That souls are not toys to be abused for their amusement?" The second figure stands from where it sat. "I believe. If he says we can, then... We can do it. Together." The fourth figure sighs theatrically. "You just had to phrase it in such an insipidly positive fashion didn't you?" A pause. "Well, you'll need my strength. I suppose I'll lend it to you." The first figure answers the third's question. "What this place is missing is heroes. We'll become that which they lack. And then, all those souls will know that they have worth too, whether the gods admit it or not. And then they'll join us in changing everything too." The third figure looks around to the other three. Then this third says, "There is evil that deserves punishment. Count me in. We will create justice, even if we have ram it down the throats of the most primordial of entities." Then everything resolves back into the library once more, many questions left unanswered. Thankfully, someone here might be able to provide context for the others. Maybe.
Carna	"I did tell everyone before we left the study that memories were also included in 'human knowledge' and that not all information storage was physical. This was most definitely an example of that." He gestures to everyone who remembered and tried to connect the dots of a trail of evidence so ancient it predates the universe. "One of our objectives IS obtaining information. Some was just presented to us. And, rather significant information, even if the full import is not yet known." He points off yonder in the 'direction' of a memory that is no longer present. "LIVING human knowledge. That is what is stored here in the Library of Murdered Knowledge. We just saw the memory of a human who was once alive, here in Eternity, and familiar with the order of powers among various deities, using terminology not used in the living world." Enark is... Uncertain of this Kord before him. He is both in subtle ways and obvious not he same one he knew. He wanted to believe nothing had truly changed about the man, deep down, but some things are just so different they actually feel... Disturbingly off. He taps his index finger to his head. "How many living humans can you think of native to Eternity? I can think of only one. Orc, the Human Shadow. The one we thought Crow might be, as explanation for why new knowledge was appearing in our hands from books we thought would be locked forever because no living humans remained to fill them." Crow just goes, 'Huh?' D:= in confusion, clearly lost on that part. Crow was still missing when Kord and Enark had that conversation after all. And probably many more are confused too. Enark struggles to explain the significance. "We just received a piece of a puzzle we have been missing. Even if every single living thing on Earth is gone, there was, and quite likely still is, at least one living human native to Eternity. Do you understand what that means?" Enark asks rhetorically of everyone, simultaneously excited and frustrated.
Carna	"If there is a community of living humans here, in Lumiere, or somewhere else in Eternity, then no matter how bad the living world may be now... There is the potential to repopulate it. And if we can do that, then it will be possible for the souls of dead in Lumiere to reincarnate." Enark looks around at everyone, aware many here may have absolutely no idea what he's talking about now. He steeples his fingers briefly, then he moves forward with setting up barriers at the ends of the passages they've cleared. Closing paths to the enemy, until the western corridors off the central hub are all secured. When he's done he'll finish explaining. When he returns to the central area he makes sure everyone clears out before slapping another barrier over the entrance to the western corridors, so that nothing goes back in there from one of the areas they haven't cleared yet. "Lumiere is an afterlife. It is broken. The dead have nowhere left to go, and the living world is empty. We thought nothing was left alive, anywhere. That anything we could do would just be a stop-gap measure to halt the slow decay of this realm into eventual nothingness." Enark lifts his head, eyes determined. "But now we have hope that life can be restored." Enark smiles lopsidedly. "I might be able to move on from here finally, when my work is done." Crow looks uncomfortable with the idea. "But... Enark... Wouldn't that mean you'd... Stop being you? If you're reborn as someone else, I mean?" D:= The Shadow looks to Kord for reassurance. To Tomoe for some honest, straight-forward statement that Enark would never leave them. To Flint and Silver for some piratey wisdom about how even as the sea retreats, it will always come back to shore, or something. To Nova with some kind of... Secret agent... Thing. To Empty Tidings for cryptic commentary with like a thousand meanings. Like a Jedi Master or something. To Finna for... .... .... ...Kushiko must have some good advice, right?
Staren	Staren doesn't get what Enark is leading towards. He doesn't THINK so literally, when it comes to altering reality on this scale. He figured that fixing the world would cause living humans to exist again -- not that the living world needed to be repopulated so the souls can have somewhere to go. "Ohhhhhhh." He gets it when Enark says it straight, though. "So... how would that work? If they're alive, here, what happens when they die? Are they outside of Lumiere's physics? Do they cease to exist, or do they reincarnate among their own number?" Staren doesn't comment on the idea that Enark may wish to reincarnate -- to truly die, to cease existing, as Staren sees it. It's an argument he's had countless times, and he's not going to have it now. If anyone can TRULY claim to have experienced a proper 'lifetime', it's Enark, anyway.
Kushiko	In stunned silence, Kushiko listens. She's going to have to sort through so much data--and frankly, she's going to put forth the play the Midnight Troupe carried out--both herself reviewing it, and others. <"There's a bit of truth in everything, but no absolute truths,"> she half-murmurs to hers. Then to Crow--and perhaps, to a lesser extent, everyone else: <"Everything that begins, must have an end."> On that, she decides she's going to head back to relative safety. Hopefully, Enark does not let his zeal for the potential here cloud his judgement. Because that which ends does not necessarily mean that is all there is.
Nova Terra	As Kushiko expresses concern about her injury, Nova simply waves it off, "I'm fine, it's not that bad. But thanks." Some droplets of blood might have been shaken lose by the waving off. The past's intrusion on the present continues, Nova watching with further confusion. Again, the conversatino remains awfully vague. But then Enark goes onto explain that there's meaning in the 'vision' beyond just what was being said. However most of it goes over Nova's head, the confusion visible on her face even with her visor covering her eyes. Nova does get the final point though: A chance to revive a dead world and civilization. That could be a good thing. When the weird shadow creature looks at her, Nova uhhhs and rubs her neck, "Well... Ghosts are kind of reborn whenever they get their memories wiped. It can change them. A lot. But there's always something of what they were still within them... Sooooo?" Finally she shrugs. Seems like Enark has setting up the fortifications in hand and so Nova joins Kushiko beginning to head back.
Count Kord	Kord looks to Crow, with that sort of mellow look that the elderly give to children when looked to for guidance about one of reality's cruelest truths. He lets the grinding gears of his mind mix up what he's heard while he muses on how to respond to that kind of innocence. It's not something he was prepared to answer, not now that his perspective has shifted. It's a kind of pause one wouldn't expect from someone that seemed so aloof to the concerns of others before his transformation, such as with Enark. "That is true even of those that still live," he tells Crow, trying some lateral thinking to approach this. "You are different than when we first saw you on that bridge, and I am different than when I first stepped foot in this realm. I am not the boy I was when I first stepped out of the safe borders of my home town." "You are not the same god of invention we have seen glimpses of..." his head tilts downward and his eyes narrow lightly, as if carrying a double meaning to his words, "... right?" He smiles and shrugs, then he steps over and... simply scoops Crow up and holds him, happy to comfort the shadow for a while. He uses one large finger to pet the shadow. "It will be okay, for a while yet." He looks to Enark. "What happens when the living die in Lumiere, mmh?" he wonders aloud.
Tomoe	Tomoe says "That is someone native here is still alive here or elsewhere somewhere in this mess then yes it means exactly that that the engines could get going again but I'm not certain what is worse? The state now or to be wiped clean. Still, with it broken like this, it might not last forever either. " She frowns this is a thing she finds disturbing and terrifying to her. She looks to Crow with a concerned look on her face. "It's his choice to move on if we fix it Crow but I don't see him leaving you hanging Enark's not that sort of man." Deep down a question that has troubled her since she unified, does she even have a soul? Does her world even have an afterlife, reincarnation or something? She has no idea.