Week Six

[letsplayamod]

You've survived, for lack of better wording, the latest week of trials and tribulations. This one had been more costly than most: Typhon's machinations have brought your group to nearly half the size it was when Athena first brought you to this island. Whether it ends with him or with you is still too soon to make out. One thing's for certain. Things cannot be allowed to continue as they are.

Speaking of continuing, the next floor has been revealed to you. Just how far down this island goes is a bit of a mystery, but you get the feeling that you're close to something important. Maybe that thing Athena wanted you to find before Typhon does. You can ruminate on that as you watch the waters below. Waves still lap at the cliffs, but it all seems lower than it did weeks ago. Like the ocean itself is shrinking...

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Quark's Bar

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[stringup]

[ Early Monday morning, there are shrouds draped on Misane, MutsuMortis, Aglaea and even Zvei's statue. It's a mystery who put them there, totally.

Misane's is a blue shroud with a cat pattern, each cat alternating between different states—seemingly observing the viewer, dozing off or suddenly awake with alertness. Someone has also very determinedly arranged two shrouds on the one statue of Mutsumi and Mortis; both pale green, with one having an embroidered cucumber pattern and the other of bunnies prancing about, certainly not shy or demure. The one on Aglaea's statue is white cloth embroidered with a golden sun pattern, lines eventually converging into a large golden circle in the centre.

The purple shroud on Zvei's statue is plain. Completely unadorned. Only the edges are stitched to keep the cloth from fraying, but there is nothing else sewn onto it. It is there only because there is still someone here would miss him and mourn him.

Later in the morning, Velvet is at the Cornucopia, this time not so much throwing a fistful of tokens in as she is dumping a small pouch into the fire. And the Cornucopia in turn gives her so much shit. Watch for the Zubats.

Some objects she stops to admire their workmanship, like the cleaver and the earring. The googles are very interesting to her and being set aside.

Then the Eye-pod rolls out.]

Oh, this is like Eyelex...

[ Help. She didn't ask for this Eye-Pod but now it's here.

But when she gets to the outfit, she looks at it for a long moment before some realisation dawns on her, leaving her to just...stare at it in her hands.

Much later in the day, everyone will find a note slipped under their room door (unless you're Ferdinand, in which case you're probably going to be told this directly). The handwriting is fancy, but still legible. ]

Looking for people to try channelling our dead friends in a certain smoky room and see if we can contact them. Will probably involve inhaling incense fumes of dubious origin, and Heaven knows if we'll end up finding something else beyond the veil.

Find me if you're interested so we can figure out how to do this.

- Velvet

[eeeonetwothree]

[ Omega responds quickly, though all he can really offer is moral support. ]

HELLO, VELVET. I GOT YOUR MESSAGE. I WILL BE THERE TO PROVIDE MY SUPPORT, BUT GIVEN I AM A MACHINE AND THUS LACK A SOUL, I DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH I CAN CONTRIBUTE.

[ Idly, what Riful told him about him having an aura exists in the back of his mind, but...he's not convinced that means he has an immortal soul just yet. ]

[stringup]

[ Velvet, thinking to the local magic robot back home: ]

Uh, I wouldn't discount the possibility of you having a soul just because you're a machine, but I don't suppose you can inhale smoke, can you?

[eeeonetwothree]

[ Omega doesn't comment on the soul part, focusing on the latter portion. ]

WELL, I DO VENTILATE FOR SYSTEM COOLING. DOES THAT COUNT?

[stringup]

...I have no idea, genuinely.

That said, I think you might be a better pick for guard duty.

[eeeonetwothree]

VERY WELL. I SHALL DO IT EARNESTLY AND WITHOUT FAIL!

channeling

[markofnobility]

[They very well might be in the room where it happens, Ferdinand fiddling with the cushions. He explored here once before, but was never brave enough to light the incense]

Will this be safe? I know you are aligned with such magic, but...

[Oh this would have absolutely got him excommunicated if he wasn't already for, ya know, the war.]

[stringup]

[ Velvet for her part is examining all the apparatus in the room and looking at the way the cushions and rugs are laid out, looking thoughtful. For her, it's a matter of trying to figure out what kind of ritual is being expected to be done here. ]

To be frank, I can't promise that. While I think it's unlikely something...else will answer us if it works, I can't say there's no chance it'll happen.

[markofnobility]

Goodness... I had not even considered something else.

[More angry ghosts of their allies or some kinda god smitting]

[stringup]

I'm really hoping demonic possession isn't a thing here, or it'll be so much more complicated and messy.

[markofnobility]

... maybe you should not then? If our friends are truly dead I doubt there is much they can tell us.

[But he can't help a hope in his chest at seeing them again. And something else as well, deep down.]

[stringup]

No, the thing is...the fact that Typhon even does that whole "dragging them off to Hell" stunt implies to me that there is some sort of Underworld or something similar here. And he certainly would be the kind of bastard to keep them around even after they're dead as opposed to, I don't know, unmaking their souls.

[ It's almost surreal to Velvet that she's hoping her hunch on this is right. ]

...So I figure we may as well confirm it. If there is an Underworld, and we manage to contact them, there may be something either of us can do on our respective sides to get to the bottom of this bullshit.

[markofnobility]

...right. It can not hurt to try.

[You would think being a god would be the weird thing to him, metaphysically. But the concept of an afterlife that you can contact is what's so odd to him. The damned linger, the good belong with the Goddess in her starry heaven. Even considering contact with the dead was a grave sin.

Yet, here they are. Ir such necromancy was going to be an issue he certainly decided on the wrong woman to fall for didn't he? He nods, steeling himself]

[stringup]

[ Maybe he should have thought twice before falling for the goth who's also an actual necromancer. ]

That said, the way this room is laid out makes it seem like there are supposed to be multiple people for this ritual...

[markofnobility]

Should we all gather, do you think? That way if something goes wrong we have healers on stand by.

[Just not Zvei anymore, he thinks]

[stringup]

I think it's a good idea for at least some people to be on stand by outside the room, yes.

[ If they somehow get Zvei when they attempt this seance, Velvet is banishing him back right away, damn it.

That said, she does end up going I er to fuss a bit at Ferdinand's collar. ]

...You seem a little uncomfortable.

[markofnobility]

Ha... you can read me like a book my dear. I... necromancy is heavily taboo in the Church of Seiros. Even handling dead bodies outside disposal is not allowed.

[Autopsies or experiments? Absolutely no]

Of course, I am an apostate many times over. But it is still... something I am getting used to.

[stringup]

Funny how you ended up declaring your love to a necromancer, huh.

[ She says that dryly, but not meanly. ]

...Necromancy is taboo in most places back home, too. I'd probably worry if you get too used to it.

[markofnobility]

Dramatic irony, I think they call it!

[He grins even through his jitters]

Do not worry. I may be a bit unsettled, but I will power through when the time comes.

Cornucopia

[sweetsynergy]

[She's coming for some regains herself, tokens in hand- and takes a half-step back as the Eye Pod pops out.]

Oh- huh. Another one.

[stringup]

I suppose Eyelex can have a friend now?

Cornucopia

[taintedfayth]

[Seymour doesn't normally have much interest in the Cornucopia. The two things he would want to see emerge from it are things that Zvei has already returned to him (and that's a bitter thought even now); beyond those, he can't even think of anything that it might bring here.

... that is, until his eyes fall upon the earring Velvet is currently examining, and his eyes widen in evident surprise.]

It gave that to you?

[stringup]

It did, yeah.

[ ...Well, that sure is an expression in Seymour's face.]

Is it yours?

[taintedfayth]

It belongs to my wife, Lady Yuna.

[Then, because he knows what she's going to say (or is at least thinking, as everyone witnessed the scene between himself and Zvei the other day), he continues:]

Before you ask, our marriage is a formality-- she has no love for me.

[That is probably the understatement of the year, all things considered.]

I am surprised that it would see fit to bring something of hers here, considering that.

[stringup]

[ She sure wasn't going to say anything, but at least that question was answered. ]

Well, perhaps it's because it still meant something to you.

[ Considering some of her items that have shown up here. ]