abraxaslogs | [March Catch-All]

[Alucard lingers at the closed portal to Square, arms over his chest and frown on his face. The simple truth of it all is that he is not surprised to find it closed. In fact, it’d be infinitely more surprising if Luna and Ikorr decided to go ahead with commerce after what’s happened in the past few days.

Still. The closure stings, although not nearly as much as the sense of disappointment that rolled off of Luna’s delegation as the festivities in Ikorr soured and concluded. The feeling is understandable. Luna has given much. To ask for trust is to be expected.

And yet.

The dhampir exhales, like that might fix everything.]

I hope this will not be a permanent closure.

[ It doesn't entirely surprise the Doctor, either, given everything that transpired. In the back of his mind, he'd hoped for an opportunity to speak further with those on both sides, with due caution, of course. He's an outsider, still new to most. He seeks first to understand, as much as he can, every side of a situation, but this isn't his world and he doesn't have a place to go barging in on such a precarious situation. Or rather, that's been his modus operandi all his life and he's forced to change course here.

He does fumble things, of course. Like he had the first time he'd encountered the man lingering near the portal.

Quiet as he approaches, eyes lingering only on the portal for a long moment, the Doctor observes, holding a silent worry within for everyone on either side beyond their sight now. ]

I hope that too, and I like to believe there's always a bit of hope lingering about, even when it's hard to see. It's understandable they've closed, I suppose, given what transpired.

A set of artefacts that are meant to cut through time murdering a well known and high class individual who orchestrated a giant crime that threatened to destroy a fragile peace does have a way of putting a damper on festivities and trading enterprise, yes.

[Alucard does not turn just yet. It is a bitterly disappointing thing, but it is better that both sides have not immediate launched into attacks against the other than....really any other outcome. What's beyond the portal could be diplomatic talks, but Alucard is not that hopeful.]

And who could have known that the giant rock could have a tantrum about it.

I absolutely wish that were only the plot of a gripping novella with a satisfying conclusion, and not something that actually happened to anyone here. Certainly opening the portal this go 'round is the least for them to worry about.

[ Not the sort of situation where you just take a day to regroup and go on carrying about as you did before. The Doctor has seen much in his travels, enough to unfortunately not be surprised that someone might have masterminded a crime like this at all. Like anyone, though (he assumes), he always hopes the occasions of events like Ikorr opening their doors after so long might have been met with a night of genuine celebration and frivolity and nothing more, concluding with the assurance they could do this again without a worry. Still, he hopes for better to come, even in the face of the opposite. ]

Yes, now that, that, is just the sort of coincidence that's actually anything but. I haven't been here nearly long enough to have an accurate measure, though, are you aware of it ever reacting quite this strongly before?

Vampires love drama, unfortunately.

[The words are said with a weary sigh suggesting he's experienced that combination more than a few times. It is true though, Alucard has never met a vampire that wasn't dramatic, his half-breed self included. At least he came by it honestly, his human mother was just at bad even if she denied it.

To the question about the Singularity, Alucard shakes his head no.]

I've not, and I was in the first group that was brought here, before anyone but Thorne could perform the ritual. Someone in Solvunn was able to find an expert in the so-called new gods though and found a potential lead in Umbvagher, Herald of Abberations, noted for a capricious nature. As if we needed more deities making things difficult.

[ Taking note of the sigh, he picks up that thread for a moment — ] You sound like you speak from experience. [ That's the extent to which he'll pry, though. He's trying to be more mindful of boundaries and taming his curious mind. ]

Vampires would be among the multitudes out there with an affinity for it, certainly. [ Most notably, the humans the Doctor is so fond of. ] About the only species not especially fond of drama are sky fish from Ember. Lovely things! Just float about peacefully in the crystalline fog — they love music — sorry, sorry! I go on a bit.

[ He's especially interested speaking further with someone who's been here a long while, particularly given recent events, so he clings to the lead with a bit of carefully contained enthusiasm. ]

Umbvagher, oh that's something. Umbvagher. Depending on the inflection, sounds a bit like Umber. Perhaps. With a certain accent. The one who came and went quite mysteriously when Cassia took ill.

Slightly. [That's all Alucard is willing to offer for the time being, given that there are much more important matters at the moment. Besides, he and Astarion are the only two with fangs these days walking amongst the Summoned.

And then suddenly, the focus is fish. The dhampir pauses, letting the moment settle and raising an eyebrow.]

You do, yes.

[The comment is dry, and Alucard very much does not pry. Not his circus or his monkeys or...fish, was it were. However, he perks immediately at the mention of Cassia's sudden illness.]

--I hadn't heard about that last part.

I had a chance to speak with Retha a bit after she'd performed. Nice chat, both her and her bird, Firewing. The bird had mentioned something in the water, which I later learned through others was traced back to a seed in a vase with a suspicious black substance, likely the source of Cassia's illness since it was in her dressing room. I do prefer to have things like that absolutely confirmed, but time wasn't on anyone's side at a certain point in the evening.

[ He wishes he'd had more time to investigate that particular thread. His ability to discern chemical compositions through taste might have helped a bit in that regard, but then he'd been pulled in other directions. It's also more than possible that if there was poison of any sort and the illness was more magic-induced, the Doctor wouldn't have detected anything at all. ]

Umber had replaced Cassia the night she took ill. Never collected payment for their services, either, and simply vanished.

[Alucard had been far too focused on licking blood off the floor and using stupid vampire powers to cause distractions in the name of grabbing evidence. He was vaguely aware of the other gears churning at the time, but now, being caught upon the matter of Cassia, his mind goes back to the drowning maiden.

Who he and Thancred talked to.

Fuck.

There is a very long, slow exhale of pure exhaustion.]

The name isn't subtle, is it? This Herald must have had a good laugh about it.

[ If the Doctor had seen Alucard doing exactly that, he would have thought nothing of it all, except to be curious and intrigued about Alucard's abilities. What he personally knows of vampire powers has proven to be different depending on what pocket of the universe he's passing through at any given time. ]

It paints a certain visual doesn't it? I'll show them, got them good, insert hypothetical disembodied cackling. Or something of the sort!

I saw the mention of the Singularity feeling jealous, and given what the latchkeys are capable of, it's little wonder. I do have the feeling of being simply sat here waiting for something, though, and I don't tend to care for that feeling.

[ Not that he assumes he's unique in feeling that way. ]

[Sometimes you just become a series of bats to harass a shopkeeper as a distraction by divebombing them. Such is life.]

Mm, yes, I do think that's the likely thought being had. Truthfully, I understood the latchkeys as keeping that spirit locked in. It would explain why he didn't appear with the other three heralds. Now I'm not so sure, not if they were running around as the Drowning Maiden and helping to set all of this up in the first place.

This might be worth sharing with the group.

[Alucard doesn't make use of the network often, but it feels like it should be shared out.]

Oh, I absolutely think the rock is having a tantrum. As for the other shoe dropping, it feels like much of it is on what Nocwich decides to do. Which I hope isn't an actual fight.

[ Now that would be a sight to see. 5/5 on the Abraxas world tour. Or something. ]

I would have thought so, too. With the immense power that artifact contained, a Herald of Aberrations wrenching loose would have been the logical consequence. But this does cast doubt on the sequence.

Sharing out — brilliant, yes, should be done. You up for it or should I?

[ Though the Doctor does love to chatter on, he also hasn't used the network terribly often. Not for any particular reason other than keeping his head down and busy in the Free Cities. ]

One does hope, yes, and one should — both for the avoidance of any fighting and that the dramatic monolith might be soothed a bit soon. Or else it's all building to something far worse. And — there again — I'll hope for the complete opposite.

[We only use bat mode for that and annoying Jaskier.]

We're missing nuances. And this god may be harder to track than others, it took my contact in Solvunn a bit of leg work and moreover, only one person had an answer.

[That Julia found anything at all is now in fact a miracle. Alucard exhales, considering.]

I'll do it. Brief and to the point, I'm sure that presenting the facts plainly will allow for enough spirited discussion. Or devolve into something foolish, I've seen things go both ways.

[Being dragged for licking the floor comes to mind.]

Having been here for a while, I can only cynically remark that the far worse is the most likely to happen. Our smallest, slightest advantage, is having a name. Beyond that, I don't know what else can be said or done in order to prepare.

[ Still a noble pursuit. ]

Good good, thank you. The more eyes on it, the better. The chances of foolish commentary do tend to be a bit high with this lot, though, that's true.

[ He is indirectly calling himself out for that, too, whoops. ]

I'm not good at the sit and wait part, I'm more used to jumping into the fray and fixing things and helping. Here, it's all — hold your breath and do your best when the worst comes. But we must, I suppose, and we will.

[ That's all they really have for now. ]

I understand blowing off steam and that the more one resists, the worse everyone doubles down, but...

[No. It is still very silly.]

Yes, that is rather the way of things. It is counterintuitive to most, I've found, which tends to make anxieties higher as well. [Alucard lets out a long, slow exhale.]

What worries me is the "capricious" comment. That tells me things may be very bad.

Yes, I think we're veering farther from the path of good times ahead. If that's even possible.

[ The degree and manner of the danger awaiting them is, of course, the big awful unknown in all of this. He's at least semi-comforted knowing that no one else is any less distressed or anxious just waiting for it all to happen. ]

What did you make of what happened when we passed through the portals leaving Ikorr? Those words, you are awaited. Lovely if it means we're invited to a fancy dinner party with games and dancing, but it's obviously anything but.

Oh, it's always possible. So long as we don't repeat the cult situation...

[Enough said.]

I have to wonder if awaited means our presence here in Abraxas more generally, rather than a specific event. But there's too many unknowns, and only one person in Solvunn could even find a name for this Herald.

Do you feel yourself going a bit mad at all, wondering at the possibilities? My mind never really stops, you know, imagining what's to come, what's happened, what will be, what can't be. While we wait, we can only just fill in the gaps, but that long pause is its own madness.

[ It's not that they don't want to be able to do more, he imagines that's true for almost everyone here. It's only that so much is, again, out of their control. ]

I only want to be sure everyone's safe on the other side of this. And yes, very glad not to repeat any cult situations.

If I thought about the infinite possibilities at all times, yes. But that doesn't help me, so I try to avoid it.

[Alucard lifts a single eyebrow, not quite side-eying the statement but very much trying to ask are you okay with all that in your head? without having to do it outwardly.]

Having to attend to buildings, clients, commissions, and design keep me grounded. Joke not intended.

[Safe though. The dhampire shakes his head.]

I don't really think that's possible. Being safe on the other side of this, I mean. Going through something catastrophic and stupid is never safe, and you're never unchanged from it.

My mind rather...doesn't let me avoid it, but I take your point.

[ Though this world has affected certain abilities, the way his thoughts run amuck, the shifts and turns of the world itself — all of that lives in there in his head. He's not quite okay, but okay enough! ]

Suppose you're right, of course, it's only the hope I have of wishing to keep the worst of what's to come away from everyone. Which — yes, isn't possible, either, at least not here. But my life before this, it was, or I tried and I helped! Never as much as I would have liked. Here, it's — well, the waiting, like we said. Dealing with whatever comes.

[ He shrugs a little and stuffs his hands in his pockets. ]

Attending to your buildings and clients and commissions — do be careful out there, eh?

[March Catch-All] | Open

PORTAL TO NOCWICH | OPEN

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aim to start wrapping bc event?

for sure - good to wrap on yours if that works!