INTRO LOG #2

[abraxasmods]

Intro Log #2

It has been two months now since the initial group of summonings first took place. Castle Thorne, or at least the part above ground, is buzzing with a vibrant air of hope following the 'success' at the Singularity. Eager smiles and excited chattering are to be found in nearly every corner of the castle and surrounding town. The honored guests may find grateful looks turned their way more often than not. A new and brighter day seems to be dawning on the kingdom.

In the dungeons it's a different story entirely. The mood is somber and uneasy. The prisoner taken for trial has yet to return, and no word has come regarding her or her fate. There has been no mention of any further trials as of yet and guards seem to have little patience for unruly behavior or even conversation. Some seem to not even look at or acknowledge the prisoners at all.

[ Feel free to continue threads from the TDM here or start your own! As cell and room assignments will be short-lived due to this month's event, you're free to assume whichever cellmates and roommates you like instead of officially signing up as long as there are ICly no more than four people in a cell or room at once. ]

Comments

[petcromancer]

[No, the name sparks no recognition. You're far from the influence of Holy Harmonia, Bishop.]

There aren't so many 'Honored Guests' that I haven't crossed paths with yet. Our hosts jail nearly half of those they summon here.

[Which is not ideal, but it at least keeps the number of people Hector interacts with in the castle at an amount that a hermit like himself can handle.]

Have you been finding your way around the castle so far?

[harmonian]

[He sees no sign the man knows his name. It's just more evidence to suggest what he already knows: He's very far from home. Nobody here has found his name familiar yet. Back home even people living a long way from Harmonia at least knew of the Bishops.

He blows out a breath and grins.]

Yeah. Poorly, to be honest.

It's easy for a guy to get turned around in these hallways. I've learned the way from my room to the library but that's about it.

[petcromancer]

[A smile quirks on Hector's lips at Sasarai's priorities.]

Well, that is the most important path to know, even if the library is somewhat lacking. [Hector still suspects that there must be some other library where the really interesting books are kept. The one the guests have been given access to is filled with propaganda.]

Although you'll want to invest in the way to the baths and the kitchens next. It's not so hard, just a matter of counting the number of hallways you pass. At least this castle doesn't rearrange itself, as far as I've seen.

[Look, it was a problem that Hector had to deal with back home, so the Thorne Castle's navigation is far easier by comparison.]

I'll show you the way.

[harmonian]

[Sasarai snorts at the comment about the library. He'd noticed the propaganda as well. It was the same sort of nonsense the mages have all been feeding him; pretty words about the glory of Thorne, histories written through a noticeably Thorne-centric lens.

He's seen this sort of thing before. He's taken part in this sort of thing before. So far he hasn't bothered to ask the mages about it, he's just silently wondered what foreign scholars might think of their hosts.]

I've found my way to the baths and kitchens before it just wasn't on purpose.

[He gestures down the hall.]

So if you really don't mind showing me, I'd appreciate it. I hope you also don't mind if I ask you a couple questions.

[petcromancer]

[Hector shrugs.]

Sure. I've nothing pressing right now. What do you wish to know?

[He avoids taking shortcuts as he guides Sasarai, sticking to the main hallways so the man has a better chance of keeping his bearings. He quietly points out landmarks as they go- a statue here, an ornate window there, to help keep track of where they are.]

[harmonian]

[Sasarai casually strolls alongside Hector, eyeing every marker the other man indicates to him.]

I have so many questions it's hard to know where to start.

[He sighs and reaches up to rub the back of his neck.]

I guess the beginning is as good a place as any.

Do you have any idea how long they've been pulling people out of that well?

[petcromancer]

[Hector's eyes take a quick dart around them, but he doesn't see anyone else around who might overhear. So he'll be candid.]

It would seem the group I came in with a couple months ago was the first acknowledged group, though I can't say if there were any... unofficial... practice rounds as they were fine-tuning the process.

[If it were Hector trying to open up a portal to pull someone through, he'd sure as hell test it out before he tried it on the intended target.]

[harmonian]

Practice summonings?

[Sasarai rubs his chin.]

I guess if there were unsuccessful attempts there'd be no way of knowing. Most of the people called would be lost in the void and if anyone made it across...

[He's never heard of a failed use of a summoning or teleportation spell still bringing someone forth but the situation isn't hard to imagine... The beings called across the rift would be corrupted, missing parts of themselves in the void or melded into each other. They would be as monstrous as the beasts from the World of Emptiness.

Sasarai's brow creases and he looks over at Hector in the dim light.]

Well, if someone made it across before you I'm sure we'll learn about it sooner or later. There's probably no point in worrying about it.

[Yet.]

[petcromancer]

[Hector, similarly, can envision the disastrous results of a botched summoning. He's seen horrors in his day, and he's got a creative imagination besides.]

Yes, what's done is done. I suppose the more important matter is if they know how to put us back when they're done with us.

[For his part, Hector's not in too great of a hurry to get home. He'd escaped vampire captivity with his summoning. But he imagines others with less shitty lives might actually miss their worlds.]

Which, I don't actually know if they do or not. It's another one of those things that would be difficult to verify.

[harmonian]

It's a good question.

[Sasarai admits.]

I know a bit about summoning magic but only academically. Where I'm from it's hard to be able to pull people in and send them away. Usually one person or group can't do both, not without a very specific sort of power... A power I'm sure Thorne doesn't have.

[He folds his arms over his chest.]

I mean, they don't have the power that exists in my world...

But if they really do lack any form of ability to send us back, it doesn't seem like the sort of thing they'd tell us.

[Being able to send them all home again is too big a bargaining chip for Thorne to just cast aside over a silly detail like the truth. Harmonia would let people believe they had the power, he's sure of that much.]

[petcromancer]

Yes, they'd be wiser not to say.

[He shrugs, and nods toward a door.]

Baths are that way.

[He keeps moving. Sasarai can bath on his own time. No bath group chats today.]

But that's a problem for another day. Have they told you about the Singularity yet?

[harmonian]

[Sasarai looks in the indicated direction then keeps following.]

A bit, yeah.

I hear it's a potent source of magic and it somehow fuels the existence of all worlds... Something like that.

Do you believe it?

[petcromancer]

I've been there. It's incredibly potent. A realm of creation and magic without cost.

[He had a great time there, even with the hiccup of temporary memory loss.]

Whether it connects to other worlds, I can't speak to that. It's far beyond anything I've experienced. I think trying to destroy it could be disastrous, but someone power-mad getting their hands on it would also lead to ruin.

[harmonian]

[That description makes Sasarai think of True Runes. They are powerful weapons in the hands of an army and many scholars believe that destroying one could decimate entire countries or even sink continents.

It's why the High Priest had been seeking them; they were safer in Harmonia's hands that anyone else's. Non-Harmonians didn't tend to be big fans of this plan.]

Destroy it? Is that what this is all about? Someone has a mind to destroy this thing?

[petcromancer]

Not anyone in Thorne, but at least one of the other countries wants to. They don't get along, obviously.

[Hector has had to dip into this world's politics a little, loath as he is to involve himself in any of this.]

I'd rather use it or leave it alone, but I understand the reasoning behind destroying it, shortsighted as it is.

[harmonian]

[He sighs deeply.]

Everyone world has these people, huh?

Great, just what I need.