RE: MORITURI TE SALUTANT!! [S!4] ROUND 3- OPHIDIAN JADE!
11-07-2017, 07:50 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-19-2018, 08:07 AM by seedy.)
Even in the alleyways, even out of sight of—that thing—Chad could still feel the draft of the huge breathy wingbeats against his face.
The screams and screeches almost seemed to say his name. He shuddered.
Teller let out a long, rough sigh and snapped an antenna back into a tiny radio(?).
The endless party on the streets of Ophidian Jade seemed to have come to a close.
“So, does this have anything to do with the Leviathan's--”
Teller shook their head vigorously.
“The best placement for the origin point of this locates it at a certain...church.” They sighed. “The religion this town finds...”
“So we're going...”
“Not there. A strike team is already en route, although I'm not sure I like their chances...we're following up something smaller.
“An informant says a Marconi agent was seen entering the head lodge of Di Capreo-Linae.” Teller paused for Chad to react. Chad went for surprise and concern. It seemed to have been the right answer. They went on.
“They were within the primary blast radius, so we wouldn't be expecting any action from them—but with their old enemy sending a messenger...the Marconis play a complex game, and they often know more of the cards in play than we do. It's got to mean something.”
They shook their head again. “We can't risk a major move, not in this chaos.”
+-0+
The room was dark. Chad rubbed at his eyes behind his sunglasses. It was a dark, carved dark wood and plush carpet and good-for-the-era heating room and he rubbed at his eyes when they threatened to close.
“So you have you contacted them or not?”
“Patience.” The voice smirked from behind a mask that was behind a grille. Even though they were just an underling. “As you must understand, recent events have caused things to go a bit haywire...”
“That's what I'm here about. You and I both know I can fix this.”
“On the contrary, we feel you have already fixed things...or at least, altered them suitably. Subverting a prophecy can be messy work.”
“And what have you been up to?”
“Thanks to your tips, we have put full forces into sorting out that quite literally inferior drowning cult...that is, we did until the monster's emergence. An unexpected result, but interesting for precisely that reason...
“Now, we ought to try and pin down the whereabouts of the other outliers now that things have changed—ah.”
A bell rang. Its echo reverberated in Chad's skull and he shook it once.
“That will be our refreshments. Do have some coffee, won't you?”
Chad poured milk and sugar into the hot dark cup and stirred. If the voice raised an eyebrow, he didn't care. He blew on it and sipped.
“Well, Nameless will still be in that garbage dump right now...”
-+-=
A white bird was flying over the city. Nameless watched it with the impassivity of those whose priorities in life are a very narrow spectrum. A man was speaking and gesturing in the piles of--“Not junk.
“No, no, not junk at all! Not when you really stop to look at it. It's amazing, you know, amazing what a city will throw out—right into the trash—especially a magical city such as this one—amazing,” He held up a broken mirror, a single scissor blade, “Amazing what you can find and no one else would even think to stop and look at it.”
+0-+
“...and at this point,” He sighed amusedly, “Sam will have followed Lavi to that hunting lodge she ends up at.”
=-+-
There was Lavi. Plus...horns? And...he squinted through the binoculars. Sam? No damn clothes on, as per usual. He sighed. And an older druid-looking lady. And a fucking pink-haired wolf girl.
“What the hell do you see? You're making some interesting faces.”
Chad stuttered, stopped. “Just look for yourself.”
Teller took the binoculars. “Hmm. Seems like a real paa-aarty. Too bad the resolution on the spying-glyph can't push farther...those walls are solid wood. Not solid enough to keep us from looking, but pretty solid.
“Now why did you look so surprised? Anyone you know?” They grinned. “The naked girl, or the wyfwolf?”
“I've never seen that pink thing before in my life.” Hissed Chad, then regretted the slip. Teller raised an eyebrow.
“Well?”
“Yeah...I've seen the girl before.” He sighed. “And the antlered one. They're—well. We didn't part on the best of terms.”
“Hmm. But you do know them. Any idea why they're helping the Marconis or the Di Capreo-Linae?”
Chad laughed low in his throat. “Them? They probably fell ass-backwards into the situation. They don't really think or plan, they just do what's in front of them. And that ends up being what whoever finds them first wants them to do.” He smiled and spread his hands. “You're not looking at a pair of masterminds.”
“I see. Are they dangerous?”
Chad laughed. “Not in my experience.”
“I think I'm beginning to understand...well, anyways.” Teller seemed amused.
“Who are the...people...with them?”
“The older one is the head doe of the house. The pink wyfwolf...well, they come into the city sometimes. You have a history with shapeshifters?”
“Do they usually look...like that?”
Teller shrugged. “She's a gaudy one. Probably just doing all this for fun...watch out for her. Wolves don't have what you would call 'limits.' There's a reason we don't like to let them go around unsupervised...”
Chad let this sink in. Teller quickly spoke into the police radio what Chad could only assume was a code-shortened version of what had just been discussed. “So, what do we do next?”
Teller smiled and took out a thermos.
“Make yourself comfortable. We're going to wait for the right moment.”
The screams and screeches almost seemed to say his name. He shuddered.
Teller let out a long, rough sigh and snapped an antenna back into a tiny radio(?).
The endless party on the streets of Ophidian Jade seemed to have come to a close.
“So, does this have anything to do with the Leviathan's--”
Teller shook their head vigorously.
“The best placement for the origin point of this locates it at a certain...church.” They sighed. “The religion this town finds...”
“So we're going...”
“Not there. A strike team is already en route, although I'm not sure I like their chances...we're following up something smaller.
“An informant says a Marconi agent was seen entering the head lodge of Di Capreo-Linae.” Teller paused for Chad to react. Chad went for surprise and concern. It seemed to have been the right answer. They went on.
“They were within the primary blast radius, so we wouldn't be expecting any action from them—but with their old enemy sending a messenger...the Marconis play a complex game, and they often know more of the cards in play than we do. It's got to mean something.”
They shook their head again. “We can't risk a major move, not in this chaos.”
+-0+
The room was dark. Chad rubbed at his eyes behind his sunglasses. It was a dark, carved dark wood and plush carpet and good-for-the-era heating room and he rubbed at his eyes when they threatened to close.
“So you have you contacted them or not?”
“Patience.” The voice smirked from behind a mask that was behind a grille. Even though they were just an underling. “As you must understand, recent events have caused things to go a bit haywire...”
“That's what I'm here about. You and I both know I can fix this.”
“On the contrary, we feel you have already fixed things...or at least, altered them suitably. Subverting a prophecy can be messy work.”
“And what have you been up to?”
“Thanks to your tips, we have put full forces into sorting out that quite literally inferior drowning cult...that is, we did until the monster's emergence. An unexpected result, but interesting for precisely that reason...
“Now, we ought to try and pin down the whereabouts of the other outliers now that things have changed—ah.”
A bell rang. Its echo reverberated in Chad's skull and he shook it once.
“That will be our refreshments. Do have some coffee, won't you?”
Chad poured milk and sugar into the hot dark cup and stirred. If the voice raised an eyebrow, he didn't care. He blew on it and sipped.
“Well, Nameless will still be in that garbage dump right now...”
-+-=
A white bird was flying over the city. Nameless watched it with the impassivity of those whose priorities in life are a very narrow spectrum. A man was speaking and gesturing in the piles of--“Not junk.
“No, no, not junk at all! Not when you really stop to look at it. It's amazing, you know, amazing what a city will throw out—right into the trash—especially a magical city such as this one—amazing,” He held up a broken mirror, a single scissor blade, “Amazing what you can find and no one else would even think to stop and look at it.”
+0-+
“...and at this point,” He sighed amusedly, “Sam will have followed Lavi to that hunting lodge she ends up at.”
=-+-
There was Lavi. Plus...horns? And...he squinted through the binoculars. Sam? No damn clothes on, as per usual. He sighed. And an older druid-looking lady. And a fucking pink-haired wolf girl.
“What the hell do you see? You're making some interesting faces.”
Chad stuttered, stopped. “Just look for yourself.”
Teller took the binoculars. “Hmm. Seems like a real paa-aarty. Too bad the resolution on the spying-glyph can't push farther...those walls are solid wood. Not solid enough to keep us from looking, but pretty solid.
“Now why did you look so surprised? Anyone you know?” They grinned. “The naked girl, or the wyfwolf?”
“I've never seen that pink thing before in my life.” Hissed Chad, then regretted the slip. Teller raised an eyebrow.
“Well?”
“Yeah...I've seen the girl before.” He sighed. “And the antlered one. They're—well. We didn't part on the best of terms.”
“Hmm. But you do know them. Any idea why they're helping the Marconis or the Di Capreo-Linae?”
Chad laughed low in his throat. “Them? They probably fell ass-backwards into the situation. They don't really think or plan, they just do what's in front of them. And that ends up being what whoever finds them first wants them to do.” He smiled and spread his hands. “You're not looking at a pair of masterminds.”
“I see. Are they dangerous?”
Chad laughed. “Not in my experience.”
“I think I'm beginning to understand...well, anyways.” Teller seemed amused.
“Who are the...people...with them?”
“The older one is the head doe of the house. The pink wyfwolf...well, they come into the city sometimes. You have a history with shapeshifters?”
“Do they usually look...like that?”
Teller shrugged. “She's a gaudy one. Probably just doing all this for fun...watch out for her. Wolves don't have what you would call 'limits.' There's a reason we don't like to let them go around unsupervised...”
Chad let this sink in. Teller quickly spoke into the police radio what Chad could only assume was a code-shortened version of what had just been discussed. “So, what do we do next?”
Teller smiled and took out a thermos.
“Make yourself comfortable. We're going to wait for the right moment.”