tushanshu_logs | [closed]

[The sudden sandstorm shouldn't be as surprisingly as it is, and Annabeth's first thought is to find shelter. At least until someone grabs her, then her first thought is to pull away. But the grip is strong, and it's not someone she knows - a native, to the mainland?]

[With that potential, she lets herself get tugged along, down the stairs, into the cavern. She's keenly aware of the knife attached to her belt, of her hat in her pocket, and she calculates several ways to escape and flee. Immediately she cases the room, the shelves full of so many items - things she wants to look at, if she gets the chance. But that's to come later, because the woman is revealing herself and speaking, and Annabeth's eyes focus on that. There's nothing blatantly threatening about her, she clearly looks like she lives here, and there's the possibility of information.]

[So she looks over the woman, a little skeptically and with her guard up. Not looking like a threat doesn't necessarily mean the threat is not there.]

They do have a tendency to come out of nowhere. Experience in escaping them, I take it?

Years of it. They never get any more friendly, that's for sure.

[The woman, oblivious to Annabeth's myriad thought process, merely thrusts a hand towards her in a 'let's shake' gesture.]

Name's Eva. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but you aren't a kedan, right?

[Years of it. The woman's lived on the mainland for at least that long then.]

[She considers the gesture, deems it better to roll with the hospitality for now. Holds out her own hand and shakes Eva's.]

Annabeth. And you're right, I'm not. Are you?

[Because she can't quite tell.]

Not a kedan.

[She repeats that almost to herself, affirmation of Annabeth's status rather than admission of her own, and her expression is briefly unreadable.]

At it again, is she? The Emperor?

[She frowns, for both lack of answer and the new question.]

You mean summoning people from different worlds? Are you implying she's done so before?

[She'll come back to the kedan question later.]

At least once. Maybe more. I'm a little fuzzy on the details. Before my time, as it were.

[She sighs, drags a hand through her hair and goes to stir up her fire.]

Coffee?

How do you know? She told me the recent arrivals were the first time she attempted a summoning.

[Then she pauses. The mausoleum - it was full of bodies, but not of the kedan variety. Her frown deepens. The existence of that leaves her a little less suspicious, a little more open to the idea that Eva isn't lying. The Emperor herself isn't exactly the most trustworthy either.]

Sure.

I lived through the last one.

[She shrugs.]

Look, the Emperor isn't exactly some great and powerful bastion of compassion, wisdom and verisimilitude. If she told you this was her first attempt at a summoning, I'm sorry, she's lying through her teeth.

[WOW Eva does not like the Emperor can you tell? Because she doesn't like the Emperor. At all. She stomps about angrily for a moment, making coffee all the while, and when it's done she shoves a still-hot cup at Annabeth.]

[That vitriol is intense godsdamn. Annabeth prides herself on being a pretty keen observer, and that rage is pretty hard to fake. She takes the cup carefully with a nod of thanks, though her brain is running too fast for her to actually take a sip just yet.]

I never got that impression. She's secretive. Which isn't something I'm particularly unused to, but it's made me cautious.

[She's taken a lot of what the Emperor has said at face value, because until now, there hasn't been much to go against it. And now she just wants more of this side of the story. Maybe a clear picture can be gleaned from both.]

She refuses to talk about why we're here. What happened with the last summoning? Does it have anything to do with that Mausoleum?

[Eva's hands don't shake while she pours herself a cup, but they aren't exactly steady either. This time it's not in rage.]

Saw that, did you.

It-- look, it's... an old story. Complicated. But I'll tell you what I know.

[She sits on the floor, cross-legged.]

The Emperor isn't kedan. I'm sure you've figured that part out for yourself. And the kedan aren't native to this world. She brought them here, after Tu Vishan broke off from the continent, but before she razed the cities to the ground. I don't-- I'm not privy to all the information. My people are gone, and I was... young when the cities were destroyed, but I do know she's the one responsible for it all.

[she sips at her coffee, quietly.]

But the mausoleum doesn't have anything to do with the summoning, not... directly. It's all the people from all the cities. I brought them there.

[The shaking doesn't go unnoticed, but Annabeth doesn't comment on it. To keep at eye level, she sits on the floor herself, but on her knees for now - a position much easier to jump up if necessary.]

I had my suspicions that she wasn't a kedan. But I had no idea she brought them here.

[She listens carefully, a perfect and attentive audience, but when Eva finishes, it's all Annabeth can do to just hold back from pouring out questions, especially with the way the other woman is holding herself.]

Does that mean you and your people are the natives? To the mainland? You're not a kedan? [Confirmation of that, first. And then she frowns at the destruction, the bodies, the razing. It's hard to believe, but it's way more information than the Emperor ever offered.]

Why did she do it? How did she do it?

[And the mausoleum. She put them there? By herself?] Were they your people?

[...she held back some of her questions?]

Edited 2012-11-19 00:12 (UTC)

They were the first. An 'experiment' if you will. You ever notice how meek most of them are? A side-effect of being taken. The summoning... did something to their minds. I've only met a handful.

[She shrugs, looks down into her cup. Swirls it about somewhat.]

And yes. 'My people'. Heh. We belong here. Or we used to. When there was enough of us to form a nation.

As for the why - power, I'd imagine. Why does anyone do anything evil? And there isn't much more that's evil than taking people from their homes.

[To the last she simply nods. She's been at the job for more than two decades now. The bodies are harder to come by these days, but she's bound to have missed a few.]

[She hasn't touched a drop of her coffee yet, but keeping her hands wrapped tightly around it helps her mind stay on track.]

I noticed. Except for the gangs. They had the bonus of being unwelcoming compared to the rest too, though. Do the kedan know why we're here, us 'foreigners'? Do you? I was told we're here as saviors. But saviors against what, I don't know.

[Power. Always always power. Titans would destroy the world for it. And the Emperor certainly seemed keen on keeping hers.]

Homeless and hungry people make for poor resistance. But I didn't even know there was a mainland till recently - is there something threatening here?

[Another pause.] I know it doesn't change anything but. I'm sorry for what happened to your people.

Edited 2012-11-19 00:31 (UTC)

There's gangs, now? Huh. I guess maybe the latest generations have a bit more spunk than their ancestors, then. And no, I don't think they do know. If they did, I'm sure Eshai would put a stop to that right quick.

[She sighs.]

Saviors? Yeah, maybe she sees it that way. My guess is that she's amassing a new army. This isn't the only continent in Konryu. I don't know if it's the only one she's razed to the ground. This place used to be a bloody jungle if you can believe it.

[bitter laugh.]

When the first attack happened we lost contact with Chihuelo, the large continent to the west of here. We didn't have much to do with the others. There's eight-- no, nine in all.

[She runs a hand through her short hair.]

You mean besides the llothi? Nothing I've seen. And those lovely creatures are mutates. An after-effect of what happened to the cities. I guess you could say they're my people, too. I kill 'em just the same though. They... there's nothing left in them to be saved. Best they can hope for is a quick death.

They almost executed two people right after we all started arriving. The violence escalated into an open gang war. People and kedan died. [It's not like any of that's a secret. And the people - the one, at least, came back.]

Konryu. Is that the name of this world? Chihuelo... [She trails off, filing the names and numbers away. Mainland seems trite if there are more continents out there.] What's this continent called?

[But the army idea - well, it's more than she had before. Which was mostly nothing. And it's something she's considered herself, especially with the ~call for heroes~. The call to combat a threat. You don't call heroes without the intent of making them fight.]

Death is welcome, sometimes. [And for a moment, she thinks of Luke.]

I just wonder what brought her to destroy the cities here, and potentially other cities and lands, too. If Tu Vishan is swimming free - but I guess it's a lack of control. She can't command where he lands, and the continents could pose a threat in her mind.

[And she switches from swarms of questions to rambling out loud for now.]

That's... interesting. Sorry for the loss of life, of course, but that means her control over the kedan must be slipping. That's... potentially a good thing. Of course it's also potentially a disaster, but... let's go with good, for now.

[And then, a nod.]

Konryu. This old hunk of rock is called Vailequios.

[She's quiet as Annabeth rambles, sipping at her coffee.]

So I'm guessing she keeps the kedan pretty stunted, right? Technologically, I mean. This world used to be... ah, I wish you could've seen it. I wish I could have seen it, war'd destroyed most of it by the time I came around, but... there used to be aerial highways, floating cities-- anti-grav technology, of course. There were plenty of people who opposed the onset of technology. It was all pretty sudden, you know? Not... overnight but damn close. People clung to their old ways. There was a war, and that's when all the turtles died. Except for Tu Vishan.

What kind of disaster?

[She files away the confirmation, files away everything.] Do you know what the other continents are called?

[And when Eva goes into the technology talk, Annabeth can't help but stare a little bit.]

Stunted is one word for it. You're saying that kind of stuff existed here? [Though the consoles speak for a certain elevation, and some of the ruins on Vailequios did seem more advanced than she was expecting. There were hints, and the Metal Sector was far more advanced than the others.]

[And the turtles -] Wait, they all died? I heard about them and that Tu Vishan broke away, but not that.

[She pauses.] A lot of the information surrounding that is... gone. Censored, really. It's too precise to be a coincidence.

Well, it's hard to say what the kedan are actually like, you know? Beneath everything Eshai's done to 'em. Could be they're all warmongers.

[And then she shakes her head.]

My history lessons weren't nearly as important as the ones about stringing a bow or gutting a gosset, I'm afraid. The only two I know for sure are this one and Chihuelo.

[But goodness, this girl likes to chase her information. Eva stares a bit, and then shrugs good-naturedly.]

They're all dead. That one I do know for certain. Living turtles produce a sort of... mystic energy. Comes from them being so old. It's something that can be tapped into, harnessed. So when we lost that... people took notice.

[a snort.]

Censorship. Kept in the dark and fed on bullshit, like a right lot of mushrooms.

The gangs don't seem to like her very much. [And you can bet she'll be looking at that with a new perspective now once she gets back.]

[Do you regret the decision to grab her wrist, Eva? Welcome to conversing with Annabeth Chase. But she gives a nod of thanks for the known names, at least.]

Was the energy related to the technology? Like - when the turtles died, did it affect all that? Though that must also be part of the power the Emperor wants - the energy from Tu Vishan.

The damage was made to look accidental, but the missing information was too consistent. Everything after a certain point. I judged it immediately as someone hiding something.

[She finally takes a sip of her coffee, looking Eva in the eyes.]

How? How do you know? Not just that - but all of this? How do I know you're not lying? Not to say I trust the Emperor's word either - but I like my sources.

Smart choice.

And, ahh... yeah. It was channelled somehow. The rest was solar, but... without the energy we siphoned off the turtles...

[She shrugs. Her people would have never made it into space.]

I know things I've been told. My parents both fought in the resistance against the last group of heroes Eshai commissioned into her army. I was a child. Four, five. A lot of my knowledge is old or outdated, and frankly some of it's probably wrong. Time does funny things to a mind, especially when you've been out here alone as long as I've been. I talk to the kedan sometimes, when they land and venture inward, but they ain't much for conversation. You don't have to believe me, and I ain't asking you to.

Edited (word tweak) 2012-11-20 00:31 (UTC)

Solar power. [Brb trying to calculate the possibilities of a combination of turtle power + solar power. She's a little more inclined to believe it knowing the turtle exists and knowing how powerful supernatural sort of energy can be.]

[But going back:] Without it what?

I don't exactly have reason to disbelieve you. It mostly lines up with everything I've learned - or not learned - so far.

[And from her observations both on Tu Vishan and now on the mainland. The fact that she admits she could be wrong helps, too.]

Do you know what happened to those so-called heroes of hers?

Well, a couple of the floating cities crashed into the oceans. Others crashed down here. I think the ARSHEPELIOS platforms may've survived, but they're up in space. It's a trip, or so I've heard.

[She helpfully points skyward.]

Not a clue, sorry. After the last cities were destroyed... I was too young to care about anything but the people I had to bury. So I put the bodies in a stasis field and packed 'em to the Mausoleum.

ARSHEPHELIOS? [The gesture upward gives a clue, but it doesn't lessen Annabeth's getting taken aback. In space??] What is that? Those? Satellites?

[She frowns again.] No, I don't blame you.

[But she can't resist.] Stasis field? How did you do that?

It used to stand for something. Not a clue what, though. And yes-- satellites. Orbital defense platforms, really. Big guns.

[ah, well.]

We're an innately magical lot. I'm... a bit more powerful than most, but you can't use magic without a living turtle beneath your feet. So... when Tu Vishan makes port here, I sort of... steal some. And boom. Magic. Stasis fields are one of the things I can do. It's sort of like... stopping time, just in the relative space of someone's body.

That's a pretty long acronym. Why was there a need for orbital defense? Or was it technology for technology's sake?

[And now the reasons people lost some of their powers or strength are clear. At least, it makes sense - the turtle's energy powered everyone. The further they got from Tu Vishan, the weaker they were - and it wasn't because of something on the mainland. Annabeth's suddenly grateful her brain can't be taken away like other physical abilities.]

How often does it port here? What else can you do?

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