[ open. ]

[insertdadjoke]

Who: Jacob Kane (Cain) & someone else. Maybe you.
When: October 14th and forward.
Where: All around Keeliai.
What: Hoofing it around town to get a better finger on the pulse of current happenings. If it's a place where people are, Cain could feasibly be there.
Warnings / rating: Nah.

It was really rather astonishing how quickly Cain could adapt to things. He even surprised himself sometimes, what with the fact that he had literally been pulled into another world with a universe-threatening war and only a few hours after the fact he was on the streets looking for more information. Part of it, he acknowledged, was simply that it hadn't sunken in all the way yet. Regardless of that fact, it was always smarter to push forward than stand still when the world was still spinning around him.

Early on, it was easy to see that he was pissing off some kedan just by being around and initiating conversation. Cain started to pick his questions more carefully, but it wasn't going to stop him; kedan population seemed way higher than foreigner population and that was where he was going to need to get gossip or info if from anywhere. He wasn't above pestering some people on the street or trying to get shopping done if it looked like he might get away with starting a conversation.

Hell, Cain was even willing to stoop to the old classic: "Hey, do you have the time?"

Comments

[ruinsprofessor]

"Ghostliness," Raine repeated. It wasn't the least precise term she'd ever heard in a technical explanation, sadly. "Hm. And do the living notice and interact with them?" Mostly an unknown quantity, he'd said. She'd guess probably not, which... didn't explain why Jacob knew enough about it to explain in turn to her. Interesting.

"The dates aren't clear, no. But that Emperor lived rather longer than a human would normally be expected to, so the possible span is somewhat larger in scope." She wished she did know; determining how long the kedan had been just as they were might have some relevance to her other research. "It is worth noting that she changed them, somehow, when she summoned them. I believe it was accidental, but regardless, they are not what they once were."

[insertdadjoke]

"Specific living," Cain said. He gave a one-armed shrug. All of what he was relating right now was mostly folklore to those not in the know and part of life to those who experienced it — Cain being the first among them, so he was technically the most qualified to speak on the experience of it. Not that he would ever say that outright. "They can see death, so it includes the spirits of the dead. Mostly Enforcers, people who stick around to police the other dead that can't move on or torment the living or that kinda thing."

"Changed them?" That was a frown as Cain considered it. "So it's possible we've been changed, too?"

[ruinsprofessor]

"What does seeing death include, beyond the spirits of the dead?" Raine wanted to know. She had an idea, mostly thanks to her experience with Solomon, but would rather the answer straight. Besides, this was a completely different world. The other question she'd have had, regarding Enforcers, he'd answered as soon as she'd thought it, which was considerate.

His question regarding change gave her pause for a moment. "I don't believe so," she said at last, though she didn't sound fully certain. "We're not summoned the same way they were, for one. I'm also inclined to think that the kedan had telepathic capabilities once, but that's almost pure conjecture at this point, unfortunately. Whatever it was, it made them unsuitable to serve the purpose we currently are."

[insertdadjoke]

Cain shrugged a bit, hand coming up to bobble back and forth like it was an uncertain thing. Although what seeing death meant was certain, the reaction of those who learned that it wasn't just some fairy tale was not. A lot of people didn't take too well to knowing their life had a definite limit on it which they could do nothing about (under their own power, anyway). "They say it means they can see how long someone is going to live, too."

"What does that have to do with it?" asked Cain. "I mean, not the different summoning, that could have a lot. But the telepathic thing?"

[ruinsprofessor]

"I wonder if that's knowledge people should have," Raine said, absently thoughtful. Even knowing the general area of her lifespan weighed heavily on her, sometimes, when she remembered she was going to outlive the vast majority of the people she loved.

In a moment she moved on to his other question, consciously redirecting her focus. "Because my hypothesis is that it was part of what changed about them. There are occasions where they're driven to seek out telepathic contact with... Tu Vishan, and it burns out their brains when they do. And I imagine the loss of such a thing would have... lasting impacts, even down the generations. Imagine if humans suddenly lost the ability to see, overnight."