used to care, but times have changed. [ catch-all ]

[insertdadjoke]

Who When Where What Warn

"Jacob Kane" (Cain) & You Catch-all for the rest of August Various places in Keeliai Cain reacclimatizes to life on a a turtle floating through the Dreaming. Basically just make something up and I bet you Cain is there somewhere. The thread with Gene delves into imagery of torture and child abuse. (If you could take a moment, consider filling this out!)

There was a whole lot that hadn't actually changed in the city. Small things, different businesses here and there, maybe a few more houses in one district and some converted or otherwise gone in another. It was familiar in the way any city was after a time lapse, although Cain would be the first to admit that it was a significant enough change for hardly a year's time since his last visit. At least that meant it was easy to catch up on old ground.

However, now he found himself staying at and working at the Hotel however temporarily until he got his feet truly underneath him. That was good, a simple task to keep an eye on people and make himself comfortable again. Working with the Metalworkers on his own projects kept the rest of the time occupied. The vast majority of Cain's free time, however, was spent exploring the city and feeling out the atmosphere, talking to kedan and foreigners alike. He had cleaned himself up and changed his wardrobe just enough to look older than his usual early-twenties for a change of pace. Usually, this wasn't the sort of thing Cain would care about; usually, this was the sort of bed the city could make and lie in all on its own for the denial of taking responsibility they'd dragged in themselves; usually, he wasn't stuck here forced to be a part of it with a bunch of others who were in much the same situation.

Usually, it sucked to have a sense of responsibility for those he felt close to.

Most of his days consisted of hitting up local businesses, making himself known to the locals as someone helpful and harmless and getting whatever gossip he could. Cain checked in on the few friends he had, and looked to make any more to improve his own situation. It never hurt to make use of a specifically positive image, after all. He might as well have a bit of fun with it.

Comments

[redlightgreenlight]

"Somehow, yes, they did." An uneasy feeling rose up, perhaps a bit too much like a warning from the Void of impending danger. "Several kedan, who have since vanished, were kidnapped and then when they reappeared, they had soul gems."

And then of course they had disappeared again.

"And...with the muggings, there was something very off about the ones who came after my gem. I think that their bodies were being controlled by someone else, they were almost like zombies."

The part she was hesitant to say was that she believed that death magic was somehow involved in both the creation of the soul gems and with the zombie kedan.

"I don't like it when people mess with the souls of others."

God, she sounded like such a hypocrite.

[insertdadjoke]

That raised so many questions that Cain didn't know where to start. He was sorting many of them away for later to work at in private, notes already scribbled in his mind to put to paper and give the consideration it was due. Whoever was doing this had some terrifying understanding of the soul and people, and something broken in them to try and manipulate both in this way.

"Like zombies," he repeated. It might have seemed like an odd thing to latch onto, but he was considering that one most heavily of all. He'd dealt with zombie-like creatures before, flesh animated without the soul to guide it. "Turning someone's soul into their own noose is beyond unforgivable, I don't think anyone would disagree on that one."

[redlightgreenlight]

Somehow, she realized that it would be in her best interest to keep her secrets from Jacob Kane. He was a curiosity, but being an unknown and with his reaction to what he was hearing, she just knew that things would go badly if he knew about her magic.

"You'd be surprised," she replied, her tone hard, "There are many people who don't value the soul in the same way we do."

But his statement gave her more pause. Their soul into their own noose. That was exactly what Eshai had done to them and was still doing to them. Their gems were as much a prison as the lanturns had been. They didn't even know how to leave, not that she wanted to.