[ thank you him either. none texting. temenos glances up from the book he's currently reading - it's open and flat on the table - and offers a smile when he hears the familiar voice. ]
I haven't had this much access to a large library in a long time - I'd like to take advantage of it. Imagine this: the Church of the Sacred Flame only ever carries literature on and relating to the Church.
[ his dry sense of humor is on full blast here, but he reaches over to nudge out a chair so there's space. ] Come, sit.
Wow, a religious establishment only carrying holy scrolls? Shocking, I tell you. [ the sarcasm slips without thought but he figures maybe temenos doesn't care. so instead, he goes and he has a seat. ]
...you said you had something you want to talk about?
[ he sure doesn't - in fact he just smiles when it's returned, amused. hehe. you get it.
but! he pats his book. ]
Yes, a bit. It's nothing so world-shattering - at least not yet. [ maybe eventually. thankfully, the quiet of the library makes it easier to talk in slightly lower voices, so here we are. ] Rather, I spent some time with the leaders over the weekend, and questioned them about our current situation. Many are still quite hesitant to talk about any number of things, which I suppose isn't so surprising, but I thought it a touch interesting.
Have you talked to yours or any of them much about the four heroes who were killed?
[ once he's settled he's listening to this, tilting his head a bit because that wasn't the question he thought they would start with. ]
I tried to ask Goat last week, but it seemed too difficult for them to talk about it. And Phoenix has mentioned them but we were busy doing something else that I didn't press for details. I take it to mean that means you have?
Only about the circumstances - not so much the actual heroes themselves.
[ but he nods. ]
From what I've learned, the four heroes were killed by the same incident that caused the destruction in the city. I've vetted it across a couple of the leaders, and at least one of the citizens gave me similar information. Apparently, the four heroes that perished died not in the ensuing chaos of villains taking advantage of the situation, but rather that they were fighting one singular entity: one person, a so called "man in white", that brought the moon down from the sky.
[ he takes a moment to dig through his pockets, and pulls out a small notebook. flipping the pages, until he finds whatever he's looking for with an aha. ]
The timeline is thus: one month before we arrived, this 'man in white' appeared and brought the moon down from the sky. Utter chaos ensued, and many other 'villainous' types supposedly took it as a chance to unleash full havoc on the city. By the time the proverbial smoke cleared, the four heroes were already dead, and this 'man in white' was long gone.
I've a feeling that man in white is our connection to the overall state we've found ourselves in. Or - at least a connection.
I heard about the moon coming down, too, from someone last week. One of the citizens. It makes the most sense that the four heroes they lost died during the battle, just like it makes sense that there was a leader who paved the way for other villains to come in and start destroying the city for whatever purpose they may have. You always fight the frontline before confronting the enemy.
Considering someone above the city officials are the ones who called for Mika's execution and the competition we're participating in, it's likely. Either the man in white is our target, or there's something even bigger than him.
[ now we're cooking with gas. all of these ideas align, and he nods along, approving. ]
Either way, he is a catalyst of some type, and perhaps a key to more information. The only other descriptor I could get from Snake was that he dresses rather ostentatiously - they said with a top hat and a cane.
[ i made a joke about this being kaito kid but now as i'm writing it i hope it's excalibur soul eater ] But no one's seen or heard hide or hair of him since the incident, and a month passed between then and our arrival.
...seems like the kind of guy who would stick out in this crowd if he showed up. You don't really dress like that without wanting to be noticed. [ for. whatever reason. ]
It makes it harder to look for someone when we can't even really leave the city. So much of it is still blocked off from the construction it's difficult to check things out. For all we know he's planting things right under our noses and we can't find them yet. [ ... ] When I asked Phoenix what to look out for, they mentioned "white objects in odd places, papers with strange writing, and villains saying things outside of the normal villain fare." For what that's worth.
It does make sense. Our intrepid leaders are quite colorful; of course the opposite might be something white.
[ interesting. ] That's good to know.
It was interesting to me, that we were brought in after the death of the other four, and with our new rules... I wonder if perhaps culling our numbers is an end goal more so than just the competition.
[ it's a bad thing to think about...particularly in the wake of this weekend, and his frown is more grim than before from behind his hand. ] But why eludes me, and I imagine it will for some time.
I wonder if there's an organization. It's too bad we've yet to see any of the low-level 'villains' the heroes talked about - I'd like to catch one and have a nice conversation with them.
Oh, I've been working under the assumption we were here for culling since Thursday. [ bitterly and yet casually. sometimes you are just used to people wanting you dead for various reasons. ] It could be for anything as simple as "because they want to" to something more complicated, like we hold something in us that this villain and their cohorts want.
But we're here for several weeks. As long as we're all aware that things are not as they seem, we may be able to stop whatever plan in its tracks. We just have to stay vigilant about it.
[ and then beat up anybody out of place, he guesses. ]
[ there's a little quirk of a smile, there, though it's humorless. ]
That makes two of us. [ hah. ] ...Frankly, the story of Mika's situation - that it was an accident, at its core - came as more of a surprise to me than anything at all, before we learned it was her.
[ beyond all of the ministrations that led up to it, of course. none of that was on accident, but he won't say it. ] I believe you're correct. And I believe it's quite likely we'll see the process of last weekend repeated - and I wouldn't be shocked if there's an escalation in the coming weeks, either.
[ a beat. he smiles a little further, propping his chin in his hand. ]
Not much of an optimist, mm? [ with the unvoiced tone of "same." ]
[ i think i meant friday but whatever it's the same idea. regardless...yeah, he nods along. ]
It's all the more reason it shouldn't have counted as a murder. It was an accident, she shouldn't have been tried as a real villain. [ he will continue to fuss about that, but he still believes there are some people out there malicious enough to just start killing people. ]
With the new rules in place, we'll see. But I can't say I'm feeling particularly optimistic about this. I'd be surprised if anyone could after what we witnessed.
Yes, I agree. It's part of the narrative of this place - as far as I've heard, the locals did not receive a single detail of the actual events of Saturday. I also found it quite interesting that we saw neither hide nor hair of your all's siege on the jail in the news. Doesn't that seem like it should be newsworthy?
It all comes back to this narrative we are being asked to go along with. [ which is... a lot! it's a lot. ]
You'd be surprised. Hope tends to flourish in the darkest of places, but I can't say that I deal in it very often. [ says... the cleric....
but that seems to remind him of something, so. ]
Which - speaking of. How are you holding up, after that? Are you and Will both alright? Did they have any other consequences, or were you all simply released...?
Considering what happened, I do wonder if they decided our break-in would have been too much to publicize all at once if we're supposed to be heroes the city counts on. Or whatever narrative they think we fit into right now. But I also wonder if our leaders maybe vouched for us to keep us out of the headlines for now.
[ he sort of hms at the idea of hope flourishing in the dark because...he knows. but it's also a rough thing, sometimes. instead, he focuses on temenos's questions. ]
We're all okay though. We got out this morning without incident and without further consequence. We got all of our stuff back and everything. It almost felt like it didn't happen, minus losing two days.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
but he does arrive to the library! he's seeking out temenos, and when he finds him he gives a short nod. ]
Back here again, Temenos? [ not that he's bothered. ]
no subject
I haven't had this much access to a large library in a long time - I'd like to take advantage of it. Imagine this: the Church of the Sacred Flame only ever carries literature on and relating to the Church.
[ his dry sense of humor is on full blast here, but he reaches over to nudge out a chair so there's space. ] Come, sit.
no subject
...you said you had something you want to talk about?
no subject
but! he pats his book. ]
Yes, a bit. It's nothing so world-shattering - at least not yet. [ maybe eventually. thankfully, the quiet of the library makes it easier to talk in slightly lower voices, so here we are. ] Rather, I spent some time with the leaders over the weekend, and questioned them about our current situation. Many are still quite hesitant to talk about any number of things, which I suppose isn't so surprising, but I thought it a touch interesting.
Have you talked to yours or any of them much about the four heroes who were killed?
no subject
I tried to ask Goat last week, but it seemed too difficult for them to talk about it. And Phoenix has mentioned them but we were busy doing something else that I didn't press for details. I take it to mean that means you have?
no subject
[ but he nods. ]
From what I've learned, the four heroes were killed by the same incident that caused the destruction in the city. I've vetted it across a couple of the leaders, and at least one of the citizens gave me similar information. Apparently, the four heroes that perished died not in the ensuing chaos of villains taking advantage of the situation, but rather that they were fighting one singular entity: one person, a so called "man in white", that brought the moon down from the sky.
[ he takes a moment to dig through his pockets, and pulls out a small notebook. flipping the pages, until he finds whatever he's looking for with an aha. ]
The timeline is thus: one month before we arrived, this 'man in white' appeared and brought the moon down from the sky. Utter chaos ensued, and many other 'villainous' types supposedly took it as a chance to unleash full havoc on the city. By the time the proverbial smoke cleared, the four heroes were already dead, and this 'man in white' was long gone.
I've a feeling that man in white is our connection to the overall state we've found ourselves in. Or - at least a connection.
no subject
I heard about the moon coming down, too, from someone last week. One of the citizens. It makes the most sense that the four heroes they lost died during the battle, just like it makes sense that there was a leader who paved the way for other villains to come in and start destroying the city for whatever purpose they may have. You always fight the frontline before confronting the enemy.
Considering someone above the city officials are the ones who called for Mika's execution and the competition we're participating in, it's likely. Either the man in white is our target, or there's something even bigger than him.
no subject
[ now we're cooking with gas. all of these ideas align, and he nods along, approving. ]
Either way, he is a catalyst of some type, and perhaps a key to more information. The only other descriptor I could get from Snake was that he dresses rather ostentatiously - they said with a top hat and a cane.
[ i made a joke about this being kaito kid but now as i'm writing it i hope it's excalibur soul eater ] But no one's seen or heard hide or hair of him since the incident, and a month passed between then and our arrival.
no subject
It makes it harder to look for someone when we can't even really leave the city. So much of it is still blocked off from the construction it's difficult to check things out. For all we know he's planting things right under our noses and we can't find them yet. [ ... ] When I asked Phoenix what to look out for, they mentioned "white objects in odd places, papers with strange writing, and villains saying things outside of the normal villain fare." For what that's worth.
no subject
It does make sense. Our intrepid leaders are quite colorful; of course the opposite might be something white.
[ interesting. ] That's good to know.
It was interesting to me, that we were brought in after the death of the other four, and with our new rules... I wonder if perhaps culling our numbers is an end goal more so than just the competition.
[ it's a bad thing to think about...particularly in the wake of this weekend, and his frown is more grim than before from behind his hand. ] But why eludes me, and I imagine it will for some time.
I wonder if there's an organization. It's too bad we've yet to see any of the low-level 'villains' the heroes talked about - I'd like to catch one and have a nice conversation with them.
[
A Nice Conversation :) ] A shame.
no subject
But we're here for several weeks. As long as we're all aware that things are not as they seem, we may be able to stop whatever plan in its tracks. We just have to stay vigilant about it.
[ and then beat up anybody out of place, he guesses. ]
no subject
That makes two of us. [ hah. ] ...Frankly, the story of Mika's situation - that it was an accident, at its core - came as more of a surprise to me than anything at all, before we learned it was her.
[ beyond all of the ministrations that led up to it, of course. none of that was on accident, but he won't say it. ] I believe you're correct. And I believe it's quite likely we'll see the process of last weekend repeated - and I wouldn't be shocked if there's an escalation in the coming weeks, either.
[ a beat. he smiles a little further, propping his chin in his hand. ]
Not much of an optimist, mm? [ with the unvoiced tone of "same." ]
no subject
It's all the more reason it shouldn't have counted as a murder. It was an accident, she shouldn't have been tried as a real villain. [ he will continue to fuss about that, but he still believes there are some people out there malicious enough to just start killing people. ]
With the new rules in place, we'll see. But I can't say I'm feeling particularly optimistic about this. I'd be surprised if anyone could after what we witnessed.
no subject
It all comes back to this narrative we are being asked to go along with. [ which is... a lot! it's a lot. ]
You'd be surprised. Hope tends to flourish in the darkest of places, but I can't say that I deal in it very often. [ says... the cleric....
but that seems to remind him of something, so. ]
Which - speaking of. How are you holding up, after that? Are you and Will both alright? Did they have any other consequences, or were you all simply released...?
no subject
[ he sort of hms at the idea of hope flourishing in the dark because...he knows. but it's also a rough thing, sometimes. instead, he focuses on temenos's questions. ]
We're all okay though. We got out this morning without incident and without further consequence. We got all of our stuff back and everything. It almost felt like it didn't happen, minus losing two days.