voice | rabbit 4

[redprayer]

[Sometime after breakfast on the fourth day of Rabbit, a voice message plays over the network.]

Hello. My apologies if I am interrupting anyone in the midst of something important. Some of you may already know me, but for those who do not, my name is Rezo, and I have a favor to ask of you.

In my own world I devoted much of my time to researching magic and since being recruited by the train I have heard a few things about the abilities that some of you have. While it seems magic, or some concept thereof, is quite common among the various worlds, the way it works and the extent of what a person can do varies considerably.

I confess I have found myself rather curious about all this. Thus, if any of you are willing to speak with me about your own abilities and the magic systems that you have experience with, I would appreciate it if you would contact me. I will be staying near the ICP in the standard coach for much of today, if you would prefer to speak in person.

Of course, I understand that some of you may wonder what is in this for you. Worry not. I have rewards prepared for anyone who is willing to indulge my curiosity, and I shall compensate you accordingly.

[[ooc: since lore dumping and technical talk isn't necessarily everyone's jam feel free to do some handwaving if you think your character would respond to Rezo's request but you don't feel up to going into/making up a bunch of weird details.

and if you're wondering what the reward will be, it's a sticker.]]

Comments

[invigorates]

( evil beings possessing her friends do not qualify for pacifism. )

'Tis difficult to explain, but they are... different than the magic I am used to. The vibrations I feel are less intense, and do not resonate in my soul like the arcane elements from home may.

[redprayer]

[Rezo makes a thoughtful noise.]

Perhaps the energies aren’t entirely compatible with your body. [Which sounds alarming, but…] However, it doesn’t sound as if it causes you any problems?

[invigorates]

It can be a little unpleasant at times, but it does not hinder me in the slightest. Just a background buzz of sorts...if that makes sense?

[redprayer]

Yes. I am relieved to hear it does not cause significant distress. [It would be unfortunate if she had to deal with that on top of the recent... Well. You know.

...

He has an urge to ask how she's doing but that is probably not a conversation they should have over a public network, let alone while Zelgadis is probably listening in.

So enjoy the awkward pause, Lioriley.]

[invigorates]

( Lioriley waits for another question, but when none come after a few seconds, she clears her throat. )

Is that all you wished to know? I can leave you to question others I am sure are waiting.

[redprayer]

I... suppose that really covers it. [He can probably think of more questions about her magic specifically but he's now covered the two things he's looking for- people who can detect magical disturbances, and people who have a lot of sheer firepower.

He's seen Lioriley fight before, sort of, and she doesn't exactly have firepower at her disposal. But remembering their little skirmish against the flora and fauna of Ciyesia does bring a certain folktale to mind.]

Actually... Lioriley... [She is probably not going to like this, huh.] I know that you have a distaste for combat, but have you ever had to use your abilities in such a manner? Besides against monkeys.

[invigorates]

( It was her turn to pause then; the silence heavy and longer perhaps than she intended. Lioriley wasn't sure what to say - or whether she wanted to say it where everyone could hear. )

I have. Many times. Why?

[redprayer]

…I am unsure of the extent of your limitations.

[Both in terms of raw offensive power, and in terms of how much harm she is willing to inflict if necessary. Lioriley is fairly different from the sorceress who dealt with Rezo-Shabranigdu before.

Then again, for all her violent prodigy status, nobody involved had expected Lina to have an ace up her sleeve either. Rezo just doesn’t want to put his faith into a miracle coming to him twice; hence why he’s going ahead and trying to find if there’s the seed of one planted somewhere within the Voidtrecker Express.]

You need not go into detail, if you are uncomfortable.

[-So he probably shouldn’t go and say things like that. Damn it.]

[invigorates]

That is dependent on the situation.

( she sighed; considered; eventually replied with: )

I would prefer such a conversation be more private, if you do not mind.

[redprayer]

I don’t mind, although…

[He’s sort of with his grandson at the moment except he’s trying not to be open about the fact they’re connected in any particular way, whether by blood or by a mutual interest, and said grandson WILL be lurking on every conversation Rezo is planning on having today? So it won't be super private?]

…I am not alone at the moment, and I expect I will not be for some time. But perhaps we could speak at some point tonight?

[If Zelgadis asks he can probably just give a rough idea of whether or not Lioriley might have any god-killing spells available.]

[invigorates]

( She was briefly tempted to ask who it was that had joined him, but seeing as it was mostly irrelevant save for her desire to speak of anything potentially incriminating in private, she did not say anything.

Hopefully Zelgadis wouldn't be suspicious of her need to not babble of her more dangerous magics aloud. )

Tonight, or whenever you are free. I will likely be in the library.

timeskip + action time

[redprayer]

[Sometime after dinner Rezo decides it’s late enough in the day that instead of returning to the standard coach to wait for people, it’s about time to look for Lioriley instead.

Honestly, if Lioriley hadn’t already told him she would be in the library, he probably would have looked there first. She’s one of the people who remain as constant a fixture as the shelves and chairs.

When he arrives, Lioriley will probably spot him first. Not just because she has the advantage of actually being sighted- and Rezo is 6’3” of eye-catching red robes- but because the gentle chiming of his staff stands out in the relative quiet of the library.

He moves away from the doorway and tilts his head, trying to catch her scent or the sound of her voice.]

Switching to prose to save myself the agony

[invigorates]

It was indeed the chime of his staff that caught her attention first. Lioriley kept her head turned downward - and were anyone else in the library, it would seem as if she were diligently reading. They would also notice she hadn't turned a page in a solid half hour. Alas, no one was around to witness it.

"Rezo." She said only once she lifted her head, her tone perhaps not as chipper as it usually would be when greeting him. "Over here, my friend." A gentle tap against the wooden top of the desk, indicating where she had taken up her studies that day. She usually stayed in the same general area.

[redprayer]

Despite her tone being less chipper than usual, there’s still a moment where Rezo visibly brightens upon hearing her voice. It fades as he makes his way over to her table, replaced by his usual placid smile.

“Good evening, Lioriley,” he says. He nearly asks her ‘have you been well,’ except that he knows the answer is unlikely to be a yes, except for politeness’s sake.

He opts instead for asking, “Have you been staying out of trouble?”

[invigorates]

"Trouble?" She asked, a faint lilt in her voice hinting to mild - albeit mostly playful, under the assumption he was teasing - offense. "I am not well known for causing trouble, last I recall. So I might like to think I have maintained such a status."

Rezo on the other hand... "I noticed you had a bit of a... disagreement with another passenger during your inquiry." Might as well nip that in the bud. "I should hope you are not the troublemaker."

[redprayer]

“Really? Didn’t you warn me before that you were a troublesome woman?” The placid smile shifts, briefly, into a teasing grin. Alas, reality prevents him from potentially tormenting the poor woman further.

“Ah. I am sorry you had to hear that.” Rezo considers his next words carefully. “...I would say that I am trying not to be a troublemaker, but that is not necessarily something I have succeeded at. But please, do not concern yourself with the matter."

[invigorates]

"Troublesome does not a habitual troublemaker make - though I suppose you have a point." She hadn't been causing any issues aboard the train though. Really - she hadn't been doing much of anything since Osiga save for studying, tending to people in the medbay, and crying.

Lioriley propped an elbow on the desk, cheek in her palm as she listened to him speak. "I did see your apology so I am going to assume no truly ill intent. Wash did make it sound... Distasteful, however." Telling her not to concern herself with it would only worry her more, but for now she let the matter drop. Nothing more to be said anyway.

"You had more questions for me, I believe."

[redprayer]

“It’s an unfortunate situation but I believe everything necessary has been said by all involved.”

Rezo feels almost… sheepish, oddly, when she mentions his apology. If he has any regrets about observing Washington instead of helping him, it’s purely that the man now bears enough of a grudge to try and block Rezo’s efforts to find a way to deal with Shabranigdu in a Lina-less environment. And they’re in a small community where Rezo doesn’t have a saintly reputation to rely on, so that grudge is more of a problem than he’d normally consider it.

So the true motivations for that apology were twofold; first, to try and deflate Washington’s ire by refusing to escalate the situation; and secondly, to make Washington look worse, and therefore less reliable, by comparison.

In other words, petty manipulation, not motivated by genuine remorse in the slightest. But Lioriley seems to have taken it at face value.

Strange how having someone assume the best of you can be equally uncomfortable as having someone assume the worst.

But they’re not here to discuss Rezo’s little interpersonal conflict. They’re here to discuss Lioriley’s magic, as she mentioned.

“Well…” he says.

Ask her a damn question.

“Are you sure you’re alright with discussing this?”

There's a flicker of visible surprise on his face after he asks the question; even Rezo is somewhat taken aback by his reluctance to properly pursue this.

[invigorates]

For a brief, fleeting moment she considered telling him that she wasn't; that this was a terrible topic of discussion and they should not be having it. But he surely asked it for a reason, right? Even if that reason was just research. It was probably wise to know the extent of your allies abilities and any moral qualms they might have that could hinder one in a fight.

"I am." She wasn't. But she trusted Rezo enough that he wouldn't go blabbing to the world about what she said - if she managed to say anything at all beyond the obvious mechanics of her magic. "Ask your questions and I will answer what I can. It is fine, Rezo."

[redprayer]

Perhaps at some point later Rezo can look inward to figure out what’s behind his reluctance, but now is not the time for such rumination. Lioriley says it’s fine, so it’s fine. So Rezo straightens, composes himself, and thinks.

“...I suppose the first question I would ask,” Rezo says, “Is what kind of opponents you have had to face in the past.” Humans and other mortal races? Monsters? Evil spirits? He presumes her Alchemy mostly or purely takes effect on the physical plane, but…

[invigorates]

"That is quite a long list." She said with as much stoicism as she could muster in the moment. "Humans, elves, dragonkin, an array of goblins ranging from those that can wield magic to those with spears and rocks in wooden slings. Undead, orcs, at least three powerful liches - do you know what a lich is, by chance?"

[redprayer]

Rezo himself is also relatively stoic. Reflecting Lioriley’s mood, his usual priestly smile is gone, replaced with a sterner expression.

“I am unfamiliar with the term,” Rezo admits. “That and dragonkin, although my world has dragons.” And the most intelligent species, such as the golden dragons, were very powerful indeed. It was also a form that the gods, and even a few mazoku, often took.

He stands there, patiently waiting for Lior to elaborate.

[invigorates]

"A lich is a powerful Occultist that has sacrificed their mortal form to become a diety, of sorts. Their soul merges with the Veil - a realm of death and shadow, that I have mentioned before - and grants them more powerful magical abilities, but leaves them as undead and inhuman beings of pure evil." She seemed confident enough to call them evil, too, because no lich she had ever seen had been good by any means.

"Dragonkin are descendents of dragons, but with more humanoid forms that range from lizard to snake-like, and all manner of reptile in-between."

[redprayer]

“I see. Your description of liches sounds slightly similar to the Pledge of Immortality- that is a ritual from my world. It is a deal that a human may make with a mazoku in order to confer partial immortality. The human’s soul is sealed within a Pledge Stone, preventing them from aging and allowing them to recover immediately from any wounds.”

However, it otherwise doesn’t make them more powerful- certainly, not enough to be called a deity, even one ‘of sorts.’ Just humans, with the powers of a human and the madness prerequisite to want to make a deal with a mazoku.

“And with your Alchemy, you were able to defeat such beings?”

[invigorates]

"Seems a dangerous pact to make for immortality." Then again, humans doing that made sense - given their short lifespans and their desire to remain amongst the longer lived races.

She frowned. "Not alone each time, but yes. I was able to freeze one - a lesser lich serving a more powerful master - and shatter him to pieces." And there is, somehow, a hint of remorse in her voice. Like even the undead bastard of a lich deserved some bit of sympathy. "If it is the extent of my power as a third circle mage that you seek to know more of - I can do much more than that. I hinder myself however; for I do not believe there ever a benefit to, say, flash freezing an entire settlement, or flooding an area to be rid of the occupants. But I could."