15 . JOHNUARY

[necrolord]

Who: John Gaius and company.
What: All around him, John's friends and loved ones begin to shed their skins. Also: Riteoir.
When: January
Where: Gaze and the new city.

Content Warnings: Tagged in headers as needed. Note all the usual warnings of this character.

Comments

[necrolord]

We seem to have a new upset for every season. [ This he says mildly, noncommittally. ] I wanted a better look at what was way down deep, you know? Interesting stuff. It didn't pan out. I've had to adjust my research methods a bit, since then.

[manyone]

A shame that it didn't quite work out. I'd love to know more about this place and how it's magic works. I won't say that it's unlike what I'm used to, but it's certainly different, at the very least.

[ Beatrice takes a lingering sip of her tea. ]

Have you found out anything particularly interesting?

[necrolord]

Oh, I have whole books of theories, but it's hard to make much headway when they're swinging new curses at us every other week. The underlying magic tracks with what I'm used to— I'm convinced it can be explained, worked out into consistent systems. Blood Magic, Blood Pollution, the different Sleeper types. It's the Pthumerian game of the week that always throws me for a loop.

[ He tips a hand to the space around them, her reality-warping enchantments. ]

Stuff like this is a little outside my wheelhouse, so I'm curious what overlap you've been seeing.

[manyone]

Quite. It's rather frustrating, the way they simply hit us over the head again and again. There's no style, no subtlety. How frustrating! Tch!

[ Beatrice shakes her head disdainfully. ]

Well, I mean, I did run my own little game for a while. A repeated series of locked-room murders. Nothing quite as absurd as the Pthumerians.

[necrolord]

[ He tips his teacup to her in agreement, commiseration. Then she says something vaguely unhinged even by his standards, which is about what he expected from all this. ]

Now, I personally have never seen the appeal in making anyone play the most dangerous game of Clue. But I'd probably take it over 'share your feelings to break the curse' every other Tuesday.