mental link, day 22

[sizeofyourbaggage]

( Got some information for you guys - Annie was good enough to get some of her makeshift spycams going, and we set ‘em up with the leaders of the envoys. Activated them last night. )

[ There’s a curl of gratitude for those who went along with his plan, for those who spun stories or distractions or contributed to convincing the leaders of the envoys that the trinkets of Annie goo were part of a mourning ritual. Is he gonna talk about the fact that he basically disappeared after that until they boarded the airship? Nah. Instead, he jumps right into it. ]

( Didn’t get a lot from the Carpathans or the Meradans, unless you wanna know what the inside of Saridian Black’s room looks like or what other gifts people’ve been giving him, or see more of the Meradans trash talking each other while playing games.

Got the same Second that Annie saw last time, who’s friends with the Seconds I know, and this time he was with Ysiddia Cabrielle. He’s her son, and they were talking with a Second from one of the other Houses about the murders and the Circle having its work cut out for it when we get to the Red Coast.

And the Descendents - pretty sure we got a couple of them talking about the murders. They were wondering if “they” were discovered, who discovered them and what their intentions were - might have something to do with the last time we spied on people through Annie, and she saw the Carpathans that got killed talking about new friends. That, and blood debts and someone named Casiria, and that no one in Black’s retinue could know about it. Didn’t know this until a little bit ago, but guess what information got passed onto Black’s retinue? )

[ His mental “tone” is deliberately neutral there, but the difference from the usual warmth to his mental link is probably pretty telling. ]

( One other thing, about the circle that was found burned in the ground a while back when we were still running around on the ground and the tracks next to it - Rhan said the circle doesn’t look local, but the tracks appear Rabadocean. Hard to pin down more than that so far, except they don’t really match the Hypyrians. )

[ Is he fixating on that a little too much, to be thinking about it still? Maybe, but he's not gonna let it go. ]

Comments

[wille]

[ How strange to see the Hyrypians grieve and suffer so soon after Lavellan's passing made them endure the same. It's like watching oneself mirrored back, the repetition reducing its impact. Her tone is business-like, stripped of emotions. ]

( Two things. One: the Carpathans are split. Aligning with the Descendants isn't their formal position, and Black will make sure that never happens. But why? Don't forget the Carpathan farana said she's hiding from Black, maybe being found was enough to get her killed.

Two: we have to find this Casiria. )

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ Sam listens to her, filing away her opinions and mind flipping through a number of possibilities, how to get more information on Black, how to find Casiria, which piece of gossip was the straw that got someone killed -

And for a moment, he's just real damn tired. ]

( You know, all of this is just reminding me of why I fucking hate politics. )

[wille]

( Politics is just a fancy word for how a bunch of people scramble for more and more power. )

[ But she could be talking about herself, really. The way one denies wanting the one thing they ever really wanted. ]

( It's a mess. But maybe an opportune mess for us. )

[sizeofyourbaggage]

( It's a fancy word for bullshit. )

[ But he isn't disagreeing with her, and his acknowledgement flows across the mental link. ]

( This is their mess, their lives. They're the ones who're gonna have to live with all of this after we leave. )

[wille]

( No, no. Paperwork is bullshit. Bureaucracy is bullshit. Power isn't. )

[ Spoken like a true bureaucrat, of course. Misato has always worked with power rather than against it, and she has always sought it in copious amount. ]

( It's too early to be thinking about the clean-up, Sam. )

[sizeofyourbaggage]

( Is this the part where you're gonna go into your ultimate overlord speech? ) [ He's teasing her, a little. He can't help it. ] ( But no, it isn't. )

[ It just always seems to come along with paperwork and bureaucracy and the people who care more about all that shit than anything else. ]

( My mama taught me better than to go stomping mud everywhere without thinking of whose life it's gonna make harder having to clean it up. )

[wille]

( Well Sam, I don't think your mama would like me much. )

[ What comes with familiarity is an ability to pass insults as appeals to affection, or something like that. Of course each pass is a risk taken. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. ]

( We're here anyway, and we're already meddling. If we don't give it our best shot then it's all wasted mess. )

[sizeofyourbaggage]

( Either that or she would've liked you way, way too damn much and I'd have been terrified every time you two got together. )

[ He's not sure which is worse, actually - just like he's not sure if this is affection veiled as insult, or insult wrapped up in affection.

He supposes there's not that much difference, in the end. ]

( I know. I'm still giving this all I got, anyway. It's just something I keep in mind. )