☂ video; un: liches.get.stitches

[spellslots]

Hail and well met, my dudes.
 
[Despite not having much experience with this kind of video technology, Taako has adapted pretty quickly, mostly because he’s vain as hell and gets to take pictures? Of himself? It’s amazing. So the camera is centered properly, he’s got Disguise Self cast to look the way he’s supposed to, and his stupidly long hair is braided down his back. ]

I got a couple'a things I wanna ask, figured this is the easiest way to do it.

[He holds up a finger, to count the first question:]

So weird thing here, has anyone heard of this fucked up black oil that, uh, that destroys worlds, I guess? [He casts Minor Illusion and the oil, similar to what he saw in Palmon's prophecy, appears in his hand. It's thick and dark and kind of unsettling.] Listen, I'm not really sure exactly what it is, but it's bad. When I saw this stuff, shit was like it'd drowned everything in sight. And uh, the gods are gone, seems like. Which is weird as hell and might be related. This ringing any bells?

[That was the worst explanation ever, but in his defence it's a pretty confusing situation. He's trying his best.]

Second lil thing. [He holds up a second finger, dropping the illusion so the oil disappears.] What the hell are all you thugs doing for money, 'cause gotta admit, I haven't got a whole lot of marketable skills but I'm fast running out of that sweet sweet cash and would really love to not starve, you know? Toss some ideas at me, I'm all ears.

[Get it, because he's an elf.

Well at least he thinks he's funny, since he's chuckling as he clicks off the video.]

Comments

c.d

[staystrong]

Why don't you do the whole cooking thing? At least you can get a real job.

[Someone is thirteen and bitter.]

@eddie

[causational]

[Eddie is not used to doing a lot of video chatting, so he's a little more uncertain, the camera is slightly shaky for a few moments until he finds a more flattering angle.]

I've never seen black oil that destroys worlds before. Or gods who you could actually tell were gone or not. But maybe I could help with the job thing? What kind of skills do you have?

[burntbridges]

Do you think your world's gods would have power over this world? You might be worrying for no reason.

[All her religious investigations have left her to believe that this world is very, very different from any of the volunteers'.]

[spellslots]

It takes years to get anywhere with cooking, my dude.

[Or at least, it does where he's from, because there's no easy ways to advertise and get the word out. He'd have to start from scratch again and that seems way too daunting.]

Who's gonna take a chance on some asshole who's got no resume?

[spellslots]

[Eddie, the fantasy wizard is better at this than you are, that's embarrassing.]

Sounds like you got shitty gods.

[He has a small bag in his pocket that was literally a gift from a god, so it's weird to think of ones that just don't like, chill?]

Uh, I can do magic shit and I can cook, that's all I got.

[staystrong]

You don't think you could cook up a few things? Show people what you can do?

I mean we were kinda pulled through a portal. They have to know you're not going to be carrying a resume on you.

[spellslots]

'Cause whatever this shit is, I don't think it's just my world, and my gut tells me that oil is connected to the gods disappearing.

[He's not good at this, and he only has about a tenth of the information available, but if this oil can cross planes, which he thinks it can, then this place isn't safe either.]

[burntbridges]

[Well... she can tell he's seriously worried about it, and all the more if he's willing to admit it.]

How much do you know about it? If it is a danger, we have knowledge from all sorts of worlds, so we're in a good position for getting rid of it.

[spellslots]

[On the plus side, nowhere here knows about those forty people dying.]

I mean, I guess?

[Here's the thing: for someone who talks a lot of shit about how great he is, Taako isn't entirely sure he could pull it off.]

Just seems like a lot of faith for these guys to put in someone they don't know.

[causational]

[Look, tech and pop culture isn't really his bag. But he does manage a genuine smile.]

You could say that. Most of the time, I'm not convinced they even exist.

[A little shrug, and he brightens a bit at that.]

Right, you said you could cook! I bet you could get a job in a restaurant, if you're good at it.

[spellslots]

Honestly, bubbale, not a whole lot.

[If only one of his stupid friends would actually share information, but Taako hasn' got a lot to go on.]

I saw a prophecy with the stuff in it, like the whole world was drowning. And I watched-- I watched someone get pulled into it, into the astral plane.

[Somebody help Kravitz.]

r.lynch

[somnioergosum]

[This is one of the rare times Ronan glances at his phone-- not phone-- whatever the hell it is. He's about to turn it off when he sees that illusion. His blood runs cold.

Ronan being Ronan, he doesn't take a moment to compose himself before responding. Scratch that, he takes a moment to figure out how to work the thing and then responds. There's no illusion to give his shaved head any ridiculously long hair. It suits him-- suits his rough edges, sharp voice, and gleaming eyes.

What black oil?

[spellslots]

Ours deffo do, I met Istus, she's rad.

[Mostly because she made sure they didn't die, which was nice!]

Gotta say, not super into going back to square one at some shitty restaurant.

[Because he's still just assuming he'd have to start from the bottom and work his way up.]

[spellslots]

That's what I'm asking, my man!

[He can dig the buzzed look, some people rock it. He absolutely can not, but you know.]

I've only seen it once for real and once in a prophecy, but it feels big, ya know? Important, dangerous, all that fun shit.

[burntbridges]

[She purses her lips as she thinks about it.]

Well.. in my experience prophecies tend to come true. But I've never seen anything like that. [She hesitates for a moment.] Ivar and I are going to test if I can contact the Netherworld. If I can't, that might relate to you being unable to contact your gods.

[somnioergosum]

[Ronan tries to sound casual in the way that he tried to pass his classes: completely half-assed.]

Yeah, I need more information. Like if this prophecy involves demons or witches or whatever.

[He's mostly just interested in demons but he won't rule out witches, psychics, or psychopaths.]

[spellslots]

[Taako doesn't know Ivar, so he can't help but frown a little, concerned.]

I can get to the ethereal plane with no dramas. Haven't tried to astrally project anywhere yet, that's a big spell to burn up.

[Also: he's a little scared.]

You need back up for your trip?

[spellslots]

Well like, I'm a wizard, dude.

[That seems like a reasonable place to start, if this guy is asking about witches or whatever, although he really doesn't want to repeat the "demons" =/= "wizards" conversation he had with Sera.]

And I'm pretty sure Paloma was a witch, that's how she does the whole prophecy thing. The prophecy was just like, these two worlds, one was covered in ash, completely fucking dead, and the other one had this oil shit all over it.

[And apparently the fate of reality is up to him, so that's cool.

(It's not cool).]

[causational]

I've never even heard of Istus.

[A little wince, and he shrugs his shoulders again.]

Well, when they gave me my job, they said I could move up quicker than usual, because I have experience from home, you know? I think it was mostly because I'll need to re-learn all the laws here. Maybe it'd work out that way for you too? I mean, there's no harm in trying, right?

[spellslots]

She does the whole fate thing.

[Which is cool.]

There is absolutely harm in trying, pumpkin! What if I fuck it up real bad?

[He says it like a joke, but it's... only kind of a joke.]

[causational]

Fate.

[He can't help it. He makes a little face, wrinkles his nose, but then waves it off - physically, by waving his hand in the air. And at that last comment, he smiles, abrupt and bright and very warm.]

You can't screw up that badly. And if you do, so what? Just give it another try. But honestly, I'm sure you'll be great.

[A little raise of one blond brow.]

If you need a guinea pig for practice, though, I'll offer myself up for a noble cause.

[burntbridges]

No, I trust Ivar to keep me safe. The Netherworld is completely harmless, but... I need him as a bodyguard for my body. It's defenseless while I'm communing.

[She says it like it's nothing, though, because she'd rather Taako didn't notice how nervous she is about going back into the afterlife.]

Anyway... if you can find me a corpse, I could ask the dead from this world if they've seen anything like that. It never hurts to ask.

private

[spellslots]

[Oh, Eddie; that warmth earns a grin, but still.

Taako drums his fingers against his arm, like he's thinking, then switches the feed to private.]

Last time I did this shit professionally, it went pretty fucking bad, my man.

[He doesn't wanna go into details, really, but it- it sucked.]

It wasn't like, my fault, turns out, which was great news, it's just kinda messed up.

[spellslots]

[That makes sense to him, the bodyguard, since it's similar to when he uses a spell like Magic Jar; his body is left unprotected while his soul does it's thing.]

I mean, I can get you a corpse, if you want one real bad.

[He's...

He's offering to do a murder.]

[causational]

[Finally, a smile from Taako. And somehow, it's really weird that he can go from thinking elves are something out of mildly boring 3 hour movies to thinking one is kinda cute in the span of a few weeks.]

What happened? And what do you mean, not your fault?

[A beat, and then.]

I mean, if you don't mind sharing.