riverview | 4 [@necromantica: video]

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4 [@necromantica: video]

Okay, you'll all have to forgive me for bringing up necromancy again.. I know some people really dislike hearing about it.

[She clears her throat nervously, trying to decide how to word this delicately. You know, for the people who hate necromancers or are afraid of the dead. But... Letha's never been the best with tact.]

I've heard through word of mouth from locals and... Walter... that some manner of people were living outside of the wall, and have since been mysteriously killed off. While I'd like to investigate and I'm... particularly equipped to speak to the dead, I don't trust myself to stay safe on the way there. Particularly considering that my only current forms of protection are a risen and a baby pokemon.

Aside from some proper protection, I'd like to see if anyone has... well, I believe investigative experience would be prudent. Those who were coppers in your home worlds or... at least have solved mysteries before, I'm not picky. It would be nice to have another necromancer around to divide the work of interviewing corpses, but I doubt I'll get that blessing.

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[Necromancy... That's such a strange concept, speaking to the dead, but Damen has learned in his short time here that this place is a melting pot of so many worlds with so many things he never thought possible. Her intentions seem fine - wanting to help these people who have been killed off. It would also give them a chance to go outside the walls.]

My fiance and I could come with you. He is the cleverest man I have met by far, used to untangling the intrigues of a twisty court, and I am skilled with a sword. Perhaps we could be of assistance.

....He?

[Forgive her, she's from an older time. Although she's already heard casual mentions like this and decides to jar herself back onto the topic.]

Any help is good, although I don't believe I've met you before. Are you one of the new arrivals?

[If he notices the confusion, he's polite enough not to mention it. It isn't like marriage between two men is common where they come from, but when you and your lover are both kings... you do as you please.]

Yes, Laurent and I only just arrived last week or so. Together, thankfully. My name is Damen.

[In the back of her mind, she wonders if she's ever going to get the opportunity to properly question it. But she doubts she could be tactful about it.

And there's a flash of jealousy on her face hearing that he got to bring his partner along.]

My name is Letha. I came here around a month ago, and unfortunately left my husband behind. But... I think I'm adjusting well, so I'm sure everyone who came in with you will as well.

[In a month she's quickly gone from regency-era dresses to modern circle skirts, but part of that is that she's pregnant and figures she deserves the comfort.]

[Well, no doubt if they go on this excursion together, the three of them, there will be opportunity for conversation. Damen doesn't mind it so much. Honestly he has a few 'speaking to the dead' related questions himself.]

I'm sorry about your husband. [It's a politeness for most, but Damen manages to sound sincere, knowing the pain of a loved one gone.] Yes, it is a large adjustment. Even the little things here that most seem to take for granted are so strange to me, but... I think we will manage as well.

Well... if there's anything I can help you with, I'm happy to. I don't consider myself the best guide or... even the best at a lot of things, honestly, but I can at least direct you to someone who can help you better.

[She's still a rich girl at heart, and still having trouble getting used to the fact that she can't have servants here. And... that everyone's unhappy with her using zombies as servants.]

Thank you, I appreciate that. Everyone has been quite helpful in explaining things already. It must be frustrating for them when some come through this portal not even knowing what e-leck-trick lights are. [He laughs softly, a little self-deprecating, but casually so.

Funnily enough, he's used to servants too, and palace life, but here? Here, he and Laurent have to fend for themselves. Damen regards the challenge with a bright smile, though.] It's been an adventure, though. I'm learning to cook.

[This gets a giggle out of her.] I learned about electricity after coming here myself... but I dare say I like it a lot more than candlelight.

[For... various reasons, both practical and phobia-related.]

I've learned a bit about cooking as well - I usually had maids to cook for me in Thornwell, and I don't think I'm much good at it yet.

It still feels novel, not having to go light the lamps at night. [So many things are strange and futuristic here, but there isn't much about it he'd complain about.]

We always had cooks and chefs, in the palace. I used to steal pastries as a boy, they'd shoo me out the moment they saw me. [He laughs quietly.] Now I wish I had been able to pick up a few tricks.

Perhaps we can cook together, once we're done with this expedition. The result may not be... edible... but it will give us both some practice.

[Damen's type of humility isn't very familiar to her - the Regis children tend to be brats, and she was one of them - but she finds it endearing in a foreign way. The talk of stealing pastries almost makes her self-conscious about what Regis children consider 'harmless pranks'...

Almost.]

My little brother-in-law has an affinity for mice... he used to hide their skeletons in my maids' pockets while they were cooking. Sometimes lizards, too. After a while they stopped letting him into the kitchen, so I helped pass along a few parting gifts.

[Giles was 12 at the time, but Letha was 17. So she has no excuse.]

Perhaps we can, though frankly I am not certain I will still be allowed in the kitchen by then. My fiance will no doubt get tired of the smell of burning eggs. [Look, he'd heard that eggs were one of the easiest things to cook. It was not so.

His expression is quickly morphing to a frown as she talks about small animal skeletons in pockets.] I... see. My brother and I were never quite that bad, I think. Our father was terrifying when we truly misbehaved. [He's awful at hiding it, but he tries to keep the sad note out of his voice when he talks about his father and brother.]

Perhaps we can try boiling them - then they can't be burnt, at least.

[Hard-boiled eggs are one of the only things she's managed to cook successfully... although she is not partial to them, so in that sense it was still a failure.]

I don't think I'd describe any punishment I'd received as 'terrifying'... [Aside from being forced to marry, but that's her own business.] Do you miss your father? I hadn't even thought of mine for months...

[She feels kind of terrible for it, but... she'd accepted not being able to see her family again months before she came to Riverview. And her father had never visited her in the afterlife.]

I scorched the pot boiling water for noodles yesterday evening. [He's a failure so far. Learning, but still a failure.]

It was his disappointment that was frightening. Not only had I disappointed my only parent, I had disappointed my king. That sort of pressure... well. [He waves a hand vaguely, his smile melancholy.]

Yes. I think about him often. He... died, just months ago.

Ah.

[She sort of knows the feeling, but... having been able to speak to her loved ones after they passed, she didn't really start mourning them until she came to the quarantine.]

I have both my parents, but I lost my brother a few years ago. I may not quite understand the feelings of those who cannot speak to the dead, but I know it still hurts to lose someone you're close to. And in the last few months... I haven't been able to speak to Nathaniel at all. It's... odd. And I've started to miss him more than I could put into words.

I'm sorry for your loss. Where I come from... death is merely the end. We have no magic or- [A vague gesture that means' any of this at all'.]

That sense of loss never really goes away completely. I don't think I will ever stop missing my father and my brother.

Then I suppose you're lucky to have your fiance with you. He is... both a memento from your home, and someone to comfort you at night. [This gets a slightly bitter laugh out of her.] If my husband came here... I don't think I'd ever let him out of my sight.

Yes. He is the only family I have left, now. I am thankful that we can remain together here, since we do not know how long we'll remain in Riverview.

[ Don't mind the whorl of color as Líadan tries to figure out this whole video function thing. She isn't exactly accustomed to the device despite what luck and help she had in figuring out how to make the thing do text, text-to-audio, and audio-to-text and it's been long enough that she doesn't entirely remember the explanation for the... oh, what was it? It started with a 'c' or something. She just has to point the the thing at -- ah, there we go -- and the picture will settle on a cheek and half her lips after a good moment or two of fumbling. ]

You can speak with the spirits of the dead, Letha?

[ She isn't really sure what necro-whats-it is, but speaking directly with the spirits of the dead in a way that they, too, might speak as clearly as they had in life sounds remarkable to her. ]

[She can't judge Li for having trouble... she's lucky to be such a quick learner when it comes to these things. She just gives the other girl a bright smile while waiting patiently for her to readjust the camera.]

Yes... I was trained since I was very little - I can speak to them and walk among them, as well as animate them so they may walk among the living. Though... if they're moving about they can't speak, and that can make them a bit boring.

[She's sort of hoping Li isn't grossed out... she's not the best at parsing if someone means to berate her about abusing her power.]

[ Alright, she has almost got this thing in focus. Sort of. The majority of her face is in the picture. It's a little too close now, but she's backing it out a bit. She's learning! It's just taking a minute. ]

You can visit Tír nAill? I've never heard of anyone being able to do that who wasn't confined to that realm afterward. "Death keeps the dead," or so the saying goes.

[ Grossed out? Hardly. She's actually a bit awestruck and fascinated for Letha's presentation. It's far kinder than when she thought Sans, a living skeleton, was a malevolent spirit that had somehow reclaimed his physical form and was set to -- well, she's not really sure what she thought he was set to do, only that he was terrifying while she thought as much of him. It's the idea of animating them that gives her some pause, but her curiosity is stoked. ]

My people have always endeavored not to disturb the ancestors unnecessarily, that nothing good could come of it. Does it bother them, that you animate them?

Not exactly... it seems I can only visit the dead of the world I'm in at any particular time. Before I could only see those who died in my own world, and here I can only see those who died in this world. [She wrinkles her nose.] Although... it's the most curious thing, I've noticed that every dead person I've met was born here as well. I've begun to wonder if dying may be a probable way to go back home... although I doubt anyone would be willing to try it out for me.

[Were it anyone else, the talk of killing someone might be worrisome, but with Letha it's simply a passing thought that she shrugs off. Killing people is rude and difficult, which are the main reasons her clan abstains from it - not to mention the dead could come back and get them in trouble.]

Oh, we don't use such magic on our own family members. That would be inconsiderate. We use servants who have died in service to us, and we usually clean off their flesh first for modesty. I personally think it's best to ask permission as well before hand, but with servants it isn't entirely necessary. [And sometimes she forgets.]

[ Death is among the next great adventures as far as Lí is concerned, so Letha's speaking in that way doesn't really phase her. It doesn't make much sense to be afraid of it in her mind. It's an inevitability. Being afraid of it would only make it harder to live in the now and she is all about living life to the fullest. ]

I doubt they would. I imagine anyone who intends to return to their world would want to return intact. If the dead here are only the dead of this world, then... perhaps you are right and every world has its own Tír nAill that calls them to rest. Through the portal, perhaps?

[ That's her best guess. That's how everyone arrives and everyone presumably leaves. She really should go take a listen at that thing at some point. ]

That sounds respectful, I think. I can't imagine anything terrible happening if it's your servants. That is quite a lengthy term of service, though. To serve even after death...

I would think so, yes. The afterlife is much more complex than I thought before I came here, and I wouldn't be surprised if the souls of the fallen have a pull to bring them back where they belong.

[Which... now that she thinks of it, sort of gives her a good reason not to die. She'd hate to be stuck back in her world's afterlife... though she doesn't know what would happen to her if she came back as a properly dead soul.]

Back in Thornwell our servants are buried in shallow graves once they die, so they can be used as teaching mechanisms for children, or animated to serve us when the living are busy or sleeping. They have no way of knowing how their body is used unless someone tells them, so I suppose it can also be used for modesty if one is trying to avoid the servants' gossip. Although... since I have no servants here I've been making use of a corpse I rescued from the jungle, and I've received a few complaints about it.

Animals don't disturb the graves?

[ Make it shallow enough and one's sure to find bones everywhere is her initial thought. ]

I can see how having a corpse around could be upsetting if you aren't accustomed to it. I myself am not, so I could not tell you how comfortable I would be until we came to it. I would think the issue lies in how people regard their dead and how they perceive what it is you do. If you have his permission and are respectful of your companions' space, I... am not entirely sure there's an issue to broach. Why complain about it?

[ If there's no abuse of power and everyone is properly respected... ]

Sometimes they do... but we try to avoid that. If we lose too many important bones for a servant they tend to be allowed to retire.

[Mostly because when a skeleton is missing a leg it's annoying to move.]

I can't say I know exactly what the problem is... I'm so accustomed to the dead that I find it hard to see what others are so worried about. There are dangers involved, but I've trained for years and never had a problem, and no one gets hurt. Corpses don't even smell that much.

[Or.. normally they don't. She didn't do a great job of cleaning her pet corpse, so he smells... horrible.]

It sounds like they could be rather troublesome in terms of upkeep.

[ At least that's how it sounds. ]

I would say to give them time and try to educate them when you can. You may not gain total acceptance of your art, but that really is the best you can do beyond being a safe and responsible practitioner. Just as you are accustomed to the dead and your magicks, there are those out there who simply are not or who may have had bad experiences with those who practice similar magicks or... well, who simply regard the dead as so sacred as to not disturb them at all. You can only control what you do in setting your personal precedent. That is your power, Letha.

[ And she can't quite help the mutter that follows: ]

Much as it baffles me that there could be worlds without magick at all...

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4 [@necromantica: video]

video, un: damen

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video, @the.young

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