Aion Teleos Network

[With Howl's revival, Barnaby can turn his attention to another pressing issue: Makoto's whereabouts. It's somewhat ironic that Barnaby would be helping the demons who dragged him back to Achamoth against his will, but as he understands it now, they were simply doing him a favour in doing so. On top of which, J had helped rescue him from the battlefield when he was gravely wounded in the battle against the Sanctifier, and he is one to repay his debts.

So with that warped logic in mind, he begins by investigating Achamoth, and after a few days, has made enough progress to report his findings via communion.]

This is Barnaby. I've been investigating M's disappearance, and I have a clear idea now of who took him.

[He sounds weary. He's had little room for respite in well over a month, and current events mean he won't for a while yet.]

There were eyewitnesses who described a half-horse woman, carrying a head while fleeing the city after the raid. I haven't found any evidence of any mutilated Achamite corpses, so I think it is safe to assume the head belonged to M. The culprit, of course, could only be Hayame.

My leads ran out there, so she must have teleported or used a portal to get away. But I hope, at least, that some of you may be able to use this information to narrow down the search.

( Read more... )

[ in the communion space, the Kenoma will feel Childe's presence along with a really obnoxious slurping sound, the exact kind you get when sipping out of a straw and the drink has reached near empty. A momentary flash of Hayame-chan's Beautiful Achamite Head Trio display is flashed as a memory along with a heavy sense of puzzlement over the effort keeping these heads clean and tidy. ]

Wow. Can any of you tell me more about this Pleroma called 'Hayame?' [ he sounds curious more than anything. In fact he finds this all amusing because it's just so... pointlessly grotesque and yet... there's some strange sense of dedication and care to the display.

He laughs now, deciding he finds it actually really funny and entertaining as the wide scope of their enemies starts to show itself.

He wonders if the other Pleroma tried to persuade Hayame not to do this but weren't successful? Or did they not care ... the latter doesn't sound quite right for a good chunk of the Pleroma at least, especially of the first wave arrivals.

It's be interesting to look into. ]

I'm very interested to hear from you if you can.

Do any of my fellow Aions follow the city's combat sports? If it happens any of you do, I wonder if you could help me to understand something.

What is the cause. For the audience's fervour over Uria Skulltaker. The moment she steps into the arena the crowd loses their minds. Any action she takes is lauded, even though her battle gear is shoddy and her appearance unremarkable. I have never once seen her take a skull.

[ Binghe sounds both kind of tired out, and really petulant. People who do keep up with Achamoth's combat sports may be aware that he recently won a fight (the non-lethal kind) against the Uria Skulltaker in question, and everybody booed him.

OOCly speaking, you are welcome to make up whatever additional facts you would like about Uria Skulltaker for the sake of replying to this. ]

[ This takes place the evening after the first event described in the Event Wrap Up post, the entity having withdrawn its influence from Venera.

Binghe is in a bit of a bad mood, having had to haul Makoto's unconscious body out of the street when he would have preferred to drop him in the ocean, and as things are currently he can't really be bothered to pretend that he's not. There's some attempt to be polite, but mostly he sounds kind of tired and cranky. ]

My apologies for the interruption. I am Luo Binghe. No doubt many of you have heard at least a little of what has happened lately in Venera. I was there for the event at the heart of it, so I thought perhaps it would be of some use to share a few of the details.

I am sure it will not come as any great shock to learn it seems to have been the fault of that dog Estinien Wyrmblood. The spirit that seems to have been responsible for what has been happening was so angered by his death that it appeared to smite anyone who tried to keep it from... I don't know, I think it wanted his shard. I don't know what it would have done with it. Kept him as a pet, perhaps, in one of its illusions.

If I am honest, whatever this thing was it seemed rather simple, like the ghost of a child, but it clearly possessed immense power. The Aions of Pleroma who were there, their unconvincing promises about—taking care of him in its stead, that kind of thing. That was enough to convince it to retreat.

I think it did something to them, though. I'll show you.

[ He shares his memory of this moment, when the mass of wings demanded that those gathered keep their promise, grasping onto those closest to it with its ethereal hands.

The image fades and Binghe's voice resumes: ]

So the problem has been solved, but only temporarily. The spirit was not destroyed, and it seems if these Aions fail to fulfil its whims it may return with something worse. It might not be so easy to persuade next time.