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[Annabeth's face pops up, curls a mess as usual, but considering the turtle developments, she doesn't look nearly as cross as usual?? There's the sounds of water splashing around somewhere in the suite, but she doesn't appear to care.]

It goes without saying that the turtle's health started improving at last. [Because powers! And it's swimming again!] I know various numbers of us were tasked by Evandau into investigations, and I don't know how all the other situations turned out, but Doctor Soranik Natu, Rogue, Percy Jackson, and myself found something probably worth sharing.

We were assigned with investigating a string of robberies initially, but really, the important part is we discovered a series of incomplete archways in several different homes and attempted to recreate one in its entirety.

The whole "world between Life, Death, and Dreaming" thing everyone gets on arrival? Start taking it literally, if you weren't before. Keeliai as we live in it here is the Life plane. The archway opened up a portal of a kind, and said portal took us to the Death plane.

[A blob of water floats across the screen, blurring Annabeth's face, but it's still possible to see her turn around in a huff, and from somewhere off screen there's an "Oops, sorry!" before the water flies off. She continues unperturbed.]

It was basically a version of Keeliai gone awry and ruined, everything rotting away, and we found markings in the form of some kind of blood magic, directly over where the Emperor's Palace is in this plane. Scans proved it to be kedan blood in origin, some of it fresh, and the pattern was being drawn by - you know, what we're here to fight, in a magical attempt to kill Tu Vishan. We were able to wipe the incomplete blood slate clean and stop this part of his illness before leaving the plane. [By 'we' she mostly means Ocean Jesus did A Water Thing.]

Unfortunately, or fortunately, the way in seems to be gone. The archways all disappeared once we got back, as did that particular methodology in creating them. [Melted pins ahh. A pause.] The Death plane is probably where our infamous threat is hiding. Its domain, so to speak.

Tu Vishan's health is picking up, but this - this situation here, with this thing we're up against? It's definitely not over.

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Both. There was a literal feeling of intense pressure, several times throughout our time there. It played on feelings, reacted and changed as we attempted to wipe the blood clean. It knew we were there.

And it was attacking the turtle by some blood ritual? Great.

[Where's Strange when you need him?]

But you said you were able to stop it. It didn't fight back?

Either causing or exacerbating the illness, yes.

We didn't stop the thing. We didn't even see it. It was angry when we started washing the blood away and we had to fight off the pressure, but it didn't physically appear to come at us. I don't know why.

So you were dealing with an unseen force? Someone needs to break out the home videos before the chairs start moving.

That's "it", huh? The thing we're all being threatened by. And it's hiding in another dimension.

[He takes a moment to think that over.]

It didn't hurt you when you were there. Do you think that was because it didn't want to or because it couldn't touch you?

[She rolls her eyes.] You're on the back of a giant turtle, you don't have to be so skeptical. Besides, there were already ghosts and poltergeists here, some of which the moving furniture type.

Do you know its name? I'm not sure if it can be spoken casually at this point yet.

[She shakes her head.] I'm don't know. Maybe it was preoccupied elsewhere. Maybe the pressure we felt was his attempt to stop us.

We're on the back of a giant turtle and they're still using technology. I'd say this is a great time to be skeptical. That way I can get rid of doubt.

I heard about the ghosts. It doesn't seem like people know what those were about either.

Not sure the kedan would appreciate us talking about it, but I know what you're talking about. We still don't know what "it" is exactly. If you didn't see a physical form, it's hard to say. But it pushed back. That's something. Would you know it if you ran into it again?

The supernatural and technology aren't mutually exclusive, clearly demonstrated by the current situation.

They were kedan spirits. Most of them were just acting like they were still alive.

Even if we didn't see it, it's possible someone else did, with the various other investigations. [A pause.] But yes, I would recognize the feeling if I experienced it again.

[Tony makes a face at the correction. He likes to avoid crossing magic and technology if he can, because that tends to make his job that much harder.]

Thanks for the reminder. So the ghosts were kedan? I heard they were possessing people and making them attack their neighbors.

[And that they weren't identified, but he leaves that out.]

So if it shows up here someone might recognize it. In case it decides to get brave enough to cross over.

[She makes a bit of a face right back!! Deal with it.]

As far as we could tell, yeah, they were kedan. I didn't hear of any possessions - the spectres from the satellite crash did that; but the spike in hauntings a few months ago, there were some dangerous spirits lurking, but the spectres weren't the same as the ghosts.

It's probably plenty brave enough already. Opportunity and motivation are more likely what we need to worry about more.

[But crossing streams is bad! Doesn't she know that? He does have to accept the situation though. He sighs.]

Oh. Great. So it's business as usual. Ghosts, specters, malevolent forces that no one is allowed to name... What could be better?

I'm pretty sure it already has motivation. Unless you're saying it's just lazy.

You're not, right?

[She crosses streams by very nature of being a demigod okok.]

Don't forget the zombies. [:'D]

No, I'm not saying that. I meant more in a particular case. It seems like as a whole, the investigations pushed him back. So now it's just a matter of waiting for the next move, when he makes it, why he makes it. Smaller motivations beyond the broader kill the turtle one.

[Demigods. Always breaking the rules.]

Zombies. We are not getting zombies.

So he's waiting for his next opening. We can push him back if we're ready, based on what you saw. No wonder he hasn't tried anything directly yet.

[Serious thinking now.] Maybe he's not strong enough.

Edited 2013-08-10 05:08 (UTC)

We already did get them. About six months ago. Though they were more akin to the Chinese jiangshi than the 'eat your brain' popularized type.

[Thoughtful noise.] We don't really know what pushed him back last time, with the last group of foreigners. Maybe it took away some of his strength, and he's trying to regain that. Or maybe there's an important moment he's waiting for. Or both.

You did. [Really?] Why does no one feel the need to mention these things?

[He's kind of joking, as his exaggerated gesture may indicate, but at the same time it does seem like he keeps running into news at strange times.]

Do we know anything about him? It? Because everything I've gotten so far has been as far from useful as we can get.

I think people just get caught up in whatever's going on at the moment. The last time the turtle dove underwater - which is a common enough occurrence that the kedan are prepared for it, but there's no real pattern to it - the barrier was breached and Keeliai swarmed with corpses. The only thing that could kill them was fire. [Annabeth is practically a word vomit fountain for most of Keeliai ok.]

Depends. What do you know already?

[Tony appreciates that. It's hard to get a good read on everything when most people don't feel like talking about it.]

Okay, so there were water zombies. [He shakes his head.]

Just that it's apparently trying to kill Asti. You know, nothing very specific.

[That's the easiest answer.]

They were under the water, but the corpses themselves originally hailed from the mainland. [She's decided it's ok to drop that, just not how she learned it.] Well, one of them - Vailequios.

It's what we're here to fight. I don't know much either. It's powerful enough to spook the Emperor, and she's fairly powerful herself. The last time it attacked, apparently all the previous foreigners died. According to Asti himself, the creature is made of "chaos, pain, and deceit."

That doesn't make me feel better, just so you know. [But he's kidding. Zombies. Yeah... this place.]

Vailee...? Wait, there is more than one?

[Moving right along.] The Emperor seems to be a big presence here, but I wonder just how impressive she really is sometimes. I guess I'd have to see for myself.

Chaos, pain, and deceit, huh? Funny how there always seems to be stuff like that lying around to form evil entities. did Asti happen to say anything about beating it?

You get used to things like that. [She shrugs.]

Were you here when we docked at the city of Atam? That was on the continent of Chihuelo. There are 8 or 9 continents in total. [Just don't ask her how she got this okok.]

She holds an audience, roughly every month or every other month. But sometimes Evandau takes over, for whatever reason. It's worth meeting her if only to get a feel for her as a person.

Nothing beyond banishment or capturing it, but both of those seem like more temporary solutions, and he didn't know of a way to actually defeat it. Apparently the Emperor thinks we'll learn a way.

I don't want to get used to it.

[He doesn't ask, but he does take note of that. She seems confident and honest enough. Tony isn't sure how much of anything he can believe, but if he has to pick and choose, he's at least more comfortable asking her what she knows about this world.]

They're placing a lot of faith on a bunch of strangers. That sounds like desperation. Unless they actually know what they're up against.

[There's always that possibility, right?]

Good luck with that then.

It probably is desperation. Interacting with either Evandau or Eshai shows they don't really want us here, but they have no choice. Or at least, that's what they're projecting.

We agree then. [He'll accept the sarcasm because it's Tony. Sarcasm is his life.]

I guess we aren't really what they were hoping for. A lot of us aren't exactly soldiers. Makes sense that they would be disappointed.

[She rolls her eyes.] If you call that agreement.

She did tell me something went wrong when she first started summoning us. That more people than she intended were getting pulled it. It could account for those not ready for a fight. [She is most definitely not including herself in the unprepared.]

[He grins at the retort she gives him. It's not the most mature way to handle things, but it is the most fun.]

That makes sense. Although that also means they haven't stopped whatever method they are using.

It could be a constant glitch, or maybe she already summoned a mass of souls at once, at the start. Maybe there's something else at play that makes us appear in groups instead of all at once.

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