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[50% encryption to Nilin]

We should talk. Think I may have actually found something useful for once.

[50% encryption to Skulduggery]

Maker I hate this thing. Skul, Akito and I came across something of interest. Did you go into that library?

[End encryptions]

Let's keep this simple so I don't have to play with this thing much longer. Who here visited the library on the island?

[He pauses for a moment.]

And someone tell Evandau to clear his schedule. I need to talk to him.

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That would be the safe assumption, yes.

[Just because she understands the practicality of being circumspect doesn't mean she likes it.]

I'm looking further into what I learned. Would you be interested in an exchange of information?

I think I would be very interested in that. Care for a walk?

That sounds like a good idea. Tomorrow, or the day after, perhaps?

[She has plans tonight. Which will probably lead to her having more information to share, so it makes more sense to resolve this after.]

Alright then, tomorrow at your building?

Preferably late afternoon or evening-- any earlier and I may be at the hospital instead. Tu-Gai is the building you'll want.

It's a date then.

Edited 2014-08-10 17:48 (UTC)

I'll see you then.

--

[It's getting toward evening by the time she gets home the next day, and she hopes she won't have kept Hawke waiting long-- though likely someone will have given him tea if she has. She looks a little tired, all things considered.]

[Hawke has already made himself at home in the common room as he waits for Raine to arrive. Beside him Notch lounges on the floor comfortably, chewing on the ball that Nilin gifted to him. When Raine enters Hawke waves lazily at her and smirks.]

Fancy meeting you here.

[Raine's mouth twitches slightly upward at that. She kind of wants to disapprove, but can't quite.] Yes, that's quite a coincidence. Hello, you two.

[She hangs her jacket up, but doesn't bother stowing her staff. She tilts her head toward the door she just walked through.] A walk, you said?

Now that sounds like a wonderful idea. Great suggestion.

[Hawke's on his feet and ready to go. With a whistle, Notch rises and moves to his master's side. The ball remains firmly gripped in his mouth.

I believe it was yours. [...which is probably why he said it was a wonderful idea. Resignedly amused, she heads right back out the door, pauses briefly to pick a direction and allow Hawke and Notch to follow, and finally takes a side street toward a park she knows of. A little quietly:] What have you learned that requires a talk with the Emperor?

[Hawke seems to think about that for a moment.]

You're right. It was wasn't it?

[As they walk Hawke smirks playfully. He also makes note of the direction that they're taking.]

Two things really. The first being that the thing that now owns the castle has been in the city as long there have been people in it and has been since studying us since, even talking to us and making a few 'friends'. Not only that, but since the last emperor died its position in the city grew. Now it's possessing the more powerful people here.

[Paranoia never sits well with Hawke if only because he's seen what it can do to people, but in this case just about anyone could be a suspect. At least those who aren't Foreigners...hopefully.]

The second thing I found are details of its creation and just who made it.

[She's getting the hang of his sense of humor. Maybe.]

[When he drops the idea that the enemy is possessing people, though, she stops in the street to stare at him. She doesn't even know where to start.]

Possessing? More than the guards on the palace? Are you sure?

[Of course he's sure, if he got it from Valishaera. This is just alarming.] And what do you mean by the more powerful people?

[Hawke stops when she does as does Notch. Despite dropping a bombshell like that he looks rather calm as he waits for her to compose herself.]

If I can't trust a magical library then who can I trust?

[He smirks but it fades quickly. Even he'll take this matter with some seriousness.]

Think about it. If you were some dark lord pretender and you wanted to cause the most damage, who would you possess?

[She shakes her head, eventually starts walking again.] That would depend on who I could possess. If the Emperor could be, he would be the first choice, I suppose. Second, Eva, as she handles the magic pertaining to foreigners, who so far appear to have been the most inconvenient. Healers after that.

[Remove visible leadership, capacity for reinforcements, and the opposing force's ability to renew itself. After that, even the strongest warriors can be worn down with enough time.]

[Hawke nods his head as she talks, glad she's following along.]

I'd also add bartenders to the list by that's just me. No one is quite as powerful as the one serving your ale.

[He chuckles and walks beside her again.

Though he puts on a good show, Hawke is honestly scared of what comes next. Anyone would mad not to be. This is so far beyond what he's used to handling. Sure he's saved cities and killed tyrants, but even then he felt the fear. It had to be done though, just as this must if there's to be any chance at saving these people. So he'll face down a centuries old emperor that might possibly be possessed by an even older death god, and he'll do it with a grin.]

So then I guess for now we can't really trust any of them.

[Is there no time at which the man won't crack a joke? Wait. He might be serious.]

I suppose it depends on your drink preferences.

[A little sigh. It probably had been too much to hope to be able to trust those in power.] I take it, then, that the library was inspecific beyond 'in power'? And also that foreigners are unlikely or impossible-- you wouldn't be talking to me if you thought there was the risk, correct?

[No there really isn't. It's his best quality really, or worst depending on whom you ask.]

This city would fall within a week if that happened.

[Then again Hawke supplies many of the bars under the table so maybe not.

Hawke snorts.]

Like it would ever be that easy. Maker I'm surprised it revealed as much as it did. I half-expected some cryptic riddle to decipher first and then being forced to kill a monster of some kind.

[He goes silent for a moment before he continues.]

Honestly I've got no clue whether or not it can get us. It was one of us that killed the first emperor after all, but if we start getting paranoid of one another then I feel like we've already lost.

[He definitely has an overinflated opinion of the importance of ale, at any rate.]

[The idea that having to kill a monster for vital information is a matter of course to Hawke makes her laugh a little, more rueful than actually amused, mostly because she's been there.]

I wouldn't suggest complete trust, either, but paranoia will serve the enemy better than us. [She can't decide what's worse: the idea that the enemy can possess them or the idea that the person who murdered the Emperor did so out of nothing but their own free will and foolishness.]

You said you also learned details of its creation?

[It should say something about both their lives that this is a common occurrence for them. At least he managed to get a laugh from her.]

Maybe not, but at this moment I think we've all got a common goal.

[Hawke nods his head.]

People called the Vilii made the thing to kill. After that, it killed all of them so at least we know it has a sense of irony now. There was a stone involved in the ritual that made it though. Now I might be somewhat clueless when it comes to magic, but I have a feeling we can use that against it.

[He looks toward her and smirks.]

There's just the small matter of finding it.

[What it probably says is that they need to rethink their life choices, but that's low on the priority list.]

While the irony fails to amuse, the news of a concrete object involved in the ritual is the best news Raine's heard today.]

That's a reasonable guess. Especially if the library pointed it out specifically. [Since there's not exactly any text to draw from, the only assumption she can make is that everything that showed up in their heads is of particular note.] How long ago was this? And what do you know about the stone itself?

[Well at least Hawke finds it funny.

Finally Hawke just shrugs. This time he's utterly clueless.]

That I have no idea, but I figure someone here must know, like a certain emperor for example. And if he just so happens to possessed then it means we need a rescue mission.

[Killing him would be bad for so many reasons.]

[About this time she'd usually look for a library; the Emperor will have to do, provided he can be convinced to talk. She's never interacted with the man, but he has a reputation.]

It's probably worth asking him, at least, but...

[She gives Hawke a sideways look, not fully sold on what he's suggesting.] How would you tell? And, for that matter, do you know of a method to fix that particular problem?

Personally I hope he just starts laughing maniacally and from there we can just beat him in the head until we knock the evil out of him.

[He says this completely deadpan.]

But I'm not sure that everyone would agree with me on that idea, so there are some alternatives.

[Sort of. He's really just making things up as he goes.]

I know some people that sense that thing's presence. Hopefully they can tell if someone is possessed by him too.

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