Toru Nui

IC: Skrall (Tajun Arena, Ready Room) - Glory “Yes,” Skrall admitted. “Poor wretches, who can never know the glory of combat themselves, only contribute to it.” He seems genuinely saddened by this. “That is not ‘more’. Why is one not here to serve? To draw?” @Nato G

IC: Skrall (Tajun Arena, Ready Room) - Pronoun Trouble That didn’t make sense. Or… did it? Skrall tried to minimize any confusion leaking through to his face, just to be certain. “‘Just a warrior’?” He repeated. “What more is there? Leadership? You are not the leader.” He spoke in earnest. ‘You’. Skrall didn’t necessarily like using that word, but if he was discouraged from using ‘I’ and ‘me’ then logically, he should avoid ‘you,’ ‘he,’ ‘him,’ ‘his,’ ‘them,’ ‘their’ and ‘it’. As well as ‘she,’ and ‘her,’ but that went without saying. However, this limited vocabulary was difficult to maintain. Sometimes he forgot, and other times he couldn’t think of a way to impart his meaning without it, at least not quickly. @Nato G IC: Xyde (Ferrum, Gates) - Video Killed the Radio Star Xyde decided to let the Glatorian handle the dismantling of the bloodstained barricade. They had brought many pairs of spare medical gloves, yes, but it was best to avoid contamination wherever possible, even if they were certain they were all already in the early stages of infection… whatever this was. Ferrum was one of the Big Five, it wasn’t a small, tight-knit community like Precipere. So for the entire village to succumb at such a rapid rate… it was the stuff nightmares were made of. And there was nothing - NOTHING - they could think of that could explain it. In fact, the more Xyde examined the situation, the more it didn’t make any sense. The Ferrumites had dug mass graves - at least in the beginning, it seems. There was a period of time where they thought they could contain the spread, which meant it couldn’t have happened overnight. But then why didn’t they send any messages? No warnings, and no calls for help? Truth be told, they had forgotten about Tueris’ implants, but perhaps it was for the best that they utilised both them and the telegraph station. All joking aside - and this was no joking matter - they weren’t altogether confident in the new technologies that came out of Tajun. What did he call it? ‘Video’? It would never catch on. Why were they thinking about that at a time like this? They would stop thinking about that now. @a goose @Nato G @~Xemnas~ @Burnmad @oncertainty

IC: Lutenus, Vraek and Skrall (Tajun Arena, Ready Room) - Draw Swords Vraek’s concern dissipated once she realised the Skrall’s lack of breathing was due to cybernetics. ‘Nobody’s perfect’? He could speak for himself. “Oh, I don’t mean to judge, it was merely an observation.” Lutenus tapped his cybernetic eye. “I was not aware that such technology was available in the north.” The opponent’s words made sense. The spread of information about them may prove harmful to the Legion, but the laws of this land likely did not permit Skrall to stop it. But… “Why does a warrior learn to draw? Are words not enough?” @Burnmad @Nato G IC: Xyde (Ferrum, Gates) - Contagion It was so, so much worse than Xyde had imagined, even in the worst-case scenarios they had thought of on the way here. So many gone, even children… and if their suspicions and instincts were correct, it was only going to get worse from here. “From how the bodies lie and the apparent speed at which the plague spread,” they spoke up, tempering their voice to remain composed, “I’d say it’s carried through the air. If so, we are likely all already in the early stages of infection. We need to find the cause of this, and for that, we’ll need to go inside. It’s the only way to know for certain how to keep this from happening elsewhere… and possibly, determine how to cure it.” Possibly. “If we can use their telegraph station, we’ll be able to send our findings, without going back and risking the spread of the contagion.” @Nato G @Burnmad @a goose @~Xemnas~ @oncertainty

IC: Lutenus, Vraek and Skrall (Tajun Arena, Ready Room) - Drawing a Blank Sneering, Vraek waves a hand dismissively. “The ‘Spikit scat’, as you so elegantly call it, is hardly fine dining, but it is not supposed to be. Its purpose, rather than slake your refined palate, is to provide nutrition. This is, after all, gladiatorial combat, for which we must prepare ourselves, not gorge ourselves.” “Iconox is not well-regarded for its cooking, in case you couldn’t tell,” Lutenus remarks to the Skrall. His eye looks over his mouth and chest. “You don’t appear to be breathing,” he says, like it’s perfectly normal. Vraek scoffs and is about to retort about her tribe’s ability to cook, but then Lutenus makes the observation of the Skrall’s breathing - or lack thereof, causing her disdain to be replaced with visible concern for his well-being. Skrall is just about to leave when he notices something. There is one of them in a secluded corner of the room, who appears to be… writing? No, no, writing goes from left to right, these movements were far more erratic. So unless the southern writing language was very different, this was… drawing? Why? Why would a warrior draw? It must be some manner of plan, or observational sketch of the enemy. As such, it was his duty to learn of it. What else could explain the impulse to march over and ask her what she is doing and why she is doing it? Unfortunately, having been raised in a crude and rigid society, Skrall ignorantly assumes that everyone he meets is male, foolishly believing that he would recognise a female if he saw one, what with their inherent powers of witchcraft. He also believes that the southerners would not allow one to compete in their Games, due to the obvious advantage that power gave them, and the idea of someone not being either male or female, or being both, or anything like that had never crossed his mind. As such, in Skrall’s mind, he is going to ask him what he is doing and why he is doing it, when it was not the case. Diverting his course away from the exit and towards the corner in which Kehla sits, Skrall wonders if he is about to commit a mistake of some form. For the first time in his life, he is going to speak to someone outside the Rock Tribe. He had not said a single word directed to the once-Skrall they escorted and sold to the Renegades, nor the Renegades themselves, nor any of the southerners when they entered this Village of Water. This could end badly. A consequence he would accept, rather than shirk his responsibility to the Legion. Skrall looms over Kehla, perhaps far more ominously than he intends. “Drawing,” he says, matter-of-factly and without venom, only curiosity. “For what purpose, and why?” @Burnmad @Nato G

IC: Dornak and Maxas (Streets of Tajun, Outside Celrys’ Workshop) - Resuming Mission Scodonius’ death was not an accident. Maxas knew this to be true. Someone who had managed to evade suspicion of wrongdoing all these years would know better than to… do whatever it was that supposedly led to him dying. That had been vague. He heard someone yell ‘good ****ing morning, Tajun’ in the distance, startling him. Then again, perhaps he was reading too deeply on this one. If he wasn’t careful with his investigations, this could make him an even bigger target of the conspiracy than ever before- “Maxas!” His caravan of thought was again disrupted by the arrival of a certain red menace. “Maxas old boy, have you - have you seen, er, any Skrall in town?” “No. I have not.” “OK! Thank you!” He said, a little too cheerfully and abruptly before scampering off towards the arena. “Maniac,” Maxas muttered derisively. What was he thinking about? Oh yes, about how everybody wants to kill him. Best he go to the arena as well, to avoid being ambushed and shanked in a dark alley like Kirbraz almost certainly was, or something. Then- Wait a minute. As he passed by the CelTech building, he saw that Jungle Glatorian who had been with that suspicious Iron Glatorian. In the company of… was that a very pale Fire Glatorian? He grabbed some notes he had on his water business and pretended to read them with interest, more interested in what they might have to say. @Snelly @Alex Mason IC: Lutenus, Vraek and Skrall (Tajun Arena, Ready Room) - Local Restaurant Recommendations This barracks does not smell nearly as awful as the old one back in Roxtus. Even so, there’s no reason for Skrall to linger too long here. He has little he wishes to say to the opposition in any case. Save perhaps the promise of their defeat. Perhaps it would be best to observe a few matches first, if only to prepare himself for what, precisely, he is marching into. Unfortunately, the Games are just about to start, so Vraek can’t drink the memory of last night out of her mind. Not so much due to Karak’s company - though he is still a selfish, thundering buffoon - but due to the other memories she tries to forget that resurfaced from staying in a room with another Glatorian. Speaking of intoxication or lack thereof, apparently that person whom she initially thought was drunk and sleeping just outside the Arena Hotel’s entrance? No, he was dead. She can never speak of this to anyone. Well, at least Karak was honest, unlike some Glatorian she could name. Fortunately, the worst that had happened - thus far - was that her and Lutenus’ lockers had been placed close to one another, so they both tried to avoid eye contact when they initially placed their equipment in there. The journey from Atero to Tajun with Lorqua had been fairly uneventful. Not like his last journey here. Not at all. They weren’t too late, they had managed to catch the opening ceremony, and oh how he wished he had. Bile had risen in Lutenus’ throat and burned the back of his tongue throughout Ackar’s speech. Good fighter, terrible perception of the current cultural climate. The Games hadn’t ‘stopped’ the war. They merely prolonged it through a new medium. And of course, the Glatorian were expected to fight it for the Agori. For what? Such worthless concepts of ‘kinship and camaraderie’? Well, that is the old man’s opinion, and he is entitled to it, even if he was wrong and foolish. Automatically detecting a possible threat, the eye fixes itself on one of the Skrall warriors. He has never seen one before, but the resemblance to the Bone Hunters is clear. What is he saying? Asking for better food than the one served here? His cybernetic eye whirrs and clicks as he analyzes him. “Oh, there is this place just down the street from the southern entrance,” he begins to explain before he can remember that he hates the Skrall, actually. “Terribly expensive, but there’s-” “Am I to presume the cuisine in Roxtus is better?” Vraek interrupts, voice dripping with scepticism. Lutenus’ head swings around to glare at her, the aperture of his cybernetic eye shrinking. @Burnmad IC: Taldrix (Bone Hunter Stronghold, Rock Steed Stables) - 0 Days Without an Accident “Nuth, you wretched beast!” Taldrix throws up her arms, standing on the edge of a coalescing pool of blood. “You were already fed today!” The Rock Steed doesn’t seem to care, still hungrily munching on the dead corpse of a slave who had gotten too close to his pen. Sighing, Taldrix pulls out a form for accidental deaths and starts filling in the details.

IC: Lutenus (Outskirts of Atero, Training Ground) - The Boys Are Back in Town (To Kill Help You) “Thank you, but no, that will not be necessary.” Lutenus responds, before sighing. “A ‘good fighter’... what else could I be, hmm?” A flash of anger comes across his face. “What else would I be? Carpenter? Thespian? Accountant? No, no, I am Glatorian, after all. ‘Tis my lot in life to bleed and bleed others in turn for the glory of Tesara… and the amusement of paying spectators.” More sounds of machinery escape him, and his bitterness fades as easily as it appeared. “Ah well. Tesara is a nice place to live.” Far nicer than any of the others, at any rate. “It is only right that I do my part to ensure it remains so.” More than that, it was only right to ensure it became the only ‘nice place’ left. The pointless, ridiculous Games would only continue until either one stood supreme, or all crumbled to dust. No other settlement in Bara Magna was worthy of inheriting the paradise that he knew would come. If either Iconox or Roxtus won, an unfortunate precedent would be set, as he warned Lorqua. And if Ferrum won, it may be enough to draw them back from the brink. But how precisely could they win, with no champions? Del. Glatorian of Ferrum. Possibly the only Glatorian of Ferrum left. And if his Lord’s will be with him, the last. @Techn0geist @oncertainty IC: Vraek (Tajun Arena, Hotel Reception) - I Don’t Want This Other Path, Either It looks as if Vraek really is going to try and make good on her threat. But then her gaze turns to the frightened receptionist. Then, back to her spear. Her eyes widen for just a moment with fear and familiarity, before she returns to a calmer composure. “Were it not for the laws of this land, I would slaughter you like the beast you are,” she hisses, her voice as cold as Iconox itself. “But I am willing to compromise. Your ‘tradition’ prevents you from treating me as an equal and accepting my unwarranted generosity, but MY tradition refuses to let you sleep in the street. Therefore, we must…” she gags, disgusted by the very prospect. “Share the room.” @Alex Mason @a goose

IC: Vraek (Tajun Arena, Hotel Reception) - Yes, ‘Escalation’ Is Right Vraek blinks for a moment. “Because I’m a-” She begins saying in a barely audible voice, just before fury grips her. “You dare?” She says, quietly, before raising her voice. “You DARE?!” Then she draws her weapon, completely forgetting about everything else. “I will shove my spear so far down your throat, you’ll resemble a VOROX with a very short stinger!” @Alex Mason @a goose IC: Taldrix (Bone Hunter Stronghold, Outside Somnii’s Cell) - I Don’t Care About Your Trauma That wasn’t helpful - this was Bara Magna. You could find death everywhere. She rubs her eyes in frustration. This wasn’t going to work if even a simple conversation felt like it took a year to complete. She quickly writes down another message. ‘SPECIFICS.’ “I don’t suppose there’s anything else you’d like to tell me?” @a goose

IC: Vraek (Tajun Arena, Hotel Reception) - Crimes Against the Agori Lexicon “Are you having a stroke?!” Vraek asks in confused contempt, following Karak, trying to decipher the attitude he was giving her. “Does your tortured grammar convey that you would rather sleep in the streets out of petty spite?” @Alex Mason @a goose IC: Taldrix (Bone Hunter Stronghold, Outside Somnii’s Cell) - Trust Issues “Also malfunctioning? All of them? That’s far too big of a coincidence.” Taldrix considered the words she saw through the bars, scrawled on parchment. If it came down to whom she trusted more, the Aula Agoria or the Ghost… it was neither. One could only trust another to do whatever was in their best interests - or rather, what they believed was in their best interests. And while the Ghost having interest in obtaining further power for himself was understandable, this mewling tribal brat trying to ‘warn’ her was not. Why would any of those self-pitying worms ever value the lives of Gatherers? Unless whatever was down there threatened her life still, even all the way here. ‘WHAT IS IT?’ @a goose

IC: Taldrix (Bone Hunter Stronghold, Outside Somnii’s Cell) - The World? But That’s Where I Keep All My Stuff! What the- It just occurred to Taldrix that she hadn’t resumed their audible conversation for a moment. Somnii had been discussing how they were unable to find - or invent - a culprit for the telegraph station’s destruction. “You, ahem - said earlier that, with the station inoperable, you left Ferrum to get help. Was that what you were doing when we abducted you?” ‘Found’ wouldn’t have been the right word, may as well be honest about it. “You said that taking the regular, safer route out of the canyons was ‘unfeasible.’” So, there really was something out there. Something that put more fear into this girl than being trapped in a camp full of murderers, sadists and worse. This didn’t tell her much, though, but fortunately there was a card prepared for this eventuality. ‘HE CLAIMS THAT THERE’S G.B. RUINS.’ ‘HE PROMISES US THE TECH BENEATH THEM.’ @a goose

IC: Vraek (Tajun Arena, Hotel Reception) - You Can’t Insult Me If I Don’t Understand What You Mean ‘Talk out of neck?’ What was that supposed to mean? Was that a ‘polite’ way of saying that she was talking out of her- Wait - there was a room, and he was offering to… give it up? Or share it? Unacceptable. “Oh no, YOU take the room! If you’re left out there, you’ll probably end up either murdering someone or being murdered. I’ll…” She tried desperately to think of something. “...Go… elsewhere.” Scarabax’s Delight it was, then. A thousand curses. @Alex Mason @a goose IC: Taldrix (Bone Hunter Stronghold, Outside Somnii’s Cell) - In, Over and Under …What difference would that make? The Ghost did say what he was after specifically was underneath the ruins, but still. She simply gives a shrug and a quizzical look. @a goose

IC: Vraek (Tajun Arena, Hotel Reception) - A Technicality So there was a room available. Oh, well that was a relief. First things first, though. “Can you not perceive the distress you are causing this woman,” she asks Karak, scathingly, “or do you just not care? I don’t-” Wait. She swerves back to the receptionist. “‘Technically’?” @Alex Mason @a goose IC: Taldrix (Bone Hunter Stronghold, Outside Somnii’s Cell) - Pen Pals What is she doing? Is she… gesturing that she wanted to write something to her? Taldrix had considered this possibility, hence why there were numerous blank parchments with her - to either write down new messages or allow Somnii to do so. The problems were A: this may just cause sounds that would be detected by the Ghost’s infernal device, and B: she really doesn’t want to get close to the plague bearer. There is also something in her eyes, some horrible madness. But considering that Taldrix was having two different conversations with her at the same time, she doesn’t know if this was related to the destruction of the telegraph station or the Ghost’s hunt for the ruins. Or, quite possibly, it was just a symptom of the dream disease. She hadn’t told her what exactly the Ghost was looking for to have some leverage, but she wouldn’t be surprised if the Iron Tribals had found Great Being technology and were hoarding it for themselves, despite the delusions of being somehow superior to the Gatherers just because they were too weak and cowardly to take what they needed conventionally. Although the suspicion that the item knew more than she was letting on was growing, she simply makes a noise in response and left it at that. “Hrmm.” Mostly to ensure that the Ghost doesn’t suspect anything, if he is listening. Though Taldrix doubts he could be listening to her all the time from now on, she has no real way of knowing… for all she knows, the device does nothing, and this was all some sort of mind game, but she refuses to take that chance. Not that it was stopping her anyway. She writes down another note. ‘STEP AWAY FROM THE BARS.’ She would then very slowly try and pass several sheets of paper through the bars onto the cell floor, along with a spare stylus. Couldn’t let any noise be heard - but also, couldn’t actually get close to the Aula Agoria, lest risking contagion or altercation. @a goose

IC: Vraek (Tajun Arena, Hotel Reception) - Quiet! “Quiet!” Vraek snaps back at Karak. “I am trying to have a conversation.” @Alex Mason @a goose IC: Taldrix (Bone Hunter Stronghold, Outside Somnii’s Cell) - Unsynched Subtitles “Someone driven to madness by the plague, you think?” ‘HE’S AFTER SOMETHING IN THE CANYONS.’ “I take it you couldn’t find anyone to blame for it, in any case.” ‘THE PLAGUE COMPLICATES THIS.’ @a goose IC: Xyde (Iron Canyon, Cave) - Pep Talk “There are no guarantees about this, but...” That was nowhere near as comforting as Xyde intended it to be. “Sometimes terrible things happen and then you die, but sometimes… sometimes terrible things happen and then you have to keep on living.” @~Xemnas~

IC: Lutenus (Outskirts of Atero, Training Ground) - Observations “All communication with the Iron Tribe has abruptly ceased,” Lutenus answers. “There’s not a single possible answer as to why that I like.” The unblinking gaze of his metal eye redirected to Ahmoa’s fingers drumming on the axe. “I see I’ve upset you, somehow. My apologies.” His mouth opens to say something else… and then his eyes appear to lose their focus, looking at Ahmoa but not acknowledging him. “I…” His eye makes a bizarre clicking sound. His attention turns back to Ahmoa. “I’m sorry, what were we talking about?” @Techn0geist @oncertainty IC: Vraek (Tajun Arena, Hotel Reception) - Room 404 A sigh. “So there are no rooms available?” Vraek began to weigh her options should this be the case. She would rather chew her own arm off and get it cybernetically replaced than spend even a single second inside Scarabax’s Delight again, and tracking down Jeizmel and asking if she could stay with her was far too humiliating even to consider. Well, it was either an even seedier hotel or it was the alley for her too, alongside the fool behind her. @a goose @Alex Mason IC: Skrall (Bone Hunter Stronghold, Marketplace) - Every Man Has His Price Tag Skrall boarded the first caravan, not perplexed by how the transaction - if such a word could be used in this context - had taken a considerable amount of time, blaming it on the notorious avarice and belligerence of the Renegades. The feeling couldn’t be shaken that something very, very wrong had just taken place. Selling a brother to these peddlers as one would sell a broken sword. To say nothing of what unspeakable things would befall the once-Skrall in this cesspool. Was failure, however great, deserving of this? @a goose @BULiK @Vezok's Friend @Burnmad @Nato G @oncertainty IC: Taldrix (Bone Hunter Stronghold, Outside Somnii’s Cell) - A Deal Is a Deal “No.” Another page. Taldrix had her end of the deal to keep up. Information concerning the Ghost… what little she had. ‘HE’S NOT ONE OF OURS OR YOURS’ Taldrix then showed Somnii the other side. ‘HE CLAIMS HE’S A GREAT BEING’ Well, that wasn’t technically true seeing as he held some contempt for the title, but there was only so much you could put on one piece of parchment with the font size she was using. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to elucidate why exactly your telegraph station conveniently ‘malfunctioned,’ as you put it?” @a goose

IC: Vraek (Tajun Arena, Hotel Reception) - Weapon Snobbery Oh Great Beings, she was definitely not getting paid enough for this. “I ‘fear’ that you’re probably going to end up sleeping in the alley outside if you can’t control yourself,” Vraek explained, turning back to address the interloper. “The establishment WILL forcibly eject you from the premises if you don’t wait to pay for accommodation and you don’t stop touching your… weapon?” She looked at it with some confusion. “What in the Lord of Ice’s name is even that? A sharp club?” Turning back to the receptionist, she whispered, though still loud enough to be overheard: “Please say that whatever room you give me, it’s one far away from HIM.” She jabbed a thumb at Karak behind her. @Alex Mason @a goose

IC: Vraek (Tajun Arena, Hotel Reception) - Depending on You Vraek wasn’t paid enough for this. “Oh you’re here for the tournament, good for you,” she sneered at the strange Glatorian of uncertain origin. “Now wait your turn, you have to pay like the rest of us.” Then she turned back to the receptionist. “‘Depend on’ what, precisely?” @Jesse Pinkman @a goose IC: Taldrix (Bone Hunter Stronghold, Outside Somnii’s Cell) - Cue Cards The last person Taldrix wanted to see or speak with right now was that spoilt princess, but the list of people she did want to see or speak with at any point was a blank page. Unlike the various pages of parchment she had in her hand. “How are we feeling now?” She asked, visibly not caring in the slightest. Before Somnii could respond, she held up a page that read the following, in big letters, so it would be easy to understand. ‘HE CAN HEAR EVERYTHING WE SAY’ Taldrix then flipped it around, revealing more. ‘SO DO NOT MENTION OUR DEAL’ @a goose IC: Xyde (Iron Canyon, Cave) - In My Professional Opinion If anyone else had asked this, Xyde might have replied with a sort of sarcastic comment. ‘No, I would instead skin them and eat their gizzards.’ But they knew that Aurax was simply worried about what had befallen his home, his friends, his family, his neighbours, his people. Lords knew Xyde would feel the exact same way, if the position were reversed. Not that anyone beyond Precipere would care in that scenario. “Yes, of course,” Xyde answered. “I’ll help anyone in any way I can, don’t worry yourself.” @~Xemnas~