( open ) time is tickin' I cannot waste it love

[scarcastically]

CHARACTERS: Erik Stevens + Everyone / Mingle! I’m not the boss of you.
LOCATION: Open Field near ish the Palace
DATE: Sometime in July
CONTENT: Party, drinks, dancing.
WARNINGS: N/A


( i. party hats )

[ this had been the stupidest condition of his goal, but it’s a doable one so erik handles it the way he would handle any kind of mission; single-mindedly. he gets to work and makes a couple of dozen party hats of various colours and size. some might seem too small, others too big, a few that are just right, no he doesn’t accept constructive criticism. ]

Just put the damn thing on, it won’t kill you.

( ii. food and stuff )

[ unfortunately there are constraints. if they were back in usa, setting up the supplies of food and drink would be a cinch. however, he’s working with fantasy asian cuisine, out of which he knows half of. still, his position as a nobleman’s attendant gave him a hefty salary and he put it to good use. there are plenty of caskets of booze, all the kinds he could find and various eateries and snacks. some from the palace, others he cobbled together with the use of their kitchen like basic butter cookies and wafers.

eat, drink, he’s not here to card you kids ]

( iii. dancing )

[ and of course, there’s music. lively music, slow tunes. erik managed to hire a band (like three people on instruments but details). the sun was setting, the breeze was cool and maybe for a brief moment, you want to enjoy yourself. give up your worries for a day. the light hits the flowers, giving the scenery a warm orange glow.

grab a partner and have a little fun. ]

Comments

[scarcastically]

Like I said. He should've.

[ but what he can tell, sabriel's dad spared no expense to make sure she was cared. safe. happy. and prepared. to erik, that's still a luxury. ]

Thing about wishes like that . . . they don't benefit you all that much. You just keep going in circles.

[bindsthedead]

You're right. I made a bargain to undo my regret... and that wasn't it.

[And if she had made such a bargain... she's not sure her father would approve of her refusing to let him stay dead.

So there's no point poking at that particular wound. Better to try to let it heal, and focus on what's in front of her.]

[scarcastically]

My dad died when I was seven. So yeah, I get it. Life's short though. I don't think they want us to spend it all on 'em.

[ erik is being extremely liberal about it. he has to be. ]

[bindsthedead]

Everyone and everything has a time to die- and take it from a necromancer, you can't actually bring back the dead. Not in any state they'd thank you for.

[scarcastically]

[ he often wonders if he really spoke to his father in the djalia. his instincts tell him yes but erik doesn't trust his instincts on everything. that'd be dangerous. ]

Did you ever try?

[bindsthedead]

[That definitely gets a reaction. Sabriel flinches, remembering how tempted she'd been on multiple occasions- and the one time she'd acted on it, almost on impulse, to bring back a little girl's pet.]

I've been tempted, but- never on a human.

[scarcastically]

[ yeah. it seems only human to be tempted. not something that should be held against her. ]

It's a lot of power. Can't blame you for thinkin' about it now and then.

[bindsthedead]

A large part of my necromancy training involved making sure I knew exactly how bad an idea it would be.

And just because I have that power doesn't give me the right to play god.

[Deciding who lives and who dies- those aren't choices Sabriel is remotely qualified to make.]

[scarcastically]

[ dryly. ]

And yet, that never seems to stop anyone.

[bindsthedead]

Not most necromancers outside my family, at least. There's a reason we cremate our dead in the Old Kingdom.

[It was often the only way to keep them safe, unless you were the royal family and could build a carefully warded graveyard.]

[scarcastically]

Because they rise up?

[bindsthedead]

Occasionally. Independent Dead spirits will try to inhabit any intact body they can get, but the greater threat is necromancers and Greater Dead enslaving their spirits and using them for their own purposes. The final rites prevent that from happening.

[Independent Lesser Dead would happily kill people to consume their life force, but they tended to be solitary, and often more cunning than truly intelligent, preferring to prey on the weak. Necromancers and Greater Dead, on the other hand... those could plan, and engage in strategy and tactics... along with amassing armies of the Dead.]

[scarcastically]

[ fascinating zombie lore. worth noting at any rate. ]

Do you think that might be the case here? Similar, anyway.

[bindsthedead]

You mean that the monsters are under the Ghost Girl's control? It's certainly possible- likely even, if she's like the Free Magic sorcerers and necromancers I'm supposed to fight in the Old Kingdom.

But- magic here is different. So I don't actually have any proof one way or another. Still... A necromancer would probably go after easier targets first, to build their strength before attacking the palace. But all the deaths are concentrated there.

[scarcastically]

[ no proof but the hint of a possibility. it's something to work with. ]

Any way we can get that proof? Break through to a monster, get it to talk?

[bindsthedead]

I'm good at getting information out of the Dead.

The living... I don't know. The Dead might all have been human once, but some of them are nearly mindless. These monsters might be the same.

And this is all assuming I'm right about the Ghost Girl controlling them.

[scarcastically]

[ he nods. ]

We still gotta try though. Or nothin' changes.

[bindsthedead]

Yes, except- this isn't the Old Kingdom. I can make educated guesses, but..

[Sabriel shakes her head, like she's trying to clear it.]

Those guesses could still be wrong. We need to gather more information, and see if we can communicate with the monsters. Or this Ghost Girl.

[scarcastically]

Yeah, for sure.

[ but he's not entirely convinced. erik is a firm believer in all the knowledge you can get but he can't shake the feeling that this situation is a power keg and waiting too long is a danger too. ]

Comms is our best step forward though.

[bindsthedead]

You're right- our hosts are probably keeping secrets, so- we might as well try to look at the other side.

[Sabriel frowns.]

I tried walking into Death here. It felt... strange. Not like I was being blocked, but like- walking into a familiar room and finding all the furniture rearranged. Or trying to tune into a radio station but not being able to get the frequency right.

Death and magic probably obey different rules here. It will probably be the same everywhere else we go.

[scarcastically]

[ hmm. is this place affecting abilities too? or had the people who brought them here made sure they couldn't rise up against them. it's troubling. erik has no special abilities, so he hasn't felt any different but . . . it's worth investigating.

he files it away. ]

Kinda weird to hear death operates with different rules. I mean, it's Death.

[bindsthedead]

Where I'm from, restless spirits can escape from it to devour the living, and do so fairly often.

Since that doesn't seem to be a problem in most places, perhaps it's just the Old Kingdom that's different.

[Sabriel doesn't feel different- it's like everything around her changed. And the idea that most places weren't troubled by the Dead is a comforting thought.]

[scarcastically]

Generally, dead people don't come back.

[ but then again . . . he is dead too. ]

[bindsthedead]

Where you come from, perhaps. Where I'm from... it's a little more complicated. Sometimes, the dead will seek to live again, and in the process...

They turn into monsters that forget who they were in life, and need to feed on the living to stay out of Death.

[Unfortunately, (or fortunately) 'died but brought back to full life' does not set off Sabriel's death sense.]

[scarcastically]

Yeah, zombies. I know that much.