[RE] knockknock

WESSEX

Go
deep throat
a cactus

There may be three men at her back, but that doesn’t stop the momentary flash of grim panic when the thing outside tries to access the panel. A heart beat? it says, letting them know that it knows (and are the monsters a hive entity? If one knows do they all know?), doing its best to spread dread and fear through the guardian’s hearts. Wessex may not be fueled by adrenaline, she may not fear the threat the same way the others do, but it does elicit a silent sign of defiance: she bares her teeth, snarling at the door and the shadow as it leaves them alone.

There will be more attempts. Plenty of them. She needs to put more protocol in place. All of which should have been done earlier in the week, but Astor’s she’s been busy.

Asking the men to move away from the door with a nod, Wessex ushers them back to the threshold of the Rathskellar and lowers her voice. “Now that they know - or at least one of them does - we need to put some protocol into place. Shifts for door watches, both here and at the front of the Temple, because Loren and I will eventually need rest.”

Ideally they’d have two people on each door, and two seven hour shifts with ten hours of sleep/rest. But nothing ever goes according to plan, so Wessex is tempted to not even bother with setting it up. Except, as usual, she has to try.

“There’s a two-way parchment in the Temple proper, on a table with a shell. If you talk in to the shell, the person with the other end can hear you. Same with the parchment, it will show what’s been written. There are three amulets with stored magic -” She looks to Loren for confirmation of this, because quite frankly, all the magical item talk has blended together in her mind, “One with creation magic, which is to be used as a last resort to contain a monster or solve a problem. And the others have…. Summoning magic, right?” A hand goes to her chest. “I also have Loren’s summoning magic. So you two, or any other non-Ascended need to have a summoning amulet with you.”

She pauses. What else?

“Ask the questions. Password. Names. Personal information. Be wary of anyone who already knows about the heartbeat panel.” A heavy shrug. “It’s a guessing game in the end. Call me if there’s time. If not, go with your gut. And if you don’t want to make the decision, I will.”  

She takes a moment to look each man in the face, wondering where Rex is, where Cera is, where the people who she knows can keep a level head are. “And if anyone else wants to help, send ‘em my way.”

i have seen what the darkness does

say goodbye to who i was

When the queen turns her attention toward him and Loren and Abasi, with a stare that absolutely means business, his slate eyes watch her while he listens, remaining silent. Given a task, shifts for watching the doors. She mentions the parchment, and he nods to that, hoping he doesn’t need to do anything with it. And while a part of him is a bit grumpy at not being able to get a drink right now, he understands.

Keeping people safe and all of that, he supposes. But Lusea is there, and he’ll do whatever he can to ensure her safety, knowing she can handle enough on her own. If it came down to not putting her through it, after everything else, he’ll do his best. So he follows the instructions, listening to the terms of magic and the like, the amulets he’ll need.

And then she mentions the guessing game, and a part of him hopes that his wariness of opening the door for anyone will simply be the downfall of many. Wouldn’t be the first time he’s gotten blood on his hands, nor does he think he’ll be lucky enough for it to be his last. And so he gives a sharp nod to Wessex. “Understood.” His accented voice rumbles, shifting back to the soldier within him. Because that’s what this was in the end, right?

SUNJATA

The stars, the moon,

They have all been blown out

While Abasi had suspected the knocking to be a monster, he still found his heart chilled as he heard the suddenly calm, smug voice. Glad he was correct in his convictions he stood and watched the door, wondering what they would all do; he thought about going to stand by Loren, suspecting the Launceleyn was less sure than the rest of them. But no, everyone had to let their hearts be hard sometimes.

At least there was one heart in the room that seemed to be hard as it could be. The Queen spoke and Abasi listened carefully. He would take orders from very few people, but he had always respected the traditions of monarchy, of the divine right to rule. Even if this Queen was the result of rebel leaders, she seemed at least more dedicated to her work than the King that had abandoned his post immediately after taking it.

"I will be able to make my own decisions." He assured her, then asked for a post - when he received one, he would stay there as long as he could.

No dawn, no day

I'm always in this twilight

ABASI

Base Code by Sky!

They say blood makes you related but

loyalty makes you family

Well. Fuck. It had been a monster. So Loren now knew he couldn’t trust his instincts and he felt his heart sink. Worse, it knew about the heartbeat sensor and if that comment wasn’t ominous he didn’t know what was. Obviously Wessex was on it already, and the summoner remained mostly silent, letting her give her orders. He only stirred when she directly addressed him. ”I only have one, which is empty. I’ll store a Spark Bird in it, and leave it where you feel is best. I don’t actually know where the other two are or what they have in them. Maybe Phoebe does?” At least, Remi had mentioned the healer when he’d brought the amulets to the Launceleyn. ”Also Rexanna is the only other Ascended with my magic at the moment.” They hadn’t had time to set up bites, though most of the other Ascended—and all the ones who might bite him, apparently—were in the Temple.

When the other two spoke up, Loren couldn’t help but wonder if more people being involved was better or not. Still, Sunjata and Abasi had been right and the summoner had been uncertain, so maybe it was for the best he wasn’t making these calls. That didn’t mean he couldn’t contribute in other ways. ”Just let me know where to be and when to be there. We should probably put an actual bar, lock, or latch on this door so it doesn’t open just with the panel, just to be safe. I can put it together quietly if we have the materials.” They couldn’t afford to rely upon the magic, apparently, and securing it from the inside just made sense.

LOREN