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So. We had another one of our captors show up on the Jaunt. I spoke with him - he gave me the name Hakan Ceasar, but now that I'm myself again, I think it's pretty safe to say it was the Emperor. He told me he was there to 'ensure the orderly transference of power', which as far as I know was the shift in government in Sarmatia. Why that specifically was important, I don't know, but it seems like it was.

For the newbies - you've probably at least been given the bare bones of who and what the Trumps are, but I thought it might help some to have an idea of the timeline, given how frequently people arrive and vanish. To my knowledge, the first Trump to make themselves known to Travellers was the Fool, somewhere around a year ago, in the ocean world. This wasn't the first Jaunt ever, mind - I know of at least six that took place before that, and nobody can remember earlier than that, so there may have been more. The Jaunt after that, with the crazy zombie shit - no Trumps anybody knows of, but that glitched out somehow. Fuck knows what was going on there. The fancy solstice ball had the Sun and the Moon. Harrowgate, no Trumps again, but the first appearance a figure called the King in Yellow. Other people can probably tell you more about that, but my understanding is that... he? it? isn't a Trump, but may be as powerful as them, and is bad fucking news. His sigil has showed up a few times in Liminal Space. [There's a brief image of the triskelion symbol blocking the drain in an industrial sink] If you see it, mention it psychically so someone who knows what they're doing can deal with it.

[A pause, then he continues]
Anyway, after that - the Lovers appeared at the school, in the form of an AI system. Before that, the Trumps had appeared as humans - on the outside, anyway. The GRID is where shit started to get really crazy, though we got some answers, too. The Magician, under the guise of ROSE, appeared to be attempting the revival or freeing of the Hermit, known there as SAGE. The Devil and the Lovers attempted to influence travellers to prevent this - the Devil called SAGE a criminal, and said that his execution was 'within the rules', whatever the rules are. He also said that our excursions were 'sanctioned'. The High Priestess spoke with and marked one traveller, but did not manifest.

At some point, the Magician told people that four Trumps were dead - the Hierophant, Fortune, Temperance, and the Star. In liminal space afterwards, there was a phone that allowed calling any of the Trumps that had previously made themselves known, and one said that of the four dead, one was killed by an external force of some sort, and the other three were due to internal conflict. Which is which, I'm not sure. I spoke to the Sun briefly, who was polite but not forthcoming. As far as I know, nobody was marked for speaking to them over the phone.

In Questing Country, the High Priestess appeared, though I have no details about it. Nobody mentioned seeing any Trumps in the Jaunt after that, Melasurei, though from what I gathered, things didn't go well in general there. In Nova Veniza, both the Chariot and the Hanged Man appeared, and the Chariot was apparently fairly affable. And that's everything up to now.

The Trumps work under some sort of set of rules, though I don't know how closely bound by them they are. We're pawns, and the purpose of whatever little game they're playing at isn't clear. It may just be a game, to them - but what the Emperor told me made it sounds like there were higher stakes involved, and that he was aware of these. They're apparently limited to marking five travellers each, though I don't have a record on who's been marked and who hasn't. Some people have been public about it, while others have not. There's been speculation that once every traveller is marked, the nature of what we do may shift to something other than the Jaunts. But there's a lot we don't know.

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[Well. Shit. This is potentially a problem.]

Interesting information to gain nearly a year after the fact. [He is capable of expressing tone over the psychic network, but there is none here, not even anger.]

C-

[No, he can't even say it, not even mentally. The sorrow and anger and bitterness he's feeling is still too much to bear. After a long moment to compose himself, he speaks again.]

I have failed in a great many aspects, of late. I'm sorry. I had not anticipated others wanting to keep a record of perhaps one of the worst Jaunts we've been on so far.

[He catches it, of course. The same way that he caught the feeling when he'd spoken to Marcozzo earlier. But he'll say nothing about it. It's unimportant to the matter at hand.]

Ridiculous to not anticipate it. [He'd hated Harrogate as much as anyone. But every Jaunt is important to remember.] And dangerous to wait so long when the sigil has been showing up for months, until recently. That's putting a lot of people at risk, especially those of us with perfect recall.

[Yeah, hi Leonardo. Does it surprise you this guy has perfect recall? It shouldn't.]

... yes, those of us with perfect recall, eidetic memory, whatever you wish to call it, are at far greater risk than any of the other Travelers.

[Confirming for Near that he has it too, if he hadn't known already.]

Then I am ridiculous, and a danger to every Traveler here. I am sorry I had not said something sooner. But I have failed you all, and I have admitted as such. No matter how much I grovel and plead, I cannot change that. Now all I can do is try to fix the problem.

[He'd half-suspected it, just given who the man is. Learning that he does comes as no surprise.

[A more compassionate person might try to console Leonardo here. But this is Near.] No, it can't be changed. What measures are there to fix the problem?

Preventative measures, mostly. Wards to fend off the King in Yellow, and those like him. Spells to imbue items with the power to hold back the Old Ones. Ways to identify whether something is eldritch in nature on sight alone.

If it's all we have, then we need to work with it. And you retained this knowledge, and the spells?

Yes, I retained all of it. But I can only teach the knowledge which will be useful in combatting the Old Ones. I'm sorry.

It's fine. That was my primary interest. [No more pushing and prodding, at least not for now. He still needs Leonardo to be co-operative and useful; beating him down until he breaks is unproductive and unnecessary. The guilt is already more than enough for him to exploit.

[And, just perhaps, there is a bit of residual weight remaining toward their time as Cousins that keeps him from driving further.]

Do you wish to learn now?

As soon as possible. [He doubts he's the only one who is going to receive this instruction in short order.]

... tell me where you are, then, and I will find you.

[By way of answer, he will receive a quick livestream of one of the caves, with not just the eerie reflective light, but also a stronger, clearer one.]

[And not a few moments later, an ornate door in Renaissance style will appear on one of the cave walls.]

[He opens the door, the light coming with him, and the upon sight the source of that light will be confirmed to be one of his toy robots with a simple cantrip laid upon it.

[If there is a saving grace to be had about Near's appearance, it's that any trace of the colour indigo is gone. One less reminder of the foolish gambit their overlays had been part of. His utterly dispassionate face could go one way or the other; there is no anger or bitterness, but also no comfort.

[It's his normal expression, but that may not mean much.] Hello.

[Leonardo, on the other hand, looks like absolute hell. The typical poise with which he presents himself is gone, replaced by sagging shoulders, tear-stained cheeks, a recoiling body posture where he looks even more flinching and drawn in on himself than the typical Leonardo. He is not wearing his red hat and cape, nor his green doublet; only his leather hose and boots, and his white undershirt, with the sleeves rolled up. A simple Prestidigitation cantrip clears up any appearance of old tears on his face, but he was a little too slow on the draw to mask them before Near entered.]

... Salute. Shall we begin?

[The door behind them disappears as the room morphs, taking on a completely different appearance than the stark, blank-white room. It is now a concrete bunker, with high windows near the ceiling streaming in the only other source of light in the room (besides the robot). The sun's rays fall directly onto the drain in the middle, marked with a yellow triangle, to represent the Sign.]

[Near has trained himself from a distressingly early age to not feel things. It had been his own choice, but also actively encouraged by the staff at the House. The less he'd felt, the better he'd performed, and his performance had ultimately been the thing that mattered. He isn't perfect at it, but he is very good at looking like he is. And when things do affect him, he works to smother that quickly.

[It's been the equivalent of days since they'd broken in as Illuminants. He's past those feelings now. Messy hair, baggy pajamas . . . all business as usual for him. He's never given much care to his appearance.

[Leonardo's sorry state is noted but not commented upon. None of his concern. Could it be a mercy that he's choosing not to draw attention to it? Maybe. Maybe not.]

Of course.

[He sets the robot aside in an out-of-the way place, and moves to stand beside Leonardo, eyes on the yellow triangle.]

[Leonardo raises his hand, holding it out in front of Near. He creates a piece of chalk, which he drops into Near's hand once the other reaches out for it. Then he creates a second piece of chalk, and kneels down by the grate.]

Copy the symbols as I make them, exactly.

[He makes two signs on the ground beside the mock-up drain: one very complicated one, and a much simpler one.]

These are both representations of what is called the Elder Sign. The Simple Form and the Broad Form. It also has a Gestural Form.

[Which he will demonstrate.]

These will prevent any harm to you or those you guard, whether drawn or gestured, as long as it stays completely intact.

[He takes the chalk and crouches beside Leonardo, right knee on the floor, left knee tucked to his chest as is his normal posture. Intently, he watches as the signs are drawn, and while he's no artist himself, he can catalog and follow a motion precisely. And he copies each symbol with perfect accuracy.]

Is there any difference in strength between the Simple Form and the Broad form?

[He notes the Gestural Form, the thin, deft fingers of his free hand exactly mirroring what he sees.]

Essentially, the easier it is to make, the less protection it provides. The Gesture is easy to make, easy to throw out at an eldritch being should they be right behind you, but it will not protect you for very long. They can make you flinch, or make you fight for your life against human targets, and all the power behind that gesture is lost the instant you break it due to instinct, either fight or flight.

The Simple form is easy to draw and easy to place anywhere, giving it versatility. But it nowhere near as strong as the Broad form, especially when the Broad form is set into a stone and carried on your person. But then it is less versatile in where it can be placed.

[He listens silently, patiently. The basic answer is essentially what he had expected. Power sacrifices versatility. To know how easily the gestural form can be broken is no comfort, but he is not here for comfort; he is here for understanding and to be able to take whatever defensive measures are available to him. Even if they would not last long.

[He would point out that he knows very well what the effects of Eldritch magic can do to the mind, but that would be unnecessarily petty of him. So he simply nods.] I see. Is there anything else I should be aware of?

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