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I wish that I was more well-informed so I could make this all more clear, but... I've heard Armin broadcast about this sigil before. I have no idea what its meaning or origin is, but I know that it's a bit off the shore at one of the beach campsites.

If anyone knows what this is and if I should be running to protect people, please let me know before I need to regenerate my intestines for the millionth time.

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"She's got a full complement of marked Travelers," Thorne says, quietly. "It's not just that bitch and her friend who've been fucking shit up."

Her own Trump mark is partially obscured, but there's still enough visible for people to make guesses if they wanted to.

Edited (laura is not as hated as she was) 2015-10-30 05:01 (UTC)

"I am only using the words that they have used to me. If they had that little regard for our lives, why would they resurrect us? If we were but pawns, they could find more pawns." Naoto finally turns around tone slightly sharp, looking at them again.

"However, we are veering from fact to opinion in this instance. Armin-san is correct. What has changed in the past few Jaunts or Liminal Spaces?" She looks over at Thorne, a worried expression on her face. Damn. That should not have been said. "It is possible, however, other Trumps have had full or almost-full groups of Travelers, but they have not expended any power, let alone power on this scale."

He disagrees with Naoto's reasoning, but he's said his piece, and now's not the time. For now...

"Do we have any evidence that marking us makes them more powerful?"

"I am, again, woefully, depressingly, completely clueless. Marked means... what, exactly, when it comes to this? Is there a book of information on us that they keep track of, and what constitutes 'full'?" She groans in disappointment, "I am completely useless here!" Deep breaths, deep breaths, no more meltdowns.

Thorne frowns, when she sees Naoto's worried expression. "Um. What I just said about it being full. Please keep that a secret. I wasn't supposed to say that, I just-- shit. I'm sorry."

"The Trumps have been Marking various Travelers for reasons only known to them. Each Trump Marks for different reasons, and chooses for different qualities. A mark can be anything, but it manifests as a tattoo on the Travelers' skin."

She takes her jacket off, dropping it at her feet, and pushing up her sleeve to show a Sun Tarot Card. "I was Marked by Sun on my first Jaunt, the Orrery. It has been said that every Trump can Mark up to five Travelers, and they choose Travelers based on some sort of personal contact with them."

Edited 2015-10-30 05:16 (UTC)

Genevieve nods, listening intently and putting all of this to memory too. Then, she realizes that she seems to be equally useless to both the Trumps and the Travellers. She feels almost hollow with dread. "Fascinating!" she says with a smile. Nations tend to be fairly good actors in times of stress. "Are many of the Travelers Marked right now?"

Edited 2015-10-30 05:19 (UTC)

"A fair number of us." Armin slips off one of his gloves to show his own tattoo, a stylized 'I'. "Though I doubt anybody knows the real number."

"Do they all have excellent taste in tattoo patterns, then?" It's not like she thinks she'll ever be Marked at this point, but still. "So far, they seem very tasteful, which is nice. You won't believe half of the ones I've seen at home!" Laughter, because that helps her to pretend she's not stressing out!

Well, if everyone else is going to... Thorne sighs and turns around to show her half-exposed mark: the High Priestess' crown in blue, writ large over her upper back. "You can't see all of it," she says, "but I'm not stripping right now."

"Understandable; what sort of proper lady would I be if I didn't respect your boundaries?" She looks close, and the feeling of dread over her own uselessness grows. "Very interesting! So you're with the Priestess, I presume? Has she been kind to you?"

"So far," Thorne says. It... may be obvious why she leaped to the Priestess' defense right away.

"Do we have any evidence marking us makes them more powerful?" Sorry, Genevieve, he's too invested in the metaplot to backtrack too far just at the moment. The idea of having a full set of marked Travelers somehow boosting their power had been mentioned, but his question about it was never answered. "Or any ideas about what changed, what else could have prompted this?"

"No, we do not." Naoto speaks up finally, sighing, voice much less confident. "Some Trumps seem to prefer quantity, others seem to be content with fewer who are a better fit to their archetypes."

But, really, who knows. It's obvious that she's wrong in this. Reaching down, she picks up her jacket, shakes the sand off and puts it back on silently.

Thorne puts her hand on Naoto's shoulder. She doesn't say anything, but she looks at Naoto's eyes and give that shoulder a squeeze.

Naoto just shakes her head and shrugs. She doesn't really have much more to say, just wants to get away and be alone.

She lets go of Naoto's shoulder. She lets her go.

Naoto looks at the assembled group, and pulls together every last shred of dignity that she has at the moment. "If you all will excuse me, I believe all of the information I have has been shared. If anyone wishes to speak to me later, I will be around. Somewhere. My apologies." She bows formally to each of them, and then turns to leave wordlessly.

"I should go back," Thorne says quietly and she flits off, taking a path at an angle from Naoto's. Once she's further away on the shore, she drops her Adversary transformation.

Armin turns his thoughts towards Thorne's as well when he sees Naoto glancing at her, trying to pick up what that exchange was about - and just who else the Priestess has marked.

~~--look at those warm necks those beating hearts sweet so sweet let me drink them let me let me let me let me--~~

--iamthemasterofmyfateiamthecaptainofmysouliamthemasterofmyfateiamthecaptainofmysoul--

--we must brave this night and have faith in love--

--oh fuck i'm so stupid why did i say that naoto must think i'm a moron but it made so much sense how could i not say something oh god baby bro why are you so thick you may have common sense now but you still can't consider other viewpoints you idiot they better not go after selene it's not her fault i won't let her get hurt again maybe i'm not charoite--

--tainted tainted wrong damned--

--but i can do what i can i can do what i can i can hold fast to the rules because if i hold to the rules (and i know them intellectually even if i can't intuit) i can fake being good i can be charoite for her and this time i'll protect her protect naoto and stupid baby brother protect and serve protect and serve--

--i'm trying to find my peace--

~~--so sweet so sweet drink them all even the little brother--~~

--iamthemasterofmyfateiamthecaptainofmysouliamthemasterofmyfateiamthecaptainofmysoul--

Armin pulls his mind back almost immediately, swallowing hard and trying his hardest not to look at Thorne or appear too surprised. That... that thing is inside her mind? So much hunger, he can't even imagine...

But she was holding it back. She'd wanted to protect them all. That matters - though he will be more careful around her now.

He doesn't try to touch her mind again, and, after a couple minutes, departs the group with a lot to think about.

Armin glances briefly at the exchange, but doesn't audibly question it - instead turning his mind to Naoto's and attempting to divine what she's thinking. He feels a little bad for doing it, but she obviously knows something more than she's saying, and, in his opinion, ignorance can only hurt them. Especially with regard to the Trumps. He was hurt when he found Alcuin hid his mark, and he's been frustrated by the rest.

If they don't work together, they really will be no more than pawns.

With as much negativity as is out there with the Trumps, there is no need to be saying how much one particular one might or might not have, Thorne! There's so much here that people aren't seeing, or refuse to see. Why don't people even consider that there's another answer, one that hits more of the evidence that we've gathered? Why am I the only person who sees this? Am I really that wrong? Damnit, why the crap did I do this in the first place?

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