[video]

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin tries to look professional, but this liminal has been trying, in a number of ways. He keeps his face neutral, but he looks tired - and there's a tension to his expression, just a hint of sadness.]

I have the list of those Travelers who are no longer with us. To be clear, I am only including Travelers who have been here for at least a jaunt. There are too many who both arrived and vanished in the last couple weeks for me to include them all, since I never met most of them. If anyone wants to know whether somebody who showed up during the last couple weeks is still here, however, I can find out.

Nicholas. Istas. Elliot. Byerly. Zatanna. Mikleo. Doujima. Robin. Neeshka. Hal. Sorey.

[He goes quiet for a long moment, before continuing on a different vein.] Most of you will probably have noticed, but this liminal space seems to be messing with our heads - making people more cynical and paranoid.

Eldritch defenses work against this influence.

I'm not sure exactly what this means, but we should be on guard. However, I have searched thoroughly and I can find no trace of the King in Yellow's sign.

Comments

[neverfeltthatway]

Yes. I'm sorry.

The King in Yellow... he's a being with power on par with the Trumps, except he's a god of madness. Death is preferable to what what happen if he got his hands on you.

About year and a half ago, there was a jaunt where he had a cult following. They tried to summon him into their world, to manifest him directly - we stopped them, but only barely, and he invaded liminal space and infected the telepathic network first. The network, we got back - but he had gained a foothold in liminal space, for a time. His sigil kept appearing here - and if it was messed with from this side, he could get through. He and his creatures, his eldritch horrors.

[wildmagician]

Wow, that's messed up. I hadn't thought there'd be beings as strong as Trumps, but of course it's possible with how many different worlds we go to.

So if we see this sigil, what should be done? I'm guessing part of it is contacting you and leaving the sigil completely untouched, but... just in case there's something else I should know.

[shiroganeheir]

It is gone, and no matter what others think, I believe it will not be returning. I can tell you more details in person, Senpai, but trust me in this.

[wildmagician]

Well, you know you're one of the people I trust completely. So I'll trust you even now.

Private (psychic protection ii)

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin frowns at Naoto's response, but he makes his own communication private, in an effort to avoid open argument - despite her apparent lack of any effort to do the same.]

It is troubling to us as well, and more. It is true that a while back, it appears one of the Trumps banished the sign from liminal space. However, to my knowledge, we have no evidence it cannot return - and it's too dangerous to take a chance on.

You have it exactly. Leave it untouched, and call me - or someone else who has learned eldritch defenses if I am infiltrating, or on walkabout. At the moment, I believe Leonardo, Riddick, Sabetha, and Lupa are the only others with such knowledge.

Private (psychic protection ii)

[wildmagician]

I understand you'd be paranoid about something like that, but I also trust Naoto on what she observes and knows. She's been right many times, so I don't see why she'd be wrong about this.

Though if the worse happens and I come across it, I'll keep that in mind.

Private (psychic protection ii)

[neverfeltthatway]

It's not paranoia - it's common sense to be cautious about so great a threat, especially one we know so little about. It's possible Naoto knows something I don't and isn't sharing it with everyone. But from everything I know, we have no evidence one way or the other to say whether it will return.

I'm not asking you not to trust her. Simply... stay wary. Even if she's right, we know beings like the King exist, and he appeared with little warning. Besides which, there's some eldritch influence on this liminal space. That's it's one we can't identify isn't terribly comforting, to me.

Private (psychic protection ii)

[wildmagician]

When you put it like that, yeah. It's not impossible for another threat like him to appear or him to return despite the Trumps interfering.

Well, I'm not going to lose my mind over it and worry all of the time, but if I spot anything suspicious, I'll contact the network - or you directly.