synopsychic | (no subject)

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Okay so I'm thinking this is another of those points where we could use someone who's been here and not just to Ninjaville before, but:

What the fuck was that noise last night, odds it's something we're here to deal with, and how do we make it stop?

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...It didn't hit me that hard. You in the water or on the boat?

On the boat.

[There's silence for a while.] It might be because Alcuin has taught me Songs? All Souls Rest and the Song of Calming, specifically.

That could very well have something to do with it. When we find local Sirens we may have our hands full keeping them from doing anything stupid.

[It's not 'if.' Alcuin himself hasn't checked in, and this being a revisit, Claudia would be very surprised to find him as anything but a Siren, if not the same one as last time. And that's not getting into whoever else can do the thing.]

If it only happens at night, those of us who can might be wise to take shelter in Liminal, at least if we are weak to that dark Song.

Until then, perhaps no one who knows any Songs should be alone, just in case.

That is probably not an unwise precaution.

Next question, do we have anyone who knows Siren crap in the water? Anyone? Bueller? [It's more a general question that she happens to be asking in conversation with Lupa. These things happen sometimes.]

Gale is with me, and the others I know of that know the Songs are infiltrating. Although Alcuin did offer to teach anyone who needed it at the Tribe meeting right after my dungeon. Others who were there may have taken him up on the offer.

And that may or may not cover everyone who left the jaunt with it in the first place.

Yes, that is the other possibility. I'm not sure how the mermaids would react to humans knowing any of their Songs either. If it would be a cover, I could teach it to someone investigating in the water.

[There's another pause, and Lupa sounds vaguely disturbed.] Now that I'm here, I'm certain that I could Sing more than just the two Alcuin taught me.

...mmmmmmmmmmmaybe, but given the danger of the circumstances, we should probably save that for a last resort. The other option would be handwaving that we lost a Siren or two between when we found the ship and now.

Wait what now?

I don't know how it happened either, but... I think I can.

oookay, that's... potentially concerning. Maybe we should ask other folks who've learned more than one how it worked out, if we can? Like, Dolorosicordia cantrips, you either have a couple or a jillion without really any middle ground. The Song could be another one of those and you just didn't notice until now.

Or it could be disconcerting jaunt weirdness. Also possible.

It might be. To Sing is to have a connection to the Sea, and to hear and translate that for others. Maybe like learning to speak, once the process is begun it will continue until it is complete.

[Lupa... doesn't have an accurate knowledge of learning language, on account of AI, but from his perspective, it's an accurate comparison.]

Closer to downloading a file there, dude. [Of course, for Lupa the two things are arguably the same...]

There's a difference?

[Is that just a tiny bit of teasing in his mental voice? Probably, if dry and not well executed. Lupa's aware of how things tend to boil down to downloading and uploading to him.]

A pretty big one, for most of us. [Don't worry, she got it.]

[Lupa does his best to convey his amusement, but then goes silent for a little bit, listening to the others report. When he speaks again, he's more somber.]

If the creator of this Song is our objective, I would advise locating it and scouting to gather information as quickly as possible. That kind of power shouldn't be left uneliminated if it is a threat. The more time it has, the more potential damage.

I wonder if there's a way to do that more safely from a distance.

I dunno. We might need the locals for that. At least whatever this is, it's so damn loud there's no missing it.

No missing the Song, but it carried so well that I wonder if it isn't coming from much farther than we think it is.

[Lupa would guess a few miles, but he's less sure the more he thinks about it. Water confuses the issue.]

Especially since sound travels better through water than air and this was definitely underwater.

Regardless, I believe we should find the local mermaids and attempt to talk with them about it.

If they know what it is, we'll be better prepared if we must destroy... or help? it. If they don't, they at least know the local sea better.

[Lupa considers this an open discussion, and is listening intently for opinions of anyone paying attention to it.]

They'll also have a better idea of what we might be up against.

I admit, I'm not sure how best to make that contact, though. I wouldn't mind the risk of advancing unarmed among them as a sign that we mean peace, but others might.

[Gale, mostly, but Lupa knows others might have objections as well.]

And first we gotta find everyone. There's the Bando boat, but if the familiar crew is a sum total of Helena and then Kanji's buddies...

[That's a lot of people unaccounted for, and the odds of all of them being in the water are pretty slim.]

I may be able to help give clues, at least for those I know. I did keep my powers as Oracle of Will.

I can also sense people nearby, even if they are infiltrating. However, the range is poor. If they're on that island, or in the water around it, we're too far at this point.

Well, one way or another we'll be getting there soon.

Oracle of What now?