BringerOfLight

Brin watched Althea mingle around, as he ordered another drink. He was almost feeling the effects- but not quite. He watched her approach these two blokes- wait. That's the Dustbringer! Brin weighed his options, for perhaps the first time in his life: He could,

A. Attack now, think later (which was always a good course of action).
 

OR

B. Hide and let Althea do her work, since the Dustbringer had gotten a good look at him.

He sighed, and thought. Well, yes, it seemed the latter worked best. He ordered another drink for himself, one for Mari, one for Gethen, and one for Max. He brought the drinks over to them.

@Sorana @Kings_way @kenod @I think I am here.

8 hours ago, Sorana said:

Turning around Althea started to walk along the street, towards the indicated direction. "I sent an image of the skin to an associate of mine." she replied to Brin's question. It was positive that he didn't trust her blindly, but tried to find out a little more. He didn't know who she was, if she maybe even worked with the Dustbringer. She knew she didn't, what had happened had been neccessary, a chance for the man to change his course. It had been the only way. Not with Max rioting him like that.

Althea made sure she kept her face even, although she sometimes found it hard to hide her dislike of Max use of his power. He knew what he could do. And yet, he still reached out for it instead of looking for another way. Lifting a hand she touched her fingertips to her forehead, remembered how she had nearly clawed her own eyes out. Things had been different back then. Max had been crazy, comepletely, utterly crazy. He hadn't been able to influence his power, or to steer it. Tonight he had done that. He had been careful and only rioted what he'd deemed neccessary. But the expression - the fear, the panic. She knew them. Knew them far too well.

She put on her mask again after a few steps, after the first weird glances by some on the street. It was better to blend in, to vanish in the crowd. Easier to divert their attention that something was going on. The last thing they needed were spectators, drunk spectators at that. Better to keep things quiet, to ensure they didn't endanger any citizens. Otherwise they could turn around right here and now.

Stopping in front of a building she paused, waited for the others to catch up. "That should be the place." she annouced and carefully stored her device in her inner pocket. The building had three stories and she could hear faint jazz music coming out of the door. Now and then laughter and cheers reached her ears. A bar of some sorts. That wasn't good. The noise of the guests would hide anything else and they proved a large mass of individuals they had no idea about. They could be random visitors, or they belonged to the prisoner, only waited for his command to get rid of any potential thread. They needed to be careful until they knew more about this place.

She stayed where she was to give the other a chance to take a look, to come up with an idea how to proceed, maybe to offer a skill. Personally, she would simply walk inside, ask for the man and go there, hoping that the guests were indeed that. Guests. But she didn't know who she was travelling with, so maybe one of them had another idea, or some experience that made this easier, reduced the risk for everybody.

"This is the place, huh?" Brin asked, curiously.

Not waiting for anyone, he promptly walked through the front door.

11 hours ago, Sorana said:

Althea climbed up after Gethen and Mari and took a look around on the street. It was empty, compared to usual times, but then the festival was a lot of things but not a usual time or situation. She nod curtly, gratefully at Brin that he had helped with getting the others out and then crossed her arms in front of her chest - thinking. They had found the piece of skin, so someone had met with the Dustbringer. Either that, or he had been assaulted - no, there hadn't been any signs of a fight. Given his last confrontation she doubted that he would suddenly start fighting with subtlety.

Pulling out her device she checked it again, both for the runner and to see if there were any information on the piece of skin they'd found. Chances were slim, with most of the staff outside and partying she doubted their network would run as smooth and fast as usual. It was normal. Which also made this night the perfect night to target someone. Surprise had her widen her eyes by a fraction when she saw that she had been wrong.

"I think I've got something." she said quietly, quickly reading through the message. It was short, obviously sent by someone drunk, close to a jazz club not far from here. "Someone saw a person with skin that roughly matches the pieces we found. He wasn't entirely sure whether it was a costume or not, but felt as if the skin was too good to be fake."

She closed the message before anybody could take a close look and pulled up a map instead, entering the adress and then turning her device so that everybody could take a look at the way. "It's not far. If we want to, we can see what wee can find there."

@BringerOfLight @kenod @Kings_way

"I'm up for it, mates," Brin said. "Nice contraption you have, by the way. How did you get all that information?

8 hours ago, Sorana said:

Althea looked at Gethen, Mari and Max. The ceiling was still a little bit above her head and she didn't want to risk lieaving someone stuck down here. Looking around she saw a larger piece of rock lying on the ground to one side and knelt down next to it. It's surface was slimy, covered by grime and something that might have been some plants and she felt a surge of relief at the thought that they would be out of this place soon.

Inhaling a little bit of stormlight she turned the rock into a piece of rope. It wasn't long, but long enough to reach the manhole above them. Hopefully that would help the other three to get out of the place as well, without her needing to elsecall them all out of it. She could, but the she didn't have enough knowledge about the situation above ground to determine whether it was worth it or not. Another advantage was the simple fact that she prefered not to show off too much of her powers. She doubted they would be stupid enough to consider her a beginner, but then there was a huge difference between a beginner and herself. She'd been elsecalling a few minor things now and then so far and she liked it that way.

"Can you catch the rope?" she called up to Brin and help it up. "It should be long enough that you can tie it to a pole nearby, so that we can climb out."

@BringerOfLight

"Yup!" Brin called. A rope would be easiest. He hoped no one was staring.

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Of course, go ahead.

@Sorana

On 7/10/2020 at 0:29 PM, Kings_way said:

I assume it comes out either on the street or in another tunnel. Is Silas' place above or below ground?

Edit: I think it comes out on the street.

Brin smiled at the suggestion, and lashed himself out of the hole. He came out on a busy street, where a small crowd was suspiciously watching the hole that had mysteriously and noisily appeared.

"Er…" Brin said. "Police business?" 

That seemed to satisfy the crowd, and most went back to their business.

Brin leaned down the hole, and called down: "Alright, who's next?"

19 minutes ago, Kings_way said:

Gethen smiled, inspecting the lock he had hit. Mari had leaped away, and Brin was glowing. He probably should have warned them. Oh well, no use worrying about that now, he thought. He pushed open the passage in the ceiling. 

"Alright, who's going up first? I vote for the one who can fly  heal themselves," he said, gesturing at Brin

@BringerOfLight

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Ok, I'll send Brin up there, but where is he going to come out?

As soon as the gunshot rang out, Brin instinctively sucked in Stormlight. The ringing went away quickly, with nothing more than a wince from Brin.

"Gethen, mate, why in Damnation would you do that!? If the Dustbringer is anywhere near here, Almighty, mate! We're stormed!"

Brin's annoyance at Gethen almost outweighed his annoyance that Althea had noticed things he hadn't. She and Max seemed to be conspiring near the back of the group, and Mari had jumped an inhuman length away at the sound of the gunshot.

@Kings_way

@Sorana

@kenod

@I think I am here.

"Hmn…" Brin looked around the area that they paused.

His eye caught something lying in a puddle of a sewer sludge. Something gray, and covered in slime. He picked it up.

"Now, what's this?" It felt cold, and papery. The image of the Dustbringer's koloss-gray skin flashed in Brin's mind.

He was holding skin. He cursed loudly and dropped the piece. "What in Damnation!?"

Are there any fellow Canadians around that love the Hip around as much as I do? 

Just now, Kings_way said:

Gethen carefully stepped though the ash and rubble to where Brin had stopped. He tried to wipe the ash of of his suit, but only succeeded in getting it all over his hands. Looking at the sewer grate Brin had found, he noticed scorched footprints leading into it. The grate looked as though it had been forcefully ripped off, and the footprints continued inside.

"Shall we go in?" Gethen asked

"Shall we go in?" asked Gethen.

Brin laughed, and jumped down, inhaling some stormlight to brace his fall.

"Interesting..." he said to himself. 

He spotted cracks along the sewer wall. "That way." Brin's old Skybreaker training was kicking in almost too easily.

The Brigade was almost done with the fire, and Brin watched as they put out the last few flames. The Watch had set up camp, milling about and interviewing bystanders, business as usual.

Brin noticed a path in the wreckage. He downed the rest of his Horneater lager and the drink Gethen got him. He stood up wordlessly, and beckoned his companions to follow.

There was a guard standing by the tape by the scene of the crime.

"Sir, you'll have to stop," the police officer said. 

In response, Brin pulled down the lapel of his shirt, showing the Skybreaker tattoo on his breast. The cop nodded and let Brin inside the tape. 

Brin made his way to the building, and saw a path through the rubble and ash- one that led to a sewer grate. Brin smirked to himself.

"Well, lookie here," He said. "Mates, I found something!"

@Sorana

@Kings_way

@kenod

@I think I am here.

13 minutes ago, Gears said:

  Hide contents

That wake was the most depressing thing I've read in my reading career. 

 

Just now, Gears said:

Death is a role model, not the only one. I also live by Delirium, though I visit Dream occasionally.

2 minutes ago, Gears said:

His balloon has a bold outline.

Oh, I didn't notice.

17 minutes ago, Gears said:

Death is a role model for all who live.

I disagree, I live by Delirium.

25 minutes ago, Gears said:

Death is the only one of the Endless to have a normal speech balloon.

Are you sure? I think Destruction as well.

Somewhat unrelated but can somebody send a discord link? i'd love to join.

Not only the art, but at least early in the comic, the speech bubbles themselves are the art. How each member of the family has their own distinctive font and bubble style? Delirium especially was exceptional.

Oh. My. Lord. 

This is one of the best comics written by man. My dad read it as a kid, and ordered three omnibuses of all the volumes of the Sandman, which I tore through. It's seriously beautiful.

1 minute ago, Kings_way said:

 "The pleasure is mine" Gethen called a waiter and ordered a drink for Brin. Once It arrived he asked, "What do you know about the dustbringer?"

 

"Well, he had some koloss blood in him," Brin started. "All I know is that he was running away from a smoking van, and started causing chaos, so I stepped in to help. For any information beyond that, you might want to ask Althea." Brin gestured towards Althea sitting across from him.

@Sorana

6 minutes ago, Kings_way said:

 "I arrived late to the festival." Gethen replied. Buy him a drink? Was this how commoners negotiated? He sighed. "I will buy you a drink. But first, I will need to know who you are." 

Brin smiled, not unkindly. He couldn't hate a man who would buy him a drink. "I'm Flightless. Captain Brin Flightless, of the seas of Shadesmar. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Hospital Vespers

"I can't reach it," You say weakly, pointing to the camera in the ceiling.
I cover it from seeing your bleak hospital room. I turned around to find you kneeling.
And before the nurses came and took you away, I stood there on a chair and watched you pray.

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This story is based off of a lyric from a song by the Weakerthans, called Hospital Vespers.

But everything changed when the fire nation attacked.

4 minutes ago, Kings_way said:

 Back on Scadrial, the name would answer both. Gethen thought. "Very well," he said "I am a simple man with large pockets and a keen interest in other people's business." It was true. Dendor had always said Gethen was too curious for his own good. "I would like to help"

"Are you telling me you didn't see what happened? We were bloody flying all over the place. The Dustbringer set a building on fire! The Brigade came! Youd didn't hear the sirens? Look mate, all we're doing here is musing about our encounter. If you really want to help, go to the Watch. Now, if you want to help us... then, then all you have to do... is buy me a drink." Brin smirked.