On the deck of the shrieking ship of Shriekpot...
Morton, when finally asked for his opinion, softly wobbles his speech drawer and tries to gently see this matter through.
"W-well, you see, uh, I think that trekking in the domain of a demon might not... be the greatest of ideas if not thoroughly thought out and planned, er, it is something that requires a good bit of thought. You never know what you might come back as, you may come back as furniture even after all. You wouldn't be able to eat, drink, smell, other such problems might arise as well. I suggest sitting on the idea, giving it more thought... You don't do magic when it would be unwise, right, good Mage Art? I think it would be best to wait until tomorrow, the option isn't going anywhere, no?"
"Why not now? I'm fully in control of myself, I feel totally stoked to do this, I have a pretty good idea how to talk to demons and I am absolutely fearless now. Besides, from what I know of demons, planning's not going to do much good."
"That does seem to be the case - whatever state you are in, the demon ultimately has the say in the matter from what I have gathered. And we've only had one transformation that's been non-humanoid so far. Though he is slightly inebriated, I don't think he might find too much trouble on the way. Demonic realms are quite straightforward, and as long as you don't snap at the demon, you should be fine."
"Yeah! I'll be totally fine. Or a piece of furniture, but that's kind of a subset of fine, isn't it? You seem to be doing okay, Morton."
In the back room of Brenwicke's Books...
Scott, supposing that this door is an issue that really needs dealing with, takes out his harpoon and tries to pry the door open. However, before he can do this, Sigmund interrupts.
"Shouldn't we test if we can open it silently first?"
Sigmund then tries to open the door conventionally, by pushing down the handle. This, however, does not work. Hm. Guess he'll need to look for a key. He goes downstairs while Scott resumes his prying.
[Scott prying roll: 2]
He tries to jam his harpoon into the miniscule amount of space between the door and the doorframe, but both of them appear to be a bit too durable to submit to such a treatment - he suspects that the doorframe's reinforced as well. In fact, it looks like this door is significantly newer than the back entrance. And the wall around it is made of polished stone, too. Crap.
However, he needs not fear, as Sigmund has returned after having violently overturned most of the store in his search for a key, which, shockingly enough, has proven tremendously successful, netting Sigmund an entire keyring of all sorts of keys. He returns to Scott, proudly displaying his new treasure.
Now to only find which one opens the door. And hope that nobody heard his searching frenzy in the other room.
In the City of the Dead...
Darren, getting the impression that being a tour guide is something Danielle takes to quite naturally, offers her to serve as such in an official capacity as they float along the streets of the city.
"Say, would you mind being my guide around the area? You seem to know a lot about the place, and I'll get lost if I go alone..."
Danielle seems to be quite happy about the offer, as though she had been waiting for him to ask.
"Oh, I'd love to. It's been such a long time since I've had the opportunity to actually tell somebody about the city. I mean, I've studied the city all my life, but I only really got to know the place after I died, you know? And as time goes by, the people who listen to me get fewer and fewer. It's kinda sad, really."
She looks at a nearby building and her eyes flash with realization.
"Ooh, this is a great place. The Painted Alley, it's called."
Darren looks around at the mostly-ruined, totally dilapidated buildings of the alley. He doesn't really see where the name might have come from.
"There's a lot of dead artists around here, mostly painters. That's why they call it the Painted Alley - this alley used to be the most vivid area in the city, with murals covering every wall and music coming from every corner. The nobility loved to come here and tip the artists. It's actually how the artists made their livelihood, so this place was optimized for amusement. In fact, the people who remained here still go through similar routines from what I've seen... and heard, too. Like now, for instance."
Darren listens in, but he doesn't really hear music per se. A tiny bit of a distant echo, maybe, but not really music.
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Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 562524 times)