At the engineers' gate of the City of the Dead...
Darren, figuring there's only so long that you can linger on one thing, just floats on along through the solid metal gate. The gibbon grins at him, but makes no move to stop him. Darren wonders if that's a good thing for a moment, but is interrupted by a peculiar sight.
It's not strictly irregular, he'd say, but the sight of the engineers' quarter is nonetheless enough to give him pause. For one, it appears to be made of stone and steel in equal measure, with oddly-designed, angular buildings jutting out from the ground at strange inclinations. The structures, unlike those in the other parts of the city, gleam with magical discharges and reflections from the numerous light sources, and the entire place is bathed in a light that, to Darren, appears comfortable and familiar enough to feel almost eerie.
Furthermore, this place, rather than merely filled with forlorn echoes and howls of the long-dead, is still very much alive from the looks of it. Odd, many-limbed creatures climb all around the area, some the size of housecats, some the size of elephants. Their shapes are too varied to easily described - many resemble insects or humanoids, though there are also creatures that Darren would call more... exotic in the mix. And what's more, the whole thing - complex, metallic mechanisms moving about, the buildings themselves occasionally changing shape, luminous, shapeless specters occasionally emerging and glancing at the work of the machines - all of it is nearly silent. Darren feels like he is in a library, the way everything here carries on.
He notices a small, three-legged construct with a rather large eye walk up to him, poke him with a varied assortment of extremely sharp instruments, then, upon finding him intangible, leaving immediately.
On the deck of the Second Shank...
Kevin, supposing that Sigmund shouldn't have much trouble taking him anywhere, instructs his noble steed on where to go.
"Forward!"
Sigmund walks off with a somewhat pained gait, struggling to carry Kevin in the perilous light. It is after they reach the pier that Sigmund realizes that Kevin does not have the slightest clue where Gunther Gunnarson's shop even is. Thus, he can't really point out the way for Sigmund, can he?
Scott, meanwhile, supposes he can drop the disgruntled slovenliness for a moment and do something useful.
"Right on it, boss. May I have directions?"
"Somewhere on the ship, I guess?"
That narrows it down! Scott looks around the ship, eventually finding Mark in the cargo hold. He attempts to pick up the metallic malcontent and deliver him to salvation.
[Scott's strength roll: 1+1]
He comes to the conclusion that Mark is much, much heavier than he looks. Mark, meanwhile, wonders what Scott's big idea is.
At Brenwicke's Books...
Morton, seeing no reason not to tell the salient bits of his story, shares it with the woman. It seems like all he does these days is relate his backstory over and over again.
"Ah, a reasonable question. I wasn't always a desk you see, I was turned into one a rather short time ago. I've grown used to it by now, I believe I actually like it really. As for how I speak, I'm afraid I can't quite say. I just know that this drawer houses something that I believe facilitates speech," he says, pointing to his speech drawer.
"Ah," the woman vocalizes, then looks at Art for a moment, who shrugs. Morton takes charge and tries to steer the conversation into more productive areas.
"It sounds like whatever happened must've been absolutely dreadful. Hopefully no one got hurt?"
"Um... judging by the smell, I would say someone did."
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Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 561858 times)