04 | Video

[highhealplz]

[ There's a scruffy, friendly-lookin dude front and center here, sort of recognizable as the slightly older, longer-haired version that used to go around being stuffy and formal. This sheepish smile is pretty uncharacteristic of him from back then, though. ]

Hello! I'm Ashraf. I was here a while ago, co-director of the transport-run clinic? [ He offers a wave. ] So hello again to anyone that knew me. I'm sorry in advance if I don't remember you very well, it's been about fifty years on my end! [ says the guy who doesn't look a day over 20 ]

So, anyway— I figured this could be a long shot, but... does anyone have a way with clothing?

[ Here's where the sheepish smile makes a triumphant return. He pulls up a pair of beautifully embroidered robes, obviously expensive, but currently full of violent-looking rips, tears, and a bullet hole or two. There's also some bloodstains left over from attempts to wash them out. ]

I tried, I really did. At this point, I think it's going to take magic to set these straight. Or a whole new set, maybe. So, um... any takers? I could pay!

Comments

[sharpe]

A beautiful woman that takes you ta Heaven when you die. [ Sharpe laughs. ] She should come ta me world. I know entire armies who would love ta worship her.

[highhealplz]

[ with a laugh: ] Sorry, I think we guard her pretty jealously.

[sharpe]

That's too bad. [ Snorts. ]

[highhealplz]

Didn't this place have gods floating around? If the Transporter can bring in gods, maybe one day we'll see her here.

[sharpe]

I'm not a good welcoming committee fer a god. [ Chuckles. ] Me men will like her far more than I would.

[highhealplz]

What makes you say that?

[sharpe]

I don't much believe in gods, lad.

[highhealplz]

Even ones that outright present themselves?

[sharpe]

[ Soft laugh. ]

That's a new thing I've never gone through, so I can't say fer sure. But fer what I know of gods, or God, he's never the sort ta show himself. So if she presents herself, I don't know if I'd see her as a god at all.

[highhealplz]

That's true enough. They call it "faith" for a reason.

[sharpe]

[ Pause. ]

Yer far more reasonable than most priests I know.

[highhealplz]

Well, you must have been meeting the wrong priests!

[sharpe]

Considering that the priests I meet are either trying ta kill me or condemning me ta hell, I reckon yer right.

[highhealplz]

[ he can't help but laugh a little at that ]

Unless you're a demon doing a really good human impression, you can expect to see none of that from me.

[sharpe]

[ Blinks... ]

There's demons in yer world? [ Pause. ] I don't know why I'm surprised, since I'm talking ta a man who was brought back from death by a god. [ Snorts. ]

[highhealplz]

[ with a laugh: ] Yeah, you'd really do best just to suspend your disbelief as soon as you get to Exsilium.

We do, unfortunately, have demons.

[sharpe]

What do they look like? Do they have horns and hoofs and red skins and such?

[highhealplz]

No. [ The easy smile fades a little. ] They look like a lot of different things. There's one that's a living mirror, for example. No one's sure if the reflection inside it is a murdered victim, or what passes for the demon's soul.

[sharpe]

Now that's new. [ Chuckles. ] Demons with souls.

Does it look like a murdered person?

[highhealplz]

A little.

[ A beat, and thoughtfully: ] Some people say that particular demon is all that's left of a king who sacrificed his subjects to gain a demon army. He was captured and sentenced to death, but escaped into a mirror. I'm not sure if I believe that story, though.

[sharpe]

It sounds more fantastic than a fairytale ta me, but yer world is one with the demons and the gods in front of you, so I don't know what's 'fantastic' there, even.

[highhealplz]

A good question. [ He laughs. ] These things do start to jade you after a while!

[sharpe]

Does it jade you? You seem cheerful enough.

[highhealplz]

In terms of taking bizarre things in stride? A little, maybe.

[sharpe]

So this place ain't that much strange ta you?