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[anbu]

TEXT / AUDIO / VIDEO / ACTION

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text; network name: "Stiles"; 06/16th, after arriving in the Underground

[mensrea]

You got one of those tokens. How? What did you do?

[anbu]

Nothing. It was handed to me.

[NYEHH]

[mensrea]

[ Asshole!! ]

You never got me a birthday present.

[ Hint, hint. ]

[anbu]

When was your birthday?

[mensrea]

The first full moon you were here! I didn't mention it?

[anbu]

Perhaps you did.

[And he deliberately forgot...]

My own birthday passed recently. I'd consider us even, then.

[mensrea]

Um, I didn't KNOW it was your birthday though??

[ Not that that would have changed anything, but... ]

What date was it?

[ Don't be fooled, Itachi; we will be returning to the real topic at hand shortly... ]

[anbu]

[It's probably fine to give this information since it has passed; he doesn't expect to see Stiles a whole year from now.]

The 9th.

[mensrea]

When's Sasuke's?

[ And then, as an afterthought: ]

Happy belated birthday. That makes you 22 now, right?

[anbu]

You could ask Sasuke.

Presumably, although the time of year between worlds may be somewhat distorted.

[mensrea]

You're right. When I arrived here, it was February where it was still August back home. All the age-related magic in the city registers me as eighteen now, though.

Okay. I'm asking YOU what Sasuke's birthday is because I'd like to be able to get him a gift when it comes up.

[ Probably. ]

So please do your brother a solid and tell me.

[anbu]

[He's still lingering on the gift Sasuke had given him when he decides how to answer this.]

It is close to mine. July 23rd.

[Summer babies... please don't hate him for this, little bro.]

[mensrea]

[ Next month. He'll need to let Jonas know. ]

Thanks.

Okay, so. Rewind. The token and the Matriarch. You going to go see her?

[anbu]

Of course. It would be rude to ignore the request. Why?

[mensrea]

Dude, you absolutely would have ignored MY request to meet up that day if I hadn't tricked you. So don't even give me that.

This is such a great opportunity to find out more information about this world. These guys aren't affiliated with the Coven (unless there's a REALLY messed up plot twist happening), so we could learn something actually useful for once.

[anbu]

Last I knew, you were also not the leader of an entire civilization.

I don't disagree with you. I can share any information I learn during the audience. Was there anything specifically you wished to ask the Matriarch?

[mensrea]

I totally could have been. For all you knew, I was the President of the United States.

Okay, anyway. There’s a ton I want to ask. But I should update you on some stuff first. Before you arrived in Talam, Aefenglom was working on setting up the Northern Outpost in the Wildes. Well, a bunch of Wilders found a super old cave with walls covered in weird paintings and writing. Some of the writing we were able to translate, and it said creepy things like "they come at night," "turn back," "bowels of the netherworld," "suck out your soul," and "all die who enter below."

The rest we couldn’t translate. Until now. I had to grease the palm of the librarian in the Underground a fair bit, but she finally agreed to help me translate the writings. They’re death records. Names and causes of death, like "blinded by fire in sky," "fell in ravine," "mauled by unknown beast," "contracted infection, too contagious to retrieve."

Hear me out. What if the people who wrote in the caves were one of the nomadic tribes, or a splinter group from the Underground city? “Bowels of the netherworld” definitely seems to fit the city, right? And “suck out your soul” might reference the moss they have. It sounds like this group was forced to try and adapt to aboveground life (which I’m guessing on because of “blinded by fire in sky” honestly). Something’s fishy.

Here’s an image of the wall paintings, BTW.

[ And Stiles sends over both an image taken with the comm watch’s camera and his own detailed sketchings of the paintings, which are easier to make out. The paintings depict “Monsters with spears or short swords, Witches with staffs, humans grouped behind them. They face down beasts that must be extinct, or perhaps these are drawings of Cwyldtid, done in a now-faded black ink.” ]

[anbu]

[That is a lot of information to digest. Where Itachi was first intent to approach his meeting with the Matriarch from a neutral standpoint, now he has more to color his perception of this underground city and its inhabitants, based on what Stiles' has discovered. He also finds himself appreciative, in this moment, of Stiles' compulsion to nosiness where before it existed far more as a bane in his life.

Also, he doesn't know what a 'president' is, but context alone gives him enough. No time for jokes, let's dig into meaty meta plot.]

Thank you for the images.

Your theory is these people may have been forced to adapt to aboveground life? It seems those writings suggest more of the danger deep below than anything on the surface. Particularly "all die who enter below." If they did originate from this civilization, it must have looked quite different in the past than it does now, or I am doubtful their messages would contain such ominous warning. Unless, as you also suggested, they were another tribe with no association to this specific place. That seems more likely, but without more knowledge on the history of this place we cannot say for sure.

Except for "blinded by fire in the sky" and "they come at night," most are indicative of underground danger. The reference to infection is almost certainly the Cwyld. The drawings of blackened creatures provide more evidence toward this.

Is there any information on how old exactly those etchings are in the cave?

[mensrea]

Well, it seems like they’re unfamiliar with aboveground life, judging by the death records. So I’m theorizing they must have originally come from underground, though whether that means the city or the tunnels I have no idea.

No info on the timeframe. The language is so old though that not even the librarian could translate all of it. However long it takes a language to change, I guess.

There’s more. Sasuke doesn’t remember it, but before we officially arrived in Aefenglom, me, him, and Jonas were pulled into a shared dream like you were. Except ours took place in this jungle that obviously existed AGES ago. The human villagers were living in mud huts. Barely any technology at all. THAT ancient. Anyway, the jungle was super dangerous because of these massive versions of Monsters on the prowl. Picture that freaky purple skeleton ghost thing Sasuke can summon. We’re talking that massive. It’s possible the creatures in the cave paintings represent those Monsters.

[anbu]

I see. It's a theory worth considering further.

Then it's possible those drawings could have occurred around a similar time. As we know now, our appearance in dreams certainly bears significance. We shouldn't ignore any of those experiences.

That "purple skeleton ghost thing" is called Susanoo. Why does Sasuke not remember the experience?

[mensrea]

Right. There's a reason we're dreaming about these places. I'll have to ask the veteran Mirrorbound what they dreamed about before we showed up.

Susanoo. That's familiar. I don't know why. Is it related to Orochimaru at all?

[ Great, is he going to owe Momo another favor asking about more Japanese mythology and lore? ]

Apparently, some people don't remember the dream if they're not already Mirrorbound. I don't know anyone else that happened to, but I think Sasuke spoke with a few others.

[anbu]

[We don't say that man's name in this house.]

No. Susanoo and Orochimaru are not related. One is an ability, the other is a person. ["Person" used loosely.] Where did you hear of Orochimaru?

[He'll get back to the rest later, maybe.]

[mensrea]

Sasuke's mirror. You've met him?

[ How much information can Stiles get out of Itachi on the subject without being obvious about it... ]

[anbu]

Yes. I have.

Are you willing to tell me more about the context of what you saw?

[Now he's motivated and interested because it was Sasuke's memory. Stiles will have to trade some deets for deets.]

[mensrea]

Sure, after you tell me more about Orochimaru. I've already given you the motherlode of deets a few minutes ago. So pay up a little. Then I'll explain the context of what I saw. And, because I'm such a swell guy, I'll throw in a bonus: The name Orochimaru exists in my world too, as a Japanese myth. Interested?