[video] Searching for parents

[emet_sulk]

[ Emet-Selch looks a little harried and stressed today when the video feed begins. There is a little axolotl clinging to a front lock of his hair, gently chewing. He either doesn't notice or doesn't care as there is urgency to his gaze and tone. ]

Should anyone encounter a pair of ambystomae - I mean, axolotls - with a carnivorous tendency, please abstain from killing them immediately and inform me of their location. I need to return their child to them.

[ This won't stop anyone killing the many axolotls involved in the search but he has to hope he finds the parents before they're accidentally killed. ]

Comments

[beshackled]

I hope so...

[There is a non-zero possibility that won't be the case, however, and that is enough to cause Erichthonios to worry.]

[emet_sulk]

...Accidents happen sometimes. Such is the way of the world. But you can help minimise them.

[beshackled]

Aye.

[He pauses, unsure of how to follow such a statement.]

...How shall I contact you, should I sight these creatures? I've yet to explore the full functionality of communications here.

[emet_sulk]

[ Oh. Right. How to explain this to one of his brethren? ]

You should be able to see a...name, of sorts, beside the title of this posting. Some may sound like jests but they are the means of identification on these devices. They can be changed but I cannot be bothered for something so trivial.

[beshackled]

[Taking a moment to look over the indicated region, Erichthonios pauses, lips quietly parting... and then closing just as quietly.

A jest indeed.]

...I see.

[Emet-Selch. He's speaking to Emet-Selch, isn't he. But, why does he use this visage? Is he disguised to blend in with the others who have been brought here? And if so, why?]

I can't say I don't have questions...

[More like a thousand thousand questions, but 'twould be rude to voice them all here and now.]

...but I shall trust in your judgement on the matter, even if I can't help but wonder at how whatever or whomever responsible for bringing us here knows so much about us.

[emet_sulk]

[ He waits for the wide-eyed reaction. The exclamation. Maybe apologies for rudeness. But they don't come. Erichthonios simply stares, acknowledges, and accepts. Emet-Selch is almost grateful for the underwhelming response. ]

...Indeed. I may have arrived here before you but I'm as bereft of answers as you are. Outside of these devices, you may find me either with my crew on the Phantom Moon or at my workshop on Eltrut, the Adamantine Forge.

[beshackled]

I expect it shall be easier to locate the workshop. Though I suspect this place is more advanced than it seems, 'twould seem that whatever was used to track and teleport us and our belongings is not widely available...

[Splashing in the distant background draws Erichthonios' attention away, the man lifting his head to observe something beyond the camera's field of view.]

These man-eating ambystomae you spoke of. They don't happen to look like this, do they?

[Not yet having fully explored the shellphone's features, Erichthonios turns the phone around so that the camera displays a... somewhat blurred video of two creatures making their way for the shore. They're the right color, at least.]

[emet_sulk]

[ He leans in closer. ]

--Yes. Yes, I do believe that's them. Members of their tribe, at least.

[ He will momentarily vanish from the video feed as he fetches his gunblade. The axolotl clinging to his hair squeaks as it swings about. Shortly after, he picks up the phone itself and Erichthonios can see the axolotl now latched on to Emet-Selch's shoulder. ]

Where are you now?

[beshackled]

You recall where we fought the shark warriors before? 'Tis near that very spot.

[He'd been monitoring the waters for predator activity, given repeated sightings of them. Mayhap the blood lingering in the waters had drawn these predators as well.]

Are you far away?

[emet_sulk]

Distance will not be an issue.

[ Not for a mage like him. ]

Retreat somewhere safe. I shall head there immediately.

[beshackled]

My thanks.

[After a brief reorientation of the shellphone to better operate the controls, the feed ends.]