Who made this?

[emet_sulk]

Type: Text
Sender ID: emet_sulk (Emet-Selch)
To: Public
Subject: Who made this?
Warnings: Cursed horse

[ It's just a photograph taken of one of this month's bounty targets and presented with nothing more than a simple, terse message: ]



Who made this?

Comments

text; un: musicien

[musicien]

As strange as this might sound, I've seen worse. Though it might've had the same number of hands, unfortunately.

Verso!!!

[emet_sulk]

Have you now? Did some whimsical individual get a little too enthusiastic with their creation? Or is there a need for multi-limbed lifeforms in your world?

it he!

[musicien]

A little bit of both. Depending on who you asked.

<3 Emet's met Maelle so this could be funny

[emet_sulk]

[ ...And here he had been, being flippant. ]

Oh? How fascinating. Do tell me more.

this absolutely had the potential to be funny c:

[musicien]

About which part?

Though I will say that whimsical might not be the correct description of the one who made it. Enthusiastic could fit the bill. Or imaginative, if you could call things that could haunt you in your nightmares as such.

[emet_sulk]

I did not think to meet another here who can Create so I am most interested in your process.

So that many-limbed form you speak of was made as a nightmare? A little basic and crude, perhaps, but I would see its appearance before judging.

[musicien]

[Huh, that's curious. Not that he had been thinking about himself when he offered that information. Sure, he could probably replicate the Nevron in mind, but it had been far too long since he'd painted anything.]

Oh? What gave you the idea that I "created".

There was more to it than being nightmare-ish. They were quite hostile when approached. The one I had in mind especially so.

[emet_sulk]

Oh no, I meant 'you' in the broader sense. As in 'your people'. Not you specifically. Unless you mean to say the talent is a unique one?

[ He just got so excited for a moment he forgot to be more precise. ]

Hmm, hostility for a nightmarish thing is sensible. But does it serve any purpose beyond that?

[musicien]

Unique's certainly a way to describe it.

The creatures are there to keep expeditioners from reaching the Paintress mostly.

[While there is more, it not something he would offer up in regular conversation. So instead:]

That probably doesn't mean much to you, but it's a long story unless you have the time.

[emet_sulk]

Time is the one thing I have plenty of. I would like to hear it.

[ :') ]

[musicien]

[Huh. That comes as a bit of a surprise, buuut Verso would much rather talk about where he came from instead of himself. So he'll oblige for now.]

If you say so.

[After that message there's a long pause as Verso attempts to explain how his world functioned. While it might be something he is used to, having lived on for decades, he's well aware how it might come off as a bit of a shock to others.]

The creature I was referring to is called a Nevron. It's one of many that roam about my world, littered across the Continent leading up to the Paintess. She, on the other hand, is a large being who sits by a monolith with a number painted onto it, one that ticks down every year. Each time a new number is painted, everyone of that age vanishes.

[It's grim, he's well aware. But he'll stop there for now, give it a moment to sink in.]

[emet_sulk]

I see. And is the act of painting what vanishes those above that age or is it merely a visual symbol of what's to come?

[musicien]

Once the number is painted, it happens in an instant, on the same day every year.

[emet_sulk]

An anomalous event connected to the painting of the number then.

[ If he seems to be taking this calmly, it's because...well...he has kind of seen something similar happen before. Although in a far more indiscriminate way. Whether that's more or less horrifying than what Verso describes is up to personal opinion. ]

So this Paintess counts down your time remaining, essentially. The Nevrons guard the Paintess. Naturally, since you would have made attempts to stop her.

You said it was a long story however so it surely cannot be so simple.