Whale Man Tries to Turn Around And Walk Back Into the Rift

[encoreinthedeep]

Type: Text
Sender ID: encoreinthedeep (Ulpianus)
To: Everyone
Subject: Return
Warnings: None

Requesting all available information on how to return to my own world.

[ He sends this message within ten seconds of receiving his shellphone. ]

Comments

[tilfrosset]

[The ale in her mug's has turned lukewarm forever ago, but it only takes a second of Jill wrapping a hand around the cup with a soft blue glow to turn it immediately frosty.

What a neat party trick.]

So does that explain...

[Drink handled, Jill takes that same hand from before and gives it an up and down wave, indicating his choice in dress. It's time to stop ignoring the elephant in the room.]

...the mask? To hide what's within?

[encoreinthedeep]

[ His eyes immediately flicker to her hand when it glows. Some power of hers? Back home, Ulpianus would have known at least five ways how this could be done, but here much seems to rely on 'magic'. Whatever that is.

He looks up at her, raising his eyebrows briefly. ]

Yes.

[ ... and no. Hiding what's within is one of the basic functions of most clothing. That's like asking if he's dressed because he doesn't want to be seen naked. Of course, hiding his face is part of it - Ulpianus already knows the kind of impression he gives, and exposing the many scars on himself would only make it worse. So "yes" will suffice as an answer. ]

What did you just do?

[tilfrosset]

Understandable. Tell me more about the Seaborn.

[He's going to ream her out about non-specific questions again, isn't he?]

Called on the Eikon for a small favor. [She brings the cup to her lips and takes a sip before continuing, feeling that there's a certain question coming. Might as well beat him at the timing.] Shiva. The Warden of Ice.

[encoreinthedeep]

Hmm.

[ Ice... Not a substance he's commonly encountered, but he does know of it. Her power must be tied to temperature manipulation, then. But more importantly, it looks like the relationship between a Dominant and their Eikon is closer to being equals, given that Jill does not hesitate to use Shiva's power for something as small as this. ]

Rephrase your question unless you are willing to hear by what mechanisms Seaborn cells replicate.

[tilfrosset]

[It's not a common past time of Jill's to cast spells for such mundane reasons, at least not until she realized the curse has been put into sort of stasis from being here. This place seems to have given her the blessing of using magick with no cost to her health or sanity. And to be perfectly honest, she'd much rather use it on drinks than innocent lives again anyway.

With no real interest in that particular aspect of the Seaborn, Jill acquiesces. Fine. She sees she has to play his game to get any decent answers out of him.]

Are you the only one who has a Seaborn within? Is it inherited? What happens to it upon your death? Has your relationship with it always been so antagonistic?

[Look who can ask rapidfire questions too!]

[encoreinthedeep]

[ There is a vague feeling that he's pleased with the rapidfire questions... or at least, finds them more familiar to deal with. ]

There are others like me. Possibility of inheritance is unknown as no Hunter has tried to procreate. On my death it will use my corpse to feed itself and replicate.

[ Ulpianus pauses before answering the last question. It needs... a bit more introspection. He knows he still despises the Seaborn, but in order to learn more he will have to truly become one of them. He will have to accept them. Or has he, already? ]

Aegir initially disregarded the Seaborn before realizing the threat they pose. I have seen them as an enemy from the start.

[tilfrosset]

[This woman isn't easily distracted, but there's something said that throws Jill off from the rest of the answers he gives.]

No Hunter? [Wait. He said his name was Hunter, but now he's using it as a title.] I thought that was your name, not a vocation.

[encoreinthedeep]

[ Hey, he said she can call him that, no that it was his name. (Of course he's gonna play the game of technicalities). ]

It is what I am.

[tilfrosset]

What and who you are differ.

[She doesn't want to play that game. How about a round of specific questions? He clearly loves those.]

What is your name? The one you received on your nameday.

[encoreinthedeep]

It is who I am as well.

[ But... well, she's willing to learn more for reasons other than surface curiosity. He can respect that. ]

Ulpianus.

[tilfrosset]

Ulpianus.

[She repeats it, the word feeling all too foreign on her tongue. There's probably a meaning behind it, but Jill isn't going to ask that. Not when it's like she knows the meaning behind her own name.]

What is an Aegir? You mentioned they've descended from aquatic creatures. Do all of them appear as you do?

[encoreinthedeep]

"An" Aegir is a member of the Aegir race. If you mean whether we all appear humanoid... yes, we do.

Some retain the minor characteristics of the type of creature they're descended from. [ Like Blandus's tentacles. ] Including the ability to breathe underwater.

[tilfrosset]

[Squinting from across the table, she tries to make out if Ulpianus has any of those characteristics. Aside from a few personality quirks, Jill can't make out any, but that's more or less because she's not too familiar with the sea as a whole.]

Back to an earlier question, if they aren't inherited, how does one come to have a Seaborn?

[She can't imagine something like that is forced into a person somehow.]

[encoreinthedeep]

[ I mean, it could also be because he's shrouded to the max. (But in truth she just needs to hear him sing underwater. He's a whale, after all.)

And hey, about it being forced into a person... ]

Landbound fools resort to mutual cannibalism with the Seaborn to become one with the many. The result is unstable and the Seaborn cells take control of the host quickly.

Hunters are genetically engineered... [ he pauses, realizing he may have to account for her world's science being less developed. ] That is, they have the essence of the Seaborn implanted in them. It is far more controlled.

[tilfrosset]

[Thankfully, he takes the moment to rephrase the explanation because indeed, Valisthea's science is less developed. Everything about it is seemingly less developed than other worlds. Thankfully, though, Jill is no longer in awe of indoor plumbing, so progress?]

Implanted? [There's a look of confusion on her face.] Willingly?

[Probably not because who'd want to harbor the essence of their enemy?]

[encoreinthedeep]

[ Poor Jill would die if she went to Aegir, they have things like Edible Sagas. Which, I'm guessing, you eat it and learn a saga at the same time? Never explained in canon but they just have this. ]

Yes. All Hunters volunteer of their own accord.

[tilfrosset]

But why?

[If she wasn't born a Dominant, Jill can't imagine allowing someone to put Shiva into her later on. The idea sounds absolutely insane.]

[encoreinthedeep]

[ He raises his eyebrows. What, like that's weird? ]

Weren't you the one who said we should try to understand them? This was the best way Aegir came up with to understand the Seaborn and stop them.

Seaborn have no notion of individuality, but a strong awareness of their... kin. By taking the Seaborn into themselves, the Hunters can track them. Fight them. Stop them.

[ It's omitting some details, but... he's not going to sit there and tell her everything. ]

[tilfrosset]

[Fair enough. It's not like she's told him everything about the Dominants either, but in her defense, she did get distracted from that.]

I was assuming there would be some scholars to study them, perhaps write a handful of tomes that others would read and learn from. Not... [do something so risky and crazy] ..that.

[Shaking her head, she feels like she need to move on.]

Are there many Hunters?

[encoreinthedeep]

We do not have the luxury of time to write and study tomes on them.

[ His tone is curt again, and he narrows his eyes. ]

The number of Hunters is irrelevant to this conversation.

[tilfrosset]

[Interesting in that he doesn't want to talk about how many Hunters there are. Not like Jill could do anything with that knowledge, but so be it.

Pushing her chair away from the table, she leans back to rummage in her hipsack and pulls out a couple of doubloons, leaving them on the table to pay for the ale.]

Well, then I assume our conversation is complete.

[She never did finish that list of questions.]

[encoreinthedeep]

[ She never did finish that list of questions. Ulpianus looks both perplexed and angry at her apparently deciding to leave, and stands up, ready to bar her way. ]

No. The questions I asked you pertain to my home's survival. Yours was of idle curiosity. Do not presume that my refusal to answer broke the balance.

[tilfrosset]

[Jill pulls a face of disbelief. She has full intention of walking out in a few moments and if he wants to stop her, he's more than welcome to try. Not that it would end well if she has any say.]

You presume it hasn't broke that balance. I am telling you that you are wrong and I feel I've given you more than enough information for today.

[Jill stands and moves from her chair in preparation of leaving, curving a path around him.]

Now if you'll excuse me...

[encoreinthedeep]

[ Well, there go his attempts at goodwill. Then again, he was never good at diplomacy... and since becoming a Hunter, violence has been his primary language. ]

Tell me how you kill your Eikons.

[ He does bar her way, grabbing her arm for good measure. ]

[tilfrosset]

[Oh, so that is what he wants to know? Good to know because Jill will never say another word. Not of Eikons, not of Dominants, not of anything.

No, wait, that's a lie. She does say something more.]

Unhand me.

[And if he feels a chill running up his own arm, no he doesn't. Just ignore the crackling of ice crystals forming.]