>>6297279
“Crossroads… is gonna be invaded?” Mutters Volka, whose eyes adopt a similar size, so all things considered she deserves some credit.

“The darkness… he conjured it?” Asks Tzah-Tzie as she feverishly taps away at her stony tablet!

“Rezalith… is the GREATEST?”

You uh… you didn’t say that, actually, you reply with an apologetic smile.

“Well I wasn’t listening.” Rezzie shrugs as she idly digs a divot in the table’s surface with her claw. “But we know it’s true, so-”

“Okay, this… this isn’t as bad as I thought it would be…” Oti mutters under his breath. It’s not?

“No. It’s far worse.”

Oh.

“Where do I even begin?” He asks incredulously! “Where do WE even begin? Do you even realize the gravity of the situation you’re in?”

No, you shrug, but he’s got a good track record of laying it out-

“Let me illustrate it for you:” The Chytree interrupts in a cool, measured tone clearly DYING to turn into a frantic scream, “You, an outsider who’s only been in this realm for a few days, planned a trip to one of the most highly-surveilled cities in the land to not only assassinate the head of Zoral’s de facto Crime Syndicate, but ALSO the leader of said city who’s been alive longer than most written languages have.”

His neon eyes pick you apart from across the table. “Did I summarize it correctly?”

Yea, you nod with a smile, y’know he really oughta’ write the opening blurbs for the thread–he’s much more succinct than the hack writing this right no-

“DOES THE CONCEPT OF SUICIDE NOT EXIST IN YOUR HOME PLANE!?”

Well, uh, you stammer, nearly bowled out of your chair by the sudden outburst, it exists, yea… some people think it’s a major sin, but there’s these people called ‘Samurai’ who considered it one of the most noble ways to-

“Just… stop talking…” The mage mutters with a dismissive shake of his head. “Every word makes me want to hurt you more...”

“M-maybe we just take things slow-like?” Volka suggests as she scoots a little closer to a very stunned Morook. “Y’know, piece by piece? Work our heads around it all?”

“Yeeeeaaaaa, let’s go with that…” Tzah-Tzie nods as she casts a concerned glance your way. “Anton, what… what did Trier mean when he said he’d ‘collect’ you?”

Her guess is as good as yours, you reply, prompting some moisture to well up in the performer’s eyes. Things aren’t looking good, that’s for certain, but you’ve at least got a whole team here with you now… and this sick hideaway. Whose was this again?

“Volkir’s.” Morook answers, his monotone voice barely betraying the anxiety in his eyes, “Had a message for you all, by the way, but we’ll get to that, I suppose.”

>CONTD.