usir | [open] don't you want to come with me?

Character(s): anyone who wants to go poke some bones
Status: Open
Location(s): Epithymetikon's fall
Date(s) heading out on the 13th. however, the time at the skeleton can be as long or as short as people want.
About: What's up with that skeleton anyway? Time for everyone to find out.
Warnings: creepy magic nonsense

As the party approaches the skeleton, it becomes apparent as to why there are cursed rumors. No animals can be found near the skeleton: horses and animases both start to get a little uneasy and skittish the longer they remain near the skeleton. The dragon's great mouth is held open, as if by magic. At the back of the dragon's rib cage lies a shrine, the contents of which are magically preserved. All in all, it's a very creepy sight.

Still, the exploration party came here for a reason. Might as well get some magical analysis in before the behavior of the horses and animases force people to turn back.

( ooc: Feel free to make your own starter and tag around! Here is information about the gravesite itself as well as some ""fun"" things that might happen, should your character use some magic + be the dingus who decides to do necromancy. Feel free to have your character notice any/all of these in their explorations. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The less work for him, the better! He gives Alucard a little nod, happily giving in to letting the dhampir be the one to buy all the tools.

Going back to Krimnos...out of all the cities, that's the one that Strange has explored the least. Idly, he wonders what that place is like before he forces himself back on topic. "Thank the gods for the couriers then," Strange continues, tapping the side of a messenger bag where his courier currently sits. "They're odd little things but damn useful for keeping in touch."

And they mean that even when Alucard is in Krimnos, Strange can continue to bug him and inevitably argue about any new discoveries made.

To the surprise of no one in the future, they will probably be very expensive and come with a smug aura of how he found the ideal equipment, look how accurate this allows you to be, and all the other things that make him insufferable. It's something he can hide quickly in his old job, fussing about how these things matter to do good work, but it's really just being an asshole in a new and exciting way.

"I may not respond immediately, depending."

Which is as much of a heads up for Strange as permission for Alucard himself to ignore the world for a few hours or days if he needs to process whatever happens next. He doesn't know the half of it, who predicts a giant pit with a dragon in it, but Alucard can make a few confident guesses about how wild the world is.

"Which is not personal to you," he then clarifies. "The business is simply taxing."

And dealing with Strange requires an awful lot of patience, which is personal.

"Understandable," Strange says, with a little nod. "I'll wait a little before continuing to badger you." Would ten minutes be good? Hopefully so! Strange thinks that ten minutes might be an acceptable time to contact someone again after contacting them the first time.

Needless to say, patience isn't one of his virtues.

"If the academics of this time are anything like the ones in ours, I doubt I'd be able to talk to you in the library to begin with." There's a wry smile on his face as he talks. What's the use of being in a profession if you can't shade it or make fun of it from time to time?

Alucard has several doubts about that, but he likes to imagine that he himself is wise enough to know better than to respond to spam communications -- especially after a lot of emotions. (This, in fact, has a 50-50 chance of happening and depends entirely on Ellis hiding the communicator for an appropriate amount of time.)

"Most likely not," he agrees. "Unless there are new visitor policies, which would be a very nice and useful change. Something like paying a fee for library access, either on a monthly or yearly basis."

He knows he won't be so lucky, and that means the work must be split up.

Oh. Shit. Fees might happen. Strange's expression goes from light and teasing to something a little worried as Alucard mentions the idea of monthly or yearly fees.

"If that happens, I'll need to find a stable job. At the moment, I've just been taking odd jobs here and there to get by." Which has been working well enough for food, board, and supplies, but wouldn't work well for regular monthly fees or anything that wasn't basic hand to mouth existance.

"It isn't as if stability is easy to come by at the moment."

It's an inelegant way to say same. Alucard knows that the concept will be impossible for a long while more, and he cannot say that it is a fact he cares for. A home city, that is the first thing that can be focused on. His family's estate is too far from the center of Krimnos, and so that means setting up within those borders first.

"That, I imagine, is part of the curse of these new natures of ours."

It's refreshing to hear that even though their circumstances are far from similar, they can at least both bond over archaeology, the pursuit of knowledge, and the current lack of holding down a damn job.

"You'd think whoever revived us would pay more attention to things like that," Strange complains, making a little hmmph noise as he does so. "Frankly, it's irresponsible to bring us all back and set us loose on the world like this."

And this is coming from someone who's super irresponsible to begin with! Strange is well aware that if he thinks something is irresponsible, it must be hilariously irresponsible.

"That's what I've been saying."

What Alucard has really been saying is that he hates being back from the dead and wants whoever is responsible to go right to Hell, but there's been the note of this is also very irresponsible in there. Somewhere. Hidden under the far more obvious anger.

He's done here, as far as the work of drawing the alter and all it's offerings go. Alucard is careful as he begins to exit, the rib bones suddenly feeling as if the gaps between them are thinner. Harder to fit through. (They aren't, of course, it's just a trick of the light.)

Really? That's what he's been saying? Because all Strange has been hearing is 'blah blah I'm grumpy, blah blah we shouldn't have been brought back from the dead, blah blah necromancy sucks.' He gives Alucard a quizzical look before joining him as they start to exit.

That being said, about halfway through their exit, Strange gets distracted (surprising no one) as his eyes catch one of the runes via a glimpse of the light. "You go ahead," he says, with a slightly dismissive hand gesture. "I want to quickly copy this one."

Strange's quizzical look is met with a scowl, but it fades when a new distraction grabs Strange's attention.

"By all means."

Alucard's content to declare the first part of his own work done for now. There will be an hour or so to look at all the information copied down, to ruminate on it in full, and then let all theories and concepts flow forth. Strange can have his runes and time alone with the bones now.

"Yell for me if you find anything of note," Strange calls out, as he starts to ignore Alucard and focus on the task at hand. There's things of interest to piece out, after all.

[open] don't you want to come with me?

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and thus, strange spams the hell out of poor alucard's inbox

NEW D20 WHO THIS

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good to wrap it up here?