Alucard and Lenore begin contact due to rumors of the sultan of the Ottoman Empire being more ambitious and having a vampiric backer that is helping him win campaigns. Venice is a potential target, and Lenore would appreciate that not happening, thank you very much.
Introduction of friend Melchizedek, who offers the following: The silver one, our redeemer," Melchizedek says, picking up the skein of it like reciting the next line of a poem. "Kekazu whose heart is amber. He pours the light into us. He consumes the darkness from our flesh. Kekazu, kekazu. Aiiiiiiiiiie! [thread spot] and mentions the Cataclysm for the first time
Melchizadek also gives Lenore a dodecahedron, which is a range finder of sorts. It is powered by: you need to imbue a specific command or purpose into it - that'd be why you knew it as a range finder. That is the most common use. You meditate thoughts of navigation and location and finding into it, and then the connection lasts either a lifetime or until a more powerful will breaks the connection.
Lenore explains the Cataclysm: "The theories about the Cataclysm--which, again, no one wants to talk about at all, ever--fall into three camps. Either vampires were all wiped out and re-emerged again by whatever evolution created us in the first place, or vampires only ever evolved after this event. The most popular theory is that one vampire--the Ur-vampire--survived, and is then the father or mother of all vampires who have come after. But in any case, there seems to be a catastrophic event or events which results in a great loss of language and technology, which no more than one vampire survives. And this event or event involves at least one ziggurat, a flood of some kind, and possibly a rainbow."
Lenore agrees that it's best to keep a close eye on the situation in Istanbul, and the two problems are both within the Ottoman empire, so it's still largely possible that they're related.
Once Alucard sets down the device, Lenore stays quiet and waits. She nods once as he looks over to her. "I know."
She gives him a few minutes, turning her own gaze to the fire. When she glances back, she keeps her hands in her lap, curled back into her chair and pressing her spine into the cushion more than before, like it's a shell to protect her. "You'd need far more than a few moments if you'd seen ... the in-between part. The cult activities were awful, of course, but what follows the rainbow ... strains one's sanity. The viewfinder within the sphere is only a recreation, but that's still enough. I do not recommend viewing it, and if you must, do so in the deepest, most trusted privacy. I couldn't stop sobbing and vomiting for hours, to give you some idea of the reaction it evokes."
Shuddering, she reaches for her goblet again and takes a large swallow. "What I saw was a sort of ... sentience. So alien that even to call it a god feels like diminishing it. I don't know if it hungered or desired destruction, or if its presence alone was enough to turn the world to ash."
In the quiet, Alucard moves himself to sit on the floor. There's some bad pun to be made about grounding, but it does help. His fingers curl and uncurl against the rug placed beneath the furniture, the pile on it short but the texture no less comforting or centering for that fact. He's not a master of reacting to the worst things someone might see on a daily basis, but he has developed a few scant approaches over the years. This is one.
Another is to ask around the thing. Make sense of what surrounds it before working one's way to the big issue itself.
"How did you manage to get the thing to focus on the right sequence of events?"
Wordlessly, Alucard reaches back for his wine glass and then leans forward, offering her his cup as well should she need it. Easier than either of them getting up to pour, and the question does not focus on the awfulness for a moment. "I'll focus on that last comment soon. I just want to know, since the dodecahedron was new to you the last we spoke."
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cryptsleeper) wrote2022-03-12 01:56 pm
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Once Alucard sets down the device, Lenore stays quiet and waits. She nods once as he looks over to her. "I know."
She gives him a few minutes, turning her own gaze to the fire. When she glances back, she keeps her hands in her lap, curled back into her chair and pressing her spine into the cushion more than before, like it's a shell to protect her. "You'd need far more than a few moments if you'd seen ... the in-between part. The cult activities were awful, of course, but what follows the rainbow ... strains one's sanity. The viewfinder within the sphere is only a recreation, but that's still enough. I do not recommend viewing it, and if you must, do so in the deepest, most trusted privacy. I couldn't stop sobbing and vomiting for hours, to give you some idea of the reaction it evokes."
Shuddering, she reaches for her goblet again and takes a large swallow. "What I saw was a sort of ... sentience. So alien that even to call it a god feels like diminishing it. I don't know if it hungered or desired destruction, or if its presence alone was enough to turn the world to ash."
no subject
Another is to ask around the thing. Make sense of what surrounds it before working one's way to the big issue itself.
"How did you manage to get the thing to focus on the right sequence of events?"
Wordlessly, Alucard reaches back for his wine glass and then leans forward, offering her his cup as well should she need it. Easier than either of them getting up to pour, and the question does not focus on the awfulness for a moment. "I'll focus on that last comment soon. I just want to know, since the dodecahedron was new to you the last we spoke."