[SO MAGNUS has probably noticed by now that Wei Wuxian gives him a wideass berth whenever poor Evan is out and about, which has probably been like, nonstop since Magnus first received him... He looks like?? He wants to come over to the bonfire to talk?? But he also absolutely looks truly and legitimately terrified, and nervously twitches whenever Evan so much as looks his way.
Eventually he just laughs an equally nervous laugh, raising a hand.]
Friend! I don't suppose you'd have a moment to spare...?
[Thank god, he does feel bad for the dog that he's sure is a perfectly lovely fellow... He pauses for a second at that, though. IF ONLY IT WAS JUST BIG DOGS. He ran away from Percy's dog, too, that was a fun time.]
--Haha, we don't tend to get along too well, you see! Though I'm sure he's very kind.
[But then he gets that look on his face. The one we all make when we walk through a doorway into another room and stop like "wait a second why did I walk over here." His fear of dogs has spooked his one braincell into dropping its memory...]
...I - think it was to see how you were doing? Or to ask you to bury me nicely after you punch my soul out of my body for my- [what did Taako call it again] -mouth crimes.
Nah, it's fine. Can I be honest? I did it because it's funny, but also because I'm trying to kind of inject the vibe that I'd murder a guy for Taako. Just casually getting it into the mix.
[There's another little huff of an amused laugh, though he nods in understanding.]
Mm, I think it's loud and clear, friend! Though Taako himself is so infuriatingly likeable that I feel he's relatively safe here, at least.
[Like, relatively. He still has no idea who's killing or how they're choosing victims, but at least "indiscriminate killing because of demons and demon curses" is out.]
--The two of you have known each other for a long time, right?
Hah. Yeah. Confusing, right? Sorry, but - the answer's confusing, too. And very, very long!
[But he'll try to explain straightforwardly?]
We met around a year ago? We were all taking jobs - I don't know about Taako, but for me, your basic quests, mercenary stuff. I took this job from a guy named Gundren Rockseeker, who needed some protection while he tried to find some treasure, and Taako and Merle signed on, too. The adventure went, uh, really bad? Gundren found the gauntlet he was looking for, but it made him go crazy and burn the city of Phanadlin to the ground. We survived, got the gauntlet, and found out about an organization that collects powerful magical shit like that. They hired us three on at the Bureau of Balance, and we've been working together ever since.
[And the part about 100 years?]
Here's where it gets wild. The director of the Bureau, Lucretia, actually had the ability to erase memories. She'd erased ours, so that meeting in Phandalin wasn't the first time I'd met Taako and Merle.
Actually, we were originally from another dimension, and Lucretia, too. We'd all gotten hired on this expedition working on a ship that could travel between dimensions. I was just a kid back then - like 19, about? But they hired me as their security officer. Taako and his sister were hired on as the chefs for the ship, plus to help out with magic.
It wasn't supposed to be a long expedition, but - something happened. As we were setting off, this thing appeared. We've been calling it the Hunger, but what it is is, it's a force that devours planes of existence. So, it started devouring our home dimension, and we escaped by the skin of our teeth, and part of that escape meant our ship got kinda. Stuck? Every time, from then on, we jumped dimensions, we'd all reset to how we were at the beginning of that trip. Like, I started the trip out with a black eye, and every time we'd reset, I'd have it back.
So as we traveled, there was kind of a pattern? We'd get to another dimension, and we could stay for a year, but at the end of the year the Hunger would appear. There were things we could do in that year to keep the Hunger from devouring that plane, and sometimes we succeeded and sometimes we failed. And sometimes some of us died in the process. But at the end of the year, as long as one of us were able to make it back to the ship alive and jump dimensions, the rest of us would all reset.
So, Taako and I were on that ship together with the rest of the crew for a hundred years! But then when we made it to Faerun, we tried something new - a plan to keep the Hunger from finding us. It worked for a while, but it had some unexpected consequences, and Lucretia disagreed with what we were doing.
So - she erased our memories so she could do her own plan. And we all went off and lived normal lives for about a decade before we met up again. And then we only figured out about the memory erasing around the time we showed up here!
[Hilariously, Taako had told him about the Hunger, but he'd definitely skipped over all the TIME TRAVEL SHENANIGANS. And also memory-erasing shenanigans. But now, retroactively, a lot of the jokes he'd made over the last few months make a lot of sense.]
--Hah, you weren't kidding! [IT IS BOTH CONFUSING AND LONG but it's an impressively cut down chunk of information, for something covering a 100+ year timeframe...]
Taako - mentioned that, earlier. The Hunger. You haven't found out a way to get around it yet, right? Or to stop it from finding you entirely?
More because - when we leave a dimension, we can't take anybody with us? And we, uh, set down roots this time.
[Frowning, thinking about it?]
We all have people we care about there now, y'know? Friends, loved ones. Merle has kids! And. And that's the dimension where I met my wife. If we skip, maybe I won't ever see her again.
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w2 saturday
Eventually he just laughs an equally nervous laugh, raising a hand.]
Friend! I don't suppose you'd have a moment to spare...?
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[Waving back! Unfortunately, Magnus is the exact type of person who thinks nobody is going to be afraid of his sweet, enormous puppy, so.]
Don't worry about him - he's friendly!
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We-- talking from over here is fine, too! You can hear me alright, yes?
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[Like, get over it, you dog hating baby, but also, he sort of feels bad for him.
Opening the door to Ox Cabin.]
Go on, buddy.
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Once he's free of dog hell, he trots over to the campfire, patting his chest a little like that'll settle his remaining frazzled nerves.]
Ah, thanks... I won't take up too much of your time! I'm sure he doesn't like being parted from you.
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[Giving him a friendly grin.]
Afraid of big dogs like that?
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--Haha, we don't tend to get along too well, you see! Though I'm sure he's very kind.
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[Anyway.]
You wanted to talk?
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[But then he gets that look on his face. The one we all make when we walk through a doorway into another room and stop like "wait a second why did I walk over here." His fear of dogs has spooked his one braincell into dropping its memory...]
...I - think it was to see how you were doing? Or to ask you to bury me nicely after you punch my soul out of my body for my- [what did Taako call it again] -mouth crimes.
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[Laughing.]
Nah, it's fine. Can I be honest? I did it because it's funny, but also because I'm trying to kind of inject the vibe that I'd murder a guy for Taako. Just casually getting it into the mix.
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Ah, here I thought a rest was so close at hand! [Though he's joking too, by the hammy air... Then, more seriously and curiously:]
Why so? I think most people would assume you'd be the first in line to kill anyone who'd do him harm, even without the interjections.
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Mm, I think it's loud and clear, friend! Though Taako himself is so infuriatingly likeable that I feel he's relatively safe here, at least.
[Like, relatively. He still has no idea who's killing or how they're choosing victims, but at least "indiscriminate killing because of demons and demon curses" is out.]
--The two of you have known each other for a long time, right?
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[Wow. Rude. But he does kind of laugh at that.]
Yeah, I guess I can see it? He's kind of charming in a way. But yeah, I've known him a long ass time. Over a century.
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Unfortunately so. [He's very fond of all his thots, tragically.]
Mind if I ask how you met? I've heard a few stories from him of your world and it all sounds like a headache, to be honest!
ENJOY LEARNING THE PLOT OF TAZ!!!!
[But he'll try to explain straightforwardly?]
We met around a year ago? We were all taking jobs - I don't know about Taako, but for me, your basic quests, mercenary stuff. I took this job from a guy named Gundren Rockseeker, who needed some protection while he tried to find some treasure, and Taako and Merle signed on, too. The adventure went, uh, really bad? Gundren found the gauntlet he was looking for, but it made him go crazy and burn the city of Phanadlin to the ground. We survived, got the gauntlet, and found out about an organization that collects powerful magical shit like that. They hired us three on at the Bureau of Balance, and we've been working together ever since.
[And the part about 100 years?]
Here's where it gets wild. The director of the Bureau, Lucretia, actually had the ability to erase memories. She'd erased ours, so that meeting in Phandalin wasn't the first time I'd met Taako and Merle.
Actually, we were originally from another dimension, and Lucretia, too. We'd all gotten hired on this expedition working on a ship that could travel between dimensions. I was just a kid back then - like 19, about? But they hired me as their security officer. Taako and his sister were hired on as the chefs for the ship, plus to help out with magic.
It wasn't supposed to be a long expedition, but - something happened. As we were setting off, this thing appeared. We've been calling it the Hunger, but what it is is, it's a force that devours planes of existence. So, it started devouring our home dimension, and we escaped by the skin of our teeth, and part of that escape meant our ship got kinda. Stuck? Every time, from then on, we jumped dimensions, we'd all reset to how we were at the beginning of that trip. Like, I started the trip out with a black eye, and every time we'd reset, I'd have it back.
So as we traveled, there was kind of a pattern? We'd get to another dimension, and we could stay for a year, but at the end of the year the Hunger would appear. There were things we could do in that year to keep the Hunger from devouring that plane, and sometimes we succeeded and sometimes we failed. And sometimes some of us died in the process. But at the end of the year, as long as one of us were able to make it back to the ship alive and jump dimensions, the rest of us would all reset.
So, Taako and I were on that ship together with the rest of the crew for a hundred years! But then when we made it to Faerun, we tried something new - a plan to keep the Hunger from finding us. It worked for a while, but it had some unexpected consequences, and Lucretia disagreed with what we were doing.
So - she erased our memories so she could do her own plan. And we all went off and lived normal lives for about a decade before we met up again. And then we only figured out about the memory erasing around the time we showed up here!
THIS IS SO MUCH
--Hah, you weren't kidding! [IT IS BOTH CONFUSING AND LONG but it's an impressively cut down chunk of information, for something covering a 100+ year timeframe...]
Taako - mentioned that, earlier. The Hunger. You haven't found out a way to get around it yet, right? Or to stop it from finding you entirely?
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[So. Bad.]
And running is very much not an option this time. Eh, we'll figure it out.
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Ah... Why is it that you can't run, this time? Because of that other person's plans?
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[Frowning, thinking about it?]
We all have people we care about there now, y'know? Friends, loved ones. Merle has kids! And. And that's the dimension where I met my wife. If we skip, maybe I won't ever see her again.
So. Not an option.
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...Mm, well. If you've been running from it for a hundred years anyway, then it's probably good to try finding some new way to deal with it, yes?
[Even if "we'll figure it out" STILL DOESN'T INSPIRE A TON OF CONFIDENCE. It's fine, probably.]
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[SOUNDS VERY "BILLY DON'T BE A HERO".]
...Out of curiosity - no need to share, of course - what chances are you looking at?
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[Shrugging!]
I don't know. I'm not the plan guy. If we have to fight them, I guess we'll fight them!
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Well! If they get in your way, fight them, mm?