On high alert connects to the mushrooms, obviously, but other than that is this something to do with the summer fires you get?
On high alert Looking around the men could see that much had changed in Carcosa since they had last been there. The city to the left, where the buildings had been taller and prouder, was now damaged. Yellow-grey smoke rose in tall towers where once buildings had stood, many of the trees were missing, and there was movement in the streets of people and vehicles that suggested urgency. On the other side where the buildings had crowded together and been lower, and generally poorer looking, there were now whole swathes of barren land where nothing stood. The buildings had been completely eradicated, destroyed down to the ground, and then the ground swept clean. The monument, shaped like a Gate, still stood but was still exploded and frozen, hanging in the air as though some invisible mesh of strings fixed it in place. An acrid smell like the burning of tyres filled the air, and above them grey clouds hung low and sullen, swollen with rain but refusing to drop their water. "Later," said the King. "Hard to tell how much later, but I would suggest only days, not weeks. This city looks to be on high alert to me." Gray nodded, saying nothing, his gaze sweeping around. "Did the demons do this?" Samual was staring at the empty patches of ground. "We've not seen them destroy like this, have we?" "No, and no," said Lord Derby. "Warlock Gray's silence is eloquent, I think." Gray sighed. "There are bands of Power," he said. "You should see it, really. It's beautiful in an obscene way, like someone making art from the not-quite-dead." Lord Derby raised an eyebrow, but before he could speak the King raised a hand. "Gray is part of the Privy Council," he said. "He knows about the Magdalene. If it had had occult meaning, you would have been informed." "Your Majesty," said Lord Derby, his voice just a little bit tense, "without telling me anything secret, could you indicate how much of what you know I know?" "About sixty percent in most cases," said the King. "Except where you reported on it, where it goes up to ninety percent." "I wouldn't want your job," muttered Samual, and everyone pretended not to hear him. "So," said Gray, breaking the silence. "The barren bits are where the bands of Power originate and terminate. There's an ongoing assault here that the untrained wouldn't be able to see. For a lot of people there will be no-go areas where, when you walk into them, you die, or transform, or... other things happen. That's where the Power is." He looked across the city. "On this side, things are much more complex. This is an enmeshment, a combination of the Powers in a weaving. It's... amazing, is probably the right word for it. This--. Oh! It's under tension. Oh my. Oh Birgid." "Gray?" The warlock had gone silent and was staring now at the Gate. As the men waited, they saw tears form at the corner of each eye. "I see," he said, his voice little more than a whisper. "The King in Yellow binds it up, trying to contain it and hold Carcosa together, but the others are stronger than him in unison. This is what tears Carcosa apart." Carcosa disappeared abruptly and the sitting room returned. Warlock Gray staggered, catching himself against the wall with one arm. "Now I see," he said. "That weaving, I'd love to study it. How it was done, how the Powers combine, what we could do with that. And I crave it, literally. I feel despondent now that I can't see it. That, gentlemen, is what Labdaris is doing in all of this. He's trying to find that weaving, and Carcosa is the natural place to start." "But Grace was there first," said Lord Derby. "So he interfered."
Greg - nah, we've just felt like we've been on high alert with Miles since his near fainting. It's been our job to monitor his behaviour to watch out for anything that would indicate he's struggling to cope with his illness. It's... exhausting.
Huh. I am fascinated by how the King in Yellow's role in all this is being revealed. And, obviously, terribly impressed by the manner in which you're revealing it.
2 comments:
On high alert connects to the mushrooms, obviously, but other than that is this something to do with the summer fires you get?
On high alert
Looking around the men could see that much had changed in Carcosa since they had last been there. The city to the left, where the buildings had been taller and prouder, was now damaged. Yellow-grey smoke rose in tall towers where once buildings had stood, many of the trees were missing, and there was movement in the streets of people and vehicles that suggested urgency. On the other side where the buildings had crowded together and been lower, and generally poorer looking, there were now whole swathes of barren land where nothing stood. The buildings had been completely eradicated, destroyed down to the ground, and then the ground swept clean. The monument, shaped like a Gate, still stood but was still exploded and frozen, hanging in the air as though some invisible mesh of strings fixed it in place. An acrid smell like the burning of tyres filled the air, and above them grey clouds hung low and sullen, swollen with rain but refusing to drop their water.
"Later," said the King. "Hard to tell how much later, but I would suggest only days, not weeks. This city looks to be on high alert to me."
Gray nodded, saying nothing, his gaze sweeping around.
"Did the demons do this?" Samual was staring at the empty patches of ground. "We've not seen them destroy like this, have we?"
"No, and no," said Lord Derby. "Warlock Gray's silence is eloquent, I think."
Gray sighed.
"There are bands of Power," he said. "You should see it, really. It's beautiful in an obscene way, like someone making art from the not-quite-dead."
Lord Derby raised an eyebrow, but before he could speak the King raised a hand.
"Gray is part of the Privy Council," he said. "He knows about the Magdalene. If it had had occult meaning, you would have been informed."
"Your Majesty," said Lord Derby, his voice just a little bit tense, "without telling me anything secret, could you indicate how much of what you know I know?"
"About sixty percent in most cases," said the King. "Except where you reported on it, where it goes up to ninety percent."
"I wouldn't want your job," muttered Samual, and everyone pretended not to hear him.
"So," said Gray, breaking the silence. "The barren bits are where the bands of Power originate and terminate. There's an ongoing assault here that the untrained wouldn't be able to see. For a lot of people there will be no-go areas where, when you walk into them, you die, or transform, or... other things happen. That's where the Power is." He looked across the city. "On this side, things are much more complex. This is an enmeshment, a combination of the Powers in a weaving. It's... amazing, is probably the right word for it. This--. Oh! It's under tension. Oh my. Oh Birgid."
"Gray?" The warlock had gone silent and was staring now at the Gate. As the men waited, they saw tears form at the corner of each eye.
"I see," he said, his voice little more than a whisper. "The King in Yellow binds it up, trying to contain it and hold Carcosa together, but the others are stronger than him in unison. This is what tears Carcosa apart."
Carcosa disappeared abruptly and the sitting room returned. Warlock Gray staggered, catching himself against the wall with one arm.
"Now I see," he said. "That weaving, I'd love to study it. How it was done, how the Powers combine, what we could do with that. And I crave it, literally. I feel despondent now that I can't see it. That, gentlemen, is what Labdaris is doing in all of this. He's trying to find that weaving, and Carcosa is the natural place to start."
"But Grace was there first," said Lord Derby. "So he interfered."
Greg - nah, we've just felt like we've been on high alert with Miles since his near fainting. It's been our job to monitor his behaviour to watch out for anything that would indicate he's struggling to cope with his illness. It's... exhausting.
Huh. I am fascinated by how the King in Yellow's role in all this is being revealed. And, obviously, terribly impressed by the manner in which you're revealing it.
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