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[latkje]

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[latkje]

I know where it is. [ Albert Silverberg told him, remember? ]

Please. I can't ensure anyone's safety in the SFDF. [ That's the entire point. ] But if you were formally separated, they couldn't go after your unit for any of your shortcomings.

[ That's what he meant. ] It's better than leaving in the middle of the night.

[ Which is a topic he's been lectured on plenty, thank you. ]

[trueltning_fury]

[damn, so Nash has guessed at his intentions. It's not hard when anyone looks at the surface Geddoe with his lack of emotional investment in things and assume he'd just fuck off to nowhere. Which isn't wrong.

His frown deepens.]

If formal separation were so easy I would simply quit. But they'll follow me. [idiots. loveable idiots]

Let's stop playing coy and be plain about it, Nash. What do you want of me? That any other Defense Force unit or runebearer can't provide you...

[latkje]

[ Alright, hold that thought, there's something he has to say— ]

You think this is me playing coy?

[ He's only pulled one, maybe two strings. That's not enough to pluck a lyre.

Maybe he's been in Crystal Valley for too long. ]

[trueltning_fury]

[or maybe Geddoe's been jumping at shadows for too long, that he takes everyone who isn't his unit as suspicious]

As regards your mission, maybe. I don't doubt the rest of what you're saying.

[latkje]

[ To be fair, Nash is suspicious. ]

I'm not stupid enough to actually want to find a True Rune, Geddoe.

[ His protagonist days are long past him, anyway. ]

[trueltning_fury]

[for some reason that makes him smiiiiiirk]

I suppose we differ on that point, then.

[if a level of indifference counts as different. He wouldn't mind finding it just to be sure it wasn't in the wrong hands, but he's not in a hurry]

Maybe it's because I'm safe from it. I don't have to fear it accidentally attaching to me.

[latkje]

[ His free hand makes one of the superstitious signs the kobolds use to ward against evil. ]

No, you don't. [ Though Nash doesn't really consider that a likely possibility. ] Once someone cuts off your head, you don't need to worry about them poking out your eyes.

[ If Nash wanted power, he'd have more of it. Instead he was very good at swordfighting and very bad at maintaining healthy relationships with his family. ]

[trueltning_fury]

[morbid. He appreciates the aesthetic.]

So if you don't want to find it...you only need someone like me to verify that I haven't found it, whether I have or not.

[latkje]

No, if it's there, I want to know. It isn't a dog that will go away if you keep ignoring it.

[ Though in Nash's experience dogs do no such thing. Why are they so attracted to his feet? ]

[trueltning_fury]

Then, we'll have to throw the dice and see what comes of the gamble. If you want to come along, both of us will put each other at risk. If you want me to report back, I might disappear with it. [casual sip] Sounds like fun, if you ask me.

[said with all the dryness of the Kooluk desert. "Fun." But then, what's eternal life without a few gambles to keep things interesting once in a while?]

[latkje]

Exactly. [ He raises his hands for emphasis. ] Personally, I prefer working with people I know I can't trust. Dealing with the Zexen Knights got really boring.

[ He brings his arms down and takes another sip of his drink. Nash talks enough that he's usually. ]

Is that what you really want? To disappear?

[trueltning_fury]

[Geddoe snorts under his breath, mostly because he can agree on that. And that's even when he likes Salome.]

Fine, I can work with those terms.

[he glances up over the tankard in front of him, and then back down at it. It's been a while since he's had the chance to speak to someone who would possibly understand but also wasn't one of his unit, with vested interests in his existence.]

It's not a matter of wanting, it's simply one of the wisest plans of action. I've been prepared to do it at any point to protect any of the True Runes.

[latkje]

[ Nash likes Salome, too.

He nods once, acknowledging the agreement they've come to, then once again leans back in his chair, and raises an eyebrow. ]

So you can carry them through the middle of nowhere in your napsack? [ There's plenty about True Runes Nash is content not to know, but disappearing is something he understands. He contemplates running away often— more often when he's in Crystal Valley, in the months between his missions. ] There's a difference between wise and tactically sound, you know.

[ You can disappear to protect people, but you can't protect them from the hurt it brings them. ]

[trueltning_fury]

[he concedes that point with a bit of a roll of his head to the side. Yeah, maybe not tactically sound but when is protecting the handful of people you care about ever tactically sound?]

Usually. But I also don't have a lot else in my bag to get in the way. [haha joke...sob] True Rune crystals are larger than regular ones, but not prohibitively large. Believe me.

[he shoots Nash a wry look. He managed to carry True Lightning's for a short distance before the damn thing attached itself to him, he knows.]

[latkje]

[ Geddoe is not very good at jokes, is he? ]

I believe you, I've seen one before.

[ That doesn't mean you can put it in a backpack and just run off with it. Unless that's what it wants. ]

[trueltning_fury]

[no, no he is not]

Then, why the doubt? I tend to succeed when I put my mind to something.

[though Nash isn't wrong...neither of them have encountered True Wind except in its monstrous incarnation, who knows what it wants? He's somewhat counting on it wanting to find a host or be free of its prison like True Lightning did.]

[latkje]

Because anytime someone tries to control more than one Rune, it ends badly. And people are hard enough to predict, I'm not gonna pretend I know what one of those things wants.

[ Maybe Geddoe has better insight, but Sierra told him that her Rune didn't give her any information about the others. Anyway, this was a lot of fixation on a hypothetical. Unless, maybe... ]

Are you looking for an excuse? To disappear?

[trueltning_fury]

[there is a brief and yet telling pause before Geddoe meets his eye and then shrugs one shoulder indifferently]

How long do you think Sasarai can go on in his position, knowing full well where I am and how to find me, before he'll have to do something about it? The treaty protects the Grasslands; it doesn't protect me.

[which isn't an answer, more a suggestion. He doesn't need an excuse to disappear, but finding True Wind would be awfully convenient for his purposes]

There is another solution for dealing with it, though I'm not sure there's time to prepare for it.

[latkje]

Honestly? [ Given everything Sasarai is dealing with… Nash waves a hand around, vaguely. ] Two years, maybe three. [ The Harmonian bureaucracy is not particularly agile. That's why they have agents to take care of these things before the great leviathan can move. ]

But you couldn't stay here forever, anyway. [ That's the problem with forever. ] What were you thinking?

[trueltning_fury]

[he's basically known from the moment Dios came looking for them to help Sasarai that his time with the SFDF was on a finite countdown. Geddoe just doesn't want to leave his bros in the lurch.

But that's for worrying about later.]

Sealing it. [which, given the dubious knit of his brow, not his favorite solution but factually, an option] But the Sindar methods of sealing are lost, they say. They were found by one man, but he died with that secret. The Alma Kinan have a similar method...

[nah he's not going to ask if Nash made himself a nuisance in Alma Kinan]

Given enough time to do the research, maybe something more secure can be devised. But I don't know if another fifty years will pass and another treaty will expire before either of us ever found it.

[latkje]

[ Hmmm. That isn't a bad idea. ]

I saw part of that ritual. The unsealing. [ He was distracted, what with Yuber et. al attacking, but— ]

I took notes. [ Which isn't to say that he could replicate it— most of what he saw he didn't understand. But that wouldn't be a bad place to start. ]

[trueltning_fury]

And I was present when True Fire was unsealed, but I saw nothing of it that would hint to the means of sealing it. The Alma Kinan method might be better, if imperfect.

[notes, huh? Not surprised. Diligent after all, eh Nash?]

I don't know if the shamans pass that knowledge on to each other, or would give it to an outsider, but a visit to the village would be a start.

[latkje]

[ It's something he picked up a few years ago— writing everything he remembered down after important encounters or interludes. It made drafting reports easier later on, and kept his memory more reliable.

It's the worst thing about him, really: he's pretty good at his job. ]

I could check the One Temple library, too. [ There's a lot there. ] But this is all theoretical. We don't need to go betraying our secret plans just yet.

[trueltning_fury]

Mm, true. I think the Alma Kinan would be fairly alarmed if I just showed up one day asking after Rune sealing techniques. [there's a wry gleam in his dark eye] After mouthing off for decades about never sealing mine.

[he got so engrossed in this discussion that he forgot how much ale was left in his tankard; not enough, judging by the sudden tip-up and then glance into the depths. He twists in his seat just enough to raise a hand and flag the bartender in the universal sign of needing a refill and then settles back down]

What's the time frame on something like this, anyway? Is there any urgency, a sense that the Harmonian Main Army might like to take over the mission?

[latkje]

You could go in disguise. [ He places an elbow on the table and points a finger like a gun. ] Something more approachable, and more female.

[ This is his new favorite plan. Alas, judging from his wooden theater performances, Geddoe could never pull it off. ]

The bishops are all arguing about what we ought to do. Luc did a real number on the Temple hierarchy, and there are still people in Crystal Valley who don't believe he was really a traitor. [ Whatever his ultimate goals, Luc presented a version of the war that won enough favor in Harmonia to get him appointed bishop. ] I don't think official action will be coming for a while, because the consensus just isn't there. But I'm sure unofficial action will be following swiftly.

[ It wasn't exactly uncommon for bishops to run their own private operations, and if one of them managed to restore the True Wind Rune, he could get the rest of them to listen, just like Luc did. ]

Maybe someone will hire your pal Duke.

[ Way better than the Howling Voice Guild. ]