networkinthenight | [Network] - WEEKLY BULLETIN

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WEEKLY BULLETIN

announcements
What do you get when you combine a Catholic and a spirit child? I don't know, it's not a joke, it's just an announcement that one of the spirits-- a baby, it looks like-- has been adopted.

What an awful week, though. Both the exploration group and the distraction group did so well, and honestly? It made a difference. You guys should be proud.

On a lighter note, autumn is just around the corner! Look for temp drops and gusty weather cropping up in the next week or so.

classifieds
None.

If you wish to submit an advertisement, please drop them by the post office.

obituaries
Capt. Ben Winters: at least he died as he lived: doing something worthwhile. Thank you, Winters.

Number Five: clever right to the end.

A whole host of people have gone missing since the party... We haven't found their bodies or their lanterns yet, but I think it's safe to assume they're probably gone. Here's the list: Melisandre, Yaeris, Gene Hicks, Ahven Sychantus, Scott Ryder, Nathan Drake, Brienne of Tarth, Raylen Givens, John Constantine, Chloe Frazier, Irwin Wade, Elisha Harper, Dick Grayson, Aragorn, Rafe Adler, Billy Russo, Ben Hargreeves, Kyna Midha, Washington, Sam Drake, Daniel Riordan, Replica Riku Dawn, Eleven, Shadow Moon

[Worthy of note: this bulletin comes to you not via a newspaper, but by the network, now that Robin's connected with you guys once more!]

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It's too early to judge. I'm curious to hear what Doctor Ingram will say on the subject.

[He doesn't completely trust Will either, of course. That would be foolish. But he trusts him more than someone who, intentionally or otherwise, ended up killing about a third of the population of the town. Someone who has done so repeatedly in the past, now that he understands more about what her role means.]

She has information that will help us, I don't doubt that. But learning it, and discerning which statements are true and which aren't, will be the real challenge.

Has she said anything of value yet? I didn't read further than her initial statement.

[Someone really needs to let Kuai know that it's not dishonorable to read other people's public messages.]

I doubt he'll be pleased about Captain Winters' death. And he seems to know a lot about the network. Perhaps connecting her to it has repercussions we hadn't considered.

[She might now have the ability to spy on them through the tablets now for all he knows. How would they be able to tell?]

Quite a lot. I'm still going through it all. I'm going to put together a list of relevant information. Lord Cao Pi, meanwhile, spoke to me just moments ago about arranging a town meeting to discuss how to handle the situation and we can go over what she said there.

[It's a lot, and he doesn't remember it all off the top of his head, so pardon him if he doesn't detail everything out loud right now.]

But yes, there are surely repercussions. And from what she said, there's a lot more to this world in terms of threats to our existence than we had realized also. More that they've been withholding.

That'd be for the best. And then we'd be able to judge the sentiment of everyone else towards her.

[Which he assumes will be negative, but then again he's a terrible judge of these things.]

Why would they hold back on dangerous things that might put us all at risk? They'd be in peril as well.

I don't know. Winters and Ingram had both said they wanted us to have a chance to settle in. The Keeper said she had maps of everything, but wanted to keep them from us because it was more fun for us to find out information ourselves, or something twisted.

[And he's openly angry about that as he growls the response out, because that doesn't make sense to him. What possible good could it do to not show them their surroundings? Why have the others, even poor lost Winters, constantly told him there's no point going out on the lake? He's gone from suspicious to just angry about it, but he isn't sure just yet what to do with that anger.]

The Keeper also said there's someone else who knows more, who might turn up at some point to tell us something. More pointless vague comments, no substance. Nothing to actually do anything to help us.

How is that fun?

[He snorts, not surprised that someone in power is taking that view of things, but still very annoyed. It reminded him too much of Outworld sorcerers' who thought too highly of themselves and viewed everyone else in existence as pawns on a giant chess board.]

What's to keep us from simply attacking the lighthouse and taking such things for ourselves? If she's going to toy with us as if this is a game, then we have no need to play by her rules.

I have a feeling something about her meaning was lost in the message. But maybe that's just unwarranted optimism.

[Because, uh, yeah. Whatever the Keeper thinks they'll gain by exploring on their own, he doesn't get why they can't have a map to direct their efforts. Does she not really want to help them survive? She says to ask her if there's anything she can help with, but he tried that and she refused. It didn't leave a good impression on top of his existing frustration.]

She did say something to the others about how if she dies, if her lighthouse light goes out, someone needs to fill in immediately or we risk all being killed quickly. The lighthouse itself is significant and the light is her lantern.

Hm.

[He hasn't even talked to her and he's already less than impressed.]

So someone would need to put their own flame in the lighthouse? And then be bound to it? It would be helpful to know more about how the lighthouse functions then. The horn seemed to communicate with the forest creatures.

Yes. Despite my frustration with her, I recognize that we have a lot we can learn from her. Her lighthouse itself must have all sorts of resources. I recall reading that she wasn't the first to the position, there were others before her - so I imagine it might hold documentation on all sorts of things that a person in the role of Keeper should know.

[And Robin had herself said, again, that she will give answers if asked. For some things other than maps, that might even be true.]

Has anyone met with her? In person? Or has all communication been done through the network? It would be easier to sense her motivations face to face.

[He sighs, there's so much they still have yet to discover.]

I feel like for every new thing we discover, several more unanswered questions surface. And the resources at our disposal are not entirely helpful.

When we got there, she just talked by flashing her light at us so she didn't have to shout. Probably didn't want to startle the spirits.

[Or show her cards too soon. But he shakes his head, because yeah, to his knowledge, that's the sum total of anyone's interactions with her.]

One of these days we'll just have to march back over there and knock on her door.

Is there anything preventing that? Any security? Will the forest spirits attack us if we get too close? It seems wise to find out as much as we can quickly before something like this happens again.

Security?

[It's followed by a bitter chuckle. He's not going to forget any time soon the horror that was Winters being ripped away from them into the darkness; Five's shrieks of pain not long after when he and Riku were the quickest to try and reach him. He's seen his share of blood in his life and contrary to what they say in stories, it doesn't get easier.]

We had, what, nine people as lookouts flanking us, and then Winters and Peter and Riku standing guard just so Five and I could hook cables together, and a lot of those people are gone now. Even without a foghorn calling attention to us, yes, there's "security".

[That's not quite what he meant, but he nods anyway.]

So a face to face meeting is not likely to happen.

How is she getting food? Or supplies? This doesn't make sense.

On the ferry, same as us. The spirits take it to her. They're all very intent on keeping her happy, isolated, and permanently in that lighthouse from the sound of it.

[So yeah, they guard her, but they also bring her things. It makes for a strangely comfortable prison, but it's clearly a prison nonetheless. Being unable to leave a lighthouse for twenty years would drive anyone insane. It doesn't excuse her, but it does explain a few things.]

[he frowns, clearly not understanding. He feels like some crucial piece of a very obvious puzzle is missing. Maybe he should read the network more often.]

How does the lighthouse benefit them in any way?

I guess they don't want the world to die any more than we do. I don't know what that entails, but like I said earlier - if there's no light in the lighthouse, everything goes belly up. Apparently.

[Look, he doesn't have any idea either. He has so many questions and nobody has answers - or is willing to give them. It's the sort of thing that makes him want to take someone by the shoulders and shake them until they cough up a reply, but he knows that's not going to work in this situation. Still, even his long-enduring patience is wearing thin, and it's only been a couple months.]

Hm. Well with the lighthouse off the table as far as actual places to explore, I suppose our best course of action is the forest. With how much has been uncovered I assume there may be much more that we simply haven't found yet.

There's always some hope.

[But he sounds like he's starting to not believe that anymore.]

The bridge past the fork leads to an area that must have been important once. Important enough to have a bridge, anyway. But we need to get working on it first. If you're looking for something to do, there's always that. Or helping us build boats, since I still think traveling by water will be the fastest way to explore the shoreline.

[And there's always the option of both. It's what he'd choose. There's more to see out there but stumbling blindly around in the woods doesn't sound like much fun. Sure, he has a compass and the stars, and they can use rope again, but landmarks are nicer.]

[ He nods, glad for the suggestions.]

I could use the distraction. I know nothing about boats, but the bridge I could likely handle.

Has anyone gone out on the lake yet? I seem to recall someone saying not to go in the water, but I can't remember who or why.

Riku and some of his friends did briefly but I don't know whether they went far. The boats we have are small and we'd need several together to make a longer trip. Or one much larger one. As for why not, mm. Winters and the Keeper have both said we shouldn't, that it's too dangerous. No real reason except that in death, the lantern can't be recovered if it's in the lake. Doesn't seem any more risky than sailing normally is.

[So what if it's dark? He's crossed entire oceans overnight in nothing more than a single-sailed dinghy. Darkness and the unknown won't stop him. And he has the stars to navigate by - stars he's been studying for weeks now, that he has hourly photos of, in case something happens to his compass. Once he has something he trusts is able to voyage for more than a couple days, it will be hard to keep him off the lake.]

The light in the lanterns is similar to that of the Bonfire, and the bonfire survived a direct downpour of rain for days. I'm not sure the flames are affected by water at all - though I'm not going to douse mine to try. It seems an odd reason to keep people off the lake, there must be something more.

If they're saying we shouldn't that almost seems all the more reason that we should.

Oh, I believe them when they say the lanterns can be drowned out. The bonfire is huge, tons of lights in one. The lanterns are a tiny fragment of that kind of light. I can see why they'd be swallowed up by a whole lake.

[But maybe it's easier for him to understand as someone who would only have to set foot in said lake and be rendered totally useless. Rain he can deal with. Bodies of water, not so much. Still, it has absolutely never stopped him and he's not about to let that change.]

Doesn't mean we shouldn't do it anyway. I agree, they've sounded like they're arguing too hard for our safety when otherwise Robin in particular doesn't seem to care about killing us.

If she's willing to reset us for arbitrary reasons I fail to see how anything we do would sway that decision. It certainly seems like she's keeping things from us for her own amusement rather than for our supposed safety.

If you do go out on the lake, let me know?

Yeah, will do. Even if there's not a spot on one of the little boats, I'd want someone to know.

[Since there is, clearly, a chance of just vanishing into the night. And while he'd like to avoid that, he has to admit to himself that he won't be disappointed if it happens. He wants to help this world and these people, but he's already lived a life he's accepting of, if not totally fine with. If he dies sailing out into the darkness, well. Better the water than one of the Keeper's resets.]

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paletteswap - 2019-09-07 03:41 (UTC) - Expand

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