[audio] @kingofwei; open

[pure_havoc]

[there's a bit of a pause before the calm, mellifluous voice begins - he doesn't know the etiquette here. Oh well here goes.]

This is Cao Pi, styled Zihuan, Lord of Wei. I have spoken to few of you here, as of yet, but I hope you will indulge me for a moment. I feel this is important, given the extensive list of casualties in the bulletin yesterday.

Even with the guidance of the experienced residents and a valuable goal, things did not go so well. A number of problems have surfaced, exposing us for the weak and inexperienced fools we are in this land of the dead. Things must change, not the least of which is organization. I have...what you may call some experience in that realm. [dryly with a touch of sarcasm. Yo I'm an emperor in some timelines I got your organization right here] I would like to suggest to the community at large that we gather to discuss our options going forward. Not using this technology, no...I feel that seeing one another face to face goes much further toward fostering community and building trust in one another.

If I understand things right, the next ferry should arrive in a few days. I offer this idea: the day after, everyone keen on sharing ideas for how to prepare ourselves for future disasters should meet in the town hall, so as to include any newcomers. It is not, I am sorry to say, a party. This is a time to unite and share our thoughts and our skills so that we do not end up with another round of chaos like the attacks which ended the party and took so many of those who went out into the forest. Many of you are capable and strong; we cannot afford to sit around and idly muse on possible ways to protect the town and each other in private any longer. For better or worse we are a town unto ourselves, and we must work together.

Then, when the crescent moon rises on the second day of the month, let us meet in the town hall. What say you?

[he leaves the floor open to discuss his idea. If anyone texts him he'll text back but man talking at people is so much easier for a third century dude. Also, he likes to hear himself talk if this post is any indication]

Comments

THANKS NOOB

[pure_havoc]

[oh this is going to go so well, he can tell]

Folly is in the eye of the beholder. I had no direct involvement one way or another in the mission so I can hardly criticize, though I can see several ways in which I might have done it differently.

So in your experience, we should simply wait until we reach that point and allow the lighthouse keeper to 'reset' us, then. Is that it?

he tries

[saibot]

No. Just do not misplace your trust in anyone here -- especially those with power. The ones who've been here since before our arrival doubtfully have anyone's best interest in mind.

[Mostly speaking about the lighthouse keeper as he does not trust her in the slightest]

Even in the Netherrealm the fear of eternal torment was not enough to keep some from betraying others for their own goals. This place is a luxury in comparison even with the Lighthouse keeper's threats of a reset.

Which is something that may happen regardless of anyone's actions.

[pure_havoc]

[oh Noob, your first mistake is believing that he trusts anyone...

but shh that's his secret to keep.]

It is refreshing to know I'm not alone in my suspicions.

So it is as the Grandmaster suggested to me - those of us experienced in demon realms have no expectation that anything is as it seems. But I would not be myself if I did not rise up to grasp my own fate rather than roll over and let someone else handle it.

[saibot]

[Grandmaster. Bi-Han will never not scoff at that.]

Nothing is ever as it seems. My suspicions of those around run deep, but that is not a conversation suited for over this network.

Especially considering who is now connected to it.

[pure_havoc]

Attitude aside, I can appreciate that level of suspicion.

[you and him both, Noob]

Have you anything useful to add, or are you simply in the habit of complaining?

[saibot]

I am not complaining.

[He's so complaining.]

I may attend your gathering. If I have anything 'useful' to add, I'll state it then.

With that said, the supposed grandmaster you spoke of ... I see you have met Kuai Liang.

[pure_havoc]

Such prudence may be well rewarded.

[whatever that means in a place like this.]

I have. It seems we are, in some sense, countrymen. He at least understands my position.

[saibot]

I assure you he understands very little. He always has.

[pure_havoc]

I believe I will be the judge of the company I choose to keep. At the very least he understands more than you do.

[saibot]

Your association with him matters very little to me. But I do know him better than you.

In life I was known as Bi-Han.

[Be honored Cao Pi, you're the first person here he's actually given his name to]

Kuai Liang is my brother.

[pure_havoc]

[ohh surprise]

I see. He mentioned a brother but I did not pry. Then that makes you also a distant descendant of the northern peoples of my country.

[saibot]

Quite possibly. Does this mean you are from the past?

[pure_havoc]

I am from the end of the rule of the Han Emperor Xian. Twenty-nine hundred years by the Shang Calendar, give or take.

[he's not sure where exactly in the future some of these folks are from but eh 4700 years is a lot ok]

Most people here would consider it the past, I believe.

[saibot]

Kuai and I are from different points in time as well. He is apparently from my future.

[pure_havoc]

I'm sure that must be disconcerting. What with the temptation to ask how things turn out, and all. I'm familiar.

[saibot]

He makes it a point to tell me of things I apparently have done to his disapproval.

[pure_havoc]

[okay that actually gets a soft chuckle]

As brothers are prone to doing. Though, if we are dead, then it's not as though you can go back and change anything, is it?

[saibot]

I was long dead before I ended up in this place, but death does not mean the end. I was proof of that then and even now.

[pure_havoc]

...is that so? Interesting. How do you find this second death treating you, then?

[saibot]

This place is nothing compared to the netherrealm and I am no longer bound to the sorcerer who made me as I am.

[So better.]

[pure_havoc]

[a shame Cao Pi got killed so early in the timeline, he'd find undead sorcery to be another thing to have in common with these strange brothers]

Sorcerers are nothing but a pain, in my experience. You're better off.

[saibot]

No doubt. It is better for everyone involved that he is not here.

[pure_havoc]

Was that ever a possibility? I suppose, if he's dead, but then, I would expect to see a lot more people here than just us in the first place.

[saibot]

I am told he is dead, but that is not something I witnessed.

And it is rather odd, isn't it? It is almost as if we are pawns in someone else's game.

[pure_havoc]

Mm. It does seem so, doesn't it?

[leaving that suggestion just sort of hanging there in the air, daring fate to argue with him or something. Come on fate, prove them wrong.]