Man - "I see... well, then, we might as well begin."
**He straightened himself up in his seat, seeming to gain for a moment a bit of dignity.**
Man - "You must understand, at the time all of what I'm about to tell you seemed like a good idea. This was how we would make our mark, we told each other. This was how we'd be remembered! We always wanted to be remembered, Henry and I. I don't... you see, we found it, rather by chance really, in a cave. We went exploring, wandering through with little more than the light we could cast up, and then... there it was, really. The chamber cut into the living stone. The casket, all gold, we never could open it. And then floating on top..."
**He held out the device before them, somewhat reluctantly. It was a sphere of smooth bronze, polished, with strangely geometric gaps which revealed a red crystal inside, glowing faintly.**
Man - "...there was this. It shone so much brighter back then; I believe we must have fallen in love with it at sight. Of course, we didn't know what it did then, how to use it, or even if it was safe--Henry always said it was surely safe, and I let him--but we had to take it. Back to the tower, back to our books. We spent years poring over the tomes and scrolls, trying to find something that would explain it, something that would open it--and then there it was, clear as day upon the vellum in front of me. It was a homing device, a beacon, a door. It would take us there."
**He looked off in the distance for a moment, then returned.**
Man - "He always told me that it was wonderful. He never used to let me go, said I couldn't handle it. Sometimes he'd go for an hour or so, and I felt so very alone, but he'd return with a grin. Then they became days; then weeks. I finally asked him what was there; I finally demanded that he take me. Two years is a long time to live with someone and never know where they're going... or at least, it seemed that way. But he took me, and... I can't talk about it. I escaped. I survived. But you have to stop him."
**The man nodded a little wearily, motioning them into a dimly-lit, expansive lounge bedecked in red velvet and well-stuffed Atarin silk cushions. They were led to a table in the corner; from their seats they could see a number of men, mostly hunched over their drinks, their backs turned to them. The man who had let them in scurried away as soon as he came.**
**The man looked up at them as though he didn't see them for a moment, then with a startled flash of recognition hid the device in his sleeve. As he did so, an elegant-looking man in a long coat stepped out of the shadows, who happened to be my character Édouard.**
Startled Man - "Are you all here responding to my advertisement?"
**Axe in hand, he began to not-very-carefully pick his way down to the village.**
Man - "As well as I can reckon, Hell."
**He straightened himself up in his seat, seeming to gain for a moment a bit of dignity.**
Man - "You must understand, at the time all of what I'm about to tell you seemed like a good idea. This was how we would make our mark, we told each other. This was how we'd be remembered! We always wanted to be remembered, Henry and I. I don't... you see, we found it, rather by chance really, in a cave. We went exploring, wandering through with little more than the light we could cast up, and then... there it was, really. The chamber cut into the living stone. The casket, all gold, we never could open it. And then floating on top..."
**He held out the device before them, somewhat reluctantly. It was a sphere of smooth bronze, polished, with strangely geometric gaps which revealed a red crystal inside, glowing faintly.**
Man - "...there was this. It shone so much brighter back then; I believe we must have fallen in love with it at sight. Of course, we didn't know what it did then, how to use it, or even if it was safe--Henry always said it was surely safe, and I let him--but we had to take it. Back to the tower, back to our books. We spent years poring over the tomes and scrolls, trying to find something that would explain it, something that would open it--and then there it was, clear as day upon the vellum in front of me. It was a homing device, a beacon, a door. It would take us there."
**He looked off in the distance for a moment, then returned.**
Man - "He always told me that it was wonderful. He never used to let me go, said I couldn't handle it. Sometimes he'd go for an hour or so, and I felt so very alone, but he'd return with a grin. Then they became days; then weeks. I finally asked him what was there; I finally demanded that he take me. Two years is a long time to live with someone and never know where they're going... or at least, it seemed that way. But he took me, and... I can't talk about it. I escaped. I survived. But you have to stop him."
Startled Man - "Are you all here responding to my advertisement?"
Man - "...yes?"
Antoninus - "We gonna trust him then? If we are, ain't any sense wastin' more time here; we should move."
Antoninus - "Everything."
**He sort of thrashed around blindly, trying to kick or land a hand on the creatures.**
**He started walking with some vigor.**