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Morning Buzzer
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"I don't understand. If this Wolfgang guy loved his daughter so much, why would he try to kill me? I'm his relative, aren't I?"
>"Not as far as he's concerned. I'm a Kinsley. I'm an enemy by blood. See, us Kinsleys have been their rivals for centuries. The Kinsley clan is the top dog among the witching families in Great Britain. There's a lot of bad blood between them and the Rothwalds. Wolfgang is of the opinion that I corrupted his daughter, muddied the bloodline. He'd rather bite his tough off than admit you have Rothwald blood, the miserable old corpse."
"Maybe the Kinsleys could help us, then?"
>"No, they wouldn't. I'm a bit of a persona non grata among the family, I admit. They wouldn't help us. Last I heard von Rothwald pressed the issue at the conclave, and that Arthur conceded. The Kinsleys won't interfere in the feud between the Rothwalds and yours truly."
"Do the Rothwalds have any other rivals that could help us?"
>"Maybe. Could be any of the families or none. I haven't exactly kept up with politics recently. We can't risk it without knowing for sure we won't be handed over for a pat in the head."
"Okay. So what's all the stuff in the trunk? The idol and all the other stuff?"
>"Ah, so you found the idol then? It's a souvenir I appropriated from the Rothwalds way back."
"You mean you stole it?"
>"I prefer the term 'appropriate'. It has less of a criminal ring to it. Anyway, the idol is a gate, a bridge into the Underworld. Just, uh, don't go touching it directly. You'd die. I'll tell you about it later. The other stuff? Well, the photos are just some ancient pictures from way back when. Nothing important. Probably ruined now too, thanks to your flailing. The cylinder is an old phonograph record. Contains the litany of Yazd-a-Yi'ir, another relic I picked up from the Rothwalds. Don't try to play it. It'd probably drive you insane. Maybe open a rift to the Outside. Oh and the finger? I've been using that with the idol. Handy not having to always get a new one. Don't worry, it's not mine."
"So why'd you take up necromancy? Was it because of grandmother?"
>"Now where'd that come from, eh? No, I was already in the business before Ilse passed away. But enough digging up painful memories, do you have any questions relating to the here and now?"
"Yeah, if the Rothwalds have Mulder, what will they be able to do with him? Find out where we are?"
>"Not through the wards, and not across longer distances. We should be pretty safe in that regard."
"Well, could we use him to our advantage somehow?"
>"I don't know. I'll have to give that some thought."
"So how will the Rothwalds be trying to find us? How many are they?"
>"Well, Wolfgang's word is law among their family. They'll be using every resource at their disposal. While the main family line isn't all that numerous, they are very powerful, very influential, and very, very wealthy. They'll probably be able to strongarm even a few new world families to look for us. And if Wolfgang himself is on American soil, he won't have come alone. They could have any number of people looking for us, through scrying and more mundane means."
"How long will they keep chasing us?"
>"I don't know. Until Wolfgang dies? Maybe not even then. And I've been waiting for that miserable mummy to kick the bucket for ages now. He's bloody tenacious I tell you that. Clings to life like a flea to a dog."
"Ok, so... If these wards only last a few hours, where do we run next?"
>"I don't know. The wards were only placed to hide your shining. They didn't actually provide other protection of any kind. Fortunately scrying is pretty hard to do, especially when they have no idea where we are. If we keep moving we might be able to evade them for a while."
"Well, could mom protect us?"
>"Not an option. If I'm a persona non grata to the Kinsleys, it's still nothing compared to your mom and I. I'm sure your mom will be all right, no matter how this turns out."
"So that's it? We just keep running until they catch up with us? Doesn't sound like a good plan."
>"It's not. I just need to- Hmm. Hmmmm. Yeees, I think I just might have the thing."
"What? Tell me!"
>"We set up a trap. Yes, this is perfect. Ok. We need to make sure we get Wolfgang himself on the first try. Otherwise this won't work. Let me think let me think. Ok, yes. Yes. That'll work. It has to work. Tiffany, I'm going to tell you something that shouldn't be told to young budding magicians."
"Umm, ok."
>"You're much stronger than magicians of your age usually are. And you're going to keep getting stronger. Hell, you blew up a lightbulb by accident, pre-puberty! You've been leaking power all over the place ever since you had your period. It's very likely that you'll wind up ranking in the top fifteen, hell top ten magicians when you're older. Even now you've got more raw power than the average magician. You're just not very skilled in using it. Now, if you'll let me, I would use that power to erect a barrier so strong that only Wolfgang himself could pass through it. Once he's inside, we'll trick him into stepping inside the magic circle of our choice. I'm thinking Gawadjir's Harmony or the Labyrinth of Hak'keth. That'll leave him completely at our mercy. Are you with me on this?"
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