"There." The glow ceases and Urisk checks his range of movement. "I hope that you are feeling-."
"Ah."
Urisk's pupils expands as he cringes, backing up as much as he can while still staying close enough to Dr. Balewa that he could dive behind him if I attacked.
I swear, sometimes I think OL would have made one
heck of a Yellow Lantern as much as he is a powerful Orange one. Ironic that the Renegade is so much better with
Fear than
Avarice at times...
"No lasting damage, I hope?"
Urisk uncringes slightly then freezes, waiting to see what I'll do.
Aw, geez, he's like a kicked puppy...
"If that's what you're worried about, I don't hold you responsible for what you-." I look around the crowd. "What any of you did while under the influence of the Anti-Life. If that's what you're worried about."
Alan looks at me expectantly.
Yeah, as disingenuous as
you might find it, an apology might go down better than your calm rationality.
"So I see no need to continue hostil-."
"Paul."
No, no, it's irrational, but it's basically just social lubricant and it might make him more willing to talk.
Ah, Alan. Seeing just what
needs to be said. The joy of a century of experience.
"I'm sorry."
"You apologise?"
Yes, yes, you get that he's not
really sincere. Can we just move on? You have your hands back, OL is feeling a little regretful...
Call it
even?
"It's not like I-" I dismiss my construct armour and send my armour back into subspace. "-like cutting people's arms off."
And… They're short. So I sit down, affecting a pose of relaxation.
Not the most reassuring thing, since as a Lantern (or a
wizard, which they probably see you as) you don't need to
stand to hurt them.
Urisk doesn't appear entirely sure what to make of that, but takes reassurance from Dr. Balewa's presence.
"What do you want to know, great wizard?"
Yeah, best to let the Doctor handle things, I think. No Diplomacy penalties for
him.
"Our colleague, the one who looks like John Quinn. Where did he go?"
"John..? Quinn..?"
"He wears the golden helmet."
To be fair, he might never have taken the helmet off in their presence. Not
likely, given how
uncomfortable the ol' bucket-head could be, but still...
"The Master-Magician." Urisk shakes his head. "No. He arrived later. The one who called us here looked like the demon's false-face."
I blink in surprise. "John Constantine? John brought you here?"
That surprises you, OL? John's hardly above making use of people. The issue would be whether they were
fairly compensated.
"The Laughing Magician. He was in pain. The crystals helped him stay himself, he said. He asked us to tend his gardens for him."
"Did he force you to come here?"
Hmm... So he used the crystals to... Drain off excess Chaos energies? Seriously,
still betting this is actually part of the Gemworld... They were all for using magical crystals, after all.
Edit: Okay,
Order energies actually makes
more sense. Less under John's control, and fundamentally opposed to his naturally-chaotic mindset...
"No. No. We were relieved. Happy. Modern houses are full of electronics." He wrinkles his nose. "We find them uncomfortable. This place is nice, and we all know how to garden."
"Did he pay you?"
Heh. I bet they don't like modern appliances at
all, huh? Wonder if it was an electromagnetic thing or just the
noises they made, like a dog afraid of a vacuum cleaner?
He hesitates slightly, then shakes his head. "Our needs are met. Amongst our kind, status come from the place where we work. For us, having the run of a place like this in the service of a wizard of such power is reward in itself."
I glance at Dr. Balewa, who nods distractedly. Right, creatures of fae don't have the same drives as material humans. If having a nice and primitive place to live is what they want, I hope they're happy.
And they get to make themselves useful, which is probably a hard-wired drive, hence their mythical reputation for helping around the house.
"Where did the vines come from?"
"He never said. He brought them here as crystal seeds, and we nurtured them."
...Okay, maybe the
vines are from the Gemworld, then.
Whatever their origin, Constantine clearly
knew what he was doing with them...
"What did he..? Do with them? To keep himself himself?"
"He forced magic into them. Weakened himself, and collecting the magic infused crystal. He seemed happy when we got the largest gems. He said that he had plans for them. Then…" Urisk looks away from us, towards his huddled colleagues. "It is… I don't-."
The question is then, what was he doing with the crystals
after harvesting them? I doubt he'd keep them for himself, not if he was draining
Chaos Order energy into them...
Alan kneels down and puts his right hand on Urisks's left shoulder.
"He got you with the Anti-Life, didn't he?
A fair assumption. But did John do it of his own accord, or did someone else
use him?
"I don't know the name. The Laughing Magician went away for several days, then… The other one arrived. He looked similar; we took him for the Laughing Magician's brother."
"Did he look-. Or feel, demonic?"
Boy, not
lessening the suspicion of Quinn being the Golden Boy any, huh?
"No. We felt demon magic on him a few times, but he was no demon. Later on, he started visiting with the golden helmet."
I nod. "John Quinn. Did you ever see him and the Laughing Magician together?"
Hmm... Still a good likelihood of the 'memory-fueled homunculus' theory the Demon put forward too.
"No."
Well that's… Quinn's story mostly out the window. If John didn't give him a tour…
I mean, that doesn't rule it out. Maybe he didn't feel the need to show this part off?
"Did the Laughing Magician take any crystals with him?"
"Once the other one arrived, the Laughing Magician took no more crystals."
At least that part of the timeline adds up.
"You called Quinn 'the other one' there, and not 'The Master-Magician'. Was that intentional?"
"Yes. Since the Laughing Magician wasn't collecting crystals, we thought the other one might make us leave. Instead, he told us to expand. More of us came to the Tower of Fate then, and the gardens grew. He took some crystals for his work, and the rest we stored for him. Then…"
Presumably following what Constantine started, for whatever reasons.
Alan nods. "I think we can guess. Somewhere he ran into the Anti-Life."
"We knew he had changed, but he was out host, and wizards can be strange in their ways. He took some crystals and experimented with them, and with the vines. And some other people were brought here."
Prisoners in the Tower, certainly. But were there any
others...
"Those three?"
"Yes. And others."
Three down, at least three other prisoners we know of...
Oh great. "Did he say their names?"
"No, but it sounded like they knew each other well. One of them… He felt like a hole in the universe. But… I think that my then we were affected as well."
Which makes the 'hole in the universe' thing entirely suspect.
Perhaps their arcane perception was heightened by the infection, or it was a fluke of imagination...
"Do you have access to the rest of the Tower of Fate?"
"Yes, but that isn't our agreement. We tend the farms."
Guessing to allow some to leave and lead more Brownies there, if workers were needed, or at least to alert the 'master' to issues.
"He did Anti-Life you. And if the Laughing Magician brought you here and was defeated, shouldn't you help him rather than the interloper?"
"If the idea of fighting him offends you, simply lead us through the Tower and then leave. We will handle things from there."
"Alright." Urisk nods. "We can do that. You will free the Laughing Magician and we will stay here, without the Anti-Life. Follow me."
Well, that's ultimately up to
how all this ends up... Whoever ends up in charge of the Tower may not be
interested in house-guests...
