[ AUDIO | JOINT POST ] OPEN COMMUNCATION BETWEEN SEDORUM AND TAEUM ;

[bijective]

[After numerous attempts at getting a hang of Taeum’s particular use of talisman arrays, Hermann has finally cracked the code to allow open communication between Orbers in both Taeum and Sedorum.

The transmission starts off shaky, at first. The white noise soon reveals the British voice of (1) resident engineer.]

Hello?! This is Doctor Hermann Gottlieb! Are there any Ximilia crew members not currently stationed on Taeum?

[Another voice cuts in then, just as staticky. This one sounds rather posh and aristocratic, but there’s a real relief there.]

This is Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III. [Yes, he got all that out in a single breath. He’s had years of practice.] Yes, there’s plenty of us in Sedorum—I can’t tell you just how good it is to finally hear from your side of things. Any news?

[Hermann takes a short pause for a breath.]

I will leave that to my colleagues, Percival. Best not risk passing out in the next five minutes from an information overload. [Quick beat.] But I believe I’ve managed to bridge the link between communication channels between crew members in both locations. A little tricky at first fiddling with talismans and symbols of all things but I’ve managed to develop an application that will work on all crew-wide devices.

It will be listed under the Talisman Handshake Inter-Communicative Channel. We can communicate with each other but none of the other personnel from either Taeum or Sedorum will hear us.

[Percy pauses for a moment, processing the application name.]

So—THICC, then? That sounds good to me. [He sees no problems with that name whatsoever.] I spoke to Entr’i, by the way—the leader of Sedorum’s military forces, such as they are. She’s very determined to bring Taeum crashing down, and she’s obtained what she calls, and I quote, “magic powerful enough to stop the best of arrays”.

[A beat. Deadpan:] So, good news, we know who has the orb, and who was responsible for the communications jam in the first place. The bad news is—well, I’ll let my colleagues here speak to that, I’ve been mostly focused on this problem.

Likewise. Then I will keep this channel open and have the rest take it from here. Let’s hope that no further drastic measures are to be taken at this stage. Although I’m already beginning to have my doubts.

That makes the two of us. I’ve a feeling this won’t end well. [A sigh.] Be careful, Dr. Gottlieb.

[ OPEN INFO SHARING POST! GO NUTS YA'LL! Threadjacking is highly encouraged!! Font color key - Purple = Hermann, Blue = Percy. ]

audio | un: spade + ishida

[pursuit]

[ The transmission starts with some crackling feedback - or something that sounds oddly like it. Whatever it was, it ceases after a few moments, after which Deuce's voice may be recognizable to those who have met that odd kid who usually sports a spade over one eye. ]

So guys, Matt thought we should ask around to see if the uh. Way things are around here's normal for them, right? And we found out a few things.

[ A quiet sigh follows, one that suggests a measure of patience being exercised before another speaker joins him. Yamato Ishida's voice comes through, calm and clear. ]

Right. This probably isn't a surprise to some, but apparently things haven't always been like this. For one, the military is a fairly new addition.

[ The odd feedback returns, and those with sharp ears may intuit that it is, in fact, the sound of crumpled paper being smoothed out. Deuce isn't the most organized among their number, nor is he used to presenting before the class so to speak, and so he prepared notes. ]

From what people said, it wasn't really a thing until the idea started catching on to merge Taeum and Sedorum into one place? I dunno how they'd do that, but apparently it got some traction...

[ Yamato doesn't miss a beat as he speaks up once more. ]

I mean, it makes sense. I don't really think the system is fair given what we've seen but...

[ He trails off into silence before he returns to the purpose of their transmission. ]

... Well, anyway, whoever thought it up started a rebellion. From the sounds of it, they wanted to take down someone called the Highest One.

[ At first, Deuce just makes an acknowledging sound, only to realize it's his turn with an abrupt oh, right! ]

Then the rebellion got curbstomped and they executed anyone involved... So I guess that means you can wind up double-dead? Whole thing seems terrible...

[ When it seems that Deuce has been absorbed in ruminative silence, Yamato picks back up on their subject. ]

Not exactly picture-perfect paradise, but seems like they're determined to keep things separate. We couldn't figure out who this Highest One is or if anyone from the rebellion is still around.

[ Which brings their fellow orbers up to speed. But the both of them have one question, and where Yamato has paused, Deuce ventures to ask- ]

So....any of you guys heard about some Highest whatever?

[ There follows another weary sigh. ]

Deuce...

[ ooc: Expect replies from Deuce, Yamato, or both! ]

audio | un: surgeonofdeath

[kikoku]

[There's a bit of a hesitant pause, before;]

I do feel like we can say with a relative amount of certainty that there is some sort of higher power in Taeum, presumably the Highest One that Angrial refers to, and they seem, based on what Finn and I sensed, to have an Orb. I'm not sure what that means for reports of the orb potentially being in Sedorum, but frankly, this whole situation is bullshit and if there are in fact two orbs or two parts of one whole orb that we have to figure out a way to combine, I wouldn't be surprised.

In any case, this is Trafalgar Law, reporting in that Daisy, Finn, Cora and myself have been branded traitors and taken into custody for attempting to breach the area where the orb is contained. I don't have access to my abilities and I assume the same goes for the other three.
[A long pause where Law presumably just silently ruminates on the fact that he has ended up in Heaven Jail and really of course this would happen.]

This is not a request for a rescue, simply something to keep in mind as work to find the orb continues. As well as a test on my part to confirm that our comms are still functional from in here.

[ETA: Despite what Law says there is now an OOC plotting post re: potential jailbreak ideas.]

text; un: aragaki

[petsthedog]

anyone else thinkin the war might be part of the orb's contract?

i mean, seems kinda fishy that the guy in charge of sedorum would've turned down a request to kill the one running taeum, unless "He" needs the war, somehow
and we know the orbs want chaos
maybe the contract ain't up til some specific number of people are dead

audio; un: alenko

[majorbiotic]

The communications have been fixed now, right? That's good, because I have some information that those in Sedorum could use.

I've joined the Taeum military and have been working with their magic-users. They're pretty confident in a quick victory. Our commander Angrial says the Highest One will probably make a move in a few weeks. I don't know where exactly we're going, though they did mention a district called Uch'ors.

As for the soldiers themselves, they say that by fighting and winning the war, they'll earn a place in the cycle of reincarnation faster. I hope someone can use this information for their own investigations.