Scene #5889: An Interview with Dracuet

Owner	Pose
Lemeza Kosugi	The Village of Departure. A humble outpost in the middle of a huge forest, this place is a great place to relax. The untouched nature all around offers chirping birds, a serene waterfall, and a rather warm hot spring perfect for relaxing the muscles. In the village proper, the locals are busy running from hut to deerskin hut taking care of various mundane tasks. One hut in particular looks just a bit bigger than the others, suggesting that's where the village elder resides. A couple of the more notable villagers await at the nearby warpgate, welcoming the expected guests as they come in. One of them is a young-looking female, dressed primarily in modern-day clothing: tank-top, shorts, sneakers. The only feature to suggest she's a local is her hair: it's styled very ornately, held in place with a headband that looks like it was made a few thousand years ago. She eagerly introduces herself as Mulbruk to each new arrival, welcoming them to the village. The other villager next to her is a much older male, clad in... ohkaaaaaaaaaaaay. He's wearing nothing but a skimpy sky-blue one-piece strap bikini that leaves very little to the imagination. However, a marking on his forehead designates him as also a local, and he introduces himself as village elder Xelpud. "Welcome, welcome! I take it you're here to speak with Dracuet? He's been expecting you! He's got a lot he wants to speak about."
Staren	Staren steps out of the warpgate and is surprised by the welcoming committee. For once, he's wearing his labcoat over normal clothes. No environmentally-sealed armor. "...And he's got the village elder working as a /greeter/? What did he /do/ for you people?" Dracuet has clearly taken over the town, but he hasn't seen clear evidence of mistreatment yet, just one piece of evidence for poor management skills. Or maybe the village elder really was horrible at his job... Staren expects it'll be explained by Dracuet when they meet, and goes where directed to meet him.
Alexis Maaka	Maaka wasn't expecting the old guy. She really wishes she could unsee that, but it'll never go away in her mind's eye. The cyborg is just quietly nodding as she bites her lip and tries desperately to not be near this man anymore. The look she gives Mulbruk is one of sympathy, for having to be next to this guy all day. "Yeah, sure..." She mutters. Let's just get this over with.
Hemlock	Hemlock is here, a plain human with dark hair dressed in a jacket, shirt, pants, and a newsie cap. He's holding a notebook and a pen, which he clicks often as a habit. The welcoming gets a nod from him, and an introduction. "Hemlock, of the Rebel Revelations. It's a pleasure. I am here to speak with Dracuet, yes. Many questions. The first of which I address to you, Mr. Xelpud." "Why are you dressed like that? Is it some sort of local or ritual cloth? I've never seen anything like it, and it's a bit ridiculous." Hemlock's tone is straight and matter-of-fact, not really having an issue with the man, just wondering what the hell is up with his garb.
Asterios	Asterios is Greek. Ancient Greek, in fact! Half-naked people don't do anything at all to his sensibilities! The minotaur blinks once at the strange old man before soundlessly strolling on by toward where Dracuet is almost certainly waiting. Now, he's not entirely sure what he's going to ask that guy about. But! If something does come to mind, at least he'll be in the right place to ask!
Note	When Note's curious about the place... just a little! So hearing it's time to actually talk about what happened here, she decides to come have a look! And... quickly almost regrets it. Blink blink stare at Xelpud! The girl with the tail can't be more than 14 and her gut is a little disgusted at OLD MAN WEARING ALMOST NOTHING! So the moment that she spots Asterios, before she can even think of anything SENSIBLE to do, Note acts on reflex and sort of DIVES behind the grand Heroic Spirit. Only after a few moments does she hover up to Asterios's shoulders and dare to peek over, as if using him as cover. "Uh... hi, yeah! ... cool hair!" The latter, of course, aimed at Mulbruk.
Lemeza Kosugi	Once he's satisfied there won't be any more new arrivals, Xelpud waves for the visitors to follow him. He then heads off past the village, past the entrance to the ruins of La-Mulana. Along the way, Xelpud addresses Hemlock's question. "Ah, it's Dracuet's latest design! He's quite a skilled tailor, you know. Really knows how to make the fabric breathe." He leads the group up a path to the waterfall beyond. "He couldn't quite make it as a Philosopher - far too tricksy for his own good - but nobody designs clothes better than him." He finally heads down a recently-built path down to a lake being fed by the waterfall. "A ritual cloth you say, hmmm... I hadn't considered it, but that's a great idea! I'll need to make a ritual around it." Mulbruk, who had been following along, simply rolls her eyes and mutters under her breath. Already enjoying themselves in the lake are a couple other men, clad in the exact same style and color of bikini that Xelpud has on. One of them is rather old-looking and definitely looks like he's connected to the other village residents, and waves enthusiastically at the entourage as they arrive. "Hey! Hemlock, Asterios, glad you could make it! And new visitors, welcome, welcome!" He's entirely unconcerned about any negative reactions he might be getting about his outfit. "Hemlock, the one who wants what must not be seen. Asterios, the grandmaster of mazes. You put my skills to shame!" He turns his attention to the others whose faces he doesn't recognize. "I'm Dracuet! Ask me anything you'd like about La-Mulana's history! About myself! About... well, anything! I'll answer what I can!" He sounds honest enough. The other person enjoying himself in questionable swimwear is none other than Lemeza Kosugi, reclined on the edge of the lake like he's never been more relaxed in his life. He glances over to the others, and raises a hand toward them in greeting before going back to lazing about. He's just attentive enough to be aware of what's going on around him, but otherwise seems to be keeping to himself for now. Mulbruk for her part just rolls her eyes hard at the entire situation, shaking her head in frustration.
Alexis Maaka	Maaka just kind of covers her face in sheer secondhand embarrassment. "I can only, ONLY look you people in the eyes right now." She says in exasperation, especially when she spies who she assumes is Lemeza wearing the damn slingshot bikini too. The local lady here just had to be the odd one out not wearing those damn swimsuits, but everyone else did. Ugh. The cyborg sticks near Asterios, kind of just using him as a shield against all these abominations against the gods of good taste in clothing. "I regret coming here."
Asterios	Asterios permits these young ladies to hide behind him like some kind of enormous, meat-flavored censor bar. Go Asterios! Protect their innocence, Asterios! The minotaur makes a low, curious note deep in his throat at the myriad half-naked men strutting around in very clearly not-for-men swimwear. He cants his head left, then right, then focuses on the man responsible. "Dra--cuet," Asterios grunts. "Why... Wearing weird things?" Clearly this is the most important question to ask.
Hemlock	"I see. It is quite fascinating. Atleast you enjoy it, so all is well." Hemlock says as he takes notes that Dracuet is apparently a master fashionista. He moves over with Asterios once they continue forward, and when addressed, tips his hat. "It is nice to meet you, Mr. Dracuet." The outfits are pretty much ignored because they're unimportant compared to the real questions, the real truth. Also Asterios asked anyways. "Very well, I'll start the interview session. My first question is about these two temples, La-Mulana and the Hell Temple. What is their purpose? What were they intended to do?"
Note	Note is, now that the initial shock and confusion's dwindling away... obviouisly FLOATING several feet off the ground in order to be looking over Asterios's shoulder at the proceedings! And she eventually emerges, tail swishing about freely behind her as she looks this way and that... And finally spots Lemeza. Considers his current placement. And then turns upside-down in the air, arms folded over her chest. Perplexed at this turn of events. Why's everyone wearing... "... so... did it really take a thousand years or something to design these uh, clothes? ... we got through that weird maze and then...?" She still isn't quite sure why. So yes. She's hovering upside-down, ponytail dangling almost on the ground, while asking this. Why upside-down? Because this makes it easier to focus on heads and faces.
Staren	When the elder says noone designs clothes better than Dracuet, Staren observes "I can think of two people..." And then more quietly mutters, 'And if I didn't only know two fashion designers, it'd probably be more...' He's not as bothered as the others, bodies are bodies, but this fashion seems to only appeal to this particular time and place. The man would probably look more impressive with a bunch of mystical robes, or even just a loincloth and moccasins and jewelry or bone-and-feather necklaces or something if he wants minimal clothing, really go for that tribal chic. Does Rarity take charity cases? Oh there are a bunch of other men dressed this way it really /is/ local fashion. Huh. But they're gathered at the lakeshore, so it is more specifically swimming attire and not normal clothing. "Pardon the others. To most of our cultures, that looks like a women's bathing suit." Thankfully, Hemlock at least stays on task, and Staren nods after his questions. "Yeah. And did the goddess really kill your civilization, and was there really evidence she was planning to do the same to humans?"
Lemeza Kosugi	Mulbruk buries her face in her hands, sighing, then unburies her face and speaks up -- answering the minotaur's question before anyone else can. "My deranged father here--" she motions toward Dracuet, "--originally made one of those swimsuits for me to wear, but Lemeza here ended up putting it on before I could. As you can see, I refuse to partake in these shenanigans." She then nods toward Xelpud. "Then THIS jerk thought it'd be good fashion sense to try out, so dear ol' dad made another one for him to wear. Then it started to get out of control. Be glad the rest of the village is busy." She then just shakes her head again, frustrated at the whole ordeal. After Mulbruk's spiel, Dracuet begins to address Hemlock. "Ah, yes. I'll start with Hell Temple, as that's what I know most about! I built it myself. You see, I am not only a tailor, but an architect!" He pauses to cross his arms dramatically, smiling proudly over what he just said. "When the Philosophers said they needed traps for the ruins, that's just what I made! Traps, so many traps. Devious ones too, shame you never got to see them all. But," he turns to face Asterios, "I just had to know what this minotaur could do with mazes! I must ask. How /did/ you turn my maze around like that? Your skills rival my own. Ah... but I digress." He turns back to Hemlock. "Alas, they rejected my designs and built their own challenges apart from my own personal work. So, I created my own treasure to guard. An outfit which must not be seen, and which you now see today!" He jiggles his bikini-clad chest toward Hemlock, which actually prompts Lemeza to sit upright and raise a concerned eyebrow at the act. Dracuet's obsession with his creation dissipates as Staren asks a /very/ direct question. He blinks a bit before answering. "Ours? Thankfully, no. Not all of it anyway. She created eight generations--" "Seven." Mulbruk interjects, correcting Dracuet. "Really? Right, right, the seventh created the eighth. Anyway, Mother -- that is what we call our creation goddess, for those who don't know -- she created each generation in the hopes that one of them could 'return her to the sky'. That is, to lift her body off this planet into the outer space beyond. None of them were able to succeed, and not surprisingly either. For you see, her body is now part of the landscape, and has been for some time. Can you imagine? Launching La-Mulana into the sky?" Dracuet chuckles. "Not that nobody ever tried. It's just impossible." He trails off without actually giving Staren's question a definite answer.
Alexis Maaka	Maaka just mumbles, "I'll take...five." under her breath. THEN thankfully the whole mess kind of gets distracted by actual exposition. She can handle this much. Folding her arms, Maaka listens attentively enough. She can only look this guy in the eyes right now, if her gaze deviates it'll scar her for life.
Staren	Staren just gives Dracuet the sort of... 'oh you poor ignorant fool' stare that you give someone from a backwards, low-tech world who tells you that traveling across a continent in a few hours by flying through the air is impossible. After a long moment, he says, "...You really believe that." Staren blinks, and tries to put words together. "Of course it's not impossible, don't be silly. However, I'm not sure there would be any point to trying, now that she's dead. ...So, why did Lemeza think she was going to kill humanity?"
Asterios	Asterios tilts his head even further. You can practically see the big cartoon questionmarks popping up between his horns and his fluffy mane. "Aa. But. You'd look better in it. Than they do?" Asterios is confused! "Mmmmn. Well. Master would not like it, I think... But maybe... Sere? Hmmmmn." Asterios is considering the possibility. But then, someone has a question for him! The minotaur focuses his dread, crimson gaze on Dracuet and... heaves a great big shrug. "It's. My magic. I carry home with me, everywhere. My Labyrinth- the first Labyrinth. It is strong, stronger than ordinary places. So when I drop it somewhere, it... changes the world, instead of being changed. You see? But I can change it, if I like. Make a new one, add new traps, new paths, but it is still the Labyrinth." Asterios says nothing of the chest-jiggling. He doesn't quite get what's going on. But! "Impossible?" Asterios asks, then looks over toward the ruins. "...Really? Hmmmm."
Note	"Launching.. ALL THIS..." Note gestures broadly at basically everything around... "Into space? Um. IS it impossible? But... it wouldn't be easy... not easy for anyone. How long would you have to do pushups to get that strong...?" Her thoughts on the matter may be slightly skewed by youthful naivete. "But I'm curious too! The whole maze changed around when we entered." That comment's aimed towards Asterios, who she next looks at! But then of course he DOES answer... and the answer is confusing enough that she returns to being right-side up (but still floating a few feet up) to ponder it better. STARE. "You... bring it WITH you..."
Hemlock	Hemlock's writing quickly, though he does take a step backwards when Dracuet jiggles his chest at him, because even he knows that's weird. He doesn't say anything about it, though. "Tried to lift into outer space. I see. What would she get out of that? Was she originally from the sky?" Hemlock asks, and then considers a second question. "So, what is La-Mulana's connection to Mother? Was it built because of her?"
Lemeza Kosugi	Dracuet's first reply is to Asterios. "Ah, so you can move your own maze wherever it needs to be! And you can craft your own traps. I could learn something from you. We should talk maze design sometime!" He's in quite high spirits, which rise even higher upon hearing Maaka request swimsuits of her own. "Ah, someone else with good taste. Come! I'll sew you some right away! And, uh..." It is at this point that he finally appraises everyone else's reactions. "...I'll get changed into proper robes, while I'm at it. Let's go!" He heads up the path past the waterfall into the village, only sort of checking to see if Maaka is following. ...well, that's that, apparently. Mulbruk, picking up where her father left off, addresses Staren's comments about returning Mother to the sky "Excuse you? Do you not think we tried?" If she was annoyed before, she's absolutely /pissed/ now. "The Giants tried and failed. They built a massive tower, powered it with an entire lake's worth of hydropower, got it up and running, and even that wasn't enough. And before you open your mouth again, /cat-man/--" she anticipates snark from Staren about primitive methods not working, "--Elder Xelpud here happened to look into using a space shuttle to carry her up into space. It wouldn't even have left the launch pad before tipping over from the strain. Tch." With that, she folds her arms and gives Staren a death glare, not answering any further questions. Lemeza picks up the slack, now fully focused on the situation at hand. "It might help to know just /what/ Mother is. Hemlock, you asked what La-Mulana's connection to her is? It's her physical body, at least according to these guys." He gives a nod to indicate Mulbruk and Xelpud. "They're also the ones who informed me that Mother was going to destroy civilization again, just like she'd done many times prior. So, to answer why I thought she'd kill humanity? She'd done it before. There was precedent. So I'm told." He continues addressing what the others left out. "She was originally from the sky, yes, and she wished to return. The seventh generation - to which these villagers belong - believed it impossible to fulfill her wish, and so decided it would be best to put her to rest instead of trying, failing, and angering her once more. Though I have to call that into question, considering how long modern humanity has thrived. Too bad Dracuet left. I wanted to grill him on it."
Staren	Staren blinks at Mulbruk. "I'm not saying I don't think anyone tried hard. You can't do it /now/, maybe, but surely it's occured to you that some /future/ technological development might make it practical? Declaring something /impossible/, forever, just seems... crazy!" He throws up his hands. "You can see amazing things in the Multiverse... but since she's dead now, it doesn't really matter." He shrugs.
Hemlock	Hemlock remains quiet for some more time, especially as Lemeza talks - he spends it taking notes. Once he's written it all up, he then moves to clarify something. "So she destroyed civilization for failing her. I see. I don't think I have many more questions at this juncture, but I appreciate you answering. Do you have a quote for the news piece I'll be writing you'd like to give, Mr. Kosugi?" Pen on paper again. Hemlock's hoping he gives something good!
Asterios	"Unn, ok," The minotaur answers Dracuet with a quiet smile. "Always happy. To help make more mazes. Mazes are good. Aa?" "Mmmmmn," Asterios scratches his big, fluffy scruff on the subject of his OWN particular maze. "Yes. Carry. On the... other side of the world?" Asterios shrugs. "Hard to explain. Magic!" He looks to the others at the subject of launching an entire maze into space, thinks for a moment, then nods in agreement. "Is. Okay then. Can't blame for trying. Can't blame for failing. Didn't have then, what you have now. Better to survive wrong than die trying to make right what you can't. Nn?"
Note	"So what if you can maybe do something in seven hundred years? We're alive NOW. Living to seven hundred is weird, right?" Note posits towards Staren rather suddenly, as if not making ANY sense of his logic.
Staren	Staren blinks at Note. "I'm sure that a goddess capable of creating entire societies of people is patient enough to wait a few centuries... or even tens of millenia. She can't have expected this task accomplished quickly, can she?" He scratches his head. "Maybe that was the problem..."
Alexis Maaka	Maaka scritches her chin. "Us? Well..." She shrugs a shoulder. "I bet that could be easier said than done." Pause. "But why not?"
Lemeza Kosugi	"THREE. THOUSAND. YEARS." Mulbruk put her whole diaphragm into raising her voice on that. "Three thousand years we waited. And that's just the eighth generation. Mother had already waited tens of millenia. She'd already grown impatient. Much like I'm growing impatient with you." Yeesh. She clearly does not have a good opinion of Staren. "Tens of millenia of trying. And I suppose <YOU> have a means of--" Mulbruk is quickly cut off by Dracuet's return. He's now dressed in proper priestly robes covering everything but his hands and head and feet, and carrying several of the swimsuits he'd been wearing just moments earlier. "Come now young woman, anger doesn't solve anything!" He launches into his own response before Mulbruk can regain the conversation. "I heard mention of a 'multiverse'. I figured something like that might happen, what with all the strange powers each civilization had. I'm curious." He starts talking to himself. "Was it Tiamat's dimensional manipulation that caused this? I have to know..." He trails off without clarifying what he meant. "A quote for your news article, Hemlock? Yeah, I've got one." Lemeza's speaking rather intensely, with a very serious sense of purpose. "The history of La-Mulana yet lives, despite claims to the contrary. Come and see for yourself. And, this isn't part of the quote by the way, we still need to figure out why the ruins continue to create life even after Mother's death... though I think we should leave that out of your story so nobody panics." He then drops his voice a bit, as if to keep this next bit private. "Um. Can we leave out the swimsuit bit too? I don't really think it's fitting here." "And on that note. Note." The archaeologist rubs the back of his head awkwardly. "We should spar sometime. And, er... I promise I'll dress professionally for it."
Hemlock	The quote for his article gets written down. Hemlock actually writes down everything Lemeza says, including the things he said not to put in the newspaper, but he speaks up with reassurances. "Of course. Thank you very much." And then, a turn towards Dracuet. Hemlock's been keeping an ear out. "Tiamat...I see. One of the possible sources of the Multiverse is this Tiamat. I'll take note, thank you." Another jotting down on the pad. And then, Hemlock goes quiet, taking several moments to look over his notes and make sure they're all orderly.
Staren	Staren's ears flatten back at the yelling. "I don't know where you started from. But if you've already got space shuttles, it's probably not THAT much longer. The more advanced your technology gets, the better your entire civilization can share ideas and build off them, the faster new inventions and developments come. It might take a million or tens of thousands of years for someone to have the idea of farming, but then only a few thousand for taming horses or writing, and a few thousand more for a printing press, and a few hundred for electricity and mechanical transportation, and then decades for computers and nuclear power, and then a few decades after that..." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a smartphone-sized tablet, "You've got a device you can hold in your hand that takes pictures, plays movies, makes video calls across the planet, and can calculate math faster than the planet's entire combined computing resources back when the space program started. Suddenly over the course of a single lifetime you're developing portable fission power, drugs that enable superhuman feats, cybernetic bodies that are actually BETTER than normal human bodies, implants that awaken people's latent psionic potential, armor and weapons that make what was being used decades before look like paper and spitballs..." Staren shrugs. "If you got as far as space shuttles, I doubt it was more than a couple centuries, tops, before a way to do this." Staren looks at Dracuet. "I don't know who Tiamat is, but it's probably not anything local that caused it. The Multiverse seems to just go around absorbing universes where humanlike beings exist."
Note	Note sweeeerves further away from Dracuet when he returns carrying yet MORE of those things! She's NOT gonna wear anything of the sort! ... Not in front of everyone here, anyways. There's a LOT being said here by everyone though. Particularly... Mulbruk and Staren going at it. She rubs her forehead exasperatedly while TRYING to listen and make sense out of it all. Not easy, given she's been raised in the boonies. When the big explanation's over though, she has only this to fire off at Staren. "Yeah, but where were any of those things three thousand years ago?" Yep. It seems Note can figure out why Mulbruk's mad! Part of it, anyways. Though she very quickly glances over at Lemeza, blinking a few times as if not QUITE believing this claim of his. "Hah? Well I'm not turning down a challenge... but if you're gonna challenge me, better be serious about it!"
Staren	Staren blinks at Note like she said something that doesn't make any sense. "...Not invented yet? I might as well ask why you don't have the might and ki manipulation skill to solve the Red Pants Army by yourself /right now/." He's just confused by the sheer nonsensicalness of the question.
Lemeza Kosugi	Mulbruk doesn't entertain Staren's argument any further. She just throws up her hands, shakes her head and walks off without saying anything. Clear sign of frustration. Dracuet is more forthcoming, though. "Maybe Tiamat didn't cause it, but she did leave behind a dimensional rift in the ruins that hasn't closed up yet. I can't help but wonder about it... but that will have to wait for another time." With that, he waves and heads back up the path to the village. Lemeza looks back and forth between Note and Staren. "Okay calm down now! Look. The whole thing is a moot point. Anyway. Note, yeah I'm serious about challenging you. I gotta practice if I'm gonna handle the bigger threats around the Multiverse, and sparring's the best way to do that! Shrine of Adversity's the place, so we just need a time!"
Note	"Nuh-uh, you don't get what I said!" Note twitches a finger in a 'pay attention!' manner at Staren, clarifying, "I said, these nuclear rockets and stuff, weren't around when they NEEDED to be. These people didn't have 'em!" Though she THEN proceeds to glare at Staren. "Who says I don't?! Those guys are pushovers and I can beat them up by the hundreds at a time! ... but do you think -I- would've guessed all those papers were useful? The Red Pants jerks don't make sense. Was hoping someone else could figure them out."