The Invisible City of Kitezh II. Wedding Procession

[collector]

[Braxiatel has picked out a nice, comfortable room for the broadcast. (Also, he has tea, but does that even need to be mentioned?) The initial smile he offers is somewhat less pleasant than it could be.]

First, allow me to congratulate the happy couple on their engagement. Do enjoy yourselves picking out the drapery for your new home. And if I may applaud the Doctor in particular for finding a new place to trap us all.

[That done, Brax is back to being cool, calm, and calculating]

Now, on to business. Some of you may have already explored the area and found five locked doors. One, to the north, is essentially inaccessible, but I'm sure no one will be too upset if we keep trying. There also are four other doors, each of which asks a security question when one gives it access to one's CAT. Each door's question is asked by one of the residents of the town.

In case anyone wanted to have a go at the questions, I've made a text post with the door's location, the question's speaker, and the question given. My suggestion is that the doors be taken in teams. We haven't any idea what's behind them, after all.

[with a sip of his tea] And if I could borrow the future wife of Doctor Hatter, I think I'd like to try the northwest door with her first.

[TEXT]

Northeast: Osculia
What treat is the best reward?

Northwest: Verita
I don't just stand for the news; I, Verita, also stand for...

Southeast: Audrey Ardes
I'm as boisterous and cheerful as they come, but mentioning this can kill my good mood. What is it?

Southwest: Dante Iussus
I'm a man with an awful... And before I believe anything, I need...

Comments

[collector]

Well, I found out more. What we can do with that is another matter.

[fortune_sought]

Mr Braxiatel, there is no need to taunt me. What did she...show to you?

[collector]

Oh, very well. [He finally finds the drinks cabinet. Pulling out a bottle for them, he starts to explain] It seems to have something to do with her grandfather, Charles Caligin. Not that she's a Caligin by birth, mind you. Constantine was connected to the Luministi Research Labs - if you noticed those unusual photographs, they seemed to be from the labs. This town, Luministi, was built by the Mayor, apparently to help with Charles's death. There's a barrier Verita passed through to get in here. Iussus brought her through, so we may want to have a word with him about that if we're given a chance.

[fortune_sought]

[wow. that was rather more than she was expecting from him so quickly] I...see.

But how does trapping us in a town do anything to help the Mayor deal with his father's death?

[collector]

I'm not completely sure. He seems to have died in a fire. Like the town historian.

[He is quiet for a moment] There's another thing that may be worth noting, but if someone is listening, I'm not sure I want to bring attention to it.

[fortune_sought]

[raises an eyebrow] That's an interesting coincidence.

[frowns, considering] Do you think a spell to prevent that would help?

[collector]

[mildly surprised] Yes, it might do. I hadn't thought of that.

[fortune_sought]

[nods and moves over to the nearest doorway, closing the door] Now, you're not the sort of door to let any sound through, are you? I didn't think so. Have a word with the walls and other doors as well. Make it clear that no one will hear a word that we say in this room.

[returns to Mr Braxiatel and his brandy] That should take care of it.

[collector]

Do you remember that little puzzle Verita sent us at the beginning, sending us off to find coins?

[fortune_sought]

Yes, of course. The coins that we used in that strange machine to see the...Labs, you said.

[collector]

That was apparently the suggestion of Audrey Ardes.

[fortune_sought]

[there goes that eyebrow again] Was it really? I do wonder how many things we've experienced that were set up by her...

[collector]

It's certainly something to keep in mind. Now, there are some other details, but I'm not sure how important they are at the moment. Would you mind trying Iussus's door with me? If he's in there, I'd like to speak to him. We can't go back into Verita's, but we should at least try another.

[fortune_sought]

Of course not. Where do we find his door?

[collector]

Southwest, so we should stick to this side and just head south.

[fortune_sought]

[nods] All right. But is there anything else we should discuss? Before we leave this room?

[collector]

I don't think so. Not anything especially pertinent, anyway.

[fortune_sought]

Then we should go. [starts for the door on the southern end of the room]

[collector]

[He walks with her, a little distracted by the thoughts he's going over]

[fortune_sought]

[that's all right, Sophie's quite occupied by thoughts of her own. she does at least notice when they've reached the door. she holds up her CAT to it]

[luministimods]

[the door gives a buzz of rejection without asking any question at all]

[collector]

That's not promising. [Brax tries his, just to be thorough]

[luministimods]

[again, the door buzzes its rejection]

[fortune_sought]

[stares at it, aghast] It would lock us out now!

[collector]

At least that further proves the point that we were meant to get into one. And presumably we'll have to rely on one another if we want any real distribution of information.