Salem Vicarious, Lord of Lost Things
“Trying to keep track of the situation. Unlike some I couldn't keep an eye on the proceedings personally, but our resident mannequin elected to preserve the suspense for the rest of us.”
"I'm sorry, you didn't tell me you wanted the play-by-play," Salem snarkily replied in an attempt to deflect responsibility,
"I thought you went out to talk business with the gorgon, didn't think it would take you so long to get there yourself." The truth of the matter was that Salem had simply forgotten about the Collect Call as well as their role as surveillance. Just seeing how easily Morgan had scared away Chuunitrixx in Amberden and not having enough time to formulate a proper response was enough to fluster Salem to the point of forgetting their duties.
But the more pressing question was, 'what do to now?' Graft made a fair argument, but Salem still thought their own idea held water. No longer needing their boss monster form, Salem reconstructed their usual boyish doll's body, leaving the pieces of their hulking horror in a heap, and hovered casually towards the group.
"I'm not suggesting that we simply bow our heads, relinquish Lord Rodias, and become henceforth ungoverned and disorganized. But the fact of the matter is: we barely know what this other guild even wants. Surely you understand the importance of negotiation and discussing terms. It seems they want to recruit Lord Rodias. I don't see how that's mutually exclusive from Rodias remaining as Lord of Bandersnatch, so long as Lord Rodias can convince them that his remaining as Lord of our Chateau makes him more useful to them than not. Instead we elevated hostilities based on petty pride. Yes, I saw it. Our Chuunitrixx went into Amberden for a little fresh air and ran into the gorgon, who proceeded to scare our little Chuunitrixx shitless. I'll admit, I was scared just watching. Anyways, she returned to the Chateau with her proverbial tail between her legs. So the shot she fired, which set this whole thing off, was no doubt in retaliation for the slight of being intimidated. But I don't exactly blame Chuunitrixx. She was just doing her job."Salem then turned their heterochromic gaze upon Rodias,
"While we're on the topic of 'petty pride'; you talk about 'respect', you talk about 'the children of your friends'. Do you know what your 'friends' did to their 'children' behind closed doors?" Salem shot a hard glance over at Tabula, then another hard glare at Graft, before continuing,
"Even your most logical Chapter Keeper refuses to acknowledge it or address it. Maybe for you, Rodias, the Chateau was built on mutual effort and camaraderie, but for us, it was built on pain, sacrifice, experimentation, and expendability. Maybe the things that this Guild stands for don't deserve to be protected. You wanted to defy those who would 'disrespect' us and treat us like 'insects'. To that I have two things to say: first, this is the result," Salem pointed at Ratta's head,
"And secondly, we were 'disrespected' long before Morgangorgon showed up. Confront the sins of your 'friends' before telling us that you care."Salem turned away, realizing that they were shaking, and that the pile of discarded body parts and cheap weapons also rattled in anticipation of a fight. Salem's facade of flippant disregard and childish irreverence had fallen and the doll realized this. Despite the building resentment, Salem's memory of their past before coming to this world had themself being ever obedient and faithful; patient, believing that everything Dr.Drd did was for some 'higher purpose', and simply accepting whatever was done to themself. Even after Dr.Drd's disappearance, Salem waited patiently, longingly, for his return. This world had changed them. Salem's voice, now shaking, said,
"Graft is right. We're disorganized, and our priorities are all a-jumble. You say you want to protect us and ask us for our thoughts, but we are supposed to protect and obey you. We haven't been fulfilling our roles properly anymore since we came to this world. None of that matters right now. What we should do first is use the guild's gold to resurrect Ratta." Resurrection was a luxury not afforded to Salem. Dr.Drd had created Salem with too many item properties for resurrection to be viable on the Eye of Dread. So it stood to reason that Salem would see Ratta's death as more than a little threatening. But the more Salem thought about it, the more Salem remembered how often Dr.Drd abused the resurrection mechanic, to the point that other guild members would chide him for wasting guild money. Dr.Drd sometimes preferred to die in the safety and comfort of the Chateau and be resurrected just to cleanse himself of a particularly nasty debuff, since negative statuses did not linger after death. He would claim that it was easier and cheaper than crafting or using a panacea. Salem had no way of knowing what this unfortunate tendency ultimately meant for Dr.Drd in real life, but it did give Salem an idea.
"And assuming resurrection still works the same in this world; Gods, Chuunitrixx is going to think I have it out for her; but assuming its the same, I suggest we kill Chuunitrixx and resurrect her. Or, I don't know, she kills herself? Or Enderall or Karynn kill her if she doesn't trust us to do it, or maybe she'd rather die in the arms of 'her Lord Rodias'? Whatever the case, she's suffering from a dismemberment that wont heal. But lingering negative effects like that don't persist after death and resurrection."After making this suggestion, Salem fell sullen. The time for fun and games was over. Salem looked again at Tabula. Surely there were more members of the Chateau who had suffered abuse and would agree with what Salem had said, unless Salem and Tabula were just the unlucky ones. No, Chuunitrixx must also have suffered similarly for her to behave as immaturely as Salem. The only advantage Salem had when it came to impulse control and logical thinking was that Dr.Drd created Salem with certain aspects of a computer, not that it really helped much at all. If anything, Isolde better exemplified what a computer-like character was, and even she had her quirks and idiosyncrasies. On the topic of Isolde, Salem realized something,
"Isolde was defeated by Morgangorgon, right? I saw Morgan chase the ESPER Wings into the forest where I lost track of them. We should find her remains and resurrect her with Ratta. Assuming they traveled in a straight line, I have a vague idea where in the forest she might be, though the ESPER Wings likely have a better idea than I do. I can go pick her up, I have to move some trash around anyways." Salem lifted their pile of mannequin parts into the air, signaling that they were preparing to pack up and return to The City of Lost Things, yet Salem lingered, deciding not to leave until the conversation was well and truly over.
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