video | 01

[pharmaka]

[ For a brief moment after the camera flickers on, Circe appears uncertain, and then her expression at once resolves into a calm, unstirred facade, cool as a plane of water. She has unglamorous auburn hair set back in a tousled braid, eyes of an odd, subtly gold sheen, and a plain, even voice. ]

Well. I do not know whether it is for the better that most of the plants and animals and the like are familiar to me here. It would surely be a better preoccupation than what I was assigned, to acquaint myself with the local wildlife, so perhaps I will do it nonetheless. It has been made clear to me that there is an almost impossibly large amount of land to be seen.

Given I am unfamiliar with travel and with this country, I thought I would seek suggestions. In particular... [ a short pause ] I find I miss the sea. I had heard of deserts, but they are not so lovely a place to live as they are to hear tales of. And the same can be said of cities of men.

[ That is it. She says nothing about the confusion, the mingled hope and fear, that all this freedom and newness has set about in her. She is quite possibly the only divine being here. It is impossible to tell. Is that her father, keeping eye on her in the sky? If it is, she doubts he is about to say hello. In some respects she is as alone as she ever was.

In others... There are more people, more mortals, and more land than she has ever given thought to in her long life. It is thrilling and terrifying at the same time, and Circe dares to betray as little of it as she can manage. ]

Comments

[bindsthedead]

I'm a Charter mage, though I also practice necromancy- to bind the Dead and make them rest, not to raise them. [Because people quite understandably get upset about the other kind.]

[pharmaka]

[ She's momentarily surprised, before she adjusts. Circe expects she'll have many more such moments here before she ceases to be amazed at what she hears. ]

A commendable pursuit. Is that not a singularly rare ability? Or is it more common where you're from? It is my thought that the Dead listen to very few voices.

[bindsthedead]

It is... not common, no. But perhaps less rare than it should be- not everyone uses it the way I do.

[pharmaka]

I wish that could surprise me, [ she murmurs. ] Yet it must be fulfilling to put them to rest, I would imagine, whatever the opposition. They must be glad to go.

[bindsthedead]

Many of them are glad, yes... though others try to linger in Life, stealing life from the living to try to delay their own passing.

[pharmaka]

It seems a natural impulse. Men and gods alike are greedy, and afraid of change. We all cling to what we know, and death is so unknowable. I am sure once they have passed that they are glad then.

[bindsthedead]

I hope so. But what lies beyond is not for the living to know.

[pharmaka]

I have heard tales of what death is like for mortals, but as you say, they are tales only. The gods of the underworld are a strange sort, and do not speak to one such as me.

[bindsthedead]

You even have gods for Death? Well, I hope they perform their duties properly.

[pharmaka]

There are gods for everything, more than there are stars in the sky. I have never heard a complaint about the underworld except that it is inescapable. Their rules are immutable, as constant as the tides.

[bindsthedead]

Then your world is better off than mine, in that regard.

[pharmaka]

What is the state of things for the dead in yours?

[bindsthedead]

The boundary between Life and Death is... easily breached. And Dead who have not yet passed a certain point can return with sufficient determination.

[pharmaka]

That is where you come in?

[ Circe is naturally curious about others' tales -- the primary motive for her association with Hermes -- starved for news and chatter as she is on Aiaia. ]

[bindsthedead]

Yes. Abhorsen's duty is to force them back, so they will not walk in Life.

[pharmaka]

The way you say that, it sounds as if they are loathe to go. Is there much of that to do in this realm? It was my understanding that death does not seem to take for us.