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[politestpirate]

Sometime after this.

If Tom has seen fit to warn Wellard-

Wellard can think of a few other people to pass the warning on to. Namely, Finn. Which is why he has found himself outside of Finn's room after looking through the bar and lake area for his friend.

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[takiena_called]

Finn's laying on the floor of his room, head propped up on a hand (elbow digging into the floor) as he fiddles with a puzzle the bar gave him.

There are five pieces put together, one jammed into place. He's been working on it a solid twenty minutes.

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

The door to Finn's room is shut, but unlocked. It rarely is, but Wellard still knocks-

Even if he will push the door open after a few moments, if he does not get an answer.

[takiena_called]

The only person who knocks on Finn's door is Wellard. So he doesn't do much more than prop himself up a little more, turning towards the door.

Presumably Wellard will enter, and say something like Finn the sails were stained pink or some other horrible news. And Finn, being his friend, won't laugh at him.

Maybe.

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

If Wellard was dealing with the ship's sails being stained pink, or any other similar sort of situation, there would be less knocking and more yelling, perhaps.

This sort of news and situation is... different.

Very different.

It is a very somber Wellard that soon opens the door and slips into Finn's room.

[takiena_called]

Which is what makes Finn straighten and rise, easy and loose.

Belying that is the cautious expression on his face.

"What's wrong?"

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

Good question. Wellard pauses a moment, letting the door click shut behind him before he steps further inside.

"Nothing is wrong, at the moment. Hopefully."

He has Tom's note folded up in one hand, and starts tapping it again his leg.

"I've mentioned Lord Ostium of the House of Arch to you, I believe? If you've not met him here at Milliways already? He, or the Lady Door, or their daughter Ingress?"

[takiena_called]

"...they live underground?" Finn ventures, having settled slightly. He tilts his head, eyes following the note.

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"In London Below, yes. They come and go through the painting in the bar- it leads to the House of Arch. I- I do not know if anyone else that I know of comes from London Below asides from them. At least until now."

Wellard holds up Tom's note. "Apparently a couple of men from there have showed up here at Milliways. Lord Ostium left a warning about them."

[takiena_called]

Ah. That explains the paper. Finn's attention shifts from it to Henry's face.

"Are they angry with him?"

Do they want to kill him? Is Henry going to try to get involved?

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

Wellard glances at the note, frowning thoughtfully.

"... He isn't sure what time they're from, but they killed the Lady Door's family- or they will, or... who knows."

Milliways and timelines. Who really knows.

"Either which way, he is warning people to be careful of them, and to keep a watch for the House of Arch if possible."

[takiena_called]

Finn's killed a lot of people. He's not sure he sees the relevance.

That makes him pause, and backtrack slightly: Lady Door? The wife of Lord Ostium. All right.

"Are--do they want her dead too?" And if he sounds a little confused, well--he is. "Do they kill a lot of people?"

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

It is relevant in 1- who you are friends with and 2- who is doing the killing-

At least in how Wellard sees it.

(Asides from the whole morality of murder, that is.)

"... I don't know how many people they've killed." Wellard shrug. "Or if they're planning on killing more people. Hopefully they'll follow the rules here at Milliways, but in any case they're certainly enemies of the House of Arch."

[takiena_called]

"I meant--" Finn cuts off, and shakes his head. "If they kill a lot of people they might not care about the rules."

Finn doesn't, except in a periphary sense. Wellard does, which is more important.

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

"Well, if they start breaking the rules and killing people, then Security will deal with them." Wellard nods sharply.

That is, if someone does not manage to kill them first in self-defense.

"Hopefully they'll keep by the rules, however. And I don't think Lord Ostium would want any of us to break the rules and start any trouble ourselves- he's just warned us to be careful and to try to keep a watch out for the House of Arch."

[takiena_called]

Finn nods, leaning against the foot of his bed. "What do they look like?"

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

He bites his lip, and unfolds the note to re-read Tom's description. "A man named Croup, short and loquacious, and then a man named Vandemar, tall."

Wellard shrugs, and folds the note back up to finally slip it into a pocket. "Thugs and brutes, I gather- though evil can often be charming when it wishes to be, and evil men as well."

This is one lesson Milliways has taught him well.

[takiena_called]

"--Locayjus?" Finn stumbles over the word, uncertainly.

Then, curious, "You think they're of the Dark?"

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

Wellard's lips twitch in a faint, wry smile. "Talkative."

A deep breath, and he carefully moves to sit down on the floor next to Finn and the puzzle.

"Someone doesn't have to be of the Dark to kill others, or do evil. I doubt if a handful of men from history who've done such things ever were."

[takiena_called]

"Well, no," Finn says, and his tone is dry. "But you --said that they were evil. Not--what they did."

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

Wellard rather studiously looks over the puzzle laid out on the floor while he organizes his thoughts on that matter.

"... Alright. Lord Ostium did not mention that they were evil. But he did say that they killed the Lady Door's family and kidnapped Ingress. And as they are hardly evil people themselves-" Dryly.

"-Then usually people with no good intent do such things. So there is that, at the least.

"And he's seen fit to warn me and others about them, and ask for our help in watching out for his home and family. The whole question of if these two are evil or not is beside the matter that..."

He takes a deep breath, and looks up from the puzzle to Finn.

"That he's asked this of me, and he's my friend."

[takiena_called]

"I didn't say I wouldn't," says Finn, uncertainly. "I just didn't know which they were. Are."

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

Wellard's lips twitch, and he looks back down to the puzzle, picking up a piece and connecting it with another.

"And I don't really know either- I was jumping to conclusions with how I think of things, which certainly isn't the best to do." He shrugs. "But I am trusting Lord Ostium's judgement in this matter, since he knows the situation."

[takiena_called]

It's a picture of the Grand Canyon of some Earth (one with a glass-and-metal city arching over the top), though that's hard to tell at the moment.

"Okay," Finn agrees, peacably. He can live with that.

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

Thankfully, that is logic that the both of them can work with.



It will only take Wellard ten more minutes to get the frame of the puzzle pieced together, and then they can continue on from there.