Zephi's Memories

Honestly, this is largely for me! But this is where I'll put transcriptions of Zephi's memories.

## Elven Wine and The First Glimpse of Billy

##### Session 17; 34:25 - 36:00

Triggered by: Sellis offers a Creon a bottle of Sellurus wine to buy, our first night at the Sloe-Down on Orlin.

Standing in a large ornate hall, Zephi sees Elves all around. One walks up and offers a bottle to her, saying, "For you, Ms. Velhiri. And your father, if he wishes." Zephi turns to her left, smiling, and for the first time in 400 years, sees: A human man, with a thin black goatee, floppy black hair that seems somehow greased and completely wavy and immaculate. He wears a finely tailored red suit and is sitting relaxed, sitting with his legs crossed, and says, "Looks wonderful." with a grin. It's Billy Velhiri. [End Memory]

## Aboard the Starship Crimson

###### Session 18; 1:11:15-11:13:50

Triggered by: Zephi and Gerome finding a reward listed for a missing ship in the Classifieds section of Major Arcana, and Zephi hearing the name The Starship Crimson spoken aloud.

The name Starship Crimson pops in Zephi's head. Woosh, and she's falling back.

Zephi is sitting and sees Billy Velhiri behind a large desk, mulling over some papers. Behind him is a large portrait of himself, giving finger guns. But the Billy behind the desk looks concerned. He sighs.

"Zephi I...." He takes a breath. "He seems wonderful; he seems great... I don't want you to find this thing. You understand me?" A frustrated and confused Zephi responds, "No, why?!"

"I'm scared of what happens if you find it. I understand what kind of business that we're in, and I understand what kind of thing we've sold over the years, but there's a *limit*. Someone comes into contact with *this*, it might be the best sell of our entire career, but it also might be what ends our career, by sheer fact that *everything* ends. You understand that, right?"

"That feels a little dramatic."

"It's a dramatic thing." Billy tries to compose himself; "Zephi what your mother was talking about with the orb... there's a reason that people... there's a reason that demand extends beyond Zamana. There's a reason that the demand is really prevalent back at home. And Jacob... he means *well*, but he doesn't have the full picture."

"Then give it to me! Full picture. Right now."

"If you were--" Billy starts, but quickly, the memory is over. [End Memory]

## The Orb

###### Session 22; 38:55-48:20

Trigger: Zephi drifts into sleep and into the blackness, and she can sense The Creature sauntering behind her.

> Voice: Hello Zephi. We Found something. We were digging, memories, and we found… we found the moment before it all went dark. Would you like to watch?
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> Zephi: I think that’d be… prudent.
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> Voice: Sure. Come with me.
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>

He puts long, spindally claws on her shoulder.

Standing in the hole of a ship; the whole thing is crafted of a white metal, with purple inlays. There are crates and boxes, filled with what looks to be long dried up supplies. She looks over and sees Jacob, riffling through some things, and remembers they’re both searching for something. She can’t remember what, but she knows it’s something in all of the disarray. It’s not a frenzied search, but they’ve definitely /been/ looking for it. It’s important.

She looks around for a bit, finding nothing, before hearing, “Hey? Zephi?”

 “Yeah?”
“Hold on—”

“What? Did you find it?”
“I think I found it—”

Zephi gives a tiny gasp. he reaches down and pulls out a golden box, setting it down in front of her. It’s inlay with dozens of clockworks, tightly fixed together.

“Right um… I mean I think this is it, right? I mean… this looks like something you would hide an orb of unimaginable power inside of, right?”

“Sounds like—yeah, it’s the closest we’ve gotten so far.” The two just stare at it, and try to calm their nerves;

“Okay, uh—”
“Okay.”
“Do you wanna—should we open this here, should we go above deck in case it… you know…”

“Right, ah—above deck is probably good? I mean, do we want—

“Sure—”

“Can we move it safely?”

“I mean I picked it up I think we could move it safely—”

The two agree and head back up—Zephi can’t remember, though, how they got down there, or how they got back up. She hears The Voice say, “Sorry, this part is lost.” But she remembers feeling nervous, and jittery, and so happy to be there with him. WOOSH. Back in the memory.

Standing on the deck, she can see the small skiff they arrived on, the gangplank lowered, connecting the two. The ship she’s on is old, metal, and yet somehow still decrepit, and rotting, as though it’s been floating in space for quite some time. It looks as though there’s a few pieces of deactivated machinery—did she do that? Did Jacob? She can’t remember. Jacob sets down the box. “Okay, ah, let’s see— can you help me try to pick it open?”

They work together, trying to figure out where to start—Zephi points something out and Jacob gets excited, and begins to trace a thread along, and seems to understand how to do it. He asks if she’s ready, and, well, yeah, lets go. She’s still nervous, but it’s more like excitement now. He presses a small button, turns something, adjusts something else and suddenly there’s a click, and the lid opens, releasing some steam. Zephi grabs Jacob’s arm. He takes a few breaths to calm himself, and opens the lid. The two peer over the top and look inside.

Inside is an orb, glittering, with all the light of every star twinkling. And deep, deep inside of this glass orb, which glows and radiates pure, palpable magical energy, is a small depiction of a three-dimensional tree, crystalline and glowing.

“That’s is. I mean, that’s…”

Zephi starts laughing. “That’s it!” The nerves are gone and she’s almost shaking with excitement.

“Um, your dad’s gonna be /really/ excited about that. I know he was kind of pissed and everything, but—I—we got results.”

“No, no, it’s gonna… he’ll be proud. I know. I know it. It’s all good. It’s worth it.”

“Yeah.” They’re both almost breathless with the shock of it all.

“You did it!” Zephi says, shaking his arm a little.

“Hey! This was, um—”

“We did it!”

“This was a joint effort.” He gives a small laugh.

“But you—you— yeah.” They both giggle some more.

“…What do we do now? I mean…”

“Keep it very, very safe? Do we… Can we touch? No, we probably shouldn’t touch. It, I mean.”
“Do you wanna touch it?”
“I’m scared!”
“It shouldn’t DO anything. Just don’t cast a spell with it.”

“No but, it just feels like, when I, you know,” Zephi mimes an explosion, “I feel like it’d be like that but… all the time.”
“Yeah, no I know. Touch it! See what happens!”

They agree to touch it, but only together, at the same time. They hold onto each other with one hand and the other,  they lay on the orb. Immediately, they both feel an immense wash of power and energy—her hand almost starts to feel like it’s… burning? But then it calms, and cools, and it’s alright.

They’re both taken aback by how much power it really is. “So, Orb of Universal Casting. Found. Ready to be delivered.”

Zephi steels herself a bit. “Do we… actually, Jacob, I wanted to say th—” but Jacob is distracted. He’s looking at the orb, and the box, and has a strange look on his face. “Jacob? What’s wrong?”

“It’s…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, this thing you pointed out here on the side… That thing, it…” They hear something click.

“Zephi, get you hand off it, Zephi get your hand off it—” She does so right away, jerking back but still holding tight to Jacob with the other hand. The box starts to shake and violently move, and Zephi tries to pull Jacob back with her, but she watches him have a revelation.

“SHIT. Sorry Billy.” Jacob grabs her arm, and she watches him rip something off his chest, hanging from his neck.

“Don’t!”

He looks her in the eye. “I love you.”

Zephi screams out a No, but Jacob smashes the red crystal he’d ripped from himself directly into Zephi’s chest. It explodes outwards, and she hears him say some gibberish, but sprinkled among it, a very clear “400!” as he splays his hand out toward her. Zephi is jettisoned backward, and the last thing she sees before the entire ship is consumed in bright red light is Jacob, his hand still stretched toward her, while beside him, the box begins to blast waves of energy outward. Zephi, in a desperate attempt to pull Jacob with her, throws every ounce of magic she has in her body toward him. Tendrils of color, energy, and pure magic whip out, trying to reach and meet his outstretched hand, but it’s too late; she’s too far gone. [End Memory]

## The Soul Vice

Session 26

Triggered by: Zephi saw a vision of Billy in a doorway, and rolled her first nat one on Full Zephi Mode, causing her to scream, convulse, accidentally cast shatter, and collapse.

> Voice: So… that was alarming.
>
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> Zephi: I—Yep, yep, yeah, yep, yeah, yes, yes. Yes.
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> Voice: He’s alive, then.
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> Zephi: No. No. That was fake. [pause] Yes! He’s—no, he’s—may—not—dead. Not dead. Maybe? That wasn’t him.
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> Voice: Perhaps. How are we going to get you out of here?
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> Zephi: I don’t know.
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> Voice: It’s a deep well you’ve dug yourself in here, Zephi.
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> Zephi: Didn’t dig my—self, you dug it—you dug, you dug in here. You’re in here. Why are you here. Why are *you* here?!
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> Voice: I told you. We’re here… to find the orb. You’re our best chance.
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> Zephi: Found it, it’s gone! It’s gone!
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> Voice: We can find it again.
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> Zephi: Finding—Jacob. Find me—Hector? Soul vice. Soul vice.
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> Voice: We should probably talk to him then, shouldn’t we?
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> Zephi: Well—
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> Voice: Perhaps a way to wake you up.
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>

She falls back into a memory.

Zephi creeps down a large hallway, brimming with a firm orange rock. There seems to be smoke at every corner wafting off of it gently. Eventually she comes to the end, her destination, and she can hear hushed voices. Leaning up against the door she hears the voice of her father.

"Listen, kid I don’t… I don’t fully trust you, but Zephi seems to like you. I mean, she brought you *here*, of all place, which is… well that’s high praise. Not many people that she trusts to ah… meet her mom," Billy says. "*But—* I will let you go. Prohibitively, on this journey, if you *want* to with her. But you promise me that if anything happens, *anything* happens, and you think that she’s going to get hurt in a way that she can’t come back from, you use this.

On the other side of the door, something is exchanged. She hears the rather nervous voice of Jacob speak next. "Yeah, uh, um… Mr. Velhiri, I’ll… I’ll do my best—w—what is it?"

Billy sighs softly and seems to think for a moment. "…Give her a number. Just give her a number, a number of years you want her safe, and it’ll protect her for that amount of time. Gives *you* enough time to find her. And I *swear to god:* if you use this on her, and you die before you find her? I’m gonna tear you a new one son."

"Yeah no um—" Jacob says quickly, "—hear you loud and clear.

[End Memory]

## Caterpillar Cocoons

Session 27; 3:40:50

Trigger: At the Mansar Markets on Nym, Zephi pokes around and sees an older market stall that looks familiar. There’s a small gnomish woman behind a counter with a bunch of beetles and insects and spices and nuts. Zephi approaches, and the mint-chocolate caterpillars spark a memory, so she buys half a pound.She pokes and prods and asks how long the stand has been here. The gnomes mother used to run it, her name was Rosalie. This finally triggers a memory.

Zephi stands at the Mansar Markets, 400 years previously, with Jacob Willsworth. They walk down the block, side by side. Jacob seems nervous, ringing his hands.

“I don’t, I mean, Zephi, I can’t even cat that spell yet, I don’t know why we’re gonna get the components for it, it’s—“

“You should always be prepared,” Zephi replies, tugging on his arm. He sighs deeply. “Okay, um… they sell bugs, they gotta have some.”

“Yeah,” Zephi agrees. “Well, there are bugs everywhere. These will be good bugs. High quality. These bugs went to the Prime Institute.” They approach the same small stall Zephi stands at in the present, led by a gnomish woman who looks similar to the one she just met.“Hello! My name is Rosalie, welcome to my shop, what can I do for you?”

Jacob, nervous, stutters for a moment, before Zephi leans against the stall and begins to work her magic.

“Hel*lo* my darling dearest, Rosalie? It’s very nice to meet you, lovely, even. Um—we need a caterpillar carcass, I believe? Something like that?"

“Just a cocoon is fine,” Jacob amends.

“Oh, yeah—they’re refuse, we have plenty of those. I can sell you some no problem. I’ll say… 6 copper?”

Zephi slides her the coins and says, “If you have more extra, we’d be happy to take it off your hands.” Zephi slides over more copper.

“Oh, okay! Yeah, here’s some more!” And Rosalie brings out some more cocoons.

“O-Okay. I only need one but—thank you Zephi.”

“You never know!”

“O—okay. Yeah, that’s fair. Ah, alright.”

Zephi turns to Rosalie, resting her head in her hands and looking around the stall. “And how are you? How is business here, is this a family business? Have you been here long? You’ve got prime real estate here, great location.”

“Oh well—business is great!” They chat for a bit, while Jacob sets the caterpillar cocoons away carefully and adjusts his bag.

Zephi lets the conversation taper as Jacob gets ready to leave. “Alright, we really must be going, unfortunately—bye now! You take care!” She tips a few gold, and she and Jacob leave.

“See? Now we’ve made a friend, we have what you need, and we have extra~!” Zephi says, grabbing his arm up.

“Yeah.” Jacob says. He seems dour, to say the least.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh… It just. It just got a lot more real. All of a sudden. Um…”

“And we have so many—of course it’s real. It’s already real. It’s always been real.”

“Um… Yeah. Yeah.”

“Do we need anything else here?”

“No, lets just… lets just keep looking for the orb. We can probably find some more, there’s a spot that might have some information. We might want to talk to…. The library at the Tinkerer’s Guild might have something.”

“Okay, is there anything else here we need for the spell, though? Any last components?”

“Well… we could… I need some gum arabic, some mercury, I don’t know if they’re gonna have mercury here, I heard there’s this shop called Poins’ Potions, he might have some… We’ll have to check down in Tinkertown for that—“ [End memory.]

## Let's Make a Deal

Session 32

> Voices: So. Parlay.
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> Zephi: HI. I feel like we’ve gotten off to the wrong foot. I have a lot of questions, I think you probably do too. What’s your name? My name’s Zephi.
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> Voices: We’ve been working at this. I don’t have a name anymore. I did have one, once. Leopold. That’s the—
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> Zephi: That’s, can I tell you? That’s a great name. I’m gonna call you Leopold. Can I call you Leo? Can I call you Pold? Nah, it’s Leopold, eh, I’ll just call you whatever I want. Uh, got some questions, I think some things have been sort of miscommunicated, or maybe not communicated at all—did we make a deal that I’ve forgotten about? As you may understand, I can’t remember anything.
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> Voices: Would you like us to remind you?
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> Zephi: DESPERATELY!
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Zephi stands in a red stone hallway, smoke lazily billowing up from the stonework. It looks like the same place as her last memory-- same stone, same architecture. She sees in front of her four hunched figures, just like she sees in her mind, but with large purple cloaks covering most of their features. The one in the front speaks up.

"As you understand, Ms. Velhiri," he rasps, "You mother has not been understanding of our deal. Or what we seek to do." He continues on, eagerly, "We would protect you, we would protect The Rings, we would protect your mother's realm. That is not what Vash wishes to damage. We only seek the orb, and if you were to help us retrieve it, we would make your father *powerful*, powerful beyond any measure he's ever been before. Billy Velhiri would be a name that would live throughout history, even moreso than it will be already. Billy Velhiri *himself* could live throughout history."

Zephi seems casual, unphased. "I mean it's tempting, don't get me wrong, you're giving me a million and one reasons, but I..." she looks around. "I just want to make sure. This is... things would be safe in the meantime, right?"

"Of course, of course!"

"This isn't a-- a hostage situation, right? Because--"

"No no, of course not. We're not going to do anything to your father. All we need is for you to understand what this quest is for! It's for the good of Zamana. It's for you! It's for the Velhiri family. Here-- as a token of our advance appreciation." From inside his cloak, the speaking figure pulls out a lute.

"This was once mine. Take it, please."

Zephi raises an eyebrow, though she takes it, turning it over in her hands. "A lute, I-- I think you misunderstand, I'm not the musician in the family, far from it. I can carry a tune, but--"

"No," agrees the speaking figure, now more clearly Leopold, "But I was. And this is one of my most prized possessions. Before my world turned to what it was, before Echton did what she did, well, this lute enchanted the greatest of the king's halls. It wooed people. Just like you do, Ms. Velhiri."

"Well, thank you." She pulls back the lute to look at it more clearly. "I appreciate it. And, you know, accept, and all that." She plucks a few notes, and suddenly a light from inside the body glows, illuminating a blue gem. "Oh, my goodness, what? I-- You seem to have forgotten something in here?"

"No, not at all. We'll have to assist you, of course, not in any meaningful way-- you won't be able to hear us or anything, but we'll be present. To guide you. Suggestions, and what have you, throughout this process," he says cheerfully. "We'll just stay here, in the lute, communicating."

"Oh, inside. Oh." Zephi turns to lute over once more. "Okay," she says slowly, "Well. Do you have any leads? Because I... I do enjoy a good mystery, but I need a clue. Also, me? Are we sure? I know why *I* would want to do it, but why would *you* pick *me*?"

"Ms. Velhiri. You have a way with people, with your word. And... we've heard some abilities, as well."

"Oh--" She seems a little embarrassed, "Sometimes it does just, just happen--"

"Right. We could help you control that. Focus your innate abilities. You'd just have to let us be present. As for leads, there's a young doctoral candidate from the Prime Institute doing a study of Zamana. He's located currently on Nafrin. He goes by the name of Jacob, Jacob Willsworth. We think he'd be the right person for you to speak to first."

He sighs. "Sounds fine, I suppose. I mean, all the best people drop out of the Prime Institute anyway, but that's fine."

"He's on sabbatical."

"Perfect. Alright, I suppose that does it. Do I owe you something here? Do you owe me? This isn't the type of business dealing I'm used to."

"You bring us the orb, and we will make your father a champion throughout history."

Zephi stays silent, looking down at the lute, and the floor. There's quiet for a long, long moment. "Well. He could do it himself," she finally says, "but I do want to be useful."

"A little help wouldn't hurt," Leopold agrees.

She puts out her hand for a handshake. A long talon reaches out of the robe, wrapping around her hand, and beneath the cloak, an eye flashes blue. The cloaks fall limp as all four are sucked into the stone in the lute. The hall is empty, but the gem in the lute glows for a moment.

[End Memory.]

## Audience With Her Majesty

[Triggered by: An hour after her first Nat 20 Full Zephi Mode roll, Leopold suddenly yanks her unconscious.]

As she falls away from the Coven, Zephi sinks into darkness she’s grown accustomed to. She hits the ground with a dull thud and Leopold’s sloping form appears from behind her.

> Leopold: I’m sorry to interrupt… but we’ve found something for you. The memory of when we first met. We’ve expanded on it. Would you like to see?
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> Zephi: Great--- yeah. Sure. Sorry, yeah—this was just it’s never happened like this, has it? Sorry just… go.
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> Leopold: No. This felt… pressing.
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The familiar rush greets her as the space expands and becomes a room of deep, red colored stone. It leaks a faint black smoke. Across from her, in a plush chair behind a desk made of ebony, is her father.

He leans forward and rubs his head. “Ugh. Zephi. I thought—I thought we had the outbursts under control. At least in public.”

“Well things happen, don’t they?!” She takes a breath. “Sorry.”

“Right but—what’d the paparazzi even say that sent you off?”

Zephi, full of anxious energy, speaks a mile a minute. “You know, does it matter?! Does it really matter, if they said something bad, and rude, and—” she cuts herself off as she gets angrier and angrier. She takes a deeper breath. “Sorry. They were just… does it really matter?”

Billy looks down for a minute, and there’s a silence. Finally, he says; “Was it about me? You were trying to defend me?”

She nods, and starts to explain, but Billy cuts her off. “Zephi, I’ve, I’ve made mistakes in my life, I have. I understand that. But… I don’t need you to jump out there and defend me for them. Or defend me against conspiracy—that’s just what they do. It’s their job.”

“I get it, but it doesn’t matter what their job is, maybe they shouldn’t be doing it! And if it is their job, hell, this is just a risk they signed up for! They can’t tell me you’re a negligent father and expect me to ***take that*** sitting down! They know who I am, what I do!” She takes yet another calming breath. “Listen. I know it doesn’t upset you the way it upsets me, but the point is that it ***upsets me,”*** she spits.

“I know.”

“I don’t understand why it doesn’t get to you! …Sorry.”

“Well, that might be your mother talking.”

“I’m working on it, I promise.”

Billy leans back. “I love you, and I trust you.” Zephi nods, and he changes the subject. “Ah, there’s some visitors coming to speak with your mother; thought it might be interesting, want to go watch?”

“Sure, yeah. Sorry. Just… in my mind. Or out of it, I suppose.”

“It’s okay. C’mon.” They stand and leave together, walking close. They walk down red tinted hallways, and Zephi glances out a window as she goes.

She sees the planet-sized stone circle, hanging in the sky above an ashen wasteland. Eventually they come to what looks like… no, she remembers. It’s the throne room. They enter from a door behind the throne, and though she can’t make out who’s sitting there, she hears a voice, pristine and soft, flashing daggers beneath it.

“So! You come to my ring *why*? We don’t know much about this ‘Primus’ you hail from.”

Zephi turns to look at the person this was directed at, and sees a purple cloaked figure, Leopold, with his three companions.

“Your majesty. We bring word from the master of our Sphere. We seek something within Zamana. An orb. It is of little consequence to other life, but it is critical to the survival of our people.”

The person in the high-backed throne waves her hand, and for a second Zephi sees it—a deep red with curling, elegant fingers. “Enough. I know the orb you speak of. It’s not something mortals should trifle with.”

“With all due respect,” Leopold rasps, “we wish only for passage through the rings to Zamana. Our master knows not it is located there; it is by *divination* we have located it. We should not cause any other troubles in retrieving this device.”

She pauses. Zephi can feel resignation and tension brewing from her.

“You have one day to leave the rings.”

“Your majesty!!”

The hand is raised again. “Be thankful. You found me in a *good* mood. My daughter gave me a manicure this morning.”

Her mother sounds like she means to continue, but Leopold interrupts, visibly confused. “W—What?”

“A manicure,” her mother replies. “It’s a mortal invention… it’s undoubtedly pleasing, I must say.”

“You have a daughter, your majesty?”

“…I do, why?”

“It is nothing your majesty. We will adjourn at once from your court. May the blessings of the old king rest on you and your family.”

The memory shifts violently, and Zephi hears Leopold’s voice; “Again, patches are missing here, but then I remember we picked up here.”

Back in the corridor where she first met Leopold now, Zephi watches as they once again hand her the lute, and disappear inside it as their cloaks fall away.

[End Memory.]

She sits there in the black.

> Leopold: So. We thought that was important.
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> Zephi: YOUR MAJESTY?! You called her *your majesty*?! I’m gonna need to know if that was just an over familiar ***pet*** name or something, or if there’s yet another big fucking thing I’ve been missing.
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> Leopold: Again, Zephi, our memories are as clouded as yours. We’re finding out what we can, that’s what we were able to gather.
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> Zephi: Okay. Okay. That was important. Thank you for that. *[She frowns]*. That wasn’t here, was it.
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> Leopold: You mean Zamana? *[Zephi nods]* No. It doesn’t seem so.
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> Zephi: And you’re not from here?
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> Leopold: I don’t believe I am.
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> Zephi: Well. This is bigger in lot of different directions, more than I was expecting. That makes things about Papa being alive maybe make sense…
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> Leopold: There’s something else Zephi. One last thing.
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> Voice 2: We feel as if we owe you… an apology.
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> Zephi: Makin’ me nervous here.
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> Voice 3: It is clear, the more memories we uncover… that we took advantage of you, Ms. Velhiri.
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> Leopold: We sought to be heroes of our realm, whatever that is and may be. And in doing so, it sees we became villains of yours, or at least of your life. And for that, we apologize. It does not change our goal, we still have a desire and need what we need. But we thought we should recognize the harm we may have caused.
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> Zephi: Well, we’re in it now. We’ll reckon with that later. Just… make it up to me by finding more memories. Actually—I have too many questions, my head hurts. Gods. 400 years changed quite a lot in what I was able to do. Like… what I was talking to papa about. Do you… I lost that. Did you… did you lose things too?
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> Leopold: We lost ourselves. We lost… much of our magics, much of our deeds. We lost our worlds. The concreteness of those thoughts and feelings is lost to us for the time being. But the feelings are real. Loss. Agony. Trauma. Sewn into our very being.
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> Zephi: Yeah. I don’t think that stuff really leaves you. What do you think we do now?
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> Leopold: Retrace our steps. Recover more memories. Find out what happened to us. Retrieve the orb. Whether we use it for the same purposes we originally set out for is a different question for a different time. But it seems to hold great power, and it seems the reason many great forces are hunting it. And it would do great good for us to possess it. You and your friends. Maybe the Silverados mission will be a bit more pure than most others.
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> Zephi: This thing Sheevah’s hunting. Do you think it’s the same thing? Are they connected? I don’t wanna… you know.
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> Leopold: The concepts are linked in our minds. We’re not sure how. We’ll do some digging, Zephi.
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> Zephi: All I can do right now is keep going, but that doesn’t feel like enough, doesn’t feel like I’m being productive. Is there... I don’t know, I feel like I’m just messing it all up, as if I haven’t done that enough.
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> Leopold: What do you feel you’re messing up?
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> Zephi: I haven’t found anything to really connect, I don’t think I’ve made progress, I don’t know anyone I can trust who would know anything about this, I don’t feel like I’m very good at getting the team to work together, I don’t know what I’m—
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> Leopold: Do you know of anyone you can trust, flat out? You speak of trust. What of it have you shown?
>
>

> Zephi: Shown? A hell of a lot I think. Breakdowns, nightmares, combat… you wanna ask me who I trust, I trust my father. That’s always been the answer. But… I’m of no use anymore. You picked someone, 400 years ago, at the height of power. 400 years later, if I were in your position, I wouldn’t have picked this me! I—I—Can I trust anyone? I can’t really trust myself. I… I’d like to think I trust the team. I’m trying really, really hard to trust the team. I spend most of my time trying to trust them. I think some of them trust me, but. I just don’t feel I’m doing enough. Maybe I can’t do this anymore.
>
>

> Leopold: You know, we were… like you all, at one point. Travellers of our lands. That’s what we remember. Trying to stop ills, and heal wrongs, and each other. And it took time, and it took trust. And here we are, far flung from where and when we expected to be, separated from wherever it is we call home, still doing that same thing. Together. And we’re in pain. And suffering. But we’ve not stopped. Do what you will with that.
>
>

> Zephi: And what do you do when everyone else won’t trust? Won’t take those leaps with you? Give me advice, I will take anything, I will take a snippy comeback, because at this point, I am just tired. I feel useless.
>
>

> Leopold: Time… and risk. Trusting anyone is an act of risk, Ms. Velhiri. You risk yourself, you risked yourself in trusting us, and we betrayed that. But, you also risked yourself in trusting Jacob. And, even if you never thought of it, you risk yourself every time you trust your father.
>
>

> Zephi: No I don’t. Jacob was hardly a risk. But definitely not… how do you get someone who's unwilling to take a risk to trust? Because I feel like I’ve risked it all, Leopold! Well, not all. But so much. I have very little left to risk.
>
>

> Leopold: A shared purpose. A shared dream. It brings many together. Right now, you all don’t have that, that’s understandable. But… there are too many connections between all of you to ignore them. *[Zephi flashes her bracelet in acknowledgement]*. That’s one thing. I suspect not long from now, trust will become integral not just to your success, but to the five of you’s very survival. Now… it’s time for you to go back.
>
>

Suddenly, Zephi rushes out of the black.

### The Silent Syndicate

Session 34, 1:14:20-1:27:00 [Triggered by: After Sheevah reads a journal entry from a waterlogged diary found in a Xent cave, the term 'The Syndicate' is referenced. Zephi recognizes ‘the syndicate’ from somewhere, and racks her brain. After a few times of repeating it mentally, she falls back into a memory. 1:14:20]

Zephi stands beside Billy in a long, elegant black room. A table takes up a great deal of it, and at the table sit figures in flourished suits. A woman, a creature with a long eel-like neck attached to the body of a spider clambers up onto the table and looks the two over with an unfriendly eye.

“Hmm. Billy Velhiri. The Silent Syndicate hears your offer. We want it.”

Billy takes a small step forward and adjusts himself. “Right. So. Here’s how this works: I don’t want to *get* it. Ah, I don’t think *you* deserve it, *no one* deserves it, *no one* should have this thing, but *least* of all you folks, you understand that, right? So what *you’re* gonna do, is you’re gonna let me and my lovely daughter go, or her mother will reign *hellfire* against anything you’ve ever constructed.”

“It’s really true, you have no idea,” Zephi adds.

“My darling daughter is right: you really have no idea.”

The woman, who Zephi remembers the name for is a Neogi, is breathing hard and is very displeased. “The Silent Syndicate will punish you for your insolence, Billy Velhiri!”

“No, no, no, I’m sure they will but—” He tsks. “But to do that, you need to be able to get me.”

“What are you talking about, you’re right here!”

He winces on her behalf. “Mm. Am I though?” Billy presses a button on his shoulder, and he and Zephi begin to flutter out of existence—the Neogi cries out a NO and lunges, but the two pop away and reappear in the familiar red stone palace Zephi has seen a few times now.

“Well!” Billy says, dusting himself off though there’s none on him, “That could have ended better, but now we have a bit more information, don’t you think?”

“It’s definitely something!” Zephi looks down and sees herself and Billy wearing outfits as though they had been at a ball.

"I really wasn’t expecting that evening to go the way it did, but… Syndicate is apparently a little mad I don’t do business with them anymore so, well… that’s a problem. We’ll work that out. You good?”

The two giggle for a moment out of nerves. “Yeah! Unexpected is definitely the word. We should… strategize, I think.”

“Oh, definitely. I—I’m worried about this thing. I’ve had quite a few people come to me and ask me for it now, and… I don’t think it should be out there. I don’t think it should just be sitting out there ready for anyone to find, But I don’t… I’m sure as hell not willing to go find it myself.”

“Why not”

“It’s a weapon, right. And you know that’s what we sell, that’s our whole—”

“Exactly, that’s exactly why I don’t understand why you’re so worried about finding it! You’re the best.”

“It’s *the* weapon. It’s—”

“Doesn’t that mean *you* should have it?”

“Zephi, it’s the weapon that puts me out of business, by making sure that no one ever needs a weapon again, because there *is* no one else.” There’s a long silence. “So, yeah, *maybe* we should go find it. But…. It terrifies me. I don’t—I don’t wanna—I don’t—I don’t wanna put my hands on it.”

“No, I get that, but I’m just saying that if *we* found it… *we* wouldn’t use it. *We* know that. We take it *out* of business so we can stay *in* business. And you become the person who took the greatest weapon of all time out of commission, so we don’t have to worry about it. It’s tantamount to saving the world, papa. You just have to spin it the right way.”

Billy is deep in thought. “I like the way you think.”

“I just think we have to consider that there’s more to gain by taking this thing out ourselves. If so many people are coming to you for it, it means so many people are going to be sending out search parties; they’re going to find a way to get it, someone is. But if there’s anyone who can find it, it’s us! It *should be us.* And we would be the only ones who know how to handle it.”

“…I don’t know if I could, Zephi.”

“What?! Of course you could!”

“I’m very good, don’t get me wrong. I am tremendous. But there are… limits. To a… mortal.” He laughs nervously.

“Sure, but you’re different. If *any* mortal can, it’s you. It’s us.”

“…We can talk about it more later. Apparently there’s some audience in your mother’s chambers with some people from Primus we have to speak to. Let’s go visit, see what’s going on there.”

[End Memory]