ii. audio. after dark. both courts.

[vrykolakas]

[If anything, the Brucolac's voice sounds worse than ever, painfully scratchy and distinctly weary. The reception isn't perfect; he's sitting in the garden of the fortress at Redgate, where the lockets work, but the blood granite is still causing some interference.]

What languages do you speak? And what language would you say I'm speaking right now?

Comments

-> video; breakably private.

[vrykolakas]

[He gives a slow, croaking laugh, and after a moment of consideration turns video on. His tongue is lolling out, and around his mouth are a collection of old, glassy burn scars. His expression mirrors Vol'jin's—insofar as a humanoid face can.]

But not for long?

[Ho ho ho?]

o7

[ziggyzoggy]

[He has a small thrill of pleasure at the fact that someone else not only got the joke but was equally amused by it.] No, not for long.

[So, the face answers an unasked question, one he hadn't considered (but by all rights, probably should have. Sloppy.). This one isn't human. He might be trying to pass as human, though. And "vampir" isn't familar in any language he knows...

But if there's one thing you don't do with unknown, unfamilar entities that are trying to look human and falling a unnervingly short, it's ask what they really are. That's just rude. So he's going to disappoint the Brucolac if he was expecting some kind of horror. Instead, they're just two predators shootin' the shit.]

We don't wander much. If people be smart, they keep away. [If they know what's good for them. If they like breathing and not, you know, being made into a drum.]

[vrykolakas]

[The Brucolac tends to expect horror, even count upon it, but in this case he's distinctly pleased by the utter non-reaction he gets.]

Bit different for us. We don't have any native land to chase outsiders away from. And when we do club together, it can be worse. Like herding snakes.

[ziggyzoggy]

[He gives a loud bark of laughter, rocking back on his heels as he grins.] Have ya tried to herd snakes?

[vrykolakas]

[He snickers quietly.] Only metaphorically. Literally, closest I've got are eels.

[ziggyzoggy]

Good eatin', eels. [It's said as much to himself as the other man.]

[vrykolakas]

Fuck, no. The worms of the sea.

[ziggyzoggy]

[He laughs; he'd been serious, but so was Brucolac, apparently.] Worms ain't so bad. Ya ever see those ones that crawl on the bottom of the sea? We call 'em tube worms. Nothin' but jelly in those. Like eatin' sea water jelly.

Eels least got some meat on 'em. And eyes. [He licks his lips. Now he's made himself think about fish eyes. Might have to go raid the kitchen soon...]

[vrykolakas]

Turned my stomach long before I stopped eating solids. [Let him tell you about juice diets. (No).] We used to eat them when there was nothing else. To me, they taste like being hungry feels. Fucking awful.

Personally? Best thing I ever ate which came out of the sea was dolphin.

[ziggyzoggy]

[He nods, understanding now what the deal is with eels in particular.]

Not many dolphins come near the Isles--water be too shallow. We get sharks, though. And makrura. [A word which apparently has no equivalent in Salt...or, likely, any other language here.]

[vrykolakas]

They're vicious bastards. Only good on a plate. Makrura?

[ziggyzoggy]

Tear ya nets, too, if ya not careful.

[He looks surprised. Was that a translation hiccup? Have they found a flaw? 8D] Didn't translate?

[vrykolakas]

No. I've never heard of anything like it. [INTEREST.]

[ziggyzoggy]

[OH MAN, FASCINATING.]

They like huge crayfish. Armored shells. Speak Nerglish. They about [--he holds his hands about five or so feet apart--] that wide, at the shoulder.

Ya find 'em all over the coasts, any body of salt water. Fry 'em with pig fat and lemons. Or chiles.

[vrykolakas]

They speak?

[A THOUGHT.]

Do you have cray? Not crayfish, but cray, lobster-men.

[ziggyzoggy]

They gurgle and rasp. If ya speak Nerglish, it make sense--

No, but it sound a bit like makrura. Do cray speak?

[vrykolakas]

Hard to shut them up. From the waist up, they look human—or from the waist down, humans don't look cray.

[ziggyzoggy]

Ah. [An exaggerated nod.] Nah--makrura be crustacean all over. Just huge.

May be why that don't translate. [It's a thought.]

[vrykolakas]

Well, shit, we don't have trolls—

Though we have stories about trolls. So we have the words. [Aaaaah.]

[ziggyzoggy]

[La, curiouser and curiouser. He grunts. It's a difficult problem.] Like tangled vines. Pull one and ya make a knot.

I be Vol'jin.

[vrykolakas]

And you start questioning why you want to untangle them anyway.

I'm the Brucolac.

[ziggyzoggy]

The, anh? [It's asked with a grin and raised eyebrow.] As opposed to any other, a course.

[vrykolakas]

I like the clarity it provides.

[ :V ]

[ziggyzoggy]

It is a title?

[vrykolakas]

Somewhat. It just means the vampir.