Log:All We Are Is Names in the End

2021/06/28 Dialydd Grimm 1

Dialydd sits behind the counter in ths shop humming softly as he embroiders around the neck of a dove grey silk dress. His fingers dip and return, dip and return as he sets the dark thread in his hands into an intricate pattern.

From the partially open Dutch door behind him, you can hear someone, probably Nona, cooking given the sizzling sounds. A pleasant spicy scent wafts through door from time to time.

Grimm steps through the door the old fashioned away. It's been a busy few weeks and she hasn't had much time to catch up with Dialydd after the revelation of the Destroyers threatening their universe. "Hey, Dee. It's me," she calls out. She sniffs at the scents coming from Nona's cooking.

Dee looks up as the door opens, the chimes above it ring, and you call out. A gentle smile crosses his lips as he calls back, "Cha, welcome back, sera Gabrielle. Come in, flip the sign to 'Closed' if you wish."

He stops embroidering and slips the needle into the roll of thread he's using after he sets down the dress on the counter.

Grimm lifts a finger and flicks it over her shoulder. The sign flips over with a swirl of dark energy and the door shuts behind her. "Done," she says as she heads over. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Dialydd makes a double clicking sound then shakes his head. "Not at all, sera, not at all. I am simply working on a new design. Business has been good lately so I can close early." He stands and lifts his hands over his head, stretching. It lifts his shirt slightly to reveal his toned, but not ripped, body. It brings back memories of the 'Dreamer' who you spent time with in the depths of the Inn Between Worlds.

"May I offer you food? Nona is trying some recipes sera'a learned from a neighbor."

Grimm tries to remind herself not to conflate Dialydd and the Dreamer. She's not sure how much they're intermingled currently, but the Dreamer sure does enjoy himself. Makes sense with all that repressed upbringing. "Sure, I'd be hard pressed to refuse. Eating is one way humans deal with a crisis or problems," she grins.

Dialydd laughs softly as he opens the passthrough to let you back behind the counter. He then leads you towards the Dutch doors as he calls out, "Nona! Sera Gabrielle is here. I hope the meal can stretch to two?"

A clipped female voice with a German accent calls back from beyond the door, "Of course. I always make extra. You are always inviting someone, young master." Then Nona says, "The table is set for two. Your spices are in their normal spot and there is water and milk to drink. It pairs well with this foor."

Grimm walks past the counter as she's let through. "Hi, Nona. And thanks," she says. It's a lot easier to communicate with her now that she can communicate in English. "Sorry I haven't been able to catch up with you since Radical made the announcement about the Destroyers. I had a family emergency. And then graduation to deal with. Feels...odd to keep going about normal things with something hanging overhead."

"It will happen when it happens, sera Gabrielle, not a moment sooner or later," says Dee with a slight smile. "Not that that means anything really, it is just philosophy. As he brings you into the back of ths shop, into his home, he adds, "Of course, it is also true."

The youth goes to the low table in the center of the sitting area and gracefully folds down into a kneeling position at the tablside. He rests his badk against one of the overstuffed loveseats that flank the table. "Please, hea have seat, sera Gabrille," he mumurs as he starts to poir some iced water into a goblet for you then himself.

"Cha, I did not realize you had graduated. I would have gotten a gift for you. IS there anything you need?"

Grimm steps over and crosses her ankles, then drops down in a controlled sit. She grins at his concern. "I only just graduated. Honestly, with everything going on, I wasn't sure I'd make it. My...parents weren't even able to attend. Someone who was after me went after them. They need to move, so...no time to come out here." She thinks on his question. "As for what I need? That's...a harder question to answer," she chuckles.

Dialydd murmurs with a look of concern on his face. "Your family is safe now I hope? You aided them I am certain."

"Safe is relative," Grimm replies. "Well...for the immediate future, they're safe. Next step is dealing with the universe. Or finding a job." She laughs awkwardly at that. "That Dr. Wyrd wants us to attack a DEMON base and steal some lense from a Morbane so she can read all these qliphothic books that are stored at the museum. So there's that. Not sure if you want to help with any of that, concerning what you already know of them."

Dialydd listens quietly, taking a sip of iced water as you speak. He then murmurs, "Knowledge of the Destroyers, true knowledge, is dangerous. It can easily overwhelm someone if they are not prepared for the revelations." He glances down at his hands for a moment then back to you. "I know more than I should for a mere journeyman of my Order. But then, the knowledge does not, cha, rest as heavily on my mind. My grandfather thought it was becuase of my powers." He sighs softly. "Likely it is due to my parentage. As I am not truly a mortal soul, cha, it seems I am shielded to some degree from the dangers of the knowledge."

Grimm nods slowly. "Yeah, well...Dr. Wyrd claims this lens protects from all of that somehow. Never considered Morbanes all that stable, so who knows if it's the truth. But given all that's happened with you? Yeah, I'm guessing your parentage has something to do with that," she smiles. "I'm more concerned that those books are just cataloged in a museum. Anyone could have looked over those and been corrupted."

Dialydd nods slightly. "Well, just becasue one is driven mad by the knowledge, doesn not mean one can use the knowledge in any useful manner. If it were that easy, Reality would a;ready be gone. One needs knowledge, will, and power to, cha, channel the power of the Qlipothic." He then looks over at you directly then murmurs, "You have the power and the will, sera Gabrielle, due to what happned to you. But your mind is uncorrupted by the knowledge of the Destroyers."

"I don't know about about being uncorrupt, but at least in the manner of what we're talking about, I am. So far, anyway," Gabrielle smirks halfheartedly. She thinks for a moment, eyes casting down and to the side for a moment. "Knowledge, will, and power," she murmurs to herself. Then suddenly she looks up. "Do you think Lereau is behind it?"

"Behind what is coming? The War in the Heavens? No, I do not. I have no doubt that his actions have aided, but, he is not...powerful enough. He can only try to open the door, but, he himself is not a Destroyer." He looks down at his hands again.

After a moment, he says softly, "The Kings of Edom are empowered by the Qlipothic, but they are not Qlipothic in truth. They are or were or will be physical beings of this Reality. The true Qlipothic has never been /of/ this Reality. It is not the dark side of Reality. It is its own utterly alien Reality...or so it seems to me. The problem is, those of us of this Reality cannot ever truly comprehend the Qlipothic. Only such creature as the Kings of Edom may. And they are almost as unknowable."

Grimm drinks all this knowledge in. "Shick. Really? I thought the Kings of Edom were just DEMON's fancy title for the various major Qliphothic entities...and that meant they were trapped outside reality. You're...you're saying they're -here- already? In some form?" she asks in mounting fear.

"Baji-naji," says the youth, waggling his hand back and forth. "They are, and are not, in this Reality. They are tied to this Reality in ways I do not, cannot understand, but, physically, no, they are bound outside of Reality...we think. Some thinks that a few black holes and other spatial phenomena may be prisons for some Kings, but only the, cha, lesser ones. The greater ones were bound outside our Reality in Qlipothic realms in hopes they would be consumed in time. It is, cha, confusing."

He adds after a moment. "The normal rules do not apply to the Kings of Edom, but, they were defeated and bound. But, galaxies perished, races were retroactively wiped from existence it is thought, and Time and Space changed to keep them out. Our Reality shunned them in the form of those Powers that drove them out: the Firebringer, the Ladies from the Around the Corner, the Shadowed Angel, the Triparite Glaive, the Lords of the Jeweled Spider, the Soulless Choir, and others. We have only their names or titles. They are so ancient, so long ago, that, cha, we know nothing more than that of who fought the last war."

Grimm swallows thickly at this news. "Wow. So...no help on how they stopped things the last time, huh?" she asks, her voice a little hoarse. She clears her throat. "Maybe...we'll be lucky sometime to be at least remembered by titles, if we can prevent this from happening."

Dialydd smiles slightly. "It would be a wonder to be remembered long after the world you were born on is dust, yes. Frigthenning as well." He looks over as Nona starts to bring food to the table. "Cha, this should be a treat. Nona learned this recipe from sera Sutesh who works down the street. It is something called Pad Thai with Curry."