01. TEXT

[quickquotes]

( It has taken Rita most of the time she's spent in Lunatia thus far to understand enough of this 'technology' to send out a broadcast. She's not the type to let such a little hurdle as unfamiliarity get in the way of reporting the news, and she is glad to announce her success with her very first article! )

UNDEAD YET DEADLY
The inhabitants of Lunatia might seem an uncouth lot, with their scales and their horns and other extraneous appendages. However, the natives of this world appear positively genteel when compared to who, or should I say, what walks amongst us, attempting to blend quietly into the shadows. Fortunately, I, Rita Skeeter, freelance journalist-for-hire, am here to shed light on the situation.

The Moonblessed by the name of ‘Ambrosine’, is a self-confessed practitioner of the Dark Arts. She is also known to post on this network under the alias of ‘undyingsoul’, which should tell you everything you need to know already. If you still require an explanation, know this: every magical child from the youngest of ages is taught that death is permanent. Any individual who attempts to meddle with mortality is faced with a fate worse than death: the eternal corruption of the soul.

Why does this matter, you might ask?


Those of you from my own world might know of the evilest Dark Wizard of our time, a man so evil that even after his defeat we still refuse to speak his name, only referring to him as He Who Must Not Be Named. In the name of ideological superiority and in search for the secrets of immortality, this Dark Wizard murdered thousands of people, witches, wizards and Muggles alike.

To use a more local frame of reference: as many of you will know, the city is still recovering from the aftermath of the rampages of another Dark Wizard, Asmodeus, who used his powers to control the minds of many innocent bystanders. Could Lunatia withstand another attack so soon?

While Ambrosine has not shown any untoward predilections to violence yet in her time here, evidence suggests she has so far murdered one innocent person in her quest for immortality thus far, as well as a unicorn (a most sacred magical animal).

How many more deaths will she cause? Can this type of individual truly be allowed to walk around our society unchecked? My recommendation would be to lock her up and throw away the key before she can cause any more harm to befall others.

After all, there’s enough to get used to in this new society without wondering about murderers in our midst. As so succinctly put by local resident, the charming thirty-six-year-old Mr. Valmont: it’s positively exhausting!

( After the main text in the article, smaller lettering reads: if you have leads which require any further investigation, or any information you would like me to know, please contact me here.

The name, again, is Rita Skeeter. )

Comments

video

[quickquotes]

( Oh. It's him. )

I don't recall asking you.

1/2

[whateternityis]

Well, no. You're free to make your own cock-ups - you're welcome, by the way. I'm equally free to observe it's going over like a lead balloon.

2/2

[whateternityis]

That said. [And suddenly he's deadly serious, the popcorn out of sight.]

There are kids here, and a lot of 'em haven't had a proper chance to figure out who they are yet. You pull this moralistic-outrage 'journalism' shit on them, and this has been your warning.

[quickquotes]

If there's children here who've murdered others, you wouldn't want to know?

[whateternityis]

No. Odds are high, if they have, that they were put up to it by an adult who's likely not here, and besides, things that didn't happen here aren't going to matter to the local authorities.

They're pretty on top of the things that do happen here. No need to drag anyone's past into it if they're fucking well behaving themselves otherwise.

This has been your warning, sunshine. [If 'sunshine' is a little extra-sibilant, well, fuck you, lady.] Stick to the adults if you feel like slinging shit and see how far it gets you.

[quickquotes]

Perhaps if the children were very young, pre-teens at the very eldest. Teenagers are old enough to know what they're doing, and certainly mature enough to know that murder is wrong.

You call everything that's happened recently being 'on top' of events? Because I certainly don't.

[whateternityis]

Still young enough to be coerced by adults, otherwise legal adulthood wouldn't be a bloody thing.

I call their track record on top of things. What, you want them to start predicting who's going to be a problem? More of those have come from the locals themselves, and besides, that opens a can of worms best left untouched.

[necroyalty]

I don't know how things work in her world, but in Vanth, a person compelled to commit acts of violence under duress, blackmail, or magical enthrallment is not treated as responsible for the crime.

The person who compelled, blackmailed, or enthralled them, on the other hand...

[whateternityis]

Exactly my point.

[quickquotes]

Certainly. The government here has been either overly reactive, which makes them incompetent, or they're being actively malicious. I intend to find out which it is.

You're truly willing to wait until someone is seventeen before they're held accountable for their actions?

[whateternityis]

How'd your home government feel about you dragging people who weren't up to that lowball age of majority through the mud?

[quickquotes]

I wouldn't know.

[whateternityis]

No, I imagine you wouldn't. [Which means she did it and got away with it. She's already shown the literal demon is the one with a passing acquaintance with scruples in this conversation.]

They're not going to have your back just because you're the writer here, sunshine. Better brace yourself for that one.

[And if you don't, Crowley will be the first to point and laugh at your self-caused misfortune.]