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

Permanon

[foolishjustice]

Wow, I can't believe you found a way to make tabloid reporting even more obnoxious.
I guess trying to sensationalize a discovery by applying one world's logic to a different world's mechanics should have been an obvious one, though.
So, congratulations on managing to out-asshole everyone else I've seen in a profession of assholes.

[quickquotes]

It's less a matter of mechanics than it is one of morality.

[foolishjustice]

How much of that 'morality' is based on the assumption that things work the same way in her world that they do in yours?
In my world, I've heard stories about witches getting their power by selling their souls in dark rituals.
Should I start accusing every magic user here of being in league with the devil and performing human sacrifice for power?

[quickquotes]

Don't be ridiculous. They're two different situations.

Let me put it this way: why would she have gone to such great lengths to disguise what she was, if she had nothing to hide?

[foolishjustice]

Is it? Both would be making moral accusations based on information from a different world.
And there are plenty of reasons to hide things about yourself.
I hide the circumstances of my birth, purely because there's a strong social stigma against them where I'm from.
A lot of people are fucking terrified of the undead, and would be more nervous talking to her if they knew.
Hell, a lot of people are scared of just about anything they don't fully understand.

[quickquotes]

People are terrified of the undead for a reason. Why should she be allowed to talk to them under false pretences?

And what was so untoward about the circumstances of your birth?

( Rita: forever nosy. )

[foolishjustice]

Reasons that might not apply to her form of undeath.
Why should she be lumped in with zombies, ghouls, and vampires if she doesn't feed on the living?
And like fuck I'm giving you details, even anonymously.
Let's just say my home country is ass backwards about sexuality, and that spills over into judging people's reproductive choices.

[quickquotes]

Perhaps she doesn't feed on the living, but it's clear enough already that she's taken another's life force already to fortify her own existence.

Hmph. Be like that. I'm sure I can draw my own conclusions.

[foolishjustice]

Another who was slated to die, anyway.
Executing a criminal is a big fucking difference from murdering an innocent.
Who gives a shit if someone benefits from an execution as long as the convict was given due process?
And I can just imagine the conclusions you'd draw, given your imagination.
...You know what? Fuck it. If you try to raise shit over the truth in a place like this, you'll be the one showing your ass.
My parents weren't married.
Where I'm from, that's a big fucking secret that I have to keep from everyone.
And if you agree that it's worth persecuting someone over, you're going to have a hell of a time here.

[quickquotes]

It still doesn't give her the right to use somebody's soul in such a way, and by her own accounts, she is some sort of monarch or queen. Do you truly believe the poor man received due process? She's probably telling you all more lies, plain and simple.

I wouldn't bother persecuting you over something so mundane. People have affairs all the time. It's not like I know your parents.

( Now that might be interesting, depending on the identity of said parents... )

[necroyalty]

Under normal circumstances, I'd think there wouldn't be too much fear and uncertainty over my undeath in my kingdom, considering that I ruled a country of necromancers.

But most with even a passing knowledge of the arcane know that you don't just become a lich unless you're either plotting something or filled with hubris, and I'd like to think I'm not the latter.

When you find out a great deal of noble families in your circle have been worshiping a demon, you start to feel your trust in others erode just a little bit.