Guard talking to a Mage
"and here i thought it was just gunpowder we had to worry about"
"what are you on about this time? we don't have any musket users here"
"you tell that to the others, that damn serval is up to something"
"you weren't unlucky enough to get assigned as one of his lab assistants were you?"
"no... my cousin was, we joined round the same time. you wouldn't believe what he's been telling me, it's madness, and from what he's saying, heresy"
"your cousin? what the mage who was promoted last week?"
"yeah that's the one. the stuff he sees in that asshole's lab scares me"
"you're worried about what he has in his lab?"
"think about it. that gun of his, that thing, it's not like a simple pistol that pirates have or a blunder buss or anything like that. he puts things in, second later freaky profane spells are coming out... and, it's just"
"so he's using it as a medium for a method of spell casting, it's rather standard these days with those sword mages and a..."
"i'm well aware of those people with the glowing weapons and the spells coming off of their blades. this aint it man, it is way more perverse than that."
"ok now jack's a pervert i give you that much but what makes you"
"hey, you ever just pay attention to the air around that guy? the atmosphere? it's freaking creepy man. that serval is just ominous, and that look in his eyes. i know it's good but it's just... it's not right man. not right at all."
"look trooper, ya need to calm down a bit. jesk knew what he was doing when he signed jack on, even if he is just using us for resources"
"hey we all got reasons to be here, mine's the pay. i got a family to support and a few gold a month helps. but you don't know what my cousin sees man... these symbols, hand gestures, diagrams... "
"like what?"
"terrible things. look i'm no scholar but every holy book i come across, there's hand symbols for the devil... and on those things of his that he keeps on a bandoleer and slides into his gun to make it do strange things? you ever take a good look at those?"
"wait, you're basing this off of some religious superstition?"
"hey man, you didn't see a diagram for ten thousand children with their hands making the mark of the devil as if to channel it's power and swear their allegiance to the dark powers."
"ok now you're creeping me out..."
"that's the plan"
"so... you're saying jack's a traitor? that he's plotting against us, and that his stuff is just dangerous?"
"pretty much yeah"
"and your proof, is your cousin's panicked words to your ears? after a few nights as a lab assistant?"
"yup"
"you do realize you sound like more of a ass than that serval right?"
"and you do realize you're asking me to trust a madman that your own arcane society has blatantly stated that he's crazy for chasing after something that's not supposed to exist? that stuff in his bottles, you see the pictographs of what happens when someone comes into contact with those? the sketches? it's sickening!"
"yes, mana poisoning is rather gruesome at points. "
"we have to do something. "
"something? like what? go to jesk and say something like, Jesk we have a problem, it's jack. he's bonkers. "
"YES!"
"... i'm supposed to condemn a man, who went out of his way to treat my mundane brother several days ago, he had a grievous wound and jack just shot two things. one green cylinder that imbedded itself into my brother's chest and another thing that just smacked into the ground and healed him over time?"
" he did what? "
"you know those rounds of his can be used for more than just putting a rather large hole in something right?"
"they can?"
"... you live in zenko, as a trooper. and you're surrounded by the supernatural and the arcane on a daily basis... and your understanding of magic 'stuff' is this... menial?"
"hey i did rather well on my aptitude and understanding test. i scored a 78."
" a 78.... you do know that's not out of a hundred right?"
"what?"
"78 is below average. a score of 111 is actually average. "
"but he!""
"but he what? "
"he burst through that gate at the arena and stopped the execution of the shark"
"and?"
"that's not normal!"
"the man has a mechanical arm, a gun that shoots bats that explode, a neon blue plush mouse filled with catnip he insists on calling squeakums, and is regularly high when in the tea house... and you're expecting normal? are you high?"
"a little bit"
"seriously dude?"
"NO! "
"so..."
"i mean what are we supposed to do? the man's got a screw loose! he's fucking chaotic! and now he's talking about getting two thousand gold minimum to continue his recherche?"
"hey man what you do is you're own paraogitive, i just know i'm not screwing with a guy who has a gun that shoots exploding bats."
