.050 [VIDEO!]

[timesbureaucrat]

[Warden Filter]After some questioning, Ardent admitted that the symbol he drew was a...curse, for lack of a better word. As Ardent describes it, it hunts whomever was responsible for the death of the Dwarf who drew it until the guilty party is killed. Based on Omega's description and Elric's experiences, it appears to do this through some very

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[timesbureaucrat]

If the conversation is likely to be long and involve us loudly disagreeing with each other, then it would probably be for the best that it wait until we find a way to stop an unstoppable curse.

[He winces and rubs forehead. Although he's over the worst of the death toll, he's still got a few days of intermittent headaches and weariness to look forward too.]

The Earth phrase "no rest for the wicked" springs to mind.

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[timesbureaucrat]

It sounds like a discussion worth having. I have as much of an investment as anyone in making sure that the justice system here is as fair as we can make it. [Maybe a little more investment, since he's more likely than most to end up at its mercy.] I'm amenable to compromise.

As soon as this "curse" business is dealt with, I'd happily have a civilized debate on the matter.

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[blackbladebitch]

There is no such thing as a curse that cannot be undone.

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[timesbureaucrat]

Then we need to find a way to undo it. Any ideas? This is far from my speciality.

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[blackbladebitch]

Has he offered any manner of explanation for how the curse may work? His world's magic is strange to me in many ways; I am familiar with the working of runes and symbols, but not his. There may be some counter-rune in his people's lore.

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[timesbureaucrat]

He said that the mine signs act on belief. I doubt there's any way to get him to simply stop believing, especially when it's so clearly working.

[Private]

[most_feared]

I should have went, dammit. I should have been the one to go after you because I fuckin' would have blown in the door and smeared that little sack of shit right across the room before he had the chance to draw anything.

[He's so frustrated, but he imagines Narvin is more so.]

[Private]

[timesbureaucrat]

Which is also why it's better that you weren't the one to find me...as I was.

Were the situation reversed and it was you...I might have done something demotion-worthy. Certainly I wouldn't have been able to maintain any sort of sense of reasonable force.

[Frustrated, yes, but he still thinks that there are a lot of ways that the whole situation could have gone down that would have been much worse.]

[Private]

[most_feared]

I could have at least got him in one shot. I'm in control of myself. If I wasn't I couldn't consider m- being with you. But I didn't wanna see you like that.

And for the record, I hadn't thought he was that bad before either. If you hadn't shown me those veiled threatening statements, I never would have figured out where you were.

[Private]

[timesbureaucrat]

I didn't want anyone to see me like that... Broken... [He's had far worse injuries before, but this one is making him feel weak in a way that the others didn't. He can almost hear Leela's voice calling him "Broken Man." And he should have been able to protect himself against Ardent.

And he's getting off that train of thought so he can repress like a good Time Lord.]

Do you have any ideas on what to do about this "curse" of his? [Not his most subtle change of subject, but it's too late to think of something better.]

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[strangehstorian]

I agree with Elric. There is always a way to stop it.

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[timesbureaucrat]

I'm open to any suggestions on how.

I can't put psychic blocks on the entire Barge population, and even then I'm not sure that would hold it. If it entered the mind of another Time Lord it might be possible to trap it through mental partitioning, but the Time Lord in question would be in constant danger of being overrun by the thing and letting it escape. [Like Braxiatel and Pandora.]

I don't know how else these sort of things work. [He doesn't like admitting that he's lost when it comes to dealing with a problem, but this is so far outside his usual experience that he's getting nervous and desperate.]

[Private]

[aboutpower]

[Not the news she wanted to hear, but..] Thank you, Narvin.

[Private]

[timesbureaucrat]

I can continue to question Ardent and see if anything else of use shakes loose, but I suspect that he's already said everything of value. I believe that he truly does think there's no way to stop it, which means we'll have to be creative.

[Private]

[aboutpower]

So it's not really magic, even in the traditional sense. Is it. Otherwise I'd ask for some kind of cleansing thing or even an exorcism.

If we could just keep it trapped inside one person, then.. [Sigh.] I don't usually do this part of the thinking.

This could just lead to a lot of bad, and not just the killing Elric part. If this possession is making people want to kill him.. Imagine being forced against your will to kill someone.

[Private]

[timesbureaucrat]

At least Elric is capable of defending himself. But sooner or later someone will get lucky, or the curse will hit someone who's too much for him to handle.

Perhaps the simplest solution is to let the next person succeed--if the next person is someone psychologically capable of handling the fall out. Elric will death toll and the curse will have run its course. [Very practical and morally dubious--it's a typical Narvinesque solution.]