video;

[nonscriptum]

Is this thing recordi- Oh.

[Nate isn't really that good at introductions nor is he any good at handling the SmartPhone capabilities of his new communications, but he's been trying, and as he once overheard a fancy guy quote at a black market auction: to try is to live.

(At the time he'd been checking the lot list and privately drawing conclusions about why Jack Rackham was given an inlaid cross, when a man four feet away started telling a story about how his shitty French was insulted by a crêpe vendor and he paid some thugs to rough him up later. Rich people, right? The worst.)

What started out as blurry footage of worn boots turns into slightly-more-focused footage of Nate's face. He looks well enough, if windswept, though it is evident he is somewhere far from ground level if the small buildings behind him are any indication.]

For those of you who haven't met me yet, I'm Nathan Drake.

[Flawless introduction. Short and sweet.]

Just gonna throw a general question out there: is there a more...comprehensive version of the city map outside that mural? Does anyone go into the caves to try and get the lay of the land in detail? And, uh, follow-up: how opposed would anyone be to me updating that stuff?

Comments

[closerift]

You look it.

[ She chuckles, corners of her lips tugging upward. ]

Those who are antsy in Hadriel typically drink too much or fight too much. But... [ Cecily continues, now thoughtful. ] Some have come up with things like our power plant, so you may be on to something more productive.

[nonscriptum]

Thanks?

[He has to wonder how antsiness manifests itself. Is he fidgeting? Should he stop fidgeting?

Years ago, Nate might have found a bar and picked a fight or two. Nearing forty lends some mild amount of respectability, if not the grudging admission that he might be getting too old for this shit.]

...was there not power before?

[closerift]

Before, we had to rely entirely on the gods for things like that. For food, before the orchard... and so on. Now, they can put their powers to better use... or so they say.

[ Like in growing back people's limbs, or bringing them back to life, both of which the Inquisitor has been a happy recipient. ]

[nonscriptum]

Well, at least we won't get scurvy.

[The orchard is nice - the only luxury here he's actually in line with, because it reminds him of South America. Nate has questions about how anything grows without active sunlight, but people tend to use "magic" as an excuse for just about everything.]

And you...made that sound a little ominous, there.

[closerift]

Well, it's only ominous if you don't trust half a dozen so-called "gods" who draw their power from our emotions. [ She reports lightly. ] My experience with beings who announce themselves as such is that they're unpleasant, to say the least.

[ Corypheus was a dick, pass it on. ]