002 [ Video ]

[doctoral_bird]

[ It may be an unfamiliar face to many! Malkus is actually appearing on the feed without his signature mask. Even a plague man like him needs fresh air now and then. His sickly facade wasn't far from the norm! That's just... his face. ]

Greetings fellow residents. It has been some time, but with the lull in disturbances I feel now's a better time than any to- ah-... discuss...

[ He scratched his claws against the wood of the bench outside, trying to remember what the hell he was going to say. As the pause grew, he could feel his social anxiety build.

Don't give them dead air, Malkus! The people hated pauses! ]

I am sorry, sleeping outside has left me- e-eh-... melancholic. I'd forgotten what I wanted to bring up. Ah! Yes!

[ He moved the feed to the mask sitting beside himself, placed daintily on a heap of papers and glassware. ]

As it often becomes a point of conversation, I would like to ask my fellow residents if anyone has actually had an epidemic ravage their land. I've come to realize I may be alone in this topic.

Comments

[doctoral_bird]

Ah, Miss Fangbattle! I'm so terribly sorry to hear about your land. Some diseases can indeed be considered "invisible monsters" to those uninitiated in dark spirits.

[ This knowledge, of course, coming from a land still rooted in superstition. Where sickness was chalked up to bad humors or angry little ghosts. Not germs, no way. What the hell was bacteria? ]

... Unless you mean in a literal sense, then I have no idea what on earth that would be.

[fliplizard]

Oh, I meant it very literally. But they probably were dark spirits. But—But hey, wait, is that your face? Were you wearing a mask this whole time?

[She'd thought the plague mask was his real face. And that hadn't seemed weird to her. Somehow Malkus being a human is weirder.]

[doctoral_bird]

O-Oh- well then. I am less nuanced in actual combat with maligned entities, but I pray for your land's perseverance.

[ Having his oddly proportioned limbs slapped onto a relatively human face was probably jarring. But still, he was surprised that so many people just took his mask as his face! How did everyone think he ate?! The doctor smirked, this time completely visible without the covering. ]

A-Ah yes. That equipment you'd seen was a repellent for evil. Normally I stuff it with herbs and spices to combat the smell of my more pestilent work.

[fliplizard]

Uh, thanks. Me too.

[She's actually kind of disappointed that Malkus is a human. ...She's not sure if he is entirely human, but she'd been hoping to rack up some non-human contacts in Hadriel. Oh, well.

His description on the mask seems phony, but she's kinder than to tell him that.] That's smart. We all need something to repel evil in a place like this, huh?

[doctoral_bird]

[ Of all phony things Malkus waxed on about, his mask was one of the things to remain true. While it didn't repel much evil, it certainly kept spores from his lungs. ]

Well the others can get their own masks! This is hand crafted hardfabric! The lenses are carved crystal and cleansed with rosehip water! The straps! Well they're nothing special.

[ Come to think of it, Malkus reached for his mask and clutched it to himself. ]

[fliplizard]

Whoa, whoa, my guy, nobody's after your mask.

[Though after that description... Real crystal, huh?]

Tell me about that "pestilent" work of yours.

[She only asks this because she doesn't wanna see how he acts when he gets upset. ...She kind of regrets it after she does.]

[doctoral_bird]

[ Malkus dug his face back into the mask, resuming the muffled echo that seemed more like his standard voice than his maskless one did. ]

Survivors go underground. It's nearly impossible to build in a cave without light and supplies. My flock's the only profession allowed into the plague wastes.

[ Probably because they were expendable due to already being quite tainted. Malkus own corruption was pretty light compared to others! ]

This mask keeps me alive while I dig up-... While I collect things. From abandoned villages. Bone. Metal. Things you don't find in the dark underground.