[pfsb]

[acrookedpath]

The lantern is done. It's a momentous achievement; a culmination of all of Wei Wuxian's work since he first arrived at the inn...

And now it means he doesn't have a project to work on anymore. The agony!

He'll think of one soon enough. In the meantime, he's settled for sketching out an update to the Compass of Evil, whittling away at a block of wood Madam Bar provided him. If he has all the tools of a thousand worlds at his disposal, it should be no trouble at all to fine-tune the instrument.

Comments

[blue_ajah]

"Damn fine," Hawk says, with a flicker of amusement in the glance he shares with Moiraine. Lan Wangji notes it, but listens in silence as he tastes his own coffee. It is very nice, he supposes.

Hawk continues, "Okay. Moiraine said you might have questions for me." He keeps his voice low so that they won't be overheard, and doesn't notice as Moiraine flicks a near-invisible weave into place around them, ensuring their privacy. "About the pool."

[acrookedpath]

He feels the slight hum of the weave's energy pressing around them, though there is no glow as there would be at the inn. Wei Wuxian nods, propping his elbows on the table as he curls both hands around the coffee mug.

"What I am most curious about," he says, pitching his voice low to match, "is whether you have been able to tell whether the Black Lodge has... intent, I suppose, in what it does. A living creature versus a force of nature; a mouth with teeth rather than a mere door. From the stories Moiraine told us, we believe it might be a portal to Diyu, but I've also considered the possibility that it is a monster in its own right."

[lightamidchaos]

Hawk raises his eyebrows. "Diyu?"

"The realm of the dead," Lan Wangji summarizes. "Where spirits are prepared for reincarnation."

Surprise and something like recognition flicker across the man's features. Lan Wangji notices that Moiraine's eyes narrow the slightest bit as she observes this.

"Saves me some time explaining," Hawk says. "Don't know if Moiraine told you, but I'm Nez Perce. My people believe that the Black Lodge is a place that every spirit must pass through on the way to perfection. There, you will meet your own shadow self. My people call it The Dweller on the Threshold."

He shakes his head. "It's also said that if you confront the Black Lodge with imperfect courage, it will utterly annihilate your soul."