Meet the Landers: Pazuzu

It is well into the evening when Schneider sets down at a nearby bench in their search for any kind of hint or sign into what they're trying to find. So far, no weird cyphers or the like within the city itself. The night is quiet however. Especially this high up in the skies. People have largely already gone to sleep.

But eventually, a man settles down next to Schneider, hands folded together, considering the night sky alongside Schneider.

"You have been seeking within my City for quite a while now. Rather aimlessly, I must say. What is it you seek to find?" Pazuzu asks of Schneider.

Schneider knows his patron only vaguely, much more by reputation than by interaction, but he at least recognizes the fellow. He has been searching based on vague hints, and of course cryptographic hints are even more obscure than most hints of this nature, so he simply answers honestly, "I'm seeking the legacy of those who went before. I'm not exactly sure /what/ that is, though I think I may know it if I find it."

Pazuzu certainly knows what he's been up to, he's very well-informed generally. "Related to the discovering and hiding of secrets by means of deceptive writing, specifically." He looks around wearily, and says, "I had hoped for some sort of decorative scrollwork with odd characters, maybe, or a pattern of strange pictograms, but nothing so far, I'm afraid."

He doesn't roleplay the Dark Schneider thing very much any more. It was fun for about a week, but being stuck in the game is Serious Business, and he doesn't have Schneider's alternatives. But that means he's not cavalier and short with NPC types. He knows that they have things to offer, and there's actually a few subjects he might pick Pazuzu's brain on...

Pazuzu sounds surprised. "What would a Scale Emblem member care for the Legacy of those who came before?" He remarks rather curiously, considering Schneider for a moment. This seems to be a matter he may be familiar with. "Secrets? Ah, deceptive writing. That would explain why." THe man leans back a little bit, touching his chin for a moment.

The old man, wrinkles in flesh, considers the matter brought before him for a little moment.

Then finally remarks; "Are you familiar with the Scrapped Princess War? And how it all began?" He inquires.

Schneider smirks at Pazuzu's surprise, and replies with amusement, "We are renaissance men, we seek mastery of all subjects." He nods about the secrets and deceptive writing, and in a more normal tone, he says, "We find learning secrets essential to hastening our exit from this world." Which seems to be one of his buttons.

As to the Scrapped Princess War, he says, "Familiar ... a bit," after all, he wrote a lengthy book on the subject some time back, "but not so much on how it began." He falls silent, to let Pazuzu explain.

"Well, we are not entirely sure how it began. At least, some of that knowledge disappeared on us. It is believed that that Scrapped Princesses were an ancient evil that was once sealed - and managed to get out unbeknownst to us. They began by feeding lies to the various Kingdoms of the Yamato region." Pazuzu explains to Schneider. "In fact, it is believed that the largest part of the Scrapped Princess War is actually the conflict between all of the Yamato Kingdoms - rather than the defeated of the Scrapped Princesses themselves." The Imp explains.

Schneider had been advised not to tell Landers what he learned in the research that he did, but Pazuzu is trusted, and suspicious, and will probably realize if he's holding back. So Schneider will explain what he knows of it, in a somewhat simplified form, as best he could understand it when it was explained to him.

"I believe that also," he begins. "I was able to interview Ascheriit, the Spriggan hero, briefly on the subject, and what he said did not mesh with the common knowledge." That much should be safe to say. "But if the main part of the war was the conflict between the Yamato Kingdoms, that would make sense, and it would make sense given his claims," Schneider muses. If Ascheriit spoke truly and the Scrapped Princesses were not, in fact, defeated, and the other Heroes turned on Ascheriit, perhaps the nations turned on one another as well.

Which also leaves the worrying question of where the Scrapped Princesses went.

Pazuzu doesn't look particularly surprised when Schneider mentions Ascheriit, and the reality of the Spriggan Hero and the continued existance of the Scrapped Princesses.

"If the Scrapped Princesses still exist, and were able to live, it is important to note that they were either weakened significantly, or their goals changed." The old Imp remarks. He slips one leg over the other and leans back a bit, considering Schneider for a moment.

"But 'we' have noticed strange behavior within the Yamato Kingdom. It is however difficult to discern with the presence of the Adventurers now." He adds onto that. "Regardless... the point I was trying to make is that the Imps were not part of the big war. We noticed the lies in time, and were operating on trying to reveal the truth. To do so, the Imp Hero invented a specific cypher that was used throughout the entire Imp forces."

Schneider nods slowly about the Scrapped Princesses being weakened considerably. He hadn't considered that, but it makes sense. "Otherwise, they'd have stuck around," he agrees, then falls silent when he explains about the Imp hero and his personal cipher. "Ahhh!" Now that's an interesting thing. He's all ears at this point, nodding to Pazuzu about the cipher. He's not quite sure where this is going, but the possibilities are intriguing.

"Maybe this is of interest of you then. I am afraid that the origin of the Imp Hero's cypher is an unknown even to us right now. But..." He passes him a piece of paper from within his clothing. "This is actually the reason that the creation of paper within Yamato. It was driven by another Hero in aid of the Imp hero later on during the war." The man explains.

The cypher itself is... almost impossible to understand. So many complicated symbols that look like they're all over on the paper.

Schneider will take the offered paper, and look at it, boggling at the complicated symbols. "The reason for the creation of paper was to write ciphers?" he asks, puzzled. But the symbols -are- wildly complicated, and he can see that something like this wouldn't be suitable for carving into stone or any other method of written communication. He's not quite sure what he can do with this, but it will definitely drive him to puzzle out secrets.

"It seems like the ancients put a lot of effort into keeping their secrets," Schneider observes. "Thank you for this, I think I may have some insights. But I will have to work on it, of course." He looks it over again, considers it critically, and decides that if he can work it out, he will have learned a lot about cryptography.

"Well, the creation of mass producing paper, was the aid in spreading the secret work. Unlike rocks and wood, paper burns fast and eliminates a code really fast." The Imp explains. "And could be ingested as well." He adds. "But no, this didn't come from any 'ancients'. This came from our own Imp Hero." He points out firmly. "But just remember, a cypher such as this is created when there is need to perform secret information passing. I know that you Adventurers have a way to securely communicate already. Where-as with us, this was important for the sake of communicating along long distance." He explains.

Schneider nods slowly as Pazuzu explains about paper being flammable or edible, destroyable in any event, and he agrees, "That's true, it's much easier to eliminate it quickly and thoroughly." He nods about the Imp Hero as well. "But that's pretty ancient, to me," Scheider admits. "If there are /more/ ancient people ... I don't think I know about them."

As far as secure comms between adventurers go, Schneider admits, "Our secure comms are not as versatile as we'd like it to be." Not being able to chim outside the party while in combat is the big hangup. "I've worked out a signaling system, but it's not hugely flexible." With only a handful of possible messages before the flare pattern would get too complicated, only the simplest messages could reliably get through.

"Well, the 'Ancient People' are usually the 'Alv'. Because they're no longer with us. That, or the Travelers. Our people still exist. Our culture in tact. So I don't think we really qualify as 'Ancient People'." The Imp proposes to Schneider on his use of the term.

"As for creating a flexible signaling system. I mean, it isn't impossible for your Arcane mages to perhaps invent a technique that places your writing in the sky. It may not reach as far as your signal flares, visibility wise. But perhaps it will give better direction." As long as they keep it to 144 characters or less.

Schneider ahhhhs as Pazuzu explains his logic in defining 'ancient'. "That seems logical," he agrees. "That makes a bit more sense, I suppose, than my own sense of history just from a personal perspective." Where anything from his granddad's time or before is 'ancient'. "But in any event," he looks at the impossible symbols. "I will see if I can make any sense of this," he says.

He smirks at the sky writing, but says, "Sky writing is fine, but either too many people will read it, or too many people will not be able to read it who need to read it. If they're in a forest, or not where you expect them to be, putting letters in the sky will not be clear. In my world, there are ways to send words through the air for hundreds of miles, but I don't think we're anywhere close to developing that here."

The man nods his hand, and then pats Schneider's leg. "You will figure it out. Just try not to tarnish the world too much in doing so." He warns him. "As anything you invent, the enemy will eventually be able to use as well." Before getting up, and heading on off.

Schneider nods slowly, the imp's words ringing significantly because of the /other/ plan he's planning. "The key is 'eventually', sir," he replies. "If we can use it hard and fast enough, then then enemy won't be in a position to do anything about it. But speed and decisiveness are keys." That and being an absolute bastard. But. Maybe he is that Bastard after all? When Pazuzu rises to leave, Schneider rises also and bows. "Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, sir,"