The sudden appearance of the man makes him jolt, even in his tired state. "I - neither. It's someone's name. Not yours." To be honest, the snark is welcome - it's something to focus on other than 'I should be dead'.
He tries to focus, and stares, and - that's definitely a funerary style of wearing it. He's seen enough funerals in recent months to know how things go by now. It takes a moment to process the question, and another moment to push his mind to think of an answer. "... Water. I guess. Even if... why am I here? I should be... dead."
"Indeed not; my name this cycle is Mortimer. And you must be Jun. Welcome to my corner of Liminal Space." He bows his head rather politely, though he doesn't get up. He does, however, reach over to the beverage cart and pour Jun a nice glass of cool water, setting it on a cocktail napkin on the endtable.
"There are many here in your predicament, I'm afraid," the man answers grimly, frowning before he takes a sip of his scotch. "Let me simply state that here, you can be given a bit of a second chance. A new lease on life, if you will. This cycle of Synodiporia, I've chosen you to represent me, along with the others marked by me - Malik Al-Sayf, Naoki Konishi, Yosuke Hanamura, October Daye, and Matthew Swift. They will be your... teammates, as it were, through the rest of the Mystic Journey." He shrugs his bony shoulders, before adding, "I am sure you have a lot of questions about where you are and what you're doing here, so before I go any further - is there something I can clarify?"
He's trying to follow, but it's difficult. He reaches for the water automatically and takes a few sips, trying to think. The names mean nothing to him - half of them don't even sound Japanese - but one thing does stand out to him. "'Mystic' Journey?"
What sort of magical bullshit hell has he been banished to?
It is cool, refreshing, and tastes slightly of lemon.
"Indeed. That is what Travelers called this round of Synodiporia, long ago." He gives a small shrug of his shoulders. "I've not kept up too much with Traveler slang, but that one always stuck out to me. Ah well, it matters little. The point is, you have been brought here to complete this round of Synodiporia, and I believe you would be a good fit for my... virtues, as it were."
Synawha. That sounds... Latin? Something like that. He has no idea - languages aren't really his strong suit. It's not really important, but he'll file it away later. Maybe he'll write it down, if he can figure out how to spell it in katakana. "... Right. And what do you get if you win? And what do we get? And what 'virtues' are you talking about?"
He takes another sip of water, trying to force himself to focus.
He could always ask, but it might not occur to Jun to do so.
"If I win, I'll get to end this. You'll get to stay here in Liminal Space or go to another world. I assume you, being freshly dead, would not want to go back to your world, but you could surprise me that way."
Death takes a good look at Jun, then adds, "Just keep doing what you're doing. You represent my virtues well enough. That's why I chose you, after all."
He opens his mouth to argue, thinks about it, and closes his mouth, taking the time to think before he says something again. "Ending a huge game like that... okay. I can agree with that." Maybe there'll be a way to end the game he was a part of, too. "I'll do what I can."
But for what he should do... "What's involved in this game? What are the rules?"
He pauses, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "I cannot explain the rules in detail, you understand. One of Fortuna's requirements. But I can explain the basic principles of the tournament. All seventeen of our number are attempting to win all of our individual match-ups to claim the power of the World, so that we might reshape the next round of Synodiporia in our image."
"You're not allowed to tell me the rules I'm going to be playing by." Now that he's calmed down somewhat, it's easy to slip back into the deadpan tone he uses a lot of the time. "That's great. So what's the standings right now? Are you just starting?"
"I am not. Think of it as... a compulsion, a very strong one." He does not seem to mind the deadpan tone, however, and gives a little smirk at it. But Mortimer continues, "SAGE has just won his qualifying match against PSYCHE. He will be moving on to Round One, against me. But there are other matches to attend to, first, among other Arcana."
"... That's dumb." All of this is so, so very dumb. "Right... so which would you like to see advance, ideally? And are they stronger opponents, or ones you know you'd defeat?"
"Indeed. But this round must be finished, one way or another."
Death thinks about it for a moment, before stating, "Of the current match-ups... Emperor. Chariot. Justice. Strength. Fool. Myself. I am not wholly sure which of Empress and Magician, or Sun and Priestess would be the most useful to our side if they won. But all of these I have listed are the ones least likely to harm you Travelers, for they are generally sympathetic to you. The ones I certainly do not want to win - Hanged Man. Tower. Devil. Thankfully Lovers has already lost. As for Moon... I am hesitant to say she would harm you, but she clearly wouldn't help you."
"I want a peaceful, natural conclusion to this journey. Finality, but with a chance for something new. A renaissance of a sort. But if I won, I personally would enjoy a sabbatical from all this. Perhaps a hot spring trip?" Mortimer smirks at the thought.
"How nice." He's clearly not impressed, but he's got more important things to worry about. "And if there are more people with other players... this isn't a case of 'kill the other team', is it? Just knock them out of the game?"
"No, goodness no." Death almost laughs, there, but manages to keep it to an amused smile. "Practically, I would only be making more work for myself, as I am responsible for keeping you all alive. No, what you are doing is completing Jaunts, as in the previous rounds - the other Travelers can explain that better than I can. The conclusion of each Jaunt determines the winner of the match, who then moves on to the next bracket."
Good to know, that he's supposed to keep them alive. "And no one cheats?" Because while he's glad they don't have to kill each other, he's also aware that not everyone sticks to the rules in games. ... Much to his frustration sometimes.
"A great many of us have cheated," he admits, "but mostly it was to gain Marks among the Travelers. I do not think it impossible for one of our number to cheat now, but... they would have to be remarkably, remarkably good at hiding it to escape our notice."
He frowns, grimly. "I can only think of one such, and she is damned hard to read. But as I said, I do not intend for any of you to truly die. You may experience death if your counterpart from another world dies, whether Investigating or Infiltrating, but you, physically, will be safe."
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He tries to focus, and stares, and - that's definitely a funerary style of wearing it. He's seen enough funerals in recent months to know how things go by now. It takes a moment to process the question, and another moment to push his mind to think of an answer. "... Water. I guess. Even if... why am I here? I should be... dead."
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"There are many here in your predicament, I'm afraid," the man answers grimly, frowning before he takes a sip of his scotch. "Let me simply state that here, you can be given a bit of a second chance. A new lease on life, if you will. This cycle of Synodiporia, I've chosen you to represent me, along with the others marked by me - Malik Al-Sayf, Naoki Konishi, Yosuke Hanamura, October Daye, and Matthew Swift. They will be your... teammates, as it were, through the rest of the Mystic Journey." He shrugs his bony shoulders, before adding, "I am sure you have a lot of questions about where you are and what you're doing here, so before I go any further - is there something I can clarify?"
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What sort of magical bullshit hell has he been banished to?
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"Indeed. That is what Travelers called this round of Synodiporia, long ago." He gives a small shrug of his shoulders. "I've not kept up too much with Traveler slang, but that one always stuck out to me. Ah well, it matters little. The point is, you have been brought here to complete this round of Synodiporia, and I believe you would be a good fit for my... virtues, as it were."
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He takes another sip of water, trying to force himself to focus.
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"If I win, I'll get to end this. You'll get to stay here in Liminal Space or go to another world. I assume you, being freshly dead, would not want to go back to your world, but you could surprise me that way."
Death takes a good look at Jun, then adds, "Just keep doing what you're doing. You represent my virtues well enough. That's why I chose you, after all."
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But for what he should do... "What's involved in this game? What are the rules?"
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He pauses, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "I cannot explain the rules in detail, you understand. One of Fortuna's requirements. But I can explain the basic principles of the tournament. All seventeen of our number are attempting to win all of our individual match-ups to claim the power of the World, so that we might reshape the next round of Synodiporia in our image."
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Death thinks about it for a moment, before stating, "Of the current match-ups... Emperor. Chariot. Justice. Strength. Fool. Myself. I am not wholly sure which of Empress and Magician, or Sun and Priestess would be the most useful to our side if they won. But all of these I have listed are the ones least likely to harm you Travelers, for they are generally sympathetic to you. The ones I certainly do not want to win - Hanged Man. Tower. Devil. Thankfully Lovers has already lost. As for Moon... I am hesitant to say she would harm you, but she clearly wouldn't help you."
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He frowns, grimly. "I can only think of one such, and she is damned hard to read. But as I said, I do not intend for any of you to truly die. You may experience death if your counterpart from another world dies, whether Investigating or Infiltrating, but you, physically, will be safe."
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