World Tree MUSH

    It really is an unusual meeting. No Gardeners allowed, but in the middle of Gardener-controlled territory. In fact, there are agents here, clearly showing the bent-tree symbol of the Gardeners themselves, and they're checking whomever approaches. Many are turned away not because of affiliation, but because they aren't Harbingers, the particular brand of people who drag a bit of reality with them.

    In the end, only a handful of people are let in, despite the fact that the one lounging at the end of the large table there is... William. The self-admitted head of the Groundskeepers, though maybe not everyone arriving knows that. It certainly is strange that Gardeners are watching the door and not like, stabbing him though! He waves people to sit. "Hello! Do relax a bit, I just have a proposition for those of you interested! Only two rules, really. The first is to hear me out when I give you another offer. The second is to not tell anyone in the Gardeners, Keepers, or Harvesters anything about this. Or I WILL hunt you down."

    He grins and sits up. "In return, I'll tell you about something that all three of them desperately want. And I'll do it despite working for the Keepers. Sounds like a good deal, doesn't it?"

    Magilou will have shown up, not because she was expected to or because she was invited but because she is just curious what's happening. She's had something of a rough go of it of late, mostly because of not actually earning any sort of money and thus continuing her current lifestyle of 'homeless criminal drifter' aside from occasionally crashing in Morrigan's van, but that's only obvious if someone's really looking. Otherwise, she looks just as loud as usual these days as she takes a seat.

    "...I don't hear anything I can't do, at least. You don't know all the secrets I'm keeping, after all! And you won't learn them either, because that's my point. I'm not sure what you could want to offer an innocent witch, but I'll listen, at least. There's no chance of food at this little shindig, is there, by the way?"

    William hmms at Magilou, "I can order something, but the only thing I'd have on hand would be those little sandwiches." He makes a gesture with his fingers showing they'd be small. "And they'd be vegemite."

    Ugh. Bouncers. Super tempting to try and slip past them and find out what the weird message was about but no, Marcy was asked very nicely to keep things above board. So, she pesents before the cadre of folks keeping guard over the entrance, a dangerous-looking bass guitar slung behind her on a strap and her mane of hair just kind of trailing almost weightlessly along behind her.

    Her appearance is scruffy, a long sleeved flannel shirt over what appears to be a tank top, very worn jeans, beat up red leather boots and a wide brimmed hat. She carries herself a little too easily into the meeting space, finds a seat and kicks her boots up onto something. She just has to avoid acting suspicious. Not a word was said to her about propriety!

    "Yo, dudes." A glance at William, then Magliou as she comes in. She's even nice enough to tip her hat up out of her eyes. William's warning gets a snort from her but she doesn't rise to the bait, though she can't keep the consternation from her face. Her mouth tightens and her fangs show but she remembers once again that she's also not here to start anything.

    "Y'know, yeah, if you're gonna roll up all hard like that with the tough talk how bout something for the road, at least? It's a long way back to Ooo."

    It was William's name that drew Yahiko in. The young swordsman was curious now, wondering if this is the same William. And when it is... he narrows his eyes, but takes a seat. His kimono is in better condition but he's still obviously a wandering swordsman, so not exactly in formal wear, right? He nods at Magilou, and then just looks curiously at Marcy. He's not as familiar with the myths of vampires from the West, so she's more a curiosity to be wary of than a danger.

    "I mean... I'm not inclined to tell any of them anything even now, so I guess that sounds reasonable. But you probably should provide food or something." Hey, he's gotten much better at manners, but a free meal is a free meal!

    "I don't know what vegemite is, but assuming it's both free and not poisonous I will take it." Magilou replies. She's been living off Bienfu's cooking; she probably is correct in assuming it's not going to be as terrible as that is. "But if you want to order something, I can wait until after you tell us what the deal is and why you've invited such an illustrious group of, um." She'll glance at Yahiko, who she is friendly with but is also aware is maybe the only person who might have shown as thoroughly homeless as she is, and Marceline who she is not familiar with but who is quite clearly also not really the respectible sort.

    William stares at everyone. All three. He sighs, "You know what? Now you've made ME hungry. Fine." He pulls out what looks like a cell phone, though of a weird style, and punches in some numbers. "Yeah. Yeah I'll have two larges, one pepperoni and one cheese... um... no. No that's fine. Wait what, garlic sauce is extra? Fine, no garlic sauce, I think we have a vampire here anyway. Oh really? Uh... okay yeah just an order of breadsticks and sure, I'll try the cookie bar. No. No. Wait! Yeah we'll need two two-liters... no that's fine. Yeah. Okay, thanks."

    He sighs and tucks the phone away. "Okay, where was I? Oh right. So, here's the deal. You stay and listen to my pitch, and I tell you where you can probably find a World Seed. Two of you were there when we found the Reflection a while back. A World Seed can stabilize it and make it its own world. Or, you know, give you powers beyond belief if you absorb it and it doesn't kill you by atomizing you and stretching you across the multiverse."

    He grins. "But before that, you get to hear my recruitment pitch for the Groundskeepers and why you should join. You don't have to join, you don't even have to decide now. Just listen to the pitch and why we do what we do."

    Well, imposing upon a host for food is kind of a great foot forward in Marceline's opinion! She does well not to smirk too hard, though she maintains her very casual, comfortable and irreverent posture for the time being.

    The phone call gets a sharp look the moment garlic comes up but she relaxes; boundaries already in place. Good. "Pizza guy's not gonna have to fight anyone to get in the door, right? Those goons outside were mean mugging everyone."

    Then, we're on to the basics. She frowns as she listens, not really sure exactly what's being laid out. World seeds? Atomizing? "What the dump would someone wanna risk that for, then?"

    Then, a recruitment thing? She really does well not to groan but her impatience is written all over her face. "Alright, fine." She rolls one hand grandly, inviting william to go on before she steals a look over at Yahiko.

    Sizing him up? Guessing flavor? Whatever the case, she smiles. Oh no, so many pointy teeth.

    "I did tell you at the time that I wouldn't be interfering with that world myself." Magilou points out, though seperated from it she sounds far more breezy about it than the rare sincere and bitter way she'd discussed the matter when they were in the reflection. "And I'm not particularly sure that I need powers beyond belief. I already have pretty great powers that most people don't believe in." She twirls her finger in the air, a dove flitting just above it, perching down onto her finger, and then vanishing in a burst of light like the small illusion that it is.

    "But I'll stay and listen, not because I want to do anything with any of the knowledge but just because I want to know."

    Blink. Yahiko was paying some attention to Magilou just because he knew her, and even chuckles a bit at her assessment, but then he feels eyes on him and fidgets uncomfortably. Marceline is an unknown, and of course there's also the fact that he's a teenage boy with a girl eying him hungrily. Of course he's going to feel awkward! Though he probably doesn't realize the look is not that kind of look, it may be best not to correct him.

    "So that place we found could be made stable?" He perks up, and then reluctantly explains, "Well... we kind of found a place that was... not quite real, but had people in it. I'm guessing we can use this to make the place real so it isn't in danger of vanishing."

    He looks at William again though. "But what happens to the two worlds that are like, linked to it?"

    "Ah..." William grins at Yahiko's question, standing up. "Yes, yes, none of you care. Well, perhaps that will change. I'm just doing my duty!" He claps his hands and starts to pace. "A lot of people assume the Keepers are out to destroy everything. That's just not true. And the details dovetail nicely with your question, Yahiko." He snaps his fingers. "And the answer is... nothing. They'd disperse. Not vanish, but the pressure keeping them from going any particular way would suddenly be replaced with an outright obstruction. Most likely they'd both just drift off and never connect to the Tree, or maybe connect years or centuries later. Either way a win for me and the Keepers, because our goal is actually to keep Worlds away from the Tree... and to split them away from it if they're already joined. Normally, Thorns are the way we do this. Make worlds unviable, which regretfully causes casualties, but long term it is just to preserve the individualism of many more."

    He claps his hand. "So you see it helps both of us! But since World Seeds can do... many things, I didn't want the other Keepers to know quite yet. They can also be used to almost directly create a Thorn, which would also serve our purposes but probably not make anyone here happy. We do care about lives, you know."

    Marceline lifts a shoulder noncommittally. She won't say that she doesn't care just yet; she's really just sorta clueless, here to hear things in someone else's stead. At least, she thinks so at first. At first, though, William seems to be making a little bit of sense. Preserving worlds and their individualism doesn't sound so bad.

    Then the talk of thorns, casualties... She tears her gaze from Yahiko, pauses briefly on Magilou, then she coughs out a single bark of laughter, her gaze locked on her lap as she toys with her fingers.

    "Wait. So you say you care but you just..." She looks up, cheeks tense under her narrowed eyes. She clenches her jaw, fighting back the urge to have an outburst. She's clearly struggling. "Making worlds unviable, huh... So there's some better way? Why not start with that? Why just tell us?"

    "..Do you?" Magilou murmurs the question, at the mention of caring about lives, not quite looking at William, or at anyone. She doesn't sound angry, or like she's making fun of anyone or anything the way she normally does. She sounds utterly, completely soulless, no inflection at all as she continues, in a calm speaking voice that could easily be talked over or ignored. It might be more uncomfortable, if anything, than if she was actually upset and passionate. "I'm always curious if people who do things like cause a death today in order to save two lives tomorrow actually care about the life in question, or if they're just caring about the math. No matter what scale they use or how much they unbalance it. Not giving the one much of a chance to struggle and win their way free from the tree, yeah?"

    Not a big fan of the thorn plan, it seems.

    "Just what else can the World Seed do, then? And if one or more of us accepted, wouldn't another keeper by definition know about this seed?"

    Yahiko grimaces, but before he can state his complaints, Magilou and Marceline both say... roughly the same thing. "I'm with them," he adds lamely, even if that's kind of surprising coming from Magilou. Perhaps she isn't as thoughtless as she seems. Marcy is a stranger so this is mostly just getting an idea from her.

    "I mean. We're listening, and all, but yeah... isn't there a way to do what you want without all the mess? Is it just harder?" He gestures around. "Or is Thorns the easy way out."

    William shrugs, then slumps back into the chair. "I mean, I HAVE been doing this for a few centuries. If you know a better way to kill the World Tree I'm all ears. That IS the long term solution. But here, we have a unique opportunity to preserve two worlds from joining BEFORE they Blossom. In the long term it doesn't help the rest of the Tree... but it will help those two worlds. And I'm hoping in the long term it also helps people realize what the Keepers are all about."

    He scratches the back of his neck. "And even I have to admit, the organization has made some uh... questionable alliances before. But hey, I'm not in charge any more. The Will of the Tree stayed in his position as head of the Gardeners, but I don't actually run the Keepers any more."

    He then shrugs at what Magilou said about Keepers knowing. "I... guess technically, I just figured none of you would jump right at the chance and you'd at least handle the whole Reflection mess before deciding to join if you did."

    Then he sits up. "World Seeds can do a lot of things. They can even revive a dead world, though you need to nudge it along with other things. But trust me, this IS the best way to split worlds from the Tree, long term." He stretches arms over his head. "And of course World Seeds can also empower people, like I said. It's dangerous, but nigh invulnerability and the ability to control Vines? Not a bad deal if you risk it."

    He pauses and adds, "Besides... the Gardeners say they want to make every world peacefully integrate, but you DO know that means they make some tough decisions too, right? The Will of the Tree is no more a saint than I am. He'll casually order his people to execute thousands if it means a smoother integration. That's just how things work."

    Marceline finally drops her boots off of the table, dragging her bootsoles over the floor with a soft scrape. "Jeez, man, a few centuries. Is this Tree biz really so bad you... Ugh." She bounces one foot, boot heel lightly tapping the floor as she starts feeling a bit too much anxious energy building up. She can't keep her own baggage from rolling around in her head and it's stressful and distracting.

    "So what, is it just a one shot deal? You do this seed thing and you fix up one world's thing? Or do you have to risk scattering into stardust first, or whatever? That why you won't just do it yourself? Or do you just not care enough? Heh, seen plenty like you before."

    Magilou and Yahiko both get looks, though 'Lou seems way more down about this, Yahiko is the kid here. At least she's not being a creep and leering like monster trash anymore.

    Magilou shrugs at that. "I didn't say I thought very highly of the Gardeners either. There's room for everyone to be wrong. Just who is in charge of the Keepers now, then?" She'll ask, more curious than anything. She's actually not saying no, either; she's just reluctant towards organizations, more than any kind of objection to the idea of destroying the tree. Even if she's currently stuck on the tree itself, which would probably be unhealthy were it to be destroyed.

    Yahiko is the kid here! Though he's actually in his late teens so not really that young. Still younger than the other two, even if Marcy LOOKS about his age? He fidgets, this time from the weight of what's going on. "Yeah uh... so we use this World Seed, one of us risks being destroyed, but we can save that Reflection? That's a tall order... yeah, why don't you just do it yourself?"

    William shakes his head, "Sorry, I didn't make that clear. You only risk destruction if you try to absorb a World Seed. Merely using one on a World for other purposes? That is... well, nothing is ever completely safe, but I've never heard of someone being injured just for using it. Usually any injuries from that are people fighting over it. Just don't try to eat it or something and you'll be fine!"

    He scratches the back of his head. "And uh... actually the Keepers really don't like me doing stuff like that. I'm not even sure who the current council is, identity-wise. And even if I did, I doubt the names would mean anything to you? I'm pretty sure Kannet is still on the council..." He shrugs, "But well... both the Gardeners and the Keepers, and probably the Harvesters too, tend to keep a close eye on where I go. If I went there myself, they'd fight me for the Seed or try to beat me there. I could... probably beat them, but it'd be a pain and nothing is certain." He points at the three before him. "But you three, or whichever of you decides to go, and any allies you grab... they won't care. Or at least not enough to send their big guns. You have the freedom to move that I don't, unless I want to leave a trail of bodies. Besides, I already ate a World Seed, I'm leery of even touching one now."

    About then, the door slides open, and a bewildered delivery girl steps in with the pizzas. William stands up, "Anyway, I'll give you the details after we eat! Just think over what I said, okay?"

    "Hmf. Right." Big shots always claim stuff like this. She doesn't respect it! "So, I don't really know about the sitch from before so I'm way more in the dark; probs not who you want fussing around with all that."

    Her hands come up and she lifts from her chair, arms and legs crossing as she sinks into thought. She really should be writing some of this down but dang.

    "Yeah, wild ideas like that can't imagine why anyone would think you're boutta do some mad cray junk." It's almost respectable that this William guy is trying to stay his hand from actively doing violence and shining a light on a possible alternative to his prior heinous acts. Still hits way too close for her. She doesn't like any of it. 

    Then pizza shows up and Marceline shines up her demeanor a bit. "Morning!" Soon as pizza is deployed, she'll... Scoop up a container of marinara dipping sauce for herself and give it a cautious sniff.