Gogonji's thoughts were relatively light as he poured over the tomes he had procured from the depths of the Great Gubal Library. It had required some more of his aetheric reserves, but he had made a couple uses of that aetheryte the self-important frog had provided since his initial delve to search for other texts relating to his current topic of research. Treatises on the nature of aether itself and its distribution, both within and without of the corporeal form, were scattered amongst codices that seemed to have more formulas than words. Along with them were swaths of parchment, all laden with further calculations and symbols, with several more cast aside as little more than crumbled balls to be later collected and burned.
Not just to be rid of them, but to also obliterate any unnecessary evidence of the task he was working on. That and perhaps add a little bit of extra warmth to the chilly little shack squirreled away in the perpetual winter of Coerthas. The repairs on the place had long since completed, but the place still held a nasty chill that seemed quite unwilling to be chased away. The memories of what had occurred here with equally stubborn.
He had developed the Awakener here, a device meant to aid in the transfer of information in order to ultimately turn a profit off it in a bid to prove his business plan to his stubborn father. Its hulking frame had necessitated the development of a smaller, more risky mobile version in the Rouser that in and of itself was another massive drain on his financial resources. Awakener and Rouser, technology both that he had willingly weaponized in his bloody vengeance against the Garleans after the Razing of Doma. Technology that had turned one of his few allies traitor and had ultimately saddled him with literal ghosts of the past he had yet to fully shake off. And yet here he was again, continuing on in spite of that - in defiance of it - and, from all accounts, making some very solid progress in recovering from it all.
He had just returned from his meeting with Annunu up at the restaurant that overlooked the Toll, where he partook of much more than just the local food and drink. They had discussed the situation as it had progressed with that insufferable thorn Rosewater, and their plans to both cast him into tainted obscurity and ultimately remove him from the picture altogether. The lady Lalafell had seemed quite eager for the latter part, seemingly looking forward to the sun where she brought the underhanded Sultansworn to Gogonji for the punishment of his choosing. An ultimately final punishment, to be sure.
And for good reason, of course. The fool had thought himself better than he was, seeking to match wits against the elder Gegenji brother - and going so far as to try to manipulate An and use her as a tool for his own means. Perhaps that was the bit that irked the Doman the most, though he wasn't entirely sure why; the Hyur's unabashed attempts to use his An as a means of acquiescence and now as a mere toy to be used at his whim for whatever wish crossed his inferior mind. In their meeting at the Cork suns prior, the Plainsfolk girl had spoken of the paltry odds and ends he had tasked her to do. He had even had taken her to bed, which had caused an irrational flare of anger in the back of the Dunesfolk's mind.
He hadn't had his way with her like Gogonji had assumed in silent horror, as she clarified in their most recent meeting, but the idea of him tainting her in that way had still sat like a burning coal in his stomach since their last meeting. To the point that his mouth had bypassed his reason momentarily and he had offered to take her to bed instead, to which she had been surprisingly accommodating towards. However, due to the nature of their plans, it had to be something that could only take place after this next - and possibly penultimate - phase in their plans. And Gogonji found himself rather looking forward to what came after that, perhaps moreso than the removal of Rosewater himself.
And not just the possible coupling - though he found himself rather intrigued by the idea, as primal and base as such an act was - but more what would the conclusion of this plan ultimately meant. With Rosewater finally removed like the blighted boil he was, both An and himself would be wholly and utterly absolved of the weights of their deeds with Khamja. Free to live their lives as they so chose, unshackled by the fallout of the Castrum assaults - save for the fragments that still needed dealing with within the jade-haired Lalafell's mind. And, if the stirrings he was noticing as he delved into the aetheric studies was any indication, Gogonji might be taking another step soon in dealing with that particular obstacle as well.
That was not to say things had not been without complication, he noted as he looked over the formula he had just written before screwing his face into a look of absolute displeasure and crumpling it up into a ball in his frustration. Rosewater had deemed it prudent to gift Annunu with a necklace that was almost some manner of explosive collar to keep her obedient and pliable. As much as he hated the fools at the Ironworks for seeking to price gouge him and take his discoveries for their own, he also had been forced to admit that their general knowledge of magiteknology exceeded his own. And so, along with picking up a few books to seek to counter that imbalance, he had urged the lady Plainsfolk to have them take a look at the piece of jewelry and either disarm it or devise some manner of signal jammer to keep that insufferable Paladin from activating it. They had failed on the former, and so it was in their best interests to seek to deliver on the latter.
Gogonji's troubles weren't solely dominated by Rosewater and his indiscretions, however. There had been another: a tool he had sought to use to protect his younger brother in his absences - which would be much lengthier considering his rejection by Coral, another minor sore spot to his ego - had decided to turn on him and break the promise she had made. The one called Virara had been meant to aid and protect Chachanji on his little pseudo-heroic adventures, keep him safe and hale, and perhaps ultimately serve him as An had before their relationship had developed. However, she had decided that her little "training sessions" to fight her "Master" were far more important than the task Gogonji had magnanimously bequeathed to her, and thus had fled her duties - but not without leaving the younger Gegenji hobbled and recuperating from the falls he had taken because of her. The Coral staff had managed to tend to him well enough, but the older brother has still applied a bit of healing of his own to ensure the boy recovered cleanly as he had the tale recounted to him.
However, the other side of the equation had to be dealt with, Gogonji reminisced as he dipped his quill in the inkwell to begin his formulae anew. Despite the blustering and threats by not only one of the Coral's grunts but its leader itself, he had gone to see Virara taken to task for her indiscretions up in the Sea of Clouds where she had fled. It was not as simple a venture as he would have liked, since he was hindered not only by a need to resolve the conflict peaceably - more in deference to his younger brother than the murderous intent of the Free Company's head - but also by the Miqo'te Jana who had attached herself to his mission during the course of the arguments. And he was laden still-further when he found himself on the same airship as the hunter-songbird and her entourage that one of Coral's own had sent after Virara - despite Renzhen's constant outpourings about allowing her members their freedom to go where they will. Hypocrisy aside, Gogonji could only hope that the Au Ra's aggressive protection of her own extended to his younger brother as well - to do what the purple-haired Lalafell apparently would not.
And he found the aforementioned Lalafell, after bypassing one self-appointed guardian and bandying words with the two feathered Beast Tribesmen that served as another. Virara proved to not only be unapologetic for her transgressions, but adamantly against returning to the position as stated - twisting her own promise to him to her own ends. She had obviously thought her Master more important than the task Gogonji had given her, making her all but useless as a defensive tool since she would so willingly let the younger Gegenji come to harm again and again if it furthered her own base objectives. And so he had willingly annulled the promise between them and set forth another - since she was such a troubling entity, she would be forever barred from any interaction at all with his brother. He would find another to keep watch over his brother, from both the troubles the young Dunesfolk would get himself into - and from Virara herself.
Gogonji was still working on the latter, seeking a proper tool to fill the void left by that obviously defective one. This was his own brother, his own blood, after all and he would have nothing but the best. In the meantime, he had set Erwin to keep at least somewhat of an eye on the boy. It got the one-armed drunkard out his hair, and put him towards doing something actually useful. It might've evolved into a more permanent arrangement if he didn't half-expect the Highlander to drink himself into a stupor and let little Chachanji wander into danger while he was sleeping it off.
He refused to have anything close to a repeat of past events, to entrust Chachanji to someone who would so willingly see him harmed for their own agenda. The protector he would set in Virara's place would need to be strong like her, yes, but also several degrees more obedient. One that would do as they were told and properly take care of his younger brother, at the cost of their life if necessary, rather than leaving him to further their own unnecessary goals. Or, at the very least, not act in blatant contradiction of their role by injuring the boy in the process of attending to whatever inconsequential issue they needed handling.
The older Gegenji shook his head and pulled another piece of parchment from the sheaf of them set on the corner of his desk, clearing his head so that he would be ready to again seek to crack this code he had set before himself. He stalwartly reminded himself that things were continuing apace, and that was all that mattered. The Virara issue had been all but handled for the most part and the Rosewater situation would see itself wrapped up in a matter of moons at most. All that remained was this task he had started upon and dealing with the remainder of the fragments - one hopefully aiding in the other - and he could finally return to some degree of normalcy again. With An at his side.
That latter part had popped into his mind unintentionally, but Gogonji still found himself wondering which thought he enjoyed more.
~