Oh, that's easier than getting their bearings in new places has historically been.

To the signage. Things are slightly easier to track when they are using their actual names, he'll say that much.

speak for yourself. Mordred has a totally fine time with his large number of pseudonyms.

The porter looks visibly confused at the presence of an eight-year-old.

Lev tightens his hold on her hand.

The porter says that Savitree Sirikhan has paid for the four of them to stay at the Oriental Hotel.

The rooms have electric lighting, ceiling fans, and a private bath. There’s mosquito netting on all the beds. The hotel is equipped with a smoking room for the gentlemen; a ladies room for the, well, ladies; a billiards room; a bar capable of sitting fifty patrons; and a restaurant. The cuisine is excellent. Savitree has covered all their bills. The reception office can arrange for guided tours of the river and royal palaces, English-speaking guides, motor cars, garage accommodations, and river launches. Not far from where they’re staying is the Author’s Wing, a two-story structure which has served as long-term residence for a number of famous writers.

This is such a change from their standard globetrotting experiences. The last two places this nice were mansions they'd broken into. Oswald half expects someone to notice they're there and kick them out.

Mordred's sort of weirdly on edge about it, and really wishes he weren't.

Tereza and Lev can get set up in the hotel and then Mordred and Oswald can meet their host?

:OOO

Daniel Lowman is waiting downstairs at the bar once they've settled in.

"Mordred. Oswald. Mariam tells me you're very interesting."

"Is that the adjective she used?"

"Close enough."

"She also tells me you're a very straightforward man. So why don't you tell me exactly why you think you're worth Savitree's time?"

"Well, we closed the mouth in Malta."

"Did you."

"Mariam can also confirm that about two days before it happened we told her we were planning to, and showed her two spells that would do it."

He's smiling. Cheerful. Chill, and not even the slightest bit freaked out. It's like 80% true, even.

"I regret to inform you that the Liar is not the Black Pharaoh and that spell is entirely useless."

"We noticed! Fortunately, the Rituals of Self Denial turned out to work fine."

"Interesting. Savitree would like to look at that.

I understand Inaaya has told you something of our... goals."

"Something," he agrees.

Nodding! Finally something with a fairly safe answer.

"What do you understand them to be?"

"That the end of the world is bad and should be prevented? She wasn't very specific, I was pretending to be working for Walker at the time and she was trying to talk me into jumping ship."

"Before I continue, I'm going to remind you that we have deathmatches every day and they have an extraordinary need for new bodies which not even our number of Nectar addicts can supply. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I do."

Why do you have so many deathmatches, then, he doesn't say, because he understands the threat and the supply logistics is beside the point.

"Trammel was an incompetent egotist and Donovan was grieving. Savitree is none of these and you will not win a fight with her. Do you understand me."

"We definitely understand."

"We understand you and do not intend to start a fight with her."

(Also, Montgomery is fine and on a boat with her daughter and better off for my having interfered, he doesn't mention here.)

"And while you may be immortal"-- he says to Mordred-- "I am sure Thawi Udom would be overjoyed to test out its exact limits. Both commercially and, mm. Recreationally."

He's so tired of cultists and their recreational activities.

Why is it that every single cultist he's talked to thinks they're the first person to ever threaten him with murder and/or horrifying pain.

"Got it!"

"Excellent."

"Savitree has certain... regrets... about her role in the 1924 ritual. Anything that can be summoned can be banished. But to perform a banishment ritual we must track down the name of the Liar, and the Liar has made this task. Difficult."

"This is the task for which we have hired the Emporium of Bangkok Antiquities."

"Are extradimensional horrorgods the kinds of entities that have pronounceable true names?" he wonders aloud. This will maybe possibly contribute and most likely cause Lowman to realize why he hasn't been talking up until now.

Daniel Lowman says something in the hissing, sibilant Tongue of Lies.

Somehow it is sarcastic.

That's fair enough but Lowman is his archnemesis now.

A pause, and then Mordred fails his will save and imitates the sound. "Like that, did I get it right?"

"Not quite," Daniel says. "There's no way to learn to speak it except for excessive Nectar consumption."

He feels something like he's having a throbbing headache except the headache is made of every sound that is happening right now.

Daniel Lowman is DOUBLE his archnemesis.

Oh come on.

"Huh. Okay then. Anyway, you were saying."

"If I decide that you are interesting enough to be worth Savitree's time," Daniel says, "she was thinking of having you look through her research. A second pair of eyes. To pool knowledge and see if you can catch something she didn't notice."

"There is no need for misunderstandings like the one with your Cast Out The Black Pharaoh spell. If we're all on the same side."

He feels like most of this conversation is just blatantly ignoring his existence and presence on this trip but this is of course sensible because Daniel Lowman is his archnemesis now.

Look, they've seen what happens when Oswald does the talking. "We would be glad of the opportunity."

That doesn't mean all references Lowman makes to their group have to be about Mordred alone! Though he is also aware, separately, that he is not crazy enough to go look over Savitree's research with her.

"So. Prove it."

He sits back and waits for them to talk.

Well, it's kind of hard to prove a claim about the past, but--

"So, first off, we didn't pick a fight with Montgomery Donovan. The notebook I gave Mariam has our records of most of the last six months, but starting from where it left off--"

(He leaves out the tunnel misadventures for irrelevance crimes, and also for making them look kind of dumb crimes, and also leaves out the details of Oswald's nervous breakdowns, but he keeps the rest.) 

Daniel nods once.

"Come with me. She will like to see you."

(Off they go to meet new terrifying people.)

Daniel takes them to a small rowboat, large enough to hold four or five people.

There is a single, obviously terrified boatman who rows them to Ko Kruk Island. Daniel explains none of his decisions to the boatman.

Do you ever reach the point where you're like, our lives are already so goddamn weird, this might as well happen? Yeah.