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beleos ([personal profile] beleos) wrote in [community profile] kenosooc2024-01-12 02:07 pm

JANUARY TDM + SETTING UPDATES


BEARING FRUIT (NEW CHARACTERS ONLY)
It starts out as a pleasant dream. You’re in your favorite place, with your favorite people. It’s a moment of idyllic comfort.
And then, it goes wrong. The sky turns dark above, and as you look up, you see the black expanse of space spotted with faraway pinprick lights of stars. Yet, they’re not stars. You’re certain. They’re watching you. A billion eyes all looked down, and they spilled forth as if the sky itself was a dam holding back those dark waters. You reach back to the people you’re with, but they’re frozen in place. Their eyes are black, reflecting only the expanse of dark eyes. Their bodies jerk, and convulse, as if controlled by puppet strings, reaching out to try to grip your hand, your shoulder, your wrist, but you know you should pull away. Something iswrong. If fingers or appendages meet your skin, there is a chill, that runs up your body, from the tips of your toes, up your spine, a full-body experience of wrongness. Would your loved ones feel like this, when they reach out?

So you run, even though you know you won’t escape it. You glance back and see it not overtaking, but consuming. The landscape around you is being devoured, and you can see it cracking apart. The world itself is breaking, and it cracks under your feet. You fall, and the billion eyes chase after you until the darkness swallows you whole. It's coming for you, it will not stop, it will not relent, and there is nothing that can be done. What a fool you were, for ever thinking you could escape. There’s agony as if you’re being ripped apart, and then—

You cannot see. You cannot feel. You simply are. Yet even so, impossibly, a woman’s voice speaks gently.

I’m sorry it couldn’t be saved. But, come, it’s time to wake.
Your senses come to you slowly. Are you here for days? Weeks? Longer? It is difficult to say. All that you are is inert, and still. You can feel parts of you that form, but they hurt, like your body is fighting through a layer of...something. Something that keeps you from a gentle regrowth. You feel a chill, next to your heart, and while your form grows, it also fights, trying to both find a form and fight against some darkness that clings to you, like it's trying even now to consume your soul. It has a taste of it, you can tell, though not enough to take from you. Enough to know you, and while your body grows, this darkness slowly, slowly ebbs away, as if it can no longer touch you when you are whole. Something protects you, a presence. You can sense it, just like you can start to sense the presence of others. Some are close by, you can tell, winking in and out of existence just like you are. Falling in and out of consciousness like you do, as you are all collectively regrown. A groaning, creaky voice hums in your ear, with breaths that thrum and hum, like a gentle summer breeze through the leaves, and it tells you: Try to reach them. Welcome their calls. Can you hear them? Through communion. Your emotions are laid bare, in this space. Will you allow them to project? Will you try to control them? Will you reach out to your fellow new bearers, and soothe their own worries, or exacerbate their fears?

Eventually, after a long time, you wake with a start, cradled by soft, velvety plants, and sticky with a sap that smells faintly of honey and iron, an acrid scent lingers, like the edge of rot that has been swept away. You can see the veins of the leaves that hold you, lit warmly and gently by what looks like a crystal embedded above you. Yet, it’s odd, because that crystal calls to you. When you reach out to touch it, it’s warm. Familiar. Important. You don’t know why, but you know you must hold onto this because now it feels wrong for it to be suspended in these leaves. So, you pull it out.

The light starts to fade, but only in time to see as the leaves cradling you immediately start to soften and crumble, and with it comes a torrent of dirt. Soft, loamy soil starts to fill the space around you in the dark as you’re buried. Or, rather, you already were. You reach out through the dirt desperately, and your hands finds a root, so you pull while you clutch that precious crystal so close that it almost feels like it sinks into you (in your panic, you don’t notice that it does). You reach out again, and this time, your hand hits open air, and plenty of sturdy roots around to grab.

From a seed you’re born, and like a sprout, you make your way out of the ground.

And once you’ve clawed your way out of the soft earth and the roots, nearby, you see the soil shift. Another hand comes up to grasp desperately for something, anything, just as you had been.


A LITTLE ISLAND HOPPING
With the new Shard-Bearers present or en route, it is Kathova and Cetina who approach the established ones, requesting that they form mentorships with the new souls to assist them with the integration process. To this end, they have both provided a centralized zone in both Highstorm and Springstar for a series of small, seemingly casual gatherings, they happen over the span of a week, so new visitors can get the chance to spend time in both cities before they make a decision.

Additionally, as Springstar and Highstorm are holding their events over multiple days, the knowledge-hungry can participate in both informational sessions -- the tones and opinions held by both cities are doubtless to differ.

For those established bearers of the opposite faction, however, your faces are known amongst the populations of our sister cities, especially the administrators of both Meridian and Zenith, and if you try to attend the parties of either city, you will be turned away, with varying levels of aggression, depending on your tier of harmonization. New bearers are free to notice if someone tries! It seems you've stumbled your way into an escalating war.

SPRINGSTAR, αιώνιος ήλιος

In Springstar, the seat of the Tribune becomes available for such an event. While a section of the building itself has been reserved for the meeting between fresh faces and experienced Shard-Bearers alike, the hustle and bustle of Heliopolis continues around them -- acolytes still gather their robes and tomes, hurrying from their quarters to lessons. A score of young militants march in step across the yard to the training grounds. The higher-ups amongst Meridian have taken it upon themselves to wrap up their Year's End and New Year's festivities with a celebration of their recent victory over the Harbinger Oracle, as well as a celebration of the possibility of new shard-bearers. One does not have to attend every day, but Springstar's celebrations do tend to be multi-day affairs, and everyone from the scholars to the titled nobility seems keen on greeting new bearers. The tribune himself, Cyrus, welcomes bearers with a rousing speech at midday each day, speaking of their victories and their battle to stand for the worlds now lost. His speeches are met with polite applause, but is it a bit lacking in enthusiasm? Cyrus seems to brush it off with little offense, but perhaps you notice, that his eyes crinkle slightly, and he may look a touch... sad.

The celebrations are in the Seat of the Tribune, with tables draped in white-and-gold-trimmed fabrics fare filled with fare typical to Springstar's slowly brightening summer -- platters of hard crumbly cheeses and stuffed doulmades, roasted meats and fish, like souvlaki and psari plaki. There are plenty of grains and other dishes that elude to the abundance of both Springstar and Alenroux, and bearer efforts there.. The atmosphere is ambient with informality and friendliness, though topics will inevitably stray towards philosophic or political, Springstar's meeting grounds are decorated with handsome chaise lounges and slouching klismos chairs in small, intimate groupings. This is a forum in the classical sense, where people are encouraged to speak freely, no matter the topic. Though excitement charges the air, the gathering at the Seat is much more muted than what transpires outside the center of the city.

The church, too, celebrates the victory. Now that the Year's End celebrations have passed, the head of the church, Hieropoios Natalia Theodora Vaso Helios offers proclamations daily to those who will attend. Her tone has turned in tone toward driving forward, for now, that they have two Oracles of 3, Meridian's light is in favor, and she offers blessings and venerations toward the bearers who support their efforts to restore worlds. Bearers who attend these masses will feel their discord ebb from her words alone, and their shards will feel warm to the touch for some time afterward, even if they are not harmonized. If they ask anyone within the church, they will be told that it is Meridian's light filling them.

One would assume after a victory, that the mood elsewhere in Springstar is jubilant, but while there is still the occasional party outside in the summer sun in the Psychagogía district, there is a hushed tenseness to the city of eternal-sun. Stay too long, and you will eventually find the reason why, when scared locals speak of disappearing friends or family members, and there are whispered rumors of attacks. Some accuse the denizens of the Below, and others whisper about monsters in the dark. Though they have captured the latest oracle, the hope that normally follows such excitement is... tentative, at best.

HIGHSTORM, луны-близнецы

Eternally in opposition, Highstorm uses the manor's courtyard as the location for a series of events over the next week, inviting bearers new and old to join them in celebration. The members of the Highstorm council have set the small gathering in the court beneath Yima's tree, and next to the reflecting pools. The Lady Yima herself is in attendance and oversees the gathering from the balcony of her manor above. She will visit the grounds sparingly, generally when a new bearer is afoot, but she will direct any questions to either Kathova, or her more established Zenites, as she has many people to greet. Though she will take the moment to hold each new bearer's hand that visits and tell them each: "You have the potential to hold the key to a new, and better world. We believe in what you can do, and what strength you will find in Kenos. Let the memories of your loved ones, and your world, guide you to the right path, and know that your loss will be honored when we achieve our new world," before she glides away.

There are few places to be seated in the Manor's courtyard, resulting in bodies milling about as they flow and ebb between smaller gatherings, clustering in small-to-large groups with small platters and shimmering flutes of drink held in their hands. Yet, as you look, you’ll see that the selection is also quite interesting. The foods and drinks on offer are from a multitude of worlds, and so you may find a new favorite! Or something not suited to your palate at all. It’s at least a chance to be adventurous. If you try something and don’t like it, might not want to say that out loud, lest you insult someone who’s from that world. More established Zenites are encouraged to attend to help draw in new Zenites, and both new and old inductees alike are encouraged to speak about what their vision of a new world would look like. The reflecting pool itself is at the center of the courtyard, and if one looks in, they can see their memories reflected back at them. Though... if you look for too long, something seems to try and reach out for you. Can you feel the allure of dark fingertips, ready to brush against your face? If you stare too long, an attendant will pull the bearer back, just before they land right in the pool, offering unsettling remarks of “that has been happening more lately, the last person it happened to disappear. We even drained the pool, but couldn’t find them!

Further into Highstorm, the Greenwood Yards attracts many visitors during the dead of Highstorm's winter. The doors are (proverbially, we can't let the heat out!) open, to bearers new and old alike. Attendants there will explain that this season is the best for starting some of the seeds that will grow well into early and mid-spring, but most seeds need warmth to grow. They will ask visitors to find a partner, to hold their combined hands together, and to offer shared warmth to the seed, and they will explain that seeds grow best when they come from the combined care of more than one individual. Bearers will eventually have to separate, but they will notice that the small seed in their palms has started to sprout. Visitors will also be welcome to turn fertilizer with the laborers at the yards (What's in it? Don't worry about it!) and there will be sessions held by the staff on the local flora and fauna, so consider this your primer on the native plants and animals of Kenos!

The denizens of Highstorm are putting out their bells and whistles for the new bearers, as they have less to fear in the streets (or do they...?) so feel free to stop by Benny's -- watch out for any fights, or participate, I'm not your mom -- or feel free to visit the Tomes, where a certain coffee shop has opened up a cart in the largest library in the district, offering drinks to comers and goers, which are becoming quite popular. This particular barista often offers drinks based on their shards, but as a little winter pick-me-up for the denizens of Highstorm, there are several new drinks offered for visitors! They even have a menu on display for bearers to select from!
CHEERS TO A NEW YEAR

  • Springstar Sunrise - One using the crushed vines that populate Springstar in their warm season, which makes bearers want to reach out and hold hands.
  • Scorching Slowdown - One using water from the Scorching Isles that makes bearers grow cold, and time seems to warp around them. (This one DOES contain a modified touch of the Blight that bearers once healed, but if brought up, an attendant will shake their head, and impress upon the patron a sense of calm. It will not hurt you.)
  • Xanadu Xing - that makes bearers feel warm and totally relaxed. A spa in a cup, and you’ll feel like you had a therapy session afterward!
  • Worlds Edging - A drink that makes bearers start to feel...amorous. (The Aphro Drink)
  • Highstorm Hiccup - A whimsical drink that gives the bearer hiccups! Do they float a little? Yeah, but there’s no fans over your heads, don’t worry
  • Pastoral Punch - A fruity concoction, it’s made from the crops in Alenroux (think a Sangria) and when drank, it fills bearers with warm memories, and reverie comes easy.
  • Yima Yammer - a tongue-in-cheek drink, it fills a bearer with the uncontrollable urge to talk
  • Cyrus Concussion - This drink puts bearers into a deep sleep. They have pleasant, warm dreams.

ALENROUX

The pastoral farmlands of Alenroux are seeing a resurgence of life and community, since the establishment of combined Meridian and Zenith forces, and the subsequent attempts to eliminate or displace the monsters that ravaged the island at night. With a more stable population, some of the workers have established homes, and have started opening their doors in the sunny, lush farmland, which is reachable by cornerstone, and oddly? Alenroux has taken to advertising their new interest in tourism. The small farming village has started establishing shops with wares, crafts, cooking classes, and wine tastings, pretty much an agro-tourist's dream! Drink beverages crafted by refugees from distant worlds, or dishes from other worlds! Bearers are encouraged to visit, and stay the night with a multitude of Alenroux's homes opening their doors for bearers to stay in their Bed and Breakfasts.

However, while the days are 24 hours long, so are the nights. Alenroux natives do not leave their homes, and staying in for a full day's time can feel like an eternity. You'll have time to get to know your hosts, but the night is haunted by the cries and howls of monsters in the distance, particularly on the north end of the island. Should a bearer step outdoors, they will find monsters still roaming. Take one on, if you dare, but watch out! Shadow creatures lurk until you least expect it, and may try to lure you in with a familiar voice, a soft promise, the lingering scent of a loved one. What you find in the woods might be just a run-of-the-mill big monster to fight, or it might be something deadlier, a shadow, mimicking a loved one, trying to draw you into the darkness.

KOWLOON

Though Kowloon is something of an open secret amongst those in Springstar, it was normally left to lay in the belly underneath the sunsoaked city topside, like an afterthought. Only those who already knew where it was, could make their way through the dangerous maze of tunnels and corridors that leads from the Springstar sewers, down into the Below, and then further into Kowloon. The Below is dangerous to all but the most powerful, as in the dark corridors, creatures lurk, and people make dens and nests within. Some will warn new bearers away, citing that there are Dark Things within the tunnels and that they don’t encourage anyone to stay down there for long. If you remain unharmonized, it's recommended that a guide assists you on the way down. Fellow shard-bearers who visit frequently are recommended, but particularly savvy types can find their way down on their own.

Kowloon itself is a thriving little beating heart underground, and much like its namesake, it truly is just a built-up city within a scant few blocks, the buildings are densely packed, and ascend to over 14 stories high. It’s massive, enough to occupy a large number of oddities, such as a hunting ground for monsters, and there are bars, clubs, casinos, and shops with wares from very nearly anywhere. Though if you ask where they get them, the owners of said establishments will dodge the question, or outright threaten you when pressed. Bearers will find that there are varying degrees of openness in Kowloon, after all. Don't ask too many questions, or you may not like how they answer. Kowloon is a place where you can satisfy your every vice, and that is meant truly. There are weapons dealers, drug halls, exotic liquors, and substances that could fill innumerable universes. Every world has its shadowy elements, and every world's shady types have made their way down here.

SETTING UPDATES
In both locations, information passes between all in a forum, spread and disseminated among the masses - it's a good opportunity for city residents, faction loyalists, and interested new parties to share and share alike. Once a day, after the meet-and-greets have concluded, twin missives from both faction leads are read out -- invitations for all present to explore the cities to their heart's content, and warnings about stumbling ill-prepared ( or at all ) into the Below, or worse yet, the Beyond. As Shard-Bearers new and old take in their cities, they'll all see it change throughout the month...

OOC, these are all updates to the setting at large that players both new and old are free to interact with as little or as much as they wish! Feel free to use them as prompts on this post, in your characters' on-going lives and arcs, or just let them go "That's none of my business" and ignore it. The world of Kenos is shaped by our playerbase, and these are some of the wider-reaching effects of various player plots and actions.

TRY TO JOT DOWN A FEW NOTES

As part of New Year's gifts to everybody, Yima and Cyrus gifted bearers with an enchanted notebook. They are embossed with your characters' names, and have some unusual properties. Bearers can now send each other little letters or notes, or they can address the group at large, should they wish to! This essentially serves as a network function. Please check out the AC requirements for more information about these special new gifts.

FRONT PAGE NEWS

After the last Oracle, both cities are abuzz with gossip. Normally, the oracle appearances were wrapped in secrecy, only the bearers themselves were privy to the internal happenings, and accounts tend to be scattered, as it's always relied on what the bearers can share. This time, the oracles were broadcast to the population at large, and bearer opinions have shifted wildly, based on how successful a bearer was. New bearers may hear the off-the-cuff snide comment about some bearers here and there, and they'll notice that the cities are not very welcoming to bearers of the opposite faction. The public opinion seems to be shifting as half of the oracles are captured, and their fates are being written by bearers new and old.

DON'T LOOK TOO CLOSE TO THE SHADOWS

Be wary, bearers. Whatever patches of darkness and shadow you encountered in the Harbinger's Labyrinth, seems to be making its way across Kenos. Things like patches of shadow against a building, the slightest flash of a familiar face rounding a corner, or even hearing your name called by a name long gone. Something is trying to reach you and tempt you to find it. The shadows are hungry. For something, and bearers new and old alike will be fine feasting for whatever reaches from the shadows. Step carefully, and watch your backs.

AAH! REAL MONSTERS

If the cities didn't have enough to deal with, Springstar is taking the most hits. The city of sun may not be dealing with as many patches of darkness (for truly, Meridian's light touches all) but that does not mean that there is no danger within the city of eternal sun. Attacks by people such as vampires, ghouls, and other intelligent, people-eating races are on the rise, and fearful whispers hint that they are coming from the Below, some even suggest that this is the hint that the balance is shifting. Kowloon has always existed with relatively little strife toward Springstar, but that seems to be changing. Be wary on the streets of Springstar, bearers, you may find that lurking around the corner are hungry murderers of varying levels of danger. The attacks are not... constant, but they have begun to increase in frequency. By this time in the month, they are moving to several times a day, and the legionnaires are having difficulty keeping up with the attacks. Even one of the more well-known Meridian higher-ups, Agapitos Voreen, has been seen fighting in the streets, flanked by his second, a large, emerald dragon-born woman. All of these combined efforts have not yet been able to turn the tide, and it's clear that Kowloon was always a threat, but one that until recently, had been kept well in hand.
OOC NOTES
  • Welcome to Kenos! As a reminder, all new players need to submit a request, and proceed through player screening to apply to the game. Apps are now open!
  • This log is Game Canon. Any characters who are not apped to the game will disappear. If Cyrus or Yima are asked, they’ll explain that this sometimes happens since not every soul has a strong tether to Kenos and sometimes return to the Timestream. They may return to Kenos one day, but for now, weren’t able to make the full journey.
  • As a note primarily for current players, closed toplevels/prompts are not allowed in this log. If you would like to interact with the setting changes in a way that isn't open to all characters (new and old), we ask that you instead make a log in [community profile] kenoslogs.

  • FOR NEW PLAYERS:

  • When characters emerge from their cocoon/the ground, they may be wearing their normal clothes or nude. Up to you!
  • At some point in the days after leaving the Tree of Life, new Shard-Bearers will have a dream, even if they're usually not capable of sleeping. All new players should read this post since this details how they'll learn about both factions and their goals and should help them make a decision about which Faction they'd be drawn to.
  • Characters who arrive and harmonize to Zenith will receive a bonus token!
  • When meeting with either Cetina or Kathova, along with their shard or sunbeam, they will be given a Kenotebook! Think of this as your text-based comm. (This is also opt-out, so if you want it to not be ready/lost, go for it!) Any AC with the Kenotebook must be doubled, so make sure you are aware of that!
  • As a reminder, your character has a Shard somewhere on their body that encompasses their soul, so keep note of where you're sticking it on their person for reference! Additionally, they have a tattoo of their Aspect somewhere on their body. Please be mindful this Aspect will be assigned to you upon approval and whatever you choose for the TDM may be temporary (for new characters)!
  • For the Island Hopping prompts, all locations will be fully open and accessible to all characters once they are freed from their rather harrowing ordeal at the Tree of Life. For prompt ideas and any general information about the cities and what you can find there, please see the Locations section of our Wiki!
  • New characters will not have access to any canon abilities on the TDM until they Harmonize, AKA make a choice of which faction they choose to support. For some characters, this may be an easy decision, but it make take others time. We just ask you keep this in mind!

  • CODING

    [personal profile] ex_fend346 2024-01-15 10:41 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ He frowns, brows knitted together pensively as he opens his mouth to protest, but he thinks better of it. Appearances do nothing to indicate strength, so this isn't what concerns him. Rather, it's that he finds himself quite useless in this moment.

    Someone else shouldn't have to cover for him, yet what can he do with just one good hand? So instead of troubling her further, he merely murmurs "I understand" and lets the matter rest.

    That is, until she introduces herself. ]


    Mine is Subaru. Pleased to meet you, despite the circumstances.

    [ He won't soon forget how he'd startled her. ]
    Edited 2024-01-15 22:41 (UTC)
    damnpire: (pic#12094812)

    [personal profile] damnpire 2024-01-15 10:41 pm (UTC)(link)
    [The softest vampire and the softest vampire hunter.]

    They are.

    [It isn't intuitive, but he turns the sword in his hand so he can open the door, then uses his shoulder and arm to slide in and hold it ajar for Subaru.] Come in. [Look. He's not sure if Subaru abides by weird old vampire lore and needs an invitation.

    The building is simple, but covered along every wall with shelves of books when not parted by comfortable places to read. And there's a counter in the back that apparently serves food.]


    It's not often I've heard vampires say something like that.

    [There are a few meek and polite vampires on the Frontier, though most are arrogant and bloodthirsty. SO SUBARU'S SOFTNESS SURPRISES HIM.]
    annmorous: (005)

    [personal profile] annmorous 2024-01-15 10:41 pm (UTC)(link)
    [Ann's perceptive enough that she can pick up on weirding him out a little, though she can't guess why. Still, she stops spacing out staring at Yima and offers him a smile instead.]

    Sorry if that was a weird thing to say about your leader! She's just the kind of woman I admire, that's all.

    [Gorgeous and may or may not have killed a man. It's fine.]
    annmorous: (002)

    [personal profile] annmorous 2024-01-15 10:50 pm (UTC)(link)
    --Oh! [So that's what he meant. If she weren't used to the weirdness of the Metaverse, the experience of Communion might have thrown her off a little more. Truthfully, it still does, and she doesn't like the idea of someone being able to put things in her head without permission, but she did say he could... Sort of.]

    He looks kind... It must be difficult for you to be separated.

    [She doesn't know how likely the odds are that he could be here, but she won't give up when she hasn't helped him search yet.]

    [personal profile] ex_fend346 2024-01-15 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ With their powers combined, they are super soft.

    Whether Subaru requires an invitation or not is unclear, but he needs no further prompting to enter the building. He surveys it with the open curiosity that comes of newness, wide green eyes drifting over shelves and cozy reading nooks before at last settling on D once again. ]


    Truthfully, it's only been my brother and me for a long time... I couldn't say what is normal.

    [ Certainly, he can't speak for other worlds. His own cultivated prey, but they were not savaged, not like this place. ]

    But it's wrong to harm people so.
    annmorous: (009)

    [personal profile] annmorous 2024-01-15 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
    Ahaha, thanks. I really thought I was in trouble for a second, there.

    [Well, she still kind of is, because now she owes this girl a favour. But she must be kinder than she seems, if she's offering to help, so... maybe that's not a terrible position to be in?

    She takes a sip of her watery coffee with a little less gusto than before.]


    I'm Ann, by the way. Ann Takamaki.
    annmorous: (010)

    [personal profile] annmorous 2024-01-15 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
    That's a good point. I guess if we're being thrown right into the middle of things, there's only so much you can airbrush out to look good.

    [It still doesn't really sit right with her, though. If there's one thing she knows, it's not to trust an adult with any real power insisting that they know what's best for everyone, but at least Cyrus seems to have more people holding him accountable compared to Yima. The Lady of Highstorm seems to wield something closer to absolute authority.

    She still hasn't made up her mind, but...]


    Are you leaning one way or the other yet, based on what you've seen?
    escardos: (pic#14934072)

    [personal profile] escardos 2024-01-15 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ let's fucking go, an anime club! flat perks up for a moment, puffing his chest with the prospect of a new friend, if only temporarily. ]

    Huh, that makes sense. So at this point you're kinda like an NPC. Do you give any helpful items?

    [ good thing flat knows to always talk to the npcs-- you never know what extra lore, items, or side quests you could get from them! and while the lore of the conflict between the zenith and the meridian does sound compelling, flat wonders if there's a way for the two sides to find a middle ground; they should just be friends.

    before he can voice that out, though, his appearance is pointed out. ]


    Is that wha--

    [ dumbly parroting back the question, flat looks down on himself and-- ah. oops? the mage's smile freezes on his face as he pats himself down, and maybe tezcatlipoca can take a glance at a particular mark on his right hand-- a command spell. ]

    Uhh... no! Or, well, yes! But it's, uh... [ quick, escardos, think! think of a good excuse! concealment of mystery! ] A prop. I'm a... theater. Actor! Actor.

    [ he is not an actor. ]
    Edited 2024-01-15 23:29 (UTC)
    escardos: (pic#13507850)

    [personal profile] escardos 2024-01-15 11:35 pm (UTC)(link)
    Why would I want to be rid of you? You seem pretty cool!

    [ flat remains seemingly undeterred by the other's cold attitude. he's received enough of it back in the clock tower for it to slide down his back like a pleasant stream of water. ]

    So you'd abandon me in the forest if I became too much of a deadweight? Thanks for the honesty! I really appreciate it. [ and from the lack of sarcasm in his words, this very well seems to be the case. straightforward coldness and hostility is something that flat escardos can appreciate from others, as he's someone who takes people at face value. ]

    Alright, fine, we can stay here. What are your plans while you're here? Are you just going to sit here and do nothing?
    escardos: (pic#13478933)

    [personal profile] escardos 2024-01-15 11:46 pm (UTC)(link)
    Lot's of people say that I have too much energy or that I can never relax. [ seemingly unshaken by any of the comments, flat says this almost like as if it were a compliment. ]

    But how can you sit still in such a cool place like this? This is what explorers must feel when they're deep in ruins. I could be like a magical Alan Grant, but with less dinosaurs and more magical creatures.

    [ even for a mage, phantasmal beasts are no longer a common sight. therefore, for them to be so close to him now... well, it's hard for someone that's as curious as flat to not be excited. ]

    You don't think so?
    escardos: (onze.)

    [personal profile] escardos 2024-01-15 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
    Miss!

    [ flat's eyes widen in surprise as he watches the scrolls around her begin falling on the ground. always the good(?) samaritan, flat wastes no time in getting down on his knees to start picking up as many of the scrolls as his arms can hold.

    blue eyes lock with her, giving her a look over just to make sure that nothing's terribly wrong with her. ]


    Are you okay?!
    arrowslinger: (there's nothing to it)

    ...thinking about it the closest nasuverse competition in good mom-ing became a cup, fucking bleak

    [personal profile] arrowslinger 2024-01-15 11:55 pm (UTC)(link)
    Madame, if you were being formal, but there's no need for that here.

    [...but, after a moment, she relents, her posture relaxing ever so slightly as she moves away from the window (and Flat, but, listen, that smile's goofy enough to be irritating, if he was one of her subordinates she'd be double checking his work) to find a seat somewhere in the room.]

    As for age, I suppose my few hundred years would be considered long lived compared to one of your... [...um. Bringing up Planet Dirt feels a little awkward, even if it's true, naming sense 0/10, Flat's people need to go to remedial naming school.] ...people, but it's only a blink of an eye from the perspective of one of the true long-lived individuals of Xianzhou Alliance. Similarly, this is all very new to you, by the sounds of it, but this is far from the first planet I've walked on.







    [Also, aren't they technically down a few worlds at this point, wasn't a few planets already destroyed- you know what, she gets the point, this is the charm of youth.]
    escardos: (pic#16002350)

    [personal profile] escardos 2024-01-15 11:56 pm (UTC)(link)
    As nice as a bodyguard would be in some other occasions, that's not really what I'm looking for. [ flat shakes his head, wondering if he had said something weird to be interpreted in this manner. ] I'm hoping for something more like a friend or a partner!

    [ because adventuring on your own isn't nearly as fun as adventuring together! especially when you're adventuring with someone that has better physical skills than you! ]

    Besides, just because they're not human doesn't mean that they're monsters. Would you like it if I called you a monster? I don't think so! [ a pause. ] Oh, but if you were, I wouldn't mind. I think that's totally fine!
    arrowslinger: (And life was nothing)

    [personal profile] arrowslinger 2024-01-16 12:02 am (UTC)(link)
    ...and if what they said was true she has a chance to fulfill her peoples' mission and destroy the Plagues Author once and for all, but at the cost of sacrificing all that she loves and longs for...

    But that's not something this boy needed to know. Existential crises are things best taken care of alone, at leisure, maybe with some alcohol. A plan for later.

    "And we won't be able to find a way out just by staying here, comrade." Her voice is, once again, calm. Reassuring. Authoritative, in a soldier ASMR sort of way. She has a well practiced voice of authority and dips into it with reckless abandon, skirting around the issue of nudity for more pragmatic concerns, hopefully. "Can you walk? Are you up for taking the lead?"
    escardos: (pic#13478938)

    i.

    [personal profile] escardos 2024-01-16 12:02 am (UTC)(link)
    Oh, do you think that we're going to get an Ides of March: Springstar version?

    [ unlike hazel's mumble, flat voices his thoughts clearly and chipperly, as if they weren't discussing the possibility of a guy getting stabbed by other politicians.

    he has long since stopped paying attention to the man's speech, his own racing mind paying more attention to the unenthused people around him. ]


    I honestly think that he should have a suggestion box.
    escardos: (pic#13770504)

    iib.

    [personal profile] escardos 2024-01-16 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
    Eh?! What makes you think that?

    [ flat startles upon hearing that, taking a step back as if his entire lineage had been insulted-- no, perhaps not even that would get such a reaction out of him. but it's not disgust or irritation that urges flat to push for more information, rather than genuine curiosity. ]

    I mean, you're totally wrong, but I want to know why you think that!
    escardos: (quatorze.)

    [personal profile] escardos 2024-01-16 12:13 am (UTC)(link)
    [ blissfully unaware of rin's internal conflict or the events of fate/stay night: heaven's feel, flat dons a thoughtful expression, tapping his chin. ]

    Maybe you should have paid him a wage?

    [ but now that he thinks about it... ]

    I wonder if Luvia does pay him. I mean, probably? She's got more money than you, that's for sure... she could probably afford to give him paid vacation, too...

    [personal profile] ex_fend346 2024-01-16 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
    He may not act friendly toward strangers [ He won't, but Subaru can't help but soften the assertion, his fondness for his brother seeping into his tone. ] but he has a good heart.

    [ Subaru knows this well, having the advantage of being his twin, someone with whom he needn't be so guarded. Their circumstances have demanded it of Kamui, he knows, and for that Subaru is to blame. ]

    We haven't ever been on different worlds before, so I hope it isn't the case, but I can't sense him here. I don't know yet what that means.

    [ Is it because his senses have been dulled, or something else? ]

    ...Is there someone you would look for, in this place?
    Edited 2024-01-16 00:14 (UTC)
    gravings: (040)

    [personal profile] gravings 2024-01-16 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Gray's eyes tighten, her throat clenching. She could start crying again. Out of old grief, longing, nostalgia, and unexpectedly, a thread of hope. Flat is only one mage, but one so extraordinary that the word "impossible" only becomes "improbable" in his presence. When he speaks of an El-Melloi Classroom 2.0, she can believe in it. When he speaks of everyone waiting for their return, she can begin to see it -- someday, somehow.

    In lieu of speaking, which she fears will pulverize an already broken dam, she only nods. And then she reaches for Flat's wrist so that she can start to pull him away from the crowd. If people were giving Flat dirty looks before, they're only getting filthier the longer he and Gray talk over Cyrus's speech.

    But then she pauses. As she reaches for Flat's wrist, she sees it: even if it's an unfamiliar shape, it's unmistakably a set of Command Spells. ]


    F-Flat. This is...
    warmare: (ジロジロ)

    [personal profile] warmare 2024-01-16 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
    [Normally… Normally this interaction would end very quickly. The centaur woman would either silently move and go about her day, or perhaps if she were irritated, there might be a bark of “watch where you’re going” as part of the maneuver. Honestly, she has such a serious facial expression (or “resting bitch face”, as one does) that it surely feels as if the latter is more likely.

    But luckily? for Grace… This centaur had also recently distinguished herself in an Oracle trial. There were more eyes on her than before, more interest, more gossip, and though she longed to escape such things… There was no way to do it. And she had promised… that she would try. That she would try to be… the sort of person who could hold their head high under such attention, who could give hope to the citizens of Springstar that this time… perhaps this time, they would win the Oracles.

    Which meant… being…]


    … Are you alright?

    [N… ice…]
    gravings: (100)

    [personal profile] gravings 2024-01-16 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
    [ It's a polite-off... Every once in a while, she comes across a worthy contender. ]

    Mr. Subaru... You're handling everything very well.

    [ The attack, the disastrous hand situation. She hadn't coped nearly as well when she first got spirited away from her home world. ]
    picketship: (yikes1)

    [personal profile] picketship 2024-01-16 12:50 am (UTC)(link)
    [Demeisen is starting to suspect more than a little that this young man is either dense, or considerably eccentric. Having met a fair number of both, he’s picking up some similarities; no one else could maintain such an impenetrable blanket of pure, undaunted cheer.]

    Actually, I’m intending to ditch you at the door, [he corrects him, turning in his seat so he can lean against the bar. Puzzlement mixes with the irritation on his face, narrowing his eyes.]

    You’re a weird kid. Why aren’t you bothering one of the other tourists, instead? There’s more than a few sociable types in here.

    [He is notably not including himself.]

    [personal profile] ex_fend346 2024-01-16 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Gray has indeed met her next great opponent. ]

    You're kind to say so, Miss Gray. [ Mirroring her own formality. ] Please call me Subaru, if you like.

    [ If it would make her uncomfortable to do so, of course he won't impose... ]

    I feel quite the opposite about how I'm taking to all this, having troubled you this way.
    redsoil: (pic#16220556)

    [personal profile] redsoil 2024-01-16 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
    Oh, this? I found myself a niche with the Church of Helios — [ A lazy gesture to his body, his eyes sharp as she returns her shard to her person. Having it out like that was dangerous, because it meant he could trace it to where it rested; if she proved a rival, it'd be that much easier to seize it and capture a piece from the board. All the same, he allows something bright and manic-wicked to cross his expression. A beaming smile, all sharp teeth and horrible intensity. ]

    And I serve them, as a key strategist. After all — above Factions, I am and always have been Set, the god of war. My allegiance is to Meridian. My reasons are my own, but I am not here blindly, nor because I cannot find reason in the opposition.

    [ He bounces his leg briefly, regarding her with intent.

    She smells like divinity, like a god. It makes him wonder where she'll end up, and what her reasons will be — hopefully, they're nothing like one of the former "gods" who claimed he was entrusting his people's will to decide his course, when his people had no say at all as things were. Reprehensible! ]


    Do the choices of others really matter to you?
    tattooism: (化け「南の魔女」)

    [personal profile] tattooism 2024-01-16 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
    Oh, I’m so sorry-

    [Finally the words seem to slip out as she sways back into balance, managing to save the rest of the things in her arms from falling to join the others on the ground. But a handful of scrolls and such isn’t exactly conducive to picking up more scrolls, and even though she bends down as if to get them…

    There’s no denying she looks relieved to have help.]


    I was so determined to carry these in one trip that I guess I overdid it… But I’m fine…

    [Just a bit scattered, perhaps?]

    Thank you so much, sir.