[WORLD ONE | SEPTEMBER INTRO LOG]

[spellbindmods]

Who: The new coven members, old blood & Palai people
Where: In and around the city land of Aimintas
When: Day 61
Open/Closed: Open to All

The initial setting information found here should be utilized for threads here.

There's no official OOC account for the Palai people. You're free to roleplay their actions and reactions on your own, as in depth as you want -- asking questions, hand-waved interactions, becoming best friends. The new world is your oyster!

All characters are told briefly what their powers are by Genette -- no extemporaneous details. For instance, if your character has the ability to detect lies, they'll be told as such -- no warning about limitations, repurcussions or the like. They'll also be given a variant of this letter so they aren't totally ignorant of the situation -- though of course adapt this letter to the current setting and surroundings of the game.

This setting may be familiar to you -- maybe you caught a glimpse of it when you first visited. Maybe this is your first time experiencing this weird world and the panic is setting in. If you're totally lost, a tall human woman with a long scroll of paper will stop by to give you the run down. She'll also give you a letter, which may give you more questions than answers since the information is a wee out of date. (Maybe someone else can fill in some gaps for you). What you may not know is that this world recently experienced something of a tragedy. You wouldn't be able to guess this based on the festive energy in the air. The main marketplace where you've shown up finished reconstruction last night, and after grief comes joy to the Palai -- those lizard creatures you see wandering around. They're now hosting a festival to celebrate their success and the lives of those both still present and those lost. It's also a chance for them to host one of those big celebrations like they'd previously seen in human books. However, their resources are limited -- don't blame them if things are a little cut-and-paste! A ▢ One of the preferred methods for masking grief in the Palai world is playing games. Because the Palai are still on their shrimp kick (the old blood characters are probably sick of them at this point), the shrimp are being used as part of a few festival games: Shrimp Scoop: Live prawns have been placed in a tank of water. Instead of paper scoops, players are handed small scraps of cloth which they may then dive into the six-foot tall tank to try and grab the prawns with -- no hands! And no magic or your prawn will be revoked. For extra incentive, sacks of golden coins have been tied to the prawns. These coins can be exchanged for goods and prizes, though what your character receives for their coin -- no matter how bland or wacky -- is up to your character. Shrimp Shock: Dead shrimp have been placed in a wading pool. Your character and another character enter the pool while Elto shock the shrimp out of the water. With about 20 shrimp in the water, the character with the most shrimps caught out of the air wins an allotment of coins. Whack-a-Shrimp: Eltos have powered six large, stuffed shrimp dolls (made with cloth), that will pop out of cut holes in a large game board. Hit the shrimp as many times as you can in 30 seconds, and your number will amount to the coins you receive. Shrimp Fest: Is your character a big eater? Your character is given a plate of cooked jumbo prawns. If they can eat all 50 jumbo prawns in 30 seconds, they win 100 coins. B ▢ What good is a festival if there's no face painting? Don't worry, you have more options than shrimp. Palai have an assortment of paints and are making colourful designs on both their kin and coven members -- your request may not look exactly as you want it to since they have bumpy hands and claws that get in the way.

This is all pretty juvenile, but fear not! For the mature sort and adults of Aimintas, there's a more quiet part set up that may cater to your older interests. A softer atmosphere, away from the excitement of things. If you want to wind down from the thrill of being magicked away to a new world, this is probably the best way for it. C ▢ Fans of alcohol will find that the Palai have broken out their best spirits for themselves and the coven. Some of these aged spirits are decades old and have aged accordingly, giving them a bitter flavor with a nasty bite of alcohol. Others are more recently distilled or imbued with magic for an extra buzz. Accordingly, some drinks can get you inebriated pretty quickly. Some drinks are essentially giddy truth serums. Others may have an effect on magic or telepathy. Pick your poison! D ▢ The environment in this more secluded area of the marketplace is supposed to be more relaxed, but it's also the best place to sit if you want a front row seat to the fireworks exhibit the remaining Eltos are putting on. Through balls of dye and their electrical powers, they're quickly blowing up the sky with arcs of color that rain down in the form of bright pieces of glitter once the spectacle is over. They also have a special service they're offering -- the Eltos have a grasp on electrical magic, which means they can draw certain things in the sky with these dye balls. If you have a request for a written message or a drawing of some sort, they'd be happy to comply with your wish! For the real adult experience, however, you may want to check out the large rolling cart that Palai are pushing around the marketplace, landing it in the fireworks area. This cart is filled with all of the eggs that were a product of their mating season, and this part of Aimintas is the warmest. E ▢ For newbies and those who missed the egg train, your character can instead be Egg Parent for a Night. The Palai are holding their eggs to warm them for the evening, but (like most parents with new babies) they're certainly trying to show off their creations. Hold them, pass them around -- or maybe even act a fool and fend off a fiercely angry Palai parent.

Finally, the Palai are getting used to the standard familiar faces, so they aren't unaware that there are quite a few new faces in the mix. Based on how familiar your character is, they'll receive a nice little gift from the Palai. Older coven members will receive a scrolled parchment that lists them as honorary citizens of Aimintas and a handmade, harden clay sculpture of their likeness. It may not look a lot like them, but they tried. F ▢ What about new members? Well, they get the Aimintas Starter Kit: an unmarked vial containing Palai mating pheromones (makes your character affectionate, etc), a bag of cooked shrimp, a collection of their baked goods and energy drinks (containing Elto magic that makes magical abilities hard to handle), and a harmless paper flower. Your character likely isn't used to the dangers of some of these items, so maybe someone can help them...or is it too late? G ▢ Because the Palai recognize new faces, these new coven members will be dragged to other coven members who they do recognize. In an effort to help make introductions, the Palai are trying to connect new members with old members in order to foster friendships. Say hi to a new, awkwardly introduced covenmate...? H ▢ Wildcard! How will your character interact with this new and unusual world?

Comments

[yancat]

... It seems that speaking normally won't get us anywhere.

Fine. Well then, is there anything you'd like to know about this world?

[adjustable]

Tch, not yet... Well, I mean, I can use it in place of my tools that I don't got right now.

[Instead of using a screwdriver, he unscrews things WITH HIS MIND.

Souda takes a solid whack. Oh. Oh, this is pretty therapeutic actually.]

[adjustable]

[WHAT A GOOD KID. Souda grins.]

I'm already being healed! [???] It's good knowin' there's actually some nice people around!

[He sticks his hands in his pockets, kicking his feet a little as he walks, cheered up some.]

[bulletbiter]

[ There is quite a lot that can be said about the morality of an entire planet. In his heart of hearts he knows that the Singularity cannot be swayed, only restrained - but to say this so lightly is something he's sure is inappropriate. ]

I don't know. It was very distant from us.

[spaceforged]

Don't worry, I take each life very seriously. [Life just happens to have completely different ideas considering how many times he ends up needing to recover.]

I'll be careful. ...it helps being a metal cat makes me pretty durable. So far.

[transcutation]

Of course - I want to know everything, but especially things relating to magic are of interest. Getting to study magic from another world could lead to all kinds of new discoveries for Alchemy. [Or it could be completely useless if it's species-exclusive, but hey, that's science.]

[pussywhips]

Nice to meet you!

[ She pauses, pursing her lips together... it seems like she has something she's debating on whether or not to say. But since she has very little filter— ]

Hey, this is kinda weird, but... have I seen you somewhere before?

[pussywhips]

[ Ann looks a little taken aback by said cheerful conversation starter... ]

Oh... yeah, it's in Japan. Hey, are you from the same place as 9S?

[ She's just guessing here, but the white hair, the blindfold-looking thing over her eyes, the... apocalyptic future... kind of has her wondering. ]

[deem]

...That doesn't sound like a very good job.

[At least, 9S knows he wouldn't want to be one of these foil-guys. And he's not sure he'd particularly want one either. Were one's merits really shining through if they had someone like that around? Human culture sure is confusing to look at from the outside, more often than not.

The more he finds out, the more questions he ends up with.

But that reminds him of where their conversation had begun, and the fact that he's allowed himself to get distracted as he is often prone to]

But you've got questions too, right? About all this?

[rootbound]

You're still not immune to being dented, so I'm glad to hear you take it seriously.

Why were you piloting a cat, anyway? Is that just a thing where you're from?

[mech_and_mutt]

Wait. You mean you can take it all apart and put it back together just by lookin' at it?

[Souda, you are a mechanical aficionado's dream come true.]

That mean you can build stuff from scratch that way too?

[mech_and_mutt]

Y'don't say! I used to do a lot of racing myself, y'know. Didn't draw quite as big a crowd as the Arena Ship but I like to think the other racers started to remember me.

[Well, he could set aside his ponderings on prizes for a LITTLE while. Gave him some time to think.]

So what's a Chocobo? Some kinda plane?

[spaceforged]

[He can only nod in agreement and sigh.] Whenever we have more information. Don't get me wrong, I'm not openly or blindly trusting someone who kidnaps others for their objectives.

I just want to know exactly who decided their mission was more important than everyone else's lives. Or if we're thought of as more than a means to an end.

[songbird_slayer]

[She paused a moment, then tapped her temple. Poof! There ya go, Red, a fresh memory hot out of the mental oven. Meet a bird.]

Large birds, actually! That's my little Tango.

[outofplace]

[She gets him. He likes that.]

Gotta have someone to do the dirty work. And for the right price-- I'm your man.

[allconsumed]

[Velvet knows a little something about having an edge. Also she is doing it on purpose this time, yes.]

Buck up, Wicked Siren.

[Magilou receives an encouraging, if not sharp, smack on the back. Once they reach the coven house, Velvet glances at her and doesn't look impressed. She caught that last part, too.]

Who exactly said we have to share?

[allconsumed]

[Velvet narrows her eyes.]

Is that a joke?

[That would get some of it off, sure, but not enough; any amount of glitter left on her is too much. She takes a few steps towards Jude, and now they're quite close whether he likes it or not.]

Maybe you're one of those people that tries to be helpful, but it turns out you aren't.

[spaceforged]

[He has to think about how to explain it. There's no harm admitting a few things. It wasn't a secret at home either.]

It's a little complicated. The Black Lion chooses its pilot. It's not common but I'm not the only one. There are five us.

[allconsumed]

[The same is true for Velvet. When the threat of daemon attacks grew, Midgand became highly militarized in short order. Some people complained, but most of them accepted it for their safety.]

Good for them. They have magic and technology that I've never seen before, so there's no excuse. You'd think being attacked over and over would be enough to motivate them.

[allconsumed]

[Velvet's temper boils over just as Cagliostro uses her magic. She's ready to lunge at her.]

Oh, I'll show you…!

[She tries to fight against it, but to no avail. Her knees hit the ground and they stay there. Velvet then glowers up with cold intensity.]

You're doing this. What the hell is it?!

[allconsumed]

I'll keep that in mind.

[She will. Not that she needs him to do her killing for her, but one thing she's learned is that bigger jobs can require extra hands.]

[hydrostorm]

[ did she just slap her back? yes, yes she did. magilou is equally thankful that it wasn't her demonic arm as she is unamused at the gesture. she's the only one allowed to invade someone else's personal space! ]

Oh? It'd be like old times! Minus the annoying men and the little kid and exorcist. It's a ripe time for bonding!

[ she's tossing her another catty look, hand over her heart before opening the door to the coven house. ]

[allconsumed]

[They have names, jeez. Referring to them all like that just makes it seem like Magilou didn't really consider herself part of the group.

Oh.]

I didn't know you cared about bonding. But that doesn't answer my question.

[Tone as brusque as ever, Velvet rolls her eyes at the gesture but still follows her to the door. She would still prefer to share a room with Magilou than with a stranger – well, maybe it depends on the stranger.]

[hydrostorm]

[ truth be told there are single rooms and there's no need to share at all. but despite her aversion to bonding - why would she? sheesh. she's just along for the ride and show, they aren't friends - she's somehow clinging to velvet's presence. of all people! ]

As sharp as ever!

[ she sings it, hands swinging behind her back as they walk. but about that question... ]

Isn't it obvious? [ no? ] Do you really trust anyone here while you sleep? Haven't you heard of the buddy system?

[talim]

[ and jude doesn't move; doesn't falter. he's tempted to take a few steps back, but he doesn't. he doesn't want to seem like a kid. ]

Maybe I am, but it wasn't intended to be one... I mean, you don't want me dusting it off myself, right?

[ that'd just get him killed. plus she's wearing even less clothing than milla. so. there's that. ]

Your hair's nice, glitter or no glitter. Is that better?