[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 She'll also give you a letter, which may give you more questions than answers since the information is a wee out of date.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

[hydrostorm]

[ these things have names? she hasn't even bothered to look. ]

Sure.

I'm in the market. I'm surrounded by shrimp vendors. Lots of shrimp vendors.

[deem]

Seafood is pretty popular around here...

But I know the area, it shouldn't take me long.

[True enough, give it a few minutes, and there's some short lunatic in black darting across a rooftop nearby]

[hydrostorm]

[ good god. is it a bird?! is it a plane?! no it's a guy! in black clothes! magilou is only marginally impressed. ]

Hellllllo there, McSpeedy.

[ she's going to wave in his general direction. ]

[deem]

[9S hops down, and the thump that accompanies his landing suggests he's heavier than he looks.

Don't mind him cradling an egg in his arms like it's no big deal]

So that's what you look like...

[Another mystery solved]

[hydrostorm]

[ WHY IS THERE AN EGG.... she's so baffled, but her gaze lifts to his face. ]

What are you, a ninja?

[ IT'S A FAIR QUESTION. ]

[deem]

[He's got a future child now, no big deal.

Androids are totally equipped for raising lizard children, right? Sure]

What's a ninja?

[Fair question...]

[hydrostorm]

[ absolutely. they're the best parents. ]

... Eh. You know what, never mind.

So, what are the juicy details you couldn't tell me earlier?

[deem]

[Well he's gonna find out. Just watch him.

Meanwhile...]

There's not a lot of data on that Qri person, but what I've got so far should cover what we do know.

[He pokes at the air, and a holographic screen springs up between them with the relevant data files]

I've gathered more on this place if you need to get up to speed.

[Maybe he ought to be a part-time exposition fairy at this rate]

[hydrostorm]

[ this is intense. color her impressed. what is this technology?! ]

Huh. You're super useful after all. Good job, McSpeedy.

[ she's peering at the screen and then back at him. ]

So summarize it for me. What's the mystery lady like from our limited intel?

[deem]

It's 9S.

[Of all the nicknames... He wonders what she'd think if she got a load of 2B]

Supposedly she's able to bring us here regardless of what condition we were in and where we were. In exchange for giving some kind of ability, she takes something away without our consent. Her subordinates say that she's concerned with balance in the universe, but she's provided us with no directives.

[That about covers it]

[hydrostorm]

So that's where that little brat went...

[ bienfu, she means. it was disturbingly quiet and that certainly explains it. ]

Balance in the universe, huh? Sorry sweetheart, but that's never going to happen. The world is made of ugly people with ugly desires. There's no changing that.

[ she's talking more to the air than 9S. don't worry, you aren't sweetheart. ]

[deem]

I'm not made for concerns that supposedly affect a universe. If we can even believe that.

[9S shrugs. All this seems pretty sketchy to him no matter what angle he looks at it from]

Dunno what other people think, but it's tough to trust somebody who drags you to some other planet and doesn't bother to even say hi.

[hydrostorm]

Yeah. Talk about rude. Really, I was doing everyone a favor posing as her.

[ magilou is acting awfully self-righteous right now. nonetheless, she gives 9S a poignant nod. ]

You sound like quite the expert on this place. How long have you been stuck here?

[deem]

Just over a month, so far, so I've had a lot of time to gather data. We've got no real marching orders to speak of.

[He sweeps his hand to one side, and the screen between them vanishes]

No indication how long we'll be here, either.

[hydrostorm]

Double rude.

[ oh okay. she shakes her head, wringing her hands at her sides. this is becoming a headache awfully fast. at least mcspeedy is here to explain a few things. ]

At least my magic still works. What good is a witch without a few tricks up her sleeve?

[deem]

Supposedly how well anything works will vary from place to place, so we might not be able to rely on that.

[Not to be the bearer of bad news, but there's also that fun fact.

As a product of technology it doesn't seem to affect him, but he imagines it'd be pretty inconvenient for someone who uses magic]

Mikleo told me it's something about frequencies.

[hydrostorm]

[ who the hell is mikleo? is that someone from the letter? not like she cares...! ]

...Frequencies, huh? [ she begins searching her memory for anything she's read over the years. it has a familiar ring to it, but it's certainly not something that's prominent in her world. ]

Who's to say that our Faceless Queen isn't slowly sapping our energy as we speak?

[deem]

[Always cite your sources, right?

Or rather, 9S just respects the guy, so he'll drop a name]

I'd become aware of something like that in my systems, but magic doesn't come naturally to someone like me.

[And so, he doesn't imagine he could be fed off of quite like that]

There's a lot still unaccounted for.

[hydrostorm]

You're really missing out, McSpeedy.

[ she'll never stop. ]

... And yeah, I can see that. Geez, you guys are completely helpless here.

[ not like she's any better; it's starting to become annoyingly clear that she isn't going to get any answers. it isn't that she has anything important to do back home. all things considered, she's just been tagging along a gang of misfits because they fascinate her. this is just a transplant. ]

[deem]

[Once again:]

It's 9S.

[Doesn't stop a guy from trying]

And we're not every well-informed, at any rate. Considering we all wake up with these things [He taps the signet visible just above the low collar of his uniform coat] it seems like precautions were taken.

[If it disables his motor functions, he doesn't want to see what extraction would do to a human]

[hydrostorm]

Strange how we don't remember someone implanting a tracking device in us.

[ it must be some crazy sort of magic to do that and to rip people from different dimensions or worlds. what the hell were they up against.

absently, her hand comes up to the signet again. ]

It completely clashes with my outfit. [ she's being melodramatic on purpose, promise. ]

[deem]

I'm surprised they didn't cause any damage.

[And on some level relieved, because it means that humans weren't suffering from infections and 2B isn't in pain but it's a small comfort. The fact is that they still don't have any control over their situation.

Even someone like him, who had been bound not just by Command but his own core programming, can be troubled by that]

Whatever methods they have must be pretty sophisticated.

[hydrostorm]

So we are't dealing with your ordinary run of the mill kidnapper. Splendid...

[ she sighs, hand reaching up to fiddle with her bangs. at least she's being more serious about this, thoughts swirling through her head. ]

And what happens if we don't obey "their" orders?

[deem]

Couldn't say. Like I said, we don't have any specifics.

[Just some big words about balance in the universe. It's such an abstract concept on a grand scale that he can't see it as meaningful.

Goals should be so much more directed than this]

[hydrostorm]

[ right. interesting. ]

Well, in that case, count me out for following our faceless wonder.

[ lame. ]