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 She'll also give you a letter, which may give you more questions than answers since the information is a wee out of date.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

[transcutation]

[A]

[At first, she'd assumed there was some kind of cultural significance to shrimp among these amphibians but it seemed that when she asked, no, they just... really had a lot of shrimp and were pretty excited about it.

Sadly it seemed all the prizes were merely money, so there wasn't any point in trying to cutely beg someone to win it for her either. So instead of being bubbly and adorable, the cute girl standing amidst the stalls looked if anything rather bored and jaded by it all.]

To think a festival in another world could be this disappointing...

[D]

Now this is something...

[Cagliostro is enjoying the electric fireworks - though it seemed the seating provided wasn't good enough for her, as she's sitting on a huge, grossly ornate throne that looks to be carved of stone or compacted earth. You might have even seen her pull it right up out of the ground to take a seat on. She doesn't seem to care that its huge size might be blocking the view for those behind her.]

For lizards, they're not too bad at magic.

[F]

[Of course Cagliostro wasn't stupid enough to just start eating and drinking foreign goods given to her. By now she'd already decomposed and reconstituted all of them, analyzing their general components before reconstructing them with alchemy - though in the case of the one energy drink, she wasn't able to replicate the magic in it, rendering it simply tingly. Something as biological as pheromones, however, were all too easy to successfully reassemble.

Which is why she now possessed what looked like a bottle for an energy drink but actually contained the mating pheromones she'd been given.]

Ne, ne! Cagliostro, you see? It seems like she was given too many of these drinks so... would you like one? [Her most innocently cute face as she holds out the "energy drink".] I'd hate for these gifts to go to waste, but it's just too much for a cute girl like me to drink them all!

D

[rootandbranch]

[with no fuss or fanfare, Geir curls his claws into Cagliostro's throne to anchor himself and sets his chin comfortably atop it, for all the world like someone leaning over the back of a friend's couch to watch the game. she put this huge thing here to be a dragon chinrest, right? that sure SEEMS like it must be the reason.

it's a nice, convenient place from which to watch the fireworks. and when he replies to her, it's in a casual tone that takes her acceptance of this situation for granted.]

They're pretty good at a lot of things!

[transcutation]

Ahh...?

[She looks up to see... well, that's a big lizard, ain't it? Or rather, an actual dragon... and one that talks too. She doesn't seem that surprised despite this though]

Is that so... I wasn't particularly impressed by the festival.

[rootandbranch]

I'm impressed they're putting on a festival at all! It was only five days ago that the city got attacked.

[Geir's still surprised by the Palai's choice to clean things up the best they could and then throw another party, in fact, but if the Uvi have been attacking once a month as long as anyone can remember, he guesses they're used to it -- and also wouldn't have any opportunity to party if they weren't used to doing it right after destruction.]

We just finished cleaning up... sort of. There's still a lot of work to do out in the rest of the city. So... they bounce back fast, and they're good at making things they find work for them. That's at least two things.

[it's not that he's an ardent defender of the Palai, he's just inclined to give them a break in their circumstances... and they've surely been kind to the coven.]

[transcutation]

Oh, there was an attack?

[She raises a brow in interest - she certainly wouldn't have guessed it with the festivities.]

So they're plucky little things, huh? Well, I don't dislike tenacity...

[rootandbranch]

Yeah, about a million fish people dropped down from the sky. Again. It was a mess.

[he takes his chin off the throne long enough to grab a bucket of seafood that he filched from the Palai and tip them into his mouth. popcornshrimp.gif. he returns to his position when he finishes, though now he has his eye rolled down towards the throne's occupant with sharp curiosity.]

Who are you, anyway? I haven't seen you around here before. We must be getting new people again.

[transcutation]

You mean their falling bodies were, or are they able to fly?

[Either scenario sounds amusingly surreal. As is watching him pour shrimp into his mouth... what a weird dragon.]

You want to know who I am? [Voice full of menace, a smug grin on her face as she rises to her feet and turns around to face the creature hanging over her throne. She raises a hand up high as if she's about to bring down lightning... only to drop it to eye level, fingers out in a V as she poses cutely, her expression suddenly worthy of pop idol in brightness and her tone just as bubble]

Cagliostro is the cutest pretty girl alchemist in all the sky! Teheh~☆

f

[secrowtary]

[ When being offered an energy drink, Hibiki can't help raising his brows. She seems to be quite determined to get rid of it, which is a little suspicious. On the other hand, can Cagliostro be blamed for not wanting an unfamiliar drink? Probably not. Instead of accepting it on the spot, Hibiki decides to give her some advice. ]

You might need them later, I wouldn't give away anything if I were you.

[transcutation]

[Tch, looks like this woman had her head on straight even in the face of such adorability. Not that this deters her]

Ehhh, do you really think so? It just seemed kind of selfish for Cagliostro to keep them all to herself...

laughs, my finger slipped...it supposed to be he instead of she there, my bad ;u;

[secrowtary]

Yes, I do think so. But if you really don't want it...well.

[ It would be rude to give it back to the Palai, that's for sure. ]

Perhaps someone else who has just arrived would like to have it?

is hibiki a guy???

[transcutation]

Maybe Cagliostro will share it with them then ☆

[Damn, not taking the bait. Well, it's not like she was determined to drug anyone, as amusing as it might be.]

In that case, in that case! Does that mean you're not a newcomer?

yes, sorry for the confusion...c':

[secrowtary]

No, I've been here for a while.

[ Actually, her question prompts him to find out how long exactly has he been here. ]

Around a month, I'd say. You're saying that you want to share but...have you tried these yourself? The Palai...sometimes they use some peculiar ingredients, you should be careful.

[transcutation]

Cagliostro doesn't think they seem very dangerous...

[Or rather, she's already analyzed them and decided they weren't. More amusing than dangerous, really.]

Would they really give us something that was?

A

[lohengrins]

I wouldn't discredit them.

[ percival holds a bag of coins, now somewhat satisfied with his haul. he knows that voice; she's a familiar face, at the very least -- one that's always protected his beloved captain. he owes her in that regard, he supposes. ]

Perhaps thrill isn't everything in this land.

[transcutation]

Oh? [She recognizes his voice as well - and this certainly raises some questions. Not that she was so flighty as to launch right into them.]

What is the point of a festival if not to entertain? [Well, she could think of several, but that hardly helped her.] I simply thought it might be a little less... mundane.

[Though she is kind of impressed at how much shrimp they apparently have... it wasn't like she saw that much outside of Auguste usually.]

d

[talim]

[ jude is just sort of staring at said throne with an awed look, eyes blown wide and lips parted in surprise. she is completely blocking his view, and he's not... quite sure... what to do about it... ]

Um, excuse me... Miss?

[ his voice is too small to hear over the loud booms and crackles of the spectacle on display. more accurately, the spectacle that he is unable to get even a quick glimpse of. ]

Miss?

[transcutation]

[Cagliostro's only vaguely aware someone is trying to talk to her - and only vague curiosity crosses her face as she bothers to lean over one arm and look behind her huge chair.]

Hahhhhh?

[For such a cute face, she sure can make a mean expression]

[talim]

[ jude can't help but cringe. she sure can. ]

Your, er... your throne is blocking the view.

[ just calling it a chair doesn't seem quite right. ]

[transcutation]

And? You got a problem with that?

[Did... did it just get taller?]

I don't know what you expect me to do about it.

[talim]

[ even if it didn't get taller (which it surely did), jude seems to shrink a little in the chair's presence. ]

If I didn't have a problem with it, I wouldn't have said anything.

A

[crownless_king]

[Well, someone managed to enjoy himself...maybe. At the very least, he had gotten himself a prize. That prize being...a big plush prawn doll. It was actually kind of frightening to look at. How hyper-realistic did they have to make it, huh!?

Anyways, he's just gonna hold it in front of him as he walks up from behind all casual like. Don't turn around!]

How about fucking weird, Cag-chan? Cause it's pretty fucking weird to me.

[transcutation]

[Sorry she's turning around and-]

Geh! [...yeah was not expecting a big shrimp in her face] ...I'll admit their fixation on prawns is rather strange. I wouldn't say that makes it interesting though...

[crownless_king]

[In a weird, goofy voice, shaking the prawn as he does]

Love me...looooooove meeeeeeee.

[Adult male Travis Touchdown, everyone.]

Can't say I agree. Weirdness just gets me. Pretty sure I'm gonna turn a corner somewhere around here and see a couple shrimp puppets acting out Shakespeare or Die Hard or something.

[transcutation]

As if I'd love something so clearly lacking in cuteness!

[She shoves the stuffed toy out of the way, glaring up at him.]

Maybe if there was some reason for it, but as far as I can tell it's just because they have a lot of shrimp - a rather boring reason, honestly.

[crownless_king]

[Welp, with the doll pushed away, he frowns and stands at full height. Pinching the...uh...cheeks? Of the freakish doll abomination]

Aw, he's got some cute points. In a weird, freaky kind of way. Monster cute.

[Enough is enough, however, and he lays it down and glances around again]

Frankly, you'd think they'd save the celebration for the rare shit. Like...holy shit, we got prawns! Break out the bubbly, the streamers and the fucking donkey to pin shit on!