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 She'll also give you a letter, which may give you more questions than answers since the information is a wee out of date.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

[demomofdownside]

Finally. Jodariel stood and rolled her neck a bit, having been sitting with her head slightly to the side for a while now. "Thank you, but please watch where you're going in the future."

She fingered the letter in her pocket. Did the Commonwealth's law run here? Not likely, if people were just handing out written letters. It felt weird to just up and ask it though.

"...You wouldn't happen to be a reader, would you?"

[teratias]

"I thought I had more distance, but yeah, I'll try.

Waver was happy to no longer be angling his head up like an car mechanic, but that happiness soon went away when Jodariel straightened up. She....shit, she was probably taller than Rider, and that was really damn tall.

Easier to focus on her question, which was phrased pretty weirdly. It took him a moment to try and parse the meaning.

"If you mean can you read, then the answer's yes. I...how can I help?"

It was probably the best way to apologize for what just happened.

[demomofdownside]

Oh good. Inwardly she let out a sigh of relief. She held out the letter she had been handed not long ago. "I am curious what it says."

[teratias]

Waver took it, skimming it first. Yep, same letter, same explanation.

"I can do that," he said. He took a moment to hold the page a little closer to his eyes, the lighting could have been better, then read the whole thing at a steady, even pace. Under other circumstances he would have blitzed through, but given the information within and knowing that whoever he was speaking with wouldn't be able to go back and re-read it, Waver did make an effort to take his time.

When he ended, he held the letter back out. "That's the end of it, unfortunately."

[demomofdownside]

It looked so strange from the outside. He just stared at the paper silently for a minute, and suddenly he KNEW things.

Then here was the words themselves. A wizard of such power, traveling between worlds. Telepathy. Vibrations of magic...

"This is a lot to take in..."

[teratias]

"Yeah, I know."

Waver wasn't quite sure how to proceed. When he had arrived, everyone had been on the hub and together and reacted more or less together before going their separate ways to process. The newer arrivals found out in so many different ways, and everyone reacted differently.

"Do...I mean uh. I've been here for two months, if you want clarifications?"

[demomofdownside]

"I need time to digest it all. No questions yet."

She paused as a thought came to her: "No, one question: Who are you? You may call me Jodariel."

[teratias]

"Waver Velvet."

It was simple enough, but then again, there were always more questions to be had in the near future.

[demomofdownside]

"Waver."

She nodded, committing the name to memory.

"So...now what? I have people depending on me, and if I am to aid them, I must complete this Qri's tasks."

[teratias]

"...Ah," Waver said, shifting uncomfortably. He let out a heavy, tired sigh. It had been a very long evening, and this was never fun to tell anyone.

"She's rather interpretive with what the tasks are," he settled on as a way of introducing the issue. "We arrived in this world with zero instructions, and we've had to blindly figure out way out of this. I don't even know if we've done what she's set us out to do, and I've been here since the start of this nonsense."

[demomofdownside]

The stoic facade finally cracked, revealing just a tinge of irritation beneath.

"That's ridiculous. I'm expected to just stumble about in the dark without guidance and HOPE I accomplish something useful?"

[teratias]

"...It's worse when you say it like that," Waver replied, looking like he regretted elaborating. Just a little, but it was still there.

"Qri doesn't make things easy."

[demomofdownside]

"Most things in life are not easy."

No matter how much she wished it was. She sighed. "Well, this is not my first time being exiled from my home. Perhaps this is simply my lot in life."

[teratias]

Waver didn't dare say anything to Jodariel's statement regarding exile. That was pretty heavy information, and it felt like nothing he could say would ever be appropriate. He was learning when not to say anything, and he felt like he was getting better at it.

"If...you want food or anything, there's some at the festival," he offered quietly.

[demomofdownside]

A blink.

"Festival?"

[teratias]

"Mmm. I think they said fireworks at some point, but it's being held in the main market. There's food too."

Waver knew he'd end up having to give directions, so he decided to just not wait for the question. "If you head straight down the street that's at the right side of the fork ahead, it'll put you in the middle of things."

[demomofdownside]

"I see...I suppose it will do me some good to see what this new place has to offer, at least."

She bowed her head very slightly in Waver's direction. "You have been of great help."

[teratias]

Waver nodded in response. "You're welcome. And uh, sorry about this."