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 She'll also give you a letter, which may give you more questions than answers since the information is a wee out of date.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

[mech_and_mutt]

Yeah-- maybe they usually don't get people to help them. Poor li'l guys probably need all the help and friends they can get.

We'll just have to make sure they're really prepared before we head off.

[At least there was a little room for some hopefulness in there as well. The next words just seemed a tiny bit... brighter, albeit faintly.]

Then again, maybe they're just a li'l bit braver than I gave 'em credit for.

[rootandbranch]

I think that they'll want to do more now that they know they can defend themselves. So yeah, we need to leave them with some way to do it!

[Geir's not an pessimistic dragon, and the force of his words lends them a feeling of conviction... despite the fact he has no idea how exactly to do that. maybe they can wrok on that part.]

I still want to find out what's up there on the island, too. At the least, that's a barrier no one's been able to crack. If the Palai had that then they'd be safe for sure.

[mech_and_mutt]

I KNOW. I used to be able to fly just fine, but nooooo, Qri had to take it away. We'd have at least gotten up there weeks ago if I...

[There's a few intruding thoughts about metal, salt water, and rust. The whole train of reasoning comes to a derailed halt a few moments later.]

...well it woulda been easier.

[rootandbranch]

You can't fly? What happened, how'd she take it?!

[Geir's not interested in his wings disappearing off his back, no way, no how. then, he thinks again about what was said after his first rush of alarm and figures he should clarify things even further.]

--and you heard about us going up a couple of weeks ago, right? We should go again. We still have the carrying-boats that Alphonse made.

[mech_and_mutt]

Yeah, I'd heard. Guess I just...

[His thoughts quickly trailed- if not flat-out veered- back to the first question about flight. Or his lack thereof. And, apparently, Red picked up on that more... bodily sort of worry.]

I had a machine that let me fly. Well, it let me do a lot of things, but flying was one of them.

[His idle musings on that 'machine' were strong enough to form an image on their own. But Red drew himself back to their conversation.]

Wonder if we can take the barrier down to the Palai to help keep 'em safe?

[rootandbranch]

What is that?

[Geir does relax-- whatever the machine was doesn't look like anything that Qri could take from him. that's a relief. his wings are staying right where they are.]

Maybe if we could get inside, we could.

[mech_and_mutt]

[Oh, he saw? Well, no big deal. He's proud of it.]

That's my mecha. Long story short, I did a lot of work using that thing. It lifts, it flies, it fights. [Maybe that left his lamentations at its absence just slightly more understandable.]

Hey, y'think someone in the coven has that kinda thing as their magic? Somethin' that can hold open a hole in the shield?

[rootandbranch]

[Geir's voice sounds thoughtful above all, now; at least tossing things back and forth is generating ideas.]

I don't know at all. If they have, they haven't said so.

Maybe we can ask...?

[mech_and_mutt]

Maybe. But it ain't always easy- these new people have enough confusion and I'm pretty sure half of 'em don't even know their own power yet. Took me a while to figure out MINE, anyway.

Oughta ask. Don't think I caught yours?

[rootandbranch]

Call me Geir. What is your power, then? Mine's "enlivening."

[mech_and_mutt]

Geir, eh? I'm Red, though I don't think I've ever heard of 'enlivening'.

[But at least with telepathy, he can get a BIT of a feel for how those words are used...]

Mine ain't so different. I just don't get tired and heal really fast, and sometimes it kinda leaks out a bit.

Wish it was somethin' more useful for this problem, though.

[rootandbranch]

Yours is at least useful for fighting! And the way this has been going, fighting has been happening a lot.

[a brisk sigh. they have a lot of work ahead of them.]

Let's keep our eyes open.

[mech_and_mutt]

It's not half bad, but remember what I said about it leaking out?

[His thoughts took on a bit more of a sheepish tone.]

First day I got here I ended up fighting a boar for hours because I couldn't find my weapon and NEITHER of us were actually tiring out.

[rootandbranch]

Hahahaha--!

[it's the first moment of unfiltered amusement that Geir's shown in the conversation, and his sudden surprised laugh comes through the connection immediately.]

Oh no! I hope you ate him in the end.

[mech_and_mutt]

Hah! I wish. It got spooked and I never saw it again-- it took some kinda living dead girl showin' up to actually scare them off. She's alright, though.

[A brief recollection of a certain green-skinned undead troublemaker, but his happiness started turning a little bit queasy.]

Tell you what I WISH I had for magic-- the ability to conjure up food. REAL food.

[rootandbranch]

Isn't the food here real?

[there's some genuine puzzlement in his tone. Geir doesn't need to eat, per, se, but he likes to, and what he's sampled so far of the Palai wares isn't bad-- especially not the fish and shrimp.]

[mech_and_mutt]

Nah. Most of it's this gross plant called 'kelp.' And maybe some shrimp or something.

Gimmie a big steak with fries or somethin'! Between having to live on the same boar jerky back at the 'other' island and the same kelp stuff every day here, my stomach's about to hold a mutiny!

[rootandbranch]

Ha! I wouldn't mind a cow or sheep. Even a donkey. But you should get some better fish, at least! I've eaten sooo many sharks since I got here. Especially when they just fall out of the sky.

[The dead fish rain was an all-you-can-eat buffet, from Geir's perspective.]

[mech_and_mutt]

[ . . . ]

A whole shark? Alone? All at once?

[rootandbranch]

Y...es...? Why not?

[sharks are tasty, man]

[mech_and_mutt]

HOW BIG IS YOUR STOMACH??

[rootandbranch]

Really big! But c'mon, even if you can't eat a whole shark, you can share a shark, right?

I'm assuming he's kind of hard to miss

[mech_and_mutt]

[He's taking a bit of a moment to process this...]

You're that big black lizard I keep seeing around, aren't you.

SAFE ASSUMPTION

[rootandbranch]

[there's an overtone of dryness to Geir's response; he's finding out that he doesn't really like being called a lizard.]

I dunno, what do you think?

[mech_and_mutt]

[Give him a break, he's never even HEARD of a dragon before.]

Takin' that as a yes. Didn't know you were one of us; I thought you were some kinda big sea monster at first.

So what kinda magic do you have? Can you breathe lasers?