[WORLD ONE | DING DONG THE FISH IS DEAD]

[spellbindmods]

Who: Coven members and the Palai
Where: Celebrating the Uvi going boom-boom
When: Day 67
Open/Closed: Open to All
OOC Note:

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!

For decades, the Palai have had to deal with the threat of the Uvi invading their homes, killing their families and returning 30 days later. After the coven found their way to Aimintas, the Palai found that the threat wasn't so...threatening. After the last attack, with many more Palai lost as compared to previous Uvi instances, some Palai had lost hope. Now, after seeing their nemesis blown to bits and falling out of the ocean, their faith in safety is restored. While the Uvi are still committed (by and large) to learning more about barriers and other forms of safety, the time for focusing on serious things has passed. It will return, but tonight? They celebrate. Unlike their last, shrimpy festival, this party has a lot more going for it. The Palai have had time to process the events and prepare themselves for a grand celebration. The Palai know how to party, but you ain't seen nothin' like this. A ▢ As a birthday tradition, the Palai give the birthday lizard a special concoction. It contains Elto energy and a combination of found herbs that can easily be located in Aimintas. When these herbs are combined with the Elto energy, they create a sort of...hallucinogenic experience. It's supposed to feel extremely relaxing and give the Palai pleasant visions, but in human bodies it's essentially just getting high. There are vials of these being passed around like candy, so don't worry about anyone running out. B ▢ Despite the adults getting lit, there are obviously a lot of baby Palai on the lose. Responsible coven members who have their own babies will have the ability to let them run wild and play with their lizardy cousins. If you want to spend time with your baby, the nursery caretakers have platters of crackers with mushy foods adorning them -- these are essentially candy to a tiny Palai. They may also be tempted by other foods present at the festivities, but you can avoid them getting a tummy ache if you have a watchful eye. C ▢ Speaking of food, there certainly is a lot of it. There are large grills being heated by the newly found bone structures. These hold shrimp and fish, grilled vegetable skewers and other foods. Instead of the Palai doing the serving, the coven members and other Palai are instead encouraged to utilize their own raw ingredients (which includes several large sharks, dolphins, etc.) in whatever fashion they choose. It's essentially a "build-your-own-kabob" station with no limits. D ▢ Because the party is lasting on into the night, some Elto have decided to light the marketplace with some of the bone structures they found by powering them and inserting them into small cloth bags that they then magically levitate around. While they provide a powerful light source that can increase the party's longevity, they're also floating live wires. Bump into one of these and you'll get a nasty shock! This is doubly concerning since Palai babies are fascinated by following these floating "toys." E ▢ The Palai, feeling more familial and supportive of their ideals than ever, haven't let go of the whole family/romance pushing on the coven. Their newest attempt is a bit of a prank (probably due to high Palais) who have taken magic bone structures and tied thick strings to the spines that poke out of them. At the end of these strings are loops that they're quickly slipping around the wrists of coven members they find. You may find that you're suddenly magically connected to someone -- or two other people if you're lucky enough -- by a magical thread that's VERY hard to slip out of or break. F ▢ Wildcard Part 1: Other previous party prompts can also be considered here, from the rolls that make magic go haywire to the aged liquor that causes a bit more than a headache. G ▢ Wildcard Part 2: Any prompt you like!

Comments

[snipers]

b / c / d; ota

[ yukari likes to think she's good with kids, taking cues from her mother and doing the exact opposite in order to make some sort of a connection with them. lizard children are different to say the least, but the idea is the same, right? show them some kindness, understanding, eventually they'll listen.

nope.

they're after her food. they're tugging at her socks. they're running into the livewire of magic and yukari's running after them— ] — No, no! [ ZZZZAP aaaaand down she goes. thankfully she was able to save a darling palai child from the brunt of the magic, but her persona is weak to electricity, and now she can't move too well. at least the tiny darling has the decency to look a little concerned for its hero. ]

Ugh... Head hurts.

[ otherwise, yukari can be found all around the party ready to make small talk and being followed around by a few lizard babies as well. ]

e; closed to archer and alvin and anyone who wants to laugh at them

[ WELL THIS IS.

BULLSHIT.

yukari doesn't care she's tied up between two beefcakes, she's going to cross her arms stubbornly and sit herself down on a chair somewhere. her eyes are closed, but honestly, the tenseness in her shoulders and the set line of her mouth is enough to convey how pissed off she feels about this.

really, lizard people?? really?? she absolutely refuses to move, and if archer or alvin plan on tugging her along they'll find she's just about as bull-headed as that bull inside her head. ]

[teratias]

C. SHRIMP. HEAVEN. NOW.
In truth, Waver wasn't sure about the turn of events. Sure, the Uvi were gone, but there were a lot of unanswered questions remaining as far as he was concerned. Where did the Uvi originally come from? Sure, the Palai had figured out some very good use for the structures, but could that be trouble down the road? What would become of their dead with this kind of power?

Most importantly: were there other groups of Uvi out there?

All of these were questions that gnawed on Waver's mind as he made his way through the festival. The Palai had outdid themselves, but the one thing Waver was intent on (in no small part because who knew what the food situation on the hub would be) was eating his fill. The kabob station in particular had his attention, and Waver was soon walking away with an ungodly pile of shrimp paired with an equally alarming pile of fish next to each other with no care for say, anything like vegetable on there.

"Hm," he said to himself, looking around for a table. This wasn't the kind of plate one could eat on the go. Everything would just fall off.

E is for Entwined!
He probably overdid it on the protein, in retrospect. Waver was moving around the festival slower than before, having overeaten and then some. He was not proud of himself, and he was not proud of the fact his capabilities seemed duller.

No small surprise that Waver did not feel a loop slip around his wrist. When he did, Waver's first reaction was to flail wildly, and his second was to yank on the string, hard, furious.

"What the hell is this?!" he demanded, like the string was going to give him an explanation. "Come on, we just had a big fight don't tell me this is some weird Uvi sneak attack!"

[talim]

a.

'M so... 'm so warm. Is it warm? Because I feel warm.

[ jude's pupils are like hazy glass, amber eyes half-lidded. this stuff is hitting him hard. his head is swimming, and it lulls to the side as a pleasant sigh escapes his lips. he may or may not be resting on your shoulder and/or leaning against your side, whether you're a total stranger, a mere acquaintance, or a friend.

it doesn't matter. right now? consider yourself his best friend, because jude is so comfortable he's all up in your personal space. ]

'S nice. This is nice.

[ another sigh. 420 blaze it. ]

d.

H-Hey! Get back here—

[ in the process of chasing his baby palai (spyrite, the name they settled on) jude ends up colliding with those wires. he scrunches his eyes shut and hisses through his teeth just as little spyrite climbs back over to nudge at the hem of his lab coat. fortunately, she's spared from any harm. jude, however? ]

Good... girl...

[ just give him a minute. jude has a high pain tolerance, thankfully, but a jolt like this isn't exactly something to just bounce back from. when you see him, he's doubled over in pain, but what might be more noticeable, his already tousled hair is sticking up at every odd angle possible. that's what happens when you're electrocuted.

and he looks ridiculous. are you concerned, or are you just going to ridicule him? maybe both? your call.

e.

[ jude stares down at the thread tying him and your character together, a combination of confusion and horror clouding his expression before he meets your eyes. ]

Um.

[ he clears his throat. how is he supposed to approach this subject? it's pretty clear that the binding is not going to break. it's so tight there's a light mark around his wrist. ]

Please don't tell me we're stuck like this...

[ but of all the people here, are you really the worst person to get stuck to? well. that depends. ]

f/g.

[ anything goes! go ahead and let loose or feel free to contact me if you'd like to plot something out as well. ]

[deem]

B[A]d Trip
[9S doesn't think much of it when he's offered what he assumes to be some kind of beverage. The taste is strange, but he finds nothing particularly remarkable about it. That is until he starts hearing static and his vision becomes unsteady, flickering when he moves his head even a little, and then he's pretty sure he's made a mistake.

It reminds him of the E-drug Jackass concocted, the way the world becomes unsteady around him and his sensory inputs fail to work properly. But where those effects were relatively brief, he doesn't know how long this is going to last. And the more it lingers, the more alarming he finds it.

He thinks perhaps he should hunker down somewhere quiet until it passes. Peeling off his goggles he tries to get away from the crowd, but in an effort to make this strategic withdrawal, he bumps into tables and partygoers alike. Life's tough when one's vision is a mess of static crackling and broken frames]

All A[B]out Crackers
[For the first time since his little Palai child emerged from its egg, 9S is seeing some pretty willful behavior. Where he's lucked out in getting a little Elto with a mild disposition, that all seems to change when certain crackers become involved. At first he can only marvel at the intrepid efforts the little creature makes in trying to get to these treats before he gets the hint and collects one for it.

The cracker's gone the instant it's within reach, and he observes curiously as tiny hands shoot right back up, grasping at the air for more]

Guess you really like these, huh?

[Seeing no harm in it, he offers the little Palai another. And then another. This process might continue indefinitely, for all that he has no idea how much the kid's supposed to eat. He knows what they can and can't consume, but not the quantities they ought to consume...]

[D]ouble Trouble
[The evening's been eventful to say the least, but 9S' adventures in parenting continue on. He's finding out quickly just how much work it actually is, especially when his little Elto child is chasing after every impromptu lantern that drifts into view. He's more than sufficiently quick enough to keep up, but on one occasion he bumps right into a lantern in his haste.

The jolt makes his vision crackle and dance in an unpleasant reminder of an earlier point in the evening, and he hisses between clenched teeth. This, it seems, is enough for his little companion to stop and look up at him with concern, a tiny hand reaching to touch him in a comforting manner—

Only to zap him a second time. There's no winning]

H[E]lping Hands
[After finding that the Palai were quite adamant about pairing them off, 9S has done his best to discourage any further efforts to couple him with others. This holds especially true of the human members of the coven, for all that his programmed sense of inferiority rails against the notion. And he thinks, erroneously, that he's finally gotten through to them.

That is, until he finds himself bound to a fellow coven-member with magical handcuffs. His first instinct is to attempt to tug himself free. Even with strength inferior to a Battler model, is sufficient to drag the poor soul bound to him along for the ride, and possibly knock them right into him]

Er, sorry, I just— what are these made of, anyway?

[If he sounds a bit offended, like he's just found sand in his boots, it's because he is. How many times does he have to tell the locals how very inappropriate this is?]

[W]ildcard
[Have other ideas? Hit me up!]

e

[talim]

Why is this still happening to us?

[ an exasperated sigh. possibly a little overdramatic, but jude isn't exactly thrilled at the moment. ]

Seriously, I thought they were over it by now.

[ he hesitates. ]

... But look on the bright side? I think there are worse people I could be bound to.

[nockpoint]

[ archer stands a little to yukari's side, examining the cord around his wrist with mild interest — not too worried, but clearly inconvenienced. he tugs at the string a few times, and watches as yukari's wrist twitches briefly before being forced back under her own control. this is foolish. who's the other guy who got roped in on the other end of this? and how's he feeling about it?

sup, alvin? ]

[actus]

• a - absolutely high as a kite

[ ... he's usually pretty good about avoiding anything that could inhibit him. anything that could alter his perceptions. but the palai are sneaky and not everything is as easy to detect as it is back home. so here he is, sitting on the grass at the edge of the party, palms pressed to the ground, staring up at the "sky" in absolute wonder. ]

...Do you ever wonder why it's so big?

[ yes, the crime boy is in fact the palai equivalent of high as a kite. ]

• e - everyone stick together ;;

[ well, this is new to him. although the effects of herbs haven't completely worn off, he's a lot more lucid. coherent thoughts are actually a thing now. unfortunately, in his stupor, he allowed himself to be tied to you, unsuspecting person! now, he's staring at the strings and tight loop around his wrist. this looks painful. why is this happening? ]

Ah. I guess we're sticking this out together, then.

[ and now his hand is catching on fire. oops. ]

a

[hydrostorm]

[ why are you in her personal space, doctor? why is this happening. she didn't give you permission. what the hell is wrong with you -- oh. oh, okay, she can put two and two together easily enough. ]

Hey Doc, keep that up and people are going to start calling you Doctor Love.

[ cassualllllly trying to pry him off her. ]

a

[talim]

Doctor Love... ?

[ he can't help but giggle. what an odd thing to say. ]

Love isn't exactly my area of expertise.

[ sorry, mags. it's not working. he just starts giggling again. not even laughing. just. the giggles. ]

[hydrostorm]

The Uvi? Kiddo, this is all the creepy lizard people's doing.

[ guess who is attached to you now, waver. spoilers: it's your favorite person ever. she gives her wrist that is decidedly fastened to his the most unimpressed stare ever. ]

[hydrostorm]

[ what is that giggle. what is that giggle?! ]

Hey, hey! That's not manly at all. What are you, seven?

[ this is so out of her area of expertise. she's never heard a "grown man" giggle before... ]

[talim]

Sixteen, actually.

[ he accepts that as a legitimate query. ]

a

[deem]

[9S' first thought is that Jude is going to give those Palai some really funny ideas, getting cozy to this degree. They'd already decided not to worry about those misunderstandings, but he can't help but think it. The second thought, which chases off the first, is that if he moves he's pretty sure he's going to knock something over.

That's been his track record so far, and he has his doubts that it's going to get better, the way his visual inputs continue to flicker unsteadily at even the slightest turn of his head. It's bad enough that he's removed his goggles to try and alleviate the effects, but...no luck so far]

Jude, are you...? [This stuff affects humans? Whatever it is, he doesn't like it...] Maybe you should...you know...sit?

[In case he's going to knock people and tables over too.

Look it's not his fault he's stronger than your average snack table, alright...]

[hydrostorm]

... Seriously? You're a baby. Who gave a medical license to a kid?

[ arched. brow. ]

[teratias]

[GODDAMNIT.

Well okay, it isn't Velvet 1.0 so, could be worse. But still.

Goddamnit.]

Ugh. I thought they had given this up after the speed dating thing...

a&e combo, we're doing this.

[mapsio]

[There were many mistakes made tonight. Thank goodness that Haru had allowed her baby lizard to be babysat for a while. Some of the other more elder Palai insisted she go enjoy her time at the party.

They sent her off, and they sent her off with one of those little vials too. She tried her best to decline. But they insisted it was fine! It was definitely fine and nothing to worry about at all.

Sure.]

I guess this isn't so bad...

[And then her wrist is looped. There is a moment of panic before she meets Jude's eyes. This should be interest, 420 blazing it while they're tied together.]

We're...definitely stuck.

[talim]

Medical school. Where else?

[ he attempts to match her expression, but it... doesn't quite work on him. not when he's this far gone.

[hydrostorm]

Geez, don't remind me of that...

[ that was a nightmare. ]

Talk about your meddlesome matchmakers.

[ says the witch. ]

a.

[apatheia]

[Thanks Jude for the solid advice on taking the time to enjoy things and have fun, because now 2B's just as high as he is. She normally wouldn't ingest anything the Palai made since it seems like MOST of their food has weird side effects with them, but she thought why not! It's not like there are lots of animals here for her magic to go out of control anyways! It'd probably be fine!

It's not fine.

She certainly feels fine though, loose and relaxed and maybe even actually??? Smiling a bit???? The way Jude's leaning against her is comfortable and warm, and she almost wants to lean back, but she's also trying to keep in mind that she's 300+lbs and her leaning against a human would not be similarly comfortable. We'll see how long that lasts though.]

It's warm. [She's not quite slurring her words, but there's a soft tone to her voice that usually isn't there. Glancing down at Jude though, she has to ask:] Why are you red?

[Why is everything red actually, why does everything look like it's out of a retro video game?? Because being high entails a lot of different things for androids, of course it does.]

[teratias]

No, you first!

[hydrostorm]

All right. Put that brain to use and diagnosis yourself.

[ because although she doesn't really know him at all, this is just weird. ]

[hydrostorm]

A lady doesn't kiss and tell.

[ a belligerent wink! ]

Anyway, I'm not that interested. I'd rather figure out how to fix this little bump in the road.

[ she gives a yank on her wrist. ]

[teratias]

Well I didn't even have that happen so there's nothing to t-- don't yank!

[Waver manages to keep his balance in spite of things, but his arms flail wildly, nearly whacking into her.]

It'd probably be easier to examine the wire work first and how these closures were made.

[deem]

[Although he first thinks to question this, he only gets as far as opening his mouth. And then he shuts it again, giving the notion some due consideration. And shooting one of the Palai he suspects of rigging this up a pointed look while he's at it.

Still...]

...I guess that's true.

[It could be worse. At least he enjoys Jude's company, for all that this exercise in misguided relationship-pushing isn't something that he could rightly condone]

[talim]

Uhh...

[ his brain is sort of out of commission right now. ]

There was definitely something in whatever the heck I just consumed.

[ a pause. ]

Oh, well. Letting loose once in awhile isn't so bad. Is there any more around? Because I think I could use some more. That sounds good. Yeah.