[WORLD ONE | OCTOBER INTRO LOG]

[spellbindmods]

Who: The new coven members and old blood
Where: In and around the hub island
When: Day 92
Open/Closed: Open to All

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, repercussions 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 She'll also give you a letter, which may give you more questions than answers since the information is a wee out of date.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 is at first painfully obvious is that you're ill-equipped. Any magic or powers you had previously are suddenly replaced with an empty hole in your being. That's not all that's gone, but perhaps that's what's most pressing. Another thing you may notice is that there are others just like you, wandering around and just as confused. If you feel so inclined, you may want to ask around and see if anyone else knows what's up. A ▢ If one of your characters isn't looking to introduce themselves to others, someone's willing to do it for them. Genette is trying to make sure all newbies are accounted for and have a buddy, so she's grabbing them when she finds them and tossing them at the first coven member she sees. "Hi, so-and-so, this is so-and-so! They're new, so show them the ropes -- be friends, okay?" You get the gist. Your character may be paired up with another newbie, a seasoned character or both! Five times, even! Timelines in RPing are weird! B ▢ Let's say that instead of milling about and doing nothing entirely productive, your character has decided to try and venture off to find a way off this huge floating rock. That's nice -- but be warned that the forest is filled with interesting things. For instance, they've happened to find a hollowed out tree that happens to be where a hoard of land crabs are living. They move fast -- run quick! C ▢ Other characters may want to establish shelter before they do anything else -- and that's their right! The problem is that if your character wants to be well-supplied, they're going to have to do things for themselves. There's something of an assembly line set up, but not a lot has been done in way of making things workable. Genette wanted all new coven members to have a little food parcel to take to their hut, but time constraints, you know? If you want any food for now -- or for later -- you may want to cook some of this (poisonous) eel, salt some boar jerky or cut into one of these rabbits. You've also got some berries to eat in the meantime, if you want something simple!

By the time afternoon sets in, everyone should be a little more adjusted -- or, they should at least be a little more aware of the situation. From there, things still need to be done and exploring is always an option! D ▢ For those characters who want to stick around the base camp, there's something worthwhile in discovering the buildings around the area. One such building is the mansion, which contains extra supplies and a renovated kitchen. The kitchen is now functional with electricity and running water, with a few raw ingredients for making whatever your character would like. It's minimal, but also not totally useless. E ▢ If you mill about too long, you'll be put to work. Run into Genette and you'll be sent to pick western part of the island to look for strawberries, wheat and deer (good luck hunting if your character doesn't have the capabilities, but maybe someone else can help?). Run into Genette and she'll offer your character an ax to chop wood with (is this a wise idea? probably not), or a request to go fishing in either a stream or the ocean attached to the island on the eastern side. Or your character can do both if they so choose...? F ▢ With all of these new people milling about, telepathy is on the fritz again. At least, it certainly is for those who are new! Your character may not realize their broadcasting frustrations to the network, or maybe a stupid secret. Their mental filter is certainly broken, but that's at least a great conversation starter. Night finally falls on the exhausting day, and it's time to rest. Thankfully the island is beautiful at night, especially the sky. The night is filled with space worms, relaxing mist and wondrous sights in the stars. G ▢ Adding to the excitement of the beautiful night, Genette has set up something of a...talent show? In an effort to get new coven members acclimated with their magic, she's asked them all to use their magic in some way -- it may take a volunteer, or maybe they can show it off all on their own. In any case, show me what you got. H ▢ Of course, some characters aren't going to be up for this fancy display and will want to go about their own business. There are plenty of places to sit and stew on this island, both private and in plain sight. The stars are spectacularly bright, and the higher up your character gets the less it seems like night time. If they're lucky, they may catch sight of a shooting star, though it's of course much larger than usual. They're directly in space, after all! I ▢ Wildcard! How will your character interact with this new and unusual world?

Comments

[neatlytuned]

Not really. Finding answers here is a slow process.

[He's sure that's not the answer that was wanted, since he sure didn't want to hear that when he first got here but there's no reason to beat around the bush.

He's trying really hard to be friendly and to encourage working together so getting the cold shoulder like this is a bit disappointing so he doesn't push the issue further. Instead he watches with curiosity as the new coven member attempts his fishing again, this time using a glove instead of his hand, which Nazuna thinks is definitely a better alternative. At the same time he's not sure how this will work until the glove is pulled up and a fish along with it.]

Oh, hey, you did it! How come you got it to bite the glove?

[It can't be that he can control animals too or he'd just have it jump into a basket like Nazuna, right..?]

[reckoner]

Yeah.

[ Unwanted, but expected. ]

After Qri's assistants, how long has the first batch of us been here?

[ Batch an inelegant way of putting it, but sufficient.

Then, the struggle with the fish, and a slimy but relatively firm hold on it. He casts his gaze back to the shore, the basket. Given this method, taking it along had seemed best postponed, but now the length of the trek back and forth presents itself. Gaelio begins the slog, feeling the fish's gasps gradually weaken in his hands. ]

I showed it a worm and tried to make it feel hungry... I think.

[ Absently answered, somewhat certain, somewhat not. If it had worked, that had to be it, but what did fish actually feel, if anything? Did their simplicity help or hurt him? Anyway, what he really needs is to figure out what illusion would make them want to swim into the basket. Definitely a better way than ruining his glove and feeling it die. ]

[neatlytuned]

I know there are some people who came a month or two before I did but I don't talk to everyone in the coven so I don't know if there are others who have been here for longer.

[Nazuna tips his head to the side slightly at the answer. The way it was phrased confuses him for a bit.]

Showed it a worm and made it feel hungry? Oh. Is that your magic?

[reckoner]

[ Two months, maybe, and the almost year of Genette, but how long was that year? Even between Earth and Mars, roughly three hundred days differed, with Mars adopting -- whatever. It doesn't really matter.

Gaelio frowns as he drops the fish into his basket, then stoops to scoop that up. Wet sand coats his feet, and though it is a much smaller pain than so many he's known, his finger throbs. With the basket under his arm, he turns on the beach to properly face the young man. ]

Aa. I don't really understand it, but she said illusions.

[neatlytuned]

[Nazuna follows onto the beach, and finally tired from carrying his basket of fish, sets it down on the ground.]

So you've been using illusions to get the fish to bite your hand and glove? That's pretty neat! You're pretty good if you could get it to work already.

[All the questions the man's been asking definitely means he's a new arrival so Nazuna's impressed since it took him some time to finally learn how to get his own magic to work.]

[reckoner]

Really?

[ Pretty good, or impressive... Gaelio watches him approach the beach, better able to see the number of fish in his basket. It makes his single fish all the more pathetic. Convenient that he's no longer susceptible to self-consciousness.

He's mild in his question, too, having little idea of what the learning rate is.

And after all, He can't seem to manage it well without some physical connection, or manage it well at all. Though also less susceptible to idle movements, he lifts one hand, his other keeping the basket aloft with more curving of his arm and jutting of his hip. His fingertips graze over his jaw, where the scar begins to cut from cheek to neck. ]

It's easy to think, but harder to hold.

[neatlytuned]

Yeah! It took me awhile to get used to using my magic. In fact, at first, I couldn't get it to work at all. But practice makes it easier, so it should be the same for you.

[So many things here are different than what he's used to back where he's from. There's been a huge learning curve to get used to- from the idea that magic actually exists to the fact that their lives could be in danger here.]

So you just have to think about what you want the target to see and then it happens? That's pretty cool. Sounds a lot more practical than having to sing out instructions.

[Nazuna might be a little jealous.]

[reckoner]

[ Singing instructions at animals seems as though it should be straightforward, which prompts the question. ]

What did practice unlock? Something pitch, or in your general approach?

[ Though their powers are dissimilar and the odds are low that there would be anything to learn from one so different, they also aren't nil. And as things stand, his ability isn't as practical as it sounds, which makes that tone strange.

Strange amuses, and a smile ghosts. ]

Something like that, but it isn't.

[ Cool or practical. ]

To start, it's fake. I can't really kill with it.

[ ...that doesn't sound ominous at all, right, and it definitely isn't creepier with how matter-of-factly he says it... ]

[neatlytuned]

Yeah, something like that. Also when I first started out I could only control smaller animals and the control wasn't very strong, either.

[Nazuna plops himself down onto the sand and sits with his legs drawn up to his chest. He's passed the point where he cares about his clothes getting a little dirty. If Shu could see him now, he'd probably have an aneurysm at how un-idol-like Nazuna's becoming.

Head tipped slightly to once side, Nazuna considers what he's told.]

It might be fake but being able to make something out of nothing is still pretty useful. And unlike my singing, there's no obvious indication it's being used, so even better for a sneak attack.

[reckoner]

Smaller like rats, or insects?

[ Rats would augment the impression of Pied Piper, but wouldn't be much smaller than the fish he now serenades into compliance.

Though the sand would get everywhere, Gaelio considers joining him in a seat. What stops him is the hefty difference between their baskets. One of them has earned a break, and the other... barely got the one. He glances out to the water, again musing on how to make the basket interior appealing. Maybe, instead, boxing them in an illusion, where he could then scoop them from a figment prison? ]

Until it disappears. [ Answered, idly, while still looking away. ] Do you think there's honor in a sneak attack?

[neatlytuned]

More like shrimp. The world the coven was in before coming back to the hub had a crazy amount of shrimp, so it was easy to use them to practice on.

[Nazuna's not sure what honour has to do with catching fish so he just shrugs.]

No, there isn't but sometimes playing fair only puts you at a disadvantage. Besides, honour by itself can't feed you.

[reckoner]

[ Are shrimp comparable to insects? Something intermediate? More a point of idle interest, where his mind begins to wander to whether he could possibly deceive an insect with an illusion.

It does not meander far down that path. Honor has a greater pull. ]

Feed, huh.

[ Gjallarhorn never bothered with the hierarchy of needs, and so Gaelio wrestles with the idea anew. ]

Survival at any cost, or is it that certain things -- like honor, even friendship and trust -- are luxuries?

[ Hm.

If he had to choose between a righteous course and living, so to kill that man -- but it isn't a wholly necessary train of thought just now.

Gaelio really doesn't care how the fish feel. He tends to think they feel nothing. And he has seen it, that disadvantage. Carta's body already cold in his arms. It can't have been worthless, her pride. It can't.

Don't mind the heavy cast of his expression, or how slowly it clears when he shakes his head. ]

Isn't it luxurious, to be human?

[ ...and with that perfectly normal hypothetical, he steps again toward the water. ]

[neatlytuned]

[And now Nazuna is even more lost. How did the conversation get here? Still, he gives the questions serious consideration. He thinks about how during his entire second year at Yumenosaki he was nothing more than a doll moving only as his master directed. Back then, he couldn't have these things-- he simply lived an empty life. Now everything is different because he can choose to have honour if he wants to. Even the fact that he even has a choice is a luxury.]

It is and yes, those things are luxuries. Even among people, there are different levels of how much importance you can put into honour or friendship or whatever. It really depends on the circumstances too, doesn't it?

[Despite being grateful he got the chance to become human enough to have these things, he still thinks putting too much importance in them can do more harm than good because it can blind people from the the broader picture. After all, he's witnessed this happening in person multiple times.

He watches as his conversation partner heads back to the water but doesn't move from his place.]

Gonna try catching fish again?

[reckoner]

[ THE ROULETTE WHEEL OF THREADING WITH GAELIO will you get boring inquisitor or boring what is human philosopher

The circumstances. Should friendship, honor, trust, love -- should they be sacrificed for convenience and power? Is it less detestable, more forgivable, if they bend to survival? If that be the sweep of the larger picture, then he would not have it painted. It should be burned. To be human is to strive for more.

It must be.

Indeed, his expression cannot quickly clear. ]

Does it?

[ Only that, with committing, the concepts slipping between his fingers. Like a fish's scales, too slick yet still managing to cut. Easier, the second inquiry. ]

I can't go back with one fish.

[ Absently, but determined. Though he might have been poorly assigned to this task. He'd gotten one. It's doable. ]

[neatlytuned]

[By now, Nazuna is sure somewhere along the way they're no longer talking about fish but he goes along with it anyway. He doesn't really mind. Hanging around a lot of younger kids means he doesn't get to explore these types of conversations often.

It's not that he thinks all these feelings are useless when in the face of survival, it's just regarding one thing as the most important like it's a black and white situation is what he doesn't agree with.]

Well, yeah. Let's take something similar like devotion, for example. You have a leader that you're completely devoted to-- you follow everything they say and don't question it but in the back of your mind you notice a flaw that could ruin the group. Should you continue following without question because that's your duty? Or would you point out what's wrong?

[For himself, he knows what the wrong answer is because he made it once long ago. Still, to be human is to have different opinions so he's curious how someone else might answer this.

A quick glance at his own fish basket and Nazuna decides he can continue his break. Still, he stands up and, after a brush at the seat of his pants, wanders over to the water's edge as well.]

Maybe if you're going to try using your magic again we should try to come up with a better method than having the fish bite your hand or glove.

[reckoner]

[ The example should bring to mind one man, too raw and close than this younger man could possibly imagine. Why, then, does the thought of Rustal twitch through his mind, accompanied by the determined set of Julieta's mouth, the young gleam of her eyes? Rustal has given him no reason to doubt, to question him, the man who pieced together his corpse and gifted him life both half and full.

Julieta would never question Rustal, but she may never need to.

But that should not be devotion. Even devoted, he had drawn back from the ruination in that man's machinations, but too late. ]

That is not duty. Devotion is not obedience, and there is nothing noble in blind obedience. That itself is a flaw.

[ Which he has and has not had, unwitting. Witting.

Gaelio glances back at the movement, surprise faint but sticking that this one would suggest we. Still, he'd had the same idea, and nods. ]

As productive as that was... [ sarcasm? too monotone to tell, but surely, as it had been a near disaster, ] ...I'd been considering a trap.