mapping party mapping party

[rebells]

Who: a bunch of less-than-upstanding nerd boys
Where: along this route
When: Day 8, or thereabouts
Open/Closed: closed to mapping party; pm rebells if your character would have icly asked to come!

[So you may have gotten a telepathic message a few days ago about an expedition to map the coastline . . . or maybe you were invited along by a friend. Whatever the reason, it's bright and early this morning, and it's time to set out!

Characters would have gotten a further telepathic message from Jay with a date and time to meet outside the shacks. They'll be heading east along the "shore," tracking the coast, and then heading directly back towards base camp . . . who knows what they'll find along the way?]

Comments

[rebells]

[He smiles, but doesn't otherwise respond to that first comment.]

Yes, I did hear that theory from Mikleo. [There's an air of annoyance around him suddenly, not directed at Dirk, just how he gets whenever he has to think about his own power.] I don't see an obvious connection between myself and mine, but I suppose I could be missing something.

[splinten]

[That naturally makes him curious.] What do you have? [It seems like it's annoying him, which makes Dirk more curious.]

[rebells]

[A pause.]

. . . I can "project my emotions" onto other people by touching them.

[splinten]

[...Well.]

I'm blankin' on productive ways to use that. Calming down someone in a panic, maybe, or overwhelming an opponent.

[rebells]

Distraction or deescalation. Yes.

[He doesn't seem happy about it, either.]

[splinten]

[a pause]

You don't seem like the kind to project on people figuratively.

[Hm.]

Maybe it's ironic.

[rebells]

That's a possibility. [He would never project his feelings onto anyone else, of course not.] Mikleo also raised the possibility that it could be connected to a more general situation from my world, rather than to me specifically, but that connection is tenuous, I think.

[splinten]

Is that related to your magic ocean?

[things you can't forget: that]

[rebells]

It's not unconnected. My world has two major--races, you might say, of people. Humans--I believe the Radiant term is "Orerines"--and the Radiant, who historically lived underwater and worshiped the "magic ocean," as you put it.

[He says that dryly.]

[splinten]

I can call it divine if that's more respectful.

[It's hard to tell if the reply is dry or not. He is listening, though, waiting for Jay to reveal the links.]

[rebells]

I don't worship Nerifes. Although I've been granted its power.

[His mouth twists and he glances out into the distance, silent for a moment. Then he seems to remember himself, and that they were talking about something.]

We believed that the Radiant had come here from a different planet, and that ensuing conflict between the two races had led to wars and many deaths, culminating in an apocalyptic event called the Cataclysm. It turns out that we were the alien invaders.

[splinten]

[He observes the gesture, but he won't press into it. He just notes it.]

That actually checks out pretty readily. If Nerifes is the ocean and the Radiant are inherently connected to it, it'd be pretty bizarre if they and it were somehow the invaders. Maybe if they'd come on a structure made primarily of the water that composed the ocean, or if the ocean was given its spirit by something within their vessel. [That would at least work, but it requires extra speculation.]

Is the empathy then theoretically related to the idea of bridging the gap between the two species?

[rebells]

[A nod.]

In retrospect, it's obvious, of course, but we didn't see it at first. We were so sure that we were the ones 'meant to be' there, so to speak. So perhaps the power is commentary on that, or on the need for Radiant and humans to understand one another better.

[splinten]

That could check out.

[Another thought flickers through his head. It could be the same comment, more personally.]

We could be stretching it. We'll only have an idea if we learn more about others' powers.