[WORLD TWO | INTRO LOG]

[spellbindmods]

Who: All coven members
Where: In and around the new world’s apartment building where the coven is staying
When: Day (the calendar isn’t syncing for me hELP)
Open/Closed: Open to All

You’re in a room. It’s pretty bright — blindingly so, even. There’s something very stark and very clean about the place, and also the person you’re sitting in front of. You’re sitting? You’re sitting. There’s also a pane of very powerful plexiglass separating you from the uniform-clad person who is now speaking to you. It’s impossible to transcribe what they say verbatim, but here’s the gist of it: - You’re being welcomed to a city called Shehui. Depending on who you are, the level of technology may be light years ahead of you or child’s play. - There’s a very strict policy about magic. While there are measures put in place to prevent magic from happening, this is still something that they reiterate over and over. They don’t want to take chances. - Crime is also frowned upon. Small infractions will result in credit deductions, while major crimes will get you banned. Antisocial behavior is also looked down upon. You’re locked in the city for your initial eight weeks. You can leave afterwards, but trying to break out of the city or cause social unrest will result in monitoring and a potential ban. - This city is supposed to be somewhat relaxing. Is it a free pleasure cruise? No. Is it a self-contained society that runs on community and indulgence? Yes. - You’re being given an allotment of credits in order to stay in the city, which is what the economy there runs on. This goes on for quite some time. - You’re being moved to a housing location. Despite the slotted speaker in the middle of the plexiglass, the only time you have a chance to ask questions is when a small slit opens in the bottom and a package is slid towards you. - What’s in the package? There’s a credit card-like apparatus that has apparently taken a picture of you. It contains a place to write your name, an identification number and barcode. It also has a thin strip near the top that has scrolling script floating by. It states “WELCOME TO SHEHUI. YOUR ID WILL UPDATE WITH COMMUNITY NOTICES AND PERSONAL PINGS FOR JOBS AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES RELATED TO YOUR INTEREST.” It’s a lot to take in, but that’s the long and short of it. Have questions? The person will reiterate a few times that there are information desks around the city. That’s all for now…now you’ll be traveling to your next destination: your new home. The floor slowly lowers as if you’ve been in an elevator the whole time. It connects to several other glass containers, much like your own, all suddenly clanking together in a chain. After a short wait, the chain begins to move — quickly. Faster, maybe, than you’ve ever gone before. It’s hard to even make out the scenery when you’re zipping past everything so quickly. Where does this trip lead you? The ground floor of your new apartment building. The plexiglass cases open up and you’re in a hotel lobby. There’s a flashing board on the wall — NEW ARRIVALS, COME HERE. A ▢ So now’s the time to get settled into your new digs. Your name is on the board, and there’s a promise that your things — which, by the way, were mysteriously taken — will be located in your room. No need to fight over bedrooms; those also hold name placards that are digitally installed. Maybe everyone else is already there. Maybe you’re the first person there and need to find a way to stake your claim on the fridge or a bathroom. B ▢ Maybe you don’t want to fuck with anybody right now and are busy exploring the apartment building. You may encounter some aliens, some strangers, some ice machines. There IS that floor that’s nothing but recreational stations. If you’re overwhelmed, the garden is a good place to start. The sport court is pretty empty right now, if you want to have any regrouping meetings.

The apartment building is locked up tight for three hours in order to let new arrivals get their bearings. After that, the ground floor lobby doors open into the city of Shehui. There’s a lot to take in, but let’s cover the biggest bases: C ▢ Right outside this communal apartment building is a large, digital job board. The list of available jobs and credit opportunities are constantly flashing by. Want to pick one out? Just hold up that ID card you were given and the instructions and location will be sent to the ID’s text scroller. D ▢ You’ve got 500 credits to blow on clothes, food, strippers…whatever you’d like? Right next to the apartment complex are tons of local businesses, from bistros to outlet malls. A movie theater, an arcade, a video game store…and the best thing about Shehui? Most everything is dirt cheap. Where are you shopping? What are you buying? Enquiring minds would like to know! E ▢ Right next to the shopping area is a wooded park. It’s akin to a nature trail that’s similar to Yellowstone in scenery and topography. If you’re more comfortable someplace less…tech or modern…then this may be exactly where you’d like to be. F ▢ Wildcard! How will your character interact with this new and unusual world?

Comments

[splinten]

I'm glad Vern is there to salve the tragic wound.

[Hm. Dirk pauses.]

That's related to what you alluded to before.

[rootandbranch]

Yeah. It's still okay. I just didn't realize that happened to other people too.

[now that he thinks about it, it's not really surprising that it would?? his own ignorance has just made him really narrow-sighted on this topic, maybe.]

[splinten]

I'm not sure how many people suffer this particular variation of social anxiety, but yes, it is a thing that not merely you and I are on occasion afflicted with. Actually, it's an entire category of things that a number of things suffer from, even if I'm not entirely certain the more pathologized description suits your situation, but whatever. People get fucked up and nervous about how to interact with other people, because interpersonal relationships are really important on multiple levels, and whether you call it social anxiety or just getting unnerved, it sucks.

[rootandbranch]

It makes sense. It's hard to know what other people are thinking and feeling about things. Even Vern gets upset when he doesn't know why I'm saying something and he can feel what I'm feeling now, with what he got from Qri...

[empathy should definitely be more of a conversation hack than it proves to be in practice.]

[splinten]

That makes sense. An emotion may be a tone to a thought, but it isn't an articulation of the thought itself.

[Poor Geir.]

[rootandbranch]

People get embarrassed or upset or don't want to explain a lot more often than I realized, too. You'd think it'd be easier to talk to each other...

[that last is said in a musing tone; Geir isn't really personally offended by it, especially not now that he's starting to get used to the concept, but it does feel strange to him.]

[splinten]

Would you?

[He isn't sure he would, but he isn't a dragon.]

[rootandbranch]

...yeah. I guess I do think it's easier. When I don't tell someone something, it's always because I'm worried about what they'd do afterwards. It'd be easier for me to just say it.

Is that strange?

[splinten]

Maybe. It might be unusual. There are a lot of reasons to keep things back, and some of them aren't even bad reasons. And there are a lot of reasons we might not do the easiest or best thing. I'm aware of how stupidly general it is, but my impression of people is that there are more specifics than there are words to describe them. I don't think generalities about people work unless they also acknowledge the opposite as within sentient potential.

[rootandbranch]

No generalities, huh...?

I guess if it's unusual, it's fine. And I don't think that the reasons I've had to hold things back sometimes are bad. Maybe, lazy, sometimes. But I do believe that if I don't try to talk about things, people won't get it. So it's a choice between... whether I want to try to do that or not. Maybe that's not exactly right, but it's what I've started to think.

[splinten]

[It makes sense, with how Geir tends to think and wants to reach out.]

Is that what matters most to you? Understanding others and being understood by them.

[rootandbranch]

. . . maybe. I want others to understand me, too. . . but I don't understand myself either yet. So that part might take a while.

But. . . I do. I want to know about people.

[splinten]

Is there a particular reason behind wanting to know about people? You're pretty curious in general, but I've wondered if the desire to understand people isn't related to your feelings that you aren't or and uncertainty that you could ever be a person.

[rootandbranch]

Oh, I really like that question! I never thought about that.

It's probably related? I don't know why I want to know about people. I like them.

[splinten]

[There's a moment where Dirk suspects Geir of deliberately giving him positive reinforcement on his questions. Dirk decides to move past it.]

They're pretty interesting, overall. There's a lot of possibility in them.

[rootandbranch]

[in fact, Geir has gotten completely distracted from that issue. he's just genuinely excited to be thinking about things from a different angle.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly! I don't know what the possibility is for yet. But I'm going to find out.