[DECEMBER INTRO LOG | WORLD TWO]

[spellbindmods]

Who: All coven members, especially new folk!
Where: In and around the new world’s apartment building where the coven is staying, as well as the rest of Shehui
When: Day 160
Open/Closed: Open to All

How did you get into this building? This apartment room? What the fuck is going on? Let's refer back to this page for a semi in-depth, wow so detailed, explanation of your current situation. Are you up to speed? Great. Now, here's the question of the hour: what are you going to do about it? A ▢ Unlike the other coven members, the newbies are coming into the apartment building with non-empty apartment rooms. Depending on how polite or cautious you are, your first instinct may be to find your apartment and knock on the door. But it is your apartment now, too, and you do have an ID card that'll get you in. What horrible calamity will you walk in on? What eccentric roommates will you happen upon? The wacky situational comedy scenarios are ENDLESS. B ▢ One of the jobs on the job board this week is fundraising -- neat, right? Before you even make it up to your apartment, you may be accosted by an excited citizen -- coven member or no -- that is trying to push something onto your character. Chocolate bars? Cheese logs? Cookie dough? Some other luxury item or overpriced snack food? Because this fundraising task is based on commission, the citizen in question may be a bit pushy...or you may be inclined to buy ridiculous amounts of goods and not know what to do with yourself.

New coven members showing up today are in luck. This week, Shehui is celebrating a Keep the Community Clean event. It's rare that they force jobs on people, but there has been an influx of new citizens and the population growth is leading to more trash. Fulfill your assignment and you'll be rewarded 1,000 credits. Don't? Be fined 500. Everyone has been sent a job to their ID, be it collecting trash, cleaning their apartment building or holding up signs/handing out literature about recycling. Sweeping, bagging...it's dirty work, but someone has to do it. C ▢ Cleaning up trash on the street might be hard, but it's fulfilling! Okay, that's a lie. It's demeaning and a lot of citizens don't really care about the minimal littering credit deduction as they toss trash from their cars or miss throwing it into bins. Volunteers are outfitted with gloves, vests and a roll of trash bags, but it doesn't prevent them from being rudely splashed with snow or having to pick up nasty things. Have fun! D ▢ For those who decided to pass out literature, you did pick the better job! It's a lot easier to avoid getting nasty, but it's also awkward...having to hand out fliers, be cheerful, regurgitate boring facts about recycling. Please sir, stop and listen to this exciting speech about why should put your cans in the red bins, not the blue ones! E ▢ There is a bright side to these jobs: local businesses are getting in on the outpouring of people out and about to try and get them into seats and buying things. Free samples are abound! There's a local coffee shop, Mooncents, that is handing out free small drinks to anyone who is actually working today. Come inside, regardless if you "volunteer" or not. It's warm inside with all that snow out there...

Speaking of snow! Most businesses and buildings in Shehui have paid to have snow falling every other hour, which coats the city areas in a fine, powdery dust of snowflakes. You may be familiar with snow, or maybe you've never seen it in your entire life! It's unavoidable either way, so you're going to have to deal with it. F ▢ Children in Shehui are usually in a school building somewhere, but snow days call for some leniency. School is pretty come-and-go anyway, so don't be surprised that there are quite a few kidlets out and about on the streets. They're also fully into the spirit of snow, throwing snowballs at unsuspecting strangers. Will you get in on the action, or will you plan the murder of innocent children today? G ▢ While it's unadvised to just go lay out in the street and make snow angels, there are plenty of parks in which to examine or play in the snow. You won't be the only one acting like a fool -- it's Shehui. You're allowed to live a little! H ▢ Finally, Coins! has bought the most snow as a means for their seasonal activity -- snow paintball. If you're looking to have a good time and enjoy Shehui for what it is, you'd best be inclined to sign up. A massive field with snowbanks and excellent areas for hiding, snowball paintballs that hurt twice as much as usual. What more could you ask for? I ▢ Wildcard! How will your character interact with this new and unusual world?

Comments

E

[skincares]

[It's odd, seeing her Master (former Master?) here. Though no contract binds Carmilla to the young girl, she decided to come along with her. There were no other familiar faces. And if she were to theorize about their circumstances, she'd rather it be with someone she knows.]

Perhaps you should go with the flow.

[toblueskies]

[ contract or no, Ritsuka is comforted by the presence of someone she knows and trusts(?). it's hard not to think of that time that Carmilla was actively working against Chaldea's forces but fortunately she has yet to show any of the signs of hostility toward her. ]

Hm. It's hard to agree with that, without knowing what the flow is. [ after all, even though she was thrown into a big mess before at least she had others around her that had a grasp on the situation at large and could guide her. being on her own like this... it's unsettling. ]

[skincares]

[Overt hostility is useless towards an ally. Carmilla may be the furthest thing from a "hero," but she understands her duties as a Heroic Spirit. The one who summoned her is to be doled a small bit of respect -- just enough to make their relationship functional. Ritsuka may no longer be her Master but the young girl has demonstrated her competence when tested.

She idly taps a long finger against her cheek.]

My, you really were reliant on Chaldea. Do you feel unsettled, Master?

[The term is used simply for formalities's sake. They aren't on a first-name business in Carmilla's eyes.]

[toblueskies]

[ it's hard not to be nervous in the presence of anyone with such power and a dark history to back it up. but Ritsuka likes to give people the benefit of the doubt. they would not exist in the Throne of Heroes and come to her aid for the greater good if they did not themselves have the capacity, the spark, to live up to the notion of being a hero. ]

Chaldea was to be my life from the moment I was hired on. Then it became my entire world... our. Entire world. [ literally. Ritsuka scowled. ] Who wouldn't be unsettled by this?

[skincares]

[That much about the summoning is true -- but like hell will Carmilla admit it outright.]

I suppose if I were a human like you, I would feel a bit... ill at ease.

[More than that. Probably pissed off and a little panicked. But Carmilla is the incarnation of years of obsession and bloodshed. Her sole wish is usually enough to keep her goals simple and straightforward.]

You don't trust Qri?

[toblueskies]

We're basically on the same level right now though, aren't we? [ not the smartest thing to imply, necessarily, but it leads on into her next point. ] Someone capable of doing that is not to be underestimated. Even if I agreed to this it would be hard to trust someone putting us into this position.

[skincares]

[The mention of being "on the same level" does earn a slight narrowing of Carmilla's eyes, though she doesn't press upon the point. Regardless of where they were now -- or what they both possessed -- their former contract demanded the barest form of respect. In Carmilla's case, that respect manifested as tolerance. She tsks.]

I certainly hope you weren't expecting my help. Knowing you, Master, you'd be quite easy to rile up against this space witch.

[toblueskies]

Why are you saying it like it's a bad thing? After all, shouldn't you be just as worried about how you got here without being properly summoned? [ Chaldea's system relies on acceptance of a contract. implicit permission. if Carmilla was here against her will it should make her even more invested in getting to the root cause than Ritsuka. ]

[skincares]

[Carmilla may not clearly remember those times, but she knows it's not uncommon for Servants to be dredged up by some power-hungry mage as a tool. It's simply the lot of Servants. What they were, in the end, were merely vessels to push forth a ceremony. This whole situation with Qri is strange -- Carmilla won't deny that. And she certainly isn't happy about it. Masters were Masters, yes. But if they were incompetent, she held no qualms over killing them. That's why her answer is blithe.]

I am an Assassin. You are a hothead. I prefer to work under... quieter conditions, unless you can offer me some form of proper protection, Master.

[toblueskies]

[ it's not an unfair descriptor for Ritsuka. it may warrant some kind of serious answer as to the nature of her own uselessness in offering anyone any kind of protection, though. without any power, without any influence on the systems that brought them to this world or continue to bind them here without any apparent risk of disappearing, there is no benefit to having Ritsuka in her role as a Master at all. there's nothing to fight for, either.

not yet anyway.

but rather than delve into that train of thought her mouth shoots off the first thing that comes into it. something from the last time she had done battle with Carmilla. ] I can promise I wouldn't make you wear weird outfits or do any cleaning.

[ who exactly was the hothead in that situation? ]

1/2

[skincares]

[................................................]

[skincares]

[master WHAT THE FUCK! Carmilla's tone becomes sharper.]

Watch your tongue, Master. I've not lost my taste for blood.

[Can you not bring up that incident ever again THANKS!]

[toblueskies]

Does that mean I can have your coffee? [ since it was only a free one for each working person, that comment doesn't seem as thoughtless to Ritsuka as it probably was. the threat, if there was one, was not ignored. she just said this as a way to swerve away from that topic. ]

[skincares]

[She tsks.]

Honestly! How you endeared yourself to so many Servants is beyond me. You're little more than a bumbling buffoon at times.

[Even as she says that she's pushing her cup over to Ritsuka. . . careful. It's hot and extra sweet.]

[toblueskies]

I don't really understand it myself. [ that isn't a #humblebrag, it's the truth. even as she's picked up that cup without a second thought and scalding herself slightly in the process, she can't think of a solid reason to explain how she manages to get along with almost all of them. that doesn't seem humanly possible. and yet. ]

—agh! Uh see whu you meah. [ so much for watching her tongue. ]

[skincares]

[--her mouth might've twitched to form the barest hint of a smile. Just for a moment there. She definitely didn't want to laugh at that, nope.]

A self-aware buffoon is doubly worse than an ignorant one. Shouldn't you put all your effort into improving yourself, Master?

[toblueskies]

[ she furrowed her brow. don't laugh at her pain, Carmilla! ]

Wouldn't improving myself just make me more self-aware, and worse in your eyes? [ maybe she parsed that wrong. ]

[skincares]

[But it's funny!!]

Of course not. You'll never reach such a state of maturity, for one.

[toblueskies]

I don't remember stories about you telling the future. [ Ritsuka said, still with a bit of a lisp. ] I'm still growing!

[skincares]

One's mind isn't guaranteed to grow with the body.

[toblueskies]

I've already learned a lot since everything started at Chaldea and that hasn't been that long at all. [ she looked out the window, at people passing by. ] It's just a matter of time and experience.

[skincares]

[What gets Ritsuka riled up can be difficult to gauge, at times. A comfortable (?) silence falls. Carmilla doesn't look out. She's studying her former Master, deep in thought.

Really, how troublesome. If only the Chaldean Master had been a proper magus. Instead, this fool - who openly trusted serial killers, murderers, and demons - was dragged into this mess.

. . .]

You truly are a stupid child. You never react the way you should.

[toblueskies]

[ yeah yeah, join the club with the Director (oh wait, YOU CAN'T) ]

[ no but seriously, Ritsuka was giving Carmilla an uneasy look after those comments. it's more exasperation really. ] What do you want me to say?

[skincares]

[DONT BE RUDE]

Do you really think I'd give such an answer so easily? Proper behavior - that never interested me.

[She's the woman who considers non-nobles to be pigs? Hello?]

[toblueskies]

No, but you usually tell people the standards you're holding them to. [ sincerely. ] I don't want to let you down.