[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]

[Of all the things she never thought she'd see--]

How demeaning...

[Why does she sound like she's pitying him?!]

[rootandbranch]

What is?

[the dragon catches her eye as he notices her surveillance -- Geir's hearing is very good, after all. he doesn't seem offended by her commentary thus far, grinning at her amiably as the lights glitter and dance in crazed refractive patterns on his scales. he doesn't have any reason to be anything but friendly.]

Aaannnd did you want something hot to drink while you're standing there?

[skincares]

No.

[Dragons are free to do what they wish. They're powerful creatures who can smite many men -- and some Servants -- if thrown into a rampage. But... at the same time... dragons are part of her family's heraldic symbol. Proud, ancient, wise, a destructive force of legend. So why is it that there's this pipsqueak dressed up like a shameless Christmas tree???

Carmilla gives him a stern look.]

Were you the one to decorate yourself like this?

[rootandbranch]

Your loss! It's pretty good.

[Geir would object to the title of "pipsqueak," so it's lucky he can't hear Carmilla's internal narration! he can see her stern look well enough, though. he tilts his head, quizzical but unembarrassed, as he meets it. she sure seems riled up about something, doesn't she? does this lady just really hate doughnuts...?]

Some of it. The merchant helped, but he couldn't reach everything. Why...?

[skincares]

[Doughnuts are actually really good. It's just that Carmilla is hella snobby. . .

She gestures at Geir.]

This is hardly befitting a creature like you. Do you understand what I'm saying?

[rootandbranch]

[Geir's headtilt grows a little more pronounced. he's beginning to be a little amused. strangely enough, formal challenges to his standing in pride, place, and power are among the few social interactions he feels on very solid ground to handle -- though he certainly didn't expect to get one in this context.]

Um... I might, but I like it when things are spelled out, so maybe you'd better say it...?

[maybe he's wrong! he doesn't know what in the world people are thinking half the time. maybe this isn't a Doughnut Insult.]

[skincares]

[She lets out an amused sound.]

You are a dragon. Yet you seem awfully... tame.

[rootandbranch]

[okay, definitely an insult then. Geir takes an internal moment to be proud of himself for reading the situation correctly. the people of the coven haven't tried much of this, so he thought he might be rusty.]

Oooh, tame. A beast and a dog with one word, very nice! And why am I tame, Elder?

[oh my god he's making fun of her hair]

[skincares]

[Oh? If it were any other insult, Carmilla could have brushed it off. But she's awfully touchy when it comes to appearances. It may be superficial, yet--]

You're dressed like a pet, of course. Was that not apparent to you? How embarrassing. You're truly far gone.

[rootandbranch]

[Geir's not truly offended by the insult. he knows exactly how powerful he is, and what role he has to play in the ancient clash of precedent and prophecy that will bring his world to its ruin. that's about the only thing in a long list of possible conversation topics about which he isn't terribly insecure, and theoretically, he could use that security to redirect or overlook the exchange.

(yeah no he's gonna keep being a little shit)]

Hahahaha! You must need your eyes checked more than I thought, scolding grandmother! That can't be true-- because I'm the one wearing it.

[skincares]

[geir u big shit!]

You'll do well to watch your tongue.

[DESPITE HER COMMENDING HIM FOR BEING AN ANCIENT, GREAT CREATURE]

[rootandbranch]

Aw, what fun is that?

[all right, all right, maybe he'd better pull it back a little. Geir can't help chuckling again, but he ducks his head and grins up at Carmilla engagingly. it's not an apology or a backing-down, but she could take it as a ceasefire, if she chooses.]

I like the lights, so it's fine! That's really what I think. It's nice to try new things when you're in a new place, right?

[skincares]

[Antisocial as she is, Carmilla can tell when an olive branch is extended her way. She still gives Geir the stink eye but relents by coming a little closer to the bright display.]

... I wouldn't know much about it.

[It's a terse reply, but it's something! The fact that Geir is a dragon softens her up, just a bit. It's not much, but it's enough for her not to be outright antagonistic or condescending.]

I wasn't permitted to travel.

[rootandbranch]

Nooooo, that sucks! I was underground a lot, but at least before then I got to see a couple of the halls my family owned, and the sea. And now I've seen Aimintas and the Hub and Shehui!

[he shifts so he can watch her better as she moves, eyes bright and interested.]

You'll see a lot of places if you stay with the coven, I guess. Are you sure you don't want some food? My treat.

[skincares]

[... somehow, this dragon reminds her of a puppy. Carmilla eyes the food truck warily.]

Is it clean?

[rootandbranch]

Sure!

[Geir has no idea what standards of clean Carmilla is even used to. he grew up in a Norse myth atmosphere. he eats things roasted over fires with sticks.]

And the doughnuts taste really good, I promise.

[skincares]

[To be fair, Carmilla considers bathing in blood to be ""clean?"" It's more that she's never eaten at a food truck before and the idea of containing everything into such a small space seems unsanitary to her. Why wouldn't you use an actual kitchen? What kind of commoner invention is this???]

... I'll have a cider.

[BUT IT BETTER BE GOOD]

[rootandbranch]

[Geir inclines his head to her in acknowledgment before turning to speak to the truck's owner. luckily, it seems that another cider and doughnut are within the limits of what the cook is willing to give him for free in exchange for the advertising, and he figures he can always eat whatever Carmilla doesn't want. when the food is ready, he carefully takes the tray with the very tips of two of his foreclaws, and carries it to her to present with something of a flourish.]

Heeere you go! I'll eat anything you don't want.

[he indicates a place to sit on a low wall next to the truck with a flick of his tail.]

Why don't you sit?

[hospitality! he's seen it done before, even if he hasn't done it himself.]

[skincares]

[Seeing a dragon treat something with such delicacy is strange. Tarasque was "tame," in a sense, but Martha wouldn't decorate him with ridiculous ornaments. And he certainly wasn't sentient enough to act like a waiter as Geir is doing now. It's strange how... normal the situation is despite the odd players.

Carmilla glances at the place he indicated before she daintily takes a seat. It's a little hard with her outfit but... she somehow manages. She folds her hands in her lap, eyeing the cider and doughnut.

...................]

I was under the impression that dragons enjoyed sheep, not pastries.

[SHE HASN'T MADE SMALL TALK IN SO LONG... HOW DO YOU STRIKE UP A FRIENDLY CONVO WHEN IT ISN'T ABOUT TORTURE?]

[rootandbranch]

[Geir puts the tray down on the wall next to her and returns to his comfortable sprawl. he can attract attention to the food truck as easily here as anywhere else -- being a billboard isn't a hard or deeply location-specific job, it turns out.]

I do like sheep! I don't think I had more than a couple of heels of bread in my life before I met Vern. But pastries are good too.

[reliably cooked food was a wonderful new discovery, even if he still likes the haunch of something nice and raw when he gets the chance. there's that "under the impression" he keeps running into in the coven, though...]

Humans from other worlds seem to have a lot of ideas of what dragons are like. What are humans like where you're from?

[skincares]

[Geir you asked the worst person to explain humans to you? Carmilla looks uncomfortable for once. She takes the cider and sips it... it's not like she's buying time.]

I never paid much attention to those things. [It's a strange answer. What human wouldn't think about other humans...?] To learn the lives of commoners wasn't of importance to my station.

[rootandbranch]

But you had impressions, right? You had impressions of dragons, and it doesn't sound like you knew lots of them...

[Geir's tone is frankly curious. he doesn't challenge her setting herself at an automatic distance from humans, but he can tell she's not quite sure how to answer, and he's genuinely interested in what she'll come up with. he's starting to be able to recognize better now when he's pushing someone too hard and should back off, but he doesn't-- quite-- think he's at that point with Carmilla yet. he'll try just a little more to find out what she's thinking.]

[skincares]

Dragons are a different matter. They are common legends one could learn of with even half a brain.

[In the end, what were humans to her? There can only be one answer. Anything else would be a rejection of who she is. She rests her cheek on her hand.]

To be quite frank, I only remember other humans as livestock.

[rootandbranch]

[Geir's head tilt... becomes more pronounced...]

Oh. That's different.

[he was actually intending on twitting her gently about being one of the people who makes assumptions about dragons, with a side of learning more about her world, but. hey. no one has ever said Geir couldn't roll with an unexpected shift in the conversation.]

...like the eating kind or the taking care of them kind... or-- wait! Is that just a comparison?

[is he taking this too literally or overthinking it?? if it's literal that seems awfully weird????]

[skincares]

[How far can a dragon tilt its head, Carmilla wonders......... she reaches for a doughnut.]

It's what it sounds like.

[Her tone is casual, as though she's making small talk. This is simply who she is, after all. If it horrifies others, then so be it. Though-- she can't guess at what a dragon would think.]

I don't eat. That's far too messy and I hate to think of what that'd do to my figure. My process is more refined. I take my time to prepare them before draining them of blood. I am especially partial towards the blood of young maidens.