[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

[rootandbranch]

Oh!

[he tilts his head the other way. there are sure a lot of potential follow up questions here, but Geir can recognize a story that he doesn't have the context to ask any intelligent questions about yet. most of them would just add up to "what?????"

so he doesn't launch into them immediately.]

I wouldn't think you'd need to? Your skin looks nice. But that makes more sense, anyway.

[skincares]

[I'm sorry Geir, serial killers are weird. Carmilla hides her smile behind her dainty fingers.]

A compliment from a dragon... that must be a rarity. Should I be treasuring it?

[rootandbranch]

That depends, right? I don't know what kind of compliment would be treasure for you.

[Geir's not giving her a hard time or danger flirting-- it's a genuine answer. something in his expression is soft and thoughtful, some subtle flexion of the skin around his eyes; he's thinking of who he's complimented, or thought well of, since he met Vern.

there are a lot of people he's liked a great deal since then. he can see why people would think of dragons as chary of praise, if they share his reputation, but he can at least nail down who "Geir" is enough to understand that he's genuinely not like that, not just playing a part. it gives him a a warm reassuring feeling.]

I wouldn't say it's rare, though. So you'll have to figure out what it's worth another way.

[skincares]

[--who knew that dragons could be so remarkably ordinary? It's strange. All her experiences have taught her that they should be proud, haughty creatures. Carmilla can't say whether this realization is a disappointment. It's... not quite that. She can't put her finger on what she feels in this conversation, to tell the truth, but she isn't put off by Geir's personality.]

What humility.

[Carmilla takes a nibble from the doughnut.]

Perhaps I should begin treating you like an overgrown pet lizard, instead.

[WHY DID SHE RUIN THE MOMENT]

[rootandbranch]

[Geir grins, not unfriendly but rather sharper. his friendliness and basic goodnatured demeanor have been pretty consistent throughout the conversation, but how he reacts to what she says is more mercurial, shifting as she shifts the ground of the interaction.]

You're a funny human. Haha, I'm not humble at all! I just like a lot of things.

Do you think pride of power means hating everything and not telling anyone what you like? That's so strange.

[skincares]

[... heh.]

It's simply a matter of different experiences.

[rootandbranch]

[Geir's grin goes slier, for a brief moment.]

Hmmmmm. I could say, "or it's someone acting like a crotchety old lady." But I won't, I won't! That would just be teasing.

[he did say it, though. he's just indicating that his response to her own renewed insult isn't as much of a priority to him as expressing his opinion on this issue, both moving past it and highlighting that he feels secure enough to brush it off. Geir's movement through the steps of that dance are automatic and instinctive rather than conscious and thought through, but no less precise. his own sincerity is a statement that he feels powerful enough to hold and cherish a position against any who'd try to redirect him.]

I claim the right to enjoy anything on any world that pleases me, and if something pleases me, I'll enjoy it. Unless I decide that I won't! I'll think about things and do what I think makes sense, and I'll tell people what I care about, and I'll fight for it if that's what it comes to.

You're interesting to talk to!

[skincares]

[Old? Old? Carmilla wants to make a snippy response because she doesn't look old, thank you very much! She takes great care of herself, you know! But Geir continues talking. And--

--ah. This dragon truly means what he says, does he? She takes another dainty nibble from the doughnut, deliberately buying time.]

And you're a lot simpler than I expected you to be. [Though, maybe there's less venom in that statement than she'd usually give?] "I want to do what I want." Isn't that the thought process of a child?

[rootandbranch]

Hmmmm... maybe.

[Geir gives serious thought to that idea, turning it over in his mind.]

I'm not sure that means it's all wrong. It's not like I don't know that I can't do what I want unless I have the power to do it. Or unless I know how. That's what kids don't understand...

[skincares]

Your tutors must have been driven mad by your philosophizing.

[rootandbranch]

Haha, maybe! I don't think I had tutors, though. What are those? Some kind of teacher?

[skincares]

Yes. They were to teach you a specific subject. For a noblewoman like myself, only the brightest and most renown tutors were permitted to shape my education.

[rootandbranch]

Yeah, nobody really taught me much. I mostly just hid under the table and listened.

[for some reason he doesn't seem to think this is weird, or indicate that he's mad about it. Geir wasn't raised with a lot of expectations.]

What was that like? Was it fun?

[skincares]

[Geir's question earns a scoff from Carmilla.]

It was... acceptable. Education is part of a noble's training.

[MOVING AWAY FROM THAT]

Why would a creature like you be forced to hide?

[rootandbranch]

[it sounds fun, Geir thinks to himself, privately. people employed just to tell you things! Geir is forced to try to get everyone he knows to tell him things instead. he has variable success.

what an odd question from Carmilla, though. why wouldn't a baby monster be expected to keep a low profile?]

I wasn't really forced, but it was easier for us to keep out of the way while we were in Odin's hall. Nobody was really happy to have us around, even if we were still little.

[he grins reminisciently, thinking back.]

The skalds there told great stories.

[skincares]

[Learning might've been nice for a young Carmilla. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear what that education was really for. Learning the ulterior motives of something seemingly innocent tends to extinguish your passion for any subject fairly quickly.

More importantly--]

You're Norse? I didn't expect that.

[rootandbranch]

[being educated to be used as a political tool would make perfect sense to Geir. it's still convenient when the tool enjoys the process more than otherwise, isn't it? getting thrown in the ocean was far less interesting...]

I'm not! I've heard that's the name for some people who knew our legends in other worlds, but I don't know anything about them. They might not even have been talking about us.

All the worlds where people talk about "Norse" have sounded very different from mine, anyway.

[skincares]

[Geir please take her place. I MEAN. . .

Carmilla hesitates.]

Tell me, then.

[This is a request she doesn't typically do. What does she care about people's homes? Those details never concerned her. She was, after all, a creature who treated other beings like meat.

Even so, she clarifies. Repeats herself:]

About your home, I mean.

[rootandbranch]

..."home" is with Vern. As for my world...

[Geir sighs lightly, daunted more at the holes in his own knowledge of his world than he is at the question. he knows what he knows, but his experience of living there was so very narrow, really. he glances earnestly at Carmilla before he speaks.]

Midgard is where the humans live. It's... I don't know much about it. There are forests and mountains and seas; I liked living in the sea, for the time that I did. It's furthest from the Tree. The Tree is... complicated.

I don't know what the places where humans lived are like. Vern says that life among humans is terrible-- the kings are always having wars so they can get into Valhalla. Some humans have magic, some don't, but Valkyries don't come to you for feats of wizardry, so the wizards aren't honored much. I guess there were a lot of different kings spread out to war over the best territories. Odin was the only one who bothered about humans much...

Asgard and the other realms are closer to the Tree. That means-- they're-- I'm still bad at explaining this! You can't just walk there, that's what I mean. It's about power, and what you can touch. The halls of the gods are there. I was born in Asgard, and then I lived with Mom and my brother and sister in Jotunheim for a while, and then Odin brought us to his hall. I've seen the halls of Odin and Frigg and Freyja, but I've not really traveled in Asgard much either--

[Geir shakes his head and looks away, curling his talontips into the ground. he's frustrated.]

Sorry I don't know more about it! I wasn't in Valhalla for long before Odin threw me in the sea. I stayed there-- then Dad sealed me under that hill when Thor fished me up-- then Vern summoned me-- then I came here. I really haven't seen that much.

[he droops for a moment before a thought occurs to him and he brightens again.]

At least I'm learning! And it doesn't take long to tell. There's that.

[skincares]

[Carmilla listens without interjecting, quiet but focused. Sealed beneath a hill, was it? She wonders if Geir was a creature mentioned in Norse mythology. If one of the bookworms had been summoned alongside her, she could have pestered them.

Hope you enjoy being patted on the snout, Geir.]

And it was a terrible story, full of holes.

[Even though she says that, she's smiling.]

Your summoner must do a better job at teaching you these things.

[rootandbranch]

[strangely enough, Geir does seem to enjoy being patted on the snout. he automatically leans into her hand. what the fuck, Carmilla might be pardoned for thinking. what can Geir say! he likes pettings.

his mildly huffy tone in response to her criticism is transparently put-on; he's not really offended.]

If there are so many holes, you can ask me when you stick your foot in one! And of course, Vern's taught me a lot.

[skincares]

[That's cute.]

What did your father seal you away for?

[rootandbranch]

Because he didn't think I'd stay in the ocean if it was that easy to get me out again! I was only going to be sealed in the earth for a while, anyway, till I was... bigger. Too big to do anything but stay in the sea till it was time.

[Geir does hesitate there. "time for what?" is the next question, of course, but the reactions he's gotten to "the end of the world" have been... mixed, to say the least.]

[skincares]

[This dragon's situation is oddly distressing to Carmilla. She doesn't register it yet, but it rings as faint discomfort in her mind. Sealed away, told to wait--

Hm.]

And you didn't question him?

[rootandbranch]

...no... I mean, it was my dad and my uncle. And of course I knew that was what I was supposed to do.

[Geir shifts his weight a little bit, uneasy too; this is the first time he's gotten "you didn't question him?" as a reaction to that. maybe because the people he's talking to are usually so much younger, and they understand about parents...]