spellbinders | [WORLD ONE] AIMINTAS (INTRODUCTION)

[WORLD ONE] AIMINTAS (INTRODUCTION)

Who: The coven & Palai people
Where: In and around the city land of Aimintas
When: Days 13 & 14
Open/Closed: Open to All

The initial setting information found here should be utilized for threads here.

There's no official OOC account for the Palai people. You're free to roleplay their actions and reactions on your own, as in depth as you want -- asking questions, hand-waved interactions, becoming best friends. The new world is your oyster!

Just like how you arrived, the process of leaving the hub and reappearing somewhere else is quite quick and uneventful. Brie and Genette gather as many people as possible so that everyone can explore the new world together in a group, which is where they all land once Qri has worked her magic. If you weren't in the vicinity, or thought that not being social meant you'd get to stay on the island, you come along as well, though you didn't exactly show up with the group.

The sun sets while the coven is busy trying to get through the craggy infrastructure (at least, that's the fate of those who don't find a quicker way to get into the city). Brie locates a large cave in one of the rocks, and that's where everyone sets up camp for the night. If you want to carry on, that's your choice...but who knows if anything that goes bump in the night is out there bumping in the night time?

C ▢ What will your character be doing tonight? Sleeping on a hard rock? Stuck awake? Even if they do manage to fall asleep, they may be haunted by the occasional high pitched screech that comes through the night, though the location of the noise is unknown as of right now.

It takes about a day to travel to Aimintas, climb through the rocks and come into the city. Thankfully the city hub is close to the side of the city the coven managed to climb through, so civilization is awaiting. That civilization is decently modern, lizard-like and very, very nosy.

Even outside of interacting with the Palai, there's quite a bit around here to look at. Genette can be found in the middle of one of the parks, handing out the stored supplies to their owners. (Don't worry, she'll tell you where she is with a little telepathic poke. Your supplies will give you access to shopping and bartering...your status as a magical humanoid thing will only get you so far.

It can be easy to get overwhelmed within the Palai marketplace, so no one will blame a coven-member for escaping the city for a bit.

On the outside of the marketplace is a very large house with dozens of Palai congregating -- and my dozens, we mean at least 200. A Palai mate triangle just committed to each other, and this is certainly worth celebrating.

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I'm fine. It's fine. Everything's fine.

[The look on his face says otherwise, although he seems relieved that the Palai have (mostly) peeled off to examine the refrigerator. He scoots quickly away from the remaining lizards and over towards Lenka.]

. . . I appreciate it.

[Lenka just gives a sympathetic sort of nod despite the fact that Jay's response and his everything else don't match up in the least. He puts it down to being harassed by the Palai -- even if they mean no harm by it, it's still kind of harassment.

And they're going to have to stay in the city for who knows how long. And the Palai's fascination doesn't seem to wear off over time, or perhaps more accurately, there are too many of them for there not to be one demanding the equivalent of a magical autograph in any given group.]

I think that should keep them distracted for a little bit. Here. [he shuffles around one of the refrigerators, so at least they're shielded from view of most of the street] What did they want...?

[He knows the gist of it, but he doesn't know the specifics of what Jay can do, whether here or elsewhere.]

The same thing they all appear to want. A demonstration of my 'magic abilities.'

[A put-upon sigh.]

Which I would have given them, had they stopped trying to touch me.

There has to be a better way to do this than get chased around the city...

[He's not particularly talking to Jay, even if it sounds like he's criticizing his methods (or... non-methods); Lenka's peeking around the other side of the fridge to check on the State of the Lizard, which is currently Sunny with a Chance of Smaller Lizards.

They're not too far from the nursery, apparently. Oh boy.]

Do your powers not work if someone is distracting you?

[Closest thing he can think of while he's on the lookout here.]

Are they going anywhere? --No, I just need space. Assuming I don't want to attack them, which I'm getting increasingly less certain about.

... No. I think I'd have to move the fridges.

[Which he can do, but it would take away their cover unless he does it in a more haphazard way than he's comfortable doing in the middle of the city. The Palai may be a pain in the ass, but he doesn't really want to hurt them -- the best he can do is herd them right now. So...]

We should retreat. There are younger ones.

[Which are going to be even more given to climbing all over Jay, and possibly faster, too. Lenka indicates the next street corner with a tilt of his head and then quietly starts in that direction, keeping under the shade of the buildings. Just pretend everything's fine and don't walk too fast. That's the ticket.]

[With a sigh, he follows. He's pretty good at 'acting casual,' at least, now that he's calmed down a bit.]

This whole situation is ridiculous.

[Lenka's not particularly good at acting, but he is good at sneaking, and so away around the corner they go with the initial Palai none the wiser. Hopefully they'll escape further ambushes.]

I feel like it's been ridiculous since the island...

Well, yes, but there's ridiculous and there's "a band of lizard people following you around."

I've been followed by worse things...?

[Chased, rather. He's gotten chased by Palai a few times, too, but at least they're well-meaning.... That probably isn't too helpful to the situation at hand though; granted, all of the above did make him really good at running away.]

It's hard to come outside, though. They're after anyone who isn't Palai...

[So it's a bit. Harder to blend in. RIP.]

Monsters are different.

[He sighs, letting this one go for the moment.]

What are your impressions of this place? Other than the obvious.

Loud. [is the immediate answer, but that probably falls under obvious] It's peaceful right now, but... they're afraid of something.

[He's not great at asking after stuff, especially when the Palai are much more interested in pelting him with questions first and foremost -- but he has ears, and he knows what the weight of community fear feels like, even buried under excitement and festivities and confusingly structured amphibian facial expressions.

And then there's the exciting nighttime symphony from the ocean-sky above their heads: it's a little more muted under the bustle of the city, but he remembers them clearly from their trek up.]

[Jay, on the other hand, has been asking questions and then some. When he's not getting harangued to show the Palai his powers, that is.]

They've mentioned a . . . predator? An adversary? They conduct periodic raids and spirit vulnerable Palai away from this settlement.

[Lenka stiffens, just slightly, at the word 'predator' -- it's more a slight twitch of his shoulders than anything else. He looks automatically up at the sky again. It's still daytime, but the ocean suddenly looks more ominous -- and it had been pretty ominous in the first place.]

It comes from up there, doesn't it? They're better at moving than the Palai.

[He's investigated transportation between land and "sky", just a little. The Palai really haven't gotten much of anywhere.]

From above, yes. That's what I gather.

Has anything happened since we came here? I hear them, but I've never seen them.

[He still doesn't know exactly what sort of creatures they're talking about. There are mentions of the Uvi here and there on the Palai World Wide Webbing, but precious few decent pictures. Almost as though they want to avoid looking at them as much as possible.]

I think we would have noticed raids. [A little dry, although he seems concerned as he scans the sky above them.] At any rate, from talking to them, it appears to be a regular occurrence--they make preparations when one is about to happen.

That's true.

[If it's a regular raid, and they're kidnapping multiple Palai -- even in a city as big as this that would raise the alarm. He's just not entirely sure how things work here; first of all, he still isn't sure how far to trust the assurance that the sky isn't going to come crashing down.

(Back home may have been a disaster, but at least the sky stayed put. The rains could be pretty dire, though.)

If there's going to be preparations, though, then maybe that's one less thing to worry about. On the other hand--]

They know when the raids are, but they can't stop them? Is that what we're here for...?

[He's not opposed, exactly, but it seems odd that they've received no instructions.]

You'd think someone would have mentioned it if we were. [He sighs.] We certainly have a capacity for fighting that they don't seem to.

I don't think anyone mentioned anything. [Jay gets a questioning look, though; did anyone mention anything? Lenka's been out and about in the city, so he could have missed something going on in the coven.] I don't know how fighting would help Qri.

[Actually, he doesn't know how them being here is supposed to help in the first place. Qri seems to be the one moving them, so aren't they taking up magical energy rather than creating it?

Refrigerators aside, he's still trying to figure out why he got dragged into this particular job.]

They didn't; they've been oddly silent ever since we arrived in this place. [A little annoyed, though not at Lenka; he doesn't like being deprived of information.]

It would help if they at least told us what they wanted us to do. But since they don't seem to be doing that, we have to decide how we'd like to deal with the Palai situation.

Since we're in their city, does that mean we're siding with the Palai...?

[Certainly, they've been more than generous with their gifts and their rooms, so they do owe them as hosts -- and as overwhelming as the general hospitality has been Lenka doesn't mind it beyond situations where he has to throw down refrigerators and run away.

There have been a few of those now.

(Who is he kidding, it's not like he can just watch a raid and walk away. It may be a character flaw.)

But if they're expected to fight, or have been put into a situation where the fight's going to be brought to them...]

I guess we should learn more about the attackers.

Are we? We can do as we like, of course.

[But he's more prodding at Lenka than actually raising an objection; he's concluded that given the makeup of the coven, some of them probably will try and help.]

The Palai are the best source of information we have. Although they may not have been in a position to make a lot of observations.

For now. But if we live here, we're part of the raid targets.

[In other words, merely by appearing to be part of the Palai community and accepting their gifts and houses -- they might find themselves the target of attack anyway. Of course, that's assuming the predator in question doesn't have some way of distinguishing between the Palai and others (or would care).

He doesn't have to be happy about the prodding, but he also doesn't have to walk blindly into something like this, even if he leans on the helpful side.

Lenka nods towards the direction they're going -- it's not the bustling mall, but it's still a decent shopping street, lined with cafes and snack stalls. It's entirely possible to pick up gossip here, despite his lack of skill at it.]

So we should find out what we can. We can go if they really want to crowd us.

[He mostly means Jay, but it's not like they can avoid the Palai forever in a Palai city.]

It's fine; they just surprised me that time.

[He seems a little embarrassed about the whole thing, now that he's recovered. He shakes it off and goes serious--analyzing the situation.]

What we need to know . . . as much of their capabilities and usual numbers as the Palai can tell us. Whether they approach from one particular direction, or converge on the city from multiple directions. [A pause.] Whether they're sentient, and can therefore be negotiated with.

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