[WORLD ONE | POST-UVI CELEBRATION]

[spellbindmods]

Who: Coven members and Palai
Where: In and around the Aimintas marketplace
When: Day 39
Open/Closed: Open to All

After an appropriate amount of time for mourning, the Palai have shifted into a more positive mood -- they're a very resilient species, though there is a bit of a muted tone to their celebration. The whole event is a little hodge-podge, mostly because they aren't used to having to celebrate with the coven members added to the guest list. The Palai have gathered together all of their people and have invited the coven members to a small, intimate gathering -- the purpose of the event is to thank them for their service in fighting the Uvi, and the success of freezing the Uvi in their home. While no one knows how long the Uvi will stay gone, any amount of time without the Uvi being a concern is fine by them. The event takes place in the very center of the marketplace, with the Palai interacting on the fringes of the party throughout the rest of the large building. The coven members have time to spend by themselves, but there's room for moving around on their own and also spending time with the Palai if they so choose. A ▢ One of the more noticeable editions to the food the Palai have provided is a large pile of sweet, sugar dusted pastries. You may notice that something about them seems...odd, to say the least. It looks as if the pastries are vibrating slightly, but they smell divine. If you're so inclined to ask what the deal is, these pastries are magically infused by Eltos, which somehow gives them a sweeter flavor and enhances the sensation of tastebuds. The Palai sometimes eat these before meals in order to better the flavor of their entire spread -- though adding this energized magic to an already magical being means magic powers may be a little off kilter. Don't be surprised if suddenly your abilities go a little crazy. B ▢ The Palai aren't participating the party for two big reasons. One, the purpose is to celebrate the victory of coven members. The other reason, however, is one that may be more interesting to outsiders. While previously the Palai were peaceful people, happy to exist submitting to the Uvi, the coven's show of strength and valor has inspired them to be more aggressive in their approaches. Grown Palai can be seen working on makeshift weapons, but the idea of smaller tools like slingshots have already been constructed and almost perfected. The Palai youth have discovered these tools and are playing with them gleefully, though occasionally hitting each other -- and potentially you -- with energized, paralyzing rocks fueled with Elto energy. Watch out or you might get zapped! C ▢ Other Palai youth aren't as fortunate to be so distracted and happy. While fewer Palai died during this attack, the casualty number wasn't zero. Most Palai children still have at least one family member to care for them, but they're still a little disconnected from their people by means of grief. Some are milling about with the coven members, trying to eat or pester them for attention. If you're good with kids this may be more your speed, but those bad with children can find this irritating. Some Palai youth are more muted, however, content to just sit and listen to stories or eavesdrop on conversations. D ▢ For some people, rain isn't that big an issue -- but it certainly puts a damper (get it?) on a party. The Palai seem a bit confused by the sudden shower that comes in heavy as the evening dies down. The Palai have never experienced rain before, using irrigation systems and existing ground water as their means of hydration (both for themselves and for plants). Because the rain is coming from the ocean, the drops are large and salty, and the marketplace quickly begins to flood. The Palai move the party indoors for the most part, but that doesn't mean you or the food aren't already soaked. It's much warming underneath the roofs in the marketplace, but that doesn't provide much relief since the ocean rain is warm and humid. E ▢ Wildcard! How will your character handle this violent and volatile situation.

Comments

[teratias]

[Hakunoritto gets a little smile. If Waver's done nothing else today, he's managed this.

That smile fades with her question though, and there's an immediate aura of guilt and shame surrounding Waver.]

No. I...there's been some stuff that came up that distracted me.

[rootandbranch]

[Geir... inches his snout a little closer to Jay...

what is it like to think about things that way? there's a longing in him; part of him wants to know.]

I guess.

[his father would laugh. his relatives would shake their heads and shrug philosophically. they aren't strong enough, aren't they? it's a shame when weakness isn't defended, but sometimes it happens.]

If no one pities weak people, they die.

[sealeted]

[She tilts her head up at him, humming in comprehension.]

...you haven't been borrowing trouble again, have you Waver?

[rootandbranch]

Y-you did?!

[there are so many future things that Geir doesn't want to know yet, starting with what will happen to him next, and going on to everything else that could possibly happen. even thinking about tomorrow feels dangerous. but--]

What did it say?

[teratias]

No! Just...reflecting on everything. That's all.

[decipheringeye]

W-Well...

[Wait a minute. This part of the conversation didn't happen in the dream, because she hasn't seen the future at that point...]

...A dragon came up to me in the dream, and asked me if the sweets were any good...

[sealeted]

That's fine, then. There's no shame in looking back, after something big happens.

[She'd pat his hand, but she would have to unravel her burrito blanket of warmth.]

[rootandbranch]

I'm Geir! It's nice to meet you, too. Someone who can make something out of a rock like that is amazing.

[maybe Geir would have thought Ed was the coolest thing since sliced bread, too?]

Hey, can you put more spikes on the one for the kids?

[...they definitely have an aesthetic in common.]

[rootandbranch]

. . . they taste like life. But then they die. That's-- bad.

[shudders visibly, and goes on to address Dirk's next comment with an obvious relief.]

Yeah, purpose. What you're born for! Humans don't usually have them, right?

[splinten]

Not ordinarily. I do, or I did anyway, but me and my friends are a fairly unusual case.

[What with being paradox clones spat out to play a world-ending/universe-creating game.]

Some humans try to find one or believe they have one for various reasons.

[5kotai]

Oh, I'd love that! Maybe we could play or help out the coven.

[ Bonding over felines is the life for them. Even if he is Definitely not a cat, maybe one day Morgana can come up. A cool cat phantom thief hero! ]

Do you have a lot of animals... Animal familiars?

[ Being a spirit means a sixth sense and understanding just faintly that's what Horus is too, sorta. Still a divine bird though, gotta respect that. That actually makes Gokotai really curious about Akira though! This high-frequency concept has you learn a lot about people when they can do their thing. ]

[rootandbranch]

If they make you see the future, they aren't any good!

--wait, was that all it said?

[is that even seeing the future? Geir isn't sure.]

[oneandmikleonly]

Hmmm.

[looks out at the Palai kids, and sighs a little bit]

...when we've got some other stuff investigated -- that island barrier, for one, and why it's started raining, and what the deal is with the Uvi -- let's do that.

[he wishes he could just give them a break from those, but the ocean falling is too alarming a prospect to take their focus away from]

[rootandbranch]

You had one? Why don't you any more?

[there are only two options Geir can think of immediately...]

Did you finish it, or did you fail?

[alphonse]

[Ah. So he's doomed to be haunted by bad taste across dimensions.]

You're sure that's what you want?

[splinten]

[Oh my god Geir.]

You are one blunt World Snake, you know that, dude?

[DID YOU FINISH OR FAIL. PLEASE.

Despite that, Dirk can't deny that he's right.]

We failed. Like I said, we're supposed to start a new universe through the game. Things went bad. [Behind his shades, his eyes flicker away.] Most of us died, which isn't as unusual as it sounds. The problem is that a lot of us stayed dead. There wasn't really a point then.

[rootandbranch]

I just assumed they'd like it. What do you think, kids?

[Geir puts his nose down by the rideable Geir model to inquire. it's up to you, small Palai children! do they also agree with the spikes agenda?]

[oneandmikleonly]

[the child wriggles; Mikleo looks a little sheepish at the question]

Not really. I mean -- I haven't had much experience.

[babysitting Sorey doesn't quite count if they were roughly the same age at the time?]

They just, ah, seemed lonely, so it made sense to keep them company if they wanted it...

b

[rootbound]

[there's a bit of cessation in the downpour as a shadow falls over her -- oh it's Vern. he's kind of damp, peering down at her curiously and squinting a bit behind his glasses]

. . . Hakuno? Is that you?

[sealeted]

Hi, Vern.

[Hakuno tilts her head back and gives him a little wave.]

How are you today?

[rootandbranch]

Oh.

[Geir lets out an enormous sigh - Dirk can quite literally feel it in the air all around them, since he's sitting in a cave made of Geir's wing and side.]

I'm sorry your friends died. I never, um-- everyone was supposed to die in Ragnarok, too. So I never thought about that being bad till just lately. But I know that people dying can hurt.

[it's an incredibly awkward expression of sympathy, but heartfelt. Geir's only recently been introduced to people dying not being the end goal, but all he needs to do is consider what he'd feel like if Vern died to believe in "avoid people you know dying" fervently as a concept. Death Is Bad is a clearly delineated if badly articulated point of understanding for him now.]

What are you going to do instead?

[splinten]

[I hope this gust of sighing ruins Dirk's hairdo. Dirk understands the sincerity, regardless of how it may affect his styling. Geir has been fairly upfront when he thinks something doesn't make sense, and false sympathy doesn't really jive with that.]

Thanks. One of our friends is going to go back and redo the timeline so that we can have a do-over on it. That means that this version of me will stop existing, which makes me doubly without a purpose. Some other iteration of Dirk Strider will have that responsibility.

[He's the dead end, the Game Over. He is the Dirk that just has to move on.]

Honestly? I have no damn clue what I'm going to do. In the spread of possible afterlives, this is a decent pick I guess.

[rootandbranch]

I don't know either. Vern summoned me before it was time for Ragnarok because he wanted to start it faster. But then he liked me, so he changed his mind.

[it's a very short, stark précis of an incredibly involved and fraught period of their mutual lives. Geir is apparently as blunt with his own story as he is with the stories of other people.]

Now we're hiding from my family and I have to decide if I can be alive.

[that should be an incredibly dramatic statement, but it's said with the same glum resignation as "I drank all the milk already and I still have two Oreos left."]

It sucks!

[splinten]

Yes. "It sucks" is exactly the phrase that comes to mind to explore the question of whether or not one has a right to actually live.

[Dirk is deadpan in this, but it isn't really a criticism. He is used to Jake's own way of approaching things, and Roxy's, and Jane's, and then there is his own. Geir, in a way, fits in.]

I'm a little perplexed here about why the question is if you can be alive instead of how you should be alive.

[rootandbranch]

Really? That's not something you think about?

[Geir scoots his nose closer to Dirk. this is a valuable new insight.]