[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

[alphonse]

I'd say that's up to the Palai, but I think they're just as clueless as we are.

It doesn't help to know that we could end up getting pulled away from here as randomly as we arrived. It wouldn't do any good to leave them with half-finished plans they can't follow through on themselves.

[probablynoteren]

It's a good place to practice.

[He tilts his head up at the umbrella, which looks a little like it's melting but which is somehow staying up, and puts up a hand towards where it's distorting all the rain in a funny way. Kind of like the sky, but closer! It's pretty cool.

He stops just short of poking a finger into the barrier.]

I don't mind rain. [it's a little wry; this is kind of above and beyond rain at this point] But at least it wasn't during the fight. Can I touch this?

[thatdamnknight]

Thank you.

[thus he takes it without any further argument. heavy but also not as heavy as his own armor. it will more than suffice in warming him up.

as soon as he's done putting the garment on, flynn turns back toward 9s.]

So androids are incapable of falling ill?

[thatdamnknight]

[flynn laughs softly.]

High but not as high as a few of the children hiding some slingshots themselves so that we can't take them.

[is he speaking from personal experience? yeah. yeah, he is. him and his childhood friend managed to get away with all sorts of mischief. any adult who took away one toy? well, they'd either find that toy again or something worse.]

[thatdamnknight]

I don't mind doing so, but would it be alright to share them on a different day?

[on a day where the children don't need her tales as much as they do. it'd take a little while to tell them so maybe they can find a more suitable place to sit and chat, as well.]

[thatdamnknight]

[a pastry? flynn can't imagine that having any effect.]

Maybe it's just a hiccup in the ability itself.

[they were given these abilities so it stands to reason that they could act up from time to time. what else could it be?]

You're not experiencing any other symptoms, are you?

[rootandbranch]

These bread desserts are really good! They're called pastries? Hey, you should try some...

[despite being old enough for it, Geir is apparently not going to take the role of "qualified adult." and who knows, maybe all these kids' qualified adults are dead. that's a cheerful thought.]

[rootandbranch]

"Back to normal?" But... what's normal? How does it get back there?

[Geir doesn't come from a serialized story, so this kind of narrative isn't really what he's used to.]

Are you planning to beat Qri up?

[that, on the other hand, makes sense and is eminently reasonable. Geir could get behind that idea.]

[rootandbranch]

Sleipnir is all right. He's much older than us and he mostly stays with Odin. He didn't hold Dad killing Baldr against us.

[families are complicated for everyone, it seems.]

Sometimes he'd play tag with us when we stayed at Odin's hall, till Odin threw me in the sea.

[decipheringeye]

No way, if I fought someone like that I'd definitely lose. I'll leave it to the problem solving types.

[In other words, the violent lunatics.]

[rootandbranch]

So... that's the way thing go that you're used to -- that's "normal"? Weird things happen, then you wait around until other people fight them and the world just goes back to the way you want it to be?

[that's not a kind way of putting it, if it's even accurate. but Geir has a tendency to listen to and parse things quite literally and then indicate his understanding in the bluntest way possible, and that's what he's hearing.]

It sounds like you're counting on a lot.

[based on his own life, it sounds like an impossible fantasy. doesn't she at least want to beat up her own weirdoes, so she has some control over what happens to them? he's used to not being in control of his own destiny, but this approach is still just odd to someone who's never been able to rely on others much either.]

[talim]

... Not really?

[ this is a very serious answer. ]

Unless you've had hidden motives all along, and paper could be used as a weapon, or something.

[rebells]

No, Genette's been disappointingly vague about that. I'm not sure how one harvests intangible resources, anyway.

[rebells]

Are you sure you haven't just failed to notice? You seem like the kind of person who might do that.

[actus]

[ this is ridiculous. they're ridiculous. all of this is.

he could stop there and give his boyfriend some reprieve, or he could poke more fun at the situation. ]

You have a lot of redeeming qualities. They're just less fun to point out in public.

[ AKIRA. ]

[rootandbranch]

Maybe they're just not something we can touch where we are, like it would be much harder to bite a root while I'm using this name... but none of this seems to be about getting closer to the Tree, either, so I don't know what we'd do to change that. Maybe she knows and she's just not mentioning it?

[secrowtary]

[ Of course he would go for the latter. ]

You have absolutely no shame, Akira Kurusu. Asking me out just to make me blush in public.

[ Hibiki sounds annoyed, oops...actually, he's just pretending only to see how far he can take it. ]

[decipheringeye]

[She looks a little melancholic at that. It's not like she hasn't had that thought before.]

It's not like I wouldn't like to be able to fight on my own. My only ability is reading things in other languages. When it comes to defeating people who can fly, or use magic, or harness the power of nuclear fusion, what else am I supposed to do than count on more powerful people?

[rootandbranch]

[that IS a puzzle, and Geir gives it the attention it deserves. he's never considered himself weak, except for when he was tiny, but he knows others do. Vern had magic, but counted himself as powerless to do most things nonetheless, because the problems he was fighting were too big for his own power till Geir woke up. on the other hand, Geir doesn't know exactly what he would do to make humans stop fighting or treat magic users better, which were what Vern was struggling against. isn't having power but not knowing how to solve the problem the same as not having power to begin with?]

I dunno. Maybe you could get power over others and get them to help you. Do you have magic here?

[decipheringeye]

Just the thing where I saw the future, but apparently I don't even know how that works.

[rootandbranch]

Ohhh, so that's where that comes from! No wonder it's so confusing then. My power from Qri is pretty confusing, too.

[he's still not sure what his own has to do with anything else in his life, but okay, Qri, you do you.]

Is your Reimu here? If you're right, maybe he'll punch Qri and we'll all go home.

[p_mortem]

[ Uh. Yeah, Minato isn't sure what to make of it, and the Palai children, too, shout in surprise and try to pull the sculpture out of the ground-- it's really stuck in there, the bottom half underground and not simply missing. ]

It's... useful for planting seeds.

[ I guess?? ]

[teratias]

No, it wouldn't. But it feels wrong to plan for them without even knowing what might come next. [This whole situation was pretty terrible, in truth.]

I'm afraid that it might always be like this.

[deem]

[9S nods, sitting up straighter. The prospect of being useful to mankind is enough for him to forget about his damaged arm, at least for the time being. Core programming will do that]

I gathered some unit data regarding their attack patterns and natural defenses, and some environmental factors in their base.

[Did he do good, blue-haired stranger?]

[deem]

[9S stiffens with a given discomfort, because the answer springs to mind immediately.

He's experienced the sort of ailment that can befall an android, and thus, he's far too familiar with it. As such that cautious rigidity seeps even into his tone as he looks elsewhere, for all that his eyes are still covered, rendering his emotions difficult to read]

Not exactly... But I don't think there's any risk of what we are susceptible to in this place.