[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

[soulcomet]

[luckily for these rowdy Palai children, she is pretty much not capable of being mad at anyone. at least, not for longer than a few minutes.]

It's all right! Just ... please be more careful next time. [Madoka tugs at her hair ribbons, pulling them out and. valiantly trying to smooth any leftover static out of her hair. it's ... sort of working.]

[but when the Palai, relieved by her answer, turn away again to resume their shenanigans, she steps closer to Dirk, a tiny smile on her face. she'd been looking for him.]

[splinten]

[Whippersnappers. Not that Dirk doesn't like to do stupid, troublesome things himself.

He glances at Madoka.]

How are you hanging?

[soulcomet]

[please don't do something stupid and troublesome or get yourself killed, Dirk, it would break her heart.]

All right. [she tilts her head slightly, in a direction away from the pile of rambunctious Palai children.]

Do you want to walk?

[splinten]

[He wonders if there is something on her mind. He nods his head and starts walking off.]

Sure. It'd suck for us to become all the unself-aware drawings of humanity slumping back into the posture of monkeys.

[soulcomet]

[perhaps. it seems like every time they cross paths, their conversations turn to subjects far more serious than either of them deserve, with their too heavy burdens to carry.]

[but Madoka isn't interested in talking about souls or hearts or corruption right now. her expression is light, as she falls into pace beside him, but her smile relays a gentle determination, too.]

[at least, until she hears what Dirk says. then she's briefly stunned into silence.]

[........]

Um ... I don't think I'd make a very good monkey. I like cooked food too much. [Madoka, if that was a joke, it was a terrible one.]

[splinten]

[AND YET DIRK DECIDES TO GO WITH IT?]

So you're not interested in this raw fish brain I prepared for you. Ouch, Kaname.

[soulcomet]

[why is Dirk like this. she's lost somewhere between serious and jokingly scandalized.]

Well, I mean! Can I at least put it over some rice?

[splinten]

I'll grab the wasabi.

[Sorry if you had anything even remotely important to talk about Madoka]

[soulcomet]

[food is incredibly Important, okay. and now he has her seriously considering if wasabi, fish brains and rice would actually taste good. she ... Madoka will try anything at least once.]

My papa makes this really good kind of soup with fish heads ... It probably won't be as good, but I can try to make it for you sometime, if you'd like!

[splinten]

[SHE JUST WENT SO SINCERE. HOW DID SHE BECOME SO SINCERE.

Internally, Dirk is honestly like 'how this, this hope fluffball, how.'

Externally, there's just a moment of surprise, and then,]

I'd like that a lot. Thank, Madoka.

[There's no place for sarcasm and irony against this level of genuineness.]

[soulcomet]

[it's easy when your hope is a literal force of nature that smites any despair that stands in its way! ... please don't get smote, though.]

Of course! Dinner's one of my favorite ways to spend time with friends.

[which reminds her.]

Oh — can I ask you something?

[splinten]

[he can't make any promises here]

Yeah, sure. [No hesitation. Madoka can ask him anything.] What's up?

[soulcomet]

[if he gets smote then he'll have no choice but to go to meguca heaven. it'll be an infinite number of magical girls across all the universes. and then Dirk.]

You told me earlier that you're a god on your world ... Do you think you could explain to me what exactly that means?

[splinten]

[Meguca heaven sounds like Dirk hell.

He considers the question, and why she might ask it. Of course he won't decline to answer.]

Yeah, I'll make a go of it. Admittedly, I can't say I know exactly what it means, but I'll try. Is there anything guiding your interest that might help focus the idea? I can just do a general thing if that'd be better.

[soulcomet]

Well, I mostly just want to know more about what it's like for you — and whatever else you want to tell me about you powers.

I guess a general rundown might be best? Only if you're okay with it, though.

[splinten]

It isn't a problem. There's a lot of mythology around it, but it's also simply a game mechanic. [It feels like the best place to start, in a way; the concrete aspects of the game.] Are you familiar with the idea of godtier in video games?

[soulcomet]

[Kyoko's the gamer of her friends back home, and even then, she really only plays her world's version of DDR. that's. pretty much Madoka's only frame of reference when she pictures how Sburb works.]

Um ... You mean like a power up?

[splinten]

Basically. God tier is a stage you reach in game mechanics by dying in the right place. Once you do it, you gain broad access to the powers the game has assigned to you, flight, conditional immortality, and for some reason the ability to survive in space.

[That last one was always kind of weird honestly.]

The conditional immortality means that you can only stay dead if your death is Heroic or Just. It essentially means you can't go out unless it's narratively satisfying. Otherwise, you'll recover from the fatal round pretty quickly.

[soulcomet]

[incidentally, space travel is the one that makes the most sense to her — wouldn't something like that be really easy for someone who's pretty much immortal? it's also the fact that interests her most, though she's filing that thought away for the moment.]

What do you mean by narratively satisfying? Do you have to do something heroic or...? [it makes him sound like he's an anime character — like a cog in the wheel of someone else's story — and it makes her a little uncomfortable.]

[splinten]

From what I understand, a Heroic death is if you die fighting someone who is villainous or die protecting people. That kind of thing. A Just death usually means you're a huge dick and the way you die is karmically appropriate. That might mean being killed by a hero, but I always assumed that if you murdered people with pianos you could have a Just death if a piano accidentally fell on you.

[Like he doesn't know but it feels Just to him.]

[soulcomet]

[karma she can at least understand, it's so interwoven into her own world in one way or another. hope and despair have a sometimes unfortunate tendency to balance themselves out.]

That makes sense. [as much sense as it can.]

What about your powers, though? [the Prince of Heart part.] Does the game just pick what you get?

[splinten]

In a sense. Sburb is a game wrapped up in ontological paradoxes. I might not have chosen it for myself, but I'm reasonably confident that a different mythological role would have created someone who wasn't me as much, as it would have to be someone not me to fill the role. The predestination surrounding our roles makes causality an ouroboric question. We suit the role and the role suits us.

The same applies to the others.

[He still has no idea Dave, John, and Rose are gone ):]

[soulcomet]

[ah, but she knows. if her line of questioning seems ... out of the blue to him, that's probably why.]

[but Madoka looks reasonably satisfied with that answer. she pauses, and looks down at her notebook (it may be a little singed from the charged rock earlier). pokes through the pages.]

Thank you for explaining it to me, Dirk-san. I think I understand it better now.

Can I ask you something else?

[splinten]

I ain't gonna shove you away now.

[Hit him with question number two!]

[soulcomet]

[well, okay, it isn't a question. not immediately, anyway.]

[Madoka flips open her notebook and pulls out a folded piece of paper, which she silently holds out to him.]