[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

[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.]

[splinten]

[He didn't expect that. He reaches out for the paper to take and read it?]

[soulcomet]

[it's a set of directions. a train and bus schedule. a few ideas on where to get lunch, maybe. finally, an address.]

[she watches him, the determination that had been faint on her face earlier now displayed in earnest.]

... I don't think I'll ever really get why Qri makes the decisions she does — why certain people were brought here when they were, or ... well, it doesn't make any sense.

I should have realized that earlier.

[but Madoka shakes her head.]

Listen ... I think, between the two of us, you have the best chance of doing this. You can survive in space, right?

If ... if we ever get separated, or need to go home, or whatever Qri decides for us, promise me you'll come find me. Okay?

[of course, she has no idea she's setting him up for failure. he could follow her directions to the letter, knock on the door of the house he finds, and the woman who answers the door will tell him that no Madoka Kaname lives there.]

[because Madoka Kaname does not exist.]

[splinten]

[He reads the paper over, once, twice. Then he tucks it into his sylladex.]

I promise I'll try. Dimension hopping will be required, but I'll make a go at it.

[soulcomet]

[that's the answer she was hoping for. even if it never works, at least they'll be connected by a piece of paper. the idea that meeting again might be a possibility.]

[she'll hold onto that idea for the others, too. Madoka breathes a little sigh, relieved. she feels much better.]

... What do you think about looking for ingredients together? For that soup I was talking about.

[she lifts her hand, holding it out to him.]

[splinten]

[Oh. Hand-holding.

After a moment's hesitation, he takes her hand. He is not used to this kind of thing.]

So you're saying we have to go decapitate a fish.

[soulcomet]

[that gets a giggle out of her.]

If that would make you happy, then sure! We could probably just find some for sale, too.

[splinten]

Don't you know? I'm the champion of decapitation.

[This is true, but it should not be]

Nine out of ten doctors agree that if you want a head to roll, you call Dirk Strider.

[soulcomet]

[... all right then, Mami Strider. also it might take a little while before Madoka is ever not surprised at his sense of humor — she does seem amused, though.]

You have a really weird set of superpowers. At least the fish won't know what hit them?

[splinten]

I got them from a really weird game. [Sburb really is a weird game.] On top of that, I used to live in the ocean, so this is old hat.

[soulcomet]

The ocean ... So you mean you lived on a boat?

[splinten]

[Explaining this. Ah.]

I lived in the last apartment standing in the flooded city of Houston. Everything around was under the sea except my place. My Bro had reinforced it centuries back to ensure I'd have a place to live when I arrived.

[on a meteor, but he leaves that out because clearly this is stupid enough as it is]

[soulcomet]

[oh.]

... How did it flood? [she's assuming it was global warming. it wasn't global warming, was it?]

[splinten]

[He sees that face, and knows he is about to make things more stupid.]

An alien tyrant melted all of the glaciers to make our planet more like her watery homeworld.

[soulcomet]

[so, alien-induced global warming. close enough.]

[it is pretty stupid, but it seems to bother Madoka more than it weirds her out.]

That's so awful ... What about all the people living there?

[splinten]

[....This isn't going to get better.]

Most humans were dead by then. The flooding took care of the rest.