[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

[deem]

Well, not exactly. She's a combat model and I'm not so much...

[9S needs this disclaimer because while he's more or less jailbroken himself into melee combat functionality, he doesn't compare to units actually intended for close-range skirmishes. Sure he can defend himself better than other Scanners, but that isn't exactly saying terribly much when usually they're unable to wield weapons of any sort]

But that's why I'm suited to things like maintenance and repairs.

[At least he makes no secret of what he is or what he does, even if he hasn't outright called himself an android just yet. 9S has never seen a reason to be concerned with that sort of thing — he is what he is]

[p_mortem]

[ He must be suited for it, if he's capable of doing maintenance on himself, Minato thinks. But for him to need maintenance in the first place... that probably meant he was outside, when he should have gone into hiding with the Palai and left the fighting to the "combat model" sort such as Minato himself, who casts his eyes to the ground and hesitates to ask, trying not to make it sound as if he were scolding 9S's decision. ]

Were you out fighting anyways? By yourself?

[deem]

I was gathering intel on the enemy... [The second part comes after brief hesitation, if only because he doesn't know whether he ought to say it in this manner. The other boy had said he could take care of himself, but-] And looking out for Jude.

[In the end, that's why he ended up fighting before he caught up with Mikleo to hit up Uvi territory. Leaving the guy to venture into the streets by himself, riddled with hostiles as they were, wasn't something he was going to do]

I'm not incapable of fighting, although most Scanners can't wield weapons.

[p_mortem]

[ Jude is someone Minato had met once, briefly. He'd been standing outside as the fish rained down when Jude bid him to come inside before he got flattened by the fish— such is the extent of Minato's ability to gather intel. a.k.a. not much of an effort. ]

Did you find anything useful? Gathering information is better than fighting, sometimes.

[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?]

[p_mortem]

[ He did good! But. That sort of information would have been useful during the attack, not during the aftermath of it all like right now. If the attacks are a yearly thing, pushed back even further by the entrapment of ice, it's very likely that the coven members won't be here for round two. The Palai, if they continue refusing the fight, would cause 9S's hard work to go to waste as well. ]

These are things the Palai should know, probably... Do you think they'd stand a chance next time, with that info?

[deem]

Gathering intelligence is vital to any war effort, but...

[9S pauses. That's only one front in a battle that has clearly been one-sided for entirely too long. Having and being armed with information is nothing without sufficient force behind it. And maybe for that reason, he's relieved that enough people were concerned with that very thing to act on it]

They need help learning to fight back. It seems like they've got the interest now, and I know of a few people who plan to help. Hopefully between those factors, they'll be able to contend with their enemy whether we're here or not.

[p_mortem]

[ Hopefully. Concern keeps Minato rooted here, wanting to remain here and watch over these people who are taking their first baby steps into a world of battle. He could help. He could stay here and help, he could protect and fight and be more useful here than he is to the coven, to Qri who needs them to search for something and he still has no idea what that is or how to accomplish it.

He sighs, knowing he'll have no choice. Qri will take them wherever she wishes, whenever she wishes, on her own whim. ]

It's good you're here to help. And everybody else who can teach... But now that the battle is over, I'm concerned about our side, for the time being. Qri, Genette, and Brie. What little we know of them.

[deem]

We don't have very much information on them at all, huh...

[All this time, 9S has been hoping his own lack of data was due to being relatively new on the scene. Others have apparently been here longer, and he'd surmised that there was a difference in hos much they understood. If that's not the case, however, that is deeply concerning.

He frowns]

I'm not sure how much I accept of what little I've been told, so far. But I would've thought others would know more than me.

[p_mortem]

[ Minato shakes his head. There were chances here and there, but he hadn't much of a chance to speak with any of the original coven, aside from a brief training day with Brie, during which she was swamped overlooking so many others that he spent more of his time doing independent practice.

The last person who he'd trusted to be in charge of his team also turned around and stabbed them all in the back, so there's trust issues all around. ]

People have been focused on the attack, more than the coven. After, it'd be good to talk about if we've learned anything. Accepting can come after learning.

[deem]

I guess that's true...

[Although a little dissatisfying. But then, 9S has come to associate lack of information with people having something to hide. It's unsettling to him, having been buried under an avalanche of grim revelations before finding himself recruited into some coven and modified with no clearly stated purpose.

Sure, there's the premise that they're creating some sort of vital balance, but that's such an abstract and grand notion that 9S is hard-pressed to believe it]

Immediate threats take priority, but I wonder... Were we even told what was expected of us here?

[9S can search his personal data and find no such memory]