spellbinders | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Anyone
Where: Anywhere
When: Day 41
Open/Closed: Open! Geir will tag responses to B only, but feel free to use any or all of these prompts for your own shenanigans ☆

A (the rain in Spain falls mainly on the...)

[you know that the strange seawater rainstorm at the festival two days ago flooded out the marketplace and part of the city. the question is, how far did that rain fall over the hard, sandy soil that surrounds the city of Aimintas? what kind of erosion happened? perhaps you have a hankering to go out and see the effect that the water had on the crags outside the city, or the humid plains covered with native plants. there are four directions to explore, north, south, east, and west: which way will you go and how will you get there? fliers and adventurers, take notice!]

B (how does your garden grow?)

[Geir, at least, is more worried about the plants in the farmed area. he doesn't know much about plants, but he has a vague idea that sowing fields with salt is something one does to one's enemies. since these plants are irrigated with freshwater, more salt rain is not likely to go well for them.

right now he's glaring at a small plot he's dug out out with his talons. he's seeded some of the bark from the strange shrubby filtration plant into it, trying to check if that will help the soil deal with the salt water, but he's run into a problem: there are no plants there yet.]

--can you plant seeds? My claws aren't small enough.

C (after the storm)

[the festival aside, there was a lot of damage to the Palai city -- like, a lot. so many bloody fights happened in the streets, so many powers got deployed, so many giant fish landed on buildings... the damage is considerable, and now that they've buried their dead and celebrated their victories, the Palai who aren't making weapons are out and about repairing their city instead. any characters who show an inclination to help are promptly given piles of bricks and mortar and wooden planks, though they might want to ask each other or the Palai for help and direction to repair things...]

D (rain rain go away)

[there are a lot of different reasons to go swimming in the strange overhead ocean right now. maybe you're trying to find out why the rain fell from it a couple of days ago, or maybe you're checking to see what the frozen Uvi fortress looks like. maybe you even want to go visit the strange island above the waves again -- who knows what there is to find?

or maybe you just want to go wrestle sharks in there. go wrestle those sharks, no one's judging.]

E (free fall)

[come up with your own prompt and run with it!]

((quick links -- the world doc is here for ideas. if your characters want to try something cool and you need mod input, comment here with your question, and if your characters go ahead and do the cool thing, let the mods know here!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Julius is naturally drawn to plants. The fact that he turned into a tree aside, their presence had always been calming. Geir would have been joined by a blond youth wearing a cloak. He looks unassuming physically, but there's a dampened light inside him that definitely isn't human. ]

I could. How many?

[ Maybe it'll ease his restlesness a little. ]

[Geir gives Julius a second glance, huffing in a deep breath to try to identify the source of the strangeness he senses around the new person by scent. he's not a god-- Geir feels he would be able to tell that-- but he's definitely not something Geir has encountered before, either.

after a moment, though, Geir dismisses the effort. what does it matter?]

Just a few rows, in this patch. I'm trying to test something...

[he nudges at a large pile of the shrubby, bark-heavy filtration plant that he's gathered from the flat lands and crags around Aimintas; then looks doubtfully at the furrows his claws have carved into the ground. it's an attempt at a vegetable patch, at least.]

Do you know anything about gardening? I want to be sure I'm doing this right.

[ Julius was raised as part of the military of a ruined world. Food was made in factories, so farming was only recorded down inside history books. They were in many ways only a dream. ]

Not much, I'm afraid. But soil, seed and water should be the basics...

[ He trails off, tilting his head in contemplation before crouching down to try and seed some of the furrows. His arms are cleanly bandaged up to the wrists, but they don't really affect his careful movement. ]

[Geir doesn't know anything about preparing food that you can't snap up in a single bite -- so they're equally unprepared to tackle this task. luckily, they both have enthusiasm.]

Water's what I'm worried about. You were out in the rainstorm the other day, right?

[Geir crouches down to watch what Julius is doing, curious. the earthen furrows aren't spaced right or at the right depth to be ideal for the kinds of seeds they're planting, but Julius probably can't tell that either, and at least they're well-turned soil... it's probably good enough for this test.

can Geir smell blood under the bandages?]

[ The blond man is careful as he plants each seed in its own spot on the furrow, covering them up with the soil after. ]

I was. That was salt water. It can't be good for the plants.

[ The smell of blood is there, but it's faint - to suggest that whatever wound there is already healing. ]

[he'll hold his peace, then. whatever is up with this strange man, he's handling the tiny seeds with the kind of care Geir thinks they deserve, and that's what's most important.]

What I did was-- I tore up some of those strange plants that are supposed to filter water, and mixed them in with the soil. I thought that might stop the salt from bothering them. But I don't know how much it needs, so I made a few different patches...

[it's a clumsy sort of scientific method, but since Geir has never been in a high school science class, it's the best he can do.]

[ He's quiet for a while, settling into the rhythm of planting while he gives thought to Geir's words. ]

That could work. If it isn't efficient enough, then maybe we can build a shelter above them with the plants to filter the rain more.

We can't build a shelter above all the fields, can we? It'd be tons of material, and it'd only block out the sun.

[he looks up dubiously at the watery sun above. honestly, the fact that there's so much water between him and it has been something he can't quite get out of his head for days now -- but more importantly, he's pretty sure the plants still need it regardless.]

[ The sun... well, they have lamps, don't they? ]

Have you heard of a greenhouse? People used to make rooms with light and a water supply inside them. The plants were housed within so they can get adequate amounts of both.

I haven't heard of a greenhouse.

[Geir looks at all the fields dubiously -- it's a lot of farmland.]

I've never seen a hall so big that it'd cover all of these. Have you? That's incredible...

I haven't. But I think they put a lot of plants on racks inside a house, to increase the number in a single hall.

[ That'd compact things, he's sure. ]

We could ask! I bet the Palai would need a lot more help building... it'd be easier if the bark worked.

[sighs, more thoughtful than anything -- he's trying to work the logistics out in his head. where do the Palai get their wood and stone, anyway? he hasn't seen any forests or mines around.]

You can put the bark in the fields that are already there...

[ Well, it's worth a shot, at least. ]

I suppose...

[ Not that he's getting a lot of what Geir is trying to do, but doing something is better than nothing. ]

I'm done with the planting.

All right! Let's see... I don't really know how to use the power I got here yet, but I can try.

[Geir narrows his eyes at the little patch of plants; he first dumps salt water over them, then concentrates hard on his ability. Geir's panting with effort after a moment or two, but if Julius waits, he can soon see the little sprouts raise their heads above the soil.]

--it worked!

[ Julius watches with intense attention - it's actually similar to his own ability, except it requires no physical contact. ]

Are you alright?

[ Considering the strain his own magic places on him, it can't be easy. ]

[notably, another difference is that the plants don't really shoot up so much as sprout and then grow a little -- this doesn't seem to be so much phytokinesis of any kind as encouragement. Geir takes a deep breath, recentering himself. it's harder work to encourage things to live than he thought.]

Whew...! I'm okay.

[he gestures to the plot and the other plots he's dug out next to it. if Julius looks closely, he can see different amounts of filter bark mixed into the soil of each.]

I figure, if I do that a few times, I can see how much bark is best, 'cause those ones will grow most...

[ Considering that there's no physical contact, that probably explains its relatively smaller effectiveness. ]

I was given a similar type of magic. It might make them grow a bit more.

[ To make the change obvious, he means. ]

Should I use it?

Do you want to use it for every single plot? Since we're trying to compare them, they should probably all be the same...

[it's not a bad idea, but it'd be a lot more work for Julius, especially since there are several plots left to plant still.]

It will take a lot, but if we hurry, we might be able to do them all like that. Or we can just see with the sprouts for now.

[ Given that he still retains some of his regeneration, it should be fine. If they're small. ]

Alright. I'll try once, to see if it works.

[ He shifts so that he can crouch down and put his hand next to the small seedlings. A moment later one shoots out a root and ingrains itself into his hand, growing visibly by the second. The plant saps his vitality in exchange for growth, but it also lessens the ever-present pain that weighs down his body. So it's a good exchange.

Peering down at the plant, he'll cease his magic after about half a minute. ]

I think it looks healthy... for now, at least.

[Geir has been watching the whole process wide-eyed. is no one going to bring up the elephant in the room? surely... surely Julius knows?

finally, cautiously, he points out:]

That thing is growing out of your hand.

[ He knows, and he definitely did it on purpose. ]

Yes.

[ Well, he also knows that it's quite the thing of contention. It doesn't stand out as strange to him, however. ]

That was the catch to my magic. But I can replant it, I'm sure.

[well... if Julius isn't finding it strange, Geir supposes that it's not his business to do so. sure, plants can grow from flesh. whatever. there are more mysteries under the sun in this world than just that.]

Is that from Qri, or do you normally do that? Let's try planting the next patch and see if there's a difference!

[ It is usually a weird thing, but it wasn't so strange for Aragami, who are essentially massive hiveminds of single-celled organisms. ]

Qri's work.

[ He'll try and gently remove the roots so that he can put them back into the soil. Once that's done, they can move. ]

[they can move steadily over a couple of more patches, turning the earth going quickly under Geir's talons. it turns out that a layer of shredded bark mulch just under the surface, then a layer of dirt, then a thicker layer of mulch on the surface, works best. Geir straightens up when they finish their inspection.]

...whew! This works after all. As long as they can get plenty of this bark stuff, I think they'll do fine with the salt water.

[he's visibly tired after the work to focus and make the plant sprouts grow faster, but he's cheerful, and the practice sped up his technique a lot from the first time Julius saw him try it.]

[ Geir is quiet company, something which he appreciates greatly. Not needing to make small talk means he can focus more on the work at hand, on the plants and refining his magic to make the transfer more effective. The more the plants take, the clearer his mind becomes. ]

We can write down the instructions.

[ Or pass it on to the Palai in some other form. He isn't sure if the language here would be compatible with their own. ]

But first, we need to rest.