[OPENING] island hub - day 1

[spellbindmods]

Who: All Characters
Where: Main Hub
When: Day 1
Open/Closed: Open to All

TDM threads can be considered canon if you so choose, they contain the power that you apped with and both parties confer that the thread is canon.

For characters that were on the TDM and who were not accepted/didn't app, these characters will be considered dropped characters that were magicked away.

Night has fallen upon everyone. It's thus far been an eventful day -- you've met some new people, discovered some new aspects of yourself that weren't there before you appeared here (however that might have happened). The original inhabitants of the island have been working hard to prepare a few things. One activity might have been one you were a part of, but there's still time to get your hands dirty. A ▢ Brie has rolled out a large copper pot and created a pit on the beach. It's unrealistic to think everyone can subsist on the few foods she's collected from other words and boar jerky alone. She's got a few boar carcasses sitting on the beach that need attending to as well. Your characters can help feed themselves and others, and here's what needs to be done: Fire needs to be started for cooking the meat AND a large bonfire for light and warmth. The large copper bowl needs to be filled with water. Crabs need to be bravely collected from the bath house for boiling. The boar needs to be either cut up for kebabs or stuck through. Does your character know anything about spit-roasting? Any other helpful magical skills are welcome to help make food. Post feasting, there are dozens of crabs and a pile of roasted boar meet that are up for eating. Even if you didn't offer to help in making any of the food, they're open to eat it -- even if the true helpers may give you dirty looks. The boar is fine, if not a little bland and chewy, but it's probably better than the jerky. The crab is delicious, if not a little tasteless...there problem with the crab isn't exactly the taste, though. B ▢ The crab isn't a species that's immediately edible for most species, though your character will grow to get used to it eventually. For now, the meat isn't settling well within your character's system. Your character will experience sweats, a high fever, blurred vision, potential vomiting, hives...it's very obvious their body is rejecting the unfamiliar meat. This may also cause a bit of an issue with your character's powers. They're still getting physically and mentally acclimated to these new changes, so expect their telepathy and magic to go a little haywire.

It's almost completely dark outside when the next event of the evening happens. You're living your life when you see it out of the corner of your eye -- it's absolutely hard to miss. What you see is a large lit caravan, larger than even an army tank. It's bright white and shining, covered with golden, ornate details that emanate an even more dazzling sparkle. The entire thing is aglow, and it's quickly coming towards the large bonfire that's been made. It's not rolling across the sand, but instead it's floating, and so is a matching trunk that's sailing along next to a figure beside the caravan. C ▢ A tall, slender woman has also come along with the large caravan, quickly opening the trunk that eventually lands on the sand with a large thud. She's handing out sacks, very similar to the ones previously in the large lobster cage. These contain a parka, a type of candy of your choice, a bottle of water, a large shard from a broken mirror and a letter rolled up and bound with a roll of twine. There are two other thread options associated with this prompt: Genette's top level and her telepathy training post. Around the same time as Genette is handing out this new little goody bag, you suddenly receive a telepathic message. It might seem a little strange at first -- but on that note, what about tonight isn't strange? D ▢ The telepathic message your character will receive is a simple one: Hello. It shows up in text form across your character's line of vision and it doesn't go away until they respond back, though the message that's sent out won't go to the original telepath. Instead it will ping pong to a random person in the group. You've made a new friend! After you've met Genette, she's also got a few more supplies that she pulls out a small door in the base of the caravan. She's insistent that you only get two items, since there aren't exactly a lot of them to go around! E ▢ The last of the starter supplies are being handed out, and these are items that are more cumbersome or rare -- they may not be immediately useful for your character, but maybe you can make use of them somehow, whether eventually in another world or with your power. An electronic/technology: these can be as obvious as an MP3 player, as useless as a garage door motor or as scandalous as a Hitachi Magic Wand. If it can be powered by electricity or batteries, there's a tub of them. They're also partially charged if they don't need constant electricity to work. A fashion accessory: there are a lot of these, surprisingly. Flower crowns, belts, bras, shoes, earrings, other types of jewelry. Your character can look cute while suffering from crab vomiting. Books and stationary: maps of various worlds, books written in a myriad of languages (maybe even one you recognize!), writing paper, ink pens, gel pens, stickers. Any kind of stationary can be found here. Other household items: this can include cleaning supplies, furniture, and other miscellaneous goods. These won't be personal affects from your character's home, but they may be useful! Feel free to come up with unusual or alien items -- these have come from all over the universe, remember!

As the night winds down, it's recommended by Brie that you should probably go to be in your hut -- or at the very least get somewhere inside. There are a lot of people around the camp, however, so it's no surprise that there are a few people waiting around to get their fill of food and supplies before heading to bed. The noise of the new members and the light of the fire have attracted a very large pack of boars, who you'll later find make routine trips to the beach every night. Boar mating season has made the wild hogs rather testy, and the smell of food -- even if it's their own boar brethren -- have made them even more volatile. F ▢ If your character isn't quick to get inside tonight, they're likely to get a boar charging at them. The chances are doubled if they happen to be holding onto a food item. Female boars can leave a few bruises and trample you, but beware the males -- they've got tusks. However, it's not like staying up at night doesn't have its advantages. Once midnight hits, another species of animal makes its regular rounds across the base camp. In the sky, characters can see an Aurora Borealis-like sight. Instead of being dancing green and blue lights, however, the reality is that they are a massive species of space worm, and hundreds are wiggling past on their way to travel back home. They're shimmering and in every color imaginable, lighting up the sky with their magnificent hues. G ▢ The space worms operate outside the natural barrier of the hub, but they still are in close enough proximity to shed a film as they travel. If you're still awake, boars or no, you'll be in the middle of a shower. The film sheds from the worms and enters the atmosphere, creating multi-colored, sweet-smelling mists of worm water vapor. Worm water vapor is kind of weird, but it's also pretty cool. It's also calming, and that's a bonus. Inhale too much and you might become a little too calm.

Comments

[teratias]

"I wonder if this a regular occurrence or not," Waver said faintly, his eyes still turned skyward. He could tell where Yuuri's voice was coming from and he turned his body towards it as to hear better, but he refused to tear his eyes away.

"Or if there's a telescope around to get a better look at it."

[yokunaru]

"I don't know..." Yuuri's voice trailed off as he glanced back toward the line of huts. "We probably won't find anything in those smaller buildings, but it wouldn't hurt to check around in the estate."

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow if it's a regular thing," he said, voice dropping into something more melancholy, even with the mist keeping his emotions steady for the most part. Pretty as it all was, Yuuri would've chosen to not be here at all.

[teratias]

"Maybe the estate's got a hidden observatory," he mused, more to himself. It could have been missed. "If anything is true and we're looking at space, then having a big, high powered telescope would seem like something that place ought to have."

In all the calmness, Waver's mind had inched towards being inquisitive. He was always a good student, but bad temper and bad treatment had put him on a hair trigger over the years.

"If it's regular, it could eventually become boring."

[yokunaru]

An observatory sounded like it could be a quiet place to go if everything got too much. Knowing himself as he did, Yuuri didn't doubt he'd end up breaking down at some point because of his mental weakness. Seeing how easily some others had taken their displacement had only made his own weakness all the more obvious to himself.

"Sounds like it's worth looking for," Yuuri said, staring up at the lights still. "It'd be a good idea to check what other resources we have in the estate, as well."

Especially for someone like him, who had no idea how he was supposed to contribute to this so-called mission.

[teratias]

"There's a big library there, but the books are in no languages I could pick out."

Not privy to Yuri's thoughts, Waver's suggestion was a practical one rather than suggesting a quiet spot to decompress. Waver sighed, crossing his arms across his chest.

"I think there was a lot of stuff in the cellar. A game room too, but I don't know what else. There was a lot to see, and I only covered a fraction of it."

[yokunaru]

Yuuri perked up. Though he wasn't necessarily a huge fan of studying, he knew how valuable knowledge could be, especially in a situation like the one they'd found themselves in.

"What languages do you know? There's a pretty big group of us... there's a chance one of us will be able to read something in the library."

[teratias]

"English, smattering of the big Continental languages, and reading for Latin and some Greek." The languages of magi who loved to be pretentious.

"I mean, I didn't find anything in there in Earth oriented languages. It was all unknown script. Alien, I guess you could say."

[yokunaru]

"Oh..." Yuuri definitely wilted this time, any hopes of finding something useful in the library immediately dashed. "I know English, too, but... if none of the languages in the library are Earth based, I guess it's not going to help."

That made him wonder, though. Just how many worlds existed? For someone who didn't give the concept of alternate worlds too much thought before, it was all extremely overwhelming to consider. "Did you... think other worlds existed before today?"

[teratias]

"There's a lot of books there. I know I didn't look through all of them."

Waver was bad at emotions, but even he could note that wilt. At the question, Waver paused, giving the matter genuine thought. His conclusion was simple.

"Not fervently, but it seemed more likely than not."

[yokunaru]

Yuuri nodded wordlessly, thinking he understood what Waver was trying to tell him. "It can't hurt to keep looking. Any information would be better than nothing."

Waver's answer intrigued him. Sure, people believed in the supernatural in his world, but it was something that didn't come up too often between Yuuri and the people around him. He wondered how Waver had come to that conclusion. "Really?" Yuuri turned toward him. "What made you think that?"

[teratias]

"It's a big universe, isn't it?" Waver asked in response, trying to keep the answer simple and straight forward. "If, out of all the stars and planets, Earth was the only place with life? That'd be stranger, I think."

Waver was no scientist, of course, he was a proper mage. But still, when it came to thinking critically, he had to confess that those were his thoughts, even if it meant coming off as potentially one of those weirdos who believed in aliens.

sorry for the delay

[yokunaru]

"You have a point." It wasn't like the possibility had never come up before, after all.

"I guess..with the technology at the level it is back home, I didn't think I'd actually get to see one with my own eyes like this."

No worries

[teratias]

"Surprise, I guess," Waver said. He wasn't sure how to roll with any of this either, everything just felt like too much in this moment. Going from Grail War to entire planet entirely was. It was whiplash of the most unusual and impossible to describe sort.

[yokunaru]

Even Yuuri had to crack a smile at that. "Surprise," he echoed with an awkward sort of laugh as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

It was after a pause that Yuuri gave into his curiosity a little. "Do you... know anyone else here? Or are you on your own?"

[teratias]

Waver went very still at that question. No. He was alone. For the first time in years back home he had something like a working partnership, and now he was back to being alone. He had barely processed that.

"I don't know anyone else here, no," he said as even handedly as possible. No one needed to know what was going on in his head. Desperate to avoid talking about it further, he spun the question around. "You?"