[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

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

"Well, i suppose that makes me an exception. I trust them about as much as you seem to; which is to say - not at all." [But in Joshua's case, it was nothing cultural. It was more a personal matter. He had once occupied a position of great authority. And while the top dog hadn't yet appeared, her apparent subordinates had. And from his own subordinates, he knew. People like that weren't exactly the most trustworthy types. Though, they did seem friendly enough, so they were markedly better than the Reaper Officers in that respect.

[Not to mention, the very lack of the mastermind behind this incident made him suspicious. Perhaps, the one in charge of this was much like he was with Shibuya. A facilitator, and someone with many, many secrets. And if that was the case, then he had every right to be suspicious.{

[andsobelow]

[ Trust... she snorts derisively. That is not a word her kind use much. ]

There is nothing to trust. That is what magic does, it twists what is set in stone into silt.

[ This is an idiom in Vos, it is used to suggest all that magic undermines and warps. The suggestion is not a positive one. ]

We will know nothing at all of any real meaning until the witch exposes itself.

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

"Yes. The truth is easily to distort, and to manipulate. And so nothing can be trusted, not even your own perception... you're more apt an observer than I thought." [I mean you're talking to the guy who literally was able to control the laws of an entire alternate plane of existence so... magic twisting what is set in stone has a whole other meaning to him he's not bringing up.] "So Magic is the thing that changes the rules. Or perhaps, it is magic which sets them in the first place.

"But yes. We have no knowledge, nor leverage to gain it, about our circumstances. Which makes things all the more difficult for us, all things considered."

[andsobelow]

[ In the darkness, there's a languid pleasure on her face. Arrogant, snotty little creature who knows how to flatter the skills she actually deems meaningful. Though she'll hardly admit as much, continuing to move through the tree trunks, bending here and there to inspect, pluck, dig. ]

For now. Knowledge and leverage are tools which can always be uncovered.

[ So self-assured that no matter the adversity, she can shred her way through the all the illusions and unknowns to the heart of the thing, where she'll shred that down to bleeding chunks as well. Pieces and parts to be made useful. ]

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

"And that is why we must be the first to gain it. Or well, I must. I don't particularly care if it finds its way into your hands."

[Joshua did not tear illusions apart. Rather, he would manipulate them to see the truth for himself. And then he would twist it, turn it right around. He would project the truth through his own lens. he would manipulate the truth, and he would manipulate others through said truth, and so long as it belonged to him and him alone no one would ever know.]

"Though somehow I suspect you'll find a way, is that right?"

[andsobelow]

[ She straightens, turning then in the dark to pay attention to him. Her eyes gleam as low moonlight strike them, a glimmer of opalescence from the mirror-like cells in the depth of her retina. ]

I will do as I deem appropriate. Now, what does that have to do with you?

[ Curious is there's anything to back up all his high talk. ]

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

"Well, we're both stuck here, correct? And neither of us are particularly too keen. I don't like playing with others, but given how my... normal status has no meaning here, and likely whatever yours was as well, I am simply trying to create a network of allies. After all, people are a resource like any other, correct?"

[Normally, he wouldn't come out and say that directly. With Carla, things were different. She didn't seem to be a particularly friendly type, nor the type to have any sort of honor when it came to these sorts of things. So he simply let his intentions out cleanly, not particularly caring his malevolent they sounded.]

[andsobelow]

[ Narrowing eyes in the dark, she barks an unfriendly little laugh. ]

They do not know my rank, but that does not change my purpose. I hunt witches and I kill them.

[ Although, deep down, it is about more than magic and witchcraft. She hunted things which thought themselves powerful: and she proved them wrong. She lived for it, to undermine. ]

Is that a mission which interests you?

[ She doubts it, honestly, and the disdain is in her tone. ]

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

"...Yes. But not in the way you're using the term. Observing missions is a part of my own purpose, you see?"

[Well, and also he was just somewhat interested. People like Carla, people driven by a singular goal... they were interesting. It was interesting to watch them, to watch whether they drove themselves to success or to ruin.]

[andsobelow]

No, I don't, and my work is rarely done out in the open for spectators, you see.

[ She's built for movement in the dark, for stealth and sharp daggers in the back. ]

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

"Hostile."

[He's been catching onto her tone this entire time. He knows she's like him, not a people person, though for incredibly different reasons. With him, it's more if a distaste and a disrespect. She has the same disrespect, but there's a bit more forcefulness behind it. Power.]

"Though, if you hunt magic, I guess being bestowed with magic must be a rather torturous fate for you."

[andsobelow]

[ She makes a noise at him, half cluck of her tongue, half hiss. ]

Also, none of your concern.