[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

[p_mortem]

Sitting next to you by the rock. Maybe you call it something else instead of Persona?

[ He continues staring silently. Now that he's gotten a better hang of telepathy, he'll probably never go back to speaking properly unless he needs to. ]

[gymconquering]

...Oh, Chic...!

[Of course it would be Chic sitting next to her. A hazy flicker comes across, the Blaziken's silhouette against dark, indistinct scenery. Yep, that makes sense.]

You mean Pokemon, right? Funny way to say it. Yeah, she's my partner. Ain't she impressive?

[This past day: a dream, probably. Of course everyone knows what Pokemon are. That's normal.]

[p_mortem]

[ Pokemon, Persona, they sound similar enough, yeah. Calling Chic her partner has Minato smile faintly, though she can't see it, because that's how he liked to think of his Personas/Pokemon(?) too. ]

Yeah. I've never seen one like that. Is Chic your only Pokemon?

hggjgfghk

[gymconquering]

'Course not. I'll show ya.

[The image hazes over, and...the real Sapphire on the ground twitches. Kind of like a cat that's running in a dream.]

Nn?

[Well that's just weird. Just...throw the Pokeball. She twitches again.

Chic makes a deep, concerned chickeny noise and rises to her feet, glancing between Minato and Sapphire.]

[p_mortem]

[ Minato blinks away the haze and gets to his feet, head bowed so that the mist catches and weighs down his hair as he makes quick steps towards Sapphire, slowing as he nears her.

Out loud, this time: ]

Maybe it'd be better to show me in person.

[gymconquering]

[Chic matches his approach, kneeling by Sapphire and tapping her arm until she grumbles and stirs.

It takes a moment. But when she does wake up, she wakes up all at once, drawing in a sharp breath and sitting up. Her eyes go to Minato, then Chic, and some split-second decision there puts her visibly at ease; she stretches groggily.]

Didn't mean to pass right out... [nrrrrg god ugh.] Showin' who what? Sorry...

[p_mortem]

Pokemon.

[ He supplies just the one word in hopes of kickstarting her memory, his eyes on Chic with concealed wonder; the Blaziken looks so real up front, tangible and present unlike his Personas which come and fade as he needs them to, and which he would never feel safe to have emerge when he's asleep. ]

Other than Chic?

[gymconquering]

Oh!

[Okay, yeah, now she gets it. She's remembering bits and pieces of a conversation that had to have been telepathy, (and how weird and kind of disconcerting is it that you can do it in your sleep?), and the important part, which was that this was a guy who didn't seem frightened or offput by her Pokemon, a category of person that had gone from 100% to hovering around maybe 40% over the course of twenty-four hours.

A grin sweeps over Sapphire's face; she's tired, still, but immediately welcoming of Minato's presence, grateful for anything one step closer to normal.] Yeah, a'course! They're all friendly! [She slaps her cheeks to rouse herself and gets to her feet, plucking four spheres from her belt (golf-ball-sized, half red, half white, glossy plastic); they open with metallic clicks and vapory poffs like airtight seals being released.

There's a split second where the Pokemon are just silhouettes, blank but not glowing, just colorlessness taking up space for the blink of an eye, before the four of them just appear. Sapphire points to each of them in turn.]

Rono -

[- tall, big, armored, like Godzilla if the suit were metal instead of rubber and double the mass; he shakes himself with too much excitement for something his size and chatters in a deep, rolling growl -]

- Phado -

[- shorter but bulky, the concept of an elephant compressed into stockier proportions, nub tail waggling and ears flapping as he shuffles his feet around and snorts and sniffs, more concerned with the mystery of the falling vapor than with Minato -]

- Troppy -

[- stretches his wings, which are leaves, out to cover Sapphire, tilts his head back, looks everyone over before settling his gaze on Minato, but it's hard for any stare to be intimidating when there's a bunch of bananas under it -]

- Kirly!

[- humanoid, looks kind of stressed.]

[p_mortem]

[ Oh.

The method of summoning takes Minato aback, initially, her Pokemon so conveniently manifesting by being released from those small balls instead of being wrenched out of her soul by shooting herself in the head like Minato has to do. The second shock is that they can manifest at all— he couldn't, he's tried, he can't even feel his Persona— and all of them, all at once. Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, each Pokemon that he stares up at in turn, large and powerful like the gods he can summon...

Wonderment alights on Minato's face, deeply impressed while he can't find the words to express any of that. He doesn't move from where he stands, eyes traveling from one face to another— to Sapphire's face in the end. ]

...Amazing.

[ A whisper. He wishes he had more words. ]

[gymconquering]

[Her grin stretches wider at that, but it's thrown over her shoulder at the actual recipients of the compliment. Rono lowers his head to peer at Minato in keen interest; Phado finally turns attention on him; Kirly hums gratefully and bows his head.]

Ain't that right? Sorry, guys, [she says to her team; sorry for keeping you shut away all day, sorry for the situation, for whatever's about to happen that she hasn't prepared them to face. Phado curls his trunk around her hand, lets her squeeze and shake it familiarly, then passes her and raises it to sniff and prod at Minato.]

[Sapphire plunks herself back down cross-legged, satisfied.] Hey, but, thanks for askin'. I know Pokemon probably seem weird to ya, but for these guys it's like...this whole world that's upside-down? [For her too, of course, but priorities. She gestures confusedly, turning a hand over, shrugging, clapping her hands to her knees and bowing her head for a moment in thanks.] Not to dump too much on a stranger, but it really does mean a lot.