TDM + GAME OPENING 🎉

[beleos]

Who: Shard-Bearers, new and old
What: Seeds take root
Where: The Tree of Life, Highstorm, Springstar
When: October 14th and onwards
Warnings: Potential for (mild) body horror, death, dismemberment

I. BEARING FRUIT (new characters only)

It starts out as a pleasant dream. You’re in your favorite place, with your favorite people. It’s a moment of idyllic comfort.

And then, it goes wrong.

The sky turns dark above, and as you look up, you see the black expanse of space spotted with faraway pinprick lights of stars. Yet, they’re not stars. You’re certain. They’re watching you. A billion eyes all looking down, and they spill forth as if sky itself was a dam holding back those dark waters. You reach back to the people you’re with, but they’re frozen in place. Their eyes are black, reflecting only the expanse of dark eyes.

So you run, even though you know you won’t escape it. You glance back and see it not overtaking, but consuming. The landscape around you is being devoured, and you can see it cracking apart. The world itself is breaking, and it cracks under your feet. You fall, and the billion eyes chase after you until the darkness swallows you whole. There’s agony as if you’re being ripped apart, and then—

You cannot see. You cannot feel. You simply are. Yet even so, impossibly, a woman’s voice speaks gently.

I’m sorry it couldn’t be saved. But, come, it’s time to wake.

You wake with a start, cradled by soft, velvety plants, and sticky with a sap that smells faintly of honey and iron. You can see the veins of the leaves that hold you, lit warmly and gently by what looks like a crystal embedded above you. Yet, it’s odd, because that crystal calls to you. When you reach out to touch it, it’s warm. Familiar. Important. You don’t know why, but you know you must hold onto this, because now it feels wrong for it to be suspended in these leaves. So, you pull it out.

The light starts to fade, but only in time to see as the leaves cradling you immediately start to soften and crumble, and with it comes a torrent of dirt. Soft, loamy soil starts to fill the space around you in the dark as you’re buried. Or, rather, you already were. You reach out through the dirt desperately, and your hands finds a root, so you pull while you clutch that precious crystal so close that it almost feels like it sinks into you (in your panic, you don’t notice that it does). You reach out again, and this time, your hand hits open air and plenty of sturdy roots around to grab.

From a seed you’re born, and like a sprout, you make your way out of the ground.

And once you’ve clawed your way out of the soft earth and the roots, nearby, you see the soil shift. Another hand comes up to grasp desperately for something, anything, just as you had been.

II. MORAL HAZARD

There are new Shard-Bearers at the Tree of Life, and Yima has asked that the earlier arrivals go to greet them and help them. These aren’t people from Horos, after all, so they’ll have many, many questions. As Yima explains, the roots of the tree rise up to create caverns underneath, and it’s there you’ll find the new Shard-Bearers. And indeed, with careful steps to not slip on the mossy roots, down you go. Perhaps Communion will help you find the new Shard-Bearers, but it might be a confusing process for them.

The roots all start to look the same, to the point that you’re sure that you’ve already been through this passage. You turn around, and most of the people you had come here with are gone, if not all of them. It’s confusing and unsettling, and strangest of all.. You’re starting to feel ill, even if that wasn’t something normally possible for you. But continuing forward, you do eventually find an unfamiliar face of a new Shard-Bearer. They look no better than you feel.

Before introductions, however, roots around you shift suddenly until you’re enclosed in a room together. From the roots, a face forms in the wall. It speaks in a creaking, uneven tone, as if it weren’t used to speaking at all.

Give to take. A sacrifice. To live.

---

LET'S PLAY A GAME...

As the Dryad will explain, characters are now trapped in a room and have been poisoned by the spores that the lichens underfoot release. An antidote lays beyond the roots the dryad has curled around you, but to access it, you must make a sacrifice.

Characters can pick one of the following options, but the decision must be made unanimously. If one character takes a drastic action (such as murdering another), it’s counted as a failure for the group.

• Each of you must offer up a personal/treasured memory. The memory will be shared in Communion with all characters assembled, and then will be destroyed. No character will retain the memory or memory of its Communion.
• Each of you must offer up something physical. A finger, a toe, an ear, it’s your choice. The dryad will offer a knife if this is chosen that will sever the body part of choice cleanly and immediately stop any bleeding.
• Offer up another. Kill one person in the room.
• Refusing is also a valid option. Characters will get more ill as they debate until they start to find it difficult to breathe, and they’ll die quickly after.

The following is OOC knowledge that will not be known IC: The consequences of this game are about intent, and thus are not real. When characters are freed from the tree’s thrall, they’ll have their memories/body parts/life intact.

This can be done in groups of 2 to 4 players, and Loremasters recommend three if you can swing it! It’s more fun when you get in philosophical debates, right? Regardless, when your group comes to a decision, please record it here. These don’t have to be fully threaded out to be recorded, so the conclusion can be discussed OOC if you prefer. Actions can be submitted until October 21st, after which groups will be informed of what comes of their choice…

When a group receives the antidote, they'll be released from the tree's thrall... But will have a hard time waking up. It feels like something has grabbed onto their spine.

III. DREAMING OF HOME

You may wake with a start from your deliberations (or arguments) with a jolt of pain from the base of your spine as something is pulled away rapidly. A dark-haired man who looks to be in his thirties or so holds you carefully, but as soon as you start to regain your senses, he sets you back and holds up his hands.

Woah— Woah there, it’s fine! The tree was, uh, trying to take you back is all. You’re fine now.

As long as you’re not going to attack him, he offers a friendly smile and a hand to shake.

Name’s Cyrus. Sorry about the rude awakening. Let’s get your friend here unhooked too.

And indeed, glancing over, you can see the person you met in that room laying nearby, and it looks like a vine has snaked underneath them to exactly where something had just been pulled from you… Best not to think about it, maybe. Or if you've been unlucky enough to be one of the last people rescued, you might find vines and roots starting to grow into your skin. It's fine!

---

CYRUS, THE TRIBUNE

Cyrus is the NPC heading up the Meridian Faction, and is available to thread with under this header. Cyrus has come to the Tree of Life to help rescue the Shard-Bearer’s from the Tree, so he’s not going to be inclined to explain too much right away, since he’s on a mission, but he’ll stick around once everyone is successfully freed from Prompt 2 to speak with anyone that wants to. The following is just an OOC summary of information in case you do not need to thread with Cyrus:

Cyrus will gladly introduce himself to everyone, and will further explain his position in Meridian and Springstar (see the NPC Page) and the goals of Meridian itself (see the Faction Page, save for the italicized section). But most importantly, he’ll explain that he knows it sounds like something overly optimistic. It’s fair to be skeptical. He’ll produce a small glass bead from a bag he’s carrying. It looks like the necklace he wears, though not lit up. He’ll explain that the force of Meridian is a gift and can be a tether to your home, if you let it. As his fingertips light up, the energy is infused into the bead, which he’ll hand to you.

Taking the bead into your hands, you’ll take a bird’s eye view of your home world as if your consciousness is split, since you’ll still perceive standing in front of Cyrus at the tree. Rather than a vision, the view of your world is absolutely real, you’re certain. It’s a glimpse at the world that you thought destroyed, and if you focus on a particular place or a particular person, you’ll find the view shifting rapidly to it. No one you watch is aware of your presence, but simply continues about their daily life, whatever that is. But after about a minute, the view will fade as the light in the bead also fades.

That’s an iliachtida, a sunbeam, and when infused with Meridian’s light, allows someone Harmonized to it to check in on their world, he explains. It also acts as an anchor that tethers their soul to their world in the Timestream. With it, their world can’t entirely disappear, so eventually, they can go home. It’s a gift he’ll allow anyone that wants it to keep it, but indeed, they’ll be unable to use it again without first Harmonizing to Meridian.

To help manage threadload for the Loremasters playing Cyrus, we ask that you only tag him with the character you are most likely to app. Similarly, new tag-ins will not be accepted after Monday, October 17th.

III. SPRINGSTAR, αιώνιος ήλιος

After your ordeals at the Tree of Life, perhaps you’re drawn to Springstar, the city of eternal sun and the seat of Meridian.

It’s currently (and fittingly) Spring in Springstar, and the bustling city is coming back to life after finishing up winter. It’s not as if the winters are especially harsh here, but you’ll quickly get the sense that the people of Springstar are vivacious and happy to celebrate. You’ll find the Entertainment District to be the liveliest, whether it’s at a rowdy bar or a brothel, but no matter what, you’re welcome with open arms and without question.

Of course, if you’d just like to use the chance to explore the city alongside your fellow Shard-Bearers, that’s fine too. It’s easy to get lost in the crowds of Springstar and see all the city has to offer.

IV. HIGHSTORM, луны-близнецы

Or maybe Highstorm, the city of twin moons and the seat of Zenith is more to your liking. It’s certainly the quieter of the two cities and is a relaxing, meditative place if that’s what you prefer. The chill in the air is constant, since it’s Autumn in Highstorm and the eternal night doesn’t help keep things warm, exactly. Snow isn’t out of the question at this time of the year, but it’s beautiful in the moonlight.

Because of the cooler weather than Highstorm is prone to, you’ll find many of its delights inside rather than outside. Libraries and museums are popular in the more introspective city, though it’s easy enough to find something that might please you. For example, the indoor hot baths are popular at this time of the year too. You’ll find the people are kind, if cool-tempered, though if you mention the fact that you’re a Shard-Bearer or allied with Zenith, they’re more likely to warm up.

Though much like Springstar, it may just be more interesting to explore the city with a fellow Shard-Bearer. And as a resident may warn you, it’s best to stay in the city. Wandering out into the marshes and forests isn’t advised. Of course, if you do, just contact a Loremaster to find out why. ♥

NOTES

Welcome to Kenos! As a reminder, all players are required to fill out an application, which are now open. This does include characters/players from Aion Teleos, so please don’t forget to fill one out! Any character/player that does not submit an application will be swept from the communities and the Discord after applications close.

Activity Check is optional this month, but is highly recommend so Christy can check her fancy program so that you can earn Activity Reward Tokens! Activity will be able to be submitted shortly after applications close. You can find more about how we do AC here.

This log is Game Canon. Any characters who are not apped to the game will disappear. If Cyrus or Yima are asked, they’ll explain that this happens sometimes, since not every soul has a strong tether to Kenos and sometimes return to the Timestream. They’re fine and may even return to Kenos one day, but for now weren’t able to make the full journey.

As a reminder, your character has a Shard somewhere on their body that encompasses their soul, so keep note of where you're sticking it on their person for reference! Additionally, they have a tattoo of their Aspect somewhere on their body. Please be mindful this Aspect will be assigned to you upon approval and whatever you choose for the TDM may be temporary (for new characters)!

For the Highstorm and Springstar prompts, both cities will be fully open and accessible to all characters once they are saved from their rather harrowing ordeal at the Tree of Life. For prompt ideas and any general information about the cities and what you can find there, please see the Navigation page and check out the locations!

FOR NEW PLAYERS:

New players are welcome to join our Discord Server if you haven't already!

When they emerge from their cocoon/the ground, characters may be wearing their normal clothes, or they might be nude. Up to you!

At some point in the days after leaving the Tree of Life, new Shard-Bearers will have a dream, even if they're usually not capable of sleeping. All new players should read this post, since this details how they'll learn about both factions and their goals and should help them make a decision in which Faction they'd be drawn to.

New characters will not have access to any canon abilities on the TDM.

Your character will be offered temporary housing either at the Heliopolis district or Yima's manor for the first few weeks after their arrival. They will also be given a stipend for basic supplies like clothing and personal effects, and food is served in the cantina (Heliopolis) and at regular meal times in the Dining Room (Yima's manor). Once they Harmonize, they will get personal permanent chambers and a fancy retainer in their Faction's city. Wow! 🌈

FOR OLD PLAYERS:

Characters may be Harmonized to their Faction (if that makes sense for the character, of course!) by the time of this log. This is more for IC reference, and just wait until application acceptance to do the OOC paperwork!

General reminder that your character won't have access to their powers until they have Harmonized.

CODING

Comments

2a!

[sanguinary]

[Matsui is neither saying anything nor shoving past her, at least for a minute or two. Sometimes you just Patiently Wait and the Patient Waiting seems to last for half an eternity...

When he does speak up, though, it's not to ask her to move. His easily distracted ass has taken an interest in the leathers she's looking over, and he's curious as to why she's perusing for so dang long. So, with a lilt of genuine curiosity in his tone as he pipes up:]

Are you having difficulty deciding which one to choose?

Re: 2a!

[warmare]

[Hayame did not know which one to choose.

Perhaps that was obvious. So far, she has set aside the white leather, for what warrior would have use of such a thing? It would surely be dirtied too easily with blood or dirt. But the rest… There are shades of brown and textures of black that do not seem so different to her fingers or her eyes. Eye.

It takes her a moment to realize the word she hears are addressed to her, but once she vaguely does-]

Yes.

[She provides only an absent, one-word answer as her tail flicks irritably behind her. Her motivations might not be overtly obvious from that angle, most of the injury covered by a thin cloth tied across her face and her long black hair, but. There is a very subtle emptiness to her profile where a left eye should be.]

[sanguinary]

[He's been around enough eyepatch-havers in his tiny life to pick up on that and know what it means, more or less - and he's quick to make a gentle accommodation.]

May you step back for a moment? If I can get to your other side, I'll be able to take a closer look at the swatches; then, I can lend you a hand if you would like. I have a very good eye for things like this.

[Two birds with one stone, then! He's sure it isn't comfortable trying to hold a conversation with someone whom you can't even see.]

[warmare]

[Hayame was not a woman inclined to ask for help from others. She often didn’t even like it being offered to her, chafing under the worst possible interpretation of such things and quick to assume it was meant as pity or insult or proof she was seen as incapable.

… But in this field, she is not an expert. She does not know which leather would suit an eyepatch better, as opposed to a quiver or arm guard, let alone… visual considerations. (Did it matter to her? How it looked? It would be foolish and womanly to do so, so surely she doesn’t, but-)

Finally, she does turn to regard the person making the offer. She has to turn… a lot, in order to bring him properly into her halved field of awareness, twisting from the “waist” where human-like features blended into equine. For a long moment, her brows knit together slightly in the tiniest betrayal of frustration over her ineptitude being noticed, she just… stares at him, appraising.

And then-]

… If you are such an expert, then.

[She steps back.]

[sanguinary]

[Matsui seems to vibe just fine even under the inspection she's currently giving him. There's an almost ethereal, or at least certainly alien feeling to the way he seems to carry himself in general, like he's a sideline observer of even the situations that he's directly involved in.

When she steps to the side, he does at least offer a smile, though it's a flitting one that comes and goes in a breath and seems to sit strangely on his face like a gesture he's unused to making. He moves around her in a fluid motion, shifting to stand on her other side, where she'll be better able to keep an eye on him. Then, he turns his attention to the wares and the pieces she had been thumbing through.]

Hm... [Fortunately it's not a bunch of alien leather! Truly no matter where you go, some things stay the same. He reaches out, tapping his fingers against one of the darker colored swatches before glancing up (and up) at her inquisitively.]

For what purpose do you need the leather? That will change my recommendations.

[warmare]

[Hayame has never really trusted men who smile. Her own lips twitch as if threatening a frown in reaction to what she sees on the man’s face, but… it vanished soon enough for her to tolerate, and she allows him to move to her right side. … Something she is aware may be done for her benefit, but she does not thank or acknowledge. He’d chosen it.

But she’d relinquished the samples of leather for his perusal, as she waits, too, for some word. Some of the hides may have come from animals foreign, but when reduced to this state… beyond a few curious textures she had not felt before and some hints of color, there was little difference.

The frown almost forms properly, this time, when asked what she requires the material for. A snap of isn’t it obvious? is swallowed down. And after a moment of heavy silence, towering over her new helper at some seven feet in height, she final answers,]

- an eyepatch.

[sanguinary]

[An eyepatch, huh... Definitely not his area of strongest expertise, but he simply returns to his perusal with a nod of acknowledgment.

Eventually, he'll lift up a few different swatches mostly made from worn and crushed leather, all of which feel particularly soft to the touch. They don't have an enormous amount of structure though, which is why he holds up some stiffer and sturdier pieces, too.]

A patch made from these would be more comfortable, but only useful in calm times. If you wish for something sturdier, I suggest using one of these. To keep it from chafing your skin, it should be lined with something soft, though - a silk, like one of those.

[Nodding toward a different table which has various brocades and silks and other various shiny sundries. And then, the all important question:]

What sort of colors do you prefer to wear?

[warmare]

[If this were a matter of archery equipment, simple blade sheathes, or harnesses... Hayame liked to think that she would know what to do far better. She did not brook with the more womanly crafts, she could not embroider or weave, but she could do repairs on her own tools and make simple craftworks...

Eyepatches, though. She's never seen one up close that wasn't just temporary bandaging. Even just the cloth she wore now bothered her. The knot was too tight and made her head hurt, or it was too loose and itching. It didn't sit flush enough on her eyelids to keep them closed, and open the raw, empty socket was irritated constantly by breeze and any hint of stimulation as it healed.

And he wants to know about... colors.]

... I have no preference.

[There's something in her tone there, but it may be difficult to identify- The difference between "I truly do not care" and "I never had the luxury of caring". She has only ever worn clothing picked out for her by the breeding stable grooms, or occasionally the stable master, when he set his women to gussying up the jinba before Exhibition Day when they'd be shown off before auction. In Horos, she had simply accepted the first thing she'd found with the right cut.

So what is she supposed to say? Black, because her hair is black? Brown, because her hair is black?

She does not know the first thing about fashion.]

[sanguinary]

[The difference is hard to identify, but maybe he picks up on a little thread of it. Though their situations aren't the same, there are some shared aspects, at least; not having the luxury of choice, being new to the idea of picking and choosing how to present oneself. Having a self to present at all.

He looks at her for a quiet moment, though it's in the same way that he looks at everything - closer to through rather than at directly. Eventually, he'll thumb through a few pieces of both soft and sturdy leathers and fan them out so each can be seen. There's a brown close to rust, and another that's a tawnier shade, like a spring deer. There's a black that looks a step or two away from grey, and one that's so dark that it seems to have a nearly blue cast in the light when it moves.]

Which between these do you like the look of better, then?

[She may have said she has no preference, for one reason or another - but there's something important, he thinks, in having even the smallest bit of agency and choice in even the most seemingly trivial of matters.]

[warmare]

[In all honesty (for Hayame may not be forthcoming at all, but she was usually honest), Hayame hates being reminded of her failings. Even something as petty as this, not knowing what leather to choose or what color to pick… It grates, to think that-

That other people just did it, and for some reason (specific reasons) she struggled with it. Her sudden companion looks through the colors and she thinks she might say… it doesn’t matter, because surely one of these fancy mages can grow back an eye if they can pluck people from other worlds. Or perhaps she might go instead with deciding out of spite that she will just force anyone who looked at her to confront her injury, ugly as it was.

But then she has four choices to stare at, and eventually-]

… Fine. That one.

[The grey-black one.

She doesn’t know why.]

[sanguinary]

[The look on his face isn't exactly one of surprise, but there's some very faint curiosity there nonetheless as he lifts the grey-black one up, turning it over in his hand. Like he'd perhaps expected her to select a different one, maybe.

All the same, he'll set the other swatches down soon after.]

This one, then. [And then, because he's both honest and forthcoming, and also has all the social tact and grace of a single stale cheeto, he'll add:] It takes getting used to, I think... Choosing things.

[Choosing colors or things to wear. Choosing anything, really. The way he states it isn't pitying or even particularly empathetic, so much as someone stating a fact in the same way you'd point out the greenness of the grass.]

—Do you know how to sew? To fashion this into a fitted patch.

[warmare]

[... What? Was that the wrong choice, somehow? Of course it would be, but- Hayame is stubborn, sometimes for no reason at all beyond the fact that she forgets not everything in life need be life or death, and the idea of backing down now that she has bothered to make a choice is distasteful enough to make her frown.

The frown deepens with his comment about choosing things. As if he knew her, as if he knew what she meant by her actions (as if he were right). She doesn't answer it, not willing to dignify it, but-]

No. Do I look like a wife to you?

[She can repair her clothing if need be, fix her leather harnesses, but to make an entire garment or item from scratch?]

The craftsmen here would not quote me a price until I selected a leather.

[... Not that. She has the money for anything right now, but. She would come back. The stares over her makeshift bandage grate.]

[sanguinary]

[Matsui, who exists firmly in Gender Class: Sword, just casts her an inquisitive look at her comment and says rather simply:]

If you have hands with which to do things, is it not unfortunate if you don't do as many things as you can?

[Though he says it in the same neutral baseline way that he seems to say just about everything: lacking in judgment, lacking in anything but a mild sort of curiosity. Like he's saying something he's pondered on briefly, or heard of once or twice.

But, back to the leather and its potential price! He'll hold the swatch out to her.]

Here. Though I've found some here to be a little unreasonable when it comes to pricing...

[Just as a fair warning, from one brokeass person to another, presumably.]

[warmare]

[What was this man, some wandering monk out despising sage advice that no one who actually worked or served to earn a living had the wherewithal to follow? Her expression grows even more annoyed at the comment, partly to cover a strange sense of confusion that she felt over the fact that something about him… felt like the answer to that was definitely a “no”.

There was something about him, an undercurrent she could only call “instinct” that said this man seemed far too sharp to be a monk.]

My hands are too busy with the bow to pick up a needle.

[That snap will have to do. That, and how she snatched the leather swatch he holds out towards her.

… Or rather, how she misses the leather swatch he holds out towards her. Her depth perception has been affected by the loss of her left eye, still too new for her to have adjusted properly. Yet even though it was perfectly reasonable she not be, her face flushes with an intense, half enraged pale of embarrassment and shame over such a blatant weakness on display.

She gets it the second time, her lip twitching in the corner but trying not to sneer.]

I have no coin, I just want to know how much I need.

[… How she was going to actually get coin, though… ???]

[sanguinary]

[There isn't much by way of reaction in his expression or posture when she grabs - fumbles - grabs again at the leather that he holds out to her. He watches her own face with that measured look, seeming for all the world like there's nothing that could ruffle him.]

If you say so, then.

[She seems like a very stubborn sort, so he doesn't make a show about bothering to ask when she'll return for the piece, or with what money... She seems like she'd even fuss if he offered to pay - which he can't, considering his pockets are also empty as hell. Maybe he'll see if the shopkeep is a bartering sort...

This would probably be a good time to excuse himself from the conversation in general, anyway, but. There's one thing that piqued his curiosity a little more than any of her other statements, and after a beat or two of silence, he finds himself asking.]

Is the bow your weapon of choice?

[warmare]

[... She says so. In the face of her speaking companion's unruffled demeanor, she cannot be any more indignant without risking making a fool of herself, seeming too bound by instinct and emotion unbefitting a warrior. Nevermind that she hasn't felt in control since the moment she was stolen from her world.

She can only grasp at the petty, tiny things that she can almost feel in control over, like... Like paying for her own eyepatch that she wouldn't need if a goddamned demon hadn't plucked the left orb out of her goddamned head-]

- Yes.

[Her fingers curl as if aching to hold a bow, when she has no coin for that, either. Without it...

It takes a moment, because all her life... Hayame has never been encouraged to talk. She had orders, and to those orders the only desired answer was "I understand". The stable master had not expected the jinba he'd allowed to keep their limbs to be anything but obedient and loyal and succinct, but in conversations... You were supposed to-]

... And you?

[He had to be a fighter. She just didn't know what sort.]

[sanguinary]

[The recognition - one warrior of sorts to another - is the first thing in the conversation so far to bring a sort of liveliness to his expression. Not much actually changes in terms of what his face displays, beyond the smallest of smiles, but there's a brightness in his eyes as he simply states:]

Katana. Uchigatana.

[Of course, lingering on it for too long will just remind him of his currently absent true body, and if he thinks about it too much, he starts to itch inside his own skin. There's a similar way to the curl of his own fingers, like he's used to resting his hand on a blade no longer at his waist.

But that hand raises a moment later, tracing the shape of a bow-hold in the air in a loose, elegant sort of way.]

I have yet to hold a bow for myself... Others in our Citadel specialize in archery, instead, but it's an easy thing to admire.

[warmare]

[... Katana. Uchigatana. Not "swords" or "blades" or "knives". Perhaps it's something simple, but it makes Hayame's single remaining eye sharpen with sudden focus and interest she had not possessed in this man before.

"Citadel" is not a word she is as familiar with, but it is a fortress, a castle of some kind, and so... So, perhaps, perhaps-]

Who do you serve?

["Did"-- None of them here had anything anymore, their worlds were gone or so far away they couldn't be reached, yet-]

Which lord?

[Could it be one she had heard of? A clan that sent a representative to her master's stables for Auction Day? He had not seemed to react to her as if jinba were such an alien species, so could he possibly even be from the Japan that she knew... ?

How pitiful, that she hadn't fully forgotten how to hope.]

[sanguinary]

[Meanwhile, it's only due to the fact that he assumes Hayame is just as supernatural as he is that he's willing to share even this much. After all, it's only humans that are kept out of the loop - not that it matters much anymore, if what they've learned is true.]

Mm... That's a difficult question to answer. I have passed through many hands over the years.

[His creation predates even the Sengoku era by over a century, after all, so there's a lot for him to mentally comb through... The look on his face is thoughtful as he glances over toward the wares on the table, not really looking at them. The possibility that they share a world is something that occurred to him, especially with her reaction to his weapon of choice - but considering even people familiar with Japan didn't know the exact things he did, he still speaks carefully.]

There was a long period of time in my world where archers were prominent, and then a long period of time where they weren't. If it's within that first period... Perhaps the Okinaga, of the Hosokawa? Or the Tokugawa? If such names are familiar to you.

[Maybe she's Even Older, or from some alien version of Japan he's never heard of where the Shogunate simply didn't exist. Wild considerations.]

[warmare]

["Passed through many hands" is such a strange expression... Long periods of time? Hayame almost questions it, but the strangely contemplative look on his face makes her pause just long enough to hear names that make her expression spark with recognition.]

The Hosokawa and Tokugawa- Both of them sent representatives to my master's stable!

[When she remembered... She did not claim that man as her master any longer. But having done it since she was old enough to understand ownership, to realize that her only chance in life to avoid fates worse than death were to serve and be loyal... It's always so, so easy to slip back in to.]

Emperor Go-Yozei rules in Kyoto, and Lord Toyotomi over the rest... They said it was the Keicho era, now-

[She just... Says things, any thing she can think of that might help someone identify where she belonged in their sense of the world. (Surely she belonged?)]

[sanguinary]

[The tragedy of coming So Close And Yet So Far...

Matsui, at least, now understands that they most certainly aren't from the same world. After all, unless she's a humanized spirit version of a regular horse or something - wilder things have happened - there aren't any notable stables for the Hosokawa or Tokugawa to send representatives to. His eyes close for a moment, head inclining forward just a little.]

I recall that era. [As so many others both before and after it.] Toyotomi's rule... At that time, I would have been in the possession of the Matsui family, still.

[He changed hands pretty quickly, and it's the bloodshed that followed which stands out starkest in his memory... Opening his eyes again, he looks back up toward her, nodding just once as if in affirmation.]

It seems we come from similar worlds. [Similar, but not the same, which he at least explains a little further:] There is little interaction between the realm of humans and ours... Are you a kirin?

sorry, mini vacation!!!

[warmare]

[He... recalls it? The phrasing is so odd. She wants to believe she's just hearing it wrong, that he's being strange, because she's so... She's so gods damned close. He knows the right clan names, so surely-]

A kirin? No, I'm-

[It feels pathetic to want it so badly, but her hand still presses to her chest, flattening over breasts flattened as much as she could with binding, her auxiliary heart pounding uneven beneath.]

I'm a jinba.

[He should know that. She wants someone to know that.]

Where were the Matsui clan lands? Are they far from Echigo? Even lords from beyond the capital sent representatives to the Miyatsuta Stables for Auction Day...

no worries, i hope u had fun!!

[sanguinary]

[On one hand, he doesn't react like this is a foreign term, if only because he himself is a youkai of sorts - a creature that most assuredly doesn't exist to most humans outside of their own legends, just like any other inhuman thing.

On the other hand, he immediately says:] I see... The Matsui clan... At that time, they would be in Shinano, just south. Even so, if human envoys were sent to you... Existences like you or I don't interact with humans, in the world that I know.

[There is perhaps the faintest, faintest hint of something in his tone which indicates that he knows this is not the reaction she was hoping for. He's nothing if not honest, though.]

onsen town so heck yea relaxing ;3;

[warmare]

[Shinano Province... It is so near. She had thought that she might even end up there, she had overheard the stable master saying the chaos in the wake of Lord Takeda's death had sent both the Takeda and the Uesugi to all independent stables looking for strong jinba flesh to purchase, but-

But...]

- You are not human?

["Existences like you or I"... is hard to deny.]

oh that sounds divine, glad you had fun!!

[sanguinary]

[It's simultaneously not a reaction he's used to, but one that makes perfect sense. That's what it means to have a shape made in the image of humanity, after all.

In any case, he lifts a hand to his chest in an elegant self-introductory gesture, dipping his head in greeting. There's no real reason to be hesitant to share this with someone who, by his measure, is just as much a part of his world as any other youkai.]

I am the blade called Matsui Gou, forged by Gou no Yoshihiro.

[Sometimes you're also just the tsukumogami of a famous-ass smith's work.]

--This form that you see was gifted to me recently.