festivals and mur--ahem, investigations 🎊🔍

[beleos]

COMMUNION WITH YIMA

After given some time for recovery and for Yima to hear reports of what transpired at the Tree of Life last month, a Communion message gently flows through the minds of each Shard-Bearer. They will have to choose to accept this message, and once they do, they will be greeted by Yima’s voice resonating pleasantly in their heads. She first apologizes for their harrowing experience with the Dryad, and that she hadn’t anticipated such a violent reaction from the Tree; she believes that their experiences point to an imbalance within the Tree itself, most likely brought about by the soon-to-come arrival of the Oracles.

She has spoken with Cyrus, and they have jointly decided that an investigation into the matter - and potentially the destruction of the Dryad - may be required to purge its influence from the Tree. Yima requests that any who would willingly seek out the Dryad volunteer to do so and will be outfitted with a ward against any tampering to prevent them from falling into the creature’s clutches a second time. It will take her a bit to fashion enough of these wards - but she anticipates being ready toward the end of the month.

She concludes her message with another heartfelt apology for your suffering, that she would not have sent any into such a situation she believed were truly dangerous. That being said, she takes responsibility for your ordeal and asks that if there is anything she can do in recompense, you have but to ask.

Yima will be available for Communion chatter here!

FESTIVAL OF REMEMBRANCE - HIGHSTORM

Takiltu is a month cycle the natives of Kenos regard with some amount of reverence and a hearty helping of excitement: the first part of the month (November) is spent reflecting on and celebrating the differing cultures and worlds each Kenosian represents. The second part of the month (December) is spent celebrating unity and togetherness, to come together with friends and family, to be kind to others and share in one’s wealth - whether that comes in the form of knowledge, monetary gains, or the exchange of gifts and one’s time.

Each city celebrates differently, the flavor of their festivals a reflection of their people.

In Highstorm, the first thirty days of Takiltu are spent in Remembrance. The city is decorated with string lights, paper lanterns, candles, and torches to illuminate the streets in beautiful colors and shimmering magical illusory shapes. The focal point of the festival takes place in The Court, where the reflecting pool has been especially decorated with arrangements of flowers and lights. Festival stands erected around the Courtyard peddle paper lanterns as well as refreshments, fanciful decorative items, and enchanted jewelry that is said to make one’s recollections of the past temporarily clearer.

The pool itself is the main attraction, here; citizens who approach its waters and gaze into its depths will find its normal abilities to reflect memories enhanced. The images are surreal for their clarity, vivid - and normally, one is requested to look into the eyes of those most precious to them whose souls remain lost, to pay homage to their memory and sacrifices, and to wish them rebirth in the new world to come. A purchased lantern is then lit and sent skyward where it floats into the moonlight, joining the others hovering above.

But this year, there is an addition to the usual fanfare. Emet-Selch has been asked to assist with the festival; as long as he is given permission, he can recreate the memory displayed in the reflecting pool. Yima has granted him a temporary blessing which enhances his natural creation abilities - a gift for their people she is grateful for. Your character can choose what it is they see in the water - whether it’s a place, a person, or the feelings of a certain point and time, he will temporarily recreate it around you. Everyone will be able to see this conjuring and interact with it while it is functional. It will last between 15 to 30 minutes before dissolving into beads of light that slowly trickle skyward before disappearing. You’ll be told to light a lantern, send it adrift, and that this will give peace to the part of you and your Shard that surely aches. But does it…?

Elsewhere in Highstorm, the High Theater has been painstakingly decorated and aglow with magical floating motes of light; the interior has been transformed into something of an Art Gallery. The pieces within are dedications to parts of worlds long gone, as well as the people in them; some are beautifully painted landscapes of exquisite, far-away places beyond the imagination. Some are more mundane and familiar snapshots of life in a home world not too different from your own. There are portraits of families, loved ones, and those the Zenites long for most. This is their time to mourn, to grieve, and to appreciate their pasts - the pasts that will lead them to a brighter future, one day. They must move on into the future, but treasuring that which came before is equally important to them.

Should you touch any of the motes of light that are around the art pieces decorating the Gallery, you will find yourself able to feel, hear, see, and taste a piece of the world the piece represents. Some of these are warm gatherings over a dinner table with family; others are heart-wrenching expressions of loss and bitterness and pain. Be cautious which you choose. Oh, and do be careful not to stand too closely with someone else when you touch one, or one accidentally touches you - the experience is absolutely contagious through Communion.

CELEBRATION OF CHERISHMENT - SPRINGSTAR

While Highstorm’s Festival of Remembrance is a more demure and reflective time, Springstar takes a much different approach to the season. In true Meri nature, the Celebration of Cherishment encapsulates celebrating life in all forms - and that means parties! The Psychagogía is the main hub of excitement considering, but festivities can be found in almost every single district of Springstar. Wherever you go, something is happening and someone is trying to rope you into having a good time.

The city has been decorated with bright and colorful multi-purpose magical ivy-like vines that sprouts buds that bloom over the course of the month into gorgeous flowers. These flowers are considered sacred, and their blooming is a momentous time of joy and good fortune. Each flower is left intact; disturbing one is tantamount to a war crime by the natives, so don’t get observed if you try to pluck one!

The Psychagogía is incredibly lively, teeming with people and events; almost every venue is peddling some kind of ‘Cherishment’ celebratory sale or discount. The first portion of the month includes what the locals call “the meri-ment” (and seem quite chuffed about that pun), in which Kenosians are encouraged to go bar hopping and taste the wide variety of specialty ales and liquor unkegged only around this time of year. Participants are highly encouraged to share stories of their worlds and cultures, to tell those they mingle with tales of the worlds they will one day return to and why they’re special, unique - to celebrate their one-day return.

Alongside this comes a great deal of outdoor grilling, fresh meats and vegetables sending tantalizing scents everywhere you go once the evening hours arrive. Some of these food and drinks can cause… interesting… effects if you consume them in excess, especially at the Emotional Damage - so try to show restraint. It would be a bit embarrassing to find yourself strangely infatuated with the first person you lay eyes on after your fifth night out on the town, or feeling compelled to express warm feelings aloud you wouldn’t normally commit to another. Luckily, it only lasts a short period of time - but beware the wicked hangover afterward. Strangely enough, if you’re suffering, you feel oddly compelled to seek out a little TLC from someone else - someone with whom you might have some unresolved feelings toward, positive or negative. Is it longing? Anger? Jealousy? Unspoken affections? Love? Whatever it is, you're more likely to seek them out for some care.

At the Coliseum, nightly brawls between Meris take place and the usual assortment of monsters are temporarily taken out of offer. This part of the festivities is one where each Kenosian is encouraged to settle any differences or misgivings with others and to get it out of their system, cleansing them of bad mojo - “leave it in the ring,” as it were. Despite beating each other bloody at times, most combatants willingly stop before it gets too serious and fighting to the death is not permitted. You must embrace your adversary before you leave, and your ‘bad blood’ will be considered purged and settled so you can start anew.

The Empório district is celebrating consumerism, because of course it is! All the usual goods are on a considerable discount, and for a brief time, gardening tools and supplies are free! The reason for this is that Springstar’s citizens are encouraged to plant one seedling in the gardens in Katoikitikós once the flowers lining the city have gone into full bloom. It is said this honors gods across cultures and time as well as invites good fortune. You are encouraged to plant a seedling in a group or pairing, as space is limited - and there are superstitions regarding this togetherness resulting in more favorable results. Should you plant a seedling with someone else, you might indeed find that something is beginning to blossom between you… Based on your Aspects, you might find yourselves feeling closer and more connected - or repulsed depending on your compatibility. This effect will last through the month after planting. Should you check on the seedling later, its health will be reflected in the state of your relationship. Friends will find the little plant thriving; enemies will find it is sickly and dying.

For those Shard-Bearers who have already harmonized with the Meridian or who have quarters in Heliopolis, you will find the communal meals much more lavish and indulgent than usual. There may even be a taste of home waiting for you among the spreads on offer, or some comfort food you haven’t had in a while. It is encouraged to share anything to your taste - or even to share why it is meaningful to you via Communion. Or you can just eat. You do you, man.

Once the flowers have bloomed and the festivities reach their peak, one might find the city loud and boisterous and sleep a little more difficult to come by. Springstar is absolutely thriving and alive - and you, too, feel more invigorated and energetic despite any lack of zzz’s. Should you leave the city, however, this effect will vanish and you might find yourself unnaturally fatigued and in need of more rest than is customary. Returning to Springstar will slowly build up your stamina again. This effect lasts until the end of the month.

THE MYSTERY OF ALENROUX

Once celebrations are in full-swing in the cities, some characters (i.e., any characters that choose to participate in this prompt) will be contacted by Cyrus or Yima, depending on their faction or whichever they feel a stronger inclination towards if they are currently Unharmonized. Both will explain that there’s something that they’d like you to investigate, but also to prepare and be careful, since this request doesn’t come without danger… A Shard has been lost in Alenroux, and they both hope you’ll be able to retrieve it.

MERIDIAN

“I’ve gotten word that a Zenith Shard-Bearer was sent to Alenroux a little bit before you arrived, and they haven’t come back yet. Normally, none of our business, but based on what some of the farmers have been saying, I think they’ve gotten hit by Discord. If it gets high enough, well… You don’t really have your mind anymore. We can help them through Purification. Even if it’s just for long enough to calm them down, it’s better than them being trapped in madness. It might be easier to dissipate them first, though, then Purify their Shard. They were last seen heading to the Northern forests. Let me know what I can give you to help, and make sure to help each other. Good luck.”

ZENITH

"Please heed my request, though I do not ask this of you lightly... One of the Zenith's children has been lost among the fields of Alenroux come nightfall and I fear the worst has befallen them. There are dangerous elements attracted to the presence of a soul, and the likelihood our brethren has been lost... it is great. Seek out the Shard - and if you are able to retrieve it, please do so. If it has suffered corruption too great to be saved or would place you in too great a danger to take back, then... I trust you to make the merciful choice. I place this in your hands and will give you whatever you require to see it through. Look out for your fellow Zenith and work together, as I do not want to lose more of you. Be well."

Both factions will offer their recruits access to standard weaponry and armor/protective clothing. If a character asks for more, they’ll be given a weapon or a piece of armor with minor magical properties which would normally cost 1 AC token to purchase. Magical weapons are on loan however. If your character takes these and/or chooses to keep it, please note this in your Committed Actions! If they choose to keep standard weaponry, Cyrus/Yima will just be disappointed in your dishonesty. :(

When you arrive during the day cycle, you’ll also find horses and magic hoverboards to use (they go the same speed tbh), because heading North to the forests is a bit of a trek, and you might not make it there in time on foot! As the sun starts to set, you’ll see the people in Alenroux start to leave, going clearly your opposite direction. Once night falls (Nov. 9th OOC), it doesn’t take long for things to change.

There’s just a sliver of a crescent moon in the sky, which makes the rolling hills and forests much more ominous than they were during the day. And as the stories say, it only takes an hour or two before you start to run into strange creatures. Closer to the Cornerstone, there are indeed strange creatures, and while they may not all look scary, they might present different kinds of dangers such as…

• A light in the dark looks like a fairy, but stare at it too long and you’ll find yourself hypnotized by a ghastly fish will lead you to a body of water to drown you.
• An innocuous puddle may form up into a mass of corrosive goo, complete with the bones and items of the last person it came across. When you slice it, it simply creates a copy of itself, so hopefully you realize this before you’re surrounded.
• A strange straw poppet (sans pins, of course) that possesses you once you touch it and will use your body to try and fight anyone else while your consciousness is trapped inside the doll. To be freed, you only have to destroy the doll, but you’ll feel the pain of how its destroyed even if you don’t bear any injuries from it.

However, as you get closer to the Northern forests, they become significantly more fearsome…

• With a roar, a massive, multiheaded beast descends, and each of its mouths is perfectly capable of taking a bite out of you. Watch out for the snake’s head in particular, since its venom will cause you to hallucinate your worst fears.
• As you come face to face with an odd creature, bioluminescence lights up on its skin, and the spins on its back quiver with a sound like a rattlesnake’s. As the spines quiver, you find it exceptionally difficult to take your eyes off them and move as it stalks closer slowly. You can fight blind, right?
• Diving in and out of larger shadows like its water is a slimy beast that’s incredibly fast. Its teeth may be small, but its tail is a razor-sharp whip that could remove a limb if you’re not careful.

These are just examples, however. There are many creatures lurking the wilds of Alenroux, so feel free to create your own monsters with unique effects.

It's a difficult trek North, and you may be tired from hours of running, fighting, or both… But eventually, a few people do find what they were looking for. They might have even missed it, if not for how their Shards suddenly felt like they were burning. From the shadows, a twisted creature of roots and lights which what looks like many crystals in a glowing mass appears and one of its eyes locks on you. It looks like now is your chance.

NOTES

Weather summary for the first 30 days of Takiltu (NOV & DEC):

Highstorm is in late fall, early winter season. Some flurries may occasionally fall and it is getting considerably cold out there! Bundle up!

Springstar is in the throes of early summer; the weather is climate and pleasantly warm for outdoor celebrations (but not sweltering). There are occasional afternoon showers, but they don’t last very long.

Notable city changes:

If you wander the Markets in Highstorm, you might notice some of the peddlers seem a bit wary of you. Hm, guess something happened around here! Probably totally unrelated, but Silco and Vander (or anyone with them) will be treated with nervous suspicion.

Similarly, if you're traveling with Set (or you're Set) in Springstar, you might occasionally find yourself getting strange looks. Ask Set why.

Faction updates:

There are no explicit changes in faction behavior at this time. This will be a staple in all future event write-ups to catalogue the fluidity of the conflict as it progresses, though, so we're including it here for posterity!

Event Notes:

The Reflecting Pool in the Courts of Highstorm can be observed normally with no addtional effects or can bring your memory to vivid life thanks to the help of Emet-Selch (and Yima). If you grant him permission (which can be handwaved), he will breathe life into whichever memory you have chosen to view! If this includes any NPC’s or interactive elements, you will be responsible for playing them out in any tags until they disappear. Please see Emet’s toplevel for any interactions you’d like to thread out with him as a part of this.

For the Gallery in Highstorm, the art depicted in and scenes experienced through the pieces are up to you to create! Feel free to go wild with any associated NPC's in the scene and worldbuild as you see fit. Highstorm holds a variety of citizens from across the multiverse, so you could feasibly go fantastical places, or experience something distinctly profound and beyond your imagination...

The drinks and refreshments in Springstar can be enchanted in just about any way you’d like, including bringing upon minor physical changes of the cute, fun, and flirty variety! Feel free to get creative (as long as you get permission from your thread partner), the Meris would also merrily insist growing extra fluffy, scaly, etc bits during the celebration will only help you party harder! 🥳

As reminders for Alenroux, once night falls, a character is not able to leave until sunrise, which is 24 hours later. If your character is dissipated, you can have a PC retrieve their Shard or the respective Faction they're allied with will send out a search party to find it. Remember to report character deaths!

CODING

Comments

02

[baltimores]

[ Amos has never seen a centaur before, so Hayame is particularly eye-catching in that way.

Not like he's openly gawking, or outright staring at her. More like, he's by the reflecting pool — not because of any desire to utilize it himself, but because he lives near it. If he's going to leave Yima's manor, he's going to end up passing by, and considering the foot traffic at present time, it's a whole thing.

A whole thing that, by his eye, Hayame doesn't seem keen on being a part of.

Her third time, he's getting ready to leave. He wants to go back to Springstar, even though he has his own discord that's fucked him up some — the black sclera he has no problem with and makes no effort to hide; the discomfort that both sunlight and being away from Highstorm bring are very unwelcome, though.

Unwelcome enough that he might subconsciously be taking any excuse he can to linger in Highstorm a little longer — and Hayame seems to inadvertently offer a perfect excuse.

And then she's snapping at him, and, uh, whoops. His bad. Amos holds up his hands — he's unarmed, he isn't doing shit — and, voice conversational in response, ] Sorry.

[ They're far enough away it's not like he has to worry about her accidentally (or purposefully) knocking him into the pool — or putting him in a position to utilize it, which, no thanks — but.

He tilts his head a degree. ]

You not going down there? [ A small nod in the pool's direction. ] Kinda seems like a lot, don't it.

[ Casual as he may be, there's a certainty to him — this really isn't his scene at all. Might be almost nice for it to finally not be someone else's, either. ]

[warmare]

[There are worse centaurs to behold for a first. From a distance, she strikes a grand, imposing figure, over seven feet tall and over half a ton of finally honed muscle, a creature built for speed and power. The dun coloring of her coat and hide and the matching tone of her skin makes her more mistakable in shade to a human woman. The almost impractically long ebon mane adds to that illusion, but the tail disturbs it.

It isn’t until getting closer that the grandeur falters. Her mane and tail are untended, once glossy strands grown dull and frayed at the ends. There is a certain sharpness to her withers and hips that implies a lean, unsustainable lack of food. Her hooves are cracked from too much exposure to stone streets without proper care. Beneath her bandaged face, there’s only a hole where an eye had been.

And all of it make her hyper vigilant, on guard in these crowded places for threats she knows she might miss or notice too late because of her handicaps, the ice in her shard and the dryad-stolen hearing from her right ear. At least the man who startles her apologizes, her temper flares in instinctive defense, settles back down, but then-

He is still talking to her.

Hayame turns her head a bit too far to look comfortable or natural in order to look the man over properly with her remaining eye. Large, for a human, muscular, sensible looking… a face she feels like she’s seen before, but the clarity is lost in the crack running down her shard beneath her clothing and the binding on her breasts, so for now-]

Unlike those people-

[So, so, many, just one after the other lining up to advertise their weaknesses—]

I am not a fool who wants to broadcast her life for strangers on the street.

[Her brows furrow, one visible, one a ripple beneath stained cloth.]

If you mean to “skip” in line, go.

[She can’t imagine herself looking like a good conversation partner, so surely… that’s his real motive?]

[baltimores]

[ He sees it. He sees all that Hayame's body could offer her — someone who can fight, someone who won't let herself be taken advantage of. It feels similar, in a way.

Where they differ is that Amos has continued to take care of his body, keep it in top fighting shape. It's easy for him to say, when he has a place to stay, easy access to food, nothing to worry about. Give him long enough on the streets — put him in a situation where he's left to fend for himself, and where resources aren't a matter of killing someone and taking what's theirs — and he'd weaken, too.

But Hayame still retains her agency, so her physical condition really isn't any of his business. She's already made it pretty clear she's not going to just take anything, anyway, if that alertness is anything to go by — and that's something he wholeheartedly understands.

So, respect, as he lets her size him up and continues to take this interaction as good excuse to keep standing back, procrastinate by continuing to talk to her. He operates better off of understanding the physical — the tangible — than the emotional. They've got enough in common; when it's clear that they don't, that this is a dead end, or that she'll shut things down is when he'll lose his excuse and have to move on.

But they aren't there.

So Amos gives a huff of a laugh, little more than a puff of air and slight upwards curve to his mouth before it falls back into something neutral. ]

Go down there? Fuck no. [ His tone remains amused; maybe even companionable. ] Don't got anything I need to reminisce about. Even if I did, it's like you said — nobody else needs to see it.

[ Some shit is Private. He cocks his head. ]

Way everyone else here keeps acting around it, I figured it was just a me thing. You too though, huh? 'bout time, 'cause I don't get any of this shit at all.

[ The festivities. The focus on remembrance. It's all just... nothing, really. It's weird, so maybe Hayame's the least weird person he's come across all month, actually. ]

[warmare]

[By all rights… what she’d said should have been the end of it. No, she didn’t want to participate in this farce, and if he did, go on. That was all that was needed from her. And yet for some reason… Hayame is still standing there listening to some stranger make a commentary on the festivities taking place around them. Her arms settle back from their defensive bent to crossing tight beneath her bound breasts, her hooves resettle on the painful cobblestones, but her tail… her tail flicks out behind her.

And she’s listening for some reason. When she refuses to admit even to herself that she is something as weak and simple as lonely there is no recourse to be had, and yet…]

It’s disgusting.

[Strong words, perhaps, but… she cannot help the way her lips thin as she watches a woman by the pool below reach out to the memories of what seem to be a husband and children, weeping openly with catharsis. How? How did-]

Why waste time dreaming of things you cannot have? They are not real.

[They could be… She couldn’t, she is no mage or scientist who could use their time to try and find them all a way back home, but…]

If they have such wonderful, happy lives to share-

[They should… what? Hayame realizes when the words are already out what she intends to say, the bitter motivation behind it, and instead of finishing… She bites her tongue and stares straight out over the courtyard again with her remaining eye darkened by a furrowed brow.]

[baltimores]

[ The tail's still a new one for him, so while its flick catches Amos' eye, he doesn't actually know what to make of it. Resetting her stance? Sure. The tail?? He's got no clue.

But it's just for a moment, Amos' eyes drawn back to Hayame's as she speaks. His eyebrows rise slightly; disgusting wasn't what he'd been thinking at all. It is a strong word, maybe too strong. But it does help cement for him the kind of person he's dealing with — unsentimental, no bullshit, strong, as far as he can tell.

He likes that. Even as he cocks his head at Hayame's unfinished sentence, he can't find a lot of fault in her sentiments. May not agree with all of them. May not care as deeply as she does. (Isn't lonely at all, but there's no reason for that to come up.) ]

No point living in the past. [ He's agreeable, amiable. Smooth tone, a quiet stream just existing with no strong feelings one way or another. He isn't passing judgment on anyone using the reflecting pool, he just straight up doesn't understand it, and it's nice to finally — finally — meet someone else who doesn't, either. ] All we got is to move forward, right? Don't really understand what they're doing if they're not doing that. Kinda just seems like a way to make yourself miserable.

[ He shrugs. ]

If you even got anything worth revisiting at all.

[ Which, Amos actually would — if he were the type to be able to get something out of it. He's not, though. So it's all just... pointless. Baffling, and this is his first chance to actually question any of it out loud. ]

[warmare]

[No point living in the past. It’s true, and Hayame let’s out a little snort of sound that seems to be an agreement… Even if closer inspection might reveal that their ideas of what constituted “the past” might differ.

Revisiting… If she could relive something… Would she?]

They should put their efforts into actually returning to their worlds, if they want to see those people so badly.

[If they were so desperate as to let countless others see them in the vulnerable, emotional moment of “reunion” with those gone… Hayame, perhaps, does not realize what sacrilege that is to say in Highstorm. She spends so little time talking to people that she may not realize the extent of the difference in beliefs to Springstar- not that she has pledged herself to either. She simply spent more time in the other because her shard had been painfully cold since the dryad visited her dream, and the sun was warmer there. Not that it really helped, but she has tried.

Just as she has tried to avoid the woman Yima since she’d identified the strange source of her discomfort… a sort that never came when she was actually around her. This was her realm, true, yet…]

Instead, they cry over illusions and either curse their fate or accept it without enough fight... How pointless.

[She cannot let herself become that. No matter how weak and tempting it might be just to give up. (Even if her form of doing so… is far bloodier and far more final than weeping by a pool.)]

[baltimores]

[ Returning to their worlds earns a more pronounced raising of his eyebrows. The idea of fighting the inevitable. Much as he finds Hayame an agreeable sort — good company, maybe better company than most by virtue of how straightforward and practical she is — maybe there is more that separates them than he initially thought. ]

Their worlds are dead, though. All of ours are. [ He speaks plainly. Hayame may be saying something sacrilegious by Highstorm's standards, but Amos isn't emotionally invested in that; he takes no offence, he's just correcting someone else on what's a basic fact. Nothing to get worked up about. ] Fighting would be pointless because there's nothing to fight. People die. Apparently, so do universes. Can't fight the inevitable. Trying would be as pointless as the rest of this.

[ A light gesture towards the pool, with all of these people around it, reminiscing over what's long gone. Or gone long enough. It doesn't make any sense. (It's also a little hypocritical on his part, but the inevitabilities he's tried to fight have been highly specific ones... and more often than not they just end up being fulfilled, anyway. That's the thing with things that are imminent.)

... Although. He blinks, a little sheepish as the thought dawns on him. ]

Unless you're with the Meridian, which... uh... sorry.

[ Sorry that she's wrong if she is, that is. But surely someone as no-nonsense as her understands that there's no bringing back what's already gone?? ]

[warmare]

They are not dead.

[Hayame’s response to that is fast as lightening and just as forceful, without a single crack that shows a weakness which might be wormed in to in order to expand her doubts. She does not turn to look at him when she says it, but she might as well have- her expression twists slightly with frustration.]

No amount of strangers with strange magic saying it is so becomes proof. Worlds are not mortal.

[They’re worlds. The Regent… The woman Yima… they claimed it so, there had been vague dreams and senses at most, but what was that? She is supposed to believe the word of someone she does not trust about something so life altering, not just to her but to countless thousands? Millions? Hayame has never heard tale of a god who unmade a world… And why would they? Without something to rule, what even was godhood?

Her tail flicks angrily behind her. She’s had this argument a hundred times, and she does not wish to have it again. Especially… not when she’d finally agreed with someone about something, actually begin to… to commiserate… But she also cannot let the comment just slide.

… Once her clap of argument ends, however-]

I am not with either. I do not need your apologies.

[Not Zenith. Not Meridian.]

[baltimores]

[ ... So she's kinda delusional, after all. He hadn't expected that. Although there's still a logic to be traced through her words — still a path he can follow there, and delivered with respectable conviction.

Kind of a weird one, actually. Amos looks up at her, ignoring the pool again, because she's way more interesting. Maybe she'd fit in better with those mourning than he ever would, but she's strong-willed enough to not bother.

That's cool. ]

Arright, no apologies. [ In contrast to the force of her words he remains easygoing. This is still just a regular conversation to him — always has been, and there's no reason for that to change. ] Kinda sound like the Meridian when you talk like that, though.

[ It's just a fact. ]

I mean, anything can die. Stars die, it just takes too long for any of us to appreciate in our lifetimes. Planets can die, 'specially when you got people draining the resources and making it uninhabitable. Or when they throw rocks at it big enough to upend the whole climate. [ Just a little bit of personal experience thrown in there... ] Isn't supposed to be as sudden as you blink and suddenly you're walking through the cosmos or what-the-fuck-ever, but eh, time's relative. Things're fucky here. They were in the last place, too. [ Horos. ] I got an easier time accepting that worlds can die than whatever the fuck magic is, and yet here we are, a place where there's magic and dead worlds all around us.

[ It's kind of a lot of evidence. But she sounds like she's got her mind made up, so...

He cocks his head, genuinely curious. ] You have any plans to get your world back?

[ She believes it isn't dead, she's a woman of action... so there's gotta be something she's going for, right? ]

[warmare]

Don’t confuse me with those hopemongers.

[There was a reason she wasn’t with Meridian, despite their views aligning on the issue of whether their worlds were dead and gone or not. No, their approach and how they exactly thought about it was… rather different.

And she has already said her peace about it being impossible for a world to die, so that doesn’t even merit a response.
Stars dying? Billions of years? If they died so far in the future, sure, but people she knew? Now? Rocks large enough to destroy a climate?

That’s no different than speaking about magic to her.

What she does do… is snort lightly at the very idea that she herself might have a plan to get herself home.]

I said my world is not dead, not that I have any earthly clue how to get there. Do I look like a mage to you? Or a scholar?

[The very idea was laughable… If she knew how to laugh. Instead, she tosses her hock-length hair (and long tail) with a stomp of her heel (er, hoof).]

No. I will find someone who does have a decent plan… and I will see it done.

[baltimores]

[ Hopemonger actually earns a grin, sharp and highly amused. That's a good word; if he's ever feeling petulant enough he might have to steal it.

His smile softens a little at Hayame's own petulance. He's not mocking her, just... she's fun. Blunt, straightforward, speaks her mind, doesn't give a fuck, and turns out there's something really enjoyable about being around someone like that, bad-tempered or not. It's like looking up into a more emotional, less-human mirror. ]

The Meridian don't got a plan for it? Shit, and they got a whole society and resources and everything over there. Wonder what they're doing with all that. [ ... Okay, he's just mocking them a little now. ] Sounds almost as useless as looking into a pool to watch dead people and leaving it at that.

[ Both sects have their flaws, that seems pretty clear now. The thing with Amos is he's plenty content enough to just coast with what he's got if he's not being given something to actually do.

He cocks his head up at her. Maybe they got enough in common after all. ]

Don't think you're gonna find anyone over here who's gonna have a plan for you. At least people in Springstar are doing stuff.

[ Even if it's just eating and drinking, which... ... yeah he kinda misses that. Discord has him tethered to Highstorm, and he'd gotten wrapped up enough in this conversation with Hayame to recharge, but... shit, he really would rather be on the other island, and maybe enough of that sentiment slips into his voice. ]

[warmare]

[It sounds sort of like he is attempting to insult her again, with these mentions of how he seems to think the Meridian followers must surely have some plan if the worlds are alive and return is possible... But she had not been lying when she said she was unaffiliated. And not only unaffiliated, she is also largely blind to either side's so-called plans. Instead, she has spent her time looking for some place, any place, on these goddamned islands to "live". Alenroux could only be inhabited in the day, supposedly, and yet Springstar was covered in city and Highstorm covered in gothic, so where-]

As if I would know.

[She hasn't spoken to their so-called leader since he introduced the sun bead to her, and spoke of things like oracles and power and tethers... It wasn't something she took too easily, or understood well. She just needed- She just needed someone who could present her a plan that made sense, and then, then she could devote her efforts somewhere with value...]

At least Springstar has better-

[Whatever praise she was going to give the sunnier, most bustling city... is suddenly interrupted by a very loud rumbling that seems to come from a centaur's stomach. The larger equine one- No, wait. A second loud rumble follows, from her more human-looking half.

And Hayame stiffens up in embarrassment, knowing there was no way to pretend the sound had come from elsewhere or had any other cause, her arms crossing tighter beneath her bound breasts as she finishes with a muttered,]

- Food.

[baltimores]

[ Yeah, that noise — noises, plural — catch his attention.

He actually wasn't sure how that worked, but just asking someone hey, what's up with your body seems like kind of a dick move, so not like he was going to broach the topic. Instead he just kind of stares at her blankly — at her lower half, though that tail does catch his eye again; up to where her human stomach probably is. And then he's looking up, back at her face. Eye contact. Basic human decency and all that. ]

Yeah, it does. [ And he's back, momentary blip over, although a little more thoughtful now. Had he been antagonizing her earlier? He'd never noticed — this really has just been a regular conversation deviating into shooting the shit for him. ] Discord's got me having to keep coming back here, but I'd rather be in Springstar right now.

[ For most of the month, really, and food is definitely a part of that.

A beat, before he tilts his head in question. ]

Wanna go?

[warmare]

[Discord. The mere mention of the word is enough to make Hayame’s lips curl in instinctive anger, but there is nothing else that can be done about it. Unaffiliated as she was, her own experience with it didn’t come with a need to stay on either “island”, but… the symptoms she experienced were bad enough, let alone the consequences of the dryad dream.

But what is she supposed to do? Just admit to this stranger that her shard had been so cold and painful since that day? Whine that her hearing kept going out, that since she had sunk her teeth into the demon’s throat that she can’t stop a sick craving for meat?

Hayame doesn’t say anything. Until-]

Hah?

[If it looks like Hayame has no idea what to do when invited to go eat with someone, in a situation where there isn’t food immediately just already right there to react to… No, that’s pretty accurate.]

- with you?

[That could sound like a very rude thing to clarify, but. The emphasis is… on “with” just a tiny bit more than “you”.]

[baltimores]

[ This might be the first time he's ever met someone with less of a clue as to how to navigate society than he has. Amos blinks at the realization, then shrugs it off. There's a kind of novelty to it that he thinks he might like. (Maybe he can help her out.)

He's also incredibly difficult to offend, so he just continues looking up at her expectantly. ]

Sure, why not? I'm headed over there. If you're going there too then it'd be weird for us to part ways only to end up going in the same direction anyway. Just makes sense to go together.

[ Hey, he's got no problems with it, so if she doesn't either then it'd seem like they'd already be in agreement... ]

[warmare]

[Not many people offered to share meals with Hayame. Especially in Horos, still a little bit true in Kenos. It’s something she knew… but not something she had a right to resent, even if a part of her did begrudge the shard-bearers around her for their closeness and ability to connect, the way she perceived herself as mostly misunderstood by the two-legged foreigners all around her who came from worlds so different than her own. She wasn’t stupid, she knew that… someone who seemed so obviously displeased and angry over her circumstances (all their circumstances) was not an ideal lunch companion, she knew she couldn’t do the foolish small talk or ladylike chatter because… what jinba who had been born into servitude knew how to talk? The master hadn’t wanted them to speak, she had stumbled time and time again outside of conversations about missions or duty alone, but-

Hayame still hated it. She could still hate it, even if she hated herself for wanting something so pointless and weak as companionship.

And this man… makes it easy, despite that he should perhaps be an ideological enemy. She hasn’t decided yet.]

… You make a good point.

[It would be foolish to part verbally and then physically continue the same path, or cause one of them to awkwardly take another route than the quickest one…

She has an excuse to accept, then. … and her lower stomach rumbles again, albeit quieter this time.]

Fine. We will… dine together.

[She has just enough coin left over from when she’d last debased herself to afford some food, and he hadn’t insulted her by insisting on paying or providing charity, so-

So. Despite how she makes it sound like barely not a burden to her, (unintentional this time, but a common enough occurrence), Hayame turns to begin walking away from the pool, expecting that the man will follow or lead. One of the two.]

[baltimores]

[ The trick is to just not give a fuck. Someone's standoffish? Irrelevant. Someone doesn't know how to make smalltalk? Welcome to the club; it's kinda dumb anyway. Just go ahead and do whatever it is you're gonna do, because who's gonna stop you?

So there's a slight tilt to Amos' head at Hayame's first statement, because he already knows he makes a good point. That's why he said it. But there's the accompanying hint of a smile as well, though whether it's towards Hayame for accepting or just for the fact that he's gonna get to eat soon, who knows. Both could be perfectly applicable.

Typically this would be the part where he'd pat her on the shoulder or something, but she's significantly taller than he is. Not that Amos is particularly short, but he's not that tall, either, and he's not going to be touching that equine half anytime soon — those legs look powerful. Besides, she's already on her way, and honestly? Respect. Relatable. He's already catching right up to her, then matching her pace right beside her.

His eyes flick up towards hers as they make their way to the nearest cornerstone. ]

You got anything in mind? I can barely keep up with all the food they got over there. Can't stop thinking about the meat this one place had turning on a spit though. Guy sliced it off, stuck it in a pita and added this sweet sauce. Called it a donair? I feel like I gotta go back there for another round.

[warmare]

[Hayame, for better or worse… has spent her entire life caring. Not about things other people cared about, most likely… but she cared. Mostly about being acknowledged as a warrior so that she wouldn’t be sold as a broodmare, mount, or “companion”, but. When that was your focus, there was very little room to care about anything else… and it spilled into everything. She’d had to care about how she appeared to others, how they perceived her, what they said about her, how she conducted herself, and then…

And now…

She doesn’t clip her pace to a more human-friendly stride, but she does not trot. He is gigantic for a human, his legs can keep up.]

I do not know this… “donair”.

[She pronounces it a bit odd, but-]

If it is meat, I will eat it.

[Accepting another person’s suggestion is far easier for her than coming up with her own when it came to mundane activities like eating or… “leisure”, which was apparently something people just… did when they didn’t care or worry about their own survival constantly.]

You may lead.

[… Well, he has to, but she makes it sound like she’s allowing it.]

[baltimores]

[ The ability to care simply got beaten out of him. He'd get it, though. Reputation's important; being able to back it up even more so — and since Hayame seems like she could back anything she says up, if not with words then with fists (hooves??), she's got his respect. He stays pleasantly amiable towards her, increasing his pace so he can, indeed, keep up. It's like a brisk walk is all. ]

Yeah, sure thing.

[ He picks up the pace a little; at least the cornerstone isn't too far away. ]

It's meat alright. The one I had was beef, but I think they'll make it out of anything available. Pretty sure there are kinds of meat here I've never even heard of before.

[ It's a whole new weird world, made up of the corpses of all kinds of other weird dead worlds.

He carries on ahead, keeping up conversation as he does. ]

You a carnivore or something?

[ It's a friendly, colloquial jab — he doesn't think she actually is one, or that she literally only eats meat — but who knows how well that translates. ]

[warmare]

[No need for beatings when you're taken from your mother at birth and raised by the race enslaving yours so that you ~understand your place in the world early. Smart.

He asks her about her diet, though, and Hayame answers plainly, not even moving her head to look at him as she speaks.]

I eat anything humans eat.

[... Which is going to be her famous last words if she's ever introduced to foods here in Kenos that don't exist in her country, which hasn't discovered chocolate yet. But then, how to explain her accidentally-overly-specific comment... Her eyes narrow, resisting the urge to let her hand drift to her ice cold shard.]

I simply... have been craving meat. Recently.

[Since the dryad had invaded her dreams, and seen fit to sickly punish her for sinking her teeth into that demon's throat.

... Hayame does not... seem to understand "jabs". But at least they're almost at the Cornerstone?]

[baltimores]

[ Nor when day after day when you're taught that there's no light at the end of the tunnel — until the day you finally reach it because you grew too old, too big, too broken to do anything with it.

But discussing traumas? Out loud? Who does that??

Amos blinks at Hayame's first statement — okay, she looks like she's part human, so that makes sense at least. Kind of a weird way to put it though — before shrugging it off. ]

You come from a world without a lot of it too? I mean, I know it was readily available on Horos, but before then, place I was from it was pretty much impossible to get real meat. Don't think I'll ever get over how much is just here. It's great.

[ No reason for him to think there's anything weird about her craving meat! Who doesn't get cravings sometimes.

But they've reached the cornerstone, and, well, since there's no point in milling around he just goes ahead and activates it, expecting her to be right behind him. She did say he could lead, after all; he figures she'll just answer him in a moment, when they're both in Springstar. ]

[warmare]

[Tunnels can have lights?

Right now, Hayame is more concerned with the cornerstone than tunnels, though. Her new companion simply touches it and goes as if it's as easy as breathing, but she... despises them. Anyone who had been with her in the Pleroma of Horos would know. She had never used the teleportation devices or spells, even traveling over land over a week to return to Greentruth from Verona... but in Kenos, the islands float amongst the stars. She has to make use of them if she wants to move-

But every time, she steels herself as if she might die before she touches the stone. To a woman from a time most would consider medieval, devoid of "magic" or much "science"... there is no faith she will not simply vanish and never reappear.

She appears in Springstar a full minute after Amos, slightly paler than she'd been in Highstorm. But determined not to have that weakness perceived-]

The Buddhists do not eat it.

[She spits out a belated response to his comment on the availability of meat.]

Game is scarce in the winter.

[Forcing her legs to not be shaky as she clears the cornerstone area miles away from where they'd been instants ago, Hayame just says whatever she can think about meat, trying not to leave any space for potential questions about the delay.]

There was livestock during exhibitions and Auction Day... but that was for the banquet attendees.

[She's had rabbit, quail, and pheasant, an occasional deer or boar, but. Not cow, not pig, not sheep. And here it (or something like it) was just... everywhere.]

[baltimores]

[ He'd just been standing there, waiting for Hayame to follow him. Okay, so it was taking her a little bit... kinda weird... and oh, there she is. He looks up at her expectantly, but since she opts to just continue their conversation like normal, shrugs it off. So she's a little paler, so her steps aren't quite as sure. Maybe some people just get teleportation sickness? The way some people got disoriented when they were on a spacewalk and looked up at the sheer nothing all around them. Fair enough; he's content to keep leading their way to the festival — he remembers exactly where that little hole-in-the-wall with the donairs was. ]

Huh, really? [ He's only like... half-listening, because as far as he knows, she's started spouting a bunch of unconnected phrases. ] No banquets where I was from. Didn't do a whole lot of hunting, either. In space you'd have to grow it in a vat. It works, but it's nowhere near as good as the real thing.

[ Because that will definitely make sense to Hayame — but it's all just idle conversation to him as the streets start getting more and more crowded, anyway... ]

[warmare]

[She'd like to call it teleportation sickness. As it was, he does not ask, and he does not even cast much of a judgemental look the likes of which would trigger her easy-to-offend nature, and so... Strangely enough, Hayame just keeps walking. Eventually, her skin returns to its normal tone, her legs quickly regain their strength once she's stepping on solid ground.

Not realizing that most of what she'd said might not have made sense (still constantly defaulting to the reality she had lived her whole life, that certain things simply didn't need explanations, because everyone would just know), Hayame tries to make sense of what he says. "Space", that must be where he is from... but-

"Grow" it?]

You "raise it", you mean.

[She isn't exactly in position to judge another's education, considering she'd received... none, herself, illiterate as most jinba were, but. She has met a number of people who came from worlds removed from nature to the point that they didn't know how to get or make food. Apparently he did, too.

Fine, she can help him understand how livestock worked. (What was... "not real" meat? She's ignoring that part.)]

[baltimores]

[ The way she regains her footing, yeah, he's pretty sure it was just a bout of teleportation sickness. That's fair.

He doesn't even blink at her objection; for as much as Amos would prefer to continue going through life without having to explain things that are obvious to him, he'd already experienced one major culture shock from his original universe. He knows they're likely to come up, but if he can get away with it, he'll just talk like the other person will automatically know what he means.

And elaborate once he's given no choice. ]

Nope, grow it. People and animals aren't meant to live in space; it's an inhospitable environment. That means you gotta make sacrifices and be smart about your resources when you're up there, 'cause there's only so much you can work with. So, no large animals. Don't got the space or the nutrients or probably a whole lot of other stuff for 'em. So you gotta culture their cells, grow your own meat. It works, but quality varies. Versus getting the real thing? Shit, I'll take that any time.

[ He pauses, scanning through the crowds, and... maybe?

Amos actually does look up at Hayame for this, pointing westward and not missing a beat. ]

Hey, can you see it over there? Green sign. Should be thereabouts, but you're taller than me, you got a better view over this crowd than I do.