Nothing like the smell of rotting ape corpse in the morning

[ohnehalfte]

Who: Newt and Everyone Who Either Commented or Is Listed in This Post
What: Searching that Monkey Compound
When: 10/7
Where: Everyone's on a D8
Warnings: Rotting monkey corpses? IDK, tag ur stuff, friendos


"Picking over the remnants of that bloody battle will prove quite advantageous, as long as you don't mind the smell. Not only did the monkeys fashion several abodes mounted in the branches of the trees in the compound, but they had quite a supply of various items on hand. For those who may have been concerned about islet over-crowding, it seems they need not worry; most of the homes remain undamaged, and aside from the strong smell of monkey, are completely habitable."

"Investigating the back of the compound will reveal a very small plot of farmland, where several rows of plants with dark green leaves can be seen growing. Anyone with a knack for identifying useful plants - or anyone who's simply willing to take one for the team and give them a taste - will soon discover that these leaves are the plants from which the monkeys drew their sedative. It makes quite a useful anesthetic in a pinch!"

"The sigil etched deeply onto the door itself will, as the Storyteller warned, be quite effective in keeping people out. The door repels any and all efforts to break through it; those sensitive to magic may note that it does indeed exude a very powerful and dense aura that makes its origins difficult to discern. One thing is clear, however: it will take a great deal more than teamwork between mortals to get through it." ( x )

[Welcome to the Mingle Log, Fam. Around you are the rotting corpses of many dead apes. There's also many items for you to lay claim to. Or you might feel like checking out those sweet sweet monkey nests. Or checking out that door. Whatever you feel like doing, leave a top level for people to pester you with. Or pester other people with top levels. The Mingle Log is your Oyster.]

Comments

[ratsinadaze]

[Gobbet is listening, even if it looks like she's scanning the area and paying Muffet no mind. It's all very interesting stuff, it's just. She has a short attention span. Don't take it too personally. Besides, she focuses better when multi-tasking. In this case, scanning for exits and entrances to the compound, evaluating the state of the remaining nests, and half-counting the remaining corpses serve as her secondary tasks as she absorbs the wealth of info.]

[When Muffet finishes speaking, Gobbet sets her hands on her hips and turns to face her proper. She lets out a breathy laugh and shakes her head.]

Yeah, the spells I know do more hurting than healing and shielding, I'll tell you that for free. I mean I do know a healing spell but it's colorless. It just sort of. [She waves her hands vaguely, scrunching up her nose as she tries to visualize the spell in action.] Works.

[Usually she's casting it in combat, so she rarely pays close attention to what it looks like. She just waves her hands, calls on the power, and next time she looks, her allies aren't bleeding so bad.]

What's the virtue and color for combat magic? Like slinging fireballs and stuff.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet doesn't take offense, familiar as she is with the desire to be getting things done as efficiently as one can.]

Fire- or water, or other elemental abilities- generally tends to fall under white magic, oddly enough. It depends on what one has an innate affinity with. As for combat... in theory, any color of magic can be quite effective in a fight. It all depends on how it's used, really.

Of course, everyone has their own preferences.

[She winks playfully, and holds up one pair of her hands to show Gobbet the threads of purple light strung between them, appearing out of nowhere at a moment's thought.]

I myself tend to favor purple magic- the magic of binding, for the virtue of persistence. Perhaps not the most straightforwardly destructive technique, but it's remarkably hard to fight someone while bound immovably to the nearest heavy object.

[ratsinadaze]

Ha, that's true. Kind of a "defense is the best offense" scenario, huh?

[Gobbet eyes the purple thread and nods approvingly. Persistence, huh? Did "the unshakable will to survive" fall under persistence, too, or was there another category for that? Was being laid back and not taking things seriously, being carefree perhaps even when you should care immensely, a virtue or a problem?]

Our worlds aren't that different. See, instead of colors and virtues, shamans have totems. It's basically the same thing, though - your personality traits determine who gives you your power, and who the power is coming from determines what the power is. Your world pretty much streamlined the process, I guess.

[While she wonders about the color of her magic - the symbolic color, not the pale, sickly green of acid clouds - Gobbet also wonders about what totem might choose Muffet. She doesn't have a ton to go on: just persistence and purple.]

[Maybe the clever, aloof Cat who toys with Her prey - binding magic would be good for that.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

Precisely that, yes.

[Muffet grins, pleased that Gobbet seems to understand her view on the matter. She nods thoughtfully at the explanation of totems.]

That makes sense- if there's someone out there choosing to empower people, it's only natural that they would pick those that they could understand and get along well with.

[Stubborn survival could very well be purple- or red, if you went by the theory that it was for determination, or blue for integrity. There's no way to be sure without looking at Gobbet's soul directly, and Muffet would never be so rude as to just do that without any warning.]

I'm not clear on the details, but I know magic works differently for humans than it does for my people, on the very rare occasions when they have it- or had it, I suppose, since they seem to have lost the ability entirely in the modern day.

[ratsinadaze]

Ha. That's kind of funny, because my world didn't have magic until...well it's been a while now, I guess.

[Gobbet leans against the nearest tree, folding her arms across her chest. She tilts her head in thought. Never really went to school, so history wasn't exactly her strong suit, but she knew how the world worked. Knew as much as anyone else.]

The whole world went through a magical awakening. People got magical powers, found out about totems, the world spawned different races, like me - I'm an ork. It even changed certain animals into their mythical counterparts. Like basilisks weren't a thing until the Awakening.

[Hellhounds, devil rats, chimeras, banshees, basilisks - the Awakening had made the world a very dangerous place to be. It was already full of violence and strife, but now it was full of violence, strife, and marauding magical beasts. She tosses her dreadlocks over her shoulder with a flick of her head. Honestly, she's enjoying sharing world info with Muffet.]

On the whole, no race is more or less magical than any other. Between you and me, though, elves make better shamans and I can't put my finger on why. I think they've just got this natural charm that makes spirits more willing to listen.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet... doesn't raise an eyebrow, because she doesn't actually have any, but her expression is still a pretty good rough equivalent of doing so.]

My, that must have been a shock. I can't imagine what it might be like for a world to not have magic at all and then gain it- it would be like hearing that a planet somehow didn't have gravity until it suddenly did, with how much it's a part of everyday life for monsters.

[Actually, if you're good at blue magic, a lack of gravity might be less of a problem.]

I certainly can see charm being a good advantage, although I wouldn't sell yourself short in that department- you've been a lovely conversationalist thus far.

[ratsinadaze]

I wasn't there but I imagine it was pretty rough, to be honest. I mean people turned into freakin' dragons - talk about a rude awakening.

[At the compliment, Gobbet widens her stance, puts a hand on her hip, and strikes a pose. Her grin spreads into a full-blown smile, almost comical with her tusks poking out the way they do.]

[If Muffet is familiar with the concept of Elvis Presley, she might be reminded of him now.]

Thank you, thank you very much.

[She returns to her original position, leaning against the tree, with a little laugh.]

No but seriously, thanks. You're pretty charming, yourself. Especially considering I didn't consider myself a fan of spiders until today.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet doesn't quite get the reference, but she can tell that Gobbet is being playful and is amused anyway.]

Sadly, it seems our less magical counterparts have done terrible things for the reputation of spiders everywhere.

[She puts one hand over her heart and sighs in mock-disappointment.]

It seems I'll just have to keep working to make our image a bit better.

[ratsinadaze]

See you rock the too-many-eyes and limbs thing like a pro. Regular spiders? Not so much. Also you're a way prettier color.

[The breeze picks up, carries the scent of how much work they still have left to do past Gobbet's nose. She snorts to force the smell away and rubs her nose vigorously.]

Ugh, nasty. This is going to take a metric fuckton of work to get it into a really livable state.