Ruins Mingle Log!

[ohnehalfte]

Who: Newt Geiszler ohnehalfte and EVERYONE
What: So a bunch of people headed up towards the ruins, so they've got to all run into each other and start to congregate, right???
When: Evening of the mingle log and onwardish.
Where: The Ruins
Warnings: Um...same as the mingle log?



The beach curves up a gentle slope until it meets forest, some manner of building visible through the trees. Further exploration of this area will reveal a dilapidated building of sorts; the architecture is indiscernible to even the most skilled eye. Despite looking as if it has seen better days, there are areas that offer some form of shelter...and who knows what else. Just because it appears uninhabited doesn’t mean you won’t wind up pleasantly, or unpleasantly, surprised.


[ooc: Hey y'all! I thought this might be a good place to start getting larger groups of characters together to do some exploring, settling down, banding together and figuring out rations, etc. Feel free to throw up any threads of your own for specific things like exploration groups, a gathering in the entrance hall, whatever strikes your fancy or that you think your character would organize. Have a party!

Edit: Additionally, there is now an OOC Post for those that want to handwave their character signing up for ruin exploration]

Comments

[hyperlit]

both.

[But the answer is - yes, no matter what.]

for how long?

[solperierat]

[Ed huffs softly, scratching behind an ear as he considers how to answer.]

Hmm...well, I got myself torn out of my home world about three years ago. Was my own fault on that one. Second displacement was a year ago, and what got me looking like a chimera. Last time I had to survive on a deserted island, though, that was when I was...seven? Eight? Somewhere around there.

[He honestly sounds way too damn bland about all that.]

[hyperlit]

[Far too dismissive. As though it's no problem at all. Unfortunately - or perhaps, fortunately - the Drifter does not find that questionable, or even worrisome. He is here now, and that is the end of it. There is no point in trying to change that now.]

used to this.

[solperierat]

[Ed lets out a long, tired sigh.]

Yeah, I guess you could say that. Not exactly happy about it, but at least it's one less person panicking about not being where they were before.

[hyperlit]

it's rude.

[Plenty of people did do a great deal of panicking - it's true. They won't contest that. But they'll also start picking their way back to the coconut grove without a further word or warning, with the apparent expectation that Ed will simply follow if he wishes.]

[Abrupt, but not intentionally so.]

[solperierat]

It's--?

[Wait, are they saying Ed's rude, or the kidnapping?]

[Ed jogs to catch up the few paces Drifter gets ahead of him, but settles easily into their swift pace once he has.]

Mind if I ask what your little friend there is? Never seen anything like it before.

[hyperlit]

[It's inevitable that he'd ask after it. Plenty of people do. And so the answer comes far swifter than it did the first time they got the question:]

companion.
it intuits what i need.

[solperierat]

[Ed nods with a faint smile--even without them admitting it he has a suspicion that they've been asked that several times already.]

Something like a mental link, then? Pretty convenient. Is it magical or technology?

[hyperlit]

yes.

[THERE, THAT'S YOUR ANSWER, ED.]

standard drifter equipment.

[solperierat]

...

[wwwwwwwwwwwwelp]

Right. Is that a 'don't know, don't care' yes, or an 'all of the above' yes?

[At least he seems more amused than annoyed by the lack of detail?]

[hyperlit]

yes.

[SORRY, ED.]

[They've got more prominent concerns in mind - namely, focus on the coconut grove to which they're drawing near. They indicate the round, brown fruits clustered at the peaks of the trees with an outstretched finger.]

[solperierat]

[Edward bursts out laughing, partially doubling over as the pair trots into the clearing. Oh lord--this guy sure knows how to make his words count!]

I guess I should have expected that one--ah!

[Ed looks up and grins, stepping forward before spreading his wings to fly up to the top of the nearest tree.]

I'll pluck, you catch. Sound good?

[hyperlit]

[A quick nod. The wings unfurl with a snap, and they make a mental note: the wings work. They lend him an appearance that is not unlike that of the birds of the Northern region - though, thankfully, he is much friendlier, and also capable of speech.]

[The Drifter lets their knapsack slide to the ground and stands at the base of the trunk with their hands open, palms up.]

[Ready when you are, Ed.]

[solperierat]

[He nods with a grin, then grabs the first coconut to yank it off--but it's a bit hard to get purchase when your only stability is flapping wings.]

What--okay, hang on...

[He tries to pull it off a few more times, causing the whole tree to sway, and growls a bit in frustration. Finally Ed puts one hoof to the trunk and pushes with that and the coconut breaks free of it's stem. Huffing slightly, Ed wraps his tail around it to pass the fruit down, and starts tugging the next one off.]

Maybe I'll just climb the next one, yeesh...

[hyperlit]

[They do not, at the very least, laugh at his efforts - though it would perhaps become apparent if they were. He is a little reminiscent of the birds of the north, with his flapping and fluttering, but they have never had to maneuver about with wings and thus cannot gauge the difficulty of such an endeavor. From his results, they can only assume it must be adequately complicated without purchase.]

[The Drifter catches the first of the round fruits to set it down. The HUD has to expand to accommodate larger text for him to see at the height, but they manage it.]

ok?

[solperierat]

[Edward's quiet grumbling cuts off when he catches the flicker of light below, and he glances down before snorting with amusement. He waits until Drifter is ready to drop the next coconut down to him, plucking them quickly enough now that he's got a method.]

I'm fine, just finding new ways to frustrate myself.

[hyperlit]

[They're nothing if not efficient, speedy in catching the fruits as they fall thick and fast and ensuring none are broken or spoiled before setting them down. One or two have a blackish spot that smells of rot; it is quickly tossed aside, and not added to the ever-growing pile of potential sustenance.]

wings?

[solperierat]

Yeah.

[A few more are tossed down and Ed pauses for a moment, looking down at Drifter.]

I only grew these wings in a few months ago, so I'm still learning a few of the finer details.

[hyperlit]

grew?

[They...hadn't realized that was possible. Or even something normal enough for him to be discussing them as if they're little more than an interesting haircut rather than an entire new set of appendages.]

[solperierat]

Yeah. It's sort of packaged with a...I guess a curse is the best way to explain it.

[Ed grunts as he pulls another coconut off the tree, and tosses it down before he continues.]

I used to look like most of the rest of the people you've seen here do, but about a year ago a god pulled me from my world over into hers, and changed me with the intent of me being her servant in destroying the remaining population. Happened to a lot of other people too, but not everyone was changed in the same way. There were monsters like birds, that turned into canines at night, spiders and other kinds of insects...plant people.

[The last is mentioned with a rather harsh grimace.]

My wings were a sort of favor from another powerful being there, but the spell to get them was not very pleasant.

[hyperlit]

[A transformation of a painful sort is not precisely like an illness - but it is painful, nonetheless. Symptoms materialize, whether expected or not, and there is no preventing them once they have taken root. There is only attempting to press them back and back, and delaying the inevitable.]

[Because it is inevitable.]

like a sickness

[solperierat]

[Even without verbalization, there's something in Drifter's body language that catches him. Something in the set of their shoulders, the look in their eyes. Even bundled and mute, empathy...sympathy communicates very easily.]

...something like that. Not contagious, though, so don't worry.

[Maybe if he was younger, Ed would ask, but not anymore.]

[hyperlit]

some are not

[Theirs, at the very least, is not - though that does not make its persistence and commonality any lesser. Nor does it make them any more appealing to the common eye.]

not any easier to bear