TiK Tok

[ohnehalfte]

Who: Lup (hellawrath), Taako (ohshitsweetflips), Newt (ohnehalfte), and possibly you!
What: Drunken party of drunkenness and shenanigans
When: Nov 17th, mid-day until everyone passes tf out
Where: Islet #2 aka Trash Island, somewhere out in front of cottage 1 and along the beach
Warnings: Drunk people, swearing, ill-advised people hitting each other with sticks, questionable food, drunken cuddles and crying, etc, etc tbc when there's more




Welcome to Islet 2! There are many reasons for you to be here right now. Maybe you live here. Maybe you're visiting someone who lives here. Maybe you've been invited to this sick party by one of the above idiots. Maybe you were just passing by and got dragged into the festivities. Who cares, really? You're here now!

Out in front of Cottage 1 there's the beautiful banner that you see above hanging on the outside, lovingly crafted by one of the twins. The twins have also lovingly crafted some vodka using magic and potatoes. Potato magic. And hey! There's also stuff that the twins cooked! Like potato tornadoes, fried shark genitals and Fantasy Kentucky Fried Pterax! And other food! And there's a fire! And activities! And drinking!

Mainly drinking. In fact, there is a large cooking pot that, at the moment, is full of the most moonshine-iest vodka you have ever had. There are empty halves of coconut shells to serve as cups, as well as some clay cups that may or may not have come from an interesting source. So help yourself! Who knows how long it'll last, considering the amount of guests. Heck! It might even be repurposed later, after all the vodka is gone! So drink up.

Anyway, feel free to join in on the festivities! There will be several threads for activities where people can mingle, or you can start your own. Have a party, chill out, and/or imbibe ill-advised substances to try and forget that you died. Wheeeee!

Comments

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet notices the past tense, but doesn't say anything about it, since it doesn't seem like it would be kind or polite to bring it up.]

That does sound like a lovely culture- except possibly for the part about trees?

[Does she even want to know, is the question.]

Are they very physically similar to humans, like the elves I've met, or are they more varied? From the name I would perhaps guess that they tend to be rather short, but it seems rude to assume...

[greatcleavage]

Dwarves are somewhat shorter than humans, generally under four feet, while halflings are shorter still. Halflings are generally fairly human-proportionate, while dwarves tend to have shorter limbs and more length of torso, relatively speaking.

[prettypurpleparlor]

But still fairly humanoid, I'm assuming? No wings or tails or the like.

[greatcleavage]

Oh yes. The most common races all follow that basic template. There are a few exceptions, like tieflings, which tend to have tails, but they're still quite uncommon proportionally, just overrepresented in the adventuring population.

[prettypurpleparlor]

Fascinating... monsters tend to have much more varied body types than humans do- there are quite a few that aren't even solid, and plenty more that aren't nearly as humanoid in shape as I am. I believe the assumption is that there's less of a difference because humans have to stick to what works with biology in order to survive, whereas a monster can make up the gaps with magic even if they wouldn't otherwise be able to function.

What makes tieflings in particular an exception to the template, do you know? Do they just happen to have tails, or are they notably more magical than other species?

[greatcleavage]

What we call 'monsters' are the most part biological creatures, although some of them may have more or less magic inherent in them which supports what isn't actually biologically possible.

Honestly, from what you've described monsters as, you seem closer to creatures from the outer planes... which, speaking of tieflings, they are partly descended from. Tieflings have devilish heritage.

[prettypurpleparlor]

Oh? How are we similar?

As I've said, we only have the one plane of reality to work with at home, as far as anyone can prove just yet, so I'm afraid I'm not familiar enough with the concept of outer planes to be certain.

[greatcleavage]

Well, extraplanar creatures are in many ways more spiritual than physical, and oftentimes are so magical it's impossible to separate it from their biology. The outer planes are, among other things, where mortal souls go after death.

[prettypurpleparlor]

That does sound like a very close match to our state, save for the fact that we're native to the same world as humanity.

I think there are a few old myths that we originally came from... mm, someplace higher and greater than the physical world, that our ancestors descended long ago and chose to remain for whatever reason. But honestly, there are a great many myths, and that one always seemed to me a tad too smug about the idea. We're not any better or worse than most people, I think, just more magic and less matter.

As for where souls go after death...

[She shrugs delicately.]

Most monster souls fade from the world near immediately, humans and some rare, very powerful monsters can linger for a time, but they still don't last very long without something to contain them. Where it is any of them go once they vanish from our world completely, no one's certain.

[greatcleavage]

I mean, honestly, even if you came from a higher plane, there are a lot of outer planes. The sort of smugness about it all is... well, it seems par for the course if my theory is correct, honestly. Do you have ghosts?

[That might answer a few questions, if monster souls can actually linger, chained to their earthly demense.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

Ah... well, yes and no.

I'm assuming you mean ghosts in the sense of wandering spirits, those dead but not gone? As far as I'm aware, those only exist in my world in stories and superstitions- neither humans or monsters leave them behind. A soul can be captured or taken by someone actively trying, but they don't just linger of their own accord.

What we do have is a subspecies of monster that are naturally incorporeal, who can possess and control inanimate objects in order to interact with the physical world. They're born, live, and die just like anyone else- but they are called ghosts, and the name caused no end of confusion when we were first reconnecting with humanity.

[greatcleavage]

[Roy stares at Muffet a moment, then lifts one hand to his head. He is perfectly well aware this all makes entirely too much sense -- all he needs to do is discard everything he understands, dismiss the concept of lore and ecology out of hand, and assume any creature one might encounter from the Monster Manual is a monster.]

Okay, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this, by which I mean I'm starting to realize I just can't draw any sort of parallel between your world and mine without a lot more knowledge than either of us possess.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[She gives him a sympathetic look, regrettably familiar with the figurative and literal headaches of trying to understand other worlds.]

Unfortunately, that's probably the case- it's a shame they didn't send a few universities' worth of scholars to this island instead of a motley collection of unlucky people, but I suppose we have to work with what we have.

As it is, I've noticed that a recurring problem seems to be people having the same names for radically different concepts.

[For example, the definition of the word 'monster' that apparently everyone but her is familiar with.]

[greatcleavage]

[Roy snaps his fingers abruptly, straightening up slightly.] That's the answer! It's a parallel linguistic evolution possibly exacerbated by whatever effect appears to have homogenized our language here! If we just assume that the terms we use have converged on a single term based on commonalities, that explains everything!

[prettypurpleparlor]

Hm, not an implausible answer. To be entirely honest, I have a lot of questions about how this apparent universal translation even works in the first place. From what I understand, it's a difficult enough task even with languages that come from the same world to begin with.

[greatcleavage]

Comprehend Languages is just a first-level spell, though this effect is somewhere more complicated since we all appear to be speaking the same language rather than simply understanding different ones... but out of curiosity, did all monsters speak the same language where you were from? Because I'd assume that would have to be a magical effect given differences in physiology...

[For example: don't ordinary spiders not have lungs?]

[prettypurpleparlor]

Hm, there's another notable difference between our worlds: assigning specific levels to spells. Even leaving aside our differing connotations to that word, our magic generally doesn't have a precise numerical indication of the difficulty involved, just a general understanding of 'this technique is easier and that one's harder'. A bit like, say, the skill needed to read a children's storybook as opposed to the skill needed to read a classic novel.

[I mean, ordinary spiders also don't have economic systems, so.]

In my day and age we do, yes- although I suspect that's more the result of being forced into one kingdom with a relatively small amount of space and no readily available way to leave. A great deal of monster culture was wiped out in the War, so it's likely quite a few different languages were lost in the process.

Though we also have the option of communicating with each other via exchanging magical energy, so we don't always have to rely on language.

[greatcleavage]

[Muffet is always a delightful fountain of information, and her comment are thorough enough to answer the easy questions and raise many more complicated ones. He's already thinking of a number -- most of which that last comment strike out of his head or put far on the back-burner.]

Wait, really? Does that work universally or only within your kind?

[prettypurpleparlor]

Definitely just other monsters, as far as I know.

[Muffet's emphasis on that is firm, grimacing as she explains:]

Monster magic is so heavily linked to emotion and intention, so another monster would only be harmed by my hitting them with a pattern of magic if my intent was genuinely hostile. But since they aren't made of magic like we are, humans can't safely absorb magical energy- it harms them every time, regardless of intent. There's been more than one case of a monster who didn't know any better trying to have a conversation with a human and hurting them without meaning to.

[Poor, poor Frisk. As if all the people who were actually trying to kill them weren't enough of a problem to deal with already.]

[greatcleavage]

Hm. So by that token, you're never defenseless. That... wow. I mean, even a human could kick and punch, but I'm getting the impression that what you're describing can be significantly more harmful than that.

[Which certainly offers an interesting insight into monster psychology... that he can't make any broader statements about. If they're all as reasonably nice as Muffet, no surprise -- but she might just be exceptional.]