[NASTRANDIR] - STEADY HEARTBEATS LEAD ME

[lifeaftr_mods]

Who: Everyone!
What: A new friend makes themself available for questions, propositions, discussions...and answers
When: October 4th, and throughout the rest of the month
Where: Nastrandir
Warnings: Nothing of note!

For the second time in as many months, the waters about Ensō rise, though not nearly as much as they did in the month prior.

This time, the water's intent does not appear to be outright submersion, but rather seeking - small strands of water separate from the larger pools and wind their way across the island's surface until they've found what it is they seek. Namely, you. Someone to talk to.

Throughout the day, each islander is certain to spot the water behaving in this strange manner at least once, snaking its way towards them before curving and splitting into much more recognizable forms on the dirt below them.

It's forming words.

You seek many things. So do I. You can answer some of what I seek. I can answer some of what you question.

Beside the mana pool of Nastrandir. All are welcome.

Waiting for you in the once shallow recesses of the swamps, the great water dragon that battled alongside others in defense of Nastrandir is...smaller, having shed some of its bulk to make conversing more simple. Move as close as you'd like - or stay as far away as you're able. They don't mind. The Water's patience is unending, and this conversation will begin with you.

No matter how long it might take.

For the more cautious of characters, the Water will remain passive regardless of how long one needs to stake them out, only retaliating against attempts to attack them. Otherwise, the great creature remains in the water, looking only to those who step close to the waterline, and failing to do more until indicated that such actions are desired of it.

So speak up, friend, and let your intent be known. For there's much to discuss - and for you, only mortal amounts of time to do so.

This NPC will be available to interact with for the remainder of the month; characters do not have to approach them on the precise day to have a discussion!

Comments

10/4

[demonpuppy]

Chip lingers a ways away from the shoreline for quite some time. They pace up and down the rough transition from rocks to sand, beginning to make a few timid steps toward the Water before Chip's gaze connects with their own and they turn sharply around to pace and panic a bit longer. After a few minutes of this, however, they finally gather together enough courage to cross about halfway across the sand, just close enough to be able to speak without raising their voice too much.

"Why'd...why did you help us?" There's barely even a pause for breath before they startle and stammer on, "N-not that--I mean, it was--!! You helped a lot, a-and we're--I'm glad, but I don't--I thought you don't...like them?"

[thankgods]

They don't need to see you in order to know where you are, child. Their presence would be clear enough, simply through the waters running in their veins; the composite which makes up such a vast majority of their being. But the lands of Nastrandir are still sodden, and every step imprints itself down, a map of pacing and hesitation.

Still, they wait, motionless at Chip's final approach. Even their eyes appear closed.

"It was an action of mutual benefit." Their voice rushes in and out, like waves against the shoreline. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, a proverb from ages past. I helped, as did you."

The water around them ripples in a calm, almost settling motion.

"Be more direct, child. You thought I disliked your kind? Or is it dislike of the one you follow?"

[demonpuppy]

They flinch a little at the perceived reprimand, ducking their head and clutching their hands a bit tighter against their sides.

"I-I'm sorry! I meant--I meant about...the Storyteller." Their head is still ducked slightly, but they still watch the great liquid form with no small amount of nerves. Chip is almost sure that they've made a massive mistake even coming here, but the Water...they asked. When God--when a god says something...you're not supposed to turn that down.

"I don't...I don't know a lot of what we've been learning, but. I know you're a big part of stuff."

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Okay. Okay! Everything about this is creepy and bad, but, Church supposes that investigating whatever this creepy message of water is is...better than moping around the island. Even if it's a damn shame Nastrandir is still standing. Didn't a whole-ass dragon come burn it down?

So, yeah, when Church sees a water dragon, heeeee's definitely not getting any closer than seems absolutely necessary. To the waterline? Hahaha, are you joking? No thank you! No, no thanks. He's going to yell if he has to. It's something he's good at. At least he can't drown! That's a plus! That's a definite positive.]

Sssssooooo...did you send out sentient water like a telegram, or, like, am I waiting for someone else?

[thankgods]

[Very slowly, they tilt their head down to look at him.

Surely

Surely, this mortal has more to ask than that.]

Is this what your kind would call a rhetorical question?

[yourattention]

Hello. [Connor sets a ring made of holly flowers down.] I didn't have time to make a more appropriate offering

[He tries to give gods appropriate offerings when he wants something from them. In this case he wants something that's being given freely, but it's only polite.]

[thankgods]

[The water around the god ripples, a small ring that creeps onto the shoreline and covers the flowers in a thin, but all-encompassing grasp. All too quickly, his offering is pulled into the depths, never to be seen again.

By him, at least.]

This is appropriate enough. [There's an undercurrent of approval. This one knows how to be respectful, if nothing else.] As is the effort.

10/4

[hellawrath]

This is the worst booty call Lup's ever seen and she's having none of it. Although she's not among those who got overtaken by the Water a couple months back, or accepted any of its suspish as all hell handouts, this appointment is one she's gonna follow up on instantly. She's got just, unreal amounts of beef with this entity.

It's only coincidence that Taako was right there when the waters started creeping up on her, and he's not gonna let her fistfight the ocean by herself, turns out? Not that her brother's company is gonna hold her back, even, at least not while she's marching right up to the shoreline, eyes narrowed and hand on the handle of her Umbra Staff.

"Okay, I've got a question for ya, Aquaman. What the fuck is your game, here? Handing out weapons like candy, rolling up for a chat, like you didn't fucking try to drown us before?! Twice!"

[ohshitsweetflips]

Oh like hell is Taako gonna let Lup so much as arm-wrestle an errant slip-n-slide, but he's not exactly feeling a hundred percent vegetarian towards the water himself. If he had to assign a meat value to his feelings about any of these manipulative ass god types, it probably would not drop beneath a solid 'veal' no matter how passively chill they seem intent on being in this moment. Leave the Parlay schtick to Merle.

But that doesn't mean he's going to go in Magic Missiles a-blazin, and he would very much prefer it if Lup didn't, either. He doesn't even really like her being all up on the shoreline like this, and it shows in his posture, braced to pull her away from--whatever water does, one ear canted in suspicion. It's a fair question though, he has to give her that.

"Gotta admit, that does run a little uh, hot and cold, on replay," he says, bottling up a wince with his grin. Steering Lup out of straight up antagonizing the water that surrounds their stupid island is gonna be a fun tightrope to Dex roll on. "Unless you're about to tell us that was some other ocean and you feel just super bad about the whole thing?"

[ideismo]

[...This is fine.

Terca Lumireis is no longer in an age where the Entelexeia are deserving of worship; it's no longer at a point where Alexei would be expected, as a military commander, to offer up respect and platitudes and beg for any assistance that's being offered. The Entelexeia have fallen, and the Empire has more than proven its point, and while the gods here are not the Entelexeia they are also not different enough to require different treatment, on the whole.

(Well. The bees were kind of in a class all their own, but that is neither here nor there.)

Even so, there's hardly much sense in being hostile, and in starting out one's relationship with another by making an enemy of them; as such, when he approaches the waterline it's to offer a bow deep enough to get the point across but shallow enough to keep from putting the back of his neck on full goddamn display, and as he straightens he speaks, and when he remains almost but not quite at attention it's through habit rather than through reverence.]

Forgive my directness in asking, but I do believe you said you have things to ask of us. I'm curious as to what you believe we have to offer you.

[thankgods]

[If they were a god born of interest and curiosity, they would be more keen on these responses- the individual tick of each of these mortals, the way their lives change the way they respond to everything. Even the gods.

They are not that god. There's respect shown out of courtesy, one they can respect in turn. It's a reasonable, ambivalent exchange, as positive as such a beginning can be.]

That much is simple. It is the exact thing you have been offering this entire time, to the one you call Storyteller.

Power.

10/07

[thermalwind]

Now that he is less of a mess (or at least a little more out together), it is time for answers. He has fought and fought to get them even when he was younger and not quite as learned in the ways of carefully obeying rules. He misses Allura and so many others who could do this better than he.

But he still walks to the shoreline alone, out of armor and dressed in his casual best. He chafes at formality but Kolivan has told him knowledge was more than his pride. He had long swallowed his own pride. It did no good to cling to it. The water offered answers. He will get them. When he arrives at the shoreline he comes to a stop far enough away he doesn’t have to shout to be heard. “I agree to the terms of this talk. I do have questions. I do have answers. Let’s see if we can figure out what is going on. But on one condition.”

He kneels down and draws his weapons, he flips his knife so the hilt is pointed at the sky and sinks the blade onto the swamp. Then he steps back despite every instinct screaming at him not to do this. His hands are held up and empty. “No harm to you or me. By ourselves or by the hand of anyone else. Is that acceptable?”

[thankgods]

They've come and gone, blips that require acknowledgment, but blips. Small pebbles flicked into the center of the lake of time, barely enough to have an impact on the surface.

Until their impact begins to ripple.

This one, he gains a chuckle. A low rumble that froths the water around the Water's draconic form, tail flicking.

"No harm to either of us, this, we can agree."

Brazen, for a mortal.

10/10

[lesbeau]

[Beau's gonna give this one a hot minute to settle. She feels she operates best in the shadows, or at least with a bank of data before she goes charging in to debate with something much stronger than she is. She might be dumb in many situations, but at least she has the brain to do research-- however much that means when all she can gather are stories from others. But it's been roughly a week now, meaning it's time to get her actual questions in line and pay a visit.

Just in case it matters, she brings the trident along. Just in case.

Beau approaches where it's waiting in a bit of a lackadasical form, looking still casual but obviously having a lot of thoughts she isn't directly spitting out.]

Hey. You enjoyed the welcome so far? Or lack of, considering most of the people here.

[thankgods]

"Does water thrive on being welcomed? It comes and goes as it will,as it must."

[ Their tone is placid and calm, a tranquil sea. If they're bothered by the range of responses, they don't show it. ]

"You may do as you wish, respond as you may. All mortals do."

10/4; for Kravitz and Ren

[deathfindsaway]

[He doesn't so much run to this new entity as soon as it becomes willing to talk as he does immediately launch into Investigation Mode. This involves letting the Water know he will be there posthaste, bolting the entire way back to his camp to pick up an additional notebook and previous notes, and then having a small Moment in the draped blanket Ren made for his birthday that still goes up sometimes. It's covered in spray adhesive and sand, but it's the thought that counts. This is also why she's tagging along, after a bit of discussion- he knows well enough that she's going to find her way here whether he wants it or not, and the best he can do is keep an eye. Besides, her charm worked for the Storyteller, despite consequences. It may carry the same weight here.

That doesn't stop him from looking overtly formal as he arrives to where this dragon is waiting, Ren in tow, back straight and eyes looking serious.]

So. You have finally chosen to reveal yourself to us for conversation.

[It's all the power he has not to just Yell right from the get-go, but who knows how long that'll last.]

[catpiper]

[The water is terrifying and the addition of the dragon doesn't make it any better. It's only after watching for hours and hours that she felt assured it wasn't going to drown them, even if that tentative fear remains in the back of her mind. She initially wasn't going to make the trek, finding it easier to let sleeping dragons lie, but his frantic search around camp caught her attention. Letting him go alone seemed like a bad idea. She's not particularly interested in answers-not like he is. She's got a different goal here.

So Ren lets him take the lead, standing behind him on her tiptoes to get a better view of the dragon? The snake? The weird whatever in the water. Can it really speak to them?]

Are you okay?

10/8

[forwearemany]

It takes a while, for them to actually approach and initiate conversation. When, they do, however, the words that come are probably not what's expected.

"You damaged us."

When the water came on the shore that time. After the event where the memories took over. Before the dragon.

[thankgods]

"My nature clashes with your mortal form. It is something I cannot control."

[ Despite the passive words, they sound almost...apologetic, in a distant way.

But they won't ask for forgiveness, nor will they beg pardon or say sorry. That's as much as Legion will be getting from them, for better or worse. ]

10/10

[barberian]

(Yasha has questions, sure, but is this the best place to ask them? Communication with the Stormlord is out; either he's hearing her, and not responding, or she isn't reaching him at all. Neither of those options are attractive to her, but... then again, neither is asking a giant dragon made out of water.

Dragons aren't friendly. They're notoriously violent, and cunning. They're smart, so this could simply be a trap. And still Yasha approaches, because she has a question to ask, and she's not sure to else to ask it of.

This seems like her best bet.)

What is coming closer? I saw it, on the horizon, in a dream. But I don't know what it is. Is it dangerous?

[thankgods]

"It depends on what you think of as dangerous. Many things are, but they can also provide bounty."

[ That is the nature of water, after all, the ocean, its tides. Containing danger and wonder in equal measure. ]

"If it is on the horizon, coming close, then you could have forseen an arrival. The coming of a new land."

[yallstupid]

[Hot damn, we're doing this, huh? Well alright then. Guzma's not exactly been, uh...keen on the events of the past. He was more than aware of the goings-on of Nastrandir and its terrible sleeping Godzilla, but after all that happened with those hellish sirens...he, uh--

He wasn't excited about ever stepping foot on the island again, if he could help it.

Sadly, for him, he does indeed have questions, and his curiosity is...piqued. That, and seeming to get answers from their own resident god doesn't exactly seem plausible. The Storyteller only has a sparse pool of...experience? Knowledge? Insight? The word escapes him, but this entity seems more...vast. Something about them, as Guzma saunters up, barefoot and with his swim trunks under his baggy shorts (like hell he's wearing his good outfit to the swamp again). He kicks his feet in the ankle-deep water and sits on a large stone, arms loose on his knees.]

Man, I ain't gonna lie, not exactly, uh...pleased 'bout this whole thing, homeboy, but I won't let that sour our little tea party. Howzit, brah? Y'all got a name? Otherwise I'm just gonna call y'all Lugia. [BIG SHRUG. Because manners? When staring down a god? Bitch, please, Guzma let those behind before he even came to this damn world.]

[thankgods]

[ If water could shrug, it might. What do you expect me to do about your feelings? it almost seems to say. ]

I have many names. Anuris, Nixis, Ourocus. The Great Changer, the Trident. Chac'lan.

You may call me whatever suits you.

[ They had - have - many names. But those things don't seem to matter as much as they once did. ]

10/13

[semistableman]

[It's not like Bucky makes a habit of talking to the gods around here.

In fact, he tends to avoid it as much as he can, but sometimes... well. He did get some amount of help from the god, didn't he?]

...Do you have a name?

[thankgods]

[ Another asking about names. Mortals seem to place such stock in it. ]

I do. Many, many names. Nageedra, Chac'lan, the Snake, the Wyrm with Three Heads. More besides.

[ They say little else. He'd only asked for their name, after all. ]