[OPEN] days don't feel different from the nights

[onegreeneye]

Who: Ginko and anyone
What: Landscape restoration, medical supply collection, and more!
When: about the first half of October
Where: around Enso and islets
Warnings: questionable coping mechanisms

A - Enso

The nice thing about being a troll is that Ginko can get a pretty considerable amount of work done at a time in restoring Enso’s landscape, even when slightly injured. In fact, in the weeks following Ahidalga’s defeat, that’s what he spends most of his time on.

Ginko brings down an axe provided by the Storyteller on a charred, cracked tree trunk, one that was already leaning dangerously over, then plants his hands on the wood, getting ready to push it the rest of the way over.

His ear twitches at the sound of movement nearby, and he glances up just long enough to confirm that it’s a person - whether someone more humanoid, or simply someone he can recognize as not local wildlife - before turning his attention back to the dead trunk. “--Hey. Careful of this one, it’s going down in a moment.”

B - Enso I2

He would hope that anyone else who got burned during Ahidalga’s attack would have healed by now. He almost has, and might have been further along if he had spent more time resting in the last few weeks - but that isn’t an option. He’s got to keep his mind on something.

In this instance, that “something” is harvesting more leaves for treating the burns that people may or may not still be suffering from. He’s managed to get himself up into one of the mangrove trees on this stretch of beach (which wasn’t a great experience with a burn still healing on his hip), and there he harvests leaves from the tree, carefully and methodically. He’d rather not end up hurting it.

Absorbed as he is in his work, he’s not paying much attention to his surroundings - or his tail, which is swishing back and forth below the branch he’s sitting on, potentially at… roughly face height for anyone passing under the tree. From the ground, it might look like there’s some kind of animal up there, honestly.

C - Wildcard

(( OOC: Though Ginko will be spending most of his time on replanting and collecting supplies, he will also occasionally be around to help chase off invasive animals, as well as periodically sleeping in the cottage he shares with Ed and Epsilon on Islet 5, so feel free to run into him anywhere around Enso or on the islet! If you want to plan something out, contact me on this journal, the game discord, or at omixgirl10. ))

Comments

[onegreeneye]

"I can only imagine." He smiles slightly despite himself, his own tail thumping against the ground a couple times. "Definitely sounds better than trying to gather up as many supplies as possible before they disappear for the year."

Especially given how difficult some remedies can be to find even when they're growing. Being able to grow herbs whenever and wherever you want sounds pretty incredible to him.

[reflash]

"And it gives you easy access to plants that have to be used fresh, like aloe." He isn't exactly lecturing, but there's a little bit of a shift in his tone as he pokes around the mangrove tree and starts looking at the plants nearby. He's a teacher, and he's in his element, and it's a lot less stressful than anything else he's had to deal with recently.

"Of course, some exorcists can summon greenmen, who can grow plants instantly, but most Doctors aren't Tamers and we don't always work with Tamers who bond with greenmen, so we can't rely on that possibility."

[onegreeneye]

For the most part, Ginko tends to be more used to telling other people about herbal treatments than being told about them - but he's never been one to turn down a chance to learn.

Besides which, he's had to learn a lot over the last few years. It's gotten to a point where it's pretty nice for that new information not to be an issue of life or death, at least not for the moment.

"Greenmen?" Of course that term would stick out to him. It feels reminiscent, in a way, to the way some types of mushi were talked about, back in his own world; he suspects that's a coincidence, of course, but it seems worth asking about.

[reflash]

"They're small forest spirits. They're rarely aggressive, and many can even be friendly. They can cause plants to grow extremely quickly." Yukio isn't exactly fond of the little demons, but...

"One of my... friends" and if his cheeks go a little blue after he stumbles slightly into that word, it's fine. "has a greenman as her familiar, so I've gotten accustomed to seeing them around."

[onegreeneye]

Yukio's fumbling over the word "friend" isn't lost on Ginko - but he knows better than to point it out. He knows he sure wouldn't appreciate someone pointing out any similar stumbles on his end, and he doesn't know this Yukio well enough for it to be any of his business to begin with.

"That is interesting... the name kind of reminded me of something from my world, but in practice they sound somewhere between that and the nymphs from the last place I ended up."

[reflash]

"What are they like from your world? We never had much of a chance to talk about any similarities in the Carnival."

[onegreeneye]

That's a weird thought - and kind of an uncomfortable one. Granted, their original worlds didn't come up much back in Ryslig, but having the topic come up now just... drives home how much this "other" him didn't know Yukio at all, and vice-versa.

He can't get into that, though. Can't show it. So there's only a moment's pause, as easily a second taken to think as anything else, before he replies. "There was a type of organism in my world called mushi - but some called them 'the green ones', or along those lines. They were essentially the type of being closest to my world's source of life."

[reflash]

"You mentioned them, in the Carnival." Yukio says, as a clarification. "They seem to be similar to the lower-ranking demons I'm familiar with. I don't want to go over things you've already learned about."

[onegreeneye]

"Oh, yeah. 'Course." It was probably stupid of him not to consider that the 'other' him probably would have told Yukio about mushi already.

"I don't remember a whole lot; I know that y-- that I learned some about the use of herbs in exorcisms. Some about different demons' elemental affinities, as well. But not much more than that."

He supposes there's a chance he may have forgotten some of it - or it might have gotten jumbled up in his head with information about other worlds' life forms, or the monsters in Ryslig itself, and without the notes he took back then, the best way to untangle that kind of information will probably be to talk about it.

[reflash]

His tail curls around one leg, a slight nervousness even if his expression doesn't betray him.

"Is there something you'd like to learn more about?"

[onegreeneye]

As is usually the case with Ginko, he wants... to know anything he can. About Yukio, about the demons that Ginko knows so little about, a mix of ill-advised personal investment and his usual curiosity. But demons are what he’s being offered an opportunity to learn more about, so he’ll focus on that.

"There was something about... where they came from. If I remember correctly, demons come from a different 'world' than humans, or something along those lines... how do they get to Earth?"

He may be somewhat misremembering, what with it having been a couple years since he even had the opportunity to talk to the Yukio he knew about this, but that's all the more reason to ask.

[reflash]

"They come from Gehenna." Yukio confirms. "It's a plane of existence parallel to Assiah, or... this world. Well, not this world, but the human existence."

As for how they get through... that's a little more complicated.

"The smallest demons can pass through easily, since they aren't moving as much power across the barrier, and the strongest can force their way through, but mid-ranked demons either have to be summoned or occasionally stumble through on their own. The current problem we're facing is that the Illuminati, led by Lucifer, King of Light, have decided to open portals into Assiah. Or... we were, when I left." Why is right now the first time he's thinking about this?

"But that was months ago, so hopefully it's been resolved by now."

[onegreeneye]

It's a lot of new terminology, but Ginko listens intently, nodding slightly as Yukio explains. It makes sense conceptually, at least, even if the words used are totally unfamiliar.

"I would hope so. Too many beings from another world crossing into yours sounds like it'd end badly." Regardless of their intentions, which, he gathers, are mostly bad.

[reflash]

"It will. Gehenna and Assiah can't coexist in the same space. Demonic possession destroys matter, and more powerful demons destroy it more quickly. So opening a doorway up between the two worlds won't end well for either of them."

[onegreeneye]

"Did this 'Lucifer' not consider that, or does he just not care? Assuming you'd managed to find out that much."

[reflash]

"I don't know much about what he wants, but..." how to explain this. There's a lot there, a lot involved and a lot of things he doesn't have answers for yet but knows (from what Shura and Shima told him) that he will eventually. "I don't think he cares very much."

i think i lost the email for this for a while?? rip

[onegreeneye]

Ginko gives a quiet, disapproving hum, which may be something of an under-reaction - but he doesn't think that Yukio really needs him to express that that's goddamn horrifying. He knows.

"Hopefully you're right about it having been resolved by now."

[reflash]

"I don't know if I'll ever find out." He says, and it's frustrating not knowing, not being able to know, when someone else might and might show up with more knowledge than he has.

So he won't focus on that for long, has to find something else to do or think about.

[onegreeneye]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ginko... can't find anything to say to that. Certainly not anything helpful.

So, maybe it's time to change the subject. Like, to a different question about demons. "You mentioned that smaller demons don't have to move as much power to cross the border; is their power linked to their body size?"

[reflash]

"Not exactly," he says, and he's grateful for the change in subject. "More powerful demons tend to be larger, and weaker ones tend to be smaller, but it doesn't exactly track. The most powerful demons tend to possess humans, so they aren't as big as something like a cyclops or a yukiotoko. But the really weak demons are small physically as well as being insignificant enough to get through the barrier easily."

[onegreeneye]

"Do they need to be roughly the size of a human to possess one?" It's a genuine question, because, frankly, he has no goddamn idea how possession works in this context. The closest he saw in his world probably isn't comparable, and... well, having experienced it himself in Ryslig doesn't mean too much when he still doesn't even know what kind of being was responsible.

[reflash]

"Usually." His tongue flicks out, a few times, as he contemplates the easiest way to explain and condense and articulate what Ginko's asking for. He teaches pharmacology, not summoning. "But humans can be influenced or possessed by even minor demons. It's important for exorcists to be aware of their mental health to resist possession."

[onegreeneye]

"So, that has an impact on vulnerability. That makes sense - like how some mushi are mostly dangerous to people in poor health."

Mushi, or, you know, bacteria and the like. But that's not what he specializes in, so he'll stick to what he does.

"How frequent a problem is possession among exorcists?"

[reflash]

"Thankfully exorcists are trained in how to avoid possession." It's a double-edged sword, really. "We're able to resist possession from weaker demons, so if an exorcist does fall, it's usually because they either listened to a demon's temptations, or were being targeted by a specific upper-level demon and let down their guard."

[onegreeneye]

"Let their guard down, how? What does avoiding possession entail?"

Okay now he's just being actively nosy, but, listen. That's what happens when he's curious.