Wings of Wonder: NPC Interactions and Investigations

[voidtreckermods]

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WINGS OF WONDER: NPC LOG

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ARRIVAL ISLAND

EAST ISLAND

NORTH TRAIL - SOUTH TRAIL

NORTH ISLAND

SOUTH ISLAND

WEST ISLAND

Comments

[NPCS] FOREVER ONES

[voidtreckermods]

ARRIVAL ISLAND

[voidtreckermods]

A GUARDIAN. Heading in the direction of the East Island will lead them to a statue, face veiled and hunched in an open-palm prayer, with magnificent horns curling around the head. A soothing presence to some, while possibly creepy to others. Like eyes might be watching them nearby...

Those that choose to investigate will find a strange feeling to it, if they're capable of reading energies, or are spiritually inclined. There's something inside it, energy weaving through it. Something trapped, or encased.

Will you attempt to interact with it? Reach out, communicate?

[philosopherspotato]

Potato isn't exactly a thing with spiritual ability so much as something that was cobbled together with a lot of magic, and for that matter something drawing it in. The moment she's off the train she feels woozy- dizzy, sick, even, but the train's gone off by the time that's come to mind so there's no sitting out of this mission.

But she really doesn't feel good, at all.

There's a lot of exploring around to be done- and the more she does it, the worse she feels. By the time the statue is close at all, she's curling up against it more because it provides a good spot to sit and rest, tail wrapping around herself like a security blanket as the homunculus sniffles.

"...I didn't know I h..had allergies..."

That's not what it is at all, but it's not like she really knows any better.

[eternalinquiry]

Wangji is a little perturbed by how his cultivation seems to be a little shaky in this world, his gliding and leaping is taking far more effort than it should. The flowers are a concern when he sees others bursting into horrible sneezes and when he passes by too close to one, he can feel his head spin.

When he sees the strange statue, this is the first sign of any kind of sentient life, so naturally he investigates. He prods at it a little with his energy, he can't sense specifics but he can feel the presence of something (or someone) inside. He decides to try words before just breaking the statue open.

"Hello, I am Lan Wangji." He tries not to feel a little silly for talking to rock.

[jan_ken_hacking]

Before they even set off from the train, the mission statement alone has Kiyoiri somewhat nervous- and Takechirou more-so, with what little the bird understands. 'Birds Bad' isn't really a hard concept for him to grasp, as an animal known for its skill in language and tool creation.

Unfortunately there's not a lot they can well do about that. ...Initially that is.

Being something of a spirit himself, the bird can tell that Something (Someone?) is in that statue. This is probably his best shot!!

"CAW! CAW!" The bird leaves Kiyoiri's shoulder, and quickly lands upon the open palms of the statue, trying to connect to the energy inside. "CAWW!" Help! Help! He needs to be less dangerous seeming! "AAW!!" Help! When he tries to use his power to find the best thing, it hurts! "CAW!!" Why are all the birds bad anyway??? "CAW CAWW!!" Are there just no good birds in this world??

Admittedly, Takechirou is devolving a bit into depressed complaint before he puffs up and shuts up and waits to feel for some sort of response.

Re: ARRIVAL ISLAND

[dnaofahalfa]

Razzy is used to strange statues. It takes a lot to unnerve her. The real surprise is the soothing feeling. That....is decidedly new with statues with some kind of life to them.

But hey, being used to living statues means she sees no reason to hesitate in talking to it when she senses something spirity in it.

"Hello there. What's your name? I'm Razzy," she said.

[wizard_redfive]

After suddenly seeing her power level drop without warning, Dairine is down in the dumps. Between that and this world's strange resistance to even the simplest of readings, she can't help but wonder if it is actively hostile towards them. Hostile or not, something is definitely wrong.

Since she can't traverse to other islands like this, she wanders around their arrival point looking for anything useful she could do. That's when she notices the statue. Or perhaps she was drawn there before she even noticed? Certainly there is something different about this place. Was the material that the statue made of more alive than usual? Or was it a species of its own?

Either way, Dairine reaches out to touch the surface. While her underlying emotions are still a tangle of negative thoughts, she tries to push them aside as she speaks.

"Hello? I am on errantry, and I greet you," she says in Wizard's Speech, mainly out of habit. Will her intention get across even if she's not understood?

[weifinder]

"Well aren't you an impressive looking one," Wei Wuxian says, one of those who've wandered by this statue with its horns and the niggling feeling of it. His brow furrows, and he smiles, because better to greet things with a smile until he learns he's facing something that takes bearing teeth as a sign of outright aggression.

What he does do is, well, bow to the statue, in the way that is common for himself and his people. Fisted hand placed into the centre of his palm, and a bow of his head to the crouched stone. Is it the source of the energy? It's one likelihood, and politeness has yet to land him in worse situations than brazen overtures.

"Hope you don't mind, but, nice to meet you. I'm Wei Wuxian," and if he's talking to a statue, this is not the worst mental health day he's had in the past. He settles his hands over the open stone palms, crouched down similarly to the figure.

[zombiemessiah]

"Ohhhh man, look at the horns on this. Gorgeous, but it's probably the worst at the same time. Birds probably love to perch there."

He's being flippantly superficial at the moment, just looking at a pretty statue, noting that it's well-crafted and wondering if that's what the inhabitants of the weird place are going to look like. If so? Nice. New thing to throw in there.

But when he's up close to it he feels something off of it.

The fuck?

"...You know what? I hope you're not anyone in there 'cause having birds shitting on you and knowing about it would be the worst kind of hell." And he is actually sympathetic, having the takeaway this could be some kind of victim rather than some kind of god or guardian. He saw what the Phytos and the Cordyceps went through. They couldn't go anywhere.

He pats it on the shoulder. As one does when they want to comfort a statue.

Why hello there fellow energy being.

[wewillwewill]

Elidibus comes looking for the sense of presence. Some being native to the islands will surely have insight about them. If there were those near him that vested interest in speaking to 'someone', they would have been invited.

The vessel is a statue but this is fine. It doesn't appear that it's a seal; in the sense that something is displeased to be trapped here, any more than his own vessel is something to be freed from. Well 'seems' to be anyway.

"I would like to offer my greetings. I am Elidibus." He appears confident that he can at least get his intent and message across; even without the SCA it's within his ability.

"I am seeking information. Would you be willing to give it?" In contrast to the world, these statues and what's within them seems to be more welcoming, if nothing more. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't be polite.

[killer_rhythm]

To say Haneul has not been at his best since they arrived here is probably putting it mildly. The light and sound he's constantly absorbing doesn't feel right; he's doing his best to adjust to it, but it's not going well at all, and that's not even getting into the fact that his powers are all off and every time he tries to scan anything at all it makes his head spin.

Still, he's not so out of it that he doesn't notice the spiritual weirdness centered on the statue - and even if he hadn't, Lucy certain would have. He's just not really sure what to do about it. The soothing feeling it seems to be emanating is nice, though, even if he's not quite sure it's safe to trust it (granted, Haneul has trust issues in general, and even if he didn't, Lucy certainly does).

[forceshadowed]

Jaisyn stares up at the statue, head tilting to the side as she processes what she's... feeling from the guardian. There's some sort of energy there for sure, but it's not any of the spectrums of the Force she's gotten herself acquainted with over the years. How curious.

And it's that curiosity that has her reaching out. Not physically; she remains standing there nearly as still as the statue, unmoving except for the slow blinking of her eyes. Through what she feels is the most compatible frequency of the Force she extends that invisible hand, a quiet greeting.

Hello.

[wishalone]

By this point, Kyoko's heard some of the chatter about the statue on the SCA. It's enough to make her curious and trek out to take a look for herself. Even if she didn't know to look for it, she can sense that there's... something... about it. She doesn't know how to describe it, and it isn't anything familiar. But she partially lives by her magic senses, she's used them to track witches ever since she became a magical girl. Even if she can't recognize it, she can feel it.

... even without that, though, this statue makes her think of a monk. Or a Buddha. So, really, it isn't surprising that it has power to it. That there's something alive, here, in a manner of speaking.

Slowly at first, then with more surety as it feels right, Kyoko lifts her hands and presses them flat together, like she would at a shrine.

Hey, you can hear me, right? She doesn't know how well her telepathy will work when everything else is weird. But it's worth a shot.

[motherofresistance]

Now this was interesting. It reminded her vaguely of certain Jedi statues that she'd seen or heard about, a similarity that was comforting when so much else felt off. And yet, there was something more too it than mere stonework. Something alive, almost.

"Well now...", she said, "what are you, hmm?" She sat down across from it in a pose not too dissimilar from the statue's own. She breathed deeply- ignoring the way the plant pollen tickled her nose as much as possible-, settling and centering herself. Not quite into meditation, but enough to focus despite the garbled connection to the Force here. For now, she didn't try to push through the static or even examine it too closely. Instead she simply sent out a gentle pules of Force energy around her to see if the statue- or anything related to it- responded, the equivalent of carefully feeling around semi-blindly. "Can you hear me?"

Re: ARRIVAL ISLAND

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin is in search of tools and materials to fix the bridges, and as he heads east, he comes across the statue. What a strange figure! But he has seen stranger things in his own world. Also, Elves communicate with all sorts of things that are not human. He feels the oddness of that trapped energy, and he has the feeling of being watched.

He stands beside the hooded stone figure, lays a hand on its arm, and speaks. "Are you alive? I'm Curufin Feanorion, an Elf of the First Age of Arda. Not that you'd know that place, but that's who I am. I'm here with the Voidtrecker Express, and we're here to help. Who are you?"

ARRIVAL ISLAND/HEMLA: ONGOING

[voidmissions]

HEMLA. Hemla sits by the way to the East Island bridge, a small dome covering their back, filled with delicately hanging crystals, crystal carvings, and other tokens of appreciation. Tiny white flowers grow at their feet, though their statue is covered in a hood that allows their magnificent horns to poke out, curling around the back of their head.

Their head is bowed, eyes close, a look of content on their stone face. Hands sit open-palmed on their lap.

They will greet any Voidtreckers that come to them, and two sali sit with them, helping them in ways that aren't so obvious to the Voidtreckers. But they will act as interpreters while conversation is still difficult with the Forever Ones, yet won't stop if they want to 'speak' with Hemla one-on-one.

( Note: If you would like to handwave a meeting - leaving energy, asking about something to the salis/Hemla - then leave it here! Or feel free to play out a thread. )

[eternalinquiry]

Wangji will greet Hemla as he passes, possibly exchange energies and ask;
"Can you direct me to the sages house?"

[NPCS] SALI

[voidtreckermods]

EAST ISLAND: NORTH TRAIL

[voidtreckermods]

TO THE NORTH. The way north is mostly clear, surprisingly so. While the blue grass grows long on either side of them, the massive dent in what they travel shows that someone - a large amount of someones - has been through this way. Sometimes the grass rustles and a mouse-like creature can be seen scurrying out, or a 3 ft shrub will headbutt and knock people over, attempting to claim this land as theirs with bizarre glee. But they are minor distractions, and with about a thirty minute walk, the Voidtreckers will see a rather... large sight.

This sight, munching away on the overgrowth, while a group of three sali appear to be at work on the bridge connecting the two points.

However, they are quick to notice the Voidtreckers up the trail. How will they respond? As the sali below appear to be readying weapons.

( OOC: Please group up into one thread. Latecomers are welcomed. )

EAST ISLAND: SOUTH TRAIL

[voidtreckermods]

SOUTH COMPANY. Those heading south will eventually find company -- or, rather, company finds them. They show up unsuspectingly, rocks seen thrown and scattering around the Voidtreckers. Gusts of wind blow up and around them, pushing them back. A few sali make themselves known on high rocks, shouting, 'HALT!' and with arrows drawn, their tips glittering.

Some may be able to sense something - someone more? - around in the long grass. But, it's also hard to tell. Will the Voidtreckers attack back? Or attempt to speak with the sali?

( OOC: Please group up into one thread. Latecomers are welcomed. )

SOUTH ISLAND: ENCOUNTER

[voidtreckermods]

East Island - Sage School - Offering to Teach and Collarborate

[wewillwewill]

Elidibus came to the sage's school on the same day the invitation was extended. He was a willing and avid learner and possessed of knowledge not merely of magic or energy, but its direct manipulation. 'Aether', he often called it in conversation and was willing to patiently explain the concept as it occurred in his world. Conversation wasn't difficult- barring the accompanying discomfort depending on who it was- and he was polite; important tasks would not be interrupted.

Yet he was also open to listening to how it would be perceived by the sali. His struggles, by and large, seem to be largely in the court of the 'aether's' natural repulsion of outsides and its odd sense of 'foreign'. But he could see it, sense it and of his own reserves at least, learn its limits of use so it wasn't as... explosive- though that had taken some practice to get right on the first day.

Importantly, in the spirit of the sali, he was willing to give fair exchange. Not just in observations, donations of energy, or demonstrations but technique as well. He had many millennia of experience, after all. What he offers is not the sense the sali are doing it wrong by any means. Instead it would be alternatives that might be adapted, adjusted and refined for their particular methods.

Just as Elidibus is ever alert for clues on the sali's methods which he can seek to adapt.

[INVESTIGATIONS]

[voidtreckermods]

To Investigate please form a group and begin tagging under the place you wish to investigate. Threads can move normally but when characters try and search or interact with the environment please make their action bold and put MOD in the subject line. Pause your threading until you get a response from voidmissions and then you can continue!

NORTH ISLAND: MOUNTAIN PEAK

[voidtreckermods]

MOUNTAIN REACHED. When the Voidtreckers reach the top, they find their destination: a wide open lake, and some kind of craft half-submerged.

Yet there's something else noticeable - a red fog, lingering in the air. It shrouds over the ship, undisturbed by the winds that don't reach, thanks to the barriers of trees and stone. Coming even near to it causes dizziness, fatigue; not immediately, but gradually, that some will start to notice symptoms. Some form of cover may be needed to get close and to deal with the craft - shielding both their eyes and airways. If left exposed, people will become greatly confused, and start to react in panic, even attacking others until they're moved away from the shroud.

But away from the ship and the thick red shroud, pieces of fabrics, leaf parcels and bits of string may be found scattered along the ground. Nearer to the ship, some bodies can be seen, the satyr-like sali people that didn't survive the crash. Or is that all that ended their lives? Closer investigation may be necessary. Just mind the mist...

WEST ISLAND: ENCLOSURE

[voidtreckermods]

OPERATIONS. Finally, they reach a scene different from the white forest, and to a set of dome-roofed buildings, surrounded by a human-high fencing of the white trees that dominate the area. There are two main entrances, depending on where it is individuals come from. The easiest to find is the south entrance, with gates opened ajar. Tall wide dome buildings can be seen from the gap, as well as ladders and ropes immediately at the entrances.

The west is the last entrance' not easy to reach without taking a long way round, and easier to reach from one of the other entrances, as long as you go in.

But, be warned: there are multiple markers around the enclosure, and exploring the area will lead to unknowing effects. From the entrance, you sense and feel the same as the others outside on your journey here gave - the sense of dread, your body feeling tampered with in some way. And who knows what else - who else? - may be there. Except for the spiritually inclined, who may sense a presence weakly calling out from within. Not with a voice, but with the emotion of desperation itself...