Player Plot: The Big One?

[gatheringstorm]

WHO: Korrin, Araceli, Samouel, Kirk, Christine, Tim Gutterson, The Outsider, Iskandar, Kain (the last thread is open to anyone)
WHAT: Nuggalope shenanigans
WHEN: Any time in the latter portion of Harvestmere
WHERE: In the northern Frostbacks, near Honey Badger Hold.
NOTES: As mentioned here in the OOC comm.

 

Comments

[universal_charm]

Oh of course I had training. The command track has quite a few classes on diplomacy, no matter how boring they can get. But when you meet a new people, a people no one else has ever met before, those kinds of accidents can happen. Most are forgiving, but some much less so.

_{[ He gave a half shrug and a little smile, working down to her calf. ]}

Yeah, I've had that feeling too. What about your friend there? Think he feels like that around us? I know the kittens must the way they look at me sometimes.

[foxsays]

It's why everyone gambles where I'm from. You learn a tell at the table, you learn them everywhere else. There were plenty of things my other tutors as a girl didn't have to take so long to teach me because some of it was in my head already. Same with my pistol and duelling instructor.

[But then that's maybe more from her specific parents; Araceli can teach how to spot tells but there are plenty more lessons from the brothel that aren't nearly so simple to teach, not when you grew up knowing them and you do them without thinking.]

Lux? Lux thinks he's the lord of all he surveys when he can get away with it but I taught him to be a lookout. You ever see him working with me properly, you'll see how much he understands. When he wants to. Plenty of times he doesn't just to be contrary, I've heard that's often the way with cats.

[universal_charm]

Well, humanoid tells don't work when it comes to species that eschew emotion entirely, or who look more like birds than than anything, or may not have skeletal body forms at all. That's why it can be difficult and things get mistranslated.

_{[ Kirk wasn't much of a gambler though. He enjoyed Wicked Grace and Poker well enough, but his game of choice was actually chess and other strategic mind games that relied less on luck and more on skill (which might be ironic considering a good portion of some of his plans relied on luck mixed in with the skill). ]}

I'm finding that out for myself. Leonard and Nikita have their good and bad days, that's for sure. I've at least trained them to use a littler box or go outside to use the bathroom and to wear a harness. Which is really about all I can expect, honestly. I'm not pushing for more miracles.

[foxsays]

Wait-- [Actually let her sit up properly and take a swig from her flask because what. The flask is offered out to Kirk too - watered rum, sailor's rations - as she takes a moment to think before she says anything.] How can...can 'people' not have skeletons? I know some creatures cannot but those are usually small. Usually in the sea for us too.

[If Araceli had years she couldn't explain even half of what lurks in the waters of Castileos and beyond.]

Leonard? [That makes her think of Church, getting to tell him about this adventure when he's back.] If I put Lux in a harness you'd just hear him shrieking, I tried it a few times when he was little so you're doing better there. Do you have toys? They're good for teaching them.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He took the flask and a swig, more not to be rude than anything. He wasn't one for drinking on missions even though he had begun to take to it a little since he didn't always trust the water. ]}

You're stuck on the idea of "people" looking like you and me - humanoid that is. On some planets, our form is a detriment, not an advantage, so some species have more in common with a jellyfish than they do us. Life evolves to best suit the environment it's in, so why form bones and gangly bodies when something more compact, light, and flexible is what means you'll survive?

_{[ He had no doubt about that. Some of Earth's ocean still remained a mystery, and he actually liked it that way. Never mind all the mysteries of the oceans of other planets. ]}

Yeah, we have toys, but it's more to tire them out than train them for anything. I like my sleep at night.

[foxsays]

[After the water in Skyhold started making everyone hallucinate? Araceli trusts it even less.]

My people came out of the sea once, in some places they still have gills under their clothes. Not polite to go looking for them but I imagine you must be careful with anyone like a jellyfish, just an accidental brush from a tentacle and you would swear you were on fire. I wish I could see such places - the stories you must be able to tell, I'm so jealous. We shaped our way of life to suit us best though; in one land they faced a monster that would hunt you down if it knew your true name or face, and so it could only be defeated by twins who wore a mask shared a name, and the creature could not attack because it did not know the truth.

[Nerissa would explain this better than Araceli with half her head fuzzy from the climb, the other half unravelling from the relief Kirk's hands are bringing to her leg as she flexes it carefully, grinning when the muscles don't scream this time.]

I can show you a few things when we get back that I used to have. Drawings, I don't have any now and they're-- [home catches in her throat like it does sometimes now, more easily than it did.] Animals do plenty of things out of boredom. You can make toys to hide food or other toys, make life a challenge so they feel like brave mighty hunters. Kept Lux out of mischief when I was younger.

[universal_charm]

_{[ Boil everything. That's Kirk's golden rule. ]}

Heh, well, any time you want, I'll tell you the stories that I can. About jellyfish and a whole lot of in between. Though it sounds like you have quite a few interesting stories all your own to share. How about we trade off? I tell one and then you?

_{[ Seemed fair, didn't it? ]}

I just might need those ideas. Keeping those two from tearing up the loft can be a challenge some days, especially when I don't get to take them out on their walks.

[foxsays]

Absolutely. I think here, for people like us? All the more important to share what's gone on in our lives too. If I hadn't told Sister Nightingale a story from my home she might never have thought to recommend tales of Rivain to me. So I might never have been in Dairsmuid to hear about how bad it was and to ask for the aid of others, including you.

[Maybe they don't know everything about Thedas but recruited into the guard to be the outsider perspective for it? It makes sense. Even if it's just them to start with.]

If I wasn't so worried about anything getting under my feet, I'd have to come spy on some of your walks I think. Maybe I will once I can get back on the rooftops.

[New year feels like such a long time away.]

[universal_charm]

I just have to hope my stories will be believed.

_{[ He laughed a touch wryly, because it was rather the truth wasn't it? His stories sound unbelievable, he knew they did, but he didn't make them up either. They were the true account of his life, but the things he did were so far out of reach for the people here that they sounded like little more than fancy. ]}

You don't have to spy, you're welcome to join if you like.