un: brimming cup of earthly passions | audio

[remugient]

Uh.

[She regrets doing this instantly, clearing her throat and fidgeting.]

So, we still have some chickens with us. They're-- Actually, I never did name them? We should probably give them names?

Anyway, the...rain at night is a problem, I don't think chickens are supposed to stay wet like that and I'm pretty sure the whole....blood aspect of it might be bad for them. I tried making little raincoat cloak things for them but they couldn't really stay on.

[She's quiet for a moment; there's a faint clucking noises of the chickens in her lap and a soft little laugh before Vanya seems to remember she's supposed to have a point to this.]

They're still laying eggs though, but I don't know if the blood rain thing is going to stress them out and make them stop, but I've still been gathering them. So if you want eggs... [You know, make sure the chickens are healthy!!]

Uhh... That's it. I guess I just wanted to see if there was anyone other than me and Elven that know how to take care of things like chickens, I guess. The soldiers are pretty nice? The chickens seem kind of weird about them, but...

Thanks.

[There's a long pause and then a deep sigh, Vanya muttering to herself.] Alright, great job, team. Public speaking and you didn't vomit once. You guys have it so easy. Just be fluffy and cute and lay eggs.

[There's an answer clucking and then some weird sounds that's most certainly the chickens deciding the quartz piece is a toy to fight over before the sound cuts out at Vanya's "dont'!" of alarm]

un: what a load of pollocks | audio

[sergeant_slick]

So these quartz things--they're useful, but they're not forever. They could get broken or lost, and that kind of thing never happens when it's convenient for anybody. And given that it's our only translation device, that could get somebody killed if things go wrong enough.

We need to start trading basic, emergency vocabulary. So that if somebody loses their quartz, we'll still have a few words we can throw your way to keep you alive. And I mean really basic--think of the simplest, most idiot-proof way somebody could get across an idea, no matter how terrible their accent is. Bonus points if the words can't be easily confused for each other if things are hectic.

I'm not a translator so I don't know the proper way to go about this, but there's some places I can think to start: words for yes and no, friend and enemy, directions and distance, run, stop, ways to ask if somebody's alright, or say somebody's hurt, ah... [He stops, running a hand through his hair.]

Could go on, but that's a set to start with. Not sure if we can actually share this stuff over the quartz, so we might just have to swap words in-person.