( audio ) un: jd

[baum]

Hey. Hi, I'm new, I guess.

[ Water can be heard sloshing the sides of the boat around him. Of course, maybe you're on his boat, in which case you get to see him in person, huddled with the device in his hands and his lit candle between his knees. ]

Uh, I don't...fully understand what's going on here. I mean, I read the short version. Taravast, Sa-Hareth. I get it, I'm not in Kansas anymore.

I don't get what we're supposed to be doing. Does anyone know where we're sailing to? And they said keep the candles lit. What happens if we don't, does anyone know? It sounds like magic, and fairytales, and nothing that makes any sense to me. And why can't we sail during the day, is something after us?

[ Something's always after him. This is...well it's a new kind of horror, and it reads like something out of a nightmare, honestly, but he's taken unbelievable horror in stride before. It's just normally the product of science fiction and not fantasy.

But he can deal. Probably.

Also, he should establish allies if he can. Without drawing potential threats to himself. There's a reason this is audio and not video. ]

Name's John Dixon. Uh, for all that this is new to me, I'm a pretty good handyman, so. Let me know if there's somewhere I can pitch in.

Comments

(action)

[sergeant_slick]

[Slick turns his head slightly to listen in as the kid behind him starts talking to his comm. He's been keeping focused on the surroundings--well, mostly. Brooding's also been on the agenda.

But that's not doing him any good. Once the message is done, he pipes up.]

Hey. Figured you were new. Welcome to this whole mess. [He turns in his seat, revealing white armor he's hidden under a ratty-looking cloak.]

The guy leading the way doesn't believe in briefings, as far as I can tell. But this planet's got a habit of hiding nasty shit in the water. None of this magic stuff makes any sense, but it's worked so far.

[With the translator devices in use, it's hard to hear what John's actually saying. But Slick can pick up just enough to recognize a few words.] That's English you're speaking, right? Are you from Earth?

[baum]

[ John looks up. He doesn't know anyone else, either in this boat or out of it, and he figures they must all be from different places. Even so, that white armour is a surprise. Not very camouflage.

He turns up a slight smile, though. ]

Yeah. Uh, Kansas. [ His John Baum identity had been blown, and he'd needed to come up with another on the spot. Names are a lot easier than fine details. His mom always drummed it into him. Until he comes up with a new story, he's going to borrow from Baum's. ] Nothing in the water there. At least so far as I know. Magic stuff is new to me.

Where are you from?

[sergeant_slick]

[Slick's got no idea what a Kansas is. A place? A people? A swear word? He'll roll with it, though.]

Kamino, technically. [He wouldn't go so far as to call it home.] This place is completely insane, but I can confirm, the magic stuff's real. I've picked up a couple bits of it from one of our crew here. [Which was honestly the biggest deal about this planet, and another reason to get back home. Force stuff wasn't just for the Jedi after all. They'd lied about that.

But heading back was going to have to wait, apparently. And it sounded like John here didn't know about that whole disaster either. Seriously, did no one bother to give the newbies anything? This is getting tiring. Not the kid's fault, but still.] We've got confirmation local tech can provide a viable way off-world too, but the first window we got was too brief. Only a few people made it away before we lost power. We're relocating to give it another shot.

[baum]

[ John straightens a little, staring at him. ]

I didn't think the tech here was anything to shout about. So we're looking for what, a...portal, some kind of vehicle?

[ A ship? As in, a spaceship? That's the kind of image that gets conjured at the term 'off-world'.

It's not an image that sits very well with the rest of what John's seen here. ]

audio. @wicked.thistle

[soulmonger]

If you figure it out, let me know. ( there's water sloshing behind her as she sighs. ) I think we're trying to find a way home? But also we're supposed to be witnessing the shit they deal with here?

I don't really understand the point of it.

[baum]

Is that why they brought us here, to be witnesses?

[ But to witness what, particularly? And why them? ]

[soulmonger]

Depends what you mean by here. The villages the boats are taking us to? Yes.

This world? I think we're part of some power struggle.

un : dappled peals of the parted seas (voice)

[beitangmoran]

The general order of things is, we're going east, because in this direction are citadels that own beacons, like Taravast, that have the capabilities of bringing us home. The reason why is that the undead lords of this place apparently are quite fond of transplants like us and our abilities and would like them for themselves, and previous attemps at eliminating the threat differently did not turn out well.

[Soryy not, sorry, Moran does at time like to har himself speak.]

As for right now, I would assume we are going to Ellethia, where our charming sponsor for this trip is from. As for why... he seems to want to give us a lesson of sorts. I am a bit unsure why.

[baum]

Wait a second, they're fond of transplants?

[ Does that mean what it sounds like it means? Because that's horrifying. ]

Are you saying they want our bodies?

[beitangmoran]

Actually, the bodies seem secondary. Our souls and powers are of more interest.

un: stormborn; voice

[song_of_fire]

I would say one of the larger reasons we were brought here was to stop the undead's destruction of this world. There...hasn't been a fight of late. Our last skirmish was a revolution.

For now, we are to inspect one of the first villages hit by the undead. We are seeing the aftermath.

[baum]

The undead.

[ She seems to believe it as fact, where to John, it sounds insane. ]

What do they expect us to do?

[song_of_fire]

Stop them, fight them. I think the Merchant could tell you more.

[It sounds ridiculous, but she's seen enough to believe.]

There was a massive army assembled not far from the citadel. Though the necromancers might be more of a threat. We shall see.

un: absterge

[downswing]

Light and salt often ward spirits.

Seas are saline. We bring light.

[baum]

So the evil we're warding away is ghosts?

[ Thank god for text. Text can't convey exactly how little he can make himself believe that. ]

[downswing]

A probability among possibilities.

audio ; @centipede

[enucleation]

It's better to listen to them, they have known this place longer than we have. Magic and fairytales do exist in this world... or perhaps we ought to call them eldritch horrors. [ much more fitting ]

We weren't told what we are looking for, though. The Merchant likes to keep everything a secret.

[baum]

I'm hearing a lot about the Merchant. Can I talk to him?

[enucleation]

Yes, you can contact him directly.

A heads up, he is a pragmatic and no-nonsense man. Seems to enjoy civility... perhaps a bit too much.

un: man's greatest treasure (audio)

[reparo]

[all reasonable questions for someone new to ask, and she wants to help here, so - the voice: female, young, British, and for now patient.]

The good news is that you are not the only one to be going through this. We were all new to this world once, and from the look of it, it never stops being...a lot. Anyway - hi, John. My name's Hermione.

[a pause.]

Some of those questions, I can answer. We're sailing to safety, presumably, with a detour to the land where our patron is from. Maybe it's a lesson, maybe it's just a reasonable pitstop.

But if we are told to keep the candles lit, keep them. We've had troubles with monsters, and I don't want to learn what comes after us if the candles go off.

And yes, we...[the voice is less patient now, more frustrated] left a bit of a mess behind us in Taravast, and some people have made enemies. So it's likely that we are being followed.

[baum]

Hey, uh. Hermione.

[ There's a name he's never heard before. Watch him trip over how to pronounce it. ]

If we're being followed, I feel like it's a bad idea to keep lights lit on our boats at night.

This is the stuff I need to know, though. How many enemies, how powerful? And what kind of monsters? If we need to fight, we should be putting some kind of plan together. Something beyond just candles, you know?

[reparo]

[Sweet Circe, is every young adult dragged into this world experienced at survival and combat? Then again, the alternative is for civillians to be dragged into this with absolutely no way of defending themselves.]

Yes. Well. I feel like the candles are doing a lot to keep creatures from attacking our boats, and magic doesn't always listen to reason. Please keep it lit, for everyone's sake.

For the rest, we've dealt with fire-casting witches, with tyrants, with the undead, with soul-sucking creatures...a bear, at one point.

[ audio; un: cloud on the wind

[badlypoisoned]

We do not. Though I find myself curious, I would advise against trying to find out by not following the instructions. Especially if you only hesitate because you do not believe in magic.

[He doesn't believe in magic but, up until recently, he also wouldn't have believed in other worlds so like. You know.]

What is a 'handyman'? [There seems to be no suitable translation for him so he's confused!]

[baum]

I hesitate because I don't know why, not because I don't believe.

[ He doesn't believe, but enough insane things have happened in his life that he knows not to put any stock in belief. Anyone's world can expand in an instant, he's used to that. ]

A handyman's a...fixer, I guess. I can fix things, especially if they're machines. But I can handle simpler things too.

[badlypoisoned]

That's a better reason. Still, based only on my limited time here, it's best to just take a leap of faith in regards to these things, even if not blind faith.

[For now.]

I see! So a handyman fixes machines... [Though the closest word he got as a translation for 'machines' were 'mechanisms', which, from what he knows of these things is mostly just...] Like traps and weapons?

[Sorry Great Liang = Pre-Industrial Sort-of Fantasy China.]