Day 1 - Morning

Morning: 06:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: February 18th - February 25th, 2019 ]

The day begins quietly, with no indications that anything strange could occur today. The Princess and the Knights have all arrived on the island. Maybe you arrived a few days ago or maybe you just got off your red-eye flight before the sun came up. Everyone's on Harsen Island and so is the Wizard.

Things start simpler for Luka Eutychia, Olivia Walkyr, and Rory Honeycomb. The instant they set foot on the island, Olivia and Rory will both get an image of Luka in their heads and realize that they are the good-allured knights and he's the Princess. Luka, meanwhile, will see both Olivia and Rory in his thoughts and realize they're the good allured knights.

The Weather

Sunny.

72°F / 22°C

Slightly breezy, makes the trees wave.

Prompts:

6:00am: It's the early morning celebration van! In all three towns, someone's driving around a vehicle playing blaring music and shouting "Let's go Knights! Let's go Princess! Beat that Wizard!". Seems like someone wants the heroes to succeed, hopefully your characters weren't sleeping. If you confront them, maybe they'll have something to say?

8:00am: Far Haven: All Knights and the Princess are invited to a big breakfast banquet. Come one, come all! Maybe meet some of the locals? Maybe chat with your fellow heroes? All knights are given lanyards, but the princess gets a lanyard and a crown if he's here, and they're all seated at the big hero table.

9:30am: Bamborough: All Knights and the Princess are invited to an oceanside brunch! Wether they live in Bamborough or they live elsewhere and visited here, they're welcome to eat the brunch and participate in waterfront games. Thank the resort owner for this welcome! Or chat it up with your fellow heroes by the water. By now everyone should be full.

11:00am: Craydon: Craydon's welcome is much more modest, the locals have invited the Princess and his knights to the local Multipurpose Center. They've set out a spread of light appetizers, chips and dips, vegetables and spreads, fresh breads and cheeses, modest drinks. It's the least extravagant of the welcomes but the locals are still here to meet and greet everyone. With a smile and a handshake they wish everyone the best of luck. How are you and your fellow heroes holding up with all this attention? Did you skip all these events? Attend all of them?

11:30am: The Wizard (Year 40 She/Her/Hers) strides in to the Craydon Multipurpose Center with her hands in her pockets and casually looks around the room with a gentle smile on her face and huge bags under her eyes. Her eyes are black with cyan sparkles in them, looking very much like outer space itself as she scans the room and everyone in it. Good luck for anyone here, they get first dibs on seeing the Wizard. She'll be shuffling around the multipurpose center in her light blue pajamas and bunny slippers, occasionally adjusting her tiny glasses as she looks around. At least she's got her wizard hat on so no one could miss what she looks like this year. It's a shocking difference from the big muscled dude (Year 39 He/Him/His) she was last year or the slick suit-wearing smooth talker (Year 38 They/Them/Theirs) they were the year before but it's still absolutely the same wizard.

Procedure::

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around. Several simultaneous wizard conversations can exist in the replies, she's going to stick around to talk to everyone. Feel free to OOCly decide what order they spoke in or leave it a mystery.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Mmm, okay." He nods entirely to himself, filing those particular rules away. He sounds reassured at least? There are probably worse things to have to work around, he supposes.

"Gyre. I've got the pig." He's not going to call himself a 'pig knight'. That just doesn't sound as cool as 'snake knight' or 'dragon knight'. "Nice to meet you, Zafika."

"It's nice to meet you too, Gyre." Zafika offers their hand to Gyre for a handshake, it's a bit of a late greeting but, better late than never, right? They had been able to chat without a problem before this after all.

"I wish you good luck against the wizard. It'd be nice if we don't get many casualities this year."

He honestly could've gone the whole time without this particular greeting, and it takes him a second to even acknowledge the gesture. It was enough to talk, right? They've been nice enough though, and it's not like it hurts him. He puts his hand in theirs after a beat, snorting at their words.

"Already thinking about death, huh?" he asks, and he laughs like that's a joke. Someone's not taking this seriously, probably. "I don't think luck has got much of anything to do with it.

Zafika notices the momentarily pause, but then Gyre shakes their hand, at least quickly, and that's more than enough. Him snorting at their comment and laughing like this whole thing was a joke, does catch them off guard.

"Ah, sorry, it's, hmm..." They stop to think for a moment if they should say this, but, Gyre did seem trustworthy enough. And, again, he would find out sooner or later anyway. "It's a part of my job, so, hard to not think about it in a situation where I'm supposed to fight against monsters."

It's? Their? Job?? What an entirely baffling thing to say. He knows there's a whole funerary tradition in the cities, and he wonders if the wizard is morbid enough to put a doctor and a mortician in the same game. Probably, right? Or maybe they mean something entirely different.

"Mm, I suppose." Either way, the amusement in his voice has faded, and he sighs softly.

"I hope it's a job you're passionate about, then. Death is exhausting to be around, in my experience."

"Passionate enough to take down the monsters... though I'm hoping for a career change after this, if it's possible..." Zafika admittedly is very actively considering that, if they won't be sent back to prison after this, they'll do something else with their life. Stupid decisions made in their teens were not something they wanted to affect the entire rest of their life anymore.

They stay silent for a bit, their thoughts going back to Gyre's appearance. Okay, they were curious enough, and he did come ask them about their blindfold. "Listen... you're obviously a wild elf, but... from what I know, you lot don't usually have black scleras. You're... not a regular wild elf, are you?" They hope the question isn't offensive, but they are very curious, they had to ask.

"Mm, good luck." Which is all he can really say. He doesn't know the intricacies of getting a new job, but he knows it can be hard sometimes. Hopefully that's enough.

His attention begins to drift in their silence, letting his eyes go from one person to the next, picking out the other heroes who have shown up here. It means he's caught a little off guard by their question. "Uh..."

This is not a thing he wants to talk about. He really doesn't, but they're also his ally. And he was nosy to them first. He sighs heavily after a beat, his voice dropping close to an unpleasant rasp, "Mmm, no. I'm a... Do you know what a geist is?"

It's enough, Zafika isn't looking for useless compassion or pity, and they're actually relieved that they're not getting either of those from Gyre.

They immediately realise they've either asked a question he doesn't want to answer, or just caught him off guard when they get a quiet 'uh' followed by silence. Or, perhaps both. They're already about to say that Gyre doesn't have to answer it, when he in turn asks them a question.

Which, honestly, they almost miss, too distracted by his voice dropping to an increased rasp, and their entire body seems to perk at the change, their tail rising up behind them a little, while they turn their head fully towards Gyre. His voice was raspy even normally, but now it has become much more evident, and their interest is piqued to the extreme to say the least. It's the first time they've heard such a rasp, and while they have a feeling some others might find it unpleasant, to someone like them, who mostly relies on auditory stimuli, it's interesting, new, unique, and in a way almost pleasant. And, their lack of dislike is very obvious, with how, without their blindfold, they would be staring at Gyre very intensely.

"Geist...? No, I've.. never heard of them, sorry."

Their head snaps in his direction, and he turns to meet their eyes, only to be reminded of their blindfold. It wasn't his intention to flirt with them, but their reaction is clear and dramatic enough that he wonders if he might push it. They're lovely to look at, and not even half as exhausting as most nonwild elves. And he wasn't lying when he said their eyes were just incredible. He's definitely hoping to see them again despite their warning about the paralyzing effect.

This is all to say, he lets his voice stay low and raspy since that seems to be what they responded to. "That's alright, um... it's like..."

He's never figured out the best way to approach saying this, and he clearly stumbles a little as he looks for the phrasing. He ends up deciding simple is best, speaking quickly, "I'm dead. I died, and now I'm in this body. It's mostly the same as when I was alive, but, yeah, my eyes are like this now."

Zafika is painfully aware of how intense and downright embarrassing their reaction to Gyre's voice was, but they couldn't help it, it was natural for them to react like that. They can only hope that Gyre was the only person that had noticed it. He does seem intent on making it worse, or he's not aware of their reaction at all, because he keeps talking in that low, raspy voice, and their tail flicks about behind them as they keep their attention fixated on him. They even have to actively focus on listening to his words and not just his voice. Which, ends up being a good thing, because oh, oh this is a relevation that would be extremely rude to miss just because they were distracted by his voice.

"Oh... I'm... I'm sorry to hear that..." They naturally don't know the details of Gyre's death, but offering their condolensces is still polite. "But... I see... so you're a specific kind of ghost huh...?" They pause again, deep in thought as they realise something.

"I wonder... would my paralysing power still affect you...? You have a physical form, but if you're a geist, it's most likely that your body stays functional through magic... would you, mind if I, tested whether my paralysis works on you or not? Oh, don't worry, I have antidotes with me, if it works you'll be able to move without problems in few minutes again. But of course it's your decision if you're alright with letting me do that or not." They dig out an antidote from their bag, a small vial with lightly red tinted liquid in it, to prove that, yes, they did have the antidote and weren't spouting bullshit.

Edited 2019-02-21 03:23 (UTC)

Condolences are polite but absolutely unnecessary. Much like them, he doesn't need or want false pity. He's been like this so long that just saying it doesn't hurt all that much anymore, and his reaction is an immediate, clipped, "Don't."

After that though, he leaves them to think, wondering what exactly occurred to them that made them clam up so suddenly. He couldn't even begin to imagine what they're thinking about though, and his mouth snaps closed with a click of his teeth as he listens to them.

"Uh..." They're a complete stranger to him. They're not even a wild elf. If they hadn't been having such a pleasant conversation up until now, he would've left in an easy second when they started talking about paralyzing him. Despite this, he's also curious. He thought it was a sure thing, but here they are, saying there might be a chance it doesn't effect him. It would certainly make teamwork easier if they weren't stuck behind a blindfold.

"I'm... I don't think so," he says after a long pause. Is he really sure though? He doesn't sound sure, and after another pause he stumbles of his own words, "Wait, what does it feel like?"

Anyone would notice that Gyre doesn't sound sure about this, and to Zafika it's clear as daylight how unsure he actually sounds like. "I'm sorry, I know it's a lot, coming from a stranger. I just can't help but to be curious." And, if they wouldn't have to worry about accidentally paralysing at least one of the other knights, it would make things a little bit easier.

Upon him asking what it feels like to be paralysed, they think back to what they've heard from others. "Well, it's not painful, so that's one thing you don't have to worry about. It actually dulls your sense of touch a little. And, naturally, you won't be able to control your body, so, uh, if you agree to this you might want to sit down so you won't just fall down." That's an impotrant bit to add, definitely. "And... it apparently makes your body feel heavy, some have said they felt like they were floating underwater."

"The antidote takes couple minutes to fully affect you, but in about a minute you'll have some of your mobility back, and after couple minutes you'll have it fully back, but I'd recommend not trying to stand up for a bit, in case your legs give out from under you."

"Yeah, I get it." He's also desperately curious. It'd be useful information to have, absolutely, but the fact it's an experiment that has to be done on his own body makes him so, so hesitant.

But it would be useful. Better to know the strategies he can use with his allies now then find them out accidentally when they're all in trouble. Right? Maybe. He lets out this low sigh that rattles through his butchered throat, reaching up to cover his own mouth with one hand. His eyes narrow in thought.

He should do this. He knows he ought to. More information is never bad, and they're in a crowd of this size. Hopefully at least one of these people would come to help him if things took a turn for the worse, or if Zafika just didn't bother to give him the antidote as some kind of nasty joke. He certainly doesn't trust them this early, but once again, curiosity is eating at him.

"Gah, fine. Fine! Let's try it." He makes it sound like they were badgering him into this, but really he's just annoyed he can't let it go. Too late now. He's going to let this person paralyze him. For science.

Zafika lets Gyre think this through properly, though admittedly their own tail is coiling behind them restlessly. They're, sort of hoping that he'd be immune to their paralysing power, but worry that he might not, and then they'll end up paralysing an ally, which is the last thing they want to do right now.

So, they're very surprised when Gyre actually agrees to the experiment, even if he sounds like he's agreeing to it because they're pestering him. Still, they smile gratefully at him, before they kneel down on the floor next to him.

"Alright, sit down then. That way you won't end up getting hurt if I do end up paralysing you. I... really hope that won't happen though. But if it does, I'm sorry in advance. At least it doesn't have any side effects, save for your legs maybe being wobbly for a bit." They place the antidote vial on their lap, before they reach up behind their head to untie their blindfold, and as they remove it from their eyes they're suddenly so, so much more nervous. They, really were going to do this, huh? "Once more, are you absolutely sure you're fine with this?"

They can't help but to suddenly be reminded of the first time they paralysed someone, but they quickly shove those memories back to the locked box they belong in. Not the time nor the place. Focus.

He watches them sit. He takes a deep, deep breath, biting his lip as he considers that this might be a mistake. This could be the dumbest way to start this twelve day battle.

He's made up his mind though. He's not going to back off now, and his legs fold neatly, almost elegantly underneath himself, sitting in this single easy motion. He folds his legs, and again, breathes deep. They keep asking if he's sure, and that has to be reassuring, right? They actually sound incredibly concerned. He doesn't think they want to hurt him. He really doesn't.

Still, he can never be sure with people from this world. He lowers his eyes as they remove their blindfold, taking a moment to make sure. To be really, truly sure. Somewhere in this double and triple checking, he finds his solution. All at once, he holds his hand out, letting his gaze rise up to look at their cheeks. It's as close to meeting their eyes as he can get without just starting the experiment.

"Take my hand." Then if something goes wrong, they'll be stuck too. That's all he wants. Just the slightest hint of mutual destruction if they decide to turn this into a prank.

Assuming they do it, he'll take their hand in his, making sure his claw is settled neatly against the soft bit of their wrist. It's a little bit of a threat, but he won't act on it if he doesn't have to. That's his compromise for this.

Zafika waits patiently, and watches without saying anything as Gyre sits down as well, their gaze never straying too close to his face out of a habit. They have a feeling that they both think that this could end up being a mistake, if he's not immune to their ability after all. Their curiosity is eating them alive though, and even with them checking over and over again, he's not changing his mind. So, this was probably alright.

And then, suddenly, he reaches out his hand towards them, and tells them to take his hand, and their eyes flick up to his face for a brief second, and without the blindfold on, they actually look surprised this time.

Still, they nod and take a hold of his hand, and the moment he places his claw against the soft bit on their wrist where their scales shift to hide, for now hidden beneath bandages, they understand why. It's a threat to keep them from trying to screw him over, and they understand why he feels the need to do that, and they keep their hand still, save for turning it a little so he actually has a better access to their wrist. He's trusting them with this, they'll trust him to not tear their wrist open with that claw.

And then, after a deep breath and an equally deep sigh, they finally look up properly and their striking, orange eyes meet Gyre's, the black scleras keeping their attention there, and they start counting seconds. One, two, they can still stop this, three, four, what if this really is a mistake, what if it goes to hell, five, too late now, too late too late too late too late, six. Then seven. Then eight. And nothing has still happened. Gyre hasn't slumped down against the wall, nor fallen down, and his grip on his hand remains the same, it hasn't loosened up. It didn't work.

They break eye contact with him and practically deflate with a sigh, this time relieved one, as they realise they ended up holding their breath, and allow their posture to slump a little bit as relief and realisation crash onto them. "It didn't work... holy shit, it, it didn't work-" Their words are accompanied by a breathless chuckle as they run their free hand through their hair, and they look up at Gyre again, and they look... happy, relieved. As if this was the first time in years they'd been able to look someone in the eye without paralysing them.

"You're, actually immune... oh I'm so relieved, that was way, way too stressful... I'm glad I didn't end up paralysing you after all. Gyre... thank you.. for trusting me."

Edited 2019-02-22 10:17 (UTC)

His hand takes theirs, and his gaze flicks down for just a second when he feels those bandages. Of course he's noticed how rough they look, how thin, but he hadn't thought to try to connect it to anything. Was someone hurting them? Abuse or...? He doesn't understand their world well enough to recognize all the places their pain could've come from, but now there's this cold tension in his chest. There was clearly more to their story then he'd gotten so far.

But their experiment comes first. His grip tightens very slightly in theirs, and then he drags his attention up, meeting their eyes.

Holding it.

He becomes very aware of his own loneliness in this moment. When was the last time he stared into someone else's eyes for ten seconds? It's been a long time, and he has to bite his cheek to not turn this experiment into something else entirely. They are so pretty and--

And then the seconds are up and they pull away. They sigh in relief, and he's yanked back into the moment. Right. It was just an experiment. He glances downward, releasing their wrist and rubbing a hand quickly over his face. When he looks back to them, they just look so happy and he can't help grinning back.

"Yeah, I'm-- happy to help. It's good to know." He doesn't know if he trusts them entirely, but this has certainly helped. It's good. To have a probable ally. He licks his lips quickly, letting himself get a little more serious as he gestures down to their hands.

"Your wrists...?" Are they okay? He doesn't want to force them to answer but he is curious.

Zafika looks back up at Gyre, still not able to believe that they can do that without having to worry about that. Their hands itch to grab the blindfold to put it back over their eyes, especially when he actually grins at them and speaks again, because they just know their pupils are doing the stupid thing of dilating at least a little. But they resist the temptation, it's been so long since they've been able to do this without having to worry.

Gyre asking them about their wrists doesn't surprise them, but they naturally lower their eyes, their thumb brushing over their bandages covering their other wrists. "Oh, these... um..." They hesitate before they sigh, and once again undo the other bandages, it's easier to show the abrasion than to explain it. "The bandages make it seem worse than what it is, but I have to make sure these don't get worse. And to make sure the medicinal salve doesn't get on everything either."

Their eyes flick nervously to Gyre's for a moment, before they quickly start wrapping up their wrist to hide the injury there. "I'm alright though, just need to avoid putting pressure on my wrists."

If he notices their pupils, he doesn't show it, his attention pulled almost entirely downward to their wrists. He didn't expect them to start unwrapping the bandages so easily, and he holds a hand up, murmuring, "You don't have to--"

They continue though, and he's left to stare at their bruised, cut skin. If he had a heartbeat anymore, it'd be racing all at once, his eyes widening. He's a wild elf. He's not familiar with a lot of ways that people are hurt in this world. It hasn't even occurred to him that they might be a criminal.

What he recognizes are the injuries left over from handcuffs that have been on too long. The last time he saw them was on his own wrists, and the reminder is utterly unwelcome. He jerks almost the second he sees them, turning halfway so his shoulder is between them and him. He doesn't want to deal with this, but he also can't leave them to suffer if they're still being hurt in that way.

"Are you s-- are you safe?" he stutters after a moment, trying to keep his voice steady despite the rush of adrenaline through him.

Zafika notices Gyre's eyes widening and the fact that he jerks away, and they quickly finish wrapping up their wrist, and then pull their overly long sleeves over their hands entirely, and shift their position so their side is facing Gyre, leaning back against the wall once again while their tail curls around them on the ground, their knees pulled up against their chest.

They give a wry chuckle at his question, looking at him quickly from the corner of their eye. "Are any of us knights safe on this island?" They bite back the rest of the protective snark, he wasn't trying to be rude. "No, sorry about that... I'm... safe, right now. Not that I was that much in danger before this. I'm a prisoner, still, technically. I'm just allowed to be here because I'm a knight, I need to defeat the Wizard."

They wonder if they should tell him the entire story, or, well, a summary of it. It might just ruin his trust in them, what little they had earned by now. "I told you killing is part of my job, right? I'm an assassin. The higher ups in Tellan weren't too happy that I was killing politicians and businessmen using their positions to hurt the regular people... of course escaped rapists, abusers and the like were pretty common targets for me back then too. Ironic isn't it? Criminal hunting down other criminals." Without meaning to let it happen, their body language becomes more guarded, and they already grab their blindfold so they can put it back on if Gyre wants them gone. "I got caught three years ago though, and, well, can't let an assassin go around without keeping them in chains."

Well, this is a lot to take in. He actually hisses when they mention being a prisoner, bearing his teeth in this sudden useless aggression. Of course he knows, conceptually, that prison is a thing in their world, but seeing their ruined wrists and their skinny frame makes it suddenly real to him. They really do keep people in cages. They really actually do that. His hands ball up into fists. His jaw tightens, and he honestly almost misses their second reveal.

Only almost though. An assassin sounds like a hideous thing to be. He killed anonymous people across a battlefield. To know who they were before he did it? That sounds like an impossible thing. He looks at them as they elaborate, clarifying who they killed, and who was mad about it. He doesn't approve? But he also doesn't care. Murder is a disgusting violence certainly, but so is rape, and so is imprisonment. Everyone involved has done something wrong, but the prolonged torture of a cell is the worst, by far.

He doesn't realize that they're closing off to him, and he certainly doesn't think that the fury radiating off him might be read in a different way. He's just so angry, and yet so utterly impotent in this case. How could he stop them from going back there? He barely understands these systems enough to make it day to day, much less to keep someone out of a cage.

"Fuck," he hisses through his teeth, hitting the ground beside him. "That's so..." He can't find the word for the mess of emotions swirling in his chest, so he just bites his tongue, swallowing hard.

"No person is a prisoner. Will they really make you go back?" He sounds disgusted at the idea which might be their first hint he's mad at the system and not them.

Gyre's hiss makes Zafika tense, their tail curling more tightly around them and their grip on their blindfold tightens, and they really want to put it back over their eyes, it's a defence mechanism for them at this point, because then their reactions aren't visible to anyone, almost at all.

They have no idea what's going on in his mind, and they don't dare to look at him, their eyes glued to their blindfold that they keep wrapping and unwrapping around their other hand. But, they can feel the fury radiating from him, and all their instincts are screaming for them to grab one of their daggers, because of course they think that his fury is directed at them.

When he finally speaks, hitting the ground beside him, they hate themselves for flinching, but they're so wound up already, ready to either run or defend themselves. "Messed up, right? I'm still pretty sure there was a mistake, with me being chosen to be a Knight."

Except, then he asks if they'll really make them go back, and with how disgusted he sounds about the idea, they realise that, he might now be furious at them. Their head snaps to the side again, their eyes widening a little in shock as they fully take in his words. They bite their lip as they turn their gaze back to their blindfold, and their tail twitches nervously around them. "I don't know. I think they will, but Garrot, one of the other Knights... he seems delusioned that I might be pardoned if I remain on good behaviour. I highly doubt that though, I was given a life sentence, and the only reason I'm allowed here is that the higher ups hope this will turn to a death sentence. Like hell I'll let that happen."

Again, there is this long, furious silence as he takes in their words. Every inch of him wants to reject it completely, but he has to swallow it down. Has to accept that this is the way the system does things. He bites his lip hard, his jaw shivering. He has to force himself to look at them again.

"You... Garrot is an optimistic fool." He waves a hand in the air, dismissing him entirely. "Where are you from?"

The silence is eating Zafika alive, they're starting to figure out that Gyre's anger is not directed at them, not fully at least, but it doesn't make them any less tense than what they are.

Still, they chuckle as he calls Garrot an optimistic fool. "A bit, yes. But some people just have to keep thinking positively or they'll break in this kind of a situation." They think back to some of the other Knights they had talked to, optimism was definitely the only thing keeping some of them going. "I'm from Tellan. I've, been around the world a bit but, I got caught there when I returned for a job."

"Optimism is worthless in a situation like this. Hope won't keep anyone alive."

He says it like he's speaking from experience, honestly, but he doesn't linger on it, frowning deeply when they say they're from Tellan. That's no good. He thinks about holding his tongue after that. Giving them pointless hope would go entirely against what he just said, but he knows information is important. Better they know then not.

He sighs quickly, turning his gaze to the wall rather then continue watching them.

"If you can find a way to Amarosia. The forests there are big, and protected. You'll have to survive, but they won't be able to find you." Wild elves keep their territory thick and difficult to travel for folks who don't know how, and he knows every single one of them would fight any cop who decided to come invade their anarchist space. "I thought you should know."

The Weather

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