Day 3: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: June 16th to ~~June 26th~~ July 3rd, 2019 ]

No matter when the heroes defeated their monsters, or when the sixth monster was defeated and there were none left, everyone will be treated to an unfortunately familiar feeling. The world of the past will fade, slowly at first but gradually increasing in pace until they pass out to blackness.

Everyone will wake up on a beach, and not a beach in the town their residence is in. Looks like everyone will need to take the train back home or go for a really, really long walk.

More unsettling than that is that every hero will either have a decent suntan or a mild sunburn. Social media is abuzz with comments about the island "going still" and the knights "dead on the beaches". There are reports that all twelve knights and the princess were all defeated at the same time and left on the beaches as an advertisement that the world was over this year.

Naturally, the heroes will realize that they are not, in fact, dead. Better do some damage control, there. Anyone who tried to make any recordings in the past will find that the files are corrupted and unavailable. Looks like whatever happened is going to... stay in the past.

The heroes who are due for an evening visit in the Princess' Dream Citadel or in The Wizard's House will arrive there the moment they sleep.

The Weather
Warmer than yesterday.
77°F / 25°C
Everyone's in a bit of a panic!

Prompts:

05:00pm Beach Wake-up Call: Every hero will wake up laying on the wet sand of the beach. There's waves gently lapping at them, waking them up slowly from their abrupt return from the past. Everyone will feel a little groggy and their clothes will be uncomfortably crusted in sand. Here's to hoping that saltwater and sand will wash out? Make sure to remove the little crabs that have started crawling over you!

5:00pm, Craydon: The residents of Craydon are all safely at home up the mountain by now. The only people still lingering around the Craydon beaches are fishermen working to prepare for their sunset runs. The offshore cages aren't going to empty themselves, after all! Fortunately this means they have, and can offer, blankets and hot drinks while they're heading out. It's not much, but they're here to help. At least the heroes are hopefully not alone?

5:00pm, Bamborough: The residents of Bamborough are really just the locals, concerned for the future of the world and of the heroes. Instead of waking up alone, they'll find little boxes of dry towels and bottled water beside them. Looks like the residents were pretty sure they were going to wake up at some point because they've left little kits to help them wake up with. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. The boardwalks of Bamborough are empty, with not a single soul out and about. The local shops, though, are pretty much business as usual. They'll immediately bustle in excitement when the heroes show themselves. Also: Free showers near the beach boardwalks! Better get all that crusty sand cleaned off.

5:00pm, Far Haven: The city of Far Haven is simultaneously the most cold and impersonal and the most immediately helpful. Each hero in Far Haven will wake up with a little walkie talkie beside them. If they pick it up and reach out, they'll be immediately told to come to the Far Haven hospital for immediate medical assistance. Once there, they'll be offered a free shower, water, hydration, a medical checkup, and a free coupon for the Craydon hot springs. There are even little kits set out for the knights in other towns. But... there's no one to bring them to the other towns, whoops. Guess they're carry-out only?

5:35pm onward, Train station(s): The train has a pretty reliable schedule for the evening, ending in Far Haven at 11:25pm. One way or another, the train is going to be how your hero makes their way back home to sleep for the night. Will the ride be uneventful, or will it be spent with others?

• Bamborough: 6:45pm, 8:30pm, 10:15pm.
• Craydon: 7:20pm, 9:05pm, 10:50pm.
• Far Haven: 6:10pm, 7:55pm, 9:40pm, 11:25pm.

6:00pm, Bamborough: In the outdoor seating area of Slyder's Wizard Sliders, a Wizard-themed burger restaurant in the most touristy area of Bamborough near the waterfront, the Wizard herself is seated at one of the tables under a big umbrella. Despite the big umbrella, she's still wearing her massive hat: Double shade from the setting sun. Sitting on the table is a small wizard-themed drink with little lightning bolts sticking out of the blue liquid.

8:00pm, Far Haven: Social media is quick to add the #wizardsighting hashtag to posts made by officers at the police station in Far Haven. The Wizard is seated up on the rooftop ledge of the police station, legs dangling over the third floor edge, surrounded by fireflies sparkling in the night. All a hero has to do is tell an officer they'd like to go up to talk to the Wizard and they'll be escorted to the elevator to the roof. Up you go, heroes!

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He rolls his eyes at the first message, immediately frustrated again. That little glimmer of hope that maybe they could have a regular ass conversation if they just dropped this is dashed against the rocks. He wasn't even mad! Why is Garrot mad now that he's not!

《And you have a problem taking general statements personally. You're a healer so you should know that sickness isn't inherent. It has nothing to do with not liking you all. As individuals, most of you are fine, but you also let people go cold and hungry on the street before you let them into empty houses, and that is a disease that kills people all over the world》

Hopefully Garrot can hear his grit teeth in all that. He can't believe this man dragged it back to this, and he's even more incredulous when he tries to pull it back the other way to talking about shopping. And correcting his word choice. Ugh!!!

《Whatever word you want to use for it doesn't matter to me. It's grotesque. Do you want to chastise me, or do you want to know about my taste in food?》

Edited 2019-07-24 00:06 (UTC)

Hoo boy, this conversation. Gyre isn't the only one gritting his teeth. None of this is working at all! Almost every conversation between them has melted down like this. Miri told him to be honest a few days ago, so after many minutes...

《You said you didn't have the words to describe this in Amarosian, which isn't either of our native languages. The word you used was offensive and I didn't think it was SEVERE enough for this grotesque phenomenon that my side of the world struggles with like a bunch of IDIOTS. I agree, it's fucking stupid!

I want to be your friend, Gyre. To get to know each other, where we came from, our food. Hell, I'd love to cook some Wild Elf/Koskenkorvan fusion dinner! But our conversations feel like a minefield and it SUCKS! One of us gets angry or I say something stupid or you get grouchy because you hate how my society works and things fall apart.

What do you wanna do about it?》

Garrot misses the moments where they can flirt aggressively and shoot the shit in a crowded bar and talk about kids. Bickering is exhausting, spending energy that'd better be spent meditating and training for the next day. So he has some Ideas, even if Gyre doesn't.

And if the olive branch doesn't work, then fuck it.

This fuckin guy...

Garrot actually manages to surprise him completely again. A good surprise. Mostly good. He doesn't really like the question at the end there like he needs to change, but that whole first paragraph actually impresses him. He sits back and stares at his phone for awhile, reaching up to fix his glasses so he can be certain he's reading this right.

He is, and he learns two things in this moment. Garrot wants to be his friend even if he has to force it, and he should probably start giving this dude the benefit of the doubt. At least sometimes. A little more often then he has so far. Honesty has, once again, recovered the conversation in Gyre's eyes at least.

《I think I. I think I misunderstood. I'm used to you all being so defensive, I assumed. I won't use that word if you prefer. I'm not sure what else I can do though. I can't just not be angry when I'm angry, and I don't expect that from you either》

This is an entirely genuine text! Hopefully that comes across despite it being a text. Hopefully he makes his tone clearer by offering this a moment later.

《We don't usually cook our food. Sometimes during winter, but not the way you do.》

The fact that stubborn Gyre, who has apologized for nothing, admits he misunderstood is enough to send Garrot into a cackling fit that the wild elf might hear across the island! It's great for Garrot to see that Gyre can be reasoned with despite all that anger, and the shift invigorates his willingness to tippety-tap on that keyboard.

《How about when we're angry about something that DOESN'T have to do with us or with fighting monsters on this island, we call it Bullshit? You think it's Bullshit that we cluster up and build cities without nature, and I think it's Bullshit that if you're not in a city, it's harder to get good medical care. Like a code word for when we wanna be angry about stuff we can't just DO something about!》

If nothing else, Garrot would be less inclined to try to dig into everything he's told for more information if he knows Gyre's just letting off steam. And if they synchronize their Bullshit, well, that could be fun!

《I gotta know what I'm working with here. You don't do fruits or sweets, so what DO you eat? Meat? Fish? Bread? And how can you cook food differently? Isn't it just fire and heat?》

Gyre rolls his eyes at this idea of using a codeword instead of just listening, but it's a good natured eye roll. He doesn't understand why any of these people can't take a general statement as a general statement. If he wanted to attack them, they'd know about it. But he knows there's such weird twists and turns to the way they communicate. What a bizarre group of people honestly. He can't believe the rest of the world functions like this.

《I'll try to remember that.》

He's done with this conversation though, happy for the outlet into something different. Despite himself, he prefers when they flirt and chat just as much as Garrot, and even if it involves the beginnings of a weird biology lesson, he's happy to talk about food over how fucked up capitalism is.

《No, I don't mean I cook differently. I know you all cook every day usually, right? It's a special occasion for my family which is different. That's what I meant. Well, I also don't cook as long. Just a little heat. Mostly it's meat and fish, yes. Bread makes my stomach hurt》

Listening can be hard, especially when you're Garrot. But luckily for him, he just has to hopefully listen for a single word so he can, uh, not invoke socioeconomic disparities to make a conversation awkward. But this whole raw meat thing with no bread? Wild! (Ba-dum-tish!)

《So no bread. Does that include grains like rice, too, or just the processed stuff? What about nuts and beans and vegetables?》

It'd be great if he could piece together a coherent, unique meal that won't make Gyre or Garrot absolutely miserable. Although... ye olde buggebeare constitutions mean he might've inherited the ability to bite into a still-bleeding deer leg. Getting salmonella and the expectations of society (and his own urbane leanings) sort of steered him away from that, but the Monkey Knight is always down to monkey around and try new things...

《What are some of your favorite meals?》

If only Garrot could see his expression! His head tilts, and he squints, glances around, tries to process that first text. He's still enjoying the conversation, but he gets the feeling that food might be one of the most confusing things they could possibly talk about. He knows that they have lots of different words for things wild elves have one word for, and he ends up just deciding it's easier to ask. Sixty years is took long to try to remember back to in detail, god damn.

《I can eat some of those. Never tried rice. Nuts hurt my teeth. Are those not all vegetables?》

He is absolutely wading into water he can't really handle here. That second question actually catches him off guard, and he's left chewing his lip. He's pretty sure Garrot is asking what food he likes, but meals have always been about the people he's around rather then what specifically he's eating.

《I like pigeon. Salmon is great when I can get it. I'm not picky. If you just want to eat with me, we can just do that you know》

Garrot, of course, is astonished that Gyre has never tried rice. Or that he thinks it or nuts are vegetables. ...Rice at least grows in the ground, should it be considered a vegetable? Nuts definitely aren't though. In fact, there's a few minutes of delay as Garrot laboriously ponders the nature of the vegetable classification, to the point where he almost forgets he's trying to have a mostly normal conversation with Gyre.

Who still doesn't seem to know what a vegetable is???????

《I do want to eat with you! But I don't want to give you food you can't eat or won't like.》

Sure, the Monkey Knight won't be hosting this get-together, and in fact he'll probably be wandering out into the woods to find Gyre, but he's still putting in the effort.

《But if you want to keep it simple, we can just share meats!》

Will Garrot lose brownie points if he buys a fresh salmon for Gyre? Maybe. Will that stop him? Absolutely not. He's definitely not killing a pigeon though, that sounds gross and gruesome and absolutely not his aesthetic.

He pauses for a moment at this text. Is Garrot flirting with him? Might be. Certainly wouldn't be the first time. He tilts his head, and decides to play it straight for now.

《Sure. I can bring something for me, and you can bring something for you. We can share if we want. The company is more important then the food anyway.》

Garrot's taken aback by the response, not because it's uncharacteristic, but... yeah, the company is more important than the food! He doesn't have to worry about Gyre's uncharted palette if Gyre worries about it instead! He was so dead-set on covering all the bases and making sure that nothing could go wrong that. Uh. He might've forgotten that Gyre was capable of doing things!

《That works! So are we doing this at your place or at mine?》

There's a moment, a beat, a pause, and Garrot hastily types out another question. Cover. All. The. Bases!

《Or we could find a park or something?》

Help him.

Oh my god, Garrot. If Gyre could pick up this tone over text, he'd probably say something about it. To him, it's reading as a regular conversation. He's completely relaxed, figuring the details will work themselves out as the time comes. He doesn't need everything to be perfect. In fact, it'd freak him out if it was.

《You can come to my camp》

The boy is living in the woods. There's no demonstrable difference between the space he's cultivated for himself and a park at this point, and the idea of going inside another person's house after seeing Seth's makes his skin crawl. He doesn't dare dream that Garrot has an outdoors space for entertaining like a normal person.

As he's wondering about what the other's home might look like, he realizes that with all this talk of cooking, there's an important question that needs asking before they make any particular decision.

《Can you cook over a fire?》

His camp. Camp. Cooking. Over a fire. You know what Garrot isn't a huge fan of? Camping. He'd much rather put a tent in his backyard. It's not that he's scared of the wilderness, just... he's a city kid through and through. He might've jerry-rigged a white noise machine of some kind when he was at the monastery. But for some reason, he's surprised by Gyre's offer. Even though... you know, Garrot offered to meet at Gyre's place. So.

《Yeah! I'm not great at it, but I'll survive for an evening.》

Of course, it's worth noting that between Sly's outdoorsman tendencies and his kids' collective desires to go camping, he's figured out at least the basics. And it's not super different from a stovetop... at least as far as he can tell.

《Where's your camp???》

It's taking all his willpower not to ask for, like, GPS coordinates. Because he knows. He knows that Gyre would have trouble with that. But damn would it make his life easier!

Yeah GPS would be absolutely lost on him. The idea of satellites watching their every move would make him want to yeet his phone in the ocean as soon as possible. It's better he doesn't know.

Besides, he's busy being impressed with Garrot. The enthusiasm is surprising to him. He never would've expected this city boy to just uh decide that he can figure it out as he goes, and he's grinning as he begins to explain.

《The forest between Craydon and Bamborough. There's a stream about twenty paces in, follow it past the warren. There's a few bushes with small, red fruit beside a nesting tree. I'm a little ways past those》

Twenty Gyre paces are probably different from twenty Garrot paces. Paces are a terrible form of measurement, the highly-educated scientist wants to quip. But even he's aware enough to know that'd cause problems. It'd be funny, though. Not as funny as imagining Gyre's face while asking what a warren or a nesting tree is.

《How about I just start shouting your name when I think I'm close? Or I can just message you.》

Technology is amazing sometimes! But of course, shouting is only a joke if Gyre wants it to be; Garrot will gladly bellow into the canopy. So it might be a warning for if he gets frustrated finding the camp. Here's hoping.

He gave enough detail that a little imprecision is fine. Garrot might have a longer stride but he knows he's looking for running water. The water makes sound so even if he doesn't see it, he can follow his ears to get back on track. It's a perfectly reasonable way to navigate as far as he's concerned. It's how he's done it his entire life, and he's a little rustled that this dumb man seems to have disregarded his directions. Still, he can't expect these city folk to know anything about anything important, so he's not exactly surprised.

《You can shout. If you get really lost, I'll keep this thing close by. When do you want to do this?》

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Day 3: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

The Weather

Prompts:

Procedure:

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