video; un: riftdancer

[thavnairian]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: Network
WHEN: January 7th, a few hours after the Libra intro post
WHAT: Amal has been tasked with explaining. Narrative magic usually assigned to silent protagonists need not apply.
WARNINGS: None so far, let me know if I should add some.

[He wrestles with how to approach this for some time, but finally in the evening, he comes to a conclusion: simple is best. Honesty is best delivered face to face, so fuck it-- he sets up the video option, tests it out, and somehow manages to get himself in the frame. Centered? Not so much. Slightly tilted, the camera is full of both his face and mostly bare chest against someone's clean, nice living room, and could use some better lighting.

He looks very out of place, all things considered: wearing barely what you'd call a vest, tattoos all over his skin, and fiery hair and eyes & big elf ears for those who are able to notice such things. His light accent is vaguely reminiscent of India, but not quite.]

Hey there. My name's Amal. Since the cat's out of the bag in a big way, certain people in this city have decided it's time to be honest, and for some reason they chose me. I can't say I'm the best candidate to explain what's going on. All I have to offer you—that is, the people who have been living in peaceful ignorance all this time—is my own personal experiences with it.

[He spreads his arms.] With what, you might ask? Well...

My story begins about half a year ago. I was minding my own business, preparing for what I thought would be a relatively normal journey across the ocean. Making sure I had all my weapons, the supplies I needed, a few changes of clothes... But I never made it there. Before we could even get the passports settled, I woke up in a maze with my things scattered everywhere.

I grabbed what I could and found my way out, since it's not my first time in a weird haunted maze, and ended up face down in the middle of a park. Here. In Kaisou. And I'm not the only one. Someone I know has been here a year, so it's at least been going on for that long.

We're not from this world—none of us transplants are. We're adventurers and... other kinds of people, with magic and without. All stripes. Zodiac approached us and warned us to be quiet when it came to people who weren't aware of the [air quotes] weird stuff going on, and they even offered us a job and a place to stay. Some of us work for them full time, some of us only help them out occasionally, but everyone who's stuck here is pretty familiar with Zodiac... as familiar as you can hope to get with a shadowy organization anyway.

[He rubs at the back of his neck.]

We never really wanted to deceive anyone. It's just that, ah, talking about where we're really from makes us sound totally crazy to you. And I don't blame you—it's hard to wrap your head around new knowledge when it contradicts everything you've ever known. I've been there many times myself.

Some of you might ask for proof, and I don't have a good answer for that. I feel like my ears are proof enough of what I am, but it seems like most people don't mention them for some reason. I can show you my weapons, but they're not super special or anything... And I'm not able to throw fireballs or summon things, since I'm not that kind of fighter.

All I've got is my word. Take it or leave it; it doesn't change what we've endured to get here.

The strange sensation that this might be bigger than you care to understand, the dread of the unknown—all that is natural and to be expected. But if you want my opinion?

Keep an eye on Zodiac. Things are bound to get even weirder from now on.

Comments

UN: Rose | Video

[nefilim]

[And here's one Ana, beaming brightly as she lays flopped against a couch.]

Seeeeee, we knew you would be great at this! [Zelos and her totally didn't just shove this responsibility on him because they were lazy. Absolutely not.]

[thavnairian]

[He sighs dramatically, shoulders drooping and everything, and shakes his head. At least Ana is pretty to look at.]

Now all of Kaisou knows I'm crazy. I would rather have done something cool to make them think that, but oh well.

[His tone is airy, regardless. It seems he's not really mad about it.]

It hit me while I was talking that Zodiac probably told us more about why we're here and I just wasn't paying attention.

[nefilim]

[There's a light chuckle from her in response, shrugging a shoulder as she keeps grinning.]

It's fine, it's fine! We'll back you up if people starting getting all weird about it.

[Ana will, at least.]

And huh... I don't think I really paid attention either, honestly. I thiiiink it was an accident?

[thavnairian]

[That does make him brighten considerably. He is no longer a drooping sunflower.]

Thanks, Ana. That means a lot. [He's being honest here!]

I mean, I sure as hell didn't go tripping through a rift on purpose. ... This time.

UN:SHIROGANE

[killjoyprince]

Y HAVE THEY CONTACTED US

[Still seems fake bro.]

text;

[thavnairian]

if i knew i'd probably be making more money than i am right now

my guess is that they're tired of hiding what's going on

[killjoyprince]

THEY HAVE TOLD U NOTHING USEFUL?
WHAT KIND OF WORK HAVE U BEEN DOING?

UN: hikari-vi

[whiteshroud]

[Oh hey it's that guy! And-- wow those are not normal ears at ALL.]

So you're saying you're an isekai....?

text;

[thavnairian]

[Spock, eat your heart out.]

uh? no i'm a half-elezen

text;

[whiteshroud]

No, I mean
Isekai is a genre about someone being transported to another world and having to get by in that new world.

That's what you're dealing with, right?

un: hierophantcherry

[kokaiwanai]

Well, this puts the sword and shield comment into perspective

text;

[thavnairian]

hahah surprise! i'm a weirdo from another world, actually

i think i'm pretty okay for a weirdo, though

[kokaiwanai]

Since I only just met you, I probably can't really give proper judgment on it obviously, but you seem alright to me

un: spiderlily

[higanbana]

[Ris takes a pretty long time after watching the video to actually leave a comment. Rewatches it a few times, even.

She can't see anything off about this guy from the video. There's no obvious tells it's faked. But...]

cool story bro

any way you can get in contact with your "employer" or whatever and tell them to put me on their do not call list? i'm not into larping

text;

[thavnairian]

those were a lot of words i didn't understand, sorry

you can try telling them yourself. not that they'll listen

[higanbana]

oh come on. you can handle recording a video, you can use the google. i believe in you.

yeah, i'm guessing that's gonna go over like a lead balloon. they already installed weird shit on my phone without permission, so...

un: why

[missingache]

OMG

Are we part of an ARG?

What channel will the vids be on?

[Sorry. Not taking this seriously at all.]

[thavnairian]

is

is this language or did i just hit my head too hard

[missingache]

I'm pretty sure I'm speaking English?

Are you pretending you don't know what a Alternate Reality Game is for this?

UN: rschwarzer

[motiv8]

[Well... this video certainly is... something.

Rean doesn't know if he believes it. It looks convincing enough? But also, it's far too out there to be anything real. Right?

...It's probably best to just smile and nod for now, he thinks. Whatever's going on here will work itself out eventually.]

Well, thank you for at least trying to explain everything. I imagine it wasn't easy.

Not for proof or anything, but I would be interested in seeing your weapons!

video still for like this tag;

[thavnairian]

[It doesn't make much of a difference to him, at least.]

Sure, I'll show them!

[He disappears off camera for a second and there's the sound of metal and faint jingling. Then he adjusts the phone.

The camera pans over the dining room table. Laid out are several smaller stiletto daggers made for throwing, a jeweled curved dagger he might recognize as a jambiya, two sharp round chakrams for that look like they might have been able to glow at some point, and an assortment of completely random switchblades, at least two machetes, and one smaller katana-looking thing that might've come from a blacksmith booth at an anime convention.]

Everything on this side [with the chakrams] is stuff I brought with me, but the rest I found here. [Pretty obviously all modern street shit, so.]

rean will actually switch to video at this point too;

[motiv8]

[Rean was going to respond via text, but his brain is not working through his thumbs so instead he just switches video on. Apparently, his userpic was just whatever selfie his phone grabbed when he first logged in, because what Amal saw there is what he gets here.]

Oh, wow, those are so cool! That dagger, those chakrams, they're incredible. [And honestly, Rean can't think of a place you'd be able to get anything like that around here...? ...He's not going to think too hard about it.] Haha, I like the katana, too! I had something like that at home, but I thought it was probably a bad idea to bring it along to college...

[Looks like he can at least babble out loud well enough.]

In-person

[courtpainter]

[ That living room definitely doesn't belong to Amal, and its owner is still having a little trouble with his reality getting rearranged on him. ]

I still can't believe you've been here this long, and I only now noticed your ears. And your hair and eyes! A living sunset came to grace my dwelling, and somehow I had become too pedestrian to take note. What is even the point of an artist incapable of observing the extraordinary, in order to highlight it for more prosaic minds?!

[He's been doing this all morning.]

[thavnairian]

[His sudden waxing poetic earns a soft laugh from Amal, who isn't offended at all.]

Don't worry about redoing any of the drawings you did. Seeing myself with round ears was kind of funny.

[He's amused, a smile forever teasing at his lips.]

Besides, I don't think it was your fault. Something bigger is at work here, I think... and the Zodiac's timing might be a part of it.

[courtpainter]

[The idea that perhaps more might be at play than simply having abjectly failed a perception check does mollify Narsus' bruised ego enough to settle him down a little.]

What makes you say that? Is it only the appearance of this new app, or is there more that you know? I had barely heard of Zodiac until this morning, and I'm afraid I may be catching up on the knowledge I missed for some time yet.

[The way he centers down into assessing the boundaries of his knowledge, searching for the right questions to uncover something vital, feels familiar in a way he can't place. It's not deja vu, but something like the emotional equivalent of muscle memory, and he's going to steadfastly ignore it for now because there are more concrete things going on.]