ᵃᵐᵃˡ "ⁱˢˡᵃⁿᵈ ᵇᵒʸ" ᵛᵃˢⁱʸᵃ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thavnairian) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
kaisou2022-01-07 11:56 am
thavnairian) wrote in kaisou2022-01-07 11:56 am
Entry tags:
video; un: riftdancer
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.
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.
no subject
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.]
no subject
Well, [he says, winding his fingers together and stretching out his arms,] I've been here for six months at least and not one person has mentioned my ears. It's not like I've been hiding them either. Don't you think it's strange that I've been able to live in relative secrecy for this long and then suddenly—boing!—people around me think I sprouted big pointy ears? And all this happens on the same day that Zodiac rolls out some kind of weird linkshell no one consented to?
I wouldn't be surprised if they knew it was coming and decided to unleash people like me on everyone else just to see what would happen. And I played right into it, but... it was inevitable, probably.
no subject
I wonder. I haven't the first idea of what sort of power or ability would be required to draw people in from other worlds, or what sort of benefit might be gained from doing so - there might be something esoteric going on that people more adept with such things would understand better.
[He shakes his head, expression tightening unhappily. Too many unknowns.] Certainly, Zodiac knows more than they've said so far, and their message this morning even indicated as much. They must be counting on holding far more power than the rest of us, and on becoming the primary source of information for those of us who knew nothing before now; no doubt they're waiting for us to discover for ourselves what's happening and develop questions, so that they can offer up the opportunity for answers.
[A sweeping gesture with one hand.] ...That alone would make them obviously untrustworthy. The most important question right now, then, is this: have you met anyone in your time here who might be a worthwhile source of alternative information? Clearly we can't let Zodiac be the ones in control of what we're allowed to know.
no subject
[He crosses his arms and paces to the other side of the room, then starts his way back.]
You're right, though. The information flow is pretty much all coming from them. Everyone's connected to them in some way or another, even if they're separate, established entities. But from my understanding, things have been weird here for a while—even before I showed up. It might've been like this before the city was built, even.
[Exactly how long? He's not sure. Like his fellow fantasy Persian, Amal talks with his hands.]
Me? Sadly, no. Most of the people I've talked to have been small business owners looking to have things done for them that ordinary people can't. Fetching weird ingredients and the like.