un: GoldenGuard; text

[cardinalrule]

WHO: Hunter
WHERE: Network
WHEN: Early March
WHAT: It's raining!
WARNINGS: Morbid/gory weather patterns. I'm serious.

[Weather is something Hunter learned about in the Boiling Isles, but this is really the first time he's had the chance to experience it. It's raining out, the first real rain of the year, Hunter's very first rain, and you can bet he has headed outside to experience it.]

I was told the rain doesn't boil here like it does back home.

[Remembering how he learned about rain in the human realm is... complicated, but for those scant few minutes it was a good memory. It was nice learning about the differences between here and the Boiling Isles, and even better getting to hear the fondness Belos holds for this realm. Moments like that were a rarity with the man, and Hunter values each and every one of them.

... He really wishes Belos was here, so he could experience this with him, but he isn't and Hunter tries to not dwell on that.]

Experiencing weather instead of plagues is really something else! This is normal throughout the entire world, right? It must mean there aren't any boiling seas here, as well. Does anyone know what other kind of weather this city has?

What's the weather equivalent of a painbow again? A rainbow, I think? What about those?

Comments

[camaleonico]

Our Encanto would rock your world, then. We need a jacket like a week or two out of the whole year, maybe? Everyone knows everyone. And our biggest problem is typically when some guy's donkeys escape... which my cousin takes care of, anyway. Pretty peaceful.

[cardinalrule]

[Every new thing he learns about the Encanto is utterly fascinating.]

That sounds like the opposite of the Boiling Isles.

You know, at some point you're going to tell me something completely unbelievable about that place and I'm going to have a hard time thinking you aren't just joking, since I can't see any of it with my own eyes.

[camaleonico]

My little brother's bedroom is a jungle.

[ That sounds like a joke. Sure does. ]

[cardinalrule]

[It sure does!]

And there it is. [Is Camilo dunking on him? Who knows.] How big of a jungle?

[camaleonico]

Pretty big. There's a waterfall. Huge tree. Jaguar crashed his birthday party. And a capybara, a tapir, some toucans, buncha coatimundis... You name it. So, they all kinda come and go from Antonio's room. He's got animals all over the house now. Just find a jaguar and a capybara chillin' on the patio together, y'know, parchando...~

[ Yeah, no, the way Camilo is delivering this information, with so much humor in his voice and on his face, it's hard to tell if he's joking or telling the truth, for real. ]

[cardinalrule]

[Yeah, Hunter can't tell if he's being strung along or getting valuable information. It sounds cool! He wants this to be true! But he also really, really doesn't want to be teased.]

I've only heard of some of those animals. Some of those sound made up.

[Says the guy from a world with boiling rain........]

What's that mean, parchundo? Is that how it's spelled?

[camaleonico]

P-a-r-c-h-a-n-d-o. They're just chillin', all the animals hanging out together, a little parche~ Jaguars usually eat stuff like capybaras, y'know, so— s'kinda funny? Something special.

[ He gives a playful tilt of his head, a little shrug, light smile still in place. ]

Heh, out of curiosity, though — which animals sound made-up...?

[ The tentative way he asks that, with the corners of his eyes narrowing in good humor, still makes it unclear if he's teasing or not... He's not, as it happens. But this guy's skepticism makes it tempting to start making fake animals up. ]

[cardinalrule]

[Okay, he's going to remember how that's spelled. And what it means.]

I think I understand what you mean. [A predator and its prey just hanging out together is definitely not something someone would see in the Boiling Isles.]

Tapirs, toucans, coatimundis. [Might as well humour Camilo and give him the list, though that look on his face isn't lost to Hunter. It's fine, two can play at this game.] I don't suppose his room has a couple of giraffes in it, too?

[camaleonico]

Nah, no giraffes in Colombia~ Plenty of vainas and bobo-bobos, though.

[ Hmm... ]

[cardinalrule]

[Those sound like they could come from the Boiling Isles, so he's got noooo idea if they're actually real or not.......

Time to double down??]

That's surprising. After they got banished to the human realm with snagglebacks I would've expected them to spread everywhere.

[camaleonico]

Wait— giraffes got banished where you're from...?

[ Forget the snagglebacks. ]

Why?

[cardinalrule]

[Hah!! He feels a bit of triumph here, even though he isn't actually lying.]

They were awful and dangerous. Good riddance.

[camaleonico]

Giraffes…? Are we talking about the same giraffes? Long necks, eat leaves…?

2/2

[camaleonico]

Uhh— Let’s see if I can do this right… Th-This guy, right?

[ He’s been experimenting with his cell phone the past couple days. Camilo has read about a giraffe in an encyclopedia when he was a kid. Th-That’s it. He hardly considers himself an expert. So now he’s second-guessing his vague knowledge of giraffes, Hunter… So he took to Google. And was amazed… Not by the giraffe, but the technology. One of the first things he found blew his mind and he wants to share, because he found a button that says “share,” so he’s sharing. He attaches a long, messy, raw link to a 3D giraffe simulator… which allows the giraffe to be superimposed onto his environment. There’s a tiny giraffe on his phone’s view of his kitchen table in Casita now. Don’t mind him as his inner child mildly, quietly, freaks out about this??? ]

[cardinalrule]

[Oh, that's a neat feature! Hunter had no idea phones could do something like that. They're weird, technology is weird.]

Yep, that's them. They're huge, though, not tiny like that. Taller than a lot of trees.

How did you do that?

[camaleonico]

I dunno! I looked up "giraffe" on the thing! Then it said "view in your space" or something, and bam, giraffe.

[ He's amazed, okay, he is. Not even gonna front. ]

[cardinalrule]

I didn't know the phones could do something like that.

[It's kind of cool!]

[camaleonico]

Look— Jaguar!

[ Okay, Camilo is delighted by his new smidge of tech savviness… Anything a phone does has been cool to him, but this indeed was unexpected. ]

[cardinalrule]

[And here Hunter has never seen or heard of a jaguar before, so he's amazed.]

That's another creature from the human realm? How big are they, usually?

[camaleonico]

Big! Not as big as a giraffe, but about as big as a person — super muscular. Strong enough to kill a man. They drag their prey into trees to eat, sharp fangs, big claws, all that. That’s the animal my little brother rides around on, heh… So sometimes you’ll just find a jaguar lying on a couch in our hallway now. No big deal.

[ No, big deal. More Madrigal fun facts. ]

[cardinalrule]

It's very plain-looking, but it sounds like it would actually fit in pretty well in the Boiling Isles.

[Terrifying predator, yup.]

Is your brother the only thing keeping the jaguar from eating you all?

[camaleonico]

i guess
if it weren't for antonio, the jaguar wouldn't even be around
they don't usually hunt people. but if he wanted to eat us, yeah, he could.

if a jaguar seems like it'd fit in where you're from, though, sounds like the animals in your home are as bad as the weather.

[cardinalrule]

They don't? Fascinating!

[For real! It's a predator, why wouldn't it hunt people??]

They are. They're worse, sometimes, which is why it's so crucial to have some form of magic to be able to defend yourself.

[camaleonico]

So do you have magic, then? What's your Gift?

[cardinalrule]

[Luckily, he's getting better at answering this question.]

I happen to be the head of the Emperor's Cove, which is the only coven in the Boiling Isles that allows witches to retain all of the magic. Every other coven - Illusions, Plants, Bard and so on - restricts magic to their specialty upon entrance.