August Event Log

[kaisoumods]

August Event
Dominant Element: Fire
Waning Element: Wind

Full Moon: August 1st - August 3rd AND August 29th-31st (blue moon alert!)

※

August has arrived and with it less rain than July, though it's just as miserably hot. Be sure to stay hydrated, especially if you're wind-aligned, as you'll be dealing with exhaustion and a general lack of energy or inspiration all month. Everyone who's fire aligned, meanwhile, will be full of excess energy!

That doesn't explain the weirdness this month with the moon, though. The first full moon of the month occurs early in the month, but whenever it passes in front of the Spirit Vein in the sky... it's probably fine. Thankfully this only occurs with the first full moon. Yes, first. August has the rare blue moon at the end of the month, meaning everyone with a monster change gets to suffer twice. Have fun!

The Great Kaisou Gathering

It is once again time for the Kaisou County Fair, which can be found on the edge of town at the fairgrounds. And with the county fair comes fried food as far as the eye can see. It's honestly a bit absurd how much fried food there is, especially since at least half of this should not be fried. They have, among other things, Fried Soul Food Egg Rolls, Cheese Curd Stuffed Pizza Pretzels, and Deep Fried Honey. Aside from the fried foods, though, there's plenty of things you can do. There's local entertainment such as concerts from local musicians, bull-riding, educational exhibits, livestock contests, cooking competitions (as usual, the chili competition gets the ugliest), rides, and carnival-esque games for all ages. They even still have the triceratops that appeared there last year during the Tear incident, though the normies seem convinced it's a prized bull. Spend a day at fair and make some fond, mostly normal memories!

If you're not inclined to go to the fair, there's plenty of other things to do around town. School starts up in a month, so it might be time to hit up those back to school sales! Get a good deal on a backpack, notebooks, and try not to think about how many times your academic life is going to get interrupted by oddities in the city. And if you're looking to stay cool in this heatwave, you can head to the beach or one of the city pools. Blue Fish Lake has now returned to it's normal depths, so you can go back to renting paddleboats and fishing as you did before. Unfortunately though, the geese are still there.

Chicken, Run

Now, with the fair in town, one might expect to see some chickens around, but only a few, and only within the fair itself. But for some reason, there are just flocks of roving chickens everywhere in the city, and no one seems to know where they came from or why they're here. They seem pretty chill for the most part, content to roam the city like a tiny feathery gang of troublemakers, but if you upset them... oh dear.

Attacking, insulting, or otherwise provoking the chickens (extremely easy to do, they'll attack you if they see you eating any chicken-based product) will result in them swarming you. With roughly six to ten chickens per flock, being swarmed by these chickens will feel akin to be attacked by hundreds of very sharp flying rocks. Should you have gone out of your way to offend the chickens, more will fly in out of seemingly nowhere. All of this is accompanied by a sound that can only be described as "unholy" or "as if a thousand off-key trumpets sounded at once". They won't do any serious damage, but they still hurt! Even worse, all these chickens seem to be completely invulnerable to any attacks you return, so all you can do is either try to escape or withstand the barrage.

Once the chickens stop attacking you (or you just pass by a flock without provoking them), you'll find brightly colored plastic eggs at your feet. Upon picking one up and opening it, you will find it contains random items that should not at all fit inside those eggs. This can happen to you up to three times throughout the course of the month, much like those plants that appeared back in May. What is going on here?!

The Plea for Help

On the night of August 3rd, everyone will hear a telepathic message from an unknown female voice: "Help... help... our Hero will not wake. Calamity Ganon will destroy us all... help...

The next morning, Zodiac will send out an alert message.

ALERT: SPIRIT REALM GATE DETECTED IN MOGHOME.
Element Classification: Fire
Danger Level: High
Designation: Hyrule
Zodiac has detected a Spirit Gate on the Moghome Floating Island. Early sensing reports indicate that a large level of corruptive energy is coming from this realm. We believe this was the source of the distress messaged received last night. Please proceed with caution if you choose to investigate.

Should you head to the Zodiac office, there's an apprehensive energy in the air. The (fuzzy) Professor is there, though he won't be able to illuminate anything this month. If you ask why not, he will point out that his specialty is history and as far as he's aware, there's no historical record of a kingdom called Hyrule existing on Earth. Geez Professor no need to get so touchy about it.

Zodiac, in the meantime, will do their best to fill everyone in. According to their research, Hyrule is a kingdom that once thrived, but fell to an evil force called Calamity Ganon about 100 years ago. According to Hyrulian legend, there is a chosen Hero that would usually reincarnate to save them from such calamities; however, for some reason, this time he failed to wake. Based upon Zodiac's readings of the gate, they believe it's a good candidate to be tethered as a stable gate, but before they can do that, they want something to be done about Calamity Ganon to avoid that somehow getting out of the gate and spreading into the city.

They will also caution that maybe you should bring multiple weapons with you on this trip. For some reason, weapons have a shorter shelf-life in this realm. Just a word to the wise. But on the other hand, they've successfully updated the Libra app to work with some of the more unique features in the world, which you'll find out about soon enough.

Once you're ready, it's off to the gate. The gate this time is located on Moghome, a large floating island that hovers above Kami State Park. For those who can't fly or come up with some other inventive way to get up there, the best way up to Moghome is by a single rope ladder that hangs all the way down from the edge of the island to the ground. When you reach the top, there will be a collection of moogles who are irritated by the gate that showed up in their home. They won't hesitate to express their irritation, and also perhaps attempt to make a character do tasks for them to "ease their suffering". More likely though, they're just mooches trying to freeload.

Once you finally get past the moogles, you can hike to the gate, which is not too far into the island. It looks like a small shrine, with green and blue lights circling above it. As you step in front of the gate, a blue circular glyph will appear beneath your feet and the Libra app will inform you that the gate has been unlocked as a warp travel spot, as part of the Libra app new features mentioned before. In other words, you can use the Libra app to teleport you to this spot, and never have to climb up that rope ladder ever again.

The Fallen Kingdom of Hyrule

When you step into the gate, you will find yourself in the ruins of a church that was once a house of worship to a goddess. If you look outside the church, you can see that you're atop a great plateau and that the church isn't the only ruined building - not by a long shot. Zodiac wasn't exaggerating when they said this was a kingdom that fell to a calamity. Just about everywhere you look, there are ruins of a once great kingdom. Veterans of the Spirit Realm will be no strangers to ruins, but the sheer volume of ruins in this realm speaks to how dramatic the realm's downfall must've been.

On your first visit, you'll encounter an old man. The old man is friendly enough, and will help go over the ropes for the new arrivals. Like Zodiac before him, he explains that this was the once kingdom of Hyrule, but it fell to a calamity 100 years ago. The evil at the heart of this calamity, Calamity Ganon, is sealed within the old castle at the center of the realm. Calamity Ganon has been held at bay by the Princess Zelda, who has spent the past 100 years using her sealing magic to hold him, but she can't hold him forever. They have been waiting for the chosen Hero to wake up from his century-long rest... but for some reason, he doesn't seem to inclined to wake. So, they've no choice but to look for outside help or face obliteration.

From there, he'll walk you through the new features of the Libra app that work in the realm and should help you out. First, is the warp travel. Across the land of Hyrule, there are shrines that were built by the ancient Sheikah tribe to help and challenge any heroes. Find these shrines and complete their challenge within, and you'll be able to use the Libra app to quickly teleport to that shrine's location.

Next, is the Ultrahand mode. When this mode on your phone is activated, you'll be able to grab nearby objects telepathically and move them around (though it's more clunky than legitimate telepathy). Even more impressive, put two objects and you can attach them together with a green goo to build something. You can even fuse items you find lying around to your weapons to give them new attributes or strengthen them. The old man will note that mysterious technology from an even more ancient tribe called the Zonai have begun appearing in Hyrule recently, so perhaps that can be used to make even more impressive builds. Just try not to blow yourself up.

[Mod Note: Please note, Ultrahand and the crafting ability will only work while in Hyrule itself. The green goo will evaporate the moment it crosses the gate. You cannot bring your DIY Gundam back to the city. ]

Finally, rather than a new app feature, the old man will give you a paraglider to help you glide off the plateau when you're ready to see the rest of Hyrule. With all his exposition finished, he'll reveal that he is just the spirit of the last king of Hyrule who died in the Calamity, and will fade away. In other words, you were talking to a ghost the whole time. Welcome to Hyrule!

I Want To Go Home

As you leave the plateau and begin your trek into Hyrule, you'll begin to realize that perhaps the Old Man didn't fill you in on every necessary detail you need to know. Like first of all, the realm is massive. To travel it all in one day is simply impossible, and there's even a few different biomes within the land. Even if you intend to head just to Hyrule Castle and not explore anywhere else, you're still going to be in for quite a journey.

And if the size wasn't enough, this realm is full of monsters. Loads of monsters. You don't have to go very far to find an encampment of Bokoblins and Moblins, or to be swarmed by Keese. During the night hours, monster skeletons will come out of the earth and keep attacking until you destroy the skull. And don't relax too much if you think you've cleared all the monsters in an area, as every Sunday night, a blood moon will rise in the sky and revive all the monsters that have been slain in the past week.

To make matters with the monster fighting worse, this realm seems to have an unusual effect on weapons. Weapons found within the realm will break rather easily, not lasting more than a few battles before they become badly damaged. Weapons that you brought in from outside the realm won't necessarily break, but they will only last so long before they start to dull, jam, or temporarily lose their magical ability, requiring maintenance to be done. If you wish to survive in this realm, it'd be best to have multiple weapons on you so that you don't find yourself suddenly defenseless. For those who are more creative, you can make use of the Ultrahand ability to make contraptions that will help you through your journey. Zonai technology will be found littered around the ruins for your use. These technological artifacts have limited battery life, though you can always try to find other ways to keep them powered.

The weather in Hyrule is... interesting. Rain showers are fairly frequent, with a chance of one occurring every couple days (or sometimes even multiple times a day). This can make traveling and climbing (which you'll be doing a lot of - what is infrastructure in a ruined kingdom?) especially difficult. When it thunderstorms, you'd best stow away any metal items you have on you, as the lightning seems to love targeting you. Some regions of Hyrule have rather extreme climate biomes. Depending on where you're traveling, you best bring clothes that can handle extreme heat or extreme cold. And if you're heading to Death Mountain, you'd better find some way to fireproof yourself, as you're heading towards an active volcano.

As the Old man mentioned, every few kilometers you'll come across a shrine that can be used for quick travel. In order to activate this quick travel, you must head inside the shrine and complete the trial within. The trials differ from shrine to shrine; some of them are combat-based where you're expected to beat various types of robots, some are obstacle courses, and some are massive puzzles you're meant to solve. If you manage to complete the challenge, you'll gain access to a room with a mummified monk and approaching their alter will unlock the ability to quick travel. Again, welcome to Hyrule!

It's Not ALL Bad

Alright, so Hyrule has a lot of downsides to it. But while you're in constant peril in this world, there's some nice things about it! While the kingdom has been destroyed, the races of Hyrule have found ways to survive the past century. The most common folks you will encounter are Hyruleans, who act and look human aside from their pointed ears. Hyruleans can be found living in small villages and outposts scattered around Hyrule, just trying to go about their lives in this post-apocalyptic world. If you travel on major roads, you will even occasionally come across a stable where you can rest in a bed, buy from traveling merchants, and even rent out a horse to use! Merchants use gems called "rupees" as currency. If you don't wish to rent a horse, you can try your hand at taming a wild one - they can be found out in the wilds nearby the stables.

Besides the Hyruleans, there are several other friendly races you're likely to encounter. There's the Rito, a race bird people that hail from Rito Village in the northwest. Then there's the Gerudo, an extremely tall race of exclusively females hailing from the southwestern desert. Notably, men are not permitted into Gerudo Town... but you could always dress in drag to get around this. Next are the Goron, a type of rock creature who live in Goron City within Death Mountain. If being on fire isn't your thing, you can also head eastward to the Zora's Domain, a large city surrounded by pristine waters that are home to the semi-aquatic Zora people.

All of these people and towns will be friendly to the new visitors (unless you're a man trying to go into Gerudo Town). If you're feeling charitable, you can help out the locals with various tasks, such as fighting monsters that have been problems, helping them find lost animals, or gathering resources for them. Not only that, but they've found plenty of fun ways to pass the time. You can go sand surfing with Sand Seals in the Gerudo desert, practice your paragliding (or flying) in the Rito flight area, do some gambling in Lurelin village (a beach village on the southeast coast), or many other fun activities. We have fun here amidst all the deadly peril, really.

Outside the monster population and sapient creatures, there's a large diversity flourishing flora and fauna throughout the realm. You can gather different fruits and vegetables to consume, or go hunting for some game. The culinary style in Hyrule is mostly throwing things into a cooking pot and seeing what comes out, but there's still plenty of great(?) cuisines you can make from it. Or you could try your hand and learning how to make elixirs using various critter and monster parts to help combat some of the extreme elements. Just don't try to mix the elixirs and the cooking ingredients together, unless you want a real upset stomach.

Last but not least, throughout your travels through Hyrule you will encounter the playful Koroks. These forest spirits hail from the Great Hyrule Forest to the north, but have decided they'd much rather play hide-and-seek with the Libra app users. You can find them hiding under rocks or posing as fairy lights. Some might want you to perform simple challenges, such as shooting a balloon with a target on it or solving a block puzzle. Should you find the Korok or complete it's task, it will give you a golden Korok Seed (at least, we hope it's seed). Should you gather three of these, you can turn them into a larger Korok spirit named Hetsu, who will dance and give you the ability to hammerspace a single item or weapon permanently. Not bad!

[Mod Note: Players can up to three free hammerspace slots from Hetsu per month. For each hammerspace slot, they are required to thread at least one of the Korok hunts with a minimum of three comments from your character. Free hammerspace slots can be redeemed on the regain page.]

Traitors in the Midst

Unfortunately, not every person encountered this month is friendly. By now, Libra app users have have received intel that members of Krusnik, a shadowy Earth organization who are fixated on possessions and powers, has infiltrated Kaisou. Led by Alba, a "researcher" that some app users may have done quests for, they are hoping to use the chaos of Hyrule to snag potential victims to experiment on. Their targets are usually younger people with interesting powers, and they'll attempt to come at them when they are either alone or their guard is down. Libra app users can get involved in either being potential targets, helping fend off ambushes from Krusnik, or taking down any members involved. As for the Black Order, they've been tasked with dealing with leader and subordinates by any means necessary.

MOD NOTE: Due to the involved and sensitive nature of this subplot, anything related to the Krusnik plot-line has been moved to its own log here! Please be aware that there are content warnings abound in that log.

Calamity Ganon

Once you've finished messing around and exploring Hyrule, it's time to head to Hyrule Castle to deal with Calamity Ganon. Hyrule Castle sits in the center of the kingdom, in Hyrule Field. Before the Calamity, Hyrule Field was home to the largest city in the kingdom, but now any surviving Hyrulean won't go near the place for their own survival. While the terrain is more forgiving here, it'll be anything but an easy trek. All over the fields and ruins in the field are Guardian Stalkers, large robots who will shoot powerful lasers should they lock onto you, and whose only weak spots are their single eye and a spot on the underbelly. There's a lot of them, and each one is dangerous, so you'll need to either find a way to beat them or move past them quickly.

Once you've somehow made it past the field of death, it's onto the castle itself. Once a grand castle, it now sits in ruin and is covered in a miasma of corruption, or Malice as it's called in this realm. Monsters wanders the destroyed halls in large numbers, including more Guardian Stalkers. You'll have to navigate your way through the crumbled halls and monsters in order to make it to the former throne room. There, you'll find a massive, cocoon-like growth of corruption on the ceiling where Calamity Ganon has been held.

However, before you have a chance to try to destroy the cocoon, Calamity Ganon will sense your presence and use it's power to break free of its binding. A grotesque monster will come forth and attack. It's large, made of a mix of Malice and machine. It can also infuse itself with fire for periods of time. It will be certainly a tough fight, as this is the same monster that brought down this kingdom all these years ago.

When it's defeated, the monster will begin to fall apart at the seams. However, it's not quite done yet. The Malice from its body will fly off and reform into a massive beast out on Hyrule Field. Princess Zelda, the voice you heard and has been keeping the Calamity at bay all this time, will use her magic to teleport you and your party out onto the field, near some horses that are fit to use if you're capable. She'll explain that Ganon is evil and rage incarnate before using her power to bless your weapons with her light magic. Your goal is to use these weapons to strike at weak points she makes with her magic, while trying to avoid getting smashed or burned by this monster's destructive power.

Eventually, the blows will weaken it enough that its true weak spot, an eye on its back, will reveal itself. After that, all it'll take is one last, strong strike to take it out. Once the hit lands, Princess Zelda will be freed from where she's been trapped, and appear on the field. From there, she'll finish the weakened Ganon off with her power of Light, cleansing the land of its Malice and calamity once and for all.

Aftermath

Once Calamity Ganon has been defeated, Hyrule will go back to a, well, slightly less dangerous state. The Guardian Stalkers around Hyrule Castle will deactivate, and the corruptive energy in the kingdom will dissipate. The woman you saved will introduce herself as Princess Zelda, the last living member of the Hyrulian royal family. She thanks everyone for their aid, and vows to do all she can to rebuild Hyrule... and find out what causes Link to continue to sleep. They have a long road ahead of them, but for the first time in a long time... Hyrule may have a future beyond just survival.

A future, as it turns out, that the Libra app users may get to bear witness to. Zodiac will inform everyone that with the Calamity no longer posing a risk, they will be able to secure this realm into being a proper stable gate. So, should you ever feel the need to revisit Hyrule, it'll be there.

OOC Notes

The dominant element this month is Fire! Anyone with an affinity to the fire element will find themselves boosted throughout the month. This could mean a boost to their power, having more energy, feeling more inspired with creativity, having better luck on different attempts -- the boost can manifest in all sorts of different ways. By contrast, anyone with an affinity for Wind will be experiencing the opposite. Perhaps their powers will be weaker, they have less energy, they're having a creative block or general worse luck - again it can manifest in all sorts of way and players are free to play with this mechanic as they'd like.

From this point on, the kingdom of Hyrule will be a stable gate meaning that it'll a place characters can visit at anytime. Characters are also allowed to seek Koroks in order to increase their hammerspace inventory slots without regain points. In order to do that, they will need to find three koroks per slot, with at least one of these korok hunts being threaded (minimum comment require is 3 comments from your character). Please redeem your inventory slot on the Regain page and link your required thread. This can be done a maximum of three times (aka three hammerspace slots) per month.

The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here. Another Zodiac Post will be going up August 15th to serve as an intro post for new characters and allow characters to react to developments over the network.

Comments

god that was such a good read though hahahah edward you slick bitch

[lowestclass]

[ honestly, there was maybe a small part of Jinwoo that wishes he could watch his hired-man work--he wasn't extremely good at fighting himself--it's something he's dreamed about, that he'd been able to manage in his past life--but in this one he hadn't quite gotten up to snuff.

So instead he idles his time at the stables, haunting the back rooms with a few drinks of whatever beer they had on tap at the stable--(being disappointed as usual as his poison resistance kicks in and makes it as if he's just drinking water)--but by the time edward re-enters the stable...

His eyebrows go way up as he lays his eyes on his--his umbrella!! Unbroken and held in the ... oh god blood spattered man who'd managed to get his things back.
He'd gotten both.
He'd gotten BOTH.

He's gonna smile so wide, it risks splitting his face. He's immediately going to call over the innkeeper to bring a 'rum flip' for his friend--whatever that was. ]

Not that I underestimated you for a moment, but that must have been some fine work you did.
Sorry about the--oh god, the mess.
Your blades...

Okay, I'll help cover the repair costs, as the bonus for getting my knife back, okay?

[ he's so happy he's almost giddy, moving to pick up his umbrella, testing it to make sure it still opens... success...! ]

--And hilariously, you're actually in luck.
I don't know one personally, but the--Group I work with recently got into contact with a Blacksmith.
He's gonna' be doing work for my people, apparently, so.
I'll submit it as work for me, in return for the huge favor you did me today.

solid work ed a- sry you fell off a branch

[jackdawvision]

It could’ve gone better, [he acknowledges, because usually almost all his weapons don’t break after one fight. But he shakes his head.] Don’t be sorry, lad, I’m rather used to making a mess. [Just a much louder one as a pirate, usually.]

I’ll not be turning down the bonus, though. I’d feel naked with only the one blade. [Most people are fine with just one little blade, Edward.]

Your group? [Interest immediately piqued. There’s a secrecy that Edward finds familiar, having seen it in both the Templars and the Assassins. Jinwoo doesn’t seem the type that Templars would try to recruit, but at the same time an Assassin would’ve recognized Edward’s hidden blades by now. Which means this might be a new group, one exclusive to Kaisou so far.] They seem like fast workers, to find a blacksmith so quickly. Thank you for the favor, truly.

[As the waitress passes by with a rum flip, Edward flips her a coin for the tip.]

And the rum. [Glancing down at it.] Oh, this is—much colder than I’m used to.

you passed the mission just with a little less dignity

[lowestclass]

--Aheh. You ... see, that might. Um. Be my fault in the first place.

I should probably apologise, and be clear with things. I'm offering the bonus--and to fix your blades--prrrrobably because it was my fault that they broke in the first place.

[ he looks askance--looking guilty, his shoulders sort of raising. ]

While you enjoy your cold drink--I hope it's okay that it's cold, they use ice magic here to improve the beverages--I'll uhm. Come clean.

My name is Sung Jinwoo, and I work with The Black Order, back outside this stable gate, on Earth. We're a group of magically-inclined individuals who have --for the most part,--woken up to very sudden and often violent memories of past lives we've led.

Being that the phenomenon is kind of rare, the Black Order finds people like me and recruits them for a mission of protecting the other realms, like this one, from people who would exploit them...
Or put to sleep their memories, if they plan to misuse them.

[ it's no templar or assassin association, but it's... close enough, right? like a mix of the two... ]

One of my... 'powers'? I wouldn't call it a power...
Is that Bad Luck seems to cling to me like a shroud. It doesn't effect me a lot, it... usually makes things happen around me. And most usually those who spend time around me.

[jackdawvision]

[There's a silence as Edward digests all of this, sipping at his rum flip. Years ago he'd have laughed and called them yet another daffy religion like the Assassins, but now he listens with an open mind. Takes note for himself: they work like the Assassins, with the main aim of protecting others from being exploited, but the method of putting their memories to sleep strike him as a rather Templar-like way of doing things.

And all of that, paired with the reminder of Black Bart Roberts, has him staring down at his rum flip for a few more seconds before taking a much longer drink.]

It's all right that it's cold, it's only that I'm used to it being served warm. [A wry smile.] We had no such thing as ice magic where I'm from.

[He drums his fingers against the table.]

Your order actually reminds me of a fellow I knew once. People called him a Sage, and he spoke once of having memories of a life that had been lived...eighty millennia ago, he said? I'd thought it just rot and lunacy, at the time. [Roberts did shoot his own men not five minutes before then.] But he was not the sort of person, I believe, who'd take up with any order. Not without some idea of betraying them in the back of his head.

[As Edward knows too well.]

I've not known you long, but you seem like a decent sort. A bit daft, though—I mean no offense, but even if bad luck is your power, it doesn't mean it's your fault that my weapons broke. I would've liked to have known it beforehand so I could've planned around it, but that's done and I've come out unscathed. So. [He holds his hand out for Jinwoo to shake, and trades a truth for truth:] My name's Edward Kenway. I am, or was, a pirate.

[lowestclass]

[ it is a daffy religion, if Jinwoo would let himself be honest and scathing for five minutes. Truth be told, he's come to be very bitter about The Black Order--having stolen him away from his life because of something he couldn't by rights control, and yet being expected to obediently work for them.

He kind of makes a face at Edward. ]

--Okay, so while I am a big fan of tea being served warm, I'm pretty sure they put an egg in that drink. Having it served warm sounds gag-worthy. [ pause for effect. ] No offense.

[ he'll nurse his own drink--it's silly to drink it when he can feel the alchohol detoxifying as it passes his lips, but. It's fine, it's fine.

He closes his eyes as he listens to the other talk, politely. ]

You wouldn't be the first to call me dumb to my face, so it's fine. I'm honestly a little used to that sort of assessment. [ intelligence wasn't exactly his strong suit. ] But I appreciate you not fully blaming me for your blades. [ even if he fully believes it IS his fault.

...he does hesitate as he looks at the others' offered hand... before placing his own in it. He's wearing a pair of thin leather gloves, but. Even so, it's hard to miss the fact that his hand is rigid and stone cold. ]

Eighty Millenia is a long time to be remembering old lives. I cannot say I know how long ago my own memories go back--but they were from a different world, from this one. Not all of them are fully clear, but.

The Black Order seek out people like me to help with their goals, regardless of what our pasts were. [ ...the admittance of the other being a pirate gets his eyebrows way up.

...There's a smile on his face. ] It's good to meet you formally, Edward.

[jackdawvision]

None taken. The egg gives it character, though, I'll have you know.

[It should be fine! Probably. He's had rum flips before and they've never done him any harm, except for the hangovers the next morning, and those come with any kind of drink. He gives Jinwoo's hand a good shake, then lets go.]

You're...welcome? It doesn't make sense to me to blame you for their breaking when you weren't there.

[So what if he's got a bad luck power? Edward's luck hasn't been going very well lately, so.]

Aye. Perhaps that's why he was half a madman. [Eighty millennia is a long time, and Edward wonders if at some point it just was too much for Roberts to deal with.] I think I get it. In pursuit of their goals, everything's permitted, hm?

[That's only half the Creed, but he's trying to see if that garners a significant reaction.]

Likewise, Jinwoo.

[lowestclass]

I'll take your word for it. [ he's immune to poisons and yet he's afraid of your egg rum, sir.

he's gonna raise his own glass to the other anyway--just some plain liquor, here. Maybe with a bit of fruit juice in, so it at least tastes good. ]

It's less blaming me for something I was there for and more... a keen awareness of how my bad luck pans out. I've been dealing with it for years.

[ he pauses though, thinking. ]

In the pursuit of goals, most people would permit everything, you're right.
So that makes me wonder. Do you have goals like that, too? Are you someone who has memories of a past life, or...

[ is he one of those off-worlders... ]

[jackdawvision]

[The rum flip is tasty, gosh! Anyway Edward has much worse problems than a possible stomachache in the future.]

And you've found no way to fix it? Only to live with it? [Couldn't be Edward. Living with something means giving up and being content to stay where he is, and that's not a good place for him to be. Still, he's not about to begrudge Jinwoo his choice.

He drums his fingers on the table. Finally:] I did have a goal like that, once. One I had within my grasp. Then it was snatched out from under my fingers, and when I looked back at the course I had run to get there, I realized that there was...no one left. [A breath.] I don't know, anymore, if it's worth a further pursuit. And even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to go after it from here—I'm not of this world.

[lowestclass]

[ he nods his head twice. ] If there is a way to fix it, it'd probably involve sealing away the rest of my powers with it. Which... I'm kind of really not keen on doing, for a few reasons.

[ he doesn't want to be powerless again. ]

...Ah, so you're one of those people. Spirited away and stranded. You're the second one I've met like that... [ there's a small amount of pity in his voice. both for the story he told... and being STUCK here. ]

Life is... not always a straight road, but a strange one. At least while you're here, you have time to figure out what road you wish to go down.
...If you are able to return home anytime soon, that is.