[002] Weight of days lost holding you down

[goldenherd]

WHO: Claude von Riegan, Aysun the wyvern, and you!!
WHERE: Outside the Zodiac apartments, Kami State Park, on the network so I don't have to doublepost
WHEN: July 24th (happy birthday Claude)
WHAT: Claude meets up with an old friend
WARNINGS: Talk about past animal death (she's fine now), property damage done to an NPC's car, more property damage to an IKEA, conversations about Christianity

1. Outside the Zodiac Apartments

At exactly three in the morning, there's a loud roar from the street outside the Zodiac apartment building, accompanied by the sound of crunching metal and a car alarm going off. Anyone who looks to investigate will find a gigantic, white-scaled wyvern sitting on top of a now much flatter SUV - thankfully parked and empty - bellowing forlornly and craning her long neck to and fro, looking up and down the street in search of something or someone but unwilling to leave her new perch. How she got there is a bit of a mystery, despite the night owls surely on watch given the apartment's eccentric residents. All that's really clear is that one moment there were precisely no wyverns wandering the streets, and the next one had destroyed some poor townie's car.

Someone may want to do something about that? Probably.

[ Claude will wait patiently to reunite with his wyvern, but only for a tag or two. After that, he'll turn up in the thread. ]

2. Network [ un: bowfaire | text ]

URGENT HELP NEEDED

Does anyone know where in the city one might find appropriate facilities for housing a wyvern? Even temporary arrangements would be fine at this point, but I'm honestly not too optimistic. I haven't seen any around or any sings of roosts even on the taller buildings here, so I'm assuming they might count as "supernatural" here if they existed in this world at all before now. But I'm getting sidetracked - what I need is a place that's sheltered from the wind, is larger than the space needed to comfortably stable a horse, and that stays very warm at night. Ideally it'd be someplace up high, but I don't think beggars can be choosers in this case. Thanks in advance.

3. Kami State Park

"Stop that! Aysun, you get out of there right now."

Despite his scolding tone, Claude manages to laugh as he wrestles his wyvern away from one of the bear-proof dumpsters at the campgrounds, arms around her neck and leaning hard against her. Aysun, being literally one ton of solid muscle and bone, could probably resist if she wanted to, but relents, snorting and backing away from the dumpster even as she eyes it with an intense curiosity. Once Claude is sure she's not about to lunge for it again, he turns and slams the lid as shut as it will go with a new set of wyvern bite-shaped dents in it. Shaking his head, he sighs.

"Just what am I going to do with you?" he asks, patting her shoulder. "Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to have you here with me. But it's looking like this could be quite a bit of fuss we've gotten ourselves into."

She grumbles, softly, and noses into his hair affectionately, resting her gigantic head against his.

"Yeah. I missed you too."

4. The Owlery (Closed to Eda)

With the question of where exactly he's going to live mostly settled, at least for now, Claude turns his attention to the question of employment. It's... honestly not something he's had to give a lot of thought to in a long time, between being recognized as a legitimate heir to two separate noble families when he was thirteen and seventeen respectively. While he's been far from idle in that time, eyes on the crown as soon as it became a viable option for him and knowing that earning that would take an incredible amount of discipline and skill, it does mean some of his skillsets other than war and politics have fallen by the wayside, and under the circumstances he's... very tired of both those things.

Archival and library work strikes him as an option first, but it seems like most of the entry-level positions in this world are volunteer work, and while under normal circumstances he wouldn't mind trading his time for the opportunity to really sink his teeth into the backlog of reading he wants to do about this place, he does have a literal ton of gigantic flying lizard to keep fed. So what else can he do? He's just considering it, walking around the city and taking note of the kinds of storefronts and merchants he sees, when one in particular catches his eye. It doesn't seem to specialize in anything in particular, boasting various curiosities and antiques, but it's the rack of dried herbs hanging over one of the displays that gets his attention.

A thought occurs to him. He enters the shop, hands in his pockets and idly glancing around the shelves as he waits for an opportunity to speak to the owner.

5. The Infinite Ikea (Closed to Mae and Suzi)

IKEAs are a sensory overload for people at the best of times, but for Claude - a man who's previous experience with buildings even approaching the size of a normal IKEA (much less an infinite one) are all monasteries, castles, and libraries - the vast, warehouse-expanse of open space and fluorescent lighting is a little overwhelming. He boldly does not follow the arrows on the floor, not trusting them to do anything but lead him in circles, instead relying on his own sense of direction to try to navigate through the labyrinthine mess of brightly colored furniture.

He's got his bow and a quiver of arrows with him, slung over his shoulder and at his hip respectively, though he doesn't really expect to have to use them. All of this sounds like a pretty standard if oddly organized case of banditry to him, and he doesn't think he's going to need to shoot anyone over that, probably. The intimidation factor will probably help, though, and honestly he just doesn't feel all that comfortable with the notion of leaving Failnaught lying around. So he's here, pacing the display floor and keeping an eye out for anyone who looks like they're trying to steal an entire table or something, he guesses!

6. Near the water tower (closed to Jun)

"So, run this by me again," says Claude, glancing over at the masked man who continues to refuse to give him a name as they walk along the sidewalk. "Turning water into wine has religious connotations here - at least for one specific faith - and we've got some kind of mage out here doing just that for the spiritual clout. Do I have that right?"

He's left his bow behind this time, locked carefully in a safe in his apartment. His figuring is that that his last outing went so middling-to-poorly in part because of over-reliance on the thing, and also that this sounds like a problem he'll have a better chance of talking his way through if he isn't holding a weapon. After all, it doesn't sound like this mage is trying to hurt anyone, so much as just doing some kind of glory-seeking.

"Now, obvious problems with messing with the civic water supply aside, let me play demon's advocate here for a second. What's to say he's not just who he says he is? Is there a concrete way to tell when power comes from a divine source here, as opposed to a magical one?"

Comments

[goldenherd]

"Exactly. It's not exactly playing fair, but it should be effective if we can pull it off." And honestly, he's not even sure what playing fair would look like in this context. Engaging with him on his level in religious debate? Not exactly possible when Claude knows precisely one fact about the guy he's claiming to be the second coming of.

"Anyway, here's these," says Claude, handing Jun a couple of the packets he's holding and putting the rest back in his pockets. It does occur to him that a man dressed in all white with his face covered like this is not the most subtle person around, but he sounds so assured that he can manage that Claude just kind of assumes he has some kind of trick up his sleeves. Worst case scenario, he bungles it and they have to try again another day, but it should be really interesting seeing just what he does.

"You ready for me to head in? It looks like he's getting ready for his demonstration."

[whiteshroud]

Jun has no disagreements there, he wasn't real eager to get into a theology debate with the man either. So he'll take the packets and hold them in his hand, looking them over. Yeah, these should be easy enough to control. He then glances around, as if taking in the area before deciding on something and then looking back at Claude.

"Yes. Let's complete this mission." As he says this, he'll teleport away in a flash of blue light. He reappears behind the maintenance shed near the water tower, closer to the Wizard but out of view of the crowd. The wizard is too caught up basking in all the attention to notice his appearance.

Getting immediately to work, Jun will open one of the packets and dump the contents on the ground while leaving the second packet unopen. He'll will hold up the packets and focus on them. Using telekinesis that he's honed for years, the packets will begin to move on their own. First close to the ground, so anyone who sees them will assume it's just a piece of trash being blown in the wind. Then once it gets near the stage, they will rise up to the stage floor, waiting. It's only when the wizard is getting into full on theatrics, dramatic hand gestures that will surely distract the audience, do the two packets make their final leap up until the man's pocket. The wizard is too caught up in his own fervor to pay any notice.

That part of the mission done, Jun will help improve Claude's chances. He sends a telepathic image to the Wizard's mind: Claude, but with a holy aura. Almost like it's the divine telling this delusional idiot to pay special attention to this man.

[goldenherd]

Claude does his best to watch what Jun gets up to as he weaves his way through to the front of the crowd, but it's hard to do so while also looking like he's hanging on the wizard's every word. As such he only catches some of it, but isn't that interesting, those packets moving entirely on their own like that? Some kind of very well-controlled wind spell, maybe? Or something else entirely?

Either way, what Claude is not expecting is for the wizard to actually pick him out of the crowd, having intended to simply play the oblivious, overenthusiastic fool and blunder his way up there past whoever was actually picked. But the wizard calls out, "And who among you shall have first honor of drinking of the blood of the Savior? You there! Come and join me." and Claude very bravely does not look confused or a little unnerved by the blood thing despite feeling that way, hopping up onto the makeshift stage and bowing his head respectfully as the wizard makes some gesture of blessing.

"It's an honor indeed, my lord," he says, maybe laying it on a little thick, but figuring that if people are falling for this guy's theatrics, he's allowed a few of his own. With a pleased smile, the wizard places a hand on his shoulder and offers him the chalice. Claude gives him a look of exaggerated reverence and reaches out - and carefully flicks an open packet he had hidden up his sleeve out onto the ground, the gesture hidden by the chalice itself.

"Hey, what's this?" asks one of the people filming from the crowd, reaching across the stage to pick it up.

[whiteshroud]

Jun remains still from his hiding spot, letting things unfold. The people narrow in on the packet as it gets picked up, the mood rapidly shifting as they realize what it is. "It's a packet of kool-aid!" they exclaim loudly.

The crowd bursts into chaos. Some are shocked and angry, demanding answers. Others meanwhile are laughing and living for this drama. Several more camera phones come out to record this new twist of mayhem.

The wizard himself seems flabbergasted, not expecting this twist at all. "D-Don't be deceived! That's the devil sowing doubt, but I-"

He stammers, trying to come up with some explanation and to regain his spell over the crowd. This would be a good opportunity to crush his credibility once and for all.

[goldenherd]

The crowd starts to turn on the guy so fast, Claude would almost feel sorry for him if it weren't for the fact that he put himself in this mess to begin with. He feigns a wounded look, directed at the wizard, before glancing at the crowd.

"Now, I'm sure there's some kind of reasonable explanation for all of this," he says, before looking back at the wizard. "You wouldn't lie to us, would you?"

The wizard stammers, indignant. "Of course not! Never would I dream of leading any of my flock astray! You have the proof in your hand."

Claude has to actively try not to grimace at being referred to as one of the wizard's flock, but he manages, nodding resolutely and downing the chalice of wine, after which he does grimace, theatrically. The sad thing is, it is decent wine, but probably not something that should be in the pipes for a whole apartment complex.

"Ugh," he says, shaking his head. "That's - yeah, that's kool-aid and vodka. Hey, question for you - just what are you trying to pull, here?"

Baffled, the wizard snatches the chalice back from Claude and sniffs at it. "What do you mean? You're the one who's lying to these good people! I only-"

"You've got another packet falling out of your pocket," Claude points out. "I'm just trying to figure this out - there have to be better ways to get, what, respect? Money? Attention? Any of that, in a city this big. What would you have asked of us, if this scheme had worked?"

"Enough!" shouts the wizard, clearly at the end of his proverbial rope. "I will not sit here and allow you to imply my intentions are anything but pure. I am as I say I am, and I can prove it to all of you!"

And with that, he turns and hops off the makeshift stage, running for the water tower. Incidentally, a few of the kool-aid packets fall out of his pocket as he does so, but who's counting?

[whiteshroud]

Jun watches the whole debacle go down. While it's true they set this man up to look even more foolish than he was in reality, Jun can live with the fact it was necessary. Better than trying to explain the truth.

When the wizard moves to run, it's Jun's turn. He waits until the man has run out of direct view of the crowd, who is now in full chaos at what's transpired. As soon as he is, Jun teleports next to him and kicks out his leg to swipe the man's feet- making him trip and fall to the ground with a surprised yell.

Once the man is down, Jun is quick to move to pin him against the ground, easily holding tight to the man's arms behind his back as he recites scripture through his modulated voice.

"But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak ... that same prophet shall die. Deuteronomy 18:20." He'll look coldly at the wizard, not that he could see Jun's expression under the shroud. "Of all identities you've could've stolen, you've really chosen the most foolish one to do so."