( ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ ) ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴛɪᴅɪɴɢs | ( ɴᴘᴄ ᴘᴏsᴛ )

[acatastoria]

[ there is a sudden sparking that emits from your magical watches and a hologram appears, showing a petit woman with dark hair. her eyes seem to hold a certain amount of mischief and light, and when she speaks, you listen. it's something about her; you are captivated by her presence, and you can't help but give her your attention. ]

Hello, hello, hello~! ♥

[ it's a trill of a voice, light and airy. ]

I know you've all just arrived~♥ but I wanted to introduce myself! To those who haven't met me, my name is Astoria! I know many of you are likely unhappy with being found here, and I understand. But the need is urgent, and dire, and I am in desperate need of your help, as is the universe in which we reside. There is much darkness, in this universe . . . plenty of worlds on the brink of collapse, or at the precipice of something great. It is my job -- our job -- to help where needed. Like superheroes, but a little less flashy!

[ she pauses. ]

No offense to the superheroes. -- but anyway! I want to let you know were we're going to go first.

[ she takes in a D E E P breath!! ]

There is a city, by the name of El Minha. It's beautiful, an oasis in the desert. There are many shops and stalls and the entire city is bustling, but El Minha is facing a difficult path. Transitions of power are hard, you know? And they have a new King, who is . . . probably nice, but the people there are suffering. Crime is at an all-time high, and King Kathashun can only do so much . . . if he's doing anything at all.

[ she brushes a loose piece of hair behind her ear, and astoria smiles a little. it is obvious, by now, that she's definitely bubbly and full of spirit, but she is deadly serious about her mission. ]

I truly believe that we have the ability to help those who need it most, and those people are in desperate need. So we're going to go there, explore, and talk to them! And maybe, just maybe, we can affect some good in this world, and change the tide for the better for these poor people.

[ she pauses. ]

So that's where we're going first! But before that, I'm here to greet you, to support you, and welcome you to my beautiful Temple. Please, please, please make yourselves at home! I'll be here if you have any questions. ♥

[ astoria pauses before lifting up a single finger, as if she's forgotten something important. ]

Oh, and please let me know if you find anything interesting or important or otherwise peculiar in the Temple! The Forest of the Fey is a magical place, and I'm keeping a careful eye on all of you explorers to make sure you don't get too lost, but my dear friends within the forest may like playing with you all, so be respectful of the wildlife! It may fight back. ♥

[ is she serious? the world may never know. ]

Comments

[Video]

[spaceforged]

[This is leagues better than he expected but he's still skeptical. He waits until he's sure of what he wants to say.]

Do you mind going back over what you mean by there being a lot of darkness in the universe? ...correct me if I'm wrong but it sounds like you're looking for people to assist in balancing the universe.

And just what is causing this darkness? Is it natural, or?

[Video]

[acatastoria]

Yes!

[ with a snap of her fingers; shiro gets it! ]

That's it, that's precisely it! Restoring balance to the universe, helping people recover from the ills of society . . . all of that! Like an intergalactic peacekeeping mission, we lend our powers, talents, and personalities to the greater good!

[ it's almost like a brochure. ]

As for what's causing the darkness -- forgive me, but are you human? I've lost track of who is what in the way here, there are a lot of you to keep up with.

[Video]

[spaceforged]

[He blinks, that had not been a question he'd expected. But from the sound of it. He sighs.] Yes, I'm human. Are you saying that the people themselves are responsible for the darkness of their worlds?

[Video]

[acatastoria]

Well, no offense, but it's a little bit human nature-y to be a little dark sometimes, right?

[ with a slight shrug of her shoulders. ]

But there's quite a lot of it, in this universe, and I'm not sure if it's because people are naturally becoming darker, or if it's because there's more people than ever, or if something is causing people to go rogue . . . El Minha is fairly stable, but it's at the brink of something pretty catastrophic if we don't do something about it. One way or another, that city is going to change. It's up to us to assist the people through that.

[Video]

[spaceforged]

[...]

No offense taken. So, you have no idea what made the universe this bad. Humans being humans isn't going to account for everything in the universe. ...I'd like to discuss why you took us more in detail later. If you'll let me.

So, I'll focus on this first. What are the factions within the city?

[Video]

[acatastoria]

I'm here, for whatever you need me for.

[ read: she'll talk to you, shiro, if you ask. but she understands the shift in conversation, and topic, and astoria nods. ]

El Minha is a monarchy, ruled by King Kathashun. He's young -- a baby, really, to me, but he's human, so likely twenty seasons or so? [ astoria isn't super sure, but she doesn't appear to be lying. ] He's recently inherited the throne and his father wasn't exactly . . . loved by the people.

There's a lot of resistance in the city to the Crown by a group of people called the Syndicate. They're criminals, for the most part, but I don't think they kill people. It's hard to get a lot of information when you can't quite go there, you know? I know through the whispers in the universe and sometimes the little proverbial birdies get lost in the shuffle. But the Syndicate has a pretty good grip on the city, and the King wants them gone. And their heads. Probably.

[ astoria shrugs a little. ]

They handle things with guillotines over there, I think.

[Video]

[spaceforged]

[He lifts an eyebrow. Whispers in the universe? He tries to wrap his head around that and that a human roughly his own age is a baby to her. Focus. Info first.]

Okay...how, [The more he turns it over in his head the more he has to ask one question. He can't forget the list of names for arrest or the way the city of Shehui became more and more like a prison.] How receptive is this city to magic users? We're not walking into potentially having our own heads at risk just for that, are we?

[Video]

[acatastoria]

Oh, no, there's plenty of magic in the city! Just don't use it to be . . . you know, particularly naughty.

[ don't steal shit and don't hurt people with magic and you'll be fine. ]

I think the King uses magic -- or it might be his Crown Guard. -- it doesn't really matter, you can use your powers! Just don't, you know, hurt anybody and people will leave you alone.

[Video]

[spaceforged]

[He lets out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He'll have to check for himself to be sure. Shiro nods, letting that go.]

What about the previous king? Specifically, how much have you heard about what they did and how it affected the city. Is there anything we should know about the surrounding area?

[Video]

[acatastoria]

I don't know much about the previous king except that his son isn't exactly sad he's dead.

[ it's said a bit blithely, but astoria is telling the truth. she is a deeply magical being, and the new king has magic about him -- astoria can sense it, when she peers into the world. but other than that, she really doesn't know much. ]

El Minha is surrounded by a harsh desert, though -- you're better off staying inside the city. I wouldn't wander very far; I'm not going to be able to rescue you outside of the city, and it'll be dangerous if you stray too far.

[Video]

[spaceforged]

Are you going with us or observing from here? [Rescue sounds suspiciously like they'll be sent in on their own.]

[Video]

[acatastoria]

I'm bound to this Temple, unfortunately. I wish I could go with you.

[ she sounds . . . rueful, at best, and frustrated, at worst. ]

Whatever magic is blocking your own powers is also keeping me here. The Temple, and the Forest, are fighting with me. I don't know why. It's a recent development . . . hence why you're all here. But I'll figure that out on my own. I won't ask you to risk yourselves to figure out my difficulties here.

[ she pauses. ]

Once I can work with the Temple and the Forest to allow my form to leave this place again, I can return to doing my own work. But until then, I have to ask for your help.

[Video]

[spaceforged]

...how should the Temple and Forest be responding to you? If we're going to be using this place too it makes no sense not to investigate why it's acting strange.

But, to have this correctly. As long as we stay in the city, you can pull us out if goes south? Are you going to be watching the whole time or would we need to contact you?

[Video]

[lonered]

[And without even taking a moment to think or take down his Marmora mask or anything, he's fumbling with the stupid watch thing until he can find his way to direct a response at him.]

Shiro! She got you too...

[Not good. The Blade and the world will go on and on without Keith, but Shiro's really important, thank you, and should be back home.]

[Video]

[spaceforged]

[It takes him a second to hear past the distortions to exactly who is addressing him.]

...Keith? She did but, she wasn't the first. Where are you right now?

[Video]

[acatastoria]

He's a little grumpy that I brought him here, Shiro.

[ IS SHE SNOOPING ON THIS YOU BET YOUR ASS KEITH ]

You may want to talk to him about that.

[Video]

[spaceforged]

[Oh good confirmation whatever is on the network isn't safe. Super. He draws in a breath and sighs, a little sharply. It's been a hell of a week and he isn't about to start this new circumstance off with being snappish.]

...Neither of us are happy we're here. I'm going to assume you can see anything on this network. Private or public.

[Video]

[acatastoria]

Well, you're using my magical leftovers to chit-chat, so. I can't really help it. It's like a constant buzzing in my ear, all of you being here.

[ she pauses. ]

But if you really want me to not listen, I will. You just have to ask.

[ she's really not interested in snooping all that much, she just thinks keith is a grumpyguss. :') ]

[Video]

[spaceforged]

Point taken. Sorry for all of our chatter.

[He pauses. She will stop if asked. That's...new.]

Actually, we'll be taking it off the network. So don't worry about it.

[Video]

[acatastoria]

Certainly. Have fun, and I hope you can help Keith, and Keith can help you in return.

[ cheerfully enough ]

And just so you know, I won't listen to your conversations anymore.

[ if it bothers him that much, she'll tune it out. ]

[Video]

[spaceforged]

[He can't help but pause again. Mixed feelings flickering across his face too fast to discern which holds the biggest sway. He sighs, nods, and says quietly with feeling.]

Alright. Thank you. Again, sorry for the trouble.

[Text]

[acatastoria]

[ astoria's video cuts out, at shiro's last message, but a new text message pops up soon after: ]

♥ ₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

Re: [Video]

[lonered]

What do you mean she wasn't the first?

[Shiro. They need to talk about this "kidnapped far far away" thing. Like. It's intervention time. Why don't you have a seat. They're here because they love you. Why are you a kidnappee addict.

He seems to remember himself and disengages the mask before answering.]

Uh... it appears to be a magical forest. [There is no flatter tone he could speak those words with.]

[Video]

[spaceforged]

Think about coming back to the Temple and start walking, you'll see it fairly quickly. We'll talk when you get here.

[He's already getting up and heading for the Temple grounds edge. Talking about the Qri and that heap of trouble is not on his list of things to do over a network. He is not a kidnappee addict. People just seem to think he's suitable for collecting and apparently keeping.

Maybe it's his temperament.]

[Video]

[lonered]

[Shiro is exceptionally collectible, that is hard to argue. But Keith nods in full agreement. He is pretty eager to see Shiro in the flesh, honestly. There's something a little less daunting about all this if Shiro is here.]

Got it. On my way.

[And he's good with talking off this network. It's definitely not secure.]