acatalepsy_rpg | [Video]

[Barabas appears on the video -- fully clothed, thank you -- with a sedate expression, cordial enough. Bright red hair is less styled than he'd prefer it (his kingdom for decent hair product, really) but he still looks sharp, put together. He's set his watch somewhere so that he's in fame, seated at a table, from about the chest up, hands folded in front of him.]

Hello. I've already met some of you, but for those of you I haven't had the pleasure of encountering yet, my name is Barabas. Everyone seems fairly alive, which is better than the alternative. There's a new vacation spot in town, complete with an off-brand Loch Ness Monster. What more could anyone ask for?

[He spreads his hands.]

As... charming... as this place is, there is a disturbing lack of information infrastructure. Even Astoria doesn't quite seem to be able to keep track of who is coming and going at all times -- since the last bunch of us were apparently unexpected guests. I don't exactly find that reassuring. It does not make me feel warm and fuzzy.

[At all.]

In that vein, I think we should address this, put in place some way to keep track of who is here, who is no longer here, the abilities we each possess. [He ticks these items off on his fingers.] And a collection of information of the places that Astoria has sent us, and the general outcome of each trip. And really any other useful things to know, for all of us, and those who may be brought here in the future.

[A smile now, no teeth, but still pleasant.] Sadly, I'm only one man, so I suppose what I'm looking for is twofold:

First, would anyone be willing to help gather and compile this data?

Second, those of you who've been here longer than I have, perhaps we can chat about your experiences.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Omniscience is terrifying, honestly. I'd hate for that to be true. But if she's dropping us places, the fact that there are such dangerous, glaring blind spots is worrying.

[Plague this time, that they survived. What happens next time there's something that Astoria doesn't see?]

Ha. No, they don't seem too thrilled at us. I suppose I can't blame them.

Mmm... it is something to think about, isn't it?

[He's definitely not wrong, and that in itself is disquieting.]

I can't really blame them, either. Makes me curious about what might be down there, though. It's like they're trying to keep us away from something in specific, isn't it?

[That cave with the wards around it, for one.]

It is. And something to keep in the back of our minds. We should be cautious - though I imagine most of us are aware of that.

[hopefully.]

It's possible. I'm not sure I'm up to the task of cave exploring, especially aquatic caves, but it is definitely interesting. Especially the idea of being actively discouraged from looking.

Kind of seems like rule number one around here, honestly.

['Be cautious.' It should go without saying, but Ann knows there are at least a handful of people here who are a little too carefree for their own good.

She smiles wryly.]

Not much of a swimmer?

One would hope.

[But common sense is always less common than would be ideal.

A shrug at the question.]

I swim well enough. And I don't mind small spaces. But the idea of both of them together is... less than appealing.

Can't say I find the idea of both of them together all that appealing either, but...

[She frowns a little bit, thoughtful.]

Seems like whatever is down there is probably worth looking into.

It undoubtedly is. And it seems there are people willing to go look. And should anything go wrong, I will be the first to go in after anyone who happens to run into trouble. We do our best work by dividing and conquering, I think.

[He'll be shoreside if needed. But neither his skills nor his magical abilities make him particularly useful in this circumstances.]

Probably best. There's enough of us that if we all tried to go down, it'd just end up being a mess. Better to split up and play to our strengths, make sure we have each other's backs.

[It's still teamwork.]

I don't know if I could stand to hang back, though. I want to see what's down there for myself.