acatalepsy ▫ main

[ when the feed comes on, riza's expression is tense. controlled. she's looking straight into the camera. there's an air of professionalism to her as she speaks, but that's to be expected.

she's lived through enough warzones, calamities, and nightmares to know how this goes. ]

My name is Riza Hawkeye. I know some of you, but-

[ not important. she blinks herself out of that. roy was always better at this, wasn't he? okay, breathe. ]

We need to regroup. I'm sure everyone has felt some part of what is going on, but things are getting out of hand. We can't turn on each other at a time like this, not with whatever is happening down below. I know a lot of us are scared, but if we're going to get through this, we need to pull together.

[ a beat, and then she exhales. riza doesn't look fantastic, honestly. she hasn't slept in who knows how long, and with everything going on around the ship?

but she's trying, that has to mean something, right? ]

Anyone who needs help, come find me in the lounge. I know basic first aid and can see what I can do. If anyone has any kind of healing abilities that are working? I can help with those too. I'm trying to collect what supplies we have, but help is appreciated.

I'll be in the Lounge if anyone needs to find me.

[ and then the feed cuts.



ooc timeline wise! this is happening semi-post the event log but pre the wrap-up log! meaning that people who went down in the first log can be back up, but all the dead bodies haven't made it up. she is open for network stuff but also if you just want to action meeting her in the lounge......feel free.

also.....no one has told her about roy yet so. that is open. c: ]

So.

[ it is a public message, to the network, that pops up on the circle's watches and roy looks Less Than Pleased (tm) with the sudden state of affairs. the weather in the temple is absolutely out of control, there are apparently weird cakes appearing in the kitchens, and the fighting ring has turned into a magical court. great.

so, that may be the reason why roy's tone is particularly clipped, or even frustrated. but he seems methodical, in his words, and he is sitting at a table with a notebook, a glass of water, and a weird looking lizard on the table that has an odd rainbow-shift to the scales.

( ignore the lizard. it seems roy is. ) ]

The Circle is currently compromised of people of a variety of talents; soldiers, magicians, teenagers . . . all of us have particular skills to contribute to the cause of whatever it is we're meant to do here. I know quite a few people [ like maes, and barabas ] have been keeping track of various magical powers that we have been gifted, and organized some semblance of structure -- all of which is necessary. But we have to acknowledge what happened to Akvos.

[ he pauses, there. ]

Astoria has not been entirely clear with the Circle on what our purpose is. That may be an innocent error, or a purposeful move to win our trust. I'm not here to argue the merits of whether or not we should trust her, but we have no choice but to participate in whatever world she sends us to. Whether we like it or not, we are stuck there until she brings us back, and we have some opportunity to assist whoever is there. We cannot depend on her to figure out what to do in order to prevent another Akvos, or -- it seems, another El Minha, given King Kathashun is no longer in his own world.

[ roy taps the pen against the table once. ]

I don't have any solution as to what we did right, or wrong, or whether or not it was our fault in the first place. But I want to begin the conversation to work to prevent it again, and seeing as Astoria is either not willing or not capable of explaining herself at the moment, we need to learn to work without her. What are we missing? What do we need to work on? And what can we do in order to be more organized before our next world?

[ and, finally, roy feeds the lizard one (1) piece of lettuce, which it lazily seems to chew on. ]

I'm of a mind we need to organize fighters, healers, and transporters, but I'm open to ideas and suggestions -- and questions, about previous worlds to those who were not there to experience them. I have been to El Minha, Struxta, and Akvos. And I'm certain "older" members of the Circle will be happy to share their experiences, too.

( filtered to maes + riza )

( ooc: please feel free to threadjack in this post! especially if you want to use this to foster CR and/or build "teams" that roy is looking to enlist. c: )

[ The camera doesn’t show Hank’s face at first; it shows a little mermaid girl, one hand buried in his dog’s fur, looking back at him as she swims into the tunnel to the hopefully safe place underneath the palace. The girl seems reluctant. The dog doesn’t. Sumo’s always liked kids.

Hank takes a deep breath, clears his throat, and squints upward, muttering to himself. ]

Fucking seahorses. What kind of cartoon bullshit…

[ Then the guy he’s looking at throws a very real weapon from atop his very stupid seahorse, and Hank looks a little sick. He doesn’t move the camera to show it. That’s not what he’s here for. ]

Look, anyone try to sit these royal asses down and tell them to talk to each other like goddamn adults? Can anyone even find em in this fucking mess?

[ A sigh comes from the right and the camera pans to Shiro, black edged helmet held in one hand and brows furrowed. This isn’t going to be easy and he can already feel the headache coming. But it’s this or more people die. He faces the screen squarely. ]

We need to find out what each side wants out of this conflict. We can’t get them to talk if we can’t find their common ground. It’s going to be difficult, but we need as much help as we can to find them to figure that out.

[ Roy, in some weird mixture of exasperation and pursing his lips together to prevent from laughing at Hank’s “fucking seahorses” comment, clears his throat before he speaks, coming into view at Shiro’s right, arms crossed over his chest. ]

We’re assuming they want to be adults.

[ but now that that pointlessly cynical comment is out of the way, roy turns to business. ]

They seem to be centralized in the Palace of Wahine . . . or, at least, that’s where they will be, if the King continues to advance. They seem to be amenable to talking, at any rate. [ at least, given the Princess’ seizing of the network and begging for assistance from all of them. ] The worst that could happen is they refuse to come to the table . . . so any information anyone has managed to collect about the Queen, the King, or the Princess would be appreciated, particularly in regards to motivations and who would rule this place once we leave.

[ and Roy, who pauses, turns to Hank with a sudden seriousness: ]

Do you think the seahorses go to the victor of the battle, or are they up for the taking as compensation for doing their work for them?

[ Hank takes a second to switch into bullshit mode but after that second he raises his eyebrows, answering dryly. ]

I think the seahorses are forming a union as we speak, there’s no way we’ll be able to afford em.

[ Then he looks back at the camera. ]

Come on, guys. Anyone here got experience talking morons out of stupid shit? The sooner we fix this the sooner people stop dying, so uh. Let’s put our heads together or… whatever stupid pep talk BS you wanna hear, I don’t know. Let’s just stop chasing after all this weirdo bullshit and figure out how to fix whatever the fuck it is we came here to fix, okay?

(OOC: This is meant to function as a party post sort of thing, a way for characters to share information they get from their questions, figure out strategy, argue over who’s going to deliver the final offer, etc. Answer each other’s comments, threadjack, go wild. Team Negotiation is go, y’all.)

[A quick video update from the resident info-gathering nerds. Barabas and Maes appear in frame, in what looks to be the palace’s library. Barabas is the first to speak.]

It appears our communicators are working again. Everyone has seen the strange messages come through, I assume? Jumble of letters as they may be. [But by the grin that is threatening his face despite his best efforts to look serious.] I believe we’ve deciphered them, however.

[Maes, meanwhile, is also grinning. He’s relieved that the network is back up, but more importantly for once his research and library time has paid off. Of course, he has no idea what this message might MEAN, but it always feels good to be of use.]]

It wasn’t easy and figuring out what to DO with the message will probably be our next step. But, as we told you all back at the Temple, it’s important that we share information like this with everyone. [Maes glances at Barabas.] Do you want to tell them or should I?

[A quick nod of agreement, and Barabas glances down at where he’s clearly made some notes.] We’ve seen four separate messages, each a single line of letters. Thankfully, it seems all the letters were there, just not in the right order. Here they are, unscrambled:

[Quick flip to text.]

Do not kill him.
His people are dying.
They are the only hope we have.
Shatter the mirror and I can save him.

[And back to video.]

Anything else, Maes?

[Maes rubs at his chin thoughtfully]

Hmm. Well, while we’ve figured out what the scramble means, we have no way of knowing WHO this message was sent from….though I’m sure we could make a guess. After all, the Princess is still missing and she’s been described as pretty caring for others...but if it is her this just raises a whole slough of questions that we should consider carefully before we proceed with taking any actions.

[Namely any ‘killing’ or ‘shattering.’ After all, what information does this messenger have that they are giving warnings like this?]

Which means it’s also important to keep in mind that there are people who can access this network other than us.

[Barabas concludes on that comforting thought.] But it’s the best tool we have, so if anyone has any insight on the messages, let’s hear it.

[Maes nods. He knows all too well what can happen to someone sharing unwanted information on an unsecure line. Of course this memory elicits a frown instead of the feeling of victory of having solved the puzzle. So he adds.]

Or if you’re near the palace library we can always talk in person. Consider it our temporary HQ, since we’re no longer at the Temple with our office.

[thankfully the network is online, so he doesn't have to communicate his wishes in a string of hopefully sent emojis. instead, he can speak into the watch, calm, direct. not betraying the tiredness that comes from having just spent the better portion of a day, a whole night, and the entire morning on this project.]

Something relating to this supposed king was brought to my attention. There is a spell of great, ancient power written in the walls of his cell in runes. It's a very elaborate, highly dangerous form of teleportation, but there is a section that still eludes me despite my best efforts - the final outcome of the work. Unquestionably, if this can be figured out, we have a better chance of figuring out where in this ocean he should be.

A few more sets of eyes and minds should do the trick, if you understand things about arcane energies and magecraft well beyond your common tricks and illusions. I'd appreciate the help.

[there's half of a stifled yawn before the feed cuts out. he hadn't been able to stop, once he started - once Merlin actually got to work, he was going to get things done.]

[[ooc: plotting comment.]]

It seems we're all stuck here together like one big happy family, aren't we? Since that's the case... how about we play a little game to get to know each other?

What is most important to you in your entire life? What would you be willing to do anything for? And I do mean anything~

And please, nothing like 'friendship' or 'world peace.' Really dig down deep; we should all be honest with each other, don't you think? ❤

[feel free to answer the question or not, Joshua seems to just be very bored. what a chatty nerd!]

Due to Chelseamod's ineptness with Dreamwidth communities, the tag post is now awkwardly floating around amongst your entries.

VIEW IT, IN ALL OF ITS GLORY.