reincarnesiac | (retired) etraya inbox

Same for who I know. He always appreciates some warmth in his life.

Then leave it to me and whoever from the monastery is good at planning too! Makes it easier to coordinate that way. Given how supplies around here are kind of find them where you find them, wrangling them won't be any little job, but it could be entertaining in its own way. Like little adventures!

I have no idea, and the cactuses threw spines at us too. And danced. I never wanted to see a cactus dance, ever.

Wow, really? About them being there. I don't mind learning. We really only do that with horses and some few other animals back home, and I didn't get the chance to.

It just so happens that little adventures are my specialty. Once we get an idea of what we need and how much of it, I can start gathering materials. Is there anyone you would specifically want to invite?

And they threw their spines? No. No thank you. I'm glad I didn't do that one. I'll add 'dancing cactus' to the list of things I also never want to see.

Yeah! I was surprised when I was told, too. The ones that are here are pretty friendly. Dimitri, one of the people who lived here before I got here, is the one who tamed them. He is very good with them, too. I'd be more than happy to teach you!

I can think of a few names. Verso, Setsu, Hawks, Manny even if I don't know if mammoths eat fish? Noelle, Gorgug, Fabian, their friend from their world, Julie, Thor, Chu Wenshan, Wen Kexing, Dr. Romano... Clive, I'm going to keep naming everyone I've talked to here. I do think the teens can benefit from it, which is a whole chunk of names right there in the middle. Probably not the only teens around, but... you remember being a teenager.

( Teenagers are likely to say No Why Would I, but they also deserve more reaching out than adults much more secure in themselves. At least that's what she remembers from that time in her life.

Also this is an issue of when you're too social butterfly and you want everyone to feel involved, even if they choose not to be involved. Hahaha... )

We also had tiny catapults throwing snowballs at us, but that was much easier to handle than pulling out the cactus spines.

Count me in! The birds from my world that chocobos remind me of are called ostriches, only they're smaller and much less colourful. Some people do ride them though! Chocobos seem a lot more... sturdy. So Dimitri's the Chocobo Whisperer, huh?

Do you know everyone, Alex?

[He's teasing.]

We can always send out an overall invite to the community and have people RSVP so we can make sure there is enough to go around for everyone. Supplies, food, etc. I'll probably send a couple of personal invites, but I think everyone will be ready for a break.

[Teenagers. Childhood. Right. People had those.]

I think I would have liked to go fishing as a teenager. The open invite will let them choose.

I think I would rather get hit with a snowball than a cactus spine unless the snowball had rocks in it. Then it's a toss-up.

Dimitri is the chocobo whisperer. He has a very calm demeanor around them and a steady hand. They are very sturdy animals, although I am interested to see what ostriches look like. I wonder if the library has any books with pictures of them in it.

Only if everyone can be counted on less than three hands!

That might make the most sense. Given a week advanced notice at minimum, we can get everything wrangled and together and sort of assume numbers will be higher than what we hear back on, so there's more food than anyone expects to need. Same for drinks!

Open invites are good like that. Means even the less social people can show up and not feel like they have to do much of anything, or stay past when their social battery drains.

Hah! No rocks in these, just different sizes. Some regular, some more like getting pelted with gravel pieces.

Oh! We have a library? There's got to be a book there with at least one ostrich in it! I wish we still had access to my world's internet, it'd be so much easier to share things like ostriches that way. Oh well. No use trying to put spilled water back in the jar.

That's still a lot for only having been in Etraya and Etraya adjascent for what? Two months?

[He can't talk. If he tallied the people he had conversations with, his count would be up there, too.]

There is an area that would be good for lawn games, too if people would want to do that. And the dining hall is huge so we shouldn't have a problem seating anyone who shows up.

[Everyone from Etraya could show up and they could seat everyone. Except for Manny. He would have to sit outside, unfortunately. The ceilings would be high enough for him, but doorways? Not so much.]

You're not allergic to cats, are you?

That's not... the worst I guess.

My friend Dion told me about it. I am going to be heading over there at some point soon. It's been awhile since I was able to sit down and read something.

If that! Besides, why do I feel like you know as many if not more people, just a different set?

Lawn games! I can think of a few I know, and I'm sure there are many more.

Cats? No, I'm not allergic. I tend to feed the strays around the city, especially around where I live. Why?

... You sound so convinced. Really we don't need a positive spin on getting pelted by tiny catapults. It's pretty ridiculous.

Reading is a joy and I need to do more of it again myself. I've even been reading comics again lately back home. My Hunter partner lives in the same building as I do, and he has the whole collection of one this series that's been running longer than I've been alive he'd been letting me borrow.

Yeah, sounds like our only overlap in the list you gave is Verso. I've talked to quite a few, but I wouldn't say I am close enough to a lot of them to invite them over for a party personally.

I'll look around for some in the stores around here. Maybe find things that are a range of difficulty so people who want a challenge can have one but others who just want to casually play something have that option, too.

There are a lot of cats that live here.

What are comics?

Of all people, somehow that's not surprising. Has he done anything stupidly self sacrificing for you yet because he's convinced his own pain doesn't matter?

( Hahahaha she's not joking at all. )

See if we can find that one game with the boards on the lawn where you throw bags with beans in them into the holes to score points? Something like that? I really can't remember what it's called, but I played it in university a few times out on the big lawns.

Cats! I love cats! I'll bring treats!

Oh, that's one I'm going to have to introduce you to. Comics are stories in a drawn format, basically? Images and words and you can get who layers of meanings because of the drawings themselves!

Oh most definitely. Multiple times. And I expect it'll happen again unless we figure out how to sneakily get hurt.

[Wouldn't it be nice if they were both joking? ]

I'll look around. I haven't played any lawn games in a very long time. Wasn't high on my to-do list growing up.

I'm sure they would love treats. Sometimes when you give them treats they bring you things. I have a couple of things already. I get the feeling I am going to get quite the cat gift collection.

That sounds amazing. I would love to see them.

Maybe not sneakily, but getting hurt in opposite directions to where he's at... that's not a solution. But it is a curbing mechanism. Unless he can teleport.

( Things she has to wonder about. )

I wonder if I ever played many... not so much after I moved in with my Grandma, but we did have things like models we'd build. And we'd run around the neighborhood with the other kids.

I wonder if the convenience stores have good cat treats. I'll have to look when I next am by either one of them!

I'll figure out where they are in the library, or also ask Aurora what I can do to get you some of the ones I know. Summer's a great time for reading them! So is any time of the year, but it can be nice when sitting outside in the shade.

That could help during battle, yeah. You have range. You could probably pull it off.

[Clive opts not to tell Alex more of what he knows. He promises Clea that he wouldn't to help keep Verso safe. Still, it felt weird not telling Alex.]

I spent most of my time in the bailey or exploring. I preferred wilder places.

They could! I usually just give them fish and poultry. They seem to like that well enough. And by well enough I mean if I am leaving the kitchen with any in my hands they know and I get swarmed.

That sounds great. I would like that a lot.

Hah, I can, just depends what I'm equipped with at the moment. Or if there's anyone I know well enough to resonate with when we're not in contact.

( She'd respect the limit if she knew about it, but she's also... very used to people keeping things from her. Doesn't like it, and doesn't appreciate it when she's involved, but it's just what people do. )

Our wilder places tend to be deadly due to Wanderers these days, so I didn't get to touch much of them until I was graduated and in the Hunter's Association. It's really beautiful when you get out into the places where people don't spend much time.

Hah, that sounds like cats! We'd get the little canned fish and feed those to the strays... we in this case being me and my Hunter partner, since he lives in the same building I do. He was complaining that the cats will follow him too now that he's helped out. Little meowing tails!

Good, I'll let you know once I have a lead on where to find them or if any are incoming.

I've heard that we can request to exchange points for items back home. Maybe you can get some of your weapons.

Ours have become deadlier as I have aged. Animals that were once pretty docile are migrating south in search of food. It's not their fault. They're just trying to survive like the rest of us. I have the skills to defend myself so it isn't an issue for me.

I do intend to explore this place more, see what it has to offer in terms of nature. If I find anything good, I'll let you know.

It's cute, even if sometimes I feel like I might trip and break my neck from avoiding stepping on them. I do like animals. I told you about Ambrosia. Have I told you about Torgal?

Oh, a good idea! I'll have to see if I can get that to work, though it's a bit of a toss up. My weapons back home are primed to deal with Wanderers, which in theory makes them safe around humans, so... I may need to get more creative now that everything isn't of the same light-construct makeup. Or maybe I already should have, humans have been particularly deadly lately too, ugh.

Worldwide climate change or something else forcing the migrations?

Thank you! I'm less inclined to just throw myself into the woods alone without a reason, but beautiful scenery has always been a good reason for me.

I haven't heard about Torgal, no!

Maybe it would be worth having weapons dedicated to human and non-human creatures. You said they're made of light? So maybe more along the lines of corporeal versus non-corporeal.

We call it the Blight. The land is being stripped of its aether and can no longer support life. When that happens, people and animals move farther south in hopes of finding food and shelter. The more it spreads, the worse it gets.

Are you used to hiking or walking long distances? I want to keep it in mind for when I am looking for a good trail for us.

He's my dog. Well, wolf. But I've had him since he was a pup. We got separated for a while but were reunited. He's a great companion. I am going to ask Aurora if I can have him here with me once I get the chance.

They're made of light and energy, but if you saw them, they... look and act solid. It's harder to explain, and some of them are intelligent, but your point stands! Having tools to handle specific problems is always wise. But I'm trained on normal weaponry that you can use on humans too, it's just not... what I needed to carry until recently.

I can't get over hearing aether in such a different context, but... strangely similar in ways. Aether is what, a type of energy in your world? So when it's consumed by the Blight the energy for life has been taken away too. That's horrific.

Oh, yeah, definitely am. In all kinds of weather and environments too!

She's got to be able to, whatever time doesn't pass or however it works being here, having him be here with you would be great. He'd miss being here too if he knew, I bet!

( Alex, who has never had a pet in her life, still has lots of fond feelings for the pets other people have. Besides, this isn't like the little floofy white pup that odd child had had when Zayne was watching him... Alas. )

Interesting. Do they feel solid when you touch them, do you know? I don't know if you've ever been close enough to try. Or if it is wise to do so. They sound dangerous. I'm sorry that has had to change for you. The difference between killing a monster and killing a human can be unsettling at first.

Aether is the energy that everything is made of. Every living thing has aether, from the smallest ant to the largest dragon. When we use magic, aether is consumed. It should be able to recover on its own, but the overconsumption of it kills the land. That is the Blight. There are these things called the Mothercrystals and they are eating up the aether and concentrating it. I've been working together with my friends to destroy them and help the world start to rebalance itself again. Humanity also abuses magic and those who can use it. Destroying the Mothercrystals should also cut people off from magic.

I'll make sure to mark some more challenging trails alongside some leisurely ones then.

I think you'd like him. But also if you like animals it is pretty much impossible to not like Torgal. He's a fine hound.

Oh they're fully solid, you can punch them, grab them, toss them if they're small enough. Not to say I recommend you do that, but there are a few Wanderers who're safer to handle than others, and they come in all sizes. Small as an insect, large as the dragon that was flying near the bay the other day. It's just they're formed around an energy core, and before they take solid form they're only energy and light. Then some of them still are energy and light plus a solid form that they can shift between. Wanderers are a whole headache even before they disappear into their pocket dimensions. And... well. I've probably forgotten more than I remember about death.

( Those she's killed, and how often she was killed as a child. )

Ah, so it is an energy. Concept wise we'd probably call that qi where I'm from, an aether is a specific form of... very condensed energy? Either way, it sounds like the best plan for getting the world to balance and letting humanity take a step away from overt magic and people abuse. We're bad enough about that even without powers coming into play.

Hah, I look forward to it! maybe I'll be able to find cute hiking gear by then. Maybe.

I know I'll love him if he does show up. My grandma couldn't handle both raising us and having any pets around, but we got to play with some of the neighbourhood pets every so often. And now there's the neighbourhood strays I feed.

They sound like a lot of work to deal with. Can they be stopped in ways other than the use of your specialty weapons? Is hunting them something that you do as a profession? I would ask what a pocket dimension is but I don’t think I have the current mental fortitude to parse that.

What do you mean, forgotten more than you remember about death?

You could say that magic is a condensed form of aether as well, but yes. It’s an energy. The amount of people who are able to manipulate it are few and they usually only have control over one element.

You never know. I haven’t spent a lot of time in the stores here. Mostly I have been able to find what I need but I don’t tend to ask for much.

I can’t imagine having to raise kids and animals at the same time. I can have enough of a hard time keeping up with the kids that live with me back home and I have a lot of help.

I don't want to strain your brain when I can't massage it either! So to all intents and purposes, Wanderers are unkillable outside of a specific method. One I'm trained in, and really quite good at.

Oh, mostly that I can't remember any of my childhood before I was eight or so. So my oldest memories are the horrible things that happened when the Wanderers came pouring into my world. There were a lot of people who died back then.

( That she's also learned her memory loss appears to be related to having been repeatedly killed and then resurrecting herself before that point is... Alex hasn't processed that. )

Ugh. Where I'm from, powers like those are called Evol, and the people who have them Evolvers. I'm one of those, as it is, but it's... there's an ongoing problem with human trafficking related to Evolvers. Because there are always those greedy to use people with innate gifts for their own ends. To those kinds of people, no one except themselves are really "human." It's horrible.

Hmm, so you're saying I should prepare ahead of time... challenge accepted! I will find weather appropriate cute gear!

Grandma took in me and Caleb after the initial Wanderer attack on the city we all lived in. She was an amazing woman raising the both of us, and it had to be harder when she'd never planned on having kids of her own. I still miss her.

I hope we never have to figure out how to handle Wanderers here, but if we do at least we have you to give us pointers.

I’m sorry to hear that. Having something so painful be your earliest memories… No kid should have to go through that.

[Names and faces, Alex. Names and faces.]

The same thing happens to people who can wield magic where I am from. They are known as Bearers, but because of an agreement that the major countries of the time decided on, each person who was born with the ability to use magic are branded with a mark and are enslaved so the word ‘Branded’ is often used. I guess some things don’t really change. There are dark sides to humanity everywhere. Are you okay?

And I’ll let you know when I find a good path.

She sounds like she was a kind woman. Did she pass away?

Never fear, if Wanderers invade this place, I can bring everyone up to speed on what'll work.

No, no one should. It's why I wanted to become a Hunter. I didn't want anyone else having to face that alone and undefended, as much as I could prevent it.

( If she knew, her kills might rank higher than they currently do. Ahahaha... )

I'm personally okay, but not okay with how much of it still happens. It doesn't sound like a great situation in your world either. Guess that has to chance once magic isn't something anyone can use, but it shouldn't have to be extremes to shift perspectives.

Sounds like a plan!

She was killed. Not even a year ago now.

I’m glad we have someone as capable as you here in case there is a need. Although, I would have to be taught something with a little less range. I’m more of an upfront kind of guy.

You’re a good person, Alex. The world could use more people like you. A little bit of kindness in any of its forms can go a very long way.

Unfortunately, when the opposition is extreme the only thing that is usually able to make monumental change is an equally as extreme countermeasure. Once many people, particularly people who benefit the most, decide on something, especially if they assign their moral values to it, it is very difficult to change any minds. No matter the suffering it may cause. I wish it didn’t have to be this way, too.

I am so sorry, Alex. I am familiar with the pain of losing a caretaker. Please let me know if you need anything, okay? Even if it isn’t related to your loss. You aren’t alone here. At the very least, you won’t be for as long as I am here.

One of the people I've partnered with fights Wanderers with his fists, and some Evol assistance. So it's not impossible! Plus, we fight with swords too. Adapt to what any one Wanderer requires.

Awh, now you're being sweet, Clive. The same goes for you too, you know. Remembering how to be kind in a cruel world is a strength.

Yeah, it's a historical trend. You're right about that, and how terrible it is.

Thank you, Clive. Same goes for you, even though I know you have good people here, okay? I'm here for you too.

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ooooh man Alex might be able to meet more hormones than sense guy (if he shows up)

hahaha time to be ??? at Barnabas, eventually

Who knows. Maybe he'll show up to judge everyone.

we all need the judgy friend sometimes

Barnabas would rankle at the word 'friend'. She should say it to his face. Esp about Clive.

"oh you're clive's friend!"

pls I will DIE

sends this hope out into the future we can manifest it

*clap clap* so mote it be

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clap clap so mote it be