dranbu answers // video, un: beatrix

[fiendennor]

[The video feed shows one Diana Cavendish seated at a desk, covered with large books, some open. She has some dark bags under her eyes; it looks like she hasn't been sleeping well for the past few days.

She glances at the two figures next to her-- you may recognize them as Jim Kirk and Juno Steel-- and then back at the camera.] The issues regarding the forest of Dranbu-- the disappearances and transformations-- should be resolved. The root cause was a powerful fey spirit of the forest who called herself Barthala. She claimed that this land, the island of El Nysa, was in grave danger, and that she had summoned and kept people within the confines of her forest so that she could use her power to protect them.

[Jim adds,] The fact that she meant well doesn't strictly excuse everything, but she did agree to release everyone. She understands now that removing free will isn't something we appreciate.

[Diana glances back at Kirk and nods.] Correct. I don't doubt that many of us will be upset by her actions, and have legitimate grievances, but there may be a need to move past them for the time being.

Barthala indicated that it had been the rampage of the fell dragon Ysverai that had woken her from her slumber, though she didn't know how long she'd been sleeping. [A pause.] More importantly, she is not the only one of her kind. There were once four other spirits of the land, which we can only assume are still dormant.

[Juno nods,] Barthala told us they were in each of the regions here: Olympia, Wyver, Nadril, Dranbu, and Khalo and mentioned that some of the old legends might give us some clue as to what might wake them up.

[Diana gestures to the tomes on the desk in front of her, adding with a dry tone,] Thus far, our research hasn't turned up much, but I imagine many of us working together can find the information faster than just the three of us.

Barthala seemed to be at least vaguely familiar with the Natha and the concept of the Storm, and is keen on not having the planet destroyed, [[Jim says.] We don't know the identity or temperaments of the other deities, how it would be possible to rouse them, or even if it's a good idea to do so.

But they exist and it's probably a good idea to learn all we can about them, and about the way the planet was before the Orbiters showed up. That said-- we're hoping everyone's turned back up, and if not, say something so we can organize a wider search party or see if we can get a hold of Barthala again.

[Juno adds,] Whatever information anyone here can bring to the table is gonna be to our benefit: on the history, the land, all that good stuff. The sooner we can hit the ground running with our investigation into these sleeping gods and goddesses, the better. It's going to give us an advantage against this danger that's hanging over our heads.

[Diana reaches out to touch the camera.] If anyone knows anything-- or has heard anything at all-- about Barthala or the other four spirits of this island, please let us know immediately. Otherwise, I think we all have some research to do.

Thank you, and good evening.

Comments

un: juno

[stuns]

[ uuuuugh. ]

Might not be exactly the same. Barthala wasn't really sure whether they'll wake up on the right side of the bed or now so I guess we're just gonna have to be careful going forward.

[ lol careful. sure. easier said than done. ]

[mollymocked]

[Fey, man. there's a reason they're on the Blood Hunter Approved Kill List. And if Molly had access to the Blood Hunter's handbook, maybe he'd be able to help track the goddamn gods.

But he does not.

#ThanksLucien.]

We weren't being not careful before. That just... Happened. I'm not dancing on eggshells because a few fey might wake up and panic about the sky falling and fuck us royally over it.

Finding them first would be better. This is your niche, isn't it, Juno? Finding people?

[stuns]

We're definitely not going to just wait around and stumble across them accidentally again like we did last time. Best thing for us to do would be to try and get bodies out there investigating each area thoroughly, and have a research team taking a look at some of the old texts.

[ god he feels you. ]

She mentioned that some of the written legends could give us the key to waking 'em up. They might even throw a location or two in there two in some hokey cryptic way. Know someone who wants to sit with a bunch of books so Diana doesn't keel over from all the reading she's been doing?

[ she's basically been outdoing them all. fuckin superb u funky lil witch. ]

private

[fiendennor]

...you didn't have to mention that in public.

[It's embarrassing.]

I'm fine, you know.

[stuns]

[ it's only embarrassing because he's right. ]

Right? No one likes a call out, so maybe now you'll get some sleep so I don't have to embarrass you more.

[fiendennor]

If there's sufficient interest in researching from the community. We don't know when we'll need to wake the others. I can't afford to waste time.

[stuns]

You're not going to be the only one on this case. Pretty sure we've got others who are more than happy to put their nose in a book to avoid getting turned into an animal again.

If that's even what they might do.

Or worse...

[fiendennor]

The fact that we don't know their names or their temperaments, let alone their powers, is concerning. The sooner we learn about them, the better.

[A beat.] And I'm not that tired yet.

[stuns]

Sure. And I'm the queen of Venus.

[ not sorry. but he is going to pluck a book off of some designated "to read" stack and kind of passes it between his hands a little bit before cracking it open. ]

It would be pretty crap if they turned out to just hate each other... feels like such a good lead but it's gonna be wasted if the others aren't as keen on helping as Barthala seems to be for now.

[fiendennor]

[Diana tries very much to stifle a yawn the moment his back is turned.] I wish she could've told us a little of their inclinations towards humanity.

Even if all of them aren't benevolent, knowing which ones are would be a significant advantage. We could wake them and get them on our side first.

[stuns]

[ congrats, he missed it! ]

Sounds like all the sleep might have fried her brain. [ he sighs a little, grumbling. ] You think we really should go waking these guys up at all? If one of them happens to wake up on the wrong side of the whatever, we might have more than just the storm to worry about.

[fiendennor]

The thought has crossed my mind.

[That not all of them would be benevolent. And even the one trying to be benevolent did so in a... questionable manner.]

At any rate, we can't assume that they won't wake on their own, or that they aren't in the process of waking after what Ysverai did. We should be prepared for the eventuality, even if we don't set it in motion ourselves.

[stuns]

[ it's crossed a lot of people's minds according to the post. juno wishes it'd be as easy as waking up a couple of benevolent higher beings, but he's got some doubts. guess that's what all the research is for at least... ]

Probably best to keep our ears to the ground too in case something of the same magnitude as Ysverai comes rolling in. Granted, I'm guessing there wasn't much anticipating with the whole dragon thing, was there?

[ everyone seemed to be in pretty shit shape when he arrived. ]</small.

[fiendennor]

[A shake of her head.] No. If there'd been any hint of it happening, I missed it beforehand.

...I will not miss something like that a second time.

[Said with a little more hurt in her voice than is probably warranted.]

[mollymocked]

Caleb loves books and he loves being useful, and he needs to get out more anyway. This is exactly the kind of contribution to the community that'll make him happy. I'll shove him her way.

And Nott's gonna want to do some investigating and I'm not much of a reader, so I'll stick with her. Make sure she doesn't find something she shouldn't find. [He pauses to consider this.] We could tag along with you, actually. I wanna see what happens when you two have to try and solve something together.

[That's not helping, Molly. Investigation is not a spectator sport.]

[stuns]

[ juno's expression flattens a little bit. the beginning? real helpful. that last bit? ]

Oh, so you don't actually plan on helping, just observing. Gotcha. You're just real lucky you're good with swords.

[ because in true juno fashion, he would have said don't bother. but he knows molly well enough that he'll actually probably be helpful in their investigation wherever it happens to take them on foot. ]

Glad I'll actually get to see Nott in action, though.

[mollymocked]

I've got a plan. [He grins so wide that it's concerning.] I wanna see if it means anything that we weren't affected by the spell. Nott was so we can protect her, and she can... do what she does.

[stuns]

[ put that grin away he hates it! only people with sharp teeth and bad plans have those kinds of grins!!!!! he falls for them every time!!!! ]

If Barthala keeps her end of the bargain then hopefully we won't have to go cat herding.

[mollymocked]

We can hope. 'Course the other spirits might be even worse.

[stuns]

You have any experience meeting spirits?

That could be helpful too.

[mollymocked]

I have met one very angry ghost that I killed. Twice, actually. That's the extent of it... Well, no. That and the wisps. But wisps aren't very chatty.

[stuns]

How do you kill a ghost.

Twice?

Isn't it already dead?

[mollymocked]

You'd think that, but there's a process. You have to stab a lot of pots.

[This is the oversimplified version.]

[stuns]

Do I want to know the details...?

[mollymocked]

We went to a place. There were ghosts coming from urns. We destroyed the pots and scattered the ashes. No more ghosts. I feel like more details don't really help it any.