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

audio (un: the.punisher)

[bellare]

Is there a roster anywhere with a population count?

[ of people like them, he thinks goes without saying. the people the orbiters transplanted here. ]

[stuns]

The closest you might get to that is the network directory. Not sure how well-kept it is or if it's automated, but it exists. Everyone's got a phone so everyone's got some kind of entry there, I bet.

[bellare]

I'll look into that. Hard to have everyone accounted for without a list.

[stuns]

You missing anyone you know? We'll keep an eye out.

[bellare]

Still don't know many people here, so far I think I'm good. I'll let you know.

[fiendennor]

Not that I've seen, unfortunately. It should be possible to manually set one up with the network directory, but that's the only idea I have.

[bellare]

I can start on that right away.

[fiendennor]

I think many of us would be grateful for that, to be honest.

There was a man here named Bruce Wayne who wanted to set up a list of all those who have came and went back to sleep, but he ironically wound up in hibernation. I don't know if anything remains of his work.

[bellare]

I'll see if I can track that down, too. Anything else I should work on?

[fiendennor]

I can't say that there's anything in particular that comes to mind for me, though you might have more luck asking others here.

I'm more focused on my research at the moment.

[bellare]

Research is just like recon, right? I can do that.

[fiendennor]

...well, I suppose they're broadly similar, in that they're intended to gather information...

I imagine they use different skills, though.

[bellare]

How so?

[fiendennor]

Reconnaissance is typically used in the field, is it not?

Research is in a library. The type of skills that would serve you well when analyzing a situation out in the world might not apply to reading lots of books.

[bellare]

I can read. [ his tone is flat but if she's really listening, there's a note of bemusement there. ]

[fiendennor]

I didn't mean to imply otherwise. That doesn't necessarily make one a good researcher, though.

Reading is part of the skillset; it isn't all of it.

[bellare]

I was just offering to help, ma'am. If you've got it handled I'll move on.

[fiendennor]

...yes, of course.

I'm sorry if I've made you feel unwelcome or unappreciated in any way. Not my intention at all.

[Maybe she is too tired for this.]

[bellare]

I'm good. You just seem like you could use a few things shifted off your plate.

[ aka u seem tired fam. let him help? ]

[fiendennor]

Perhaps. I am... admittedly, not very good at delegating work.

[If she can't do something herself, how can she trust that it was done right??]

Other than reconnaissance, do you have any particular skills?

[bellare]

I know six languages and I'm not bad at cribbage.

[fiendennor]

Six? That's very impressive, actually. May I ask which ones?

[bellare]

Thanks. English, of course. And Spanish, then Latin, German, Russian and Arabic. Those are just the ones I'm fluent in.

[ not trying to brag! just imparting info. ]

I was Delta Force, not sure if you have that where you're from, but it's military intelligence. Glorified spy work, I guess, and then I transitioned to the FBI doing more of the same.

[ so while he looks like a blunt instrument? that's definitely not all he is. ]

[fiendennor]

[She knows of these things. Enough to hazard a guess:] You're American then, I presume? From Earth? [He may have placed her accent as British by now. Upper-class, close to London.] I don't know much about nonmagical law enforcement, but I know enough to recognize that not many people accomplish what you have. [That whole last sentence was spoken in nearly flawless French, by the way.]

[bellare]

So you're what, Magic FBI? Or MI5, I guess.

[ it takes him a moment to parse the words, but then he's laughing. ]

Pardonne-moi, mademoiselle. Mon français est un peu... rouillé. [ just a little rusty, yeah. he's still got it. ]