ioduanlogs | [EVENT] Moon and Mirrors (Welcome Mingle Log)

[EVENT] Moon and Mirrors (Welcome Mingle Log)

Characters: ALL
Date: January 15
Location: At the Dreaming Bridge and all over Aifaran!
Situation: A large influx of Dreamfolk arrive in time for one of the Lunar Festivals, and they're all invited!
Warnings/Rating: N/A

A surprising amount of Dreamfolk have arrived within a short time frame - a peculiarity remarked upon by a number of Aifaran's residents. It is unusual in that it coincides with a lunar festival, one which only happens every fifty or so years.

Newcomers will find the streets packed with all sorts of people, stalls of fried and sugared foods, carnivalesque games and rides, and all other manner of things to do. Merchants are very keen to get their wares out there, and the stipend given may just burn a hole in your pocket when you see what's for sale.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Right Outside

Even after going through all of the introductory speeches from the Bridge workers and being given a key to his room, Naesala was still rather put-off by this entire affair. This wasn't where he needed to be, if indeed he needed to be anywhere at all. He couldn't decide which part of that bothered him the most, but finding that he had a new magical tattoo was turning his mood sour all on its own.

While Naesala did poke his head into the room he was assigned, he didn't stay there long. The very next thing he did was to step outside of the Dreaming Bridge and spread his wings. Lifting himself off of the ground, Naesala flew high enough to perch on the roof of the building to get a good look at his surroundings - the larger, unfamiliar buildings in the distance and the festival spread out below, packed to the brim with unfamiliar kinds of people.

After he's gotten his fill of the sight, Naesala steps off of the roof, gliding back to the ground with occasional flaps of his wings. If there's anyone else standing near the Bridge's entrance, he doesn't seem particularly bothered by having his landing zone blocked - he still easily lands on his feet nearby, wings folding behind his back once more.

After casing their own room, Padparadscha feels the need to step outside. It's a nice little place, but being enclosed for long never really sits right with them after all the time they've been forced to spend asleep.

Besides, they need space to think and reflect. Even for someone with 3700 years of life behind them, this is a bizarre and unexpected sort of situation to be thrown into.

The sight of something dark moving towards the sky has them tense briefly, though, reflexes of seeing a sunspot sending a hand to their extremely long sword. But once the shape resolves into something more distinct, they drop it with a slight hum of interest. A winged creature...

"You're the first soft creature I've seen today with wings like that."

Naesala had seen the sparkle of light from the sky, but it wasn't until he landed that he could see that what he had first assumed was a reflection off an ostentatious statue was actually their hair. The color and tone, the way the light hit just so - he'd be poor at judging valuables indeed if he didn't know a jewel when he saw one, but this defied all logic.

He spends a brief moment staring at them before managing to find his voice. "And you're the first... ah. I can't claim to know what you are. A hard creature, I would assume." And one with extremely valuable hair, to say nothing of the - were those gemstones embedded in their torso? Naesala knows it's rude to stare, but in a circumstance like this he simply couldn't help himself.

That response makes Padparadscha laugh, as does the staring. "Ah, I suppose it's true, isn't it? We call ourselves Gems, but maybe that's a confusing name here."

They recall passing at least one store displaying what appeared to be cut, inclusion-less gems, and the name is essentially all the same here. Gems as a species don't seem to exist, even if gemstones do. The thought is a little sobering, but Padparadscha's composure only becomes slightly more serious as they go on.

"Is it rare for soft ones to have wings like that, or is it yet another species?"

Considering there's only one species of animal-like humanoid in Padparadscha's world, since Lunarians don't really count, they're getting rather curious about this abundance of variety.

It does take some effort, but he's at least trying to look at their face now, rather than everything else. Naesala was never one to let his composure crack for very long. "Perhaps not all that confusing. I can't imagine that many could say they've seen gemstones up and walking around."

Then again, he doesn't know what sort of quirks this place might have. Naesala is still fairly certain he would have noticed if anyone in the festival crowd had hair so unique as that. Such a sparkle stood out, even with the unremarkable eyesight he had.

"It is not as rare as all that where I come from. My people are called laguz, and I'm a part of the raven clan. Naesala is my name." He gives them a little half-bow, his wings spreading a bit with the movement.

"'Laguz'..."

Padparadscha says it slowly, as if testing the word or committing it to memory. They're a little hard-pressed not to laugh at the bow, though, especially the way his wings move with it. It's kept to something small and soft, though.

"Ah, how polite. I'm Padparadscha. It's not often that I meet new people, so I'm sure today will be a new record."

It's a little premature to say it's a pleasure to meet any of them, but there's certainly been nothing wrong so far, so they're keeping it quite relaxed for the moment.

"Hah! That's the bare minimum of politeness as it is," he comments as he stands up straight once more, a hand resting on his hip. Hmm. Their name was a mouthful, but Naesala was confident enough that he at least avoid mangling it.

"It seems to me that being here sets new records for all of us." Naesala turned towards the nearby street, sweeping his arm out to indicate the pedestrians on the sidewalk, and the festival not too far beyond that. "I have never seen people like this before. I spotted a few that do look human, but I have to wonder if they're anything like the humans I know."

"Then we Gems must be an impolite lot. Ah, but it's probably true."

The laugh they give this time is deeper and more resonant, a hearty thing that's much less reserved. At the very least, it's not surprising to hear more about humans now, since one of their roommates already warned them about that particular fact.

"Are there that many different kinds of humans, then? I'd never seen one before coming to this world."

Hearing of them through whispered myth is different, but it's also something they're keeping to themselves for now.

"Ah, don't worry yourself about being polite. Who knows if bowing is even the custom here?"

Naesala pondered their question for a moment, tapping his chin as he considered what to say on that topic. "Most humans like to think of themselves as being from their country or region first, and that they're actually human second, if it ever occurs to them at all. They take their customs from where they live more than based on what they are. ... I realize that might seem confusing, but once you interact with humans more, you'll see what I'm talking about."

"Ah, that's a good question. But the only people my senior aren't even here..."

Gem society is a very equal one, so there's only one person Padparadscha would even really consider bowing to, and that person isn't here. They listen closely to his further explanation, though, and their expression brightens briefly like they just understood something.

"I think I already have. A child I met earlier told me they were an 'Egyptian girl'. I wasn't sure what the little one meant, but the first word sounded like it referred to a place, so I asked about that."

"Hmm. I haven't heard of an 'Egyptian' before myself, but if it is indeed a place then it illustrates my point."

It does mildly bother Naesala that there were so many people here from unfamiliar places. Not knowing anything about them or how they might work could leave him at a disadvantage, if not in some sort of danger. But on the other hand... it was probably better that none of them know just who he is. It was something of a blessing to be free of the people who had been howling for his blood.

Naesala then gives Padparadscha a small, humorless smile. "Let me give you some advice. Don't freely trust any of them... or the peoples on this world, for that matter. I'll grant that some humans are decent folk, but there are plenty that aren't so noble. Best to keep that sword of yours close to you until you're completely sure of their intentions."

"They did say it was a place once I questioned it more," Padparadscha confirms, leaning a little on their sword at this point. It's about as large as they are, so it's no small maneuver, but they do it as if it's familiar.

Naesala's warning gets the smallest of smiles from them, though. They've already been entertaining a certain level of distrust here, despite their outward appearance, so the warning feels a little like preaching to the choir, but they shrug a little.

"Well, in a world as unfamiliar as this one, I'd be an idiot not to keep my sword alongside me whatever the circumstances, huh? It's not just humans who have more intentions than the good ones."

"Yes, you're absolutely right. I'm simply not familiar with the people here yet to know what they might have in store for us."

Of course, he wasn't excluded. If Padparadscha hadn't been an intelligent being, he might have even tried chipping off a bit of their hair to see what price he could get for it. As it was, Naesala didn't think it was worth tangling with a being that could carry around a sword that large. It meant that they had to be very good at using it to go to all that trouble.

"Well, if you have any other questions about humans, I can tell you what I know. Or you could always go ask a friendly-looking one."

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Chase has been watching intently, but only so he doesn't get brushed by the wings. With so many different-looking races and strange-looking creatures here, he's being careful.

That said, he recognizes, somewhat, the act of scoping out the surroundings.

"What did you see?"

"There's a few remarkable spots," Naesala says, with a small, thoughtful frown. "There's a very large building in the distance, and a couple of others that aren't quite as big. That festival looks like it's attracted a great many people."

He hesitates briefly before looking the human over, as if unsure of his next words. "But there is something else. The sky looks wrong. Can you see it?" Naesala was talking about the barrier overhead, shimmering somewhere high up beyond the clouds. It had been a bit discomforting to see that while he was trying to orient himself.

As someone who's resided in a big city, buildings don't seem remarkable to Chase, so he doesn't remark on that, nor the turn-out at the festival.

The bit about the sky, however...

He looks up, instantly, having not thought to do so before someone had mentioned it. "I see it."

He looks back down. "Does it bother you?"

"Of course it bothers me!"

Naesala turns to face him, hands on his hips. "Bad enough I'm somewhere so unfamiliar there's no landscapes I recognize, no way of orienting myself. Now there's a... something up there that might even block my view of the stars. If you had wings, you might understand how jarring it is to even have the sky telling you that you aren't even on the same world."

He looks up again. It doesn't look to him like the stars will be blocked if the sky is coming through so clearly, but, like Naesala says, he doesn't have wings.

"You are homesick."

...So is Chase, if he's recognized the feeling, but he opts not to say so.

"Is it really so different?"

Naesala scowls, shaking out his wings with an audible rustling sound. Was it true...? Perhaps. He hadn't thought he'd been here long enough to feel such a thing.

"Yes, it is different. I'm not sure about being homesick, but I had... an important matter at home I hadn't yet resolved. It's frustrating to have been ripped away before it was completely settled."

Naesala then turns a considering look at him, "But what of you? Are you quite so happy to be here?"

Frustration...that's the word for it. He should have been very used to seeing that expression from seeing so many others around him express it, but somehow, it...hadn't occurred to him. Must be the different locale, or perhaps the wings are throwing him off, even though it really shouldn't.

As for him... Matters hadn't been settled at his exit, per se, but he'd made his peace with it. "Not happy. Not here. But I am not frustrated."

He turns his gaze back into the air, folding his arms. "Do you trust your companions to resolve it?"

Naesala huffs softly. "I'd quite happily let them handle it without me, but I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. I questioned the workers here when I arrived and they all reassured me that when we go home, it'll be at the same point in time when we left. I'm going to guess that no one will even realize we were missing."

And that was the kicker. Naesala didn't even have the luxury of letting everyone in his world go on without him. He couldn't run away from his problems, and right now this respite was really only leaving him in suspense of what was to come. Damn his luck!

"So far, this place looks pleasant enough on the outside. I'm not one to trust it so easily, but I suppose we'll settle in whether we want to or not."

"I...suppose." The idea that they’ll return to the moment they left is...probably why they’re called ‘Dreamfolk’. Chase has been known by a few names, but he couldn’t say that he liked having one that he didn’t understand.

But if they were brought here against their will, settling in doesn't have to be their only option. He'd say something about not giving in too quickly, but Chase isn't one to talk, and while he's thinking of his friends, he can't imitate them, so he doesn't even have the words, either.

Besides, he doesn't currently have a good idea of what 'settling in' entails, not having looked around that extensively yet.

"Does it really look pleasant?" Chase doesn't have an opinion on that, himself.

Naesala replies with a nod, "Oh, yes. It's downright scenic from up above. The festival over there has pulled in quite a large crowd, too."

He was going to have to fly around later and get a better idea of what exactly was within the city. He's sure there's some manner of slums here, he just had to find it. The poorest areas often said as much about a city as the richest ones did.

"And these people did have the resources to give us free lodging. I'm sure making a living here would be quite comfortable."

Scenic and comfortable...he supposes those are good parameters for determining that kind of thing. However— "It lacks purpose."

Though technically speaking, he'd lost his purpose before he even arrived here.

"Comfort isn't so important to me." He looks up again at the sky, then adds, "I'm Chase."

"Purpose?"

He couldn't help but laugh, giving Chase a small bow as he did so. "My name's Naesala. And if you think there's no purpose to seeing the festival, you're going about it the wrong way. How else will you learn about the residents here if you don't walk among them? See how they celebrate and how they spend their free time? You can't get the measure of a society if you sit inside all day."