July 2021 - Home Sweet Home

[staymods]

Home Sweet Home

Summer is in full swing by now. The days are hot and sticky, the nights are cooler but still a bit uncomfortable. The temptation to spend the days swimming away in the waters near Rabbit Island is strong. After all, everyone has worked hard, so why not take a break? Summer is the best time to go swimming, especially during the daytime hours when you can see straight to the bottom of the shallow areas.

Much has been accomplished in the last month. The food storage building is looking much more secure, and just in time too: it won't be long before the farmland can be fully used to grow food for everyone, and you'll need a place to keep all your vegetables. Cold storage is still a ways off, but this is a good start.

The defenses have improved too. After a thorough check, the island has been verified to be troll-free, which pleases your local NPCs greatly. A safe island is a happy island, after all. And with two of the sea nets fully functional, the islands are that much safer.

Finally, repairs have been completed on one of the houses. It looks a bit too small for everyone to move into, so you'll have to figure out a way to decide who gets to live there. But with the experience of fixing up this house, further houses should be easy to repair too.

All in all, it's been a good month. Even the nighttime screaming from the Silent World seems to have disappeared for now. Hopefully the peace and quiet will last. Maybe enjoy it while you can? Things can change in an instant here, after all.

Comments

Teo | OTA

[ghoulserrand]

[Life here is strange. Perhaps because, for the first time, it feels like life. The people go about taking care of the island, of each other, and there's no gunshots, no growls in the dark, no panicked screams. There's talking, casual conversation. He loves it. It's what he wakes up to after finding a corner in the Town Hall to rest, a little ways away from everyone else. He finds himself lingering just to listen.

Eventually, however, it's time for the day to begin. He doesn't particularly know what he's doing when it comes to repairs but it seems to be the thing to do. He tries grab materials and tools, to pass them along as asked, and work away at anything that doesn't seem to require too much delicacy. Working on the houses gets his attention. Spying the burned ones, he can't help asking, "Was this... recent...?"

He heads to the food storage building. He feels a brief nostalgia, then, a sense that he's invading, but he's not here for food in any sense. He searches the place, trying to be stealthy but nevertheless, he's rifling through for one thing in particular.

It's late in the evening, the sun sinking down, when he heads out west on Rabbit Island. Apparently the island is monster-free, a verdict that he, for obvious reasons, has to question. But this monster he can manage. He heads into the woods and reads an arrow in his bow. He listens closely for prey. Only small game. He can't risk anything more than that. By nightfall, he might just catch a rabbit for himself.]

houses

[maidofmistakes]

How recent is recent?

[Is that -- okay, yes, Supergirl's up hovering in front of the second level, demolishing a broken wall with her hands.]

Everyone keeps saying what happened in this dimension was more than 20 years ago. That's all I have to go on.

Re: houses

[ghoulserrand]

[A good question, but he can't decide how to answer that before she answers herself. Her with her amazing powers. He makes sure to keep enough space that he doesn't get hit by any debri.]

More than twenty... not so recent... but enough some would... remember? Has anyone... been here that long?

[maidofmistakes]

We just got here a few months ago, but the people from this world, it sounds like some of them remember. They come here every so often to check if it's still safe and to bring over supplies.

[ghoulserrand]

...Strange...

[Wasn't it supposed to be, that in stories, the people from other worlds were the ones with all the answers? He doesn't feel like he's got any.]

...You think... it was an accident...? Or...

[maidofmistakes]

What do you mean?

[She flies down to the ground and sets an armful of rubble down.]

Us coming here? I don't know. Maybe we'll find out.

[ghoulserrand]

[He shakes his head. He points out to the rubble.]

Pocket full... of posies...

[Ashes, ashes, and houses burned on purpose. Grim, but possible. But she also makes a good point.]

...Not sure... about us... Not sure... which is better...

[maidofmistakes]

You mean, which one might make it more likely that we can get home sooner...?

[ghoulserrand]

Mmm... [Not quite.] Accident... harder to fix... On purpose... someone, something... wanted to do this... That is worrying.

[maidofmistakes]

Yeah... maybe. But we don't know why someone would, either. Maybe to hurt us, but maybe so we can help this place.

[ghoulserrand]

[He glances back at the rest of the town. Then at her.]

You seem... like you help... but I don't know... I don't think... I would choose me...

[relictus]

[Despite the summer heat, the least amount of clothing you'll see Faust wearing is his cassock without the usual added layers, or his training clothes without the outer robe. The gloves stay on. Swimming is out, but there's plenty of fish to catch in the lake, and plenty of cats who would love to eat them. Rather than try to lure them out though, he'll just put some fish in a small bowl and, wherever he's spotted feral cats before, he'll discreetly leave a bowl nearby. Sometimes he'll just leave it there, but sometimes he may linger from a distance to watch as the fish is snatched up. (You can pick anywhere on Rabbit Island you'd like to run into him for this prompt.)]

[Rather than pick a house for himself, he's opted to lend his assistance with restoration to whoever may need it. When the first house is finally returned to a livable state, he lays no claim to it. The windmill serves his needs well enough for the time being. Let the kids who miss having a real home to return to make better use of it. But now that they have sheep, he occasionally heads out to the house on sheep island to work on cleaning and clearing it out in preparation for repairs, between checking on the sheep. He's no expert on caring for sheep, but he can't assume that anyone else here will take responsibility for them. (If you happen by at the right time you might even catch him smiling as he pets one of the sheep.)]

[As for the windmill, he only goes there at night and locks himself in. But late at night you can still sometimes spot the faint shifting glow of possibly-candlelight through the cracks in the locked door, with the occasional wisp of dreamlike illusions- things like floating petals or snow, or embers or ash- leaking through.]

[maidofmistakes]

Don't say that. [She shakes her head.] To tell you the truth, I know how you feel. When I first got to Earth, all these powers were new to me. I didn't know anything, I kept destroying things, and I felt like everybody else was way more impressive. Like they were real heroes, but I should be locked up somewhere to keep everyone else safe. So if I can help people, I'm sure you can, too.

[ghoulserrand]

[I should be locked up somewhere to keep everyone else safe. The words make him go still. He's glad, for the moment, that he's already hidden.]

... You're too kind... to be locked up... I'm glad you're not...

... Maybe... I would like that...

[Even if he still doubts he was ever chosen to help.]

[ghoulserrand]

[Faust had told him that he lived in the windmill more or less, that he liked to be alone.

So, naturally, here he is, invading. He marvels at the flashes of light and magic, then delivers a knock on the door. Open up magic man, you have a visitor.]

[maidofmistakes]

[She smiles.] I know you can! There must be things that you can work on that you're good at. How are you doing with the repair work?

[relictus]

[Have fun watching as the little bits of illusions, taking the shape of fireflies as he approaches before turning to droplets of water, like rain suspended in the air. When he knocks the illusions flicker, then suddenly go out along with any light coming from inside, leaving him in the dark.]

[For a minute at least, as there's shuffling from inside and a light comes back on, this time of a more mundane nature, and he unlocks and opens the door. He looks like he just rolled out of bed, his hair a bit messy and he's not wearing his sunglasses or jewelry. He squints at Teo and sighs tiredly.]

...What are you doing here?

[ghoulserrand]

Uh...

[He stops and looks at what he's doing. She's been demolishing a wall. He's mostly pulling at planks at the moment.]

I am... not sure... Perhaps... you could test... what I do? See if... if I build things... strong enough?

[maidofmistakes]

Sure! I mean, we should probably be following the plans they gave us, but as for strong enough, uh... I'd probably break it even if you did. But if you have a good idea for how to test it, I can try!

[ghoulserrand]

[The fireflies delight him. They speak to something in him- before they transform that is. But the dark, that he doesn't mind. It lets him lift the goggles back up onto his head, to appreciate being able to see unhindered.

He's a little excited when the door opens. It's the first time he's visited anyone living that he can remember. Of course, some of that excitement dulls into uncertainty when he sees the mess that is Faust. He lifts a finger, pauses, and then lowers it.]

... I wanted... to stop by...

...And... I went out... hunting... and could use an alibi... for where I went.

[relictus]

...In the middle of the night?

[Okay, it sort of makes sense that he'd want to hunt at night, but still-]

That's what you woke me for?

[He's a bit grumpy, but I mean, he did come wake him up in the middle of the night.]

[ghoulserrand]

[He glances awkwardly to the side and back again.]

...... You were doing... magic... I thought you were... awake...... Do you do magic... in your sleep?

[relictus]

...

[That just seems to irritate him further- or perhaps make him uncomfortable- as he crosses his arms and looks away.]

I wasn't doing anything, I was sleeping. What's this about an alibi?

[ghoulserrand]

Oh... good point....

[He taps a finger to his clothed chin.]

How... light can you throw... a rock?

[maidofmistakes]

Uh... I can try, but just to warn you, I kind of made craters in the ground the last time I played ten-ice. I think I'm pronouncing it wrong. So I'm probably not the best for that, either.