Practice makes perfect? (OTA)

[theonlyrealthing]

Who: Jack and OPEN
What: December quest threads + Generic interaction prompts
When: Early to mid December
Where: Mostly outside Camelot, occasionally around the city
Warnings: None for now


I. Practice

Now that he knows what it feels like to shapechange, it's a lot easier to do it on purpose, but it still takes practice. Nothing that really mattered in Jack's life came easily, without effort, so it's no real surprise to him that magic is the same way. Frustrating, but not a surprise. And remembering clearly how he couldn't fly when he accidentally turned into a goose makes it obvious he needs practice inside other shapes, too.

So around and outside Camelot, in between whatever odd jobs he can scrounge up, he spends time watching animals and trying to learn how their bodies work, and then trying them on for size. Find him as a possum, a hare, a horse, and a squirrel. Better yet, find him stuck in a partial transformation with rabbit ears sticking out of the sides of his head that twitch each time the purple butterfly fluttering around him tries to land on one, or a crow's beak where his mouth should be and a thunderous expression.

He can be found practicing more mundane things in the courtyard of the hotel or at the castle practice yards, as well: knives, hand to hand, and a short sword he's purchased with carefully hoarded funds. Swords weren't common weapons in Gilboa-- the formal army uniform included one, but they didn't use the damn things-- but they're useful here, so he's trying to mimic things he's seen the knights do in practice. Sometimes he manages it, sometimes he just manages to look silly, but he's still determined.


II. Hogtied Quest

It's not a surprise, given his magic and his attempts at practicing it, that he'd test himself here for money and prestige. He spends a couple of days trying to both lead the Talda pigs away in a shapeshifted form and talk them out of eating wild fare when they could be sitting pretty in a barn with food brought to them.

He has varying levels of success, but he can console himself that he comes away with a lot fewer bruises and a lot less frustration than your average joe, just trying to toss ropes around them or herd them around with swords or fire.


II. Jack Bredbeddle Quest

This doesn't seem that hard, all in all. Find one guy. Bring him in. Jack can do this in between his other jobs and his practice, watching the townspeople for signs of trouble, testing sparrow-shape to perch unobtrusively somewhere with a good view of prime pranking locations, or falling back on the squirrel that came so easily before to pretend to scavenge scraps while watching people go about their business. His charming smile and pretty face help get statements out of people, too, so he has at least a description to work with.

Of course, finding is one thing. Catching is another. Especially when he shifts back up to his human shape to grab the other "Jack's" arm after catching him in the act of tipping some kind of bubble mixture into a pub's ale supply, and finds himself swarmed by goblins in the alley behind the pub in question, spilling out into the street as he swats the little green bastards back and tries to get free.

Somebody come help?


III. Fogueria Quest

A little later in the month, Jack starts looking into the tales of the bonfires, heading down to Red Springs to talk to farmers, then to brownies, and then to inspect the burn sites.

This really doesn't look like a bonfire party, to him. He's seen bonfires and he's seen parties, and this is neither. He sends out a public message on AOL after a couple days of investigating:

"Is anybody interested in tracking down whatever's causing these fires out by Red Springs? I'm pretty sure it's not a bunch of stupid kids. There's no trash or footprints, and I'm pretty sure these are paw prints I'm seeing."

The message comes with a photo of one of the burn sites, his butterfly spirit companion sitting in the middle of what sure does look like a very large paw print in the ash at the edges.


IV. Recharging

Jack is, by nature, a social guy. He's happiest when surrounded by people making noise and having fun, whether or not he's participating. So between quests and odd jobs, he can be found circling the taverns in Camelot, in the common room at the inn at Red Springs, or in the castle itself whenever there are public feasts or events. He's always got a drink in hand, and often has a person on his arm-- or else he's trying to get whoever he's chatting with on his arm, instead.

"Buy you a drink?" he asks, sidling up with a smile.

Comments

jack bredbeddle

[birdflipping]

Nero had been passing by, oblivious, until he hears some strange sounds coming from a nearby alleyway. When he goes to investigate, he stops at the end of the alley to watch, and sees small green... goblin... things mobbing a guy. He has no idea if it's a bar scuffle taken outside or something else, but he can't leave it be, so he decides to speak up.

"You guys look like you're having fun," he drawls, drawing his blade from his back. "Can I play too?"

[theonlyrealthing]

"Hey, sure, come have a little fun," Jack grates out, swatting at one goblin with the flat of his own short sword and making a much more adept slice at another with his knife. He's clearly got more training in the latter than the former. "This is an absolute blast."

[birdflipping]

"You hear that, assholes? Let me have a piece of the action too."

Half of the goblins turn towards Nero, who's sizing them up as if he's already disappointed by what he sees. One charges towards him, and he draws his sword and steps aside to dodge, knocking his would-be attacker to the ground with the flat of his blade. Another, Nero uses his kinetic magic to fling a discarded bottle at its head, dazing it.

"Are you guys even trying? Had a little too much at the bar?" he taunts, evidently trying to make the fight a little more entertaining by provoking them.

[theonlyrealthing]

With three less to content with, Jack manages a little better, too, though he doesn't waste breath with taunting. He beans one over the head with the flat of his sword, turns the knife in his grip so he can punch another into the wall without slicing anything off, and knocks the third down to step on it and hold it down. The punched one bolts, while the beaned one sits dazedly on the ground and the last holds up its hands in a parody of human surrender.

"Are you playing with them, or stopping them?" he asks Nero.

[birdflipping]

"A little from column A, a little from column B. Whoops," he exclaims, sticking a foot out so the last goblin standing trips over his boot as it swings for him. He turns and snags it by the collar, scooping it up off the ground.

"Man, I'm so clumsy," he shakes his head, sarcasm etched all over his features, before he eyes Jack. "So why were these guys attacking you?"

[theonlyrealthing]

"This one." Jack scoops up the last one of his three by the collar of its stupid little tunic. "Had an illusion on him to make him look like a human. He's been doing pranks on people under the name Jack Bredbeddle."

[cutesneeze]

Sure they aren't your paw prints?

The message comes almost immediately - Catra, too, had taken an interest in the fires, mostly for the prospect of compensation that doesn't require her to do dull and frustrating work every day, and so anything mentioning Red Springs is liable to catch her attention.

[theonlyrealthing]

"I've never tried a predator that big before, so yes, I am sure. Why, you seen something else out here that makes you think it'd be something else?"

If she's responding, then maybe she's interested. Or even looking into it, too.

[cutesneeze]

We have shapeshifters. It could be a lot of things.

Though even she has to admit that the prospect of people shapeshifting to travel to and from a bonfire site while leaving no human tracks is...weird. Not impossible, given how weird everything else about this place insists on being, but worth looking into.

Where are you? I'm north of the inn.

[theonlyrealthing]

"If I was going to shapeshift just to move around, it'd be into a horse or a wolf or something else that can go fast."

This giant pawprint is really not the pawprint of something built for speed, he's sure. Even if most of his understanding of tracking animals comes from royal hunting trips or the army, and neither of those things had lions.

"South of the inn. Want to meet up at the inn and see if we can pick up the trail together?"

practicing

[radianceflux]

Eruca comes across him as she walks. She's taking in this place and its scenery, looking for work she might do, and glad that her title and her crown mean nothing here. What a hindrance it would be, to be treated differently than all the others like her. Completelt unnecessary.

When she sees him with a beak for a mouth, her heart leaps. Is he from her world, perhaps? She has to know.

"Excuse me," she says as she approaches him. "Are you... are you beastkind?"

She's only ever met with Satyros and Gutrals, but how many other beastkind are there in the world? She doesn't know for certain.

[theonlyrealthing]

Oh, great. Now he has to answer something with a beak-- it makes talking a lot harder. He hasn't worked out how to change back yet, so he just has to make do.

Looking hangdog, at least in the eyes, since everything else is taken up by beak. "Na, 'agic," the bird's beak says. He can't make an M, and the O doesn't round properly, but the rest seems to work okay. "Just tryin' to get 'etter at it." Or, right, no Bs either without lips.

[radianceflux]

"Ah... yes."

A look of sympathy crosses her face.

"Your magic is clearly very challenging. Can I assist somehow?"

She is truly at a loss. The magic here is so strange.

"I have small meat pies with me, if you need to eat."

[theonlyrealthing]

Hey, he's trying to save up for some decent armor and better weapons. He will take some pretty lady offering him free food. Sadly, he has no idea how to eat with a beak. "'igh' 'e hard t'eat," he says, managing to make the mangled words come out sounding a little apologetic. "Gi' 'e a second?"

And he focuses... thinking hard about lips and teeth and the feeling of the magic when it's working to change him, and-- there we go. The beak starts to shrink, turning back into a normal mouth and chin and nose. He rubs at his chin, shifting his jaw to stretch it a little. "That is so weird."

[radianceflux]

It's strange and fascinating to watch, the way his body changes, the beak shrinking back and taking the shadow once more of a human mouth. Eruca can't help but stare, her hand in her bag, fingers loose around a wrapped meat pie.

"I've never seen magic like that before," she says. That seems too snap her out of it. She holds the meat pie out to him. "I hope this replenishes your strength. I imagine a potion would be more helpful, but I've been focused too much on quests and my own magic to attempt any."

Practice

[rhiaofdruma]

Rhia's squirrel found him before Rhia had. The small creature had been hunting for any scrap of food that could be found in the winter here, well away from his family’s winter stores. Seeing another squirrel, Ixtma braced to see if it was going to attack or might be friendly enough to approach.

With a shadow like a hawk a winged girl flew overhead just for the joy of flight. The squirrel, knowing who it was didn't duck or hide as it otherwise might have.

As for Rhia herself, from below she probably looked like a part of the trees grew wings and decided to go for a fly sometime in early Spring had hadn't bothered to notice Winter's cold, as she was all brown and green save her eyes and wings.

[theonlyrealthing]

He's seen somebody who's actually a large, talking, bipedal deer. Tree-kid with wings is not going to throw him that much.

The squirrel is more of a problem. He fluffs up his little squirrel tail and arches his back, not sure if he's aiming for threatening or just alarmed. He has no idea how to actually interact with real squirrels, and doesn't in fact realize this is not quite a real squirrel. Yet, anyway.

[rhiaofdruma]

Oh Ixtma was very much a real squirrel, he was just used to more chatty fellows. Ixtma tilted his head and chattered at the other. < Do you have any nuts to share?> The Squirrel asked. < My friend is willing to share her winter berries. >

Hey, the other hadn't attacked him yet, so maybe he was the social sort like Rhia tended to befriend?

[theonlyrealthing]

Not her familiar then, huh? That might make this easier. He doesn't know of his animal magic works on familiars, so he might not be ble to communicate.

At the question and the offer, the tail fluffing subsides a little, flicking from side to side instead. Squirrels are restless movers. < I, uh, don't have any nuts, no. >

[rhiaofdruma]

The squirrel huffed sadly a bit, nodded with a polite goodbye and scampered off. Rhia landed to offer a hand, and the squirrel raced up her arm. She smiled at the squirrel that she didn't know and chittered in squirrel at him, not realizing that in this world it was magic. It was a simple enough greeting.

Recharging

[donovan_deegan]

He wasn't the only social guy. And if he wanted to be around people making noise and having fun, he wouldn't have to look further than the old man in pink with the sword at his hip who had been convinced to play some songs on his guitar. The man was... good. Very. His voice was smooth with none of the grit of age that he looked like he should have. his voice was powerful as he belted out power ballad after power ballad until finally he begged off with a laugh, turning down offers of coin but accepting food and drinks. Soon he had more than he could consume, he laughed and thanked his audience, then looked around for someone to share this all with.

[theonlyrealthing]

"Not interested in actually being paid? That's new for a musician," Jack comments as Donovan comes up to the bar not far from him. "Though I can't deny the appeal of free drinks."

[donovan_deegan]

He chuckled a bit. "There is a time for it, and I'm no stranger to singing for my supper," he added with a wink or a laugh. "But it wouldn't be fair to take the coin now, since I hadn't planned to play and hadn't gotten permission or found out what the house cut is. Someone offered e a drink if I played a cool song about a cold woman and it just snowballed from there. Gets so a guy can't swing an axe without someone asking for a song," he said with a huge grin making it clear he wasn't complaining.

[theonlyrealthing]

"The house takes a cut from passing musicians? Somehow I'm not surprised." That's capitalism for ya! He doesn't share his own drink, since clearly Donovan has plenty of his own. "I'm Jack. Are you a local or one of the newcomers?"

[donovan_deegan]

"Didn't check here yet, but it's standard practice back home," he said with a shrug. But then he grinned. "Oh this place decided that maybe I wasn't all washed up so did it for me, though my arrival did cause quite the splash. You?"