Sagi (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
scension) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
isleofavalon2021-05-08 12:58 am
scension) wrote in isleofavalon2021-05-08 12:58 am
2. [open]
🧙 WHO: Sagi and anyone
⚔️️ WHAT: May catch-all log
🕒 WHEN: Early to mid May
🗺️ WHERE: Camelot before and after the minotaur attack, see prompts
⚠️ WARNINGS: Bodily fluids & emeto mentions in prompt E (minotaur TDM prompt)
[A: political campaigns // around Camelot]
[With the vote on Celliwig drawing closer by the day, the concerned citizens of Camelot draw close to the city's sidewalks and green areas in order to convince any remaining fence-sitters that their idea of diplomacy is best. Some have pamphlets, some have presentations, some have snacks, some have free pens... Only one of them, currently, has Sagi's attention.
This isn't by choice. He kept it to himself while the Cereus de Anima's doppelgangers were running rampant, but ever since the atmosphere in Camelot City turned political, Sagi's usually relentless good mood has had a little trouble covering for him. Whenever he was out and about for errands or menial fetch quests, which is most of the time, he's done his best to avoid one campaign's volunteers and handouts in particular. Unfortunately for him, today that campaign has hit upon what appears to be a winning idea: a free field trip to the mountains, far more scenic than their competitors' free field trips, with the perk of keeping whatever valuable crystals you happen to dig up in exchange for your support. As a small group of pro-war campaigners goes over the details, handily illustrated by a light magic enhanced slideshow, Sagi is stuck on the sidewalk behind the enthusiastic onlookers.
At first, he listens intently along with the rest of them. The slight frown on his face makes his opinion pretty obvious, but he has better things to do than pick a fight in the middle of the street. That said, the obstructed pavement is preventing him from doing most of them, and the slideshow keeps meandering off topic into historical trivia about Elphame with stick figure illustrations... After a while, his frown sours into more of an annoyed pout.]
...I bet we could just run up and take their screen. How about it, Marno?
[He can probably be forgiven for thinking a few uncharitable thoughts in his frustration. The problem is, he said that one aloud, and not even in a whisper. If the campaigners here were just a little less loudly eager to recruit more people for their upcoming mining trip, they might have heard him from the front of the crowd. If you were just passing through, maybe you overheard him, too.
A couple of bystanders are already shooting sidelong looks at him. Who the heck just up and steals a screen? But he ignores them, staring fixedly past the campaigners at the screen in question as if he expects it to answer.]
[B: assistance quest - Holo, Goodbye]
The one under there... That has to be the strongest.
[The riverbank at this part of the northwestern river is muddy from recent rains. While the surface of the water shimmers beautifully, most of the remaining shining stones appear to be just under the surface, requiring a little wading to get at. While they may not need to worry about the uncertain footing as much as would-be quest-goers, the fae congregating around the river are giving the mud a wide berth anyway - instead, fairies and sprites of all shapes and sizes hover over the water in a gossamer cloud, laughing and chattering. It doesn't look like they intend to go anywhere anytime soon, and the sun is fast sinking through the sky behind them.
Sagi is standing on the bank, sizing them up. He hiked all the way out here without any plan for the return journey other than trekking back the way he came; the quest itself was almost an excuse for heading out of town, getting away from further murmurs of war. But because of that, he really needs to pick up the brightest holographic stone he can find if he's to deliver it before the magic wears off. If he didn't learn that the hard way in his home world, he sure has picked it up now that questing is his main source of income. That stone, the shiniest stone, the only one that matters... is a few paces out from the sodden riverbank, surrounded on all sides by a particularly noisy gaggle of sprites. The next step looks as obvious as it is annoying.]
...It's a shame to interrupt them. They look like they're having a good time.
[But interrupt them he will, unless someone gives him a better idea in the time it takes him to remove his vambraces and roll up his sleeves. They don't seem hostile, after all. He's sure they'll understand.]
[C: training grounds]
[Magic practice and keeping the rust off his swordplay are yet more decent excuses for Sagi to get away from where the campaigns are happening. He ends up traipsing to the training grounds more often around this month, sometimes at odd hours.
On this occasion, he's brought his familiar with him - the same monstrous horned demon creature he's posted about on AOL before, all pulsing flesh and wriggling tentacles. What he doesn't appear to have brought this time is his sword. Loitering in the corner of an open sparring space with only his phone in hand, he looks almost too casual for his own garish fantasy fashion sense, let alone the eldritch creature waiting patiently beside him.
There is a reason for this. He doesn't just do things for no reason, even if the reason is sometimes "the voice in my head thought it was a good idea" or "it looked like it might taste interesting". He's been wary of this machine for too long. He can dislike the circumstances he's been forced into without completely wasting the chances he has to do some good with them, or at least to understand them. There's no contradiction there.]
Okay, here we go.
[He taps something on the phone's screen, brandishes the phone at his familiar like some kind of talisman - and his familiar vanishes. In its place is an unremarkable rabbit, much like the domestic rabbits that were a common sight in Camelot around the spring equinox. Unremarkable, that is, apart from being about six feet from nose to tail; coincidentally, the same size as the tentacle monster it just replaced. The illusion flickers after maybe half a minute, creating an unsettling vision of tentacles and glowing eyes half-emerging from the rabbit's sides and back before the magic dissipates altogether.]
Hey, it worked! [He beams.] Next, try walking around me.
[The gargantuan rabbit rematerialises on top of his familiar. It bounds a few paces away, its movement maybe surprisingly convincing. Again, the illusion fades before long, but Sagi presses something else on the phone when the monster's horns and tentacles re-emerge - now it's a horse, shrunk down to the same scale as the giant rabbit. It flickers immediately, and now it's a rabbit again. Now it's an oversized striking dummy like the ones elsewhere in the training grounds. Now it's a person of normal height, short brown hair, probably a girl -
The last image vanishes near instantly. Sagi's optimistic mood from just a minute ago seems to have disappeared along with it. He averts his eyes from both his monstrous familiar and his phone for a moment; his expression is fleetingly, uncharacteristically angry. The monster itself settles back down on its haunches, staring at him in silence.
Would this be a good time to go up to him and grill him on why he even felt the need to come to the training grounds for this? Maybe, maybe not.]
[D: post minotaur attack // around Camelot]
[Simon the Minotaur's attack on Camelot does not come as a relief to Sagi. You would have to be pretty vindictive to see it as a self-inflicted knock against the insistent pro-war faction in town, rather than the needless destruction it is. Still, he can't deny that he tends to feel more focused when comprehensible crises are happening one after the other, when he has people to assist and no time to overthink anything in front of him. He can lend injured people a shoulder or an ear, he can do heavy lifting, he can deploy his magic like a flashlight inside ruined buildings - he's helping. He has something to do.
At one point, the heavy lifting takes the form of a crate of water bottles. The dramatic irony that these may have been better saved for the water contamination incident later on might occur to him once it actually happens, but it's unlikely. For now, all he knows is that someone asked him to help distribute them among the rescue workers, and he'll be damned if he lets anyone other than him overexert themselves after such a stressful day.
If you look even slightly tired or grouchy as you pass by the crate in the middle of this street, he won't be shy about taking a bottle out and waving you over.] Hey, do you want one of these?
[E: purification ritual // lowertown]
[It might have been hard to imagine that the smell in the lowertown could get worse after you venture into the lowertown and acclimatise, but as you approach the little decorative fountain in this equally little deserted plaza, the stink feels almost like a solid curtain draped through the air. This is, apparently, the point. When Sagi volunteered for the water purification rituals earlier, someone offhandedly mentioned that it might work more efficiently at points where contaminated water is already gathered, as long as the ritual itself goes well. With or without evidence, that was all the instruction he needed. He's determined not to mess up this one.
The ritual itself... might be a big if. Despite the red scarf Sagi has acquired somewhere to use as a makeshift mask, what's visible of his face looks decidedly nauseated even before the fountain comes into view. He grits his teeth, turns a corner - and has to stop in his tracks as a renewed wave of the stench slams into him, gagging loudly, a hand flying to his covered mouth.]
S... Sorry. Okay. [For a small mercy, gagging is as far as it goes for now. He straightens up quickly, keen to put that aside.] I've got the instructions here...
[On his well-thumbed phone screen, which rearranges itself to display them in response to his voice. Yeah, the particular magic skillset he's been saddled with might not naturally lend itself to a ritual like this, compared to other magic types. But here he is, and so are you, one way or another.]
Want to go over them again? Or can we just get this over with?
[wildcard]
[Give me anything, I'll roll with it! I have a general plotting comment for May, or you can hit me up at![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
blitzente.]
⚔️️ WHAT: May catch-all log
🕒 WHEN: Early to mid May
🗺️ WHERE: Camelot before and after the minotaur attack, see prompts
⚠️ WARNINGS: Bodily fluids & emeto mentions in prompt E (minotaur TDM prompt)
[A: political campaigns // around Camelot]
[With the vote on Celliwig drawing closer by the day, the concerned citizens of Camelot draw close to the city's sidewalks and green areas in order to convince any remaining fence-sitters that their idea of diplomacy is best. Some have pamphlets, some have presentations, some have snacks, some have free pens... Only one of them, currently, has Sagi's attention.
This isn't by choice. He kept it to himself while the Cereus de Anima's doppelgangers were running rampant, but ever since the atmosphere in Camelot City turned political, Sagi's usually relentless good mood has had a little trouble covering for him. Whenever he was out and about for errands or menial fetch quests, which is most of the time, he's done his best to avoid one campaign's volunteers and handouts in particular. Unfortunately for him, today that campaign has hit upon what appears to be a winning idea: a free field trip to the mountains, far more scenic than their competitors' free field trips, with the perk of keeping whatever valuable crystals you happen to dig up in exchange for your support. As a small group of pro-war campaigners goes over the details, handily illustrated by a light magic enhanced slideshow, Sagi is stuck on the sidewalk behind the enthusiastic onlookers.
At first, he listens intently along with the rest of them. The slight frown on his face makes his opinion pretty obvious, but he has better things to do than pick a fight in the middle of the street. That said, the obstructed pavement is preventing him from doing most of them, and the slideshow keeps meandering off topic into historical trivia about Elphame with stick figure illustrations... After a while, his frown sours into more of an annoyed pout.]
...I bet we could just run up and take their screen. How about it, Marno?
[He can probably be forgiven for thinking a few uncharitable thoughts in his frustration. The problem is, he said that one aloud, and not even in a whisper. If the campaigners here were just a little less loudly eager to recruit more people for their upcoming mining trip, they might have heard him from the front of the crowd. If you were just passing through, maybe you overheard him, too.
A couple of bystanders are already shooting sidelong looks at him. Who the heck just up and steals a screen? But he ignores them, staring fixedly past the campaigners at the screen in question as if he expects it to answer.]
[B: assistance quest - Holo, Goodbye]
The one under there... That has to be the strongest.
[The riverbank at this part of the northwestern river is muddy from recent rains. While the surface of the water shimmers beautifully, most of the remaining shining stones appear to be just under the surface, requiring a little wading to get at. While they may not need to worry about the uncertain footing as much as would-be quest-goers, the fae congregating around the river are giving the mud a wide berth anyway - instead, fairies and sprites of all shapes and sizes hover over the water in a gossamer cloud, laughing and chattering. It doesn't look like they intend to go anywhere anytime soon, and the sun is fast sinking through the sky behind them.
Sagi is standing on the bank, sizing them up. He hiked all the way out here without any plan for the return journey other than trekking back the way he came; the quest itself was almost an excuse for heading out of town, getting away from further murmurs of war. But because of that, he really needs to pick up the brightest holographic stone he can find if he's to deliver it before the magic wears off. If he didn't learn that the hard way in his home world, he sure has picked it up now that questing is his main source of income. That stone, the shiniest stone, the only one that matters... is a few paces out from the sodden riverbank, surrounded on all sides by a particularly noisy gaggle of sprites. The next step looks as obvious as it is annoying.]
...It's a shame to interrupt them. They look like they're having a good time.
[But interrupt them he will, unless someone gives him a better idea in the time it takes him to remove his vambraces and roll up his sleeves. They don't seem hostile, after all. He's sure they'll understand.]
[C: training grounds]
[Magic practice and keeping the rust off his swordplay are yet more decent excuses for Sagi to get away from where the campaigns are happening. He ends up traipsing to the training grounds more often around this month, sometimes at odd hours.
On this occasion, he's brought his familiar with him - the same monstrous horned demon creature he's posted about on AOL before, all pulsing flesh and wriggling tentacles. What he doesn't appear to have brought this time is his sword. Loitering in the corner of an open sparring space with only his phone in hand, he looks almost too casual for his own garish fantasy fashion sense, let alone the eldritch creature waiting patiently beside him.
There is a reason for this. He doesn't just do things for no reason, even if the reason is sometimes "the voice in my head thought it was a good idea" or "it looked like it might taste interesting". He's been wary of this machine for too long. He can dislike the circumstances he's been forced into without completely wasting the chances he has to do some good with them, or at least to understand them. There's no contradiction there.]
Okay, here we go.
[He taps something on the phone's screen, brandishes the phone at his familiar like some kind of talisman - and his familiar vanishes. In its place is an unremarkable rabbit, much like the domestic rabbits that were a common sight in Camelot around the spring equinox. Unremarkable, that is, apart from being about six feet from nose to tail; coincidentally, the same size as the tentacle monster it just replaced. The illusion flickers after maybe half a minute, creating an unsettling vision of tentacles and glowing eyes half-emerging from the rabbit's sides and back before the magic dissipates altogether.]
Hey, it worked! [He beams.] Next, try walking around me.
[The gargantuan rabbit rematerialises on top of his familiar. It bounds a few paces away, its movement maybe surprisingly convincing. Again, the illusion fades before long, but Sagi presses something else on the phone when the monster's horns and tentacles re-emerge - now it's a horse, shrunk down to the same scale as the giant rabbit. It flickers immediately, and now it's a rabbit again. Now it's an oversized striking dummy like the ones elsewhere in the training grounds. Now it's a person of normal height, short brown hair, probably a girl -
The last image vanishes near instantly. Sagi's optimistic mood from just a minute ago seems to have disappeared along with it. He averts his eyes from both his monstrous familiar and his phone for a moment; his expression is fleetingly, uncharacteristically angry. The monster itself settles back down on its haunches, staring at him in silence.
Would this be a good time to go up to him and grill him on why he even felt the need to come to the training grounds for this? Maybe, maybe not.]
[D: post minotaur attack // around Camelot]
[Simon the Minotaur's attack on Camelot does not come as a relief to Sagi. You would have to be pretty vindictive to see it as a self-inflicted knock against the insistent pro-war faction in town, rather than the needless destruction it is. Still, he can't deny that he tends to feel more focused when comprehensible crises are happening one after the other, when he has people to assist and no time to overthink anything in front of him. He can lend injured people a shoulder or an ear, he can do heavy lifting, he can deploy his magic like a flashlight inside ruined buildings - he's helping. He has something to do.
At one point, the heavy lifting takes the form of a crate of water bottles. The dramatic irony that these may have been better saved for the water contamination incident later on might occur to him once it actually happens, but it's unlikely. For now, all he knows is that someone asked him to help distribute them among the rescue workers, and he'll be damned if he lets anyone other than him overexert themselves after such a stressful day.
If you look even slightly tired or grouchy as you pass by the crate in the middle of this street, he won't be shy about taking a bottle out and waving you over.] Hey, do you want one of these?
[E: purification ritual // lowertown]
[It might have been hard to imagine that the smell in the lowertown could get worse after you venture into the lowertown and acclimatise, but as you approach the little decorative fountain in this equally little deserted plaza, the stink feels almost like a solid curtain draped through the air. This is, apparently, the point. When Sagi volunteered for the water purification rituals earlier, someone offhandedly mentioned that it might work more efficiently at points where contaminated water is already gathered, as long as the ritual itself goes well. With or without evidence, that was all the instruction he needed. He's determined not to mess up this one.
The ritual itself... might be a big if. Despite the red scarf Sagi has acquired somewhere to use as a makeshift mask, what's visible of his face looks decidedly nauseated even before the fountain comes into view. He grits his teeth, turns a corner - and has to stop in his tracks as a renewed wave of the stench slams into him, gagging loudly, a hand flying to his covered mouth.]
S... Sorry. Okay. [For a small mercy, gagging is as far as it goes for now. He straightens up quickly, keen to put that aside.] I've got the instructions here...
[On his well-thumbed phone screen, which rearranges itself to display them in response to his voice. Yeah, the particular magic skillset he's been saddled with might not naturally lend itself to a ritual like this, compared to other magic types. But here he is, and so are you, one way or another.]
Want to go over them again? Or can we just get this over with?
[wildcard]
[Give me anything, I'll roll with it! I have a general plotting comment for May, or you can hit me up at
no subject
[Sorry, demon buddy, it's the truth.]
But, you don't mind him, right?
no subject
I'm used to looking at him, I guess. But he's a kind of monster I saw a lot of back home, so it still gets awkward sometimes.
[In other words, he might be trying to figure out these illusions for his own sake too, oops.]