Week 3.

[azumods]

WEEK 3 The past weekend has given people a lot to take in, and a lot to think about. You're permitted to stay at the resort all day on Sunday, should you so choose; relax and replenish yourselves with regards to sleep at least, seeing as it's much more comfortable than the routes or sleeping on the floor of the Pokémon Center. Commander Saturn is gone as of last night, and no one seems to be coming after you - though there is likely something you'll be aware of by the end of the day... Whatever happens, it's evident that you'll have to leave this place eventually, and Monday should find everyone back on Route 213. It's been repeatedly recommended to move toward Pastoria City; whether you believe the source of said urging to be trustworthy or not, it's still a good idea to move in that direction - a city means supplies, after all, a place to restock and spend a few days. Everyone should be able to find Pastoria City by Tuesday afternoon; it's another unfamiliar place, with various things to see and look at over the course of the next few days. It's far smaller than Veilstone, but it borders up to the ocean by way of a small jetty on the southeastern side of town with a few boats moored to it. Otherwise, it's surrounded by forest, and the main path winds its way lazily through town, weaving between personal residences and a few places of business. Of course, it's still not nearly as lively as it should be; the inhabitants here all seem as devoid of spirit as everywhere else; fortunately, a select few of your companions do seem to be perking up a bit - perhaps that's a good sign, in the end. CURRENT LOCATION: PASTORIA CITY POKEMON AVAILABLE: IN CITIES / NEAR WATER SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week three of Azume; feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend. Don't forget that a write-up is due this weekend!]

Comments

around town

[enjoymyatelier]

[...you know he doesn't hate Michael as much now that time has passed and since he asked around for experiment help before....]

Of course. I'm always up for a little experimentation.

[eudaimonikos]

I'm trying to work with Quaver on the whole "spy bird" idea. I think it had merit. We're starting on the concept of carrying messages at all, could you just...go over there and say something to him when he gets to you?

[enjoymyatelier]

Ah! No, that's a great idea, and I'd definitely be willing to help you out with that. I'll head on over, then.

[HELL YEAH, PROJECT SPYBIRD]

[eudaimonikos]

Alright, thanks.

[BYE DUDE

It's not that far, so it doesn't take long at all before Quaver comes fluttering over with his weird dead eyes to perch...not on Kayneth, but near him.]

Hello, Kayneth. Do you have a message for me.

[So the thing about Chatot is that it perfectly imitates other Pokemon's voices. And apparently its Trainer's voice. It's like an exact copy of Michael's speaking voice, but totally emotionless and monotone, because apparently inflection is just a little too far.

It's creepy? It's creepy.]

[enjoymyatelier]

...

[that's... well, it's a good start, at least, but...]

Yes, I do. I've had familiars less unsettling than your Chatot. God, we can't get these things' emotions back quickly enough.

[eudaimonikos]

[Quaver blinks up at Kayneth for a few seconds more until it's clear that he's finished speaking, and then flies away.

.....

You can sort of hear Michael's distant laughter, before Quaver comes back. Luckily, he does not repeat the laughing.]

Wow, this is just terrible. What's a familiar. Explain as much as you want, let's see how much he can remember.

[enjoymyatelier]

[...that's actually a little funnier in a total deadpan delivery... but anyhow.]

Huh, I thought there was at least some awareness of witches' familiars in popular folklore, since you seem at least reasonably knowledgeable of humanity. In any case, people used to associate black cats with witches, believing that they were used as messengers or servants of a sort. Those are actually real for us mages, but they're usually created via necromancy or summoning a spirit.

[eudaimonikos]

There's stories, yes, but none of that is real. Just things humans made up so they could torture each other and some animals they didn't like.

[a little cynical there, but okay. And since we're apparently just gonna do this bird-passing thing for a bit:]

What sort of spirit.

[enjoymyatelier]

It's definitely real where I'm from, but we're treated about the same. That's effectively why we're underground these days.

Oh, the leftover essence of a human. That sort of thing.

[eudaimonikos]

[Well, this is interesting, and Michael's bored with hearing the creepy Kayneth voice now, so he's just gonna fucking walk back with Quaver this time.]

He's doing fairly well. I'll have to see if he can understand things like "listen for five minutes and get the hell out". Do the human essences mind being summoned, or do you basically have humans torturing dead humans in your world?

[enjoymyatelier]

Well, probably. They do seem smart enough, though I'm not sure if they have a good concept of time.

Anyway, they're not... really conscious. It's more like a spiritual version of a note you would've written or something like that, but with more energy to it.

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah, time's the hard part. I doubt it mattered very much to him in the wild, even when he was able to have things matter.

Oh. That's much less exciting than I thought it'd be.

[enjoymyatelier]

Exactly. It might be better to see if there's any practical equivalents you could teach him, like the time it takes water to boil or something like that.

I mean, I won't pretend that there aren't individuals who choose to power their familiars with orphans or anything because there absolutely are. I'm mostly talking about my own family's practices, which are generally accepted as not being completely outside the boundaries of taste and good sense.