[OPEN] May Catch-All

[haveaflare]

Who: Dion and you!
Status: Open
Where: Various locations
What: Open and Closed General and MANTA prompts
Warnings: None as of yet, will update as needed

Shellton | Eltrut | "Movable Type" Bookshop - OTA
[While there are many things to see and do throughout the wide world of Escordvi, Dion has started small and has started by taking time for leisure, something he rarely had time for in Valisthea, and so he was browsing shelves, surprisingly vast ones, in a bookshop off the main market. Mostly, the tall blond is keeping himself to the non-fiction section, amazed at the sheer number of titles spanning the shelves. It would seem printing was a thing here, as the typewriter which initiated him suggested, and he's rarely seen so many books collected in one place.

So much knowledge is collected here he hardly knows where to begin, and so he might turn to a fellow browser, leaning slightly so as to keep his voice low.]

Begging your pardon, of course, could you perchance suggest a title? I've no idea where to begin.

Eltrut | A Clearing Outside Shellton | OTA
[He's received a word of warning from Jill regarding the potential potency of Bahamut, which only serves to further reinforce the caution Benedikta instilled in him, and so in an effort to assure he's prepared to aid those here in whatever capacity he is able, Dion has found a suitable clearing outside the port in order to acclimate to the way his Aether pools in this place.

The prince is clad in his mithril armor for no other reason than it serves the purpose of protection and doesn't force him to spend doubloons he'd rather keep for food, and sets about moving through warm-up drills first: simple polearm forms designed to get his muscles loose and to work out the stiffness from his joints he always experiences in association with the Crystal's curse that's slowly turning all Bearers and Dominants to stone.

He'll welcome the company, and is more than game to spar with anyone looking to hone their skills or keep themselves sharp. He'll offer an amicable smile when he pauses in his rhythm, inclining his head.]

Well met. Are you looking to sharpen or observe?

[wildcard]
(OOC: feel free to throw whatever scene you'd like at me! If you'd like a specific prompt, feel free to drop me a line on plurk at vikael or on discord at vikael, but I'm pretty flexible and can fall in with whatever you're feeling!

MANTA prompts are in their own thread below)

Comments

[haveaflare]

Nor have I, which is why I've elected to start small. There are others from my realm present. It...softens the blow somewhat, I believe.

[He looks back to Faulker.]

Are you alone in this place?

[withermarked]

Yes.

[ He answers simply. Of course, he was largely accustomed to feeling alone at home, too. There's a second where it seems like that's the whole answer, before he goes on. ]

I have yet to meet anyone else from my world, or even from any world that sounds terribly similar to my own. How many folks are there, from yours?

[ He sounds more idly curious than anything. He'd like to understand how this all works, why some people come here together. But a part of him is just as glad no one who knows him is here. ]

[haveaflare]

[He blinks at the question, pausing to count. There was Cid, Benedikta, Joshua, himself, Jill, and Midadol.]

Six, myself included. [As Clive had not yet returned. He would make the seventh.] Eight if a fine hound and a faithful steed are included. [Cannot forget Torgal and Ambrosia.]

What makes your world so dissimilar?

[withermarked]

[ That's interesting actually. The other people's he's talked to about the fact they share worlds haven't been in groups that large. ]

A lot of things, if I'm truthful. No one seems like they recognise the places, the history, anythin' I'm used to.

[ And he's noticed that some others seem to share that kind of similarity, even if they don't share all the details. ]

But... largely the presence of gods. They're not unheard of everywhere, it would seem, but they at least don't sound much the same.

[haveaflare]

I have met another who claims parentage among his world's gods.

[But now he's curious.]

What of yours? What makes them unique?

[withermarked]

I suppose I don't know if they're unique, but they are... everywhere. Especially the commercial ones. You can't get power and radio without the Saint Electric, gas without the Petropater... they're in the food and the buildings and everythin' else.

[ And he sounds tired when he says this. But then he thinks about the first thing Dion said. ]

...Parentage?

[ Gods are not people where he's from, on that level, they definitely don't have literal children who are. ]

[haveaflare]

Commercial?

[To think that something holy would be used in such a way.]

I believe they are unique.

[he nods.] He claims to be the son of the god of Death. I can think of no reason to doubt him.

[withermarked]

That is... not how I would expect anything to work, but I suppose I have no cause to doubt him either.

[ It sounds absurd, but so many things here do. And he knows the things he says probably sound absurd, too. ]

But yes—commercial gods. They are tame and useful and everywhere.

[ And his tone implies both that he knows this sounds a little absurd, and that he does not hold any particular respect for them. Though perhaps it's what they all deserve, in retrospect. ]

[haveaflare]

Nor I. Our gods are not so present in such a physical capacity.

[And Faulkner's right, it does sound absurd, but no more so than falling through a tiny glass bottle into another world.]

Tame gods sound more fanciful to me than those who can bear children.

[withermarked]

They can be bent to a purpose, if you know the right marks or... get everyone to believe the right things about them. But there are those who understand it far better than me—I'm not in advertising.

[ He says this like it's meant to be mildly funny, but not an actual joke. That is, in fact, largely how things work. ]

Having children on the other hand sounds much more fanciful. Ours can create... angels. But those aren't much like people.

[haveaflare]

Forgive me, but it sounds so backward. The gods bent to be will of man...

[He shakes his head. Men are lost sheep. For them to rule the world without a guiding hand...not Ultima's of course, but his faith in his goddess, his guiding light, had never faltered.]

Angels. [Now that is a term he knows. They aren't unlike the lights sent to the world by Greagor.] Will you tell me of them?

[withermarked]

[ At one point, it sounded backward to him; someone who believed the wild gods, or at least his wild god in particular, deserved far more respect. But now he gets some spiteful amusement out of the idea that the Trawler-man might currently be a child-friendly mascot somewhere.

He just shrugs.

The next question gets a chuckle, though. ]

Of course. Wouldn't be nearly the first time, here.

[ And he'll lean idly against the bookshelf before he keeps talking. ]

Angels are... servants or manifestations of a god. Sometimes it's a beast they have dominion over, or one they have reshaped in their image. Sometimes it's some creature they call up from the elements, whole cloth. Or something formed by man and given life through prayer-marks, like the great iron pylons of the Saint Electric.

I just found this, feel free to drop it

[haveaflare]

Is that not what angels are on any star?

[But how could Great Greagor not deserve respect? She is the one true goddess in his faith.]

Servants of the deities, and their creation?

no worries!!

[withermarked]

[ And he just shrugs. ]

I would have thought so. People seem surprised when I mention the man-made ones. Or the monstrous ones. Or they're from worlds where they aren't 'real.'

[ Or he gets judged for assuming the various strange creatures here are saints and angels. But he doesn't mention that part. ]

[haveaflare]

[Man-made angels sounded false somehow, but he doesn't come comment on it.]

Not all deities are good, so it serves to reason they would spawn monsters.

[withermarked]

What's good or monstrous both largely depend on whether it's your own god in question, anyway.

[ Which is why he used to think his was the only one who should be worshipped, despite living in a world with countless other deities. But he's been dispossessed of that notion for a bit, now. ]