phantasmalrift | DUNGEON LOG: KEYSTONE SHORE

The morning of the 9th, everyone will get a message sent to their communication devices -

Okay, guys! I think we have enough stabilizers to try and get the shoreline stable. If you want to help out, grab your supplies and come on up to the roof!

When characters arrive at the roof, they'll find Top - with a wheeling table full of many copies of the same odd-looking device - the two exploratory drones, and a ramp down off the roof to the ground. (The latter looks a little hastily constructed.)

"Okay," Top says, picking up one of the devices. "Here's the stabilizers. Stick them to walls and stuff - mostly out of the way places where they're not going to get knocked off - and then press the buttons along the side."

They demonstrate, unfolding the set of legs at one end of the device before showing the buttons to anyone who's close enough. "Go ahead and take a couple, especially if you've got one of those space-saving inventories going on, I know there's like four of you with those? Strange got some first aid kits together, too, if you want."

Sure enough, another table nearby has the med kits... As well as traditional paper bag lunches, courtesy of Bottom. Don't question it too much.

"We'll be staying back here to keep track of the stabilization progress and work the drones," Top says, "but don't hesitate to call if you get in trouble! We'll send one of these guys down to get you an evac if you need it."

And with that, you're free to go down the ramp... Or to make for the beach however else you might choose to go.

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Stone chuckles. "Not seriously, that's just what I told him to annoy him. I took him because he needed a home and I liked him. It just so happened that my great-granddaughter needed a consort, and I thought they'd like each other. So he wasn't technically a gift."

Astolfo laughs in relief. For a moment, he feared Stone was one of those to treat others like objects, but he's glad that's not the case here. "Did he thank you for it?"

"He mostly yelled at me," Stone says, sounding more fond and amused than abashed by being yelled at. "Once or twice he tried to pick a fight, but I think that's how he shows affection."

"That's some way to show people you care about them." Astolfo mumbles. He can't help but think back to that Saber of Red and their defining tendency to pick a fight with everything that moves. Perhaps that was their expression of love towards all things? It didn't seem likely.

Edited 2018-04-02 20:05 (UTC)

"We're not human," Stone reminds him. "We're Raksura. We regularly bite each other to show affection. My preferred method is hitting my stupid descendants on the backs of their heads. Fighting as a way to show someone you like them but don't have the words for it is pretty legitimate." He pauses, considering, then adds, "Of course, we fight each other for a lot of reasons, so sometimes it's hard to tell."

"Hm." He gives it a moment to think it over. "It's still weird, but I can kind of see it. Finding it hard to tell is no different than with humans, at least."

"That's all right, I think half the things you human-types do is weird, so I won't judge you for not understanding a Raksura from the start," Stone chuckles.

"I think I've started to find them stranger over the years, too." He chuckles, "But no less enchanting."

Stone tilts his head. "So you aren't one, then?" He called humans "they" just like Stone does, after all. It's a valid question.

Astolfo shakes his head, but not at all seeming offended at the question. "Nope. I was, once. That was a long time ago."

"How did that happen?" Stone asks, head tilted curiously. "I've never heard of anyone changing species before."

“I lived and died as a human,” Astolfo begins, “After my death my soul was elevated and moved to the Throne of Heroes, I exist as something much different to a human there- and here, now, I exist as a Servant, a being of pure mana.” He scratches his head in thought, “I’m kind of like a copy, or rather a projection, of my actual self, but...it gets confusing to try and explain.”

Stone's expression is bland enough that it's a good guess what he said is already confusing. "You aren't the first human-- former-human, I guess-- who said they're from some kind of life after death. Do all humans get to live again after they die?"

Astolfo shakes his head. “I’m one of a select few in my world, it’s not something that generally happens, I don’t think.” He ponders what Stone said about there being more people here who were in a similar position. “I’m surprised I’m not the only one you’ve met.”

Stone shrugs. "I'm not. But I've pretty much stopped being surprised by anything and anyone I run into these days. I got tired of being surprised all the time."

Astolfo grins. “Why would you ever get tired of that?”

"Spoken like a true young person," Stone says with a smirk. "I'm old. I've had enough surprises in my life as it is. It's not really fun anymore."

Astolfo laughs. “I’ve got plenty of years on me. To get to see how much the world changes, and to still be amazed and surprised by it...I think that’s the best thing about it.”

"How old are you, then?" Stone asks. He's not great at guessing the aging of humans and human-like people yet, but he'd pegged Astolfo as fairly young.

"It's hard to keep track of without an idea of the calendar." To be summoned at any point in time, it can be a struggle to keep up with. Not to mention confusing. "It's been about," He counts on his fingers, "500, 400 years?"

Stone pauses. That's a lot older than he'd expected. "You're about as old as me," he says after a moment.

Astolfo grins. “I look the way I did in the prime of my life,” He explains, aware he probably shouldn’t look as youthful as he does, “I act the same too, but I don’t think I ever changed.”

"While I'm actually wearing all my age. I bet that's why you still like surprises and have all that energy." He flicks his fingers in Astolfo's direction, spraying a little sand at him, with an amused expression. "Because you don't actually age anymore, and you're stuck at a young, healthy, energetic age."

"Maybe so" He agrees, quickly dusting the sand off of his clothes, "But I'd hardly let a thing like a wrinkled body hold back my enthusiasm for life." There's a truth to it, with having had been in that state once before, though no longer the case since his own passing.

"I have plenty of enthusiasm for life," Stone protests, not entirely seriously. "I just don't like being surprised all the time." And frankly, he's not all that wrinkled, either-- more like weathered, like a great gray rock. He was really named surprisingly appropriately, given parents who didn't actually know what he'd be like, grown up.

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riderofcharlemagne - 2018-04-19 11:54 (UTC) - Expand