"Of course. Triggering the transformation is the simplest magic you could use. All you have to do is-"
Her again wrote:
"LORD BUTTFACE!"
Braeg closes his eyes and lets out a long-suffering sigh. Any other day, he would be glad to give Khannie a hard time. But today, he actually has better things to do... and he's not likely to manage it with her running around underfoot. "...To be continued." He says, giving Kol a rueful little smile and turning to face Khannie. "Not everything is about you, you know." He adds, a little bitterly.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
It's a bad thing Kol is in (disguise?) because Khannie totally don't recognize him.
She perks up when he says her name, though.
And it takes her a moment to place the voice.
The girl squints a bit, as if that would make a large purple dragon suddenly resolve into sight. "Kol?" she guesses.
Wow that's a surprise.
Just as quickly she shifts her ire to Braeg.
"You made him human again, didn't you? Did he WANT you to do that?" she says, her tone deeply accusative. Not surprising that she's assuming Lord Buttface is up to no good in some capacity.
"That is a gross oversimplification of what I've done... but yes." Braeg smiles. "And before you interrupt, I was going to show him how to change back. But... perhaps it's better that I do not. He knows now that he can change, which is halfway to knowing how." He sits back against the stump, letting out a contented little sigh as he settles in. "As the saying goes; 'a lesson not learned in blood is soon forgotten'. Let him struggle for it, I think."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
"Um. No. Screw that, tell me please? I kind of don't have any frame of reference to even start learning how magic works because you're the only person who knows about how any of this works."
Well that's not entirely true. Arthfael does. But he and Kol have never met.
Khannie crosses her arms and huffs, but she doesn't interrupt. Further. For now.
"You don't NEED his help, Kol. There are other people who know about the same weird soul magic he does. I'll just have to figure out how to get Braon to be helpful instead of a giant-"
A goose paddling past in the lake honks really loudly.
Technically knows this stuff too but she isn't sure whether or not this is too advanced for him. Also she's pretty sure he isn't at Glog right now.
Then?
Khannie holds out a hand to Kol.
"C'mon lets get this figured out. You're regular sized now anyway so you'll actually be able to fit in the cabins."
That is one of the downsides to being an absolutely enormous dragon.
Harley follows in behind Reinholdt, looking around for her too.
Manja is, at the moment, in her cat form. Just right next to the door they went through, actually. She figured it was about time for her to get picked up, and so she wanted to sneak up behind and pounce on her mother when she showed up. But! Then suddenly things were different from how she planned, and her father was suddenly here, and so now she needs to rethink her plan. Having two people looking for you instead of just one makes it a lot harder to sneak up on them! She could probably take down one person, but two?!?
Harley walks in and starts to look around. And she answers the question as she does it: "Well....I feel its biggest problem was that, while the first ones felt original and new, it's become a lot more....corporate and predictable? Maybe....predictable's not the right word, since it's always been kind-of predictable. But....it's become more generic? Yeah. Like, it's lost the charm it had and feels like it's just going off of stereotypes and tropes to appeal to the widest audience. So maybe....I mean, at the beginning, the characters felt more real. But, like, as an example, one of the side romances feels like it's just been reduced to just its appeal and lost its feeling of being real people."
Alarmed by Khannie's loud voice and a vague hunch that trouble was afoot, Sophie is approaching the lake. She doesn't recognize the two other people. Or... hmm. She has a guess who the horned man may be.
"What's going on here? Do you need help?" she asks. Braeg might get the feeling that this unassuming and plain-looking woman is anything but.
The rabbit-eating creature stops in its tracks and slowly starts to turn to face Natalie, red drippings still rolling down its chin as it fixes its... very much human gaze on her. In fact, once he stands up and wipes some of the hare off his face, he very clearly stops looking like a feral, vaguely-humanoid monster and more like a teenage boy.
"...Um... I can explain." Arthfael begins weakly, stepping back away from the hatchling.
"Is the explanation true, and does Sophie know it?" Natalie doesn't move from where she's stood, and the kraken hatchling doesn't move either. Well, it wiggles its tentacles a little, but it doesn't get any closer to Arthfael and remains where Natalie put it. "And, I guess, is it an explanation you're comfortable giving? Because I can see why it might not be." Chasing down and eating rabbits alive is pretty embarrassing, in Natalie's mind, though currently she's glad she's not a rabbit, not even sometimes.
Avatar provided by Happyturtle. Still using it, after all these years.
bc56 wrote: ↑Oct 24, 2022 9:02 pmCabin Confrontation "Power. Uh, both magical power from the consumption of souls and social power from being good at your 'job.'" Sekhmet explains. "It's a deeply, uh, flawed system, one I want to do away with. I would rather have a constructive society than a destructive one."
Cabin Confrontation
"Yeah! Fight the power!" Anika declares with her fist raised to the sky.
Then a realization. "Wait- aren't you 'the power' now? Huh." Clearly Sekhmet had to fight herself! "Actually, have you considered finding out who or what made this dumb system in the first place? Since that'd be the real power to fight."
Cabin Confrontation "I, uh, think, technically speaking, it was a joint effort between my grandfather, who I've, uh, never met, and my biggest, uh, supporter." That's not really a helpful answer. Sekhmet sighs. "I'm powerful, but they're gods. If they wanted to wipe me out, they could, easily. It doesn't seem like they mind what I'm doing." As she said, one of them even supports her. "I don't know what to think about them."
"Bunch of assholes I say!" Anika declares confidently. "If you're all powerful and don't fix a big problem like that, it's on you. Maybe if you made like, protest signs and had your people walk around their... giant trees or whatever they have as a home?" A beat. "If they want to of course. Show them that people are displeased."
Cabin Confrontation
Sekhmet stares at Anika like she's crazy. "I think they already know," she finally says. "I think I am their way of fixing it. If they didn't want it to change, they would stop me. But I would like to know for certain." Uncertainty is an unfortunate fate indeed
"That's the spirit!" Braeg chortles, giving Khannie an almost affectionate pat on the head. Sure, she's saying that mostly to spite him, but if that leads to her doing exactly what he proposed, he can entertain the ide-
...Wait. Who's that approaching them now?
Braeg's face pales as he withdraws a step, swallowing hard. If that woman is what he thinks she is...
poof!
And just like that, he's gone. Left nothing behind but a cloud of green smoke.
...That includes the cloak. He's not going to leave a precious antique like that behind.
[Forest Practice]
"Um... yes, no, and... no again, I guess." Arthfael stammers, still rubbing his thumb against his chin in an attempt to get more cleaned up. "...Which, um... means I'd rather you didn't tell anyone about this." He kicks the carcass back behind him, almost but not quite out of sight, blushing slightly as he considers how bad this would be if word got out. Especially if any of his friends at PREP heard about it. Or either of his sisters, and therefore his uncle. Even Sophie might give him trouble if she heard; she'd probably want to talk with him about a live-eating habit, if she knows he doesn't need to eat like that to live. And while he wouldn't trust half of miss Hexenborne's complaints about her to be true, he'd rather not find out how much validity they have.
Last edited by Ironsmith on Oct 26, 2022 4:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
Kol immediately curls up both in embarrassment and because wow it's really cold without his scales. "Khannie! Now how am I supposed to get the answers?! That was literally the only guy who even knows who my dad is! Let alone how to get my scales back when I need them." He currently has absolutely no idea how to feel about being human again. It's nice to fit in places but...he was almost starting to like being a dragon so being both is obviously the best.
"That dude's a creep he probably wouldn't have told you anyway," Khannie insists as she immediately looks away on account of Kol being naked. That is, actually, something she can help with! She makes a gesture at a nearby tree, peeling its shadow off the ground and tossing it at Kol. By the time it reaches him it'll be a roughly his size robe all of one piece. Said robe is black with a slight purple glow to it. Mostly because Khannie didn't bother disguising the shadows as anything else.
"There, put that on until we get you some real clothes."
Problem solved!
Temporarily!
"I just said there are other people at this camp who know the same weird magic he uses. It isn't a big deal. The other thing will probably get revealed when it's really dramatic. You are a protagonist, y'know."
Which goes without saying.
And then it's Sophie!
"Hey Sophie! This is Kol he goes to my school. That jerk who vanished in the fart cloud turned him into a human from a dragon. Or back from a dragon? I actually don't know?"
She'll check to make sure Kol is wearing the robe that she might have tossed directly into his face.
"You weren't a dragon to begin with, were you? 'cuz you seemed pretty human that first day."
Harley follows in behind Reinholdt, looking around for her too.
Manja is, at the moment, in her cat form. Just right next to the door they went through, actually. She figured it was about time for her to get picked up, and so she wanted to sneak up behind and pounce on her mother when she showed up. But! Then suddenly things were different from how she planned, and her father was suddenly here, and so now she needs to rethink her plan. Having two people looking for you instead of just one makes it a lot harder to sneak up on them! She could probably take down one person, but two?!?
Harley walks in and starts to look around. And she answers the question as she does it: "Well....I feel its biggest problem was that, while the first ones felt original and new, it's become a lot more....corporate and predictable? Maybe....predictable's not the right word, since it's always been kind-of predictable. But....it's become more generic? Yeah. Like, it's lost the charm it had and feels like it's just going off of stereotypes and tropes to appeal to the widest audience. So maybe....I mean, at the beginning, the characters felt more real. But, like, as an example, one of the side romances feels like it's just been reduced to just its appeal and lost its feeling of being real people."
[Daddy at Daycare]
Reinholdt seems focused on everywhere that isn't the area just behind the door, looking for anyone who might work at the daycare that could tell them where Manja might be playing. She tended to be a hide and seek master, so he wouldn't surprised if she was at it right now. He doesn't want to take home some other kid instead just because he can't find the original!
"Yeah, well... what if you were in charge of it instead? I thinking maybe I buy the franchise. Get the movie rights and all that. And then you get direct the Nymph of Your Dreams of your dreams. Or even act in it if you wanted. You could really give the world what they lost to corporate shills. Breathe some fresh reality into its plots and characters."
"If it's a good reason, you should probably tell Sophie. Or, if you really don't want to tell her, tell me. I'm Natalie; I come out here to practice my magic. Close enough to GLoG to be mostly safe, far enough I don't get many distractions." She'll go grab her rucksack before putting the scattered books back into it.
The kraken remains where it is, burbling slightly as it retracts back into its shell and... possibly falls asleep? Hard to tell, it doesn't have eyelids so the large eyes remain open.
Avatar provided by Happyturtle. Still using it, after all these years.
bc56 wrote: ↑Oct 25, 2022 11:28 pmCabin Confrontation
Sekhmet stares at Anika like she's crazy. "I think they already know," she finally says. "I think I am their way of fixing it. If they didn't want it to change, they would stop me. But I would like to know for certain." Uncertainty is an unfortunate fate indeed
Cabin Confrontation
Anika isn't crazy, she's cunning. *nodnod*
"Well, isn't there some way of checking that then? Since this sounds suspiciously like they're taking credit for all the good stuff while blaming the people they made for the bad stuff and they can't have it go both ways. If they're responsible for you fixing the problem they're also responsible for causing it in the first place, right? So that sounds important to find out."
"If it's a good reason, you should probably tell Sophie. Or, if you really don't want to tell her, tell me. I'm Natalie; I come out here to practice my magic. Close enough to GLoG to be mostly safe, far enough I don't get many distractions." She'll go grab her rucksack before putting the scattered books back into it.
The kraken remains where it is, burbling slightly as it retracts back into its shell and... possibly falls asleep? Hard to tell, it doesn't have eyelids so the large eyes remain open.
[Forest Practice]
"...And what if I don't?"
Arthfael tenses as soon as the words are out of his mouth, and it becomes clear he's going to need to elaborate on that or else come off as way too belligerent. "I mean... why would either of us tell her? Unless you're a rabbit, I'm not hurting anybody. This was just a thing that happened, right? In fact, why don't we just forget this ever happened? Not much point in remembering it, right?"
Who're you? ...Don't matter.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
"Khannie I just got told my mom is dead can you chill, thanks?" Kol snaps. See, he can absolutely believe that Braeg has done some crappy stuff. Every word he said smelled like grease. But that doesn't mean he particularly likes his life problems being brushed off as totally fine because she just really dislikes the guy who was helping.
He does put the robe on. "Yes, Miss. Sure." he responds to Sophie, not making eye contact.
Khannie's last question begets only: "And I don't know anymore."
Khannie flinches at the rebuke, taking half a step back. The impulse to yell that Lord Buttface was probably lying about that nettles her briefly, but she barely manages to fight it down.
Which...
Is probably for the best, really.
"Sorry, I didn't know. I thought he was just messing with you," Khannie apologizes, her tone sincere. "That guy... he's dangerous, okay? I don't think really bad stuff is even allowed to happen at Glog but if you see him anywhere else you get the heck away, okay?"
Khannie's tone is a bit softer and less intense here. She doesn't want Kol to get hurt. Then he replies to her question with a mysterious answer, to which Khannie just looks baffled.
"What does that even mean?"
Then it begins raining.
"Ark!" the girl grunts in a very animaly sound as she throws her arms over her head and begins sprinting for her spellbook. She snatches it up, presses it against her chest, and legs it toward the nearest cabin for shelter.
Last edited by Rebonack on Oct 27, 2022 2:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Cabin Confrontation
Sekhmet doesn't know what to say to that. On one hand, she could just open a portal and go ask them. She knows how to get there.
But if they don't want to speak with her, going would be suicidal. And she doesn't want to die, obviously. "I don't think so. I don't think it will work if they don't want to speak with me." She leaves out the part about how failing would almost undoubtedly mean death.
Oh! Good idea. Going to a worker to ask.
That would be the best idea, if....
...Manja didn't decide right now was the best time to attack! She decides to go after Reinholdt instead of Harley just because he's the one who messed up her plan by being there. Plus, he was closer. And showed his back first.
She dashes and jumps! at the back of a leg and tries to hook into his trousers with claws.
Harley, meanwhile, was still looking. "Oh, I'm not -" No, Harley, don't you dare say 'I'm not an actor' or anything like that. It's clearly not true.
...
She reconsiders. "...Probably a minor character, at most. Would have to work with the original author, too, especially if the movies are going to diverge from the books." But, honestly, working with the original author would be nice. A very anonymous person, Harley would love to meet her. That would be a great chance, she thinks.
"I'm not a rabbit, and I can't be a rabbit. But I am a shapeshifter, and most of my shapes aren't that much bigger than that rabbit." Her loxodon shape is unusual in that regard. "If I were coming out here as an otter or a robin, and you caught me by surprise, I could still be dead. And I don't know if I change back if killed, since that's never happened to me. And, because GLoG is safe, I wouldn't necessarily be looking out for hostile people instead of just predatory animals." And just because Natalie doesn't turn into a rabbit doesn't mean there's nobody here that can't, who could go missing for unknown reasons. If Sophie knows, she can either warn Arthfael about other shifters or warn any potential rabbits to be careful. "I want to forget I saw this as much as you do, I assure you, but I'm not sure I can afford to."
Avatar provided by Happyturtle. Still using it, after all these years.
bc56 wrote: ↑Oct 27, 2022 12:00 amCabin Confrontation
Sekhmet doesn't know what to say to that. On one hand, she could just open a portal and go ask them. She knows how to get there.
But if they don't want to speak with her, going would be suicidal. And she doesn't want to die, obviously. "I don't think so. I don't think it will work if they don't want to speak with me." She leaves out the part about how failing would almost undoubtedly mean death.
Cabin Confrontation
"I'd send a letter then. A strongly worded one. Just have some mindless messenger deliver it." As Anika pauses she suddenly realizes something.
"...hey, by the way, is that your baby?" She gestures at the child. "Since I thought demons didn't even have them."
"It means I don't know." Kol insists before Sophie hurries me inside. "What about it d'ya want to talk about? It was all family history stuff." he asks Sophie as he's sat down.
