Keeper wrote: ↑Jan 16, 2024 2:24 pmCodebreaker’s Home
CB sits, warming his feet by the “fire.” There’s days he feels like he should really look into paw-wraps or something. Sometimes having wolf paws for feet doesn’t cut it.
He glances up at Kyrie, pulling at the undershirt he has on now that he took off the coat and flannel. ”I think the romantic thing would be to say ‘you’re the only gift I need’ or something like that.” he drawls, though Kyrie can feel the slight twinge of CB’s embarrassment as he says it. His powers are two-way, especially with someone he feels very comfortable with. Kyrie has been privy to his little secret of how much bravado most of the arrogant things he says are. It’s taken a long time for him to take the mindset he had to pretend to have to be Codebreaker and actually mean any of that self-confidence.
”But still, new year and all that. Anything you want to work on? I’ve got lots of time and you have even more.”
Technically Kyrie has less between his job and being locked to nights only. But well, immortality.
[Codebreaker's House]
...And there's one of the downsides to having a psychic boyfriend. Sometimes he goes and says something uncanny like that, and Kyrie can never be entirely sure whether he's doing it on purpose.
"...What do you mean by that, exactly?" The wolf-knight frowns, sinking into the chair opposite Codebreaker.
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.
”…I guess you will.”
Gods. Turn you into a bird, tell you it’s for your own good, only elaborate a little further, then leave. ”Should I tell Askeladd you said hello?” he asks, since the god clearly already knows the Lunar.
Codebreaker’s Home
CB blinks, because he feels like he somehow touched a nerve without knowing how or why. ”I mean that strigoi are near-immortal as far as I can tell so if you wanted to start a project or a hobby you’d have lots of time. And I’m happily unemployed.”
Though notably not also immortal. They’re going to have to work through that at some point.
Keeper wrote: ↑Jan 17, 2024 12:28 pmCodebreaker’s Home
CB blinks, because he feels like he somehow touched a nerve without knowing how or why. ”I mean that strigoi are near-immortal as far as I can tell so if you wanted to start a project or a hobby you’d have lots of time. And I’m happily unemployed.”
Though notably not also immortal. They’re going to have to work through that at some point.
[Codebreaker's Home]
"Well... yes." Kyrie admits, leaving his nocturnal restrictions uncommented upon for now. "That much is true. But one has to wonder why you're bringing that up now. Was there something in particular you wanted to see done?"
The slurry of thoughts that emerge at the prospect suggest some very strong but mixed feelings on the subject. Which is essentially Kyrie's entire existence, admittedly. In this particular case, he radiates misgivings about the viability of a new project and a general discomfort with having something sprung on him with such short notice, while simultaneously exuding a nervous energy to get started and do something moderately meaningful rather than spend another day on the couch munching corn chips and watching low-budget sci-fi films.
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.
Krayger nods. He considers one last thing as he looks the god up and down. "And I assume if I need you, you'll show up. Given that we are um.."
What ARE they? "...friends?" he suggests at last. Havsken is certainly not a patron, and not quite a mentor. And Krayger has only known him for about fifteen minutes.
Codebreaker's Home
"Well, when you put it like that, I did have a couple of ideas for you." Codebreaker thinks. "Look Kyrie. I know you get...antsy. You're not like me, content to just keep healthy and use my money to do whatever I want. You've got to do...stuff. And unlike me, being our age doesn't mean you can't learn new skills or something. Properly speaking if you wanted to go to college and get as educated as Owena so you could do whatever you wanted to, you totally could. I could get you into anywhere."
He nods, looking up at the strigoi. "I admit I can't really see you trying to become a scholar. But you shouldn't doubt yourself. So...we could find something."
He thinks Kyrie wearing a school uniform would be hilarious, though.
The mention of going to college results in the bristly-furred wolfman almost starting out of his seat, looking back over at Codebreaker with wide eyes.
He's not sure which he wants to say: "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" or "Are you out of your oversized beautiful mind?"
He can't just pop into college. That wouldn't... no, there's something very wrong-feeling about that. Particularly in the context of going at the same time as his nineteen-year-old niece. He's over twice her age! Surely Codebreaker can see why that wouldn't be proper?
...Because he can't quite put it into words, himself. Objectively speaking, there's no reason why he couldn't; it's not exactly a huge moral problem or anything, and he certainly could use some new skills. But it sounds... degrading, somehow.
Ugh.
Kyrie shakes his head, hoping to clear it a little before Codebreaker picks up on too much of that. "...I suppose you have a point." He chuffs, scratching his chin. "...And you're right, I have been rather restless lately... hm."
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.
Codebreaker starts at the intense reaction. He wasn’t expecting Kyrie to react so strongly. ”A-and well. Me and Edgar were never able to afford to go to college ourselves. So I can’t tell you how it really is. But um. There’s also trade schools. I think you could make a very dashing night-mechanic.”
Dashing is not really the quality you’re primarily looking for in a mechanic. But CB never passes up a chance at a compliment.
And he does have that rather beat-up old car he seems to drive around in as much as his expensive one, doesn’t he?
Kyrie? A mechanic? There's nothing about those horseless carriages that isn't effectively arcanery to him. He wouldn't even be surprised to learn that to be the literal truth for some of them, the Nexus being the kind of place it is. There's not a chance he could ever understand what goes on under the hood of one of those things well enough to even diagnose them, much less repair them.
...Right?
Kyrie gives an involuntary little shudder at the thought. He can picture it now; popping open the beat-up car Codebreaker has in the garage and being confronted with a labyrinth of gears, tubing, wires, and glyphs. A dizzying array of mechanical possibilities, and if he meddled with it he'd almost certainly break something, and when that something is ferrying his boyfriend around on a daily basis and could potentially break down catastrophically-
Out of the question. He simply couldn't.
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.
Now he’s doing that thing again. Sitting there thinking thoughts instead of using his words. CB is psychic but he specifically doesn’t go around reading people’s minds willy-nilly! It’s rude! He can read facial expressions though. ”Kyrie, that’s why you go to school for it. No one’s born knowing how electricity works. Besides. We already know you’re a decent mason if you wanted to stick with that. But I think there’s less demand to do that at night.”
Sometimes people need car help at night. They don’t usually need a house built at night.
Lady Sahn steps into the longhouse and immediately begins chatting with the folks there. One of the elders perks up as she enters and says her piece. "We're blessed to have so many willing to aid our humble village. These days have been hard since we rely upon the sea for our sustenance."
They have SOME crops they grow, sure, but those are largely supplemental to the shrimp they fish for. Thankfully shellfish allergies are uncommon among them.
"I hear tell that some wanderers have arrived to help as they can. How do you plan on investigating this mystery, miss...?
Back out at the street, the Drifter will look a bit abashed when the subject of rope comes up. "I have some, but not enough. I don't really need it for climbing," he says to Lenny and Jon.
Because cats are good at climbing things?
Or some other reason?
Either way! He'll head off toward the cliffs and quickly find the narrow, steep stairs hewn into the basalt that serve as the pathway up to the top where all the shrines are. The motley assortment of people with varying levels of fur will arrive right as Leah is beginning to see to the various shrines. She'll discover that each is inhabited by another scummy frog that resists simple mechanical eviction from their froghouses.
However...
Upon evicting the third frog something dramatic happens!
A muddy, scummy puddle about eight feet across suddenly ripples with a fierc, "MROOOOOP!" as an enormous toad rises from the mud! The beast is roughly the size of a cow and streaked with stinking slime, its eyes focused on Leah hatefully. The creature puffs itself up and croaks defiantly
"That won't be necessary," the green-haired man assures Lenny, "He can get around on his own. Now, seeing as you have a plan of action here, I shall attend to other affairs. Farewell." The green-haired man then makes complicated spell casting gestures and reciting magic words, his form suddenly devolving to a mist which floats away to somewhere else.
As for Jon, he's able to easily keep up with Lenny and the drifter by slowing down. When he comes to the giant frog, he rushes up to face it, keeping his distance and barking intimidatingly, "GROWL ARF BARK! WOOF!? (Frog god minion! Intentions!?)"
Lenny can't help curling their lip in distaste at the wizard's spell. Yes yes, they know not all magic is bad. But it still brings up some very unpleasant memories. Putting that aside, they follow the drifter up the craggy steps. It's not a problem. Lenny's sense of balance is unparalleled.
As the group gets to the top, they take in the series of shrines curiously. There's no way this isn't a big part of why the weather is acting weird, right? Frog infested shrines seem like just the kind of thing to affect the local countryside adversely. Then there's this blue cat lady as well- something weird about her. Lenny doesn't really trust anyone that clean.
But time for that after the giant frog is dealt with. Lenny's claws twitch in anticipation, and their yellow eyes gleam with hunger. For a moment they seem to be struggling internally, teeth gritted together. Then they're stalking forward towards the monstrous amphibian, ready to pounce.
Seems like Leah's on the right track. At the very least mitigating some of the damage, even if she's still not sure about the source. That she's becoming a problem for the storm and its frogs is only confirmed with a giant aggressive one shows up out of a puddle. Leah, not expecting this to happen in the least, yells loudly in surprise and backpeddles until she trips on a slippery rock and ends up seated on the ground in a most humiliating way. Not the most humiliating way, but it still wasn't very graceful at all.
Odd how no mud or dirt clings to her as she stands back up defiantly, looking more mad than startled now and preparing to hiss back at the colossal frog. When suddenly two dogs and a cat appear in front of her, looking ready to fight the frog. Right, the adventurers from earlier. [Family Friendly Exclamation of Frustration] she was too slow! She takes a fresh step back, watching warily to see how they intended to handle the algae-based frog.
"Lady Iseul Sahn." She introduces herself. People sometimes commented that her name was masculine but she also had a "masculine" profession so perhaps that was fitting if one were to put gender connotations on everything.
"And my plan was to find everyone that's willing to help out, in exchange for payment of course, and organize them. But to do that I need all the information you have on what's going on here first."
Keeper wrote: ↑Jan 18, 2024 11:51 amCodebreaker’s Home
Now he’s doing that thing again. Sitting there thinking thoughts instead of using his words. CB is psychic but he specifically doesn’t go around reading people’s minds willy-nilly! It’s rude! He can read facial expressions though. ”Kyrie, that’s why you go to school for it. No one’s born knowing how electricity works. Besides. We already know you’re a decent mason if you wanted to stick with that. But I think there’s less demand to do that at night.”
Sometimes people need car help at night. They don’t usually need a house built at night.
[Codebreaker's House]
"An unfortunate limitation of the medium." Kyrie agrees, resting his chin on his fist. He's not sure he'd qualify himself as any better than "decent", though. He managed to build a shelter that's still standing, and... that's about it. By every objective metric it wasn't even a particularly good one, and prior to moving out certain city officials had threatened to tear it down for not being compliant with local building codes. And with how little time that had taken, relatively speaking, it certainly wasn't career-worthy even if he could somehow get around the sunlight problem.
Kyrie's frown deepens as he shuffles in his seat. He didn't have any special skills that weren't related to his knighthood, which was hardly needed. Anything he could potentially pick up outside of that area seemed impenetrably opaque; he would have no idea where to begin. And if he did, it wouldn't be much of a skill anyway. All something of an insidious paradox.
"...Dammit, Alan, I can't." Kyrie rumbles after a moment.
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.
Going to assume here that the green wizard turns into GREEN mist, which means it looks like he just transformed into a fart and wafted away, which means the drifter does his best not to laugh when it happens and only mostly succeeds.
Anyway!
Up to the top of the cliffs!
Where our heroes are confronted with a BOSS TOAD!
The drifter, Jon, Lenny, and Leah now stand before the BOSS TOAD which is probably not the BIG boss toad. That kind of confrontation this early into the adventure would be pretty anticlimactic after all. The drifter looks like he's ready to pull out his chrome rifle, but he isn't drawing it just yet. He seems to be watching the toad quite warily and carefully instead as if judging it's intent. After all, he comes from a place with plenty of weird people and shooting first is not the best idea since there's always a chance that a giant frog might just be a giant frog-shaped person.
Jon tries barking!
The toad respond by swelling up like a balloon and croaking back at them.
"THIS LAND IS OURS! HOW DARE YOU DEFILE OUR SACRED ALGAE! BEGONE!" the booms at them. Though mostly at Leah since she was doing the cleaning.
Lady Sahn, meanwhile, chats with an elder. It looks like he's about to reply to her question, but suddenly there are EXTREMELY LOUD TOAD SOUNDS coming from the cliffs! "What in blazes- I'm sorry miss, what's going on appears to be stinking storms and perfusion of frogs. We haven't the faintest idea of the cause."
Codebreaker straightens himself, standing up to his full height. "Yes, you can. You got me into shape and that was certainly an accomplishment." Sure he cheated at the end but he'd shown real, tangible results before b got involved. "And it's not like I'm educated either. I never saw a minute of college or anything. And I've managed Codebreaker's whole stock portfolio the last few years. The only issue you'd have is that it might take you more time to learn something modern. Which is one of the things Absum's given you an abundance of. You don't have to go with my suggestion but you should find something that speaks to you." He nods as he stares Kyrie in the eye. "I mean hell, you could learn how to be a wizard if you wanted to. You have the time."
"You started with a fortune and were priest to a spirit of mathematics." Kyrie points out, a low growl in his voice. "Those are advantages I simply do not have."
Admittedly, he might be halfway wrong about that. Codebreaker's been nothing if not generous with his fortune, and Kyrie would be lying if he said he expected Codebreaker to deny him if he asked for funds to cover any costs he might accrue.
Kyrie settled back into his chair, burying the bridge of his nose in his fingers. "...I'm old, Alan." He says after a moment. "Not old as you know it, but old as I know it. In this coming spring I will have reached my fortieth year of life. Back home, that would be the time one would start making arrangements for the time of their imminent death. Funeral costs, end-of-life amends, matters of estate, that sort of thing. I don't..." He trails off, not seeming to quite have the words for what he wants to say... and frustratingly, not the coherent thoughts to back them.
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.
"a is a spirit of reality. And I only had their help for the first year. And you have my fortune too."
He tries his best to sit down next to Kyrie, which is hard because he's in an armchair and the arm of the chair was not designed to support someone as large as CB. "Sure, Kyrie. But not anymore. Absum has given you much, much more time to work with. You have to do something with it. Because at some point, it's going to be just you and the kids. Owena, Salt, Arth, hell even Arne, Henry, and Khannie are not going anywhere any time soon."
The jury is still out on Khannie but she's a unicorn she'll probably stop aging at some point. "I'm the only one who has to check out at some point. And I'd like to think you'll be fine without me." But he needs to be able to do something with CB's fortune, even if that's just opening a business to sustain him once the fortune eventually dries up.
Kyrie pushes the issue of his boyfriend's theoretical mortality out of his head for the moment. "That isn't what I'm getting at, Alan." He chuffs.
"...We Maesdans go throigh every stage of life with a plan." He begins, speaking slowly, as though sounding out each word from a cue card. "In the early stages, it's mostly someone else's plan, granted, but there never isn't a plan. My parents had a suitor in mind for me since before I could walk. I knew before my first lessons that I wanted to be a knight. I swore myself to the king's service knowing exactly what that entailed and prepared for it. Even when I came here, there was a plan; build a shelter and give aid to any other survivors I found. That purpose seems to be about as fulfilled as it's ever going to be, and at this stage I don't really have a plan anymore, because if not for the strigoi curse I would not need one."
"...In a way, I suppose it's not far removed from how things were before I left Maesda." He adds. "Sitting in the wilderness. Feeling the days go by without seeing the sun. Doing little but hunting and recovering from hunting. But even then there was a purpose to my actions, esoteric as it was."
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.
CB gives Kyrie a look. A look of care but also genuine confusion. "Yeah? That's how the rest of us work, Kyrie. We're born into the world and told we have to finish school and then that's it. If you're lucky you have a family business to take over. Otherwise we have to figure out what we're doing on our own. You just have to do it a lot later than most of us have to."
He shakes his head. "I don't mean to sound callous. But most places don't work like your home. What you're going through is completely normal. You're just...not a teenager, which is when most of us have to go through it. And you have the budget behind you to not have any of your ideas crushed by finances." There sounds like some history behind that last part.
Jon snarls at the frog, baring his fangs. ("You begone! Upright people territory!")
Jon inched closer to the frog, aiming to stand between it and the rest of the party. He continues to growl, standing his ground. However, he wouldn't directly attack unless the frog made any advances. If it did approach, even without any ill intent, or otherwise make any other sort of sudden action, Jon would start biting and violently scratching at the boss.
Well, that's unexpected. And possibly very useful, since a lot could be learned if it was willing to have a reasonable discussion about what's happening. Maybe this is all a big misunderstanding, and maybe the frogs were here first. Maybe it's the humans who should be evicted instead!
But Lenny isn't thinking very straight at the moment. It's very hard for her to back down from a potential combat, and her hands clasp and unclasp spasmodically. She takes in a deep breath and turns away from the frog, talking to it without making eye contact.
"Okay... talk to us. If this is your land... provide evidence. I'm sure that... little miss perfect here didn't mean any harm," she grits out, waving a hand dismissively at Leah, "So just... explain what's happening here."
There! Let it never be said that Lenny can't be the diplomatic one in a given situation!
"It can talk?!" Leah exclaims openly. It being the frog. She doesn't understand the barking dog at all.
She does understand Lenny though and it's hard not to sense the jealous animosity. Leah frowns a little, not caring most of all for Lenny speaking for her and deciding who or what she meant to harm. Still, she's willing to attempt diplomacy, even as unclean and unnatural the frog is. She shivers a little just being in its presence, it being as much an anathema to her as she is to it. "The shrines and the people who built them were here first. You're intruding." The algae clearly came later.
"Of course he can talk, this is obviously a frog noble," the drifter says as if he's shocked that this isn't obvious to everyone else. "Groack the sonorous pearltoad sludgecaller. Loved by frogs. Hated by the village of Fortress Bay for defiling their shrines. Disliked by birds for questioning the origin of the moon."
Duh.
Why can't anyone else see this?
"Birds are fools for believing that the moon is an egg laid by a bird," the toad (apparently named Groak?) bellows. "And you are fools to believe furry things have any claim to this land. It belonged to the frogs before your ancestors ever crawled from their burrows to contemplate the sky."
Last edited by Rebonack on Jan 21, 2024 11:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
So, the frog seems to not approach. Thus, neither does Jon. He continues to growl, but otherwise, appears to not take any aggressive measures. He barks inquisitively without any verbal meaning, tilting his head at the frog noble.
Lenny is finally getting his control back, and he runs a hand through his mess of hair, taking a deep breath. Okay, this is fine. Just a bunch of animal people talking to a giant frog. No need to get all worked up.
But what in the hell is the drifter talking about? "How do you know who he is?" He says, pointing an accusing claw at the drifter, "You're holding out on us if you know more of what's going on here." Surely it would have been good to share the giant frog knowledge back in the village.
"And it doesn't really matter who was here first, as long as you don't mess with each other. The humans aren't stopping you from living here, so why are you making things difficult for them?" he says to Groack, not bothering to look at him.
"Hmph! Frogs can't be nobles!" The catgirl protests to the handsome drifter. The frog prince was a disgusting faker, gold digger, conman, and master of sexual harassment. Clearly. No princess would stoop to kissing one!
"You left this place vacant for at least a hundred years. It's not yours any longer!" Leah's guessing based on the size of the village and the weathered look of the shrines. But it's probably been that long. Supposedly. And there are squatter rules that let a squatter take the property if they've been there long enough. Surely such modern laws apply to ancient frog spirits of corruption.
The toad does not woof back because the toad is neither good nor a dog.
"Huh?" the drifter replies to Lenny, momentarily confused by the accusation. "Oh, right."
He pulls back his sleeve a bit to reveal a metal bracer around his left forearm. On the screen is a display which reads 'LOOK: FUNCTION ACTIVE' and then lists the information he just rattled off regarding the giant toad along with a few other bits, like equipment.
The toad of course has no equipment because he is a toad.
"I AM THE NOBLEST TOAD!" the toad bellows at Leah, very possibly spraying her with some rancid algae from its mouth in the process. Pretty gross. "This land is OURS and we do not want MAMMALS stinking it up with their fur and fire! They will be driven out and this land shall belong to the FROGS alone!"
