001 | Joint Video

[barbarus]

[ This video opens with an up close and personal view of a dark brown eye. ]

How do we know if it’s even working? I could be speaking to no one right now.

[ The eye narrows, and then the camera wheels back to show a large, dark-haired man next to a smaller, paler, and much prettier blond. The first looks, at the very least, invested in what he’s doing. The second looks like he’d rather be examining his nails. ]

My name is Damianos of Akielos. This – [ Gesturing to the blond beside him. ] – is Laurent of Vere.

These…devices show people speaking to us. Assuming that this is how you all talk to each other, we wanted to introduce ourselves. We have questions, if you can answer.

[ With a show of reluctance, Laurent draws himself up to answer the camera. ] The typical answers you give to newcomers will suffice. How are we here, why are we here, how do we leave. So on and so forth. [ He waves his hand in dismissal. ] If you need a truer list, I can continue. I am sure you've heard all of it before.

[ With a moment of thought, he adds. ] As well as where I can get in-depth information. If anyone has consolidated any information I may read or any other materials I can look through.

[ With that, he falls back to a more relaxed and bored pose. That's all he's got. He's in no mood to give more. Or even thank anyone for the effort. He leaves the rest to Damen. His requests have little to do with books. ]

Beyond that, I want to know the state of your defence. [ He’s seen monsters in caves and general mayhem. It seems unlikely there’d be no organisation at all. ] To whom do I speak about rotation of guards, weapons and drills? If there is someone in charge, direct me to them. If not, the Captain of the guard will do.

[ ooc: Damen is red and Laurent is blue. ]

Comments

[audio]

[synthedick]

[Positive someone will cover the other basics, Nick goes for the later query.]

There was talk of a city watch starting up, but it's all quiet on that front. For now, what 'guard' we have is just a few of us who keep an eye on things, patrol the streets every now and then. Make sure monsters don't wander into the city from the caves.

permavideo

[barbarus]

[ Well, a voice is better than nothing. If Damen's device does something other than project his face around, he doesn't know it. He'll care about learning to use it once there aren't more important matters to complain about, such as: ]

So there is no official guard, no coordination?

Who is in charge? There are children here. There must be more organisation than that.

[synthedick]

There's no real official guard that I know of, but you're right. There are kids here, and someone needs to keep the peace. The problem is finding the right people to do it, and maintaining that when, er... some of the more unusual problems arise.

You might try talking to Kazuhira Miller. He's tried to organize things a time or two around here, especially when one of the gods is up to no good.

[barbarus]

[ There are so many names that sound like nothing he's heard of before. Kazuhira. He's going to botch the pronunciation of that, he knows it already. ]

We need some form of order, especially when the gods endanger us.

I'll remember that name. Thank you, friend. What is yours?

[synthedick]

I'm Nick Valentine, a detective. You'll probably see me at some point if you walk the streets enough. I patrol a couple of times a day, always wearing a hat and a trench coat. Real easy to spot.

[That's not really the most notable thing about him, but that's just better saved for when he actually meets people.]

[barbarus]

[ What is a ‘trench coat’? Odds are, Damen is about to find out. He’ll remember the hat. ]

I’ll look for you. I intend to make rounds, myself.

Do you restrict yourself to that, or are the caves of interest? [ Because they are to him. There’s two coeurls being dried outside their apartment for that very reason. ] I’ve yet to travel far through them, and they’re full of danger. Clearing them out would make sense to me, but I couldn’t do it alone.

[synthedick]

I'm not sure you could clear them out even if you tried. There are a few hunting parties that go out there, trying to map the place and keep the population down, but every time the Door opens to bring in new people, a few unpleasantries come in with them. I stick to the streets myself, but we can always use more people keeping an eye on the caves.

[barbarus]

Do they avoid the streets, then?

[ That’s interesting, and unexpected. The town, such as it is, holds everything those predators might want. If they don’t come here to pick the people off, what holds them back? ]

I’d like to go where I’m most useful. And the caves seem to offer good training space. Perhaps they’d pose a challenge.

[synthedick]

That's a good attitude to have in a place like this. I'm sure if you take the time to look around, you'll find someone who needs help. And if not, like I said, there's always the caves.

As for the monsters, they only wander in on occasion. One of the gods tries to keep them clear of the city, but when he decides to take a break or their numbers get out of control, then we're on our own.

[barbarus]

So the god is helping to protect the people.

[ For his own purposes, most likely. But still, Damen will take it. He'll take any advantage he can get. ]

Tell me something. Of the creatures that are there, are they worth hunting? I found two...large, catlike things. There's meat on their bones, but I've never seen their like before.

[synthedick]

They're worth hunting to keep the numbers down, though if I were you, I'd save what meat you can get off them. That same god that's helping us took a break one time on providing food, so folks were left with whatever the other gods would give them. Turns out what they were peddling was human meat. Turned a handful of people into cannibalistic monsters that had to be put down.

[Yeah. He doesn't sound sore about that at aaaaaallll.]

[barbarus]

[ There's a pause. Human meat?

Even these lean carnivores are more wholesome than that. Damen looks faintly ill. ]

That's monstrous.

Even were that not the case, I'd prefer to hunt my own meat. But I am glad to know of this. What else have the gods done here? I'd like to know what we can expect from them.

[synthedick]

I woke up six feet underground a week after I got here. And I wasn't the only one.

[barbarus]

[ It takes Damen a moment to process that. ]

You awoke in a grave? What happened?

[ And how did you survive, is the unspoken question. Maybe he hadn’t, though. Maybe he’d been brought back. ]

text.

[frigidus]

[ Someone has discovered text. He will now be foregoing all actual interaction with people.

Bless technology. ]

How common is such an occurrence?

[text]

[synthedick]

[Nick is significantly slower at answering texts than he is just talking -- blame the fact that metal hands don't work with touch screens very well -- but he answers all the same.]

Monsters wandering in? Uncommon, but it happens. There've been some efforts at population control lately. It's more likely one of the gods is causing problems for the people here. That's what we need to watch out for.

text.

[frigidus]

[ Laurent is slow for being new, but his messages stay shorter. And practice can at least help him. ]

Not so random, then.

The gods seem to have a greater influence than originally expected.

[synthedick]

My thoughts exactly. They're not afraid to use it, either.

[frigidus]

How advantageous of them.

At least it is still a start.

[synthedick]

It is. And they're practically labeled, so if there's trouble, you'll know which one is likely the culprit.

[frigidus]

At least that is something.

How long have people been held in this place?

[synthedick]

I haven't asked. I've been here for four months now, and there were people here well before me. There were the previous residents of the city, too, before the Door started bringing us in. No clue where they are now, though I'm betting it's not somewhere good.