hadriel | VOICE ; forward dated to the 23rd, late evening

Entry tags:

VOICE ; forward dated to the 23rd, late evening

Hey everyone, this is Peter. I'm, uh... Just lemmie-- Okay, I'm gonna preface this with "I'm fine", which... probably still sounds concerning to anyone who knows me. Uh, with good reason, but I promise that I really am fine.

Okay? Okay.

So... okay, you know those freaky tentacle snails that attacked those guys a little while ago? Yeah, they're still around. I ran into a few of them outside the city, and by 'ran into' I mean 'was totally ambushed by'. Like, I was just minding my own business and they jumped out all "Blahhhhgh!" and I was like "oh snap!!", so yeah, we fought a little and I got bit and, y'know, it hurt. And I know the one guy was all "hey call for back up if you see any" and I totally would have if I'd had a chance, but I didn't? I mean, not because I didn't want to, it's just like, in the moment I was a little distracted by trying to get away from the things, and I didn't have my web shooters on me because they're possessed by demons right now? So I wasn't gonna even try to catch one of those guys without my gear, so I left. My toothbrush tried to stab me this morning, I'm not dealin' with this on top of that today. I'm done, I'm tapping out!

Anyway, if anyone else ends up fighting these guys, go for the eyes if you can. They're kind of hard to hit because of all the tentacles, but if you can take their eyes out it slows them down. They're still dangerous, though, like, they will absolutely still try to fight you, so just like, don't stick around if you can help it. In fact, just don't go outside the city by yourself. Don't go anywhere by yourself. Y'know, buddy system up if you can. I don't know how many of these dudes are still out there, but I have a feeling that they're not going away any time soon.

Oh right, I did manage to break a chunk off one of their shells. I don't know how helpful that's gonna be? But I've got it at the lab if anyone wants to see it, assuming you can pry it away from Newt. I also got a photo! It's... not a very good one, but uh, I'll put this somewhere, I guess.

[attached photo: A City Boy Seconds Before Being Chomped By A Tentacle Monster.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I haven't exactly had a chance to go examine a bunch of rocks to determine their mineral composition, but probably.

Yeah, I think we've already had enough disaster lately.

I suppose it's worth looking into. It's always best to know one's limits.

Indeed. These beings do not seem interested in peaceful coexistence.

I don't know why they're beefin' like this. I mean, we've never done anything to them? That I know of, anyway.

"Beefing like this?"

And if they are the local gods' original subjects, we have done something to them. We've usurped their place.

Uh. Being all like, aggressive and stuff.

You know what, that's a good point. The gods thought they were extinct, replaced them with us. Not that we had any choice in the matter, but it's possible that they could be pissed about that? Another thought for the theory bucket.

Oh, I see.

I'd say it's not just possible, it's likely. Especially if they've been left to fend for themselves ever since the local gods and the Null first came into conflict. Loneliness, deprivation, a loss of purpose . . . it can drive one mad. Why not an entire species?

We first came into conflict shortly after the mammoth stampede. It's my belief that these beings caused the stampede so that they could infiltrate the town unnoticed in the chaos. I believe that one of the people initially injured said that the beings seemed to be here on a reconnaissance mission when they were interrupted by the three men and attacked them, dealing mortal wounds to one, lesser wounds to the other two.

Then they attacked you. Where were you when this attack occurred?

Whoof, this got dark.

I wonder if the ones I ran into were just doing recon as well, just like scoping us out from a distance. There were only a few of them, and I was out close to the lake.

[life frequently does]

So, close to town so that they could observe us, but not too close. Who noticed whom first?

Ahhh, well, see. That's where it gets embarrassing.

[No the terrible selfie wasn't the embarrassing part at all, naturally.]

Normally I can like, feel when something bad is coming at me? And, I probably did feel them coming, but my senses have been all out of whack since like, all of my stuff is coming to life and trying to bounce into my head, so like. I dunno, I just didn't even register that they were there until they were right on top of me.

...Long story short, they saw me first.

I guess I. Could have just said that.

Edited 2019-01-27 00:43 (UTC)

[she was just about to ask about the picture again]

They saw you first and their immediate response was to attack, not withdraw. That doesn't speak very highly for their willingness to coexist.

But this power of yours. . . it sounds very useful.

That's... kind of what I was thinking, yeah. I mean, we can't communicate with them yet, so we can't really know with like, absolute certainty, but it's better to play it safe and assume the worst in this case, I think.

It's super useful, when it's not going off every five seconds for something stupid. ...So, I guess let me correct myself, it's usefulness here is about 50/50.

[she sounds grim] I'd say so. I'm accustomed to fighting things that want to kill me every day. Not everyone here is, I'd assume.

[a pause, then a note of concern] It sounds as though that might lead to paranoia.

Ehh, mmnn...

[He's kind of making some unsure noises about BOTH of those things she said HMMMM]

I'm... sure I'll be fine.

[HE'S NOT]

[she waits patiently for him to reply, but it does little to reassure him given how long he's taking]

I'm sure. [she's not] If it . . . helps? I have a similar sense, only mine is specifically focused on darkspawn. It could be very disconcerting, given that during the Blight, darkspawn were everywhere.

[this is her attempt at reassurance. pity her]

Right, right, and you feel like you're being pulled in like, a million different directions at once? "Disconcerting" is a pretty good word for it. Like, when there's that much stuff going on at once like, I don't know if it's the same for you? But I can't focus. Or, I guess it's more like trying to focus on way too many things at once, it's like...

[Hang on he's going to pause and try to figure out how to like. Word this.]

Okay, say you're in a room. In the room are a bee that wants to sting you, and a bear that wants to eat you. Normally, my senses will pick them both up, but I can easily distinguish the bear as the bigger threat. Now say you're in a room with a bear and five hundred bees. There are so many bees bouncing off your senses at the same time that you just lose the bear. You can't focus on a single bear in this-- this mosh pit of bees. And that's what-- that's what this place feels like to me. A mosh pit of just horrible bees.

There are no darkspawn her, so fortunately my sense for them is not engaged.

[she listens carefully to what he has to say. she has no idea what a "mosh pit" is, but given the context, she has to assume it's a bad thing]

That sounds terrible. How do you manage to concentrate on anything at all?

Whenever the gods aren't doing anything weird to us, I'm mostly okay. It's when things start getting crazy when I have a hard time focusing.

Ah. So you had the local gods' latest bout of insanity frustrating your ability to sense danger.

That! Yes, that. That's exactly what's happening, only in like, way less complicated terms.

How would you put it?

That whole thing with the bees I said earlier? Yeah, that. That's how I'd put it.

Oh. Yes. I see.

[she feels vaguely foolish, which she doesn't like]

Is there no way to block this sense?

[Psh this is Peter, he feels vaguely foolish at least 8 hours out of every day. She is in good company.]

If there is, I haven't found it yet. I honestly wouldn't know where to start.

[unfortunately for her, she is the Warden. and the Warden cannot look or feel foolish at any cost]

If there was something to provide as a focus during these "events," that may be a start.

[ But she's also here and surrounded by weirdos. Just be a little foolish it's fiiiiiiiiine]

I'f I'm not patrolling, I try to keep myself focused on stuff I'm working on at the lab? It helps sometimes, but not always for very long.

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

Re: audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio

audio