005 [video]

[thechoiceisyours]

[It's really tempting to do this post in text but there's a few reasons why he decides not to, including the main point of this post that he intends to bury under some other things. So he offers the camera a small, hesitant smile of greeting before starting.]

Hey. I um... I hope everyone's doing okay after that whole... Thing. H-Has it um, worn off for everyone now?

[He hopes so; it seems to have for everyone he's talked to, but that doesn't necessarily mean much.]

On a less depressing subject, Em and I finished some more emojis. The new pack is here; all you have to do is download and install it like last time.

Also uh, we're working on a deal with Delight about getting like, good coffee at the bar, so... That's hopefully a thing, soon.

[They just all need a chance to recover from the event before they can really manage that whole thing. Especially since he can't exactly walk right now, which leads to the actual main point of making this post.]

I also wanted to um... I know there are like, some doctors and people with healing powers and whatever here, and I was hoping I could talk to one who might be willing to help out with something. So... Yeah.

[That's that. He seems to be considering if there's anything else he wants to add, but then decides against it and ends the feed.]

Comments

[tongueamok]

Good. [Despite the ink still clinging to the corners of his mouth and the crevices in his teeth, he smiles at his handiwork.] Fantastic.

[Making sure the lid is secure on his jar, he shoves it into his bag, keeping it for later.] The black bile is nothing to be concerned about, I assure you. A side-effect of my craft in particular.

[Not even just healing -- specifically his healing.]

[thechoiceisyours]

Right.

[He's not really convinced, but...]

Remind me not to accept statements that come with a 'per se' so easily next time.

[But okay. As long as it's normal, then he'll try not to worry about it.]

Your craft? Are you like, primarily a healer, or can you do other stuff too?

[He's curious, as crazy as all this stuff being real still sort of is.]

[tongueamok]

[He can't help but laugh just a little, even if it one nervous enough to match the rest of his disposition. He probably could stand to be a little more forthcoming with the nature and consequences of his art, especially when his ward seems so genuinely concerned regarding Carlisle's health rather than his own, but he's used to trying to keep some things under wraps. Not all healers where he comes from spit up ink afterward -- just the cursed ones.]

I am primarily a healer, yes. I mean, I can do a few other minor things, but I studied clerical arts.

[thechoiceisyours]

That's pretty cool, freaky black goo aside.

[Hit sits up on the far arm the couch, now that he's pretty sure Carlisle is truly okay, and offers a smile.]

And thanks. Again.

[tongueamok]

Of course. I am happy to make myself useful.

[He rubs the back of his neck, pulling his hand back the second he makes contact with his own skin. Great, now he probably has some inky residue back there.]

I'm still trying to find my place here, so being able to use my skills is admittedly a comfort.

[thechoiceisyours]

Well uh... I kind of hate to say it, but you'll probably get a lot of use out of your skills if you want to. It's... Pretty dangerous here.

[Though he understands the need to feel useful. His own talents aren't a huge help here, and it kind of sucks to not be able to contribute much.]

[tongueamok]

So I have been warned. In the place I was before, there were several other healers, so my skills went more or less unused. I've not much else I can do for the living.

[thechoiceisyours]

Place before like... Your home world or whatever? Or somewhere else?

[He only asks because he's heard from a few other people in the city that they'd been in worlds that weren't their own before even getting here.]

[tongueamok]

Er.

[His brow knits.]

Somewhere else. This isn't the first time I've found myself in another world. Cisth, I haven't been home in a year now.

[thechoiceisyours]

Oh.

[He's only been away from home--or his world, anyway--for about five or six months now, and it still feels like forever.]

I'm sorry. That sucks.

[tongueamok]

It was not the best of places at times, but it was still home. Perhaps, with a little luck, I'll see it again one day.

[Though he's not terribly optimistic about that.]

This is an improvement over where I was, though. Jungle -- bugs, dirt, acidic river, all kinds of things that I do not miss at all.

[thechoiceisyours]

Yeah, maybe. I mean... This place is pretty crazy, and I guess some places are even crazier, so who knows.

[It's hard to rule anything out at this point.

He understands the sentiment and nods as Carlisle explains Hadriel might be a bit of an improvement; he feels the same way about it, at least in regards to where he'd been the night before he got here.]

That uh... Doesn't sound super fun, no. I don't miss the mountain I was on before I got here either.

[tongueamok]

What was so bad about the mountain?

[Because of course he's curious.]

[thechoiceisyours]

More like what isn't bad about the mountain.

[He sighs quietly, deciding how to best explain.]

Well, I mean first off it was ridiculously cold.

[He's not a big fan of the cold.]

But it was also full of monsters, which we didn't find out until we were like, pretty much stranded there until morning.

[tongueamok]

Oh.

[He's a little sorry he asked.]

Sounds a little like home, actually. Mountains and monsters. In that regard, I am sorry.

[thechoiceisyours]

Nah, I'm sorry for you if that's what it's like where you're from too. I mean, the mountain was just... A really shitty vacation destination, and hopefully uh... One of a kind.

[Monsters aren't a common thing; in fact they're not supposed to exist at all. He feels he should fill Carlisle in on something important, though--]

You should uh... Know that the monsters from the mountain are here. In spirit form only but um... Be really careful not to like, engage in cannibalism. Accidental or otherwise.

[Yeah.]

[tongueamok]

[His face scrunches up.]

I'm sorry, what?

[thechoiceisyours]

[Well, that's a fair response.]

Wendigos. They're um, spirits that possess people when they engage in cannibalism, and turn them into these like, really powerful monsters.

[He sighs quietly.]

A few months ago the gods uh, put human meat into the food here, and a bunch of people got turned into wendigos.

[tongueamok]

[He could not possibly look more horrified.]

Wait, turned into monsters? Was there a cure? What are we supposed to eat, then? Are they still around? Are they undead?

["One question at a time" is not a policy he follows very well.]

[thechoiceisyours]

[It's okay, he doesn't have any trouble following; Ashley gets a little rapid-fire with her questions too, and Chris probably would as well if it weren't for that he'd probably stammer too much to be understood.]

There's no cure at home, but there was here; Hope said he'd cure anyone that could be gotten to his Temple but uh... That was a lot easier said than done.

[He'd tried, but it hadn't gone well.]

A lot of people here just decided to go vegetarian, which really sucks by the way, though it's better than turning into a monster. And um, no, the wendigos are in the caves as like, spirits, but everyone who'd turned into one...

[He sighs again.]

Rage killed them all, eventually, and then Hope brought them back to life cured.

[tongueamok]

[Nope, false alarm: he can look more horrified. He backs into the couch, as though it'd shield him from his own terror.]

Wait, he what!? That's necromancy!

[thechoiceisyours]

[...Okay maybe he said too much too fast.]

Well... Yeah, I guess so, technically.

[Which is apparently a lot scarier to Carlisle than it is to him, maybe because he's just gotten used to it by now.]

But I mean, um, it's not like... Everyone that gets brought back is fine. Not like zombies or working for him or anything.

[He's read a lot of fantasy novels.]

[tongueamok]

[Still horrified over here.]

That's still- it's unnatural!

[thechoiceisyours]

No argument there, but um... Nothing about this place is natural.

[And if things like wendigos exist, then at least it isn't the end for people who die here. He kind of wishes it were the same at home, but that's another issue entirely.]

[tongueamok]

A fair point, but...

[He lets out a worried sigh. False gods who double as necromancers are just one more thing to worry about.]

Sorry, lad. I don't know if you have necromancers where you come from, but they're a problem in my world. One that has yet to be dealt with.