#action!post

[knowingoverseer]

==>

==> Be Past Callie Your name is Callie Strider, and you're setting up a tea party.

You've been at this for a few days now, nervously but excitedly hyping yourself up to actually meet with Serket's friend Nepeta. Just the other night, you and Serket had gone fishing at the coast to prepare. You're going to be making sea bass! It apparently goes really well with tea.

All you were needing to do now was clean up all the glass figures strewn about the hotel lobby you've crafted, move around some furniture, cook and finish painting the glass broach you'd made for Nepeta. Simple, well, mostly. You've been dragging your feet a bit on the later cause you keep waffling between two design ideas... hoo.... but! Neither here nor there, you had a room full of weird glass statues to clean up!

You've been doing this the long way, admittedly; you use to be able to just pick everything up using your space powers, or even pulling everything into your inventory with a snap, but the atmosphere of Serket's timeline has been particularly dense and it dampens space powers- or at the very least, it's been dampening yours. You're pretty sure it has to do with it sort of... self-regulating the fact there's so much cosmic nonsense going on. What between the Horrorterrors and the whole Antarctic-rift that happened some years back...

Eldergods especially, you think, after all when you'd been fighting to get to Serket you'd all but lost your space powers. Instead you had to rely on your magic alone, which has been... uh, wild. Yeah wild is a good word for it. You're still not quite ready to face the fact you massively screwed yourself up, even if you've confided in Serket about it.

Ha.

Yeah, you're just going to hem and haw about how you need to be grabbing these guys one at a time to put them away. Sure, they could go all in your sylledex, but even that seems to have limitations right now which is. Not something you're use to! Whatever is lurking out there, it must be strong.

You know Serket seemed worried. She hadn't exactly liked how close the hotel you'd chosen to hole up in was so close to the shore. Of course, you dismissed her worries, insisted you'd be fine. You've fought off those fish people in droves before, you're seasoned at this!

Right?

Of course, your overconfidence to get yourself out of a fight has been your undoing before. And with the odds stacked so neatly against you, well...

...

==> Stop being past Callie

Nowadays, the hotel lobby is covered in broken glass. Furniture overturned, a smashed tea set, deep burn marks in the floor like an elemental blade etched into them. Or, at least you think it is. That's how you left it, anyway. You're not... in a good spot. No... Not in a good spot at all. You don't know how long it's been, or where you are exactly. But it's.... been a long time. So long that you're no longer even really scared, just.... apathetic. They haven't killed you, but god you wish they would. Then you'd have a chance to escape. A chance... If the atmosphere was dense at the hotel, here you were suffocating. So whatever was lurking down here... Honestly, it was better if you didn't try to fathom it.

[knowingoverseer]

Deep Boston Weird II: This Time for Real

@artificialgrievand

It took a while to trek toward the waterfront, and Callie was no longer sure quite where in Boston she was, but following her previous spell led her here. Many "people" had been skulking about on her journey out this way, and she felt like she'd sunk deeper still into the mire that east coast Boston had become, so her senses were on alert. The sun was starting to get low in the sky, so once she found whichever building she was going to search through she'd need to make camp for the night. The sheer amount of those mimic creatures that have stationed themselves near the water made this area very hard to look through, but thankfully Callie hadn't run into any altercations yet from her last basement spelunking about an hour ago. Finally, when she could just about make out ruble of long-sunken ships on the water, she found a building near a harbor that seemed promising.

It looked like a regular building with a smaller one attached, and through the broken wall the smaller building seemed to house a great number of book shelves, mostly overturned, their contents a soggy mess on the floor. Still, it was about as good a lead as she was going to get. Pushing her way inside Callie geared up for another dive. Luckily magic made the need to breath underwater trivial, she still was going to have to dig through heaps of rotting furniture and other such things to hopefully find the long lost mechanoid... and then there'd be the issue of pulling her out from her trappings. Serket hadn't been in the best of shape when you'd first met up with her earlier this year, but still, she was no push over. Not really. So whatever had trapped her must be exceedingly heavy. The water should help alleviate some of the weight, ideally, but there was no guaranteeing that if the material was dense enough. If her space powers were working properly in this asinine eldritch hellscape then maybe she could simply shrink the offending bookcases but... well, maybe she can muster up her powers at least a little bit to jostle something lose. Making her way through the gaps in the smaller building's wall Callie eventually found a half hidden, nearly submerged stairwell and knew this was her ticket into the basement. Well, the worst that this could be is another false lead, so without any further hesitation she plunges down into the water's depths. Swimming downward, it gets very dark, so once again she reaches out and summons a ball of light in her hand with magic. Unlike the previous one, this was simply to see. Much like in other basements she's been searching in, books upon books upon water-destroyed books filled her vision, and she'd have to push them all aside as she swam further in. Taking a deep breath of water to then push out violet-blooded gills, she takes this chance to call out, "serket?" The sound is always haunting to her, and she knows Serket is likely offline at this point, but she always calls out anyway.

[knowingoverseer]

Restart Rendezvous

Thunk thunk thunk thunk- Callie stopped, the sound of her heels hitting the old wooden boards of the covered bridge she once knew so well ringing in her ear. Panting the troll looks around, trying to catch her breath, trying to figure out what caught her attention enough to stop. She couldn't help but feel.... a sort of clarity settle in on her she hadn't felt in a very long time, yet it left her feeling confused, maybe dazed. Whatever it was, she couldn't dwell for long. Oh, she knew she should have just teleported straight to the resort, rather than detouring to the theater, but she really couldn't have guessed that would knock her out like it had, or as hard as it had. She only woke up half an hour ago. Though had she gone to the resort, she might not have woken till nightfall. Oh, stupid magical hemorrhage! Ugh, whatever, she would curse herself later, Serket was waiting on her! So, once more she takes off up the long but familiar path, quick as she can, red cloak swishing around her. Luckily, aside from the winding path itself, it was a beeline straight there from here. Past the trees, past the cabins, and straight on through the doors of the lobby, she didn't stop again until she'd thrown them open. "serket! i'm here, i'm sorry i took so long!" @artificialgrievand

[knowingoverseer]

==>

It’s funny how when you notice something small, something you never noticed before, suddenly it’s everywhere.

It started the other day when you’d gone for breakfast at the Fisherman’s Rest, while talking to the Innkeeper. Mr. Huckleberry, an older gentleman who just so happened to be an anthropomorphic cat, was as kind as people got in this little town. He never asked, or accepted, payment for your room. Never complained about your monster of a travel companion. Fed you. Treated you very well. Was always going on about how he has a son about your age if you ever want to meet him, to which you always politely refuse. Honestly, you wished you could pay him back for his hospitality somehow, either help with some repairs… or maybe mend some clothes if he needed? Or, if you still had the old thing, offer him a nice treasure from your old adventures. As it were, Mr. Huckleberry seemed to be blind in one eye, his left, as he wore an eyepatch over it. It kind of reminded you of Uracil and the eyepatch you stole from him long ago. Shame you gave it away. That, you feel, would have been a nice gift. And had the morning been like every other, that would have been where your musings ended. But of course, something had been different. The school teacher, Ms. Laurel, a Gnomish lady who liked to wear a big floppy hat with fake moths decorating it had come inside. She was apparently wanting to know if it was alright for her class to put up festival decorations outside. You hadn't noticed it before, but now that you were getting a good look at her, she too seemed to be blind in her left eye. Or at least was wearing an eyepatch. Huh. If you had a nickel, right? Mr. Huckleberry was all too happy to oblige, so when you left to go collect Buddy from your room you got a good look at all the children, too. There really weren't that many, maybe a dozen at most, their ages all different from the look of it. That didn’t surprise you too much, you didn’t know much about school but this was a small town. What did surprise you was that none of them looked…. Uh, how do you put this delicately… quite like anyone you’d seen around town. Which, in and of itself, was saying something, since the town was full of fantasy-esque creatures. But the kids…. Quite a bit more…. Um…. Magical? It reminded you of the several offers you’ve gotten by grinning fey in the forest. And it gave you pause. The feeling of something…. Something clicked into place, but your head felt just a bit foggy. You were quick to get back to Buddy, who had been eager to see you. In the time since that morning, while it had been the children that had first unnerved you, there was another phenomena that was now setting you on edge. It wasn’t just Mr. Huckleberry and Ms. Laurel, no, everywhere you went in this town. Someone, usually older but not always, was wearing an eyepatch. Always on their left eye. It wasn’t so prominent that you’d have noticed before, but it was just enough. In two days alone you’ve counted seventeen, and that’s just from where you and Buddy had gone. Of course, there could be a rational explanation for it. It was horribly rude to assume anything was amiss. Yet… the mists took you here, and the land itself wasn’t letting you leave, and everyone else wound up in what seems to be infinitely more horrible situations than you found yourself in. Sure, there probably was a rational explanation for it, but logic dictates you should be on your guard. Something was wrong here, and this discovery wasn’t needed to know that, but it heightened your unease with sticking around much longer, let alone till their festival. Every time you tried to think on it, your brain fog set in, and you wondered if your magic acting up was messing with spells you’d already placed on yourself. Were you getting foggy at anything that was going to make you panic now? Or was it this place? Either way, you needed to make your way out. 

[knowingoverseer]

==>

It hadn't taken you too long to get back up to the theater, having made your way there plenty of times from the resort at this point. You had never noticed any birds on your previous trips, but honestly you hadn't really paid much attention either. Now you and Murdock were sitting on the steps outside, watching and waiting. In front of you was a birthday cake, made mostly of seeds and honey, with cashew butter ‘frosting’, topped with 9 blackberries and an apple-rose. It was.... dumb, really really dumb, you know. But last year you had made him a real cake and it had gone bad, you had barely been able to eat a piece of it. This year at least it won’t go to waste. You hope, you really hope your presence isn’t scaring away the birds. You sit there for a while, in the dark, ears drooped. Idlily you pet Murdock who seems to resent this entire ordeal. You’d already offered him bits from the cake, but he really didn’t care for seeds. “thanks for coming oUt here with me mUr... i appreciate it.” It was a shame there was so much cloud cover tonight, it would have been nice for star gazing. There’s a swooping sound and you look up toward the seed cake, grinning. An owl had indeed come to inspect it, but finding nothing of value to it took off again as soon as it came. Murdock snorted before starting to caw in laughter. You slump back into your sitting position, defeated. Right, owls were carnivores, weren't they?

[knowingoverseer]

There is in fact a cake waiting at the front door of the room! Seems fresh too! No Serket to be seen however.

==>

You're just about to head out, present for Serket under your arm, wrapped in green- but you stop in the doorway at the sight of the cake.

Looking down either side of the hallway you fail to see the birthday bot in question or any of the Prospitians, then frown back at the cake. Really, she should be the one getting treats right now!

Your expression softens to a warm smile as you reach forward to grab at the cake's plate, picking it up only for it to disappear into your sylledex. Much too early for that, this way it stays fresh.

You set aside anything it might have been sitting on beside your door, lock up, and head out toward the lobby. Your hunt was for Serket, but honestly you haven't spent enough time out of your room yet.

[knowingoverseer]

==> And just like that, you’re up and about grabbing the warmest PJs you can find, switching it out for your armor through the Cosmic Deringer, and putting a coat on over that. You also grab your pokemon-world travel backpack, making sure a large cozy blanket as well as your Travel Tuner are inside. With that, you put the resort coordinates into your transportalizer and hop on. Your Absol, Chess, follows you onto the pad. She’s sleepy and grumbly but after what happened last year she has put her foot down on you going to this timeline alone again. Or rather, without her. You don’t think she’ll cause any harm though. On the contrary, she’s actually quite a defense against anything you three might run into. And with a zap, you set foot back in a timeline you’ve actually missed quite a lot. (Oh, and you glamour Chess to look like a fluffy white pupper too. right after getting there. You give yourself your human appearance too for good measure.)