aterat | 001

Entry tags:

001

Who; Cole Cash and YOU
What; Introduction & Catch-All
Where; All around town
When; Last week of April & All of May
Warnings; Will update as necessary

i. arrival (fountains » market district tavern)

One should never discredit a shiny sack a midget shoves into your hand before running off into a crowd and Cole wasn't one to disregard the usefulness of anything handed to you for free, but he'd think about that later after he found the guy and made him start talking. There were a lot of people milling around, though, and as he cut through the crowd he lost track of Raimon quickly.

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath to no one in particular, running a hand over his unruly blond hair, the few days of stubble peppering his chin. He was a tall man, broad of shoulder and sporting two pistols in shoulder holders at his sides. Fingerless gloves and rolled up sleeves coupled with dark cargo pants and combat boots finished the picture of a man who was accustomed to combat, and accustomed to a place far more advanced than this one. His brows lowered on the street outside the Market District Tavern as he took in his surroundings. Locals moved around him on the street as he looked around, taking in the market stalls, the cobbled streets, the...actual tavern? The giant birds hauling actual carriages?

He reached into the pocket of his shirt, producing a slightly crumbled but serviceable pack of cigarettes and sliding one between his lips, not really minding he was in the middle of everything seeing as people were just giving him a slightly wide berth, and he lit it with a zippo lighter from his pants pocket.

"Well, Toto. I think we're a long way from Kansas." It would seem less weird if he were talking to anyone in particular.

ii. the market district tavern

Cole is the best at what he does, and what he does...is drink, which is to say he goes with the best way to process this new place is to try out their liquor. The little guy did give him some coin. He'd better get to wasting it. Walking into the tavern itself feels a lot like going to a Ren Faire to him, only the corsets are way better done, and he isn't paying with cash, but actual coins that weren't minted by a machine. So weird, but he could groove with it. He takes a seat at the bar, and the tavern keep gets his order. "Something harder than the beer," is his only specification.

The keep slides a glass of amber liquid his way and he smiles, pleased, at the aroma. "That's what I'm talking about."

iii. network || text

[He could have gone shopping, but Cole is aware some of the people here have been here for a while and they might be a place to start.]

Hey, old-timers. I hear some of you have been around for a long time. How familiar are you with the products available around here? Best place to find arms and armor? Alchemy ingredients?

[He may be attempting to pretend he's in a video game and figuring out how someone would refer to something normal.

He may also be looking into how to make explosives. Who knows?]

(OOC: If you'd like a personalized prompt here, just let me know, or feel free to start your own! This will also be used as a catch-all for logs throughout May (with potential even shinanigans)

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Llewellyn hummed slightly at the question, “In the last world I found myself trapped, it was. This world has an extensive collection as well, though… It’s organization was slightly chaotic last I was in it. There is a new curator, though, and he seems a little more agreeable than the being that directed people before.” The detective supposed he hadn’t had as much experience with the director as other people in this world had, but he rather preferred the new curator at any rate. He seemed decent enough to speak to from his first impression.

“I did count myself rather lucky, yes. Having, uh- witnessed the last person on the list’s passing, it wasn’t pretty. Though I don’t expect there are many ways to go that would be pleasant.” And he plucks at his sandwich to take a bite out of, his appetite unaffected by the line of conversation.

"There are a lot of ways to die, pal, and some of them are nicer than others." Cole had seen his fair share on both sides of the list and had been responsible for many of them.

"So, we got a new librarian, huh, and...the place has stuff from...other worlds?" Now that was interesting information.

“Mm… I’ll take your word for that, then.” Llewellyn responded with an awkward shrug, most of the death he’d seen in his life seemed unpleasant and undesirable as ways to go went. Peacefully, in one’s sleep, of old age, seemed the best way… But he somehow doubted that was in the cards for many that he knew.

“Indeed, his name’s Percy. He’s more helpful than what was there before, so I expect you would be able to get straight answers out of him and proper directions if you need to find something.” Which meant things were a little less frustrating or tricky, at least in theory. There were plenty of other things that were complicated.

It wasn't in many peoples' cards, honestly, but a guy could dream, right? "Seen enough to know." He'd fought in 'Nam, but death was a part of his life long before that.

"Percy." He spoke as though he were making a note of it, which mentally, he was. "What was there before?"

“Before Percy, there was this… spherical device in the historium. It was meant to help people get what they needed, but it was really rather difficult when you approached it.” Which, Llewellyn knew now, was for good reason. “Turned out that it was also a containment system for a bunch of spirits that had been cooped up in it for who knows how long.”

Gesturing a little with a free hand, he continued. “They had to replace it when some… I think they said power redistribution? Made it explore. Spirits all got out, and they needed to replace it. So Percy was introduced, though his origins are a bit vague… He indicated he’s been around longer than we know, but different before the Aspects introduced him…?” Even Percy had indicated he knew how cryptic it sounded.

"Damn, that's fucked." It was all he really had to say on the matter at the moment. Who just locks up a bunch of spirits and forces them to be your librarian?

"...what happened to the spirits? I doubt they were happy to be used like that." This seemed important, but so did Watts' description of Percy. "That's suspicious. What was he like before?"

“Oh, they weren’t happy about it at all.” He responded with a huff. “When the containment unit was destroyed, and they were freed from captivity, they decided to take their anger out on the city. Sort of uh- pieced physical forms together from refuse and such.” He frowned slightly, picking at his food again as he continued. “They could use this magic to disguise themselves as other people, ones we knew from our worlds. Tricked unsuspecting people to following them somewhere uh- isolated so they could corner and attack.”

Glancing over again at the followup question, he shrugged his shoulder’s in a slightly exaggerated motion. “That I can’t tell you. I had never seen him before he was introduced, at least not that I know of.” Magic or something could have made the man look different, he supposed… But he still found it odd. “It was like he was just… suddenly here and ready to fill the position once the Aspects brought him to our attention.”

"Not surprised. You try having your soul crammed into a glass ball with a bunch of people you probably didn't even like and see what kind of mood you're in." Though the story did give Cole pause. He found himself wondering where those souls had even come from, or if they even were souls to begin with. Most ghosts he'd ever dealt with (thankfully few in number) didn't do things like illusions. This sounds a lot more specific.

He arched an eyebrow as Watts continued, though. "Yeah, that's not suspicious at all."

“While not particularly similar since I got along with most of my fellow abductees, I don’t have to think too hard to imagine being stuck in a glass ball against my will. Though we preferred the term ‘reverse fishbowl,’ if I’m to be honest.” Rubbing the side of his cheek, “The point stands, though. I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to cram a bunch of souls into an object to use as a system to find things, but it didn’t end well. Considering the Aspects broke it, I can’t help but wonder who put it there specifically, since I expect they didn’t intend to break it and probably didn’t know what they were doing.”

At least he felt that was probably the case. They seemed like they could use more guidance when it came to doing their jobs.

The arched brow and Cole’s words are met with an awkward shrug. “Oh, I am aware of that… But the list of things one could say that to around here isn’t a small one, I’m afraid.” So he was sorry to be the bearer of that bad news.

"The people who brought us here don't know what they're doing. That's perfect." He scoffs, shaking his head. He's actually been in worse situations, though not by much and that's saying something.

He nodded, though, looking over to Watts curiously. "Anybody questioned this guy?"

Llewellyn put down his sandwich, considering the question. “I did speak with him when he arrived and tried asking more about his origins. He said he didn’t remember, but that he felt like he knew a lot more before than he does now.” He gestured lightly, a small frown on his face. “Seems to think that not remembering has to do with uh- whatever kind of calamity happened here.” Like amnesia, perhaps, or something like it, of a magical nature. Either way, he hadn’t had the answers the detective was hoping for.

"Or bullshit." Call him paranoid, he's been called a lot worse, but he had a hard time believing some guy that just randomly showed up was being completely honest with anyone. But who knew, right? Magic could be weird.

"And nobody's got an idea what kind that is, right?"

“Yes, or that, I suppose.” It wasn’t like Llewellyn hadn’t had the wool pulled over his eyes before by someone he thought seemed incredibly genuine. But he hadn’t yet come across an inconsistency to outright doubt the claim. Until he did, he’d remain open-minded to either possibility.

The detective nodded to confirm the question. “I’m afraid so? No one remembers, and either they don’t have records of it or they’re very well hidden. Even those with abilities that give them a little more insight into this place haven’t come up with a definitive answer to what happened… other than something happened, of course.”

"Something big enough to do...whatever all this is that happened, right?" It sounded like just the sort of bullshit he really preferred avoiding, and just the sort he ended up getting pulled into all the time. Typical.

"So, what do we all do in the meantime? Make nice? Get a job? Pretend this is normal?"

“Big enough to have caused everything, but apparently still unknown.” Which sounds absurd to confirm, not knowing anything about something big enough to be considered ‘world ending’ was quite strange.

He offered an apologetic expression to that. “I’m afraid so. There are quite a few options for people looking to spend time? But essentially it’s a situation where we all just kind of settling into life here. Though I understand that’s easier said than done for a lot of people.” Some people thrived in the situations, finding the positives to being here and finding something close to a contentment or happiness in the life they built. Others… Had more difficulties, but even they seemed to eventually find something for them, even if it was simply working on a way to get back to their own world.

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