2022-12-01: Daisy Bell
- Log: 2022-12-01: Daisy Bell
- Cast: Lydia Seren, Dean Stark, Azoth, Jacqueline Barber, Juni Vandrer, Homer Mecone (NPC played by Ethius Hesiod)
- Where: Port Rosalia - The Docks
- Date: December 01, 2022
- Summary: Kaguya has asked Lydia to pass on her plans regarding Demetrioi to any drifter friends who will listen! And so... SHE WILL. Then Homer has some other news to share. And so... HE WILL.
=========================<* Port Rosalia - The Docks *>========================= Port Rosalia was once the second-largest port on Zoara, but the collapse of Celesti put a swift end to that. Many of its docks were destroyed in the war, and foreign merchants refused to do business in a "lawless" city. Recognizing the port's value, the Wei Trading Consortium talked Port Rosalia's leaders into a long-term contract. Once everything was signed, the Galadian firm sent in workers to rebuild the docks, as well as its own private security to "keep order". Most of the port's surviving docks rest in Campbell Cove, a large sea cave that sheltered them from shelling. Outside of the cove, rows of inns and dockside taverns await travelers--some run by Wei, others by locals. Construction equipment is ever-present in the port, and so are the Consortium's security officers. The company's reconstruction efforts have hit snag after snag; some of the sabotage is undoubtedly the work of angry citizens, but Wei suspects that Anaheim is moving in to challenge its monopoly. Port Rosalia may endure a second war, this one between wealthy Galadian corporations--and as always, its citizens will be the ones who suffer. BGM: Wild Arms 4 - Port Irington
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia Seren has been given a mission from Kaguya and she's going to do her best to fulfill it! More or less immediately after her conversation with Kaguya, once she got back into town she sent a call out to her buddies--primarily Jacqueline Barber as she's kind of--through the Memory Cube system. She asked to meet at Port Rosalia in Campbell Cove, a large sea cave, outside one of the local taverns run by the Wei Trading Consortium. Lydia is too stingy to just rent out a whole floor here She's not made of gella.
Alongside Jay, it's probably safe to assume you, YES YOU, got an invitation to drop on by either through Jay herself or from Lydia herself! Lydia herself doesn't exactly have slides or anything but she has at least gotten a large pitcher of coffee and some breakfast pastries. She's not too stingy for THAT.
She taps her foot rapidly. She looks pretty anxious and nervous, all told, but she is trying to (and poorly) obscure her anxiety by whistling to herself which only really makes it MORE evident.
But hey--there ARE pastries there.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Dean is friends with Lydia! Dean is friends with everyone. So he's definitely gotten an invite, whether it was from Jay or Lydia directly. He's heard about the Demetrioi issue in passing, but he doesn't know a lot about the little robot guy beyond when he first met him ages back. This is a good opportunity to learn more and see if he can help with resolving the issue.
The tavern comes into view, as does Lydia and her pastries outside. Dean brightens at the sight of both of them and picks up the pace, waving a hand over his head.
"Hey! Nice seeing you again! Are those for everybody?" he asks. He might not be a teenager anymore, but he's still got a healthy appetite.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline has heard about what's been happening, but situations have conspired such that she hasn't been around for some of the big movements lately. But after being reached out to directly about it, she can hardly ignore it - and would gladly help forward the invitation in turn. ...Besides, she's always been the kind of person who can't hold back her curiosity.
And so she arrives at the designated tavern, early enough to get herself situated. ...But, it looks like others had the same idea, because she isn't the first one here.
"Hello, everyone. It's good to see you all." Jacqueline greets, settling into a seat at the table before her gaze falls onto Lydia. Even if she weren't as observant as she is, it... probably wouldn't be that difficult for her to spot. She offers her a reassuring smile. "It's alright. Take your time."
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth's mission before had been to assist in retrieving Demetrioi on behalf of Solaris. That mission failed and, thus, has been deemed over. At the very least, without specific orders to try again, Azoth's logic is able to cling to that justification. That and to do anything aggressive now would almost certainly amount in nothing productive -- even by Solaris standards.
No one here, far as Azoth can tell, is likely to have noticed the whole affair. So Azoth comes in smiling brightly and waving as he finds himself a seat. "Hey! I got your message. Everything all right, Lydia?"
For once, Azoth accepts food in taking a pastry. This is because he is meticulously dissecting it. pulling it apart piece by piece like he were taking apart clockwork, forming an energy blade from his finger to help with this precise process. Occasionally his eyes give the softest of whirrs while he scans it.
If anyone swipes the pieces he's finished surveying, he won't protest or even comment.
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer has gotten a curious enough message that she's decided to join the meeting despite initially figuring she'd get a Cliff's Notes version later. By the time she's gotten going this morning at least though, she's realizing it's probably a good idea and she's just being overly grouchy. Which is why she actually got up earlier and did things. You know, drill things. Getting back into a routine she should have been in.
Still by the time she shows up, a hand goes up to Azoth and Jay at the very least, "Been a while." she notes to the latter and makes her way over to steal a pastry. Because even largely carnivorous critters have a sweet tooth for the things that are surely more dangerous than most monsters.
She does side-eye Lydia though. Big cyborg like that? That is a cyborg right? She leans back, propped up against her tail as kind of a lazy adhoc chair and settles in for now at least.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Yeah I figured uh. I'd feed folks if I dragged them all out to some kind of pirate cave theme park." Lydia says with a faint shrug of her arms. "I haven't really hung out at this place much before, too much market competition from a megacorp." Also she's basically been a slave soldier since pretty much folks GOT to Aquvy so she hasn't really had much reason to enjoy the sights until real recently.
She thinks Dean is knees belonging to bees. She smiles at him because it's tough to avoid being charmed by Dean and she isn't even trying. "Have as many as y'all want!"
Lydia is still wearing that blindfold as she hasn't had a minute to try and fix it up to something more convenient.
Azoth gets kinda down to brass tacks real quick. Lydia rubs at her neck and says, "Er, probably...not? It isn't a long story or anything but..."
Jay reassures her. She smiles at her and nods once. Jay's got a point. She needs to figure out how to phrase this properly...
She waves a hand to Juni. She's noticed the look but is trying to not be thrown by small stuff like that these days.
"Okay, ah--as some of you know I've kinda gone off to hide out with Kaguya for a bit to avoid Solaris, and as you also know stuff with Demetrioi has gotten real bad too. Their storm is still going strong and getting bigger."
"Well, not too long ago, Kaguya told me she uh--intended to handle Demetrioi herself. And she wanted to do it on her own because of not wanting to throw a whole lot of other people into the equation and complicate dealing with them?" She hopes she's putting that right. "Anyway, um, she told me if the storm didn't stop it meant she failed and uh..."
"To tell a bunch of busybodies to bust in if it didn't clear up, more or less." She admits. Not Kaguya's words exactly but.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"Yay!" Dean helps himself to a delicious baked good, stuffing it in his mouth and getting crumbs everywhere. Looks like he's still a kid at heart in some ways.
He waves with enthusiasm as Azoth, Jay, and even Juni show up--he doesn't think he knows her name, but he has seen her around before, so he takes it for granted that she's a good guy, even if her appearance is unusual to say the least. Then he looks back at Lydia as she explains what's up.
His cheerful demeanors soon turns serious. He gulps down the pastry, wipes his mouth on his semi-gloved hand, and nods seriously. There are still some crumbs on one side of his mouth. "So you and Kaguya need help," he interprets. "We'll do whatever we can! Right, guys?"
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth brightens up at Dean with a large smile and waves back to Juni. "Long time no see!" he greets her back. Jay reassures Lydia, and Azoth looks up from his pastry dismantling.
By which point, he has separated his into as many base components as he's able, which mostly means flakey crush, filling, and icing. It's a little disturbing how well he's managed to separate them, as if they'd never touched at all.
He supposes he'll need to thank Kaguya later. After he apologizes.
But Azoth's expression falls, a low toned beep emitted. "...And we're the busybodies, then." Because, he does not want to emphasize, Kaguya... failed. He frowns, but is soon to smile again, grinning back at Dean. "Naturally."
His expression goes subdued. "You wouldn't happen to know anything of what her own plan was, would you? What she meant to accomplish alone?"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"It has been, hasn't it?" Jacqueline replies with a nod to Juni. "It's good to see you're well."
Lydia assures Dean and everyone that the food's for them. Jacqueline may have been waiting for a confirmation like this and gratefully accepts a pastry, nibbling on it as she listens to Lydia explain the situation. Her expression goes a little cloudy as she continues, a frown crossing her face.
"Kaguya..." Jacqueline murmurs, concerned. ...What had she gotten herself into? Her expression is serious, or as serious as one can look with a half-finished pastry in their hands. She nods, though, as Dean says they'll do whatever they can.
"...Well, this wouldn't be the first time I've been accused of being something of a busybody. So, yes, certainly." Jacqueline admits with a sheepish laugh. She nods, as Azoth asks what Kaguya's plan was, what she hoped to accomplish. "Yes - and where did she go?"
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer does actually return the wave at least. With the name drop of Kaguya, the message makes a bit more sense at least. Dean's given a wave belatedly too since that's polite and she's at least run into him a few times. She should start keeping notes. Better notes. She totally didn't think she'd be here this long honestly.
Consideration of the request and the urge to facepalm are hidden behind a bite of pastry. "How long ago did she go and how long does she think the storms will persist?" That's the best questions to ask at the moment in her mind.
Fingers drumming against her knee as she leans forward, trying to run a few scenarios through her head. "Wouldn't be the first time my job's been to go break something expensive. Either way." She shrugs, sitting up again. She didn't know the woman super well, but she's not about to admit to anything either.
"I'll second the question on what she's actually already tried. No reason to go in and repeat the same mistakes."
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia takes in a deep breath as Azoth asks the million gella question. And Jay asks the million and one gella question.
"Well, I don't know all the details. She told me what she meant to do generally rather than the 'how' of it. But she was going to try and convince Demetrioi to stop."
"And um... Failing that..." She looks at Azoth for a long moment, then down at her hands. She fidgets with them awkwardly for a bit. Not so easy to say. "Failing that... she was gonna try to shut them down. If we're, uh, seeing what we're seeing I'm guessing neither happened or the storm wouldn't be so bad? Unless um, shutting them down wouldn't turn off the storm?" She shakes her head. "Either way we need to go in there and find out what happened."
So you and Kaguya need help
"...Please," Lydia says softly. "I can't... I can't lose her too. I can't..."
She has a brief but quick laugh at Jay's quip.
"Bout a day ago. I contacted everybody as quickly as I could. 'Cause uh, by the time I got HERE, it had already been past the time Kaguya told me to contact y'all for. Sailing isn't so fast."
She looks to Juni, rubbing at her neck. "Anyway, yeah sorry. I don't know like what specifically she tried but I know the general plan."
"As for where she is." Lydia says. "It's an island near here, a place called Mount Liverfeast."
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Dean doesn't say anything at first about Azoth separating that pastry into its base components; he knows he's a robot and doesn't eat. He does wince, though. It's a real shame to see such a tasty good broken down like that...
"Hey, you aren't going to eat that, right?" he finally can't help but blurt out. "I'll take it off your hands if you're done with it!"
He can't just let something so delicious end its existence in vain!! (He won't snatch it from Azoth or anything though. He'll wait until he actually gives it to him.)
However that turns out, he grins at Azoth and Jay when they comment on being busybody. "It's not being a busybody if you're helping a friend in need!" he reassures Jay in particular.
They and Juni ask some good questions. Dean is big on helping but less big on thinking things through, so he lets them do the asking and listens to the answers. It sounds like Lydia doesn't totally know herself... But that doesn't change his answer any.
"Of course! You don't even need to ask," he reassures Lydia, squeezing her shoulder if she needs a comforting touch right now. Mount Liverfeast, though... "I've never heard of the place," he admits. "How're we getting there? If the storm is still going, it'd be hard to go by boat, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth smiles at Dean. "Oh, sorry. You're right, I can't. Please, go ahead." And Azoth does offer it, after stacking it back up in sort of the same shape it was in, if a little more delicate and precarious and prone to crumbling.
But extra pastry knowledge has been achieved.
Lydia continues to explain. Stop Demetrioi. Yes. Nothing of Azoth's calculations ever agreed with Demetrioi on a... fundamental level. The way Seraphim reacted was also a concern. But then his face falls as Lydia's explanation trails off. If Demetrioi cannot be convinced...
Then they would be shut down.
"Oh."
His hand falls over the center of his chest. This moment of performing any sorrow is traded away to look to Lydia in concern. There's not a lot Azoth can do, but to that request --
"You won't." It's too soon to say that with true certainty. Kaguya could already have met a grim fate. But until they know that, it can still be said, and logically, they should still act with everything they have to prevent it.
Liverfeast. Dean already asks how they might get thre, and Azoth nods to second the question, looking back to Lydia. "I don't think any of us are strangers to dangerous travel, but..."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
So, Kaguya was going to try to convince Demetrioi to stop or, failing that, shut them down. ...But as Lydia says, if the storm is still going, she must not have been able to do either. Jacqueline frowns, nodding, and finishes off her pastry.
"Don't worry. We'll do what we can for her." Jacqueline reassures... and then smiles at Dean. "It's okay. I've, ah... come to terms with it. But, thank you."
She knows she's a busybody. It's something Shalune has teased her about quite often.
"Mount Liverfeast... I have heard of it before. It's a volcano - a dormant one..." Jacqueline comments. And then, there's the problem of actually approaching it with the storm going... That takes a bit more thinking.
"My first guess... would be to request help from the people of the Thames. If anyone's both skilled and mad enough to make it through the storm, it would be them." Jacqueline considers, then looks toward Lydia. "Though, did you have an idea in mind for that? Do you happen to know how Kaguya made it there?"
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer wrinkles her nose at the name. Liverfeast. Why? Quick shake of her head, maybe it's a translation error in her head. Or they have some weird rituals out here.
As for Azoth, she's effectively ridden around on his shoulders guiding him around based on some radio wave telemetry, she probably gave him a name during that, right? Or is she mixing up her Machines. Too late now!
"I've been called worse than busybody to be fair." She admits, finger to her chin as she tries to think of the worst. Then decides repeating it out loud probably wouldn't do her any favors. Moving on. "Do we have a map of the place at least? Even outdated we could at least try to figure some details out right? Probably locations. Extraction and egress, that sort of thing?" There's two robots, someone that knows she's suspicious and a guy eating donuts, she's just going to actually try to plan things.
"If she's met a grim fate, to borrow that. I'd suggest going in heavy. Just saying." She has a hunch on what Kaguya's capable of at least. "I can do thermite. Breaking in, breaking things if things go sideways. Stuff's not that hard to make, just a bit of prep work. You can carry it pretty easily too." She scowls, "If it's going to be a situation of do it right, or everyone dies I have another option I could maybe work on. That one carries risk for a few people here though." She looks first to Azoth then Lydia at that. "And I can't promise it anyway."
"Should take medics along too. Minimum. Maybe basic triage treatment for everyone." For survivors. Sounds like she's prepping for a proper incursion though! Sort of.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia says, "Busybody was my word I'm just trying to paraphrase. Don't uh, get mad because I said 'busybody'." Do they have a map? "Not really? Not that I imagine one would be too much help with the storm. But I'm guessing we'd want to uh, keep going up?"
"Uppish?" She asks. "I'm sorry I don't know more. I'm honestly having a tough time keeping it together."
A waiter comes by and sets down a big mustard tube in front of the distraught Lydia. Quietly, without any explanation, she leans forward and sets the mustard bottle in front of Azoth. She explains none of this.
Instead she says, "Well Jay's pretty good at medicine." Lydia says. "But I'm not inclined to say no. I told you pretty much everything I--"
How did Kaguya get there though?
"Oh! She took a gear. Gears might be good, if you've got em! It is a big trek through awful weather and you might want your gear protecting you. Though 'fcourse, if a lightning bolt hits your gear you probably wouldn't like it too much?"
She looks back down morosely. Dean rests a hand on her shoulder and gives it a scqueeze.
She smiles a little, "Thanks Dean." She places her own hand on top of Dean's. "Thanks for being a good friend." Even if he is eating all the pastries.
"You too Azoth. I ... hope it doesn't come to that, y'know? I don't blame you if you uh. Want to sit it out."
It might hit a little close to home for him. This still doesn't explain the mustard.
"I'm sure even if it isn't as bad as I'm worried it is? It'll still be dangerous." She looks to Jay. "Can you let Ethius know? I figure he probably should know Kaguya changed her stance before he, I don't know, tries to murder her."
It's getting a lot harder to do Astie Jail.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Outside, there's a bit of a commotion. 'A bit.' It's dialogue that's all too common and unkind to hear.
"Hey! Beat it. Your kind ain't welcome here."
There's the sound of at least four sets of footsteps. Then violence! It's short lived. Also, a bit light-flashy outside, like sorcery's involved. Moments later...
Homer Mecone helps himself in. The former mayor of Alcidamas Village, elderly aged former Mecone cartel smuggler, the guy who somehow turned Demetrioi on to start with, and (until recently) hapless drag-along hostage of Ethius Hesiod, who conveniently does not seem to be here.
Uh. Conveniently? Hold up. First things first, Homer leans over using the butt of his pitchfork as support. If he just pissed off a bunch of Wei Trading Consortium thugs in the moment, he probably has a good reason?
"Hoo, wee... ain't I glad I saw the CaraKin out there...!" Homer coughs and sucks in breath despite seeming largely unhurt. He's old, but he's a large fellow and can hold his own. Easy to lose sight of these points when Ethius outright flattens him in a straight fight. He slaps his other hand on a table.
"Sorry that 'm bustin' in, but, but... moment we heard the rumor 'bout some storms, Ethius 'n I made it here yesterday," he addresses to the gathered. "N-Next thing I know, he's gone!"
Incidentally, and this would've been something unimportant as a detail, there's been talk about a boat and crew having been practically hijacked. Not out of the norm in isolation, Filgaia's seas can be cutthroat and the former territory of Celesti's management tends to begin and end at 'have Guild Galad presence, collect taxes.'
"...'m supposed to tell ARMS 'bout our next move," he looks to Juni, hi Juni! Who is a member of ARMS and thus Homer speaking about this to her counts as fulfilling Eleanor's request of Homer. "But... Ethius didn't tell me nothin' before he skedaddled..."
Homer looks up. "Y'all been 'round him longer 'n me, where'd he go...?"
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"Thanks!" Dean beams at Azoth and makes short work of the disassembled pastry. It's still just as tasty after being reduced to its component parts. It isn't until Azoth's face falls that he really processes what Lydia's saying in regards to Demetrioi--he'd simply assumed that they could stop him without it getting that far. He brushes off the crumbs from his hands and gives Azoth a pat on the shoulder with his other hand.
"Hey, it's okay! I'm sure we can talk Demetrioi down. He just wants to help people, so once he understands he's actually hurting, he'll stop," he reassures him. It has clearly not occurred to Dean that if Kaguya went to do that, and the storm hasn't stopped, that some kind of communication breakdown has occurred. That's an eternal optimist for you.
Even if he is eating all the pastries. YOU SAID HE COULD HAVE AS MANY AS HE WANTED, LYDIA
He gives a good-natured little shrug at Jay. If she's not actually bothered by it, then that's fine too. He smiles back at Lydia. "Anytime," he says. "And I'm sure Kaguya's fine. She might be beat up some, but she's tough! She wouldn't just die." He nods at Juni's suggestion to bring some medics, though. "Yeah! I'm sure she's alive, but she might be hurt. It's good to be prepared!"
So Kaguya got there by Gear... He nods. That makes sense. And--it's a volcano? There's certainly a lot of dangers at one of those. That dissuades Dean not at all, but he does nod.
A commotion sounds nearby, followed by some violence. Dean frowns in that direction, ready to intercede--but it's over almost as soon as it's begun. His eyes widen when he realizes he recognizes the old man.
"Hey, it's the mayor guy! What're you doing here?" he exclaims. He explains in turn, and Dean nods. "I'm sure he's off doing something important. ...or shady," he says of Ethius. "But well-meant!" He pauses and looks at Lydia. "You think he's already gone after Kaguya...?"
*That's* something to worry about, honestly.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth smiles faintly with Dean's reassurance. "I hope you're right. If we can logically explain why given behaviors don't match given objectives, there may yet be a chance." But if that's not possible, if the objectives are too narrowly defined, and too impossible to fulfill...
Mustard to the rescue! Azoth perks up, eyes bright with a sing-songy beep sequence. He takes the entire bottle of mustard and holds it like a precious gift.
He does not explain.
Gears. Azoth frowns. "I do still have access to one... Though it might be better for me to connect to someone else and assist in navigation."
But when he's given permission to stand aside, Azoth smiles faintly at Lydia. "No, when I can go with you, I will. It's the least I can do." He glances down. "...And I want to be there to see this through."
With another bright eyed blink, Azoth looks toward the commotion. He cranes and tilts his head not unlike some manner of curious parrot before Homer appears with some new information of his own, and a rather important question.
Slowly, Azoth turns to Lydia, but does not say aloud what he's guessing the answer to be. Dean does instead. And with what Lydia just said Ethius' aims might be under the context as he understood it to be previously...
"...We should hurry, I'm thinking."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"It's alright. You've done more than enough in getting this information. Thank you, Lydia." Jacqueline assures her, and then nods. "Yes - I'm more than willing to offer whatever supplies I can to help with this."
Juni's taking this pretty seriously... well, she supposes that's a good thing.
"A Gear... yes, that's a good idea." Jacqueline considers with a nod. She'll have to bring Issachar, then.
But, it'll be dangerous... Jacqueline nods in agreement.
"...Yes. I heard about what happened at Harmonde - if that's an indication of what Demetrioi is capable of, then we should expect a disaster on that level, if not greater." She agrees. As for the subject of Ethius... Jacqueline looks hesitant. "Ah... I will do my best, but... He has been frustratingly difficult to get ahold of, of late. I'll try, though."
...And, it's just as she's saying this that Homer arrives. Jacqueline hears the commotion first, standing up quickly from her seat.
"Homer, are you alright?" Jacqueline asks, hurrying over to him. ...He seems fine, at least, if not a little winded. She listens... and her expression becomes flat as Homer continues and mentions that Ethius ran off. Where did he go...? Well, there's only one thought in Jacqueline's mind.
"...If I had to take a guess, Mount Liverfeast." She replies, and then sighs, nodding at Dean's question. "I'm almost certain he has."
Azoth says they should hurry, and Jacqueline nods as well.
"Agreed." She says.
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer turns her head towards Homer and the fact that he's solo. Which is something she had considered conspiring to do before with the way he acted around Ethius. Also probably why she mostly focused on covering him earlier! Though uh, turns out he's not the squishy backliner she had thought. That's neither here nor there. "Yeah I can relay it. I was already taking notes for this." The real question is how the chain of command works. She'll figure that out as part of her report. Also she's totally taking notes somehow. Don't worry about it.
"Mad?" she asks Lydia, surprised. Then she looks down at herself, is she that grumpy? Maybe that's a cultural thing too. Eh. "Up into a caldera or up to a cave system?" Hey, planning is planning! She holds both hands up, fingers out in surrender, "I'll fish one up. I like to have that information. I can try and feed it to my gear so we have some good info too. Or you know, other tools."
As for taking it seriously, she did kind of see a town get more or less washed off the map, that kind of power has a way of convincing you. She does lope over to help out Ethius as she's talking. Albeit a little slower. She's not exactly a medic herself. "I'll bring my mech. Maybe I can relay communications. if the storm's bad enough. It's got the suite for it."
She does sneak another pastry on the way past Dean before he destroys all of them. There's also reassuring Azoth. And the idea that they can talk what she assumes is a rogue AI out of being rogue. "We'll do our best." she tries to sound reassuring. Genuinely so. The few times she's bumped into him, he's seemed genuinely kind of uh, innocent's the wrong word. She doesn't really know, but hey.
Then back on subject. "Probably." she nods to Jay, "The better quesiton is why." looking to Homer. A serious look again on her face. "There something else there?"
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia underestimated the true depths of 'all the pastries' but it is true, she has none to blame but herself.
Lydia is surprised to hear anti-beastfolk racism directed at someone else when there's clearly two beastfolk present already and she didn't get told to buzz off today. Though she did come with money and swords so that maybe helped. She tenses up though because when one beastfolk is getting harassed within earshot you get ready to fight or flight depending on the size of the mob.
Lydia doesn't have much experience with ARMS but the fact that Ethius buzzed off without saying anything is both
a) the most unsurprising thing Lydia has heard this month and
b) a worrying sign all the same.
"Probably to Mount Liverfeast," Lydia murmurs to Homer. Then she starts to get mad, real mad, seeing red mad. Her fingers clench the table hard enough they leave indentations.
Then it all leaves with her, anger replaced with exhaustion.
She hopes Dean's right but Lydia tried talking him down too and it didn't work. "I tried already," She tells Demetrioi. But I doubt I'm as convincing as you." It'd be nice if Dean could just fix everything by being super nice and friendly, she tinks. She frankly envies is optimism. Even with Rachiel's last request of hers, she kinda of wishes she could be more like him but her very instincts rebel against that level of optimism even if she hasn't really completely lost hope--she has gotten close.
"Yeah, I think he went after Kaguya. OR Demetrioi at least, and probably through Kaguya while he's at it." She looks to Azoth for a moment and smiles, "You know, maybe between you and Dean--you'd know how best to talk to Demetrioi than anyone right?"
Hopefully Gebler doesn't attack at the same time or something though. It'd be nice if Azoth could lend a hand under the radar this time.
"Yeah we should hurry..." Lydia says. "Homer, you're gonna be cool right?" She feels she has to add that because her experience with spacefolk is mostly through Ethius and she is never really sure if he's going to be cool. It feels like a coinflip as to whether he'll try to kill someone or not.
"Cause if something happens to Kaguya 'cause 'f space stuff..." She trails off. She thinks that's enough to amke the point that she's worried these two are still being a bit sneaky about something.
She blinks at Juni. "Mad?" She asks. She doesn't understand.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Homer's got a face as Dean mentions 'well-meant,' bared teeth in a cringing hiss and everything. "Iiiii dunno, but... he didn't kill me before he went, Iiii... gueeeeessss~" He robs underneath one of his pig-like ears.
"Hurry? Hurry 'bout... what," he says to Azoth and looking to how he's picked apart foodstuffs.
"Mount what? I dunno the name of every-- wait. That where they're talkin' 'bout the storms?" He says of Jay's guess, and saying it out loud he might feel a little soft in the head about it - but he's been in a bit of a panic here!
"Why?" Juni asks of him. "Ah, crap, that must be where Demetrioi's at, ain't it..."
He murmurs about this as Lydia talks about how Ethius might be after Kaguya or Demetrioi. If he wasn't tracking Kaguya in specific, and that'd require him having a) known where she was and b) being able to safely approach when pretty much all the Veruni know he is A Problem(tm)...
"Gonna be..." Homer shakes his head, holding up his hands. He knows what Lydia's capable of and her display of strength. "L-Look! Aside from whatever the hey the Veruni did ta Demetrioi... 've been puttin' the whole smugglin' and thuggery bit behind me since I've been mayor of Alcidamas!" Former mayor of Alcidamas, which is also a former entity unto itself.
He takes a deep breath, catches it, leans over...
"I bet he's tryin' ta take Demetrioi back to the people that bought 'em, and... y'know what?" Homer looks up. "I ain't lettin' him have his way no more. I'm done with the runaround, done with bein' dragged 'bout, done with bein' threatened. Whatever the hey happened at... Hardmon?" Harmonde. "That ain't the Demetrioi that gave life, hope, 'n happiness fer a lotta people... we can fix it. We gotta... so."
"Take me with ya," he says to the gathered. "Might not look it so much now, but, 'm a capable Symbologist. Still know my way 'bout a fight," as evidenced by the thugs he fought past to get here in a hurry. "I'm the first face Demetrioi looked at when I got 'em awake. If Kaguya can help with that... maybe we can workshop somethin' together."
He seems optimistic, even desperate, about that. "I mean, one thing's clear, ain't it? Even if he mighta been playin' nice sometimes..."
Homer looks out to the window. He's looking the wrong direction for looking towards Mount Liverfeast, but it's the thought that counts.
"I don't trust him with Demetrioi."
===== +WHERE ===================================================================
_ Ruins of Azado Ratatoskr and Gami _
_ The Cape of Breath Gwen Whitlock and Seraph Harmaus _
_ Port Rosalia - The Docks Juni Vandrer, Jacqueline Barber, Dean _
_ Stark, Azoth, Ethius Hesiod, Lydia _
_ Seren, and Kaguya _
_______________| 3 IC Rooms Occupied / Thu Dec 01 22:03:14 2022 |_______________
_ Observer, Drifter, Bystander, Antagonist, and Staff _
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Dean nods in agreement with Azoth. "How soon can we go?" he asks. "I've got a Gear of my own too, so I just need to go get it and I'm ready!" He'll be able to update Rebecca and Avril at the same time that way, too, even if they might not have the time to make it to join in.
Jay's on top of going over to Homer's side, so Dean looks at Lydia--though her saying it's already been tried gets a grimace. Right, she did say that, didn't she? Even so: "We'll just try again!" He nods again to Azoth, firmly.
Homer has clearly some deep disagreements on whether Ethius is well-meant or not. Dean gives him an apologetic look. "He's pretty intense," he says (understatement of the year). He does make a face at Homer's follow-up statements, but, well, it's good that he's moving on from being a bad guy! And to Dean, he seems to genuinely want to help, so...
He looks around at the others, then nods. "If it's good with everyone else, it's good with me," he says firmly.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Juni offers reassurance, and Azoth smiles softly at her. "I appreciate it." He does, but she's also falling for his trap of thinking he's something in the vicinity of innocent. ...Maybe in this case, it's not that far from the truth, though.
Azoth allows himself to adopt a more serious expression. "It's difficult to say... Demetrioi's technology is far different from mine. Our call signs don't exactly get along, to put it mildly. But if there's a shared mentality in our programming... Maybe that, I can work with."
He also hopes Dean could friendly his way through this one. Not always possible, but a better world when it is. Always worth trying, because of that, Azoth thinks. Even so, he regards Homer with unease. Mayor of a town that's met the fate it has... Because Demetrioi could not be rightly understood. Or could not understand. Both.
"Those who wake us can be important to us," Azoth says, glancing toward the others. "I think he could help."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
...It looks like everyone's come to the same conclusion about where Ethius is going.
"That's right." Jacqueline confirms for Homer with a nod. She doesn't blame him for not knowing - it's fairly obscure. She only knew about it already because she's the type to consume every book wihtin reach.
She listens as everyone speaks, considering the points put forward and 'hm'ing to herself quietly as she considers the situation.
"...I still trust Ethius - even if I don't trust his judgment in this particular situation. In part, for running off without telling me anything." Jacqueline says. "I think that needs to be said."
She looks toward Homer.
"Still. Are you sure about coming along? It'll be dangerous. I'd be glad to have you if you're certain you can handle yourself, but... Be careful, and follow our lead." Jacqueline says.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia's anger at least seemed to be brief. She can't keep it up.
"Yeah," She tells Homer. "I just feel like there's something y'all are still hodling back."
She looks down at the table, though, because even if that's the case she doesn't really have the willingness to force the issue.
Lydia smiles at Azoth. "Yeah, good point. Arright, Homer. You don't mind traveling with us, do you? It'd be cool if all my worries are just in my head. Or at least, we can fix stuff before they become reality."
Could Ethius really be planning on just taking Demetrioi back to his own people?
"...I don't know... I've known Ethius for a really really really long time. Longer than most folk here! And I mean, he always seemed ruthless but..."
She frowns. "...He never really seemed that selfish." But her faith can't help but be shaken after seeing what seemed to be Ethius returning to his worst behaviors.
She rubs at her forehead for a moment and then adds, "I can go whenever you all are ready. And by the sound of it... We really should get going as soon as we can. We didn't have time before, and feels like we have even less time now."
She takes one of the last remaining pastries. She opens her mouth. She looks at Dean.
And she just gives it to him.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
* Homer Mecone has joined the party as a Guest! He will be available as a Trus-- er, as a party member for Mount Liverfeast! His Dig capabilities are nonetheless virtually identical to Ethius Hesiod.