2024-05-20: Respecting Culture
- Log: Respecting Culture
- Cast: Hannah Curie, Eleanor Klein, Ethius Hesiod
- Where: Vermillion City, Energy Nede
- Date: May 20, 2024 (506 PC Filgaian)
- Summary: Two potential meetings combine into one. Eleanor, Ethius, and Hannah catch up on recent events and consider the future.
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah's been keeping plenty busy in Filgaia handling several matters--matters that, one way or another, sadly seem to keep resulting in fights. She is more than happy to lend what strength she can to her friends, of course, but her running around and Eleanor handling business and negotiations means she hasn't seen her friend in a while.
And she'd gotten a good reminder, recently, of the dangers of isolating herself.
So she'd headed back to Nede and sent Eleanor a message asking if she wanted to meet and catch up.
And after some messages back and forth, Hannah had arrived in Vermillion City! She's dressed in her Nedian clothes, a striped green t-shirt, navy blue skirt, and a long pink vest. Zephyr, of course, is riding on her shoulder, and Cassandra is out for a walkabout as well, padding along silently by Hannah's side.
Currently she's waiting on the edge of a pier, gazing out at the sunset and enjoying the feel of the salt breeze as she waits. It's a mild and pleasant day, all told, with plenty of people bustling around.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Eleanor Klein, as it happens, was already planning to meet Ethius Hesiod. She's got business to handle, and some of that business concerns the things he's been up to lately. But the chance to also meet Hannah is welcome...
So Eleanor decided to combie her meeetings!
The Sage is dressed in orange today, a bright sundress, some knee-length boots, and a lovely Bag to carry her various things, such as her Crest pouch, her Pokeball, and her ARM. ...Of course she's armed.
but that's not important right now.
"Mr. Hesiod?" she checks, looking aroun for him as she comes to a stop at the edge of the pier. Then, she llooks over and sees--"Ah, Hannah!"
Pyri is with her. Staring into someone's soul, as a Vulpix does.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Things have been eventful all over... but as the days roll on, Ethius is back in Energy Nede in continued preparations for taking on the Four Fields. Whatever's going on in Fienal is accordingly of extreme importance on a grand scale, and as the people of Filgaia and Lunar are the ones most able to answer the call...
He's in Vermillion today to speak with Eleanor about things. He's dressed in maroon, gradually going down to more ashen colors the further down one goes. Which, for a three-piece gradient of 'hoodie, jeans, and shoes,' doesn't leave many stages in which to determine a gradient, but nonetheless...
"Miss Eleanor," he says from just beyond the periphery. His Arcmene is taking in the sea breeze and watching one of the boats sail in the distance, and his Gerel is also right by him. A Magikarp flops helplessly on the docks after an attempt to show off its impressive leaping height goes awry. Gerel kindly nudges them back into the water.
He has a hand to his forehead. "Apologies for the delay. There were difficult matters recently on the other side of the rift. You were wanting to discuss--"
"Is that?" He's about to say 'Miss Hannah,' but Eleanor calls out to her long time friend before he can finish the question. Nonetheless, him and his two escort Pokkemon friends follow suit as a collective meeting between all of them is inevitable.
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah, left to her own devices for a moment as she waits, looks the tiniest bit moody and reflective... but she quickly shakes that when she hears Eleanor calling her name, brightening up with a big grin. She waves and shouts an enthusiastic "Howdy!"
Hannah, Zephyr, and Cassandra quickly make their way over to meet Eleanor. "And a howdy to you, Pyri," says Hannah cheerfully. And then she spots Ethius. "Well howdy, Mister Hesiod."
Hannah looks between Ethius and Eleanor. "I ain't interruptin' anythin' between the two of you, am I?"
Zephyr, for his part, takes off of Hannah's shoulder to swoop over to Eleanor and give her an enthusiastic chirp. Cassandra gives Pyri, and then Arcemene and Gerel a respectful nod. "Absol."
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Eleanor smiles at Ethius; despite their issues in the past, she remains friendly as a rule. besides; she looks down to, "Why, hello, Gerel! That's so nice of you!" She beams. What a charming Pokemon! So goopy and shiny...
"It isn't a problem," Eleanor assures Ethius, and Pyri looks up to stare into Hannah's soul before offering a, "Vul!"
"You aren't, unless it's a problem for Mr. Hesiod," Eleanor says. "I was meeting him for business," she nods to him, "When you messaged that you wanted to meet as well. Since you're a friend and a member of ARMS, I thought it was appropriate that we all discuss recent events together."
"May I ask what happened on the other side?"
"Hello, Zephyr! And hello there Cassandra and Arcmene, as well!"
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"Gerel~" Gerel croons as they wave their tongue once in farewell to the Magikarp, whom promptly leaps up on into the air a few times on the way back out into the (not so) vast waters of Nede.
"Mene." Arcmene mumbles in return. They're kind of quiet, and their gaze is unsettling. Gerel shuffles up to the side opposite of Ethius.
"I'm not on any more strict a timetable than usual," Ethius remarks, is that a 'yes, it's a problem' or 'no, it's not a problem' answer? He looks to the gathered Pokemon friends with a nod.
"What happened in recent... it involved Xantia. She had been involved in significant violence along the war zone by herself, and struck the Lahan encampments by the time we found her," he starts off that explanation.
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah kneels down to give Pyri a pet, seemingly oblivious to having her soul stared into. Or maybe she's just used to sharing herself after being empathically linked with Zephyr all her life.
"I surely am both of those things, so I suppose us all meetin' together will do just fine," agrees Hannah as she stands again. "There's been some humdingers goin' on Filgaia recently I can share word of, in that vein."
She nods to Ethius. "Assumin' you don't mind none, of course."
Zephyr, meanwhile, lands near Gerel to peer at him curiously. Chirp?
Hannah sighs as Ethius starts right off with Xantia. "Mmm. Dunno if there was somethin' 'bout those Gryndille tanks what set her off, but... I gather this ain't the first time that's happened to her?"
She's lost a little bit of her good cheer with having the discussion starting right off with the topic of Xantia. Cassandra makes a quiet noise and noses at Hannah's side. The sorceress reaches out to pet the top of the pokemon's head.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Pyri trills happily at the pets. She seems pleased.
Eleanor then nods to Ethis, and seems to take it as 'not a problem.' She considers the two of them, and the matter of Xantia. "I see..."
"That's concerning. Too much activity near the war front could lead to big problems," Eleanor opines. "If they feel more threatened, the war might spill over that much more..."
"Is everything all right?" she wonders. "It sounds as if you managed to handlle matters."
"As for here, I believe Mr. Hesiod is aware, but they opened ancient training grounds, here. The 'Four Fields'."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Gerel has no eyes in which to regard Zephyr, but they do tilt forward gradually to face Zephyr. Their mouth pickers tightly, drawing their teeth in as far as they can. It looks unlikely they'll open their mouth wide to try and consume this strange Flying-type before them. They bob up and down.
"It's not, to my understanding," Ethius remarks to Hannah's mention about it not being the first time.
Meanwhile, Arcmene locks eyes with Pyri. Those unblinking eyes...
"It's going to be up to Miss Xantia herself to decide, but... she's in as good and caring company as anyone can hope to be. I'm... not unfamiliar with the mindset of having to be dedicated to a difficult, urgent task above all other concerns." He looks off to the side for a moment. This much is self-explanatory.
"They have indeed," he confirms Eleanor's revelations to Hannah. "It's not exactly a well-kept secret," because Nede has yet to re-learn the importance of the concept of opsec!!!! "It's been deemed important we partake them in preparation for intercepting whatever plans the Ten Wise Men have put together at Phynal. Curiously, they mentioned they no longer have the information on how the Fields were fully supposed to work."
Beat.
"...In fairness, there's... no precedent for anything remaining reliable, functional, legible, or otherwise immediately available for recall or use across a span of tens of thousands of years, that I am aware of, though I profess the gap of knowledge is inconvenient."
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Too much activity could stir the war up further... "Least we took one threat off the battlefield." A beat. "Two, I s'pose, though I ain't exactly sure how we missed a whole extra tank runnin' around. ... Spiderin' around? Whaddya call the locomotion of a spider, anyhow...?" Hannah lets herself get distracted by that for a moment before bringing herself back to the conversation.
"Yeah, we calmed her down... or maybe just tuckered her out, ain't exactly sure." Hannah sighs. "Some of the stuff she was sayin' just... sounded familiar, is all. Sounded like she was about ready to run away from all the friends reachin' out to her..."
Hannah gives Eleanor a meaningful look with that statement. The 'that reminds me of someone I know and I'm still kind of ashamed that it does but for definitely entirely different reasons I wanted to catch up with you all of a sudden.'
You know, that one.
Hannah nods at that. "They surely did. Still got my notes from the briefin' for that. I will admit... I'm rather curious. Even if we ain't sure how they function anymore... well, they're some of the oldest Digs I think we're ever likely to get to explore. I'm curious to see what we'll find."
Zephyr regards Gerel for a moment more, tilting his head this way and that and taking a hop closer with another chirp. All sorts of interesting pokemon critters to meet...
Hannah nods to Ethius. "Supposin' if they never thought they'd need 'em again, they wouldn't need the records on 'em neither... they might've been right, if the Ten Wise Men hadn't gotten loose. But if anybody c'n build someth' to last 40,000 years... I'd bet it's Nede."
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Not the first time... It must be frightening, for that to happen to a friend more than once.
Pyri stares back at Arcmene. Immovable force vs unstoppable object!? She keeps staring for a while...
"Pix," she pronounces after a time.
One threat off the battlefield. "Hmmm," Eleanor says. Spider locomotion. "Skittering," Eleanor decides.
She gives Hannah a sympathetic look, and reaches out to touch her shoulder. "It's all right."
Then she looks at Ethius. His difficullt, urgent task... "I understand," she says.
But the Fields!! Both of them have things to say, because both of them were there. "...that's true; it would be hard to have information on that scale... I suppos even Energy Nede loses things." A nod, then. "But I'm fascinated by the idea as well. I look forward to encountering them--though we'll have to show the proper respect, for the ancient tradition."
"...And the danger."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"In this close proximity to Energy Nede... it's a situation I'm watching very closely," Ethius nods to Hannah and her musing.
Arcmene doesn't demonstrate what it's called, because they're staring intently into Pyri. There is no aggression, no capitulation. There is a meeting of eyes, and also a mumble of "arcm" as the mandible-limbs clack once.
Meanwhile, Gerel squats a bit lower as they flex their body as such to try and invite Zephyr to stand on top of them. Their rubbery body is not inherently dangerous to touch.
He nods at mention of understanding, and what he ended up putting Eleanor through when he made use of her premonitions. (He was taken aback by why Alcidamas was on fire - he thought when he heard the premonition that it'd be by his hand! Then it was already on fire by the time he was there...)
"I should elaborate, I don't accuse Mayor Nall nor Professor Oak of obfuscation. That is a very, very long span of time," he adds, "and all the obituaries I've checked to get a scale of how many generations removed they would be had everyone less than two hundred years of age." So, that's many, many, many, many generations removed from the time.
A hand to his forehead. "All I have is speculation on that front, and unfortunately we won't know the answers until we're there."
He straightens out, arms behind his back. "I intend to take on the Four Fields via the manner of a Pokemon Trainer, despite my relative inexperience compared to those who have lived the culture and discipline their entire lives."
"...Energy Nede is the furthest thing imaginable from an underdeveloped civilization," in fact, the entirety of the Pangalactic Federation's own technological prowess pales before it. Even the Vendeeni, the isolationist culture that has a leg up over the Federation, would be hard-pressed to match, "but it is as she says," to Eleanor. "No one has set foot in there for tens of thousands of years, and... I doubt whatever extant countermeasures or judges, as they are, would accept the divergences of the passage of time to their newest challengers."
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah nods. "Right. One less threat skitterin' 'round the battlefield then."
Hannah smiles a little and reaches up for a moment to put her hand over Eleanor's. "Thanks," she says quietly.
Proper respect... "Well, supposin' Cassandra, Eimi an' Agapi are up to the challenge, I could certainly go that route..." she says thoughtfully. "I'm a little less leery of relyin' on 'em in battle, but... I ain't exactly been in any big rush to go collectin' more." She shrugs a little. "We'll manage, one way or another."
She nods to Ethius. "'Preciate that. Hopefully that situation ain't gonna spill into Nede or Adlehyde anymore'n it already has... though Solaris havin' Nedian tech available to 'em sure makes me uneasy... On the bright side though, we were able to secure a golem in the salt flats and keep the Veruni from snaggin' it."
Zephyr looks with interest as Gerel leans down... And flags his wings to make the short hop to land on top. he's careful with his talons not to grip too harshly, too, thanks to years of practice with Hannah. He chirps excitedly in Hannah's direction.
She smiles at him. "Well there, looks like you made a friend."
"Yeah, I ain't got the sense they're obfuscatin' anythin'. Maybe a wee bit unprepared for a situation o' this magnitude, but that's a different matter."
Hannah snaps her fingers as she remembers something, looking to Eleanor. "Oh yeah. An' you're gonna get a kick outta this. Did you hear what the four fields are called?"
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Eleanor smiles at Hannah too.
Pyri wanders off to investigate Gerel, eventually, sniffing at them and at Zephyr.
But Eleanor remembers, too, Alcidamas and what happened there. She is unlikely to forget it.
"I see..." She nods. "So, that's many generations indeed." They won't know the answers until...
"Really?" Eleanor wonders of Ethius's approach. "..You know, that may be a wise idea. I'll have to consider doing the same. I know my partners are reliable enough for it. And my expertise is primarily in Filgaian magic..." She nods to Hannah. "They want to fight for their world, too. It would be an honor to them to have a chance to challenge the Fields, I think."
"Hopefully," ELeanor says of spillover. And the smiles down at Zephyr and Gerel.
But then...
Hm. "Can anyone really be prepared for something like this?" Eleanor wonders. "I wasn't, and it's literally my duty to prepare for the coming of great evil." A pause. "...Yes," Eleanor answers. "That, I heard."
"Courage, Wisdom, Power, and Love... three of which are long associated with ancient power in fallen Hyrule."
"...But it couldn't be related," Eleanor says. "It must just be that such powers are universal."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius' head dips a bit at mention of Solaris having Nedian tech on hand, knowing what happened with that... Meta... gross? It was only a matter of time with the rifts being as they are, and he can't begin to imagine what mind end up causing problems from the Southvoid-Meribus side of things.
Gerel's posture relaxes back towards their more upright posture as Zephyr makes their perch. "Rel~" A voice quietly leaves the barnacle's mouth as he makes a friend! Light glints off of their fine rubbery hide asPyro checks Gerel out, who is friendly and receptive.
Arcmene keeps staring in the same direction, from the same spot, even after Pyri wanders off. What is going through his mind? Who knows.
Talk of the Four Fields' name is shared, and then... it is the xenoanthropologist in Ethius that comes out of his thought about risk assessments involving misplaced and misused Nedian tech to speak of likenesses between venerated values.
"In my line of work," Ethius remarks, "normally... many cultures do, in prose, song, and other traditions, place certain concepts considered virtues to encourage embodiment. There's no universal list you see everywhere, in... so much of the range of knowledge I have," largely limited to worlds he was assigned to infiltrate and applicable studies of member-worlds of the Federation, "but it doesn't surprise me there's overlap."
"I may be misremembering from the Guardianist traditions I would frequently overhear on the CaraKin, but... Hope, Courage, and Love are another set I'd hear of as the highest powers." And Desire, which he forgets in the moment.
"Even the best-trained, most well-learned experts of a field can't expect to have all possible outcomes mapped out," which is the most assurance he can give to Eleanor, charged with a most important legacy to oversee and protect. "Nonetheless... it is good to be aware, and prepared."
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Zephyr puffs his chest up when Pyri comes over, spreading his wings to make a magnificent of display of plumage on his new perch.
Hannah nods to Eleanor, on pokemon wanting to protect their world. "Yeah... Cassandra's been willin' to put herself on the line to help protect ours, too..." She grins a little. "I gotta show you her Dynamax form sometie, it's amazin'."
"Ab, absol," says Cassandra.
Hannah kneels down and gives her a hug, and the pokemon nuzzles in for a moment. "You were amazin' both times."
Not related... "Maybe. But we keep findin' all sorts of connections between things we thought were separate. The Ten Wise Men got to Filgaia somehow... who's to say that's the first time our worlds made contact?"
Cassandra turns her attention to Arcmene, glancing at him, and the empty spot he's still staring at, and then back. "Absol sol...?"
She nods to Ethius as he speaks of shared values between civilizations. "I imagine you see somethin' similar even among different folks on a single world... makes sense you might see some overlap on different planets."
The Guardians of Hope, Courage, Love... and one more. Hannah looks to Zephyr, who is still busy showing off with his new friend. "I know the name of the Guardian of Hope... n' Zephyr knows it, too," she says with an almost wistful smile.
She looks to Ethius after that. "You're missin' Luceid, Guardian of Desire.. wherever they are, I hope they're doin' okay." Her introduction to Luceid--and Boomerang--was not an altogether pleasant one.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Pyri sits down, her many tails spreading behind her, and primly watches Zephyr and Gerel. "Pix," she says, and seems satisfied.
"I'll look forward to seeing it," Eleanor says of Cassandra, and smiles to the Pokemon.
Ethius's expertise gives Eleanor some interesting perspective. "I see... Yes, that would make sense. It must be so fascinating, to see so many different cultures."
"That's true," Eleanor admits of the Ten Wise Men, "...But it does seem unlikely, all the same. But the Guardians..."
Yes. "I also hope Luceid is well. Though I doubt they share that hope for us." A grimace.
"...Bu thank you," she says to Ethius. "That's true. But I'll do the best I can, all the same."
"...This isn't our world, but we are guests here, and it's important to be good guests. I confess, when I see tthis place, I wonder..."
"How far will Klein advance, in a hundred years? Will it still be there, in a thousand?"
"I hope to give our world that chance, at least."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Gerel seems completely contented with their current situation, just basking in the coastal sunlight underneath a strange new Flying-type friend and a Vulpix.
"Arcmene?" Ethius looks aside from the conversation for a moment. "What are you looking at?"
"Mene." Arcmene mumbles back to Cassandra. Ethius parts for a moment with a held hand to kneel down before the spider-like Pokemon, looking forward with the same discerning stare. "Hm."
"I see," he says.
(If Eleanor and Hannah look that way and as Cassandra will find... it's not clear what Ethius is seeing either... maybe Arcmene and Ethius are just that good of a match that they can find something completely interesting and noteworthy out of virtually nothing.)
Arcmene is left to his activities, such as they are, as Ethius rejoins the others.
"You're right, Luceid, of Desire," now he remembers that, hand to his forehead. "I'm not sure what the whole story on that one is, as of yet."
"It is true that the Sorcery Globe ended up on Filgaia, though... it does seem as though Filgaia - or this system - seems to be a common place for strange things like that to gather." Such as how no small number of things of immediate interest to the Federation have been there for a while.
"I have seen many things I could have never imagined existing here," Ethius concurs with Eleanor's sense of wonder. He had that sense of wonder taken away from him when he had to be forcibly relocated from his homeworld of his childhood. The light wasn't in his eyes when they found a beautiful, wonderful window into the splendor of the star ocean, when the veil of what lies beyond the clouds was lifted from his eyes in a less than ideal fashion.
"I hope they'll be able to discover what lies ahead on their - your - own terms," he says to eleanor.
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Pyri has committed what might be a mistake: Giving Zephyr an audience. (It's fine, Hannah's right there to keep him in line.)
"Proooobably not," Hannah admits of Luceid. "... Though we ain't the ones that picked that fight." She gazes off into the distance for a moment. "Wonder how things mighta played out, if we ain't been beset upon by 'em." She heaves a sigh that is far too weary for a girl so young. "... no use wonderin' now."
But Eleanor poses an interesting question. "Hmm. I bet she will, long as she's got good people lookin' out for 'er."
Hannah takes a turn to look herself as Ethius goes to join Arcmene. She squints, frowns, and exchanges a glance with Cassandra. Both seem to kind of shrug. She doesn't get it either.
But she's glad that Ethius and Arcmene are enjoying themselves, at least.
"Yeaaaah, I ain't really sure. Luceid and a Hyadean named Boomerang ambushed us gettin' out of the Memory Maze while tryin' to get back in to get to Lord Blazer to fight 'im, I think? They, uh... ain't gonna be tryin' that again, I'm pretty sure."
Hannah blinks as she searches her memory further. "Well I'll be, Eleanor. That was a year ago, or therabouts, wasn't it? How time flies..."
"IT's wonderous, but... I still get a little unnerved by it, sometimes," Hannah admits. She and Ethius have disucssed that before.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Friends!!
Eleanoor peers at Arcmene and Ethius, but for all her Sight, she has no idea what they're looking at. Oh, well.
"I've had some experience with 'what if'," Eleanor says to Hannah seriously. "I find it's better not to entertain it too much."
The Ice Shrine...
Wll. Ethius doesn't know the full story, but he does know Filgaia is weird. "True,"s he says. And then... Hannah explains.
"It was a problem," Eleanor says. "But it did give me a chance to meet Hannah again. Andd that I'm glad of."
Ethius may not have that wonder, but indeed--somehow Eleanor still does. Despite all she's seen. "...Thank you," Eleanor says to Hannah and Ethius both, but feels distant, for a moment. She might well see that Klein for herself. ...But her friends...
Eleanor puts on a bigger smile to conceal it. "I'm looking forward to it." And then, "Well, it is a little strange sometimes. But that's part of the fun, isn't it?"