driftfleet | First Leaf - Fear Not This Night

Entry tags:

First Leaf - Fear Not This Night

Who: Asteffiel
Broadcast: Yep | Video
Action: Marsiva
When: March 4th/5th?

Little Asuran Box, why am I cold?

[ At least, that's what Asteffiel assumes this thing he's holding is. Hope no one watching gets motion sick, because Asteffiel keeps turning it over and over, trying to figure it out. Enjoy plant-hands, the long leaves of his bottoms, the very obviously grown out of his feet leaves of his shoes. ]

It is still winter, yes, but I haven't been cold while dressed before. [ He finally rights the communicator, studying it a little close now.

Yeah he's made of plants molding itself into a human shape. ]

… Except when I walked into the pond. That was cold. But I am not wet now, so it is not that.

[ Silence as he thinks more on why he could be cold while clothed and not soaked. ]

Where is Crocus? This is not his house.

[ Finally something vaguely important to ask – although he still seems distracted. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Lots of people. I'm not actually in the box, though. I'm just talking to you through it.

[what a fascinating person, now that he's sideways. plants? reminds him of that demon he met, though he seems much more stable...]

Do you know what a boat is? Or a ship that sails on water?

... Oh, so you are not trapped.

[ ... so he doesn't need to break the thing. Okay. ]

Yes. But they are usually wood. And Tre... Tree? [ He pauses, thinking.

It takes a little bit before he perks back up. ] Trahearne! Trahearne has cloud-ships.

[there we go. now we're getting somewhere! Robin has nothing but patience and a cute smile for the stranger, it would seem.]

Good, cloud ships. We have those where I am from, as well. Made of metal.

This is like one of those, just... much, much bigger, and much higher up in the sky, as well. We're so high up that we're far away from the sun. That's why it's so dark.

[ Smiles keep Asteffiel fairly cheerful himself, and patience is needed. Always... ]

And that is why it is cold! [ Mystery solved! Because sunlight is good at warming and keeping him energized and wait.

There's another problem now. ]

... But I need sunlight. I don't want to wilt.

[ He's exaggerating, but he spends perhaps a little too much time growing plants. ]

Ah... You can catch some sunlight on the local moons. We may also pass close enough to a star to keep you well, if that's what you need...

[he shifts a little in the chair he's sitting in, propping up his face in his hand, looking curious and thoughtful.]

How often do you need sunlight...? Will you survive a week without very much of it?

.... You can get on a moon?

[ Asteffiel thinks.

And thinks some more. He's aware of this being a thing, of getting lethargic when he's up far past the sunset, but he isn't terribly sure about a how long. Even when he was a Courtier, he went out in the sun.

Time for digging in what he can remember of his Dream, and see if he got anything useful from other Sylvari who explored a lot more. ]

I'll feel... really bad, after four days. I've avoided it.

Yeah, you can get on a moon. It's kind of bizarre, I know.

[unfortunately, the Marsiva isn't under this guy's control... so he can't tell him to steer the ship closer to a sun, or anything. on the bright side...]

...Ah, well, I doubt our hosts would let anything too terrible happen to you before you've even been placed into a crew. Perhaps there is synthetic sunlight somewhere on board.

[ Just a bit bizarre. Asteffiel is wrapping his mind.. No he isn't, he's stuck on standing on moons being a thing. It's weird. ]

.... Syn-thet-ic means... Sunlight not from a sun?

[ Because "on board" doesn't match with "no sun nearby". ]

.... like a lamp?

Yes, you got it. "Synthetic" is another word for something man-made. Not occurring in nature.

[this guy's not bad. again, he's very patient, smiling again.]

I heard a little while ago that someone here is trying to make lamps that produce synthetic sunlight, or something very close to it.

[ The fun of weird tech mixes. He knows lamps. Just usually fueled via firefly luminescence.

It's a smiles loop - Asteffiel staying cheerful with smiles being directed his way. ]

That would be good. I could grow little plants that way too.

[ ... Because that's pretty much what he does currently. All the gardening. ]

That's exactly what they're made for. One of the other captains wanted them to grow some plants... I think it's much nicer, out here, with something growing.

[he makes a mental note to follow through on that.]

Do you have a name, friend?

I like growing things. [ He must find this magic lamp.

Oh, he knows how to answer this question. ]

Asteffiel! What about you?

[aw, his smile gets a little less polite and a little more genuinely delighted.]

Asteffiel, what a good name. My name is Robin, like the bird.

The one with red feathers on the front!

[ .... So close. ]

On its chest, yes.

[almost. hopefully this guy isn't secretly calling him a cardinal or something.]

Yes!

[ No, that's on its head. or top- ]

And small, not like moas. ... although I think moas come in pink instead of red, and it's pink all over.

...I'm not sure I know what a moa is.

[he hopes that's the singular. he hopes they're still talking about birds.]

A big bird.

[ That's helpful. ]

Maybe... this tall? [ He indicates his shoulder. Of course, Asteffiel is sitting on the bed, so this also isn't terribly helpful. ]

They don't fly, though.

Oh, like Tallbirds.

[he means ostriches. but they don't have ostriches on his world. and they had ostriches on a previous set of waystations, but the locals all called them "Tallbirds". so that's what they are.]

Yes! But pink. or white. .. or blue.

[ They come in a lot of colors. ]

Oh... How strange. [...] I am most definitely not like one of those kinds of birds, then.

Yes. Robins are little quick birds, and they help gardens sometimes because they eat bad bugs.

[ ... Probably not exactly how Robin wants to be remembered. ]