at least she didn't set the ships on fire

[necromanswers]

Who: Lup & OTA
Broadcast: Yes
Action: SS Heron, SS First Breath (a bit), Planetside
When: today & throughout the event


( a; arrival on the Heron )

[Lup's arrival on the bridge, confetti and all, is as much a shock to her as anyone else who might witness it. For a moment, she's just quietly stunned.

And then she lets out the loudest WHOOP her lungs can muster and goes through the very strange process of experiencing the ship:
1) she does, like, seven cartwheels in every hallway
2) she just starts touching stuff. walls, consoles, cupboards, furniture. life is so tactile!
3) she finds an actual real live person and grabs their hand immediately to shake
4) she flops dramatically on the nearest bed or couch, regardless of whose it is

She does every single one of these with a huge, shit-eating grin on her face. She has a body again! Holy shit, it feels amazing! It's time to party.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE GREAT, RIGHT]


( b; First Breath )

[Her time on the First Breath is brief, and she tries to time it in a way that Taako won't be around for it, but that doesn't meant that other residents won't spot an elf sort of sneaking around the kitchen and down the hall one day. Catch her, if you can! Those who have already met Taako might notice that she looks exactly like him.

She'll be leaving a fancy new wooden spoon behind in one of the kitchen drawers before she goes.]


( c; text & voice broadcast )

this is a test, looking for some intel. I need to know two things:

1) when you read or hear these words, can you understand it, or is it just static?
2) if you experience static, is it every word, or just some?

GRAND RELIC. BUREAU OF BALANCE. PHOENIX FIRE GAUNTLET. VOIDFISH.
IPRE. LIGHT OF CREATION. HANGING ARCANEUM. THE HUNGER.

GREG FUCKING GRIMALDIS.

[She repeats the full message verbally, and then, after a pause-]

Sorry for the noise if all you get is static, spaceballs. I'm just trying to do some science.

[Weirdly enough none of that should be static for anyone- except for 1 specific person, of course. Sorry Taako.]


( d; planetside )

[Lup's priorities are thus: 1) scrap the heck out of everything useful that she can get her hands on, and 2) FIGHT ALL OF THE THINGS.

She can be found digging her way through piles of metal and parts, elbows deep into whatever might be useful. She won't touch the piles that look like actual garbage, but appliances, vehicles, decor and kitchenware- she's all in. Even if something looks broken, she gives it a considering look before adding it to her "keep" pile; after all, magic powers can fix a lot of broken stuff. Want to come and help with the dumpster diving? She seems to be an old pro at this.

She can also be found signing up for as many gambling arena tournaments as she has time and spell slots for, both the solo fights and the partnered ones, or just fighting against monsters. Are you joining the fight, too? Because she's looking for a good, tough-looking (or at least deceptively strong) scrapper to join her! Let's go punch some aliens! She's been isolated for far too long, and she's eager to give her long-dormant power a solid test-drive.]

Comments

[necromanswers]

[Oof... and he just comes out swinging, huh. She pauses for a long moment, considering her options. It's not as if she needs to get information from him- surely she could find out whatever he might know from someone else. She doesn't even know what he can tell her to begin with.

On the flipside... she hasn't been able to talk about this to anyone for over a decade, and it's not as if it's some deep dark secret, anyway. They used to share their story whenever they reached an inhabited planet, to give the residents a heads up and seek out their help in finding the Light. Looking at it that way, this isn't so different.

She needs allies here, too. So finally she shrugs her shoulders.]

There were seven of us- two elves, including myself, three humans, a dwarf, and a gnome. We traveled from one reality to the next, staying for a year and seeking power until we were able to move on. What do you want to know about them?

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki waves a flippant hand. ]

Anything you're willing to tell me. Some key traits, perhaps.

[necromanswers]

[Her brows furrow. Vague, but open to interpretation. She can roll with it.]

The humans, then, because I like 'em best. [Well, aside from one other person.] One's a fighter, a bit of a meathead, more muscles than smarts, but he lives and dies to protect people no matter who they are or how long he's known them. We know he'd take a hit for any one of us.

Next is... well, she's something of a confidant, a listening ear. Incredibly smart, always writing everything down. She's probably too smart- overthinking everything, worrying about everyone. She ends up on her own more often than not, but we try to pull her away from it.

Then there's my partner in- well, crime, I guess, but plenty of other stuff, too. He's one part necromancer, a terribly dangerous wizard, and one part absolute marshmallow. A giant nerd and a romantic, besides. They're good people, every one of them.

[She's all affection, and it's a bit weird to say all this to a stranger and a god, but hey, isn't that what gods are for? Talking about things you wouldn't normally let loose? She's never been religious, but she's definitely chaotic. There's kinship to be found here.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ a ragtag group of heroes. loki wonders if it's always like this. unlikely people coming together. he'd never fit in, of course. he's never had his personality align with another's. some way or another, loki would found lacking. good people. he's always hated that.

but that's not important right now. ]

Interesting.

On a planet, a month ago, we came across another ship like the Marsiva. Similar build, similar feeling. Simply older. Which implies this experiment that is being carried out with us has been done before.

Therefore, despite the fact that we may have an audience, what we know of the Atroma bears scrutiny.

[necromanswers]

[Well, isn't that fascinating. She wonders briefly how she might react if they'd stumbled upon another Starblaster on one of the visited worlds, abandoned and mysterious. It's one thing if they'd stumbled upon it by chance, but if this Atroma group is guiding their journey through space, then they had to have meant for them to find this other ship, right?

She files the information away quietly, her head tilted in thought, and then continues where she'd left off. An exchange of information requires give and take, after all.]

The dwarf's a strange one. He's a cleric, or so he says, but he does a lot more talking than healing. He's really into his god, and even more into plants. May or may not be into boning them. We don't ask. Always smiling, though, and that's refreshing on a bad day.

The gnome is our captain, and our pilot. He's... is there a nice way to say "ruthless"? He's so devoted to the mission that he refuses to let anything stand in his way. People, technology, civilizations- he's not cruel with his intent, but once in a while his moral compass needs guiding. Sometimes we need it, though. Only sometimes.

[dothelokimotion]

All dwarves are strange.

[ at least all the ones he's known. loki does not miss eitri in the least. ]

There is a strange substance on the Marsiva. A kind of "entity". We do not know if it is alive or not, but it is very much present. And it gives off fear.

[necromanswers]

An… entity that gives off fear?

[Okay, hold off on the crew roster, because that sounds super alarming, and she's not a fan. There's lots of things that can cause fear, but being back out in the universe has her paranoid about the Hunger again.]

Have you seen it?

[dothelokimotion]

In a sense. It is like black ink, empty and pitiless.

[necromanswers]

Just black, huh. No colours prancing through it, like the world's most gothic of rainbows?

[Not the same thing at all, then. Well, that's good for them, technically. She doesn't know what this entity might be, but it's gotta be better than something powerful enough to devour an entire planer system.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ he shakes his head. ]

Nothing like what you have described.

[necromanswers]

Mm... figured as much.

[She leans back against the counter, arms crossing over her chest.]

Well, good. Not great, but good enough. That's what the Hunger looks like, by the by, if I wasn't being super obvious about it. Big, oozing black clouds with multicoloured arcs moving through them.

[dothelokimotion]

I doubt it is the same, though they may share similarities.

[ as far as loki is aware, the atroma are very much Their Own Thing. ]

[necromanswers]

The biggest clue is that we're all still here and not, y'know, nommed on by a multi-plane-sized goo monster. Whatever the thing is, it's at a way smaller scale if it's just in one ship.

[Which, again: good for them.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ so the hunger is a singular thing, devoted to its purpose. good to know. ]

It couldn't be a small part?

[necromanswers]

[She shakes her head immediately, not even considering the thought.]

The Hunger doesn't separate. Goes against the whole nature of the thing. It moves as one- finds what it wants, consumes, grows, and heads to the next meal. Imagine the fattest dog in the universe in a house with a bunch of scattered food dishes. It's gotta waddle from dish to dish, it can't send its foot to get the next one.

[dothelokimotion]

[ he nods. ]

I see. A useful piece of information.

[necromanswers]

You're welcome for the heads up.

[Just doing her duty, strictly speaking. It's what they've always done, traveling plane to plane- find the locals, share intel, find the Light. Though without the Hunger around she's assuming that won't be following her here, either.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ debatable. ]

As I said, the Atroma keep a tight leash on debilitating influences from other worlds to appear here.

[necromanswers]

[IT WOULD BE REAL BAD IF IT DID, THOUGH]

If they're powerful enough to control that sort of thing, I'd be tempted to get real chummy with them. Buuut it's more likely that the Hunger hasn't found this plane of existence yet. It only travels to one a year, and there's loads of them out there.

[dothelokimotion]

[ he highly doubts the atroma would ever allow it. not to their precious experiment. ]

A year? That's rather arbitrary.

[necromanswers]

Yeah, it's weird. Far as we could ever figure out, it was just the span of time it takes for the Hunger to travel to the planer system we ended up in. We were never able to leave until it arrived and opened whatever wall blocked any travel outside.

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki makes a note of that. ]

And the selection is random?

[necromanswers]

Totally random. At least, we've never had control over where we end up.

[dothelokimotion]

And you don't question that?

[necromanswers]

Who said that? Of course we questioned it. We were sorta scientists? That was the whole job. We observed, we experimented, we theorized, we tried all kinds of things, both to break the cycle and to control it. Never changed a damn thing until the last one, when we just didn't leave.