[text] @kingofwei; OPEN

[pure_havoc]

good day. I apologize for the delay in this message but, well, it seems we've had a number of developments since the meeting. some time to digest them is warranted.

Doctor Ingram's message about the World Eaters has not changed my goal of getting this community to work together, more or less smoothly, because he pointed out repeatedly that in spite of unknown gigantic possibly demonic horrors that want to feed off our light, our purpose here is to 'fix' the world. if it involves facing or dealing with the World Eaters somehow, so be it, but if there is a chance we can discover a solution to all of our problems in the time frame before they find us, then it will render them less of a threat.

that said, I have come to provide a brief summary of the meeting, to have it on record, and a call to action.

we discussed leadership, the need for organization, and security. it was proposed that the burden fall on a council rather than a single individual, and if enough people volunteer there shall be a vote to determine who joins it.

there was talk of rebuilding the run-down structures in the square and the village. a young man named Remington was put forward as the most capable who can instruct others in the craft.

both Inspector Javert and Commander Rosinante brought up protection, both for the town itself and for exploration parties. suggestions were made to use the Invincible and the library as emergency locations for people to gather in safety. I believe both would be helpful for devising additional protective measures, against both outside threats and the possibility of inside threats. the damage to the church is proof that we must guard against both.

a young man named Jason also offered assistance in training, protection, and organization. Lord Eliot likewise brought up tactics but also emergency stockpiles of supplies and so on. all of these ideas can be brought to fruition with some help.

there were a number of other ideas as well: communicating with the spirits, a welcome message on the tablets, someone to greet new arrivals at the ferry, certain experiments with magic, and so forth. Mary has something of a tally of ideas and support for them. some of those discussions ended with no real decisions but by offering the ideas, perhaps someone in the community can take them and run with them. and, there is ultimately our need to learn as much as we can about this world, the darkness, how it all came to be, but there is much groundwork to be laid before some groups will feel safe enough to explore further.

that said, here is my call to action. whoever you are, wherever you come from, your skills are needed to make any of this happen. what good are ideas or even a council and defense structure if no one is willing to act? I have put myself up for the council, willingly. if there are others who would join me, I would like to know. if there are others who want to help train, or defend, or build, or explore, or work on information or the tablets or anything else, speak up. I have faith that we can work together, regardless of personal feelings. and, as both Ingram and the Keeper have intimated, if we do not work together, we are more likely to end up reset.

I do not wish to be reset. the puzzle here is almost too large to unravel alone, but I enjoy puzzles. I would like to see us be the group that finally succeeds at...whatever it means to fix the world. restore sunlight? defeat World Eaters? something as yet undiscovered? we shall see. but it begins with others standing up to volunteer.

[and with that he sits back to hope that people do.]

Comments

@SuprNerd

[moderatelymaladjusted]

No one is going to work together if we don’t have a clear goal. And we don’t.

There’s not even a list of people here or what we can do. I mean, you’ve been here a lot longer than Eliot and I have, and still - why isn’t there a list of what we can do? Most people here can do something but no one has any idea. Maybe one of us can fly and could fly out to overlook the forest? Could fly until the end of this pocket universe for all I know, but can any of us fly? Does anyone even know? Why doesn’t anyone know?

[pure_havoc]

to be quite honest: because until I have taken the reins to do so, no one else has. no one has offered to make that list, nor has anyone spoken up to offer their skills.

yet.

this is their chance. they should do so. we will make a list. keep it on hand. when someone asks for, say, a bodyguard to explore with or a person to repair a bridge, we can tell them who to talk to. it is painfully simple and yet no one else has bothered to take the initiative.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Who's we?

I can make a list. But I'm not sure everyone should have access to it, I mean, some people might not want everyone else to know that they can do magic or fly or whatever.

[pure_havoc]

we is anyone willing to help. I am capable of doing things alone but why should I, if others can and will undertake the work? thank you for offering.

that is a valid point but we cannot have it both ways. you cannot ask for someone who can fly to help do reconnaissance but then tell those who can fly that they can keep it secret. I don't know if you're aware what 'cooperation' means but it usually involves volunteering something of yourself in exchange for the trust that it will be used in good faith.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

I'm not offering because of you.

I didn't mean that? I would never ask someone to keep that a secret unless that's what they want? But I meant, I'm not giving the list to you. Do you even have any idea about magic? About flying? Anything at all that would make someone special? Because I have and I'll make the list and keep it. And then, if you see someone that I haven't helped already, send them my way?

[pure_havoc]

[oh is that all? a shame text hides his smarmy smirk]

I do actually. well not flying, that is a bit out of my range, but I have dealt with a certain level of sorcery, including directing those who can use it how best to wield it in a pitched battle.

but why should I trust you with such a list? what makes you, as a keeper, somehow better than me or anyone else in this town? I ask merely as a point of information. after all, if we are to trust each other, there should be a modicum of basis for it.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

[What an asshole, and Quentin curls up harder around the tablet, fingers moving rapidly.]

That doesn't really answer the question, though. Can you do magic? That's you've talked to a few magicians in your day and maybe gave them advice on how to be a shit doesn't actually count all that much in this.

I'm not saying I'm the best one for this? But I'm the only one willing to do it and? I went to Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, do you even have a formal magical education? I was king of Fillory and I have been through shit like this before.

[pure_havoc]

[ooh there's a lot to unpack, there]

can I? well, in a limited sense. battle only. I did not have the opportunity to learn the sort of sorcery my tactician learned from nefarious sources.

formal education should not matter. but if you are sincere and royalty, then there is no need for us to be at odds. we may be cut from the same cloth, excepting the sorcery itself. to have witnessed and understood use of magic is a decent substitute for using it oneself, in my experiences.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Battle magic isn't the only magic there is? And also, I don't know kind of magic your tactician was trying to learn, but it's not nefarious. Not on it's own? It's about how you use it. I mean, even the spell you'd use to peel an apple could be nefarious. If you used it for something else.

We're not, no. Not even a little bit, because I want to actually help people. I'll make the list and then everyone can talk and maybe agree on how we use it. When we use it.

[pure_havoc]

bold of you to assume that I don't want to help people. that is all I am doing, here.

you have misread me; the beings capable of powerful sorcery where I last was were terrible, but that didn't stop some of us from learning what they would deign to share and turning it to beneficial use. but that is neither here nor there. if you have trouble understanding my written words, I would meet to speak face to face.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Right.

Or, you could try pulling your head out of your ass and write what you mean? Just a suggestion. Okay, so you know battle magic. Great. It really is. How powerful would you say you are at it?

[pure_havoc]

[look this flowery language took a long time to learn, he's gonna use it! ahem.]

moderately so. there are others far more powerful than I, but I would have an edge over someone without sorcery.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

[Side-eyeing that flowery shit so hard!]

Can you show me?

[So, Cao Pi is really annoying, but also, it would be stupid to write him off as useless without making sure. So. Invitation to show off battle magic is issued.]

[pure_havoc]

if you wish. I'm sure I can freeze a tree or two without frightening too many spirits

[not sarcasm this time, sob]

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Cryomancy. That's actually pretty impressive.

[Also, no sarcasm but so much side-eye it's beginning to be a bit painful.]

text | @kol

[unpredict]

We're still running around like headless chickens, but better to be headless chickens trying to find our heads than not trying at all.

[ evidently kol just wants to eat chicken. anyway—the town hall meeting had been a good start, in his opinion. but cao pi is right—there's no point in meeting to discuss meetings if nothing will come from that meeting. ]

I can help train, defend, and, explore. We should be working together rather than as silos, as more heads together tends to work more effectively than one. I'm not exactly happy to sit on a bloody council as it's never worked from what I've experienced, but if that's what we need to try to avoid this reset, then consider this me reluctantly raising my hand if it means we'll get something done.

[ consider his hand raised to be voted off the island if that needs to happen afterwards. ]

[pure_havoc]

I agree entirely.

for now, then, consider yourself recruited to the table. who knows? perhaps enough people will volunteer that you can escape on a vote.

[and yet the response to his call is pretty telling. It might be just them after all. Oops?]

[unpredict]

[ their team name can be #coal ]

I'll make it very easy for them to vote me out.

[ this is the one thing kol's sure of—his ability to make people dislike him. ]

You remembered quite a bit of information from that town meeting. You take this very seriously... It's admirable, given the circumstances of us being completely at the mercy of unknown creatures.

[pure_havoc]

I do. having come from a demon dimension where the stakes were far higher than who could suck up to the emperor the best, I've learned to direct my efforts where they're most needed. I will not bend to supernatural creatures no matter which world we're in.

[unpredict]

[ so much info in this, so little time to unpack. ]

A demon dimension? Does that make you one? Or are you just one of the lucky souls to not have a marred soul?

[pure_havoc]

I am not. merely an unfortunate kidnap victim. though I'm not sure what souls have to do with it.

[his fault for just casually mentioning his experience with no context, really]

[unpredict]

If you're a demon, your soul is considered marred. At least from what I know, some spiritual realms take the condition of your soul rather seriously.

[ he's rather grateful his own demonically marred soul saved him from being permanently obliterated. he's still unsure if it'll help him here. ]

Forgive me for being so forward, but is that how you died? Kidnapped by demons?

[pure_havoc]

to be fair in many cases humans are also somewhat concerned about the soul, or at least the part that moves on after death, but that seems a different issue.

it was not the kidnapping. we have all been trapped there for a few years. it was, however, a rather large demonic creature, so the answer is yes and no.

[unpredict]

My apologies all the same. Demonic creatures are hardly friendly.

[ kidnapped, definitely, is one of the worst ways to die. away from what you find comfort in? from the things that define you materialistically? kol has always enjoyed being near something or someplace that he has found some sort of identification with. ]

Do you view being here similar to being kidnapped?

[pure_havoc]

how true.

there are some similarities. enough that I cannot be fully content simply accepting the explanation as given, at least not entirely. if I am dead, so be it, but there is something else going on here that leads me to believe it is both true and not. the whole truth is out there for us to discover.