[Voice]

[stillwinningthehardway]

[Scout speaks briskly. She's familiar with networks, at least the voice-only kind, but always feels awkward trying to start a conversation like this.]

I was assigned 'Warlock' by... whatever assigned these things for us. I know a lot about what that meant on another world, less about what it means here. Hopefully here - I mean, I don't like being bound to something without knowing much about it.

[She coughs. Moving on.] So I've had a very vivid dream about what I assume is my patron here. She's some kind of fae, and... really excited about the other fae I've had experience with. Is this happening to anyone else?

[How warlocks know about their patrons and exactly what the patrons are like is up to players! One possibility is they're contacted in dreams.]

Comments

un: laurel.

[statecrafter]

I'm unfortunately a merchant, so no dreams of otherworldly individuals on my end.

Have you considered speaking to the established members of this agency as well? Maybe they'll have educational guides for your- [ how to word this so it doesn't ridiculous aloud. ] -role.

[stillwinningthehardway]

[Baffled:] A merchant?

There was a pamphlet. [She sounds a little disgruntled.] I haven't asked beyond this, yet.

[statecrafter]

A merchant, yes. Probably for the best, since I'm simply awful at combat.

[ she always had someone else covering that weakness of hers, and she has to hope that'll continue being the case here. ] I'm sure they'll be willing to answer any questions you have about this. We're all new here, after all.

[ actually... now that she thinks about it... ] Maybe this has happened to others, since we're all from different realities.

We probably look and feel and even smell different to forces beyond our understanding.

[ is that supposed to be comforting, lore? ]

[stillwinningthehardway]

Huh. [Scout doesn't fully understand capitalism so that sounds like a terrible fate to her.] Well, if you're happy with it, I guess?

It makes sense. Something that's basically omniscient in one reality, or several, is usually weaker in others, but there are only a few that can manage to... uh... force something from outside to fit all the way. And even then it may not really stick.

[She is speaking from experience.]

un: skull

[ryuji]

Nope can't say that's happened at all

You have faeries in your dreams though?

... are they hot faeries?

[stillwinningthehardway]

[Text. Scout knows she should match it. "Like passing notes in a class," she sighs, not sending the audio.]

Did you get a warlock pamphlet or something else?

Eh. One, and she's all right. I've seen hotter.

[She knows what 'hot' means in this context at least.]

UN: Link

[bluechampion]

I haven't heard anything about patrons or fae, but I was assigned as a fighter, so maybe that's why.

...

What's a "fae?"

[stillwinningthehardway]

Fighter? Just... fighter?

[Scout's plain not aware of the different class names. 'Merchant' was already weird.]

'Fae' is another word for faerie, or the 'fair folk'. They're uh... a kind of entity that likes other worlds and is usually powerful, magical, and some degree of immortal, though depending on the reality they can be very different. Some are mischievous, some will bless folk, some are possessive, or all three. Usually they're hard-wired to keep their word but many aren't exactly trustworthy.

[bluechampion]

Yeah. It's not very...descriptive.

[Link lets out a long 'Ooooooooooooh!' at the description.]

There are fairies where I'm from. They don't interact with people much, but the dust they sprinkle around has healing properties. The Great Fairies are the ones that give out blessings. I've never heard of mischievous fairies before.

[stillwinningthehardway]

It just sounds like it'd apply to most of the people here.

You're lucky, then! Yeah a lot of the time there are greater and lesser ones and dozens of names for subcategories. I haven't heard about healing dust. Do you collect it?

[bluechampion]

The dust is a little hard to collect by itself, so I usually just catch the fairy itself and keep it in a bottle until I need some healing. There are people that cook with it to make fairy tonic though.

[stillwinningthehardway]

And they don't mind that?

[bluechampion]

It's kind of hard to tell. I mean, the fairies themselves aren't being cooked and eaten, but they don't talk either. The Great Fairies never mentioned disliking it, so I guess it's not really a big deal.

[stillwinningthehardway]

I... guess not. Well. Different world, different rules

So did you pick a bracer name that's your name, or is it something you like?

[bluechampion]

I guess so.

I just used my own name. Do most people give it its own name?

[ryuji]

Nah, mine said Barbarian but it was a super effin' boring ready so I dunked it in the trashcan.

Was totally worth 3 points from downtown.

Wait wait wait

Back up though

Describe this "hotter" faerie

[stillwinningthehardway]

Some do, some don't, and don't ask me why 'cause I don't know.

I just went with Jedi, but I could have gone with Scout. That's what most people call me face-to-face.

[stillwinningthehardway]

That sounds about right.

Tall. Big. Usually human looking, then she started walking around with horns. Turned into a giant dragon sometimes. I think the dragon is or was her true form honestly.

Mostly she's really powerful, and you know what they say about power.

[ryuji]

I thought you said faerie how the hell did it turn into a dragon?

... was the dragon hot?

Wait, I'm not sure I wanna know the answer to that

Pretend I never asked

[statecrafter]

It's what I'm best in. The Saints know that I'm not the best in combat.

[ that was what laura excelled in when not leading the team, so-

lorem opts to refocus her attention to her current conversation. for her sake and for the sake what's being discussed is simply fascinating. ]

That could be why your- [ what's that word again? ] -patron is fascinated with you. You provide new insight in something that they don't know before, a novelty and a newness that they could either like or dislike. Either way, you certainly grabbed their attention.

[ but is that a good thing or a bad thing? hard to say at the moment. ]

[stillwinningthehardway]

Shapeshifters! Go figure.

I don't think of dragons as particularly hot but if you're into that, fantastic. I think there's a few people with dragon traits here on this base.

[stillwinningthehardway]

It makes sense. I mean, some of it was because I worked for a bigger fae lord from back before this, and some of the celebrity rubbed off on me, apparently.

[Technically, Scout is a changeling, and archfey can pick up on that.]

She seemed very excited about that. But if this is a reality without easy travel to others, I wouldn't be surprised if, uh, migrants are especially interesting.

[ryuji]

[HE SAID TO PRETEND HE NEVER ASKED!!!!

But okay, he might be into that.

This is a horrible thing to have to write.]

You think if you're a warlock you can pact with a dragon?

[stillwinningthehardway]

Maybe! It depends on what dragons are in this world. In some worlds they're just animals, or they don't exist at all.

So is 'skull' your name-name or something you just picked?

[ryuji]

Oh god... dragons. You mean, like. Straight up giant lizards with wings that are usually the final boss in video games. Those dragons. Real dragons.

Dunno, I hope I don't have to fight one?

And, nah. "skull" is kinda just a code name of sorts. Kinda hard to break the habit from home. It's Ryuji. You?