nysalogs | january open post + catch-all

Entry tags:

january open post + catch-all

Who: Yona (

cutefaced) & you!
What: A catch-all for January with OTA prompts and closed starter toplevels.
When: Throughout January
Where: Mainly in and around Olympia; some visits to Wyver, too.
Warning(s): Nothing yet, but I'll edit if that changes.

olympia proper;

one - getting reacquainted;
[Before taking ill, Yona had spent much of her time in the market district - mainly because she's always been easily distracted by interesting things. As a result, she hadn't been completely familiar with other parts of the city before then, though she did make a few forays into the theater district.

No more. Now that she's back, she has every intention of learning her way around the city she and her friens have returned to.

Her wandering takes her almost everywhere - and as a result, she ends up hopelessly, uselessly lost. Maybe you'll catch her looking at her surroundings with a puzzled expression.]

...wait, was I supposed to turn right at the last street, or the next one?

[Help.]

two - weapons galore;
[You must never touch weapons, Yona.

Her father's words are fresh in her mind as she stands outside the weapons shop. Of course - she's already disobeyed him once, when practicing throwing daggers. But she can only keep "borrowing" from Jae-Ha and sneaking them back to him for so long, and they're his weapons, in the end; she needs to find something that suits her.

Sooner or later, she was always going to have to look out for herself.

So in she goes, although she nearly immediately looks a bit overwhelmed at all the different choices. Oh boy.]

There's so many of them...

three - order up;
[She can't just rely on other people to buy her things forever (although to be truthful, it's worked for her so far).

So, not long after they return to Olympia, Yona starts looking for work. Her problem is there aren't a lot of things she already knows how to do well - but part-time work serving food at a cafe seems simple enough, and she's managed to get a job as a waitress at the Wyvernest, which suits her just fine. One of the most interesting things about Wyver was the dragons, after all.

Now she's sort of got the best of both worlds - she can see the baby dragons while she's working, and can learn about them as she does. (The owner doesn't rebuff her when she asks for employment as some others have, but maybe that's because they remember she wore a Wyver pin at the gala. Maybe they think she knows more about dragons than she actually does.)

But at the moment? It's time to serve some customers! Yona looks up when she hears the door open and fixes the person who's just entered with a smile.]

Welcome to the Wyvernest! How many would you like a table for today?

the outskirts;

one - neutrality problems;
[The first time she borrows a mount to go exploring, she runs into some of the people who have left the city.

...up until that moment, she hadn't realized just how bad things had gotten. Sure, there were people who were vocal about wanting to keep themselves separate from the people of Wyver, and people who were talking about fighting with them... but she'd believed it was just talk. After all, when she'd gotten sick, the medicine that had cured her had only existed because they'd cooperated with them.

But, no. Apparently it is that bad. And when she hears that people on both sides have been refused help from the Sanctuary and the Altar of Volkkra...

Well, she can't take it. She really can't take it.

So, from time to time, she ventures out from the city on a mount for a "picnic," though what she's got packed is more along the lines of simple food for traveling, cloth cut into bandages, and other things she's managed to purchase with her earnings from the Wyvernest cafe. Some days, when she's gotten especially good tips, she has a little more.

Some days, when business has been slow, she's got a little less.

Either way, she's trying. And she could probably use a little help... be it with passing things out to people who need them, or actually providing effective medical assistance, or not getting mugged or attacked by wild animals or something.]

two - edrathe ruins;
[Is it foolish to be out here? Probably. Is that going to stop her from looking around? Probably not.

...except it really should have, because enough time has passed that Yona's borrowed mount has decided to head back to the stables and has definitely left her behind. She's wandering around near the entrance now, unsure if she's actually where she left it or if she's just gotten terribly turned around.]

Hello?

[...there's that strange rumbling noise; she jolts, then glances over her shoulder.]

Is someone here...?

a visit to wyver;

one - dragonwatching;
[No amount of tension is going to keep Yona out of Wyver - for the time being, anyway. But even she's not that stupid; when she does take off for the hotter country, about midway through the month, she at least has the sense to change the style of clothing she's wearing and smooth down her hair. It's perhaps not the most effective disguise she could have gone with, but at least when her hair reverts back to its usual frizzy state, she can use that as an excuse -

It couldn't have been me you saw! Do you really think I could get my hair to look like that?

Et cetera, et cetera.

Anyway, now that she's back in Wyver, she's going to be visiting some friends - but she's also going to be taking the time to go observe some fully-grown dragons. ...from a distance, of course; she doesn't want to be eaten. Still.

There's no small amount of admiration in her eyes as she watches them.]

They really are amazing...!

two - lagoons;
[Before she goes back to Olympia, she has to stop at the lagoons. Has to. There's no two ways about it. They're one of the things she enjoyed most about the jungle country, and she doesn't know when she'll get the chance to bathe in them again.

The public bathhouses in Olympia are perhaps a little more elegant, but the lagoon has its charm, too.

For now, Yona lounges in one of the public pools, her hair fanning out across the surface of the water and preserving her modesty. But ultimately, a bath is a bath. There's a time and a place for being naked; this is one of them.

So she doesn't really think twice about it when she catches sight of someone's feet at the water's edge - she waves them over with a smile.]

Come in, the water's great!

wildcard;

[If none of the above works for you, just hit me with whatever! I just ask that you let me know when and where it's happening; I can come up with a justification for Yona to be wherever you'd like. Alternatively, hit me up by PM or at hungriest and I'll be glad to write a personalized starter for you.]

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[continued from here]

Hmmm... well, okay then!

[Luckily (?) for him, Yona is pretty used to people who get flustered over minor things. This is barely a blip on the radar, so when he tells her not to worry, she opts not to worry.]

Hey, do you want to dance? Or were you taking a break?

[That's a relief, though if he knew, he'd ask exactly what she's doing to the people in her life that they get so easily flustered.

But when she asks, he nods after a moment. Might as well just brush this off as something normal.]

Oh, I'd love to dance. [He stood up and extended a hand to her.] Shall we then?

[existing, apparently

Yona beams at him and takes his hand, rising to her feet in the same motion. Onward to the dance floor they go, then! Luckily she's had a quick lesson in ballroom dancing by this point, and has had plenty of opportunity to observe other dancers.]

I guess you've danced like this before tonight, then?

[Some of the steps are a little different, but it's easy enough to pick up. He's never been much of a dancer, but he can get by.]

I've been to a few parties like this back home. It's kind of an expected social skill. Though usually I'm too busy with school. Do they have anything like this where you're from? You seem pretty good, but I assumed you're not from anywhere in Europe, or is that too off base of me?

[fake it til you make it, william. all yona knows is what she's been watching here so as long as they're both in time with each other and no one is stepping on any toes, it's probably fine.]

They have parties, but... the dancing is a little different where I come from. It's not anywhere near Europe. ...worlds away, you might say.

...but, I learned to dance there, so I guess when you know the basics it's easy to pick up new things...?

[They are doing well at the not stepping on each others toes or bumping into people.]

Heh, I imagine so. I mean I believe all people, human and otherwise have come up with some form of dancing. Even demons have parties after all.

Though those are hardly fun.

[So far, so good. Maybe they'll even make it all the way through a song without knocking anyone over.]

Demons...?

[Yona blinks rapidly, then leans forward, interested.]

Wait, have you met demons? ...have you been to their parties?

[They'll surely be a symbol of grace and elegance.

He nods after a moment. He'd thought a little on how forth coming he should be about his previous life in this place and had decide that talking about demons was safe enough. And no weirder than anything else that was actually happening around them.]

Yes, I've met a few of them. And yes, well the party invitation wasn't really willing, but rather forced. It's rather unsettling when you see someone with a cow skull for a head trying to wait on you.

A cow skull...

[That's... sort of creepy-sounding, actually. Yona shivers a little (which he'll probably notice, given that they're dancing), but does her best to keep her expression from looking nervous.

(She doesn't really succeed.)]

I'm glad you made it out of that okay! One of my teachers here told me that demons can be sort of... [Her voice trails off.] Um... temperamental, I think is the best word for it?

Most of them look like you or me fortunately.

[Just with really weird fashion sense, though William will take that over skeletons. He doesn't seem to bothered by the whole idea though, speaking more as if this was just an annoying thing that happened to him.]

Thank you for that. That said, most of them are pretty stupid, so it's not hard to win against them. [This lie though.]

Temperamental is a word for it, but I'd say, they have the same desires as most humans. Once you understand that, it's pretty easy to deal with him.

They do...? Then how are you able to tell the difference?

[...oh. Maybe it's their stupidity that gives them away, if that's the case. Yona thinks about it for a moment or two, during which they continue to dance as if they're not having a conversation about demons, and tilts her head to one side.]

How many demons have you met, anyway? I've only heard stories about them...

Sometimes they tell you and sometimes... [He paused, thinking of how to say it other than "I knew them in a past life." Because that's just crazy talk.] You just develop a talent for it after a while.

[Honestly, talking and dancing isn't hard for him at least, because it feels like they're in a rhythm right now.]

If you mean as more than just a face in a crowd... [He has to think for a moment.] A good dozen or so. Some of them used to gods or angels before they became demons though. Honestly, I don't think there's much of a difference between the three. Some of them even used to be human.

[Sadly, Yona can't relate to the past-life thing... yet, anyway. But eventually it won't sound so crazy.]

How does someone become a demon...?

[Wait. That sounds bad.]

—not that I want to! I'm just curious.

[Trust him Yona, you're better off not knowing.]

I would hope you wouldn't want to.

[Now he's imagining this girl as a demon and it's very odd to say the least.]

A person makes a contract wit ha demon for something and win they die, they fall into Hell. Those that manage to survive waking up there become demons. You can also fall if you have committed certain sins. Heaven can also do something similar. Otherwise everyone else is reborn. There's still some little things I don't understand about the whole process. But it all sounds like a bad deal to me, beyond having immortality and power.

[This is certainly an interesting conversation to be having while dancing the night away. Props to the both of them for not missing a beat, though.]

Hell...? That sounds...

[Well, unpleasant. But Yona realizes how silly that's going to sound a moment before she says it, and lets her voice trail off instead of finishing her sentence. Instead, she thinks about it for a long moment or two.]

It's hard to imagine wanting something so much that you'd make a contract like that for it. ...or, I guess... wanting something that badly and not being able to find some way to get it with your own power.

[It does probably sound a bit unpleasant and he's worried that he's maybe put her off a bit, but well that's the risk in conversations like that.]

Well, like I said, I don't see the value in that deal, but I can understand why people would do. Human beings are prone to their desires. Even if it's not by a demon's hand, we've all had something we wanted at one point, desperately.

Even if it's just something petty. I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of in itself.

It's not bad to want things, no...

[She wants a lot of different things, and she encourages others to get the things they want. It's just hard to imagine going to those lengths to get them.

...but, she's always been lucky enough not to go to those extremes.]

I wonder whose idea it was? ...um, for the first time, I mean. Did a human approach a demon about it or would it have been the other way around, do you think?

I don't know who did it. I know demons need to do it to replenish themselves. I could see it being either way though. I mean think about it: you're tied together for the rest of your immortal lives.

[He frowned a little, because contracts were hard.]

Humans can force demons into a contract to. Though it carries a lot of risk. Really, I think all one needs to realize is that they need to think through legal matters like that carefully.

[Yona would wonder if demons went to law school, if law school was a thing in her canon, which it isn't.]

...it all sounds really complicated. I guess it's probably safest to avoid demons if you don't know what you're doing, then...

[Her world is probably better for it.]

I would say so. [He frowned a little.] I feel like we've been talking a little too much about me and my world though. What about yours?

Oh, right!

[Fair is fair; he's told her a lot about the place he came from. The problem is, in her case, her own knowledge of her own world is exceedingly limited. She stops to think about it for a few moments, then smiles.]

...I didn't really see a whole lot of my world other than where I lived... my father was a little overprotective. But the gardens there were beautiful, and from what I heard, the rest of the kingdom was peaceful.

Oh so it was one of those deals, was it?

[Though did that mean she hadn't even traveled out into the city. At least back home, rich sheltered girls still managed to get out to London, Bath, or even the seaside towns.]

So you just enjoyed the garden then? Well I suppose that's well enough. I don't think I'd seen the gardens at my home for a long while.

...mm. I wasn't able to go anywhere else.

[The palace and the gardens were her entire world, basically.]

I went once when I was very small... um, I don't remember much about it, though. But courtiers would visit from time to time, so I heard all sorts of stories...

[...

When she says it like that, it's really obvious she didn't get out much, isn't it?]

Sorry... I guess there isn't much I can say.

Oh well, you needn't apologize. Perhaps I was prying too much.

[He was a bit surprised, then again, it was probably different elsewhere wasn't it? No he knew so, if only because Solomon knew so.]

We can speak of whatever else you wish to instead. Or even not at all.

[He's feeling strangely flustered now.]

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january open post + catch-all

closed to william;

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