Settling In
Jun. 16th, 2024 03:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
achelord posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
vivala-1: The Vault, The Port-
If you enter the Vault, the only real way to do it is via submarine. So whenever a new sub pops into the Port, there's usually a fair amount of interest. Maybe there's some new books for the library! Maybe there's a supply of luxury goods from Elysium! Maybe there's a batch of new recruits.
It's the last one, this time. After some informal cooperationthe TDM, they finally had brought Ziel back to the Vault, as they had promised. If anyone in the Corsairs could help him, it would probably be someone here, so he had reluctantly decided to hang around, at least for a little while. It probably wouldn't go anywhere interesting.
Somehow, word had gotten ahead, and there was a small crowd waiting to see if it was true who was on this submarine. Surely not THE Ziel? The youngest leader of the infamous monster hunter school known as the Dawnwings? Who spent his life protecting the people of the Empire from monsters, and who had killed a behemoth when he was 15. He was practically a living legend!
The main who emerged from the submarine somehow didn't live up to the hype. He still looked young, but moved like an elderly man. His clothes were filthy and in tatters. He trudged like he had the weight of the world on his back, dragging his massive warhammer behind him like he didn't have the strength to hold it properly.
After a moment, he realized there were people staring at him and slowly raised his gaze to actually see what all the fuss was. He saw a dozen pairs of hopeful eyes, but they were tinged with doubt. Well, that was only fair. He knew he hardly cut an impressive figure anymore.
Ziel looked back down at the ground and kept on trudging along the dock, amid a cloud of whispers. Surely THIS can't be the hero of the Dawnwings, can it?
-2: The Vault, upper reaches-
The Empire likes to consume ether crystals en masse for its power sources. It's a very profitable way of gaining ether, but it's hardly the only way. There are older methods that have fallen out of favor because they're much slower. Most mages find they have an affinity towards certain fundamental elements, and a VERY old method of cultivating power was to meditate near a source of that element.
Ziel's magic was attuned with Force and Motion, and, well, there was a near continual source of force and motion just about anywhere in Bavrecht, if you were willing to take the risk.
In the upper most chambers of the Vault, the distant rumbling of the Empire's near constant weapons testing was louder than ever. Ziel sat with his legs crossed and eyes closed, ignoring the sound. The constant barrage was close enough here that he could just barely sip at the endless force above and gradually absorb it into his core ether reserves. It wasn't much, but it was about all his system could handle right now.
That he was sitting in a random hallway wasn't a big deal. Not many people came up this high, anyway. What were the odds that someone would actually come up here and trip over him?
If you enter the Vault, the only real way to do it is via submarine. So whenever a new sub pops into the Port, there's usually a fair amount of interest. Maybe there's some new books for the library! Maybe there's a supply of luxury goods from Elysium! Maybe there's a batch of new recruits.
It's the last one, this time. After some informal cooperation
Somehow, word had gotten ahead, and there was a small crowd waiting to see if it was true who was on this submarine. Surely not THE Ziel? The youngest leader of the infamous monster hunter school known as the Dawnwings? Who spent his life protecting the people of the Empire from monsters, and who had killed a behemoth when he was 15. He was practically a living legend!
The main who emerged from the submarine somehow didn't live up to the hype. He still looked young, but moved like an elderly man. His clothes were filthy and in tatters. He trudged like he had the weight of the world on his back, dragging his massive warhammer behind him like he didn't have the strength to hold it properly.
After a moment, he realized there were people staring at him and slowly raised his gaze to actually see what all the fuss was. He saw a dozen pairs of hopeful eyes, but they were tinged with doubt. Well, that was only fair. He knew he hardly cut an impressive figure anymore.
Ziel looked back down at the ground and kept on trudging along the dock, amid a cloud of whispers. Surely THIS can't be the hero of the Dawnwings, can it?
-2: The Vault, upper reaches-
The Empire likes to consume ether crystals en masse for its power sources. It's a very profitable way of gaining ether, but it's hardly the only way. There are older methods that have fallen out of favor because they're much slower. Most mages find they have an affinity towards certain fundamental elements, and a VERY old method of cultivating power was to meditate near a source of that element.
Ziel's magic was attuned with Force and Motion, and, well, there was a near continual source of force and motion just about anywhere in Bavrecht, if you were willing to take the risk.
In the upper most chambers of the Vault, the distant rumbling of the Empire's near constant weapons testing was louder than ever. Ziel sat with his legs crossed and eyes closed, ignoring the sound. The constant barrage was close enough here that he could just barely sip at the endless force above and gradually absorb it into his core ether reserves. It wasn't much, but it was about all his system could handle right now.
That he was sitting in a random hallway wasn't a big deal. Not many people came up this high, anyway. What were the odds that someone would actually come up here and trip over him?
no subject
Date: 2024-06-17 06:19 am (UTC)Where had that come from? That was more words than he’d said in the last day! The slightest opportunity and here he was talking like he was teaching a class back in…
“…but it doesn’t really matter. I think I’ll just find my bed.”
1/3
Date: 2024-06-17 06:34 am (UTC)In her opinion,
it had begun to sound like it mattered rather a lot.
2/3
Date: 2024-06-17 06:39 am (UTC)3/3
Date: 2024-06-17 07:07 am (UTC)"Four doors down, on the left! I don't think you'll be sharing with anyone, but please, don't quote me on it. What else... oh! The closest canteen is by the dock. We passed it, so you shouldn't have too much trouble seeking it out. Now, where did I put..."
She pats at her pockets like she's having to look for the right one, even though she knows the exact spot already. It's the little touches. After a moment, she 'finds' what she was looking for and palms it.
"Anyway, if you have any additional questions... You can always reach me on your ENC. Here."
Mystery object, now revealed. It's a small square of paper folded around the teeth of a key, probably with her ethernet address. She holds it out for him to take.
"...Really, you can ask whoever you want! But.. since you're not with a large group, there's not as much infrastructure free right now for a smooth onboarding... I was asked to see if I could help cover that gap."
no subject
Date: 2024-06-17 01:37 pm (UTC)Drinks later. He took the key, stared at the paper for a moment, then took that too and shoved it in his pocket. For a moment, Ziel searched for something else to say that didn’t feel trite and meaningless.
Eventually he settled on, “Thank you.”
Then, he slowly trudged on to his new bunk. It was probably marginally more comfortable than sleeping on the floor.
🎀 I will haunt you again soon enough ziel
Date: 2024-06-17 01:56 pm (UTC)Well, there he goes.
Thinking about it, did she remember to write a name on the paper along with the address?
Oops! Maybe it'll be fun to see how many interactions they can get through without the topic of one coming up. Will he pick up using her un-name-like designation from the net? Make something up? Avoid ever using one until one or both of them expire? The future truly gleams with potential.
She closes the door to the hall firmly, making sure she hears the metallic sound of the catch engaging again.
Good things come to those who wait
Date: 2024-06-19 01:04 am (UTC)He barely thought about the guide over the next few days, but the number was there by his bed, along with a vague memory that it belonged to someone who sounded friendly and helpful.
It's a start.