☆ A Strange Tale

[faileas]

Name: Sowilo (petaluridae)
Date: June 13
Format: Video

The face that comes over the video might be familiar to some: delicate-featured, red-haired, bearing the un-hidden features of a jewel-red dragonfly Fae. Sowilo is known to be brusque and haughty, but today he only looks serious, occasionally glancing off-screen, where the sounds of another couple of people in the office can be heard.

“Two Wilders came back from the Northern Outpost this morning. Apparently a dozen of them went missing a handful of days ago and the search party has only turned up these two. Overcurious meatheads that they are, they found trouble on a trip out. They are not seriously injured-” He holds a hand up. “-but they have the strangest story.”

“While exploring after a rockslide they came upon a tunnel, and like the geniuses they are, decided to follow it down. Very far down, to caverns where they were ambushed and captured handily.” There is a quiet protest in the background, and murmuring, but Sowilo pays it no mind. “The two who returned were purposefully released, and they’ve described to Theodore an underground city full of actual, living people. What in the world do you all know about this? Their leader sent a message that she will release the other ten Wilders safely if “only the travelers who have laid eyes upon her fair city before” accept her cordial invitation to her realm. Doesn’t take a scholar to assume she’s talking about you Mirrorbound. You have a way of attracting trouble, don’t you?”

“I’m sure you understand why this is a… delicate situation for the Coven, and for Aefenglom. We have no records of any city existing underground - we know absolutely nothing about these people, what they want, or what they are capable of. The message was very clear that representatives from the Coven or Aefenglom were not welcomed, so our hands are a bit tied. Their leader wishes to speak with some of you directly, even.” Glittering red eyes narrow.

“We leave on the 16th from the North Gate and will use the teleporter to the Northern Outpost. From there, Theodore and I will accompany you as far as we can, but I imagine it won’t be far at all.” There is a moment of hesitation here from the stuck-up Fae, and he looks a bit like he bit into a lemon. “I suppose we are relying on you all. Please know that this is an unprecedented situation and could turn dangerous for all of us. Not to mention, if they decide they don’t like us, we’ll likely have to abandon the Northern Outpost and all the progress made up there…

I suppose decide among yourselves what you’re willing to do. We will not force anyone's cooperation.”

This is the initial kick-off post for What Lies Beneath! Feel free to use this post to let characters discuss and react with each other as you want over the network or in-person. If you need an NPC reply, please say so in your comment header! NPC replies will come from the journal petaluridae. Otherwise, the event log itself will be up on the 16th. And one more reminder, you still have until 3PM EST on the 15th to sign up for a possible chat with the Matriarch!

Comments

Un : ma text - it's 3am this is probably a bad idea but screw it

[stopfen]

[Lucky for you Eren, there's someone here who can point out that your notes are shitty even with the bad translation.]

'Fizz, pop, still good'
I'm not sure what this means but it better not be the reason you kept licking me.

[This is not an invitation to talk, just her ragging on him]

god

[glitzandglamour]

I stand corrected. One person can read this!!!

[ANYONE GONNA INTERPRET FOR HIM?????????? PLEASE??]

Open for anyone to see I guess

[stopfen]

Is why you wanted me to stay away for my safety?
Because he prioritises eating people like me and the plants over something useful.

[glitzandglamour]

Ah.

[Well........ Eren does have some strange priorities. Tasting Fae and being enticed by their smell, as he recalls it. Mettaton pauses.]

The plants. That's a new one to me.

[Avoiding the point...]

[stopfen]

[wow]

Don't worry about it being unreadable. There's nothing useful there.

If it's the same as before
Any witches without bonds should know they'll be mobbed by monsters trying to get bonds.
The moss protects them from the Cywd that's why they feed it people with magic, he's lucky they didn't attack him for eating it.

[glitzandglamour]

Feed it people with... magic? Do you mean, these people feed Witches to that moss?

[Mettaton had a few dreams in this Underground realm... but he remained thoroughly alone, and they were so brief that he scarcely did anything other than soak in the sights. Nonetheless, he can't read Eren's notes about sacrificial rituals or the like.]

That's a creative way of stopping the Cwyld... If not a touch barbaric.

[stopfen]

They're not being forced to it. It's their way of thanking it for protecting them and letting them live, they willingly let it eat them.

[It had been disturbing at first, but it made sense. Like giving back to nature.]

I wonder if it's connected to the moss in the villiage

text; un: sylphid

[sylphid]

he ate snow pixies over the winter. i'm not surprised.

[usurpers]

By accident.

[sylphid]

it was?

[This is news to her.]

[usurpers]

Yeah. Not that it matters anymore.

[ so thanks fie]

[stopfen]

Reassuring.
Now I understand why people were concerned for my saftey.

[usurpers]

[ treads ............ lightly ............... ]

It’s how my body works now.

[stopfen]

[There's a reason she switched to text. Though she's already mentioned the stuff she knows, she's mentioned it in the grumpiest way possible to Mtt.]

That does nothing to convince me you won't try to eat me.

[usurpers]

[ ouch. this one takes longer to reply to, because he wants to say something but there’s nothing to actually say. treatment, deserved. outcome, achieved. it was something he was actually worried about the first month she got here and she has no reason to actually think otherwise yet. he could attack her by turning the table when it came to ferality, but just. no. ]

Okay.

[ not flippant, not entirely passive. just accepting and not in the mood to get deep over text. ]

[yesdoubt]

Wait is this the weird guy you were talking about licking you when we met (；￣Д￣）

[Momo has gotten used to many things since his first month, but that whole discussion never got any less weird. Granted, a translation spell on the notes provides...some context????]

Is licking fae like a Thing for him or what

[He could be asking about the mission, but also, priorities.]

[usurpers]

You could just ask me instead, if you’re so curious.

[yesdoubt]

Yeah but I've never met you, so I wasn't sure how honest you'd be about something like that ( ´△｀)
If you don't mind explaining why the heck you were doing it then please do (ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ
I haven't met enough dragons to know what you guys deal with

[Mikasa just described him as a big lizard initially, and that's the only big lizard monster Momo knows of.]

[usurpers]

It’s pretty direct. What are those symbols?

[yesdoubt]

"Pretty direct"? So is it literally just the taste?

[Still makes more sense to him than just licking people apropos of nothing at all, somehow.]

We call them "kaomoji" where I come from, they're meant to look like faces or expressions!
So this is a happy one (*＾▽＾)／
And this is a sad one ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡
And so on~

[usurpers]

It's called a [ hold on, ] vomeronasal organ. I can't shut that off.

[ . . . ]

Like emojee.
I can't see anything.

Bless you Momo

[stopfen]

[Well Mikasa has already posted her info so not talking about the mission is fine. Though anything relating to Eren will be responded to in text.]

It is. I never got a proper explaination till now (>﹏<)

[Momo might notice he gets the most little letter people because he showed her how to make them.]

asking the important questions, clearly

[yesdoubt]

[He appreciates not being the only person throwing kaomoji around.]

Wow it took this long???
Sounds complicated （（●´∧｀●））
Was it a good explanation or not...?

[He's asking the lizard in question as well but he wants to hear Mikasa's take on it.]

[stopfen]

I did ask. The answer meant nothing.

It seems like I taste fizz and pop so I'm not sure, does that sound good to you?

[Nah, she wasn't mentioning the other history between her and the dragon on here.]

[yesdoubt]

["The answer meant nothing" makes him feel like it's something he shouldn't be pressing on a public forum, so he doesn't.]

I mean, it sounds kind of like a soft drink or certain kinds of candy in my world...
Which usually taste good ┐(´∇｀)┌
Wouldn't be enough to get me to lick someone, personally, but to each their own I guess (ノ＞▽＜。)ノ