deercountry | [open] listen to me

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[open] listen to me

Who: Lucius and others, including YOU?
What: various May/June open prompts in the post, including Bausphomette transformation, exploring the sinkholes and tunnels, and a network memory. various calendar year 2022 prompts in the comments because oh god I'm so behind.
When: June, May, and earlier
Where: throughout Trench, Pandora House

Content Warnings: minor body horror, murder (forthcoming)

1. "Thus, it is a thing to be banished." (May) cw: minor body horror

[It starts with the teeth. Which is, frankly, annoying. Lucius's canines become, well, more canine, no longer quite fitting in his mouth. He stops coming down for the regular household mealtimes, instead trying to grab a few things in between the busiest periods. Of course, this is difficult, given the kitchen is the most popular room in the house. Emrys is no help - the one time Lucius asked him to simply fly in and grab something, the Omen had instead landed stubbornly on the table. The intended message was clearly 'come in and talk to people,' but talking is also more complicated now.

The next part is claws. Not the knife-like nails he had earlier this year when he was low, but large and vicious black hooks. This is equally annoying. It's hard to operate the Omni, let alone handle a book without tearing the pages.

But he still has no problem with a sword. Lucius has taken a more scholarly or creative turn this year, but he's never given up on hunting activities. And this is what he turns to now, joining parties of older Hunters he knows to take down larger Beasts.

Use a wolf to hunt a wolf.]

2. 'What about a bit of rope? You'll want it, if you haven't got it.' (June)

[No one can say he didn't prepare.

Lucius (now much less wolf-like) had climbed down into one of the smaller sinkholes first, his Omen Emrys standing watch as he scouted below. There wasn't much of interest in the sinkhole itself - just building rubble. But there could be some things of interest in the tunnels the leading off from the bottom of it. He had glanced into one long enough to determine it was a tunnel, or at least not a very small cave, and promptly retreated.

So that he could come back with a plan and supplies.

This time, he has his welcome bag, now stocked with: rope, chalk, the journal, pencils, kindling, several candles, incense, a small first aid kit, the water canteen, some bread, an apple, and another bag for anything he finds that can't fit in the first one. And, of course, his sword at his hip. He chooses the smallest tunnel to start with. It makes sense to go through or rule out the ones that might be shorter before venturing into the larger tunnels. Besides, it may have areas only a child can squeeze through, so no adults would have gotten to them first.

As he does in any kind of expedition, Emrys scouts ahead, flying in short bursts in the cramped space. Or, in some cases, awkwardly waddling along the ground. Caves are not made for gyrfalcons. As they go, Lucius uses the chalk to mark the wall with arrows. This should make it easy to find his way back. Being trapped is an even greater danger here than being followed.

Not that there aren't plenty of other dangers as well. The tunnels grow larger and more hazardous as he goes. In one spot, a piece of seemingly solid stone slips out from under him, dropping him into a pit. It's a good thing he brought the rope - Emrys is able to fly one end up so the boy can climb out. In one of the chambers, he rapidly begins to feel lightheaded and weak, leaving him to stumble clumsily back into and up the tunnel for better air. He spends a minute on the ground, gasping.

But it's worth it. There are blood gems in some of the chambers, and tools for making more. He finds an orb that seems to have some of the properties of moonlight. And there are books and scrolls - including a book on the Pthumerians.

Before his bag can become debilitatingly heavy, Lucius turns and starts his way back, guided by the chalk marks.

Unless something has happened to those.]

3. Network: Lucius est omnis divisa in duas partes (late May)

[This post does not appear on the network itself. Instead, it lands directly in the inbox of a few Omnis, the distribution not necessarily limited to people the sender already knows. Given that this occurs in late May, the nature of the video's contents is probably easy to figure out.

The scene is an austere stone room. There is one modestly-sized rectangular window, with a desk placed underneath to catch the light. In the corner of the room sits a bed. The only other furniture is two wooden stools, both of which are currently occupied. An older man, dressed in the robes of a monk, sits just to the side of the desk. At the desk itself, with a thick book laid open in front of him, sits a blond boy of about 10, neatly dressed in medieval garb. His hair is cut shorter than Lucius's is in Trench, but anyone familiar with the boy's face will recognize him. He is reading aloud from the book, careful but confident, a finger tracing along the bottom of the handwritten words so that he does not lose his place.]

Sed quoniam, ut praeclare scriptum est a Platone, non nobis solum nati sumus ortusque nostri partem patria vindicat, partem amici, atque, ut placet Stoicis, quae in terris gignantur, ad usum hominum omnia creari, homines autem hominum causa esse generatos, ut ipsi inter se aliis alii prodesse possent, in hoc naturam debemus ducem sequi, communes utilitates in medium afferre mutatione officiorum, dando accipiendo, tum artibus, tum opera, tum facultatibus devincire hominum inter homines societatem.

[He has evidently reached the end of this section. The boy looks up, waiting for some signal from the man. The monk nods. His face and tone remain impassive as he speaks.] Good. Now, what does it mean?

[Lucius returns his gaze to the text. He does not rush to reply, his eyes skimming over the page a second time, then a third. Rather than placing his finger under the lines, now he puts it next to them. His finger returns to the top of the page, and he begins to speak with the same confidence (mostly).]

But since, as Plato has brilliantly written, we are not born for ourselves alone, but our country claims a part of us, and our friends a part; and since...[he pauses a moment, brows furrowed] as it...pleases? [he glances up at the monk, who waves at him to continue] the Stoics, everything that the earth produces is created for man's use; but men are created for the sake of men...[another pause of concentration, but it is not long before Lucius continues with determination]...so that between them they are able to help one another; in this we should follow nature, to contribute to the general good by serving each other, giving and receiving, then by our skill, then by our labor, then by our ability bind society man to man.

[Again, he looks up at the monk, who face gives nothing away as he lets out a thoughtful "hmmm." But, suddenly, he smiles.] Very good.

[Lucius grins. It's an expression that would be called mischievous if the context weren't...translating Latin.

The monk nods.] Yes, you've done very well today. [He pats the boy lightly on the shoulder.] We will discuss 'justice' more tomorrow.

[Lucius's own nod is enthusiastic, as he rises from the stool.] Thank you, Brother Cei.

[Well, that's not one of someone's worst memories! Nice to see something pleasant.

It's less so, though, for Lucius himself. Because it's not his, not really. It belongs to the version of himself he briefly became early in the year. A life he now remembers in snatches, but which is nearly as different from his own as Trench is from his world.]

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[To say that June is a difficult time for many members of the household is an understatement. But Lucius, at least, is not finding himself haunted or dead or otherwise indisposed. So he can be relied on for bringing some supplies back to the house, or for taking food to those currently confined to their rooms. Need a Coldblood for some ritual? He's around. He even takes up some chores when it's clear help is needed, slicing mushrooms for dinner or hauling out trash. And as always, he practices with his sword and bow out in the yard.

Later in the month, he can be found at the crafts table in the games room experimenting with the blood gem tool he found during his subterranean travels. Or outside in the garden, observing the progress that comes as a result of sticking the glowing orb in the middle of it.]

[It's strange how being confined to her bed has somehow made it seem like Echo is seeing more of the people in her house. She spent so much of her life trying to stick to the shadows that it's been a hard habit to get out of, and she has absolutely no experience with things like small talk for personal interactions.

Also she doesn't really like needing to be cared for. She's usually been expected to shoulder that sort of responsibility. Echo would rather be handling this herself, but her attempts still aren't going well.

So Lucius appearing in her room isn't unexpected at this point. She gives him a single nod reminiscent of a bow.]

Hello, Lucius-san. Sorry for troubling you.

It's no trouble. [He says it lightly, with a pleasant smile. He's not inclined to be a caretaker, with a few notable exceptions, but right now it's just a practical thing to do.

He sets the tray down next to her.] Everyone seems to keep baking, so there's a few desserts.

[She gives the tray a thoughtful stare for a moment.]

I have been noticing an odd abundance of baked goods being brought to me, yes. Perhaps something is wrong with them...

[She's actually clearly troubled by this, and that's saying something for Echo. But after what happened with Oz, she's not trusting any out of the ordinary behavior from anyone.]

It could be. [You never know what strange things the moon and your blood might compel you to do, here. It is deeply troubling, knowing that you may have no say over who you are in any given month.]

...But it could also just be the fashion right now. I think there's going to be a competition?

[He's saying it more to assuage Echo's fears than out of any certainty. If something does go horribly wrong because of people's baking craze, Echo trying to do anything in her current state would only make things worse.

In any case, at least no one has coughed up a kidney yet.]

[Good plan, she definitely wants to be doing better than she knows she is deep down.

She gives him a small, confused frown.]

What sort of competition? They assume the baked goods will give them more energy for it?

[He laughs, then shakes his head. Well, it's a logical connection for her to make isn't it? Just not, in this case, the correct one.]

No, it's a contest for who can make the best baked goods.

[Yeah, that has done nothing for her confusion, Lucius. Sorry.]

That sounds very convoluted. If enough participants are at a certain skill level, success would only be arbitrary. It doesn't seem worth it.

It must be worth it for the judges, at least. They get to taste everything.

[Of course, she's right that in the end there's no getting around taste being subjective. But people like to show off, and at least this is a pretty harmless way for them to do it. Even if it may or may not be a ploy by the judges to get free food.]

Oh, so it is merely an excuse for people to partake in gluttonous behavior.

[She says this with a surprising lack of judgmental attitude.]

I have seen other cases where people use pretexts to do things they otherwise shouldn't and do not face any consequences.

[He blinks. And can't help but laugh again. He certainly can't say she's wrong.]

Yeah, it's like parties, in that way.

What is so amusing?

[Echo's a bit perturbed, but mostly curious at the unexpected reaction.]

That is a fair analogy, though. I have witnessed several so I can confirm.

Ah, I was just surprised. Most people aren't so...straightforward.

[Well, Alice is straightforward too, but in a very different way. Echo is observational, like she keeps working on puzzling the world out. Alice barges into things with supreme confidence because she seems to feel anything less is beneath her.]

[This is probably one of the reasons why she and Alice have a shaky alliance at best right now, yeah...]

And feeling "surprised" is considered humorous? I have not heard of this before... Usually only the supriser may be pleased, particularly if they are being cruel.

[She's getting out her diary, if she can't find a note about this she missed then she needs to jot it down!]

[She's...taking notes. About humor. He's grown somewhat used to odd behavior (see: the Alices), but Echo keeps adding new, even stranger wrinkles. Lucius can guess, from her last comment, some of what one of the sources of that strangeness might be (particularly if they are being cruel). But he doesn't think that can explain all of it.]

There are good and bad surprises.

[Echo, herself, is a surprise that's difficult to categorize. But her way of plainly stating things mostly falls into the "good" camp, in his view.]

[She has a joke written down in there! Well, most of it. Gilbert forgot the punchline.

After writing for a bit, she looks back at Lucius inquisitively.]

How is one able to distinguish between the two, though?

[He hooks a nearby chair with his foot and drags it over so he can sit. He hadn't been planning on staying this long, but again, it's probably best to take Echo's mind off things. Or put it onto other things, as she seems eager to do. There are worse ways to spend his time.]

When it's someone else, or when it's you being surprised?

[Yeah, she hasn't really been up to company lately. Her curiosity being up this much is going to be a nice distraction in retrospect.]

Hm. When it's you, although both may be relevant. But I am aware of some things you may do that may be considered bad surprises, such as attacks.

[Break has avoided the sinkholes, which is no surprise given how shaken he was for a day or two after being yanked into the catacombs a while back, for all that he did his best to hide it. It's likewise no surprise that Lucius apparently had zero problem whatsoever marching right in. This is far from the first time he's gone straight into dangerous situations in an opportunistic search for useful things, and Break has long since resigned himself to the fact that it won't be the last. When the boy returned from this latest quest, Break greeted him with the same general interest in his spoils as he might if Lucius had gone to the market and returned with amusing seasonal vegetables.

Just now, he squats down to get a better look at the little green shoots -- and they really are green -- that are struggling up through the dirt around the orb, in an area Break cleared out for just this purpose some while ago and could do nothing with for the pollution.]

I can't believe this is really all it takes. All this fuss about the scarcity of this and that, and something that can so easily alleviate the blood pollution was right under our feet all this time...? Surely there's more to it than that.

[Well, there's a bit more to it. Avoiding the poison gas traps, for example. But yes, once you have the stone, it's remarkably straightforward.]

I couldn't find more than one, no matter where I looked. So the supply seems limited.

[He had, though, obtained a growing collection of tools for creating bloodstones. Nothing that can be made with those will be as useful as the orb, but they might still be able to improve the environment a bit once he figures it out.]

[Maul's not usually one for getting along with others, even if they are Hunters, but sometimes he needs to get out the urge to commit violence by going and finding a Beast that needs to be disposed of. This is how he's found himself in the company of a few other Hunters. He doesn't talk much and only gives curt answers as they go off to take down a Beast which has been bothering the nearby farmers.

When he sees Lucius in the group, his eyebrow ridges raise. This is a kid. A kid with sharp fangs and sharp claws, just as Maul himself as, but still. A kid nonetheless. Is no one going to object to his presence?]

Is there not an age limit as to who can go on these hunts?

[Ah, it's been a while since this came up. He mostly manages to work with Hunters he knows now. But of course you can't count on that all the time. Judging by the man's...eye-catching appearance, he's probably another Sleeper. Who knows how he's used to treating children?

The smile Lucius gives would usually be casual. But it's hard for an expression to be casual when it's dominated by fangs. He has to speak more slowly as well, which makes his tone less offhand than he'd intended.]

Oh, I'm sure there is.

[Maul might be more disconcerted by a child with fangs on a normal day but he's fairly certain he probably looks the same way when he attempts to smile. Hard to look disarming when the expression makes it look like you're considering ripping someone's throat out.

He stares at the boy for a few beats before he simply shrugs.]

Alright then.

[If the kid thinks he can pull his own weight, who is Maul to object? He's not here to be anybody's damn babysitter or guardian.]

Let me know if there's anyone you'd like me to send the parts of your body to when you die.

That won't be necessary.

[His tone is as relaxed and cheerful as he can make it at the moment. It's partly genuine confidence. And partly the knowledge that it's likely there won't be any parts left if he's killed. He's seen what Beasts can do. And there's relatively little of him to eat.

He does have the presence of mind to stay mostly in the middle of the group as they trek into the woods. As capable as he may be for his age, he's not going to do much good as vanguard or rearguard. But the deeper they get into the trees, the harder it is to move as a unit.]

[Strange child. Of course, he also reminds Maul of himself around the same age, all ready to fight something much bigger and meaner than he himself could ever be, so Maul decides to keep an eye out for the kid.

He lets his senses in the Force flow outwards as they move through the trees, ready to kill at a moment's notice as he feels all the specks of life that make up the people and creatures that surround him. Pretty soon, he feels something large coming towards the group. Maul stops.]

We're close now.

[Lucius, nearby, stops as well, nodding at Maul in lieu of speaking unnecessarily with something close by. He's not someone to proudly ignore someone over some small slight, or to rush in with no thought.

Smoke rises from his shoulder and takes form, turning into his gyrfalcon Omen, Emrys. Emrys nods to the group as well and takes flight to scout ahead.

The bird reports back telepathically to any Sleeper or Omen in the party.] :It's big. Looks kind of like a wolf with turtle shell stuck to parts of it.:

[He listens to what the Omen has to say. Then Maul pulls out his saberstaff and light both sides in one swift movement. It hums to life with a Thrrruummmm! He moves it carefully to prevent it from touching anyone else in the hunting party.

His body, always tense, is at the ready for any attack that might be coming.]

[Alright, the boy can't help but look at that with confusion, concern, and some genuine awe. What kind of weapon is that? It's not blood magic, is it? He doesn't think solid beams of light (or whatever it is that's going on) is within the range of what it's capable of. Do you hit things with it or does it cut?

Lucius's consideration of the weapon is interrupted by the increasing crashing sounds coming toward them. He tears his gaze away and draws his sword, which is perfectly normal except for the coldblood coating its edges.]

:It's heading towards the group's left flank.:

[Maul speaks softly as he turns towards where the bird Omen is telling them the monster is coming from.]

We'd do well to over-balance it. Get it on its back.

[He's no Beast expert but if it has an armored shell on top, there's a good possibility of it having a soft belly on the underside, which would give them a battel plan. Maul waits, full of tense energy, until the Beast comes bursting through the trees. Then he's pulling back away from it, looking for a plan of attack.]

[Lucius nods at the plan, though Maul may not see that reaction. Especially as only moments later the Beast's oversized starts snapping its way through the underbrush in front of them, the rest of the creature quickly following.

As other Hunters rush to engage the creature, Lucius circles around to the side of it and starts hacking at a tree. Even as big as it is, a tree falling on it should still knock it off its feet. The coldblood edges of the sword speed the process, burning the wood slightly on contact. As the tree begins to give way, Lucius yells-] Look out!

[Maul hangs back for a moment, letting the other hunters attack the Beast. Instead, he takes the time to see if there are any weaknesses of the creature that he can discern. It's big and heavily-armored with short legs, which means it's likely tough and powerful. But it also means it will be slower to react.

When he sees Lucius hack at the tree to knock the creature off-balance, he yells at the Hunters to get back as well. Most do but one doesn't seem to hear. Maul finds himself having to use the Force to yank the unfortunate person out of the way so that they don't get knocked down by either the Beast or the tree.]

[A darkblood power, manipulating space? Whatever it was and whoever did it, the way is now entirely clear for the tree to fall directly onto the Beast. Although the creature notices the new threat, it's too slow to react, confused as to where it should try to go. The tree crashes into it, knocking the Beast on its side. It's hard for Lucius to look smug in his current condition, but he manages it.

The creature won't be down for long. It was the impact that truly affected it - it's easily strong enough to shove the tree off once its scrabling feet gain purchase. But those short legs are buying the Hunters a bit more time to get at what is indeed an unprotected underbelly.

Lucius jogs over, wondering if it'd be possible to also slit the Beast's throat for extra insurance.]

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[open] listen to me

Pandora House, June

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It are garden funtimes now

aw yeah

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