deercountry | (Open) Lilac last in the doorway bloom'd

Nara'a doesn't frequent Sanctuary as much as he used to, but he does sometimes visit just to make sure things are going okay. He spots someone meditating under the tree and walks over to sit nearby. His armor clanks a little, which is understandable given how it looks. He tries not to bother the person as he leans back against the tree.

His thoughts drift off towards someone at home... someone he can no longer see. But he smiles, knowing that she'd be happy to see him thriving even in the darkness of this place. It's nice to see how hope can bloom in the despair that threatens to creep in.

Although he no longer collections corruption like he did when he lived outside the city limits full-time in D's outpost, Shen Yuan still lives to come by Sanctuary at least once a week, to cleanse his corruption and meditate on his cultivation. It's an important part of his routine -- but, because it's routine, he doesn't mind so much when it's interrupted. So, when he hears someone in armor walk up to him and sit nearby, he allows himself to drift back up through the layers of meditative detachment and open his eyes, smiling gently as he turns to look at the newcomer.

"Greetings," he says softly, to all appearances a gentle, scholarly young man dressed in green robes, with hair that would hang down to his waist if he were standing up; if he feels any surprise or interest when he catches sight of the pair of cat ears standing out from the other man's head, it's betrayed by only a small widening of his eyes and a caught breath before his face smoothes out and he asks, "Are you new around here? My name is Shen Yuan."

He looks over at the other and smiles. "Hello." He's used to the momentary doubletake when people spot his ears and tail by now - it's strange, but he supposes he must look strange to them. He shakes his head at the question. "I'm not. I come by Sanctuary sometimes, but I must have missed you. I'm Nara'a Sunvara."

He inclines his head slightly towards the other. "Have you been here long? I swear I've heard your voice somewhere..." Maybe on the network? But he can't remember ever talking to this man. "In any case, I didn't mean to interrupt your meditation."

"Think nothing of it," Shen Yuan responds with a wave of his hand and a small smile. "I can meditate any time; a chance to make a new friend is not to be lightly passed up." His smile widens knowingly. "It's possibly you might have listened to one of my network posts -- I've been doing research lately into the ways Trench changes from month to month, and making posts about my findings to help newcomers adjust. If so I hope they were useful to you, even if you aren't a newcomer."

He plays thoughtfully with the ends of a lock of his hair, his gaze curiously returning to Nara'a's ears before roving over his armor and clothing, taking in all of the little details in view. "As for the rest, I've been living here in Trench for nearly a year, and I've been coming here to meditate under the guardian tree since last September or so, while I was helping D built his little fort outside the city limits. A shame we never crossed paths before now." And he grins bashfully, lifting his gaze back to Nara'a's face as he says, "I think I would have remembered someone with such a unique appearance, after all."

"That's very true." He thinks for a moment and then nods. "Doing research on Trench is a very worthy endeavour. It's important to know what's coming up if you can help it. I've only been here since last summer, so I only know so much." He notes the glance at his ears, but he doesn't say anything - he's used to people being confused or intrigued by his feline features.

"I've helped out with the outpost some as well, though mostly I'm out taking care of monsters. But -" Wait, is that flirting or genuine, he can't tell. Best... best to act like it's normal. "I suppose I do stand out. Trench doesn't seem to have very many miqo'te at all here, which is... odd to me. A lot of us are travelers at home so we end up... well, all over the place."

Hm? Flirting, from such a shy, repressed guy as Shen Yuan? Perish the thought! He's just trying to be friendly~

"'Miqo'te?'" He tries to repeat the strange word as closely to the way Nara'a said it as he can. "That's what your people are called, right? It's got a lovely sound, though I can't say I've ever heard anything like it before." He gaves Nara'a a sheepish smile. "I suppose you must hear that a lot, please forgive me."

Don't be too shy, or Nara'a might flirt with you, Shen Yuan.

"That's all right. As long as people are trying to understand. But that's right. There are two subspecies of it in my world, and my clans are called Keepers of the Moon as opposed to the others, which are Seekers of the Sun. And yes, we're nocturnal and diurnal, respectively. Much of the time, at least." He gestures to the sky - not even close to nighttime.

He offers the other a gentle smile. "But I've seen many cities with many different sorts of people. I'm an adventurer by trade, so I'm used to being in the minority."

Now now, don't threaten him with a good time.

Shen Yuan is giving Nara'a his full attention now, hanging on his every word with an expression of quiet wonder on his face. This was always the part he liked best about reading in his first life: being introduced to fantastical worlds and cultures unlike anything he'd known. The shine emphatically had not worn off even after he was transported into a fantasy world himself.

"I can see you wear armor with confidence," he notes, with a second, admiring glance at the suit of metal protecting Nara'a's person. "And if you were helping protect the outpost while it was under construction, then you must be a formidable warrior. How have you found Trench, compared to other cities you've visited?"

"It's... bigger in some ways, smaller than others. A lot of the cities I've visited are walled off by necessity, usually due to monsters but sometimes due to isolationist tendencies. It's more violent, yes, but my world can be violent as well. There's plenty of kind people here though..."

As for the 'formidable warrior' remark, he shrugs, armor clanking slightly as he does. "I've fought man a large monster, but the more difficult ones are the ones that come from within. The fact that this place can change people... I've seen that happen before, and it's never pretty. They tend to be the more destructive kinds of creatures. Anything we can do to reduce suffering and despair here is worth doing."

"Not all changes are for the worse," Shen Yuan feels the need to point out, "But I take your meaning. When I first arrived in this world I thought I'd been delivered from suffering, but as the months went by..." He sighs deeply. "If the things we are required to endure not so arbitrary, I'd have no grounds to complain." (That's absolutely a lie, complaining is Shen Yuan's absolute #1 favorite hobby.) "But sometimes I find myself wondering whether the powers that govern this world don't prefer to see us suffer."

Ugh, that's much, much too morbid for a first meeting. Shen Yuan forces a smile onto his face and does his best to dismiss everything he just said with a brisk, "But that's only speculation. Living day to day, I find there's something satisfying about doing work that makes an immediate change for the better in other people's lives, don't you agree?"

"Oh, I know. But delivered from suffering... you must have had a rough time before here. I'm sorry for that. You're right though - I think the Pthumerians here like seeing us upset. It's... very frustrating. I don't like them, but we must live with them for now." For now. He's watching them carefully. If any of them start draining the aether from this place...

... Anyway. "I do like doing that sort of thing myself. I tend to patrol... I drag beasts here when I can, but when I can't I at least try to give them a swift end. It's depressing work, but necessary. And some of my magicks can do it without shedding blood."

"Mn." A rough time? Yeah, Shen Yuan really can't dispute that. "At least here, for all the hazards that attack our self-control and free will, none of the Pthumerians have tried to personally invade our thoughts and control our actions. It was not so, in the last world I lived."

"But trying to help the beasts is noble," he says eagerly, scooting a little closer to Nara'a as if he can convince him to tell him more through sheer proximity. "Have any of them been turned back into people so far? I know there were Sleepers who wished to try, but I haven't had time to look into their methods or see their results for myself."

"No, they haven't. That sort of thing does happen at home sometimes and it's... quite a process to reverse. I imagine it is in your world as well, if it's even possible."

Scooting closer? Cute. He smiles a bit and nods. "I know there's been a few successes, but... it depends on the amount of corruption and how long someone's been a Beast. It seems to degrade the soul in some way. Allen would be the person to ask about that - he's very good at cleansing corruption." He leans in a little, shoulder bumping shoulder, and then realizes -

"Ah. Let me change." He doesn't have his casual clothes here, but he takes out a small crystal. A moment of concentration and - suddenly is in an entirely different set of clothing. "There. No hard metal." He pats his shoulder, an invitation for the other to lean in again.

"I've spoken to Allen once or twice," Shen Yuan says with a small nod. "Mostly just asking permission to use a room in the Sanctuary for my own purposes. He seems so busy -- I wouldn't want to disturb his work just to satisfy my curiosity --"

He interrupts himself with a startled, yet delighted laugh as Nara'a changes his clothes in an instant. "Well!" he exclaims. "Isn't that handy?" One of his hands begins to rise from his lap before quickly checking its ascent and turning back, but his eyes still track between the crystal, Nara'a's new outfit, and his face with wonder and curiosity. "Does it do anything else? We had similar magic in the last world I lived, dimensional pockets hidden up our sleeves, rings and other jewelry that could carry concealed weapons or reagents -- but I've seen one that also worked like a quick-change button." He laughs again, his shoulder now pressed companionably against Nara'a's.

"He's very kind. I don't think he'd mind."

He grins at Shen Yuan when he laughs. The crystal gets brought up and held in his hand - close to his body, but he trusts the other to not try to grab for it. "It does. It helps me channel my aether more effectively into spells. It also stores my clothing. But in this crystal are the memories of its previous wielders - not anything personal, mind you, but combat abilities. It... hm. Speeds up muscle memory learning, in a way."

The miqo'te holds it out for a few more moments before tucking it away into a pocket. "I have a few of those sorts of crystals with me - far fewer than I have available to me at home, but enough that I can change for what the combat situation requires. Just don't ask me to heal - I'm terrible with that." He laughs a little bit despite himself - he's comfortable with his own limits. He can't do everything.

"Wow..." Sure enough, Shen Yuan makes no attempt to grab the crystal -- although an astute observor would not be incorrect in guessing that he might like to, in order to take a closer look and to examine it with his qi, he politely refrains. Instead he smiles up at Nara'a when he tucks the crystal away and says, "Isn't it amazing, how even very different worlds might have equivalent magical techniques, or artifacts, or pieces of technology? The only part of that I didn't understand was 'aether;' would you mind terribly telling me what that is?"

His face is lit up with wonder and curiosity. This is clearly not a man who shies away from loredrops.

Edited (fixed a typo) 2023-04-10 02:25 (UTC)

"It is. And... right. I keep forgetting that there are people I haven't told yet. Aether is the substance that makes up everything in my world, from memories and souls to the ground you walk upon. It's generally aligned with an element, and the practice of intentionally moving, channeling, and shaping aether is what we call magick. It comes in many forms - though the balance between the elements is extremely important. Enough shifts and draining of certain types of aether can cause a Calamity. It's... as it sounds, and it's happened seven times in my world."

He even remembers the causes of all of them! Though the Sixth was a particular area of study given its connection with mages and his time in the Thaumaturge's Guild.

[sorry about the long delay, I HAD a tag all ready to go and then I accidentally deleted it >_<]

"Oh? That's certainly different," he says, looking and sounding delighted by the prospect. "Is it also considered a form of magick when matters changes from type into another, like when a fire burns wood? Or does there need to be a conscious will involved? How do the types of matter and energy you've encountered here in Trench compare to your home?" And then he laughs, covering his mouth with the delicate fingers of one hand.

"Forgive me, I don't mean to sound like I'm trying to interrogate you. It's just magic has always interested me, even though -- well, probably because I grew up in a world that didn't have any at all."

"In a way, though you're right in that it's generally agreed to be when conscious will is involved. And... I've been able to use my aether just fine here. It's never been a problem, so I assume either there's aether here or something that's acting like it."

The apology gets a smile. "So you lived in another world that wasn't your own before coming here. It's... interesting, because I also went to another world. It was similar enough to my world, though there were some major differences. Including how they looked at certain elements... but that's a whole diagram's worth of story." He laughs a little bit, putting his fist in front of his mouth to muffle the sound. "And I've always been a bit of a nerd about magicks - the usual joke is that I can't help it, having the Scholar as my patron."

"Oh, another traveller!" Shen Yuan says brightly. "I actually lived in two worlds before this one, one with magic and one without. And a good thing too, I think -- I expect I would have had a much harder time adjusting to this world, if my second life hadn't prepared me so well for the worst." But that's enough of that brooding.

"Who is the Scholar?" he asks next. "Are the patrons in your world like gods, perhaps? I suppose you've already picked apart all the differences between your world's set, and this one's." And he smiles invitingly. Go on Nara'a, tell him all about it!

"I think it helped me as well - and someone from that world is here with me, actually. It's good to see her again. I had wanted to visit at some point soon and check on her and Ryne." Thankfully he can just step between worlds if he goes to the right portal.

Ah. Right. "They're gods, yes. Thaliak is the Scholar's name - all of the deities have titles, like how Menphina is the Lover. They all have associated elements as well as specific things they're prayed to for. So for example, the scholarly nation of Sharlayan has a giant statue of the Scholar pouring water right in front of the port. As for differences between them and this world's... I'm not totally convinced the Patrons here are gods. They don't really seem to be much in the way of helping people..."

(Open) Lilac last in the doorway bloom'd

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Endwalker spoilers

Re: Endwalker spoilers

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