[Open] Petals & Pages - Mingle #1

[pinkmin]

♥ Who: You~ (and Vianca)
♥ Where: Shopping District - a new shop!
♥ When: January/February (Lasra/Nalom)
♥ What: Open Mingle Log
♥ Rating: Probably Pretty G

With the coming of Lasra, there was at least one new shop opening its doors in the quiet bustle of the Shopping District! There had been a distinct lack of places to simply sit in that district, but look no further if you were searching for such a spot. There are warm lights on inside, with the sights of large, comfy chairs and couches beckoning from the welcoming windows.

At times, from the same windows, you can catch sight of a pink little girl sitting near the glass, thumbing through an honest-to-goodness paper book.

Walking through the door would earn you a soft greeting. Welcome to Petals & Pages~


It's an Open Mingle Log!!
+ Shop Info is here, plus book requests.
+ Vianca will have her own top-level, and can reply to yours, but this log isn't just for interacting with her!
+ Feel free to use this post for your own plans how you please! The only House Rule is that you gotta sit with someone and get some sweet Dora, it doesn't have to be Vianca~ This includes multiple top-levels if you desire, since the log is for two months.
+ Have! Fun!!

Comments

[begguiling]

That's me!

[As soon as she's settled, he budges over to offer his hand to shake, also bringing himself within easy range to lean against her or hold her hand. That's the benefit to doing this in person, after all, and the real reason behind his "subtle" nudging people to do so: he can't make contact with anyone over the network.]

Nice to meet you, Nita! I don't recognize you, so you're probably pretty new, huh? No wonder you have a lot on your mind. Who wouldn't?

*cracks knuckles*

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita accepts that handshake, and picks up on the implication of him being close after that as well; she'll let him lean as much as he likes.]

Definitely new.

And for starters - how long has Havenwell existed? Did you ever get a solid date for that, if it was smaller towns that combined, whether it was founded by people who already worshiped the gods or whatever?

[She pauses, shaking her head.]

And one thing's been bugging me; why is it only physical intimacy that counts? There's lots of ways to be close to someone; did all of those ways start dying off over time, when the people here chose to mechanize themselves, or were the gods just really specialized and never made that clear to start with?

[begguiling]

[He shamelessly props up against her and, after a moment of consideration between his tablet and his paper notebook, grabs the notebook to write these things down in.]

I see. So, to start with, you're wondering about the history of this place. Me too! We haven't been told much. I'd guess some of that's available in the e-library, but since I've never looked into the details of its founding myself . . . that's just a guess. It'd be a little suspicious if it weren't, right? Big cities loooove talking about themselves! But if it's not there, it's probably at least in the archives. I'm interested in looking into some of the history myself.

[Such as whether it's repeating itself here and now, and if so, what happened the other times? How frequently do they come? He waves his hand, but doesn't extrapolate on any of that just yet. It's a whoooole tangent.]

And as for the rest, you're wondering about the mechanism behind the process here! You're not the only person with a lot of questions about that either. We've been told what supposedly happens, but not much of why or how. Me, I always assumed that the physical intimacy thing was just one part of the foundation of power. The rest could be intact, but with part of the foundation missing, it still wobbles. That's just a theory!

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita nods.]

And I remember someone on the Network saying to look specifically for newspapers over history book entries, too.

[Because cycles repeating themselves? Nita's familiar with THAT, for sure.

She's still going to poke around those e-libraries, though.]

Foundation missing... someone did find a fragment of a story about other gods, but I'd bet that's not the only theory it'd support.

Contact with other cities - names of other cities - would be something to look for too.

But outside of that... what about pets? Were there signs in other species that lived with the natives here, did they transform as the world got worse, were they uploaded somehow as well, or were there just... none in the first place?

[She's thinking of Kit's whole deal with befriending the Sibik of Tevaral, now.]

[begguiling]

[He considers all of this, tapping at his chin with his pen and humming.]

I doubt there weren't any in the first place. It seems more likely that most organic life died off over time, including domesticated species. If it happened to the plant life, it'd probably go both ways. But I'm just chattering about things I don't have the answers to! I'll take a look. It sounds like a crash course in this city's history is what we really need. I wonder, do they just think we're not interested? They don't seem to have the best grasp on what we want or need. Or is it that they don't want to share? I'd like to find that out. And if we get a nice lesson in exactly what they want us to hear, that's information of its own. Hmm?

[Magolor tilts his head cutely up at her, ears twitching. So innocent and blasé!]

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Theorizing-out-loud is fine by Nita, though it's not the same as solid information. Ohma's really picked well with this one, haven't they?]

Might be they've actually forgotten, somehow. Though that implies malevolent action on someone's part, even if it's a god pulling the strings-

[Nita's voice goes just the slightest bit dark, there. It's very familiar territory to her.

But Magolor's deliberate cuteness ekes a wry smile out of her again.]

Too true. Knowing the nature of a bias helps in fighting against it.

[begguiling]

[He winks up at her in response before shrugging grandly.]

I'll say that if some big conspiracy is going on here, I think it's more likely the natives really are under the thumbs of the gods than that they have their hands in it themselves. That's just me! But four all-powerful gods make for a neater conspiracy than countless bumbling robots. It'd be almost impossible to get every single person in the city on board with pulling the wool over our eyes unless something was controlling them. Buuuuut that's all very cynical talk! Hehehe.

[It is, but despite appearances and his chirpy demeanor, he is at his core a cynical dude.]

Things really could be exactly as they seem. If that's the case, these natives could use all the help they can get from us. They're a little slow on the uptake.

[unfavorableinstigation]

Or four-plus-two gods, for that matter; if one of them wanted power, or just wanted to cause chaos through the people...

[Nita's definitely heard that story before.]

But they'll need help any way you slice it; karma's one thing, but living forever like this, as part of someone else's ploy?

[Which made the next question: did they have the right to tell the natives whatever truth they managed to piece together, more than just healing the land?

Nita sighs, readjusting how she's sitting on the couch for comfort value.]

[begguiling]

It may or may not be like that, right? Either way, unless we're really in the worst case scenario here, them needing our help in some way is obvious! And with that in mind, I trust them to work with us, unless we end up with any evidence that we shouldn't. So far so good~! You know, despite hiccups here and there.

[To put it lightly. But while it's not impossible those "hiccups" were deliberate on the part of the natives, there's no evidence there yet, so all it is is something to be aware of.]

You're the kind-hearted sort, aren't you?

I hope this tag makes sense. |D

[unfavorableinstigation]

True enough.

[Nita leans forward a little, putting one hand under her chin. She snorts:]

Aren't there always, though?

[But Magolor's question softens her tone a little.]

Yeah, you could say that. There are some who think that's part of being a wizard, 'guarding what grows and lives well in its own way' and all that... but good doesn't always mean being nice, either. Sometimes what's kind isn't what's fair, or right.

[begguiling]

Hehehe, is that part of being a wizard? And here I just thought you needed magic! I'm seriously behind in my glossary.

[The context makes it obvious that whatever being a wizard means to her, it comes along with a community, a set of guidelines and a discourse and some principles. Interesting. Magolor can judge it no more than he can really relate to it.]

Well then, which kind of wizard are you? The kind, or the fair?

[unfavorableinstigation]

It is for me.

[Nita's serious on this one.]

You can't be a wizard - or the kind of wizard I am, anyway - without taking the Oath, and meaning it.

[Honestly, that's fair. She's not expecting him to react a certain way.]

Kind more often than not, fair any case where we can make it.

We're in the service of Life, and Life isn't always fair... but we can still choose how we act.

[begguiling]

The service of Life . . . that's interesting. I can make a guess as to what that means, but I'd rather hear you explain it. These wizard rules are totally new to me, you know? You have my full attention!

[Mostly, he thinks the natives here couldn't have picked a better candidate for helping out their planet. Service of life indeed! Even robotic life. It's funny how they get some real gems and also some real losers up in here, in good samaritan terms.]

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita gets the feeling he's humoring her at least a little, but she recites the Oath without further provocation.]

In Life's name and for Life's sake, I assert that I will employ the Art which is its gift in Life's service alone, rejecting all other usages. I will guard growth and ease pain. I will fight to preserve what grows and lives well in its own way; and I will change no object or creature unless its growth and life, or that of the system of which it is part, are threatened. To these ends, in the practice of my Art, I will put aside fear for courage, and death for life, when it is right to do so - till Universe's end.

[It's not in the Speech, but there's a resonance to it all the same - or perhaps that's just how she's saying it.

Settling back on the couch, she adds.]

There's variations, sometimes, in adapting to a given species' idiom or describing the tenets of the Oath with terms most important to them, but that's the crux of it.

[begguiling]

[When she's done, he applauds lightly—and he's really only keeping it light in deference to the bookstore atmosphere here. He does have some decorum! Humoring her? Of course, some, but he wouldn't even bother doing that if it weren't genuinely interesting. And informative. This may very well be important someday!]

Bravo~! That was a passionate recitation! And I guess that kind of says it all. It's no wonder you're so invested in the whys and how and what ifs of this world. Its service is the service of life, after all.

[unfavorableinstigation]

[If it IS important, that should be interesting in and of itself! But Nita's not thinking that at the moment.

In any case, she's surprised by the praise.]

I don't take my duty as a wizard lightly, that's all. Even if all I can do is try, I'm not going to leave it at half-measures if there's any way I can help it.

[Which, she reflects, is balanced by the other worry - that of interfering where it's genuinely not wanted, or in such a way that it doesn't actually solve the problems behind what's wrecked the planet of Aellyn.]