[oh that's a cute outfit caduceus likes it. i know you mean crow feathers but i'm choosing to interpret this to mean he has cockatoo feathers to match.]
[ maybe there's a cockatoo feather in there somewhere
anyway! i guess i should say he's also got a pair of those hand guard half gloves on, so he pulls the one off of his right hand and shows shale the purple eye tattoo.
i need you to know i would've done this with steel so as to not accidentally metagame or something except she banhammered him on monday and it felt silly to be like hey sorry for that whole dungeon fiasco also look at my sick weird new tattoo ]
[shoosh you are fine. also you technically saw shale's ominous dream about eyes that one time.
shale looks at that eye tattoo and just looks ill. there's a flash of something like anger on his face, though it's probably not at vax. there's a bit of stone growing on his neck like lichen and it sort of crawls across his skin, growing.]
ah! well. that's bad. vax was already frowning - his feathers poof up a little, and he scowls, too, lowering his hand again. ]
... Looking around the archways. Trying to find stuff, like we always do. We found a letter. It's - fucked up, Shale. [ ... ] I went and... tried something, and - got an answer, kind of.
[ he rubs the mark, a little. ] This is Dreamer. Right?
[shale peers at the tattoo, obvious unease growing, but he sighs a deep breath.]
...No, it isn't.
[he closes his eyes for a moment.]
That symbol is...associated with... a person. [...] I think a long time ago, that person was here. And they were called Dreamer back then. But they haven't existed for a long time.
What you're all looking into, what you're messing around with, is a memory, an echo, of something long buried that should probably stay buried. And I know you all feel you have to look into these things and you have your reasons, but...can't you all see that it's getting worse?
[ he's quiet for a moment, listening as he rubs his thumb into the mark. behind him, those big black wings curl, a little, feathers rustling softly as they see to poof up just a little in size. ]
What're we supposed to do? Lay down and just let this shit keep happening? If we just put our heads down, does that mean people are going to stop refracting?
[ that answer comes immediate - laying down and dying hasn't done much good for anyone, and it sure as shit won't be vax'ildan's first answer. ]
Look, I agree with you. If Dreamer's the one that wrote that letter, they're completely fucking psycho, and I don't want anything to do with it. But I don't want to just rot in this fucking prism, either, and I don't want to watch people die because of it.
This tells me something's happening, whether it's a memory or not. And if we've gotta unbury some memories to get out of here and find the method that isn't whatever the hell this is about - [ as he lifts his hand, showing the eyeball again ] - then we gotta get digging.
…I don’t know what I should be telling all of you to do. I keep telling you what a bad feeling I get from all of us, but I don’t believe it’s my place to tell you to stop. Or, perhaps it’s that I’m afraid if I did, you wouldn’t ask me about these things anymore. A lot fewer of you do, now, and maybe we’re to blame for that.
A good friend of mine told me that maybe I should just try to be a less of a busybody and listen a little more, so that’s what I’ll try to do. But if you’re talking about contacting Dreamer on purpose, I can’t help but worry.
he listens for a moment, watching those mushrooms, mouth pulling into a frown. ]
...That - I didn't really think that through. [ the. dreamer contacting. he looks down at the eyeball. this is not surprising behavior coming from vax who flips off gods. ] But, there are others, too - I told you, I'm all about looking for another way.
I don't want to resort to blood. That's not right. I want to find a way out of here that isn't their bullshit, but I know I want to find a way out, and it's not gonna happen by just letting things go by. I want to keep looking for different routes.
... You don't have to know everything, you know, Shale - even if it's unknown, we're just gonna all have to figure this out together. Right?
Sure, right. Or at least wait until all of you have realized how...pointless and destructive what you're doing is. Until then, I think I just need to let it go and hope you realize it on your own.
...I like you, Shale, I really do. Think you've got a good head on your shoulders, and I trust that about you a lot. For a lot of reasons. Hope maybe you'd trust that about me, too.
[ he reaches up and absently knocks a hand against his own chest, against his armor over his heart. their shared story, even if it's distant, is important. it's something vax has come to rely on over and over, here. ]
...You're willing to listen, like your friend said. Yeah? If nothing else.
I don't think trust is going to fix this, Vax. You see it as me not trusting you, and I see it as you not trusting me. One of us is wrong, or both of us, perhaps. But...this isn't something you can just ask me to change my opinion on.
But I am willing to try to listen to what you need.
I just ask you to think what it means, to come into someone else's home, to tell them that you think you know a better way to treat that home than they do, and to suggest that if they don't change their mind to match yours, they lack trust in you.
[not harshly, but sternly.]
If you're going to ask me to change my mind about my home, I'm going to need something else from you, not that. I am not refusing to hear you, but I'm not being convinced, either.
I don't know anything about Exandria. I don't know what it is. I know you've showed me some of it, but the word means nothing to me, it doesn't stir up any feelings, like...
[hmmm.]
I've never thought about "home" as something that can be summed up in terms of continents or maps.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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I never mind weird.
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anyway! i guess i should say he's also got a pair of those hand guard half gloves on, so he pulls the one off of his right hand and shows shale the purple eye tattoo.
i need you to know i would've done this with steel so as to not accidentally metagame or something except she banhammered him on monday and it felt silly to be like hey sorry for that whole dungeon fiasco also look at my sick weird new tattoo ]
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shale looks at that eye tattoo and just looks ill. there's a flash of something like anger on his face, though it's probably not at vax. there's a bit of stone growing on his neck like lichen and it sort of crawls across his skin, growing.]
...How did you get that? What were you doing?
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ah! well. that's bad. vax was already frowning - his feathers poof up a little, and he scowls, too, lowering his hand again. ]
... Looking around the archways. Trying to find stuff, like we always do. We found a letter. It's - fucked up, Shale. [ ... ] I went and... tried something, and - got an answer, kind of.
[ he rubs the mark, a little. ] This is Dreamer. Right?
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...No, it isn't.
[he closes his eyes for a moment.]
That symbol is...associated with... a person. [...] I think a long time ago, that person was here. And they were called Dreamer back then. But they haven't existed for a long time.
What you're all looking into, what you're messing around with, is a memory, an echo, of something long buried that should probably stay buried. And I know you all feel you have to look into these things and you have your reasons, but...can't you all see that it's getting worse?
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What're we supposed to do? Lay down and just let this shit keep happening? If we just put our heads down, does that mean people are going to stop refracting?
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[a heavy firbolg sigh.]
But this isn't the way to stop it.
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[ that answer comes immediate - laying down and dying hasn't done much good for anyone, and it sure as shit won't be vax'ildan's first answer. ]
Look, I agree with you. If Dreamer's the one that wrote that letter, they're completely fucking psycho, and I don't want anything to do with it. But I don't want to just rot in this fucking prism, either, and I don't want to watch people die because of it.
This tells me something's happening, whether it's a memory or not. And if we've gotta unbury some memories to get out of here and find the method that isn't whatever the hell this is about - [ as he lifts his hand, showing the eyeball again ] - then we gotta get digging.
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What I can't live with is doing nothing at all.
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…I don’t know what I should be telling all of you to do. I keep telling you what a bad feeling I get from all of us, but I don’t believe it’s my place to tell you to stop. Or, perhaps it’s that I’m afraid if I did, you wouldn’t ask me about these things anymore. A lot fewer of you do, now, and maybe we’re to blame for that.
A good friend of mine told me that maybe I should just try to be a less of a busybody and listen a little more, so that’s what I’ll try to do. But if you’re talking about contacting Dreamer on purpose, I can’t help but worry.
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he listens for a moment, watching those mushrooms, mouth pulling into a frown. ]
...That - I didn't really think that through. [ the. dreamer contacting. he looks down at the eyeball. this is not surprising behavior coming from vax who flips off gods. ] But, there are others, too - I told you, I'm all about looking for another way.
I don't want to resort to blood. That's not right. I want to find a way out of here that isn't their bullshit, but I know I want to find a way out, and it's not gonna happen by just letting things go by. I want to keep looking for different routes.
... You don't have to know everything, you know, Shale - even if it's unknown, we're just gonna all have to figure this out together. Right?
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Sure, right. Or at least wait until all of you have realized how...pointless and destructive what you're doing is. Until then, I think I just need to let it go and hope you realize it on your own.
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[ he reaches up and absently knocks a hand against his own chest, against his armor over his heart. their shared story, even if it's distant, is important. it's something vax has come to rely on over and over, here. ]
...You're willing to listen, like your friend said. Yeah? If nothing else.
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But I am willing to try to listen to what you need.
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he gives a little shrug, expression no less uneasy, shoulders a little hunched. ]
...'s all we can ask for. And - I'll try. To keep in mind what you're saying, too. I'll try.
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[not harshly, but sternly.]
If you're going to ask me to change my mind about my home, I'm going to need something else from you, not that. I am not refusing to hear you, but I'm not being convinced, either.
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... eventually, quietly: ]
... What about Exandria?
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[he seems a little caught off guard by the question.]
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[hmmm.]
I've never thought about "home" as something that can be summed up in terms of continents or maps.
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More like people?
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...As far as I see it, that's not likely to happen.
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