006: Group Introductions and AMAs - Second Round

[tarnishedavenger]

[Armstrong hates to do this after so many people have introduced themselves in locked channels, but they at least need to put on a show of meeting for Jorgmund's sake.]

So, we've got a few new people here since the last time we did something like this. Time to get introductions done and over with. Just list your name, powers, if any, relevant facts, and, if you feel like it, answer reasonable questions that people have. We'll be able to function together more effectively if we know more about each other. Keep it sensible and try not to wheedle out any dark secrets.

Or, you know, old people can tell people why Taco Tuesday is the best.

Comments

[zerofield]

There's probably a lengthy thesis to written out of the metaphysical and mythological differences and similarities between everyone's worlds.

[ One for someone who cares more about that stuff. ]

I think I'd prefer in person, if you don't mind.

[ Less a genuine preference and more the realization that she's going to need to meet everyone in person sooner or later, so might as well get working on that. ]

[credit_not_blame]

Oh, for sure. Too bad we weren't brought here for sociological studies, that would be almost fun.

I can do in person. Where do you want to meet up? I can come to you, I'm pretty familiar with this place by now.

[zerofield]

I'm in the level A5 lounge.

[credit_not_blame]

Cool, be there shortly. If I'm not, tell everyone I started in the gym and to come find me.

[Fortunately, Stacia does not encounter anyone with the intent to harm her on the way to the A5 lounge; though she does arrive at a jog, just in case.]

Hellooo, I'm here!

[Presenting one (1) almost doll-like seventeen-year-old in a Jorgmund jumpsuit far too big for her.]

[zerofield]

[ Hi, Stacia. Meet possibly the only New Hire who's shorter than you without a convenient excuse like "being a mouse" to explain it...albeit only by an inch or so.

Tio's jumpsuit is a much better fit for her, though. ]

Hi. I'll learn my way around sooner or later, but thanks for coming in the meantime.

[credit_not_blame]

No problem at all. I've been going a little stir-crazy anyway.

[Huzzah, someone of a reasonable height instead of all of these ridiculous giants! Stacia circles around Tio to give the other girl a clear shot to the door, just in case. She's not worried about triggering the Delirium here, but a Garou in Crinos is pretty terrifying to look at regardless. Leaving an open escape route is only polite.]

Do you want to establish what I'm going to say ahead of time, or just jump right in the deep end?

[zerofield]

[ The escape route is noted and appreciated; Tio is not a coward, but she is extremely aware that she is a small squishy mage archetype. ]

I think for the sake of avoiding confirmation bias, it'd work best if you don't tell me first. We'll check what I heard against what you said afterwards.

[credit_not_blame]

Makes sense to me.

[Stacia kicks off her shoes and shimmies out of her jumpsuit, because she still refuses to dedicate it to herself, leaving herself wearing only her Jorgmund-issued underwear. But not for long -- moments later, she has almost doubled in size, reaching a height of well over eight feet had she been standing up straight. The underwear and all visible skin vanishes under a thick coat of brown and grey fur, and talon-liked claws sprout from her fingers and toes. Her mouth and nose push out into a muzzle and teeth like knives sprout from her jaws.

The result is a creature that is only wolf-like in the sense that it's a nightmare based on the idea of a wolf by someone who's possibly never seen one in person. Stacia sits on the floor, trying not to look threatening. She fails, because there's really no way to not be threatening in Crinos, but the attempt is important to her.]

[zerofield]

[ The effort to appear less threatening would almost be funny, if the entire scene weren't already nightmare fuel. Stacia's not as big as Zeit got when he went full Holy Beast mode, but Zeit was also a lot more straight up wolf and a lot less like a terrifying fever dream.

Tio takes a deep breath. Lets it out. Okay, she's got this, she just...give her a moment.

Okay. ]

I...'m ready.

[credit_not_blame]

[Needing a moment is a perfectly reasonable reaction to seeing a Crinos Garou. Screaming and fleeing is probably more sensible, but "sensible" isn't always an option. Stacia stays seated while Tio takes her moment, trying not to drool on the carpet. Grandma, what big teeth you have...

What Stacia attempts to say, as slowly and clearly as possible, is "I'm a pretty, pretty princess". Because it's funny. What comes out is, at best:]

Ain ah hihddy hihddy hihnshesh.

[...She does a much better 'awoo'.]

[zerofield]

[ For a moment, it looks like maybe Tio didn't get it, because she continues to just...stare.

But then her expression cracks, and she giggles. ]

I'm sure by someone's standards, that's completely true.

[ But boy, she has no idea who it is that appreciates...this. ]

[credit_not_blame]

[Giggling is a positive development! It sounds like Tio is confident her her ability to comprehend Stacia's gnashed words.]

Hhat hid ai shay?

[Time to find out what the other girl can repeat back to her.]

[zerofield]

"I'm a pretty pretty princess."

[ She takes a moment to compose herself again, looking thoughtful. ]

It's...different from how Zeit talks, but it's not so different I can't get around it.

[ Which is reasonable enough, she figures, that two different forms of supernatural wolfthing would have different...accents? ]

[credit_not_blame]

[Stacia shifts back to Homid at this point -- staying in Crinos when she doesn't need to fight something is uncomfortable -- and shrugs back into her jumpsuit.]

Do you think you could still understand me in a high-stress situation, or is it something you'd need to concentrate on?

[A few people here know she can go full wolf already, she wonders if it would be easier or harder for Tio to understand her in Lupus. But she'd prefer to get to know the other girl a bit better before the necessary reveal to try out that particular test.]

[zerofield]

As long as the message stayed simple, I think it'd be fine. I'm not sure if "accent" is quite the word to describe it, but that's the best comparison I can make - that you're speaking the same language I'd hear from Zeit, but the accent is different.

[credit_not_blame]

[Well dang, add "can Tio understand High Tongue" to the list of Questions Stacia Shouldn't Ask (Yet?)]

Simple is about all I can manage in that shape; the teeth get in the way of anything else. But that's pretty cool. Is 'Zeit' your divine wolf back home?

[zerofield]

[ She nods. Tio doesn't emote much, but she does seem more content than usual when she talks about Zeit. She loevs fluffy wolf buddy. ]

Most of the time he didn't look or sound too different than the other wolves in the area. We managed to get away with telling people he was a police dog. His true form was a lot bigger, and everyone else could actually understand him when he was like that, though.

[credit_not_blame]

["Police dog" is probably a good cover, considering how big wolves are in comparison to dogs.]

Was his true form like, horse-sized? Or closer to house-sized?

[zerofield]

House-sized. But there was so much going on by the time he revealed it, I don't think anybody really had the chance to indulge in being surprised.

[credit_not_blame]

[Way bigger than Hispo, then.]

Ha, if everyone's too busy to be surprised by human-intelligible house-sized wolf, things must have been nuts. Everything work out okay?

oh geez I didn't realize I'd left this sitting so LONG....mea culpa

[zerofield]

Mm...in a manner of speaking. One crisis replaced by another one, but we're working on it.

[ All things considered, the latter crisis is a much more manageable one, so they just gotta keep on keeping on. She has faith! ]

no worries, things happen!

[credit_not_blame]

Oh, I know how that is. "Congratulations, we've kicked the can down the road a little, now for all the other problems waiting in the wings!"

[Stacia throws herself down on one of the couches, clearly prepared to stay awhile even though they've done what she came here to do.]

[zerofield]

[ The chance for some more meaningful human interaction is...welcome, actually, even if Tio remains pretty deadpan throughout. As she does. ]

There's nothing threatening the fabric of reality anymore, so we're free to deal with the more mundane issues of "occupying foreign government" and "half my colleagues now being hunted by the law."

[ There's some dry amusement there, because really, you have to have a dark sense of humor to stay afloat in Crossbell sometimes. ]

[credit_not_blame]

[Stacia laughs.]

That sounds about right. With a bonus "keep an eye out for the next threat to the fabric of reality, whatever form it might take". Did yours come from inside or outside?

[zerofield]

Inside. But she erased her own powers, so we're okay for now...on that front, anyway.

[ That, and everyone who was trying to take advantage has been...dealt with, in one way or another. Which mostly means "prison or got Jesused into behaving," because Trails heroes are good at that. ]

Without her to scare off foreign powers, though, we've got plenty of trouble with that to deal with now.