Log | Late November through December Catch-all | OTA

[edalyn]

Who: Eda Clawthorne and YOU
When: Late Nov - Throughout Dec
Where: ADI, Gloucester outskirts, Bonnie’s
Summary: Moving to Bonnie’s Flophouse (and settling in there), sparring, survival training, exploration.
Warnings: Injured animal/pet + blood mentions (and minor self harm in the context of needing blood for potions purposes) in the second Hunter thread


Nesting 2.0 Late Nov - mid Dec

a) let's decorate it with things of our own
Late November sees the ADI’s resident witches, Eda and Raine, moving to Bonnie’s Flophouse. Fortunately this isn’t all that difficult, given how close the place is. There’s not an exhausting amount to move in the way of possessions, but there are definitely some.

In a trait that might be more befitting of a magpie than an owl, Eda likes things. In her over six months here, she’s been accumulating shiny objects, potted plants, books, little gadgets, and a lot of art to hang on her walls. Along with a few more unique pieces of décor, not all of which will necessarily fit in one bedroom. Hope you like taxidermy jackalopes and clocks that look like they’re made of teeth. Both are in the shared living space now. The jackalope is also a lamp. You’re welcome.

Eda doesn’t appear to be a terrible housemate, but she does wander in and out at strange hours, sometimes via windows. And there are starting to be a lot of feathers around. There might be one in your last load of laundry.

At least… she’s not a terrible housemate at first. After a few days she starts to seem increasingly sleep deprived and on edge.

b) |Closed to Raine| we'll be faced with highs and lows
Eda’s doing her best. She really is. But the not sleeping is starting to become obvious, and probably not a good time for anyone around her. One morning she corners her roommate, clearly out of sorts and holding a mug of what might actually be coffee for once.

“Look, we need to talk about the–” she waves a clawed hand vaguely, “rooming situation. I gave it a go, but I can’t do this.”

c) I know somewhere down the road / we can make this a place to call home
It’s the day after her conversation with Raine, and about a week and a half into staying in the Flophouse that Eda disassembles one of the beds in their room and stuffs all the pieces into the attic.

Beyond asking Bonnie what to do with the unused furniture, Eda doesn’t bother to explain anything about what she’s doing. People are free to make whatever assumptions they want about the witches not needing both of them.

She also doesn’t bother to explain anything ahead of time when she starts dragging sticks and branches into the house. She’ll be at this for at least a couple of days–apparently she needs a lot of them.

Survival of the Fittest Dec 1 - 31

a)
Anyone want to practice their monster fighting skills? There’s a harpy happy to indulge. Possibly happy to challenge you just because you walked by. Eda needs to blow off some steam, and sparring in the new gym is technically an ADI-sanctioned way to do that.

Those who take her up on the challenge–or watch for a while, will find that she’s definitely not the most amazing fighter here, but she certainly knows how to hold her own and it doesn’t hurt that she’s seven-plus feet of wiry muscle, claws, and talons.

She knows she could use the practice herself, given that she’s still getting used to both the body and the lack of using magic in her fights. Not that she’s admitting that, to most people at least. No, mostly she’s just daring people to try their luck.

She had actual training, once upon a time, but for the last few decades her practice has been the kind of fighting that’s more about evading capture or staying alive than it is about form. Then again, survival training is the theme, so that might not be the worst thing.

b)
Eda is offering tips on outdoor skills, sometimes in the area set up for it officially–but especially for anyone who wants to follow her into the local wooded areas. Whether this part is specifically sanctioned by the ADI is anyone’s guess, but she sure is offering it.

Her advice ranges from surprisingly useful to somewhat baffling to outright unhelpful.

When it comes to topics like tracking things, and to navigating in the woods without getting hopelessly lost, Eda knows what she’s doing. She can show you how to set a snare trap in a pinch, too.

On the other hand, she has a lot of tips about getting in touch with the land via approaches like sniffing moss or eating snow. She thinks it’s your loss if you want to pass up this wisdom.

Her comments about what mushrooms are edible (to witches), meanwhile, should be avoided at all cost by anyone who is not a witch.

c) - Exploration
Eda will be taking a few trips into Dogtown now that it’s open, and she’s willing to admit it’s safer to go in pairs. She’ll be teaming up with people who are interested, provided she thinks they’d have her back and also aren’t likely to get themselves killed.

If we have exploration planned, feel free to throw me a starter or ask for one!


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Comments

[byeeeeeeeee]

[He agreed. That was one of the reasons he wanted to learn. (The other being that he felt genuinely drawn to the practice.) Belos - with his help - had decimated the palisman population. It was only right he try to remedy that somehow.

He nods, carefully running a finger over Flapjack's little head.]

I have a lot to make up for.

[edalyn]

No. [Her tone isn't snappy, but it is firmer now.] Your 'uncle' has a lot to make up for.

That's... not what I meant. [There's a pause as she thinks about how to say what she does mean. She takes the pot off the stove but continues to stir it.]

It's not something I'd teach you just because you feel bad. That's not why you should do it, either. [It's easy for her to tell someone else not to make their decisions based in guilt. But this isn't about whether she can take her own advice.]

But... the way I see it, you didn't have much choice in being the reason they're gone. You could have one in being the reason there's more. [And she has a feeling that would be good for Hunter.]

[byeeeeeeeee]

[The "no" grabs his attention. He sits up from his slump automatically, before the rest of what she's saying registers. And then, he doesn't know what to say. He thought they were on the same page, but apparently not.

Guilt is easy. He understands guilt. He's always taken the blame, even for things that were not his fault. He knows it wasn't fair or right, but it's engrained. He can't even argue that he'd had a choice, because obey or suffer wasn't really a choice.

But after a little ruminating, he thinks he understands what she's saying.]

Well...I have always been interested in wild magic and ancient techniques. I...acquired some books about the Savage Ages. [Confiscated, is more accurate. So what if he took and read the books instead of destroying them...?]

[edalyn]

[She almost feels bad about her tone, but since he doesn't actually look scared, maybe it's good to get him out of his own head.]

Oh yeah? If they called it the Savage Ages I'd take 'em with a grain of salt. [But she says this mildly. Honestly it's still weird for her to realise how much of the stuff she did buy into growing up was also a lie.]

[byeeeeeeeee]

[Point taken. He shrugs.]

Kinda hard to find anything that hadn't been edited or censored. Don't get me started on the castle archives.

[He wonders now how much he'd read and studied was even real and not some rewritten lie.]

[edalyn]

I can make some guesses. [She wonders exactly how much Boiling Isles history the man simply burned. Reading more about Human Realm history, about the time and place—surprisingly close to Gloucester all things considered—Philip Wittebane was from, she has a lot more context for the sort of things he did. Not that any of it makes her feel better.]

Good thing some of us are keeping those ancient techniques alive, eh?

[Might as well focus on the bright side. Hunter didn't have to try to learn from books. Eda retrieved the sawdust from earlier and slowly added it to the mixture she was working on, once it was no longer boiling.]

[byeeeeeeeee]

It is. [He's serious.] Once Belos and the Collector are dealt with, the Isles will need to be rebuilt. [Probably physically. Definitely politically.] That knowledge will be useful.

[Feeling better, he gets up from the table and moves a bit closer to see what she's doing.]

[edalyn]

[And that's a slightly more earnest answer than she was expecting, even given the conversation so far. But it's nice to focus on once and will as opposed to if.] Yeah. Yeah, I guess they will.

[She continues to mix for a moment before glancing up at him. If he takes a closer look, that appears to have been a fair bit of work for... a ball of thick putty. But the consistency looks like something that would work for sculpting, or filling large cracks.]

You want to help?

[byeeeeeeeee]

Can I?

[His initial excitement quickly plummets. He glances back at Flap with a frown.]

I don't want to mess anything up.

[edalyn]

You can. [Eda gives him a small smile. She wants to let him be involved, it seems... important. Though she won't insist if he's too nervous.]

Shouldn't be too easy to mess up. You don't need to be neat, just thorough. Make sure all the cracks are filled in. After that we can set it and sand it. [Worst case, before that it wont be permanent, at least unless he managed to make the cracks worse.]

[byeeeeeeeee]

[He still looks a bit nervous, but he schools his expression to something between neutral and serious and nods.]

I'll follow your instructions exactly.

[edalyn]

It's not like there's many. Grab those gloves. This part'll be easier without tools.

[And to demonstrate what she means, Eda pinches of a small chunk of the wood putty. She rolls it between her fingers, and then into a short strip. Picking up the damaged palisman carefully in her other hand, she molds it into one of the cracks.

She presses firmly, before smoothing it somewhat into place. She's making sure the damage is sealed, but beyond some attention to detail the idea doesn't look complicated. The length of her claws appears to make it slightly more awkward for her to work than it would be otherwise, so Hunter will probably have an easier time.]

[byeeeeeeeee]

[He watches like a hawk as she molds the putty in one of the cracks, mostly to learn how to do it, and partly to make sure nothing happens to his palisman. The gloves feel weird - not at all like the pair he used to wear constantly - but not uncomfortable. And more generous with movement.

He takes a portion of the putty and copies what she had done - rolling it a bit before forming it. Carefully, he takes Flap from her and presses the putty into place. He can't believe it's this simple, but already the damage is looking better. He looks up at her to make sure he isn't doing something wrong.]

Like that?

[edalyn]

Just like that. [Eda's watching him, but not in a way where she seems to expect him to mess up. She leans her chin on a hand idly.]

He might have a few new scars after this, but we can do our best to blend them in. [Either way, she's pretty sure it matters a whole lot less than being alive. It occurs to her that it would sort of match Hunter's recent appearance anyway, but she doesn't say that part out loud.]

[byeeeeeeeee]

[She doesn't want to say it, but it's the one thing that jumps to the front of his mind. Flap already had a scar over his eye. It's a shame he'll be even more damaged. Like me, Hunter thinks.

He tries for a smile, but it's not at all convincing.]

Guess we'll match.

[He smooths the putty and wonders how close they can get it so the scars aren't too visible.]

[edalyn]

[It gets a faint snort once he says it.] There's that.

[She goes quiet again for a moment, looking over the damage again and watching him work.] We can... repaint him, if you like. Mix up something close. Before we do new glaze. [Still not perfect, maybe, but she'll do her best, especially if it bothers Hunter.]

[byeeeeeeeee]

[That seems like a good solution, but he doesn't feel like it's his decision to make.]

Could we wait? I think...it should be up to him, how he looks.

[edalyn]

[It wasn't meant as a test or anything, but it turns out Eda really likes that answer. She gives Hunter a soft smile and nods.]

I think that's a good idea. You can ask him when he wakes up. [She's choosing to believe it's a when. This seems like it's going well, and she wants to be optimistic.]

[byeeeeeeeee]

[He's glad she agrees. He didn't think she would fight him on it, but he's not sure what he would have done if she had.

He spends the next several minutes concentrating on filling in cracks and smoothing them over, making sure the puttied areas match up as closely as possible to the texture and shape of Flapjack's wooden body.]

[edalyn]

[Since Hunter is doing fine, Eda just watches him quietly. She really hopes this works out, both for Flapjack and for Hunter's sake given how much he cares.

She makes an encouraging comment about his attention to detail here or there, but mostly just lets him work.]

It needs heat to set... normally I'd use magic but we don't need magic for that. [They'll need to figure out the safest way, but she does want to stick to as little power use as possible.]

[byeeeeeeeee]

[The more he works, the more natural it feels. He might actually find it fun if it weren't his little friend's life in his hands. It takes some time, but eventually, he's satisfied. He checks over the cracks again to ensure there aren't any mistakes or forgotten fissures.]

I need to know how to do it without magic anyway. [Titan forbid it ever happen again, but it's a comfort to know what to do if it does.]

How much heat does it need?

[edalyn]

Yeah, true. [She supposes even if they get home he will, sometimes at least. She looks thoughtful for a moment.]

They measure everything differently here, but... a little less than boiling water. The oven should be fine, I guess. [Which might worry him, but it's much lower than wood would actually burn at.]

[byeeeeeeeee]

[He feels he's been very trusting of her expertise so far, and so far he hasn't seen any reason not to trust her.

But his gives him pause. He eyes the oven with a troubled frown before looking at her again.]

You guess? Are you sure? Do you even know how to use the oven?

[edalyn]

Kid, I've been living here nearly a year. I do know how to use things. Just... figuring out what's our simplest option. And our safest one.

[It's not worth using magic, they'd have to be a lot more careful with anything involving fire, and anything else would probably take more time and effort for much the same result.

She considers adding something about how she's even sure this oven isn't evil, but she'd probably have to explain that ones in the Gloucester bakery that were and that sounds like more trouble than the quip is worth.]

[byeeeeeeeee]

Right. Of course. [Still, he holds Flapjack a little closer.] I'm...I'm not doubting your expertise, just...

[He really can't handle the thought of something going wrong. But he also knows she wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the palisman, not after all the work they've put into saving him so far.]

How would you do it back home?