apocalypsehowcomm | Log | Late November through December Catch-all

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Log | Late November through December Catch-all | OTA

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!

Wildcard
Throw a custom prompt at me! Or hit me up to write one!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Flapjack looks worse under the light. Hunter's heart clenches and he curls a finger to very carefully stroke the top of the cardinal's head.

His head snaps up. Is she really willing to do that? Is her palisman?]

...Is that okay?

[It's about then that Owlbert is woken by all the commotion, and wiggles out from the blanket pile in Eda's nest. He blinks, hops up onto the side of the nest, then flutters over to the table.

He makes a soft noise, and nudges Flapjack lightly with his head. Another tiny concerned hoot, before looking up at Hunter.]

Yeah, it's... not great, but it's what we've got. You don't have his out, right? I don't want you two burning juice on that.

[She's assuming they share a, well, fear reservoir she supposes, again. She's not fully sure how that works with one of them injured, but even if Hunter has some version of magic she's not sure they should risk Flapjack trying to do anything.]

Edited 2023-01-03 00:04 (UTC)

[Flapjack makes a little noise in return, like a reassurance, though just that seems to wear him out and his eyes slip shut. Hunter would like to tell Owlbert that everything will be okay, but he can't even convince himself of that.

He shakes his head.]

No. I didn't even think... [And why would he? He thought Flap was gone forever. And he certainly wouldn't have done anything to risk his friend in this state.

Though something she said confuses him.] Juice?

[After a moment, Owlbert just sits down next to the other palisman. This isn't really something he can fix with magic, even if wasn't also pretty low on it.]

No, no that's good. [Not that he doesn't have it, but that Flapjack hasn't tried to use magic he probably can't spare. She begins riffling through a messy section of a bookshelf, grabbing paper and pen.] I meant... we have limited magic here, you know? Even if he wasn't hurt, you've only got as much as you're feeding the Entities. Honestly, if I couldn't use your help I'd tell you to go be creepy near some humans.

[This doesn't actually sound like she means this as a joke.]

[That's good, she says, and it's embarrassing how pleased he is to know he didn't unintentionally screw up. He cups a hand around Flapjack's sweater nest and watches her move around.]

Oh...I don't have magic. [He thought she knew that.] I'm not aligned with an Entity.

[He looks down at Flapjack, who squints up at him. Flap has magic, though. Did he have to feed one of those things to use it?]

I know you don't have... natural magic. Neither do I. But the way things work here, Owlbert and I share. Either of us feeds and I can use him to cast spells. You and Flapjack were sharing, before.

[And while she talks, she's going to lay out some paper next to Flapjack's sweater nest.] And it makes glyphs work for us, even if those shouldn't work at all here.

[She wonders if it's different this time, or if he just hasn't tried glyphs or his staff.]

But we can figure out all that later. Right now... it'll help if I can get him in wood form. [But still, ideally, without using his own magic. She looks thoughtful and starts drawing ]

We were? [He glances down at Flapjack again, though he doesn't expect any answers there. That's something they'll have to figure out later. There will be a later.

He watches her with interest. He doesn't want Flapjack using any unnecessary energy either, but he is not sure how she's planning on working around that.]

What are you doing?

I'm... hoping I can make plant magic work. [She wishes she could sound slightly more confident, but she does want to be honest. She's working with what she's got, and what she's got isn't anywhere close to how powerful she used to be. That was true even before she was here.

Still, she'll draw for a bit before very gently reaching to move to sweater nest onto the paper.]

[He frowns but doesn't intervene when she moves Flapjack. Glyphs don't work in the Human Realm. But they do in this Human Realm, apparently.

Still, he expects a whole lot of nothing to happen, so it's a surprise when it works.

Somehow, the cracks in his palisman look worse, but at the same time less horrible. He hates it. He hates everything about this. The look he sends to Eda screams, "Please save him."]

[And that look just kills her, honestly. Whatever he acts like and however much he might insist he's not a kid, Hunter is one, and she finds it painfully obvious right now.

Maybe she should go ahead and get him doing something useful so he's not just panicking and hovering.]

Okay, okay... that buys us some time. But since I'm the one with magic, I should stay and do what I can on that front. [It's true, and she really could use some help, it's just a bonus if it gives him something to focus on, too.]

I'm gonna need a file or some sandpaper. There should be something around from when everyone was fixing up this place--ask someone if you need to. [She doesn't really want anyone else poking around to see what she's doing, but that's a lower priority.]

And some... damn. Never had to think about what they put in wood glue here but I'm a little worried it's plastic or something. [She doesn't know for certain that would hurt him, but she doesn't know for certain it wouldn't, either. Now really doesn't seem like the time to mess around with any human realm ingredients that she isn't completely familiar with.]

Might be safer to cook something up. [She looks thoughtful for a moment.]

[Hunter is hesitant, but Eda is right: he needs something useful to do. Hovering and fretting isn't going to help anyone, least of all his palisman. He's already barely holding it together.

Cooking something up doesn't ease his worry any, but she's more knowledgeable about this stuff than he is. So he slowly stands and backs away.]

Okay. I'll be back soon. As fast as I can. [He appears to be addressing Flapjack more than Eda. He lingers a moment more, and then he's pounding out the door in search of a file.]

[Eda can't help a faint, sad little chuckle as Hunter bolts out of the room. Then she sighs, and absently pets Owlbert's head a few times as she looks Flapjack over again.

By the time Hunter gets back, Eda has various bits of crumpled paper on the little table, glyph combinations that worked and didn't. The cardinal's green 'blood' doesn't seem to be leaking as badly, but the cracks are about the same as they were.]

[The scene that greets Hunter upon his return is...discouraging. He pauses in the doorway before slowly shuffling in and setting the file down next to Flapjack's nest. He rests a finger on the crown on Flapjack's head, eyes fixed on the cracks.]

Any progress?

Thanks. [And she'll just go ahead and pick up her staff from where it's resting, before flipping it to the end without the interlock and beginning to file it down a bit, over one of the sheets of paper.]

And... a little. We should be okay for time. [She hopes, at any rate.] Just need to get started on actual repairs. [Which brings them back to what she was musing on when he left.]

I remember… something my dad showed me. For putting them together. From the old days, when we made everything from scratch. [It's a detail she might not normally drop about her family, but it's not like the Clawthornes being palisman carvers is a secret. Just a fact she's not sure if Hunter already knew. And one she wouldn't have actively pointed out when he was loyal to Belos. Either way, right now she's just kind of rambling aloud.]

[He watches her with the staff, and casts a look at Owlbert. Is he really okay with this? When this is over, Hunter will have to find out what the owl palisman likes most and give him a thank you gift. Eda too.

He sits up, clearly interested - not only in the topic, but it would be beneficial to caring for Flapjack if he can learn whatever knowledge she's willing to give.]

I've read some about how palismen are made, but I never got to the part about how to repair them.

[Owlbert gives Hunter a worried look back, but then shuffles a bit closer to sit by Flapjack again. The worry seems to be more over him than over what Eda's doing, although he's probably not thrilled.

Eda notices the kid's interest--at least he'll learn some things from this. Hopefully he won't need them again any time soon, but hopefully he'll still have a palisman to mean that he might.]

There's a few ways to repair them. But like I say, might be better to cook up a binder from scratch. This one ought to be simple enough. There's a few other potion ingredients that would help, but… the gist of it is blood and lye. Physically it's strong–tough, waterproof, set it with heat and it ain't going anywhere. They used to use snorse blood making houses–still do, maybe. [It's not exactly something she's had any cause to think about in a while.]

But it's also… it's old magic. [And look, she knows Hunter has extremely mixed feelings on that topic. But Flapjack is a palisman, and an ancient one. Wild Magic is exactly what they need right now.]

Adds some extra life to the mix. Back before it was rare we would've burnt scrap palistrom wood and boiled the ash. But I'm not sure we have enough for that even if we wanted to. [She might genuinely sacrifice her whole staff if it was both strictly necessary and a guarantee. She could carve something new for Owlbert, technically. But she's not throwing it in the mix to see if it helps when it's a toss-up. Either of the witches might need it a lot more later.]

Edited 2023-01-08 18:36 (UTC)

[He listens intently, nodding every so often to show he's paying attention. She might be surprised to learn he's not all that opposed to wild magic. Not now that he knew everything he'd been raised to believe was a lie. The last words he spoke to Belos were his desire to study wild magic and learn how to carve palismen.

Under any other circumstance, he'd be taking notes.

He latches onto the most important bit and waits until she's taken a pause to ask:]

How much blood do you need?

[Eda blinks, and stops to think about that for a moment.]

Not a whole lot, for this. We could probably get away with an ounce, maybe two, in a pinch. [But she looks thoughtful, because amount isn't actually her biggest concern.]

Any animal should work, and it can be dried. You ought to be able to buy some easy enough, they do cook here. [She assumes it's a common ingredient in the Human Realm too, because why wouldn't it be?] But… like I say, old magic. Fresh couldn't hurt. You know how to hunt or trap, right kid? I need Owlbert here.

[But the emperor's coven certainly had that kind of survival training back when she wanted to join. It would give him another thing to do, and she does think something fresh would be the best bet.]

I can...

[He says it slowly, thinking. Of course he knows how to hunt and trap. That's basic survival. But it will take time that he doesn't want to waste. There had been no need for hunting in the months he lived in the Noceda house, so there was no need to familiarize himself with the habits of the local wildlife. There's a learning curve, and the risk of failure is too high.]

Just use mine.

[Eda raises an eyebrow. She supposes she should have seen where that was going, given how attached he is to the palisman. And she can't say it's not the kind of stupid thing she'd have done if it was Owlbert--or would even still do, if not for the curse being likely to mess anything like that up.]

You don't have to do that, kid... [Her tone is gentle. She won't argue if he insists, but she doesn't really want him to.]

I do. [His voice is firm, dead serious.]

I owe him. He's my responsibility and... [and he'd already failed once, had hurt him, had let Belos hurt him, he wasn't fast enough, he wasn't strong enough] I owe him.

[Eda looks like she might argue the point more, but at the end of the day it's up to him.]

...Okay, Hunter. If you say so. [She still doesn't know exactly what happened, and she isn't about to press for details right now.]

Honestly I guess it might help that you're-- [there's a very small pause, like she might say something other than what she goes on to say. Possibly a grimwalker,] his witch.

[He's expecting more of a fight, so when she agrees without much of one he's relieved. He doesn't want to have to explain why he feels as strongly about this as he does. Flapjack seems stable at the moment but he's worried that could change.

That's a little pause, small enough that he doesn't have time to fret. He doesn't know what Luz told her after they left Belos's mindscape, and he's afraid to find out.

He starts to rise.] I'll find a knife.

[Eda looks up from what she's doing briefly, and raises a hand.]

Hold your snorses, kiddo. It's a potion ingredient--don't just start bleeding on stuff before we have everything. [Well, a crafting ingredient. Well, both. That's not the important part.]

If we're not worried about burning palistrom wood, lye shouldn't be too hard. They don't have potion shops here, but I'm pretty sure they still make soap and stuff.

R-right...

[He slowly lowers himself back down. He doesn't know the first thing about repairing palismen, so he just listens and tries not to fall behind.]

Soap?

[For...the...lye? Is he getting that right?]

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