Post Crossing Meeting

[knockingatthedoor]

WHO: Kel and anyone who wants to discuss The Crossing
WHAT: Second 'Town Meeting'
WHERE: Oasis
WHEN: A bit after the crossing, when everyone has time to calm down and breathe.
WARNINGS Talks of death, definitely, mention of blood and wounds, other CWs to be added.

[Kel has seen people scatter around and, despite still acting like a foolish fool around Mari and Sunny... he is doing his best to try to coordinate things as he can. Armed with a set bright of pink pencils, definitely merchandise of the Sweetheart brand from his place, he prepared a whole wall in one of the shelters to work as a rough chalkboard and, written on it, there are his few observations from staying behind.

- Nothing beside the wraiths did show up. What are we running from?
- Ferryman honest or not?
- When you don't pay the tool, you may still lose memories
- Our bodies can get hurt as if we're still alive.
- Discussion About Crossing from both sides?

It's not much but try to get stuff to appear properly on a blank wall when all you have is a bunch of pencils that don't even write that well. He's trying, though, he really is. A message is sent out to everyone after he's done gathering enough pillows for everyone to sit in, inviting people to come and share experiences, and... that's all. He did, at least, prepare water for everyone to drink.... it's somethin, right?

"Why, thank you for coming! Take a seat, mingle and let's get down to businesses!"

OOC: This is a mingle thread. Feel free to interact with each other and have discussions about things. The 'chalkboard' will be updated if anything is brought up to Kel's attention, I'll leave an open post for that.

Comments

Re: The 'Wall'

[callsignhornet]

[Allybee reads the information so far, writing in surprisingly neat handwriting]
- eye iconography in caves
- potential individuals in wraith population

[blindluck]

-Eye iconography: references a group that is no longer present
-Iconography also present: flower, lantern

[There is a better way to share information than this and Nagito is not using that method.]

[callsignhornet]

[She reads the response and turns immediately to scan the room for Nagito. Waiting to avoid interrupting another conversation, she approaches with the brusqueness one would associate with a soldier.]

There you are. [She stops in front of him, not quite blocking his way from the rest of the room.]

Would you mind telling me about the iconography you saw in the caves?

[blindluck]

[Nagito smiles, either ignoring or genuinely oblivious to the way she's approached and is now standing in front of him.]

Of course. They led out of the city into various caverns. I thought it would be a good idea to follow them. Unfortunately, only the lantern symbol led anywhere.

[To the notebooks. See, the note Nagito left on the wall is extremely clear.]

[callsignhornet]

[Allynbee doesn't return the smile, remaining cooly professional as more questions begin to pop up in her mind. There's the matter how he knows what the eye represents, but for now she focuses on the simpler question. ]

So where did the lantern symbol lead to?

[blindluck]

A room filled with notebooks and papers. Including letters from, presumably, the other groups. [Nagito pulls a letter with an eye symbol on it out of his jacket. There's the soft hiss of paper against paper as he does; it sounds like Nagito has a lot more paperwork in his jacket than just what he's removed.

The paper Nagito shows Shepard looks like a letter, although the words are gibberish to her and everyone else here.]

[callsignhornet]

[He doesn't seem like the type to take many notes, so she hazards a guess that he's holding on to some of the notebooks and papers he found. Still, she looks at the letter before pressing it and is completely unsurprised that she can't read it.

She'd have to get used to all this analog stuff.

Allynbee gestures vaguely at his jacket.]

No chance there's a translation in all of that?

[blindluck]

According to Ferryman-san, we can't understand because we aren't from the group that wrote them. [Whether or not he believes that to be the reason goes unsaid.] Ferryman-san seems to be able to read them, but they didn't translate for us.

[callsignhornet]

[The Ferryman's reticence to assist surprises her, though she keeps that to herself.]

So, what do you think?

[knockingatthedoor]

[It looks like he missed out a LOT of stuff, huh?]

Hey, what do you mean.. individuals? [He asks, approaching Allybee] They seemed mostly feral to me, did you see any of them that seemed to be their own person?

[callsignhornet]

[She thinks about how to best explain what she means as Kel approaches and sorely misses Mordin and Liara in the process.]

No, not quite like a person. It was paying specific attention to me, the way animals sometimes do.

[knockingatthedoor]

[He nods. It makes painfully sense considering Kel also had one of them focus especially on him-]

Like... it really wanted to hunt you specifically?

[callsignhornet]

[She shakes her head, making a small, thoughtful noise.]

No, more wary. It was just watching me, but like it could observe me. Like it was trying to figure me out.

[knockingatthedoor]

That's kind of creepy. Iv'e seen some of them stare, though, even if I couldnt' tell if they were just focused on me.

The big one chasing me, though, once the crossing started... that one I can confirm was after my skin

[callsignhornet]

[Ah, so this was the hard part Need was talking about.]

I think I missed this, being lost in the caverns. There was a wraith that got aggressive?

[knockingatthedoor]

A... lot. When the Ferryman left, all hell broke loose. We tried to wait but they shifted, turned, and started to attack blindly. Overall terrible.

Also, maybe it's because we were not under the ferryman's lantern light, but our bodies could get wounded. I barely made it here.

[callsignhornet]

[Kel's description prompts another batch of thought from the commander, brows knitting and lips thinning slightly.]

So why did the Ferryman leave?

[For a moment 'the commander' mask slips and Allynbee stifles a sour face. She's not quite ready to admit to believing the Ferryman to anyone else, even by implication.]

This isn't the end of the line. Did they get called elsewhere?

[protectorofkouka]

[The note about individuals in the wraith's population immediately caught his interest. Were the wraiths not too far gone like he feared? He looked for Allybee for confirmation.]

Could you please elaborate on what you mean by individuals among the wraiths.

[callsignhornet]

[She perks up at Soo Won's approach, giving him a quick nod.]

Sure. There was nothing visual, but when I was nearly Lost, I encountered a wraith that was observing me with actual focus. Like it was trying to figure me out.

[protectorofkouka]

You saw an intelligent wraith?

[It was both a hopeful thought, but a troublesome one as well for the next crossing. The feral wraiths caused enough trouble. One that could think for itself would be a more dangerous threat.]

When it was observing you how did they seem?

[callsignhornet]

It seemed smart. Like it was assessing me.

[Allynbee shrugged a little, shaking her head. It felt like she was dealing with the Thorian or the Rachni Queen again - encountering something intelligent but inhuman. It wasn't unsettling, exactly, but she didn't like it much at all.]

I've dealt with similar things, but I can't say I'm a fan.

[protectorofkouka]

[Soo Won hadn't encountered anything like Allynbee had, but he could still recognize the potential danger something like that would pose. He considered Allynbee's words with a small hum, a hint of concern in his voice.]

That complicates things.

[He was quiet as he went through several scenarios in his head.]

Do you think you would recognize them if you saw it again?

[If they could somehow communicate with it before it turned hostile during the next crossing maybe they could bypass the threat completely. Not to mention he was curious to meet this wraith regardless.]

[callsignhornet]

Absolutely.

[Allynbee gives a quick, quiet sigh. Her mind goes to Mordin, considering how problematic dealing with the Smart Wraith during an active Crossing might be.]

I'm not sure if we'll be able to find it in time.

[protectorofkouka]

[Soo Won agreed with a contemplative hum.]

Unfortunately the desert is more difficult to navigate than the caverns so tracking it down won't be easy but it's too much of a risk to leave it alone.

[callsignhornet]

I definitely agree with you there.

[She scans the room, looking at everyone assembled.]

I think we should table this for now and check and see what info everyone has shared. If you find any leads, reach out. I'll do the same.