PLAYER EVENT ★ HELIOLOGY

[ricksybusiness]

INTRODUCTION. It's difficult to tell time without the presence of a sun or moon. There are no stars. The world is in constant blackness, the heavens barely visible from below and the only light artificial. It's been like this for months. Suddenly, those who expressed interest in observing the sun (or lack thereof) will all at once receive a text message on their ALASTAIR jewellery from 82736775: Get your shit and go look at the sky. Now's the time. If you need me, I'm around. It's time to get to work. OBSERVATION. Find the highest point you can and point the telescopes at the sky. Should be easy, right? Be mindful that there are still guards patrolling the city, looking for escaped prisoners, and some citizens would be very happy to tip them off to your presence. There are still animals in the forests to contend with, and there are still nosey citizens who may ask you too many questions. There are also your fellow ALASTAIR agents, who may not be very willing to share the spot they already staked out before you just showed up. People and animals aren't all you need to look out for, either. Seven hours after the observation starts, there is a lightning storm. It lasts for 30 minutes, bolts of electricity arcing across the sky. It might be a good idea to scurry down someplace lower when this happens -- you know what they say about lightning and height. 82736775 doesn't contact anyone after the initial text, so observers are free to give up whenever they decide they've been sitting out in the freezing dark for long enough. [ note: even if you didn't sign up, feel free to tag in! your character won't have a telescope but that doesn't mean they can't mingle. ]

[ previously: ic info | ooc info ]
[ direct questions here! ]

Comments

[hideyourself]

They could change their target when they see you're the better catch. All I've got is this ratty telescope.

[mostly - entirely - joking, and in a voice quiet enough to carry to her and nowhere else. she steps past him with the attitude of a soldier on watch (a notion from personal experience), or an escort (mite quick of a development, wasn't that? some instincts she had. definitely something that could be useful in the future) with a highly fragile charge. good thing pride had never ranked high on his list of concerns: he falls into the role of escorted neatly, dogging her heels at a measured distance.]

[the blade's specs sit a rung below listening for the guards' clanking, a low, impressed sound whistling out of his throat. magic on material -- yeah, he could appreciate that, if it truly did hold up to her proclamation. a bit of him wonders about matching her apparent age to the choice in weaponry. the thought doesn't last long - she wasn't that young.]

[they had an escape to make.]

[or had made, but he holds off the thought until the castle is out of view, the village proper rising around them, absent of any armored clanking. one second, two - and then an exaggerated sigh of relief, telescope used to scratch at the top of his head as their tense pace slows.]

Nice reflexes. [and instincts, he barely refrains from tacking on.] Where'd you learn? Or-- how, I guess, if that's more adequate.

[digophelia]

[ Once the coast is clear and Alice has willfully led him to a safer spot, she slides it back into her dress, throwing her blanket over her cloak much more securely,as if nothing happened. It was an odd place to perch one's self, at the castle, but Alice couldn't fault them for that. The organizer of this data collection didn't seem like a rational fellow, by the sounds of it. ]

I taught myself. [ Maybe for other people, that was impressive, not for Alice. She wasn't exactly proud of the ways she had to learn or her reasons for it. Nothing she did was right in her eyes. ]

It's a matter of listening, I suppose. How one walks indicates how they're going to move.

[ Maybe, perhaps. She learned a great deal about human interaction while mute in the asylum. Most of it, unkind. ]

The sound of their weight in their footsteps, the rustle of what they wear, and the way they breathe. Well, I react accordingly.

[ She had a knack for it, but hadn't really considered how she gone about learning how to fight. But out of all her senses, Alice hadn't considered hearing was the most prominent one she used, next to sight. That didn't matter; above all, Alice was modest and hate to take any sense of pride in anything she did. ]

My reflexes aren't anything special, however, there are many talented people amongst us, far better and more composed than I ever will be.

[hideyourself]

[attention is given to where she stores the knife because it's a good thing to know, a handy fact in case of this-or-that, events that hopefully wouldn't come to pass with their distance from the castle and human town both.]

[they still had roads to traverse if they wanted to make it 'home' in a timely manner, which he sort of did. he liked his beauty sleep.]

[drawing back from the physical to the conversational, his answer came automatically, as if it didn't even require thought. so it went with ingrained principles.]

There's only so far a mortal, scientifically bound human can take their senses... That's like saying a bird's better at flying. [ne quick head scratch, another glance over their shoulder - but no, just as his ears and her motions made obvious, no one followed them. odd that the lightning came without rain. odder still that thunder took its time in clanging across the landscape.] Totally different categories.

[a beat. a shrug, as loose and easy as his tiny, swiftly growing smile.]

Anyway. Thanks, again. I got the data I needed, so I think I'll head back to the goblin's side of camp -- how about you?

[digophelia]

Mortal?

[ In the darkness, Alice quirked an eyebrow as she turns back to glance at him. ]

Odd choice of words, but I suppose so. I don't really like to brag about anything I do.

[ While he may not ask for it, Alice has a surge of protectiveness for this stranger, listening closely for any soft footsteps behind. With the frequent jail breaks and the riots mounting up to now, guards all around the Chantes wasn't that much of a surprise to Alice.

Still, it was a nuisance. She tried to collect as much data as she could, finding little to no results. Although, it wasn't a wasteful night, no, she enjoyed herself and the peace and quiet that followed. ]

I think so. You need to return the the goblin side?

[ Her friend was already over there and that made the divide just more personal. ]

You weren't held by the king, too, were you?