EVENT ★ LOST IN TRANSLATION

[futurologists]

RETURN TO OSKA Upon arrival in Oska, new and returning recruits alike will find that something strange is going on. Any attempts to communicate with someone who doesn't speak the same language as you will be just that -- like you don't speak the same language. Let's hope everyone is good at charades, because you're going to be out of luck for a full day. On the second day, a text comes across -- surprisingly intelligible to everyone. Is it over? Well . . . crowley: Hello, Audentes. We are currently experiencing magitek difficulties, as you may have guessed already. Temporal insects have arrived with our latest arrivals, and as you may imagine, we have had our paws full. cherenkov: We are working out how to mitigate the pest problem for good. For now, please put your unpleasantly huge feet to use and stomp them out. Or other such methods. crowley: We have created a quick patch to facilitate text-based communications, but verbal translation will continue to be down until the insects are exterminated. Thank you for your patience. It's not over. TEMPORAL INSECTS This invasive species has worked its way in through the rifts along with the newest batch of arrivals, and information on them is available in the library (provided you can read the language it's written in!). It seems they behave like locusts, living quietly within the space between rifts for many years until their numbers suddenly balloon and they begin to swarm in search of food. These bugs move fast and pack a nasty bite, but are unarmored and easily squished. Each one is about the size of a football, and leaves a little tell-tale slime trail that makes it easy to track. They can cling to any surface, and won't hesitate to leap onto attackers and bite if they feel threatened. One can take a decently sized but non-lethal bite out of someone, but a number of them together will pose a real danger. If punctured or squished they tend to explode into moderately acidic goo that can cause caustic burns if not immediately washed off. They are attracted to any area of high temporal energy, which can be literally any surface, corner, or point on or within the castle and its grounds. As they begin to feed they cause temporal distortion in the area. This manifests as the immediate area seeming to flicker backwards and forwards through time. An insect gnawing at a table leg in the dining area, for example, might cause the area to stutter between years and years of dinner parties, ghostly attendants of all fashions and species appearing and disappearing as they enter and leave the affected area. An onlooker can't interact with temporal distortions directly, but if the insect is left to its own devices, it will eventually eat through all of the temporal energy and render the immediate area gray, frozen, and completely inert. It's highly recommended you kill or otherwise chase off an insect before it manages this, as it can do irreversible damage to a world. For affected Oska locations, please see this post. OOC NOTES The translation errors will continue through the rest of the month. For more information or to ask questions, please check the plotting post here! New bounties are available in Oska! Please remember to fill out your squidge success form before August 31, 23:59 UTC! Filling the form out is mandatory, even if you do not have the 3 squidge threads. You will not pass AC if you do not fill out the form. Characters who have been accepted on August 20th are exempt. Please direct questions relating to the success form here.

Comments

[asscan]

"Chihiro," Laedo repeats, mild confusion briefly flickering over his face. No, she's not an asandus, and no, asandus conventions have no place in a human's name even from Avengaea, let alone unrelated worlds. Where he is from, the girl's name is very definitely on the masculine side--but that's a triviality. He quirks a smile back into place again, aware that he's feeling that slight pang of homesickness, which he's identified as a low-level twang that never really goes away. It's just a little stronger now than it has been over past months.

"Chihiro, we will see about finding you quarters and speaking to the... the staff," he doesn't want to use more colourful language, even if it is impossible to understand, lest she pick up on it. "about what to do to ensure you are protected. I worry that you will be in danger in the future."

That's all much too much, and Laedo realizes it. He sighs, then settles his cheek into one palm, tapping the table again as he considers. Finally he holds up one hand, gestures for her to stay sitting. Bringing his plate of bones away, he returns again after a few minutes with another plate, this one heaped even higher than the one previous. Now, at least, he's grinning sardonically. "My appetite, much much bigger," and he mimics her earlier gestures, pointing to his stomach, then stretching his arms wide apart.

[onethousen]

She listens to him speak politely, finding the cadence to his language interesting to her ear. It doesn't mean much, aside from hearing her name, but she can tell he's trying to say something that probably matters. More likely, trying to fit her into the picture of this place of actual business and serious matters. Chihiro wouldn't normally think of adding a ten year old to the mix, but even then, she feels like it's not the same everywhere. Like she's been expected to work hard... where?

She's left with that thought when he departs with the bones, blinking in mild surprise at how he'd managed to heap the plate he brings back even higher. His sardonic grin, paired with his mimic of her motions earlier, prompts Chihiro into a small laugh and nod of her head. She agrees: he has a much larger appetite, and a much larger belly to fill.

Things will work out. Even now, she's eating acceptable food across from a dragon-turned-man, and people don't all speak any language she understands, but they're also not yelling at her. She's met a kind dragon with a difficult to say (but interesting) name, and she's been fed. Things aren't quite as overwhelming as they felt earlier.

She sips at her soup, and she thinks, I can handle this. She even believes it. It's a nice way to feel.