Seere (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
littlehero) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
starhuevalley2018-06-26 07:50 pm
littlehero) wrote in starhuevalley2018-06-26 07:50 pm
Entry tags:
video; action;
-sed the button, right, so...
[The video opens with a riveting view of the rocky ground. Then it switches to a worm's-eye view of a child's face, back to the feet, and then finally shifts to a more proper view of Seere's face as he holds the jpad out at arm's length. Bits of dirt and grit cling to his pale hair, and there's a consistent rumble of shifting rock coming from somewhere nearby, but he seems perfectly at peace with it. He smiles brightly at the screen.]
There! That was easy.
[It really wasn't. Whoever designed the UI on these things clearly doesn't actually use them.]
...My name is Seere. I went up to explore the mountains north of the farmlands because I wanted to know more about the monsters, but there's so much else here. There's a quarry with so many ore veins that the rocks sparkle like a river, and a building just for hot baths... And I even found an old book half-buried in the earth!
[Which is the thing he's most excited about. He's trying to keep himself contained, but the way his tone of voice lifts from "diplomatic figurehead" to "child on christmas" is really obvious.]
From what I've been able to actually read, there seems to be a local myth... About how the very light became lonely and planted a seed, and from its fruit the world itself was born. That festival that just went on- it was named for another fruit here that seems to have some mysterious power.
I was thinking, since we--
[He's cut off by the loud crash of shattering rock, and a cloud of dust drifts into his face. The screen tilts to an upside-down view of a patch of dry grass for a moment.]
Golem! Please! Downwind is that way! ...No, no, it's okay.
[Back to business. Seere wipes at his nose and mouth with the corner of his sleeve and sputters just lightly. Ah. Good thing that bathhouse is there after all.]
Um. ...As I was saying, I thought it was an interesting story. And we've all been encouraged to tend to farms! Do you think there might be anything special about what we can grow here? I know there must be more to the story, but these pages are so brittle and caked in dirt. I... have always liked hearing about things like this.
I wonder what I should do with this book, now...
[Aaand, ACTION. If not-skyping isn't your thing, you can catch Seere up north of town, or even in the bathhouse. Or at his own farm later in the day. Or whatever works for you, I'm not picky. Just look for the tiny boy and his ginormous rock beast.]
[The video opens with a riveting view of the rocky ground. Then it switches to a worm's-eye view of a child's face, back to the feet, and then finally shifts to a more proper view of Seere's face as he holds the jpad out at arm's length. Bits of dirt and grit cling to his pale hair, and there's a consistent rumble of shifting rock coming from somewhere nearby, but he seems perfectly at peace with it. He smiles brightly at the screen.]
There! That was easy.
[It really wasn't. Whoever designed the UI on these things clearly doesn't actually use them.]
...My name is Seere. I went up to explore the mountains north of the farmlands because I wanted to know more about the monsters, but there's so much else here. There's a quarry with so many ore veins that the rocks sparkle like a river, and a building just for hot baths... And I even found an old book half-buried in the earth!
[Which is the thing he's most excited about. He's trying to keep himself contained, but the way his tone of voice lifts from "diplomatic figurehead" to "child on christmas" is really obvious.]
From what I've been able to actually read, there seems to be a local myth... About how the very light became lonely and planted a seed, and from its fruit the world itself was born. That festival that just went on- it was named for another fruit here that seems to have some mysterious power.
I was thinking, since we--
[He's cut off by the loud crash of shattering rock, and a cloud of dust drifts into his face. The screen tilts to an upside-down view of a patch of dry grass for a moment.]
Golem! Please! Downwind is that way! ...No, no, it's okay.
[Back to business. Seere wipes at his nose and mouth with the corner of his sleeve and sputters just lightly. Ah. Good thing that bathhouse is there after all.]
Um. ...As I was saying, I thought it was an interesting story. And we've all been encouraged to tend to farms! Do you think there might be anything special about what we can grow here? I know there must be more to the story, but these pages are so brittle and caked in dirt. I... have always liked hearing about things like this.
I wonder what I should do with this book, now...
[Aaand, ACTION. If not-skyping isn't your thing, you can catch Seere up north of town, or even in the bathhouse. Or at his own farm later in the day. Or whatever works for you, I'm not picky. Just look for the tiny boy and his ginormous rock beast.]
video
Who is your buddy? / I have seen creatures like him. / Does he like to fight?
no subject
Oh, that's Golem! [Just gonna turn the camera to get a nice shot of him a little further down the way, picking out boulders that look like there might be something shiny inside.] He is strong, but he's actually very nice... he's been protecting me since I was young. You don't have to worry about fighting him.
no subject
no subject
no subject
Have fought bigger.
no subject
Besides, if he dies, so will I. We are pact-bound.
no subject
[Hmm. He doesn't know about "pact bound" but he knows some people are pretty attached to their monster-robot-creature things. Whatever this thing is.]
What else could we fight?
no subject
[He's known people like that...]
There's no reason to fight in a place like this.
no subject
[He sags a little. :(]
no subject
no subject
no subject
[Video]
Excuse me, did you say... Golem?
no subject
[Golem is the real star of the show today. Time to switch the cameras so he can send some footage of his stone-cold bestie just kind of looming dramatically.]
There he is!
no subject
I see. Quite impressive! I only ask because there was a being on my world called Golem as well... the elemental spirit of earth. Is it the same with him?
[You a summoner, Seere?]
no subject
Oh? ...Where I come from, there are many golems, summoned from stone and earth. And to the earth most of them return. But this one is special. He's my pact partner. My friend.
no subject
Fascinating! The Golem I'm familiar with made pacts as well. He didn't travel with the one who made the pact, however. But then, as he was the spirit of the earth itself, one could say he was with them wherever they went.
no subject
...I like that idea. Like the whole earth is one protective golem. [Or that there's one guardian sleeping beneath the earth. Ha ha.]
I wasn't expecting pacts to be so widespread across the worlds! Especially since they don't seem to be in practice right here. This is the second time I've heard someone else mention them.
no subject
Well, when you get creatures born of the various elements of the world walking among us, there will inevitably be those whom wish to form some sort of bond with them. Pacts and the like may indeed be inevitable in worlds like ours.
[Though somehow she's pretty certain there's not going to be anyone making one with the Harvest Goddess.]
no subject
[Someone should absolutely form pacts with the local gods. Is that what dating them is...]
no subject
no subject
Where I come from, when a pact-beast becomes your life, your strength, a different part of yourself is taken in return. ...Not entire body parts, not usually. Things like vision, or voice - for me, it was my time. That is, it can't pass for me now. Oh, but I don't mind, since it means Golem's with me!
[The thought of outliving friends and family is probably more horrific to somebody who has the luxury of having any around, anyway... For Seere, his biggest problem is reaching high shelves.]
no subject
That said, it still does seem that the cost in your world far outstrips mine. How exactly do they determine the pact price?
no subject
But that... is a mystery, even to the pact-beasts I've been able to speak with. One common thread is that it's often a trait that the human values... or perhaps the one that defines them? I wonder. So little has actually been recorded about them...
no subject
[Leading to less knowledge about the costs, in a sort of negative spiral there. Honestly it's almost surprising anyone would take the risk.]
no subject
[He pauses to look aside for a moment, lost in thought. Another rock shatters, much more distantly this time, sparing Seere from having to eat dirt again. Thanks Golem.]
I think it's more common for them to form in wartime. Humans tend to be sought out when they're in danger or distress, and pacts do extend our lives. [Some just get a little extra.] But there are others who willingly seek the power out for their own gain, no matter the consequences. [It's both baffling and pitiable that there are those who see their partners as a tool rather than a friend.]
...I wonder, is there such strife in your world?
no subject
Oh, I very much do fear that such conflict rears its head in each and every world. The spirits may not be set against each other in mine, but the damage wrought by some of the war devices I have seen constructed is more than enough.
no subject
[Don't mind him, he's just kind of thinking out loud to himself more than anything. It's all fascinating stuff to him, at least. What a little nerd.]
-Well. We're quite blessed to have ended up somewhere so peaceful, anyway.
no subject
[Unless, of course, things used to be very different around here and someone actually succeeded in making a great change... Perhaps with a pact with the Harvest Goddess?]
no subject
[Like
a harvest goddess]
no subject
[Maybe if they had an artifact like Mithos's Eternal Sword, but that required making a pact to use too, so it still counts.]
no subject
no subject
[She kind of wishes she would have known that before...]
tags into a week old post while you're on hiatus NO SHAME
[ and she wants to address the rest, but... "golem." it isn't her business, but the word still brings to mind the scent of earth and rock and strong arms patiently bearing her when she'd been too weak to stand. that child had only been yet another construct of the games they'd all been forced to play— but she'd loved them shamelessly, and called them "cousin," and they'd returned that love by making it all the way to the end of the tournament they'd been summoned for... if no further.
whoever that boy is talking to may not be that golem, but it would be good to maybe meet new family all the same. ]
...I'm sorry, but... "golem," you said?
tags this while on hiatus ONLY SLIGHT SHAME
[Now that he's got a better handle on this technology business, he pretty easily switches the cameras to get a nice wide shot of the hulking stone behemoth, currently picking through bits of crushed rock for valuable gems and ore. He shifts his floating face a little when he notices Seere's watching, then goes back to work.
Offscreen, Seere continues speaking.]
That's Golem. ...And thank you for the suggestion. I've been in the library, but was so caught up in browsing the shelves that I didn't realize there was also a museum. I'll take it there, then.
no subject
You're very welcome. If they can get it into a state where it's safe for the public to look at, I'll have to read it myself. ... And thank you for letting me see. I'm fairly fond of them; I had the opportunity to raise one when I was younger.
no subject
Oh! I haven't met any other rock wielders in a very long time... Is your friend still with you?
no subject
[ it's an oversimplification, but it's true enough. ...and it nudges a thought loose. she'd considered bartering with the being that had summoned the golem for them in the first place to have them resurrected, but it had seemed selfishly unfair at the time. they had been barely sapient—only a game piece, a created thing twice over—and to pull them back into a world where they would be constantly risking a fate far worse than death for primarily her own comfort would be cruel.
here, though... ]
...I still have their core, though. The gods here have already offered me one favor in trade for my service, so... perhaps it's worth asking about.
no subject
[It's a lot more than lip service. Seere's no stranger to losing loved ones, himself. If he lost Golem too, he wouldn't survive... literally, what with the soul-entwining nature of the Pact. But even if that weren't the case he'd still feel like a part of himself were missing, he's sure. Even more than with his own twin.]
A possibility like that must be tempting, but please be careful. Gods can be fickle, or ask too much in exchange. Don't let them fill the hole in your heart with darkness.
no subject
I appreciate the caution, but trust me when I say I'm well used to bargaining with beings that don't have my best interests in mind. I know what my limits are, and I know better than to agree to any trade I can't see all the consequences of.
[ and if nothing else... in a sense, she's already had the hole in her heart filled. she trusts her partner to keep anything else from getting in. ]
That said— I don't think the ones here are likely to be cruel in their whims, if nothing else. The locals speak fondly of them, and I've done my best to offer my own respect.
no subject
[It can crush like a mace.
He flashes a small, dark little smile, and shakes his head. It is true that the gods of this land have, so far, been muuuch preferable to the ones back home.]
But I wish you the best of luck. If they grant you this, I would like very much to meet your golem as well.
no subject
she makes a soft rasp of a noise in the back of her throat, a low sound almost verging on something like a growl. ]
I'm admittedly far less personally familiar with any god's affection, but I'll take your word for it. ...and thank you. You'd be more than welcome to.