001 ✿ (Action)

[crosseyed]

[[ if one were to describe the world that nia comes from, 'vegetation' would not be use often, if at all.

see, nia's world is kind of sad when i comes to greenery. sure, there's some, but a lot of the place is just wasteland and deserts. what we're getting at, is that nia isn't too familiar with the concept of farms.

but she's really diggin' it! haha, get it? anyway.

after exploring her own farm, she's decided to see what else this beautiful place has to offer. and that means she's going to wander right into your yard and check out your plants! or whatever is growing in your farm, it might just be some weeds. it's all new to nia. don't worry, though, she won't take anything. probably. ]]

Ooh! How wonderful! I wonder what these are called...?

audio

[shotinhead]

[ Right. These things can broadcast video and audio - thankfully, the Courier is keeping it on audio, but they're talking into it from near the farm entrances. So can be pestered in-person as well! They've removed their armour for once, and... are short for a Courier. ]

...What food isn't toxic here.

[ After a moment, they decide to add: ] And-- is this really the past?

[ They still don't believe in dimensional travel - but the Courier does think that they could have been sent though time. There's a long amount of silence, before the audio ends. ]

video; action;

[littlehero]

-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.]

Video/Action(?)

[oftaintedearth]

[Click, tap, click, KKRRRRRRKT, that's definitely the sound of someone fiddling with their jPad. Do they realize it's on? Are they - yup! There, fingers on the camera lens. Wow those are pretty bony fingers - wait, are those made of wood? A soft voice mutters, slightly muffled by what's probably a hand on the speaker.]

Ah, I think that's it? It's doing...

[Finally, a hand moves, and there's a young woman's face, peering down at the camera with a look of curiosity and concentration.]

Yes, the light's on. I think that means it's working. Hello? ...hmm...

[Clearly she's a bit unfamiliar with the device. She also almost camouflages with the tree behind her, almost as if she's a tree herself. Still, she seems to be learning her way around, poking experimentally around the screen. Suddenly she has a ring of flowers across her hairline - does that count as hair? She lets out of soft "oh!" of surprise, then laughs in delight.]

How charming!