[open] some Kenoma come up to Godsblood the other day...

[baltimores]

WHO: Amos, Gen, Eustace, Childe, any Pleroma
WHAT: Amos wants a gun, Eustace wants to make a portal, and in order to make it happen they go to...
WHERE: Godsblood.
WHEN: Towards the end of Visoseri/start of Soviseri
WARNINGS: None, unless you count bullying of various Pleroma; will add as necessary


The content of this entry is intended to be an OOC explanation of what's going on to keep everyone up to speed; any characters who may be in Godsblood during this time period are free to top level or tag out. This is not an event and simply a unique instance that some characters are kinda sorta technically in enemy territory, which opens itself up to thread opportunities that would not otherwise be possible.

Basically: four Kenoma are journeying up to Godsblood, albeit not all together and through different means.

Amos and Gen will be arriving via a boat directly from Achamoth, and accordingly, will be outed as Kenoma Aions right from the get-go — the populace should know who they are, and word of their arrival would likely get around. Amos is there because he wants to build a higher quality gun than what they have in Achamoth and Godsblood is the place to do it; Gen is there to serve as backup/moral support/because they're friends, okay. Story plotting link here for more details.

Eustace and Childe will be sneaking in via carriage from the Artisan shrine/a portal and will therefore not be known as Kenoma Aions upon entry to Godsblood — unless there are characters there who already know who they are, that is. Eustace is setting up a portal to facilitate travel between Achamoth and Godsblood. This is not public knowledge and non-Kenoma Aions/NPCs are unlikely to know about this. Story plotting link here for more details.

The mods have also provided some guidelines for how interactions could go between characters so that any Pleroma wouldn't necessarily have to out themselves as Aions when it comes to interacting with Amos or Gen, who are publicly declared as such. Highlighting what was said further down in Amos' plotting comment:

It wouldn't be unreasonable for a visiting Aion to be chatting up people within Godsblood so sharing a meal ... wouldn't be a dead give away, but it might tie them to the Aions on the rumor network if they do it in public. Whether they are just strangers Gen and Amos are dining with or whether they are connected to Achamoth won't be clear, but it would definitely have implications ... It's definitely a risk, at any rate.

As for meeting in a busy street or a public park the connection is still possible but a lot less likely, since the odds of them chatting up some rando in the park is a lot more likely than sitting down for dinner with them. It'd also be a lot more obvious if someone was spying on them, unlike a closed environment like a pub or eatery, so that'd probably be the safest option without going somewhere deserted or private.

Comments

[epiprocta]

[ 'Freeing,' Eustace says, and Gen gives a quiet scoff. He's not jealous. He's not jealous at all that Eustace got to enjoy a few days of just blending in with the people here and forgetting about the duties that await them back in Achamoth, even briefly. So not-jealous that he shoves the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth in one go to distract himself, chewing slowly as he turns his gaze out over the sunlight playing on the water's surface. And while he doesn't even acknowledge Eustace's suggestion of returning in disguise someday -- because like hell he's going to let himself be seen forming any attachments when Eustace has already seen too much of his weakness -- Gen does follow Eustace's gaze up towards the sky for a moment. ]

So you're from someplace like this, huh.

[ He'd brought a bottle of something to drink along with his sandwich, and Gen idly uncorks it now to take a swig. The glass gleams in the afternoon sunlight when he pulls it away, and he idly fidgets with the top as he drops his gaze back down over the water. ]

... can't really get used to it myself. [ So he says, but his caustic wording betrays a subtle regard for the scenery that lies before him. Gen gazes far too intently at the rippling water past the docks to be apathetic to this place. ] My hometown was deeper inland. Just farmland and a few mountains, a river that people said was haunted or something. Never even been to the beach. So seeing this much water feels strange.

[ 'Strange,' he says. But not 'bad.'

A pause, another swig at his drink, then a soft 'pop as he pulls the bottle from his lips to give Eustace a sideways glance. ]

Didn't pin you as having come from somewhere on the coast, though. With the ears and all, figured you'd be from the woods or something. [ Y'know. Like a normal wild dog. Or a wolf, or whatever. ] Or were you just stationed there?

[lockedon]

[ Eustace rocks back on his heels slightly, lips pursing as he thinks. There's no reason to answer the question, unobtrusive as it is, but it's been a long time since he's seen Gen like this, calm instead of actively radiating dislike and annoyance. The rarity of this moment means he's more careful with his answer, mulling over an answer rather than dismissing the question outright.

Behind him, his tail dangles low, the tip of it twitching every now and then as footsteps pass behind them or a ship horn bellows nearby. ]

I grew up near the woods. On a farm, actually. [ So Gen's right about that much at least, even if it'd been all based on some (furry) racist assumption. ] I moved to the city when I was young.

[ Reluctantly and with a lot of grief, and even now he still doesn't feel fully at home walking down a busy street or having to rub elbows with people in a packed bar. If given the choice, he'd choose the countryside every time, out in the open fields and underneath clear blue skies. But he's so rarely given a choice these days.

It's not as though Gen seems to have been given much choice in his own life either, if the little he's sussed out and Abel's words are any indication. He stares at Gen a little longer, then asks casually: ]

Would you have wanted to leave, if you could?

[ Leave his hometown with its haunted river and its acres upon acres of farmland, though Eustace doesn't clarify. ]

[epiprocta]

[ Young. Gen glances over at Eustace, trying to imagine him as a child. Was he just as stone-faced and stoic back then as he is now? Were his ears still as fluffy? Real funny. He ends up smirking to himself at the thought -- a small, frowning, sullen version of Eustace, ears twitching, as he wanders the streets of some city -- as he takes another swig of his drink. ]

Dunno.

[ Because Eustace bothered to ask his question casually, Gen tosses his answer back just as carelessly, accompanied by a slight shrug of the shoulders. ]

Wasn't an option 'til I ended up here, so I didn't think about it much.

[ As far back as he can remember, he'd been told that his duty was to live and die and rot in his hometown, following in his father's footsteps. All dreams of leaving that wretched place had been squelched years back, and he'd never entertained them with any seriousness again; it would have been a waste of time, only begging for more disappointment. ]

What kind of place are you from, anyway. [ And if Eustace is a little taken aback by seeing Gen actually maintaining a normal, non-aggressive conversation for once, he's in for another dose. Despite Gen's pretense at apathy when it comes to leaving his hometown, he's clearly interested in talk of foreign worlds. Places that had always been beyond his reach, even in his wildest dreams. ] I know you're a soldier and you use a gun, your training seems pretty normal -- is it just that everyone has cat ears, where you're from? With or without tails.

[ Yes, he knows Eustace isn't a cat. Yes, he's doing this on purpose. ]

[lockedon]

[ Why is Gen so shitty.

—is what Eustace thinks on a daily basis, probably, and what he's thinking now, definitely. But it's a familiar type of annoyance that now breezes right across his skin rather than crawling underneath, and Eustace ignores the pointed jab at his ears to answer honestly. It's fine talking about the skydoms and the people that live there, the types of cities that have sprung up and flourished.

None of that is deeply personal, or deeply painful. ]

Like I said, someplace like this. [ Does he sound a little bit annoyed at having to repeat himself? Maybe, but just for a brief second. ] Some people have ears, some people have horns, some people look just like you.

[ A perfectly normal spread of races as far as he's concerned, and if there'd been one thing that had been comforting upon arrival in Horos, it'd been seeing that same spread (but wider) in the cities he's traveled to thus far.

His casual, conversational tone turns a little miffed suddenly. ]

Getting around was easier though. No need to sit around in a carriage for weeks on end.

[ How did they get around where he's from.....stay tuned. ]

[epiprocta]

[ Some humans, some dog-people and some ... devils? If they have horns? It all sort of sounds like the sort of fantasy bullshit that the otaku classmates of his back home tended to crow about -- 'isekai,' was it called? The stuff that's become real popular lately. And while the terribly crass part of him's tempted to ask if Eustace, by any chance, hangs out with a bunch of girls dressed in stupid impractical sexy costumes, that last bit provides enough of a distraction. ]

Huh?

[ Eustace's gun had looked way more like something out of a historical movie than a modern rifle, so he'd assumed Eustace was from some place fantasy-like, not too different from Horos. Maybe not? ]

What, did you also have cars, then?

[ Or maybe motorcycles. He can sort of imagine Eustace riding one.

Eustace's assessment of Gen being shitty is generally correct. That said, he's still just a teenager in the end. In this moment he does actually sound innocently curious -- despite all his posturing and snide talk, Gen isn't immune to the allure of hearing about strange foreign worlds. ]

[lockedon]

[ What the fuck is a car?

He assumes it's something like a carriage but faster (and maybe smaller, if the word's been shortened?) though his uncreative mind can't imagine the specifics outside of that. Regardless, it's probably nothing similar to what he'd actually been thinking of. ]

Airships.

[ Thankfully he's already had this conversation with Barnaby once before and that, combined with the countless comments about his ears, has at least instilled in him the knowledge that such things are not exactly normal in other parts of the (now destroyed) universe. ]

Basically ships that fly through the air instead of sail through the ocean.

[ The name should be pretty self-explanatory, but just in case.

For all that he's been fairly business-like in responding to every question so far, there's a small hint of wistfulness threading through his voice now as he looks back up at the sky above them. Being able to see blue skies no matter which way he turns his head and feel the rush of wind blow past his cheeks... ]

There's no experience quite like it.

[epiprocta]

Airships.

[ It's a low echo accompanied by a slightly wider-eyed blink. And this ends up being one of the scarce times Gen looks and acts more his age -- his expression still tinged with a boyish curiosity, loose strands of hair slipping over his face when he cants his head in thought to mull the matter over.

That ... certainly wasn't an answer he'd been expecting. It really is like Eustace is from some fantasy anime, isn't it. A Granblue Fantasy, even. How would airships even work? What makes them different from airplanes? It's almost automatic reflex when he cants his head back to look up towards the skies that spread wide out over them, clouds slowly creeping their way across the endless canvas streaked with oranges and maroons and deeper blues. Getting to fly through that, huh? And on a ship, not a plane, getting to feel the wind and breathe in the crisp air. ]

... that's sick.

[ Despite the juvenile wording, it's murmured soft and low. Sincere. Gen still has his head tipped back to study the skies when he continues, his tone of voice just a touch gentler than usual. His mind still distracted trying to imagine what that much freedom must feel like. ]

You get to do that often? Fly around like that?

[lockedon]

[ A fantasy anime filled with nekomimi, airships, and dozens of girls dressed in scantily-clad outfits all fighting for the main character's attention. Turns out GBF is actually an isekai.

And it turns out that Gen, deep down inside, isn't as horribly jaded as he acts on the outside. The unfeigned interest, small though it is, is enough to keep Eustace at ease, his desire to maintain this peaceful moment trumping all else.

His own voice remains steady, tone still conversational and light, noticeably missing its usual underlay of disapproval and disdain. For a minute, it's as though they're not people trapped in the middle of a war in an unfamiliar land, but instead just two people enjoying the nice weather and the nicer view in front of them. ]

It's the only way to get from island to island.

[ So, yes. (To get from the what to the what? Gen can figure that one out on his own.) ]

Most people use them as a form of transportation, but there are plenty of skyfaring crews that spend most of their lives on airships traveling from place to place.

[ A nomadic life but a freeing one all the same. Not a life he's used to but one he envies all the same, and one he'd gotten a taste of for the briefest period of time. His time on the Grandcypher might be nothing more than a memory now, the ship and its crew destroyed along with the rest of the skydoms, but it's a memory that lingers still in the back of his mind, vivid and bright despite all the months that have passed. ]

[epiprocta]

[ The only way? So, what -- are the waters so treacherous that sailing isn't an option? Wild. (Terminal normie that he is, Gen doesn't indulge in enough media to even consider the possibility of those islands being afloat in the air.)

Regardless of his misunderstanding, Eustace's explanation makes for an interesting hypothetical to consider. Personally, he can't even imagine what it's like having that sort of freedom -- not being anchored to one place, but having the privilege of traveling from island to island by taking to the skies -- and there's something wistful in the way he gives a thoughtful hum as he gazes off into the clouds. Maybe it's the exhaustion of enduring the hateful gazes of the Godsblood citizens for several days, or the mounting stress of being thrust into the war between Kenoma and Pleroma, but he's uncharacteristically quiet for a long moment as he dwells on that thought. ]

... you ever get to live like that?

[ He tries to keep his voice at a neutral tone when he speaks again, but his wording alone speaks volumes. 'Get to.' He'd never admit it, but deep down, Gen envies the freedom that would come with a life of skyfaring. ]

Guess you've probably traveled a fair bit if you're a soldier -- [ since Eustace must have been deployed here and there, right? It would explain why Eustace had acclimated to the foreign landscape of Horos in such a graceful fashion. ] -- but that's kinda different, huh. Getting to just travel like that. ... can't even imagine what that'd be like.

[lockedon]

[ He goes a little distant-eyed at the questioning, tone softening. ]

No. I traveled with a crew once briefly but....I was always busy with work.

[ Though...had he truly been that busy or had he just used his neverending missions as a convenient excuse? The Society, for all its questionable actions towards those deemed enemies, had always been fair in its renumeration, both in salary and vacation days alike. If he had truly wanted to, he could have easily taken a week or three to travel freely. Ronan would have encouraged him, there's no doubt about that.

But he'd been too caught up in his tangle of hatred and grief to think about anything other than his self-imposed mission, and too fearful of the thought of losing even more important people in his life to try and form those connections in the first place, no matter how hard others had tried to reach out to him.

And now it's too late, all possibility of accepting those outstretched hands taken from him without warning. Despair lances through his heart again, and his tail gives another unhappy twitch behind him. Instead of lingering in his unhappiness, he pushes forward, focusing on Gen and his upturned face. ]

I think you would have liked it. Traveling with them.

[ He says it genuinely, frankly, his gaze clear as he looks towards Gen. The freedom of being up in a place where the shackles of obligation can't reach. The camaraderie of a ragtag team all with their own troubles and baggage, with no room or right to judge others.

Even he hadn't been immune to the charms of the Grandcypher, the ship and its crew both. ]

[epiprocta]

[ 'I think you would have liked it. Traveling with them.'

That gets him to lower his gaze from the skies. Gen glances over to fix a quiet stare at Eustace, assessing him in silence for a moment, as if trying to gauge the sincerity of that statement. (Except he knows better than to really doubt the sincerity of what Eustace says. If Eustace didn't mean something, he simply wouldn't say it at all, would he.)

When he finally gives a soft laugh in response, it's a low noise. Dry and weary, as opposed to derisive, lacking in his usual teenage derision and arrogance, accompanied by a small shake of the head. ]

... what was it like. The crew you were with.

[ It says something, doesn't it. The fact that he doesn't actually address the thought of himself living that nomadic lifestyle -- he knows that freedom isn't for him. Maybe back when he was much younger he might have been able to entertain the fantasy of such a carefree existence. But now he knows better. He's a creature of burdens and obligations; he doesn't know any other way to exist.

There's the rustle of fabric as Gen fishes through his pocket to withdraw ... the small paper packet Eustace had seen him purchase earlier. Candy, as it turns out. Gen opens the packet to pop one in his mouth, looks around briefly to make sure the coast is clear, then holds the packet out -- he'll tap one out for Eustace too, if he wants. ]

Was it mostly people like you? [ The candy clicks against his teeth as he rolls it in his mouth, giving a brief, thoughtful hum. ] What did you even do in a crew like that, anyway? Guess you served as a bodyguard for a transport company or something.

[lockedon]

[ It's less the specifics of the action that matter - he doesn't much care for sweets as an idle snack - but the whole of the gesture, something comfortable and friendly that he doesn't usually get a chance to see past the prickly exterior that Gen so regularly exudes. He thinks twice this time, curbing his instinct to automatically refuse the candy offered to him, and instead holds out one hand expectantly, palm facing upwards. The candy gets popped into his mouth shortly after, rolled around on his tongue to better taste the flavor.

(It's alright. A little strong for his tastes but vastly preferable to the sickly sweet stuff he's used to Beatrix and Zeta eating.)

While he lets the candy dissolve, he thinks about what's been said and, in that same measure, what hasn't been said. He doesn't miss the way the Gen forges on ahead, once again forgoing any personal feeling on his end in order to keep the conversation rolling. How bad were things in his childhood, that he feels so compelled to shut himself off now?

So if he's asking now, showing interest in something outside of himself, then the least Eustace can do is provide what little he can by way of answers and stories. ]

There were all types. People searching for something, people with no other place to go. Some were just along for the adventure. [ And there was always adventure, regardless of where the Grandcypher set sail. ] If you wanted to go aboard the Grandcypher and travel, the Captain would let you. They never turned anyone away.

[ Simple words, but the undercurrent of nostalgia is hard to miss. He's never been fully able to cut his feelings off completely when it comes to the Captain of the Grandcypher and it shows now, the tone of his voice going softer than it's ever been. ]

They were a good person.

[ Unlike him. ]