Proper food, rest, clean clothes and a thorough wash leave Eleven far more agreeable and in much better spirits than when they arrived. His smile comes a little more forced with those that approach with a myriad of questions, but he laughingly downplays his importance or intrigue and tenders dissatisfying non-answers where he can manage it.
But really, once he can stop looking down, he finds a genuine admiration for the people living within the settlement. There's a breathtaking cleverness to the walkways winding around the tree trunks with bridges suspended between platforms. Ropes and simple structures act as ingenious systems with which to raise and lower goods to and from the forest floor. Sentries stand guard with the forest spread in every direction, and it feels oddly safe in a way he hopes those in Godsblood have managed to replicate for themselves.
And while he could spend days marvelling over the wooden houses and walking circles about the trees, there exists a sense of purpose to those living in the canopy that leaves him feeling rather as though he should find something to be doing. At first, that's simply tending to those returning injured from expeditions and hunts, but Eleven discovers further purpose the moment he catches sight of a few smiths and swiftly finds a place among them.
Near the end of each day, Eleven faithfully greets those returning warriors and hunters that borrowed weapons for the day.
"I hope your venture was a successful one," he says with a warm smile. "Are you returning your weapon for repair?"
II. Festival- Out of Body Experience (CW: drug use)
[Eleven hesitates to imbibe the sacred mesi at first, wary of unknown substances entering his body after the last, but as he keeps an eye on those who do and their lack of distress, he finally agrees to partake.
The sensation is unlike anything he's ever before experienced. It isn't unpleasant, but even his visions or his trek into the Void itself had never felt like this. For several heartbeats, he thinks he may still have made a mistake, and then- then..
Then it's beautiful.
If he had physical eyes, they'd be watering. If he had breath, it would catch. He's drawn up the trees and feels.. he isn't sure what. Certainly, there's a distant voice somewhere.
His spirit shudders pleasantly, then floats in a mute wonder- at first around the space he recognizes the small shoot of leaves he intuitively knows represents his physical body—where his real face looks only hazily aware—then drifts around the others with a curious attention to their own spirits.
The noise of the festival itself has dulled to a quiet rush and he basks in the warm energy, sensations, and emotions like slow-shifting mountains rolling through him.
It's a feeling of spiritual connection he's only felt once (or twice?) before, like everything and every one..
We're all.. connected.]
We're all.. connected.
III. Amongst the Trees
Something awoke in him that night in the amphitheater. He'd felt echoes of it before as they walked, like the grass of the forest beneath their feet was alive, or that a few of the ferns seemed unwell. Paranoia or imaginings, he'd thought.
Eleven may have spent the day after feeling poorly as he came down from the intense effects of possibly overindulging, but just as soon as he was well enough again, he set out with a borrowed sword in hand to touch nearby trees and simply listen. The results were more muted, but he understood with a clarity he hadn't had before what it was he was feeling. Even if those emotions seemed too great or too old to grasp properly, understanding even a fraction of it left him awestruck.
"They have feelings!" he exclaimed with a broad grin without knowing if anyone else was around to hear. Still, his enthusiasm was hardly faded, and he drew his hand down the bark of tree he'd listened to with an inexplicable fondness.
His voice quieted, still warm though subdued with the realization. "They all do. Everything does. ..It's beautiful."
IV. Wildcard
[Feel free to do anything adjacent to these prompts, or pop in with any communal meal or casual run-in around the settlement, or else hit up El's plotting comment if you have any other ideas you'd be interested in playing out!]
Eleven | Martyr
Proper food, rest, clean clothes and a thorough wash leave Eleven far more agreeable and in much better spirits than when they arrived. His smile comes a little more forced with those that approach with a myriad of questions, but he laughingly downplays his importance or intrigue and tenders dissatisfying non-answers where he can manage it.
But really, once he can stop looking down, he finds a genuine admiration for the people living within the settlement. There's a breathtaking cleverness to the walkways winding around the tree trunks with bridges suspended between platforms. Ropes and simple structures act as ingenious systems with which to raise and lower goods to and from the forest floor. Sentries stand guard with the forest spread in every direction, and it feels oddly safe in a way he hopes those in Godsblood have managed to replicate for themselves.
And while he could spend days marvelling over the wooden houses and walking circles about the trees, there exists a sense of purpose to those living in the canopy that leaves him feeling rather as though he should find something to be doing. At first, that's simply tending to those returning injured from expeditions and hunts, but Eleven discovers further purpose the moment he catches sight of a few smiths and swiftly finds a place among them.
Near the end of each day, Eleven faithfully greets those returning warriors and hunters that borrowed weapons for the day.
"I hope your venture was a successful one," he says with a warm smile. "Are you returning your weapon for repair?"
II. Festival- Out of Body Experience (CW: drug use)
[Eleven hesitates to imbibe the sacred mesi at first, wary of unknown substances entering his body after the last, but as he keeps an eye on those who do and their lack of distress, he finally agrees to partake.
The sensation is unlike anything he's ever before experienced. It isn't unpleasant, but even his visions or his trek into the Void itself had never felt like this. For several heartbeats, he thinks he may still have made a mistake, and then- then..
Then it's beautiful.
If he had physical eyes, they'd be watering. If he had breath, it would catch. He's drawn up the trees and feels.. he isn't sure what. Certainly, there's a distant voice somewhere.
His spirit shudders pleasantly, then floats in a mute wonder- at first around the space he recognizes the small shoot of leaves he intuitively knows represents his physical body—where his real face looks only hazily aware—then drifts around the others with a curious attention to their own spirits.
The noise of the festival itself has dulled to a quiet rush and he basks in the warm energy, sensations, and emotions like slow-shifting mountains rolling through him.
It's a feeling of spiritual connection he's only felt once (or twice?) before, like everything and every one..
We're all.. connected.]
We're all.. connected.
III. Amongst the Trees
Something awoke in him that night in the amphitheater. He'd felt echoes of it before as they walked, like the grass of the forest beneath their feet was alive, or that a few of the ferns seemed unwell. Paranoia or imaginings, he'd thought.
Eleven may have spent the day after feeling poorly as he came down from the intense effects of possibly overindulging, but just as soon as he was well enough again, he set out with a borrowed sword in hand to touch nearby trees and simply listen. The results were more muted, but he understood with a clarity he hadn't had before what it was he was feeling. Even if those emotions seemed too great or too old to grasp properly, understanding even a fraction of it left him awestruck.
"They have feelings!" he exclaimed with a broad grin without knowing if anyone else was around to hear. Still, his enthusiasm was hardly faded, and he drew his hand down the bark of tree he'd listened to with an inexplicable fondness.
His voice quieted, still warm though subdued with the realization. "They all do. Everything does. ..It's beautiful."
IV. Wildcard
[Feel free to do anything adjacent to these prompts, or pop in with any communal meal or casual run-in around the settlement, or else hit up El's plotting comment if you have any other ideas you'd be interested in playing out!]