COMMENCE VOYAGE

[bathymetric]

Fun Fact: Did you know the Atlantic Ocean has a surface area of 41.1 million square miles? No reason.

...

There's something uneasy in the air as you come to.

Well, "come to" is an interesting word in this case. It implies waking up, which is not exactly what happens. None of you are in beds, nor are you really asleep in the traditional sense. One moment you're somewhere else, doing something else with your time, and the next? You're somewhere on board a massive cruise ship - maybe lounging on a deck chair by the pool, maybe getting some Gains in the exercise room, maybe enjoying the tasteful décor in the buffet - and you have no idea how you got here or how you might get back. This is not your beautiful house. If you have a beautiful wife, she isn't here.

What you do have, apart from 25 other unlucky souls, is a small smartphone-like device in your pocket with only a handful of things on it: a clock reading 11PM, a pdf of a ticket in your name on a special Atlantic Liners New Year's Eve Cruise, an app labeled Passenger Profiles with some basic information on your traveling companions, and a message:

Welcome aboard, passenger! Please feel free to partake of any of the facilities while you wait for the big event! Remember: when midnight comes, you better make your way to the theatre at the back of Level 1 for the main event! The Captain and the First Mate will be there to take care of you all personally, and to help you ring in the new year in style!

Well, that's a start. But what you do until then, it seems, is up to you!

Comments

[calx]

[ He blinks once but shows no other reaction to the face he's getting. Maybe he thinks she just really is that upset by the sad state of strawberries on this vessel. ]

At sea, I imagine preparation is less of a concern as long as it's edible. [ Tilting his head. ] It's obvious you're not human, but what are you then?

[ He has a guess but better to confirm. ]

[paucipan]

[...Okay she kind of is, but still--]

The least they could do is try rather than give some kind of half-hearted effort. [But Albedo's question gets Plumeria to stare, gesturing to herself.] I am a Dökkálfar. Are you familiar with them?

[calx]

Trying is a process in learning, rarely is it possible to ever stumble upon the most optimal solution the first time around. [ He's a mentor you see.

A slight shake of his head. ]

I have not. You bear a resemblance to a half-qilin, but I ventured that you are something differently entirely. After all, we almost certainly come from different worlds.

[paucipan]

[Don't you come at her with facts you motherfucker, ugh. Plumeria rolls her eyes a bit at the first bit.]

I would figure that much would be pretty obvious. Though I suppose you wouldn't be too out of place, where I'm familiar with.

So, where exactly do you come from?

[calx]

[ Once a mentor always one!!! He is immune to eye rolling, for perhaps many reasons. ]

That depends on perspective, I think. There have been others I encountered who were less willing to accept the possibility, though the reasons for that are plenty. [ Let's not go off on a tangent here though... ]

The world I come from is called Teyvat. Presently it is ruled by seven archons, each with their own land and vision—you can equate that to an element such as fire.

[paucipan]

Then that's their problem, is it not?

[Yeah, Plumeria's content not to go off on a tangent either, so this is fine. His talk about Teyvat is interesting, though, causing Plumeria to perk a bit.]

Archons...Gods, in other words? [That's about the closest she can equate it in her world's logic.] Gods that perhaps preside over certain...elements, as you say. Teyvat certainly sounds interesting, if nothing else.

[calx]

Indeed, it is. [ That could have been phrased nicer, but alas. ]

Yes, many worship them as Gods and it would not be incorrect to apply that definition to them. [ the nuance of it they don't need to get into right now. ]

Certain elements, and lands. For example, my vision is Geo: the power of Earth. But I do not currently reside in the land of Morax, the archon of geo, despite my vision. Instead I live in the domain of the anemo—wind—archon.

...used to reside, as matters currently stand.

[paucipan]

[...That makes...slightly enough sense to Plumeria, she supposes. Not that her look really changes all that much, but she at least nods her head.

Even so, there's definitely a bit of an odd look that Plumeria gets at part of that.]

Did something happen that resulted in you having to leave Morax, then? Or are you simply traveling about?

[calx]

The two aren't as interconnected as I believe you're taking them for. However— recently, there have been reports from Liyue that Morax has died. Archon's used to war in the past, so their deaths are not entirely unheard of, though it has been some time since one has expired. From all reports, Morax's demise has caused Liyue to fall into a tumultuous period.

Independent of those events, Liyue was never a place I resided in for more than several days at a time. Morax may have granted me my vision, but we've never spoke, and truthfully told gaining the power of Geo was something I awoke with one morning out of the blue. [ If this sounds all a bit clinically detached it's because it is. ]