Mingle - Emergency Potluck

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WELCOME POTLUCK

Greetings, residents! Those more observant sorts among you may have noticed a large influx of very crowded ferries. In order to welcome our new residents en masse, Town Hall is holding a potluck in Town Square. Please bring a dish if you are able and make a new friend!

All of our newest arrivals need only bring themselves. We look forward to welcoming you all into our community, and may your lanterns always be lit.

This event is open to all! In light of our new influx of prospective players following the Great Sail Migration, we've decided to offer a small public event to tide everyone over until the TDM this weekend.

Comments

i herd u liek elfs

[immortaldemonsoul]

Oooh, yikes. That was a nasty fucking spill there, but seeing as less alarming people are already rushing over to help Ellarinne is just going to sit back with her wine and...observe, let us say.

Because here is the thing about demon hunters.

They sacrifice their material eyes to see behind the physical -- usually, it's true, in order to zero on in the taint of fel, but fel is only one flavor of magic in the cosmology of Ellarinne's branch of the multiverse. There are many others: arcane, druidic, the magic of the Void and the holy Light...

This woman doesn't seem to match any of those. For a moment Ellarinne thinks she might recognize the hues of Ardenweald and its Night Fae, but...no. There is too much of death and pain about her for that restful realm and its unchanging shadows. This is something altogether new, and that makes it worth studying.

After a moment Ellarinne rises and fetches a second cup of wine, carrying it over to the woman's table with an ironic smile on her face.

"I think we have something in common, you and I," she says by way of greeting, and sets the cup down next to the woman's plate with an audible tap against the tabletop. "Drink?"

NSFW allusions in narration

[crushed_pearls]

"If this is poison it better be the good shit," Erin answers; she raises the glass as if to toast, and downs it to buy time to study this...

...This...

...Wait a fucking minute. Memories from a lifetime of hookups with fellow Lost and some mortals are trying to tick their way into the front of Erin's mind, fighting their way past pillow talk to get back to fascinating infodumping and eating girls out under their computer desks and...wait...

"You wouldn't happen to be from..." there's a name for this, wait, Erin knows it, it's not Azazoth that's the Lovecraft guy and also that's the whole planet, hold up, focus, summon the lesbian power GOT IT - "Teldrassil, would you? Hugeass tree?"

[immortaldemonsoul]

Ellarinne's jaw drops. A storm of emotions brews up inside her; shock, curiosity, the deep rage of vengeance denied. She saw Sylvanas consigned to the Maw and knew it for justice -- but it did not give her the pleasure she would have gained from seeing that witch's heart split on Tyrande's glaive. Nothing could.

She takes a deep breath. Vengeance is not justice, and neither would be screaming at this poor stranger for what is likely an honest mistake. "You know of Teldrassil?" she asks, and explains her own reaction thus: "It was my people's home, yes. But it was burned by the order of Sylvanas Windrunner nearly ten years ago."

[crushed_pearls]

"Not firsthand. More like...fourth-hand." Erin's voice sobers, her head tilting to 'look' at the empty glass. "...I'm sorry for your loss. I didn't know that part, wasn't trying to be insensitive."

[immortaldemonsoul]

"Such was my assumption. It's all right." She sits down next to the woman, sighing heavily. "Let's begin again. My name is Ellarinne, and I hail from the world of Azeroth. What of you?"

[crushed_pearls]

"Erin Peters, call me Erin, Earth." She offers a hand out to shake. "Mostly Earth."

[immortaldemonsoul]

"That's a rather prosaic name for a planet." It's not meant to be an insult, simply an observation. Ellarinne shakes Erin's gently, careful of her claws and the scales on her knuckles. But about that mostly... "Have you traveled to many other worlds, Erin?"

[crushed_pearls]

That question flattens Erin's ears against her head. Her gunpowder haze hesitates, flickers; its joyful pops slow as it almost seems to scatter...

Her voice is hard, and low: "You'll find it on the third side of every door, and behind every mirror. Under the arches of the trees it is, and under the hills; it's in the reflection of the stars on a still pond, it's there at a grave on nights with the moon. The Hedge, the labyrinth, the Thorns, the briars, the winding paths and fetid swamps, it's there, just out of reach, waiting for you to touch, and through maze and moor and monstrosity and horror are the Glass Gates, and behind them, the Fairest of Lands."

"I've been to a few worlds."

[immortaldemonsoul]

Ellarinne frowns.

"It appears that it's my turn to be innocently insensitive. I apologize." She extracts her hand from Erin's grip, tapping her fingertips against the table. "I don't recognize these things you speak of. Just now I thought for moment that I'd seen the Winter Queen's touch on your soul, but --" She shakes her head.

"She would never be so heavy-handed, nor so cruel. I have no eyes, but I can see that you've endured much, Erin. And I am sorry for it."

If they cannot yet have understanding between them, perhaps sympathy might serve to bridge the gap?

[crushed_pearls]

"Mmm. I'm no longer a human thing, so you aren't too off base." Erin sighs, sets her glass down. "I need so much more alcohol, but, whatever. It's...a whole thing. And not to put too fine a point on it but I can't help but notice you've also burnt through both the main eyeball and the spare."

[immortaldemonsoul]

"A human being? With your ears I took you for an elf." But Ellarinne nods in partial understanding. "Let me get you a refill." And one for herself; from the sounds of things she'll need it.

She comes back after only a few minutes have gone by -- and once again, she has no trouble navigating the crowd, or finding her way to the wine barrels and back. "I suppose I should explain," she says quietly, putting Erin's cup down in front of her. "I am what is called a demon hunter; I sacrificed my eyes in a magical ritual so that I would be able to perceive demonic energy directly, and track it to its source. But I can also see most other forms of energy as well, and I've trained my other senses as well." She shrugs slightly. "At any rate I have no trouble getting by. And yourself?"

[crushed_pearls]

A return shrug. "It'd be nice to be able to read again, but I'll still go toe to toe with anyone who cares to throw hands. But to make this clear, I'm human. Terms and conditions apply, but I'm. Human. Yeah?"

[immortaldemonsoul]

Ellarinne frowns in sympathy; learning to read again was no easy or pleasant task. "You would be the one to know best what you are," she agrees. "I will not forget. Do all humans on your world look as you do, then?"

[crushed_pearls]

"Nah, that's the terms and conditions." Erin shrugs, sighs. "...I don't wanna get into the whole sordid affair at a party. Let's leave it at this: nothing that passes the Glass Gates comes back the same."