{ video, then audio } un: joric

[drawsblood]

[ The video starts with a dead thorn bush across the street from the place Joric has claimed as his own. There are people walking past, so he goes inside and shuts the door before the feed switches to audio. There's nothing of note to see in this place anyway. ]

That bush was alive when I left this morning. It's not the first I've noticed either. Strange things are occurring, like my heat crystal cracked and some food I had just traded for went bad within hours. I work with a few people and I asked them about it. They say it's common and it happens all over the city and the Plains among the three clans.

I asked for examples and here is what they said: their stored meat rotted quickly, a sword's blade rusted overnight, and a sister's hair turned white over the course of a day. There was also a rumor that children in a family lost the color in their eyes. Part of this seems like time moving quickly, like the rust or the bad meat, but others don't fit. The girl didn't age; only her hair turned white.

[ A brief pause, then he continues. ]

I thought if it doesn't have to do with time that maybe it has to do with something being drained away, like the eye and hair color, but I can't make that fit the idea of a rusted sword either so I don't know. I thought I would bring it all to you and ask your thoughts.

[ He simply isn't smart enough to think up reasonable answers. ]


[ooc: this comes from joric's search request if you want to see the whole thing! ]

Comments

Video | UN: T-800

[chilloutdickwad]

I have had to assist in creating a new well, after the other had dried up; they also mentioned the spoiling of meat.

They appeared used to these circumstances, so I had thought they could be ordinary events society faces in dangerous environments... Instead, maybe it's an orb. One that had come here hundreds of years prior, and they've adapted to the situation.

[drawsblood]

Right. Sometimes the orb lands in the middle of nowhere and never comes in contact with a person, but is able to create chaos without a deal. But if it did make a deal long ago, what was it? Who wanted this?

[chilloutdickwad]

It's difficult to know without some universal collection of data.

However, they have made no efforts to maintain a written archive of this world's history, despite having the tools to do so.

... I assume they haven't for a reason.

[drawsblood]

[ That makes him think. ]

Perhaps some calamity that left few survivors that had to build up the population again. And whatever befell them is something they blamed on their previous way of life, so they wouldn't speak of it.

[chilloutdickwad]

It seems logical. This climate is extremely hostile to most organic life.

The natives I have spoken to mentioned a timespan of 200 years.

video; un: romanoff

[deaddrop]

[Natasha considers the details Joric describes thoughtfully. She hasn't had the opportunity to see much of it herself, to provide new insight.]

The children who lost their eye color, was there any word about if their vision was affected—they weren't white from cataracts, or something like that?

[drawsblood]

No. I can't recall if the man said this rumor came from his grandmother or a friend's grandmother, but it was nothing like that. I asked about the white hair too. Nothing else about the person changed and she felt fine.

[deaddrop]

[Natasha taps her cheek thoughtfully, considering the problem.]

If it is the orb doing this, it could be the price of making a deal, or a side effect of it.

[drawsblood]

But how so? It can't be numerous people making deals. There would need to be someone who wanted something and all these things have been happening as a result.

[ A pause. ]

Is that not how it usually works?

[deaddrop]

It's hard to say. All of the orbs that were active seem to have had their own little foibles.

[Natasha isn't really certain of much.]

I would expect there to have been someone who wanted something. It could be that it's one thing that's ongoing, in which case the orb would be in an active deal now that's still being fed.

video; un: toxicodendron

[greenpower]

I tried dissecting some of the plants and animals that have been dying, and I don't think it's old age that's killing them. There's no sign of disease or decay. They're just dead.

[Which is, if you'll pardon her saying, stupid.]

[drawsblood]

Which means it's something powerful that can do that. Either the orb or the spark. I don't know enough about magic or the type they have here to say.

[greenpower]

It's not like anything I've ever seen before, and I've seen some fucked up shit.

[drawsblood]

[ He's tempted to ask, but also wondering if he should open that door in the first place. ]

You would think the people here would care more, but they act like it's just something that happens that can be ignored.

[greenpower]

Right? It's weird. You'd think they'd be weird about having it happen to them or their gardens. Or pets. Or children.

Whatever these people care about.

audio; un: kovacs

[kovach]

And no other clues on the trigger? Even if it's happening all over the city, it might make a difference if the events are happening in clusters, like some kind of contagion.

[drawsblood]

No; it seems sporadic. And it doesn't just happen in the city, but out on the Plains as well. Hm, it does seem like the way an illness spreads. The girl's hair turned white over the course of a day. It wasn't like people blinked and it had changed. Her brother didn't seem that concerned. Said she was the same person she'd always been. An annoying person, I think he said.

[ Joric had siblings once, and though he cherished the younger ones, the elder were assholes so he can understand where the guy is coming from. ]

So the time it takes is definitely shorter than is natural, but not instant, the same way when a person grows ill the symptoms increase gradually.

[kovach]

Sounds exactly the way a brother would talk.

[ says this brother. though his relationship with his real sister went a bit beyond "annoying" and more into mutual murder territory, but — well, if he thinks of someone like alina, then annoying sister is definitely an accurate description.

anyway. ]

Most inanimate objects don't get "sick" either, so it's not like it could be passing around through bodies. None of our crew's been affected directly, right?

[drawsblood]

Not that I've heard of yet. But you're right. Whatever this is seems to be affecting random things and not just objects or just people.

[kovach]

Then we should stay alert for that. It might not be directly affecting us yet since we haven't been here as long. Though, getting white hair would be the least upsetting thing to happen to someone.

[ this is a man who's always changing bodies, so who cares about appearance that much. ]

text ↪ un: うちは

[blackfire]

How did the individuals present this information to you? Were they afraid, or accepting, or some other thing?

[drawsblood]

Accepting. They seemed to brush it off as something that just happens. Even the one who personally had family affected didn't seem worried for her.

[blackfire]

（ concerning. ）

Is there a chance it's treated like a sort of social honour? Did you witness how strangers interacted with the affected individuals?

[drawsblood]

No, I didn't witness it. I brought up what I'd been seeing recently to three people I was working with and asked about the strangest things they'd seen. The examples I gave were their replies.

[blackfire]

I see.

Thank you for the information.