songerein | [Catch-All]

Entry tags:

[Catch-All]

Who: Old Man Nier and YOU
Which: Open Log + Interactive Dream
Where: Reverein fields, the town itself, Nier's home village
What: Catch-All for March 2022. Old Man tends fields and mends fences. Old Man picks up orange hate feathers. Old Man picks herbs for Jude and co clinic. Old Man dreams of his home town where no one there seems to know him at all.
Warnings: Probably nothing worth mentioning. Will update as necessary

01. 'Spring'ing into Action

[Just the thought of working in the fields makes him think of older, more simpler days. Although he supposes in retrospect, there was nothing simple about them. Yonah had once asked him to grow her watermelons and somehow, he'd managed to accomplish it. Never does he consider himself an accomplished man of gardens and growing, but when he thinks about the amount of time he spent trying to cultivate a Lunar Tear, then he supposes he might be underestimating himself.

It's provided him a great reason to busy himself. To busy his thoughts. To think less about what happens when he leaves. If he leaves. If the others leave. He wants none of this. Instead, he's focused on the situation at hand. Or at least, he pretends he is. Honestly, he's more caught up in his thoughts than he'd like to be.

Fences are where he's chosen to begin. A decent number of them were damaged and before any planting can begin, they'll need to be tended to. He's in the process of covering some breaks, knelt down, pensive and probably up until the next few moments, has likely been a little quiet. Whether it's approaching footsteps or those being led elsewhere, he's not shy about speaking up.]

Get me that hammer, would you? I left it back there somewhere.

[He jerks his right hand over his shoulder indicatively. Help an old man out?]

02. I'm Not Angry; You're Angry!

[There's no shortage of things to be done in Reverein and Nier is usually more than happy to keep himself occupied by taking on any number of requests from the locals, which seem to be growing in number as the days go by. Gathering feathers seems like a relatively monotonous and unexciting task, which means it ought to be something he can get done in short order.

He's wandering around the town and along its outskirts to gather them, looking high and low. By this point, he's already managed to collect a few, which he has tucked into his somewhat barbaric-looking garb. Nier's a man with a lot of heart, though more than once he's lost his cool in the face of the circumstance. Where he'd normally be a rather patient man, it seems said patience is in absent supply today.]

Hey. You just gonna stand there, or do you feel like moving?

[He's had days where he was nicer.]

03. Go Green or Go Home

[When Jude announced the opening of the clinic, Nier was very quick to jump onto the idea of being able to supply him regularly with useful herbs, plants, and other like things in the forest. It reminds him of the times he's done something of the same for Popola. The names might change, but the situation always seems to be the same. In that respect, it's kind of nice. Something familiar. Just the thought leaves him comforted.

Whatever reason you might have for being out there, it won't be hard to spot him. Nier doesn't blend in well with the surroundings. On the contrary, he kind of stands out. And if he finds you, there's a very good chance he'll be nosy and want to figure out what you're up to. Why not lend him a temporary travelling partner?

Don't mind him as he's huddled down close to the ground, trying to get up a plant without destroying it completely.]

04. Home is Where the Heart Is (Unless You're Nier) - Interactive Dream

[...What is this place? It's a seemingly quiet and laid-back village, many of the structures appearing rundown and touched by the elements of time. There are people by the fountain not far from a dilapidated house.

Up the hill, along a variety of wooden steps that are in slight disrepair, there's a library with no shortage of books and a room that doesn't seem to make much sense.

Gates exist in different cardinal directions that lead outside of the village, each guarded for the safety of the village inhabitants.

Down in the market plaza, there's no shortage of item shops, and a plethora of relatively friendly villagers, who are ever willing to ask for assistance with their daily errands. A tavern, where a pretty girl named Devola plays music and sings a song. And on the docks behind, a little boat willing to take you to places called Seafront and some other main settlements that exist outside of the village.

It's a nice place, if not a little bit sparse. But it's the place that he calls home. He can easily be found wandering through the town, into the library, but spends the most amount of his time at his house, perhaps with his face in a very particular diary. His daughter, Yonah, is also here, and she may seem a little perplexed about what you're doing in her house, but she'll be very polite.

It's no real big surprise to him personally, but it seems like no one in this town knows a Nier. Not even Yonah. Who could this mysterious man be?]

[OOC: Please feel free to wander around the village by yourself, with a friend, or visit Nier. Character thoughts and feelings may affect the surroundings and the things witnessed, or experienced in this place.
Please also forgive how small these images seemed to be. Evidently larger images from Gestalt are difficult to come by. I may update these at a later point.
There is no restricted access to the town and its inhabitants. Do note that given this is also Brother Nier's home village, he has the same influences that Old Man Nier has here.]

05. Wildcard

[If the above don't strike your fancy, please select this option for whatever something special we might be doing. You can plot with me via PMs, discord (available upon request), and by contacting me via ofthesky.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

First time I've been involved in any of them for years, honestly. [Forced in to some outfit and having to do anything to help out for the dream's sake.

He did not miss being a werewolf, or some weird wolf/reindeer hybrid thanks. Got enough of that sort of thing during his time in the story world with all of the 'form' changes and the default as some undead chimera-like creature filled with magic.

His brow furrowed briefly, just in thought.]

Could be, something that knocked where you're from out of it's usual place if it wasn't always like that. Scientists had theories about it where I'm from, anything that could possibly alter the orbit of our planet changing everything drastically enough and all that. Studied possibilities as part of branches in observing environmental changes and the like.

[Hell, Overwatch used to have an entire division dedicated to environmental studies like that to try and help conserve it. Rest some of their souls.]

Only thing worrying here now with that is the missing moon.

Could be that, too. I can't say I know a lot about the state of the world. I know a little about the stories. Don't entirely understand them. It's all kind of complicated, probably a little too complicated for someone like me.

[Why couldn't he just use his sword to answer everything? Wouldn't that have been the easier way to go about things?]

All of that aside, it is a little strange without the moon. I'm not sure what to make of that. I feel like we've been missing it for a bit now, haven't we? Do any of us know exactly what happened or how it happened?

[He was going to assume noctaere, but honestly, he didn't know much of anything about such things and he wasn't in a real hurry to try wrapping his mind around it all. Although he suspected he was going to wind up involved in one way or another. That was just his nature. Always willing to throw himself headfirst into trouble.]

All I ever did was make sure the environmental branch of the scientists I knew got plenty of funding to research that type of thing. [He was good at talking money out of political pockets, and didn't mind being used for fundraisers for the same reason.

Whatever it was he could have done, he did it, no matter the cost of himself. He sacrificed everything he could, that he felt he had to, for what he hoped was the betterment of the entire world.

A slight huff, dragged out to show some clear sign of- well, something close to irritation, and clearly not aimed at the other man.]

That would be the doings of the Story Eater. It apparently absorbed the moon in to itself as a way to get out it's energy to other worlds, and start to corrupt them. Reason why nightmares and noctaere activity in dreams has ramped up here, too. Bastards still hiding so we can't hunt it down and kicks its ass.

[76 really, really wanted another chance at getting hands on with Story Eater, clearly.]

That the same thing you were dealing with before you came here?

[He knew 76 had made mention of something akin to it. If it was the same source, then anyone who'd dealt with it previously would have an advantage regarding information. Except it seemed like they were at a bit of a stalemate. Couldn't fight something they wouldn't be able to find.

For several moments, Nier looked a touch troubled.]

Wonder if there's a way to track it down. Maybe we can bait it by the deliberate creation of noctaere? Or whatever attracts it.

Yeah, and it's why some of us are here now, too. It flung us here, along with itself.

[He's not sure if it meant to send itself and any of them here of course- either it meant to just fling hem, or escape by itself while trapping them somewhere else. Either way it was what it was now. Frustrated him to no end, of course.

All the more reason to keep busy while also on the look out.]

If there is, haven't found it yet- [~~not quite right~~] -because it's gotten the same abilities we all have here. Can use the dreamotion stuff on top of creating Erasers.

Only thing that seems to attract it is anything that can make it more powerful- reason it was screwing around in those dreamscapes, why we had to fight in those.

Maybe the answer is just have more dreamscapes. This whole time I've thought it was responsible for the dreamscapes, too. If it's not and it's something like us doing it, then I'm still thinking we need to be the ones that bait it. That said, we've fought it more than once— [Not him, personally, of course, but he knows the worldwide dreamscapes have been happening because he's been in them.] —and we haven't been able to stop it.

[After a moment's pause, he adds:]

Doesn't that just mean we don't have the resources to take care of it now?

[It's probably tied in with dreamotion. Maybe they all, collectively, need a better grasp on dreamotion to provide a proper challenge. Otherwise it might not matter how many times they go up against it. Being ill-prepared just means repeating the same cycle over and over again.]

Might just be something that's a part of this place- the dreamscapes that haul all of us in to them. Smaller scale we do end up accidentally tripping in to others' dreams here, but the big ones feel a hell of a lot different- more powerful. [Enough for force changes- and were dreams of those that weren't in this dream world, from what he gathered.] We came close to stopping it.

It was a last ditch effort to keep us from striking a final blow that had it ripping a hole in reality that dumped it and some of us here, after all.

[Now? Now it had enough time to recover and draw in far more energy than it had managed in the story realm. Was even experimenting in what it could do if those paint dumping witches and the whole 'missing moon' thing had anything to tell.

Frustrating to no end.]

It does, reason I keep telling folks to try and get a handle of this dream magic stuff whenever it comes up. I've heard that the Story Teller has been trying to make a connection with this world, too. [That's a whole story-] In an effort to open up a way for us to tap back in to the abilities we had in the story realm.

Last attempt was when it was fresh, and those who were there got a letter- I've still got it.

[As 76 recounts his prior experiences, Nier wonders for just a moment that if the past were repeated, there's as likely a chance that it might just spit them all into another world. A first time for him. A second for 76 and anyone else who's already dealt with it the first time. But that's all conjecture. It's not as if Nier knows the truth of the matter and honestly, the way things are going here in this world, he's pretty certain he doesn't want to fine out. Not when he's finally starting to feel... happy again.

All of this is just getting too heavy for him. How did they get here?]

Story realm is where you came from before, I take it. [He thinks aloud before 76's mention of a 'letter' grabs his attention.] This letter you got, was it from the Story Teller?

[It was all a mess and a giant headache- and he was good at shouldering headaches whether he liked it or not.]

Yeah, was there because the Story Eater was threatening my own world- amongst others. Whole reason I was in the story real in the first place. [Willingly, he'd answered a call for help.

He shifted a bit, pulling the dream journal out as he flipped it open and pulled out a folded piece of paper, creases all over it as if it had been folded in to some other shape originally-] It was, here. Can have a look.

[Journal was closed as he passed over the folded letter for Nier himself to read.]

Been keeping a hold of it. Back in that place, we were called Aspects.

[Nier, by this point, has largely forgotten what's brought them together, but truthfully, he finds the nature of their conversation a great deal more interesting. The letter in hand, he carefully unfolds it, drawing callused fingertips over the various folds and creases. It's seen better days, hasn't it.

He takes his time in looking over the contents of the letter and he even reads it a second time, realising that a good majority of it, he just doesn't understand. Probably because he was never a part of those things to begin with. Finally he peers over the edge thoughtfully toward 76.]

I'm surprised you were able to bring it to this world with you. Were you able to bring anything else, or just this? It all sounds a little ominous to me. Not necessarily in a bad way, but just mysterious. Like there's a lot of questions and not very many answers.

[Maybe not so different from his own personal experiences, honestly.]

Surprisingly? It arrived here, and likely was able to because the two places were still briefly connected. [He'd kept it because he was still suspicious that it ight not be from the Story Teller, but had been later confirmed to be; all the more reason to keep it, like some loose note that might somehow hold something more.

Or just be a letter meant to be both reassuring and a warning. Sure as hell took it for the later.] Blue, the dragon I've got here? Is from the story realm, however.

[He thumbed in said dragon's direction, her settled just beside the cart with wings folded.]

You're not wrong, though. It is ominous, and brings up a lot of questions with little to no answer to them. Yet.

[Nier's attention moves onto the dragon in question and for several moments he simply stares. Yeah, he saw them when 76 arrived on the scene originally, but it's still pretty hard to wrap his mind around seeing a real dragon. They look basically like what books have described them as being. Doesn't mean it doesn't still fascinate him, though.

Everything about this world is fascinating. Even more so now that he knows there's another world connected to it all.]

A free companion, too. [He begins before he looks back to 76.] You say 'yet' like you've got an idea about how to go about getting around that. [And honestly, 76 does not seem like the guy to just wait for an answer to come to him.]

[Had been a hell of a sight, watching the dragon practically leap up at him through the wishing well here. Blue apparently remembered him and was glad to see him- but it couldn't be that much of a surprise, considering he'd raised her from egg onwards.]

She's pretty good on a hunting trip. [An arm rested against the fence, given it was pretty damn sturdy at that area now.] Well, heard that the Storyteller is trying to make a connection to this world- it's also clear Story Eater has been testing things here, too.

I've got one of the minions it can create in a jar, can't break it open or let it loose but- there's gotta be a reason that a witch was keeping it like that, right?

[He can believe it. A dragon would be good on any hunting trip. Nier makes a note that should he have to go out for food, 76 and Blue would be good companions to have along for the ride.

His attention turns back onto the subject of the Storyteller and the Story Eater responsible for what seems to be their current predicament even if Nier has missed out on the prior chapters that led to the very prominent, present moment.]

There's a few reasons I can think of for why a witch... would be keeping one. [Witch. What a word.] Experimentation? I mean, that's what they supposedly do, right? Or... maybe this Story Eater has... spies? That can take on forms like ours. Maybe. Spy probably isn't the right word, but it'd be kind of silly to think that we're not being watched by the thing that brought most of us here. I bet we're bein' watched all the time.

[Story Eater with voyeuristic intentions. Gathering intel?]

Considering the witch was experimenting in ways to best destroy Erasers? I wouldn't doubt it. [Baba Yaga was being surprisingly helpful, and was continuing to be so likely because she was more pissed off about the Story Eater than them goin inside of her hut.

Better to keep her on their side if any stories about her were true, too.] I can believe, and suspect, that we are being watched one way or another. Already know Story Eater is willing to pretend to be a hero to catch us unaware- did that at least once already back in the story realm.

Not sure it's still in hiding after taking the moon, but reason I got that Eraser in a jar tucked away where it can't really do any sort of looking, too.

Sounds to me like it wouldn't matter if that Eraser can see us or not if the Story Eater is already keeping us under proverbial thumb. Or however you want to put it.

[So they're up against something that right now it doesn't seem they have much of an advantage on. In fact, it seems like it's almost the opposite. The Story Eater probably has the advantage and they're the ones at something akin to mercy.]

But that witch you're talking about—is she actually here? Or is she from that other world you mentioned before? If the former, is she inclined to help us if we've got something to appeal to her?

[If she's not, then he supposes the question is moot.]

Sounds about right either way- more so for the fact it knows we can be a danger to its schemes.

[All the more reason to get stronger, but remain watchful. Do whatever they could to fight back and thwart whatever damn plan they could- fight whatever was thrown at them and come out on top smehow.]

Baba Yaga- she's aware of us here, but she's somewhere out there. Apparently she's helping as much as she can, planted a list of ingredients and a recipe to a potion to dissolve Erasers. [There was a brief frown.] I don't know how we could get in touch with her, though.

Do know the big guy- were you here when the giant fiery owl was looking for her eggs? There was a big guy riding a very large reindeer that arrived here, and was willing to pass on some information from her. [The thought 'Baba Yaga is close friends with Santa Claus's wife' was one he never expected to think and a fact to know.] Haven't heard much since, of course.

[Listening, he concludes that maybe they aren't as disadvantaged as he'd originally thought. Assuming this Baba Yaga can actually be trusted. Isn't it possible that she's planted by the Story Eater itself? If it can have vessels do its dirty work for them, who's to say who they can trust and who they can't? But by that logic, he might as well be eyeing everyone with the same scepticism and wariness.

Better to just hope for the best, honestly, and cross bridges when they get to them otherwise.]

I heard about these different things, but didn't witness either one myself. I always seem to hear about what's going on, but it's not often that I have my hands directly involved.

[Surprisingly. He's not sure how it works out like that. He might not always be in the thick of things, but he seems relatively aware.]

[It was a tightrope walk on a knife's edge or razor wire, that was for sure. Reason why he kept on edge most of the time, guard never fully dropping. Likely not the best way to exist in a place, but it wasn't as if he didn't live on edge running around the world as a vigilante—]

I only stuck around long enough to ask a few questions, and listen to the answers some other folks got about it. [Blue babysat some owlets of course, but he was still healing from severe injury at the time.

He'd ignored the fact he was on bedrest still to investigate all the noise.]

Still, sitting and waiting for Story Eater to do something- easy to get antsy. More so knowing what it can do, and worrying about it. Best we can do is prepare and get stronger ourselves; stick together.

[At least he's not the only one not burying himself in the situations that occasionally arise. Most of what he learns come from his younger counterpart or from Kainé and fortunately, neither of them seem shy about sharing their information with him. He tends to keep himself most busy with the locals, which suits him just fine. It's just like being back home, except he's pretty sure he's not in some weird simulated, planned environment.

Maybe.]

I don't think any of us should just be waiting for something to happen. Guess that's why we've got the dreamboard, though. It's not just benefiting the people here. It's giving us the ability to make connections with others here. And it's giving us the opportunity to improve those abilities that we need to be using against said Story Eater.

[Farm work and the Harvest at least kept 76 busy outside of- well. He patrolled, he kept an eye and ear out for anything out of place or strange that could lead to anything- and of course-]

Dreamboard led me to discovering a group of 'witches' causing trouble were actually minions of the Story Eater. They were taken care of, at least. [A confirmation of sorts that the dreamboard was good for more than just benefitting people around. Following up on that one task had allowed him that discovery after all.] All the same, you're right about it giving chances for improvement.

Not that I'm saying this is what happened in your case with said 'witches,' but it didn't occur to me that we might have minions of the Story Eater using the dreamboard. If they did, it'd probably be because they thought we'd be easy to take out. Less resistance.

[Even if that's what actually happened, clearly they were ill prepared for 76. Nothing like taking some witches by surprise, evidently.]

Guess we never really know who's on the other end of things until it's too late. Not that it matters. The more we get exposed to, the more prepared we'll be for the unexpected.

Just know they were causing enough trouble dumping 'paint' on folks- which turned out to be an ink mixture. [Which still bothered him; had it been actual ink or had there been something more nefarious? Had it been just a strange way to start testing out the variety of things that the Story Eater could do with its minions?

Still hadn't gotten any answers there.]

You're right there, of course.

Paint. Or... ink mixture. Guess the details don't really matter. Maybe we won't see the real effects until later. Assuming that there are any actual effects. If there hasn't been anything yet, maybe there won't be anything at all.

[He shakes his head slowly, but after loosing a sigh, he gives the fence he's been intimately hugging with something akin to reassurance.]

Until the next big thing comes up, let's just be prepared. We've got this. Between you and me, we can handle anything that comes our way.

It's been a few months, and I have been keeping an eye on places and people hit with the stuff. [Nothing so far, but he couldn't just let it go as him being paranoid yet.] I hope it was nothing nefarious, but better to be safe than not with that.

[Rubbed the palm of a hand against one of his knees, still sitting in that sort of kneeled crouch from when they'd been working on the fence mending.]

Agreed. Until then- well, at least we know we can mend a fence.

[It was a good natured sort of dry teasing joke- but no, really. They could do this and see about everything else when it came to working together, and with others.

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