"Deep in earth my love is lying 🥀 And I must weep alone."

[ectoherbology]

Who: Wendy, her ghostly sister, and you
Which: Open Log
Warnings: Wendy frequently mentions the macabre, themes of death, mourning and violence may come up


Where: Reverein
What: In town, a lone child wanders around and explores, donning a mourning veil. She's asking for help getting equipped for winter!


Quite unlike the world Wendy had been trapped in before, the presence of a town was something to immediately take advantage of. Cradling the silken red flower containing her sister's soul in her hands, Wendy was traveling between each building open to anyone, hoping to take advantage of what was here. On her back was a large sack woven from grass and reeds, though it was currently quite empty.

Her first bit of luck is getting a winter coat from a seamstress, one that's several sizes too large for her but nonetheless will help keep her warm. Blowing soft puffs of warm air on her fingers to ease the chill, she moved on, careful not to accidentally step into someone else's path.

Catching the fact that a stranger's gaze was upon her, she approached, staring with eyes slightly too eerie and hollow to truly belong to a kid. "Excuse me. Is there a method of currency here, or particular item for trade? I don't have anything, yet, but it's quite cold."


Where: Outskirts of Reverein, near the lake
What: Wendy and her ghostly sister Abigail are working on crafting a base outside of town for survival


To anyone familiar with the struggles of wilderness survival, the appearance of several things between Reverein and its lake made quite a bit of sense - baited rabbit traps woven out of long grass, trees chopped and saplings stripped, rocks disturbed and dug up from scavenging for the right size and shape for tools...

At the center of all of this activity is a massive firepit, circled with heavy stones to keep fire from spreading. It was currently lit, but low, at the moment only serving to slowly cook a few tiny fish that had been fished up from the lake. Sitting atop a stump nearby was the young Wendy, wearing a simple scarf even in the frigid chill of the outdoors. She's preoccupied with crafting something - but whoever approaches will first be 'greeted' by a frightful ghost popping up in front of their path and interceding them from approaching Wendy. There's a supernatural chill in the air, and a glowering, pinkish glow, but it subsides the moment Wendy simply says, "It's okay, Abigail."

Comments

I had to reflect for a moment what kind of sign language she'd learn from a french mime in 1910sish

[ectoherbology]

[She pays close attention, but doesn't have much clarity. She signs back... intending to ask if he can understand her, though she wasn't sure if her memory of sign language she'd learned from Wes would be very fluent, let alone if she even knew the right sign in the first place.]

Hahahaha welp

[fishflakes]

[It's a little rough, but... hmm. He can kind of understand her. He nods.]

Salmon.

[But then he pauses, before reaching into his pocket to pull out his journal. He takes a moment to write a few words to her, before showing it to her.]

Sorry, can't speak much. But I can understand you. The people here are nice, mostly do barter and will give you things for free if you're new.

she did her best....!

[ectoherbology]

[She feels a bit ashamed for not being quite fluent enough, but she won't say as much. Politely, she waits for him to finish before taking out her own pen to reply.]

Would you prefer I speak aloud or in writing? I can also continue to sign, even if it is French sign.

She did! Wendy is a good bean

[fishflakes]

[French sign? That would explain why he had issues understanding it. And while he knew his way around English and Japanese, French was another matter. He shakes his head.]

Tuna mayo.

[He then writes down some more before showing her his journal.]

It's ok if you talk.

[ectoherbology]

[She read, and nodded!]

I will continue, then. Please feel free to keep using sign, too.

[She needs to learn, after all!]

I am Wendy. This is my twin sister, Abigail. Thank you for speaking with me.

[fishflakes]

[Toge blinks up at Abigail, still a bit surprised to see her. He's quite familiar with ghosts, spirits of the dead, and other such malevolent beings, but this one seems quite passive and calm. And she had said that this was her twin sister... he can't help but think of his friend Yuuta and the spirit of Rika who he drew power from. Perhaps it's a similar case here; and it's not like he hasn't seen people making use of Shikigami before.]

[After a brief pause, he raises his hand in greeting.]

Kombu.

[Then, he points to himself.]

Toge Inumaki.

[ectoherbology]

Nice to meet you, Mister Inumaki.

[Abigail swirls a bit, a faint sound like a child's laughter echoing nearby, presumably from her. Wendy continues to sign as she speaks, practicing what Wes and Wickerbottom taught her.]

Abigail also says hello.

[fishflakes]

[Huh... she certainly seems friendly enough. Toge can work with this, especially if he envisions her like Rika or another Shikigami. He waves to her as well.]

[Her signing is definitely different from what Shigeru taught him, but he can sort of see the meaning as she speaks. Still, he decides to write his words down for now, to help her out as well.]

Are you new? I can answer questions if you have them.

[ectoherbology]

[Helpful!! Wendy thought for a moment...]

What is useful to barter? And, is there shelter for newcomers? I suppose I will be fine if not, I have Abigail with me either way.

[fishflakes]

[Toge hums as he thinks, before nodding and writing a few more things for her.]

Well, lots of people here will offer things for free if you do favours for them. You can also check the Dream Board to see if anyone has any general kinda stuff they need help with. Some places take coin, some will offer stuff for free. Lots of ways to get supplies or make sure you can eat.

As for places to stay, there's always room in the treehouses.

[And he will point over to the treehouses in question; some of which look like fancy treehouses in the trees, and others which are literal trees that have windows and doors and such on them.]

[ectoherbology]

[After reading carefully, Wendy stood on her toes to peek at the treehouses that Toge was gesturing to. Ahh, so some were vacant! No need to worry about grouchy pigs or dangerous merms if she approached them, then.]

Did you see, Abigail? We will finally have a roof over our heads again.

[The ghost twirled and petals swirled around her, looking and sounding pleased!]

[fishflakes]

[That's. A statement that a kid shouldn't be making. It's good that they'll get shelter, but the way she says it makes it sound like she hasn't had shelter in a while. So after a pause, he writes down another sentence.]

Been a while since you had one?

[ectoherbology]

[She nods.]

The weather and the monsters made it quite impossible to maintain a roof over our heads long-term. The deerclops in winter especially prioritizes destroying all manmade structures.

[fishflakes]

...ikura, mentaiko.

[Holy shit. That. Really sounds rough. Toge has no idea what a deerclops is, but given she's talking about monsters and rough weather, he can only imagine the kind of world she came from.]

Sounds harsh. There's some weird creatures here, but most of them are friendly. And the treehouses are pretty stable. You should be safe there.

[ectoherbology]

[Wendy taps her finger against her lip in thought, for a moment. Her next question undoubtedly would be uncomfortable.

Oh well. Normal people ought to be more comfortable with death anyway.]

If I were to perish here, through starvation, exposure or becoming the victim of murder, would I revive?

[fishflakes]

[...wat.]

...mustard leaf??

[HE'S. KIND OF CONCERNED WITH THAT QUESTION. Granted, he's fairly comfortable with talking about death himself - jujutsu sorcerers aren't exactly known for their long lives - but that just makes it sound like those kinds of horrible deaths are just. Common. And revival? Well. Huh.]

[Suddenly the ghost hanging around her makes a little more sense.]

[He has to pause to process it for a moment, but eventually he writes down a few more words.]

You must come from one messed up world if that's the norm. But there's enough here that you shouldn't have to worry about that. There's the treehouses for shelter, plenty of places to warm up in the winter or get out of the cold, and the farmers will literally give you food for free. No starving here.

As for murder, I don't really know anyone here who's died so I dunno. Then again this is a dream world, so like, maybe you just wake up if you die? I have never heard of someone dying here, or if they did then staying dead.

[ectoherbology]

I see. Unless I can recreate a meat effigy or other revival measure, perhaps I should err on the side of caution. It would be nice to know if death held meaning, here.

[Abigail seemed to glower angrily at Wendy about that, but Wendy didn't pay it much mind.]

Thank you again, mister Inumaki. I'll be careful and use your advice.

[fishflakes]

Salmon.

[Toge nods, giving her a thumbs up. He isn't sure what kind of world she came from, but if death was such a common occurrence where she came from, hopefully this world will be much gentler with her. Then, before she heads off, he will beckon to her.]

Tuna, tuna.

[Instead of writing, he will briefly take a moment to hold his journal in his grasp, and channel his thoughts. After a brief moment, an image will draw itself onto the page; one of the tree houses he had mentioned before. If she looks, it'll also be visible in her own journal. Afterwards, he writes again for her.]

My place. If you run low on snacks or need anything, feel free to stop by.

[ectoherbology]

[A little twitch of a smile tugs at the corner of Wendy's lip, even if it doesn't fully manifest.]

You are very kind. I will return the favor someday.

[It's a nice change of pace for strangers to be so comfortable and generous. Wendy offers a small curtsy in farewell.]