Graded [Crustanton] - Under the Sea

[StarPrincessVal]

Calliope

Mentions: Elvario Clockwork_Magic
Languages: Common | <Beastial>​

"Thank you, Phoebe." Calliope smiled at her as she made her way into the apothecary. She nodded politely at the shrimp woman as she greeted them and began to look around at the items on the shelf. She was unfamiliar with many of these ingredients, and she had the time, she would love to spend hours talking with this woman about their properties and uses, but she didn't want to bore Victorique and Phoebe, who had been kind enough to accompany her. After examining the stock on the shelves and not seeing what she needed, she turned to the woman. "<Greetings. My name is Calliope, I am a potion crafter from Ryke on the surface, here to acquire ingredients for my practice. I am looking to obtain a prismatic lobster shell. Might you have a spare you would be willing to part with?>"

 

[Elvario]

Victorique Sopheana
​

Mentions: Calliope StarPrincessVal | Phoebe Clockwork_Magic
Languages: Common | <Beastial> | [Terran] | {Sylvan}

Victorique nodded to Phoebe, although the 'still up for it by that time' part suggested she wasn't too interested in becoming a magic teacher. Shame. Then again, perhaps Victorique should just stick with honing her power of mind, rather than magic? Either way, she smiled deviously at Phoebe's comment to learn Beastial. “I'd definitely be down to teach you, so that I can see you go through the same suffering of summoning an army of hissing cats to your doorstep just because you're trying to learn how to politely say 'no thanks' to someone in the feline dialect.” Yes, the animal-inspired sounds and phrases in Beastial remained the most challenging to learn, but also the most fun to see others failing at.

As for the Apothecary... Victorique just stopped dead in her tracks for a while. That store clerk was one of the most fascinating people she'd ever seen in her life. A glowing antenna, six wing-like fins, an almost dress-like tail... She'd seen some fairly odd things here, but this woman managed to quickly shoot to the top of the list of them. She'd already been staring for a good while, before realising it was rude to stare. Then again, how could someone not stare to someone who had an actual light source growing out of their head and six wing-fins and a dress-tail for limbs? That didn't even mention the odd light-glowing tendrils coming out from below her. What even were those?

Whilst Phoebe was going through the shelves, Victorique was still stuck staring. She'd been standing so still ever since entering this building, that one would confuse her to be a [Doll] rather than a person.

It was only when Victorique addressed the object of Victorique's staring that the halfling snapped out of it. “<How does that glow?”> Were the first words to leave her lips. Right. Total social powerhouse at her finest. She realised just how much of an idiot she was being, quickly trying to claw back a bit. <“Oh, I'm terribly sorry for staring, miss, I've just never seen someone like you before. I didn't even know it was possible for people to have illuminating organs.”> She quickly tried to apologise, hoping not to have been too rude. She'd glance at Calliope and Phoebe as if to say 'please back me up here' when trying to justify and/or explain herself.

Doll - Character was so cute and small, they were suspected of being an inanimate doll rather than a person. While the valley between perfection and close enough is hard to determine, the character will have an easier time being mistaken as a toy. Real toys will not be fooled by such an impersonation.

 

[Clockwork_Magic]

Phoebe Penrose

Interactions: StarPrincessVal (Calliope) | Elvario (Victorique)
Languages: Common | [Terran]​

---

Phoebe gently closed the door behind her as she entered, her eyes immediately being drawn to the fishwoman at the counter. Though she'd seen their fair share of fishfolk in the past few hours, this one certainly took the cake, having an elegant aura about her. Before she could stare too much, Calliope approached the woman saying something in Beastial. While Calliope took her time with the proprietor, Phoebe took this as a chance to browse some of the store's wares a bit more, her attention being drawn more to the various jars and bottles of colored liquids than anything else.

Phoebe's window shopping was cut short by the sudden outburst in Beastial from Victorique. All the pink haired mage could do when Victorique glanced at her after was tilt her head slightly in confusion. "[What is it?]" Phoebe naturally wasn't able to understand a single word that just came out of the blonde halfling's mouth, but given the speed at which she was talking and her seemingly frantic behavior, all she can do is imagine is that she just said or did something embarrassing. Unfortunately for Victorique, without knowing what was going on Phoebe's hands were tied and so she looked over at Calliope in hopes she could take the lead on whatever Victorique needed from them.

 

[StarPrincessVal]

Crustanton - Apothecary
Languages: Common | <Beastial>
​

The shrimp woman smiles at Calliope. <Greetings Calliope of Ryke. It is a pleasure to meet another who shares my enthusiasm for our craft. But, I'm afraid I don't have a shell I can part with at the moment. Though, I often obtain mine from the fisherman who bring their hauls in from the eastern port. They often bring back things they find while on the job and sell the more valuable ones for extra gold. You might check with hthem.>

As Victorique blurted out her question and began to panic, the woman covered her mouth with her frill and laughed. <It is quite all right. To be honest, I'm not quite sure how it glows. Something to do with chemicals combining with oxygen within the organ. It is a leftover function of my kinds more primitive days. But I think it is quite beautiful, wouldn't you agree?>

She watched the group as they meandered around the shop waiting to help anyone who needed it.

​

 

[StarPrincessVal]

Calliope

Mentions: Elvario Clockwork_Magic Seagreen
Languages: Common | <Beastial>​

Calliope nodded at the shrimp woman. <"Thank you, I shall be sure to give them a look."> As Victorique stammered out her comment, Calliope looked at her shocked, but then giggled at Victoriques embarrassment as the woman informed her it was fine. Calliope made her way over to Phoebe. "It is fascinating how similair and different at the same time the surface and undersea worlds can be, mmhhmm. I recognize next to nothing in here, but the layout is such that I swear I've been in this exact store before, mmhhmm." Suddenly she noticed another person standing in the shop. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but his movements were erratic and he looked unwell. Calliope watched him a moment curiously, before she realized what was wrong. "Oh, are you not feeling well, hhmm? I can translate for you if you need to make a purrrchase but don't speak Beastial, mmhhmm. Don't worry, just tell me your symptoms and I'll make sure you get what you need, mmhhmm. There is no need to be nervous, I am medical worker, there is nothing to be embarrassed about, mmhhmm."

 

[Seagreen]

Simon
Languages: Common, [Terran]​

As much as Simon wanted to, he couldn't avoid facing one of his oldest acquaintances, awkwardness. Though he fixed his stance, an audible gulp and widened eyes were Simon's only response to the cat girl. "Say something, Simon!" His internal thoughts yelled at him. Simon tried to get some words out, but the best he could do was open his mouth. "A-ah..." Sadly, nothing was coming out. "N-n..." He tried butting in to explain that he wasn't ill or sick, wanting to avoid any further misunderstandings. "W-wai..." But he couldn't even pull that off. His brows slightly furrowed, feeling apprehensive and frustrated at himself. Simon planned to treat his rebirth as another shot at life. To become better than he previously was and be who he couldn't. But with how things were going, nothing had changed; he was still his old self. If he wanted to be different, he had to take the leap. "Just do, don't think!" He thought to himself, forcing him to speak. "I'MSIMONANDI'MFEELING
I'MFINETHANKYOU!" Simon blurted out loud. He immediately realized how stupid he must have looked, but there was nothing he can do. Again, widened eyes and an audible gulp followed by silence was all Simon could do. His eyes moved towards the blonde, then to the pink-haired girl, then back to the cat girl. He was prepared to be judged. "It's okay. At least I spoke up. It's okay." Honestly, it wasn't, and he knew that I wasn't. But Simon was just a boy, he too needed some reassurance after what he just did.

 

[Elvario]

Victorique Sopheana
​

Mentions: Calliope StarPrincessVal | Phoebe Clockwork_Magic | Simon Seagreen
Languages: Common | <Beastial> | [Terran] | {Sylvan}

“[Huh... what is what?]” She replied in confusion, as Phoebe suddenly questioned her. Being snapped out of her temporary fascination with the apothecary worker made her take a moment to catch on. “[Oh that, I ehhh... was just asking some questions.]” She didn't want to give Phoebe more ammunition to fire at her later, should their 'battle' continue. She'd still not even gotten something to defend herself with against the letter Phoebe had gotten her hands with, after all.

The shrimp woman herself took it well. “<Yes.>” She replied to it being beautiful, without thinking it through all that much. Wait, wasn't that going to just make things more awkward? Well, it was too late now. Besides, if she'd said it wasn't beautiful, that would only make her staring weird, wouldn't it? Yes, this was definitely normal. Compliment someone on the glowing antenna sticking out of their head. Nothing weird there. Taking a few breaths, she tried being professional again. What were they doing here again? Right, that shell! Something about fishermen, right? “<How much do these shells normally go for?”> She asked, as she felt like this woman wouldn't lie to them easily. Having an idea of the price-range would be very useful in avoiding being scammed by the fisherman later. Besides, she did have the [Insight D] to see if this woman was lying or not... assuming she wouldn't get distracted by the glowing thing again.

There was, however, another distraction. She watched as Calliope started talking to some random Human in here. Then she raised an eyebrow. She thought she'd failed being socially correct due to staring at a women's antenna for a while, but bloody hell, that was nothing compared to what she was seeing unfold right now. This dude was total wreck. Sort-off made her want to bully him. Ah, but Phoebe and Calliope would hate her for such a thing, wouldn't they? Shame. The temptation grew when he suddenly shouted into their faces.

She got up close to him, then looked up to check him out with [Appraisal C], only to be disappointed. There didn't seem to be anything interesting about him in the slightest. “What's a random Human like you doing all the way here, under the sea? No offence, but it sounds like even if you could speak the Beastial here, you'd still be unable to communicate with anyone. Makes me wonder how you even got here. Did you fall off a boat and get saved by a mermaid?” The latter was her shabby attempt at a joke, hoping to sound less mean for the sole reason she didn't want Calliope and Phoebe to dislike her.

 

[Seagreen]

Simon
Languages: Common, [Terran]​

Simon was taken aback by the tiny blonde girl and the faint look of worry he had on, as he turned towards her, made it obvious. For someone of her stature to be so forward, it surprised him but also made him feel a bit jealous. But it was not time for adoration. Simon was not unfamiliar with subtle snide comments masked as jokes. His old self would cower in silence when aimed at him, but not anymore. The new Simon had to show that he wasn't affected by such remarks. Also, he didn't want to look like a loser in front of pretty girls. Well, if we were being accurate, he didn't want to look more of a loser than he already was, in front of pretty girls.

He was not a master of witty responses, so the best he could do was being genuine and reply with the truth. "T-To be h-honest, I actually d-don't know. I just woke up a-and f-found myself here." He chuckled between sentences then smiled as he turned his gaze to the ground, scratching the back of his head at how silly his answer must have sounded. The more he spoke, the more self conscious he became. Though he stuttered and found it difficult to make or keep eye contact with any of the three girls, Simon had to continue. "It might s-sound silly, b-but I've b-been wandering around Cr-crustan-t-ton for the last f-few days." Given what Simon was usually capable of doing, what he did was an improvement. Kind of.

 

[Clockwork_Magic]

Phoebe Penrose

Interactions: StarPrincessVal (Calliope) | Elvario (Victorique) | Seagreen (Simon)
Languages: Common | [Terran]​

---

Victorique's response wasn't entirely convincing, given the clerk's laughter, but she decided to give her the benefit of the doubt this time. Besides, it wasn't exactly the apt time to continue prying when there's a guy in the shop that was in some sort of distress. Or... maybe not after all given that rapid fire introduction and response to Calliope? Well in any case, that line of questioning from their resident halfling didn't seem to help his nervous demeanor.

"I think you're scaring him Victorique." She said putting a hand on the halfling's shoulder before turning to Simon. The guy's statement of amnesia piqued her curiosity, inspecting him with [Book Smarts]. It didn't reveal much about him, just that he's capable of magic as well, but aside from that he seems like just an ordinary guy. "No, it doesn't sound silly at all! Crustanton is popular tourist destination after all." She gave him a warm smile in an effort to calm his nerves a bit before continuing in Terran. Perhaps it would give him a little more sound of mind to converse in their shared language? "[Do you remember anything before you woke up? Like, where you're from or what you're in Crustanton for? Perhaps we could help you with whatever you need to do while we're here.]"

---

Abilities Used:

• [Book Smarts]- Appraisal E, Educated F, Arcana F, Academia F
  • Appraise spells, magical items and symbols as well as anything related to educational institutions to learn more about it. Limited to 1 target within 5 feet.
  • Grade E, 1 Post Cooldown

Grade E Ability Cooldown: 0/1

 

[Seagreen]

Simon
Languages: Common, [Terran]​

Looking past all his stuttering and the notion that he was being scared by Victorique, Simon believed he was doing okay so far. He had a lot he needed to work on, but Simon felt that he was finally on the path towards change. "N-n-no. It's f-fine." He partially raised both his arms just below his chest, waving his palms, gesturing that things were okay. As much as he wanted to defend himself and explain that he wasn't feeling afraid - just really anxious - he knew that any attempt to do so would have made him look even worse. "S-she didn't do anyth-thing wrong." Also, he didn't want the halfling to get into any trouble with her friends just because of him. Hence, Simon decided to stick to what he was doing and just continued to smile and laugh at himself.

The demeanor the pink-haired girl had did well in easing Simon's nerves. While she spoke, Simon's eyes brightened and the stance he was taking became less rigid. Simon's arms lowered to his sides as his shoulders lightened. Hearing that his worries were nothing out of the ordinary, it gave Simon a reason to calm down. He didn't even notice that she transitioned to a different language and reflexively responded. "Uhm." Simon hesitated a bit. Things were going well, and if he told them the whole truth, he was afraid that they might see him differently. "[I'm not fr-from here. I c-came from...]" Simon suddenly brought both his hands just in front of his mouth as he briefly froze while mid sentence. He just realized two things. "[What the?]" One, out of nowhere, he was fluently speaking another language. "[I...c-can't remember?]" And two, when trying to recall the specifics of his past, nothing was coming up.

Simon did feel frustrated, but for some reason he also couldn't help but find the predicament he was in humorous. It was a strange feeling; it was ambivalence he wasn't used to. This was the first time someone had asked him, so it took a while for him to notice. Aside from dying and being brought back to life, Simon couldn't remember much. Simon wanted to ask them to help him out, but he knew that such a request wasn't something a stranger could just ask from people he just met. He had to think of something to say though. "[M-magic.]" He suddenly blurted out. "[Th-that's it! I think I'm h-here to learn more about m-magic.]" Something just clicked. Everything weird that happened to him so far, Simon attributed it to magic. Maybe if he could learn more about it, he could find an explanation for everything.

 

[StarPrincessVal]

Crustanton - Apothecary
Mentions: Common | <Beastial>
​

The shrimp woman giggled again at the bluntness of Victorique's response. "<Thank you, that is quite kind of you to say.>" At Victorique's next question she pondered a moment. "<The price can vary depending on many factors, but a rough estimate... I would say around four thousand shells. Oh, wait, you are from the surface, my apologies. The exchange rate is ten to one, so around four hundred of your currency... What is it called? Rykes?>"

With the help of [Insight D] Victorique determines she is being honest with her.

 

[StarPrincessVal]

Calliope

Mentions: Elvario Clockwork_Magic Seagreen
Languages: Common | <Beastial>​

As Simon blurted out his response to her, Calliope blinked in surprise. She hadn't understood a word of that. Did he perhaps not speak common either? She turned to ask Victorique for help, but the halfling was already there questioning the strange man. She wasn't sure what the difference was, but he seemed to be responding to Victorique. The best Calliope could figure from his answers he was stranded here and had a bout of amnesia. Phoebe then joined in on the conversation switching to Terran. The man seemed to be responding to her well enough. Perhaps he had an aversion to beastfolk? She had met humans like that before, though he didn't seem as rude or threatening as they had. Oh well, at least he was talking now. Calliope smiled and waited, listening as they conversed.

 

[Elvario]

Victorique Sopheana
​

Mentions: Calliope StarPrincessVal | Phoebe Clockwork_Magic | Simon Seagreen
Languages: Common | <Beastial> | [Terran] | {Sylvan}

As luck would have it, her embarrassing interaction with the apothecary worker wasn't taken the wrong way. In fact, the woman even answered her question honestly. “<Thank you ma'am, that'll be a big help!>” She replied cheerfully, glad to have not embarrassed herself and even more glad to have the next 'clue' on their quest for prismatic shells. On the topic of shells, why in the world did they use shells here? Also, why so many of them? Would it not be terribly inconvenient to carry around a bag of four thousands shells just to buy a single fancier shell? Also, that really was a steep price, four hundred Rykes... Calliope would better find one herself or get her wallet out and emptied.

Anyhow, all that could wait, as she was interested in what this plain dude was saying. Perhaps he wasn't so plain after all. “Huh, that sounds awfully similar to how I got here. Just woke up in Ryken one day.” She answered, as she recalled popping up in Ryke's capital just like that. She snapped her fingers, then pointed at him. “You, my friend, might be reincarnated into another world!” She didn't need much detective deduction power to come to such a guess, as it's what happened to herself. “Makes me wonder where from. Ever heard of a place called Earth? Countries like America, Japan, England, France, Brasil, Russia... Languages like English, Spanish... what else..? Inventions like cars, television, internet? Any of that ring any bells?” She listed a few random common things from her past life, seeing if it'd get anything to light up in this guy's brain.

That said, as much as their possibly common past made her want to sympathise, she was really baffled by what he said next. “You survived here for more than a day by just wandering around? What'd you even eat and drink? Where'd you sleep? No offence, but you don't seem like you have anything sorted out, are you...”

She couldn't finish her sentence, as Phoebe told Victorique she was scaring the guy. Wait.. she was? “I am..? What?” She replied, confusion on her face. She looked back from Phoebe to Simon, from Simon to Phoebe... “He's at least double my size and has the skills to somehow survive in an underwater city for days without seeming to know what he's doing at all, why in the world would he be scared of me?” She truly and honestly couldn't figure it out. It wasn't like she'd even gone out of her way to scare him. Otherwise the laughter would've likely showed up.

Luckily enough, Simon confirmed that Victorique was blameless. She'd trained him well. Well, she hadn't, but there wasn't a need, as she hadn't done anything wrong! That's right. Where was this going again? She listened as he mentioned magic as well. “Well, we're going to look for a library with magic books after we hunt down Calliope's shell, so I guess you could tag along...” She replied, although suddenly realising that his presence would ruin the girl's day out vibe they had started to create. What a waste.

Either way, she turned to Calliope, who was likely in the dark on what was being said. “He's also wanting to study magic, so he might want to join us in finding the library.” She quickly informed cat, then turned to Simon. “Best we stick to Common, wouldn't want to leave our feline friend to be left out of the conversation. Before I forget, what type of magic do you study?” She was moderately interested in the topic.

 

[Clockwork_Magic]

Phoebe Penrose

Interactions: StarPrincessVal (Calliope) | Elvario (Victorique) | Seagreen (Simon)
Languages: Common | [Terran]​

---

Phoebe was seriously taken aback by the suggestion of reincarnation. Not because she didn't believe it, after all she is all too familiar with the process herself, although her own experience was a little different from Simon's and Victorique's. It was more shock that there were other people like her in this world. "W-wait! Hold on! Y-you too? I'd thought I was the only one! Though, I didn't just wake up one day. I kinda had to... ummm... grow up all over again?" She wasn't exactly sure how to explain it, but they could probably be able to guess what she meant by that. "Never heard of 'Earth' either... but my world did have those technologies too... although... what's an 'internet?'"

As the shock wore off, a look akin to the one someone would make when they suddenly remembered something appeared on Phoebe's face. "Ah! Sorry, I didn't really introduce myself did I? Phoebe, Phoebe Penrose. I'm a mage, so looks like we're in the same boat... ummm.... Simon, was it?"

---

Grade E Ability Cooldown: 1/1

 

[Seagreen]

Simon
Languages: Common, [Terran]​

Simon's attention immediately turned to Victorique as she recollected her own experience that happened to be similar to his. Simon's eyes grew bright finally finding the closest thing to a kindred spirit. He did not know what Ryken was, but given how Victorique told her story, it was close enough to his. He at least knew that he wasn't alone.

"Reincarnation..." The thought lingered inside Simon's mind. He had an inkling about it though he wasn't sure, but after hearing it coming from Victorique, who spoke of it with such familiarity, Simon knew that this was it. "I th-think you're right." Simon uttered as he stared at Victorique, his eyes glistened as things started to become clearer. "Yeah, th-that's it. I died." Despite death being something tragic, Simon couldn't help but let out a mild smirk. He couldn't remember how he died exactly, but Simon was certain that whatever happened must have been something stupid.

Before losing himself in his thoughts, Simon quickly snapped back to reality, turning to the pink-haired mage as she suddenly spoke up, saying that she had gone through reincarnation as well. "Y-you too?" Though confused, Simon couldn't help but turn his smirk into a smile. What he was feeling couldn't be called hope, but it was something similar. A sense of relief knowing that there were others that had gone through - albeit a few differences - what you had.

Momentarily at a lost for words, Simon was only able to nod in response to the words Victorique continued to list down. All were familiar to him except the word Earth, but he didn't mind anymore. Simon would have hugged the halfling if he could, but his crippling social skills didn't allow him to even attempt it.

Getting his bearing back together, Simon clenched his fists as he held his arms to his side, and took a breath before exhaling deeply. "Calm down, Simon. Just calm down." He thought to himself. He had enough time to feel overwhelmed; it was time to move forward.

"I'm s-sorry about b-before. I was j-just really nervous. My name is Si-simon." He turned to Victorique, Phoebe, and Calliope, gently smiling and bowing at each. "I be-believe I was reincarnated t-too." Though it was a question from Victorique, Simon didn't want Calliope and Phoebe to also misunderstand; he wanted to clear up that he wasn't a practitioner of magic. "Sorry, b-but I've never st-studied magic b-before. This will be my f-first time." Simon had to speak up to avoid being seen as a liar later on. "Though I c-came off as w-weird, thank y-you for letting me t-tag along with your g-group."

 

[StarPrincessVal]

Calliope

Mentions: Elvario Clockwork_Magic Seagreen
Languages: Common | <Beastial>
​

Calliope had to keep a smile on her face to prevent herself from... Well she wasn't sure whether to laugh at what must be a joke, or drop her jaw in disbelief at the unbelievable truth. "I'm sorry, but, did you say reincarnation, hhmm?" If this strange man had been the only one claiming it, she wouldn't have believed him, but Victorique and Phoebe too? She didn't think they would lie to her like this. Well, Victorique might if she thought it was funny, but not Phoebe. Were there a lot of reincarnated people in the world? How had she managed to end up with three of them? And to top it all off, they all seemed to be from different worlds? This was well beyond Calliope's capability of comprehension. "I'm not really sure I understand any of what you're talking about, but as Victorique said, you're welcome to travel with us, mmhhmm. My name is Calliope, I am a purrrveyor of potions and tonics, mmhhmm. It is nice to meet you, mmhhmm." She held out her hand to Simon.

​

 

[Elvario]

Victorique Sopheana
​

Mentions: Calliope StarPrincessVal | Phoebe Clockwork_Magic | Simon Seagreen
Languages: Common | <Beastial> | [Terran] | {Sylvan}

Victorique was surprised at Phoebe's surprise. “You didn't know? Wait, you too?” How peculiar. “It feels like I've got a tendency to meet people from other worlds. More so than average, as there's a few more I met before you. How odd...” She mumbled, wondering if people from other worlds were somehow magically attracted to one another somehow. Either way, it was an investigation to be held at another time. “Growing up all over again? That must have been a strange experience.” She replied, not even being sure how such a thing would work. “Internet is a pretty new technology, it's like a highway for information. It's a bit difficult to explain... In a lot of ways, it feels like technology where I'm from was more advanced, although there wasn't any magic there.”

She then listened as Phoebe introduced herself, which reminded her. Had she done so herself? She'd forgotten. Ah, it didn't matter much anyway. She was pretty sure either Pheobe or Calliope had called her by name already, so it's not like he had no clue how to address her.

As for Simon herself, her deduction was proven correct. Of course it was, she was an amazing investigator, after all! She'd puff her chest out a bit in pride. “No need to be nervous, I only bite the people I like.” She joked, as Simon said he was really nervous. “Nice to you meet you though.” She'd reply, showing a little bit more mercy. “You... didn't study magic before?” Now she was really curious. She was going to press this question, even if he dodged it first. “Okay, seriously, really, how did you survive here?” She was baffled that someone without seemingly having any useful skill whatsoever could survive after randomly finding themselves in a city on the bottom of a giant lake.

In fact, she was curious enough to learn about it, that she was willing to offer him a carrot for it. “If it helps you open up, I can say that I had a rough time after arriving. First I realised I wasn't even half the height I was used to, that I had a bad smoking addiction and that I didn't have a clue where I was or what I was meant to do. On a whim, I investigated some shady dealings in the hopes of making a name for myself with the Adventurer's Guild to earn a living and hopefully get some clues as to what to do next. It nearly got me killed on my first day in this world. So yeah, now that you know my embarrassing arrival, you can share yours.”

Oddly enough, she felt a bit bad for Calliope being the only one left out of the loop in this reincarnation talk. “Don't worry about it, what matters is that we're here now and found amazing friends here, such as you~” She'd say, hoping to encourage her. Besides, there was an ulterior motive. She needed to distract herself with such things, otherwise she might miss her friends and family from her previous world. “It's not easy to find such a nice purrrveyor of potions and tonics, after all~” She added, using her own knowledge of Beastial to copy Calliope's accent on that word.

 

[Seagreen]

Simon
Titles: Human | Languages: Common, [Terran] | Height/Weight: 5'7"/127 lbs​

Although things felt a bit bumpy at first, Simon was happy with how things turned out. "N-nice to meet you too, C-calliope." Given how friendly they all were, he immediately felt like he was already part of their group. Finding out that there were others like him was a lovely bonus. Simon had spoken more than he was used to, so it was only natural for him to quiet down, satisfied with just listening to them from the side. Or so he thought. Being the conversationalist that she was, Victorique turned back to Simon. For someone so small, she had quite the presence. He could tell that her forwardness was just how she was. He could only laugh in response to Victorique, a bit of nervousness still lingered in his voice. "He-he-he." He tried his best to move past it though. But when she started prying about his first few days in Crustanton, Simon couldn't help but break eye contact, staring at the ceiling, floor, or anywhere else that wasn't the halfling. "W-well, you see..." Obviously hesitant, Simon wasn't exactly proud of how he managed to survive thus far. He was planning to avoid the question by giving vague answers, but after hearing Victorique tell her own story, Simon was left with no choice but to do the same. He did appreciate the gesture from Victorique and honestly, he was impressed. "She went through all that in just one day?" A mixture of doubt and shock was splattered all over his face. What Simon did during his first few days was nothing in comparison and even if he was kind of against it, he was about to let everyone else know. "Th-that's interesting. I k-kinda went through s-something l-like that." That was obviously a lie. Whether his plan was to hype up his own story or downplay Victorique's, neither seemed like a wise choice. Regardless, Simon took in a few deep breaths before telling his tale. "O-on the first few d-days, I k-kept on thinking th-that I was g-gonna drown and th-thought the locals w-were monsters. I was a-fr-fraid they would e-eat me." Realizing what he said and who he was in the presence of, Simon's eyes veered towards the store keeper. "I'm s-sorry. I w-was wrong though." Shifting his gaze back to the three girls, he then continued. "It to-took me s-some time to f-figure things out. B-but when I d-did, it was t-too late since I w-was on the v-verge of passing out. L-luck was on m-my side though. An elderly c-couple took me in, f-fed me, and sh-shared wh-what they knew about Cr-crustanton. I th-think it took t-two days b-before I got back up on m-my feet. Th-then I m-met the three of you." He smiled, relieved that he got through his story in one piece. "Th-that's about it." Simon then stood in silence, his anxious eyes repeatedly flickering from Victorique to Phoebe then to Calliope, hoping for a favorable response from any of the three. "Please don't think I'm weird. Please don't think I'm weird."

 

[Clockwork_Magic]

Phoebe Penrose

Interactions: StarPrincessVal (Calliope) | Elvario (Victorique) | Seagreen (Simon)
Languages: Common | [Terran]​

---

"Highway for information? What, like a news broadcast or something?" She tilted her head in confusion, not being able to wrap her head around the concept that well before Calliope asked about what they were all talking about. Ah shoot! She'd gotten so caught up in the shock that it slipped her mind that not everyone in the party was a reincarnated soul. Phoebe nodded after Victorique's reassurances to the cat girl. "That's right, we're still friends whether or not we're from this world or not!"

Hearing Victorique's and Simon's stories of their first days in this world was definitely interesting, especially Victorique's. Certainly must have been a rough way to start off a new life. Simon's story was a bit more wholesome than Victorique's in comparison. "It was certainly nice for that couple to take care of you like that." It's always nice to hear about random acts of kindness. It gives her a bit more hope that this world would be more accepting and tolerant than her old one, with demagogues exploiting the prejudices of the masses, leading them into meaningless slaughter. Was this a little naive? Yes, but what's the alternative? Just accepting that people are terrible and the cycle of hate was doomed to repeat even in this world? To live turning a blind eye to senseless violence before inevitably meeting your end due to that same violence one day yourself without at least trying to change things, even in the tiniest of ways? Phoebe wasn't about to live that kind of life again, not after she was given a second chance in this new world.

"I'd tell you my story, but then I'd have to go through all of my childhood. Er, my second childhood anyways." She chuckled awkwardly. It was neither the place nor time for what would probably be a lengthy story like that. She then turned to Simon. "Well, I'm sure the library's gonna have some stuff that'd help with learning magic even if it's your first time. Hopefully there'll be some books in Common or Terran in there, but if not Victorique could probably translate for you. Oh, and if you have any help understanding some concepts I'd be happy to explain them to you when we get there."

 

[Seagreen]

Simon
Titles: Human | Languages: Common, [Terran] | Height/Weight: 5'7"/127 lbs​

"Me? Learning magic?" Simon pondered on the question; he didn't even think of the possibility before. Without any real purpose to guide him, he only thought of gaining more knowledge regarding magic. He was hopeful that it might help him understand more what had happened to him. Though he did find out that he wasn't alone, that there were others like him who shared similar experiences, he was still in the dark when it came to other things relating to it. He was uncertain whether he could go back home, he didn't know if this was all random, or maybe there was a larger picture and things going on in the background that he didn't even know of. But him being able to use magic? That was the last thing on his mind. Simon thought of himself as inept; someone who was average at best who struggled in life just to reach mediocrity. The notion of being to become some who could utilize magic was something he could never had imagined up until now.

Drawing a blank, he appeared clueless as he stared at his hands - wondering whether he was actually capable of such a feat - before turning to Phoebe. "Y-you mean I c-can use magic too?" This was definitely news to him.

 

[StarPrincessVal]

Calliope

Mentions: Elvario Clockwork_Magic Seagreen
Languages: Common | <Beastial>
​

Calliope was shocked to hear about both Victorique and Simon's first experiences after being reincarnated. She supposed it would be somewhat traumatic to suddenly end up in a new place with no knowledge of how the world worked. Phoebe's experience sounded much nicer, but then she had to remind herself that all of them had to experience death. That was a frightening thought. But Victorique and Phoebe were right. Despite their differences in their... past... they were all here now and friends. She smiled down at the halfling. "Thank you, Victorique, I am glad to have met the both of you as well, mmhhmm." She turned to face the whole group. "Shall we get moving, hhmm? I admit, I am eager to finish this task so we can explore the library, mmhhmm. I am curious what texts they might have on alchemy and medicinal components, mmhhmm."

 

[Clockwork_Magic]

Phoebe Penrose

Interactions: StarPrincessVal (Calliope) | Elvario (Victorique) | Seagreen (Simon)
Languages: Common | [Terran]​

---

"Yea, sure you can! As far as I know, anyone is capable of magic. Plus, I think you may already have some aptitude for it." If the results from [Book Smarts] were right, then he should have some natural aptitude for it. "Magic's just about control and manipulation of mana, so once you get a hang of the basics, that's when the real fun begins! But you don't need to take my word for it if you can do it or not. If you want to see for yourself, how about a little exercise then?" Phoebe held up her right index finger and not long after a small glow manifested at her finger tips. "This was the first trick my mom and dad taught me when I learnt magic. You just focus a bit of mana into your finger as a little glow of light. It helps to think about the mana in your body as a malleable aura or field of sorts. Picture it in your mind and then gently and gradually move some of that over to your finger. Not too much, though." Now that she was done reciting those little tips her parents told her from long ago, all that was left was to give him a little push. The glow disappeared as she retracted her finger. "Go ahead and try it for yourself!"

While she was waiting for Simon to take a try at the impromptu exercise himself, she turned to Calliope. "I'm ready to go when you are, Calliope. Did you find everything you need?"

 

[Elvario]

Victorique Sopheana
​

Mentions: Calliope StarPrincessVal | Phoebe Clockwork_Magic | Simon Seagreen
Languages: Common | <Beastial> | [Terran] | {Sylvan}

“You're weird.” That was her first reaction to hearing Simon's story. She thought her own story was a strange one, but this definitely beat her to it. She stared at him intensely, really wondering if he wasn't just lying about this. It didn't seem like he was. “Well, I guess we're all weird in some way, so good on you for somehow having the luck to be adopted. However!” She said, a little strict. “Whilst some folk here do look pretty fishy, I can't believe you'd even assuming folk as cool and intriguing as the shopkeeper here to look like monsters!” After all, how could you consider someone that fascinating to be anything less than fascinating? It was outrageous. Well, not like she truly cared a whole lot, as she was already moving on to the next topic in her mind.

Namely Phoebe's question. “Either way, it's close to a news broadcast, yes. Except it's on demand. Like, you can ask questions to the broadcasters and they answer you in the form of sending over books containing the information you want? It's difficult to explain.” A lot more difficult that she expected it would be, now that she was attempting it. “Although, perhaps it's more like having a book that you can ask to display the information you want, but also have it display video's like those broadcasts, or music or that you can contact your friends with...” Yeah no, this wasn't getting anywhere. “Let's just say it was a world-changing invention.”

One more, she felt proud when she got referred to as a translator. “Indeed! I'm proud to say I can speak every major language in this world now! Whether it's the plain Common, the similar Terran, the growls, rumbles, hisses and purrs of Beastial, the singsong like language of Sylvan, the always-angry sounding Monster that makes my throat hurt or even the patterns of Analog! Oh, the latter is a real odd one out!” She said. Then she did something odd, as she tapped her foot on the ground in a peculiar pattern.

01001001 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 01100100 00100000 01110000 01100101 01110100 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01000011 01100001 01101100 01101100 01101001 01101111 01110000 01100101 00100111 01110011 00100000 01100101 01100001 01110010 01110011 00101110

It took a fair while, with every 1 being a tap and every 0 a second of pause, being very careful about the intervals lasting as close to exactly half a second as she could make it last. Otherwise it'd mess up the meaning of the phrase. “That was spoken in Analog, which can be any type of repeated pattern, regardless of whether it's by sight, sound, or even touch. I could speak a sentence by tapping you on the back in the right pattern or by making clicking noises or by flashing a light. It's pretty cool! That said, as a non-construct, I can't speak it as efficiently as them. The speed at which they can do this is insane.”

That's when Calliope brought hem back to the previous topic. Getting that shell and finding the library afterwards. “Alright, lead the way~ I've got a good idea on a fair price-range, so all we need to do is get one for that price... wait, could you afford four hundred Rykes? If not, we might need to find one ourselves or offer up a favour for one.”

 

[StarPrincessVal]

Crustanton - Eastern Port
Languages: Common | <Beastial>
​

The group headed back out into the city and followed the shrimp woman's instructions to get to the eastern dock. As they got closer, the amount of cargo and crate stacked along the road increases, until it is piled high above their heads. Many aquatic beastfolk move quickly relocating goods from location to location using pack fish as transports. Further ahead, larger fish comparable to the Fat Tunalia are loaded with cargo, coming and going through large barriers in the outer shell of the city. Turning a corner as they wander the maze of goods, they nearly trod on a display set out by a merchant on a rug. It seems to be filled with strange knick knacks and random objects. But sitting there, nestled amongst the other objects, is a rainbow colored lobster shell with a pearlescent sheen. The merchant smiles as he lays eyes on the group. <Greetings and good day. Might I interest you in any of the curiosities we hauled in?>

 

[StarPrincessVal]

Calliope

Mentions: Elvario Clockwork_Magic Seagreen
Languages: Common | <Beastial>​

Simon seemed to quiet down once they left the Apothecary. Calliope wondered if he was feeling alright after all. She hoped the information they got from the shrimp woman would finally bring an end to their search. She gazed in fascination at the massive fish departing from the docks. While she had not particularly enjoyed her time in the Fat Tunalia, she had to admit the beasts were incredible to view as they swam through the water. She was busy staring at them when she turned a corner and nearly tread on the merchants set up. As her eyes caught the lobster shell among the collection, she had to prevent herself from crying out excitedly. She knew that would hurt their ability to negotiate and Victorique would be disappointed if that happened. She smiled politely at the merchant. "<Good day to you as well. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to see what you have.>" She glanced over the wares picking up and glancing at a few, before finally lifting the shell. "<Hmmm, this is kind of pretty. What about this one, how much for it?>"