KARTERIA IC INBOX

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

@wizardofwaterdeep

username

@wizardofwaterdeep

name

Gale of Waterdeep

age

35

hometown

Waterdeep, Faerûn, Toril

codes by ♡ and ♡

Comments

[just a quick little action]

[feistro]

[Late in the month, a package appears at Gale's door, left for him when he's out: a satchel made of soft leather, complete with a clasp at the front made from a large fang to keep it closed. The most important feature is the adjustable strap - perfect for someone who might end up in a much bigger form. While there's no accompanying note to identify its maker, the bag contains several scraps of paper tucked into the various pockets that are sewn into it; inside each of those is a plant or a flower, carefully collected by hand. The main pouch is big enough to hold a book, or even some folded clothes, just in case the owner doesn't want to leave them by a tree.

Pom would've asked what room is Gale's, but a. couldn't have found it via the number anyway, and b. discovered it was faster to just sniff it out, following the familiar scent. At least his new powers are coming in handy.]

text, un: sextus

[megatheorem]

Hi, it's Palamedes. I wanted to apologize for what happened out in the ruins.

[You know, when he was vaguely irritated for two minutes. Yes he is apologizing for that.]

Frankly, I'm a little embarrassed. And so, sorry about that.

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

Why, whatever do you have to apologize for? You certainly didn't do anything to cause offense. Rather the opposite, I fear. Again, I apologize for being rude, as it was not my intention.

[megatheorem]

No, I was hasty. People here have been [........] mildly judgmental, and I leapt to my own defense under a bad assumption. That's on me.

Did you want to talk about magic now?

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

I understand. I've been questioned about whether I was lying about the existence of magic, which rankled quite a bit. The most basic facts of existence in one world seem like an impossibility to someone from a different world. I've been trying to keep that in mind in my discussions with people, but I am still caught off guard on occasion.

If there ever comes a time when I don't want to discuss magic, someone had best take me to the hospital to be checked over.

Which is to say, yes, I would love to.

[megatheorem]

Oh, I know that one. Getting looked at like I'm a crazy person is definitely part and parcel of the necromancy package.

And I'll keep that in mind. Maybe check for shapeshifters, too. Do you want to meet somewhere?

a few days after kidnappees return

[viciousabyss]

[At first, when Cassius came home, the relief was so immense and their near-pair-bond so soothing that it seemed like maybe everything would be alright. Everyone got home, not unscathed, but for now, safe.

And then Cas started having nightmares. Remembering his experiences. Growing more distant by the hour. Not himself, not at all. Sad and listless and hungry. Starved. They fucking starved him.

And the thought gnaws at the back of Eli's mind: it is only a matter of time before Patho-Gen does something much worse.

He feels useless. His best efforts to comfort his partner feel futile. His vengeful rage festers in his hollow, heartless chest. He cannot let this lie. He cannot just do nothing. Elijah is not the kind of person to see such immense injustice and not fight against it. Elijah is full of wrath and always has been. His thoughts race with outrage about the state in which he saw his friends in those cages. Again and again, his mind returns to Cas' hunger. That's one thing he might be able to do something about.

He finds himself pacing like a caged tiger while Cassius vegetates (literally). He needs to talk to someone. Someone who would get it. Someone who won't talk him out of doing something incredibly stupid. Brickston is recklessly stupid, but he likes Patho-Gen. Northly hates Patho-Gen, but probably wouldn't condone doing something that could get them both in big trouble. The next closest person who satisfies both criteria is...]

Gale. Are you okay?

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

That depends on the metric one uses to define 'okay'.

[viciousabyss]

[He's gonna strangle you.]

just. tell me.
do you remember seeing me? when you were in the cage? or did i dream or hallucinate that

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

My memories come back in bits and pieces. I do remember seeing you, but not all the details of our conversation.

text; (backdated to, say, 24-48 hours or so after horror camp release)

[opposed]

[ She's making the rounds. She knows the others have been released and she imagines Pom's been with his own. But she does reach out to Gale to check in, concerned all the same for the things he said...and wanting to know for herself if he's all right. ]

How are you holding up?

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

Hello, Mel. It's difficult to say. My memory is still spotty. Mostly, I remain sore.

[opposed]

I can only imagine. I'm so sorry we couldn't get to you sooner.

[ It's a failing she won't let go of. ]

Can I bring you anything? Food? I'm sure Pom's been right there beside you since your return. [ So she doesn't want to smother, is what she means, but... ]

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

There's nothing you could have done differently.

Can you bring my memories back? Sorry, that was a poor joke. I wouldn't say no if you wanted to bring food.

Action, early November

[northling]

Since her return, Northly has spent a not inconsiderable amount of time trying to remember things. She tries to remember why she wanted to spread her flyers, she tries to remember her feelings and how she managed them, and she tries to remember... herself.

Remembering herself always leads back to remembering the people she cares about, helping them, taking care of them. Which, in this instance, leads her to Gale.

Pom is out — breaking into Mel's house while she's not there to leave her a present — and at first Northly thinks Gale is as well, but then she feels the pocket of water and magic that forms his shape move to flip the page of a book.

She opens his door quietly. The hinges glide smoothly open with no sign of creaking and she frowns. Poor security. If the door squeaked, he would hear if someone entered the room, unless they actively muffled the sound, allowing more time to ready defences. But the door doesn't squeak, and she slips in without a whisper.

"What are you reading?" she asks, right next to him.

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

"A mystery novel," Gale replies, unbothered by her sudden appearance. His return from Patho-Gen's capture has left him skittish and a little paranoid, but has also convinced him to lean into his beastial soul rather than trying to deny it. No longer does he try to ignore his heightened senses, no longer does he consider them an annoyance and a distraction from more intellectual pursuits. He can hear the neighbors conversations through their shared walls and he can hear the mice skittering inside them. Even on oiled hinges, he had heard the door ease open. His hackles had raised for a moment before his predator's sense of smell caught a whiff of Northly. She smells different somehow, and at first he had thought someone was with her, but he heard only one set of footsteps. Like him, she is changed in ways they don't yet completely understand. "Disappointing, though. I figured out the resolution within the first few chapters." He places a leather strip bookmark inside the book before closing it and setting it aside. He looks up at her with a tired smile. "Do people ever knock before they enter places in the world you come from?" He asks, lightly teasing. 

[northling]

"They do," she says. "But not in their homes." And Pom left the window open for her even before she had the mirror joining their two living spaces, so this is naturally her home too.

"I would like to fix that." She points to his chest. With her additional corruption, her second Natural Soul is heightened, and the wrongness of what lies within Gale sits with her all the worse.

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

Now Northly gets the startled reaction she had been expecting, Gale's eyebrows shooting up to his feathered hairline. "Fix... the orb? I'm afraid it's not that simple." He reaches up to rub it. The lines have grown, expanded, claiming more and more of his body like aggressive vines. "I know what you did to help heal me before, and it was marvelous work, but the orb isn't inside me in a strictly physical sense. It's raw magic, and it is volatile." 

text; @🐾 Mister 🐶 Pom 🐾

[feistro]

[When Pom awakes with a sudden pain in his neck and the sound of voices breaking the silence of the night, he doesn't know what to think. The ache lingers only a minute or two, and then it's gone; the voices fade, leaving him alone in the dark of his room.

It rattles him so thoroughly that he gets out of bed, his first inclination to go through the mirror, to ask Northly if that was her doing; he reconsiders it when he remembers she has a roommate now, and they might not appreciate him stopping in in the dead of night. Despite their newfound relationship, he doesn't want to bother Gale, but the longer he sits there, the more anxious he feels. It's like the dark is closing in - like he can't escape it as it encircles him, ensnares him. He opens his bedroom door - it's unlocked, as it should be, with only the empty hall before him. He's fine, he tells himself. It was a dream or something. He's fine.

But just to be sure, he grabs his phone and sends a message, reasoning that if Gale's awake, he'll see it, and if not... well, Pom will just have to fight the urge to go bang on his door until he does.]

You awake?

Re: text; @🐾 Mister 🐶 Pom 🐾 [ stoplickingth

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

I am. Why are you? Are you alright?

[feistro]

Yeah

[No, absolutely not.]

Did you hear anything just now?

[stoplickingthedamnthing]

No. And I hear everything these days.

Should I come to you?

[ralliesprotests]

[Merry Christmas from Rowan! Gale gets a big fancy book with a nice pen, ready for taking notes, and a charm made from a couple of their feathers that will clip into his hair or fur. Close up, it’s decorated with lots of runes that look like claw marks, and they’ll explain it’s for luck. In reality, it’s a copy of the man’s best friend talens that Walkie Talkie makes, but without the spirit trapped inside it, and so the ability to make a wolf look like a dog. They don’t have her finesse either, but they do know exactly what they look like and have a deft hand, and Gale doesn’t know exactly what he has.]

[viciousabyss]

[On the day it seems everyone is exchanging gifts, Eli delivers to Gale: an amethyst bracelet and a cool action shot he drew of Gale in owlbear form.]

Hey bestie,

Thanks for always being down for my bad ideas. Merry holidays or whatever

Yours truly,
Eli

end of december.

[opposed]

[ Gale will receive a package on the same day Pom receives one, just so there's no confusion or hurt feelings. Within is a small bottle of wine of good vintage, as well as a stack of empty journals and a fine pen. In addition, there's a set of spices she found from the market, fresh.

A note is included: ]

Thank you for your words and your friendship this past year. It's invaluable to me, as are you.
~MM