2024.03.02: Bob visits Sark

Bob visits Sark
Bob visits Sark on his island and discusses Alicorns, Marauders, and Nephandi
IC Date	March 2nd, 2024
IC Time	Evening
Players	Bob, Sark
Location	Windstorm Isle
Spheres	Mage

Windstorm Isle - Meadows

The majority of the island is made up of expansive meadows, and while it isn't entirely flat the hills are gentle and rolling, at least once the top of the island is reached. Here, horses graze and frolic, though there is some degree of separation between them to keep the stallions away from the mares, and to keep foals and their mothers away from everyone. For the most part, the horses are Friesians; large, mostly black horses - though there's one or two chestnuts - with flowing manes and tails and feathering around their hooves, though there is also a few examples of other breeds, likely those whose owners have chosen to board their horses here.

A large, one story house sits close to the edge of the hill that drops down to the docks and beach, offering a view of the cove, with a porch wrapping around it. Flowers grow in profusion around it, some twining up the posts of the porch, all tropical in nature. More flowering vines seem to have been encouraged to grow up over the fences, making them far prettier than they might otherwise have been. Further back, near the treeline, is an expansive stable complex, larger than the house, with some fenced in exercise and training rings around it.

All in all, this crescent shaped island is a lovely place to be, the breezes gentle despite the name of the place.

So assuming Bob sent a text, Sark indicated he has a new guest roaming around that mayor may not show her face, but Bob was welcome to pay a visit as long as he's fine with that potential interruption - and if it happens, he will explain as they are not 'dangerous' to discuss things around.

When Bob does arrive, Sark is actually sprawled out in the grass next to the pasture fence, on his back, humming along with a little MP3 player that's been clipped to his collar. Barefoot in his usual tshirt and jeans, clearly he's not in any rush...

A tall twenty something man is walking toward Sark. It is Bob. He has a cane, a simple steel one, and leans on it once. For the most part though, he is walking without depending on it too much. Remarkable, for one in a wheelchair at their last meeting. Bob is wearing a green polo and blue jeans. He also has on fake leather boots with steel toes.

Bob will wave as he gets closer. "Hey, good to be out here and see you again Sark. How have you been doing?", he asks with a friendly smile.

One eye slightly opens at the sound of approaching feet, allowing the green eye to focus up at Bob's face. Keeping his voice down to a soft rumble, he offers, "You ditched the chair. Everything is good, I hope, and nothing catastrophic has happened? Most people in one cannot manage a stroll, but then you arent most people, either." He pauses, and smiles a little more, "It is good to see you, regardless."

The grin gets wider, and a deep chuckle emerges. Bob says "Everything is great. A friend much wiser than I helped me deal with the trauma keeping me from walking, and now I am better. Still regaining my strength, though every day the cane becomes more of a prop to avoid questions on going from wheelchair to not so suickly. Yes, everything is good. And it is good to see you as well, mon ami". This last sentence is said with a hint of Bob's Cajun accent. "Anything interesting been happening? You said you have a new guest around, I hope everything is good for you as well?" A hint of concern comes over Bob's face.

Sark mmms and closes his eye for a moment, "Congratulations then. I'm sure that makes many things significantly easier for you. Now only if humanity will accept the idea of wings, I think their mood would be elevated a great deal." He sounds a little amused at that, probably sure that's not going to happen any time soon. When asked about the guest, he grunts softly and nods, slowly sitting up in the grass,

"She's around here somewhere, yes. Another mythical creature who needs a little of refinement so she does not go calling attention to herself in front of a Hunter. It would be a sad thing to lose such a gorgeous thing to that."

Bob lifts an eyebrow, and smiles with a shrug. "Hunter? So, I am a babe in the woods still in this world myself. I haven't heard that term before. Is that a different term for a Nephandi?" He pauses, "Or a different kind of mythical creature?"

Sark mmms and shakes his head, "There are always those humans that want to hunt down and kill Others. Those that do not think like them, those that do not LOOK like them, those that can do fantastical things when they cannot. They mask their fear and hatred with claims that they are 'protecting humanity from the influence' when the truth of the matter is we just want to be left alone." He offers a wan smile and rolls a shoulder, "Hundreds of years ago, they led pitchfork and torch brigades. I believe for those with YOUR talents, you might be more familiar with the idea of a 'wtich hunt'?"

Bob shivers, and nods. "My mom used to tell me stories that got passed down in her family from nine generations or so ago, of what the Salem witch trials were like. Every time she told them she'd add a quote from an unknown Verbena monk, 'Man tends to not understand our world, for it does not have neat little labels. Man tends to fear what they do not understand. And man tends to destroy what they fear'. I can still hear her voice in the memory, as if it was yesterday."

Bob shakes himself slightly, as he is getting too morose remembering loved ones passed.

"I wish I could offer to help, but my arts on not yet strong enough to give them a temporary form other than their own, or craft an illusion to seem something they are not, or to cloud men's minds as they pass. I will eventually be able to do these things, but not yet."

Bob continues, "So, if I may ask, are hunters a generic term? It sounded like it was an organization of some kind, like the Inquisition was."

Sark taps his nose and points vaguely at Bob when he quotes the Verbena warning, "This is why a very long time ago, I came to the conclusion that this body was the best thing I could refine if I wanted to really watch humanity. A teenaged male of thin build and lazy disposition. Noone pays attention to me unless they manage to see through part of my illusion, and those individuals are ones I usually WANT to be speaking to, anyway. YOU, to my understanding, have bigger problems than I and my avoidance of frightened humans. I am by no means an expert, but I understand you have a faction of magic wielding counterparts called the Technocratic Union, that actively try to eliminate you. A foe that knows you exist and uses your own skills to hunt you down. That feels like far more of a challenge than what we deal with."

Bob sighs, "We have the Union, and that's a good description. They pale though in comparison to the Nephandi. The Union have rules, and our two sides have even worked together before, often to fight the Nephandi. So, have you read Lovecraft or seen any horror movies based on his work?" Strange question out of nowhere, but Bob may be leading somewhere.

Sark mmms, "I believe another mage friend of mine mentioned them. At the time we were having to hunt down one of the insane ones, a...Marauder? I had to risk a bit of exposure and take my birth form inside an abandoned church so I could burn him down before he attacked my friend at the time." So the dragon HAS killed a Marauder recently. "I know very little about these Nephandi, though."

Bob nods, "Yes. There are also Marauders. They aren't evil, well most of them. But back to the Nephandi. Their goal is to summon their masters, which from the little I know most resemble the eldritch horrors Lovecraft described. Their actions make the Union's look like kindergarten, and their methods make Hannibal Lecter look tame in comparison. So we're fighting a three pronged war: Nephandi, Union, and Marauders." Bob pauses, "Except we're kind of in a fragile stalemate with the Union, the Marauders are typically individuals and not as common a threat, It's the Nephandi that worry me. For a Nephandi: imagine a Marauder, imbued with power from powerful beings of the deep umbra, a complete sociopath whose only existence was to cause enough chaos to summon those beings, who would remake the world in their horrible image if they were summoned."

Sark scrunches his nose a bit, "The irony of that statement being, if this fight were happening in the Umbra or Deep Umbra, it would be much easier to carry out. But here, you have to conduct such actions as if they are not actually happening or the human mindset that rules this realm will eliminate you. I am familiar with...paradox and backlash when you push too hard, here."

Bob nods, "In some ways, Paradox is our savior as much as our curse. Without Paradox the Nephandi would be free to do whatever they want. If we ever want to realize Reality 2.0, where all sentients can affect reality like mages, then we need to defeat the Nephandi first. How did we get on such a dark topic anyway?" Bob smiles.

"Hey, your new guest, they help you take down the Marauder? That is an elite feat by the way, those folks are tough."

Sark chuckles softly, "Unfortunately sometimes such discussions are necessary. And no, she's very new. The fight with the Marauder was over a stolen cockatrice egg, last year. We needed to return the egg to its mother before she got...irrational and caused an incident. Cockatrices are not the most calm of creatures in the first place."

Bob smiles, "We're all new at some point, and we're all new compared to someone. No one is born Elite. Well, except Turing, bless his immortal icon. Cockatrices, huh? I hope the egg was all right."

Sark slowly nods, "We returned the egg intact and convinced her to leave this plane of existence. There are safer realms to raise one's young. Zephyra is both new, and I suspect not much of a fighter. Alicorns tend to be healers even more specialized than one of my bloodline, and I am looking forward to seeing just what she can manage as she gets a hold of her abilities."

Bob cocks his head to the side. "Glad to hear mother and child were ok." Then he adds, "Alicorn, is that like a Unicorn? Cool."

Sark mmms, "An alicorn would specifically be a winged unicorn. A combination of Unicorn and Pegasus, to be more descriptive, if that helps illustrate what she is. She's been welcomed to call the island home for now until she gets more comfortable with the city and finds a home she likes better...."

Bob's eyes open wide. "I've never heard of those. That sounds amazingly cool. When it's convenient I'd love to meet her, if she is willing."

Sark nods, "That's entirely up to her. Like I said, she's around here SOMEWHERE, but likely off running around with the Friesians or exploring the island. She is cleared on the ferry, so she might have even gone back into town to explore a little, though I have strongly cautioned her to please be careful and try not to do so alone."