npc contact.

[cambium]

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NPC CONTACT

CROW

Occupation: unofficial leader of The Nest
Age: late 40s
Gemstone: "a pure black gemstone, highly polished and slightly tapered towards one end not unlike an egg" (first mentioned here)
Description: Crow has sandy blond hair and dark brown eyes, and can typically be found at home or around the train station. Reportedly, he holds a lot of influence over the town, and is a good person to talk to when troubled. While many npcs have been losing memories, Crow reportedly has not. He is the one who gave named npcs their bird names, as well as the one who named the town The Nest.

SWAN

Occupation: ferryman
Age: mid 30s
Description: Swan has dark brown hair and dark green eyes, and can typically be seen out in the water on a boat during good weather, or couch hopping during bad weather and at nights. Six silver coins are used as a passage fee and conduit for her to take a person across the water; according to Lark, those who leave with her never return.

ROBIN

Occupation: rail attendant
Age: early 30s
Gemstone: "fragile light blue shards encased in clear gem" (first mentioned here)
Description: Robin has black hair and light brown eyes, and can typically be found around the train station or cafes in town. She was married to Jay, the train conductor who was murdered early in the game, and has picked up enough from him to operate the train if we ever get it working again. While she has lost a considerable amount of her memories, she claims to be content living in the present. An unknown individual stole her uniform and faked her death via the train's furnace at the start of the game.

LARK

Occupation: postman
Age: mid 20s
Description: Lark has ashy hair and golden eyes, and can typically be seen around town with his mail bag doing deliveries, or hanging out in the graveyard talking to the dead underground. As a postman, Lark prides himself in knowing people and places, but has trouble speaking and reportedly cannot read aside from names he's learned to recognize. It is not widely known, but Lark is able to speak with and, to a certain extent, control the dead.

RAVEN (née HAMTARO)

Age: pre teen
Gemstone: "completely clear, like a diamond, aside from a tiny red spot in the center: a gemstone trapped within a gemstone" (first mentioned here)
Description: Raven has black hair and grey eyes, and can occasionally be seen wandering around town but is most reliably found at Poppy Hall after dark. Following the "sacrifice" of several characters, he awoke without any memories of his identity or past life, and was given the temporary name Hamtaro before learning his true name. His family is dead, and according to the note he had written on the back of a photograph discovered in a burning house, he had sworn to bring them back no matter what the cost. According to the townspeople npcs, according to Crow, a boy named Raven died in a house fire many years ago.

MAGPIE

Age: early teens
Gemstone: "blue and yellow, splotched like flowers run through a photoshop distort filter" (first mentioned here)
Description: Princess Stephanie Astrapia (aka Paradise Magpie, aka Magpie, aka Maggie) has sandy blond hair and golden eyes. While not related by blood, Crow and Maggie consider themselves father and daughter. An unknown individual has been using her name and reputation to communicate with the characters, and has stolen six silver coins.

SPARROW

Age: mid teens
Gemstone: "like a fire opal: bright yellow and red that dance like flames when turned" (first mentioned here)
Description: Sparrow has black hair and bright blue eyes, and is difficult to get ahold of; the most reliable way to meet her is to wait for her to come home, which she does some nights. She has an interest in the supernatural and the occult, and reportedly is the person who gave other npcs their gemstones. She is Maggie's best/only friend at the start of the game.

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Comments

[mirristry]

I admit that part of this is my own personal interest speaking, but anything you could share on the nature of this world in general would be a great help.

[If this is a situation at all similar to Tir Na Nog...]

The more we know about the laws of this place, the easier it will be to understand how things such as this creature work within them... or outside of them, as the case may be.

[He glances over to Yuri to see if the other man has anything in particular that he's curious about as well.]

[wolfish]

[ With the prompt, Yuri sits just the tiniest of degrees straighter, despite his already overly proper posture. To think the man's a crime lord turned mercenary back home. ]

S'pose I'd add whether it's always been like this, or if anything's a pointedly new development. Aside our arrival, that is.

[ It's important to pace themselves, after all. They only have so much to offer Crow in return at the moment, though as the man had observed, they're rather industrious investigators. ]

[cambium]

[ Well, that doesn't narrow things down at all. It's been so long that Crow has been here, sometimes it slips his mind what it was like when he too first arrived and knew nothing. But he doesn't forget. He isn't able to. ]

This world is a world between worlds. Your arrival is not a new development. Many have come before you, and many will come after. The others you see around town were in your shoes once upon a time: strangers from distant lands.

[ You've got demons walking amongst your group too, why be surprised to find the Nest infested with them? Look at Kuja, or Ain- cake demons are tame compared to the likes of them. ]

As a world between worlds, there are places where the veil is thin. The train station, for one, and the lake shore. There are certain times, too- the transition from day to night, from night to day, after the autumnal harvest during the festival of the dead. I believe this is when the first of your cohort began to arrive. Significant life events such as births and deaths can thin the veil as well.

[mirristry]

[... so it is a similar situation to Tir Na Nog, in a way. A "walled garden" of sorts, separated from the outside by a barrier that can be destroyed, populated by people brought unwillingly to this place from other worlds.]

... this world is not unlike my own, then. Which means that the knowledge I have from my world may be of use to you, and I offer it freely along with my abilities, though I don't know how much I'll be able to do with them here.

[He is, as ever, bound by the frustrating physical limits of his body.]

Is what you seek a way to return to your original worlds? Or merely the continued stability of this world?

[wolfish]

[ Yuri's realm, in contrast, is not at all like this. It isn't peopled by those drawn from disparate worlds, trapped in some sort of limbo. He can't say there's a sense of connection the way that Phil could, but he has a sharp enough set of ears and a mind to match. Information is useful, regardless of whether his own experience is relevant. ]

Bit difficult to imagine people getting through child-bearing in this place, as it stands. [ A shrug, as he doesn't imagine that comes up much around here, if at all. ] Safety seems like a concern, whatever the endgame is.

[ And that he may have relevant thoughts on, but that depends on Crow's priorities. ]

[cambium]

Love finds a way.

[ Also, it's perfectly safe here? you just have to stay indoors at night and you'll be fine. Just get Lark to deliver the necessities and you don't ever have to leave the house. ]

Our goals, however, are as different as there are different people in the world. I, for one, feel responsible for the wellbeing of my people. Some want to go home, others wish to leave their past behind and make their home here. New memories replace the old, and over time, goals change. People change.

[ So... there's no clear cut answer here. Besides, it doesn't matter what his goal is: they have no obligation to help. ]

What it is that you seek? Escape? Or are you so noble as to want to "save" this world from itself?

[mirristry]

It isn't my place to speak for any of the others who have been brought here. [Another glance over to Yuri.] Yuri has his own wishes just as I have mine, and I'm sure he has been working towards them in his own way.

As for myself, I see no need to be anything but honest: I do seek a way to return to my own world. There is much I can still do there before what is left of my life finally runs out.

[If there's one thing that Phil is acutely aware of, it's the fact that the time he has left is very limited. He doesn't have the luxury of being able to set aside his goals of trying to right his wrongs in Tir Na Nog for the simple fact that he has at best around ten years to live.]

But I also understand the feelings of those who wish to make this place their home. And so for their sakes, I'd like to do what I can to help preserve this world as well.

[wolfish]

[ For what Yuri has seen and experienced of this place, he couldn't say he understands wanting to stay. How terrible would one's home have to be, for this to be preferable? He has no way of knowing. But it's not for him to decide who should be in one place or another, or judge where anyone wishes to live.

As for himself, the answer is simple. ]

My people are at war back home. We'd just won a key battle, but there remains much to be done.

[ For the good of his comrades and the people of Faerghus, Yuri has every intention of getting back home, even if he's got to claw his way back to it. ]

If this place can be stable for those who choose to remain, that's a bonus, but I can't say I know its rules well enough to offer solutions.

[cambium]

[ Noble, then, in Phil's case. Yuri's answer is the more expected one: something like "yeah I'll do what I can, but this place is so fucked up idk what I can do." ]

Unless something drastic changes, this world will not fall apart anytime soon. Not while I am here to help hold it together. Our goals may intertwine at times, but please, focus on your own wants and needs.

[ There are residents here who hold more power and more mystery than they'd think. Like little Maggie and her "surprise! i'm actually a demon!" or Lark and his whole... thing. Anyways, ]

To leave this world, find an apt time and place where the veil is thin. What I cannot help with is how to direct you back to your own time and place specifically. Robin and I have put our heads together about it, but we have no sure solution as of yet.

[mirristry]

[Phil's face falls somewhat, though likely not for the reasons Crow and Yuri think. He does know how to reach specific places and times, but that would take--]

... yes, of course. That would be the difficult part. But we aren't entirely without leads now, so I thank you for that.

[Here he pauses.]

If... you're sure there's nothing we can do to help this place, then I'll focus my efforts on attempting to find a way back to our worlds.

[wolfish]

But we do owe you one... And I don't like having that sort of thing hanging over my head. Got to balance the scales and all that — so call in that favor if you do think of something.

[ Yuri may pride himself on his practicality, but he hails from a land that bleeds for its chivalry. It's only natural that he feels the need to even the score when someone does something for him, even if it's as simple as exchanging a few words. Those words are more than they had previously.

Though if anyone asks (hell, even if they don't), Yuri's reasoning is simple: he can't abide having debts, just as he'd said. He hasn't had the best track record with people having any form of leverage, plus that's how he legitimates offering a hand when it's not practical at all, sometimes.

Not that he's wholly cognizant of that. ]

[cambium]

Thank you. I will keep that in mind.

[ Tucks the IOU into his pocket. He'll be making use of this soon, he expects. ]

Is there anything else I can help you with for your investigations? I am curious to learn what you come across.

[mirristry]

You've already answered several of the questions I had, and I'm grateful. For now, that's a start. I can think of a few avenues to begin research from there.

[In other words, time for him to dive back into the books and see what he can scrape up there.]

I did mean what I said about my knowledge and abilities being at your disposal as well, so please don't hesitate to contact me if you have need of either one. And of course, you'll be the first to know if I discover anything that seems to be of use to either one of us.

[wolfish]

I'd say we have what we need to start. Could have some follow-up inquiries, depending on what we find... But we should let the others know what we've got thus far.

[ This gives them more to work with, regarding the house and whatever it was that targeted Kaeya. From here, they need to do some legwork and sort out what can be done about whatever lingers around that home.

Knowing its origins is a start, and it gives them something to hold to as they look into it.

With that in mind, Yuri gets to his feet. ]

Want a hand with the dishes?

[ They did use them, after all. ]

[cambium]

[ He smiles at the two of them, one of social etiquette, yes, but he means it too. ]

You two are guests in my home, and I am here to serve you, whether it is for a cup of tea or exchange of information. I can take care of things here, so why don't you get going? I'm sure you have much to do.