your eyes are broken bottles [ 2024 catchall ]

[lunardreaming]

who: lucy kushinada (lunardreaming) + others
when: all throughout 2024
where:
what: 2024 catchall, open quest starters
warnings: will add as necessary




[ note: open starters will be posted in the comments! if you'd like to do something with Lucy, hit me up at cosmonautdelta ]

Comments

[lunardreaming]

Lucy barely restrains herself from repeating my kingdom in a little scoff.

She's officially gotten used to the ridiculous things that Gilgamesh says. What a tragedy. Although, some of the stuff she says probably sounds just a ridiculous to him. Cyberware has gotta be a horrifying concept if you're from ye olden times.

Still shedding glitter as she walks, they make their way through the apartment complex lobby, and Lucy silently apologizes to the cleaning crew. If that glitter doesn't magically vanish, it'll be plaguing the carpet for weeks. If not months. If it's not magical, she just has to hope it's biodegradable, otherwise she'll become the cleaners number one enemy.

"I used to know my area of the city I lived in like the back of my hand. It was useful if I ever needed to run or hide. I've been trying to get to know this place, too, but it's... a little overwhelming."

Lucy steers them in the direction of the closest cafe she knows. High Rise Village is crowded and always busy, but it's easy enough to pick out the better places to eat. The little cafe she's got in mind is full of music holograms lining the walls and scuffed seats.

She glances over at Gilgamesh, weighing, curious. "Did magic like this exist where you're from? With... all the different kinds of people?"

i apologize in advance for all the... fate/-isms but loool, She Did Ask

[gilgamess]

[ Lucy is correct. Gilgamesh was exactly the opposite of herself in terms of what aspects of Magisteria were perplexing or alien to his own experiences and way of thinking. The sides to the city and world that she found most foreign and complex were the most akin to his backyard. But the sides of the world that he found perplexing? She seemed better equipped to deal with. So hopefully, between the two of them, there could be something of a balance. Mastery of various terrains, as it were.

In any case, Gilgamesh lets himself be led along. In much the same way Lucy is taken with the city's magic, Gilgamesh finds the manifestations of advanced technology to be enchanting -- especially the visual or aural variety, such as the holograms. He might be an ancient king, but there was something about the concept of a virtual world which spoke to a sort of societal abundance and a theory of progress that pleased him, as one who was born in ancient times and had clairvoyant visions of humanity progressing beyond his gardens and into the stars. He was a born adventurer, a supporter of treasure seeking and progress. ]

Hm... yes, when I consider it, there are many similarities between the magic of this world and my own.

However... well, as you are aware, I was a very early ruler, the first King and hero in humanity's lore. As such, as I was born in what was called the Age of Gods. It was a time when the air itself was far more saturated with magical energy, leading to the possibility of incredible feats of sorcery and interaction with legendary creatures. In my era, gods and goddesses, fantastic beasts... could still interact with humans.

[ he has to wonder whether Lucy's world had any version of his legend. was she, too, from a version of Earth in which he had been an ancient hero? overall, it was confusing as to whether the Otherworlders shared any version of his history or not. surely, some of them must. ]

But eventually, the Age of Gods gave way to the Age of Man, the decline of divine influence. Human civilization, science and reason, became prominent instead. Among humans, magic became confined to certain families with crests and circuits -- those mongrel "mage societies." [ he's not a huge fan, despite being, well, technically a mage, in this form. ] Secretive, underground societies co-existing alongside humans. To most, magic was a fiction. Fairies, Undead Apostles, phantasmal beasts... yes, they exist, especially in places with high concentrations of magic, but after the Age of Gods, many existed on the Reverse Side of the World, apart from the eyes of ordinary humans.

[ and he pauses because, well... not that he is trying to overwhelm Lucy (although all he just said was Probably a Lot, but ya grrl did ask...), but all this talk really has the wheels churning in his head now, considering how different/similar Magisteria might be. Gilgamesh shakes his head, thinking now about the two. ]

How is Magisteria different from my world -- what I just described?

As to that... I am still ascertaining. [ and he is on the tech path, so he was not among the Otherworlders who have really been asking questions of the spirits. ] From what I can gather, magic does seem to be associated with antiquity in this world, as it was in mine, whereas, likewise, technology is associated with futurism and progress.

But whether magic was once more abundant in the past, whether this world's deities were once more engaged with the goings-on of humans and then something like the "Age of Man" happened... I cannot yet say.

Without knowing more, it certainly seems that fantastic beings have continued to co-exist alongside "ordinary" humans far more so than was the case in my world, suggesting that even if Magisteria had something like an Age of the Gods and an Age of Man, the division was far less stark than in my world. Though I think it would be worth further exploring this tension between the two groups that we have been given to understand plays a role in defining life in this city. If indeed it is like my world, with technology poising itself to supersede magic... then that might go some way towards explaining that tension in the first of places.

[ but that's just conjecture. in Magisteria, at least, magic and those who practiced it did not seem nearly so inclined to step aside; the races and beings associated with it, their traditions, seemed to hold far more steadfast, but perhaps, if the worlds were at all alike, this anxiety might inform some of the attitudes of the one towards the other. ]

[lunardreaming]

[ Lucy carefully absorbs what Gilgamesh says, and finds herself making a wordless noise of assent or thoughtfulness here and there. Admittedly, she hasn't thought about things like this place's history or what mythologies they might have, if gods might exist, so they're new topics for her to consider. Topics that are pretty firmly out of her wheelhouse, so she's sure that any musing she does is uneducated at best. ]

Magic and tech seem pretty well intertwined here to me, but I'm not sure we can extrapolate a whole world's history just from one city. This might be the only city like it.

[ She kind of doubts that, because from what she can tell, Magisteria seems fantastically successful, and other cities would probably try to copy that success. Unless the rest of the world hates tech or magic. ]

But if there's a faction here that wants one to rule the other... yeah. That could definitely be a source of tension. Symphony of disruption.

[ She leads them around a corner, and into the cafe she uses sometimes. It's half punk and half music nerd, holos of music posters covering the walls and tables, and an eclectic crowd. Lucy snags them a spot in the queue, judiciously ignoring the amused glances she's getting at the glitter coming off her in waves at every movement. ]

Whatever it is, we've come at what looks like a turbulent time. [ Lucy rolls her eyes. ] Good for us.

[gilgamess]

[ Actually, now that Lucy mentions it, that's a good point. Thus far, Magisteria has been the singular city-state that they and fellow Otherworlders have encountered within Medeas. Could it be singular in its organization and priorities? Were other cities within the world similar, or perhaps very different? ]

Hmph... perhaps multiple factions. Rogues or extremists as well, one would suppose.

[ The magic/tech division was one broad area where some members of the citizenry found themselves in opposing camps, but with so many different people of different backgrounds, with different priorities, there were bound to be others.

It was not a leap to suppose there was likely a certain degree of internecine conflict as well. After all, even among the two broad groups of tech and magic, clearly there was quite a bit of diversity on each side, to say nothing of other potential flash points.

Anyway, Gilgamesh behaves as if he is quite at home in the cafe, no matter how unusual or anachronistic his appearance is. then again, by now, he has probably customized his wardrobe more in light with local customs, including Bios-infused jewelry baubles or accordingly bright and flashy clothing. in any era, the man had his own idea of trendy.

but this cafe suits him just fine. as they wait in line, Gilgamesh taps one of the holo walls with his finger, prompting the revelation of a digital menu. ]

Turbulence does not trouble me. Ah, but [ he is still looking at the menu, as if transfixed by the sprawl of words appearing in glow. ] I suppose we mustn't forget the reason of our coming here.

[ it was to seek assistance for the ...berry muffin issue, however they might begin with that. though now that they are here, the prospect of consuming/drinking something or enjoying the cafe for a bit unto its own rights... did not seem too unappealing. ]