NPC Inbox.

[imaginarymods]

NPC INBOX

The office is currently CLOSED.

NPC threads that don't have a particular place in mod logs will happen here! Please note that this post is not for unplanned or drop-in threads unless otherwise noted. Rather, we'll be working on threads here with PCs as determined by RNG or other game mechanics.


NAVIGATION ⯈



code bases by tricklet

Comments

[mccreehaw]

There's so much going on and at first, McCree can't parse the relevance of it all. Who are these elven twins? Why does their story display on this jellyfish? He thinks back to the archive in the ocean, where he saw Jack's memories. What's triggering these specific memories of someone he doesn't know? The idea creeps into his head that the only other "person" down here is the umbrella. Could it be that these are the umbrella's memories?

It's crazy, but what isn't these days?

As the scenes go on and settle into a clearer image, a memory of McCree's own resurfaces from months and months ago. A red robe? He's seen a red robe before, though the body inside of it was long gone. Could it be one of these people he's seeing now? Sure, a red robe could be worn by thousands of people in Faerun, but McCree's got a hunch that it's no coincidence that he found one before and is being shown one now.

And then the image clears and he sees that beautiful elf... and the Director. It honestly startles him. She's been noticeably absent from their little vacation, leaving him to wonder if she's been pulling the strings or if the reason they're marooned here is because someone got the better of her.

He turns to the umbrella and sees its excitement, but really only towards the half of the image with the elf. Was the elf its owner? She was obviously good friends with Lucretia. Are they meant to find the elf? If they find her, will they find Lucretia?

He points to the elf. Where is she?

[imaginarymods]

Again the umbrella doesn't seem to immediately respond. Perhaps it's having trouble doing so, or perhaps it simply doesn't know how to say what it wants to.

After a few moments (and the previous jellyfish having scooted along by) the umbrella prods another jellyfish.

This one has the image of a human-looking man notably in denim, worried.

"I don't know, SCRTCHSCRTCH, what if we don't find her?"

A somewhat-falsetto voice chimes in from the jellyfish's perspective before the memory ends-- "Who?"

Another jab to another jellyfish. That elf is back. She is practically hidden under her hair, looking down at her hands.

"You didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"I know that. And I know it's good. Like, the Hunger's not here, and the hunger's worse than anything we've done. I just... I can't help but ask."

The elf looks up to whoever's jellyfish memory this is. The umbrella vibrates again.

"Did we make the right decision?"

she asks.

"...Who knows if the shield would have worked. You know... sometimes, there aren't right decisions. Sometimes there's just decisions."

The memory flickers forward, and for a moment all it is is that elf, laughing, smiling, crying and beaming.

"Taako, I can't-- I couldn't have done any of this without you. I wouldn't have made it here without you."

And then the memory flickers again and that elf is gone. In her place, in the very place she was sitting next to what seems to be a kitchen counter, there is only a note with three words.

Be back soon.

The umbrella, to reiterate its point, replays that bluejeansed man.

"I don't know, Taako."

Prods the jellyfish again.

"I don't know, Taa-" "I don't know, T-" "I don't know" "I don't know"

"I don't know"

[mccreehaw]

McCree frowns at what he's being shown. It's like coming into a movie only fifteen minutes before the end and trying to figure out just what the hell happened and how all the characters got here. But he thinks he understand in part what the umbrella's doing. It's replaying the same part over and over again in order to answer his question. The umbrella doesn't know.

She's a big deal in all this, he thinks. All them people in the red robes are. He pushes his hands back through his hair since it's floating wild in the water and just thinks for a moment. He doesn't know if the umbrella can hear all his scattered thoughts or just the ones he's trying to purposely push out to it, but all at once a bunch of thoughts and memories are floating around in his noggin.

Red robed people... Lucretia... This elf woman... Hunger is worse than what they've done... She had to ask and something happened... Didn't mean for it to... The shield... Bulwark shield? They didn't try it... They tried something else? Elf woman's gone... Is she the key to all this? Stopping the Hunger... Finding the Director...

He stops, realizing they've been watching the point of view of someone named Taako. Weird name, but okay. What are they supposed to do now? These memories are all well and good, but if he can't turn this knowledge into something fruitful, then they're back where they started.

Where do I go from here? Am I supposed to find her for you?

[imaginarymods]

Something gets a little smoother about the umbrella's movements. As if it's figured out how to play these memories in a useful order, it bounces from jellyfish to jellyfish to stitch together a message.

The first is that fizzled in Who? from before-- and then it plays into static. That image is left in its own moment, perhaps contextualizing or maybe just reminding? But it's very clearly not a part of the sequence that follows.

First, the image of Lucretia again, who is writing in two different journals at the same time where she sits at a table. The person behind the jellyfish 'camera' chuckles.

Hey, Lucretia~

Another prod, another memory. It's that bluejeans guy, again, but right in the flicker of the moment. Nothing about the memory besides the man himself appears clear.

--Find her--

A new memory. The dwarf from the beach. Again, just a snippet; the memory doesn't even properly seem to 'load' the dwarf's appearance from the neck down or the world around them.

Oh, she's not too far off.

--Find her--
A flash of Lucretia.

--Find her--
A flash of the elf woman.

--Find her--
One last flash of a memory and it's... the moon base? No, there's no question about it, it's the moonbase on Candlenights, though the angle seems almost as though this vision is being seen from the floor. From only inches above the ground the memory plays as a black static draws up the form of-- of the Director. That static starts to turn into an inkier darkness, then glimmers of color play-- but the memory gets foggier and foggier, and eventually stops playing.

And then it alternates between that 'find her' sequence of Lucretia and that elf woman. It repeats the image of that elf woman more than Lucretia though. It is not at all ashamed of having a priority in its request.

[mccreehaw]

Now that it's clear the umbrella has a method of "talking" to McCree, the seriousness of the situation sinks in even more as he sees the Director swallowed up by black static. Are those glitches? Or the Hunger itself? If so, why weren't they all swallowed up? Unless they were and this is what's on the other side of it.

Okay. It's a firm thought; focused and sure. If we're all trapped on this island, then the two of them have to be trapped here somewhere too. Or there's a way off this island that we need to find before we go looking for them. Since the island's a smaller search area than the whole of Faerun, I'll start here.

[imaginarymods]

The umbrella prods another jellyfish for a memory of he-who-is-still-jeansed poring over a map.

--she can't have gotten too far.

Another prod, this time more hesitant. Perhaps not hesitant; it is, after all, just an umbrella, it can't seem to emote. It's more as though its movements have slowed and become very deliberate, like moving it has become harder.

It nudges one more jellyfish, one last time, another memory. The viewer of the memory speaks now, to... someone, whose image doesn't seem to load properly.

I'm Taako. Y'know, from TV?

There might have been more to that message, but the umbrella doesn't prod at any more jellyfish, instead starting to float up, up, and up, no longer struggling against its buoyancy.

[mccreehaw]

She can't have gotten far, but where was her starting point? McCree is considering this and takes note of the name Taako again before he realizes the umbrella is floating away.

Hey, wait! He makes a grab for it, not wanting this valuable source of information to just disappear on him. Despite all he's been shown he still feels a little lost. What if he's misunderstanding the memories? What if there are more clues here in these jellyfish that can narrow down his search window? He's still flying blind.

[imaginarymods]

Unfortunately, it would seem that if whatever's in the umbrella can hear McCree, it can't respond again... yet. In the future, however, the umbrella may approach him again. For now, perhaps he should discuss his findings with those who have been in contact with the umbrella before.