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Down to Earth

Scene details

  • Start date: Nov. 13, 2022, 5:08 p.m.
  • End date: Nov. 13, 2022, 7:01 p.m.
  • Location: Cosmopolis - Outlying Sprawl
  • Participants: Reize Seatlan, Ivo Galvan

Setting: Reize and Ivo go dirt hunting in the Cosmopolitan jungle.

Log


 The air of the jungle beats like a heart, palpably thick with heat and vapor and dense with rich scents and the sounds of birds and insects. The ground is shadowed by the overgrown canopy above, stripes of sunlight swaying, the shade comforting, a natural cradle. Though the environment is dizzingly vibrant here, even just beyond the Spiring City's outskirts and on the edge of the jungle proper, the steady pulse of life is calm, settled, as though the earth is at peace.
 "They actually thanked me for taking these flasks off their hands," Ivo is remarking to Reize as he kneels at the base of a banana tree, scooping loam into a small glass vessel. "I think the Vanguards haven't even sorted through the belongings of the atelier they inherited, let alone figured out what to do with them."
 "Don't look," a high-pitched voice cries, "at my book!"
 "You don't have a book!" Ivo calls, tone briefly shifting to exasperated, up at the parakeet, who is halfway through unpeeling a ripe banana above. "That was-- I don't know why I bother."
 "You're not my dad!"


  Onward to handle a new request!

  It looks like the Vanguards got tasked with a new request, even if it is a more personal one. The Boy with the Long Yellow Scarf is following alongside Ivo, tilting his head in curiosity as he notesa bout the flasks, "Really?" He gives a thoughtful look, "I guess there are more items there than the Vanguards can handle." He furrows his eyebrows, "But I guess given the history of the place and the shared space..." He gives a sheepish look.

  His eyes drift over to the parakeet while it unpeels an ripe banana. "Well, I guess these guys picked up a lot from Ruidosa..." He looks at his older friend.

  "So what's exactly the plan? How are we going to find the particular dirt?" He thinks, "Isn't most of the ground filled with the magic from the effects of Proliferation?"
 

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>5.
Comment: Evading a surprise attack
Roll(s): 9. Total result is 9. This is a success (by 4).


 "I'm sure they've got a lot on their plates," Ivo replies, narrowly dodging a banana peel tossed at him from above as he replaces the stopper in the now-full flask, "literally and figuratively, considering the restaurant's popularity." He grins lopsidedly as he rises and slips the container into his cloak, looking back at Reize, ignoring the invective shouted at him from above.
 "Terrible date! Terrible date!"
 "That's what I want to make sure of," the Cosmopolitan replies. "I'll need Argent's help, and anyone else with an alchemical background, but if I can confirm the specifics of the enduring effect that Proliferation has had on the soil around Cosmopolis, well..."
 He turns and begins walking deeper into the jungle, further from the outskirts, brushing past ferns and vines, sinking into thought.
 "Do you remember how we helped the residents of Aurita Meloda forage," he abruptly says, "and how much Meloda's Blessing had clearly changed the city? The court is divided over Cosmopolis opening up to the world, and many still-powerful aristocrats continue to insist on the nation's self-sufficiency. Of course, they have their own ideas about what that means." He sounds uninterested in whatever those are. Perhaps this has something to do with Ivo's reluctance to return to his official duties. "But I wonder if there are new possibilities for Cosmopolis that no one's noticed yet. What could we grow here, for example? What could we trade other than magitech?"
 He looks upward through the canopy, shielding his eyes as a stripe of sunlight crosses over his face. The parakeet flutters down and perches on Reize's shoulder, proceeding to attempt to affectionately groom the boy's hair.
 "The Cremisi have been self-sufficient in their own way in this jungle," he murmurs. "Could we learn from them, too?"


  "That is true." Reize gives a thoughtful look, "I wonder if any of the Vanguards do part time as a chef, in that case!" He looks quite curious, then a large smile grows. "I could try out their individual dishes!" His stomach is now getting ahead of him.

  Being reminded of the date, while Ivo is able to ignore it, Reize grimaces. He cannot forget that Ruidosa is still upset with him because of how the date went. His mind is taken away from that as Ivo notes about the plan on their objective.

  "Yeah, I remember, why?" Ivo's explanation about the court and politics in Cosmopolis gets a brief bit of curiosity, but he does start to lose interest after a bit. The remark of the trade, "...the effects of Proliferation lets you---" As the parakeet perch on his shoulder and groom his hair, he scritches the bird's hair.

  With a grin, Reize looks at Ivo. The Cremisi is brought up, "....Oh! Maybe we can ask the elder at some point, then! We managed to pull together at Elysia Fields!"
 


 "Maybe you should post a request," Ivo quips back at his younger friend, stirring from his contemplative reverie to glance over his shoulder. "After they've finished organizing their Cosmos Cup, they could put together a cooking tournament. The Cosmos Plate? Cosmos Bowl?"
 As the aristocrat considers the prospect of a Great Cosmopolitan Cook-Off, he nearly trips over a protruding root. Even after the retreat of the more dangerous denizens, the jungle can't be said to be entirely safe.
 "Oh, good thinking, chief!" Ivo, not especially put out, brightens. "Let's send a diplomatic missive. We've even got a messenger now."
 The parakeet, cooing pleasantly in Reize's ear, shoots a beady stare in Ivo's direction.
 "Stay the #$&* away," it chirps, "from my mom."
 "Granted," the young man continues, "we may need to teach it some manners."
 "And my sister!"
 "I'm not interested in your sister!!"


  The recommendation to put forth a request finally crosses Reize's mind. "You know..." It dawns, "That's actually a great idea!" Upon the name recommendations, "Cosmos Bowl sounds like a great name!"

  As Ivo nearly trips over the root, the boy stops briefly and then he turns his head at his older friend, "Oi! Ivo! You okay?!"

  While he continues to scritch the parakeets head, he looks over at the bird. He offers a smile, "I'll need your help. There are some large guys... red, ----" He then remembers what he did in his journal from his first adventure. He instead reaches out into his satchel to procure the 'Bestiary'.

  Flipping a few pages, he looks over to the sketches that he made of the Cremisi. Holding it off for the parakeet, "Need you to call out to them if they'll help us." He looks over at Ivo, "...We may have to meet them away from Cosmopolis. Do you think they would even be able to step foot within the city? ...Or even want to?"
 


 "Hm hm hm." Ivo reaches up to cup his chin with a gloved hand, smiling at Reize's affirmation. "We could challenge them to design the perfect Cosmos Bowl as a lunch item, and make Atelier Vanguards an icon."
 The dilettante has a surprisingly entrepeneurial spirit, if insufficient interest to see such a project through himself.
 "Oh? I haven't seen these in a while."
 Curious, the young man pauses in his efforts to continue forging through the jungle, stopping to look over Reize's shoulder at the impressive sketches in the boy's bestiary.
 "Good question." Ivo, even as he scans the book's contents, looks troubled. "If it were possible to repair relations between the city and the Cremisi, I'd want to do so. Though I'm not sure what sort of promises I could make considering the struggle over the trajectory of the-- gaah!"
 He staggers back as, in a flurry of feathers, the parakeet begins pecking furiously at his face.
 "Don't look," it shrieks, "at my book!!!"
 "That's a different book!!!!!!"


  This is where Reize looks a bit apprehensive, "...I don't think I have the skills to compete, you know." He frowns, "I mostly do field cooking." He does crack a grin, "I wouldn't mind judging the contest, though!" His eyes shimmer, now just imagining all of the food that he could try.

  When Ivo looks over his shoulder to the book, Reize slips it over for Ivo to see more. "Unfortunately, I've fell behind on the bestiary at Granse since Rui had been documenting a lot of things." He gives a thoughtful look, "I should go back to some of our previously explored places to document the creatures that we've encountered."

  While a side quest, not an official request. Still, this will yield bonuses!

  Reize comments, "Let's maybe suggest that we meet outsi----" And the parakeet goes on the offensive, "Wait! Paruikosa! He's allowed to look at this one! He's allowed to look at this one!" He yelps, reaching out to calm down the parakeet.
 


 Paruikosa huffs, somehow, despite being a bird, before withdrawing, leaving Ivo looking rather dazed and with some superficial scratches on his face.
 "I'd say that I'd appreciate you making the records rather than Ruidosa, so that I can read them," he murmurs, "but it seems that won't be sufficient either."
 Sighing, he crosses his arms, regarding the bird with a mix of perplexity and consternation.
 "There's nothing for it," he concludes. "We need Paruikosa as a messenger, so I'll just have to win this bird over. But how? I doubt fruit will be sufficient."
 "Reizey-poo," the bird chirps, back on the boy's shoulder. "Reizey-poo."
 "That's it!"
 Ivo slaps a fist into his palm.
 "If you'll be nice to me," he pronounces to the parakeet, "once we're done gathering dirt, I'll prepare the finest date you've ever seen between you and Reize."
 There's a moment of silence.
 "Dad," the bird says. "Dad."
 "You, uh... don't have to be *that* nice."