destinystrings | so many places that I've been, there's so much more to see;

Entry tags:

so many places that I've been, there's so much more to see;

Who: Naoya and open.
Where: Cancer Ward, Virgo Ward, Sagittarius Ward
Summary: Work, chores, battle. The routine of many in Hinoto-Ri. Naoya's starting to get sick of it, though.
Warnings: None yet?

[Cancer Ward - Morning]

[Naoya looks a bit frazzled as he makes his way down the streets of the electronics ward. He doesnt want to go to work. He hates these people - they're stupid and shouldn't even be trusted with a computer. Then they come crying to him to fix their things. The only reason he's even doing this anymore is to save up to buy more components for his computer.]

[He still has time before he has to go in. Mabye he'll find someone while he's browsing parts shops?]

[Virgo Ward - Afternoon]

[And the other reason he's been saving up. He buys some more ammo from the counter in the supermarket, and turns to browse the shelves for more things to buy for food. He's already got pancake mix and powdered sugar in his cart, and he heads into the dairy aisle to look for butter and milk.]

[Sweet-tooth breakfasts are serious business, okay.]

[Sagittarius Ward - 13th Hour]

[He knows he needs to train up Coyote more. Which is why Naoya has him out as they prowl down the streets together. The weaker monsters that cross their path are set upon by Coyote, and Naoya shoots a few himself. The loot disappears into his pockets, and he doesn't really look too concerned.]

[Hopefully he'll find a better challenge soon, whether it be a bigger monsters or maybe another Visitor. He's not opposed to unofficial duels, after all.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Libra. And you?

*Wonderful! Now to actually do this interview....*

Pisces, but it's easy enough to travel through both.

Oh. Well... where should we go for this? And when? I do need to put this into the freezer before it melts, but aside from that, I haven't anything much planned....

*Maybe to Libra, so Naoya can go and uh... observe the birdpire in their natural habitat? XD*

I can follow you. There's nothing really perishable in my bag.

All right. *He nods to Naoya, and resumes heading to the station, making certain that the human can keep up with him easily. He doesn't want to leave him behind; it would defeat the whole purpose of this!*

*They reached Avitus's apartment, up on the eleventh level in Libra's massive Visitor apartment building, and he set his bag down on the hall floor while he fished his key out of his little coinpurse thing. Candy had most certainly been offered, during the trip over; he was sucking on yet another piece of it, though it was small again by this point.*

I'm afraid it's still a bit of a mess inside....

*And he'll open the door to lead Naoya inside, and put his ice cream and other cold groceries away. The mess he was talking about? His table in that itty little apartment was covered in art supplies. It looked like he was either just finished with, or was still working on the finishing touches for, a stained glass lamp and its shade... one that had a lot of blue butterflies in its shade's design.*

*He was good at it, too; he'd certainly had a long enough time to practice his trades. The walls were hung with what was once Christmas lights, but were now chains of flowers of various kinds, probably hung just to keep them from getting all tangled up. There was a shelf nearby with more lamps on the bottom levels, done with more stained glass, or disguised as other fake plants, and the top was covered in smaller things, hair pins (chopsticks?) carved and painted, and hair clips and brooches and pendants and earrings and who knew what all else, and above it, stained glass pieces hung from a bar there on the wall, little ornamental things.*

*tl;dr, if it was a mess, it was a nicely organized mess that was mostly due to him not having put away the last bits of his latest artistic endeavor. And at least the chairs were free?*

Could I get you anything? *well, he is at the little fridge. He doesn't have a whole lot in it or the cupboards, if Naoya wants to look. Mostly just sweets, and nothing solid, ice cream and hard candy aside. But wow, does he ever have a bunch of types of syrups to try....*

No, I'm all right.

[Mm... no wait. Focusing. He clears his throat slightly and pulls out his COMP so he can take notes.]

Now... what did you say your species was? And what are some typical characteristics of them, would you say?

*He finishes putting away his cold stuff -- though he leaves the blood out while he puts the rest away in the cupboard.* I'm a vampire, from Nosgoth. Razielim, specifically. The clans each look quite different from one another; we've Raziel's blood to blame for looking like this.

*He gestures vaguely to himself, with some sort of oddly guarded little smile. It's anyone's guess why he's so amused with the little "blame" joke, or if it was even that, or if the smile is to hide some less pleasant expression.* Blue skin, the ears, the wings... the big feet? *pauses* Actually, I have some drawings of some of the others.

*and he'll step away from the little kitchen area to pull an old tome of a sketchbook off another shelf, setting it down on the table and opening it up* They're rather all through this, more or less. *pointing some out -- and it's quickly evident that he's something of a shrimp, if his drawings are accurate to life, but he's skilled enough with his pencils, they may well be second only to photographs in being able to tell these things. Most of the others in his clan seem to be much better-built, shirtless men with weapons, obviously soldiers of some sort, though without as much armor as the humans'. What were the humans dressed up as, knights of some kind?*

*There're a few more distinctly-dressed winged people too, though if Naoya wants to flip through the book himself, there're only eight of those, two of which seem to be knights of some sort themselves, one of which is built far differently. While all the others seem to have fairly slim builds, made for speed, one of those two most heavily-armored Razielim has somewhat wider ears, and seems built for more muscle mass. The other outstandingly-garbed burds have mostly robes, not too much unlike Avitus's own, but it's quite easy to tell which is which, by their faces and dress styles... and that they have fully-feathered wings. The more heavily-built one of the two wearing the most armor has wings matching the rest of the clan, bat-like tips showing past the feathers' ends.*

*...actually, having a bat-like wing structure under those feathers would account for how Avitus is able to move his wings the way he is, making their tips curve inward from halfway down, to keep them up off the floor while tucked against his back tightly.*

*Other than more Razielim, Naoya might find the other clans pictured to be interesting too. There was one that looked rather like an anthropomorphic dog-ish demon sort of thing, but seemed to be friendly enough with the birdpires, in the drawings... and then some sketches that appeared to be other demons. Something that looked a bit like a zombie, one thing that was massive and deformed, and... seemed to be made out of bodies twisted together? Something like ogres, though more top-heavy than Naoya might be used to, other things looking more like frogs or sharks or something, with cobra hoods, also capable of standing upright... and then some which seemed like they'd tried to become spiders, their limbs all long and spindly.*

We all have gold eyes and black... er... everything else.

*a slight pause* My clan is the only one in Nosgoth that can fly as we are. ....Erm....

*looking back to Naoya, clearly at a loss again.* What other sorts of... characteristics do you mean?

*And that? That right there would be why Caroline was wise to have him ask someone else for help with this. He wasn't much good at it, like he said.*

Edited 2013-04-28 10:34 (UTC)

[Naoya's quiet as he flips through the sketchbook, taking mental notes of the characteristics. He can probably reasonably reproduce these drawings later - while he doesn't have a photographic memory exactly, as long as the lines form a coherent whole it's something that can stick.]

[He looks up as Avitus sputters out.]

Generally I catalog general temperament and elemental weaknesses, as well as supernatural or physical skills.

Oh. Ah... water is something we can't abide. It damages on contact. Sun-- we're fine with it once we're old enough; it's the fledglings that're still sensitive to it. One of my brothers is in the habit of sleeping outside on the castle's roof, to sun himself. Gifts vary between individuals, though I think telekinesis is the most common; the oldest among our clan all have some Gift or other, often enough two. Things like... ah... teleportation over short distances. Or a glow in one's hand, that when applied to a wound, will heal it. One of my brothers can throw some small form of lightning, and create the illusion of ravens, which he can sense things from.

*He shakes his head at that, apparently not sure what to make of those last two things; clearly, those aren't Gifts that he has as well.*

I know we're capable of birdsong; it's an instinctive language of sorts for us. And... mm... well, the obvious, I suppose. *a small gesture to himself* How would you use such a body, if you had one similar?

*With legs and feet so long, he was probably a fast runner. And probably good at jumping, perhaps kicking. His nails were large, looking like he'd originally had claws, but filed them down until they were round instead of pointed. Wings... he'd mentioned flight, hadn't he?*

Temperament? ...Well... unlike the other clans, we're still more or less who we were as humans. So it's entirely up to the individuals, how they behave. Instinct doesn't always influence, much less dictate behavior, unless one wants it to.

Water... does that go for ice as well? And sun... hm. Any particular strength or weakness against lightning or wind-based attacks? What about mental and physical defenses? And what about flight?

[He notes the information he has down in his COMP, along with the examples of the gifts.]

I see. So the 'fledgelings' are the ones that've been recently changed, is that right?

*A nod, to that last thing.* My clan tends to use the weakness to sunlight as a measure of whether one's reached adulthood. I'm not at all certain what the sentiment about it was in the old clan.

Ice is fine; it isn't wet while it's frozen. I wouldn't know about lightning... we didn't get many storms, where the Citadel sat. I would imagine it would hurt quite a bit, though. I know shocking oneself with electric wiring certainly does. *....he's speaking from experience there, with that vaguely sheepish expression, looking away from Naoya like he is.*

Defenses... are... ah... I'm not certain? I mean... we can heal fast? *He's not sure what to say on that count; Naoya might want to clarify or something.* But... um... how would one attack with wind? I'm afraid I don't quite understand... is that much different from telekinesis?

I mean are you more resistant to damage than the average human?

[... Ugh okay elemental differences. And he doesn't have anything that he can have attack for an example.]

It is. Essentially, it's making wind razor-sharp.

*He was quiet a moment, considering it* I don't believe so. I'm not that different from how I used to be when I was human. It isn't like I was tainted by Dumah; his clan's hides form their own armor. I merely got stuck with growing wings. *He finally has a seat on the other chair, looking down, quietly polishing the back of one of his nails with his fingers again, apparently unhappy with something.*

And I haven't heard of anyone making wind sharp before. ...I know that the Rahabim can spit water so hard as to be a projectile attack, if that counts? Or perhaps there's telekinesis involved in that too...? *A head-shake* Most of the warfare that happens in Nosgoth is with weaponry. Swords, spears, that sort of thing. The humans tend to use crossbows and flamethrowers; not so much our ranks, with the latter. Wouldn't do to risk setting our own wings or clothes on fire.

*....Which seems to've reminded him of something else; he looks back up at Naoya.* Fire's another thing I'd consider a weakness. It's far more difficult to heal that which has been cauterized. And apparently there's something present in our biology which can be burned, much like the way fat can be. I'm not certain what that is, though. *....so vampires are potentially flammable. whoops?*

[... That's helpful to know. He notes it down.]

It might be like that, though it's more likely due to -

[He just stops for a moment. Not going to go into surface tension and stuff like that.]

... I doubt you'd want the complicated explanation. It's more of a magical enhancement, I guess.

Ah. How many different clans are there? Do you know?

*Just quiet while Naoya starts to, and then decides against explaining.*

*But as for the clans? Well, that's easy.*

There are six. Raziel, Turel, Dumah, Rahab, Zephon, and Melchiah each have-- I'm sorry, had clans. And those six were sired in that order, too; Raziel was the strongest of them, and Melchiah the weakest, with all of their clans likewise following suit... individual variance aside.

*....he surely means himself. He's clearly under no illusions as to his own power, or apparent lack thereof, the way he keeps polishing the back of his nail like that.*

I think there's pictures of each of them in there, if you'd like me to point them out? *He indicates the sketchbook there on the table in front of Naoya, subtly... he's talking about those things that mostly look like mutant animals of some kind, really?*

Please.

[... Right. He'll ask about that 'was' in a minute.]

*A nod... and he flips the book back a couple pages, pointing out one of the Turelim vampires. He made sure to mention their superior hearing, and how they were the only other clan confirmed to still have human levels of intelligence. Then an image of the Dumahim, ogre-like, with massive maws and extendible tongues, covered in a natural armor plating, and Rahabim, humanoid monsters which seemed somewhere between frogs, cobras, and sharks all at once, noting that they were the one clan not only immune to, but dependent on, water, and that they were able to spit it with great force, enough to knock a human in full armor off their feet at sometimes quite long distances. Thankfully, that clan could never tolerate any amount of sun, and even electric lights were an irritant to them. The Zephonim were spindly and spiderlike, climbed everything, spit a substance which hardened after a moment, like sort of a webbing or something, and were finally nearly extinct, but the Melchahim were still everywhere, only half immortal, their bodies rotting instead of being sustained by whatever it was that made vampires live so long.*

They burrow... we don't know how they manage, let alone so quickly; one would think their decayed hands would break rather than part the earth so swiftly for them, but they do it all the same. So it's quite difficult for our hunters to see them from the air, unless they've surfaced. Or unless they smell them.

*making a little bit of a face at that particular thought* Some of those the hunters have brought back for training practice are... utterly rancid. I feel quite sorry for them, honestly. It must be painful, living like that, with their healing ability so compromised.

*So that's +6 types of vampires for Naoya's database so far....*

[Taking notes, taking notes...]

Why did you say they 'had' clans? Did something happen recently?

Well... it depends on what you mean by recently. About five or six centuries back, they were all killed. Raziel... he....

*a slight pause, hesitant to say, but he looks down, going back to polishing his nails by rubbing them again,* ...he came back, briefly, as a wraith, and killed them all. He missed Turel, but there's no chance of any of the others coming back.

*He's tucked his wings in more tightly to his back, by this point. It didn't look as though he were very comfortable, honestly; his efforts to control and conceal his body language made it easy enough to tell that much.*

Even before that, their clans had mostly been getting away from them. The more generations removed one is from the original clan Sire, the greater the mental deterioration. It's why the other clans, Turel's aside, are all mere beasts now.

[~~Were the fourth wall gone there would be a Vampire: the Masquerade joke here. Sadly the fourth wall is here.~~]

[Naoya nods, writing this information down as well.]

And your clan doesn't suffer from this?

*A head-shake.* My brothers and I were all sired by Raziel directly, and we add more to our ranks together. They're... in human terms, his grandchildren. Two generations is hardly enough for this to manifest; the suspicion is that it takes closer to a hundred. Perhaps several hundred. We don't know, and we're not about to experiment to find out.

((Not very familiar with V:tM here. What would the joke be? :) ))

[~~Vampires get weaker the further in generation they are from Cain.~~]

Hm. Is Raziel very old, then? ... Or is your clan very young?

((oh, lol, that? Yeah, it was one of the few things I could think of to explain the diffs in some of the clans in SR1, hah.))

*He hesitates, closing his mouth while he tries to figure out how to answer that.*

Not... quite.

*A small sigh to himself, frowning a little... and then leans back in the chair, pinning his wings between its back and his own*

It's more that we were living somewhere that remained entirely hostile to us for a long time. It was only relatively recently that we began rebuilding our numbers. We're the old ones, I suppose; Raziel was executed a long time ago. About... ten thousand years ago, now? Almost eleven? *He must've gotten over it ages ago; he doesn't look particularly broken up about it.*

[He opens his mouth, and then closes it. Now isn't the time for history. That can be later.]

... I see. That brings up more questions, but another time, I think.

Your bodies must be extremely resilient, then. To cellular degeneration and environmental factors... heh. That's useful.

To... what? *Those terms are sailing right over his head, sorry, Naoya!*

*...but he tries making sense of the comments anyway.* Well... no, not really. We simply find ways around such things, when we can. We adapt. We wash with sand instead of water, and seal our wings with oils. Things like that. Most of the perceived resilience is simply our healing ability at work.

so many places that I've been, there's so much more to see;

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