video | un: zing zang voombah

[spiritwalks]

[Vyng's a mess: Wet, gray hair plastered to his face. Black sand clinging to his clothing and neck. Gills flaring in and out with exertion, while his expression pinches with pain. Observant Sleepers might notice pieces of wool sticking out of his pointy elven ears.]

Orpheus needs help. Eurydice, she...

[He takes a breath, giving himself a moment to collect his thoughts.]

She's moved on. Like many of us will someday.

But as soon as they separated, he turned into a large beast and flew off. Somewhere toward the Rocks, south of the Farthest Shore.

[With some shaky maneuvering, Vyng points the camera so it's overlooking the magnificent Pthumerian Ocean. In the distance, a large bird-like creature circles over the water. From offscreen, Vyng continues.]

Four wings. Antlers. Difficult to miss. His songs are like a mermaid's — I think...I think they lure people into the ocean. Be careful, everyone.

[The image lowers toward the wet sand. Vyng's last words before the feed cuts off, almost too quiet to be heard over the sea wind, filter through:]

I'm sorry.


((OOC: This is a lead-in for the Sirens Mini-Plot. Beast!Orpheus is grieving his wife and luring people to their deaths. Check here for more details and plotting.))

Comments

un: trienemybest; video

[droptheious]

[Oh no. Oh no. This is the last thing Varian wanted to happen to any of his friends and now here they are. He knew if Orpheus ever lost Eurydice again it would be bad, how could it not? He didn't expect it to be this bad, though. ]

Thanks for the warning. I'll- I'll do what I can. ["What he can" ultimately being nearly getting his stupid ass drowned. ]

...Are you hurt?

[spiritwalks]

[Vyng stares at the screen for several moments...

...

...

...]


WHAT?

[He's still got the wool in his ears. Good going, Vyng.]

[droptheious]

VYNG you-

[...

Oh right. Give him a second.]

Are you hurt?

[spiritwalks]

[Bless you, Varian.]

Well, I've been less hurt before 😐

[Does that help.]

un: eudaimonikos; video

[eudaimonikos]

Where are you?

[He'll go out to look for Orpheus, of course. But Vyng first.]

[spiritwalks]

I CAN'T HEAR YOU, MAN. YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO SPEAK LOUDER.

[He didn't think ahead when he stuffed wool in his ears. And at this stage, he doesn't feel safe taking them out.]

[eudaimonikos]

JUST KEEP YELLING, THEN!

[He'll just go to the beach and follow the sound of FUCKING SCREAMING.]

[spiritwalks]

[HOPE YOU LIKE ELK SCREAMS, MICHAEL.]

audio; un: doublehedgedsword

[laminae]

She what??

[Ohhh no, Fern is hoping this is a joke, but he remembers encountering Orpheus as a beast back when they were in Deerington, and it sounds serious....]

You're kidding, right? Oh Globbit, this is real bad!

[spiritwalks]

[Okay, he's going to have to take wool out of at least one ear. If he holds the omni up to it, then that should still protect him any siren song. Right? Hopefully?]

Believe me, I wish I was kidding. Neither of them had much time to prepare for it.

[laminae]

[Sorry Vyng, he's a bit too upset to be thinking about common sense right now.]

Geez. I tangled with Orpheus back in Deerington when we were both - um. Monsters. This is really serious. You said he's at the beach? I can be down there fast.

[spiritwalks]

You'll still need to protect yourself from his songs, pal.

[He's keenly aware of the wool in his ears, so it's hard to forget that little nugget of wisdom.]

voice; un: seeingtheworld - a while later

[schoolingfish]

Wait, mermaids do that?

[He's had several people conclude he's basically a mermaid since he got here, which he'd accepted, but now he has questions. It doesn't matter right now, though.]

This explains so much. I'm just going to stay out here and look for more drowning people, I guess. Do you have a plan to help him change back?

[He's not worried about the fact that Vyng is going into the water, of course, because he remembers that Vyng has gills.]

voice;

[spiritwalks]

Well, mermaids back on my old world, anyway. They send those self-preservation instincts right out the window, so you'll get close for them to eat you.

[Vyng hadn't though to compare Luca to one. He doesn't have the superficial appearances of a human female. His eyes are actually functional, instead of something that evolved to increase their chances of getting food. And he swims alone, instead of in a pod. Totally different vibe!]'

We need to talk to him. Remind him of the people back in Trench who need him. That nothing lasts forever, and he's gotta come back to us eventually.

And when that doesn't work? We still keep at it, until we finally get to him.

[Vyng deliberately leaves the "kill" option off the table. That should be their last resort, and only if Orpheus continues to make others suffer with no end in sight.]

voice;

[schoolingfish]

I don't know if it's any different in my world, or if we even have mermaids. I've never met anyone who called themselves a mermaid, but a couple of people here seemed to really like mermaids.

[And Luca can't imagine that too many people would be excited about mermaids if they were that terrible.]

And your husband said I looked like a mermaid, so I was starting to wonder if it was just another word for what we are.

[But now they're sounding pretty different from anything Luca's familiar with. And of course he's assuming Vyng and Tuck are married since they're raising a child together.]

I've never met him before so I'm not sure I'd be able to talk to him...but maybe I can at least help the people who do know him get closer to him without drowning.

[spiritwalks]

[Luca isn't exactly wrong in his assumption, even if theirs is an extremely unconventional marriage between two semi-platonic partners. So Vyng doesn't correct him.]

He didn't mean anything malicious by it. Tuck just says the first thing that pops in his head sometimes. [A beat.] ...Most of the time, hahah.

Mermaids might be gentler toward people on other worlds.

[Vyng's gills don't function so well when he's acting under pressure — and a rescue operation would definitely put him under pressure. But he can run across water almost as easily as he swims, so he normally wouldn't be too worried about helping people get to Orpheus. Unfortunately, his bones are screaming at him to rest right now.

He's pretty much useless at the moment. Which makes Luca's contributions all the more important.

Warmly, he says:]

Great idea, bud. That would be a huge help. Do you think you can keep your head on straight while he's singing?

audio: un; apparition

[unphase]

[Orpheus and Eurydice. she hadn't been wrong in her initial assessment of Orpheus being, well. who mythology said he was. and she can only imagine his pain at losing Eurydice.

she settles herself into flying to wherever Orpheus is, no matter what]

The Farthest Shore? This is the first time I've heard of it. Do you have directions?

video;

[spiritwalks]

Uhhh, hold on—

[Vyng points his omni at the boardwalk, before slowly panning over the black sand, and then to the choppy waves. Most Sleepers will recognize it as the area where they first washed up.

...It's the Farther Shores. He meant the Farther Shores.

He's trying his best.]

Does that help?

[...PROBABLY NOT, if Tinya's already in the middle of flying.]

[unphase]

[yes, she remembers that place all too well. it's sort of hard to forget being a squid temporarily before solidifying into hersel.

it's okay, they're all under stress]

Yes, thank you. Do you know what--what happened to cause this?

[the question feels invasive, but she needs to know everything possible in order to try and be effective]

Video: UN - Runeseeker

[onerthes]

I didn't know Eurydice other than in passing. [She might have met her once. She knew 'of' her more than knew her through his memories.] So, he's been corrupted into a beast form?

...

New arrivals will be here any day. I'm not much help in controlling a beast, but I'll try to keep people from engaging him that just arrived. Are you alright?

[spiritwalks]

Please. Do whatever you can, VL.

[By now he's figured out how to enable subtitles on the video, so the wool can at least stay in his ears. Vyng doesn't want to take any chances with the siren song.]

I dunno, I— [He runs a hand down his face and sighs.] I'll be okay. My body just decided it needed to lie down.

[onerthes]

Don't overtax yourself. I only know of one beast-form for any of us whose threat is relatively minimal. [And even then, Luz was dangerous.] If you encountered him in that state it may have taken a lot out of you. Has anyone come and tended to you yet?

Video;

[wapples]

[This is alarming for a whole bunch of reasons, but at least a couple of those, Billie isn't willing to consider at the moment.]

Vyng! Are you okay? What can we do to help? How are we gonna stop him?

[spiritwalks]

I don't know yet, buddy.

[It's the only answer he's got. For all of those questions.]

Have you met Orpheus before?

[wapples]

Well... No, not exactly...

[Or at all. He's never met Orpheus or Eurydice. Not yet, at least.]

But I still wanna help!