[ Open ] This is What I Brought You

[portolan]

Who: Balthier portolan and you
What: Tarot Reading, return from off-world, open post
When: Mid to late November
Where: Excelsior, his shop, around town
Content Warnings: None so far



OOC: As always, will match prose or brackets.

I. Sign of the Times

[ Business has been...odd...since the near world-ending, since everyone started leaving town, since the guilds have cracked down. It's all the more important he keep the shop safe, but he's that much more wary of people wandering in. So far, the normal folk don't seem to suspect the shop is anything more than a beautiful man with beautiful objects.

But he's been getting restless. So he puts a message out on Our Powers; stop by, guild discounts (either side) and also he's reading tarot.

There's an antique table and two comfortable antique chairs. There are a few decks to choose from. ]

You have a question in mind? You don't have to tell me, but you should think about it while you shuffle.

II. No Place Like Home

[ It's not like Balthier to be low or keep to himself. But between the world almost ending, and then his friends slowly moving our of Excelsior, the anti-meta sentiment threatening the safety of he and his loved ones. He honestly hadn't noticed it eroding his energy.

But after two weeks home, both relieved that his loved ones there are safe and buffeted by the pain of being away from them, he's trying to make a better effort.

So he's reached out, invited people over for tea or dinner, trying to keep this house full and warm as the need to just jump on a ship and go steadily increases. ]

You know this is the longest I've spent tied to one location. There's something enchanting about watching the weather change.

[ He sets out a tray of tea and snacks, all in beautiful antiques. Honestly, eleven months ago, he'd never have expected to get this much comfort out of being so domestic, but here he is. ]

III. Wildcard / Catch-All

[ All your Balthier needs ]

Comments

[portolan]

Yes, we have them -- quite a few species. And dinosaurs. Which are not extinct. And chocobos. No horses, not the soft kind they ride here anyway. We don't have hares or rabbits, though have a similar larger species that's a good deal more...fluffed.

[unkindled_madness]

You have chocobos?

[This is clearly the most important one on the list.]

[portolan]

Ah, do you also?

[ Thus far no one has heard of them. His pleasure at the shared piece of information is clear. ]

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth is also clearly pleased by this. Finally!]

Yes. No horses, they're entirely mythical.

I expect chocobos aren't as commonplace as they once were, but even in the city, it's not unusual to see one.

[portolan]

I thought someone was playing a trick on me asking about horses and made an ass of myself. But really, what is the stranger animal? Not chocobos.

Our military uses them. They're extremely plentiful.

[unkindled_madness]

Agreed.

Our military has a preference for vehicles, but chocobos are better suited to mountainous terrain, so we used them more during the war.

[portolan]

Vehicles are a fairly new change for us with sky stone, though they're expensive. Chocobos are still preferred for land travel, yes.

[unkindled_madness]

It sounds as though most of your vehicles fly.

["Sky" stone and all.]

[portolan]

Mm they do. The cars here confused me.

[unkindled_madness]

There are quite a lot of them here.

[portolan]

They're noisy too.

[unkindled_madness]

Yes.

I find it more pleasant in Sunset Falls.

[portolan]

I do enjoy that aspect of Sunset. Sometimes it's a little too close to home for me -- Excelsior is nothing like Ivalice. Other than the flying vehicles.

[unkindled_madness]

I find it... a little more the opposite.

[portolan]

Sunset less like home, then?

[ That would track with what little he saw of it. ]

[unkindled_madness]

Yes. At least, the parts I was familiar with. I grew up in the city.

[portolan]

Ah, so we have that in common.

[unkindled_madness]

Rather different cities though, it seems, if different places remind us of them.

[portolan]

Unsurprising, given what I've seen of your world, and that mine seems more aesthetically aligned with the 18th century here. Though we did have skyscrapers, at least where I grew up.

[unkindled_madness]

And trees, I suppose?

[portolan]

Yes. I was surprised the taller buildings here don't tend to have plants on the exterior walls.

[unkindled_madness]

I don't know how it is here, specifically, but humanity tends to exclude plant life from their vision of technological progress.

[portolan]

Humes and humans seem to be similar in a lot of ways, but I think something about the magical tenacity of our environment has caused that one to diverge.

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth tilts his head, giving Balthier a glance over.]

Do you consider yourself to be a different species?

[portolan]

I haven't decided yet. The grand majority seems to overlap, but there are enough slight variances in worlds, it wouldn't be unheard of. And my world has multiple sentient, human-like species.