• OPEN •

[carmesi]

WHO: anyone and everyone in solvunn
WHAT: mingle for the summoned, particularly the new people
WHEN: a day or two after the new summoned arrive
WHERE: in aloy's homestead—crossing some wilderness but close to the primary settlement
WARNING: TBA

A. THE JOURNEY THERE

The invitation to Aloy’s homestead is made shortly after the newly Summoned find their bearings within the Primary Settlement. Aloy begrudgingly agrees to it, but seeing as how their group has grown within Solvunn—it probably is for the best to be a little more open to the presence of others. Much like with the treehouse by the lakes, it’s good to know of another place further away from the settlements where the Summoned might feel comfortable enough to traverse into.

That is not to say that the homestead is very friendly to strangers, though. Aloy has set up tripwires, disguised pitfalls, snare traps, and other devices in the surrounding area, creating thus a challenging attempt for anyone who wants to travel there by themselves. Additionally, a way to avoid most of that (read: not all; consider it a bonus for getting close to the homestead) is to go through the arboreal parkour course that has been set up. A network of catwalks, platforms, and balancing ropes to traverse the woods. Reaching Aloy’s truly is a test of guts and skill. 


(Alternatively, travel with Wanda or Himeka—the path clears up for them. For the ballsy, follow Nero and Rocket; surely they aren’t scheming anything…)

And, past all of that, the woods will open up to a tall, spiky fence, about eight feet tall, and the gate will lead towards the homestead proper.

B. HOME SWEET HOMESTEAD

The seasons are turning, and while Solvunn doesn’t suffer from incredibly cold winters, there is definitely a chill in the air. Storm clouds in the distance by the coast rupture with booming thunder, bringing down the temperature quite significantly. It makes the bonfire burning outside a welcome source of warmth. Despite the threat of rain, there’s a strong chance the skies will clear up, as the wind picks up.

Within, Aloy’s homestead boasts the woman’s survival and technical skills. Making the most of her resources, there are meats hanging to dry, chopped wood on the side of the house, and animal skins splayed out that will most likely need to be stored at some point. The inside of the homestead is a simple affair, but for someone who isn’t in the business of receiving guests, it’s decent enough.

For today, the space—inside and outside—has a few extra wooden chairs and tables, picnic style, and they’re decorated with an assortment of food: recently harvested apples from the orchard, berries, roasted mushrooms and acorns, and more complex dishes thanks to Himeka’s arduous work in the kitchen the day before. At one point, a giant stew will cook over the bonfire, with meats and veggies, with bowls to the side for anyone to take their fill. Additionally, there will be grilled fish, flat breads, baked cabbage with lentils and, for those with a sweet tooth, apple pie. Wanda will also be sharing sarmale, a pot of goulash, spinach and cheese pastry—gibanica, and a table of assortments to build their own burgers. Additionally, there will also be apple cake and mandelbrot cookies. All in all? No one’s going hungry at the homestead.

But, worry not, all that food needs to go down with something. Barrels of mead and ale will be available for all to drink. For those who don’t want anything alcoholic, there is apple (and other fruit) juice available.

Make merry and mingle, new faces and old faces alike.

And, of course, please take one of the pamphlets.

C. THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING

Lightning strikes, and almost immediately the boom of thunder brings an eerie quiet to the homestead and the forest past its fences. There’s the awkward laugh the tries to break the silence, shaking the jitters away. Some are quicker than others in mobilizing, perhaps feeling the pinprick of raindrops that others don’t, and start moving what they can salvage from the food and miscellaneous items into the cabin. Some may choose to spare themselves of the rain, pushing the way inside or hiding under the roof’s awning at either side of the cabin; others may be entirely unbothered by the rain, as heavy drops fall fast from the darkened skies.

More thunder rumbles in the distance, roiling ever closer from the mountains in Thorne’s southern border.

A few Summoned might notice it first, that it isn’t really the rumbling of thunder that shakes the muddled earth. The grunts of approaching beasts are mixed with the sound of hooves drumming up in rhythm of an uninvited approach. Birds fly away in flocks as the mammoth boars make their way through the forest, inadvertently towards the homestead.

They are due their mating season, and traveling to the wintry mountains of Thorne has been delayed by the appearance of the beasts in the rifts, the journey now a toll on the boars as the continuous lighting and thunder confuses, frightens, and angers them.

They ram into the fence at different points, and chaos would soon ensue, but thankfully all the Summoned have their powers back.

Right?

D. CLEARING UP

After a few boars were felled, the rest scrambled and escaped, continued their path northward. Killing some of them was inevitable, but nothing ought to be left to waste. The skies clear, the waning moon appears over a colorful sunset, and the rain stops. The fire is built again in earnest, and meat is, quite literally, back on the menu at the grilling station, as per Nero’s helpful suggestion. Some fences need a little mending, and a general amount of cleaning up within the homestead needs to be done, too.

As sunset gives way to nighttime, the sky—once marred in dark tones of gray—gives way to a beautiful night sky, with stars and constellations to be delighted by many. Wanda will be offering to dry the wet clothes of those still sticking around, and Himeka hands over warm cocoa or warm cider, something for everyone.

Now that things have quieted down, and with folk sitting around the fire or standing just by the edges of it, Rocket and Wanda inform everyone of the letter from the Nether that they received—something, perhaps, so they can get a general idea of what everyone thinks; about getting involved, about helping, about Solvunn’s interests in all this. It’s not meant to start an argument, debate, or a long conversation, but it’s something to have everyone think about — to know that they might be sent off somewhere else, soon, for a while, and brace for the trip.

Those who have been in Solvunn for a lot longer will be around, to ask questions or start a conversation about what has happened, what is currently happening, and theories for their futures, here.

Aloy didn’t mention anyone can stay to sleep, though, so best feel ready to head back at some point.

Comments

[carmesi]

—is it a new ability for you, or have your powers not returned fully yet?

[it takes some longer than others, to shake off the effects of the summoning ritual. it could also be something partly blocked by the user itself. wanda sets her cup of tea down on the table beside her, turning a bit more to face esme.]

Telepathy, isn't it.

[it's not a question]

[cuckooo]

It's not returned fully yet.

[ at this point it may wholly be a mental block on esme's part because she's so cut off from her sisters and their hivemind, in a way she hasn't been since they were all back at the lab in shock collars to suppress their powers, but she's choosing instead to blame her arrival here for scrambling her circuits so much.

looking inward? gross.

she pokes at her cake sullenly, shifting in discomfort. ]

[carmesi]

[that answers two questions in one.

(—and maybe one that wasn't asked—)

wanda mulls over this for a moment, before leaning forward, reaching out with her hand. she could do this abruptly, with just a glance, but that would be intrusive. palm up, she's aiming for something that might be a little easier.

if that's what esme wants.]

I can never really shut off what I gather from others, unless I make a conscious effort of it. I'd like to try something out, if you'd let me. [there's a frustration about the blonde that's hard to ignore, in this proximity, too.] I'm Wanda, by the way.

[cuckooo]

Esme.

[ another telepath. some of the suspicion fades away, but not all of it. even amongst mutants, telepaths are not particularly well thought of and the frosts were formidable enough that she and her sisters had developed something of a reputation.

she rubs at her arm idly, feeling the spark of pain from marcos' burn, before she sets the apple cake on the table next to her untouched tea and sets her hand in wanda's. ]

[carmesi]

[esme.

a name to connect to, along with physical touch. it's more than necessary, really, but they can become keys to a lock that would otherwise be impossible to open without using brute force. wanda doesn't want to rely on that, not anymore.

it's all wanda needs to draw into esme's mind; it feels cold, but there's comfort in this blue glow within her periphery. a telepath, just like her, who uses her mind to control others, to keep herself in a position of control. it's no surprise she's so guarded without it.

but there's also a bit of a void, something that... feels awfully familiar.

when wanda speaks to esme again, it's not through spoken words. it's not with the method the singularity allows them summoned to keep in touch. she speaks to the other woman's mind, directly, a gentle push of her thoughts into the other's. wanda holds her hand a little tighter.]

Why are you hesitating? Don't pull away.

[cuckooo]

[ there is an emptiness in esme's mind, not without thought because she is overthinking everything to the point that most thoughts are caught in a loop, but like the quiet in a room when everyone has left it. spaces where there should be another presence but instead it is empty, an oppressive sort of silence. no other minds to unfurl her own thoughts into something productive. further back still is a total hollowness, a chasm where space used to be, carved away entirely, blank and unfillable, simply a gap. ]

It won't work without them.

[ it will, it does, esme is capable without her sisters she's simply never been without her sisters. they were born with their powers, always together, five in one and then three in one. she's never been just one. ]

[carmesi]

[shapes come to mind. then the features, the curl of their hair, the similitude in appearance. sisters, but closer—always together, always connected. esme's telepathic response is almost like a radio with bad signal trying to get through, but it's there.

wanda's hand tightens, and, with her mind, she draws even closer.]

But it does. It will, and it can.

[and that's the difficult and frightening leap one hesitates to make: to do something for the first time without those who were always there. when she lost pietro, there was uncertainty in her every move, in her every word and thought. this is a sentiment she can understand.]

You are doing it right now.

[cuckooo]

[ someone welcoming esme in, welcoming the connection, is a rarity. kate, lorna when she was in labor, but mostly sophie and phoebe, even when they were cross with her. the last time she'd used her powers...

the memory of the agonizing pain as marcos held his hand against her bicep and burned his palm into her skin floods through her mind and she wrenches her hand back from wanda as if on instinct, as if it is happening again and she is trying to squirm out of the same painful grasp.

she exhales a gusty breath, eyes bright with tears but not with the soft glow of her powers, cradling her arm to her chest. the wariness has drained from her eyes, replaced instead with hurt but perhaps that is better in the long run. ]

Sorry. [ she wouldn't wish that pain on anyone. and she tortures people sometimes. ]

[carmesi]

[it's all pretty obvious, isn't it? that there's a lot of pain and hurt that hinders esme from comfortably using her powers now, outside of the obvious lack of comfort in the company she'd share her powers with. it's a bit generalized, but wanda thinks she gets the gist of it.

if she were someone else, if she didn't already caution her own mind against the will of others, perhaps the pain inflicted would have felt a hundred times worse.

the connection ends abruptly, esme taking her hand back onto herself, and the apology is rather unnecessary, in wanda's eyes.]

No one likes it when someone says they can read minds. Manipulate them in some way. [she purses her lips to the side, looking down, and rubbing at the heel of her hand with the other.] I was made to use my powers as a weapon against others. I hurt people. Even after I no longer wanted to be seen as a weapon, there were rules I had to follow.

Don't read the minds of those I worked with, don't plant ideas in people's heads. For a while I felt that no one could really trust me.

[tell the mindreader to not read your mind, and take their word for it. right?]

The only one who never feared me was my brother. He didn't mind that I was in his head, even if he couldn't do the same in return. He let me hide there when the rest of the world was too loud. [wanda raises her head to look at esme, having wanted to give her the privacy to rub away the tears without someone staring at her.] It's not the same, but it felt similar.

Whenever you're ready to try again, let me know. You won't hurt me, Esme.

[cuckooo]

[ the sentiment is achingly familiar. all of it. being used as a weapon to hurt people, convoluted rules that others didn't have to follow (every time reeva told the triplets to talk out loud, sophie seethed with resentment and esme can't blame her,) the lack of trust for her even when she was meant to trust all the people that had used their powers against her. marcos burned an imprint of his hand into her arm like a brand and lorna expected esme to trust him still, but no one ever trusted her. ]

What was his name?

[ past tense. it could just be that they're separated because of the summoning, but that kind of grief, a lost sibling, that ache is different and wanda didn't flinch away from the cavernous hole where mindee and celeste used to be. ]

[carmesi]

Pietro.

[any time someone asks, wanda is quick to give them his name, almost like she’s afraid of losing the opportunity to honor his memory in one way or another.]

We were twins.

[it’s an important fact—a part of her life, a certainty that she once had and is now gone. the question she asks, she asks quietly,]

What about yours?

[her siblings, that is.]

[cuckooo]

[ twins, that's why she understands. it's unnatural, being born together and dying apart, the crushing, despairing grief that feels like your heart is caving in, the years leaving corrosive rust behind, guilt. at least esme had phoebe and sophie to think about, suddenly the eldest, a position she never wanted or asked for, at least she wasn't alone.

not like she is now.

who is going to protect her sisters if she is not there? reeva? no, reeva would throw them under the bus the moment any decision became between her and them. the mutant underground wouldn't take them in, even if lorna vouched for them and maybe even lorna wouldn't look after her sisters. they're the youngest, they shouldn't have to look after themselves. ]

Celeste and Mindee. It's only Phoebe and Sophie now.

[carmesi]

[quite a big family—the term used loosely, of course. that makes five sisters in total, with two gone, and only three remaining; at least they're not entirely alone, but esme must be feeling that isolation quite deeply now.

it is never easy.]

Being on your own when you've never been without can be... unbearable. [she remembers, how much she wished to not be a second longer amidst the living if it meant it being without her brother, just deceased. her words are wistful, gaze lingering on a far-off object.] I know that.

[and then her gaze focuses on esme again.]

But you don't have to be. It's a small comfort, but you can have it if you want. If you'll let me.

[cuckooo]

[ esme watches her, careful, but her shoulder hunch, curling in on herself like she's physically trying to protect her fragile hummingbird heart. ]

I— [ she shakes her head. ] I can't, I'm sorry.

[ without saying anything more, she sets her plate aside and hurries away. leaving wanda and her offer, her help, and her kindness. esme doesn't know how to accept things like that one a good day and the past few days haven't been good. ]