abraxaslogs | ❂ open!

Who: river & you!!
When: over the first week of december!
Where: nocwich and castle thorne
What: exploring nocwich for that good cross-faction CR and then a week later when river's canon powers return with a suckerpunch
Warnings: possible mentions of human experimentation, torture, and child abuse. there are content warnings for canon themes and an opt-in/opt-out post for her psychic abilities over here, please check it out!

☾ backdated - nocwich

[ being new to abraxas - alarmed and terrified at being stolen away, having spent the first day traversing castle thorne in a daze as she tried to accept the reality of this world - there is no small amount of trepidation as she steps through the portal to nocwich. as far as the theoretical physics of it all, a portal is more outlandish than teleportation, which makes more sense from a logistical standpoint. although she's not a fan of the molecular deconstruction of her body just to be reassembled elsewhere, so maybe a magic portal won't be so bad...

anyone by the castle thorne portal might hear her mumbling about this for a long while before she finally takes a deep breath and steps through.

more than the notion of magic being real how is magic real, river's main curiosity is the fact of being allowed to go to nocwich at all. she isn't used to her captors being willing to let them leave, even if it's on a tight leash. nowhere close to freedom, but it falls to the back of her mind the moment she finds herself in the bright and lively nature of oleuni square.

with no money to spend and no inclination to buy anything in the first place, river spends her time just wandering around looking at everything with eyes the size of saucers. with a staunch lack of propriety, she'll pick up anything she's curious about and may or may not put it back where it belongs. she watches the performances on stage with rapt attention, stares a little too long at any non-human folks walking about, and otherwise seems to float about in a happy daze as she wanders alone through the streets.

might be best she's not left unattended for too long, lest she overstay her welcome and disturb the locals. ]

☉ current date - castle thorne

[ despite her early misgivings and intense mistrust of those what brought them to this world against their will, there is so much about the castle that excites the childlike wonder that encompasses river in her entirety. it's stunningly beautiful, and she spends a lot of time aimlessly wandering around ( generally barefoot ) as she takes in the architecture, hangs out in the gardens, and puts her fingers all over anything that even remotely looks magical.

more often than not, it looks like she's having fun. she might get shy or suspicious when people approach her, especially any of the thornean mages, but she does well enough to explore with a brightness to her features.

in many ways, it's a blessing of her eyes being closed, her mind shut to the influx of noise and chaos that ordinarily floods her senses. river knew better than to hope the silence might stay forever, but it still catches her by surprise when the moment comes during breakfast on her eighth day. like a tidal wave crashing over her, the thoughts and emotions and worries and fears and secrets and everythingeverything around her overloads her senses.

anyone in the dining hall might hear a loud scream and the clatter of dishes as river flings herself out and away from the table. she winds up on the floor, eyes wide and shaking like a leaf in the wind, ready to be blown away by the slightest breeze. she rambles in distress, seemingly without seeing anyone in front of her even as she sees everything. ]

No, no no no. No! You can't - you can't be here, you can't! Qǐng shàngdì liánmǐn - stay away!

[ tears in her eyes and screams in her ears, river may be hard to console as she tries and fails to fight back the rising tide of panic. let's just hope nothing sharp or pointy finds its way into her shaking hands... ]

[ ooc: as a reminder, hover over any chinese text for a translate, and please hop on over to her opt-in/opt-out post to let me know how you'd like me to play her psychic abilities around your character. feel free to reach out to me at ragemarshmallow on discord or

varooooom if you want to plot anything out! 💚 ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Slightly off the market path sits a manshark in a leather kilt. In front of him is a small crate filled with rocks (most of them valueless), shells (most of them broken), sea glass, and the odd crab that crawls out the side in an escape attempt. A sign states BUY ROCKS, scrawled by an inexperienced hand.

Surprisingly, some locals ARE buying rocks. Or, at least, trading for them. In exchange, Nanaue has received: more rocks, a piece of red dyed wool, some dried beans, and a pretty but very dead beetle. These earnings are also for immediate sale, it seems. ]

Want buy?

[ Flat, black eyes watch her, his mouth forming a large 'smile'.

He seems... content. Happy. The yawning void of his hunger is never completely satisfied, but he must've eaten recently. ]

[ now, river means no disrespect when her eyes widen every time she catches sight of the many non-humans that pass through nocwich. she can't help it; human beings crossed galaxies, going as far as they could to find habitable systems, and there's no evidence of extraterrestrial lifeforms. abraxas challenges her notion of reality, so every person river finds is a little piece of magic she has to learn how to accept.

he's a manshark selling things from the sea, and he looks happy. river's eyes shine with wonder. ]

She doesn't have any coin.

[ even still, river crouches down, the heavy skirts of the dress she was given pooling over her feet. hands on her knees and head cocked to the side, she examines his wares curiously. ]

You found this?

[ Her curiosity is mirrored in his own inhuman features. ]

I find! [ This he says proudly, as another crab attempts to escape the crate. It skitters away frantically - but Nanaue blocks it with one meaty hand and gently picks it up, placing it back in the box. With his hand already in there, he digs out a smoothed piece of green sea glass and holds it out in his palm. ]

No coin... ? Okay. [ He points with his other hand to the pile of things people have been trading, some of it literal garbage. ] Take credit!

[ She must have something! ]

[ she smiles wide when he puts the crab back in the box, watching with bright eyes. credit, huh? what could she have that's worth anything? river pats around the pockets of her cloak to see what she might've brought with her from castle thorne, then pulls out everything she finds and lays it out in front of her:

a few colorful stones from one of the many gardens, some odd looking flowers ( one of which has a suspicious bite taken out of it ), a few cookies wrapped up in a handkerchief, and a shiny silver spoon she swiped from the dining hall.

she observes her 'wares' for a moment and then blinks at him. ]

Is anything credit-able?

[ Nanaue immediately drops the sea glass and reaches for the spoon... ]

Like this! Nice!

[ ... and starts using the end to pick between his many, many teeth. ]

You take. All good trade.

[ Which she can interpret to mean she can take anything that catches her eye - including one of the escaping crabs, which is making another valiant attempt to flee the box while Nanaue is distracted with his toothpick-spoon. ]

[ oh, the way her eyes sparkle at the sight of his teeth. the kind of thing you might only ever see otherwise in museums or encyclopedias or at the end of a man's life if he's misbehaving in waters that ain't his to swim in. river is still watching him go at it with the spoon when her hand snaps out to catch the crab before it can escape too far, neatly picking it up and putting it back in the box without looking.

it's only then that she manages to tear her attention away to look down at the box again. the green sea glass he had been holding is tempting, but she shifts things aside a bit to see what else there is before finally pulling out a piece of yellow glass instead. it's pale enough to almost seem white, but as she holds it up in front of her face and turns it this way and that, the unique color shines through. ]

Shiny.

[ a bit of whispered awe for what might otherwise be random stuff from the sea. river clutches it tightly in her hand and smiles happily at him. ]

Good trade. Xièxiè!

[ Nanaue, having accidentally chewed off half the spoon while 'flossing' does not notice she's done deciding until she's smiling at him. He smiles back again. Sometimes he misses making people scream and run around, he likes chasing, but this is nice too. Maybe he will become a permanent shop owner. He's already so popular.

Having a shaky grasp of the english language alone means he gives her a curious look for what she says after good trade. ]

Shee-shee? No, me Nanaue!

[ somewhere, a kitchen hand in castle thorne is surely weeping. river, on the hand, is thoroughly amused. ]

River. Thank you, Nanaue.

[ she even gives a small curtsy, just to be extra polite about it! if he's ever standing up shop here again, she'll be sure to swing by to see what new treasures he has in store. ]

You welcome, River...!

[ He does not stand up to return the curtsy, but he does wave goodbye from where he sits. It's likely he will be back again next month... ]

[ river waves back before walking away, holding the glass up to her eye as she wanders into the crowd.

... totally forgetting any of the other stuff she had pulled out of her pockets. congrats nanaue, accidental extra presents for you! ♡ ]

❂ open!

Nocwich

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cute...!!

i love them sm !!