An Evening Gathering

[photophobic]

WHO: Anyone welcome to wander around Castle Thorne!
WHAT: A little roundtable-townhall-mingle, a space to share information and discuss the Situation
WHEN: post-Horizon, after the new arrivals turn up so they can join in
WHERE: Castle Thorne's Dining Hall
NOTES: A little like a group therapy session but not, all characters will be invited to share anything they would like about their experiences and ask each other questions. Afterwards the group are free to mingle and discuss freely (just reply to the post itself). Let's bond, learn, complain about our new body parts and swap the hot goss!

---

The invitation spreads easily enough among the Welcomed (and those of the formerly imprisoned who have since earned a pardon), thanks to the cheerful efforts of everyone's favourite bard and the ever-grinding rumour mill: tonight, anyone interested in participating is invited to remain in the dining hall after the evening meal to discuss recent events. Depending on how far along the game of telephone the invitation is by the time it reaches any one person, further details may be difficult to pin down. It is clear at least that this meeting isn't being organised by Ambrose or anyone else from Thorne, though there's no effort to keep it secret from the inhabitants of the castle either. A call to arms this is not. This is not the venue for plotting against the establishment— seditionist talk is best left to the privacy of the Horizon.

Anyone choosing to attend will find the evening meal proceeds as it usually does. As the plates are cleared, though, the table becomes the setting for something of an informal discovery session, a meeting of minds. Everyone here is welcome to take a turn to speak if they would like, and to ask any questions they hope someone else may be able to answer. As the imprisoned are unable to attend, a recording is being made. However, going on the record is optional. Anyone who would rather keep their thoughts transient and non-incriminating is welcome to speak up without fear of being caught on tape.

The meeting breaks up once everyone has had a chance to speak, leaving plenty of opportunity for less structured discussion. Hopefully everyone can go to bed tonight feeling a little more informed and a little less alone...

Comments

[rehandle]

[ He's listening in on a conversation, gaze idly scanning the room, when a woman across the way that he'd overlooked on first pass pulls his attention back. It's unclear exactly why at first, some niggling curiosity - and then it clicks. Her eyes are closed, which would be an interesting enough choice for a person who'd actively gone out of their way to attend a gathering to talk and listen, if it weren't also for the way she's not slack in the way a sleeping person is slack.

Perhaps he only notices the barely-there difference because there's something about the calm she takes on in the middle of this bustling place that rings familiar. Intentional. He tunes back in to listen to the remainder of the conversation he's eavesdropping on before shifting focus and making his way over.

And she speaks, so there's that theory confirmed. Only her accent is so pronounced and unexpected that he doesn't quite have the time for his expression not to register his surprise. ]

— Yeah.

[ It had almost been an accident the first time. Meditation is part of his practice and after everything that had happened around that first venture to the Horizon he'd needed some balanced time free of thought to regain any sort of clarity for it. And then, without more effort than a curious focus in on that new pull between himself and something else, meditation had shifted gears. ]

Had enough of the conversation?

[ His tone is faintly wry. He wouldn't blame her if that was the reason for a bout of inward focus, maybe squeeze in a quick visit to another dimension to pass the time... but he doubts that's it. ]

[shadowsran]

[She's peeking fast enough to catch his expression, and chooses to take amusement over offense. Not many from her neck of the woods among the uprooted, it's to be expected. Of more interest and no small amount of relief is his answer. She hasn't been back - too eager, she suspects. Too tense at the prospect of finding herself unable or the place somehow blocked. He's debunked at least the latter.

Grinning openly, she shakes her head.]

No. Fine enough folks, mostly, but I've got a lot more to hear than say and it's tapering off into the casual stuff. It's a good chance to see if I need to adjust technique here, anyway. Used to doing this- [she raises a hand, gesturing vaguely to herself to indicate meditation] in the woods. Wondering if maybe I'm just missing the bustle in the background. I haven't been back yet, myself.

Does it feel different there, without everyone visiting at once?

[rehandle]

[ Part of her practice then, too, whatever that practice is. Something that's prepared her for easy and focused talk about other dimensions - does it feel different there? It's not the kind of question he thinks would come up with someone for whom feeling out for things doesn't come naturally.

He takes a moment to consider her question, gauge his response. ]

Yes and no. Knowing who you are when you arrive changes the feeling in itself. Having more to draw on than instinct changed my perception, so it's hard to say what else had really changed.

[ An innate ability to listen and learned skill for listening well are two different things, and the shift in his experience could've been down to either one. It's going to take more time to know what's what - which awareness is natural, which the hangover of a complementary skillset, and how much more can be learned fresh.

Though, on the topic of the Horizon and a difference in feeling when knowing who you are... his mouth quirks slightly, wry. ]

Though I don't think it's going to take long for the landscape to change, in case there were any landmarks you were particularly fond of.

[shadowsran]

[Nothing that doesn't make sense. Further incentive to keep at it until she's returned herself, see if she can articulate it to herself.

Ownerless domains were their own concern entirely, and one she's grateful he brings up first. Biting the inside of her cheek, she wishes the circumstances were better for vetting.]

Could I ask a favor of you, the next time you're back? There's that mountain with the volcano, if you could go to the swamp at its borders on one side and change something - tree, chair, make something inanimate something else? I'm wondering if we'll have any way of knowing what happens with ours when we're not in the Horizon itself. Obviously nothing I can test by myself.