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Post by Noa on Oct 12, 2019 17:34:18 GMT -6
Rhys cocked his head to one side. The creature didn't respond, or at least not to his telepathic message. It had made a noise, but Aster wasn't familiar with the species, and didn't know what exactly it was intending to convey.
"I don't think it, uh, talks like that," Aster ventured. Telepathy was universal, but communicating in words wasn't, and some creatures were less intelligent than others--- or more alien, possibly, in this particular case.
{Oh,} said Rhys.
Aster thought he might be discouraged, but Rhys merely took this information in stride and tried another tactic. This time, the Felusine let out a yip in return and play-bowed, accompanying his actions with a mental image of the two of them playing together. Aster arched his brows and scratched his head. Was Rhys trying to entreat the creature to play with him? That was what it looked like, but... to what end?
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Post by Jack on Oct 12, 2019 18:30:17 GMT -6
Honestly, the Specter had no idea how to react to this, but it stepped forward, ethereal paws not rustling the leaves on the ground until it was face to face with the Felusine. Then, without warning, it disappeared and then reappeared next to the man, sniffing at his feet a little.
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Post by Noa on Oct 12, 2019 19:09:26 GMT -6
The two of them waited in anticipation as the creature approached, Rhys watching with curious eyes, while Aster stood back, more reserved, and ready to do... something if things went wrong. He wasn't sure what, exactly, as this creature didn't exactly look corporeal, but still...
Rhys was just straightening and leaning in to inspect the spectre in turn when it vanished, startling him. {Whoa!} he said, looking around hurriedly, only to catch sight of Aster startling too when the creature appeared next to him.
Aster looked at the creature and sighed, smiling a small, wry smile. "He's the one that's asking to play, but you decide to come over here, huh?" Crouching down, he held his hand out to the creature, making sure to move with slow, deliberate movements so as not to startle it into thinking that he was a threat. Admittedly, he didn't know if this was the right thing to do, but it seemed curious. If it wanted to sniff, he may as well let it.
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Post by Jack on Oct 12, 2019 20:00:00 GMT -6
The Specter stepped back for a moment before leaning forward then and sniffing the man's hand. It then popped back in front of the Felusine and dropped down on it's front legs, wagging it's tail behind it. Play huh? It could play!
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Post by Noa on Oct 12, 2019 20:51:45 GMT -6
Aster was almost prepared for the creature to do its little disappearing act. Almost. He still jerked up slightly when it happened, but at least he realized what happened pretty quickly. That... That was going to take some getting used to, if the creature decided to stick around them.
Not that he was all that sure that it would. He wondered if he had spooked the thing somehow and scared it off after all, despite his best attempts to avoid that, but when he turned around, it was there next to Rhys, who seemed to be delighted that the creature had apparently accepted his invitation to play.
Rhys bounced around it, darting in and then away, inviting it to a game of tag. Aster watched them, and couldn't help shaking his head. After all that, the way the specter looked now, it didn't seem any different from a common Vulticus... Maybe this kind of thing transcended species.
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Post by Jack on Oct 12, 2019 21:03:37 GMT -6
Huh, this would be fun! It howled again before darting off after the Felsuine. It was going to be fun playing with this one, definitely! Nothing was going to keep it away from this pair after awhile.
[Congratulations, you've tamed the Specter!]
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Post by Noa on Oct 12, 2019 22:40:45 GMT -6
The creature went along with Rhys's games for a while, but eventually it disappeared and didn't reappear again. Aster was left scratching his head again, but he had the sense that this wasn't the last he would see of it.
{That was strange,} said Rhys. He shook himself off, and took one last look around for the specter, as though he expected to see it turn up somewhere. Alas, it seemed that it wasn't anywhere within immediate sight, at least. {Do you think it had fun?} Rhys asked.
"I don't know, you're the telepath," said Aster with a shrug. "I think that was the first one I've seen in person." He'd heard about these things before, now that he thought about it, but he hadn't remembered much at the time that seemed like it might be any use, and he was dead certain that he didn't have any firsthand experience with them.
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Post by Noa on Oct 12, 2019 22:46:05 GMT -6
But from what he'd seen of the one they'd encountered, he didn't think they were dangerous, at least. Maybe that was underestimating them, and maybe he would regret that later, but for the moment... This one had had kind of a cute side to it, despite the spooky way it had stared at them at first.
"I wonder if they see a lot of people going through here. It seemed friendly enough, after it decided we weren't a threat," Aster mused.
{I didn't know anyone else lived here,} Rhys said. {Do you think they get lonely?}
"I think there are probably colonies of them, or at least the ones that want to live together," Aster said. The mining familiars, at least, seemed to sometimes live in groups, though he also didn't know exactly where these creatures would... live, on the months when the mansion's grounds were ill suited to what they needed.
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Post by Noa on Oct 12, 2019 22:50:21 GMT -6
But it was one of those questions where Aster could sense that he would give himself a headache if he thought about it too hard. The whole thing with the mansion changing with the months was like that. He didn't know enough about magic to make even an educated guess about what was at work here, so it was better to just leave that stuff to someone else.
{Oh,} said Rhys. {I guess it's good that they're not by themselves... That one didn't seem sad, at least, though I have a lot more trouble picking up on feelings.}
"Do you?" Aster said. He hadn't really asked Rhys before, what it was like to be telepathic, and what exactly he picked up when he did it. Well, he supposed most of the literature he'd seen in these parts classed telepathy and empathy as separate traits, so it made sense enough in that context.
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Renathan
Artist
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Post by Renathan on Oct 13, 2019 8:17:29 GMT -6
  A runebeast appears to be playing in a pile of leaves. It leaps out with two wax ones in it's mouth; even though the others are actual leaves! [Through 15] |
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2019 20:04:14 GMT -6
Rhys, who probably knew even less about these things, at least seemed optimistic about his prospects. {Maybe I'll get better at it if I practice,} he said hopefully.
"Maybe," Aster said. He had no way of knowing whether it would be true or not, after all. He knew a good deal about what Rhys was supposed to be able to do, but what happened on paper and what happened in reality, when a creature put their mind to something, sometimes worked out a little differently.
Their encounter did inspire one change in the way that Rhys was holding himself--- or maybe it was better to say, the way that he was approaching this whole exploring business. The Felusine was now poking about in the leaves for any other signs of strange creatures, or at the very least, creatures that they hadn't noticed before.
They didn't meet another spectre, but something did jump out.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2019 20:08:19 GMT -6
Rhys didn't startle dramatically. Later, Aster would note that with some approval; it was impossible to predict how a creature was going to react if they were suddenly frightened, beyond knowing from experience where their tendencies lay, and moreover, it was a hard thing to change. Freezing wasn't ideal in a dangerous situation, but it was generally safer and easier to recover from than something more dramatic like leaping into the air or lashing out.
In the moment, however, seeing Rhys twitch made Aster freeze too. It was only when the two of them realized that the creature they'd seen was too small to be any threat that they both relaxed.
{What... What is this?} said Rhys, watching the little blue thing with wide, fascinated eyes. He had lowered himself to better inspect it, and the blue creature hissed at his approach, threatened by the sheer difference between them in size.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2019 20:11:12 GMT -6
Aster cast a cursory glance at the thing and gave a shrug. "I haven't seen one of those before, but judging by size, at least, I'd say it's one of those... pocketpets." They were popular with certain people, and sometimes even with certain pets. He didn't collect them the way some others did, generally finding them too much trouble to keep track of, not to mention their tendency to either get underfoot or turn up in really inconvenient places if you lost track of them.
Thus, Aster was really hoping Rhys wouldn't ask to take it home with them. A specter, maybe, but not pocketpets.
{What's that it's got in its mouth?} said Rhys. Hearing those words, Aster took another, closer look at the pocketpet. He hadn't noticed anything the first time, but to be fair, he hadn't been looking very hard at that point, thinking there was nothing worth paying close attention to.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2019 20:28:09 GMT -6
Sure enough, there was a hint of a different color around the blue thing's mouth. Aster hadn't paid it much mind himself, thinking that it might have been a part of the creature's natural coloring, but it did also seem to sort of... stick out, didn't it?
{I think it's some of these dead leaves,} said Rhys.
Well, he was the one who was getting all up close and personal with the thing, Aster thought. It may as well be dead leaves. "Maybe it eats them?" Aster suggested.
{Do you think so? They're all brown and decayed though... I don't think that's good for its health,} said Rhys. The fact that he seemed to be genuinely concerning... Aster wasn't sure whether that was more funny or more bothersome.
"You're not thinking of actually trying to---" he began, but he was cut off as Rhys pounced forward, apparently attempting to capture the creature.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2019 20:30:58 GMT -6
So, yes, to answer his unfinished question, it really did look as though Rhys intended to get involved for the sake of the health of a random pocketpet he had just met. Which meant the odds of Rhys wanting to take it home with them had gotten that much higher now. Wonderful.
The pocketpet didn't make things easy on Rhys, of course. It didn't know what the Felusine's intentions were, and as far as it was concerned, it was facing the very real possibility of becoming a meal. The little blue creature jumped out from between Rhys's claws, and darted away into the foliage, which left Rhys no choice but to dash off in pursuit.
"Hey!" Aster said sharply, seeing Rhys dive into a pile of leaves. "Where are you... Oh geez." His protest was cut off, and turned into an unhappy mutter, as first Rhys and then the blue creature re-emerged.
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