W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[strangerpeople]

W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[The national council just announced the blight to the country.

There was no sugarcoating it anymore. This was a critical time. Saving all of the vines is paramount, but what does one do when the blight hits? It keeps encroaching on the grapes, day by day. Entire clusters, entire bunches, dead and rotting, while allowing the blight to spread, and the leading botanists and viticulturists cannot identify the origin or the cause. They can't even successfully isolate the culprit in their labs; it seems to disappear like air no matter the precautions taken.

It is a catastrophe that seems to be beyond science, and it will result in the complete collapse of the entire country's wine industry. Already, embargoes on this year's crop have forced other grape-growers to close shop for the year after they'd sold their previous stock; it is all too possible that no grapes might ever be grown here again if a cure cannot be found. The tourists have stopped coming. The towns have grown silent.

You, meanwhile, are devastated. With the way your business is going, it will be on the brink of bankruptcy within the year. You will soon have no choice but to close shop and let every grapevine die, let the land go fallow. There must be a cure for this, there must be. Yet everything that can go wrong is.

Then, as you watch the news, it happens. Breaking news. The blight has been found in another country.

It is a pandemic-and it is only getting worse.


-

Well. This is...what else can can anyone say? You all know the deal. You all know what situation you're in. All that is left is to figure out what you can do about it. If there's anything that can be done.

You still feel that compulsion to distrust. To know you cannot win. To know that only the hosts have your best interests in mind. It would be easy to just do all that. But would it be the right thing to do? You can't be completely sure. Indeed, nothing is certain here, except for that damned ticking sound. If only you could stop it.

But you can't stop it. It is inevitable.


There are 15 strangers in this place.]

Comments

[katzenpfote]

Ah, another McBurn type. Given the display we had, I don't know that it's quite such a good idea.

[comesaround]

Not quite at his level, though. I'm not going to just go and pick a fight with our hosts as easily as he had.

[ Plus they all saw how THAT went, so... yeah. ]

Sometimes all that's left IS to fight. Best to be prepared for the worst outcome just in case.

[katzenpfote]

Oh, I know that well enough. I have been in plenty of battles. I'm just... not much of a direct combatant myself.

[comesaround]

Which is fine. Not all people are meant to be fighters on the front lines.

[ Though he is horribly curious now and he can't help it. ]

What kind have battles have you been in?

[katzenpfote]

Oh, plenty. Incinerating bandits, firing scorching rays at oni, slamming demons with a giant clay cat's paw...

[comesaround]

Oh? That last one sounds fun. Feel like elaborating?

[ Going to just sit a little bit near Caleb now, his interest fully piqued. ]

[katzenpfote]

Ah... we were investigating underneath a well that we had chased an incubus and succubus to. There was a hole in the wall leading to a tunnel, and there was a partially-constructed gate to the Abyss there. Small demons were coming through and so we had to fight before we could close the gate.

One of my spells allows me to summon a giant clay cat paw from the ground. It's... the mechanics are complicated, but essentially it's pushing the arcane weave to reform bits of ground under your control. One of the demons was much smaller than the claw, so it simply squashed it.

[comesaround]

[ In this moment it almost seems like a kid listening to storytime from a parent, his attention absolutely riveted as he listens. Even reacting appropriately and laughing a bit at the end of that story. ]

Oh, man. Didn't sound like it was that guy's day. Not one bit.

[ Then the inevitable question had to come sooner or later. ]

Have you had to deal with demons and used magic your whole life, then? Can everyone use magic or is it just a couple selective people who can?

[katzenpfote]

Eh... demons are new for our group to deal with.

Other [than the ones Fjord summons, but we don't talk about those.]

Magic is very common, ja, especially among families with the resources to purchase or otherwise acquire magical items. As for casting it, there's a few types. Those who fully devote themselves to a god may gain powers from their deity, some devote themselves fully to nature and may become druids, some form pacts with a patron either willingly or unwillingly and become warlocks.

And those who study very hard and have the talent for it may become arcane spellcasters like myself. Wizards. There are some less common types, as well... but arcane spellcasters tend to be... well. I believe Beauregard would call me a nerd. Which is not wrong.

Anyone can wave a Wand of Dancing Lights and cast it, but not everyone can cast it for themselves, if that makes sense.