Hijikata Toshirou (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mayoninofukucho) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
ellipsanet2023-03-18 10:30 pm
mayoninofukucho) wrote in ellipsanet2023-03-18 10:30 pm
Video | Isekai Veteran Tips #1 (Blue Flash Quest)
[CW: Death on Livestream (but he'll be OK!)]
[While Ellipsa has been good to the otherworlders so far, it's still been a rough adjustment for Hijikata, and for one reason only: Nobody got power-nerfed!! Back in Edo, Lunatia, and Camelot he was considered a fearsome powerhouse of a swordsman, but here in Nightwake City... not so much.
He decides, however, to not let this break his stride, all the less once he takes notice of the 'Blue Flash' quest. At first the situation doesn't really ring a bell, but some research brings up previous similar incidents that saw people disappear in the same area, and the few blurry photos of the mysterious blue lights make a lightbulb go on in his head. He knows what these are!!
And so, a few days later, a stream goes live on the network. Despite the late hour and the creepy location (why does the airship station have to be in between the border to the cold Winter Segment, the Abandoned Mansion, and the Great Tree of Death?!) he looks confident as his phone floats in front of him (he got better at levitating things recently, and this way he'll have his hands free!).]
This is Hijikata, reporting in from the Autumn Segment. Some of you may have seen the 'Blue Flash' quest on the quest board. I'm here to confirm what happened.
[He wanders towards the dark forest behind him, still talking into the phone.]
I'm a bit of a veteran at being sent to other worlds, so I'm familiar with some creatures most of you may not have encountered before. When I looked into the case I noticed that the "blue flashes" can really only be one thing: will'o'wisps.
[As if on cue a couple of pale blue, flame-like wisps come into view, playfully circling around each other, and he makes the phone float past him to properly capture them.]
They're harmless fae beings that lead lost people out of the forest... ideally. I have an inkling that these might be spectral will'o'wisps. They're the corrupted version, if you will, and can create illusions to lure people to their doom. That's probably what happened to the missing individuals.
[The two wisps suddenly chase away into the distance, truly looking like mere blurs in the darkness. Another one, though, floats out from between the trees, so Hijikata heads towards it while keeping on talking into the phone.]
I'll confirm what kind they are! Even if it does throw an illusion at me, I'll be fine. I've seen it all by now.
[In the background the wisp moves towards him... and then a much larger thing made of the same pale blue flames bursts out from between the bushes, comes at him like a massive cannonball, opens enormous flaming maws before Hijikata even manages to turn towards it, and-- there's a tumble of night sky, trees, and then darkness as the phone lands on its face on the ground. A few moments later there'll be some clatter as the wisp spits out his swords and the other non-organic stuff, and then silence.
He sure got to the bottom of this!]
1) Who Can Do This Better?
[Hijikata can't take any calls right now, but he'll respond to messages and comments in 3 day's (in-game) time... and since that's a long while to wait, please feel free to tag out! Maybe based on this super professional research some better-prepared teams can assemble (Hijikata won't want to join, thank you very much)!]
2) Summer Flower Yard
[Anyone who knows that Hijikata is a summer power holder and wants to either congratulate him on solving the case (really?!) or is simply curious to see if the Flower Yards work as designed can of course stop by there. A blue iris will have popped up in the yard, emitting a strong cigarette smell. It'll spend a while budding, but on the 3rd day it'll bloom!]
[While Ellipsa has been good to the otherworlders so far, it's still been a rough adjustment for Hijikata, and for one reason only: Nobody got power-nerfed!! Back in Edo, Lunatia, and Camelot he was considered a fearsome powerhouse of a swordsman, but here in Nightwake City... not so much.
He decides, however, to not let this break his stride, all the less once he takes notice of the 'Blue Flash' quest. At first the situation doesn't really ring a bell, but some research brings up previous similar incidents that saw people disappear in the same area, and the few blurry photos of the mysterious blue lights make a lightbulb go on in his head. He knows what these are!!
And so, a few days later, a stream goes live on the network. Despite the late hour and the creepy location (why does the airship station have to be in between the border to the cold Winter Segment, the Abandoned Mansion, and the Great Tree of Death?!) he looks confident as his phone floats in front of him (he got better at levitating things recently, and this way he'll have his hands free!).]
This is Hijikata, reporting in from the Autumn Segment. Some of you may have seen the 'Blue Flash' quest on the quest board. I'm here to confirm what happened.
[He wanders towards the dark forest behind him, still talking into the phone.]
I'm a bit of a veteran at being sent to other worlds, so I'm familiar with some creatures most of you may not have encountered before. When I looked into the case I noticed that the "blue flashes" can really only be one thing: will'o'wisps.
[As if on cue a couple of pale blue, flame-like wisps come into view, playfully circling around each other, and he makes the phone float past him to properly capture them.]
They're harmless fae beings that lead lost people out of the forest... ideally. I have an inkling that these might be spectral will'o'wisps. They're the corrupted version, if you will, and can create illusions to lure people to their doom. That's probably what happened to the missing individuals.
[The two wisps suddenly chase away into the distance, truly looking like mere blurs in the darkness. Another one, though, floats out from between the trees, so Hijikata heads towards it while keeping on talking into the phone.]
I'll confirm what kind they are! Even if it does throw an illusion at me, I'll be fine. I've seen it all by now.
[In the background the wisp moves towards him... and then a much larger thing made of the same pale blue flames bursts out from between the bushes, comes at him like a massive cannonball, opens enormous flaming maws before Hijikata even manages to turn towards it, and-- there's a tumble of night sky, trees, and then darkness as the phone lands on its face on the ground. A few moments later there'll be some clatter as the wisp spits out his swords and the other non-organic stuff, and then silence.
He sure got to the bottom of this!]
1) Who Can Do This Better?
[Hijikata can't take any calls right now, but he'll respond to messages and comments in 3 day's (in-game) time... and since that's a long while to wait, please feel free to tag out! Maybe based on this super professional research some better-prepared teams can assemble (Hijikata won't want to join, thank you very much)!]
2) Summer Flower Yard
[Anyone who knows that Hijikata is a summer power holder and wants to either congratulate him on solving the case (really?!) or is simply curious to see if the Flower Yards work as designed can of course stop by there. A blue iris will have popped up in the yard, emitting a strong cigarette smell. It'll spend a while budding, but on the 3rd day it'll bloom!]
no subject
Well.
Now we know what happens to those who think themselves invincible. And let this be a lesson to the rest of us otherworlders, not to assume even something familiar is harmless. A shame it had to take such an incident, though.
[He doesn't love seeing someone get eaten, it turns out!]
Although I still take offense to the idea that one who does recognize a fairy would deign to call them harmless.
no subject
[It makes her think - unaccountably - of desert sand under a rippling, too-bright sky. Which is ridiculous, frankly. There's next to no commonalities at all.]
The will-o'-wisps of my own world are certainly far from it. They make particular sport of leading travelers into chasms, in snowstorms...
[Honestly, this particular fool really should have known better, given that he claimed to have encountered such creatures before. And yet - that really doesn't change a thing, does it? It only means that he should have known better. Not that everyone can be expected to.]
I can only hope, for the sake of his friends as much as anything, that our--
[No, actually, Alisaie isn't feeling terribly charitable right now.]
--our captors were telling the truth about the Flower Yards.
[Not that she's exactly that happy about the idea of any creature being reborn from a chrysalis, either.]
no subject
....... Far be it for me to defend the behavior, but it is unfortunately in their nature. Briar Valley, my nation, is one where men and fairy try to live in harmony. It is not always easy, although I have come far to try to understand men better, and maybe foster better relations in the future.
[He has NOT learned enough about men yet. Maybe in 100 years...]
In any case, I came from a place where people came back to life from death, but they would be temporarily overcome by a terrible beast...
We may wish to inspect the Flower Yards to be sure this is not the case here.
no subject
An excellent point. We cannot assume that our benefactors have told us all there is to know, about these resurrections - merely all they think that we should know, and mayhap not even that. It seems only too plausible that there should be some price to pay, that isn't merely missing three days' dinners.
You wouldn't happen to know what season claimed this man as their own, I suppose? I don't think he can be Autumn. I have seen naught of him about the guild house.
no subject
[Is he supposed to know people who have the same season as him? Heck. That's a tall order.]
Hmmmmmnnnh... No, I don't know what faction he belongs to, but if you wish to provide backup, I could take us to each of the Flower Yards. It would be a simple matter to teleport to each of them.
Of course, I could go on my own, but I doubt my bodyguard would care much for that.
no subject
[Accompany a member of the fae to go investigate a man's death, specifically caused by underestimating the fae? No, this doesn't sound like the greatest idea Alisaie has ever had... but it is a chance to at least attempt to get to the bottom of whatever might be happening - or not - in the Yards, and she at least has some awareness of the importance of not turning her back on the man. And the wherewithal to go armed.
[Easy enough to explain why the rapier, at that: who knows what the Yards themselves may be like? From all she's heard they sound benign enough, but in a situation like this Alisaie is more inclined to trust, but verify than wander blithely into the Twelve only know where as if she were taking a stroll in the garden.]
I'm going to assume you're Spring, if you can teleport? Well, presuming he really isn't in either of our factions - and it's as reasonable an assumption as any, to narrow down a search - that leaves the Summer and Winter Yards as the most likely places to start looking. As for which to start in... well, if all else fails, we could always toss a coin.
no subject
[If he is a fae of any season, he would be a winter! But maybe that's why he got spring. He's not thinking about it. It also has not crossed his mind in the least that it might seem shady that a fae might ask someone to come along with him after watching another fae simply eat a man. It's FINE because he doesn't intend to do that!
No, he's just a himbo. Sorry, Alisae.]
But I am well-versed in teleportation. I've always been able to do it.
A coin is as good a way to choose as any, although. I would admit first that I cannot say for certain that he is not of Spring.
no subject
Nor can I fairly say he isn't Autumn. But the assumption that he isn't it does at least make it a little easier, to work out where to begin. If we have to double back, so be it.
Now... where on earth do I even find a coin in this place...?
[This would have been so much simpler if this place just used coins like normal places. What is she supposed to do now, throw the tomestone?
[Actually, it mayhap looks a little breakable for that.]
Oh, for the love of-- let's just start with Winter.