username: ens_porter [video]

[ens_porter]

[The young man is looking... understandably nervous as he faces the camera. He makes an effort to smooth his hair down and then flashes a winning (?!) smile. Is that a piece of broccoli in his teeth? Crap! He scrubs the cuff of his shirt against it and then coughs to cover the embarrassment, before diving into his totally-not-rehearsed-like-sixty-times speech.]

So.

Uh.

Hello. Hi. I-is this thing on? Joking, I'm kidding, I know it's on. Annnnd that's the punchline ruined, great, I'm amazing at this.

D-disastrous introductions aside, I'm Ashley. You may remember me from such greatest hits as 'that guy who tripped into the Chrysalis and brought us all here somehow' and, uh, 'that nervous dude who handed me a towel in the shower once' and you would be right, uh, that is, correct on both counts. I'm really sorry, by the way. For the... you know, the... thing. The first thing. Not the towels. Towels are great. I love towels.

Captain Childe asked me like a month ago to do some work with, uh, getting everyone in and settled and doing what we can to make you guys comfortable as much as we can actually help with. We know that you guys don't want to be here any more than we do. Ethyraia! Not exactly a fun time at Grandma's, right? Right.

Anyway, if you have any questions, or... you know, anything, or you just want to chat, come say hi. Introduce yourself? I know I'm kind of setting myself up to be the basecamp whipping boy over here but please don't yell at me I don't do well with that kind of attention.

Or you could just... I don't know, tell me something about yourself? We're still figuring each other out, right? Iiiiiiiiiii am a Scorpio, and I'm afraid of cats. N-not big cats. Lions are fine? I mean... like, normal housecats. So there you go, that's the fun fact of the week.


[ooc note: Tags on this post will be boomeranged when possible over the next 4-5 days, but no tags will be done after August 1st.]

Comments

[sunmon]

If it's as cold as you say up there, I think I'd like to make do with drawings of the winter flowers all the same.
What's the Wall?

[northerndragon]

It is a wall of ice built thousands of years ago to keep the White Walkers out of the realms of the living. It stretches a hundred leagues, from sea to sea. The Night’s watch guards it — I was Lord Commander for a time.

[sunmon]

The ... White Walkers?

[ and perhaps more concerning: realm of the living? as opposed to what? ]

correct reaction, Alina! Also, brief cw: GoT awfulness

[northerndragon]

They are creatures of ice who raise the dead to march as their army. The army kills more, it swells its ranks. Their wights are hard to kill, and the White Walkers themselves are stronger and harder. Their leader is the Night King.

[There are other things, but he doesn’t understand how Craster’s sons fit into it, or what use infant boys are to the Night King — only that the White Walkers had taken them, too.]

[sunmon]

I see.

[ it's hard not to think of the volcra, of the fact that they had been real, living people once before they were turned into monsters by the black heretic, by the darkling, by kirigan. alina cannot compare him to the night king. not when he is here, and she needs him to believe she is harmless.

so she leaves it at that. i see. jon's north seems as much like ravka as natasha's russia does. ]

[northerndragon]

It’s hard to get southroners to believe it. It doesn’t matter if anyone here does, so long as no White Walkers have found their way here.

[sunmon]

You found your way here.

do you ever rest easy at all, period, Jon

[northerndragon]

Aye. So I never rest easy in the thought that we cannot see them here.

We have fire, but we have no dragonglass, and Longclaw is the only Valyrian steel I know of in this place.

LMAO

[sunmon]

Well, what's dragonglass?
We have a dragon, apparently. Maybe we can find some.

Re: LMAO

[northerndragon]

Do you know obsidian?

[sunmon]

I've seen it mentioned in books, but I don't think it's found in Ravka. I've never seen any.

[northerndragon]

It’s black, brittle. It feels a little like glass, a little like some kind of stone, but not so heavy. You find it in caves near volcanos. They say that dragons used to like hot caves too. It’s not hard to know why.

Glass is rare and precious where I come from — I know that is not the case for everyone. I have seen people who do not know its worth smash a glass tankard in jest. Dragonglass is thought to be worthless, but it is also rare enough.

[sunmon]

Have you looked around the chrysalis for this glass?

[northerndragon]

I’d notice it if I saw it, and I’ve kept an eye out, but I have not sought it in every corner and dark place.

[sunmon]

Maybe you should.
Just in case.

[northerndragon]

Might be I should put the whole camp to it.

[Did she get him to joke? This is probably more like sarcasm… or it would be, if he weren’t also genuinely considering it. Let’s call it six of one.]

You first. It’s black, shiny. You might think it’s glass, you might think it’s stone. It’s brittle — all as I said. I don’t know what else they have in your world that might be like it. Tell me if you happen to see any.

[sunmon]

Sure.

[northerndragon]

It has been hard enough to get my own people to take it seriously. These people have little and less reason to. I don’t know what will help them.

[sunmon]

Why wouldn't your people take these monsters seriously?