grapecape | 007; voice/action

007; voice/action

Good morning.

[A short pause before Ondorus launches into what he's planned to say.]

The places we hail from have profound effects on us. Whether it's the place we were born and raised or - if the two are separate - the place that's taken us in, our homeland provides the perspective we carry with us into the rest of our lives. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion, for good or ill.

...in my experience, anyways.

I imagine there's a fair number among us who miss the worlds we come from. Perhaps it's incorrect of me to make such an assumption, but...well, there's where perspective comes into it. [soft chuckle] So let's talk about the places we know and treasure. What kind of place are you from? And how does Johto compare, with its cities and roads and Pokemon? What is your perspective?

It'd be rude of me to ask without saying anything of my own home, of course. [Another short pause, while he clears his throat off-feed.]

The Kingdom of Norad is a small country, neutral and largely peaceful, and the birthplace of the human race as well as many legends. It is a land wild with spirits, and inhabited by all manner of people from all corners of the world.

Sol Terrano is a desert situated in a particular land in Norad, near a village called Sharance. By the village there is an ancient, possibly sacred tree, which grows so tall and great that it can be seen for miles around. As landmarks go, it's nearly as dependable as the stars, depending on where in the desert you are - it rises over the cliffs, and the color of it shows the season. Sol Terrano is a place of eternal summer, you see. The temperature changes slightly over the course of the year, and some places can be quite temperate thanks to cool winds from the north, but the earth is brimming with spirits that defy winter. Rain is a treasured blessing, and the sun can be a vicious enemy to the unprepared traveler.

The desert is dangerous. The core of the land is marked with canyons and cliffs and plateaus, red stone that can crack and tumble if it is disturbed. The sand hides treasures, but also sinkholes and carnivorous plants. Monsters much less civilized than myself or any of my neighbors roam the open dunes, ready and eager to attack travelers. Trolls, goblin bandits, panthers...

But despite the danger, there's refuge and comfort to be found. The Univir - my people - keep a settlement at the heart of Sol Terrano, small and secure. Where the cliffs don't shield us from the elements, stone walls and pillars stand, and have stood for generations, carved with univir art and stories and enchantments. We live in tents - not the temporary kind that trainers here carry with them to sleep in, but large structures with layers of dyed cloth and painted canvas for walls that keep out the sand and roofs that keep out the sun. We keep very little money, as we trade for what supplies we need, and our wealth is in rugs and pottery and furniture and simple comforts made ornate by craftsmen that have lived amongst us - emblems of our age and history as a people. The settlement has known famine in harder years, but we typically have at least as much food and water as its inhabitants need. Monsters of all kinds call it home, and others call it a safe haven for the weary.

And despite the danger, again, there's beauty beyond measure to be found. If there is little green to be found, the desert makes up for it by wearing every hue of red and orange and brown known to man or monsterkind. There are fossils in the earth, dragons' bones that speak of a great age long past, and crystal runes growing in clusters like drops of raw fire. There are oases ringed with strange trees and grasses, patches of cacti that bloom with bright flowers. And then, of course, there are the stars...the nights over Sol Terrano are breathtaking. Stars and cosmic dust in a torrent of a million colors, a vista that no artist has ever managed to replicate. There are constellations dancing through the fields of the sky, carrying their mythologies behind them, charming the dreams of Univir children. That midnight sky, I feel, is our greatest treasure. We make vows beneath it, we speak our hearts beneath it...it blesses every milestone in our lives, from the celebration of our birth to the rituals sending us to rest. I have not seen anything like it since coming to Johto.

That is my home, in all its glories and hazards. It's sad to think that I will not be able to share it with the Pokemon that I have met here.

[[ooc: feel free to threadjack in this post, if anything interests your character!]]

[edit: WOW GO ME I FORGOT THE ACTION PART uh ondorus can be found around and about the goldenrod breeding center, as usual. reading books, talking to his xatu, sitting out by the pool talking to his lapras, teaching his shiny audino the letters of the alphabet, that kind of stuff. his munna is creeperin' as usual, and the aforementioned shiny audino is a busybody who will go around checking up on anyone who isn't behind a latched door, hugging people's legs and giving them odd things he finds around the house. affectionate baby.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[...goodness, do you like to talk...but! Fortunately for you, however (and it truly is very fortunate, just ask him yourself), you seem to have gotten Reaver's attention with all of this...whatnot. He listens rather attentively to all that before messing with the 'Gear a bit and playing some of it back; that's actually all quite fascinating, in a completely sincere and non-ironic way.

Right, well! Might as well fire up the feed, then; you're getting video, because Reaver prefers it that way, and though he's smirking a bit, it's clear that he's rather interested in all of that from the rather alive look in his eyes.]

You certainly do have a talent for description, my dear, that was very well done - I must say that you almost made the desert sound tolerable for a moment there. Unfortunately, my own experiences with it weren't nearly so favorable, though it did come complete with monsters and all; none of these 'Univir' that you're talking about, of course, though we do have our fair share of trolls. To say nothing of the Sand Furies - whom, to their credit, are likely rather lovely ladies when they aren't trying to rip one's arms off.

[He pauses for the briefest of moments before deciding to simply not say anything about the Eldritch abomination that's also out there. Because no one needs that. The thought does come to him, though, before he rather visibly dismisses it and continues on as though not a thought just passed through his pretty little head and he's back to being utterly devoid of them.]

As for my own world, "what it's like" is a bit of a broad answer. I will say that this place has the most fascinating technology I've ever seen, far more advanced than anything Albion has come up with, and it's a bit of a shame none of it will be remembered upon my departure; the cities are rather immense, and I daresay they're a bit on the overwhelming side, but I suppose that's to be expected given how many advancements have been made here - Albion is just getting itself acquainted with industry, you see.

As for the landscape, I can tell you about many things; I've seen more than enough of it for several lifetimes. I suppose it depends on what you want to hear.

[...for a moment, Ondorus isn't sure whether he's being mocked or genuinely complimented. "My dear" is...different. But. Maybe it's just the way this guy talks?

Seems like it, as the reply goes on, and he relaxes.]

I'd never seen so much as a wooden house before coming to Johto. The size of its towns is certainly overwhelming to consider. Living in Goldenrod is...hm. An adventure. I find it odd that people here consider it normal to live around so many strangers, or that they don't at least come to know the people they do business with each day.

["Perspective".]

You can share whatever place you have the fondest memories of. I did this partly to hear about what's out there, but...the main purpose was solidarity, I suppose. Homesickness isn't pleasant, and such things only fester when they're kept to oneself.

[Ondorus, you will realize eventually that this is just how Reaver talks to people in general. If you are not sure whether you're offended or complimented, just take whatever interpretation serves you; if you're offended, then...well, uh, honestly Reaver gives not a fuck because this .gif is an accurate summation of his entire life thus far, so he isn't sure what to tell you (outside of perhaps offer a few suggestions regarding where to shove your complaint).

However! That response is a pleasant one, and so he will return the favor for now.]

Well, while I can't say that I've lived anywhere that removed from general society, my own journey started in a...painfully quaint village, really. Rather small and gated-off on one side, bordered by the ocean to the south. Had a rather lovely pier on it; I can't say I didn't spend a good amount of time there, before I left for broader seas myself. But the entire place was actually rather idyllic; very everybody-knows-everybody among its people, very tight-knit in terms of community. That sort of thing.

[He offers a bit of a dismissive gesture then; that is, quite simply, that in regards to that topic.]

Ah, but I've always found myself rather drawn to port towns, and the ocean in general; most of my memories were made in a city known as Bloodstone. Almost entirely cut off from the rest of the country, that place - again, bordered by the ocean to the south, though this place had the fun addition of a rather perilous bit of nature surrounding the rest, known as Wraithmarsh. As its completely subtle name may imply, it's rather full of Banshees and Hollow Men and all sorts of other rather nasty bits of work that are completely undead and wanting to ensure that you join them; the city itself was actually rather prosperous, however - at least, for those involved in...ah, certain lines of work. There wasn't any official law enforcement present, but the citizens were capable of fending more than well enough for themselves; I dealt with some of the larger threats personally. Most in Albion seemed well aware after a while that my harbor wasn't to be trifled with.

[Christ, Reaver, try and get more smug about that if you can, why don't you.]

Most wouldn't consider it a place for terribly fond memories, I will admit, but obviously and thankfully, I'm not most people; it was never boring, and it gave me plenty of opportunities to utilize my own skills and talents. It was exciting, really, which is more than I can say for many other places I've seen in my time.

[It sounds like something out of a gritty novel. Or, well, real life. The kind of unpleasant place that's exciting to read about but would be terrifying to actually go to. There we go.]

Those are awfully inauspicious names. [He sounds sort of apologetic about it. why would you ever name a place you want to live in something like that.] I don't have any experience with the undead, though I've heard of the concept before. [...for that matter, why would you build a place you want to live in something like that?]

[But as dangerous it sounds, Ondorus supposes it's nice in...sort of a morbid way. The way it sounds, this man was a influential figure, and he seems to have held affection for the town in that wry, contrary way that people sometimes do for unconventional things. Strange, but nice.]

I don't think there's anything wrong with holding nostalgia for something a little out of the ordinary. It'd be hypocritical of me to say otherwise, considering just how hazardous my home could be. [heh.] Our fondest memories and the things that create them tend to choose us, rather than the other way around.

[~~ondorus no...~~]

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