thebastion | Day 215

Entry tags:

Day 215

Who: Paarthurnax and you
Open: Open
When: Day 215, morning and afternoon
Where: Across the river from Dragonfield
What: Dragon lessons are best held in groups, don't you know? Plus, a survey.
Format: Any
Notes: The two separate situations, for sake of ease, will be in two different top threads. Consider the dovahzul group a sort of mingle! Get to know your fellow students better.

In the time between morning and noon, Paarthurnax settles down by the river of Dragonfield where the usual stone tablet depicting all the letters of dovahzul is. It's a recognizable landmark, after all... Although he won't turn away new faces.

During the afternoon, anyone venturing nearby will be called to by the old dragon. Investigate?

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If you are certain of this, I shall not press.

Yet this is always a good place to learn new skills. We all have.

[He fidgets for a moment. Paar saying that makes him feel like he should elaborate.]

Pretty much everything I know's useless here. Not that most of it was useful back home either, but... [He shrugs helplessly as he trails off, then continues.] You're right though. I don't wanna be completely useless here, so I should try and learn to do something productive with my time.

One would be surprised at what good talents they thought useless can be. Not everything needs be for combat. We have many warriors already.

...I know a bit about programming and repairing computers, but as far as I can tell the only people here with computers are Colin and Meta, and it sounds like their stuff is so much more advanced than what I'm used to so that's pretty much useless. I know lots of stuff about games, but knowing the complete history of the Horde or the Weatherlight saga doesn't mean anything in reality, and most of that stuff isn't here anyways. All that I've got with me is in English and since there's no text translations here... [He shrugs helplessly again.] You pretty much have to be a warrior here to get anything major done, unless there's some other way to get shards besides going out on the Skyway.

Shards are not all there is to thriving in this place.

These games you speak of... What are they like?

[Remember, Paar: you asked. Also warning for incoming wall of text. orz]

Well, uh, first of all there's video games. I'd need my computer to play them. And an internet connection for one of them. Um... they're kind of like that movie that Colin showed the other day, only with a lot smaller screen and you can control what one of the characters does. At least the kinds I usually play. Uh, the main one I've been playing lately is called "World of Warcraft". You pick a faction - Horde or Alliance - a race within the faction - Horde has orcs, trolls, tauren, undead, blood elves, and goblins, Alliance has humans, dwarves, gnomes, night elves, draenei, and worgen, pandaren can join either faction - and then a class - warrior, hunter, rogue, mage, warlock, shaman, priest, paladin, monk, or death knight - and that's the character you play as - the main character I play's an orc hunter. The characters are all inside a world called Azeroth and there's a whole bunch of people all around the world playing at once. Basically you're an adventurer who goes around doing quests, killing monsters, fighting people in the opposing faction if you're on a PvP server like I am, and gathering a whole bunch of people together to raid dungeons and kill really strong boss monsters. I don't ever group with people though; I solo as much as I can. Hunters are pretty good for that because they have a pet that can keep the enemy pinned down while you shoot arrows at 'em. I've got a wolf as a pet, "Deathmaw", he's a rare spawn that only appears in one area every so often. It took me a few days to find him. I know it doesn't sound like much but it's a fun way to waste time.

The other video game I play a lot of is called "Minecraft". It's a world made of 1-meter cubes that you can pick up, turn into other kinds of blocks, and build stuff with. Every night monsters come out and try to kill you, so you need to build a good shelter during the day. There's bosses and goals you can go for, but I never bother with them; I just build stuff. You can just sit down to play and then look at the clock and realize it's been a couple hours. But being able to sit back and see that you've built a castle or an underground city or a floating island is a good feeling, because you've got something to show for your work.

The other kind of games I play are card games and sometimes board games. The main one I play's called "Magic: the Gathering"; you collect cards and build decks to play against other people. It's a simulation of dueling planeswalkers - magic-users who have the ability to move between worlds. You bond with the land to get mana, and you use that mana to summon creatures, cast spells, create magical artifacts, and do a bunch of other stuff to try and kill your opponent. There's a buncha storylines behind the cards and each of the five colors of mana - white, blue, black, red, and green - have their own philosophy behind them that determines what cards they get. It's pretty interesting to read and it's fun to play. I go to the local game store to play it at least once a week; I was headed there before I ended up here, so I've got a bunch of cards and decks with me. 'Cept they're all in English and I'd need other people who knew the rules to play against.

There's a World of Warcraft card game; it's kinda like Magic. I've got a deck but again no one to play against. I've got Cards Against Humanity; one player shows a sentence with blanks in it and the other players have to show words that fill in the blanks. Whoever has the best or worst words wins the round. Again that requires being able to read English because the whole game is about words. I've got Kittens in a Blender, where the goal's to rescue your kittens before they get killed. And I've got Settlers of Catan, which is a board game about settling a new island and exploiting its resources so you dominate the board. Less reading with the last two but there's still some.

In retrospect, shoving all that stuff into my backpack's probably how it got that hole. But yeah, those're the games I've played recently.

[Rob says all of that without needing to pause to think, and he doesn't even leave a moment to get a word in edgeways while he breathes before he continues. As he speaks his voice sounds more confident and builds volume until he's at roughly a normal speaking level. He gradually becomes more sure in his movements as well, and his expression shifts from one of vague depression to a slight smile and a general good mood.

Meanwhile the mun needs to go and rest aching finger.]

[Fortunately, Paarthurnax is not one to interrupt someone when they're in the midst of talking about something they're passionate about even if he doesn't understand a lot of it. Colin could give testament to that. It's only when Rob has finally wound down that he speaks up.]

Perhaps you should introduce what you have to others of the Bastion. For others, speak with Colin.

He has mentioned that such things would help in ways.

The games I have with me... [He sighs slightly.] I could read the cards to people, but they rely on hidden information, so they wouldn't be any fun to play if I did that. ...Well Kittens in a Blender's simple enough that people could prolly just memorize the pictures, but a lot of people wouldn't like it.

[He pulls out of his nosedive into "I have nothing to offer people here I'm useless" territory and levels out enough to move on to the other thing that Paar said.]

But anyways, what kind of ways?

In such times, it is easy to follow into sorrow and lose hope when we lose loved ones and fall victim to things such as plague. Colin believes that things such as these games and movies may help ease such pain away.

I am certain he would be interested in hearing all that you have told me. Perhaps the pair of you may have ideas.

I know morale's supposed to be really important in a survival situation, but... [He hesitates, unsure how best to phrase what he's thinking without it coming across wrong.] Well... It's not quantifiable. I want to have something tangible to show for my effort. Something I can feel and touch and point to and be able to say "I made this." Something that'll help everyone stay alive even if I'm not around anymore.

[He isn't sure if that came across right, but for the moment he can't think of another way to explain what he feels.]

Then you need merely find someone wishing to be a mentor to whatever skill you wish to hone. Craftsmen, artisans, warriors... This place has some of each.

I don't wanna waste anyone's time just to humor me, especially if I think I can teach myself how to do something.

If it is for the better of the Bastion, then I doubt any would find it a waste of time.

Independence is good, but it always helps to have a more experienced set of hands willing to help you. One can learn much from them.

[He gives a soft snort.]

"No man is an island", eh? ...But I could help out and have something to show for my work just by working on the farm like I've been doing. It's something I'd been thinking of trying to do back home. Hell, it's more productive and satisfying than anything I've done for the past few years. But in this place, with this world the way it is... Am I being selfish for wanting to try and figure out something to do that'll leave a mark on this place? To do things that might not ever be useful, just for my own gratification?

Yes.

[welp]

Yet to be selfish is not always a bad thing. Most creatures are, after all. You are allowed to do things for yourself.

[Rob looks down slightly and is silent for a bit.]

Really, getting someone else to teach me a skill is kinda selfish then isn't it? Since I can already do stuff here and their time is better spent using that skill instead of teaching it. But... I don't want to just go and do stuff that's solely for my benefit and ignore everyone else's needs. I'm not looking for charity or a free ride, either. If I'm doing things here I want them to at least potentially benefit everyone else, even if I'm also doing them for myself.

...That's not a bad kind of selfish, right?

[His tone is that of someone seeking approval of their justification.]

I cannot be a judge of that. [Paar's tone isn't scolding or negative, just patient.] Yet if you worked for others, I imagine they will appreciate the effort that has been went through.

[Rob looks thoughtful for a moment.]

I poked at the Monument for a bit to see how many shards I'd need for different things. I haven't exhaustively tested it - I doubt that's even possible - but as far as I can tell it doesn't care about logic or physics. There's so much I could get it to make that it's hard to focus on working out the details for just one idea, but...

What I'm pretty sure's worth making is something to reduce the need to gather shards for building stuff like it looks like people have had to do. As far as I can tell, this place doesn't have a good supply of lumber. Then I thought of the trees in Minecraft, and how they regrow in about ten minutes - well the game clock's sped up so it's really more like a day in-game, but I can have the monument keep it at ten minutes - and how they're made of 1-meter cubes so there wouldn't be waste as the logs were cut. I was thinking that I'd get the Monument to make one, then this place'd have an endless supply of building material. Still need the Monument if you wanted a building with electricity and plumbing and stuff, but if all someone's looking for is a shed or furniture or something they wouldn't need to use shards for it.

[A pause while he suddenly feels awkward for explaining an idea that might not be as good as he thinks it is.]

What do you think?

[There's a nod as the explanation is finished.]

It would be good for us to have. Proper trees would have many uses besides just building.

[Rob grins and nods back.]

Well, it's only one for now. I checked; a whole forest would take a lot of shards to make. But a forest would be nice to have. More terrain besides just flat ground in general, really.

A proper mountain is something I have considered... Alas, there is no room.

[#dragon problems]

[the struggle is real]

When you go out onto the Skyway, take care... Going out alone is unsafe.

A mountain would be nice. You could probably get the Monument to make room, but the real challenge would be the shards; the cost would run into the millions from the area alone. At least. Assuming you wanted an actual mountain and not just a narrow spire to perch on, which would probably be better for everyone unless you never wanted visitors.

But yeah, I've found out what the Skyway's like already. [He jerks a thumb at his fading black eye. The other bruises across his exposed skin offer their own mute testament.] Gotta get shards somehow though.

Have you met either Ryu?

Nnnooo? I don't remember hearing that name here, at least.

They both have blue hair- it is hard to miss them. They need a companion to go with them out on the Skyway. Perhaps you may get to know one another.

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dragonsorcsandwolves - 2014-08-14 05:13 (UTC) - Expand

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