xenologue 2 || video

[fauxmarth]

Hello.

[yes, hi. it's kind of overcast today? but not bad. nice enough to be outside here in chilly ol' Maurtia Falls.]

I've been informed by a good number of people that the season will be changing soon. And that it can be quite a sight out in the countryside, just outside the city proper. Would you say that's true? I'd like to see a lovely spring again. I hope it can be as much that as it could be peaceful, considering how...hectic life can be in this world.

The snow is fine, and even the warm climes farther south of here are pleasant as well, but... There's something special about spring, I feel. One where things refresh and renew, making the whole place feel and even smell different.

[her thoughtful smile twitches into a self-conscious grin as she looks from the sky back down to the screen.]

Is that naive of me to hope here? I'll hardly hide how still new I am to the world at large here.

Comments

[fauxmarth]

[her mouth quirks before she can dip her head. a beat, and she looks back up, her shoulders shrugging up a little as she replies:] A bit of both, one could say. No more springs, summers, or any of the like. The world I was spirited from is well and truly over in that time. No future there, save for the chance I have to reset its course in another time.

[devoutish]

Ah - time travel's an issue, then, is it? Can't say I know much about that.

[fauxmarth]

Nor I, truly. It's a very confusing thing, so I'm afraid I couldn't give you much insight into its workings, sir.

[devoutish]

It'd go over my head if you tried; those things are all stories where I come from. The concepts I can understand, but the workings of it - best left to those of you who aren't from my era, I think.

[fauxmarth]

[smiling sympathetically:] Worry not; the last thing I can do is explain the inner workings of ancient, time-traveling magics.

[devoutish]

Are you a witch, then? Of a sort?

[fauxmarth]

No, sir, not me. But magic is a field of study like many others where I'm from; my cousin, here, he's gotten quite adept! As did one of our mutual friends. [with a little shake of her head:] I simply never had the head for it, my expertise more in swordplay.

[devoutish]

Swordplay for show, or are you a soldier?

[A woman being a soldier wouldn't ordinarily be a guess that he'd jump to, but he's gotten more used to the idea here.]

[fauxmarth]

Ahh, ha. [the idea of her being an entertainer? haha. maybe Odin. definitely Odin. but there's no family resemblances there, she's sure.] A soldier, sir. Born out of necessity. But I've trained nearly as long as I could stand, for I wanted to be very much the warrior my father was.

[devoutish]

And that's acceptable, where you're from?

[He's curious, but he also wants to ask delicately, because he's not actually trying to provoke or offend here.]

I only ask, right, because it isn't everywhere; there are those worlds where men do the fighting.

[Like his own, for example.]

[fauxmarth]

Ahh, [she laughs, nodding reasonably.] I understand. Yes, perfectly acceptable. Though--perhaps many would've preferred I take on less...aggressive hobbies for my station, it was hardly opposed when I chose it for myself. Indeed, many great warriors throughout history were fierce warrior women; there are many songs and tales boasting of their incredible feats.

[devoutish]

Sure, we've got those as well. But they're exceptional.

[fauxmarth]

And...contrary to common ways of doing things, I take it?

[devoutish]

Yeah. And we men want 'em out. We say that battle is no place for a woman. Then a hundred years later, the women are talked about as legends and heroes by the men who are telling the women around them that battle is no place for a woman.

[fauxmarth]

[her mouth quirks. hmm.]

"We" men, you say. Do you agree with your fellows?

[devoutish]

Half and half. It's a bit hypocritical, isn't it - but all the same, I wouldn't want my own sisters on a battlefield.

[fauxmarth]

And I'm sure they aren't very thrilled with the idea of their brother in the same predicament. All the more reason to trust in each other's strengths and work together to find an end swiftly.

At least--that's how I see it. Everyone who has a stake in strife deserves a chance to stand up for themselves, no matter their strengths.

[devoutish]

This is where I say that it's different for men, right, and you ask how, and I find myself at a loss for how to answer in a way that doesn't sound ridiculous to the modern woman.

[He shrugs ambivalently - then, remembering that he's not actually on video, switches that on so that they match. Hello.]

[fauxmarth]

Fair enough, sir-- [oh!

a beat, blinking, and then she laughs, waving.]

And well met. You've not yet told me what I may call you, actually, so this seems a more proper introduction.

[devoutish]

Alfie Solomons. Been here long enough to know the road, as far as the twenty-first century woman's role in society goes.

[fauxmarth]

Another veteran of this world? Or do you mean to say the world you came from is close in time and sensibility?

[devoutish]

My world's something like a hundred years behind this one - it's 2018 here, 1922 for me. But I've been here, in this world, since 2016.

[fauxmarth]

[ahh...she considers that for a moment, looking aside in thought.]

So, I've encountered yet another veteran. I must have good luck with that.

[devoutish]

Have you met any of those who have been here for six years yet? There's still one or two kicking about, I think.

[fauxmarth]

I... [head-tilt.] I believe I have, actually. Though--I can't actually recall exact numbers off the top of my head. Sir Beetle and Father Maxwell may well fit that mark, unless I'm exaggerating their stays here.