I was looking at a Riverbed

[baetiful]

WHO: imPorts!
WHERE: Maurtia Falls Memorial Library
WHEN: April 22nd, all day.
WHAT: Registration in motion at Maurtia Fall’s new and improved library. Come to see the grand unveiling and stay for the snow sculpting contest, fun costumes, or games. You might be encouraged to remain as quiet as possible in a library under normal circumstances, but just today, you can feel free to be as loud as you want!
WARNINGS: None anticipated. Let me know if that should be changed!

Although it’s April, Maurtia Falls is covered in a blanket of glistening snow. And whether the arrival of all these Westerosi folk is to blame for the prolonged winter or that pesky groundhog who saw his shadow, it seems as though spring will not rear its head today at least. But have no fears! A path has been shoveled and the large stone steps leading up to an even larger building are cleared, greatly diminishing the risk of slips (and lawsuits.) Welcome to the newly constructed Maurtia Falls Memorial Library!

Invited guests have been encouraged to come in costume -- dressed as either their favorite literary hero/character or author. And although imPorts are not necessarily book characters, they will find several mini-me versions of themselves running around from children who just wanted to use the day to dress up like their favorite imPort. Is that a tiny Rincewind with a lunchbox luggage? Look at that crazy cotton ball hair on that mini Doc Brown! And that little know-it-all girl is definitely playing a very convincing Kitty Jones!

The day begins with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, which might fill imPorts who know Ambassador Baelish with dread because it means he’s going to give a speech. But it’s surprisingly short and concise, thanking everyone for attending, expressing excitement over what the library means for the city, and stating that this project is the result of everyone’s kind efforts and that it will be immortalized as a true testament of the things they can accomplish as a collective. However, simply because Ambassador Baelish isn’t as long-winded as usual does not mean the others who have been invited to speak will not be. Among such honored guests are Senator Mitchell Hundred and Count Dooku.

But once the ribbon is cut, the large doors are opened to reveal the common area of the library. And if you thought the main room contained all the books the library had to offer, surprise! There are at least three more side rooms that contain everything from comics to classic literature. ImPorts may notice many names fancily engraved into the stone pillars and archways. A little plaque hanging at the entrance indicates that these are the names of natives who have lost their lives in the city of Maurtia Falls and how you can honor the fallen by donating to the families at the front desk. Near that plaque and on display for the event are several signed copies of The Methodical Walter White by Doctor Frederick Chilton (available for purchase), The Luminescent Moon Trilogy which is a series from The City and was loaned generously by Kanaya Maryam (protected by magic seals to prevent theft), and in honor of the recently departed Dorian Gray -- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is accompanied by a framed picture of the actual Dorian Gray along with a pretentious inscription that says: Forever immortalized and never forgotten.

But books aren’t the only form of entertainment at this Swear In! In the Tony Stark Information/Technology Wing, imPorts are invited to try out a demo of the newest mmorpg ION (ImPorts Opposing Nations) -- a game where you can customize and create your own imPort character, give them a power/costume from a small list, and from there, choose to live heroically or villainously within the world’s setting of a highly corrupt set of nations. As you level up, you get the chance to unlock new powers and abilities or enhance the set you currently have. However, there are still many glitches to be ironed out, so don’t be surprised if your character turns the corner and comes out with the face of Komasan! Or if you encounter something even more unsettling.

If video games aren’t your thing, perhaps you’ll be more interested in heading to one of the classrooms for a featured game of Magic and Mayhem (an RPG table top game that hit the majority report back in February). Or maybe you’re feeling less adventurous and more generous. If so, there are many different money raising events going on with all proceeds donated to those many families who lost loved ones in this city. Feeling photogenic? You can donate your time to take pictures with children and fans at one of the many stations with silly backdrops. It only costs five dollars per picture to allow professional photographers to capture all your best sides and give away a happy memory to a fan. Feeling vindictive? A panel has been set up with popular fanfiction writers from across the country. For only about five dollars per fic, this team of writers will make magic happen and write up any pairing you so choose in any situation -- from as benign to as salacious as you want! (The more lewd it gets, the extra the cost.) None of these writers are profiting personally from this, of course! Oh no, no. It’s all for fun and charity. No lawsuits allowed! But that one writer cosplaying Jeff Winger will tell you it’s the premise of her next big fic, where all the male imPorts enlist Mr. Winger to help them win a huge lawsuit, and as a payment Jeff demands that they [CENSORED].

But perhaps you’re feeling hungry instead? Lunch is served all day in buffet style. Catered by many of the most expensive eateries in Maurtia Falls, you can find piping hot food to all tastes -- whether it’s sweet and spicy wings from Wingin’ It to a bouillabaisse from Francey Meeting You Here. Lettuce Help has also donated a wide variety of fresh salads if none of the warm food meets your dietary requirements. And if you’re just looking for a hot drink on this cold day, the staff at Brewed Awakening is prepared to make you anything from cappuccino to cocoa. All of this is free of charge, but each of the companies have a tip jar out if you really like what you taste.

If you’re feeling competitive and don’t mind the cold, the largest event of the day is taking place outside. It’s a snow-sculpting competition! Participants are invited to make as large and elaborate of snow sculptures as possible. The grand prize winner will receive $1000 and get their sculpture made into an actual statue outside of the library. This will be handpicked by Petyr Baelish himself, so anyone incorporating mockingbirds will have a clear advantage! Of course, everyone’s a winner here, and there will be several small trophies and prizes handed out to anyone who participates. Do bear in mind you have some steep native competition. One sculptor in particular is making a very convincing (and anatomically correct) homage to recent newlyweds Hermann Gottlieb and Newton Geiszler.

And if none of the offered events catch your interest, no one is stopping you from enjoying what is probably the last snowfall of the season. Have snowball fights, make snow angels, be that jerk who puts snow down your friend’s back. The only limit to your fun is your own imagination! That and some of the killjoy imPorts who are attending the event as well. But hey. That’s not on Ambassador Baelish!

Comments

Skeets | ota

[snarkbot]

Library Common Area

[ Skeets is here in his robotic form; while he could use his shapeliness to appear human, he'd prefer to be a small, gold robot so he can investigate freely. And he does, the little gold robot zooming here and there across the library, exploring and investigating. He stops before the donated set of The Luminescent Moon Trilogy and stops, scanning it briefly. ]

Curious. I cannot find any record of the publication of these works, including self-publishing, yet the production value seems to be indicative of a major publication.

[ He reads the description, but he isn't quite sure what "the City" is referring to, and hovers there a moment going through public mentions for references to it. ]

Magic and Mayhem

[ Skeets finds a copy of Magic and Mayhem, quickly finds a PDF of the books online and downloads all the rules, and then sets himself up with a table and dice. If you come along, he may ask: ]

I would be happy to provide the service of GM if you wished.

fuck your rules, I'm gonna be a wizard

[kingsroads]

[ What had started off as Strange simply filling out a character sheet for the Magic and Mayhem game has turned into him pouring over stats and rulebooks and getting far too into this in a terribly sort of nerdy way that he will 100% deny later. The character is also 100% a self-insert oc which he will also deny later. But, the further Strange gets into the character creation, the more he realizes that this...is actually slightly fun. And, after creating his character sheet, he's realized that (to his immense annoyance) he kind of really wants to play this silly game.

So, as the tiny flying yellow...thing offers to be GM, Strange nods and sets down the character sheet for Skeets to look over. ]

I play Lord Featherstone, a level one wizard, currently trying to avenge the destruction of his entire hometown by an emerald dragon.

[ it is min-maxed to hell and back so that he knows a fair amount of spells that really shouldn't be accessible to a level one wizard but can't take a punch to save his life ('how can your constitution be at negative five but you already have a plus three in arcane knowledge'). Lord Featherstone is probably not playable in a combat setting. The backstory is fucking beautiful though because Strange can't draw and he doesn't know how to properly balance a character, but he is just amazing at prose, word choice, and all the ins and outs of writing. ]

[hondoyota]

[In the list of things that Adam expected to happen today, offers from small golden robots to join RPG games was not something he would ever have imagined. He's immediately charmed and delighted, even if a large part of that is complete fascination over how the robot works.]

I'd like that.

[Taking a seat beside the oddly-dressed man already in the game, Adam accepts one of the character sheets.]

I don't yet know how to play. I hope that's all right.

[snarkbot]

[ Skeets is pleased some people to come up on his offer, though he treats the whole affair in a brisk, almost businesslike manner. ]

It's perfectly fine, sir. Don't worry, we'll take it slow.

[ Little hatches on the bottom of his body open and small robotic arms come out as Skeets moves to lift the Player's Handbook and bring it over to Adam, despite the book being almost as big as he is. He sets it in front of Adam, flipping it to the appropriate pages. ]

Please use this to pick a character race and class, which will help you fill out the character sheet while I look over "Lord Featherstone's".

[ That being taking care of, he takes the character sheet from Strange and scans it. To him he says: ]

Most of this is in order, but I believe we may need to adjust your stats to make sure your Wizard really is level 1, sir. The spells in particular...

fun fact: I know jackshit about d&d

[kingsroads]

[ Strange regards Skeets with the smug, self-assured grin of someone who's pretty sure he's played the system. ] I believe the two crippling weaknesses I took as well as health condition asthmatic should be enough to balance out the advanced arcane knowledge perk.

[ Still far too self-assured about this, Strange turns towards Adam and gives the younger man a nod. ]

My name is Jonathan Strange, by the way. I figure if we're all going to play this, the least I can do is introduce myself. And don't worry—this is my first time as well.

[hondoyota]

Adam Parrish.

[He's a soft-spoken, unassuming young man dressed in a t-shirt and hoodie. There seems to be nothing particularly exceptional about him except for a sort of awkward elegance.]

It's nice to meet you.

[Accepting the book, he skims through the indicated pages, trying to make decisions quickly while keeping half an eye on his new gaming partners. He chooses a human pacifist character, and designates as much on his character sheet.

His companions may or may not notice that Adam's presence comes with an area effect. It's very subtle, so that Adam himself has spent three weeks unaware that his powers have a subconscious level, but all magic and energy in his vicinity runs more smoothly. Electricity performs at improved efficiency and complicated magical processes can seem easier, as if all the magic and energy in the area has suddenly become very enthusiastic about being cooperative.]

[snarkbot]

And my name is Skeets.

[ Skeets doesn't notice Adam's effect at first, paying attention to sorting out their characters, but an internal alert informs Skeets his batteries are running at 130% efficiency. Interesting. As it's not altogether an unwelcome mystery, Skeets puts it aside for now but he's definitely paying more attention to his surroundings.

In the meantime, he takes Adam's character sheet and scans it. ]

A pacifist?

[ Between their two characters, Skeets decides he should probably run a short narrative and character driven campaign with practically zero conflict, so they don't die immediately. More Magic than Mayhem, really.

To Adam he uses his little robot arms to flip to the pages regarding skills and abilities. ] Does your character have a name?

[ He then turns to Strange, his robotic voice taking on an almost wry tone. ]

I believe you may have to familiarize yourself with the rules. In the meantime, please choose your spells from this list.

[ And he projects a little hologram list of spells appropriate for a level one wizard right in front of the man, since Adam has the player's handbook. ]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange also notices Adam's effect. His magical perception is iffy on a good day, but he can feel...something. It's the sort of feeling you get after waking up from a long nap or having just performed impressive magic, a feeling like he can do anything.

And then here comes the tiny yellow thing, criticizing his choices. Strange is about to interject with a huffy 'he knows the rules, thank you very much' before Skeets projects the list of spells. That totally catches him off guard. Pardon Strange as he gets distracted for a moment because lol what's a hologram. He looks a tad confused at the projected list (this isn't magic, is this one of the tiny yellow thing's powers?) before he acquiesces to Skeets's request with a little frown, mostly so he can see how solid the list is. He taps the spells with his finger (they're all offensive except for one sort of cure light wounds spell), which slips through the hologram at certain points. ]

This one, this one, that one, and the fireball one.

[ It's obvious that the hologram's confused him JUST A LITTLE BIT but damn does Strange want to learn more about it. He's paying a bit more attention to the hologram than he is to either Skeets or Adam. ]

[hondoyota]

Um.

[A name? Adam's never really been called upon to name anything. He offers the first inoffensive name that comes to mind.]

Noah. Can I have force fields and healing magic?

[Adam flips through the pages indicated, skimming quickly so as to not hold up the others. He doesn't see anything that would indicate he can't have those as his abilities.

He grins a little as Mr. Strange, who seems to be aptly named, and his fascination with the hologram. It is pretty fascinating, but Adam has at least seen such things depicted in movies.]

[snarkbot]

[ Skeets blinks off his hologram, but now he knows he can distract Strange with it and makes a note of said tactic. ]

Very well, those should be acceptable. For the purposes of this campaign, both of you have basic adventure packs and 30 gold pieces each.

Lord Featherstone and Noah. Feel free to additionally write down any character details such as likes, dislikes, backstory -- such as Lord Featherstone's emerald dragon -- or alignment, though those are optional. If you would like, I can make suggestions.

Please use the dice indicated to roll your stats and then we should be ready to start. You'll also need these to play the game.

[ Rather than gesturing to the dice on the table, he makes another little hologram that just makes a circle of lights around the dice on the table. ]

Any questions?

[kingsroads]

None that I can think of, [ Strange chimes in, as he starts to roll his stats. They're all depressingly middle of the road, something that's annoying Strange more than he wants. There's a pause, as he looks at the alignment box, before he scribbles in 'chaotic good.' It'd be more fun that way, after all.

Turning towards Adam, he gives the other man a weak smile. ]

Hopefully between the two of us we'll be able to at least make an attempt at completing this campaign.

[ because he paid attention to Skeets, he at least knows what the campaign's called, even if he's a bit wary that they'll actually finish it (someone's still a bit miffed at the fact that Lord Featherstone got rightfully nerfed.) ]

[hondoyota]

[Adam grins a tiny bit in return, because even though he's never played this game, he has a sense of how ridiculous they are--it's supposed to be a combat game, right? Or something like that?]

I think it depends upon the mercy of our robotic overlord. But if I have force fields, I can shield us and heal us, you can throw fireballs at the enemy, and we can probably manage to take down a feral bunny rabbit.

[Making note of his rolls as he goes through them, Adam ends up with too much strength and not enough wisdom for his pacifist spell-caster.]

Can I adjust these? My force fields are wisdom-based. They'll be too weak, and I don't need the high strength.

[snarkbot]

[ Dryly: ] Your robotic overlord will do his best to make sure your characters aren't killed in the first battle.

[ Skeets scans Strange's character sheet, finds it acceptable enough not to comment further on it. He moves to hover over Adam's before nodding (an act that mostly involves mid-air bobbing of his whole body since he doesn't have a head). ]

I believe there is room in the rules to allow you to swap your strength and wisdom stats.

[kingsroads]

Is that what you are then? A robot?

[ The words are out of his mouth before he realizes it, as any attempt at Strange trying to seem like he's a competent person who knows all about this century fly straight out of the window.

Because look, Strange has been here for a month. Even though he had no goddamn clue what a robot was upon first arrival, he's been here long enough to see all sorts of different robots, and not many of them are small yellow and flying the way that Skeets is.

Note to self, robots come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. ]

You certainly don't look much like the other robots I've seen here.

Libraray

[ofgoldenfoil]

[ Aurican was parsing through a copy of "ImPorts and Magic: How imPorts Changed Perceptions of Magic" by a native professor when he sees a glint of gold. In a point of heart-stopping, he pauses and looks intently, maybe foolishly thinking he might seen a flash of golden scale of Oro or Mydass -

but no. It's . . . he's not sure what. Perhaps one of those robots Aurican has seen around, but different.

He looks down at his book, and sees it was published by an University.

Perhaps it was personally published?

[snarkbot]

Perhaps. [ He catches the boy looking at his own book. ] That is a good idea, though.

[ Little hatches on the underside of the robot open and little robotic arms fold out as Skeets picks up the novel and opens to the publication page. ]

How can it have been published in "City, New York"?

[ofgoldenfoil]

[ Aurican opens his mouth for an answer until he thinks on the question a little more, closes his mouth and shakes his head. ]

I don't know. I never heard of a city called City. It's sounds oddly straightforward.

[snarkbot]

Yes, unusually so.

[ But now Skeets pays attention to Aurican a bit better, and two realizations strike him:

1) The child appears to be alone.

2)Despite Skeets' distaste for children, he also feels obliged to make sure they're okay. Hopefully he can just reuinite him with his parents and then wash his (metaphorical) hands of the whole affair. ]

Excuse me, sir, do you have parents or guardians nearby?

[ofgoldenfoil]

[ Right. Small child. Sometimes he wished the Porter gave him a human form that's more appropriate to his age. ]

No, I arrived here on my own.

[ He flew his way down, which was harder to do considering he had to carry his clothes and discreetly dress in an alley before arriving here.

Next time, he will take a bus. ]

[snarkbot]

On your own? Did you have permission?

[ Skeets is nonplussed and doesn't understand the full implications yet. ]

[ofgoldenfoil]

I don't need permission like human children need permission. [ Aurican explains this very patiently. ] The Porter gave me this form, that's all.

[snarkbot]

[ At least he doesn't need to explain twice -- Skeets catches on immediately. After all, the Porter gave him the option of a human form too, in a way. ]

The Porter does seem to be inclined to do things like that. My apologies for my assumption. Would it be rude to ask what you normally are?

[ofgoldenfoil]

I am a dragon. I'm told that I'm still very young for a dragon, but we tend to fend ourselves better than humans can.

[snarkbot]

A dragon? That must make this a very big change for you. Or maybe a small one.

I do hope you're lucky enough that Big Barda doesn't get imPorted.

[ofgoldenfoil]

Very funny. But it is a very drastic change.

[ But he smiles at it either way.

Aurican puzzles over the mention. The only dragons he know the names of that aren't his nestmates are his mother's, his aunts, and their murderers. ]

Who is that?