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

[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.

[hondoyota]

[Adam adjusts his stats as discussed, feeling moderately confident in his new-forged character. Even though he still doesn't have a huge amount of confidence in their ability to face down any feral rabbits.

His eyes flick between Skeets and Strange at the question about Skeet's nature, and he briefly regrets his joke. Skeets is the first automaton Adam has ever met, certainly the only self-aware one, and it occurs to Adam that the word robot comes from a Slavic term for slave. Knowing nothing about the culture of electrical automatons around here, Adam hopes he didn't just call his new friend a racial slur.

He keeps his mouth shut.]

[snarkbot]

As there aren't any other robots of my make in this world or era, not recognizing me is only to be expected, sir. I am a modified BX9 Security Robot version two-point-one from the 25th century. At this point I believe I am not exaggerating when I say I'm one of a kind.

[ Which is simple facts; even in his world his programming has developed far beyond the point he would normally be at, his body has been updated and upgraded not just by other technology but by a time traveller, and he's even become aware he's developing emotions.

He's also reasonably certain that the act of running a tabletop campaign indicates he's no longer limited to only activities suited for his function. It's an odd feeling, when he thinks about it like that. ]

While the porter did grant me the ability to appear in human form, there are some functions only accessible in this one that I would like to utilize in this game. My holographic projector, for example...

[ And on the clear empty space in the middle of the table he projects a map of a small fantasy town, where one building is highlighted and labelled "TAVERN". It's just something he downloaded from a video game and replicated in holographic form; he's not an artist. ]

[kingsroads]

[ haha what. Strange just STARES as Skeets describes himself as a BX9 Security Robot version something something because look, he knows what each of those words mean individually, but the way Skeets is talking, they're all probably supposed to mean something together in a phrase.

He can't help but give Adam a slightly confused look. Does that mean something to him? How could a robot do security in the first place, especially if it's so small and yellow. He's about to ask Skeets to explain more about his everything but thankfully, a different hologram distracts him from that confusion. His attention span really is that bad. ]

I assume this is where our journey begins?

[hondoyota]

[Adam's almost as enrapt by the hologram as Strange is. He reaches toward it, careful not to touch or interfere, just getting his fingertips closer so he can feel the energy of it. It's better technology than he's ever seen, and the explanation that Skeets is several centuries advanced is not surprising at all.

The light of the hologram--Adam's pretty sure it's using lasers, but all forms of light are energy--brightens and sharpens near his fingers.]

It's wondrous. May I--will you let go of it briefly? I'd like to see if it's a form of energy I can manipulate.

[He doesn't mean to interrupt the game, but he's fascinated. Sorry, Skeets, your players are paying more attention to your cool features than the game you're trying to run.]

[snarkbot]

This is where our journey begins, correct.
A tavern is traditional.

[ At Adam's question, and the way the hologram brightens, Skeets pauses. While Adam seems harmless enough (and honestly, choosing to play a pacifist character even in a tabletop game speaks a lot to that, despite being a stranger), Skeets is a bit nervous about letting people mess around with his functions. He's not ruling it out entirely, but he's cautious. ]

You are capable of manipulating energy?

[kingsroads]

[ In this back and forth, at least, Strange is firmly Team Adam...if only to see what would happen. After all, this is a new world filled with odd robots and odd 'superpowers'. ]

Come now, what's the worst that can happen?

[ There are plenty of things that could be the worst that could happen. However, Strange's curiosity about Adam's powers and Skeet's...well, everything, overwhelm and push back that voice of reason. He said he could manipulate forms of energy, which would explain the hologram brightening, but wouldn't explain the feeling of power and the feeling of being refreshed that Strange's had ever since Adam sat down. ]

[hondoyota]

[Adam frowns briefly over at Strange. He doesn't approve of recklessness, and from his cursory understanding of his own powers, there's a lot of worst that could happen. Skeets is filled with the sort of energy that Adam can manipulate, and Adam's aware that he doesn't have anywhere near the necessary subtlety to do so without risking real damage. It's one of the reasons Adam's grateful that he can't manipulate the plentiful energy within human bodies. That's not power he ever wants to have.]

I'm not good at it, and I don't want to risk damaging you. But if you... disconnect the hologram, I'd like to see if I can maintain it. That way there's no risk to you, and if I fail it just ... winks out, right?

i'm basically bullshitting and handwaving with ~future tech~

[snarkbot]

[ To Strange, somewhat wryly: ] Please save the foolhardy rush-into-danger attitude for the game, please.

[ That said, Skeets considers the issue for a second, inwardly debating before relenting. Adam seems honest and practical enough -- Skeets can't spot any red flags, anyway. ]

I may be able to boost the power of the projector enough that it will linger for few seconds after I turn it off. Will that work?

yaaaaay bullshit

[kingsroads]

I'm afraid the rush-into-danger attitude is simply a part of my charm.

[ Still, he responds to Skeets's chastisement wryly enough that it's obvious Strange isn't taking offense. And that's all the peanut gallery has to offer right now, as he sits back to watch Adam and Skeets discuss holograms and energy and all that nonsense. He's pretty darn curious, so he's keeping his mouth shut. ]

[hondoyota]

I don't think you need to. I can feel it. I can probably catch it the instant you turn it off.

[He curls his fingers around it, protective, focusing on maintaining it and holding it.

When Skeets turns off his projector, Adam gasps, because it works, and for a couple of seconds he's holding it, light without a projector. But he doesn't have Skeets' knowledge of the layout, so he can't hold it in the map form for long before it starts to degrade, details blurring and warping. Within a few more seconds, it has degraded into its simplest possible form--a swirling globe of light, patterned like a gas planet, hovering between Adam's hands.

He's panting with the effort of holding it suspended, even something as weak and as simple as this, it's difficult for Adam to hold it contained, when the basis of his power is to encourage the flow of things.

Diminishing it down to a pin prick, Adam lets go, and it winks out.]

Thank you. That was like nothing I've ever done before. I'll try to stop distracting us from the game now.

THE MOST BELATED REVIVAL OF THIS THREAD sorry for the delay y'all

[snarkbot]

[ Skeets watches Adam play with the light, mildly fascinated. He's worked with people who had all sorts of powers before, though not this particular one. ]

It's perfectly all right, I believe my very presence is more distracting than you are.

[ But he does project the hologram again, showing off the Tavern. It switches to the interior. ]

You're both in the tavern. It's a slow night,
and there's only three other patrons. In one corner, a mysterious stranger poring over a map. At the bar, there is a woman asking the bartender if he'd seen a younger man she's looking for come in. And finally, there's a handsome young bard tuning a lute.

Who do you want to speak to?