THREE ☠ fight fire with acid

[hedonic]

[ Echidna herself is lounging in the hot springs at the moment while she dictates into the journal, her snake swimming around in the water nearby as she sips a cup of rice wine. The journal is open and nearby, although it's slightly damp from all the humidity. Her voice is musing; thoughtful. Perhaps even judgmental or mocking, it can be hard to tell from one moment to the next. ]

I find it interesting how quickly people are to turn on a construct, to blame it for their woes, when they can just as easily pack up their belongings and leave. Perhaps you won't be able to go home, or perhaps you will. Perhaps you'll find answers, or a better place to live. Perhaps you'll find death. There's a big world out there, one I've had quite a bit of fun exploring this past week.

Tell me, ordained residents of Cair Paradisa... What exactly is keeping you here? Aren't there others living out in what you call the Dead Zone?

[ ooc; Open over the journal, or in person if your character is at the hot springs! Might want to check the permissions post, especially if it's in person. ]

Comments

[takethat]

Can't say I've explored much at all, myself, but would you want to live in a place called the "Dead Zone"?

[gentleidealist]

The Dead Zone's not an solution for people who need their powers to live. Besides, even if we abandon the castle, there's a whole city full of innocents who could be targeted by whatever comes along next.

We have to stick together, no matter where we are. If we find another option we can move, but right now, there... really isn't one.

I'm going to keep blaming the castle for the awful things that happen. You can judge me for that if you want. I don't care. I'm going to find a way home without getting anyone killed in the process.

[cheerupemoborg]

Not all of us have that option.

[ino]

[this girl was already lounging in the hot springs, and not really paying attention to the other person there, but ... she catches her rant into the journal, and she can't help but feel a little irritable, and wonder how new this woman is to be saying something like that ...

she doesn't comment, though, she just kind of narrows her eyes at her for a moment, before sinking into the water]

[ruin_mania]

Oh, there are several reasons, but to begin with the Dead Zone doesn't have a library as the castle does.

[It's not her most important reason, obviously, but it is something she'd miss about living here.]

[hedonic]

Isn't that just a name the castle residents here picked for the rest of the world? What a limiting mentality.

[hedonic]

Oh, and you dub yourself the city's defenders, even though you have nothing to do with this world? They seem to have fared well enough before any of you came along, or did they? One wonders.

Blame the castle all you want. What do I care? It only makes it more amusing when people get to have all the fun they want without consequence, and don't even have to try to blame it on the building. Everyone else will do it for them.

Convenient, for mules.

[hedonic]

You're one of the ones who survive on magic, then?

[takethat]

Well, yeah, but I guess I assumed they picked it for a good reason.

[hedonic]

[ Well she's definitely been keeping an eye on the blonde girl, though for once being subtle about it until she makes eye contact at just the right moment. Oh, that look excites her. The water splashed a bit as Echidna shifts, uncrossing and recrossing her legs while the serpent slithers over in the girl's direction lazily. ]

Oh my, what an expression. Did I say something to offend you?

[hedonic]

[ Book worms are hard to reason with... Although that isn't Echidna's goal. She's just sating her curiosity and having fun with it. ]

Isn't the Dead Zone the entire rest of the map, and even perhaps beyond that? Have you explored it all?

[hedonic]

Assumption. Always a good decision.

[ino]

[she considers for a moment, eyeing the snake. eugh, snakes. unless it's crowley, it just reminds her of orochimaru 8|]

You must be new here.

[takethat]

Assumption with basis in reality, at least. I've yet to see a field of wildflowers called the Dead Zone.

[hedonic]

[ She wriggles her toes and stretches a leg out shamelessly, splashing once more for the snake to return, which he grudgingly does. Such thing as a bath house did count for a bathroom, so she was getting to fully enjoy nudity again. Her loss really was a curse... So depressing...

Oh, the pretty thing is saying something. ]

Quite. You must have missed the fanfare. Such a shame, too... It would have been more fun with three. Or should I say four? Hmmm~

[hedonic]

I'm not surprised to hear a simple man taking such an ignorant approach to life. Perhaps you ought to stick your head in the dirt, too, to complete the effect.

Thank you for your answer. You've been the opposite of entertaining.

[ino]

[LMAO she is just staring at her with an eyebrow raised]

Um ... yeah, I guess I did.

Anyways, the Dead Zone is pretty inhospitable for a lot of reasons. Going home has nothing to do with going out there, though.

[ruin_mania]

Oh, no one has, at least to our knowledge. I do attend every expedition that reaches beyond the border, and have coordinated several myself, in fact. Still, we haven't yet come across a better place to stay as of yet.

[hedonic]

Even if it isn't home, shouldn't those complaining about being trapped here try everything they possibly can to escape? I don't think that a few weeks playing explorers really counts... It's quite pathetic how quickly every single person has turned back, isn't it?

Or do you really just like staying here, and feel better blaming the castle rather than your lack of resolve?

[ino]

There are people who have been here for decades and still can't find a voluntary way out no matter how hard they try. [like Reno and Flora ... though, she supposes Flora was dead at home, so it wasn't a big deal to her ...] It's not really a case of not trying hard enough, though I'm sure someone who just got here would think that.

[hedonic]

And you return so quickly, because...?

[hedonic]

Someone who just got here?

[ She chuckles. The elitist tint is so clear to Echidna, and she's nothing but amused by it. So self-righteous, this one. ]

Oh my goodness! What an entitled young missie. Tell me then, what do you mean 'how hard they try'? Have they considered truly hunting for the power behind this charade? Has anyone traveled to the edges of the map? Beyond? Shouldn't that be an easy commitment for people who desire a new home, or perhaps even their old one?

Or do those slender legs of yours get tuckered out... Perhaps you should exercise a little more.

[ A taunt, with the flick of a finger in the water as she watches the girl's reaction. She can see the muscle definition, but it never hurts to tease. And lead. ]

[ino]

[she is just so tired of people coming in and thinking that the people here are lazy, that they've given up. that after years and years of trying they haven't tried everything they can think of. not to mention this woman obviously hasn't even read all the information that's available in the first place to know all the things they've discovered. compared to what they started with, they've actually progressed quite far ...]

I mean that no matter how hard anyone's searched, we still don't have a real way to leave. Yes, we've traveled far away from the castle, yes, people are looking for the "source". But since there's almost no food and little water available in the Dead Zone, it's difficult to travel far and definitely hard to sustain anything. Yes, people have thought of planting food out there and trying to make it more viable, but the soil isn't very good, and there's this weird red stuff that makes it hard to grow anything. And it's really kind of insulting that you think, out of all the gods and demons and angels and whatever else with amazing worldbreaking powers have come through here, that until you showed up, no one did a damn thing around here. If you want to call me entitled for thinking you aren't all that special -- not compared to me, but compared to everyone who's ever been here -- then be my guest.

[huffs]

And I get plenty of exercise, thanks.

[cheerupemoborg]

No. It's my loss.

[ruin_mania]

You assume I return quickly.

Still, though most of the land we've passed is arable, there's very little in the way of scavengeable food. We've only found one species of edible plant and very few wild animals - and the eyeless bison are not to be consumed. Moreover, planning an expedition of more than a few weeks risks leaving one's friends in the castle during a crisis, as I'm sure you've noticed by now that not all are able or willing to live without magic or technology.

Additionally, there is the small matter of being overmatched by those in the iron suits, as they have access to a strong destructive power that functions in the Dead Zone and dislike having us approach their border, which they refuse to firmly define.