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+---- Thread: [SE] rein in the rain (/showthread.php?tid=12589)
RE: rein in the rain - Deimos - 03-17-2026
Deimos figured the multitudes could complain all they wanted – their desires and needs had been met for the Halovian citizens. The cold kept the usual protestors and grumblers away, and the rest, feeling no need to venture towards their grounds, could continue to keep their distance. A successful venture in all respects, and he snorted, unbothered by her tone.
[say]They should[/say] he grinned, in that underlying flair and flare for the juvenile, mischievous tendencies. [say]But you helped that owner as well, back in the Tundra. One of the tracker’s brothers,[/say] with a subtle wink, to ensure she knew and understood it was a pact of understanding and gratitude. Rolling his shoulders and biting off more, he munched in contentment, wholly unbothered. [say]Though, perhaps they have fears of ghostly, hellhound stories, and feeding some will keep the omens away.[/say] Something he might’ve told Erebos to wind him up.
RE: rein in the rain - Lyra - 03-18-2026
Being from Torchline has its disadvantages, although in this form, Lyra scarcely notices the cold. Perhaps Safrin knew that she would need warmth in her wanderings, or any number of things that this shift provides her. Just now, she's grateful for her fur coat, which also manages to deflect the worst of the wet.
As Deimos indicates that she knows the merchant by proxy, Lyra glances back at the vendor with a new understanding in her gaze. [say]I see,[/say] she says, and means it. It wouldn't be the first time a grateful family member had gifted her something as thanks for her help, and, if the past is any indication, it won't be the last.
Laughing at Deimos's teasing, Lyra offers a canine grin before tearing off a bite of her bread. [say]Perhaps. Are there many bad omens in Halo? We have our share of stories in Torchline, but I'm not familiar with those of other regions.[/say]
RE: rein in the rain - Deimos - 03-19-2026
It might’ve been easier to list the number of good omens in Halo, and then proceed down the litany of things to avoid. But amusement intermingled amongst the potential, and he half-wondered if he should tease out some tale that was admittedly false or full of pretenses. Taking another bite of the bread, he gazed out over the scenery, then back to the dog. [say]Quite a few. You have the usual ones of white dragons, cannibals, the man-sized spiders…[/say] he trailed off, waiting for her reaction or choice – a ‘pick your poison’ vibe to laden stories.
[say]What of Torchline?[/say] Having met multiple Krakens (Remi and the one who’d once held the relic he now utilized often), he could fathom there were several other inclinations and tales to scare locals and tourists alike. The Mer must’ve had some grand myths, and there were always those intriguing, mysterious, and furtive channels and canals running through rock and cliffside.
RE: rein in the rain - Lyra - 03-23-2026
[say]Cannibals?[/say] Lyra exclaims, aghast at the prospect. [say]Like, actual cannibals, or rumors?[/say] She'd never considered that such things might actually exist outside of the animal kingdom; given that she seemed drawn to Halo, she had a healthy curiosity about things that could kill (and, apparently, eat) her.
As for Torchline, Lyra shrugs. [say]Well, we have the L'ma legend,[/say] she muses. [say]And there are always the starwhales. Oh! And the Reef Reaver.[/say] That one, in particular, had given her nightmares when she was younger, especially with how often she found herself on the beach and in the sea. She hasn't thought about the Reaver in ages, but she can't hide the shudder at the thought of the creature making an appearance.
RE: rein in the rain - Deimos - 03-24-2026
[say]Actual cannibals[/say], he repeated, deadpan. Taking another lingering bite of the cinnamon-infused bread, he shook, letting particles of rain flicker and fly away from his coat before drawing his attention back to Lyra and her mild horror. Not that he hadn’t been when he’d first heard of them either, and much more when encountering them for himself. [say]Used to live in Whitebrim[/say], gesturing with his head, a vague direction across Citadel thresholds and out into the Tundra. [say]Long gone and exterminated now, though there will always be stories of them passed down.[/say] Even Marcus, just the other day, had mentioned hunters and trackers still carrying sentiments of whispers and ghosts on the wind.
As for Torchline legends, some she mentioned he already had personal experience with. The L’ma gave him the slight inkling of a smile, recalling the way they’d all strived to save it, creating manufactured wings for its flightless entity. Starwhales again, much like Amalia’s once companion, drifting amongst the cosmos. The last one gave him curious pause though, for he wasn’t certain he could recall it – at least, he’d never encountered said beast through his many travels. [say]What is the Reef Reaver?[/say]
RE: rein in the rain - Lyra - 03-25-2026
As Deimos explains, Lyra feels a horrible sinking feeling in her gut. Cannibalism had not been a thing she'd ever considered real - at least not amongst humans - and to hear that it has indeed been practiced in Caido has her a little sick to her stomach. At least they had been taken care of (one less threat for her to worry about out on the tundra), but it still sours her appetite. She leaves her bread alone. [say]That's terrifying,[/say] she says, because even if these cannibals are long gone, that they had existed at all suggests that more may linger elsewhere.
As for Torchline, Lyra lifted canine lips in a silently disdainful snarl. [say]I've never seen one myself,[/say] she explains. [say]But they say it's a huge, sentient creature made of sand, stone, and coral. It eats sea creatures alive and absorbs them so that they become a part of its body. Some legends say that it can suck the life from a reef to heal itself, and almost all the stories agree that it feasts on human flesh.[/say] She paused. [say]I honestly don't know if it's real or just a story. Where I was raised, we were told that the Reaver would get us if we didn't behave.[/say]
RE: rein in the rain - Deimos - 03-25-2026
Given how many things Deimos had seen, done, and encountered, he’d never considered the cannibals terrifying – more disconcerting than anything else. To know they craved human flesh, to step into their homes and witness the brazen, casual way they’d carved their wakes into the earth, as if it was nothing at all, had emboldened him further when the time came to set it all ablaze. Plenty of killers walked amongst Caido, himself included, but the unsettling, disturbing, bewildering, and perplexing machinations had left him more than simply perturbed – that lingering trepidation had remained until they were gone. The Sword mauled when he had to; the Whitebrim cretins seemed to have found it all one glorious, disgusting hunt.
Taking a long breath, he said nothing on the statement, and instead began moving again, twisting and turning through lines and crowds standing amongst the kiosks and merchants. More than a few gave him a wide berth, and he could tilt his head, listen as Lyra seemed to unravel something deeper in the schisms of Torchline.
How he’d missed mentions of the Reef Reaver left him in some amount of dismay, but his ears twisted and turned, taking it all in. It did sound like a nightmarish figure, mind beginning to concoct a mental image of said stone, sand, and coral cretin, absorbing whatever it could to become some twisted, horrifying demon. [say]Lovely [/say]he countered with another dry, sardonic response, granting her a snort on the notions of utilizing it to scare children. [say]Good to know most worlds have some story to frighten their offspring[/say], and he shook his head, not intending to ever spill such proportions to Erebos, Amhran, or their impending infant – at least, not as a punishment. Warnings, perhaps, when they were old enough. [say]Where I came from, we were told if we could not swim well enough, the waves would consume us.[/say] Which, to be fair, was partially correct in a way – and it certainly ensured they all learned the skill.
RE: rein in the rain - Lyra - 03-27-2026
Snorting in response to Deimos's wry reply, Lyra shakes out her fur, sending droplets flying. She hadn't been brought up in a particularly loving home; she grew up in an orphanage, where there were too many children to be loved properly. It had been easier to control them, and one way of doing that is, unfortunately, through instilling fear. It was a practice she's never used with the children she's adopted, preferring gentler parenting tactics.
At least Deimos's tale is reasonable; if one can't swim, there is a risk. [say]At least that one's somewhat true, depending on where you are,[/say] she says. [say]But I take it there was more to the warning?[/say] Some depth to the story that he hasn't shared, perhaps, beyond a perfectly reasonable warning against the ocean currents.
[say]Where are you from?[/say] she asked curiously. [say]I take it not from Halo?[/say]
RE: rein in the rain - Deimos - 03-27-2026
His inward laugh still resounded like a bark, shaking a few more stray droplets as they continued to cut through crowds or ensured some moved around them; given Deimos’ commanding and ominous frame. [say]I did not dare find out, and we all learned to swim.[/say] He gave her a wry glance, a slight wrinkle to his nose, before angling around another alleyway, long strides sweeping across formidable and familiar grounds, energy rampant now that his appetite had been sated for a brief interim. There’d been other threats later – like war, that had done most of them in. [say]I trusted my mother was not lying about the circumstances.[/say] He shrugged his shoulders; as if his homeland hadn’t been a daunting, capricious world. [say]We had enough monsters of our own own kind.[/say]
He always figured everyone else knew about his non-native status though; but given Lyra’s inquiry, it’d been an incorrect presumption. [say]Outlander. I was born in Isilme.[/say] And carried through terrains and lifetimes.[say] Were you always in Torchline? [/say]
RE: rein in the rain - Lyra - 03-28-2026
An effective warning, then. Lyra wrinkles her nose at the thought that one might have such fear instilled into them and yet never question its source. The ghost stories she grew up with are far more ominous than simply, learn to swim or else, though she assumes that something about the world Deimos is from must have been terrifying enough to inspire him to learn. Or perhaps he has always been fearless, and learning to swim was simply a necessity.
As for herself, Lyra nods. [say]I was born and raised there. I didn't travel until adulthood, so I'm still fairly new to the rest of Caido. That's one reason I want to learn as much as I can now.[/say] So that she can help where she can without being a liability. So that she can travel safely. [say]Are there any places in Caido that I should look for?[/say] she wondered aloud. [say]I assume you have traveled more extensively than I.[/say]
RE: rein in the rain - Deimos - 03-29-2026
Most Isilme children were fearless and bold, spurred on by age-old traditions and primordial decrees, eventually led down roads to commit to a cause, to bleed and die for their homes without a second thought. Deimos and many of his kin had done exactly that; trained from a young age, commanded and heralded and mantled and sent off to war, to vehemence and violence within a breath. It was where he’d learned to be cold blooded and calculated, and where he'd been thrown into wolves’ dens and the overwhelming semblance of loss; until even then it had become a numbing proportion, another desecration of those he’d cherished.
But not every childhood was going to be like that – and perhaps it was why he committed himself to wars and battles over and over again, ensuring others in their region wouldn’t have their children, or his own, rendered in the same plight. His head tilted as they meandered through another section, intentionally taking the long way towards the Palace intervals so that he could ensure soldiers were doing their part, and he could inspect some other venues on the way by.
Lyra’s own stay within Torchline made sense – given how the barrier had been up, and the rest of the worlds locked away for hundreds of years, perhaps she’d taken the slower approach to combing her way out of the beach and seas, and into other worlds. [say]You mean besides Halo?[/say] he joked, adding a touch of humor into the long motions of his strides. [say]Depends on what you are interested in.[/say] He had seen all of Caido, unless there’d been new additions again – including the Draig, though he hadn’t often been able to behold its beauty. Difficult to concentrate on the scenery when one was fighting for their life. [say]King’s End is nice. You can see the barrows from a distance and still enjoy the rest of the place.[/say]
RE: rein in the rain - Lyra - 03-31-2026
Lyra chuckles at Deimos's joking tone. [say]Halo is growing on me despite the cold,[/say] she teases. [say]There's certainly more to it than I realized, at first.[/say] When all she'd seen was the snow and ice and lingering chill, and the dangers to be beheld out on the tundra. But there was more to the region, more to its people, and their hardiness, their determination to survive, is something that she can appreciate.
As for King's End, the dog nods her head. [say]I've been briefly,[/say] she says, voice turning thoughtful. [say]I've heard tales of dangerous creatures that guard the tombs. Though I suppose every region has its dangers, hmm?[/say] Certainly there are environmental challenges in every region, and flora and fauna that pose unique challenges. She's learned that already, simply from the research she did before leaving Torchline.
RE: rein in the rain - Deimos - 04-01-2026
That seemed to be the usual response and reaction to Halo – nothing but snow, ice, and the chill. Halovians knew far more, and perhaps it was better kept a secret, indifferent to the rest of the worlds’ feelings on the matter, while they could rejoice and enjoy what else remained amidst their wintry footholds. He snorted regardless, head going upwards as they passed by the warm plumes of Safrin’s Mirror, the Infirmary, and the overhanging towers of the Palace; a light tour on the forefront of the Citadel’s wares.
The inquiry was enough to grant momentary side-eye and a low bark of amusement, before maneuvering onward, long strides eating up portions of the powder and ice as if they were nothing. [say]Essentially. And the Wilds as well. All depends on what you are willing to deal with.[/say]
RE: rein in the rain - Lyra - 04-05-2026
Lyra looks around as they continue their walk, filling in a mental map of the Citadel and all that they pass by. Each new thing is impressive, and she feels questions bubbling up as they continue on. Still, she is sure that Deimos has to be tiring of her by now, so she keeps her queries to herself. Maybe she'll ask Noah, or find some new Halovian friends to pester.
In the meantime, though, she keeps time with Deimos's longer strides, trotting alongside him with her tongue lolling out, every bit the picture of the happy-go-lucky dog. He confirms her suspicions that everywhere in Caido has its own dangers, and she nods solemnly. [say]I suppose that's true of most things in life,[/say] she commented. [say]Although sometimes I wonder if it is whether we are willing or able to put up with things. Or maybe both.[/say]