[ Merlin's having Keigo transcribe his voice to text, for anyone who wants it in writing instead of not. He simply doesn't have enough hands for this. ]
Good morning, and good day to all of you fine folk. I hope your slumbers were restful as they could be in this situation.
[ A vain hope, considering what's actually happening here, but it's the thought that counts. ]
I've finished compiling my current findings regarding this place, free for everyone's perusal. I'm sure you'd all prefer to start your day off reading or watching something more pleasant, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, can they? If anyone has anything else to add, be my guest! They say that knowledge is power, and sharing is caring, after all. Now, then...
[ Merlin breathes in, then out, subconsciously bringing a hand to his chest. The court sage begins his report to the king—the collective populace here his liege(s). ]
on the town; [ The wizard switches to video ala A☆L☆A, holding his COMP for a top-down view after unfurling a local map he managed to snag and laying it out flat on a table for the COMP to capture, in that sweet, sweet high-res. He'll then go ahead and send a photo of the top-down view of said map and send it to everyone. ]
I believe this is a map of the town we are currently in, in its heyday. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a town name label, and I don't recognize any landmarks or location names, either. However, the eastern half appears to have been mostly residential, and situated near an "Achates River".
As for the void that has apparently engulfed said eastern area... Rosie and I strongly advise staying away from it. The darkness is like a pitfall of cursed dread and malice from which nothing returns.
...Like an abyss that will consume all it can—even the world, if it spreads that far.
[ Like a hole opened in the world itself. "What if it's just like Faerie Britain?", wonders man who is incapable of not thinking about Britain for 2 minutes. His eyes narrow momentarily, though the video feed doesn't capture it, COMP still hovering over the map as it is. Naturally, the mage follows up with a casual: ]
I'm going to perform daily checks on it. on the greenhouse plants; We're not done yet, people. Enough of the dreary stuff, though.
[ Next, he pans the COMP's camera over an already-opened set of book pages. The book is a life sciences and botany reference book, one of the 7 that Merlin managed to pilfer from the school's library the other day.
There are written-on paper slips near a decent amount of illustrations and photos, but not all. The visuals are those of various listed-as-edible plants, paper slips folded on the edges of the book's pages to serve as non-sticky labels that denote which plants are edible, to what degree they're edible, and which parts are edible. All run through the translator, of course...which could also be a concern in and of itself.
A muttered "Keigo, if you would?" later, the prepared photos that Merlin took earlier of the labeled reference book pages and pictures should be distributed to everyone's COMPs shortly. ]
It's not comprehensive, but this should hopefully save your stomachs from a bit more experimentation when it comes to the goods in the greenhouse.
[ His voice turns easygoing and joking. SHUN'YA. ]
I won't stop you if you prefer to test the edibility of foreign plants in a more hands-on way, though.
[ ARMIN. ]
If you don't trust the translation functionality on this thing, and want to disprove or confirm these writings yourself, by all means! I'll never say no to more data. on the literature in the school library; [ The camera pans to the stack of the other 6 books he managed to retrieve from the school library. Arts, sciences, mathematics, a fiction novel. ]
A pity that the other books I found haven't been as helpful. I couldn't find any history books at all, and the other books I found don't seem to have any historical context behind the teachings... The scant few pieces of context I could find [ Countries, names, locations, time periods. Things like "Isaac Newton" not being the one associated with the theory of gravity. ] weren't recognizable to me, and I couldn't find any writings on the demonic creatures lurking outside, either.
It's all very peculiar, wouldn't you say?
[ After all, a school is usually where the information that a society wants to preserve or pass down is, well, passed down. ]
There were a couple of fiction novels in the library too, but none that I recognized. Sorry to all the Sherlock Holmes fans out there. I couldn't find anything on your favorite consulting detective.
[ Believe him, he tried. Sorry, Chaldea's administrative advisor. ] on church scripture; [ Yet again, the camera pans from the stack of library books to...a religious scripture book that he and Dimitri found in this very church yesterday. Cracked open, pages worn, script visible. ]
The literature in the school's library isn't the only oddity here when it comes to the written word.
This church's followers seem to be polytheistic. The portions of the scripture that the device could translate seem to be typical religious writings, praising the gods for things such as prosperity and longevity...you know, all that good stuff. [ And then sometimes when you meet actual Divine Spirits, they're both everything you expected but also not. ] You'd think a church would be the place if you want to find anything on demons or the phantasmal occult that isn't in a library, but no dice. It's mostly hymnals around here, too.
[ That disconnect between folklore, printed books, religious scripture, and the reality outside is the oddity here. ]
That begs the question of where these demons came from, and how. Mm, I have my own theory on the "how", but...
[ He trails off. People should totally ask. ] Anyway, that's all I have to report for the time being. I haven't worked that hard in a while... That took a lot out of me, so now I'm just gonna lie down and do nothing.
(church) wildcard;
[ True to his word, he cuts the video/voice feed after that, lying down on an unoccupied pew near by the table he used for his impromptu report, doing nothing in particular except curling up with a stuffed lion plushie. The aid to King Arthur has been a busy, busy bee thanks to not having to eat human food like the rest of the crew. The cat scratches on his face are proof of that.
However, Merlin won't turn down anyone who wants to discuss things in person with him or do anything else. He's an incubus who feeds on mental activity, after all; he won't say no to a little pick-me-up :) ]
network (voice/text + video); morning
Good morning, and good day to all of you fine folk. I hope your slumbers were restful as they could be in this situation.
[ A vain hope, considering what's actually happening here, but it's the thought that counts. ]
I've finished compiling my current findings regarding this place, free for everyone's perusal. I'm sure you'd all prefer to start your day off reading or watching something more pleasant, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, can they? If anyone has anything else to add, be my guest! They say that knowledge is power, and sharing is caring, after all. Now, then...
[ Merlin breathes in, then out, subconsciously bringing a hand to his chest. The court sage begins his report to the king—the collective populace here his liege(s). ]
on the town;
[ The wizard switches to video ala A☆L☆A, holding his COMP for a top-down view after unfurling a local map he managed to snag and laying it out flat on a table for the COMP to capture, in that sweet, sweet high-res. He'll then go ahead and send a photo of the top-down view of said map and send it to everyone. ]
I believe this is a map of the town we are currently in, in its heyday. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a town name label, and I don't recognize any landmarks or location names, either. However, the eastern half appears to have been mostly residential, and situated near an "Achates River".
As for the void that has apparently engulfed said eastern area... Rosie and I strongly advise staying away from it. The darkness is like a pitfall of cursed dread and malice from which nothing returns.
...Like an abyss that will consume all it can—even the world, if it spreads that far.
[ Like a hole opened in the world itself. "What if it's just like Faerie Britain?", wonders man who is incapable of not thinking about Britain for 2 minutes. His eyes narrow momentarily, though the video feed doesn't capture it, COMP still hovering over the map as it is. Naturally, the mage follows up with a casual: ]
I'm going to perform daily checks on it.
on the greenhouse plants;
We're not done yet, people. Enough of the dreary stuff, though.
[ Next, he pans the COMP's camera over an already-opened set of book pages. The book is a life sciences and botany reference book, one of the 7 that Merlin managed to pilfer from the school's library the other day.
There are written-on paper slips near a decent amount of illustrations and photos, but not all. The visuals are those of various listed-as-edible plants, paper slips folded on the edges of the book's pages to serve as non-sticky labels that denote which plants are edible, to what degree they're edible, and which parts are edible. All run through the translator, of course...which could also be a concern in and of itself.
A muttered "Keigo, if you would?" later, the prepared photos that Merlin took earlier of the labeled reference book pages and pictures should be distributed to everyone's COMPs shortly. ]
It's not comprehensive, but this should hopefully save your stomachs from a bit more experimentation when it comes to the goods in the greenhouse.
[ His voice turns easygoing and joking. SHUN'YA. ]
I won't stop you if you prefer to test the edibility of foreign plants in a more hands-on way, though.
[ ARMIN. ]
If you don't trust the translation functionality on this thing, and want to disprove or confirm these writings yourself, by all means! I'll never say no to more data.
on the literature in the school library;
[ The camera pans to the stack of the other 6 books he managed to retrieve from the school library. Arts, sciences, mathematics, a fiction novel. ]
A pity that the other books I found haven't been as helpful. I couldn't find any history books at all, and the other books I found don't seem to have any historical context behind the teachings... The scant few pieces of context I could find [ Countries, names, locations, time periods. Things like "Isaac Newton" not being the one associated with the theory of gravity. ] weren't recognizable to me, and I couldn't find any writings on the demonic creatures lurking outside, either.
It's all very peculiar, wouldn't you say?
[ After all, a school is usually where the information that a society wants to preserve or pass down is, well, passed down. ]
There were a couple of fiction novels in the library too, but none that I recognized. Sorry to all the Sherlock Holmes fans out there. I couldn't find anything on your favorite consulting detective.
[ Believe him, he tried. Sorry, Chaldea's administrative advisor. ]
on church scripture;
[ Yet again, the camera pans from the stack of library books to...a religious scripture book that he and Dimitri found in this very church yesterday. Cracked open, pages worn, script visible. ]
The literature in the school's library isn't the only oddity here when it comes to the written word.
This church's followers seem to be polytheistic. The portions of the scripture that the device could translate seem to be typical religious writings, praising the gods for things such as prosperity and longevity...you know, all that good stuff. [ And then sometimes when you meet actual Divine Spirits, they're both everything you expected but also not. ] You'd think a church would be the place if you want to find anything on demons or the phantasmal occult that isn't in a library, but no dice. It's mostly hymnals around here, too.
[ That disconnect between folklore, printed books, religious scripture, and the reality outside is the oddity here. ]
That begs the question of where these demons came from, and how. Mm, I have my own theory on the "how", but...
[ He trails off.
People should totally ask.]Anyway, that's all I have to report for the time being. I haven't worked that hard in a while... That took a lot out of me, so now I'm just gonna lie down and do nothing.
(church) wildcard;
[ True to his word, he cuts the video/voice feed after that, lying down on an unoccupied pew near by the table he used for his impromptu report, doing nothing in particular except curling up with a stuffed lion plushie. The aid to King Arthur has been a busy, busy bee thanks to not having to eat human food like the rest of the crew. The cat scratches on his face are proof of that.
However, Merlin won't turn down anyone who wants to discuss things in person with him or do anything else. He's an incubus who feeds on mental activity, after all; he won't say no to a little pick-me-up :) ]