prismatica | video | un: druidic

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video | un: druidic

[It's evening on the 23rd when this goes up, starting with the camera view being shifted around a bit before whoever is holding it settles it overlooking a quiet part of Greatmoon Groves. The sun is casting gold and red across the scene, reflecting off the flame-colored hair of the young woman who steps in front of it holding a green violin in one hand and bow in the other.

She doesn't bother with an immediate introduction, instead putting the bow to the strings and giving it a few testing notes before starting a somewhat melancholy but high energy song. She plays through to the end and lets the last note linger before letting out a breath of obvious nerves and returns to her communicator to pick it back up.

It takes a moment for her to adjust properly, being too close at first but eventually pulling away so she can give a proper wave and awkward smile, freckled cheeks tinted pink.]

Ah, hello Lunatia. I'm Illyana Ackermann. I arrived here last month, and...

[A pause, attempting to funnel some of her nervous energy into staying something coherent and not rambly.]

And I've been hearing amazing new music since I got here, so I wanted to try and play something. That is, I should say, new to me. I'm mostly used to tavern bands and talent guilds, and most human music in the Kryta region is more what you'd expect drunken soldiers to loudly sing along with. There's also Charr metal...

[Don't ask.

Or do.

She pauses and tucks some errant hairs back behind her ear, looking off into the distance.]

I didn't do so well when I first arrived here. I was upset and foolishly took it out on myself. Drinking too much, hangovers well into the night. Thought I was better off under blankets in the dark than trying to make the best of an unusual situation. I'm sure I'm not the first one to do something like that, or the last.

[Off screen she's idly running a finger up and down one of the strings, making a soft but inadvertently haunting noise.]

I've made some friends here somehow in spite of my best efforts to become an unwashed undesirable hermit, so I'm going to swallow my pride and actually put myself out there. Playing was always more of a hobby for me and came second to anything else that was going on in my life, but there's no time like the present I suppose to become more serious about it. It's not like I have much else to do here. I'm curious about whoever else might be interested in music here, or even interested in lessons. I play a few other instruments, though violin is my strongest skill.

Sorry this was so long, but thank you for listening if you stayed this long.

[... how does one end these things?

Another wave?

... okay, she's just going to awkwardly shut it off.

She'll be in the park probably until dark if anyone wants to find her there continuing to play on the bench she sat at.]

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[Ana listens politely, tapping her foot and swaying a bit. There is a sadness to it, yes, but it's still catchy.]

I was wondering if I would ever get to hear you play. That was lovely.

I try to keep in practice... It's soothing, somehow.

I want to say it was a major thing for me before everything. Not that I can remember, but...

Some part of you seems to remember at least. Some memories are strong enough for that, I think.

[She's seen it happen with the ghosts that linger in Tyria rather than moving on to the Mists, often driven by their last living moments.]

... My queen preserved the skills my past self had in the transformation. So the question is how much of it is just that and my world's context, and how much really is some echo of her.

Isn't that all the more reason to make it your own now?

... You're not wrong. It's just not that easy for me to think about.

The bardic magic... I can't imagine being me, such as it is, without it. But at the same time, it's not all I am and hasn't been for as long as I remember.

And just... I don't know. I don't like overthinking this part.

If that's the case then maybe it's time to reinvent yourself, at least while you're here. I know it matters little in the long run given what we won't remember when we go home, but I feel that's even more reason to indulge yourself now.

If we return home.

With some of what's happened here and on the first world I was pulled to, I... don't want to ever see that place again.

Well, that I can't give you any advice on, but seriously. Wouldn't this be the right time to take more control of your life while you have the space to do so?

It's... More like, if I were returned home, I'd be hunted down and destroyed at this point.

There's nothing left on that world for me.

Oh.

[Well.

This took a dark turn.

Ana isn't entirely sure what to say now. She usually has some suggestions, ideas on how she would move forward, but that gives her significant pause.]

It's a long story, but the short is that someone broke a kind of 'chain' on my mind. So if I went back without that... I get targeted. And if the memory-loss thing is true, I wouldn't even realize why.

[Pidonus hasn't quite pieced together that she could kick the ass of most of the Queen of Lust's forces.]

So it's not just about taking control of my life here - but making sure I stay here on a permanent basis.

That's... not something we can control. We're at the mercy of the moons here, I'm afraid. I do hope for your sake that they decide to be kind to you.

That is... The nature of this place. It in some ways has been good to me, but the possibility of being forced home... It scares me.

I wish I knew of a way to help...

[She's not an Asura. She doesn't have a grasp of the Eternal Alchemy, of how the Mists work and don't work.

It's frustrating.]

It'd be weird if anyone did, honestly...

Truthfully, I do know people who could but they're not here, and it's all things well beyond my understanding.

Eh. Maybe I could figure it out if I had the right library and such, then? I've had to get pretty good at learning stuff fast between Pinnacle Station and here. Bards are kinda trained to be adaptable, though, so...

Have you tried any of the libraries here yet? If there was anything in there about the Eternal Alchemy or the Mists...

[She trails off, grumbling inaudibly to herself.]

Damn it, Taimi would be able to help you without breaking a sweat, I'm sure of it.

... It sounds like your world has a very different planarstuff from mine, as neither of those terms easily matches anything I know about the planar structures of my own world.

And this world's planar structure is probably different still.

I really couldn't tell you much about the Eternal Alchemy, but I've actually been to the Mists. Several times. It's... it's sort of a realm between worlds and dominions? But it's all very connected to Tyria, and likely other worlds that we can't really reach. Time is also very odd there. I know of someone who has been studying some of the portals for decades and she doesn't realize that it's been so long.

[Dessa is also likely losing some of her mental capabilities, but we're not going to tak about that.]

Yeah, that's definitely different than the planar spheres I'm aware of. Though I've only been to, uh, one plane besides the Material Plane that is the central world - the place of mortals and battles and stuff.

"Battles and stuff" sounds like some parts of the Mists at least, but... yeah. Without someone who actually knows about this more than we do, we're not likely to make a workable connection.

[She wanted to help Pid but this was the best she could do.]

Wish I could examine it more, but... Yeah.

I know that there's something like an Ethereal Plane here, since one of my powers specifically relies on that. That implies an Astral Plane. But the rest... No sure answer.

It seems like the crystals here have the ability to replicate whatever is needed for people's abilities. Rightfully I shouldn't have any access to my Druid abilities without some sort of leyline connection, but I can use them just fine.

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