eachdraidh | A1. video. [ open to both courts ]

[ it doesn't immediately occur to thomas that he could probably just communicate through a text system--as far as he knows, the locket is a lot easier to use by video, and so he does. the network is presented with a pair of big, brown doe eyes before he leans backwards a little, revealing a face that could be rather familiar to some--dark hair, a button nose, moles like spots littering his face.

this is not the man you are looking for, however: this is thomas "murphy", and he clears his throat before he introduces himself. ]

Hi. I'm Thomas Murphy, and I'm--kind of a new arrival. I guess they'd call me a greenie if this was back home. [ there's no hint of humor on his face, but he did actually just try and make a joke, and his tone is a little lighter, for it. ]

Can anyone tell me about the Seelie and Unseelie--in your own words, if that makes any sense? What you know about it...you don't have to tell me any secrets or anything, but, maybe why you're there, I guess. [ he's not going to say which court he is (though it's obvious eventually, by the background of caer scima), but he just needs to know. ] Or, if you're okay with where you are. Not that I'm not, but...I don't know. Is there any reason why someone wouldn't be? They apparently brought us here for a reason-- [ again. ] --since we have these "shards", or whatever they are, but I don't have a lot of trust for anybody who says that, because it's usually a load of klunk.

I guess that's all I've got to ask. [ a beat. ] Actually, that's not true. Is there another map around here? Besides the one they gave me, I mean, it's not very good. [ ... ] No offense.

[ thomas is just going to shut his trap now. he almost physically winces and shakes his head. ] That's it, honestly. I'm just going to... hang up now. Thanks.

[ thomas does hang up, and the feed ends--for all of five seconds, before he snaps it back on. ] Oh, wait--also, I want to know if anyone here's ever heard the phrase "WICKED is good." It has to look like this. [ after a second, there's a typed out phrase that appears instead, with WICKED fully capitalized. ] That's really all this time. Um, thanks.

[ click! for real this time. ]

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[ for a minute, thomas tries to imagine the WICKED scientists--or rat man singing. it's kind of a hilarious mental image, really, one that would make things a lot less terrifying than they actually were at home.

he gives the feed an awkward smile. ] I think we're probably talking about two different things. That one doesn't sound like it does brain surgery.

No, I don't think it does.

[he hasn't ever exactly had an opportunity to go see any musicals, but he's pretty sure there is no brain surgery in that one. pretty sure.]

As far as all your questions go [and wow kid that is a lot of questions] I can at least tell you that the whole "shards" thing is legit. I've seen one.

You've seen one? [ skrrrt, stop the record, that is important. ] What's it look like? Where's it located? Does it have any special powers besides bringing us here?

[ thomas "questions" murphy should be his actual name. ]

[forever patient, he goes through those one by one, eyebrows knitting together slightly as he tries to make sure he's not missing anything.]

Yeah, at the end of a battle that happened just a few days before your group of newcomers arrived. They're like gemstones, I guess. And I don't know what else they can do. As far as I know, you can only get to them by killing someone who's got one.

[ god bless you, jason grace. thomas stops to take that all in for a second, considering...the lack of information. still, the guy helped, he really did. ]

Thanks, I really appreciate this. People aren't...trying to kill each other to collect them or anything, are they?

[please don't start murdering people for magic gemstone shard things. that is not the result he was looking for.]

Not as far as I know. No idea what anyone would want them for anyway. The one I saw...that was just kind of to end the fight. If she hadn't killed that guy, he wouldn't have stopped and a lot more people would have died.

[ he won't don't worry. (maybe you should watch out for that weirdo with his face, though.) ]

That's good. [ he'd really rather avoid murder. ] So the shard just disappeared when he died? Maybe it's like our souls or something...

[what, stiles? nah, stiles is annoying but harmless.]

No. Clarisse -- the girl who killed him -- took it. I don't know what she did with it, though.

[ are you sure, because clones ]

Clarisse. [ he repeats the name, as if trying to stick it to his memory. he'll have to ask her about it. ] The queen said that was a personal battle--not a big one. Have there been any major battles between the sides?

It kinda was both. It started for personal reasons, but the end result was a pissed-off elf dude marching an army on Caer Glaem and then a three day battle that only ended that soon because we got reinforcements in the form of an undead army.

[shit is complicated.]

Besides that, there was an attack maybe two months ago by the Unseelie on Caer Glaem. They basically sic'd a giant monster on us and set a lot of stuff on fire.

[meanwhile the seelie managed to steal an important thing from caer scima, but that was less of a major battle as far as he heard since it was pretty sneak in > grab the dara > get the hell out.]

[ that is really complicated, isn't it. thomas's brow furrows but he tries to figure that one out--one phrase sticks out in particular. ] Undead army?

[ uh-oh. he hopes that doesn't mean cranks...though he can't imagine how useful a crank army would be. they wouldn't even listen in the first place. ] Alright, that was...really helpful, actually. I think you're the first person I've talked to that actually had some answers for me.

Magic shenanigans. It's pretty normal here, and a lot of people from other worlds have special abilities and stuff that are probably pretty different from anything you'd expect in your own world. It's probably better to get used to that idea now.

[otherwise you're gonna be struggling to accept the seemingly impossible while in the middle of an actual conflict. or while pinned under an overly friendly hellhound. who knows.]

I'm glad I can help at least a little. My name's Jason, by the way.

Great. [ there's not really sarcasm in the tone, so much as resignation--so much weird stuff has happened in thomas's life, what's magic to add onto it? ] Sorry to, um, keep up the subject, but the undead army--how were you...or, whoever it was...able to control it? In our world, that'd be difficult, if not totally impossible.

[ but, thomas gives him a small, awkward smile. he's not so great with people, but the ones here have been nice so far. ] Thomas. [ a beat. ] I think I said that already.

Yeah, no, I get it. Magic stuff isn't really a thing in every world. It's complicated and I don't want to give away all his personal info to total strangers, but raising and controlling the dead and all that is just a thing he can do.

[that's the simpler way of explaining it. because saying magic is real is one thing, but dropping the whole "godly parents" bomb on new kids seems a bit much.]

A1. video. [ open to both courts ]

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video. laaate ignore me