Open Log

[art_of_war]

Who: Thrawn and You
What: Exploring and scavenging
When: Right after his arrival
Where The square, around the settlement, the forest
Warnings: None anticipated



The square

Thrawn was dressed in ceremonial white mixed with a makeshift bow strapped across his back, an equally makeshift canteen hanging from one shoulder, and a wicked-looking though also makeshift spear. All of that is juxtaposed with blue skin and glowing red eyes. He had not cut the sleeves off of his jacket yet but if the climate stayed humid he may be forced to.

At the moment that canteen strap was still hanging off one shoulder but instead, Thrawn held it as he bent over the fountain refilling it. It seemed to be the only source of water right now, so the first task would be finding another. Preferably one that wasn't also a common landmark. He also intended to find fruit in the forest and by its nature, it was more likely to be near a water source.

Around the settlement

Thrawn stopped to consider a sign with arrows pointing in many directions with symbols etched into it. Obviously, they are meant to be markers of some sort. But for what? They have arrived recently around the settlement so they are meant to aid. But who put them here and why such a varied group has been brought here in the first place is still mysterious to him. It's a good thing Thrawn enjoys solving mysteries.

Eventually, Thrawn left off puzzling over the sign and crossed what appeared to be a lot that was adjacent to an overgrown storefront. There had been several useful things inside of abandoned stores like these so Thrawn intended to look in all of them.

The forest

Focusing on the fruits and tubers that had been offered in the initial buffet proved to be a tall order. There was a great deal of vegetation - which helped to indicate local weather patterns - but the bag Altair had made only had a few of the rootlike vegetables in it. The sun was setting, but Thrawn seemed to be having no difficulty with the lengthening shadows.

He was charmed by plants that became more luminous as night fell. Some were glowing in different colors but the ones shaded a vibrant blue drew his attention. Following a tendril that was reaching up a different wide stem to where the tendril began and the plant it started with, led to some sort of natural well. Unfortunately, it was so choked with plants it wasn't accessible. But the glowing plant did lead to another plant with several hanging fruits, some ripe enough to pick.

Comments

Around the Settlement

[complicatedliar]

Loki was doing a bit of scavenging of his own--particularly looking for metal of suitable quality that he might be able to melt it down and reforge it into a half-decent weapon. Which would also require a forge, but one thing at a time. No need to build a forge if there was nothing worth making.

From around the corner of one of the shops, he spotted this new man regarding the sign and felt a strange moment of dizzying, absolute horror. Blue skin. Red eyes. Small for a Jotun, but so was Loki. Smooth-faced and ugly by Jotun standards, but again, so was Loki.

He found himself in a defensive crouch without realizing it, fingers trying to pull forth a dagger he did not actually have. He'd spent years coming to terms with the truth of himself and the unwise things he'd done upon discovery of it, but what were a few years to someone who'd already lived a thousand and spent most of it hating the Jotun? What were a few years of trying to be good in that particular way for someone else's sake when that person wasn't here and Loki was back to considering his own survival as paramount?

A slight shift in the breeze was what allowed his more rational mind to reassert itself. Because this strange, nightmarish man didn't smell like a Jotun. There was nothing of winter or frozen blod or frost-shattered rock. And the more visceral sensation of smell kicked another thought to the surface: he certainly wasn't dressed anything like a Jotun, either. White was much too fussy of a color for one of them.

Loki made himself take a deep, quiet breath and let it out slowly. He silently counted the first twenty prime numbers from zero. And then, outwardly calmed, he straightened up without bothering to be quiet and walked toward the newcomer. He'd rather face potential nightmares head-on now, before they could take root.

"Is there anything particularly you're looking for?" He called, just in case he hadn't been noisy enough. Cheerful. Helpful. Definitely not recovering from an unpleasant shock.

[art_of_war]

Usually there were too many other sounds contending with it to make heartbeats audible. It was quiet enough now that Thrawn was able to hear his own heartbeat and another that was coming closer. It was similar enough that it belonged to someone close by and that someone was most certainly a humanoid. It only caught his attention because the rate suddenly sped up as if in excitement or fear.

So it was with absolutely no surprise that Thrawn turned toward Loki, A humanoid as anticipated, adult male, his clothing was new but with scuffing from fairly recent combat. With an expression of utter passivity Thrawn answered the question.

"I do not have a particular object in mind. Instead I find whatever there may be that still has any use inside of these abandoned structures."

[complicatedliar]

Not a Jotun, Loki reminds himself firmly. At least the man doesn't sound anything like one either. "Good luck to you then. It's all very... picked over." He snorts. "Though If you spot anything bathtub-like, do let me know. I'm working on a project with a... friend."

He can almost feel Vision's crogglement from here. What a relaxing thought.

[art_of_war]

Thrawn raised a slightly puzzled eyebrow.

"It is my understanding that any actual bathtubs I might find would be attached to the wall they are tiled into."

He had always thought of bathtubs as frivolous or just plain wasteful of water anyway.

[complicatedliar]

He laughs. "I am sorry to hear the bathing technology in your universe is so sadly lacking."

The true signs of civilization as far as he's concerned: Books, sufficiently advanced mathematics, and decent bathing facilities. "It would certainly be more communally pleasant if everyone smelled a bit less... natural... anyway."

[art_of_war]

Thrawn didn't comment on that. Bathing technology did not necessarily include a bathtub. Though Loki and Thrawn agree on two out of three still. As long as the books were digital that is.

"Perhaps it is. Have you been here long?"

Thrawn did not clarify if he meant here in this particular area or here as in the world they were on since he was curious to know what Loki might say.

[complicatedliar]

"Barely the blink of an eye." Time is a relative thing, after all. "A pleasant enough few days...though the days are long, haven't you found?"

[art_of_war]

Then Loki has been on the planet for a few days which is much the same for Thrawn. Curious that there would be humanoids and near-human species grouped together though.

"Yes, followed by longer night cycles. It indicates that we are on a larger planetoid."

It could be a moon after all. Though in Thrawn's experience if a gas giant had such a large sattelite they would most likely be able to see it periodically.

"But now I must pose the same question to you; what is it you are particularly looking for?"

[complicatedliar]

"Though the gravity doesn't seem to be bothering anyone," Loki remarks. Slow rotational period, most likely. Or they're in a physics-defying realm like Asgard and that's just how things happen to be. He makes a mental note to go about measuring the curvature of the planet (assuming it has one) when he's next bored.

"Metal." No reason to hide it, even if he isn't necessarily going to be one hundred percent frank as to what he'll be doing with it. "Of a suitable grade to be melted and reforged into more useful tools. Though ideally, I hope to find some of those tools already made and not rusted out. Sewing needles in particular would be fine, as we all seem to have arrived with but one set of clothes and I have now become acquainted with the resident tailor."