video

[corundrum]

[Now that they've figured out how to use this device to show their image, Padparadscha considers whether it's wise to introduce themselves to the Dreamfolk at large like this. On one hand, in-person is always a better gauge of the kind of person someone is. But this seems very similar to in-person anyway.

It's in the midst of this wondering that they discover the mark on the base of their spine, and though they could probably just ask one of the helpers...well, there's no problem in gauging how much the others know about how things work here.

When the video feed flicks on, Padparadscha raises a hand in greeting, a faintly amused look on their face.]

This is a funny little instrument, isn't it? But actually, I have a question. [They hold up a piece of paper, with the marking of the Destruction talent drawn on it.] I found this on my body just now, and it doesn't seem like it'll come off. Have any of you found something like it?

Comments

[psituational]

It's not just you. From what I've heard, it's everyone who's kidnapped into the city, all the -- the Dreamfolk.

[Because you'd better believe X did some checking the moment he discovered the mark. Where he comes from, any sort of permanent mark is a disfigurement on one's soul.]

My knee. [His tone grows a little sardonic.] Just above my knee. [Pause.] Can I ask about your hair?

[corundrum]

Oh? Maybe I should have just asked around, then. [But this is more interesting, they think. The different reactions are rather telling in their own way, even ignoring any other new information gained.

This person has theirs in a different place, too, and Padparadscha seems thoughtful about the fact for a moment before they're asked another question anyway. It gets a soft laugh out of them.] Go ahead and ask, little one.

[psituational]

[There's a similar laugh in return. Little one. It reminds X of Luci, which is a painful enough memory for the laugh to fade a little too quickly.] Thank you. It makes a strange sound when it moves, like... well, like earth. But you don't look like an elemental.

[It's not technically a question, but the implication of one is there.]

[corundrum]

An elemental? I'm not sure what you mean by that, but it's not wrong to say I'm made from earth. [They bring their hair over their shoulder, so as to more clearly show the refraction of the crystal and the glimmering of it - and their nails seem to share the same characteristic, as do their eyelashes and brows when they move the right way.]

My people are born from stone. We're gems formed over the ages. So as you said, I make the sound of earth when I move.

[psituational]

[That's fascinating. X is quiet for a while as he watches. It's more stone, he gathers, than earth -- gemstones. The person on the camera must be very old.]

Where I come from, elementals are people formed from the elements, like earth. They can look... [A short pause.] ... human, or they can become the element they're born from. Is that the same for you?

[corundrum]

[That does sound interesting, and Padparadscha leans back a little to think about it.] Well, I think the only thing like an "elemental" in my world would be my species...and we always come out looking like our element. This is just powder, to cover it up and distinguish our features a little more.

[Padparadscha taps the white of their cheek.]

[psituational]

[Powder. Like an illusion, something to hide your appearance. Szandor used to do that, but... for very different reasons. The gem isn't hiding who they are, only making it easier for others to communicate with them. In a way, that's exactly what elementals do.

There's a smile in X's voice.] Thank you. I doubt I'm the first person to ask, and I know it can get tiring explaining the same thing over and over again. Let's return to...

[The tattoos. X grimaces.]

... something else.

[corundrum]

Well, I'm already starting to get used to it. [Padparadscha laughs a little - it certainly doesn't sound like they mind, though after as long as they've lived, it takes a bit more than doing something for a few days to bother them.]

Right, the markings. I'm wondering how they marked all of us in the same way, when we're all such different sorts of people.