01 | New Phone Who This

[frost_and_shinies]

Looking at this a bit, it seems like introducing oneself is normal here, so. Greetings, Crimson Corsairs.

I'm Kaitlyn, a Chosen of Winter. Skipping the details you can ask about over drinks or something if you're really curious, I'm a 'skirmisher'. Sneak around enemies and hit them where they don't expect to be hit from with light-fire ice abilities. Or complete a goal without hitting them at all because they never saw me in the first place. (I love it when I get loot that way honestly.)

I'm not new to working in a team, I'm not new to adventure and combat... But uh I am new to both at once, so. Help adjusting to the combination might be good.

Looking forward to meeting people and doing stuff, and, uh. Not sure what else to say?

So. Hi.

Comments

[frost_and_shinies]

"It's a classic method - front spotter rear sniper. Wasn't something you could use much in the Wildspaces. Communication methods seem the biggest issue to me, keeping opsec et cetera. Makes me jealous for some people who had telepathic connection techniques..."

[theriflespiral]

"In that regard, I think, we have some advantages. I never... looked too closely into cryptography; I didn't find computation-based methods to be elegant, and yet back home, it was the bleeding edge. But.."

She produces her ENC, and says absolutely nothing about it. Natalia does not want to be the one who gave away the Corsairs' best secret. "I think we can make a side trip for research, and at least see what the state of the art is."

She pockets the ENC. "maybe we shall come up with something that doesn't give you away."

[frost_and_shinies]

"... I think you've an idea, yeah. Cellular comms were pretty developed in my world too, though I only have... A sample of that. One I'd rather not lose."

She sighs. "Not that it does much without a network."

[theriflespiral]

She pauses. Did she just say what Natalia thought she said-- "What luck-- I-- I think we can ask someone about this."

Though she wasn't exactly sure how much Atom would like to be connected to a cell phone just to examine its cryptography algorithms.

[frost_and_shinies]

"... I mean. Um. Oh boy I just caused something huh."

She blinks a bit. "I'm no technologist, but..."

[theriflespiral]

"Let's not get too excited. I haven't looked into the technology and I'm not a cryptography expert; but I do know people who can and are. I think asking them later might be the best option-- until then, keep that thing a secret."

[frost_and_shinies]

"... Erm. All right," Kaitlyn admitted. "The local network devices seem fine to me, though, so..."

[theriflespiral]

"mm." She nodded. "I just hope they can be improved."

[frost_and_shinies]

"Options are a thing. Just... My phone's one of the only pieces of my Earth life I have here. From before I became Chosen, I mean."

[theriflespiral]

There's a moment where her brow knots, where she pauses and tries to think that through, and then she says, like she hadn't realized someone could have a happy memento of their past, "Oh! Then... If we can't preserve it and still analyze it, I'd say keep it."

"But let's see if we can't find a way to charge it, at least. There might be something we can arrange with a small lightning-Ether Stone system."

[frost_and_shinies]

"Actually have a solar panel for that. It takes its sweet time doing the job, but it does the job for now."

Kaitlyn smiles a bit. "Thanks for understanding that part. I get the potential of higher tech, but..."

[theriflespiral]

There was another thoughtful moment, and she shook her head. "Let me apologize for first thinking of the strategic implications rather than your sentiment."

She doesn't say anything further on that directly, until she opens a drawer and produces a bit of sail-cloth, torn and holed, and a piece of flotsam wood. "These are pieces of the Mad Archer and the Hand to Mouth. They are too small to be used in repairs, so I took them."

[frost_and_shinies]

"... Ships that were damaged in the fight, or lost entirely?", Kaitlyn asks.

[theriflespiral]

"Ships I served on, before coming to Elysium. The Mad Archer, so far as I know, can still sail. The Hand to Mouth was a slaver ship we took, and I was made part of her prize crew. I do not know her final fate once she arrived to her final destination, but I know there are many who emerged from it no longer Servants."

[frost_and_shinies]

"... Servants? I feel like there's more to this tale," Kaitlyn specified.

The fact that it was a pirate crew didn't seem to faze Kaitlyn as much as the emphasis on the word 'Servants'.

[theriflespiral]

Natalia pulls down the high collar of her coat to reveal a fading scar on her neck and a bandage at the shoulder. burns, man. not even once. "Most Outlanders get put in suppression collars. We're called Servants and made to do the worst work. Powers and physical abilities are suppressed. Shocks can be applied any time."

She pulls the collar back up. "Even they, however, are not to be sold like chattel."

And then, there is ice.

[frost_and_shinies]

"... Heard about that. Didn't know the term."

Kaitlyn does look angry. "I'm... Lucky I escaped. The fact that there are those treated even worse than that... Well. We wreck the shit of those doing it. Chunk by chunk."

[theriflespiral]

"And that's what happened. We fell on their flotilla, took ships as prize, and removed the people to Flotsam. While I do not, as a rule, consider my occupation a good one..." She paused, and touched the wood of the Hand to Mouth. "Removing such people as would do this from a good ship was something... Satisfying."

[frost_and_shinies]

"... I can get that. Look forward to making it happen more often. Bad things to the worst people, good things to those who deserve better, am I right?"

Kaitlyn doesn't sound like she has superb conviction on this, if we're honest... But she does seem to believe it's worth acting on.

[theriflespiral]

"Then I hope to be with you when it is our turn on the chopping block," Natalia says. "No more like me, but I know what I am."

She pauses. "I should get a stove. This is the sort of talk that deserves coffee."

[frost_and_shinies]

"... You think we will become like our foe? Or simply that this quest will end with our deaths?", Kaitlyn couldn't help but ask.

"... Getting away's always been my method, really. Cowardly, perhaps. But it kept working."

[theriflespiral]

"I mean that I am aware I am not a kind or moral person," Natalia replied, pulling her hand at last into her lap. "That... me and that girl we faced, we are more alike than we are different."

Now she hums, a hint of brightness, a flower in the ice. "Though. If getting away is your pleasure, we certainly don't lack for it in Elysium. Name an amenity and let us go together."

1/3

[frost_and_shinies]

2/3

[frost_and_shinies]

3/3

[frost_and_shinies]

The shift in tone. The moral acknowledgment. The use of 'getting away' as a double-entendre of sorts.

Right, this is Elysium, the entire thing they do is-

"Erm."

Congratulations, Natalia, you have now added a different color to Kaitlyn's face.