pearheaded: (× And don't call me Shirley.)
Ian Kolansky ([personal profile] pearheaded) wrote2011-03-11 10:37 pm

5th Partridge [Action/Voice][Let's Give Away Shit]

[The bar door suddenly swings open. As the lightning crashes behind him, illuminating a crisp white outline around his figure, Ian walks silently in, dripping with rain water, a hoodie drawn over his unruly green hair. He glances to the left—to the right—before sitting down with a shadow crossing his features. After a beat, he looks up to the bartender, brown eyes all too serious.

And then—]




... A pitcher of water, please~!

[That was pretty much an obvious outcome, but anyway, not important!! What totally is important is that he's sitting at the bar happily drinking his pitcher of water. Granted he's inhumanly drinking the whole thing in one go, but hey, what can ya do? And then he'll go ahead and play some darts. And fail at it by not hitting the board at all. What, does he look like a good aim? Hell naw. And when that's said and done, he'll hang out with the drunks and sing songs, because that's what responsible adults do. Is he drunk? No. Can you tell? Probably not.

IT'S FRIDAY NIGHT, BABY. PARTY HARDY!!]



[Ian proceeds to wander off into the woods like he usual does, in excellent spirits. There are no robbers or thieves to worry about out here, man. That's always a great thing. But ah, he needs to prep some more medicine for the people here, so he goes to the store first and foremost. When you see him going through the woods, he'll be hefting a bag of sugar on his shoulder (and Birdy on his head, until they part ways at a local tree |D).

He ventures to his usual sleeping place outside: a shallow space roofed by a fallen tree, and proceeds to do what he's done for quite a long time. Eyesight cutting through the dark, he presses a pocket knife into his wrist and lets fall droplets of blood into a bowl—it aches, but it's only temporary he tells himself; the wound closes soon after the blade is removed, and he rolls the bowl around and around in hand, letting the red coat a fine layer.

When it dries, he scrapes it into a powdery pile, and adds the sugar.

... viola. He wipes up his arm and holds up a filled vial, content. Whether or not he's got peeping toms is up to you.]


[Voice]

Hey there new feathers! My name is Ian Kolansky, and I'm a medicine seller. If you ever find yourselves injured, whether barely or horribly, have no fear, I am here! My cure-all medicine will heal any flesh wound or broken bone in a matter of moments! Not to mention, it'll even grow back anything severed. Well, as long as it's not your head and you're, y'know, alive and all that.

And here in Luceti, the usual payments of 19.99 are cut down to...

0.00! That's right, it's free here! Everything is, I'll have you know! Just ask good ol' Ian here, and I'll get you some right away!

[Why not force some sort of payment? Well... how the hell would he even? Luceti can give just about anything. He's pledged to himself he'd always do this job, and the lack of payment certainly won't be stopping him any time soon; he views it as a... as a promise to himself. 'This is what you're doing at home, so don't forget it'.

...Though, the pay would have been great to have. ;~;]
semper_cogitans: (>:c)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-13 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
[Robert never takes well to being told he's wrong. Especially in such a flat way. And he's still having trouble seeing how information could ever be in the "wrong hands". And it's not like he knows what the medicine is... his opinion would probably change a lot if he did.

It takes him a moment to reply, and when he does his tone is a little colder than it had been.]


I would think more people would benefit from sharing the knowledge than from it being withheld.

But... [He sighs, slightly.] That is your choice, however illogical I think it is. But a world where information is dangerous is a very pitiable one, and one that could probably stand to benefit the most from education.
semper_cogitans: (>:c)

[Voice] 1/herp

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-13 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
... Why would people suffer from mass-producing medicine...

[Wait. Wait. Somehow this suddenly seems familiar.]
semper_cogitans: (O:)

[Voice] 2/derp

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-13 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
[...

There was a possibility.

If the source was organic...]
semper_cogitans: (:/)

[Voice] 3/3

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-13 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
...

Is the medicine sourced from sapients? [Now there is just a tinge of horror in Robert's tone.]
semper_cogitans: (Default)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-13 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
[... The person doesn't know what a sapient is? That sets off so many alarm bells for Robert.]

Life forms that are capable of metacognition. Self-awareness. Communication, sometimes tool-making depending on the particular species.

I would assume you are a sapient being yourself, otherwise it is unlikely we would be communicating right now. [And this person just might be a sapient being that uses sapient beings as medicine - ... yet, zie seemed to be bothered by the prospect.

Huh.]
semper_cogitans: (:/)

[Voice // Filtered 95%]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-13 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
[Robert notices that sudden filter. And bumps it up after a moment of deliberation, because obviously this person is... uncomfortable.

Perhaps zie'll be more willing to elaborate if Robert goes along with this. Because however horrifying the idea of making medicine from sapients is... well, Robert's curious.]


... It seems like a reasonable explanation as to why people would be suffering from the production of the medicine. [Because Robert wouldn't think of economic reasons to suffer - his world doesn't even know poverty anymore. Thank the social safety net. It comes with its own problems.] If it were to be derived from sapients, that would cause suffering if the sapients were damaged in some way to produce it.

But that does not explain your reaction, if you are willing to make medicine from sapients, yet repulsed by it...
semper_cogitans: (O:)

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[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-13 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
...

From yourself?

...

[Well.]

That would... certainly explain the short supply then, if it is only you. [It... really does.]

... I would presume you are a non-human sapient then, unless your world's humans are the sort that can source that kind of material from themselves. [And Robert's voice is filled with... tangible wonder. Not a predatory wonder, but the kind of quiet awe he has whenever he gets to speak to a non-human sapient.] ... Not as if that is impossible anymore... So many things here are strange.
semper_cogitans: (>:c)

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[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-13 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
[Congratulations, Ian. You have made Robert both think you are awesome and immediately despise whoever does this to you.]

... "Tree-men"? So you are a sort of plant sapient? I have... admittedly seen very few of those. But that is incredibly fascinating.

And that treatment is absolutely appalling. Even if your species is capable of yielding medicines like this, that in no way excuses your treatment by others. Frankly, those imbeciles should be honoured to have your species in their presence at all. [Robert snorts derisively.] It is just as I would have suspected from pre-Terran humans, though... always being abominations of some kind or another.

It seems to me it would be far more wise to cooperate with your species instead of attack them, but when were pre-Terran humans ever wise?
semper_cogitans: (:/)

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[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-13 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
... I suppose you have a point. This place is full of humans who are... less unpleasant, and there are examples of ethical conduct in most places, as far as I can tell. [He's a xenophobe, but he's getting better. Slowly. Kind of.]

But the fact you could even be treated that way... [Robert shakes his head and sighs heavily, bringing a hand to rest against his chin.] I just find it sickening that such a thing could even be concieved of.
semper_cogitans: (:>)

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[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-13 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
[Robert smiles back a bit, because Ian's demeanour is the kind to make him feel a bit better.]

If you would not object to me seeing a sample of your medicine sometime - assuming it does not injure you or strain you too greatly to do so - then I would be most enthusiastic. I am composing a report on various' worlds manifestations of magic and how that relates to physics... But I am also an astrobiologist, and I greatly appreciate any chance I have to communicate with non-human sapients. It is always a deep honour to see the many spectra of sapience in the multiverse.
semper_cogitans: (Default)

[Voice // Filtered 95%]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-13 07:57 am (UTC)(link)
[Ah, so it was blood? That... made it even more obvious why the medicine could only be produced in limited quantities. Though Robert is surprised to hear that a plant-like lifeform has blood... Hrm. He supposes it isn't too strange...]

It... certainly can be strange to be forced into a place so much unlike your home. Paranormal phenomena are entirely nonexistent in my multiverse, so it has been strange adjusting to magic, souls and the like as being actually plausible. Theoretically. ... Though I have seen magic myself now.

In that light, I will keep the information confidential, if you would prefer. It is mostly due to my curiosity, admittedly - and also because I would be interested to meet you. Your species sounds extremely intriguing.

... and, depending on what tools I used to study it, I could potentially discover quite a lot about your species. Genetic analysis and all that... Though Luceti lacks the technology to do such an analysis.
semper_cogitans: (:/)

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[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-14 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's okay, most people don't know what Robert is talking about.]

I would never stoop to such despicable behaviour on a sapient. Rest assured that your bodily integrity means far more to me than it does to the Malnosso, or any other imbecile whom would willingly inflict such damage upon any person.
semper_cogitans: (Default)

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[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2011-03-15 09:30 am (UTC)(link)
[Robert would be glad that he had helped to make Ian feel a bit better about his species.]

I know it may seem somewhat... empty for me to say to not be so afraid here, but I hope that it means something when I say this place has been kinder to non-human sapients than some worlds are.

It likely does not matter as much here, because we are all united under the commonality of us all being prisoners of the Malnosso... and all the universes are so different from each other that it is hardly fair for us to prioitize one species over another.

[Robert sighs a little.] Of course, there is always the chance of bigots here... I have seen some myself, unfortunately. But certainly most people here would try to protect you if at all possible. [Robert would, if "protect" didn't involve fighting of any kind.]

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