Roof Emo Garden, Thursday Afternoon

[goldfishontherocks]

Keyleth hadn't made her way up to the dorm roof before today for some reason, and that was a shame since she'd clearly been missing out on the little garden she'd discovered up here, with its fascinating spiky little plants.

After the experience of having an unexpected shark crash into the simulated common room during class today, being around the plants was oddly soothing -- as was the altitude, which made her feel a little more at home. She busied herself with conjuring water to fill a bucket with which to tend to the plants, then carefully examining them and using her druidcraft to coax some of the more slowly growing buds and shoots into a healthier state.

It was a comforting way to spend an afternoon, really.

[OOC: Post is open, of course!]

Comments

[goldfishontherocks]

Did the noise Keyleth made actually sound exactly like a muffled, high-pitched "Meep" because she had her hands over her mouth?

Yes. Yes, it did.

"My father mentioned something about the invasions, but I didn't think they were that bad."

[always_someone]

Norman held up his hands a little in an attempt to placate her.

"They aren't. I mean, not that I've seen? We had snowmen a couple of weeks ago, and there were some... big meaty things, the first semester I was here. But ghosts... they stick around a long time, you know? Some of these ghosts have probably been here for centuries, and I don't see many of any one thing. Just a lot of... weird assorted invader stuff, of all kinds."

Surprisingly few people.

[goldfishontherocks]

“Invader stuff,” Keyleth repeated, apparently cluing into the narrative. “You’ve mentioned dragons —wait, really, dragons? — and things, but not people, have you? And — wow, you’re really calm about all this. Have you always been able to see them?”

[always_someone]

"Dragons - kind of... squishy ones? - and things," Norman confirmed. "Surprisingly few people. Most places have people. There are always accidents, or... you know, sometimes they're not accidents. My hometown is full of them, they're everywhere, going back for ages and ages, depending on how long the ghosts feel like staying. Sometimes centuries. But here... no. Not many people at all."

He shrugged.

"And... yeah. Always. Most of them just kind of keep to themselves and do their own thing, they're not really scary."

A little gruesome, maybe. But not scary.

[goldfishontherocks]

"They can't really help being what they are, can they?" asked Keyleth. "And it's not really fair to them that they have such a scary reputation, and . . . is it weird if I find that really reassuring, that there aren't many people-ghosts here?"

Probably not; it made sense, after all, but she was self-conscious.

She peered off into the air past the edge of the roof, looking intrigued. No change -- she couldn't see anything -- but she was mostly just thinking now. "I wonder how far back the ones here go? Do they ever tell you stories about how this place used to be?"

[always_someone]

"That's not weird," Norman replied, smiling lopsidedly. "Not many people-ghosts means not many sudden, violent people-deaths. That's a good thing."

See? No judging.

"They go back quite a while, but it's hard to really know for sure. Time here is kind of weirdly relative, since there are always people showing up from the past, or the future, or other worlds entirely. And ghosts have a weird perspective on time, anyway. They'll tell me stories of how things used to be, but there's no knowing if it was years ago, or centuries."