That I walked up those stairs mere hours ago and found nothing of what was "truly" there irks me beyond belief.
[Which, although she says it, might be difficult to tell just from her tone. Cantarella is zipped up quite tightly, though her voice may be honest. She's inscrutable, as if she's holding herself rigid.]
After all your group encountered here the other night, I wondered if anything might have lingered—a feeling, a noise; anything. It just seems the veil has been drawn again.
It's troubling that the area of this place is so unstable. I think it's important to find out how it triggers. The evidence only appeared after we gathered to investigate it--was that in response to our desire to see it, or something else in control only choosing that moment to reveal it?
[And how do they always know if it's true? Giyuu was forthright about things, but if this can be controlled then it's possible it can be used to lie, and not just reveal truths.]
That said, not everything has undone itself. Certain books are still missing pages and one of those pages is still vandalized.
It's much more difficult to separate truth from lies when things have been unstable from the beginning.
[Since the very first moment they arrived, "normal" has teetered on a razor's edge. Add in that they all seem to hail from drastically different spaces, and it becomes even harder to determine when something has started to erode.]
Our best bet may be to stick with what remains. What's this about vandalized books?
Many of the fairy tales have pages ripped out. I found one of them hidden under a shelf with writing all over it.
[He pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolds it to show Cantarella: a page from early in the story of a children's book. "BLOOD" is written on it in crayon, over and over in varying sizes.]
[Cantarella sounds curious and a little baffled as she reaches for the torn-out page. Did he find out what color the crayon is? Just wondering if what she's looking at is written in red like all creepy children's horror scribbles. Either way: Yikes.]
When did you come across this? During the night or before?
[Honestly it might even be worse if it's all written in a cheerful color. Truly, the scribbles are going to be unsettling no matter what.
After scrutinizing the scribbled handwriting as well as what she can actually make out of the page beneath it (which presumably wouldn't be much), Cantarella lowers it.]
A million-credit question. It's always possible that one of us did it. I can't fathom why, though, other than to have a bit of fun at our expense. Did you ever find the rest of the book?
[It's only the very beginning, a very generic "once upon a time".]
No, just other books similarly missing pages. I considered it was done by someone while they were in the domain, but that doesn't mean it's someone in this group.
i'm wincing asking you to explain gacha worldbuilding bullshit knowing it is my curse as well
[Why fairy tales, she wonders...and tabs that question for later in the discussion.]
Domain? I take it that you view this place as some sort of artificially created realm, though if you've concrete evidence to that point, I'd happily dissect it with you.
[Since she, too, had thought this inexplicably and rather improbably half-town was a Sonoro Sphere, created from the frequencies, perhaps, of the spirits that linger here.]
At least domains have had some adressment in the story...
Something like that. In Teyvat it's a catch-all term for pocket realities of various origins. These often reflect places and events in the world itself, but can also be in the control of powerful beings.
Aside from how unlikely it is all of us were physically dragged across the stars, the fluctuating state of this place and strange city planning of the buildings points to a place that doesn't operate on the rules of nature as we know them.
We've something similar, to an extent. Sonoro Spheres are born from dense pockets of remnant energy, frequencies reconstructing an enclosed space either spontaneously or by design. If we put one next to the other, I'd say they're fundamentally different in their creation while functioning in a similar way.
[Just how many of them come from places with such separate and liminal spaces? If they shared a common point of connection...but even that seems far-fetched, so Cantarella just lets the thought simmer there a bit.]
This is unlike any Sonoro I've any knowledge of existing, though in the scheme of things that isn't saying much. The natural laws may not be the same between "worlds," either. [Verbal scare quotes because she's clearly using it as convenient speech shorthand for lack of a better word.] It's right to be concerned about a space that only shows us what it wants to, however.
And it may not behave on the natural law of the world it originates from. [Domains get weird.]
And I agree what's happened so far seems a little more than random, though actual intent is harder to read. We haven't seen enough to be able to tell what's actually slipping through the cracks, nor why it may be guiding us.
Sounds and images can be echoes and mirrored with less intent than writing. I wouldn't expect instinct alone to forge profiles or create the cards we saw in the hands of the puppets today, but that isn't conclusive. And words often stimulate thoughts in an altogether different rhythm.
[She's just describing her general thought pattern rather than leaping to any particular assumption. Cantarella draws the pad of her finger over her lower lip.]
Patterns emerge in all things, from a simple recipe to music on the page. Let's hope some reveal themselves shortly.
I agree. No crevice unexplored and no change left unquestioned...And since we'll be relying on one another, we should count ourselves among those variables. Easy to lose your wits before you've even noticed it.
[They can't possibly anticipate what's about to happen or how much the group will be challenged, but for right now, it seems like a good start.]
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[Although others may want to just push something in their stomachs or sleep instead of staying around reading after all of that.]
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[Which, although she says it, might be difficult to tell just from her tone. Cantarella is zipped up quite tightly, though her voice may be honest. She's inscrutable, as if she's holding herself rigid.]
After all your group encountered here the other night, I wondered if anything might have lingered—a feeling, a noise; anything. It just seems the veil has been drawn again.
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[And how do they always know if it's true? Giyuu was forthright about things, but if this can be controlled then it's possible it can be used to lie, and not just reveal truths.]
That said, not everything has undone itself. Certain books are still missing pages and one of those pages is still vandalized.
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[Since the very first moment they arrived, "normal" has teetered on a razor's edge. Add in that they all seem to hail from drastically different spaces, and it becomes even harder to determine when something has started to erode.]
Our best bet may be to stick with what remains. What's this about vandalized books?
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[He pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolds it to show Cantarella: a page from early in the story of a children's book. "BLOOD" is written on it in crayon, over and over in varying sizes.]
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[Cantarella sounds curious and a little baffled as she reaches for the torn-out page. Did he find out what color the crayon is? Just wondering if what she's looking at is written in red like all creepy children's horror scribbles. Either way: Yikes.]
When did you come across this? During the night or before?
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Before, the same day McGillis found those recordings. Why this page persists while the other evidence does not is currently unknown.
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After scrutinizing the scribbled handwriting as well as what she can actually make out of the page beneath it (which presumably wouldn't be much), Cantarella lowers it.]
A million-credit question. It's always possible that one of us did it. I can't fathom why, though, other than to have a bit of fun at our expense. Did you ever find the rest of the book?
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No, just other books similarly missing pages. I considered it was done by someone while they were in the domain, but that doesn't mean it's someone in this group.
i'm wincing asking you to explain gacha worldbuilding bullshit knowing it is my curse as well
Domain? I take it that you view this place as some sort of artificially created realm, though if you've concrete evidence to that point, I'd happily dissect it with you.
[Since she, too, had thought this inexplicably and rather improbably half-town was a Sonoro Sphere, created from the frequencies, perhaps, of the spirits that linger here.]
At least domains have had some adressment in the story...
Aside from how unlikely it is all of us were physically dragged across the stars, the fluctuating state of this place and strange city planning of the buildings points to a place that doesn't operate on the rules of nature as we know them.
no subject
[Just how many of them come from places with such separate and liminal spaces? If they shared a common point of connection...but even that seems far-fetched, so Cantarella just lets the thought simmer there a bit.]
This is unlike any Sonoro I've any knowledge of existing, though in the scheme of things that isn't saying much. The natural laws may not be the same between "worlds," either. [Verbal scare quotes because she's clearly using it as convenient speech shorthand for lack of a better word.] It's right to be concerned about a space that only shows us what it wants to, however.
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And I agree what's happened so far seems a little more than random, though actual intent is harder to read. We haven't seen enough to be able to tell what's actually slipping through the cracks, nor why it may be guiding us.
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[She's just describing her general thought pattern rather than leaping to any particular assumption. Cantarella draws the pad of her finger over her lower lip.]
Patterns emerge in all things, from a simple recipe to music on the page. Let's hope some reveal themselves shortly.
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[And then Giyuu will get dusted and add even more questions than answers but for five minutes things were a lot simpler.]
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[They can't possibly anticipate what's about to happen or how much the group will be challenged, but for right now, it seems like a good start.]