the_isle | You're From The Isle If Anybody Asks

First Awareness

Those used to this by now probably knew what it meant when they felt their magic return for a moment. For the rest, suddenly their powers were back. Just for a few minutes, but a lot could be done in a few minutes. If the person even noticed their powers were back, that is.

Of course those on the shore might have seen the hazy indistinct shape through the barrier coming closer, might have seen the moment the hole in the barrier opened. Might have seen King Ben leading people down a gangplank through the barrier with crates of supplies....

Unions, Re And Otherwise

Once the supplies were unloaded, the barrier was sealed up again. King Ben seemed to be in charge during the unloading, Once the barrier was closed again, by the green magic streaming from the Queen's finger, it was Mal who seemed to be in charge.

"Alright, listen up. We have 2 hours and the clock is ticking. I'm not FG but we're keeping to a deadline anyway. If you want to come to Auradon or know someone you want us to bring back, you have 2 hours to convince us. You and everyone else, sharing the same 2 hours. Along with anyone who has a supply request for our next visit, or updates. Those of you bringing supplies to the school, time to get cracking. Two hours passes faster than midnight at the ball."

Those Who Left

(Please TL Here for boat and Auradon Shenanigans. TY)

Those What Remain

Once those going back to Auradon had left and the barrier was back in place, it was for those who remained on the Isle to sort the supplies and figure out how to get done everything that needed to be done with the people that remained.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Foulques nods. "I'll be certain to introduce you then," he said. "He recharges in the same room that Chara and I sleep in, so arranging for the two of you to meet should be no issue, provided you don't meet by chance. And seeing you helping him may well be beneficial to Chara as well. They are... deeply mistrustful of anyone they perceive as a human, as I'm certain you saw."

"Wait... the kid in the striped shirt? Is... named Chara. And... distrusts humans..." Ian suddenly looked a little pale and leaned against a wall, trying to get their bearings.

Edited Date: 2025-04-19 10:30 am (UTC)

Foulques frowned at Ian's reaction, setting down his own load as he turned to face them. "Yes," he said. "Do you have some issue with them, beyond them beyond them simply being an unruly child?" His tone suggested that if Ian had a problem with Chara based on such minimal information, they might well have a 'problem' with him too. The mere prospect of dealing with an unruly child couldn't be daunting enough to warrant such a reaction, so it had to be something else.

"I... got some of this... with Lea telling me all the people he knew and then there was Leia..." A deep breath. "A lot of you bear more than a strong resemblance to characters in what I had thought was fictional media back home. And there is a game back home, a computer game, called Undetale. About a child in a striped shirt who fell down into a world below ground full of monsters... and that child wasn't the first child to fall down that mountain. The first child... was a child called Chara, who... had every reason in the world to hate humans," said softly. "And if this Chara is that Chara... things could be on the verge of going very very badly here, depending on canon point.... ah... depending on when in their story they are from.
presuming their story matches what I have experienced."

His frown deepened, though it was more thoughtful than angry. "I can assure you that all of us are quite real," he said. "But that does match what I know of Chara's world and their story. The last thing they recalled before their arrival here was eating some poisonous flowers and their adopted brother Asreal being attacked by a group of humans who happened upon them."

"But whatever may have happened in this game of yours, rest assured that I will not allow Chara to come to harm, nor will I allow them to harm anyone else out of fear or anger." He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, then added a bit more quietly, "They will not fall prey to the same sort of madness that I did. And the dark visions we saw will not come to pass. I swear on what little remains of my honor, I will not allow it."

"That.... is a really rough moment for them to have arrived from... but actually not the worst possible moment. Still there are some things you may need to know if you are their caretaker here..." Ian considered, trying to figure what to say. "I'd offer to talk to them but... human."

"The fact that it isn't the worst already says a great deal," he said with a bit of a sigh. "But tell me, what do you think I should know?"

"Keeping them away from knives is the most urgent. Let's get my stuff settled somewhere then we'll talk. I have a feeling one or both of us is going to want to be sitting down for this."

He nodded, picking up the load he'd been carrying before so they could continue. "They did try to take one while helping Chell and I with preparing dinner once," he said as they started off again, "but I made my displeasure with their actions and subsequent attempts to lie about it quite clear. Until I am satisfied that they are sufficiently responsible, they will not be permitted to wield any weapon."

"As for getting you settled, there's a room not far from ours that should be as suitable as any. Not that I'd call any room in this building suitable for much, but needs must."

"Yeah, the game gave some pretty strong hints that Chara is the reason there are no sharp knives in Toriel's kitchen..." Ian nodded, getting moving with their stuff again. "And... hopefully I won't be here long."

"Hopefully," Foulques agreed. "If you have any items small enough to be easily stolen, I'd advise you to take them with you when you leave the room. None of the three so-called teacher here wish to risk finding themselves held at spearpoint by taking anything from my room, which is why I've been keeping communal supplies there to ensure they remain so. I doubt that your presence will inspire any such caution, however."

"I'm working with computer equipment... all of it is small and easily portable. At least each part on its own. The locks are that bad here?"

"This Isle may be a prison, but the building is- ostensibly- a school," he said, "and a school where larceny may well have been part of the curriculum at that. The locks are secure enough, but like as not most if not all of them know how to pick them. I doubt they would bother with any of the more specialized tools of your trade, but I would advise to keep any personal possessions close. Particularly if you have one of those small devices that resemble Alagan tommstones; the vain wench seems fond of them."

Edited Date: 2025-04-20 09:29 am (UTC)

"Alagan.... tombstones? And... maybe I'll just... stay in my room the whole time I'm here and just ask you to watch my stuff when I use the.... there is a bathroom here, right?"

Someone was absolutely having second thoughts.

"Tomestones," he said, emphasizing the first part of the word a bit. "Palm-sized, rectangular devices that store information. In my world they are odd relics of an ancient empire, but as they're as good as coin to certain trading houses, some adventurers collect them to exchange for rare goods. And those things in the courtyard that appear to be gravestones are not; they're called 'doom-stones' and have ridiculous 'evil' sayings written on them. I'd advise you to simply ignore them beyond what is required not to trip over them; we'll likely be repurposing some of them as garden markers once we can be assured of not having an overnight frost."

"But yes, there are bathrooms, at least. Thank the gods for small mercies."

"Hard drives? One of the teachers is addicted to... external hard drives?" Ian was so lost at how weird this place was...

"I... don't know," Foulques said. "I know what the devices look like, but never asked what they were called here; it was never especially relevant. Do those 'hard drives' have a sort of... window on one side that lights up when the device is provided with power so that you can read the information it contains?"

"Wait... Cellphones? You're telling me phones aren't ubiquitous here?"

"The vain wench seems to do little else besides stare at one, or else a mirror, but otherwise? Not to my knowledge," he said. "I've heard the term being mentioned, so I presume the Isle's natural inhabitants know about them, as do a few others, but in my world, or Chell's, or Zukos, they're entirely unknown."

"And in any case, when one's primary concern is survival, putting food in everyone's bellies and making sure they're safe and as warm as can be managed, what good is it worrying about such things? Tis only relatively recently that I've had leave to turn my thoughts to small luxuries like toys for the youngest among us, or books. I only had time to put together the chess set due to being snowed under, and even then, we had to dig our way to she shore before too long if we didn't wish to go hungry. Our young King is more generous than most, but even with what help we receive from the mainland, life here is harsh at best."

Wait... what? No, come back to that later. "What good it is... is the whole reason I am here. To set up a network so you can communicate with Auradon. That's the point. So you can tell them when you run out of something, someone new shows up, there is some emergency. Just cause one person can't get off her selfie screen doesn't mean the tech is worthless."

Foulques frowned, though again it was thoughtful rather than angry. "So they're not simply ways of storing information, then?", he said. "They sound more like linkpearls- or perhaps linkshells- than tomestones in function then. Linkpearls are small magitech devices that are worn like an ear cuff and allow two people to speak to each other over long distances. Linkshells are similar, but are somewhat bulkier and more powerful, allowing for multiple people to communicate at once. I never felt the need to acquire one of either in my own world, but they are reasonably common there. I can't speak for anyone else's worlds, however."

Edited Date: 2025-04-21 05:57 am (UTC)

"Sounds like the pearls are kind of like earbuds, except that earbuds pair with a phone to make them more portable rather than being the phone themselves, though there is a company in Japan working on a new jawline tech that I am on a short list for beta testing. Well I was, but it conflicted with my NDA so I was told to take myself off the list. Which makes sense." But if all went to plan, Ben and Sam would be back before it ever became an issue and Ian would no longer be under NDA at all...

"But yes, phones have lots of features these days. Communicate one on one over text voice or video, or with a group with the same options. Create and store data. Transfer data. Cameras of all different specialities, playing music and movies, watching TV if there is a connection. Games. Lots of games. And Social media. but hopefully for everyone's sake that doesn't catch on here. this place is bleak enough without doomscrolling."

Foulques didn't quite understand all the terms Ian used, but he thought he got the gist of it at least. "An 'NDA' is a... labor contract of some sort, correct?", he said. "And this company wished you to lend your expertise to testing their new product before sending it to market." Which the NDA would conflict with somehow apparently. Perhaps they'd taken a position with a rival firm?

"And I don't expect I'll need most of those features, assuming you manage to get the network functioning again. 'Doomscrolling' in particular sounds unpleasant. Linkpearls and linkshells are only for communication, and so long as these phones do the same, that will likely be sufficient for my needs, though Chara might well enjoy the games. The mammet I mentioned might as well, but his hands are somewhat bulky and may be ill suited to working with such a small device."

"NDA is a nondisclosure agreement. Basically a signed oath that I won't share certain information that I am privy to and that I won't let it be found out through negligence either. So a new tech device used for communication is not allowed where it might accidentally record or transmit."

"We'll see what features we can get working and what we can't. I can't say anyone actually enjoys doomscrolling. It is kind of like wearing something that is slowly getting tighter and tighter until you can't breathe, but it happened so slowly and subtly you didn't notice until it was almost too late. But I don't think we have enough people here to even make that sort of content viable."

Foulques nodded his understanding. "Yes, I can see how a device meant specifically to share information might cause problems for someone who's sworn not to do so," he said. "Rest assured that I won't attempt to force you to violate your oath, even if whatever information it's protecting would likely be irrelevant to most here."

They passed through the small courtyard and approached- what one might call if they were being extremely charitable- the school building. Foulques paused a moment before going in, indicating the odd flowers growing by one of the doomstones; being the only real plant life about aside from the brambles and a few sad clumps of still brown weeds, they stood out. "Have care not to touch those flowers if you come outside," he said. "They're poisonous. Thus far they've resisted all attempts at removal, so I intend to ask if any in your group have knowledge of plants that may be helpful in rooting them out."