>>5329339>>5329352>>5329413>>5329431>>5329492>>5329752>>5329809>Ask about the West. You know so little about it.“So.. what is it like? New Caudlin. The West.” You lean your head back against the seat’s backrest. You might call it sentiment for what could have been.
“The western continent, hmm? Ah.. well, as much love I have for my motherland, I can’t very well say it measures up to the orient.” Aleister rests a hand against his cheek. “New Caudlin borders Ophelie and the sea. We’ve vast stone walls, grey and heavy, that barricade us from one another and from nature. There are those with broad hats who deal in magic, warriors in steel plate so heavy they’d sink in seawater.. and we’ve begun work on simple automata.”
“Yeah. We’ve got automata here, too.” You think to the war karakuris the capitol deploys at battlegrounds–dolls of porcelain and clockwork that tear through flesh like hot butter. “What about what we <span class="mu-i">don’t</span> have?”
“Hmmm.. ah! In the west, we walk side-by-side with species beside humans. You have your yokai, of course, but you live in separate realms.” He snaps his fingers. “There are men that walk at half the height of humans, with hairier hinds and forelimbs. They tend toward gluttony. There are men like your oni–mountains of muscle and hair, horns that sprout from their heads. And pale men of the night, with bat-like wings and fangs that marinate in blood.”
“What, you think I’m some dumb country hick? That’s not real.” You scoff. “What do you <span class="mu-i">actually</span> have out west?”
“It’s the truth, my fair lady!
Your train of thought is cut short by the shuttering of a door behind you. You glance up to see the same old man from the restaurant before, hobbling along on his cane down the theater aisles and nearing you.
>Get up. Time to go again.>Confront the old man yourself. Maybe you can distract him.>Sit still. Maybe he won’t see you if you’re perfectly still.>Throw something at him.>Write-In. 