Text; @Goldilocks

[likemybooks]

[There's no time for Taryon to lie on the floor and wonder what his connection to everyone on the base prior to his death and resurrection was. There's a lot he doesn't know, but what he's always excelled at was understanding strange contraptions. The past few days, Taryon has been looking over every object stored in his room (and thank the gods that he takes good notes on what he builds, or else he would have no clue what he enchanted into the roombas), to a degree of success.

Because there sure are a lot of figurines, posters of gatcha characters, and LILITH-provided goodies that he can't piece together without a story attached to them.]

I need some help figuring out what these are.

[He attaches a photo of an arrangement of various weapons, sentimental objects, and future tech on his bedroom floor. On the corner is a roomba that had been wandering about and ended up withing the camera's view.

Would anyone be available to help me sort all this?

Comments

[likemybooks]

[The ring and the rod that Taryon pointed out earlier are magical items: one can cast magic attacks, and the rod is infused with transmutation magic on top of having innate magical properties. LILITH, on the other hand, has nothing that Lilias can detect.

However, the roombas have some light enchantment to them, provided by Taryon in a previous life, and a shoddily carved wooden figurine of a man bearing a shield and sword has a very faint hint of magic that borders on non-existent.]

I think some of them are decorations, like these. [He holds up a Nendoroid of a character from a gatcha game that was popular several months ago.] I checked the things with screens for magic [like the portable gaming console] but they all run on electricity - what they do is a mystery to me. But I will prevail!

[With his hand, he draws an invisible line between two piles: one of decorations, another for electronics and bodywear.]

I know these shoes have to do something. Do you recognize this as anything LILITH gives out?

[demandsatisfaction]

Yes, I was quite puzzled by this when I first arrived. None of the things I expected to be magic here had any trace of it at all.

[Lilias is a bit distracted as she listens to Taryon’s explanations, given she’s still trying to sort through the feedback from her detection spell. After a few moments, she narrows down the sources of the magic auras to those few specific items. The ring and the rod being the most magical makes perfect sense to her, given what she knows of Taryon, and she takes note of the faint aura on the figurine, but the magic on the roombas is puzzling. That is not standard for this land’s technology.]

I certainly can’t sense any magic on most of these items. I think it’s safe to say your assessment of that little collection is correct.

[Except, perhaps, for that little figurine, but they can come back to that later. He’s asked her a question.]

You think they came from LILITH? That is possible. There is a menu you should be able to access that functions as an organization-specific shop of sorts. I used it after someone introduced me to the existence of the Style Upgrade feature for wearable items.

[She pulls the menu up now, grey eyes glowing as she scans it for anything like the shoes Taryon is pointing out.]

There does seem to be a pair of boots available that are meant for flying.

[likemybooks]

Well. That's good to hear. [He picks up the boots, one in each hand.] Wait - can you also detect magic? [He looks up at Lilias - while he's thankful that she's familiar with magic, it's been common to run into an Outsider who is unfamiliar with this system. Worlds of fantastic creatures and space travel and advanced technology, but few who could recognize what a fireball spell is.] I...where are you from?

[Wouldn't it be wonderful if she, too, was from Exandria?]

Anyway, that may be what they are. I'll have to test them out myself to confirm all that. [He presses his fingers against his temple, focusing on the implant and searching for the LILITH shop.] Where...is the shopping located? Sorry, there are a lot of buttons floating around all at once.

[demandsatisfaction]

Hm, yes, it is all a bit much to be floating directly in front of one’s eyeballs, isn’t it?

[She’s still not happy about the implants… Probably she’ll be just as sour about it even if she’s still here a full year from now. Still, if anything, her dissatisfaction over the past several weeks has prompted her to learn as much as possible about the device now built into her eyes.

She gives some very simple, straightforward instructions on how to navigate to the shop menu in question. Even if that’s all she ends up contributing to his sorting effort, at least she can say she’s been helpful.]

My homeland is Varisia, on the planet Golarion. [She says this with a bit of a wry smile, knowing that while Earth is apparently familiar in some way to many of the people to have been brought here, Golarion has so far been alien to everyone she’s spoken to. And the language Taryon is using to speak with her certainly doesn’t sound anything like Taldane.] Even if you do not know it, I would wager my land is more like yours than it is like the one we’re in now.

[likemybooks]

[Taryon hopes this doesn't mean his eye will be damaged and he'll be forced to wear corrective lenses. He's pretty sure glasses don't suit him well. But the illuminated menus are colorful and rather intuitive.] Kudos to the designers of this thing. It's all starting to make sense.

[His introduction to the world of user interface design is a pleasant one.

Eventually, he reaches the list of items to purchase, and with this, he goes through each line by line, noting what may be something he had purchased in the past. The ring, the shoes, the gloves, those are to be inspected later.]

How so? [He leaves the shop page open and combs through the pile once more.] Apart from both featuring some sort of magic?

[demandsatisfaction]

[The fact that Taryon doesn’t immediately gasp “I know that country!” tells Lilias all she needs to know about what world he’s from, even if he doesn’t actually say what it’s called. Varisia is a quite large place, and Taryon seems like an educated man. If he were from anywhere in the Inner Sea region, at the very least, he’d definitely have heard of it. And certainly if he were from Golarion, he’d be able to recognize the world’s name.

Well, it’s no less than what she was expecting already. And anyway, it isn’t as though meeting someone from Cheliax or Andoran or Taldor would guarantee that she had anything in particular in common with them, aside from an ability to speak the same language, which is rather redundant in this world regardless.]

You told me that you were in the business of travelling around with a team of companions and helping people, and that some of them had died and been revived with magic.

[She tips her head at him, raising one brow significantly.]

Quite obviously, that sort of thing doesn’t happen here.

[Seems like LILITH summoned a new copy of Taryon instead of reviving him, to her. Also, though the task of LILITH operatives could technically be described as travelling around with teammates and helping people, this sort of structured mission system is not what she’d envisioned when he had mentioned that little tidbit. And she imagines that, in a world where one might actually be able to travel freely, the surrounds must be considerably less apocalyptic.]

[likemybooks]

I...right, I did. [Not that he recalled saying anything of that sort, but Lilias mentioned he spoke of death and revivification. If he did, then he must have explained who Vox Machina is. They're heroes, they're adventurers, they've been to other planes of existence, they are powerful.

His eyes dart downward. Of course, there's plenty of other things he might have discussed or kept secret. The details may have been lost in his retelling, but if they come from similar worlds, then Lilias must be aware that those who return to life don't forget the moments prior to death. LILITH may craft wonderous items as if they were magic, but they can't rescue Taryon's past with his friends. Months of work, or friendships are gone, and he wishes he could bond over their first conversation.]

...Tell me about your world. Do you have clerics? Dragons? People fighting monsters and earning coin that way? [When he turns his head quickly to face her, his hair flips to the side, and he rests his chin in his fingers.] Maybe...enchantments, too?

[demandsatisfaction]

[Taryon accepts her explanation quite quickly for someone who doesn’t recall any part of the conversation in question. Lilias wonders briefly just how well what he assumes he must have told her actually matches up to reality, but the benefit of their situation is that they have relatively little ground to retread even should it seem necessary, and an abundance of time at present in which to do so.]

Indeed, Golarion has all those things.

[She smiles, folding her hands in her lap. Sitting on the floor like that, he reminds her a little of an inquisitive young student pestering their tutor. She experienced something similar when she’d given that volunteer lecture to the students at one of the schools here. Fortunately, there is only one of Taryon instead of several hundred.]

And elves and dwarves and goblins, and ghosts and demons, and a multiplicity of gods all striving against each other for their various goals.

[It was very strange to learn that in this world, none of those things exist. Even the gods of this world, if indeed any remain, don’t seem to touch it with their miracles.]

In the time since I began travelling, I enchanted a few items of my own. But none of them followed me here… and the market for proper materials in this land is disappointingly barren.

[likemybooks]

[Taryon should learn to be more skeptical of what people tell him, but it's easier to assume that everyone is being genuine unless he has a good reason to doubt their intentions. Sometimes, people are just dumb and don't mean him harm. Other times, they mean what they say, and Taryon doesn't have the full story and is confused by the mysteries. Why would Lilias lie about coming from a similar world and learning that from him? It's not as if they see familiar faces around the base.

Logically, these are some things he would share about his history up front. It's fine! This woman can be trusted.] Alright...alright. [He smiles and clasps hsi hands together.] That sounds just like Exandria! Although, there's less struggling between gods. They don't interact directly on the material plane - do you call it the material plane, too? Anyway, they're locked behind a Divine Gate, but we still call upon them for magic. Those that are devoted to them, anyway. I rely on this.

[He picks up a roomba and flips it on his back, revealing several runes carved into the metal.]

I do this for a living. [He made some money out of it on commission, he means.] Temporary enchantments and permanent, too. Even without the right materials, you can make do. Perhaps not armor, but... [He sets ther roomba down, which beeps annoyingly and zips to a corner.] Well, little things that might help.