1946/Calling Home

Calling Home
Date of Scene:	19 September 2016
Location:	The Portal to Waldia
Synopsis:	The Waldians check in with the King. Several topics are discussed. Other topics are ... quietly, calmly avoided.
Cast of Characters:	Valeria Barun, Runealy Waldia, Fate T. Waldia

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Valeria Barun has posed:
    The portal to Waldia is as always a fickle thing. Sometime's it's open enough to pass between Waldia and Earth, but most of the time it's so small only tightly rolled notes can make it through, and luckily peoples voices can also be transmitted. That's the case today, though recently the portal had shrunk from it's usual marble size to the size of a ball-point pen's tip. While this isn't entirely abnormal it does mean that when the portal once again opened up to allow communication a trip to the forest was in order for those on both sides.

    On the Waldian side King Raydel had come, and on the Earth side Runealy, Fate, and Valeria had called one of their usual trusted limo's to bring them out. The plan was for an exchange of information about the general situation and happenings both in Waldia and on Earth, as well as giving a chance for father and daughter to visit.

    It had been raining when they'd set out from their home in Tokyo, but luckily by the time the limousine had made it to the forest it had settled down. The forest floor had only gotten mildly damp but everything smells fresh and new. Valeria gets out of the limo and looks about, smiling at the scent of nature that's so often absent on the large city. As much as she enjoys living in such a busy metropolitan area she has to admit that nature has some serious perks.

    Though she knows the 'visiting' portion of the meeting is mostly intended for Runealy she's happy to get a chance to say hello to the King and exchange pleasantries again. "I wonder how the harvests will go," she chat's amicably, "I remember this time last year Father was expecting a strong one. He'd been renting extra storage down by the docks and arranging long distance shipping to where it would be needed." Where it would be needed is where it would sell for the highest prices of course, but isn't that just the nature of business?

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Notably, even with a limo ride there is some walking involved; Rune always has the driver let them off at the edge of the road, and he has generally been kept unaware of the portal's existence. A trek from there ensues as a result.

These discussions happen every few weeks, cherished as the rare equivalent to being able to 'phone home.' So Rune takes the lead on the way up-hill, notably more at-ease in this low tech area than back in Tokyo. "The harvests? Usually they go fine, but I know we try to hold onto a bit of a season's surplus for those times when it's not as good as we hoped. As for how good of one we get this year..." Her head tilts down a little in thought.

"That's a good question. I know the area right outside the temple was starting to get 'blighted' in a few places, but it sounded like that cleared up. Maybe it's possible it happened elsewhere too? I hope not... we've had enough problems, the harvests really need to go right."

A sudden realization brings her gaze back to Valeria. "/Did/ they get the extra storage this time around, actually?"

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    Fate has gotten used to riding around in limos, despite the fact that she can fly everywhere. The seats are more than spacious enough for the well-behaved little mage, and not needing to worry about navigation does free her up to talk more.

    The trek is also taken on foot, because if her friends have to walk then so will she. Talk about harvests and crops... doesn't go over her head persay, but it's a little alien to her. On Midchildia, harvests were never a big deal to anyone but farmers, and on Earth it's the same. It's not too hard for Fate to guess why Waldia would be different, but it's one thing to have a vague idea and it's another thing entirely to have to deal with that kind of thing.

    So she's quiet on that matter, glancing between Vale and Rune as they talk about matters that she doesn't really get in a land she's been to once.

Valeria Barun has posed:
    "Blighted? That probably had more to do with the Barrier than anything else; even the sky looked 'blighted' around the temple before things were fixed." Valeria pointedly offers a small smile to Fate when she mentions the restoration of the barrier. "You're right though, it's very important to keep a stockpile on grain. Even if there are other foods doing well to supplement the loss they'll still be upset without their staples." She lets out a little sigh, "People without bread can lose their taste for delicacies."

    Not wanting to leave the conversation on a dour note she shakes her head, "I'm sure there won't be any shortages this year though, Rune. Last year had a strong harvest, so there should be plenty even in the worst case." Walking along the forest is fairly difficult in her usual outfit, but she's started to get a good enough feel for it that she can make it look easy. That's important to her too, more important than it actually being easy to travel, at least when with others.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Rune looks back to Fate as well, prompted by Valeria's look her way; realizing that Valeria had not spotted some random assassin calms her down, and nets a copy of that smile for Fate too. "Lose their taste for... well, I want to say 'I wouldn't know about that', but... the first few days of living in the store were kind of eye opening." Not that she had been in any real danger of starving, but the shift in diet until they found out local options for food was tremendous all the same.

"Still, if nobody else has to figure out anything like that back home..." If only she knew, "Then good. You're right, we'll be fine."

Then something else occurs to her, one shifting her attention to Fate. "Come to think of it, have you used the portal to talk to the other side before? Not going through, that's probably going to be impossible right now, but... you can see a tiny bit through it, and voices go through too. They're just kind of muddled up, like a cell phone when it's not working right."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    Fate finds something in the conversation that she can respond to and does so. "It was looking pretty bad that day, wasn't it? It's a little scary to think something like that could affect harvests, too."

    Runealy mentions her first stay in their store, and Fate gives her a wide-eyed look. "When I first arrived on Earth, Arf-chan found food for me pretty quickly. Finding an apartment didn't take long either." Arf, not Precia, though that's probably not even a surprise.

    "it'd be nice if no one had to worry about things like that," says Fate, agreeing with the others in sentiment even if details still escape her.

    "The portal? Aside from back when we went through, I don't think I've been back here at all." It's been a long time, long enough that Fate might not know the way if she didn't have a guide. "Is it hard, talking through it like that?"

Valeria Barun has posed:
    Valeria gives a nod of agreement to Runealy, "Sometimes it happens even if they're getting plenty of other food and they're not even hungry. Even if they'd normally buy oysters, for instance, they might think it's not worth the cost when a bag of grain costs the same price, even if the price of oysters is down and they aren't going to spend money on the grain anyway." She shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head, not understanding this kind of thinking. It probably has something to do with having had plenty of money her whole life.

    "It would be best if Waldians never had to learn what famine is like. Actually, I can't even think of any famines even in history; maybe that's a perk of fair and just rule?" She quiets down after speaking and listens to Runealy and Fate speak about the portal, which is a far more topical point of conversation anyway.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"Well, you're welcome to come here whenever you want," Rune comments. "You'll find little landmarks to help. At first I had to have Gaofele show me to and from here, but eventually I started picking out specific trees, a little creek along the way, things like that. And I wouldn't call it /hard/ to speak through it, but... maybe a little annoying."

She leans forward, holding her phone out. "It's kind of like if you had to get really, really close to this, raise your voice, and repeat a few things. You eventually get everything across to the person on the other side, but it doesn't all get through the first try. Dad and I sometimes get where we're trading 'what? what?' back and forth for a bit."

She puts the phone away before adding: "Sometimes it's bad enough that we just write down what we're saying and pass a note back through each time. I'll have to bring pen and ink with me, and so will he."

When Valeria gets in to agricultural history, Rune again tilts her head down to consider this. "No... there was one, but that was about a thousand years ago." She remains unaware of a more recent one. "That's the only one we've had, but it's pretty much where we got the word 'famine' to begin with." This has been an issue with language ever since they arrived in Tokyo. Despite speaking basically the same tongue, there are occasions where Waldian society has never had to define certain concepts and thus the knights and princess have to learn entirely new words and ideas. 'Famine' wasn't one of those, even if it's a relatively abstract concept in their case.

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    A little annoying? "Oh, I see." Fate tries to imagine what Rune means by that, and then Rune gets into details. The thought of her and her dad trying to talk that way and failing gets a giggle from her, because as annoying as that might be to put up with, the mental image is funny.

    "That does sound annoying!" she says, using Rune's words. "Passing notes sounds more reliable, but... don't pens already have ink in them?" asks Fate, a bit naively, before remembering who she's talking to. "Oh, right. Sorry."

    "I've never had to deal with famine either," says Fate. "I wouldn't know what that's like. It's good to hear that you've gone a thousand years without one." Her tone almost sounds apologetic, as if her inability to sympathise or understand another's plight is a personal failing of her character. She's blissfully unaware of anything like that happening recently.

Valeria Barun has posed:
    It's really too bad they couldn't just give the people on the other side of the portal some kind of technology to make communicating easier when the portal was small like that, Valeria thinks. She knows even that would be a potentially irresponsible introduction, though it may be possible to make some kind of magical alternative. If there is she certainly doesn't know how to do it, though. "That does sound annoying, but it's far better than not getting to speak to anyone back home at all," she finally decides to add.

    The famine Runealy speaks of is news to Valeria, probably because history that ancient has little to do with modern Waldian trade practices. Saving food enough from the last year's harvest to make it through the next winter if needed, on the other hand, most likely does stem from that. How would one know it was possible for crops to fail if they never had before? "Ah, so there was one." Saying that 'once in a thousand years isn't too bad' doesn't seem right since undoubtedly people suffered, so she holds her tongue on that particular comment. Fate gets the tone properly though and she quickly agrees, "Yes! It's good that it's been so long."

    She starts peeking around ahead of them, trying to glance between branches, "I feel a little foolish, but how much further is it? I don't come this way near so often as you do, Rune I'm not sure I could find it without searching."

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"Ours don't. Maybe I should just /give/ him some, though. He has asked me to not send over any Earth technology, but I think 'pen with the ink already in it' isn't... really... something we couldn't figure out on our own. So," Rune nods over to Fate, "Sounds like you just gave me a good idea. He'd just have to carry a few Earth pens, instead of an ink-well and one of our pens."

Then she's in immediate agreement with Valeria. "Yeah... if I could never get to talk to him, I... well, I'd live with it but it would be pretty awful. So 'annoying' is definitely better than the alternative! And, actually..."

She points at a tiny floating blue speck in the distance ahead. "I'd say you walk for another ten seconds or so and we're there."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    Fate brightens as Rune says she just gave her a good idea. Yay! That makes her happy. Then she starts trying to figure out if she'd know how a ballpoint pen works, without Bardiche googling it for her. She furrows her brow and purses her lips as she thinks about that.

    Fate nods to Valeria, and then to Rune, as they say it's better than nothing. "It'd be sad if you couldn't talk to your dad," she says to Rune, focusing more on that than the more strategic concerns with exchanging information.

    Another ten seconds? Fate looks around, until she spots what Runealy sees. "Oh!" Now that she thinks about it, this place does look familiar. Well here we are!"

Valeria Barun has posed:
    "It wouldn't be terrible to get a simple writing desk and supplies set up on the other side," Valeria notes. "It's sheltered enough that with a little care it could be a lot easier for anyone who hand to write a message in a hurry, especially since we're going to be spending so much time showing our gratitude to the people of this world." After a moment she laughs and shakes her head, "Perhaps they've already thought of that, though. I haven't seen the other side in so long the could have built up a fort around the portal by now." It might be too conspicuous and bad for various other reasons, but it is possible.

    Runealy is given a smile as she talks about getting to speak with her father, only for that smile to brighten, "Oh, good!" A soft laugh is made at her own expense, "See? I really had forgotten the way. I must do better to remember."

    She walks up to the small portal, leaning in close(but not too close!) and trying to peek through. "I think I see somebody! It seems we've made it right on time." Or at least they aren't ahead of schedule. She moves away and looks to Runealy, curious to see if there's anything more to contacting the other side than shouting and hoping someone hears.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"I think he feels the same way," Rune notes to Fate. "He's keeping everything running while we're gone," He'd be doing that even if they were home, as a princess by definition is pretty much not ready to be the ruler of a nation or world. "But he always makes it to our meetings here. Though,"

A few slow headshakes go to Valeria. Not at the leaning in to inspect the portal, but the comments right before that. "We have a few guards on the other side, but that's about as good as we can do. We didn't want demons figuring out it was here. Though, it looks like they already have... and a fort won't do much to slow them down, really. Every time a soldier has tried to fight a demon, the lucky ones have to run away... most of them manage to barely scratch the monster, /if that/, before..." Her voice trails off, leaving the conclusion implied. Suffice to say, Waldia's army primarily focuses on dealing with any violent wild animals and hunting down bandits; they don't see much action.

There is indeed a person on the other side though. The visual is blurry, and blue-tinged, but a man in his mid to late 30s can be seen. A royal crown and robes make his identity clear, and apparently he has noticed the movement on Earth's side. "Ahh, Runealy, there you a-- no..." He in turn leans up to the Waldian side of the opening, squinting to try to make out details, before recognizing who's really there: "Valeria! It's good to see you."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    "It'd be a little strange to randomly see a desk in the middle of nowhere." Fate tries to imagine a desk here in the middle of the woods. "Though it would make things easier when it comes to writing."

    The thought of a fort being built around it makes Fate blink, but then Runealy scales it down to 'just a few guards' and Fate lets out a 'huh'.

    The description of how guards usually fare against demons gets a wide eyed stare from Fate. Sure, they're powerful, and Fate has faced them before. It's hard to forget facing such a monster. She can't imagine how scary it would be to face one of those while relatively powerless.

    They approach the portal, and Fate stays back while Valeria inspects it. "It's like one of those holes they have on doors... peepholes." A voice calls out, and Fate recognizes it as the King's. "Hi!" she calls out, not very close to the portal. She opens her mouth to say something else, but no words come to mind, so she closes her mouth and looks at the other two.

    "So... where should we start?"

Valeria Barun has posed:
    "Oh, that's true. Even a slightly larger presence might tip more demons off." As far as Valeria is concerned the last thing Tokyo needs is a larger presence from Waldia's demons; they seem to be causing quite enough trouble already.
    Valeria lets out a small gasp of delighted surprise when the crowned figure speaks to her, "Oh, Your Highness! It's very good to see you too." She aborts her attempt to step back because one does not so easily dismiss their liege, quickly shifting her movement into her most formal curtsy; because manners are very important to her. That he might only be able to see her through a speck of blue is unimportant! "I'm glad to see you looking well."

    She then looks over towards Runealy and says, "Rune, your father is here," in a pleasant tone, more to let the King know his daughter is present than to inform the Princess of the obvious. A moment later she realizes something and her smile warms and brightens, "Can you hear me well, Your Highness? Things appear to be working fairly well from our end." It might not be as nice as walking through and having a proper face to face conversation, but if the portal is relaying sound well it might be the next best thing.

    At Fate's question Valeria opens her mouth for a moment and then shuts it, considering a moment before saying, "That... is a poignant inquiry." She looks to the Portal and the King beyond, and then to Runealy, "Is it matters of State or family that are normally discussed first?"

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"Now that you mention it," Rune quickly realizes Fate's description is apt, "yeah." She starts toward the portal, but it seems others are taking up the conversation instead... and she's okay with this; there will be time for her own thoughts later. So she waits, curious as to how this discussion is going to go.

Valeria's explanation nets a simultaneous "Thank you," from both king and princess; it explicitly answers something they each suspected was true, but knowing it for sure is a comfort to them.

After that, Rune's father carries on the discussion. "Well enough, at least. I am missing a word here and there, but you're quite understandable." He raises an eye at the third voice he hears, trying to place it. He even leans around at different angles, trying to get a view through the portal-hole to figure out who he just heard... he /knows/ the voice. And once he has had a few seconds to think it through, he's able to pierce through the distortions to identify it: "Fate Testarossa, was it? A pleasant surprise." He knows very little about her, but her identity has been memorized just as the others who came over to help out on Salvation Day have been. "As for where we start, what we discuss first, that really depends. Sometimes I have little to discuss for formal matters," sometimes because he's intentionally hiding information, albeit done with the best intentions for his daughter. "And others, there may well be pressing news. I already received the note that demons, and possibly people, have slipped past our guards to cross over to Tokyo... but that is all I currently know. What brings you two here?" From what can be seen of him through the hole, he's addressing Fate and Valeria with that question; Rune is too far back to be conveniently spoken to.

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    Valeria curtseys, and Fate pays attention. Is this what you're supposed to do when addressing Waldia's King? The tiny mage hesitates, and then tries to mimic Vale's curtsey at the marble, just in case she's actually visible.

    Vale asks whether or not matters of 'family' or 'state' are discussed first, and Fate glances away, at least until the disembodied (to her) kingly voice starts to address her. She turns towards the portal, nodding eagerly, and taking a step forward. "That's right! It's nice to meet you again... Your Majesty!" Is that respectful enough? She isn't sure, but Vale was using it.

    "Well, we did find another assassin. We repelled her," Obviously, because Rune is still here, "but we still aren't sure what they want. They aren't saying a lot."

    She takes another step forward. "Um... another thing is... I've been staying with Princess Runealy and her Guardian Knights for a while. Maybe you know that already, but... I don't have anywhere else to go, and Rune-chan-- Princess Runealy has been really nice to me!" Her words catch. She isn't really sure what comes after that.

Valeria Barun has posed:
    A gracious nod is given to both Runealy and her father from Valeria, quietly pleased to have done a service however small. When he notes that he'd already heard about the Waldians causing trouble Valreia nods, "They've proven troublesome thus far, but I have faith we'll find a way to eliminate the threat they pose." She shifts for a moment, looking unsure before adding, "Don't worry, Your Highness, we'll do everything we can to make sure the Guardian Princess remains safe in light of these developments." That is the proper role of a Guardian Knight, after all.

    As for why she's here? That's cause for her to relax her demeanor, "I was eager to take the chance to see you again once I knew you'd be here, Uncle." Seems like Super Formality Time has ended, at least for the moment. "As much as I've loved learning about this new world and it's incredible people I must admit to feeling some small of homesickness, so I thought it might be nice to hear of Waldia and how things have been progressing."

    She smiles to herself as Fate follows her lead and curtsies, nodding slightly as she uses the proper address for the King. One thing Valeria has noticed about Fate; she's an extremely quick learner and doesn't seem to miss much of what's going on around her. When Fate mentions living with them she interjects afterwards with a small, "It's been nice having her around." Which so far as she's concerned is completely true.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Despite the topic, Rune's father is visibly pleased by seeing Fate try to be polite; he smiles. "It's wonderful to see you as well. 'We' repelled them, though? That would mean... ahh." The realization sinks in, that of course Fate can help with that sort of problem and has apparently done so! "That's troubling, but... please accept my deepest thanks. I would be completely beside myself if something were to happen to her!" There's a moment's crack in his calm demeanor as he contemplates that, one he's unable to hide.

Thankfully, he is provided other topics to answer. "I knew that you've been their guest, though... what do you mean, 'nowhere to go'? Surely you...?" It seems that letting a sentence trail off is a family trait, though he does finish it a moment later: "Do you mean to tell me your room at their home in Tokyo is the only place you have been staying?"

Then his niece puts him in an interesting position. He's being asked to explain how things are going back home, while trying to figure out how much those events tie into the rise of apparently assassins emerging in Tokyo. In the end, he opts to keep things simple and optimistic. "They're going well enough. We're sorting out our plans for the harvest, as you can imagine. And..." A short nod, "I won't presume to speak for them, but the others do seem to wonder how you're doing from time to time." He's most likely implying the rest of the immediate family, in Valeria's case. "Or perhaps I should remind them that meeting here, or even passing letters through on a set schedule, can be done."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    Fate gives a cheerful nod at Vale's reassurance of Rune's safety. Upon hearing the crack in the King's voice, Fate's heart actually goes out for him. "We won't let anything happen to her, no matter who we have to fight!"

    Perhaps mercifully, the King has another topic to address, and Fate doesn't dwell on the previous one too much. She doesn't even begin to sense that anything might be off or wrong about this. After all, Runealy's father is a trusted person if nothing else.

    "Um... well..." Fate awkwardly grinds the sole of her foot into the ground, one hand clasping opposite wrist behind her back. "... yeah. I could take care of myself, maybe, for a while, but it wouldn't be a good idea for me to be on my own. So that's how it is." She decides to leave the uncomfortable topic of bad parenting out of this conversation for now.

    Once again, she has no idea how to address the topic of harvests, so she decides to at least be encouraging. "Good luck with it!"

    She really has no reason to doubt that anything's wrong, since they haven't had a famine in a thousand years.