video from greenhouse

[eyeslikeblood]

[ As usual, Gyousou has been visiting the greenhouse to check on the small plant from his world. Which, in turn, has led him to some navel-gazing. ]

I have been thinking recently on the future of this journey of ours. Preparation is key for any venture, and perhaps we have been too reactionary... We are able to purchase animals and supplies, but perhaps it might be worthwhile to request a riboku, so that we might grow animals of our own and gain some self-sufficiency. I'm not familiar with customs for the creation of a riboku outside of my own land, but in Tai the village would assemble in a festival gathering, so that their prayers may all be heard.

[ He smiles slightly, expression wry. ] Ordinarily, we would also register the settlement on the divine lists... but here I suppose notifying the train itself would work just as well.

[OoC: Threads can and will be threadjacked by Taiki as he tries to do cultural damage control, let me know in your tag if that's not okay!]

Comments

[hibana_incursa]

What’s a riboku?

[eyeslikeblood]

[ He looks a little concerned when he responds. Obviously he wasn't expecting to field that question, though his expression implies he's more worried that she didn't understand the word more than anything. ]

Ah, I didn't realise that word would not translate... What would you call the tree from which children grow?

[longforgottenpromise]

[Ah.

He obviously knew that most the people here were from worlds that worked like earth when it came to such things but he had not stopped to think that Lord Gyousou might not realise that.

Of course he did not realise that. He would not think another world would be so different in such a basic thing.]

Um... sorry your majesty, Stacey-san, for interrupting. I... I don't think Stacey-san is from a world where children grow on riboku.

[mtsilver_conquor]

[Eva cocks her head in thought.]

That sounds a bit like a farm, and I can't say I'd be averse. For all the Train gives us food each platform, I'd like more options.

[eyeslikeblood]

Ah, not quite a farm. I don't think we have enough space to grow grains, so we would not need to pray for seeds. Perhaps just some of the more compact breeds of livestock... though I suppose we have little space for those either.

[mtsilver_conquor]

Pray...? Oh, to the gods, then.

Is that how you get food and plants to farm, then?

[les_magique]

You’re going to have to run that one by me again. Sorry.

makes no sense doop doop

[eyeslikeblood]

[ maybe they don't realise his experience? That may be it. ]

As the king of Tai, some of my duties were overseeing the registry of new riboku, and the calendar of prayers for the eggfruit. I believe the train, with its hundred or so residents, would count as a settlement large enough to receive a tree of its own.

[ Hm ] Of course, I doubt we would be able to pray for children from it, specifically... it would have to grow larger than our carriages for that. But smaller livestock and grains would be within reason.

[les_magique]

...do people grow on trees in your world?

[Voice] Skipping past the fourth-walling potential, as this is funnier:

[iamnotgod]

[Webmind's first reaction to this post is just. Blankfaced confusion. Who in the what, now?

Still, he's talked to Lord Gyousou by now; in all likelihood this is simply the man bringing up something from his home to use as a resource. So he recovers, and says:]

I do not believe riboku exist in any of our worlds, but if they are something that can be made to fit within the confines of the train, they do sound useful for the long-term.

:Db

[eyeslikeblood]

Precisely. [ He was bracing to have to explain again, but it's heartening to have Webmind just accept it. ]

The process is intricately linked with the heavens, so I could not promise success in this place... but I believe it would be worth the attempt.

Re: :Db

[iamnotgod]

If it is meant to be a naturally-growing thing, perhaps it can function away from its source, much as several of the Voidtreckers here can.

[Much as Webmind himself could function outside of the Internet while here, though he did not think of himself as divine in any way.]

[Video]

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita, meanwhile, is just plain confused.]

Riboku? Divine lists?

... Okay, I get the former is a tree, so, what are the divine lists, then?

[She'll settle for focusing on that, rather than increasing the embarrassment level of this post even further.]

[eyeslikeblood]

The kingdoms are ruled by the will of Tentei and the heavens. In order to properly administrate the lands, the law and the people, a number of divine registries and records are kept. Such as, the registry of immortals, the registry of households, and the registry of thrones.

[knifewithnoname]

[She had been listening for a while. Mostly in smug relief that she wasn't the only one confused by the whole people-make-babies thing.

Also glad that, as she suspected, it wasn't the only way to make babies.]

So you do be saying this tree. You do be praying to your god and then babies do be arriving? You do no be needing parents or no stupid things like that?

[eyeslikeblood]

A couple will raise the child granted to them. The parents' wish is what causes the fruit to begin to grow on the riboku... but it is true that without intercession, wild animals and plants are still born, so the prayers of the people are not strictly necessary.

video;

[flatteries]

[ An animal-growing thing.. What in sweet Naga's name happens in Taiki and Gyousou's world. Seriously. What is that place even like. Inigo has to try really hard to wipe the total confusion off his face enough so he feels presentable enough to talk to Gyousou when he replies.. ]

That.. sounds like a great idea, milord! [ Confused? Inigo? Hah! Look at how clearly he understands all of this! He is totally not nervously sweating! ] Although I'd hope it doesn't grow animals too quickly, or the train may be overrun!

Re: video;

[longforgottenpromise]

[Oh. Inigo. Taiki knows him well enough to tell he is confused. Though his world has people who turn into dragons, so things might not work the same there as on earth, or in his own world.]

I think it takes a while... Much like animals are born on earth, it doesn't happen right away.

[eyeslikeblood]

There are specific calendars for the prayers given to the riboku to ensure the correct number of births. We would calculate something similar here.

[ Sighhhh ] However, I'm becoming aware that my world is an exception rather than a rule.

[usestwohands]

A 'riboku'?

[longforgottenpromise]

It is a tree that grows living things, like animals and humans. It is how new life is created on our world.

[eyeslikeblood]

As Kouri says. I would have explained, had I known how strange other worlds were in these matters.

[ Video ]

[theturksway]

[After having listened to some of the open conversations here for a bit, there's only one conclusion Reno can come to:]

Your world is weird, yo.

[longforgottenpromise]

No weirder than any other. [His face is stern, though there is no anger in his voice. It is firm though.]

I am sure there are parts of your world that we would find strange.

[eyeslikeblood]

The feeling is mutual.