Bassoon Day 6 -- afternoon, video

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufn has been awake for hours and is dressed in his road-crew orange clothing, but he came back for a shower, and he's still in Sleeper Carriage 2:A, speaking from the ICP in the cabin. His hair is not yet combed, and it is still wet and straggles about his forehead. He looks worried. ]

I hesitate to tell you this, but I think it's my responsibility. I had a dream last night, and I don't believe it was just a dream. Let me say that in my home universe, I had visions of evil things occurring, and they always came true. So, I'm sounding a warning, so that we may prepare in any way that we can.

I saw a city in flames. There were people in those burning buildings, and I heard screams. Other people were running, some escaping and some not. The air was choked with smoke.

There were winged creatures flying about this burning city, and I think they must have been demons, as I've seen that sort of creature before. I seemed to be standing quite near a building, as a wounded man came running around it toward me and would have escaped -- except that a small, white-haired, red-eyed being came swiftly behind him and stuck a spear into him. And then it turned on me, and I was about to get into a fight, but I suddenly awakened.

I don't know if many of you come from cultures that credit such visions, but I'm concerned.

[ OOC: This dream was PM'd to me -- to Curufin, I mean -- by the voidtreckermods last night, so you can bet it means something! XD ]

Comments

[so_dark_a_road]

[ If Romeo has been in the heavens, whether in space or in the afterlife, Curufin would be interested to hear about it! ]

A shinki? So you're life came to an end, and then you became a sort of angelic being? What an interesting fate! So, your memory dreams are from your previous existence. Was the boy who helped you from your previous life, or is he another angelic spirit? Either way, it sounds as though you have a friend.

[myblueskies]

[He nodded, he's not sure if shinki are like angels but it is close enough! They both live in heaven even if he hasn't ever actually met an angel...]

He was in my old life, sir! His name was Alfredo and I think he was a really good friend!

I had lots of friends in heaven though as well! [He misses them, though Joss is here, which he is glad about even if he is very worried about him.]

[so_dark_a_road]

I hope you meet Alfredo again someday. He seems like somebody you'd want to keep. Oh, and you don't have to call me sir. Just Curufin, or my nickname, Curvo. Either would be fine.

[ He doesn't tell many people to call him Curvo. It's his childhood name, and so he uses it with children. Especially the cheerful and friendly kind, like Romeo. ]

What kind of friends did you have in heaven? Were they all as nice as your earthly friend Alfredo?

[myblueskies]

Okay mister Curvo! [That's a nice nickname! He grins, he hopes that maybe one day he will see Alfredo too! He nods at the question, all his friends were really nice!]</Mslal. There's Joss! He's here on this train too. Then there was Elfnein, she's my god and she's very smart and very brave! There was Nanako and Chikusa and miss Ginia and miss Hibiki... There were so many people and they were all really nice and taught me things and we played fun games!

[so_dark_a_road]

Or just plain Curvo, without the Mister. [ He grins back. ]

Heaven sounds like a really friendly place. I'm glad you had such nice companions.

[myblueskies]

It was really nice and friendly, I was lucky to know lots of nice people!

What was it like where you were before?

[so_dark_a_road]

Before I came here, I lived in a city that was controlled by a group of gods who weren't really gods. They were energy parasites. I made friends there, however, and some of my relatives were keeping me company. Good things and bad things happened there, and I'm not sorry to have spent two years in it. Before that, I was in a world that looked just like my world except maybe six or seven thousand years in the future of my world. Same there, friends and family. And before that, my original world, Arda, where I lived in the country of Beleriand for about the last 550 years of my life -- a world of great beauty, full of light and darkness, good and evil. We had continuous war, which I didn't mind because I'm a warrior. But it would have been nice if I had had more time to practice my crafts, which are mainly building and metalsmithing. I miss my home. I dream about it often.

[myblueskies]

[A group of gods who weren't really gods but energy parasites? That was strange? Not heaven then because the gods there were real. Or sort of real since some of them came from other worlds but they took over the role of gods.

But he was so old?] Are you a god sir? Because they are the only people I know who live for lots of hundreds of years? [Shinki too, he guessed but they were already dead.]

What do you like to build sir?

[so_dark_a_road]

[ It was definitely not heaven! ]

No, I'm not a god. I'm of the Elven race. We have gods in our world, powerful angelic spirits who were given the responsibility of caring for the earth and its intelligent races. We Elves are powerful but not anywhere near as much as the gods are. We were given long lifespans, but we're not actually immortal, we just age very slowly. And thus we may live for thousands of years, but generally not tens of thousands.

What do I like to build? [ Grin. ] Oh, just about anything. Buildings, bridges, lighthouses, roads, harbors, ships.

[myblueskies]

[Elves? Romeo had read a story book with elves in it once. But those elves had been tiny and made shoes. Curufin was not tiny, he was really tall!

And shoes weren't on the list he liked to make!] You can make all those sir? You must be very very smart! And strong too!

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Story-book Elves, lol. Curufin would find such a book amusing, especially as he's 6 foot 2 inches tall, and he's made shoes but it isn't his forté. ]

I can make all those. I'm strong, though my relatives might contest that idea that I'm smart! [ Chuckle ]

What about you, Romeo? Do you have things you like to make?

[myblueskies]

I think you must be really smart sir! I don't know how to make any of those things!

[Not at all. It must take a lot of learning to build things that don't just fall down!]

I like making food sir! I learned how to make lots of different meals and I like making pictures and things with glitter. And I like making things with folding paper as well! That's really fun!

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Chuckle. ] I didn't figure out how to build most of those things; I learned how, from my teachers and mentors and from my father.

[ It did. The hazard of the building trade is that things fall down if they are not structured properly, and so it does take education. ]

So you like to make food and you like art. I'm sure you have materials for cooking in the kitchen carriage, but do you have paper and glitter as well?

[myblueskies]

Well you don't know anything until you learn them, then you got to practice lots and lots!

[He grinned.] Yes there's lots of things to make food in the kitchen and I got paper because there was a notebook in my bag. I don't got glitter though.

[so_dark_a_road]

Practice makes perfect! As my grandfather would say.

[ Curufin smiles back at Romeo. ] The notebook, of course. The paper is of very good quality for writing or drawing. I wonder if they have glitter in the store? I haven't searched the shelves yet to see what items they have.

[myblueskies]

Oh I haven't looked in the store yet! I'll have to go and have a look! But it's fine I can still make things look pretty without glitter and glitter is very messy.

[After the book party it had taken days and days to clean the temple of glitter and even weeks later they would still find more!]

[so_dark_a_road]

I've never used glitter myself; didn't need it, since I'm a gem crafter. It looks pretty, though. But if you can make things pretty without it, then you'll have fun! Maybe I'll come and join you?

[ Smile. Curufin hasn't done any artwork in a long time, except for architectural and engineering drawings. He thinks it might be fun to work with this enthusiastic young man, however. ]

[myblueskies]

You use gems? Like rocks? [That's what gems were right? He was glad for the offer, it was always fun to draw with other people.]

That would be fun sir! I would like to draw together sometime!

[so_dark_a_road]

I'm a metalsmith and a gem-crafter by trade, and yes, gems are rocks. I used to dig the rocks out of the earth and then hammer the crystals out of the rock and cut and polish them. I haven't done any of that kind of work in a while, but I've always loved it.

Yes, let's draw together! Whenever you like.

[myblueskies]

Rocks inside other rocks? How do you find them if they are hidden in the rocks? Do you just got to bash a lot of rocks until you find them? [He had known gems were rocks but not that they came from rocks.] Aren't they really hard to cut?

[so_dark_a_road]

Yes, the gem crystals are inside the rocks. I find them because I know what rocks that contain gemstones look like on the outside. They usually are found in veins or layers in the sides of mountains or steambeds or caves, so where I find one gem rock, I know I'll find others. So I just hammer away at the same rock layer until I find all the gemstones I need.

[ Life as a smith involves a lot of mining work. ]

No, they're not hard to cut. You just have to have sharp enough tools and enough experience. And it helps to have things like magnifying glasses and bright lights to work by.

[myblueskies]

It sounds really interesting sir! My goddess Elfnein really likes rocks. She finds them really interesting and she taught me lots about them but we didn't talk about gems hidden in them. We did find lots of interesting ones when we went up a volcano though!

[It's something he'd like to see. Maybe if they ever found some rocks with gems inside them Curufin would let him watch him cut them!]

[so_dark_a_road]

You have a goddess, and her name is Elfnein? You climbed up a volcano with her?? That must have been interesting.

[ Curufin will certainly let Romeo watch, if he ever gets to set up a gem-cutting operation and finds some rocks to cut the gems from. He might even teach Romeo the art, if the young man is interested. ]

[myblueskies]

Yes! I'm her shinki which means I work for her and help her help people and fight monsters. A god who was maybe bad but really had just been taught some bad things by a bad grown up made a volcano that exploded and we had to go and investigate. It was really hot and difficult to climb!

[But there had been lots of interesting rocks!]

[so_dark_a_road]

So, a shinki is kind of like a knight? You help your goddess in her work, and that work is trying to fix the results of wrongdoing? That volcano must have been a real adventure. I hope you didn't get burned.