vallo

Hey out there, Network People. I heard I should introduce myself here. I'm Liam, I've been here about a week, and I haven't posted because - technology, that's new. But I think I've got the hang of it now, and Violet says you guys like pictures of cool things, so here's one.



I don't usually get to paint them, but you guys have craft stores that are pretty awesome. I spent almost all of my DOA stipend there, so that probably means it's time I get a job. Who's got good work recommendations for a dragon-less dragon rider?

H blast ho
W do I

THERE THATS SOMETYING, I YHINK
FUCK

NO THATS IMPOLITE HO W DO YOU REMOVE THERE SURELY

at this point just leave me here lost to die I cannot recover from this and I haven to the fainted idea if hie to use this internal yhing

Id like to go home now I think

Ah-- Hello, good morning. I know that it is early for most, but well. I seem to have lost track of the hour.

A thought occurred to me in the night while I was trancing. It--well If you are unfamiliar, it is something that my variation of elves can do, wherein we do not have to sleep and instead go into a meditative trance and do exercises--it hardly matters, but I generally go over thoughts of whatever I am working on or Ca so my thoughts were lingering on this issue we have been going over regarding the portal beast since yesterday and--

I apologize, I did not actually finish my trance and am surviving on coffee and hope at the moment.

Anyway, I had a thought, specifically from the transmutation books that Prigany brought and a few specific runes that those idiots the culprits had tried to use and everything else surrounding the situation and, this might sound mad and I will need someone or a few someones to look over my work, but I am certain that they somehow managed to turn a waypoint crystal into the creature that we have been dealing with today and all of the portals and its glitching and disappearing are stemming from the fact that the magic of the waypoints just shouldn't be within something living and breathing like that.

As I said, I am humble enough to want someone to look over what led me to this conclusion as I have all of the work to show for it, but my humbleness ends at a point as I do have confidence here. There is nowhere for us to send the creature, as they were created and are truly from our Vallo. Perhaps this is something to confirm with them, if communication is at all possible?

But, ah--that is all. It feels as though this narrows our options.

It occurs to me that we will need a way to contain the portal beast once we manage to find her (or him? I don't suppose anyone knows?).

I have been working on a spell which I think could be effective to use, especially if it's paired with some sort of structure, but I will need a couple more days to work out the details, and as I cannot cast the spell myself, I will need someone with more powerful magic to do so and so I think I will need time to craft the spell to tailor the spell to their magic.

A lot of strange things have happened to me lately but magical kidnapping is definitely new.

Listen, I know this is probably only interesting to me but did you all realize that the average bipedal takes over two hundred million steps in their lifetime? And that people actually track the number of steps they take every day? Some cool store clerk in the city was telling me all about it and they showed me this watch thing you wear on your arm that somehow knows what your feet are doing and how often. I bought four. I'm wearing every single one of them.

ALSO, new discoveries that make having legs literally the best ever:

Rollerblading (Am very bad at it. My butt hurts. It's amazing.)
Dancing (It's almost like having a fin but on land?? You just wiggle a lot and I love it.)
Climbing trees (See commentary on rollerblading)
Sitting on the floor (how did I never know you could sort of tie your legs in a knot??)
Being barefoot (Ummmmmm, why do we even wear shoes up here?)

Non-leg things I'm loving:
All of the art I can do up here that I couldn't do in Atlantis🥲

Okay so I was going to say something about dirt cake Oreos but instead I think it's more important to say that I saw that portal beast in the city?? It wasn't doing anything but I think it was scared worried afraid confused? Like it didn't know where it was? Or maybe it was the noise?

I think it's sad and I think I want to hug it


Oh wait hold on, it disappeared now? Like it--disappeared and came back and disappeared and came back and then I think it went through another portal? I can't tell if there's anything left behind. I don't think there is?


(also in case anyone IS wondering about the dirt cake Oreos, they're pretty good but the sprinkles are really hard to see and have no flavor so they're just there as a gummy worm homage, and there's dual creme which is nice even if I think crushed up Oreos in Oreo creme is a little like eating a chicken omelet lololololol look they're delicious because I love Oreos BUT maybe not the most clever)

Next week will mark my arrival anniversary into Vallo and I believe that counts as one of the few dates where I am allowed to be sentimental "on main", as my once students used to say. (Note that the other dates include: my birthday, Caleb's birthday, the children's birthday, our wedding anniversary. Other random days must be forgiven, if I am not controlled at brunch and have one too many sips of a mimosa.)

And so, this has been a very tumultuously wonderful handful of years and I am grateful to the people who have given it such joy, both those that have since gone and everyone still here--and, most assuredly, those that will still stumble into Vallo in the future. I am a lucky elf.

Anyway, sentimentality over. Thank you for allowing the indulgence.

I am delivering a new podcast this evening that I am particularly proud of. Normally I would give hints as to the subject matter--magic, soup, book reviews, etc--so as to tempt people to listen, but I wish not to spoil anyone and also I have heard that lending some mystery could likewise tempt people to listen so this is a test. If no one listens, I will know it is a gamble best not taken again and simply be terrible sad. (This is a back up plan: if mystery does not work, perhaps guilt will.) (This is a joke, in case my brand of humor remains less than clear after all these years of attempting it.)

Hey there, newcomers--and also not-newcomers, since I've been told everyone should be connected onto our networks now. Obviously let us know if that's not the case--well, I guess you wouldn't be seeing this if it wasn't, so. Let us know if it is and that's one thing done.

Anyway, I'm Orym and it really is nice to see some new faces, even if it's from strange circumstances. (I say that as though arriving via tree onto a space station is normal, but after a few years it really is.)

If there's anything you need or have questions about, let us know.

Eat some Oreos, take care of yourself, and tell people you love them. It doesn't solve anything, but I think it helps a little.

Gangsey

I'm going to go get some of my things and the cat, and then I'm going for a walk. I might sit out with the cows for awhile too.

Love you.

BLUE & GILMORE

This is just an announcement to let you know that I did the right thing and my husband in this world is probably incredibly upset with me over it.

Also I am pretty sure I was played by my son.

There are bigger issues and I recognize this, but I feel as though you two will keep the judgement to a level that is productive and remind me only the right amount that I ought to keep my head from wallowing.

Uh so is it always like this around here? Chaotic but quiet all at once?

I'm Violet. They told me I wasn't being held hostage and the mender dropped me off at the place where they gave me money? But I'd rather find my dragons. So if you see a giant black dragon followed around by a smaller black dragon, let me know? Neither of them are very good at being well-behaved if they think I'm in danger.

[FILTERED TO VALLO PRIME, FLIPPED REBELS (THAT INCLUDES YOU ELI), & RESCUERS]

Testing, testing. Are you getting this? We're using my connection to the Black Lion and the quintessence tech in my arm to form a bridge between the networks. Basically, we're playing telephone through a giant sentient spaceship. Stop by and thank him for me? I'm sure he's stressed by all of this.

Anyway, assuming someone is reading this, on the other side of the portal is a parallel Vallo. We've made contact with a group of Outlanders here and confirmed that they are alternate versions of some of our lost people. Most of them have lived here for years and some have different memories of their home worlds. They've formed a rebellion against another group, made up of more of our lost people. They call themselves the Court of Revenants and they're the reason this message is filtered as best as I can get it.

Please be aware that Council members might look like someone you've lost, but they have apparently taken control of this Vallo through force and terror. There is a stalemate between the Council and the Rebels because any physical violence here creates what they call Echoes - spectral enemies that attack anyone close by and only stop when the fighting stops.

Now I'm sure you're wondering where our Outlanders are. I've been told the people here suffered a violent headache and a flash of memories that then faded when the portal opened on this side. It can't be a coincidence. I suspect our people are tangled up metaphysically with their counterparts. I have no idea how to separate them. If you have any theories, please don't be shy.

As for the rescue team, everyone is accounted for and safe. Our focus right now is planning a recovery mission. A few rebels were taken captive just before we arrived. Keith is We will get them back. In the meantime, please feel free to use this post to brainstorm and reconnect. Since I know it'll be a question on your minds, here is the list of the captured:

• Ashton Greymoore
• Dorian Storm
• Keith Kogane
• Luffy
• Nancy Wheeler
• Noctis Lucis Caelum

And a list of the Council and their allies:

• Caleb Widogast
• William Laurence
• Henry Townshend
• Kellach Donnallen
• Ostyia Rabalska
• Teddy Kaplan-Altman
• Billy Kaplan
• Abigail Blyg
• Lan Xichen
• Lee Thompkins
• Joshua Rosfield
• Julian Blackthorn
• Ronan Lynch
• Serefin Meleski
• Silas

Anyone not on either of these lists should be able to see and respond to this post. Okay, enough rambling. Time to see if this actually works.

( MESSAGES UNDELIVERED: TEXTS TO GANSEY )

So nothing? No one has heard from anyone yet?

This June will mark three years since we launched my podcast, which is a sentence that I would have never imagined stringing together four years ago, let alone knowing what many of those words meant. I have covered numerous magical and non-magical topics alike, as well as had several guests talk about their own brand of magic and overall it has been a good time and I am looking forward to continuing into 2024.

However, I am curious: does anyone who listens (or does not, but just has suggestions) have any specific magical topics or questions that they would like to hear a drow go on about for 45-60 minutes? And that said, do you have any non-magical topics that are not simply rooted in my soup preferences and fashion opinions? Because while I talk a lot about magic, it is a bit of a catch-all in that regard.

Very important business aside, after a lot of griping that my husband has to hear every night, I might just be having a minor success in the orchid department: ( Cut for image! )

( I'm not saying I feel a crazy amount of vindication right now, but... )

I was downtown on a call with the station, when I came across part of a spaceship. Weird thing is that it looks like it crashed here? But awhile ago. I think we definitely would have noticed it being here though by now and I vaguely remember there being a boarded up building for rent around here before, but me and our station inspector can't find any evidence of it being under this beautiful hunk of junk. I called it into the city and the DOA (hi Shiro!) and I'm waiting to hear back something about that.

Weird Vallo thing probably?

The inside's wrecked, but the comms system looks like it might be salvageable. I'm not techy enough to work on this, but would love help figuring it out to see if we can maybe get some logs or security footage out of it. I was thinking about reaching out to Enki to see if Mei or anyone could lend us a hand if we don't have any Outlander brains on it.

Ever since New Year's Eve people have had ideas about what new "fun" toppings they can request on pizza like they did at the charity event. Too much warm fruit. And finally today someone said they wanted strawberries, peaches, and pickled radishes with scrambled eggs and I just

I no longer work at Nino's. I quit. It was that or jail. Find a new place to knife fight out back.

FRIENDS OF GANSEY (BUT GANSEY CAN ALSO SEE.)

A certain someone's birthday is next Wednesday. Now that I have oodles of free time, you're cordially invited to clear the evening. We're doing whatever Gansey wants.

((posted laaaaate tonight/eaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarly tomorrow morning))
((also this is a picspam and requires a lot of mental photoshop and theatre of the miiiind))

I went to that Critical Role Land with my moron friends and it is the best place I have ever been to in my entire life.

( I found Vax )

It's just an amazing likeness. Incredible. I'm looking at two Vaxs. Vaxes? Vaxii? Fuck.

WAIT I TAKE IT ALL BACK

( What the fuck is this nonsense )

WHO IS THAT REFERRING TO?

( Here are other pictures look at them or don't I don't care )

One month left of free soup and then this happens.