[Netbook]

[ofboreas]

[Getting used to the Netbook is both a tedious task and effortless, all at the same time. Alice has gotten him used to long-range communication devices, and while the exact function is different, he's not so startled by its potential.

(Unfortunately, that does mean Nicole gets wrapped up in the testing. She will be forced to sit and watch as he doodles in his own book, just to watch it appear in hers.)

((That also means everyone else gets to see his doodles of her beforehand. Oops))

Once he's confident in the function, though, he squirrels away within a corner of the room and gets to writing. His handwriting is... a little rough.]

Dodo... Dodo... Dodoco

(Hahaha, I'm just kidding, I know that isn't how this works.)

Name's Varka. Back home I was a Grand Master, and a few other things. Here I'm just a common guy. No need for titles — we're all friends here, right? If you see me around the grove, I look like this. ->

[Helpfully, Varka includes a drawing of himself.]

Let's see. How do introductions like these usually go. People want to know stuff about me, right? So! My favorite food is wine. Second favorite is a little dish I created. It's got juicy chicken thighs, potatoes, sausages. My knights called it a Hearty Indulgence, but me? I call it dinner. Heh.

I've trained the current generation of knights back home, and I'm happy to do the same here. I'm a pretty good teacher overall, even if Miss Nicole probably thinks I leave something to be desired.

To be honest, I'm an open book! You can ask me anything you want. Oh, and if you're one of the shy types, I'll ask you a question first. That way you feel obligated to answer. Haha, got ya now.

Alright then, here goes:

You leave on a long expedition away from home. Your bags are chock full of standard survival gear, but you have room for something non-essential. Could be food, could be a special drink, could be a stuffed bear. What are you picking?

Comments

[jesterlies]

My buddy, my pal, my oh, so silly knight, you jest too much!

My name is Shadow Milk Cookie, and my self-portrait is not stylized!

[ofboreas]

... a cookie?

[Honestly... from all he's heard about Alice's magic, and hell — given Durin the Storybook Dragon's existence? This probably isn't all that weird in the grand scheme of things.]

Huh. Alright then. So you showed up here, got big and that made your magic. Uh. Small?

[jesterlies]

Maybe! It's just a theory, of course. But it would explain why someone normally with the power to fold reality and time like a cheap puff pastry suddenly can hardly conjure but a single party trick!

Not that I like the idea that my powers would scale in such a way, but I have to look at all possibilities if I'm going to crack whatever has me sealed some day. Then that wretch in the woods would have wished it crumbled me instead of playing with me.

ANYWAY. I am far from the only cookie here, so you will hear other names like mine. Do not be too alarmed and try to refrain from eating non-sentient cookies in front of us. Well, most of us. I think it's funny but I've been told my sense of humor is a mite warped, hehe.

[ofboreas]

Still, it seems a little backward, don't you think? Logically, power should grow if you got bigger.

I think.

I don't know.

... Are there really that many cookies?

[jesterlies]

Consider this: Perhaps I was still small when I was sealed, and then I was made bigger. But who can say! I DO intend to find out, though.

Oh, about half a baker's dozen~

[ofboreas]

... sounds a little too complicated for me. And incredibly annoying for you!
But I guess it's a familiar story. Powers beyond our ken trying to put down those they deem below them.

So. What have you done to try and get those powers back?

[jesterlies]

Well.

I tried lighting him on fire once, but then he stabbed me to death so that didn't work! I've been working on other means but a lot of that came to a halt with that disgusting moon.

[ofboreas]

No fire? That tends to be my preferred method.

Mmm. Try electro next. It's not my favorite, but a shock to the system usually goes a long way.