Story Event - Nomes

[monochromatically]

Who; Mono and anyone! Open to all!
What; A Network Story and a Log for the event!
Where; All around Aterat!
When; Early August
Warnings; None to start, but if something comes up I will update.
Note; So I'm thinking this could provide some options. The network could be a fun chat story time, the log for after-story experience, or we could mix it up and people could reach out to Mono via the network if they come across Nomes and the log doesn't grab you. You are also totally welcome to do your own thing with Nomes if you want. Also if you want something personal written up, I’m happy to do so! My plotting post is over here



The Mystery of Nomes - Network Video - Open

[ Mono is not known for doing posts on the network on his own unless it’s strictly necessary. Not that he’s anti-social or anything, it’s just that the static feedback caused by his own abilities gets annoying and a bit hard to explain.

However, here he is with a slightly confused little scrunch of his nose. ]

Anyone ever hear of Nomes before? They’re these little things in my world, at least I think so. They’re a little smaller than me, and they got pointed hats that cover their faces… Kinda like those funny capped mushrooms you see sometimes? Or those hats they make kids wear in school when they do bad, I guess.

Um… Anyway, you see them in pictures and stuff around the pale city. But… I think I saw one once, maybe? It’s kinda fuzzy. I think it happened before a long time ago-

[ By which, the boy means a long time ago. Which is odd coming from someone who looks to only be about 12 at best now. But Mono is far older than he looks, and there are so many cycles he’s been through. ]

Back when I was exploring the hunter’s cabin, there was this little guy that hurried out of a drawer I had pulled out. It was really surprising, ‘cause of all the other stuff I saw in the cabin... So I followed it up to a different part of the attic. It made a funny almost squeaking sound. Seemed really scared, but I guess that’s fair since being little is scary sometimes and I’m bigger than them.

Its shadow was kinda weird, though. 'Cause didn’t match the shape of the nome, right? But other than that, it looked just like the picture I saw! Guess you don’t see shadows in drawn pictures unless someone draws them though, so that makes sense.

I dunno if it really happened or not, could’ve just been a dream too, I guess.

[ And the boy falls silent, tugging the brim of his cap a little lower and rubbing at an eye with a sleepy little yawn. ]

Dunno why I remembered them now… But I guess I was just thinking about stuff.



You get Nomes! And you get some Nomes! Nomes for everybody! - Log - Open

Mono hadn’t thought much beyond the weird need to share the story about the Nomes on the network. He put the tell-phone away, took a nap, and then tugged on his mail-carrier cap and grabbed the bag he used to carry the messages for work to head out the door. The boy almost misses the raspy squeak coming from somewhere in his bedroom, but maybe it’s one of the cats… They make funny sounds sometimes!

Plus, he doesn’t want to be late to the delivery service, so he glanced over his shoulder curiously but kept walking. Mono did stop long enough to grab the little lunch Ignis usually had packed on the kitchen counter before hurrying out the door for the day.

What he hadn’t expected, perhaps what no one expected, was that the day would entail far more than carrying mail. Either interrupted by texts asking more questions about the nomes for good reason, or being stopped on the street when someone recognized him and needed help with their newfound guests. “Huh? What do you mean you saw one? They aren’t here, they might not even be real in my world??” He started, but stopped when he realized this was Aterat and just about anything seemed possible here…

So colour the boy curious as he eagerly hurried to follow and see.

Comments

video

[bufus]

I've heard of gnomes before. It's spelled with a g before the n and they were pictured as short men with white beards and pointy hats. Is that similar to what you saw in your own world?

video

[monochromatically]

[ For a moment, the boy wondered if it were possible his world shared a similarity with another! But as Mitsuru continued, Mono had to shake his head a little. ]

Nuh-uh. That’s kinda close, but they didn’t have a beard and there’s no G before the N? [ Why is there a G? ] Their bodies reminded me of wrinkly old paper? Or like when mushrooms start to kinda shrivel up a bit! The pointy hats were the same colour as them.

It’s neat that there are sort of similar stuff where you're from?

[bufus]

How odd. So they're simply Nomes with no G? [ But it sounds like a very similar word...all things considered that was fairly interesting. ] Did they posses any sort of abilities? From the little I recall about Gnomes with a g they could punish or reward people with magic of some kind.

It's fascinating to learn about the similarities and differences between our worlds.

[monochromatically]

Exactly! Just Nomes without the G! [ Mono’s shoulders rose in a little shrug that could just be seen through the static running along the bottom of the feed. ] I dunno, I don’t think they can do anything like that? They just seemed kinda little and curious and scared. Aside from their weird shadows, I dunno if there’s anything special about them.

[bufus]

That's quite interesting. I wonder if they have their own society or language... [ She pauses at the static, that was a bit strange...] What was that?

[soulsword]

One of the imps had come to visit for reasons that were completely unknown to Illyana. Truthfully she suspected it had come simply because it was bored. For a while in the market it had just followed her around, occasionally chattering about some inconsequential thing or the other. It was almost like it was desperate to try to get her attention or approval. Somewhere along the way it'd found a nome though and then it ran off.

She'd heard Mono's story but she hadn't really thought much about it. Evidently she really should have though since they were real? Or had they been made real by this place? Were they being messed with again? Of course they were. It felt like something that would happen in this ridiculous place. She folded her hands over her chest as she walked up to Mono.

"I did see one. It made off with an imp. His name is Dummruut." Which might sound oddly like dumb rot.

[monochromatically]

“Wow, I only just talked about them today too!” He commented with a curious tilt of his head. It was definitely a weird coincidence or a situation in which Aterat had definitely decided to muck about with things. Maybe the story was the whole reason they were here?

The imp’s name definitely sounded like dumb rot, which was why that was what Mono said next. “Which way did the nome and Dumb Rot go?” They definitely should find them both if they could. The boy remembered what the imps were like unsupervised, and if his memory had actually been a memory… Nomes seemed kind of skittish for a big market full of people. “Maybe they made friends? They are kinda the same size.”

That was probably a tad optimistic, and Mono knew it… But they could hope, right?

[soulsword]

"Were you now..." how curious indeed. "Do you think you summoned them?" It wouldn't be the first time Aterat had decided to bring things from someone's world to this place. Was that the game this time? Tell a story and summon what you were talking about? That would fit with everything.

"Towards the movie theater." Because why wouldn't Dummruut go off towards that place and try to make everything more difficult for them both? "They're not allowed to make friends." That seemed like it would be a disaster. Unless...unless it meant that it distracted them...

Wait maybe this could be a good thing.

"Are these nomes good friends?"

[monochromatically]

Summon them? Mono shook his head, though his tone was a little uncertain. “I never summoned nothing before, and I don’t think that’s something the other me could do either?” So the boy is reasonably sure he didn’t do it on his own if he had something to do with it. “So if my story did, then it must be something weird going on here again?” It had been a while, and that seemed pretty likely. “Talking about it was weird in the first place, since I still don’t like using the tell-phones much, it kinda seemed like I had to?”

The movie theater… At least he remembered where that was, even if he hadn’t really been there since the movie night. “They’re not? I think they’re okay friends, as long as you don’t let ‘em do stuff they’re bad at doing.” Which, to be fair, was a lot of things to Mono’s knowledge. “And I dunno about the nomes being good friends. I only met the one I think… But maybe? It could’ve gotten me into a lot of trouble at the hunter’s lodge if it let him know I was there. So they’re not mean or anything.” Mono couldn’t remember any art or pictures of them doing bad stuff either, not like the porcelain bullies around the school.

“So I think they’re probably okay friends, better than some people even, I bet…” He ended with a little frown. Honestly, both the imps and the nomes seemed like okay options for friends. At least they didn’t go dropping you into an abyss and abandoning you. “Maybe Dumb rot wanted to show it all the snacks. They were pretty good at picking out snacks at the movie night.”

I Get A Nome?

[doubled_speed]

Listen, Tommy really should know better than to think stories are harmless. His brother is literally a magical god that speaks things into reality. Words are dangerous, okay?

But there he is, minding his own business (meaning balancing work and renovations all at the same time), when there's this little flitting around form with a pointy cap and... Yeah. Of course he goes off to find Mono.

"Trust me, if I say I saw one, I saw one," Tommy reminds Mono. He's not super sneaky, but he is super speedy, right? So he's mentioning it for a reason. "In the new building. Are they harmless?"

Because he's got to know. He went through so much to get the building!

[monochromatically]

Mono couldn’t argue with that. It was true, after all. So despite his uncertainty on if Nomes existed or not, the boy hurried to follow after Tommy. The new building wasn’t a good place for something like a Nome! At least not while it was being renovated. There was probably lots of stuff that they could trip on or have fallen on them! “That’s not good. I bet they don’t know what’s going on at all.” He started, sounding a bit concerned for the little guys.

Though his attention shifted at the question. Right, he supposed given what he said about his world that one should be concerned about if things from there were dangerous or not… “Yup, they won’t hurt people. At least I think so. The one I think I found never did anything bad. Just ran around a lot and seemed pretty scared. It could’ve gotten me in a lot of trouble if it wanted to, since it was the hunter’s cabin and all.” That man had been dangerous, but the Nome hadn’t endangered them or let the hunter know they were there at all! “But it didn’t, so I think it’s okay. What was it doing when you saw it?”

[doubled_speed]

"Well, there's plenty of stuff here that could fall on them and get them hurt," he says, pushing open the door to the to-be delivery office once they reach it. "And I don't know how to deal with the things. I think something faster than them might be scary. Make me seem like a predator."

[monochromatically]

Mono nodded. That wouldn’t be good at all. They were so little! And he was pretty sure the bigger building materials would hurt if they fell on him, let along something as small as a nome. “We gotta get them away from that stuff, then. They kinda like to hide in small spaces … But they might not know what’s safe and what’s not here.” He agreed, before hurrying his pace a little bit.

Tommy’s thoughts were sensible, and Mono was glad that he had thought of it. “Yeah, the one I think I met seemed kinda scared when I found it… So unless it’s a really brave one, it’s probably good that you didn’t go fast around them.” Nomes seemed like they’d be pretty easy prey for a predator if they were spotted in a bad place, or trusted the wrong person… That was something the boy could relate to in his own way, maybe that’s why he’d been thinking about them? Shaking his head a little, though, he continued. “But even if being fast might startle them, you’re not really scary like stuff in my world… So I dunno for sure, we can find out when we get there!”

Network

[skyward_eyes]

They sound adorable, Mono. I think I'd almost like to see one. But you know what I'd really like to see more?

[His sleepy little brother tucked in.]

[monochromatically]

Yeah, if I really did see one, then I’d kinda like to again. They’re all little and kinda cute. [ The story-telling did make him sleepy, though, which was odd. He normally didn’t get tired at this time of day. Tilting his head slightly, he wondered what Nida meant. ] What do ya want to see more?

[skyward_eyes]

I think I want to see you tucked in for a nap. You seem tired.

[And Nida can feel magic energy going weird so he's got a headache too.]

[monochromatically]

[ Mono’s little nose scrunched a bit at the idea of going to bed for a nap. Naps were, to his knowledge, something much younger kids did… But he also couldn’t deny he was weirdly sleepy now. ]

Seems kinda weird to sleep at this time of day. I wasn’t tired before! But I just kinda got tired all of a sudden after I finished talkin’ about the nomes.

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[harrythelizard]

[They sound sort of like gnomes, which Harry is familiar with, but the way Mono's speaking of them is a little different. That's fine, of course. He's learned pretty quickly that worlds have very different rules for what can and can't exist.]

I know things like them, minor fae, mischievous and like to pull pranks. That sound like them?

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[monochromatically]

Do ya mean the ones spelled with a G that you don’t say? [ He just learned about those from someone and he wonders if those are more common than his nomes. ] I dunno about pranks, it seemed kinda nice for that…? Felt like it was more scared when I found it, then it seemed kinda friendly and like it wanted to play once it realized I wasn’t following it to hurt it. At least I think so, if I really did meet it.

video

[harrythelizard]

Yeah, those are the ones.

[he frowns at that.]

What do you mean if you really met it?

[monochromatically]

Thought so, someone else told me about them earlier. They sound neat, but differenty.

[ Oh, that was a bit complicated… Or not very complicated, depending on how you looked at it. ]

I just mean that? ‘Cause sometimes I remember things kinda… [ A little shrug. ] Different, and I’m not sure if something happened that way or not. Like I dunno if I did it the last time I left the tower and started again, or another time, or if I just kinda imagined it ‘yknow?

[ Was worse when he broke away from the tower to try again, because that’s when things got fuzzier and forgot stuff. ]

Video ish / Log ish?

[moonlitrequiem]

[Yin had, actually, never heard of Nomes before. She sat listening to Mono's post intently, trying to visualize them, but was unable to get a proper image of them.]

[Then...she sort of found them. More like one found her, and she almost tripped over it. After using her specter to spy on them - she felt they looked rather different from what she imagined, but they kind of looked like what Mono described. In particular, their hats.]

[She made sure to leave a drawer open for them, recalling Mono mentioned he found one in a drawer, then decided to, of all things, reach out to someone, Mono, first.]

[The message she sends him is monotone as usual, her expression just as even and mild, but it's the fact she sends it that means something.]

Those Nomes you mentioned. Do they need to eat?

Video ish / Log ish - Yay, of course :D

[monochromatically]

[ Mono tilted his head slightly to see Yin again. The boy supposed that was a good question… And meant she probably had run into some like other people had. ]

The one I think I met wasn’t really around long enough to see it eat… But maybe? Stuff that’s alive has to eat, right?

[ at least that made sense to him… Then again, he never saw their faces under the hat, so who knew? ]

Did you find one?

Yay!

[moonlitrequiem]

[ Yin nods her head, then takes the device over to the drawer she left the Nome in. She's not entirely sure it's still in there. ]

[ The drawer opens, and sure enough, there's a little creature with a mushroom for a cap that looks wide-eyed and confused at the device. ]

Do you see it?

[monochromatically]

[ Yup, that’s a nome! Considering he wasn’t usually pleased with the idea of stuff from his world showing up in Aterat… Nomes were the best-case scenario, and he was pretty happy to get the chance to see more. ]

Uh-huh, that’s definitely a nome!

[ Mono considered the original question, and tilted his head one way and then the other at the Nome through the feed. ]

I think if you wanna try to give it food, something little that could fit under the hat might work? ‘Cause I dunno if they ever take that off. The one I think I saw never did, and none of the pictures showed them without one either.