shellphones | Whale Man Tries to Turn Around And Walk Back Into the Rift

[One could say she was a princess once upon a time. They could also say that she'd be considered a lesser noble by virtue of being a ward of the Duchy. But in any case now, today, right this moment in this inn, there's no status for her to claim.

She shakes her head, frowning both at his question and the fact that the water can't taste very good being filtered through his mask. Even if she believed in using honorifics (and she still does, but for other people), insisting one be used for her would seem silly. A lady wouldn't have committed the atrocities she has, much less a proper princess.]

None of them. I am of common stock.

[So she feels.]

[ He pauses briefly again. So far, taking her at her word rarely improved communication. It is possible she expects something else of him, despite her insistence on no status-based honorifics. ]

I have observed that honorifics are used among commoners too.

[ Ulpianus thinks back to that boy, Breogan's descendant. He'd insisted on calling him "Don Ulpianus". ]

In the last country I visited, custom would dictate that I address you as Doña Jill.

[There's little Jill has come to expect of this man, except for him to continue testing her nerves.]

I assure you, that custom does not hold here. In all honestly, I've never heard that word in my life.

[But if referring to her like that means he never calls her Dominant again, so be it.]

[ Well, whatever floats your... powers your landbound vehicle. ]

Equivalent or similar usage: miss, ma'am, hanimefendi, mademoiselle, sheila.

[ Take your pick, Jill. ]

[Chocobo. They can float too!

Miss and ma'am, fine. Jill's familiar with those. But the rest of the words are just as foreign in her ear as they are on her tongue as she attempts to repeat them, terribly, except for one:]

Sheila?

[Somewhere, a mod's ears are burning.]

[ Hey, he's not the one who came up with that. ]

A Rim Billitonian word. Not an honorific, but can be used as a placeholder. Refers to women. Male equivalent is 'bloke'. Gender neutral: 'mate'. Applicability and usage may vary depending on circumstances.

[ A part of him wonders why he's telling her this - a waste of time, as far as he's concerned... But she does seem to hold some interest in learning more about his world. Curiosity isn't a bad thing, and if it helps calm her down and get her to give him answers, he'll use it.

Hell, he'll even slip into the ~~Australian~~ Rim Billitonian accent to demonstrate. ]

Edited 2026-01-10 03:58 (UTC)

[She holds up a hand, palm facing Hunter, indicating for him to stop. Jill's heard enough.]

Miss will do just fine. Doña, if you insist. Just no sheila.

[She asks for so little...]

[ He doesn't insist. It's for her benefit, not his, as such. ]

Miss Jill, then.

[ Okay now we can go back to talking about murdering things baybey!!!! ]

I will repeat my analogy. As you hold an Eikon inside you, I hold a Seaborn inside me. I hear the voice of the many. I feel what it wants. I can see the world as it does. That is how I know there is no understanding to be found.

[The many. It. Jill wonders how many Seaborns make up one entity and whether or not there are genders to it or if Hunter is just distancing himself from them. A lot of questions are brewing in her thoughts, but perhaps she needs to tread carefully around such sensitive subjects. After all, she still doesn't know how quick this man is to shutting down and with how much Jill's talked about herself, he owes her quite a bit of information about himself.]

And can you call upon them—it—as you wish?

[ He takes a deeper breath. Sharing this actually isn't very easy for him, though his reasons for that are both similar to and different from Jill's own apprehension. ]

No. If I were to... 'call upon' it [ he says this almost through gritted teeth ], "I" would cease to exist.

[His trepidation is noted, but she continues her line of query.]

Immediately or all in due time?

[She wonders if it's like the curse for her. Slowly, but surely, every time Jill primed, more and more of her flesh turned to stone. Sooner or later, she'd have to face her inevitable death via petrification, like so many Bearers before her.

At least here, the curse seems to have stalled, but then again, Jill has only fully primed once. Testing it just for fun isn't an option.]

I see you can formulate questions better when needed.

[ Is that a compliment or a mockery?.. Well, to Ulpianus himself, it's just an observation. ]

Depends on how much I resist it. It may take a long time for it to become possible, but the transformation itself is usually quick.

[The ale in her mug's has turned lukewarm forever ago, but it only takes a second of Jill wrapping a hand around the cup with a soft blue glow to turn it immediately frosty.

What a neat party trick.]

So does that explain...

[Drink handled, Jill takes that same hand from before and gives it an up and down wave, indicating his choice in dress. It's time to stop ignoring the elephant in the room.]

...the mask? To hide what's within?

Edited 2026-01-10 05:38 (UTC)

[ His eyes immediately flicker to her hand when it glows. Some power of hers? Back home, Ulpianus would have known at least five ways how this could be done, but here much seems to rely on 'magic'. Whatever that is.

He looks up at her, raising his eyebrows briefly. ]

Yes.

[ ... and no. Hiding what's within is one of the basic functions of most clothing. That's like asking if he's dressed because he doesn't want to be seen naked. Of course, hiding his face is part of it - Ulpianus already knows the kind of impression he gives, and exposing the many scars on himself would only make it worse. So "yes" will suffice as an answer. ]

What did you just do?

Understandable. Tell me more about the Seaborn.

[He's going to ream her out about non-specific questions again, isn't he?]

Called on the Eikon for a small favor. [She brings the cup to her lips and takes a sip before continuing, feeling that there's a certain question coming. Might as well beat him at the timing.] Shiva. The Warden of Ice.

Hmm.

[ Ice... Not a substance he's commonly encountered, but he does know of it. Her power must be tied to temperature manipulation, then. But more importantly, it looks like the relationship between a Dominant and their Eikon is closer to being equals, given that Jill does not hesitate to use Shiva's power for something as small as this. ]

Rephrase your question unless you are willing to hear by what mechanisms Seaborn cells replicate.

[It's not a common past time of Jill's to cast spells for such mundane reasons, at least not until she realized the curse has been put into sort of stasis from being here. This place seems to have given her the blessing of using magick with no cost to her health or sanity. And to be perfectly honest, she'd much rather use it on drinks than innocent lives again anyway.

With no real interest in that particular aspect of the Seaborn, Jill acquiesces. Fine. She sees she has to play his game to get any decent answers out of him.]

Are you the only one who has a Seaborn within? Is it inherited? What happens to it upon your death? Has your relationship with it always been so antagonistic?

[Look who can ask rapidfire questions too!]

[ There is a vague feeling that he's pleased with the rapidfire questions... or at least, finds them more familiar to deal with. ]

There are others like me. Possibility of inheritance is unknown as no Hunter has tried to procreate. On my death it will use my corpse to feed itself and replicate.

[ Ulpianus pauses before answering the last question. It needs... a bit more introspection. He knows he still despises the Seaborn, but in order to learn more he will have to truly become one of them. He will have to accept them. Or has he, already? ]

Aegir initially disregarded the Seaborn before realizing the threat they pose. I have seen them as an enemy from the start.

[This woman isn't easily distracted, but there's something said that throws Jill off from the rest of the answers he gives.]

No Hunter? [Wait. He said his name was Hunter, but now he's using it as a title.] I thought that was your name, not a vocation.

[ Hey, he said she can call him that, no that it was his name. (Of course he's gonna play the game of technicalities). ]

It is what I am.

What and who you are differ.

[She doesn't want to play that game. How about a round of specific questions? He clearly loves those.]

What is your name? The one you received on your nameday.

It is who I am as well.

[ But... well, she's willing to learn more for reasons other than surface curiosity. He can respect that. ]

Ulpianus.

Ulpianus.

[She repeats it, the word feeling all too foreign on her tongue. There's probably a meaning behind it, but Jill isn't going to ask that. Not when it's like she knows the meaning behind her own name.]

What is an Aegir? You mentioned they've descended from aquatic creatures. Do all of them appear as you do?

"An" Aegir is a member of the Aegir race. If you mean whether we all appear humanoid... yes, we do.

Some retain the minor characteristics of the type of creature they're descended from. [ Like Blandus's tentacles. ] Including the ability to breathe underwater.

[Squinting from across the table, she tries to make out if Ulpianus has any of those characteristics. Aside from a few personality quirks, Jill can't make out any, but that's more or less because she's not too familiar with the sea as a whole.]

Back to an earlier question, if they aren't inherited, how does one come to have a Seaborn?

[She can't imagine something like that is forced into a person somehow.]

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