Silly Plots 2: Electric Boogaloo

[Deathkeeper]

Willa's Cove

Willa gapes at Message. Her first child? Why is everyone obsessed with her having kids?
It doesn't matter to her. Message wants to choose stuff about her first kid? She can do that. Willa is in no position to complain if Message decides her child should have extra tails or arms. And she isn't planning on having one soon.
"I accept, as long as you find a home for Buko too. I won't abandon him to this watery hell." she insists.

[Recaiden]

Children are an important part of life, if you're being technical, and to most lives, even if you're not.
She might be in more of a position to complain when she realizes that as Message's to give, the question of 'when' belongs to the goddess as well.

"Of course. He is part of your retinue and not to be abandoned."
Message reaches down to take Willa's hand, and the shadows shriek in to cover her. Her belongings disappear from the cove. Buko vanishes off to the tower of the Stormguard, to take the place of the long-suffering and ineffective butler-plant. The green tinge drains from Willa's skin, and her features lose their sharpness, though not their beauty. She remains an opposite of the Black herd, with her white coat and dark hair. Certainly something to stand out.

When the shadows retreat, they are just outside [Skullfort Town], Willa up to her knees in a little pond to demonstrate that she is a kelpie no longer. Message is on the dry shore, waiting for her to come out. She won't mind being out of the water at all.

[Deathkeeper]

[Skullfort Town]

Willa's head spins and she shakes herself free of nausea. Looking down she practically whinnies in excitement ( in reality she just makes a noise very very similar) and hops out of the pond.
Though looking down she also realizes that Message stole the shawl off her back, to paraphrase a metaphor.
She puts her hands over her chest for some modesty. It's not much.
"Thank you. I could a top, but thank you. So, can you explain what's going on with me now?" she asks.

[Recaiden]

Message plucks a pure white shawl from nowhere at all and drapes it over Willa's head.
"That should do. It'll disappear at sundown; so maybe get dressed in real clothes by then. Or not...as it suits you."
She starts leading the way away from the pond.
"You are back as you once were, except that I've made a few small changes to your equine half, to match the larger herd here, that of Zack and his cousins. But I've left your colors as they were, a counterpoint to theirs. Those with this coloration would in olden times have been marked to be a shaman, and so you will be, a shamaness, their bridge to the spirit world, to my world."

[Deathkeeper]

Skullfort Town

Willa turns around, looking at herself.
"Yeah, I can see that. So they wear their tails long huh? Is it fashionable to have long hair? I mean, the herd wears clothes so I should. They do right?" Willa has always been particular about wanting acceptance and fitting in.
"Shaman sounds like a cool job. What do I do exactly?"

[Recaiden]

Looking at herself, Willa will see that she looks like herself. Exactly how she should be, even if not exactly how she remembers. Message laughs (mostly to herself) at all the questions.
"Long tails, yes, and middling-long hair." She tosses her hair to fluff it up a bit. Of course, the Black herd doesn't have hair as stiff and big as Leah, so they can't wear quite the same hairstyles.
"Uh, not exactly. The usual outfit is a scarf - silken when it's warm, woolen when it gets cold." She's done listing, that's the whole outfit.
"Plus whatever you need to wear for your work, a few bags and belts to hold things, and they dress up a bit when traveling. Maple's herd wears more, probably because they have a kinda-different body plan."
"Even the scarf is a recent addition since they've been living alongside the raptors. I think it's that clothing represents civilization, good and bad. So if you're worried about fitting in-"
A remembering. "Alice wears plenty of clothes, but she's weird in a lot of ways."

"It's some of the same work as a priestess would have, but you're less of a spiritual advisor and more of an interpreter for nature. You interface with me and the angels, and also with the plant-spirits and weather You help people when they're sick."
"Don't worry. Jeanne - that's our local alchemist - and I will help teach you the magic part, and the rest of the herd will teach you the customs and rules."

[Deathkeeper]

Skullfort

Willa's eyes go wide. She's been forcibly adopted by nudists. It's odd. She was a man at one point, but she had settled in nicely to being a mare and the things that go with it.
"I...I've always known that many centaurs were like that. But...I don't really know what it's like to be one for real. It's only ever been me and Walter. But I don't want to be weird! I'm sick of being weird. So I'll fit in, even if it means...I just...kind of still have a sense of modesty. Hair can grow long but I don't know if that just goes away..."

[Recaiden]

Well, they aren't strictly opposed to clothing...
"You get used to it." Message assures her. Of course, this comes from someone who's currently wearing several layers, so it may not be totally convincing.
"It can be good to have people admire, or even merely accept, how you present yourself. But if it really bothers you, maybe concealing dress is part of your job, eh?"
Message showing up personally rather than acting through Leah isn't unheard of, but it's unusual enough to attract lots of people watching as they make their way across town and to the Black herd longhouse

[Deathkeeper]

Skullfort

"N-no, I won't make things up to suit me. I don't even know what is needed for my job! I don't want to be ignored by all the stallions with a heavy robe...I'll ask Zack and my new...herd-mates? What's the word for that?" she asks, searching for the word.

[Recaiden]

"The word you want is 'herd-mates'." Message explains, voice teasing.
They reach the large, long building where the herd lives. In theory, one might live anywhere. In practice, Saranan has his own tiny house because he is tiny, and everyone else lives here. It's not a big, cavernous space, though; they aren't opposed to privacy. Curtains and movable walls divide it up into many personal cubbies and smaller common areas. But it's all made to fit a centaur's height and turning radius. It should be perfectly comfortable.

There are a number of the herd here, those with indoor craft-work, or just sheltering from the summer sun. Message's description of the prevailing fashion was not incorrect. Slightly more mares than stallions (and a few foals, all quite young; there seems to be no one here between the ~ages of 4 and 15), but everyone stops to welcome Message (and this odd guest), with one young man guessing from Zack's description that she "must be Ms. Gallope."

[Deathkeeper]

Skullfort Town

Willa nods at the young stallion.
"Yeah, that's me." She doesn't think Message intended her to take on the Herd's surname. "She's finding a place for me here." she says, looking around. There isn't all that much privacy. But then, there's a whole forest if she wants to be alone with Zack. Or any of these young stallions her age. She doesn't hide a little bit of ogling. It makes her feel better.
Especially since she doesn't seem to have any of her minor, value-less belongings as well as her treasure.

[Recaiden]

The stallion smiles; Willa's attention isn't unnoticed.

"Welcome, miss!" says one of the mares. The left side of her face is a mess of scars.

"You all have followed me well and faithfully, but it will be good to restore some of the traditions you had long before, as everyone in my town is distinct and yet united. So when this- mare, with the markings of a shaman, came to me for help, I knew it was the right time for that. Willa has been apart from her kind more than any of you; do the utmost to help her feel at home."
"I am always with you."
And with that, Message vanishes, leaving Willa with a small gathering wanting to show her around and hear her story and tell her things. It's a bit of confusion.

As it happens, she might find in the coming days that many of her little possessions have ended up at the town's Inn.

[Deathkeeper]

Skullfort

Willa finds herself suddenly being stared at by everyone alone.
"Well, hi everyone. I hope you can show me the ropes. I...don't really know much about my kind except through Zack. I've been a bit too embarrassed about it to visit. Um...scarves huh?" she asks, not sure what to say. The scarves are nice looking. She's just never been in a room before with so many topless people of both genders. The attention is a new thing to her.

[Recaiden]

Yes everyone's staring at her, but (almost) entirely at her face and odd dark hair.

"Poor thing." "How did you get by?" "Follow me; we have a room at the south end that'll be perfect for you."

"Ey, don't judge us all based offa him." It should be obvious that this is a joke meaning no ill will towards Zack. But people do misunderstand.

"Scarves, yeah-" -"they're a town thing. The 'raptors started it. But I guess you don't know them yet, huh?" In a just a moment, unless she acts quickly, Willa will find a fluttery red scarf draped around her. "They're nice. Catch the wind, don't restrict you-" "-why would you be embarrassed?"

[Deathkeeper]

Skullfort Town

"Well, being raised with humans I thought I wouldn't fit in is all. she admits, gladly accepting the scarf draped over her.
"Like...is that really all we wear around here? It's not uncomfortable in the heat and cold?" she asks, inspecting a bare-chested mare next to her.

[Recaiden]

"Of course you'll fit in!"
"Yeah, you're one of us." "we've all been through-"
"What was it like being raised by humans?"

The room they say is now Willa's is very plain, but clean and dry and not claustrophobic at all.

"Oh, just a little while and you get used to the temperature." "We're tough, after all!" The woman she's looking at doesn't seem particularly sweaty or overheated or anything, though if I remember right, Willa's skin is rather paler than theirs. Might have a bit of catching up to do with regards to the sun.

Back towards the middle of the longhouse, one can hear dogs barking and voices greeting each other.

[Deathkeeper]

Skullfort Town

Willa remains unconvinced.
"Well, I have nothing to unpack, so I guess I'll just meet everyone? Message said this shawl would vanish in a few hours so I guess I better get something else or just try not to care like you all. Humans are like everyone else. Though I suppose many wouldn't like it here, so close together, no walls, no shirts."" Still not over it. She peaks around a corner just to see if it's Zack at the door.

[Recaiden]

"Well if they're just like everyone else, of course you'd fit in here." chides the mare with the scarred face. Her name is 'Nova'.
"I guess not as tough as us." comments another.
"Sure, we'll show you around." adds the boy who recognized her. He's 'Sanesah'.

Looking around the corner (or two or three corners), one finds that it is Zack, who breaks into a grin.
"Willa! What brings you here? How did you come all this way?"
One of the dogs, a large hound (surprisingly mundane for something in Message's town) runs up to investigate this newcomer.

[Deathkeeper]

[Skullfort Town]

Willa grins at Zack, and politely pushes past two of the others, a dark-skinned mare named Nyx and a stallion named Cane, and bends down to pet Zack's dog. She likes dogs, though she never had any of her own on the ranch.
"Uh, I live here now? Message said that I would be a good fit for your shaman, so uh, here I am." she says, trying to play it down. She does give a quick glance at him, and his nice chest he likes to keep exposed. She missed that.

[Recaiden]

"Oh, that's great!"
Zack steps up and tries to give Willa a quick hug.
The dog is quite friendly; Willa is a lot like the people it likes and they seem to like her too.

"We'll let you finish showing her around." Nova comments, before heading off to her own room.

[Deathkeeper]

Skullfort Town

Willa returns the hug, and tries to snake her hand into Zack's. "Yeah, do that, big guy. You're gonna have to explain your whole culture too so don't hold back." she says with a wink.

[Recaiden]

Zack takes her hand, smiles a bit wider, and leads the way out of the longhouse.
"Yeah, that shouldn't be hard or anything." Can probably finish it up in minutes.

Now, we know more or less what's in Skullfort Town, but what we don't know is what it means to the Black herd. We start with the easy stuff, that's right here. The Blacks' longhouse was at the time the biggest building here besides the fortress itself (now the rookery and observatory and the new fort are all breaking the record). It wasn't an obvious or easy thing; all the villagers before them, well, they hadn't had the centaurs' sense of community.

A little ways outside they have a cluster of doghouses - you didn't think Zack had just the one, did you?

The Fortress itself is, of course, the reason they're all here. Zack goes on about how odd it was when it left for a week to oversee the excavation of the factory. Although they all know it can fly, it so rarely does. And of course it's nearly as significant as the temple; not everyone in town is one of Message's followers but they're certainly a majority. It certainly helps that there was a time when Leah was a centauress herself. Before things changed up. They used to have their own gods, you know. Back when they also had shamans and astrologers. But if there's even a pair of people here who kept faith through the fall, Zack can't name them.

The Observatory, obviously, they love. In the olden days they were great astrologers and astronomers, and lots of them are glad to get back to that. Possibly related are all the skylights the house has had installed. Plus study of the stars helps keep one's mind sharp. The library is good for that as well, as long as you don't get carried away. It's important to discuss what you read.

The fields and gardens are little more to them than to anyone else - which is to say they're still very important. A source of food, something of their own, and a symbol of civilization. In the old days they were nomadic, as is usual for the species, but settling in one place seems to have been the price of safety.

They're really just getting started, but Sazack asks Willa if she has "any particular questions?"

[Deathkeeper]

Skullfort Town

Willa smiles, leaning on Zack as they go. Though she wouldn't be if it was even slightly hotter outside.
"Where am I going to set up shop as the shaman? Message said that I should ask the alchemist about my shamanic ways." she asks him. She also has that other question but she wants to wait a minute or two on that.

[Recaiden]

"Well, I expect it should be near the longhouse. You don't want to be too out of the way. Maybe inside, or just out one of the entrances, like cousin Saranan. Id on't really know how much space you need for it."

The rookery, the centaurs have little to say about. Even Leah gave up dibax riding when she get those extra legs. Besides, who would trust the wings of some weird creature over their own four hooves?

Willa is shown the temple and the inn and the general store, the raptor-built weaving-hall (always very hot) and forge (always even hotter), that cottage there is the alchemist's, that house with the weird tree belongs to the sorceress spider-emissary, and there, almost all around the town now, is the other long-house, for the-

"Hi Zack~" A few representatives of the other centaur clan make themselves known. "I heard we had someone new in town."
The differences between the two strains are obvious. These have more human, only their feet and rear ends replaced with equine forms. And those horse halves are smaller, sleek hotblooded arabian racehorses and similar. For whatever reason, perhaps because of their greater share of human anatomy, they're more thoroughly covered, with underwear and shirts, lower garments that tie or buckle at the joint of their spines, decorative caparisons and ribbons or bands in their tails.
Maple looks like an explosion in a paint factory, as always. Her hooves and nails are both painted with an opalescent polish to further the effect. She's accompanied by a sabino-coat colt even younger than her, maybe 9 or 10 years, and an affable-seeming grey stallion with a trim vest (over a shirt) and tricorn hat.

[Deathkeeper]

Skullfort Town

Willa waves to the newcomer.
"Hello. I'm Willa. I'm training to be the Black Herd's shaman." she explains politely. Their appearance is more odd. Not as odd as she used to be though.

[Recaiden]

Was anyone as odd as Willa used to be?

"Nice to meet you, Willa. I'm Maple!" She nods approvingly at Willa's shawl. Maybe there is hope for them.
"So you'll be doing some kind of magic, then?" Asks the stallion. "That's pretty great. I'm Wilbur, and this little guy is Fitzclarence Loy."
"But her coat isn't Black..." comments the kid, apparently puzzled. How can she be part of that herd if she looks more like the Spectrum?
"Hush, you. That's not kind to say."

[Deathkeeper]

Skullfort Town

Willa doesn't really understand what Maple is nodding at. She's distracted.
"Thanks." she says to the stallion before bending down to the fowl.
"Being black and white instead of white and black is how you know someone is supposed to be a shaman. Traditionally at least." she explains to him.

[Recaiden]

"Oh..." Loy seems to accept the explanation pretty simply.
"We-ell, we just wanted to say hello. Just let us know if you need anything, em-kay?" Maple scampers off, followed quickly by the foal, and more sedately by the man.

Zack shakes his head.
"So, do you think you ought to go see the alchemist? Or maybe just get settled in?" he suggests.

[Deathkeeper]

Skullfort Town

"I can settle my job stuff tomorrow. For now I want to be comfortable. And speaking of...uh, this scarf is kind of the only clothing I own now. The shawl goes back to Message in a few hours. So uh. I want to fit in and it's totally at odds with how I was raised but uh...tell me if you think it's best if I uh...just adopt the Herd fashion sense. I uh, thought I would ask you. I just want to fit in..." she stammers out to him.
She knows it isn't unlike when she became a centaur and gave up pants but that was because she had to. And as Walter he enjoyed going out in the city shirtless every once and a while but that's a normal look for guys. She's never even shown herself to Zack. She just wants someone to give her a concrete thought. Message was so vague about it.

[Recaiden]

Zack leads the way back to the longhouse, hand in hand with Willa still.
"So we'll need to get you a some bags and do you have shoes and-oh."
He thinks for a moment.
"You want to keep wearing the same sort of clothes you had at your ranch, that humans do. But you don't want us to disapprove. Do you think we're that shallow?" Admittedly, some of them probably are. "Or are you just insecure about what you look like?"