First EP -- Ye Baiyi

[old_monster]

Ye Baiyi (ageless man in white robes, with a ruddy great sword slung on his back and one white streak in his otherwise black long hair) walks in and does exactly none of the things new patrons tend to do (Where am I? This is not my linen closet! Why are there rats? OMG that window! Why is the bar sentient?); instead, he sits at a table and orders food.

He flips through the brochure that comes with his first tray (fried noodles and baijiu) but still isn't dismayed at all.

This is some kind of tavern, right? They are serving food and drink, all kinds of fancy foreign alcohol and weird tea and dishes he's never heard of, so Ye Baiyi just keeps it coming, no questions asked. If the people who actually bring the food are rats, so what? Ye Baiyi is opinionated but not prejudiced (a fine distinction that he is quite willing to explain to anybody who has a problem with his attitude), and the food is excellent and appeals to his sense of adventure.

At first, that sense is satisfied by boba tea and pizza, then coke and cheeseburger, then roast pig and dark beer; but at the end of the evening, Ye Baiyi can be found with a basket of paradoxes and a small glass of Atlantean. He's drawn his sword and almost reverently drizzles a few drops of the Atlantean over the blade.

"We're really far from the jianghu here, after all," he addresses the sword with an almost tender little smirk. "If this kind of strong drink came anywhere near our distinguished martial sects, they'd start jumping up the walls and breaking all the chairs. But no, everything is fine and tidy here, and nary a broken chair in sight. We left the actual world; fancy that!"


[[OOC: Tag him at any point of his evening that you find interesting to interact with. Ye Baiyi won't be asking newbie questions, he's far too jaded for that.]]

Comments

[mogget_cat]

In any other tavern, the cats would likely be expected to do something about the rats. Not here.

Though one of the cats - rather, something shaped like a cat - does idly lap at a drop of Atlantean that had fallen from the sword to the floor earlier.

[old_monster]

In any other tavern, the cats would not be drinking alcohol.

"No point in wasting what we spilled, huh?" Ye Baiyi murmurs, watching the creature, white as his own clothes, his name, and the snow that he spent so many decades in. "I'm sure you're welcome to it. Changqing quite liked your kind; they'd hang around his forge and warm themselves by the fire."

[mogget_cat]

The cat licks its whiskers clean of the tasty alcohol with its pink tongue, watching the person as though it were listening. Forges are good places for cats. Just ask its friends.

The white cat drifts by, leaning warmly against the man's ankles and mwrring. The drop of Atlantean doesn't seem to have affected it, at least.

[old_monster]

Ye Baiyi considers the cat.

"Good liquor, isn't it?" he says. "I wish we'd had it back home, when we were young, mortal and foolish. It's very effective."

He drizzles a few more drops of Atlantean over the blade with his fingers, then flicks the metal with the nail of his forefinger.

It rings out, harsh and strong.

[mogget_cat]

"Prrt?" The small, white cat wrinkles its pink nose and flicks a soft ear before lapping at the drizzle that falls to the floor. It is good liquor. And yes, it would be a shame to see it wasted. If they had had it when they were young, mortal, and foolish, would they have appreciated what they had? Young mortals so often only realize true worth when they have gained the wisdom that comes with hindsight.

The cat licks its whiskers once more, then uses a nearby chair as a springboard to reach the top of the table where it might investigate the ringing sword.

[old_monster]

"Longbei," Ye Baiyi introduces the sword. The name means Dragon's Back. "Made by the master sword smith, Ghost Hand Rong Changqing, for his own use, many decades ago. Isn't it an amazing sword?"

It is a large sword, with a long two-handed hilt, such as you can imagine a tall, strong smith wielding. Ye Baiyi seems slightly too small for it.

[mogget_cat]

Named swords are rare and precious things, in the Old Kingdom, belonging to the great bloodlines and often far more important for the role they play than the individual wielding them at any one given time. So if a cat can be respectful, this one sniffs at the heavy sword with what might count, from a cat, as a respectful manner. Sniffs at the hand holding the sword hilt as well, curious of the scents of other worlds, and foods.

Briefly, the cat breathes upon the metal of the blade, causing its surface to haze over for a moment. A Mark appears in the brief condensation as though drawn by a finger, and as it disappears the sword rings as though flicked once more. A hard, harsh sound, but true.

The cat settles, bright green eyes mostly closed. Yes, an amazing sword.

[old_monster]

"You are not like the cats in our world, if you can get an answer out of Longbei," Ye Baiyi chuckles, taking another sip of Atlantean for himself. "We are honoured to meet you, otherworldly sword-speaking cat."

He bows where he is sitting, a bit less graceful than he might be, due to the Atlantean.

[mogget_cat]

"Likewise," Yrael replies, amiably. He dips his head in a return bow, though he stays in a comfortable loaf-position otherwise. "Even I can tell Longbei is a formidable blade; not a sword one would want to be on the wrong side of."

[old_monster]

"I am Ye Baiyi," Ye Baiyi says. "Also known as the Mount Changming Sword Immortal -- Longbei, if course, is the sword in question."

Cats talk. Of course they do. He'll have to tell Changqing about it, when they'd finally meet up in the underworld.

[mogget_cat]

"It is good to meet you, Ye Baiyi," the white cat replies. "I am called Yrael."

"You are one of those who are called cultivators, then, mages who seek immortality. And have gained it?"

[old_monster]

"Not exactly a cultivator, a martial artist," Ye Baiyi says. "But yes, we cultivate qi in a very similar manner, and I had reached immortality. I came with conditions, though, and now I have given up on it. Everyone I cared about is dead, and I don't want to make them wait too long in the underworld."

He takes another sip of the Atlantean.

[mogget_cat]

The cat nods, as this makes sense. "Conditional immortality is the only kind of immortality I have ever encountered, and it nearly always becomes not worth it, eventually. Everyone and everything has a time to die."

Some just take a longer road to it.

"What were the conditions?"

[darkeryetdarker]

Gaster spots the unfamiliar human (or at least human-looking person - it can be difficult to tell in Milliways) talking to himself at the table.

"Pardon me, are you new to Milliways? You're certainly taking it in stride more than most."

[old_monster]

"So much different food!" Ye Baiyi says, around his bite of pizza. "Whats not to like? Nah, I'm not worried."

Not even of the person talking to him.

[darkeryetdarker]

Gaster smiles. "That's true. Bar can provide any kind of food." Even monster food.

"Does this sort of thing...happen to you often? Finding alternate dimensions, I mean."

[old_monster]

"Not really," Ye Baiyi says. "Still, I have been to many strange places, and this is one of the nicer ones."

He takes a sip of beer.

[darkeryetdarker]

"I agree with you there." Gaster had never seen the sun before coming to Milliways.

"I'm Gaster - W.D. Gaster. Welcome."

[old_monster]

"Thank you," Ye Baiyi says. "My name is Ye Baiyi, and I like food."

[darkeryetdarker]

"So I see." Gaster clears his throat.

"Forgive me if I come across as rude for asking, but...are you, in fact, human? It's not nearly so obvious here as it is back in my world."

[old_monster]

"I am human," Ye Baiyi says, "just have been temporarily immortal, but it's wearing off now. I don't think we have actual monsters in our world. I've never seen a dragon or a Xuanwu."

[darkeryetdarker]

"Immortal?" Gaster's eyesockets widen. He hadn't known that was possible, for humans or monsters - even a Boss Monster can be slain in battle.

"Honestly, I'm not sure if my species is exclusive to my own world, or if the other worlds have simply forgotten about us."

[old_monster]

"I don't know what you are, so I can't tell," Ye Baiyi says. "What do you call yourself?"

[darkeryetdarker]

"I'm a monster - a skeleton, more specifically."

[old_monster]

Ye Baiyi looks at him.

"Then you are working with a definition of 'skeleton' that I wasn't previously aware of," he pronounces.