test drive # 2

[acatamods]

I ▫ main IV ▫ premise       XI ▫ applications XIV ▫ activity II ▫ logs V ▫ rules VII ▫ bestiary   IX ▫ canon updates XII ▫ taken XV ▫ drop/hiatus III ▫ ooc VI ▫ faq VIII ▫ setting   X ▫ mods XIII ▫ reserves XVI ▫ players test drive meme #2 It happens in the blink of an eye. One moment, you are home. Perhaps you are with your family, perhaps you are at work. It's a completely normal day . . . and then, suddenly, your stomach drops. You are overcome with a sudden sense of vertigo. You cannot see up, or down, or where you are. All you hear is a voice -- light, bubbly, warm, soothing, in your ear: Don't worry, darling. This won't hurt a bit~ ♥ For those who recognize the voice, it will sound a bit strained. Possibly tired. But the moment happens so quickly it's hard to pin down, and once that moment is over, you fall flat on your face. It's dim, damp, with the trickling of what feels like rain. It takes a few moments for you to gain composure, to catch your breath. You think, for half a moment, that a hand is on your back, rubbing between your shoulder blades in comfort, but when you open your eyes, no one is there. You are surrounded by ancient stone buildings, with carvings you do not recognize etched into the stone. There's a sense of nausea, overwhelming and sudden, when you realize you aren't in Kansas anymore. And, of course, because this is just your luck. It's raining. THE TEMPLE OF BEGINNINGS. Welcome to the "Home Base" of Astoria's Circle. What the actual name of the base is called is lost to the ages, and there's no sense of where you could find it, unless you started asking around. At any rate, this is a central hub of the Circle, a place of powerful magic and mysterious energy. It is a scattering of ancient stone buildings and for the most part, it looks abandoned . . . except for what seems to be a few items, some rooms taken, items moved or organized, even a small garden planted. These are just the smallest hints that there are people here that have been here before you arrived. For some, this place is home. For others, this strange land is new and dark, like a haze has settled in the air. The creatures in the forest seem to be stirring, and every now and then the sky will open up, and a storm will pass through, in varying degrees of intensity. Some will be easy spring showers, others will be angry, thunderous storms. Not exactly the most welcoming place, but it's a start. Overall, it's fairly beautiful. However, it is definitely not modern. Upon exploration, you find that the buildings are kept up by some kind of magic. Some of the rooms have items, things from other Circle members already settled, and others appear to be unclaimed. Pick your rooms, explore the grounds, see the beauty and wonder all around you in such a magical place. The rain makes everything feel a bit softer, but also eerie, like there is a secret being kept just on the outside of your vision. Of course, this means you have free reign. This place seems easy enough to figure out on your own, with enough time to take a walk around! However- members who recognize this place may notice the lack of a certain figure, the grounds feeling a bit more empty, more abandoned, than they did before. IT'S A FIELD OF . . . POPPIES? The buildings of the Temple of Beginnings span out across a fair-sized field, intermixed with trees, open grassy planes, outside sitting areas, fire rings, and other oddly ancient but somehow structures. With the mist and the rain, everything feels a bit more ethereal, like there is life to every inch of what you see before you. Or like you've stumbled into some kind of alternate world. Around the temple is a ring of stones that do not seem to move no matter what characters may attempt, and beyond that is the forest. The forest itself is more than just impressive - it is near-overwhelming. An impossibly ancient stretch of woods that crackle with magical energy. Within, there is all matter of fauna and flora, darting from tree trunk to tree trunk. The canopy is thick enough to shield from the worst of the rain, but still the water gets through, dripping down through the leaves and dampening the ground under your feet. While there is always a sense of wonder - and possible danger - in every stretch of this forest, nothing will come any closer than a brief glimpse out of the corner of your eyes. No matter how you try, you can't quite seem to catch a full glimpse of what is moving about. Some of the creatures seem small, flittering through the air, while others dart through the trees, larger, more imposing. Everything here seems to be looking for some kind of shelter, so be wary of stumbling across something already taken. There is a particular clearing not too far into the woods that opens up, a field encircled by trees. In the middle of the field there is an odd glow - luminescent even in the darkened sky. Upon investigation, you will find a bush - about the size of a small car - filled with glowing flowers, white, blue, gold, and purple. They all smell faintly sweet, but it's hard to tell with the scent of earth and rain all around you. if you decide to pick one of these flowers, there will be no immediate recourse. However, the longer you decide to keep the flower on your person - or if, for whatever reason, you decide to eat said flower - the following will start to set in. White: For whatever reason, you will have more energy than you know what to do with, and will be filled with the urge to shine. Ever needed a confidence booster? To a point that you need to get up on buildings and belt your favorite song at the top of your lungs? Well, now you do. Blue: After some time of carrying around this flower, you will start to feel at peace. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, is it? Until that feeling of peace continues to grow, and continues, and continues. Soon you will feel so peaceful, it's almost as if nothing matters at all. I mean...it'll work out in the end, won't it? You're no longer missing home, missing people, worried about what happened and what you might fine. Everything is chill. Beyond chill. The most chill. But maybe out in the middle of the forest isn't the best place for a nap? Gold: Congrats, you've officially become a hoarder! No, seriously, you will have this uncontrollable urge to grab things and collect them. It doesn't matter what they are, or where they are. You need to have them and you will find a way to make it happen. Hats? Rings? People with green hair? The world is your oyster, and that's the key word here - yours. Purple: Suddenly, and without warning, you find yourself unable to...well. Go on alone, really. The first person you see, or that you come in contact with, will feel much like the savior of your world, and for the next five hours or so, you will be unable to be far from them. Even if you know the fear is irrational, you can't really help it, following friend or stranger alike, always needing to be just in arms reach. Regarding further exploration of the wood, it will seem to go on forever. Getting lost seems almost imperative to existence within this forest, going on forever in all directions with no edge in sight. You could walk for days, weeks, possibly even more. However, the second that you find yourself thinking about wanting to return to the buildings from before, you find yourself cresting through the edge of the trees, back to your home. RUN BY THE RIVER While inside the buildings and in the main open spaces, the water doesn't seem to be building up all too terribly, un an unfortunate turn of events, it all seems to be rolling down a very slight hill, pulling just on the outside of the ring of stones. The ground here is unstable, wet and muddy from the amount of moisture falling from the skies. So much that in some areas (the fighting area being one), it will start to collect into a dangerous combination of mud and moving water. It's possible to get stuck in it, possible to get lost in the flooding, but it's also possible to...you know. Have some fun? Mud slides, mud wrestling, mud...castles? Whatever you want it to be, it's at your disposal! While the arena was originally a place to practice your powers, or any of the various weapons that are usually kept here, now you can do the same with a little added obstacle in your path. That, or it's possible you simply got stuck trying to make it back to your room. Hopefully someone will be by to help you! CONNECTIONS AND COMMENTARY Upon arriving, you will notice on whichever is your non-dominant hand, you will have a fairly simply screen. A smart watch, if you will. Upon exploration, you will find that it has a directory of all those here with you at the Temple of Beginnings- names, and access to a direct message to them. The watch also has video, audio, and text capabilities, as well as what looks like a collection of messages sent to everyone who wishes to open them. This is your 'network', and also how Astoria can reach out and communicate with you. There is nothing keeping you from removing and/or losing your watch! But remember that you will not have access to this network without it. OOC: Also feel free to join us and other possible players on our discord server! enjoy! ♥

Comments

she is only taking in, like, half of what xinyao says to her oop

[southernphoenix]

[That's actually a very reasonable question for a spirit to ask, although there is no way news of Consort Jing's untimely death wouldn't have reached her in the last two months. Would her aunt lie? While she is still processing, Nihuang names the year of CONCLUSIVE SPOILERS, sounding lost, the same year she resumed guardianship of Yunnan and the southern border.]

We had no major news from Jinling, [she repeats, and, throat tight, can't help adding,] No news from Meiling. Although the messenger paths have been clear. What else could this place be?

[tranquilforest]

[The year and the carefully chosen words, the fraught expression on Nihuang's face, make her heart catch briefly in the back of her throat. Small wonder she'd come to this conclusion, when in later years she'd had time to mourn.]

Princess- [She cuts herself off, her voice a little shaky, and then shakes her head.] Huang-er. [She raises a hand to rest on her shoulder, tilting her head to gaze more steadily into her eyes.] Da Liang is as safe as she can be, due to the sacrifices of all her soldiers at the borders over the past few years. Prince Muqing [no longer young, even in the most abstract sense] is capably handling the affairs of Yunnan. Even in Jinling... [It's joy and sadness both that stay her voice now, that halt her words as she attempts to relay the news to someone still very much in her past, without the clarity of distance and in the throes of sorrows unmuted by time.]

[southernphoenix]

[Pain of the past never exists only in the past. Nihuang's pride won't let her crumple even while encircled in Aunt Jing's comforting strength, but she lets herself shake until the storm of doubt is mostly past and she can trust in what she's feeling and hear what she is being told.]

Good... Then that's good. [Her smile is watery, too soon and still unsure. With a brusque hand, she dashes the wetness from her eyes, straightening her spine.] So we can know the future here? What is it we need to do?

[A divine task, she might be thinking, or a sacrifice. She isn't really thinking this very hard; mostly she is being relieved and, increasingly, confused.]

[tranquilforest]

[She smiles a little, seeing Nihuang's resolve, and again, at her words - it hadn't occurred to her until this moment that their circumstance was anything like the tasks presented by the Buddha to Mulian after his enlightenment to redeem his mother from the realm of hungry ghosts. Perhaps that was a better way to think of the situation.]

At the moment, things are somewhat calm. The being who brought you here, whose voice you may have heard upon waking - her goals aren't always clear, but she seems to mean no harm, and apparently intends for those of us she brought together to do good deeds in the places she sends us to.

As for knowing the future... [Now she gets a little more solemn, not sure how much to share.]

[southernphoenix]

[Jingyan's mother has always been a little mysterious, not at all like her friend. Nihuang hadn't really considered it much as a child, taking her for granted in the same way she had all indulgent adults who didn't swing swords; the lonely passing years, especially the charged events of the latest one, have taught her a greater appreciation for her little aunt and the subtle and clever side of that made her such a formidable ally.]

Aunt Jing, [she says now, mind racing ahead,] Don't be troubled. If you cannot say, I will understand, I know you will tell me what I need to know so that we can accomplish what we need to accomplish. [All true. Nihuang has absolute faith in madame's intentions. But also, please don't... feel pressured to mislead her about anything... Nihuang is just about full up.]

[tranquilforest]

[She dips her head slightly, still holding on to Nihuang for the moment. She had always been far more quick on the update and easygoing than Jingyan, and more inclined to listen to reason even when it disagreed with her first instinct. Even in the wake of what was surely a sharp shock...]

There are things we can discuss later, I promise. [They had far more freedom here, after all.]

But... [She pulls slightly away, her expression smiling and almost teasingly scolding.] You should get out of your wet things. I think I might have something you can wear while we care for your armor and let it dry properly so it doesn't rust.

[southernphoenix]

Ah. [Nihuang ducks her chin, hiding her face in a gesture that would look shy in someone less self-assured, and obediently begins to strip down, only now becoming mindful of how much of the storm she has dragged in with her.]

I had been by Qujing; it had already begun to rain for days although it's barely the season. Who would think that those burdened clouds would be so persistent as to follow me here?

[Aunt Jing seems to anticipate her--well, of course she would be able to, wouldn't she.] Although if mortals can enter, why not clouds? Xiao Jingyan. He's really all right?

[tranquilforest]

[She doesn't obviously avert her gaze, but she goes to an improvised closet in the room to look over her clothing to find something that was more likely to suit Nihuang, who was used to vigorous movement. Perhaps she'd have to ask the unseen servants that frequented the place for something she could alter, but this would do for now.]

I haven't been here for very long at one time, so I cannot comment on the usual weather.

[Her gaze softens a little with fondness and just a bit of wistfulness at Nihuang's question. Well, some things couldn't be helped.]

Jingyan... that child is doing very well. He is even going to be a father soon. I know Empress [Welp.] Liu will be fine, but I regret not being there to help with her month of confinement.

[southernphoenix]

[Nihuang listens to the sound of Aunt Jing moving through this small space without really hearing it, grateful for the space to collect her thoughts. He succeeded. In every step of the future he sought to lay for them. Jingyan would make a good Emperor. And his father...

She surreptitiously glances at Aunt Jing as she rises to her feet. Consort Jing? Empress Dowager Lin? But her little aunt is ageless.]

Congratulations. [There's a breath of hesitation when she exchanges her soaking outer clothes for Aunt Jing's dry bundle, but then she turns around and continues to change.] Have you been alone this whole while?

[tranquilforest]

[She doesn't quite sigh, but averts her gaze slightly.] I haven't seen anyone from home until you arrived, but most of the other people here are quite friendly.

[The corners of her mouth tilt up very slightly, a brief moment of happiness.] And it's been... a nice change, being able to explore a little bit, and meet new people.

[southernphoenix]

['A nice change' and Nihuang turns in time to catch the flicker of Aunt Jing's smile, so she sets her culturally cultivated concern aside.

Encouragingly,] What sort of people? I have barely spoken to anyone at all, [exclusively excuse mes, tbh,] but they certainly seem colourful.

[tranquilforest]

That's...one way to put it. [She looks Nihuang up and down with an approving smile. No one else here dressed as she was used to, or even moved as she was used to - their clothes tended to be shockingly simple, without need to worry about trailing skirts or wide sleeves or the posture needed to support a heavy headdress. She motions Nihuang towards one of the cushions on the floor in front of the bed.]

Come, let me help brush out your hair, and I can tell you about the people I've met here.