test drive meme # 3

[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 #3 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 bright, warm, and humid. It takes a few seconds for you to gain composure and 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. Even worse, it looks like the tinier inhabitants of the Forest of the Fey are acting a little cheeky. 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. 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. However, be careful -- the sprites that reside within the Forest of the Fey seem to be exceptionally active, today, and tricks abound wherever you look. KINGS AND QUEENS. Typically, the sprites of the Forest of the Fey remain within the protective canopy of the surroundings. However, there seems to be something different in the air, and these little bastards are flitting about and giving out flower crowns to everyone. They are beautifully made, intricate and gloriously decorative, and most people would be happy to adorn one! There's just one problem, though -- they don't come off. No matter how hard you try, those damn flower crowns are stuck on your head, and you cannot remove them no matter how hard you try. Hope you enjoy being a fairy princess for a day. And, if you are alighted with a flower crown, your skin turns the same color as whatever flowers now sit upon your head. A wreath of blue roses? Congratulations, Violet Beauregard -- you're now as blue as a blueberry. The effect wears off in about an hour, and you can remove the flower crown then -- but have fun being every shade of the rainbow as the sprites take their time to torment the new arrivals. BALLOONS FOR EVERYONE. Normally, there are some animals that wander within the ancient stone buildings of the Temple. Tiny little white bats, sheep that grow on the vine . . . that sort of thing. However, the sprites have elected to add a little bit more flair the Temple, and balloon animals have invaded the living space. Where the sprites got the idea for balloon animals, no one can really be sure -- Astoria seems to think the sprites are waltzing through the spirit realm and seem to have garnered an idea there, whatever that's supposed to mean. So, no matter where you go, there are balloon animals. Little dogs, brightly colored fish, dinosaurs, giraffes . . . except they seem to move, and make noise, and act like their real counterparts. Tiny balloon dogs nip at your heels, balloon fish flicker about in the waters that sprinkle themselves throughout the Forest, and balloon birds float through the skies. Bonus? If you pop them, they explode into (biodegradable) glitter. DECAYED DECADENCE. Despite the shenanigans from the sprites, however, there seems to be something happening within the Temple that may be cause of concern. Flower crowns and balloon animals aside, there seem to be odd spots of the Temple that suddenly wilt . . . flowers that bend over and wither at a moment's notice, saplings that seem to creak as if suddenly dried from the inside out . . . and it seems, oddly enough, that it happens whenever you, an Arrival, get closer to the wild life. Astoria seems to think that something is wrong . . . perhaps something the Circle members brought back from their last trip. An illness, or something more? Care to poke about and see how far you're willing to take it? Or does your magical gift enable the protection of plant growth? Try out your green thumb and see if you can help. COMMUNICATIONS. 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

[teratias]

[Waver has noticed the strange decay, and the fact it seems to be uniform regardless of the material. Latex balloons, organic matter, all of it. Weird is an understatement, and it isn't something that he's happy to see.

He's been doing his own testing, mostly in the form of sitting back and timing the rate of decay from when he observes it starting to the whole item being quite gone.

Taking a break is the only thing that he has in mind as he passes DaVinci - well, that and reviewing what he's come across so far. His eyes go to what he can see of the page so far, and it's the only reason he stops.]

You're trying to understand the causes too, huh?

[aviphile]

Bingo.

[She drums her pencil on top of her notebook as she studies the newcomer. That face looks a bit familiar.]

Well, that isn't entirely accurate. The cause is clear. We are the source of decay. It's the "how" I'm looking at. From what I heard, this is an unusual effect.

[teratias]

Actually, I'm curious if it's everyone, or a subset. You're a new face here, which means that the older people who just returned from a particular world could be the sole source, instead of everyone.

[It's a reasonable guess as to a source, at the very least. Waver's interest in the subject means that he's quick to ignore the close scrutiny.]

I've been trying to figure out if there's a uniform decay rate.

[aviphile]

[Good, because she's categorized and filed him away in her mind already.]

Oh, I'm not so sure if it's a matter of recency. After all-- [she points the pencil at herself] --I have the same effect on the plants. But tell me more about this "particular world." What exactly was it like? And what makes you suspect it?

[teratias]

[Have fun figuring out that it's Lord El-Melloi II, DaVinci.]

Huh, really? [Waver frowns. That's one hypothesis debunked.] There was no organic matter on the world, everything was robotic and AI based. My hunch was that some pathogen was interacting with the world around us because it had never been in such an environment, but clearly that isn't the answer.

...Which isn't bad to know, actually.

[aviphile]

No organic matter...

[She mutters it to herself, mind already racing with possibilities. Of course, she'd have to see the world firsthand to get an idea of what Caster is talking about.]

Oh, is there a microscope in the Circle?

[teratias]

If there is, I haven't found it. There might be some supplies to rig one up, but that'd probably become some kind of a scavenger hunt.

[But it'd be useful to have...]

Building one might be worth doing, come to think of it.

[aviphile]

[She claps her hands together.]

Then we've little time to waste. There's only so much the gross eye can see, after all. Come, Lord El-Melloi~ Let's get to work!

[teratias]

What did you just call me?!

[The reaction is immediate, with a combination of red hot anger (because fuck Kayneth) and genuine confusion (she called him that?!)

He is then extremely still, the follow up question much softer.]

The hell?

[aviphile]

[Ah, that was a funny reaction. Da Vinci cants her head. Although her expression is concerned, there's a twinkle in her eye.]

Lord El-Melloi II. Or would you rather be called "Zhuge Liang?"

[teratias]

[Waver stares. And blinks. And tilts his head in a way that makes it clear that he is sure this woman must be out of her mind.]

...There's a second Lord El-Melloi II?

[Softly, and meant more to himself, Waver mutters.] I guess he doesn't survive the Grail War, huh?

[aviphile]

It seems so.

[Who knows, with these dimensions overlapping? The Grail could summon endless possibilities. Why would it be any different for a powerful, interdimensional witch?]

Sorry, I'll stop making fun of you for now. [Key words: for now.] What do you call yourself?

[teratias]

Waver Velvet.

[Waver's now deeply unnerved, like he just heard something that he shouldn't have. He looks at DaVinci with a new concern, all the enthusiasm for discussing experiments gone.

Mordred's proven forthright enough, but Modred's even less subtle than Rider.]

...You?