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

[bleps]

[The politeness of this man is well beyond what he usually encounters; Connor always finds it easier to interact with these types of individuals, and his own amicability rises as a sort of reflection of it.]

A Master? Let me to judge by appearances one last time -- are you a knight or warrior of some kind?

[airgetlarm]

You judge correctly.

[Bedivere smiles again, a small thing, but it's there.]

It is unfortunate that I am pulled into this world for I was already occupied with my own quest for their sake.

[bleps]

The witch here doesn't seem to care if she interrupts something you might consider important. But I suppose her argument would be that we're here for the betterment of many worlds, not just one.

[That is a mild point of contention with Connor, for differing reasons. But he's sure that most can relate.]

What was your quest, if you don't mind me asking?

[airgetlarm]

[Usually, it's better to practice discretion when it comes to dealing with denizens of any type of singularity, but this place he's found himself in isn't like that at all. Everyone he's met so far is, for a lack of a better saying, fish out of the water.

Bedivere won't spill all, but he can give the briefest of explanations in order to express the significance of his new purpose.]

... Humanity is on the brink of extinction and its history distorted to the point of incineration. I had been called among many others to serve a Master who has brought upon themselves to correct these singularities and ensure that humankind prevails.

[bleps]

[Well that sounds Important.

More so than his own mission back home, in a way that Bedivere's task seems like it would affect the whole of humanity. Or at least, his version of humanity, possibly. Difficult to say, for even Connor still has issues wrapping his mind around the idea of alternate universes when presented with such blatant examples -- ironically, it's often easier to take it at face value than to try to rationalize it at all. But that goes against the grain of what he is, and as a result, individuals with strange stories get a lot of questions.

Sorry, Bedi.]

And how does someone fix... distorted history? In fact, how did it become distorted at all?

[airgetlarm]

[There is... So much. Almost too much for Bedivere alone to explain and that fact alone makes him chuckle.]

It's what they call, a long story Connor. I do not wish to bore you with the details when I am interested in what we are dealing with here in the present.

[bleps]

[But he likes to hear the unravelling of long stories. The details in them, the rules that exist in other worlds that don't in his own, the impossibilities.

And yet they've only just met. Propriety dictates that he not push the matter, and the stubbornness that resides within him will relent for now.]

That's fair. Maybe you'd like to ask me questions in return, then? I've been here for a while now, so I can do my best to answer them.

[airgetlarm]

Let's see... Oh. Yes, this might be worth knowing... [He's mumbling to himself before looking at Connor again.]

How long have you been here? And is there anyone who could say they've been here for a significant amount of time?

[bleps]

For nearly two months.

[Easy enough to answer.]

There are several others here who have been Circle members longer, though it was only for one mission more. So my best approximation would be.... four or five months, maybe.

[airgetlarm]

So then so far, there hasn't been anyone to your knowledge that has been here for more than a year?

[There's a small sigh on Bedivere's part.]

... Although when it comes to time, perhaps I should not worry as much but... It does pain me to be away from my comrades. I have met a few, but none have seen our Master.

[bleps]

I’m sorry to hear it. Though the possibility that they might be brought here still exists — for what that’s worth.

And no, I don’t know of anyone who has been here for that long. Why a year specifically?

[airgetlarm]

Well, it didn't have to be a year specifically. A longer amount of time would have sufficed if we had someone who had more comprehensive knowledge of what we are here for.

[bleps]

Fair enough. In that case, then no. It's as I said, those who have been here longer than I have only experienced one mission more -- the one prior to Struxta.

There is always the option of speaking to Astoria herself.