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

[billionaires]

[ he snatches it out of the other man's hand the second he recognizes it, skipping the manners. this guy is a serious weirdo and he's going to tap into his knowledge as much as he can, but he doesn't have time to waste on niceties. tony goes to sit at a nearby table and pulls his watch out, looking for the right place to disassemble it by. ]

Talk to me while I work, Fairy boy. What are their weaknesses?

[scales_and_silence]

[Eh, he's been called worse. You don't grow up being the kid who brings snakes to show & tell without earning some nicknames. He moves to watch him disassemble the thing, curious himself, and wishing he had a pen and paper.]

Iron is your big one. It's just about universally fairy kryptonite. Silver is a purifying agent and seems to be one of the better conductors for some types of spellwork. Because of that, you can sometimes use silver to disrupt active spells. Kind of like an EM burst, I guess.

And it's Alex, by the way. [He actually puts effort into not making it sound like a snarky aside or jab. He's been kidnapped enough times by now to know that formal introductions don't usually happen until well after the immediate threat of death or worse is passed. Which he is mostly sure it has, for the time being.]

And I really need to press again that this isn't my field. I'm giving you Wikipedia stub level basics here. If I could find something to dissect- preferably something already dead- then I could tell you something I'd be certain about. Until then, put everything I'm saying into the category of barely-educated guesses.

[billionaires]

[ iron. how ironic (hm.) iron and silver, spells, all shit that isn't hard science and thus not his wheelhouse. "alex" sure sounds knowledgeable for a guy who claims otherwise, but tony's taking it all with a hefty pinch of salt just in case. ]

Tony. [ it's quick, almost bright. he thinks of harley then for some reason and has to stop that thought where it stands. ] And I'm friends with a god, so. I'm used to guessing about magic shit.

[scales_and_silence]

I'm a cryptozoologist. [A shrug]And we're all guessing with magic. Humans, anyway. There were definitely some alchemists back in the day who were probably on to something before it killed them- or worse, maybe.

[billionaires]

Sounds smelly. [ again it sounds like a dismissal but it isn't. alchemy, he knows better than to write that off. ] Can't be worse than being here indefinitely.

[scales_and_silence]

Smelly, but often remote and full of enough things to trip over that I repair my glasses often enough that I buy these kits in bulk.

Finding anything useful, or at least familiar in the watch?

[He doesn't show it, but the idea of this being sufficiently advanced tech to fake being magic is a scarier thought for him. With magic-based kidnappings, he can at least hold out some small hope his family could find him. Hell, for all he knows, this is where Grandpa Thomas ended up.]

[billionaires]

Familiar? Yes. Helpful? ...Hm.

[ the whole watch is in pieces in front of him like he's solving a puzzle. it's not a very fun puzzle, he wishes he could return it. ]

There's a renewable energy source, one I don't recognize.

[ he holds up the piece with the small tweezers and sighs. probably magic. fuck this. ]