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

[tropism]

Better than what it was. [ dying, decaying. ] I've no use for such things. Becoming alive again, despite everything else - that's natural to me.

None of this is shocking to you. What is?

[invasif]

[ Becoming alive again, despite everything else... The sentiment is striking to her. She thinks of an egg, crimson and black, glistening in the darkness. She thinks of a phoenix rising. ]

Why should I be shocked?

[ She pitches her tone high and airy, almost daring him to state his assumptions about her. ]

[tropism]

A different world. Magic in the air that most are unfamiliar with. Rude people. [ a smile. ]

Did you find anything interesting yet?

[invasif]

Rudeness is never shocking.

[ Rude is an understatement for those who had imprisoned her. An icy rage boils under the surface of her thoughts. Will she ever forgive them? No. ]

Interest and shock are different emotions.

[ Or was he changing the subject. She actually does smile a little. ]

It is all very interesting.

[tropism]

[ never? she must've lived so harshly, then. giorno just raises an eyebrow at her response. ]

'All'. Is it better here for you, or worse?

[invasif]

[ She almost warns him not to be so familiar with her. Almost, she clips it from the tip of her tongue and instead inquires serenely, ]

What do you mean?

[tropism]

[ he shrugs. ]

Better that you live here, where dying and decaying things are perhaps not your fault, though rudeness is still in fashion. Or would you rather return?

[invasif]

[ Oh, was the death and decay her fault, before? Or had she inherited that world from those who had destroyed it and only tried to live out something worthwhile through it-- The indignation rises hot in her. But he can't know. Showing her anger will only expose it. She clasps ice around her wounds and indignities. ]

There is some unfinished business behind me. More unfinished business before me. Isn't that the way of it?

[tropism]

Is it? [ a slight laugh. ] That sounds like a lot of hard work you didn't sign up for. Most people would just say they've left someone behind. Friends, family. I've got them. Do you?

[invasif]

No.

[ Perhaps that says something about her that she doesn't want said, but it is also the truth. ]

But you lose many such personal luxuries as queen.

[ She hadn't had it before either. Didn't that make her an ideal ruler, with nothing to sway her or temper her resolve? Hadn't she done that same thing for Dreus, protecting him from those who would have used her against him. ]

[tropism]

I see.

[ a queen. should he take that on its face value. she certainly has the bearings of one. ] I'm sorry to hear that.

[ the apology is measured, like the rest of him. ]

[invasif]

[ She'd tell him there are more important things in life, but it pains her: the loneliness. She rejects the emotion outright. ]

Don't be.

[ It has nothing to do with you. ]

[tropism]

Then I won't.

[ what do queens need? he doesn't know. but he had a brush with power before and he's trying to see how things are based on that. ]

Will you be alright here? [ can she survive without retainers. without her subjects. or will she be a problem? ]

[invasif]

Oh? What is it you think is going to happen to me?

[ Does he have some warning to tell. ]

[tropism]

It's a general question. Queens are human, too. And they need more things for themselves than regular people.

[ not right now. but before we deal with anything else - what kind of a queen was she ...? ]

[invasif]

I don't. Certainly not here. I have no castle, no retinue.

[ A faint smile. Is that almost a relief? She had inherited those things, but what she had really wanted was the power, the fear.... She hadn't needed the rest. Maybe that's why she'd made her palace such a miserable place. In the end, maybe she really just wanted to be left alone in her garden while all others cowed and waited for her wisdom. ]

[tropism]

A queen relying on the kindness of strangers?

[ how odd. ]

[invasif]

[ His surprise is amusing to her, although it shows itself as furrowed brows. ]

I was not born nor raised as a queen, it is something I inherited.