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spellgrinders2017-06-17 07:42 pm
spellbindmods) wrote in spellgrinders2017-06-17 07:42 pm
( TDM | #1 )
You blink and that's all it takes. At first the picture doesn't come in clear, like you're waiting for a screen to fully load -- more aptly, it's like you're waiting for a camera to focus so you can find image clarity. Before you happened to rapidly close your eyes and open them, your life was normal...well, normal for you, anyway. Fighting an alien, making a quesadilla, dying. And then that blurry picture suddenly takes over. Depending on your situation and ability to acclimate, you may not fully understand what's happening. A dream, a hallucination. But when you feel the trunk of the trees surrounding you, it's oddly...real. The smell is real. The moisture on the ground is real. The small grass snake you find slithering close to your feet seems very real as well. There are a few other sensations that also begin to feel a little more like reality with every passing second. Like the fact that your intuition is trying to tell you something that doesn't seem plausible. One is more obvious -- you now have a new piece of jewelry inserted snuggly between your collarbones. Maybe that's when you realize it is real. When you realize that there's no delusion here -- you aren't where you once were. But if that's the case...where are you?
There's also a mysterious trail of soft, felt bags, tied off with thin rope, leading your character to what appears to be a specific destination. These items can be as useful as a granola bar to as seemingly useless as a stapler. Let's just say that some of these mysterious objects are pretty out there. They're free to travel off the beaten path, but that comes with its own perils. Maybe your character has a power that could fend these creatures off...? They aren't exactly happy about sharing their territory. |
After an hour or so of trekking through the forest, you finally come upon a break in the tree line that reveals to you an area that appears to be inhabitable. Your first stop is the large mansion that sits in the valley of the opening...if anyone is here or there's a way to get out of here, the house makes the most sense, right? There are a variety of rooms in this mansion, and you're free to explore them. You also spy a lot of crates sitting in the middle of the floor in one of the main rooms...are you curious enough to open them?
If you want some specifics, there are a few rooms of note: the game room (containing a working pool table, non-electric pinball machines and a card table with supplied chips and multiple decks), the cellar (filled with a variety of liquor and wines, all aged quite well) and a large room upstairs that contains a glass ceiling and a variety of books in a foreign language. One more thing -- if you happen to go rummaging around, you may find tiny pin cameras. They're minuscule...you may not even notice them unless you look hard enough. At this point you notice that you aren't alone -- there are other people in the same boat as you! When they're around you, that signet you feel in your chest tingles slightly. The sensation isn't unpleasant, but instead like a warm tingle is spreading from their neck outward. You instinctively attempt to talk to your fellow kidnapping victims, and that works just fine...but what are all these voices you hear in your head now? Are you crazier than you thought you were?
For those more inclined to adventure, there's also another building to investigate. From the outside, it looks very circular and unidentifiable, but upon entering you'll discover that it's a fully-functioning bath house.
|
Exploring the mansion and the bathhouse was fun and all, but aside from the crates they didn't prove to be very useful. When you came into the clearing, you also saw a row of very colorful buildings down near the beach. It makes sense that this area may be more beneficial to any escape plans you have, and taking a dip in the ocean might be nice! It's not until you reach the beach huts that you realize that murky blue color you spied wasn't the ocean. It's outter space. There goes any hopes you had of swimming to safety.
Even though it turns out the ocean was a lie and you're precariously close to falling off the edge of the world, the area around the huts is decidedly beachy. Sitting on the beach is a lobster trap, though about 10 times the size of any you might have seen before. Inside are more felt sacks, though larger. The weirdest part is that peering through the bars, you notice each has a nametag attached. The reason you know this to be true is because you just spied your own name written on one of the labels. There's also something else underneath it. The descriptor may not mean much to you yet, but it will soon: it's the title of their newfound magic. In each felt sack is a sort of starter kit: a set of dated and drapey plainclothes, a bag of dried boar jerky, a leather flask filled with water and a small tube of sunblock (the writing is in a bizarre pictograph language, but the giant picture of the sun on the tube should explain the purpose). There's also a rolled up paper tied with a string that reads as follows: "Welcome. Things will be explained in due time. For now, understand that you have been blessed with a gift of magic. Look into your brain and feel the instinct for both. Practice makes perfect."
...What if you're a wildcard, though? Someone who doesn't play by the rules and follows a different path, no matter what direction the world may be guiding you in? This island is large and contains many areas of interest, from crystal streams to hidden locations. Maybe you want to do something different...so break the mold and explore!
|
no subject
[ Even if they haven't seen each other in a while, he still likes to tease his niece. Spoilers: he's chilling on the roof of the manor if she wants to try and look for him! Otherwise, he'll feed her clues. ]
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I mean you COULD at least give me a hint. Otherwise I could be wandering around here all day!
no subject
[ Ah, there's that harsh Branwen ribbing. :'D He's definitely happy to hear from Yang even if he makes time for quips and jokes. That's just your uncle. As for where he is? ]
If you can see the roof of the manor, you'll find me up there.
[ He could just as easily find out where she is and meet her instead, but the roof will give them some privacy. ]
no subject
[Although she couldn't argue the fact that it had been weeks. First she'd moped around the house, then she'd finally accepted that new arm and her dad had helped her adjust to that too. Actually, come to think of it, Qrow might not realize she even HAD a new arm yet or that she'd only just left Patch to go on her own journey to find Ruby.
She'd been hanging out near the huts and scoping out the place--the manor was in the distance and she looked back towards it.]
All right. See you soon.
[She smiled. She was finally in a place where she wasn't moping about her condition and what had happened at Beacon. Oh, there were still aspects of that whole night that were sore, but she couldn't let that keep holding her back. She had people to find and things to do after all. Yang started making her way purposefully back to the manor. It wasn't a long trek at all and while Yang didn't have Ember Celica (which would have made getting up on the roof a lot easier and more fun) she managed the climb easily enough.
Yang crossed the roof and, sure enough, on the other side was her uncle.]
Hey.
no subject
[ Qrow turns to face her, flashing a rare gentle smile that's only reserved for his nieces. He notes the metal arm, but it doesn't shock him at all. It was an inevitable conclusion after all, if Ironwood hadn't decided to make her a replacement arm, then Taiyang would have certainly pulled some strings. ]
Been a while, kid. I like the new look.
no subject
Thanks. Still getting used to it--but I'm ready.
[She didn't need to be handled delicately, though she doubted Qrow would fall into that anyway. Heck, her dad hadn't even done that--though he'd given her the time she'd needed.]
So, what do we need to talk about on top of a roof in a new world?
[She rested a hand on her hip, never let it be said that Yang wasn't straight to the point]
no subject
When she says she's ready, he simply scoffs, happy to remind her that she and her team still have a long way to go before they're ready for the real threat. ]
And what exactly are you ready for? Do you happen to know something about this place that I don't?
[ Rhetorical question. He's pretty sure Yang is as lost as he is. ... He really doesn't like not knowing things. ]
And where's your weapon?
no subject
Qrow's questions, though, shake her a bit. What is she ready for? She had absolutely no idea what's happening here aside from several other people being involved and that this clearly isn't some place she meant to go while looking for Ruby.]
I doubt it. I just meant I'm ready to move forward. I'm not going to be sitting back any more or lying around as you put it.
[She looks down at her arm. She'd noticed of course, but had hoped she could avoid mentioning that for the time being. Leave it to her sharp eyed uncle to notice. Well, no sense lying about it.]
It's missing. It was gone when I got here.
no subject
[ Qrow knows Yang well enough that she wouldn't be without Ember Celica, so when she says that it's just "gone" with no explanation, he can easily believe it.
After all, something that was in his possession is missing, too. ]
I've spoken to some people here, and it seems like we've all lost something on our way here. You should get a new weapon as soon as you can.
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[Although...wait a second. She sees Qrow still has his own weapon and she doesn't notice anything else immediately off about his attire.]
What did you lose?
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When Oz went missing, I picked up where he left off. Someone needed to, y'know? Ever since then, his cane had always been with me, and now it's... well, heh, your guess is as good as mine.
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She decided to go with that question first.]
What do you mean that you picked up where he left off? What did you need his cane for?
no subject
[ Also she doesn't need to know the real reason! He can indulge her about the other bit, though. ]
...What's your favourite fairy tale, Yang?
no subject
I don't know...fairy tales were always more of Ruby's thing. I just read them to her when we were little. [She hesitates. She knows Qrow has to have a point, or at least she hopes so. Yang adds.] I guess I always enjoyed the ones with a quest in them...where the hero goes on an adventure to find something or someone.
What does this have to do with anything?
no subject
[ He says, as if his answer is somehow supposed to make more sense. ]
What if I told you that some fairy tales aren't just stories we tell each other? That they're the real deal?
no subject
So they really happened at some point? Someone actually did those things?
[She sounds skeptical, because she's thinking of all the fairy tales she has read Ruby and some of them are pretty fantastic.]