[The Warrens]
Adir bends to his knee. His face is a carefully placed mask of empathy, a sight designed to be comforting while disguising what he truly feels. He's a moment away from bending the bars open with his bare hands when the boy speaks up.
"Why's that, kiddo?" Adir asks in a soft voice.
The Dreamlands
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
Bending the bars open would be... tricky. Since they're made of bone. Or at least it would be tricky outside the Dreamlands. There's a pretty solid chance that Adir believing the bars should bend because they're bars would make it so.
The boy looks up at Adir with those distressingly blue eyes before looking away again. "Papa said I wasn't allowed to go outside but I didn't listen. I played with some other kids but a grownup saw me. They said I'm a monster because I've got red hair and blue eyes and all the other grownups beat up mama and papa for hiding me and chased me out of the village."
A small, pitiful sniffle.
"It's all my fault. I should have listened."
Lapis, meanwhile, looks utterly baffled.
What?
Why would hair and eye color make someone a monster? That doesn't make any sense.
The lad must have been from one of those small, superstitious villages Outside somewhere.
Bending the bars open would be... tricky. Since they're made of bone. Or at least it would be tricky outside the Dreamlands. There's a pretty solid chance that Adir believing the bars should bend because they're bars would make it so.
The boy looks up at Adir with those distressingly blue eyes before looking away again. "Papa said I wasn't allowed to go outside but I didn't listen. I played with some other kids but a grownup saw me. They said I'm a monster because I've got red hair and blue eyes and all the other grownups beat up mama and papa for hiding me and chased me out of the village."
A small, pitiful sniffle.
"It's all my fault. I should have listened."
Lapis, meanwhile, looks utterly baffled.
What?
Why would hair and eye color make someone a monster? That doesn't make any sense.
The lad must have been from one of those small, superstitious villages Outside somewhere.
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
"Seems like the people in your village were the monsters. Not you." Wenomir holds back his ire with considerable difficulty. This could still be a trick. This fey realm could be showing him and Adir images that it knows will rile them up - Wenomir due to his hatred of societal oppression and Adir as a father. He won't abandon his principles but he can't let his anger get out of hand. "We can find you someplace else to go. But you can't stay here. It's not a place for mortal children."
"Seems like the people in your village were the monsters. Not you." Wenomir holds back his ire with considerable difficulty. This could still be a trick. This fey realm could be showing him and Adir images that it knows will rile them up - Wenomir due to his hatred of societal oppression and Adir as a father. He won't abandon his principles but he can't let his anger get out of hand. "We can find you someplace else to go. But you can't stay here. It's not a place for mortal children."
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
Adir's eyes harden to flecks of ice for a moment. He glances back at Wenomir, then to the boy, and nods. "Just as he says. And we'll see if your parents want to get out of there, too. We can help them. We'll take you somewhere that people won't hurt you over the way you look." He doesn't give voice to his other worry - that these parents might rather stay with their community than stand beside their son.
If there is a trick here, well, that line of thinking ends at the same reasoning which led Adir down this path to begin with. That risk is a necessary burden. The alternative to freeing the boy is unacceptable.
If the cage is only bone, well, that's even easier than metal. Adir certainly believes he can snap bones. He grabs the bars and still start breaking them off to set the lad free.
Adir's eyes harden to flecks of ice for a moment. He glances back at Wenomir, then to the boy, and nods. "Just as he says. And we'll see if your parents want to get out of there, too. We can help them. We'll take you somewhere that people won't hurt you over the way you look." He doesn't give voice to his other worry - that these parents might rather stay with their community than stand beside their son.
If there is a trick here, well, that line of thinking ends at the same reasoning which led Adir down this path to begin with. That risk is a necessary burden. The alternative to freeing the boy is unacceptable.
If the cage is only bone, well, that's even easier than metal. Adir certainly believes he can snap bones. He grabs the bars and still start breaking them off to set the lad free.
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
Social pressures, especially in small communities, can be heavy and crushing things. When you've never been more than a few miles away from the place you were born the thought of exile can be terrifying. The boy's parents are likely still alive, certainly. If the lad was driven off rather than being killed it seems doubtful that his parents would have gotten more than a few clouts and ample public shaming.
Maybe they'll be willing to leave. If our heroes could find the way there.
Lapis, meanwhile, is squinting at the boy ever so slightly. Pulling up seer information is always handy! But... she already knows that faerie tricks can fool it. If the boy were some super extra tricky sort of faerie she's pretty sure she wouldn't be able to tell. But she HAS been able to tell when she's seeing a changeling.
Like the other Cassie.
Those are different.
They only need to be tricky enough to fool mortal parents for a little while. There are ways to find out. That the boy didn't react adversely to iron is a hint, too. This is just another child lost to the evils of the Dreamlands.
Lapis, looking quite a bit younger than the other two for sure, offers a kind smile but says nothing. The boy seems encouraged by all this.
So the bones of the cage are broken with little effort, the lad shielding his eyes with his arms from the flying shards. As he climbs out of the cage our heroes will see that he's dirty and disheveled with a few scuffs here and there, but little in the way of injured.
"I got lost in the woods and those monsters caught me," the boy confides in his rescuers. "And they took me into this cave. I don't know how to get home."
"This tunnel doesn't go any further; this is the very bottom. We'll have to go back one of the other ways," Lapis says. Which probably means slipping around those awful shades again.
Social pressures, especially in small communities, can be heavy and crushing things. When you've never been more than a few miles away from the place you were born the thought of exile can be terrifying. The boy's parents are likely still alive, certainly. If the lad was driven off rather than being killed it seems doubtful that his parents would have gotten more than a few clouts and ample public shaming.
Maybe they'll be willing to leave. If our heroes could find the way there.
Lapis, meanwhile, is squinting at the boy ever so slightly. Pulling up seer information is always handy! But... she already knows that faerie tricks can fool it. If the boy were some super extra tricky sort of faerie she's pretty sure she wouldn't be able to tell. But she HAS been able to tell when she's seeing a changeling.
Like the other Cassie.
Those are different.
They only need to be tricky enough to fool mortal parents for a little while. There are ways to find out. That the boy didn't react adversely to iron is a hint, too. This is just another child lost to the evils of the Dreamlands.
Lapis, looking quite a bit younger than the other two for sure, offers a kind smile but says nothing. The boy seems encouraged by all this.
So the bones of the cage are broken with little effort, the lad shielding his eyes with his arms from the flying shards. As he climbs out of the cage our heroes will see that he's dirty and disheveled with a few scuffs here and there, but little in the way of injured.
"I got lost in the woods and those monsters caught me," the boy confides in his rescuers. "And they took me into this cave. I don't know how to get home."
"This tunnel doesn't go any further; this is the very bottom. We'll have to go back one of the other ways," Lapis says. Which probably means slipping around those awful shades again.
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
"It won't be easy to keep a child safe as we delve into this place." Wenomir points out the rather grim truth. "But we may not have another option if we want to get him out of here."
"It won't be easy to keep a child safe as we delve into this place." Wenomir points out the rather grim truth. "But we may not have another option if we want to get him out of here."
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
Adir nods to Wenomir. He was thinking exactly the same thing. The shades they'll have to deal with either way, but the boy being in unnecessary danger was a difficult thing to accept. Realistically, he has to put the life of the boy ahead of the quest.
"Uh, I need to know a couple of things," Adir says, looking at Lapis and avoiding saying her name. He tries to take the boy's hand. "Can you get him out of here yourself, if we send you? And could you find your way back?"
Adir nods to Wenomir. He was thinking exactly the same thing. The shades they'll have to deal with either way, but the boy being in unnecessary danger was a difficult thing to accept. Realistically, he has to put the life of the boy ahead of the quest.
"Uh, I need to know a couple of things," Adir says, looking at Lapis and avoiding saying her name. He tries to take the boy's hand. "Can you get him out of here yourself, if we send you? And could you find your way back?"
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
Looks like everyone is thinking along the same lines. Lapis glances between the others, then to the boy, and finally nods.
"I can cut a path back to the Waking World," Lapis says with an affirmative not. "I can get him somewhere safe. I can get back, too. But the Dreamlands are a place of stories. I don't know if I'll be able to get back again until the story lets me."
Which is, of course, potentially a problem.
The pair of warriors will be on their own. Possibly for the majority of the rest of the quest.
Which is obviously a problem.
Lapis' presence is definitely helpful. If she's gone, if her light isn't holding back the dark, then the gloom with press in.
Looks like everyone is thinking along the same lines. Lapis glances between the others, then to the boy, and finally nods.
"I can cut a path back to the Waking World," Lapis says with an affirmative not. "I can get him somewhere safe. I can get back, too. But the Dreamlands are a place of stories. I don't know if I'll be able to get back again until the story lets me."
Which is, of course, potentially a problem.
The pair of warriors will be on their own. Possibly for the majority of the rest of the quest.
Which is obviously a problem.
Lapis' presence is definitely helpful. If she's gone, if her light isn't holding back the dark, then the gloom with press in.
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
"It might be a risk we'll have to take." Wenomir can't really see another way out of this. "We can't leave him behind, we can't go all the way back to escort him and we can't take him with us into the fight."
"It might be a risk we'll have to take." Wenomir can't really see another way out of this. "We can't leave him behind, we can't go all the way back to escort him and we can't take him with us into the fight."
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
"Pretty much," Adir says. He looks about him. He's not one to be shaken by a little gloom. "Nothing to do but keep moving forward." The same as it ever was. "Go, kid. Get him somewhere safe. And hurry back, stories be damned."
"Pretty much," Adir says. He looks about him. He's not one to be shaken by a little gloom. "Nothing to do but keep moving forward." The same as it ever was. "Go, kid. Get him somewhere safe. And hurry back, stories be damned."
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
Lapis nods at this.
"Okay, I'll be back as quick as I can," she says before turning her gaze to the ceiling of the cavern, drawing her sword, and hurling it point first into the stone. And where it strikes there is a shattering. Cracks spiderweb through nothing, stellar light bleeding from them, snapping and crackling downwards as form takes shape. This isn't a mere chaotic spiderweb of fractures, but rather there is a sublime order to it. Shapes of frosted, shattered, iridescent light. Like feathers, like scales, like teeth, like an inverted throne of swords.
And hanging from it, the point jutting toward the heart of the world, is an obelisk.
Lapis holds out one hand for the boy and leads him toward the shining pillar mere inches above the ground. With the other hand she touches it and the whole length of the monument splits from top to bottom to form two halves of a gate.
"I'll get him somewhere safe. You be safe, too!"
She steps through the door-
-and the door shuts behind her.
The pillar remains, its empyrean light making the world of darkness appear vague and ephemeral everywhere it touches.
Now there's just the matter of retracing their steps.
Lapis nods at this.
"Okay, I'll be back as quick as I can," she says before turning her gaze to the ceiling of the cavern, drawing her sword, and hurling it point first into the stone. And where it strikes there is a shattering. Cracks spiderweb through nothing, stellar light bleeding from them, snapping and crackling downwards as form takes shape. This isn't a mere chaotic spiderweb of fractures, but rather there is a sublime order to it. Shapes of frosted, shattered, iridescent light. Like feathers, like scales, like teeth, like an inverted throne of swords.
And hanging from it, the point jutting toward the heart of the world, is an obelisk.
Lapis holds out one hand for the boy and leads him toward the shining pillar mere inches above the ground. With the other hand she touches it and the whole length of the monument splits from top to bottom to form two halves of a gate.
"I'll get him somewhere safe. You be safe, too!"
She steps through the door-
-and the door shuts behind her.
The pillar remains, its empyrean light making the world of darkness appear vague and ephemeral everywhere it touches.
Now there's just the matter of retracing their steps.
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
"Well. If this is a place of stories, then let our story be of men who didn't leave a child behind." Wenomir speaks with grim certainty as he grips his axe. "Let's get back to our search."
"Well. If this is a place of stories, then let our story be of men who didn't leave a child behind." Wenomir speaks with grim certainty as he grips his axe. "Let's get back to our search."
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
Adir grins gamely. "Guy who taught me how to shoot, he used to say something like that before he did something stupid. Usually trying to help somebody who had it worse than we did. 'If I'm gonna die, I'll die with a clear conscience.' Yeah. Always liked that." The stag reloads his weapons with several deft, long-practiced motions, barely looking as he does. Then he'll take point heading back the way they came.
Adir grins gamely. "Guy who taught me how to shoot, he used to say something like that before he did something stupid. Usually trying to help somebody who had it worse than we did. 'If I'm gonna die, I'll die with a clear conscience.' Yeah. Always liked that." The stag reloads his weapons with several deft, long-practiced motions, barely looking as he does. Then he'll take point heading back the way they came.
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
Tracing their path back up again won't be more difficult, but it will be more oppressive. Without Lapis' lamp to hold back the gloom it presses down on our heroes with all the crushing weight of the shadow of death.
Bleak.
Hopeless.
Alone.
Before long they reach the crossroads again, the dusty path with the discarded gingerbread man and the path strewn with chicken bones. The shades are here, too. Still squatting in darkness and squalor.
"Blood."
"Give blood."
"Want it."
"Where am I?"
"Blood."
"Hurts..."
They are still just a pathetic and awful as before.
Tracing their path back up again won't be more difficult, but it will be more oppressive. Without Lapis' lamp to hold back the gloom it presses down on our heroes with all the crushing weight of the shadow of death.
Bleak.
Hopeless.
Alone.
Before long they reach the crossroads again, the dusty path with the discarded gingerbread man and the path strewn with chicken bones. The shades are here, too. Still squatting in darkness and squalor.
"Blood."
"Give blood."
"Want it."
"Where am I?"
"Blood."
"Hurts..."
They are still just a pathetic and awful as before.
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
"Master Seung-Ho usually gave me the opposite advice. He was trying to rein me in and stop me from rushing into trouble. Safe to say this is one thing he failed to instill in me." Talking about his old master is Wenomir's way of lifting his spirits in this oppressively gloomy place.
"Let's take the path we were going to pick before."
"Master Seung-Ho usually gave me the opposite advice. He was trying to rein me in and stop me from rushing into trouble. Safe to say this is one thing he failed to instill in me." Talking about his old master is Wenomir's way of lifting his spirits in this oppressively gloomy place.
"Let's take the path we were going to pick before."
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Warrens]
"Hey, lucky for me that part never quite stuck," Adir says, laughing to spite the darkness. Though the world presses down around them, the stag tries to take heart, knowing that they can win through this, knowing that what he's doing is a necessity.
Assuming that the shades don't give them any trouble, Adir will follow Wenomir's lead.
"Hey, lucky for me that part never quite stuck," Adir says, laughing to spite the darkness. Though the world presses down around them, the stag tries to take heart, knowing that they can win through this, knowing that what he's doing is a necessity.
Assuming that the shades don't give them any trouble, Adir will follow Wenomir's lead.
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Enchanted Forest of Midsummer]
Midsummer is a bit of a misnomer.
You would think it means the middle of summer, right?
Wrong!
Midsummer is the confluence of summer and spring. The last sunset of spring and the first sunrise of summer. The longest day of the year.
And here, in the Enchanted Forest, it is the place where the domain of She Who Dances in the Springtime Rain and She Who Dances in the Summer Sun meet. An ancient oak forest stretches away in all directions, a cobblestone road meandering through it like a ribbon of civilization in a primordial wood. The sky can't be seen through the canopy, but the effect is stark. In some places streams of warm sunlight pour down through the leaves, filling the air with the sharp scents of summer. In others gentle rain steadily fall, carrying with it the vibrant living smell of spring. Here and there great stones dot the grassy forest floor, some covered in moss. Others carved into jolly figures. Still others etched with odd patterns. Little shrines of stone or wood have been set up all along the road, homes for spirits. Strips of red cloth flap in the breeze. Music filters through the wood, a distant trilling of reed pipes. And all about tiny forms of curious beings flit hither and thither.
It's here where three girls (and a dog) are rather unceremoniously dumped out onto the King's Road.
Khannie, still done up in the faerie performer illusion, lands with a "DOOF!" the illusion popping in a poof of pixie dust and revealing the fox monster under it. The kumiho turns over, rubbing her backside with a paw. "Well, at least we made it out?"
Midsummer is a bit of a misnomer.
You would think it means the middle of summer, right?
Wrong!
Midsummer is the confluence of summer and spring. The last sunset of spring and the first sunrise of summer. The longest day of the year.
And here, in the Enchanted Forest, it is the place where the domain of She Who Dances in the Springtime Rain and She Who Dances in the Summer Sun meet. An ancient oak forest stretches away in all directions, a cobblestone road meandering through it like a ribbon of civilization in a primordial wood. The sky can't be seen through the canopy, but the effect is stark. In some places streams of warm sunlight pour down through the leaves, filling the air with the sharp scents of summer. In others gentle rain steadily fall, carrying with it the vibrant living smell of spring. Here and there great stones dot the grassy forest floor, some covered in moss. Others carved into jolly figures. Still others etched with odd patterns. Little shrines of stone or wood have been set up all along the road, homes for spirits. Strips of red cloth flap in the breeze. Music filters through the wood, a distant trilling of reed pipes. And all about tiny forms of curious beings flit hither and thither.
It's here where three girls (and a dog) are rather unceremoniously dumped out onto the King's Road.
Khannie, still done up in the faerie performer illusion, lands with a "DOOF!" the illusion popping in a poof of pixie dust and revealing the fox monster under it. The kumiho turns over, rubbing her backside with a paw. "Well, at least we made it out?"
-
bc56
- Poster from Beyond the Veil
- Posts: 2762
- Joined: Jul 25, 2022 3:09 pm
- Location: Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Re: The Dreamlands
Midsummer
"No! Wait! ... I wasn't finished yet." Mary cries out as she's kicked out of the theater. She'd never admit it, but those few minutes of performing were... Well... Magical. Part of her is sure that's just the fae nonsense talking. But now she's lying on her back on this old stone road, still dressed and shapeshifted as a faerie dancer. She slowly stands up and returns to her natural shape, but she keeps the clothes, since her actual clothes are still in the theater where she was changed into this fae getup. "What happened? Where are we?"
"No! Wait! ... I wasn't finished yet." Mary cries out as she's kicked out of the theater. She'd never admit it, but those few minutes of performing were... Well... Magical. Part of her is sure that's just the fae nonsense talking. But now she's lying on her back on this old stone road, still dressed and shapeshifted as a faerie dancer. She slowly stands up and returns to her natural shape, but she keeps the clothes, since her actual clothes are still in the theater where she was changed into this fae getup. "What happened? Where are we?"
Avatar by me! No more outsourcing!
Re: The Dreamlands
The Enchanted Forest of Midsummer
The citizens of Inside and an alternate timeline version of a certain dorky dragon could probably confirm that one of those queens is a lot nicer to talk to than the other. No matter what they themselves think.
"Aha! I knew they're release you from their foul control if I could pierce through the magic of theater! That will teach those EVILDOERS to rope children into otherwise pleasant displays of culture against their wills!" Sirius sounds immeasurably pleased with himself. Khannie can practically hear the tail thumping against the ground from within her watch.
He is of course blissfully unaware that he made the situation entirely worse.
The citizens of Inside and an alternate timeline version of a certain dorky dragon could probably confirm that one of those queens is a lot nicer to talk to than the other. No matter what they themselves think.
"Aha! I knew they're release you from their foul control if I could pierce through the magic of theater! That will teach those EVILDOERS to rope children into otherwise pleasant displays of culture against their wills!" Sirius sounds immeasurably pleased with himself. Khannie can practically hear the tail thumping against the ground from within her watch.
He is of course blissfully unaware that he made the situation entirely worse.
-
Earl of Purple
- Transcendent Soul Poster
- Posts: 2081
- Joined: Aug 01, 2022 3:59 pm
- Location: Amongst the Folk from the North
- Pronouns: He/Him
Re: The Dreamlands
The Enchanted Forest of Midsummer
"Well, that was... fun while it lasted, I guess. Where're we now, though?" Agate stands up, still in her fancier faerie getup, before losing her balance and falling over, at which point she starts to struggle with the numerous hidden straps and buckles keeping her high heels on.
"Well, that was... fun while it lasted, I guess. Where're we now, though?" Agate stands up, still in her fancier faerie getup, before losing her balance and falling over, at which point she starts to struggle with the numerous hidden straps and buckles keeping her high heels on.
Avatar provided by Happyturtle. Still using it, after all these years.
Don't run now, my eggs are hatching.
Don't run now, my eggs are hatching.
Re: The Dreamlands
[The Enchanted Forest of Midsummer]
DRAMATICALLY worse.
The kumiho stands up and brushes herself off, instinctively reaching for her Khannie Vallarm mask and assuming that role. Briefly obscures by a wave of purple foxfire, the definitely normal human teen is soon standing in the fox-monster's place. She's still wearing the dress the faeries gave her, though, since just as a RULE she never illusions clothing.
"Ugh. Dumb. Dumb dumb dumb I shoulda kept my stupid mouth shut," Khannie laments, touching a hand to her watch to release Sirius so she can pat him on the head. "But you did a good job getting us outta there. That was good thinking, Sirius."
Good dog.
Best friend.
Now, Khannie has read a little about the collection of fox-spirits that she apparently is, but not in a TON of detail. Kumiho, the ones from the Dreamlands, are scary as heck but she's pretty sure it's being diluted by the nogitsune and the zoroark. Thankfully. But getting yanked INTO the Dreamlands musta pulled it to the forefront. It feels like she's still acting a part. But this time instead of acting the part of a faerie she's acting the part of Khannie. It's really disconcerting.
Anyway!
"I think this is the Enchanted Forest. It's where the faeries putting on the play are from," Khannie says, trying her best to sound confident. "I guess they must've tossed us out 'cuz of all the noise. So we'll just have to find our own way back home."
She looks this way down the King's Road, then that. "I guess our best bet is to try to find some stairs out? And probably stay on the road. It's supposed to be really easy to get lost in here."
But which way do they go?
There's a little more sunshine in one direction along the road and a little more rain in the other.
DRAMATICALLY worse.
The kumiho stands up and brushes herself off, instinctively reaching for her Khannie Vallarm mask and assuming that role. Briefly obscures by a wave of purple foxfire, the definitely normal human teen is soon standing in the fox-monster's place. She's still wearing the dress the faeries gave her, though, since just as a RULE she never illusions clothing.
"Ugh. Dumb. Dumb dumb dumb I shoulda kept my stupid mouth shut," Khannie laments, touching a hand to her watch to release Sirius so she can pat him on the head. "But you did a good job getting us outta there. That was good thinking, Sirius."
Good dog.
Best friend.
Now, Khannie has read a little about the collection of fox-spirits that she apparently is, but not in a TON of detail. Kumiho, the ones from the Dreamlands, are scary as heck but she's pretty sure it's being diluted by the nogitsune and the zoroark. Thankfully. But getting yanked INTO the Dreamlands musta pulled it to the forefront. It feels like she's still acting a part. But this time instead of acting the part of a faerie she's acting the part of Khannie. It's really disconcerting.
Anyway!
"I think this is the Enchanted Forest. It's where the faeries putting on the play are from," Khannie says, trying her best to sound confident. "I guess they must've tossed us out 'cuz of all the noise. So we'll just have to find our own way back home."
She looks this way down the King's Road, then that. "I guess our best bet is to try to find some stairs out? And probably stay on the road. It's supposed to be really easy to get lost in here."
But which way do they go?
There's a little more sunshine in one direction along the road and a little more rain in the other.
-
bc56
- Poster from Beyond the Veil
- Posts: 2762
- Joined: Jul 25, 2022 3:09 pm
- Location: Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Re: The Dreamlands
Midsummer
Mary looks around. "I don't see another option. Running blindly through the woods seems like a bad idea." She considers the two paths. "This place works like stories, right? In stories the nicer looking path is often more dangerous, so we should go this way." Mary gestures towards the rainy path. But the other kids could override her if they prefer the sun; there are three of them so a vote is pretty easy to take.
Mary looks around. "I don't see another option. Running blindly through the woods seems like a bad idea." She considers the two paths. "This place works like stories, right? In stories the nicer looking path is often more dangerous, so we should go this way." Mary gestures towards the rainy path. But the other kids could override her if they prefer the sun; there are three of them so a vote is pretty easy to take.
Avatar by me! No more outsourcing!
Re: The Dreamlands
Midsummer
Sirius is pat on the head!
Thump thump thump thump.
"No way. We should take the sunny path. Do you wanna spend a day smelling wet fur? They're both probably bad. No need to make things worse."
Sirius is pat on the head!
Thump thump thump thump.
"No way. We should take the sunny path. Do you wanna spend a day smelling wet fur? They're both probably bad. No need to make things worse."
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Earl of Purple
- Transcendent Soul Poster
- Posts: 2081
- Joined: Aug 01, 2022 3:59 pm
- Location: Amongst the Folk from the North
- Pronouns: He/Him
Re: The Dreamlands
Midsummer
"Hold on, I need some decent footwear. I am never wearing high heels again, unless they've got, like, twelve different enchantments on to make them balanceable." Agate pulls her soul gem from where it rested, on a chain around her neck, and light flares up her body, changing the ephemeral and frilly fae gown into a frilled red-orange dress, her copper-coloured hair wrapping itself into a braid as black stockings grow up her legs and her impractical high-heels transform into sturdy hiking boots, all accompanied by a short, catchy, earworm tune noted for going faster every time it repeats. She's also now holding a nine-barrelled harmonica pistol, which Agate quickly tucks under her skirts where it disappears. "Right, now that's sorted, I think we go rain-route. Mary's right, the sunnier path is usually the one that leads to the witch's cottage where she's sat with her cauldron baking bread out of children's bones." Agate adds her voice to Mary's, whilst Sirius has voted the other way. "Shit, sorry. I said your name; should I avoid doing that? I know you shouldn't tell faeries your name, but... is it OK to use each other's where faeries might hear?" Agate really hopes she hasn't given some faerie power over Mary. That seems like it might have very unfortunate consequences.
"Hold on, I need some decent footwear. I am never wearing high heels again, unless they've got, like, twelve different enchantments on to make them balanceable." Agate pulls her soul gem from where it rested, on a chain around her neck, and light flares up her body, changing the ephemeral and frilly fae gown into a frilled red-orange dress, her copper-coloured hair wrapping itself into a braid as black stockings grow up her legs and her impractical high-heels transform into sturdy hiking boots, all accompanied by a short, catchy, earworm tune noted for going faster every time it repeats. She's also now holding a nine-barrelled harmonica pistol, which Agate quickly tucks under her skirts where it disappears. "Right, now that's sorted, I think we go rain-route. Mary's right, the sunnier path is usually the one that leads to the witch's cottage where she's sat with her cauldron baking bread out of children's bones." Agate adds her voice to Mary's, whilst Sirius has voted the other way. "Shit, sorry. I said your name; should I avoid doing that? I know you shouldn't tell faeries your name, but... is it OK to use each other's where faeries might hear?" Agate really hopes she hasn't given some faerie power over Mary. That seems like it might have very unfortunate consequences.
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Don't run now, my eggs are hatching.
Don't run now, my eggs are hatching.
Re: The Dreamlands
[Midsummer]
Khannie considers both of those points. Rainy because it might be safer or sunny because they're both probably unsafe. But then Agate raises a really important question.
Is a faerie just hearing someone's name bad?
Okay.
So, she's a kumiho. She's part of this world technically, right? Is she feeling any power over Mary?
...
Not really. And besides, kumiho usually only eat grownups so...
"I think using your name is okay? I mean, I know both of your names but I dunno if that's giving me any power. HEY!" Khannie suddenly yells at a passing pixie carrying a honey suckle blossom. The faerie is so shocked it drops its flower. "You heard my friend's name right? Does that do anything?
"You made me drop my flower you giant smelly stupid head!" the pixie replies, providing zero useful information of any kind.
"Whatever. I think it only counts if they ask for your name and you give it to them. Like if I asked someone 'hey can I have your name?' and then they answered and gave it to me. But I'm pretty sure kumiho don't normally do that much?" Khannie reasons.
"Oh you're a creepy smelly fox!? Get out of here fox no one likes you!" the pixie says, shortly before a chorus of identical pixies begin agreeing and throwing acorns at our heroes.
"Heck," Khannie sort of swears before hurrying down the rainy path with her arms covering her head to ward off the hail of nuts.
Khannie considers both of those points. Rainy because it might be safer or sunny because they're both probably unsafe. But then Agate raises a really important question.
Is a faerie just hearing someone's name bad?
Okay.
So, she's a kumiho. She's part of this world technically, right? Is she feeling any power over Mary?
...
Not really. And besides, kumiho usually only eat grownups so...
"I think using your name is okay? I mean, I know both of your names but I dunno if that's giving me any power. HEY!" Khannie suddenly yells at a passing pixie carrying a honey suckle blossom. The faerie is so shocked it drops its flower. "You heard my friend's name right? Does that do anything?
"You made me drop my flower you giant smelly stupid head!" the pixie replies, providing zero useful information of any kind.
"Whatever. I think it only counts if they ask for your name and you give it to them. Like if I asked someone 'hey can I have your name?' and then they answered and gave it to me. But I'm pretty sure kumiho don't normally do that much?" Khannie reasons.
"Oh you're a creepy smelly fox!? Get out of here fox no one likes you!" the pixie says, shortly before a chorus of identical pixies begin agreeing and throwing acorns at our heroes.
"Heck," Khannie sort of swears before hurrying down the rainy path with her arms covering her head to ward off the hail of nuts.
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bc56
- Poster from Beyond the Veil
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Re: The Dreamlands
Midsummer
Unlike Agate, Mary seems comfortable in heels. She's had more practice. But once they're all being pelted with acorns, she has to run in them, an awkward, uncomfortable gait. "Beans!" Where'd Mary learn that curse, Khannie?
Hopefully Agate and Mary are right and the rainy path is safer because running on wet ground and getting rained on in fancy clothes both suck.
Unlike Agate, Mary seems comfortable in heels. She's had more practice. But once they're all being pelted with acorns, she has to run in them, an awkward, uncomfortable gait. "Beans!" Where'd Mary learn that curse, Khannie?
Hopefully Agate and Mary are right and the rainy path is safer because running on wet ground and getting rained on in fancy clothes both suck.
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Re: The Dreamlands
Midsummer
"I like her, so buzz off!" Sirius coughs a little fireball at the pixies' general direction and goes trotting after the girls.
Being incased in armor the acorns can't really hurt him much so he's not nearly as rushed as they are.
"I like her, so buzz off!" Sirius coughs a little fireball at the pixies' general direction and goes trotting after the girls.
Being incased in armor the acorns can't really hurt him much so he's not nearly as rushed as they are.
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Earl of Purple
- Transcendent Soul Poster
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Re: The Dreamlands
Midsummer
Agate also squeals as she's pelted, raising her hand which suddenly is holding a pistol again. She doesn't shoot, though; they're only acorns, and the pixies might be innocent or something which has repurcussions later. So she'll make the gun disappear again and hurries after the other girls, much happier now she's in actual practical clothing.
Agate also squeals as she's pelted, raising her hand which suddenly is holding a pistol again. She doesn't shoot, though; they're only acorns, and the pixies might be innocent or something which has repurcussions later. So she'll make the gun disappear again and hurries after the other girls, much happier now she's in actual practical clothing.
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Don't run now, my eggs are hatching.
Don't run now, my eggs are hatching.
Re: The Dreamlands
[Springtime]
Turns out armor offers great protection against acorn type damage.
Our heroes don't have to flee very far to escape the hail of acorns. Mostly because the character of the surrounding forest just changed suddenly and radically. They're now in an alder woodland interspersed with vine maple, a canopy of delicate leaves lit up by sunshine and dripping with rain. Little streams gurgle here and there, babbling around smooth stones and tree roots.
The pixies are nowhere to be seen.
But there ARE plenty of oddly shaped rocks that give the curious impression of being watched.
Khannie mutters under her breath about annoying pixies then straightens up.
"Okay so we're looking for a flight of stairs along the side of the road. It should lead us somewhere we can get out through."
Turns out armor offers great protection against acorn type damage.
Our heroes don't have to flee very far to escape the hail of acorns. Mostly because the character of the surrounding forest just changed suddenly and radically. They're now in an alder woodland interspersed with vine maple, a canopy of delicate leaves lit up by sunshine and dripping with rain. Little streams gurgle here and there, babbling around smooth stones and tree roots.
The pixies are nowhere to be seen.
But there ARE plenty of oddly shaped rocks that give the curious impression of being watched.
Khannie mutters under her breath about annoying pixies then straightens up.
"Okay so we're looking for a flight of stairs along the side of the road. It should lead us somewhere we can get out through."
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bc56
- Poster from Beyond the Veil
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Re: The Dreamlands
Springtime
"I don't see one around here. Just these weird rocks." Mary examines the rocks. "Feels like they're staring at me." She starts down the road away from them. "There's got to be a staircase somewhere eventually,"
"I don't see one around here. Just these weird rocks." Mary examines the rocks. "Feels like they're staring at me." She starts down the road away from them. "There's got to be a staircase somewhere eventually,"
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