Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Personal homes and private lots.
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Keeper
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Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Keeper »

Herein shall be found the homes of those associated with the one that is sometimes called Keeper.

Places such as:

Jace's Place: A once condo-sized building that has been slowly expanded upwards with time, and decorated with cozy rugs and old adventuring trophies

Fort Aegis: Once the home of the AEGIS organization, now home to its original builders, a colony of kobolds and their draconic partners, Spako and Sylvess.

G'nichi's Home: The lovely cliff-side house of the ill-fortuned bearer of the Bracelet of Celestial Arms.

The Vadnova House: An exceptionally spooky mansion that "looks after" its inhabitants.

The Tososora Estate: a fanciful mansion in a rich neighborhood of Skyside. Decorated with sliding doors and lots of minotaur statues.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Rebonack »

[Jace's Place]

Hey guess what?

It's time for Khannie to come home with Maridia riding on her shoulder!

Wow.

Sometimes it feels like it has been a REALLY long time since her last homecoming. Which of course is dumb. She comes home every single day. Except when she's spending the night with her friends. Or getting lost in Outside that one time. So why does it feel like it has been MONTHS since she walked in through the front door?

"DAD I'M HOME!" Khannie yells into the house partly because she knows that her dad would prefer her not to yell through the house. "Some of my friends came over we found a weird staff in the lake for you to look at! It's magic and attracts bugs!"

Technically it attracted beetles but the taxonomic difference isn't very meaningful to Khannie.

Khannie sits down on a little bench near the door and begins taking her shoes off. The bench might be a little high for her smaller friends. "You can toss your shoes in that basket there."

She points at the basket in question.

It's a cozy home with all sorts of interesting adventuring mementos here and there. Computer desk over there. Stairs that go up to Khannie's room and some other rooms or whatever. Is her dad in the kitchen singing? He does that sometimes.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Earl of Purple »

Jace's Place

Cheasadh's next in, since she's been here before and knows some of the way around. She takes her shoes and socks off and puts them in the basket, stretching her toes after, though doesn't try to sit on the bench- she leans against her new staff without sitting down. "I hope we don't have to go upstairs, those stairs were not fun." She stops a moment and looks at the staff, considering it. I wonder if this could fly. That's supposed to be brooms, but... what's a magic broom if not a magic staff with bristles? She's not thinking at the staff, exactly, but her thoughts touch the subject and she's looking and holding it, so it might be able to hear her anyway.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Ironsmith »

[Jace's Place]

Unfortunately,
That is enough difference
To stop me. Sorry.

The staff otherwise doesn't respond to the mental not-quite-command. Nothing more than simply letting Cheasadh know that such a thing is not within its abilities.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Morty »

[Jace's Place]

"Woow. This is your house? It's big." Brinika is used to either the subterranean construction of Underside or small wooden cabins at GLoG. A regular human house is thus a bit odd to her. "Must've been weird living here, Cheasadh."
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

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Jace's Place

Cheasadh might be relieved that there is a ramp on the side of the stairs now. They're for the dog, but still. Jace probably would have installed them when Cheasadh was here had she asked but he never thought of it.
Speaking of the dog, he immediately trots down the stairs and plants himself by the children. He has a dark collar with red accents and what appears to be a hand-made officer's cap on his head with slots cut for his ears. On it reads COMMISSAR.
► SHOW SPOILER
"Hello!" says Commissar in a voice that sounds more like a low dog noise than a human voice. He leaves it at that. Commissar doesn't like talking much.

And of course Jace and Zebes are singing upstairs. You entered a scene looking for him, Khannie. That's how it works.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Rebonack »

[Jace's Place]

Big?

"I think it's pretty normal size for a human house? I guess there are probably some that are smaller or bigger. Dad used to have lots of room mates for some reason so the house needed to be good sized but we haven't had any for a long time."

Then dog!

"That's Commissar, my dad's dog," Khannie helpfully points out. "He's nice. And talks sometimes."

All very true statements.

Khannie isn't one hundred percent clear on how or why he talks sometimes. Maybe it had something to do with the Pointy Dog? She isn't totally sure. Regardless of the truth, she begins ascending the stairs since that's where her dad is. This is a little unusual since he usually does most of his singing in the kitchen. What's he up to, anyway?

Also isn't totally sure he heard her so she yells again.

"DAD! I'M HOME! YOU AREN'T IN THE SHOWER OR DOING SOMETHING WEIRD, ARE YOU!?"

That is a really important question to have answered right now.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Earl of Purple »

Jace's Place

"The stairs were horrible, but hey, there's a ramp now. I... should have thought of asking for something like that." Although the ramp might still be a little steep, if it's just resting on the stairs. Stairs are often steeper than ramps; it's why people use stairs instead of ramps in houses, most of the time. In her defence, last time Cheasadh was here she was seven, and she's aware something weird happened with Khannie if not exactly what, which is why there's no hard feelings over him handing her to GLoG rather than keeping her here. Well, that and the fact GLoG was actually the best thing to happen to her.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Morty »

[Jace's Place]

"Hi Commissar!" Brinika grins toothily. She likes dogs. They're like wolves, but smaller and friendlier - except for Mr. Razortooth's wolves at Thanksmas. "Can I pet you?"
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Keeper »

Jace's Place

Commissar nods to being pet.
"No, I'm just at the workbench, Khannie." Jace calls back. Ah. Must be doing work. Or making someone a present. He does that a lot.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

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[Jace's Place]

Khannie selflessly allows her friends to pet Commissar first before she pats him on the head. The pokemon has a pretty notable sulfur smell, which no doubt Cheasadh will notice. It's hard for even someone with a human nose to miss.

"Okay he's working on something right now c'mon," Khannie says as she heads for the workshop. Typically 'working on something' means 'don't bug him too much' but obviously figuring out what the deal with Cheasadh's staff is counts as a magic working enchanting whatever thing so it's probably okay to brandish it at him and find out what it does.

She'll lead her friends to the workbench, pointing out important things like where the bathroom is and where her room is and which pieces of furniture Zebes likes sitting on top of. All really vital information. "Oh and Uncle Zebes likes building these tiny model things it's okay to look at them but no touching, okay?"

That's terribly important.

Wouldn't want to damage one of a his tiny models, which would be a great tragedy.

Once she peeks into the workshop Khannie will repeat, "Dad my friends are here. Cheasadh found a weird magic staff floating in the lake at Glog I was wondering if maybe you can figure out what it does?"
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Earl of Purple »

Jace's Place

Cheasadh opens her mouth a little so she can breathe through that. It helps a bit, given the strong smell of sulphur about. She'll still give Commissar some fuss; you can't walk past a talking dog that lets you stroke him without doing that, it'd just be cruel.

She'll head upstairs after, using the ramp and her walking stick to help balance in case it's a bit steep. "I, uh, kinda knew that bit, Khannie." She was seven when she lived here, and whilst most were out of her reach not all of them were. One may not have survived the experience of Cheasadh investigating her first plastic object.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Morty »

[Jace's Place]

Brinika pets Commissar a bit before going upstairs. Unlike Cheasadh, she's never been here before, so she looks around with big, curious eyes.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Keeper »

Jace's Place

The room is heavily decorated with old relics and adventuring trophies. Jace likes woven rugs and soft furniture.
He's currently at a workbench messing with a faintly glowing green stone.
"A staff? Sure, give me an idea of what it's done so far."
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Rebonack »

[Jace's Place]

Green is definitely a great color for mysterious glowing stones.

"Umm... it made lots of beetles and butterflies really like Cheasadh? Oh! And I think it reacted to what we were talking about, too. I said she was like a firefly princess and all of a sudden all the fireflies moved around so they looked like a little crown."


A staff off...

Beetle controlling?

That doesn't seem like the most useful of magical staffs.

But who knows wizards are weird and they make some strange stuff sometimes.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Earl of Purple »

Jace's Place

"Yeah, it made me the Firefly Princess for a bit, and... If I think at it, it... kinda give me impressions back. Like, it doesn't fly. Even if I stuck some bristles on the end." Which is possibly a bit more worrying than Cheasadh realises, if it's an actual intelligent artefact. "It... might've changed size, too. It smells like the prior owner was human, but... it's the perfect height for me, which would make it too short for a human, right? And it's sad-nostalgic, too."
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Morty »

[Jace's Place]

"Maybe it was supposed to do something else but it's doing random things because it's old and we don't know how to use it," Brinika ventures. Her knowledge of magic is insufficient for more than guesses.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by DeBunny »

► SHOW SPOILER
[The Vadnova House]

"I think you're a shark. With legs?"
That happens to also be spherical.

There's a motion beneath her cloak that seems likely to be her crossing her arms over her chest.
"Which, to be honest, I do not see the connection to with my curse-gift."
Some quiet muttering about what the heck a shark has to do with an edgy horror dragon.

She frowns, though it doesn't seem to necessarily be directed at the flailing ball shark man in front of her.
"Whatever, doesn't matter I guess. C'mon, should probably show you to everyone else so they can put the final nail in my siblingless coffin."
A few moments will be expectantly given for him to figure out how to move under his own power, before she'll end up moving around the bed and (vaguely gently) using a booted foot to start rolling him across the room instead.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Keeper »

Jace's Place

Jace puts a hand to his chin thoughtfully.
"Hm. Could be druid-magic. If it is I might not be much help but we'll see what we can do then. Why don't you give it here?"
Jace gives Cheasadh a gently smile and reaches out with one hand if she wants to place the staff into it. She and him have some odd history but he thinks that they're on good terms. Cheasadh has never made it seem otherwise...

The Vadnova House

"Maybe it has something to do with emotions?" Henry asks, oddly insightful in the middle of his panic. After all, he went from round to spherical when he started panicking, and she went back when she calmed down.
"What? I can't be seen like this! You've gotta help me get rid of all this!" there should be a way to undo whatever process he just did to himself. Right now he can't figure out anything besides bouncing in place.
"Sarah-oof." Sarah's boot sends him rolling across the floor, to his increasing protests.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by DeBunny »

[The Vadnova House]

"Are you serious? You've seen at least some of our siblings, right? You'll fit right in."
Sarah does not seem even remotely sympathetic to poor Henry's self-consciousness.
If anything, there's some dark amusement on display.

He is briefly spared at the doorway, where she has to figure out how to shove him through. Sure, it's a bit bigger than a standard door already, but it's not this wide.
But...just needs the right amount of shoving...

****

Henry wakes up face down in the mud, a light drizzle of rain splattering itself across his back, thoughts slow and full of fog.
He feels lighter than he thinks he should, and more than a little sore. Things hurt that he's pretty sure aren't physical, but it isn't excruciating. Just unpleasant.

For a moment, it seems like he's wrapped up in a blanket, but after a moment, it just seems to be his clothes having become weirdly too-big for him.

A lot of things feel wrong.
Deeply, worrying wrong.

Somewhere far away, he thinks he can hear the hitched breath of someone trying not to cry.
It seems familiar, distantly.
"GET. UP!"

Something enormous slams into his back and he seems to fly out into the ground, catapulted straight through the mud as if it was air. It feels like being pushed into deep water, yet he doesn't feel suffocated.
Everything feels even fainter, and a horrible beast can be heard screaming somewhere in the distance.

****

Henry wakes up face down in the mud, with a pretty gnarly hangover.
He feels sore, weak, and very very wet.

Someone nearby is crying.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Keeper »

The Vadnova House

Henry wobbles to his feet. Slowly. And very wobbly. His vision is blurry so he looks around so see where he is. A lot just happened very quickly. He's...not sure what happened actually. His eyes dart around. He can't see that they're icy blue, like glowing pits in the void. Or that he's shaped quite a bit differently (again). Darker in back and lighter in front, more proper fins, and actual gills. Though none of that he knows. He does know that the water feels pretty nice, though. He puts a hand to his chest to wipe the mud off. His skin is scratchy but he feels soft.
"Sarah?" he mumbles.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

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[The Vadnova House]

Looking around him, Henry sees that he seems to be just outside the Vadnova estate's entrance gate, just off to the side of the road, in a ditch.
The gloomy forest that surrounds the land is only a stone's throw away. It seems to be the early morning, judging by the not-quite-dark lighting poking through the drizzling rain.

A sharp intake of breath from behind him.
"What the fuck it worked?"

Splashing of someone quickly walking through puddles and mud.
"...Henry?"
Looking about as wet and miserable as to be expected of someone who has spent awhile in the rain, Sarah stands nearby looking somewhere between frantic and unsettled.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Keeper »

The Vadnova House

"Hello to you too." Henry grumbles, going in for a traditional hobbit family greeting despite how uneasy he is on his feet. That is to say, a hug. If she allows it Sarah will find herself pressed against her brother's chest. It's not the most pleasant thing with his sandpaper skin.
"Wow I'm a lot bigger than you." he says in a voice that's even more deep than Sarah remembers. Probably given the fact that last time she saw him he was a weird shark-amphibian roughly the size and shape of a dwarf, and now he's very clearly an actual tiger shark-ish person of full human height and looking like he's spent ten years on a very high protein-and-calorie diet.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by DeBunny »

[The Vadnova House]

Perhaps perplexingly to Henry, Sarah offers no resistance to the hug and actually holds him back.
She looks a little confused and wary though.

"Bigger...right...that's definitely not everything. You sound like your clueless self, but, maybe you should take a look at yourself."
Although, after a pause, a much more cautious-sounding voice follows this with:
"Um, are you feeling okay? Do you remember anything about what happened?"
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

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The Vadnova House

Henry slowly releases Sarah, though he clearly doesn't want to yet. It feels nice. He looks down at himself, tilting his head so he can see. It isn't hard, given that his clothes tore in many places.
"Right. This. It's not the same, though." he notes, sadly patting his belly which is still large but more like he eats a lot and less like he's part water balloon. The sound is drowned out by the rain, but his gaze is drawn to his clawed hands and feet, his very thick and finned limbs, and the altered color scheme. He twists to look at his tail. It's different but he never saw it earlier anyway.
"So yes, you were right. Shark. Um. Was I this color before?" There's a lot more different than that, which Sarah might find alarming.
"What happened to what? Last thing I remember you were going to introduce me to the family. Did someone chuck me out the window onto my head or something?"
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

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[The Vadnova House]

She takes a few steps back to look at him more critically, as best one can in the weak lighting of early morning in light rain.
"Quite a bit looks off from before...but that might be my fault. Maybe. It...doesn't usually work this extremely though, which doesn't make any sense..."

That wary and confused look strengthens as she stares at him.

Around this point Henry should be able to smell it: blood. Quite a bit of it.
The rain seems to have washed most of it away, and Sarah's clothes are already dark, but the scent of blood is rather thick around both himself and her.

Sarah, meanwhile, proceeds to look wildly alarmed about now and a little cloud of purple-tinged darkness seems to begin swelling up from around her feet. It becomes slightly harder to focus on the features of her face, a moment later.
"Do you remember-...introduce you? What the hell, that a month ago. It's been...oh no, which part did that...?"
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Keeper »

The Vadnova House

Oh geez is she getting all purply again? Henry might not remember much but he doesn't want to see that again.
Wait a MONTH?
"Wait, a month?!" The temperature around them drops several degrees.
"This is terrible. How'd I manage to get amnesia?" He looks around and snorts as he tries to get that horrible stink out of his nose. He approaches Sarah again and puts an arm over her shoulder. "Um. Should we head inside? You probably shouldn't be out in the rain and we stink and I'm sure everyone will worry."
Right. Everyone. Who he...has probably met but can't remember.
"Um. It's fine, right? At least I didn't lose the day I got here or else I'd be even more confused.
Um.
Speaking of.
Um.
Why am I a big fat shark, exactly?"

Yeah that whole explanation got wiped from his brain. Sorry, Sarah.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by DeBunny »

[The Vadnova House]

DANGER
RETREAT
STOP


Stepping towards the cloud beginning to billow around Sarah leads to an immediate surge of instinctual foreboding, somewhere in his more animalistic parts.
It is also met with Sarah stepping further away from him, almost subconsciously judging by the fact that her head isn't even turned towards him anymore, while she begins muttering to herself.

"Wouldn't be surprised if dying causes an amount of memory loss, but the coming back part probably wasn't gentle and could do it to? Is it fixable or is all of that gone forever? What the hell are we supposed to do about figuring out what happened if there's nothing else there either?"
She paces in a half circle around Henry, before seeming to come to sort of decision.
"Okay. We'll get you back inside, get everyone's names and stupid questions out of the way again and go from there.
And you're a big shark nerd because you're my brother and the house is an asshole."


Which seems to her like a good point to go over to the estate's gate, kick it open, and stalk through like an eminently deadly predator.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Keeper »

The Vadnova House

"I do recall Mark saying that the House does stuff for people.
...
WAIT YOU GUYS KNEW? AND DID YOU SAY DYING?"
Henry hurries after Sarah. Though she might notice that only the glow of his eyes are there beside her. Everything else has completely vanished.
Coincidentally, all the blood, mud, muck, and clothes that were on him are exactly where they were standing by the gate.
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Re: Keeper's Homes, Forts, Estates and Places

Post by Rebonack »

[Jace's Place]

Khannie is refraining from poking the green crystal her dad is working with.

She knows better than to mess around with the objects he's tinkering with.

She DOESN'T know if Cheasadh has any hard feelings against Jace for sending her to Glog.

She'll wait to see what wonders transpire!
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