( the sickness: phase two )

[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 the sickness ends. the temple. The Temple, shortly after Astoria's burst of energy, is in a constant state of growth. Trees are bursting into existence from seeds in mere seconds, flowers are growing wherever magic lands . . . and the Temple is abruptly a-buzz with energy, magic crackling throughout the air. You may find a tree in your house, or flowers suddenly growing along the walls, or plants wiggling their way through the stone walls of the buildings of the Temple. All of a sudden, the place looks very overgrown. The Forest of the Fey seems to be responding in kind, too. Sprites are exceptionally active, darting out of the Forest and into the Temple with increasingly regularity, playing basic little tricks on the members of the Circle they can find. Flower crowns are made at an alarming rate, and there might be a few fruit-food fights that break out with the sudden abundance of peaches and apples that appear on the grounds. Learn how to duck! With the magic comes the sudden fluctuation of energy: canon powers flicker on and off, as do the powers granted by Astoria. You feel more like yourself, you suddenly have access to energies you did not have previously in the Temple However, it's a double-edged sword -- it is not constant, and it may be more trouble than its worth. And, remember: the Sickness is not fading immediately. If you make it to Stage 3, then you're stuck with sensory deprivation for at least another week or two. Sorry, friends. lake dona. Lake Dona is a massive body of water, stretching outward for so far that it almost seems like an ocean until you see that the water is fresh. It is surrounded by long, leafy trees that dip into the water and has a variety of ancient ruins scattered around it -- weathered stones set into circles at seemingly even intervals, old buildings that seem to mirror the Temple in construct. In addition to the ruins, there are a network of caverns tucked along the water’s edge, just underneath the surface on the western side of Lake Dona, that appear to go underground into murky darkness. The actual entrance to these caverns seem to be underwater, seemingly guarded by merfolk, but poking around may seem to be more trouble than its worth. There is plenty of wildlife to be found within the lake itself, ranging from freshwater mermaids who would rather you stay the hell out of their backyard to a rather large and suspiciously friendly plesiosaurus-like creature (some would say that she prefers to be called Nessie) that seems intent on checking out who you are. The lake teems with odd-looking fish, most of which seem to be okay to eat, and plenty of plant life! But who knows what lurks in the depths below . . . that giant sea-monster looking thing has to be eating something. PROMPT IDEAS: Here are some prompt ideas for this new area! However, don't feel limited to such ideas! Feel free to fish, to explore, to swim, to poke around . . . it's always possible Astoria may check in on your character, too, once she is feeling better! ;) 1.) The Great Pumpkin The overgrowth of plants have caused a massive growth spurt in a lot of the trees, including the fruit trees that sprinkle themselves throughout the Temple. However, the fruit themselves seems to be growing at a rather . . . alarming rate, resulting in a few pumpkin-looking squash growing to the size of small boulders in the fields. Hope you have a lot of spare time on your hands to make a hell of a lot of Temple-pie, because these squash aren't going anywhere anytime soon. 2.) Food Fight!: Those damn sprites are at it again, and are collecting fruit off the ground and throwing it at people. Fight back, organize, and conquer! Or not. It's probably better to just not. 3.) Part Of Your World: The mermaids within Lake Dona are a suspicious lot, and they don't take kindly to strangers stomping through their territory. However, they are receptive to music, so if you are so musically inclined, they will definitely be more inclined to be a little more playful than territorial. If you aren't? Have fun getting tossed into the lake head-first by a bunch of pissed off mermaids who want you to get the hell of their lawn. They don't take kindly to your type around here. 4.) Nessie: Within Lake Dona is a massive plesiosaurus-type creature which seems to be . . . oddly friendly? It seems to pop up at the most inconvenient of times. Are you sitting on the edge of the lake enjoying the water? Enjoy a massive ass dinosaur sticking its impressively long neck out of the lake to check you out and also scare the bejesus out of you. That being said, Nessie is an extraordinarily friendly being, and will even give you laps around the lake if you ask nicely! 5.) Caverns: The caverns within the lake are dark, deep, and menacing The merfolk inform you that you cannot go there -- no one can, but the merfolk sure seem to be keeping a careful eye out on it. Testing the boundaries indicates a weird magical field around the entrance of the cave, that works like a bit of a forcefield. Weird, right?

Comments

B

[fuck1ngusernam3]

[Hank doesn’t exactly rush to follow the order. He raises his eyebrows, pretty content to watch her struggle with it on her own.]

Why, can’t manage your own redecorating?

[fairysong]

[She looks up at the man and glares, her eyes narrowing. She jabs her finger at the gourd.] Do you have any idea how heavy these are?

[fuck1ngusernam3]

[He looks from the thing to her, pursing his lips in a thoughtful sort of way.]

Nah, but it looks like you do. Hard work, huh?

[fairysong]

[She scowls.

And goes back to the pumpkin, trying to shove it along with both hands.] It must be... a hundred kilos...! There's five of them in my room alone!

Hope you're enjoying the show.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Oh, you're moving them out. That makes a little more sense. Thought you just got a real sudden urge to do some landscaping.

[He surveys a second longer.]

Why don't you try rolling it?

[That counts as helping, right, suggesting that.]

[fairysong]

I tried that! [She says, exasperated.] It's not perfectly round, so it just... wobbles and then falls over. I didn't want it to crack and spill its dumb pumpkin guts all over the hallway.

[Because then she'd have to clean that up.]

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Huh. Well-

[And now he walks closer, looking at the gargantuan thing to try to decide which side would be better to push from.]

One of us can roll it and one of us can stand there at the side and keep it stable. Can’t promise a good performance though, I can’t feel shit, been dropping a lot.

[fairysong]

[She glances up at him.] ...at least that's an excuse. Better than just refusing to help because you're a jerk. [Which had been her initial impression.

She sits back on her rear, taking a breather and using the time to stretch protesting muscles.] Maybe one of us on each side? So it wouldn't fall over in either direction. [She waves a tired hand.] Either way, I'm not doing it right now. This is exhausting!

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Welp. [He looks in both directions, sees no one coming up the hall, and plops down on the pumpkin’s other side, pretty thoroughly blocking the way if anyone does happen by. He sucks at his teeth, leaning back on his hands.] Being a jerk was the original plan, by the way. But hey, I woke up with a tree in my room this morning, so. I figure the pumpkins probably aren’t your fault. How many’d you say, five?

[fairysong]

[A nod.] Unless any more have grown since I left. [Which honestly, she wouldn't put it past this place.] D'you think this happens a lot here? "Hope you didn't get used to a room without any vegetation growing in it or anything" and all.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Kid, I just spend the last few weeks on another planet where if you keep your windows open too long tiny little dragons fly in. I spent a solid week seeing shit that wasn't there, and then my whole body went numb. Did I mention, this morning, my full grown Saint Bernard got stuck up a tree? I really can't tell you what happens a lot here. If I tried to predict what this place was gonna do to us next I'd probably just start screaming.

Look, at least you got a lot of pumpkin pie in your future. If you like cooking. Or, I don't know, you just got a lot of chances to practice your pumpkin carving skills.

[He shrugs.]

[fairysong]

If you started screaming we'd probably get some attention we might not want. [She says, though the sigh in her voice tells him that she's not disagreeing with him too much.]

So... there were dragons?

[fuck1ngusernam3]

There are dragons. At least - I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm not hallucinating anymore, and I still kind of see em around sometimes. Tiny things, like... bird sized. Are you still into the pumpkin thing or are we just gonna leave this one here for someone else to deal with?

[fairysong]

Oh. You meant this planet. I thought you meant-- I heard that people go to other planets here? Other than this one, I meant.

[Now she feels a little silly.]

Don't get me wrong, I'm just resting a bit. Sheryl Nome doesn't make other people solve her problems. [Not totally.]

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Yeah, I guessed that when you ordered me to march over and help you. [Sarcasm? No, no, what would make you say that?] But yeah, no, I haven't been to any of them yet. It's this and Earth, for me, and I'm not even sure if this counts as like, a different ball of dirt around a different sun or just another uh- plane of existence. How many other planets do you think guys like me go see back home?

[fairysong]

I asked you to help me, not do it for me. There's a difference. [She points out. Look, it's different things!]

Judging from everything you've told me, it's just the one. Which isn't even mine-- I can't speak for how many planets there are, but there are at least two different Earths? [His and hers. Probably more.]

[fuck1ngusernam3]

What, you mean Earth isn't your home planet, or my Earth isn't?

[Hank makes a very sour face, reflecting on the statement he just made.]

This dimension stuff is some weird bullshit, have I mentioned that yet?

[fairysong]

Earth's not my home planet to start with; I was born on the Macross Galaxy. I've been for shows, but that's about it.

But more than that, I meant that the Earth that exists where you come from and the one that exists where I come from are different. Different histories and all that.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Shit, you're telling me. What point in uh, your history did you say alien contact happened? Cause making it to the point where people start getting born in other galaxies is uh... Wow. I mean, you're not even a hundred years away from my time, right? In a way.

[fairysong]

With the Zentradi? Just after the turn of the millennium. 2009, if I'm remembering right.

[She leans back, looking up at the ceiling.] And I was still born in the Milky Way. "Macross Galaxy" is the name of one of the colony fleets-- like the Macross Frontier.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Oh, that makes more sense. [He grins a little, wryly.] You're gonna have to be patient with me, I don't even watch sci-fi. So.

[fairysong]

It's okay. You're old. I'll try to be more patient than my usual. [Said with the sweetest of wry smiles.]

Not all of the fleets have names; most just have a number. I always liked the named ones, though... it felt more exciting. More romantic.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

[He laughs, leaning back against the wall and stretching out a leg to start tapping his foot in a hard, arrhythmic rhythm against the side of the pumpkin. Those kinds of gestures - the kind that make noise - help, cause at least he can still hear.]

And of course it has to be romantic, right? What are the names, Adventure? Explorer? The Great Human Spirit?

[fairysong]

The ones I know of are Galaxy and Frontier. I'm sure they'll get around to Macross Adventure before too long, though.

"Great Human Spirit" would be a little offensive to all the nonhumans on board. It's 2059, after all. You need to be a little more respectful than that.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

What? Are you saying I'm not respectful, like, at all times? [It's almost like she's, you know, met him.] Anyway, I thought the only aliens were the ones that uh, fucked up Earth. You've got lots of them onboard too?