acatalepsy_logs | ( the sickness: phase two )

( the sickness: phase two )

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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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I most certainly am. [Said with the most cheerful smile you can imagine.]

And they were-- the Zentradi, anyway. But we made peace with them, and fifty years later, there are thousands of them on the colony fleets. It's easier when they're micronized rather than their full size, though.

Micro-

I don't even want to know. Fifty years though, that's not a long time for that kind of thing, weird that there are so many of em around by your time.

I mentioned that they were giants, didn't I? 50 feet tall or more. Micronizing-- or micloning-- turns them into our size.

And of course we had to get along with them. There were a lot more of them in the galaxy than there were of us. It's a pretty big galaxy for humanity to try and tackle alone.

Yeah, I guess.

[He whacks the pumpkin a couple more times with his foot.]

Hey, you got your breath back enough to move this thing yet, because if I start talking about the magical power of friendship too long I start to break out in hives. So.

[Yeah, they're talking about it on an international - intergalactic? - level now, but it feels like it could easily lead into talking about it on a personal one. Dangerous territory, really.]

Right, right, I forgot you were allergic to optimism. [She takes a breath.] I'm at least up for giving it a try, but no idea how it'll go.

[She pulls herself to her feet.]

Yeah, me neither.

[He tries to get up without leaning on anything, because leaning on hands you can't feel is freaky, and ends up looking like one of those old people in those commercials - but he hasn't fallen, and he can get up, and it only takes him about half a minute to do it. So there.]

Hey, maybe it'll go out of control and we'll hit somebody.

[He smiles brightly as he says it. See, who says he's allergic to optimism?]

[His fumbling is actually... a little concerning, to be honest? Sheryl watches him climb to his feet, and frowns.] Do you need help getting up, or...?

[She's starting to feel bad about the old jokes.]

[He breathes a bitter little laugh.]

Nah, been this way since I stopped seeing shit, oughta be used to it by now. Maybe if I was I wouldn't look so stupid doing stuff like- [He gestures to where he was sitting with a little grimace.] But I'm not, so I do.

[He gives a shrug and a tight smile. Maybe he's more used to the whole no sensation thing than he thinks he is, because it doesn't occur to him to really explain.]

All right. If you say so.

Just try not to push this damn gourd over onto me, all right? [She bends forward, grabbing the far end of the giant pumpkin.] I pull, you push?

If you don't wanna get run over it should probably be the other way around.

[But he gets in position anyway, trying to push the thing onto its side and watching his fingers slide right off.]

Shit, sorry, uh...

[Okay. This other side, with the thing on top, he can at least tell when his hand is pushing against that. As long as it doesn't break off they should be rolling it in no time.]

Try tilting it up now.

Yes, but then I'd feel guilty for pushing it onto an old man.

[Again, she looks a little worried when he seems to struggle to get a grip on the large pumpkin, but then he tells her he's got it, so... might as well try, right?] On three. One, two--

[She grits her teeth and pulls, using her weight as leverage to try and get this damn pumpkin up on its side.]

Ah, a human conscience. That shit'll only slow you down, you know that, right. Or get you pumpkin pancaked.

[He watches his hand as he talks, making sure it's still on the pumpkin's stem as he leans forward. He leans forward a little more, not one hundred percent sure how much weight he's actually putting on it, and then the stem starts to separate from the rest of the pumpkin.]

Oop, shit, change of plan.

[He darts around to the side she's pushing from, the side the pumpkin would fall back onto if it topples.]

I'll push it up. At least I can sort of tell what I'm doing over here.

[And he'll just keep pushing for a little bit. If he goes too hard and it starts to fall onto its other end? Well, that's a problem for the future.]

Don't make me think twice about it-- I will, I'm warning you. [No, she wouldn't. Probably.

She does, however, offer to switch sides with him, bending forward so that she can put her hands on the other side of the pumpkin.]

Remember, lift with your knees, not your back~

Oh yeah, like I'm gonna throw my back out picking up your stupid pumpkin.

[That sounds like asking for it to happen, doesn't it? He realizes that about as soon as he says it and goes quiet, focusing really hard on lifting with his knees. Whatever the fuck that means.]

Little more and I think we got it. Tell me if I squish you, okay? Just, like. Start yelling at me.

If you push it onto me, trust me, you'll know. I'll scream.

[She will.

She takes a breath and then starts to pull.

And between the two of them, they get the pumpkin on its side?]

Ha! [He keeps his hands on it, ready to roll it whenever she starts pulling.] Hey, five points for every not-you person we run over with this thing, what do you think? Two points for those ghost butler whatever-they-ares that creep around the place.

[She barks out a short laugh.] There's probably less than a hundred people here, and you want to start making enemies?

Maybe we can blame it on your weak hands~

[He ducks his head when he laughs, then hurriedly looks up again to correct whatever course it might of started to wobble onto while he was distracted.]

Yeah, we can make it sound real tragic and then run em over again. By accident. You think you're up to making that story sound convincing?

I'm a singer, not an actress.

But I'd still give even money. Better if it happens to be a guy. [She has her ways for men.

Some women, too.]

Ha! Gotcha. If I see any guys, I'll go for em. How is it up there? Want me to go faster?

Probably better if you don't. This is a good pace.

Say, where are we taking it? Is there a... compost pile or something here?

Hey, I'm not planning this whole outing for you. Didn't anyone ever tell you never to roll your pumpkin without a plan?

[He leans over to try and see around it, wanting to scope out places to roll the thing, then starts to tip over and realizes his hands slipped off it while he wasn't looking. He sounds hurried when he goes on; he's focusing mostly on the pumpkin now, trying to figure out the best place to stand to support it and stop it from wobbling.]

Let's just put it in front of someone's door.

You are really set on making enemies, aren't you? [She says, almost casually, though it's a little undermined by the way she grunts as she has to push more heavily on her side to keep it up.]

Why don't we just... get it outside? Let the birds and the ants and whatever eats pumpkins take care of it.

People eat pumpkins. If we drop it and run off maybe we'll come back and there'll be a bunch of bites taken out of it.

[He doesn't drop it, though. He's got his shit figured out and he's started rolling it again, slowly and cautiously trying to pick up some speed.]

Also, does it count as making enemies if the way you do it's really funny?

Depends on how they act once they're finished laughing.

[There's a little sigh from her end.] But no, I'm not the type to foist my problems off on someone else. I started rolling this damn thing, and I'll finish it, wherever we drop it off.

But if it's too hard for you, you can stop.

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