( intro log # 1 )

[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 temple of beginnings. we're all a little mad here. Needless to say, the Circle has been out of sorts as of late. Fortunately, the weather has stabilized — residents will find that they are no longer plagued with snowstorms or heat waves. However, it appears that the flora and fauna have...come to life. Vines may wind around your feet and legs, entrapping you in a vice-like grip. They will eventually let go, but it seems like you need to speak nicely to them first. Bizarre, but it'll get the job done. Mushrooms have also sprouted and now sing at you when you pass by — they aren’t particularly good singers either. Trees extend their branches to poke at you from behind, but when you turn around you’ll find that no one is there. ...And worst of all, the flowers seem to be especially privy to your thoughts; when you’re close, they’ll blab out whatever is on your mind at the moment and will only be silenced once they are picked. Best of luck surviving in this more, er, animated environment! Perhaps even plant-life can be reasoned with…? Or destroyed. That’s always an option, isn’t it? oh my god they were roommates. It isn’t a proper welcome until you’ve picked out your room! In the hallways, you may find a table or two offering cookies and tea as you survey your newfound surroundings. They seem to be left by invisible people . . . weird? The Unseen Servants seem to be playing a bit more nicely from your arrival, and seem to be apologizing for their antics with sweets! (These cookies, neverfear, are not magically cursed. They are just normal cookies.) These rooms are a bit magical, you see — should you decide to room with another person (or multiple people), you’ll find that the room itself will accommodate your needs and expand accordingly. They look the same for the most part, so some might say that it would be wise to make your decision based on what your neighbors are like. Say hello or potentially someone else’s room by accident; it’s a bit of a Russian roulette. Regardless, it seems that this is your new home in sense of the word. Make the most of it! wildcard. The Temple is a pretty big place! The Forest of the Fey stretches on endlessly, Lake Dona (and the resident Nessie) is free to explore, and there are plenty of creatures who are curiously inspecting the new arrivals. The wyverns seem to be particularly precocious today, given the singing mushrooms, the psychic flowers, and the new people checking into new rooms! They are relatively harmless (as are most of the creatures in the Temple), but can be pretty annoying . . . especially if you have something resembling a snack in your hand. At any rate, free to explore the rest of the Temple, the Forest, or the Lake at your leisure! Unless otherwise designated in the bestiary, everything is free to play/free to explore. :)

Comments

Ritsu Kageyama | ota

[guiltycharge]

[A: rooms]

[Ritsu is adjusting, although to him it doesn't feel like it yet. The food didn't sit well with him at first, but it was better than going hungry. The sudden, giddying lack of structure and creature comforts - honestly, did those ever mean much to him? He's not used to not seeing his brother, but he doesn't mind biding his time until a way out presents itself. He's not going to waste energy fretting about it the way he might have last year. For the most part.

There is one thing, however. One habit that's hard to kick. ...No, it's not a habit. In the absence of further instructions, he should be practising with this "magic" they all have in place of psychic powers, right? Then he's not reaching for ways to kill time at all! He's just looking ahead.

To be more specific, looking into people's bedrooms. By teenage standards, he's discreet about it. If he looks through the doorway and sees someone in there, you'll barely have time to catch his mildly disappointed frown before he moves on, unless you stop him. If something in a currently-unoccupied room looks like a personal effect to him, he'll leave those alone. What he's scanning the floors and rifling through rough-hewn drawers for is... ordinary things. Missable things. Cutlery or plates that the Servants didn't pick up yet. Cloth, paper, metal. Things that could be manipulated, sharpened, thrown... Things.

Naturally this means he'll spend a little longer raiding messier rooms, but he's moving through them with such an intense look of focus that you could probably sneak up on him either way. Or perhaps you walk by just as a vine pokes out from a crack in the masonry, curling itself around his unsuspecting heel...]


[B: outdoors]

[His kleptomania is limited, but the temple grounds much less so. It's one thing to read about places like this in Europe or wherever; quite another to walk through one yourself, trying to get a sense of where it sits in the lay of the land.

One part that never came up in school is the tiny dragons. They may or may not keep mistaking his hair for a bird's nest. He has not, in fact, concealed any food in his hair. It's wearing at his patience.

The next time he hears the flapping of wyvern wings around his head, his hand shoots out, grabbing the creature by its tail. Success! But only briefly. Within seconds, it wriggles free and escapes to the safety of a tree branch overhead, chittering indignantly all the while.

Annoying. So annoying that Ritsu feels moved to turn and call over to whoever is nearby.]

Say. [He points up at the little wyvern.] Do you know a good way to get rid of these?


[wildcard]

(hmu!)

b.

[dogwood]

[ Jun's own hair has been safe from wyverns. His pockets, too, because he doesn't have keys or a phone anymore, unfortunately. And unlike the questioner here, Jun's more charmed than irritated by the little creatures. He tilts his head up to look into the tree. ]

No. Wave your arms around a bit more, scare them off?

[ It's only a half serious suggestion. Jun narrows his eyes at the wyverns above, adjusting to his own new powers—hearing the words of beings that aren't humans is pretty bizarre—and continues with a small shrug. ]

Are they hurting you or just being pests?

[guiltycharge]

Hurting? Not really. But I've heard of spirits less persistent.

[Ritsu looks back up at the tree as well. His stony expression is the frown of a teenager trying to decide whether waving his arms around or literally getting eaten by small dragons would be a worse memory to live with afterwards.]

I'll think of something. Thanks anyway.

[dogwood]

[ As Jun watches, another wyvern is beginning to poke a curious head out of the leaves and branches, making a high-pitched, curious sound. The phrase Safe to try again? enters Jun's mind; he registers it and looks back at the kid.

Looks like he'd better think of something quick. But Jun doesn't point that out, instead asking, ]

You've dealt with spirits before?

[guiltycharge]

That's why it came to mind. I know it's not universal.

[He's still keeping an eye on the tree rather than looking back at Jun. His eyes narrow a little when he notices yet more of the creatures popping up out of the foliage. Come at him, bro??]

[dogwood]

[ Jun wants to ask more about the dealing with spirits part, but the wyverns are commanding more immediate attention. Especially because a couple of them are gathering together as if convening.

But it's a wyvern from behind them that comes swooping down towards Ritsu, this time going towards his shoulder and winding around his upper arm with its little claws catching on his clothes. ]

[guiltycharge]

Ah--!

[Yep, that one sure did sneak up on him and break through his relative composure. Thanks, tunnel vision. Tree vision. Whatever. He's surprised enough for his reflexes to kick in, causing both him and the little dragon to... flicker and vanish?

But this strange magic doesn't help him the way a psychic barrier might, and they reappear just a fraction of a second later, the wyvern apparently still intent on digging into Ritsu's sleeve.

When he reaches for it with his other hand, it nips at his fingers like an annoyed cat.] Cut that out!

a

[punshots]

[ Boy, did Prompto pick the wrong time to fetch a snack from the kitchen, because overly trusting (and distractable) as he is, he leaves his bedroom door wide open while he's gone. Given there are new people around again, maybe he should have been a shred more careful, but, nah. It's a perfect window of opportunity for Ritsu.

It's also not the first time he has found a complete stranger in his room when new arrivals have shown up, aaaand it's not the first time a complete stranger has been rifling through his stuff. Still, it's not exactly a reassuring sight, and immediately he's on his guard, despite the piece of toast hanging out of his mouth and the banana in his hand, which he now holds before him like some kind of...weapon? ]

H-h-heeeeey! You can have my money! J-just leave the rubber ducks!!

[ There is, indeed, a drawer mostly full of rubber ducks. ]

[guiltycharge]

[Yup, there sure is. It is currently sitting open. And Ritsu has to admit, after startling bolt upright and getting an actual look at the room's presumed occupant, he was expecting it to belong to someone younger. (...thinks the 13-year-old.)

Without breaking eye contact, he drops the rubber duck he was holding. It squeaks forlornly off the stone floor.]

I wasn't going to take anything, least of all money. I was - just looking.

[Apart from that tiny pause, he sounds as calm as someone who hasn't just been caught raiding a stranger's bedroom at banana-point.]

[punshots]

[ He was just...looking.

That excuse sounds shady as hell, but — you know what? Prompto is going to take it at face value, because that's how he is. He has no reason not to believe it...aside from the whole finding-someone-rifling-through-his-stuff thing, but he did kind of leave the door wide open.

So he relaxes his pose, his banana-wielding hand falling to his side. ]

Huh...yeah? Did youuuu find what you were lookin' for?

[ If he was looking for answers about this place, he won't find them in Prompto's sock drawer. ]

[guiltycharge]

...You're just letting me off like that? [Because that is, uh, somewhat more worrying to Ritsu than yelling or throwing hands would be. He reaches down and slides the duck drawer shut, but his wary eyes remain fixed on Prompto.] I broke in.

[punshots]

[ He shrugs a shoulder, though he isn't entirely at ease, considering the way he can't seem to hold still. He's a picture of nervous energy, but at least he's still smiling. ]

Wellllll, not technically. I mean, I did leave the door open... [ So, you know, that's on him. ] You new?

[guiltycharge]

[The jittering is not lost on Ritsu. He frowns a little. It reminds him of a certain man back home who never sits still either, which in turn reminds him of the whole interdimensional kidnapping situation, which is kind of the thing he was trying to push out of his mind in the first place. ...It also makes him want to hit something, but that part is separate and not necessarily unusual.]

Yeah, I guess so. Why, should I know about the ducks?

A

[lighthousekeeper]

[Ion's just returning to the room she shares with her fiance, and she's surprised to see that the noises she hears inside isn't her android husbando. Her first thought is to yell because it's a pervert, how dare! A few seconds pass as she silently takes in the scene from the doorway, and her second thought is that it's just a kid. A perverted or lost kid, maybe, but if Zero were nearby and heard a commotion from her...She wouldn't want the boy to get hurt.

Thinking fast, Ion decides to take things into her own hands and focuses her telekinesis on the blanket on top of the bed. It lifts into the air, hovers for a moment, then floats over to the boy to wrap him up. She's got a lecture to give if he doesn't somehow get away.]

Why are you in here?

[guiltycharge]

[Damn. If Ritsu hadn't been considerate enough to hurriedly close the drawer he was raiding the moment he heard a sound, he might have been able to make a break for it. Or if he hadn't been sufficiently surprised by this apparent poltergeist activity to stop and stare at the floating blanket for a second, or if he'd just had the self-control not to go into someone else's room... but let's be real, the latter two were never options.

As is, he finds his arms burritoed and pinned to his sides before the idea of darting away can finish taking root in his conscious mind. Oh well. Part of him is a little disappointed that karma didn't catch up with him sooner.]

...The door was open.

[And the part of him that controls his tongue seems to want to speed up the process. That's nothing new, though.]

[lighthousekeeper]

[Ah yes, a sassy burrito boy. Ion's frown deepens. Guess she'll have to be straightforward with this one:]

Okay, then what are you looking for? [She folds her arms across her chest.] Are you lost or just curious? How old are you, anyways?

[The blanket stays nice and snug around him, but at least he can still walk around if he chooses. Ion's just going to stay in the doorway though, looking at him like he's the biggest mystery.]

[guiltycharge]

I'm thirteen. [For having been caught red-handed and wrapped in a blanket, he meets her frown with an admirably impassive stare.] And just curious.

[So subtle. Still, he's making no attempt to go anywhere, other than shifting his weight on the spot a little. There's someone blocking the exit, after all.]

Was that psychokinesis just now?

[lighthousekeeper]

[....How does a 13yo have such a poker face. She'll be envious of that skill later. For now, she has a lecture to give about how people shouldn't go looking around rooms without permission...Or that was something she was planning until she's immediately distracted by his question. Also he could totally bulldoze past her if he really wanted. She's a shorty and clumsy on her own two feet.]

Ah, I suppose so. [The blanket begins to unwrap from him, hovering in the air one more time before falling back onto the bed. There's a faint smile on her face as her gaze follows the blanket.] I'm used to a different form of magic, but psychic powers isn't so bad.

[Wait, rolling back her thought process-- she's wagging a finger at the kid.] B-but that's not important! You should be old enough to know that snooping around a girl's room without permission is creepy. Aren't you embarrassed that you got caught?

[guiltycharge]

Something like that. [His expression doesn't even flicker. Honestly, it's easy for anyone to look this serious! Step 1: grow up with a soul-crushing inferiority complex...] Are you going to do anything else about it?

[Apart from the blanket, he means. The blanket was neat.]

a

[hatamon]

[ Takeru isn't really a messy person as a general rule--the importance of helping his mom out was impressed upon him pretty early, after all--but his post-Akvos routine has involved a lot of lying low. Lying low means avoiding people, and avoiding people means minimizing trips to the kitchen, resulting in a solid day's worth of dishes accumulating in a pile in the corner of his room. It isn't exactly an ideal target for a thief, so Takeru is more than a little surprised when he opens his door and finds some new kid looking through his... leftover cutlery.

Well. Okay.

He can't really work up the indignation to be mad about it, not when he's more or less guilty of having done the same thing a time or two. It's par the course for someone who's suddenly stuck in an unfamiliar world to go snooping in places that would normally be off limits. Probably. ]

I didn't know Astoria upgraded the maid service.

[ Cheerfully. He walks into the room like nothing is amiss, setting his mostly empty water glass down on top of the stack of plates. ]

As long as you're headed back to the kitchen, you can take that one with you too.

[ Not angry doesn't mean not a dick about it, apparently. ]

[guiltycharge]

[Urk. Ritsu freezes up immediately. He could dart around this guy and run away, but hearing the M-word still has a tendency to take the "flight" clean out of his fight/flight/freeze response, and there's nothing he can throw within reach that he's willing to touch right now.

Also, throwing cutlery at someone who has more right to be in this room than he does just for startling him would be bad. Yes. Not something his brother would do.

He doesn't turn his head, but he does take a step back, leaving the plates where they are.] Then it's a shame that I wasn't. ...I'll just leave you to it.

[hatamon]

[ Takeru seems satisfied with the temporary amusement of putting him on the spot, and his demeanor subsequently softens. ]

Do you know how to get there? If not, I don't mind showing you. There's plenty of food around.

[ Hunger is the most likely reason a would-be room raider would make a beeline for the dishware, right? That or being desperate for a weapon, but the kitchen presumably wins out for best knife selection too. ]

[guiltycharge]

[It's slight, but Ritsu narrows his eyes a little more. Sure, assuming he needs help is probably the most logical assumption - can't fault the guy there. On the other hand... ugh.]

No, it's fine. [You could cut yourself on the edge of the politeness in his voice, quite at odds with his sullen expression.] I found the way before. Thank you anyway.

[Another step back brings him a little closer to the doorway - only for his stomach to growl. Actually, is he hungry? He didn't care to pay attention until just now.]

[hatamon]

It won't take long. C'mon. [ Like he's decided a tour is definitely happening in spite of any protest. Maybe that stomach growl sealed Ritsu's fate.

Takeru follows suit in stepping closer to the door, and although he doesn't actually try to grab Ritsu's arm to start dragging him around the temple or anything, his overly familiar smile certainly seems like that of someone who would. ]

There's pretty much always someone cooking here, so we probably won't even have to do any work.

[guiltycharge]

[What Ritsu could do at this point is slip past, run away, avoid this press-ganging, and figure out the way back to more familiar territory in his own time.

What he actually does is, quite deliberately, pick up the stack of dirty dinnerware before following behind. His annoyance practically radiates all the way to the kitchens already, but he's still the one who decides to carry those plates after all.]

Okay.

[It takes a precocious amount of expertise to fit this much passive-aggression in one word.]