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. :)
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acatalepsy_logs2019-02-05 06:59 pm
I.
kaz is off finding new people to swindle, and so inej is left to explore for allies. she's about to make herself comfortable in a tree, to rest, and to watch people walk around from her invisible perch, when she hears . . . screaming.
inej immediately races along a tree limb, foot in front of another, following the noise, the screaming -- and, indeed, the swearing, until she spots nott scrambling against the ground in an attempt to get free. inej quickly drops down to the next limb, landing on the ground with a roll, and with a flash of steel, one of the vines drops to the ground, limp and motionless.
rogue, meet . . . well, she's not a rogue, but close?? ]
Come on, let her go!
[ a hiss, as she reaches out to grab nott by the arm, yanking her toward her own body as she slashes out with another blade, finding purchase in the leaves. eventually, the vines wriggle, and decide that inej's blades are not worth the effort of eating a small goblin, slowly releasing nott . . . only to wrap their vines around inej's legs, instead. ]
Can you fight?!
[ it's an aggravated hiss toward nott, as inej flips a blade in her palm, slashing downward in an attempt to free herself. ]
no subject
Nott is still scrambling and struggling as the girl tugs on her arm, and between Inej's taller stature and Nott's small form, she's pretty easy to manhandle. Nott is finally freed and she takes a moment to collect herself, when she hears Inej's next agitated question and snaps her head up.
Oh, cool, her savior is apparently not so talented she can't be caught in the same trap. Maybe Nott still has a hope of competence.]
Not with my fists?? Do I look like I punch things for a living!?
[It's probably not apparent in the thick of this chaos, but Nott is Completely Unarmed.
Still, she grabs a couple vines in one bandaged fist, because it would be a real dick move to let this girl get hurt now. She urgently mutters some arcane phrase in some long-dead language she definitely doesn't speak, pauses a second too long to realize that no longer works, then just gives up and starts tearing at the vines with her claws.
No time to unpack that right now. There's really more pressing matters. At some point Nott just straight up starts biting at the vines in a desparate attempt to free the girl, looking outright feral as she does.]
no subject
a quick, deft flick of her wrist slashes through another vine, and inej manages to yank her leg free. it's all it takes to gain the leverage in the struggle, and once inej's legs are free (thanks, in part, to nott's frenzied attack), inej leaps nimbly up onto a nearby crumbling rock wall, grabbing nott by her cloak to pull her up too. ]
There are other ways to fight.
[ a bit pointedly, at her "punching" comment. ]
The higher we get, the harder it will be for them to follow. Back to the Temple, quickly -- are you okay to run?
no subject
If I could, I'd even use them!
[Nott, so polite to people who came to her rescue... Seriously, though, she's minus a crossbow AND a shortsword AND her magic AND her explosives. She's not in a great place right now and she kind of regrets putting that plant in her mouth, actually.
But she nods.]
Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. I'll follow you.
[She's not... the worst at keeping the high ground. She may not be as fast as Beau, but she's better than most.
Maybe not as good as this girl, either, which is something she'll be thinking about for a while. First Twiggy, now this.]
no subject
no vines. some stray flowers, up here, but nothing that seems to be attacking them. and once they get relatively out of the way, inej brushes back her hood to reveal dark hair braided into a tight plait, bright eyes, and a breathless: ]
Welcome to --
[ and she pauses to yank a piece of plant off of her sleeve, a stubborn remnant of whatever attempted to attack them in the forest area. what an annoyance. ]
This place is full of some type of magic, lately... [ poor kaz would never be able to get through this mess with his bad leg. bah humbug. and she looks down at nott, arching her eyebrows slightly, before she holsters her knife. ]
You are new, I assume?
[ also why are you fuckin green. ]
no subject
When they settle on the roof, Nott almost seems to remember herself as soon as the girl pulls down her hood. Her hood stays up, in contrast, and more than that, she pulls a mask that's been hanging from her neck—a porcelain white, with painted red lips and obvious cracks in the material—over her face.
Inej you can't just ask people why they're green. Maybe it's a sore subject!!!
But she lets her make her comments, and eyes the knife as she holsters it. Nott's not sure if Inej doesn't consider her a threat, or if she just didn't notice the whole goblin thing. That she has no understanding of it doesn't cross Nott's mind as possible.]
Yeah. I don't have a weapon.
[Said with obvious jealousy in her voice.]
Or magic. I tried to shock it and either the plants here are secretly made of rubber, or nothing happened.
[It's definitely not the first time she's been attacked by constricting vines, now that she thinks about it. That temple in Urukaxl had those in abundance.
Unless it was a hallucination. She was also tripping balls at the time thanks to some weird fruit.]
no subject
No, they felt very real. And your own "powers" do not work here. I don't have any of those, normally, so I am not missing very much. I am luckier than most.
[ she is pretty sure nott is joking about the rubber part, but. you know. whatever. her eyes flicker over nott's features, the porcelain mask, the gloves, the bandages . . . trying to hide her appearance, maybe, and doing a decently passable job of it.
still. inej raises a hand, in greeting, with a faint smile. seemingly unbothered by nott's green skin (what's showing of it). they don't exist in ketterdam, but the population of the circle is so diverse that she's long since abandoned her disbelief. ]
I am Inej. You are?
no subject
She doesn't know what to say to magic apparently not working. She wouldn't know how that's possible. She's not the magic expert of the group. Most of what she knows, she learned from someone far more talented.
Whose absence is very much felt. Nott pushes that in the back of her mind as she comes up with a fake name on the spot.]
...Twiggy.
[...Okay, so maybe a certain gnome was also on her mind and she kind of blurted that out before she could think of anything else, but. That's fine. She'll roll with it. Probably.
Until she inevitably forgets.]
You wouldn't happen to have a spare crossbow, would you. A small one. A hand crossbow, if you will.
[IT'S WORTH ASKING!!!]
I mean... if even the plants are dangerous here.
no subject
Not a hand crossbow, no, but you may be able to find something to use at the fighting ring . . . when it returns to normal, anyway. There are some basic weapons to be found there.
[ whether there are any crossbows, inej has no idea. but she does dip her hand into her pocket, and withdraw a small knife with a dark blade. a non-magical knife that kaz got her in akvos -- which inej is loathe to part with, but wandering around unnarmed can get you killed, and inej does feel sort of bad for this girl. (girl? girl.)
so she extends it, handle first, with a small smile. ]
But you can have this, if you feel you can use it. It is better than nothing.
no subject
But then Inej offers her a knife. She eyes it carefully. She doesn't have to, but she did. Nott finds herself wondering if Inej wants something back for it.
Nott doesn't offer. She just takes it.]
...I can use a knife.
[Has used a knife, but prefers not to get that close. Beggars can't always be choosers, as much as she tries to be choosy.]
Thanks. This is pretty shiny. You sure you wouldn't rather just sell it?
[I mean, it's too late now, Nott's got a hold of it.]