♪ Our house ♪ in middle of this tree ♪ our house

[npcsofmana]

Who: Everyone
What: The first morning of an adventure begins.
Where: Home
When: Day 1
Other: Be courteous and warn for any of the usuals in your thread subject title if it gets to that point.




You wake up to a serene and idyllic morning.

Outside, a pleasant glow from the sun fills the room including the small crannies in which the beds are tucked. All windows have been latched close, but it's easy to see a gentle breeze ruffling the leaves of branches which loom overhead. Faintly, bird song can be heard from outside. In this place, it'd be a simple matter to close your eyes again and drift back to sleep.

There's simply one problem: this is not where you last went to sleep.

Waking up properly will display not only how the picturesque and cozy little room stands out in stark contrast to where you should be, but that you are sharing this space with someone else. Depending on things, they might be very mundane or very... unusual. Either way, they seem just as bewildered as you are. The good news is that at least all the things you immediately had on you at the time are right nearby the foot of your bed along with what seems like a small gift- a small pouch of some sort of coin. (500 Lucre, although that might not be immediately realized anytime soon.)

Exploring the rest of the house shows it to be otherwise quite empty, except for some writing utensils and paper in what appears to be the study along with basic kitchen tools in, well, the kitchen. There's no food, however, and no decoration. Venturing outside onto the grounds reveals an expansive but not particularly well tended estate including another building that is fairly run down. Attempting to venture down the path from the front door out into the world reveals... well. Nothing. It's a fruitless endeavor.

However, not for long.

Hajime Iwaizumi will be the one to find what appear to be a few discarded children's toy blocks. The Colorblocks immediately seem off in some way, strange even as they should seem inconspicuous. Something about them will compel him to pick them up. The nature of this apparent toy will not be obvious until he ventures near the edge of Home himself. A sound, almost like distant bellchimes, will start to emit from the Colorblocks.

When exposed to the air, suddenly they emit a glow and shoot off into the sky with all the brilliance of a falling star. Its trail is both noticeable and easy to follow, curving an arc through the sky until it falls some distance away... and its impact bursts an aurora of colors through the distant and dimmer sky, encircling the site. As the whirlwind of color fades, what appears to be a town can be just made out...

That is the town of Domina.


Some OOC notes:
➸ Prior to the activation of the Colorblocks, the only books which will be filled out in the Study will be "Artifacts" and "Visitors".
➸ After Domina has been unlocked and some characters have explored the town, "People" and "Locations" will be filled out in the Study as well.
➸ To see who your character is initially rooming with, check the Home page. These rooming assignments are not permanent or mandatory by any means, and characters can change them whenever. Officially letting me know will be present and explained in the next mod post coming in a week's time, but for now we can play it relaxed and loose. Just don't burn down the tree in the meantime.

Comments

[thebiggestguy]

[As angry as Dread looks, the anger is not directed at anyone present. So when he speaks, he sounds calmer than he appears -- though it's a measured calm, more controlled than relaxed. He just needs a target to let it go.]

Do you know what's brought us here?

[soldiernanny]

[In that moment, he finds himself relieved. That perfectly measured calm, while possibly still speaking of danger, is a good sign. At least he won't be beaten to a pulp or have to defend himself immediately.]

... Ah. I don't know, no. [His gaze flickers down to the ground, then back to the scenery around him.] It looks like no place in Highland to me, though I suppose I could have been transported to another location, somehow. Why they would take a dying man, I don't know...

[the last bit is mumbled almost under his breath, honestly.]

[thebiggestguy]

[Dread is pretty good at hearing such things, unfortunately.]

You don't seem to be dying now.

[His fingers twitch, but only out of reflexively desire to draw his book and cast a Physick on the boy. But his statement is nonetheless true, and that observation might be an answer in and of itself.]

[soldiernanny]

[Gremio glances up again, a complex expression on his face. In this strange land... well, it isn't as though it matters. His death would not be a secret, not like Odessa's.]

No, indeed not. In actuality, there's no logical reason for me to exist like this - [He gestures to his body as a whole, which... when you think about it is really depressing even without context] - what last I recall was being devoured by man-eating spores. [Also pain, but. Obvious.]

[thebiggestguy]

So what brought us here also healed you. [This is fascinating, although he wonders if it gives more or less credence to the idea of Flow. The Lifestream didn't leave those who passed through it better than it found them, if Y'shtola and Thancred were any proof.] I'm not sure that explains anything. But it's interesting.

[soldiernanny]

Yes. Unless this is an afterlife. [That thought hadn't slipped by him, and Gremio's expression is a little unsure for a moment.] It's interesting, yes. And I suppose I made the decision that the Young Master was fine on his own... but it still feels a little like I've abandoned the war.

[He's talking somewhat absently in that moment, thinking back on it all.]

[thebiggestguy]

Afterlives have more aether. [By literal definition. No life force, no afterlife.]

Whatever's happened, we'll figure it out. And fix it. [And keep you alive, he doesn't say but hopes is strongly implied.]

[soldiernanny]

Aether? [The name isn't familiar, clearly.]

Ah... I suppose that's true. Though, we'll need more than a tree in the middle of nothing to figure that out, I suppose. [He squints up at said tree, still kind of. Marveling in its size, honestly.

As for him, he's not thinking about surviving much. He'll keep others alive before himself. That's what got him into this mess in the first place.]

[thebiggestguy]

Depends on the tree. [Dread drops his hand to the book on his belt, starting to pull it free from where it hangs -- then stops. Right. No magic. He shakes his head, trying to put the mistake out of his head.] It's too significant to be nothing.