catch-all | OPEN

[rootstalks]

Who: Jin Ling, Jin Zixuan, Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli, and HOUSEGUESTS (that's you!).
When: All times
Where: The Jin-Jiang classy house in the Haven
What: Catch-all for household events and visitors! Bolded sections are intentional prompts, but wildcard as you like!
Warnings: Probably some drama at some point. Also monster transformation body horror (harpy, turnskin, merrow). Definitely at least 2.5 discussions about murder. One really, really uncomfortable dinner party.

Entrance Hall

Now that the house’s new residents are more settled in, they’re ready to accept visitors. The first thing you will notice as you enter the door is the art hung on the wall: Intricately crafted wood carvings of the Jiang lotus and the Jin peony emblems, bookending a framed photograph of Jiang Yanli and her two brothers, only one of whom actually lives there, from the day of Wei Wuxian’s wedding the previous month.

There is room on the wall for more pictures to be hung, as now that Jin Zixuan has discovered the wonders of photography, he intends to immortalize all his loved ones in living color as often as possible. The Yunmeng Jiang clan is already honored, so the next step is to commission a father and son portrait to represent Lanling Jin.

In a small, round room off the entrance hall, memorial tablets have been set up for the Jiang parents, carved from a lacquered wood and set into a cabinet.

Courtyard

The spacious courtyard in the center of the house provides a perfect place for the cultivators in the house to continue their training. Sure, they don’t have golden cores anymore and are all turning into different kinds of monsters, but that is no excuse to allow their skills to deteriorate from lack of practice. Archery targets are set up along one wall, and there is plenty of space around the central fountain for sparring with swords or other weapons they may acquire. Of course, as the courtyard becomes repurposed into a training ground, the genteel furniture, ornate chairs and potted plants, get moved into storage in the basement to provide more room to move around. It may not give off the same level of elegance as other classy houses in the neighborhood, but for the cultivators? It begins to make this feel more like home.

Sometimes, and to her mild distress, Yanli is herded out into the courtyard and set in front of an archery target. There, she practises spells, mouth thin with nerves. It’s easier, as might be expected, when she’s accompanied by either a member of the household, or another witch. One target bears the scorch marks from her first and only attempt at evocation, but it’s clear she’s developing a preference for defensive spellcraft. With it being nearly impossible to convince any member of the household to shoot an arrow at her, there is now a small stack of little beanbags under one awning, in a wicker basket.

When she isn't required, or her master is working or training, Fairy the spiritual hound can be found lounging around the courtyard, keeping an eye on things, and barking.

Kitchen

The kitchen is walled with cabinets and shelves, the room airy enough that some storage is too high for Jiang Yanli to reach comfortably. Sometimes, when she feels brave, she plucks the ingredient or tool she wants with a polite gesture and a flick of magic. Mostly, she resorts to a short iron stepladder that doubles as a stool for casual visitors (or opportunistic scavengers).

It’s not what she’s used to, but working in the bakery is a crash course in the average Aefenglom kitchen, and it only takes a few days for her to arrange everything the way she likes it. The novelty of cooking in a kitchen of her own, rather than invading the space of the cooks, and apologising to servants as she got in their way (or, not apologising, because one shouldn’t, but smiling in a way that allowed it to go unsaid)... it’s heady. She prepares too much, spends her wages on interesting ingredients; one shelf at shoulder height fills with scraps of paper and borrowed books. If she finds herself looking over her shoulder before she carries a pile of bowls into the scullery… well, at least everyone is too polite to mention it.

And that much food means she has an easy excuse to do what she does best: feed her loved ones. Either by arranging a family meal, refamiliarising herself with their tastes and spending an enjoyable evening offering this and that into their bowls, basking in conversation, or by inviting a friend home, and spending an evening in conversations about other worlds, about magic, about the workings of the city and the developments of the mirrorbound.

'Music Room’

The upstairs loft is a large studio room with tall windows along the front wall to let lots of light into the space. Where normally one might expect to see a grand piano or other instruments (the space was obviously intended to be a music salon), there is instead a haphazard mess of materials, mostly branches and straw that have been pulled in from trees outside, mixed with some pillows and thick blankets. For a long time, it just looks like a mess, like whoever has gathered these mismatched items has a hoarding problem. But slowly, surely, it begins to take shape into a massive nest that takes up a good third of the room. Little by little, more pieces get added to the nest. More wood to expand the walls-- including several chairs stolen from the dining room-- more soft things to line the interior. As far as Jin Zixuan is concerned, it is a very respectable collection, not a nest, and the more refined he can make it look, the less embarrassed he is by his compulsion to build it.

(All the other members of the household know that it is a nest and call it such behind Jin Zixuan’s back, but to allow him to save face they refrain from mentioning that particular word in front of him.)

Bedrooms

Generally the bedrooms, all in the central floor of the house, are architecturally similar and decorated much alike, but each has begun to accumulate the detritus of their lives. Souvenirs, gifts, laundry, half-finished projects and belongings from home now set on the walls or on stands to be secured. And, occasionally, other things.

In Jin Ling’s room, the general paraphernalia of a teenager, along with a large dog bed, usually covered in kittens and their canine general.

In Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli’s room, on the day of the full moon, they awake to a truly alarming amount of feathers. But generally, their room is impeccable, a mix of pale woods, brass and soft furnishings - especially since they’ve started to spend time in the nest instead.

In Jiang Cheng’s room, it is for the most part neat and everything in its place, with most decor items either being purple or light green in color. The bed is usually occupied by a calico kitten with the ability to teleport.

Basement

The basement of the home comes equipped with a wine cellar, a dusty bottle or two of cabernet left over from the house’s previous occupants. However, the family now inhabiting the residence prefers rice wine or other grain based alcohols over wine made from grapes or other fruit. So as time goes on, the shelves of the wine cellar accumulate ceramic jugs of báijiǔ and other more familiar liquors. Until such time as they need to break out a bottle or five.

Comments

[weatherscience]

[ she sighs as tangerine hops down from her shoulder, but really, it's about what she should have expected — and it's what she brought her here for, to get to play with her siblings and let off some of the energy kittens seem to accumulate without even trying.

at least she's not teleporting anywhere right now... small mercies.

she waves brightly at yanli, and then laughs. ]

Not this time! [ not that she would mind seeing him, but really, this time she's here — ]

I'm here for you, Yanli-chan! We're friends too, right? And friends should practice spells together! [ she adds, a little sheepish, ] I think we'd planned it for the day after tomorrow... but I got bored. [ oops?? ]

[rootstalks]

Me? [ she can't help the pleased smile from the declaration of friendship and the nickname, even after a month of acquaintance. a glance back, which confirms that there's nothing pressing happening in the kitchen. some cleaning, which can wait or be dealt with magically; a dough is proving in a cupboard, also not really an issue.

she turns back, eyes bright.

the thing most likely to motivate her to practice is, as always, companionship. ]

Shields again, or did you have something in mind?

[weatherscience]

[ it's the first time she's referring to yanli with that way of address directly and not just in her head — she's glad her friend doesn't seem offended by it. but then, with such a sweet disposition, maybe she's just not the type.

unlike yanli, nami actually loves to practice... and for this time, she has a request. ]

Mm, it's kind of both! There's something I want to try... but I can't really try it anywhere around people. At least, people who can't form a good shield.

[ obviously, nami has heard yanli sigh about the fact that she can't really get her family to practice defense spells with her by shooting at her or something... so it's two birds with one stone, right? nami gets to try a spell, and yanli gets to see if her defense really holds in the face of real danger. ]

But I believe you're strong enough to shield everything around me!

[rootstalks]

[ even better, really. she can't be offended by good intentions, and when nami is so friendly with her brother into the bargain, she really can do no wrong.

the idea of shielding against something makes her as nervous as ever, but nami doesn't have the same tendency as her family to treat her like breakable dishware, so it's easier to face. somehow? ]

Something like evocation? [ she ducks back into the kitchen, and lets herself out via the door into the yard. ] I can certainly try.

[weatherscience]

[ it's funny how much trust can do — nami is well used to it, the unshakable and implicit trust luffy places on every single member of the straw hats, and the way that trust makes it impossible to even think of failure.

perhaps without realizing, she shows that same kind of trust in yanli... a belief that she can do it, can maintain the shield, because the thought she wouldn't be able to hasn't even crossed her mind. ]

Mm, exactly! You see... back home, I used a special kind of science, to be able to hatch thunder clouds. I want to try it here — not hatching them, but calling forth thunder! Wind already responds to me, and I can create electricity... but I want to try real lightning.

[ her eyes are sparkling; just the thought, being able to replicate thunderbolt tempo with nothing but her magic... it's exciting! ]