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]

Because I used to be a thief that stole from pirates.

[ she's smiling, but it's more subdued than usual — it's not a particularly pleasant part of her past, the ten years she worked for arlong and tried to steal enough to buy her town's freedom.

... that, and she hates the thought of him judging her for having been a thief, when it wasn't something she wanted but rather did out of necessity.

at least the rain, and the sudden scale appearing on his hand, distracts her from that. her eyes widen and she leans towards him, seemingly delighted. ]

Oh! It's pretty! [ instead of finding this weird, she seems to find it very nice. ]

[lotus_of_rage]

[So the fact that she stole from pirates went completely over his head because there was something more important to clarify]

So it was not about stealing cats?

[Literal translation of the words there...

But as look at his hand, he showed her. The scale was a dark purple, almost blue color with an edge tinged in gold]

It is something that happens now as a merrow. Pretty much any amount of water will start the change, but only to the amount of water there.

[A drop of water encouraged a scale to appear because it was not enough to trigger a full change]

[weatherscience]

[ that is such an unexpected comment that it actually makes her laugh. for her, there hadn't even been a thought that he wouldn't know the meaning, but — ]

No! Not at all! I've never stolen a cat in my life, I swear.

[ she giggles through the explanation, shaking her head a little. so she worried over nothing... good. ]

Ah, so if it only rains a little, you only change that much... but swimming would make you change completely?

[ she finds the whole subject fascinating, and her eyes sparkle as she looks at the scale. but it's starting to rain more and more, enough that the kittens promptly decide to teleport inside the house to avoid being drenched, and nami looks up. ]

Maybe we should go in, too. Unless you want to stay out in the rain? [ she doesn't want to assume; maybe changing is good for him! if that's the case, she doesn't mind — at sea, they can't hide from rainstorms, so she's used to getting soaked in the rain. but if he doesn't want to change more, then going inside the house sounds like a good plan. ]

[lotus_of_rage]

Good. I was concerned about that.

[Oddly, less concerned about her having stolen from pirates. But then again... he had stolen from a crooked man running a game stall and had taken a bunch of stuffed animals... so no one completely had their hands clean here]

Yes, that is correct. It's more localized, but in the water, there is enough that it happens entirely.

[Water normally wasn't a problem. Hadn't been even back home, but he was not prepared to transform. He wore different clothes for transformation than normal]

Yes, let's join them and go inside.

[weatherscience]

As if I'd ever steal animals!

[ look, she had standards!! only stealing from evil people was her m.o., always.

she nods to that, getting up — they'll need to cross the courtyard again, but she picks up her clima-tact again. ]

Wind umbrella!

[ above the staff, she creates a wind current that swirls around, directing all the water away from it and keeping what — or who — is below it dry.

then, gesturing to jiang cheng, ] Let's go, then.

[lotus_of_rage]

[Okay, he could at least appreciate stealing from those who had too much and were not nice people. Well... he was necessarily evil, just horribly grouchy.

As he started walking with her under the wind umbrella]

That is quite a useful tool. People in my world would be rather impressed your cultivation lets you control the weather.

[Yes, he knew it was the weapon and not cultivation persay... but that's what others would think it was]

[weatherscience]

[ she directs a bright grin at him, glancing up at the wind that's covering them. she wonders if she could do it back home, with the science of weatheria, instead of with her magic like now.

... probably. ]

Hmm, really? I guess it's too bad they won't know me, so I can't impress them with my good cultivation skills. [ there's laughter in her tone — of course jiang cheng wouldn't know, but back home, she was one of the members of the crew most frequently underestimated. people looked at her and saw a weak woman, not someone who could strike them with lightning with a twirl of her weapon.

it's not bad, to have someone say there might be people actually impressed by her, somewhere.

though, ] That's not true, though, I think they'd be too distracted by my looks to even think I'd be able to fight, too! [ said with the tone of someone who's had this happen to her countless times. ]

[lotus_of_rage]

Yes, it is a shame that they wouldn't know.

[And he was completely serious about that. He knew that someone able to manipulate the weather would get a lot of attention from cultivation sects and even just villagers. How could it not?

He glanced over at her at the comment. He could tell that she had had this happen to her just by her tone. It was not unexpected. It seemed to be the belief even if in his world that women were the ones needing to be protected. Not if they were a cultivator though]

Perhaps. We have many female cultivators in our world.

[weatherscience]

Mm, it'd be nice to impress someone for once... but on the other hand, I don't care if I never meet them! After all, I've already met you and your sister... I'd just be disappointed by anyone else.

[ she says it with a laugh, but she means it 100% — as far as she's concerned, anyone else from their world isn't going to be as nice as jiang cheng and yanli, so why should she even bother with them?

she's friendly with people, sure, but she's always been selective with who she actually cares about. ]

Hmm, really? Maybe it'd be different, then. Back home, most don't really see me as a threat at all... and I guess when you're with someone like our captain, I'm really not a match at all. [ as she's talking, they make it across the courtyard, and as soon as they're safe from the rain, she lifts the spell.

with a faint smile, she looks up at the rain clouds. ]

At Fishman Island... Luffy defeated fifty thousand men in just an instant. Zoro and Sanji-kun... I think they are each worth ten thousand men. Whereas I could maybe beat a thousand men on my own... compared to them, that's nothing. [ she's not upset, though, because she knows she's invaluable in other ways, like her navigation. none of the crew would get anywhere without her. ]

[lotus_of_rage]

[He smiled faintly at the compliment that he and his sister were the best part. It made him happy to hear that she liked being around them so much. He enjoyed spending time with her as well]

So? That's still a thousand more than someone else would have been able to do. Just because I don't use talismans doesn't make me any less of a cultivator than one who does. Most likely, I am a better swordsman than they are.

[weatherscience]

That's —

[ she pauses in her attempt to contradict him, blinking.

and then she flashes a bright smile at him. ]

Mm, you're right! [ she pauses, considering. ] And I'm sure you are better than them. I mean, you fought just now without any of your abilities from back home, right? I can't imagine how good you are with them.

[ she's sure he was going easy on her, too... and though she lacks the use of her art of weather, her physical abilities are still the same they were back home. at least for her, the magic here makes up for it... but for a moment, she's a bit regretful, just for his abilities. ]

[lotus_of_rage]

[Good. It was meant to be a compliment if a little longwinded to get there. Contradicting him is just silly]

That's right. I don't have the same abilities as back home unfortunately. If I did and wasn't a merrow, Zidian would be my weapon of choice. It would more impressive if I had Zidian.

[And you know... he wouldn't get almost instantly electrocuted if he got hit by any backlash]

[weatherscience]

Hmm, I see...

How does it normally work?

[ she can't help but be curious — swords are straightforward enough, but special attacks or weapons are always a whole different thing. ]

[lotus_of_rage]

[He raised his hand to show her Zidian, which is constantly just a fancy bracelet here]

It becomes a purple whip when I can use my energy.

aaaand we can probably wrap here or in the next one!

[weatherscience]

Oh! That seems amazing... I bet it's pretty.

[ and useful.

but then, li mei and tangerine cause a crash inside the house, and nami looks at jiang cheng, eyes wide — and then rushes in to survey the damage.

looks like they have some kittens to entertain! ]