Intro Log: October 2020

[faileas]

Intro Log: October

I. ARRIVAL Out of nowhere, a glint of light catches your eye; your heart thunders in your ears as your body moves on its own, your mind consumed with inspecting the source. Your reflection stares back at you, just as curious from the surface - a mirror, a pool of water, your most trusted sword, something fleeting that your mind can barely remember - then ripples at your touch. A moment later, you feel a tug, and you find yourself stumbling into a dark, musty room. Behind you, a mirror stands ornately decorated with reminders of home wrought in brass and wood: the faces of people you know, and symbols important to you; all things that send a pang through your chest with the desire to return to them. Touching the mirror's surface does nothing but leave the stain of your fingerprints. When you turn to survey the room, you find there are hundreds of other mirrors. None of them are as decorated as yours - they're plain and dusty, speckled with age. Then you realize a second thing: You're not alone. Distantly, the ringing bell of a clocktower can be heard. But no matter its distance, the time is clear to make out: it chimes three times, stark, resonating like a pulse of something in this mirrored hall that you and many others have found yourselves in. For those familiar with magic, they might feel the power of the witching hour upon them, though it will feel different from what they're used to - in fact, everything does. You're certainly not the only ones here, however. On the first floor, with the doors wide open behind them in the foyer, is a small group headed by two individuals. As people begin to arrive, to come from the higher floor, they're waiting - and they're waiting for you, and your questions. Explore the rest of the mirrored halls you've now found yourselves in, or proceed to the foyer? Leaving the Looking-Glass House makes it obvious that the clock striking three was for 3 AM - the night sky is faintly cloudy, but the stars are dim in the face of two moons, even so close to the new moon as it is. The Looking-Glass House is rather nondescript two-story cottage made of grey brick, sitting at the edge of The Coven's courtyard; stones which glow as you step on them mark the path to and from the two buildings. While fairly small and plain on the outside, the inside has been enchanted to be the size of a large library, with hundreds upon hundreds of mirrors hanging, standing, and resting inside its walls. Some are broken, some are cracked, and some seem completely uninjured - but all of them are just as plain as the cottage itself, showing age in the silver beneath their glass and in the greening of their metals... Well, all except a character's personal mirror; to characters, one mirror - the one they came through - will be decorated lavishly with metal-and-wood-wrought reminders of home, and the surface will be as clear as a brand-new mirror.

II. THE WELCOME PARTY Whether you've decided to find a way out of the building you've arrived in, or decided to explore the rest of the Looking-Glass House - and perhaps finding a few familiar faces among the crowd - you feel a pull towards the foyer of the first floor. It's like a firm suggestion, as if to take you by the hand and draw you to where it begins, and the source of it becomes quite apparent upon finding one's way to the front room: a tall, comfortably-dressed older woman and her even taller wolfish companion, along with those which feel to resemble yourselves in a world-traversing sense: Mirrorbound, they're called. "My goodness. In the middle of the month! We weren't expecting you, we weren't!" The woman smiles broadly, with her Bonded glancing over the newly arrived and those who may have followed them in to volunteer explanations and assistance to the newest addition of their Mirrorbound bunch. "Let's get through the introductions, shall we? This here's Mhairi Ainsley, ambassador to the Parliament, and of course, my Bonded. And I'm Nerissa Bell, Head Witch of the Coven -- but you can just call me Miss Nessie, you can," she adds with a wink. "I know you must all be tired and confused after all that. We're here to help get you settled, dearest. Let me just..." With nothing more than a wave of her hand, rows of seats are summoned; despite their wooden nature, they're all sturdy and comfortable, filling the foyer and spreading out a ways into the lawn behind them, making room for all of the new arrivals as well as the previous batch. After all, they'll find this just as interesting. The Witches and Monsters that accompanied Nessie and Mhairi move to make room, and some disperse into the building itself to see if there's anyone who needs tending to. Mhairi steps forward as the chairs materialize. "Please, those who are able, join us for a moment. There are many questions that I'm sure you have. We will do our utmost best to answer them, and you may take any that we can't as a promise to find some sort of solution or answer." NOTE: If you wish to handwave interaction with Nessie and Mhairi, please comment here. All responses will be summarized answers rather than an IC thread. For those that'd like a more player-based interaction, Aefenglom has its own Welcome Wagon! These are players who've volunteered for the role, and those that didn't sign up may assist as well if they'd feel their character would -- have fun, and make friends. Additionally, those with notable injuries or sickness will be attended to ASAP by Coven-based witches, and should anyone be curious about what they are -- namely, if they have magic potential or not -- then this can be done during this and the general hour or so the new arrivals are within the Coven's grounds. There are ongoing classes on magic, monsters, and Bonding as well, though they take place more during the day than at night. Feel free to have your characters attend them at any time!

III. THE HAVEN After an hour or two of general chaos, questions that the natives attempt to help with, and injuries tended to for those who arrive in poor condition, it's time to make the trek to where you'll be staying. As you're leaving -- with Coven and/or Mirrobound escorts as guides -- you'll be given a peculiar-looking device. It's a very special watch, the native Witches explain, compliments of Parliament. These watches are passed around to all the new arrivals, who are given a quick rundown on their functions and encouraged to test them out when they can. They can even do it as they make their way out of the Coven's courtyard and to the Haven. Formerly part of the Aristocratic District, The Haven is just as well-kept and brightly-lit as the district it hails from. The houses err on the tall and ornamental side, large enough to fit several families (or, according to the upper class, their one family, several dozen servants, and guests), especially closest to the Aristocratic District. They become a little more modest and smaller as one gets away from the realm of high society and nearer to the Residential District proper. Newcomers are shuffled here and invited to find somewhere to live, free of cost. The Coven is currently handling expenses for the houses themselves in a program implemented by the Parliament, though if your character wishes to have anything extra -- like maids, chefs, and so on -- they'll have to pay for them with their own earned money. Much of the landscape and fixtures are the same as in the Aristocratic Districts, though it lacks formal emergency services. Much of the housing already has furnishing as well: standard items such as kitchenware, couches, beds, etc. were left behind by the relocated owners for those moving in. Though some are fairly newly-unoccupied, the dust on the floors of other houses suggests they were left long before the new arrivals even showed up -- a reminder that the Cwyld can strike just about anyone, regardless of standing. Another portion of this district has been opened up to the new arrivals: the barracks, the row of buildings pressed against the very edge of the Bright Wall. As the city's military force no longer has the same presence it previously did, the barracks have gone into disuse, and a cleanup effort has been in place since before the new arrivals came through the Looking-Glass House. For those who desire something a little less opulent, the barracks might just be the answer. The barracks can also be used for business, for a welcome center, a communal space, for anything that the residents of the Haven see fit to use them for -- so long as the legality isn't questionable, at least on the surface. To help with filling up the larger houses -- and even some of the smaller ones, or the shared rooms in the barracks -- the Coven put together a little roommate finding service, on a smaller scale from the grand opening of the Haven a while back. For those who aren't entirely sure who they want to shack up with, they have a small survey for them to fill out and post on the board they've magicked up in the center of The Haven. The board also very helpfully reads aloud each form for everyone to hear in a cheerful, monotone voice. It isn't able to be shut up, nor is it easy to ignore, being imbued with a kind of amplification magic. It simply reads the information you've offered up yourself -- or that someone might have written up for you, should that be their idea of fun.

Welcome to the intro log! While mingling on the log itself is highly encouraged, feel free to make your own logs if you prefer! The network system is free to use once characters have their watches as well; information on that can be found at the bottom of the Setting page, while any extra questions about it can be found in the FAQ index. Quests can be picked up throughout the month as well! While new characters will have to get settled in, you can go ahead and put your name on some by replying to the October's Quest Pickup thread on the Quest Board. Finally, if your character is getting into any Shenanigans or if you have any other questions, just let the mods know here!

Comments

[prettyrocks]

[ Oh, hers was definitely a graceless thwump, too. But you're allowed to sugar coat things when you're retelling the story. At least, that's what Tsutha learned from her bard friend Marzia. ]

Oh, I'm a sorceress. I-I mean, a witch. What are you?

[noblegarnet]

[He does brighten up at the mention of the role(?) she was granted, because it means there's the potential of solving this particular problem quickly.]

Uh, the other one. [His brow furrows. That strange dream he had comes back to him, and as uncertain as he is about the connection between that and this, it kind of feels right. He doesn't like that it feels right.] Fairy... m-maybe? Or whatever they called it here...

[... now that they're in person, it feels much more awkward to ask for a bond right out of the gate. It's one thing to do that through an impersonal text message, but now he's floundering a little over his words.]

So, I guess we could technically... work. Unless you wanted. More options. [Please ignore the pink color in his face.]

[prettyrocks]

[ Tsutha tilts her head, regarding him like he's a difficult puzzle she's been tasked with solving. ]

That's weird. You don't look like any Fae creature I've ever seen. You look human.

[ But then, surely there are plenty of Fae creatures that Tsutha's never seen or heard of before. Maybe some of them look human! She doesn't know. ]

Work? [ Oh, right. They were here for a reason. ] Yeah, I guess so. Do you... know how this whole thing works?

[ Are they supposed to do some kind of ritual or something? ]

[noblegarnet]

Yeah, human is what I've always been. [He doesn't like the idea of not being that.] They said it's a process.

[He gets more anxious the more he thinks about it. It's great!! But not having to worry about his mental state and going off the rails would be a huge weight off his shoulders. It's nice that she's just rolling with it, too, which helps him feel less awkward about the whole thing.]

I think there's a spell we'd have to go get someone to do. And we make a contract or something? [He doesn't know how much of that process is necessary and what's just a formality.]

[prettyrocks]

Huh. Okay.

[ Just one big "Huh, okay" to all of that. The process part and the spell part and especially the contract part. ]

I can handle the spell... Probably. My magic isn't really working right, but I heard that if a witch works together with a monster, then it'll work better. I'll leave the contract to you.

[ He can write everything down and she'll sign an "X" for her name. That'll work, right? ]

[noblegarnet]

Oh—uh, alright. [That's a lot of trust she's putting in him! All the more reason to give it due diligence. It's also given him a concrete goal that he can start pursuing himself, which is how he managed to survive for the past six months without losing his mind. He can handle a contract! Or whatever it was.]

Do you want to go... see if we can learn more about it? [He points with his thumb at the Coven, right across the courtyard. As much as he believes she could handle the magical aspect, since she introduced herself as a sorceress, the spell has to be unique to this world, right?]

[prettyrocks]

[ She follows the line of his thumb, and nods. ] Sounds like as good a way to start as any!

[ The thing about Tsutha is that she has a lot of faith in people. Including people she only just met. Sure, this could go horribly wrong, and Ferran could try to take advantage of her and their bond to do some nasty stuff. But she doesn't think he will. And while she's not smart enough to know how to read or write, she does know people. Ferran doesn't seem like a bad guy to her. If he turns out different than how she thought, well... She'll just find a way to break the bond and be on her way. No harm, no foul.

She leads the way across the courtyard over to the Coven, head on a swivel as she marvels at the buildings around them. ]

You know... I haven't been in very many cities. But I think I've been in this one before. In a weird... nightmare thing? Does that sound strange?

[noblegarnet]

[One good thing about Ferran is that he's very dedicated once he's picked a goal, and right now that goal is creating and maintaining a bond that will work for the both of them. Even if the desperation was driven by his fears, the fact that it helps the other person involved is an important part, too, and he intends to take it seriously. Plus he'd really rather not hurt people because of some stupid instinct he's never had before!

Sometimes the goals he picks are not that great, but this one is pretty okay as far as goals go. He listens to Tsutha attentively as they walk, his head a little clearer now that his monster-related anxieties have been soothed.]

Actually...

[So he wasn't the only one, huh?]

I had the same thing. Sort of like this place, but, well—a nightmare. [thanks, captain obvious.] It was a lot more like this place than any other city I'd been to. I had wings in it, too... which is kind of why I guessed fairy.

[prettyrocks]

[ Tsutha nods. That nightmare thing had had other people in it. People who seemed to know where they were and what was going on. Guess they were other Mirrorbound who had been here longer, huh? ]

Oh... I saw someone in the nightmare place who looked like a rabbit person. I thought that was just what her kind of people looked like. But... Do you think she might've been a monster?

[noblegarnet]

I think so. People here seem to be either humans or monsters, for the most part... I met with a person who was covered in feathers, myself, and she told me a little about it.

[Not much, ultimately, because he hadn't asked about that part in depth—it was just a dream, after all, so why would he? Not to mention that the details are still a little fuzzy in his memory. Similarly fuzzy are the gentle explanations of the Coven witches who examined him, since he kind of started... spacing out after their verdict, to put it lightly.]

I wasn't paying enough attention when the people here were telling me about the different kinds.

[prettyrocks]

[ Tsutha nods, thinking back on all the people she'd seen in the Looking-Glass House when she arrived, and the people she's seen since. ]

There sure are a lot of humans around here. [ Not even Meadowwilde was this heavily human-populated. There were still halflings and elves and other races, most everywhere you go on Shartis. Tarl was majority orcs but even there there was some variety.

She scratches her neck, beginning to feel a little out of place. ]

It's weird, isn't it? Taking a person who's one thing and making them into something else.

[noblegarnet]

[Ferran folds his arms, perturbed.]

Yeah. "Weird."

[Try terrible! At least if he turns into a fairy he won't change into something horrific, right? ... Right?? But in order to not have a breakdown about it, he's going to try not to think too deeply on that issue. Something easier to deal with is this:]

There are only humans where I'm from... as far as people.

[prettyrocks]

[ Fortunately or unfortunately, Tsutha has a habit of oversimplifying things and not taking anything too seriously. So yeah, it's weird.

The next thing Ferran says, though, gets her to stop in her tracks, reaching out to put a hand on his arm and looking him in the eye, clearly concerned. ]

Only humans? What-- what happened to everyone else? All the orcs and elves and halflings and all the other races?

[noblegarnet]

[The reaction takes him a little by surprise, if just by how adamant she seems about something having happened. Would he be as surprised by a lack of humans in someone else's world? Maybe not, but probably because of his interest in scifi and fantasy.]

They didn't... go anywhere, or anything. We just don't have them, except for in stories.

[He shrugs helplessly. Sorry??]

[prettyrocks]

You... don't have them. [ That's such a strange concept to her. To only have one race of people populating an entire world... How boring that world must be.

But she is a bit relieved to hear that there wasn't some huge calamitous event that wiped out the rest of the population. At least that's a plus. ]

Wow... [ She lets out a little nervous laugh. ] So I bet you've never seen anybody like me before, huh?

[noblegarnet]

[He gives her a brief nod to confirm, although he would argue that his world is anything but boring, thanks! Humans make plenty of problems for themselves, among other things.]

Not in a way that wasn't a costume. [Renaissance fairs and fantasy conventions are wild.] You look kind of like what we might call an "orc," though.

[Hopefully that doesn't turn out to be a weird insult in her culture! That would be awkward.]

[prettyrocks]

[ Definitely not a weird insult, judging by the way Tsutha's face lights up in delight. ]

No way, that's what I am! Well, a half-orc, anyway. Full blooded orcs are way bigger.

[ Says the six foot four woman. ]

you know i completely forgot she said orc so i'm just gonna be embarrassed forever now

[noblegarnet]

Oh, really?

[It worked out! What a relief. It's good to know his occasional diving into nerdy media might actually come in handy here, somehow, because it sure didn't help him when he got his powers back home.]

That's an interesting coincidence. The same goes for the monsters this place has... we have vampires and things in stories, but that's it. [...] As far as I know.

Maybe there are others like us who know about the races you have in your world.

no worries because i forgot too

[prettyrocks]

[ Coincidences are fun. Tsutha is curious how his world has stories about orcs if they don't exist where he comes from, but that'll be a question for a time when they're not on a mission. They're at the Coven building now, and Tsutha moves to pull the door open and hold it for Ferran to go through. ]

We have vampires too, but not just in stories. Well, I guess they're in stories, too, but the stories are based on real life.

[ It really feels like she has a lot of catching up to do in this new place here. But she'll do her best. ]

oops

[noblegarnet]

Right. I guess that's not surprising.

[He'd probably question it more if she didn't have them, honestly. Ferran thanks Tsutha as he steps inside, heading straight for the Coven witch who's attending whatever equivalent of a front desk they have here.]

Where do we learn how to establish a Bond?

[He's not usually so straight to the point, but even with the assurance that he won't have to keep looking for one, he's still anxious to get it done. As soon as they get any direction, he'll be taking it.]

[prettyrocks]

[ Tsutha steps up to the desk behind Ferran, easily able to look over his shoulder at the greeter witch. She nods, smiling pleasantly, looking maybe a touch too eager for this time of night. But the witch at the desk doesn't seem too put off. Clearly she's used to Mirrorbound people coming in looking to form a bond, because she quickly and calmly points them to a room down the hall to the right, saying that the information they need can be found in there. ]

Great! Thanks! [ Tsutha leans down to whisper (somewhat loudly) in Ferran's ear: ] I think this is gonna be real easy.

[noblegarnet]

[He lets out a sigh of something like relief. Ferran doesn't bother to whisper, at least, although he keeps his voice low to reciprocate her apparent desire to keep quiet.]

At least something will be.

[As tired, anxious, and worn down as he is, he can't help but admire the Coven's interior as they head to their destination. He'll probably be spending a good amount of time here, even if he won't be able to take advantage of everything they can teach.]

It's nice they're so willing to help us.

[prettyrocks]

[ Tsutha's only keeping her voice down because she's been inside fancy-schmancy magic schools before, and she's somewhat intimidated by them. They'd almost gotten arrested in Meadowwilde for trying to throw a party during finals week, and having to flee before Marzia could get put on trial left a mark on her. ]

Mhm! Everyone seems really nice so far. Not just the Mirrorbound people like us, but everybody else, too.

[ They make their way down the hall, passing at first a small, unadorned door labeled "CLOSET," then a fancier looking door labeled "MAGICAL BONDS." Tsutha makes to keep walking, of course, not being able to read the signs on the doors. ]

[noblegarnet]

[Making noise during finals week... say it ain't so, Tsutha...

Ferran, meanwhile, had already spotted the sign from several feet away, and is taken aback when she continues to stride along. Hm! That does start to put some pieces in place.]

Uh, hey—

[He tries to catch her arm before she goes too much further, although his puny teenage boy strength may only do so much to stop her. Whether he succeeds or not, his other hand will point to the appropriate door.]

It's here.

[prettyrocks]

[ She really is a horrible influence. Get out while you can, Ferran!

But in any event, she was pretty much waiting to be stopped and pointed in the right direction, so the hand on her arm is enough to do the trick. ]

Oh? Great!

[ And in she goes!

The room is set up like a library, full of books and scrolls on shelves and desks. There is an older gentleman (presumably a witch) sitting at a desk on the far side, writing something down. He doesn't look up when they enter, instead just speaking as he continues to write. ] I take it you're here to form a bond?