Out of the mid-wood's twilight into the meadow's dawn | OTA

[faithlikeaseed]

Who: fauns fauns FAUNS (and their enablers) (and anyone else)
When: Octeuril 31st
Where: The Haven
What: Somebody set up a trap specifically designed for Fauns. Or tried, anyway.
Warnings: F for Faunery; warnings per thread as needed!


It's a lovely day in Aefenglom and you are a horrible beautiful Faun.

Somewhere between the evening of the 30th and the midnight advent of the 31st, a disused corner of the Haven has turned into a patch of cultivated wilderness. Somewhere a little after midnight on the 31st, and the beginning of the full moons, several Fauns (and one or two others, Monsters and Witches alike) received an enthusiastic if slightly garbled written invitation to come see what awaits.

Gourd vines of all descriptions drape an abandoned cottage, its floating terraces, and half of a nearby house. Flowers in a riot of colors decorate them, some glowing softly and others exuding a fragrant perfume. The fruits hanging pendant or nestled on the ground defy description and beg to be tasted: There are tiny pumpkins no larger than grapes, thin-skinned and sweet, while massive savory marrows lurk in the underbrush to trip the unwary. A rare fist-sized specimen glimmers with enchantment and grants a rush of energy when eaten--along with fleeting, unpredictable changes (horns, fur, hooves) that make one a little more faunish for an hour or two.

Cheap furniture, clotheslines, and hanging sheets have been used to roughly shape the vines into an impromptu maze. The design's irregular, wandering, like whoever planned the corridors couldn't see what he was doing. It wanders in and out of the cottage, pouching into dead-ends and cozy little clearings that might fit two comfortably and three if they're familiar. Some of them have benches in them; others, piles of pillows; and still others are carpeted in thick and flowering moss. Heavy quilts in a riot of colors and patterns can be found neatly folded in the buildings, waiting for chilled revelers to find them. There are also covered braziers for the truly cold, though they seem powered by magic and not by flame.

Food and drink are lavishly if haphazardly provided, spread out through the bowers like a treasure hunt. Casks of mead with cups attendant, bowls of honey candy and glazed nuts, fruit both fresh and dried, and a variety of different sorts of cheese provide an ample repast (so long as one's not hungry for blood or meat). Entertainment's on the guests to provide, with simple musical instruments (mostly pipes, an occasional lap-harp) gracing many of the grottos; others have toys and games, of varieties both innocent...and not...strewn about them.

There are also oddities here and there in the maze, like the bower where someone took painstaking care to tie a half-hundred feathers to the low vine ceiling. Another nook teams with stingless bees of all varieties during the day. What else might await someone who's looking?

Comments

[wylderrant]

Oh, no, I was asking what you wanted to do. If you'd like to keep wandering, I've no issue at all. [ Her smile grows into a grin and she turns to go back the way they've come, offering him her elbow to hold onto. They can be proper about it. ]

I think it depends on the maze, honestly. [ She's happy to chatter as they walk, winding back into the maze. They pass the intersection that took them to the dead-end and she goes the opposite direction. ]

Some do, some don't. Some you just get the pleasure of making it to the middle.

[braidmage]

[ Reynir can't help it; he gives a little bounce of happiness when she agrees to keep going through the maze. The full moon is messing with every Monster's inhibitions, and while for many fauns that might mean competitiveness and butting heads (perhaps literally), in Reynir it is drawing out a kind of childish glee. It is, at that moment, more obvious than usual that while he's fully grown, he's not many years past being a teen.

It's lucky that Iramaat doesn't mind chattering, because Reynir has started now and it doesn't seem like much is going to stop him. ]

I'm Reynir, by the way. I should've introduced myself earlier, I came to this party because I wanted to meet more fauns because I don't have a lot of faun friends and I want to, but that's not gonna happen if I forget to tell anybody my name!

[ He seems perfectly content to let her steer them, choosing which paths to take in the maze, though he cranes his neck to peer down all the turns that they don't take.

As much as he is rambling, however, Reynir hasn't lost all self-consciousness, and adds: ]

Also if I'm talking too much just tell me, I know I get on people's nerves even when it's not the full moon, so I'm probably double annoying now but I can try not to be.

[wylderrant]

[ Iramaat finds the glee rather endearing, honestly. Her bond means she's not quite as given to indulging in a lot of fighting just yet, but she has been imbibing copious amounts of alcohol throughout the night so she's a little loose and relaxed. Especially when it comes to wandering around a maze in the dark with a new-found friend. She pats his arms with a laugh. ]

Don't think anything of it. I'm sure you'll fit right in with all the other fauns here - I'm Iramaat, by the by. Pleased to meet you.

[ She navigates them a little further. A right, then a left. ]

Oh, I don't mind at all. Talk to your heart's content. It's wonderful to meet someone with so much enthusiasm!

[ Oh, dear, they've found another dead end. Hmm. ]

[braidmage]

Iramaat? That's such a cool name!

[ And it's one that he's never heard before, in his entire life. Which might not be all the exciting, to someone else. But where Reynir had grown up, he'd known the names of everyone in the village, and they all took their names from names that had been in their families for generations, and while he appreciates the tradition of it all... well, it's nice hearing something different. Meeting someone different. ]

Really, do you think so? I hope I do fit in, 'cause making friends in a big city like this is a lot harder than I realized. Especially when everybody's from such different worlds and - well.

[ He trails off, still smiling, but it's gone a little wry and lopsided. ]

A lot of the time when I talk about mine, it sort of just makes people upset? And that's not really a great friendship starter.

[ The maze winds them past a little stand of drinks, and Reynir pauses them both long enough to grab one, taking it with him as they continue on through the maze. ]

I wonder who put all this up.

[wylderrant]

I have a sneaking suspicion, but I can't be sure.

[ She responds to that last question with an airy wave and a laugh and then she focuses in on something else he's just said. It intrigues her. ]

Why would talking about your world make people upset, though? I don't understand that part. Surely your world is just as interesting as any other. Or is it something about that particularly upsets people...?

[braidmage]

Do you? That's cool!

[ This boy is, it would seem, pretty easily impressed. He can take the hint, though, when she moves on without actually naming her suspect. Chances are it won't be a name Reynir has heard, anyway. ]

I've never gotten an anonymous invitation to a party before, I almost didn't come. I'm really glad I did, though.

[ Her questions about his world aren't all that unexpected, but he's still unsure how to answer at first. After all, if his explanation of why it depresses people just ends up depressing her, then he's just ruined the good mood for no reason. But he also recognizes how annoying it is, when people make vague ominous allusions and then refuse to explain them.

So, with a quick little sigh, he decides he might as well. He likes Iramaat, would like to get to be friends with her. But there's no way that's workable in the long run without being able to talk at least a little bit about the place he's from. ]

Well... it's sort of, um. How do I put this? To me, my world's just - the world. I'm used to it the way it is. So I don't think of it is as, like... a tragedy. But there's a lot of people here from Earth, different versions of Earth. And in the version I come from, a lot of their homelands are not really... inhabited anymore. Because everyone died. There was a disease, 90 years ago. And I guess there's a lot of stuff that I'm totally used to that other people find like. Kinda dark or messed up.

[ Reynir gives a shrug as if to say what are you gonna do? He does his best, not to immediately tell people things that are, to his mind, upsetting. But there are so many things that are accepted facts of life to him that are horrific to others, people who were brought from version of the Old World, and censoring himself for those things is difficult... ]

[wylderrant]

Oh? That's sad, I suppose, but it's not like they live there. They're not dead. Their families aren't dying. Why should they care what happened in your world?

[ At times, Iramaat can be quite callous, although this time it might actually work to her favor. She answers his shrug with one of her own as she turns another corner, peering ahead into the maze. Half the fun is getting lost, to be fair, so she really doesn't mind that she has no idea where she's going. ]

Let them be upset. It's not your fault they're so sensitive.

[ She may not be the best person to take emotional advice from, though. ]

[braidmage]

Right?!

[ Callous or not, it's a great relief to Reynir that she reacts in this way; his worry dissipates in a moment and he's back to unfettered cheer, grinning and shaking his head at all those people. It isn't as if he went around telling people about awful things that had happened to him, or even within his own lifetime - then an expression of sympathy and sadness would be understandable.

But the fall of the Old World had happened before his parents were born. It's not that he doesn't care, but... it's just history. History is shitty and sad. He's pretty sure that was true even before the Illness. ]

Well - I, I know it's not my fault, it just makes it hard to - make friends you know, I have to watch what I say and I've never been very good at that and it's like. Total minefield.

[ He huffs a dramatically exasperated sigh, but then beams at her. The implication being that it is a relief, that she is clearly not so sensitive. ]

What's your world like?

[ Reynir is still interested in the answer, even as they turn a corner in the maze and come upon a little open space, covered in the greenest, springiest-looking moss Reynir has ever seen. He lets out a little ooh and quickly crouches down to run a hand over it, delighted by it. ]

[wylderrant]

I think I understand the feeling. I've never really let that sort of thing get in the way of what I wanted to say, although I also don't come from a world with a history quite like that.

[ It might, to be fair. She's never actually looked too much into the mortal history of her own world and she doesn't have the opportunity now. But why worry? ]

It's... a bit like this one. It's got a lot of strange creatures and magic and all that sort of thing. I don't know much about the humans of that world, though, beyond the obvious. Their history wasn't really that interesting to me...

[ His reaction to the next chamber makes her smile and she settles onto the grass, patting the ground next to her. ]

Would you like to sit for a little while?

[braidmage]

[ Reynir, for his part, is charmed by the idea that she simply says what she wants to say. There's something refreshing in that. One of the reasons he'd been so drawn to Onni in the first place was that he was just - honest. Straightforward. Said what he meant. There hadn't been enough of that, in the tiny village Reynir had grown up in. ]

Oh! Yes, my world has magic, as well. And, um. Well, you could call them strange creatures.

[ Strange, horrible, infectious, nightmare creatures. But he'd rather hear about whatever kinds of beings she was talking about. ]

So... what were you, before you came here, if you weren't human?

[ After a moment, he amends in a rush: ]

Or, um, are you, depending on if you think of 'Faun' as something that's added on top of whatever you already were, rather than replacing it. I - I kinda go back and forth on that one. Like, a lot of the time I don't feel different enough to say I'm not human anymore, but sometimes...

[ He trails off, laughing softly, his hand coming up to brush against those large horns curling out of his red hair. He's much less self-conscious of them than he used to be - along with the other changes - but it's still fraught at times. ]

[wylderrant]

I was not human.

[ She laughs and smiles at him, folding her hands behind her as she settles down into the grass. She pauses and then gestures for him to join her. ]

I was a fae. Or a fair folk. I'm a faun now, which is... different. I can't be a fae any longer. Fae in my world are... ageless, immortal. We have powers of our own. I don't have any of that here.

[ She shrugs, her smile fading a little. ]

Your horns are very fetching. So you needn't worry about that.

[braidmage]

[ He blinks, realizing she has gotten settled and he's still just standing there. A brief tinge of pink colors his cheeks as, embarrassed, he flumps down onto the moss as well, gangly limbs going everywhere for a moment before he just settled on sprawling out, and yes, this is much better. It feels nice laying down, after that mead he'd drunk, and it's good to look up at the sky, at the bright light from the full moon.

It's nice, too, talking to Iramaat even if he can't see her. ]

I don't know anything about fae. It - it must be really scary, being mortal if you were... immortal your whole life before coming here.

[ And that says something about Reynir, doesn't it, that his first thought upon learning Iramaat used to be immortal is to be concerned for how scary it would be for her to lose that. What an awful transition to go through - far worse than what he'd dealt with stressing over silly cosmetic things like horns and being taller and a bit of extra hair and trivial changes to his body like that. ]

Yeah. Before I came here, I was a mage. Not... a very good one, yet, but I'd only just figured out I could do magic, and I was still learning. I can't do any of that here, though. Kinda sucks.

[wylderrant]

Well... it's certainly a shock to the system.

[ Iramaat sighs. ]

I've... adjusted. A bit. It's still something I don't particularly like, but I can't really do anything about it, can I?

[ She lifts her shoulders in a shrug. She honestly detests it, but she doesn't see a way out of it. Not here, not now. Not unless she finds a way home. ]

You wouldn't be the first to lose some of their abilities. I've lost some of mine, for example. It's a strange thing, isn't it? To be thrown into this world and then have to figure out how it works while being so disoriented?