( ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ ) ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴛɪᴅɪɴɢs | ( ɴᴘᴄ ᴘᴏsᴛ )

[acatastoria]

[ there is a sudden sparking that emits from your magical watches and a hologram appears, showing a petit woman with dark hair. her eyes seem to hold a certain amount of mischief and light, and when she speaks, you listen. it's something about her; you are captivated by her presence, and you can't help but give her your attention. ]

Hello, hello, hello~! ♥

[ it's a trill of a voice, light and airy. ]

I know you've all just arrived~♥ but I wanted to introduce myself! To those who haven't met me, my name is Astoria! I know many of you are likely unhappy with being found here, and I understand. But the need is urgent, and dire, and I am in desperate need of your help, as is the universe in which we reside. There is much darkness, in this universe . . . plenty of worlds on the brink of collapse, or at the precipice of something great. It is my job -- our job -- to help where needed. Like superheroes, but a little less flashy!

[ she pauses. ]

No offense to the superheroes. -- but anyway! I want to let you know were we're going to go first.

[ she takes in a D E E P breath!! ]

There is a city, by the name of El Minha. It's beautiful, an oasis in the desert. There are many shops and stalls and the entire city is bustling, but El Minha is facing a difficult path. Transitions of power are hard, you know? And they have a new King, who is . . . probably nice, but the people there are suffering. Crime is at an all-time high, and King Kathashun can only do so much . . . if he's doing anything at all.

[ she brushes a loose piece of hair behind her ear, and astoria smiles a little. it is obvious, by now, that she's definitely bubbly and full of spirit, but she is deadly serious about her mission. ]

I truly believe that we have the ability to help those who need it most, and those people are in desperate need. So we're going to go there, explore, and talk to them! And maybe, just maybe, we can affect some good in this world, and change the tide for the better for these poor people.

[ she pauses. ]

So that's where we're going first! But before that, I'm here to greet you, to support you, and welcome you to my beautiful Temple. Please, please, please make yourselves at home! I'll be here if you have any questions. ♥

[ astoria pauses before lifting up a single finger, as if she's forgotten something important. ]

Oh, and please let me know if you find anything interesting or important or otherwise peculiar in the Temple! The Forest of the Fey is a magical place, and I'm keeping a careful eye on all of you explorers to make sure you don't get too lost, but my dear friends within the forest may like playing with you all, so be respectful of the wildlife! It may fight back. ♥

[ is she serious? the world may never know. ]

Comments

[ video ]

[buff_for_a_nerd]

[ Sam's been listening in to Astoria's conversations with several of the others, since he's definitely interested in gleaning what he can about her now that they're able to talk to her directly. It's a bit unsettling to realize just how easy it is to listen to her talk, she's entrancing in ways that he's naturally wary of, but by all appearances she seems to be exactly what she claims to be.

As crazy as all of this is, and Sam's used to crazy, she's asking for their help and... well, he's not without his reservations, but he's going to try. There's no obvious reason not to, especially since they're not going anywhere else anytime soon. They did just help fix the balance of Light and Darkness where he's from after all, so he's not taking this too lightly.

The face that appears on screen here is fairly resolute, but it's not unfriendly, even if he is determined not to be unnecessarily swayed by her cheerful, bubbly tone. He knows better than to be drawn in by a pretty girl, okay. ]

I know this is kind of a personal question but... what are you, exactly? The witches I've met are - or were - human, but you don't seem much like them.

[ video ]

[acatastoria]

Hi, Sam.

[ cheerfully enough, though her expression does dampen slightly at the question. not because she's offended, but because it's a hard one to answer.

B U T she offers a faint twitch of her lips, a playful grin, and she crosses her arms, squinting her eyes a little bit, trying to remember what world she pulled him from . . . it's got a lot of darkness in it, that's for sure, monsters and . . . sam has a particular set of skills, right? something like that.

either way: a good soul, but dangerous. like a lot of the people she brought here. he'll be fine. ]

I'll tell you if you promise not to try and -- hunt me, is that right?

[buff_for_a_nerd]

[ Well, this is a little awkward. Not new, though. ]

I can promise that as long as you're not using your powers to hurt innocent people, you don't have to worry about me trying to kill you.

[ It may not be as reassuring as a simple 'I won't' but that's not a promise he can make in good conscience. He knows from painful personal experience that even people with the best of intentions can end up doing terrible things, and if that happens someone has to stop them, as difficult as it might be. It's nothing more than what he expects from anyone else.

But at least it's not anything like a 'put us all back or else' kind of situation which some other hunters might have turned it into. ]

1/2

[acatastoria]

Fair enough.

[ and, indeed, it is. ]

I'm not human. I'm old, but I don't know how old I am. I've been called a lot of things . . . Creation, Destruction, Light, Dark, Balance . . . I'm magic. I can't live without it. And I'm meant to ensure there's an even keel in the universe. But I prefer to be called Astoria, and I like being called a witch.

[ that's really all there is to it. she doesn't know, specifically, what to call herself. ]

[acatastoria]

-- or Lady Astoria the Witchess-san, that's what some people are calling me.

[ (: ]

[buff_for_a_nerd]

[ Sam's lips twitch into a smile. ]

That's a bit of a mouthful. I think I'll just stick with Astoria if you don't mind.

[ Her description immediately reminds him of Death, who was also old beyond knowing. And it kind of makes sense. If Death, Light and Darkness are forces that can personify themselves into a human form, then why not Magic? ]

Sounds like it must have been pretty lonely being stuck here all by yourself.

[ He can practically hear his brother's voice in the back of his head 'she's some kinda mystical force of the universe, Sam, how would she have feelings?' but Sam can see how happy she is talk to all of them, and he doesn't think that's just down to the fact that they're presumably all on board to help her. ]

[acatastoria]

[ her brow furrows slightly, at the comment, and she lets out a long breath, her cheeks puffing out slightly. ]

I guess that's a word for it. [ it has been lonely, being stuck here. she's not entirely sure how long she's been trapped, but it's been long enough for the balance to start to shift . . . keeping track of time here is hard, at the best of times. ] It is nice to see people, again. I usually spend time on other worlds, making sure everything is alright . . . it's been awhile since I've been able to do that.

[buff_for_a_nerd]

[ The slightly rueful smile that Sam responds with is clearly sympathetic. As wary as he is of forces beyond his comprehension, his instincts are telling him that she's being as honest about all of this as she can be. And being human isn't a requirement for having feelings, after all, not in his book. ]

What changed? That ended up keeping you linked to this place, I mean.

[acatastoria]

I don't know.

[ she purses her lips. ]

It's been happening steadily, over time, I think. The magic in this world is supposed to . . . do what I say, but it's not really giving me the opportunity to talk to the Temple or the Forest like I used to. Something is all clogged up, and every time I try to leave, it's -- the world stops me.

[buff_for_a_nerd]

[ Sam nods distractedly. Something is definitely throwing off the balance, but it's not like his own recent experience with the Darkness, which had a very obvious source, even if that didn't make it much easier to deal with until they worked out the underlying issues. ]

It might be protecting you.

[ Whatever's doing this, it seems likely that it's not friendly. Whether or not it's any intentional force keeping her here, it's reasonable to assume that she's safer here. ]

We'll fix this. I doubt it'll be easy, but I've made it through some pretty impossible situations before.

[acatastoria]

[ she pauses. ]

-- maybe.

[ she hadn't thought of it that way before, and she almost sounds a little more hopeful, now. ]

That's a nicer thought than the world suddenly not working . . . protecting me means I didn't do something wrong to make it angry.