acatalepsy_rpg | ( ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ ) ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴛɪᴅɪɴɢs

( ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ ) ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴛɪᴅɪɴɢs | ( ɴᴘᴄ ᴘᴏsᴛ )

[ 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. ]

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Well, no offense, but it's a little bit human nature-y to be a little dark sometimes, right?

[ with a slight shrug of her shoulders. ]

But there's quite a lot of it, in this universe, and I'm not sure if it's because people are naturally becoming darker, or if it's because there's more people than ever, or if something is causing people to go rogue . . . El Minha is fairly stable, but it's at the brink of something pretty catastrophic if we don't do something about it. One way or another, that city is going to change. It's up to us to assist the people through that.

[...]

No offense taken. So, you have no idea what made the universe this bad. Humans being humans isn't going to account for everything in the universe. ...I'd like to discuss why you took us more in detail later. If you'll let me.

So, I'll focus on this first. What are the factions within the city?

I'm here, for whatever you need me for.

[ read: she'll talk to you, shiro, if you ask. but she understands the shift in conversation, and topic, and astoria nods. ]

El Minha is a monarchy, ruled by King Kathashun. He's young -- a baby, really, to me, but he's human, so likely twenty seasons or so? [ astoria isn't super sure, but she doesn't appear to be lying. ] He's recently inherited the throne and his father wasn't exactly . . . loved by the people.

There's a lot of resistance in the city to the Crown by a group of people called the Syndicate. They're criminals, for the most part, but I don't think they kill people. It's hard to get a lot of information when you can't quite go there, you know? I know through the whispers in the universe and sometimes the little proverbial birdies get lost in the shuffle. But the Syndicate has a pretty good grip on the city, and the King wants them gone. And their heads. Probably.

[ astoria shrugs a little. ]

They handle things with guillotines over there, I think.

[He lifts an eyebrow. Whispers in the universe? He tries to wrap his head around that and that a human roughly his own age is a baby to her. Focus. Info first.]

Okay...how, [The more he turns it over in his head the more he has to ask one question. He can't forget the list of names for arrest or the way the city of Shehui became more and more like a prison.] How receptive is this city to magic users? We're not walking into potentially having our own heads at risk just for that, are we?

Oh, no, there's plenty of magic in the city! Just don't use it to be . . . you know, particularly naughty.

[ don't steal shit and don't hurt people with magic and you'll be fine. ]

I think the King uses magic -- or it might be his Crown Guard. -- it doesn't really matter, you can use your powers! Just don't, you know, hurt anybody and people will leave you alone.

[He lets out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He'll have to check for himself to be sure. Shiro nods, letting that go.]

What about the previous king? Specifically, how much have you heard about what they did and how it affected the city. Is there anything we should know about the surrounding area?

I don't know much about the previous king except that his son isn't exactly sad he's dead.

[ it's said a bit blithely, but astoria is telling the truth. she is a deeply magical being, and the new king has magic about him -- astoria can sense it, when she peers into the world. but other than that, she really doesn't know much. ]

El Minha is surrounded by a harsh desert, though -- you're better off staying inside the city. I wouldn't wander very far; I'm not going to be able to rescue you outside of the city, and it'll be dangerous if you stray too far.

Are you going with us or observing from here? [Rescue sounds suspiciously like they'll be sent in on their own.]

I'm bound to this Temple, unfortunately. I wish I could go with you.

[ she sounds . . . rueful, at best, and frustrated, at worst. ]

Whatever magic is blocking your own powers is also keeping me here. The Temple, and the Forest, are fighting with me. I don't know why. It's a recent development . . . hence why you're all here. But I'll figure that out on my own. I won't ask you to risk yourselves to figure out my difficulties here.

[ she pauses. ]

Once I can work with the Temple and the Forest to allow my form to leave this place again, I can return to doing my own work. But until then, I have to ask for your help.

...how should the Temple and Forest be responding to you? If we're going to be using this place too it makes no sense not to investigate why it's acting strange.

But, to have this correctly. As long as we stay in the city, you can pull us out if goes south? Are you going to be watching the whole time or would we need to contact you?

I'll be watching; there's no need to contact me. I can feel all of you, through the Temple, and through the gifts I've given you. I'll be able to pull you out if anything goes wrong. I don't want any of you to get hurt.

[ she, for once, sounds deadly serious. ]

Edited 2018-05-08 00:52 (UTC)

. . . as for the Temple and the Forest, I was born here. Created here? I don't really know, it was so long ago. We're supposed to be one. The magic that runs through me is the same magic that maintains this place. But lately, it's been . . . disconnected. Any attempt I've made to leave this place has been met with a lot of . . . well. It's hurt, to put it lightly.

[ intense pain. a sudden draining in magic. astoria is stuck here. ]

And while I appreciate the offer, Shiro, I want you to focus on El Minha, first. If you can handle that, then we can talk about me.

We will focus on that first. For now. [Discussing the temple and the forest is going to come up again. Just not right now.]

Anything else you can tell me that you feel we should know before we enter this situation?

[ it's a good question, and a big one, and she closes her eyes for a long moment. to think, to listen, and she tilts her head slightly, her brow furrowing . . . ]

-- try to get an audience with the King.

[ absently, and she opens her eyes, blinking once or twice, and if shiro is paying attention, he can see the very corners of her eyes are crackling with the faintest remnants of a purple-ish energy, which fades away in the literal blink of an eye. ]

I think he, more than anyone, will be able to tell you what is happening. He may be your best chance at turning the tide, if the tide needs to be turned at all.

[He notices that shift in the eyes but isn't feeling up to bringing that up while he waits on Keith.]

Thank you for telling me all that you could. I'll see what I can do about getting that audience. And thank you for hearing all of us out. I appreciate you're willing to talk to us.

The fate of the universe is a little more important than having to talk to a group of people, I think.

[ with a warm smile, and a shrug of her shoulders. ]

I'd rather be honest with you all than not. That makes more sense, doesn't it?

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( ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ ) ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴛɪᴅɪɴɢs | ( ɴᴘᴄ ᴘᴏsᴛ )

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