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onceuponacomm2021-06-28 10:01 am
faentasy) wrote in onceuponacomm2021-06-28 10:01 am
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 5
Almost half of the non-fairy population of Aira Niluc is gone.
Some may be feeling the absence of their fellow participants in this story. Others will stay focused on the wish they want to get. What never changes is that the story goes on, bringing you closer to the end -- and to another chapter. What will it bring this time?
Snow!
Snow as far as the eye can see, a cold blanket covering the new area. Some winter amenities are now available, ready for perusal! But that's not all there's to find: everyone also will find reminders of their homes, of people they know, of happier times.
Of their wishes.
Who will try to reach their wish this time?
[[Welcome to Week 5! Feel free to make top levels at your discretion, and remember to note it in your header if you plan on investigating any locations. However, please try to keep investigations to Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday! You can also privately contact Hamelin at your leisure.
In addition, a reminder that any Murder Proposals for this week are due by Tuesday 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST! However, please note that you have the option of submitting murder proposals for a later week as well.]]
Investigation go!
[It's perhaps impossible not to be drawn to the newly opened swathes of snow, the polar opposite of the desert that was inflicted on them not-so-long-ago-but-feels-like-months-ago. It's quiet, it's lovely, it's all pristine and untarnished and it seems like there's no one for miles aroun--
Something rustles overhead. Something that sounds distinctly like the wind through the pines, but it's followed by a thunk and then a whump and then several more rustles in a row that sound faster and more ominous--
... Anyone passing underneath the pines in the new area will find that they have a tendency to outright dump snow on their heads, and also that one (1) Jack Vessalius has made the wonderful life choice of literally climbing through pine needles and scraping over pine bark to go halfway up a tree chasing one of the will-o'-the-wisps. He's up there half-draped in Christmas lights looking like an elf of some sort, reaching recklessly out for the little ball of light.]
Come, now... Must you be like this, come here...!
[This will end well.
Alternatively, you can spot him having caught one of them somehow, settled quietly high up in one of the trees. He's considerably harder to spot then, though, because he manages to be about as still and silent as a snowdrift for once.]
II. Some of Those Who Wander are Definitely Lost (Ice Maze)
[When he's not being a ridiculous tree ornament, Jack is mostly to be found in the maze; by the time he gets in there though his cheeks are red from the cold and you may be able to follow the sound of a sneeze or two despite the fact that he's quite practically (perhaps surprisingly) decked out in prime winter wear.
He doesn't seem particularly interested in getting back into the warmth, though; much of the time you'll stumble across him sitting on one of the tree roots or decorative ice vines either dazedly contemplating the snowfall or possibly that section of reflective wall (there is possibly snow on him by this point) or flopped on the ground heedless of his outfit making snow angels in the middle of the eldritch section.
Nothing to spruce up your gnarled hands and eyeballs like snow angels in a coat that make them look rather more like snowjellies.]
Ah, I find I've really missed the snowfall. I could stay here all day...
Did you want to try making one of these? I think it goes well, either way.
III. Pagan My Way Downtown, Walkin' Fast (Church/Investigation)
[Given the elusiveness of fairy intervention lately, perhaps the best way to find one of the creatures is to run directly into the church? Surely? Surely! Jack is going to finally get out of the cold at some point (hopefully it's warm in there because he is not smart enough to come in without being outright half-frozen) to invade the little church and call for fairies.]
Ah, is anyone here? I really would like to hold a conversation with the fairies in charge one of these days...
[He's so good at this. But on that note, is there anything or anypixie of note in the church?]
pines;
He definitely has snow in his hair but hasn't been able to get it out properly by the time he spots the other doing what he's doing. ]
Jack? Why are you chasing that thing?
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You'd think he'd never seen some half-baked blond climbing an unnecessarily spiky tree and being a total nuisance while chasing a blob of light he could probably find much more easily on the ground, but Jack... Jack doesn't even look away from his task, possibly because he's now leaning slightly out of the tree to do it. This is safe. This is fine!
He does answer though, after a moment of intense focus and a missed swipe.]
Hello, Nie Huaisang. [a little dreamily] I thought I caught a glimpse, of something I'd forgotten. Or something... These little wisps are not as they seem-- Wah--
[Sentimentality is all well and good but we're back at gremlin elf hours because his foot just slipped and he flopped down to the next branch with another load of snow. This Is Fine.]
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...which proves to be the right call because the other ends up falling straight out of the tree and into a bank of snow. ]
Ah, Jack? Jack!
[ He'll hurry right on over and peer at him to see how much of a disaster the other looked now. I mean to check for injuries. ]
A-are you alright...?
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Who decided that pine tree branches would be so very much more delicate than the rest of the trees around here?? They're so brittle despite being so full of needles and other inconveniences, they really are the very worst for climbing -- though granted, nobody asked Jack to go harass the foliage.
There's just a muffled bit of flailing and then a silly wheezing noise before Jack pops his head out of the snowdrift, having slid down several more branches like the worst approximation of their weekly tree slide ever.]
I'm aliiive... I think. I can't really feel my hair, but I think that's normal too. It felt kind of safer than the one Hamelin gave us, though.
[... That one is a lot higher, granted. He starts trying to brush snow off of himself but owing to still being under the pine all he gets is dislodging more of it. Sputtering through a mouthful of snow:]
Ah, I almost had it, I really did.
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He's glad for once he did not embarrass himself to that point. Then again, he sure did have his share from when he was on the ice rink, so maybe he shouldn't talk (or maybe 'think' but that didn't make much sense, narratively speaking.) ]
Safer?
[ He'll watch as Jack eloquently spat out a mouthful of snow. ]
Maybe you shouldn't go after the troublesome ones? I'm not sure if you should be going after them at all, to be honest...
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A little resignation, for it doesn't seem like he'll catch it again any time soon. He's a bit too snowlogged for that.
Huaisang gets a sigh over all his bulkier clothes.]
They're warm, and I really wanted to see that one. I thought... [he reaches up his hands and cups them around the place the wisp is in the sky] I thought I heard something when I found it. Like a voice I'd forgotten or a far-off melody...
And what else should we do here, other than catch them?
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Anyway. ]
If you're asking me for advice I'd have to say I don't really know, generally speaking. [ Wow] But when it comes to going into difficult places to get to it, what else should be done except ignore it and stay away?! I'd rather not go and break my neck, thanks...
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There's a soft little chuckle and Jack finally sits up to look at him; so at least he's been distracted from his dubious quest a little bit.]
I'm sure I've climbed higher before... though not so much in the snow. I may have gotten carried away. [just... scratching his nose a little and dislodging more snow, a little sheepishly] But have you caught any?
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...When Jack finally stops, Huaisang considers his efforts as not having been fruitless at all. No worries about someone getting a broken neck from nonsense! ]
You've climbed higher before? Could it be it was a mountain?
[ At the question, he'll look confused, and then shake his head. ]
No, not really. I haven't caught any of those in my hands, if that's what you mean?
ice maze!
[ She peers over him. Hello! ]
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[Only semi-serious, a little droll -- he peers back up at her, but probably like, upside down and with snow all up in his hair. He wiggles his arms and legs a little more like the marine mammal he may or may not be simulating -- then takes a moment to free his braid and brush it off a bit. The snow really is starting to stick at this point...
Still, though, he doesn't seem in a particular hurry to get out of it. Instead, he folds his hands on his chest and looks for all the world like a schoolboy with too much time and snow on his hands.]
It's been some time since I've played in the snow, so perhaps I got carried away.
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[ A snowy-poly instead of a roly-poly? ]
Or perhaps something else?
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[Not that the snow has done anything thus far, but the bugs are not features!! They are not!! He stretches out his arms again and gently describes the arcs of the snow with them, flapping them properly like he's about to take off... from a horizontal position... probably into a maze wall.
We are attempting things in this house.]
This is a snow angel, at least the way I was taught. It may not look like much, but the more people you get to make them, the more powerful they grow...
I thought we could use... more guardian angels here. They are fun to make, too.
[Well, it's been a week since their resident guardian(?) angel vanished without a trace, so surely it's about time they made terrible snowy replicas of him.]
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Sir Lucifer was the first angel I’ve ever met. [ She had also assumed all angels had two wings like in the storybooks, but after seeing Lucifer, maybe her world is just dead wrong - like it is about a lot of things. ]
How will you make the other four wings?
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I've never met an angel before either? They're usually in storybooks, or pictures, or songs -- or things like this. I really did not expect any of that.
[Like, the meeting, mostly. But also the wings?? The wings. The coffee is another thing. The murder...... well. Anyway. He sits up after a moment and sort of flaps a hand sheepishly.]
I hadn't thought about the number of wings, to tell the truth. I don't think I left enough room for quite that many.
Perhaps I should make everything bigger...?
[I can't believe they're going to start a snow angel crop circle art program.]
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[ Multiple wings, unusual and probably unnecessary, but still not too outlandish for a mythical divine being. The pink color, however?????
And also speaking of which: how will Jack make them pink? ]
Bigger is always better, as they say. Maybe...?
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[Do angels need camouflage???
He's pretty sure Lucifer doesn't, er, didn't actually change colors with the sky like some sort of bizarre cloud-cover mood ring (not that they probably have mood rings but bear with me here, meta-chan). But then... why pink... they're nice but... why pink.......
The questions never end!!]
It does make them a little harder to reproduce in snow, though. Hmm... [he'll scoot down a little bit to make the angelic torso?? longer] I could simply keep going like this, or we could -- link a few angels?
[Yuri gets an appealing look, for real this time. Help him?]
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Unfortunately there are no singing fairies in the church, so finding the leader fairy will have to be an uncompleted quest for now. But while there aren't any fairies in the church, Jack will spot a bouquet of flowers on one of the pews. ]
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But Jack is not lucky enough to be homebound, so here we are, still moseying around in a church he can only vaguely recognize as probably a holy or a spiritual location -- but flowers are a thing he recognizes. Time to approach and get a better look. What type of flowers are they? Are they fresh?]
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The flowers are a fresh, bundle of purple hyacinths. They're neatly laid in one of the front pews, so anyone just moseying through the Church is liable to miss them. ]
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Is there anything else unusual about the pew or its general area? Otherwise he'll just walk off with this bundle of flowers. Anything else unusual going on with the rest of the church, also?]
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Nothing else is off about the pew and Edelgard has the other item in the church so you're good to go here. Enjoy your flowers, Jack! ]