TEST DRIVE #001 : FALLING INTO BONDS WITH YOU

[restoriamods]

TEST DRIVE #001 : FALLING INTO BONDS WITH YOU

I. Greetings, Travelers.

You heard the voice, the song, the Call. You turned toward that voice and are falling, tripping through time and space, colors swirling all around you. You blinked.

You open your eyes to the great sprawling roots and unbending branches of the Tree of Harmony above you. You look around to find yourself in an open roof auditorium. And you are not alone. Others are there, waking up just as you are when figures step from around the tall stark columns circling the center of the room.

”Greetings Travelers. The Sentinels of Restoria welcome you to our Greenhouse of Unity. The Devourer comes for us all and we must bond our worlds to save them. We cannot save your worlds without your help.”

Your guide will lead you down a long staircase to another area of the Greenhouse’s compound: The Hall of Travelers. There you will be told what to expect of your time in Restoria, and then you will select a House: Stone or Cloud. Your House will provide benefits to you to help you in your new role, should you choose to accept it, including your choice of communication device and Housing.

If you need additional time to consider, you will be given leave to rest there in the Hall itself on one of the many comfortable cots provided for the night and simple meals will be provided. Maybe others will need time just as you do to think about the serious decision you would be undertaking. By the dawn, you must have your answer.

What will you do now, Traveler?

II. Getting Your Hands Dirty

Those who select House of Stone will be led by a member of the House to the Traveler Port leading directly to the center of the City of Stones for Orientation. There, Guides will take newcomers through the City, showing them important locations, such as the local groceries, restaurants, and entertainment. You may notice a lot of Stones’s entertainment involves outdoor activities or contact sport games. It is a city of physicality, but also camaraderie and group engagement. They may not talk a lot, but don’t be surprised if you are offered hugs and friendly arm holds wherever you go. Travelers are encouraged to greet each other similarly.

You will be shown your Housing, where basic supplies have been readied for you, and may be surprised to find that up to two items from home have also arrived with you and were already taken to your assigned room (unless they are too large to fit and you find a note instead of where they have been stored elsewhere). The Guides will give you time to greet any neighbors you have and take stock of what you might still need in your room, but before long they will be ushering you back out into the tunnels and through the canyon to the Sanctuary. It is a very busy day in the City of Stones with the Clay Exhibition taking place!

Entering through the Glimmering Gymnasium, you’ll be taken all the way to the other side to a wide set of stairs leading down a area depressed into the ground like a court that is used for outdoor games and other competitions has been filled with a thick layer of a deep red brown watery mush: The Gravel Pit, as it is affectionately called by the citizens of the City. The clay is a special mix just for this occasion. Coat your body in the clay, and you’ll find yourself wearing protective armor that moves just as smoothly as your typical clothing - but you can’t wear much underneath it. Too much clothing means it’s hard for the clay to set, so it's best to wear as little as possible.

And from there you’ll be encouraged to join in on the various exhibition matches: mud wrestling, mixed martial arts, gymnastics, and much more is open for any newcomer who would like to take part. What better way to start bonding with those around you?

III. Head in the Stars

Those who select House of Cloud will be led by a member of the House to the Traveler Port leading directly to the center of the City of Clouds for Orientation. There, Guides will take newcomers through the City, showing them important locations, such as the local eateries, museums, galleries and theaters. You may notice a lot of Cloud’s entertainment involves more creative pursuits and educational engagement. It is a city of knowledge, but also of culture and art. The people love to talk, to debate and challenge preconceptions, whether those of others or even their own. They will greet newcomers openly and without reservation, but they all have that assessing eye, looking to see what they can judge of your character.

You will be shown your Housing, and may be surprised to find that up to two items from home have also arrived with you and were already taken to your assigned area (unless they are too large to fit and you find a note instead of where they have been stored elsewhere). The Guides will give you time to greet any neighbors you have and take stock of what you might still need in your room, but not long as there is still so much left to do. Please keep up as they hurry you off to the Sanctuary of Clouds where they show off the Grand Library and give a waved hand of respect to the Watchtower before moving up into the mountains just outside of it. The air thins and the snow on the mountain side is cold, but it does not take long to reach the Observatory.

The Observatory is filled with tables and desks covered in star charts and books filled with various annotations and theories about space, time, and the laws of the universe. Some may even seem like familiar titles from your own world, and you are told that you are welcome to study them. Follow the winding staircase up to a large platform with various couches and cushy chairs for comfortable lounging and a large, obviously advanced telescope. Maybe you can sit back and relax for a brief moment.

The platform begins to raise itself up more and more as the sun fades and night falls over Restoria. The ceiling of the Observatory will open up to allow the platform to rise out over the mountain - the perfect location for stargazing and space-viewing. The air is quite frigid up here, which doesn't seem to bother the natives of Cloud. Newcomers, however, may find it necessary to cozy up together with blankets and hot drinks.

IV. Herb-a-Reore

As explained during Orientation, all Travelers will have opportunities to earn funds of their own. They do understand that not everyone will be satisfied with the basic free amenities that the Houses will provide them and may want to have capital of their own to purchase luxury items or anything else. Between larger Quests, taking jobs in their Cities and helping out around their respective Houses, the Sentinels also provide monetary missions to earn Reore on a regular basis.

With the large influx of Travelers, so comes the Merging, where the worlds of the visitors and Restoria begin to mesh and mix. The Sentinels take care to catalog many of these changes, including the new flora that show up around the cities, which they carefully cultivate in the large Conservatory. With the Travelers available, they request assistance in cataloging all of these new arrivals, offering each Traveler a reward of Reore for their time and expertise. Who better to help them make sure they don't miss a single herb or flower?

Travelers may recognize various plants from their own world, some benign, some less so. Some might even seem to have minds of their own: tendrils that reach out and poke, sticky webs designed to capture the unobservant, or sweet smells that make one sleepy. Please make sure to label them properly.

V. All Soulstice Day

The people of Restoria are friendly and welcoming in general to newcomers, but you may find them even more so today. They will greet you with smiles, offer their hands or even come in for a quick hug. Others may stare deeply into your eyes as if looking for some recognition, an understanding.

It may seem confusing, until you touch someone or look into their eyes yourself and feel a soothing sensation, as if you have known this person your entire life and couldn’t think of a reason to be wary of them. You can feel them almost as if you can sense their emotions in a distant way. Best friend? Family? Whatever this feeling is, you just know that you care about them and want to spend time with them.

What could be going on? Will you choose to ask?

If you do, you will be told what a fortuitous time it is for Travelers to arrive in Restoria with the celebration of Soulstice Day taking place. A day when the magic of Restoria is at its strongest and compatible bonds are even more likely! A wonderful day for new friendships and the strengthening of long held camaraderie.

Native Restorians and Travelers alike will feel themselves drawn to people as their auras react to heightened compatibility. Those friendly auras will almost sing to each other, bringing about happy, content feelings and a sense of understanding that might feel rare to you for someone you’ve only just met. Nothing is forced, but the possibilities are open for all who choose to lean into them.

People who meet someone with a compatible aura will find the effects of the Soulstice last for a couple days after the fact. A strong motivator for making new friends.

NAVIGATION

PREMISE ➤ RULES ➤ TAKEN ➤ FAQ ➤ APPLICATION ➤ HOUSES ➤ LOCATIONS ➤ QUESTS ➤ ACTIVITY ➤ REWARDS ➤ MERGING ➤ SUGGESTIONS ➤ CALENDAR ➤ MOD CONTACT

Comments

[apocultypse]

That is the wettest apology I've ever heard. Absolutely dampened.

[Chauncy's not the only man between them who can tease.]

Gotta admit, even I hadn't considered the Host Radiant spreading between universes. So you're, what, a high priest? Hierophant of a Solar Circle?

[yachtrock]

I said may have been. You were still being threatening, talked about your body count, and then choked me. If I hadn't said those secret words, would I be passed out on the floor right now? Most likely.

So it's not an apology. Even if you are him.

[He has to laugh a little at that guess.]

Oh no, no. I'm better than that.

[He takes a step closer, to shorten the distance that Ishaq had put between them again, and caresses Ishaq's cheek. He whispers so quietly when he speaks, not that anyone is even close enough to hear them:]

I'm your warlock.

[apocultypse]

I'll admit, the moment seduced me. I got a little excessive.

[There was just something about Chauncy, something that provoked his darker inclinations. Ishaq scratched along his jawline, taking a short, thin breath.] Sorry for choking you.

[Should be an apology somewhere between them, he figured. The sunshine baked the glass house, radiating heat. This world's sun was just as familiar to him as his Raithir one: the encouraging sizzle on bare skin, the clear brightness bathing all things before him. Chauncy stepped closer, his manicured fingers stroking Ishaq's cheek. And then the moment eclipsed.

I'm your warlock. His heartbeat hastened tempo, pupils dilated. Turning his head, he pressed cheek against Chauncy's hand, his stare unblinking at Chauncy's face. There was only a handful of ways another mortal could become his warlock.]

In your world, [he said, voice gravely, vowels cracked. He and Celia were experimenting with theological theorems, the esoteric power inherent in personal conviction. She could become cleric to herself. But Ishaq had his ambitions, and he knew he wouldn't, couldn't stop there. He knew there was only one way he'd accept warlocks, and it wasn't as an abyssal lord, it wasn't as a god's celestial lackey, and it wasn't as just the cult leader of the Host Radiant.]

Am I divine?

[yachtrock]

[He withdraws his hand, watching as such uncomplicated words make Ishaq go through so many stages of shock. His own smugness, he knows, is off the charts. There's no hiding how pleased he looks at how Ishaq's voice cracks, the vibration of what he must be feeling reaching the surface.

And yet his own answer is as coy as ever:]

What do you think?

[apocultypse]

In your world. [The implication began to soak his mind, a holed boat already out to sea. There was a subtle taste of brine and blood in the back of his throat.] In your world.

[Prince Chauncy's world wasn't Raith. Ishaq closed his eyes, questions bathing him as coldly as seawater: was this a fated cost? Would he only be a god among strangers?

Did it make a difference?]

Out of the dark day. [A soft mutter. When he looked again at Chauncy, the hint of red in his eyes intensified his sharp nose, his thin line of a mouth.]

Then us meeting like this, it's destiny.

[yachtrock]

[His eyes are so red here. How strange. He didn't think he'd ever see them as anything other than black and gold.]

What is the possibility that, perhaps, the reason you sought me out so fervently in Edol is that you knew of me already? The implication being that meeting you here, like this, is actually what causes you to look for me in Edol, now knowing exactly where to find me?

Also I didn't think you were fond of destiny as a concept.

[apocultypse]

[He snapped:] I'm not.

[And in the wake of that sharp tongue, Ishaq took a breath and pressed his fingertips together, adopting a much softer manner.]

I would have to wonder how time works -- as a function within any universe. A sort of chronological dilation? Perhaps we live on our own sequence of events and sometimes speed or lull, and overlap. [He posited this easily, and without the burden of knowing that was how the Wuldhaunt worked.] How else can you, at present, know me as something else before you've met me?

[yachtrock]

It's interesting, you have such a temper here.

[Chauncy reaches out now, runs his fingers through Ishaq's hair, stroking the tip of his half-elven ear.]

For me, my timeline is linear, until this point. I was born, I live, I meet you, I show up here, I meet you again. For you, you live, you meet me, you return to Raith, you come to Edol, and you meet me again.

If anything, you've proven that our goal here- to bond our worlds- succeeds. Otherwise, this would have been my first time meeting you.

[apocultypse]

Seems tenuous, doesn't it? [A quick hand ran through his hair.] Yet you're so convinced.

[Ishaq bit his lower lip, his reddish dark eyes momentarily downcast. The wooden table adjacent to his hip housed an assortment of seeds in a dish, and the coloration caught his attention. Mulberry, crimson, saffron. Not seeds, he realized. Beans.]

See those? [Pointing to the small clay tray.] I buried one in a treasury -- the treasury had potted plants, easily accessible dirt. I needed a distraction while we stole guarded documentation. From this treasury. [Ishaq frowned, clearing his throat.] The governor was not... paying his taxed tribute... Anyway. The bean grew into a magic tree with magic fruit and I suggested that one of the guards eat a fruit and he turned into a ball of gas and we got the gods-damned papers.

[The smile he wore was fond, even dreamy, when he looked back to Chauncy.]

Impossible, absurd things. That's the connective tissue to my life -- and, I suspect, to yours.

[yachtrock]

What the fuck are you even talking about?

[Chauncy says and then kisses him on the mouth.]

[apocultypse]

[Ishaq opened his mouth to further explain the arcane metaphysics of a magic fruit and a gas man, but his lips enjoyed the sudden and unexpected presence of Chauncy's own mouth, and his arms found warm purchase around Chauncy's waist. Instinctive, resolute, miraculous embrace.]

Wow, [said Ishaq, a moment later.] I didn't even get to the part with the undead dragon.

[yachtrock]

[Unfortunately for Ishaq, Chauncy withdraws now, pulling away from his embrace and lips.]

He really will be jealous if we go further though.

[A first kiss and a parting kiss all in one.]

And I'm not in the business of pissing off my God.

[apocultypse]

Theologically speaking, if he is me and as I stand, I'm his representative on the mortal plane -- [A relief, to know his party couldn't hear this.] Then your kindness to me is, in fact, god-honoring.

[Theologically speaking. His smile, polite and unassuming, didn't match the hunger in his eyes.]

[yachtrock]

So similar, it's really uncanny...

[The way Ishaq speaks is attractive, endearing even in it's subtle manipulations. He can't say he isn't curious, but he won't be won over so quickly.]

I'll be kind to you in other ways. Ask me what you want to know. Unless I feel there's a reason to not tell you it or I don't know it, I'll give you the best answer I can.

[apocultypse]

[He looked over his shoulder, taking quick count of who else was around, and saw only an unknown forest. Unfamiliar plants with large and striated leaves, prismatic coloring, iridescent thin petals, even the most haunted jungles he had trekked born none of these breeds.

Ishaq couldn't find a single downside in fully trusting this man. Chauncy was the only tether -- frayed and razor thin as it was -- to his future. A reversed sequence, an abuse of time, but he'd gladly walk backwards into that hell if it meant seizing deification. And here before him was that promise made flesh.]

Why a warlock?

[yachtrock]

Would you prefer me a cleric? A paladin? Come on.

[apocultypse]

You've already demonstrated you know how to hold a weapon. I've seen a cleric beat a man to submission with her unblinking expression.

[Ishaq sucked at his teeth, looking Chauncy over. He nodded briskly.]

Paladin would take some work.

[yachtrock]

You have at least one cleric. Maybe more, I've never met the others.

A warlock suits me better.

[He's also not very... wise.]

[apocultypse]

Unusual for a god to invoke a warlock. [He grinned sharply, brightly. Shoulders even and back straight.] I am somewhat groundbreaking.

[Reaching over, Ishaq put a hand on the soft nook between Chauncy's shoulder and neck, giving it a warm squeeze.]

I look forward to knowing you better in this world.

[yachtrock]

You are, in so many ways.

[Also, skybreaking.

Chauncy's eyes close for a moment with Ishaq's hand once again on his neck (somewhat), and he breathes in deep. Relaxes a little, as one would when touched by their lover. Even if this isn't his lover.]

And yet, you've asked me few questions about me.

[apocultypse]

I was respecting your boundaries, [he said, hand still holding that vulnerable slip of flesh.] But, since you're willing, I am curious about your socioeconomic situation. You call yourself a prince.

A prince of what?

[yachtrock]

House Deneb, the ruling house of Xinteas. I am a Prince, ruled by the Prince Paramount, who is ruled by the Imperian herself.

[He's very proud of his title.]

[apocultypse]

Impressive. [One last little squeeze, and he reclaimed his sun-tattooed hand. The same hand drifted to his chest, fingers cascaded to the clavicle.]

Ishaq Duvainor, leader of the Host Radiant, heretic, blasphemer, former convict of the Raithir Crown.

[The glow in his voice matched Chauncy's own.]

So you have, what, a little castle?

[yachtrock]

[The touch leaves him feeling warm; maybe not supernaturally, as a touch from his God would, but still warm.]

Maybe keep that last part to yourself in future introductions.

And yes, I do. I have a little castle. And I'll have one again.

[apocultypse]

But that's my favorite part. [He winked, his grin sharpening. Hands dropped to his sides, fingers wriggling. Soon those hands were on his hips, palms flat and pressed.]

Do we have to stay here the entire time? I identified those beans, job well done, let's walk along outside and you can describe to me your little castle.