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

benedict dearborn — academic, demonologist (exorcist) — cloud

[fumitory]

✦ Greetings, Travelers.
[ the Hall of Travelers | open to all]

Steel yourself, Benny, I am still here with you.

( it probably isn't Ben's proudest moment, half-sitting, half-laying in the open auditorium looking damn near frightened from his stricken expression alone, and...hyperventilating. it's definitely a look for a man in his mid-thirties (who's nearly dressed as if he is from the Thirties, though if you have an eye for fashion, you'll probably note all the ways in which this man hails from the twenty-first century, if the dimensions of your respective worlds are at all adjacent.)

the Sentinels weren't wrong to approach him — Ben's entire existence is driven to better the world around him, caring for those he shares that world with the way a parent wants better for their child, 'I don't want you to have to endure the things I have. I've touched fire, I don't want to see you be burned, too.' though he knows being burned is necessary to comprehending the threat... where the analogy deviates from the logic is that in his instance, the fire is immaterial psychic entities made of malice in opposition to the building blocks of material essence. or, maybe it's just cooler to say demons. that's a type of burn you don't easily survive.

Ben doesn't know how to reconcile the staggering change from his flat in Lambeth to this not-really-so-impossible place, does what he can to not make an overt scene in front of the rest that have come in this wave. it's so much — so much to take in, to keep up with, and this coming from a man that has witnessed demons and angels manifest into the material plane, necromancy, and more. honestly...it's the fact that he was ripped from his very cherished, secure little home without much notice. (without any, if you ask him.)

he doesn't even remember how he reached the Hall of Travelers, but that's certainly not important — he's being given a choice, and he doesn't even know what he's choosing on. he's heard it explained to him, but the concepts don't immediately connect through the white noise blaring over his mind. he's given an offer to think about it.

so in the hall Ben stays, stunned in silence and reeling with the sudden hit from this wild news as he stares out at scenery he can't fully appreciate through knowing how absolutely alien it is to him. Devourer, end of worlds, must be stopped. help them.

there may not a world to return to otherwise.

he can appreciate the ultimatum because he knows that it really isn't. still...light is dying out on the horizon, and Ben hasn't said a word in hours, sitting on this simple little cot. he knows Peter hasn't left him — that's nice, honestly — but he already knows the connection feels different.

Ben is weighing the choice — to stay here in some sudden and foreign world, or... or, what?

a sound occurs, not that he even knows what it is; Ben jumps at whatever it is his nervous system (emphasis on the nervous) has just picked up on. a hollow and choked "Jesus wept—" is strangled out of his throat involuntarily; he's pretty sure a few cervical vertebrae crackle with the force and swiftness of how fast his head jerks. if you've been here the entire time, well, Ben never noticed...no offense. until now, that is.

and if you've just entered, then you're greeted to a grown man looking as if he's just seen a ghost. (for how many he has seen in his life, he sure is acting like this is the first time anything has been so startling.) )

✦ Head in the stars.
[ City of Clouds | open to you cloudy people ]

( to stay, or to go? well, you probably know where this story goes. there wouldn't be much more to write about if Ben went running back home.

it's painful to leave it so suddenly, but he's as much an intellect as he is a bleed-heart, which might explain the choice behind the house he finally aligns himself to. he's a man of deep reasoning and altruism, and with such a great calling to save a literal countless amount of beings in this universe they're sharing being served before him, Ben knows he can't go home and leave the guilt of abandoning such an incredible cause here. (he's far too paranoid to go back home and hope that this Devourer thing won't just appear in the sky one day, smacking its dreadful lips.)

so Ben is here — in the City of Clouds. the quarters he is given is a blank slate, but it is not yet feeling like home, a concept he strives for, his anchor. curious to know what this place provides, he winds up in the Sanctuary soon enough. )


option a.

( quickly, as if he could smell it on the air, Ben finds the Grand Library. because of course he did.

it's everything an academic Virgo could want while here in a completely alien world — reference books. it feels like an aha moment when Ben sees their recorded history bound like text books in a college library spread through bookcases aplenty, accessible by anyone with the reach, or one of these convenient rolling ladders.

fun fact about Ben Dearborn: his luck stat runs on a deficit. it's been a pensive silence perfect for a library this entire time, perhaps since its original erection, however long this building has been standing here, during Ben's visit...

until Ben's pulling out the second book that has caught his attention, enough to have him slip the tome out from its designated place...though it doesn't come free alone. the cascading sound of books tumbling from a shelf and onto carpeted floor shouldn't seem so loud — maybe it's due to the sheer crime it feels like he's committed, as if the library itself has made the accident an alarm to all in the vicinity that there is a traitor in their midst, one so careless as to cause such important records an indignity.

when you round the corner of this bookshelf, he's just noticing that he isn't alone. he twists and presses his back up against the shelf, stifling the very much barely-placed books in the very narrow space and fretfully crossing his arms over his chest. there is absolutely no eye contact. he murmurs moreso with desperation than library etiquette. ) Good afternoon. ( this first impression is the antithesis to everything he is and stands for...so, naturally, it's exactly the hand that fate deals him today. )


option b.

( well, Ben survived the peculiar horror of committing a social faux pas before a stranger, and he's managed to move on...only physically. the embarrassment will continue to haunt, because what else do you expect from someone as culturally Catholic as this?

curious and always in need of mapping out his surroundings, he eventually makes it to the top of the Sanctuary, eager to see the lookout point from this high into the sky where the air feels...so very different, almost thin, but not enough that he has to question it. there's something more than just jarring, but downright unnerving to see the expanse of the city and the surrounding environment here on this mountain cliff side, putting the wide scope of this world into perspective. a normal person might feel small enough, but now to realize he's a staggering distance from home...

it's a poignant moment, until Ben pans his gaze left and sees... ) It even has a bloody pool. ( it's so especially luxurious...in such a strangely mundane way, as if to mimic what random little ways he might be able to recognize or relate. it's funny to him, somehow; his expression bends with mirth that concedes, his breath hiccuping a small rhythm that might qualify as a laugh, even if only in spirit. ) I'm not sure if much else can surprise me anymore.

( oh, Ben... don't worry — someone, somewhere, will find a way. )

✦ All Soulstice Day
[ literally where ever | open ]

( the people of Restoria have been alarmingly pleasant in greeting and hosting Travelers these past few days...but Ben wonders just what is going on when he can't even make it to the Sanctuary without being stopped by hand to endure the most intense eye contact he's ever been given in his life.

Ben wouldn't even know what his aura looks or feels like (then again, if you were to ask him, he might make some guesses...not many of them very optimistic.) he's a protector at heart, altruistic and virtuous even if he is quite a bit reserved. being so internally-oriented means his focus goes within, matching how fitting he is here in the City of Clouds, but his heart goes as deep as his mind... which isn't a good long-term environment for someone who's kept such a distance from people in life.

good think no one has directly told him about this little Bonding Day just yet. he's already overthinking so many things today.

perhaps auras are like magnets — certain sides repel, or attract. maybe paths just keep getting crossed, and the two of you keep noticing with a glance, attentions catching longer and longer each time they make contact. maybe this is the first time they've been around each other at all.

this time, close enough now, it feels like a welcoming, something opening up and intentional. it feels like...his name being called, so intuitively, that Ben casts his full attention over to yours, surprise a neutral light on his face, almost dazed as he's now looking at the other. ) Sorry, did you just—? ( call his name? except that now, hearing his own voice, he realizes that he heard...nothing. didn't he? he's looking at yours now, and it feels like being on a hook, and he's helpless to the confusion now blooming on his own face. )

✧ Wildcard.

open to any wildcard prompts, especially collecting plant stuff for money. uwu would love to plot for those ones, so don't be shy to contact me via PM, discord @ ghoulette#8643, or find me on plurk @ plasticlove. that, or for any other ideas you might have for Ben! info post is here with permissions here.

greetings!

[junctured]

[ Benedict isn't the only one who looks frightened. Arliss, her arms clasped hard around her chest like it will protect herself against reality, has had her head bowed for a little while, breathing hard and trying to gather herself. Her breathing is harsh-sounding, from a combination of fear and from breathing in unfiltered air instead of air from a ship's regulator.

She's just gotten done talking, in a harsh whisper, to what appears to be her reflection in the floor of the Hall. A woman who looks similar, but is wearing a mish-mashed and odd-looking outfit and who has chunks of pink where Arliss' hair is simply black. Her reflection, Epigone, is moving on her own and pacing next to her, untouched by Arliss' attempts to get her to still.

Noticing that she appears to have startled the man on the cot next to her, Arliss looks up, brown eyes wide before she forces herself to speak. She sounds as unsteady as she looks. ...and actually, this guy looks to be in worse shape than she is, if she can focus herself and actually notice. ]

I'm— sorry. That was loud. ...are you okay?

omg these two... i'm feeling for them already

[fumitory]

( Ben doesn't know what to expect when he casts his gaze out so involuntarily, eyes barely aware of the information they're processing as he goes, but after a few frantic heartbeats, he definitely settles on the image of a woman, looking like a mirror of him herself in demeanor. they stare at each other like wild creatures crossing paths wondering which of them is the dangerous one.

it's ultimately a draw between no overly threatening victors — just two people shell shocked in a strange world. Ben sees that, glaring as the sun rolling down closer into the horizon. )

Not sure how to answer that. ( Ben's voice, middle-deep tone hallowed out by the stricken whisper befitting a dead-silent library, shivers with a uneven sensation of laughter. in his face, though, there isn't a presence of mirth. ) Not— not because of you, though. ( it's only now that it's said that he feels silly for specifying...

Ben rakes fingers through his hair, sucking a breath in. he thought he was here only by himself... more than self-consciousness of realizing he hasn't been, Ben softens with that now awakening awareness. ) You haven't gone along with the others? ( the others, those that seem to be at least mildly more resolved in this Calling they were summoned by. Ben wondered if he would be the only one left behind to debate the severity of this entire thing, and expected to be singular in his vulnerable state while simmering in his conflict. something about not being alone in this is nerve-wracking...but something about it is also and intriguing relief. )

c':

[junctured]

[ Arliss nods, her face starting to relax and unfreeze as she focuses on something other than the paralyzing uncertainty and fear in her veins. Her arms are still across her chest, hands splayed near her collar bone.

She isn't sure what she'd say if someone asked her that question, either. ]

No, I... needed a moment. Or several, I guess.

[ It had seemed like the "incident" in Brunel Station, at first. Like she was going to be stretched a second time. And while it hadn't felt terrible, the bright lights made her think of the thing outside of the engine room on the Station, the wailing thing that was half-ethereal. ]

It's been a weird couple of months, [ she adds quietly. ] I didn't know if this was real. I guess it is.

[ Her reflection on the floor, and her shadow, doesn't match her sitting position. Epigone is still pacing. Less frantically, now, as she feels the mood start to shift. ]

stars-b

[mutesiren]

[That someone will possibly be Zivis here? She's peering over the edge with him after his joyful mirth and putting her weight on her staff, the wind it emits whistling softly.]

I did not notice that earlier, how peculiar... [She squints at it, as if trying to make out if there are any forms or anything within.] Do you think there is any sea life in the water? Or is it one of those pools that are just for decoration?

[A slight frown on her face.] I never understood those in the desert. Not even allowed to drink from them.

[fumitory]

( Ben really had no idea anyone else was up here, so the discovery of someone else with no more preamble than the suddenness of their voice is...well. it's a good thing there's a protective balcony railing up here at the top to catch Ben when he full-body reacts to the person suddenly speaking nearby.

when he starts processing his vision again, he has a hand on his heaving chest, eyes round. overall, the stun has put him into a momentary, overall silence as he gapes at the other. and...in fact, the other person whom he might swear just materialized out of nowhere is so peculiar to behold, Ben doesn't immediately know what to say.

until he finally and brilliantly does— ) Sea life? Of— course not, it's a pool. ( it's a very special but unmistakable sort of tone, matter-of-fact in the most classic sense, but it isn't snide. Ben hasn't a snide bone in his body, and with the ease that it comes out of him around the decline of his absolute surprise, it might seem more of an instinctive response.

moreover, Ben...realizes how that sounds. he clears his throat, his expression beginning on apologetic, before he amends: ) I mean... It would need to be an— an ocean to have sea life. ( said almost as if to reassure; that it can't possibly be that bad. (guess who doesn't like the ocean!)

now that he feels closer to catching his breath, Ben takes a few slow steps closer, eyes on the pool, curious. ) Aside from...erm, microorganisms native to this place perhaps, I don't think this has any creatures dwelling inside it.

...Unless they have invisible fish. ( added on in a hollow tone that says, all on its own, 'oh dear Lord, please no.' Ben loathes the unexpected as it is, but the possibilities are dangerously endless. what could be worse than invisible fish? invisible anything else that dwells in water. )

[mutesiren]

[One of the first things she's mastered once on land again was how to walk quietly. It keeps you alive and safe longer. Especially on the shifting sands of the desert, well-placed footing also keeps you alive and safe. His reaction, however, does startle her and Zivis jerks back just a little. Then, as nature does, reaches out to steady him, but at least he seems to be in no danger of falling over the railing.

She's at least not the type to take offense to it, in fact the tone would probably go right over her naïve little head. There's a lot of nuances to speech that she doesn't quite know or understand yet. (One could also say she doesn't realize it's polite to somehow warn folks of your approach either, especially at dangerous locations.)] I-I am sorry if I startled you, it was not my intent.

[With the topic returning to the body of water below she turns her gaze back to it, a hand resting on the railing.] I suppose the term I meant was any aqua... [She pauses, looking up out over the skyline as her nose scrunches and she tries to seek the word she wants.] Aquatic? Yes, aquatic life.

[But then he uses a term she's wholly unfamiliar with and it gets a curious look.] "Microorganisms"? What are those?

Oh! I would love to see...or not see one of those!! I think there are a few land animals at home that can do such things but I have not encountered any in the waters before. It seems like it would be most helpful for escaping enemies. [She could have used such a thing. Alas, elementalists do not have such a skill.]

stars b.

[exconduit]

[ Loren can actually hold his breath for a long time. The trick is to stay calm, focus on trying to slow your heartbeat - and if you keep that up for long enough, you can trick your babysitter into calling an ambulance and miss three days of second grade. At the moment, Loren was at the bottom of the pool. Barely moving. Staring at the way only small pinpricks of light made it through the water and the way they wavered in the ripples. This bizarre new outside world was a void of darkness compared to the glowing water.

Or.

It could be that he was starting to get light-headed. Shit.

Loren kicked his feet to swim to the surface and then suddenly thrashed above the water. Grabbing onto the side of the pool, he coughed up a little and gasped as he tried to catch his breath.

It would be a shame if a nice man with shoes that were honestly, a little too nice just walked in and stood close to the edge of the pool where Loren was now shaking the water out of his hair like a labrador. ]

Head in the stars | Option B.

[lightsider]

How lovely this place is, very accommodating.

[Arha's voice is soft, quiet so as not to startle as she takes in the view. She's petite and not very tall but her smile lights her face up and her curly red-gold hair is bright and waist length.]

If anything, I think the universe or multiverse, expects us to be surprised even more. I certainly am with the passage of time here.