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

iv.

[apocultypse]

I'll admit, I'm relieved I'm not alone in that sentiment. [A polite distance behind Chauncy stood a man with dark eyes and hands distinctively folded behind his back, so as not to tempt a nefarious twig or other untoward flora to bite him. He grinned at his companion-by-proximity, the warmth in his smile unerring. There was no mistaking his aesthetic: gold rings, gold headband, burgundy robes, gold bracers holding tightly to his not-particularly-muscular forearms. Winking once at Chauncy, Ishaq Duvainor rolled initiative and took a casual few steps closer.]

First time allowed near a Conservatory. Something about glass houses, and my suspected tendencies towards throwing stones. Nonsense, I told them -- I belong to House of Cloud!

[yachtrock]

[Chauncy looks back to whomever's behind him, brows furrowed and lips pursed for a moment. He's... familiar in a way, but also this place is weird so he's going to just not address those thoughts right now.

He will take a few more steps away as Ishaq tried to step closer. who do you think you are, stranger man.

Maybe normally he'd try to be a little warmer himself, a little less succumbing to his baser instincts of suspicion, but he's had a stressful day. No one can reasonably blame him for this distress he's suffering, if he only exhibits it in the form of not wanting to stand close to people who might throw rocks.]

Are the tendencies suspected without warrant, or within reason?

[apocultypse]

[Those excessively notable few steps back gave Ishaq pause; he was familiar with the opposite reaction, and this situation therefore required delicacy. Smile only brightening, he raised both hands, soft palms displayed, in easy acquiescence. Inclining his head, Ishaq never once let slip his sight from Chauncy's face.]

Within reason? Absolutely not. Without warrant? Bit complicated, on a technicality. [He didn't wait to be prodded with questioning.] I've been arrested with warrant, but in my defense I was a political prisoner. Theocratic empire. Someone with my philosophy and my following? I was persona non grata.

[Hands still displayed as if to mitigate his confession.]

I say so in the interest of transparency. Because, you know, this place is strange and you're a little skittish.

[yachtrock]

I think we all should be a bit more skittish in this situation. I'm here because I agreed to save my world, but that doesn't mean there isn't reason to not be suspect of things or ... people. No offense intended.

[He takes a deep breath and exhales slowly.]

Let's try again. Arrested as a political prisoner, but not a destroyer of glass houses, despite the accusations of otherwise. That's a lot for someone to know about another before knowing their name. I'm Prince Chauncy Morior. And I'm deciding on whether to keep using the title, given that I don't have anything to back it up aside from a series of sigils and pins that no one's going to recognize.

[apocultypse]

None taken.

[He took a smaller, strategically unnoticeable step closer towards this skittish man. There's the slightest pause, the slimmest curl of a sneer on his otherwise welcoming smile when Chauncy introduces himself as Prince.]

Ishaq Duvainor of the Host Radiant. [A quick glance at the back of own his hands, still showcased to his perspective. A wistful look at the sun and moon tattooed on his left and right respectively. He shook his head, hair unperturbed as if made perfect with a Prestidigitation spell. Those hands dropped to his sides.]

I sympathize with the implicit nostalgia there, and if I'm not too bold? [He was almost always too bold.] I think you'd serve yourself well, to keep your full identity in tact. Consider it an anchor to hold you to the standards you came armed with into this world. The reason why you were deemed heroic enough.

[yachtrock]

[He looks again at Ishaq with judging eyes, looking at him hard, trying to determine... where has he seen this man before? The thought is there, but the answer eludes him, shifting through darkness. Water through his fingers. If all someone saw was illuminated ground, the treetops changing it's shape and color, would they know it was the sun that cast it's beams?

Chauncy doesn't, for now. Low insight and all.]

If I was truly deemed heroic enough in their eyes to serve this purpose, the least they could do is let me have my belongings.

[apocultypse]

[That ignited a soft chuckle.]

At least they've the grace to let you have your... [Arched eyebrow, slight pout of his mouth, he struggled to place Chauncy's attire.]

Uniform? Regal little jacket? It's certainly not Starred Guard regulation. [Ishaq practically spat the words. Those damnable vipers, he'd never admit to Celia how relieved he was to leave Azkaresh.]

You look like the kind of prince who can carry a sword.

[yachtrock]

I'm sure you didn't mean the disrespect in your word choice and tone but I'll ask you to remember it. If I'm to keep the title, as you've so encouraged, then I'm going to enforce it to a degree.

[It's not a little jacket and don't assume he has a sword!]

[apocultypse]

Enforce it how? [Genuinely interested in this hypothetical, Ishaq placed one hand on each hip as he leaned forward into Chauncy's space like a meteor caught in orbit -- yet kept careful not to violate any invisible boundaries with actual footsteps.]

You've got tiny swords with smaller crowns in those snug jacket pockets?

[Once more implying 1) little jacket and 2) swords.]

[yachtrock]

One thing they did allow me to keep were all my knives.

[They're just shitty knives though.]

I think those can be considered tiny swords.

[apocultypse]

You know what they say, a man with only knives is friend to only butchers.

[Doesn't matter if that's a Raithir saying or not; no one can contradict him about it.]

Surely a prince wouldn't keep company with the butchering type?

[The way he said it suggested imploring, prying for information. A distinct absence of mockery set his tongue.]

[yachtrock]

I've never heard that saying before actually. I think what most people say to having a lot of knives is, "that is a lot of knives."

And it's for self defense.

[apocultypse]

For self defense? Why, Prince Chauncy, do you find me, [he took a blatant step closer,] offensive?

[The space between them had significantly diminished. Ishaq relaxed the tension in his shoulders, forcibly easing any stiff muscles in his back, his arms, his fingers.

All the movements he'd need for his somatic casting.]

[yachtrock]

Do you want an honest answer?

[Maybe his step back is enough of one.]

[apocultypse]

[He lied:] I live for honesty.

[Another step closer, and he's looking over Chauncy's shoulder, measuring the distance to that backend wall. A prince can't run from a dragon.]

[yachtrock]

[He won't need to run. But he does take another step back for now.]

Then yes, I do. You're obtrusive, and I'll be acting in self defense if you keep stepping closer.

[apocultypse]

[Heedless of this warning, his smirk indicative that he was thrilled by it, Ishaq took another. Step. Closer.]

[yachtrock]

Last warning.

[He's given so many chances, but this time he doesn't step away.]

[apocultypse]

Prince Chauncy, [he said, one hand to his heart,] have you no faith in your fellow man?

[Two steps in quick succession, close enough now to embrace.]

[yachtrock]

[From seemingly nowhere, a knife is in Chauncy's hand, held with an expert grip.]

[apocultypse]

Woah! [Half a staggered step back, Ishaq's hands jerk upwards, fingers spread in cascade, recognizably the somatic casting position for a Shield spell.]

He's got a knife! The madman!

[yachtrock]

[And the moment he's called a madman, the knife also disappears with a bright flash. Where'd it go??]

Who does?

[apocultypse]

A tricky sneak of a man! Clearly!

[But by the point of Chauncy's ears, Ishaq hadn't mean human.]

You were ready to stab me, weren't you?

[yachtrock]

Yes. I said I was. And I still am, if you try that again.

[apocultypse]

Honestly that would have ended up worse for you, even if I bled. Not the best battle plan, is it, touting a knife to a sorcery fight.

[That high noon smile is back.]