restormania | TEST DRIVE #001 : FALLING INTO BONDS WITH YOU

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[i. arrival.]

[he arrives the same way as everyone else, but hojoon might not feel the same way. he sees it in the faces of some of the other travelers, the initial fear and confusion of being taken away from their homes so suddenly. anyone having too hard a time of it might even find him sitting close by, though silent and never looking in their direction. he's clearly not bothered by any of this. home is a place that he lost a long time ago.

hojoon follows the guide along with everyone else, staying at the rear of the group, listening attentively without question or protest. but when the time to choose comes-

well, he's one of the few left there on one of the cots. it's been hours since he arrived when he finally speaks his first words.]

By dawn, huh.

[ii. getting your hands dirty.]

[at just over five feet tall, hojoon isn't among the largest people of his house. he looks even smaller knelt down, where he seems to almost be enjoying rubbing the mud on his skin.]

I remember when I had to travel all the way to Kyushu for this. Want me to smear some across your back?

[iv. herb-a-reore]

[for the first time, something seems to have taken hojoon by surprise. maybe it's just the sheer beauty of the flowers around him: pure white chrysanthemums, bright orange tiger lilies, gentle lavender hydrangeas....

he looks like a man in a daze, slowly turning his head to take it all in. but once he snaps out of it, he immediately kneels and starts weeding around them, pausing only long enough to wipe a hand across his eye or cheek from time to time, leaving a smear of dirt in its place.]

I have to find the vegetables next. They've been neglected for too long. Do you see any tomatoes?

[ rune already knew moments in that he would stay. there's not much to the world he calls home, not when he's already had his fill of it, and this one? it's full of potential, full of interesting people he wants to take advantage of. it's one of the only real reasons why he loiters in the hall, watching others sit and decide and ultimately leave the room. he himself isn't in any sort of hurry, and he's only (almost) a little surprised when one of the few remaining people actually speaks up.

his initial response is to frown, staring at him with a mostly disinterested look. ]

You're running out of time. [ if he hasn't decided already. ]

Mm. I might have five hours, at most. If time works the same here.

[hojoon actually nods in agreement. five hours isn't a lot of time, not even for humans.

he lies back, pulling his legs up onto the cot, arms folded behind his head.]

'S a nice bed.

[nicer than what a lot of people in his world have anyway. nicer than the ground. but hojoon's real comfort comes in knowing that his brother sleeps in a real one now, with a real roof over his head - no matter how many repairs said roof needed. he'd noticed. he'd considered maybe staying at that house long enough to make a few repairs.

it was a dangerous thought.]

Have you made your choice?

You sure they'll be normal tomatoes if you look for them?

[Not that she's any kind of gardener, but being in a different realm doesn't always mean they'll look or be the same thing you know or remember. Xamã's mostly looking for anything that strikes her as being from home- neon flowers and pure radioactive colored plants usually are pretty discernable.

Still, Hojoon seems quite invested in taking care of things, so she squats to try and see if she can help where she has to, moving an oddly-colored branch to the side to see if she can find any interesting roots.]

Pretty familiar with this though, aren't you?

We'll have to see.

[if the tomatoes are different, if there's even one seed less than there'd normally be, hojoon will know.

he glances over at her for a moment before reaching over and pulling up a small sprout that she uncovered.]

Pull these. They draw insects that destroy the flowers. It's plant warfare. [he sighs and pauses for a moment. even on such a small level, the thought of war makes him tired.] I know them.

[the flowers. even if it's been so long since he last saw them, hojoon tended to them for decades.]

[She does as he says, actually, brow raised, but not questioning his logic or his statements. Xamã, above all else, knows exactly what being tired feels like. Thousands of years as a god's tool will do that to you easily.

Removing the roots is an easy task, though her eyes move around the bunch of flora and she stops him from prodding too far.]

Easy, though- don't touch those. [She keeps her eyes on Hojoon, and her finger points at a plant with a bell-shaped blue fauna leaf, the faint glow of neon passing through the veins every so often.]

That's a blunebel. [A beat, and for a split second, the shape of an animal skull in neon forms over her face, and she speaks again.] Harmonia, espirito. [The skull disappears, and the plant seems to actually lift the leaves itself to reveal a tiny flora faerie making her way out from under a branch.

Xamã gives a bit of a grin before she continues.]

Blunebels are run by faerie folk back home, for me. They're protective of what's in the soil around them, they put tiny annoying spells on you if you disturb their nests. Last thing you want is to have your skin turn blue or have an itch that lasts for a week in an uncomfortable place.

[hojoon stops, fingers still in the soil as he looks to where she points. it's a plant that he doesn't recognize, but it sounds like this place is as good at bringing fauna together as it is at gathering people.

he arches a brow at all that unfolds, but otherwise shows no sign of surprise.]

I'll remember that.

[he scoots around to start working on another side.]

Didn't think you smelled like a human.

[which is a pretty strange thing for a human to say too.]

TEST DRIVE #001 : FALLING INTO BONDS WITH YOU

hojoon | stone

i.

no subject

iv.

no subject

no subject

no subject