forgottentales_ooc | Test Drive: October 2018

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-tdm

Test Drive: October 2018

Test Drive: October 2018—

§ instructions.
Greetings and welcome to the first Test Drive for Forgotten Tales! This is to help interested players "test drive" their characters in the game's setting and see if the essence they have chosen will actually work in game play. There are a number of prompts that vary from casual to more task focused work. So here are a few things to keep in mind while on the test drive:

Feel free to use the current workshop for help if you need it!
Include Character Name and Canon in the subject line, and note somewhere within the toplevel your character's essence. It can be in the subject line if you already know what it is. Side note: You are free to try more than one essence if you're on the fence. Just make sure to note which one you're using for that particular prompt.
Players are free to assume their characters have been informed of the very basics so you can skip all that if you'd like.
Don't forget to refer to the Game Info for how the mechanics work.
Feel free to join the Discord server.
Registration opens October 19th. Game starts October 21st.

Most of all, have fun! Feel free to invite those you may think would be interested to participate in the test drive.

§ notes regarding the prompts.

Setting Notes: For this Test Drive, everyone is being sent to a Draft with three nursery rhymes contained within. Each rhyme has its own section, but some elements may leak into others. In game we would have everyone sorted out in a more organized manner, but for the purpose of the Test Drive anything goes. Players can choose to do whatever they want and mix things up as they think would be fun.

Side Note: Although there is no specific "journal" prompt, players are free to incorporate the use of the journal either as something to fiddle with or to practice the "network" style of the game and communicate with others. The same is true for the Erasers. They are always ever present within the Draft, so while there is no specific prompt, players are free to incorporate them in their threads at any time.

§ prompts.

¶ I. Humpty Dumpty. For some reason, Humpty's area of the Draft looks more like something out of a Picasso painting. Many pieces are freely floating around; instead of melted clocks there are melted egg yolks hanging from twisted, barren trees; and ground itself feels unsafe. As if made of eggshells, it might even crumble away as the Aspects make their way through, so take care.

A. Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall. The first thing the Aspects must find is an old, questionable and very tall brick wall, and there are a few scattered about this strange space. Some are even floating in the air. Just be careful since most if not all of them are already crumbling away and will most definitely break apart if too much weight is put on it. Restoring at least one of the walls will be required before proceeding with the scene.
B. Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall. Here comes the fun part. Someone or something has to be Humpty and break. Now the question is who?
- i. Be One with the Egg. Someone can act as Humpty Dumpty and perch themselves on top of that wall. How will they get up there? Flying, ladder, climbing--whatever works! Once up there, they must fall off, but don't worry. At worst they may break a limb or two, but they can be healed. But something must break for this task to be considered fulfilled. It should be noted that black, broken egg pieces will appear where they landed.
- ii. Blotten Egg. What luck, there already is an egg! ...A very creepy, black, rotting, looking egg. Honestly it already looks half broken. This egg is actually a blot taking the form of old Humpty, and it refuses to fall on its own. If anything it seems to be clinging to it and oh watch out! It's throwing down rotten eggs! That may or may not be acidic, but probably don't want to find out firsthand. Aspects will need to get up there and fight the Blotten Egg to either knock it over or break it to pieces up there. Once broken, the pieces will remain to be used in the final scene.
C. All the King's Horses and All the King's Men. The easy way to fulfill this scene would be to have a few people pretend to be horses and soldiers. But while that certainly is an option, that's no fun. Instead, how about running into a "ghost" army made from the Blots? They are ghastly creatures and more than ready to attack anyone they meet. The king himself might even appear. Fortunately, despite the number the Aspects are strong enough to deal with the mob so long as they have a partner. These armies will most certainly appear once the first scene is complete, but they can be found roaming around throughout the area.
D. Couldn't Put Humpty Together Again. Finally, an attempt to fix Humpty must be made for the story to complete. The funny thing is, although there were two ways to recreate the fall scene, there is only one method that will actually close the story. And it's not healing whoever pretended to be Humpty. The Aspects must gather the broken, black egg pieces and put them together. Just sticking the shells near each other will work. But once they assemble the egg, it will suddenly grow to three times its size and will turn into a huge, hideous monster. Oozing with black ink-like fluid, this "Boss" version of Humpty Dumpty must be fought and defeated. Its shell is like steel armor, so weapons won't be effective. Heat and ice, however, will help weaken it, the heat boiling the creature from the inside and the ice making the shell more brittle to pierce. Everything will be considered done once the monster is defeated.

¶ II. Little Miss Muffet. It would seem that this part of the draft isn't as badly damaged, perhaps not completely destroyed by the Story Eater yet, and looks almost restored...or so it seems. Almost immediately after someone steps in to give the story the starting nudge, a blot version of Miss Muffet leaps to her feet and throws her bowl of curds and whey on the ground! She can't take this anymore, she won't take his anymore! At least this one doesn't appear to be hostile and there appears to be other interesting blots roaming around, so let's see what can be done.

A. I Don't Like ~~Spam~~ Curds and Whey! Okay, to be fair, anyone would get sick of it if they had to eat bland, poorly made cottage cheese every day. And Little Miss Muffet is throwing the tantrum of the century today. Why does she have to sit on a lumpy stool and eat lumpy food every morning just to get scared off by a mean ol' spider two bites in?! It's not fair! Mary gets to play with her little lamb and Jack gets to jump over candlesticks! Maybe giving her a break from the monotony for a few minutes will help, just make sure she goes back to the story soon.
B. Pie in the Sky. Once Muffet's calmed down enough, she'll say that she'd like to have a pie for once. And conveniently enough, there's a brick oven sitting nearby. Hopefully someone knows how to bake and can make the filling of that pie look enough like curds and whey to keep the story on track.
- i. Bigger or Better. Even if the cooking space is miraculously easy to find, ingredients are harder to come by. The farmer needs a new scythe, the smith needs a new apron before he’ll give you a scythe, the tanner needs some wine before he’ll make a new apron, and so on and so on! How far does this chain go, and how much are you grousing about it with your partner? And why does the thatcher need a diamond to rub on their elbow anyway?! Or maybe one of you has an object already on their person to end the favor chain before it gets too long!
- ii. Little Red Hen. There is a farmer nearby who will lend some flour, but she insists on you helping her grow it from seed, even if she has some pre-ground flour right behind her. Something about lazy neighbors trying to mooch off her. Don’t worry, though, it's magical wheat, so it should only take a week for it to grow! Unfortunately you don’t have that kind of time, so someone either needs to help speed things along or convince the hen to just let them have some pre-ground flour.
C. Along Came a Spider. Unfortunately, while everyone was busy soothing Miss Muffet and baking pies, some random old lady ate the spider trying to cure her fly-related indigestion! What do you do now? Try to get the old lady to cough it up? Search the grove for a new leading arachnid? Hastily don a spider costume? There are also Spider Blots that might work if captured, and like everything else here they're not overly hostile. The worst is a toy-looking spider with googly eyes that spits silly string—and it likes to tickle. Whatever you do, just hurry before that pie gets cold and Muffet starts crying again!

¶ III. Three Little Pigs. Ready to ham it up? There are no pigs to be found anywhere in this area of the Draft, not even any blot versions. So a few Aspects will need to take on the role as pigs. They can make their own little fake ears or even just tear out a piece of paper from the journal, write the word "LITTLE PIG," and pin it on their shirt for it to count. The standards aren't that high here. Anyone not a Pig or future Wolf can offer support at least, so now it's time to get to work—and there is a lot. Set in a giant, barren field, at least they don't have to travel much.

A. Construction Zone. Anyone know how to build houses? One of the first things that will need to be made are three different little homes for those acting as the pigs. In the original story, they were made of straw, sticks, and bricks, and there's plenty of material for it. Giant piles and quarries full, in fact. However, the actual material is not required. If you want to be fancy and try glass or candy or something else, that's fine, too! The houses also don't need to be the best in the world, just enough. Heck it could even be a cardboard box. Just keep in mind that at least one of these needs to be strong enough to survive the inevitable "Wolf Breath."
B. Big Bad Wolf. There are two options for the wolf. Anyone is free to be the Wolf and can freely mess with the pigs as they see fit. However, those playing as the pigs should keep their guard up. There are also Blot versions of the Wolf lurking around ready to pounce on them unawares. Beat it back if it attacks.
C. Blow You Away. For the final piece, the Wolf must "huff and puff" to try and destroy the houses. If someone actually has strong enough breath to do that, then hope they had a breath mint first. But if not, other methods can be used. Wind magic, conjure up storms...or take a large object and wreck them. The interpretation of how the Wolf goes about bringing down the houses can vary wildly, so have at it! There must be one "Pig" inside the house being attacked, but the Pig is free to flee to the next house once it is destroyed. Don't forget to say the famous lines:

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in."
"No, no, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin."
"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in."

There will be one house left standing that the Wolf cannot break, and if there isn't... Well, just going to have to keep building one until you do. Or the Wolf cheats and doesn't put much effort into it. Choice is yours!
D. Take the Pig Out. Because the "brick" house (or whatever the last house is made of) cannot be destroyed, the Wolf must find another way to get to the pigs! Use wiles, ask them out on a date, or just do a good ol' fashioned break in. This is where the ending is more open. Will the wolf succeed in luring the pig out? Will there be a forbidden romance?? Or will the pigs bake the Wolf in their oven instead? Oh the possibilities...

¶ IV. Mix it up. This is the "wildcard" prompt. Take any elements of these three stories and mash them together! Want to play as the Big Bad Wolf and blow Humpty Dumpty off that wall? Or maybe it's a Little Pig bothering Miss Muffet. Maybe instead of "curds and whey" you have a little tea party instead. Or maybe you just want to explore around and beat up hostile blots and Erasers. Anything goes, so just have fun with it!

Threaded | Flat

Little Miss Muffet: A

[The world needs help, the book said. Complete the stories, the book said. Lacie is not at all surprised to find that the place needs help if this sort of tantrum bullshit is what the place has to work with. She comes across Miss Muffet in the midst of her screaming fit, drawn by the wails and whining, and stares down at her in disgust until the other girl reaches a lull in her snitfit.]

So spoiled! This story doesn't even take very long! If you hate it so much, find a way to make it better!

[Miss Muffet proceeds to flounce off in a huff, screeching something about pie. Lacie's disdain intensifies. This girl is never going to accomplish anything. In the blessedly quiet aftermath, Lacie sits on the tuffet, which is indeed lumpy. She investigates what's left of the curds and whey, which are indeed unappealing. The spider is nowhere to be seen, but Lacie is confident that when she finds it she can make friends with it and cut a deal. In the meantime, she gathers up the little bowl and sets off to sort out everything else.]

Hey. [Once she comes across Ye Olde Convenient Random Person, regardless of their appearance, Lacie tugs their sleeve or nudges at them with a foot without any sign of shyness whatsoever.] I need stuff to make this tasty, and a cushion to sit on. Can you help?

[This seems cute and all, right? Don't worry, Lacie's intentions are not pure.]

Humpty Dumpty: D

[This whole thing where Humpty Dumpty is fated to be dead really kind of rubs Lacie the wrong way, on account of...same hat. So, being neither a horse nor a man and therefore apparently someone with competence, Lacie sets about gathering up the bits of shell, arranging them neatly until they suddenly pull themselves back together. She's pleased for the two seconds wherein the egg seals itself up and begins wobbling, taken aback when it suddenly expands, and when the nasty thing then turns around and attacks her she lets out a shriek of fear and rage.

Mostly rage.]

No wonder everybody wanted you to fall if this is what you do when people help you! [The girl yells this while running the fuck away, pausing periodically to grab a likely stone straight off the wall and hurl it at the egg monster.] It'll serve you right if you get scrambled! But you couldn't pay me to eat you! I bet you give everyone the runs!

[The stones are not working and Lacie's only viable weapon is a recent mouth full of very sharp teeth, which, as she has noted, are undesirable in this instance -- whatever other powers she might have, she hasn't figured them out yet. Intervention is necessary. The second she spots somebody bigger than she is, she will be making a beeline straight for them.]

[It's taken some getting use to do this whole "in a realm made of stories" and having the powers of a character, including a wardrobe change. Most jarring, however, is not having his real weapons with him. Sure he could conjure up his own swords, but they aren't as familiar as the greatsword he is more used to carrying. But at least he has swords, and he's quite keen in testing them and his other powers out.

And help restore stories, too, of course. Yeah. Totally.]

» humpty - b.ii: bring down the egg
[Just...going to stare up at that very creepy egg man up on top of that wall. Thanks to the powers of his essence, he could actually look up through his daemon eye and see much farther and clearer than he would have before.]

Uh...was that thing always ther—whoa! [He jumps back to narrowly avoid a rotten egg, and then another falls soon after. Hearing the hiss of the green yolk against the ground, he can only hope those he was with also avoided the barrage.]

So how does the story go? Something about an egg falling off a wall? Don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind bringing that thing down.

[Question is...how.]

» muffet - c: let's find some spiders.
[Well he's the Huntsman, so why not try and hunt down some spiders to find? Plus maybe he'll run into something scary and cool, something really fun to fight—]

...Okay, what the hell is this?

[He had been able to track down some spiders all right. ...Sort...of. He had found a trail of weird string and followed it, and it had led him and whoever had come along to a giant web. However, said web is made of silly string and right in the center of the web is indeed a spider. ...A very fuzzy looking spider with four pairs of eyes that keep rolling this way and that. ...Uh.]

Maybe we should try to find a different spider.

[THIS IS SO LAME.]

» pigs - b: wrong wolf, huntsman.
[HELL YEAH IT'S HIS TIME TO SHINE. With his twin short swords already in his hands, the grin he wears is...probably very questionable and somewhat worrisome.]

A wolf problem, huh? Just leave it to me and I'll take care of it no problem.

[Someone tell him he's not supposed to kill the wolf. Well, maybe the blotten wolves. But if there's someone acting out as the Big Bad Wolf, he might be eying them a little more than he probably should.]

Edited 2018-10-13 03:59 (UTC)

[Shizuo wasn't sure what he would be able to offer. Compared to everyone else around him, he felt kind of useless. No experience with any real magic, his only strength was in his fists and body. And having been gifted as Frankenstein's monster... He honestly wasn't sure how to feel about that. He was only familiar with how the movies usually portrayed the character.

He could have done without the stitch tattoos, though, along with having his clothes all patched up now. But well, not like he can really complain—he had volunteered and he considers the whole essence thing like a gift.

He just hopes he could actually be useful.]

muffet - b.i: all this stuff is stupid.
[At first he was fine with helping in this little "fetch quest." Just gather a few ingredients and be done with the whining brat, right? Honestly, he kind of had to leave because Muffet girl was ticking off all his boxes and he didn't want to go full "Frankstein's monster" on her.

But now after the fourth person, he's not sure if this is really any better.]

Why the hell can't these people just get this shit themselves? Why does anyone need wine to make a freaking apron, anyway??

[He's speaking through grit teeth as he tries to keep his temper under control, but you gotta admit. This is pretty ridiculous. Especially since they now apparently needed to find a turtle for the vineyard owner's son.]

pigs - a: let's build some houses.
[With two large beams of wood over one shoulder and a bundle of bricks under the other arm, Shizuo walks over to where people are working on the houses.]

I brought the materials. Where should I put 'em?

[Don't mind him, these don't weigh a thing to him. He's actually thinking of doubling the amount next time to make things go faster...

Alternatively, he can be found with his shovel and clearing out some ground so that a foundation can be made.]

humpty - c: smashing some blots.
[Shizuo had been roughly familiar with the nursery rhyme. Something about an egg and falling off a wall and king's people unable to fix it. What he didn't expect, however, was for the army to come charging at them.

Immediately he holds out his arm and summons the one weapon he's managed to figure out so far—a shovel. ...Yeah, an odd choice, but just wait when he actually starts using it.]

These things aren't real people, right? So doesn't matter if they're killed or not.

[Just making sure.]

wildcard.
[For any other ideas you might have.]

[Himawari wasn't sure what she was going to do to help anything here. She wasn't a fighter and she worried that her bad luck would still cause ruin in a place like this, even thought she was assured that she now had a way to deal with it.]

[She was the Big Bad Wolf, of Red Riding Hood's story, and though that sounded wrong to her she understood why too. She had wolf ears at the top of her head, and a tail curled in under her skirt. Red ribbons held her hair back behind her, thick and dark black. Her dress was that of a cute puffy skirt in reds and blues with fur trim. And if not tucked into her dress but worn on her face was a pair of granny glasses that when worn her ears and tail disappeared.]

[It was all very curious. All very unnatural, but... she could turn her hands into claws and fight if needed, or bring bad luck to someone as needed. So maybe she could be helpful after all.]

{1=- Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall -=B.i}
[The wall was restored, and now... now what?] Humpty Dumpty sat one a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall... [She took a breath, looking at the others here.]

Do you think one of us have to fall from there? Humpty fell and broke, which brought the King's horsemen to come put him together again.

[If they had no Humpty then did they have to take his place to advance the story? She frowned, looking at a rock near by. She could put some bad luck into it, so that someone up top could fall and break something but, that seemed terrible.]

[Maybe she should just do it herself. She steeled herself, fist clinched before stating.] I'll go. [She said, pushing up the granny glasses on the bridge of her nose before looking towards the wall again.]

{2=- Little Miss Muffet -=B.i}
[When the Baker said she needed some flour in order to give them the eggs they needed for the wine, for the apron for the scythe, for the--whatever they needed, well, Himawari almost broke down in tears.]

There is a baker right there. Why can't we ask them to make the pie instead?

[She rested her hands on her neck and took a deep breath.] So we need to go to a miller next? I'm starting to think this is a never ending task.

{3=- Three Little Pigs -=C}
L-little pig... little pig, let me come in.

[Himawari wrung her hands, the wolf ears on her head drooped backwards and upset, her tail was curled under her skirt and trying to hide. She whined very softly, staring at the house of straw.]

But I don't want to be the big bad wolf. This isn't my story. [She protested softly to anyone who would listen. She held a stone in her hand, imbued with bad luck, and shook her head.]

We just put all this together. Do I really have to destroy it?

Edited 2018-10-13 22:29 (UTC)

A: And Really Bad Eggs
[ What is this nursery rhyme. What is this wall. What is this place. But no, those questions aren't really important to her as she looks from the fractured wall she stands on towards the horizon. The view reminds her of wind-faded paintings in the southern quarries, where fragments of myths remained intact while the rest of the murals faded with history. More walls are suspended in the air, pieces of them falling to the ground like puzzles off a table. She doesn't know the clay from which the brick is made, and neither does she recognize the method in which they have been fired. The architecture is all... different.

But again, those curiosities aren't on her mind.

What she really is thinking about is why restore this at all. She doesn't "live" to sow peace, after all. Ahmaent narrows her eyes at a distant wall, spotting a corrupted black egg perched atop of it. That's probably what this fable is about, but she doesn't quite understand. Can't she just knock the egg off and be done with it? Or what if she decided to protect the egg from being knocked off in the first place? ] What is this... humpty dumpty?

[ Because she is not being the one to fall. ]

B: Building Stuff, or. Blowing it Down
[ Sticks, stones, glass, sand, bricks... Well, that's all fine and all, but while you're building your little model, she'll be judging it. Apparently the Aspect of a dragon (what the hell is a dragon, anyway?) has bonded to her, and now she has fire breath. As much as she laments not having her full arsenal of powers, breathing fire is a good stand-in until she re-develops some of her original abilities. ]

That... will not stand against fire.

[ Look, she's doing you a courtesy and telling you that whatever sticks, stones, or glass you've picked up won't work against her "big bad wolf breath". But she's doing so with a bored expression as she looks over your prototype. ]

C: Muffet
Ungrateful child--

[ Ahmanet will sneer and storm over towards the blot. How dare she throw a bowl of--....whatever that filth is at her. Clearly this girl must be shown a lesson. And by lesson, Ahmanet means back-slapping her across the face and putting her into a choke hold.

Stoppp her. ]

A: Had a Great Fall
[ Just a dubious look up the floating wall. ]

I... do not suppose you have a grappling hook and rope of some sort?

[ Because yeah sure apparently some fairy king dude bonded to him but it's like. The most random essence to pair with someone like him. He sure ain't a king in his own world! Anyways, how does one fly if they have never flown before?? ]

B: Everyone's Favorite Type of Fetch Quest
[ Okay, they have to find a diamond? Right, yeahhh, no. He's done. ]

Ah, yes, but just one more question: is there a tavern nearby?

C: Building Things
Ah-- now here is something we can work with! [ The scholar exclaims, picking up a hefty piece of white, smooth stone. ] Limestone! Why, in the desert, structures made of this material can withstand even the most brutal of storms! [ And he says this enthusiastically with a bright glint in his eyes. ] The ancient ruins of my world can attest to that, and-- oh!

[ He suddenly drops the limestone to select another rock. ] This is... slate! This, this is also good! How delightful, do you think-- perhaps-- that we could use more than one material to build a suitable house?

[ It's one thing to be told that you've now inherited the essence of apparently some legendary monk, and another thing entirely to be told that same essence is also apparently part fox spirit. Which is. Strange to think about, since she's not entirely familiar with whatever legend her essence is from or what sort of part-fox spirit he had been. Were foxes tricksters in his legend? Or were they benevolent? So many questions... ]

A: Humpty Dumpty
[ See this girl? See how she's standing on the edge of that wall so precariously? See how she's chewing on her bottom lip with a worried expression, a look of uncertainty mixed with apprehension? And then see how she's closing her eyes and taking a breath as if coming to a resolution?

It's probably easy to guess about what she's thinking. ] Well, if one of us must take the role of this poor egg and fall... [ She'll do it. Hey, it's not like... she'll die from this height. And she's been through worse. A lot worse. All she'll need to do afterwards is use a little healing magic, and she'll be right as rain. Simple, right?

Except, it doesn't exactly make looking down the height of the wall any easier. Perhaps she should take off her boots first? Yes, that sounds about right. And maybe leave her staff behind, lest it break with the fall. Then maybe she should tie her blonde hair up. If there's going to be blood, she wouldn't want that to be stained... ] Perchance, do you have a ribbon I might borrow?

B: Fetch Quest Traveler
[ Oh, this is something she's used to, and she's used to this in a way that involves fetching something from the opposite end of the continent. And if not fetching something, then fetching someone.

Her eyes widen for a moment as an idea occurs to her. Instead of fetching all the ingredients and tools necessary to bake a pie, why not bring all the people together in the first place? Guiding others is her ~~path action~~ specialty. She can make this easier!

And so after ~~magically convincing~~ somehow bringing all the key players together and getting them to all help make and bake the biggest pie this world has ever seen, she'll happily serve you a slice. ] ....It turned out quite well, did it not?

Here, the first slice is for you. You certainly deserve it for all of your hard work. [ It will be quite the generous slice, too. Like, as big as your head. ]

C: Spiders
[ Looks like she's been caught by the nefarious, terrible, horrible.... tickle-spider. ]

H--help--! This--pfft--th-thing.... hehe-- is--.... It won't--

[ Aaaand she can't stop laughing even as she falls to the ground. That spider is tickling her sides and any of her efforts to swat it away are beyond her. ]

D: Decorating Houses
...No, we must make it bigger, I believe. [ Her hand is at the side of her cheek as she looks over their project so far. ] The wolf will be destroying all the other pigs' houses, which means they will be displaced from their homes.

[ She'll turn to whoever she's with, looking at them earnestly. ] Thus we must build a sturdy house that is large enough to hold all the pigs!

Humpty Dumpty- (Alice essence)

A-

The wall's.... broken.

[This is less a statement of the obvious and more a quiet lament. It might be tough to reenact Humpty Dumpty without a wall. But she does notice that a few of the blocks are floating in midair. So maybe...
She tugs on the sleeve of the nearest fellow aspect and once they look, points up at a floating block.]

Do we have to fix it first? Or can we just use one of those?

D-

[Ib is gathering up the shards of the fallen 'egg' while trying very hard not to think about the poor person who made that sacrifice. They can put them back together, right? They just need all the pieces. She comes running back to the main pile, a few more in her hands.]

I found some more over there. Is this all of them?

Three Little Pigs- (Little Red Riding Hood essence)

A-

[Ib is searching for suitable materials to construct houses. But she's bypassing things like wood or straw, even though they seem more plentiful and probably easier to work with. No, she is looking for bricks. She knows this story. She brings back another small stack to the people working on construction.]

Is this enough? Should I get more?

C-

[Ib is waiting nervously in the final house. Ever since she took on the essence of Red Riding Hood, wolves and even dogs have made her.... nervous. They have sharp teeth, big eyes, and made awful growly noises. So knowing they were just sitting there and waiting for one, even just to finish the story, is hard. She keeps fidgeting, glancing around nervously. Every so often, she turns to the other occupant of the little house.]

Um... this is the brick house so.... the wolf can't knock it over. Right?

[At least, that's how she remembers the story.]

[Therion wouldn't mind this whole adventure all that much, if only his essence didn't come with the unfortunate side effect of making him irresistibly attractive to cute wildlife. It doesn't matter what draft they mosey through, somehow songbirds, squirrels, butterflies, and so on find their way to him, climbing onto his shoulders or nestling in his hair. On the one hand, he supposes it's a reliable source of food if he gets desperate, but on the other hand, it's noisy and annoying!

Good thing he normally isn't one to sing, isn't it? That would probably just make it worse...]

A. Muffet - Let's Skip the Fetch Quest, Shall We?

[It's a little harder for Therion to be quite as stealthy as he'd like with the triplet of song birds that have seen fit to follow him around and nest in his hair lately. Still, he's done enough fetch quests in his life to see what's coming the moment the first person says he'll give them what they need in exchange for a favor, and nope. No way.]

We've all got better things to do.

[He grumbles and scowls, and after a bit of thought, he looks to whoever's with him on this fool's errand.]

Hey. You.

[Yeah, he doesn't really care about your name, right now.]

How good are you at distracting people?

[This is the important part - Can you make a scene for him, while he steals some flour or whatever else it is they need for the stupid pie?]

B. Piggies - Huffing and Puffing

[If nothing else, Therion can say he's done more than the bare minimum on his wolf costume, but only just. It's a piece of paper that says 'Wolf' on it, and he's even drawn an angry face on it and given it a decorative border. See? More than the bare minimum.

Anyway, he stands before one of the less impressive houses the others have made, lifting his eyebrows at it.]

...Really? You call this a house?

[There is so much judgement in his voice. This house is ... not good. He kind of expects it to fall over before he even finishes the rhyme, which he'll get to in a minute. He needs to finish giving it a disdainful once-over first.]

C. Piggies - Wolfy Wiles

[Eventually there's a house that is sturdy enough not to fall over so easy. Congratulations to whoever built it! It even has a functioning door and everything.

Therion's pretty tired of the rhyme by now, so his voice is laced with weary boredom as he recites - loud enough for whoever's inside to hear:]

Little pig, little pig, let me in - blah blah huff puff, whatever.

[It's ... close enough to count, right? He hopes so, anyway, as he knocks on the door for good measure

-- and if the piggy doesn't let him in, they'll probably hear some scratching and scrabbling at the door anyway after a few minutes. Seems like he's picking the lock! ... or trying to, anyway. He's using bent nails and a sewing needle, and he's cursing occasionally because the nails are a bit thick and keep getting stuck when he tries to move the second tumbler...]

i 📚 couldn’t put humpty together again

[Of course, even with the fall and the rampant blots taken care of, the last line of the story is of the utmost important if this draft is to be finished. Cyrus has already collected a number of pieces of blackened eggshells, but there are still many more to be found— fortunately, one of his newfound abilities has helped to simplify the search, and use of his newly acquired magnifying glass allows him to see through trees and crumbling walls to what might be hidden just beyond. It’s been of some help so far, but he’s a long way off from a complete egg.

As he searches, he muses aloud— to himself, largely, but also to anyone who might be listening as he pauses beside one of the many egg yolks hanging from one of the withered trees.]

You know, this tale never explicitly states that the man himself is an egg— it makes one wonder how that began.

[The nursery rhyme, after all, is entirely new to him, not being native to his homeworld.]

One assumes that his appearance as an egg here means that it must be universally agreed upon.

[Someone, please, get him to focus on the task at hand— or humor him, whichever strikes your fancy.]

ii 📚 bigger or better

[Running errands for locals in need of aid is, at this point, nothing out of the ordinary for one Cyrus Albright, and he even goes about the task with a smile on his face. The first few requests are simple enough: wine for the tanner, an apron for the smith. Quite reasonable, all told, and yet as he continues on down the line, the requests become a bit more obtuse, not to mention more difficult to come by. The diamond had been bad enough, but now—]

A hedgehog?

[He frowns to himself, turning his quill upside-down to erase an item from the list that’s already been taken care of. The journal, at least, is coming in handy, and he can’t deny that these magic quills are remarkable, particularly the way they can make errors vanish into thin air, as though they’d never happened at all! The thought of that helps his frown to ease, just a bit.]

The other requests were perfectly sensible, but whatever for? A pet, I suppose, would be the most reasonable answer, but still…

iii 📚 wildcard

[Anything else your heart desires!]

[Honestly, when the book came to Kotori late at night, she thought it was a weird stress dream from staying up too late studying. She’s still not entirely convinced this ISN’T a dream, or at least her brain’s trying to tell her that to keep from breaking at the sudden realization that magic and superpowers are real and she got kidnapped to a totally different world. Still, the book had told her she has the power to make limitless food with this pot, so hopefully she doesn’t wake up before she gets to eat.]

Humpty Dumpty A

[Well, the wall in front of them is more like a large scattering of bricks than anything, but at least most of them are intact. This could be promising, if it weren’t for the bricks somehow falling down every time they’re set more than two high, no matter how well balanced.]

Um... the wall only needs to last until we make Humpty Dumpty fall off it, right? [She holds out the clay pot she’s been carrying.] This pot’s supposed to make porridge. If it’s thick enough... maybe we could use that to help the bricks stick together?

Little Miss Muffet A

[Oh geez, this girl’s really upset isn’t she? Not that Kotori can blame her about the spider bit, she’d be a bit cranky too if she had to be scared away from her food like that all the time. Come on now, what would Shinobu-chan do with her siblings, or Inuzuka-sensei with his daughter?

She crouches down next to the tuffet, her voice unsure but warm.]

Um, Muffet-chan? I’m sorry you’re feeling frustrated about your story. I know it’s no fun being scared, especially when you’re eating, and we have to fix this story so your home can get better. But maybe... maybe we can try to make it so it’s a nicer story? One you’ll like with tasty food and a spider that isn’t so scary. Will you let us help you, please?

The Three Little Pigs B

[When Kotori saw the Draft, she thought it was completely empty. But then as she’s trying to find some wood for the stick house (and maybe some wild berries for a snack), she hears a growl behind her, and when she turns around, she freezes. One, two, three Blot wolves, hunched back gob of ink shifting on two legs with dragging claws, and hungry eyes. And there’s a tree to Kotori’s back.]

K— ... KYAAAAAAAAA!!!

[She shrieks as the wolves lunge forward trying to back up, kick them away, almost swinging to strike one with her pot before moving to keep it out of their grasp. She needs to keep it safe, but no no no no NO she doesn’t want to be cut up and eaten either!]

Wildcard

[Got an idea not listed above? Feel free to plot with me on Plurk or PM Kotori’s journal! Also first time playing and icons under construction, so excuse those in the mean time please.]

Little Miss Muffet - B-2
[He could handle Little Miss Muffet's temper tantrum, because he could understand anyone getting sick of the same thing day in and day out. He could handle having to fetch ingredients for Miss Muffet's pie. But when the farmer insisted on their growing the flour, their last ingredient, from a seed, he's about reached his wit's end. He can't help the groan, or the slump of his shoulders.]

Seriously? This is getting ridiculous... [He turns to his current companion in this endeavor.] Do you have any ideas on how to convince her to just... give us some flour?

Three Little Pigs - B
[Building up the houses was tough work, but Roxas doesn't mind helping out. While not exactly built for heavy lifting, he's got a decent eye for detail and at least knows how to use a hammer and nails.]

[But while helping build the houses, he can't shake the feeling of being watched. Occasionally he'll pause, looking out into the forest with a frown on his face, but otherwise keeps working. It isn't until he spies shadowy movement in the corner of his eye that he turns, hammer in his grip as he sees the Blot running towards someone.]

Look out!

Wildcard - Under the Sea
[All that hard work restoring stories certainly takes its toll. When he's not busy helping restore the stories, Roxas can be found around the outskirts of Index. More specifically, he can be found on the shores of a large lake within a park nearby. Since coming here he's found he can't go for too many days out of water without experiencing excruciating pain in his legs and feet, and that wasn't including the shock of losing his voice. Taking a dip in the lake was much more preferable.]

[He can be found swimming and experimenting with his new merman body, or can also be found perched on the lake's shore with his tail dipped in the water. Often he could be heard humming or softly singing to himself; a strange habit he's picked up since coming here.]

Edited 2018-10-16 05:07 (UTC)

Humpty Dumpty: A

[Cerise took to this world with more stride than most, probably. That's entirely because this place operated on a lot of the same rules as her home. Everyone faffing about the whole story book deal is as baffling as it is amusing. How do other worlds even work if they're not writing their stories? She doesn't get it at all.

Either way, for however long she's here, she's relatively confident she could handle this place.

And then she saw the mess that was Humpty Dumpty's story. Now, seeing as she has classes with Humpty Dumpty's son, seeing his story in such chaos affected her far more than she expected. She's all for being a rebel and believing her and her classmates should be allowed to write their own stories, but this...

It was wrong. Something sinister is going on here and it doesn't give her a good feeling.]

...Maddie would probably like it here. [It's a quiet mutter to herself before tugging gently on the hem of her hood. It's not the hood she was wearing before she got here, the colors being darker and the fabric more distressed, but she's thankful for it. This place being as broken as it is, seems to have totally mixed up her story and gave her The Beast from Beauty and The Beast and while there is entirely too much to unpack there, it did make her appearance a little more ...furry than she was before. She took solace in the cloak she woke up in. ]

Um. So ...we need a wall, right? That shouldn't be hard, there's a ton of them.

Little Miss Muffet: B

[Cerise certainly sympathized with Muffet. She definitely got a less than hexellent story. Curds and whey looked just about the least appetizing thing she's ever seen and spiders were pretty gross. So, that is why Cerise happily volunteered to bake the pie.]

Mince meat pie totally looks like curds and whey, right? Don't worry, I've got this.

[Well. There might be more than one motive than completing the story but this was hungry work!! Besides, who didn't like a good meat pie?]

Three Little Pigs

[....this was incredibly surreal for Cerise, but here they were in her father's story. Or ...some version that was supposed to be it. The good news is that she is incredibly helpful in getting the houses put up and in knowing exactly the way the story is supposed to go, but for whatever reason she seems a lot more fidgety, looking over her shoulder constantly.]

[She doesn't know what she'll find if the real wolf decides to show up- if it will be some corrupted blot mess of a monster or if it will actually be her father, but she can't say she's at ease with any option.]

[Of course when it comes to figuring out who gets to be the wolf when one fails to show up she's quick to raise her hand.]

I'll do it! I-I mean. I'm supposed to be a beast so ...that's close enough, right?

[Her fluffy little beast tail is wagging from under her cloak, are you really going to say no? Let her menace some pigs, it's in her blood.

Threaded | Flat

Lacie Baskerville | Pandora Hearts | Baba Yaga

Rokurou Rangetsu | Tales of Berseria | Huntsman (Red Riding Hood)

Shizuo Heiwajima | Durarara!! | Frankenstein's Monster

Himawari Kunogi | xxxHolic | Big Bad Wolf (Red Riding Hood)

Ahmanet | The Mummy | The Dragon from Beowulf

Shad | Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess | Oberon

Ophilia | Octopath Traveler | Abe no Seimei

Ib | Ib (Alice in Wonderland or Little Red Riding Hood)

Therion | Octopath Traveler | Snow White