TEST DRIVE #6

[fairyfoes]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping to EACHDRAIDH? Why not give the setting a test run here! OPTIONAL SCENARIOS 01. ARRIVING IN THE DRABWURLD. The Seelie and Unseelie courts welcome you with mirthful revelry and hearty food. After you have been briefed on your purpose here, you will find an endless feast and a night filled with entertainment to placate your concerns. Mingle with new arrivals, sneak down the castle halls and make sure your eyes are always on your glass; fairies and imps have no bias when it comes to tricks! 02. THE STATION. Looking for a little slice of home? The Station gives you all that and more. Take advantage of the wifi, have a cup of fairy-brewed coffee (the one they didn't spit in) or sit back and relax on the patio. You can even move your things into one of the available rooms! 03. WILDCARD. Your own scenario! Explore the Drabwurld or simply take advantage of your Locket!

Comments

[sweetestsmile]

Well, they don't answer to it, so I wouldn't be surprised either. I've heard them call themselves fairies. They seemed convinced that I was one of them, though.

[He essentially is, but Ronin doesn't know enough the humans' stories to make the connection.]

Also true! They've brought so many here, and under false words.

[Not too pleased about them intentionally omitting the "come with us" part of their plea.] Feels a little desperate to me.

[lyorning]

Faerie. I know that world. The countries to the east call my home Empire the 'land of Faerie'.

[sweetestsmile]

[He shakes his head a little, still grinning.]

I feel like I'm missing something there! Why do they call your land that, then?

[lyorning]

[he shrugs] I have not made a study of the East, so I couldn't say.

[sweetestsmile]

A mystery to figure out later!

[Or not. He shrugs and continues with his tiny meal.]

Have you been here long or did you just arrive?

[lyorning]

I am newly arrived. And yourself?

[sweetestsmile]

The same. And here I was hoping to have some questions answered.

[He chuckles.]

But there must be somebody that's been here longer and is less distracted than these fairies seem to be. The trick will be finding that person

[His tone changes just slightly on the word fairies, probably the only indication that he's still getting used to the word.]

[lyorning]

[he nods]

If these fairies are servants, that implies they have a master.

[sweetestsmile]

I managed to get out of them that there is a Queen, and by process of elimination, figured out that she's not my Queen, but most of the other things they've said made little sense. Talking about gems and shards and brave warriors.

[lyorning]

As my own country has an Empress, and, moreover, she has other means to ask my service, I infer that the queen of this land is foreign to us both.

[sweetestsmile]

It's a shame that my--

[He cuts off very abruptly, expression flickering into a wounded, lost look for a split second, before settling into a stony one. Tara would indeed be bold enough, and have the power to back herself up, to go to this foreign queen and negotiate their return to their forest, but she's gone.]

There must be someone less flighty than these fairies that could arrange a meeting with this queen. If nothing else, she can explain why and how we were brought here.

[lyorning]

[if Aerich noticed, he didn't say anything; given he was hiding his own grief under good manners, eh could sympathize]

No doubt. A queen implies a court, though its structure may be foreign to us both.

[sweetestsmile]

Probably very foreign. I know almost nothing about stompers.

[Which he probably shouldn't have said. Oops. But Ronin shrugs.]

Not even what they call themselves. Human, I think?

[lyorning]

I believe use the same word for themselves as my people use for ourselves, a state of affairs that can lead to much confusion in diplomacy, you perceive. It is rendered as 'human' in my tongue.

[it might not be obvious to Ronin that Aerich is not human, given his most distinctive feature is that he is about 2 ft. taller than a normal human. But he has slightly pointed ears.]

[sweetestsmile]

You do look different from the humans I've met, but not that different. A little bigger, maybe.

[A little might be an understatement, but to someone barely two inches tall, ridiculously huge really doesn't make much more impact than merely huge.]

Are there different kinds of humans?

[He's slightly curious. After all, there are plenty of different kinds of Jinn, not to mention the Leafmen. ...And then there's the Boggans, which is a whole other forest of difference.]

[lyorning]

My own people, or those you have met in the past? I could answer the former, but as for the latter

[he shrugs]

I have not spent time in their company.

[sweetestsmile]

Your own, of course. I wouldn't ask you to talk about something you don't know.

[He mirrors the shrug, curious but not enough to really push for it.]

[lyorning]

[it is a very useful gesture]

In my home, there are the Houses, which number seventeen. While all of us are human, the House of one's birth is a measure of one's native talents and inclinations.

[sweetestsmile]

[He nods along, listening intently.]

That sounds a little bit like the different Jinn. If you want to, I'd like to hear more about these Houses.

[lyorning]

I do not object, but if you would offer me some knowledge of these Jinn in exchange, it might prove instructive.

[sweetestsmile]

I'm happy to.

[He thinks for a moment on how best to phrase it.]

The Jinn are caretakers of the forest. Their shapes tend to resemble what plants they specialize in the care of. A Pinecone Jinn cares for the pines, and so on. So there are as many kinds as the plants in the forest. And then we Leafmen protect the Jinn and the forest both.

There are also others who live in the forest with us that are more animal in form. They are not quite Jinn, but close enough, and take the form of insects and frogs and the like, but with the power of speech and hands.

[lyorning]

[Aerich may or may not know what a 'frog' is, darn canon set on alien planets, but it gets the general idea]

My own people's Houses would likely not be as recognizable to you as your Jinn would be to me. There are physical differences -- all save the Yendi and Jhereg have distinctive features -- but they are more in the matter of the shape of certain features of the face. Many accent this by choosing to wear their heraldic colors, though there are exceptions.

[sweetestsmile]

[He listens quietly, and makes a go on gesture, because he's sure there are more. Aerich mentioned talents after all.]

[lyorning]

As I was saying, one's House determines one's inclinations, which suggest one's place in society. My own, the House of the Lyorn, are tasked with the preservation of the Empire's traditions and custom. We are very attached to... the proper way of conducting matters. Other Houses attach themselves to different virtues: the House that follows Lyorn in the Cycle is the House of Tiassa, whose members are known for their ability to derive plans and novel ideas.

[sweetestsmile]

That seems very organized, and useful. It wouldn't be hard to know who to go to if a specific talent was needed. I take the Cycle you mentioned is how your Houses are arranged alongside one another?