TEST DRIVE MEME

[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 grand feast is held in the Eaglais clearing. The food is good, the music is sweet, and the evening is lit by gentle fairy lights. All Shardbearers of all courts are summoned here under a universal truce for the evening. Nature itself has shaped itself into tables, chairs, and long couches so that the new guests can rest. When they’re ready to call it a night, Shardbearers are brought to their court strongholds in a one-way trip by fairies and imps. 02. NETWORK Take advantage of your Locket! The network can be accessed by any Shardbearer with a locket or shardless characters with enchanted devices, and is a quick way to meet new people and discuss the state of the world. 03. WILDCARD. Your own scenario! Explore the Drabwurld! There are lots of places to go, and plenty of trouble to get into in them!

Comments

[serpentking]

[[ A black brow arched neatly, the inquisitive expression cast back over his slim shoulder at the man he led, slipping through the revelry as quietly as shadows and moonlight filtering through a dense forest canopy. ]]

Warring?

[[ His mouth pinched, thoughtful, expression turning inward. Meanwhile, he followed instinct and the fine, drifting scents of hay and crushed greenery towards the exit of the hall. ]]

You mean to say, all's at peace for the moment?

[enthraller]

[Saralegui's smile went a bit wry and self-deprecating, and he shrugged.]

Honestly? I'm not sure. Everything's changed very suddenly and wildly, and I'm really not even sure who all the players in this new situation are yet, let alone who's allied with who and what fighting is going on. Give me another week and I'll be able to tell you everything.

[serpentking]

[[ Tzilan tilted his head, considering the man alongside him, letting their hands fall to their sides as they walked, footsteps hushed on stone. ]]

I don't intend to stay even so long. A face in view is one that's also a target.

[enthraller]

[His smile shrank a little, and Saralegui averted his gaze to the path in front of them.]

No, I suppose you wouldn't.

[Without his noticing, his thumb smoothed over the back of Tzilan's hand in a soothing pattern, idle and familiar.]

And where will you go?

[serpentking]

I don't quite know yet. I'll have to... find a place that suits me, I suppose.

[[ But he was looking at Saralegui with just the barest shade of puzzlement, as if he were trying and failing to find the root of the other man's interest. His hand, cool and smooth as stone, relaxed under such idle attentiveness. ]]

[enthraller]

[Saralegui kept his gaze forward and down, trying very hard not to stare and thus missing the perplexed look. Not that he couldn't guess it was there. It wasn't like he didn't know he must seem like a lunatic.

But even the embarrassment that came with that didn't outweigh the need to stay close and keep talking, however mad he had to seem to do it. Perhaps not the best new first impression, but the very thought of letting Tzilan disappear again made his heart feel like it was being crushed.]

This new world has plenty of beaches.

[serpentking]

[ Tzilan's fingers flexed at the suggestion, squeezing 'round Saralegui's. His features were too finely schooled to do more than lift his brows. ]

That sounds... ideal, all told.

[ But how did he know...? ]

Which would you recommend? I've no interest in ports or cities, but... a beautiful place, remote, quiet...

[enthraller]

[A slight squeeze around his fingers, and the faintest little hint of a smile crossed his face. It was embarrassing and he felt bad for probably making Tzilan nervous, sure. But truthfully, it was still a little amusing to be the one to know more for once.

He squeezed back, lightly enough to be nothing more than an acknowledgment that he'd felt that.]

I haven't had a chance to visit any myself. But I've seen maps.

[serpentking]

[ The wheels of his mind turned fast enough to burn on their own cogs, trying to pick apart the whys, the hows, and he adjusted smoothly to the new information. ]

Would you have a map I could see, perhaps? Or know where I might happen to find one?

[enthraller]

Not on me.

[A glance sideways, just a glimpse of gold through his bangs, and his lips curve in the slightest smile.]

But I could loan you one, if you don't mind stopping back at my place.

[serpentking]

[ Golden eyes. And telepathy, perhaps? Some other curious extension of the mind? He rifled through possible explanations, his smile curling all the tighter. ]

I would enjoy that.

[enthraller]

It isn't exactly close by. A different continent now, in fact. We'd have to take a fairy ring.

[He angles slightly, turning from the path towards the woods and tugging Tzilan lightly after him.]

[serpentking]

[ The little tug was unexpected, and with a wide-eyed blink, Tzilan hastened to follow, nearly jogging to correct his pace alongside that of the other man. ]

Beg pardon, but... a what?

[enthraller]

A way of getting around quickly. Unless you have a better method?

[His smile was brief and oddly knowing. But he could hardly suggest anything else, could he? He didn't even know if Tzilan could already teleport around at this point in his life.

With an airy gesture, he flashed a band of red around the middle finger on his free hand.]

My ring would usually do the trick, but unfortunately, it can only handle one person.

[serpentking]

Ah... so it's... some manner of thaumaturgy at your command? Spells, magic?

[ Tzilan could only assume that the young man might have some connection to Magi, or perhaps some Tremere lord. And it wasn't often that he was wrong-footed, left to feel the lesser. His free hand smoothed over his shirt, underneath the dark cloak he'd cast on over his clothes. ]

I've only got my feet, I'm afraid.

[enthraller]

Just a trinket from an old friend. I've never been one for spells and that sort of thing.

[The look he cast at the red band was bittersweet, and he curled his fingers around it as he lowered his hand again.]

That's as far as the ring goes, anyway. Anyone can use the fairy rings. And I believe there's one around here somewhere.

[serpentking]

[ No time for pride, in an alien world, without your bearings, thought Tzilan, mouth twisting helplessly. ]

Anyone can use fairy rings?

[ He gestured to the red band on Sara's finger, misunderstanding, ]

Where does one acquire them? Costly, I'd imagine?

[ He doubted he had anything considered valuable enough to purchase one on his person, and used his free hand to check his pockets, increasingly concerned. ]

[enthraller]

[Saralegui blinked for a moment, confused. And when the misunderstanding dawned on him, it was clear on his face.]

Oh! No, not this kind of ring. I'm not even sure where you could get anything like this these days, let alone what it might cost. Fairy rings are places that can transport you elsewhere --- circles of mushrooms in the earth.

[He grinned as he explained, but there was the strangest hint of sadness in the expression. As much as he liked being the one to know things, it ached a little to think that it was once Tzilan who would have explained this world's phenomena to him.]

[serpentking]

[ Made as much sense as anything else he'd heard in this short while, and he cocked an ear as he listened. ]

If they allow an individual to go anywhere, how does one protect against an enemy's use of it? Spies, assassins?

[ After the barest beat, ]

Can they be destroyed?

[enthraller]

[Still so like a cat. But he restrained the urge to pet.]

"Anywhere" has limits. Only to other fairy rings, though they are fairly well distributed. And there used to be some that only worked for certain groups of people.

[Saralegui thought on the latter question, and his lips curled slyly.]

As for destroying them...it'd certainly be interesting to see what might happen if someone tried. But I don't know if anyone has. Too useful to risk it working, perhaps.

[serpentking]

[ His heart lurched at that smile, as if it wanted to try to beat. Tzilan's own expression curved again, no less sly. ]

You'll find I'm quite covetous of certain kinds of power. That is one that appeals.

[enthraller]

I'm sure it does.

[Good to know, at least, that some things hadn't changed. The smile was sweetly familiar and Saralegui's gaze lingered just a moment too long before he turned his face forward again, frowning slightly with the distraction of picking through some brush at the edge of a clearing.]

Here. I think this is it.

[Sure enough, he'd been right about there being a ring here. At the center of the decently-sized clearing was a circle of mushrooms, a sign with the scrawling handwriting of fairies posted at the edge of it. Saralegui stepped confidently over the side of the ring before pausing, glancing back to Tzilan with an unreadable expression.]

I supposed it'd be stupid to ask if you trust me. [And it hurt to think about that, but he couldn't pretend everything was exactly the same.] But you'll have to for now, at least for this.

[serpentking]

[ The fingertips of his free hand deftly lifted and bent aside brambly branches of underbrush, and he moved with an eerie quiet, a self-assuredness, even in these strange surroundings. He gave his head a small shake, smiling faintly, and gave Sara's hand another squeeze. ]

Lead on, in that case.

[enthraller]

[Saralegui's answering smile was faint but warm, and he tugged Tzilan over the edge of the ring to stand beside him.]

To Redgate, then.

[A beat of nothing, and then all at once a blinding rush and a feeling like being stretched in every direction at once. And then everything snapped back into focus only a second later, and the clearing was gone.

The new ring they stood in was on a grassy hill, a bare patch between the orchard behind them and the great mountain looming overhead. An enormous red wall stretched from the mountainside across the valley, a gaping emptiness of a doorway in its center where it looked from the scraps of massive torn hinges like gates once hung. Barely visible from this angle, the mountainside near the top was dotted with buildings.]