INTRO LOG ☆ WELCOME TO THE KINGDOM

[loveskulls]

☆DAY ONE | THE GRAND ENTRANCE☆

When you awaken after a nice, long, deep sleep (facilitated by some herbs burning in the fireplace, perhaps) you have made your choice. When you exit your room, you’ll see a signpost in the middle of the corridor that you didn’t notice before. There are three signs, all pointing in different directions, with the words “Apprentices”,”Guards” and “Etc” on their own sign.

Potential Apprentices will head towards the very hall they entered just last night. The Mistress isn’t here this time. In her place there is a table and a long, open scroll of parchment with the words “APPRENTICE CONTRACT” written at the very top and a small, near indiscernible paragraph of what looks to be legal jargon under it. The only other obviously readable words say “SIGN HERE”. A quill and ink lies next to the parchment for this very purpose. Whether you linger to read the entire thing before you sign or simply sign, it doesn’t matter. If you get cold feet, you can leave. If you sign, a soldier will push yet another tome into your hands.

The tome contains a short, congratulatory spiel about the honor of being an Apprentice and proceeds to go into great detail about duties that sound an awful lot like castle maintenance. There’s talk of polishing knobs, sweeping corridors, wiping windows and mopping up after orgies but very little is said about magic.

It advises you to check the notice boards in the library at least once a month to accomplish tasks and earn coins. In the back of the book is a map that marks the important locations within the castle (including the location of your lovely, new room) and a sparse map of the kingdom. Think scribbles with “forest goes here” scrawled over the top.

Potential guards head into the courtyard, where a table is set up and surrounded by a small group of current guards. The table has a banner pinned to it that reads “GUARD SIGN-UPS” and upon approaching the table, you will be asked to beat one of the current guards in hand to hand combat. When that has been accomplished, they will ask about your previous experience with protective services, your experience with weapons and offer you the job. If you fail, you’ll be turned away (you also run the risk of being laughed out of the courtyard without a chance to prove yourself).

Upon signing up, a guard will take you on a tour of the castle, walking you through the barracks, the halls, the corridors and a few of the short cuts. You will be given a map, a weapon and taken to a nurse to unlock one of your powers (if you have one). Of course, you are warned of the consequences of misusing any of these privileges. Death, torture and a life spent in a prison cell are distinct possibilities.

They urge you to check the notice boards frequently for odd jobs to complete for extra spending money and shadow you while you try on your shiny, new uniform and tour the castle. You’ll be shadowed for about a week on duty before the guards get bored and let you do your own thing.

Finally, the et cetera. The last lot. You take your pride, your clothes and whatever you can fit in your pockets and you march with purpose (probably) toward your designated route. Maybe you’re angry, maybe you’re expecting a fight, maybe you’re getting fired up and ready to fight off anyone who tries to stop you.

You’ll be disappointed.

The corridor leads you to a very normal looking door that just...opens. Amazing. You step out of the castle and into the mud. It was raining, after all. There’s a guard there, waiting to escort you into the village. It’s about a ten minute trudge through the mud, and they lead you past beautiful towers, decent cottages and toward some worn down, empty shacks. One of these lovely hovels is yours to keep, and there’s even a little bit of food there for you.

You won’t get told anything about jobs or notice boards by the guard. Once they’ve dropped you off, that’s all the guard is obligated to do.

Snooping around the village will find you a notice board with jobs posted on it and information about some sort of tri-weekly market is readily available. If you want a job you’ll have to canvas, just like the good old days. The good news is that despite Mistress’ tyranny, the economy is pretty good. Many taverns, inns, apothecaries and brothels are hiring.

☆DAY TWO | THE FESTIVAL OF THE FOOL☆
The Off-Worlders have arrived at an opportune time, this month. People in the village might notice a hustle and bustle around them. Poles are mounted, banners are raised, euphemisms are crafted and everyone seems to be getting ready for something.

You don’t need to ask what it is, at first, because the banners indicate that it it’s April Fools. A little late in the month for it, you might think, but the occasion is celebrated for almost an entire month in this little Kingdom. After all, the Mistress does dearly love an opportunity to unleash malicious humor.

Thankfully, the festivities here are far from malicious. There’s food, drink, music and dancing all around town. Everyone is dressed in bright, colourful clothing and costumes and the Off-Worlders are encouraged to dance and celebrate alongside them. Cream pies, enchanted hand buzzers, the ol’ switcharoo with various possessions and other fairly lame pranks are standard.

Apprentices, guards and even outlier scum are encouraged to participate freely in the festival. It will be a week long binge of FUN.

-Food stalls provide free drinks of all flavours (some of which providing new sensations or strange tingles), cakes and baked goods (some of which are provided by the Fuck Bakery: Cakes that Make you Want to Fuck). It’s hard to differentiate the enhanced food from the regular food, but Off-Worlders will soon figure out that many people have a penchant for aphrodisiacs, enhancers and drugs in their food.

-Hookah pipes with many flavours to partake in, within silk tents amongst silk pillows for getting reeealllll comfortable. The warm, fruity scents are alluring and can have aphrodisiac-like effects if inhaled for long enough. They also lower the inhibitions and calm the mind, making everyone in the tent more open to suggestion.

-Jelly wrestling for prizes (of which you are free to take liberties) and shoulder wrestling for prizes (of which you are also free to take liberties) along with other familiar carnival games with erotic twists. Bobbing for candy dicks, pin the bikini on the nude girl, cock rodeos and extremely violent games of whack-a-mole.

-The brothels are in full force. Girls in ridiculous, skimpy costumes (think octopus, jesters or plague doctors) are outside selling their wares, they’re just too tempting to resist.

-Most exciting of all is the Fun Worm, who makes his way through the whole festival. He looks like six or so villagers under a really shitty costume, but it doesn’t seem to bother anyone. On closer inspection, you will be lured in by the fun pheromones and powerless to resist them. Inhaling fun pheromones forces a big, cheesy grin on your face. Suddenly, fun is the objective and your inhibitions are severely lowered for an hour or so. He’s constantly cycling around the festival, so it’s hard to avoid him. What’s important to note is that the Fun Worm is a new addition, a gift from the travelling Fun Cult to enhance the festivities. The Fun Cult has brought fun and laughter to kingdoms far and wide, although those kingdoms became a lot less prosperous when their priorities shifted from trade and farming to jello shots and week long benders.

The festivities continue even through nightfall (lanterns will be lit, some of which float through the sky of their own accord, bonfires with incredible scents will be lit too) and will do so for the rest of the week.

Comments

[shymon]

[Day One]

The decision to become a guard came immediately after discovering that it came with the privilege of winning back a power. It's only been a day and Simon feels vulnerable without it. Being in a crazy new world with crazy people is new to him, but the general concept of weird stuff happening isn't. He wants to be prepared.

A fight, a struggle and a win later and he's signed up as a Guard. They show him around, fit him for a uniform and he's starting to have regrets. They show him to his bunk and he changes into it. Unwilling to expose himself to the world immediately, he dawdles in there for some time before he's asked to go out and watch the newcomers fumble through the day.

He tries his best to be confident in what seems to be cut-off shorts and a man sized corset, but eventually he makes the best of a bad situation and turns invisible. He positions himself outside the sign posts and watches for boisterous behaviour or confusion.

If someone lingers too long, he'll find the courage to turn himself visible again. He's perched up on a nearby windowsill, and the seriousness of his expression doesn't match his outfit.

"Are you having trouble picking?"

[Day Two]
Simon is given endless free time to explore the festival, but as a guard. He's asked to keep an eye on things, so the uniform is necessary. He manages to find a big, hooded cloak that covers most of his exposed skin, so he stands out as looking fairly drab in a group of colourful people.

He manages to have a drink in his hands at all times, so by mid-morning he's already getting a little tipsy. He should take it easy and sit down for a while, so he can be found relaxing in the hookah tents. It will take some encouragement to make him try it, but once he does he'll be more relaxed than he's ever been.

Pretty girls can convince him to try anything, so he's had a mix of booze and drinks with varying effects. From wanting to snog someone, hug someone to just a general, buzzed feeling all around.

two sort of, i do what i want!!

[heirlift]

Frankly, John wasn't all that enthusiastic about the uniform, but he did sign up for this. The more attention it nets him, the more relaxed he gets with it, at least. If he doesn't like it, then he can at least be at peace with it. He still can't help but think this style would suit a certain someone else he knows a lot better, but... he seems to fit in here, at least. When in Rome, and all that.

The cloak idea, though, that seems like a good idea. He spots his bunkmate and sidles up casually. Fear No Anvil is slung at his side, offering him a bit of comfort in this trying time; and a familiar offworlder face helps, too.

"So how about this..." He pauses, looking for the right word. "They called it a festival, right? How about it? Sure is... something."

Yeah. Yeah, that's about all he can think to say about it. He's still sort of getting used to everything. Guard duty serves him well in that way, giving him an excuse to stand back and watch.

[shymon]

Given that Simon is taking every opportunity not to be seen in this uniform, he may never get used to it like John has. He already feels awkward and exposed enough in normal clothes and normal circumstances.

Although, he's a little more liberal with showing leg now that he's a little buzzed. When John approaches, Simon smiles, and while John may not know him well to notice, it's a peculiar sort of broad smile that just doesn't suit his face somehow.

"I've never been to a festival like this before." He remarks, a little dreamy eyed about it, but he snaps out of it. "Do you.. know what we're supposed to do? If something goes wrong? Should we figure out a plan?" He flinches momentarily, regretting how knobbish it sounds.

[heirlift]

"To be honest, I'm not even sure what could go wrong. I guess if people get a little too rowdy?" He pats the handle of his hammer, strapped to his side. Good ole Fear No Anvil; he'd had to choose just one, and it seemed like the most logical choice. In terms of both power and predictability, it scored fairly evenly on both. "I can at least take care of a dozen or so with this. What about you?"

He may have skipped a few steps from single drunken fool that needs to be taken home to full blown riot. But you never know. These people seem to love their penis pastries, and if the vendors run out...

[shymon]

"It's hard to say when I don't know much about this place. There could be dragons, goblins.." He trails off, before he delves too deeply into thoughts of valiantly slaying beasts and he shrugs. Simon casts a curious eye down toward John's hammer, and he's glad that there actually is a hammer and he's not just making a lewd joke.

"S'a weird looking hammer." He can't help but remark, but he's already letting himself get riddled with self doubt. "I can turn invisible. I can use it to watch people- or get ahead of them- when they don't realise." John needed that spelled out.

[heirlift]

"Goblins aren't so bad. I don't know about dragons, though."

He took on some pretty big imps, which he imagined were roughly the size of a small dragon, so... maybe? He;s not so sure he wants to risk it if he's all mortal and squishy again, though. He has to be mindful about that one. No more non-heroic, non-just deaths for him.

"Hey, turning invisibly sounds pretty handy! If I could turn invisible, do you even know what kind of things I could pull off?" He's almost more musing to himself than anything, thinking over all of the pranking potential there is in invisibility powers. "That'd be great..."

[shymon]

"It is pretty useful. It just takes me a little while to get the advantage." He wants to say that it would mean they'd need to work together in order for it to be useful, but he's already feeling dramatic enough. Once a situation arises, he'll work out a way to come in handy.

For now, he's more interested in what John said earlier.

"Have you met goblins before?" His interest is truly piqued.

[heirlift]

"Technically speaking, no but imps were kind of like goblins." He shrugs. It has to be close enough, right? They were all kind of weird and angry and tried to kill you, and that was what mattered most. "It's kind of a long story though, and I mostly try to put it behind me."

--come to think of it, he's never actually tried to explain Sburb to someone who hadn't been there in some form or another. He doesn't even know if he could faithfully explain the entire ordeal. Looking back, it got sort of... convoluted. Especially at the end.

"Why, what have you fought before?"

[shymon]

"I suppose it's all the same when you're fighting them." He says it somberly, but he truly is interested. He had sort of assumed John was a relatively normal person, like him powers aside, but now he's wondering what sort of worlds there are out there.

It sounds like John doesn't particularly want to get into it, though. At least not now. Simon is too shy to pry and too empathetic to drag it all out of him, so he'll relent.

"Other people, mostly. Lots of people have powers, where I'm from, but there aren't any monsters." He pauses. "Except for werewolves."

Day 1

[brokencode]

Angel had thought herself alone as she deliberated over the choices before her. A handful of others had come and gone, but the siren remained. She knew what option sounded best, considering everything about her background. Not to mention the fact that being a guard clearly wouldn't work, considering the fact that she could fight off a fly, let alone a grown person.

And being on her own? Absolutely not.

Because she thought herself left a peace, the sound of the voice behind her made her jump. She whirled around and -- well. It wasn't the worst outfit she'd seen, and certainly not enough to distract her from her initial panic.

"Sorry, sorry. I can try and hurry up, I will not keep you."

[shymon]

Apparently, being invisible for this long removed Simon's memory of what his own outfit looks like, despite being fully able to see himself. He's bashful for a moment, particularly when he realises he just unveiled himself to an extremely fit girl. He knows he's hopeless with girls, so he already has no plans to try flirt with her, but what's more important is that she looks completely lost.

He can relate.

"Oh- You aren't keeping me." He sputters a little from how quickly he feels the need to blurt that out. "I've just been sitting here. Guarding, I suppose." He sounds a little despondent, because it's been extremely boring thus far. "Is there a reason you've been standing here so long?"

[brokencode]

Angel's shouldered sagged as she breathed out a sigh of relief. Considering the fact that she'd only been there a handful of minutes, it was hard to tell just what kind of world she was in. True, no one had eaten someone else in the past few minutes either -- a record on Pandora, by her estimation. But lack of cannibalism did not necessarily make for a pleasant place. She half expected to be skewered for so much as hesitating in making her decision.

The fact that she hadn't been had to say something, right?

"You must be doing a wonderful job then," she said. Realizing that her tone might have come off as slightly snippy or sarcastic, she quickly began speaking once more. "I mean it -- nothing has happened here, is all. Perfectly safe, it is."

[shymon]

Simon hasn't seen much of the world either, but it's already seeming better than the dreary, old city he'd been in not long before. Like with most things in his life, he's sure it's more insidious than it appears but for now, he'll enjoy the change of scenery.

Her praise makes him bashful, but he's surprised at how quickly she feels the need to clarify. He's really used to rude jokes with absolutely no clarification required. He offers her a weak smile, hoping she doesn't feel too bad for misspeaking.

"It's alright." He assures. "I really haven't done much of anything. Just watching people, mostly.." He trails off, because he realises he probably sounds weird. "You've been standing here longer than anyone else, though."

[brokencode]

Luckily enough for the man, Angel didn't find his methods to be particularly odd. That was what guards were meant to do, right? Watch endlessly and step in whenever necessary. As far as she was concerned, Simon was simply doing his job.

"It's like you said," Angel shook herself from her thoughts and offered him a small shrug. "I am having a rather tough time making a decision. There are so many possibilities, and yet I cannot help but feel like perhaps I would not fit in with any of them?"

A small laugh escaped her.

"Silly, isn't it?"

[shymon]

Simon's default state is to be gently on the defensive, particularly when he feels like he's doing something weird or questionable and particularly when the person he's talking to is kind of really cute. Not that it matters, he just wants to be liked.

"Why would you feel like you don't fit any of them?" He widens his eyes a little, concern in his expression. He moves to stand, pushing himself up from the windowsill to walk towards her without getting too close and creeping her out with his stupid uniform.

"It isn't silly at all. I think it's very hard, to be taken from everything you know and be expected to make a choice- but I think. If you changed your mind? I don't think they would stop you."

[brokencode]

Perhaps, then, Simon could rest assured knowing that Angel was well at-ease and not at all uneasy-looking around him. Not anymore, at least. Her shoulders had certainly slipped down into a more relaxed pose, and her brows were no longer drawn so tightly together.

That remained true even as the man shifted closer to her.

"Well, I certainly do not look like guard material, now do I?" She laughed, hoping that Simon might join in. "Not to mention the uniform just... would not work well with my figure.

"Being alone as an outsider doesn't seem to bode well for similar reasons. I cannot even defend myself."

That left being an apprentice. Not a particularly awful option, and yet...

"I lack control when it comes to abilities and magic-like things. I worry that it might continue to be true if I were to become an apprentice."

[shymon]

"It doesn't work well with mine, either." He says that with an exasperated, little laugh. "I think looks can be deceiving. Some people are stronger than they look. Especially if they have powers."

But she doesn't seem sold on it, and he doesn't want to promise her that she'll be safe in the village when he doesn't know what it's like at all. All of the history documentaries he's watched tend to imply that this time period is sort of ravaged with violence.

"If being safe is important to you, I think you should be an apprentice. You don't have to fight or protect yourself, I think. It sounds like they take care of you." At least, a little more than anyone else here.

day two

[frenzies]

[She's wandering around in sort of a daze, and though it takes awhile for her to get up the proper spirit to actually enjoy herself, Alisha finds that it gets easier with a little bit of booze in her. She's even smiling a little, laughing occasionally—things she didn't expect herself to be doing so soon after what happened with Simon. Future Simon, her Simon. It feels wrong, but she's decided to just not think about it as much as possible.

That is, until, she stumbles into one of the hookah tents and sees Simon sitting there, wearing a cloak and looking...well, very not-uptight. She can't help but freeze, her mouth falling open into a tiny O.]

...Simon?

[shymon]

[For similar reasons, Simon is down in the dumps himself (though it's hard to tell, given his usual attitude). It's not the same without the gang here, he's gotten used to seeing them every day and he's out of sorts without them. If it measures up to their usual adventures, he's sure he'll see one of them. Soon. Eventually. Hopefully. He's not sure what to do without at least one of them, someone to help figure out what's happening and help escape from here.

Yet, with the intoxicating smells and general, carefree attitudes he's starting to feel... freer. Happier. He's sitting there, smiling to himself and holding his knees like he's a kid at a tea party. It's through a haze that he hears his name and when he turns, his smile grows wider.]

Alisha! [It's the most exuberant he's ever been, he's practically leaping up and striding toward her with a grin.] You're here too?

[frenzies]

[For a second, she thinks she's losing it. She thinks it's Future Simon, the way he greets her, the way he seems so jovial. But something's off—the way he was sitting, it isn't right, that's how the old Simon used to sit, and she feels a roller-coaster of butterflies in her stomach, up and then straight down to the pit.

Despite that, she manages a smile.]

Yeah. Yeah, I am. This is...weird, innit?

[She's seized by a sudden, desperate need to know who he is, to know how much he knows. To know if he's from the same time as her. She takes hold of the shoulder of his cloak and tugs him backward.]

What's the last thing you remember from home?

[shymon]

It's nothing like anything we've done before. [And he sounds.. fine with that. He's at peace with how things have happened and what might happen, which is weird because he was full of anxiety before sat down in here.

He fumbles when she takes hold of his cloak, but she lets her tug him backward all the same.]

I got kicked out of home, then I came to find everyone at the hotel. While you were all famous, but I stayed invisible. [He smiles. Again.] What about you?

[frenzies]

That's for damn sure.

[She lets her hand drop and stares up at him, trying to work things out in her head. So he's not Superhoodie. Not yet. God, she wishes the time travel didn't fuck with her head so badly trying to work it out.]

So you...has she told you yet? The me that's from your time. [Her mouth is suddenly very dry.] Are you and I...?

[shymon]

Told me what..? [Suddenly, somehow, some of the irreverence drains from him. He's still smiling, faintly, but his eyes have always betrayed him as far as hiding his emotions go. He looks worried.]

Me and you..? ..Dead? [It's not an unrealistic concern. Far more realistic, he thinks, than them ever getting together.]

[frenzies]

N— [She cuts off, startled, and laughs a little. God, he looks so worried, it's killing her. But more than that, the fact that he doesn't know yet is killing her even more.]

No, [she finishes.] Not dead. Together.

[Is this the right thing to say? The right way to do things? Hell if Alisha knows. She can barely keep her own timeline straight, let alone his, too. All she knows is she misses him like hell and she wants what they had back.]

[shymon]

[When Alisha laughs, Simon laughs too. He's not even sure what the joke is, but he can't help himself.

Then she gives him an answer, and that stops.]

Together..? [He tilts his head to the side, visibly confused.] You and me? [And then the laughter comes back, just a little. It's not how he'd usually react, but he feels compelled to.]

Are you trying to play a trick on me?