Mesdames et Messieurs, Voilà, C'est Vous

[lesmodsalouette]

Bievenue

You're wrapped in a soothing, all-encompassing darkness.

Well, perhaps not perfectly all-encompassing -- you can see some slivers of light here and there, just enough to realize that your current space is literally wrapped in something, and that you are a highly customized burrito at the mercy of an entirely too fluffy bed and set of blankets. Moreover: you are definitely not alone.

Depending upon the contents of your bed (two of you, waking up dressed exactly in what you wore last you remember back where each of you came from, in the exact same state as those last moments no matter how illogical or disjointed), it may not be comfortable or feasible to stay cocooned up for much longer. There's a low, muted GONG, GONGG coming from not far away, your bed creaks like a beleaguered ship in an unannounced storm, and it is joined by even more noises of movement beyond the bed canopy as you try to take stock of where you are.

Eventually, you either fall out of bed or drag yourself into this world: your new and strangely crowded personal rooms, the clock insistently sounding out the hour, and the halls and heraldry of the venerable Château Ambregris -- a lavishly decorated and fully furnished version of a more-or-less authentic French castle (assuming you know what France or a castle are).

Left to your own devices for the moment, you may find it helpful to explore the castle for your own purposes, check out the suspicious statues and personalized plaques in the Promenade of Reflexion, or perhaps to try to get to the bottom of the mysterious and frankly alarming amount of bread piled up in front of the place settings in the Banquet Hall. (Were you thinking of escaping? Any attempts to leave the property will be met with no forward progress at all, treadmill style). There's just about every kind of loaf, roll, boule, baguette, croissant or even animal-shaped bread you can think of stacked in baskets. There's absolutely nothing else save for plain bread, but at least you won't starve.

[OOC: Welcome to Château Ambregris, a perfectly normal castle receiving perfectly normal guests. Feel free to ask any questions in discord! The NPC Meet & Greet will be later today, March 8 at 6 PM EST/3 PM PST.]

Locations Villa Main Nav

Comments

[calamitish]

I'll figure it out eventually!

[ is confidence a currency. ]

Outside of here? Nothing, zilch, nada, zero, void.

[simulacres]

Beats me.

[ she shrugs. ]

It looks...like a castle? But I'm not sure what we're meant to do here.

[thesharpestroy]

[Oh. Damn. You know what, that kind of tracks, honestly. Still, damn.]

Both of them, huh? How long ago?

[Despite the flicker of emotion in Shiv’s eyes, she asks it about as casually as she would Chara’s favorite color.]

[simulacres]

Maybe it's a hobby?

[ she can't really see another purpose for these clocks. ]

It's not like they're telling the same time, so whoever is taking care of these probably don't care about the time and just the, uh, appearances.

[thesharpestroy]

Good point. I can work with scraps, though. I grew up with three older brothers.

[Shiv, you also grew up ridiculously rich.]

[simulacres]

Oh.

[ ayaka blinks at him in surprise, not expecting the sincerity in his response. in a way, it reminds her of that one mercenary that they made an alliance with, sigma. she could never get a good read on him, but she knew he was the honest sort.

maybe he is too. ]

No problem! I, uh, am not an expert in any of this, but I'm glad I was able to help, I guess. Please be careful.

the garden

[simulacres]

You're...what?

[antemeridian]

I will ask when whatever they're doing directly impacts other people. [ and how. ] Though I suppose you can't be blamed for having at least some amount of self-preservation.

[ Congratulations, Witch. ]

That said, what spell were you trying to cast? Someone else has said something about teleportation, but something more precise would be appreciated.

[the_obedient_servant]

Your powers of observation are something to behold. I do believe it is a castle.

[They're a dickhead, sorry.]

I imagine we'll find out soon enough. If not, the responsibility might be on us. It could be an escape room of sorts.

[stygiomedusa]

That is true, but they're also quite beautiful despite what they're made of.

[She tilts her head.]

Corruptors... those who have been transformed by Mania?

[antemeridian]

Ah. I am not familiar with that experience. But I will note that: having older siblings teaches resourcefulness.

[ or something like that. ]

[uiscebeatha]

That makes two of us!

[ There's a little "hah!" behind his words, too. Maybe having something in common will work to his advantage?

Anyway, he'll just give a little wave... coming for him later... ]

[antemeridian]

[ that'll teach me to tag at falling asleep o clock, i can't read. pretend every other room was specifically her talking about how grandfather clocks seem ubiquitously popular but wasn't literally every room. ]

Maybe. They do seem dedicated to keeping to a certain theme...

If we try to figure out what sort of person owns this place based on the rooms here, though... what kind of person would that be?

[ a theater with jester costumes only, a room full of clocks, a bunch of old weapons. what kind of profile is this. ]

[coldseep]

( hehe )

Then why don't you join me? ( problem solving! ) Is it playing favorites if you happen to be taking a bath right then, too?

[uiscebeatha]

I mean, if you're talking about that statue, I already saw it. Unfortunately.

[ Once! He will not be looking at it again.

He doesn't quite get the last part. His lips fold, confused, and he looks Yoonhee up and down. ]

...You?

[stygiomedusa]

Of course. I might not know much about magic, but I know that with so many people here you'll need as much help as you can get.

[Considering. Those who are currently present,,,]

[snakeblood]

I mean all the crests with snakes around.

The me bit is just funny.

[cleansheets]

Garden - CW: allusion to self-harm
[ Some time after the confrontation with Witch, you can find Angelo in the garden standing in front of the rose bushes. He's still wearing his space suit, because that's what he woke up in and he has not had a mind to change yet. In fact, he does not seem to have a mind for much of anything right now - anyone who cast a glance at him in the ballroom earlier would have seen that beyond his first outburst, he seems to have been mostly dissociating through the whole thing.

He doesn't look much better now. There is an emptiness in his eyes, and it's unclear if he's staring at the roses or just looking right through them at something else, something much further away. A glimpse of red, in a universe beyond this...

After a moment of silence, something seems to break in him and he reaches into the bushes to clench his hand around the stem of a flower - if it weren't for the thick pilot gloves he is wearing, this surely would have jammed the thorns right into his hands and made him bleed. With his arm now outstretched, it is easy to see that he is shaking like a leaf. ]

Begonia Suite
[ Later yet, Angelo is back in the room he is now forced to share with those random strangers. It's nothing new for him to have his quarters not be his own - he's shared his last room with his squadmates for quite some time. But there is one thing he absolutely refuses to budge on: beds.

Angelo has claimed one of the four available beds, and he's looking at everyone present with murder in his eyes: ]

If any of you even think about trying to share a bed with me, I'll kill you.

[ After whatever confrontation this leads to is settled, Angelo can be found in the powder room, where he's opening up various perfume battles to give them a sniff. Once more, he seems more absentminded than is entirely healthy, but at least he's not screaming at anybody. ]

Mars Room
[ Close to nightfall, Angelo can be found in the Mars Room. He's finally changed out of his spacesuit and is instead wearing a fancy riding ensemble with high boots that he appears pretty comfortable in. Currently he's holding an old pistol in his hands, appraising. ]

This is ancient...

Wildcard
[ Throw me whatever, man. Or hit me up on Discord real quick so we can work smth out, of course! ]

[stygiomedusa]

Well, it might not be the best description...

[She's trying to be diplomatic, here!]

Nobles, though...? I wasn't aware nobility still existed.

[spotsalone]

[ He glances back at the showers more fully. ]

Showers, yes. Have you seen them before?

[uiscebeatha]

...Yeah. That's probably the better way of thinking of thinking about it.

[ He tilts his head briefly in the direction of the footsteps. Approaching. Those probably belong to the person who was speaking to.

He doesn't let his gaze linger, though; he looks back up at the wizards' statues. ]

But...there's twenty one of us. If it were just me, I'd chalk it up to being random. But that it's me and him confuses me. He's not usually the first person people associate with me. And that's probably true the other way around, too...

[ Now he's just thinking out loud. ]

[spotsalone]

[ Hickey blinks. ]

We were, yes. Forgive me for hurrying off before we had a proper introduction. In circumstances odd as this, I thought it important to take stock of our new surroundings.

[ He pauses again, mouth slanting in thought. ]

I'm Cornelius Hickey.

[uiscebeatha]

No, I mean the Western Country. You know, the...country...

[ Cain slows and trails off, taking in Yoru again. What if he doesn't know what the Western Country is? It didn't sound like he'd even consider it. Weird, because anyone else would've been right there with Cain's train of thought.

...

There's a possibility he didn't think of, and when it comes to him, it causes a little sinking feeling in his chest.

Sorry, he's processing. Just. Staring at Yoru in the meanwhile. ]

[antline]

I'm looking for ants.

[this explains everything]

[uiscebeatha]

[ Cain's eyes snap to Break's, smile still on his face as he studies him briefly. As much as he'd hate to admit it, some particular features make him really wish he was home instead of here. ]

I'm just not that good at staying upset. [ At least he's polite and laughing along? ] Good to meet you, Xerxes. Find your own statue yet?