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.]

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[diel]

[ but yoru just insists: ]

Anything at all?

[diel]

[ another problem with the ransom idea is… ]

Yeah, I’m not anyone important… Are you?

[allrounder]

I'm not exactly well-known for my brevity.

[ But it's fine... he can figure out a short way to go over this. ]

Given that you seem to not recognize "Miqo'te," I assume you have not heard of Eorzea either. The Miqo'te have been there for centuries, having immigrated from elsewhere. We hail from every corner of Eorzea, but have split into Seekers of the Sun and Keepers of the Moon, and even further into various tribes.

[ There's a hint of a lecture there if she ever wanted to dig deeper, but her tone is obvious—her attention is sacred, more likely than not, and one must earn it if they want to go on at length and not be subject to her ire. ]

...All that is to say, we're somewhat common and do not typically stand out among the other races like the horned Au Ra or the Viera and their rabbit-like appendages.

[snakeblood]

Are you really questioning my resolve?

[ More disclaimers that he doesn't actually look like the icon rn........... ]

[allrounder]

[ A world where humans can't use magic? That would both be dull and relatively peaceful, he thinks. ]

How would they forget that? [ A pause. ] Or are these wizards of yours reclusive?

[fourtuity]

I'm totally important to me, but if I'm actually answering your question: nope. Just a student worrying about classes and homework.

[diel]

… Yeah, that’s possible. I mean, I guess I could do that. Could have done that - before today.

[ technically, he has lifted some things! ]

I mostly used it… to avoid touching things directly.

[diel]

[ he hears the threat and backs up quickly. ]

I - I’m making sure because if you’d said no, I would have… ignored you from now on. Or, uh, yeah.

[smdr]

[ looking over real quick to squint at his face before she goes back to bread (TM). ]

Huh, right. Doctor Meows?

[ hehe

but look at him, so kind to let jinx finish stuffing her face. not that she's thinking much about eating now — her mind is buzzing onto the next thing, and fortunately his position give her options.

she's picking up more bread. some into her pockets, some in her hand, and some........ hopefully right into doctor meow's (?) crossed arms. she observes him a little longer, tilts her head, then shakes it. ]

Doctor Furball. [ ... picking up more bread. more bread. so much bread. ] Nope. Doctor Cat-astrophe? Ugh. I'll figure it out on the way. We're dining and dashing.

[coldseep]

Most of them are. Some of them aren't.

( very helpful answer )

Some of them have passions that take them into cities and settlements, and others follow their hearts to seclusion, where they're closer to their heritage of nature. Still...

( He chews on his bread contemplatively, finishing up his lizard and taking up another bread (this one looks like a cat). He pinches its cute fluffy limbs idly. )

Humans envy and fear anything magical - the way a little minnow fears a shark, but may wish it were not so weak and small. I've heard stories of wizards going into towns and getting chased out.

( Why look like something that hates you? ... And yet, they persist. )

But I think a part of us magical things envy humans, too.

[allrounder]

I presume there was a reason for that?

[ His line of thinking is an allergy or something akin to that, but there's a lightness to his tone, like he's gently brushing up against a topic yet ready to back away from it all the same. The how's and why's of magic and spells and powers can be personal, he knows that much to be true. ]

[snakeblood]

Sounds like you're the one projecting. My family isn't any of your business. [ Family is a... touchy subject, least to say. ] Are you sure you're not the one having doubts about yourself?

[coldseep]

( ...

He smiles a little helplessly - like someone who has seen the tsunami coming down on them, and knows there is nothing left for them but this. )

I think so.

( A beat. )

Are you lonely, too?

( He hopes not. Lonely is a terrible thing to be. )

[smdr]

[ good. check out it's hat-y glory. there's bells at the end, and jinx is gonna flick one.

ring! ]

Should've said that, then.

[ specifics for the obvious, please, clover. ]

Also not sure if you should be rummaging around in a circus if you're not down to clown, but hey, I'm not your boss.

[arbalestrier]

[Sousuke stares for a while before speaking up again.]

I don’t have any reason to do so.

[obtect]

The one with the rat chef. Won a lot of awards, really popular?

[obtect]

Who’s ‘they’?

[coldseep]

Then rather than a "curse," perhaps it's simply "a matter of circumstance."

( No different than being someone who's suffered a flash flood - or who has a terminal diagnosis. A god taking hold of your body? Well, to Hwylryn, these are all about the same thing.

It's probably a little odd for a creature of the supernatural, himself, to advocate for a perspective without magic, especially given the extraordinary circumstances at hand here, but here we are. )

These things are given power through words... though, I imagine you're the expert on this matter, and not me.

( He's humble for a guy who can fairly speak on curses, but he isn't really interested in talking over someone who has curses as their Thing. He wants to let him have this. )

[coldseep]

( Ah! )

Then, can we be friends now? What's your name?

[fourtuity]

I thought this was a theater, not a circus! But looks can be deceiving. Turns out this is a jester's dressing room.

[ Honestly, the bells are pretty cool. The bells can stay. ]

I was hoping for lightsabers. That'd have been fun.

[frostlight]

Then why have them? They can just display something else.

[Weapons are meant to be used foremost. It's one thing to wear and seldom use them, and another to keep them stored forever.]

[frostlight]

[He's quick on the uptake.]

Then you're familiar with the existence of other dimensions.

[frostlight]

Are there multiple culprits . . . ?

[And if so, why? What's the point of putting someone like herself with Andrew? They're only vaguely alike on the surface.]

[snakeblood]

You don't need to coat it in pretty words like that. A curse is a curse. Better that you know the causes and the outcomes.

[ The other guy isn't wrong, but it's not like Yoonhee's scared anyway. It's been ingrained into him how life just is. ]

In my case, I'll be lucky if I make it to forty. That's pretty old age for a master of my household. [ He'd like to retire, but extraneous circumstances. ]

[antemeridian]

... That seems like a rather counterintuitive name for a city like that.

[ But sure, why not. Snowfield by the desert. It's not like names for places have to make sense. ]

I was walking home through the city. It was sunset, and there were plenty of people around.