balance_logs | Field Mission 7: The Queen of Hearts, Part 1

	Once upon a time...
	NAVIGATION

Click here for the RNG thread!

The day is met the way all others begin: the sun rises from the eastern stretch of land facing the sea, as the citizens of Emberwharf awaken to a fish market brimming with life and splendor. The same sun is seen in Ok'talar, where its warchief watches, as is tradition for its leader to be meditating under the warmth of its warm embrace. The clans of the Highlands pick up where they left off just yesterday, squabbling over minor infractions of land, marriage, or deals that have fell through. And in the cold clutches of Orrenvia to the north, people are bundling up and preparing to visit the mines at the base of the Spine of the World.

The general news throughout the Kingdom of Fanelia is that today is a day of celebration. It marks the 110th anniversary of the coronation of its ruler, the Queen of Hearts. While some people around the outskirts of the citadel proper consider this as a day of mourning, many are called forth to partake in festivities, dining, and the accompaniment of the finest musicians from the far-reaching town of Peppelfen.

For the last 110 years, the Queen has kept order and, somehow, relative peace throughout the kingdom she rules. Although open defiance and protest is met with swift justice and sentencing, no one can overlook how crafty and careful she is. Her manipulations resonate throughout the annals of the history of Fanelia, present in every major brokered deal throughout its vast land mass and diverse population. Her benevolent guidance is felt by all... as is her tyranny. She is a monarch of paradoxes: obsessed with control, but only acting for the betterment of the realm's self-preservation. Every passionate declaration of "OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" had been necessary up to this point; who else can steer and guide this world into prosperity than she herself?

The horizon in the far off distance swirls with its usual tumultuous temper. A dark cloud surrounds the continent where Fanelia is located, known to all as "The Expanse." Every year, the border closes a little bit more inward, narrowing the lands and threatening the civilizations that reside on the fringes. Its presence encroaches, and with it, a general looming sense of fear that one day only the capital city will be left standing, protected by a magical bubble of pure radiant light that allows only those permitted by decree to enter.

But none of you can remember your life before this illusion took hold. As far as you're concerned, you've been here your entire life. You don't notice that this farce, this world created by the usage of a Grand Relic, has only existed for a year. One whole year has passed since magic was cut loose from Faerun's fabric, and no one is any wiser that it's been gone at all.

You look down to your wrist, noticing the same three clouded, empty colored crystals that have always been there since the day you were born. Each one bears the shape of a heart, and it makes sense to you why Lucretia is known as...

The Queen of Hearts.

1. THE COURT OF HEARTS

A. ANOTHER MORNING, HOWEVER YOU SLICE IT

Good morning! Where are you right now?

Another day is creeping over the horizon, and your life as you know it is continuing down the path it always has. Wherever you are. However you're feeling. The crystals on your wrist, though you've managed to sort out at least one purpose for them by now, remain as dull and lifeless as they've always been.

Maybe you've long since figured out that not everyone has them — and maybe today is the morning that you finally heed a call to figure out why. The harder you think about it, the more questions you seem to have.

It's a wide world out there, and there are people you just might be dying to remember. Where will you go? Who will you run into?

B. NETWORK

Speaking of that one purpose you've stumbled upon: A series of messages that, if you choose to access them, dance across your mind as if they were your own thoughts. Over the years, the messages have ranged from confused — people on the other end wondering what this is, without really finding any answers — to just straight up sales pitches.

One day, though, a message under the name of Avalon appears:

Wandering fortune teller and adviser offering services.

Have a burning question you want answered? Do you wish for a quick peek into the void, to light a match into the unknown?

Giving out free samples now! Just message me ;)

[ooc: If you'd like a randomized way for a memory to begin unraveling, feel free to hit up the RNG thread for a fortune! Note: A low roll doesn't necessarily mean a failure to nudge your character in the right direction, it will just dictate how cryptic and/or troll-y the fortune actually is.

Or, feel free to come up with an unrelated fortune for a prompt.]

C. AROUND THE CAPITAL

One way or another, you may make your way to the capital city, the seat of the Court of Hearts. Whether you're here for answers, or whether you're here just to see the sights, here are a few ideas to get you started.

○ Chaotic croquet: Indeed, you will be discovering how the capital city plays the queen's favorite game. You and a fellow crystal-bearer/Reclaimer will near immediately be roped into a round and pitted against each other, with a rather stern reminder to follow the rules.

If only the rules made sense! Each path to the next wicket is more treacherous than the last — you may find yourself quite literally navigating the ball over a bottomless pit, or bumping it up stairs that threaten to send the ball right back, careening toward your face. There is also the Stone Golem guarding the final wicket to contend with.

It's a bit strange, actually. It's almost as if this match of the Queen of Hearts' imagining would prefer that the two of you worked together, rather than against each other.

○ We mentioned earlier that the castle, should you wander past the common areas, gets a little ... strange. It's labyrinthine in nature, with staircases, doors and hallways that lead to no where, or straight into the ceiling. The neat line of roses planted along the hallways begin to wither the farther you walk — almost as if nobody dared getting lost just to water some plants.

And then, you wander into an empty room, that quite literally transforms before your eyes.

It's the place you call home. Or ... is it? This is most certainly not your bedroom back in whatever corner of Fanelia you hail from. In fact, you don't think you've ever set foot in there before — it might be a bedroom with views into outer space itself. It might be a place from another world entirely, one that you definitely don't recognize.

But as time passes, and as you stand there, your sense of longing grows stronger. You should probably get out of there, before the guards find you.

○ The Queen of Hearts, in a recent twist (not unusual for her), has a keen interest in the relationships her subjects have with one another, whether it's romantic or platonic. And she'd like to see to it that the people of Fanelia are able to find those important people in their lives.

Enter: THE FANELIA FRIENDSHIP (OR SOMETHING MORE?) EXTRAVAGANZA

Yeah, it's pretty much a dating show, for both the amusement of onlookers and for your benefit! Or friendship show, as it were. Sign up, answer a brief survey, and showrunners will pair you with a fellow crystal-bearer/Reclaimer that they think you may be compatible with.

Let the dating begin! You may:
- Slay a monster together
- Take a nice long walk around the capital city together
- Be given a series of embarrassing questions to ask each other
- Cook a meal together
- The list goes on

Is the right person, or your new best friend, waiting for you in plain sight? Sign up and find out!

D. EXPANDED WILDCARD

As we mentioned in the OOC post, we highly encourage worldbuilding and creating your own scenarios to recover your character's lost memories! Outside of the capital city, the entire setting is yours to alter, and play in, as you see fit. Want to haunt the Enchanted Forest, or hunt wild boars? Want to follow your character's fairy tale story and have them work their way to leader of a clan, or of a settlement in Kingstown? Go for it! This is your story to write.

If you have any questions, feel free to hit us up on the OOC post.

blurb code by photosynthesis

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She taps a slender finger on her chin.]

I'd like to think most things would like cake... Even things with fangs.

[It's cake??]

I was wondering if I should go look for one, myself.

I don't care for it myself. Too sweet.

[Michael will, by the end of the month, consider this to be just plain cliche.

He cocks his head at the girl's statement, looking at her a little like she's some kind of amusing small animal. Oh, he didn't even have to do anything at all, did he? The fear she'll doubtless experience if she does get lost in the woods on some stupid monster hunt is his, whether or not he had a hand in sending her there. Still:]

You should. You're young - I'm sure you'll manage.

[She taps the book and then holds it close to her chest.]

I'm not sure why you think my being young has anything to do with it.

[It's not nice to assume a lady's age.]

But I'm sure I will, as well. A Jabberwocky has one weakness, after all.

I'm too old for things like that anymore. It's my back.

[He says, although his posture's perfect.]

And what's that?

[She lifts up the book so it covers her lips slightly.]

Something called the vorpal sword. Something very, very sharp.

[Yuri seems oddly happy to say that.]

Seems like that's a weakness of most things.

[ugh, how drab, it's not even a silly one like garlic or silver]

And do you have one of those?

Perhaps this is a special sort of sharp...

[She frowns. Well she thought it was interesting!]

I have a knife with me.

[She pulls it from her satchel on her hip. Funnily enough it's the one Someone got her for Candlenights in another life.]

[He loves watching humans do dumb things to try and protect themselves. That usually just means they're more frightened! Weapons...well, they often just make people more confident.]

Oh, that's nice. [He smiles a little, although in reality it seems like a pretty good knife.] You must be very confident, if you want to go monster-hunting with just that.

[She glances at her knife and nods.]

It is very nice. It's pretty, hm?

[Yuri smiles lightly.]

And I'll only need it if the Jabberwocky doesn't want to make friends. Why wouldn't I feel confident?

...you want to make friends with the monster.

[That's so utterly ridiculous that she should just embrace the inevitability of her death right now.]

I assume most people things would rather be friends than not...?

[Or are they just that grouchy?]

I'd like to at least give it a chance, first.

[The knife is just her back up plan...]

Oh, no. Most of them just want to hunt.

[How naive. Maybe she'll get killed. Well, she'll probably be quite afraid before that happens.]

How unfortunate...

[She seems downtrodden at this. She just wanted to befriend the ugly beasty.]

I will have to find out for myself. [She stares at him.] But what about you? Are you a brute as well? If you know so much about monsters this and monsters that.

I value the power of knowledge.

[exCUSE YOU he is a SOPHISTICATE

...d monster]

[HMMMM.]

And how did you gain that knowledge?

Edited 2020-01-13 03:12 (UTC)

Experience.

[He smiles down at her. He's awfully tall, isn't he?]

So, you are a monster.

[She stands up, holding her book close.]

Oh, come now. That's a rude thing to call someone!

[So like, not a no]

But you don't deny it.

[She blinks owlishly.]

What kind, if I may ask?

[Look, she's asking politely!]

Why? Looking to defeat me?

[This is a really strange interaction, all of a sudden. He doesn't usually talk to people to begin with; when he does, it's certainly never without them believing him a human.]

[Everyone has a little monster in them.]

Hmm... I'm not sure yet. The jabberwocky seems much more interesting at the moment.

Gotta say, I'm also a lot more interested in how that would go.

[Not because he fears her; she couldn't touch him. But that just means any potential fight between them would be boring in the other direction. The Boogeyman benefits from a human going into a scary wood and getting chased by something else; not so much from them fighting him when he's presenting as a normal human on a crowded street in the middle of the day.]

Well then. Why don't you help me?

[Poor curious girl. She turns to gather her things and then points in the direction of the deep enchanted woods.]

Or at least keep me company.

[That is - legitimately a surprise.]

Monster hunting with a monster at your back?

Isn't it better to have some expertise around?

[She giggles softly. Well, her logic seems sound to her.]

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