Field Mission 7: The Queen of Hearts, Part 1

[balancemod]

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

Comments

Mulan

[doubledsofjustice]

Think of Instead: A Girl worth Fighting For (Crown City)

[There are soldiers from Khura'in in the Court of Hearts lately.

Unbeknownst to the public, and even to most of the soldiers themselves, they're occupying the city as a false sense of peace and allyship, unknowingly awaiting a signal to attack from the inside. But even without knowing this, the soldiers occupying the city pose a problem for Mia.

To the soldiers, Mia is Micah Neumann, a soldier known for his bravery, unique skills, and quick thinking. His extraordinary problemsolving- and of course, his Indomitable Might- would have made him an invaluable member... if her own troop hadn't figure out the truth about her. She was left with her issued armor, personal belongings, and weapons, abandoned, as her squad left without a word; Mia had saved their lives, and in sparing her without telling the entire army, they'd saved hers. It's been a few weeks since then, however, and rumors have started getting around.

Micah needs to walk the streets of the city with care, not raising suspicion in other soldiers in why she's shown up without her troop, all while guiding a strange girl in a red dress to the kingdom of Uta.

...Except, she can't find that girl. In all the excitement, Mia's gotten separated from her. So if someone with their wrist crystals visible passes, they might find a Khura'inese soldier hurrying up to them.]

Excuse me! I'm so sorry to bother you.

[Micah says, in a forced deeper voice.]

I'm looking for a teenage girl, about this tall? She's got long dark hair, wearing a red dress- and she has these crystals on her wrist, just like you and I.

Bet the local girls thought you were quite the charmer (Friendato)

[Okay, it feels a little disingenuous to Mia to enter a friend-making contest while still under the guise of Micah. But she's noticed that pretty much everyone participating has those same crystals on their wrists, and she's been aching to know what they're for, her curiosity still unsatisfied.

Her curiosity still doesn't outweigh this anxious feeling she's got, though; any of Micah's partners will find themselves faced against a rather meek looking soldier who won't make eye contact, almost constantly covering 'his' face with part of 'his' hand. For some reason, he seems to smell of the ocean whenever someone is near enough to smell that sort of thing.]

Alright, well, what are we up against?

[Micah says, taking the opportunity to look toward the note with the activity they've been assigned to. Whether it's cooking or slaying monsters, she's up for it (at your choice) and will do her best to assist her partner... aaand learn more about them and hopefully their crystals, in the process.]

Wildcard

[Speaking of slaying monsters, a monster-fighting prompt and a conflict with other citizens prompt are coming in the next reply. Got any other ideas? Shoot! Otherwise, hit me up on discord at lucifine#8125 or love_struck

additional prompts/starters

[doubledsofjustice]

[More prompts are coming!]

Crown City

[ribticklers]

[Sans really shouldn't be in the Court of Hearts, but that never stops him from wandering around whenever he pleases. Of course, spending so much time here, it's easy for him to tell that this person probably won't know where he is and isn't supposed to be anyway.

And anyway, he knows who they're talking about.]

The court is a strange place to look for a girl like that. [He's pretty sure the Queen would kick her out for torn clothing crimes.]

[doubledsofjustice]

I-- she was just nearby, I wondered if maybe...

[The second-guessing seems to make Mia second guess herself, pulling her sleeve down. She might not know much about Maya right now, but her curiosity matches Mia's own, and among looking like a great place to investigate, well... It just seems like a place Maya'd find herself in trouble.

Mia clears her throat and tries to speak lower again, as if that isn't a more obvious way to look like she's Trying Too Hard. To a cat-skeleton. You never know with these things, okay.]

If you've seen her, I'd really appreciate knowing. Otherwise, I'll be on my way.

[ribticklers]

[It seems like everything they're doing to not stand out is only making them stand out more to Sans. But they asked a question that Sans can answer.]

Oh, yes, I've seen her. [He doesn't elaborate, because he's answered her entire question, after all.]

[doubledsofjustice]

You have?

[Mia's surprised at that at all, and almost forgets to keep feigning that voice. She hasn't quite gotten it yet, but barrels on with questions out of instinct.]

Where? Ah-- How long ago?

[ribticklers]

[There's hesitation. Normally, he'd stretch this out until it wasn't entertaining anymore. But something... Hm. Sans pulls a drawn picture out--it's Sayori, Maya, and him (drawn by Maya, not that Sans remembers). He's down one hand, but he points at Maya with his wrist instead.]

Her, right? I've seen her a few times. [Because Sans watches her sometimes, like only a teleporting cat can.] She was in the capital the other day, so maybe you aren't too far off.

Crown City

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, is that so? I haven't seen her - but there's been a lot of strange people looking around for those like us today. I might not go waving that around.

[Michael clasps his hands behind his back, putting on his best expression of concern. That's actually sort of true - there's a really weird amount of crystal people in this city, and they're all looking for others like them.

The implication that this might be dangerous? Well, if he can freak somebody out a little, why not?]

[doubledsofjustice]

[Mia seems to fall for it, brows meeting in concern-- hooked.]

...There have?

[There's the others who have them looking, of course-- but could the soldiers of Khura'in have heard? Could they be looking for her? Worse-- could they know now that she was traveling with another, more defenseless person?]

These strange people, what were they like?

[eudaimonikos]

There was this weird sort of metal soldier thing. I barely got away from it!

[There is no reason for him to be throwing Church under the bus like this, it's just fun.]

I've never even seen anything like that before. What on earth do you think it might have been?

[doubledsofjustice]

A metal soldier....?

[The only one of those she'd seen before was Wash, and now, it's something she can barely imagine.]

There's really something like that just wandering the streets? I've never heard of such a thing...

[Mia looks past Michael, frowning. That can only sound like a weapon, and especially like one Khura'in would pull out of nowhere, but why....?]

[eudaimonikos]

[He sucks a breath in through his teeth, shaking his head in concern (obviously).]

I don't know. It started coming towards me at one point, but I really didn't want to see what it was going to do.

Friendato

[seasaltkeys]

[Roxas folds open the note and reads it over before passing it to Mia.]

It seems like a local group of actors need a few understudies for a play. Think you're up for that?

[It's a little outside of Roxas's wheelhouse, but he thinks he can handle it. As long as someone lets him read from a script.]

[doubledsofjustice]

Aaaaa....

[Mia trails off a little as she looks down at the paper. Well, she's been acting this long, hasn't she?

With an unsure swallow, Mia responds-]

S-sure. Sure. That doesn't sound, uh, too hard.

[She clears her throat, forcing that masculine voice again, and hands back the note to Roxas.]

We're only understudies, right? That must mean they only need the practice.

[It's not like they're going to end up on stage..]

[seasaltkeys]

Yeah. I think we're just the backups, so we just need to know the lines.

[There's a sense that they're tempting fate probably but Roxas will just ignore that. He cocks his head a bit at the change in voice, but sets it aside for now.]

I think it's just up the street.

[doubledsofjustice]

Alright. Then, we'll head on over.

[Listen, maybe if she doesn't think too much about it, that terrible fate will never come. Micah starts down the street Roxas mentioned with a straight-backed military walk.]

It's a.... bit of a strange task, don't you think?

[Well the whole game's weird, really...]

[bu773rfly]

[It feels a little disingenuous to Pandora to enter a friend-making contest when she knows she both can't and won't divulge any significant information about herself. But something is stirring; some confluence of fate zeroing in on the capital, turning its eye, and that eye could be either baleful or benevolent. It is either her responsibility to be present for it, or it is another of her doomed preoccupations, and whichever it be, it is just going to happen and she will just have to deal with it.

She thinks she might have been mismatched. A friend-making contest should attract the eager, if not entirely outgoing. This was supposed to be a parade of easy marks. She was not supposed to have to...like....take conversational initiative. Absolutely disgusting.

Some minutes into the arrangement, a mask of cool stoicism slides down over Erika's aura of bitter unease. It's an odd look on someone this small - but in robes, she's clearly a mage, so god only knows what her deal actually is, because mages have a license to be Like That. She takes the cue to step forward and take the note, unfolding it with small, precise motions.

....]

A scavenger hunt.

[Okay, queen, you've got her attention for now. This could be not all that bad.]

[doubledsofjustice]

[That look on Erika's face only intimidates Mia more. She's sure she's screwing this up-- man, that Maya chick she's been traveling with would probably handle this better. But then Erika mentions something she can do, something blessedly easy to accomplish--]

Oh!

[She clears her throat, cheeks just slightly rosy at such an eager reaction.]

I mean-- can't be that hard. What are we looking for?

Crown City

[achillea]

[Kenpachi doesn't know much of anything about politics, certainly not human ones. Spending most of your life skulking around forests and hanging around with animals isn't a great way to learn about the affairs of other countries.

In any case, he seems vaguely surprised to be asked anything by anyone. Most people in the capital seem to be giving the giant man in the wolf pelt cloak a wide berth. But he doesn't look particularly annoyed to be asked.]

I ain't seen her. You got anything of hers with a scent on it?
[That's certainly A Question you could ask... just... why.]

[doubledsofjustice]

[SURE IS A LARGE INTIMIDATING MAN. Despite having dealt with this for over a year to her own memory, Mia finds herself shrinking slightly, trying to stay toward Kenpachi's side and not directly in front of him.]

I-- with a scent? I don't know..

[It's a weird question, but it's a question that gets Mia thinking nevertheless. And then she remembers-]

Oh! I do!

[And pulls from her pocket a strange circle pendant & accompanying ribbon divided in three, clearing her throat again to reassert that masculinized Micah voice.]

A young man retrieved this for her before we were separated. Well, maybe it wouldn't have a scent, but...

[achillea]

[The stinky, huge man leans forward to sniff at the item in Mia's hand, which is certainly an experience. Is he just weird or does he somehow have canine smell to match his incredibly wild wolf pelt look? It's unclear.]

There's definitely a smell on it, though if you've had it a while it might not be entirely hers...

[Still, he walks off, sniffing the air. Guess he's gonna try to see if he can pick it up somewhere else? Is it really worth following him to see if he finds anything? Up to you.]

beef pork chicken etc

[protegge]

[Thank God Mista's an idiot. There's this faint look of confusion on his face at the sight of Micah, as though he's having double vision or deja vu, but he dismisses it with a shake of his head as quickly as it's come. This has happened often enough recently that it's barely worth thinking about, he's pretty sure.]

[That question, though — that he can actually help with. Brightening, he refocuses.]

Yeah, I think I saw her! We did that game thing a while back. She started eating some butter, so I went and got her a sandwich.

[A hero for the ages, he is.]

[doubledsofjustice]

Butter--

[Micah's brow twists in confusion, a look not normally reserved for Mia's sister-- but hey, she doesn't know any better, right now.]

Oh, nevermind. I knew I should have checked with that game again...

[But no one was being very helpful, okay!

Once Mia gets a second look at Mista, though, she also gets that kind of deja-vu, but after feeling it looking at a drawing earlier, she's not too keen on giving it much thought. Everything is weird, now.]

You don't happen to know where she's gone, do you? I'm supposed to be escorting her to Uta.

[protegge]

To Uta?

[Huh. That's weird. If it was something like We're supposed to be going to Uta, that'd be one thing, but the word escorting means . . . what, some kind of diplomatic visit or a prisoner's escort, right? Either one kind of sounds like a stretch for that girl, to be honest. So . . . what the hell. Especially since this guy's military.]

She was still over that way last time I checked. At the restaurant, I mean. Escorting her to Uta for what? She do something?

[doubledsofjustice]

Ah-- no! No,

[Micah assures, holding up her hands in mock surrender for a moment before she forces them back down.]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.. imply that.

[Especially since it's Maya that's making "Micah" look less suspicious.]

We're both meeting family there; she was on my path and it was more convenient to travel together.

[Nevermind the nagging worry about her being familiar.]