The Fortress of Many Turnings [open]

[applesaucemod]

Welcome to Caerdroia. Though at first glance this world seems calm, even idyllic, closer inspection will reveal a startling lack of linearity. A doorway in one place can suddenly lead to another entirely, the locals going about their business seem totally unaware of your presence, and you may find reminders of home that are less than welcome -- and less than safe.

The countryside seems almost designed to set one at one's ease. Gentle, rolling hills overlook a town in the near distance, and herds of friendly cows cluster here and there (with unknown intent).

The Garden of Curiosities is a walled-off park. Inside, streams and paths wind through beautiful landscaping, and animals can be found on the loose everywhere. For the most part, these creatures are friendly (or at least indifferent) toward visitors, though their appearance might perturb. One might see an animal one has never encountered before, or one might find the garden inhabited by creatures from one's own world that are somehow changed, whether in size, color, or behavior. And, of course, one might find something rather more predatory has taken up residence….

The town hall never seems to be in the same place twice. Finding your way through the streets to any one particular building is an exercise in frustration, as the town seems to shift and change whenever part of it is out of your sight. The hall itself isn't much better once you get inside; stairwells have a habit of appearing on the ceiling, hallways turn into dead ends while your back is turned, and floors are liable to open up into fathomless pits.

The Labyrinth is where many journeys seem destined to end. The way out is, more often than not, the way in. Try to leave one part of Caerdroia, and the doorway might very well open into the labyrinth. And, like any good labyrinth, this one is home to a Minotaur. And, like any good Minotaur, this one would be more than happy to tear you to pieces.

[OOC: Once again, the shared dream is open to all characters, including those not currently in the game and those belonging to players who are not currently members. Once again, too, players are free to choose whether their characters see the dream for what it is, whether they are forced to abide by its rules, and whether they will remember this in the morning.]

Comments

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew touches the tip of his tongue to the roof of his mouth and slowly nods. It's all just imagery imposed by the mind to represent that which can't be entirely represented, but it does at least give shape to the concept. It would be fascinating to look for himself, but even if he were telepathically capable it would be more than a bit rude to do outside an emergency.

"But the magic is in your mind?" he asks. "Is it actually part of you, or is it more like an non-organic symbiote?"

[wildmage_daine]

Thank all the gods that Numair has already taught her what 'symbiote' means. She shakes her head. "It's part of me; I've had it my whole life. It's not just in my mind, I don't think. It's in all of me." Pity he can't see it the way Numair can. "I can see when other folk have it, and it looks like a glow - usually around their hands." But other folk don't have as much of it as she does. Daine's brimming with it.

[bluesuit_handy]

An energy-based symbiote would be an oddity, and symbiote might not actually be the word. Andrew smiles and unstuffs a hand from a pocket to reach out tentatively for one of hers. "Have I got it?" he asks, wiggling his fingers. He knows (or expects) the answer is no.

[wildmage_daine]

She doesn't think so, either, but to be fair, she's never given him a proper look. Canting her head a little, she takes in a deep breath and gives him a brief once-over. It's no great surprise when she sees nary a glimmer of copper fire, and she gives him a rueful smile. "Sorry, but no."

That sad message delivered, she takes his hand once more. "There is a boy at the base who has some, though," she adds, pleased that it's the sort of thing that exists in other realms besides her own. "Edgar. Have you met him? He's about my age, and he always has his dog, Almondine, with him, and he can talk to her about as well as I can, just using his hands." It all comes out in a breathless rush, but she can't help her enthusiasm. She likes Edgar and Almondine, and they're a nice, safe topic.

[bluesuit_handy]

"Maybe James does," he decides, neither surprised nor disappointed. If he did have it, though, at least he'd have a subject willing to be scanned. He doubts asking Daine to let him poke and prod at her psyche to discover the means behind her magic would go over well.

His grin grows and he silently congratulates himself on getting Daine off the subject of being angry with him. "I haven't," he admits. "Haven't been around the base much at all since we got the flat, though. Is he from your world?"

[wildmage_daine]

"I could check next time I see him," Daine says, not really expecting to come up with anything on James, either. She can't imagine anyone with wild magic not doing something more involved than simply owning a few dogs, though she supposes James is still technically rather young. And it might be harder to realize what you've got if you're not around animals as much as folk are in her realm.

She shakes her head in response to Andrew's question. "He's from Wisconsin. His family breeds dogs that are especially clever. They know what they're doing, too; Almondine's the cleverest dog I've ever met."

[bluesuit_handy]

James is still quite new to being organic, too, and there's the question of whether androids can have magic at all.

"Wisconsin? Really?" Well, that just raises all new questions. Andrew moves to start walking again, meaning to get her to the menagerie still. "Have you met anyone else who's got it -- from this universe?" Because for all he knows, magic is as normal for Edgar as it is for Daine, Wisconsin and all.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine purses her lips in thought, then shakes her head again. "I haven't met anyone," she says. Of course, she hasn't exactly been scanning the crowds of two-leggers for those tell-tale glimmers of copper, either. She'd thought it was weird the way that New Yorkers could ignore just about anything, but now she can understand why they are that way. There are just too many people in the dratted city to be paying them all attention; you'd go mad if you tried. "But I haven't really been looking," she admits. "Not unless I had a reason to think there might be something to see."

[bluesuit_handy]

Handrew nods. "I'm wondering if it's truly universal," he explains. "Well, inter-universal. Pan-universal." There, he's found a term that satisfies him. He'd also like to have the TARDIS scan both Daine and Edgar -- and possibly Almondine -- but the point right now is not to annoy Daine.

He turns his head to glance at the gaping distance before them, only to find that the wall of the garden is suddenly looming just ten feet away. Breaking into a grin, he says, "We're here."

[wildmage_daine]

"It could be," Daine says with a nod. "I wouldn't be surprised if animals all have it, anyway, never mind what realm they're from. I'm not sure if every universe has two-leggers with wild magic, though." After all, the reason she has so much is because her da's a god. If other realms don't have gods like hers, they'd have to have some other way for wild magic to make that jump into two-leggers... elsewise, no wild mages.

She blinks in surprise at the wall's sudden appearance, but then her face quickly splits into a grin. "I s'pose we'll soon find out if alien creatures have wild magic."

[bluesuit_handy]

"Oh!" Andrew looks at Daine with new understanding. "So the animals themselves have it." He's been thinking of it the wrong way, he realizes, and rearranges his understanding of the matter accordingly. "I thought it was all something you did."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine blinks, not realizing she hadn't explained that part. Or had she? Well, if she did, it's been some time. "It's something I can do because me and the People have the same sort of magic," she confirms. "But most folk with magic have the Gift, and that doesn't apply to animals."

And speaking of animals, Daine is just going to head along the wall in search of an entrance, tugging Andrew along after her.

[bluesuit_handy]

"Shared interface," murmurs Andrew thoughtfully. It's a crude metaphor, but it jogs his mind into a new viewpoint effectively enough. He trods after her, content for the moment to be led. It's not as though he has anywhere else to go. "It's like having the same operating system," he tells her brightly, though he ought to know better.

[wildmage_daine]

Fortunately for Andrew, Daine's distracted enough by the strange sensation of new and unfamiliar creatures' minds brushing against her own to not be put off by his nattering. She does give him a brief, exasperated glance, though. It's not his need to make comparisons to things he's more familiar with that really irks her so much as the fact that he's always comparing her magic to things she knows nothing about, so she can't correct him if he's misunderstood.

"I wouldn't know," she says simply. And therefore, neither would he, is heavily implied.

A door appears before her mood has a chance to really sour, though, and her face splits into an eager smile as she heads inside.

[bluesuit_handy]

But making analogies is what Andrews do best! "Or like you're one of those computers that runs both side by side," he adds, not to be deterred. Maybe if she'd let him teach her all about computer science, she'd know what he was talking about and agree with him. Of course, he'd no doubt get bored with teaching her after ten minutes and run off after something else.

He glances up at the sign near the door -- "Garden of Curiosities, that was it!" -- and looks at Daine with an ambivalent look. He's glad she's happy, but he doesn't think she realizes just how dangerous all of this may well be.

[wildmage_daine]

Honestly, why does he even need to compare her magic to computers? She's already explained it as clearly as she can. He's just making things needlessly complicated.

And he'll have to forgive her cheerfulness. She's come across dangerous immortals before, and she's confident in her own abilities to handle herself. It's what she does.

A few steps in, she stops, listening hard. Oh, but this is interesting. And amidst all the strangeness, she realizes with a jolt of pleasure that there's a chiming note she recognizes.

"This way," she tells Andrew as she hauls him off to the left and through an ivy-draped archway. On the other side is a smooth expanse of manicured lawn. And sunning itself in the middle of said lawn is an enormous creature that certainly isn't native to New York. Sitting up on its haunches, it's a good six feet tall at the shoulder. Its body is like a cat's, feathered in brown and gold. The feathers help the feline features blend seamlessly with its eagle-shaped head, and its huge wings are spread to catch the sun.

"That," Daine says with a grin, "is a griffin."

[bluesuit_handy]

But has she ever encountered an obelat? No one can handle the obelat, or so Handy has been told. He hasn't exactly encountered one himself, and despite his residual curiosity from all those lifetimes ago, he still remembers C'rizz's insistence that he really ought not to seek out an encounter. He's watching for anything familiar as they go, and for anything dangerously unfamiliar. It's not that he's not interested, but this is an illusion of an illusion of a dangerous place, and it's been constructed for unknown purposes.

His mouth drops open at the sight Daine brings him to. "Yes," he says, awed. Then he frowns. "...I meant to say 'no.'"

[wildmage_daine]

Daine has enough time to give Handrew an amused look before the griffin blinks its eyes open - his eyes, presuming all males have the same coloring. The female griffins she's seen are a bit less flashy, the better to blend in with the rocks they nest upon. She holds her breath as the creature's alien gaze sweeps over them. There's a ripple of movement at his haunches, as if he's considering launching himself into the air.

"Sorry to intrude," Daine says, not wanting it to leave just yet. It's not very often she gets to see creatures from home, after all. Guessing that this griffin might be as susceptible to flattery as the last one she met, she tries, "We only wanted to admire you. My friend's never seen a griffin before."

It was the right thing to say. The griffin folds his wings neatly and preens his chest feathers.

[bluesuit_handy]

"One of the few things I haven't," agrees Andrew, the words tripping off his tongue. He gazes in a suitably admiring fashion at the creature, hazarding a few steps forward. "But you're gorgeous! Much better than the giant rabbit I saw here last time, don't you think, Daine? I haven't told you about the rabbit, have I? Did you hatch from an egg?"

That last question is directed back at the griffin. Handrew listens expectantly, eyes shining.

[wildmage_daine]

"You haven't mentioned any giant rabbits, no," Daine replies to his second question. She can't help but grimace a little as the griffin replies to the third. She'd forgotten how loud they are, and she can guess how well it would go over if she asked him to lower his voice a bit. It takes her a few moments to get ahold of the translation, and the griffin repeats himself insistently.

"Okay," she says, lifting a hand, "I understand." To Andrew, she says, "He wants to know why you're asking. Griffins are very protective of their young." The creature's manner has changed; he's no longer preening himself, and is staring at Andrew intently while he waits for an answer.

[bluesuit_handy]

Ah, and he's already managed to annoy it. Time to go on about how he's a scientifically-minded individual out to learn about the universe and use that knowledge for good.

"Because I'm nosy," he blurts.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine bites back a grin. Griffin expressions aren't the easiest thing to read, but if she were to hazard a guess, she'd say the creature looked just a little bit taken aback. He recovers himself quickly enough, reassured by the response (it is honest, after all). A few notes chime in her mind, and Daine nods.

"They do, he says. They like to nest on cliffs along the sea, where it's harder for any predators to reach them." And by 'predators,' she mostly means humans. Even the nastiest immortals she knows probably wouldn't risk tangling with two furious adult griffins just to make a meal out of a young one. But griffin feathers are valuable things - so much so that a human might venture to rob a nest if they were greedy or desperate enough.

[bluesuit_handy]

"Predators?" Andrew looks back and forth between Daine and his new best friend disbelievingly. "Maybe for eggs," he allows dubiously, "But I'd expect Mum to have something to say about that. Predators, really? Are there things bigger than you, then? I mean, 'course there are, but things that go after eggs?"

[wildmage_daine]

Daine suppresses another wince as the griffin replies. "Every creature has predators," Daine informs him; the griffin needn't trouble himself explaining that much. "But it's humans that are most likely to try and rob a griffin's nest. This one says that humans used to steal their young for shields."

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew would reply that he doesn't have any predators, but he's aware he'd spew a series of qualifications afterward -- assuming he could get it out at all.

"I'd like to say I'm surprised," he sighs. How did he manage to turn this conversation to the topic of kidnapping? "I'm not entirely human, if that helps," he adds, going right ahead and throwing Daine and the rest of her species under the bus.