fae_wildest | TDM #1 - Welcome to the Fae Wild, Winter Edition

'You find yourself wandering through a forest of strange colors. The last thing you remember is a strange ring of mushrooms in a riot of shades, singing to you in ethereal tones, tempting you and telling you to step in the midst them to discover riches beyond measure. As you do, a bright white light flashes before your eyes. When your sight returns, the forest of bizarre trees and plants looms before and around you.

As you step forward, laughter—deep and menacing and also light and tinkling—follows your footsteps. Yelling, questioning, gets you nowhere. Only a narrow path of stones allows you to avoid the foliage that seems to want to eat you alive. If you step off of the path, you find vines wrap around your legs, dragging you into the dark interior of the forest, until you wake up later, your body covered in strange symbols that will disappear after a few days. For those wise enough to not tempt fate and stay on the path, soft blue lights—fairies of indeterminate sex—appear, and beckon you to follow them down the path through the trees. A few hours of walking brings you to a village of stone and wooden thatched houses that appear as if they're both brand new and ancient at the same time.

A creature that at once appears to be monstrously beautiful and hideously decrepit steps forward to greet you, holding out a small silver hand mirror with a smile that makes your blood run cold (if you have any sense). "Welcome to the Fae Wild, child. This is the domain of the Handmaiden of the Sidhe Queens. Come with me. The others are waiting. All will be explained once we are gathered." It is then that you see the others spoken of, people that look almost.... normal and just as confused and angry as you are.

Dare you step forward to learn your fate?'

☙ Arrival ☙

So, you’ve survived the trip down the path and made it to the village that is the heart of the Fae Wild. The Handmaiden and her helpers, mostly pixies, brownies and some sylph and dryads, are handing out silver hand mirrors to all of the newcomers. Once you’re all gathered, the Handmaiden will explain that you’ve been brought here with the promise of riches and treasure through the magical fairy rings. While you’re here, you will be expected to assist the fae creatures in the activities the Handmaiden has picked for you to do.

If you agree to it, you will be richly rewarded. If you refuse? Well, how much do you enjoy the thought of being put under a cloche jar for a while? Don’t worry. You’ll be able to breathe in there. It wouldn’t be good to have someone die on their first day after all. After securing your agreement, your mirror will flash five times, and tapping the surface shows a letter-type of message in flowing script, telling you how to reach your new cottage during your stay.

Questions to the fae may or may not be answered, but never fear. They want you alive. For now.

☙ Winter Proofing The Realm ☙

As the first frost strikes the land of the Fae Wild, all the pixies and brownies are running around to make sure that the cottages, huts and communal buildings are ready for the blast of the Winter Queen’s Full Power. The sylphs and dryads are plucking flowers and bringing in as many fruit trees and bushes inside so that they can continue to provide food for the upcoming season.

Hunting parties are being arranged to stock up on meat. Other groups are being formed to fish in the lakes. (Beware of the kelpie. They bite.) You can also offer to chop wood, check all of the buildings for any repairs that need to be done, and preserve some of the more delicate foods. Just because this is a land of magic doesn’t mean that they’re immune to the change in the seasons.

Player characters are highly encouraged by all of the faeries to join in during this time. Anyone who does will find themselves given three times the berries during this particular activity.

☙ Glimpses of the Winter Court ☙

As the Winter Solstice approaches, glimpses of the Winter Sidhe (faeries of the highest order) can be caught as they travel around the whole of the Fae Realm. Frost Trolls that look like walking chunks of ice that only a mother (and maybe the Winter Queen) could love are currently pushing out the remnants of the dryads and sylphs to make room for themselves and their kind. If you look carefully, a tall horned man leading a pack of dogs and being followed by a lot of vicious looking creatures has begun to prowl and the nights are filled with the braying of His Hunting Party as they look for prey.

Asking the normal denizens of the Fae Wild will win you the name of Der Erlking and his Grand Hunting Party. Anyone caught out after dark alone will find themselves picked for the “special honor” of being prey or asked to spend the night as one of His hounds.

Occasionally, a beautiful, pale woman strolls around. She is never alone, as her entourage of grimalkin (large, black cat-like beasts) are always in attendance. Sometimes, she appears melancholic and at others, she is regal, cool and distant. Anyone foolish to try to approach her will find themselves face to face with the largest of the grimalkin who calls himself Cait Sith. And he suffers fools never.

☙ Here Comes Santa Claus ☙

Winter has definitely arrived with the first snow. Plenty of elves in striped stockings and funny shoes with bells on their toes are running around the village, demanding that all the buildings be covered in holly and evergreens. Others are hastily baking as many biscuits and cakes as they can. Player characters are not immune to the assumption of assistance. Anyone caught resisting them will find themselves suddenly about the size of a five year old, wearing the very familiar garb of ‘Santa’s Little Helpers’ and being pushed by one of the elves that calls themself The Taskmaster.

If one asks why the elves are doing this, they will find out that they’re making preparations to keep Santa Claus out of the Handmaiden’s domain. These particular elves are escapees from Santa’s sweatshop in the Winter Court, where he forces them to slave away making toys for human children with no pay, no insurance, and with only gruel to eat for every meal year round. The only way to keep him away from this area—since he’s such an important member of the Winter Queen’s Court—is to decorate it with plants of the season and to leave a gift outside the houses. It can be food, berries or shiny objects, but the Big Man must be appeased.

Of course, should you choose to not help, come the time of the 25th of December, Santa might just come and visit your house.

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Arrival

[ This all feels like an elaborate dream to Hinata. Even the last memories he has don’t really make much sense to him at all. He looks around at all the strange beings and even though the mirror doesn’t make sense to him he holds it tight. He’s too afraid to try and refuse even if he’s reluctant to agree. It shouldn’t matter right? This is all just some bad nightmare or fever dream or… maybe he’s just gone insane! That makes sense. That makes more sense than any of this. Once the mirror shows directions he exhales and is still holding tightly to it.

Looking all around, Hinata searches for a familiar face but he doesn’t immediately see anyone. ]

This can’t be real…

[ He pinches his arm hard and then yelps at the pain. Okay. Maybe it isn’t a dream. ]

Winter Proofing the Realm

Uh… so do you know how to do this?

[ Hinata questions as he looks over the foods they’re supposed to be preserving and the assortment of tools. He has never done anything like this in his life and he doesn’t want to ask any of the strange creatures for a better explanation of how to do it. ]

Wildcard

[ Of course feel free to hit me up with anything else! You can contact me on plurk at

guessmonster or verticalpencil on discord! ]

[Even all the way back in Bodhum, Snow'd been drawn to people younger than him, since they generally were the ones that needed the most protection from all the idiots listening to the fal'Cie of Cocoon. Growing up in the orphanage had made it obvious to all the kids that they could only rely on each other and that the adults were only there to punish them. He'd vowed since then that he'd do his damnedest to be someone that people could rely on for protection and comfort.

It's a credo he's kept a hold onto, even 500+ years later. Can't help who he is, even if he's tired.

The yelp of pain catches his attention as he's walking through the village center and he turns to the new person, a young guy who could be a contemporary of Maqui or Hope by the looks of him. Maybe that is what makes Snow step towards the new person and check on him.]

Nope. Sorry, not a dream. You okay though?

[Sorry for this blond giant. At least he's nice? Sort of.]

[ Hinata blinks when someone talks directly to him. And even if he's used to feeling short in such a foreign place and situation for the first time in a long, long time he feels small. ]

What?! Yeah. Of course.

[ He rubs at his arm where'd he'd probably given himself a bruise. ]

Sorry to bother you!

[ He bows deeply, kind of used to doing that when he causes a scene. Even if this is hardly really a scene but he's kind of freaked out. ]

[He's used to being a tall guy around shorties. His fiancee is a tiny and he loves that for her because she could wreck everyone if she wanted. However, not only is he well over 6'7", he's bulky under the very neat jacket he's wearing. The guy doesn't need guns. He's already packing!]

You sure about that? You're new, right? The fae aren't all that helpful, but I think they're trying.

You need help looking around?

[Snow reaches out and puts a hand on the boy's shoulder.]

You're not bothering me. I'm offering my time because I want to help.

[ Hinata holds the bow a little longer and finally starts to come up a second or two after the stranger touches his shoulder. To his credit or not, Hinata doesn't really know the meaning of the word stranger and even if he is concerned about inconveniencing someone when the other's extending help and saying they don't mind, who is he to say no! After all, he could really use some help... ]

Some help would actually be nice... I haven't seen anyone I know here.

[He's learned the art of patience over the long span of time he hasn't died. Not that he's been particularly impatient except where Serah was involved, but since she's back at their shared cottage, his patience is in full effect.

At the kid's reply, he can't help but let a smile crept across his face.]

No worries, but it's been sort of rare for us to see anyone we know here. There are a few people that are that lucky, but I wouldn't hold your breath for any sort of measure. My name's Snow. What's yours?

[Start small, work your way up.]

Oh...

[ Hinata feels something more like panic and fear rising and suddenly his stomach starts to cramp. He wraps his arms around his stomach but tries to act normal otherwise. ]

Hinata Shoyo... So I won't even find my family.

[ That's a given, of course, but he still comes to it as a brand new realization. To be fair he is only sixteen and has really never been away from home more than a few nights in a row. ]

[That movement is one he'd seen Yuj use more than once when he was uncomfortable. Now that Snow thinks a bit about it, so had Hope when he was younger. The hand still on Hinata's shoulder squeezes in an attempt to comfort the boy. They're still strangers, but that doesn't mean that Snow doesn't empathize with the stress.]

No, I can't guarantee that. Far as I know, faeries don't really focus on humans and their wants. We've been told that if we help and keep them entertained that we might find ourselves back home.

[The comparison in his mind to his long missing friends with this kid is actually making him feel really angry at their "hosts". It's one thing to take someone like him or one of the other adults running around here without any compunction, but kids? That pisses him off.]

Look, if you want, my fiancée and I have a spare room. Unless you wanna stay by yourself. She was a teacher and is kinda strict, but you might like her.

[And she'll definitely like having someone else to fuss over without the rest of NORA running around.]

[ Hinata exhales slowly and he hasn’t heard a ton of stories about faeries but aside from stuff like Disney the ones he does know are pretty worrying… Yeah, he doesn’t have a good feeling about any of this even if this guy seems pretty nice and all.. ]

Oh…

[ He smiles. The idea of staying alone sounds terrible to him. He’s never really stayed by himself anywhere alone. ]

Really? You don’t even know me.

[Pretty sure that these aren't the cute and cuddly fairies that Hinata knows about. Hell, they're not even like some of the creatures for Snow's world. They're... different.]

It's not that bad. Just think of it as a chance to learn something new.

[Snow squeezes the boy's shoulder again before shaking his head.]

Doesn't matter. Serah'd have my hide if I let you go off by yourself. And I'd rather avoid making her mad unless I can help it. [There's the faintest hint of a smile before he winks and turns towards the cottage.] Let's head there. You'll like her.

Learn something new...

[ Hinata smiles at that. It's a good way to look at it he finally decides. Maybe there's something that can help him become a better player here. At least that's enough to pull him out of the doom spiral for the time being. ]

Thank you!

[ He says quickly and follows along. ]

TDM #1 - Welcome to the Fae Wild, Winter Edition

Hinata Shoyo | Haikyuu!! | OTA

Arrival

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