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

[faewildmods]

'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.

Welcome to our first Test Drive Meme! We encourage you to please play around and have fun. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask here. (Or elsewhere!)
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Comments

[heroofcocoon]

[Snow watches the other man as he thinks things over. A life without magic... Sounds fake, if he's honest.]

I'm not sure how they took it in the first place. [He takes off the black glove from his left hand and marvels at the unblemished skin that he hasn't seen in centuries.] For all intents and purposes, I should be dead. Or a mindless killing machine. Except that no one ages where I'm from. The only way to die is to be killed.

[And there's enough of that, even with him working overtime with the guards of Yusnaan to protect all of the citizens while waiting for the Savior to reappear. Between the Shadow Hunter, the Order of Salvation and all the monsters, people die. But they never age.]

So... I don't know if I want it back. I'm just.... Ask me later.

[searingwing]

Of course. [No one ages. He closes his eyes.

It sounds like-

He brings the axe down with precise force. He shoves his thoughts into a box and shuts them away. No sense thinking about that. Different worlds.]

I can’t tell you how they took our magic. I should be lacking ambition and memories. But I’m intact.

[There is a price for wielding a Vision. How can one possibly ascend to godhood if there isn’t something to lose?]

I think we’ve cut enough to stack up and move on to assisting with moving supplies to the cellars. If you wish to aid that task.

[heroofcocoon]

Thanks.

[A second uttering of a word he hadn't used in ages in a few minutes. This world definitely seemed as if it was out there to try and make him be less taciturn, that's for sure.

But, the gods of Pulse are hideous tyrants when you have to think about a kid stuck at five years old forever. It was hard enough for him, and he was twenty-three when time stopped. Not that Etro, Bhunivelze, Pulse, Mwynn or Lindzei ultimately gave a crap what that sort of chaos and destruction they caused the people they created. No new souls could be born, time stopped and everyone just waited for the End of the world. Or the Savior.

The fact that he's away from Nova Chrysalis and the stupid, fucked up mess of what was left of Gran Pulse and its gods is a relief. This is the most Snow has felt himself in ages, even if it feels strange and unexpected. All he needed was his childhood friends and Serah and he'd actually be happy for the first time in a very long time.]

Intact is better than crazy, right?

[Look, have you seen a Cei'th? No one wants that.

As Diluc calls to mind that they've been at this work for a while, Snow stops and looks around. The firewood is pretty high and he can feel the burn in his arms, shoulders and thighs. That makes him smile a bit, when he realizes he'll probably feel all this physical labor in the morning.]

Yeah, you're right. Let's get this to the houses. Better to get this done sooner, rather than later. This village isn't gonna stock itself.

[searingwing]

Furthest houses first, I think. Best to get that done early. [He puts the axe away. He starts stacking the wood into piles to be carried. It’s easy to do work he would already be doing at home.

He has been doing it since he could walk.] …I’ll keep an eye out for any major repairs that need done. I’ll make a list of whatever we find to hand off to the team on that.

[heroofcocoon]

I saw a few of them that would be better to do a complete teardown and rebuild them.

[It might be a while since he's had to do something like that, but he learned quickly when everyone moved to Gran Pulse from Cocoon and had to build things from scratch. His brain is quickly slotting through the skills he picked up during that time and putting them towards what needs to be done here to make people comfortable.]

Wonder how these guys actually make windows. I don't see any industrial usage sand to melt for glass.

[searingwing]

It could be out sourced. [He pauses for a moment then shakes his head.] Then again, they pulled us from our realities.

Took our magic. Windows might be a flick of the fingers. [His eyebrow twitches. He shakes his head a second time.] Or they will let us believe that’s the case.

They seem like the type.

[heroofcocoon]

[Of course, it's not exactly a thought that Snow hasn't had himself, but having someone else voice it makes him uncomfortable. As such, he frowns as he hefts up a large amount of cut wood to start passing them out.]

You know, I hate to say it, but people with that amount of power lying isn't something new for me.

[The fal'Cie lied. The gods lied. Caius lied. Did anyone ever tell the truth?]

Still, if they're going to bring us here to do remedial repairs to their buildings, they could at least provide all the materials.