realmofstories | Chapter 04: Act III

Entry tags:

Chapter 04: Act III

A MIDSUMMER ROSE: ACT III—

As everyone is taken from the second Act into the third and final Act of this story, they will all share the same visions of how the story has proceeded thus far:

Bonny Rose and Puck met and proceeded to blame each other for the donkey curse, but eventually took a moment to realize they needed to work together in order to brew the cure, with Bonny Rose protecting Puck while he gathered ingredients and brewed the potion. (All while bickering and swearing as only fantasy-Scottish redheads can.)

After freeing the town, Bonny Rose was in a much better mood and got along considerably better with her new traveling companion Nick Bottom, developing an amiable friendship until the two were separated by distracting swarms of butterflies and will-o-wisps.

Titania found Nick in the forest and he followed her willingly to her castle, with the queen demonstrating her considerable might defending her new paramour against a serpentine creature. The two indulged in a steamy bath and soothing Titania's wounds.

Surprisingly, Oberon and Carabosse had a scintillating past as lovers and partners on the battlefield, until Carabosse fell too deep into dark magic and Oberon began to fall for Titania. The two of them had a tense but surprisingly civil conversation about the past, the curse and her kidnapping plans, and Titania's mothering skills, and Carabosse promised to alter the curse and divulged that it can be broken with True Love, romantic or platonic.

Oberon managed to coax a particularly sharp Titania to their room, and eventually managed to break the curse on her.

Titania apologized to Nick for her behavior while under the love potions' effects. He accepted her apology, and the two agreed to part ways and for Nick to be left alone from now on.

Meanwhile, Bonny Rose and Tam Lin met in the forest, and the two normally outgoing youths were so stricken with each other that they became shy. They bonded over their shared feelings of being trapped in certain roles, and Tam Lin managed to charm her by introducing her to a wolf pup and taking her on a ride through the forest.

After the lovebirds parted ways, Tam Lin went to Puck for romantic advice. This was a mistake, as apparently fairy romance is much more complicated than Tam Lin thought, all he wanted was to know how to ask out a girl.

Carabosse managed to lure Tam Lin away with a handsome male visage before revealing her true form, offering Tam Lin a chance to join her dark forces. He refused, and she unleashed the (altered) curse on him.

When they awaken, the Aspects will find themselves in the middle of a desolate looking fortress, everything battered and filled with debris. A few bones and broken pieces of armor can be found scattered about, dark clouds constantly looming overhead—and along with the occasional cawing of crows, the loud roars of dragons can be heard followed by large, dark shadows as they fly overhead.

This is the fortress where Tam Lin is held captive and Bonny Rose must rescue him from. Once again those who must fulfil their role will find a path illuminated for them by glowing mushrooms and lead to different doors through which they must pass through before appearing in their designated scene setting. The rest will be tasked to try and clean out the fortress while protecting their safe location as well as helping the dragons roosting in the many towers overhead.

The Aspects will also discover that while they no longer are in their fairy forms, they can turn into something else—dragons.

§ instructions.

The third Act is underway! This is the designated log for all Main Scenes. Others are free to create their own toplevels for the Sub Quests, which are detailed below. Each Main Scene has their own unique toplevel and those cast into the roles are to thread their scene under each. All scene instructions are provided in the toplevels.

Fairy forms are no longer at play, but everyone will now have a dragon form they can transform into. It's mostly by their own will, but a few may have some accidents as they get used to it. These transformations can be either partial or full. IMPORTANT! Characters cannot transform into dragons while doing scenes. Only those playing Tam Lin and Bonny Rose in Scene 6 will be able to use their given dragon form to use.

Finally, just to be clear, characters who are in Main Scenes are not immediately dropped in to their location and will have to follow the glowing path of mushrooms to a designated door and then return. Threading all of that isn't necessary, but it's to help give a better idea that characters can take a break between scenes or wait a bit to help with other things like the Sub Quests.

Feel free to refer to the Game Notes for more detailed info as well as ask questions or clarifications.

§ sub quests.

Everyone is free to participate in the Sub Quests. There are no specific top levels, so you're free to incorporate them however you wish in your own top level.

¶ I. Dungeon Sweep. Another Act, another place to clear out to make it hospitable during their stay.

Safe Zone. The safe zone in this location is a central outdoor plaza, which may not seem all that safe, but that's where they end up. Flowers from Tam Lin's forest can be found sprouting around the area and like before, the pollen can be used to help erect magical barriers to prevent enemies from entering. There are also small storehouses, barracks, and a kitchen nearby that can be used.
Haunted Armor. Aside from the monsters, there is an army of haunted armor patrolling the halls and walls of the fortress, and some will even try to break into the safe zone. Although mostly armor, they are formidable foes, each one carrying the spirit of a strong, powerful knight of ancient times. Even if one were to hack off parts of the armor, they will still be able to move and even reattach themselves. The only way to completely destroy them is by piercing through the center of the chest piece where a stone core rests inside.
Disabling Traps. There are numerous traps within the fortress, ranging from classic spikes from the walls to sudden pitfalls to revolving walls and even a rolling boulder. When venturing through the fortress, take care not to set them off because where there's on trap, there are sure to be more.

¶ I. Dragon Egg Hunt. Many dragons can be seen flying overhead, but they don't really bother the characters all that much. If anything they seem to be focused on dealing with some other problems, and those who venture up to the other towers will discover the reason why—as well as why they're able to transform into dragons.

Egg Thief. There are several dragon nests scattered about the towers, but there are these harpies that keep trying to steal them and fly away with them. Chase after them and return the eggs to earn the dragons' favor.
Protect the Eggs. One would think a dragon wouldn't have trouble protecting its roost, but when it comes to smaller threats such as small basilisks and other large snakes, their large size becomes a disadvantage, especially if they don't want to accidentally crush their own brood. Help fend off these threats to earn the dragons' favor.
Egg Hunt. Now some of these eggs are on the move. Whether taken by something else and hidden somewhere, rolled off on their own, or on their way to hatching with their little legs or wings already breaking through, they need to be found and returned to their nest before something truly terrible happens.

¶ IV. Wildcard. Make up your own prompt!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bonny tries to chase after Tam Lin, but is unable to take to the skies after him. She comes face to face with Carbosse instead. She will pose the following questions to Bonny Rose: "Do you know what true love is? Can you prove it to me?" and issue a series of challenges for Bonny Rose to show her why she's going so far for Tam Lin. Does she actually love the guy or what? If she succeeds, Carabosse will grant her a dragon steed to chase after Tam Lin as well as a warning: the longer Tam Lin remains a dragon, the more likely he will become one. Carabosse will also give a hint that to break the curse Bonny Rose must be willing to share the burden as proof of "true love" and give her a glowing flower. (Note: The players can come up with their own challenges be it random quizzes, battles, puzzles, etc. but we'll provide a few examples that best match the selected characters.)

Kaiba knew this was going to be trouble when he read the name. He flinched as he stepped through the door, still high up in the fortress.

Find Tam Lin. The apparent lover-turned-dragon had taken to the skies. And here he was, at the window, dressed like a princess. Perfect. He hiked his skirts up and hurried along the corridor, traversing the spiral staircase. Up and out, right?

He threw open the door, and what he saw stopped him in his tracks.

“Take a freakin' picture, it'll last longer.”

Probably not what Carabosse is supposed to say, but Mordred hates this and it's pretty clear from the scowl on her face. She hates the outfit, and don't even get her started about playing an evil fairy...witch...thing. That's like asking her to play her mom! Or Assassin! And that's a whole bunch of crap she doesn't want to deal with. So much in fact that she doesn't have smart remarks about Kaiba's outift.

“Bonny, right? Let me guess, you tried chasing after Tam Lin, but couldn't keep up? No surprise there, not like you can catch up to a dragon on your own, right?”

The sooner she gets through it, the sooner it's over, right? So even if Carabosse looks like she wants to punch someone's teeth out, she'll at least try to stay on message here. No guarantees that'll work though.

"I don't think cameras are really a thing here."

Kaiba closed the door and shuffled forward, smoothing his skirt. Boy, this was awkward. He took a deep breath.

"I need to search the skies. Oh wise guide, can you help me?"

He was trying to keep a straight face. Really.

“Of course I can, who the hell do you think did that in her first place?”

Well, she sure didn't. But Carabosse did. So there.

“But yeah, I can. Sure. But I'm supposed to a pain in the ass, so the hell if I'm doing that for free. You've got to answer a question or something like that.”

She didn't come up with the story. If she could turn people into dragons, she wouldn't do it to some dude to be a pain in the ass. Dragons are cool, so she'd probably turn herself into one.

“What the hell was it again? Oh yeah! Can you tell me what true love is?”

The look on her face is the look of someone who wants to know who the hell wrote this crap.

What kind of question was that? Kaiba fought back the urge to roll his eyes. He was exactly the wrong person to answer that question, but if he could focus on the retreating dragon, and remember his passion...he took a breath.

"Love is the all-consuming certainty that you belong together. It's the madness that drives you to the ends of the earth to reach your goal. I'll never be complete until I find him again."

He presses up against the wall, searching the skies for a brief moment, before turning back.

"He is the source of my strength. And there's no way I'm leaving him alone!"

Yeah, he's 'not talking about 'him' at all, but the dragon in his mind is the only thing getting him through this.

It's the question that's in the script, okay?

And yeah, she gets the feeling he's not talking about Tam Lin here. It's not like she knows him too well, but she doesn't think the guy who helped her clear the road would be able to come up with that on the spot about whoever's playing Tam Lin right now? Not unless she missed some sort of whirlwind romance and no one else brought it up either.

But she doesn't care about whatever Kaiba's going on about even if she kind of gets it? She can definitely respect that drive, it's not too different from her desire to obtain the grail. Probably.

"All right. Fine. Then you can prove it to me. I'll give you three challenges. If you can overcome them, then I'll help you. If not, you're on your own. If there's no way you're leaving him alone, it should be easy, right?"

"Deal. There's no way you'll beat me. Nothing can stand between me and m---Tam Lin."

Nothing. Definitely not. He puts on a brave face, looking as serious as he can in a dress.

"We'll see about that."

She can't help but sound a little competitive there. She gets the role and the story, but she really doesn't like losing.

"Anyways, let's get started."

She'll lead Kaiba to a series of blocks, similar to the ones from the road. When pieced together it'll form a picture of a dragon which...honestly shouldn't be too hard. She knows how this kinda thing goes, you give them an easy one first and save the toughest challenge for last.

"Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Edited 2020-04-22 05:26 (UTC)

Kaiba takes in the puzzle and nods to himself. It'd be easier with his full toolset, of course, but he can craft it. Even if it's a little harder in a dress without much leg room.

He kneels over the pieces and rearranges them over the course of several minutes, eventually forming the image. He stands and brushes the dirt from his skirt.

"A visage of my true love," he says, trying Very Hard to sound serious.

If he wants to complain about the outfit, the line starts before Mordred. But anyways, she'll just watch, she's pretty sure he's got this and sure enough, he does.

"Yeah yeah, don't get too excited or anything. That was just the first test. The other two are way harder!"

Oh, wait. Hang on there's something she forgot. She should probably bring that up before it slips her mind again.

"And the longer you take, the more likely your true love stays a dragon. Forever."

Yeah, she nailed that one. Perfect villain delivery except for the part where it sounds like she almost forgot about it.

"That won't happen." Kaiba clenches his fists, determined to beat this battle. Even if...the dragon thing interests him a lot, that's not the point here!

"So challenge me! I'll win!" He looked as menacing as he could while adjusting his tiara. Perfect royal princess authority. So there.

"It's still a little crooked."

She'll just point that out. It might not actually be, but from where Mordred's standing, it might be? At least she doesn't have to wear a stupid tiara. She'll take a crown instead, thanks.

"Anyways, the second challenge awaits."

She'll lead him to a hallway and at the end of it rests one of those dragon eggs from the subquests. It's set on a pillow at the end of a pedestal.

"All right, all you have to do is go get the damn thing. Simple enough, right? You're willing to put yourself in danger or walk through hell for love or some bs like that."

It doesn't look dangerous, but once she's finished talking, a spike trap from the fortress subquest activates a ways down the hall. Looks like the path's going to be littered with traps.

"Hmph." Kaiba fixes it with a scoff, then follows her with his usual impressive stride. Then they reach the hallway of traps and he pales. How best to deal with this...

He searches the ground, the walls, and the ceilings for any signs. It's hard to tell. He picks up a small pebble and throws it down the hall, but it's too light to really activate weight traps---he's looking for motion sensors.

The rest he'll have to do through quick footwork, most likely. He crouches to rip a long, messy slit up the side of the skirt, stands...and begins his walk, keeping the steps as light as he can in heels. Slow and steady...until he has to run for his life, of course.

It looks worse than it is. Mostly just a matter of timing, though there'll be a couple close calls with pressure plates towards the end. Mordred is definitely not helping by throwing out comments that she could've done this faster or with her eyes closed, but don't pay attention to her. Just be careful and the egg should be obtainable with maybe scaring a couple years off his life at the most.

The ground beneath his feet groans. He lets the insults roll off while he focuses...but at the end he snags it, carefully cradling the egg in his arms.

"I'll save her quickly, but not recklessly," he answers, head held high.

"Okay, okay."

She is basically the picture of being unimpressed right now, but hey, she said three challenges. That's two down. Time for the big one. And while she's trying her damnedest to not act like certain people she knows, she'll still play this one up a little.

"So let's see, you've shown me that you can recognize true love. You're willing to put yourself at risk for it. But would you fight for it?"

The traps are disarmed while she asks that question. It's not fair if they get activated during the last challenge or anything like that, so she'll make sure they're off while she waits for an answer.

Kaiba rips his dress up to the knee, gently swaddling the egg with the spare cloth and setting it down. He crouches, fists raised and expression wary.

"Who and where?"

"Well, it's not me, I'd wipe the floor with you."

She says this like she's absolutely 100% sure she would. Not even because of her role as an evil or questionable fairy or whatever, but there aren't too many people out there she thinks she'd actually lose to.

But Mordred's arrogance aside, she'll lead him out of the hall to where one of those haunted suits of armors is waiting. Which should make it clear that her challenges are entirely roped together from the sub-quests. Either Carabosse is suddenly working on a budget or Mordred doesn't have a ton of imagination when it comes to creating these kind of things. There's also assorted swords, spears, and even a few bows scattered around, complete with arrows.

"So to answer your question. This guy. Right now. Pick whatever you want, and if you get killed, it's not my fault."

"Sure of that, aren't you."

Kaiba considers his options for a moment. His only combat training is in hand to hand, but that's not his best option. The bows have limited arrows, and he's not confident in his aim. The spear is slightly longer for distancing---he likes that, and it fits his dreams of being a dragoon knight.

Except dragoons didn't usually fight in a ratty dress and heeels. He crouched and squeezed the spear in his hands. "Come and get me."

And it did. It was surprisingly fast for such clunky armor, axe at the ready. Kaiba dove out of the way and attempted a backswing, only to miss. It turned on him, enraged, and swung the axe---mostly dodged, but it grazed him. He ducked and tried to ram the pointy end into the gap between joints, stalling it, but it kicked him hard. Kaiba doubled over, going for a low sweep with the spear...

It sort of worked. They scrambled for a while, Kaiba doing his best to outrun and making swipes when he couldn't. When cornered, he tried to parry the axe out of his hands. He missed, it came too close...but he stomped hard, driving his sharp heel into a crack in the shoe of armor. One desperate push with the spear kept him alive long enough to wiggle out, throw his weight, and aim the spear at the slit where the helm met the body. Graceless, brutish and desperate.

"Out of my way, I have a job to do!" Kaiba yelled with his remaining strength. Another good hit with his stiletto in the creak of a joint and swing with the spear to force it down, and he rose while leaning on the spear. Bruised and wounded, but alive.

He could only hope that was enough.

She'll save any comments she has until the end. She'd agree that it was brutish, desperate, graceless, sure. Definitely. But her fighting style can be described that way too, so she won't take points off for it or anything.

“Not bad.”

Mordred concedes that much. It wasn't terrible. And he did beat it, or would've if the ones from the sub-quest weren't a little trickier. Which means that suit of armor's trying to get up and find its head so round two can start.

“Not sure if I'd really call it a win though. Better finish it off soon or hope it doesn't take a page from the Green Knight's book. A head for a head and all that."

She'll think about that one for a second and...oh. Wow, she doesn't like that at all.

"Better not happen either, the hell if I like what that would make me!"

Because that's apparently her issue here. Anyway, try smashing the chestplate and the core inside, Kaiba. That should do it.

Kaiba hears the ominous clanking and tenses. What to do...ugh...put a nail in it for good. Kaiba rushes to it, stabs wildly before he finds his target---there's a tussle with some shouting but he eventually does, shoving the husk off of him and forcing his way back up.

"Good enough now?"

He leans down and defiantly snatches his tiara from the ground, shoving it back on.

“Yeah probably. Like I said, not bad. I'd still wipe the floor with you, but maybe with a hundred years of training, you might be able to give me a challenge. Maybe.”

Those are Mordred's honest thoughts on the thing, but she figures Carabosse might not be too impressed either? She's pretty sure seeing something like that wouldn't have impressed her mother or Assassin, so that sounds right to her. Maybe she should get a better frame of reference for these types of characters than those two, but Mordred figures she won't be Carabosse for too much longer, so there's no point to it.

“Anyways, you've proven that you can recognize true love, overcome great danger for it, and fight for it or...something, so I guess I'll help you out. Was probably fast enough that your love won't be permanently scaly, but if they are, it's not my fault you took too freakin' long.”

That being said, she's not a hundred percent sure how to do this. Does she just wave her hand and...oh, looks like the armor's changed into a dragon mount! Hey, that was convenient.

“All right, there you go. Get the hell out of here before I change my mind.”

"Depends on the type of duel."

Kaiba will not be shamed. He's at a clear disadvantage! He straightens his tiara with a huff and carefully mounts the dragon, taking the reins and looking more comfortable than he has all scene. Despite the dress not being great for riding.

"Duly noted. Bonny Rose out."

Was that her line? No. But it was now. And here...it went. Were they moderately passable? He hoped so.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Chapter 04: Act III

SCENE 5: BONNY ROSE AND CARABOSSE - SETO KAIBA AND MORDRED

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject