realmofstories | Character Introduction Log: May 2020

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Character Introduction Log: May 2020

Intro Log: May 2020—

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Greetings and welcome to the intro log for Forgotten Tales! There are no hard and fast rules here. Just include your Character, canon, and essence in the subject line and post away! Network prompts are allowed in the intro log, so feel free to put one in.

In terms of timeline, the intro log can span over several days, so don't feel as if everything has to happen all at once. You are also free to post your own logs at any time, and can even take these prompts for them!

§ prompts.

¶ I. Adjusting to a New Life. Even after being told by the Storyteller about everything, there's still a lot to learn. There's also the satchel and journal to investigate, and figuring out where they live. The Index itself is a large, vast city inhabited by a large variety of characters from numerous stories. Because of this, there is no uniform style to the city. One street could look like a normal street plucked out of a Victorian, English fairy tale and then the very next is made of candy. It makes for an interesting mishmash of cultures that somehow manages to get along. Most of the time, at least.

A. Brushing Up on the Lore. Perhaps a trip to the Grand Library to read up on the essence's stories wouldn't be such a bad idea. It might help give the Aspect some ideas as to what they can do. But you know, it would be their luck to have a large tome dedicated to their stories way high up on a top shelf. And the ladder is rusty. Might need some help.
B. Magic Journals. For those of the modern era, needing to write is going to be an interesting exercise. But after reading the instructions, maybe they want to reach out, see who else is out there. Or troll people with dumb doodles.
C. Watch What You're Doing! Testing out a new spell or weapon? Great! Just be mindful of the surroundings—this is all new and no one has thought to create a special training area for everyone (yet). And while most of the locals are happy and hopeful about their potential heroes, broken windows or almost burning one of them won't go over too well.
D. House Hunting. Among the items found in the satchel is a set of keys. These keys will magically lead their new owner to the house they will be living in for as long as they are in the Realm of Stories. The home will be styled to fit the essence and the location will also be fitting of that essence. It could be within the main city of the Index, outside of town, underwater, in the air—anywhere! Now if only the keys didn't take their own through...interesting, winding routes. Like through a random bakery or down someone's chimney. Who knows, maybe they will want to come back and visit the stores for clothing and other housewares.

¶ II. Rabbit Season, Duck Season. There are two new cafes that have opened up: Hare de Lune Teahouse and Bistro de Saison de Canards. The Hare's owners hail from the Book of Kaguya and wish to spread the joy of eating their local treats with the bonus of having a cute, fluffy rabbit as a dining companion. Canards, however, are more local and are competing against them with their own special delicacies focused on duck and eggs. A fierce competition is brewing between the two, and hair and feathers may end up flying before the day's out.

A. Hare de Lune Teahouse. The inside of Hare de Lune's is brightly colored (almost a bit too bright and chaotic), but the perfectly brewed teas and beautifully crafted wagashi served are surprisingly elegant, adding a note of serenity to the riotous surroundings. … At least at first. After eating certain cakes or drinking certain teas, patrons will suddenly find themselves either suddenly growing or shrinking in size. The effects only last at most ten minutes, but it's still a bizarre change that sends many in a panic. Could the Canards across the street have sabotaged their food!?
B. A Hareful of Trouble. Not only that, but even the cafe's rabbits are acting strangely. While most are still docile and enjoy a nice warm lap, others are acting rambunctious and are attacking cafe patrons. It gets worse when a few nibble on a few of the size-changing cakes. If they grow in size, they become a more dangerous threat while those that shrink make it harder to find. The owners don't want the rabbits to be harmed, however, so great care is needed to try and catch or calm them down! Perhaps a big carrot will help? Or figure out which size-changing food will reverse the effect—and hopefully not make it worse.
C. We Ducked Up. Bistro de Saison de Canards has gone all out to be as fancy as possible in every way. Duck-shaped flower arrangements and topiaries, ice sculpture ducks enchanted to "swim" in the center of the tables and quack pleasantly, linen napkins folded like swans, menus inexplicably also folded into a duck shape (good luck trying to re-fold them), and very pretentiously named dishes which… might have concerning amounts of duck eggs and rabbit meat in them. To help attract customers, they are hiring volunteers to be their mascot who must wear a special costume and try to draw anyone who is heading towards Hare de Lune to their side instead. Unfortunately, sometimes the mascots are a bit too zealous, and one even tries to steal a rabbit! Perhaps it's someone working for Hare trying to sabotage Canards? Whether trying to have a meal, roped into being a mascot, or a witness to the ridiculous actions, it's a chaotic mess. (Was that a small flock of ducks that just waddled out onto the street with a chef chasing after them?)

¶ III. Untitled Swan Princess. It's a lovely morning in the Index… unless you happen to be the latest princess cursed by a rogue sorcerer. Unfortunately, this particular magic user was under the impression that swans are lovely, serene birds and make complacent captives. He was proven very, very wrong very quickly. Now the princess-turned-bird has a lot of anger to unleash, and quite a few acts of chaos on her to-do list.

A. Write Your Story. Apparently either the princess or her new bird brain has quite the case of kleptomania. Everyone wandering the streets today will want to keep a close eye on their valuables: lunches, keys, potion supplies, even journals and quills! As a result, some might find themselves on the receiving end of squiggly, angry beak-writing from strangers, or chasing after the thief while dodging bubble traps or ice slicks from potions dropping out of a snatched satchel!
B. Hot Fuzz Sundae. Somehow, the swan has managed to orchestrate a massive accident involving broken barrels of caramel sauce, a teddy bear parade, and a cart full of down pillows. Thankfully for anyone caught in the crossfire, the caramel is room-temperature, but now the whole intersection is covered in a sticky, fuzzy, feathery mess! Are you a passerby, a volunteer for the clean-up crew, or a stunned victim? And more importantly, is that caramel making you stick to something (or someone) else?
C. Wild Goose Chase. Finally, after hours of chaos, reports come in of the swan storming the Grand Library, stealing artifacts from the four Drafts the Aspects have restored thus far: a Jack-o-Lantern from A Hollow Christmas Carol, a bamboo sword from The Legend of Princess Kaguya, a pearl necklace from The Little Mermaid, and a rose-decorated dragon egg from A Midsummer Rose. It's up to the Aspects to stop the swan before she leaves the Library with the relics, but it won't be easy. The swan has planted rotten egg bombs all over the place, some even ready to fall on the unsuspecting. They do not smell until cracked open and are camouflaged to match their surroundings, especially the carpeting. Then there are some that are large and tick ominously once someone is within range, counting down until they explode. Either get those eggs out before they explode or somehow neutralize them, or the Grand Library will really be a mess for months to come.

¶ IV. Of Tea Leaves and Dragons. Somewhere outside the index is a newly opened nursery farm focused on raising tea dragons — special little dragons that produce leaves on various points on their bodies. Teas brewed from their leaves will reflect the temperament of these dragons, and although friendly special care must be taken for them. As they are a new addition to the Index, both the dragons and their caretakers are still learning to adjust and thus need a little extra help. These are the mains types of dragons and their teas at the nursery:

Rooibos. Active, curious dragons who tend to get into trouble. Drinking Rooibos tea will lead one to being unable to sleep or sit still.
Earl Grey. Easygoing and protective dragons, they are the largest of the group. Drinking this will lead the person wanting to be around those they care for, making sure nothing bad happens to them.
Hibiscus. Although calmer, they are willing to try new things and socialize with others. Drinking this tea will make one want to explore new places and or become more talkative about what they discover.
Ginseng. Very sensitive, these dragons can read the emotions of others and are loyal. The tea will help strengthen bonds between relationships as well as have an odd side effect of allowing one to read each other's thoughts.
Chamomile. The smallest of the dragons, they love to take long naps and just laze about, not really caring about what's going on around them. Similarly drinking their tea will make the drinker more apathetic and prone to sleep more often.

A. How to Bribe Your Tea Dragons. The dragon tea leaves are ripe for "plucking," and while the process is painless for the young dragons, they can still be a little ornery about it. After all, no one likes being manhandled by a stranger. One has to earn their trust, and fortunately it's not too difficult. As they are young, playing with them will go a long way in forming that needed bond. Tossing balls for either a game of catch or fetch, playing chase (the flyers are cheaters), hide and seek (they love hiding in bushes), and other similar games. Another good way is to offer them their favorite treats; fruits, veggies, and specially cooked biscuits are all part of a balanced diet, and will add some delicious notes to the final tea.
B. Harvesting Tea Leaves. Once settled in, the dragons will allow their leaves to be plucked and harvested. The process is really more like "grooming" the dragons, using special brushes to gather the loose leaves before hand plucking those that remain. First a special oil is applied to loosen the leaves and then a rake-like brush is used. It's a simple enough process, but the real problem comes from the dragons. While one person could possibly harvest a dragon on their own, they get so comfortable and cuddly while grooming that more often than not they end up pinning the holder's arms or keep butting their heads against the brushing hand which can hinder gathering the loose leaves. A second person is usually needed to either help distract the dragon or to collect the leaves.
C. Taste Testing. At the end of the day, everyone is welcome to try a taste of the finished tea. They all have different effects, and everyone can carry a small sample home with them.

¶ V. Wildcard. Make up your own prompt! Especially in regards to the festival, anything can really happen.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"La Lechuza." Terrible accent? Yes, yes it was, but hell he at least pronounced it correctly enough, "That's who you are."

He'd been using that silence, rolling over what else he remembered of things spoken of during the quiet moments between the hell of the battlefield during the crisis. Little fragments here and there, and his own reading through various books on history; while most of it had been of battle he had stumbled across other little interesting things.

Head tilted, glancing down at the burrito Reaper. "With how much you bitch and moan due to shit that was your own choice, the one with the weeping would have been better if they were going to hit you that close."

He hissed at the pronunciation, which was probably on purpose but then again, it was something of an easy needling point when it came to Jack. It wasn't as if Jack had any need to specialize in accents or other languages when he could have them all translated instantly by technology.

"I didn't catch the garbled massacred mess you just spoke," he said, just to be petty about the whole thing. After all, he knew exactly who he was taking his essence from, and he didn't need it pointed out openly. "And who do you take after, you bitter old goat?"

He squirmed a bit in the tight covering that held him in place. "You realize La Llorona drowned her children, right? How many kids have you seen me drowning lately?"

It was so, so easy to ruffle him over that still? That was something he'd be keeping in mind for however long the both of them were to be in this place then. Some little petty something at the very least.

Still, that reaction told him he was right. At least could get an idea of what he would be up against, bringing burrito Reaper up to eye level, but no where near close enough that even if he managed to get loose would he be able to go after his masked face. "Nothing you'd likely be familiar with," and so even a name wouldn't matter yet.

An ear twitched, the sound of something in the distance- "Yet you still got my point."

He didn't consider the name of folklore to have much in the way of power over him, so what was the point of caring if 76 figured out what essence he had been forced to take on here. All this would require was practice to master these new skills that he was endowed with.

"Try me," he challenged, if he was certain 76 wouldn't bother. Information was power after all, and he had no doubt there were other ways to learn about the essence of others here. "But I can guess a few given how obstinate and ugly you are."

His head snapped to look in the direction of the sound, squirming in the material he was still wrapped in. "No, I had to listen to you butcher language."

"Not fun looking in to a mirror these days, Reyes?" He knew he'd managed to rankle the man, and it was so very satisfying after all of the attempts to get him. He could have that much here at the very least.

Ears flicked back as the noise got closer, his grip tightening on the fabric he had around Reaper as his head tipped in that direction. Eyes narrowed behind the visor and- He was tucked Burrito Reaper against his chest as he lept upwards in to the trees, narrowly missing a house trampling through, fur standing a little on end.

Well, that answered what those tracks were and- huh. So that's what carried that scent clinging to Reaper.

"Why would I aside from to make certain my belts are in proper order?" It wasn't like he was going to be styling his hair or anything, so there was no other point. Mirrors had their uses when it came to looking around corners.

Of course, he hissed when he was suddenly bundled up against Jack's chest and jumped around like he didn't have wings and couldn't just travel on his own. This was getting tedious, and he made certain to squirm about to start to get out of this fabric burrito.

"Are you actually house hunting?" What a ridiculous walking house.

A claw slipped in to that fabric, pulling it undone in one go and just dropping Reaper out of it, shaking out the bit of fabric and tucking it in to a back pocket of his pants. "I wasn't, but here that is." Leaving the owl behind as he swung through the trees at the house making a turn back when it couldn't get through the dense treeline that had been in that direction.

Even with the extra weight on his back, 76 was moving quickly, keeping from underfoot.

Once he was free, Reaper's wings snapped out to catch the air, allowing himself to take flight. He was half-minded to just leave 76 to deal with the walking house, but there was something familiar with it.

He circled over head, then dipped down to note the lit up skulls that hung from the roof. The house was old, but more importantly it was walking around on a pair of legs resembling that of an owl. That was... definitely his house. He had been looking for it on and off, but yeah, he could identify immediately that his essence and it were tied together.

The house was taking off, thundering off through the brush where it had come. Fleeing. Of course it was.

Reaper dipped down, giving chase on silent wings. "Keep up, goat."

He huffed a bit, but he'd had enough practice that he could keep up on hoof through those trees and- why the hell was he chasing after this damn thing with Reaper? He could just veer off and let them both go off in that direction, and go back about is business—

"Hey," well within earshot, more or less, "let me borrow that."

Clear enough what he meant, dry as his tone was it should have easily come off as a joke.

With his sharp vision, clever mind and the loud sounds of the house rampaging through the forest, Reaper found it easy to navigate through the forest. He hadn't had too much flying practice so far, but he was definitely making the most of flying between branches.

He tipped his head to look down at Jack following along on foot, no hoof. At the request, he swooped down to fly above 76's head. His wings practically brushed the tips of Jack's ears on each down swing.

"I hope you will be a Saw-whet. It would suit you."

The smoke-like mist that wrapped around him was rather quick in it's work, because he knew exactly what he was asking for- large wings unfurling outwards as he spun. All the better for himself with the momentum as 76 took flight on feathered wings, dodging through a few branches gracefully enough.

There were ear-like feather tufts on his head and- well.

That was very much a great horned owl that was flying just below Reaper, "I've got no control over that."

Reaper tipped his head down to watch Jack's ability in action, and that was quite interesting. Copy-cat, was it? That was a dead useful ability in a world where mythical story characters bound themselves to people, which would give such an ability a wide range things to copy.

"Neat trick. How long does that last?"

He rose higher in the air, giving Jack more room to maneuver given he had turned into the larger owl out of the two of them. They were silent as they traveled, which seemed to confuse the house that was crashing through the bush. It clearly thought that silently flying owls were actually lost quarries.

Perfect. He closed the distance, but instead of landing, he circled, his wing tips touching Jack's. The house below came to a slow stop and then began to dig at the dirt in order to settle in as if safe.

He didn't use it much publicly, had been more practicing deep in the forest by himself because animals were a little more cooperative. Most of the time. Still, with them it was more a copying of parts and the ability he could have come with them, but with other Aspects- that was a very wide range ability. He saw the usefulness of it.

"Long enough," which was true. He had a good well of magic to keep this going for a bit, at least, and it had grown to something longer once he'd stepped foot back in the Index which was nice at least.

Much, much easier to keep up with this damned house like this, leveling out with more room, and with that brush of wing tips he turned himself. Following Reaper's lead to both keep an eye on him and on the house as it looked to be scratching up dirt.

He would definitely be following Jack more in the future to find out how often that ability would be used and the limitations of it. For now, it was far more pressing that they kept the house from running off again. It clearly was spooked easily, and he wondered how many people it had trampled. He hoped it was people he wouldn't like... so everyone. Too bad he hadn't been able to watch it happen.

Still circling, he watched keening as the house dug a bowl to fold its legs down into and, shaking its... back door? it settled down into the spot that it had chosen for itself. He waited to make certain it was well and truly settled.

"I'll land first, you follow suit if you want to. Otherwise, fly away, Morrison." He tipped, passing beside Jack, slowly his descent from the last moment until his talons opened and closed on the roof of the house. It gave a great shudder, but he was already leaning over and rubbed his beak on the edge of the house, screeching.

... So the house nested. Of course a house with any sort of bird legs would nest, but it was so damned odd to watch; better to observe if it was going to be running around the forest, and all the better to steer clear of it. Just because it was running around wasn't going to keep him from camping about in various areas.

If they could, eyes would be rolling at Reaper's antics, circling a few more times as he debated with himself. He could leave- and he could also dive-bomb if he so wished because wouldn't that serve Reyes right?

After a while he came to land on the roof as well, silently and more near one of the higher parts of the roof. Feathers ruffled and just sort of walking along. Not quite used to this, but better to learn than not as Reaper screeched at his own house. Apparently it had gotten away from him.

The house seemed ready to jump up and head off again, but once Jack's taloned feet also landed on the house, it seemed to decide better. The glowing skulls with their intricate designs swung about as the owl house shuddered and rose, only to scratch a few more times for good measure and then turn around to roost in a different direction.

Everything settled, the front door of the house opened with a hoot. He fluttered down from roof to the porch, peering inside the house for a moment and then strutted inside.

It seemed safe enough, herbs drying from the ceilings, furniture made of wood and plenty of places to roost on the top. There was a feather mattress bed, but a work area for sharpening, altering and creating weapons. That same area had what looked like somewhere to brew potions... no, probably poison. There was also hanging swings from the open beams of the house. Plenty of places for birds to roost.

This was definitely his house. He fluttered up to one of the swings, folding his wings. Where the hell was Jack?

He was pacing part of the roof, feathers still ruffled, and angry with himself that he'd followed at all with that bit of distance between them again. Hopping a little even, because he should have left before the house had even appeared- Hell, he should have just caught Reaper and left him somewhere to get out of the fabric on his own. Tucked away somewhere that he'd just be pissed off about the entire thing.

Beak clicking and all.

Leave. Just leave—

Took flight again, off the roof and circling low near windows, but rather than landing near or even on the perch he swooped in through the door, catching on to the back of a chair and perching there. Feathers still ruffled up with a low hissing huff of air.

He would have to explore the full extent of this house once he could actually say that he was alone, but currently he wasn't about to trust that Jack wasn't lurking around on the roof pulling up shingles. For now, he was perfectly willing to simply look around at the kitchen area and peering back at the small room walled off.

There were cupboards to explore, tools to turn over and a buzz of what he intrinsically knew as magic. That's what held this place together, why nothing flew off tabletops or knock over chairs when the house was on the move. It felt familiar despite never having experienced it aside from when he was changing forms.

He peered down from his higher perch as 76 flew in the door like an angry bedraggled neighbour. He clicked his beak at the larger owl, as if responding to that hiss.

"I'd say shut the damn door, but you don't have hands," he remarked. Of course, him saying 'shut the door' meant the magic peaked a bit and the door swung shut. What a ridiculous house. "Come up here if you're going to stay around like a bad smell." Plenty of room on the swing.

Ridiculous house, ridiculous situation. Puffed up where he perched, body and head turned all the better to glare up at Reaper the perch- "Then don't invite me in next time." Said the man that didn't have to take the 'invite' in the first place, warily eyeing the perch as he was just invited that much further in.

Already hated the fact the door closed on it's own, but at least it didn't lock.

With a few beats of wings, that great horned owl known as 76 did make his way up. Perching, feathers even further ruffled up to the point he looked pretty damned fluffy.

At least all of this meant he could track this damned house if it ever managed to get too close to whatever area he was camping in. All the better to stay the hell away. Or where to look for Reaper if he did dare to stay in this thing.

"You didn't have to take the invitation," he pointed out simply, knowing that this went both ways. They had had their fight after all, chased around a house, and now were owls. This was just a strange day all around, so he expected the strangeness to continue as they found some kind of common ground.

Jack looked so out of place puffed up, ruffled and aggravated about it. The other owl was bigger than he was in his current form, more so puffed up like this.

He moved down the perch swing until they were a few inches from each other, then his wing moved to slap 76 on the back. "You're being dramatic. Either settle down until this transformations fades or break your beak chewing on something." He actually settled in quite easily, looking every bit the owl his form was. He could role-play this stuff if he needed to.

Wings flapped out in retaliation to the slap, but 76 certainly kept perched, head turned as those so very blue eyes cut as much of a glare as they could with him as a large owl. "You'd know dramatic," beak clacking with a slight irritated hiss.

Honestly, being a giant dog was easier than this at the moment. sue he'd gotten a wing on flight easily enough thanks to a run-in with having fairy wings and a few practices with birds out in the woods. The large difference was this was Reaper, the man he'd been hunting down and-

They were perched together and the asshole was likely loving being an owl- "Shame you missed the last story," muttered under his breath.

He hopped and extended his own wings at the flapping, such a natural reaction between owls really. At least they weren't using their talons on each other just yet, but he expected that would be coming soon enough. After all, they were technically trapped in a moving house together and if there wasn't some form of bloodshed he would be shocked. It was the nature of their relationship these days.

"Of course. You think dressing as I do and acting as I do isn't for drama purposes?" He was over the top for very specific reasons, and he kept up his chosen strings even here in this place for the most part. Even his damn house was dramatic. He clicked his beak back at 76 still looking irritated next to him.

He, of course, heard the muttered words. "I don't know what that means, so explain or don't mutter leading statements." Sound like the damn media sometimes.

The nature of their relationship back home didn't have the act of forced fondness on one side, the main source of his irritation at the moment that wasn't really pointed at anything. Hell, he couldn't even direct the irritation at Reaper himself, it wasn't like the asshole knew about this. Probably for the best he didn't know about it either, something 76 would just have to deal with and actively remind himself of what his actual feelings about what was left of the man being here.

"Always great for a distraction and even misdirection," dryly as he finally settled on that perch; wings hunched up but at least feathers smoothed out. Still didn't look happy.

~~No you sound like the media sometimes.~~His head swiveled and if it were possible he'd be glaring. "Says the master of leading statements- Did you not pay any damn attention to what landed your ass here?"

Reaper didn't have to suffer under such machinations of this place, which left him in the position to perform his usual duties of needling Jack to see how fast he would fly into another rage and try to kill him. He supposed that Morrison's irritation was amusing enough for the time being, though he did wonder how long the younger soldier would have to remain as an owl. After all, he could change back with effort at any time.

"That was part of my job back then, and it's definitely part of my job now." Even in this place, he had no reason to reveal his motivations to the detail. Little bread crumbs of detail would allow others to make assumptions and many of them would be wrong. "Ironic that before you were there to smooth out disruptions and now that's one of your main functions as a vigilante."

He was pretending to preen his feathers back into sensible order. "I'm very aware of it. You were just muttering." Use your words and your voice if you're going to talk, Morrison. "So, what was this last 'story' nonsense. No doubt you jumped in because you can't help yourself sometimes."

The other part he wasn't going to acknowledge? He could turn back at any time, same way as he'd transformed in the first place; had enough magical energy reserved to do it, but yet here he was. Still an owl.

Eyes would have rolled, but as it was wings shifted and his head turned. "Gets the job done," and that was the entire point of it. Sure, he did some jobs quieter, but for the most part tossed it to the wind once his presence was noticed. No point in not going loud, because there was no longer anything holding him back.

"You know Sleeping Beauty, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Tam Lin?" Be more surprised if the other man didn't, really. Figured it might drag his attention.

Character Introduction Log: May 2020

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