First Adventure [Scene 4 and Sub Quests]

[finnality]

Characters: Finn Mertens | Jack (of the Beanstalk) and Kotori | Sweet Porridge Girl or YOU
Campaign: Hollow Christmas (Act II)
Format: [ brackets ]
Open
Summary: Finn acts out a scene as Bromfred and also takes part in some subquesting!

[A. Scene 4: Promfred] (Locked to Kotori)

[Finn's finally gotten a role! It's not exactly a role he wanted, however. Bromfred seems like kind of a bad guy. But for the sake of the story, he'll have to try his best to fill those dirty shoes.

Once he's all dressed up, he searches the party for this Beltrina-to-be.]

Beltrina! Um... Beltrina, where are you! [He tries to sound assertive, but his voice wavers somewhat.]

[B. Another Christmas Carol]

[Finn's not too familiar with the Christmas spirit, but he'll do his best to join in on Christmas carols! He should probably learn how to do one first. He'll look over a book of lyrics while also experimenting with a flute.]

Soooo, which song should we try first?

[C. Mind Your Manor]

[Finn's most at home when it comes to action. And sure enough, there's action afoot! Outside the manor, Finn can be seen dealing with Santa's nefarious gang. His right arm, half of which is now made out of beanstalk, is on full display during this battle. Finn ends up clinging to the back of a reindeer, trying to direct its course to run down some of the old man's elves!]

Just when I thought I was done fighting old guys with big beards... Don't tell me this guy's an Ice King too! [Been there, done that. Come and help him? Or maybe the reindeer Finn's riding is accidentally on a crash course towards you!]

[D. Wildcard]

[Feel free to come up with another prompt, using any of the sub quests, or hit me up for further plotting!]

Comments

B!

[decryptic]

[ 9S was just plinking out some notes on the piano out of boredom and curiosity, having never encountered one in his life. When Finn speaks up, 9S blinks under his visor and looks over at him, double-checking to make sure the boy isn't talking to someone else. ]

"We"? I don't know any of these songs.

[finnality]

[Finn looks towards the person at the piano with a shrug.]

Hey broski, neither do I. But that's what these are for. Think fast! [With that, he throws a folder of sheet music at him!]

[decryptic]

[ 9S catches the folder! He opens it and is immediately puzzled by the sheet music. He can see that there are lyrics to match the tadpoles, so clearly it's some kind of musical notation. Beyond that, though... ]

How do you read these?

[finnality]

[Finn steps over towards him.]

Well the words are the parts that you sing. And all the little marks in the lines are basically the notes that tell you how to play and sing it. They're like the ingredients for a musical stew!

[decryptic]

[ This boy sure is chipper. 9S tilts his head a little skeptically, but studies the sheet music again. He's got nothing to lose... and hey, it might end up being fun. ]

All right, let's give it a shot.

[ He shuffles through the pages. ]

Which one strikes your fancy? There's "Jingle Bells", "Silent Night", "Winter Wonderland", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"...

[ He'll keep listing until his new companion stops him. ]

[finnality]

[You bet he's chipper! He watches over his shoulder as he looks through the pages. And it's not long before he chimes in.]

Ooh! How about that reindeer guy? I wanna know what his deal is!

[decryptic]

You got it.

[ He pulls out said tune and puts it on the angled board thing on the piano, because that seems right. He reads the first bit of the lyrics: ]

"You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen..."

Whoever wrote this sure made a lot of assumptions. Do you know who they are?

[finnality]

[Finn taps his chin thoughtfully, and then he quickly shakes his head.]

I don't know any of those peeps! Well, I know of a comet, but I don't think they mean the same one. Yeah, this song writer's making some big time assumptions!

[decryptic]

[ This seems like bad song-writing!! But oh well, 9S continues reading. ]

"But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all?
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows
All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games
Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say
'Rudolph, with your nose so bright
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?'
Then how the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee
'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
You'll go down in history.'"

[ He shuffles through the pages. ]

Then it just repeats.

[finnality]

[Finn listens attentively. He really seems to be into this narrative! He even mutters "Aw no not the reindeer games!" after that verse. Then his excitement builds in the last verses, and the end, he raises a fist triumphantly!]

Aw yeah!! You go, Rudolph! You show those dingle-lords how tricked out you really are! [He gently tries to jab an elbow at 9s.] Guess he nose what he's doing after all, eh?

[decryptic]

[ Unfortunately for Finn, the android predilection for puns is not especially strong. 9S blinks at him from behind his visor. ]

Uh, right. The other reindeer sound kind of shallow, though... I wonder how happy an ending this really is.

[ He shakes his head. ]

Anyway, let's give this thing a shot. I can try singing if you want to play your... blowstick?

[ he has zero clue what that instrument is called ]

[finnality]

[Finn waited for a moment for a response to his joke, only to sadly find none. So he settles for adding his own two cents to the thoughts on Rudolph.

Yeah, they really do, but I bet they'll learn a thing or two from our boi Rudolph.

[And he also snorts at 9s's guess, waving the flute in his hand.]

It's a flute, yo. But blowstick's not a bad name. Okay then, time to blow this baby up! [He squints at the sheet music and tries to play it on his flute! He seems to be fine at playing the flute, but less so at following sheet music, so it'll sound a bit clumsy.]

[decryptic]

[ That's okay because 9S has no musical experience whatsoever, so whatever Finn is playing is what 9S assumes is righty tighty. He tries to follow along with the pips of the flute, while also following the general ups and downs of the sheet music, and everything is probably wrong. He can sing on pitch; it just doesn't amount to much when he has only a vague idea of what the right pitch is. He keeps trucking along though, because he's willing to ride this trainwreck to its natural conclusion. ]

♫ You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen ♪
♪♪ Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen ♪
♫ ♪ But do you recall ♫
♪ The most famous reindeer of all? ♫
[ ... ]

[ And so on. One could describe his singing as a minute-long question mark. ]

A(aaaaaah why is she doing this what is her life?!)

[ricebird]

[It's WONDERFUL that this part of the story is taking place indoors, and with real food around. Her essence's clothes are so threadbare that it was a nightmare to stay warm, and even with the sweet porridge keeping everyone from starving, trying to find new ingredients for add-ons or sides was so risky! Here at least they can at least stay comfortable and warm and HOPEFULLY nothing bad will happen.

She'd seen her journal flash at the start, but then Alfyn was chosen to play Beltrina and (snrk!) looked very lovely in that dress. The scene should be short enough to try some of the smoked ham and roast turkey and plum pudding and fruit cake-- aaaand suddenly her threadbare peasant clothes are turned into a lively and loud-colored dress, right in the middle of her ladling gravy onto her mashed potatoes.]

E-EH?!

[There she is~]

[finnality]

[Finn had been scanning for any signs of his Beltrina-to-be, as he didn't know the person he was matched up with. But then he manages to spot the magical clothing change. That could only have to do with the scene! Right? Though she did look very confused, and those mashed potatoes look much more appetizing than this scene! Sill, he uncertainly starts to approach her.]

Beltrina! [He squints.] There... you... are?

[ricebird]

[Ah. So that's probably... Bromfred? Beltrina's... fiancé. GULP!]

A-ah, yes, my... darling... Bromfred? [Oh sweet everything, why is she doing this? Why is SHE playing this, she doesn't know how to act or even pretend to be in love or even flirt.] How are YOU this... fine evening?

[finnality]

[That confirms it! He's found his Beltrina. Everything's proceeding very... very awkwardly! Finn may have some girlfriend experience, but it feels weird acting like a stranger is his girlfriend. Not to mention having to be a bad guy.

He clears his throat and then tries speaking in a deeper voice.]

Yes, I, Bromfred am here! My... sweet? [He says with an uncertain shrug.] Oh, I'm doing pretty great. Having the time of my life! And it's... even more the time of my life now that I'm... by you!

[ricebird]

[What comes out is a laughter torn between wooden and anxious. It's... a very interesting sound.]

Ahaha, you're so sweet...

[Yeah, okay, she needs to break character for a moment, stage whispering to him with a DEEP bow.] I'm sorry, I have no idea what I'm doing or what being in love is like and I'm REALLY nervous...

[finnality]

[Finn leans in as he whispers back.]

Oh. Well, that's alright. I barely know what I'm doing myself! Just... take it easy. Maybe it'd help if... hm... [He did find her by the food, so thinking of that gives him an idea.] ...What are some of your favorite foods?

[ricebird]

Oh, um... I actually like a lot of different things. My mom- my real one back home, I mean- she runs a restaurant, so I grew up around a lot of tasty food. I'll try anything at least once, like everything here.

[There, it's slow, but she's starting to warm up and come out of her shell a bit.]

What are some of yours?

[finnality]

Whoa, that must rule! [He continues whispering, impressed.] With a mom like that, there's no limits to all the swank food!

Oh, and as for me? I've got lots of faves. I guess most of them are kinda junk food-y... but at the top? Is some rad meat loaf!

[ricebird]

Oh! Meatloaf is really delicious! It's so rich and versatile, depending on how you season it, and it's even better the next day once the flavors have rested and mingled! And you can even do things like put fold soft melty cheese inside or wrap the outside with bacon for extra richness!

[Gee, I wonder if food is Kotori's passion in life or something...]

[finnality]

Yeah! Yeah yeah yeah! [Finn nods along as he excitedly whispers!]

Man, you really know how to put its awesomeness into words! [He pauses for a second.] ...But I'm going to get mad hungry if we keep going on about meat loaf. Let me... go back to what I was trying to get at. Just... let me know two different foody foods that you can't picture living without?

[ricebird]

Just two?!

[ONE. TRACK. MIND.]

Um, okay... well, rice is more or less a staple where I'm from, and there are so many ways to cook it or garnish it so even then, no two rice dishes are alike.

And a second one... I suppose I've been missing miso soup since I was brought here. It's another staple food at home, and even though the soups here have been really nice when we can get them, they don't really have that clean, savory flavor that can go with lots of ingredients. I guess the easy answer is I just miss Japanese cooking period.

[finnality]

Aw, that's a shame. Rice is really legit! [He might not know what miso soup is, or possibly even about the existence of Japan, but it still sounds like good stuff.]

Okay, so. Here's what I'm getting at. Let's say that something happened... and rice and miso soup don't get along. They only want you to eat one of them.

[He gestures to himself.]

So now on top of that, imagine that Bromfred's rice, and Ebegeezer is miso soup.