Character Meet and Greet: Winter Wonderful!

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i.Main Street

Main Street has settled in for January, but there are still Christmas Decorations here and there to liven things up a little bit. Feel free to shop, mingle with the locals or explore the castle grounds.

Though after hours there are still some shadows that venture into the streets. Not everything here is as peaceful as it seems, and it’s best to defeat the corroded trespassers before they cause trouble.

ii. Cookie Overload

Do you like free cookies? Of course! Everyone does. After the Christmas Rush, there are plenty to go around, available only after the sun goes down to any hungry passerby. There are cookies of all styles and flavors. But watch out for the dreader sriracha cookie. It will make you breathe fire in three flavors and gives a bit of heartburn after, but the aftertaste will leave you craving more.


iii. The Eighth Wonder of the World
Now that the jungle has been purified, Apprentices can wander through to explore all the things the jungle has to offer. Take a (still somewhat shambly) riverboat and explore the river, or come to chat and trade with the villagers. (Shrunken heads, two for one special!) But beware. Even though the jungle is purified, it’s not a safe place. In this kingdom of animals, someone is always hungry.


iv. Pin It On Them
Some smugglers are hanging around the outskirts of New Orleans, selling dubious looking items from even more dubious looking bags. Do you buy from them? Haggle? Steal? (not recommended) Or quietly try to alert any sort of authority (good luck) The choice is yours.


v. Battle Mesa Gate
While the jungle may be purified, many other Kingdoms are still seething with corrosion. Erstwhile Apprentices will find such corrosion on the banks of the Rivers of America, right where the jungle river joins in. Fight corroded creatures on the shore and in the water and be careful, they are stronger than they look and cleverer than they seem.

Comments

Mary Poppins | Mary Poppins Returns

[rathersophistical]

i: Practically Perfect in Every Way.

It hadn't taken Mary long to get acclimated to the idea of living in another world. She had, after all, been to several places far more unusual than this. The idea of fighting was still utterly distasteful but that would be sorted in time, she was sure.

For the time being she had much to learn about her new surroundings. She decided to pay the shops in town a visit. It had been a lovely day of browsing and meeting the locals. Of course she'd made a few small purchases for herself, including a lovely new pair of gloves. It was getting late and she really should be heading back to her flat. But a reflection caught her eye. She turned and smiled. Oh didn't she just look beautiful in the lamp light? She looked over her reflection, quite pleased with how smart her blue coat looked with that hat. One hand moved to touch her hair, ensuring it was still behaving properly.

As she was doing so, a shadow crept up the street towards her. It's difficult to tell if she noticed or if she was too focused on making sure her hat was cocked just so.

ii: A spoonful of sugar

While she didn't typically have much of a taste for sweets, one particular cookie caught her eye. It brought her back up second Tuesdays with a certain chimney sweep. So she accepted a few with a grateful nod. Finding an empty table at the cafe, she ordered a pot of tea and arranged the cookies on a plate. They were shortbread with raspberry jam. When the tea arrived she smiled at someone passing by, indicating the empty seat.

"Care to join me? It seems improper to take tea alone when there are so many people about."

v. The wind turns.

She may have reservations about fighting, but that didn't mean she couldn't help in some small way.

Mary stood a way back from the river bank watching the battle. If any of the creatures tried to move towards town they'd find themselves blown backwards by a strong wind. One of them lashed out at her, a sharp tendril of water cutting through the air. She stepped back just enough to avoid it, glaring sharply at the offending creature. "Really. How incredibly rude of you."

ii

[abys_keeper]

He bobs on over. She probably didn't mean to get the attention of a twelve foot jellymer encased in a globe of water, but that's what she's got. He peers over at the table, wondering what on there is meant to eat.

"Okay." He will join. "Does that mean I can eat you?" Just checking. Also. "What's tea?"

[rathersophistical]

She doesn't bat an eye at his appearance. Please, she's attended many events with animals who wore clothes, walked on their hind legs, and talked. How was this any different?

His first question, on the other hand, gets a sharp gasp and a stern look. "What a rude question. One never eats one's dining companions and certainly never the individual who invited one."

Sorry, she's too offended by the first question to answer the second.

[abys_keeper]

...."Why not?" That didn't make much sense to him. "Eating is involved anyway." He pokes a tendril out and tastes what's in the cup and then yelps and pulls it back. "It bit me!" How could it!

[rathersophistical]

Oh. He's behaving much like a child experiencing the world for the first time. That makes things quite different. Her demeanor instantly changes to that of a firm teacher. She gestures to the seat across from her.

"Sit down. And don't slouch." Folding her hands on the table in front of her, she explains. "In polite society one does not eat anyone. There are specific animals fit for consumption and one needn't speak to them at all. Meat can and should be purchased at a proper shop or dining establishment and prepared by a skilled cook or chef." Satisfied with that explanation, she moves on to the tea. "It did not bite you. Tea is hot water in which tea leaves have been steeped to draw out their flavors and aromas. It is also a term for a light meal typically including small sandwiches or pastries. In this case." She gestures, "cookies. Hardly a proper tea, but one does what one can."

She smiled kindly, "Do you understand?"

[abys_keeper]

He is still trying to figure out the sitting down part. The chair is very small and he is very big and his bell doesn't bend that way. So instead he perches over the chair which is not very tasty so he moves it out of the way and tries to sit as best he can on the ground.

"Dead food is disgusting. It's not tasty at all." Aby ate dead food. Other mers did too. He hated it. "Though cookies are good. I don't know if that's dead or if it was even alive." He tendriled one up and began to munch it. "I don't like tea."

He considers the question. "A little..."

And he watches her. "I guess that means I can't eat you then." Which is a disappointment. "You look really delicious." Munch munch the cookie.

[rathersophistical]

She couldn't help but be a little flattered that he thought she looked delicious. It was a sort of compliment, after all.

"Under no circumstances." She shook a finger at him. "While I appreciate your asking for permission, I must decline."

She thought about his other comments for a moment. He was certainly a curious sort.

"I've never eaten anything alive, nor do I have any desire to, so I've no way to compare. I do hope you find enough to eat here without eating our neighbors."

[abys_keeper]

"Okay." He shook his finger back at her, curious at the gesture. "Even if I'm dying I won't eat you." He beamed at her and then frowned, taking another cookie.

"I don't know. Everything here is so small except for humans. And they are very nutritious. I can tell." And then! "D'you think any of them would agree to be eaten?"

I - you got Tom's Diner stuck in my head

[followedbyfools]

Someone else was still buttoning up his own shopping, preferring to go late at night when there were fewer people out and about ... he didn't want to break the habits he'd just barely begun to hang on to, after all, just in case. Obi-Wan was browsing on the other side of the glass, when he caught the feeling of being watched ... or so he thought. He looked up from the shelves of sturdy local pottery that had caught his eye and smiled politely, setting down a teacup to give her a little wave.

Oops?

[rathersophistical]

Mary didn't immediately notice that she was being watched. She was rather distracted, after all. But the movement through the glass did catch her eye, changing her focus from looking at the glass to looking through it. It was then that she noticed the bearded gentleman looking at her. He was very clearly acknowledging her and it would be very impolite to ignore him. She gave him a smile and inclined her head slightly. It also seemed very impolite to conduct a conversation silently through glass, especially when greeting a potential new friend for the first time.

Turning on her heel, she strode to the door of the shop and pulled it open. Having no inclination to look over the wares therein, she walked right over to the stranger and nodded again. "Good evening."

[followedbyfools]

"Good evening," he echoed with a note of pleasant surprise. He hadn't expected her to come in - usually when people connected through a shop window in that sort of fashion, the other person just went on their way. "I hope I'm not keeping you from anything at this hour."

[rathersophistical]

Come now, how was she going to become acquainted with the others who lived there if she didn't engage them in proper conversation?

She smiled, "Oh no, not at all, thank you. I was simply familiarizing myself with the town. If you're otherwise occupied I won't keep you, but I felt a proper greeting was more appropriate than a wave through a shop front window."

[followedbyfools]

Manners: so necessary, but sometimes so very awkward in practice. He glanced down at the pottery. None of it was needed at the moment - he had dishware in his strange new lodgings, but these looked a bit more like what he was used to, and had a far more human touch. That being said, fixing homesickness was a luxury, and one he didn't need. Perhaps her presence had been a sign from the Force to remind him to make do with what he had, and avoid excess.

"I'm glad I wasn't keeping you. I was simply admiring this potter's handiwork: they're quite good."

He offered her a hand, since most people still seemed to do that here. "Obi-Wan Kenobi. Though if it's easier, most these days just call me Ben."

[rathersophistical]

Oh there's nothing wrong with a bit of excess now and again. Especially if it brings you joy.

She looked at his hand for a moment. Really. Shaking a lady's hand. Ah well. She slipped her gloved hand into his and gave him a rather weak shake.

"Mary Poppins. A pleasure to meet you Mr. Kenobi." They'd only just met. First names seemed far too informal. "Have your been here long?"

[followedbyfools]

Her manner of address was a bit strange: he'd never been called a Mister before, whatever that was, and he wracked his brain for something equally formal that wasn't politically or culturally specific. Clearly manners were important to this woman, and the handshake hadn't quite seemed like a good choice. The best answer was, of course, another question.

"I haven't, no. And I must apologize, but I've never been called a Mister, before, so I'm a bit at odds over how best to address you."

V

[serpentinthegarden]

It was always the new magic users who were thrust into combat. This one at least had a basic grasp on her powers. Wind... Hm. That gave him an idea.

A fire sprang to life in front of the lady's feet.

"Hey, school marm, think you could fan that flame?"

[rathersophistical]

It was a simple thing to understand the winged man meant her. She was still quite unimpressed with the description, of course. But this was neither the time nor the place to quibble about what one should or should not call a lady whose name one has not learned.

"Please. It's not as if it's that difficult."

She pursed her lips, giving the man the briefest of unimpressed looks before the wind kicked up again. This magic may be unlike her normal abilities but the principles were still the same. The wind rustled her skirts gently licking at the flame, coaxing it to grow stronger and larger.

[serpentinthegarden]

"I never said it would be difficult."

The fanned flames grew larger, brighter, as the wind whipped the ember's toward the corrupted horde driving them back and setting a few of the slower ones on fire themselves.

"Just thought it would be effective."

And give him a lot less work to do. She could power the flames while he sat back against a fence post and watched.

[rathersophistical]

Oh you think so, do you?

She noticed his lollygagging immediately. That certainly would not do. She clapped her hands sharply.

"This is not a spectator sport. And I'll thank you not to pass your share of the work on to me."

A particularly strong burst of wind ruffled his feathers before shoving him forward off the fence post.

[serpentinthegarden]

Whoa! For the briefest of moments there Crowley thought his wings might catch that breeze and send him off into the sky, airborne in such a way he hadn't been in countless centuries. It was thrilling! But... Nothing that made him want to pitch in and help more than he had.

"I helped! I provided the flames, you provided the wind power... Consider it early training. See if you can't use this magical combination to drive these corrupted off. Free lesson..."

Crowley smiled one of his ever so charming smiles.

"No charge."

[rathersophistical]

Well. Of all the impertinent things.

Never one to be pushed around, Mary crossed her arms with a quiet "Hmm." The wind fell as quickly as it had grown. Without the extra oxygen the flames began to sputter and die.

"You addressed me as a school marm, now you offer to teach a lesson. You seem quite confused as to whether I am a teacher or a student. Perhaps we should wait until you've made up your mind."

From her stance and the stern, unimpressed, gaze leveled his way it was clear she had no intention of budging.

[serpentinthegarden]

"You didn't take to the school marm..."

The demon's explaination, whatever it might have been, fell silent as the corroded creatures spotted their opportunity. With neither wind or fire to keep them at bay the horde charged forward with a mighty war cry

"Are you crazy!?"

He snarled but reached out to yank the lady away just as one of the number leap high into the air for an attack that might well have ruined her hat and left her with the worst hair day ever. Crowley's flames lept back to life as he once more took over control of them but now their position was somewhat less desirable. The two stood in the center of a wall of flame like a pair of dancers wrapped together while the corrupted thronged around them at a distance that kept them safe from the heat.

II

[im_a_hugger]

"Who, me?" Scorpia glanced around herself when Mary addressed her, as if figuring that she must be talking to someone else. But there was no one else immediately around her. That meant that there was someone who wanted to hang out with her!

"OK, sure!", she said. She happily took the seat across from Mary. The cafe chair proved to be a bit too small for her large frame, but if this bothered her she didn't show it. "Thanks for letting me hang out with you. You know, I've never actually taken tea with anyone before? Where exactly are we supposed to take it to?"

[rathersophistical]

Well why not? Mary had no reason to think she might be anything other than a pleasant person to share a meal with.

She smiled cheerfully, chuckling. "It's a turn of phrase. You don't literally take it anywhere. I'm inviting you to join me for a cup of tea and to share these lovely biscuits with me."

[im_a_hugger]

Scorpia is... not really used to being anybody's first choice of companion for much of anything. So when she is, it's very much appreciated.

"Of... course," she said. "I totally knew that. I was just... testing to make sure that you knew that too. So... uh, congratulations; you passed!" Yep, totally nailed that recovery.

"*ahem* Anyway, I'd love to have biscuits and tea," she said, attempting to divert attention back to the food on the table. She'd at lest been there long enough to know what biscuits were this time. "So, what kind of biscuits are we having?"