Character Meet and Greet: Winter Wonderful!

[smk_mods]

Rules | FAQ | Premise | Applications


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

[im_a_hugger]

Scorpia flinched slightly at the yelp. "Look, I promise, I'm not going to eat you," she said. "I don't even know what sort of thing you are, but I know you definitely don't look like anything I'd want to eat. Or could eat, even if I wanted to; you're way too big."

She didn't exactly 'shoo', but she did back off slightly to help show that she meant no harm. She'd correct him on her species in a moment.

[abys_keeper]

"I'm from the deep dark where the song is endless and the lights are like stars but upside down." A pause. "Stars are in the sky. Just floating there. Isn't that fantastic?" He thinks it is.

After a moment the lights calm and he settles back on the table, absently on a plate of cookies which he pulls into his bell to let dissolve.

"What would you want to eat?"

[im_a_hugger]

Scorpia relaxed a bit as well when he seemed to calm down. And she was just going to ignore the way he could apparently eat through his... tail? Torso? Whatever it was; that was just a little too weird for her.

Besides, the comment about stars was much more interesting. "I know right?", she said actually smiling a bit. "I didn't know what they were at first because back on Etheria- where I'm from- we don't have them in our sky, but now I don't think I'll ever get tired of looking at them. They're so... sparkly, you know?"

As to what she'd want to eat, she shrugged slightly. "Before I came here? Ration bars, mostly," she said. "That's all the Horde really had. Though lots of things here are a whole lot tastier. Like sandwiches, and waffles... oh and cookies too! But I guess I don't need to tell you that cookies taste good, right?"

[abys_keeper]

It is a bell. Of course. Haven't you ever seen a jellymer?

"They are beautiful. Aby says they're made of fire but they're so far away they're small when they're actually very large. Aby is very smart so is probably right, but I bet some of them are Lantern Ladies. Which are very beautiful and very dangerous." But could be tasty.

"Cookies are wonderful. They're not dead though. What are they?" He picks up another with his hand and brings it in the water bubble. It dissolves there too, but slower and is soft enough to crunch with his teeth which are not the strongest.

[im_a_hugger]

Nope, never seen one before in her life.

"I don't know what they are myself," Scorpia said. "But I bet my friend Entrapta would, if she were here. She's really smart too and is all about science and stuff. She even sort of has tentacles like you! Except hers are made of her hair and not... whatever yours are made of."

"As for cookies, you know I'm not sure?", she said. She picked one up from the table that hadn't been knocked on the ground or slimed and examined it closely, as if that would help her divine what it was made of. "I think they might be made from a bunch of different things all mixed together in a certain way til they turn into something new; kind of like if you put different herbs into hot water you get tea. Not sure how exactly they do that though..."

[abys_keeper]

"Aby knows everything." He beamed. There was something in common. "They would like you." He scudded over to another plate nearby.

"Mine is made of me. What's a herb?" He'd never heard of one before. "You're a very nice crab." Since that also needs to be said.

[im_a_hugger]

"Really?", Scorpia said, smiling. "Aw, thanks! I bet Entrapta would like you too." If only because he was something new and weird for her to science over, but then, Entrapta tended to try and science everything. And she had a feeling she'd like him beyond that too, once she'd moved on to the next thing.

"And herbs are these kind of dried bits of plants." No, she had no idea there was such a thing as fresh herbs. "I guess there's not too much that's dried where you're from, though. At least not that would stay that way for long."

"Oh and I'm not actually a crab," she corrected him. "I'm a scorpion, and my name's Scorpia. What's yours?"

[abys_keeper]

Would she? That was complicated. If someone liked him, he didn't want to eat them. Even if they were probably really tasty. But on the other hand, she probably wouldn't want to let him eat her anyway.

"Is she here?" He would like to meet someone who liked him. He wrinkled his nose at the explanation and some of his tendrils curled inwards in disgust. "I don't like dried. It hurts. But Aby likes dried. They like to stay up under The Sun... That's the big light... and get all dried and come back in the cool to get --undried. They are very cute but I don't understand them."

He wasn't sure she wasn't a crab. Because she looked like a crab. But he'd never known a crab to say anything. So maybe she was just using crab claws like crabs use anemones. That made him happy.

"I'm Keeper. I'm from the Deep. Are we friends?"

[im_a_hugger]

Given how at any given moment Entrapta had engine grease, soot, and various other things all over her skin and clothes, chances are she wouldn't smell or taste very good. But very little frightened her, and it was doubtful that Keeper would be one of the few things that did. Though yeah, she probably wouldn't let him eat her. Or at least not all of her; she might be willing to part with one of her limbs, given a compelling enough reason.

Scorpia's smile faltered and became a little sad at his question though. "No, she's not here," she said. "But if she does come through the mirror, I'll be sure and introduce you."

"Though wow you just described Entrapta there too!", she said. They had something in common! This was great! "I mean, I don't know what she thinks about being dry or wet, but the other part. I mean, I have no idea what most stuff she talked about means, but most of the time it makes her happy and excited, and she's really cute when she's that way."

And now he wanted to be friends? Best jelly-mer ever! "Yes! I'd love to be friends!" She moved to hug him, then stopped abruptly upon realizing something. "Um, is it OK if I hug you? I give really great hugs, but me hugging you won't pop your water bubble or anything will it? Cause that seems... kind of important."

[abys_keeper]

"I bet she's tasty." That's a compliment. He thought faintly of Aby coming through the mirror but then the hard sad went through him and he decided not to think about it.

"Yeah! They're really cute when they're excited and they like humans a lot! A lot of merpeople don't." He shrugged.

He grinned at the agreement then hesitated.

"What if I sting you on accident and your claw snips a bit of me off." He couldn't guarantee he wouldn't sting on accident. Hugs were kind of scary unless it was from Aby or Ratana...or a merling. But she was none of those things.

[im_a_hugger]

"Well, I don't know about that," Scorpia said. "Though if you ask, she might let you find out. She'd probably think it was fun." Entrapta liked to science everything, after all. She probably wouldn't want to pass up the chance to have data on what she tasted like.

She couldn't really speak for how the merpeople in her world felt about humans. True, Mermista was part of the Princess Alliance, so chances are she at least liked them well enough, but Scorpia had never really really spoken to many merpeople directly. Who knew how the general population felt?

The hug, though she could reassure him about. "Don't worry; that's what exoskeletons are for," she said, tapping a bit on her shoulder to demonstrate. "I've taken way worse than a few little stings with no problem. And I'll be sure to keep my pincers closed. Like I said, I'm great at hugs."

Before attempting the hug again though, she realized something. "Ooh! Hey, now that we're friends, we can be Super Stinging Buddies!" She turned a bit to one side so that he could get a better look at her tail and the stinger on the end of it. "See? I've got a stinger too! And you know, I've never met anyone else who could sting before?"

[abys_keeper]

He thought it was fun too! He hoped she came. He nodded about the exoskeleton, but the fact that she didn't mind the stings made him a bit nervous. Even more when she had a sting of her own. Maybe she couldn't poison him or anything, but maybe she could. Maybe she could tear his insides out with her barb. Nervous lights danced through him.

"Um... We can touch first." But not a hug. He didn't know about a hug. He didn't even want to touch but they were friends. So...

He pushed a hand out of his water bubble toward her. Though he looked blue in the bubble, his hand is translucent, lights glinting like sparks under his skin.

[im_a_hugger]

In all honesty? She probably could, if she were inclined to. She'd become a Force Captain for a reason after all, and it wasn't her good looks. But she'd never deliberately hurt someone she considered a friend, even if she'd only considered them such for a few minutes.

Scorpia looked mildly disappointed that he wouldn't allow the hug, but touching was still better than maintaining a ten foot radius at all times, so she nodded, extending one closed pincer to meet his hand. The surface of her pincer was hard, as was to be expected, but instead of being cold, was pleasantly warm to the touch. And though from even a small distance the surface looked smooth, Keeper would be able to feel the slight scuffs that came from daily use, as well as the minute ridges that indicated growth over time.

"Wow," she said quietly. "You're really soft. In a good way though! And your lights are really pretty; it's like you have stars inside you, almost. How do you do that?"