[OPEN LOG] Welcome to Cape Beryl!

[theharvestmods]

Who: Everyone!
When: Spring 2nd - all day.
Where: All across Cape Beryl.
What: You've splashed down into the Harvest Goddess's sacred pond, pulled yourself out - or perhaps been pulled out by an out-of-breath and soaking stranger, shaken off the worst of the shock of the cold and the unexpected trip underwater, and likely by now noticed that the little silver piece of jewelry that put you through this seems to have found its way around your neck.

Now you ought to get your bearings. Leave Goddess Grotto whenever you're ready, take the path out along a beach and up the cliffs to a village - see where you are, maybe if you can get directions. No matter what, you're going to realize that you're somewhere new - but maybe some of the Bower Village townspeople will be willing to help you get sorted out. If nothing else, maybe you'll be drawn into talking to anyone else you might catch sight of wandering the village, disoriented, soaked to the skin, and with a silver heart-shaped pendant around their neck. Depending on how you see it, you're not all alone - not any more than everyone else, anyway.

Headers for open interactions in example locations will be posted - but by all means, start threads wherever and with whoever you like!

Rating: Expected K-PG - subject to change as appropriate.



It's a cool, early spring day - the air and the breeze may not agree with anyone with wet clothes. But apart from that, the atmosphere is pleasant and peaceful; distant chirps of birds can be heard from the mouth of Goddess Grotto to Mt. Throne. The trees and grasses are pale green and flowers are budding in the meadows - not to mention the garden at Florist Lilia and de Sainte-Coquille Park.

And the town at the top of the cliffs is somewhat drowsily at peace. It's far from deserted - stabled behind a house on the town's east side is a healthy-looking mule, and a pair of chickens and a goat hang around in a pen behind an inn, the town's brightly-dressed mailwoman is out and about, as is the town watchman, who will likely be ready to approach anyone with an unfamiliar face before they can approach him, if he happens to catch them on his rounds. However, although anyone may freely knock on any of the doors in Bower Village and expect a polite "come in", no one is prepared for company, and whoever is inside might jump at finding themselves talking to a clearly displaced stranger!

Comments

[healium]

Dragging herself out of the water and wiping her hood off her face again, Jane squeezed water out of her hood before working on trying to squeeze it out of her clothing from her sitting position.

"It's no problem at all! I grew up flopping in pools whenever Dad would take me to one, so I can jokingly say I'm a fish out of water any other time. It's lovely to meet you, Lily, my name is Jane!"

Still, she can't help an apologetic smile at the second question.

"I'm afraid not. I don't really know where we are either, just that there's this lake and I came crawling out of it myself about twenty minutes ago. I've seen a few others come out as well and be just as bewildered as us."

[vintage_magic]

Lily was about to start wringing her dress out, too, but then noticed a bit of red mingled with the water clinging to her left hand. Dag nab it. The little X cut into her hand from the ritual, she hadn't bandaged it yet! She tried to surreptitiously do so now, pulling a handkerchief from a pocket and wringing it before winding it around her palm.

"Thanks, Jane," she said with a grateful smile. "Nice to meet you, too."

But at the unexpected answer, Lily turned back to the water with confusion.

"You mean some other folks fell in, too? But I didn't see anyone else at the Presidio." The woods had been deserted when she made her way to the pond and her spellcasting hadn't been disturbed.

[healium]

Noting the little bit of red already going to stain part of Lily's dress where she grabbed it, Jane goes fishing into her own pockets -- does she even have pockets on these silly godtier pajamas?? -- before finding a single pocket and pulling a handkerchief out as well. Lily beat her to it though with her own, tying it on her hand, so Jane settles for squeezing water out of hers.

"Yes, though I don't know where they came from. I know I certainly didn't come from a placed called.. Presidio, you said? I've been waiting to see if the person I was with before fell in too, but there hasn't been any sign of anyone I recognize."

[vintage_magic]

"The Presidio. It's a park in San Francisco. I was at a little pond in the woods there." If Jane hadn't been at the Presidio, that would help explain why she hadn't seen anyone else in the woods. But it also begged the question...

"Where did you come from then?" Was there a whole network of underground rivers running through California? "And you say there was someone else with you? Surely, they would have tried to pull you out..." She frowned at that last thought. Had Jane's companion abandoned her? Or had they been swept somewhere else?

[healium]

"San Francisco? Goodness, back in America even. Well, I was raised in Washington, a small town called Maple Valley. Where I just was recently though is a little more.. difficult to explain?"

Looking back at the pond with a thoughtful expression, Jane ends up sighing gently.

"I know if he saw me falling into a pond he'd come pull me out, but he's not here and I am. So I don't really.. know what could have happened. I do hope he's alright, either way."

[vintage_magic]

Washington? That was a good distance from California but still on the West Coast. And it sounded like she hadn't fallen into a pond there anyway. Still looking confused and a bit curious, she asked, "Difficult to explain? Were you out of the country?"

"Could he swim? Maybe, he went to get help if he couldn't find you right away." If Jane's experience had been like hers, she probably disappeared from view quickly.

[healium]

"Out of Earth entirely is probably the better explanation. Crazy long story, but in some form of space. Swimming and ponds weren't something we had seen in the last four months we had been stuck there."

Giving a simple hum in thought, Jane watched the water with an almost forlorn look.

"Maybe, or maybe he just didn't see. We weren't really... on speaking terms, not at the time."

[vintage_magic]

"As in outer space and astronauts and that kind of thing?"

She couldn't help turning to Jane and staring a bit at this strange story. The wet clothes and the sting of the cut in her hand felt real enough but maybe this was actually a dream. The sometimes illogical nature of dreams was one of the few ways Lily could think of to account for all this weirdness.

"Oh. Did you have a fight? I'm sorry."

She thought back to her own recent arguments with her friends, them wanting her to back off during the Malachi Zazi case and her refusal because she wanted to protect them.

"I got into a big argument with my friends a while back but we made up. I'm sure you'll have a chance too after you get back." She tried to sound reassuring even if she had little idea yet of how they were going to accomplish that.

[healium]

"Somewhat! It was ... We were sucked into a game we were playing, and it made planets based on what our classes were. We were able to get from place to place with the use of transporter windows, but it was still its own little universe of sorts."

Explaining further at that stare, Jane couldn't help a sheepish sort of smile, lowering her eyes to the ground.

"Oh, uh, somewhat, it was more like a disagreement that escalated into the realm of stupid. Thank you though, it.. it's reassuring to hear that at least someone has faith."

[vintage_magic]

And although she tried to stop herself, Lily couldn't help gaping a bit at this story.

"Sucked into a game? You mean something like a computer game?" she asked a tad bewildered. "How did that happen?"

As if Lily weren't already wary enough about technology, here was another reason to be! She'd always been a bit worried that some supernatural entity might take the opportunity to jump into a computer...

[healium]

"Yes, exactly like that! It took a chunk of our world each time, whatever our house was around. I'm not particularly sure how it happened, but my friends Roxy and Dirk might know more. They're the ones who sent myself and Jake our copies."

At least it didn't sound like she didn't believe her.