Eternal Summer

[polymods]

✖ The Isle That Blooms

Ⅰ. ALWAYS BLOOMING, NEVER HARVEST
July flowers bring, well, August flowers.

Another month has come and gone, and you may have noticed things haven’t changed much. Everything is still beautiful. There are still no signs of babies or prepubescent children or young animals.

In fact, if you’re paying close enough attention, you may have noticed there are no fruits or grains or vegetables that have come from the constant riot of color and pollen. Only flowers, always flowers.

You still have access to the city’s temple and the baths. The High Temple’s doors are open to everyone.

Some of you may still be dealing with the unpleasant side effects of the Ancient’s now dead and gone Flower Oracle, but it should wind down before the end of the month. Or maybe you already faced your demons.

Hiding out in the Temples for the rest of the month is always an option, but be careful not to get too stagnant. It would be a shame if your ScryWatch stays stuck on the same color forever because you, too, decided to stop growing.

---

Ⅱ. FLOWER MARKET FESTIVAL
CW: Optional Alcohol/Drug Consumption.
You didn’t think the celebrations would be over just because the Flower Oracle came and went, did you? There’s always a new event, a new thing to do, a new way to make some benefit off the Travelers who pass in and out of the Isle looking to take something away from this place.

This month it’s the Flower Market!

During the days, stalls bloom beneath the elevated buildings and in the empty center where the Flower Oracle once stood. There are flowers, of course, in buckets, arrangements, wreaths, crowns, growing in tiny little pots, made into cakes, salsas, and snacks! Artists will find pigments, paints, inks, dyes, and papers. There are perfumes, lotions, oils, soaps, and more. Spices and herbs are abundant; you’ve certainly never seen saffron this cheap. If you haven’t gotten enough tie-dye from the temple, you’ll find beautiful batik clothing, purses, and even jewelry. Everything is bright, everything is for sale.

At night, the stalls are all folded away and instruments come out. Little stalls sell flowery alcoholic drinks and did you know or remember that cannabis is a flowering plant? The locals certainly remembered to make the edibles. Careful, though, drink or imbibe and you’ll find yourself talking about the things you need that you cannot buy. The things you are aching for.

And you won’t stop until someone acknowledges it.

Notes:
1. If you want it and it’s made of flowers, it’s here. No drugs or alcohol during daylight hours.

2. The Temple gives a small amount of spending money daily. Save up and get fancy, or buy a little bit of everything.

3. There is a tiny group of unknown Travelers that show up for the market. They don’t seem to have access to the same network as PCs, but their watches flash green, blue, or purple. They seem to be avoiding PC Travelers and disappear into parts of the Temples that don’t seem to be open to our group yet whenever they get too close.

---

Ⅲ. POISON GARDEN
CW: Poisons, narcotics, ect.
As you wander the now familiar village, you will notice a new pathway has opened at the edge of the village. It leads to an area with a high stone fence and a heavy gate. A skull and crossbones are painted on the gate in bright white paint, but there’s nothing actually stopping you from opening the gate and walking in.

The garden is beautiful, but surprisingly formal after the chaotic abundance of the rest of the Isle. The paths are wide and there’s space between the plants. Each one is meticulously labeled with a stake in the ground.

Do you read the labels? How long does it take you to realize everything in the garden is toxic or poisonous? There are so many options from hemlock and oleander to aconitum and angel’s trumpet and beyond.

Welcome to a study on how not everything that's natural is good for you as you continue to wander the fractal paths. Of course, not everything that's poisonous has no purpose. By the opium poppies there’s a sign that tells you that you can choose to wander the deadly garden until it kills you or you can own up to a toxic habit or behavior that you need to deal with.

Notes:
1. In theory, a character could wander forever without touching or consuming any of the poisons. For plot/fun reasons, feel free to make it a little more difficult. And remember, some of your characters can be poisoned to death.

2. Acknowledging bad habits or a need for change in an honest way is very likely to result in a shift in a ScryWatch color. Remember, the Ancient is looking for growth and improvement, not moral perfection.

3. Characters can collect poisonous or medicinal plants but will be at risk while doing so.

---

Ⅳ. FLOWERY FIELDS FOREVER
Maybe you need to get away from the fuss at the market or just want to stretch your legs, but it’s time to explore the flowering landscape around the village. The villagers have baskets waiting at each of the outbound trails with the request that you come back with the basket full in trade for the picnic lunch they provide.

Wander the rolling hills and you’ll find a surprising amount of wildlife for an island without offspring. There are hummingbirds the size of chihuahuas, tiny pollinating bats, nectar eating possums, giant stingless bees, and more butterflies than you can shake a stick at. All of them seem entirely unafraid of humans despite being wild animals. If you get bitten or pecked, it’s your own fault.

As you fill your basket, you’ll notice patterns in what blooms. All kinds of plants bloom outside of reason and season and traditional need because the land is trying to talk to you through flowers. What did you need to hear? The villagers can help you translate when you come back from your adventure.

Notes:
1. The giant orchid mantises are still there! Thank Gideon and Harrow for negotiating a truce, so they probably won’t eat you. A mantis might even have a conversation with you if you ask nicely, (Quentin managed somehow,) and they have their own knowledge and worship of the Ancient.

2. Feel free to use any reference for plant/flower meaning. Here’s one to get started!

3. Don’t get too attached to any of the critters, they will stay here at the end of the month.

Bonus: music to watch the flowers bloom to.

Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

Comments

iv

[unkindled_madness]

[Animals are easier to fend off than people, but Sephiroth doesn't have much enthusiasm for them. He doesn't take them for company, and he'd certainly never think to tell them stories.

But he catches the sound of Thor's voice, saying something about Midgard, and even though he knows that from him that's just another word for Earth, his first association is still home. Absurd as it is, he stops to listen.]

A ridiculous tale indeed. Horses aren't even--

[He stops himself.]

...are horses real on Asgard?

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

Sephiroth! [Thor stands, brushes himself off, and closes the gap between he and the other man, extending a hand in greeting.] It is good to see you.

And yes, of course we have horses. The Valkyrie also have—had—flying horses called Pegususes. Pegususi? Whatever the plural is of the word. Ours, however, can have eight legs as opposed to Midgard's only having four. Ah, my father had a noble, eight-legged steed named Sleipnir. He was the quickest horse in all of the Nine Realms.

Personally, I always wanted a Pegasus.

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth glances at the hand, but doesn't take it. He tolerated some handshakes in a professional setting but why bother now?]

...I see.

I believe our myths do originate with Odin, but they're always described with six legs...

Is eight legs and wings not excessive?

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

[Thor shrugs slightly while retreating his hand. No offense taken.]

Of course it is, but he is the All-Father. He is—was—deserving of excess, being as powerful as he was. Sleipnir was the fastest horse in all the realms.

[unkindled_madness]

There is something to be said for efficiency. [Do all the legs make it go faster?? Two seems to work perfectly well for chocobos.]

What, exactly, is an "All-Father"?

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

It's what it sounds like. He is—was—the most powerful being in all of the Nine Realms. But it came at a cost of needing to hibernate for immensely long periods of time. It was appropriately called Odinsleep.

Not exactly original or anything, but also efficient in telling someone what it was.

It was a term that the Vikings gave to him as their supreme god.

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth seems skeptical, almost disgusted, by the explanation.]

To call someone "father" is hardly how I would denote supreme power. But, I've never had much reverence for gods. [Even less for fathers.]

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

That's okay. There are not too many who remember us now anyway. The descendants of the Vikings do still tell our tales on occasion, but they no longer have the reverence, either. In my younger days, I reveled in the feeling, but as I've aged, I find it less and less important.

[unkindled_madness]

Did you lose interest in the people who worshipped you?

Our gods come to no one's aid of their own accord. Perhaps prayers and offerings are of no more importance to them.

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

Gods are fickle beings, I will admit. I can't speak to your gods, but I know how Asgardians are, at least.

No, I didn't tire of it, but I was also young and foolish back then. I thought I deserved all of that praise. That I'd earned it simply because I existed. It's a selfish way to think.

[unkindled_madness]

Indeed. Respect is earned through action. And lost, it seems, through inaction.

[He may be criticising, but he isn't complaining. If gods answered requests, it would have worked out poorly for him.]

...would you call Loki fickle?

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

Yes. I didn't understand that when I was younger.

[Thor snorts, loudly.] You've met him, haven't you?

[unkindled_madness]

...yes, I've met him. [Sephiroth frowns. As if spending a moment with him should have answered that for him?] I shouldn't have asked. I can form my own opinion.

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

No, no. I don't mind you asking. It was more a facetious question than anything.

Yes, he's incredibly fickle. On all sorts of things. He was angry over the fact that I was to inherit the throne of Asgard and then tried to take over Midgard. A high degree of fickleness.

[unkindled_madness]

Do you define it as such because he doesn't care for Earth? [Sephiroth shakes his head.] That sounds to me more like jealousy.