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Eternal Summer
✖ 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.
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.
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.
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.
Bonus: music to watch the flowers bloom to.
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.
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.
no subject
"How about I trick some poor sap into buying us both a round?"
no subject
Which he's done for drinks before. What? It's useful.
no subject
"No promises."
no subject
no subject
"They may be few, but I do have some scruples. I only take strangers to bed after a few drinks. ...Well, usually. That time in Crestwood doesn't count. I was only hiding out."
no subject
"I tend to not let friends talk me into bed. Anymore."
no subject
"I know how touchy you lot tend to be about sex, outside the Circle."
no subject
"First, I don't know what the Circle is. Second, what do you mean 'you lot'? And third, it's more that I've learned that I'm a bit of a train wreck and bad shit happens to people i sleep with. I know it's probably not my fault, but really, I think I might be cursed."
Could Loki curse people? Had the guy cursed him for not returning affections back home? Not this Loki of course, not the one here.
no subject
He may be personally offended, on that count.
"Mages get a bad enough rap, already. We don't need the help."
no subject
INcluding stripping him of his powers, and being used to create the world itself.
"Magic may not be uniform. Trust me, I've known plenty. But that doesn't mean that mages in your world deserve a bad rap. Unless... do you guys do bad things? Or do people just assume they do bad things? Because people are horrible."
no subject
"I mean, the Chantry says mages are inherently dangerous, but I once saw a dwarf kill a man in a bar brawl with nothing but a wooden spoon, and no one's advocating for locking them all up."
no subject
Maybe he was a bit more touchy than other people were about it.
"There are religious orders that wanted to see men like me dead."
no subject
And, well, yes, maybe some parts of it are more than a bit objectionable - but the bits Anders openly disagrees with are not so many that he'd stop calling himself an Andrastian altogether. Or defending at least as many ideals as he condemns.
"Why you, though? You're not a mage and you're clearly not an elf, so what's their problem?"
no subject
But the question the man had made him... sigh. There was so much that he didn't really know how to explain.
"I'm not fully human. I'm a mutant. I'm genetically different."
no subject
Anders, once again, appears skeptical.
"That's a bit harsh. You look perfectly normal, to me."
no subject
"I'm told I look better than normal. No, my mutant ability doesn't affect my appearance. I have a mental ability. You can no more see my gift at first glance than I can see yours. They still hate me for it."
no subject
"So it's really no different to being a mage. You're born with some ability, other people hate you for it, blah blah blah, the whole world's out to get you when all you really want is just to get by."
no subject
no subject
"Mages aren't even allowed to entertain the thought of having their own children. Starting families, getting married - forget about it. We're expected to live our lives in quiet, unexceptional servitude, never wanting for more."
no subject
"You're slaves. Fuck. I... Fucking hell what the fuck is wrong with..."
He shakes his head and steps a bit further past the collector of flowers and baskets as he tries to catch his breath.
"In the world I'm from, people that look like me, with dark skin? We were captured and sold into slavery. My ancestors had to live through that and it was a long time for us to gain true freedom. But we still aren't massively equal. I'm sorry, because all I can think when I think about the legacy of my people, is that it's going to be a long, very painful process to reach for what you deserve."
no subject
It doesn't take long for the look to dissipate, however, with that explanation, if some of the confusion does remain.
"I suppose I can think of stupider reasons to put someone in chains their whole life, but I'd be hard pressed." A part of him still feels as if that, at least, must be some sort of joke - but even if he doesn't know David particularly well, he doubts it far more. Which only inspires him to leap back to lightly sarcastic levity, again.
"Lucky for me I'll be long dead before I'm ever called upon to take part in such an arduous task, eh? Getting myself out of the Circle without it turning into a complete disaster every time was hard enough."
no subject
"I hope you're not. I hope your people get to see things better. I know that mutants like me, humans born with impossible powers, we're pretty persecuted too. So I know what it's like to try and fight to be seen as even equal."
no subject
no subject
"I've seen pigs fly. So maybe anything is."