• Ever thought it'd be cool to have your art, writing, or challenge runs featured on PokéCommunity? Click here for info - we'd love to spotlight your work!
  • Our weekly protagonist poll is now up! Vote for your favorite Trading Card Game 2 protagonist in the poll by clicking here.
  • Welcome to PokéCommunity! Register now and join one of the best fan communities on the 'net to talk Pokémon and more! We are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company or Nintendo.
    Register

[Other FULL] Of Mice & Magic [T][IC]

Ice1

[img]http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-xy/icon/712.pn
    • 3,447
    Posts
    10
    Years
    • Seen Nov 23, 2023



    Some say it's hidden on the last grain of sand that falls through the hourglass. Some say it's hidden eternally in the folds between today and yesterday. Others say it's not even hidden at all, just scattered throughout the never-ending, endlessly stretching everywhere, and we're just not good enough at seeing it yet. What matters, however, is not that where it is hidden, it is that we found it. Welcome yourself as you slip through the bars of garden gate, and enter

    Chiriweat's Castle​

    The Castle!​

    Admire the magical castle of Chiriweat, as it towers over you, and stretches out so far it's hard to believe it ever ends. The gardens are filled with an uncountable variety of trees, flowers and animals. The faint sound of hooves as horses gallop in the distance stands in stark contrast to the tapping sounds of spiders scurrying over the floors. Looking up, the blue sky is decorated with the graceful moon hanging amidst, as what seem to be bright stars flurry and scutter throughout the sky, dressing every stone and every plant in bright light. It is here that countless of wonders come from. Most importantly is what's hidden in the inner sanctum of the castle: The Key of Ages.

    The Key of Ages​

    Many an adventurer has coveted the Key of Ages, to break the lock on the Door of Tomorrow, and unlock its many secrets. The castle's peculiar properties have stopped every adventures, no matter if they were a thief, a knight or a dreamer, so far, making it's legend even grander. Even now, a very odd group of adventures stand before the castle gates, ready to take on Chiriweat's Castle.

    You​
    A grasp that used to be strong, has since weakened. Time is losing it's grip on the realm of mice. Days get taken from some, and given to others. Sometimes everyone loses an hour, and sometimes lonesome mice might have to redo their latest one. No corner of the realm goes unaffected, and the great mice-minds have been trying to solve their world's chronal disorder for ages now. Six brave little mice have banded together, set on solving the clock's issues and making time tick again with the help of the Key of Ages. Each with their own particular skills, and own story, they have come to save their homes. Hidden between the long blades of grass, obscured by the shadow of an overly ripe pumpkin, stand a wizard, a knight, a ranger, a druid, a rogue, and a healer.

    The Realm Of Mice​

    Nobody is quite sure how big it is, as over every mountain range you travel, there's rumours about what lies over the peaks of the next one. The Realm of Mice is unknowingly big, always a yonder to explore. The size has given it some unique features, allowing for endless habits and rituals to pop up. Some towns are brick and mortar, with fine tile roofing, where the knights wield swords, and the rangers wield bows. Walk far enough though, and undoubtedly you'll encounter a town where the knights wield needles, and live in lost bowler hats. Where those come from, nobody knows. The realm of mice knows no humans, only strangely enough their marks on the world. Other animals do exist, in all varieties. Some are just like regular animals, just to scale with the mice. Farmers can have sheep, hunted by wolves that dwell through the forests. However, sometimes big animals show up. Legends of a crow big enough to carry off entire houses still linger as bedside stories. And it's not just animals, the city of Rosebury for example, has a giant rose in it's center, called the Heart's Flower.


    Gameplay​
    In this RP, six players will be the brave mice willing to explore Chiriweat's Castle, in search of the Key of Ages. How this is done is very much up to the players. Exploring can be done as a constant party, individually, or in any other possible combination, really. The lay-out of the castle will become clear through exploration, and given in GM-posts, with a list of the dangers each room can pose. The stakes come from the players themselves. If a room has a mice trap hiding some delicious cheddar, it's up to the player exploring if they want to interact with that trap. The castle is to human scale, as are all elements present, so a small broom closet suddenly becomes quite the room to explore.

    The total party composition is set already, as mentioned above: a wizard, a knight, a ranger, a druid, a rogue, and a healer. What these names incorporate is entirely up to the players themselves, though. In some villages, knights might not be armorclad heroes, but rather club-swinging barbarians dressed in fur. The druid might not be a sorcerer calling to animals for help, instead commanding vines and weeds to overgrow and attack. Keep in mind certain limits do exist, with scale being an important one. The mice are still only a few inches tall, so a mouse druid transforming into a multiple feet tall polar bear should be a no go. Bearing the same logic, they shouldn't ride horses. Not even a shetland.


    Player-list​

    Ice as God
    engineer as Cronald Ripipip, the Wizard
    Godzil as Sir Ben Junkheap, the Knight
    PastelPhoenix as Artean Bellepetal, the Ranger
    Winter as Yvanna of Whisker Wood, the Druid
    Afterglow Ampharos as Eleanor Bennett, the Healer

    Rules​

    • GM word is law
    • All RPT rules apply
    • Do not god mod and do not bunny without permission – if you don't know what these terms mean refer to RPT rules.
    • Be respectful in the OOC at all times
    • This roleplay is rated T, meaning certain mature themes are toned down. There's no excessive violence or gore and no sexual content.
    • Try to get a post in at least every two weeks.
    • Because of the limited amount of spots (6), SUs will be judged on how well they'll fit the setting and creativity, allowing one from each class.


    ​
     
    Last edited:
    Cronald Ripipip - the Wizard

    "What... What the kitty is this?"

    Cron leaned on his staff and smiled. The area around him was completely incomprehensible. That didn't bother him, of course. Mysterious, strange things intrigued him. He was, after all, a master of the arcane arts. Or so he usually called himself, while his old teachers would rather call him an "insane prodigy rascal".

    He thought he heard the faint sound of hooves galloping in the distance... But he really couldn't tell from which direction it came. Very strange - it tickled his curiosity. The castle lay in front of him, he only needed to pass through the garden to reach its fabled gates. Wait... wasn't he supposed to have a party with him? Where did the others go?

    Speaking of going and coming, he suddenly realized that he had no idea how he had gotten there himself. Turning around, he was met with a black, foggy wall of nothingness. His memory of what he had been doing just prior to viewing this scene around him, was gone. Wiped. Oh well. Maybe he would realize that eventually.
    ​
     



    The Castle Yard

    Some time ago

    Pierre covered his eyes as the rising sun lit up the bench he was laying on. Birds fluttered round, their tweeting going completely unappreciated. Pierre suffered from morning mood. Usually it came in bursts of hatred for the world, utter despise for anyone around him, and an urgent need to snatch up Nerves and gobble him up whole. He hoped the awful thing would leave him alone for today, so he could waste hours laying in his own filth, and deciding which bird he'd eat if he were to actually move. Today, sadly, the awful thing would not leave him alone. Nerves landed upon the armrest of the bench. His colourful feathers annoyed Pierre to his core. Pierre hated parrots, and Pierre hated Nerves. The fact that Nerves was a parrot created a vile feedback loop that Pierre cherished dearly. He liked to despise, in fact, it was his favorite past time.

    "Isn't it time to get up?" Nerves asked. He knew it was, and he knew Pierre didn't want to.

    "It is, but caring never was my strong suit."

    "No, indeed, it seems to me your only strong suit is licking yourself clean after you let the filth collect for too long. But, I digress, not everyone can be perfect." As soon as the perfect left his beak, he started grooming his wings. It was compulsory for the bird.

    "You got some dirt there," Pierre said as he lunged his paw. Nerves jumped aside. "Oh sorry, I guess that's just your face." Pierre grinned.

    "She's back," Nerves said.

    "Who?"

    "Who else, you hack brain! Look at this!" Nerves dropped some gravel from his claws. Pierre sighed.

    "I'll get on it, just make sure she can't slither away this time." Begrudgingly, the cat jumped down, leaving deep paw prints onto the dirt path.

    ​
     
    Last edited:
    Artean Bellepetal
    Ranger Extraordinaire

    Artean and Billas had been wandering the land for what had seemed like weeks. He had set off from his village early, wanting to be at the castle well before any of the other mice showed up to get some early scouting done, but now he just seemed hopelessly lost. For what he heard was a massive castle, no one in any of the villages he visited seemed to actually know where the entrance to Chiriweat's was.

    Some had said it was just over the forested hill about ten miles east, but all he found there were a few bear cubs and a very upset mama. A wise man in another village said you could only enter it while dreaming under the star light, but all Artean found was an itchy bug bite when he woke up. Yet another person told him that you had to go into the wilderness and make 50 one legged hops backwards while your eyes were closed. That one only made Artean feel a little silly, aware that he missed the sarcasm in the man's voice.

    At this point he was ready to give up, the only thing pushing him forward being his pride and the looks the villagers would likely give him. Almost ready to call it a day already, he called over Billas (who was currently having a few wild flowers as a light snack) and swore that this upcoming hill would be his last for the day.

    Picking up the pace so that he could finally call it a day, he practically ran up it's steep slope and spotted a monolith just before him. The castle that suddenly appeared before his eyes was massive, and there was no way he missed it on the way over. Chalking it up to exhaustion, he rubbed his eyes before confirming what he saw was indeed real. Hurrying towards the massive garden gates, he poked his head in and took in the sights of flowers the size of him, and other plants that dwarfed him. Caught in his excitement, he forgot to even check if he was actually the first one there.​
     
    Last edited:
    Xerea Almoor
    "The Great Thief"

    Her heart was racing, and the adrenaline was pumping through her veins. Xerea's target lay under a tree, while the guard had dozed off. She had meaning to get that jewelry box that some rat was guarding. "At last," she exclaimed, fairly loudly. She bounded forward dramatically, and made herself poised to steal the box with a triumphant smirk on her face.


    Unfortunately, her narrative and the noise of her entrance stirred the guard and while nabbing the treasure box, the taller and stronger rat followed suit. Cursing, Xerea pulled a smoke bomb from her cloak, but before that could happen, her pursuer tackled her and they both ended up in a ditch.


    After falling through a hole in a ditch that the rat had tackled her in, she struggled against the stronger rat before looking up and seeing that they were nowhere near the ditch they had just fell through. Instead they were outside some castle, and in shock, she exclaimed, "What the hell? What is this? Is this...some sort of dream?" Her eyes were wide and her expression trying to process how she found such a glamorous castle.
     
    [PokeCommunity.com] Of Mice & Magic [T][IC]

    Sir Ben of Junkheap
    ​
    ​


    After a long and arduous quest, Sir Ben had emerged victorious! He had successfully recovered the pilfered jewelry box from the dreaded dungeon of "Pawn Shop", and would return it to its rightful owner! Surely, fame and glory were to be his this day! Now, he had but to make the journey back to the fair maiden's cottage, on the outskirts of town. The next town over, that is. Quite a ways down the road...

    His wallet was lighter but his heart was filled with accomplishment as he set off toward his goal. But the sun was hot, and his armor was heavy. Though he was sworn to return this box, surely the owner could stand to wait a few hours more, until Sir Ben had rested? A nearby tree looked like the perfect place to wait, and a cool breeze comforted him as he let himself rest.

    "At last!" A voice cried out, and someone leapt forward, rousing Sir Ben with their shouting and scurrying.

    "Ah! What!?" He jumped to his feet looking around in panic as the perpetrator snatched up his precious box. "Stop, Thief! Unhand that treasure at once!"

    The little mouse cursed, pulling an explosive device from her cloak. Before she could use it, Sir Ben valiantly leapt forward, throwing his weight into the thief and sending them both tumbling into a ditch. Rather than landing in the mud, Sir Ben found himself falling through the air for a moment, grappling with the thief. He hit the ground rather suddenly, the smaller mouse atop him as she struggled.

    She stopped fighting him to look around in shock. "What the hell? What is this? Is this...some sort of dream?"

    Sir Ben looked away for a moment to follow her gaze, before doing a double take and openly staring at the castle before him. "Great Gouda!" He exclaimed, letting go of the thief as he rose to his feet. "If this be a dream, then it is one we share, little thief! But this cannot be! This magnificent structure... appears to be the fabled Castle of Chiriwheat!"

    He pulled the thief close, grinning in awe. "I had heard stories, but never dared to dream I would find myself before her gates! Inside lay challenges of both skill and strength, geometry that would boggle the mind, treasures beyond reckoning!" He let her go, fighting to hold back tears of joy. "A real quest at last!"
    ​
     


    [PokeCommunity.com] Of Mice & Magic [T][IC]

    Music: Seclusion

    Eleanor can't recall which she laid eyes on first: the gate, or the castle beyond. The former is of course, first; standing guard far, far ahead of the castle itself. But the castle... The castle is of such size that Eleanor finds it hard to believe such a monument isn't visible from Burl, Thistledown, Haaveland, and beyond.

    Approaching the gate from the outside, she places a forepaw against one of the bars of the enormous gate, and peers through its slats at the castle beyond. As her eyes travel up the stone walls to the tallest tower, she feels an ache in her aging neck. It's measurably tall... And, as she looks from left to right, she cannot see the ends of the castle. Does it stretch on indefinitely, like a border wall?

    It takes some time, but she pulls her attention back from the castle to the gate, running her paw against the metal. "Must be used to keep out beasts larger than us..." she says to herself. The spaces between the bars would be no challenge at all for a mouse. It makes her wonder who the castle wishes to keep at bay. She steps through the bars with ease, then turns, away from the feat of construction, looking through the gate from its other side. There's much less to admire in this direction -- she would know, having hiked long and hard to get here.

    Then, before her eyes, the path she had traveled begins to vanish. "What..." She steps back from the gate in caution, watching the countryside disintegrate, leaving nothing behind. Blackness replaces the expanse of land. A void? Eleanor steps back again, afraid the encroaching void would swallow up the earth below her paws. But it seems to stop at the fence, and the gate she just passed through. After a moment more of cautious watching, she sets her paw on the metal bar again, leaning forward to peer into the new void. She can see nothing but darkness, save for loose dirt and rocks floating about.

    "Suppose I won't be hiking back."

    But the sky remains as it was before, at least. The moon overhead catches her eye. How long had she been walking? She dips and shakes her head -- it's pointless to even question. The passage of time has become much too corrupt to use as any form of measurement.

    By that very same note, though, she wonders if anyone else will arrive in a timely fashion. It could be that she arrived far, far before anyone else will, simply due to a lucky break in slipping through the stream of seemingly random temporal shifts.

    She does believe there will be others, of course. The elders and strategists of many of the major mouse colonies and cities had decided that Chiriweat must be breached if life were to continue as normal, and sent out a call that any mouse brave enough should take up this challenge as a matter of duty for the greater good -- and indeed, the betterment of their own lives as well as others'.

    Perhaps she should set up camp. Yes, that seems like a fine idea. Right here in front of the gate.

    ...

    The mouse stokes her campfire, knelt in front of the gentle flame. "Hm. Odd..." she muses to herself, looking up from the fire to the basic little camp she's set up. She barely remembers collecting wood or making the fire and the camp. Just fleeting bits and pieces, as if fast-forwarded. Her face turns back to the fire, head shaking gently. "This time nonsense is getting worse..." Harmless this time, but what about the next? What if something important is all but skipped, or drawn out to a crawl?

    But she's here now, and anyone seeking the gate should find her little campfire as well. A heroic party is nothing without their healer, hm? Or, perhaps more aptly, a healer like her is not much use without fellow mice.


    ​
     
    Last edited:
    Cronald Ripipip - the Wizard

    Not too many minutes were spent waiting around for other adventurous mice to appear. Ripipip was soon on the move. Suddenly, he almost stumbled and was only saved through using his staff as support. The dirt beneath him was uneven. Large tracks... Much larger than his own, sandals or not.

    "I see I'm not alone," he mumbled eagerly to himself.

    Deeply bent down towards the traces of company, he sped up through the castle's garden. As he got closer to the castle's doors however, the tracks diverted from where he had somehow assumed they would lead. Seems like he had to choose. Walk up and actually do what he supposedly came for, or find out who or what else could have been here recently - and might still be.
    ​
     
    Yvanna of Whisker Woods

    The druid circled the perimeter of the castle, the place that held the Key to undoing all of Time's problems. The walls were high and smooth, it was hugely impossible to climb it. Unless there were vines.

    Yvanna closed her eyes and reached deep into the earth, listening....listening.... That was strange. Waves of silence ebbed, not a ripple of life to be felt. It was as if Nature was dormant, or that it would not respond to her call. She could not hear its voice, its song, the humming of Life and every rustle of a leaf and every creak of a branch. It was a murky pool of absence in the soil. She placed a palm on the cold stone of the castle walls and the same void greeted her. Whatever was present was of something she could not fathom, a higher level transcending nature.

    She followed the perimeter down, since the only way in was by the front gates. And that was probably why the closer she got to the gate...the buzzing at the back of her cranium grew. There were people.​
     
    Artean Bellepetal
    Ranger Extraordinaire

    It wasn't after checking the first flower that Artean realized he actually had a mission at the castle that didn't involve checking how well the inhabitants maintained their garden, and it wasn't the second flower either. The doubt probably formed in his mind after he looked over the third flower, and by the fourth he had remembered he was supposed to meet up with some others. Still, maybe a fifth inspection wouldn't hurt.

    A few minutes later he reluctantly tore himself away from the strange plants and hurried down the path, following a smoke trail in the near distance. He made it roughly halfway there before something else caught his mind, very large paw prints in the malleable earth. Squeaking with delight at how large this specimen must be, he set to work trying to identify what he could gleam from the prints.

    They had a vague familiarity, but he could not place the animal that made these at all. More worryingly, it seemed based off the deepness of the impression and the distance between individual steps that the animal either had massive legs, or was running somewhere in a real hurry. Now too curious of the footprints to even think about the others, he began to follow them.
    ​
     
    Last edited:



    The Castle Yard

    Some time ago

    The castle yard was incredibly, incredibly, unimaginably big. Pierre slowly paced alongside the fence, that seemed to continue endlessly, and knowing this place, probably did. Nerves circled above.

    "See anyth-"

    "No."

    Pierre sighed. "You can at least let me f-"

    "Finish your sentences? I would if you're laziness wasn't so apparent it even affected your talking."

    Pierre hated Nerves. This could not be repeated enough. The bird quickly dove down, landing on right in front of the cat.

    "Careful now," Pierre said. "I'm a predator, you know that."

    "I'm a little less worried about the fat cat and more about the monster turning everyone to stone," The parrot sneered.

    Pierre readied himself, his hair right up. "You saw her?"

    "No, no, I saw Speter."

    Pierre raised an eyebrow.

    "Just take a look," Nerves said.

    Pierre parted the bushes with his paw, and was greeted by Speter waving. His whole lower body was turned to stone.

    "Hey Pierre, hey Nerves," he said.

    "Peter, what happened?" Pierre asked the sloth.

    "Well, uhm, I saw that snake a couple of days ago, you know. And since then I've been having trouble moving mostly." He laughed, in low-pitched breathes.

    "You're turning to stone," Nerves stated.

    "Always so observant," Speter laughed.

    "Good to see you're still the same old you even when you're in this predicament," Pierre said. He couldn't help to feel sorry for the sloth.
    "I thought it was instant?" The cat hushed to Nerves.

    "It is, it is," Nerves whispered back.

    "But?"

    "But Spete is a sloth. Everything just works a bit slower."

    ​
     
    Last edited:
    Cronald Ripipip - the Wizard

    The castle door was huge. Not just huge as in how Cron sometimes looked next to less well grown mice, but huge as in enormous. Gigantic. Way to high to be opened by a normal mouse. Luckily, Cron was not a normal mouse, but a wizard mouse. He could probably teleport inside somehow or whisk the door open with his telekinetic powers. Chances were that he would slam the insanely large piece of wood down on his own body though, or teleport inside of the door itself since he couldn't see nor sense how thick it was. Eh.

    A noise made him spin around. Cron watched a small black mouse approach, clearly very invested in examining and following the same tracks as Cron just had. The wizard was wondering if the newcomer would run straight into him if he didn't speak up. Actually, that would have been pretty funny to see. But he took the polite route and announced his presence before that had a real risk of happening.

    "Hey," he simply called out to the ranger, waving with a grin.
    ​
     
    Artean Bellepetal
    Ranger Extraordinaire​


    The voice in front of him suddenly broke Artean out of his trance like state, nearly falling over from the shock. Somewhere behind him, the short bursts of buzzes from Billas that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Surveying his surroundings, the voice sounded like it came from the larger (although few mice were smaller than Artean himself), gray mouse in front of him. It was unlikely that this other mouse was the source of the paw prints, but Artean snuck a peek at the stranger's sandals just in case.

    "So," Artean began, trying to regain some confidence in his social skills, "Are you one of the mice I'm supposed to meet with? My name's Artean, by the way, but I don't know if you were told of any of our names. I wasn't. Have you met the others? There's that fire back there, where they may be, but if you're here you probably didn't start that. Unless you did an just abandoned it, which is pretty dangerous. Fire safety and all that, bad for the forest."

    Great first impression, He thought after his little spiel of verbal vomit that he just let loose on some stranger. Just go ahead and let everyone know you have no social skills. Start off with a little "my name is Artean, I like plants more than fellow mice."

    Finally looking up from his paws, he noticed that he was right next to the castle gates now also, gates that now seem pretty locked up. Risking one more stupid statement, he posed one more question.

    "Figure out a way to open that yet?"​
     
    Last edited:
    Cronald Ripipip - the Wizard

    Cron just watched the little mouse as it talked quickly, not giving any space for him to respond for a whole minute. His smile grew with every word from the other mouse though, and when it finally stopped its rant, the grey wizard was practically laughing. Joyfully so, which he hoped the other man understood.

    "I like you!" Cronald decided to say, and heartily dunked the ranger on the back with his paw. A bit too hard, perhaps, but he hoped the other mouse would understand that he didn't mean any harm by that either.

    "Let's see. Something tells me that otherworldly large piece of possibly wood that is supposedly meant to be a door, will not be easily opened by us, little Artrean. What a mouthful. Mind if I call you Arty?" Without waiting for 'Arty' to reply, he continued, "I have not seen any fire, by the way! But I don't really know where I am. Or how I got here. Maybe the others know? Or maybe you do, little Arty? Shall we walk together back to them and see if they're any decent people with decent information?"
    ​
     
    Xerea Almoor and Sir Ben of Junkheap
    Of Thieves and Honor

    After shaking off her initial shock at where she was, and hearing the knight talk about where they were, Xerea exclaimed loudly, "The Castle of Chiriweat?!" She dashed to where the knight had been and added, "Do you know what this means? Treasure! Glamour! A worthy place of the Great Thief of Segeir!"

    Sir Ben gasped in shock, affronted at the thief's bold claim. "Think you only of yourself, and of material gain? Before us stands history itself! A legendary castle, long lost to the world, and you seek only to plunder it? What of the honor and glory that await us? Why, within this castle we may find a cure to the temporal woes that beset our fair land! Whoever finds that knowledge would be a hero for the ages!"

    Xerea rubbed her chin at the thought, "A hero you say? Alas, what's a hero to the glory that the Almoor name carries throughout the land? Epic adventures! One step ahead of the law!" She grinned widely, almost like a child looking to impress her peers. Luckily, her monologues and spiels were confined to only her house, and not to the actual lawmen.

    Sir Ben shook his head, seeing that he wouldn't be able to sway the thief to his way of thinking. "I had intended to turn you in for stealing from me, but another idea comes to mind. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity before us, but 'tis a challenge beyond either of us. Come! Together we will take on the challenges of Chiriwheat! The fame and glory shall be mine, the fortune and adventure yours, and peace will be brought to our land! What say you?"

    Shaking her head enthusiastically, Xerea replied, "Indeed, let us go. But one small correction, Sir." She adopted a sly smile, "Fame and glory for the both of us."

    "Fine. Let it never be said that Sir Ben of Junkheap was unwilling to share. Follow me, little Thief!"

    Xerea complied, all while eagerly awaiting what the castle awaited inside. While the two were walking, a mouse appeared and started a campfire near the gates. Curious as to what it was, the thief mused aloud, "There's a campfire. So we're not alone..." The pair mused this development and approached the direction of the campfire, seeing a gathering crowd of mice.
     


    [PokeCommunity.com] Of Mice & Magic [T][IC]

    Music: Questant's Lament

    Running her paws over the glass surface, the old mouse checks one of her bottles for cracks, then moves onto the next, and the next down the line. It wouldn't do to have them damaged and leaking before she even got started. Each bottle, full of water, is fitted neatly into her belt, strapped about her waist. Five glass bottles on her left side, five waterskins on her right -- a far less fragile container than the glass.

    Eleanor's ears perk before her eyes lift, noticing the approach of two fellow mice. Well, perhaps mice. As she looks up and studies the larger rodent, she finds it difficult to discern if he's truly a mouse, not only with those proportions but with the set of armour encasing some of his features.

    "Someone has certainly come prepared," she comments, using her walking stick to help her up to her feet to greet the new mice. "It's not often I see helmets such as that."

    Naturally her attention turns to the other mouse next, her attire and build contrasting with the knight's, almost as if planned to complement each other's strengths: one with defense, the other with agility. Eleanor gives a slight nod of approval.

    "Good evening, the both of you. I assume it's no accident we've met here. Come, come: You're the very reason I set up camp." The older mouse encourages them both to join her near the campfire. Once they do, she lowers herself back into a seated position, again with the help of her walking stick.

    "I've come in search of the Door of Tomorrow --" She pauses, struck by her own words. "And, I'm just now hearing how much that phrase makes me sound like a batty old lady." With a light shake of her head and brief shut of her eyes, she resumes. "Nevertheless, that door and its Key seem to be the only clue towards solving our recent troubles with time. Has that drawn you two here, as well? Those oddities in shifting time?"


    ​
     
    Artean Bellepetal
    Ranger Extraordinaire

    Artean was lucky that he wasn't moving when the larger mouse bopped him on the back. There didn't appear to be any malice behind the action, but it likely would have thrown him off balance if he was mid step. Following the stranger towards the smoke trail in the distance, he finally processed everything the odd mouse said and began his reply.

    "Arty is fine. Most of my brother's called me that. Father did too. Ma and the sisters like the full name better, I think."

    He stopped for a brief moment to yell at Billas, currently more focused on a flower than following the path. One day that bee was going to get himself hurt with his inattentiveness.

    "You said you don't even know where you were?" Artean began again, picking up his pace to catch up. "This is Chiriweat, isn't it? I didn't know you could just stumble onto it. It took me weeks to find it, even actively searching for it. I'm still not sure how I found it, the methods most people told me on how to get here didn't seem to really do anything."

    Taking another brief pause, he tapped a finger on his nose, deep in thought.

    "Unless I was actually in Lost Time during those two weeks. I don't think anything you do in Lost Time actually affects the world. If so, that makes everything even more confusing."

    He began to walk again, not really paying attention to his surroundings, until the sound of talking broke his trance.

    "Wait, we're this close to the fire now!? How long was I thinking? Sorry if you needed to ask something Mr...

    "Wait, I never got your name!"
    ​
     
    Yvanna of Whisker Woods

    Yvanna treaded carefully, her paw steps light as she rounded the castle perimeter, nearing the gate. Judging from the sounds gnawing at the back of her skull, there was not much to a crowd.

    And true to her word, there were a few mice gathered at the castle gate, seemingly in discussion of the 'how to's of opening such a contraption. Yvanna silently stayed in the underbrush, observing them. For if they had an inkling of a way to get inside the castle, well, it was worth learning. Besides, she still could not trust them yet. What if they were after something else entirely? What if they were the antagonists to Time?

    The druid closed her eyes and reaching out into the endless pool of consciousness surrounding her. It was very faint like a fly's wingbeat, but it was there. The forest was still there. She gently wound a thread around her finger, ready to pull it should the group of mice prove to be sinister.

    The tip of a tendril peeked out of the soil.​
     
    Cronald Ripipip - the Wizard

    "Hmm, Lost Time?" As they were walking, Cron pondered those words. "That rings a bell. As for Chiriwheat... Of course I know about that. The magic castle which holds the Key of Age, for opening the Door of Tomorrow, which can save the world- ah, right, that's why I'm here. And you're part of my party!"

    Artean then kept talking until he finally stopped himself. "Wait, we're this close to the fire now!? How long was I thinking? Sorry if you needed to ask something Mr... Wait, I never got your name!"

    "Ripipip," Cron replied with a wide smile. "The wandering wizard. Ah, and there's the fire indeed."

    Approaching, he overheard what one of the mice ahead was saying: "Nevertheless, that door and its Key seem to be the only clue towards solving our recent troubles with time. Has that drawn you two here, as well? Those oddities in shifting time?"

    Before the elderly mouse's companions could reply, Cronald walked up to them with no hesitation, and reached out his paws to warm them close to the flames while flashing another big smile.

    "Hello!" he said. "Did you also stumble over this place by a mysterious chance hidden in forgotten memories, like the wizard Ripipip, or did you search for it eagerly like my friend Artean here?"
    ​
     



    The Castle Yard

    Even more of some time ago

    Chiriweat overlooked his castle yard and smiled. He had worked hard for all the nineteen years of his life, and now he finally had what he always dreamed of. It was small, but he didn't doubt more was coming. The fence currently felt more like the bars of a cage, as if the world had to be protected from him, instead of the other way around.

    The castle only had two windows, both next to the wooden door. He peered through to see the insides. It was modest. Very modest. He'd deal with it though. He grasped the penchant around his neck tightly.

    "I think I might need some flowers," he said. With a faint blow, lilies and clovers started to pup through the ground. He dug in his pockets, to retrieve a small wooden box. He put it down in the middle of the pathway. It folded itself open, and revealed an incredibly tiny elephant, no bigger than a mouse.

    Chiriweat lowered himself, and scratched the animal with a single finger.

    "You'll grow as the garden does, don't worry."

    He turned around, pressed his penchant to the front door, and it swung open.

    "Now, I need to get to work inside. You behave yourself," the wizard told the petite elephant. "After all, time is key."

    The walls inside were cramped. Chiriweat corrected his tophat, and slightly nudged the wall.

    "C'mon now, start walking," he said. The wall started walking.

    -
    Now

    The sky flared up in the most beautiful pink, for the fraction of the blink of an eye. For those who blink fast, that is. For those who blink slowly, and carefully, the sky flared up even quicker, relative to their blinking speed. It faded back to the starlit nightsky again, leaving no trace of the colour. What had changed was the flowers that had started to grow through the path. A lot quicker than flowers should grow, however, not so fast that they just appeared. One could clearly see the root systems develop, and the bulb forming.

    An infinitesimally small elephant also stood in the pathway, utterly confused. He blared a confused hoot, that anyone speaking the difficult tongue of the elephant would know to mean "Again?!". The elephant was no bigger than a small mouse, but he started growing. A lot quicker than elephants should grow, however, not so fast as one might think. One couldn't see him growing, but, if you were to blink, he'd be slightly bigger than before one had blinked. Of course, again, that's assuming one is a quick blinker. If one is a slow and careful blinker, the elephant would've grown even more, albeit still not too much.

    The door of the castle yard had also opened, revealing the grand foyer, donning the beautiful stone sculpture of a cat and a parrot inside, looking up to that of a smiling sloth. A rhythmic ticking could be heard, as the sloth's long claw seemed to tick against it's stone body.


    ​
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Back
    Top