< atton revisited > The information page for Atton has been fully revised and updated with the new map!
< updated calendar > The Fortuna calendar has been updated in the "Other" lore section! This includes a document which displays the calendar for you to see, making it much easier to understand.
< moving map > The first functional map has been released in the News section! This map is also interactive, allowing you to drag and drop between points in order to determine distances. This is the first iteration, and there's more and better to come!
< first annual awards > The results for the First Annual Fortuna Year-End Awards have been posted! Go and take a look at who the finalists were, and who took home the big prizes!
< new default skin > Our new skin has passed the beta test, and is now the new Default for the forums! If you have any issues with this skin, send a PM or Discord to Mellie.
< human lore update > Humans have been updated with TWENTY-FIVE subraces/subcultures which add numerous options, and a little extra lore and flavour.
< magic lore update > Magical Lore has been enhanced with the addition of a post on Magical Education. From Beginner to Expert, this is how you learn the spells.
< a change to member groups > Member groups are now based on storyline! You can change your displayed storyline by editing the settings in your profile.
Welcome to the world of Fortuna, a land of fantastic proportions. This is an original fantasy roleplay that takes place in a world developed over nearly a decade of work and collaboration. We aim to encourage all participants to have a hand in the stories of the characters here, and the world around them. Your choices are key - so make them with pride. You decide who wins the wars, you decide who becomes King, the world is ours, and together we will bring it to life!
Post by Nikolai Swiftwind on Jan 8, 2017 13:58:26 GMT -7
While Nikolai wandered aimlessly he ended up wandering into what looked to be a market. Or what looked like it was going to be a market, once all the vendors finished setting up their stalls. The city was still far enough away from the festival starting that the set up had begun but had a long way to go before it would be ready for the festivities and throngs of people that would be drawn to it. As Nikolai was making his way though the construction, a lady holding a baby flagged him down and called him over to where he assumed her booth was going to be set up. She smiled at him and said, "I'm so sorry to bother you sir but you look quite strong and I was wondering if I might be able to ask for your help? My husband was injured and I can't set up my booth alone."
Nikolai looked to the woman, to her baby, to the wooden beams that would make up her booth, and decided that yes, he would help her out. He had an hour to kill anyway, and he had not seen or heard of any more centaur younglings being around. He doubted the kidnappers would risk selling them off all in one place anyway, as that would be seen as very obviously suspicious. When he agreed to help the woman she thanked him profusely and said that while she didn't have much money she could pay him by offering his choice of anything she usually sold. It all appeared to be jewelry, and he thanked her and said he would pick his favourite once it was actually set up.
The woman was very good at giving instructions on how to put it all together and he suspected she probably had lots of practice telling her husband how to set it up. It wasn't very difficult because he was strong, but it was tiring because it involved a lot of lifting heavy things. The woman explained that because the booths would be here all month rather than just a couple days for a normal market, and they would have to survive the stampede of people the festival would bring, they were being constructed rather than just being popped up like usual which was why she needed the extra help. Nikolai was just glad to feel useful for the moment, doing something with immediate physical results. He realized how disheartened he had been getting regarding the finding of the kidnapped younglings, because it seemed to be a lot of travelling and following vague clues and very little actual finding. He hoped that Violet was having luck with the circus.
Post by Violet Macar on Jan 9, 2017 12:02:38 GMT -7
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The boy had been staring at her for far too long, and Violet was almost certain the jig was up. Well, not up, but at least pivoted towards a different method. She'd use force if it was necessary. She disappeared her crystal ball by turning it into a coin, and lowered the hand that was holding it. If he refused her, she'd turn it into a dagger.
"...Is that really what you see?" He finally asked, his eyes a bit downcast, but glinting with hope, Violet smiled and put the coin into her pocket. She nodded sagely and whispered: "Yes." When she did, the boy couldn't help but grin. The grin spoke of the girls he was imagining, the potential for locking lips with one at long last. The hopes that he'd get a bit more. The vigour he was granted as he thought that maybe - just maybe - she was right. He just needed confidence. And what could grant more confidence than a vision of a future in which his lips had touched a girl?
"Alright, I guess I owe you then, huh?" Tabs asked, scratching his head absently as he looked around to make sure no one else was listening. Violet merely nodded, trying to hold in her grin. Sant Baissle had been a black mark on her record, but here... Here proved she was still on her game. Not bad for an old goat. "They're bein' kept just off from Siegfred's tent - that's the ring-leader. They're in the black tent, the one with the gnome out front. He... He doesn't look like mucha guard, but... He's tricky," Tabs laughed, "Not that you'll hafta worry, I guess, since you're gonna just peek with the crystal or whatever..."
Violet reached out and cupped Tabs' cheek, giving it a couple of motherly pats, "Tabsy is a good boy." He laughed a bit, and then waved for her to follow him, "I'll show you to everyone else, Madame. They're prolly all in the kitchen tent right now, so it's the best time."
Crap, right. It wasn't done yet. Her hope had been that she'd turn around, find a dark corner to shape shift in, and then go and find Nikolai... But it wasn't going to be that easy. Now, she'd either have to waste precious time meeting and greeting carnies, or find a way to leave Tabs in the dust... Maybe that dagger idea wasn't so bad.
Post by Nikolai Swiftwind on Jan 14, 2017 0:13:24 GMT -7
Finishing up with the booth, finally, Nikolai clapped his hands together and then stretched his arms out a bit. It was good to do something physical, but also tiring. He was glad to see that the booth had come together and it even looked how he imagined it was supposed to. The woman, who introduced herself as Clara, thanked him once again for his help. She grabbed a basket filled with jewelry from behind the booth and told him he could pick anything that he wanted as payment for his assistance and he graciously accepted, rummaging through the basket and looking at all the different rings, bracelets, bangles, necklaces, earrings and more than it was filled with. He felt drawn to one bracelet in particular, a simple gold band with a diamond inlayed in the center. He put it on and decided that when he found Maja, he would give it to her when he returned her pendant.
He looked to the sky and saw where the sun was, and wasn't entirely sure if it had been an hour or not because they were so much farther north than he was used to, and he wasn't sure he was reading the sun right. But it had to be soon, right? It certainly felt like it had been an hour, anyway. He decided he would to return to the alley where he had split from Violet and wait there, as it was surely going to be time soon enough anyway. He bid Clara and her baby, Annabelle, goodbye and started making his way back through the crowds.
Post by Violet Macar on Jan 15, 2017 20:56:47 GMT -7
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She needed to think of a way to get out of this situation. Once there were more people, she'd be hooped. She'd have to stay, and they'd likely not leave her alone for hours. That wouldn't do. She went over her options.
One, she could transmute her quill into a weapon, and knock Tabs out. But then, he'd just tell everyone about her when he woke up. Besides, she didn't like to cause pain, and Tabs was a damn nice kid - even if he was a total nerd. No, she wouldn't be able to do that.
Two, she could simply fall into the shadows as they started to walk in between tents. It wasn't something she did often these days - why had no one told her that getting older sucked so much? - but it was a possibility. The problem was that if she just disappeared, he'd tell everyone about that. No, in both situations it was likely they'd know something was up. And what had she been so keen on? Centaurs.
That left option three. "Tabsy," She said, suddenly looking around with an almost conspiratorial style, "You realize Madame Zostra is mere mortal, hm? Might Tabsy know of a lavatory?" The mere mention of such things caused Tabs to flush and clear his throat, but he nodded. "Uh, y-yeah. We got... Outhouses, that okay?" Violet nodded, and Tabs lead her to where they were located. He told her he'd wait there, and she gave him a pat on the cheek.
Once inside the lavatory, she immediately transformed again. Back to her normal self at first, and then she began to adjust. She made herself appear a good twenty years younger, twenty pounds skinnier, and one cup size larger. It wasn't her style - and this wouldn't be her proudest moment - but it was worth it. There were enchanted younglings involved, after all.
Upon finding herself properly transformed, she took a deep breath and stepped into the massive shadows created by the darkness of the wooden structure. After that, it was easy enough to slip back out. She squinted as she did, trying to place where Tabs was. Her shadow vision needed a little bit of improvement. Well, a lot of improvement. Still, she was able to sort out his location, and appear on the opposite side of the structure. "Oh, um, excuse me," She smiled as she came around, locking eyes with Tabs who looked like he might faint. He was a young adult, a teenager really. She couldn't blame her for thinking her completely unnatural body looked any kind of good. She could see him flush, and then watch as he forced himself to remember what Violet-as-Madame-Zostra had told him. Confidence.
"Yes!?" He yelled out, obviously measuring his confidence incorrectly. He coughed and corrected: "Yes?" She smiled, and could almost hear his heart pounding. "Hi. Do you work for the circus?" She played with her hair, and Tabs dared to take one step closer to her as he nodded. She pretended to be really excited and matched his step closer, "Oh my gosh! Really?!" He nodded again, this time managing to utter a 'yeah', "Okay, so... I was really hoping to see it, but my parents won't get me a ticket. Is there any possible way - any chance at all - I could get one from you? Maybe two, I could take my sister, too? I know you guys don't like giving away tickets and all, but I've really always wanted to go and--"
"Sure!" He told her, reaching into one pocket, then another, and finally into his jacket where he managed to find a stack of tickets, "I... Was supposed to go and sell some in town today, but some stuff came up. I... I think I could manage to convince them that there was just a miscount or something." He stumbled a bit trying to get the tickets off, but eventually got two of them off which he handed to her. She closed the distance as she took them, smiling at him as their fingers touched.
"Thank you so much!" She put the tickets into her bag, and as she turned away, stopped and looked back at him. She watched him as if sizing him up, and then put a hand on her shoulder and got on her tip-toes to plant a light kiss on his lips. He didn't even move, just stared blankly. Happily. "Thanks again!" And with that, she was off. She paused only to hear Tabs forget about Zostra and rush to tell someone about what just happened.
Once out of sight, she turned herself back to normal. Hair back to it's weird style. Age back to her late thirties. Body properly sized, breasts proportionate. Human again, as opposed to just the right fantasy for a nice boy like Tabs. She made her way back into the thick of town as quickly as possible, and when she spotted Nikolai going back to their alley, she bounded towards him. "Ni-ko-lai!" She called it out sound by sound and grabbed his hands to swing around when she got to him. "Do you want the good news, or the great news first?"
Post by Nikolai Swiftwind on Jan 19, 2017 11:19:23 GMT -7
Nikolai hadn't quite made it back to the alley when he heard a familiar voice call his name out cheerfully and a moment later Violet popped out of the crowd and grabbed him by the hands to swing around. It was probably more difficult to do so with four legs than two but he managed by mostly walking his front legs in a circle while the back two spun. Immediately he was excited too, not just because Violet's energy was contagious but also because if she was this excited that meant.. "You found them!" he replied with a smile. "Did you find them? Sorry, um, good news first, then great news." He could hardly stand still, the idea of finally finding some (all?) of the younglings was just... more than he could handle.
Post by Violet Macar on Jan 19, 2017 13:26:21 GMT -7
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She frowned a bit and stopped dancing about as he filled in an answer. It wasn't really fair of him, now was it? She had done all that work, and he'd just ruined it! Right there. She sighed a little to match the pout, and had to keep herself from smiling as she realized this was a much better idea. React as though no, she hadn't found them. She had different news. She decided to shake her head solemnly, and then took a deep breath as if trying to quell her emotions.
"The good news was that I'm a genius con-artist. You might not believe it, but when I'm not all tallyheaded and jibberwonked by cheshire slugs I've got quite a suave way to me. I hope you'll appreciate that, hm?" She crossed her arms and looked around, worried now that they might be seen. Or pretending to worry. She nodded her head towards the alley and entered it with him, turning around swiftly once they were in deep enough. "The great news is..." She looked from side to side, and then, in a loud whisper: "Two."
She left it at that for a moment, staring him in the eyes as if that was the most significant word that had ever been spoken in Fortuna. When the moment passed, she was back to her boisterously loud volume, not quite yelling, but certainly no longer being secretive, "I found two of them, darling, friend, dear Nikolai! Hold your applause, I know -- It's quite impressive!"
Post by Nikolai Swiftwind on Jan 19, 2017 14:11:26 GMT -7
No. No, NO, they had come all this way, they'd come so far.. how could.. but.. All the life seemed to go out of Nikolai when Violet shook her head. The saddlebag had been their only clue, and it led them here. If they didn't find anything they were lost. The trail was cold. The younglings could be gone forever. He could hardly even hear her words as she spoke. If she hadn't found them, what could she be so happy about? Sure, she wasn't invested in this like he was - she was here to help, a writer tagging along on an adventure, but the younglings weren't her tribe. Maja wasn't her sister. If they didn't find the younglings she could just write her story and go on her way. But Nikolai... Nikolai could never return to his tribe if he didn't find them. He would never see his mother again. He would never see Maja again.
"Sure," he replied vaguely when she said something about appreciating her. He did, he would not have gotten this far without her, but if the trail was cold then did that even matter? She led them into the alley then, looking maybe a little worried or maybe just conspirational, and once inside she said the great news was 'Two'. Two. It meant something to her, obviously, but Nikolai shook his head to indicate that it meant less than nothing to himself.
When she finally spoke again it took Nikolai a few moments afterward to really absorb what she had said and when he did he simultaneously wanted to hug Violet and punch her square in the jaw. She found two of the younglings but when he asked she had acted like she hadn't found any trace of them! He felt like he could have a heart attack. "Violet, you're going to kill me, but thank the gods" he said, still in disbelief but gradually working back towards excited. "Where are they? Are they hurt? We have to get them out of there!"
Post by Violet Macar on Jan 19, 2017 14:46:23 GMT -7
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She laughed a bit at Nikolai's reaction, having had her fun -- but now she needed to get serious. She grabbed his face at either cheek, pointing it down towards her. "Focus, dear Nikolai," She said, nodding slowly until he nodded with her, "They are safe... But, they are well, hm, contained?" She released his face then, digging into her notebook to write down everything she knew, not necessarily trusting her memory. "We will need to wait for nightfall. Not an ignan's chance in Submiere chance we'll get in and out with two young in tow without being spotted in this daylight. So, we make a plan, and tonight - we execute."
Having finished noted the important information, she ripped a page from the journal (which seemed almost painful for her to do, and shook her quill before pressing the paper against the wall and doodling a crude diagram of the circus' layout as she remembered it. She circled one spot and said, "The younglings are here, but there's a guard, because of course there is. When you deal in kidnapped children you certainly aren't going to permit them to wander idly about! The guard is a gnome. If you've never met a gnome, they're small little people with horrid attitudes. One kicked me in the shin once, and refused to apologize! Downright atrocious... But, most are magical. So... That leaves us the question of what kind of magic, and just how we'll protect ourselves. Transmutation is no problem, I'd be shocked if there was a gnome better than an ajatar like me at transmuting things but... There are many more schools than that. What are your thoughts, dear?"
Post by Nikolai Swiftwind on Jan 22, 2017 12:17:16 GMT -7
Focus, she said, as she held his head and pulled him awkwardly forward to meet her eyes and nod with her. The younglings were safe, she said, but trapped. She said they would wait for nightfall, and in the meantime they needed to make a plan. She drew the circus on a piece of paper which she painfully ripped from her book and began speaking. A gnomish guard. A gnomish mage, even. What could they do to protect themselves against magic, if he had it. How could they know what to do if they didn't know what kind of magic he had? What if he was an enchanter? Violet asked him his thoughts and he gaped at her for a moment.
"Is there a way to get around the guard? Approach from behind or take a different entrance? I have never fought anyone with magic before - I've fought wild animals and monsters and even thieves but I know almost nothing about magic or how to defend against it. If that's not an option, I could try to take him down with my bow. I'm a very good shot, and it would keep us at a safe distance. If he wasn't expecting it, that would be the easiest way to take care of him."
Post by Violet Macar on Jan 23, 2017 9:46:35 GMT -7
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She nodded along as Nikolai spoke, one hand on her chin while the other held the paper up to the wall. She wasn't responding "yes" with the nods, instead using it as a way to think. He was likely right about enchantment. Sure, gnomes could learn all kinds of magic, but all of the ones she had met were enchanters. Enchantment was the asshole's school of magic, and gnomes (she had decided long ago) were all assholes.
The absent nodding stopped as Nikolai suggested his bow, and she turned her head towards him, cocking it to the side as she seemed to decide if that was a good plan or not. Eventually, she nodded. "It's perfect!" She cried out, raising both hands up and subsequently dropping the paper to the ground. "You keep your distance with a bow, so that you can shoot when needed. Obviously we'll want to avoid outright violence where we can, particularly with the increase in guard patrols this time of year... But! This should be perfect. It will be perfect. Because..." She closed her eyes and sighed, feeling a little more than exhausted at all of the shapeshifting she had been doing. But one more wouldn't hurt. She grew taller, became thinner, and her body made a clear transition from female to male. She didn't like switching up her sex when shapeshifting, as it was far more taxing on her magic, but she would do it when it was important. This was important.
From what she could remember, she as now a perfect representation of the boy, Tabs. Nikolai wouldn't know, of course, as he hadn't met the boy... But Violet would be happy to tell him, "One of the circus boys," She explained, her voice still clearly her own, "I'm not able to change the sound of my voice, mind you darling... But so long as I zip the lips! We should be fine. What do you think? I approach, perhaps with a bucket of Centaur food - you'll need to advise on what such things would be most appropriate - and try to access. Should I succeed, great, I'll try to slip the younglings out under the tent. Should the gnome suspect me... That's where your eagle-eye shooting comes in..." Saying the name of a bird suddenly reminded her that Nikolai had one, which saw her looking up and squinting at the sky, "Think Anja would make a good lookout?"
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