< 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!
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< 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!
Simon was of course glad that Endless agreed to join him. He wouldn't be able to go and scream at the trees in frustration about the very last ingredient being contaminated and basically ruining everything, but he could instead spend more time with Endless and that was A+ as well. He tried not to pay attention to the small little itty bitty voice in his head that was saying was it like, really so bad that the water hyssop had been topped with some sap? Especially sap that made people suggestible.. Of course it was just a thought though, purely hypothetical and fantastical and not at all something he would entertain for more than a few moments or something he would actually do in real life. The devil on his shoulder, so to speak. If he hadn't said anything Endless never would have known..
Again, purely hypothetical. He would have to be a pretty horrible person to actually do that to him.
"Awesome! Hopefully there's not much snow actually in the forest, but we'll see. Water hyssop grows, shockingly, by water so we'll be heading towards the marsh." Meanwhile he was already grabbing a scrap of paper and rooting around for something to write with. He found a pencil and scrawled a quick note: "Out for ingredients - be back shortly", which he would have to attach to the front door in case Tehodis and Charlotte returned while they were out gathering the flower. While he was writing Endless asked if it was okay to leave the partially-made potion here alone and Simon nodded, waving his non-writing hand in the air absently. "Yeah if the heat is turned off it'll be fine to cool down and we can re-boil it later to add the flowers."
Finished with the note, he whistled in the direction of his bedroom. "Kilik, we'll be back. I'm leaving the door unlocked in case Tehodis and Lila get back while we're gone, but if any strangers show up and try to get in you know what to do. Don't knock over the potion. Thanks!" He took a quick look around to see if there was anything else he needed to think of before they left, then nodded to himself and opened the front door, stepping back and waving his arm like a showman towards the outside world. "Alright, we're off!"
Post by Endless Laeretti on Feb 8, 2017 16:34:47 GMT -7
It was colder outside than Endless had been anticipating. He supposed that his perception earlier had to have been skewed by the fact that he was so pumped full of adrenaline when he was trying to save Tehodis. He hadn't noticed it as much then, but it really was quite frightfully nippy outside once they had moved past the range of Simon's warming potions that he kept around the perimeter of the cottage. It occurred to him that this was only enhanced by the fact that it was approaching evening. He wondered how Tehodis and Lila were faring. The thought had already occurred to him earlier, when he'd been carrying Tehodis here in the first place, that maybe the cold didn't bother her as much as it did him on account of Kina not having blood. But he was sure Lila had it, so wasn't she cold? Well, even if she was, she didn't seem like the type who would say anything about it. He may not have known her long, but Endless definitely got that 'nerves of steel' vibe off of her.
Him and Simon though? They were both clearly bothered.
Even with his nice coat and scarf, Endless was shivering after a few minutes outside, and he and Simon were both breathing puffs of steam as they trudged through the snow. They were headed towards the marsh, according to Simon, and Endless had a vague recollection of where that was; it was one of the things he remembered passing prior to arriving at the clearing where he and Simon had first met.
"Hey look," he said in a cold-shaky voice. "There's the tree you fell out of whe-"
He cut himself off when he noticed the large, black horse, trying to huddle itself under some branches for shelter and moving its weight around on its legs. The poor thing was shaking.
"Oh my god," Endless said, running over to the beast and laying his hands against it. He stroked at its side while it whinnied softly. "I can't believe I forgot about you. I'm so sorry, dear god, you're probably freezing..." Endless spun back to face Simon, whom he was sure was quite confused. "This horse was waiting at the docks for us when we got here. Tehodis's boss arranged for it to be there so I could ride it and get Tehodis to you faster. But in all the chaos..."
He felt terrible. The horse had just stayed here, loyally, despite owing nothing to Endless. He certainly was not its master. "I'm gonna take him with us. It might do him some good to move around, and I can have him wait by the cottage where it's warm when we're done."
Simon was beginning to think he should have worn a heavier coat. Or maybe he should have made some sort of warming charm or brought one of his heating potions. Really, any amount of things that included preparing more for the fact that it was still winter and he was cold. Endless looked pretty cold too, so he felt a little bad about dragging him out here too when really he could have been back at the cottage having a nap or something while Simon went on a hunt for the last ingredient. Well! No use pouting about it, they were both out here now so might as well make the most of it! It was very cold, but it was also pretty outside, with the moonlight and the snow and Endless - all very nice things to look at.
Endless pointed out the tree that Simon had fallen out of and Simon noticed even his voice sounded chilled, and he wondered if this would be a good excuse to pull him into a hug to warm him up or something, but Endless had broken off the sentence and was running over to the tree where, Simon now saw, a horse was standing and shivering under the branches. He followed behind and approached the creature slowly, looking it over and wondering where the horse had come from and why it wasn't somewhere warm. A moment later Endless explained the horse had been for him and Tehodis, and in all the chaos of saving her life he had completely forgotten about it. Ouch.
Endless said he would bring the horse with them and then would have him wait by the cottage where it was warm and Simon nodded along. "Sounds like a plan. We can tie him near the front door and that way he can't get to the gardens. I'm pretty sure most of the things I grow might kill him. But I should have some carrots he can eat." He ran his hand down the horse's neck and pat him on the back and then pointed towards one of the forest trails. "That's where we're heading. We can leave him on the edge of the marsh when we get there - I don't think hooves would be helpful with the mud. Now um, we should be careful from here on out because the forest can get a little monstery at night." Simon himself was good at picking routes that didn't come across anything that wanted to eat him, which he supposed was part of the good intuition his divination provided, but you could never be sure what was slinking around ominously in the dark.
Post by Endless Laeretti on Feb 11, 2017 22:57:19 GMT -7
Endless nodded to Simon as he took the horse's reigns, tugging on them gently. "Come on fella. I know you're cold, but you'll be warmer if you move around. And soon you'll have some carrots to munch on. Come on, come on..."
The horse seemed somewhat reluctant, but after snorting out a steamy breath it started to move, following Endless's pull. He smiled and pet it reassuringly. It could probably be said that Endless generally preferred animals to people, and he hated to think of what could have happened to this poor horse if he and Simon had never had to come out for new ingredients. They were fortunate it was still somewhat early into winter. Endless knew how cold it could get once the season got into full swing during the Winter Storm.
"So, uh," he started once the horse was moving at a steady pace behind him. He looked over at Simon, nestling his face deeper into his scarf as he did so. "What kind of monsters make the forest monstery? Because, you know... that's a tad worrying..."
Simon did feel bad for the horse, he really did, but also he didn’t have anything with him that could in any way make it feel better so he just stood nearby as Endless tried to get it to come with them. Eventually it did and the three of them were off, heading deeper into the forest.
Which was of course the time when Endless asked what exactly he had been referring to when Simon had said the forest was ‘monstery’. He ran his fingers through his hair and shrugged, inexplicably pointing them to take a turn onto another path as he spoke.
”It’s not so bad, most of the things aren’t that dangerous. Chesire slugs, tree devils, shraptors… they won’t try to kill you or anything, but it’s important to keep an eye out anyway. I saw a Berrek once and those guys get pretty nasty, but they don’t usually stick in places with close trees because of their size, hopefully. Swampy areas can have spider eels though so we should definitely keep an eye out for them. Those are all the most likely things, but who knows what’s out and about tonight. Could be nothing, with the cold.” He looked over at Endless and the look on his face had him adding, ”You know, now that I think about it, there’s probably nothing and we’ll all be totally fine.”
Post by Endless Laeretti on Feb 14, 2017 20:26:43 GMT -7
Endless was beginning to have regretted asking. Simon began to rattle off all the various potential dangers that could be waiting for them in the forest at night, including mentioning a goddamn Berrek he had seen once. Endless had never seen one, and in fact, hadn't ever really encountered any dragon that he could think of other than pet Cyclops Daggers (those were pretty common). He'd once seen a Gentoo swimming offshore in Submiere, but that was like spotting a dolphin; it didn't really count as an encounter, so much as just a sighting. But he had certainly heard of Berreks. Most people who enjoyed living tended to at least familiarize themselves with the known terrible creatures that inhabited the world, and there was lots of nasty stories about what Berreks could and would do to you if you ever encountered one.
He must have been making a very uncomfortable face as Simon talked (he didn't even want to think about Spider Eels, either), because Simon quickly backpedaled after taking a look at him and stated they'd probably be fine and there was nothing to worry about. It sounded the kind of sudden forced that rang of someone who knew they'd fucked up and also knew you weren't gonna believe them if they tried to say otherwise.
Endless kept his eyes forward, his lips forming a half-frown. "Right. Yeah. Totally fine. No chance of encountering a marsh-dwelling Spider Eel near the marsh, right..."
Was being pessimistic unattractive? Was it potentially a dealbreaker when it came to relationships? Because if it was, Endless was definitely killing any shot he had with Simon with his constant frowniness and existential dread over wandering deeper into these trees. I mean, how badly did he need his memories back, really? Because they could totally turn back still, just go back home. The horse would probably appreciate it.
And yet continue on they did, until they eventually reached a waterfront Endless might have recognized; he may have passed this area on his way to meeting Simon the first time, but if so it was definitely at a distance. He hadn't seen it up close. It was actually rather beautiful. The moon was reflecting on the still water, and the snow around the edge of the pond was definitely thinner, with clear spots of grass dotting it all over. A number of flowers were growing, as well, reminding Endless that Niseca really was the place that just grew damn near everything, all year round. He could definitely imagine this being the sort of place where animals would come to grab a drink. Including bloodthirsty predators... Aaaand there was that thought again.
"So, uh... You see the thing you need?" he asked, using his telekinesis to weakly push at a few of the lingering snow piles, exposing some more flowers in the process. He wasn't actually sure if any of those was what Simon needed. Probably should have gotten a better look at the flower before they left.
Well when Endless put it that way it did sound like they should definitely be on the lookout for spider eels, anyway. Simon tried not to think about it. He liked to think he had pretty good luck with not getting killed by creatures, though of course he wasn't sure if it was luck or just stray divination watching out for his otherwise unlucky self. Either way, he hadn't gotten killed yet so he was hoping that at least would continue.
After leading them down a few more twists and turns and generally trying not to think about the cold they eventually got to the marsh he was looking for, and he was glad to note that the snow here was light and had not stopped a decent amount of flowers from sprouting around the water. Endless asked if Simon saw what he was looking for and used his actually useful magic to fluff away some snow. "Yeah, actually I do," he answered, though he wasn't looking at the ground around the water but rather at a small patch of green floating in the marsh. He had forgotten until just now that water hyssop was aptly named not because it grew near the water, but because it grew in the water. He was glad the marsh hadn't frozen over, or this whole trip would have been for naught. Actually that wasn't quite true, because at least they had found that poor horse.
"This is gonna suck," he muttered to himself, pulling off his boots and leaving them on the mostly solid ground of the shore, then rolling up his pants. "I'll be right back," he said a little louder, glancing over at Endless. "I'm just gonna grab a bunch and run." Yup, that seemed like the best plan. And then return quickly to the warmth of his little cottage and maybe never leave until summer came back. When he took the first step into the water the chill radiated from his foot all the way up to his heart, which practically shrivelled against the cold water. He'd heard of people doing 'polar bear swims' where they willingly ran into water like this for some reason, but right now he could not fathom why anyone would do that to themselves, or how they could do it without having spontaneous heart attacks.
He made it to the cluster of leaves and flowers well enough, and he wasn't sure if he got used to the cold water or if his feet and lower legs actually just went numb, but he could worry about that later. It was when he started to grab a handful of the plant that things got a little dicey, as a cluster of slimy web came up with the stems. Spider eel web. Okay, okay, spider eels were usually pretty slow and maybe with the cold they would take a few minutes to slink over to where he was. He couldn't pull the plant out of the clutches of the web, but he could pick as many flowers as he could carry before hightailing it out of there. "Hey Endless," he called over his shoulder, stuffing flowers into his pockets, "remember when I said I would grab a bunch and run? Just um... be ready for the running part."
Post by Endless Laeretti on Mar 13, 2017 20:44:14 GMT -7
Endless was actually kind of shocked when he saw what Simon was doing. He... he actually took his boots off and went running into that ice-cold water? That was... Endless didn't know what to even think of that. Was he crazy? He was probably gonna get frostbite or something!
Endless would have stopped him, too, were it not for the fact that he still didn't know what he was supposed to be grabbing. Simon simply stated that he had seen what he was looking for and then just went for it. There were a few plants growing on the water, and Endless didn't know which of them he would have had to grab. But if he had, he could have just maybe plucked some up with his power, and saved Simon the frozen toes.
At this point though, Simon was already in the water, Endless having been too stunned to stop him, and well. Probably not the best time to go pointing out how unnecessary that had been when it was already done. That'd just make Simon feel silly, probably. Or even mad that Endless hadn't said something sooner.
So instead he kept himself huddled up next to the horse, stroking its side soothingly and trying to have the two of them mutually leech each other's body heat. And then, Simon said something that was... ominous. And Endless could see why fairly quickly; there was a goopy substance trailing from the roots of the plants Simon was attempting to pluck, and it trailed down into the water in strands.
Endless knew what that was.
"G-get out of the water!" he cried, suddenly panicked. "And don't touch the web!"
He'd never been unfortunate enough to encounter a Spider Eel (or the giant spiders in Malscure, thank god) but he knew enough about them. If those webs were disturbed, the eels would know. And they could be anywhere, whether far or nearby...
His heat sank when he saw a dark shape moving through the water. The pond was somewhat large, but it was still a pond. The creature clearly wasn't very far away. And though it was moving slowly, it would reach Simon in mere moments if he didn't get moving. Worst of all, Endless suspected that maybe Simon didn't even see it yet; his eyes likely weren't as well-suited for seeing in the dark as Endless's were.
'Don't touch the web', Endless yelled after him and he barked a laugh. "Thanks, Tips," he replied as he plucked as many flowers as he could and shoved them into his pockets. Endless had said to get out of the water, but he just needed a second to grab a few more flowers. He tried to avoid disturbing the web, or rather, without disturbing it any more than he already had by touching the plant in the first place. The thing was covered, he could see now, with the sticky, slimy ooze the spider eel used to catch prey. He hoped they were sleeping right now or better yet, dead. A boy could hope, right?
The next time Endless called to him he sounded somehow more worried than the last time, and Simon shoved one last handful of flowers into his pockets as he heeded the advice. He didn't see or even hear anything worrisome, but Endless said he had to get out now and he didn't need to be told twice with a warning like that. Besides, he had enough flowers now to make the potion at least twice (he didn't know if Tehodis would want one, but he wanted to be prepared just in case) and he was shivering now from the cold, so he was more than happy to get the hell out of here. "I'm coming, I'm coming," he called back as he turned and started moving back to shore. It was hard to walk quickly through knee-high swamp water but Simon was hustling pretty well until he tripped. His foot got wrapped up in some of the spider eel web, or hell maybe even just in regular swamp weeds, he couldn't tell which but the effect was the same. He went down with a splash and frankly it would have been hilarious in another circumstance, but right now he really did not have time for this.
He was getting back to his feet, wiping gross and cold swamp water from his face when the spider eel reached the shallows and crawled out of the water mere feet away from him. "Holy blazes," Simon muttered, trying to move away from it while he was still caught up with whatever tripped him, causing him to mostly just stumble backward and land on his ass in the water. Smooth move. "Endless get out of here!" he called as he set about fumbling to free his foot from the tangles of root and web. He didn't intend to just sit around and let this thing eat him, but he couldn't get away when he was literally caught in its web. He was pretty sure as long as he could get out and not get bit by it he would be fine - spider eels were usually pretty slow despite having eight legs, but their bite was powerfully tranquilizing and that would certainly do him no good.
The spider eel seemed to feel him pulling at its web though, and its creepy face turned right for him and it started lumbering his way.
Post by Endless Laeretti on Sept 12, 2017 18:19:26 GMT -7
Things seemed to be going from bad to worse. Endless was already feeling some weird mix of worry and frustration that Simon was lingering as long as he was in that pond despite both of them seeing the sticky webbing, practically brushing off Endless's warning as he kept stocking his pockets. He only really got the message by Endless's second warning, by which point the Eel was already advancing upon him, and then he went and tripped on top of it all. And just like that, there was the eight-legged monstrosity rising from the water just several feet away, lurching its way towards its heavily-disadvantaged prey.
Honestly, much as Endless appreciated that Simon was doing this for him, he really wished the guy would stop taking so many goddamn stupid risks; Endless really wasn't worth that. Gritting his teeth, he took off without much more thought, floating over the water's surface as quickly as he could and thrusting a hand out at the eel. He was certainly getting better at controlling this in situations of stress; a wave of force manifested itself at his command without much incident, traveling through the air and smacking the spider eel firming in its face. The creature was knocked aside for a moment, seemingly stunned at the unexpected blow, and Endless kept moving.
"Come on!" he said to Simon, grabbing the other boy by his coat and yanking him as hard as he could. His shoes made contact with the water as he struggled to pull Simon to his feet, and he jolted at the feeling of the cold. It was a lot harder to stay aloft when he was trying to pull someone else's weight, and he could immediately feel a headache setting in from trying, his own weight sagging dangerously close to the water's surface. Still he pulled, fighting with Simon against the ensnaring goop of the Eel web and the frigid water.
The eel was gathering its senses again as Simon managed to kick his way back onto his (probably freezing) feet. Endless kept pulling him along, remaining conscious of his elevation. If he accidentally fell into that water... honestly, the cold shock combined with the general fact that it was water wasn't going to be too good for his telekinetic control, and right now that was the best weapon they had.
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