< 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!
Cherry said she was seventy years old and had never been to the Feywilds, and Tinypaw couldn't blame her because really, it wasn't the greatest place for a mortal to just go visiting. Well, maybe like a quick visit but it was just so easy for them to get trapped, and then it was just a debacle waiting to happen. After all, the food in the feywilds really was delicious, so he didn't blame them all for trying to eat it. Cherry said that there were lots of people who didn't think the feywilds were real, and Tinypaw figured that was just as well for them. And for the fairies, really. She said she would love to go there someday and he wasn't really sure how to respond. He could invite her back to visit, if she could help him with this bear. It would be a decent reward, and then he could tell her to leave before she ate anything or messed anything up. Maybe she could use the visit to make him an outfit, and she would see him at his normal height. It might be easier for her to make clothes for him then, compared to super tiny like he was now.
Cherry asked if the bird was really necessary, and offered her services if he couldn't find one. He smiled at the offer. "That's a real nice offer Miss Cherry, but if I'm gonna get close enough to this bear to do much good it'll sure help to be on the back of a quick bird. I don't want to put you in the path of a hungry, angry bear. But here, I can call some birds out of hiding and then I'll be good to go." He whistled a little tune and after a few moments a bird call or two could be heard from nearby, and then a few more until a small handful of birds had flown out and alighted on branches nearby. "You'll do, little sparrow," he called to one bird in particular, and he waved his hand in a 'come here' kind of motion. The bird hopped back and forth on the branch for a second before flitting down and landing tentatively on the side of Cherry's hand, her little eyes focused on Tinypaw who raised a hand and placed it gently to pat the bird's head. "Good girl," he said, then turned to Cherry and gave her a little thumbs up.
He reached into the pouch on his belt and pulled the saddle from it. The saddle was too big to fit in a normal pouch of course, but luckily for Tinypaw his pouch was the kind that was much larger on the inside, and it could hold just about whatever he could stuff in it. He gently placed the saddle on the back of the bird and did up a few buckles with the ease of someone who had done it many times before, then placed the little bit in its beak and hopped on. Taking the reigns in his paws he said "Up," and the bird hopped into the air, flying around Cherry's head a few times before settling into slowly moving in the direction of the town. "Alright, I think we're good to go! Let's go find an angry bear!"
Post by Cherry Milerand on Jan 24, 2017 0:31:09 GMT -7
[googlefont="Englebert"]
WHAT KIND OF... OH MY GOD
Okay so this may have been the most adorable damn thing she'd ever seen in her life, even more adorable than meeting Tinypaw in the first place. He literally just, just fucking summoned a bird, called her 'little sparrow', and the thing just HOPPED AROUND A BIT and then landed right on Cherry's hand, like right there, holy crap. And he pulled out a tiny precious adorable saddle and gave Cherry the cutest little thumbs up and.
And gooooooooooooooods, Cherry was gone. She was certain now that she had died, and was in some sort of Elysium, because there was no other explanation for how she could be so privileged as to be having this experience right now.
Tinypaw took off on his little bird friend and said that it was time to go and find an angry bear, and Cherry was after him in a heartbeat, running after the sparrow at a speed that made her somewhat regret her choice of heeled boots today, but you know what? Whatever. It was worth it right now. Also, she wasn't at all sure what she was actually supposed to do to help with this bear situation, now that she thought of it, but hey, life was an adventure!
"Any idea where we're looking?" she called up to him as she gave chase.
Tinypaw was wondering how much of Cherry's personality right now was how she usually acted, and how much was being affected by whatever affect he had on people. She seemed the type to act pretty much this way all the time, but he could never really be sure. She asked if he had any idea where they were looking for the bear, and he put a hand up to shade his eyes as he looked out around the general area. "The bear was causing havok in a little village around here somewhere, so we're going to start there and work our way out. We can ask if anyone in the village has seen it recently, and it shouldn't be too hard to track once we catch the trail. Ah, there's the village over there!" He pointed in the direction of a plume of chimney smoke he could make out in the distance. "When we find the bear I have to convince it to return to hibernation but that means I have to get close enough for it to hear me, so maybe you can help by distracting it so I can fly over? If you're still willing to help of course!"
Post by Cherry Milerand on Jan 24, 2017 17:04:13 GMT -7
[googlefont="Englebert"]
Oh serendipity!
"Well isn't that just a neat coincidence!" Cherry exclaimed as she chased after the bird, eyeing the distant chimney smoke that had just come into view. "I was actually just headed to that village for a little inspiration before I met you! And I'd say I found it, speaking of."
They slowed somewhat as the neared the edge of the village, Cherry doing a few smart stretches while Tinypaw fluttered overhead on his little sparrow, scanning the area. Cherry considered the plan that he had voiced to her and wondered how she might go about distracting a bear. She supposed just dancing around in front of it would probably do; after all, if it were a rampaging bear, it was probably mad enough to just charge at anyone, right?
"Distracting a bear might be lil' dicey," she stated as she surveyed the area as well, looking for any obvious signs of ursine aggression. It didn't seem like there were any villagers out and about at the moment, and the place really was quite small. "But I'm pretty light on my feet, so I'll probably be fine. I'll just have to trust in your magical animal talents, I guess!"
Cherry said that she had been heading to the very same village he was going to, so it was quite fortuitous indeed that they'd come across each other on the way. And also good luck on Cherry's part to have not yet run into the bear! She was a very nice lady but she didn't seem to be the type who could fight off an angry bear. Neither was Tinypaw of course, but he wasn't planning on fighting the bear, oh no. He didn't think he would be able to fight anything in the mortal world, the size that he was. Heck, he probably couldn't fight much in the feywilds anyway, the size that he was there. But he did have a sword and shield and he was technically proficient with them, small as he may be.
"Oh yes, it may be a little dangerous but I only need it to not notice me approaching so it doesn't swat me and Little Sparrow out of the air, so all I would ask of you is to keep its focus in one direction so it won't spot us coming up behind until I'm close enough to calm it down. Boy this sure is a small village! Hardly more than a group of houses really. Is there a word for that? Something smaller than a village?" he mused as he looked around. All of these houses seemed to be in decent enough shape, and any broken things looked more like the result of age than bear attack. Perhaps once they got closer they would be able to see the damage. There was forest on three sides of the village so it was really a toss-up of where the bear might be. "We should go check it out. Maybe someone is around we could talk to! Or maybe they all abandoned the village when the bear started attacking..."
Post by Cherry Milerand on Jan 29, 2017 10:17:43 GMT -7
[googlefont="Englebert"]
Hamlet? Is that what you call this?
"You're definitely not wrong," she replied, nodding at the small collection of homes ahead of them. "I don't think this even qualifies as a village. Maybe a hamlet? Heck, I didn't think places like this even still existed in the modern world, yeesh."
It was just so tiny! And charming. Oh my god, it probably had those little old ladies who tied shawls tightly around their heads and shoulders how precious would THAT be??? Well, actually it'd be bad if there was a rampaging bear. Cherry didn't think little old ladies could defend themselves well against one of those. She pursed her lips thoughtfully as she looked around the place, noting that no one was out and about despite the daylight hour.
"D'you think maybe they might be hiding?" she suggested. "Makes sense if there's a bear on the loose! We ought to try knocking on a few doors!"
With her course of action now firmly decided, she elected to spring forward without waiting for Tinypaw's go-ahead, stepping up to the first wooden door she saw and giving it a firm, chipper knock. "Helloooo!" she called. "Professional fairies here! We heard you guys have a bear problem!"
Was she a fairy? No, no she was not. But did she look the part? Obviously!
"A hamlet! Yes, brilliant," he exclaimed. It reminded him a lot of the faeries who chose not to live in the main city in the feywilds. They often banded together in tiny groups and set up houses a lot like this. For a while, anyway. He wasn't sure how long they lasted.
Cherry suggested they might be hiding and he nodded his agreement to the guess. Most people couldn't easily handle an angry bear on their own, so he wouldn't be surprised if people were barricaded in their houses, or even if they had abandoned the hamlet altogether and run to the next village when they had the chance. Cherry suggested they should knock on a few doors and he chuckled but agreed, however she was already skipping over to the nearest house and rapping on the door.
When she introduced them as professional fairies here for the bear problem he laughed again, though the situation was of course serious he found that Cherry had a great attitude about her that lightened the mood. Not that he himself was scared of course, because he could handle a bear without issues, but the people here would probably need a little Cherry pep.
Tinypaw flew over to Cherry and his little bird mount landed on her shoulder. Maybe next time he should find a hummingbird - they could hover in place, which was really useful and also pretty cool if he did say so himself. Hummingbirds would be easier to find when it wasn't winter though, so he hoped next time he was around here it was spring or summer.
The door that Cherry knocked on moved. It slowly creaked inward and a timid-looking old woman peered out at Cherry, looking her up and down and then looking surprised to see the bird with a mouse sitting on her shoulder. "Professional fairies? You can stop the bear?" She looked wary but perhaps a little hopeful. She also looked like she wasn't entirely sure that Cherry was actually a fairy.
Tinypaw felt sorry for her of course, and for everyone else in this village. But there was always something about old humans who just looked extra adorable, he couldn't figure it out. His heart melted for them, and much like how everyone seemed to think he was adorable and precious, he thought old people were adorable too. Just look at the hair and all those wrinkles! So cute. "Yes Ma'am, we have been sent to do just that! Special orders in fact. I'm Tinypaw and this is the lovely and effervescent Cherry. We were wondering if you might be able to tell us about the bear? Like if you know where it came from or why it was attacking the village or where it went?"
Post by Cherry Milerand on Feb 8, 2017 16:59:59 GMT -7
[googlefont="Englebert"]
Professional! Fairies!
Cherry tried not to just dissolve into a pile of pure giddiness when Tinypaw and his adorable little bird landed on her shoulder. No, no, she was being a fairy right now, handling a delicate situation! She needed to look ready and like she had her shit together. So she stood proudly with her hands on her hips in her beautiful, colorful dress, and pointed her chin up a bit to look extra important, and let Tinypaw handle introducing them to the adorable old lady who answered the door.
She liked that Tinypaw chose not to refute Cherry's claim at being a fairy, and liked even better that he called her lovely and effervescent. This little mouse was a charmer!!
The old lady looked mildly reassured by Tinypaw, as though just staring at him was putting her at ease, and honestly, Cherry could totally understand that. When she spoke, it was with a warbly sort of voice, cracked with the evidence of age. "I don't know why the bear started attacking... nobody has the faintest idea, honestly. But it comes 'round every day. Once a day at first but lately it's been getting more and more frequent. It keeps sniffing around some of the homes, and it even tried to break down the door to Mr. Sullivan's home yesterday, gave us all a fright! We build the doors thick, so it couldn't get in, but we're worried it won't hold if that beast keeps this up... dear me..."
She looked quite frightened! Cherry really felt bad for her. She hated seeing sad old people.
"So has everyone been hiding indoors?"
"We have to. At first we would just head inside soon as we saw it coming 'round, but it's been getting much more aggressive lately, and with the increased visits, it just seems too dangerous to be outside unless we absolutely need to be. We have our winter rations for now, but spring isn't far off. There's been talk that we may need to abandon this poor place. None of us here are fighters. We're all either old or children. All the able youth went off to join the peacekeepers in Atton."
Ah, that was certainly a noble thing to do, Cherry supposed. She nodded solemnly. "Peace is important. That is why we're here, of course! Can you tell us at least where it comes from when it shows up?"
"Ooh... it usually pops out from the woods just over there, beyond the treeline," the lady said, pointing a knobby finger at said treeline a good ten yards off from the 'hamlet' limits, just to the north.
Cherry glanced down at her shoulder with a bright grin. "Well then, Tinypaw! Shall we set about searching?"
Tinypaw listened carefully, ears twitching as the old lady explained that she didn't know why the bear was attacking, but that it was getting more aggressive by the day. She also explained all the able youth went to Atton to join the peacekeepers and he thought for a moment before recalling that Atton was the new place they discovered a little while ago. He had been here when they first found it, and had come back twice more since then for other jobs but he didn't know much about the place and likely wouldn't get sent there on a job since he had never been sent before so maybe they didn't need fairies there, or only certain fairies could go. Ah well, thus was life. Some things were destined to remain a mystery.
Something that wasn't going to remain a mystery however was why this bear was attacking the village, and where it came from was solved even sooner than that as the woman pointed towards the woods at the north of the village. "We shall indeed Miss Cherry," he agreed when she suggested they set about searching for the bear. "Thank you for your time madam! We're on the case, and after today you have my fairy guarantee the bear will cause you no further trouble." With that the sparrow took off from Cherry's shoulder as they all bounced away towards the woods. "There's got to be a reason it's attacking," Tinypaw mused as he flew next to Cherry who was back to jogging to keep up with the sparrow. "Bears usually don't attack for no reason, and they don't usually wake up early from hibernation just to attack people either. There's something going on here. I guess I'll just have to ask the bear when we find it!" And it shouldn't be too hard to find the bear either, he thought, because as they approached the area of woods the woman had pointed to it became pretty clear the bear had left a very noticeable path of trampled foliage in its wake.
Post by Cherry Milerand on Feb 11, 2017 21:04:52 GMT -7
[googlefont="Englebert"]
The Quest is Afoot!
The trampled foliage was definitely a clear enough indication that the bear had been through the area, and both Cherry and Tinypaw halted for a moment to examine it. Cherry wasn't exactly a tracker, but she'd been on a number of underground treasure hunts, which tended to be populated by giant moles who could get a little territorial. She'd learned to pick up on at least a few signs that indicated recent passage, though grass and flowers was maybe a little harder than dirt.
"Hmmm..." She knelt down to get a closer look at some of the trampled grass, some of which had been split open by the impact of the bear's footsteps on account of having been frozen. She looked at the color inside the blade, then experimentally snapped another nearby piece of grass open. "I think it may have been through here just recently," she said, holding up the snapped piece for Tinypaw. "The color on this is the same as the trampled bits; it hasn't faded yet, like old dead grass might. so these broken blades had to have been stepped on recently, right?"
Of course there was also broken bits of bushes and scratched up tree trunks nearby, but Cherry wasn't sure how she'd go about figuring out if those had been done recently. She'd have to hope Tinypaw had a decent sense about him for tracking. "Think it might be close by?" she asked.
The skin OTHERWORLD was made by JAWN of WICKED WONDERLAND.
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