< 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!
The woman, the seeress, commented that she could see Solveig was quite dedicated and she was unsure of how to take it. She didn’t know enough about the woman to know whether it was a compliment, a critique, or a joke. She simply nodded her acceptance of the statement - if there was one thing Solveig was she supposed dedicated would be the word. You didn’t get to where she was without dedication, and in this particular instance she was further driven by her need to save her people and the woman she loved.
When the woman took the amulet she stared at it intently for a time before coming back to herself and tossing the necklace away. Despite suspecting it was on purpose, she flinched as it shattered on the ground and worried briefly that the woman was in fact a trickster. Thankfully the pieces began to glow almost immediately and formed into what Solveig could only hope was a... transportation fog or something. It was like nothing she had ever seen before and she found herself wondering for probably the first time if everyone did magic differently. Did a transportation spell look the same no matter who cast it, or was it different for each mage? The purple fog really seemed to fit the woman before her, who also was adorned almost entirely in the colour, and she was not sure she’d ever seen Sia cast something that looked quite like this.
The Seeress confirmed her suspicion regarding what it was, and then despite never having introduced herself (which she realized only now, and was mildly shamed at the realization) the woman knew who she was. Magic, she thought absently, though she didn’t think being able to magic someone’s identity and make a teleportation dog would have been under the same umbrella, so to speak. But then again, what did she know about magic?
At the reminder of the horse Solveig let out a surprised chuckle, shocked to have completely forgotten about the animal in only the brief time she’s been here. ”Ah, yes,” she agreed. The second horse she had taken, which was the one she’d ridden the first few days of travel, had been left at a stable about halfway here. Even a good horse could only be ridden hard for so long before it exhausted itself. She would have that one sent for later, but for now she did go to the other and grab her reigns, leading the animal back towards the strange glowing fog. It was unsure, and admittedly so was Solveig, but the animal was well trained and when she stepped forward and into the fog it joined her without hassle. Now to just hope it truly led where they needed to be. And, she supposed, to pray that everyone else was still alive to be saved.
Last Edit: Jan 11, 2018 17:03:40 GMT -7 by Solveig
Post by Charlotte Firiana on Jan 12, 2018 5:32:28 GMT -7
The sight that would greet Solveig as she stepped through the vortex would be a familiar one: a low-lit hall adorned with beds, each one filled with a sleeping occupant that did not stir in any fashion. In one of those beds would lay Sialarvana, Solveig's beloved, and a few attendants would also be present in the room, tending to the sleeping and doing their best to keep their bodies alive and stable despite the lack of food or water.
Charlotte would only see the sight moments later, as she too crossed the threshold of her portal, and by then she arrived to the sight of Solveig already beside the bed of a tiefling woman, clutching at her hand and (Charlotte could only assume) asking the nearby priest some question or another in a hushed tone. The Seeress would hazard to guess she was asking about the tiefling woman's condition.
'My, it would certainly appear as though these people have been through the wringer,' Miss Diamond commented as Charlotte gave all the sleeping individuals passing glances. The sight was to be expected, based on what Solveig had described, but still, this was quite a few people to rescue.
'Could be difficult,' Sojourn stated in response to the observation.
That mattered not. If destiny had led Charlotte to yet another task that she possessed the power to solve, then she would do so, and in the process she would likely find her next lead. Sooner or later, chasing leads would eventually lead to something. Charlotte had nothing else to go on, at any rate.
"Ah, hello there. You are the Conjurer the Captain has brought back with her?" It was the priest who had spoken to her, approaching her after finishing his talk with Solveig. Charlotte turned to face him, nodding.
"A conjurer of sorts, I suppose. Though my true calling is that of divination. Do rest assured, however: I am certainly equal to this task."
The priest did not seem particularly concerned over this bit of news, though perhaps it could be said he might have looked mildly confused; likely he was wondering what a diviner had been doing in a Temple full of conjurers. If he was at all hesitant over entrusting this task to Charlotte, he didn't make it obvious, simply bowing his head at her and making a gesture at the room, as though to suggest she could have at it.
"Captain?" Charlotte called softly, grabbing the woman's attention. She strode over to the tiefling's bed side, seating herself next to Solveig and signalling her crystal ball to settle down onto the ground beside her with a flick of her wrist. "If you are prepared, we can begin immediately. Am I correct in assuming that it is with this woman that you possess the strongest bond, among those afflicted?"
The horse arriving right into the room was probably a bigger shock than the fact there were people teleporting into the room to begin with. The priest was there as promised and so were the other disciples, and they had set up cots on which to lay the anpus' victims. One of the disciples came over immediately and she passed him the reins without thinking, her eyes already locked onto the most important person in the room. She was happy the Seeress had indeed been as good as she said she was, but her gladness over the accuracy of her teleportation magic was quickly dwarfed by concern for her love, her Sia, who lay unmoving on the cot nearest the back of the room - the safest location should another attack occur; she would have to thank the priest for his care. She moved to the cot and knelt at its side, laying a kiss on her love's forehead before taking her hand and tracing circles on her wrist with her thumb. "Hold on for me, Sia, I'm coming. I can't lose you."
The priest walked over to her and it was while they were discussing the state of the victims that the Seeress came through the portal as well. That was one more fear assuaged, at least. The priest moved toward the newcomer to greet her, and it was then that Solveig learned something about the Seeress that she probably should have guessed from the title, and that was that she was a Diviner. And a 'conjurer of sorts' she supposed. Before Solveig could worry at her choice of help the woman assured them that she was equal to the task at hand, and Sol was mildly placated - at the very least it was too late to go back now. She had to hope the woman was right in her confidence. She'd managed to get them back here easy enough, and if that was anything like getting to the Elsewhere at least that part would be handled. Solveig supposed that the hardest part would be to rescue them once they were in the Elsewhere, which was something that she had to be prepared for at least as much as the Seeress did. Wouldn't it be the ultimate of ironies if after worrying about whether the Seeress was up to the task it turned out that Sol herself was the one that failed.
But no, she couldn't believe that for a second. She couldn't even consider it as a possibility. She would not fail and neither would the Seeress, and together they would rescue every lost soul in this room.
With her free hand she gently brushed her fingers across Sia's cheek, turning her head to the Seeress as she called her. She didn't make a move to stand though, and the Seeress came to her instead, kneeling beside the cot as well. Her crystal ball landed softly on the ground beside her, again reminding Solveig that magic was just.. wild. The Seeress said they could begin immediately if she was prepared and Solveig wasn't entirely sure if she was. She wanted to be, but she also had no idea what was waiting for them in the Elsewhere, or even whether she would be able to bring her current armour or weapons through the metaphysical veil, or whatever it was. She hoped she was prepared, but she knew she was at least ready to try.
"Yes," she responded, in a way to both of the comments but mostly to the latter. It was an easy assumption to make that her bond with Sia was the strongest of all in the room - she wasn't sitting at anyone else's bedside after all. "Will that help us find her, in the Elsewhere?"
Last Edit: Jan 12, 2018 14:01:17 GMT -7 by Solveig
Post by Charlotte Firiana on Jan 20, 2018 0:41:52 GMT -7
"What it will do," Charlotte replied, letting the statement hang in the air as she pulled her storage charm out from the pocket within her cloak. She pressed her thumb against it and images began to fly across her mind's eye, various objects she mentally sifted through. She stopped once she found what she was looking for: a set of candles, which appeared in her other hand in a puff of purple fog as she called the items forth. "...Is enable us to forge the strongest connection into her subconscious realm. She will be the most reliable entryway into the dreamscape, minimizing the time necessary for dwelling in the Elsewhere. Finding your other companions should be simpler, and relatively more safe, once our passage has already been secured."
She waved her hand then, calling upon Miss Diamond's power to levitate the summoned candles into position. They placed themselves in a square formation around the Tiefling woman's sleeping body, and with a snap of her fingers (and a request to Sojourn), a flame was conjured forth to appear at each of their wicks. There was a small sense of satisfaction buried somewhere inside of her at this act, as she noted several intrigued eyes on her from around the room - call it perhaps childish, but Charlotte couldn't help but enjoy the amount of showmanship she was able to produce when both Diamond and Sojourn were present.
"You're quite welcome, darling."
"Heehee."
Charlotte turned her attention to Solveig. "I shall require her name."
For someone who appeared so serious, the Seeress certainly had a flair for the dramatic. Solveig waited as patiently as someone in her situation could for her to finish explaining what it would do, after stopping in the middle to poof a set of candles into existence from what Sol figured was a storage charm. She had seen magic of the sort before - it was conjuration after all and she had seen Sia do more than enough of that. Well, maybe not more than enough. What she did was fascinating so she could probably watch her do it all day provided they weren't otherwise occupied. What the Seeress said definitely sounded like it made sense, and Solveig nodded. Through the dreamscape to the Elsewhere, using her bond with Sia as a passage of sorts. Sure.
Again, the Seeress's showmanship was displayed when she waved her hand and the candles floated themselves into position and then at a snap of her fingers they were lit with flame. It all looked suitably impressive and surely most of the people in the room were awed by the display, but Solveig wasn't interested in showmanship right now. She lay her forehead on Sia's chest and muttered a quiet prayer to Khades to watch over Sia and the others, and to give herself the strength to find them. She wasn't by and large particularly religious, but right now she felt that she could use the help of a god or two.
The Seeress spoke to her when it was all set up and requested Sia's name, and Sol raised her head and nodded, and figured it wouldn't do to just give a nickname when such an important task was at hand. It was better to give more than enough information than not enough, right? "Her full name is Sialarvanya Groshnakov Konstantinov. My Sia. Vanya to everyone else," she trailed off but quite quickly her eyes widened and she spoke again, somewhat sheepishly. "What is your name, Seeress? I apologize, in my haste I have never asked."
Last Edit: Jan 21, 2018 23:44:44 GMT -7 by Solveig
Post by Charlotte Firiana on Jan 30, 2018 21:13:27 GMT -7
Charlotte supposed Solveig almost set a new record in how long it took her to ask for Charlotte's name; most people she came into contact with tended to ask for it not long after meeting, or didn't care to ask at all. But more important than her own was the name that Solveig had given. The necessary entry ticket for Charlotte's spell.
"Charlotte," she replied. It bothered her slightly to offer her real name forward, especially when she made such a frequent point of not doing so, but in this particular instance, it was necessary. Where she and Solveig were to go, their spirits would be vulnerable, and it seemed Solveig possessed no magic at all. As such, she'd need something to anchor herself to the plane they would be traversing, lest she be lost to the Elsewhere. Charlotte's identity would need to be that anchor. "Charlotte Firianna," she added, more quietly than even her first utterance, her tone concealed from any of the nearby priests. "And for both our sakes, please refrain from speaking it aloud unless necessary."
Without further explanation than that, she took Solveig's hand. Then she held her other out over Sia, palm facing down, and closed her eyes.
"She Whose Eyes Arrest Mine Soul," she said. "You who wear a mask of blood and flesh. Ope the eyes of truth. World, hidden beyond the curtain. Truth, known only to one. Bear forth the world only known to thee. With thy name spoken, I turn the key. Sialarvanya Groshnakov Konstantinov. Release."
As Charlotte spoke her incantation, she could feel the world around her coming out of focus. Eyes closed, she did not see reality melt away, nor did she see the flames of her candles grow more intense as she spoke. She felt only the familiar pull of her magic, as her physical eyes became blind while her mind's eye opened wide. And what it saw stretching before her was a path, and a door, held wide open in the midst of a vast fog.
She tightened her hold on Solveig's hand and stepped forward through it, and as she did so, she felt her spirit become separate from the body she knew, and felt Solveig's follow as though peeled off of the woman's body. The two passed through the door.
When vision became clear again, Charlotte and Solveig stood on nothing in a vast abyss. Swirls of color and what appeared to perhaps be gaseous clouds peppered the scenery of the distance, but the two women were suspended in an empty place. Glancing down, Charlotte could see a globe stretching out beneath them, far below. A world of Sialarvanya's making. The world only she knew, hidden in the depths of her mind. And, she noted, she could see several branching paths of light shooting off of this world, connecting to what looked like distant stars. The paths, though luminescent, were steadily being encroached upon with darkness. The Anpu's curse was well at work here.
"Welcome to the realm of the unconscious," she spoke to her companion, who likely needed an explanation. "Just one of several sub-planes that exist within the expanse of the Elsewhere. Comparatively less dangerous, as well. Tread carefully, regardless."
The way the woman said her name, quietly as though afraid anyone else might hear, was something Solveig had never encountered before. Perhaps it was because the woman was just enigmatic, or perhaps there was some magical reason behind her reticence, but Charlotte also told her that for both of their sakes she should not say the name aloud unless necessary. Well that had answered one question and brought up at least a few more, but there was no time for more questions because Charlotte, the Seeress, was already moving on to the ritual.
She took Solveig’s hand and held the other over Sia’s unconscious form and spoke words that sounded like very old speech, like a ritual or a spell or maybe just another dramatic flair. She had closed her eyes and Solveig wondered if she should too, and eventually she decided that she probably should. So with her eyes closed and listening to the very interesting things the Seeress was saying, she tried to focus her thoughts on the Elsewhere as though that might help them get there.
She had no magical ability herself so it was likely that she had no influence either positively or negatively on the spell itself, and for that she was grateful because she had no idea what she was doing.
When the Seeress said it, ‘release’, Solveig waited for something to feel different. A breath passed and she didn’t feel anything, but then in the next moment she felt a pull on the hand that the Seeress held and that was it. It was like that feeling when you have a bug on your neck, then like when a cold breeze passes through your shirt, and finally like when you’re almost asleep and then you feel for a moment like you’re falling and you jolt awake, and when that happened she yelped a bit and her eyes flew open and she wasn’t in the room anymore. Hell, she wasn’t in the world anymore. They had done it. Well, the Seeress had done it. They were in the Elsewhere.
They were surrounded by nothing but emptiness and the occasional swirl of colour, like clouds but not like clouds, and Solveig was trying really hard not to freak out but also she felt like she might throw up. At least the Seeress remained her calm self as she welcomed Solveig to the realm of the unconscious and explained it was ‘comparatively less dangerous’ than the rest of the Elsewhere. She still warned to tread carefully, and Solveig looked around with dismay.
”Tread where? Can we walk here? Do we… fly? Will we just fall right down to whatever that is?” At her last words she looked down at the world beneath them perhaps a little worriedly. She noted at least that her sword was still sheathed at her belt, and hoped that meant it would be functional while here against whatever dangers existed in this strange realm. At least if she could defend them she would have a use, rather than solely relying on the Seeress as she was doing now.
Post by Charlotte Firiana on Feb 5, 2018 16:12:30 GMT -7
Solveig's evident shock at their situation came as little surprise to Charlotte. Most individuals would react the same way upon experiencing this place for the first time. Even those with the magical training to somewhat expect what they were in for might still be surprised at the sheer scope of near-nothingness, as well as the casting aside of conventions and rules which bound the physical world. Even Charlotte could admit to have felt some nervous apprehension the first time she had ever been here. But all the same, she hoped Solveig was a quick learner. Navigating this place was, at times, more a matter of instinct than knowledge. In that sense, she suspected the soldier might function just fine.
As though to answer Solveig's question, Charlotte took a few steps forward, and her feet found purchase on small spots of light as she did so. Each footfall was met with the illuminated suggestion of ground as her boot made contact with what wasn't there. The light vanished mere moments after each step, once again making it appear as though she was standing upon nothingness. Which in truth, she was.
"The 'path' we tread is one sustained merely by our perception of reality. The rules as you know them do not exist here. If I wish to walk forward, I will do so. And if I wish I step down..."
Charlotte glanced down at the spanning sphere of the planetoid, some indeterminate distance below. She bent one leg and extended the other down. No level 'ground' met her foot this time as it did when she walked forward, and instead the light did not appear until a short distance downward. Charlotte forged steps for herself as she descended. In physical terms, she may have been ten or so feet below Solveig now as she stopped and glanced back up at the soldier.
"Move as you see fit. You will find our space is accommodating to whatever it is you would like to do. Or at least, it will be until we reach our destination." At this, she glanced back down at the small world. "That place is a place of Sialarvanya's making. The world of her subconscious mind. Her dreamscape, and her hidden thoughts. Within its folds, we will be bound by the rules of reality as she sees them. We will be bound by the possibilities she believes, and we will be prey to the trappings of her fears and limitations. And..." And here she paused to squint at the darkness that ran in streams along the planet's sphere, and which spun in spirals around the branching paths of light that shot off of it. "We will also be prey to that which currently plagues her."
Solveig watched as the Seeress began to walk within their nothingness space and created a ground on which to stand. She listened as it was explained that they could forge this world with their perception of reality, and you need only to think about what you meant to do and it would be done. The Seeress walked down invisible steps as easily as real ones and Solveig nodded contemplatively. Here in this nothing they could do as they wished, but once they got down to the world below they would be bound by whatever notions Sia had about reality. and they would also be bound by her fears, and prey to what plagued her. The anpu. Solveig grit her teeth at the thought and it only renewed her drive to rescue her love. She took an experimental step forward, and was greeted by 'solid' ground. She took an experimental step downward and was greeted with a step. She took a step forward off the step and 'landed' on the same level as Charlotte, as though stepping off a ledge or out a window or something. Okay, this was okay. She could do this.
"Makes sense. Does time pass in here the same as in our world? Or is that subjective too, like it might feel like an hour here but be a minute there or vice versa?" Or, she supposed, maybe that was something they made up too. Her and Charlotte made the rules here in the nothing, and Sia's rules in the world below. She wondered how long they had before it was too late to save them, and what would happen to Sia's dreamworld if she started to die while they were in it. She hoped and prayed to all the gods that she would not have to find out the answer to that last question.
She wondered one last thing and it was whether she could create her shield in this world, since she realized she hadn't had it with her when they 'came here'. She thought about it and pictured it sitting against a wall next to her, and then reached down and grabbed it by its straps and pulled it into reality (or 'reality as they knew it'), the same light that appeared beneath their feet appearing around the outline of the shield before it was filled in with colour and details until it appeared as solid and real as the sword on her belt or the Seeress beside her. Neat. If she was lucky she would even be able to bring it into Sia's world, though she had no idea because the logic of this place was... wacky, to say the least.
Post by Charlotte Firiana on May 3, 2018 22:16:20 GMT -7
"Time is another matter of relativity here," Charlotte responded to the Soldier's question, after observing Solveig's attempts at moving through this place. It seemed that, true to Charlotte's expectations, Solveig would be perfectly fine on navigating this plane if all she had to do was rely on her instincts. As long as she could move herself around and manage that much, Charlotte could handle the more particulars of their mission herself. "So long as we stand here, time moves according to what we believe. We've scarcely been here longer than a few moments, and so that is how much time has passed in our plane. However, it is all too easy to become lost in this place. Many sorcerers have ventured into the depths of The Elsewhere, ambitious or foolish, and have lost track of how long they remained. Once you have lost your bearing on time, this realm will no longer accommodate it. You may start to feel like you have been lost here for years, and if you ever find your way back, that is precisely how long it will have been, simply because you came to believe it."
Charlotte began to walk again as she explained, Solveig following after her. As she was speaking, she noted how the soldier experimentally tried to call forth her shield - an experiment that was quite successful. For someone with no magical ability, Solveig certainly showed some promise. She would be much less helpless here than Charlotte feared if she could quickly learn how to bend this reality to her whim.
"But once we arrive in Sialarvanya's dreamscape," Charlotte continued, forging more steps for them which drew them ever closer to the edge of the 'globe' that was Sia's world. "You will find that time becomes unpredictable. When you dream, it can feel like your dream has lasted mere moments, but when you awaken you find that it has been hours. Or conversely, you may feel as though you have had a long dream, and yet little time has passed when you return to the waking world. You and I will be walking through Sialarvanya's dream. The conventions of time will thus bend to the whims of her subconscious. However long we remain there may be inconsequential to how long has passed in our world. Or it may be critical. There is no way of knowing."
As she finished her explanation, the two had arrived, more or less. Before them, now massive in size with their proximity to it, was Sia's planetoid. Its outer atmosphere seemed more like glass than gas, however, a solid, reflective barrier rather than something for objects to simply pass through. But nearby was one of the many branching streams of light that they had observed shooting off of the planet from above. Up close, the stream glowed more brightly, and the shadows that were spiraling around it were also more visible. Charlotte pointed at the object, and returned her gaze to Solveig.
"This world, is her world. Her dream. Her subconscious. Her very mind. This realm in which we exist represents a collective unconsciousness, a place where many minds can be connected. Those who have practiced the various telepathic magics which can be found across the schools of magic will tell you that the act is only possible through the forging of connections between minds, connections which can be found within the Elsewhere. Here. Each path of light you see represents one of many connections she possesses to another individual, and following these paths will eventually guide you to one of those."
She pointed now out at the vast expanse of nothing, where a few distant dots of light could be seen, objects that looked like stars.
"They are other worlds, other minds. And the only way to access someone's mind within this plane, is through one of these pathways. Normally impossible for a mere wanderer. This is why we needed the Key. Her name... and you." Charlotte finally returned her gaze to Solveig, nodding firmly at her. "You must touch the path, Solveig. Forcing entry is something which the likes of the Anpu do. But you, I suspect, will be allowed inside freely."
Charlotte took hold of Solveig's shoulder and stepped behind her then, leaving the woman to the task. Solveig was their ticket to an easy entrance, and Charlotte planned to hitch a ride.
The skin OTHERWORLD was made by JAWN of WICKED WONDERLAND.
FORTUNA-RPG was created by MELLIE. Images belong to their respective artists. All codes and scripts belong to their respective coders. Please DO NOT take anything without the owners' permission.
