March Catchall - 1 Closed Prompt

[a_better_man]

Who: Mat and OPEN
When: March
Where: Thorne and the Horizon
What: Questing, the eclipse, player event, domain building
Warnings: N/A will add as needed




1 - Spoonce Catching - Closed to Anakin and Hennessy

Following the summit, Mat's had a good deal to think about. Including 'what is he even doing?'. Not on a grand scale, but on the day to day. He supposes he has been rather aimless. Which is why he's here at the head of a street, with Anakin, dressed for dirty work. Catching critters, even in a city, is always dirty work. But he's good at catching critters, and spending his time helping newly hatched birds is a better use of it than lazing around the castle.

Besides. He's got a soft spot for baby animals.

"From the description, it shouldn't be very hard to find the things. I got a net and a sack from a mage - s'not cruel, birds calm down in the dark and a sack's soft without any edges or corners they can hurt themselves on. I've been doing this since I was little."


B - Eclipse

Mat's standing outside a tavern in the city, smoking a pipe, when it happens. His first instinct is fear. He's never seen an eclipse before, only is vaguely aware it's even a thing that happens. And where he comes from, darkness covering the land is a terrible sign.

But the citizens around him don't seem to be reacting as though doom has come to claim them all, so that comforts him some. He's good at following the lead of those who know better. All up and down the street, he can see illumination springing up. Magic. Well, he...is actually prepared. He reaches into his pouch and pulls out the little ring he'd gotten at the summit. Slipping it on, he's impressed with how bright it actually is. Does this sort of thing last long?

Either way, he thinks it best to get back to the castle. He steps into the street and cups his hands around his mouth.

"Hey! Anyone else heading up the castle, come on! Got a...magic finger torch here, to light our way."


C - Event

It isn't that he's found himself, for lack of a better explanation, randomly channeling that has Mat a bit off kilter. It's the fact that he wasn't immediately bothered by it. He can't even chalk it up to some effect from the Horizon. That already happened, he knows what his gift from the Horizon is. It's not freezing his morning wash water as he tries to scrub his face. It's not making his pillow smolder and smoke. And those things should have chilled him and sent him running to the water closet to be sick.

And yet they hadn't. Not at first. And not for a bit after, either. He feels mostly alright now, but...

"Fuck me." But there's little force behind the thought, as he leans against the wall of a corridor in the castle. Random bursts of channeling. That's it, then. It's happening at last. No more wondering, no more worrying. One upside, he supposes.

He lets out a frustrated groan and...a little burst of lightning in the middle of the corridor. It's brief, just a flash, leaving the smell of ozone and a black smudge on the carpet.

"...huh. I did that."

A part of him wonders....what would it be like to do it on purpose?


D - Horizon

Aside from his first journey to that ephemeral place called the Horizon, Mat hasn't done too much with the little part that's 'his'. He'd made a rich green forest, full of streams and flowers and forest creatures, only because he misses wandering the woods as he so often did back home. They aren't the same woods, they're a creation of his own mind, but it does the trick. Makes him feel less trapped and away from all he knows.

But it lacks a sense of a personal space. He stands in a field by a little lake, contemplating. He understands he can create anything here, make it look and feel however he wants. It's still a bit daunting, the idea that he could have this much power over the environment around him. It feels like it shouldn't be right. Still. Plenty of others make all sorts of things here, and to no ill end.

It needs a place for him, he decides. A place that's all his. Something nice. Something grand. He sighs and concentrates....and there it is. Right out of nothing, a little manor house by the water.

In spite of his doubts, he laughs loudly in sheer delight, clapping his hands as he surveys his very own manor house. Blood and ashes, maybe he ought to put more personal touches about....

F - Wildcard

[Anything else, hit me up or just toss up a starter comment!]

Comments

1

[chosenfordarkness]

Having the distraction of something ridiculous and mundane is honestly what both of them need. Especially given their recent experiences with coming out of the Horizon..among other things. While he's not skilled in the art of catching critters as Mat may be, he's at least quick and agile. Using the Force as leverage certainly helps, too.

He scans the area as Mat speaks, not seeing anything out of place. "So, remind me what exactly we're looking for?"

[a_better_man]

"Little baby fire-birds."

That really shouldn't be difficult to spot. Mat quickly realized, as the mage described them, they are literally flame winged.

"Walk soft, and look for anything smoldering." With a shrug, Mat heads down the street, scanning the road and the rooftops. Can the little buggers fly yet? He hadn't asked. Ah well.

"We might want to get up high. Good vantage point and all."

[chosenfordarkness]

"Little baby fire-birds." He echoes what Mat says, trying to get a picture in his head. Look for anything smoldering. Well, okay then. They sound dangerous, but if they're young, maybe it's just a property damage risk.

Anakin's gaze follows Mat's up to the rooftop and he nods in agreement, moving closer to the nearest building.

"Need a boost, or are you good?"

[a_better_man]

Mat turns a grin to Anakin.

"Oh I am quite good, friend."

He hasn't really had a chance to show off many of his talents to the other fellow, but this is an excellent chance. Slinging the net over his shoulder, he casts his eyes about for the easiest path. Then he scrambles nimbly up onto a barrel against the wall, crouches, and leaps to grab the edge of the low roof with his hands. His feet draw up to push off against the wall and in just a few moments he's on top of the building.

"I can do the same for even higher roofs! Which...ah, yes, let's get up there!" He jerks his head towards a squat tower at the corner of the roof, two stories higher. That should do it.

"I'll assume you don't need a boost, either?"

[chosenfordarkness]

Anakin mirrors the grin and watches as Mat makes quick work of scaling the wall and hoisting himself the rest of the way up. He raises a hand to shield his eyes from the sun to yell up at his friend.

"Ha, I've jumped higher distances in my sleep!"

Shuffling a few steps back, he gives himself a little distance to run, using the same barrel Mat used to propel himself upward. When he lands on the roof, he does so in a crouch, standing up.

"Right, to the tower. Race you?"

[a_better_man]

"Why do I somehow feel like I'm at a disadvantage?" But Mat is grinning. Anakin is, after all, a magic fellow. It doesn't matter, it's all in fun. Even this, chasing after lost little birds, is for fun. It breaks the monotony, gives him a sense of...something, anyway.

He doesn't wait for Anakin to confirm, simply takes off, long legs pumping for all they're worth.

May as well try and get a lead!

[impressionism]

Hennessy is having a bad week. Not being allowed to sleep for fear your magic will get you killed will sour anyone's mood, which is why she's out hunting baby firebirds. She's had very little luck on the ground by the time she decides it's time to get on the rooftops. Unfortunately for her, shapeshifting into a snake doesn't leave her with hands to carry anything with which to catch the little pests, so she's stuck getting up there the awkward way.

She's just managed to pull herself up to the rooftop, and is muttering something about the desperate need for fire escapes when she spots the two men racing in her direction.

"Oi! Don't scare the birds unless you're going to catch them for me!" she shouts once they're within shouting distance. Not that she's seen any of them yet, but it stands to reason that they'll scatter even further if too many humans are up here running amok.

[chosenfordarkness]

"Whatever gave you that impression?" He laughs in surprise, giving chase. Anakin keeps hot on his heels, letting him have his running start for now. He can always unfairly use the Force to gain the advantage, but for right now? It's fun.

As they're sprinting across a rooftop, the voice of a woman he doesn't recognize grabs his attention. "Uh, yeah. That's the idea, isn't it?"

what if gmail gave me my tags~

[impressionism]

"Have you spotted any yet? Little buggers keep evading me anytime I think I've seen one."

Why had she agreed to go on a bird-fetching quest, again? Oh, right, because there's nothing else to do and if she has to hang around her roommates any longer she's going to implode. People in relationships are the wooooorst, and if she keeps doing favors for the mages maybe they'll give her something cool again.

[a_better_man]

"Not yet, it's why we're up here. Better view!"

Mat pulls up to a stop, skidding a little as he reins himself in suddenly.

"If they're fledglings, they probably can't fly this high up yet, so we're not likely to spook any. Takes birds a bit to get their wings all figured out. Likely they'll be either trying to hide, as this is such a populated city full of strange things to'em, or they'll be drawn to food sources."

But he doesn't think a flaming bird can hide very effectively.

Horizon

[itookashot]

Jesper thinks the problem with the Horizon is that it's fun! If he's not hanging out in his own space, he's wandering out, having accidentally figured out how simply by having that sort of spirit. He never knows where he's going to end up, but it's been fun (and sometimes a little unnerving) every time. This one at least feels familiar. Not to him, exactly, but he knows forests and quiet nature spots.

He spots Mat from the back and recognizes him, planning on greeting him before he gets there so not to surprise him, but then a manor house appears right in front of them and he forgets to. So Jesper wanders up next to him possibly out of no where from his POV, smiling and crossing his arms over his chest. In Horizon Jesper looks mostly the same but with his own fitted green clothes and the pearl-handed pistols at his belt that didn't come with him.

He whistles, impressed. "You know, I didn't see any of mine get made, it just appeared." Jesper speaks as if they've already been in a conversation, not that he's showed up suddenly.

[a_better_man]

"Blood and ashes!" Mat starts, then laughs when he sees it's only Jesper. "You scared the shit out of me for a second. Don't sneak up on a man in a world where he can create anything with a thought - fellow with more defensive reflexes may just stab you."

He dusts off his hands as though proud of finishing a job well done, even though it had taken very little effort indeed. But he did just make a grand house!

"And yeah, first time I came, it was like that. I didn't even really think about it, things just were. But I've talked to plenty of folks, you can make things consciously. Thought I'd give it a try."

[itookashot]

"Oh sorry," Jesper laughs, recognizing he forgot to warn him out of sheer curiosity. "Don't know if stabbing me would do anything in here though." He makes a face. "That feels like something I should probably ask about. It's very likely one of these days someone will try to stab me." The percentage chance is high. Jesper can be annoying. He glances at the building and nods.

"Well how about it?" Jesper gestures toward it. "Should we go inside and see what your imagination's come up with?" Or maybe he'll need more focus with his imagination, either way, Jesper's there and he's invested.

"I have a mansion of my own, you'll have to visit sometime." Technically it's not his, back home it belongs to his boyfriend, but the one here is his and that's his story and he's sticking to it.

[a_better_man]

"Still wouldn't feel very pleasant."

Mat grins and then he shrugs. He hasn't put much thought to the inside yet. There'd been a vague idea of rooms when he called it up out of the ether, but that's about it.

"May be empty inside, I didn't have anything in mind other than the building. How it looked. It doesn't exist in reality." Maybe that's easier, fully conjuring up things you know well and are familiar with. But he isn't interested in replicating anything here. It's not actually home, dressing it up like home won't do anything but make his heart ache for what isn't here.

But he heads towards it, loping along the edge of the little lake to where the house sits. It looks stable and proper on close-up inspection, as far as Mat can tell. Good strong stones, well fitted together. Glass windows. The door is set straight in its frame.

"I'd bet most of us have fancy homes and manors, if we can make anything we want." Who wouldn't make themselves something fancy?

[itookashot]

"I'd say we should try it out, but that's just my curiosity talking. And it should never be allowed to make decisions for me." It leads him down so many paths, most of them either bad or foolish, and yet. It's good that Inej is with him now to keep him steady again, but they're in some imaginary world here. Anything goes.

Jesper keeps step with Mat as they approach to house, his hands automatically sliding over his pistol handles because he misses them in real life. "It's going to be so much easier to redecorate. You could probably imagine the inside as many times as you want." Some day he might end up doing that himself, since his space is actually owned by the two people who aren't here, and he's apparently renting it out in his subconscious. He should create his own eventually.

"My club from home is there, and there's endless coin to play at the gambling tables with. Honestly, the only real danger of these places is wondering why to go back to reality." Jesper hasn't lingered too long, maybe a part of him is concerned he would prefer the fantasy to the reality. He doesn't know if people can spend forever in there, but he doesn't want to test it out.

"Okay so you need to imagine an opening foyer for right inside the door. That's the entrance hall, it's necessary."

[a_better_man]

"Eating, drinking, taking a piss...I don't imagine our bodies would fair well if we never returned to them."

Not that Mat's ever asked about that, he only knows that food and drink had here don't actually nourish or hydrate. Which makes sense, they aren't physically here. It just feels like they are. It's powerful magic.

"But you're right. It needs a grand entry hall. Maybe with a fancy horse statue. I've always liked fancy horse statues."

He closes his eyes, trying to build it in his mind. Dark wood and polished stone. Tapestries on the walls. Tiled floor. Filigree sconces. There's a little touch of Tar Valon to it all, if only because it's the fanciest place Mat has ever been. His experience with opulence and grandeur are limited.

[itookashot]

"Oh right, and that's why we should probably not live in the fantasy. What did my poor body ever do to me?" Jesper thought it strange when he realized the food and drink didn't really work, although then it seemed obvious, as none of this was physically real. It feels real though. At least he can get some things out of his system while in here, like gambling and shooting.

"Don't forget staircases if you plan on filling in the other floors." Jesper's never actively seen something be built like this before so it's a bit thrilling. Maybe he'll get creative with his too, who knows. He playfully pats Mat on the back, for support. "You've got this, mate. Dream big."

[a_better_man]

"Oh of course, a grand staircase after you pass through the entry room. There's a secondary hall, grander, with the main stairs and then doors off to the left and the right. Kitchen to the right. One of those with two cooking fireplaces built in, and a big wooden table for casual meals. And a pantry. A proper pantry. And stairs down to the root cellar and wine cellar..."

It's easier to see it in his mind as he says it all out loud. He can see the staircase with its polished banisters and green embroidered runners. The doorway to the kitchen, with stone counters and a water pump and the wooden table. Herbs hanging from the rafters, good metal pots and pans hanging on the wall. The walk-in pantry, shelves stocked with sacks and jars. A sturdy wooden door leading to stone steps going down into the cool earth, where food and drink are stored.

"What else?"

Jesper's a part of this now, too. He ought to have some input, and he certainly seems the type to have suggestions.

[itookashot]

Jesper can see it too, maybe not in the kind of detail that will create what Mat does, but he's doing a good job describing it. It's a very old school type of grand country home and it's classy that way. He smiles and rubs his hands together as he thinks about good suggestions for layout. For someone who basically copied real places in his mind, he didn't get to use that much of his imagination.

"Kitchen to the right so to the left should be a sitting room for visitors, easy access across the hall so you can bring in snacks. That don't mean much in here, but the idea is what matters." The vision. "You should make a game room or a gaming table, you could have a nook for it if you'd like. The one I have is fascinating, it changes games from cards to dice to wheels depending on what I feel like playing. You could do the same for your own." They both like gambling and games, it's one of the things they bonded over! It's been a relief to have that over here.

"Upstairs should be personal rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms. Do you have proper plumbing where you're from? Because if not, I refuse to let you have bathrooms without real plumbing, I'll make it up myself."

B

[flame_emperor]

"Master Cauthon." In the dim light of the eclipse, Edelgard's form is illuminated by the magical flame held open in her palm.

"I was just on my way back myself. We'll go together, shall we?" She holds up her palm a bit to get a better look at Mat, adding the light from her flame to his own. "Are you all right? You look a bit pale."

[a_better_man]

"That sounds an excellent idea!"

Mat grins at Edelgard, angling his hand down so as not to blind her with the beam from his illumination ring. What a handy little ter'angreal, or whatever it is they call artifacts utilizing the one power.

"And I am fine, my lady, just caught unawares by the sun vanishing like that. Not a good thing, where I come from, but doesn't seem to be quite the same portend of horror here. So I will refrain from panic. But I would rather be back at the castle."

[flame_emperor]

"Yes, the eclipse did come on rather suddenly, did it not?" Edelgard wonders about that. Hopefully not a sign of ill portents, not that she would put any sort of stock in that kind of mysticism. "But I agree, better to be indoors until this has run its course. Let's be off."

With Mat's ring and Edelgard's conjured fire, making their way back to the castle in the gloom isn't too difficult, if slightly slow-going. "Ecipses are not a good thing where you come from. May I ask why?" Edelgard remarks curiously, as they walk. "Is it a cultural aversion of some sort?" Fódlan has no particular superstitions regarding eclipses that she knows of, and the Church had little to say about them one way or the other. Really only the Blue Sea Star was the only celestial body to have any significance in the old dogma, as the supposed home of the Goddess.

[a_better_man]

"Oh it's not eclipse specific," Mat clarifies, his free hand shoved into the pocket of his tunic. "It's the darkness. Last time my world broke, it was literally shrouded in darkness. So tends to make folks like me a bit nervous when it suddenly goes dark in the middle of the day."

Of course that's how it's described, and he has no reason to believe otherwise. The darkness came and swallowed the land when the Dragon broke the world. No wonder it's made him jumpy. The breaking was already on his mind.

"Dark things in general have rather bad associations in my world. The Dark One, dark friends, the days of darkness, the dark wind...all very, very bad things. They live in the dark and move in the dark. We have lots of lanterns, my people do."

He's more than happy to talk as they go, always one to want to fill silences anyhow.

[flame_emperor]

Edelgard blinks. "The "last" time the world broke? You mean it's happened multiple times?" She's a little amazed that he can speak so casually of multiple world-shattering, or at the very least, reshaping events. "The people of your world must be quite resilient."

Most of the terms are easy enough to suss out the presumed meanings of; the "Dark One" likely refers to some mythological figure of ultimate evil, "dark friends" are likely those who worship it/or are accused of being in league with it, however true that might be...dark days refers to the days immediately following one of those world-breaking events, Mat mentioned? Dark wind...a sign of ill omen, perhaps.

"Those who slither in the dark..." Edelgard mutters in response. "Darkness often has negative connotations, even though there is nothing intrinsically wicked about it." In the end, all darkness was was simply the absence of light. Yes, it blinded you, but then again, so could light, often more debilitatingly. "I wonder on how many worlds that is true."

[a_better_man]

"My world...it's a cycle. All things that were will be again, all things that are came before. The Dark One and the Dragon fight at the end of every age, and the world either breaks or is reborn - so to speak. It only broke the once."

So far. Mat is well aware that it may well break again - and it likely can't take it. Yes, the world is still recovering and the blight covers too much land, but life exists. Next time?

Well. He doesn't want to think about it.

"Mmm, maybe it's not intrinsically wicked in your world or this one, but it is in mine. At least beyond the natural darkness that comes without the sun or a candle. I saw...something, once." He's choosing his words very carefully. "In a place that had fallen to the darkness. This black...mist that rots all flesh moved through the place. Just...moving darkness." He shudders at the memory, not just of that blackness in the empty streets of Shadar Logoth. He remembers it coming out of him, pouring out of him at Moiraine's hand.

No. He doesn't like the dark.