[IC] Fabula Ultima: JRPG Adventures

[clanjos]

An owl, at least twice the size of a man, flaps its wings as clouds and floating stones whiz by. It tilts its head in curiosity as it hears something approaching from below - as a huge face bursts through the clouds! Screeching in annoyance as it banks to the left, the Owl turns away from the balloon effigy of a jester - one of several jolly decorations trailing down to a floating island where people from all over the Cell of Everwing are gathering. Propeller-driven airships at the docks, flying mounts, and rickety flying machines of all stripes flit about the island. Today is the Four Winds Festival, where the children of Nimbuston come of age by venturing into the "haunted ruins" below. The adults of Nimbuston know full well that the ruins are perfectly safe, but they are the preferred nesting grounds of the Fruit Bats, which they use to make flying mounts that the children must befriend as a test of courage in a rite of passage.

Nimbuston is a bustling community of about 400 souls, well situated between the trade winds. Giant dandelions line many of the fields, used by the townspeople for food, shade, and building materials. Most buildings are constructed of dandelion wood and packed earth from the forests and hillsides. Aside from its trademark Four Winds Festival, the town's main claim to fame is its Batrider militia, who help pacify the nearby Flying Mountains, which are the main source of stone and ore for this particular Cell.

For those from other islands or kingdoms, the lure is a bit easier: Nimbuston's Four Winds Festival is a great way to network, whether it be finding an apprentice or squire, chatting with old friends, or simply buying and selling at the pop-up marketplaces. From street cooks to blacksmiths, everyone has something to sell today, hoping to do business before sundown, when the children must descend into the ruins below. For now, the windswept travelers are free to wander about.

[Alright, sorry to let y'all loose, but you're free to establish what brings you here! Maybe you're looking to meet up with an old friend who comes every year, or hoping to headhunt some talent. Maybe you just really like dandelion salad.]

[rush99999]

"And as she walked into the unknown, the rustling faded, until all that remained was the sound of her own steady footsteps, and the quiet of the night." Grandfather Trafalgar said before closing his storybook, signifying to his audience that the story was finished. The end of the Ćororo storyteller's tale was met with applause from the audience, especially from the children who had gathered at Grandfather Trafalgar's feet.

"Another one! Another one!" One of the children cried out then. And soon enough, every child sat before the old man was clamoring to have him read another story.

"Ho ho. Oh as much as I would enjoy reading another story, it seems like the sun is preparing to make its final descent." Grandfather Trafalgar said with a gesture towards the shining orb in the sky. "I imagine for some of you, your time would be better spent preparing for the trials ahead."

Predictably, the children let loose a disheartened chorus of "Awww" in response to this.

"Now now. No need to be like that." Grandfather Trafalgar said with a reassuring smile. "Once the rite is complete, I'm sure there will be plenty of time for some more stories."

After a moment, the children either deemed these words of placation to be sufficient appeasement and ambled off elsewhere or were led away by their parents if they proved too stubborn to move.

Once the audience had left, Grandfather Trafalgar picked up his hat and counted the Zenit that had been left within by some of the more generous listeners. Once the counting was done, the old man gave a satisfied nod, pocketed the currency, donned his hat, and looked to the one child who had remained. "Well Miloh, it appears we have some free time on our hands now." Grandfather Trafalgar said to his recently acquired traveling companion. "Any thoughts on how we should spend it?"

[MrSkimobile]

---

"Alright, alright, Let's think this through." The young man muttered absentmindedly as he made his way through the town square. Children played, gigantic dandelions swayed in the wind, and market stalls sold their wares in celebration of some festival or another, but Ellion was very much unaware about all the goings on, and very much un-blissfully so. He exhaled slowly to try and calm himself down. "Yes. Yes, let's think this through. Again." Thinking it through had not been a good idea, not for the last five times he tried it. The glider he had stolen crashed because of it. And now he was... well, here. "Oh gosh, the Collegeon's gonna expel me for this aren't they? My parents are gonna kill me." He pulled his cape's hood close over his pale face and hair, his violet eyes flitting around like an animal on the run, which he very much was. Yankind had bounty hunters for runners like him. For those who had stolen something of value from the Hegemony.

Or rather, for those who had helped them to escape, in Ellion's case. "Whatever we do, let's not cause a scene. We want to lay low." He said, as he paced after the companion in question. Cloaked in similar travel capes, the pair didn't stand out too much, but there was something undeniably... magical, ancient and alien about her. "We need to find passage away from here, some way off-rock. But where would we even go? Ahh, what a nightmare..." He said as he counted what leftover Zenit he had managed to scrounge together from his trunk before the two escaped from the Collegeon's archaeological camp.

Ellion went on to walk beside her, leaned in and whispered, almost conspiratorially. "Hey, Amalia, don't you have, like, a databank inside you or something? On... I don't know, places we could go? Oh what am I saying, from what century out-of-date would they even be? We don't even know where we are now!"

@Tachi

[XxFellsingxX]

Among the Everwing children gathered around Grandfather Trafalgar, there was a boy in his early-to-mid teens who didn't seem like he quite belonged: he was much scruffier, two scars over his left eyebrow and dressed in clothes that had received so much wear-and-tear it was impossible to imagine what they had looked like when first made. He only half-listening to the story told by the old man, preferring to gaze around at those around him, first the children in his close vicinity, then at the area beyond.

It had been a few weeks now since he had vacated in his own island, and he was still getting used to the sights, sounds and smells of societies run by adults. While he was of the older kids from his island and one of the few who had memories from before they had been shipwrecked, those memories seemed to get foggier and more difficult to recall with each passing day, like some kind of dream. Not that he'd ever strained himself too much to remember. He had been happy where he'd been. Sure, there were things he thought could be better, would be better if he had allowed to take charge, but he wouldn't have traded it for anything.

And now it was gone, probably forever if he couldn't figure out some way to ingratiate himself back with his tribe.

Still, at least he was among other children again, even if they were very different from the ones he had grown up with, and he was eager to see the results of Four Winds Festival he had heard about. People learning to fly on giant fruit bats? That sounded pretty neat, actually. In fact, a part of him wondered if he could somehow sneak himself down into those ruins and locate his own winged companion. He, for a moment, allowed himself to imagine him finding one of those bats, taming it and then using it to fly all across the islands, locating all sorts of treasure and renown. Then, when he had traveled around for a little, he could maybe, possibly, return back to his island with all his riches, fame and, of course, his cool new steed and the Weasel Tribe would then beg him to return.

Miloh was so caught up in this daydream, it took him a few moments to notice when all the other children had left, and it was just him and Grandfather Trafalgar remaining, with the old man now addressing him about what to do with the money he had earned from his storytelling. "Errrrrrrrr...." Miloh began, glancing around him again at all the various shops and stalls as he tried to consider what they could buy.

Then his stomach gave a loud growl, and he suddenly realised how long it had been since he had eaten. He doubled over, suddenly feeling quite a bit weaker. "Food. Yeah, food sounds good right about now," he said.

@rush99999

[rush99999]

Grandfather Trafalgar waited patiently for Miloh to make his decision as the shipwrecked child looked around in consideration of what to do next. A touch of amusement entered the old man's smile as the boy's stomach demanded attention. But the smile vanished in an instant when Miloh doubled over from a bout of hunger pains. Given the boy's sudden arrival, Grandfather Trafalgar had lacked sufficient provisions for more than one person. As a result, they had been traveling on half rations up to this point. And while the Ćororo elder was used to such measures, his young companion was not.

Grandfather Trafalgar lifted a hand to reach out and opened his mouth to ask Miloh if he was alright, but he pulled back at the last moment and closed his mouth. One of the first things Grandfather Trafalgar had learned about Miloh was that he had a short temper, and nothing made it flare up quite like the implication that he was being looked down upon. Not wanting to upset the lad any further, the old man restrained his concern and continued waiting for a response.

"Food. Yeah, food sounds good right about now," Miloh said.

"I cannot recall a time when food did not sound good." Grandfather Trafalgar said with an approving nod and an eager smile. The old Ćororo rose to his feet and looked around. "So the only question worth asking now would be... which way is the best food?" Grandfather Trafalgar turned northwards and sniffed the air in that direction. "...Not that way." He spun around then to face the south and took in the scent of the air from that direction. "Hmmm... Maybe." He turned then to the east, sniffed once, then immediately covered his nose. "Definitely not!" Finally, he turned to the west, sniffed the air tentatively at first, then began sniffing with increasing interest. "Well that does smell promising." He said at last before turning back to Miloh. "I think I'm onto something good. This way." With a beckoning gesture, the old man set off in the direction of the promising scent.

[Raineh Daze]

Caria

For some reason, all the people were giving her a wide berth. She wasn't quite sure why, but then again… the motivations and drives of other people were definitely an enigma to her. Call it lack of experience. If she had to guess, it was probably the fact that she was rather blatantly armed, but then again, what could a girl do? It wasn't like she could just leave her axe or armour lying around, she'd never be able to go find them again, and someone might seriously hurt themselves.

That, or they really didn't like her fluffy friend. That was also a possibility.

But at least they were willing to take her money! And when they realised that Caria wasn't really all that scary, or again got drawn in by her buddy, then she was able to ask questions. Mostly about the food and drink, you could never know too much about feeding yourself.

It was amazing the sheer number of things they could do with dandelions round here. Dandelion salad, fermented dandelion as part of a drink, dandelion wood to build with, dandelion cotton to make clothing and fabrics, just using the giant dandelions for shade…

Or maybe they just didn't have anything else and had to make do? Hmm, she'd try asking Swordy, but they probably wouldn't know. Unless she was asking how to weaponise dandelions.