Jumbus

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Rowan Moore

---

Rowan gave a clever smile back to Audrey when she made the remark about making her own luck. She liked the concept of that; however rarely it comes to pass. Rowan was a firm believer in taking sure steps as opposed to risky leaps that may land her in trouble one way or another.

Rowan proceeded back to finish the final drawing for this area. It was of one of the parasitic vines toward the peak of the fallen tree. Her study wasn't close to being concluded, but she thought it would be best to start wrapping up. She had little interest in boring Audrey with the in-depth investigation and its details. Besides, the fallen tree wasn't going anyway. There was even some value in coming back once its state of decay had advanced.

"Hey, do you know which of these shrooms could kill a guy?"

This question was not much of a shock to Rowan. She knew Audrey well enough to know it was just a wandering curiosity. It was just a shame that even a request to know the edible mushrooms would be met with the same answer. 'I don't know'. Rowan was only an amateur mycologist and only had good guesses on what was around the tree. She lacked the confidence to be conclusive. But that left some excitement for when she could get home and look them all up.

Still, 'I don't know' is not a fun answer.

"Any mushroom can be pretty lethal with enough quantity. Even white buttons, if you were to eat your body weights worth of them." Rowan joked. Then returned to drawing in her notebook.

"I don't think I'll be much longer here." She notes without breaking focus from her sketch. "Did you want to kill some time in town? Or continue exploring? I'm alright with either."

@Gisk

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Rowan Moore

---

Rowan stood patiently watching Audrey jump back in shock. She even managed a muted chuckle upon seeing her friend finally gather her bearings on the situation.

"That was quite a few questions..." She trailed off.

"Well, science is just witchcraft that actually works. So you could say I'm doing a bit of both." She replied then reached for something in her back pocket. "As for getting lost, I'm not at much risk of that. But I do keep this for good luck." Rowan pulls out a small compass and shakes it around a bit to show it still works.

@Gisk

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Rowan Moore

---

Not again... Rowan thought to herself as a rare yet familiar sensation washed over her. The breeze brushing past her neck is a short-lived omen as the deer's distorted image flashes in her mind. Its broader form resembles the body of a dog or wolf more than anything with hooves, while its eyes and antlers resemble a plant or insect if anything natural at all. Such a distorted form hit an unsettling uncanny valley in Rowan's mind. Though it lasted a moment, it would be committed to her memory for the rest of the day.

Rowan considered seeing a psychologist about such a thing. It always caught her by surprise when this kind of thing happened, however rare it was. And she would have almost gone through with that idea if such mental phenomena weren't localized to areas such as the Weeping Sam. Perhaps it was a mix of low light, gloomy atmosphere, and general superstition of this place that had her mind played up from time to time. That made enough sense to her at least.

Lightly shaking her head, Rowan closed her eye and softly pinched the bridge of her nose to get make sure her head and eyes were on straight. Looking back, out of the daze, she could only see the fleeting form of the deer disappear into the woods. "Well, see you too I guess." The girl mumbled under her breath.

There was still plenty to explore around here anyway. Rowan imagined she had about a good half hour's worth of wildlife to study in this place alone. Maybe she could practice making a few sketches and take a sample back in a small mason jar she had tucked in her pocket.

---

About fifteen minutes in Rowan finds herself kneeling in the process of sketching a broad-capped mushroom by the stump. A reasonably amateur but methodical drawing session is suddenly interrupted by the sound of cracking wood. Rowan was not alone in this clearing.

Turning her head, the girl's confused and anxious frown turns into a humble smile that welcomed a friend. Despite being taller, a mix of kneeling and Audrey's elevated position had Rowan craning her neck upward to get a good look at her company. Only a brief moment passed before she decided to fold up her book and stand up to greet Audrey, brushing off some loose dirt on her pants.

"You're a bit off the beaten track, no?" Rowan joked. "Are you sure you know how to get back alright?"

@Gisk

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Rowan Moore

---

Coming into the clearing, Rowan held her hand above her eyes and peered up into the hole in the canopy. The light shone through powerfully forcing the girl to squint for a second and avert her gaze. The sun was indeed bright. That was a simple fact but one all too easily forgotten under the gloom of Weeping Sam. Rowan didn't mind however, the diverse scenery is the exact thing she hoped to find.

In the absence of shade, the fallen tree lay exposed to the sunlight it once protected the forest floor from. The undergrowth was quickly responding to the large, rotted meal that fell in it's lap. Insects patrolled the ground around the plentiful harvest and picked at what they could grab. All the while, recent vegetation sprouted from the giant's trunk to fight over who basks at the top.

The fungi at the elm's stump seemed to have already been eating at the tree for quite some time. But they weren't a parasitic kind of mushroom; meaning the culprit had yet to be found in Rowan's amateur autopsy. Her eyes followed the tree's mighty form from the base up toward the top...

Holy shit...

Rowan had just taken notice of the deer. To be this close to one without it noticing was nothing short of a miracle given her obliviousness. It could only be chalked up to the blessing of a soft footstep.

Rowan's heartbeat rose notably and a smile began to take her face. She was only 10 or so meters away, closer than she had ever been to a wild deer before, and by complete accident too! But she made quick work of suppressing the excitement that was currently flooding her mind. This was no time for celebration yet, it could spook the deer off.

Breath in.

Breath out.

A renewed calm brought Rowan's body to a standstill. She slowly reached for her camera and carefully adjusted the flash to be off. Examining the forest floor, a patch was easy enough to find without too many dried branches and leaves. Rowan took a knee there to get a steady position. Raised her camera to eye level and, with some hesitation, pressed the button.

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

@Fading Memory

I like the idea of assigned powers quite a bit provided there is some room to tweak it on a player side. Currently about half of the characters having freedom of movement type abilities as their wanted super power, which can lose its narrative impact if too many people have those.

On the matter of cosmetic changes, would it be you or us creating those. If it's the latter, I would likely want to know what my characters power is before I start thinking about that

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

@Fading Memory big fan of the ecology breakdown. I'll look to have a response for all that soon.

On an unrelated note, will this RP be getting a Discord or remain on RP guild entirely?

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Just a quick intro post for Rowan to place her in the setting

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Rowan Moore

---

The chances of Rowan showing up at Lake Chartreuse today were slim at best. She uncharacteristically looked forward to the festival despite her introverted nature. But she didn't want to go near it while it was still being prepared. The surprise of seeing it all suddenly in bloom gave the festival a magical quality in her mind. This was also one of the few town events that her mother didn't expect Rowan to have a hand in; the break was much appreciated.

Even the wildlife around the lake wasn't as appealing this time of year. If the noise hadn't scared off a lot of the animals already, just about half the town running about the lake would do the trick. Anything left would undoubtedly be keeping a keen ear out for danger. Rowan loved observing nature when it was undisturbed by outside influences, even by herself. So the lake was off the table and she was in need of a more isolated spot to roam. Thus, Rowan found herself wandering the Weeping Sam.

---

The Weeping Sam held many gifts for those who knew how to find them, mostly untouched due to superstition or general fear of the woods. Rowan trailed through its midst in sleek black hiking boots, careful to ensure nothing of import was trampled underneath. The underbrush of a forest can contain a vast ecology of insects and small plants, not to mention budding saplings yet to grow into more significant members of the wider forest community.

Rowan forwent her usual coat due to the summer heat. Instead, she opted for a white dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves and a pair of brown jeans. She held her notebook in one hand and the other free for shifting stray branches. Finally, her camera hung down from the strap around her neck. All and all it was light carrying for the girl, she would typically prefer a bite to eat and another book or so. But the coat was impractical and she didn't like backpacks very much.

Coming into a brief respite from the thicket, Rowan stood before the first thing that caught her attention thus far in the journey. A rotted elm lay fallen in a small clearing. This area was familiar to Rowan, so a landmark like this surprising her could only mean it happened recently. It was an unmissable chance to study.

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

By the way, was there a general geographic location you had in mind for New Hope? I would like to study up on plants of that region.

Dreaming Together With You - A Fading Memory Experiment - On Hiatus

Ok here is some of my own character connection proposals

@Jumbus Rowan Moore: You think that maybe Rowan would have tutored Ambrose? I mean, even though he has money... he still needs to get into a prestigious college even if it's by the skin of his teeth. Family obligation and all that, which I'm sure Rowan understands even though they're worlds apart in the semantics.

@psych0pomp

Yeah I like this. I can see Rowan seeing some sort of duty in tutoring someone from the Hightower family. Although, I do think Rowan would dislike a lot about Ambrose outside of that. Particularly the claim of needing to get into a prestigious college despite her knowing that Ambrose is not cut out for it.

Is that all good with you?

@myrkwise Toby Springer: For a connection, I can imagine Toby would also be strung along in some of Audrey's antics that involve Rowan. I can imagine they know each other from that, but hardly the best of friends despite their similarities. If that is within character for Toby of course. Let me know what you think

@Cassette Elias Jenson: I imagine a scenario where Rowan is out adventuring the woods and comes to her favorite spot only to find Elias there. That would be Rowan's first proper introduction to him. Despite having a good chat there, that was a couple of months ago and the two haven't really talked much outside of that.

Let me know what you think.

For all other character, I haven't forgotten about them. I like all characters here so far. Rowan is a pretty introverted character so I can imagine there is quite a few kids in town she doesn't know all that well.