Jumbus

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

Rowan Moore

---

The talking between her friends and acquaintances fell into the background of Rowan's mind. The scale of change to herself was enough, but the surrounding environment was equally alien to her if not more so. The mix of strange colours and odd amalgamations sent her mind racing to find reason in all of it. Why were the islands floating? Why was that tune still ringing in her ears? And the dragon flew above the grand city before them. Such a landmark of fantastical creatures that never existed for a simple reason, the environment could not accommodate it. Rowan gazed upon it all like she would a distant lightning storm back in New Hope. There was beauty and danger alike that brought her awe.

But her passive ogling eventually turned to calculated surveying and then finally to movement. Her two feet were planted firmly on the ground. A brief raise of her heels offered no more and no less resistance than as if she were back in New Hope. That was a base of reality she could centre herself in. Furthering that, the grass was mostly the same colour. Grass was green for a reason, the fact that it wasn't sporadic rainbows of colour meant there was some reason for that. While these basic realities were a meagre comfort in the vast span of fantasy in front of her, they still provided some comfort nonetheless.

'This place may be strange. But it follows some logic, therefore it can be understood.' Such a sentiment soothed Rowan's anxieties for a moment.

Then her attention followed straight to the dragon. It looked beautiful dancing above the city before finding its resting place. Such behaviour could only bring the assumption that this one had some peaceful relation to the people of the city. But it got her wondering, if the world she left behind wasn't able to accommodate something like a dragon, what sort of environment could? What sort of other dangers could be lurking in this new world. It didn't pass her notice that the dragon sported impressive claws and presumably sharp teeth. Much like the grass being green, the dragon had those for a reason too.

"Y-You're all freaks!- You're blue- she's a deer!- Paper boy paper boy-"

Odaya's sudden outburst was enough to break Rowan from toiling on her thoughts further. She could finally take in the appearance of her company and found there was some truth to it. Rowan herself allows herself a light-hearted giggle at this. Odaya was correct, there were some crazy-looking figures which helped release the tension. But it was more because she found Odaya's expressiveness endearing and didn't want to see her laughing alone.

As for the following conversations in the group, Rowan kept to being a passive observer and seldom made an impact on their discussions. Although she took particular note of Freyja was hearing a song. Perhaps it was similar to what Rowan was hearing just with a voice this time.

'Why does she hear a voice?'

---

At some point in the journey, Rowan became aware of the special consideration from the crowd. Although their behaviour seemed respectful, she would be lying if she said it was adding to her sense of angst about the situation. Compared to the spectacle the others displayed in their new forms, Rowan's was quite understated. So it left her wondering what had got the crowd to pay her any particular mind.

Rowan eased the feelings with the practised response of a short head bow. She sure hoped that was the correct thing to do. A nervous chuckle escaped her every now and again.

Someone grabbed her hand from the crowd and Rowan stumbled a bit in shock. Then just like that, the hand let go leaving something weighty in her hand. "Oh, excuse me, you dropped someth..." Quickly turning to the crowd, however, offered no answers as to who had done this. No one was quickly retreating, nor was there a hand which remained outstretched. Just the same unrecognisable faces of an equal suspect.

What was left in her hand was a beautiful polished stone marked with moon and stars. In other circumstances, Rowan could mistake it for a nice display piece at a gift shop of some sort. But who would go out of their way to place the rock in her hand in such an abrupt and mysterious way? What type of object necessitated such a means of transferal? And who wouldn't want to be seen after doing such a thing?

"Hey, does anyone know what this is?" Rowan said toward the group, trying her best not to draw the crowd's attention to the stone in the process.

---

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

I'll try to have my post out tonight

Edit: all posted. Sleep time now

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

Now that I’ve got things organized on my laptop, I’ll post a little sneak peak for everyone tomorrow as an apology for my computer delays :) and just for funsies.

@Fading Memory

Nice, is this sneak peak another post? I'm currently writing up my post. But it has been a multi-evening thing as there is quite a lot to cover.

Kind of posting Rowan as being passive in the 'spawn' area but will have her looking to spark conversation on the journey to wherever the group is being led.

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

@Fading Memory love the post. I have gotten Rowan's Yo'Bikur form added to her CS and I will try to have a post out within the next 2 days

One small note though, the vines for Rowan are hidden beneath a layer or two of clothes. So she looks normal from an outsider's perspective. Hope that's alright

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

I dig it. Everyone’s posted now and I’ll respond with the NPCs when I can. Feel free to interact freely until I do.

@Fading Memory

Sounds good. I'll probably have another short post for Rowan coming soon. I found her entrance into the new world pretty passive as far as sparking interactions go. But I'm also busy so it may be the case you post before me which I'm all good with

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

Rowan is going to be the only one looking fully human by the end of this lol

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

Well now I gotta know what the power is!

Is it something we'll receive during the prologue, or not until after the time skip?

@Gisk

The power to control goblins, but only on a Wednesday afternoon

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

Post up

Just a heads up that I'm going to be away for the next week. I can likely make a small post if need be, but it will be via phone so be warned lol

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

Rowan Moore

---

Upon reaching the lake edge with Stig in tow, Rowan begins slowly making through the crowd toward the front assuming David will follow. She was lucky that the ceremony hadn't started yet and that most people were accommodating to make room for her to move through. Whether it was them just being polite or strictly because she was escorting Stig, she wasn't quite sure. But she suspected it was the latter.

Because of the elevated position of the founding families' representatives, Rowan could see Stig's mother waving toward them easily enough. She escorted Stig to the very front of the crowd and let him make the journey the rest of the way toward his mom. It wasn't a very tough trek for the toddler, so she was sure it was the right move. It wasn't Rowan's place to take that stage. Not yet anyway.

Rowan gave a friendly smile to the heads of the Hoar family, before retreating into the crowd. She wasn't fond of being upfront at these things.

---

Rowan had been standing back and taking in the beautiful sight of the ceremony. There was comfort for her in its predictability and its years of repetition never dulled her reaction to it all. That was until something went wrong, very wrong. This was Rowan's 17th ceremony. So when she noticed something so severely out of place, it shot up her spine in a cold chill. What the hell is happening to the raft?

Then the entire town froze. Rowan felt a heaviness in her chest as she realised that there was something supernatural at work here. She was becoming increasingly strained of breath as her feet began to move on their own, inching her away from this phenomenon.

As the giant pillar of water rose out of the lake, Rowan found her footing and turned on a heel to get out of there. But she immediately collided with townsfolk frozen in time and fell back onto the ground. She was growing more panicked as time went on. She couldn't even bring herself to look at the developing situation with the lake water. All that she had in mind was to get back to her feet and get out.

Then a tune began from the lake. It didn't sound ominous or haunting by any means, but Rowan was past the point where it would begin to calm her. Even stranger, the lyrics to the song apparated in her mind's eye as if she knew the lyrics when she had never heard them in her life.

As she finally gathered her footing again, something grabbed her from behind. One of the lake's tendrils had caught her, took her into the air, and toward the column of water. As Rowan is brought into the column, she faints.

---

A dream of colours beyond comprehension preempted Rowan's awakening in this new world. The air smelt different, she felt different, and her eyes could see she was nowhere near New Hope anymore. The events of the lake shore felt like a bad nightmare and the environment she was just in only served to confirm that it wasn't a construct of her mind. It all culminated in a sharp headache.

But upon sitting up and reaching for her head, she noticed she now had black gloves on. All her clothes had changed. Rowan now wore apparel that resembled the nobility of eras gone by. In addition to typical clothing, she wore leather gloves and boots, an encompassing cloak, and a finely made witch hat sat upon her head. The fabric used felt durable but looked fine and of very high quality. While the colour mostly consisted of midnight black, highlights of dark greens and silvers were present throughout the design.

New Look

What was more concerning to her was that Rowan felt some resistance when raising her hand. It was not as if the clothes she had on were ill-fitting, so she was left pondering what it could be. This strain persisted when just trying to move the fingers in her right hand. To the next logical step, she began taking off her right glove. With just a peak, she immediately rushed to cover her hand again. Such an action took about two seconds with her only revealing the inner part of her wrist. Thus no one had the opportunity to look but may have seen her reaction, which she tried to keep under wraps.

From what she could tell, Rowan's hands, arms, and up to between the shoulder blades were wrapped in thin vines. It didn't encompass her skin, it didn't create bumps in her clothes, nor did it restrict her movements very much. But it brought an uncomfortable strain to the movements. It was best to keep this quiet for now. Looking around, everyone else appeared different as well and no one was sure of themselves. It was best this not add to the worry.

"This wasn't how I expected this day to go." Rowan got herself up and onto her feet. Although it was hard to tell at a distance, she looks an inch or two taller.

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

@Fading Memory out of interest, which of the head families are currently in charge of the Moore clinic? I'm not sure I got an answer to that, but I'm certain it would shape Rowan's opinion on the founding families.

Nice post by the way. For the characters being shifted to another world, the more detail the better. So I like the longer post (haven't read it yet though)