The Territory of Sceval, Kaeleer (Saturday Afternoon, Fandom Time)

[glacial_queen]

Invitations had gone out, letting people know that Karla was planning to take a trip back to Kaeleer. Nothing special, just a short day-long trip, complete with picnic.

Of course, that was nothing special if you didn't know about the kind of picnic Mrs. Beale was capable of putting together with a bit of notice. Or if you weren't impressed with visiting unicorns all day. Whichever.

The portal opened up at the Hall, where the staff was packing up a single Coach with all of the supplies a group that size might need: sweetfeed, sugar cubes, apples, carrots--and provender for the picnickers, too. Guests would find themselves ushered into other Coaches; large wheeled conveyances that were powered by Craft and could be drawn by horses on roads or powered by Craft to travel over the Winds. Karla, Jaenelle, and Lucivar were not there to greet the Fandom folks; the latter two had gone ahead to ready everything on Sceval's end, and the former had vanished that morning, offering apologies and deliberately vague explanations of an errand that needed running.

Not that anyone at the Hall was going to let her absence slow down their timetable any. As soon as the last person was seated and comfortable and the last basket stowed, the Coaches took off, catching the nearby Opal Wind to speed them along.

The ride was on the longish side, lasting about an hour--apologies had been made, but Sceval was a closed Territory and portals were not permitted--but soon enough they were touching down again. This time, there was no extended hike through the woods, the Coaches landed in a large open meadow, next to a cheerful brook. Large blankets were already laid out, and the coachmen clambered down to open the doors and then begin unpacking the mountains of food they'd brought.

There were two people waiting for everyone when they climbed out. One was Karla, the other was a solemn dark-haired girl who looked about eight or nine. She gave the assembled group a tremulous smile and clutched Karla's hand tightly. Karla gave her a fond smile before looking up at her assembled friends.

"Welcome to Sceval," she said, waving with her free hand. "Lucivar and Jaenelle are already out visiting the herd, which you're welcome to do. There's food to eat if you're hungry and plenty of places to explore if you get restless. I didn't, uhh, plan any activities, so hopefully there's enough here to keep you entertained!"

[NFB for off-islandness]

Comments

During the Coach Ride

[glacial_queen]

The Coaches have windows (and curtains that can be pulled over them), but for those who wish to, they can look out the window into darkness (well, the Darkness) and see an entire network of glowing lines that streak through the vast expanse. The line you're on is a shimmering cream color, much wider that the Coach and acting like a road, and the lines stretch out in every direction (including down).

These are the Winds, the psychic roadways the Blood use to travel far distances. There are Winds for every Jewel rank, and if you look for long enough, you might be able to make out that each Wind is arrayed as a vast Web.

Feel free to talk, nap, view, or whatever on the trip there.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[endsthegame]

Ender spent most of the trip looking out, identifying the various webs. He wondered how they functioned, even if he knew that like with most magic, the very details would be beyond his grasp.

Spider webs could break, and they would take large quantities of web with them at even the merest sign of a snapping thread. Was that possible? And if it was, would that mean the entire web would unravel? What chaos might that cause?

Ender Wiggin: king of morbid. At least he was enjoying himself, in his way.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah had to look out the windows; she'd been hearing about Winds for ages, and to pass up the chance to see them... no.

And a wistful longing to fly that canyon Karla had told her about.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[bitchprince]

Fresh off that whole mess with Lancelot, and extremely uncomfortable with the enormous and casual amount of magic being exerted here was Arthur.

He was here to accompany Merlin - blame protective instincts - and little more, though he retained a soft spot in his heart for unicorns.

He was just going to sit here and radiate Totally Not Nervous.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

Elphaba wasn't exactly great company during the coach ride. So despite the wonder going on outside the coach, the witch from Oz was actually frowning and staring more at the floor of the coach.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Hayley Fitzpatrick, on the other hand, spend all of her time watching the glowing we of lines outside the window of the coach. She said not a word, at least not unless anyone spoke to her first, just drinking in all the beauty she could.

It left her speechless.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

Cassidy was more than just relaxed, she was both relaxed and excited. It was her first visit outside of Dharo since the whole mess with everything being erased and she was relieved to see that things in other areas of Kaeleer seemed normal.

As normal as they could be.

But look! The Winds were there like they were supposed to be!

Re: During the Coach Ride

[trigons_child]

Raven was a little reluctant to leave Fandom again right after she'd returned -- she hadn't even spoken to Jono yet, and after two and a half weeks of solitude, being around so many people was slightly uncomfortable. But she didn't want to disappoint Karla, and she decided she could spare a day at least.

She sat against a window, looking out into the darkness and marveling over the beauty of the lines of the Winds.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[wwiii]

The act of shoving himself into a coach in the first place was at least slightly mitigated by the fact that the coach was flying. Warren wasn't a fan of enclosed spaces, but if he looked out the window as the Winds and the Darkness passed by outside, he could, if nothing else, picture himself in the company jet in the dead of night or something.

You did what you needed to when you didn't take well to enclosed spaces.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[momslilassassin]

Ben looked out the window for a while, then closed his eyes and extended his senses through the Force, eager to understand how far the Web stretched beyond his physical senses.

It didn't feel like home, but right now that was kind of a relief. Home was hardly a reassuring place to be.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[furnaceface]

Jonothon had work to do, back on the island. And he'd be there to do it. Tomorrow. Today, there had been promises of a change of scenery, and some sort of distraction from the day-by-day slog that had slowly turned into the status quo.

He was quiet while he looked out the window, his collar pulled up over his face even though there was little need for it around the current company he was keeping. He was here for the fresh air, that was all.

Being able to breathe for a while would do him some good.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin was having a great time looking out the window to watch how everything worked. Because, well, magic. Magic being all there.

Excuse his dumb grin.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[life_inshadow]

For much of the trip, Tara couldn't take her eyes away from the view out the windows. She didn't understand how they worked, but the power in it hummed to her.

She hadn't been to Kaeleer since she was traveling after her mother died. It felt good to come back months later, and in a better frame of mind to appreciate it.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[olympian-herc.livejournal.com]

Unless someone told him to stop, Hercules was leaning most of his upper body out of the coach like an excited labrador retriever, an arm outstretched.

"Woooooo-hoooooo!" he cried, enjoying himself thoroughly. It was totally the appropriate thing to do.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[longislandiceme]

Bobby had made sure that Thor had enough water and food to last the weekend before coming on the trip. Now... he was absently watching out the window. It was kind of a different experience when there wasn't really scenery to see go by.

Re: During the Coach Ride

[thatsamilkshake]

The last time she'd been here, Francine hadn't looked. She might be more comfortable with strangeness outside and in than she'd been four years ago when she set foot in Fandom, but there were still things too big and powerful and...other to look at head on.

After what happened this winter, though, it seemed almost wrong not to look. To see everything that might have gone away forever if someone hadn't remembered it into being.

As she stared out the window now, she was as overwhelmed by the vastness as she'd feared she'd be... yet it didn't seem other at all. Huge, yes, but familiar. Had it always been that way, even when she was just too scared to look?

Re: During the Coach Ride

[heromaniac]

With apologies to anyone who was in the way, Momoko had managed to secure a seat by a window and now had her face plastered against it, looking out. It was... beautiful! Totally confusing, but beautiful.

Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

[kindrednotkind.livejournal.com]

Because it seemed wrong not to have a mingling thread.

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

[had-a-birdie.livejournal.com]

For those who'd been in Agio, the young girl was likely at least a little familiar. Cora had gotten a little older, but seemed quite young again, looking around her in wonder.

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

[endsthegame]

This, Ender hoped, would be a nice break: a change of scenery, something to explore, rather than to sit in his room in Fandom and pick over GA politics endlessly with Ben.

So he had a light smile on his face as he arrived, his eyes flicking over everything and taking it in.

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

Cassidy was trying see everyone and everything all at once -- while at the same time trying to appear like she wasn't. It probably wasn't working out quite as well as she hoped it was.

Visit with the Unicorns

[kindrednotkind.livejournal.com]

You know you want to.

[Feel free to mod your own unicorn, or request an NPC in the OOC thread...]

Re: Visit with the Unicorns

[kindrednotkind.livejournal.com]

*Please,* an older woman's voice echoed in their minds as a stately white mare came pacing over to Karla's side. She bent her head to whuff in the young girl's hair, then looked back up at the group. *Make yourselves comfortable, have fun, enjoy yourselves. We are pleased to host such a fine gathering.*

"Thank you, Lady Starcloud," Karla said with a small bow. "Starcloud is the Queen of the Territory," she added. "She is the one who agreed to let us visit."

Eat or Explore

[kindrednotkind.livejournal.com]

There's tons of moddable food, including a bunch of honey-pears and pickleberries. Eat your fill, there's plenty. There's also plenty of treats for the unicorns and they'd love if you shared.

As for exploration, the meadow is huge, easily several miles across. It's bordered on three sides by woods (and following the brook will eventually lead you to a small pond, big enough for several people to swim in). To the fourth side are mountains; they're quite a ways away, but easily reachable by unicorn if you wanted to go hiking.

Re: Eat or Explore

[offers-choices.livejournal.com]

After a brisk ride around the meadow on Mistral, Lucivar was settled down on one of the picnic blankets, a huge plate of food in front of him.

He'd also vanished four of the honey-pears. They were a commodity!

Other Activites

[changeable-eyes.livejournal.com]

...In case I forgot any. Hey, it's 4, it's not just possible, it's likely.

Re: Other Activites

[walks-two-paths.livejournal.com]

Every time she visited Karla's home, Savannah was struck by how amazing it was. Dragons and unicorns had always just been in tales to her, but thanks to her friend, she was getting to meet more and more of those people.

This would be why after exploring and interacting with the unicorns and different people, she found herself a nice place to sit. Once she was comfortable, out came the sketchbook and pencils.

Like she was going to pass up this opportunity to sketch?

OOC

[glacial_queen]

Sleeeeeeepy.

Feel free to ping in and free-for-all this post. I'll ping in in the morning whenever I wake up, but don't feel like you have to wait for me.

Ping here with questions, comments, NPC-requests and the like.

Speaking of, I'd LOVE a few volunteers to be random unicorns. Please let me know if you're interested!

Re: OOC

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Why do I have to still be at work?

...hey, you didn't say they had to be relevant questions.