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Kale Hearthward QUEST TRACKER

Main Quests:
1. Find a missing right arm (0/1)
2. Find a missing pair of legs (0/2)
3. Find missing pieces of a door (1/3)

Side Quests:
1. Catch up with Future(?) Kale
2. Help WorldMachine with their existential crisis
3. Find Green Mage and learn about Medallion
4. Beat up Professor Orange for being creepy

Party Inventory:
* Red Doll
* Blue Thief
* Blue Door Piece #3
* Fifth Absolute Truth: Play Dice with the Universe.

---

Back at the crossroads. Timebubbles are convoluted and unnecessary, so you can have stayed or gone home as you please, and like either an hour or a week has passed per whatever's most convenient for you. Who has four dimensions and doesn't care? This universe!

Ahem. To recap, the choices of doors:

DOORS (not in any specific order):
1. Empty space (tree roots)
2. Empty space (thin)
3. Empty space (cat pawprints)
4. Empty space (disused)
5. Empty space (heavy use)
6. Gray door (dance club)
7. Hanging curtains with carnival lights
8. Warped purple door
9. Dark green door (forested area leading to the castle area) (explored)
10. Double castle door (shortcut to the castle area) (explored)
11. Plain blue doorframe without a door
12. Plain green door (shortcut to the multiversal exit)

---

The hanging curtain door leads to:

THE CARNIVAL

Oh boy! The carnival! Who could ever be bored at the carnival!

To the left as you enter, there's a fenced off go-kart track, with a race currently in progress.

The track is a relatively simple closed circuit, with a few hairpin curves and a few roadside obstacles for the unwary, but not a lot else in the way of hazards or features.

There's the usual assortment of odd characters racing down the track. As people trickle in, the race is finishing, and there's karts available for those who feel the need for (relatively fast compared to walking) speed.

At this carnival, there is, also, an obstacle course! There's piled-up logs serving as walls, a small pit with a tire swing to get across it, a set of ramps and ladders, and similar obstacles.

And that... does appear to be about it, for right here.
Kale Hearthward Meanwhile, the warped purple door leads to:

THE TOWN

There's two streets, and a short road connecting them in an H pattern. There's a few houses and storefronts here - not all of which are occupied, and nearly all of which are afflicted by the same lack of oeuvre that's stricken most of the environment... black, featureless walls, defined by a bit of color remaining at the corners.

There's a fountain. It looks like it's been broken for years. (Maybe longer than years.)

There's a guy here. He's got a tattered green cloak and hat, and a rather featureless face - if that even is a face. Right now, he's off on the side of the road, scrabbling around on the ground in the manner of someone who's lost their glasses.

Off in a different part of town, there's that frog guy again - he's sitting on a log, tuning a bass guitar.

---

WorldMachine/Worldy is going to check out THE TOWN.
Red Doll and Blue Thief are going to THE CARNIVAL.
There is a conspicuous lack of Kale, though his crew are sticking around in the crossroads setting up a base camp.

There's really just two options left for places to explore, unless someone wants to try doing something outside of the box. You get the feeling that if you want to split up, that's fine, but minimum party size is two. You know, buddy system, for safety reasons.
Xion Xion has decided to loiter at the CARNIVAL today, having spent an hour//a week away recovering and going to activities and somehow ending up back here in this place of low inspiration!

But at least there's bumpercars. Hanging out in her silver-draws and silky-black cult coat as usual, the black haired girl stands at the front of the bumpercar line waiting for her turn. She's been waiting her for a while//no time at all, so she's not sure if her turn is up or not.

Seeing as they're still locating the parts for the door, she has fallen into minigame mode while the thing to unlock is assembled, like an NPC engaging in background activities until the story cycle revolves back to them again.
Madeleine Cadrasteia     "You know," Madeleine says, "Future Kale didn't give any sign of there being a Future Hazelthistle et cetera, right? If there's only one of them, and multiple of him, he's either split up from or lost them at some point. Let's keep an eye out for..." She glances at the crew to remind herself of their species. "Mice and songbirds."

    Worldmachine starts walking off toward the town. "We uh, probably shouldn't let someone who needed permission to run away from home go wandering unsupervised." She sets off in the direction of the town, sticking close by the Worldmachine as they explore. "What's their deal, anyway?" She asks of any other elites who follow. "Some kind of world... machine? That's all I know, wasn't here for the business with Niko or whoever."

    Anyway. Madeleine approaches the green mage. "You look like a green mage," she says to Green Mage. She then realizes she doesn't know why they're after him, and looks to the other elites. "Do we have a reason to care about Medallion?" she wonders aloud, accidentally name-dropping the mage's favorite ritual.
Aidan Proudpick Aidan looks at Hazelthistle and Skye quizzically as he looks around at the lack of hawk, opening his mouth to ask, but then closes it again. He instead scowls in the general direction of the doors. "Hope he's alright and discovering something heartfelt and important about himself."

"You know,"

"Yea, he also said he would be contacting us, and I never got a call from him." He wears turquoise tank top, a bright green pair of loose pants, and has dipped the tip of his big fluffy squirrel tail in a bright yellow green as his armor against the world itself, humming a light tune. A serious nod, and Aidan heads towards the carnival with purpose.

"You can just drive here? In a free car?" Aidan says, bouncing next to Xion for eternity//some time to come. There is no way he can pass up this chance. He'll just do ONE race and then look for FK/PO/GM. The SECOND someone is getting out of a kart, Aidan is already in it.
Calvin Nash      Calvin watches the Red Doll and the Blue Thief pass through to the carnival with a soft 'hm.'

    They didn't seem to have any particular animosity towards each other earlier, despite what the Thief did. That by itself seems unusual, to him--that there wouldn't even be an initial outburst to overcome. That they'd go to the carnival together on their own seems to border the outlandish.

    "Y'all mind your manners," he warns, before turning to focus on work. Xion seems like she can handle it.

    Last time, they explored the castle and came up only somewhat not-empty handed. Gold Pig evidently doesn't want to be found--but Calvin is on his trail, and the first step of the next stretch of the investigation takes him to...

THE TOWN.

    Do we have a reason to care about Medallion?

    "No stone unturned," says Calvin to Madeleine with a slight shrug. This is looking to be one of those sorts of jobs.

    "Whatcha lookin' for, boss?" he asks, more clearly directed at the green figure. "Can I help ya find it?"
Sarracenia      After their last visit...Sarra is not so upset to end up here again. After all, she met someone who could tolerate her -and- showed interest in some things that she said! Sure, that person is a stalwart ally of Lilian, but so far that has not been an issue!

     As soon as she sees Xion she heads toward the noirette to spark up the conversation that was kind of left unfinished. Xion had asked about Sarra's more traditional attempts at fighting aging, and now as Xion loiters she is being regaled with Sarra's skincare regiment, her exercise routine, and her avoidance of things such as processed foods, alcohol, smoking, and excessive exposure to sunlight. "...and each day is finished with a milk-infused bath using soaps that are gentle on the skin and infused with such things as aloe, coconut oil, and numerous vitamins~ That is why my hair has such a lustrous shine to it and my skin is so luminous~"

     Surely Xion will not regret engaging with Sarra's interests.

     Florence the piranha plant has once again been brought along to keep things more colorful and entertaining. And with that same intent Sarra has had a special dress commissioned! It is a dress of swirled red and copper colors made of a material that is shimmery to almost a metallic degree. Which fits fairly well with her metallic burgundy gloves.

     "If you would like I can provide you with the soaps and lotions I use to keep my youthful appearance." the princess adds as they stand in line for bumpercars. She looks around after a few moments. "So, how long do you think we have to play games before that obvious trap appears and the route to Dr. Orange is opened?"

     Aidan is also with them, which means Sarra might actually have more people around her who are okay with her existence than not! She even joins Aidan in the karts at some point!
Futaba Nuki After a timely refresh and handling assorted home duties that can't be procrastinated on any longer, Futaba has returned to the crossroads surrounded by doors, partial doors, and no doors whatsoever. Dressed in her usual jacket and shorts combo, she takes a moment to refamiliarize herself to all the paths laid before her before heading to...

The town! She can't leave WorldMachine to check the place out alone, after all, even if it's a smaller place than home. Madeleine reveals her unfamiliarity with WorldMachine's circumstances, too, so it's a good opportunity to give her the most basic rundown: "Worldy here? Aah.. Long story short, big adventure in a computer with Niko. Worldy here's the computer, and they're learnin' how to be..."

She gestures vaguely at WorldMachine as though that might be explain anything. "How to be." It's so small she's not even sure whether to call it a town or something else, but she only lets herself get distracted by semantics for a little bit before noticing that guy there. Judging from the way he's reaching on the ground, he must've dropped something, and...

Well, he's the only other person here she hasn't met yet, so she might as well fix that while the opportunity presents itself. Nudging Worldy gently, she gestures at the guy to direct their attention his way before approaching him. "Hey there! You need a hand?" The ever-helpful tanuki calls out, raising her arm in a quick wave while traipsing on over. It doesn't dawn on her until she reaches him that she probably should've kept her distance in case she stepped on whatever it is he might be looking for, but...

She'll worry about that later. "You drop something, or... Lookin' for treasure somewhere?  A Medallion, maybe?"
Petra Soroka Petra isn't thrilled to be back in the vacant chasm of enrichment that is the Everhood, but she's even less inclined to allow a child to wander freely around the two most mind-numbingly developmentally-stunting things she knows of, besides American suburbia-- the Everhood, and the company of other Elites. She can't allow WorldMachine's perspective of the outside world be tainted like that, even though it'd essentially give them an accurate judgement about the quality of the world as a whole. No child deserves to be exposed to Aidan Proudpick at that young an age.

    And so, here she is, wincing and biting the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood for the counterintuitive well of ouevre that the pain brings (counterintouevre?). She's got her guitar strapped to the side of the Eggpack once again, wearing her CREATURE MODE shirt for the memory of more interesting people beyond these color-bleached walls, as if decorating herself in reminders of her loved ones works like armor. It probably does!

"What's their deal, anyway?"

    So of course, Petra is in the Town with Worldy. Hanging back to talk with the Adults while they wander off ahead, she says aside to Madeleine, latching onto the conversation like a drowning woman, "Oh, so, she's a computer that used to simulate a whole entire world that Niko was stuck in. We had to save that world from ending by giving Worldy a body-- she basically looks just like Niko, but, like, color-swapped-- and giving her a purpose besides that whole apocalypse garbage. So that *was* going to just be hanging out and growing up as Niko's sister with her parents, but I guess she just sort of, uh, didn't want that, and left. Not a lot of eight year olds in perfectly loving families would do that, but--"

    Petra cuts off mid-sentence as if hitting a wall, looking introspectively dazed for a solid few seconds. She fidgets with the straps of the Eggpack, slowly starting forwards again, and gets some of her words back. "Ah... well... I guess *I* did leave home at eight too, huh. Can't really blame them. So... yeah."

    Off the topic of herself again, Petra's words pick up back to normal, still chattering while approaching Green Mage. "Yeah. So I was looking into what kind of, adoption, foster, home, stuff, would work alright for her. I know a few people who run communities for taking care of kids, but, none of them really work for one reason or another. There were some Paladins-affiliated ones I called up-- I'll have to tour or something-- but it's not like we can just drop her off in some random country, and having access to Elite-type stuff would let her travel around with supervision even when we're not around. So that's the idea."

"You drop something, or... Lookin' for treasure somewhere? A Medallion, maybe?"

    "Oh, damn, he *is* green. You'd think eternity would get people better names. Like, damn." If there are glasses, Petra steps on them. If the Medallion is a physical thing that Green Mage is looking for, Petra steps on it. She doesn't look down to intentionally stomp on them-- her boot just inerringly seeks out precious objects to flatten.
Angela Angela is of course going where Petra is going.

Cinder is of course going where Petra is going.

Nevertheless, Angela's interest is on Worldy even though Worldy betrayed her completely and can never be forgiven. She also finds Red Doll incredibly dull since they(?) can't even talk to her and it's a little unclear if Red Doll is intending to do the very objective a Frog told her was important to do. Normally numerous adventure game puzzles would appeal to her, but she's a backpack right now which really reinforces the whole Escape Room vibe she's getting. Get the hand. Get the door pieces. Kill an ATM. Those sorts of normal escape room things. Angela has been playing a very convoluted Escape Room her entire life and her limited ability to engage and handle the 'puzzles' on her own terms is really dragging on her in a completely non mystical or spiritual way.

"So um... Is your ... adventure going as you hoped?" She asks of Wordly, trying to be nice and friendly with the...kid? "Do you have a better idea of what you want to do now?"

Angela's eyes widen faintly upon seeing GREEN MAGE. Progress! But she asides to Petra, "That's the Green Mage--The Purple Mage spoke of ... ... The Green Mage."

''I guess *I* did leave home at eight too, huh.''

"Them?" She asks.

''I know a few people who run communities for taking care of kids.''

"When my parents decided to take in a couple of children, it did not go well." Angela says. "I must admit, I do have some curiousity in what competent parenting would look like. I suspect mostly like Hector? I don't think I know of anyone else who might qualify."

''You'd think eternity would get people better names.''

"...Frog..." She murmurs.
Kale Hearthward > They didn't seem to have any particular animosity towards each other earlier...

Blue Thief seemed to be expecting that too, but Red Doll just... doesn't emote. There's the occasional head nod or shake in response to a question, and they seem to have their own agenda as far as where they want to go, but beyond that... Red Doll just keeps to themselves and doesn't get involved much.

... They keep to themselves, and seem to be watching the elites a lot.

> "So um... Is your ... adventure going as you hoped?"

Worldy doesn't look up or over as they talk, keeping their gaze fixed forward.

"Not precisely. I was hoping I would find fulfillment. Purpose. Some other qualities I find myself lacking but are hard to categorize. Instead..."

"Instead, I find myself mostly missing the place I left."

"... Not enough to call off the search, however."

Worldy looks back up at Angela finally. "... Do you think this was a mistake?"

CARNIVAL

> "So, how long do you think we have to play games before that obvious trap appears and the route to Dr. Orange is opened?"

"If it's Professor Orange - probably while we're distracted," says Blue Thief.

Xion gets in line for go karts! Which absolutely *can* be used as bumper cars if that's what she wants, but probably not for more than a few times, and will probably lead to spinal problems for her later in life. (This is what it means to Yes And.)

The cars fill up with a variety of colorful characters. The race starts...

... and immediately, the racers are sabotaged.

"I still haven't forgotten about that two billion schmuckers drink you all ruined!" yells Zigg, as he pulls a bottle out of his pocket and smashes it on the ground. Whatever's inside spreads across the track. "Have fun being in last place!"

Your carts are going to spin out while going over the spill, if you don't do something fast!

> "So, how long do you think we have to play games before that obvious trap appears and the route to Dr. Orange is opened?"

Sarracenia doesn't get an answer *right* away.

But, Red Doll, who didn't get on the karts, is waiting by the fenced side of the track, and points back towards the entrance of the carnival as the racers come by...

... The entrance which has moved a full twelve feet to the left, and has a slightly different color of curtains. The group can go jump the fence and trigger the obvious trap now, if they really want...

... though - this is still lap one of three. Sarracenia's not going to let Zigg *win*, is she?

TOWN

"What?" The Green Mage's 'face' turns towards Maddie when she asks. "Yes, I'm Green Mage - What about Medallion? Is this some sort of prank?"

"I'd blast you into smithereens over that... if I had my eye."

> "A Medallion, maybe?"

"Oh, you're serious. Yes, I've got Medallion, I've been working on it for centuries now."

> "Can I help ya find it?"

"Yeah, it's... rolled away somewhere." Green Mage gropes around blindly (literally) on the ground. "Look. You want to see Medallion? I'll be glad to show it off, but I can't exactly do that without my eye."

"You find it, I'll go get it started just for you lot."

Petra, of course, steps on it. (It doesn't break, fortunately or unfortunately.) It's a glass orb around the size of a baseball.
Petra Soroka     "Wahh--!" Smooth, glass baseball-sized spheres have a particular effect when placed under a heavy drowntrod, and that is that they roll. Petra's boot slips, sending her tottering backwards, and to avoid planting Angela's screen directly into the ground, she contorts to fall onto the much more painful option of her side. She whines when hitting her elbow on the ground, but still-- she's been given a chance!

    Petra snatches the glass orb up, then scrambles back to her feet, orb gripped in her hand. "Hah! Is this what you were looking for? Your..." She gets a look at it for the first time, smudged with dirt from her boot, and yelps. "... Eye?! Ew, ew, ew, ew."

    Rather than handing it over, she delicately holds the eye up and as far away from her as possible-- certainly not being able to hold it out of Green Mage's reach, unless they're suprisingly short, but still playing the role of keepaway. "Okay, well, we're looking for Gold Pig and-- we need to stop him from building a little guy. So if you want your, *eye*, back, you should tell us how to do that."

    In the middle of her performance, Petra suddenly gets stricken by self-doubt, looking to Cinder, Futaba, Calvin, and Madeleine for support. "... That's what Medallion's connected to, right? I mean, we're just looking for the red doll's legs. Like, what else is this all for?"
Calvin Nash 1So that's the idea.

    "Well, hope you're able to find somethin' for 'er," says Calvin to Petra, starting today's incursion off with sincerity rather than patronizing. "Hard to be a kid sometimes. Bet it's harder to be a smart kid, and she's smart as a whip."

I'd blast you into smithereens over that... if I had my eye.

     "M*hm.*" The tone is halfway between 'we'll see about that' and 'try it.'

Yeah, it's... rolled away somewhere.

    "Can't have gotten far," he nonetheless says, removing his sunglasses (why does he keep wearing them to this place where so much is unfilled-in black space?). Hanging them on the collar of his uniform's short-sleeved shirt, he takes a look around.

    It doesn't take him much looking around with his hand uselessly shading his eyes to see that it's not around here--or at least, that nothing resembling an eye is on the undercooked ground of this place.

    He tips his hat backwards to scratch his wavy blonde hair, his brow furrowed in thought, until Petra eats shit.

    "Oh," he says, looking towards her with the measured disinterest of a gym teacher more prepared to blow a whistle than lend a hand. "Petra--what's that you got--" He stops himself. If he had an eye, would he want to know it was under someone's boot and scraped around the ground? Probably not. "Whatcha got there? Is that it?"

So if you want your, *eye*, back, you should tell us how to do that.

     "Now you know that ain't right. What in the hell's the point of helping them two back there if we're gonna act the same kinda fool as that dumbass pig? Give it back."
Xion Xion is hanging out in the line for what she thinks are the Bumper Cars! She doesn't know the difference between a go-kart and a bumper-car, seeing as they're both small vehicles with padding on the side (to be safe-ish for children) that you drive at a carnival to cause reasonable levels of destruction!

Duh!

They resemble the same thing because, as prior noted, Xion cannot drive.

So instead she 'engages' Sarracenia about her beauty tips! The Nobody, player 2 subject to Sarra's whims and relations about every kind of beauty, is a generally-engaged and pleasant companion through the explanations, nodding along until the end when she smiles and offers a faint:

"Well, Sarra, that sounds like it takes a lot of time. Have you considered that if you spend six hours out of every eight seeing to your beauty, you've only two hours to live beautifully? You might want to find a way to simplify all that prep, huh?" The noirette asks innocently, her own forays into fashion being street clothes and sword styles.

Then, they're allowed to get into a race!

Xion is not even settled into her seat and finding her accelerator and started when Zigg throws a slick juice onto the track and threatens them!

Remembering what Chase taught her about seatbelt safety, Xion unclicks her harness and gets out of her racer, advancing on Zigg. "Hey! Thirsty! Things are *worth* what people are willing to *pay* for them. Other people! So how about I give you a nice cold beverage to *heck off*?!" Xion asks, incensed. She was so excited for ~~bumper cars~~ go karts!
Madeleine Cadrasteia     Madeleine catches on to Petra's self-doubtful glance, and folds her arms, doing the best she can to look tough. With her spiky black clothes it kind of works, and hey, she might even be taller than Green Mage if his proportions are anything like the other wizard she's met in the Everhood. "Yeah. We're after Gold Pig. He owes someone a hand, if you catch my meaning." She hesitates. *Will* Green Mage catch her meaning? "He's stealing body parts and we don't care for that. If you want the folks in this 'Everhood' in one piece you'll give us a- you'll help us out."
Aidan Proudpick Aidan taps his chin, "Is there a milk substitute? And do you use an ivory comb? Your hair looks AMAZING." His 'hair' hair is actually limited to a short scruff. But as he is 25 percent fur by weight, he has to keep up his routine. Right now, the slow trickle of income and Tridaeg accomodations means his sheen and lustre is mediocre.

GO KARTS.

He doesn't FIT in the go-kart very well. His knees are up too high, he has to grab the wheel around them. Immediately, Aidan's ride is ruined as the bottle hits the ground. Whatever seeps out over the floor suddenly pulls the go-kart into a spin. A wild spin of the wheel around, mashing the brake, turning the steering wheel wildly as he struggles to gain control. "HEY!" He shouts out towards Zigg, "That's not fair! I didn't see the last racers using that!" Aidan, who isn't about to CHEAT, because then he wouldn't be awesome, he'd just be a cheater, puts his foot to the gas pedal. He hits the wall in front of him. A spin of the wheel. A mash of the gas pedal. He hits the wall in front of him. A couple more of these and he's back into the race, well behind everyone else. Except Xion.

"Woah! Woah! This is a race track! You can't just beat him up, Xion!" Aidan putters after Xion in the go kart. "You gotta beat him at the race!" A hesitation. If he attacks Zigg, Zigg will get beaten up. But no one in here seems to feel THAT bad about getting beaten up. And, really, does he have a leg to stand on with the whole honoring a challenge thing just yet?

Another wall. Another turn of the wheel, trying to get away from the wall.
Angela Angela, of course, didn't ask the question about the adventure. That was Cinder. But Angela definitely knows Worldy more than Cinder does. Nevertheless, Cinder asking the question and getting that kind of answer results in the Agent biting at her lip and looking away for a moment. SHe doesn't think that she really knows ... that she is the best person for this question as someone who was essentially kidnapped from her home, then ran from her second home, and wasn't allowed back into her first home.

"There's... no shame in traveling but still having a home to go back to." Cinder manages, looking to Angela as if for support--

--but Angela is ... frowning thoughtfully. And thinking about if she's being too hard on Worldy now that they're actually asking for some kind of advice. Angela doesn't have the best grasp on children as entities since the one child she knew growing up is actually considerably older than her, even if--perhaps--not effectively older than her due to Angela's continued throughline of thought relative to Tiphereth's constant resets.

"...Most people cannot live without seeking purpose." Angela says. "But I've seen the harm that allowing purpose to purely drive one's actions can unleash, even towards one's loved ones. I suppose it is not exactly an exciting answer--but there is a question of whether you miss that place because it is simply familiar and easy, or if you miss it because you miss the people you care about or what you were doing there."

Angela continues to babble. "So if you miss the people--even if the work you had there was unfulfilling--then perhaps the issue isn't so much as you left home, but the permanence you seemed to imply with your departure. Having a place to return to--most people would be envious to have found something like that readily."

She sighs. "I must confess, your denial of your personhood bothered me, but ultimately how you define yourself is up to you and not up to me. You should feel free to ignore my feelings on the matter. ... But you need not exile yourself to travel. I think seeing the worlds, in of itself, is a noble desire--even if the worlds aren't neccessarily pleasant. But you shouldn't abandon those who care for you."

AND THEN--

Petra steps on something. And falls backwards.

"Ack! Petra!" Cinder shouts.

Angela, unable to help, provides a, "Wahh." of solidarity as she 'tumbles' with Petra.

"You okay, Petra?" Cinder says, jogging to catch up.

''If you want your *eye* back...''

"...THere is no reason to be loyal to Gold Pig. He betrays those who help him." There is a pause. "...Yes, I would like to see Medallion."

She is interested in magic rituals of course!
Xion > 'You can't just beat him up, Xion!'

Xion looks over her shoulder and away from Zigg while she stands just off the track. Her eyes squint, ever-so-lightly confused, at the gangly kart-bound squirrel.

'Yes I can.' mouths Xion, without intonation, like she's addressing a child shouting from the periphery, and to reinforce her point turns back to Zigg with the shimmery-'shwink!' of the Kingdom Key summonning to hand and transitioning over shoulder in a casual couching.
Sarracenia      'I still haven't forgotten about that two billion schmuckers drink you all ruined!'

     Sarra is /definitely/ not going to let Zigg win! "That drink was barely worth two! Rasta said so! And that is not even the name of the currency!" Sarra shouts at the nasty little...what was he again? An elf? Sarra doesn't have anything to avoid the spill, except...her skills from practicing for and never getting invited to the kart races common in Pipeland! She leans forward and with a 'hup!' she hops her kart upward to avoid the worst of the spill!

     That isn't all she has though! Once recovered from the slick she reaches into her bag and pulls out...a red shell! She waits until the right moment, then throws it forward at Zig! It locks on, following the curves of the track and Ziggs movements, and naturally since it is one of Sarra's weapons it explodes on impact! Though not actually enough to cause any harm to person or kart. Just send them spinning into a wall or tumbling about. "It will be hard to buy any drinks at all from a hospital bed!!" she shouts despite the non-lethal attack.

     While she is mad, Sarra is not incensed like Xion. This is just some more fun at the carnival and an excuse to blow things up! The princess has on a rather large grin.

     Xion leaps from her cart and Sarra tsks. "Xion! You should really just stay in your cart and use some power-ups! It will make it much more fu-uuunn~!" Sarra says, sing-songing that last word. "You too, Aidan!" she adds, then starts throwing random power-ups over the track around her!
Futaba Nuki "Instead, I find myself mostly missing the place I left."

"Nothing wrong with getting a little homesick. Don't fret too much about that, though, because it's not like you're never gonna go back there sometime."  Futaba pats WorldMachine on the shoulder lightly at that. "They're waiting for you to come back, too."

"I'd blast you into smithereens over that... if I had my eye."

"Temper, temper. What crawled up your butt, bud?" Futaba asks with a playful chuckle besides Calvin, knowing full well why just from that very thing Green Mage just said. It actually explains quite a lot already,  and she sighs dramatically while getting ready to join in the search for the elusive eye. "Couldn't have gotten too far, right?" She chimes in while holding her hand up above her eyes like she's shielding them from the sun, except she doesn't actually need to do that right now.

No, it's because she can't resist the urge to just peek a little at the Green Mage's face, and she's sneaking a look that way (mostly around and into where the eyehole would be). She's curious, but she looks over once she hears Petra making that noise between falling and landing. Snorting once at the display, she nevertheless raises an eyebrow when Petra takes the opportunity to try and squeeze some information out of the Green Mange.

"Hey now... Calvin's right. We're gonna stop ol' Gold Pig either way, so there's no need for all this right off the bat." A beat, and then she taps her chin while nodding slowly in agreement with Angela's comment. "Besides... Yeah, Miss Angela's got the right idea. You wanna see Medallion, too, right? We can't just NOT see it after coming out all this way!"

Another beat, and then she turns to Green Mage. "So what's Medallion, anyway? No.. Wait. Don't tell us. Show. Don't want to ruin the surprise!"
Kale Hearthward CARNIVAL

Xion gets out of her kart, and goes to threaten Zigg's life points directly. "It was just a prank," he complains. "Get a sense of humor."

"Throwing stuff on the track, that's *really* against the rules," says Rasta Beast, who's parked nearby. "We've only not called you on it yet because you keep losing even though you cheat."

But if Xion gives the whiny magic pot an elixir (or sufficiently fills his INTIMIDATION METER, whichever happens first), he'll go away, off to probably go smoke a cigarette behind the obstacle course, or something.

"Thank goodness - let's get the race started again," says Rasta Beast. "I want to see what you newcomers can do."

Then ensues an ACTUALLY FRIENDLY RACE, facilitated by Sarracenia's powerups. Sarracenia probably smokes everyone given she has theme advantage and the other two don't, but it's still fun. Who knew that removing toxic people from social circles would work this well?

Afterwards, there is another race getting ready to start (same track, same competitors (minus Zigg)), or the probably-vastly-underdifficultied obstacle course to do, but more importantly the obvious trap has appeared. If anyone tries going through or peeking through the door, it leads to a steep drop down to a forest floor...
Petra Soroka "I must admit, I do have some curiousity in what competent parenting would look like. I suspect mostly like Hector?"

    "Huh." Petra considers that for a bit, since she's had her own thoughts about how few good parents are around in Elite communities. "I mean, yeah, actually. He's pretty good, so that's a good choice."

"Bet it's harder to be a smart kid, and she's smart as a whip."

    Petra sighs a bit regretfully, looking at WorldMachine as they totter around. "I'm not really the best qualified, to-- to get a kid a home, like, at all. I don't even *want* kids. But I think I'm the one around who's got the best, like, real-world experience to work with here, and most of the other Elites around that know them can't be trusted at all. So I'll figure something out, for once they're done here."

"Instead, I find myself mostly missing the place I left."

    Petra mutters to herself, "Fucking shocker..." before speaking up to actually reply to WorldMachine, catching up to Cinder's side. "You know, though, there's only so much you can actually, like, experience, in how short a time you've been alive. That's what travelling really gets you, experience. So it's partly going to be up to time, probably."

"You okay, Petra?"

    Petra nods a few times at Cinder, pushing herself back up to standing. "A-okay. I just stepped on this guy's gross eye." There goes Calvin's attempt at a white lie by omission.

"Now you know that ain't right. What in the hell's the point of helping them two back there if we're gonna act the same kinda fool as that dumbass pig? Give it back."

    Petra huffs, clearly immediately seeing the logic of Calvin's argument and only becoming more stubborn for it. While still holding the eye above her head, she protests, "Okay, like, but I'm *giving* it back. I'm not running away and sticking it in the eye socket of some fucked up rainbow homunculus I'm making. Like, he can just *have* it, once he answers the question. What do you think I'd *do* with a random *eye* that I've got? Of course I'm giving it back."
Futaba Nuki "What do you think I'd *do* with a random *eye* that I've got?"

"Sight gags." Futaba answers almost immediately, shooting Petra a stupid grin and giving her the fingerguns.
Aidan Proudpick An item box hits the ground just in front of Aidan. It shatters, turning into fragments of light and a button appears on Aidan's dashboard. Around the go-kart, three large mushrooms sprout into place, short, squat, a real chodes of a mushroom with blinking eyes. "Hurricanes, yes!" He brings up a squirrely fist and slams down into the button. Fire suddenly erupts from the back of the cart and propels the kart forward at high speed!

Into a wall.

This continues two more times. And several dozen more times in the next race. At one point, Aidan gets a super star, but is still wiggling around the hairpin turns.

At the end of the race, Aidan groans, letting his limbs stretch as he climbs out of the car. Still, he is smiling, despite the possible chronic back pain that he's developed. "Well! I'm never going to actually drive. You were great, Sarracenia, first place!"

An eye cast over at the obstacle course. "Okay, trap first. Then I can set a new obstacle course record!" He immediately heads for the door, jogging towards it at a steady pace, as if it were a wall he might break through.
Calvin Nash Of course I'm giving it back.

    Calvin makes a 'whissht' noise like shooing a dog, and flicks his index from Petra to the mage.

Sight gags.

    "Futaba," says Calvin, shaking his head.
Kale Hearthward TOWN

"Eh? The arm that Gold Pig took? That's what you're after?"

"Heck if I know. I think he just took it because he's bored."

"He does that sort of thing when he gets bored. And he's a bit of a jerk and a coward, so he had us break the door that goes to his secret lair, and hide the three pieces."

> "...There is no reason to be loyal to Gold Pig. He betrays those who help him."

"You gotta understand, though, he's a jerk and a coward and a bully, but he pays really well. And I got evil wizard powers out of the deal. You understand my position, right?"

"Look." Green Mage holds his hand out vaguely towards Petra's voice. "Make you a deal. Give me back the eye, I'll show you Medallion, then I'll give you the blue door piece I've got hidden. I'll even tell you where you can find the last two pieces. How about that?"

> "So what's Medallion, anyway? No.. Wait. Don't tell us. Show. Don't want to ruin the surprise!"

"Oh, you're going to love it. I've been working on it for *decades*. I've had to look in so many old books to find things, and fill up entire tomes worth of notes, and spend long nights painstakingly preparing the components."

> "Having a place to return to--most people would be envious to have found something like that readily."

"... I see..."

> "But you shouldn't abandon those who care for you."

"... You are right. I should not. There is a low probability that I will find someone like them again."

"Maybe, once we are done, I will go back home. For at least a short while."
Madeleine Cadrasteia     "Well, look at it like this," Madeleine says to the Mage. "Last guy the Pig hired didn't get paid, *and* he got robbed. By Gold Pig! He's running a racket! It's just not your turn on the chopping block yet. For all you know he's got his own plans for that special eye of yours."
Sarracenia      Driving cars is not her focus, but Sarra definitely knows how to drive karts! She may bounce off a wall a few times, but skillful deployment of power-ups and drifting and drafting nets her a win!

     Xion and Aidan receive no help from her beyond the power-ups. She plays to win! Once the race is over she collects whatever the winning prize is (if any), then gives her hair a swish and lets out a haughty laugh. "Thank you, Aidan~ I am starting to see why you say this place is great! My skills have really been able to shine in this world!" she says, obviously happy about the win. She even leaves a pile of them with Rasta Beast so that at least for a couple of races after the carnival goers will be able to enjoy an authentic Karting experience.

     Once they are headed toward the door with Xion, Sarra returns to the previous topic of discussion. "Oh, you are quite right! But, as a princess often on the go I do employ a small army of servants to expedite the process. It rarely takes me more than an hour to get through my entire beauty regiment thanks to them. If I was doing it alone...goodness, I might never actually leave the castle!" she says as she follows after Aidan.

     Finding that the door leads to a drop into a forest hardly slows Sarra down. She just pulls a shimmering gold cape power-up, dons it, and floats her way down. She offers one to Xion and Aidan as well. After that race Sarracenia is feeling pumped! She really hopes she can hang on to that feeling for a while in this place! And in an effort to do that she starts humming a spritely tune that puts in mind winning with a side of nostalgia.
Petra Soroka "Sight gags."

    "Close your eyes and grit your teeth," Petra reacts with instant hostility to Futaba's pun, bouncing the eye in her hand as if it's a real baseball she's about to lob at full force.

Calvin makes a 'whissht' noise like shooing a dog,

    "Huh?!" Petra whips her head around at Calvin, betrayed by the quiet jingling of the lily on her collar. "Excuse me?! I'm still getting *information*? I'm being *pragmatic*? Hello??"

"And he's a bit of a jerk and a coward, so he had us break the door that goes to his secret lair, and hide the three pieces."

    Petra says smugly to the side, "See? Information," before turning to Green Mage. "So he knew someone was coming after the arm? Why? Did he think the red doll would? Or that people like us would follow?"

"And I got evil wizard powers out of the deal. You understand my position, right?"

    "Some wizard. You can't even cast 'Find Eyeball', loser."

" Give me back the eye, I'll show you Medallion, then I'll give you the blue door piece I've got hidden. I'll even tell you where you can find the last two pieces. How about that?"

    If it were Calvin's eye in Petra's hand, he'd *still* be able to tell that Petra is smirking at him, purely by the moment of expectant silence before she acquiesces. "Well, that sounds great for everyone! And see, I've got no problem at all just giving it back, now that you're helping. Thanks for being easy."

"Maybe, once we are done, I will go back home. For at least a short while."

    "Oh," Petra looks down at WorldMachine, a little bit disappointed out of their field of vision, and gives them a pat on the head. "That's that, I guess."

"Last guy the Pig hired didn't get paid, *and* he got robbed. By Gold Pig!"

    "Oh, I forgot about that," Petra adds, after already having given the eye back.
Xion Xion, the Racetrack Hero, does not take Zigg's guff at all and will not be swerved by squeaky stair tactics or the gentle encouragement of Aidan and Sarra to lay off!

As it turns out, Xion knows at least a thing or two about running off bad influeneces. "A prank, huh?" Xion asks, glancing around and catching Rasta Beast's admonishment with a dire narrowing of her gaze when it returns to Zigg. "Pathetic loser?" The noirette inquires, as if it's a title and she's checking the address. She leans in more, blade just slightly coming off her shoulder as she levels with the antisocial bully.

"Me going about your sides with my key would be a 'prank', too, and the *same* number of people would be laughing. Maybe a few more. If you think that 'wouldn't be funny', then maybe you shouldn't try to-"

Her rounded-edged key bounces lightly off his shoulder, dull as she daps him once. "-compare 'senses of humor'. If you had given a hoot about the sodas, or the drinks, or any of it, you'd have jumped on the cases I left at the bar. Or that bottle you smeared on the track."

Leaning close, while Sarra tries to foist powerups on her gently and Aidan goes on about the race, the noirette is expressively, directly intense to Zigg while she leans to mutter, whisper, oath to the antagonizing sort.

"You do it again, and I'll know what you want is a beating, and I'll give it to you. Just ask, okay?" Sweet. "It'll be *funny*."

Xion, not asking but telling, retreats for that, not willing to feed a free Elixir (or can soda) towards trashy behavior. Instead, she promptly gets into a go-kart and--!!!

Loses the race. Sarra smokes her easily, though Xion ends with a rather large mushroom left in her hand, loitering at the forest floor trapdoor entrance with powerup in hand.

"Oh! A cape, even better!" Xion decides, taking Sarra's offered golden float-cape feather and inventorying the Super Mushroom, sailing down to the next area flush with Race Juice (having just lost the race, her next powerup is THUNDERBOLT or BULLET BILL).
Futaba Nuki "Futaba,"

Calvin, too, gets the fingerguns and the grin.

"Close your eyes and grit your teeth,"

That gets Futaba to bite her lips a bit from the inside, trying not to laugh outright at that hostility.  Her curiosity gets the better of her, of course, and she actually does close her eyes and wait!

"He does that sort of thing when he gets bored. And he's a bit of a jerk and a coward, so he had us break the door that goes to his secret lair, and hide the three pieces."

So many more questions are answered! "That's why he did it? That's messed up. Could've just made the parts himself if he's got enough money to pay you and whoever else, get you those wizard powers... No, no, I get it, if he's ACTUALLY paying you." Futaba sounds rather skeptical as she nods slowly in agreement with Madeleine, absentmindedly rubbing that gold bangle on her wrist.

"But really paying his folks is how my brother got and kept so many cool fighters in his corner. When's the last time he paid you, anyway?"

"I've been working on it for *decades*."

Futaba vibrates a little at hearing Green Mage explain-but-not-actually how cool Medallion must be. "If it's got that much prep behind it, it's gotta be cool... Er. Maybe aim it away from here, though. You don't want any collateral damage with the town so close, right?"

Futaba laughs for a moment, then abruptly stops before moving over to Green Mage, grabbing him by the shoulders, and physically turning him to face away from the two-street town. "Maybe... Aim out that way. Not too far, though, 'cause we still gotta see it!"
Petra Soroka Her curiosity gets the better of her, of course, and she actually does close her eyes and wait!

    Distracted by Calvin and then handing off the eye, unfortunately, prevents Petra from beaning the glass sphere as hard as she can into Futaba's face. She didn't seem super determined on the idea anyways, though. She almost seemed like she was being... playful?

    It's hard to say whether that's mutually exclusive with giving Futaba a bloody nose. It might not be, for Petra.

"Could've just made the parts himself if he's got enough money to pay you and whoever else, get you those wizard powers..."

    "... Yeah, wait, how *did* he give you those powers, anyways? Is he also magic? He's gotta be, right?"
Kale Hearthward CARNIVAL/FOREST

> "It'll be *funny*."

Zigg stalks off, but - it's less of a trollish saunter now and more of a 'genuinely cowed' full retreat.

"... Hey, good luck with Gold Pig," offers Rasta Beast to Xion. "Let me know if I can help out any."

Aidan, if he doesn't stop, would run right through the curtain - and plummet down to the forest floor below! Sarracenia and Xion can follow as well.

This sort of 'door leading into a sudden drop trap' would probably be a problem for someone who doesn't have a nigh-endless supply of flight-granting powerups. (Or is a squirrel.)

At ground level... in the medium distance, throughout the oeuvre-starved but not oeuvre-less trees, the group is not alone. There's little people, watching them... little... mushroom people.

(No, not that sort of mushroom people.)

They aren't approaching, and they don't *seem* hostile, they're just... watching. For now.

There are also a few scattered brown feathers on the ground, easily visible against the vantablack terrain.
Angela Angela smirks smugly when Futaba says she's right but then realizes she's also delivering puns and the smirk states to fade before, no, Angela decides, You deserve to smirk.' So that smirk just returns flat on her face.

''Now you know that ain't right. What in the hell's the point of helping them two back there if we're gonna act the same damn fool...''

"We didn't promise to help find the eye," Angela points out, largely to disagree with Calvin over something. "We have a pact with the Frog." She raises the banjo. "...We are simply establishing another pact here."

She isn't really sure their objective is really to ''stop'' Gold Pig so much as steal an arm from him, and okay maybe some legs if they get around to it. But she doesn't vocalize this.

Instead, Petra agrees that Hector is a good choice too, which isn't helping Angela be LESS smug today. She now is crossing her arms AND smirking simultaneously. "Hm hm... I merely considered who would be the opposite of my own experiences and Hector seemed to be the most suitable pick."

''So it's probably going to be up to time.''

"Yeah..." Cinder agrees. Then she blinks. "His...eye?" She grimaces in sympathy. "Er...hopefully he didn't need it...?"

WOrld Machine, however, agreeing with her so readily makes her a little unasy. Did she actually get across what she wanted to? Or ... have they already made their decision before talking to her? She rallies herself to say, "Think it over."

She glances to the Geren Mage.

"It sounds like quite the impressive ritual. Yes, show us."
Aidan Proudpick "I love these!" Because the raccoon suit always crushes his tail. Aidan snags the feather out of the air as he runs right through the door. Into the open air. "There's a drop!" Aidan shouts back at Xion and Sarracenia before smashing the feather on his chest. A yellow cape, the sort that a child might wear to pretend to be a super hero, appears around his neck, tied in a knot. Indeed, Aidan loves the look. The cape flutters out behind him, flickering slowly as Aidan veeeery slowly heads towards the ground. He lets out a slow 'wooo.' It isn't as ravenously exciting for Aidan, who has jumped off buildings before, but it's fun.

He touches the ground on light feet, making a perfect three point Tony Stark Stance(tm stark industries). This low to the ground, Aidan can see the feathers. He scrambles over, grabbing at one of them, lifting it up. "This must be one of Kale's. He plucked all his tail feathers at the gala, so it shouldn't just be molting, right? Unless it's Future Kale's." He's already getting that time loop headache again. He tucks the feather into his tank top, his joy and wonder rapidly slipping off his face for worry.
Kale Hearthward TOWN

> "That's that, I guess."

"I could stay?" offers Worldy. "I do not need to go back right away. And it is humorous watching you and the others work."

> "Last guy the Pig hired didn't get paid, *and* he got robbed. By Gold Pig!

"You make a compelling argument. Hee hee hee..."

The eye is returned. Green Mage just simply pops it into his head.

> "Er. Maybe aim it away from here, though."

"Mwee hee hee... don't worry, I've got a location specifically prepped for Medallion..."

"Okay. You want to see some *MAGIC?*"

Green Mage holds up both hands, lightning crackling.

"You want to see some SPELLS? YOU WANT TO SEE SOME RITUALS!?"

"TELEPORT!"

The group finds themselves in what is, if the themed decorations are any indication, Green Mage's house.

"CONJURATION!"

A large table and chairs appear in the middle of the group.

"AND TELEKINESIS!"

Books and scrolls and boxes fly out of the room's shelves, flowing around in the air.

"And now, for the fruits of my labor, the ultimate ritual... Medallion...!"

"First, the ritual components!"

He reaches up and snatches a sheaf of papers out of the air... and starts passing them around the table.

"Okay, here's your character sheets, some pencils, some figurines, and some dice - so you roll the six sided dice three times, and write down the number in this box here, and... oh, and make sure you come up with a name. And a backstory."
Calvin Nash Excuse me?! I'm still getting *information*? I'm being *pragmatic*? Hello??

    Calvin gives Petra an admonishing point. Without his sunglasses on, she can see his brows raise in disapproval.

See? Information.

    "Petra," says Calvin with sarcastically affected patience. "That's his *eye* you got there. He wants it back. Prolly tell ya the sun's a big ol' burnin' ball of reefer you could go up and huff, if he thought he'd get the damn thing back," he adds dismissively. Mostly it's the exact kind of stubbornness Petra is displaying, but from the opposite angle. Because actionable results were gotten from her way of doing things, actually they aren't actionable at all.

Heck if I know. I think he just took it because he's bored.

    "That don't exactly fill my heart with joy, Mr. Green."

You gotta understand, though, he's a jerk and a coward and a bully, but he pays really well. And I got evil wizard powers out of the deal. You understand my position, right?

    Calvin crosses his arms--although the mage can't see it at all. What he can perceive, at least, is that Calvin lets his silence be its own answer. Flipping open his COMP, he navigates to some kind of inventory management menu and retrieves from its digital memory a little chunk of ginger to chew on--which he does, flipping the bulky wrist-computer's monitor closed and fixing the mage with a stone-faced stare that, again, he can't really perceive.

For all you know he's got his own plans for that special eye of yours.

    "Mmhm." That verbal nod sounds a lot more agreeable than the one he'd given to the mage. "Might just." Then, a didactic tone, towards the mage, because apparently now is the time for a lecture.

Thanks for being easy.

    Petra can't be allowed to have the last word or to appear to be in charge. Thus, lecture. "What y'all have with Gold Pig is a failure of community," says Calvin authoritatively. "Now y'all've been living here so long that a new face is something special. And when you know everybody, reputation is *everything.*"

    "He shouldn'ta never been allowed to have as much money as he does," says Calvin, between idle chewing on the ginger. "Now he's got it, he can shit on whoever he wants and buy his way out of having to clean it up. And this here's what happens when you let that go on," he concludes, oblivious to the fact that the mage might not even be aware of or care about what 'this here' even is.

     "Now." Calvin flips open his COMP and produces another item from its inventory screen, some kind of medicinal drops, in a brown glass bottle with a rough paper label, both probably handmade. "If you're feelin' an itch, you just get this into that eye, aight? Aight."

     A pause follows, punctuated by his expecant chewing. "How 'bout you show us that Medallion 'n hand over that piece of door."

You want to see some SPELLS?

     "Won't say no."

YOU WANT TO SEE SOME RITUALS!?

     "Mhm."

     Calvin takes a seat in the chair that appears and nods politely in approval.

Okay, here's your character sheets, some pencils, some figurines, and some dice - so you roll the six sided dice three times, and write down the number in this box here, and... oh, and make sure you come up with a name. And a backstory.

     "One... okay. Two... uh-huh. Three. Aight." Scribble, scribble, scribble.

     "Name..." Calvin taps the pencil to his temple. Didn't his mother talk about some hero of the old world? Someone who always seemed to pull ahead, no matter the odds, only to be taken before his time?

     Calvin pens the backstory of a famous horse racer who's burst into the forefront of the public eye on a streak of recent victories--DALE IRONHEART, JR.
Sarracenia      'I love these!'

     "I know you do! That is why I chose it for this one~" Sarra says to Aidan.

     'Oh! A cape, even better!'

     Sarra is having such a great day! She won a race, got to talk about her beauty regiment with someone who did not tell her to shut up or go away, -and- everyone around her right now seems to appreciate her power-ups and racing skills!

     She doesn't float down slowly like Aidan. Instead, she dives by pulling her cape tight to her back and lets out a much more excited 'wheeee!' as she dives.

     She lets the cape go just in time to arrest her fall and whooshes back up into the air, does a couple of loops, then floats down gracefully and lands carefully. And then...mushroom people!

     Sarra is immediately charmed. "Oh! Hello there~" she calls out. "We are sorry to disturb you, but we are on a mission! I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom." She curtseys politely to the crowd of mushrooms. "And we are searching for Golden Pig and Professor Orange. They have apparently stolen the limbs of some of our recent acquaintances and may have nefarious deeds in mind for them. Will you help us find them? In return..."

     Sarracenia reaches into her purse and rummages a few moments before pulling out...a gold coin the size of her hand! "...we can ensure you are rewarded~"
Madeleine Cadrasteia     Madeleine has seen many rituals taking many different forms. Sometimes a ritual is blood, candles, chalk markings on stone. Sometimes it's baking a cake. And sometimes, she knows, it's playing a game. She did not, however, expect to be a *participant* in Green Mage's grand ritual. "Woah, hey," she says, as a character sheet and dice are placed before her. "This isn't like, a gambling your soul thing, is it? I've had something try to steal mine once here already." Hesitantly, she rolls the dice and records her scores. A few minutes later she's actually kind of getting into it.

    "Okay so, I've made a druid shape-shifter, his name is Ebrax and he turns into a giant boar when he has to fight... What do we do with these now?"
Xion '... Hey, good luck with Gold Pig,''

"Thanks!" Xion answers in passing-leaving, happy once more as she loses the Kingdom Key in a brief puff of sparkles when it is no-longer needed. "It's a help just having people speak up, but if you've got any leads on door pieces or just know where the Gold Pig left stuff, that'd be nice!"

Xion doesn't wait that long at all, accepting the fluttery Feather's float down to plummet to the forest floor with a casual landing that barely reacts to the long drop, even without a wall to slide down! Sarra's powerups, while she might be the best at them, are still useful to others.

Late and last to land, gentle as a leaf, Xion steps up behind Sarra and Aidan when the mushrooms come out. Not Super Mushrooms, but lil' mushroom people!

"Actually, huh, Sarra you might be the right person to handle this too? Aren't you a special plant princess?" Xion comments, before leaning out around the coin-offering princess to consider the strange mushrooms and direct her senses to see if there's many little hearts, one big heart, no heart, or something else going on!

"Do plant people normally trade in money? I didn't know mushrooms were on the gold standard but I suppose untarnishable metals make sense..."
Angela ''Here's your character sheets, some pencils...''

Angela says, "Mm... A peculiar ritual. Very well." She throws the dice, getting a 6, a 5, and a 4. And then she collects a pencil with the Eggpack's little pincer hands and gets to writing down a name. "Mm. So I presume we must create a character here. I am unsure what this ritual actually does, however..."

NAME: Lady Primrose Birman
BACKSTORY: Lady Primrose Birman was doubted by all but a select chosen few but through hard work, intelligence, and acts of benevolence she was able to become a Commander. She is wealthy in knowledge and capital. She is frustrated with incompetence and obeys her knightly code strictly, unlike SOME 'knights'. She has excellent taste in food, probably.

Angela sets down her pencil.

"I used to engage in rituals like this," Angela explains to Petra offhandedly. "BUt to be honest I am not certain I can imagine enjoying such 'pretend' when real adventures and experiences are at one's fingertips. I suppose it is a refuge of those who cannot or would not engage with realities beyond one's comfort zone."

Cinder's character is Fire Punch, her ability is to punch fire. She is also on fire, but that's okay for her.

Angela's eyes slant to sneak a peek at Calvin'ssheet.
Kale Hearthward FOREST

Do mushrooms like gold?

One of the mushrooms darts forward and picks up the gold coin, before disappearing back amidst the trees. Apparently they do!

"Professor Orange is in his lab, over that way..." comes a whispering voice.

There's some rustling, and then part of the ground starts glowing faintly, indicating a pathway.

"Two birds went that way too..." comes a whispering voice from another direction. "One after the other..."

"... there were loud squawks, and then silence."
Aidan Proudpick "I know you do! That is why I chose it for this one~"

"What? Shucks, come on, Sarra." He grins, though clearly floored by the simple gesture. He nods along with Xion, bragging on Sarra's behalf. "She's great at diplomacy." He listens in on the mushroom conversation, that temporary brightness falling again.

Aidan grits his teeth, tail twitching angrily. He looks around for his shields, but no. He came here to dance. To talk to people. Zigg is a loser, sure. And that castle... Everyone in there was okay.

He smoothes a hand over his hair, using the sensation to focus himself, "They are both skilled wind mages. They are probably fine. Unless smoke was involved. Or they got tricked. Or they overestimated their abilities." He gives a little nod to the mushrooms before he starts running down the trail. "Come on, we should check it out!" He's already rushing ahead of the two, though he can only run about as well as any in shape human being.
Futaba Nuki With no glass eye smacking right into her face, Futaba still has the dumb grin on her face even when Petra questions Green Mage about the source of his power. She even giggles a bit when she sees Angela with that arm-cross and smirk, although she can't quite put her finger on why exactly.

And then Green Mage starts to answer more... Very few questions, actually. He does sound like he's going to give everyone (or at least Futaba and Angela) what they want to see, though, and that has her attention. Sure, she's seen lightning plenty of times, but seeing it SUMMONED by someone is another matter entirely!

"You want to see some SPELLS? YOU WANT TO SEE SOME RITUALS!?""

"Hell yeah!" The ninja lets out little excited noises at the crackling, pumping her fists when the entire area changes as the group's teleported to... A house! Conjuring up the table and chairs is a little confusing, but she won't say no to a spot to sit for the rest of the show. Maybe something to eat, too, if... Wait, no. She can't eat a book. Several books, too, and those boxes don't sound particularly edible when they're getting put down, either.

"... the ultimate ritual... Medallion...!"

Here it is! The big... Ritual? Futaba blinks slowly as she sees what Green Mage is bringing out, listening closely to his explanation before realizing what this really is. "Not what I was expecting, but... Sure!" She takes it all in stride and eagerly, too, taking one of the sheets and pencils to start jotting down her dice rolls. "Two, two, three... Uh. Does the order matter?"

She also chews on her pencil a bit while trying to come up with a name and backstory on the spot. What would be good and fitting for this, anyway? Something local, something fantastical, something historical, maybe even a mix of some of those? She crosses out the names several times, but the backstory flows in one uninterrupted stream of immaculately elegant letters that are pleasant just to look at (but not necessarily read).

Name: Hayato Bongo
Backstory: The heir to the Bongo Construction Company, Hayato felt trapped within his role as the leader to an empire he never sought. His greatest wish was to pursue his own dream of becoming a musician, to free himself from toner-filled offices and the clamor of cabinets in desperate need of WD-40. After ten years of backbreaking slacking and driving the company into bankruptcy thrice, he was able to escape his destiny and now travels the world with a demon sealed in his left arm as his bassist.
Sarracenia      'What? Shucks, come on, Sarra.'

     Sarra can't help a delighted giggle as Aidan seems to appreciate the gesture.

     'She's great at diplomacy.'

     Sarra laughs haughtily again, though not overly so. "I am quite good at diplomacy! Why I once..."

     'Actually, huh, Sarra you might be the right person to handle this too? Aren't you a special plant princess?'

     "Well...I suppose so? I do employ quite a large number of plant people and live in a jungle with very large trees."

     'Do plant people normally trade in money? I didn't know mushrooms were on the gold standard but I suppose untarnishable metals makes sense...'

     Sarra scarcely has time to answer before the coin is taken! She blinks and giggles before looking at Xion and gesturing toward the mushroom. "Indeed they do! Piranha plants work for gold after all, and most creatures with human-levels of intelligence appreciate money. Even those that are slightly lacking still often enjoy shiny objects~ Why I once brokered peace between a goblin horde and a town in danger with gold and employment. Never underestimate the power of money~" she says.

     They are directed toward the lab and even given a lighted pathway to follow! Sarra feels somewhat like a famous blonde girl in a blue dress as she starts down it.

     That last few whispers though...they do not sound good. Her jovial mood dampens some. "So...both Kales may be in trouble. I was wondering why we did not see Present Kale all this time." she says. And as they go she starts firing darts of a rather similar morphmetal to Petra's into a tree every so often. "You never know when you might need to backtrack. We might be able to get out of here through the trap door if we need to." she says for the benefit of her companions.

     She pauses a moment, then pulls out another few coins. "Oh dear mushrooms~ Would you be so kind as to ensure none of these silver darts are removed for at least a few days? Thank you~"
Petra Soroka "Okay. You want to see some *MAGIC?*"

    "Well, sure."

"You want to see some SPELLS?"

    I've seen, like, a lot of magic before. I'm kind of hard to impress. But--")]

"YOU WANT TO SEE SOME RITUALS!?"

    "But yeah, go ahead."

"TELEPORT!"

    Petra has decided that she's the resident expert on magic, now. She looks around the house and taps her finger against her cheek judgementally. "Oh, huh. Without a teleport circle. That's cool." Of course, her expertise is just comparing him to Lilian.

"Prolly tell ya the sun's a big ol' burnin' ball of reefer you could go up and huff, if he thought he'd get the damn thing back,"

    Petra dusts her hands off, a while after already having let go of the eye, solely for the purpose of drawing attention to the motion. "Damn. Seems like it works, then, huh? It's pretty effective for making annoying people grovel instead of whining or getting mad. If he's lying, I'll just take his eye back."

"Okay, here's your character sheets, some pencils, some figurines, and some dice - so you roll the six sided dice three times, and write down the number in this box here, and... oh, and make sure you come up with a name. And a backstory."

    Petra's squint narrows more and more, practically glaring at Green Mage as he goes on. At the end, voice low, she hisses a single sentence. "I know what you are."

    Can Petra lower herself to the point of *roleplaying* with this random wizard? Why would she even bother? She's an author *way* beyond this pathetic scale, and they're not *here* to play stupid, childish games like this. She's about to go off, scolding Green Mage and then strutting off to go do something useful instead, but the movement of the Eggpack's hands writing down Angela's character details distracts her.

NAME: Lady Primrose Birman

    Petra swallows, and the moment of anger passes. She sighs and slumps against the table, propping herself up with her hands, and reluctantly slides into a seat besides the others. She picks up a trio of dice and stares at them like a child resentfully glaring at a forkful of broccoli, then halfheartedly rolls them with her cheek propped up by her other hand.

    "You know, Ange. Wouldn't a character like that be taken advantage of by the people around her every time she's benevolent? I feel like it makes more sense for her rise to stardom to be in *spite* of how she's always trying to help people, instead of because of it. Kindness isn't rewarded, it's just duty."

    Petra sighs. "Why are we even doing this? What's the point? Are you going to give us a piece of the door if we beat up your fucking, final boss or whatever?"

    "Anyways. I'll fucking outwrite whatever shit you have. Whatever."
Xion Xion doesn't get a good sense off the mushrooms, but doesn't need to when Sarracenia seems genuinely more than capable of charming and winning the service of the fungus sorts. The noirette nods at the path, charmed herself at such a deliberate way forward. Marking such dramatic progress, as the member of a party, was a rare little joy in an otherwise empty place, and so she just... went along with it.

It felt nostalgic in the warm, faint-sighing way she hadn't exactly felt in a while. So, when Sarracenia glances back at her just when the coin is taken, Xion is smiling back, following the coin's leaving back to the princess' expression.

"I guess they do." She agrees back in round, as Sarra keeps going on about goblin hordes and the power of money.

"Well, sure. Money's one of the big powers, but, you've been on a roll today, Sarra. Nice going." Xion offers, flashing another grin and placing a supportive hand on the princess' poufy sleeve.

Faintly exasperated while Aidan charges off and Sarra turns for some prepwork back to the trapdoor, Xion checks her phone and flips through her contacts until she finds Kale's and sends a text.

< Hey Kale. Weird stuff going down. If you're normal missing and not special missing, let me know. > She composes, and hits send.

When Sarra's done and her message is sent, Xion points off at the disappearing Aidan and gives a helpless smile. "Ready for a little more, princess? Aidan's already... scouting ahead."
Kale Hearthward MEDALLION

> "Are you going to give us a piece of the door if we beat up your fucking, final boss or whatever?"

"Yes! That was the deal. I show you Medallion, then you get the door piece. Mwee hee hee hee."

Green Mage chuckles in the way that only an evil wizard who tricked you into playing his homebrewed adventure can. "It's been months since I've been able to get a group together for this ritual... Right! Everyone done with the 'character creation' step of the ritual?"

"Let me see the instruction book..." says Worldy, who seems to focus on reading absolutely everything first instead of starting in on character creation.

Green Mage seems to okay whatever anyone puts down on their sheet. Petra and Worldy get given a stay of execution to figure out some of their details later. "Good! Okay. So - you all receive a vision. You're here... to restore the world from ruin!"

"To do that you - well, you'll find out in game. Okay, everyone have their sheets, their dice, picked out a miniature... Oh! I almost forgot the best part."

On the table, Green Mage rolls out a flat grid map, and then pulls out a separate box of figurines. "You get to build the map! You use these little things, they're kinda symbolic, you'll find more of them throughout the adventure... okay, so to start, you put down this little mailbox figurine, that represents your home base. Then this little pile of colored blocks, that's the starting town, and then this wagon wheel is the road full of bandits and monsters that you're- oh, wait, spoilers. It's just a road, forget the part about bandits."

"But yeah, put these down wherever, and - magically, they turn into areas you can go adventuring in!"

Nothing magical actually seems to happen when people put the figurines down on the map, but Green Mage treats them as if they were momentous occasions.

"Okay! So. You go into town, and you run into this..." Green Mage grabs a book. "Cat merchant. Who wants to hire you to clear out the trading road, which is - gasp - full of bandits and monsters! How dangerous!"

"There's also this weird swordsman, but we'll get to him later, the cat merchant is the first quest. So! You get hired and go to the trading road..." Green Mage continues, railroading the party, and pushing them into their first combat, which is fairly cut and dry.

MUSHROOM FOREST

Xion can pick up on something curious.

There's quite a lot of mushrooms... all with little hearts.

... And, in a different part of the forest than where the group's headed, there's one *big* heart.

One big, old, and very tired heart.

Meanwhile, Aidan charges ahead!

He comes up to what was clearly a snare trap - with scattered brown feathers nearby - and then a dropped net trap further on, with another set of brown feathers. It does look like two separate Kales stumbled into two separate traps.

And further up ahead, a laboratory door, set in a cliff face. It has a note taped to it:

<I've captured your twin bird idiots. They're being set up for experiments right now. Go away if you know what's good for you, I'll capture you and experiment on you all later. - Professor Orange>

It's locked - which isn't a hindrance to some, but it does have an ominous boss door aura. Maybe it'd be best to gather your party before venturing forth - and this seems urgent enough to pull them away from the ~~roleplaying game~~ intricate magical ritual.
Aidan Proudpick Aidan examines the snare trap. Then the net trap. He puts a hand up to his head, swearing quietly to himself. "Stale winds. I knew I shoulda kept an eye on him. I've seen him forget windows exist. I should have been looking out for him." A rush upward to the door and a stare at the note. The other two have plenty of time to catch up to Aidan as he mouths his way slowly through each word, puzzling out 'experiment.' "If I just had Aegis I could just... drive straight through this fucking cliff." He pulls out his Lock Picking Astartes(tm) lock pick kit and gets to work. "I'm gonna go up, I'm going to find this Professor Orange, and I'm gonna dance the shit out of him. I'm gonna dance until he's dead." He'll also probably take a while to lockpick the door, if he can even do it.
Xion > A snare trap!

Xion pauses Sarracenia on the path. "Watch for traps, okay? Aidan might have gotten grabbed." The noirette considers. "Brown feathers. . ." As she's checking the first trap, her gaze lifts, and,

> A snare trap!

The trap-inspecting Xion frowns deeply and puts a feather down, only to gather up 1x Kale? Feathers, and then advance a little and pick up 1x Kale?? Feathers, placing them in seperate spaces in her mysterious Inventory -- Sarracenia sees her just disappear them with a grab-and-close-hand gesture in fizzly black motes.

"Those might be useful later." Xion decides grimly, and, not seeing Aidan instantly snared in a third trap or finding red fur and a spent trap two paces ahead, carries on.

> A locked door, a note, and probably Aidan!

Xion makes the last part of the trip with the Kingdom Key slung over her shoulder. Arriving and reading the note, Xion sighs, taps her keyblade to the door to unlock it for later, and then turns slightly away to draw her phone out from coat pocket and start texting Petra.

< Petra, we're at another door, and Professor Orange is inside. Can you bring everyone to the carnival, down the trap door near the race, and through the path to the laboratory? > She thumbtypes deliberately and quickly, having to plant her keyblade for better thumbing. < They captured Kale. Twice. So you might get a chance to make fun of him. >
Calvin Nash Seems like it works, then, huh?

    "Maybe if you fell off the turnip truck yesterday," says Calvin with obstinate staccato, out of bullheaded principle. At this point, Petra couldn't even get him to agree that air is breathable.

If he's lying, I'll just take his eye back.

    "Mm-*hm*." The same 'I doubt it' and 'try it' mix from before. It isn't even out of concern for the Green Mage, just purely in the interest of keeping a score only he cares about or perceives.

So! You get hired and go to the trading road...

    Calvin is clearly very confused but too proud to say anything about it. He's looking around, occassionaly even placing his hand on the back of his chair and craning his neck behind him, expecting there to be real roads and real bandits.

    It isn't until the first combat that he actually grasps this is... well, either a game or part of some ritual he only dimly understands.

    "Y'know," he says, "Usually with a ritual you do it and then something happens. What're we... y'know, workin' towards, here? Seems like we're just... playin' cards or a board game."
Sarracenia      Sarra is obviously surprised when Xion ends up smiling at her. And then Sarra is told she is on a roll while being given a grin and a supportive hand! The princess hardly knows how to deal with this sort of thing from someone she doesn't know well and ends up a bit blushy. "Ah...w-well, thank you..." she says after a few moments, fidgeting a bit bashfully.

     'Ready for a little more, princess? Aidan's already... scouting ahead.'

     That helpless smile and that question, worded like they are proper comrades, leaves Sarra a bit speechless for a moment. After a short pause she smiles back and nods before wiping at her eyes for some reason. "Y-yes! He will need our support when he finds something dangerous~"

     Quite possibly the best day ever for Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom.

     'Watch for traps, okay?'

     Sarra's eyes are sparkling and she is trying to contain her enthusiasm as Xion continues to be a good party member. "Okay!" she says happily. Sarra lets out a soft 'ooh', intrigued by the poofing of those feathers. "Useful how?" she asks as they continue.

     Following after Aidan and finding fallen traps and more feathers and a note...Sarra's eyes sparkle more! There is a chance she could get kidnapped to top off this amazing day?! Or alternately...save Kale and get to gloat about it forever?! It is a win win!!

     Then she notices Aidan's state of mind. He seems to be having...much less of a good day. She goes to place a hand on his shoulder. "Take it easy, Aidan. We will save them...him?...and get the dolls' limbs back and then we will be able to leave this place for a while." she says, then reaches into her purse and pulls out...a container of mixed nuts! She hands it to him with a smile. "Try to relax, okay?"

     Sarra notices Xion texting someone and calls out, "Let them know they can follow the trail of Silver if they need to!"

     That is not entirely out of the goodness of her heart. She figures that if Petra is in the group that receives that message it will annoy her, and if she actually has to follow the Silver markers that will annoy her even more!

     Such a good day~
Futaba Nuki "I show you Medallion, then you get the door piece."

Oh yes, that's why they were here... Right? Sort of. The door piece is probably important for getting the Red Doll's legs, at least, so putting up with a strangely familiar-ish game is just the cost of admission Futaba's mentally prepared to pay.

"Months? Eh, with the town being this small... I'm not that surprised." She comments after a few long moments to wonder just how many people even live here, then snaps back to attention as Green Mage goes into more detail about the world, the setting, the instructions with the figurines...

She also picks the player figurine with the biggest hat for herself.

"So we're buildin' this world... Huh. Kinda reminds me of those rooms we were building in the train." Futaba pauses to wonder about that for a moment, then shrugs and peers at the map while pointing at spots occasionally. "Maybe we can put the... That. Over there? Water's probably important for towns to survive long term, yeah?"

Futaba doesn't even notice the railroading at first, either, since everything lines up just right for her to just play to the initially unfitting character, anyway. A wandering musician isn't ever going to not need money, after all, and playing demon-infused music to bandits and monsters might be a new audience! Or, alternatively, a cool fight scene even with her earlier rolls meaning... Whatever they mean.

Eventually, though, Futaba has to ask: "You ever play this with the other folks Gold Pig hired? Like that blue guy or... Anyone?"
Aidan Proudpick Aidan jumps as the hand goes onto his shoulder, dropping the kit. Xion taps the door with the key, easily unlocking it and a container of mixed nuts is shoved into his hand. He goes down to a sitting position next to the door, looking up at them both, letting his eyes come back into focus. "Oh. Everyone. That's a good idea." He looks down at the container, smiling again. "Thanks, Sarra." He looks up at Xion, "Thanks, Xion." A couple fingers worth of nuts popped into his mouth gives him something to focus on, chewing. "I owe him a lot for Quicknest and a lot more. And been waiting a long time to see this place. And just the second//week I don't have eyes on him-" Aidan pops out an aluminum bottle of water to drink from.
Angela Angela does think that Petra is a powerful writer and her work must surely be incredible but Angela has never actually seen Petra's writing so she hasn't seen proof of it.

"That's a good point," Angela says. "I hadn't wished to make presumptions of the world but I'll have to keep that in mind. I suppose, of course, that this is a 'fantasy' and as such I should not fret too much about the believability--and, of course, this is a game where we are expected to bring our own concepts and ideas--"

''Why are even doing this? What's the point?''

"...." The Eggpack shrugs haplessly. The sad truth is that Angela might be hesitant to break a pact with a Frog but she isn't exactly INVESTED. "It seems we must do this for the door." she considers him. "I understand the desire to share one's creative work with others, however, even if--of course--whatever he creates will not hold a candle compared to what you create."

She barely needs to play the game though because Green Mage is playing the game for her which suits her just fine so far. "See," Angela murmurs to Petra. "She is already being taken advantage of."
Kale Hearthward > "Usually with a ritual you do it and then something happens."

Green Mage endeavours to give a non-answer to Calvin's question. "Oh - it's a ritual, alright. Don't you worry."

> "You ever play this with the other folks Gold Pig hired? Like that blue guy or... Anyone?"

"Oh yes! A few hundred times."

"... They're kind of reluctant to get together to play again, for some reason. I don't know why."
Xion > 'Useful how?'

Xion knows Sarracenia is fishing for compliments, consciously or subconsciously, and doesn't exceptionally mind. After a browquirked moment, the noirette begins in. "Well, you won the race, just for starters, and I'd probably be struggling for a while with it -" She laughs. "- or just have figured out that bully, and have to follow the hints for a while. Thanks to you, we've not only found both Kales, but also Professor Orange's lab, so..."

A flash of tootwhite finishes the Nobody's steady praise, panning to Aidan as the door gang swaps to relaxing.

"... you did good again, Sarra." Xion's mild wistfulness accompanies her zoning-out gaze.

> 'Thanks, Xion.'

"Sure." Xion adds, for Aidan's benefit. "Don't worry - no matter what I think Kale falls for that trap. So instead of trying to get the run-back, just be there to help him now?"

Xion shrugs, pocketing her phone and leaning boredly on the planted Kingdom Key, forearms crossing over the hilt-back and chin resting at the top in her deep lean, settled in for a good wait. "I don't think I'll be anywhere close to full strength in this place, it really drags on me. Bringing everyone's better."
Sarracenia      'Thanks Sarra.'

     "You are welcome, Aidan."

     'I owe him a lot for Quicknest and a lot more. And been waiting a long time to see this place. And just the second//week I don't have eyes on him-'

     "He is the knucklehead who went off on his own to find this place. That is not on you." she says.

     '... you did good again, Sarra.'

     You did good. Not 'you did good I guess' or 'you think that was good?' or anything like that. Just a genuine 'you did good' with the added power of 'again'. Meaning she did good before!

     Sarra is quiet, just staring at the zoning-out Xion. Sarra's eyes shimmer with moisture and she sniffles before smiling. "W-well, you know...I am pretty amazing." she says, mostly out of habit and not with a haughty tone. "But, it is kind of you to say so." she adds, then pulls out a pair of...grapefruit sodas in a can!

     It is a bit of an experiment, and a bit of a friendly gesture. Will Sarra finally find someone else that likes grapefruit soda? She hands one to Xion and smiles before popping her own open and applying a straw before sipping. She offers a straw to Xion as well.
Xion > A grapefruit soda!

Xion smiles, used to the preening, but receptive to the moment after. Especially when it comes with soda! Xion is a general fan of soda.

Accepting the can with a careful hand extended from her keyblade perch, Xion examines the can and turns it about. Seeing the type, she curls a finger--

'psshok!'

"I guess it's kind to say," Xion admits, perched, and takes a generous drink of the soda strawless. She's an old hand at canned beverages.

She flutters a blink and considers the flavor, and something 'about' Sarracenia. "Huh, grapefruit." She senses, and smiles. "Is that the flavor you like? It's not bad. Sometimes - it's refreshing to mix sweet and a little bitter, isn't it?"

There's at least two!