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Adarin - realizes he's one of the most shut in members of the household. It makes sense, really. He's their shield, if bandits or other nasty people show up it is up to him to keep them safe, like it is up to Jony to make the garden and Kesaven expands the house and keeps it in repair. Besides, where would he even go? All of his favorite people are right here. He'd be lonely if he went on the trips to the market.
So when there is a yelp from downstairs that sounds like it's from Tima, he's in the house and not outside chopping firewood, or at the market. He is upstairs, and he hears it, and he sprints downstairs and prepares to shield and -
And then he is eaten by a giant snake with a mirror for a face.
in_tatters
And now he is in a quiet, deserted hallway.
It's more opulent than anything he's heard of, let alone seen, in his entire life, but it doesn't look designed to show off - just to be beautiful and comfortable while there is an underlying total unconcern for things like "alabaster is expensive" and "opals scratch easily". The opals inlaid in the floor aren't scratched right now, though. There isn't dust on the ivory frame of that mirror or the swirls of carved mahogany indentations on the wall. The chandelier is lit with inexplicable glow: no fire. Must be an artifact.
All the doors in the hallway are closed. There's a big window at the end of the hall. It shows a gorgeous valley. If he goes up to it, and looks down, he will see that he's in a building that sits placidly in the middle of a river, just a few meters back from the edge of a tremendous waterfall.
in_tatters
He shields himself. Because he doesn't know what else to do. He walks, slowly, carefully, looking around and wondering what the heck just happened, towards the window, and looks out of it. And then he looks down, at the waterfall.
".... Hello?" he calls, swallowing and noting that there aren't any waterfalls near his home. That's not a good sign. "Is someone there?"
".... Hello?" he calls, swallowing and noting that there aren't any waterfalls near his home. That's not a good sign. "Is someone there?"
Silence. The window-glass shimmers with subtle rainbows.
in_tatters
He'd think it was pretty, if he wasn't terrified for his life.
He picks a door in the hallway at random, and tries it. Shield still up. He's not bringing that down for a while, he thinks.
He picks a door in the hallway at random, and tries it. Shield still up. He's not bringing that down for a while, he thinks.
This door leads to a smallish, round chamber, lit without even an obvious artifact involved, with no other doors and no furniture.
in_tatters
How. Nice? He looks around. Why would an artificer waste their time on lighting up a pointless room?
The ceiling is just sort of glowing all by itself. And the silver columns decorating the curved walls, those are also glowing.
in_tatters
Right. Weird glowing possibly pointless room.
He leaves it, and goes to try another door.
He leaves it, and goes to try another door.
ertia
Bedroom. Contains a bed, an open door to a closet, seating, cozy soft carpet in rich blue, a window displaying very weird plants (among more typical ones) beyond the river -
Bed's occupied.
Bed's occupied.
in_tatters
Well now he feels creepy. But he feels kind of justified in waking her up from her sleep, considering the circumstances...
"Excuse me? Miss?"
"Excuse me? Miss?"
in_tatters
He walks to her bedside. Yep, still feels creepy.
"Miss?" he tries, again. "Um. I'm sorry for bothering you, but I am kind of lost."
And scared. And worried about his friends, back at the house...
"Miss?" he tries, again. "Um. I'm sorry for bothering you, but I am kind of lost."
And scared. And worried about his friends, back at the house...
in_tatters
Okay he will stop being polite and just - gently shake her awake, sorry sleeping woman he considers this an emergency.
"Miss? Excuse me?"
"Miss? Excuse me?"
ertia
She doesn't react to being shoved. Just moves with his hand, then settles back into place, breathing steady and soft.
in_tatters
He briefly entertains the idea of finding a bucket of water and dumping it on her, but dismisses it. He raises his voice, and shakes her a bit more.
"Miss? Miss, excuse me, sorry, but I am hopelessly lost!"
"Miss? Miss, excuse me, sorry, but I am hopelessly lost!"
in_tatters
Right, okay, he's just going to leave her alone, then. Whatever. It's fine. She wants to sleep like the dead, she can sleep like the dead.
(He's worried about her, anyway, is there something wrong with her? Something to do with the snake?)
He sighs, then leaves to go explore some more.
The palace has:
1) Four stories, each of which has a pointless circular room, and a tower.
2) A greenhouse wing with more funky plants in it.
3) A big front hall with lots of stairs, which will get him to all of the floors.
4) A large dining room, but only a very small kitchen, without any food in it at all.
5) A huge library.
6) Guest rooms, unoccupied.
7) An underground side exit that leads under the river to a flight of safely railing'd switchback stairs carved neatly into the cliffside, leading to a path to the valley town.
8) Lots of pretty decorative things.
9) A reasonable number of bathrooms.
10) No people besides the sleeping girl.
1) Four stories, each of which has a pointless circular room, and a tower.
2) A greenhouse wing with more funky plants in it.
3) A big front hall with lots of stairs, which will get him to all of the floors.
4) A large dining room, but only a very small kitchen, without any food in it at all.
5) A huge library.
6) Guest rooms, unoccupied.
7) An underground side exit that leads under the river to a flight of safely railing'd switchback stairs carved neatly into the cliffside, leading to a path to the valley town.
8) Lots of pretty decorative things.
9) A reasonable number of bathrooms.
10) No people besides the sleeping girl.
in_tatters
Okay, the no food thing is a problem. Not an immediate problem, but a problem that will likely become relevant later.
It is odd that there's such a big palace with no servants, or people, or food. The kitchen isn't built to feed as many guests as the dining room can hold. The pointless circular rooms are pointless. The only resident sleeps like the dead. The material composition of the palace is pretty but not very practical. What sort of place is this?
He's going to check the library. Maybe it'll have some indication of where he is, or why this place is so strange.
It is odd that there's such a big palace with no servants, or people, or food. The kitchen isn't built to feed as many guests as the dining room can hold. The pointless circular rooms are pointless. The only resident sleeps like the dead. The material composition of the palace is pretty but not very practical. What sort of place is this?
He's going to check the library. Maybe it'll have some indication of where he is, or why this place is so strange.
The library has lots of books in it.
They are not written in a familiar language.
They are not written in a familiar language.
Pretty wide selection. Histories of countries he's never heard of. Novels. Cookbooks. Cryptography and architecture and gardening and 101 Fun Flying Tricks. Atlases of continents that don't look right. There's a large section devoted to what appear to be handwritten personal notes.
in_tatters
He'll leave the handwritten personal notes alone, for now. Everything else is up for grabs, though.
101 Fun Flying Tricks? Flying is a thing that happens? How does that work, what kind of mage is that? He'll read that book, to figure out what mechanism allows for flight.
101 Fun Flying Tricks? Flying is a thing that happens? How does that work, what kind of mage is that? He'll read that book, to figure out what mechanism allows for flight.
So you're a new sorcerer! After you've notified your local government and given them something to contact you with so they can have you on call in the event of sorcery-needing eventualities, you'll want to have fun with flying. It's mostly instinct, but instinct won't show you these thrilling stunts! (Note: Tricks 50-101 require momentum beyond that required for basic flying, or help from a more advanced sorcerer.)