songerein | open 🍃 still I follow heartlines on your hand

Entry tags:

open 🍃 still I follow heartlines on your hand

Who: Oriphi and anyone!
Which: Open log
Where: Around town and two (2) dreamscapes
What: Helping out with wimdy-related damages, and two traveling-themed dreamscapes. Do you want to D&D/Fantasy AU your character? Or meet Ori's friends? Here's your chance!

1 ✧ it fucken WIMDY

( A )
[ Destructive gusts of wind or no, Oriphi can usually be found helping out wherever she can around town - but this month especially so.

Some days she's around after a particularly strong bout of windiness, helping clear debris or patching up damage to buildings by using elemental magic to conjure and grow woody vines to reinforce structures. Sometimes, for a little extra flair, she makes flowers sprout all over the buildings. Though that seems like it might be pointless when the next gust will likely blow all the blooms away, it's worth it for any measure of joy it might bring to the those who dwell in the the previously-damaged home or shop or anything else. ]

Hmm... What do you think? [ This, she says to anyone who might be passing by as she finishes her work, or perhaps someone she's been helping repair this building with. ] Is it too much?

( B )
[ Other days, she's caught in the middle as the wind starts to pick up. Each time, she slams the end of her staff down, embedding it into the ground as vines come up to brace it into place. She does her best to plant her feet down and hold on, but— the livestock aren't so lucky. ]

Oh, no!

[ With one arm tightly wrapped around her staff, she reaches out with the other to send vines out in an attempt to prevent a sliding cow or sheep from going airborne. It seems to be working, but she might need additional help to hold on! ]

2 ✧ a hearth of moonlight and shadow ✧ interactive dream

[ It is well into the night, and a warm fire burns in the center of what looks like a campsite put up in the midst of the woods.

Spread out across the site are a few adventurers. A tall, lithe elven woman with copper-colored hair patrols the perimeter of the camp, embedding magical arrows into the ground in a seemingly logical pattern. In another corner, a white-haired elven man sits with an open spellbook and scrolls strewn about around him. Then, seated closer to the fire, there is (yet another) elven man with his hand gripped decisively around a bottle of wine, a tall, half-orc man sketching, a half-elven man with dark hair tuning a lute, and a masked figure. Save for the ambient sounds of jungle creatures coming alive in the night, the sound of various writing implements on parchment, and the tuning of a lute - the camp is silent.

Whose dream is this? Whose friends are these?

The answer is revealed when Oriphi emerges, seemingly out of nowhere. But the moment that she appears, it's as if the quiet vignette truly comes to life.

"Alright, this is boring. Anyone up for another team-building exercise?" declares the dark-haired elven man, setting his lute aside in resignation. Something about the dreamscape tells you that his name is Colin, and that he is a bard.

"Always," replies the bare-chested elf, Mellon, lifting his bottle of wine in agreement before he takes a hearty swig. Sian, the masked figure, simply shrugs and offers a noncommittal noise.

"Uuuuh, I'm really busy doing this drawing? It's coming out really well. Really cute, actually." And though Cibark's sketched drawing of a river scene is appealing, it's not what one would typically describe as "cute," and while his tone sounds serious, something says that he's being facetious.

Dae, the man with the glasses, slams his spellbook shut abruptly as he stands up with seemingly renewed purpose, startling Aerie and causing her to nearly snap an arrow in half. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose as the lenses catch the light of the fire, making them gleam in the dark.

"Mister Colin, what an excellent idea! The Alchemighty needs to have a strong foundation, so we've got to team-build as much as we can!"

One can practically hear the way that Colin rolls his eyes. "Aaand just like that, I suddenly don't want to." ]

I think it'll be fun!

[ Ori finally chimes in that moment, taking her seat beside the bard and shyly nudging him with her elbow and a smile on her face. The boredom on his face fades a bit, and he acquiesces, leaning back and folding his arms behind his head.

It's then that the adventurers turn their attention and gaze towards the dreamwalker present. ]

So, how about it? Two truths and a lie. You start!

3 ✧ there once was a ship that put to sea— ✧ interactive dream

[ This dream finds its inhabitants and visitors at sea, on the main deck of some kind of merchant or passenger ship. It seems to be a beautiful day out on the seas, the waters more or less mild and the skies clear and bright.

Only that the ship is actively under attack by a massive froghemoth. What is a froglike monstrosity doing out in the ocean? Can it even survive in saltwater? Don't worry about it - it's a dream. What matters is that in its many tentacles, it holds a few of Oriphi's adventuring friends.

And where is the tiefling, herself? Well, she's desperately clutching at the bulwark, looking absolutely miserable as she tries to keep her breakfast down.

See, she always gets so terribly seasick whenever they travel via ship, and she is in no condition to fight the froghemoth - at least, not without the aid of another, or at least a reminder that she's simply dreaming and could dream the seasickness away.

"Pull yourself together, Ori!" Aerie calls out from somewhere further away, nocking an arrow and letting it loose against the froghemoth. It zips through the air and finds purchase near one of the froghemoth's eyes - but it's the only one that hits before the ranger is promptly swept away by another tentacle. ]

I— I'm trying!

[ She manages to pull an arm away from the bulwark to take up her staff, summoning a bolt of fire and casting it at the monster - but she misses. ]

(( ooc: If you have any questions, especially about the dreamscape prompts, or want to plot out anything else, feel free to PM me or hit me up at

camerata! ))

Threaded | Flat

[Ewwwwwww, Hilda hates this thing even more now that she's seeing it in person. Why does it have so many tentacles?

Unlike poor Oriphi, Hilda has no issues with being on the water like this. Goneril territory is mountainous, but she's been to the capital of Derdriu--a bustling port town--enough times to have built up some semblence of sea legs. Plus, she has a strong constitution overall thanks to her Crest.

In this dream, she's armed with Freikugel, which is weird because she hasn't seen the thing since she left for the Officer's Academy. The Heroic Relic is her brother's birthright, not hers. ~~Not yet, anyway; he'll eventually give it to her.~~

She'll ponder the implications of that later. Priority number one right now is to help Ori not die thanks to a combination of seasickness and frog-tentacle-monster. It's a dream, sure, but even dying in a dream is awful stuff. Been there, done that (twice!), would not recommend.

She runs to her friend's side, and grabs a hold of her arm.]

I've got you! Take deep breaths, okay?

[Diluc recognizes these adventurers, both in spirit and in appearance, long before Oriphi becomes visible in the dreamscape. He's heard many stories of them, both grand and inconsequential, and more recently Ori has shown him a picture of the group of them and pointed each out. Because these people are so dear to her, he listened with rapt attention and committed every detail to memory. To see those details brought to life like this is a touch surreal.

Stranger still is the feeling that he belongs with them, one of the group of adventurers sitting near the fire and resting at the end of a long day of travel. It feels as though it's been lifetimes since he's allowed himself this level of camaraderie outside of the confines of Songerein; he typically works alone, with only Lumine and (to a far lesser extent) Kaeya breaking through his guarded nature to assist him. By technicality, he supposes Aether counts as well. To be part of a team like this, and to feel like he truly is one of them despite knowing it's a dream and isn't quite real... it's a bittersweet feeling, to say the least.

He's clad in full armor - because he is a paladin, the dreamscape makes clear to him somehow - and tending to his falcon as the rest of the party goes about their business. And then, everyone is looking over at him expectantly as the team-building exercise begins.]

There are better and more interesting candidates to start than me, Ori.

(Isabela has found herself to be part of the campsite just moments into her sleep and, for a while, she hasn’t found out whose dream she was in this time. It wasn’t until when she sees Ori being visible that she realizes where she ended up in: it is her own dreamscape. And it looks like she was in a guild back in her world too.

Looking down her clothes in here, which has her dressed as a ranger with a capybara for her companion, she is amazed by how real it feels as if she is also a part of Ori’s group. Now she was hoping that she could stay quiet and look after her capybara when the adventurers spot her and asks her first in the team building activity.)

Oh, me first? Oh gee, where do I start? Let’s see: I come from a large family, I grow plants as a hobby, and I like canoeing.

[ It takes a moment for Trahearne to realize he's found himself in a dreamscape. It's not often this happens to him, as embarrassing as it is to admit, but he's thankful that the other people present don't seem to pay him much mind. So he lets his bewilderment wash over him.

From his quiet spot on the soft grass he observes the party; there's a nagging feeling somewhere in his mind that he should know who these people are, that he has read about them somewhere and they look awfully familiar, even though he has never seen any of them before.

It clicks when he sees Ori emerge, and he brightens. Yes--these are her friends from home. What a treat this is! His gaze scans the group again, trying to match the names he can remember to faces. In this moment, he's their quiet observer.

He is content to stay that way, in all honesty. Content to absorb the scenery and formulate questions to bother Ori with another time, when in his concentration he notices a strange sensation in his chest. He looks down and--

Oh. Oh, Pale Mother, he has been made into a flesh being.

Dark green has been replaced with a dark human tone, his skin now squishy and soft and warm and that feeling in his chest is most certainly what it feels like to have a heart--

The question directed at him draws him out of his panic, and the sylvari-turned-elf-wizard stares wide-eyed at Ori and Colin.

Wait a moment, let those gears turn in his head. ]

...You want me to tell you two truths and a lie? [ ... ] About me?

[ Anyone who wears a full suit of armor should be prepared for battle at a moment's notice. ... Even if that battle is on a rocking ship against a massive, hideous creature that's bloated with seawater, and even if the battle occurs in a dream in which one may not have expected to participate in that battle.

The fire she casts sizzles against the water-covered deck, resulting in harmless steam, wafting into the air as a tentacle retracts. The monster appears to prepare for its next strike, and that is when Somnus steps forward-- a guest appearance to this party, as it is. With one of the crew knocks back, it is only natural that he assists the primary Dreamer.

His sabatons mark the polished wood of the deck as he positions himself between Oriphi and the beast, apparently weaponless with his back turned to her. ] Hail, young tiefling. [ Thus he greets her, perhaps intentionally loud enough to draw the monster's attention to him. His tone is firm enough to be its own shield, calm enough to serve as a respite in the maelstrom of battle and choppy seas. ]

Prepare your next cast. [ His stance widens as the remaining two eyes of the beast turn to him. By now, it should be apparent what the basic plan will be: he'll serve as a distraction as she conjures her magic.

Without another word, he leaps forward against the monster, footfalls like thunder upon the hull, as it lashes out against him. Evidently, Somnus prepared to go mano-a-~~mano~~tentacle with it. ]

[The sheep bleats in a panic from the wind, legs kicking wildly it begins to take off from the ground only held down by the vines. The vines stretch out to it limit in the wind, threatening to snap. A black shape suddenly appears and grabs at the sheep legs, trying to pull it back to the ground.]

I gotchu. [Beat spreads his arms over and across the animal, putting as much weigh as he could to keep it from going airborne.] Keep doin' what you doin'. I'mma try to hold this lil' guy down.

[The sheep continues to baa and bleat as the wind surge continues, right into Beat's face which immediately scrunches up from the smell. If that isn't the worst smelling thing he's smelled in a while, he doesn't know what is. It almost looks like he's about to throw up himself even as he holds the sheep down and back on the ground.]

Ugh, barf. Try to do it the other way next time.

[But he manages to hold down his lunch. For now. He then directs his attention to Oriphi.]

Yo, you aight there?

[ Noé happens to be a volunteer who helps with repairing the damages, but as soon as he sees the building decorated with flowers. After a closer look, he realizes that they're sprouting on a couple of buildings, which makes him almost drop the tools he's been carrying. ]

Too much? [ He's looking to the left and to the right, trying to see how many buildings got Oriphi's treatment. ] Absolutely no! I think they're gorgeous! How did you do that? That's impressive!

[ He might not shut up in a while and his eyes are shining. So many flowers...! ]

[In Gaia, there is no such thing as a singular race of people. It is not simply humans. It is not simply beasts. There is a true amalgamation of individuals and so much diversity that it has allowed even someone as hardened as Beatrix to be open-minded and almost to expect a variety of appearances and traits. It is, in part, perhaps why she has never batted an eye at Oriphi’s appearance.

That is to say, she looks like someone who would fit in perfectly well back home.

Beatrix, for one reason or another, having wandered into a dreamscape that has nothing to do with her, greeted by the rather warm and welcoming scene (at least once Oriphi shows up), seems to feel relatively the same about the other companions. Relatively. The pointed ears are a little puzzling because she can’t readily recall seeing that back home, but people like Link and Zelda have similar features, so it’s not really a complete surprise.

It doesn’t take her a particularly long time to put two and two together. The amicability Oriphi has with them, and with what she’s learned from the flower festival, those present in this campsite must be her comrades-in-arms. Adventurers, that is. There isn’t a second tiefling present, which tells her that Ori’s sister is not involved in the gaggle. At least, not presently, if she ever has been.

As she’s examining the scene, their accoutrements, and so on, from a safe distance and with eyes alone, she’s not expecting to be addressed. She doesn’t spend much time wandering about in dreams. Doesn’t really care to. The last one she did was not only very intentional, but it was a very special exception. This one is mostly out of curiosity. She’s not made plans to exactly stay for very long.

”You start!”

Eventually, her gaze moves onto those who’ve addressed her and as if she has need to remember herself, her posture straightens, grows more rigid if that’s even possible, and she sets hand to the one thing that always gives her a modicum of comfort—the pommel of her sword. Not because she intends to use it. Simply because it continues to reminder of who and what she is.

And not to get too caught up in things she cannot be. Things she ought not to mistake herself for being. It is a fool who is caught in the masquerade of their own making.]

…I am not here to participate. [Beatrix finally explains.] Merely to spectate.

Threaded | Flat

and the name of the ship was the Billy o' Tea ♪

2

Moonlight and Shadow

two!!

3

1-b

1-A

2