wildestmods (
wildestmods) wrote in
wildestlogs2022-03-26 02:58 am
HOME SWEET HOME

HOME SWEET HOME

Elrond let the gang decide when to leave, providing hospitality and medical care until they're ready. When the quest calls to them and they know it'll tug them along soon, he makes sure each is fully supplied and armed with weapons of their choosing, some custom made. They each have a pack, food supplies, and extra clothing. All of them get offered sturdy boots, even those who have stranger body types like Filbo.
He gives the group four copies of a book transcribed with the prophecies that had been brought to Rivendell, to be studied and interpreted on their journey.
Those who mentioned knowledge of the One Ring are briefly pulled aside away from the guests at Elrond's Council. They're implored to keep it secret, for the knowledge of Frodo's task could lead to people trying to steal the Ring when he's on a journey to destroy it.
Crowley is also released from the dungeon, with Elrond apologizing for the Elves' caution. It's at least clear he's been shown some of the same hospitality. He's healed up, well fed, and clothed in replacement clothes just like they all are.
Elrond's final goodbye to the whole group is warm and genuine.
"Namárië. It is a word we use for greetings and goodbyes. It means 'be well.' Whether you seek to help this world or try to find a way home, it is our hope that whatever paths you tread fly beneath your feet, and whatever obstacles you face are quickly overcome."
A pause.
"It would be easy to try to make you feel that the hopes of those in this new world go with you; but such burdens should only be carried by those who choose it. The Green will not admit it, but they have done you a great wrong. If you try to only find your way home, it's justified, and I hope you do find it."
Yes, there are prophecies, but making people do something by force is wrong, and all weary travelers deserve to find their way home. After a brief time of saying any goodbyes, they get to make their way to the other side of the valley. On the other side of the pass is the castle the Green spoke about.
The castle is a Frankenstein monstrosity that seems cobbled together from many buildings and machines. The second the last of the gang piles inside, it starts moving, massive legs clanking along. But where it's going is unknown. At least that means they have time to explore, rest, and get settled.
There are many mystical objects and mysteries within. One half of the castle seems to be a strange frozen realm of faerie, with strange sights to explore. But even the warmer side of the castle has its oddities. Magic waterfalls that show memories, and a scrying pool that shows frozen images of home, locked to the times each member of the squad left theirs. There are magical doors that lead to sights beyond the imagination, strange collections and even entire small realms, some beautiful, some dangerous.
The three magical creatures, Jonald, Ronald, and Rolkien constantly get underfoot trying to get the group settled, but refuse to talk about their former master, seemingly hurt at his leaving the castle.
The castle also seems to like assigning roommates for some of the group, making it so doors only open to their assigned room anytime they try to go to a place to sleep, even teleporting to them to the room if they fall asleep elsewhere.
It's a strange place, sometimes dangerous, sometimes annoying, but at least they have even more time to rest, train, plan, and prepare. They will have a few weeks to adjust to their new normal.
Then...who knows where the road will take them.
❧ Prompts. The mods aren't doing prompts, but players can check out the page on the Moving castle for inspiration. The castle has many mysteries and oddities and absolutely anything can be behind the magical doors.
❧ Food and water. The castle seems to have an internal pressurized water supply and food is plentiful...for now. The food supply will not last forever but some food was left behind by the castle's previous occupants. There there's enough for a long break without hunting. There is some fresh food that's rotten and needs to be thrown away but whoever lived here clearly knew how to keep food prepared. There are cooking oils, flour, and sugar for bread and baked goods. There is jerky of various types of meats, dried fruit, sun-dried tomatoes, stores of nuts, jars of preserved fruit and jams (and empty jars to make more), and hard cheeses that need only a little mold cut off them to still be edible. Some of the jars have confit, meat cooked and preserved in lard, or garlic preserved in oil. A small root cellar has a few barrels of potatoes, parsnips, and onions.
It also has some barrels of beer and bottles of wine.
There are also dried herbs hanging in bundles from the kitchen ceiling, jarred pickled vegetables, and vinegar for pickling more. There are also fresh veggies the group can harvest together. The gardens will not be infinite in supplying the group but luck has it that many vegetables are ripe for harvest right now. The squad can pick juicy tomatoes, green beans, peppers, carrots, radishes, blackberries from a small thicket, squash, and plenty of zucchini. The garden does need tending to stay healthy. Aside from harvesting from it, weeds need to be pulled, beans and tomatoes need to be trellised, spoiled veggies on the ground need to be tossed away.
❧ Bathing. There is no soap other than what the Elves may have given them but there are hot baths. The water has to be heated on a fire down the hall and carried to the tubs.
❧ Weather/Atmosphere: The air outside and inside is on the warmer side. Even though the stone is cool, the cooking fires warm the air to something comfortable. The air outside in the gardens is warm and sunny, with the occasional cool breeze due to the altitude.

Re: Open to All
By being part-alien.
[Kon goes back to his gardening.]
I'm a clone hybrid. Half-human, half-Kryptonian. The Kryptonian side of my DNA comes from Superman, a hero in my world.
Kal's planet, Krypton, unfortunately had this big catastrophe and blew up when Kal was a baby. There were only a few survivors that got sent off in little ships: Kal, his cousin Kara - my second cousin, and Krypto. Kara and Krypto had their ships knocked off course so they didn't show up until Kal got to Earth and grew up.
Krypto's kinda a handful and I live somewhere with a lot of wide open space, so Kal gave him to me. He figured he could use someone younger that could keep up with him.
He's a pretty high energy dog and usually we have a lot of the same superpowers, so I can keep his powers in check.
Re: Open to All
Oh, you're a clone? I have a clone!
She, um, kinda tried to take over the world and turn it into a squirrel utopia until my friends and I beat her and she relearned how to find compromise in complicated situations.
[Doreen was simplifying a lot, but Tippy was to interested in cracking open one of the nuts to call her on it.]
She's building Squirrel Utopia in the Negative Zone now. It's pretty nice.
Re: Open to All
He shakes his head.
"Poor guy was brainwashed to obey the bad guys that cloned me to begin with, and caused lots of trouble, including pretending to be me. Then - 'cause being a copy of a copy does all kinds of fun stuff to your DNA - stuff went wrong with him and degraded his body and intelligence. Hopefully, I can find him and get him some help someday, though. Always thought it'd be cool to have a brother. I mean, that's just having an identical twin, right?"
Re: Open to All
Plus, if I'm being super honest? I was more hyper than three kids put together.
[This was the girl who'd beaten Doctor Doom when she was 14, after all.]
Tippy, you have actual siblings, right? What do you think?
<I think you're putting way too much thought into it>
You might be right. It's probably enough that we think of them as siblings.