wildestmods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wildestmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
wildestlogs2022-03-26 02:58 am
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.
no subject
I'm real good, Weller was real good, the Union just keeps bloody patchin' the damn stuff an' it feels so fuckin' hopeless sometimes I swear to—
[ She catches herself, then, cutting off abruptly with a groan directed at herself. ]
God, I sound like Val. Which, for the record, is a bad sign. [ she sighs and sits back up ] Sorry, I'm bein' a right Debbie Downer. Thank you, seriously. If at the end of this we actually get home an' we can stay in contact... any help'd be real appreciated. We've been runnin' on fumes.
An' I'm sure dealin' with the kind of stuff that goes on in a world with bloody superheroes and more gives tech people an extra edge.
[ She's half a mind to joke, but not really joke, that they could also do with some of that assortment of stuff that leads to people coming back to life, but. No. It's actually still too raw to joke about and on the serious side... Kazu's death was almost more akin to someone destroying a hard drive full of data, his actual body was still breathing when she left. There's technically nothing to revive, his brain's just... empty. ]
no subject
He goes on, "And yeah, we do have to be up on our tech junk. We fight aliens with really good tech all the time. Plus some of the bad guys are smart enough the tech they make is a nightmare."
no subject
“One bit of that I can kinda relate to,” she flashes a jokey smile, “but, yeah, my world’s just got a very mundane, down-to-earth kinda evil goin’ on. Gotta say I’m glad we’re not dealin’ with anything more exotic on top of it. Unless— don’t suppose you know if we’re temptin’ fate tryna get some people offworld to Mars?”
She’s joking. They are trying to get people to Mars, that’s a thing (that she has no idea is all a big lie), but it’s still a joke.
“Though, okay, does that mean you guys… do deal with other worlds sometimes already? Or when you say some stuff’s too complicated are you bein’ totally hypothetical?”
no subject
That's time travel for you.
"Sometimes the conflict is too complicated because it's not an instance of one side being right and the other being wrong. Sometimes both sides are just being horrible to each other, both kinda started it, and the problem needs to be fixed by both parties because anything someone external does won't make a lasting peace."
He nods his head to the side.
"Other times, people try to take over the world and eat up millions of innocent people with nanites. That one sounds pretty black and white to me."
cw: reference to suicide and cult stuff
Cammie nods along with genuine interest as he explains because, again, other worlds are often insane and interesting and personally the superhero worlds she’s heard about all seem to rank real high on both scales.
“Man. It’s wild to think some of you already kinda knew other dimensions and time fuckery were possible. Before bein’ yanked around like this it was still pure theory for us. In every form.”
Nugget runs back over, and she offers her arm for him to run up so he can get onto her shoulder.
“Y’know, one of my team, he had this whole— crisis, recently. ‘Cause, apparently, our side technically struck first. Tried to destroy their nano production plants, ‘cause they were suddenly makin’ more, an’… I dunno. His family died in New York, so it’s not like I dinnae get why he’d freak if he thought the war didnae have to happen like it did, but…”
She shakes her head.
“They were killin’ thousands even before the war went ‘hot’. One of my other teammates was from one of the first places they occupied. They had people killin’ themselves with nano, tellin’ ‘em it’d take them to an afterlife. They used it as a threat for others if they didnae conform.”
She sighs.
“I’m gettin’ heavy again, sorry. Just— god. It’s black an’ white, you’re right.”