MOCK ROUND - WEEK 1

[foundationmods]

All of the guests awoke in their rooms, just like they had before.

Yesterday had been a day of surprises.
First, they'd finally met the person who had brought them here.
Secondly, they'd learned they were going to be playing a false murder mystery for two weeks.
And most important, they learned that wishes could be granted if they won this game.🗈

Still, for now, it seemed like there wasn't much to do. Was the Witch already in talks with the 'Murderer'? Was the 'victim' already decided upon?

There was no way to know until some day later this week, apparently.

Still, it wasn't all bad. The island was beautiful and the climate just perfect for beachgoing, or taking a cosy walk in the garden. There were also board and card games which would be produced upon request, to help ease the boredom of it all.

Though, perhaps the guests would prefer to get to know each other instead? On maybe get into some trouble as they roamed the island.

Yet, with only a fake game in front of them....there's no proper sense of foreboding, is there?

....But maybe all of this...

...Is just the calm before the storm.


MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

Mock Round Calendar

Comments

[artificialhighness]

[The outside garden is lovely, but a bit too pointy and closed off for her tastes -- it's good to appreciate the roses, but at this point Luna can be found in the garden attached to the kitchen where she can just hang out in the midst of the vegetation. Probably getting lost in it a little bit.

She's wearing a simple pastel sundress in light green, blending in but for the very bright helmet still on her head, so at least she's not a tripping hazard. The bandage is still wound around her right hand, though it's clean this time, and she occasionally frowns at it but otherwise goes about her day.

Anyone cooking may get ingredients if they want, since she seems to be pruning any of the plants that aren't quite up to snuff.]

It's a little plainer than I'm used to, but this is a utility garden, isn't it? It has its own charm.

[Eventually, she'll be back down at the beach, sitting in the surf and staring back out at the ocean. Or rather, she would be, but there's a flock of seagulls hanging out next to her, apparently in hopes of food, and she's just staring quietly back at them as they take turns approaching to nip at her dress.

Does anyone have some bread, this is important.]

garden times;

[dawnwardspiral]

[ It's been an...interesting series of events this week, what with the explanation given from Lambdadelta and now they're stuck here for now. Whether or not she was to be truly trusted remained to be seen as far as he was concerned, and now he was sort of just wandering around, revisiting a few places he'd already been to.

The garden is of course one of them, and he spots her right as he enters into the area. ]

Used to flashier gardens?

[ He's not exactly here for ingredients...yet. ]

[artificialhighness]

[There's a lot to absorb, even for a robot -- perhaps especially for a robot of her persuasion, who really has only had contact with the tech side of things. Tech so advanced it looks like magic sure is a thing, but at the end of the day it's still very much tech and confined to the mortal realm.

The laws of magic are going to take a little more time.

So she's whiling it away here, and when Riku turns up she's got a tidy pile of greens by her knees -- it's likely going to get thrown away at this point.]

More ornamental ones. I don't know if you could call them gardens. We planted as many flowers as we could keep alive. Some of us had more of a knack for it than others.

[There's something quiet and far-away in her voice. It's not quite sentimental, but it could get there with more effort.]

[dawnwardspiral]

[ Welcome to the world of magic. ]

There must have been a lot of them if you planted as many as you could keep alive.

[ Or at least that's what he assumes—he also assumes they planted regular ones too because that is just the natural state of things. ]

But, ornamental gardens would still be considered a garden at the end of the day. Or so I'd think.

[artificialhighness]

They stretched across the horizon. I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed them.

[There was always something heartening about it.

It’s still very different from what they’re dealing with here. Perhaps not in a bad way. She’s not sure — she’s always been more on the appreciator’s side.]

I suppose it would depend on how you define “garden”, wouldn’t it? A garden is something one owns.

[dawnwardspiral]

Well, there are many people who like gardens.

[ Heartening, eh. ]

I've always thought having a garden would mean someone would need to own it in the first place.

But, personally I didn't spend much time putting one together or taking care of one. I was focused on other things.

[artificialhighness]

It changes with the times. Sometimes the world stops looking at gardens, and then they show that they are there for no one. They will grow regardless.

[Even if it becomes a wild sort of growth, with fewer flowers, with more choking vines and a few more bugs and here, a surprising amount of wildlife. That's the other reason she's taken up residence here. Everywhere, there's a buzz and a song on the air.

Birds. Insects. The noise never ends. She tilts her head at Riku.]

Other things?

[dawnwardspiral]

That's true.

[ Though unintended gardens aren't common on the main islands, elsewhere Riku's sure that's bound to be the case at least a couple of times or so. ]

School, and then travelling with friends. It kind of leaves little time for gardening, if you know what I mean.

[artificialhighness]

That's true -- gardening isn't exactly something you do on the road. The nature of my work requires me to stay in one place for long stretches of time, but I do like hearing the stories of travelers.

[Maybe that is a prompt for a travel tale?? Maybe.]

[dawnwardspiral]

[ A travel tale, huh? ]

...Can't say mine would be too interesting to you. But, I can say that it all started when I decided that one day would be the one I finally left the island. I wasn't the only one who'd managed, since Sora and Kairi had made their way off in their own way, but we didn't really start out travelling together.

[ Let's just skip the part where Riku kind of fucked shit up right away. ]

[artificialhighness]

An island like this one, then.

[Of course, this is a pretty unique island -- but anyone who has grown up along the coastline knows the sound and smell and sights of the ocean, and the way the brine cooks itself into your bones and bolts.

Even this far inland, she breathes it in.]

So you all decided to go traveling on your own, but then met again out in the world?

[It totally sounds way more romantic than it is, huh.]

[dawnwardspiral]

[ He'll give a nod.

Even if this island is different, there are things that're similar to the atmosphere of being on an island and being used to living that that never change. In a way it makes a foreign place like this almost seem homely. ]

That's a good way to put it. [ Except try 'worlds'. ] Things got kind of complicated when we went out, which meant we were separated for awhile. It wasn't easy finding our way back to each other either, but we managed to, even if took longer than it should've.

[artificialhighness]

Children of the sea have a way of finding each other. Perhaps that's what it is.

[It's said rather lightly, because there's no such principle out there -- but it's still not unusual for robots to come to her, in the inland bowl where she works, smelling of brine. It's just overwhelming here.]

But regardless, you were truly lucky to see them again. [a pause, a tilt of the head] Will you be going back to them, once this is over?

garden!

[resealed]

[raenef finds himself in the gardens again at some point later during the day where he spots luna and decides to approach her] You're used to another type of garden?

[artificialhighness]

I'm not sure you would call them gardens -- they were flower fields that many of us tended to. I liked to look at them, more than anything.

[She taps gently at what must be a vegetable by her feet, leafy and plain and a refreshing sort of green.]

Everything here is for a different sort of purpose.

[resealed]

Flower fields? Wow— well flowers are really pretty to look in general.

[he glance shifts towards the vegetable she is referring to and nods at that] I guess that would be different then especially if this place has more than just flowers.

[artificialhighness]

They are something that will always bloom, so long as there is sunlight. Until the sun dies, long after the Earth -- they will stay with us.

[She shifts a little to make room in the vegetation, in case he feels like getting down in the dirt with her. She doesn't seem terribly bothered by it, and her dress seems to be none the worse for the wear so far.]

These, though, are meant to be consumed, I think. I'm surprised to see a kitchen.

[Given Lambda's food conjuring habits.]

[resealed]

Yeah, they're pretty amazing.

[he smiles and just nods at that though he pauses looking confused by the words that follow] Why are you surprised to see a kitchen?

[artificialhighness]

The witch conjured food when she first appeared, didn't she?

[So it's a little odd that there would be so many tools of the trade in the garden and the kitchenspace and so forth. It almost feels like...]

Either she likes doing certain things the ordinary way, or this is for the benefit of others.

[Questionable benefit, and the 'other' qualifier is questionable too, but one has to wonder.]

[resealed]

Oh! Right— [oops someone is a little slow on the uptake of that... ]

Well now that you mention it, I guess it could be either one.

[artificialhighness]

[They've had a pretty packed couple of days, so she just waits for him to catch up.]

I suppose, if she doesn't really live here and the goats aren't able to use magic, it might be more practical than having the people here starve.

[It's questionable who can cook. But. The goats probably can.

We're counting on you, Goatbi wan Kenobi.]

[resealed]

Yeah, that's a good point. I didn't think of that but that does make sense.

[artificialhighness]

Are you someone who cooks?

[Or, you know, someone who waits at the dinner table like that one meme table-pounding emoji. You know the one. She leaves that part unsaid.]

[resealed]

That's— no, I never got the chance to learn.

[artificialhighness]

I never had a need to learn, either.

[Despite the profusion of fragrant plants surrounding her, she doesn't seem inclined to learn now, either. She simply remains there, surrounded by all the herbs in the world and then some.

A moment's thought--]

... It may be a dying skill where I come from.