this is Salem, a land filled with magic and maladies. It is a place where witches and their elemental familiars gather, a home to legend and
lore that predates time itself. Yet of all the wicked and wonderful stories the past can tell us of, the most magical are the ones yet to happen.
This is Salem - this is the start of your very own journey. Welcome to starfall
Starfall is an animaga witch roleplay set in mostly modern times. Members play as witches in a world plagued by monsters, where the only safe spots are walled cities. Starfall strives to be a character-driven roleplay with expansive lore and a highly interactive plotline. We want to allow members to
create and look back on a magical journey, and mold the site and its plot as their characters grow.
for thinking i was different, what else do you want me to give? i know it's not a promise, you got what you wanted
Millard...was a little nervous. He'd just barely managed to get Fiona down for bed, and it was nearly midnight now. Coffee in hand he'd managed to snag this open coven mission at the last minute without really reading it and now he was truly starting to regret it, considering it was hitting too close to home. Some dream stealing deal that people were concerned about, given out by the Sundial Council?
Reminded him of his missing blocks of time and those green lights.
Bug bites and mud soaked ankles aside, he was here and waiting on the two ladies that were to accompany him. Hopefully they were cute in the least, so maybe he could....I don't know...do something? He felt jittery and nervous anyway, he felt like he should be more .....excited? about the prospects of being alone with them but instead he just felt nauseous.
He hoped he wasn't about to vomit.
He thought he saw at least one of them in the distance and sipped his coffee, trying to keep a cool facade as he raised a hand in greeting.
there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying
that i should probably keep my pretty mouth shut
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Night was her favorite time
of day. At night, she was in her element. Night was her element. The cool breeze and the dim lights trying to fight off the shadows, but never quite managing it, never quite consuming it, revitalize her like no cup of coffee ever could. Still, she purchases one paper mug from the coffee shop near her apartment, if only because she likes the taste of caffè macchiato, and sips at it slowly as she makes her way to the rendezvous point for her latest mission.
Someone's waving at her, in the distance, and she's reminded of how this mission isn't to be carried out with her coven mates, but with witches that are complete strangers to her. Likely fledglings, at that, considering the rank that was attached to the mission by the council. It's no encouraging thought, but Erin doesn't let it show in her face when she greets him. Right now, she focuses on being professionally nice. As nice as she can manage.
"Funny thing, isn't it? To be out stealing dreams. Sounds a lot like the villain in a children's tale." She cuts straight to the chase. Erin herself can't remember the last time she dreamed of anything nice, which in turn meant she wouldn't have even noticed it had it not been for the mission alert. Perhaps the other witch would be able to shed some light on the matter for her. Might as well, too, since Erin plans to simply get the mission done herself for maximum efficiency, if neither of the others prove to have any helpful abilities. "Erin Caulfield," she adds, but doesn't offer a hand to shake, deeming it awkward when each of them had a mug in their hands.
Erin Caulfield, she repeats in her mind, carrying fledglings through missions since 1996.
Technically, you've only been a novice since earlier this year, Siri, her familiar, reminds her.
Erin looks up at a particular spot in the sky, twinkling like a star very far away, barely perceptible. The witch knows the vampire bat is there; if not for her enhanced ability to see in the dark, because of their mental link. Siri, she warns. Untimely.
This wasn't the first time Nana took whatever job she could find. Recently she had been getting a bit desperate for money (thanks to certain bears and their food needs), so really any job she could find, she would take. All she knew was where to be, what it was for, and that two other people were joining her. That wasn't a bother, of course. Nana was up for anything, and going on missions was simply part of that.
It was the middle of the night when they were supposed to be meeting, so Nana took it upon herself to sleep in during the day. That way, she would be wide awake come night time. The journey to the meeting place was as uneventful as she expected, but tolerable with Cadbeary's comments.
As she came up to the meeting spot, she noticed two other people, one of them looking up. She coughed a little and announced her presence. "Hey. I'm Nana. Nana Morningstar. I'm going to assume that you're both here for the mission, so we can get started whenever you're both ready."
for thinking i was different, what else do you want me to give? i know it's not a promise, you got what you wanted
The first witch approaches and he nearly chokes on his drink in his effort to respond to her very sudden words. He feels the creep of coffee in his nose and wipes his sleeve under his lip to catch any should it drip out, but he feels no wetness.
Great job making an idiot of yourself already, he thinks quietly.
"I mean like, yeah pretty much right? Like some weird fairy tale. I just hope this goes by quickly not going to lie. I'd love to get home."
He finds himself suddenly grumpy, not really in the mood to flirt, and missing his daughter more and more. He noticed the other girl - both pretty - approach and coughed into his fist.
"Millard Zhang. Let's go then?"
He turned on his heel and headed down into the wooded area where people were have rumored to see a strange creature that they assumed was the cause of the disruption. He was curious, admittedly, and drained the rest of his coffee nearly scalding his throat. He made a small muffled noise as he crunched through leaves, and paused to shake his head to relieve some of the pain.
Something flew by in the trees overhead with a wild chitter, and he froze.
there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying
that i should probably keep my pretty mouth shut
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She nods. The answer she receives
isn't terribly helpful, but Erin guesses it'll have to do, for now. At least, she can tell he's not very happy to be here, and that's enough to reassure her that they've both the same goal: getting the mission done. Whatever his mood is, and whatever he lets on, beyond that, Erin is happy to ignore. She wasn't here to act like anybody's therapist. She wasn't being paid to act like anybody's therapist.
The last member of their small party arrives with the completely erroneous idea that she was here to give out orders. She was not, whatever her name was. Nana or whatever. Morningstar, did she say? Erin couldn't care less. She would not stand for any random witch to believe they were the boss of her. She considers scoffing at her, thinks better of it, decides to let her actions speak for herself, and show not only her but the other witch as well exactly who is in charge. Even if this Zhang dude didn't look very threatening himself.
They begin their vigil with the boy nearly choking himself with his coffee. Not literally, but nearly. Erin is expressionless as she watches this, still sipping calmly at her own coffee.
When Millard directs their attention towards the shadow flying by above them, Erin only needs to look up to confirm whether it was indeed a squirrel or not—or so she thinks. Her eyes glow a misty silver as they adjust to the darkness. It had a vague squirrel-like shape, but it was quite a bit bigger than what she expected a flying squirrel to be. "Only one way to find out," she says aloud. Erin was willing to take no chances, and it's with that simple thought that an invisible wall appears right before the critter, making it collapse against it, and then fall to the ground before them.
for thinking i was different, what else do you want me to give? i know it's not a promise, you got what you wanted
Okay so that was one way to go about it he guessed.
He winced as the weird squirrel thing hit the wall hard and flopped down on the ground comically, and glanced upward as Lauv sailed by with an encouraging whale noise. He sighed and approached cautiously, tucking the crushed cup in his pocket and bending down to squint at the critter.
"What the fu-WHAT!"
It leaped at his face, and Millard gave a very girlish shriek before falling back on his butt. It poofed into smoke, and Millard popped back up, looking around wildly.
"Okay what the hell is this thing? Is it someone's familiar???"
The critter chittered from behind the two, standing on a rock and seeming to wag a finger at the two. It's bushy tail twitched sporadically and Millard squinted suspiciously as it ran off into the forest, pausing to look back at them before running forward again.
there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying
that i should probably keep my pretty mouth shut
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The squirrel was a lot craftier than
either of them expected. It could play dead, and it could also scare the fuck out of Millard, apparently. Just like a pet dog.
Millard's scream has Erin flinching back in surprise. For a moment, she fears her coffee's going to spill, but it doesn't, and she sighs in relief. The other witch doesn't have as much luck, or grace. He falls to the ground with a soft thumb. Most importantly, however, the squirrel itself disappears in a disorienting poof of smoke. At his subsequent question, Erin can only assume a "Seems that way." Clearly, if it could make use of magic, it was no ordinary animal.
A chitter behind them catches each of the witches' attention in virtually no time. It's taunting us, she realizes when it makes an uneven retreat into the woods. Erin's answer to the question that Millard asks is decided before he even asks it. "Whether familiar or summon, this is a trap," she deadpans. There is no question about it leading to danger. Equally unquestionable is the idea that following it would take them to the source of some trouble.
Erin finishes her coffee with one last gulp, before lifting the cup up. "Siri," she calls. The familiar flies down to pick it up. Anyone paying attention would notice her small shape flying back towards the city afterwards, but Siri's own witch is not. "Let's go," she tells Millard instead, not quite noticing whether he's gotten up yet or not. Her irises start glowing again as she begins the chase.
for thinking i was different, what else do you want me to give? i know it's not a promise, you got what you wanted
He's starting to regret this. Like really, really regret it. He doesn't want to be here anymore fuck this mission he wants to see Fiona safe in her bed. He frowns, gets up and dusts himself off.
Of course it was a trap, why wouldn't it be?
"Right yeah because this couldn't be simple or fun."
But he knew what he was getting himself into otherwise he never would have taken the mission right? He sighed as Lauv called out overhead, the massive whale flashing by briefly in the sky before vanishing back into the clouds. Millard raised a hand to let him know he was okay, then trailed after Erin cautiously.
Chittering could be heard from around them and suddenly there were a surprising amount of glowing eyes watching them. Millard shivered and walked a bit faster, hearing a squeaking noise in the distance.
"Do you hear that? Sounds like something is in trouble.Think it's the squirrel thing?"
Millard stepped over something but hesitated as Lauv snapped their connection, telling him to focus. He pulled his foot back and a bear trap snapped shut with a vicious sound, and Millard jumped.
there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying
that i should probably keep my pretty mouth shut
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She says nothing to
Millard's sarcastic comment. Could simple ever be fun? Erin has to wonder if she's ever had fun with anything didn't involve a challenge. Inconceivable, she decides.
The soles of her leather boots make the fallen leaves beneath her crunch as she follows the squirrel. She frowns at the noise, so unbefitting for a stealth mission like theirs currently was. In a proper mission, this would be getting her killed. Both of them. She should have enchanted her boots before hurrying after the squirrel. The squirrel that just so happens to have escaped her visuals. Her irises are stilling glowing an eerie silver as she scans the entire perimeter for a glimpse of it. It's gone.
Probably too late to enchant those boots, now.
"Think it's the squirrel thing?"
Erin has to look back at the young man at this, and her eyes flicker from silver to pale blue and back to silver again. She'd completely forgotten she wasn't alone in this mission, caught up as she was in her inspection of the site. "If it is, the squirrel had it coming," she shrugs. The enchantress had no intention to save such a rude little animal. If anything, letting it die would probably save them from any further trouble. Maybe even get those dreams back to the locals.
"Quiet," she snaps at him, following the bear trap's activation. Erin sighs. There really were no chances of passing these small woods undetected. The presence of an actual trap in this zone is odd, however, and it has Erin squinting at the contraption when she speaks up next. "Are you hurt?" The witch really couldn't care less about his health; she was only asking so that she could decide whether they should continue their search, or split, which was really just a nicer way of saying she was all too ready to leave him behind.
for thinking i was different, what else do you want me to give? i know it's not a promise, you got what you wanted
There's a strange sense of almost....animosity between them. Millard doesn't like it, and miserably shuts his mouth. A million things come to mind, hell he could flirt and see if that worked, but the bear trap had him shook. For some reason he can sense she isn't actually worried about him, and he kicks at a rock. He nods his head, deciding not to comment for now about how fucking rude she is, before making a face when the squirrel thing from before chitters, glowing softly.
It's eyes are a bright pink and it actually has the mind and audacity to wave a finger at them, back and forth as though scolding them. It vanishes into the brush and he grits his teeth, on the verge of stomping his feet like the spoiled child he is.
"Plan of action?"
He whispers, keeping his voice down so she won't yell at him again.
"We could follow or we could take our own path. Do you think this thing is causing the nightmares?"
He's not so sure, and a shrill noise suddenly comes out of the woods. It sounds loud, yet distant, and weirdly squeaky.
there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying
that i should probably keep my pretty mouth shut
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When he nods in response,
Erin's not quite certain if it's a yes to being hurt, or to being fine. Millard looks sad and sullen, and this combination would be earning him a raised eyebrow from her if not for the bear trap at his feet. She can't feel anything special to it; mana flows around it just as it would any other ordinary object. Unless it was made to hide all evidence of magic upon being triggered, Erin feels she should be able to feel at least a sudden exposure, or a sudden drop, of mana in the air. Something akin to what Maddox did whenever she or their friends got out of control.
There's nothing, which is perhaps even more confusing than the alternative.
Millard's whispered question brings her attention back to the squirrel. She shrugs. "I think it's trying to lead us astray from what's really eating everyone's dreams, but what we think doesn't matter at this point. It's all we got right now." Her intentions are thinly veiled. Even if pursuing the squirrel did nothing to bring them closer to the culprit, capturing it would give Erin the satisfaction of skinning the little asshole alive.
"I only need to get a good look at it," she starts, but a scream interrupts her. A scream, a growl, it's hard to tell what it is or, worse still, what made it. Large and intimidating? she repeats in her mind. No. No bear could produce such a high-pitched sound. But it certainly sounds like trouble. She doesn't wait to finish what she was initially going to say about using her control over darkness and shadows to bind the squirrel in place next time they saw it. Instead, she shifts towards it and points out "I'm going after it."
She pulls her wand out. Erin would be ready, this time, regardless of what showed up next. Whether the boy followed after her or after the squirrel, she'd leave up to him.
