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.
Xuan leans back into the hard brick wall of a store behind him. Black locks of hair crumple and bends against his skull as he lifts his head up to stare at the midday sun. It blinds him for just a second before a cloud obscures it from view.
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He closes his eyes, breathing in the sheer tranquillity and human-ness of his surroundings. Normality and stability were hard to find again after 'meetings' and 'jobs'. Through his eyelids, he sees the inescapable red as the sun emerges and immediately opens them again to escape from the memories that start to surface.
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A little melody comes to memory, Xuan isn't quite sure where he had heard it before or the lyrics but the melody haunts his head, driving out the actual ghosts out for a while. He unknowingly hums it under his breath as he glances around him, taking in each movement, watching for anything out of place to the usual fluid flow of motion.
JELLY PARIM "I've grown to hate the world more than ever."
Jelly decided to go walking in the morning, since there was nothing to do at all. She knew better than to just stay in her home and do nothing at all. The Leviathan witch thought it was best to go walking around the Residential Area to clear her mind off some things. She perked her head up and sneered only to see the midday sun shining above, it's glare almost blinding her eyes.
Ugh. This is why I hate light. She cursed under her breath, before she hurriedly turned to a left towards anoher street from the Residential Area. Wait... I'm pretty sure this heads to Amagika Park or something...
As usual, the residential area is filled with so many witches walking around town. Jelly rolls her eyes. She really isn't a big fan of crowds at all. Despite her contempt, the witch scurried her way into the town, Jelly turned yet again to the right, breathing heavily. Avoiding the crowds was a good thing, she thought. Walking into a much lonelier street, she continued strolling around, not minding the faint noises emitted by the other street.
She stopped when she saw a young man leaning against a wall, seemingly in a deep thought. Well, it was normal anyway, since she does think quite a lot, too, but she was still curious. Heaving a deep breath, she put on a small smile and walked up to him.
"Ah, hey there." She called out to him, waving a hand. "Fine morning we have, no? And you seem to be thinking deeply or something, so sorry if I disturbed you."
[attr="class","partynotes"]note: i'm sorry for taking this long oml
[attr="class","partytriangle"]
[attr="class","partycontent"]
Like the coiled body of a snake, the steam of people shifts every once in a while. The sun begins its slow journey across the cloudless skies, blinding anyone who dares to look up. His eyes skirt to their corners, inconspicuously observing content to just be an observer.
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His gaze turns inwards for a brief moment, tracing along the glacial green seams that lined his collar. A voice speaking next to caused him to almost flinch. "Yes, lovely morning." He echoes, raising his eyebrows curiously at the girl beside him. "And what are you doing this fine day?"
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A quick sweep around him assured Xuan that there was no immediate figure lurking in the shadows, ready to strike him as soon as he entered an alleyway.
Well, this young man was interesting. Jelly smiled back at him and leans against a wall, just a few inches away from him. She then grins and listens as he asks her whatever she was doing in the alleyway. "Oh, nothing really. Just trying to clear my head and explore. It was getting boring sitting around in the house."
Jelly then turned her head to face the alleyway, then back at the young man next to her. "How about you? What are you doing here?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "You wouldn't be out here without a reason, no? And you seem to be thinking deeply about something a while earlier."
Now Jelly was getting a bit too far. They were still complete strangers to each other, nothing else. She chuckled nervously and shook her head, smiling apologetically at him. "Ah, so sorry if I'm being sudden. I'm just really like this whenever it comes to interacting with people." She sighed, throwing her head back. "Just... feel free to ignore me if you think I'm being creepy or something."
His eyebrows arch at the number of questions he's been assaulted with but his smiles remain intact. The way the girl animatedly went on beside him amused him, reminding him of the birds that would constantly nest in his hair as he watered his garden in the morning. "Before I answer these questions, do I have the pleasure of knowing your name? I'm Xuan by the way."
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His gaze settles on her as he speaks again, half-truths forming naturally on his lips. "I was just watching the crowds, taking a step back from the hustle and bustle. I thought I heard something familiar my mother would sing, a lullaby. I've forgotten the lyrics but this," he tapped his head, "still remembers the tune. I was trying to figure out how it went." In truth, he does remember the lyrics but the thought of singing it, singing those words again, pulled out old memories of times when he was still painfully innocent.
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Still, he could not help but hum the tune under his breath as he absent-mindedly watched the crowds pulled under by the hoard of memories that threatened to drown him. That may have been what drew the girl's attention.
He asked for her name first before telling her his. "Xuan... that's such a nice name." She mumbled, then grinned at him. "My name is Jelly Parim, a witch from the Leviathan coven. Very nice to meet you, Xuan."
Then he explained why he was here all along; avoiding the crowds and thinking of hearing the tune of a lullaby his mother had sung to him long ago? Now that's interesting. "Hmm... aren't there any bunkers or something around here?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, I could be wrong, but some bunkers play random songs that some people know... or maybe there are some musicians that play the tune that you know somehow."
It actually might be a plausible answer, but who knows? Maybe she might be wrong and some voice might be calling out to Xuan. But she'll never know.
Nice name. He wondered what her reaction would be if she knew the whispers about him behind closed doors in hushed conversations. The next few sentences she spoke made his brows almost rise again. Her willingness to give up information was almost laughable, perhaps once upon a time he too would have been that foolish.
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He gave her a small smile, pushing down on memories that had always been triggered by the simplest of things. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Jelly." He brushed back a stray strand of hair, almost appearing shy and unsure of his next words. "It's an old tune. I doubt any buskers would know of it, there's not enough of it I can recall but thank you."
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He looked around, searching for anything to change the topic. Where was that silver tongue of his when he needed it. The sun caught his eyes, hanging almost directly above them. Xuan hadn't even realised how much time had passed. With another quirk of his lips, he offered her his hand. "It seems time does pass quickly when you don't notice. How about lunch?"
[break][break] Really, he should not be trusting strangers, he should have learnt a thing or two about that from his past encounters. But, he reasoned with himself, it was dinner and the blades and poison hidden inside his robes would finish her off before she could do anything. So he waited with a patient smile.
Bunkers rarely ever play old tunes like that, huh... the Leviathan witch shrugged at this statement and looked down to the ground, silently musing to herself. "Well... do you think it's playing somewhere but the bunkers, then?" Of course, she didn't really need an answer for this, so she asked this silently than usual. She didn't face Xuan after having asked said question, only drowning in her own thoughts.
Somehow this conversation with him made her feel... nostalgic about home.
Mother never sung me lullabies to make me sleep for the night... only her punches and kicks can make me go to sleep.
Her thoughts were disrupted when Xuan spoke again, and this statement made her nod. "Ah, yes it does." She didn't expect his invitation to lunch, though, so this made her blink for a few moments. Why the sudden invitation now? She shouldn't really be taking invitations from strangers like him, no, but... he seems quite nice. Nice in a bad way, but still. She likes men that way.
Besides... it couldn't really be bad, right?
She smiled and took the hand offered over to her, before nodding at the young man. "Sure. I'm kinda getting hungry here, too." She stated, observing those mysterious eyes staring patiently back at her.
[attr="class","partynotes"]note: xuan just overthinking everything
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Xuan gives her a sad smile. It would always be playing in his mind when he desperately needed peace and quiet that was scarce in his line of work. Hearing another possibly singing the same sweet lullaby was enough to disturb the little peace he had struggled to maintain and nobody would like that.
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He's relieved when she decides to deviate from the topic of his childhood lullaby and onto the matter of food. A smile forms across his face as she accepts his invitation for lunch. His fingers curl gently around hers and he recalls that he had done this before, hand in hand with his brothers as they set off for a meal that would finally chase away the ever-present hunger.
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He leads them forwards, threading carefully within the crowd, making sure that neither of them bumps into a passerby. "There's a cafe I've been meaning to try out. Apparently, they make good pies." He pauses, registering that the hand he was holding was not his family's and he barely had an idea what they would like. "If you want to try that of course. If not, we could always find another."
[break][break] A little bit of anxiety settles in, making his ice blue eyes flash nervously. He had gotten careless, the mere touch of a hand in his had dragged his mind back to a time and place where it was safer to let down his guard. He had been to casual, too close. The hairs on the back of his arm rises followed by goosebumps as he waits for her answer.
Once Xuan takes her hand, she was led out of the dark alleyway they were in from a while ago, and into the town that was now crowded with too many people. Jelly listens to Xuan as he tells her about a cafe that made good pies. Jelly wasn't really the sweet tooth, but pies are actually really good to her tongue. So trying that cafe out might be a good idea.
Before she could reply though, she saw a sudden glint in his eyes that Jelly wasn't sure she could point out. There was something there, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Jelly doesn't comment on this however, and instead she shrugs with a nod. "We'll try that cafe out first, then. Pies actually make my stomach rumble even more." That meant to say that she was getting hungry for those said pies, but she didn't know if he would get that.
The people keep pushing on through the streets, and Jelly would occasionally glare at a passerby who so happens to be careless and bumps at them. She then turns to Xuan with a worried look on her face. "Hey, are you comfortable with walking around in crowded places like this?" She asks, and then another passerby bumps at her shoulder, making her growl before turning to him again. "Doesn't it annoy you?"
