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.
Other than the occasional job from Silvertongue, Desmond's life had grown devoid of direction. He'd known that this was an inevitability when he made the decision to leave his daughter and keep her safe the only way he knew how. The necessity of monsters was always short-lived.
She was safe, so he was no longer needed. He did check on her from time to time, of course, through the eyes of a spirit and through the reflections of his blood. (For as much as he resented it, it was her blood, too). Still, she was safe. That was good. That was all he needed.
(That was what he continued to tell himself.)
In the long interims between his moments of purpose, he had resigned himself to humoring the guidance of his divination, watching the events of the world which it wanted him to see.
Today, though, all he could see was that the front door was coated in a haze of pink.
Desmond didn't know what that meant.
He hoped it meant he should just stay in and go back to sleep, because he was in no mood for interpreting such vague imagery, and he was too tired to be going on aimless adventures. It was a bit of a disappointment, then, when his host urged him to accompany him outside. Apparently there was a festival of vendors happening today, so Taylan would be operating a stall for his flower shop.
It took a bit of persistence before Des stopped deflecting the question and finally agreed to tag along.
His contribution to setting up the stall, however, was minimal, before he laid down on a bench behind the line of vendors and, despite the clamor of noises, appeared to doze off. He couldn't recall if Tay had seen him astral project before, or if he'd ever even explained it. It was entirely possible that the florist just thought he napped a lot more frequently than he did in actuality.
Drifting skywards, his incorporeal figure with too many arms and too many eyes gazes down at the living rivers of pink.
he is hardly a newcomer to the business, but he is a nameless flower shop in a nondescript corner of sundial who relies more or less only on the good word of his patrons to get by, so he goes to the festival anyway. having no hired help, the task of setting up the stall sounds arduous; but he does have someone who often lounges around the flower shop with too much free time on his hands. so he asks desmond.
( it takes a while, but by now he’s too used to the seer’s habits to feel any shame in persistently asking him. )
they’re en route to his chosen destination when a nearby vendor trips, sending a cloud of sparkling dust into the air. some settles on taylan’s sleeve, but he dismisses it as harmless and continues on his way.
it’s not until some while later, when the festival is bustling and taylan is idly re-arranging flowers on the stall that he notices a small figure out of place -- a rabbit, is eyes wide and inquisitive, hopping cautiously across the pavement towards him. he doesn’t stop it, and the creature comes to a stop at his foot, sniffing curiously.
not the weirdest thing that’s happened by far, and his attention turns back to the flowers. when he looks down again; blinks slowly; the rabbits seem to have multiplied. three now crowd around his feet, hopping about without a care in the world.
‘it’s probably not safe for them there,’ iris advises, amusement colouring her tone. ‘you might step on them.’
taylan karga doesn’t typically keep track of what he wants in life, but he knows very well that accidentally being responsible for the murder of innocent bunnies is not on the list. he bends down to pick one up cautiously, and prods at the others gently with a foot, attempting to drive them towards the bench that desmond is taking a nap on. sleeping? doing mysterious seer things? he neither knows nor cares.
“desmond.” the rabbit now hovers unceremoniously close to desmond’s face, its nose twitching. “could you help me hold...” pauses, looks down. somehow, an additional one has also arrived, bringing the grand total to four uninvited fluffy guests. “...all of them.”
Ling loves festivals. She loves the atmosphere that is as bright as the flowers grown of every rainbow hue strung up like a hundred thousand faeries descended upon earth, she loves the chatter that burbles through the air like a golden stream, she loves the sunsparks in everyone's eyes and the way colours dash their hands along every surface available and the way sundial comes alive under her citizens' thundering feet. She loves the mixing, mingling crowd, loves the gleaming glorious streets of her city; she loves.
And she laughs, grins, smiles like her teeth are pearls as she darts through the throngs of people with the swish of brightly dyed silk in her wake, Valkea close on her heels as a blur of ivory white. She's got a little while still before she is to meet up with her boyfriend - at that thought, butterflies as pretty and jewel-coloured as the ones a summoner conjures up to impress their audience all flutter their wings simultaneously in her stomach - which gives her a bit of time to explore the festivities herself.
A familiar face catches her eye- Correction: a familiar face, followed by a possé of the cutest, fluffiest bunnies known to witchkind catches her eye; immediately dropping what she had been doing ( which, incidentally, was heading straight for the food ), Ling veers like a short, cute, brightly-dressed dart of a girl towards her adoptive father.
"Mr Tay!" she yells, bouncing over to him ( it takes a surprising amount of effort - the flow of the crowd is unforgiving and she wouldn't be described as anything resembling sturdy even on the best of days ). She seizes him in a hug, squishes hard, then peers around his side to stare at the bunnies. "They're so cute! Are they yours?"
Then another familiar face registers - truly this is an amazing day. Ling lights up. "Mr Des!" She beams at him too, waving from her still-plastered-on-adoptive-father place. "Are they your bunnies? Are you guys gonna keep them as pets?"
It occurs to her, then, that her adoptive dad and his friend are here, together, at a festival celebrating love. Her eyes widen, then light up like stars. "Are you guys here together?" she asks, wicked and delighted and embarrassing as only a child can be.
Desmond's imperceptible projection lingers around the fallen table of a pet shop. Small animals had gotten loose, and were running wild amongst the chaos of the crowds. He hoped they'd be alright, despite the many distracted feet stepping carelessly around them.
With little warning, his conscious is summoned back to his body by his name. The pet vendor slips away, replaced by the familiarity of Tay's flowers, and then darkness. He can feel again: the stiff seat of the bench, the tickle of whiskers on his cheek... Wait... The seer's brows furrow just before his eyes open, his vision met by the face of a small rabbit. Glancing down towards the fluffy cluster of movement, he sees that they seem to be pooling around Tay. Glancing up, he's struck by the realization that Tay, with his too-kind features outlined by the touch of the sun, is absolutely beautiful.
...
Wait...
Desmond's eyes narrow as he pushes himself upright. "What did you--"
His question would remain left unasked as the gleeful and familiar shout of "Mr Tay!" cuts through the crowd. Desmond had resigned himself to the fact that Lù-Xī could usually be found attending these large scale events, and somehow, some way, fate would have them cross paths. He didn't need to be a seer to know that his daughter's first action would likely be a hug, so he gingerly takes the rabbit off of Taylan's hands. The fluffy creature didn't seem to be very happy with this turn of events, and squirmed fruitlessly to try to return to the target of it's affections. Desmond keeps a secure grip on it, however, as he absentmindedly strokes its fur to try to calm it down.
"They aren't," Des answers Lù-Xī's question to him, "And I imagine finding their original owners will come first." At least before anyone started conversations about keeping them, if that conversation was had at all. "Taylan's here as a vendor," he then replies to her next question. As with most topics of discussion, he didn't seem to mind that his answer remained vague. Oftentimes, it was better to let people believe what they wanted to that bringing his own opinions into the mix.
he holds the bunnies, patient, somewhat glad that at least they’re not squirming around. they’re really quite cute, but he has a business to attend to – specifically, a flower shop, the goods of which may fall prey to inquisitive and hungry bunnies. they are very cute though. he momentarily considers adopting one. then, without warning, a voice pierces through the crowd, bright and exuberant.
oh, ling.
the bunny is saved from being an unfortunate victim of the hug by none other than desmond himself, and taylan gives the seer a grateful nod. then, looks down, absentmindedly ruffling the girl’s hair in a gruff, paternal manner. “hey, kid.” the bunnies still on the ground ( oh, wow, were there more now? ) cleverly arrange themselves to avoid being trodden on. smart bunnies.
a torrent of questions follow, as every interaction with ling seems to go ( again, not like he minds, it’s quite endearing ). “they’re cute,” he does admit as an afterthought, looking down at one perched on his shoe. the last question, though, warrants mild confusion on taylan’s part. together? what on earth did that mean? "we’re- i’m-"
“taylan’s here as a vendor.”
“-that, yeah.”
it’s not quite an answer, in his defense, he isn’t quite sure about how to interpret that question in the first place.
Mr Tay ruffles her hair fondly and Ling- Ling isn't afraid to admit she leans into the gesture, still basking in the fact that there's someone who cares for her like this, someone who fills in the parental space left empty for as long as she can remember. Sometimes, she wonders if her going to Mr Tay like this is a betrayal of her birth father, but it's been five years now, and she's gained enough self awareness in that time to realise her father probably isn't ever coming back for her.
Besides, Mr Tay really needs someone around to inject a little cheer into his days, and as nice as Mr Des is, he's a little... gloomy as an individual. ( She's still convinced that if they get together, they can make each other happier in a way they both need and deserve. Judging by Mr Des' answer though, their both still in denial, so it's up to her to give them a little nudge, just a small one. (Maybe she should recruit some of her friends to help. Surely Heath or Siobhan or Aiden would be willing to help her out. For the sake of love!) )
In the meantime though, she's got one priority to address before she tackles that mountain, and that priority is- "Are you sure someone owns this many bunnies? D'you think they'd let me keep one?" She finally lets go of her adoptive father to scoop up a bunny instead, snuggling the fluffy creature close and cooing at it. It struggles a little before accepting its fate and burrows into her arms. She beams. "This one can be Floppy! He looks kinda like a Floppy, right? Look at his ears!!"
But self interest side, Mr Des and Mr Tay's unresolved relationship really really needs some help. She points at Mr Des triumphantly, wicked mischief still dancing in her eyes. "Aha! That wasn't a no!"
"I saw some booths with pets for adoption when I was projecting... They might have come from there," Desmond comments. Though, it was a bit odd that the booth caretakers weren't searching for the escaped critters... unless there was something more important they were looking to catch? Or maybe the rabbits had just gotten so lost in the crowd that the caretakers didn't even know where to begin looking. "There's no harm in asking -- their current caretakers aren't doing a very good job at the moment, whoever they are."
As if he was one to talk...
Desmond isn't as successful as Ling at calming the rabbit he was holding, but he was at least able to keep it in his hands with a secure hold. He wasn't inexperienced in handling rabbits, but sometimes it just wasn't possible to make up for strength of personality. He glances up when she mentioned her rabbit's new name, and Desmond doesn't have to see the creature to know that, more likely than not, it had floppy ears. Funnily enough, her conventions for naming things hadn't changed since she was three years old.
"You shouldn't give so much weight to vague answers to even vaguer questions," the seer comments with some amusement woven into his tone when the Jester seems a bit too excited about his earlier noncommittal reply, though he offers no elaboration on his previous statement. He points off to the right. "The booths with the animals were that way if you'd like to take a look..."
[attr="class","i1scroll"]he bends down to pick up the bunny perched on his shoe, petting it absently as he listens to ling and desmond converse, letting himself lull momentarily into silence. the bunny, for one, seems all the happier with the attention. he must admit, the creature is remarkably soft, and there’s something very therapeutic about petting a fluffy creature. there is the slightest hint of a smile, rare and soft, that quirks the corners of his lips.[break][break]
“they probably escaped from that,” he agrees mildly, and is somewhat surprised to find himself reluctant to face the idea of parting with his new four-legged companion. he reaches out to tentatively pat the bunny that desmond is holding, a half-hearted attempt to calm it. the gesture is repeated with the newly-named ‘floppy’, to whom he holds out his knuckles, letting the bunny sniff him. they really are quite endearing, with their twitching noses and wide curious eyes and oh-so-soft ears. “it’s an apt name.”[break][break]
ling’s excitement earns her a single raised eyebrow from taylan; desmond gets a mildly quizzical look instead. though when the seer points out the booths, taylan decidedly scoops up another bunny in his hand, gently nudges another out of his way with his toe, and begins slowly making his way towards the adoption booth. “i don’t want to be accused of stealing bunnies,” he says by way of explanation, seemingly unfazed about leaving his own booth unguarded. if someone wanted to steal flowers, let them.
