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.
Jelly didn't know her expectations would suddenly plummet down when she discovered who the golden eyes in the dark belonged to.
At first, she was excited. Those eyes could probably mean something; mean that their hunt would actually end much earlier than expected, and not only that, they would get the loot that they needed. But after she had asked Raven what those eyes may be, it wasn't her who answered; it was her familiar, Dai.
"A snake", he said.
...Oh, the horror.
She slowly backs away with wide eyes once the feathered serpent actually reveals itself in the dim light; Raven suggests that they could probably just leave it alone, and it would leave in turn, but Jelly knew hostile animals like this wouldn't just suddenly let intruders go away--
--It strikes with a mouth wide open.
Jelly flinches and is about to attack, but a panicked Raven does the job; she casts Knockerbacker on the snake and manages to daze it with a song; Jelly herself was getting dizzy, but she could manage. At least the snake was taken care of, and they can be on their way.
"...That was good. Thanks, Raven." She manages before proceeding toward the dirt path, intending to leave the snake behind. "As for your question a while ago that I didn't manage to answer... unfortunately, I don't have any carbuncle food." She grunts with a hunched back, and she pouts.
...Suddenly the smartest idea pops up in her head, and she turns to Raven with a grin. "Hey, let's get all the kinds of food that the critter would probably eat, like leaves or berries or some bugs per say. Maybe it would be attracted with one of the snacks we have picked out for it."
Post by raven delacroix on Oct 20, 2018 18:49:56 GMT
Dazed, the serpent does not strike anymore but merely keeps a watchful eye at them. Raven pours more mana in her voice just in case. It's good Jelly manages to withstand the effect of the scroll, and so the pinkette dashes forward first. Dai nudges his witch to the right direction, and slowly, eventually, they get out of the snake's sight. Raven only stops singing when they Dai has signaled "safe."
Okay, she is pretty tired, but hey, she's feeling pretty proud of herself. Ah, spellsinging really comes so easy to her... Nonetheless, her irritation has faded, and she beams when Jelly suggests that they gather fruits and berries as treats for the carbuncle. "That's a great idea! Except for the bugs part, I mean," Raven says. She pats at her pockets, and is glad they are empty. "Well, we better get started!" With that, Dai starts to poke around the bushes for any rogue berries.
Raven has no idea what to look for, if she's being honest. That is why Dai is here--that is why Dai is with her. Poor girl would be lost without the ingenuity of her familiar. Dai paws at the spot, and Raven kneels and pokes around--and finally sees some blue berries. Raven eagerly gathers a handful and stuffs them in her pocket. The stag meanwhile has advanced further into the dirt path, and this time finds some blackberries. "Raven, here," Dai calls.
"All right, be right there!" Raven huffs. Her palms have the slightest tinge of blue. She feels the strongest urge to wash them off... but no can do. She stands up, with half a pocket full of berries, and carefully makes her way to Dai and his blackberries. Once more she forages. "Are you sure these are edible?" she asks Dai, to which the familiar nods gravely. "Yes, I am sure, milady." He also knows these are the favorite foods of the carbuncle, so this will get them better chances of taming the beast.
TL;DR // Avoids the dazed snakeu, agrees with Jelly and starts foraging for berries
[attr="class","itemsraven"]items used //
[attr="class,"imageraven"]
[attr="class","scrollraven"]KNOCKERBACKER
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SIREN CALL
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
Just let me cry a little bit longer I ain't gon' smile if I don't want to Hey man, we all can't be like you I wish we were all rose-colored too My
Raven seems rather motivated to actually hunt for some carbuncle food. This makes Jelly smile, and once the white-haired woman declares that they start now, she nods enthusiastically and heads off a separate way. "I'll take the way over here. Call me once you are done collecting!" She calls out to Raven, Obelisk close by her.
Carbuncle treats could be anything, really. Grass, leaves, branches, fruits... even that snake could also be a possibility if they were ever omnivorous. However, Jelly is not capable of holding on to other animals, so she focuses on the plants in front of her, picking whatever and whichever that may fit the creature's taste and catch it's nose.
Obelisk snickers from his fishbowl, watching from Raven and his familiar from a distance. Seems like milady is having some trouble. He snickers once more after having said that. Even her familiar is instructing her instead of the other way around.
These statements earn him a smack on the fishbowl from Jelly, and she glares at his direction, different leaves and berries she found in hand. That's rather rude of you, mister Obe. She grinned once she hears a grunt from him. He never really like that nickname that much anymore; it grows annoying overtime. But you do have to know she is much stronger than us here. She's a novice, for goodness sake.
Yeah, yeah, whatever. He grumbles in response. Let's just hurry up, alright? I got a feeling that snake's not going to be the one surprising us with danger here.
Hey, this is a forest. Anything could happen. She reassures her familiar, picking up more berries and leaves and branches. By now her other hand's getting full; she'll have to use the other to finally have it all. Besides, you're not the only one suspecting something dangerous will happen around here. I feel something too.
And it's true; for some reason, Jelly could feel something nearby, but she couldn't determine what it was. Only a possible hunch; time will tell what other creature it would be.
She just hoped that something is the carbuncle, though.
There was indeed another creature nearby, and as the collection of food and the disappearance of the serpent, it peeks through the leaves its hiding place in the underbrush. Two green eyes glisten on a chinchilla sized face, along with a third green, glistening orb on its forehead.
Post by raven delacroix on Nov 1, 2018 16:32:56 GMT
By the time Raven has finished foraging the blackberries, Dai has already perked up his ears. He hears movements that are not coming from their small party. Jelly and Obelisk are farther away from them, and the small, almost silent movements are not coming from their direction. Raven finishes gathering all the blackberries she can fit in her pocket, before standing up rather clumsily.
"Ugh... that posture is definitely not good... hey, Dai, what's next--oh!" Raven covers her mouth, cutting off the "oh" in yet another high-pitched tone. She then quickly finds Jelly, and gestures to her with wild arm motions the spectacle that is currently several feet away from them. Whether the pinkette would hear notice her going crazy or not... well, that depends. But one thing is for sure--she won't scream.
Dai remains in his spot. He does not maintain eye contact with the carbuncle, instead just holds his head high and stares at a spot directly above the creature.
Raven stops her antiques then, as she almost falls off balance. She takes a deep breath, and bites her lower lip rather forcefully. It does not bleed, however it tells one thing--Raven is excited. The carbuncle is just gorgeous. Raven sees its green eyes first. It proves impossible to see the gem at first--but as Raven adjusts to the darkness, she finally sees it--nuzzled on the creature's forehead.
Captivated and awed, Raven slowly kneels, then fishes out several berries from her pockets. "Hello, sweetie," Raven coos. In a similar, almost whispering tone, "How are you? You hungry?" With slightly a handful, Raven very slowly holds out her arm... then, gently throws the berries at the carbuncle. She cringes, then freezes, hoping that it won't run away. Merlin's sake, it's evening. They can't give chase now...
TL;DR // Dai spots the carbuncle. raven coos at it, then tries to give it some berries
[attr="class","itemsraven"]items used //
[attr="class,"imageraven"]
[attr="class","scrollraven"]KNOCKERBACKER
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SIREN CALL
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
Just let me cry a little bit longer I ain't gon' smile if I don't want to Hey man, we all can't be like you I wish we were all rose-colored too My
The emerald carbuncle seems spooked by the berries suddenly flying towards it, and skitters deeper into the underbrush. However, after a few moments it zips out from its hiding place to grab the closest berry, but returning to its shelter just as quickly. Ever-watchful of the two witches, it sniffs, then nibbles experimentally on the tiny snack.
Berries, leaves, branches, and even the leftover hide of some dead animals... she's collected them all, and now her short pockets cannot contain any longer. She lingers over the place and frowns at the other possible things that still could've fit through her pockets to attract the animal; and ultimately, Obelisk snaps her out of her thoughts with an angry grunt.
Jelly, come on! We're done here! You've collected enough! His screams almost, always deafens her, but she's used to it. The pinkette crosses her arms and pouts at the fishbowl next to her.
There are still so many potential food stuffs here! Maybe they could still fit if I pinch it enough--
And risk making the berries burst and leak out some juice so other creatures aside the carbuncle get attracted with you!? Sorry miss Rebel, but there's no way I'm allowing you to do that. Besides, His sentence seems to trail off and his short little head floats over to where Raven and Dai are. Raven seems like she's found something. Important, might be.
This does make Jelly wonder what he meant by that, turning to Raven who was waving her arms in the air with a seemingly excited look on her face, though Jelly can't tell. But her waving her arms around seems important. She nods and carefully walks over to where the white-haired woman is, turning to the bushes to see if there is anything intriguing to be seen.
"Ey, what's up with you-- oh my Salem," That last part came out as a whisper, and once Raven throws a few berries at the carbuncle a tiny head does come out of the bushes. Sure enough, a shiny green glint shines once it peeks from its hiding place, further confirming what it truly is.
"The carbuncle," She whispers to herself, loud enough for Jelly to hear, but faint enough for the carbuncle maybe not to get distracted. Carefully she bends down on her knees, careful not to loose her balance, holding on to the sides of the fishbowl firmly. Her other hand travels to where her pockets are and fishes through the food she had collected for the small animal. Some rolled out of her shorts, but she doesn't care about that right now; should they loose him again, she could always pick them up later.
Then she holds out her hand, filled with red berries, and with one last look at Raven, she turns to it and coos.
"Do you want more? Here, feel free to get more from here."
Post by raven delacroix on Nov 7, 2018 9:07:31 GMT
Finally, Jelly turns to her, and in the next beat, sees the carbuncle, too. She glares at the pinkette with the loud voice at first, and then it hits her. Raven nods furiously, obviously excited at the piece of information. Yes, they found the carbuncle. Raven then proceeds to try to give the carbuncle some carbuncle snacks. Jelly did, too. But both of their attempts has the white-haired woman holding her breath. Why? Did the carbuncle not like berries?! But--
It scrambles deeper into the underbush... but emerges once again, and sniffs the nearest berry. Ooooohhh... Raven bites her lower lip, once, twice. Ah, it's so cute... Raven reaches again for another berry. She does not throw them this time, though. Instead, she holds out her hand with the berry on her palm.
"Hey there sweetie," Raven coos. "Here, a tasty snack for you. You must be so hungry..." Not that the carbuncle could understand her words, but she is sure that she understands the emotion. These creatures aren't domesticated at all. Raven just likes to think that all animals can recognize tones of voices and decipher if they are threatening or not.
As such, raven tries to make her voice as comforting as possible. Ah, but treats won't be enough, Raven thinks. Dai agrees with her, and in her mind he says, 'We should catch it.' Well, seems easy enough, right?
No, actually. It's very very hard to figure out how they would earn the trust of this creature, let alone remove the gem from its forehead. That makes Raven think, should she sing? Ah, maybe later... just one more try to pet the carbuncle...
TL;DR // tries to give the carbuncle treats. would prolly sing next post cuz she's out of ideas ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
[attr="class","itemsraven"]items used //
[attr="class,"imageraven"]
[attr="class","scrollraven"]KNOCKERBACKER
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SIREN CALL
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
Just let me cry a little bit longer I ain't gon' smile if I don't want to Hey man, we all can't be like you I wish we were all rose-colored too My
The carbuncle's eyes dart between the berries in the hands of the two kind witches, but the creature doesn't seem quite brave enough to get close. Its front paws cautiously slide out from its hiding place, pushing the same emerald from its forehead a few inches out into the open as if it were some sort of trade... [break][break][notice: unless very extreme actions are taken, there will be one more staff post before the end of this thread]
The little creature is doubtful at first, not coming out of the bushes even though the berries had prompted it to. It does stick its little snout out of the bushes, though, grabbing the berries left on the ground and nibbling on it. Jelly smiles and slowly stands up from where she was, hands on her hips as she observes the little critter from behind the bushes.
"Cute, isn't it?" She giggles softly as she watches Raven's reactions, then turns back to the carbuncle again. "Hmm... but it may get away once more... we'll have to plan something in advance before it escapes again..." She mumbles to herself in a quiet tone, hopefully quiet enough so the little critter will not hear her.
Thoughts suddenly stop though, and the critter's later actions change her mind. The carbuncle, though doing it cautiously and carefully, reaches over to where the emerald gem on his forehead is located; it then seems to hand it over to them; only then does Jelly realize what it seems to be doing.
"Raven...!" She tugs on the other's woman softly, before smiling over to the little carbuncle and fishing more fruits from her pockets. "H-Here, little guy." She coos softly, more berries in hand. The pinkette carefully kneels down and reaches her hands towards it, tilting her head to Raven to do the same to the berries she had in her palm, too.
Hopefully it would take the berries and give them the jewel like anticipated.
Post by raven delacroix on Nov 12, 2018 11:18:07 GMT
Raven nods one small nod. "Awwww, yes it was so cute," she coos, agreeing with Jelly. She has to remind herself that the carbuncle is a wild animal. She almost wants to take it home. Fortunately Jelly brings her back to their mission. That's right. They have to take the gem from the carbuncle. Unfortunately, she does not have any idea how. So the duo is stuck on the ground kneeling, making themselves as small as possible to appear nonthreatening, with their hands out, berries and twigs and leaves on their hands. They just have to win the carbuncle's permission.
Raven bites her lower lip. "Yes, we should... but I have no idea how." She starts to think hard, trying device a plan that would be too short of a notice to implement... that, until Jelly shakes her once more. "What?" the white-haired Knight hushes, not realizing what is happening. She just stares at the pinkette, stares until she reaches out for the gem. Although confused, Raven does the same. The carbuncle's green eyes stare right at both of them.
"Oh, a trade," Raven whispers. She watches the creature carefully, and sure enough, she is proven right. What smart creatures... Jelly offers her berries, while Raven just holds out her hand. She lets the pinkette do the talking, because Merlin knows she can't sound all sweet without pouring mana into her voice. She may fool the carbuncle and get what they want, however she wants this to go naturally.
And so she stands by--still holding out berries, of course--while Jelly works with the carbuncle. For her part, Raven only says one sentence to the carbuncle. Not that it could understand her...
"Can we have it?"
TL;DR // still holding out treats for the carbuncle. asks the creature if they can have the gem oof
[attr="class","itemsraven"]items used //
[attr="class,"imageraven"]
[attr="class","scrollraven"]KNOCKERBACKER
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SIREN CALL
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
Just let me cry a little bit longer I ain't gon' smile if I don't want to Hey man, we all can't be like you I wish we were all rose-colored too My
The carbuncle stares expectantly, and for a few moments neither side moves. However, the small creature eventually begins making its way towards the two witches in short scurrying bursts. Once it reaches their hands full of berries, it's quick to chomp down on as many as it can and grab a few more in its front paws before fleeing once again. It does not seem that the creature will return this time, but it leaves its emerald behind.
[break][break]ooc notice! This is the last staff post for this event mission -- you have 4 days to finish up this thread. All posts will count towards rewards and all ic actions will be counted towards mission completion. Thanks for participating!
Post by raven delacroix on Nov 17, 2018 4:57:24 GMT
For a moment, the two parties don't move. They just keep checking out each other. Raven is at a loss at what to do. Her arms are starting to ache from holding the berries up stationary, and she tries very hard to not let the irritation show on her face. It's dark, and it's cold, but she is sweating so much, she is ruining her outfit. All she can see is the slight silhouette of the creature, as well as the faint green of the emerald. She can barely see any movement of the carbuncle.
So needless to say, she is very surprised when she feels little paws grab a paw-ful of berries from her hands. Raven tenses, keeping her balance.
In an instant it's over. Raven can see the emerald lying on the ground... Huh. Raven tries to reach it, with that she has to move her stiff legs and equally stiff arm. She stands up first, then stretches to her heart's content.
"Ugh," Raven whines. She then treads towards the emerald, then picks it up from the ground. She then lights a fire on her free hand, a fireball she does not lob, and sure enough, it illuminates the emerald.
"Well," Raven sighs, extinguishing the fireball. Would not want another incident of attracting ungodly creatures again. "Congratulations to us, I guess. We got the emerald. Now let's go back, this place gives me the creeps." Raven walks to Jelly, then, and hands her the emerald. "Clumsy me would lose that. I think it's better for you to keep it."
Dai starts to lead the way back down. That alone is enough to signal the two witches to hurry back, as the night is getting deeper. Raven follows suit, tugging Jelly with her. "Come to think of it, this is our second mission together. We make a pretty good team, don't we?"
NOTES // NOTES HERE
[attr="class","itemsraven"]items used //
[attr="class,"imageraven"]
[attr="class","scrollraven"]KNOCKERBACKER
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SIREN CALL
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
[attr="class","scrollraven"]SCROLL NAME HERE
Just let me cry a little bit longer I ain't gon' smile if I don't want to Hey man, we all can't be like you I wish we were all rose-colored too My
For a moment, she starts to get bored, kneeling down and trying to hand the carbuncle the berries for a potential trade. For a moment, she thinks about jumping on the little critter like the impatient little woman she is and take the emerald by force. But sadly, to get the carbuncle's respect and to get it to hand the emerald over, one needs to be patient and cause no harm. And while Jelly is not one to follow in this philosophy, sadly she needs to do so if she wants them to finish the mission.
And then suddenly the critter starts taking the berries quickly from their hands, some spilling on the ground -- would be a waste of good berries if Jelly were to think about it -- and then, in a flash, it is gone into the darkness, the emerald left behind on the ground. Jelly blinks almost uncertainly, wondering if that really just happened or not, or if this mission is truly done for.
But she regains her consciousness soon after. Jelly reaches out to pick the emerald, but Raven beats her to it. She remains on her spot, perking up her head to look at the white-haired woman as she speaks. "Yeah, we should go. It's late at night already, after all." She agrees with Raven, standing up from where she was and dusting herself off the dirt.
Jelly is handed the emerald and Raven states she is better off holding it; the pinkette raises an eyebrow and observes the jewel curiously -- this is only interrupted when Raven tugs her, and she almost slips and some of Obe's water spills. "H-Hey, careful!" She exclaims, adjusting herself. Then she opens her mouth to speak--
Raven remarks that they make quite a good team, telling her that this was their second mission together. Her eyes widen slightly and she is left blinking for a moment. This is followed by a soft sigh as she follows her with a smile.
