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.
Post by Lenora Birdie on Feb 11, 2020 19:54:16 GMT
lenora birdie
What began as a simple trip to visit a new shop has devolved into a confused determination to at least find the place. Lenora had already visited her preferred bakery for a midday snack, and was following a hastily drawn map to a new store she heard one of the baker's customers talking about. What the store exactly was was long gone to her mind, as it's devolved into a simple thought process of 'follow map to get to store.' She'd follow a few turns, stop and glance around for a shop sign, not see any, and try a few more streets. When that failed, she began rotating the map and trying again. Who knows, maybe she had the wrong orientation this entire time?
Her small canvas and leather bag was secure on her back, with most of the main pocket being taken up by Acorn, her Great Horned Owl familiar. Her pale hair was tied back in a bun that was once neat, but now slightly unkempt from the frustration of her confusion. While the air was warm, the breeze had a slight chill. Her petite frame felt this chill, and she took a sweater out of her backpack to help warm herself up. At a thin five feet tall, it didn't take much to being a chill to her.
With her brown and white striped sweater on, she put her backpack back on, took her little 'map' out of her jeans pocket, and began following it again. What she was unaware of is that she left her backpack open, and that she was nowhere near the shopping area she was used to. She was deep in the Hovel now, her appearance sticking out and causing curious glances. Her pause to put on her sweater gave a small group of men enough time to decide to follow her, as well. Since Lenora was oblivious to everything except the line drawing she called a map, she was none the wiser of her surroundings.
Post by kasimir burovski ✨ on Feb 12, 2020 0:35:34 GMT
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some men are born with tragedy in their blood
the hovel exists in shades of browns and greys, tiny houses crammed together in a ramshackle sprawl across the narrow streets. this deep into slums, even the air seems desaturated with the grime that lingers in a stench of poverty. you can tell who lives here at a glance - thin faces, tired eyes, hurried footsteps and the deliberate air of caution yet caring not for anyone besides themselves. the people here know how to exist beneath attention, vanishing from perception in the illusion of unimportance.
kasimir had lived here, once. belonged to the hovel with the self-same hopelessness, ragged clothes and eyes too big for his face, too shadowed for their age. had been born here, spent his childhood with hovel dirt beneath his feet, knowing these streets by the beat of his heart. and yet. even then he had stood out with his starfire hair and starfire soul, a fierce spark within him that would not go out, burning in his nerves and bones like something living, something wild; and it had given him the resolve to survive; and it had given him kirjava.
how terribly ironic that the thing that had distinguished him from the streets would be same thing that brought about his downfall.
he still stands out now, with his crimson hair and neat, clean clothes, so very different from the people of his childhood. oh but things are different now: none of the threats there in the hovel are dangerous to him, and both he and they know that. and the children here know him, as do their parents - he comes here often enough still to be comfortable in his welcome.
but not all of those who stand out here can be as comfortable as he. a flash of pale hair catches his eye, a petite girl in a large sweater, engrossed in a map while her bag hangs open. she does not belong here, without a doubt; unfortunately ( but unsurprisingly ) he is not the first to come to this realisation. a small group of men trail in her footsteps, closing the gap with each passing moment, teeth flashing as they grin at each other and approach. he does not identification to know that they are hardly here to help the girl - thieves or muggers, or worse.
without hesitation, kasimir darts across the street to fall in step with the girl, throwing a frown at the group of men as he passes them by. "hello," he says to the girl, polite and soft. hopefully he will not come across as intimidating to her. "i cannot help but notice that you seem lost. would you like some help?" he ignores the men completely for now - if they are smart, they will give up without confrontation and leave to seek a new target. if not... well. kasimir may not be nearly as tall or burly as them, but he is more than capable of dealing with anything that they throw his way.
Post by Lenora Birdie on Feb 13, 2020 14:11:11 GMT
lenora birdie
Was that a left? No.. Maybe it's a right? Lenora rotated the abstract linework that made up her map again. Wait, now it's straight?? Well, if the map says to keep going straight, then she'll keep going straight..
The sounds of the Hovel didn't reach her ears, nor did the smells or the sights. Nothing mattered except for this map, who's original goal and orientation were lost to time. At this point, Lenora only knew that she was going shopping. For what and where have been forgotten, but it didn't deter her one bit. What did deter her was the sudden company, in the form of a familiar figure with red hair. Unaware to her, the men following her changed their minds when he appeared. What was once an easy target suddenly became too much effort.
Since Lenora's mind told her he looked familiar, she assumed he was an important figure. After a brief moment of confused staring, she blushed some and responded "Hello! Thank you for your concern, but I'm not too lost." She said confidently, holding up her 'map' in the process, "I'm on my way to do some shopping." Despite being pulled out of her attempts at progress, her unfamiliar surroundings were still lost on her. Since she believed to be close by to some shops -- and definitely not in the Hovel -- she didn't take a chance to second guess her surroundings, or realize she's spent much longer then she should have searching for the fabled shop.
What she was more curious of was this new person who sought her out. His crimson hair was beautiful, giving her the temptation to braid little bits of it and call him Strawberry Man. His concern for her has her smiling. It's not often people approach others with concern. That's what Grandpa says, at least.
Post by kasimir burovski ✨ on Feb 14, 2020 4:28:19 GMT
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some men are born with tragedy in their blood
the men appear to hesitate when he appears, wariness warring with greed and pride, before self-preservational instincts kick in and they give in to the inevitable. 'uncharacteristically smart of them,' kirjava quips, perhaps a little unkindly, but not without reason. the easy target is no longer so easy with them there.
the girl, meanwhile, seems not to have even realised the potential danger she had been in. bright and cheerful and a little oblivious - kasimir feels a frisson of worry down his spine as he thinks of saskia in her place - and perhaps inevitably, protective instincts rear their head. "shopping?" he repeats, surprised. she must truly be very lost. a glance around the streets show nothing but ramshackle houses crammed together, dust and litter lining the gutters. they are in the heart of the hovel - a far cry from the residential area, or even downtown sundial.
peering at the map yields no answers. kasimir honestly cannot decipher the lines to a coherent destination. "if i may ask, where are you intending to go?" he asks, increasingly concerned. privately, he resolves to see this girl safe to her destination, even if he must do so discretely. this area of the hovel is not a safe place to be for those who are alone.
Post by Lenora Birdie on Feb 14, 2020 14:02:19 GMT
lenora birdie
Absently unaware of her surroundings, and still in shopping mode, Lenora entertains the thought of inviting this important looking redhead along with her. 'It'd be fun to have someone else around..' she pondered, her face showing her curiosity of having this man as company, 'If he's nice enough to see if I need help, then he can't be that bad of a person..'
The sounds and smells of the Hovel around her translated to being near an alleyway in her brain. Her bright blue eyes glanced at her surroundings before looking back at Strawberry Man, "I was getting some stuff at the bakery, and I heard someone talk about a new shop that opened up nearby," Lenora explained, looking at her map like it will soon reveal its secret, "So they were nice enough to make this little map for me, so I could find the new place." She paused, her mind doing it's best to get some gears turning. The very act of thinking showed on her face -- her brow crunched up a bit, and a frown formed caused her to look like she was pouting a little bit, "I've been looking for the place so much that I... I forgot what it sold.."
The realization hit Lenora hard, and she looked up at the kind Strawberry Man with a hint of conflicted sadness, "Do you know of any new places nearby? I must have gotten so focused on the adventure that I..." Her voice trailed off in a mix of not wanting to admit it, and still not realizing how lost she really was.
The topic of who this man might be was lost in the foggy confusion of a failed adventure. She was now more focused on seeing if she could braid his hair and find the store then anything else. The sights and sounds of the Hovel fell on deaf ears, as the mind of the petite airhead struggled to figure out what was going on.
Post by kasimir burovski ✨ on Feb 16, 2020 12:54:32 GMT
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some men are born with tragedy in their blood
the girl looks him with nothing but innocent curiosity in her eyes, and it makes him wonder exactly how old she is. surely she must be no older than saskia? a few years younger, even. far too guileless, either way, for the dirt and grime of the hovel - even looking around, her gaze seems to skip over all the signs of poverty and dubious activity. and she looks even younger yet with her nose scrunched and her brow furrowed deep in thought. no, she cannot remain in the hovel alone, to her own devices.
attempting to decipher the map a second time still yields no insights to kasimir. in truth, for all that he sends much of his time on missions - or perhaps because it is so - he knows most of sundial very well, streets mapped into his head like lines inked in memory. here, an escape route, here a popular spot for muggings, here the location of a silvertongue-affiliated store. unfortunately, stores and shops are not places he pays much attention to - very little are they relevant in his life.
"i'm afraid not," he says apologetically. "but i can help you find it, if you would like. do you know what the new place is called, or what district it is located in? or do you remember from which bakery you set off from?" perhaps with those pieces of information, they would be able to decipher the map and destination. at the very least, they would be able to leave the hovel behind, for he very much doubts this new shop would be located here. there are shops ( of sorts ) here certainly, but hardly ones that a young girl unfamiliar with the darker side of the world would be aware of.
Post by Lenora Birdie on Feb 17, 2020 18:24:14 GMT
lenora birdie
Strawberry Man was nice enough to help find the store, which was good timing since Lenora was beginning to feel a bit frustrated from not being able to read the map properly. Her face lit up for a second, like a child with a brilliant idea -- only to furrow back into thought. She didn't know the name of her preferred bakery. It was just a few streets away from her home, so she only knew it from that perspective. "Well, I got a muffin and a small tin of their signature cookies," She began, speaking as if deciphering a code, "Grandpa likes them, so I wanted to pick some up before he came over tomorrow." Was that specific enough? Probably not.. After a pause, her face lit up again. "Oh! I still have the box the muffin came in in my bag!"
Without looking too long at her new strawberry friend, she plopped the backpack at her feet and knelt down to start searching inside. "Oh whoops, it was open.." She mumbled absently, then continued shuffling inside it, " 'Scuse me, Acorn, I need that box~" She sang to her familiar, who was dozing on top of the cookies and taking up a large majority of the bag's space. After a minute of searching and cooing to her feathery familiar, she popped back up to stand with the small muffin box. "Here it is! Does this help?" She asked, looking up proudly at her strawberry accomplice and again disregarding her open backpack at her feet.
Throughout this entire time of getting the muffin box, Lenora's eyes kept darting back to the vibrant red hair of her new friend. Goodness, his hair was beautiful. Maybe a small fishtail braid down one side would look really nice, and keep and stray hairs from his face. Or maybe a simple braided bun, for practical decoration. Ooorrr if they braid their hair together, it can be a candy cane themed trust exercise! That was it. Her ultimate hair goal with Strawberry Man. If they formed a team, would they be the Candy Cane Crew? The Coven of Candy Canes? The Candy Cane Collection? Naming things is difficult.. She'd definitely need his opinion once the topic came around to it.
Post by kasimir burovski ✨ on Feb 21, 2020 9:38:02 GMT
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some men are born with tragedy in their blood
unfortunately, a simple solution is not to be. he should have expected it to be so - rarely do things follow the easiest path in kasimir's life. he can only hope, now, that the muffin box would be enough of a clue for some semblance of direction; but even if not, surely it would not be too morally reprehensible were he to simply point out a random bakery and send the girl there? so long as it leads her out of the hovel.
she does not belong here, and it shows; kasimir barely restrains the twitch of his fingers when she kneels down in the middle of the road to go through her bag. there is a strange urge to want to wrap her up in bubble wrap and take her far from these streets - were it not for his own reputation, even company would not have kept the more malicious hovel occupants at bay. as it were, even with him here, he can sense a good half-dozen of low-level witches lurking in the side-streets, eyes locked on the target the girl makes. he looks up to glare at them, stance protective, and they shrink back - but they should not tempt fate.
he takes the muffin box, searching his memory for any store that matches. kasimir is not one for bakeries, or shops in general, but saskia is. "oh," he says, relived as a memory comes to forefront, faded at the edges but still clear enough. "yes, i know this bakery. it is in the residential area. perhaps we should return there first?" gesturing to the direction of said store, everything of his body language announces his intention to lead the way - he does not want to risk the girl getting lost again on the way there.
'she seems to like your hair,' kirjava remarks in the privacy of their mind, and he glances over just in time to see what his familiar means. a little self-conscious, he touches the edge of the distinctive red hair even as he turns away; does she recognise him from it? or perhaps it simply is too eye-catching, too bright. he really should remember to cast an illusion over it before going out.
