Pink Poogle Toy Forum

[Read the whole of this post, please!]

A long, long time ago...

When the world was born, the faerie and human worlds were not two, but one. Faeries mingled among humankind, elemental spirits wandered the peaceful earth and nymphs danced with young men and girls until the nights grew old. Faeries and humans lived in peace together, helping one another when needed and laughing together when so desired.

A long, long time ago...

When the world was still young, humans began to drift apart from the faeries. The beautiful fay things once seen by all were now unseen to some of the more prejudiced and narrow-minded who wished to have nothing to do with faeries or magic. It was at this time the most beautiful and sacred of faerieland began to drift away from the human world. Where a non-believer might see something plain and ugly, a believer of faeries would see past the thin, misty veil that hid the magical land beyond and see into a place of unspeakable beauty. It was a veil so thinly woven that anyone could have seen past it and walked through it if they wanted to -- but this was the beginning of the time when some no longer wanted to.

A long, long time ago...

When the world begins to age, there are some who will have nothing to do with faeries anymore. Faeries and magic are still very present for those who know how and where to look for them and there are still a number of magicians. However, the faeries have separated more of their world from humans and parts of it no longer merge together.

In some places where the faeries' land still touches humans' land, where the mist is thin, a person may stumble in by accident. Wards have been set up to prevent non-believers from entering at all but even few believers accidentally fall into this magical world. If humans enter at all, it is usually by the invitation of a faerie. Few are invited to do so and even fewer are permitted to return after they enter. The misty veil that hangs between the worlds where they touch each other is thickening slowly and even a believer may not be able to see into the other world no matter how much they try.

Whenever a human stumbles upon the faerie world, they find it is so completely removed from the human world by now that it has geography of its own. Where a valley in the human world might be, a hill of the faerie world will be situated. There are different joys and troubles amongst the faeries, who now have their own concerns and are not as involved in human affairs as they once were. In fact, so different, strange and removed is the faeries' land that when a human enters there can be no mistake that they are in an entirely different place -- a place that has come to be called the Otherworld.

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Technical Stuff

This is an experiment of mine I call a "summer role play". Unfortunately, this means that I cannot allow just anyone to participate, as much fun as that may be. This initial experiment relies heavily on the experience and activity of role players I can trust will not let this die prematurely, although there's still more to come.

The role play will run from July 1 to July 31 (GMT). The idea is to post -- fast. I don't mean necessarily mean fast posting time (although that might help), but fast in terms of time within the story. The story must get started and keep moving as quickly as possible in order to be well wrapped up and finished by July 31. Good-quality, regular role-playing is good. Poor-quality, breakneck-speed posting is not-so-good.

Every post needs to keep the storyline going for two reasons. One is to reach the meet the time limit. The other is in courtesy to other players, many of whom may not have enough time to read pages of slow, inactive posts and write their own posts as well. Slow conversations and passive posts (i.e. dilly-dally without doing anything) are no-nos.

If you know me well enough, you probably have an idea of the quality I'm talking about. I'm not asking for quantity in terms of length or number of posts; I would just like posts that keep the story moving no matter what its length is. A few words often have as much effect as a few paragraphs. For those of you who don't know me as well, I cannot emphasise the importance of a believable, well-written post strongly enough.

In terms of plot and storyline for this role play, there is none -- yet. Plot is up to the players to write as we go along. Some of the best role plays I have seen developed from players' originality and ability to spin a story out of thin air. (That doesn't mean I want a plot twist in every post, though.)

One very important factor I ask for is commitment. I realize that you may not be here throughout the whole of July and you may not be able to role play every other day. I'm not going to be here for a good half of the month either. Sign up only if you will really be commited. This means you cannot disappear without a word or quit the role play for a flimsy, foreseeable reason. If something unexpected really does come up I will, of course, immediately forgive you. Otherwise, please keep on playing out of loyalty, if not inspiration. Do, do give prior warning if you leave for a while and return when you say you will return.

Now I realize that all this may sound very daunting. I don't mean this to be a big, pressurising thing. This is for anyone who really cares about doing this role play and can be counted on to fulfil the above. Post well, post quickly, but most of all, post because you want to. Have fun. There's no point in this experiment if you aren't going to enjoy it.

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More on the Otherworld

At the moment, time in the Otherworld runs more or less along the same lines as time in the human one. Months are known by different names but it is, for now, more or less the same.

In the human world, it is currently the medieval ages and there is still magic for those who know where to look for it. Witches and wizards still exist although there are also witch-hunts going on in some places in the human world, so mages tend to keep quiet. In this way, there is an element of traditional fantasy in this role play although it is rather limited.

Not many humans enter the Otherworld. If you want to be a human, you will need a very good reason why and how you are going to enter the Otherworld.

Other races include anything and everything: faeries, pixies, elves, dwarves, brownies, goblins, trolls, ogres, dragons, unicorns, nymphs, phoenixes, merfolk...

Some sites you may be interested in looking at for ideas and reading up on faeries:

http://faerie.monstrous.com/
http://www.flowerfairies.com/UK/start.htm
http://www.efairies.com/fairy_lore.htm
http://www.brigids-haven.com/bos/fae/faeries.html

Do your own research as well, if you have the time.

The Otherworld has its own countries and oceans -- it is basically a very, very different place from the human world.

Beyond all this, the Otherworld is up to players' creativity. Free reins -- really. Since I'm asking for responsible attitudes and commitment towards the role play, it is only reasonable that I give free reins to players. It also means that the people who do play will be ones I can definitely trust not to ruin the role play for anyone else.

Priority will be given to those who requested places a few weeks before. After that, it runs on a first-come first-served basis. If you are an old or new player who hasn't spoken to me about this RP beforehand and you want to participate, do apply. Even if you're new. I've met many role players who played better than their veteran counterparts when they first started posting.

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Biographies

Players who joined before July 5 may now apply for a second main character. Non-player characters are unlimited (within reason). NPCs do not need bios.

Applications are open again, but places are limited. As I am abroad and have limited internet access, it may be a long time before I get to read your biography, so only apply if you're willing to wait.

Name:
Race:
Gender:
Age:
Physical description:
Personality:
History:
Other:
Timezone:

Sample writing:

Note to GC:

Name: Full name and nicknames
Race: Faeries, trolls, ogres, etc. (Remember, if you want to be a human you will also need to specify why in the Note to GC section and humans are living in medieval times at this point.) Give some general information about your race so other players know what it's like without having to search online for ages. No more humans please.
Age: How old your character appears to be and how long s/he has really existed for. There are some races which appear younger than they are and some which appear older.
Personality: Not just personality, but what they think, how they feel about things, what their strengths and weaknesses are -- everything to do with the inside of a character.
History: As well as past, please also mention family, whether alive or dead.
Other: What does your character do for a living, where does he or she live, what is s/he interested in, etc. Up to you exactly what you put.
Timezone (GMT): Check your forum profile if you don't know. Unless you don't want to share this because of safety reasons (you will need to tell me so), you must write this down so we know whether you're sleeping or not.
Sample writing: A paragraph or two of whatever you like (preferably creative writing) if I don't know how you role play or if you just feel like doing it.
Note to GC: Any days you may not be available that you know of now, how regularly you can update, any questions or comments you may have.

It's really advisable to look up at least one of the sites I have provided to help in writing in terms of races. If you want to make up a race of your own, though, that is absolutely fine by me. Just give information like you would any other race.

Please PM your biographies to me. Do not post on this thread until I okay it, please.

When posting bios, do not post the sample writing or note to GC sections. Those are for mine and your eyes only.

You may post your bios if I okay them before July 1. You may not start the actual role playing before July 1.

(And if you don't get in, it's not because I don't like you or you did something wrong or something silly like that. I am not sure of anything with this experiment and I need to play on the safe side if there is absolutely any doubt at all. It means I would probably like to play with you in another role play.)

The role play officially begins July 1 (GMT), if there are no problems. Any player is free to start as long as it is July 1 (GMT). (I am GMT +8 so I might be sleeping for the first 8 hours.)

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[My bio.]

Name: Senya Thl'sa (pronounced Thla-sa)

Race: Selkie -- lives in the water in the form of a seal. Selkies can discard their seal-skins and take the form of beautiful men or women on shore. A mortal man can get a selkie wife by capturing her seal-skin and hiding it from her. If she ever finds it again, she will return to the sea. Male selkies raise storms and upturn boats to avenge the hunting of seals.

Gender: Female

Age: 18 both in actual age and appearance

Physical description: When not a small, silky black seal with dark eyes, Senya is a typically beautiful selkie when in human form. In human form she retains her large, dark eyes and equally dark, flowing hair hanging loosely down to her waist. She is quite small, a reflection of her size when in seal form, about five feet two in height. Since selkies do not often come onto shore with the purpose of tanning their human forms, she has very pale skin.

Senya has an arrangement with a friendly naiad to lend her some garments whenever Senya casts off her seal-skin. These garments are of a sea-blue colour that often fades into seaweed-green before it shimmers back to blue and white foam-like decorations hang on the hems and sleeves. Although she would be enchanting in such a form, her face appears sullen and unfriendly, discouraging others from approaching her.

Personality: As a selkie child, Senya was quiet and shy by nature although she still liked to play with the other selkies. Deep in her heart she was an affectionate, caring child who liked other faeries. Ever since her mother was killed by a seal-hunter, though, Senya withdrew into herself. Refusing to associate frequently with other faeries, even those of her own kind, she wanders the oceans alone deep in thought. Her thoughts are usually unhappy rather than otherwise, thus accounting for her miserable face.

However, the ocean is large and the inhabitants who know her are many. She still greets them politely or exhanges a passing word when custom deems it necessary or when she is attempting to be friendlier than normal, all in vain. Others generally let her alone because she appears so unhappy but their evident avoidance only increases her sorrow, unaware that she herself is partly to blame for it. Thus she comes to shore more often than other selkies do, and hardly ever with any other selkie, in an attempt to be alone and be unhappy in peace.

Sometimes she does forget her sorrow and can walk among the forests without thinking of anything at all. These moments of peace are rare and short-lived, causing Senya's heart to close itself to affection and friendship year after year. Only a few childhood friends have remained loyal to the lonely selkie girl and still sometimes talk to her.

History: Senya's selkie father was killed when she was still a babe by a seal-hunter. Never having known her father and with most of her siblings already grown up and left home, Senya developed a close bond with her mother. She regarded her mother as her personal property and her mother had no real desire to remarry yet, as few selkies were as 'dashing' as her previous husband. The mother and daughter became inseparable.

When Senya was sixteen, however, her mother suffered the same fate as her late husband -- death by the hands of a mortal hunter who wanted several seal-skins. Her mother had gone out swimming with friends leaving Senya at home and one of them survived to tell the tale. They had swum too far and entered an ocean still shared by humans and faeries alike. Broken-hearted, Senya never really recovered from the shock of hearing the news.

To this day, she still cherishes a dying hope that her mother is alive. Deep in her heart she knows this is not true but she is not willing to let go.

Other: Being considered old enough to look after herself when she was sixteen, Senya has been left to her own whims and devices since the death of her mother. There is not much harm in her, but not much happiness or life either. Her company is not really very enjoyable at all.

Her magical powers are limited, not being a male selkie, although she can cause a little rain to fall. She has neglected her abilities since the death of her mother and so she can currently bring up a drizzle instead of a shower.

Timezone: GMT +8

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Updates

Please check back regularly for updates and re-read this whole post before beginning the role play on July 1.

June 25: Changed concept of time. Added few lines on witches/wizards, revised a few words.

June 30: No more applications for humans accepted from this point on. I may change my mind at a later date. Important: new note on number of characters per player under Biographies. Biography layout has additional timezone, please read section on that.

July 5: Applications for a second main character are open to current players. Applications for new characters are open. New players enter at my discretion.

Updated on the first of July, as I forgot to put what timezone I'm in. Also because, yes, I'm changing her name YET AGAIN. Last time, I promise.

Lillie the Great said I could post my bio now, so HERE YOU ALL GO.

And Oh Amazing Lillie, I changed my character's name, because it didn't fit her. Yeah, I know I changed her entire personality before because I thought it didn't fit the name, but I like the new personality more and the name fits this one even less.

I also added a teensy bit to her history, so that I could define where, exactly, she lives.

ANYWAY.

Name: Ilmena Melyani (Ill-mae-nuh Mehl-yah-nee)
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Physical description: Mildly pretty, but in a rather inconspicuous way. Usually looks quite plain, as she tends to do whatever she can to make herself fade into the background. Has dark brown hair that's almost always kept in a tight bun, green-blue eyes (after having lived with Water Faeries for so long, she's taken on a few of their characteristics, due to their magic being around her for so long- her eyes were originally brown), pale skin (she rarely goes outside). She's thin, but not a twig, and she's shorter than most of the creatures around her, at five feet, five inches tall.
Personality: Ye shall see it in the RP. Though I'll say one thing- she tends to conceal her emotions. Another reason why I won't put down her personality is because I always suck at this, as I put down a personality, then go and make the character do the exact opposite.
History: Born on Earth, among humans, she apparently wandered into the Other World as a toddler. After a few short days, she was found by a family of noble Water Faeries, and, soon after, was adopted by them.

At the age of six, it was discovered that she was a mage, though no one knows of what. They learned it the hard way, as while her magic is usually quite weak, when she's sleeping (or otherwise unconscious), it springs out of control. As a result, she has a magic-proof bedroom with very few objects in it, so that she doesn't destroy anything of value while sleeping. When not asleep, she can still do basic spells- just not anything difficult, as, apparently, her magic is contained in her dreams.

The family she lives with are, as I said earlier, nobles- so Ilmena knows quite a bit about etiquette and needlepoint and what not (even if I don't, at all).

She has one adopted brother, her age. (Though slightly older, by a few months).

They live next to the sea, in a part of the Otherworld that's quite close to where many humans have stumbled in through. Of course, the humans are still a very small minority- most of the inhabitants are faeries.

This small land (a kingdom, actually, where most of the magical creatures are connected with water, due to its close proximity to the sea- water faeries are the majority) is named Imorna.
Other: Unfortunately, she's quite clumsy, though she manages to contain it- usually- when others are around.
Timezone: -5 GMT


Her only close friends are her brother and her chief lady-in-waiting, Kemieya (Kem-i-ee-yuh).

((Hehe, as it stands now, this will become a very 'watery' rp. But here goes;))

Name: Puk (Karranathanpukanthos, full real name) Whitepool

Race: Small Kelpie

Kelpies are members of the faerie family that live in lakes, pools, or rivers. They look like members of the horse family, ponies or horses. Always they have a pretty appearance, neat skin, silken manes and beautifull understanding eyes. But alas, most of them to not belong to the family friendly to humans. Kelpies, all the horse ones, are man eaters. They lure men or women on their back, with their beautifull appearance and tame outward behaviour. But, as soon as a mortal sits on a kelpies back, he or she cannot get off anymore. It is like the mortal is ‘glued’ on the kelpie. The kelpie then quickly rushes to a nearby pool or river. Jumping into the water, drowning the mortal and at last using it as dinner. Kelpie’s teeth look more like canine teeth. Some kelpies can take on a mortal appearance. This only during the night, the mortal appearance always has pointy ears and a silver earring.

The kelpies have a notorious Prince, the Each-Uisge. The Prince looks like a beautifull black stallion. He has brown-red eyes and was very much feared among mortals. All kelpies carry a big respect for him, though.
Kelpies cannot go long without water. They need to be at least in it every two days.
The Whitepool kelpies, of a small lake with side rivers, called Whitepool, are not nearly as notorious. They eat water plants, algen and such. Usually they are quite friendly and almost never have been known to lure mortals in the past (see history). Though, temptation can be big if a mortal (or anything) tries to ride one of them. In fact, the smaller pony kelpies have been known to help mortals that are of good intend or did something good. These kelpies will never lure children in the waters, even when they are riding them, since they believe children to be inherently innocent.

The Whitepools have long names, which they tell to no one (but their closer relatives), since when someone knows a kelpies name, the kelpie has to give its bridle (a golden one) to that person. The bridle gives power over the kelpie involved. Kelpies are very wanted as steeds, because it is said they are five times as fast and strong as normal horses. (Of course, the Whitepools have the size of a shetland pony, so, for adult humans, the riders’ legs would drag over the ground.) One can also try to persuade the kelpie to give the bridle, by other ways.. through talking or violence.

Age: He looks like an adult (shetland) pony, I guess of about 4 years. Puk can change into a small boy, looking about 10, at night. However, he is much older; 200.

Personality: Puk is an energetic being. He likes to bounce around, make up stories, playing them out. He seems untireable. And unsatable in his drive to find more challenging games. At the same time, his drive for adventure, guides him over the thin line of good and evil. Lately he has been practising luring arts. Though, deep in himself, he doesn’t really wishes to kill anyone. He just likes the excitement of trapping someone. Whitepool has been boring to him the past years. It used to lie close to a small farming community, but due to the drifting apart of both worlds, few mortals ever pass by it. Puk, who had always found enough mortals to tease or children to play with, is now endlessly bored.

History: The Whitepool family contains about fifteen ponies, spread out over the lake and nearby rivers. Puks closest relatives are his grandmother, two sisters and father. His mother disappeared a few years ago.. no one was really sure of what happened to her. She had Puks personality, and seemed to have suffered the same problem: boredom. One night, she left, telling, she would only be gone for a few days.. Puks grandfather suffered a worse fate. A human found out his name and therefore, Puks grandfather was forced to stay in service of the human. The human made the mistake of keeping the kelpie out of the water. Soon after that, Puks grandfather died. Of course this was a dramatic event for the Whitepool kelpies. But the angry faeries took revenge on the village, luring mortal after mortal in the water, until the mortals sacrificed the right human to them.

This bloody event has never left memory of those that went through it, or were near. The Whitepools reputation had changed.. though the kelpies never lured again after this. Puk wasn’t old enough to understand what had happened. Later on, what had happened, angered him, but the joy of playing with mortals or teasing them, set him over any revenge plans. Revenge had already been taken. Kelpies can be cruel, but fair.

History passed on smoothly, and Whitepool became seperated off mortal world. One family of humans, that had lived amongst the lake for decades, as fishermen, have sometimes been seen amongst the edges of Whitepool. Maybe, because their relatives have heard stories of the resident faeries and sometimes try to find them.

Other: Puk helps out other faeries, in plowing or fishing. In return, he asks for baubles or more practical material he likes (f.e. cheese.. Puk loves cheese.) Puk is a white-grey pony, with white manes and tail. His eyes are sparkling blue. Sometimes, you can find algen or other water plants in his manes or tail.

Timezone: GMT + 2, Paris time


((I am reading again about faeries.. Selkies are very interesting too.))

((..Um.. maybe my text is a little long..))

[Oh, I'm so excited about this, you would never even believe! I hope I'm not too out of practice, I haven't seriously RPed in quite a while...]

Name: Lavinia Glyn Pharis (Often referred to as Lavi by her friends or Vinny by her father)
Race: A deva, or tiny nature-loving fairy. These fairies appear as small spheres of light because of their white glow, and usually reside near lakes or in plants and trees. They are a fairly shy race, and will often scatter if a stranger treads on their ground. Their glow dies when sleep or when they become very tired.
Gender: Female
Age: 8; appears as such
Physical Description: She is quite small like the rest of her race, only reaching about 2 inches in height, and is very slender. Her features are, for the most part, hidden by her white glow, but become more visible in the daytime when the sunlight is bright. Her hair is long and nearly-white blonde, and is often braided with ribbons or decorated with small flowers that she has picked herself. She has a very pale complexion, almond-shaped grey eyes, and ears that point slightly at the top much like an elf’s. Her other facial features are small and sharp. Delicate translucent wings that each span about half an inch in length protrude from her back and give her the ability to fly. Her usual clothing consists of a simple, light, sleeveless white dress that reaches down to just above her knees, and she wears a tiny silver locket around her neck.
Personality: Lavinia has many of the characteristics of a small child. Naïve and curious, she has a habit of eavesdropping (often when she doesn’t even mean to do so) and ‘getting into other people’s business’. She is sociable and willing to be friendly to those who act the same towards her. As an only child, she is somewhat overprotected by her parents, and at times only wants freedom from the grip of their semi-paranoia. Her adventurousness and daring frequently gets her into trouble, but she appears not to mind too much. Her friends often look to her as their leader when together as a group. She enjoys this, but sometimes gets caught up in the feeling of having authority and importance in what her friends do and becomes slightly overbearing or bossy.
History: Lavinia has no siblings, and both of her parents are alive. Her father, named Nestor, is a carpenter who works around their village, and her mother, Carmela, grows herbs with which to cook and sell. Lavinia’s past has been somewhat uneventful with the exception of trivial things that most young ones experience. Her parents, however, are often overprotective of her, more so than they ought to be (in her mind, at least) and appear to have irrational fears of odd things that could happen to her, which they do not care to explain.
Other: Lavinia, her father, and her mother live in the hollow of a large, old tree in the heart of a forest, in which they and many others of the deva race have made their home and live together in harmony. Lavinia’s time is often spent helping her mother in the herb garden, where she finds peace and comfort from the scents. When she is not assisting her mother, she and her friends will many times journey further into the forest together to search for excitement. As a child, she has very few magical abilities, and the ones that she does have she has difficulty controlling and using to her advantage. Her mother feels that she is not yet ready to begin using her powers, and has therefore refused to teach her much at all. Her father acts as though he agrees with her mother’s disapproval; however, he has given Lavinia a few secret lessons on how to control her energy so that she can make small plants sprout from the ground if she concentrates enough.
Timezone: GMT - 5

[I think the three people above you haven't been role playing regularly for a while, but I might be wrong (not in my case, though). ]

Moonlight dappled the shoreline white and somewhere in the distance, an owl hooted. Most of the Otherworld were settled for the night but its nocturnal members were just beginning to stir.

No one noticed the shadowy figure of some unknown creature flit by and disappear into the forests. The next moment, a dark cloud had covered the moon and left the world in a weird half-light. When the moon slid away from its captor again, the shore was as it had been before and nothing seemed out of place.

Bubbles appeared by some rocks and the head of a small, black seal appeared. It clambered gracefully onto a low, flat rock without slipping, as though it had done this many times before. Settling itself on the rock, it turned and faced the ocean. A slender white hand holding folds of blue-green cloth appeared and placed the cloth on the rock in front of the seal. A low sound of thanks emitted from the seal and the white hand and bubbles disappeared.

When all was quiet again, the seal seemed to wriggle out of its skin and into the garments. Senya stood up and clutched her sealskin tenderly. Stroking it, she hid the dark skin between some rocks where the naiad would come to collect it for safekeeping later. She shivered. An ominous presence filled the air. Her eyes drifted towards the forest some distance away and she wondered what had passed by there. The air was not as sweet as she knew it could be and the feeling of some tragedy to come hung about her.

Name: Espoir Arcoris

Race: Summoning fairy. As the name suggests, these fairies have the ability to summon other creatures to their aid. When they are not summoning, they are dancing or singing or playing music. They are generally peace-loving people. Their magic however, is very much limited in the offensive side, and summoning fairies can only use their magic to heal and create temporary illusions.

Gender: Female

Age: Actually 25 years old, but looks 16.

Physical description: She has long, straight waist-length golden-blond hair with brown highlights. [Blond is a common colour for fairy hair.] Her eyes are bicoloured - her left eye is deep violet and right eye is cornflower blue. She has a small nose and mouth, in contrast to her big eyes. Pointy ears. About five feet tall.

Personality: She daydreams a lot and can be found smiling, in a reverie, quite often. She likes to be left alone but she occasionally attend fairy parties that are held every so often. Because of her shy attitude, it is difficult for her to make any friends. She has had two human encounters so far, and because of her two previous experiences with humans, she dislikes humans and tries to avoid them. Although she appears to be a dreamy airhead, she will not hesitate to use magic if she is angry or upset. A sure sign that she is using magic is when her eyes are widened and glow slightly. She likes using magic and has a penchant for adventure and fun, which leads to her mischiveous side.

History: Only 25 years old, she is considered quite young as a fairy; therefore she does not have too much experience in life and such. She has only had two human encounters in her entire life. She has much to learn about the Otherworld. She has, however, acquired a few prized friends over the years - whom may or may not be fairies as well. She is the only child in a loving family. Her parents allow her to do whatever she pleases as long as she does not stain the family name.

Other: She spends most of her free time wandering, though she takes care not to stray too far from her village. She carries a flute, one that she uses to aid in her magic spells, even though she is capable of using magic without her flute. Besides summoning, she can use a bit of healing and illusionary magic that she has managed to learn in the past several years. Besides playing her flute accompanied by the wind, she enjoys dancing, which is the main reason why she sometimes attend fairy parties despite her preference to be alone. Has a fetish for shiny objects.

Timezone: GMT +8

((*sigh* Time zones are confusing me. :p))

The waters of the lake were restless. An almost round moon tried to get its image captured in it, but over and over, the image was distorted. The trees around Whitepool shook in a restless whisper. No animal was near the lake. Maybe all were just sleeping.

A white snout broke gently through the surface of the water. Soon followed by the remainder of the head. Blinking, the pony, with its cheeks still underwater, eyed around.

To its disappointement, there was again, no human visible. Even not a faerie or smallest Will'o Wisp.

"All the better," he tried to cheer himself up, "now I can get out undetected.. and be ready when someone does arrive."

Puk swam to the shore, a particulary heavy bushed one. And lifted himself out of the water.

He trotted through the dense greenery, until he arrived at an open spot. Where he shook his little body, until his coat and manes were more or less dry.

Whitepool lake had rivery branches, that ran into the sea. The sea was also a very interesting place to Puk. If only for all the things that remained every evening when the waves pulled back. Pieces of wood, shells, sometimes even a shoe! Any piece of human equipement was terribly interesting to Puk these days.

After prancing around for an hour near Whitepool Lake, Puk decided to visit the sandy dunes and beaches. His coat shone silvery white in the moonlight, giving him a ghostly appearance.

His hoofs made few to no sound. The underground was too mossy and loose for that. He hadn't been paying attention, when he noticed movement from the corner of his eye.

Quickly, the small kelpie turned his head towards the figure that was walking away from the beach.

His tail almost started to wag, his neck stretching to get a better view.

Finally he started a slow trot, towards the figure, whinnying.

Elsewhere, not too far away, in a quiet clearing in the woods, Espoir perched on one of the branches of a large, oak tree. A long, delicate flute was in her hands, made of enchanted wood. There was a full moon and a fairy party was being held at the village where she lived, but she had chosen not to attend this one. Besides, she attended the previous party, which was a fortnight ago and the other fairies wouldn't exactly miss her too soon.

She lifted up the flute and started to play an engaging, smooth melody - one that she knew by heart. She closed her eyes and let the notes flowed through the area. The full moon hanging at the sky above was partially shielded by a large flying creature, its great wings filtering most of the moonlight. It swooped down and made a swift yet smooth landing, barely grazing the grass on the ground with its clawed feet.

It was a bird, quite resembling a pheonix, yet not quite. It was about the size and shape of an average pheonix - graceful and magnificent, but instead of a blazing gold, its feathers and down were a shimmering silver and light blue. It was absolutely magnificent. Everything about it was stunning - its shiny light blue crest, its soft, shimmery down, its silver talons, its glittering tailfeathers, its deep blue eyes, its sharp gleaming beak. It looked like it could easily melt into the silver wind.

Espoir leaped off the branch from where she was sitting and landed on the ground. She made her way to the bird of silver and soft blue, very much amazed by its glittering glory even though she had seen it many times before. She gently stroked the wind bird on its head, whispering soft and friendly words in the bird's language. It closed its eyes and opened its beak. A song erupted from it, far more melodious than Espoir could ever play. Espoir quickly lifted up her flute and began to play along to the song of the wind bird.

(([note: I will be posting an actual RP post later, short on time at the moment and having some technical difficulties (yay for being on vacation and stuck back in the dark ages with a friendly AOL dial-up connection, hehe). I'm far too excited for this! And apologies ahead of time for the length of the bio below!]))

Name: Lady Celeste Jasmine of Amaranethia; some nicknames used have been Celena, Celly

Race: Human

Gender: Female

Age: just turned 18

Physical description: Celeste has board-straight red hair. The color is more of a burnt orange really, and her eyes are exactly the same color when in sunlight, and are more orangey brown in other lighting situations. These eyes are framed with long, thick, but pale eyelashes, the color of her hair. She has pinkish fair skin that is too pale due to the fact that she spends far too much time indoors. More sunlight would also produce a small smattering of freckles. For a medieval human she has unusually healthy teeth, and when she smiles, she sports modest dimples. Her lips are a peachy color and her ears would stick out in a rather unseemly fashion except for the fact that her long, two-inches-below-the-shoulder length hair camouflages them quite nicely. In fact, she is an altogether attractive young woman, although she has a bit of the small, flighty, nervous look (especially when she is feeling that way). Her body is of a medium build, because while she is quite thin, her bones are somewhat thick, not ridiculously heavy, but not feather-like either, by any means. She is on the taller side of the height spectrum of the era, her height being about 5' 1'' when she stands up like a proper lady.

Generally she wears a long-sleeved silk gown, golden or dark green in color, that is floor length and fastens with buttons down the back and a cream satin sash. The square scoop neckline of her gown is also edged with this cream satin and the cuffs of her sleeves are as well. At the waist the top portion forms a v-waistline, accented by the cream satin, which wraps around and eventually becomes the sash. While her garments are made of fine material and are in good repair, they are somewhat visibly aged, as her family is among the lower of the noble families and does not always have sufficient funds.

Personality: Celeste has a very fiery spirit but she is generally quiet and reserved, following proper female etiquette - there's just a lot MORE going on inside of her head than she lets out. She is therefore unfortunately slow to express her opinions and feelings - which is considered to be fortunate by the other nobles, who believe she is taking a woman's place. But this causes her true feelings rarely to be heard and her best ideas to be lost in the realm of her subconcious. She is considerate and compliant, except for when it comes to her core values, to which she holds in all circumstances. Celeste believes in peace, in value of family, in protecting and honoring nature, and things such as that. She has been unable to explore the world of fiction and fairy tales much - it is seen as childish and silly - however she has become secretly fascinated by it. While she is intelligent and sharp, a weakness in her strong defensive personality is the fact that she is easily won over by love. If someone is willing to trust her and share with her, she will happily return the favor without too many second thoughts. Quick to interpret things in the most grave and serious fashion, Celeste also often mistakes situations for what they are not. All in all, however, she is a very devoted, loving young woman with a somewhat caged bright and slightly wild spirit.

History: Celeste is the second to last child among four in her family. Her two older brothers both gained reknown and acclaim for their wartime and diplomatic endeavors, both living separately from the Amaranethian Manor on their own, one pursuing knighthood under the Prince and the other (the eldest) happily married and managing his estate. Her parents are very concerned with propriety and maintaining the family name, as they are in danger of losing their noble status should particularly hard times ever befall the country. Celeste has never ventured beyond the fringes of her family's manor and while being very pretty, has managed to escape being married off for a number of unfortunate reasons. Namely, the disapearance of her younger sister affected her quite markedly.

Her younger sister, Adelaide, was by far the most whimsical person for leagues and leagues. She adored the stories of faeries and elves that their nurse used to tell them and their mother used to disapprove of. Three years prior when Adelaide was only 13 years old, she had mysteriously disappeared one night from the bed beside Celeste's. Or at least that is what Celeste had been told to believe and had attempted to believe. But there was a faint memory in her mind, almost like it was the trace of some dream. She could see her sister tumble out of bed and tip toe to the window in her slippers. The moon shone brightly through the open shutters and Adelaide seemed to sing softly in a language that Celeste could not understand. Adelaide had sung these tunes before, learning them in secret from their nurse. But on that night someone answered. It was a more delicate voice that responded, lower, deeper, and yet infinitely more sweet than Adelaide's innocent young voice. This was perhaps what Celeste remembered most clearly, for at this point, she thought she might have sat up in bed to better see what was outside the window. But here the dream or memory faded, for all she could recall was hearing the sound of hooves on stone, the flash of what might have been a unicorn's horn, so silver it was, and then her sister was gone, and the night was quiet.

Celeste had sat at that window for many nights afterward, searching the tree tops and the sky, silently begging for her sister's return, sometimes pathetically attempting to recreate the beautiful song of the night etched in her memory. Her parents had been devasted but had put on a good face and the family went into mourning as if Adelaide had died from illness - her parents couldn't bear the thought of scandal even though it meant losing Adelaide forever. For the three years following, Celeste had determinedly attempted to find her sister, or learn of the place she had gone to. The nurse had been dismissed, and despite much begging and imploring, no one would tell Celeste where the mysterious woman had gone. But Celeste had doggedly worked on, searching for and reading any books on magic or faerie-lore she could find, sometimes dressing up as a peasant in order to hear their tales of what they called the magical "Otherworld." Celeste never could learn much, but she began to fiercely believe that it was to this place that her sister had gone, or worse, had been taken. And Celeste was determined to find her.

...This new-found passion had given her a bit of a strange name. Of course, many suitors came, hearing of her decent noble status and her beauty. However, upon meeting her she was always polite and proper but terribly distracted, which evidently was not a particularly attractive attribute to the gentlemen of the realm. Her parents were appalled by her behavior and her rare but fervent hummings of old faerie songs, yet somewhere in their hearts they recognized her strange behavior as a memory of their daughter Adelaide, who they had loved very, very much, despite their silly decisions. And so Celeste remained unmarried and continued searching, until the arrival of a very determined young man, who seemed to be set on marrying her. His rude asides to her and his contrasting flowery language to her parents irked her as nothing else had, and when her parents considered accepting the young nobleman's offer, Celeste realized that to marry would be to give up on Adelaide forever, for she could not search for her sister and be part of a society as a respected noblewoman. And so, Celeste ran away.

Other: Nothing, really. Celeste ran away into a forest, does not particularly know what she is doing, definitely does not have the skills for the sort of escapade that she has embarked upon, and is very much a striking and eye-catching figure in the landscape, both because of her physical appearance and because of her fiery spirit which stares at anyone like a piercing arrow from her orangey brown eyes.

Note to GC: see history please for reasoning regarding why this particular human is in the Otherworld.

Also, dates that I have no internet connection (probably, we'll see) are looking like July 22 and 23 for sure. I'm staying at a hotel in a couple weeks and I have no idea what internet access will look like there either. So I'll keep everyone posted. I'm home the 24th. =)

Timezone: Currently GMT -5, after the 24th of July, GMT -8

By now, it was nearly a ritual. Every night, before she went to sleep, her hair would be braided, one strand weaving over another, the next under, until her hair, reaching down to her knees, was in one long plait. After it had been perfumed and decorated with shells, as was custom for female royals in Imorna, the braid was wrapped tightly around her head, once, twice, until it was finished, and then it would be pinned up.

But not tonight. Tonight, Lady Ilmena of Imorna, the Water Kingdom, was fleeing from her home.

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When the first spell had been thrown, it had come as no surprise. Unfortunately, that didn't mean it hadn't led to a civil war.

The tension had been building for years, ever since the Melyani family, a wealthy dynasty of influential nobles, had adopted a human child thirteen years ago. Their decision to do so had sparked a controversy, and divided the land- some of the citizens felt that humans were inferior to faeries- especially water faeries, as many thought they were superior to all other faeries and creatures (though their grudging friendship to the faeries of air was infamous).

Many of Imorna's countrymen thought that humans were alright, but in almost no place in the tiny sea-side kingdom would one find full acceptance of the Earth-dwellers, not even in those small pockets of human communities. The Melyanis were infamous for their welcoming attitude towards humans, but even the few humans that had wandered into Imorna and the Otherworld tended to feel that this had been a mistake.

And so when Alora Melyani and her husband, Prelyati, welcomed this human child into their home with open arms, it came as no great shock when more than a few of their former friends decided that they would not be welcome to parties and such. The Melyanis didn't seem to really care, as they had never been incredibly social anyhow, preferring to be craftsmen or scholars over great warriors and generals. They had never seeked to marry their children to the royal family, unlike every other noble family.

So the tension grew.

And yesterday it had exploded in a giant, sticky mess.

For the Melyani heir, Edwornd, the fifteen-year-old son of Alora and Prelyati, brother of the human Ilmena, had been named the heir to the throne.

This was the biggest shock in centuries. It had been known that King Relpanin favored the Melyanis over the other noble families, as his best friend was Etorkchin Melyani, the head of the family. But to name Edwornd his heir? That was scandalous.

Less than an hour after the official announcement, the fights had started. One after another, communities divided, friends became enemies.

All through the night, there were public brawls in taverns and streets. But unknown to those who disliked humans, nearly every family that supported the creatures from Earth had begun to migrate to the royal palace, fearing death because of their beliefs.

The Melyanis stayed at their cliff-top mansion, believing that no one would come for them. This was their first and only mistake during the war, but it was a horrible one.

They huddled in their home, waiting for the inevitable to come.

And it came.

As the sun finally set, a human water mage killed a water faerie, deciding to finally avenge his daughter's death twenty years ago at the hands of a faerie.

News came to the Melyanis less than fifteen minutes after it occurred.

And so they met in their grand living room, staring at each other in shock and horror, knowing that there would be a massacre.

After a few minutes of deliberation, they decided they would try to get to the palace, thinking that was their only choice.

But Ilmena knew it was not. She knew that this wouldn't help, that they'd just be cornered if they did so. That the only way for her beloved family to survive would be for her to leave them.

So she told no one but her closest friends, her brother and her chief lady-in-waiting. She summoned Edwornd and Kemieya to her room, and as the latter locked the door, Ilmena sat in her favorite chair, took out her embroidery, and instructed them to sit down. Edwornd did not listen, choosing to instead pace around the room.

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Edwornd shook his head frantically, pacing stiffly around his sister's room, hands clasped tightly behind his back.

"I can't be King! I just can't! If I do, I'll- well, I just haven't been trained!" he said, visibly agitated, face white.

Ilmena didn't look up from her needlepoint, choosing to ignore him and ask, "Should I use blue or yellow for these tulips?"

Kemieya looked at her, shocked at this blatantly out-of-character display, and cried, "Ilmena! Your brother's going to be King, and there's probably going to be a massacre, and you're asking what color your daisies should be? What's wro-" The blonde faerie stopped short as she saw that the girl in question's bored tone hadn't matched the mixture of loss and determination present in her eyes.

"They're tulips," said Ilmena quietly, hands trembling slightly, not noticing as she dropped her needle. "And I know. That's why I asked you both to come here."

Her brother, looking more than a bit confused, opened his mouth to ask her what was going on, but was cut off.

"And yes, Edwornd, you will be King. But you won't survive to be so if I'm here, and both of you know it," the human girl said, looking at Kemieya and Edwornd in turn, eyes hard, lips pursed.

The former laughed weakly. "Ilmena, what in all of magic are you talking about? You're coming with all of us to the palace, you know!"

"No. I'm not going with you."

Her friends stared at her. Edwornd was the first to find his voice.

"What?"

"I said, I'm not going with you. I'm running away. And no, neither of you are going to be joining me," Ilmena added hastily as she saw the twin looks of shock and indignation on their faces.

"But... But if you have no one with you, then what will happen when you sleep?" asked Kemieya, giving up on the idea of forcing her friend to go with them, or at least take them with, as she saw the truth in Ilmena's statement of how there wouldn't be any hope for them if she came along.

Ilmena looked down, troubled. "I don't know. But I suppose that I'll have to force myself to learn how to control my magic, now."

After a few minutes of deliberation, Edwornd and Kemieya agreed to their friend's plan, and the latter left to find some of her old clothes for Ilmena to wear- it was clear that she wouldn't get far if she wore her everyday gowns, as they were fairly extravagant. The Melyanis may be a wonderful group of people, but they all had a weakness for fashion. Silk and lace would make it extremely obvious who Ilmena was.

When sure that Kemieya had really gone, Ilmena turned towards her brother.

Edwornd stared at her, forlorn. His little world had just collapsed around his feet. He was the heir to the King, his sister and best friend was leaving him, and the Melyani family had turned out to not be invincible after all.

Ilmena broke the silence as she launched herself at him, sobbing as she hugged her brother.

"I'll miss you," she cried tearfully, voice muffled, as her face was buried in Edwornd's shoulder.

"And I you," the faerie said, stricken with grief, not caring as tears rolled down his cheeks.

Kemieya returned a little later, dropping the clothes she had found, as well as a knife, flat piece of steel, and bag of golden-red powder, on a chair as she hurried to the two, joining the hug.

But soon the moment of bliss was broken, as each friend knew that the time had come for their trio to become a duo.

Forcing Edwornd out of the room, Ilmena changed into the clothes her friend had provided. She didn't bother looking in a mirror, as she knew that she looked like no noble, and that, in this case, was a good thing.

Turning towards the other items Kemieya had brought, she frowned, confused, and turned towards the girl.

Seeing her bewilderment, Kemieya smiled weakly, and explained. "Your hair. It's the one thing that tells who you are- no faerie or human in this land had hair like yours, and no non-noble girl has hair that long. The knife's to cut it, the steel's for straightening it- we'll have to heat it, though, so I'm going to have to heat the water, and the powder in the bag is to dye it, though I'll have to summon the color in your hair first, because it's so dark..."

Ilmena nodded, biting her lip to stop from crying again, not really wanting to change her hair, but knowing that she had to, as Kemieya was right- no human woman in Imorna had either brown or wavy hair- all of them, aside from her, being a noble, had been made to have their hair charmed blonde or blue, to fit in with the faeries. She knew that she would have to do this, if she was to be successful in her escape.

They let Edwornd in, to help- they needed his magic to help convince the water that it should take out the color of Ilmena's hair, and then boil itself.

An hour later, Ilmena was a redhead, her hair waist-long and straight, brown locks were scattered all over the floor, and the water in her spheres were dark brown. She'd recieved quite a fright when the red dye hadn't taken to her hair after it had become snow-white after the water had stolen its color, but Edwornd had managed to convince the other water they had put in the dye to force itself into her hair.

She grabbed the bag she had packed and smiled sadly at her friends as she leaned forward to grab them in a hug, but grinned cheekily as she whispered, "And I know you two love each other, and I say, go and get married now, before it's too late!"

Leaving the two staring at her in shock, and a bit of relief, she pranced out the door.

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And so now Ilmena was sitting in a gypsy caravan. It had been the first thing she had seen after leaving the grounds of the mansion, and she had needed to get far away from the city, or even Imorna itself, and she knew the dance faeries that were the Otherworld equivalent of Earth gypsies traveled quickly, so she'd bribed the head of this caravan to let her ride with them. The old woman had, at first, refused, but upon seeing the gold coins Ilmena had shown her, she'd immediately let her on, eyes wide.

Sighing, the girl huddled in a corner, knees drawn to her chest, and wondered when she'd see her friends and family again.


((I couldn't help myself, I needed a more extended backstory with my idea of the land Ilmena's from. So here you go, a huge, gigantic, enormous, monstrous RP post.))

((ETA: I totally forgot. When I was saying that the water in her spheres or whatever was dark brown... Here's what I meant: first off, I need to read the sites Lillie linked us to again, because the first time I read them I didn't really read them, just skimmed. But I made Imorna be a place where there's more humans than in most parts, as I wanted an easy way to be able to make things up and then not have to find out that there's something totally different than that in the Otherworld. So I figured that because Imorna is mostly populated by water creatures, that some things that other places might have, say, fireplaces, would be water-based. The 'spheres' are a heating device that's made of water. A sphere is, well, a sphere of water that's kept in shape (and not going to leak all over the place, or dry up, or stop levitating) with magic. Any water creature with magic can use it- Ilmena's a human, but she's been so surrounded by water magic most of her life that she's taken on some water faerie aspects- her eyes, for example. I figured that because she's a mage (even if I haven't decided what of yet), and she has some of these aspects, that she probably has a small amount of water magic.

And so there is my long explanation of why on Earth I make things up, and what exactly the things I've made up so far are. Anyway.))

((I had to make a second profile attempt, that is why I've been delayed. There's In-Character material under this Profile.))

Name: Abberwocky Otterbrand, or while disguised as a human, Nobody
Race: Alven (Water Faerie)
Gender: Male
Age: ?
Physical description: He at times wanders the human lands under the rude disguise of an otterskin outfit donned upon a mischeivous-looking young man with messy blond (changed that to fit the story) hair, blue eyes, and an under average height. His regular form also wears otterskins, but instead has slick blue hair and pale green skin. In his true form, he makes a bubble around himself to fly, taking care of that annoying lack of wings problem. His true form is small, but don't let that catch you off guard.
Personality: He's always been the troublemaker of his kind, running off on land in disguise as a human, finding a disreputable human pub, drinking and jigging the night away. As a rule he only likes the human lasses. He also is too curious for his own good. Like most of his kind, he guards night blooming plants when he isn't busy with other interests. Most Alven fear fishes. He likes to tease them.
History: Abberwocky's broken some Alven hearts to say the least. While the wiser of the Alvens constantly nag him about finding an Alven bride, he does the same thing every other night, only to turn up home again early in the morning, depressed and hung over as he swims to his rocky home in a stream. He gave himself his own first name as a child, inspired by the infamous Jabberwocky creature some land faeries fear.
Other: He likes garlic. I've never heard of any other Alven that can stand the stuff. Also carries a crossbow on his back lately.

Timezone: -6 GMT, or Central for you fellow American chaps and chapettes.
Note to GC: I only post on weekdays. Will not post holidays, either, so this weekend will be long and LHW free what with Independance Day.

<In-Character>

Abberwocky sat slumped on a rock overlooking his personal stream. He looked at the reflection of the full moon, but not for long. It was beautiful, but the Alven was in no mood to admire it. He was in human disguise this night, and he had something important to do this night. The young faerie dropped a small stone with carvings on it into the water and wandered off. It was a farewell note to his race. He was certain a few of the young ladies in the Alven race would be even more depressed than they already were.

This particular faerie wanted to live a simpler life with the humans, maybe find a wife. He was sober this night, and he hoped to be sober many other nights as he wandered into the sunset. The sun crawled down, casting its last weak rays as he passed the nearest town, not even thinking about his favorite pub. There was no hope for him there. The one girl he felt anything for there was engaged to some ranger.

Abberwocky looked back to when he had proposed to the girl himself, after all the trouble he had gone through earning money working alongside humans and even killing a few infamous beasts for a bounty with his new trusty crossbow. It had all been in vain, and now he had a pouch full of money and a heart full of nothing but anguish.

He trudged on, wandering to the edge of a field, where he passed into a wood and through a hollow, past the place he had once ventured furthest from his shallow, watery home to greet a girl he was courting at the time. Abberwocky wandered along, at times noting a plant blooming in the moonlight that now was almost the only light in the sky but for the stars that shone through the leaves. The young faerie heard laughter later on, and smelled the smoke of a fire. It sounded familiar, like the voices of the gypsies that had left the borders of the town last night. He crept up a tree and watched them for a while. They seemed good company soon enough, and so the young man ventured down, plainly walking near their campsite and gesturing to hail those gathered at the fire.

One asked for his name. He replied, grinning wildly and striking an overdramatic pose, "Nobody!" "This is your name?" a man with a beard asked curiously. "If it isn't my name than I ain't nobody, and if I ain't nobody, than why am I standing here with my elbow halfway up me arm and my eyes an eye's length apart?" Nobody commented. A few around the fire laughed, meanwhile, the young man searched his odd otterskin garment before pulling out a fife. He started playing a hearty tune, jigging to his heart's content. He then stopped this nonsense, bowed, and finished in saying, "That's the end of the introduction, how about you gents?" He then looking around the fire and opened his eyes wide in mock surprise. "And fair gels too. Pardon me for forgettin' the ladyfolk," he corrected himself, taking off his hat.

((Wow, I feel stupid. I put down Ilmena's last name as Waterflow, then went and made it Melyani, completely forgetting that I'd given her a last name.))

Ilmena shivered, trying to block out the sounds of the faeries talking to each other ("I'm Tekuri, head of clan Peacock." "And I'm Tidana..." Ugh, she could practically hear the faerie fluttering her eyelashes at whoever she was flirting with). They were inland now. She wasn't sure where (though it was definitely inland- it was far colder than the cool nights on the coast), but the only thing that mattered was that no one had recognized her. The dye had been a stroke of genius, apparently.

The faeries had stopped for the night, off the main trade road, in a forest. "So none'll see us," one of them had said when she asked why. It had seemed rather silly to her, for wouldn't the smoke from the fire, not to mention the noise they were making, attract the attention of others anyway? But having some time to think now, due to having chosen to eat her dinner in the caravan, she could now see that they probably had an illusionist or two along, to hide them. From people who might wish them harm, anyway- after all, she had been able to find them, and she knew for certain that her magical sight was beyond horrible.

Hearing music, and realizing she was quite thirsty, Ilmena ducked her head out of one of the flaps of purple beaded fabric that made for doors and started to ask, "If it's not any trouble, could I have some more of that cranberry juice?"

She only got to "If it's not any trou-" before staring in slight shock, eyes comically wide, and snapping her head back inside, newly red hair catching on some of the more potruding beads and pulling her back painfully.

Swearing loudly, to the clear amusement of the faeries, the human was forced to go back outside, this time fully, to detach her hair as she glared at them, face red.

But there! A water faerie, if she was right, had joined them. Breathing deeply to attempt to calm herself, she reminded herself that her one tell-tale feature, her hair, was now quite different, so she was safe- she had to be- Ilmena avoided looking at the Alven as she softly said to the head of the gypsy clan, "I was going to ask if there was any juice left, as I'm quite thirsty, but I can now see that there isn't any. Sorry for bothering you."

She turned to leave, but the man stood quickly and put his arm around her shoulders, crying, "Have some wine, then! We've plenty, an' it'll go bad if you don't help us drink it!"

"No, no, it's fine, I don't want any wi-" she stopped as she was pushed to sit down.

Grudgingly accepting her fate, Ilmena finished, "Alright, fine, I'll sit, but I don't want any wine. Trust me, I'm a horrible drunk."

This wasn't really true- just slightly. A drop of liquor could make her magic nearly explode during her sleep, unfortunately. So she instead chose to discreetly steal someone's water flask.

"Right, I know what you mean!" the man next to her said, grinning as he looked pointedly at the man sitting across from them. "I'm Blurin, by the way, but Riyel here's crazy if he drinks, so old Kamen's ordered 'im to be completely sober. Tha's why he's so..."

Ilmena raised an eyebrow. "Like a leech?"

Blurin guffawed loudly, causing her to wince. "Yes! That's it!"

They sat in silence for a minute or two after that, not really having anything to say, until Blurin blurted out, "So what's your name, anyway?"

The girl flinched, but thought quickly and replied, smiling nervously, "My name is Eeta."

He blinked, but yelled- the noise level around them had slowly escalated as everyone had started drinking, and now it was hard to hear anything- "What?"

"Eeta! I'm Eeta!" she yelled back.

"Oh! Well then, Eeta! Welcome to our clan!" Blurin cried.

Night had long since fallen and Celeste was now quite a ways into the forest that bordered her family's manor. She was tired, and not nearly as confident as she had been when she had left her home shortly after the servants had snuffed the last candles. But it was the only way to ensure the search parties wouldn't be going after her until daybreak.

Then again, who was to say she would get any search parties? Adelaide hadn't gotten any, she thought bitterly. Her pent up frustration fueled her slowed pace and she broke into more of a determined trudge. Her face was already dirty and her hair already had a few leaves and branches entangled in it. She didn't particularly have a direction in which she was traveling.

In some ways, Celeste was just so upset that she didn't really care what direction she was going in as long as it was away from her home. Her relationship with her parents had deteriorated after her sister had disappeared, and her brothers never really seemed to care much that she had existed, they had branched out and were caught up in their own existences.

Also, she did not really want to admit that she did not have the slightest clue as to where she was going or how she would take care of herself. Or where the Otherworld might be. Or where Adelaide might be once she got there. If she got there. If Adelaide was there.

Celeste bit her lip hard to combat sudden unexpected and unwanted tears welling up in her eyes. Sighing heavily, she leaned lightly on a redwood tree trunk that was surprisingly soft against her back. She put her hand over her eyes briefly, closing them and gathering her strength to continue, putting aside thoughts of turning back home. What was she doing? Mental images of Ebert (her almost-fiancee) quickly dispelled these doubts.

As she lifted her head she noticed something directly in front of her that surely had not been there before. Or maybe it had been. She hadn't really been paying attention. It was a huge, dark and glossy, rich green hedge, with waxy looking perfect leaves. The hedge seemed to stretch through the forest directly perpendicular to her path for miles in both directions. Surely someone had to have discovered this before she had! Yet it certainly had never been on any map she had seen.

Celeste's depression briefly filed away in favor of her bubbling curiousity, she pushed her hair behind her ears and quickly trotted over to the hedge. Fascinated by its glorious leaves, she cautiously put out both hands in front of her and ran them lightly over the surface of the hedge before reaching in to part the branches. As she did, the leaves and branches seemed to weave themselves before her very eyes into a fantastic natural gate that was slowly swinging open in response to the movement of her fingertips. A rush of sweet air came at her and an almost liquid moonlight flooded through, revealing a nighttime forest that just seemed much more alive than the one Celeste left behind her as she walked through the gate.

It seemed to be the same forest that she had trudged through for hours. But on second glance it was entirely not so. She turned to look at the magnificent hedge once more, but there was no trace of it at all. Just the same bright forest stretching on and on. Whirling in circles she took a few steps backward and then forward, completely turned around and disoriented. The replacement of her former reality behind her terrified her.

Her heart beating, she dashed forward in the direction she had been going all along only to suddenly stumble into the dancing lights of a campfire. An avalanche of sound suddenly descended upon her, laughter and music suddenly crashing in on ears that had grown so accustomed to the slightly eerie silence of the nighttime forest. As she stopped dead in her tracks her wide orangey brown eyes (that were a blazing orange in the firelight) took in the scene before her. Unimaginable creatures were gathered before her. Fairies... she breathed inwardly.

Celeste's lips parted slightly, but not a sound came forth. Her ankle and heel twisted slightly, as if she was going to run back into the bright darkness of the forest behind her, but that was as far as she got, for silence and blackness enveloped her like a rushing wind and unconciousness wrapped her up in its arms, an almost-welcome blanket shielding her from the alien world around her. She fell in a crumpled heap of green silk and cream satin, her thin black cloak falling away from her and exposing her fine garments, though the hood fell and covered her face delicately.

For the first time in her life, Celeste had unmistakably fainted.

((okay. so I almost decided to let this be a non-fainting character - I mean I HAVE had them before. But then the post progressed along. And it was just far, far too irresistible. so my apologies. I guess. It was quite deliciously fun to write.))[/i]

Senya climbed the sandy dunes up towards where the sparse yellow grass began to grow. The heavy feeling stayed with her and she walked quickly in an attempt to shake it off.

A soft whinny startled her. She jumped a foot high in the air and glanced fearfully towards the direction of the sound, expecting to see... Well, she wasn't sure what she was expecting to see. Some kind of terrible, dark monster, perhaps.

Instead, what she was the outline of a small, pale pony that looked eerily spooky in the half-moonlight. Clearly it was too small to be one of the ocean horses the merfolk were known to ride. What was it, then? It was hard to see any distinctive features that might inform her from this distance.

A distant creak from the forest frightened her a second time. Nervously, she strained her eyes to see past the dark gloom in vain. It was not unusual for the forest to make strange sounds. In fact, that was exactly what had been bothering her, she realized. It was almost completely silent. Even the trees refused to whisper among themselves. The faintest sounds within the forest told her that the thing making the sounds, whatever it was, was moving in another direction. Protection be upon unwary travellers tonight, she thought absent-mindedly.

The faerie glanced back at the approaching pony and paused uncertainly. Was it coming towards her or was it looking for someone -- or something -- else? There was only one way to find out, she thought.

Casting a simple spell of invisibility, she moved away to one side of the beach. The spell did not really work with other faeries but it did cause them to turn their focus away from her sometimes. If the pony had been coming towards her anyway, it would not work. She paused and waited guardedly, mentally calculating the distance between her sealskin and her current position.

Espoir suddenly stopped blowing her flute, slowly lowering it as her eyes narrowed slightly. The wind bird stoppd singing shortly after, puzzled as to why its companion had abruptly ceased her melody. Espoir instinctively turned to her left, staring fruitlessly past the stubbornly thick clump of trees that blocked her view, as if sensing there was something there.

Now that she thought about it, there was something different about tonight that was...unsettling. There wasn't even the slightest breeze and the air was mysteriously still. As the last echoes of the melody drifted further away, the clearing came to a disturbing silence. Espoir glanced at the wind bird, who cocked its head in a puzzled manner, not quite understanding what was going on.

Espoir herself wasn't really that sure what was wrong, but she knew something was different tonight, even though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Espoir gripped her flute tighter as she turned to her left and began walking slowly following that direction, as if in a trance. The wind bird followed obediently in a flurry of glittering blue.

She reached the edge of the clearing, her little hands hesitant as she gently pull apart some leaves to see what was beyond. She saw some moonlit water from afar, obviously from the nearby lake. A pony-like creature was trotting from it, and somewhere nearby, she could make out another figure, whom she guessed was a faerie based on the figure's shape, but she couldn't be too sure.