[ENTER THE PALACE]

[warpweft]

[You find yourself with a sensation like floating in water.]

[Above, the sky is dark. You can occasionally see things shifting, like gusts of wind, or perhaps waves of water. Is it…even a sky above you? Or is it some kind of giant ocean? Whatever it is, you can’t make it out very well. All around you, you appear to be floating in what appears to be water. It looks like a great, wide ocean of…space in every direction around you, with stars and lights twinkling in the distance. It looks like water and feels like water, but it doesn’t make you wet. You can reach your hand into it and pull some out, the purple and violet water and the tiny points of light inside it will even rest in your hands if you cup them to carry it, but once you’re not trying to hold it anymore, it’ll flow off of you, not a single drop remaining behind. You feel something similar if you go underneath the surface. The “water” doesn’t touch your eyes, mouth or nose when give the chance, it merely drifts around you, allowing you to breathe and see unabated. And you can see for a great distance, the twinkling stars illuminating the ocean of space all around you. Though perhaps less dark and empty, it feels every bit as vast as the sky above. You feel like you could swim forever and never reach the edge.]

[It’s quiet, here, with little noise around you but the starry ocean’s waves crashing back into its surface. It’s peaceful. In another situation, it might even be comfortable.]

Comments

THE WITCH'S TOWER

[voidhearts]

[You go through the door to a staircase, leading up. Eventually, the staircase leads outside onto a stone bridge, but the second you get to the top of the stairs, you find yourself in the middle of a raging storm. Wind blows in your face, lightning rips through the sky, briefly lighting it up before thunder booms in the distance. As you step forward, fog gathers around you. Visibility is low and the elements are getting worse, but there’s a single light in the distance. You push on towards it and you can hear a loud cackle echoing somewhere, like nails scratching a chalkboard. You’ve gotten through enough of the fog that near the light, you can see the shape of a large tower looming in front of you. There’s a large, heavy door before you with a metal knocker. The storm has become truly awful at this point, leaving you no choice but to seek shelter within the tower. You reach out and grab the knocker.]

[CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.]

[The noise echoes for a few seconds and…]

Oh, hold on one second! I’ll buzz you up!

[There’s a voice coming from the….buzzer? There’s a buzzer next to the door. You hear a buzz and the wooden door opens, allowing you into…]

[What appears to be the living room of an apartment? A voice comes from around the corner:]

Go ahead and let yourself in! Just close the door behind you!

[It’s the same voice as the one that let you in.]

[messianic]

[ oh this was a mistake. As soon as Minato makes his way into here, he regrets it. It's wet and cold and stormy and he does not like that. Still, there's no option but forward, and eventually...

A tower!

Once he's let in, he just kind of stands there, dripping and looking a bit like a drowned cat, expression ever-so-slightly frowny.

But he does obediently close the door behind him. Phew. ]

[voidhearts]

[You step into the living room of, honestly, a pretty nice apartment! At the opposite end of the room, there’s an open door leading out into the balcony (where there…isn’t a huge storm coming in through the open door?), a big TV hanging on the wall and an exceptionally soft looking couch and an equally comfy easy chair next to it. The couch must be as comfortable as it looks, because there’s a black cat napping on it, currently catching a sunbeam from the open balcony. It regards you for a second, then goes back to lounging.]

[Up on the wall, there’s a kitschy little carved wooden sign - it reads “WELCOME TO THE WITCH HOUSE” and it has a little painting of a witch on a broomstick on it. As you look around, a young woman comes from the kitchen holding a tray with two cups and some snacks on it.]

It sounded pretty bad out there, so I thought I’d get some hot cocooooohhhhhh, it got you pretty good, huh….!

[She sets the tray down on the coffee table in front of the couch.]

Uh, I’ll get a towel too! Please, just make yourself at home! We can talk in a second!

[She trots off down a hallway to another part of the apartment.]

[You’re currently in the Living Room. You can explore the Kitchen or the Hallway, the latter of which the girl just ran into. Or you can just stay here and drink some hot cocoa and wait for that towel.]

[Also, notably, your phone beeps again.]

[Welcome to the Palace: Step 2 completed!

[Which is quickly replaced with....]

[Step 3: Obtain a quest
Obtain a quest from one of Nessa's confidants.
Shadow Nessa: Look, I don’t want to put too fine of a point on this. You know what they say, there are no small parts, just small actors, but we have to be realistic here. Some of the people here are more important than others. That’s just life. It’s fine, they can still contribute, you should talk to them! They might have something very useful to say! …but they’re not going to be any help finding the Voidheart, so, it’s not really going to be that useful. Just make sure you pick up the important quest. Once you do, you can keep track of your quests in the NessaQuest app.]

[messianic]

[ huh........ peering at his phone for that notification. It's just like his jrpgs and mmorpgs!!

But it would be rude to leave after she told him to stay there, so he's going to drip right where he's at (and drink that hot cocoa, thanks).

And wait for her to get back.




This feels kind of invasive, but at the same time, if it helps, then... surely it's fine to talk with Nessa's important people like this. ]

[voidhearts]

Here you go!

[The girl comes back with a towel and hands it to you. Warm and fluffy! It’s just what you need after braving that storm. The girl tucks her hands behind her back.]

Oh, uh. [She sticks her hand out to shake.] Hi! I’m Nell, I’m Nessa’s cousin! And… [She gestures around the two of you.] This is her apartment! Uh. Our apartment, I guess. I live here with her. And this… [She reaches a hand on the cat napping there. He lets out a ‘mrrrrp’ and rolls over.] Is Puck!

[messianic]

[ oh... this is nice and pleasant. He carefully sets his mug aside so he can at least dry off his hair and headphones/mp3 player, tilting his head to listen as he does. ]

I see... sorry for intruding, but it's very nice to meet you both. I'm Minato. I'm... a friend of Nessa-san's.

[ a beat. ]

Is it always this stormy here?

[voidhearts]

[Nell picks up her own mug and blows on it a bit. She lets out a little bit of a sigh at Minato's question.]

No...no, it's not. Normally it's just some fog and a little rain and thunder, you know, just for...ambiance! But lately it's gotten really bad...

[She nervously twiddles her fingers on her mug.]

I think it's because of... [She starts to say a name, but trails off. She doesn't even seem to want to say it out loud.]

[messianic]

[ he sips his cocoa quietly for a moment, towel still over his hair, before finally: ]

Do you mean a white-haired young woman, by any chance? Kind of...stab happy?

[voidhearts]

[She gives a couple anxious nods.]

Y...yeah.

I guess you already ran into her, huh...? Sorry about that.

[messianic]

Oh, you don't have to apologize. I'm okay.

[ ish. mostly. ]

So she's a big problem, huh... is there anything you can tell me about her? I don't know much.

[voidhearts]

...

...

[She nods and sets her mug down.]

She's our oldest cousin. She was, uhm. Our teacher. Our grandmother made her our teacher.

....I'm guessing you...probably saw what she did to Nessa by now.

[messianic]

... I did, yeah.

[ a faint frown. Family..... ]

Why would she do something like that?

[voidhearts]

....

[It takes her a moment to say this next part. It's clearly pretty difficult for her to say, but it's equally clear that she thinks it's important that she share it.]

Our grandmother, Lilith.

She told her to.

Re: THE WITCH'S TOWER

[velluminous]

[ on the one hand, she is desperately envious of the witch's tower. on the other...

soaked and grumpy, she closes the door behind her. ]

Hello?

Re: THE WITCH'S TOWER

[voidhearts]

[You step into the living room of, honestly, a pretty nice apartment! At the opposite end of the room, there’s an open door leading out into the balcony (where there…isn’t a huge storm coming in through the open door?), a big TV hanging on the wall and an exceptionally soft looking couch and equally comfy easy chairs positioned around it. The couch must be as comfortable as it looks, because there’s a black cat napping on it, currently catching a sunbeam from the open balcony. It regards you for a second, then goes back to lounging. Up against one wall is a large fully stocked bookshelf that appears to have books on most of the shelves, but DVDs on the bottom. There's a wireless phone sitting in its dock on the coffee table....Nessa apparently still has a landline? There's also a drawer under the coffee table that appears to be for board games. ]

[Up on the wall, there’s a kitschy little carved wooden sign - it reads “WELCOME TO THE WITCH HOUSE” and it has a little painting of a witch on a broomstick on it. As you look around, a young woman comes from the kitchen holding a tray with two cups and some snacks on it.]

It sounded pretty bad out there, so I thought I’d get some hot cocooooohhhhhh, it got you pretty good, huh….!

[She sets the tray down on the coffee table in front of the couch.]

Uh, I’ll get a towel too! Please, just make yourself at home! We can talk in a second!

[She trots off down a hallway to another part of the apartment.]

[You’re currently in the Living Room. You can explore the Kitchen or the Hallway. Or you can just stay here and drink some hot cocoa and wait for that towel.]

Re: THE WITCH'S TOWER

[velluminous]

[ you know what she's gonna do. she's gonna take a Short Rest. perches. on. the couch.

safely away from the napping cat. ]

Re: THE WITCH'S TOWER

[voidhearts]

[The girl comes back with a towel and....oh....the couch is getting wet..........but it's fine! She doesn't say anything about it!]

Oh! Do you need to rest? Would you like me to get you some tea and a pillow?

Re: THE WITCH'S TOWER

[velluminous]

I did not mean to intrude. I was... looking for someone.

[ but he must already be gone. she stands again, moving to take the towel if she'll let her. ]

Re: THE WITCH'S TOWER

[voidhearts]

Oh, of course not! You're not an intruder, you're here to help!

Minato came by earlier, but he left to go take care of some stuff elsewhere in the palace. We were working on something, but I have some work to do before we can proceed, I'm gonna send him a message when it's ready again....

[She hands Sprezzatura the towel. Warm and fluffy! It’s just what you need after braving that storm. The girl tucks her hands behind her back.]

Oh, uh. [She sticks her hand out to shake.] I’m Nell, I’m Nessa’s cousin! And… [She gestures around the two of you.] This is her apartment! Uh. Our apartment, I guess. I live here with her. And this… [She reaches a hand on the cat napping there. He lets out a ‘mrrrrp’ and rolls over.] Is Puck!

If you want to rest a while and wait here for Minato, feel free! I think he'll be back, eventually!

Re: THE WITCH'S TOWER

[velluminous]

[ she wraps herself in the towel, shivering despite her tiefling warmth. ]

He will be fine. [ :) ] He is smart boy. I am Ms Vaux. Pleased to meet you. Have you seen piece of clocktower about?

Re: THE WITCH'S TOWER

[voidhearts]

A clocktower....? Like Big Ben?

No, I don't think so. I think there's a clocktower in the South Wing though, I think....

Re: THE WITCH'S TOWER

[velluminous]

Ahhh. [ no such luck, then. as she begins to towel her hair: ] Then perhaps... as Nessa's cousin, do you know how to "empower one's Spark"?

Re: THE WITCH'S TOWER

[voidhearts]

Oh! Oh, yes!

[She pulls out her phone and starts typing. Then she shows Sprezzatura her phone.]

You can do that in the NessaShop!

It costs 500 NessaPoints. It's a lot, but it's definitely worth it!

Re: THE WITCH'S TOWER

[velluminous]

Gah! I just spent these points!

Re: THE WITCH'S TOWER

[voidhearts]

Eheheh....!

[She rubs the back of her head.]

Y-yeah....! There's a lot of neat stuff in there, it's pretty tempting to just buy it, huh...?

But you can always earn more!