If you go down to the woods today... (open log)

[sos_pilot]

🧙 WHO: Della Duck & You!
⚔️️ WHAT: After the Animal Mage Hunt last month, Della is throwing a small shindig to help them all relax. Food, games, face paint, and awkward questions for everyone. You don't have to be an animal mage/animal person to come, everyone's invited!
🕒 WHEN: First Weekend of the Month.
🗺️ WHERE: Brocéliande, a.k.a the local forest.
⚠️ WARNINGS: N/A.

Delightful Decorations
Do you miss your ears and tail from the temporary spell the month before? There’s a box to slightly cure that! It’s filled with fake animal decorations including cat-ear headbands, fluffy fox tails to clip on your pants, feathery wings to hang on your shoulders, and so on. If you’re feeling a bit more colorfully creative, there’s also face paint! Pick a partner to practice on!

Food Festivities
What’s a party without grub? There’s a big wooden table surrounded by little wooden chairs so you can get your snack on. In keeping with the theme, there are cookies shaped like cat-heads, sandwiches cut to resemble webbed duck feet, and plenty of veggie platters for those who feel they can’t eat what they resembled for a while. At least the tea is normal. Feel free for your character to have brought along their own food to share as well!

Games Galore
Why sit around when you can get some exercise? The easy to play Pin The Tail On The Griffin, where you’re blindfolded and have to pin the tail on the paper griffin on a tree… and hopefully no one else. Or make Tag way more exciting by trying to grab one of the fake tails from earlier off of your friend’s butt! Since you’re in the woods, there’s also a contest to see who can climb trees the fastest! The prize is bragging rights. And maybe a cupcake.

AMA - Animal Edition
Let’s face it -when you’re surrounded by all kinds of new species, you get curious. Here’s your chance to clear the air and learn something new – there’s a big red chair with a label on the back – ASK ME ANYTHING. Anyone who sits in it is volunteering to answer whatever is asked of them. Of course, there’s no guarantee it’ll be the truth… you trolls know who you are.

As a reminder, according to our lovely locations page, “It is cautioned against magic in these woods, as the mystical forces within tend to interfere and cause them to go awry.” We definitely wouldn’t want that happening, wink wink nudge nudge.

Comments

[reloves]

[ .. It's a little taller than she expected, that's for sure. She did climb that fruit tree the other day to shake some of it down, but it wasn't nearly as big as this one..

But.. whatever! She can't back down now, right?! She'll just have to do it! ]

Alright, let's do it! Who's going to count us down for the start?

[wolfhunted]

Hmm...well, I picked the tree, so you can count us down.

[She may as well be diplomatic about this.]

[reloves]

Alright, then I'll count!

[ Apparently that's fair enough to Minako too, because she agrees without any protest. Instead she just puts three fingers up in the air. ]

Get ready..! 3.. 2.. 1.. And go!

[ And the moment she says so, Minako starts running up to the tree! ]

[wolfhunted]

[As soon as Minako says "go", Robyn dashes towards the tree as well. Once she gets to the base of the trunk, she grabs the lowest limb she can reach and starts climbing. She wasn't able to do much tree climbing back home after she and her father moved to Kilkenny, but since she got here she's gotten back into doing it more often just for fun.]

[reloves]

[ Minako starts climbing as well the moment she reaches the tree - though slower than Robyn, since she's not really as used to this as the other is. Not that Minako is going slow, not by a long shot, but she sure can't win from an expert.

So by the time they reach the top, Robyn is there ahead of Minako.

Not even close enough for a photo finish, really.

But despite it, Minako just smiles. ]

Geez.. You really weren't lying about what you can do!

[wolfhunted]

[Robyn is a little out of breath once she reaches the top, and she's still catching it when Minako arrives.]

I've had lots of practice. [But she still smiles back.] You're not so bad yourself, though!

[reloves]

Well, like I said, I had practice too! [ It's a friendly remark though, said with a smile, before Minako shakes her head. ] Just.. not so much with trees.

[ Hence why Robyn definitely had the advantage here. But that no longer matters - especially now they're sitting here up in the tree for a moment, staring into the distance. The height doesn't bother Minako in the slightest. ]

You must have lived among a lot of trees back home.

[wolfhunted]

I did back in England. We lived out in the country then. When Father and I had to move to Ireland, there was a forest outside of town, but children weren't allowed outside the walls.

[That, and her father wouldn't let her hunt with him like he used to.]

I'd still sneak out when I could, though. And I can go into the woods here whenever I want.

[reloves]

[ ...

Give Minako a moment here. She's trying to process a fact in her head, because she's worried she's misunderstanding.. but the more she thinks about it, the more she thinks she did hear it the right way after all. ]

There was a.. wall? Around the city you lived in?

[wolfhunted]

Yes. The front gates aren't guarded very well, though. It's pretty easy to distract the guards if you want to get out.

[It's a good thing the Lord Protector's soldiers aren't the most competent lot.]

[reloves]

[ So the other girl is the sneaky type. Minako is willing to believe that much, at least.

After all, she's nimble enough to climb up trees - then of course she's nimble around to sneak around other people! ]

That's good, at least.. But why are those walls there in the first place? There's no walls around any city where I live.. or, um, well, there haven't been any for a really, really long time!

[ Not since back in Ye Olde Days. Minako assumes, anyway. She didn't pay much attention in history class. ]

[wolfhunted]

[Robyn would prefer that she didn't have to be sneaky, but with the Lord Protector's iron grip on everyone in Kilkenny back home, she didn't have much choice.]

Most people would say it's to keep things out. But I think it's more to keep people in so they all follow the Lord Protector's rules.

[reloves]

And I'm assuming this 'Lord Protector' person is who's in charge.

[ After all, it's not like they have anyone with that title where Minako comes from, but she sure recognizes the types when she hears about them! Minako has a special Authority Radar. It's part of being a natural rebel against any sort of authority.

And Robyn's expression and tone tell her enough about the other's opinion of this person. ]

The type who's onesidedly putting all sorts of rules on other people, without asking them if they think it's a good idea.

[wolfhunted]

He's the King of England, but he just goes around callin' himself the Lord Protector. I don't know what he thinks he's protectin', though.

[If she said this back home where he could hear it, she'd immediately be put in the stocks. It's nice to be somewhere she can't get in trouble for saying what's on her mind.]

At least there's nobody like that here.

[reloves]

[ Minako takes in the information quietly for a moment, but then she smiles, moving her elbow to nudge the other.

.. gently, though. Look, she's still well aware they're sitting in a tree, and Minako isn't looking to cause injuries. ]

You know, you sound like a real rebel.

[ Yet the way Minako says that word doesn't make it sound like something bad. ]

[wolfhunted]

I suppose so.

[Robyn doesn't take that as an insult. She didn't like the new rules she had to live under back home, and she knew people who were being even more actively harmed by them than she was. It was only natural that she'd fight against them even a little bit.]

Does that mean you're one, too?

[reloves]

Of course! [ Minako even laughs as she says it - like she's either proud of the title, or just entirely shameless of her dislike of authority. ]

In fact, the police back home was doing such a crappy job that I instead took matters into my own hands!

[ .. there's a slight pause, and then Minako seems to realise that she can't be too sure with the way Robyn is describing her own world.. ]

Do.. you know what the police is? [ Do they even have police where Robyn comes from, or does she need to find an otherworldly equivalent? ]

[wolfhunted]

Well...are they the ones who make sure people follow the rules? Because the Lord Protector had soldiers who did that.

[Robyn isn't too familiar with the term, but she does know about law enforcement and she doesn't think much of the kind she has to deal with back home.]

[reloves]

[ She quickly nods. The idea is the same, after all. ]

Yeah, yeah, exactly like that! And I guess it's good that they enforce certain rules, like how it's not okay to kill another person.. But sometimes they get all mad at me when I stop bad guys from doing bad things!

[ Minako dramatically sighs. ]

Like, am I not doing a good thing when I do that?! Why do those jerks make me out to be yet another bad guy then?

[wolfhunted]

It doesn't sound fair of them to be angry at you for stoppin' bad people.

[Robyn is sure that the Lord Protector's soldiers would find some way of arresting someone back home if they tried to do that.]

...how do you go about stoppin' bad people, anyway?

[reloves]

Well.. [ Her voice trails off for a moment. ] Isn't it obvious?

[ Minako says it with the sort of tone that implies she thinks it's obvious, anyway. ]

You just give the bad guys a good old kick!

[ Yes, because it's clearly just that simple. ]

[wolfhunted]

That's it?

[That can't be all it takes, can it?]

You must be pretty good at kickin', then. I don't think I can kick that hard.

[reloves]

Aww, come on! You can't just put yourself down like that!

[ .. or maybe it's more like Robyn is being realistic, rather than actually putting herself down.. but Minako seems this convinced of the other's kicking ability, having some sort of natural confidence in it. ]

I bet you can give a real mean kick when you try! [ She winks at Robyn. ] All rebels can!

[wolfhunted]

Well, that is somethin' I've never tried...

[Not that she's ever been in a situation where kicking was the only option. She's generally used to just giving people the slip, though since she got here she's gotten better at direct confrontations.]

I'm good at shootin' things down with me crossbow, though. Father taught me all about how to aim.

[reloves]

[ A crossbow, huh? Minako supposes that does make sense. It fits the whole medieval-esque aesthetic, and it does seem like Robyn's world is a little closer to that time than it is to Minako's own time.. ]

Well, it's not like an arrow wouldn't do the trick either!

[ Minako mimics pulling back a bowstring and firing an arrow with her hands. ]

You could make something embarrassing fall down on an annoying person!