isleofavalon | February catch-all

🧙 WHO: Hendrik and OPEN
⚔️️ WHAT: Arrival, settling in, quests
🕒 WHEN: February
🗺️ WHERE: Dependent on prompts
⚠️ WARNINGS: N/A

Arrival

[Hendrik awakens to his body hitting the water, and a rush of terrible deja vu almost overwhelms him. The struggle of tearing at his cloak and armor, his pride and protection turned into terrible anchors dragging him into the depths. The fear of his last moments being spent in suffocating blackness.

He still doesn't know how he made it to the shore on that day when the world tree fell. His armor was long gone, lost to the abyss, and his king lay on the surf, unconscious.

He has no armor this time, only struggling now against the clothes on his back. And when he breaks the surface, he is greeted by light -- not the darkness that permeated over the land and blotted out the sun in the sky.

It's enough to make him shiver in bewilderment even before he starts towards an unfamiliar shore. He barely pays attention to a platypunk upon the back of an ice turtle, squinting at it when he notices the duo following him to the edge of the water.]

The Red Spring - training grounds (during or after arrival trip)

[At a certain level, Hendrik is not worried by the revelation that the magic from his world does not work in this new one. It's strange, yes, but his magic has been more of a supportive force to his main skills.

That doesn't mean he shouldn't try to understand that which is supposed to "replace" his lost magic. Meditation isn't something he has had to do in the name of learning spells before, but the dedication is a familiar enough concept.

When he isn't trying his hand at learning of his magic, he takes to sword training at the edge of the grounds, not wanting to disturb those there to practice magic. His intimidating stature is something he is quite aware of, after all. And something he will apologize for, if he happens to scare a passerby with swinging his large greatsword.]

Taking in the City

[A rather lavish free room, a free selection of food in the morning... Though he knows the setup to be temporary, Hendrik finds himself impressed. The kingdom must be prosperous to be able to to afford such an arrangement to cater to those newly arrived.

And their familiars.

As he eats the apple that is part of his breakfast, Hendrik glances at the platypunk sitting next to him on the bench. Apparently familiars could talk? That should not be a surprise in itself, given he's known some monsters to talk in Erdrea, but the platypunk has yet to say a word to him.

But it does seem to be convinced it's his familiar, as the end of its prehensile tail is wrapped around his forearm.]

...Shall we go for a walk?

[He tentatively inquires of the familiar. The platypunk makes a quack-like noise and hops up, holding its own breakfast apple as it follows after Hendrik.]

Quest: A Tall Order

[...Why did he decide this was a good idea?

As he holds up the chair on which one of many elves perches like an overly proud king, Hendrik can hear the other elves squabbling among themselves. He turns a faintly exasperated look at one of the other ... volunteers to the situation.]

I take it you thought this was a good idea as well.

Wildcard

[Got an idea? Hit me up!]

Threaded | Flat

Yeah. Fuck. I might die.

[Freeze frame, zoom in, yep, that's Kadoc. I bet you're wondering how I got into this situation,

This scene is worth setting: Kadoc, who had very stupidly decided to volunteer for this quest, is 5'9" and scrawny as hell. He'd considered this what he thought was carefully before deciding to go; after all, the elves in question are two feet tall. Even Kadoc is a mountain of a man compared to that. But the man opposite him in this procession, the one addressing him now, is an actual mountain; his 6'6" is almost a foot taller than Kadoc is. He should have realized this would happen. This is a nightmare!

But it is good practice for his magic: thus far, he's been making up the height difference by using his Light magic to project a shield lying flat up over his upraised hands. His corner balances on the shield, higher up than his hands alone can reach. Brilliant! This method of magic is entirely new to him, but this particular aspect of it is at least slightly familiar, and Kadoc finds himself more attuned to it than he is other uses of Light yet; it is, essentially, Easy Mode, and as such he's determined to master it quickly. If he can't do this, how is he supposed to figure out intricate light work like illusion?

And it's . . . going. It's going fine! Actually, it's going exhausting. He looks like he might just drop, though the truth is he always looks like that anyway, but who's to say it's not because of this whole awful thing he agreed to do? This was dumb! This was a dumbfuck decision he made!

God, is the massive mountain man over here making fun of him, or commiserating? It could be either. Kadoc's not sure. He suspects the former, but only because he always suspects that first.]

. . . If you're gonna laugh, just do it to my face. I deserve it for this.

[Much like Hendrik, Bennett too was attempting to gain a grasp on his newfound magic. ...Magic for Bennett was a struggle. Putting aside the fact that magic was a relatively foreign concept to a Vision wielder, there was the fact that he had healing magic, of all things. How do you actually practice healing magic without someone to heal?

But that was just his luck, huh?

But then he spots Hendrik off to the side, sword training, and an idea strikes. He just needed someone to heal!]

Hey! Wanna do some sword training together?

[Hendrik's tall stature didn't phase the boy in the slightest. When you routinely have to fight off Large Hilichurls and Ruin Guards, a tall man doesn't really bother you.]

[ Some one spoke to him and Crowley stopped walking up the path long enough to peer at the man holding up one of the sedan chairs. ]

Are you kidding? This was the best idea!

[ With that he clambered up into the chair Hendrik was helping to tote, making nearly twice as heavy as it was before his arrival, and fist bumped the elf already seated in it. ]

Tabor, my elf! Nice to see you again! Thanks for the lift, you're right, it really is the best way to see the city.

Oi you down there.

[ He peered back over the side at the poor saps doing the heavy lifting. ]

Tabor would like to go once around the town.

[In the month or so that Darin had called Avalon home, he'd made a few spots into hangouts; places where he felt at home but people could still reach him if need be. He was also a fan of observing the many people practicing their magic, often taking notes on what made them successful in hopes of applying it to his own training.]

[It wasn't very often that Darin actually saw someone practicing with a weapon. And not only that, using skills and techniques he himself had seen more often than he'd be able to accurately count.]

[He doesn't disturb Hendrik while he's going through his training, but it's likely someone with keen senses will noticed he's being watched, and has been for some time.]

[Finally, Darin speaks up.]

You know, I gotta say, seeing someone actually doing some real honest-to-goodness sword training on these grounds is a breath of fresh air. I feel like I'm home again.

[Klaudia did think it was a good idea... Originally. How heavy could a 2ft tall elf be? Even she should be able to manage that.]

[It hadn't occurred to her that the chair might also weigh a sizable amount as well... At least more than her noodle arms are used to carrying. Honestly, she looks like she might pass out. At least she has her tail to brace herself if she starts tipping to one side.]

It sounded a lot better in writing. [She's breathing hard, but still managing to talk, somehow.] How-- How much further do you think? Are we almost there?

[Naturally, Jade feels drawn to the training grounds and what they have to offer— at home, she would train regardless of where she was, putting whatever space she had available to good use, but with facilities like these, it seems a waste not to make the trip. She has other reasons for gravitating back towards the Red Spring rather than remaining in the city, as well, but the training grounds are certainly high on her list.

It's the first place she goes upon arriving in the resort town, and while she certainly doesn't expect to be the only person with such an idea, she stops short just as she's about to pass by the area dedicated to meditation. There are a handful of people there already doing their very best to focus, but it's the fact that one of them is all-too-familiar that grabs her attention.]

Hendrik?

[Well. Not the sort of training she'd ever expected to find him doing, but she'd certainly tried her hand at it when she'd first arrived. She quickly alters her route, heading across the training yard towards where he's seated at a run, though his back is currently to her.]

Hendrik!

a tall order. hoo boy,

Red Springs

Quest: A Tall Order

Red Springs - Sword Training

Quest: A Tall Order

training grounds, after arrival trip