World Info VI: The Story's Aather

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Setting (End of the World)	Uniforms & Cabins	Available Supplies	Time, Weather & Monsters
❧ The Center Stage	❧ Soapstone & Glass Keys	❧ Questing	❧ Time
❧❧ Other Structures	❧ Hero Favors	❧❧ Food & Items	❧ Weather
❧ Magic Forest		❧❧ Knights	❧ Monsters
❧ Winter Wonderland		❧❧ Group Quests
❧ Western Legends
❧ Eastern Mythology
❧ Tropics
❧ Whimsy
❧ Beach

SETTING

The Story's Aather: The Final Chapter

The Story's Aather is the final realm the heroes will visit and their final, strongest platform for fighting the Darkness. It's based on how Aather itself looks inside the Story's heart that many of the heroes visited, and contains stories, themes, and realms from many different Personae. This world is easily shaped; time and space are sometimes flexible for everyone, and alumni and legacy characters can freely visit and leave from here. Personae can also claim partial ownership of realms that feel familiar to them, and even add new elements, without needing to be "realm Personae"! For example, any Personae from the Black Woods or Beauty's realm will feel at home in the Magic Forest.

Everything looks and feels perfectly real as usual, but very occasionally, in certain particularly fantastical-looking patches of ground, there will be a rustle of paper or a scratch of pen and ink in the air. How does it feel to be living in a story? . . . you all know now, right?

End of the World

The limits of this world are clearer if you walk to the edge. The sky and weather and everything about each realm section are normal, and you can go days without seeing more than that if you aren't determined to explore. But once you reach the edge of the world and look down, you can see that the ground you stand on is resting on a giant, glowing net of a kind that might be familiar to circus performers who do aerial tricks. Twined through and around the net in some places closer to the edge, you can see the softly glowing branches of some hope plants. They’re still growing, and every now and then you’ll catch one shifting and a blossom sprouting between the gaps in the net.

The net stretches out as far as you can see over sheer blackness, malevolent Darkness physically held back from reaching up and enveloping your small home, and the weight of the world indents it softly around where Aather is resting. Right now, if you try to get down to where the Darkness is trying to reach malicious tendrils up through the gaps far below, you're blocked by an invisible wall. Maybe sometime soon. . .

THE CENTER STAGE

The Ring, if it can be called that in this realm, is an open-air theater in the round. A massive tree is growing up through the stone in the center, taking up most of your view. Right at the roots of the tree is a heavy stone stage trapdoor.

Surrounding the stage are tiered seats of gemstones and silver, in Aather team colors. The seats, like the stage, are being overtaken by riotous plantlife: thorny rose vines climb between them here and there, along with patches of moss, glowing flowers, and multicolored morning glories. A few of the seats look like they are in need of serious repair. Tucked behind the ranks of seats are small show tents in various colors, looking for all the world as if they are ready to start selling you carnival goods or refreshments for the play; however, they are much bigger than they appear on the outside. If you enter them you find that each one leads to one of your past realms' buildings, which have come along for the ride.

There's always a feeling of hushed quiet here; expectancy. At any minute, the show might start...

Special Location: Other Structures

For (IC) Gym rules, see {here.}
Details on the library catalogue can be found {here.}

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MAGIC FOREST

This realm is a sprawling forest in late spring, some of it familiar deciduous scrub, other parts of it the towering trees you recall from the Black Woods. Squirrels and birds chatter overhead, little glowing creatures (butterflies? pixies?) dart to and fro, and brilliant flowers of every shape and size and colour imaginable bedeck the landscape before you. Moss is thick on the ground like a green and velvety carpet. Food is easy to find, every kind of foresty food-providing plant from Aather's past freely accessible among the trees . . . drankberries, anyone? There are even a few plants that can be encouraged to grow any outlandish thing you please, with your keys.

Paths here seem to move around freely, but one place you might run across is a wide, pastoral clearing with some broken glass shards littering the center. There are patches of small cluster flowers around it, colored rusty brown, deep blue, and sleek black. They shimmer in the light, always reflecting the sun and the stars above. You can always find that place if you're looking for it.

If you travel far enough into the forest, you can also find a deep cavern winding its way into a hill. Inside is a network of tunnels, none of them leading quite so far that you get lost -- at least not for now. At the end of that network is a wide underground lake. Crystals in the walls blaze as bright as fire to illuminate the space. A river from some source elsewhere creates a broad waterfall from the wall near the ceiling on one side if you care to climb up there, a place to jump into the lake for thrill-seekers. The reflection that the lake shows is of a wide and fantastical castle, something that the best Disney films wouldn't scoff at -- the image ripples with the movement of the water pouring into it, never quite still. If you look up at the broad cavern ceiling, though, you can't see a castle anywhere.

The water itself is cool and tingling, deeply refreshing if you drink from it.

❧ Coral and Carnelian have chosen to live in the Magic Forest. (cabin link)

Special Location: Carousel

In another area of the forest that you can always find if you're looking for it, a beautiful old abandoned carousel rests. A lever in a little booth looks like a potential way to get it to operate again…

When you draw the lever back, instead of starting the carousel, the lever slides a piece of the carousel's floor aside like a trapdoor. Inside is some kind of portal or rip in this place's reality, its edges delineated by strange tears in the fabric of the world. You can't reach through it right now -- your fingers meet a resistance like invisible glass.

Through the Rip, you can make out a destroyed cityscape: skyscrapers rise like clutching fingers from between the even streets, but some have fallen and others are gutted by long-extinguished flames. The streets of the vast city are clogged with wreckage, the remains of barricades and war machines that, for all their might, could not stop what came, and seem at the last to have turned their deadly weapons on each other. You know without a doubt as you stare at it that this is another world entirely that's been ravaged by the Darkness -- that isn't Aather down there.


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WINTER WONDERLAND

The season in this piece of the realm is, obviously, winter. At its fringes it’s a soft winter with only the occasional light flurry. You’ll find a small, snow-covered town in microcosm there, perfect as a picture postcard. The houses and lodges are mostly made of wood, the chimneys cheerfully puff out smoke, and a warm glow is visible through the open windows and the cracks of doors. Even though you can’t see anyone there is a feeling of the village being full, a buzz of excitement and community. If you enter a house, you’ll find a welcoming interior with a lit fireplace, cozy quilted beds and cushioned chairs. There is always a turquoise mug of hot chocolate waiting for you on the table, and hanging on a rack by the walls is a bright pink coat, if for some reason you have lost yours or come to this realm without one.

Further in, beyond the town, are the deeps of winter. The ground is rocky and uneven, and the snow is thick and constant and very, very cold, though it’s not storming as it was in the Story’s heart. There’s a faint, stamped-down track to guide you, often blown over but never quite vanishing. It forks, leading you either towards a distant, rocky cliff, or towards the faint, incongruous shape of a bright blue ferris wheel.

Follow the track to the cliff and you’ll find a gorgeous ice cave with a frozen river inside. It’s windless and deeply calm there. The charred remains of a wooden boat lie on the river’s surface. Sometimes you’ll find a cache tucked into the burned boat frame, safe inside of a sterling box: frozen fresh meat, crops that keep well in the cold, and the occasional packet of flower or vegetable seed.

❧ There is a Sterling|Onyx joint outpost in Winter Wonderland. (cabin link)

Special Location: Ferris Wheel

The other fork of the track leads to a bright blue ferris wheel, the seats covered by snow. A lever in a little ticket booth looks like a potential way to get it to operate again…

When you draw the lever back, instead of starting the ferris wheel, the lever slides a piece of the ticket booth's floor aside like a trapdoor. Inside is some kind of portal or rip in this place's reality, its edges delineated by strange tears in the fabric of the world. You can't reach through it right now -- your fingers meet a resistance like invisible glass.

Through the Rip, you can make out a stretch of thick jungle swallowing the land and reaching out to strangle the great seas. But the jungle is silent, as if afraid, a suffocating silence that threatens to swallow you even from afar if you look for too long. You know without a doubt as you stare at it that this is another world that's been ravaged by the Darkness -- that isn't Aather down there.

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WESTERN LEGENDS

This realm seems to be comprised of several castle towns in microcosm, each with their own snug fortress-wall, and each gate next to a clearly marked signpost pointing out the paths to the other fort towns. In each town, cobbled roads cut through a central square and wind through each little terrace, finally leading to each location's own castle/fort. It’s late autumn here, the weather cool and rainy, trees shedding the last of their bright leaves.

Open-air markets in each town lay invitingly untended, and can provide you with a few basic less-perishable medieval staples like grains. You can gather supplementary food from the patches of bushes and foliage between towns as well, or hunt partridge, pheasant and wild boar. The paths are lined with spotted plants of bright orange and silver that chime like bells when the wind blows, and small wood-and-stone houses with their windows shuttered and doors shut tight. It's difficult but possible to break in, and you'll find small, simple homes with no one inside, but you'll get a sense that you're being rude for barging into someone's house while they've briefly stepped out. You don’t see anyone around, but there’s a busy, bustling hum in the air. The place feels populated.

The small castles or forts attached to each town have a few different designs. Several are empty, with an unfinished, waiting feel about them. One of the castles reminds you of Camelot's castle, and has a well-stocked wine cellar, free to raid.

Another, in the furthest town from Center Stage, is a tall and gloomy corner building with a motif of a ring of keys carved upon the door. Inside is an opulent, decorated room shaped like a half-circle; large windows that show a view of a stormy sea line the straight section, and numerous locked doors line the curve. A grand piano can be found here, facing the wall rather than the windows, so that players will be playing to the doors. None of the doors will open, and the piano won't play with the pressure of your fingers, but speaking truth or falsehood may cause it to sound. The atmosphere is foreboding here, a sense of tension: something will happen soon. (Please contact Cecily to play further with this!)

❧ Citrine has chosen to live in Western Legends. (cabin link)

Special Location: Pageant Wagon

As you're wandering through the towns, at any one of them, an abandoned pageant wagon may turn up.

If you draw its curtain back, instead of finding a person, you find that the floor of the pageant wagon appears to be some kind of portal or rip in this place's reality, its edges delineated by strange tears in the fabric of the world. You can't reach through it right now -- your fingers meet a resistance like invisible glass.

Through the Rip, you can make out the ruins of a armored, mobile, futuristic city that seemed to have walked on many legs. Half of them are sundered now and the city now lists to one side, its cannon silent and its walls shattered, the gutted ribs of airships surrounding it like remoras around a shark. You know without a doubt as you stare at it that this is another world that's been ravaged by the Darkness -- that isn't Aather down there.


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EASTERN MYTHOLOGY

It’s early spring in this realm. The sun is bright and high but pale, and the air smells of fruit, flowers and newly-warmed earth. It’s a sprawling stretch of terraced, hilly countryside, dotted by groves of budding trees (apple, mango, guava, cherry, plum, coconut). A network of small streams and still ponds wind around wrought and richly-decorated buildings, and through stately walled courtyard gardens. It’s a tranquil, nostalgic place, a bit more understated than other realms but with its own deep buzz of life.

You can, with creative application of key powers, induce the trees to bloom and fruit for you every once in a while. There are also several animals here: fish both decorative and delicious; stately cranes; swift rabbits, and the occasional cat-sized, ornery water buffalo. Age-worn and mossy carvings of the same creatures (along with lizards, lion-dogs, serpentine dragons, and smaller birds) line paths and bridges, and stretches of golden rope provide borders between water and land. Three landmarks are notable here:

One courtyard garden holds a small wooden house with delicately carved shutters, sitting in the middle of a man-made lake. A bridge lets you cross the lake. A number of small trees and flowers along the side of of the lake are, notably, medicinal herbs; supplies for preparing them can be found inside the house. (Please contact Madame White if you want to play more with this!)

There’s also an area of quiet old forest, only visible at sunset or late at night. Wander in and you’ll find the statues here crumbled, stumble upon fallen torii gates, and eventually find a rotting shrine. Inside are candles everywhere, illuminating the walls: masks of all different kinds hang there (are they looking at you? no, that can't be right). There’s a heady smell of incense over decay, and the whisper and laughter of children's voices. If you brave all of that, there’s a cabinet at the back of the shrine that contains simple craft materials (thread, paper, etc.) for you to use. (Please contact Masked Lady if you want to play more with this!)

Lastly, the tallest structure in this realm is a beautiful white gazebo, with a small room at the top. A pair of statues stands near it as if watching over it: a dog with a silver collar, and a sparrow with a light pink sash around its neck. The statues look friendly and ready to assist -- though, of course, they're just statues.

❧ Emerald, Turquoise, Iolite, and Onyx have chosen to live in Eastern Mythology. (cabin link)

Special Location: Gazebo

At the top of the gazebo, there's a deep sense of mingled peace and loss. It’s a good place to meditate, or to contemplate the landscape of the realm below. There are no furnishings, but for a plain dartboard (no darts) lying on the ground, and a small, beautifully carved low table. The table shifts a little if you touch it, and there’s a faint glow coming from underneath.

If you choose to slide the table aside, it reveals some kind of portal or rip in this place's reality, its edges delineated by strange tears in the fabric of the world. You can't reach through it right now -- your fingers meet a resistance like invisible glass.

Through the Rip, you can make out a land of looming fortresses which cast their shadows over towers and barren quadrangles, the ruins of towns huddled around their walls. The land beyond them is shattered, strangely warped or melted or broken, but whatever desperation led the people to such ends availed them not, for only bare bones move in the shadows. You know without a doubt as you stare at it that this is another world that's been ravaged by the Darkness -- that isn't Aather down there.

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TROPICS

This realm doesn’t seem to correspond to any previously visited ones; it’s filled with rainforest, widely patchworked and broken up by strange stone formations. As soon as you step into its borders, you’ll be enfolded by humid, early-summer tropical heat and soft sunshowers -- the weather is a bit stifling, but not unbearable.

Large, vine-and-moss-draped trees tower above you, their branches forming a magnificent green canopy. Colorful flowers bloom all around, each larger than a hand. You can hear the faint pitter-patter of collected raindrops as they hit the great leaves high above, and hear the sounds of forest life everywhere. Birds caw, frogs croak, and insects buzz everywhere. Many are edible, but there's a sense you should avoid the more brightly-coloured ones. Well-worn animal trails will lead you in loops through the rainforest, or to wide airy clearings where the flora and fauna encroach less (a good place to settle, if you want to live here?), or up to the active volcano that takes up a fair chunk of the area.

It's a long, increasingly hot hike up the volcano, and the pathway is steep. At the peak is a bowl of smooth rock, pocketed with smoking pitholes; underneath them is the bright red glow of molten lava. Not exactly hospitable, but it may be a good place to visit for thrill-seekers or people who thrive in extreme heat.

❧ Jasper, Tiger's Eye, Peridot, and Sterling have chosen to live in the Tropics. (cabin link)

Special Location: Hot Air Balloon

On one side of the volcano, away enough from the peak, a rainbow-coloured hot air balloon is tethered, its flame is already lit and the basket hovering a few inches off the ground. You can't quite remove the ropes, but there's a crank you could use to give it more slack, sending you up on a ride to see Aather from a higher point of view. The crank will unwind itself after a while and bring you back to the ground again.

When you wind the crank, it gives the rope slack, but also pushes aside a section of the ground the balloon is anchored to. Inside is some kind of portal or rip in this place's reality, its edges delineated by strange tears in the fabric of the world. You can't reach through it right now -- your fingers meet a resistance like invisible glass.

Through the Rip, you can make out a strange, twisted, vegetation-free landscape: towers like stalagmites rise as if shaped by nature from the very earth, but many are broken off, torn from their roots like rotting teeth. Something seethes in their shadow, flickers of unnatural motion, yet nothing could live in that barren place. You know without a doubt as you stare at it that this is another world that's been ravaged by the Darkness -- that isn't Aather down there.


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WHIMSY

It’s early autumn here, the weather warm and muggy. When you enter, you’ll find that above, below, and around you -- all around you, always around you -- is a vast checkerboard pattern with so many staircases, balconies, windows, and doorways at different heights and odd angles that it is almost impossible to tell what is up or down, inside or outside, backward or forward. This whirl of architecture blends with oversized daisies, huge multicolored edible mushrooms, and large, moving teacups and teakettles (in which you can find sandwiches, pastries and fruit, or tea, or milkshakes, or sometimes odder food/drink.) Keep your wits about you as you travel through this realm!

There are constants, of course, islands of normalcy in the sea of change -- patches of grass and trees with their leaves turning colour, strangely normal. These patches are ringed with fairy circles of mushrooms to keep the checkerboard at bay . . . though, as always, entering them carries a certain risk of temporary transformation. You’ll find flocks of scudding, mobile little cloud-creatures around these islands, too, very friendly. They seem to want you to imagine them into other useful forms, and may be a good medium to exercise your key powers and creativity on. Play around, see what you can do!

There is also an area of central stability in the form of what could be a swamp. The heavy black mist that hangs over it often sparks and bursts into flames, which just as quickly burn out and fall as ash into the sludge that makes up the swamp. The murky waters run with oily black, bright red, tarnished silver, plum purple, sea green--the colors change before your eyes, and the swamp itself seems to waver in and out of reality. While stable in its location, it doesn’t seem to know how to be.

❧ There is a Sterling|Onyx joint outpost in Whimsy. (cabin link)

Special Location: Mirror Maze

If you find yourself led astray enough, you'll come across an extremely disconcerting abandoned funhouse. Step inside and it's nothing but mirrors, both normal and distorted, everywhere you look in the dim light. No, you can't break them. It'd be easy to get lost here for a long time.

. . . a steady, clear light seems to be shining from somewhere in the building, though. If you follow that far enough, you reach a room where the floor is as strange as the walls. It's some kind of portal or rip in this place's reality, its edges delineated by strange tears in the fabric of the world. You can't reach through it right now -- your fingers meet a resistance like invisible glass.

Through the Rip, you can make out a calm, flat sea, and a glassine city floating on its surface, as still and silent as the waters around it. Perfectly preserved, or so it seems, but a few of its inhabitants can still be seen, statue-still, their faces twisted in terror... You know without a doubt as you stare at it that this is another world that's been ravaged by the Darkness -- that isn't Aather down there.


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BEACH

It’s late summer here, with gorgeous sunshine; perfect beach weather. Which is appropriate enough, as this realm is half golden beach by azure ocean, and half coastal desert. Separating the two halves is a broad strip of land overgrown with huge sunflowers, immediately reminiscent of Three’s realm. A lone, fruit-laden olive tree in the middle of the strip shades some scattered stone ruins and an empty, perfectly usable hand loom.

The ocean water is warm and salt, clear as glass, and -- if you are brave -- breathable. The shallows are brief; it slopes into deep water quite quickly. You can explore a gorgeous, populated underwater reef here, or discover some fabulous hidden grottoes, with wide stretches of dry rock and sand to rest (or camp, or build…!) on.

The coastal desert consists of miles of rolling dunes and hot wind and ruins; it’s best to take water if you roam out here. Lizards and snakes and small scorpions (all tough but edible fare) skitter before you as you walk. You’ll find the very tips of pyramids and temples buried deep in the sand out here, as well as shaded cliffs and explorable caves. Some caves contain echoes of a young woman’s voice: you can sit and listen to her recount one of many tales, or add your own echoes to hers. Others lead down deep to underground pools of both salt and fresh water. The salt ones lead back to the open ocean, from which you can easily reach the beach again.

❧ Ruby, Heliodor, Sapphire, Amethyst, and Kunzite have chosen to live on the Beach. (cabin link)

Special Location: Waterslide

On one side of the beach, someone has built a broad pier out into deep water. There are a few boats tied up to it, but at the far side is a massive wooden waterslide, sanded as smooth as glass and spiralling down around the staircase you have to climb to get to the top. When you shoot out of the bottom, you're going fast.

Under the slide staircase is a little maintenance door, containing a closet with swimsuits and inner tubes, but also a door that sticks shut when you pull on it. You can open the second door with some effort. On the wall inside is some kind of portal or rip in this place's reality, its edges delineated by strange tears in the fabric of the world. You can't reach through it right now -- your fingers meet a resistance like invisible glass.

Through the Rip, you can make out a world sculpted like a garden, terraced and shaped around small buildings, none large enough to be called a city. Yet that garden is now barren, the earth cracked and the stone dulled, and glimpses of those parts that are not barren and how they’ve been twisted are far, far worse. You know without a doubt as you stare at it that this is another world that's been ravaged by the Darkness -- that isn't Aather down there.


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UNIFORMS AND CABINS

UNIFORMS

Each team was able to choose their own uniforms - and even their own individual clothes - in the realm's first game. The results are here... while the outfits are very different depending on which team and individual you're talking to, it's always possible to tell which team each person belongs to.

CABINS

Each team was able to choose where their new home would be located, as well as design the style of their dwelling, in the realm's first game. While team members still can't have separate rooms, a large degree of customization was possible this time. The results are below!

The Magic Forest

❧ Links: Coral | Carnelian

Those who decided to live in the forest chose treehouses for their homes, with small but significant changes from the treehouses of the last realm.

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Winter Wonderland

❧ Links: Outpost

Outposts, as described at the bottom of Sterling's comment, are accessible to knights from either Onyx or Sterling equally. Their purpose is to make sure that there is always a presence in mini-realms that don't have anyone living in them, to guard against the Darkness there. Volunteers from Sterling or Onyx can freely spend a night or two there on an ad hoc basis, or even move in permanently if they prefer. Notably, Outposts work the same way as team cabins: visiting heroes need to get a Sterling or Onyx knight to open the door for them, but they don't need a glass or soapstone key to enter.

The Winter Wonderland outpost is a snug lodge with sturdy construction, set within viewing distance of the Ferris Wheel. It's high up enough to keep an eye on the warm lights of the village at night.

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Western Legends

❧ Links: Citrine

Citrine stands as the lone guard of Western Legends, with a playful and comfortale castle to themselves! They may find the marketplaces of their resident fortress town seem to provide food and goods improbably designed to appeal to them on occasion, such as ice cream.

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Eastern Mythology

❧ Links: Emerald | Turquoise | Iolite | Onyx

All of those living in the East have chosen delicate or gaudy pavilions and traditional houses, except for Onyx's tower - and even that has taken on a little bit of distinctly Chinese style, inspired by the landscape around it. The library-tree is physically here, but also easily accessible via Center Stage. (structures link)

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Tropics

❧ Links: Jasper | Tiger's Eye | Peridot | Sterling

The Tropics is a new realm, unlike anything Aather has seen before, and the teams who chose to live there used the air-circulation promoting design of a tropical villa to keep their homes cool. In Sterling's case, with the silver-topped villa resting in the lip of an active volcano, they need a few extra things to keep their luxurious supervillain-like home base livable. Sterling's gym is physically connected to Sterling, built into the side of the mountain, but also easily accessible via Center Stage. (structures link)

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Whimsy

❧ Links: Outpost

Outposts, as described at the bottom of Sterling's comment, are accessible to knights from either Onyx or Sterling equally. Their purpose is to make sure that there is always a presence in mini-realms that don't have anyone living in them, to guard against the Darkness there. Volunteers from Sterling or Onyx can freely spend a night or two there on an ad hoc basis, or even move in permanently if they prefer. Notably, Outposts work the same way as team cabins: visiting heroes need to get a Sterling or Onyx knight to open the door for them, but they don't need a glass or soapstone key to enter.

The Whimsy outpost is a fanciful construction literally on top of a cloud, accessible via mushroom staircase or cloud elevator. Those inside can keep an eye on the Mirror Maze and see the patterns of the checkerboard from far up.

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Beach

❧ Links: Ruby | Heliodor | Sapphire | Amethyst | Kunzite

Those living on the beach decided on a great variety of airy, vacation-ready beach houses: near to and far away from the water, tree-like or rockily close to a cliff face. A signpost in front of Kunzite's house points down the little tracks across the sand, directing everyone towards all the other beach cabins.

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KEYS

Team keys

Your Team Key is palm-sized and appears to have been carved or crafted from the stone your team takes its name from. The cord they hang on around your neck appears this time to be a simple, unbreakable chain.

Sterling and Onyx's keys are metal - Sterling, obviously silver, and Onyx's blackened and tarnished.

Keys are the manifestation of the magic that binds you to your team (or your patron, if you're a knight) and keep you safe from the Darkness. Functionally, the key lets you into your cabin, and also acts, at times, as an indicator or warning system to protect you from Darkness and keep you connected to your team. The keys are unbreakable, but you can lose them—it's just very strongly not recommended . . .

Removing your key for an extended period of time (longer than, say, bathing, sleeping, changing clothes, etc), will result in you starting to feel significantly unwell. The Darkness will sense that you're vulnerable and try to move in, sending nightmares, hallucinations, and severe discomfort. OOCly if this happens for an extended period (several days or more), please contact a mod!

You cannot use someone else's key to access their cabin (either heroes or knights).

Glass keys and Soapstone keys

these are given to heroes from knights. The soapstone keys are temporary, and can be requested from Maleficent or Beauty for a low price, but they are one-use only. The glass keys allow heroes to access Sterling or Onyx at any time so long as the knight that gave them the key is currently in the building as well.

Heroes' Favors

are essentially a reverse idea of the glass keys, which let knights access hero cabins a little more freely. It also encourages a closer connection between teams & knights and gives a small, team-oriented boost as a benefit. For more info, see here. Knights with favors from heroes can also complete quests for Personae for mmeories with them. For more info, see here.
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AVAILABLE SUPPLIES

The Story's Aather is a plentifully stocked realm, where at one mini-realm or another you can find most supplies that you might be looking for. There are even places where you can imagine what food you want next! There's very little food scarcity here; heroes will have bigger things to worry about.

Please review the realm descriptions to locate the best place for your character to gather the supplies they need!

QUESTING

Quests are obtained either from Knights or, for big-ticket/unique items, from Personae. For a general overview of quest parameters, see {here}. The guidelines for knights and heroes questing for memories are here and here respectively!

Food

The difficulty level of questing is no longer +1 (from Camelot) - Food quests, likewise, now have no reason to not be perfectly successful.

Items

Item quests now have a percentage chance of returning only the pieces necessary for anything that you (or somebody else) could make by hand, rather than having it already assembled. For example: a quest for a bookshelf would get you nails, a hammer, and some planks of wood. A quest for a jacket would get you fabric, needle, and thread. Barter and learn skills to get things done!

This is, again, rare -- and from an ooc standpoint, completely optional. If you think it would be more fun to play out building your item rather than getting it ready made, then you hit that percentage chance -- but maybe you just have really great luck!

Knights

Knights are once again still required to quest for their items. It is possible for knights to get items for themselves in various ways: (a) get someone to quest for it from them, then make a trade/deal/have them give it to you because you're cute; (b) quest from a Persona; or (c) quest from another knight! Knight quests for memories can be requested through their patron Personae.

Of course, all of this is intended to make play more fun and engaging, with more for characters to do with their own two hands. If you, the player, think this is zero fun and you want absolutely none of it, you are absolutely able to leave this out of your daily play and make concessions where necessary! Handwave handwave handwave!

Group Quests

Group quests are available for very large items, mass heals, and other things. To see a list of what's currently ongoing, if you'd like to participate, see this document. Group quests can also take place for memories if the quest is shared between a knight and the teams that have given them favors: see here for details.

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TIME OF DAY, WEATHER & MONSTERS

TIME

Time passes very strangely in the Story's realm. Heroes might find themselves in two places at once, or able to recall far more than there should be in one day... things have all gotten sort of-- handwavey.

The day can still be broken up as follows:

Sunrise/Early Morning
Morning
Midday
Afternoon
Sunset/Evening
Night

WEATHER

Every minirealm has its own weather, bizarrely. Each of them is also at a different time of the year:

Central Stage is in no particular season.
Magic Forest's season is late spring.
Winter Wonderland's season is winter.
Western Legends' season is late autumn.
Eastern Mythology's season is early spring.
Tropics' season is early summer.
Whimsy's season is early autumn.
Beach's season is late summer.

Check on your minirealm's setting notes to see what the weather should generally be, but feel free to do anything reasonable with it in any location, given the season that location is occupying.

MONSTERS

You can see your enemy very clearly in this realm if you care to look over the edge of the Story for it. There are no surprising monsters yet, but you may want to keep an eye on the End of the World...
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