Don't have an account yet? 
Forum Thread
`:. Travelling Morals :`
Forum-Index → Roleplay → Private RP → `:. Travelling Morals :`
Posted: Tue, 05/04/2022 17:23 (2 Years ago)
` 𝓣𝓻𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓜𝓸𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓼 `
My children, you are familiar with stories, are you not?
A story begins in a land, far off from our own. Vast fields rippling with yellows and greens and stacked with intricate castles and kingdoms of what would be a human child's fancy. A land where, unlike ours, good and evil are drawn in clear, precise lines. The side that wins is the one who is good, and the side that loses is the one at who human children must scowl. Winners and losers are the only thing that matters in a story.
Very good! But today is not about a tale intended to whisper morals into a child's ear, good children. Today, we are to discuss those who create those stories.
Do not misinterpret my words, my good students. I do not mean mortal men like Hans Andersen, or the Grimm Brothers, nor do I mean any great disrespect to their marvels. No, I mean their true writers. Beyond the fae and beyond the line of human memory.
Whisked away as children, plucked from your mother's breasts, and dropped into our arms; you have become the lens into the gods who have structured our world's perspective of good and evil. You are to perfect today's stories. Make good and evil exactly as our creators intended. Your purpose is nobler than any one you may have enjoyed as a human. You have become the essence of truth and righteousness.
Now that you two have reached sixteen human years of age, it is time for you to begin your mentorship. Traditionally, a group is formed between three- a mentor, and two apprentices. For the next year you shall be cast into the realm of truth. You must fix the stories told today from the inside out, ensuring that they maintain the proper standards of the gods. Upon the end of the year, the strongest apprentice will graduate and absorb the role of truthkeeper, mentoring your own two children twenty years from now.
A question.
What, you ask, Isla, will happen to the weaker of the two?
You are not to notice humans. Only the stories you cradle in your arms, shielding from the twisted moralities of today. What you are doing is far more important than the fate of a failure. If you must know, then you may question your mentor. But I doubt she will tell you more than me.
Please step into the portal. Helena awaits you on the other side.
I expect great things from you both.
Please do our Gods' proud.
Posted: Tue, 05/04/2022 17:52 (2 Years ago)
"......" Her eyes darted again up to the portal and then again over to Isla to see if she planned on going in first. She didn't look like she was about to move first. Sighing as she steps timidly forward. She tapped and bapped the portal with her staff a few times. Finally taking a step-through as the feeling of a chill like goop started to consume her being as it sent chills down her spine. Definitely didn't like this. She held her breath and closed her eyes as her face finally went through last before entering into a new area to find another person standing before her as she peeked out one eye.
Posted: Tue, 05/04/2022 18:05 (2 Years ago)
As she saw Isla, a smile pulled up her thin lips. But then her eyes settled on Leona and it dropped into an evidently-common scowl. "Come," she said gruffly. "We have much to discuss." She jerked her head to the side.
"Sounds great, Miss Timekeeper!" Isla clapped her hands together. "I can't wait to be your apprentice-"
"Address your Sister as well." 'Miss Timekeeper' glanced sharply at Leona. "None of that 'no companionship', nonsense. If you are going to be my successor, you must be willing to make alliances. No addressing your superiors alone- address people as friends."
She turned on her heel and strode away.
Isla was scowling. "How dare she?" she muttered. "Filthy cow. Doesn't care at all for The Wall of Rules. Does she even know who she's talking to? How many we've had to fight to reach this point?" Her head jerked up, revealing her eyes, blazing with resentment. "I'm not staying for this." She whipped around and took one step. Then she went rigid all over.
"Oh, goodness," she breathed. "What is this place?"
All around them, paradise sprouted. Magical plants that humans could only dream of surged through the air, piercing into fluffy clouds overhead. The sun shone above them, and through nothing but sheer feeling, both of them could never believe the blazing orb might set. Trees in every shade from pink to purple to blue existed in a vibrant, flowery forest.
Briar Rose's castle was wrapped in flowers.
"Hurry up!" the Timekeeper called.
Posted: Tue, 05/04/2022 18:17 (2 Years ago)
Posted: Tue, 05/04/2022 18:30 (2 Years ago)
Twenty years...
She stopped in her tracks. The Timekeeper glanced back and snorted, fitting a key into what looked like air. A ripple- and then a door opened. "Come in." She gestured them forth, then vanished inside. That- That little-
"Timekeeper!" she called.
"Mm-?"
She slipped through the door. It was like a mystery novel. An endless staircase down, glowing with an orange light. She spotted lanterns hiding in the crevices of the walls. Did this place function like earth-?
"What's going to happen to the loser of us both?"
There was no reply. Thought so. She glanced at Leona. And we gotta play House now, too? Pretend to be friends when we both know that only one of us can live?
"I hope it's not something bad. I wish we could work together, but there's only one Timekeeper, rig- OOMPH!" She'd smacked into the back of the newly dubbed "Fossil". "A-Ah- have we reached the end-?"
Fossil stepped to the side and Isla saw their new place. She turned back to Leona. "Well."
Posted: Tue, 05/04/2022 18:42 (2 Years ago)
As the other two went through the door, she followed behind. Was tempted to smoosh against them too but stopped herself since she didn't like anyone feeling her body frame. Wouldn't do if they knew what she hid within her robes.
Posted: Tue, 05/04/2022 18:48 (2 Years ago)
Before she could say anything, the door at the top of the staircase shut with a loud bang. Isla jumped. The Timekeeper stooped beside a table and lit a lamp. She beckoned them towards her.
Isla didn't like that either. Does she really think she can control us like that?
This fool clearly hadn't been in the company of intelligent life recently. She supposed being stuck with human's self-absorbed interpretations of themselves might drain the brains from even the wisest child.
"You must have questions. For now, we will eat. After, I will answer."
Her eyebrows shot up. "Oh? You're going to give us answers?" Maybe she'd misjudged her. She cast a self-conscious glance at Leona.
Posted: Tue, 05/04/2022 18:57 (2 Years ago)
Posted: Tue, 05/04/2022 19:07 (2 Years ago)
Their lapse in manners didn't seem to bother the Timekeeper. She merely sipped from her own stew. Then, she reached for the bread and touched it. With only that, it softened, growing younger and younger, and suddenly, a steaming loaf sat on the table. The Timekeeper took a slice with a careful hand.
Isla was gaping. She quickly shut her mouth. What kind of magic is that? I thought Timekeeper was just a title! Like, understanding the past and whatnot. It doesn't fit into the five elements at all-
Her thoughts were disrupted. "You two have much to learn." The Timekeeper placed the loaf back down. "Take a slice, but do not be gluttonous. This is the only day on which I will allow you to prosper from my magic."
Posted: Tue, 05/04/2022 19:20 (2 Years ago)
"Would you be so kind?" She murmured in a soft barely audible tone as her eyes held onto the timekeeper's hand watching intently. "I'm afraid my prayer made it colder than intended...."
Hoping that she could get more of the timekeeper's "kindness" after her last statement. She'll catch the method and study it later.
Posted: Tue, 05/04/2022 19:31 (2 Years ago)
Isla snorted her stew and broke into coughing fits.
"Ah- apologies..." The stew was all over the Timekeeper's lap. "I... didn't mean to do the bowl." She actually looked remorseful. "I will get you another one..." She started to stand up.
Posted: Tue, 05/04/2022 19:37 (2 Years ago)
"What work will we be performing tomorrow? How early will we be getting up? Will we have chores to take over while staying here with you? May I do the cooking? What are the products you have here? Do you keep food products beyond their expiration date because you can alter its time? Doesn't changing the time for things alter reality a bit too much? What laws does this affect? What are our restraints?" Leona released a torrent of questions back to back since there we be more time between her and her own meal, as well as the timekeeper's presence needing changing due to the "accident".
Posted: Wed, 06/04/2022 17:36 (2 Years ago)
She ladled in a bowl of stew and added a slice of her now-loaf. When she turned around, her face was smiling.
Isla didn't trust it. Not one bit.
She glanced at Leona. "Good questions."
"Good, yes, but I specifically said to reserve questions for after we ate." The Timekeeper patted down her hair, and sighed as a strand unfurled itself from her ear. "Please, try and keep some manners for now. I don't know what they have been teaching you back at that hellhole, but when I was there, children listened to their superiors."
She placed the bowl down.
Hellhole? Isla's impressions shifted gears. That was.. strange. Was it a test of some sorts? What was this supposed genius thinking? She seemed clumsy and obstinate. She glanced at her fellow apprentice. Leona had a glitter in her eye. Isla recognized it, all too well. What had she noticed? What facts was she sifting through that logical sieve of her brain?
The Timekeeper sat down and returned to her stew. She made no move to fix Leona's bread.
Posted: Wed, 06/04/2022 22:10 (2 Years ago)
Reaching inside her robe towards the back, she unclicked the book she used as her journal from the clips that held it against her back. She scribbled her thoughts and process on the time change on the atoms in a backward discombobulated language similar to her idol, Leonardo Da Vinci. She exhaled deeply once she finished and started to spoon into her stew, pulling at the softened bread to fall apart. She smiled up at the Timekeeper and returned to eating in silence.
Posted: Thu, 07/04/2022 18:13 (2 Years ago)
Isla's shoulders hunched and she muttered something inaudible under her breath. She was glaring at Leona out of the corner of her eye. She seized a chunk of her stale bread and stuffed it in her mouth, ripping off a chunk with a violent sound.
The Timekeeper grimaced and returned to her own food. Once the food was finished, she stood up, holding out her hands for their bowls. Isla shoved hers with more force than was probably necessary. The Timekeeper silently took them and headed for the sink, washing them up.
"Are you going to answer our questions, then?"
The Timekeeper glanced back. "Rest as ease, I certainly will. However, at the moment, I'd prefer to ask some questions of my own." She finished and dried her hands with a ragged tea towel. Then, she returned to the table.
"You're quite talented." Isla visibly bristled at the praise. "I wonder how you managed to do that. Do you tend to have an affinity for magic, perhaps?" Timekeeper examined Leona briefly. "No. You're the scientific type. You figured out how to do it through observation." She smiled. "Is there anything I should know about your learning preferences? We will be together for some time, and I'd like to know how your thought processes went."
Posted: Thu, 07/04/2022 18:21 (2 Years ago)
"...... It usually takes time for me to answer..." Hoping that she would be reasonable and okay with waiting for how she'd answer the question. "Stuff... it just forms like little dots. Everything works like gears..." She actually was struggling with how to answer. Leona wasn't sure if her answers would come across. She may think faster and quicker than most but also the longest. And if she gets verbal.... She truly started to struggle. "I see... I do?"
Posted: Thu, 07/04/2022 18:24 (2 Years ago)
"How old are you?" Isla's hands clasped together in front of her. The green depths of her eyes glittered, every layer shining with sheets of light and darkness.
"Thirty six, as is traditional."
Isla faltered at that, casting an alarmed glance at Leona.
"Any more?"
Posted: Thu, 07/04/2022 18:36 (2 Years ago)
Posted: Thu, 07/04/2022 18:44 (2 Years ago)
She shuddered. The creeping sensation of ice was making its way down her spine. Is this to be us, soon? It's so... pitiful. She gnawed on the inside of her cheek. Surely she wouldn't be brought to the state of this pathetic creature. If Leona were to stay though, Isla was certain that would happen.
Mostly certain.
"When will our first task be?"
"You have each had your question." The Timekeeper gazed at her with those horrible grey eyes. There was only emptiness behind them. Isla hated them, even more than she hated her new teacher's sallow face.
"You didn't specify how many we had."
"I am now." She turned to Leona. "What are your names?"
Posted: Thu, 07/04/2022 19:40 (2 Years ago)
"Leona.. Le for short." She didn't bother saying anymore since she wasn't given a last name as those around her didn't think she'd last long enough for one. She looked around again. Tired from spending her mana earlier sorta wore on her a bit.
"Bed?"