strangetrip | Winter's Crest Snow Day [GP]

The Inn was decorated in, if possible, an even more outlandish style than usual. Garlands of evergreens and bright berries competed with gold angels and cheerful small grinning creatures with pointed ears and shoes. A large fir tree had appeared seemingly from nowhere and was now draped with lights and hung with colored glass balls. At the top perched a figure in white robes with wings.

It was, Percy mused, probably for whatever the local holiday was, but it was also close enough to Winter's Crest decorations for him to feel a bit homesick for Whitestone. After all, it was only a year ago that he'd been able to celebrate Winter's Crest in his home city for the first time in years.

Something was still missing - or rather, many things were missing but one thing that he could solve for. Winter's Crest called for snow, and better snow in abundance. To solve for that last problem, he turned to a gnome of exceptional talent. While he didn't know how Sarenrae's power worked, he did have complete faith in her cleric. And thus, together, they concocted a plan: to turn the weather to a more appropriate clime.

The morning of December 20th dawned as it often did in this place - heavy with clouds that would burn off before noon. The clouds were important. They would make the spell casting easier, and Pike knew that she needed all the help she could get. Weather magic was not her forte. Like all clerics with powers as advanced as hers, she knew the right spell but when you had a druid around, there hadn't been much need for her to use it.

Dressed in a warm coat and a big floppy, knit cap, she sat on the ground with her legs crossed. Holding her holy symbol in both hands, she concentrated on the sky. As the Celestial incantation took root, golden rays of light encircled her and rose into the air. With each heartbeat, she could feel Sarenrae's power drawing warmth from the clouds above and into her body.

It took ten minutes to cast the spell and another twenty minutes for it to take effect. The spell would fade if she didn't maintain concentration all day, but it was a small price to pay.

And that's how, before the sun had completely finished rising, it was snowing on the Madonna Inn.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You're a gnome?" Jag asked with raised eyebrows. He looked horrified - but not by what she was, only by what they had done to her people. "I'm really sorry about those decorations. They're fucking horrendous." He'd already thought so before, but now that he knew gnomes were an actual people? They'd moved right into horrendously offensive.

"I am," Pike confirmed, turning her head to pull back her hair and show off her gracefully pointed ears, "Don't worry about it too much. From what I can tell, they don't even look like real gnomes anyway. They honestly sound more like halflings, and making fun of them is just fine." She gave him a playful wink.

Jag hesitated, but he had to ask. "Don't be cross, but what's the difference between gnomes and halflings?"

"Halflings are basically just small humans. Even have the same rounded ears." She hopped puting it in terms of big folk would help it make sense. "They generally great stock in family, with big clans who live and travel together. They also like food a lot."

"But gnomes? We're closer to the fey creatures than anything else." The true origin of gnomes wasn't known, but this explanation always sounded like the most plausible to her. "We're more self sufficient and rely on our wits. Gnomes like to have more fun, we collect jokes, pull pranks and love to laugh."

Hmm. Jag nodded along to show that he was listening. "So, this is when I ask if you put anything in the cookies."

"Hey!" Pike laughed, not sure what he'd considered outside the realm of belief. "You're the one who asked. It's not my fault you can't comprehend the diversity of us little folk."

Speaking of cookies, she reached out to grab another. "Plus, of the two of us, you're the one with weed." She smirked, "If I remember correctly."

"Close enough, but my species as a whole isn't big on pranks," Jag replied with a smirk.

"Don't worry, I'm generally not creative enough for pranks." In fact, her arrival surprises were the only pranks she'd pulled since coming to the inn. "Are you human?"

"Yeah," Jag nodded. "Mutant, a - someone said. That's how I can do the fire."

"Oh! Like Piotr," Pike sat up a bit straighter, "Do you know him? Is that racist?"

"The shiny bloke, right?" Jag asked, sidestepping that last question, and shaking his head. "Haven't met him."

It was definitely racist, even if he didn't confirm it. She'd punched a fair few people for asking if she knew such and such a gnome.

"You should. He's sort of quiet, but very nice." She nibbled on her lip before deciding to continue. "Mutants were treated really bad on his world. Was it like that for you?"

Jag shook his head. "No one knew about mutants in my world. Well, apart from some mutants. I didn't know that's what I was until - someone came, from another world." He ought to find Em, the Em that was here. He had put it off too long.

"That must have been really hard," Pike murmured, "And now you're here, where everyone is their own special kind of weird."

"At least I don't have to hide, right?" Jag said with a small smile. That was a very thin silver lining to an enormous, very black cloud, but what could he do. "I had people who knew, back home, anyway."

"Exactly!" As they talked, Pike was starting to get a sense of sadness coming from Jag. Maybe she could find a way to cheer him up? Maybe he just needed a friend? "Are any of those people here?"

Edited 2018-01-21 17:58 (UTC)

Yes and no. "Yeah, yeah," Jag nodded. "Well, one of them." It was awful, thinking 'but he wasn't the most important', when Coby had become so much for Jag here. He hoped that Coby knew that, because he had no idea how to put any of it into words. "There's someone else I knew, but she didn't know about my fire. She does now." And he was also very, very fucking thankful for Sunny.

"Oh good! I'm glad you're not one of the people who have no one from their home." She knew what it felt like to have that unkind thought. She'd had it herself when Kash had told her which of her family members were at the Inn. "It's a little odd though if you think about it. All of the possible realities that exist and multiple people from the same place end up here?"

"I can't make sense of anything about this place, honestly," Jag answered, rather than think of the one person here who he wished was from the same world as him. He really ought to go and find her, talk to her again. This couldn't be comfortable, even for her. So after a short silence, he gave Pike a smile. "Anyway, there's someone I should track down. Thanks for the snow, and the biscuits."

"Thanks for the chat," She smiled in return, "And have a joyous Winter's Crest."

Jag gave her a genuine smile as he stood. "You too, Pike."

And then he was off, wondering where he might find Emma. Kitchen was a good bet, but what if she wasn't there?

Winter's Crest Snow Day [GP]

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA

Re: OTA