Waystation Mingle Log!

[twocomplex]

Who: GAME-WIDE MINGLE aka everyone
Broadcast: If you want
Action: The Stations!
When: From 04/05 through the month of April.

[Well, that all sure happened. But at least you have the waystations! Whether you want to stock up on supplies, work, trade, or visit the very fancy Virtual Reality Dome, it's bound to be a nice break from the attacks of the 5th.

Make your own prompts, set up your own Virtual Realities, etc! For reference, the OOC post with info is over here!]

Comments

VDR OTA

[faithfulwisdom]

[It takes him a long time to figure out how to work the Virtual Reality Dome and even longer to get everything just right. For a long time, he can be seen standing at the controls making adjustments, changing the layouts of the city streets, altering the color of the light that streams in from The Two Trees.

Eventually, something very much akin to this emerges and Finrod leaves the controls to wander the city. No matter how far he walks, however, he always ends up back in the same place- a quiet courtyard in front of what is quite clearly the royal palace. He doesn't try to enter, doesn't make a move to approach. Just... looks at it.]

[howcanihelp]

[ Steffa was going to pass by and do her own thing in one of the private rooms, but...

Well, this city is beautiful, she just can't help herself. She's got to wander the streets, exploring and taking in the beauty of it. Which is how she accidentally ends up in the courtyard in front of the palace, where Finrod is. ]

Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you, I was just... exploring.

[faithfulwisdom]

You have not bothered me yet, Stephanie. Somehow, I find it difficult to imagine that you will. [Perhaps part of him wanted to share this. It was a side of him which he had not often expressed while here.] Tell me, what do you think of my home?

[howcanihelp]

Well, that's good, at least.

[ She smiles, then looks around a bit, taking it in still. ]

It's very grand, and very beautiful. We don't have anything like this in Ferelden. Perhaps in Orlais or Tevinter, but I've never been either place.

[faithfulwisdom]

Oh, it seems more grand than it is, I assure you. You need only a few young boys to run by, screaming and covered in mud, and you will feel right at home.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly can't help but notice this program. It's absolutely stunning. Wondering who is responsible for its creation, she starts wandering the streets, staring up at the buildings in wonder. Eventually she makes her way to the palace and sees Finrod standing just outside the courtyard. She crosses over to him with a friendly wave.]

It's good to see you again, Finrod. I hope I'm not intruding, but this... [She turns slowly, taking in everything around her] this is amazing.

[faithfulwisdom]

[He smiles as he watches her taking it in. Her wonder is a delight to see.]

I am glad you find it so. [He extends his arms out in a grand, deliberately over-dramatic gesture.] Welcome to Valinor, my lady, to the city of Tirion upon Túna, where no mortal has set foot before. [And he drops his arms, a hint of amusement in his eyes] Or some approximation thereof.

[dancingmd]

[She laughs delightedly and bows.]

Well, I am honored to be the first mortal to step foot in your magnificent city, even if it is only an approximation. I don't know if I could handle the real one, if this is the holographic version.

[faithfulwisdom]

Oh, I am certain you would adjust. It is a city, after all, for all it's grandeur, and there are things it shares with all other cities- the smell of fresh bread in the morning as the bakers open their shops, the sound of children laughing as they run through the streets.

[dancingmd]

Sounds wonderful!

[She looks around some more, taking in the sight of the palace more thoroughly. Jean-Luc would love to see this place. She turns back to Finrod with an arch smile.]

And don't tell me, you're a prince and this is your palace.

[faithfulwisdom]

[He smiles- not quite a full grin, but very nearly there] You are astute. This is the palace in which I was born and raised, though I have not seen it for centuries.

[dancingmd]

[Ah yes, more of that foot-in-mouth disease you still occasionally have trouble with, Beverly. Fortunately, she is astute enough not ask why he hasn't been home for so long. As for his age, that only registers as a scientific fact regarding his species, nothing more.]

Is it possible... would I be allowed to see inside the palace? We don't have many palaces left where I come from.

[faithfulwisdom]

[He hesitates a moment before he answers- not out of any desire to prevent Beverly from seeing the inside, but rather because he is not sure what his reaction will be.]

Of course. [It only takes another moment for the easy smile to return to his face. He bends at the waist and offers her his arm, as if she were a visiting diplomat being escorted in.] What happened to your palaces, if I may ask?

[dancingmd]

[Bowing in return, she happily takes his proffered arm, very much enjoying the old-fashioned gallantry he's evoking.]

Many of them were destroyed in a planet-wide war hundreds of years ago and no new ones have been built since, as we no longer have kings or queens or any sort of hereditary rulers. The palaces and castles that are left are now all museums.

[faithfulwisdom]

War. Of course. [He should have guessed. It's the same everywhere, isn't it?] Were I to show you the fortresses of Middle Earth, you would likewise see its effects; even the most beautiful were, by and large, built with military defense in mind.

But Valinor is another matter. Battle has darkened its shores but once and its greatest cities were built long before, in the youth of my people.

[It's strange to walk up the steps without the bustle of life around him- to by pass the spot where Fëanor pulled his sword on Fingolfin without so much as a word. But he does, releasing Beverly's arm to push open the grand doors.

Inside is a room clearly designed to impress. Vaulted ceilings give way to walls bedecked with gem encrusted tapestries. And above it all, four heraldic devices- one large one placed above three smaller devices side-by-side.]

It no longer appears this way, I am certain. But this is the palace of Tirion as it exists in my memory. [Bittersweet, to see it so realistically. He's thoughtful, somber almost, but it does not overwhelm, as he feared it might.]

[dancingmd]

[Picking up on Finrod's mood, Beverly is silent at first as she walks in, neck craning to look at the ceilings. Slowly she turns, trying to take it all in. Coming closer to one of the tapestries, she reaches out a hand as if to touch the gems, but her fingers stop just short of doing so, instead absently tracing an invisible outline around the patterns in the tapestry as she studies them. She does not have the appropriate artistic or anthropological training to make any significant observations, but the tapestry certainly is beautiful. Finally, she faces Finrod again.]

I can't believe you grew up in a place like this!

[Says the woman who grew up on the moon.]

[faithfulwisdom]

[He gives out a little laugh]

It is not all so grand. The inner rooms are more private and much less ostentatious. This [He gestures about them] was built to make an impression. You could not pass through this room without knowing something of the power of the High King.

[dancingmd]

[She nods.] That makes sense. Still, it's a long way from where I grew up.

[faithfulwisdom]

And where did you grow up, if I may ask?

VRD

[ladiesss]

[she's around. of course she's around. she's nosy. she wanders up to Finrod, in front of the palace, hands folded behind her back.]

Um... Hey, Finrod. Is this place yours?

[faithfulwisdom]

I suppose it is. [Ironic, for an exile to be able to claim that.] It was once, at least. [He gives a nod toward the palace] I was raised there.

[ladiesss]

[that seems like a rather cryptic answer to her, but... homes are weird.]

It's really pretty... [she bites her lip a little.] It kind of looks familiar, actually. But I don't know why...

[faithfulwisdom]

Does it? I have no notion why it would; no mortal has set foot here. [He looks at her and laughs suddenly] Well, not truly.

Truthfully, it has not appeared like this for many centuries; I have been gone for quite some time, but even before I left, some of this [A broad gesture at the horizon] had begun to change.

[ladiesss]

[well, that makes her smile a little... maybe for the wrong reason.]

Can I ask why you left in the first place...?

[faithfulwisdom]

You may. It is no secret, though the full story is rather mired in Elven politics. I left, in part, to strike a blow against a great enemy and, in part, to carve out my own fate across the Sea. [It's a very... sanitized version of the story, but those were his motives.]