cryovision | Pavo Heart Game: Noctua's Grand Adventure

Pavo Heart Game: Noctua's Grand Adventure

When you enter the light, you find yourself hovering weightless in a void, as if caught in a moment of falling inertia. In the distance, you hear a voice that seems to shift and twist, familiar and yet unfamiliar.

"You shouldn't be here. But since you already are, let's make a wager. If you can uncover the truth, you'll find me. If you can't, you may be hopelessly lost... What a shame that would be."

You begin falling, and your vision blacks out--

[OOC NOTE: your goals are "reveal the truth" to "find the true heart". All images in toplevels are for general inspo, please make sure you read the flavourtext cause things are not exactly as they are in the images.]

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When you wake, you find yourself standing in an official-looking hall. Any weapons or items you had on you are gone, and any powers are turned off. Everything here is neat and tidy, perfectly spaced, plants healthy and green and all the same size, paintings perfectly level with one another.

Here and there on the walls there are mirrors.

There are five possible exits:

- A sturdy wooden door bearing an insignia.
- A red door that occasionally rattles.
- A stone-framed door with reinforced hinges, which lets off a pleasant warmth.
- A blue door with a metal knob that's ice cold to the touch.
- A set of stairs leading upwards.

There is a double-wide door behind you that seems like it should go outside, but it appears to be sealed shut.

A knight with an unremarkable face approaches you, carrying a few ornate metal boxes.

"Welcome, strange yet respectable guests. I understand you might want to get to exploring, but there's a process we have to follow, so could you give me a moment of your time?"

You enter a well-decorated office. The atmosphere is pleasant, cozy, with walls lined in bookshelves and a scent in the air like spiced vanilla. Around the room are vases full of various coloured roses.

On one side of the room is a desk, with a small number of papers spread across it and a quill pen and inkwell. On the other is a conference table, currently hosting a western-style tea set and some plates of small cakes and cookies.

On one bookshelf, there is a statuette of a small winged figure draped in robes and holding an orb out as if in offering to the sky.

There is an open window, through which comes a brisk breeze -- it smells a bit stale, and seems to have blown the flowers and books right off of a nearby table.

Browsing the books, there is a tall blonde woman. When you enter, she turns to look at you and gently smiles.

"Good afternoon. Can I help you?"

You enter a small room. It appears, on first glance, to have been some kind of light security holding cell, judging by the size and the one small, barred window. However, it's nothing like a prison now. The walls are covered in shelves full of toys and storybooks, there's a plush rug over the floor and a very nice cot piled in fluffy blankets.

Across the floor are scattered crayon drawings and open books. On one wall, there is a rack of weapons -- mostly swords. A few miscellaneous items are piled in corners, and there are paper flowers strewn about.

A small girl is lying on the floor, drawing. When you come in, she looks up with a big sunny smile!

"Oh, hi! Are you here to help with Klee's new treasures?"

You enter some sort of planetarium. It's a beautiful room with a domed ceiling covered in stars, with a floor made up of one giant marble compass rose.

However, it seems something has been tearing this beautiful room apart. The ceiling is half pulled down, the pieces scattered across the floor like an ugly jigsaw puzzle. The bare ceiling behind the stars is rough, plaster-caked stone, and there's dust all over everything. The curved walls seem to have once been covered in velvet curtains, but a few of them have been torn down and lie strewn across the floor.

Near one wall, there is a ladder.

Along one half of the room there are seats, plush and comfy. The ones more towards the right are dusty and only look up at the ruined ceiling, but the ones on the left are cleaner. At the very far left, there is a pile of downed curtains.

In the center of the room, there is a jumble of alchemy equipment, tended to by a handsome young man who is completely and utterly ignoring you.

You walk through the door and find yourselves in a bustling tavern. Patrons fill most of the available seats, and the air is filled with the smell of alcohol and sizzling chicken mushroom skewers. The atmosphere is jovial, party-like, welcoming, and the walls are covered in various framed pictures. Here, a painting of a crackling flame. There, a drawing of a lioness dozing in lush grass.

Tending bar is... another you. Sitting and drinking with him is Pavo himself.

Edited 2021-05-20 05:57 (UTC)

You find yourself in a frozen wasteland. The exit you just came through stands as an ornate stone arch, but there are no walls or other manmade structures in this area. There's only a storm-dark sky and the endless, jagged maze of ice. The slight breeze is painfully cold and dry and the ice creaks ominously.

There is nothing immediately apparent to interact with, except your reflections in the ice immediately near you, which distort like in a funhouse mirror. You have a deep sense of foreboding, and yet the maze beckons.]

You wake up.

There is nothing around you but a void and wisps of acrid smoke. The scent of burning -- of wood, of flesh, of scorched stone -- assaults your nose, and breathing stings your lungs just slightly.

There is no way back. There is only a dark stone path winding before you, towards a distant horizon where there flickers an occasional baleful flame.

You find yourself standing on a well-worn path that leads through lush grapevines to a fine timberframe manor. The sun plays through the leaves of trees and glowing teal "butterflies" float amongst the ripening grapes.

It smells of earth, and growing things, and comfort. A warm and gentle breeze teases your hair, inviting you up the path, where you'll find Pavo standing under a terrace in elegant dress that's much less flamboyant than usual, picking grapes and dropping them by the bunch into a wooden basket.

"Took you long enough."

[...............gross. but he nods.]

Certainly.

[The knight looks a bit intimidated, but he stays friendly! He laughs awkwardly, and offers you one of the boxes.]

Guests are to be given these gift packages. They're things you may have lost, somewhere... hopefully they're useful.

...All right. Thank you.

[accepts the box]

[Inside the box is... your vision. When you touch it, you feel your usual powers returning to you.

There's also an oddly shaped tile bearing a map of the constellation Noctua. On the back a message is written in a slightly blocky, runic handwriting:

The elements know the truth of this world.]

I have to say, you vision bearers sure are lucky. Fighting aside, Elemental Sight makes life a lot easier.

Speaking of which... There's something I think you could help me with, if you don't mind.

[Aha. Settles his vision at his belt.]

Certainly. What do you need?

Uh... This switch over here won't turn on. Without it, we can't open the front door, so...

[He walks away a few steps, gesturing at a small, round plate on the wall. Around it are seven elemental symbols, and in the center is a light that's currently dark.]

All right. Let me take a look.

[Are the symbols also dark?

Well, regardless, activating Elemental Sight.]

[With Elemental Sight, the state of the room seems to change a bit. There are a few cracks in the walls and floor, and you can hear a distant, strained creaking like a tree branch close to snapping. Elemental trails lead faintly to all the exits.

The symbols are indeed dark.]

Hmm. I'll need to do more looking around.

[aaaand immediately going for the FAVONIUS CREST door]

it goes exactly where you think it would.

Good afternoon, Jean. I'm just looking around. How are you?

[bending to clean up the flowers and books.]

Well enough, all things considered.

[you pick up the stuff!

the wind blows it over again immediately]

All things considered?

[...moves to close the window.]

[You close the window, and the stale breeze stops. You get an oddly lonely feeling, but it passes quickly.]

Well, "I" have been having some trouble lately... But that's a given, don't you think?

...Things have been difficult.

[HM

DID NOT LIKE LONELY FEELING

activates elemental sight.]

[With Elemental Sight, the room, changes. The air is stagnant and heavy, hard to breathe, and rather than snacks the table and desk are piled with seemingly endless stacks of paperwork. The barbatos statue is on its side, with its wings broken off.

And yet, it's still a cozy and lived in room. There are still flowers, and nothing terribly horrible, just... heavy. It makes you tired to breathe. But you see, near the window, a few tiny dust motes of anemo energy... and then they wink out.

Jean is just... absent, now. Where she stood is merely empty space.]

[..........FUCK!

opens the window again.]

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Pavo Heart Game: Noctua's Grand Adventure

START: KNIGHTS' HQ

OFFICE

SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

THE SEA OF STARS

ANGEL'S SHARE

ICE MAZE

DARKNESS

HOME

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