[World Exploration] Wonderland

[passingmod]

Who: Everyone! Open to All. World inhabitants can be npc'd as needed.
What: World Exploration : Suggestion Info here
When: all through November and beyond
Where: Locations in comments, or add your own.

There are whole new worlds out there. Some people know this already, some are learning it for the first time. Tonight, it's a world of mystery where nothing seems to work entirely by normal logic and everything familiar from waking life can become different. Flowers have a temper and may not like being picked, animals wear dapper clothes, and all of them talk. Some of them are helpful.

Whether flitting around the edges of this world at the Rabbit Hole or the Entryway, caught up in the Mad Hatter's tea party, taken to the Castle of the Queen of Hearts, the Croquet Ground, or somewhere entirely different, it's Wonderland. Be careful: The signs shouldn't always be obeyed.

(Notes: This is a log to keep together threads exploring Wonderland. Relevant threads can also be made as separate posts throughout the rest of the month or beyond. Mostly, this is an experiment to see how a mass log will work for world exploring. As usual with OPN, it is entirely optional and creative liberty is fine and encouraged while working within the setting. Feel free to use the location notes as prompts, but also feel free to do something else entirely. More world suggestions always accepted here.)

Comments

Rabbit Hole

[passingmod]

The entryway to Wonderland, crawling through the rabbit hole will provide a way in - but may not provide an equally easy way out, especially if you fall.

[lamentoso]

Why did all of these weird things keep happening?! First she was chasing that thing Madoka had found and now she was falling? This wasn't another one of those 'witch barriers' was it? There didn't seem to be any enemies about, the surreality of it all couldn't be denied.

"What the heck is going on?!" Sayaka half-shouted.

[braidstobows]

Suddenly, Homura was there, her hand reaching to close around Sayaka's.

The strange passageway was reminiscent of a witch's barrier, which meant not only was there possibly a witch, but Sayaka would be another liability, likely to get in the way, or to make a foolish contract.

Homura wasn't planning to let that happen.

"Hold on to me," she told Sayaka. "I will find a way to slow our fall."

[decaying]

[Kanda had been following a rabbit. Why? He didn't know, probably that big clock on it got his attention and clearly things that didn't make sense always were the things to follow in dreams. Right? When he heard a voice he turned his head to see a kid.]

Don't tell me you followed the rabbit too....

Entryway

[passingmod]

This large, open room has nothing but a table. On the table, there are piles of cookies and glass bottles labeled 'Eat Me and Drink Me', but doing so may have strange consequences.

(ooc: results of eating or drinking here would be entirely up to the involved muns, and could have physical or mental affects.)

[decaying]

[Great. Just great. Kanda wasn't exactly the smartest person in regards to riddles and such so when he found this room, he blood boiled. Now what?]

I'm just going to break this entire room, I don't have time for this.

[braidstobows]

[Homura, in contrast to Kanda's temper, maintained her unshakable calm. She brushed her hair out of her way and spoke up clearly.]

I hope I don't need to tell you this, but despite the invitation, you should avoid eating anything in this place.

[Whether she knew something, or was simply speaking common sense when in a strange place looking at strange food, she left unsaid.]

[tasercopter]

Reno might like drinking, but she hasn't lived as long as she had by eating and drinking random labeled substances asking her to do so.

Instead, she's managed to catch a white rabbit (how convenient) and is planning to use the animal as her own personal test subject to solve the riddle of this room.

Not that she wants to hurt it for no reason, so she's having a bit of trouble getting it to choke down a cookie. Rabbits don't like being forced to eat cookies, as it turns out. But she's going to figure out what these drinks and cookies do one way or another. (And hopefully won't get crushed by a giant rabbit in the process.)

[braidstobows]

Homura pushed her hair out of her way and watched Reno somewhat impassively. Satisfied that she could leave matters in the room to Reno, she glanced back in the direction she'd appeared from. No signs of an exit.

Not good. Most traps she's experienced are not the sort people get out of alive very easily. Still calm despite that knowledge, she turned back to Reno.

"How long will you take to finish feeding it?" Evidently, she got the point, if she's willing to wait.

Tea Party

[passingmod]

It's always time for tea. Just be ready to change places at a moment's notice.

[one_one_se7en]

[John slid down the metallic shaft as he followed an odd creature that slipped away from the rest of the group, and his metallic feet hit shallow water. Noticing he lost sight of him, his only choice became to turn on his flashlight, and walk through the tunnel, trying not to make too much noise as his metallic boots dipped over the liquid.

He looks up. An exit. He drags the circular shaft to the side until sunlight pours through the water. Both of his hands reach over the edge as he sees a blue sky polarizing his visor. His radar reads no threats. He climbs up.

And it turns out he arrived in the middle of a giant tea table over a garden.

...

Somehow, this all seems on part with the course.]

[waterfell]

[Ami's become a big part of your life, hasn't she, John? In fact, here she is in giant-size to go with the rest of the tea party. And she's grinning that too-big up-to-something grin as she gently sets down her teacup, which may well be taller than the Spartan.]

How cute! [Just the word that should describe him, really. And Ami leans forward for a better look at the mini-chief, making her seem to loom even larger.]

[rrbando_rambo]

[Dale had also found himself roped into teatime, which he had been hesitant to partake in until he realized there was plenty of sweet pastries and tea sandwiches available to him. He had been gnawing on a sandwich contentedly, taking stock of some other food on the table that he wanted, when the Spartan just seemed to appear out of nowhere from a teapot. The chipmunk jumped in his seat slightly, seeing what seemed to be a toy-sized soldier about his size, and rubbed his head of hair apprehensively.]

Hey there stranger! [Dale offered, a friendly smile and wave to follow.]

[decaying]

[Kanda had arrived just a little before Master Chief and his temper had only risen. There had been a hopped up rabbit no too long ago and the hatter? Well, he wasn't there anymore. Just a bunch of cut up hats. When he caught John, his endeavor of hunting a drunken mouse was cut short. Caught red-handed.]

What are you doing here.

Castle

[passingmod]

The Castle is the seat of power for the Queen of Hearts, and her sigil is everywhere in the design. In the courtroom, there is more than enough room for large numbers of spectators. It should be noted the Queen's punishments are often harsh even for minor infractions, and her soldiers will carry them out before they're punished instead.

Trial by Beryl

[waterfell]

Where the Queen of Hearts should be is an equally capricious, equally absolutist ruler: Beryl, self-styled Queen of Darkness. The accused is Mercury, but the verdict is a foregone conclusion:

"Off with her head!" The order from the queen is hardly unexpected. This is no unbiased hearing. A pack of youma created from playing cards start to close in...

"Why not wait on that judgment until I've finished?" Mercury asks sharply. She takes a ready stance.

+1 jury

[memorials]

Mnemosyne shifted her weight nervously on her seat within the jury. She had had a difficult time listenint to the trail... did this girl really deserve to die?! "Why -- !!" her voice came out louder than she'd expected it to as she jumped to her feet, then blushed furiously at her own outburst. "Why don't we listen to what she has to say..." she followed up, her tone far more hushed as she kept her gaze to the ground.

Garden and Croquet Ground

[passingmod]

This garden is beautiful, full of topiary shrubs with white and red roses in full bloom. A few look like they're dripping paint. A few are dripping paint, to judge from the splatters on the ground.

Or do you play croquet? You've probably never played it like this before: with a flamingo for your mallet.

Re: Garden and Croquet Ground

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"The frick is this?" Howard pokes his flamingo's head at the ground and frowns. It looks like he's supposed to play a game, but he's not feeling especially up to doing so, so instead he starts plucking the feathers away from his flamingo's tail. Maybe they can be useful for something.

His flamingo writhes a bit, but he doesn't let go. It hasn't tried to peck him yet, so he's no need to injure it into submission.

[waterfell]

"Planning to make a feather pillow?"

The airy voice turns out to belong to Mercury, who looks somewhat amused despite the pinafore dress she's currently wearing, which is being ignored. Along with the way her tiara has molded itself into a headband.

Mercury also turns out to be holding a skein of thread, and a needle.

[tasercopter]

"Hell if I know." As she answers the question, Reno's swinging her own mallet around, twirling it like a strange, feathered helicopter blade. Gardens and croquet aren't her scene, to say the least, but she's here, so she might as well find some way to entertain herself.

Pausing in her whirling, she bends to scoop up a red ball with her free hand, then pauses to examine Howard more closely. "You're not much bigger than the bird, are you?"

Re: Garden and Croquet Ground

[luv_n_looks]

[lucky that Mina happened to be at a charity ball and is 'appropriately' dressed for this madhouse.

madgarden. whatever.

as usual, it's a spectacular dress, requiring minimal to no jewelry, make-up or hair shenanigans. sunshine yellow flamingo in hand, Mina's eyeing the ball and the hoop, getting into the game. it's certainly more entertaining than the ball was.]

[braidstobows]

[Homura doesn't like the way nothing here works by logic. It's too like a witch's barrier with their strange dimensions and even stranger landscapes.

She's not so sure it isn't one, and she stays alert. She doesn't relax her posture even when she spots Mina, a recognizable face. It wouldn't be the first time innocents have wandered into a barrier, either.]

This is somewhat different from the game I happen to be familiar with.

[decaying]

[Kanda liked gardening, it was one of his past-times that no one ever really knew about. He hated the place like he hated most things, yet when he saw the gardens he couldn't complain. He had made his way down the lot until he ran into dripping red roses. What a strange sight, he went and touched one of the delicate petals before bringing it close to his nose.]

Paint?

[Idiots. They probably planted white roses instead of red.]

[waterfell]

Need this?

[The airy voice comes from somewhere up above - Ami, perched atop the wall of hedge maze shrubs, her legs dangling over the edge. It doesn't seem like they should be sturdy enough to hold here, but there she is. She holds up something that turns out to be a watering can, and grins slyly.]