Location: The Sunken Conundrum
Timestamp: 27th of Winter, 510 AV
OOCThe thread title as well as the last of the mentioned books is a little joke referring to a rl book of similar appearance and content by Douglas Adams.
After three days of strolling around in Alvadas, Aselia was confused and nothing but confused. Most of the time she had strolled the city streets, trying to familiarize herself with the infrastructure and architecture. However, there was no infrastructure she could memorize. No matter how long she walked, how many corners she rounded, she hardly ever found herself passing familiar buildings. Everything seemed topsy-turvy and no street ever stayed the same. Even the material constantly changed: from stone to glass to fur to grass to wool ... The Konti was completely and utterly clueless.
However, that didn’t mean that the city stressed her. Quite on the contrary, in fact: She found herself enjoying the randomness of its infrastructure, the surprises and new experiences it entailed. Walking on water had been a surprise, as well as opening a door and suddenly standing eye to eye with a human-sized clay man. She had learned that it was a Pycon, but that Pycons usually were a lot smaller. On other occasions, she had explored wondrous and exotic places like a house of mirrors and a market that seemed small from the inside, but turned into a vast trading area once she entered. (She had immediately bought some candles, fearing she’d never find that place again.) They called it the Bizarre, and Aselia liked that name. It was tinged with insanity, and nobody in Alvadas seemed to mind insanity.
She regarded herself as lucky since she didn’t experience the downside of that insanity: People never found what they were searching for. But the Konti who didn’t search for anything in particular, was content with wandering the streets and wondering where the illusions would take her next.
Three days after her arrival, she came across another new building. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary library. A library! Libraries provided books which provided information. Perhaps they could tell her more about that strange city. Seizing the chance was an important principle in Alvadas – one never knew when they’d come across the place they had wanted to revisit again. So Aselia smiled, put her hands out of her pockets and entered the Sunken Conundrum.
That day, she wore her usual attire which consisted of a white tunic and shockingly short white pants. She had also opted against walking barefoot after her first day in the city and used her riding boots. Because the weather was relatively warm, she had left cloak as well as cap at the inn. With as little clothing as possible, she felt light and free. Her scales glittered in the sun and her white hair shone like snow.
Of course, she still featured gills at the sides of her neck and webbing between her fingers and toes. So, the surprise when faced with a wall of water when opening the door actually was a positive one. She hadn’t had a chance to swim in a while. The water lingering in front of her, however, looked different. Aselia carefully poked it with a pale finger. It felt like water, but at the same time it remained inside the building. Eventually she stepped inside. Strange. She could breathe water as well as air, just as she pleased. It seemed to be another illusion. Before continuing, she smiled at the warning at the inside of the door.
Alvadas was crazy.
A female Charoda greeted her, a creature with blueish skin and dorsal fins instead of hair. “Welcome at the Sunken Conundrum. I take it you’re not a resident? I must ask for a small fee if you need some books.” There was steel in her voice, but Aselia ignored it. “Sure”, she replied, smiled and paid the required mizas. “I’d like to read some books about Alvadas.”
The Charoda librarian soon turned out to have an affinity for puzzles and riddles. About ten chimes passed before Aselia could get her to look for books. Still, as she trailed behind the librarian, she was provided with titles like ‘A Traveler’s Guide to Alvadas’, ‘The City of Illusions and Insanity’ and ‘How to Not Lose Your Mind in Alvadas’. The Charoda even dug up a small book which read ‘Don’t Panic!’ in large, red letters on its back. Aselia found the design of the latter comforting, so she gladly took it.
Timestamp: 27th of Winter, 510 AV
OOCThe thread title as well as the last of the mentioned books is a little joke referring to a rl book of similar appearance and content by Douglas Adams.
After three days of strolling around in Alvadas, Aselia was confused and nothing but confused. Most of the time she had strolled the city streets, trying to familiarize herself with the infrastructure and architecture. However, there was no infrastructure she could memorize. No matter how long she walked, how many corners she rounded, she hardly ever found herself passing familiar buildings. Everything seemed topsy-turvy and no street ever stayed the same. Even the material constantly changed: from stone to glass to fur to grass to wool ... The Konti was completely and utterly clueless.
However, that didn’t mean that the city stressed her. Quite on the contrary, in fact: She found herself enjoying the randomness of its infrastructure, the surprises and new experiences it entailed. Walking on water had been a surprise, as well as opening a door and suddenly standing eye to eye with a human-sized clay man. She had learned that it was a Pycon, but that Pycons usually were a lot smaller. On other occasions, she had explored wondrous and exotic places like a house of mirrors and a market that seemed small from the inside, but turned into a vast trading area once she entered. (She had immediately bought some candles, fearing she’d never find that place again.) They called it the Bizarre, and Aselia liked that name. It was tinged with insanity, and nobody in Alvadas seemed to mind insanity.
She regarded herself as lucky since she didn’t experience the downside of that insanity: People never found what they were searching for. But the Konti who didn’t search for anything in particular, was content with wandering the streets and wondering where the illusions would take her next.
Three days after her arrival, she came across another new building. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary library. A library! Libraries provided books which provided information. Perhaps they could tell her more about that strange city. Seizing the chance was an important principle in Alvadas – one never knew when they’d come across the place they had wanted to revisit again. So Aselia smiled, put her hands out of her pockets and entered the Sunken Conundrum.
That day, she wore her usual attire which consisted of a white tunic and shockingly short white pants. She had also opted against walking barefoot after her first day in the city and used her riding boots. Because the weather was relatively warm, she had left cloak as well as cap at the inn. With as little clothing as possible, she felt light and free. Her scales glittered in the sun and her white hair shone like snow.
Of course, she still featured gills at the sides of her neck and webbing between her fingers and toes. So, the surprise when faced with a wall of water when opening the door actually was a positive one. She hadn’t had a chance to swim in a while. The water lingering in front of her, however, looked different. Aselia carefully poked it with a pale finger. It felt like water, but at the same time it remained inside the building. Eventually she stepped inside. Strange. She could breathe water as well as air, just as she pleased. It seemed to be another illusion. Before continuing, she smiled at the warning at the inside of the door.
Alvadas was crazy.
A female Charoda greeted her, a creature with blueish skin and dorsal fins instead of hair. “Welcome at the Sunken Conundrum. I take it you’re not a resident? I must ask for a small fee if you need some books.” There was steel in her voice, but Aselia ignored it. “Sure”, she replied, smiled and paid the required mizas. “I’d like to read some books about Alvadas.”
The Charoda librarian soon turned out to have an affinity for puzzles and riddles. About ten chimes passed before Aselia could get her to look for books. Still, as she trailed behind the librarian, she was provided with titles like ‘A Traveler’s Guide to Alvadas’, ‘The City of Illusions and Insanity’ and ‘How to Not Lose Your Mind in Alvadas’. The Charoda even dug up a small book which read ‘Don’t Panic!’ in large, red letters on its back. Aselia found the design of the latter comforting, so she gladly took it.
