[OPEN] Start with Goodbye

[witheredpeonies]

Who: Annabel Lee Whitlock (witheredpeonies) & You!
What: Arrival and CR-building opportunities
When: Early June
Where: All over the place!
Warning(s): None yet, comment titles will indicate any that arise.

1. Never a hand hardly to hold [Downtown]
A new arrival has...well, arrived! Annabel Lee Whitlock, a pale blonde wisp of a woman with clever eyes and an easy smile spends her first couple of days exploring her new surroundings. Today, it's the downtown. Walking with a dainty gait and curious glances into the shops, weighing her desire for better clothing against the limited amount of brass in her pocket. Clearly, she's going to need to find work for herself. Nothing nearly so nasty as hard labor, fishing or farming, of course. It's good work, but nothing she'll set her hands to.

When she sees a thimble in the window of a general store, an idea starts to form. Implementation may take effort and aid, but she has time to work it all out. Right?

Feel free to encounter her anywhere in the downtown, looking every bit the tourist.


2. Big city sway, move with the day [Bulletin Board/Workshop]
A message written in an elegant script, on cheap paper:

Now Open, with the Support of the Artisan Guild!
Whitlock Needleworks
Embroidery and Mending at Fair Prices; Braiding, Tasselwork and other Embellishment also Available.
See Annabel Lee Whitlock for More Information.
[Address]

Should someone come seeking the workshop where Annabel's set herself up, they'll find her working on a display piece of embroidery meant to show off her skills. Peonies, of course.

"Welcome in. Was there something particular you were looking for, today?"


3. Wanting it bad, ever-returning home [Wildcard]
Feel free to contact me on almost any social media (discord, plurk, etc.) at darkersolstice to get a custom starter

Comments

[lordoftheozarks]

"It is. Thank you Miss Whitlock." He knows he hardly has much right to enforce the title here, but if there are those willing to use it, he would prefer that. He earned it.

"I cannot claim to know all the faces in town quite yet, but I feel I would remember you had I seen you about. Don't tell me you are one of the new arrivals I heard of recently?"

[witheredpeonies]

“Yes, I’m afraid I am. Any advice you have on life here, I’d be glad to hear, while I start working on these pants.”

She holds a few different fabric scraps up to the knee, ranging from a dark plaid to a brown corduroy, seeing what might coordinate well.

[lordoftheozarks]

"Of course. I can give you my impressions so far. May I?" He motions to a stool to sit on. It might be less stiff of a conversation this way.

"The people here are honest and kind. I'm particularly fond of the Preacher, Degas. I've interacted less with the other pillars of the town but that's simply a matter of poor timing on my part. These folk have been dealt a bad hand, but they are resilient despite it. It isn't very exciting here unless you count the frequent monster attacks, but I can think of worse places I could have been relocated to. I would, however, stay clear of those woods if I were you. Or, at the very least, do not venture out into them alone, and certainly not after dark."

[witheredpeonies]

"Please, make yourself comfortable. I'm afraid I don't have refreshments to offer, yet, but that is on my list."

She listens to what he has to share, lips pursing slightly, and shows him a couple fabric swatches for his opinion while considering words.

"I wasn't planning to go into the woods alone anytime soon. But I'm not exactly helpless on my own."

[lordoftheozarks]

"That's all right. I am happy just to have the company." It's convenient for him that he doesn't have to politely pretend to eat or drink anything he cannot taste or truly digest.

He chooses one of the swatches for her with a pointed finger and a nod, not wanting to derail whatever train of thought she's on with words. Not until she speaks first.

"I didn't mean to imply that you are. You strike me as a capable enough woman. Still, the creatures that populate those trees are more formidable than even the strongest mortals."

[witheredpeonies]

"Mortals." She repeats the word softly, before looking up to make direct eye contact with a coy little smile.

And then her attention shifts to the swatches, pinning the selected one to the leg of the trousers.

[lordoftheozarks]

He was testing her and now he has his answer in just one word.

When she directs her attention back to her work, he settles back in his seat, crossing his legs with the demeanor of someone falling back on meaningless pleasantries to pass the time.

"Mm, though I wonder if that word even applies in a place like this. All the inhabitants here are cursed to live forever, in a fashion. Death is no reprieve to them here."

[witheredpeonies]

"If it ever truly was one, in any of our worlds." If there's a spot of bitterness there, well. Her experiences with death have disinclined her to offer the concept good faith.

[lordoftheozarks]

"I couldn't tell you myself." It's hardly been a reprieve for him after all. "And yet, if that woman is to be believed, we are already fated to be in our graves if not for being here. Or, perhaps not."

[witheredpeonies]

"Goddess. She styles herself a goddess, and calling her a woman feels oddly rude, given that." But she'd hardly been the first person to tell Annabel Lee that she's dead.

[lordoftheozarks]

"Fair enough." He shrugs. Goddess or not, he doesn't have any strong feelings about it. "I do wonder what she thinks bringing such a variety of beings here will accomplish. Do you have any insights to share?"

[witheredpeonies]

"That it must be something significant. There has to be a cost to bringing people into another world, and the more people she does it for, the more of a bill she incurs, so to speak. So it has to be worth it."

[lordoftheozarks]

"When you put it that way it does seem flattering to be chosen." If each of them is so costly then surely they weren't selected at random.

"I don't want to seem ungrateful, so I do intend to pull my own weight in this place, so to speak."