Mission: Building the Future in Pagoda

[lucetimods]

Who: Anyone who volunteered
What: A very special mission that will fill you with a youthly sense of purpose. Or something.
When: July 20th - July 24th
Where: The enclosure of Pagoda
Summary: Mission detailed here. There are survivors to help and buildings to repair, and plenty more to keep the volunteers on their toes.
Rating: PG-13 for reasons

Direct further questions here!

Comments

1/2

[sosayi]

[Lucky for Ven, Hilda is pepped full of energy and it's the beginning scene of the story. "People" mill about the dark rectangular buildings, and she clears her throat to gather the attention of everyone. She hasn't noticed him yet.]

As a child, I read many books. Many were of my land. Some spoke of one just behind our very walls. [She pauses, concentrating and "tearing" a hole into the darkness of the building. It disappears soon after.] My favorite were ones which took place in a world outside my own, though I dearly love my land, and I sought to collect as many of these stories as I could.

This story was one of my least favorite. I thought it terrible. But it has its own charm and a good lesson, so I would like to perform it.

[Her sole selfish desire. Small crows begin to flock about the shadow town, soaring over the heads of the people, and make neat lines on the roofs. Some of the townspeople disappear and what's clearly a bard, lute and feathered cap, bows to those who are left. He even seems to speak as Hilda does, "strumming" his lute.]

There was once a small town at the edge of a forest, well and lively with the sounds of people. They were safe from strife because of the woods which surrounded them on all sides, but were at the mercy of the Crow Queen whom lived deep within.

[The Crow Queen makes her appearance, cape spread like wings above the town, and Hilda makes an excellent cawing noise as the Queen laughs.]

Each week she would send her minions, the crows who were her eyes, to get tribute from the fortunate villagers. The town had no choice but to comply, giving baskets of food and gold up to the terrifying talons of the crows. If they didn't have enough, children would be snatched up by these monstrous birds and taken deep into the forest.

[A small swaddle is plucked from a woman by one of the crows, flying and disappearing as Hilda relinquishes control to keep up the rest of the tribute. The bard smacks away a couple crows and settles down as they fly off. The princess lets out a small sigh and furrows her brows, wiping the slate clean, and setting the scene in the Crow Queen's forest home.

It's minimalist and only shows the Crow Queen and the crow who carries the swaddle. The bard appears at the side to continue his story.]

One of these was the daughter of the innkeeper, who had been lacking business that month and hadn't enough to pay. Most children were crow food, but the Queen saw potential in the child. She took the girl as her own and raised her to be a Princess, eager to use her future beauty to her advantage against the Mountain King whose kingdom laid beside her. The two had been at war for centuries, landslides and trees fighting for dominance, and it was to end soon enough in her opinion.

[A young lady with a cape steps into scene, displaying her cape like the wings of a crow briefly, and Hilda sighs longingly as the bard does looking at her. Her tone takes on something rather lovelorn.]

To call her beautiful would be to call a gale a breeze. Her hair was a rich brown, like the dirt beneath the trees, and her eyes the color of the river. While her manner was often as cold as the Queen who had raised her, she was in fact a mischievous young woman who adored the shining morning dew - just as a crow likes gold. The Crow Queen looked at the Princess and saw a perfect weapon and sent her as an emissary to the Mountain King's castle, which stood at the highest overhanging. The Princess, raised by the Crow Queen and within a flock of the birds, took flight with her cape and went where she was told.

[The Princess does just that and leaves the Crow Queen behind, flying straight to a castle on the mountain. Hilda feels herself getting tired and lands the girl gracefully, willing to stick it out. She's learning her limits on this. And she's been practicing shadow figures for about a month now.]