Kel-chan
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
NEWS EDIT:
There's a small copse of trees to the west of Barton Town. You wandered there one day, tired of the hustle and bustle of the forum, the stores, the little alleys full of mini-shops. It was quite early; the sun had only been an hour or so risen, and the little stand of trees was bright and full of birdsong. As you wandered smiling amongst the nature, something man-made caught your eye, and you stopped, startled.
A small building, made of pale wooden slats, was curiously built around the trunk of the largest tree. It sat halfway up, the flame-coloured leaves like a Japanese maple partly obscuring the top and dancing in the wind. A small rope ladder dangled from the thin platform running round the edge, and it moved slightly in the breeze, trailing the ends along the ground. You glanced around, moving slightly closer, intrigued by this place.
"Hello!" You call as you stand at the bottom of the ladder, cringing as your loud voice sends a covey of birds fluttering in the treetops. However, no-one answers. You put one hand on the ladder, debating on whether to go up or not, but your curiousity get the better of you, and with a decisive movement you scramble up the five or so steps to stand on the firm planks of the platform. A door in the south-western wall that had been almost invisible, because of the angle, from the forest floor, faced you, brass handle glinting in the sunlight. You knock cautiously; hearing no answer, you go in.
A light, airy room greeted you, centre dominated by the living tree trunk, the bark curiously carved but not seeming to suffer for it. The outer walls are lined with bookshelves; several soft mats are on the floor, splashing colour into the natural tones of the walls and the tree. As you pad warily around, a large window in the eastern side comes into sight, providing the light for the room, though you can see little Chinese lanterns hanging discreetly from the ceiling edges. A solid square of pale sunlight lanced into the room, fully illuminating a large niche carved into the tree itself, a small stool drawn up under it. A pen and ink sit in the niche, resting on a small roll of parchment, but your gaze is drawn to the drawers below, and you cannot resist opening it.
Inside the drawer, to your surprise, are rolls upon rolls of parchment, similar to the one above it. Pulling one out, you unroll it carefully. The sheet is blank, apart from a large black Chinese symbol right in the middle. "What on earth?" you mutter, racking your brains to remember what the symbol means, eventually coming up with the fact that it stands for 'Faith'. Drawing out another one, this one says 'Confidence'. And 'Sacrifice', 'Independence', 'Honour' and 'Courage' all reveal themselves to your inquisitive gaze. As you hold the last one, the symbol for Courage, up to the sunlight that hovers over your shoulder, you nearly drop the parchment as the symbol begins to glow faintly. Removing it, it stops glowing. You are just in the process of repeating the experiment when the soundof someone talking makes you return it guiltily. There is no-where to hide in the large, open room; you can only stand there helplessly as someone climbs energetically up the ladder.
"Let's see if the sunrise has made any difference to Forgiveness this morning," a cheerful voice said. The door opens, and a girl steps into the room, face eager to see the progress she has made overnight. At the sight of you, half-hidden behind the tree-trunk, she jumps, eyes going wide. "Who are you?" She demanded, striding over to your side, eyes narrow as she checks her pen and ink are not disturbed. The drawer of parchment is still open; she glares at you.
"What do you think you are doing?" She asked angrily. You spread your hands and tried to explain your curiousity; as you plead your innocence, the girl relaxes slightly. "As long as you didn't touch that scroll," she points to the one lying innocuosly next the the pen. You shake your head slowly, and she breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. In which case, you may stay, leave as you wish." She shrugged diffidently. "I found this place the same way you did, I guess I don't have more rights than you to it! I'm Kel-chan, by the way," she smiled warmly.
"So... you didn't build it? Who did?" You ask after introducing yourself, sitting on one ofthe floor mats whilst Kel-chan ensconsed herself on the stool, carefully lifting up the scroll. She replied without moving her gaze, concentrating on the purple symbol that was revealed. "I don't know. I found it pretty much like this, except with a book sitting under that pot of ink." She patted her side as if for a pocket,then remembered her coat was hanging outside the door. "It told me about this place, and what I - or rather whoever found this place - was charged to do."
"Which was?" You asked curiously. Kel-chan shook her head with a rueful grimace and laid the scroll back down, reaching for the ink. "Another layer, I think. The task? Oh, to awaken the spirits kept in these scrolls." She grinned at your round eyes and gestured at the ink. "The book taught me. You must have noticed the glowing in the sunlight? If I layer each symbol with coats of this clear ink, apparently a spirit will appear, though you have to keep it in the sunrise every morning between coats."
"Why?" You shuffle closer to look at the symbol that Kel-chan is carefully inking over.
"Apparently, the sunrise will awaken the spirit." The girl's golden eyes lit up. "So I've started the task."
"May I look at the book?" You looked over towards the door. Kel-chan nods and directs you to her coat pocket. Inside is a brown leather-bound book a little smaller than an average paperback, and you turn the crackling pages, eventually coming back to sit down and read whilst Kel-chan inked silently.
Quote:
Edit Edit: I can't get this back up on my own. As such, I'm hiring a colourist or two to help me smile Any of your thoughts on whether I should run aa contest or just ask people to post their interest (very little, I suspect).
Thankyou!
Thankyou!
NEWS EDIT:
Quote:
Update:
The disk got reformatted. I no longer have any of my files, so I'm going to have to beg your pardon until I can redraw all the lineart and recolour everything. I'm very sorry, especially Karo and Tai, who have never recieved Angel & Galaxy! I hope to get this back up and running before Hallowe'en, so I can do an event or two for you wink
gonk
The disk got reformatted. I no longer have any of my files, so I'm going to have to beg your pardon until I can redraw all the lineart and recolour everything. I'm very sorry, especially Karo and Tai, who have never recieved Angel & Galaxy! I hope to get this back up and running before Hallowe'en, so I can do an event or two for you wink
gonk
There's a small copse of trees to the west of Barton Town. You wandered there one day, tired of the hustle and bustle of the forum, the stores, the little alleys full of mini-shops. It was quite early; the sun had only been an hour or so risen, and the little stand of trees was bright and full of birdsong. As you wandered smiling amongst the nature, something man-made caught your eye, and you stopped, startled.
A small building, made of pale wooden slats, was curiously built around the trunk of the largest tree. It sat halfway up, the flame-coloured leaves like a Japanese maple partly obscuring the top and dancing in the wind. A small rope ladder dangled from the thin platform running round the edge, and it moved slightly in the breeze, trailing the ends along the ground. You glanced around, moving slightly closer, intrigued by this place.
"Hello!" You call as you stand at the bottom of the ladder, cringing as your loud voice sends a covey of birds fluttering in the treetops. However, no-one answers. You put one hand on the ladder, debating on whether to go up or not, but your curiousity get the better of you, and with a decisive movement you scramble up the five or so steps to stand on the firm planks of the platform. A door in the south-western wall that had been almost invisible, because of the angle, from the forest floor, faced you, brass handle glinting in the sunlight. You knock cautiously; hearing no answer, you go in.
A light, airy room greeted you, centre dominated by the living tree trunk, the bark curiously carved but not seeming to suffer for it. The outer walls are lined with bookshelves; several soft mats are on the floor, splashing colour into the natural tones of the walls and the tree. As you pad warily around, a large window in the eastern side comes into sight, providing the light for the room, though you can see little Chinese lanterns hanging discreetly from the ceiling edges. A solid square of pale sunlight lanced into the room, fully illuminating a large niche carved into the tree itself, a small stool drawn up under it. A pen and ink sit in the niche, resting on a small roll of parchment, but your gaze is drawn to the drawers below, and you cannot resist opening it.
Inside the drawer, to your surprise, are rolls upon rolls of parchment, similar to the one above it. Pulling one out, you unroll it carefully. The sheet is blank, apart from a large black Chinese symbol right in the middle. "What on earth?" you mutter, racking your brains to remember what the symbol means, eventually coming up with the fact that it stands for 'Faith'. Drawing out another one, this one says 'Confidence'. And 'Sacrifice', 'Independence', 'Honour' and 'Courage' all reveal themselves to your inquisitive gaze. As you hold the last one, the symbol for Courage, up to the sunlight that hovers over your shoulder, you nearly drop the parchment as the symbol begins to glow faintly. Removing it, it stops glowing. You are just in the process of repeating the experiment when the soundof someone talking makes you return it guiltily. There is no-where to hide in the large, open room; you can only stand there helplessly as someone climbs energetically up the ladder.
"Let's see if the sunrise has made any difference to Forgiveness this morning," a cheerful voice said. The door opens, and a girl steps into the room, face eager to see the progress she has made overnight. At the sight of you, half-hidden behind the tree-trunk, she jumps, eyes going wide. "Who are you?" She demanded, striding over to your side, eyes narrow as she checks her pen and ink are not disturbed. The drawer of parchment is still open; she glares at you.
"What do you think you are doing?" She asked angrily. You spread your hands and tried to explain your curiousity; as you plead your innocence, the girl relaxes slightly. "As long as you didn't touch that scroll," she points to the one lying innocuosly next the the pen. You shake your head slowly, and she breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. In which case, you may stay, leave as you wish." She shrugged diffidently. "I found this place the same way you did, I guess I don't have more rights than you to it! I'm Kel-chan, by the way," she smiled warmly.
"So... you didn't build it? Who did?" You ask after introducing yourself, sitting on one ofthe floor mats whilst Kel-chan ensconsed herself on the stool, carefully lifting up the scroll. She replied without moving her gaze, concentrating on the purple symbol that was revealed. "I don't know. I found it pretty much like this, except with a book sitting under that pot of ink." She patted her side as if for a pocket,then remembered her coat was hanging outside the door. "It told me about this place, and what I - or rather whoever found this place - was charged to do."
"Which was?" You asked curiously. Kel-chan shook her head with a rueful grimace and laid the scroll back down, reaching for the ink. "Another layer, I think. The task? Oh, to awaken the spirits kept in these scrolls." She grinned at your round eyes and gestured at the ink. "The book taught me. You must have noticed the glowing in the sunlight? If I layer each symbol with coats of this clear ink, apparently a spirit will appear, though you have to keep it in the sunrise every morning between coats."
"Why?" You shuffle closer to look at the symbol that Kel-chan is carefully inking over.
"Apparently, the sunrise will awaken the spirit." The girl's golden eyes lit up. "So I've started the task."
"May I look at the book?" You looked over towards the door. Kel-chan nods and directs you to her coat pocket. Inside is a brown leather-bound book a little smaller than an average paperback, and you turn the crackling pages, eventually coming back to sit down and read whilst Kel-chan inked silently.
