idolpro | Flowers of Heaven: WILD CITY

There’s the clattering of hooves on the flagstones, and you turn to see… one extremely tired-looking definitely-human man who is definitely riding a horse and who is absolutely not actually a disguised centaur.

The Definitely Human Man curtly introduces himself as Sheriff Pferd, but any further questions just make him shake his head and give a long-suffering sigh. He beckons for you to follow him toward an arched doorway that has opened in the thick brambles and leads to a winding path beyond.

Once you cross through, a gate closes behind you, and the voices of your fellow idols fade from your ears. It seems as if you’re on your own, now.

❀ ❀ ❀

Here, the brambles that surround your path echo with occasional birdsong and the growls and yips of animals, though no other living creatures are anywhere to be seen.

It seems that Sheriff Pferd is providing an additional service by carrying several things for you: a collection of sixteen different flowers, a small lantern of blue flame, and a wreath woven from blooming vervain, Star of Bethlehem flowers, and honeysuckle.

(He really for real won't answer any of your questions, but if you're polite, you can ride on his—ah, that is, his horse's—back.)

Quick Links: Flowers | Status Effects | OOC Rules

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Characters will discover a scroll somewhere on their person, which may be unrolled to reveal words written in ornately flourished script in an unfamiliar language. The rules resonate in their minds when they look at them, despite the apparent language barrier.

Included, too, is a list of sixteen flowers, each with an associated meaning.

Look within yourself: you are connected to two Flowers of Heaven. You will find you know what they are.

You must make your way through the Garden, out to Freedom.
However, three Obstacles block your way.

The Blue Flame Pyre can burn past these obstacles, but its fire requires at least three Flowers of Heaven as fuel. A fire given more fuel may burn past more Obstacles, but at far greater cost to your Selves.

Express your collective desire to the Blue Flame Pyre, and it will burn the flowers that are willed. However, be warned: if the three most-desired flowers are unclear, the Pyre will burn all that seem to have been chosen, no matter how many that may be.

Your souls are tied to your personal Flowers; should one of your flowers be destroyed, so too will its nature within you be broken.
To lose both your flowers is to lose your Self.

You are not without protection, though: Your chancelfolk carry with them a symbol of your group’s unity. The one who wears the wreath will find their flowers preserved—for themselves and for any in your group who share them—regardless of how the Pyre burns. But be warned: for each person, the wreath’s protection will work but once.

The energy of Freedom will be powerful enough to heal those teams with the most Flowers remaining to their collective. All others must find their own way to becoming Whole.

As you walk the path through the brambles, you come to a place where the ground becomes rough, rocky, and broken. The brambles that surround you now block your way, growing in a thick mass of branches and thorns as long as your hand; it’s so dense you can’t see through to the other side, much less progress further.

Sheriff Pferd heaves a heavy sigh at the sight... and then passes you the collection of flowers, the lantern of blue flame, and the wreath.

Make your choices.

[ A new section appears on the scroll, unfurling into view—a series of ink drawings of twelve vials, each labeled with a unit's name. All of them are currently empty. ]

Edited 2020-04-30 23:16 (UTC)

The path continues, the brilliance of the blue flame dying out with the last of the burnt flowers.

You're not sure how long you've been walking when you reach the stone doors. They have a heavy, ancient look to them, and are inset into an equally ancient-looking stone wall. At the center of the doors is what is probably a pair of massive handles... but they're densely overgrown with wickedly thorny briar roses which grow up along the stone, reaching even over the top of the wall.

Sheriff Pferd looks upon the doors dubiously, inspecting them for any way to pull away briars, but it seems beyond his ability, and he shakes his head with a low whinny. Once again, he offers the blue-flame lantern, the collection of flowers, and the wreath: something must be sacrificed.

The scroll unfurls further, and this time thirteen drawings appear in the new section; the last vial is labeled, but... illegibly? This time, however, the drawings are partially filled in with bright blue ink to the following degrees:

LiliS: 12.5%
sensitIV: 25%
pep!pep!: 8.33%
BAD END=DEAD END: 0%
Taisho Roman Revolution: 0%
☆ZRAEL: 7.14%
future is now: 8.33%
WILD CITY: 12.50%
Heart Soldier Senshi: 10%
AlcheME!: 12.50%
avante en garde: 16.67%
BARiTONES: 0%
░░░░░░: 50%

Edited 2020-05-01 01:46 (UTC)