Lakeside Rest PV Skylar Blue Complete

Sci-fi wasn’t something Thomas was particularly interested in, but he had read some of his fathers books on one particularly boring summer. Most of the books felt pretty similar, in their settings at least. Reading about life in a dystopian society became boring really fast, if not outright depressing. But it made sense, in a way there are a lot of things wrong in society, and technology could make it worse. Or better, but it looked like authors preferred the former.

Despite all the doom and gloom, Thomas had enjoyed Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline. The idea that the main character escaped reality by diving into a fictional world struck a chord, in a way. Though the constant references to pop culture felt a bit forced, like the author was trying to appeal to people who had grown up around that time. Still, the book wasn’t so bad. He’d just have to try and fond a way to explain video games to a witch. At least she seemed open minded.

“Well, I’m not the fondest of science fiction, I think it’s pretty depressing most of the time, but maybe give Ready Player One by Ernest Cline a shot? It’s set in 2044, where life is pretty terrible. There, the main form of entertainment is a virtual world called OASIS.” He paused a bit, trying to think of a comparison. “You can think of it as a painting in which you can go in, and change things from within. Anyway, that world is full of puzzles and it’s also the only way the main character, Wade Watts feels truly alive. If you solve the puzzles, you can get power and fortune, Wade finds a clue on how to solve them and the story picks up from there.”

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ☾☼☽ +:｡.｡　 ༺❀༻　｡.｡:+☾☼☽ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

Mentions: @Thomas Lancaster

WC: 217

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Hex code: #0050b4

OOC note: Sorry for the wait... I had a lot of work this week

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ☾☼☽ +:｡.｡　 ༺❀༻　｡.｡:+☾☼☽ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

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Skylar's eyes spark with interest as Thomas describes the book. A painting you can go into? Now that sounds interesting. She nods along as Thomas continues, her mind spinning with how different the book sounds compared to everything else she read. She makes a mental note to search for that book later. She gives Thomas her thanks, but her thoughts are settled on something else. What if she can create a painting of a world and just... enter it, like the protagonist apparently does in Ready Player One? It would be quite interesting, she feels, if she can create her own fantasy and actually live it. But wait, she technically could, couldn't she? All Skylar needs is imagination and paper to create a universe. The gears in her head start turning as an idea sparks into life. "Hold up, my braincells just formed a thought. What if we created a story together. Like a full immersive fantasy world. With our artistic talents and creativity, not only can we write out a wonderful storyline, we can draw the world setting, too!" Skylar grins as a game plan blossoms in her head. "We could make little figures for our characters as well! I recently found a liking to sculpting, so I have some extra clay in my room."

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Creating a story together… Thomas had never thought about it before. Over the years, he had made up a world of his own, somewhere he felt like he belonged. Being raised mostly with muggles, only to discover he was a wizard forced him to renounce his Muggle side, but he knew the wizarding world would never truly accept him, as if Muggles “tainted” him somehow. So to him that world was very... intimate, and bringing someone else felt… wrong somehow. But making a new world entirely? Hmm… That sounds fun, and besides I’m not giving up on what I’ve already made, right? I’m just… travelling between worlds. Yeah. Let’s go with that.

“Hmm…It sounds fun, count me in! I don’t know if we can actually go inside paintings, though? We could always ask professor Townsend, I think she’d be able to help us, Charms might be the closest subject we have, I mean magical paintings are enchanted, right?” He looked at the sky for a bit, thinking about some limitations they might encounter. We’ll probably have to wait a few years before making any kind of enchantment though, it’s probably too advanced for first years...Well, I’ve waited that long, I can wait some more I guess.

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ☾☼☽ +:｡.｡　 ༺❀༻　｡.｡:+☾☼☽ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

Mentions: @Thomas Lancaster

WC: 392

Hex code: #0050b4

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ☾☼☽ +:｡.｡　 ༺❀༻　｡.｡:+☾☼☽ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

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"Actually, I am not sure if there is a spell for it. The magical paintings around the school are enchanted purely because of the magic that surrounds it. The Hogwarts castle is so ancient and filled with years of magic that the portraits hung on the walls just became infused with it as well. That's just a fun little side fact though. Maybe there is a spell somewhere, we just have not learned it yet." Skylar says with a shrug. Flipping to a new page in her sketchbook, Skylar taps at the blank page with her pencil. "I think we could start with just basic world building first though. I noticed in some of the fantasy books I read, they always had this really cool map in the front, showcasing all the different locations in the author's world." But if Skylar was completely honest, she never created a world before. She may have thought of the idea, but she does not know the first thing about creating a map. She was deep in thought when she heard a slight rustle in the leaves above her, quite a few of them falling off and floating down. Tilting her head at the pile of leaves that had settle around her and Thomas, Skylar suddenly had an idea. Swiftly, she stands up and ventures towards the pile of leaves, collecting quite a few of them before returning back to Thomas's side. "Okay, this may look insane, but trust me on this." With that, Skylar dumps the leaves on her blank page. The leaves fall randomly in different positions, creating one strange shape in the center. Using her pencil, Skylar sketches the outline of the leaves, even the the visible gaps between them. Once she is finished, she brushes away the leaves, leaving a clean outline of a shape that looks like an island. Little shapes created by the gaps are also in the island, almost as if they were bodies of water. "There we go! We can use this shape as a base for our world. Now that we have a general landscape, now we just have to add more to it!" Skylar states excitedly. Perhaps they could put a village next to one of the particularly large "lakes," since civilizations tend to form in places near water due to the fertile land and resources.

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Thomas listened carefully as Skylar explained that the paintings in the school were enchanted due to the surrounding magic. While that was a perfectly fine explanation, after all he knew by now that with magic involved anything could be possible, he also knew of Magenta Comstock and her portraits whose eye could follow the viewers. That was pretty much revolutionary in the artistic sphere, so maybe it’s worth researching? Hmm… I’ll check it out later.

He watched in silence as she gathered fallen leaves and put them on her sketchbook, making a random blob on the page. Then she traced it’s outline, it was a technique Thomas had used before, although leaves were maybe a bit unusual, but considering it was all they had available it did the job.

Once she removed the leaves, they were left with an island with small lakes dotting it. All in all, a blank canvas ready for more details. “So, I actually know a thing or two about world building. Since we have an island, it allows for a more self-contained setting but it also allows us to add more in the future, which is pretty nice for a first time, I’d say.”

He quickly reproduced the shape in his own notebook, feeling it would be easier that way instead of passing it around all the time. “Now, we should think about the terrain some more. That will help us decide where to put settlements and other points of interest. Since we already have lakes, we know that around each lake is the least elevated area in the vicinity. They don’t have to be at the same height, though.”

He notice the lakes were mostly on the western side of the island, with smaller lakes on the eastern side. “I think we should place mountains next, that will help divide the land a bit and will allow us to decide on the climate of each area. See how there are no lakes near the middle of the island?” He circled the area with his pencil, leaving a faint line on his paper. “Also, I can see a divide between the western and the eastern part of the island, so having a mountain range there would look natural.”

He pencilled in a mountain range, splitting the island in half making sure to leave a space for a pass in the north. In the middle, he had drawn a much taller peak. “So... that could work, I think. We have a mountain range down the middle of the island. I made the mountain at the centre taller, because we have an island so it could have been formed thanks to volcanic activity. Or, it could also be a part of the mainland that has broken off at some point. Either way could work, I guess. I also made room for a mountain pass in the north, and the south is traversable, for now at least.”

After staring at the island for a bit, Thomas decided there weren’t enough mountains, so on the north eastern side sprouted a new range. The west was now looking sparse so de dotted the plains with small peaks here and there. The island wasn’t completely flat any more, yet it wasn’t enough.
“Hmm… I think that corner should be on a plateau” he said pointing at the north east. With a few strokes, he drew sheer cliffs, elevating an entire section of the plains. “Alright, now the landscape looks more interesting. Next, I think we should work on the coast. While having beaches all around is fine, I think it’s a bit boring, so I’ll add plenty of cliffs, capes and the like. That’ll help us add waterways afterward.”

Thomas thought about where to elevate the ground and where to keep it as is, sometimes looking up at the sky. They had been here for a while now and the sun was beginning to set, basking the lake in an orange glow. Soon enough, Tomas had a clear idea in mind and altered the coastline accordingly. Now on the western side of the island, he knew he wanted to add something more fantastical. “Oh! I know! Let’s add some twisted rock formation here. Almost like it’s being pulled up by some mystical force or something…”

With his work complete, Thomas handed the map to Skylar. “Well, next would be waterways and forests but it’s getting late and I shouldn’t be keeping this, or else I would just… do everything by myself and well… I’ve done it enough for I think. It’s meant to be a joined effort, so feel free to make your own changes and additions. Oh and sorry for well… hogging the paper, I’m just not use to all of this…” he said vaguely gesturing around.

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ☾☼☽ +:｡.｡　 ༺❀༻　｡.｡:+☾☼☽ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

Mentions: @Thomas Lancaster

WC: 552

Hex code: #0050b4

OOC note: RP finished!

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ☾☼☽ +:｡.｡　 ༺❀༻　｡.｡:+☾☼☽ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

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Skylar nods along as Thomas continues to add to the map. It is clear that he has a lot more experience with world building, so she was content with having him take the lead. Though she has a few ideas as well, most of them center around plot and specific landmarks. The overall world and terrain itself is something that Skylar struggles with, so having Thomas here to help was a great benefit. While Thomas draws in the mountains and describes the topography of the island, a few thoughts begin to form in Skylar's mind. Since there is now a large mountain range in the middle of the island, perhaps the people in their world are divided into eastern and western tribes. They could have been one collective group, but a disagreement led to a battle, and now they are split into two sides. One side would move beyond the mountain ranges and settle on the other side, while the other remains where they were. The two groups then lost contact for the next century or so, both developing their own civilization. As for the mountain range, a group of nymphs and druids could reside there, the woods being the source of their magic. When that one group left to cross the mountain range, the mountain folks aided them in their journey. They would also have a good relationship until later down the line, one of the rulers made a mistake and broke the relation between the mountain folks. Now all three groups are separated and divided. But there needs to be story that occurs in this world. Perhaps an adventure to save it from evil. And that story would need a catalyst. A starter. After years of maintaining an empire and ruling, surely there will be some conflict, right? Maybe there was a rebellion in one of the tribes. Some people were unhappy with how their were being ruled, so they decided to form a group of rebels to overthrow their leader. However, they were losing badly so they needed another plan. They would turn to the practice of ancient magic and try to summon something. But due to the fact magic has not been used in centuries, there was a mistake in the translation and they ended up summoning something evil. Skylar's attention was brought back by Thomas, who handed the map back to her. “Well, next would be waterways and forests but it’s getting late and I shouldn’t be keeping this, or else I would just… do everything by myself and well… I’ve done it enough for I think. It’s meant to be a joined effort, so feel free to make your own changes and additions. Oh and sorry for well… hogging the paper, I’m just not use to all of this…” "Oh, do not worry about it. World building was never my strong suit. I have a few really good ideas for the history of the world, though! But I'll tell you it all later, since we should probably head back to the castle now." Standing up and brushing off her robes, Skylar and Thomas share a few goodbyes before departing their own ways. She might send an owl later to decide where they are going to meet. But for now, the Gryffindor was hungry for some dinner.

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