World Tree MUSH

    Toadstool Castle is very... pink.

    Atop a short hill just outside Toad Town - where visitors are most likely to arrive, from a Vine that manifests as a bright green pipe for some reason - the castle is of late European design. Obviously not intended to actually be any sort of fortress, the architecture is vastly form over function, with tall towers jutting out of the central keep. There is a moat, but it's within the rather low outer wall, and seems to be more decorative than defensive.

    The front of the castle bears a stained glass portrait of Princess Peach.

    Visitors are ushered not into the castle itself, but around it a ways, into one of the many sprawling gardens. Tables and chairs have been set up a short walk away from a conservatory adjoining the castle. The largest table holds a frankly intimidatingly large, bright pink frosted cake, as well as several platters of sandwiches, smaller confectionaries, and of course, several tea pots in frilly pink tea cozies.

    There are several mushroom people milling about. Most are dressed as servants, and are still getting things ready, while a couple appear to be local celebrities. There's also one elderly mushroom man, his mushroom cap a dull yellow with large brown spots, sporting a quite respectable grey moustache and little pince-nez spectacles, dressed in formal attire. Now and then he checks his pocket watch and frowns.

    There's no sign of the princess.

    In the middle-distance is a faint engine noise...

    ::"You have arrived at your destination.":: 

    Shin has the business card in one hand and his cell phone in the other as he looks up at the magenta castle before him. He tilts his head a bit at it and then looks at the pink business card in his hand. This must be the place. 

    He's pretty amicable to the idea of servants leading him somewhere, if a bit bored by the whole pomp and circumstance of the situation. That's why he fishes a cell phone out of his pocket and immediately begins playing with it, tapping at the screen rapidly as he takes a seat and immediately starts balancing ont he back-two legs of the chair.

Things were for once quiet on the frontier. The current Grock activity was down to a minimum, nothing that the Watch Dogs couldn't handle without the Red Flash's help. So, like most cowboys not being the sort to stick in one place longer than he was needed, he'd gone off to see where some of these other 'Vines' led to.

It was by sheer coincidence that the way he'd pick lead to one of the Vines that slid out of the ground in the shape of a pipe and for lack of better words spat a red and tan ball out of it. Which tumbled up against the side of a house while unrolling. "... Huh.", is all Dillon really has to say at the upside down view of several Toads peering at him. " 'Scuse Me." He rolled back onto his feet, grabbed his hat and gave it a shake before plopping it back on his head and adjusting the brim.

Dillon is about to just walk off again, but one of the Toads assumes he's a visitor for the party and grabs his arm before he can and tugs him the other way towards the gardens.

Not unaccustomed to having random townsfolk grab for attention and lead him off for some oddjob or another, Dillon just shrugs and ambles after the small mushroomy-shaped (is that a mushroom hat or his head?) fellow.

    A tea party! That is what... normal girls do, right? Raylene is totally a normal girl! "Stop complaining, you just ate," she is muttering, before quieting down for the scenic little tour she is being given. Raylene has dressed up for the occasion, but that's easy for her.

    Arriving just after Shin, she perks up in surprise. "Well this is unexpected. Tokuyama, wasn't it?" She's already heading for a chair...

    When an armadillo walks in. "Hm, I spoke too soon."

Ollie had got the short lot on this one, or the Jarl and her dad had conspired against her. Both were entirely possible given those two as she thought about it. She had no real formal clothing, at least she was /clean/ , she also had a strange thing perched on her shoulder. A small reptile like thing with wings a taiil and a face full of /teeth/ it was chittering happily enough though as she walks in. 

 "I never seen such a place like this but it looks so ... unguarded."

    Following RIGHT behind Olivia is a woman with jet black skin and large, black-feathered wings. Vivian didn't bother to disguise herself, unaware that people she knew would be here. She's speaking to Olivia as she comes from behind, in that melodic voice of hers.

    "The defenses may be hidden... or perhaps it is merely a peaceful place," she says. "It certainly doesn't look like a place that is under assault often, but appearances can be deceiving."

    They are in fact their heads, not hats.

    The elderly mushroom man checks his pocket watch again, and gives a slight sigh. He clears his throat to make some sort of announcement... when he overhears a conversation taking place between several of the stranger-looking guests. He looks to be very slightly offended, and is just about to say something about it...

    When that engine noise becomes really quite loud! There's a screeching of tires and the sound of something heavy slamming into something very immobile.

    Then a woman dressed head to toe in a pink motorbike racer outfit, complete with helmet, comes running around the corner.

    The elderly mushroom man siiighs, and raises a hand. "Ladies and gentlemen? I present to you Her Majesty Princess Peach," he intones dryly, just as the biker woman skids to a halt next to him, panting.

    Off comes the helmet, and... well, it's definitely peach. How does she fit that much hair in that helmet? "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry I lost track of time! U-um... welcome to the Mushroom Kingdom! Eheh..."

    She gives an embarassed little wave to Shin, as he's the only off-worlder she recognises right now.

So it's a picinic of some sort? Dillon doesn't feel quite so awkward, as that means food and something to drink, hopefully.

But everyone else arriving appears to be women. Or what looks like women to him, for not being animal folk like himself. So the only reasonable response is to grip his hat with one hand and give it a polite tip in general. "Ladies." Nothing more or less needing to be said to keep greetings polite.

The engine roar gets him to snap his head back up though. Few things were he comes from makes noise like that, and for a moment he's half expecting it to be some sort of monster...

But it turns out to just be another lady, this one royalty some sort. So he does the same tip gesture with his hat. "Yer highness."

The hat tip also hiding a bit of a smirk at the Princess making a very ungirly entrance, accidental timing or not.

    "Yo whadda-" Shin starts to greet Princess Peach before he hears a voice out of the corner of his attention array and looks up, immediately placing his phone into his pocket, "YOU." He's glaring right at Vivian, "You are lucky I am in someone else's house or I would put you through so many walls they'd think you were a fiber optic cable." 

    He points at Vivian, "Mind your damn behavior. I'm watchin' you." He's at least managed to not flying spinkick Vivian across the garden, mostly because he's a guest in Peach's house and doesn't have the money to pay for damaging a castle.

    Hmm. Vivian is here. Raylene's head snaps toward Shin with a look of startlement, but then she smooths her dress as she realizes he's not going to start a fight right here and now. "I do wonder if our host..."

    The host who arrives momentarily, it seems. Raylene clears her throat, rises, and does a formal curtsey. "Greetings."

Olivia Montag kinda gapes at the strange machine she knows it's a machine but she's never seen anything like it before her shoulder pet hisses flapping it's wings i a threat display but Ollie moves to try and settle the thing. 

 "No it's not going to try to eat us Wing Tooth." 

 When the intro come she's got enough sense she knows what the term Princess is and she bow slightly to the other woman. 

 "It's quite strange place, but it seems more peaceful than I ever thought for a place to be." 

 Nothing has tried to /eat/ her yet today here, that was a rarity. 

 She shoots Vivian a look and just kinda stares at the wings muttering something under her breath "A Valkyrie?" 

 "I am Olivia Montag of the Einherjar tribe." 

 Raylene gets a look for a moment and she stares long as Dillon, her pet seems a bit confused too as it looks at Dillon making a confused squak.

    Vivian flexes wings, then gives a polite nod to Shin and Raylene, before smiling to the others. Her hearing is fine, and Olivia saying that makes her blink in surprise. "Valkyrie? No, I am merely a wandering entertainer with a colorful history."

    She steps aside so that Peach can enter with her fanfare, while idly looking at the others. To Shin, she shakes her head. "This World is not in a good position to benefit from my interference."

    One of the handmaiden-mushrooms sidles up to Peach and holds up a crown. Peach takes it and swiftly places it on her head, glancing down at a mirror held by the handmaiden to straighten it, before looking out towards her guests again. She managed not to catch Shin's outburst toward Vivian - that or she's decided to ignore it. She takes a few moments to compose herself, then steps towards the gathering. "Please, make yourselves at home! Refreshments have been provided, of course. Please do help yourselves~ If you have any special dietary requirements please let one of the servants know and we'll try our best to accomodate you."

    She gives a little wave to Dillon, Raylene and Olivia as they offer some formality. "Oh, that's not really necessary. I'm hardly dressed properly right now anyway~ Oh, and, um, it's 'Majesty', not 'Highness' - b-because I'm the um... the Princess-Regent- you know what it doesn't actually matter people get it wrong all the time."

    "So! Shin I recognise. As for the rest of my wonderful offworld guests... It's very good to meet you!"

    She smiles to Olivia, reaching out tentatively for the small creature on her shoulder. "Oh my gosh he's so cute. What's his name?" Smile smile~

"Duely noted," replied the armadillo as he replaced his hat on his head. "Not dealt with royal folk much."

There's a long and somewhat awkward pause, as if expecting someone else to start talking. Until Dillon remembers that he's traveling without the chatty squirrel these days.

"Dillon," is all that he gives in way of an actual introduction. No more than that is needed.

    "Raylene Dunwich," says the young girl, straightening. "Thank you for the invitation. I have been so busy of late, I have been forgetting to... ah... socialize." She smiles lightly. "Something I am not the best at, I am afraid."

    Hmm. "Is that...?" Raylene peers at Olivia's pet, then humns, before stepping aside and instead deciding to mingle. Away from Vivian. It's Dillon that she decides to pester, because he's so taciturn.

    "So." She stares. "Armadillo, hm? How is that working for you?"

    Shin drops backwards into his chair after warning Vivian. Whether her answer satisfies him or not, he seems to not press the issue here in Peach's home. Instead, he goes back to playing on his cell phone, "Shin Tokuyama. That's me. Wandering martial arts sage." 

    He taps at his phone boredly, "Fucking rate-up. Give me an SSR." He grouses at the screen before looking up at Dillon, "You look like some dude's OC off Deviant Art. Nice to meet you."

Olivia Montag looks at Vivian not so sure about that, she won't push it but she's clealry still looking funny at Vivian for a moment more. Shin however gets Olivia's attention for a seocnd before Dillon tlaks and that gets more of a suprised look on Olivia's face, yup she's not used to this at all. 

 "Oh this is Wing Teeth he's my Dimorphodon." 

 A Dinosaur? Or something from their era it seems. 

 "You are the strange Dodie I haver ever seen Dillon. Wait what's na Arnadillo?" 

 Olivia eyes the device. 

 "What is that....you have there, Shinn?" It looks almost like..."

    Wings stretch lightly, and Vivian watches the socialization begin. She debates dancing or something, but with Shin's hostility and Raylene knowing her, she opts instead to find a seat. "A pleasure. I am Vivian, a wandering entertainer and mage. If you should ever have need of such."

    That's all, huh? She's less enamored with the dinosaur, but she does remark quietly, "Quite an array of different species here."

    Peach smiles at Wing Tooth. "Well! I'd say he's just about the cutest Dimorphodon I have ever met," she praises the little creature in a sing-song voice. "Does he take a lot of looking after? I've never really had a pet before. Toadsworth says I'm not responsible enough for one..." She hmphs a little bit.

    It's not long after everyone has settled down that everyone has a cup of tea in front of them. Exactly when did that happen...? These servants sure are efficient.

    Raylene is given a friendly smile, but Peach seems slightly more interested in whatever Shin's doing right now. "Shi-in... what're you playing?" she asks as she sidles up to him, trying to peer over his shoulder. She pats at where her pockets WOULD be were she wearing anything else. "Oh, shoot, where did I put my phone..."

    Distractedly, she says to Vivian: "A lot of species? I didn't notice... Seems pretty par for the course to me!"

The DeviantArt comment just gets a blank looks. He comes from a world still using things like radios and newspapers, internet isn't even a pipe dream. At least one person knows what species he is though. "Wouldn't be much else."

He pauses as the cup is handed to him. First to figure out how to hold it without scraping the cup with his claws. Then to sniff at it. Smells more like something Professor Paca would drink, but he's not going to turn down hospitality.

"Y'all look just as unusual to me." It's not a rebuttal, just a simple statement of what's what before he tries sipping the tea. Actually not bad.

    "Cell phone." He holds it up so that Olivia can see it, "Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. Latest model out of Akihabara." He doesn't let her touch it or anything, but she can get a good view of it in his hand. He looks over towards Peach and gives her a smile, "Fantasy Heroes Unlimited right now. I also have Pocket Fighters installed and I'm pretty deep into Dungeon Dreamers. Oh. And I play Girls Frontline. Negev is my waifu." 

    Fantasy Heroes Unlimited, at least, looks like a pretty standard phone gacha game. RPG-oriented, dungeons, 4-character-party. Visual novel exposition.

    Oh, tea, how nice. Raylene accepts with a light sip. Hmm. "I don't doubt that we do," Raylene says to Dillon. "I have been offworld several times in the last few months, myself. Though a small problem at home has me preoccupied right now."

    She keeps glancing at Vivian, perhaps trying to get some idea of why the woman is here. "Sometimes I end up involved in other problems. The winged one is something of a troublemaker, I understand."

    "This area of the tree is predominantly human in its foundations, or close to it," Vivian says, regarding the unusual species comment. "I think other parts of the tree drift further away from that, but I have not visited them. It's much easier for me to operate in worlds where I look relatively normal."

    Peer. "Troublemaker? Something like that. It is unfortunately the only way to get what I ultimately want. It's nothing personal."

Olivia Montag happily takes the tea she doesn't hold the cup /properly/ but she seems to know not to slurp it down. 

 Wing Teeth seems to know the woman is praising it and makes a rather happy sounding trilling noise while it seems intent ot not leave Olivia's shoulder for now. She looks at Dillon and has nothing she can say to that. 

 "a cell phone?" 

 She pauses looking at it for a moment. 

 "Sounds impressive but what does it do it looks like you were playing ... wait a game? My father told me about such things!" 

 She seems pretty interested for a moment but pauses. "Waifu?"

    "I have heard of literally NONE of those games. ... Could you text me their names? I'll probably forget them before I get a chance to check them all out..." Peach rubs the back of her head. "...Wa-waifu? ... Oh gosh you sound just like that chameleon..." she mumbles this last part partially under her breath. "...If I find dakimakura of myself for sale somewhere I'm going to have a fit I swear."

    Nobody tell her.

    "A troublemaker you say~?" she teases in a playful tone as she approaches Raylene - while eyeing Vivian with catlike curiosity. "And a mage at that? Hmmm. I'll have to keep an eye on you, I think~" she teases playfully. It's quite clear she doesn't really expect this 'trouble' to be a big deal.

    "...You know, honestly, I think all of you fit in here pretty much as well as anyone else. There's, um. ... There's a LOT of different races in this world. I understand this isn't actually a common occurance."

The talk of games and waifus and pretty much anything else that comes out of Shin's mouth or responds to it is lost on Dillon.

'Troublemaker' gets him to also peer in Vivian's direction as well, though it's mostly lost beneath the brim of his hat as he's also making like sipping more of his tea. Though unless she actually does something to make trouble, there's no reason for the Ranger to get riled up about it.

    "Yeah. Mobages are the shit," Shin says to Olivia when she confirms that he's playing a game. He lifts the cell phone in front of his face again and then looks to Peach, "I'll text you the name of each and my friend code. I got some good rosters, so you can piggy-back the early levels off me and reduce the grind." 

    After sending a text to Peach, Shin kills the phone and stuffs it in his pocket, "A waifu is a 2D character that people connect with on a somewhat creepy level and sometimes they buy pillows, pictures, or figurines of them. It's usually an anime character, but it can be from any piece of media, really. And people tend to latch onto any female character, even obscure unnamed ones that only appear on screen for like six seconds before dying. ESPECIALLY those ones, in fact."

    Perhaps sensing Dillon's confusion, Raylene asides to the 'dillo, "Don't worry, he's always like that. I don't understand most of it either." She does seem old-fashioned... even if she has a cell phone of her own. Though when he gets into more detail...

    "That is creepy," she admits.

    To Peach, "Ah, my world is mostly populated by humans, but I have seen some unusual beings. Yours seems... much more open, and I would guess Mister Dillon here is in a similar boat." She smiles faintly. "I'm not certain of Tokuyama's, or if Vivian here is... normal for her world or not." Olivia she has no idea yet.

Olivia Montag aks another wqquestion. "Mobages?" The crouption of this innocent soul has begun, Shi and you are the starting point. She does stop watching it once it ends up being turned off. She seems to be curious for a moment, then kinda stares at Shin talking about Wifus. 

 "..." 

 Most of that went over Olivia's head but her creep alarm is going off she got Character she got people getting attached to a fictional, person. 

 "This is the first time I met anyone who wasn't human."

    Vivian takes a sip of tea as well, and then tsks to Peach. "She is right, and you would not want the sort of trouble I cause. But your world is a poor candidate for it anyway. The amount of effort it would take would be better spent on worlds closer to the tipping point."

    Raylene's assessment has her shaking her head. "I am of a rare Troupial and have a striking appearance, but only as much as any other pretty woman would be. My world is populated predominantly by people like myself, though not all of them have fully-formed wings."

    "...SO much like that chameleon. What was his name? Francis? I'm pretty sure it was Francis..." Peach murmurs to herself.

    She seems almost alarmed by Olivia's statement. "-Really-? But..." She shakes her head. "...For most of my life I only actually knew -three- other humans. ... Or possibly four. Is Wario a human...? Or maybe he's some sort of goblin..." She trails off, murmuring to herself. "I know he's a Star Child but so are DK, Yoshi and Bowser so it's not like that proves anything..."

    And then Vivian is being all Slightly Menacing. "I will... keep that in mind, I guess~" she says after a few moments, going back to her friendly smile. "...So you said you were a mage? Me too! Although I'm not really that good~" That may be a genuine confession or simply humility. It's hard to tell.

Dillon nods a little to Raylene. It's weird, but it's not really causing a problem so he doesn't bother himself over it. "Back home are like me, but different species." Sums it up well enough, there's too many specific ones to really get into a list in polite conversation.

    Setting her cup down, Vivian smiles to Peach. It isn't a threatening smile! Her earlier ominous remarks were honest, not trying to be creepy. "A mage, yes, or at least that is the term many in the Tree use for it. I have several talents, but most notably I possess an Arasswa'il of the Wind. That is to say, I have a particular talent and potency in casting wind-aligned spells."

Olivia Montag says "Far as people go yes, the only people I have ever met are hummans Princess." She kinda shrugs a bit "I thought we were all that there was." She pauses for a moment looking to Vivian and then at the comment of a mage. "I would avoid magic myself, nothing but touble. Got enough with the Dinos to worry about than angering the gods or spirits as well."

    Raylene stares at Vivian a long moment, but decides to let it go. "Hmm." Besides, Dillon is more relatable to her at the moment. "Other species? I suppose that makes sense. I think I have a good idea of your world of origin. I have a few acquaintances that would most likely want to visit sometime."

    Raylene drains her teacup, then speaks again, "In my world, magic is definitely something to avoid. My own is far less flashy than most that I've seen, though. And Vivian's is... yes, potent is a word."

    Peach is still nothing but smiles. She holds her hands behind her back and rocks slightly on the balls of her feet. "-Wind- magic? Hmmm... that can be pretty cool~ I think Bowser has a few wind-specialist magikoopas on retainer, but I can't think of anyone else in this world who's particularly good with it..." She taps her chin thoughtfully.

    ""...Ha, if you want to avoid magic maybe you should... not come here very much. Given, you know, there's magic literally everywhere!" she waves her hand as if to demonstrate - trailing a line of sparkly lights through the air as she does. "The plants, the hills, the clouds, the people... magic suffuses everything here. It was quite a shock to find that was unusual!" She does a full spin around as she says this, just holding her arms out to gesture at... the world in general.

    "-My- magic is... I suppose 'purity magic', although it's a little unique so we don't really have any official classification for it~"

"Reckon not every concept of magic is the same." Dillon doesn't have a lot to say, but at least he's making an effort to be in the conversation.

It's a little easier when there's not a lot of weird off-world terminology flying right over his head.

    "Dillon is likely right," Raylene says. She sets her empty cup down. "I have already seen some very different sorts of magics from what I know, and I am something of a scholar on my world. Well, more occult than magic in general." She hmns. "I am glad that this chat remained peaceful though."

Olivia Montag will drink some of her tea and she pauses for a moment "That can be part of the problem." She doesn't seem hateful more like someone whose been set on fire so to speak but she's not hostile about it. "This tea is quite good, and perhaps I speak from personal experiance the ruins of those who angered the gods? Litter my home."

    When Olivia talks, Vivian looks like she is about to say something... then thinks better of it. "Yes, many types of magic. We don't exactly call it that at home. Like this place, my entire home is steeped in magic. It has stunted our technological growth, until recently. But that is of little consequence."

    Vivian stretches her wings, then gives Raylene a pleasant smile. "Of course it is. I am not a monster, child. I simply have my own reasons."

    Peach claps her hands together. "Now! This conversation is very interesting, and I do so love to meet new people..." She turns to the main table. "But we have a -cake- here. And we're not -eating- it. This shameful display cannot continue."

    She snaps her fingers - and a servant hands her a knife right on cue. "Since I -baked- it I should probably be the one to -serve- it hm?" she says to... nobody in particular. Possibly trying to convince her servants to lay off, or something?

    In any case, the cake is cut. It's a very large cake - the group is barely going to eat a tenth of it. Each guest is handed a plate.

    The cake is delicious.