villa flora

flora

The lantern sways gently in her hands as she threads it onto the hook by the pool, its glass catching the last blush of sunset and scattering the light across water drawn straight from Torchline’s healing fountain. With a flick of her match, the flame curls alive inside, and the whole thing glows with a warm, steady pulse, like the lantern itself has started to breathe. Stepping back, Flora tips her head, curls bouncing as a grin breaks wide across her face. Perfect.

Bare feet padding across the smooth stone, she makes her way to the bar, the bottles lined up like soldiers waiting to be put to work. She hums to herself as she fixes her own drink—gin, elderflower, a splash of tonic, finished with a twist of lime—and then turns her attention to something more theatrical. For Ludo, she builds a Shirley Temple with extra cherries, stacking them almost precariously high on the skewer, and tops it off with a ridiculous swirly straw that loops and curls like it can’t make up its mind. She sets the drink down on the counter with a little flourish, rainbow light from the stained glass skylight overhead scattering gems of colour across both glasses.

"Alright," she calls out, her voice bright with the satisfaction of a promise kept. "I did it! And I made you a drink." She leans against the bar, raising her own glass in a toast toward the open air, the grin still playing around her mouth, waiting for the herald to appear.

---

Flora has completed her quest from {Invalid Thread} . She's calling Ludo directly to the house!

1. Complete a thread dressing up as a traditional ghost, i.e. a sheet over the head, and spooking someone. tryna get my Usher on but I can't let it burn Scared Kai as a ghost and was invisible beneath!

2. Complete a thread leaving offerings for spirits at a shrine of Flora's choosing. Be sincere! (Please post in the board that houses the shrine, rather than the shrine itself).
the sign said satisfaction guaranteed Went to the Summit shrine with Mateo

3. Complete a thread making a lantern specifically to hang in the house for the spirits, and choose where to hang it. and that's why he's spinning 'round in my head Made several lanterns for spirits to go in various rooms (bedroom, kitchen, entrance way, pool).

4. Complete a thread being spiritual, however you would like to interpret that. (e.g. meditation, ouija boards, prayer, drinking spirits...)
out of my depth In 'high spirits' with Damien about building her house, and also drank spirits (from the Lucky Rum fountain) right near Ludo's shrine.

We need love, But all we want is danger
We team up, Then switch sides like a record changer

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

ludo Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own Ludo all but spills out onto the seat opposite where Flora has set their drinks, rags and smoke curling every which way, porcelain mask set into a beaming smile. "For me? Sweetling, you shouldn't have!" it chirps, one tendril reaching out to take the Shirley Temple, drawing it into the void within its robes where the crunching of glass and slurping of liquid can briefly be heard. "The straw was the tastiest," it announces, before glancing around. "I like your house," it says. "And I think I have found just the right spirits to keep it company!" Reaching up, it bat at the lantern she's lit overhead; immediately, the flame within begins to twist and flare into different colours, an ever changing flame to host the mischievous souls the herald has corralled together. A moment later, a hand will tap at Flora's shoulder, followed by a giggle and a few padding footsteps, but when she checks, no one will be there. And when she looks back? Ludo won't be there either. But there will be a pile of marbles and a few buttons left on the counter as a gift. Flora has completed her quest! Wildering House has received the following: Full of Spirit | Wildering House has been blessed(?) with a host of spirits, bringing the estate to life with gentle hauntings and other mischievous happenings. Whether the spirits or naughty or nice entirely depends on the guest, as well as the house owner's opinion of them.

flora

Flora grins as Ludo all but tumbles into the seat, her eyes dancing as the Shirley Temple disappears into the depths of its rags followed by the tell-tale crunch of glass. Her grin only widens at the proclamation that the straw was the tastiest bit. "I’ve got plenty more," she promises, bouncing her eyebrows in quick emphasis. "Anytime you want seconds—or thirds—you just pop by. You're always welcome."

She watches with a kind of delighted reverence as its tendril brushes the lantern’s flame, the colours blooming and twisting into something alive and changeable. The tap on her shoulder makes her spin, curls flying, but of course the space is empty. By the time she turns back, Ludo is gone too, as if it had never been there at all—except for the marbles and buttons sitting neatly on the counter like a signature.

A laugh bursts bright and unguarded from her chest as she scoops them up, holding the mismatched treasures in her palms as if they were diamonds. "Alright then," she murmurs to herself, already planning. "Guess you’re going in a lantern of your own."

With the rainbow light from the stained glass spilling across the bar, Flora tucks the little pile of gifts safely away, still smiling to herself as the house hums quietly with the spirits she’s welcomed in.

~FIN

We need love, But all we want is danger
We team up, Then switch sides like a record changer

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!