[DROP] [SE] a hop, a skip and a jump!

Ludo It's a dark, dark night out in the Kuali'i Isles, but something out there is flickering, and it can be seen even from the shore. It's lots of somethings, on closer inspection - lanterns and tiki torches, poking out from islands big and small, and even a few bobbing around on little rafts in the surrounding waters. You can't see Ludo, because that would be winning cheating, but the wicked glee on the air tells of the herald's presence. "Hide and seek, hide and seek!" it trills through the darkness. "I'm the seeker and you're the hiders. If I find you, then you're out!" Quite what that means is a matter left up for debate. "And if you're the last one hiding, maybe you'll get a *~PRIZE~*!" Welcome to the LeafChange Seasonal Drop! If you'd like to play hide and seek with Ludo, please post your character arriving and hiding in the next 48 hours. (Note: everyone is welcome to this Drop regardless of race, there aren't going to be any consequences for Ascended playing or whatnot - it's just a bit of fun!)

to be lit up from within

vein by vein

Melita, eternally eager for some Ludo plots, machinations, adventures, and fun was immediately enticed by the lantern lights, tiki torches, and the promise of games. Vastly entertained by anything of such nature, and childish in many decrees, it didn’t take long for her to be swept up in the potential cacophony and chaos.

Lacking in any ways of hiding by magic, items, or any other regular formation out on the sand (the honeybee was almost always loud, and there were only so many rocks she’d be able to slide behind), she took to the shadows and pondered over the possibilities. Perhaps channeling? But not her favorite (Ludo), unfortunately, due to the nature of the entertainment. For a moment she wrinkled her nose, and then shrugged. “Spirits,” she whispered into the darkness. “Can you hide me?”

--

Melita uses her channeling to try and channel a spirit to hide her.

Accepted Channeling: Allows an Accepted to channel a deity or lesser spirit during a time of crisis (1x a season)
Type: Light | Rank: Upgraded

to be the sun

MELITA

Lena

let me wander
with the ones

The Caretaker didn’t come to Torchline often; but she was forcing herself to get her mind out of grief and maybe more on practicalities, or what to do next. A majority of the time her brain would go back to work – quietly observing animals in their habitats, hoping to find a thread of answers in the shape of feathers or the glimmer of a talon.

Instead, the distraction came on godly whispers and dark evenings along Isles, a matter of play she might’ve attended to with a widened grin, had she not been in the form of a fox. Instead, there was some mild panic as she looked about the variety of the surface (sand, sand, and more sand), before she ran along the shadows, out of lantern light, intending to duck within brush and vegetation, tail covering the rest of her features.

--

Lena tries to hide in some nearby vegetation and brush in fox form.

who are tangled in stars
and tethered to promise

SuNjATA

the flood

Oh, this should be a nice little event. Sunjata finds himself here, though he isn’t sure quite how. Autopilot in a way that brings him back to Torchline, back to the ocean, as if it might harbor some of the answers he seeks. And that’s where he finds the growing crowd and Ludo once again. He’s arrived as a bat, realized what was going on, and imagines that if Ludo is the seeker then he needs to hide himself well.

He only has a few tricks up his sleeves, though. So the demigod departs from the group, heading for the woods on wings of black that once he’s gotten far enough away changes into wings of sapphire as he shifts to his macaw shift and wonders if hiding in plain sight is easier. And it’s Torchline so a macaw isn’t quite out of the question, is it?

He seeks out some other macaws, some in a small treeline along one of the islands, sleeping for the moment of reprieve that he intends to take advantage of. He lands on the branch, tucks his head into his wing in a mirror of the others beside him, and he waits.

---

Sunjata tries to hide in his macaw form among some other macaws!

fall into your blue

fighting it is hopeless

sinking in your ocean

RONIN

THE DARK STAR

Much like Sunjata, Ronin finds himself here by the sort of coincidence that can only be god-driven (probably). Regardless, he's among the shifting islands with the rest of those who have arrived, and Ludo's instructions can't be much clearer. He opts to stay in his usual form, but he does conjure his nimbus down from the skies above, flying it out among the brush that borders the shores of one of the islands.

Flattening himself down on the nimbus, Ronin peeps through the trees and scrub to try and spy the herald (not that he expects to have much luck). Hopefully the fact that he can't be seen by anyone ducking down to peep through the undergrowth should work in his favour.

---

Ronin lays down on his nimbus and hides in some undergrowth along the shores of one of the islands.

now don’t you lose hope

I swear I never dream that we’re alone

I swear I still believe but I don’t know

DEIMOS

what tried to destroy you
didn't have the strength

Returning to Torchline briefly to gather any odds and ends from the guild hall, it didn’t take much more than the looming abyss, the chatter of heralds, or the altering, shifting, and changing of isles to warrant his curiosity. Inquiring to a fault, he followed after patterns and lines made by others, watching as the rest managed to dissipate back into voids. Like shadows and traces of nothingness – and as the words filtered, cycled, through his ears, he understood why.

A game - meant to be an amusement while they trekked along war’s doorframe. For a moment he thought to laugh – recalling, remembering, other days spread out across the sands, chasing down parallels and deities just the same.

Minding his footprints with a touch of incantations, ensuring none followed in his wake due to earthen abilities, the Sword stood off in the shadows, winding along outer reaches and down towards beaches, placing his Invisibility Cloak over his massive frame.

--

Deimos heads to the outer shore, intending to cover up any footprints left with Mastered Earth magic, and then puts on his Invisibility Cloak.

Earth Manipulation: Can create and control the earth. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered

Type: Grey | Style: Other | Level: Upgraded
Invisibility Cloak | Ornate, detailed cloak, that when worn, renders up to two individuals (or a rider on a horse) invisible.

still you stand
sturdy and smelling of smoke

if I ever start to think straight

Amun had been sailing on the Night Galleon, mostly to blow off steam (and also providing any other Ascended a ride if they wanted to jump on). However, the lights on a nearby isle caught his eye. He managed to drop anchor and lower the boat, rowing over to the shore. Dragging the boat onto the sands so it wouldn't drift away, he headed towards whatever was going on.

Seeing Ludo there, he paused. However, the god explained the situation. Hesitating for just a moment, he headed for the thickest part of the underbrush he could see. Slapping his illusory cloth onto his face, he used it to disguise it as just another part of the scrubs. At the same time, he phased the rest of his body through the trees, bushes, and other greenery, trying to get as deep and hidden as he could.

---

Amun uses his illusory cloth to camouflage his face to look like greenery, and uses his phasing upgrade to get as deep into the undergrowth as he could.

Type: Grey | Style: Other | Level: Basic
Illusory Cloth | A 3x3 square of rubbery cloth. When used by an ascended onto ascended skin, it can mimic the texture or colour of whatever the applier is thinking of (changing eye colour over one eye, bits of hair, adding a scar, etc)

Type: Defensive | Level: Basic
Can't Touch This | When active, this upgrade allows the user to walk through walls/barriers with a thickness less than 5ft. Can also turn portions (up to 80%) of the body intangible to deflect attacks. Requires a 1 post cool down between uses. Cannot use upgrades stored in parts of the body that are intangible.

The world is new to you, and you to it. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)

this heart will start a riot in me

Amun

Cameron

Cam accompanied Amun to the isles; they'd been looking to explore the ocean a little more. When Ludo's game became clear, Cam's eyebrows shot up, and they turned towards Amun. "Sounds fun, do you think ... Oh."

Amun was already hidden. Well, that answered the question of whether they were participating. Cam glanced around, looking for a good hiding spot. Maybe behind the boat? No, that was too obvious. They didn't have any cool upgrades like Amun's to hide them ... But they did have one advantage over the average Joe: they could see in the dark. So they headed away from the torches until they found a nice pile of rocks on a little island beyond the edge of the lit area. Then they slid into the dark shadows beneath an angled rock. Shadow alone probably wouldn't hide them from a god, but they'd wiggled their way into the rock pile in such a way that other rocks concealed them from most angles.

---

Cam hides under a rock in the darkest part of the area!

HG citizenship: The world is new to you, and you to it. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)

"Light painting" by kevin dooley is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

A whim brought Juniper to these shores -- a whim or perhaps a premonition, some instinct that there was something here for her.

She was a little nonplussed, though, to discover that that something was a godly game of hide and seek. Still, she'd come all the way here; she could humor Ludo. Better to play and lose than never play at all ... she hoped.

Watching the other participants find their hiding places, Juniper considered how to play to her own strengths. She ended up picking out a large tree with a bushy canopy and flying up into it, secreting herself among the leaves in a position comfortable enough to allow her to remain perfectly still, concealed by the foliage.

Juniper

"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here

Someone had wanted a package sent to, of all places, Torchline, and Tal had screwed his courage to the sticking place and brought it, grumbling all the way. It was too damn hot here, and there was sand that went absolutely everywhere inconvenient, and somehow he'd gotten turned around after delivering the parcel and ended up following the wrong person the wrong way and--

And now there was whispering in his ear and a sense that he really ought to do what the creepy voice said, even if he wasn't in the mood for games.

Scowling, Tal looked around as the other people in the area scattered, faded, or simply melted into the shadows.

Aw, what the hell.

Tal ducked behind the nearest cluster of rocks and then pulled his dark travel-cloak over him like a child hiding their head under their blanket to keep the monster under the bed at bay as he crouched down and went still as ice on the Tundra, just another stone among the rest.

---

Tal hides among some big rocks and pulls his dark cloak over him to try and blend in with his new boulder buddies.

Hadama was not often up late at night; early to kelp bed, early to rise, as the saying went. But for once he couldn't seem to get to sleep. Something itched beneath his scarred skin, unsettling his thoughts until he slipped away into the sea and towards the surface. There was light there tonight, and an unusual amount of motion around the wandering isles, and the mermanta swam close enough to hear the laughing challenge.

He considered the rules before giving a thoughtful nod and shifting fully into his manta form. Coasting silently into the shallows of one of the torchlit islands, he held his breath and settled into the sand, wriggling until it settled over him and covered his gold-streaked black dorsal surface.

---

Hadama shifts into full ray form and burrows into the sand in the shallows of one of the islands.

DARKEYE

Not the strongest win the battle —

Darkeye comes to the islands out of pure curiosity and when he hears the voice he closes his eyes to better understand the sound and nods when Ludo finishes his sentence. He thinks about how he can best hide. He tries to find a fetching tree and go in there, closing the entrance with a slab of wood and bark from another tree. He wipes the tracks away by simply pouring water over them. He is sure that he does not have much of a chance against other "players" but being there is everything. He would like to ask Kor for help, but it would be against his nature to do it on his own. As soon as he is in the fetch tree, he sits down in a cross-legged position and meditates. His breath becomes shallow and his heart beats slower.

---

Darkeye tries to hide in a hollow tree and close the entry with the same wood and breathe very calmly.

— the smartest do

Coding base by Sky

Lilliane

I know I'm just a girl, but can I change lives?

The last thing Lilliane had expected on her nightly walk was a game of hide and seek with one of the heralds. But as it was, this seemed to be exactly what she had run into. The instructions were clear. She might as well join in for some fun.

She hurried further inland on one of the isles, keeping an eye out for possible hiding places. In the end, she settled for a big bush. Grabbing a few twigs from nearby foliage, she crawled under and into the bush, using the twigs to close up any gaps between the leaves of the bush, hoping that nobody can see her this way.

---

Lilliane hides inside/below a big bush and uses twigs to close the gap she crawled in through.

If I am nothing, if I am trying, I think I can

Coding base by Sky

Chrys

When Chrys saw the lights, she obviously had to check what was going on. It might be something interesting after all. And much to her delight, the evening promised to be not only interesting but also fun. Playing hide and seek with Ludo would be both exciting and fun at the same time.

Diving below the waves, Chrys checked the shore of the islands lighted with torches, until she found a place she deemed suitable. A few cracks on the rocky side of an island. She changed into her jellyfish form and squeezed into one of the cracks to hide.

---

Chrys tries to hide as a jellyfish in a crack in an underwater rock..

Coding base by Sky