The United Kingdoms Of Auradon

Ben and Mal called an emergency meeting of all available Missrecalled, a day after Fouques' network post.

A Message From The King And Queen

"As some of you may have seen, we received a message from the Isle about the dire circumstances they now face."

"Where we had firestorms, they apparently had floods, and a lot of their supplies were destroyed.

"We know it is soon after our last visit to the Isle, and many of us are still dealing with the fall out from the fires, but we need to go back sooner rather than later, to help as best we can. So we need to put together whatever we can find that we can spare."

"And we should prepare some extra rooms here, depending on what we find, we may be bringing more people back than usual."

Mal narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, then addressed everyone again. "We want to assure you that as always, we will do our best to make sure that we are not bringing over anyone who may mean anyone here harm."

"We also are looking into opening the new area we found to people, if we need more space. But work on that location has paused, as this is the more urgent situation. The newly opened area is still off limits for the time being, until we can finish getting it prepared."
Mal nodded. "Any questions?"

Stitch In Very Little Time To Save Nine?

There hasn't been long since the last Isle visit at all. Not long enough to have a stockpile of food and clothes ready to go, so this is a bit of a scramble. A little more all hands than usual. The Queen has been using her magic to make raw materials where she can, but she looks like she's pushing herself too hard, and it is making some people try to figure out more on their own to not bother her. But people should be generally either looking for help or looking to help.

This might be a good chance to corner someone you've been wanting to talk to while you work on something together, or a chance to work with someone you never really got to speak to before. Also some people are very tense after hearing who is now on the Isle. This might be a good time to find out why...

The Calm Before The Storming Of The Isle

Other than the people who would work themselves to the last possible moment, it was the time for everyone to take a break before heading out. Last minute trying to get people to put the work down, resting before it was time to load the boat.

The long string of beautiful sunny days showed no sign of coming to an end. On one hand it meant lots of long lazy days that could be spent outside enjoying the sun. For those who had recently been on the Isle, it was probably a welcome change. For those who have been concerned with planting, there is plenty of water for the crops and for people to drink, but the grass and trees were on the dryer side. Not enough to threaten the trees generally, at least not yet. And Ben who has lived through the Auradon changes of seasons his whole life didn’t seem overly concerned.


In fact these long lazy days made it hard to believe that there were reasons to be concerned about terribly much. Not magically, just a natural side effect of beautiful days without hard deadlines.


It almost felt like there could be no problems at all. So of course, problems had to start. The first of them at least didn’t feel like it was magically induced for once. That had to be worth something, right?


The first issue happened in the coffee shop in the museum district. While there was almost nothing left to sell there, it was still kept open. Kyoko had been working when one of the machines went on the fritz. Small animals usually maintained the machines in the coffee shop so no one had thought much about basic maintenance on the machines there. And no one thought about how much the machines strained when there was so little in them but they were turned on anyway. Some alchemy of all of these issues led to the first spark, and from there a full on fire.


Thankfully quick work on behalf of those in the museum district that day got the fire under control before anyone could be lost. But the coffee shop was gutted. A small tragedy, but given most people in Auradon got their coffee from Mallia, it wasn’t a huge issue.


The second fire, however….


That one started in the museum itself. There was more than one over the next few weeks on the lawn of the castle. Or in the dorms. Or classrooms. For some reason fires were catching all over the opened areas in Auradon. Possibly in the other areas as well. The fires could be put out with water, further dwindling the fresh water supplies, or perhaps this is the time for those with magic over Fire or Water to shine.

Waking up, each of the Missrecalled and their companions would feel as though their sleep was good and restful. Healing as only sleep can be. The dreams might have seemed odd or scary or troubling, but for now they are over, and it is a lovely day in Auradon. It was early morning when the Missrecalled awakened in a large puppy pile of sleeping bodies. It was easy to get free, at least. Also, there was a beautiful sunrise to be seen by those woke up first. Dew bedecked the grass, and there was a taste of spring in the air.

After the sunrise, things shifted. A rainbow appeared over the castle and lingered until dusk at which point it was briefly a double rainbow. All the way. But with the fading of daylight so faded both rainbows.

The night is pleasantly cool. And for the first night several night blooming flowers that hadn't been there before. They were in shades of purples and golds, and perfume the night beautifully. Anyone wishes to can pick the flowers to keep, they will survive in a vase for at least a week without wilting, though after about a week they will simply fade away a bit at a time over several days. Seeds and cuttings can be harvested. If they are planted within a week, they can grow! But any plants still naturally in the ground would fade away to nothing with the next sunrise.

Spring is clearly here. However long everyone slept, it was a while, and now Spring in full bloom. The time to plant is nearly over and weeds have taken advantage of the Missrecalleds' absence. There is plenty to do for those who are botanically minded. For everyone else, there are days full of beautiful weather that saves all their rain for when no one is outside to be caught in it, and yet would manage to rain just the perfect amount for the plants' needs.

But after everything - the age shifts, the frenzied attempt to work on more of the barrier of junk, the weird dreams - Auradon is once more settling into its too pristine base state. Maybe things are over for the moment? Maybe? But even if they aren't the weather seems to invite the Missrecalled to act as though it was so. This was hammock weather, laying in the grass with an iced fruit juice while watching the clouds with a good friend sort of weather. Probably best to enjoy it while it lasts.

No one could be quite sure where the sound came from to start. A low bubbling noise that those who were awake in the middle of the night and wandering around could hear. Not terribly unlike a stream over rocks, or like a pot on the stove. Just a moving liquid bubbling sort of noise. There was something almost peaceful to it, something almost dream like.

Whoever listened to it too long found themselves wearying first, a desire to go rest washing over them along with a sense of peace. For those who could remember such a thing, the sound almost brought back tactile memory of being held by a loving adult when one was small. Being comforted and comfortable and safe. The lassitude it brought was reminiscent of the sort of sleep a child could fall into when they knew they were completely safe and loved and cared for. Even those who had never had such an experience could almost feel it. It was hard to even want to resist it. It was calming. Soothing. Safe. Go to sleep.

Listen too long and the bubbles even sounded a little like the strains of a familiar lullaby. Even if the person had never heard one in their life. If they had, it would sound like the most soothing lullaby they could recall, even subconsciously. For those who had no such memory, the song would sound a little like this.

Eventually, everyone, even those who did not hear the bubbling or the music would find themselves sleepy and drifting towards a bed. And the sleep would be peaceful and safe. The sleep of a contented child.

Those who were youngest would wake up first, even if they usually did not. Anyone thirteen or under would awaken a few hours after sunrise to find none of the grownups were awake yet.

In fact, the older someone was, the longer they would sleep before finally they would awaken.

But what confused the youngest in Auradon, people like Leia and Nadeshiko, would probably be that they awoke slightly older than they had gone to sleep. No additional canon memories given to them, just a slightly larger body and a slightly less child-like view of the world. Thankfully their clothes shifted with them!

Of course, as confused as the kids would be... they will not be nearly as confused as the adults would be. Excuse me, the former adults, that is. For everyone over the age of 13 who went to sleep, they would awaken in a dorm bed in Auradon, in the room their adult self had chosen to sleep in when the spell hit. Except... they are now a child. Anywhere from the ages of five to eleven. With the memories they had at that age and not a lick more. No clue where they were, why they were there, and probably no clue who any of these other people are! They will wake up in clothes that they would have worn to sleep at the age they awoke. So feel free to put your characters in cute little onesies!

But this is Auradon... they wouldn't go full on Lord Of The Flies, would they....?