Fantasy The Near-Forgotten House and the Abandoned Village

[Clairikins]

(I've been calling both the 'local overrun village' and the 'nearby civilization with humans' "town". This may have led to confusion. Regardless, Lilly's only been in the area for a few decades (did I say centuries? I didn't mean to); it was Anisa's uncle who brought them all in, after all.)

"Very well." Lilly turns toward the village, starting to walk toward it and expecting the human to follow. "This used to be a really nice place before all the vines started moving in. We didn't want to leave, not all of us anyway. We had a school where we could teach each other everything we knew, a library filled with all the books that couldn't be safe anywhere else, and a state-of-the-art electrical grid of my own design. But then the vines started taking everything away little by little. If you can clear the electric building, I can get to work with fixing everything; the sewers shouldn't have to be re-dug, but they're going to be foul. Think you're up for the task?"
While walking through the town itself, it's possible to see what sort of glory it may have once had- the windows that have broken in time, the paint that has long since peeled off, the rotten rood, the rusted iron decorations... this could have been an elegant village once, but now it's only a reminder of what once stood.

 

[Thanny]

((Ah! Thank you for correcting me. I read too deeply between the lines with Lilly's building half the town, thinking the village was older than it was, like 200 years old. I definitely was a wee bit confused.))

Anisa matched her pace with the blue-haired girl after trotting to her side and listened intently. This place certainly seemed like an ideal place to live and love. What happened that made it unlivable? How did the vines come in? This certainly sounded like a recent thing.

The subject of sewers was nothing if not unappealing, but sadly sewers were a necessary part of a town as well. It will need to flow again if anything was to continue, elsewise an outhouse would have to be dug, or a septic system, or worse yet a bucket system to toss waste. A septic system would cost too much, and things were already in place, so sewers were definitely the way to go, but she did not know if she could handle the task.

"I'll . . . do what I can," she said hesitantly, already recalling the stench of open manholes leading to sewers. "I will need the supplies, though, including nose plugs. Do you think the vines would be down there?"

She frowned, uncertain, then waved off the subject because the answer was probably a huge yes. The vines seemed to love hindering development.

"Actually . . . how widespread is the growth of these vines? Is a source known? Where they came from? How they got here? I am sorry for the questions. I just am shocked by these plants coming in and destroying so much. Every gardener knows about getting to the root, but I do not have anything clear-cut. It almost is like a . . ."

She cut herself off with a sigh, about to say "curse," but not wanting to seem superstitious.

 

[Clairikins]

(Lilly herself only lived in the village for a few decades, along with all the others.)

"I'd imagine that the vines would make it everywhere. And I'd recommend more than nose plugs if you're going down an old sewer; maybe a full suit to go down there." Lilly offers a little shrug at the origin of the vines, "Ever since your uncle started to get sick, and he stopped coming to the village, they started to grow." Something about humans, or keeping a human around, or possibly just the family line kept the vines away, but Lilly doesn't know enough about plants or history to know about the vines. All she knows is how to build things, how to repair things, how to make things... work better.

"...I guess if you clear out the library, you might be able to read about it for yourself." Lilly eventually mumbles, hands in her pockets.

 

[Thanny]

Anisa thought a full suit would be a very, very good idea as well. She was unsure of how much coverage would work best for spelunking in sewers, but she was sure that 100% coverage was the best thing for the job. The only issue she could think of was where to find a rebreather. Did they sell those locally? Perhaps she should go to a major store to get something like that, as well as a hazmat suit and goggles. That would be a small price to pay for running water, stormwater, and sewage pipes.

Anisa leapt at the thought of a library. Perhaps there would indeed be at least something, but that was questionable. Were there any historians or other people willing to put plants of this nature into a book or journal or anything and put it in the library? She mused over this. Perhaps.

"I will probably have to save that for a rainy day, or one where I will need to rest. For now, the plants are here and will need to be dealt with by removing them. If I can find the source, well . . . I think we all will try our best to get rid of them."

She paused, scratching the back of her leg with her other one, as if deep in thought.

"Um, Miss, you said my uncle was sick. What did you mean by that? I saw him now and again, last time about three years ago, but I . . . well, I did not notice him being sick. Was this a new thing, and the plants too? Maybe he was hiding it from me back then."

The thought of her uncle back then made her bite her lips. It was saddening to know he was gone.

 

[Clairikins]

"I... three years ago? He's been sick for a while, I figured that just happened to humans when they got old. Maybe it had something to do with the plants... maybe humans just don't do well when surrounded by magic. I'm not a doctor, Anisa. We used to have a kitsune who'd know about everything, but she left even before I did; she might come back if we get the library back to working order. Nnh..." she pushes some hair back behind her ear as she remembers everyone who used to live here. She hasn't even spoken to her own twin for the better part of a year, let alone any of the others. All because that whore had to kill the human! All because the the vines had to push everyone away!

 

[Thanny]

Anisa frowned, feeling as if it were all a complex web of what should be done in order to bring back everyone. Perhaps reorchestrating a town's getting back together really was all nested together like this, and she did not know it. She will have to lay out a plan, elsewise she would probably never be able to wrap her head around it all, and with these plants any work done would have to be redone if not properly taken care of.

"I . . . really should get that library's plants plucked and cut, then," she thought aloud, kicking at a pebble. The vines had to be stopped somehow, if they have not already. She looked toward Lilly again with a hesitant smile. "I might be getting ahead of myself, but would you know where she would be once we get the library up and running again, and maybe a place to call home for her?"

((Plan of attack if not involving random/plot events:

1.) Remove vines in kitchen.
2.) Spend and get supplies for sewer spelunking and vine removal until done.
3.) Remove vines in library and house on alternating days until either are done.))

 

[Clairikins]

"I..." Lilly muses to herself, "I think she was Japanese? I don't know how to contact anyone who left; we can only really hope that they come back in time. Of course, you can always just send that fairy to sniff them out. Besides, getting some power around here will make it better for both of us. Same with everything else, if you think about it." She pulls a small notebook out of her back pocket, turning pages and looking at her previous notes.
"If the library had information on how to stop the vines, something would've been done about it by now." It's a fair point, but probably not what the human wants to hear. "It would still be nice to know what caused them in the first place. Did someone bring seeds at one point?"