Test Drive Meme #3: Season of Budding

[royaldecreemods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to the Royal Decree Test Drive Meme!

If you're new here – hi, hello, welcome! This is your chance to give your potential character a little test run and see how they might fit into the world of Rosavelle. You can find all the relevant info over on our Navigation Page, so take a peek if you need to get caught up on the setting, rules, or just want to gnaw on the worldbuilding a bit.

This TDM is non-canon to the game overall, but feel free to treat individual threads or CR as canon between characters if everyone involved agrees. We've included some prompts and locations below to help spark ideas, but as always, feel free to go off-script and go ham!

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Not long after Budwake ends, the shift into Budding becomes impossible to miss. The last of Fallow's frost finally retreats, though early mornings remain chilly and the first weeks still bring occasional overnight dustings of snow. From there, Rosavelle wakes quickly. Fresh shoots push through newly turned soil, vines reclaim walls and bridges and colour steadily returns as gardens, trees and canal paths grow greener by the day.

The thaw also brings with it plenty of rain, usually just in passing showers that are chilly but surprisingly refreshing. According to locals this is a prelude to the rainy season that won't be too far behind. And as the Azurite Sea warms, new fish return to Rosavelle's waters, filling Marelys' markets and drawing seabirds back to the coast - another sure sign that the cold season has finally passed. Rosavelle is finally awake again!

By now you've likely found your footing in the ebb and flow of island life and you know how things go around here: when someone needs a little warmth, a little effort, or a little magic, the people of Rosavelle come together - and that includes you!

PROMPTS

Budwake Work

The first thaw has finally broken and that can only mean one thing: Budwake has officially arrived! Across Rosavelle, everyone’s pitching in to help the island wake up in time for the warmer weather. Volunteers are needed everywhere, whether they're tilling fields or tidying the streets - hauling soil, pruning stubborn vines, reorganizing tools, or just providing moral support while someone else does the heavy lifting. Once the work is done, the After-Till Feast begins! Castle kitchens and community halls alike declare it time to eat everything that won’t last another day: soups, stews, pies, fritters and casseroles made from odds and ends and whatever happened to be left in the pantry. Enjoy the fruits of your hard labor and tuck in!

A Stormy Situation

Storm clouds are rolling in earlier than expected and the docks at Marelys are suddenly alive with urgency. Boats need to be secured, sails tied down, loose cargo hauled out of reach of rising water and ropes checked twice before the wind picks up. The fishermen are grateful for any extra hands willing to help even if you’re mostly just holding a rope and trying not to get blown sideways by the gusts. Between the rain rolling in and occasional wave splashing a little too far inland, it's a pretty soggy affair - bit once everything’s secured, there’s something oddly cozy about ducking under an awning or crowding into a dockside shelter with your fellow volunteers, watching the storm roll in together while the sea churns safely beyond the harbor.

Secondhand Spring

Budwake has everyone in Menthward in a tidying mood and the market district has transformed almost overnight. What started as a few people clearing out cupboards has turned into a full-on swap meet, with rows of temporary stalls and plain old blankets rolled out on the street, all piled high with old trinkets, forgotten keepsakes, mismatched dishes, spare tools and plenty of things nobody quite remembers buying in the first place. Everyone's browsing with enthusiasm, bartering cheerfully and swapping stories about where each item came from - and if you're in the mood to be busy there’s plenty of opportunity to get involved. Help vendors sort through clutter, hunt for hidden treasures or even set up a stall of your own if you’ve got belongings ready for a new home. Just be careful what you pick up - while most of these items are perfectly safe and ordinary, there might be some magical trinkets with with surprising effects mixed in with all the clutter...

Freshwater Overflow

A rain-heavy week has caused the freshwater channels near Primavain to overflow, flooding nearby vegetable plots and washing nutrient-rich water straight into the fields. The result, somehow, is explosive growth well and beyond anyone's expectations... or, really, their imaginations. Greens the size of shields, root vegetables pushing themselves halfway out of the soil and herbs so fragrant they're making people dizzy - it's a blessing, truly, but also a logistical nightmare as the sheer volume of produce is at risk of going to rot before it can be properly harvested and preserved. Calls for helping hands have gone out across the island, with promises of warm meals, a share of the harvest and enough pickled and preserved produce to last you through to next Budwake. You can either help with getting the greens out of the fields or, if you're still sore from Budwake work, assist in the processing of already-harvested goods.

Primavain Food Tour

The Season of Budding always brings with it new fruit, fresh herbs and seasonal flora and tradition calls for these tasty treats to be spun up into experimental desserts. Many cafes and kitchens up and down the district are offering free samples of brand-new seasonal treats in exchange for honest feedback. Which is all well and good, but depending on where you go, you might have to be very honest. Some of these recipes look gorgeous and taste delicious but they might be a little too experimental - enchanted pastries that change flavor mid-bite, cakes that temporarily change your hair color, jelly-filled pastries that have a surprising amount of bounce, or candies that make you talk in rhymes for a minute... or an hour. It's up to you whether the free food is worth the risk, but maybe you can take a friend along - or interrogate those who have already done their dues to find out which desserts are safest.

Rainy Day Reading

With the weather turning unpredictable, the Amourian Library has become the refuge of choice for those in and around the castle - all that rain pitter-pattering against the windows makes for the perfect atmosphere to catch up on your to-read list. Claude, the librarian, is delighted (if just a little overwhelmed) by the sudden uptick in activity and as such, extra hands have been drafted in to assist with the day-to-day upkeep of the place. Depending on where your expertise lies, you might be found at the front desk checking books in and out, or maybe you've been tasked with reshelving returned tomes. If you've spent a lot of time in the library, you might be able to step in for Claude and point people to where they need to go. Or you could just go around aggressively shush-ing the people who are getting a bit too rowdy. Your call!

Pollen Problems

Budding has arrived a little too enthusiastically around the Castle Grounds. A burst of early blooms has coated everything in a thick layer of glittering golden pollen - statues, windows, unsuspecting passersby… nothing has been spared. It's harmless in the long term, according to the gardeners, but that hasn't stopped the sneezing fits, watery eyes and wounded pride of anyone caught walking through the worst of it. The castle attendants have organized a cleanup effort, armed with masks, brooms and enchanted cloths designed to gather the pollen without spreading it further. Unfortunately, the stuff seems determined to drift right back where it came from, reforming into lazy clouds the moment anyone turns their back. Volunteers are needed to help clear paths, keep the worst of it out of the halls and maybe figure out why the blooms are producing quite this much in the first place.

(CODE)

Comments

[wingstosee]

Oh. Um. Yyyyyes?

[ how else are you supposed to react to that.......... ]

Are you new here, or... Is it just. Getting to you?

[wanderingsparrow]

Both. [Deep breath.] A giant flower hangs in the sky instead of a sun or moon. It'll probably take a while for me to convince myself that this is reality.

...I guess that's part of why I spend so much time in the library.

[wingstosee]

Oh. Right. I, uh- It's weird? How quickly you just. Sort of get used to it?

[ real astute, venus. she clears her throat after a moment, offering: ]

You know there's like. We have rooms? With beds? It feels like that'd be. More comfortable than the floor.

[wanderingsparrow]

The barracks have... other people, though.

[There's a reason why Suzume declines housing herself at shrines.]

[wingstosee]

Um. I mean. Yyyyes? But it's like. Ten people, and not. All of Rosavelle. And also you get your own room and people won't just. Walk in on you??

[ the more she talks, the less she's getting of this motivation. ]

[wanderingsparrow]

[Shifts uncomfortably.]

I... never said my fear was rational. [It's only now that Suzume understands exactly how silly she's being, though.]

[wingstosee]

I mean, it doesn't really sound like it?

[ -oh. oh, she looks nervous? with an abruptness: ]

But! I mean, it doesn't have to be rational? And, um, if you'd really rather sleep in here, I'm sure Callie- Princess Calanthe would understand??