2022.07.07: The Red Queen

The Red Queen
Tinlin gets a Chimerical Companion
IC Date	July 7,2022
IC Time	ic time.
Players	Tinlin, Queen (Companion)
Location	Dreaming
Prp/Tp	App
Spheres	Changeling
Theme Song	The Queen is Mean!

She met the Red Queen in the dreaming multiple times, and visits. No prior logs to submit, but this has been rp'd with the Changeling in the past, with Conn and his group. Dreaming is her main focus of power in the game.

She met the Red Queen one day, coming upon a battle chess board when out wandering. It seemed as if no one had visited in some time. Looking at the board, she wondered why it was so unkept and overgrown with vines and seeded trees. She spoke to the pieces but no one spoke back. When she approached the Red Queen, she asked, "Will you teach me how to play Battle Chess as you like to play it?" The Queen nodded, but she didn't speak. Yet through the Red Queen's pantomime, Tin learned to play chess using the Queen's strategy. She thanked the Queen, but kept coming back in the weeks to follow.

At the next visit, Tinlin brought her a bag of books written by other Chess Masters that she had picked up on her adventures. The Queen loved these, and motioned for her to bring her more. And after three weeks, the Queen finally whispered to her. Now she was learning battle moves on the board with numbers and letters. It was like a glorious dance for the Red Queen, and with a swing of her sword, she would sneak up on her victims, and bleed them out. The more they played, her knowledge grew, and the cleaner the board became of vines, and wayward seedling trees. Each game became faster, and easier to move without the flora and fauna getting in the way. It was as if the Queen was learning to live again and her new strategies gave her satisfaction.

The two were fast bonding, discussing life where Tinlin lived, and the libraries throughout the world that held more chess books. The Queen whispered of her disgruntledness with her life of the current Red King. He only talked of how to get the White King to bend the knee. Her knowledge had far surpassed his, but he would never listen to her. It annoyed her greatly. She wanted to see more of the world, visit these libraries, but wasn't quite sure if she could leave her board. It was all she had ever known. Tinlin offered her, "Well if you do decide to leave, you may come with me, and I will teach you the game of life as I like to play it. And I will take you to libraries." The Queen nodded. "Of course I want to be the best of the best. To lose is death. To win, is survival. You are a dream witch, and yet you walk both worlds. I believe I will trust you, Tinlin. I may yet agree to this challenge of learning a new game of life."

As Tinlin left, she could hear the King barking out his orders to her. The Queen tightened her grip on her sword. For a moment, it seemed as if she might strike him down. But the board re-set, and all fell silent the further Tinlin walked.

After Tinlin missed a few days playing, as there was trouble brewing at one of the Keeps. The Red Queen heard news, and for the first time, decided to leave her chess board. Using her knowledge, and however many secret doorways she needed to travel, the Red Queen arrived. She stood a silent vigil in the Keep's garden, as still as a statue, waiting for Tinlin to show. Sword in hand, she moved like clockwork when Tin did arrive. She marched, and tipped her head, and whispered, "I will help you win this challenge." Tinlin thanked her, and also offered to help her in return if she ever needed it.

A battle was fought. The Red Queen defended Tinlin when a rift was opened. Other fae assisted, but when all was said and done, she was graciously thanked, and the Red Queen whispered to Tinlin, "Perhaps I shall see more of the world again. But now I need to return to my board to await for the next challenger."

Tinlin went to see her the following week to play another game, continuing her friendship and reading together with the Red Queen. The artful play of the game and dance on the board, was a delight. And Tinlin wrote a song for the Red Queen to accentuate her battle prowess.

The Song ditty went something like this:

The Queen. The Queen!
She is so mean!

Now fight, not bite!
And show your might!

She swings her sword
and moves a step toward

To knock you out
So don't you pout

She's red. Your dead!
She lopped off your head.

We cry. We sigh.

You're dead! You're Dead!
She's now got your head.

Now hop away
So now you can't say

You lose.

The King however grew jealous, and over time, things did not sit well on who was calling the battle positions on the board. The Queen had learned some new moves while adventuring out into the world and seeking out new knowledge! And in his rage of jealousy, he swept the board with his mace, and broke, and sundered the board in half. And with that quake and destruction, the Red Queen marched and left!

Soon after, Tinlin went to water her flowers in the Ancient Oaks. It was then that she saw the Red Queen in her flower garden, standing vigil and imposing in all her red glory. She was as still as a statue, until Tin approached her, and the Queen turned her head to look upon her. Tinlin looked surprised to see her, and greeted the queen with a curtsey. "How did you get here?" The Queen answered, "Marching. " She then whispered, "Through a door in the forest." She whispered, "I've come to adventure with you awhile, and leave the squares of red and white behind. There's still much you need to learn." She touched the pommel of her sword. She oaths, "I will aid you when needed, and defend those who are unable to defend themselves. It's time to find a new path in this vast world you live in. I will learn this new game of life. Now pick up your sword, and we will begin." The two began to spar in the garden.

And thus started the rumor and curiousity of the Changelings, of how did Tinlin end up with a Red Queen in her garden? How did she do it? She asked the Queen how she liked to play, and no one had asked her that before. The Queen nurtured her love of chess, in the Kinain, and the bond was struck with shared learning. Don't we all wish to find that one companion that shares the things we love? And that was how she did it.