Mushroom Kingdom Week 1

Matthew and Nora

A safe landing was certainly preferable to the alternative. Even though Matthew and Nora didn't look exactly like the little people who watched their evening descent, they were welcomed warmly with hearty clapping. "Welcome to Toad Town," said a few of the smol humanoids with oversized mushrooms atop their heads. Hats? Hair? Just the shape of their head? What specifically they had on those domes escaped the two of them, but they all seemed pretty polite and accommodating. It looked like while a lot of the businesses nearby were closed for the night, there were some evening entertainment options that were open. To the west, Matthew could hear some catchy music, and to the north was both the castle and some late night supermarkety, convenience storey type places of business. However, if it was materials that Nora was after, it was clear that Toad Town was constructed principally out of sweet grey stone with marble accents, as well as red clay. More went on than that materialwise, but these were the ones that defined it visually. Those and a combination of cobblestone and smooth brick roads. Few vehicles were on the town's streets at the moment - mostly just a handful of toads riding a cloud here, or another atop a pig there. To the south, Nora spotted a train station, but it was quite obviously closed.

Nora and Matt

Thankfully, there were no major barricades in the way down the path toward the castle. They actually passed a few pretty interesting spots on the way – an ourdoor store that purported to be a 'Badge Shop', whatever that was, along with a blue circular structure with a rotating rim featuring star carvings. On that were written the words “24/8 readings, come check us out!” However, there was no pressing need for them to do so, and so instead they passed through the self-opening and self-closing gate with the star on it – this seemed to be the most obvious way to the castle, and they were correct in this assumption! As they entered a sort of courtyard out in front of the prettiest, most idyllic red and white colored castle either of them had ever seen, they were hailed by some 'Toads' running guard outside of the front gate.

“Hoy, there! Come to see our beloved Princess's beloved castle?” Asked a Toad that was visibly obviously a girl, and one with green hair peeking out of her... Hat? They still weren't clear on that, but the other Toad standing guard didn't have much to say on that or any subject. Possibly because it wasn't actually a Toad but instead a turtle standing on two feet and wearing simple clothes.  Ah, they must have been referring to the Princess on the stained glass picture adorning the castle.  The blonde, pink-wearing one.

Matthew and Nora


The spear-holding guard next to the main entry bridge smiles. "Oh yes! The Mushroom Kingdom plays host to spirits upon spirits! Different kinds, actually. If you mean a mystical presence, then your destination is Shooting Star Vista. It's right down the path past this very castle. But if by spirit you mean 'ooooooooooooooo', then there's a twisted forest lousy with Boo Buddies to the south and east."

The turtle looking guard added, "There's also a whole ship full of spirits somewhere out there. No clue where, though."

Matt and Nora

"Be careful!" said the Toad as they headed off.

Thankfully, that interaction had gone fairly well. Departing from the area out front this castle, they headed further on. Mostly, they just passed trees and grass for a bit, but soon enough they noticed that the terrain was sloping upwards, and that the region they were headed to was well named. There were tons of beautiful miniature stars - not giant orbs of gas, but cute five-pointed ones that dissipated after a few bounces. Matthew was correct to come there, as, possibly reacting to his presence in the world, a Djinn was about. Yes, the young man could feel it in his bones. However, the exact location was still unclear to him. As they walked, the colors of the ground and even the sky above them took on a glowing purplish blue. It was unlike anything Matt had ever seen before, and even Nora wasn't used to such natural phenomena.

However, the region was far larger than expected, with many sloping paths that had uncertain destinations. Thanks to a road sign pointing in different directions, though, they could tell the way to, at least, "Star Hill", "Shooting Star Summit", or "The Unknown House". If it had a label, was it that unknown?

Matt and Nora

Remaining in proximity to one another, Matthew and Nora were able to travel upwards, wrapping around a slow and loping path which they quickly identified as encircling the location known as Shooting Star Summit. While roads leading towards it had featured a purplish tinge, the stone that the two individuals traveled down unabated were a tapestry of rich colors. Rather than uniform visual conformity, they noticed the floor was portioned up into a tiled look, resembling a checkerboard of lighter and darker blues, purples, and even greens! There were many long-stemmed flowers with only a handful of blooms each, but their peach colored petals were charming nonetheless. Overall, despite the intensity of climbing higher vertically and all the air-thinning associated, the two were able to experience at least a somewhat enjoyable walk. While the night sky in Toad Town had displayed many of the sky's stars, Shooting Star Summit provided them a vantage point to see an entire ocean of points of light filling nearly the entire sky! Magic was in the air - strong magic, too. If it wasn't for the lack of any sort of local fauna, they would have had no reason to find the location suspect. As it stood, they just found themselves somewhat alone, with none to talk to but each other and an atmosphere of mystery.

This came to a head at the top of the small mountain, which, at its culmination, consisted of a circular platform about 10 feet in diameter. The most stunning feature of said platform was that an actual rainbow was trailing directly off it and reaching into the sky, but perhaps even more interesting to Matt was the target of his interest: a Djinn! A Jupiter Djinn no less, and one featuring a fairly typical body for its species, but having a very distinctive tail - well, if we're being fair, it was only that distinctive if you consider a whirling mini-tornado attached to the rear of the silvery white cutie to be distinctive. Rather than simply stand aloof, it was grilling Matt and Nora down, acutely aware of their presence and staring with those adorable eyes. Djinn are so qute.