the roost

[sceries]

(merddith: they/he, rhosin: she/he, bruine: she/her)

“So, you’re the newbie? Welcome to our team.”
The person grins, icy grey eyes catching the light. Strings of beads and feathers clink as they tilt their head, examining you carefully. “It’s not often that we get a new volunteer,” they continue, gesturing for you to follow as they turn back towards the immense tower. “I’m Merddith. The other guy is called Rhosin, but she doesn’t really like new people at first. You’ll see him eventually. That’s not important right now, though.”
Merddith unlocks the doors with a quick spell, and holds the door open for you to walk inside. “There are a few rules you have to keep in mind when you enter the Roost,” they begin, lighting the room with a magelight.
“One, that many creatures of all different shapes and sizes reside there. Most do not tolerate strangers well. Do not step on anyone’s tailfeathers. I suck at healing spells and Rhosin’ll be annoyed if he has to heal you.
“Two, do not pick up strange pieces of glass or crystals. Some of the crystalwings don’t care, but the glass phoenixes are vicious and the spectrum crystalwings are best left undisturbed,” Merddith shudders, a look that tells you he’s had more than enough experience in that area. “Trust me. It’s not worth it.”
“Three, stay away from the bioluminescent fungus in the basement. The fluorowing crystalwings love that stuff, and Rhosin thinks it’s hallucinogenic. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen her munching on it, but uh, it’s usually best to listen to Rho’s ‘warnings’.”
“You’ll wanna tie your hair back, too. Don’t pick up feathers or anything for decorations. The arkai’ll try to decorate you if they like you enough, and the cascara amagnae too– you really just have to be patient with that,” Merddith rambles on. “The Roost has a lot of creatures, you’ll find your niche soon enough. Bruine, our unofficial supervisor, says you should start with the quail amagnae and the pygmy graga. They’re super sweet, it’s hard to mess up dealing with them. Sounds good?”