entranceway | (first gallop) | accidental video + action

...Benjen? [ when lyanna stark pushes herself into a sitting position a few twists and turns away from the maze's centre, her instinct is to call for one of her brothers: the youngest, first, and with a lilt of concern. with a groan, she brushes detritus off her palms and straightens her skirts (simple; in the northern style). and she tries to figure out why she might have been preparing her palfrey to ride in one moment, and sitting in dirt the next.

not that she minded the dirt -- not really. but she did mind the conspicuous absence of her kin. panic mounts: ] Brandon? Ned?

[ she scrambles to her feet and finds the strange small brick only a few feet away. lyanna picks it up and can now be seen peering suspiciously at its every angle. ] You're a funny thing. [ she mutters, tapping it gently and fingering (but not pressing) the buttons. but then she holds it loosely in her fist and raises her voice. ] By all the named gods and the unnamed gods -- Brandon Stark! If this is some trick or a mummer's game, I will have your hide. And without it, you can hardly hope to woo any pretty --

[ she stops abruptly because the brick chirrups like some odd precise bird. surprise catches the breath in her throat and she's forced to ask -- staring straight at the device: ] ...Are you alive, little brick?

[ grab her attention on the funny little brick-bird or else find her wandering the maze and the gardens. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'll take that as a no then.

When we arrive here, usually another version of us shows up on the other side of the mirror. The Queen of Hearts makes it. It's our opposite, a twisted reflection of us. They can watch us through the mirrors apparently. And write on the surface, although it comes through backwards, just like a reflection would. If you keep the mirror in your rooms covered they can't watch you, however. If you break it, they also can't hear you, but the mirror will repair itself in a little while, so that's not a permanent fix.

...So you say I should be breaking it. Constantly. [ it sounds difficult. the mirrors she knew were metal plates polished to a reflective sheen. ]

That seems a little extreme. And exhausting.

Most conversations aren't important enough or dangerous enough to worry about being overheard. From what I understand the other side already knows a great deal about what goes on here, and even us, I suppose. I think you'd only have to resort to breaking it for the most private of conversations, rather than for every one you participate in.

Are there any rooms without mirrors?

[ perhaps all conversations should merely be had outside, she thinks. ]

If there are, I haven't found them yet. And despite my efforts to try and make my own personal room lack one, the memory I draw from has a mirror, so the room seems persistent about duplicating it anyway.

Beg pardon. Your...memory?

You haven't seen the rooms yet, have you? Sorry, I'm afraid I skipped a step. The rooms where we stay while we're here. There's some magic involved in their makeup. You can think of a specific room you want to stay in, one your familiar with, your room back home, for instance. When you open the door and step inside, you'll find it pretty much perfectly duplicated.

...What if I don't care to work within such sorcery?

I'm not sure there's an easy way of avoiding it? Short of living outside and I... wouldn't advise it.

Seven hells. It seems a poor compromise we're asked to make.

I don't think there's very much asking involved, unfortunately. If it reassures you any, people seem to have been here for quite some time without having many mishaps with the magic that runs this place. Sometimes it doesn't get what you ask for quite right, but most times it seems fairly reliable.

Are there no other ways to procure things besides magic?

Well. Sort of. There are vendors out behind the house, sometimes you can trade for things familiar to you, for things from home, or so I'm told. That requires having something to trade with, of course, but it's a possibility. In general though, unless you have the skills to make whatever you want with your own hands, the place seems to mainly run on magic. It is Wonderland. Where I'm from, this place is a fairy tale.

Oh! So this place was known to you before your arrival?

Only as a story, I'm afraid. It was a children's tale. Not something anyone believed was a reality anywhere. Honestly, I'm still having a little trouble believing it's a reality, even being here.

So. Grumkins and snarks. [ a long sad exhale. ]

[Not terminology she's familiar with.]

Pardon?

Stories we tell to children. Grumkins. And snarks.

That's one I haven't heard before, but it seems to be the general gist of it, yes. This was something of a nonsense tale. I suppose it explains why everything is so strange.

Do you believe it? That we are just in someone's...nonsense tale?

I don't know. [It's an honest answer, if a little blunt.] I'm not sure anyone here has enough information to answer that question. All I do know is that if it's not the actual Wonderland, someone went to a lot of trouble to make it seem convincing.

But why?

The moment I learn of a believable answer for this, I'll be sure to share it.

...Certainly.

Ah. Well. Thank you for your time, all the same.

(first gallop) | accidental video + action

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