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beleos ([personal profile] beleos) wrote in [community profile] kenosooc2024-01-12 02:07 pm

JANUARY TDM + SETTING UPDATES


BEARING FRUIT (NEW CHARACTERS ONLY)
It starts out as a pleasant dream. You’re in your favorite place, with your favorite people. It’s a moment of idyllic comfort.
And then, it goes wrong. The sky turns dark above, and as you look up, you see the black expanse of space spotted with faraway pinprick lights of stars. Yet, they’re not stars. You’re certain. They’re watching you. A billion eyes all looked down, and they spilled forth as if the sky itself was a dam holding back those dark waters. You reach back to the people you’re with, but they’re frozen in place. Their eyes are black, reflecting only the expanse of dark eyes. Their bodies jerk, and convulse, as if controlled by puppet strings, reaching out to try to grip your hand, your shoulder, your wrist, but you know you should pull away. Something iswrong. If fingers or appendages meet your skin, there is a chill, that runs up your body, from the tips of your toes, up your spine, a full-body experience of wrongness. Would your loved ones feel like this, when they reach out?

So you run, even though you know you won’t escape it. You glance back and see it not overtaking, but consuming. The landscape around you is being devoured, and you can see it cracking apart. The world itself is breaking, and it cracks under your feet. You fall, and the billion eyes chase after you until the darkness swallows you whole. It's coming for you, it will not stop, it will not relent, and there is nothing that can be done. What a fool you were, for ever thinking you could escape. There’s agony as if you’re being ripped apart, and then—

You cannot see. You cannot feel. You simply are. Yet even so, impossibly, a woman’s voice speaks gently.

I’m sorry it couldn’t be saved. But, come, it’s time to wake.
Your senses come to you slowly. Are you here for days? Weeks? Longer? It is difficult to say. All that you are is inert, and still. You can feel parts of you that form, but they hurt, like your body is fighting through a layer of...something. Something that keeps you from a gentle regrowth. You feel a chill, next to your heart, and while your form grows, it also fights, trying to both find a form and fight against some darkness that clings to you, like it's trying even now to consume your soul. It has a taste of it, you can tell, though not enough to take from you. Enough to know you, and while your body grows, this darkness slowly, slowly ebbs away, as if it can no longer touch you when you are whole. Something protects you, a presence. You can sense it, just like you can start to sense the presence of others. Some are close by, you can tell, winking in and out of existence just like you are. Falling in and out of consciousness like you do, as you are all collectively regrown. A groaning, creaky voice hums in your ear, with breaths that thrum and hum, like a gentle summer breeze through the leaves, and it tells you: Try to reach them. Welcome their calls. Can you hear them? Through communion. Your emotions are laid bare, in this space. Will you allow them to project? Will you try to control them? Will you reach out to your fellow new bearers, and soothe their own worries, or exacerbate their fears?

Eventually, after a long time, you wake with a start, cradled by soft, velvety plants, and sticky with a sap that smells faintly of honey and iron, an acrid scent lingers, like the edge of rot that has been swept away. You can see the veins of the leaves that hold you, lit warmly and gently by what looks like a crystal embedded above you. Yet, it’s odd, because that crystal calls to you. When you reach out to touch it, it’s warm. Familiar. Important. You don’t know why, but you know you must hold onto this because now it feels wrong for it to be suspended in these leaves. So, you pull it out.

The light starts to fade, but only in time to see as the leaves cradling you immediately start to soften and crumble, and with it comes a torrent of dirt. Soft, loamy soil starts to fill the space around you in the dark as you’re buried. Or, rather, you already were. You reach out through the dirt desperately, and your hands finds a root, so you pull while you clutch that precious crystal so close that it almost feels like it sinks into you (in your panic, you don’t notice that it does). You reach out again, and this time, your hand hits open air, and plenty of sturdy roots around to grab.

From a seed you’re born, and like a sprout, you make your way out of the ground.

And once you’ve clawed your way out of the soft earth and the roots, nearby, you see the soil shift. Another hand comes up to grasp desperately for something, anything, just as you had been.


A LITTLE ISLAND HOPPING
With the new Shard-Bearers present or en route, it is Kathova and Cetina who approach the established ones, requesting that they form mentorships with the new souls to assist them with the integration process. To this end, they have both provided a centralized zone in both Highstorm and Springstar for a series of small, seemingly casual gatherings, they happen over the span of a week, so new visitors can get the chance to spend time in both cities before they make a decision.

Additionally, as Springstar and Highstorm are holding their events over multiple days, the knowledge-hungry can participate in both informational sessions -- the tones and opinions held by both cities are doubtless to differ.

For those established bearers of the opposite faction, however, your faces are known amongst the populations of our sister cities, especially the administrators of both Meridian and Zenith, and if you try to attend the parties of either city, you will be turned away, with varying levels of aggression, depending on your tier of harmonization. New bearers are free to notice if someone tries! It seems you've stumbled your way into an escalating war.

SPRINGSTAR, αιώνιος ήλιος

In Springstar, the seat of the Tribune becomes available for such an event. While a section of the building itself has been reserved for the meeting between fresh faces and experienced Shard-Bearers alike, the hustle and bustle of Heliopolis continues around them -- acolytes still gather their robes and tomes, hurrying from their quarters to lessons. A score of young militants march in step across the yard to the training grounds. The higher-ups amongst Meridian have taken it upon themselves to wrap up their Year's End and New Year's festivities with a celebration of their recent victory over the Harbinger Oracle, as well as a celebration of the possibility of new shard-bearers. One does not have to attend every day, but Springstar's celebrations do tend to be multi-day affairs, and everyone from the scholars to the titled nobility seems keen on greeting new bearers. The tribune himself, Cyrus, welcomes bearers with a rousing speech at midday each day, speaking of their victories and their battle to stand for the worlds now lost. His speeches are met with polite applause, but is it a bit lacking in enthusiasm? Cyrus seems to brush it off with little offense, but perhaps you notice, that his eyes crinkle slightly, and he may look a touch... sad.

The celebrations are in the Seat of the Tribune, with tables draped in white-and-gold-trimmed fabrics fare filled with fare typical to Springstar's slowly brightening summer -- platters of hard crumbly cheeses and stuffed doulmades, roasted meats and fish, like souvlaki and psari plaki. There are plenty of grains and other dishes that elude to the abundance of both Springstar and Alenroux, and bearer efforts there.. The atmosphere is ambient with informality and friendliness, though topics will inevitably stray towards philosophic or political, Springstar's meeting grounds are decorated with handsome chaise lounges and slouching klismos chairs in small, intimate groupings. This is a forum in the classical sense, where people are encouraged to speak freely, no matter the topic. Though excitement charges the air, the gathering at the Seat is much more muted than what transpires outside the center of the city.

The church, too, celebrates the victory. Now that the Year's End celebrations have passed, the head of the church, Hieropoios Natalia Theodora Vaso Helios offers proclamations daily to those who will attend. Her tone has turned in tone toward driving forward, for now, that they have two Oracles of 3, Meridian's light is in favor, and she offers blessings and venerations toward the bearers who support their efforts to restore worlds. Bearers who attend these masses will feel their discord ebb from her words alone, and their shards will feel warm to the touch for some time afterward, even if they are not harmonized. If they ask anyone within the church, they will be told that it is Meridian's light filling them.

One would assume after a victory, that the mood elsewhere in Springstar is jubilant, but while there is still the occasional party outside in the summer sun in the Psychagogía district, there is a hushed tenseness to the city of eternal-sun. Stay too long, and you will eventually find the reason why, when scared locals speak of disappearing friends or family members, and there are whispered rumors of attacks. Some accuse the denizens of the Below, and others whisper about monsters in the dark. Though they have captured the latest oracle, the hope that normally follows such excitement is... tentative, at best.

HIGHSTORM, луны-близнецы

Eternally in opposition, Highstorm uses the manor's courtyard as the location for a series of events over the next week, inviting bearers new and old to join them in celebration. The members of the Highstorm council have set the small gathering in the court beneath Yima's tree, and next to the reflecting pools. The Lady Yima herself is in attendance and oversees the gathering from the balcony of her manor above. She will visit the grounds sparingly, generally when a new bearer is afoot, but she will direct any questions to either Kathova, or her more established Zenites, as she has many people to greet. Though she will take the moment to hold each new bearer's hand that visits and tell them each: "You have the potential to hold the key to a new, and better world. We believe in what you can do, and what strength you will find in Kenos. Let the memories of your loved ones, and your world, guide you to the right path, and know that your loss will be honored when we achieve our new world," before she glides away.

There are few places to be seated in the Manor's courtyard, resulting in bodies milling about as they flow and ebb between smaller gatherings, clustering in small-to-large groups with small platters and shimmering flutes of drink held in their hands. Yet, as you look, you’ll see that the selection is also quite interesting. The foods and drinks on offer are from a multitude of worlds, and so you may find a new favorite! Or something not suited to your palate at all. It’s at least a chance to be adventurous. If you try something and don’t like it, might not want to say that out loud, lest you insult someone who’s from that world. More established Zenites are encouraged to attend to help draw in new Zenites, and both new and old inductees alike are encouraged to speak about what their vision of a new world would look like. The reflecting pool itself is at the center of the courtyard, and if one looks in, they can see their memories reflected back at them. Though... if you look for too long, something seems to try and reach out for you. Can you feel the allure of dark fingertips, ready to brush against your face? If you stare too long, an attendant will pull the bearer back, just before they land right in the pool, offering unsettling remarks of “that has been happening more lately, the last person it happened to disappear. We even drained the pool, but couldn’t find them!

Further into Highstorm, the Greenwood Yards attracts many visitors during the dead of Highstorm's winter. The doors are (proverbially, we can't let the heat out!) open, to bearers new and old alike. Attendants there will explain that this season is the best for starting some of the seeds that will grow well into early and mid-spring, but most seeds need warmth to grow. They will ask visitors to find a partner, to hold their combined hands together, and to offer shared warmth to the seed, and they will explain that seeds grow best when they come from the combined care of more than one individual. Bearers will eventually have to separate, but they will notice that the small seed in their palms has started to sprout. Visitors will also be welcome to turn fertilizer with the laborers at the yards (What's in it? Don't worry about it!) and there will be sessions held by the staff on the local flora and fauna, so consider this your primer on the native plants and animals of Kenos!

The denizens of Highstorm are putting out their bells and whistles for the new bearers, as they have less to fear in the streets (or do they...?) so feel free to stop by Benny's -- watch out for any fights, or participate, I'm not your mom -- or feel free to visit the Tomes, where a certain coffee shop has opened up a cart in the largest library in the district, offering drinks to comers and goers, which are becoming quite popular. This particular barista often offers drinks based on their shards, but as a little winter pick-me-up for the denizens of Highstorm, there are several new drinks offered for visitors! They even have a menu on display for bearers to select from!
CHEERS TO A NEW YEAR

  • Springstar Sunrise - One using the crushed vines that populate Springstar in their warm season, which makes bearers want to reach out and hold hands.
  • Scorching Slowdown - One using water from the Scorching Isles that makes bearers grow cold, and time seems to warp around them. (This one DOES contain a modified touch of the Blight that bearers once healed, but if brought up, an attendant will shake their head, and impress upon the patron a sense of calm. It will not hurt you.)
  • Xanadu Xing - that makes bearers feel warm and totally relaxed. A spa in a cup, and you’ll feel like you had a therapy session afterward!
  • Worlds Edging - A drink that makes bearers start to feel...amorous. (The Aphro Drink)
  • Highstorm Hiccup - A whimsical drink that gives the bearer hiccups! Do they float a little? Yeah, but there’s no fans over your heads, don’t worry
  • Pastoral Punch - A fruity concoction, it’s made from the crops in Alenroux (think a Sangria) and when drank, it fills bearers with warm memories, and reverie comes easy.
  • Yima Yammer - a tongue-in-cheek drink, it fills a bearer with the uncontrollable urge to talk
  • Cyrus Concussion - This drink puts bearers into a deep sleep. They have pleasant, warm dreams.

ALENROUX

The pastoral farmlands of Alenroux are seeing a resurgence of life and community, since the establishment of combined Meridian and Zenith forces, and the subsequent attempts to eliminate or displace the monsters that ravaged the island at night. With a more stable population, some of the workers have established homes, and have started opening their doors in the sunny, lush farmland, which is reachable by cornerstone, and oddly? Alenroux has taken to advertising their new interest in tourism. The small farming village has started establishing shops with wares, crafts, cooking classes, and wine tastings, pretty much an agro-tourist's dream! Drink beverages crafted by refugees from distant worlds, or dishes from other worlds! Bearers are encouraged to visit, and stay the night with a multitude of Alenroux's homes opening their doors for bearers to stay in their Bed and Breakfasts.

However, while the days are 24 hours long, so are the nights. Alenroux natives do not leave their homes, and staying in for a full day's time can feel like an eternity. You'll have time to get to know your hosts, but the night is haunted by the cries and howls of monsters in the distance, particularly on the north end of the island. Should a bearer step outdoors, they will find monsters still roaming. Take one on, if you dare, but watch out! Shadow creatures lurk until you least expect it, and may try to lure you in with a familiar voice, a soft promise, the lingering scent of a loved one. What you find in the woods might be just a run-of-the-mill big monster to fight, or it might be something deadlier, a shadow, mimicking a loved one, trying to draw you into the darkness.

KOWLOON

Though Kowloon is something of an open secret amongst those in Springstar, it was normally left to lay in the belly underneath the sunsoaked city topside, like an afterthought. Only those who already knew where it was, could make their way through the dangerous maze of tunnels and corridors that leads from the Springstar sewers, down into the Below, and then further into Kowloon. The Below is dangerous to all but the most powerful, as in the dark corridors, creatures lurk, and people make dens and nests within. Some will warn new bearers away, citing that there are Dark Things within the tunnels and that they don’t encourage anyone to stay down there for long. If you remain unharmonized, it's recommended that a guide assists you on the way down. Fellow shard-bearers who visit frequently are recommended, but particularly savvy types can find their way down on their own.

Kowloon itself is a thriving little beating heart underground, and much like its namesake, it truly is just a built-up city within a scant few blocks, the buildings are densely packed, and ascend to over 14 stories high. It’s massive, enough to occupy a large number of oddities, such as a hunting ground for monsters, and there are bars, clubs, casinos, and shops with wares from very nearly anywhere. Though if you ask where they get them, the owners of said establishments will dodge the question, or outright threaten you when pressed. Bearers will find that there are varying degrees of openness in Kowloon, after all. Don't ask too many questions, or you may not like how they answer. Kowloon is a place where you can satisfy your every vice, and that is meant truly. There are weapons dealers, drug halls, exotic liquors, and substances that could fill innumerable universes. Every world has its shadowy elements, and every world's shady types have made their way down here.

SETTING UPDATES
In both locations, information passes between all in a forum, spread and disseminated among the masses - it's a good opportunity for city residents, faction loyalists, and interested new parties to share and share alike. Once a day, after the meet-and-greets have concluded, twin missives from both faction leads are read out -- invitations for all present to explore the cities to their heart's content, and warnings about stumbling ill-prepared ( or at all ) into the Below, or worse yet, the Beyond. As Shard-Bearers new and old take in their cities, they'll all see it change throughout the month...

OOC, these are all updates to the setting at large that players both new and old are free to interact with as little or as much as they wish! Feel free to use them as prompts on this post, in your characters' on-going lives and arcs, or just let them go "That's none of my business" and ignore it. The world of Kenos is shaped by our playerbase, and these are some of the wider-reaching effects of various player plots and actions.

TRY TO JOT DOWN A FEW NOTES

As part of New Year's gifts to everybody, Yima and Cyrus gifted bearers with an enchanted notebook. They are embossed with your characters' names, and have some unusual properties. Bearers can now send each other little letters or notes, or they can address the group at large, should they wish to! This essentially serves as a network function. Please check out the AC requirements for more information about these special new gifts.

FRONT PAGE NEWS

After the last Oracle, both cities are abuzz with gossip. Normally, the oracle appearances were wrapped in secrecy, only the bearers themselves were privy to the internal happenings, and accounts tend to be scattered, as it's always relied on what the bearers can share. This time, the oracles were broadcast to the population at large, and bearer opinions have shifted wildly, based on how successful a bearer was. New bearers may hear the off-the-cuff snide comment about some bearers here and there, and they'll notice that the cities are not very welcoming to bearers of the opposite faction. The public opinion seems to be shifting as half of the oracles are captured, and their fates are being written by bearers new and old.

DON'T LOOK TOO CLOSE TO THE SHADOWS

Be wary, bearers. Whatever patches of darkness and shadow you encountered in the Harbinger's Labyrinth, seems to be making its way across Kenos. Things like patches of shadow against a building, the slightest flash of a familiar face rounding a corner, or even hearing your name called by a name long gone. Something is trying to reach you and tempt you to find it. The shadows are hungry. For something, and bearers new and old alike will be fine feasting for whatever reaches from the shadows. Step carefully, and watch your backs.

AAH! REAL MONSTERS

If the cities didn't have enough to deal with, Springstar is taking the most hits. The city of sun may not be dealing with as many patches of darkness (for truly, Meridian's light touches all) but that does not mean that there is no danger within the city of eternal sun. Attacks by people such as vampires, ghouls, and other intelligent, people-eating races are on the rise, and fearful whispers hint that they are coming from the Below, some even suggest that this is the hint that the balance is shifting. Kowloon has always existed with relatively little strife toward Springstar, but that seems to be changing. Be wary on the streets of Springstar, bearers, you may find that lurking around the corner are hungry murderers of varying levels of danger. The attacks are not... constant, but they have begun to increase in frequency. By this time in the month, they are moving to several times a day, and the legionnaires are having difficulty keeping up with the attacks. Even one of the more well-known Meridian higher-ups, Agapitos Voreen, has been seen fighting in the streets, flanked by his second, a large, emerald dragon-born woman. All of these combined efforts have not yet been able to turn the tide, and it's clear that Kowloon was always a threat, but one that until recently, had been kept well in hand.
OOC NOTES
  • Welcome to Kenos! As a reminder, all new players need to submit a request, and proceed through player screening to apply to the game. Apps are now open!
  • This log is Game Canon. Any characters who are not apped to the game will disappear. If Cyrus or Yima are asked, they’ll explain that this sometimes happens since not every soul has a strong tether to Kenos and sometimes return to the Timestream. They may return to Kenos one day, but for now, weren’t able to make the full journey.
  • As a note primarily for current players, closed toplevels/prompts are not allowed in this log. If you would like to interact with the setting changes in a way that isn't open to all characters (new and old), we ask that you instead make a log in [community profile] kenoslogs.

  • FOR NEW PLAYERS:

  • When characters emerge from their cocoon/the ground, they may be wearing their normal clothes or nude. Up to you!
  • At some point in the days after leaving the Tree of Life, new Shard-Bearers will have a dream, even if they're usually not capable of sleeping. All new players should read this post since this details how they'll learn about both factions and their goals and should help them make a decision about which Faction they'd be drawn to.
  • Characters who arrive and harmonize to Zenith will receive a bonus token!
  • When meeting with either Cetina or Kathova, along with their shard or sunbeam, they will be given a Kenotebook! Think of this as your text-based comm. (This is also opt-out, so if you want it to not be ready/lost, go for it!) Any AC with the Kenotebook must be doubled, so make sure you are aware of that!
  • As a reminder, your character has a Shard somewhere on their body that encompasses their soul, so keep note of where you're sticking it on their person for reference! Additionally, they have a tattoo of their Aspect somewhere on their body. Please be mindful this Aspect will be assigned to you upon approval and whatever you choose for the TDM may be temporary (for new characters)!
  • For the Island Hopping prompts, all locations will be fully open and accessible to all characters once they are freed from their rather harrowing ordeal at the Tree of Life. For prompt ideas and any general information about the cities and what you can find there, please see the Locations section of our Wiki!
  • New characters will not have access to any canon abilities on the TDM until they Harmonize, AKA make a choice of which faction they choose to support. For some characters, this may be an easy decision, but it make take others time. We just ask you keep this in mind!

  • CODING
    siriusly: (what no wait--)

    [personal profile] siriusly 2024-01-23 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
    [despite her rigid and cold delivery, Manabu can't help but perk up and feel hopeful at what she says.]

    So-! Somewhere else in the galaxy! Or universe, even... It's not just isolated to one galaxy...? [as he talks it out loud he starts to sober.]

    Or one universe... Just like that tear...
    siriusly: (I TOO EXPERIENCE EMOTIONS)

    [personal profile] siriusly 2024-01-23 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
    Manabu's mouth tugs in a brief smile, feeling a lot of kinship in this pale, tall weirdo.

    "Mn, me, too. So I guess I picked the right spot to be, huh...?" At least as far as present company is concerned. Present, nameless company...

    ...Right.

    "A--sorry, I'm Manabu Yuuki. I didn't get your name yet."
    siriusly: (doing duty deeds dutifully dangit)

    [personal profile] siriusly 2024-01-23 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
    Well, far be it from a simple guy like Manabu to worry about anything further than what is stated! The right thing to do is to take her at her word, the same as he'd ask of anyone.

    So to all that, Manabu nods.

    "Then I can work hard and figure this out with your help. I'll do my best!" He bows politely. "Please look after me."
    damnpire: (pic#15946974)

    [personal profile] damnpire 2024-01-23 08:25 pm (UTC)(link)
    [Damn, he's just a guy... No need for daggers. (looks at the whole of him) Guess it's understandable when a goth approaches you randomly down in the depths of Kowloon, of all places.

    D's eyes lift to the merchant again briefly before returning to Therion.]
    I'd rather not say. [Which isn't necessarily as dodge so much as he knows Therion will understand it's a caution.

    If he won't say in Kowloon, it can only be Meridian. They haven't been welcome down here since the end of the last Oracle. Unpacking the idea this tall, goth man is attached to one of the brightest, sunniest places will come later.]
    eventhandler: Made by lineupmu on tumblr! (do what it takes to step through)

    [personal profile] eventhandler 2024-01-23 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
    [And so, the sprouts have to find their way out of this mess. He ignores the way she raises her eyebrows, casting his gaze properly on their surroundings now.]

    [He makes a face - he doesn't know what to feel about it.]


    I don't think...Cloudbank ever had this level of. Nature.

    [Fairview had a few gardens here and there, but it was precise, put-together. Artificial. This is wild and chaotic and a little overwhelming for Royce's taste, but he puts it to the back of his mind for now.]

    Hup.

    [He clambers over a root to follow. They have quite a whiles to walk, here, even with his long legs, and he makes a little bit of a sharp comment as he goes along.]

    ...Mm. Miss the Jaunt.

    [It was so easy. SO easy.]

    [You just jump.]
    damnpire: (pic#12094807)

    [personal profile] damnpire 2024-01-23 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
    He looks like he's an antagonist, but he is somehow the protagonist. They are maybe in the right spot together. Ignore how bad all of Meridian seems under the surface... It's fine probably.

    "My name is D." Or Dee, as everyone else mistakes, not that he minds. "It's a pleasure."
    sterngaze: (neutral: dry)

    [personal profile] sterngaze 2024-01-23 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
    Springstar Sunrise, [he answers, a little wryly. He didn’t just order that one because Springstar has been his home for almost all of the last year. It also sounded less worrying than most of the other drinks on offer, with names like “concussion” or “yammer” or “edging.” He’ll pass on finding out what those ones do, thanks.

    And he just wanted coffee more than he wanted sangria.

    Giving the drink a little sip, he adds,
    ] It tastes fine, even if it’s a bit cold.
    fursuit: (Default)

    [personal profile] fursuit 2024-01-23 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ Tezcatlipoca listens attentively, and a brow quirks as Royce trails off. There's a pause that lingers as he waits for Royce to continue, but it's with a different topic. It's interesting, if only mildly so, because the words don't mean anything special to Tezcatlipoca. He has to wonder what his world's deal is, but he'll let it go. ]

    Resurrection. Haven't tried it myself yet [ why is that a yet, don't worry about it, ] but so long as the rock stays in one piece, you get unlimited do-overs. Just plant it back at the Tree and apparently you'll just pop back out in a few days, same as how you got here. Not a bad deal, if immortality is intriguing to ya.

    [ Strictly speaking, it sounds a little too good to be true, but it's what everyone he's talked to claims. He's sure there's a catch somewhere. Maybe when he Harmonizes and gets his Divinity back, he'll get a better sense of it. Or maybe not! It's kind of fun either way, so far as he's concerned. ]

    But in my opinion, that's the fun way to do it. Invulnerability would be a real fuckin' bore. 'Specially since the whole point of why we're here is to get to fighting, apparently.
    semicharmed: (a little sad i didn't stop at 69 icons)

    [personal profile] semicharmed 2024-01-23 10:50 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ Matt's not so well-versed in Mesoamerican cosmology, but he's certainly encountered the Feathered Serpent. His eyes, already wide, grow a bit rounder. From what he recalls (slowly, his brain grinds into gear, following those initial associations), the Aztec pantheon is big into duality and sacrifice. That and truly acrid family drama, though again, that part's fairly common in world religions.

    Interesting that Tezcatlipoca should be among the first he encounters after being asked to take part in this cosmic conflict. Interesting that his nemesis brother should be here too.

    Tezcatlipoca laughs, jarring him out of his thoughts, and Matt smiles at him sheepishly. ]


    I'm good with earthly pleasures. [ Despite having just turned pink over a compliment, Matt doesn't seem to find anything scandalous in the phrase. Fun, though. He answers the sharp-toothed grin with a small smile of his own. ] And I've been known to be reckless on occasion. If you think it's worth seeing, I'll totally go.

    [ Look ... he doesn't know he can't use his magical powers right now. ]
    eightfoldfiend: (all mimsy were the borogoves)

    [personal profile] eightfoldfiend 2024-01-23 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
    [Yuber listens intently, though he again has trouble finding meaning in the words.]

    What are these...oracles?

    [It's certainly a term he's heard a few times now.]

    There can't be any harm in telling me that, right?
    eventhandler: Made by artpaiges on tumblr! (made of precious metals)

    [personal profile] eventhandler 2024-01-23 11:05 pm (UTC)(link)
    It might be. I can't say that I'm...I'm so eager as to throw away...ah, discard my life so eagerly. [A beat.] Unlike some people in my company. Here.

    [You. Yeah, he noticed that use of "yet".]

    ...Fighting? Oh, no no no. [He lets out a little huff, practically a little wheeze of a laugh as he waggles his hand.] I'm no fighter. Engineer, yes. You need that, I'll hand that to you. Fight if need be, maybe. You're not...pulling my leg there, are you?
    leicesters: (103)

    [personal profile] leicesters 2024-01-23 11:35 pm (UTC)(link)
    "I'm sorry to break it to you, but the only thing you'll find 'out there' is small islands, at least for now," Claude says. Though he figures Manabu has probably figured all that out already -- he just hasn't quite come to terms with it yet.

    "But there's a chance Meridian can save your galaxy, and the people in it."
    leicesters: (054)

    [personal profile] leicesters 2024-01-23 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
    [Now this feels like a quiz to see if he's remembered his homework... He looks thoughtful for a moment.]

    God of the sun? Has a twin sister who uses a bow? He's no god of my world, but I've read about him.

    [Sometimes all that useless knowledge he constantly hoards pays off... He's looking her up and down without so much as being subtle about it, and decides to simply ask.]

    Are you a god too?
    annmorous: (017)

    [personal profile] annmorous 2024-01-24 12:09 am (UTC)(link)
    [Having the unsettling feeling she's being watched, Ann swallows a mouthful long enough to give him a sour look.]

    I dunno, don't they teach you that it's rude to stare where you're from?

    [aaand she's right back to it, helping herself to some of the pie.]
    lapdogged: (activate 'no fucks mode')

    [personal profile] lapdogged 2024-01-24 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
    No, staring's the norm where I'm from.

    [Trust him, he's used to being stared at like he was a zoo exhibit, or some sort of weird, alien creature that someone was going to call animal control on. And don't get him started on Hyoubu, who functioned off entirely different social rules to the rest of the measly mortals that had the misfortune of inhabiting the same reality as him...]
    annmorous: (018)

    [personal profile] annmorous 2024-01-24 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
    [That answer doesn't sit right with Ann, who sets down her fork again, her previously-unstoppable sugar appetite now gone.]

    Maybe this is weird of me to say since we just met, but if you ever want to talk to someone...

    [Ann knows better than anyone how suffocating it could be, just trying to power through without being able to stop. Offering is the least she can do.]
    lapdogged: (look back)

    [personal profile] lapdogged 2024-01-24 12:23 am (UTC)(link)
    ...no.

    [Andy's mouth twisted slightly. He wasn't a virtuous angel nor an evil demon, but he wasn't a decent human being either, considering what had gone down before he woke up in... he was leaning towards purgatory, actually. It was off-putting but also aggressively neutral in terms of how he felt. Uncomfortable, but not in pain... yeah, this was definitely purgatory.]

    I'm just your average sinner. Or, maybe more than average, since I...

    [He stopped, realising that maybe confessing to his fellow sinner that 'hey I think I just sank a boat full of innocent children and betrayed the only person to accept me for who I am potentially leading to his death' probably wouldn't go down very well.]

    ...nevermind. You know anything about this place?
    lapdogged: (hyoubu you piece of shit)

    [personal profile] lapdogged 2024-01-24 12:35 am (UTC)(link)
    [He couldn't help it: Andy's eyes automatically followed the hand movement to where it was casually hiding certain parts, and just as quickly looked away with a grimace.

    It was hard to take this insane situation seriously with the guy standing there completely starkers. Yeah, sure, they can discuss disembodied ladies giving them some sort of divine mission or whatever, which made him think those graves they dug themselves out of had been filled with carbon monoxide to make them hallucinate something so wacky, but he was also more concerned with the fact that they had dug themselves out of shallow graves.

    Where were they? Who kidnapped them? WHY THE GRAVES? Why were some of them naked and not? Thank god Andy isn't naked. Thank god he isn't naked]


    Uhh, probably... I think I heard something, but...

    [...]

    Okay, look, it's really hard talking to you with your sausage out. Just... here.

    [Andy shrugged off (his soil-smeared) jacket, holding it out to the guy. Maybe he can wrap it around his waist or something. It did leave Andy in his skintight sleeveless turtleneck thing though.]
    lapdogged: (Default)

    [personal profile] lapdogged 2024-01-24 12:51 am (UTC)(link)
    I mean, in an illusion your sense of time is really unreliable. Whole years can pass by in your mind, but it's only really been a few minutes...

    [But, doing that on multiple people, and introducing new people into the illusion??? You'd have to be at least a Level 7 Esper for that, and he doubted there was a random Level 7 Hypno Esper kidnapping random people and making them play house in this... bizarre made up world. Seemed like too much work for no real gain.]

    But... it being an illusion is unlikely, I think. This is just too much work for one, and too vivid. But it can't be real either because... other worlds? Dimensions? I just can't wrap my head around it...

    [Which, was why he was pretty calm, actually. When you had too many surprising things launched right into your face, you didn't really have time to freak out. He was still processing the whole, climbing out of a SHALLOW GRAVE thing, and his powers not working... there was No Space for the Everything Else right now (and god, there was a lot of Everything Else)]
    weallbecomeone: (pic#13478412)

    [personal profile] weallbecomeone 2024-01-24 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
    [She shakes her head. There were motions, from what she can recall, about wanting to introduce more greenery to Cloudbank. But in general, it was very industrial. If she had remade it, perhaps she would have taken that into consideration. Something real, but if it was made through the Process, who's to say it would have been real at all?

    The... Country, as she'd glimpsed it, was filled with what felt like real nature. If that's what she can call it. Maybe that too, was just a figment of her own wants.

    Red's thoughts aren't completely differently. She might not have been able to hold the Transistor properly (that is, not without dragging its blade along the ground), but she misses the other things that it came with. Jaunt is one of them and just hearing him make mention of it makes her cast a look over her shoulder to him. Knowing. The way she motions however seems to support the same agreement.

    They're crossing the same obstacles and though she may not be able to use words, she can still release the occasional sound as she gets caught on a root that forces her to further rip some of her already tattered wear with a moment's irritation. He can catch up to her as it seems she doesn't mind taking point. Squinting into the distance, she spies maybe what she thinks might be settlement. Or something. Other people? Anything's an improvement over this tree. Lifting a hand, she gestures to it.

    Over there. Her mouth moves for his sake. Maybe that'll make things easier for him. What do you see?]
    fursuit: (Default)

    [personal profile] fursuit 2024-01-24 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Indeed, considering that blush, Tezcatlipoca is surprised that Matt is interested. He'd been half-teasing about it (even though the answer is perfectly true), so he laughs, looking distinctly pleased. ]

    Ha, no shit, just like that? I like the decisiveness.

    [ ...It might also be a little foolish, since Tezcatlipoca has a hedonistic streak that tilts towards the distinctly dangerous, but! He'll find that out in due time, or maybe he won't. It's just a matter of seeing where whim takes them both. ]

    Yeah, it's at least worth seein', for sure. They got a whole little city of vice hidden here too, but luckily, I don't forget things. Plus, I'm on good terms with the owner of a fun little shithole down there. Practically his best friend. [ He snickers, because he'd only met the man the once, but he can imagine Silco's sneer easily at the proclamation ] So, sure. We'll get you some threads and head to Kowloon. Doubt anyone else is gonna give you the grand tour of it.
    semicharmed: (new development)

    [personal profile] semicharmed 2024-01-24 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Matt was about to say something about kairos, the gods' time. Not linear or even strictly measurable, it's more like the moment in which an arrow can be loosed with enough force and precision to penetrate its target. But his new companion's remark about conveniently absent records totally distracts him. ]

    Huh, [ he says, with feeling. He's about to add something else, but then he realizes they're just sort of standing around at the scene of his near-murder. ] Hey ... do you want to find someplace to sit that isn't-- [ He gestures towards the surface of the pool, currently placid. ] And maybe exchange notes? I don't have a lot of data to offer, but at least I've got fresh eyes and ears.
    semicharmed: (mistakes were made)

    [personal profile] semicharmed 2024-01-24 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
    [ At the word "sausage," Matt's mouth dropped into a stricken o.

    With what looked like visible effort, he closed his mouth again, and kept it closed until his free hand found the jacket. ]


    Thank you, [ he said, politely. All for the best; it probably wasn't psychologically healthy for a guy who called dicks sausages to be faced with a naked man. Matt spent a moment fiddling, seeing what he could close and what he could wrap, and did end up with the jacket around his waist like sort of a makeshift sarong. ] Okay. Thanks--I'll give this back to you as soon as I possibly can.

    So, if you can um, focus any better now, you said you think maybe you heard something? What's the last thing you remember?
    semicharmed: (messy hair)

    [personal profile] semicharmed 2024-01-24 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Matt laughs too, still a bit sheepish. ]

    I mean, what else can go wrong today? [ He shakes his head--bad joke. One that might give him vertigo if he lingers on it too long. ] As long as none of that's going to cost money and it's okay that I'm covered in dirt, I'm in.

    [ Maybe there'll be an option to bathe somewhere in there. But if not, "shithole" sounds like a place whose dress code will accommodate being covered in dirt and sap. Matt takes a step closer to Tezcatlipoca. They're about the same height, he realizes. It surprises him for a moment.

    Just a moment, though. There's no reason a deity should be corporeally larger than life, as well as spiritually--no reason they should comport with any physical laws at all. Matt's eyes trace the geometric shapes of Tezcatlipoca's tattoos, idly trying to place them as his gaze slides back to his face. He smiles. ]


    Lead the way.
    fursuit: (Default)

    [personal profile] fursuit 2024-01-24 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
    [ And lead the way he does, and happily! But as Matt's thoughts (and his gaze) drift towards Tezcatlipoca's divinity, it's roughly the same thing on his mind. He takes a moment to take a long drag of his cigarette, then exhales the smoke off to the side before he speaks again. ]

    Do got a question, though. Since we got some walkin' to do to get up outta the roots.

    [ He points that cigarette at Matt, and though it's still casual like everything about him seems to be... There's a little part of his gaze that's sharper. It's like he's trying to read an answer from Matt's face alone. ]

    You recognized my name. And you're takin' that awfully well.

    [ His attention drifts down obviously, which might be a little embarrassing, considering... But he lands on looking at Matt's hands, perhaps oddly. ]

    No problems with meeting a god in the flesh?