aionooc | TDM #1

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TDM #1

DREAMING

At first, there is nothing. You are nothing. Whatever existed before ceases to be if for a moment. Then, bit by bit, you start to become aware. Where there was not even darkness now is a dim haze, gentle and almost mist-like. You have limbs again and beneath your feet lays a path of light reaching out like limbs of a great tree beneath you, twisting and climbing out into the horizon.

You take a step forward for what else is there to do? As you walk you begin to remember what it was you were doing before the nothingness; maybe something as simple as chatting with a loved one or close friend. Maybe you were just beginning a great journey or facing off against an old foe. Whatever it was, you get the distinct feeling that wherever and whenever that was, it is not here. Not now.

The path of light twists off into different directions. When you look up you can see that it is not a sky above you but the sky of everything, a grand cosmic tapestry littered with not mere stars but galaxies and clusters of galaxies that gleam like crystals against the velvety backdrop of space. Admire it for a moment, if you will. You don't know how long you will drift here, but you are not alone. Other wanderers will come and go as you bask together in the vastness of creation.

It seems to you that there are two paths to walk in this place, the light and dark beckoning in turn.

❖ THE LIGHT AT THE CENTER
One leads you to the center, splintered fragments folding together and colliding until only one thing remains: a light that speaks to you with the voice of all there is and has ever been. It greets you simultaneously as an old friend and as a lost child, both rejoicing in and mourning your arrival. You remember it too, somehow, with a feeling of complex nostalgia, as if returning to a place recalled from your distant childhood.

You’ll feel the same of the other wanderers that join you in the light; you know their faces, their voices, and as you reflect upon the world of your birth, you may witness fragments of theirs as well. You feel a comradery, then, a synchronicity of thought and emotion. Are the lives of others truly so different from your own? Or are you simply two hands of the same, greater being? Though some individualistic part of you may resist, the longer you spend in the light, the more you will find yourself becoming one with it.

Despite this welcoming call, no matter how eagerly your pursue its embrace, before you can fully submerge yourself in this oneness you will find yourself being torn away. As if seized by the impossibly long, cold arm of a creature unseen, you are plucked from the edge of fulfillment. The last thing you will remember is the sensation of your world, and all the others your experienced here, collapsing into nothingness.

❖ THE DARK OUTSIDE (CW: deep despair, ego death)
The other leads towards the outside, where the splintering becomes so great that the vestiges of reality can do nothing but collapse back into the abyss at the end of everything. As you wander to these barren outskirts, your thoughts will not be drawn to familiarity and oneness, but instead to memories of discontent and waste. The darker the path becomes, the more you find yourself dwelling on life’s disappointments and injustices, of the things about yourself and your world you find wanting.

If you see others here, at first they will feel frightening or contemptible, as if representing to you the worst experiences in your life. Even if they are someone you’re certain you know, that familiarity and affection will be stripped away in the face of the great emptiness before you. In the end, you were all the same. In the end, none of this was worth it. If you approach the end together, you may even form a kind of kinship around this acknowledgment, as the need for paranoia and hatred fades.

Slowly, the darkness encroaches, and you can see it devouring all the things you once knew. Memories of your home, of those you loved, dissolve into nothing, and you can only reflect on the barren emptiness in your heart as you see it happen. In your final moments, though, you feel peace with it all, knowing that there was no other way. You step from the edge of the last dwindling fragment of being and are greeted by silence.

❖ THE END
No matter which way you go, you are left with a single impression: you feel the world you came from die. It's a realization that transcends logic or sense; it weighs on your heart and leaves the vestiges of dark memories dancing in your thoughts like motes of ash. It's a memory of your home crumbling away into nothing as if consumed from within by rot. Returned to the void, all that's left to you is to be reborn.

REBIRTH

In a new time and place, you awaken. Stirring within a capsule of warmth and isolation your senses will slowly return, only to observe that you are trapped. Your body, as it wakes, is tangled in close, yours eyes unable to open, as if still within the womb. You are held tight in the embrace of something unyielding, so smothering that at first you only have the strength to struggle for moments at a time. Yet, as you persist, the pressure begins to relent in turn; it may take hours, but eventually you will find the purchase to push, to claw, to fight, and it will all give way.

The chrysalis surrounding you bends like flesh and cracks like glass. It tears as you force your fingers through, finding liberation one inch at a time, until finally you have emerged. As if having undergone metamorphosis, you feel old and new all at once. You are weak, piteously so, but the markings and scars of your previous life remain. As you slump down upon the smooth cavern stone, you realize that you've just wrenched yourself free of gigantic crystal, though its hollow, shimmering form is now in pieces on account of your passing. Somewhere on your body, a shard of similar material remains embedded.

The cave itself looks almost like the inside of a geode, the walls and ceiling bedazzled with greyish crystal that shines with all the colors of the rainbow. While they vary wildly in size and shape, only a few have grown large enough to hold a form like yours, and you can see the one you just escaped isn't the only one bearing a passenger within. They may have already hatched, or they may still be lingering in stasis. Either way, there's enough time that you may have a chance to speak to yours unexpected peers, or to perhaps to struggle to find something to cover your naked body with. You feel the chill of the open air against your moisture laden skin, a distant light trickling in through the cavern's opening.

Make the most of this time. It won't be long before you're interrupted.

[Mod Note: If you don't want to deal with your character being naked in front of the others at that location, feel free to assume they emerge at a different time than the others of their legacy. Characters will be 'hatching' over a period of several hours.]

CAPTIVITY

It seems that someone was waiting for you to arrive, and not in the most friendly of ways. Though the specifics of who comes to get you will vary according to which legacy shrine your character awakens at, there are certain commonalities: most notably, how they are ostensibly here to capture and imprison you. It's easy for them, all considered. You can barely stand, so fresh out of your chrysalis, and whatever powers or special abilities you may have had will not answer your call. Even worse, your would be captors are well equipped for the job.

Each group arrives with several 'whips' made of unknown materials. What makes them so special only become obvious when one of them inevitable snakes its way around your body. Whether it be your ankle or your neck, being bound by these cords puts you under the influence of whoever is holding the other end of your leash. Your mind remains untouched, but you will find yourself physically incapable of performing physical actions that go against their will. While the possibilities are frightening, thankfully they all just seem to want one thing: for you to come along as a good little prisoner and to not cause any of them too much trouble.

The rest depends on your character's legacy:

❖ THE LOVER
The small island the shrine is built upon is approached by several modest boats with colorful sails. They carry what appears to be a collection of fearful fisherfolk and town guards. They are reluctant to speak with those being pulled out of the shrine or even look them in the eye. If they have their choice, the entire process will be done in silence. If you try too hard to upset them, the guards will sternly bring you to heel.

❖ THE CELEBRANT
The infrastructure of an entire festival ground seems to be built around this shrine, and as a result, there are an usual amount of people present. While most keep their distance, a few will engage with the local guards that arrive to capture the Aions, complaining that this is going to interfere with their preparations for the upcoming Lover’s Festival. They are pushed aside in short order, and the rest of the retrieval will be done in a stern but business-like manner.

❖ THE MARTYR
At first, those arriving to capture the Aions will be hesitant to even enter the barren crater this shrine is held within. Once the presence of the new arrivals becomes clear, however, they will run in as if crossing the no man’s land of a battlefield and complete their work with gusto. It appears to be mostly military folk and they seem to lack any patience or sympathy for those they capture.

❖ THE SOVEREIGN
The captors here seem to be a mixed bag, almost as if two separate squadrons have arrived at the same time. One is a gathering of people who give off the impression of mountain folk, while the others are well armored soldiers. Though it will be hard to make out the specifics, there seems to be some manner of disagreement between these two parties over what should be done, but the ones kitted out in full military attire win out in the end. By then, they are completely out of patience for further resistance.

❖ THE ARTISAN
The people here seem to have mixed feelings about your arrival. On one hand, it seems to be a moment of considerable trepidation, on the other, they seem unbearably curious about your nature. They will ask questions about any unusual features you have, or what your skills are, while others from the group try just as hard to shush them. Ultimately, they don’t seem that enthusiastic about having to capture you, but they also don’t seem to think they have much choice.

❖ THE INNOCENT
Among rolling hills of flowers, at first it seems as if this shrine may not be visited at all. Before the arriving Aions can escape it, though - naked and weakened as they are - a group of fairly normal looking townsfolk will arrive. They pause as they spot you near the shrine, almost like they are hesitating about coming at all. In the end, they will converge upon you and ask for you to please cooperate. They won’t hurt you, as long as you come with them.

❖ THE SEEKER
Armored soldiers are the ones to first pull you from the shrine, but as you arrive outside of it you'll see that it is situated at the edge of a great forest. An ancient observatory is build into the cliff face behind the shrine, and your captors are apparently in the process of negotiating with a series of robed individuals that have emerged from it. According to them, the soldiers kidnapping you are trespassing. Unfortunately, they are not the ones with weapons.

❖ THE WANDERER
When you first emerge from the shrine, it will appear as if you have just missed a skirmish. There are a few bodies scattered about, all wearing woodland armor made of leather and fur. The victors, it seems, come in the form of fully armored soldiers. Thoroughly irritated by the fight that just happened, they will not waste time on niceties. If you try to ask them what just happened, the best you may get is a sneer about ‘those damn forest people.’ You may spot a couple more bodies on the trail leading out of the forest as well.

❖ THE FIREBRAND
The first thing to be seen beyond the cavern entrance is a sheer drop into a raging canyon river far below you, with only a narrow path leading up the steep cliff face. It would be a difficult situation, even without black-cloaked warriors making their way down it to collect you. Struggle too much and you'll be at risk of being thrown into the chasm. These masked assailants are largely unmoved by your protests and will drag you the entire way up the cliff if you force them to. "Your soul will be claimed," they say.

❖ THE VISIONARY
The view from the mouth of the cavern is awe inspiring, revealing the foreign shapes of a world you've never seen before. Unfortunately, the altitude of this shrine means you will also be greeted with sharp wind and biting cold. Fortunately, or not, a party of mountaineers and three black-cloaked warriors will arrive to collect you. Despite their seeming inability to defy the orders of the warriors, the mountaineers will toss you some shoes and blankets for the trek down, even if they are taken away from you later. If the warriors speak at all, it's mostly in the form of ominous utterances.

❖ THE CHAMPION
Even if one were to stagger out of the shrine's cavern before being approached, the Aions arriving here will swiftly find themselves in a hopeless situation. Not only are there soldiers here to collect there is a moderately sized military barracks built around the shrine itself, and this particular squadron is not on your side. You will be swarmed before you can get far at all. There seems to be a mix of two squadrons here, some wearing heavy armor and red accents, while the others wear full face masks and dark cloaks.

Once you've been captured and pulled from the shrine, you will given a formless white gown made of moderately comfortable fabric, with sleeves reaching your elbows and its bottom reaching down past your knees. You will not be given pants or shoes. You're in for a journey, apparently - no matter who plucked you from the cave, most of the heavily armored soldiers in the prompts above will turn out to be 'Hylician soldiers', while the smaller number of black-robed warriors are referred to 'Achamites'. After the initial dealings with the shrines, all prisoners will be passed off to a squadron of Hylicians, though a few Achamites may follow along depending on the location.

Where are you all going? Back to Hylici, apparently.

WAITING

After you've been handed off to the the Hylician military, you have a long road ahead of you. Loaded up onto carts, and then eventually onto river borne boats, the people collected at the shrines will all be brought to a forest in the center of Horos. Along the way, the squadron ferrying you will combine with others from neighboring shrines, more and more captives arriving in your group the closer to your destination you get.

Along the way you will be fed and watered well enough (though only with military rations), and at night you will be given flimsy bedrolls to sleep around the fire with. Captives will be under constant watch by the Hylician guard, and anyone who shows any signs of resistance will be required to be bound by one of those magic whips, usually around the ankle or wrist. The rest of the trip is spent being pulled along in carts or the storage bays of boats. After the groups start converging, captives of the same legacy will not necessarily be kept together.

The final muster point of the Hylicians and their captives will be among forest ruins. For what purpose you have arrived they will not say, but the entire group will be camping there until preparations are complete. Sadly, you won't be allowed much space to explore - not without being bound and under watch. If you've behaved yourself it's possible to move about the central ruins, but only if the guards are confident they'll be able to wrangle you when necessary. It does allow for moderately private conversations along the pillars and walls of the ruins, but venturing out into the forest itself is definitely out of the question.

From beginning to end, characters will spent about two weeks in transit and waiting in the ruins. To what end is yet to be seen, but if you listen closely, you may hear whispers of a 'ritual space' being prepared.

QUESTIONS

Are everyone's homeworlds really gone?
That's a complicated issue, and while the fate of their world is not without hope, they may certainly get the impression its been destroyed from the dream they had. Alternatively, they may refuse to believe what they felt and attempt to dismiss it as only a vision. More about this situation will be revealed as the game goes on.

Can I only experience one end of the dream sequence prompt?
Characters may experience one ending, both endings, or neither. If they experience both they will struggle to recall which came first or which feels the most 'true' to them, as both will simultaneously be the thought they are reborn with. If your character refuses to pursue either path they can simply linger in the middle until the infinite worlds above them start being extinguished one by one, eventually expelling them into darkness in a similar style to the light prompt. Which dreams they experience will not dictate their intial sect affiliation.

Is it possible to pull another character back from the end of the light or darkness dreams?
Yes! If your character is able to resist the pull of either end, they will have the chance to try to pull another character back from the edge of the abyss or the edge of oneness. Whether or not they succeed is entirely up to the other character, though.

Do you come out of the chrysalis wet?
For most intents and purposes it's the same experience as hatching out of a real butterfly chrysalis, so yes, a bit.

Can my character resist the influence of the whips?
Those possessed of particularly strong wills may be able to struggle with the whip's control in brief spurts, but not long enough to make a full escape attempt. They may be able to take an impotent swing at one of the guards or fight against being pulled along, though. Naturally, doing this will indicate to the Hylicians that you are a problem, and their handling of you will become harsher the more it occurs.

How cruel will the Hylicians be to the player characters?
The Hylician military are not friendly people and come across as being a bit callous even at the best of times. However, unless you provoke them, they will be primarily focused on just getting the job done with as few interruption as possible. If your character makes a habit of pissing them off, either by constantly fighting back or just by being persistently obnoxious, their treatment will get worse. If driven to it, they may take the opportunity to take out their frustrations on particularly troublesome prisoners, via physical punishment, humiliation, or deprivation.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( content warning: due to the source material, threads might contain reference to: suicide/suicidal ideation, gore, dismemberment, cannibalism, underage prostitution, and potentially others I will be sure to warn for if they come up! )

I: dreaming: the dark outside

( it turns out that the world ends with neither a whimper or a bang, but with little more than a dull recognition. makoto lets it go without much care or thought. he had never had any attachment or affection for the world of humans or the world of demons — they were both prisons in their own ways, though their bars were different and the jailors wore different skins. really, oblivion had always been the easiest answer for the questions he posed to himself. the only regret he can feel clinging to himself is that he hadn’t been able to accomplish it, in the end — that he hadn’t been able to watch the twist in J’s face as he realized he’d finally surpassed him, how it would feel to finally tear him to pieces, figuratively and literally.

dwelling upon this pulls him into the dark, cast to the far-flung rim of everything and nothing at all. memories and remorse form psychic building blocks about him: a huge, opulent Roccoco palace, now forlorn in its echoing emptiness. it falls into dark and disrepair, followed by a once-rowdy tavern in the slums of Hell, a once-bustling brothel where demons pursued perverse pleasures, a once-orderly village that was a territory for mercantile werewolves — all forming as if from sand and smoke before being blotted out again. he doesn’t care about any of them, nor any of the demons he might have expected to have found there. only a yawning feeling of unfulfillment that opens up in his chest and threatens to swallow him whole.

oddly enough, he can sense that he’s not alone. is someone else here on the edges of despair, locked in the same conflict he is? if they are, he only has one question to ask: ) What is it that you left behind, unfinished?

( he can conjure the briefest images of anywhere he’s been — a schoolroom now, a house full of so-called “family” who had done nothing but revile him — but he can’t seem to muster up an image of him. arcing horns, flowing hair, angelic wings… fury boils in the pit of makoto’s gut. J denies him even now. )

II: captivity: firebrand

( as soon as he arrives at the light of the end of the tunnel, makoto’s eyes fly wide. there is nothing but broad-open expanse spread out in front of him, a drop-off into emptiness so sheer that he feels his stomach twist and churn as his attention is gravitationally pulled down towards the raging river far below. his breath catches in his throat, heart hammering as his head swims with vertigo. slowly, he forces his eyes upwards to see thin switchback path up the clifface — and that it wasn’t empty, instead hosting a small group of dark-clad soldiers slowly marching down his way.

his expression falls, though largely into one of irritation. lovely.

he weighs his options. he could try to escape, but, try as he might, he can’t seem to draw his wings (and even if he could, he’s still fledgling enough with them that he might just plummet to the bottom of the canyon regardless). he could wait to accept whatever the soldiers might do to him — it’s not as though he could fight back, even if he didn’t feel as weak as a newborn foal. or he could jump. his thoughts linger on that longer than they might have in other minds; they were thoughts not too dissimilar from the ones he had had when he had summoned a demon in his bedroom, years ago. but, no. the hell he had called home might have fallen apart into nothing, but that didn’t mean everyone else had. if J were still alive (there’s no question in his mind he is), he still had purpose to fulfill before he tossed himself willingly into oblivion. there would be no destruction for that demon than one by makoto’s own hand —

so he waits for the soldiers, greeting them with a broad smile. ) Good afternoon, gentlemen. The path you traveled to get here was long and harrowing – might I ask what you intend to do? ( silence, then, gruffly: “we are here to collect you. your soul will be claimed.” again, makoto’s smile falls a degree in annoyance. ah, what else is new? he sighs long-sufferingly, looking up the long, narrow path before gesturing frankly to his still-disrobed body. ) Well, do you at least have anything to wear before trudging—

( and that’s when one of the Achamites literally throws one of the white gowns into his face, effectively shutting him up.

fellow firebrand, unfortunately here you are after the end of your world, trudging up this switchback path guarded on all sides by intimidating black-clad soldiers and alongside a strange young man who… has once or twice tried to convince one of them to physically help him along their way. the second time he asked one of them, he received a whip lashing around his neck for the trouble — he flinches back at it, raising a hand to grasp at where it had wrapped several times around just beneath a thickly-stitched seam that seemingly attached his head to the rest of his body. he becomes more amenable, but only just to the warriors. instead, he turns his attention to you, looking at you with sidelong curiosity, the pale irses of his eyes stark against red sclera. ) You would think they would be more gracious, assuming they want to deliver us and our souls in tact.

( this earns him another small tug from the whip, nearly throwing him off-balance. )

III: waiting

( makoto is not the type to bewail his brand new form of captivity — not for long, anyway. whenever faced with a stark change in surroundings and scenario, he would allow himself just a moment of despair before throwing himself into whatever all-encompassing goal came next. before, it had been learning about demons and hell, then learning about J and his history — now, he tries to learn more about where they are and what the hell is going on.

so after a time of extensive pouting in the carts on the way here, he splits his time between strategically loitering where he can overhear some of the more loose-lipped guards and searching the ruins all of the strangers had been corralled in. he can’t make any sense of them or whatever details might have once been carved into them, but he is greedy for knowledge that might be useful later; he mentally files away whatever he finds even remotely interesting.

at some point in their holding pattern in these days of captivity, he addresses you. it could be that he was assigned a bedroll nearby you and he asks just before bed, or as you are gathered around a fire, eating whatever rations you’re given, or even just as you get your bearings or interminably wait. a young man with long, black hair that falls wildly about his face and odd eyes — somehow, the calculated smoothness of his voice is slightly more unnerving. )

What first comes to your mind if I tell you that “a ritual is being prepared”?

IV: wildcard

( for anything else not prepared above! makoto will be biting and clawing his way out of a crystal chrysalis in the firebrand shrine. if you have any questions or wish to plot anything out, please feel free to PM me! )

[ he's been laying down, flat on his back, wondering exactly what the hell kind of situation he's gotten himself into. the past days have been a blur of mostly nothingness--- picked up from his shrine, escorted, practically couriered (ha)--- and to be in such a position and unarmed?

let's just say that he's fortunate that he knows how to be a quiet and invisible presence when needed, but unfortunate in that his charm hasn't completely worked his magic.

at least his bedroll smells nice. right? maybe that's why they keep him around... ]

We're in trouble.

[ that's his answer and he smiles. his patented grin, his default expression as he sits up and props himself up with his elbows. ]

How about you?

( just as courier had been going through the motions in the last few days, makoto had been keeping an eye on him. when not trying to extract information from their captors and their prison (trying to force blood from stone, for the most part), he's been observing those around him. his pale eyes are appraising, weighing individuals both in personal interest and how useful they may be in the long run. for this stranger... there's something about him. for the obvious: he's caught sight of dozens of scars cross-hatched across his body, telling him he's survived enough battles to know his way around one. for the less so: he moves with a competence and an alacrity that makes makoto think he's good for more than just a fight.

only foolish demons treasure strength above all. the gathering of knowledge, an iron composure, the perception of power... these were all far more important. that's why he speaks to courier instead of some other musclebound idiot.

makoto grins widely at his response. from where he sits cross-legged on his bedroll, he makes a sweeping gesture to their surroundings with one hand before replying, ) I would've thought that obvious enough even without what I just told you.

( he's either not thinking deeply enough to needle at what type of danger, or he's keeping that information to himself. the former would be a disappointment, but the latter would make him interesting. for right, now he doesn't press him on it. )

I'd say... I have three questions. ( he raises one slender index finger. ) Why us? ( another joins it, ) Why here? ( and a final third. ) And why now?

( he gestures to courier. ) What does your instinct say?

[ even courier can't help but crack a wider smile, even provide a little snicker. the situation is, unfortunately out of their hands! anyone who has attempted to fight back has been reined in--- literally, with some kind of tool that essentially pacifies whoever gets targeted. he would know how it feels: they were controlled with them before. and in times where one has barely any information and a situation cannot be read?

the only plausible thing to do here is to... sit. sleep in a bedroll. eat some rations. call it a day. rinse and repeat. ]

Those are good questions!

[ as he decides to join makoto by taking his own cross legged position, he raises a hand to rub his chin. ]

Well, I think I can answer those questions... most of them. [ he continues to beam at his newfound friend. ] We're not from here, so that would make us the best to take part of whatever ritual they're setting up.

Why here? This place must be important for some reason that we don't necessarily know.

And finally... because while we might be in trouble, they might be in even more trouble.

[ courier laughs again, but this time? it carries the air of someone who, again, knows they are in an untenable situation. something cold and less amused, somewhat resigned... ]

So my instinct says? Basically, "uh oh".

( makoto hates inactivity. he makes of himself a machine of perpetual motion, even if it's just attempting to divine the next steps of his enemies and thinking through problems without solutions. he had once told fjord that he had to keep himself busy so he didn't go mad — he hadn't been lying, though fjord, thinking it was due to grief and the overwhelming situation he had been thrown into, had been mistaken. as a demon, trapped in an endless existence he couldn't end no matter how much he might want to, there was nothing to consume him but overwhelming anger. anger at his lack of agency. hatred toward the one who had turned him into what he was now, just to play with him like a new toy. )

Oh? ( makoto leans forward to rest one elbow on a knee, his chin resting on an upturned palm. he proves an apt listener, giving courier the impression that he drinks deeply of all of the answers that he provides.

yes, he's happy this one has proven interesting instead of disappointing.

makoto's eyes lid closed for a moment, and he hums, deep in thought. his hair falls in unruly waves over his face and across his shoulders — he wishes he had something to tie it back with, or something sharp so he could cut a length of cloth off of one of his sleeves to serve at the same. ) Your instinct is good, then. There's certainly nothing enviable about our situation.

( he sweeps his hair back away from his eyes, setting courier in their gaze — twin chips of ice, floating in pools of blood. ) You felt it too, right? The world you left behind, crumbling away into nothing... ( he doesn't seem to handle these words with any undue care; the world he'd come from meant nothing to him, after all, at least not with J in it. ) Part of their design, maybe, to bring us here? Or an unhappy coincidence that they're taking advantage of?

( an eventuality they are trying to stave off for themselves? he keeps this thought to himself. )

makoto | MADK | the firebrand

i wave my paws at you (iii)

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iii! and aah, so chuffed to see someone playing from madk!

i'm just so happy to see he is recognized by someone!! ;w;

it's such a great series! i have an old journal for datenshou i'd love to dust off someday hehe 😌

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