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Aion Mods ([personal profile] aionmods) wrote in [community profile] aionooc2022-07-30 12:18 pm
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TDM #3

TDM #3
DREAMING (new characters)
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 (new characters)
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.]

DREAMING (OLD CHARACTERS)
For those already in Horos, they will find themselves in the same dreamscape as the new arrivals, only, this time, it's familiar. You'll feel more cognizant of your surroundings as you reawaken in this psychedelic realm, more in control of your emotions. What's more, you recognize that light at the center and the darkness at the edge: it's the Pleroma and Kenoma respectively. The one you are attuned to will call our to your soul, and though you are technically free to wander as you please, the closer you get to the force of your opposite sect, the more it will grate against you spiritually. Pleroma attuned nearing the Kenoma will feel as if its presence is desperately trying to tear them apart, and Kenoma attuned nearing the Pleroma will feel as if its light is burning them from the inside out.

More importantly, you notice that entirely new souls are wandering here with faces you didn't see in the cavern. It gradually becomes clear that they are Aions in the same state you were prior to your rebirth, lost and wandering this stretch of the cosmos with no idea what's to come. Maybe this is your chance to ease the confusion of their arrival, or maybe you'd simply like to scope out what kind of people are on their way. It's also possible for you to run into Aions already in Horos, wandering just like you are. Unfortunately, things are a lot less neutral than they are the last time you shared this realm.

No matter what you do, eventually the cosmos above will begin to burn out, just as it did the first time you were here. As darkness swallows reality itself, you will wake with the visceral memory of your world corrupting and breaking apart.

SEARCHING (OLD CHARACTERS)
Soon after the dreams begin, it will become clear that the Aion NPCs of either sect are also aware of what's happening. For those in Achamoth and Greentruth, the imminent arrival of new Aions will become a matter of official discussion. All able Aions will be called upon for their aid, in whatever way they can offer. Getting to the shrines themselves will be easily accomplished via teleportation. What's would be more complicated is ferrying any new arrivals back to a secure location. Thankfully, this is something both sects have already prepared for.

All characters will have the opportunity to acquire a 'returning stone' if they don't already have one. In all cases, this will amount to an amulet made of the same shimmering material as the shrine monuments, though the stylization differs between the Pleroma and the Kenoma. While regular Aion teleportation can bring you to any of the shrines you know the sigil and location of, a returning stone is magically programmed to bring its wearer back to a specific destination to which it is attuned. Normally, these stones will only be able to store enough energy for one 'return' a month, but it turns out that the ambient power created by the shrines being active will temporarily super charge them. Though it's not guaranteed, this means they may generate enough energy to perform multiple returns for TDM purposes. More information about returning stones can be found on the powers page.

Spare returning stones will be issued to all Aions so that they can be used to bring back anyone they collect, as it's possible to bring someone alongside you if they are also wearing a returning stone. Where your stone leads will depend on your sect.

PLEROMA
Tehri will be the one to supply returning stones, based out of Greentruth. She will not travel to Godsblood to deliver returning stones to those that have not visited Greentruth, but it can be assumed that Greentruth's visitors can pass them along to anyone who has been staying in the city. The returning stones are set to bring them to a secure location beneath the water of Godsblood's coast. From there, new arrivals will have to be allowed to rest and then brought up into the city when they're ready.

Greentruth is limited in its resources, but it will attempt to send troops to the Innocent, Seeker, Wanderer, and Firebrand shrines, all of which are close to the forest. Compared to the last attempt, these troops are a bit better armored. Meanwhile, bolstered by recent events in Godsblood, bands of Resistance members and guerrilla fighters will turn up at the Artisan and Sovereign shrines. The Resistance members will work willingly alongside with the Pleroma Aions, but the guerrilla fighters seem to have their own priorities and that is mostly that they have a beef with the Achamites. These reinforcements will struggle against powered Aions, but they might be able to delay any troops sent by Achamoth or Hylici.

KENOMA
Xishen will be handing out returning stones to all Kenoma the day after the dreams begin for the Aions that don't already have one. She'll explain how to use them, and state that the Regent expects for them to head to the shrines once they become fully active. The Kenoma will have whatever mundane weapons or supplies they need at their disposal for this mission, along with minimal Achamite reinforcements. Due to injuries and death in both Godsblood and Venera, many are in recovery or on their return to Achamoth. She'll reiterate not to rely too heavily on them; after all, only the Aions are able to quickly move between the shrines and at the Citadel. The regular troops will have to be deployed by river or by land, and mobilizing them will take time. They will feasible be able to reach all of the shrines to some degree or another, but will more easily populate the shrines of the Martyr, Celebrant, Lover, Champion, Visionary, Sovereign, and Firebrand.

The Hylicians will be called to fill in the ranks of the diminished Achamite troops. They follow the orders that they are given but are very standoffish otherwise, even more than usual for them. Xishen herself says she will be traveling to the shrines and the Kenoma will be expected to communicate their movements to her as they work. Dionys remains in Achamoth to 'keep watch'. All Kenoma Aions will be given a familiar vial of black sludge, and are instructed to feed it to any Aions they capture at the shrines. It will cause the same effects it did in the cavern, though it will resolve in a few days rather than a week.

RETURNED (ALL CHARACTERS)
New characters that are found a the shrines will be brought back to one of two lodestones, depending on which sect they are taken by. This will be accomplished by their escort putting a 'returning stone' around their neck that will enable them to be teleported to a secure area in their sect's territory. It is advised for your character to be taken by whichever sect you'd like them to end up in.

TO THE PLEROMA
In a dazzling flash of psychedelic light, you will find yourself brought to the Pleroma's lodestone: a monolithic rock set in the center of temple-like ruins. The entire cavern is hidden away beneath the ocean waves, just outside of Godsblood, and the ceiling itself is comprised of nothing but a barrier of water, as if held back from filling the space by some unknown force. The waters surrounding the lodestone are exactly body temperature, with swarms of tiny, violently iridescent fish darting through it. Crabs that look as if they're made of pure, clear crystal wander the sparkling, sandy shores.

There isn't much here in the way of accommodations, but it's comfortable enough that the new arrivals brought in by the Pleroma can take a moment to catch their breath. Some relatively plain but assorted new clothing will have been brought to the cavern to make sure they are actually clothed, as well as blankets and basic food items. It's a good time to ask your questions, or if you are an established Pleroma, to help out your freshly arrived peers. After all, their welcome at the shrine may have been a confusing one.

New arrivals will be permitted to leave the lodestone's temple when they are ready. Unfortunately, the only ways out of these place are through your choice of either swimming through pockets of water that eventually lead to the surface, or by spelunking through a series of tunnels to make your way the cliff faces near the city of Godsblood. More information about the city itself can be found on the setting page, though it would be preferable to keep TDM interactions to the lodestone area. As characters emerging from the shrines will start our as Untouched (more info about attunements here) they will not be permitted entry into Greentruth until they have attuned to Pleroma.

TO THE KENOMA
As your returning stone activates, you will feel yourself thrust into a suffocating void, only to emerge just as quickly somewhere else. The most pressing thing on the minds of anyone taken by the Kenoma will be the vial of pitch black sludge they are forced to drink, whether it is before or after their arrival. Maybe their 'escort' from the shrine gave it to them, or perhaps another Kenoma does soon after they arrive. If not, one of the Achamite cultists wandering around definitely will. Dedicated servants to the Regent's will as they are, they are not afraid to gang up on the vulnerable new arrivals and force it down their throats.

Once in your mouth, the potion will slither down your throat as if it's a living thing. The effect takes hold quickly: as this darkness creeps through your insides, it will embolden your darkest and most despair inducing emotions, plaguing your thoughts with the worst sorrows of your life. What's worst, it simultaneously seems to awaken some form of enhanced psychic empathy within you, both projecting your thoughts for others to hear, and allowing you to receive those of the others around you in kind. Black ooze will begin to seep from orifices, or the space around your shard. The effects of this contamination bring out your worst, and its recipients will be forced to live with these effects until they accept the force corrupting them into their souls.

This world is not good enough, a voice speaks to your through the Kenoma. This suffering you feel, the cruelty that has birthed this darkness in you... it is simply the rot that is consuming this existence. A better universe awaits, one forged by your own hand, and all you need do is first bring about this broken reality's end.

How long this goes on will depend on how long the characters is able to fight it. Acceptance of the Kenoma can come as quickly as immediately, if your character is inclined towards it, or it could be drawn out to take a few days. In the meantime, they will have to stay in the barren halls surrounding the Regent's lodestone, and will not be permitted to exit into the greater Citadel as the current Kenoma are. All that will immediately be offered to them down there are stone slabs that can be used as beds and formless white robes that reach down past their knees.

Of course, that doesn't mean the characters that are already of the Kenoma can't do something about that. If they desire it, they will be able to bring food or other supplies to those suffering with their Kenoma infections, and it will be equally within their power to try anything from bullying them into accepting to lovebombing them. Once a character accepts the Kenoma and attunes to it, they will be permitted to leave, but for the sake of the TDM interactions should be kept to the lodestone area.

QUESTIONS
Is this TDM canon?
Mostly! It's part of an in-game event. However, only threads with new players that app and are accepted will be considered game canon. Threads between old characters will all be canon, but threads involving new characters that don't apply or aren't accepted will either need to be tweaked to remove their involvement or made non-canon. New characters will also be able to decide TDM threads aren't canon if they end up changing directions.

Who can toplevel on this post?
Anyone, whether they are a new character or a current one. However, we do ask for current players to do their best to tag new characters. If you are bringing in a new character and want a current character to bring them into your sect of choice, post your request here! ICly, current characters are fighting to claim new arrivals, but it's up to the player of new characters where they ultimately end up going.

When is this TDM taking place chronologically?
The beginning of August. The shrines will be active and forming Aions during that time. The dreams will start around the 29th of July. All current Aions will be able to sense when it's time for the new arrivals to start emerging.

What are the shrines like?
Every shrine is comprised of the crystal-filled cavern character emerge inside and then the massive statue symbolizing the relevant Legacy built on top. More information about each shrine can be found in the "Aion Shrine" section of the setting page.

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?
New 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 initial 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.

How does attunement to the Pleroma or Kenoma work for new characters?
More information about sect attunements can be read on their dedicated info page, but in summary: when new characters are brought to Horos, they will be in the state of being "Untouched" meaning they are not attuned to either sect. By the end of their first month in game it is expected they will either attune to Pleroma or Kenoma, though for those taken by the Kenoma's forces, the transition will be forced within the first few days. If taken in by the Pleroma, it may take then some time to attune to Pleroma, depending on the strength of their spirit, but it could also happen almost instantly if they are allowed to. How quickly it happens will depend on how strongly they align with the Pleroma's traits. Characters who have been taken by the Pleroma but that remain Untouched will not be allowed into Greentruth until their attunement to Pleroma is complete.

Can a character taken by one side end up attuning to the sect of the opposite one?
This is theoretically possible, yes: a person taken by the Kenoma could potentially resist the Kenoma's call, and someone taken by the Pleroma could end up falling to the Kenoma while staying with them. Generally, though, we recommend that you have your character be taken by whichever sect you want to end up in, as doing a switcheroo will cause narrative complications that might bog their introduction down in plotting that will need to be done with the mods. It can happen, but it is not to be done lightly!

locumstudentesquire: (pic#15777572)

[personal profile] locumstudentesquire 2022-07-31 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
Ryunosuke gives a little start, his ears flicking in the direction of the noise before his eyes follow, leading him immediately to the sight of the quivering mouse below.

"Oh!" He looks surprised, but. Not alarmed or repulsed or anything like that. If anything he looks relieved. And oddly enough, he'd started feeling something of an odd kinship for mice, ever since Iris had crafted one of her little felted animal mascots in the shape of one and gifted it to him. Mice are just shy little fellows going up against a big scary world, aren't they? He can kind of relate to that.

Also in this particular instance he's just. Glad it's not another Aion.

"Goodness you gave me a start," he huffs. "I thought you might be one of the Kenoma..."
cutlery: (Oooh BIG steppy!!)

no such thing!! 💪

[personal profile] cutlery 2022-07-31 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ Naturally, Sebastian's attention immediately turns to the vial, and he doesn't bother to hide the way his eyes narrow slightly, though it's not exactly with open suspicion. More than anything, the way the corners of his eyes turn up slightly carries a sense of interest, since there's a quality to that darkness that's almost familiar to him just by sight alone. Not quite, but enough that he can't help but make a comparison to his own shadows that are quite annoyingly out of reach at the moment.

His posture shifts as he's clearly about to step closer, but Ryunosuke's yell at least serves its purpose to get Sebastian to stop. His eyes immediately drift to that tail first once he catches a glimpse, but the plea at least doesn't have that gaze lingering long. He looks at Ryunosuke, clearly perplexed, but certainly at least listening. ]


...Oh, dear me.

[ His reaction is definitely way too calm and polite for the situation. He looks between the two, but his attention ends up settled on Kaeya first. ]

Why, poison right away? How impolite, Mr. Kaeya.

[ ...Not that he thinks it's poison, necessarily, though. Considering its familiarity to him, his curiosity is still very firmly wondering what exactly is in that vial, but this interaction is just as valuable for him to get his bearings. There's nothing quite as efficient in drawing out honesty as a little argument, after all! ]
bingos: (pic#15500540)

IIIA

[personal profile] bingos 2022-07-31 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ After all the different places she saw in the Digital World and even her own you would think Miyako would be less captivated by the world around here. But even now, far away from everything she knows, she can still see the world as a beautiful place. Watching the marine life float by over them is something serene, it calms her done a touch - and despite how friendly she's been and aggressively willing to help she's just been a touch on the side of unraveling.

Maybe it's the exhaustion from the day setting in or the way Hawkmon has leaned on her side and taken to a nap — She had tried, but it's far from unusual for her to stay awake worrying about things. And worry she does yet, stomach twisting in knots at the thought of her family and friends.

She snaps out of it in blinking confusion when someone materializes next to her, touching her by the arm. A young woman she thinks she's seen in passing when she helped give out water earlier. She smiles reflexively, her brain not catching up: ]


Huh- what? [ Another moment later and she does catch on, humming to herself. She threads her fingers together on top of her knees as she nods: ]

It's like a dream. [ She agrees, choosing to continue on a less serious route, turning back with a smile: ] It'd be a pretty perfect place for an underwater date, huh?
regressor: (CONTRACT)

[personal profile] regressor 2022-07-31 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
[She doesn’t know who it is she grabs. She is reaching out for any hint of movement, anyone who passes close enough to the stone slab that feels more like a sacrificial altar than a bed, anyone at all with no time or sense left to judge whether that person will be able to do as she requires. Can they kill her? Can they fetch someone who will kill her?

It’s a man who answers her. A man who wants to know why. Why-]


My powers… my powers are dangerous-

[She wanted to know why, too, some days. Why had the stars all disappeared? Why had Contractors begun to be born in the world at all? Why did those powers come with such high costs?

A hint of black sludge bubbles at the corner of her mouth, turning her voice, low and raspy for a woman’s, wet and a bit hard to make out. She tries to swallow and repeat herself, but the radiation swells in her eyes and around her body, tending her speechless to a whimper of pain and effort, clutching her broken fingers right to give her pain to focus on, gasping as she comes out of the swell more desperate than she was before, her hand on his trousers quaking with raw, visceral fear.]


And I don’t want… I don’t want to kill anyone else… Please…
bingos: (pic#15500540)

[personal profile] bingos 2022-07-31 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
Hmmm.

[ Miyako tilts her head further upwards, watching as a small school of fish swim by. Folding her arms across her chest she shakes her head: ] If there's something keeping the fish from getting in wouldn't that also mean that's keeping us from getting out?

[ Which means that they are trapped down there and she doesn't like that sound of that - Maybe they chose the wrong side afterall. A finger taps on the side of her elbow when she adds, a little haphazardly: ]

Swimming can't be the only option when they teleported us here in the first place.


undertheweight: (suspicious)

III

[personal profile] undertheweight 2022-07-31 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
Once he's been able to call his human form again, Wrathion has made it a habit to go swim through the tunnels to make sure no one has gotten stuck down in one, for whatever reason. He's talked at least one other person out of there, before now. He can't really blame them, though. There were plenty of people who hated caves, felt absolutely claustrophobic with the weight of earth above and around them. It's not something that's easily dismissed.

"Have you got something to prove?" he asks the other man, even as he pulls himself out of the water at the tunnel's other edge. "I can tell you, there's a lot more the people of Godsblood are worried about than whether or not you can get out of the lodestone room."

Well, isn't he just a ball of sunshine?
fightingevilbymoonknight: (intense-marc)

[personal profile] fightingevilbymoonknight 2022-07-31 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
Rude, Wrathion. But he'll be damned if he sits and falls apart in front of a stranger. He pulls his hands away from his face and glares a little. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asks.
arcaneward: (aerith-0451)

[personal profile] arcaneward 2022-07-31 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
Have you seen the crabs?

[ Aerith points just off to their right, at one skittering across the sand. ]

If everything looks like that, it's almost like we're in some kind of dream world!
cutlery: (spoonie ain't nobody to fuck with)

[personal profile] cutlery 2022-07-31 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
[ Fascinating.

He watches the light as it appears, but he doesn't at all understand what he's looking at, and that's a unique novelty. Sebastian easily shifts so he's instead partially kneeling by the slab. He doesn't technically need to do so to hear her better, but that, and perhaps some sense of empathy, is the impression he wants to give. Not that his expression particularly matches the latter, though. It's not cruel or particularly cold, but it's certainly not one of someone taking her plight to heart. ]


You truly lament the power being returned to you?

[ It's a rhetorical question, since it's obvious. He's tempted to truly look and take an evaluation of what sort of morsel is before him, but he doesn't. For now. It almost feels too early to do so, because the conflict she feels is so clear that he doesn't need to take a peek at her soul to know it. ]

Could you not stay your hand? Must you kill for your power, Miss?
uproared: (i know when i've worn out my welcome)

[personal profile] uproared 2022-07-31 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
then i shall wander over 🚶
settingup: (i see another mountain to climb)

[personal profile] settingup 2022-07-31 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
[ Turns out Ciel is in luck!

Oh, sorry, did I say in luck? No no, Ciel has no luck at all here. This is an extremely mundane boy uprooted from a very normal life that he actually enjoyed. He doesn't know a thing about magic, and he doesn't have the kind of deep underlying traumas that make him want to up and destroy everything in existence.

That's part of why he's been struggling with the Kenoma for as long as he has. It's not like he doesn't have negativity inside of him, he's still human, but doesn't have that longing for the void the way some people do.

He'll answer that question of if he's still awake or not by giving a startled jerk of the head. Atsumu's whole vibe right now is trapped wild animal who looks ready to bite anyone that gets too close, but he's also shivering pretty pathetically and after sparing her face a half-second glance, he's zeroing in on that blanket she's holding.

The Kenoma really is doing its best to hollow this boy out from the inside, and leaves him feeling cold and sick in a way that no viral illness he's caught in the past has ever come close to doing.
]

Who're you?

[ The words are slightly slurred together as he draws in closer on himself, still eying that blanket. ]
wavetrain: <user name=animatedwings site=twitter.com> (pic#)

[personal profile] wavetrain 2022-07-31 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
Tsunami nods. She has never heard of a croissant, but "apple pie" at least seems within expectations. Maybe a croissant is some other kind of fruit.

"Oh, pretty much anything... I like seafood the best, but I'm good with cows, or deer, or boar..." She trails off. She needs to not think about eating with her friends so she doesn't keep worrying about whether they're okay! "Anyway, I haven't spoken to a... human, before today, either, so..."
galdorleod: ([black] casual)

[personal profile] galdorleod 2022-07-31 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ciel is right yet again, because Howl can immediately sense something different from this man compared to almost every other Aion. He has felt this odd sensation, this... tether within his mind, only a handful of times before, and only with Dionys. Her presence is so powerful, however, that it's only now, when he has another person to compare to, that he can separate her overbearing mind from the sensation of simply sharing a Legacy with another. And... wow, it's weird.

Howl can tell that the stranger is sizing him up. He can't perceive his motivations for doing so, but the brief flicker of raised hackles, followed by a practiced veneer of neutrality, does not escape his attention. Howl blinks and peers at him. Was he simply caught off guard by the presence of a second person? No... no, that's not it.

Ciel's teasing cuts through Howl's rush of curiosity and earns her a pout. Leave it to a stuffy nun to believe that a "unisex robe with adjustable sash" does not have the capacity to be too small or too big for someone. Especially when they brought different sizes! Women's and children's robes, that is, but... still.

He looks back to the stranger as the conversation continues. Again, he's keeping up with that politeness. Howl is happy to put his odd reaction to him aside for now.
]

It's what this world calls those who hatch out of the crystals in these caves, [ gestures behind him ] like you just did. Each of these caves are associated with a Shrine dedicated to a Legacy, which are... hmm. I suppose you could call them the patron virtues of this world. This one here, that's birthed you, is the Shrine of the Celebrant, and the same one I emerged from.

In contrast, my fair comrade here, [ gesturing vaguely at Ciel now, ] is of the Martyr Legacy. You'll come to learn of the rest.
undertheweight: (sly grin)

[personal profile] undertheweight 2022-07-31 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
"That they're fighting some sort of guerilla war out there,' Rude he might be, but his response is milder, if only by increments.

"I don't know the particulars, yet, but just by listening I've heard the city threw off the aggressors not too long ago, and they're still recovering." If not preparing for another attack. It wasn't as if Wrathion didn't know the sort. He'd had to deal with it himself--even if he did it in his own fashion. Despite how he usually came off, for once, Wrathion hadn't meant it as a challenge.

He was only too well aware of how he had definitely had things to prove, back home. It didn't seem as significant, now.
arcaneward: (aerith-0598)

[personal profile] arcaneward 2022-07-31 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
"My mom always said there's a first time for everything!"

She grins, stretching out her legs a bit.

"I've never really had seafood before. We couldn't get fresh fish in the slums very often, and you don't want to eat the stuff that comes out of the rivers."
bingos: (kizunamiyako50-1)

Returned

[personal profile] bingos 2022-07-31 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ She keeps her hands busy at all times feeling that if she doesn't she'll really let the situation weigh down on her. She has clothes now, but they give little more comfort than itching to let her know she's alive. Hawkmon's stayed as close as ever, even now, as she folds up some blankets some of the others had left behind — She was told she can leave, but she doesn't want to until everyone's gone.

There's a sound, something heavy like moving metal that catches her attention first - Then she glances up to see the man approach as she hands over the folded blanket to the little bird to put in the piles: ]


Not much more than you, I think. [ An honest response she glances upwards - where some of the others chose to leave: ] But we'll have to leave soon and find out more as we go, right?

[ It's said with some trepidation - worry. Even if fighting to protect people has become a normality in her life, she doesn't want to. Not people trapped her just like them. ]
fightingevilbymoonknight: (Default)

[personal profile] fightingevilbymoonknight 2022-07-31 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, see, now that is useful information. Marc sits up more fully, frowning less in annoyance and more in displeasure. "Is that why we're here? To fight in this war? Or are we just supposed to sneak out past 'em, somehow?"
wavetrain: <user name=animatedwings site=twitter.com> (pic#15836498)

[personal profile] wavetrain 2022-07-31 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
[ Tsunami blinks. From his raised hands it looks like he's trying to communicate with her, but that's not—oh, wait, no, he's actually started talking. Weird... except it doesn't seem as weird as it probably should, somehow?

She tilts her head, her position becoming slightly less defensive, but still cautious. ]


I've got nothing to worry about? Are you sure about that? 'Cause last time I checked, hatching out of a rock in a mysterious cave is plenty to be worried about.
wavetrain: <user name=animatedwings site=twitter.com> (Default)

[personal profile] wavetrain 2022-07-31 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
She blinks. Tsunami's dragon civilisation is completely preindustrial and she doesn't know what pollution is.

"How come?"
arcaneward: (3)

[personal profile] arcaneward 2022-07-31 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
Aerith hesitates. Not because she's judging, but because it's hard to talk about it. She loves her home in the slums, warts and all, but they are warts. And she feels more than anyone the damage Shinra does.

"The place I live, it's underneath a much larger city. Not underground... but it's covered by these steel plates. You can't even see the sky. And that city above.. just kind of tosses all it's refuse down onto us. It can get pretty dangerous, and the water has to go through a lot of filtration before you can drink it."
undertheweight: (better than you)

[personal profile] undertheweight 2022-07-31 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
WRathion shakes his head a moment. "I don't think the city's still occupied, so we're probably not going to have to sneak out," he replies. "But considering it could be? I suspect yes, that that's why we're here. If war is what it is--yes, that's what we're here for."

The man shakes his head again, though. "Not that I know a damned thing about the other side, yet. I barely even know a thing about our side." That is something that galls him. He doesn't like being kept in the dark, but he suspects there's a reason why that is, too.

He simply doesn't know what it is.
wavetrain: i drew these ones! (pic#15847287)

[personal profile] wavetrain 2022-07-31 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
Tsunami's eyes go round.

"What?? Seriously? That's awful!" She shudders, imagining water like that in her gills. "Why don't you... go someplace else? Ah... I guess that wouldn't be so easy, huh..."

She realises as she says it that it's a silly suggestion. Where she comes from, she knows scavengers live hidden away, and venturing outside of their burrows or whatever is pretty dangerous for them, what with all the dragons. Who knows what other kinds of dangers this human's world has? And even dragons in her world can't just go wherever they like...
heavybreaths: (Sneering)

[personal profile] heavybreaths 2022-07-31 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
Ah...yes. Vader's expression doesn't change, and but there's a definite sense of him taking an analysis of the injured man. An old injury indeed, and an ugly one. Ironically something he knows quite well. Were the situation different, he'd have simply ignored the request for aid. Yet a tool is a tool, even if it is weak.

His hand reaches down stiffly, drawing Crane to his feet with a tug, but no other support is offered. The touch is inorganic, clearly a cybernetic of some sort, or a prosthetic, which perhaps explains why he's managed to keep some scrap of clothing. The universe decided he'd be better off alive and ambulatory than dead, clearly.

"Hold," he says simply, and leaves to find something to use as a crutch. The cave has precious little, but he does manage to return with a knotted piece of wood. Probably left from some animal nest.

He offers it over with a curt "This will have to do."
subsist: (pic#15624541)

here we go...

[personal profile] subsist 2022-07-31 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ even when it looks like things are going well for him, something, someone, always has to come in and ruin it all, but that's alright. there appears to be never a dull moment here at horos, and ryunosuke's unexpected (but not at all surprising) arrival is just one of many things he'll have to deal with in the same manner as he usually does: with a bright smile on his face and his characteristic charm. ]

... Ryunosuke. How nice of you to join us. I see you're rather eager to make it look like I'm up to no good in front of my new friend.

[ he sighs, ever so dramatically, shaking his head all the while. it figures this is how it's going to be, but he isn't going for the offensive just yet.

when he glances back at sebastian, he almost seems sheepish. ]


It isn't poison, no, but it is something that will help you acclimate much better to the environment around here. You were already interested in it, no? [ he didn't miss that look in sebastian's eyes, after all. ] As for that guy, [ he waves his hand dismissively at ryunosuke, ] he is one of those I was hoping we didn't have to run into.

[ his head tilts at ryunosuke, smiling. ]

He's the biggest liar between the two of us, so I would be careful not to believe what he says.
Edited (words are hard) 2022-07-31 04:14 (UTC)

[personal profile] expiera 2022-07-31 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
[She unfortunately can't offer water or any other amenities as she is, but once the red-haired woman accepts her hand, Ciel can at least try pulling her up and offer her own upper body as support. Hooking her other arm beneath the woman's shoulder on the other side, she attempts to slowly and carefully lift her up. (She is mindful to avoid brushing against those crooked fingers, more signs of hardship from a life mercilessly lived.) She can lean against her shoulder and chest if needed, try to sit up a bit straighter and even out her breathing without exerting as much effort. Take her time and steady herself more first, before making another effort to stand again later.]

This continent is Horos. Wherever you were before, ["it's gone", but she can't tell that to this terribly weak woman. Not now at least, when she can't event stand on her own.] this is a different world completely separate from it.

[...]

May I ask for your name, miss? I have water and clothing, too.

[For once she's better composed. They both have questions, but this woman's well-being comes first.]