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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!

cutlery: please do not take! (real planets have curves)

[personal profile] cutlery 2022-08-29 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ A nod comes first to the idea that it would be too convenient, since it certainly would. For each term or name that came up as familiar, it was a detail to be noted more than anything else. Clearly someone or something had found the comparisons apt enough to use rather liberally. The idea of it being something of an issue of translation doesn't occur to him, so instead, he thinks of it as an interesting puzzle to interrogate. Especially so when the throne is mentioned, which gets his brow to knit together slightly. It's a bit of a tantalizing mystery.

Though it's also one that he knows won't be solved today.

So instead, his expression relaxes easily as he listens to the answer. This is a bit of a mystery too, but one that's more grounded, somewhat ironically. Though it starts out as a familiar story of a human summoning a demon, it quickly diverges from what Sebastian is familiar with once a soul is mentioned as currency. It's not completely different from how most demons would describe a soul, since there was indeed a sense in which they were currency, but it wouldn't be the first word picked. They were food first and foremost.

It has him suspecting that perhaps the sort of demon that Makoto had dealt with was entirely different, but there's at least one piece that's very consistent. It gets him to breathe out a short laugh and a shrug first. ]


Our deals usually are.

[ It's what he warns every contractor as they set their terms. No demon would willingly enter into a contract where they stand to lose. It wasn't as if a demon's motivations were unknowable, but with human lifetimes of experience behind each deal... They weren't fair, exactly. ]

Though for a human to be taken to Hell so... I have heard of such a thing, but it is rare. It is not something I have ever done, personally.

[ He gestures to Makoto generally with a smile that would certainly be read as predatory to a human, but to a fellow demon, would surely be one of cool ease. ]

I work hard to cultivate a soul to my taste, after all. There has never been a human so intriguing to me that I would forgo my meal in favor of keeping them.
regressor: (RESIGNED)

[personal profile] regressor 2022-08-29 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Gods...

[Now that she's settled on the slab, she seems to try and take stock of herself, somewhat, thin hands patting absently over her legs, her bony chest, pausing at the crimson shard of crystal embedded in the hollow of her throat that was wet and coated with the sludge that had leaked from around where it embedded in her skin. Before the Kenoma had sunk in and restored her powers (more importantly, restored the mindset of a Contractor), she had not cared who saw her in this state, and who saw the location of that shard in the hollow of her throat. But now... As she thinks, she pulls up the fabric of her plain robe absently to wipe at it.]

I can't say I ever thought about... being a god...

[As different as Contractors could be from humans, the gap in power almost god-like depending on the power... There was a difference between that and "being" a god. For one thing, she'd been sure such things did not exist. Now, waking up in this place... She's had to reconsider things.]

But if the other option is dying...

[She doesn't clarify whether she means herself, intermittently, or the loss of herself along with her entire world. Though it might be too late to pass an act on this man, who the Regressor she'd been had begged for death and warned about things she did not appreciate being public knowledge now... She would salvage what she could. Looking up at him, her eyes somewhat duller than they'd been when he first met them,]

... I'm sorry. For how I acted earlier. You were right, I was scared... but I'll try. To handle my powers.
regressor: (SMILE)

[personal profile] regressor 2022-08-29 03:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[Maybe they're simple things, adding the supposed time to bake to the promise that she might be able to care for children here, but... it makes "Carmine" smile just a tiny bit more, barely noticeable but there. Something even simpler, just the word "we'll", as if this woman would accompany her into this new, strange world...

She falls silent as she eats, slow and moving at her own pace as Ciel had said she could. But it isn't an awkward silence, she didn't seem to be uncomfortable at all, just... quiet, as she chews on bites of jerky and bread, occasionally taking a drink.

Perhaps it was strange, that she didn't ask more questions or seem bothered by the odd turn of events. But no matter what she's told now... Just like when MI6 had come for her, when PANDORA had been prepared to experiment on her, when the Syndicate had taken her...

She just allows it to happen. What was she going to do? Run? When she finishes the last bite, each one savored in her subtle way...]


... What's the last thing... ?
snakeandfangs: (pic#15630247)

[personal profile] snakeandfangs 2022-08-29 10:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[ i saw nothing.

but yes. ah. now things are becoming very clear to him. what a question! a question that makes sense coming from a god or god-like being. someone who's probably used to having tons of power. doesn't need to be convinced, and doesn't need to convince others.

it makes his stomach turn. ]


Do all gods think the same way you do?

[ he is on alert. ]

[personal profile] expiera 2022-08-30 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[Huh. She's not exactly brightening either, but volleyball does have recognition flash across her expression.]

Oh, volleyball!

[...ok but what does she do with this information,]

That must mean you work out a lot and go through quite a bit of calories every day, right? All the more important for you to eat and rest properly, I'm sure you'll overcome this soon!

[...Nailed it,]
pyojeol: (pic#15899076)

[personal profile] pyojeol 2022-08-30 11:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[Sooyoung steps into the room, looking around with some curiosity at the place Eustace will make his home in and where Dokja will [redacted],]

...So we really have to stick with them then? The Pleroma.

[In other words, is there really no way for the both of them to strike out on their own? Figure out the mysterious of this world without tying themselves into each sect?

She touches her shard, frowning.]
subsist: (pic#15626284)

[personal profile] subsist 2022-08-31 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ the idea of becoming a god isn't something that sits too well with kaeya either. when he first asked the regent about it, he lacked the foresight to prod for more details, too caught up in wanting to learn about what their illustrious leader had in store for them once this new world has been delivered to their hands. now that he's had the time to digest everything, he isn't sure if the new world they're meant to create is something that has a place for someone like him. of course, he has other factors to take into account, but…

at least it doesn't sound like he isn't the only one who's never considered it as a possibility. it's one of the furthest things he could ever want for himself, especially with how the gods of celestia decided to treat his home nation. ]


Regardless, I wouldn't worry about it right now. I'm sure all will become clear once we reach that end.

[ whenever that will be.

his gaze meets hers, curious versus dull eyes. ]


You don't have to apologize for that. You aren't alone in fearing what you're capable of, but you have us now. You won't need to handle it by yourself anymore.

[ at least this much, he's sure of. ]

… That said, shall I fetch you anything from the kitchens? Something to eat, perhaps? To drink?
salvageable: (pic#15563151)

[personal profile] salvageable 2022-08-31 06:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ STOP

Dokja makes one last sweep of his room, grabbing a few things to stuff into a bag that's meant to have its contents thrown out. There's really nothing to see now that he's cleaned up... It used to be such a depression cave before this, though. ]


If we leave the Pleroma, we'll end up as Untouched and we won't have our abilities with us.

[ He's not too keen on the idea of joining a city of rebels when he's still not fully into their cause, but it's better than whatever the heck the Kenoma are doing. ]

We'll at least keep our strength this way.

[personal profile] expiera 2022-08-31 10:51 am (UTC)(link)
[The silence is indeed one without pressure or strain. Calm before the storm, as the saying goes. The soothing lull is almost too much, for how peaceful everything in this shrine is. A side effect of being situated so closely to the Valley of Innocence, perhaps? Unfortunately, that detail has no bearing over the passage of time.

Thus once Carmine is eventually done eating, so ticks away the last second of this terribly brief but also invaluable peace. Ciel has already been feeling the cool, smooth, and indifferent surface of the vial between her fingers beneath the flap of her bag for some time now, and at the other woman's question, finally takes it out into open view. Pinched between her index and thumb, the presented cylinder vial itself is nothing remarkable, but the abyssal liquid inside must be of a color and texture difficult to compare to any known substance on Earth. Like bottled darkness, from that dream of worlds falling apart.]


Please drink this.

[She offers with the same small and patient smile she gave the other woman earlier, over proper food and water. Is it kinder or crueler, to not elaborate further? Not that the verdict would change anything, when everything had already been decided. The Returning Stones will be activated once the vial is drained, and they'll see to the rest somehow one way or another, back at the Achamoth lodestone once the dust settles.

...]
fightforthejoyofit: (nope)

[personal profile] fightforthejoyofit 2022-08-31 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)
He shrugs - "I had hoped to see the one who brought Hydaelyn's Champion down at work, but suit yourself."

It's pointed, but also born of some slight genuine curiosity; Solus' reputation as a brilliant tactician and soldier of renown precedes him, obviously, but he has never fought beside him - the Emperor was decrepit almost before he was born, after all - much less beside Emet-Selch, sorceror of eld.
lachtara: (For you)

[personal profile] lachtara 2022-09-01 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
To which he gives a good-natured shrug accompanied with a faint smile. Oh, was his fight with the hero at play in this request for a demonstration? It comes with little surprise considering what he knows.

"Perhaps another time," Emet-Selch says non-committally. For now, he flits his wrist at the guards in the distance as if to shoo Zenos away. "For now, go on. Make short work of your entertainment."
wavetrain: <user name=animatedwings site=twitter.com> (pic#15885236)

[personal profile] wavetrain 2022-09-01 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
She lowers her head to make it easier for him to get it past her horns and fins, and then curls her neck around to look down at it where it rests on the front of her chest. Ah... it's certainly a far cry from the pearls her mother gave her. But if it does what he says, it's a lot more useful than any ordinary treasure.

She turns to look at Estinien, her expression worried but grateful.

"Thanks. Again," she says, in the moment before the flash of light from the stone's activation engulfs her and whisks her away to the lodestone.
vapour: (Default)

[personal profile] vapour 2022-09-01 04:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It'll let her go as soon as she's a good girl and takes her medicine. She only has herself to blame if she drowns??

In the meanwhile, Childe's happy to deal with Syr for the duration. He can't help but chuckle, though, at the other's panicked responses. He's pretty fast, which at least interests the Harbinger, but he manages to catch the other's attack between the cross section of his dual blades within inches of it slashing his front simply because he's actually quite used to be attacked headon despite his initial stints as an archer.
]

Haha, what're you yelling on about~? Don't you know this game or did you never get it shoved down your own throat? [ he'll use his forward strength to push Syr back to be able to unlock his blades and aim for a counterattack that is aimed particularly for the swordmaster's dominant arm. ]

Ball's in her court now!
pyojeol: (pic#15719889)

[personal profile] pyojeol 2022-09-01 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[Now he's sharing a depression cave with Sooyoung in Greentruth...

She wrinkles her nose at the memory of her extremely weak writer self struggling in those UNDERWATER CAVES]


This is so annoying...

[but it lacks her usual vigor. Maybe she doesn't find this situation as annoying as before because she's used to it...? Or maybe it's because she found Dokja, and she's still not over how relieved she feels at seeing him safe and whole (?).]

You say 'strength' but I still feel super weak. I can't make more than five Avatars at a time without coughing up blood.
fightforthejoyofit: (endwalker)

[personal profile] fightforthejoyofit 2022-09-02 11:27 am (UTC)(link)
... of course. Zenos has only ever been of use when Unsatisfied, hasn't he?

Well fine, then. Off he skulks, and to call it short work is giving the Pleroman forces too much credit. They are no match for an Aion, even one of Zenos' limited status, these hopeful children bolstered by recent victories but lacking in any actual training. They fall like corn. Entertaining, it is not.

Back he skulks.
regressor: (FURROW)

[personal profile] regressor 2022-09-02 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[Is there any way that a woman could be confronted with that request and not find something suspicious in it? The vial she is presented with contains something black as night, with a consistency unlike a liquid should have, and when has a human ever put something in their mouth that looked like that and not regretted it? She can't even begin to guess what it is...

But the woman who gave the name Carmine simply... takes the vial in her hand.

She looks at it. She slowly tips the vial, watching the dark liquid slowly move from one end to the other, trying to guess what it could be and coming up with nothing beyond the sense that... it isn't anything normal. It isn't anything sweet. Her green eyes, a vibrant color but dull behind them, flick back up to Ciel, looking at her for a moment as if asking if she truly wished her to drink it.

But eventually... her gaze moves back down. What was she going to do? If this was something poisonous, and she died right here... It would be fine. It just meant she didn't die in that dirty alley, but somewhre else. If this was something magical or cursed, and it did something to her... What was she going to do? Scream for help? Run? Fight?

No. She isn't going to do that. She can't muster the will to do that, when she has already seen so much violence, half-remembered with the memories lurking and waiting to swallow her whole.

So she pops the cork on the vial... and she tips the contents of the vial out and on to her tongue instead.]
regressor: (SMILE)

[personal profile] regressor 2022-09-02 06:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[It is difficult to tell, for her, if she has fooled this man at all. Not just because she had been a Regessor three minutes ago, but because, she thinks... This man was tricky. He has very cleverly diverted her questions in ways she doubts others might notice, now he seemingly grants her the thing she asks for...

So for now, she can only go along. He asks if she need anything... and she does. Besides, was it not said the better way to endure someone to you was to get them to give you something?]


... I would really love something to eat. Thank you, Mister... ?

[As if remembering her manners, she asks for his name... and then looks down at her hands, lifting the one with two cleanly snapped fingers like she had to be reminded. Ah. Of course.]

Maybe some splints, also, if you have them....

[Noting abnormal to see here.]
lachtara: (Kneeling)

[personal profile] lachtara 2022-09-03 12:09 am (UTC)(link)
Emet-Selch stands and yawns as the familiar sound of clinking metal and piercing steel clash in the background. When he stretches, it's over the sound of some unfortunate soldier screaming his last.

Soon enough, Zenos approaches again with that look in his eyes. That disappointed look. "Oh, come now." Emet-Selch a wave of his hand. "Were they truly that boring?"
subsist: (pic#15626279)

[personal profile] subsist 2022-09-03 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
Kaeya. Kaeya Alberich.

[ dodging the right questions is an art, one that kaeya has perfected over the years. whether or not she's managed to trick him is something that will probably make itself known later on, but for the time being, he'll wait until she reciprocates with her name (or not) before responding to the rest. ]

I'll be back with food, and some splints. It won't take me long.

[ the broken fingers haven't escaped his mind, after all. it's a miracle she's managed to handle the pain all this time but... something he'll have to think about later on, after she's been taken care of.

it won't be long before he's back with everything he said he'll bring. time to help with setting her fingers before he offers the food... ]
fightforthejoyofit: (unimpressed)

[personal profile] fightforthejoyofit 2022-09-03 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
That disappointed look turns Emet-Selch's way for a long moment, withering. From Varis, that would have read as ignorance - he had only ever thought of his son as a rabid beast, had never understood that the killing wasn't the point. From Emet-Selch, who should know better, it feels a pointed jibe, designed to further enkindle his frustration.

So he shrugs as nonchalantly as he can, tries to keep his tone dispassionate rather than vexed (though there's more than a little snarl that seeps in, because hiding what emotions he does feel, few and far between though those often are, has never been his forte). "If you wished me to slaughter cattle, I am sure Achamoth has its share of abattoirs. You need not drag yourself outside its walls."
subjugate: (0 6 7.)

[personal profile] subjugate 2022-09-03 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
My own god? A bold claim.

[ Is Ozymandias in the presence of another heroic spirit then? Interesting. He hadn't expected to meet one so soon after only encountering insignificant wanderers from others worlds –no kings, queen, nor anyone of worth. No accolades or titles to brandish. Mere peasants and followers of greater people than them. This is the first time someone has claimed otherwise.

He tips his head, trying to decipher how true this man's words are. As very few have laid their actual eyes upon the gods in his world, whether they be the blessed pharaohs or the true gods, who's to say if the many pedestrian artists of his time and earlier hadn't given them all incorrect features? ]


Tell me who you claim to be, and I will judge whether or not it is true. Though you have been graced with beautiful features, I would have expected one of the Ennead to be far larger and more impressive in stature.
salvageable: (pic#15332057)

[personal profile] salvageable 2022-09-04 06:03 am (UTC)(link)
[ whole lmao.

And that's alarming to hear. Dokja himself has had limitations placed on his abilities. It had taken a while to figure out how far those limits extended, and then even more time to discover that he didn't have a good chunk of his skills. No fables either. No status.

He shakes his head. ]


I'm not as strong as I used to be either. I don't know how to explain why that is.

[ Now that he's cleaned up the last of his things, he heads back toward the door. ]

Come on. I'll show you the portal.
settingup: (i see another mountain to climb)

[personal profile] settingup 2022-09-04 06:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ In all honesty, Atsumu does too. Feeling this way has taken its toll on him, and no matter how hard-headed he can be, no one can endlessly stand strong when constant and unrelenting pressure is applied to them. Besides, the more the Kenoma eats at him from the inside, the more correct it seems. He came from a pretty good world he thought, but it’s not like he never heard news stories, the constant coverage of shit going wrong in his own country as well as all over the world. He was protected from a lot of the worst…

But that worst still existed, and right now it’s hard not to think about it instead of the cozy bubble he actually lived in.
]

If you wanna quit then just do it. None of them are gonna be upset about it.

[ He cants his head to the side, indicating the guards that are keeping them from just getting up and leaving the lodestone area. ]
settingup: (the greatest alive)

[personal profile] settingup 2022-09-04 06:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ A lot is about to happen for Atsumu in a very short amount of time. His life has already been turned on its head by coming here in the first place, but the suffering he’s about to experience is only really just in the infancy stage. While he might think that he can hold firm to his resolve and stubbornly fight his way out of whatever the hell this man just did to him, the truth is he isn’t as strong as he thinks he is.

It’s not a failing on his part, of course. It’s not a sign of weak willpower either, which isn’t something anyone would accuse Atsumu of having. No, the truth is without the kind of support that the original round of Aions here had, there’s almost no way at all to keep resisting the call of the Kenoma forever. Without people looking to prop you up and keep you from falling into your own misery, it’s going to overtake you eventually.

And once that happens? Once Atsumu is officially a Kenoma? Well, it’s not going to get any easier from there either.

Right now though things seem simple enough as he yells over his shoulder at Amos.
]

I don’t! Get the fuck away from me!

[ As he pathetically moves his failing body as far away from the man as possible.

Later he might want that help. Later he might need whatever help anyone is willing to offer him, especially after lashing out in such an unpleasant way at so many people.

But that’s a bridge for future Amos and Atsumu to cross. For now, the boy just wants as much distance between him and this man as is physically possible.
]
settingup: (don't give up)

[personal profile] settingup 2022-09-04 06:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ Nailed it is definitely one way of putting it, though judging from his incredulous stare he might not fully feel the same way. In his defense he is kind of going through it right now as the Kenoma struggles to take root, but he hasn’t actually decided to accept it yet, so he’s not feeling perky and bright enough to be able to accept this attempt at relating to him. ]

Overcome this? The thing you guys did to me?

[ The reminder of that fact has his eyes narrowing even as he takes another bite of fruit. He’s not going to turn down the food, because she’s right that he needs the calories. He’s tall and he’s pretty muscular, and he hasn’t been eating nearly enough to sustain himself lately. ]