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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!

wolof: (Hi Cat)

[personal profile] wolof 2022-08-04 06:22 am (UTC)(link)
Her smile is calculated -- political, if you will. She looks like she would belong in court -- even with her rough, homespun dress, red, with a heart sewn into the collar. She looks like the kind of person, that could wear even that and turn heads, let alone if she had something different. Clearly, she was born with a purpose, and even here, that purpose was ingrained in her every step, word, and motion.

"It's no trouble," she waved a hand. It was not his questions, but...

When one has already fought this war -- worn oneself down to the very bone, died twice over it, it becomes tedium, almost. What should be grand, and exciting, was almost routine for a woman who wants built magic superweapons on her own.

"IF there are other questions, I'm happy to provide them. The more...allies we have, the better prepared we are, yes? You will find that the Kenoma are... rather dogged. They will be ready for war soon enough, and they... are as vicious as any opponent. Any knowledge you gain now will be a lesson you don't have to learn the hard way later."
zauneyete: (touches face)

[personal profile] zauneyete 2022-08-04 06:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ Someone help him... One of the retainers off to the side approached, but Silco held a hand out. Give him a moment, to see if he can do this, and if not... Well, then they can force the man to drink the essence. It was inevitable, wasn't it? As inevitable as the rest of the universe coming to a nearing and anticlimactic end.

He shrugged, and looked around.
]

Is it? I don't know, it lacks a bit of neon, but... I hardly find it all that spooky.

[ Then again, being underground was where Silco felt safe. The lodestone was just like being in a deep, dark cave. Just like being home. ]

Now really, are you sure I can't get you something to drink? I can assure you, it will make the whole thing...much easier.

[ Painful, but easier. ]
regressor: (STEADY)

[personal profile] regressor 2022-08-04 06:46 am (UTC)(link)
A world beyond cure...

[At first, she just repeats the words, quiet and wet with the sludge still trying to pool in the back of her throat. As a Contractor, she had never concerned herself with issues of morality. Whether a person, a group, or a nation was corrupt... It mattered not to her as long as she was getting paid and living her own life. As a Regressor... she had seen different sides to things, had been able to understand the lives of those who lived in the bottom of the barrel and just kept struggling against the world...

But even her world, with its false sky and the Gates and the tragedy that lurked beneath the surface... She wouldn't describe it that way. Maybe there was no "cure" but...]


Does there have to be one... ? A cure...

[Even if ten, fifty, seventy percent was rotted out...]

There has to be... something worthwhile. Somewhere.

[She believed that (for now).]
fallingsand: (33;)

[personal profile] fallingsand 2022-08-04 06:55 am (UTC)(link)
Neon?

[ Bruno hadn't the faintest idea what that meant. He stared at the central point of the vast underground hall. Slabs of stone, moody lighting, none of it struck him as very welcoming. ]

No, I am. I am really, really sure.

[ Bruno confirmed, this time with more certainty, only the longer he looked around at this place and the more he realized Silco's insistence on a drink... What would make it easier? Somehow, he doubted he was being offered a glass of wine here. Confused and grief-stricken but shaken enough by the teleportation and new locale to shed that just long enough to come to a realization, followed immediately by a sinking feeling.

Ah.
]

But you're... not actually asking, are you?

[ Bruno turned back again, this time to regard this man who came out of nowhere and offered him a place to go with a hint of dread. He slid a step further away. ]
rosethorns: (12)

[personal profile] rosethorns 2022-08-04 06:57 am (UTC)(link)
[As much as it pains her to say it, it will be something of a relief to be armed again.]

Small scale is good, less people to get hurt that way. [Less good is realizing that with Aions being so crucial, she isn’t like to get away with keeping herself distanced from the fighting.

Not that she would ever allow herself to do that for long.]


I must admit it’s somewhat nerve-wracking to have such a crucial role in it all.
regressor: (INSIGNIFICANT)

[personal profile] regressor 2022-08-04 07:04 am (UTC)(link)
[What had happened to that tattered, bloodstained slip? Was it lying rain-soaked on the ground in the alley she last remembered, or had it just... vanished, like she apparently had? Maybe it didn't matter... but for a moment, Havoc imagines it. Thinks that PANDORA might hunt down the last location her messier code had pulsed and find only that, and think... perhaps it was something that had to do with Regressors, and be baffled still.

... Hah. That would be slightly... ironic. If it weren't for the strange, lingering feeling that... not everything was right, back in that place. Had she seen something happen? Or was it all just a dream... ?

She is quiet as Ciel takes out the clothing to offer her, not because she is pensive, so much as the fact that she simply... falls silent, when she has nothing to say. It is not an awkward gap in sound, it's... actually somewhat peaceful. Able to be, with the lack of Lancelnopt Synchrotron radiation pulsing in her eyes. When the robe is draped over her naked shoulders, though...]


Ah... it smells nice.

[Lavender. Like one of the soaps in Laura's kitchen, small and rounded by so many washes by so many hands, young and old. She shakes her head gently, thinking she can handle the dressing mostly by herself... but she is careful with the damaged hand, carefully pinching the collar of the robe with her unbroken fingers to help move it about her shoulders and slip her skinny arms into the sleeves, one after the other until she does encounter something that would hurt. And though she didn't mind pain... it was pointless, if she was being offered help so kindly.]

... the tie, maybe?

[She surrenders that part to Ciel's hands, finally... looking up, properly, and then around, her bright (yet somehow dull) green eyes seeing light and crystal in every direction. Such a strange place...]

This happens a lot... ?

[People arriving this way. After all... Her new acquaintance had come as if she were prepared.]
ricordi: (015)

[personal profile] ricordi 2022-08-04 08:43 am (UTC)(link)
I do not know. [expecting him to know would be illogical, he thinks. indeed, expecting anyone new to know if there is a cure is illogical. then he shakes his head. healing is not his forte, and neither is philosophy-- and there's always a chance that this "corruption" may just be a figure of speech, not a literal death of the world.

but... something tells him that it may just be literal. his dream of the sky realm dying could be considered proof.

what does the death of the sky realm have to do with the end of this one? he doesn't know. it's a leap in logic, but something really tells him that it should make sense. round and round his thoughts go, trying to make sense of it. it's almost frustrating, so he attempts to parse it when he has free time... which is not now.]


But the leader of this organization may know. I have not met that person yet, but if they know, then they may share it.

It's connected to their goals, after all.

[personal profile] expiera 2022-08-04 08:45 am (UTC)(link)
[The "forced (it) down my throat" part gave it away. Sweet and precious Amos, one among the Regent's favorite meow meows, has a track record...

She eyes his figure once more, of course not stopping him. Actually, she'll edge away a bit, just to give him space and further emphasize that she means no harm.]


What would you like for it to be?

[That's not how catches work, and they both know it. But since he insists, she may as well play along?]

Howl will go after because Ciel is the Exposition Bot as u know

[personal profile] expiera 2022-08-04 09:28 am (UTC)(link)
My. How wise and knowledgeable of you. You must be quite the scholar, or rather historied yourself, yet you are a Celebrant, not a Seeker or Visionary. What an interesting mix!

[If it doesn't sound like a compliment, maybe it's because it isn't one. Just an observation, that's all.]

Since you're already familiar with the terms, the vial contains something that is akin to the Kenoma's essence and attunes you to its power. There may be some temporary side effects that are unpleasant to weather through, though they only drag on if the person struggles and takes longer to accept it into their body for their own reasons. But otherwise, it affirms the Kenoma in you, gives you the same promise it recited to us, and once you've adjusted, abilities you previously possessed will return. Untouched as you are now, you will remain helpless until you attune.

[Any being of power should understand the allure, shouldn't they? This one is definitely and absolutely not a normie, Ciel is quite ready to bet on it even as she smoothly explains an otherwise tricky question. Is she leaving anything out? ...Nothing of import, as far as she's concerned.]

[personal profile] expiera 2022-08-04 09:53 am (UTC)(link)
The woman looks up. Or rather, her head lifts his way, it's difficult to tell with the mask on. She was heading in his direction anyway, though some of the soldiers turn at the voice in surprise as well. Brave of him to interfere, nary a thread on his person and entirely powerless as one newly awoken to this plane. Yet he is willing to step out and speak up all the same, for the sake of avoiding conflict that was on the verge of spilling out right in front of his eyes.

That's probably a Pleroma trait, isn't it.

The soldiers don't necessarily look relieved at his appearance or interference though, at least not all of them.

"We will not surrender our cause, we have to hold the line! You must not fall to the Kenoma, Aion, this woman is a pawn of the Regent!" One of them shouts back at the man with platinum pink hair, brandishing his spear towards her yet she is not slowing in her advance. The Pleroma's victory in Godsblood really emboldened the resistance fighters, it would seem, and as easy as it would be for her to dispatch these natives, they are being watched, judged.

She does not say anything, she already gave her warning. A few more steps, and both sides will be within striking range.
theorems: (pic#15347641)

[personal profile] theorems 2022-08-04 12:23 pm (UTC)(link)
"No one"? There are others?

[He hasn't seen anyone else- so far at least. But he does look around now, just in case he missed them.]

I'm Viktor.
ktizo: (🎵 storm of blood)

[personal profile] ktizo 2022-08-04 12:36 pm (UTC)(link)
With no clue what the soldiers are protecting, Hythlodaeus turns to look back at the cave briefly. What's so special about it? Is it because people are awakening inside?

He also has no clue what the soldier is trying to articulate to him. He isn't an Aion, is he? What is the Kenoma? What is The Regent?

"I cannot help you..." All he can do is be forced to watch however this pans out. Instead, he looks to the lone figure. "Please, spare them."

She doesn't look like she's going to back down, but all he asks is that in her quest to get past them, she spares their lives. Who knows, she may just be overconfident or bluffing, but she's walking towards them now with quite the fierce determination it seems. And the way the soldiers tremble, it seems they know the odds are stacked against them.
dragonmount: (🔆 reality.)

i don't know, can we? 😘

[personal profile] dragonmount 2022-08-04 12:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[ the frozen spike catches his attention, of course.

rand reaches out to catch it with the Power, clenches his hands into fists as the spike is crushed to shards of ice that fall around them with a clattering. which means, also, that he is completely unprepared for the second attack of water. he'd doused his own sword just a second before the water lands anyway, to better handle the ice, which means he really catches the full brunt of that watery orb and is completely drenched.

later, he'll consider how easily he could've been hurt or killed if kaeya had gone for more offensive magic in this moment.

but right now he's bewildered, between this and the growing realization that this girl — jinx — and silco don't act like strangers who just met. he blinks water out of his eyes, pushes hair back from where it sticks to his face, and says to kaeya, ]


I didn't realize they were teaching you manners in Achamoth.

[ wryly. his attention is more on that frozen sword, though, flicks between kaeya and silco, mostly — the more immediate threats in this moment. he frowns at silco's assessment, at the ask as if he isn't, you know, right here. maybe it is stupid, but he wants to tread carefully. he doesn't want to hurt this girl, new as she is here, whatever relationship she might have with these people, and attacks with fire are dangerous in this small space.

but kaeya isn't the only one who can wield water, and maybe the element of surprise will help. so he pulls a wave straight out of the nearby lake, summons all that water inside the shrine to him — and then throws it at kaeya. ]
Edited 2022-08-04 15:26 (UTC)
lovehate: (😈🖤 76)

[personal profile] lovehate 2022-08-04 01:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[ What the darkness holds for Sirius, he can't even conceive. He can't imagine how it'll warp and change him later, into something wicked and warped. Stories of any fairies lost to their corruption are lost, and if they even exist, are perhaps only known to the elite academics of the Aqua Clan. Academics aside, only to fairy royalty itself. Inevitably, Sirius is still a moth drawn to a flame. He wants to dissect and understand. It's only natural for the darkness to stir his interest, one way or another.

Humanity had been as equally fascinating to him before. He'd been obsessed. ]


Of your own volition, I take. [ As no one unwillingly in shackles should smile or laugh in such a way. ] I will keep your secret, Sebastian, should you like to remain so unassuming. Should it even need be one, without the laws of the human realm to make it an ordeal.

[ Sirius seems to have shed his own interest in disguises. Most of his human body's features had been originally predecided to fit his queen's demands, anyway. ]

I wonder how much longer we might stay in this place. It's a space that bends and twists like a human's heart does, but it doesn't seem to belong to anybody.
lovehate: (😈🖤 11)

[personal profile] lovehate 2022-08-04 01:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Ranmaru.

[ Chilka humors the new name in a mocking voice. He sees the doubt in the other fairy— the purity of his soul beginning to slip. Following him, because he's the same. With a velvety laugh, Chilka plays with Ranmaru's throat, turning and lilting his jawline as the other begins to slump with denial.

There's no place for either of them in Procyon's kingdom. No rewards for reaping. Especially not if they're here, with nothing left of the past. Ranmaru clings to his duty, to the last thing he'd been told to do because, without someone there to actively give him a reason to exist, he is empty.

Empty and utterly alone. ]


You failed to tell me why. You saw the truth of it all when you drank from the vial yourself, didn't you?

[ Chilka plucks quietly at the next sentiment. ]

She isn't here to punish you for it anymore.

[personal profile] expiera 2022-08-04 01:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"..."

She seems to be still looking at him, when one of the soldiers make a move. Did they lose nerve, did they see an opening, or are they simply foolish? Regardless, a thrust is made, and confirming the observer's suspicion, she catches the wooden weapon with ease before yanking it straight out of her attacker's hands.

Without turning to look at them, it is snapped in half in one clean motion.

"If you want to act for your cause so badly, stop wasting our time and energy here. Go look for a Pleroma Aion you so trust instead."

At her plain statement, it's as if a lightbulb had suddenly gone off in the group's head. The one who shouted before blinks, as if a deer caught in headlights, while one of his companions is helping cover for the shaken man she just disarmed earlier.

"R-right. This... This isn't the last you've heard from us! Come on!" Pulling back his weapon, he gestures to his ragtag squad. There's a uncanny mix of resolve and relief in the group as they disperse, and it's probably completely normal for any third party onlookers to be very confused about what just happened here.

Sighing, the woman's shoulders slump, and now that her path is no longer obstructed, she resumes walking towards him.

"I'm sorry about the commotion." There's a notable shift to her tone as she addresses him, no longer cold and detached as it was before towards those soldiers. She almost sounds... casual, a bit apologetic even. "Here, I hope this fits?"

Reaching the cavern entrance he was peering from, she retrieves a bundled stack of gray fabric from the shoulder bag she's carrying and hands it out to him. Shall he take it, it would unfold into a bathrobe-like piece of clothing. He is very tall despite his slender build (and the tallest people she knows here are... hm), hopefully it should still fit and serve well enough to cover him?
galdorleod: ([raven] demure)

[personal profile] galdorleod 2022-08-04 01:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ As Ciel explains, Howl continues to quietly watch the man, taking in every potential shift in his demeanor or body language. When she's done, he props a hand on his hip and gives him a tired, cold smile. ]

...and in the spirit of open disclosure, I'd add that drinking it isn't optional.

[ It's the first vaguely threatening thing either he or Ciel has said, but it's true. There are no Pleroma here to stop them from taking this new Aion for the Regent's cause. This man will drink the contents of that vial, whether it's now, voluntarily, or back in Achamoth while being held down by a dozen cultists. ]
cutlery: (twerkin' 4 peace)

[personal profile] cutlery 2022-08-04 01:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ After three years serving as a butler, you would think that Sebastian would be used to the casual dismals, but no... There's a tiny part of him that bristles slightly (though it's certainly at the power rather than the status), but it's a feeling well tempered at this point, so it doesn't show outwardly at all. He's learned just as much that it suits him quite well to be considered unassuming. ]

Perhaps so... Ah, and please pardon my manners in several respects, given the circumstances. [ He says, as if he has just remembered ] Sebastian Michaelis. Head butler to the Phantomhive household.

[ A beat, then a sigh as he adds: ]

...Formerly, I do believe.

[ He doesn't speak to getting covered, since clearly! Introductions are more important! ]
heavybreaths: (Conversing)

[personal profile] heavybreaths 2022-08-04 01:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[He is extremely full of himself, but that's what having near unchecked power over trillions upon trillions of people will do to someone. That and the fact that good and evil were meaningless and subjective. What was good to one was evil to another, and vice versa. He had long ago cast aside such concerns.

The comment about the Regent's iron fist earns a nod. He doesn't have a problem with authoritarian methods of governing, but for him, it's definitely the destruction. And also that he's claiming authority.]


They will learn, then. Pacifism has a place, when the war is over and peace reigns.

[He slowly rises.]

The Pleroma will have to cope.

[Because he's not going be swayed.]
ktizo: (🎵 you said)

[personal profile] ktizo 2022-08-04 01:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Hythlodaeus feels both relief and apprehension as the group scatters. Now he's left with this woman, and what if she attacks him now? ...Ah, but she's offering him something, and seems apologetic. He relaxes, just a little.

Inside the bag is a robe, and he pulls it on gratefully. It's a little short around the sleeves, but it covers him and that's all he cares about. He did not like being so exposed- how utterly shameful.

"My thanks." He sighs, feeling a bit more like himself now that the tension is passed and he's covered. He manages a small smile, though he's clearly still tense.

"Might I ask what you're doing here? It seems so very deserted here otherwise." It's fine, he's grateful that he's not just wandering alone and naked, but he is curious. Did she perhaps know that someone would be here who needed help?
leicesters: academy (006)

[personal profile] leicesters 2022-08-04 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Black sludge? Yeah, no thanks. Anyone going around enslaving people deserves to be taken out.

[Although when he describes their forces as just 'rebels'...] Kinda sounds like you've got a rag-tag group going if you need the help of a random guy like me. Can't I just go home? I have a war to deal with there too, you know.

[And he's needed a lot more in Fódlan than he is here, as far as he knows.]
leicesters: academy (137)

[personal profile] leicesters 2022-08-04 02:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[Excuse??? He sees you wiping the bow down, lady.]

Oh, come on. You lend me your bow and now you're acting all uppity about me getting my greasy little paws on it? Give me a break.

[It's not his fault no one gave him gloves with the rest of his clothes...! Except he's not actually that offended, he just wants to get a reaction out of her.]
leicesters: academy (141)

[personal profile] leicesters 2022-08-04 02:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Aww, don't be like that. Here I thought we had a good thing going.

[He shrugs, and decides he's pushed his luck enough for one day. It's not like this place is going anywhere (he hopes), so he can always do more investigation in his own time. He smiles and changes tack.]

I'm Claude, by the way. Looking forward to working with you.
leicesters: academy (136)

[personal profile] leicesters 2022-08-04 02:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[Claude stays silent, fascinated by this showdown between the young woman and... bird creature... and it becomes clear just who the boss is in their particular dynamic. To Hawkmon's request, he laughs.]

So formal! But sure, I entrust this to you, good sir. Make it count.

[He offers out a medium-sized rock.]
leicesters: academy (004)

[personal profile] leicesters 2022-08-04 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't know how my grandfather would feel about an entire crew showing up on his doorstep, but eh, I can probably persuade him.

[He waves a hand dismissively. They'll figure something out!]

Maybe you could bring us stuff from your travels, too. You know, stuff you wouldn't find easily anywhere else.