Planeside

Locales abroad of the city centers, from out of doors to the outer planes.
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Morty
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Re: Planeside

Post by Morty »

[On The Edge]

"I didn't expect it to be able to create something alive." Olvisin seems less surprised than Jerick, but that's only because she doesn't know the device's limitations as well. "But I don't have anything to fish with. Unless you count grenades. But that doesn't work as well as people think."

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Re: Planeside

Post by Recaiden »

[Shrine to the Lovers]

What an interesting trip. Difficult, at times. The darkness of this world wears on one, just like that awful underground city, just like all those days in the bunker.

But now we're here, at the shrine!

There are some things Marcie will have asked of the Lord along the trip. A lot of things, probably.
But the most relevant are:
  • Has he done a communion like this before?
  • If so, when?
  • And what did he ask?
"Ask him what he most needs, and if he'll accept our help." That's more of a formality, but if Absum isn't cooperative, helping Maesda will be more difficult at the least.
"If the world needs something beyond creation and moonlight and such to be brought back into balance."
"How exactly this started."

While saying this, she's walked over to brush a hand over one of the tarnished silver orbs. This place is ... not subtle.
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Ironsmith
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Re: Planeside

Post by Ironsmith »

[Shrine to the Lovers]

"Naturally. When I was first Lorded, I had many questions for Absum. When I learned I could ask him directly, of course, I made the attempt. I did not get all of my questions answered. Communing with Absum is... intense. What I did ask, and the answer I received, I would rather not reveal. I don't know you well enough for that."

It's a short conversation for such a long walk.



Gryffaf nods and sits cross-legged in front of the reflecting pool. "...Very well. It will be difficult to receive so much information, but I will endeavor to try." The bull-headed knight takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. "...You may want to retreat to a safe distance. And find some cover."

If Marcie takes him up on that, she won't be close enough to hear what he's saying. If she doesn't... well, that would present its own problems.

Either way, the effect is pretty difficult to miss. For the first time since she got here, the sun is rising.

It's not the quietly beautiful sort of sunrise Marcie would be used to. One where a great, golden globe slowly rises over the horizon and bathes the landscape in a warm light, welcoming it to a new day.

Rather, this sunrise sees the previously-twilit skies ignite, chasing away the dark with furious fervor. As oppressive as the night sky was, it's now completely drowned out by an omnipresent, blindingly-bright glare, matched only by a horrible burning that will roll over her skin. Divine protection won't provide much reprieve; the light burns everything it touches, even things that are not meant to be burnt.

Not a moment after the light makes itself seen, the screaming begins.

All around them, Marcie will be able to hear agonized howls and shrieks of various creatures, which were previously sheltered by the dark, meeting their abrupt end in the presence of the sunlight. She'll recognize one of them as coming from Gryffaf, though she can take some solace in that it lasts far too long to mean death for him... not that several straight minutes of unrelenting torment is much better.

Scorching winds roll over Marcie, carrying with them sounds that defy description. Words, perhaps, but not so mundane as to be mere speech. What falls on her ears is pure, undiluted truth; what Absum says, is, and no other thing can be so.

The Lord of Sunlight needs nothing from Marcie, or from anyone else. There is nothing she can do which will be of use to him. All that matters now is the well-being of his children; if she is able, she is to bring them somewhere safe, somewhere far from him. There isn't much time left in this world, and time is all that stands between it and a formless pile of ashes.

Creation is insufficient to restore Maesda to its former glory. Adea was not merely a source of creation; she was his other half, as much a part of him as she was Maesda itself. Perhaps Inari or some other goddess could fill a similar role, but Maesda is already broken beyond repair. Whatever comes after, built on its ruins, will be something else entirely.

Maesda's fall started with Adea's disappearance, but how that happened is unknown even to him. She is not destroyed; only one being exists which has the potential to do that, and he would not lay a hand upon his wife. But she is gone; to where, how, and why, cannot be known.

And finally... she is doing good. Marcie's actions up to now have Absum's blessing, and she should continue as she has.

Mercifully, no more is said. The sun once again lowers itself beyond the horizon, taking the burning light with it. And as the world fades back into visibility around her, Marcie will notice that it's changed significantly in the short time Absum was here; the shrine is gone, replaced by a few scattered, shattered bricks, which at their most cohesive form a stretched-out slide running down the side of the mountain. The rock she's sitting on, and that forms the rest of the mountain's face, is now hard and glassy, and still emanates enough heat to drown the site of the communion in a haze of shimmering air. And lastly; Gryffaf is nowhere to be found.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Re: Planeside

Post by Recaiden »

[Shrine to the Lovers => Glass Mountain]

"Lord Gryffaf, you have our thanks."

Marcie takes his advice and strides out of the shrine, and finds a place to sit under an overhanging rock. Once there, she materializes a shade of generic matter between herself and the shrine, adjusts the parameters of her second jewel to protect her from heat, and lifts a hand to shade her eyes.

Thinking to herself, that they really should have taken a different body for this mission. One with better hearing, for one thing. Maybe the bull-lord's words would be important, if only she could make them out.

She had been expecting, perhaps, a beam of sunlight to illuminate the shrine, and the lord would speak with Absum as long as he could bear, before ending the communion and reporting to her the answers.
That turns out to have been quite an underestimate.


The scorching heat melting her barrier is one thing.
But the real difficult part to handle is the screaming. Those poor vampiric monsters out in the surroundings. Poor Gryffaf.
Damn, it just keeps going on and on.


The answer from Absum is...grim, she has to say.
Poor fellow. No one ever told him about the dangers of absolute truth, did they?
Great news that Adea is simple absent - perhaps one day she can be found again, though that is of less priority.
That Maesda is beyond repair, though - how sad. For her, for the city, even for Braeg.

She wants to know more - to ask Absum what will become of him, without his children or wife or world as it was. But that...it isn't really important to the project, is it? For a few minutes, she sits on the glassy rock, seeming empty. Then she stands and turns back the way she came. They can start evacuating people immediately from Dho Chladach (where are they going to send everyone? The island can only take so many, they can't be brought to work... Is Riverside still largely empty? Maybe they can lease a planet for a while?).

But for her at least, there's a long stretch of travel to return to Brefaisil.
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Re: Planeside

Post by WarKitty »

On the Edge

Didn't know if it would work or not. Let's try the net. I want to dissect one. Xun sniffs at the water, then starts pipetting a bit of it up.
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Re: Planeside

Post by ForTheGnomes »

"Okay, then, net it is."* Jerick holds out the crossbow, aiming for one of the fish in the water. Right before it seemed like it was about to jump, he pulled the trigger. Four stone pellets flew out, evenly spaced from each other, and spread the net. Right as the fish jumped out of the water, the net collided with it, the pellets wrapping the net around it. Jerick walked into the water to retrieve the fish. It turns out that he had captured two more fish than expected. "Well, I suppose that's dinner settled." Jerick set one of the fish on a rock next to the river for Xun to examine and plopped the other two near the fire, ready to be cooked.
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Re: Planeside

Post by Ironsmith »

Recaiden wrote: Oct 20, 2022 4:19 am [Shrine to the Lovers => Glass Mountain]

"Lord Gryffaf, you have our thanks."

Marcie takes his advice and strides out of the shrine, and finds a place to sit under an overhanging rock. Once there, she materializes a shade of generic matter between herself and the shrine, adjusts the parameters of her second jewel to protect her from heat, and lifts a hand to shade her eyes.

Thinking to herself, that they really should have taken a different body for this mission. One with better hearing, for one thing. Maybe the bull-lord's words would be important, if only she could make them out.

She had been expecting, perhaps, a beam of sunlight to illuminate the shrine, and the lord would speak with Absum as long as he could bear, before ending the communion and reporting to her the answers.
That turns out to have been quite an underestimate.


The scorching heat melting her barrier is one thing.
But the real difficult part to handle is the screaming. Those poor vampiric monsters out in the surroundings. Poor Gryffaf.
Damn, it just keeps going on and on.


The answer from Absum is...grim, she has to say.
Poor fellow. No one ever told him about the dangers of absolute truth, did they?
Great news that Adea is simple absent - perhaps one day she can be found again, though that is of less priority.
That Maesda is beyond repair, though - how sad. For her, for the city, even for Braeg.

She wants to know more - to ask Absum what will become of him, without his children or wife or world as it was. But that...it isn't really important to the project, is it? For a few minutes, she sits on the glassy rock, seeming empty. Then she stands and turns back the way she came. They can start evacuating people immediately from Dho Chladach (where are they going to send everyone? The island can only take so many, they can't be brought to work... Is Riverside still largely empty? Maybe they can lease a planet for a while?).

But for her at least, there's a long stretch of travel to return to Brefaisil.
[Glass Mountain => Brefaisil]

As she proceeds back to the capitol, Marcie will note that the effects of the communion with Absum reached much farther than the mountain. The shrubbery all down the mountainside has been completely incinerated, and there are smatterings of ash from other creatures scattered seemingly randomly all over the fields of ash. Further down, the vegetation comes back, but is visibly scorched and withered. The glassiness of the surrounding landscape diminishes greatly well before then, but even once it's gone entirely, Marcie will find the roads severely altered, bridges burnt away or collapsed, pathways buried under rockslides, paving stones cracked and submerged under the soil, showing the ruin of hundreds of years after what could not have been more than a few minutes. Even when she gets back to the city's external gates, Marcie will find them sealed together, the intense heat somehow reaching all the way out to melt them into a single slab. The guards are plenty willing to let Marcie in, but they have to lower a rope to her from a nearby window to do the job.

But, after a lengthy hike, Marcie will finally find herself back in the city. Where from there?
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Recaiden
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Re: Planeside

Post by Recaiden »

[Glass Mountain => Brefaisil]

This is...devastating. No wonder Absum hardly ever contacts people. It wasn't even a long conversation that he and Gryffaf had been engaged in. How did the heat reach this far, but leave any vegetation at all further back? More attention paid to the city, perhaps.

It's a grimmer trip than the one out to the shrine had been, with ash from suddenly dead creatures all around and scorched earth down below her feet.

Once Marcie finally gets in the window and thanks the guards, she heads for the palace. The queen should probably know about this. A lot of things won't matter, if the world is the way Absum said it was. And he doesn't lie.
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Ironsmith
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Re: Planeside

Post by Ironsmith »

[Brefaisil]

The queen isn't hard to find. The first, and most logical, place to look for her is in the throne room. And, of course, she's there, standing in front of her throne... she can't really sit in it, not with that massive crack running through it. Well, not just it. The offending fissure is running through the whole room, visibly displacing two of the pillars near the entrance.

"...One would hope you found what you were looking for." Breonite comments sardonically, stepping forward from her ruined throne.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Re: Planeside

Post by Morty »

[On the Edge]

"We probably should examine it first to see if it's got all the bits inside that a fish ought to," Olvisin says as she sits down next to the fire.
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Re: Planeside

Post by Recaiden »

[Brefaisil]
Ironsmith wrote: Oct 29, 2022 1:20 amThe queen isn't hard to find. The first, and most logical, place to look for her is in the throne room. And, of course, she's there, standing in front of her throne... she can't really sit in it, not with that massive crack running through it. Well, not just it. The offending fissure is running through the whole room, visibly displacing two of the pillars near the entrance.

"...One would hope you found what you were looking for." Breonite comments sardonically, stepping forward from her ruined throne.
Marcie is unable to hide how funny she finds this scene - the queen standing - standing - in front of her cracked throne, because of course where else would she go? Absum forbid someone have tried to repair this - actually, maybe it is unfixable, with Absum's whole 'destruction' domain...
"Hello, your majesty."

But at length she answers.
"I have found less than I hoped for, but enough."
"We were always too late to save Brefaisil, or Maesda. It is Absum's wish that his people, at least, find a new home, far from him, and this we can provide. We have already started working our way here from the beach."
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Ironsmith
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Re: Planeside

Post by Ironsmith »

[Brefaisil]

"...I had hoped for a better answer than that." Breonite sighs, shoulders sagging. "...If that is Absum's will, then let it be done. I can account for the people of Brefaisil; we will gather ourselves up and make for Dho Chladach." She stiffens suddenly, her eyes going wide as a realization occurs to her. "...The path there would take us straight through Hallower's Rest. Is... is there somewhere else we could meet, to evacuate my people?"
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Re: Planeside

Post by WarKitty »

[On the Edge]

Xun already has one fish gutted open with a claw and is carefully separating out the organs for examination. Smells like fish, anyway.
Seems to have all the right organs too. Trout, I think. Come take a look, but I think we can eat this safely.
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Re: Planeside

Post by ForTheGnomes »

[On the Edge]

Jerick peeked at the dissection of the fish. "OK then, we are having fish for dinner if there are no objections." Jerick pulled out his knife and pushed a button. When he did so, the blade of the knife started vibrating, so fast it looked as if it wasn't vibrating at all. "Anyone know how to butcher a fish?"
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Re: Planeside

Post by Morty »

[On the Edge]

"I can handle it. Grew up by the sea. Some skills have stuck." Olvisin will take Jerick's knife if offered and proceed to inexpertly but decently fillet the fish. "Not something I expected to be doing this morning, let me tell you. Gutting a fish at the edge of literal nothing,"
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Re: Planeside

Post by WarKitty »

[On the Edge]

Xun's extradimensional storage space produced a large bottle of whiskey. You lot brought yourself cups, right? All I have are bowls.
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Re: Planeside

Post by ForTheGnomes »

[On the Edge]

"I think I do..." Jerick begins to rummage through his bags and pouches. After a moment, he retrieves a small roughly made metal cup. "Yup, I do, but I don't drink alcohol. Don't like the taste or the side effects." Jerick pulls a small wooden box from his largest bag, a knapsack attached to the bottom of his bandolier. He sets the box on the ground and opens it to reveal a large quantity of tea bags. "I find tea to be the most favorable drink for me. Helps me focus and tastes a lot better than most other drinks."
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Re: Planeside

Post by Recaiden »

Ironsmith wrote: Nov 02, 2022 5:08 am [Brefaisil]

"...I had hoped for a better answer than that." Breonite sighs, shoulders sagging. "...If that is Absum's will, then let it be done. I can account for the people of Brefaisil; we will gather ourselves up and make for Dho Chladach." She stiffens suddenly, her eyes going wide as a realization occurs to her. "...The path there would take us straight through Hallower's Rest. Is... is there somewhere else we could meet, to evacuate my people?"
"As had we, but that is up to Absum, not to us."
Marcie takes a cautious step closer to the queen.

"Is there no way around Hallower's Rest?"
Of course they agree about not going straight through.
"If not, well, literally moving the portal is not practical, but we could set up an exit near Brefaisil, given an open space and a pair of days."
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Ironsmith
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Re: Planeside

Post by Ironsmith »

[Brefaisil]

"None." The queen replies bluntly, not reacting to Marcie's approach. "At least, none that are themselves practical. We would need to make our way north to the coast and sail back down to Dho Chladoch, hugging the coast the entire way to avoid drawing the ire of some leviathan under the waves. It would take far longer than you would need to simply bring the portal here." Breonite gives her a little nod. "We can have a work crew clear out the central plaza within a few hours. We will not be needing the tunnels under the city any longer."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Re: Planeside

Post by Morty »

[On the Edge]

Olvisin produces a small metal camping mug from somewhere.

"I do drink, but I need to be careful around drinking with bigger people. Though that's really not a problem right now." Her companions being a gnome and a cat.
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Recaiden
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Re: Planeside

Post by Recaiden »

[Brefaisil]
Ironsmith wrote: Nov 10, 2022 7:51 am "None." The queen replies bluntly, not reacting to Marcie's approach. "At least, none that are themselves practical. We would need to make our way north to the coast and sail back down to Dho Chladoch, hugging the coast the entire way to avoid drawing the ire of some leviathan under the waves. It would take far longer than you would need to simply bring the portal here." Breonite gives her a little nod. "We can have a work crew clear out the central plaza within a few hours. We will not be needing the tunnels under the city any longer."
But that would be a harrowing journey for the Maesdans, which is totally different from a difficult portal-opening for Marcie.
Still. If there's no real way around, then there's no real way through. Central plaza should work fine. Shouldn't be too many people that will openly interrupt things there. Not none, but not too many.
"A shame and a relief both, after all that work on the tunnels."
Marcie gives a small shrug (her wings remaining folded nervously behind her).
"That should work perfectly. In those few hours...we do seem to have broken your throne room - is there anything that would help make it up to you?"
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Re: Planeside

Post by Ironsmith »

[Brefaisil]

The queen gives her a sardonic smile. "So long as you keep your promises, you'll have done more than enough." She turns and strokes the broken throne plaintively, letting out a vaguely amused chuff. "...Some measure of irony in this." She mutters. "My supporters always said the world wouldn't come to an end if Arnbaith chose to marry me, no matter how I turned out to be. Nice to know even they were wrong." Breonite reaches up and removes the circlet from her head, holding it between her hands and running her thumbs along it anxiously. "...Where we're going... will there be a need for a queen?" She asks quietly.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Recaiden
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Re: Planeside

Post by Recaiden »

[Brefaisil]

Marcie responds with a plain and sincere smile. Well, maybe a slightly-mysterious-but-sincere smile. "Hah! If you like, you can tell your supporters that the world would have ended either way."

She walks up the rest of the way to Breonite.
"Few places in that world are ruled by a royal sovereign.
And goes to take the queen's hand - and crown - in her own.
"A leader could do great things in times of such drastic change. But if they did not have a queen, the people would be fine."
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Re: Planeside

Post by Ironsmith »

[Brefaisil]

"...In that case, I must ask something... terribly selfish." Breonite takes a deep breath and lets out a shaky sigh. "When we arrive, could you... how far could you take me from the other strigoi?" She shakes her head. "As it stands, they will remember me as a tyrant, and the woman who was in power when the world fell apart. Without the palace walls and the blessings of the Lovers, I do not fancy my chances with the people."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Recaiden
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Re: Planeside

Post by Recaiden »

[Brefaisil]

Marcie curves a wing around behind the queen, a gesture of steadying someone who is taking a difficult step.
"I can take you as far as you need to go. Across the mountains, across the ocean, to a whole third world if you want to be absolutely sure. I can also offer you what safety our own walls provide."
Would the people here really turn on her like that? Possible, very possible. They weren't all hostile, but no one she spoke to really had anything good to say about the queen.
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Ironsmith
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Re: Planeside

Post by Ironsmith »

[Brefaisil]

Breonite gives a solemn little nod and slowly places the circlet back on her head, taking a deep, calming breath before continuing. "...Good." She says, taking a step out from under Marcie's wing. "We can discuss that at length when the time comes. In the meantime... you will not tell anyone I asked. Especially not my husband." She stiffens. "...We have work to do. And not a lot of time to see it done. I am certain the next several days will be busy for you."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Re: Planeside

Post by Ironsmith »

Shadowcaller wrote: Jan 01, 2023 5:19 pm [Room with a Goat==> The Tunnels Between

It's neither warm or hot within the tunnels between since temperature was something actual places had. This was a metaphorical place. A visual stand in that Jaahlyn still quite hadn't figured out. She recalled doing experiments at some point, bringing along various items with her which she had carved her name into and then dumped on the floor just to see where they went. Would they be there when she came back?

They weren't.

It would be lifetimes later (how many she wasn't sure) when another psychopomp she couldn't recall the name of claimed they had found the items carved with her name deep underneath the earth somewhere. As if they had just came to be there long ago. Which she guessed was where they ended up if they didn't go to the end of the tunnel.

Melody is perhaps not completely unintentionally fed with this memory to give her an idea how this unreal place worked.
Jaahlyn usually manifested it as a hole since it was easier to just jump down but in this case she had to do something on the way which she would rather not do while falling. So this time the name of the place made a bit more sense.

Since they are in some kind of tunnel. Though what kind depends on Melody's previous experiences with them since they're simply mimicking her memories. They could be massive and cave-like or tiny and claustrophobic. Clearly man-made with pillars and other reinforcements or natural with stalactites and all the other features Jaahlyn hadn't learned the names of.

What the tunnel always have though is a way forward. Or more accurately downwards as the tunnels only led down, never up. Had to hitchhike a dream to do that.

It is now Melody will suddenly realize that she was separate from Jaahlyn and somehow possessed a body of her own. Though it wasn't her body, it was her own memories of her body. Being formed much like the tunnels around her were and looking just as unreal.
The only thing that wasn't was Jaahlyn herself and her belongings, foremost that bauble tied to her tail which was shining brilliantly now.

"Let's get going, you will be able to tell when were there once you get your actual body back I'm guessing. It's sometimes hard to tell where these tunnels end and the underworld begins. But your underworld is probably a bit more distinct. I recall it being rather cold."
She starts walking and the next post, made in planeside, can be made in Melody's underworld.
[The Tunnels Between => Peccatorium]

"Rather cold", she says.

Like Melody isn't losing sensation in her limbs the closer they get to the literal light at the end of the tunnel. Jaahlyn probably would be, too, if not for that bauble on the end of her tail. It certainly doesn't help that, as is typical of travel to the Peccatorium, Melody didn't get to keep her clothes... which means she has no protection whatsoever from the icy winds rolling through the abandoned, shoddily-wired subway tunnel. The lack of modesty isn't really helping her state of mind much, either, but embarrassment is hardly the least pleasant sensation running through her just now. If she wasn't already dead, Melody's pretty sure she'd have died of hypothermia twice over before they got where they were going.

Fortunately for them both, things start to become a little more real again when they step out of the tunnel and into the stark white of a somewhat familiar-looking waiting room. Wood paneling lines the lower halves of the walls of the square room, just underneath ivory-painted plaster and cool blue fluorescent lights all throughout the ceiling. The floor is covered in a light beige carpet, with sort, meticulously-trim fibers gently cradling the succubus's feet and the satyr's hooves as they step inside. There appear to be some new furnishings in here, with leather couches against the walls next to a length of coffee tables, and a variety of magazines and newspapers spread across their tops. Jaahlyn might be surprised to find herself on the covers of a couple of them; Timeless (which, contextually, looks like it might be a generic news rag; the context is her at Marianne's trial, complete with an appropriately dramatic photo), Metalhead (clearly a more musical focus there, and she's depicted alongside DEATHKISS itself), Afterlife ("12 things we can all learn from Jaahlyn Hesperos" is in block print right next to her picture), and Unearthly (where she's apparently been named "satyr of the year"; the picture here is a caricature of her accepting a trophy with a confident grin). DEATHKISS seems to be growing in popularity up here, too; another issue of Timeless features a censored version of one of their album covers, and they look to be the headlining act of a number of gossip publications for various reasons (ranging from "check out the hottest new band" to "oh my god cover your shame ladies").

They're not alone in here. There's a short, middle-aged man in a black robe waiting here, comfortably seated on the couch, legs folded as he flicks through the aforementioned Afterlife, deep into his reading. Melody's not about to interrupt him; the last thing she wants to do in her current state of undress is call attention to herself. For now, she's standing such that Jaahlyn is between him and her, moving as is necessary to retain what dignity she has left.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Shadowcaller
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Re: Planeside

Post by Shadowcaller »

[The Tunnels Between => Peccatorium]

"Keep close to the light, it will keep you warm." Jaahlyn will remark once she notices the cold. Anything even remotely distinct, such as a change in temperature, was a sign that they were out of the tunnels.

Then sure enough. There it was, the waiting room.

It was a welcome sight at this point since at least now they were out of the cold.
She takes off her coat and hands it to Melody while she is trying to shield the succubus dignity with her body. Not that she thought this guy was peering at her or anything but it was the principle of things.
Once Melody at least had a coat on the satyr let's out a relived sigh and slumps down into one of the seats.
It's not until the satyr has had a chance to relax she notices the changes that has been made.
Or more accurately, she notices a photo of...

...her?

She grabs the Metalhead magazine and takes a closer look. Surely that just had to be a demon which just happened to look a lot like her, right?
Jaahlyn blinks and does a double take, not quite believing what she was seeing. Her gaze then wanders over to the other magazines only to see that more of them had other photos of her.
Seas below, that one even had her name on it.
She started to flip through the one she was holding, looking for any clues of how these photos had been taken. Usually there was a name of a photographer or something.

"What is all this?" She finally asks out loud while flicking her hands against one of the photos on the paper. "How can they claim all this when they haven't even given me an interview?" She wasn't sure Melody was in a state to answer but at this point it might as well be a rhetorical question. Fame was cool and all but she was still pretty much a goat-legged hobo that occasionally walked around in sewers. It wasn't really the kind of person she wanted to be famous as.
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Ironsmith
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Re: Planeside

Post by Ironsmith »

[Peccatorium]

Melody just stares and stammers, but Jaahlyn will find her own answers pretty quickly if she looks at the relevant articles; the Timeless and Afterlife articles are both about the trial (which is apparently public information), the former being a just-the-facts retelling while the latter is an analysis of what the author credits as "good rhetorical technique", plus a few commendations for simply showing up and defending Marianne in the first place. Metalhead turns out to be a tangent; the story is an interview with Marianne, and Jaahlyn being in the photo is apparently a stroke of luck (or maybe a marketing ploy) on their part. And Unearthly's story is still short and uninformative, with the author wryly noting that there actually isn't that much competition for "satyr of the year", but goes on to say that such shouldn't detract from her being "head and shoulders above the other candidates". The pictures themselves are credited to various photographers, with the exception of Unearthly, which credits a cartoonist.

"...It, um... it gets kind of creepy, doesn't it?" Melody offers by way of comfort, putting her hand on Jaahlyn's shoulder. "Freaky how much of this stuff is just... out there. Where anyone can find it. And how quickly people judge you for it." She picks up Metalhead and flips through the pages, frowning. "...'Unavailable for comment'. I guess that's fair, we have been trying to lower our profile a bit... looks like they're doing that with you, too."

"...I'll be damned."

The man in the room with them flicks his magazine to its cover, looks at the photo of Jaahlyn, up at the real thing, back down at the photo, and grins. "Well... hi there." He greets. "...Is there any way I could get a selfie with you two? My wife is a huge fan."

If Jaahlyn wants to avoid the awkwardness, an out arrives in the form of another black-robed angel at the door, this one an older woman with her hair up in a bun and a scowl on her face. She stands there and waits patiently for the two of them... for a liberal definition of "patiently", anyway.
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

Want some rye? Course ya do!

Here's to us!
Who's like us?
Damn few,
And they're aaaaall dead.
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Shadowcaller
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Posts: 2769
Joined: Aug 02, 2022 6:29 am
Location: Sweden

Re: Planeside

Post by Shadowcaller »

[Peccatorium]

Were there even satyrs were all these demons and angels came from? Jaahlyn finds herself wondering as she and Melody are idly looking over the articles.
"All I did was speaking for you in court and protect you. I've done way more than that without anyone writing anything about me." She says while coming from a world that had only just recently invented the printing press. Still, it was deeply unfair! Most of her lives she had been a servant, an underling and now all of sudden-

But her train of thoughts are interrupted as she realizes that she's being addressed by someone else.

Oh.

"Uh, you've caught me at an advantage sir, since I don't know who you are." Looked like he was here for the trial though? Maybe? Could be important.
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