THE GRAVEYARD

[divus]

THE LANDING

You’re having an out of body experience. That’s how it starts, dying. There isn’t any pain anymore, and for a moment, not much of anything else. Your thoughts are a dim hum in the back of your brain, the tips of your fingers seem miles away. Despite that, you find yourself moving, moving, moving from the last place you were in your own body and forward, until you reach a door that you haven’t seen since the beginning of the game. A door that wouldn’t open. A door cold to the touch and seeping with mist. It opens before you, and as if of someone else’s design you walk through it. As it closes behind you, you get the distinct feeling that if you turned around, you’d find it vanished.

What takes up most of your attention, however, is the tolling of church bells. They clang in rhythmic, almost maddening persistence--seems you’re just going to have to try and ignore them, as they show no signs of slowing or stopping, wherever they are.

Once the cacophony becomes easier to manage, the bong, bong, bonging evening out to a pulse inside your ears, you realize that where you are seems to be a world that's incomplete. The floor is nothing but a landing of invisible matter, a spooled red carpet leading you to a few rows of pews and a lone confessional.

You will notice, immediately ahead of you, a cute little mailbox fit for a suburban home. It bids you welcome, though the cheery paint job is a bit muted in this dark place.

Simple and neat furnishings dot the edges of where the landing seems to be: railings mark the unseen edges and draperies and sconces float in the void, giving an illusion of walls. Be careful, however, because they can easily be fallen through if leaned against. Fortunately, someone seems to have kept that in consideration, as a helpful sign warns just this.

On one side of the confessional, a room with bookshelves, a writing table, and pens and paper has been provided: a minimalist study for when you need a bit of privacy to think. On the other side, a wing of dorm-sized, lockable bedrooms provide another bit of space to oneself. There may not be enough for everyone, but nobody really has to sleep--so just take turns!

To the left of the pews, it looks like a miniature bar has been crafted with a small but decent selection of drinks. There's a small television seated on the counter, but it only seems to ever work two times a week: the week's opening announcement on Monday mornings, and Saturdays, tuning in at the beginning of the trial and tuning back out again at its conclusion. There's also a piano to one side of the bar, allowing anyone to provide musical accompaniment to their drinking.

Perhaps most interestingly, an ornate black doorway at the far end of the room leads to a curving hallway that ultimately leads to what appears to be a temple. It's similar to the altar room they'll remember from the living side, but there are no power inscriptions, and the only furnishings are wavering, grayscale candles on the walls that never seem to burn low and great sculptures of leaping rams. The two black-marble statues meet in the center, curved horns joined above a platform, decorated with nothing but a lone offering bowl. The dark marble of the item is cracked, but it seems like it'll still get the job done. Try sending something, if you wish!

Maybe this place is meant to be more. But for now, Patience is the only notable figure you have to place your attention on, and she comes forward to welcome you immediately.

"Welcome to my dominion," she greets in her usual, cheerful candor, and points at your hand, where you hold your godly token. "Now that you've been eliminated, I'll take that back and return it on your behalf. Don't worry, though, I'm not leaving you empty handed."

OOC NOTES

Hello, eliminated competitors, and welcome to the graveyard. Although it isn't much to look at, now, this area will be growing and expanding in time with the help of your characters' actions and participation in weekly events. What they unlock will have an impact on the living side, overarching plot elements, and ways to communicate between both planes!

When it seems like there isn't much to do, there's always one option left: gathering information. So sit back, enjoy the afterlife, and put on your thinking cap!

full navigation.

locations ♦ taken ♦ profiles ♦ weekly curfew ♦ murder proposals
ic rulebook ♦ temple offerings ♦ private convos

Comments

TALK TO PATIENCE

[divus]

[goatsongs]

[Once Chuuya's found Gau and come to terms with what happens, he realizes that he's only found Gau. Not the first week's dead. And so he asks the person most likely to know.]

Why isn't Shiki here?

[He doesn't care about Itachi and he won't pretend that he does.]

[divus]

It's a little hard to explain...there are two separate areas for the departed souls, right now. I think something branched off when I was creating this area--this is like, totally new to me. So they're kind of stuck over there, for now, but I've been checking in between both here and there to make sure you're all taken care of.

[As if trying to dispel anymore potential worry, she puts her hands up.]

I'm tooootally trying to fix it, top priority, so you should be able to see her again soon!

[goatsongs]

...As long as they're okay.

[No one ate Shiki's soul or used it as construction material for a church bell, it's fine.]

Can we send things back to the living? Reverse offerings.

date! your! gods!

[goatsongs]

[On Wednesday, Chuuya has recovered enough from the Everything (and has compiled like twenty poems about it) to approach Patience in a much better mood.]

Hey, do you want to go out somewhere?

[...there's not a lot of 'where' to go, but that can be fixed, probably.]

[divus]

Totally! What were you thinking?

[DATE DATE DATE DATE]

[goatsongs]

[DATE DATE DATE]

If you've still got that karaoke bar lying around, that'd be my first pick.

[hymned]

[ Chuuya brought it up and here he is. It is a very empty area, after all, considering how many people died in the weeks previous and in the same night as him that he's not aware of. ]

... I'd hoped for us to not have to meet again like this, but I suppose it can't be helped. Hello again, Patience. I hope you've been doing well, but unfortunately this isn't just a social visit.

Are you able to give me a tally of everyone who's- wherever the others are? Wherever it is Shiki and Itachi are, I mean, considering they're not here with us.

[ Is Rachel over there, because while I, the player, know, Julius on the other hand uh. ]

[divus]

Sure, I can't see why it would hurt.

[She runs off the names for him: Ava, Saint-Germain, Itachi, Rachel, Shiki, Hector...and Fortune.]

[hymned]

[ Damn I guess Blackfire isn't actually dead, then!! Can't believe she was the mastermind behind w3. shh I know it just means she's probably in this gy instead ]

Fortune-? Ah. Of course. Her statue was in the courtyard, after all...

[ He doesn't quite react to the Rachel thing beyond closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. So that, too, was in vain. Story of his life, honestly. ]

... Say, Patience. The other gods are generally aware of most of what goes on, even if they're not necessarily always present. Has it been the same for you, given that you're meant to be the mediator?

[ A tiebreak vote. Catra said maybe she just wanted the entertainment, but somehow that seems incredibly shallow even for gods of this sort. ]

And if so, has this competition turned out to be exactly what you wanted it to be?

[arockstar]

[He greets Patience with a grin.]

Hey there, hot stuff. How've you been?

[divus]

[Patience lets out a squeal, jumping up and down.]

It's my spicy boy! Oooohhh, I've missed you!

[arockstar]

[He laughs.]

I missed you too, babe. You've been able to keep up with what's going on topside, right?

[He'd be happy to lavish her with his thrilling murder stories, but it'll be better if she got to see him in active.]

[artificialhighness]

... Patience.

[Her voice is soft, toneless, but she stands before the god with something like a spark of curiosity in her eye.]

This place is certainly much emptier than I expected. Are there only bells to fill the silence?

[divus]

Hello, Luna! I'm happy to see you again!

[They had a nice week together!]

Well, there's a piano now, too! I'm sorry it's not more fun, though.

[hymned]

You said six weeks, when we first arrived. You also said it was likely some would be knocked out of the running early, I think, but it seems so far the only real way of eliminating gods from the competition seems to be, well.

[ murdering them. ]

... I guess I just wanted to ask, and it's a little silly that I haven't before now. This was presented as a numbers game- I presume the god with the most followers at the end is the winner, but is it really just that simple?

[ what happens if they just so happen to end in a tie come the end of w6 huh. what happens then; this was a random 1am thought last night but now i gotta know!! ]

[divus]

What do you mean?

[She tilts her head in confusion, moving from one foot to the other and crossing her arms behind her.]

Why wouldn't it be that simple?

tales of xillia 2 spoilers...

[goatsongs]

[Almost immediately after Chuuya's conversation with Julius, he heads to the only other person here with any amount of influence over the situation.]

Patience, even if your patron god doesn't win, is there any other way we could get a favor for outside here? Like 'do this for me and I'll be your angelic servant in the new world' kind of a thing?

[divus]

Sure. Why not? Anyone can grant you a wish as long as they like it enough. Even I could--I'm still a Goddess, after all.

[selfimmolates]

[maybe ray should be more hesitant after spending weeks suspecting patience of being an evil mastermind or whatever but ray actually has no shame so he's waltzing right up to her.]

One: if I try to send letters to the living, how reliable is the method and when will they arrive?

Two: in the event that the recipient is dead by the time it arrives, can I specify that the letter be directed to someone else?

[divus]

Ummm, I'm not sure! Probably within the week sometime, and pretty reliable?

[Patience shrugs, putting both her hands in the air.]

Aaaaaand, I don't see why not. Whoever's hosting will collect everything and hand them out, so if you just put some kind of indication on there, they'll know what you wanted.

[goatsongs]

It's come up a couple times, but does the rock you gave me do anything? Besides sit there and look pretty.

[Chuuya's out and about today, so that's good.]

[divus]

On it's own? Nope! It's just a welcoming gift, really. It doesn't mean the same thing that the tokens involved in the game do, but it helps me know who's willing to trust me to watch over them within this dominion and who isn't.

[She cups her mask.]

I know it's just a silly little thing, and seems totally useless, but please keep it safe!

[selfimmolates]

[gestures in the direction of the tv]

So what the hell happened to your coworkers?

[divus]

Beats me...they really outdid themselves on the weird factor this time. And that's really saying something, I mean, look at this place!

[At least she's self-aware.]