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

say hello to everyone's least favorite rock star

[arockstar]

[Hm, well, dying isn't so bad. It's about what he expected, actually—like falling asleep but more... existentially. And then he's awake again, and there's Patience's door. Even though he's out of the running, it's hard to feel like he's actually out of the game. Losing isn't as disappointing as it should be.

Fittingly, it's Luna that he sees first before he makes his way through the door. She offers him one of her mischievous little grins before falling back into character. He gives her a wink in return.

And then they enter together, Newt throwing open the door with a flourish and Luna following stoically behind.]

Miss me?

[He's so ready to get punched.]

[hymned]

[ man wouldn't it be funny if no one was in the landing-- okay no.

Julius is hanging around by the side of the minibar, closest to the piano, when they throw open the doors and announce themselves over the clamor of the bells, and when he looks up all he has to say is: ]

... Sorry, were we supposed to?

[arockstar]

[Ohhhh there's a piano Newt is delighted but GAME FACE. He clicks his tongue.]

Eh, I didn't miss you either, but at least I didn't go out over a beverage.

[hymned]

And yet, we're both here now.

[ Wow, someone's unrepentant. Guess he has an idea how this one might have gone out. ]

Is this how you're making yourself feel better, I wonder? What did you manage to do to yourself, then?

[arockstar]

[He frowns.]

What, no one's been keeping you in the loop? That's boring. What's that for, then? Cartoons?

[He waves at the TV.]

[hymned]

That's new. Lucky you that we at least tried to make this place a little less boring for the people who came after us, hm?

[ He waves a hand at the minibar he's at, the piano, basically everything in the room outside of the confessional and pews? ]

All of this is, actually. You're welcome.

[arockstar]

Hm. Cool. Thanks. Why the piano? Do either of you actually play?

[He nods in Chuuya's direction.]

[goatsongs]

Not really.

[He's more unhappy about Luna dying. You, he couldn't care less about.]

[arockstar]

Ugh. I can't believe you two are the only ones around. Where's everybody else?

[You know, all the COOL PEOPLE.]

[goatsongs]

Gau's around.

[he's a cool people]

The others are in a different section for some reason.

[arockstar]

Who?

[...]

Oh, the... Monkey kid. Where's the other section?

[goatsongs]

Nowhere you can get to. Looks like you're stuck with us.

[arockstar]

[He deflates with a loud whine, retracting his earlier thought about dying not being so bad.

Wait.]

Does that mean Ruin's not allowed over here?

[in_a_bottle]

[Oh, look, do you like having a heavy book flung in your general direction by a bandage-covered corpse? Because it looks like that's what's happening.]

WHATAREYOUDOINGHERE

[arockstar]

[The SUDDEN SHRIEKING startles him, and then he gets smacked in the face by a book, so like, his day's going well.

He's rubbing his cheek when he looks up to see who's just VIOLENTLY ASSAULTED HIM, and, ah. Oh. Hm.]

I, uh, I got caught. That... seems obvious.

[He holds up his hands to placate her.]

I know you're probably pissed, but I'm not gonna do anything to you here, if, um, you were worried about that.

[in_a_bottle]

[Ai's fingers dig into her hands and she takes a deep breath. The trembling might still be fear, or it might be something else.]

Oh, I heard about what the others pieced together. You might not have been the god-killer, but you were working with her. You're the one who carved up Madoka-chan's hand. You're the one who put that message on me. And Luna-san sure wasn't cursed that time she was spouting off slander and derailing a trial, either. Even if becoming serial killers and cutting off gods was a strategy to win, why terrorize the entire group for the whole game along with it? It makes no sense.

[arockstar]

[He's quiet for a moment. There's a lot to unpack here.]

It wasn't terrorizing. Most of your assumptions aren't even true, or at best, they're hyperbolic. I carved up myself and passed it along to you and Madoka at random. I didn't get to choose, you know. I wouldn't have picked either of you if given the choice.

[in_a_bottle]

[Ai's still keeping her distance, but she thinks.]

But you still did it knowing it'd go to someone. If it wasn't to make people afraid, what was it for?

[arockstar]

The first time was a test. The second, well, I'd been planning to kill Ruin for a while. The trick you ended up with was meant to link her death to Fortune's. You know, confuse people.

turn on your location I just want to talk

[goatsongs]

[After Chuuya finds Ai and hears what happened, and hugs the hell out of her, and makes sure she's okay - or as okay as she can be, considering...

Chuuya goes to find Newt.

His expression is neutral. It's probably the most blank expression anyone here has seen on Chuuya. And he's fairly slow and methodical about checking the rooms, no hurry in his movements at all.

The graveyard still isn't that big. He'll find him soon enough.]

[arockstar]

[Chuuya will find Newt lounging on one of the pews, ankles crossed and one arm slung over his face is a futile and lazy attempt to muffle the damned bells. He's been here like an hour and they're already driving him nuts.

But he does hear the footsteps approach, and he peeks out with one eye to spot Chuuya heading in his direction. Eh. He's not sitting up for this.]

What?

[goatsongs]

[Possibly a mistake. Sitting down brings him closer to Chuuya's level, after all, which makes it much easier to kick him hard right in the knee.]

[arockstar]

[Newt yelps and shoots up suddenly, clutching his leg.]

Ahh! What the hell, man? Fuck off.

[He scoots a little further down the pew, rubbing his kneecap. Ow.]

[goatsongs]

[Chuuya does not seem to want to fuck off, given that he next tries to punch Newt in the face.

Guess who talked to Ai, Newt. Guess.]

[arockstar]

[Newt's ready for it this time, at least. He ducks out of the way, but, well, he's still sprawled out on a pew. His dexterity isn't functioning at full capacity right now. Chuuya's fist connects with his cheek. Ow. That's likely to leave a bruise.

Newt scrambles to his feet and hops over the back of the pew to put, well, a pew between them. Stay over there, small angry man.]

What's your problem?