divus: (Default)
Plasmatio Mods ([personal profile] divus) wrote2019-03-03 01:40 am
Entry tags:

THE GRAVEYARD

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!

hymned: (ѕтarѕ are ғallιng down)

[personal profile] hymned 2019-03-25 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
... oh.

I'm sorry that your chance at that was taken away from you, then.
in_a_bottle: Zombie, tired wink. ([z] what this time)

[personal profile] in_a_bottle 2019-03-25 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks. It wasn't your fault. At least I have a second chance, even if I'm a walking corpse and can't give my real name. I shouldn't just take that for granted, and I won't.

...What about you?
Edited 2019-03-25 03:27 (UTC)
hymned: (мy нearт ιѕ loѕт вeтween тнe ѕтarѕ)

[personal profile] hymned 2019-03-25 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
My wish?

... I wanted him to be all right. Whatever it took to be sure of that, whether or not I might have been there to see it through myself.

[ his gaze slides away, going distant. ]

It's funny, because he's already yelled at me for this-- but maybe thinking of more felt like asking for too much. Or maybe wishing to change our choices feels like it diminishes them, somehow.

[ if he'd thought to wish to change something in the past like she had, though...?

oh. he knows what he might have changed. ...... the question is whether he can bear to give it up. ]
in_a_bottle: Zombie, concerned. ([z] ding dong you are wrong)

[personal profile] in_a_bottle 2019-03-25 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
You're a good brother, you know. Someone that devoted isn't common.
Edited 2019-03-25 03:44 (UTC)
hymned: (wιѕн ι waѕn'т ғleѕн and вlood)

[personal profile] hymned 2019-03-25 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
... People keep saying that.

All I can say in return is that you really should withhold your judgment until you know better.
in_a_bottle: Zombie, sighing. ([z] ughhhhh)

[personal profile] in_a_bottle 2019-03-25 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
In this place, that either means you have low self-esteem or you're a serial killer.
hymned: (jυѕт тo ѕee yoυ ѕмιle agaιn)

[personal profile] hymned 2019-03-25 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
Haha. How do you know I'm not, though?

Most of us here hardly know anything about each other. Are you sure you want to assume?
Edited 2019-03-25 04:34 (UTC)
in_a_bottle: Zombie, quiet and sad. ([z] tmw you're wrong)

[personal profile] in_a_bottle 2019-03-25 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
[A shiver runs up Ai, but she looks away.]

Do you really have that little to lose that you'd try?
hymned: (ι'м ѕтιll нere and ι'м ѕιngιng ғor yoυ)

[personal profile] hymned 2019-03-25 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
I was a dead man walking anyway. The only thing I wanted before this was for my death to mean something.

... That said, I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm sorry. If you ask Chuuya, or some of the others here, I suspect they'll tell you it's the former rather than the latter. And... All things considered, I probably can't really refute it, either.
in_a_bottle: Zombie, fighting down a panic. ([z] ai was here stormclouds are losers)

[personal profile] in_a_bottle 2019-03-25 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
...

[She hugs herself briefly, composes herself, and looks back at Julius.]

Sometimes your death ends up meaning too much.
hymned: (ι'м ғallιng groυnd тнeѕe dayѕ)

[personal profile] hymned 2019-03-25 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ his gaze shutters momentarily, and he closes his eyes with a long, slow inhale. ]

... I think I might have realized that, not long before I came here. Too late, maybe.

[ still, when he glances at her through somber eyes, there's a flicker of concern lurking in them. ]

Are you all right, Ms. Mizuno? I can't imagine that this is the easiest sort of thing to discuss.
in_a_bottle: Zombie, looking back. ([z] little worried here)

[personal profile] in_a_bottle 2019-03-25 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
I have to be.

[She shuffles her feet and grips the edge of a pew.]

...Dying sticks with you. But we need to get past it somehow, right?
hymned: (ғall and вeg and plead ѕιng)

[personal profile] hymned 2019-03-25 06:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ He smiles, just a little, but rather than really look much reassured or more composed again he just looks sad instead. ]

That's not... well, yes, you're right. Still, I'm not afraid of my own death. I haven't been for a while, really.

No, I'm afraid of what it'll do to those I leave behind.
in_a_bottle: Zombie, quiet and sad. ([z] tmw you're wrong)

[personal profile] in_a_bottle 2019-03-25 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks. I'm sorry. I know that's not worth much, but I am.