divus | 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!

full navigation.

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm not blaming anyone for anything, I'm saying we're too late in the game for that sort of thing to matter when it comes to decision-making. I'm asking everyone to lead with logic instead of gut reactions and emotions.

[...]

That's not how the game works. You've misunderstood the fine print.

How's it different?

Think about how it worked when we were still alive. The gods never twisted our arms, right? I was still considered Ruin's follower well after I decided to betray her. Why is that?

[He pulls his little black stone out of his pocket and waggles it at her.]

This is the only thing that matters when it comes to numbers. Patience didn't twist your arm either. She just asked for a trade, and you willingly made it, so that's that.

And she never said why. She never once said people would be giving up their allegiance to their god. She just implied that they already had, by dying, and that it was a good idea to give up the token, without saying why.

Just because you didn't have all the information doesn't absolve you of responsibility. You could've asked. She didn't force you to do anything.

You should have become a manager instead. You said you encouraged her to deceive everyone. Do you think she'd have told the truth?

She told me the truth. Why wouldn't she tell others if she had reason to trust them?

Maybe because she listened to you. The ones who wanted death are selfish and the ones who wanted peace are naive, right?

I don't think it's that simple. Human beings are too complicated to slot into neat categories like that. Personally, I think the tell for naivete in this competition is thinking peace was ever a realistic option. Wanting it and expecting it are two different things.

[...]

But I'm not Patience's babysitter. Zoe's right in that nothing made her listen to me, I just managed to convince her to see things my way.

You're not her babysitter, but you two go well together. I've seen a lot of her type. Besides, I'm not with Patience, either. I'm not with anyone now, am I?

Which is all the more reason for you to support this plan. If Patience wins, I'll make sure everyone gets a wish. That includes you.

I don't need my wish anymore. And I can't side with someone I don't believe in, so I won't.

Why not? There's nothing you'd want to wish for instead?

I know what I want. And I'm going to stand behind the people who want to win clean. Because even if I fail, I keep on going.

Do you honestly believe there's such a thing as winning clean at this point? And that that quality alone makes a good leader?

The living are all working hard to achieve that. To make sure Patience can't undermine the other gods like she planned. Don't you think that counts for something?

One man's "undermining" is another man's "playing smart". She didn't want a stake in this competition so she didn't have to adhere to the rules boxing her in. She's creative, and she's willing to do what it takes to further her cause, regardless of the consequences. Maybe you think those are unseemly qualities, but that's only if you use them inappropriately. She's said herself she wants a world where people have their own free will, and that's exactly the example she's set. I'd chose her as my god any day.

It's already inappropriate if she cheated. She pretended to be an observer so she could trick people into following her when they died, and you just said yourself it was so she wouldn't be subject to the rules. How is that not cheating?

Edited 2019-04-08 01:01 (UTC)

I mean inappropriate in terms of the new world, not this game. This game is pointless beyond deciding who will be the gods' leader.

[But he shrugs.]

Technically, she didn't break any rules, so I wouldn't consider it cheating. That said, I understand why you would view it that way.