WEEK 4

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 4

[After the meeting, Lilac gives everyone a small vial of something red. Those who left the meeting receive it from the rats on the crew. She gives instructions as to how to take it. Take in a drink, preferably tea. Drink it slowly. Make sure you can get to your bed once you finish. The headache will come quickly.

Nevertheless, even as everyone slips into sleep, they are visited once more by the Conductor in what must have been a dream. Or was it? It's not clear.

She is quiet as she speaks, looking out the windows, even though the view is obscured by the glass.

"I know you think me as a monster. Maybe I am after all these years. I have no illusions. But I cannot regret the things I've done.

"Nor can I regret the Bazaar...it was so wonderful. It opened my eyes to the truth of things and opened doors I never could have seen on my own. It was the first time I felt true love for another. I wasn't the only one-my daughter, too, passed through the Wicket. Saw the sea more sunless within the Bazaar's body. Learned as I learned. She sought to rival me in symbols, in marking skin."

She closes her eyes.

"She is dead now, of course. Everyone I knew in the Neath-on our Earth-is. Well. Almost everyone. London endures, naturally. But the Echo Bazaar...it's beautiful promise...it's gone. The Seventh City will never fall, and it's Message will forever remain undelivered. Of all the creatures in the universe who might remember it, I am alone in honoring it.

"Perhaps it's noble. Perhaps it's foolish. In any case, maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe it's the thought that's important. As long as I am here, there is yet a possibility that the deed may be finished, somehow.

"Still, I wonder. Maybe you have the answer.

What happens to a Message, when neither the sender and receiver exist anymore?"




As the day dawns, everyone wakes up to the sound of howling winds and darkness. Their head hurts, but they do have a new memory to accompany the ache. They are also at a new port. It is a dark place, teetering on the edge of safe space and the unknown in between void, where those who enter rarely return. Or, so you have to assume, right? Either way, that blackness on the deep horizon doesn't look particularly fun to try to drive through.

There is a legitimate fear in Lilac's expression that betrays her for the first time, as she lets everyone disembark, including the unicorn and the young man, who quickly jump onto another train to get away from this place. She also refuses to leave the train. She does leave you with a fair warning.

The Synod of Carcels is dangerous, in its own way, and everyone can feel it. Everyone can feel something hanging in the air. It's not natural. It's bending reality. It's also not something that started with you or your arrival. Yet it threatens to become that way, to become part of you. You can feel the temptation gnaw at you. You can hear the winds whisper of it. There is a hunger here-and knowledge as well.

The question, of course, is whether the price to uncover those things is worth it-and what will be found here with the price that is paid. But as the Conductor said-a reckoning cannot be postponed. Not forever.


There are eleven strangers left in this place.]

((IMPORTANT OOC NOTE: This week and it's investigations involve major Fallen London spoilers, in particular spoilers regarding Seeking Mr. Eaten's Name and one of it's endings. If you, as a player here, are playing Fallen London and do not wish to be spoiled, let us know, and we will make sure you are not given any ending spoilers to the best of our ability. We will also be marking spoiler-filled comments with tags, and we request that our players do likewise, in consideration for those who might look through this post in the future.

With that said, have fun, and remember-all shall be well.))

Comments

[unwittingking]

[That's...extremely depressing. And people that he was a pessimist...]

Yeah, they're...usually a bit more reasonable. They got involved when things were getting serious, and did play a big part in helping me and the people I care about out of a bad situation.

Plus, if they have an actual, honest to goodness court, I think they're not...entirely terrible.

[He really wants to ask about her experiences with Heaven and Gods, but...maybe a different time...]

[higanbana]

Oh, really? Yes, then I imagine that's already leagues better. To my understanding, our Heavens are a horrible, bureaucratic mess. No need for justice when you can get by with underhanded tactics.

At any rate, I'm glad at least yours helped you. In that case, it would be nice to have their aid on our side.

It's just unfortunate the statue will not answer you.

[unwittingking]

…are you the one decent person from your world or something? Because the more I hear about it, the more terrible it sounds.

[Heaven is supposed to be perfect?? Why does hers sound like a political Hell?!?]

At this point, I'm starting to think they did do something with it. By now he'd have probably appeared and teased me for shaking a statue like an insane person.

[And he cannot confirm or deny the claim at this point.]

[higanbana]

The world contains millions. Certainly, I imagine some among them must be innocents.

[Also she's not a person but she's just. Not. Gonna go there right now...]

Or waited, just for suspense's sake, until just about... [drumroll please] now!

[...]

...Yes, I think they did something with it.

[unwittingking]

I guess that's true. It's just concerning that a version of Heaven would be...well, anything less than perfect, honestly.

[It's Heaven!~ Everything you'd ever want is kind of the main description of it.

He stays silent for that drumroll, paws now off of the statue and being held warily in front of him. When it ends in nothing, he lets his arms fall.]

That, or they made an exact copy of the original, just without the magic part, and put it on the train so they could mock me. Again.

[He's getting very tired of this...]

[higanbana]

If the one agent is anything to go by, they like to think they're perfect. And that's the lie they spread to all the mortals beneath them, too.

[A shrug. It is what it is.]

...I wouldn't put that past our captors, either, if I'm honest. Nor gods.

[unwittingking]

Yeah, I think it'd be best if we never go to your world. Ever.

[First saying she can't go back to the doctor, next she can't even go back to her own world. He's probably overstepping a boundary, but at this point her world is having a lot more downsides than upsides, so he thinks it's fair.

He looks down before speaking again, fiddling with the blue bandana around his neck.]

Yup. They're real jerks like that, aren't they?

[higanbana]

[She pauses, blinking and considering that for a second. The answer he gets...]

...That's fair.

[...is probably not the one he expected.]

It's kind of awful, isn't it? Believe it or not... we were working to change all that. We wanted to be free of those cruel gods, wanted to decide our own fates and find our own happiness.

[. . .]

Ehe. I say "we" as if I was ever really among them. But it was a nice ideal, I think. Were things different, I think I would have wound up on their side anyway.

[unwittingking]

[…well, now he's concerned for an entirely different reason. He probably shouldn't be, considering what he's heard of Ris home life, but he just...is, really.]

Al...right. Glad we could agree on that.

[He's really not, but the other subject seems just as, if not more, important.]

That does sound like a good cause, but...who's we here?

[The only person he can think of that she knows...he might want to challenge gods, but he sounds too horrible to have such a noble ambition. He'd be more likely to challenge a God so that he could replace them, and be infinitely worse in that position.]

warning: incoming canondump

[higanbana]

The people my master was aligned with.. Not that he necessarily gave a damn for their cause, or them for him. They simply found each other to be a means to an end. But I heard a lot about it, when I waited on their meetings.

I said before, that the gods in our world would set mortals up to fail? There was... a lot of that. People who, no matter how hard they tried or how much they prayed, were doomed simply to never find anything even resembling happiness just because the powers that be were lazy when it came to making sure the threads of fate never got snarled.

These people, they were all people like that. They got sick of the hand they'd been dealt and gathered together, from across all the planes of existence, to take down the ones responsible and set things right.

I'd always thought, if I could qualify as a person, that maybe I was like them. That maybe that explained why things were the way they were.

[unwittingking]

[Yup, he was afraid that was going to be the answer. Or something like it, anyway. And these people...even when they're sympathetic, he can't feel bad for them. They worked with that man, as well as been around enough for Ris notice them, and likely vice versa. What did they do about a kid in this dangerous environment?

Less than nothing. They let her dehumanize herself and suffer. He can't help but unconsciously grit his teeth for a second in anger, before calming himself down.]

I have...a genuine question for you. No jokes, kind of dark, but...it needs to be said.

Do you ever plan on going back? To your world? Or...do you plan on going somewhere else, when this is all over?

[With how her world is sounding...he can't imagine ever wanting to go there. She wouldn't want to go back there...would she?]

1/2

[higanbana]

[The question stuns her for a moment.

To be honest, she'd never really thought about it. She'd been talking to the others about what they'd do once they were free of this place, but... until now, not a lot of it has really felt real.

But...]

2/2

[higanbana]

No.

[In the end, she has an answer. And she sounds certain of it.]

I made a promise to someone here. That I would be beside them no matter what... I will not break that.

[unwittingking]

[Hearing that, King...sighs. It's full of relief, a fact that he doesn't even try to hide, given his expression.]

I don't know who you promised that, but...feel free to tell them I say thank you. I think it'd be better if you stayed in a world where you can't just randomly get screwed over by lazy gods, or get stuck with some...other psycho or something.

[He doesn't even need to know who the person is. He's already grateful towards them for this.]

[higanbana]

...ehehe. I'll pass it along. I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

[Looks like she's still keeping her secrets close to her chest on that one.]

I don't know quite what the world they know will be like, but... I have reason to believe it's no ideal world, either. Still... we intend to work to change things. So at least in that way, it's sort of an exciting prospect.

[unwittingking]

That's still fine, I think. So long as they can help teach you how the world works there, you should be fine.

[His eyebrows raise at the latter statement, just a little bit.]

Really? How so? Or should that be kept a secret or something?

[He's curious, but he's willing to let people have their privacy.]

[higanbana]

I think it is probably best if I don't elaborate too much.

Not that I distrust you at all, but they tend to keep their cards to their chest, and I would feel awful overstepping any implicit boundaries.

[unwittingking]

That's fine. I was just kind of curious.

[He'll just assume it has nothing "World Domination"-y about it and try to change the subject.]

You think this thing will actually work at some point?

[He's looking at the statue when saying that, giving it a soft glare.]

[higanbana]

[Nothing like that! Just two innocent children wanting to make the world a better place for someone! All shall be well and all manner of things shall be well!]

...Maybe. If we can restore ourselves, perhaps we can figure out how to restore it, as well.

[unwittingking]

[sure...]

Restore ourselves...as in get us back to normal? Would that even be possible?

[He'd like to hope do, but...he has no idea how these powers work in the slightest.]

[higanbana]

It must be possible somehow. It may not be a pleasant reversal, but I refuse to believe that we have been so altered there is nothing that can be done.

[unwittingking]

Yeah, you probably have a point there.

[He holds up a paw and stares at it as he continues talking.]

Not sure if I'd be up for it, though. I didn't really have powers before all this, so there isn't anything to restore there, and it's something that won't really be a big deal for me in the long run, so I don't see the point in getting rid of it.

[I.E. He doesn't like it, but can deal with having it.]

[higanbana]

That's fair enough. Naturally, if we do find a way, I wouldn't force anyone into anything they weren't comfortable with.

For me, though, I would very much like back what I had. And I know there are others who feel the same.

[unwittingking]

And that's fair too. If I did have powers I'd probably want them back as well, and for the people that did lose them...I could see why they'd want them back.

[At this point he only knows of McBurn's situation, but his alone is almost proof that the people that gave them their powers hate them.]

[higanbana]

Right.

And as for the power they gave me here... it's interesting, I suppose, but I really don't think serving as a living mushroom garden is quite elegant enough for the titles I've been passed.

...It's a little gross, actually. If I'm honest.