15strangers | W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[The national council just announced the blight to the country.

There was no sugarcoating it anymore. This was a critical time. Saving all of the vines is paramount, but what does one do when the blight hits? It keeps encroaching on the grapes, day by day. Entire clusters, entire bunches, dead and rotting, while allowing the blight to spread, and the leading botanists and viticulturists cannot identify the origin or the cause. They can't even successfully isolate the culprit in their labs; it seems to disappear like air no matter the precautions taken.

It is a catastrophe that seems to be beyond science, and it will result in the complete collapse of the entire country's wine industry. Already, embargoes on this year's crop have forced other grape-growers to close shop for the year after they'd sold their previous stock; it is all too possible that no grapes might ever be grown here again if a cure cannot be found. The tourists have stopped coming. The towns have grown silent.

You, meanwhile, are devastated. With the way your business is going, it will be on the brink of bankruptcy within the year. You will soon have no choice but to close shop and let every grapevine die, let the land go fallow. There must be a cure for this, there must be. Yet everything that can go wrong is.

Then, as you watch the news, it happens. Breaking news. The blight has been found in another country.

It is a pandemic-and it is only getting worse.

-

Well. This is...what else can can anyone say? You all know the deal. You all know what situation you're in. All that is left is to figure out what you can do about it. If there's anything that can be done.

You still feel that compulsion to distrust. To know you cannot win. To know that only the hosts have your best interests in mind. It would be easy to just do all that. But would it be the right thing to do? You can't be completely sure. Indeed, nothing is certain here, except for that damned ticking sound. If only you could stop it.

But you can't stop it. It is inevitable.

There are 15 strangers in this place.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's a soul. Don't eat it.

[a r t h u r.]

Why would we EAT it?!

Eric, I think you are asking a question we do not want the answer to.

Oh. Sorry!

You don't have to apologize. Just worried about what we might hear.

[The explanation isn't too bad, though.]

Desperation.

[It was why they'd eaten them in the mansion.]

Especially don't eat this one, but if anything that looks kinda like it shows up it's probably still a soul so don't. They also come in blue, purple, and white with angel wings.

All right... then what are you gonna do with this one? You can't just keep a soul in a jar like it's a pet, can you?

We might be able to use it for something... If we can't, though, I was hoping someone here'd know how to destroy it. Without eating it.

Hmm... well. It's evil, right? And maybe kinda undead-ish?

Sorta? The thing this one came from was either a god or an abstract concept made flesh.

In the mansion we could use these to talk to the dead.

Agh, that again... [well, he supposes people are into this whole necromancy business so he shouldn't make waves, but he'll follow his train of thought anyway.]

I MIGHT know how to destroy it. I'll let you know how if that's what you decide to do.

Again? ....Anyway, Vita suggested if we try to contact the dead, we could try to talk to Emma.... This thing ripped her soul out of her chest, right when we thought she'd be okay. And if it works at all, it'll use up the soul.

[So, it'd be spiteful and poetic. But also he just....really, really needs to tell Emma he's sorry. That he should've focused on saving her, not on killing Asura. That he misses her.]

Sorry, it keeps coming up and I just can't get used to it. But as long as it doesn't hurt anyone...

[well. he's still not sure he'd come to the seance because it seems like Bad Mojo, but if they can get rid of the creepy soul and also get another thing accomplished, that's probably better than outright destroying it. probably.]

...Reapers and Composers have some power to repair or destroy souls. It won't be any help while we're stuck here, but something could probably be arranged once we're free.

[Eric's not commenting, but this just made him a bit scarier seeming..........]

[#reasons Kurama hasn't mentioned he's a Reaper]

This guy was the force actively driving everyone in the mansion insane - the whole time we were there, our hallucinations got worse and worse, and we got more aggressive and...the lack of food other than souls wasn't helping, but this guy was the main thing. I think it's inert like this, but I'm not totally sure. So, the sooner the better.

[We were on the subject of things that mess with minds anyway, he may as well fully disclose what the hell this thing is.]

[Kurama eyes the soul in the jar with distaste.]

Ah. Someone that might deserve Yotsuyu happening to him.

I dunno what a Yotsuyu is, but probably. I can't think of much he wouldn't deserve.

[Arthur remembers, all too well, what Asura did to him - the girl - to them. Remembers why. He can still feel it like fire under his skin.]

The Stewards wanted to turn us into things like him, so good riddance to all three.

Arthur, provided we survive this, I've more than a few ideas on how to handle this.

[ Leave it to the resident necromancer to figure out how to deal with souls, okay. ]

(no subject)

incendiarize - 2020-02-02 20:37 (UTC) - Expand

necroyalty - 2020-02-06 07:50 (UTC) - Expand

Yotsuyu was our game runner and she's a sadistic bitch that we largely made peace with out of spite.

I know why she is the way she is. I may be the only one from our game that does. But it doesn't change that she is the way she is.

incendiarize - 2020-02-03 02:03 (UTC) - Expand

Maybe it's supposed to be for Kyuu-lun.

[One creature everyone thinks is evil and messes with souls. One evil soul. Obviously there's a connection.]

I don't know if we should try to find that out...

I wasn't saying to give it to him-lun.

…got it.

[They...did ask. He's just not gonna ask about why it's got a physical form.]