The Fifteen Strangers Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
strangerpeople) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
15strangers2023-07-21 10:18 pm
strangerpeople) wrote in 15strangers2023-07-21 10:18 pm
Entry tags:
FINAL TRIAL
(1 of Hekatombaion)
[When the time comes, Charon arrives on a boat, hrrhrrhrring a little tune as he rows. No need to worry about space, even with all of the shades coming with. Fluffles, unsurprisingly, doesn't go; he does see everyone off, at least, before he falls asleep.
With a final hnnnngrrrgh, they're off. Charon is the master of the Styx, in his own way, deftly avoiding roots and branches from the Qliphoth as he guides his charges up through the layers of the underworld. From the dark and gloomy green of Tartarus, to the lava-flooded Asphodel and it's giant many-headed bone snake, sadly snarled in demonic roots (without thinking, Zack waves to it), on through the lazy rivers of Elysium, and lastly through the pitch stink of the corridors of a temple separating the underworld from the living world.
Throughout, there is eerie quiet. No shades appear to watch their procession-indeed the few wisps around seem to be fleeing, hiding. No rats try to bite Zack's face off. Aside from Lernie, there's truly nothing but tree, tree, and more tree.
Finally, though, the surface air hits, and it is...not cold, but not warm, either. Though, as everyone disembarks, that's probably not what catches everyone's attention. No-it is the barren fields of ancient Greece, just outside the entrance to the underworld-and there is only one thing alive in the area.
It is late afternoon, and the silhouette of the new moon is the only thing that emits real light now in the grey. Indeed, if there is a sun, it is blocked out by the massive, massive roots in the sky, swirling into the stratosphere. The roots in the underworld were in fact more akin to greedy branches; the roots in the sky of the world of life, however, are far more massive, and it's clear the tree is fully grown. And-if the dead grass and trees and barren lands around the Temple of Styx are any indication-it isn't simply feeding on human blood-it's affecting the life of the earth itself, greedily lapping up what it can as it further embeds itself, further spreads, further grows. Further destroys.
It won't stop. There is obsession and power, and Delta is right-it will never stop unless someone intervenes.
Wordlessly Delta points to a Spire of blood in front of them. Yup-they need to enter it to get to where they need to go. Lovely.]
Through here is the core of the tree where the fruit of the Qliphoth is being cultivated. Come.
[Well, no turning back. With luck, the Catillac has some extra towels.
So, immediately after squishing into the...blood elevator?...everyone is schllllorped on a ride akin to w water slide, going up and down, left and right, up, up, up, then down, down, down....down.......
d
o
w
n
into the depths.
And when they emerge...]
[Bright flowers grow on the vines. There is distant birdsong, and the sun shines among fat, lazy clouds. But you can see the shine of glass in the corner of your eye; the air is too perfect to breath, too cold to touch. You don't feel the grass or dirt underfoot that you can clearly see The smell of blood is everywhere.
An illusion? A dream? A delusion? Something else? Who knows. There is a patio table laid out with tea, and four seats. It's almost as if the owner simply got up and left for a moment. It's all strange, all...wrong.
Still. You're finally here. You're in the core. You freed a possible god from the grip of forced ignorance. And you have-you hope-everything you need to end this. But there is still one question:
It is time, Strangers. By the seas, the heavens and the earth, by blood and darkness, it's up to you.
Good luck.]
no subject
[He's quiet at this.]
no subject
And then just falls over face first onto the ground.
There is a muffled scream coming from the floor. It's fine. Just give him a second to recalibrate, because of course no one saw anything or doublechecked, of course they wouldn't they're GODS-]
no subject
no subject
[LIKE FIVE MORE SECONDS PLEASE HE'S STILL REBOOTING]
no subject
no subject
[Moriarty lift your head to talk, goddamn]
no subject
no subject
[Just....give him a second. He'll be fine.]
no subject
no subject
no subject
Enjoy the portal that just appeared that will be moving you to the other side of the room, Bert.]
no subject
Extends his hand.
Waits.]
no subject
...
...
....
He lifts his head.]
....I wish to leave this place and go to somewhere that makes sense, Kaitoooooo.....
no subject
Me too.
no subject
It miiiiight be a good thing you found the baby and not Cronus.
no subject
[Hi demon-Zeus here?]
no subject
no subject
no subject
Is that....
Really true?
[ALL THE MYTHS SHE READ IT DIDN'T REALLY MATTER IF THEY WERE DEAD THEY WERE STILL A PRETTY BIG PROBLEM]
no subject
Why?
no subject
In the stories, that wasn't enough to kill them. Only... make them weaker.
And, um...
Well.
You're still alive? And you've been shot and poisoned and who knows what else....
no subject
no subject
I know it's weird, but the stories you heard might not be the same as these gods' stories. I know I'm having a little bit of trouble getting used to it.
no subject
Zagreus is a minor figure in greek mythology, but he's usually the son of Zeus and Persephone. It seems like he's probably the son of Hades and Persephone here, from what we've seen so far.
Still, there are a lot of common threads among all of them that hold true in most cases, and the Titans and their fates, as well as what they do later, is a common thread.
Besides, there has been a fair amount we have seen so far that has agreed with the myths I've read, at least to an extent.