childrenofbajablast | Test Drive Meme #1

Arrival

Broken Palace by Jonathan Eng

0:07 / 1:13

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During 2014 Jonathan Eng composed the soundtrack for interactive narrative experience The Sailor’s Dream, consisting of a mix of instrumental tracks and a seven-part musical story told in folk song-form.

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Like all who come through summoning circle, your arrival is heralded by a dream. Waking up is a dizzying, disorienting thing... and possibly made worse by the fact that you aren't alone.

Right after you appear, so does someone else. If you're lucky*, they'll simply blink into existence by your side. If you're not, there's a chance they spawned below or above you. That's one way to make a memorable first impression. Best untangle yourselves and get things figured out.

If you're extremely unlucky*, instead of another person being brought through the summoning circle, it's a monster. The creature bobs, laughs maniacally, and immediately begins to spit flames your way.

Some welcome this is. If you aren't the fighting type, hopefully someone nearby is. Eventually, one of the local Town guards will slay the monster before it - and you - cause too much trouble or fire damage.

Town Tricks

After your unexpected introduction to either your fellow offworlder or monster, you'll be given a proper one from Charlie in Town. He sends you on your way shortly after to get settled in properly and deal with then next offworlder that walks in. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a revolving door right now so he doesn't have time for a more in-depth explanation or to answer too many questions.

Nor does he remember to warn you about The Fae.

Although native to Talahee Forest, which is currently off-limits to offworlders, the surge of magic from the summoning circle has piqued their interest. While the faefolk vary wildly in appearance, the ones scouting are pixies.

These tiny tricksters may be too shy to reveal themselves outright... but that won't stop them from playing pranks on all these fun, new victims. Some examples of what can happen are:

At night

Thankfully, these Fae mean you no harm. In fact, if you react with hostility they will give you a wide berth and simply find someone more fun to play with.

Rocky Talky

One of the things that was given to you in your welcome pack from Charlie was a summoning-stone. Although it looks like, well, an ordinary stone- It's actually magic! You can look through it and see someone else's face too if you're both viewing your stones at the same time. It can also record your speech and deliver that to someone else in a snap.

One of the other features is that you can scrawl on it. It will turn your writing into legible text that you can send others to read on their stones. Of course, you need to attune yourself to your stone first. To that end, it prompts a small questionnaire:

Name:
Age:
Race:
Favorite soup? Why?:
Is soup something you eat or drink?

The last couple of questions might seem... strange but, surely, it must have a reason for asking. Once you answer the questions and unlock your device, you might pocket it and forget. Unfortunately, your scrawled answers were sent to the entire summoning-stone network throughout Town. Everyone can see what you put and they might even have some thoughts about it.

Registration Questionnaire

Notes

⁂ Hello and welcome to Children of Bahamut! If you have any questions, suggestions, or feedback feel free to comment here!

⁂ For the Arrival prompt, feel free to roll a d20 to see how lucky or unlucky you are.

⁂ The Town Tricks example list for pranks isn't exhaustive. If you have other silly prank ideas in mind, feel free to roll with that and have fun with it! The Fae certainly are.

⁂ There is a correct choice of favorite soup and the moderators will remember your choice/opinions. (We're joking. Mostly.)

⁂ Full Navigation ⁂

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I don't know," Sephiroth answers honestly. "Much of my physical body was lost in the Lifestream, after you tossed me into the reactor. So my being whole and alive again is more than just a matter of simple resurrection...never mind having Jenova's influence muted enough that I am in control of myself once more. But how such impossibilities were achieved - I have no answers. The place I was in before this was a simulation, where in theory anything was possible, but...this world feels real. All I know is that, whether I asked for it or not, I am here."

He doesn't...really know how to address Cloud's remark about him feeling like himself, although he does feel an uncomfortable lurch in his stomach at the statement. Does Cloud mean that, even as himself, he feels identical to the vicious Jenova mockery he had become? He supposes that Cloud might well not be able to recognize - or might actively refuse to recognize - that there's any difference, that it may be anything but an objective observation, but he hates the thought of it all the same. He still struggles to accept at times that he and the monster are separate, so someone not being able to tell the difference...it damages his ability to continue to believe there is one. Maybe Cloud is more right than he is.

"Feel like...how?" he asks, a bit haltingly.

Edited 2024-09-26 13:51 (UTC)

"Simulation," Cloud echoes, confused. Like what- stuck in one of Hojo or Chadley's training sims as though in an afterlife? Ridiculous. "Now you're just saying things."

But stranger things have happened.

"When you would show up and cause problems,it felt like a magnet. A pull. Dunno. Even when you were away, it felt like I had to find you. On some physical level." Cloud shrugs, again wondering in the back of his mind just why Sephiroth reads as feeling...Sad? Worried? Whatever it is, it is far beyond the scope of anything Cloud has seen from Sephiroth since Nibelheim- through his own eyes or otherwise. "It still feels like magnets. Like there's something important. Or more mind games."

"It doesn't make much sense to me, either," Sephiroth replies, with a helpless shrug. "None of this does. But my being in a simulation prior to this surely can't be any less believable than what is clearly happening here and now? What makes sense or seems possible isn't an obstacle to things happening; that much is obvious."

When Cloud speaks about the feeling he means...Sephiroth feels a mixture of relief and dread. Relief, because what Cloud is speaking of isn't some explicit parallel between Sephiroth and Jenova; dread, because it is, of course, still Jenova. But what part of Sephiroth's life, his very existence, has the luxury of not being Jenova in some way?

"I know what you speak of," he says, carefully. "But tell me. The pull you feel now...it's much weaker than it was back in our world, isn't it?"

Cloud shrugs his shoulders. Having anything close to a civil conversation with Sephiroth is more outlandish than everything else, if he really thinks about it. Not to mention the way he's almost a sympathetic figure like this. Cloud's worldview and his very mental foundation is pieced together with shoelaces and tape at this point, and this is decidedly not helping it stay strong, even if only 2 percent of him feels it. The rest still wants to swing his sword in the name of the rage that's been boiling in him for so long.

"Yeah. Weaker. I usually could feel it over longer distances. Like I had to hunt you down. Nothing like that now."

Sephiroth nods, as if he had expected that answer - which, of course, he had. "I know what the pull you're describing is," he says, somewhat cautiously. "It isn't something I have any control over, or even want to be happening, but...I do understand what it is. However, even if I could explain it to you, you would have no reason to believe anything I said...and it would dramatically worsen your memory issues and headaches. I'm not sure what state it would leave you in. Someday, perhaps, I can explain it, but right after we've been dropped into a strange new world and you're trying to get your bearings...it would be dangerous to risk incapacitating you."

A momentary pause. "All I can say is that it's related to Jenova. If Jenova didn't exist, you wouldn't feel such a thing. And I can say that I feel it as well, to a lesser extent. The pull towards me is the strongest, but I feel the same towards you...and towards others. You may feel those pulls elsewhere as well. I am not the only source. But Jenova is weakened here. Significantly. You can feel how the pull is weakened. That may be related to why it isn't affecting me the way it did in our world...though I can only hypothesize."

He shrugs slightly. "I'm afraid any more information than that would be hazardous. But I think for your immediate concerns, that should be enough to work with. Even if I told you more, and there were no adverse effects to my doing so...having that knowledge wouldn't enable you to do much with it here."

"...Memory issues?"

Sure, some things are foggy, but Cloud never pinned them down as problems with his memory, moreso chronic headaches. (Or perhaps the denial is so strong that he's blocked out the possibility of memory problems.)

Here Sephiroth is, speaking of concerns for him based on information he withholds or gives. It rings eerily genuine to Cloud, along with his claim that much of what happened after Nibelheim was against his wishes. It isn't like the cruel, cryptic taunting he's grown used to. Even Sephiroth's eyes look less cold, less alien than he remembers, despite the catlike and not-quite-human appearance.

The thought of Sephiroth caring about him in any capacity makes Cloud recoil. It's ironic, really. Years ago it would have had him excited. After all, he was Sephiroth's biggest fan. His inspiration. Certainly these thoughts won't come back to bother him longterm.

As for Jenova, why would he have anything to do with it? At worst he was near her- or her last host, if Sephiroth is to be believed- when they had their showdown in the reactor. He's SOLDIER, not some part of that crazy experiment.

"You're not making any sense. I'm SOLDIER. Nothing more than the First Class title I earned, plain and simple. Besides, sure I'll get out of here soon enough. Or wake up."

He hopes so. There's nothing for him in this place, and so much yet left back at home.

Sephiroth shrugs slightly. "If that is the case, then you hardly need concern yourself with me or anything I say, correct? You don't have to understand or trust anything I say if you'll soon put this situation behind you."

In truth...Sephiroth is tired. Guilty and exhausted and frustrated that even his best faith efforts are being met with this stonewalling, even if he can hardly blame Cloud for his mistrust. But if it's impossible for anything of value to be accomplished here, then he'd like to be able to leave...and that means convincing Cloud to disengage. He'd like not to turn his back and have Cloud shove the Buster Sword through his spine, again.

"Know what, you're right. Do what you want."

Cloud shrugs. This is not going to go anywhere, with the way Sephiroth seems hell-bent on maintaining this narrative. It makes something in him question things in a way that he never thought possible. That, in turn, paired with headaches has Cloud tiring out, needing space, anything to disconnect and think this through.

Or avoid it, he will see.

"I get a single whiff of you back to your old nonsense, and it's on sight."

Though Cloud does not turn his back to Sephiroth (he knows better), he does disengage, shuffling backwards and to one side to make his exit. It's weird, it's wrong, yet here he is... Disengaging from his mortal foe.

It ought to be for the best. For now. Cloud just needs to find a way home. This is not helping with that. Best to move along.

Test Drive Meme #1

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