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imeeji_frontstage2022-08-07 12:02 pm
rosetograce) wrote in imeeji_frontstage2022-08-07 12:02 pm
Flowers of Heaven II: Star of Bethlehem
Who: lost(?) idols
Where: ???? a mysterious courtyard
When: day 490
[ You awaken to the feeling of cool stone at your back, and a night sky overhead.
All around is a courtyard—a wide circle of marble tile, alternating black and white, interspersed with stone benches and flowerbeds and ornamental trees, all lit by the lambent gleam of strangely vivid starlight.
It is beautiful. And it is decaying. The stone is cracked; the flowers wild and overflowing between the cracked stone; the trees bent and twisted with age, the ground around them littered with fallen fruit. There is a fountain in the center of this space, but it too is broken-down: the water sits stagnant, and nothing remains of the design except a basin and the shattered base of a once-golden sculpture.
—And surrounding it all are not walls, but dense mounds of kudzu, climbing over itself until it towers as high as any watchtower.
How did you get here?
The last thing you vaguely recall is a sudden fit of drowsiness. There’s no sign of any guide or host around, and your powers don’t currently work either. In fact, if you have any corruptions, whether mental or physical, they too are … gone? No, perhaps that's not quite it; you can still feel them—faint, like a phantom limb. Invisible, and unable to affect you.
But there is one notable exception to the rule: all wings, corruption-induced or not, remain in place, as natural as the starlight.
There are other idols around you, all waking up the same way. Is this meant to be some kind of game…? ]
Where: ???? a mysterious courtyard
When: day 490
[ You awaken to the feeling of cool stone at your back, and a night sky overhead.
All around is a courtyard—a wide circle of marble tile, alternating black and white, interspersed with stone benches and flowerbeds and ornamental trees, all lit by the lambent gleam of strangely vivid starlight.
It is beautiful. And it is decaying. The stone is cracked; the flowers wild and overflowing between the cracked stone; the trees bent and twisted with age, the ground around them littered with fallen fruit. There is a fountain in the center of this space, but it too is broken-down: the water sits stagnant, and nothing remains of the design except a basin and the shattered base of a once-golden sculpture.
—And surrounding it all are not walls, but dense mounds of kudzu, climbing over itself until it towers as high as any watchtower.
How did you get here?
The last thing you vaguely recall is a sudden fit of drowsiness. There’s no sign of any guide or host around, and your powers don’t currently work either. In fact, if you have any corruptions, whether mental or physical, they too are … gone? No, perhaps that's not quite it; you can still feel them—faint, like a phantom limb. Invisible, and unable to affect you.
But there is one notable exception to the rule: all wings, corruption-induced or not, remain in place, as natural as the starlight.
There are other idols around you, all waking up the same way. Is this meant to be some kind of game…? ]
Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?
Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?
Does any of it matter? Did any of this ever matter? Pointless, purposeless, broken and faithless and empty empty empty empty empty empty empty empty empty empty empty empty empty empty empty empty empty em̸p҉ty ̕empty͝ e͕̼̲̩̣͢m̛͙̯p҉͇̲̬̖t̶͎͈̯̣y҉̮͍ e̻̞͍͈ͅm̛̲͎̹̰̫ͅp͓̖̦̖̙̤̗t̡̙͇̗͍y̨̻͈͙͈͈͍̤ ͉͓̰͔͎̕e̦̮̟̲͜m̟̞͠p̱͎͚̗̤t͕̲̫̙̀y͕̮̰͉͡ ̨̞̭e̙͎̪̠͕̩͇̞ͯ͊̌̓ͥ̍͆͆̌m̵̽͂̅͏̖͚͖̬̟̜p͐̈́ͬ҉͏̗̱̪̩̹t́ͯͦ̂̓͛͏̧̥̬̬̖͞ý̵̛͉̦̹̭̙̾ ̼͇͍̟̣̜̻̤́ͩ̔ͦ̾e̷̳͖̓ͩ͋̚͟m͊ͩͤ͛̾͢͞҉̜p̍̍͏̰̗̞̙̮͘t̨̲̮͖̩̪̣̬͈ͧ̽̂͛̀y̧̩̗̥̯̞͎ͬ̈́ ̶̧͎͓̯̂̒͐̓̒ͧͪe̡̧̯̺̣̲͉̯̞̳͊ͪ̄ͮm̻̘̺̤̞̰̳̮ͩ̄͊͒͛͐͋p͉̰̯̳̬̭̦̗̓ͦ̀ͦ̓ͩͭ̊t͇ͥ͂̀͛y̡̹̭͎̋̉ͬ̉ͤ̾ ̷̲̠͍ͪͣ͒͗ͦ̽͒̚ ... ]
Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?
Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?
Now that you're no longer in direct contact with the ?water?, the sensation isn't so overwhelming—no longer enough to blot out all other thought. (There's the uncomfortable certainty that, had you continued to feel those feelings, you might lie down, and close your eyes, and who knows how many millennia it would be until you could bear to open them again...)
...But now it is merely a kind of mournful ache, fading away as you scrub away what remains of the liquid. ]
Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?
He'll do a loop around the courtyard just to survey what else there is, including checking out any archways that aren't blocked by kudzu.]