See you at the Black Parade!

[imaglyphwitch]

[Video opens up and its the Disaster house...isn't it? Or maybe its Halloween somehow making its way into the house. There are skeletons and zombie facsimiles all over the front of the house, ravens and colors of orange and black all over the top portion. Someone is very much using their ability to fly to make sure the house looks as complete as possible.

The backyard has a faux cemetery because of course it does, and currently putting up tombstones is one Luz Noceda, in a cat skull mask, and she waves to all of you].

Hey! Sooo...in light of getting back into my regular sleeping pattern, I learned that we have something like a certain festive holiday back home, except its all about hiding your face! There's folklore that reminds me a little of Samhain with the whole keeping away bad spirits, so I figure: why not get into the spirit, and meld that sentiment with Halloween from back home?

So over at the house I'll be doing my best to keep things creepy: eyeballs, fake blood, creepy music, the whole deal. Kinda helps with the ambiance, and so far? Nothing really bad has happened yet!

Granted, gotta keep it that way too! Part of this is for the fun, part is for, well, you never know? In case spooks around here aren't just made up.

[Look, she had a whole ordeal on a boat with dead bodies. Letting her naivete fool her is just dumb at this point].

Hope I see you guys getting into the spirit too! Do you all have a version of Halloween where you come from?

Comments

[imaglyphwitch]

[Somewhat]!

I kind of hope they're the type of gods who don't need animal sacrifices, but I think that's probably impossible. Everything around here seems to be centered around blood.

Can you take out a monster that easily?

[alternia_strength]

D --> I am by far the STRONGEST of my brethren
D --> I can probably pummel one to e%sanguination with my bare fistkinds
D --> And yes that is precisely why I assumed that sacrifice would be e%pected
D --> It seems fitting with the operation of this region

[imaglyphwitch]

Whoa. That is super strong. Have you...had to do that to someone before?

[Better to know who she was dealing with, but signs certainly pointed to yes].

Really wished I could give more concrete information on all this, but I've only been here roughly about two months.

[alternia_strength]

D --> I am t00 STRONG to wield bowkind properly much to my chagrin
D --> I could in Asgard for a time but that was because of the e%perience of having my potency reduced
D --> So I am generally forced to beat things to death with my bare fists
D --> I am quite g00d at this

[And way too proud of doing that.]

D --> Two lunar cycles you say
D --> That would indicate that this issue has only begun
D --> These Pthumerians may not even have established the rules of this game
D --> Lovely

[He was still convinced this was all an elaborate game.]

[imaglyphwitch]

Ah. That's...really something.

You must be pretty strong!

[Whoa. That is already bringing some pretty extreme images in Luz's head. Yeesh].

That's the hard part to judge. I've only been here two months, but the people in this world have been here much longer, and already established their beliefs and have scholars and acolytes. There's no way of truly knowing when the Pthumerians established themselves.

[alternia_strength]

D --> E%tremely STRONG
D --> My muscles bristle in anticipation of the ne%t strife

D --> Oh that is no real issue
D --> It would not surprise me if they were here for centuries before they began this game
D --> That seems entirely normal

[imaglyphwitch]

Oh. Maybe when they have another one of those arena jousting things, you'll really get into it.

Yes, I thought the same.

Why do you keep calling it a game?

[alternia_strength]

D --> Such things would be e%tremely to my liking yes
D --> But I will have to wait for the ne%t participation

D --> Because that is what it is
D --> As Asgard was a game played by the gods and giants with the gods as victors
D --> And our world was destroyed in a game before that and eventually reborn through the completion of the game
D --> This is simply another game in which I e%ist
D --> I am attempting to decipher the game rules at this time

[imaglyphwitch]

Good to know.

[Luz would really hope they never wound up as opponents. She wasn't sure how she'd fair against a guy that liked punching things to death that much].

Oh, well, I'm not sure how accurate it is to call it a game, but if it works for you, who am I to complain?

[alternia_strength]

D --> Very few considered it a game in Asgard
D --> So I am unsurprised that you would not
D --> In the end it is a framework for understanding our purpose here

[imaglyphwitch]

That's a good point! Can't argue with how you want to see it.

[alternia_strength]

D --> In general I assume we were put here for a purpose
D --> In Asgard it was e%pressly clear
D --> We brought color back to the world and fought in a war
D --> Not e%actly complicated
D --> These Pthumerians are less informative in this regard

[imaglyphwitch]

That's something we can both agree on. Like I think I said earlier, I knew why we were brought here, but not why you new guys were brought here.

Unless they want us to pool our strength together to get to the bottom of all this blood corruption stuff.

[alternia_strength]

D --> Why would you posit you are present here
D --> And I mean more in the sense of purpose and less the mechanical
D --> The latter can wait for later to verify

D --> Wait
D --> What e%actly do you mean by bl00d corruption

[imaglyphwitch]

I'm not sure what you mean?

Oh, the thing that happens when you get overwhelmed emotionally and mentally and you become a monster version of yourself.

I should really sound more bothered by that. Maybe I'm getting jaded? Oh boy.

[alternia_strength]

D --> It is unimportant if you do not
D --> This e%istence and its purpose will reveal itself in time
D --> I have learned a certain amount of patience

D --> You are definitely jaded if the idea of your bl00d being corrupted does not concern you greatly
D --> I know that humans are less concerned about their bl00d than my people but still
D --> This is e%tremely bad and I require as many ways to avoid it as I can

[imaglyphwitch]

That's what most of us are hoping too.

I mean, I CARE. I know that it can happen and I don't want it to, but I try to take some of the precautions, like meditation and staying with my housemates and trying not to get overly stressed out in a less than ideal situation. Those all seem to agitate the process.

I'll start caring even more if I see it happen to someone I know, or if something out of the ordinary triggers it. For now I'm still trying to manage the new abilities the blood has given me and whatever strange curveballs that happen every month.

[alternia_strength]

D --> What does any of that have to do with your bl00d
D --> That is simply socializing with other people whose bl00d may be getting corrupted
D --> This makes absolutely no sense
D --> You are making no sense at all
D --> Bl00d corruption is a medical condition
D --> Make sense!

[imaglyphwitch]

You know, I'm still trying to figure it out too, sheesh! I told you it hasn't happened to anyone I know directly yet, so I'm only telling you what I've heard!

If you're such an expert on blood corruption you figure it out!

[alternia_strength]

D --> I am not an e%pert
D --> But considering the comple%ities of my species and bl00d types
D --> I think I may need to become an e%pert

D --> Besides I am also informed bl00d is used in artifice
D --> There is something deeply wrong about this place

[At least he was calming down a little.]

[imaglyphwitch]

No one is. Yet. That's what the arcane people are for, and even they don't know everything.

And I'm definitely not as smart as the locals with this stuff. I'm just trying to deal with whatever I hear.

That's something we can both agree on. Coming here as squids should have been our first clue.

[Luz is calmed some too. She was just sensitive to being insulted].

[alternia_strength]

D --> Oh yes mages and the like
D --> I was never the sort to dabble in such things
D --> Simply being the heir of Void was e%cruciatingly difficult to understand
D --> My approach is not arcane in nature though if I must understand it again so be it
D --> It would beh00ve me to study this magical mumbo jumbo

D --> Please do not remind me
D --> I was e%tremely embarrassed
D --> I am not a sea dweller
D --> That is the place of royalty in my people

[imaglyphwitch]

Mages. Science people. Technical guys. They're smart and I leave that work for them!

I tend to dabble in magic for right now, since that seems to be my forte. I'm sure I'll have to learn more down the road, but for now this suits me. So we're sort of in the same boat, except magic is something I'm pursuing.

It is? Wow. Actually, it seems like the sea is pretty important here too, in a lot of ways.

[alternia_strength]

D --> We each have our role and knowledge of yours is generally beneficial
D --> My Role in the prior game some time back was as Heir but that was never e%actly fulfilling on its own
D --> The Heir simply inherits the STRENGTH of that which they are Heir of and I was Heir of the Void
D --> Heir of Nothing
D --> Profoundly meaningless

D --> I prefer to think of myself as an engineer and creator
D --> Mastery of the methods of creation will occupy my not inconsiderable talents

[imaglyphwitch]

Right. I'd say everyone here has a role to play. It might not be plain to them at first, and they might take some time figuring out, but they have it.

Sounds like that would still occupy a lot, even if void means nothing. Nothing can kind of be like everything, in a way.

[That was hard to explain].

If you think that of yourself, what you'll want to do here will probably become clear pretty soon. I get the feeling there are a lot of roles to fill here.