audio ; un: a.solo

[hopesparks]

[ There's a faint sound of wind in the background of his broadcast, as if he's sitting somewhere up high. ]

Hello. Again. [ Oof, okay, not the strongest start. ] I'm Anakin Solo, a knight of the Jedi Order, at your service. I sort of remember being here before, and I wanted to thank everyone who helped me out.

They offered me a bed at the orphanage, but I don't want to take it from someone who might need it.
How does housing work here, exactly? I don't mind sleeping outside, but that doesn't seem wise in the long run.

[ A pause. ]

By the way, I don't remember the sky being like this before-- is this normal? As normal as anything is here, I mean.

[ Another pause. He's clearly not in his element. ]

Thanks again.

[ The feed ends. ]


( ooc: let me know if you want to keep his tdm thread! i'm cool either way. )

Comments

[hopesparks]

So it's possible that the pthumerian oversees the entirety of something, but favor one outlook over the other.

Severing someone's bond permanently does sound incredibly eerie.

[onerthes]

Yes. They all favor their own outlook, which is intrinsically alien to most human and human-like peoples out there. And each manipulates or presides over that 'something' differently.

It was... an experience. A small memory, I believe, was what I lost. Someone I... well I can't remember them anymore. I pick at the scab so to speak, but it does not worry much. I think I did not know them well.

[She and Nightcrawler hadn't really been that close.]

[hopesparks]

[ If it doesn't worry her, he supposes it's okay. Though he can't help but wonder what could make someone sever a bond with someone else so completely.

But it's none of his business. ]

How do you know which one is your "patron?"

[onerthes]

[In truth? She'd done it because they'd needed to be sure how the sword worked, and Nightcrawler had been lost to the ocean. That lack of closeness made it a memory she was willing to risk fraying.]

So... they give gifts to us during their respective months, but you should be able to ask over in Gaze. I'm quite sure they'll be able to get the records or divine the appropriate patron.

In my case, I sort of always knew... but I knew her before. briefly. her disposition has not improved with time.

[hopesparks]

[ He makes a mental note of that. Maybe tomorrow he'll visit Gaze to find out. ]

I'll look into it. I'd rather know who I'm dealing with than not.

"Before?"

[onerthes]

There are some among the sleepers who may speak of a time called "The Nightmare." Our numbers dwindle, but we still persist. Before this world awoke, it was trapped in the slumbering dreams of a dying, terrified goddess. [She sighed.]

Trapped within those nightmares were the other Pthumerians. I met what I believe was the Doorway while we were there. She was waiting for her partner even then, trapped in a vessel, far from mortal eyes. Getting to her was accidental and hard.

[Snort] She's always had a terrible sense of humor.

[hopesparks]

[ The mention of a dying, terrified goddess makes Anakin's heart twinge. He doesn't know anything about her, but it still seems sad for anyone to spend their last days living in terror. ]

So this goddess was strong enough to hold the Pthumerians in her Nightmare? Did she die from old age?

[onerthes]

[Julia's story was anything but happy, yeah...]

She was the thing that the Pthumerians sought to create when they came to this world. It was their goal, but they did not do a good job helping to guide her and she had no control.

I... would prefer not to say how she died. I will only say it was very unpleasant. Julia was a very unfortunate soul.

[hopesparks]

I understand. I'm sorry to hear about her passing.

[ Hesitantly: ] What did they want from her?

[onerthes]

In some ways... at least she is at peace.

Her grandmother wished to combine the ingenuity and innocence of humanity, their imagination, with the ability to manipulate the power of a dream. It created reality and made anything possible, giving her powers akin to what some call a god's. But her grandmother died to bring her daughter into being, and her other grandmother turned on the plan. She was unable to get support and training to control the power, leading to fearful populaces not knowing how to handle it, and an ever growing weakness as she opened the path to other worlds through her dreams.

Eventually it took too much from her, and she died. The nightmare was fashioned in those final moments from her power and the grief of those who knew her in life. Her grandmother's rage, her mother's despair, her father's refusal to accept reality and self delusion, her best friend's bargaining for more time, and one poor man who treated her kindly accepting that reality and waiting for an end he could not stop.

[hopesparks]

[ Everyone from before was brought here by a goddess. Blindly reaching out for help, maybe? He supposes only Julia would know. ]

If she was the one who brought people from other worlds into the Nightmare, who's bringing us into the Waking World?

[onerthes]

So... when she finally died, the chrysalis of the world she kept asleep broke open. The world was reborn, and with it both the survivors of this world, along with those sleepers already present and the Pthumerians gradually came to awaken in it.

I think some lingering aspect of its power caused this world to forever reach out, to offer a doorway that without realizing it opens and brings some of us here. It is less... desperate now.

[hopesparks]

[ Anakin wonders what will happen if the power runs out. Could it? How long would it take? Does it mean they'd be stuck here forever, constantly being reborn as squids?

He supposes he'll have at least some time to figure it out. ]

I see. [ Softly: ] I wonder if that means that part of her still lingers here. Like her strong feelings or memory didn't really fade.

[onerthes]

I believe that her will and her final thoughts linger still, but her transformative power has completed. Any changes after are our own, or the other Pthumerians. But... perhaps she herself still lingers in some small part.

[hopesparks]

I hope not. She deserves a peaceful rest.

[onerthes]

If... she could have one thing. Anything in this world? I would give her peace finally.

[hopesparks]

[ Anakin lets silence linger a moment before: ]

Thank you for telling me about her. And the Trench in general.

[onerthes]

It's important to me that we don't forget. Though it may not impact us directly, there is always the possibility to learn from what happened, that it never repeat. So it is always something I am willing to share, even if I doubt the Disciples appreciate my take usually.