October Aftermath: Crystal Clear

[lifeaftr_mods]

Who: All!
What: You're back, for better or worse. Time to recover.
When: Backdated to the 24th and beyond.
Where: The Monkey Compound, Islets, etc.
Warnings: Mark as you go.


No matter where you are on the morning of the 24th, things will very abruptly go dark.

Unless you're dead. In which case, things are already dark. And you do not see this.

For the rest of you, however, the Storyteller appears only briefly. Gone is their seemingly indifferent nature; as the rabbit hops too and throe, the pages of their tome flick back and forth in an erratic pattern, stopping on a blank page for only a moment, before continuing on. Despite the pages always turning in the one direction, there seems to be no end to them, not at all.

"I'll keep this brief, for the moment. All of you have now been removed from the caverns below," A haggard sigh- and a reluctant addition. "Those of you still alive.

"Your efforts have allowed me access to what lies below. I have sealed off the entrances- from now, the responsibility of cleaning up the mess is upon me."

And that appears to be it. Darkness returns, along with the sensation of lying upon the sand. Birds call out from the jungle, joining the rhythmic shift of the waves. No matter where you were on the island; underground, or above, you awaken upon the shoreline near the Storyteller's temple, along with the rest of the survivors.



"For what it is worth, I am truly sorry."

---

[[If you have yet to do so, make sure you confirm your character's death here!]]

Comments

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet considers this point in light of the way her own world views souls, and winces.]

Well, I certainly have no plans to do anything untoward to anyone's soul, and I don't think any of the other magic-users here seem the type to try, either- although I admit I haven't known them very long...

[She shakes her head, dismissing the thought. She doesn't even know if other types of magic can affect souls at all, worrying about it is useless at this point.]

It may be a moot point, in any case- the Storyteller claims to be both willing and able to resurrect our dead, due to our stories being incomplete at home if we do not return. The question of whether we can enter any kind of afterlife is less relevant if we're always going to be returned to this life.

Though it's not the kind of thing it seems safe to take for granted...

[greatcleavage]

That... is a profoundly disquieting statement, inasmuch as it implies no ability to refuse.

[One of the greatest safeguards of clerical magic is that one cannot raise the unwilling -- thus preventing a cycle of agonizing death followed by resurrection, draining the levels of the victim while torturing them for information or simple sport. To be unable to refuse to come back...]

I've been trying to give the Storyteller credit, but the more I hear and experience, the worse light it seems to be painted in.

[prettypurpleparlor]

In all fairness, I should point out that they never indicated this was something they intended to give us no choice in- the context of the conversation was my asking if they could revive people, not if we were permitted to refuse. Whether or not they would return someone who did not wish to be returned, I can't say.

From my own encounters with them, I find them to be a reasonably pleasant entity on a personal level, but rather difficult to work with on a professional one. Or, to put it another way, I'd be perfectly happy to have them as a neighbor, but I wouldn't like to give them so much power over my life as they have at the moment.

They don't strike me as malicious, per se, simply unhelpful. I suspect they operate on a fundamentally different mentality and set of priorities than the rest of us, and have either no interest in or very little ability to understand a more mortal view of the world.

[greatcleavage]

I've been trying to assume good faith thus far. That puts me in the minority. [Roy shrugs, acknowledging that this fact is neither good nor bad. He certainly sees why others don't much care for the Storyteller, but thus far has observed no active malice.] I agree with pretty much all of your interpretation, though.

We can probably wrap this soon.

[prettypurpleparlor]

That's encouraging, since I recall you're more familiar with gods than I am...

[Muffet trails off as they reach the mana pool, stopping to pluck one of the flowers to activate it.]

Are you planning on returning to islets, too? Or would you prefer to stay out here?

[greatcleavage]

If you want company back to your place to make sure you get there okay, I'll gladly provide that. [She probably doesn't need the help, but he's going to offer nonetheless. ] But whether now or after that's done, I think I'm needed here more.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet smiles at him and shakes her head gently.]

I appreciate the thought, but I believe I can manage from here on- and I understand the need to do what one can, under the circumstances. My plan is to have a decent meal and rest for a little bit, then start seeing what I can do myself.

[In all honesty, if she wasn't so incredibly tired right now, she'd have just kept working on that without bothering with this brief break. But days of hard effort and little sleep take a toll even on someone as inhuman as she is, and she knows she'll be in no state to help anyone if she doesn't take care of herself now.]

[greatcleavage]

If I see you up and about in anything less than improved condition, I will put you to bed personally.

[The two of them have that much in common. The difference now only is that Roy hadn't been through what she had, down there.]

[He nods, and gently pats her on the back to urge her to the mana pool. Go get that rest, Muffet.]

Wrapped unless you have more to add.

[prettypurpleparlor]

Well, you can certainly try...

[Muffet winks at him, teasing, and steps forward into the mana pool with a polite little wave goodbye. It flares and she vanishes, off to her house to have a long-overdue nap.]