lifeaftr | Exploration Event: Neverwere

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Exploration Event: Neverwere

EXPLORATION EVENT: NEVERWERE

Who: Everyone!
What: Your wildest dreams come true!
When: May 15th to May 18th
Where: Ziziphus, those still on Ensō...and Mu
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Then Know That My Life Was Just a Killer Dream
You can find most of the information you need in the OOC info post! In the meantime, feel free to use this log as a catch-all for your dream worlds, as well as detailing your efforts to free one another. Whether they're on Ziziphus or Ensō at the time of the dreams' capture, your character is free to access as many dreams as you like, as the interlocking mental landscape allows for that sort of crossing over apropos of nothing. And time, of course, is very fluid in dreams - many days, months, and years can transpire in a matter of mere minutes.

Will you fight your way free from Ziziphus's vines or Mu's thrall, or are you content to die in your sleep?

Remember to let us know if your character dies during this event!

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] May 15th: The vines make their move, ensnaring characters in ideal fantasy worlds
[ ♆ ] May 17th: The Storyteller will make contact with those they can, as well as issue information and a potential solution
[ ♆ ] May 18th: Those that have not freed themselves from the vines or from Mu will suffer a death

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

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[Shepard can't quite decide how she feels here as the light of the soul pool flickers across Kravitz's face. Any question of whether she's about to have an existential crisis about the apparent confirmation that souls exist somewhere is halted by the poking of his scythe into her side. Shepard decides that she's actually feeling annoyed about all of this.]

I don't belong in there, Kravitz.

[She puts a hand on the scythe and pushes it aside- not roughly, but enough so that he can't really poke her anymore. The whisper of the souls in the pool make her look and with this second glance... well. Perhaps the light is more captivating than she originally thought it was.]

[He'd roll his eyes if he was able, but skeleton face makes that difficult. He still manages to look thoroughly unimpressed, bringing the scythe back up so he can cross his arms.]

Yes, you do. You're dead, that's where the dead go. I know it can be difficult to pass on and accept the end of life, but I'm not here to be your babysitter. Now go on before I get actually cross.

[It doesn't make much sense as to why she looks so solid, but that shouldn't matter. The living don't just appear on the Astral Plane. It must be some trick of the light.]

[You're dead he says and Shepard feels that phrase reverberate through her entire body, hair standing on end as it does. There's a distant ringing in her ears as her eyes lock on the gently swirling pool. He's right. She is dead. She knows this. There's no coming back from that. No Illusive Man to bring her back from the brink to save the galaxy and humanity.]

Is that what you do, then? Guide souls to the afterlife?

[How apt, then, that she would meet him here, in this world where she has once again dodged death. Not by her choosing, never by her choosing... she never gets the choice.]

Kravitz. This may be a reflection of your home, but this? This isn't real.

[There's a longing feeling suddenly tugging at her heart as she looks back to the pool of souls again. A longing to just... rest. A familiar tugging feeling that she finds herself comparing a bit to Ai'tuoh.]

[He's prepared to go off again, like he's ready to to make this spiel to every yutz who has to ask, but she says something much more interesting. He uncrosses his arms, keeping his scythe in hand. If a skeleton could narrow it's eyes, he'd certainly be doing it. She still might see a crease to his brow as the bone shifts and he stares her directly down.]

How do you know my name?

[She had said it before, but it's just now hitting him that no random soul should just know that. He brings his scythe a little more defensively, just in case.]

I'm a Reaper. For the Raven Queen. This is the realm of death, I-- how could you know that?

I know your name because I know you. And you know me. Beyond this world.

[He brings the scythe closer to himself and Shepard forces herself not to tense. He won't attack without being pushed, if she knows anything about him.]

I know that because you told me. Once upon a time.

[Her eyes are seemingly glued to the pool now as she speaks.]

This is all a trick.

[Okay, this-- this he does not like. In fact, he Does Not Like it, with all the added emphasis that capitalization brings. She's trying to get under his skin, and it's completely possible one of them could have heard his name. It just doesn't make sense to him that she's using it with such familiarity, without any bit of fear.

He shakes his head at her, still looking stern.]

Oh, it is a trick, because you are trying to trick me. But I am not fooled like that! You think you're the first soul to wander in here and try to convince me they're not supposed to be dead??

[He presses a skeletal hand to his chest, which probably looks kind of hilarious because it's not like he has a solid torso for it to thump against.]

Do I look like a fool to you?

[Shepard sighs.]

That's the thing, Kravitz. I am supposed to be dead. But for whatever godforsaken reason, I was dragged out of my own world and into this one to continue living. For what? I don't fucking know.

[Her voice is gruff. Is she hearing something from the pool? Soft voices calling to her? No. Definitely not.]

And you got dragged here too. And now we're both in this illusion created by Bliss. Do you remember that name? Or Enso? Or The Storyteller?

[She raises an eyebrow at the skeleton hand. He acts so human despite being... all that.]

You're not a fool, Kravitz. You're just under a spell.

[Uhm he's a big scary death specter, obviously. No dumb human traits like machine gun noises from his mouth here. He's Very Serious.

But while he is for some reason fascinated by what she's saying, he isn't convinced, especially not by the admission that she should be dead. If his Lady had deputized another Reaper, or given some special circumstance, it would be him carrying out that order. How could he not know about it? Surely, she would have him on the job.

He crosses his arms, trying to look authoritative and menacing.]

You claim this is a trick, yet outright admit to being dead. You quite literally just admitted to doing something you're not supposed to be doing.

[Just to put the nail in the coffin, he summons his tome, starting to flip through.]

Shepard, Shepard, where is that...?

[She scoffs as Kravitz tries to stare her down.]

You act like I chose to be all... this.

[She gestures to her everything. When he pulls out the book she looks at it curiously. For a moment she can't hear the whispers and that seems to anger the soul pit, as it rumbles a bit. Is she losing it? Maybe. She forces herself to block those out and look at the book.]

Are you hoping to find me in there?

[She's kind of hoping he will, if only so he can see how done she is with this whole "dying, coming back" business she has going on.]

[It didn't matter if she chose it, though he has reason to have leniency on her if she was simply the victim. You never know with these kinds of things. He continues to look fairly bored as a few pages turn, and then more, and... now he's starting to look more nervous. As much as Bliss tries to recreate this world from his memory, it can't give him the knowledge the Raven Queen could, has no access to his real magic in here. So of course he can't find her. How could he think a thought he doesn't know?

The light of Kravitz' pupils go down and back up to her without lifting his head, like he's trying to look really hard to be a professional here.]

I-- you just wait, right there, I'll find it.

[He's going through a lot of pages. Can a skeleton sweat? It's kind of looking like he can.]

[Shepard can't help the smirk on her face as Kravitz is slowly becoming more and more flustered with this situation.]

You won't find me, Kravitz. I am not from your world. And this? Isn't your world, no matter how much it may look like it.

[The soul pool goes still. An eerie silence settles over the entire realm. Shepard looks around, her smirk falling away to a look of stern concern. Something is happening and she doesn't like it.]

[Don't smirk at him he is under duress. But more so than that, he hasn't noticed the world starting to shift as his mind does, as her words reach his ears. It's not about him not knowing, but she should know. This book is a connection to his Lady and She knows about every soul in the universe, every energy from every dead.

If She is not answering him... where is he? What's happening?

He presses his teeth together as if pursing his lips, snapping the large book shut.]

It doesn't matter, if-- if you're here you're going in the pool if you don't have a circumstance, and I'm not hearing one, so-- so there!

[Is this the Grim Reaper or an overworked man who doesn't want to do any more paperwork? Why not both?]

[Shepard will continue to smirk if it kills her. Which, with the way things are going, it just might. Again.]

Gracious, Kravitz, that doesn't sound very fair, now does it?

[She steps closer to the reaper, eyebrows raised.]

It sounds like you're making excuses. Don't you want to think a little more about what this means?

[The pool behind them starts to boil. Shepard tries to ignore it. It hasn't become a threat... yet.]

[The book disappears as she approaches, even if his last action was to clutch it defensively to his chest. This-- this is his, this whole thing is his, this is where he's in control. No one soul can come and just take that from him. She gets into his space and he steps back, holding a hand out to stop her.]

You-- this isn't about you being fair, I'm the warden around here!

[But it's reasonable doubt, it's more than reasonable, because the hand that isn't extended reaches into his coat and retrieves three pristine raven feathers, which look unruffled despite the strength with which he's grabbing them.]

My Lady, you may need to deal with this one personally.

[He holds them, but... nothing happens. Why is nothing happening? Why can't he call her? She would always be here, there couldn't be--

For a moment, fear spikes, and the last memory he has before coming to Lifeaftr crashes through. The stockade, the Hunger, how did he learn that name--

Kravitz gasps, and opens his eyes that he didn't realize he closed, his voice hushed as he looks at her.]

... Where are we?

[It's about to get wild in here, folks.]

[She can feel it before he says it. There's a break. A feeling of disconnect in the air, as reality makes its way into the dream. Shepard smiles with relief to see her frie- ...this person break through the illusion.]

Lady? I don't know who that is but I hope she's cute.

[She winks. And then shrugs.]

I don't know, honestly, but what it really is, is Bliss-

[A roar tears through the air behind Kravitz as the soul pool swirls upward into a water spout. It swirls, the color changing from the bottom up into a dark crimson, as souls scream and cry in anguish.]

Don't leave don't leave don't leave you have a duty to ussssss

[Ghostly figures move through the crimson storm as the pool lifts up even more, crossing from water to land and heading right for the reaper and soldier. Shepard grabs Kravitz's hand.]

I'll explain more in a bit! Go go go!

[She beings to pull him away from the pool, casting her eyes around for some kind of tear in reality that they can slip through.]

[Shepard please don't flirt with the Raven Queen in the middle of his mental breakdown there's only SO much he can handle here.

Case in point, everything decides to break bad right just then, causing Kravitz' eyes to snap up and his heart to leap in his chest. For a moment, he's paralyzed-- the water shifts darker, the red beginning to peek out, and for a second it's tar, grasping, colors dancing between it as it surges into his lungs--

She grabs him and he swallows it down, pivoting on his heel away, adrenaline coming back to the fight.]

Come on!

[He extends his free hand, his scythe coming to him easily as he swings it in front of them. His mind is still reeling and he doesn't have a clear enough idea of what's real and what isn't, but what he commands out of it is to get him somewhere safe.

Who knows what that will pull.]

[He rips a hole into reality itself and Shepard has no idea if it will work because they're still trapped by Bliss, but that becomes the least of her concerns because she feels a chill run down her spine, like someone walked over her grave. Something cold grips her other arm like a vice. She looks into the eyes of the ghost that has her and it shapeshifts from whatever it was before to....]

Shepard. You belong with us.

[She sucks in a breath, transfixed.]

Kaidan.

[Her grip on Kravitz goes slack. For a moment she forgets the danger they both are in to stare at this ghost. The roar of the water comes even more furiously now. There are other ghosts approaching. Some of them might look familiar to Kravitz- how fun do you think it is to see all those dangerous souls that you caught doing necromancy suddenly coming for you? It must be the most fun in the world.

Please do something, Kravitz.]

[It's largely a chance of either. Kravitz was thinking of safety, of someone coming for him, of the Raven Queen that is real and whole. But of course, there's little time to ruminate on that when there are so many souls coming out of the pool, and his mind snaps to Legion before bringing him back to the present day. At least this is the familiar adrenaline of action, the missions he goes on so frequently.

Leaving the rift open, he twists his hips in a spiral to bring down a powerful slice through the ghost's arm that holds her in its grip. With the release, he shoves her back to the exit, the portal still flickering to the unknown.]

Get in! Get in right now!

[If she refuses to move, or doesn't, he's going to use his telekinesis to simply pick her up and toss her right on through. There's very little time for squabbling about this right now, especially with the circumstances suddenly so dire.]

[The slice of the scythe through ~~Kaidan's~~ the ghost's arm causes Shepard to suck in a gasp, her eyes wide. For a moment all she can see is the lights of a distant explosion, a warm voice over the comm telling her that it's going to be ok, Shepard, just get out of here-

And then she feels Kravitz shove her and it throws her back into the present. Without any further hesitation she goes through the portal, looking back to make sure he is following.]

[Damn right she does, because otherwise they might both be done for. But he has no intent of staying here either, so he backs through, nervousness in his stomach, and--

Awakens. But for real this time, to the smell of rot, to cloying vines, to sweat running down his back and off his face. He's breathing maybe too heavily here, and the fact that his body wants to go back to sleep is worse.

But she did get him out, wherever she awakens. Shepard sure is good at saving the day.]

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Exploration Event: Neverwere

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returns to this much like the souls escaping the stockade

oh very good

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