[OPEN and one closed prompt] A very backdated arrival

[salutosinedelectat]

Who: Aziraphale & anyone else!
What: An angel arrives to the archipelago and is extremely confused. Plus a bit of exploration
When: October 27th - November 4th
Where: Mostly Ensō
Warnings: Stress and confusion



ARRIVAL [Closed, for Crowley]
Beach holidays are lovely in concept. The sun, the sea, the sand, all the good marks of a nice time, should the weather permit it.

What is not so lovely, however, is finding yourself, alarmingly, somewhere where you're not supposed to be. Somewhere where you definitely were not just moments--hours-days-- hold on just a moment. He doesn't even quite remember ever settling down or in any way losing consciousness. Which, you know, wouldn't make this whole situation any less cause for alarm, but it would be somewhere to start.

He's stepping through the damp sand, holding, in his hands, a knapsack that, for some reason, has his name embroidered on it. The items inside do nothing to answer any questions, and he's looking around every which way.

Something about this place is...different. Something feels strange - well, all of it is strange -, and he can't quite put his finger on it. What on Earth did he get himself into?

"Hello?" He calls out, somewhat nervously.


STORYTELLER'S TEMPLE & MANA POOL
The day after his arrival, he sets off to have a look around. This particular building easily catches his eye - hard to miss the structure in the island as is, but there's something else about it. Something-- oh, darn it. Yet another thing he can't quite comprehend, and it's entirely frustrating in an already confusing and stressful situation.

For a few hours, this strangely dressed humanshaped being walks around the temple, examining its structure. He can be found stopping at times, seemingly focused on something, although it doesn't quite seem to be whatever piece of stone or mark on the wall his eyes are landing on.

And then, there's the mana pool; he stands at the edge of it, staring into the water intently.

This place, it's...

What is this?


DENNY
Well, this is...something.

The small gathering of buildings make things feel a little bit more-- hopeful, in some strange sense of the word. Somewhere where one can expect more inhabitants to show up, he would assume, and where he could perhaps get some answers.

Steps into the mess hall and he notices, right away, the effort that must have taken to put this sort of place together. He also notices, immediately, how he must entirely stand out in a place like this. Still, it feels cozy and lively in here. Yes, this is not too shabby at all.

Regardless, he steps quietly along the room, rubbing one of his thumbs into the palm of his other hand.

As soon as he spots someone, he steps to them a bit quicker, clearing his throat to make himself known. Tone light and polite, he addresses them with a smile, if a bit awkwardly:

"Pardon me. I do apologize for my intrusion, but could I take a moment of your time?"


LIBRARY
A library! Oh, of course, a library. He'd find himself soothed if it were not for the lack of, well, most things he'd say were necessary to establish a library of proper quality and structure, but it's a start. He has to assume that there isn't necessarily an abundance of resources in a place such as this.

Still, it warms his little nervous heart, as well as give him some hope to find some proper information about their situation.

He approaches one of the shelves, a dainty finger held up as he looks along the book spines to find...well, he's not sure what he finds. He shouldn't have exactly expected anything to stand out to him specifically, but maybe he could-

The angel looks around, looking for some sort of curator or some sort of keeper. Much like in the mess hall, he approaches the first person he sees with a polite and slightly awkward smile.

"Excuse me. Could you tell me, is anyone in charge of this establishment?"

Comments

ARRIVAL [Closed]

[agathokakological]

Crowley stares up at a blue sky, the sound of waves crashing gently on the shore. He knows two things: he's wet, and he's not in London. Sprawled out in the sand, the demon turns onto his side to take in more of the scenery. He isn't in Hell, that is for certain, and Heaven is out of the question; he settles on Earth, albeit a portion he's not familiar with for now. There's just one problem with this, which is that Crowley doesn't remember coming here, and he doesn't remember being taken here either. The very last thing he recalls is having lunch with a very stuffy angel, and he's certainly never seen this knapsack before. His name is embroidered onto it, which is very curious, and causes the demon to sit up rather quickly to investigate. He's in the process of digging through when he hears a familiar voice, his head darting up and around him to spot the source.

"Aziraphale! Over here!!"

[salutosinedelectat]

The angel looks around at the beach, grey and cold, and he doesn't even remember the last time he was anywhere near one. Not that geographical limitations were much for creatures like him, but he doesn't recall--

He suddenly perks up, hearing that familiar voice over the sound of the crashing waves. He's quick to move that way - darn this sand, it's going to ruin his shoes and get absolutely everywhere -, and the amount of relief he feels when he sees the demon is entirely visible.

"Crowley." He mutters to himself, trudging through the wet sand and trying not to trip.

"Do you--Are you alright?" He suddenly asks, noticing the dampness and sand clinging to Crowley's clothes. The angel had got away with just sand in his shoes...

[agathokakological]

"I'm fine." he mutters, pushing himself to his feet and attempting to shake the sand from his clothing. "Can't say as much for my jacket-- oh shit- shit, shit, shit--" Crowley his quickly shaking off his wrist and eyeing his watch (custom made and very expensive), such a thing may be water resistant but certainly not waterproof, and it's clear to Crowley that before he'd come to that he'd been for a little swim.

"Eaaaugh!"

Clearly frustrated, he begins checking his pockets, keys-check, phone-check (and utterly water damaged). All of his things utterly ruined by salt water. Aziraphale is given a very defeated pout after Crowley's had the opportunity to thoroughly access how fucked his life is. "You're alright, yes?" he asks, giving the angel a once-over. "Did we get pissed on a beach and forget to sober up?"

[salutosinedelectat]

Aziraphale watches the demon's fussing for a few moments before it hits him to do the same. He reaches for his pocket watch and pops it open. He frowns and gives it a shake, but it seems like his old friend may have, somehow, gotten damaged as well. He sighs and puts it away.

"Er." A good question, for as much as he doesn't want to admit it. But he doesn't recall even drinking anything more than a fine glass of champagne. "I can't recall. It doesn't-" But the knapsack behind the demon catches his eye.

"You've got one, too?"

Denny

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah, what's up?

[Michael doesn't think there's anything particularly special about Aziraphale walking into Denny. He's seen him here before - not particularly recently, but things have been all over the place lately with all that dragon nonsense. His hesitation is a little weird, but maybe he's just being weird today.

(For the record, on a more metaphysical level he is very clearly a demon.)]

Re: Denny

[salutosinedelectat]

I-

[ But the angel is immediately distracted, it seems, lingering for a moment. He senses it right away, now that he's close and paying attention - not a human. Very much not a human. And while the fellow isn't exactly putting on a threatening front, recent events put him a little on edge.

He shakes himself out of it and clears his throat, now rather cautious.]

I've recently found myself in this--place, and it's all rather...well, unexpected. [ And alarming. And stressful. And confusing. And a whole lot of other things, but he'll leave it like that. ] I was wondering, if you don't mind, if I could ask you a few questions.

[eudaimonikos]

[Uhhhhhhh...huh.

Michael sets aside the rations he was organizing (entirely for everyone's benefit, he totally works here for real) and leans forward over the table, weight resting on his elbows.]

Are you feeling alright, or is this some kind of Time Knife thing?

[Frankly, he's more prepared for the latter possibility. He's not exactly experienced with meeting people from other timelines, or dimensions or something, but everybody's seen the Time Knife. He gets the idea.]

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Aziraphale stares at him blankly.

Unsure: ]

I'm sorry- "Time Knife"?

Temple

[ideismo]

[Alexei tends to spend a lot of time around the temple area, never really praying or offering anything but rather just...being there. Perhaps because he wants to; perhaps because he has little patience for gods, and everyone knows what's said about the respective distance at which one keeps friends and enemies.

This person, though, is offering the same sort of disoriented confusion that he's seen before, even if he's never had dealings with this particular person.]

One of our recent arrivals, I'm assuming.

[It's not quite a question, but not a declaration, either. A request for clarification, maybe.]

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Aziraphale suddenly perks up, apparently not expecting someone else to be around. Not quite startled, however; in fact, people are the best way to get answers and information, so this may be a good thing.

He clears his throat. ]

Seems like it, I'm afraid. [ He offers a polite smile. ] I do apologize if I'm intruding, but I found this building rather...curious.

[ideismo]

You're intruding upon nothing - we're permitted to be here as we please.

[Alexei is...well, he's still dressed like he got lost on the way to the Ren Faire, though it's not precisely...proper normal armor of any sort. Oddly-dressed or not, however, he still has basic manners, so. A brief bow from the waist it is, somewhat shallow but not disrespectfully so.]

Alexei Dinoia. Commandant of the Imperial Knights of Terca Lumireis. It's a pleasure.

[salutosinedelectat]

[ This fellow's outfit is rather...unique, in Aziraphale's eyes. He's not seen anyone wearing armor in a good few centuries, and even then he's never seen anything like this. Though, looking like he's from the 1800s, Earth edition, who's he to say anything about it? ]

Oh-- [ He awkwardly but politely returns the half bow. ] A. Z. Fell. A pleasure to meet you.

[ Ahem. ]

Could you tell me, what exactly is this place?

denny

[postictal]

[Tim can usually be found in Denny, most days - it's his place, after all, and he does his best to keep things running smoothly. Doesn't recognize the guy who approaches him, but Tim's not really doing anything important at the moment - just clearing a few tables of cutlery and some wooden plates in need of cleaning.]

[Straightens up, gives the guy a onceover, decides he doesn't recognize him.]

Yeah, sure. What d'you need?

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Said "guy" stands with impecable posture, smiling politely, folding his hands in front of himself to keep from fidgeting. First impressions, after all. He clears his throat. ]

You see, my friend and I, we have arrived here rather recently, and we are a bit, ehm...lost on what exactly there is to find around here.

[postictal]

[Tim takes it in stride, at least. He shrugs, straightens up, and sets aside his task for the minute.]

Well, you're on an island, for one. There's two here right now, but that could change. What're you looking for, exactly?

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Island. Changing islands; noted. Perfectly fine. Not strange at all. ]

Hum, well. Answers, mostly.

[ Of the what is all of this, what's going on, why are we here, how do we leave variety. ]

Where is this located? We haven't- [ Where does he even start? ] We're having some trouble actually figuring out all of this.

manapool

[catpiper]

[They say a watched pot never boils, but that doesn't have anything to do with magical pools of god bath water. Because as he wanders towards the edge-

She appears in the blink of eye and while she isn't thrown off by someone being near it-people often are, especially when new islands become available, she doesn't expect an unfamiliar face. At least she helpfully offers-]

You have to throw a flower in to go somewhere.

Re: manapool

[salutosinedelectat]

[ The angel suddenly perks up, not expecting company - specially not a young-sounding voice that close. He may also be a little jumpy, with the strangeness of just being here and such.

He stares at her for a second, before composing himself. ]

I'm sorry?

[catpiper]

If you stare at it, it won't work. You have to throw the flower to go somewhere else.

[Because she thought this poor newcomer doesn't understand what she said. It's fine-it's hard and weird. She gets it and she doesn't have a problem repeating herself.]

You don't have to be scared. It's okay. I'll hold your hand.

WIGGLES IN HERE LATE, LIBRARY

[deathfindsaway]

With Starflight's departure, Kravitz is the only one who spends much time doing anything around the library. He hadn't intended to pick up a job or otherwise be some kind of archivist, but it was a space he could control and feel like he had something that made sense in a world of abject chaos. What this means is that he's here often creating work for himself in whatever capacity that finds- today, that seems to be reorganizing a number of children's books near the front. He hadn't even quite seen Aziraphale come in, and the voice snaps him from it just enough to shake his head and peer over at the person addressing him.

"Oh, uhm... I suppose I am." Does it count if you just show up, make all the work, and decide how it runs? Maybe. Kravitz straightens up, trying to look like he knows what he's doing for once. "Is there something in particular you're looking for? We do have, uhm, a catalog to assist in finding the right book, though I confess to our... limited selection."

ur never late bby ilu

[salutosinedelectat]

As far as Aziraphale's concerned, anyone who puts in the effort to care for books and other literary works is someone to be commended, specially if they chose to be. Books are important, and knowledge must be saved.

He tries not to think about how far away he is from his shop.

"Yes, hum-" No, no, it's not the time to get into critiques. He smiles politely. "I'm looking for any books that may have information on the...'resident deities', as I have been told. And anything that may help understand the history of this place."

He figures it's obvious, by his request, but he goes ahead. "You see, my friend and I have found ourselves here rather...suddenly, and we're looking for any information we can find."

ilu!!!

[deathfindsaway]

It sometimes seems that only those with a long lifespan care about keeping the knowledge of it. Maybe it's a fear of forgetting what they've known, or a desire to stop others from making mistakes, but it doesn't much matter. What matters is this man has given him the information he needs to answer him, and Kravitz sighs a bit with a small nod.

"Well, you are certainly not the only one. We have all arrived here in that similar state of disarray. However... you're unlikely to find literature about that located here." He gestures out to the library at large as he speaks. "These books are largely for resource management and survival in this place. It's history has been unknown to most of us for some time, but we do have... resources."

Kravitz instead pulls out a notebook from his jacket, flipping pages towards somewhere in the middle. "I've documented as much as I can. So have others, and we do have maps and relics here as well. But the history of this place is something we have had to piece together, and as you can imagine, this leaves certain holes in the documentation."

denny, the latest

[vagabone]

Good news, he's very very friendly, always ready to lend a hand.

...Possibly even literally, because the bad news is that he's a skeleton. One with loose bones and a shitty sense of humor. But the nonsense can wait for another day!

"Oh, sure! What do you need?"

[salutosinedelectat]

“Oh!” Aziraphale starts back, in a completely unsubtle reaction to seeing what looks like a very real, very conscious skeleton. The angel has seen many incredible and strange things in his very, very, very long life, but never anything like this.

Pardon him the stare, he legitimately forgets what he was about to ask.

[vagabone]

He stares back for a good few seconds before he realizes that the dude's not going to answer. Way to make a guy feel awkward! Ha ha...

"Ah... I take it you're new and about to freak out about me being a skeleton?"

Naturally, it wouldn't be the first time he's gone through this routine.