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cancry2022-04-17 01:41 pm
cancrymods) wrote in cancry2022-04-17 01:41 pm
Luxuria Intro Log
With the real super power of teamwork, the Executors have successfully managed to make their way through the Gula Underside and defeat the previous Authority there. With Gerda now freed from her past regrets and given the power of an Executor, Gula and its inhabitants seem to be in safe hands... for now at least. More interesting – or concerning, perhaps – is the tentative ally you've gained in the form of Birdie, the mysterious girl who attacked some of your number in the Superbia Underside. While she seemed to be nothing but an enemy back then, a surprising connection has been formed with who you now understand to be the Authority of Purgatory itself. While she doesn't necessarily believe the Executors will be able to repair Purgatory, she is at least willing to admit that she shares their goals of wanting to see Purgatory restored... either to its former state, or to something new. But what does that mean for the Executors? And what does that mean for Rei supposedly born from the Authority's discarded heart? There are still many questions the Executors need to answer and as a blast of dry, hot air blows up from the next layer, you can only hope that Luxuria holds the key to at least some of them... | |
 ♪♫ Wet & Dry – Sakuzyo After the humidity and noise of the Gula Underside, passing down to the Lust Layer of Purgatory initially seems like a relief. The air here is dry and sharp and though you hear noise drifting up to meet you and see a whole rainbow of lights clustered together in the dark, it doesn't seem as though it'll be quite as overwhelming as some of the bustling Layers you've had the pleasure of exploring before. But as you set foot down into Luxuria and feel the heat of the ground under your feet, you begin to wonder if you might just have hopped out of the frying pan and into the fire... | |
NPC CONTACT & INVESTIGATION REQUESTS
You may also use this toplevel to communicate with any of the party NPCs. Currently available are Rei, Birdie and the mysterious butterfly who lead Ariel to the Superbia Underside. Be sure to mention in your comment header which NPC you want to speak to!
INVESTIGATION: FERRIS WHEEL
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investigation!
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CHECKING UP ON GERDA (thing 1/3 I'm so sorry)
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BIRDIE (2/3 just... deal with all this in whatever way works, idek)
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INVESTIGATION (3/3 aren't you glad you let me in your game)
It's worth noting she has an ulterior motive this time around: as implied by the subject line, she's investigating, sort of. She's hoping someone will recognize her as a new act, and if she's lucky, it'll be someone who also knows what other things might be new or different around here.
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MYSTERIOUS BUTTERFLY
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Investigation: Rest Areas
[While she's poking around, is she likely to see anything odder than usual, by Purgatory standards?]
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INVESTIGATION: RIDES
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birdie
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EVENT...?
It begins as just a tremble underfoot but very quickly escalates and a powerful earthquake shakes all of Purgatory – while it is felt most strongly in the lower layers, it's powerful enough to rattle even Limbo. It lasts for two minutes before easing and coming to a stop. Though no one seems to be hurt and by some miracle the damage caused is minimal, two things stand out.
The first is that the temperature of the Gula Underside and Luxuria both drop significantly – still warm but not quite as dry and uncomfortable as before.
The second is the noise that accompanies the earthquake that a quick investigation will reveal no one but the Executors was able to hear; a horrible roaring groan, like scraping, buckling metal or some giant structure bellowing in protest as it gives way.
Eventually, normalcy reasserts itself. But all the Executors can feel that some change has taken place deeper down in Purgatory...
NPC REQUEST: BIRDIE
Um, miss? [ it seems strange to call her Birdie, and let's assume Mona hasn't heard the name Panta Rhei from Chiron yet, so she defaults to good old fashioned Victorian manners. ] That earthquake — do you know what that was...?
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Intro (OTA)
Surely, after the travels you've had, they all blur together. Maybe you'd keep tabs just to make sure Revenants don't form. But, well...
A Specter's been following you all, quietly but steadily.
Its form hasn't been completely set. Sometimes it's a butterfly, a gentle lavender in color. Sometimes it's a person, feminine in appearance. Lately, the form has solidified - dark skin, lilac colored hair - but has changed, bit by bit with every layer you've delved in.
Horns adorn their head now, glittering scales across their skin. Dark colored nails more akin to claws. A crocodilian tail sways. All of the features the same deep, dark purple, like amethyst.
As the train comes to a stop in Luxuria, a Specter steps off the platform. Lightbulbs around them flicker - and then pop as electricity crackles in the air, seemingly generated from them.
The Specter walks forward, the brightly colored carnival all around them. The noise, it's so -
So -
The dullness of the Specter's eyes sparks to life.
And then, along with her sense of self and existence, memories come flooding in. All at once, she is something, someone, crushed by both her memories of her life before and her untimely death.
Maybe it's Luxuria pushing her to it. Maybe it's the emotional toll. Or maybe it's that she's terrified and that fear brings out the worst of anyone. But that electricity around her crackles even more - and a sound burbles in her throat, fangs bared as her form trembles from a sensory overload.
She snarls.
Her expression is wide eyed, draconic eyes mere slits, as her brain immediately skips the panic stage and heads straight for wrath.
She's inhaling, mouth opening wide, and the lightning crackling in her mouth is impossible to miss. She's charging up to fire...
...you might want to stop her before she hurts someone. ]
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[In a flash, Wolfsbane has transformed and shoots out a shard of ice from her hand to stop just short of the dragon girl.]
I've got enough problems without some would-be Revenant. Kindly tell us what your issue is.
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CASTER
FERRIS WHEEL
Caster
Ooh, I hope so! I'm taking notes on adrenaline responses in Specters!
[...Well, at least that explains why she's duct-taped a notebook to her arm. Apparently, she's not planning to wait until they're off the ride to jot her observations down.]
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arrival
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carnival games
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wheel! just chill, lest we break causality
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feel free to handwave introductions if you'd like
[ despite the fact she's only recently become aware of herself, it seems like Galea's progress through Purgatory was fairly fruitful, all things considered. she's got a decent amount of money from various upper layers - it is a dragon's instinct to hoard, one supposes.
still, she doesn't really remember those upper layers too well, it was like half remembered drifting through a dreamscape. so! she's going on a Purgatory tour! she's riding the train through the various layers, taking in the sights more properly. she seems to be fixated on finding some kind of plant life from every layer if she can.
there's something fascinating about all the layers. Galea remembers little of her life before, but she knows she's never seen anything like this. if she spots you also heading back to a previous layer, she can't help but indulge her curiosity. ]
What was it like when you came through here?
[ in general? the specific layer you're passing through? take the question as you like. ]
> food stalls
[ just because she doesn't require food doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy it. somehow, Galea has garnered an outright ridiculous amount of food, seemingly determined to try a little bit of anything she can get her hands on.
everything, mind you. the more physically impossible to eat, the more exciting. she's taking it as a challenge. right now she's gnawing on what looks like a turkey leg made of metal, crunching at it like it's the most natural thing in the world.
why are you like this. ]
> games
[ you'll find her at one of the shooting games, one of those shooting all the targets sort of affairs. she's a decent shot, easily wracking up enough points to get some of the decently sized prizes - but as she keeps playing, something just quietly comes over her.
she has to get the top prize. the big one. win 7 games perfectly in a row. easy, right?
wrong.
still, she keeps at it anyways. it will be hers. ]
> pollux
[ this thing looks absolutely monstrous. of course she's in. why not, right? it's not like she can die again anyways.
she's keeping an eye on the crowds that leave the ride though. hmm... ]
sightseeing
[There's a big man here, smiling at her softly]
All the layers are a bit... overwhelming, but in different ways.
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pollux
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[It's been a fucking exciting time for Chiron with the whole Birdie situation, that's for sure. Hard to know how much of the conversation to say and how much to keep close to his chest.
And it's so damnably hot. He seems to physically slow while descending the stairs, and not just because he's taking in the sight of a giant carnival, as though a weight were set on his shoulders. But he doesn't stop to mourn, not this time. But he does make the choice, interestingly enough, to stop by the food stalls to check the edible goodies as he tries to sort himself out. Even tries a few items, in spite of knowing he doesn't require food.
It's a distraction. Which is better than wallowing.]
games & arcade
[At some point during this excursion, Chiron will be making his way around the various games. You will probably see him with a bag full of won items, redeemable tickets, and other odds and ends. Watcha got there Chiron? A smoothie. Oh, and a giant bird plush strapped to his back. If you join him in games, it seems to be a fairly even mix of him genuinely being that good...and also cheating. What are the sleepers going to do about it, hm? If a game is rigged, can you really be cheating if you're cheating the cheater? (But, can anyone prove the games are rigged? HM?)
He seems like he's having fun for a given definition of the word.]
rides & coasters
[But the rides! Those are even better! He'll give absolutely everything a try at least once, and the ones that are more thrilling he'll give a try twice or thrice. At least he seems to be more actively enjoying himself and even encourage others on some of the wilder ones.
Caster he rides, and rides, and rides, and rides several times in a row as if in some kind of trance before he gives Pollux an eyeball. There might be some buildup over a few--days if you can really tell time in a place like this, but eventually he gives Pollux a go.
It's an absolutely terrible time. He can't wait to ride it again.]
wildcard
[Of note, to those who might be able to tell such things, Chiron seems to be actively avoiding Rei unless she deliberately comes to him for a conversation. If asked, he'll express that he doesn't know what you're talking about. He'll be inclined to check out the ferris wheel at least once. And given the atrocious heat, he's likely to have a change in wardrobe! (Have I put together an outfit yet? Ha, no.) Whatever coat he's had on lately will be stashed away for something a little less heavy and stifling, at the very least. And while he might take infrequent trips back up the other layers for currency Of Some Kind, he overall seems reluctant to leave.
Go nuts.]
food stalls
Either way, she looks up at Chiron as she gets a turkey leg and frowns.]
At least this layer's better than the last hellhole.
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games
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food
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Rides and Coasters
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games
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OH GOD THIS WAS A MONTH AGO IM SO SORRY
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GROUPCHAT
I think she might be our Authority, or at least someone important who could help us find them.
She seems to have disappeared recently... But she was looking for new thrills. A Specter told me she had gotten bored of this place.
That's all. Thank you.
Is everyone having fun?
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[...It was never possible to predict what would set off a memory lost a lifetime ago. For Phoenix's part, he wouldn't begin to be able to guess what caused it, only that voices broke through the sounds of Purgatory to echo deafeningly in his head.]
['You won't be going alone. I'll-'
'No. You're right. I mean, I wouldn't have made it all this way without you guys.']
[It came in a rush like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head, sharp and shocking and leaving Phoenix on unsteady legs, one hand bracing himself on the nearest solid object and the other pressed to his mouth.]
[Noctis. His name was Noctis and Phoenix had known his fate and said nothing, cursing his past self in frantic thoughts, what have you done why didn't you tell him-]
[His breath stuck in his throat as though he was drowning, heart pounding madly in his chest as though it was beating on the walls trying to escape. It was all his fault, all his former self's stupidity or cowardice or something mad that compelled him to just allow that to happen-]
[Later on, he sent out a simple message:]
I will be back at the mansion for a time. If anyone is looking for me, do not worry.
['In the end, I may not have you at my side, but I'll always have you in my heart.']
[What a godsdamned coward he'd been.]
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Goes to the mansion to try and find him.]
Phoenix?
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later
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GROUPCHAT AFTER FINDING LANA
She Has Promised To Let Us Into The VIP Rides, We Will Meet Her By Pollux When We Are Ready.
She Wants To Gain Executor Powers. I Told Her I Would Make Sure She Could Learn, But...Is That Possible?
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She wanders the food stalls, and while she'd before dug into a turkey leg with angry abandon, this time she doesn't seem to know what to try. Peanut butter ice cream? Pickle lemonade? Deep-fried burger stuffed with fries? She looks equally disgusted and intrigued.
But if bothering her at the food isn't your style, you can always find her at the arcade, where, well...]
Excuse me, you vile contraption, my aim was perfect! The ball went in!
[...She's rage-gaming. Her rolls at the underworld equivalent of Skee-Ball and Feed Big Bertha get progressively more intense until it looks like she might break the machine.
That night at the rest area, Wolfsbane finally seems tired out, though there's an odd look in her eyes and she isn't going into the capsules yet.]
It's strange, isn't it? We're out of Gula, yet that feeling remains. Wanting more.
arcade
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backdated, mentions of abuse in last prompt
"I'm scared. The happier I am the more scared I get of a day where my own darkness will swallow me whole - like the new moon."
"Then I will just have to be the sun - always there to illuminate you."
They were...
"Odysseus... would you like to... will you marry me?"
"...yes. A thousand times yes...!!"
...happy. ]
[ It's nice to be able to explore again after being so uncomfortable in Gula. And of course the first thing Achilles does is... get lost in the food stalls. You'd think with how eager he is to try everything (vegetarian friendly) that he hasn't eaten in days or something. Really though he just missed being able to freely roam a layer and eat whatever he felt like eating without being constantly reminded of his childhood.
That said though he's still constantly looking over his shoulder, still worried he might run into a spectre of his past he really doesn't want to see again.
After all, he knows for certain that she's dead now...
When he finally breaks free of all the excitement of the carnival, he can be found at the rest area, just chilling out and getting his thoughts in order as he stares off into space.
He remembers... he remembers defeating his sister. He remembers the final fight where it seemed like she might have just succeeded in killing Odysseus by piercing her chest with a snake fang. He remembers the rage he flew into, how he was finally able to physically fight back against her for the first time in his life, one set of fangs around her neck like the way she used to so often do to him. He remembers her last words before he bit down and snuffed her life away himself.
"I won't let you be happy."
But he remembers being just that. Remembers Odysseus surviving, remembers the world he called home being saved, remembers the wedding they then had - small and low key but joyful regardless. He knows he continued to be happy even a century later, when he became Odile's father. And he knows that despite everything and all the uncertainty he has he's happy now, with their little family of executors and the ones he loves so dearly.
Even if she's here somewhere... it'll be fine. He's starting to finally fully believe that. ]
cw: torture, parents dying, neck........... injuries......... probably more in thread
It took a while until he remembered the scope of his sister's "last" words. He'd just been going about his business, exploring Luxuria, coming to and from both the Limbo house and the Invidia mansion, when suddenly one day it just. Happened. In the middle of the day while he was grabbing something from the kitchen he felt it.
The cold steel of a blade in his back. Or rather, the all too real feeling memory of a blade.
Whatever he was holding falls to the ground as he staggers forward, desperately grasping for the counter to try and keep himself up. It doesn't last though, as his knees give weight under him and he ends up on the floor as it all comes flooding in--
She'd been aiming for Odile. And so after taking the hit he pushed his child away towards the priestess and put up a barrier between himself and them.
"Father?!"
"Run... run away now, both of you!!"
"A barrier, hm? My, how clever of you baby brother-- too bad it'll only as last as long as you do."
"Ch... Chimera... how..."
His sister glares down at his fallen form, before crouching down and stabbing him again.
"I don't believe I gave you permission to speak my name, traitor."
He remembers now. He remembers how Odile screamed and banged on the barrier even as he pleaded with him to run, until finally the new priestess grabbed his hand and forced him to escape with her. He remembers Chimera stabbing him over and over wherever she pleased, torturing him with great delight, her words dripping with as much poison as the blade itself was - poison that burned hot and spread through his clay, inhibiting his ability to transform and draining his mana. But he just needed to hold on. He wasn't a normal mortal being - he would surely die from this, but so long as his will persisted he should still be able to hold on long enough to give the two of them enough time to get away and reunite with their companions. It didn't matter if he died, it didn't matter what Chimera's words implied about her seemingly impossible resurrection ("You already know whose body this really is, don't you?"), so long as Odile was alive and safe that's all that mattered.
"...Ah. Looks like you've failed, Orthrus."
Weakly he looked up and saw what he feared most: Odile had come back. Escaping his friend's grip and rushing back out of a refusal to abandon his father, he was there once more.
"No--"
But the word barely left his lips before Chimera yanked his head back by the hair with one hand and then swiftly slit his throat with the other - right in front of a horrified Odile.
And that was enough to finally drop the barrier.
The taste of blood is vividly on his tongue now as he lays on his side, his hands now desperately clutching his throat like he did back then. As if the wound was made anew he starts to feel the grit of fresh pneuma coming up his throat and spilling out his mouth. He chokes - both on it and the sobs starting to shake his entire body.
A broken hearted wail of anguish is all he can manage to do. ]
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food stalls
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food time
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Rest area
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cw: torture, ptsd
So of course, fate deemed now fit to hit Lion with a long held back build up of time.
He was eating another bit of fair food, thinking how oddly chewy this unknown meat was. Gamey almost, not that he could taste it exactly. But the texture was gritty like wild animal tended to be. Back when he had to eat so many he eventually stopped noticing but-
-wait, when he-?
The memory. No, memories, hit him like a truck, making him almost fall from the wooden table he was sitting at. Most of it was just pain. Roaring pain in his blind eye but also all over. But with it comes a mental anguish. Running, hiding, killing killing killing killing-
- the desire to start lashing out is so powerful that he can hear the table splintering under his hands, his food dropped on the ground
(for the rats. the stinking starving rats. Rats that were always breeding and growing fat on the leavings of good men and women. rats. That he could hear in the walls of every hovel he managed to rest in. rats he had to kill)
and with a groan he let the table go, ignoring the blood that the splinters left on his hands. Instead he fled, searching for someplace, anyplace, away from people to hide.
He finds it eventually, tucked behind an empty stand. He can still hear the sleepers moving around, so close-
(they were going to find him and kill him he had to, he had to-)
He forces himself to breathe. In, out. In, out. Like Medic taught him]
I'm not him. I'm not him I'm not that man!!!
[He chants to himself softly, trembling but, unlike his fits before... his eyes are mostly clear. Scared, but here]
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quicker, when she hears a voice she recognises.
this isn't the first time she's come across Lion in such a state, and she approaches it the same way she always does: with slow, deliberate footsteps to telegraph her approach, and a gentle call of his name from a distance— ]
Lion? It's Mona. [ she fumbles for what to say. are you alright would be such a stupid thing to ask; he obviously isn't. ] ... Are you hurt?
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