Invidia Arrival Log

[cancrymods]

INVIDIA

With the Executors now victorious over the first layer of Purgatory, the only way for them to go is further down. Thanks to the combined efforts of Kingslayer, Ariel and Mona, a path forward has been opened that leads down to the next layer of Purgatory. Rei looks ill at ease about this. If asked, she'll brush off the concern a bit, explaining that she's never gone this far down into Purgatory before and she doesn't know what lays ahead. It might be even more dangerous than the Underside. She's just glad they're all heading down together. So, once everyone's collected themselves... head down they to to the next layer of Purgatory... Welcome to Invidia. Congratulations on unlocking your first major location change in Can Cry! Feel free to use this arrival log to chronicle your initial misadventures in the city of Invidia. Investigation is strongly encouraged here as from here on out, plot progression will moved along by player involvement. If you want to unlock the next Underside, get investigating! All investigations that require mod oversight should be tagged with INVESTIGATION REQUEST in the subject line. Get out there and have fun!

Comments

a

[crypddyd]

[As if summoned by the mention of his name in the narration, Lion spots Phoenix looking... familiar. Not panicked like he had been, of course. And thanks to his visor it's hard to say if his eyes share the same glassy sheen. But that ache between the ears is familiar.

He makes sure to be noisy as he approaches and plops down on the other side of the tree with a grunt- just enough voice that Phoenix can likely tell who it is]

[discutio]

Ah--Lion? [He raised his head a little, taking his best guess at the source of the sound.] Is...that you?

[crypddyd]

Hm... yes.

[He doesn't add anything else right away, giving Phoenix the chance to just rest if that's what he wants to do]

[discutio]

[He seemed grateful for the silence, brow furrowed in deep concentration for a long moment as he tried to commit as much detail as he could to memory before fully diverting his train of thought.]

...Are you faring any better since last we spoke?

[crypddyd]

...I'm... more here. In the now. If you would call that better, than yes.

[There's a slight hint of a wry smile in his tone]

[discutio]

I would call that a fair start, myself.

[Could be worse. It seemed like all the disorientation was on Phoenix's end of the table this time.]

[crypddyd]

Indeed. But my concern is more for you right now. You seem... pained. Though I wouldn't blame you if this damaged loud place was the cause of it.

[discutio]

No, the surroundings are...manageable. [Noisy, but easily tuned out with a little effort.]

I think it likely I've remembered some stretch of time, myself.

[crypddyd]

Ah. I was worried that might be the case.

[It's familiar, after all]

[discutio]

I wouldn't call it...quite so immediately dire as what you described yourself.

[not far off, though]

There was merely a lot to it; I think I may be having trouble making sense of it all.

[crypddyd]

Perhaps writing it or reciting it would help it settle into your mind? I found that helped with mine.

[discutio]

...There were four of us, counting myself. I can't quite make out the others in detail and I don't know their names, but I know we were all close friends. I think we were of some importance...royalty and his guards, something like that. We were traveling together for...

[Phoenix trailed off briefly, pinching the bridge of his nose. One thing at a time, in order. Focus, and the broad strokes would become clear.]

--a royal engagement, somewhere across the ocean. We'd stayed the night by the seaside with intent to leave by the morning; but overnight the capital had fallen in a surprise attack.

[Something about what he'd said seemed to catch in Phoenix's mind, a small but no less important detail. Under his breath, he said:]

...Where do I recognize that voice from?

[crypddyd]

[The talk of a possible royal among Phoenix's friends was fascinating honestly, and he almost says 'I would not be surprised if it was you, you have a noble demeanor'.

But that last bit distracts him]

What was that? You... recognized a voice?

[discutio]

It could easily be my imagination--I still have my sight in these memories. 'Overwhelming' is a bit of an understatement, yet there was something familiar for just a brief moment in all that transpired.

[crypddyd]

Ah, yes... the 'you' of now has never had his sight, so I'm sure it was... a lot.

And what would be the odds of you knowing anyone here in your past life...

[A dark look crosses his face, thankfully unseeable by Phoenix]

[discutio]

Of course...that seems nigh impossible. I must be imagining things.

[crypddyd]

Still, it's worth holding onto. Even if it is a false memory- placing someone similar's voice there-... it is yours. We don't have much here, after all.

[discutio]

I feel as if...it's not fake. Difficult to navigate, but real enough to me. There's...something's missing, still, as if I should know these people and the lack of recognition pains me.

[crypddyd]

...

It was the same for me. Like they are loved ones I've lost- bad enough that they are dead, worse that if my memories are gone they may well no longer exist. If you were close enough to them to possibly either guard or be guarded by them... it must be like losing a beloved friend.

[discutio]

I don't think I was the one being guarded, at least. But that only makes it bother me yet more; if there was someone I was meant to guard and protect, am I here because I failed in that? Were they someone important to me?

...I have no conclusive answers, and I find that maddening.

1/2

[crypddyd]

Hm, odd. If you had said it was the other way around I certainly would have accepted it.

[crypddyd]

...regardless. If you were someone's shield or guardsman than... it is very possible you were killed in the line of duty. An honorable end, if... sad.

[He doesn't know why the idea bothers him so... were the men and women he was with protecting him and the other two? He remembers that he was nobility of a sort so... it's possible.

It would explain the roaring guilt in his heart]

[discutio]

I suppose that it would make logical sense. An ordinary civilian wouldn't be highly likely to receive an injury like my own, much less have learned such combat skills somewhere.

[he just does flips and shit? it's weird.]

Royalty, I imagine, would not be their own driver. I think I know which of us it was, but as I said--they're all indistinct shapes right now. I haven't even a name to put to them, only voices.

[crypddyd]

Anyone of royal blood worth their position would value the men and women tasked with protecting them. Especially someone with your level of skill. I'm sure, even if you did die in service... they would have grieved.

[Is he projecting? A little]

And this is clearly a pattern, with many of us remembering things. Eventually, more of these memories may return. I'm sure they must be someone worth the sacrifice. Or at least, I hope so.

[discutio]

Perhaps so. I think...if such a situation came to pass, I would merely hope that they lived.

[A strange thing to extrapolate from so relatively short a timeframe, but it felt right as the words left his mouth. Muted and indistinct as so much of it was, he knew what the person he must have once been had felt in the whole thing. Despair at the burning of the capital, sympathy and worry for those he traveled with, and a powerful undercurrent of well, someone certainly has to look after them.]

I wonder if it is mere advancement that restores pieces of our memories to us, or if there is some other less obvious purpose to it.