october 2019. welcome to the void.

[modblob]

Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: Fourth Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of October 2019
Where: Around and outside the city.
Warnings: Please add any warnings in the subject lines.

Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.

Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.

a. sini express delivery service.

There's something odd rolling through Anchor. Whether they wake with it next to their beds or find it sitting neatly in some corridor as if placed there just for them, characters will start finding items that are distinct and unique enough that they have to belong to someone. But where are they coming from? And whose are they?

The easiest way to find out is probably to walk around with the item held high yelling "Does this belong to you?" but that's not a good way to cover a lot of ground.

Don't worry, though! There's someone (something?) to help you. Chiming in periodically from communicators or intercoms across Anchor comes a voice that might sound a little familiar to anyone who made it as far as that spaceship wreckage in the wasteland. Softly laughing and humming, this some-one-thing will cheerfully coax characters in the right direction, giving tips and offering little clues to anyone who might be confused about whose item they have.

Characters struggling with identifying whose item they got might hear a helpful voice whispering out of their device as they move around the city - "Warmer, waaaaarmer...oh no! COLD!" They might hear a laughing voice coming out of a nearby speaker, giving tips or riddles about the person the item belongs to - "Her eyes are grey!" or "What kind of spider is sweet as pie?" Sometimes, it'll just be amused giggling at the efforts of those trying to find their object's owner. That bubbly voice is everywhere, encouraging residents to solve the riddle because "It'll be wooooorth it. Pinky swear!"

And no matter what, it can't be turned off or muted, and it doesn't respond to any direct attempts to communicate in return.

b. flu season.

No one probably takes special notice, at first. It's a sniffle here, a cough or chill there. 'Tis the season in some universe, after all, and even the advanced decontamination process isn't completely flawless. But what starts as a tickle in the throat gets a little worse over the span of a week, or in some cases a lot worse.

Whether laid up for a few days or longer, afflicted characters can expect to feel a few consistent symptoms. Dizziness, lightheadedness, chills and fever, coughing and sneezing (that kind of sneezing that comes in annoyingly long bursts and makes you feel like you've shot your brain out of your nose).

Oh, and hallucinations. Mild ones! Nothing to write home about! (If you even could, anyway.) Hallucinations are the last stage of this mild interuniversal flu, an annoyance more than anything...

And it leaves some people immune, and some people even more susceptible to what might follow.

c. harvestival festival.

Something good is happening in the agricultural sector. Weird, right?

But lo, the whole place has started to bloom seemingly overnight. Tiny fruits become noticeable, then large. Edible vegetation is flourishing, and you can tell which vegetation is edible thanks to the flocks, gangs, and small herds of creatures that have emerged from the still-wild depths of the sector. None of these creatures are aggressive except as a means to protect themselves when scared. Unused to strangers as they are, they'll probably let you get pretty close! Which means you could hunt them, I guess, or try to lasso and bring home some critters to the farm and fenced areas.

The food varies wildly. From electric pink berries the size of a pinkie to giant purple melons nestled in beds of vines. The tastes are as exotic and strange as the fruits themselves. A few people might even recognize some kinds of fruit from home. The root vegetables, squash, and edible vegetation is as colorful as the fruit, though a little more weirdly shaped. Why does that carrot-seeming thing look like a coiled spring? Who knows? You can't judge its life.

The culinarily inclined can take harvested goods to the kitchen areas and start experimenting, but beware! Even plants that look like they could be from Earth or other areas that the residents of Anchor know probably taste a little weirder or more intense than normal. Your best bet for a good recipe is to taste a little bit of everything before you get started. The spicy, the melony, the crunchy, salty, and sweet. There are no available records of what any of these things are, so you'll have to make it up as you go! The only consistent thing across all the agricultural sector's bounty is that NONE of it is poisonous. And none of it will get you high, Klaus and Kabal, so don't get your hopes up.

Navigation.

Comments

[killedwithlove]

Cole lets the pain pass without mention. He can't help it, not right now. Poison will help more than him. Instead, he nods and gives a tiny smile. "You're welcome? I don't know what you're thanking me for."

[itsnotaonesie]

"For helping me get my head straight. If it wasn't for you, I probably never would have worked up the nerve to talk to her. ...She said yes, by the way, in case that wasn't obvious."

Of course it's obvious, the way his heart's been all aflutter for this girl is probably hard for Cole to miss.

[killedwithlove]

Cole just gives a small smile. He knew what she would say before Peter did, even if he didn't tell Peter that. "I encouraged you. You did it all on your own, though."

[itsnotaonesie]

Knowing what Cole knew would have saved Peter a lot of anxiety, but also where's the fun in dropping spoilers, right?

"Yeah, I guess I did. I totally face planted into the pool she was standing in when I did it, but despite embarrassing myself to death, it all worked out."

[killedwithlove]

Varric was very clear about spoilers. No spoiling things.

"I don't feel embarrassment. Cole felt shame, and humiliation, not embarrassment. Dry mouth, aching head, did I get on the table last night? The Chargers drank a lot and encouraged each other to do very silly things."

[itsnotaonesie]

Varric was very smart.

"...Yeah, uh. Sounds like a party."

And once again Peter finds himself totally confused, but he's kind of okay with that.

[killedwithlove]

"Most nights were a party with the Chargers. I stored myself in the attic above the tavern, I often heard."

[itsnotaonesie]

"Huh. Uh, why? Were they just too rowdy for you? I'm uh, kind of picturing some kinda sports team, but that's probably not what these Chargers were at all, huh?"

[killedwithlove]

"No. It was storage up there so I stored myself when no one needed me. People often needed me though, so I was mostly up there at night. The ones who needed me badly were usually in the tavern or the battlements nearby."

He shaked his head. "Mercenaries. Family. The Iron Bull's Chargers."

[itsnotaonesie]

"Oh, oh right, storage." I mean he knows that it's Cole's thing that he does, but it just sounds like such a lonely way to live, my dude.

"Mercenaries! Okay, that makes a lot more sense. Probably didn't have football where you're from."

[killedwithlove]

Cole is usually alone and often a bit lonely, which is why he stalks watches people, to feel them near.

"No. No football, or rugby, or American football, or Australia football. People play games, but only in spare time, for fun. Mostly people are trying to survive more."

[itsnotaonesie]

"Right, fair enough. Sounds like things were pretty rough where you're from."

That's probably an understatement, most of the people here seem to come from super rough worlds.

[killedwithlove]

"In the Fleet, people referred to Thedas as middle ages sword and sorcery." Not directly, but he'd picked it up, lots of little clues and hints. "The Rifts were making it worse. Demons pulled through by the mortals warring and laying waste."

[itsnotaonesie]

"Demons? Like, literal demons? Like, I'm not gonna sit here and pretend I know anything about demons and Hell or whatever, but summing demons and stuff kind of strikes me as the worst idea."

[killedwithlove]

Cole hums and tries to sort out what that word means to Peter. "Not... exactly. Spirits who prey on mortal souls are demons. Any spirit can become a demon if things are bad. I nearly was. And they didn't summon them. The demons were pulled through by the mortals. Their, passions, feelings, desires, it drew them."

[itsnotaonesie]

He's kind of picturing generic devil dudes with goat legs and horns. This stuff sounds way more interesting, though.

"Spirits, okay. I still don't quite follow what-- what pulled through means, exactly."

[killedwithlove]

"Like... magnets. Like drawn to like, angry and agitated aggravates and attracts and the Rift gives them the way through." He rocks on his feet. "Valour vainly vanquishes, reaches and rends and rages..."

He sighs. "Spirits. Valour. Justice. Faith. Wisdom. Compassion. Demons. Rage, Sloth, Envy, Pride. De-" He has to steal himself to say the word. "Despair."

[itsnotaonesie]

Peter nods along, pretty sure he's picking up what Cole's putting down now. Kind of? He likes Cole but man, sometimes he just says shit.

"Huh, okay. I think I'm picking up on the theme here." Spirits are positive, demons are negative. Pretty self explanatory. "What's on the other side of the Rift? If stuff is coming through it, there must be something on the other side, right?"

[killedwithlove]

Spirits and demons are the same things. Exact same. Positive and negative are just what the mortals think of them. "The Fade. Where spirits, dreams and magic are."

[itsnotaonesie]

EH Peter was close. Kind of.

"Huh. So is it like... like a parallel dimension sort of deal?"

[killedwithlove]

"No." Cole reaches into Peter's mind more, trying to find a comparison. "Like... Heaven and Hell and the astral plane all at once. The Fade is part of Thedas and Thedas is part of the Fade, but the Veil holds them apart."

[itsnotaonesie]

Yeah this is still just a little bit weird, sorry Cole. Peter's too science minded for this sort of thing, his brain keeps trying to make it all make sense in ways that aren't quite lining up with what Cole's trying to tell him. Typical Peter Parker, over-complicating things. He has the basic idea, though, so it's like a half win.

"I think I'm not quite visualizing this right, but I kind of get it. I guess the important take away is that it's bad news when stuff comes through that Veil, right?"

[killedwithlove]

"Spirits shouldn't be in the physical world. Usually." Cole, as always, is the exception.

[itsnotaonesie]

"I don't think that's a really a thing that happens where I'm from. Unless ghosts actually are real which... I guess wouldn't actually surprise me at this point."

Oh God what if all the ghost hunting shows aren't bullshit?? Peter's mind is so blown right now man.

[killedwithlove]

"Ghosts are memories, emotions and moments caught in the movements. They're as real as the memories the place holds." In Thedas, anyway.

They're there, harmless and helpless.