016 | The Good Old Days

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Ageswapping
When: July 15-17
Where: Everywhere
Summary: A breach in the space-time continuum is messing things up.

Edit: OVERFLOW is here!



The Far Shore has been dealing with a lot of space-time pulsating through the past week or so and everything is culminating on the night of the 15th, even though the Heavens are preparing for an all-out Obon bash. They had planned to have the celebration on the 15th itself, but Amaterasu asked to postpone a day due to the horrible feeling that is permeating the Far Shore.

And it turns out she was right to postpone everything. In fact, it will have to be postponed another whole month at this rate...



Before

Late in the day on July 15th, the new batch of shinki will arrive to a Far Shore with a thick, tense atmosphere. All night on the 15th it feels like something is about to happen - and it's difficult to tell whether that something will be good or bad. Any attempts to contact the management of the Far Shore have fallen on deaf, slightly harried ears and so everyone is left to their own devices to try and figure out why things are so tense.

July 16

Just after midnight, an explosive shock wave rips through the Far Shore, bringing on the age changes with it. Even the spirits of the Far Shore seem to be affected - for example, the library goblins are either toddling around on wobbly legs or are dragging themselves from place to place and looking decrepit. There are a few gods and shinki that seem to have been exceptions from the change, though it is not clear why.

July 17

Another wave of energy comes in the early morning of the 17th. Fewer people are affected this time and it seems to alter those people's ages a second time. There is no rhyme or reason to who is being affected further. Several of the library goblins have just dropped dead from severe old age. Oops.

Aftermath

Late on the 17th brings about one final burst from the energy that has been plaguing the Far Shore. For a short moment, every new temple glows with a soft light, seeming to beckon to their owners. But the light is gone quickly and everyone will find themselves back to normal with complete memories of everything that happened during their age adventures. The goblins that died, though, are still very dead. Looks like the library will need to get some new help soon.

In Summary:

• Meet the newbies
• Get aged or de-aged
• Deal with other too young/too old people
• Try to handle the consequences
• Have fun~

Comments

[declamando]

[Maria's been entirely passed over by the time wave this first day, and as such, it's impossible not to recognise the hair colour of the crying girl. It's not the kind of thing Maria would have ignored anyway, but as it is, she approaches Lenneth and crouches down with a gentle, reassuring smile.]

It's a bit quick to say that, isn't it? Perhaps he's just waiting somewhere else. [She assumes it's a boy being talked about here, given the name, though she doesn't really have much to go on overall.]

[nibelungvalesti]

[Platina lurches backwards. Not far, with her back to the wall, but her hand goes to her face to cover her shock and dismay. An adult has found her, and adults -- are nothing but evil, aren't they? Her parents. Lucian's parents. The men in black...]

[But then again, this woman doesn't look so old, and she's at least speaking kindly. That isn't normal. None of this is normal, and Platina isn't certain what to do... except that she needs to protect Lucian.]

I -- he wouldn't have left me. So he must not be here. I don't even know why I'm here.

[declamando]

[Considering that reaction, Maria remains where she is, as prominent as the urge might be to help. If she's already afraid, getting closer is just going to make that worse.

At what she says, Maria shakes her head a little.] That's not quite what I meant - he might not have left you, but been taken somewhere else, or left behind. This place doesn't always bring people together.

[As for why she's here...] These Heavens draw people in from other worlds, somehow. That's how you came to be here.

[nibelungvalesti]

The heavens? So... I did die. But I wasn't reborn. [This is the afterlife, then.]

[It isn't at all what she pictured.]

Then I hope he escaped.

[declamando]

Not necessarily. Some people come here to stand in as gods. [Though that might not be a reassurance in this situation, there may be hope for her to get back to this other person.]

I'm sure he did, if he isn't here with you. I think you would've come together if he hadn't.

[nibelungvalesti]

Gods? What.. do you mean? [There are no gods, are there? Gods wouldn't let people suffer so badly...]

[declamando]

This Heaven is full of gods that help humans deal with problems they might not be able to surpass on their own. [It seems like the simplest way to explain it, from Maria's point of view.]

[nibelungvalesti]

[Anger and sadness both well up in shocking amounts to vie for control of the girl, and against the pressure all she can do is slap her hands to her eyes.]

That is a lie. Gods don't care about humans!

[declamando]

[As someone who'd been religious even before coming here, that's a rather startling response to Maria, and she wrestles with wanting to comfort the girl over not wanting to make her more uncomfortable before she leans in a bit closer, attempting to reach out a calming hand to her shoulder.]

It isn't a lie. I don't know what the gods of your world were like, but this one is different. The gods here are sustained by human belief, and to create more of it, we help people.

[nibelungvalesti]

[She throws her hands up and ducks behind them as if she expects to be struck -- which, to be fair, she very much does. No more verbal arguments for the moment, as she focuses entirely on getting out of this situation alive.]

[declamando]

[Maria pauses for a moment at that harsh reaction, but after a moment, decides to proceed with the movement and lay a hand on the girl's arm, rather than her now-shielded shoulder. Whether it's allowed to remain there is another question entirely, but the gesture is a gentle one, and her voice is too when she speaks.]

I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you understand where you've ended up. Perhaps the gods of your world are cruel and capricious, but most of the gods here weren't born that way. We know and understand what it's like to be human, because that's exactly what we are, even if we were given the name of "god".

[nibelungvalesti]

[She trembles behind her hands for a long moment, before she at last masters herself somewhat, and accepts that if something horrible is going to happen, it is not happening at this exact moment. Platina lowers her arms enough to look at Maria again.]

But where exactly is this? I don't understand what has happened. Am I dead?

[declamando]

[Maria smiles softly once more when Lenneth lowers her hands, leaving her own where it is for the moment.]

This is part of what we call the Far Shore, this world's afterlife. You might be dead, or you might not - usually those who are dead forget what happened before they came here, but not always. If you remember, then...well, you'd be among those named as gods here.

[nibelungvalesti]

...I remember, but I have to be dead. There is no way I can be a god!

[Oh, the irony. But Platina seems quite wedded to this conviction, a scowl on her face.]

[declamando]

Unfortunately, if you remember, you can't be. The dead here forget everything about their lives, at the risk of losing themselves if they remember.

[Maria's tone is sympathetic, even as bizarre as it is to see someone she's so used to taking pride in her role as a goddess so adamant that she can't be one.]

[nibelungvalesti]

But -- how? How could I be a god? I am just -- [Just an ordinary girl, just a simple peasant, just dead. So many things she practically chokes on all of them.]

[declamando]

Just a human? So was I, before I came here. This place works in strange ways, and ones we don't fully understand yet. [Largely because they don't know what's actually bringing them here, but it's still relevant.]

[nibelungvalesti]

But... [She has so many questions. SO many.]

[They pale, though, before other concerns.]

If I truly am a god, I need to find Lucian. I need to help him.

[declamando]

[[Continued to the overflow.]]