alectryon / cats / epona

[soulping]

You appear in a near-empty room. But you are not alone—your team is here, and another. Mirrors line the walls on all sides. Reflected in those mirrors are--

Not you.

Flickering in and out of the mirrors are images: flashes of reds, blues, greens; trees and fields and water; faces you know – all of the "reflections" are images of Kyriakos as you know it.

But it seems so far away—covered in a thick layer of grime.

Those of you whose mirrors are in danger of fading away on the outside know instinctively that you can't simply return. At least, not as you are in your current state. Anyone who looks at them will notice that their forms seem somehow insubstantial, almost see-through. More over: you feel emptied of something, something essential. Whatever it is that makes you care, that keeps you tethered to your very existence has weakened—is in fact failing.

Those of you in the room not in danger of losing yourself understand already that you must aid these people in finding both a new source of strength, new, stronger connections – and clearing the way back home.

Comments

INSTRUCTIONS

[soulping]

1. There are to be four rounds to this event, formulated like a game.
2. Officially, for game purposes, each round will last roughly one hour and the game should exceed no more than four hours in length.
3. You are of course welcome to continue threading past the hour mark if you and your partner(s) wish, but for the purposes of keeping the game to a reasonable official run-time, at the hour mark soulping will move on.
4. This event is mostly psychological in nature, meant to be non-traumatic, low intensity in terms of action and task-based with the intention of forming new bonds between teams. As long as your character has a way of moving places and performing very basic tasks, you should have no difficulties participating in this event.
5. Please pay attention to soulping prompts for hints for what to do ( much like a narrator leads in heartgames.
6. Sometimes, personal, character-specific feedback will be required of you. You should recognize these prompts very easily: they will ask you to describe emotions, images, and thoughts of some kind.
7. Please try to pay attention to other characters' threads, particularly those previously "cross-team," as doing so will greater enable you to interact with one another and share certain experiences for bond-strengthening.
8. If you have any comments or questions, you may ping your runner in mIRC.
9. TARA will be running BUNS/PUPS and TIGERS/RATS
10. GIL will be running CATS/COCKS/PONIES and COWS/MONKEYS

ROUND ONE

[soulping]

In the center of the room, resting on a podium, are a number of chalices equal to the number of individuals in this room. Their surfaces are cloudy and tarnished.

Re: ROUND ONE

[femmefailtale]

...I thought the booze was supposed to wait until after we were done here.

[Yes Pearl, jokes will make it better.]

Re: ROUND ONE

[feytality]

[Walking closer to take a better look at them...]

Re: ROUND ONE

[formaliteas]

[His back is straight, his eyes focused. He is not afraid.]

Chalices......one for each of us. I wonder...

[stepping toward them]

Re: ROUND ONE

[secare]

Oh.

( softly as he looks at a chalice. he's even more ghostlike than usual. )

Re: ROUND ONE

[sweatypalms]

[ he is here, looking like SHIT, EVERYTHING'S SHIT, WHAT DID YATO DO TO DESERVE THIS. ]

Yukine--!

Re: ROUND ONE

[waywardapostle]

[ What.

In the shadow's accursed name.

Had just happened.

Give him a second, teammates, he needs to collect his calm after just dying for the second time in as many days. ]

ROUND ONE CONCLUSION

[soulping]

[ The chalices come clean as the last of the sad memories fade away from the walls' surfaces. With the surfaces of the chalices cleaned, those in danger feel a little stronger within, as though you can do more. Sadness and loneliness are parts of existence, and somehow, you feel more reattached to yours, and to others'. There still feels to be something missing though....

There is a sound, like a water droplet hitting a hard surface in a quiet room, and one of the mirrors ripples like the surface of a pond, and an arched exit forms, spreading up from the ground, revealing sunlight and grass on the other side. You feel an invisible tug to go outside—and perhaps you should bring your chalice with you... ]

ROUND TWO

[soulping]

[ By hook or by crook, you end up outside. This area feels familiar somehow... it's a grassy field, not at all unlike the meadows of Kyriakos, though it seems to stretch on and on forever, broken only by a gently-flowing river nearby. ]

Re: ROUND TWO

[femmefailtale]

[...HM.]

Okay, adventure game logic time. [She stares at the chalice in her hand, and goes to use it to scoop up some water.]

Re: ROUND TWO

[formaliteas]

[Is obviously semi-freaked out by the river! But he approaches it anyway.]

Re: ROUND TWO

[waywardapostle]

[ When in doubt, investigate the most obvious choice.

How does that river look, up close? ]

Re: ROUND TWO

[secare]

I guess it's time to use these.

( because there is literally no other feasible option here. going to scoop up some water. )

Re: ROUND TWO

[sweatypalms]

[ reluctantly carrying his chalice out under his right arm, he's wandering over to that river... ]

Re: ROUND TWO

[extractionfiend]

[ Time to look into the river. Not too closely. Never know when something'll leap out and grab your face, after all. ]

Would you like to reflect some painful feelings, too?

Re: ROUND TWO

[gateofbabbylon]

[is more distant right now than he has ever been in Kyr, but last round helped? was he here for that? probably

either way, he's headed towards the river with a chalice or someone carrying a chalice if they see him first]

Re: ROUND TWO

[feytality]

[heading to the river like all these other scrubs]

ROUND TWO CONCLUSION

[soulping]

[ With the surfaces of the chalices cleaned, those in danger feel a little stronger within, as though you can try harder. Happiness, pleasure, and desire are parts of existence, and somehow, you feel more reattached to yours, and to others'. There still feels to be something missing though....

If you haven't tried it already, you feel a compulsion to fill your glass with some of that crisp, refreshing water. ]

ROUND THREE

[soulping]

[ The water in front of you no longer shows any visions—it just appears to be cool, refreshing water. But the longer you're near it, the more you want to take a drink from it... So perhaps you should go ahead and fill that glass. ]

Re: ROUND THREE

[femmefailtale]

[ok let's try drinking it now that whatever arbitrary flag there is that cockblocked me earlier is possibly gone.]

Re: ROUND THREE

[sweatypalms]

[ WHO IS HE TO ARGUE WITH MYSTERIOUS URGES.

fills chalice, to sip river water...??? ]

Re: ROUND THREE

[extractionfiend]

[ Okay, but what if I just take a handful of the water and try that instead? ]

ROUND FOUR

[soulping]

[ Inside the room again, the doorway disappears behind you, leaving you alone with the dirty walls and your glasses water. Even the table that once supported them is gone. However, one of the walls now supports a towel rack, complete with soft, fluffy looking towels. ]

Re: ROUND FOUR

[waywardapostle]

[ What if he pours a small amount on one of the towels ]

EVENT CONCLUSION

[soulping]

[ As you experience all these things that make you proud, that strengthen you, that give you a reason, the last missing puzzle piece seems to fall into place. You feel the strongest that you have within since the moment that you arrived, as though you can keep fighting. No amount of distance between you and the things that you love, that you desire, that you want to change, or that you want to protect, will hold you back! And most importantly, you can feel that you have people behind you to support you, no matter what obstacles you might face.

There is the sound of something ringing. Bells? Chimes? It's a little like the sounds that you hear whenever there is a good end party, however each note of the song that plays seems to shake off more of the remaining dirt and dust. The mirror separating you from Kyriakos begins to shimmer, lose its transparency, and disappears... leaving you free to step through and return to the people who nearly lost you.... ]

[ ooc: exit to endgame once Jeff posts it ]