EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA | BOTTLE

[cherrywood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: February 12th - 28th
Location: Kithika, inside the bottle
Situation: The discovery of an artifact from the first war against Malicant reveals the land of Kithika within a dimension of the Death Plane... and just happens to be contained inside a bottle.
Warnings/Rating: Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

OOC INFORMATION ♦ CITY OF KEELIAI ♦ INSIDE THE BOTTLE ♦ THE WORLD EATER
Arriving in Kithika is unpleasant for the most part. Transport through the glass vessel deposits you in the middle of a thick and murky swamp, with air so hot and humid it feels as though one is breathing through a wet towel. This is a place of perpetual night and there are no celestial bodies visible overhead through the twisted vines to break up the blackness, making the only light visible that which comes clumps of marsh fungus that emit a steady glow in a variety of muted colours: pale blue, whitish green, watery mauve. The only other light comes from those who can generate it themselves and that will reveal numerous broad-leaved trees, in some places standing too thick to move through. Below, knee-deep water laps in swirls at their legs, accompanied by the occasional slithery feel of something moving in the bracken against wet limbs, gone before it can be identified. A variety of strange noises from creatures of the swamp fill the air with buzzing and hoarse croaking, interrupted by the screech of mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds darting past and hungry for a meal.

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OOC NOTE: Characters will not be able to progress past the Temple and the Grounds for 48 IC hours after which point, the way to continue onward to find the dragon will be discovered. The second log will be posted on the 17th, to help spread out the tagging. Thank you!

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OOC INFORMATION
Landfall Questions | Approved Item Requests | Player Plot - Kryptonian Rampage OOC

CITY OF KEELIAI
Emperor's Orders: Miasma Explained | Marshaling the Forces | A City Under Siege | Halting the Scourge

INSIDE THE BOTTLE
Crossing the Swamp | Decayed Grounds | The Sullied Temple | Stone Idols | Item Discovery

THE WORLD EATER
Battling the Dragon | Soul's Poison | Kryptonian Rampage | The Guarded Pool | Weighing the Options | Aftermath

Comments

[looksfine]

Of course not. [Aya's chin dipped downward guiltily, although she meant every word.] I simply--

[Ilana cut her off.]

"Used the last memory imprint in my database." Of course you did. And, certainly, it never occurred to you that there had been a life behind that face. A love behind that memory. How could it? You are not capable of understanding Love.

[ixis]

[He almost feels like he's intruding at this point, that this is a quarrel he shouldn't be involved in. But Naugus recalls where they are, a realm of death and dark dealings. It would be unwise to leave Aya to something that is likely some manner of destructive influence summoned by the workings of this world. He looks back to the woman now speaking.]

You are a ghost. Do not concern yourself with the actions of those still among the living, construct or not. Leave this one be.

[looksfine]

She is not living. She is a lie.

[Here, Aya felt the need to interject.]

You are wrong. I am alive. Kyle--

Told you what you wanted to hear. That is all you care to listen to. But when people tell you the truth?

What truth do you speak of?

You know of what I speak. [Here, Ilana turned back to Naugus once more. Again, with no ire or malice towards him, but merely seeking the voice of a third party.] Do not be fooled by her lies. She has done nothing but attempt to steal everything I ever was. My face. My life. My beloved.

[ixis]

Before or after your demise? Did she have a hand in your destruction? She is a lost toy looking for the spark of life and has modeled herself after one who has lived well. She has assured me before she forges her own path now. Go back to where the dead belong, little ghost.

[Naugus has absolutely no experience with exorcism, but he conspicuously readjusts his hold on his staff, as if readying to brandish it. Might as well try a bluff.]

[looksfine]

What you speak of does not matter. [The Volkreig woman shook her head, as if in pity] I see she has you catering to her whims at all. Shame. You seem so much more intelligent than to be fooled by a mere fake

[The thread of "exorcism" appears to hold little sway over her. It was not Naugus who would be able to banish her back to the afterlife.]

[ixis]

[He puffs up; deep breath through the nose, ears flicking back and a severely irritated expression now on his face. Oh, no you di'ant.]

I beg your pardon, but my intelligence is hardly up for debate here!

[Naugus looks to Aya now, the real(?) one. The robot one, either way, both for input and to see how she is taking this whole ordeal.]

Do you know anything of what this specter says?

[looksfine]

[Yes. She did.]

[For once, Ilana waits for Aya. Turning back so that the young robot has the full of her attention while she attempts to formulate a response. Aya, in turn, states back for a long moment. Her answer is spoken just as much to Ilana as it is to Naugus.]

I know it well.

What she said...it is not true, but nor is it false. Her face...is the face I wear now. But not to steal her image. Nor her life.

[It was then a third voice rang out, this time distinctively different. And male.]

Perhaps it is not what you intended, but it is what you have done

[If she had breath in her body, it would have left her. Aya's eyes widened as she gazed upon the Red Lantern who appeared before her. No. It could not be. How could he be here, now?}

...Razer...

[He did not look angry. She almost would have preferred him angry. Angry was an emotion. Not the...cold indifference he regarded her with for the briefest of moments before coming to Ilana's side. Taking the ghost woman's face in his hands and placing a kiss on her forehead. A loving kiss.]

You say you are capable of learning. Then it is time you learn the Truth. I do not love you, Aya. I could never.

[ixis]

Oh, what fresh hell is this now?

[Naugus watches the display play out with the red-clad newcomer before he swoops in, angling to put himself between Aya and the pair currently tormenting her. He points a finger at her sternly.]

Never let others define you. These beings do not matter. Listen not to their lies and their taunts. Do you hear me, Aya? Are these both shades of the past to you? If so, remember where we are. We are in a realm of death and darkness; this land is primed to poison us.

[looksfine]

[Had it been Ilana alone, his words may have worked. But, of course, the Realm knew that, and that was why the second presence had entered. A presence Aya could not help staring at as he continued to longly stroke Ilana's face, ignoring hers. Even though they were the same, yet not. She may as well not have even been there at all.]

Razer is not my past.

[ixis]

[Naugus looks over his shoulder at the newly-arrived man, making a face at how he's so deeply absorbed in fawning over Aya's lookalike. Then he looks back to Aya.]

Then what is he?

[looksfine]

[There was a pain in her eyes as she spoke, her voice low and soft.]

I...do not know.

[ixis]

Then I'm sure this won't matter.

[Without further ado, Naugus levels his staff at the pair of interlopers and fires a bright, purple bolt of chaos energy nearly pointblank. Good choice of action, Naugs; you can get either Aya or the 'ghosts' or all the above angry at you for opening fire so nonchalantly and sans warning.]

[looksfine]

No!

[Her reflexes kicked in, and Aya immediately put herself in harm's way, shielding both Ilana and Razer with her own body. And a large construct shield that took the worse of the damage.]

You will not harm them. They have done nothing to warrant such an attack.

[ixis]

[Naugus looks horrified and baffled when Aya jumps in the way of that bolt, lowering his staff again immediately after the sparks die down. She put up a shield, so there's that, but she could have been seriously hurt!]

Aya, you fool! What makes you think they're even real? How would they have gotten here!? Remember where we are! A realm pitted against us! Stand aside and let me end this charade!

[looksfine]

[She shook her head, unconvinced.]

This is not your battle.

It is between myself and them. [A pause, and she lowered her hand. Turned around to face them. Ilana and Razer were both watching her with renewed interest now.] Or, perhaps, it is between myself and my inability to take responsibility for my actions, intentional or otherwise.

[ixis]

Then address it! Or shall I take my leave and abandon you to your demons?

[He's growing vexed with all this inaction! Ugh, this is what he gets for trying to help his allies. The staff is no longer brandished, instead kept at his side as Naugus pulls the tattered remains of his cloak tighter around his shoulders, eyeballing Aya and waiting for a response.]

[looksfine]

They are not demons.

[It was a strange twist how Aya had grown more frustrated with her current companion than the shadows still haunting her conscience. But that was just it--she had a conscience. The ability to distinguish from right and wrong. To understand what it meant to cause emotional pain to another person. To care.]

[Her eyes met with Ilana first. The young Volkreig woman met it with a passive interest.]

I have taken your image, yes. I admit that. But it is an image I have come to know and recognize as myself now. Coming here to Keelai, where several similar instances of identical faces have occurred...I understand the importance of one's face. But I also understand that there is more than outward physical appearance.

And that is something I can never take from you.

[ixis]

[Naugus can be a pain in the ass even when he's doing what he thinks is helping. It's part of his...charms? He at least remains quiet and steps further aside when Aya addresses the presumed figments, frowning thoughtfully to himself.]

I hardly think you've done anything to sully her reputation, going on what I've seen of your demeanour. And what say you to that, little ghost?

[looksfine]

[Ilana glanced up at her beloved, his face, then back to Aya.]

And what of Razer?

I...do not know.

But you love him?

[There was a long pause. But not to process the question, or what it meant. Because she felt too guilty about the answer:]

...yes.

[ixis]

And I take he is not among the dearly departed.

[Naugus peers at Aya now, searching for a response. Honestly, he thinks this all would have been a lot easier if he'd gotten the chance to just zap them. Seems these two are at odds with introspection once again and probably always will be.]

[looksfine]

My beloved lives, yes, while I do not. Which is how she is able to steal him from me.

I have stolen nothing from you.

You stole my face. To manipulate Razer into--

That is not true! [Her eyes widen a fraction. Genuinely shocked at the accusation.] What I feel for him now has no bearing on my decision when I chose to create this form, Ilana.

So you think it a coincidence, then? I thought the Guardians did not believe in coincidences. Only logic.

I am not like them.

No. You are far worse.

[ixis]

Rubbish. You can't steal from someone who's already gone. Did you even know this Razer existed before you took up this shape, Aya?

[He's too invested to just leave now, unless he was asked. But even then, he'd probably stick around and be huffy about how she's obviously going to get talked into a corner by these visions!]

[looksfine]

[She turned back, and what little guilt didn't already come through in her expression was more than compensated for the almost smug look on Ilana's face.]

Go on, liar. Tell him.

...it was from Razer's memories that I first learned of Ilana's image. Before I knew what such things meant, or understood their personal significance.

But I did not love him then. We had only just met.

OOC: I'm sorry he's such a pest, haha. 8D

[ixis]

So you assumed it in order to get information from him. I've done worse.

[He shrugs. He's a wizard by trade; being tricky is part of the job description. Helps occupational survival rates too. And now Naugus is meddling again, like the annoying old man he is. He strides over to approach this Razer person, reaching to poke or maybe even pinch at him with his crab claw.]

How can you even be here? Everyone who arrives is said to come through whatever magical facilities the Palace holds. This Ilana has the excuse of being a summoned spirit; not so for you.

[looksfine]

I did not.

I assumed her form initially in order to communicate with him. He had been trapped in his own mind. Later, when I recreated the visage on the physical plane...it had simply been a matter of convenience. I had not encountered many female forms since my initial coming on-line. Ilana's had been the most recent, and thus, it was the one I chose to use.

[That was it. The whole Truth. Guilty as she felt, there was some small relief in the knowledge that, given her young, still relatively innocent state of mind at the time, it had been a coincidence. To assume the face of the deceased beloved of one she would later fall in love with....]

[None of it had ever been intentional. And now, with so many individuals sharing faces and even names of loved ones left behind, Aya had even less reason to believe that a similarity in appearance (regardless of the reason) should be the sole defining characteristic of her as an individual.]

I could ask the same of you. You continue to speak of things you know nothing about.

[...despite herself, Aya almost smiled at that. Illusion or Projection or Real or whatever he was, Razer had not changed.]