EVENT #18: EMERGENCE - IC EVENT LOG

[abraxasmods]

Event #18 - Emergence

OOC Plotting Post ⦁ Pre-Event Info ⦁ Setting Descriptions

Whether voluntary or by force, you find yourself transported to the Singularity's crater. There probably aren't many resistors - officials have taken great pains to convince you to come voluntarily, reserving force as a last resort - but it's clear that everyone is required for this to work. It takes multiple mages to stabilize the portal, but you make it there in one piece. If you cooperate, you'll be asked to walk towards the ancient relic. If you resisted, you might be forced to do so while restrained. Regardless, a heavy fog soon descends around the area, obscuring you and your vision.

If you have thoughts of turning back, it's too late: for some of you, the second you step across the threshold, a force pulls at your chest and absorbs your psyche at once. For others, a mystical call beckons you to walk a little further before the same effect takes hold. And for a rare few, the call brings you to the Singularity itself, where you're compelled to touch it - and are subsequently swallowed up like the others.

The Horizon doesn't greet you like you might expect. Instead, something far stranger awaits.

Please communicate with your fellow players as needed! We also recommend discussing with us if you plan on a major environmental upheaval. As a rule of thumb, you should avoid changes to the landscape that will significantly alter the established map.

We've also posted comment sections for WORLDBUILDING and HANDWAVED submissions. Instructions can be found at the respective links.

Year 20,879

When you open your eyes, it feels like you've only blinked. If your body has transformed or you're someplace that shouldn't exist, it doesn't strike you as odd. You were always here. Everything around you was always here, and your physical alterations and new abilities - while perhaps not originally there - have been a part of you for a long, long time.

The world of Abraxas isn't completely foreign. Familiar territories remain, as well as the familiar faces of those with long lifespans. But a lot has changed in 800 years, too, especially where the Gods are concerned. Alongside the Old Gods of the Ancient Pantheon and the Cardinal Gods of the New Order, a third class of deities formed from you and your fellow Summoned: the Ecesis Gods of the Iterum Pantheon.

Politics, People, & Gods

Abraxas's political landscape remains complex, with continued tensions over land, worship, resources, and power. Nonetheless, since the Free Cities is no longer intent on destroying the Singularity, conflict over the ancient relic has lessened. All territories agree that the Godlands - and the Singularity - belong to the Gods themselves.

Beliefs and Gods

The active presence of the Summoned confirms the existence of the Gods. As a result, most Abraxans turn to the Summoned and other Gods for aid or protection. Extreme reverence exists in certain areas, especially on the Isle of the Lost and in parts of Solvunn. In other places, though, the Gods are merely acknowledged as a facet of life - a force that helps or hinders depending on temperament and should be respected, much like the sea. The Gods play a crucial role, sure, but so do the rain and stars. This is particularly true in the Feywilds, the Nether, and the Free Cities.

Small pockets of non-believers actively denounce the Gods. They claim the Summoned should be wiped from the world and the Singularity destroyed to prevent future invasions. Labeled dangerous heretics by Thorne and Solvunn, and "regressives" by the Free Cities - whose scientists and philosophers liken such thinking to be as foolish as declaring the sun unworthy or the earth to be flat - these people are shunned from society. In Solvunn, the consequences are more severe: heretics are exiled to the Barren, where they are subsumed by the desert, the Maw, or whichever Gods may punish them.

At the other end, some sects revere the Godlands so much that they believe feeding themselves to the relic will enhance Abraxas' good fortune for generations to come. Such cults are quite rare, but there are reports of mortals throwing themselves into the Singularity's crater and disintegrating as a gesture of their devotion to the divine.

International Relations

Due to the combined change in their priorities, Thorne and the Free Cities are less at odds. The Free Cities believes in protecting the Singularity; Thorne no longer seeks to control it. Nonetheless, mistrust flares on occasion.

While things are peaceful during these three months and have been for a few decades, Abraxas hasn't found a cure for war in the Gods. Conflict has broken out in the past and will again. Eyes are on the Nether as it grows in power, and who knows how long Thorne will be content with its losses? Will they convince the Velan Republic to reunite and turn against the Free Cities? For now, though, the territories have found their stride and appear more interested in progress than fighting.

Magic & The Singularity

Magic is relatively unchanged and is a vital part of Abraxan life. The small kingdom of Thorne continues to practice Academic Magic. Meanwhile, Wild Magic plays the same important role in the Velan Republic (formally Nott). Meanwhile, the Free Cities has developed New Magic further. The goal of decoupling magic from technology is less of a focus. Instead, researchers are eager to find new ways to fuse magic and innovation, including aspects of the Gods. Portable shrines, for example, are popular with traveling merchants.

High Magic no longer exists as a specific school of magic now that offerings, pacts, and requests to the Gods are a part of everyday life across Abraxas. Solvunn has returned to its roots, using the ancient Academic Magic practiced by the Lunae for standard tasks while turning to the Gods for greater blessings.

The Singularity has been relatively stable for the past two or three centuries. While occasional disturbances rumble, for the most part, the presence of the Summoned has strengthened it, alleviating its displeasure and ensuring that Abraxas - and possibly the universe itself - continues to exist. Indeed, academic writings from Thorne and the Free Cities across time suggest that the Singularity's devouring of the world has considerably slowed. It is now as much of a threat as the eventual collapse of the sun, something that is bound to occur but not for eons.

Of course, this could quickly change if the Summoned or any other Gods provoke the Singularity by rejecting its connection or denying its magic...so all should take care not to upset the nature of things.

Old World, New World

The map of Abraxas has undergone some notable shifts, although many names and places are the same.

Setting descriptions are HERE for your reference.

Mechapolis, the Witchwood, and the Barren/the Maw contain prompts related to the event itself. Information about those areas can be found under "Exploring the Land" in the section The World as the Divine (Month 1-2).

Month 1-2: Submersion

What do you last remember? Well, that depends. You might recall most things perfectly clearly. You might have new memories that don't feel new at all. Or, you might only remember the most recent year or two. Regardless, there is something missing: an important face, a handful of key events...maybe you don't remember having ever lived anywhere except Abraxas. You might find this unsettling, or you might accept it as just the way things are.

You've transcended those old memories, anyhow. You feel a little distant from the person you were centuries ago, and you most likely look different, too. Perhaps you've sprouted giant wings, become a formless void, or you're now a shapeshifter with no permanent appearance. You've gained a substantial amount of power and influence, the type that people of this world attribute to the Gods.

The first half is a more sandbox-like environment designed for scenarios that emphasize CR and personal character moments. Active conflict between the emergent reality and the world will not arise until the second half.

The World as the Divine

The mortals have bestowed you with a title and possibly a new alias. Do you know your mortal name anymore? Some of you might've taken on a new identity, or you might have held very tightly onto who you were. Regardless, your abilities have grown. Your new powers and appearance are as unique as your dominion, influenced by your interests, subconscious desires, or personal relationships.

While in your full God form, you'll move through the world unperceived. Only when you're sought by a mortal - followers, believers, cultists - can you consciously make your complete divine presence known. To be seen freely by all, you'll have to take on a less overwhelming shape to the mortal gaze. Those who have met the Old Gods or Cardinal Gods in the past finally understand why they seldom reveal their true selves, often arriving in hazy visions or speaking through animals.

Exploring the Land

◎ The Witchwood

As the Summoned continued to ascend, their power began to coalesce, creating a new ecosystem never seen before. The dense woods, originally a temperate climate, warmed and grew into a thriving jungle. The air is humid and heavy with magic, the sky locked into an eternal sunset. Reds and oranges filter through the thick canopy. Birdcall and animal cries echo throughout the jungle. Trees and rocks seemingly move at night, meaning the Witchwood is impossible to map. Foolhardy souls who venture too deep are rarely seen again - unless divine intervention prevents a tragic fate from befalling them. Perhaps one of those intervening Gods is you?

The most dangerous beasts in the Witchwood are the demigod spawns. Creatures born from the Summoned, demigods are powerful enough to affect the world around them should they ever leave the magic-encased forest. See Impact & Consequences for more details on the demigods and how, as the Summoned, you can help maintain Abraxas' ecosystem.

◎ Mechapolis

Heartwood Syndrome persisted in Fomalhaut long after the quarantined population died out. The port city stood as a monument to loss for nearly a century until about 200 years in when the Summoned gained notable influence as Gods. This resulted in a slow but steady acceptance of the Singularity's power as a positive force for potential advancement. New Magic boomed, leading to increased sophistication in technology and the refinement of automatons.

Originally designed to clear and guard Fomalhaut, they were eventually used to rebuild it. Fomalhaut became known as the City of Machines and was renamed Mechapolis. Although humans are barred from entering for safety, the automatons gather soil and air samples for study and perform fishing duties. The clockworks require routine maintenance and must return to a hub city or outpost for recalibration. Clockwork birds are used to communicate with Mechapolis. They can broadcast through the Free Cities's primitive "radio" towers.

You can enhance clockwork performance, boosting the towers or providing additional energy to the automatons. Scientists often have "rituals" when performing maintenance or experiments to earn the Gods' favor, hoping this will prevent their inventions from breaking down.

◎ The Barren/The Badlands

Once contested territory between Thorne and the Free Cities, the Badlands was split into two by a large ravine shortly after Thorne retreated to Hayle. With neither side able to breach the gap, Solvunn naturally laid claim to the western half while the Free Cities retained its eastern half. On the eastern side, the chasm swallowed several well-known bandit camps and the presence of a new entity further drove them away. Bandits now occupy the mountains northeast of Aquila. Due to the entity's threat, the Free Cities increased its military presence in the Badlands to keep careless or foolish travelers from straying too far.

Meanwhile, Solvunn has named its portion of the wasteland the Barren and sought the Gods' assistance to form an enchanted forest. Those who enter are lost forever. Meant for more than just protection, the forest and the Barren serve as a place of exile. Heretics are taken into the woods and left to wander towards the Barren's harsh desert. There, they will face the elements, be devoured by the waiting Maw...or encounter a God.

As a God, you can lead the exiles to their salvation or doom, but choose carefully: the Maw is hungry and must be fed. These exiles want you dead. They don't care for you, and should their lack of faith spread, they might revive attempts to destroy the Singularity - and with it, your home. Is it so wrong to leave them to their fate? On the other hand, saving them might convert them by demonstrating your kindness.

◎ The Maw

The Maw lurks beneath the chasm dividing the Badlands. Named for its gaping jaws, the Maw waits at the widest part of a jagged canyon, mouth open and salivating in the desert heat. Rows and rows of teeth as tall as a man spiral downward into a bloodshot throat. When sated, it retreats deep into the gully, barely visible aside from the shine of a tooth. When hungry, it draws closer to the surface. Hot and heavy winds often carry the putrid scent of its half-digested meals.

Solvunn is not the only territory that uses the Maw. The Free Cities will occasionally march criminals and bandits in that direction, as well, tossing them into the gaping mouth, although this method of execution is much rarer. Desperate exiles from Solvunn will try to cross the chasm despite the danger. None ever make it - at least, not without divine intervention.

Horizon, "Death," and Dormancy

Your domain in the Horizon is no longer constrained by size. How it's changed depends on you. The more detached from your mortality, the more likely it'll have surrealist elements: bizarre statues, physics-defying architecture, odd visual or psychological effects. The Horizon feels like home to all Gods, although you ought to take care not to heed its call beyond reason. Shutting yourself off from the physical world can result in unintended consequences...but completely refusing to enter the Horizon will do the same.

Additionally, Gods are beyond true death, but that doesn't mean you can act with impunity. Engaging in an exhaustive battle with other Gods can weaken you into dormancy. In this state, you will enter an ethereal void inside the Singularity. As you heal, you'll slowly be able to return to your Horizon domain and then the physical world once more. Depending on the extent of the damage, this process could take anywhere from months to decades. For instance, losing your head could take a few months, total dismemberment might take a year, and being vaporized into atoms can take a few decades.

Mortals cannot achieve this level of damage, even if they seemingly "succeed" in striking true. Only a God can weaken another God into dormancy. If a mortal removes your head, you can merely pick it up and put it back on.

Impact & Consequences

In the early years of your ascension, you might've wondered why the existing Gods seemingly intervened so little. Why did they not demonstrate their powers more blatantly over the thousands of years? Is it apathy? A desire to watch rather than act? As you come into your abilities, you realize that the Singularity and the universe are significantly more delicate than you thought. You begin to understand why the Gods have behaved the way they do.

Of course, whether you care to keep the world (and yourself) in balance is another story, but to be sure, some of the other Gods and the Summoned do - and you may have to defend your choices.

The equilibrium mechanic is described in OOC terms HERE. The Singularity and a character's ascension will not inherently sway them one way or the other. Any temptations will result from individual personality and development.

Instability Effects

To maintain the universe's equilibrium, you need to be cautious of when and how you interfere when using your status to alter the state of the world. Conversely, you'll also need to take care not to withdraw entirely. Several Gods have undergone periods of instability, though others haven't. Which category you fall under is up to you. It depends on who you are, your experiences, and your desires.

◎ Should you refuse to ACKNOWLEDGE your Godhood or enter the Horizon, you'll find yourself losing time. You may forget how you got from one place to another, or names you knew yesterday slip your mind. Lapses in memory or time can be temporary or permanent, but one thing they are is certainly confusing. With magic building inside you and nowhere for it to go, your power will begin to spill over, causing the Singularity to exhibit bursts of power that spawn demigods in the Witchwood.

◎ Should you give into the temptation to OVERINDULGE your Godhood or retreat to the Horizon for excessive periods, you'll lose more of yourself and your history. You may make decisions that feel unlike you, forget larger chunks of old memories, or struggle to distinguish what's real. Unrestrained use of magic will cause you to absorb yet more power, causing the Singularity to lose power in brief spurts, which can spawn demigods in the Witchwood.

These effects can be halted or even reversed in some cases. You might need someone's help to bring you back or convince you there's another way, or maybe you're the one seeking others out to assist. What you do soon understand is that your ability to manage your powers and stabilize your connection to the Horizon directly affects the Singularity and Abraxas...something that may have been true the moment you were summoned.

Demigod Spawns

Under the red haze of the Witchwood, monstrous creatures known as demigods or spawns emerge from crimson waterfalls and claw their out through the mossy soil. Born out of instabilities caused by careless actions from all Gods, they're usually contained to the Witchwood. For the most part, the older Gods - and the Summoned, if they choose - keep the demigods from leaving. However, now and again, one or two might escape, damaging towns, destroying villages, or causing ecological destruction in ways that are similar to natural disasters.

Demigods are not sentient. How they look can vary, but their appearances are often corrupted and disturbing: twisted animals, amorphous blobs, or alien-like parasites. They may resemble a monster you recognize from home.

Defeating one is possible but a challenge even for the Gods. Most crucially, you cannot kill your own spawn. Another God must deliver the killing blow, so working together is imperative. Should too many demigod spawns be allowed to invade the Witchwood, they will overwhelm and disrupt the Singularity further. Culling them is the only way to maintain stability.

You can submit demigod spawns you create to the WORLDBUILDING section if you want. Similar to using character powers, just keep the scale of destruction at a reasonable level.

Hearing Echoes

Echoes are a form of prayer that resonates through your connection with the Singularity. Solvunn has dedicated a monument to where the "First Echo" was heard, though the accuracy of this is debatable. Like the Network, you can hear an Echo regardless of where you are and can shut them out with concentration. However, your ties to Godhood may compel you to listen every so often. Mortals can entreat you through more formal methods (rituals, offerings, seasonal ceremonies) or in a moment of duress or desperation. They may seek you specifically or call to any God who will listen.

You can answer or ignore these cries for help as you like, but your choices carry consequences. Answer too many too eagerly, and your increased interference in mortal lives can upset the world's equilibrium - and the Singularity. Ignore your impact on the world, and your refusal to accept your ascension will equally destabilize the land as prayers go unheard.

Interacting with Other Gods

The Old Gods and the Cardinal Gods are an equal part of this world. For the most part, you coexist peacefully, though personal pacts and tensions can play a role. Each of you is aware of the impact of your actions on the Singularity: extreme displays of power are reserved for substantial transgressions, considering the price it carries.

Further, the older Gods have also walked the earth for centuries before you came. To them, you're still young, and rising against one of them won't end well for you. Nonetheless, many older Gods are more interested in giving advice or guiding you, ensuring the health of the Singularity and the universe so as not to doom all of you - Gods and mortals alike - to the void.

You can REQUEST AN INTERACTION with a God. Interactions will be brief but informative.

You will not be able to request a specific God. For logistical reasons, we have curated the list of Gods available ahead of time. However, we'll do our best to pick one from the pool that suits the purpose of your request.

Month 3: Awakening

Over the past 2 months, you've existed in the emergent reality without question. As you enter the third month, however, everything you've known over the past many centuries begins to shift. You might decide to investigate further, wondering if there's more out there that you aren't seeing. Alternatively, you might choose to ignore it, believing that your awakening is damaging the world and your life.

Catalysts

A catalyst can occur at any time through any circumstance. Do you see a familiar face you've forgotten in the eyes of a stranger? Do you recall a moment in your past while watching the mortals? Has a friend approached you specifically to try and remind you of the things you've forgotten?

With each memory returned you'll gain another piece of yourself. Depending on how much you've lost and how hard you'll cling to this reality, the effect may be clarifying or it might cause you distress and confusion. You might begin to encounter temporal cracks: buildings or areas that normally don't exist will flicker in and out of existence, or your reflection will briefly show an image of you from before your transformations took hold.

If you allow yourself to doubt your abilities or divinity, you might have trouble controlling your powers. If you've made alterations to your Horizon domain, it might start to revert to its original design.

These cracks are difficult to ignore, but if you bury your head, you can make them disappear - briefly, at least.

Shattered Skies

The effects go beyond the individual. As more of you and your fellow Gods reawaken, the sky also begins to form cracks that spread like broken glass. Through the fractures, you glimpse flashes of lightning and a swirling fog. The fissures only grow larger.

Soon, you realize you can see the Singularity itself, reflected upside-down in the crater. Disconcerting though it is, it may serve as proof that something is very wrong. Of course, you can also refuse to acknowledge this disturbance, closing your eyes to the crumbling sky. Doing so will let you remain unaware to the very end, but your friends who are seeking the truth might find your denial distressing.

The sky won't hold, though. Eventually, it does shatter completely - and you awaken abruptly, your body and others scattered several feet away from the Singularity's crater as if you were physically thrown out. The fog begins to dissipate. The lightning has stopped, the unrelenting storms fading across Abraxas. Whatever you went through, it seems to have done exactly what the territories hoped: stabilize the Singularity.

Characters will be returned home afterward. They will be thanked for their assistance regardless of if they cooperated.

Resistors will not face any consequences, as long as they don't cause excessive trouble upon their return. Officials will issue an apology for the heavy-handed action, stating that they saw no other way to keep the world safe. With the portals and weather returning to normal, it does seem to have worked...even if characters may not find the method agreeable.

---

Comments

Months 1-2

[thedevilwhorose]

Echoes | OTA

[thedevilwhorose]

A. An Attempt Was _____ (Failed)

The constant nattering. I don't know [there's a trip of confusion, just a blip, a missing piece that should be inserting here, glossed over] how anyone does it! Hi. Hello. I can hear you. Can't you do anything on your own?

[He folds all six of his wings of his true form in behind his back. Peers at the woman on her knees in prayer, skeletal toothy maw in her face, stretched to a point, six horns curled every which-way mantling his head. There's blood flaked in the fur framing his neck. He's breathing hotly at the woman but she cannot perceive him and Lucifer doesn't try to make it so she can.

A moment later a man steps out from his home and Lucifer's headache gets worse and he pulls away, startled.] Oh. Sorry. Wrong one. [He snaps one of his many taloned hands and the man explodes and the echo in his mind vanishes, instant relief.] Finally, quiet.

[A moment, and then the archangel winces, drawing the same claw to rub at the underside of bone. He had actually meant to answer this one.

The woman, now horrified, straightens up, and whichever god she was calling out to is going to get a much more frantic call than her initial reach.]


B. An Attempt Was _____ (Ignored)

Okay. Okay. Round Two (-hundred, give or take). The score is......... really bad. Lucifer does not like answering echoes. He doesn't want to. He has other things! Hobbies! Why does he have to pay attention to people.

Well, the little thing like anytime he refuses for too long his beautiful work of art in the Nether takes a hit. He should be used to all these goddamn rules by now but no, he's going to continue to have a push and pull with the system.

So here he is, doing his due dilligence, yada, yada, yada.

The weather starts to darken with his arrival, mirroring his mood. His towering true form stuffed into his perceivable beastly sea-blue leosylph form, eyes red. The wilder, larger, more aggressive leosylph to-be-specific that no longer existed when he was just a Summoned. Certainly haven't been found since. He's paraded around in the form of an eldoa before, but what can he say.

He likes his jokes.

He's been called to the Velan Republic, not somewhere he tends to go--some age-old resistence against Nott that he doesn't remember why anymore. He keeps a careful eye out for any sign of Kell and his followers, this secondary form of Lucifer's well-known enough. Relations may be better than they had in the last few hundred years, but it's always wise to keep on his toes. Just in case things change on a dime. They have before, after all.

Paws across a wall, searching for his mark--ah, his devotee.

He sits and tucks his paws in, tail curled around, and rumbles in displeasure.

This would maybe have gotten easier over the centuries if he ever did it.

Whatever.

He stretches out and gets comfortable. Surely he can find an easier echo to answer soon. Either his poor-soul follower will find him, or they won't. Big loss.

Or another god might have the unfortunate luck of finding Lucifer, once again ignoring his duties.

a.

[ushiri]

Stop that.

[ Yasi'halaun wasn't the god this poor woman was calling for, but in all these centuries Kyle has become particularly attuned to the ripple of Lucifer releasing his power.

Kyle appears perched on the roof of the exploded man's house, peering down at Lucifer. He's shrouded in shadows like a cloak, his expression hidden behind the skull mask and its empty eye sockets that fix on the bestial god.

Istredd must be busy with something, he assumes. ]

[thedevilwhorose]

[All six arms immediately go up in a helpless what can you do gesture, like he's been caught with a claw in the cookie jar, not being caught murdering another poor sap.] I didn't mean to!

[This is. Unfortunately. The truth.

He is, however, slightly gazing towards the distraught woman, because she is a different kind of annoyance. And really grinding on his consciousness. But.] Is she one of yours? You stop her.

[ushiri]

[ The distraught woman is beginning to gather a small crowd of equally distraught and panicked people from the surrounding homes. ]

She's not mine.

[ From behind his mask he releases a deep breath. ]

I need you for something.

[ Or, rather, he intends to point Lucifer at something.

Kyle vanishes, reappearing somewhere just outside the Witchwood. He waits for Lucifer to catch up. ]

B

[funbreaker]

Aegis, unlike Lucifer, does spend a decent amount of time in the Republic. In this case he'd settled in to watch some farmers at work when the bright weather had suddenly darkened, the sun immediately blotted out by clouds.

It doesn't feel natural, and soon enough he does sense that there's another member of the Pantheon closeby. While he certainly didn't hear the echo that called one of the other gods here, he can't help but be curious about this sudden change. It feels malicious in a way that unsettles him. Not all of the gods are as ready to provide aid as him.

The power exuded by another god is fairly simple for him to track, which is how he finds the large, blue leosylph stretched out and — as far as he can tell — moping.

It's uncommon to see Lucifer here. No, he's usually either in the Nether or the Horizon. Aegis frowns, his unnaturally white eyes pinning down the leosylph.

"You certainly know how to make an entrance." He doesn't sound impressed. "What are you doing here?"

[thedevilwhorose]

There's only the barest flick of his tail in acknowledging Aegis' presence. There's a few rain droplets starting to speckle their surroundings. His sour mood about being out here in the first place is following him, tripping through the weather. It's harder for him to bring a soothing atmosphere for anywhere that isn't where he's roosting by choice.

"I was called," he answers, a bit snappish, but a trace of petulance under it all. He hasn't bothered to unfurl to look at Aegis. "Despite not seeing the point of it all."

[funbreaker]

Aegis' head tips up to the clouds when he realizes that Lucifer is continuing to be dramatic and dragging the weather into the entire affair. He lets out a scoff, finding this behavior all too childish for one who is (as far as he knows) much, much older than him.

Still, if Lucifer was called and he's being this petulant about it, then it must have been an echo. It's no secret that Lucifer is not fond of catering to mortals and their pleas. Nonetheless, Aegis takes a look around, trying to determine who the request might have come from.

"Then why did you come at all?" he asks with a frown. "If you made the trip here..."

Well, he must have been considering actually fulfilling the echo then, surely.

The Nether | OTA

[thedevilwhorose]

A. Corruption

It was a slip.

Doesn't happen often after that first time when he felt his tides of his overuse of power leave him and the absorption of life around him in order to fill that empty space automatically pull in. (He didn't even know about the rest of it. The tug at the Singularity's power and the resulting demigod.)

He takes so much care with his projects--even the mortals he experiments on, making sure they don't die to external causes--that the resulting decay to his growing forest felt like a direct punch to his grace.

In 800 years it hasn't happened much. But he gets overzealous. He's thinking big, always. And it's funny that it isn't culling of mortals that does it, but that's easy, quick. No, it's the gardening that has become his hobby so much that he hardly recognizes where the start of it came from. Doesn't remember the first seed he ever planted, what world, what context.

He just likes keeping his hands busy, all six of them.

That it's an act of creation that causes a destructive patch is so...

Laughable.

Within the lush forestry carved out by Lucifer for his own overgrowth, whatever grand new pluming flora he was creating is just a husk, rotted, a tower beginning to crumble.

The land directly surrounding him in a perfect radius is sapped of all Life, starting to creep out and reach further, but Lucifer's clapped down on his excessive power use already, breathing hard, snarling low. He's been so careful and now he has to start again.


B. Cultivation | (feel free to wildcard)

[Lucifer can be found most frequently (aside from the Horizon) in the Nether.

Regrown, overgrown.

Whether or not he's working to enhance (slowly, methodically) the plantlife, sitting up on a large enough bough to hold his true form while playing an ornate hardwood flute, or sleeping in his wild leosylph form, this is the place easiest for anyone seeking him out to find him.]

a.

[ordinar]

When you've lived for this long, you collect all kinds of things without ever really meaning to. Wilhelm has a few places he thinks of as home, because of the memories they've gathered in their corners, the feeling belonging they've become imbued with. Lucifer's garden in the Nether is one such place.

But as he wanders between towering trees and wades through flowers and ferns, a low snarl rumbles from somewhere deeper in the forest. Slipping through the undergrowth, hurtling across boulders strewn like stepping stones up the slope, he arrives at a ridge that overlooks a deep green valley. From there, he can see Lucifer hunched over a patch of wilted brown.

He remembers, faintly, a time when nothing thrived down here.

"Dad?" Wilhelm calls, hurrying toward him. He can't remember, not even faintly, a time when he called anyone else by that name. "What's wrong?"

[thedevilwhorose]

Ah. Wilhelm. Lovely timing.

(The sarcasm is mild. He's not unhappy by Wilhelm's presence. There's worse gods that could find him in a state of vulnerability.)

Lucifer puts two claws over his face, the other four limp at his side as he comes to a slow acceptance of the destruction before turning his full presence to his son.

"Used too much," he tells him, a whistle of a sigh escaping through the bone maw. "I can fix it," he adds, quick, "just--what a waste."

[ordinar]

Shoving through the last of the knee-length grass to where it abruptly ends in a ring around Lucifer, Wilhelm arrives at his father's side. He places a reassuring hand on one of his hanging defeated arms.

"You should be careful. If overextending yourself made this happen, then pushing yourself harder isn't going to fix it. This is literally the Singularity telling you to take a break."

Advice that, from another mouth, Lucifer would likely swat away. And maybe he'll scrap it anyway, but whatever else may change in the churn of centuries, the Herald of New Beginnings has always had a soft spot for his son, and Wilhelm knows it. He knows just where to reach through the chinks in the bone armor to caress it.

The Horizon | OTA

[thedevilwhorose]

Once upon a time Lucifer's domain held dangerous locations that man had rarely touched and experienced on Earth (keeping the location truly untouched by man to remain that way).

Then he got pissed at a trickster god and in a fit of displeasure wiped his domain clean and left a cryptic invitation to that god.

Thankfully for all parties, Lucifer's domain has since changed again.

In case you missed the grand show of Thorne's retreat, now you can witness it in real time, all time! Round the clock, 24/7, nonstop showings! Walk the streets, experience the chaos!

Lucifer currently can be found folded up on a rooftop, all limbs prim and proper, eating an endless god-sized bucket of popcorn. He is occasionally jeering and booing at the now mostly-faceless figures rapidly moving in the street.

If anyone had come to Lucifer's domain over the last 800 years, they will note that Lucifer's memories of these events used to be clearer. They've since whited out. Faceless figures, color drawn away. There might be a few familiar faces here and there--the Summoned before their ascension--but the scene is a cardboard copy to what it once was, and if asked, he won't be able to recall details.

This was once a treasured memory of the devil, but even an archangel is susceptible to the whims of overusing power, frequent Horizon stays, and ignoring echoes.

Even he can't hold onto everything.

[furibund]

[ By now, it's unlikely this is the first time she's been to this particular Horizon - but its lack of changes in the years since Throne's downfall does leave something to be desired. It's not even surprising to find him there, eating away like this is the first time. ]

[ Except it's not and so she rolls her eyes as she approaches: ]

Seriously? Don't you get bored?

[thedevilwhorose]

No-pe. This is prime entertainment! [He spreads all of his claws to indicate the chaos, enjoying the thrill still after all this time.

Eight-hundred years is just a breath for an archangel though.

He holds out the popcorn in offering. He's capable of sharing!

His humor dips away into something more dark.] If I could watch every Cage I've ever been trapped in burn on loop I would, but this is the only one I was ever allowed to witness.

sorry this is late! you're free to ignore it.

[furibund]

[ She folds her arms, skeptical on the matter. Some part of her understands - not that she'd own it, but she huffs out a breath thoughtfully: ]

You can't have hated the place that much.

[ Seriously, she thinks, there are far worse places. ]

You could at least put a new spin on it, if you're going to watch it so many times.

Tinkering (various locations) | OTA

[thedevilwhorose]

A. Experimentation

(Warnings for human (mental) experimentation.)

[Look.

He gets bored, alright?

And a bored devil is going to tinker.

Many have long since come across Lucifer's so-called cultists and tried to do something to repair the swiss-cheese state of their minds. The leaders are fine. Their memories are a blank slate, but it's for their own healthy and sanity. He remade them into something new, fresh, when they were begging for freedom, for change--no, adaptation.

They needed to lob off a dying branch so that fresh growth could continue anew and the planet could adapt.

Lucifer respected them for that, and gave them what they desired.

The rest... whether or not Lucifer refused an offering, or Michael sent someone to him for Lucifer's brand of judgment and he didn't deem them worthy enough for renewal or a new beginning...

Well.

They were his to toy with, weren't they? After all, he was an archangel--superior already without adding godhood on top. And his evaluation of humanity has never shifted, despite granting a handful an exemption.

Perhaps you've found another one of his experiments. (What do you want to do about it?)

Perhaps you want to call him out. (Hilarious, I don't care.)

Perhaps you want to return one of the herd that have accidentally strayed away from the protection of their leader. (Thank you, so kind of you, so few are this honorable these days...)

Perhaps you've found Lucifer in the act, seated besides an unconscious figure, a claw cradling overhead, deep in thought as he exerts his affliction on the victim. (Don't worry, it's nothing to concern yourselves with...)

Perhaps, most strangely of all, you've found Lucifer dreamwalking in a fractured cultist's mind, though perception of the devil is flickering in and out--between the monstrous form he's known by, or by the appearance the mind he's in expects/wants him to be. (Well.... this is awkward, isn't it?)]


B. Enchantment

On the more positive side is his other brand of tinkering: enchantment magic. About the only thing useful to him when he had a measly powerlevel and he had to 'concern' himself with potentially 'arming' his fellow Summoned. Because even if he learned evocation magic in secret, what good was that going to get him? A few spells off before his useless body tired itself out, and then where he'd be?

Struggling to stay alive.

Him! An archangel! One of his... Fa like one of his siblings.

Locked up and worn out. Pathetic.

Enchantments were his solution.

But he didn't need them anymore. They were sometimes funny to give to followers and watch them burn alive from the power too mighty for their little human minds to comprehend, but he enjoyed the intricate work, making them more and more complex, mapping out the parameters like a solar system.

There is no set place that he can be found working. At most he avoids any of the former territories and will never set foot in Mechapolis. It's hardly a conducive workspace, but any natural location is where he's at, slightly shrunken down to a reasonable size but still in his true form, propped up with his serpentine tail wrapped over him like a workbench, and futzing with odd baubles, sometimes arrows, other times just an inkpen and paper.

He's likely met with others throughout the span of time this way, but it could be still be their first meeting, or a continued visit.

tinkering!

[theidlemaiden]

[ Between the two of them, it's probably more surprising to Hilda that she had not only managed to find a mentor, but that said mentor was Lucifer. Not because she had any historical context coming from Fodlan about who or what The Devil was, but because their initial interaction had been...mildly contentious to say the least.

There are moments she'll recall that and wonder what exactly she's doing - before her short attention span inevitably calls her back to the project at hand.

Today that thought hasn't crossed her mind, mostly because she has more pressing matters at hand. She arrives in the woods somewhere between the Free Cities a flurry of feathers light pink feathers, frenetic energy and a bag full of mock-ups. While she shrinks, it isn't saying much - she's still quite short by both mortal and god standards. Fortunately (or unfortunately), height is no correlation to the amount of sass. ]

There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you. If you wanted to meet don't you think you should have left some more specific instructions than just, "the edge of the woods?"

[thedevilwhorose]

You seemed to find me well enough, so I don't know why you're complaining. What, should I add a scavenger hunt next time? [He hmmmms to himself. A skull shouldn't be able to grin, and yet.] That could be fun, actually...

[See what complaining gets you, Hilda?

It gets worse options.]

[theidlemaiden]

[ Pulling a face she mouths his words mockingly before shooting him a glare that clearly says Put that idea back where it came from, or so help me. Not that he'd even listen if she said that.

Because she knows what complaining will get her.

There's a moment of pure pouting before she reaches into her bag to pull out the rolled up schematics. ]

I came with a couple of designs I wanted to show you but are you going to give me attitude if I go first?

experimentation; dreamwalking

[restingstitchface]

[Dreams, being the collective output of the unconscious mind, exist outside control of the individual. Each is a library of forgotten images and unheard truths. Fantasies created to bring resolution and closure to those without insight. People struggle to free themselves from society, from one another and themselves and from life. So before they sleep they call to him for release.


They scream and they cry.

The mind is his domain, where he prefers to wander and wonder. What are people dreaming of today? What shall they dream of tomorrow? What will happen if he directs their dream? Unweaves every image and stitches them together?

In time this cultist has begun dreaming of other beings other than his divine. Who he has encountered more than once because of people like these. Is he here to return the man to the fold? Or to claim him as his own?

Or is he on vacation?]

You realise the fact I am here reveals what he thinks of you?

[He sees different people - a human, a winged herald - but thinks nothing of it. The mind has power over the body, after all.]

[thedevilwhorose]

I don't care what people think of me. [There's a ring of truth to that. In 800 plus years he's earned himself a few treasured beings that accept him, knowing the atrocities he's committed, and still look to him as Friend and Family.

But.

This is the creature that has tried to change the Devil's arcana, rebrand it, erase its connection to himself.

It never works. The arcanum is quite set in its ways.] What could he bring forward that I haven't heard ad nauseam in the past?

Witchwood | Closed to Michael

[thedevilwhorose]

Well.

This is embarrassing.

There's always some unwise chatter about how you shouldn't go off to the Witchwoods alone, don't get separated, ect, ect, ect... but why would Lucifer bother with being concerned about anything like that. Sure he's had his own experiences in the past, whether it be here or finding a demigod in the wild, but...

Sometimes it's hard to believe that after reaching his refilled grace reserves and ascending to godhood that something could best him.

Except, well, this is one of his.

Old, too.

Likely has been hibernating for a good century in the Witchwood, much the same way Ramsey had in Hell, just waiting. For a trigger. This being Lucifer, in the right time and right place--for the mutt beast, obviously. Real bad timing and real bad place for Lucifer.

He's weaving through the trees like he's swimming more than flying, wings tucked in tight to his body so that he can make the sharp turns. Try as he might, he can never learn the layout of the ever-changing jungle and he's not certain where a clearing is for him to whip around and stage an ambush. Too little time to plan, and the multimouthed hulking muscle of five or so hellhounds stitched together to make a new creature entirely barrel-rushes through the trees from his side, showering splinters, and clamping down on the tuft at the end of his tail.

Lucifer yelps, losing his trajectory, and pushes out wildly with four talons (two of his limbs already broken, snapped like twigs) to embed in the still-standing surrounding trees to resteady himself, blasting out a ripple of power more to disorient than harm so that he can get custody of his tail back without ripping it down to the bone.

"That is NOT a chewtoy!" he snarls. "Bad dog!"

Five glowing sets of eyes lock to him, tongues lapping up blood and grace from their muzzles, and the mangy mutt takes another charge. It's gotten a taste now, not just broken bones.

[familysucks]

Commotion in the Witchwoods always draws attention. Today, it's a favourable dice roll: a collection of jaws that are not after Lucifer's blood. The snarling and shouting between the trees reaches Michael, who's flying not far above. He folds his wings and drops into a dive.

His ever-present flock breaks through the canopy first. Their avian heads are split to reveal rows of teeth and they make for the mutant hellhound, latching onto its faces, its back, its shoulders. Michael follows them to the ground, branches cracking as he pushes his way through and lands on multiple limbs. The weight of his landing shakes the nearby trees. Prepared for a fight, he's abandoned polite pretenses, his mostly-human mask pulled back to reveal his own wide jaws and pointed teeth.

The flock on its own isn't strong enough to be anything but a distraction, but that's the idea. He eyes the demigod, quickly assessing it, then turns his attention to Lucifer.

Intervening is the same courtesy he'd show any Summoned he isn't specifically at odds with. He doesn't expect Lucifer to think otherwise, though, so he doesn't spare any thought towards an explanation.

"One of yours?"

He's looking for a fight—why else does anyone come here—but far be it for him to steal a kill. There are enough monsters to go around in these woods. If it's Lucifer's own, though, he can't kill it. From the smell of it, and the coldness of it, he suspects that's the case.

And, well. From the broken arms and grace painting the demigod's mouths, it doesn't look like Lucifer is winning.

Annoyed by the nibbling, the thing whips its head around. It snaps at one of Michael's leviathan-birds, catching it between its teeth and ripping it from its shoulder. It bites down; there's crunching.

Michael hisses at it. He felt that.

thwap me if this is jibberish because man my ability to string sentences together seems to be trying

[thedevilwhorose]

Any sign of Lucifer being miffed is from the sheer irritation he has towards the demigod trying to use him as a chewtoy, none at all for Michael's sudden involvement. If anything, there's some slight thrill churned beneath his veins, because Michael's prowess is unparalleled. Of course there would normally be competition there, however Lucifer knows he can't kill this particular demigod.

So who better as the next best?

Michael.

"Unfortunately." Taking the opportunity presented from the distraction, he presses a claw up under one of his broken limbs to try and push a burning heal of grace through it. "Lying in wait for me, it seems."

He's hardly going to deprive Michael of a fight--knows how it feels to have prey pulled away from his claws. He offers his brother a toothy grin from his skeletal maw. "Surely you owe it a bite as retribution." For the bird.

... Or for Lucifer.

You know. Whichever.