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

edward teach | herald of lost treasures

[krakened]

— starters below —
plot comment ◐ au info
discontinued ◐ quantifies @ discord

past.

[krakened]

submersion.

[krakened]

— ◐ playtime.

[krakened]

Rogue Hearts and Raging Tides
or, The Krakening: A Pirate's Quest for Love and Victory
By the burgeoning playwright Bartholomew Braxton via the Nautilus Amphitheatre
As inspired by our divine muse Miss Valentine

"Embark on a swashbuckling adventure of love, bravery, salty sea air, and an alarming amount of suction cups. Set against the backdrop of the high seas, this tale follows the journey of two pirates, Bonny and Thatch, as they navigate the treacherous waters, literal and metaphorical. Blossoming love is sent scattering to the wind as a storm brews on the horizon. Bonny and Thatch’s love is put to the test as they find themselves entangled in a rumour of monstrous proportions—a kraken, a creature of myth and legend, is poisoning the seas and threatening their very way of life.

Can their love stand strong in the face of squalling tempests? Or will the kraken’s tentacle-y grip tear them apart? With the fate of their love and the world hanging in the balance, they must prove that even the mightiest of monsters cannot crush the indomitable spirit of the human heart. Or perhaps, it is our (spiritually) young lovers who will teach this beast the magical power of ~song~ and the force of a well-aimed harpoon gun."

---

[ If you are an attending deity, you may or may not catch Ed's introduction to the play-slash-musical. ]

As you know, we blessed this sad bastard of a playwright who invoked the Patron of the Performer Herself to dig him out of his shit luck and now his dreams are flying off the ground. Yours truly (Ed and Hilda, thank you) worked really fuckin' hard, so be nice.

Special thanks to: Nananue, for the leggy extras; Yinyue, for the storms and stuff—very impressive, apologies if you're in the splash zone; Artie, for erasing all the words you said we didn't need; and my fellow Ed(die) & Jaskier for the cool music.

---

[ Technically, this is a mortal production with a mortal audience, but lowkey Godly shenanigans are encouraged as long as you're not being mean or disrupting the play. No heckling! Or exploding people, or whatever it is you fellow Gods might be tempted to do. Ed will be very sad. Nanaue can have one (1) treat. Clapping is mandatory. God-snacks are available courtesy of Himeka (popcorn chicken, a variety of doughnuts, and a refreshing "lattea" (iced milk tea) served with chewy tapioca bobbles).

The play itself has...some questionable (but heartfelt) writing, with the sincerity and quality of an 80's B-movie. In contrast, the costumes, "special effects," and music are all wildly impressive. Divine intervention gets you a leg up. Some highlights from the play that attendees will witness include:

• A highly exaggerated but actually quite sweet love story between two (male) pirates who are definitely not Ed and Stede but very much Ed and Stede. They are named Bonny and Thatch. At the end, the audience is treated to a fantastic wedding on top of a giant stage cake.


• A climatic battle against the Kraken in question, with our protagonists riding atop reverse-mermaid feety fish. The scene will have both an epic score by Jaskier followed by some banging metal from Eddie like a bizarre lovechild of Hans Zimmer and whatever was going on in that scene from Lynch's Dune where they were worm-sledding.


• A unicorn "God" that arrives to bless our protagonists with a powerful chosen one weapon they must use to drive the Kraken back into the sea.


• A few extremely harrowing and realistic storm scenes. Maybe a little, uh, too realistic, but don't worry, the actors are fine.

Tag in, drive by, mass-pile onto one big thread, or threadjack to your heart's content. This is not an organized thread, it's just to dick around and have fun, so do whatever! Thank you to Terra (Hilda) for providing the summary!! ]

APPLAUSE

[nomnoms]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

GOOD PLAY!

[ Boisterous clapping from the manshark.

Nanaue coughs up a shoe. ]

[mathmetism]

Get it out, bud.

[ jerry offers nanaue his jumbo cherry icee to clear his throat, while putting on the shoe himself. i mean, free shoe, come on. ]

[exuviage]

[ yinyue watches silently, before flicking his fingers and gently blasting the shoe with some seawater, to clean off any extra.

uh. material. ]

OTA TO ATTENDEES — ◐ the kraken himself.

[krakened]

[ This, this is a labour of love. It's a labour of at least two fuckin' centuries, not all (most) of which were spent on this, because obviously Ed fucked off multiple times during that period (and many other periods) to do his own thing like plant more treasure maps or throw more treasure onto passing ships or, you know, sink a few. Other ships. But they're not gonna talk about that.

The point is, it's finally happening. It's here. Hilda's stuck with him through the highs and lows of the creative process (ink flying, pages torn, the usual), and he really appreciates that. Also because she's dealing with the mortals to make the actual performance shit and everything work.

Anyway, you can find Ed throughout the production. He exudes an enthusiasm that can only be described as vaguely menacing. Or, possibly, slightly manic. He might also be munching on a doughnut or sucking down the lattea. Actually, with all of his tentacles, he's probably got a bunch of shit waving around at any given moment. He's also quite done up, with fancy hair and a groomed beard, thanks to Hilda. A touch of kohl around his eyes. Surrounding him is a special water bubble to keep his cephalopod body moist.

After the play, he'll be happy to talk about just anything, but as a creature of the sea, he'll eventually slither back into the ocean. If you wanna to follow him, go for it. ]

left for Ed in his Horizon space

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard is well aware that this is a collaborative effort and that in getting something for Hilda, politeness demands he do the same for Ed.

So whenever Ed does return to the Horizon, there is a floating flower arrangement of hydrangea, accented with a single tentacle arising from one side of the tank.

And a note.]

Congratulations on a successful opening night. The fight scenes were especially impressive.

-Alucard

[krakened]

[ Ed loves gifts. He doesn't actually remember ever meeting Alucard, although this has fuck all to do with Alucard being memorable or not and everything to do with Ed's attention span and general. Memory. Of life.

But it's not that hard to figure out this is one of Hilda's friends from context.

So of course, Ed sends a gift back. (He's pretty much always looking for an excuse to foist one of his treasures onto someone.) ]

Fuck yeah they were.
Love the flowers, mate. Got something for you, too, for stopping by.
Pretty sure it's some kind of mystical good luck charm
Those usually come in threes.

[ Here ya go. ]

[exuviage]

[ One wild wave of a tentacle creates a miniature splash zone in Ed's immediate area. Like orange juice on a space station, the droplets float in the air freely, easily pushed around and combined into a small globe of water, which Yinyue happens to be in the middle of throwing right back into Ed's main bubble. Don't get in the way!

He'd say heads up, but he got a lattea that he's working on before he gets to go back down for his next storm scene. It's fine. ]

— the kraken and the swan, pre-show!

[theidlemaiden]

[ A night that had been in the making for the better part of two centuries deserves the most pampering and indulgent self-care - especially for the star of the evening.

It does require a little bit of juggling on Hilda's part. Her decision to stage manage the play to ensure that as little mistakes as possible happened meant that her human persona had to be there most of the day. But in typical Valentine fashion, she had found a way to make it work.

She arrives in Ed's little bay and lighthouse with a trunk full of her beauty products trilling out - ]

Ed, I'm here - I hope you're ready to get pampered for your debut!

[aquaveiled]

[ Would she miss this play for all the croissants in the world? No, of course not. And not just because she's certain she could make them better, anyway--to see the creation of an entire group of friends is truly the greatest sight to behold. The effort on all sides was more than prevalent and, mayhaps her own standards for theater are a little low, but Azem could not have imagined a single thing done better.

She claps for the water show and the little fish mermaid thing, of course, but she's equally swept up in the wild romance of the two protagonists. Azem had thought she would help serve snacks to some of the other guests but often got too distracted watching the play itself before simply settling down and drinking no less than five glasses of her tea concoction. She's carrying all of them when she finds Ed after the finale and encore. ]

You!!

[ Azem can't point with her arms full, so her own fin-like tail has to do the job. ]

You, sir, have been holding out on us for centuries!

pre-play, perhaps!

[flagrates]

I must say, [ says Mythos, testing the weight of his prop blade, prepping himself for his own big moment, glancing out from the wings towards the crowd filtering into their seats. ]

We've amassed quite the crowd.

[ His horns are tangled with seaweed and fishnet — appropriate, for the Foul Beast of the Sands, the first boss the pirate lovers must face in their journey to the kraken. ]

Are you nervous?

[oversight]

[ The production is fantastic, of course, and while Blake is not at all surprised, he does have a few... notes. ]

Is there a reason I wasn't included in the wedding scene?

[ His tone lends haughty, and truth be told, his chosen attire for attending could very well fit both the theme of pirates and a wedding spectacular. He tosses up some magical confetti and it explodes around them in sparkles while he strikes a brief pose. ]

You're really missin' an opportunity for some genuine audience participation, y'know...

[ But, oh look! A flower bouquet – not wedding-themed, but congratulatory nonetheless – are produced from behind his back and offered out despite his so-called complaint. ]

[familysucks]

[After clapping obediently along with the crowd after every act—though not ooh-ing and ahh-ing at all the parts the mortal audience did, as he felt his silence was the most respectful way to appreciate the special effects—Michael waits for the crowd to disperse a little before approaching Ed.]

Congratulations on a successful production, and my thanks for the invitation.

[He is mostly impressed that only one or two people seem to have gone missing throughout the show, considering Nanaue was in attendance. The shark is not particularly known for his long attention span or his ability to curb his appetite.]

I didn't realize you had an inclination for the arts.

[That might just be because Michael himself has absolutely zero creative impulse.]

godly shenanigans + audience

[mathmetism]

[ while this is certainly a good time, it could stand to be a little funkier. jerry refrains from laying it on too thick, but there's a bit of euphoric vibe sneaking its way through the mortal crowd. just enough to get folks loosening up, getting in their feels, experiencing the magical story on a deeper intellectual, emotional and spiritual level.

jerry himself has brought his own water, not wanting to disturb the play. his box seat booth has become a kiddie pool filled with borrowed sea water, and he's bobbing about within on his unicorn floatie (Jean Claude Van Damme), alongside jack townsend on his own float (Rita Jr). jerry's maybe splashing a little out into the splash zone when he gets too excited, but those people were warned. he's here to support a friend, and he even dressed up for the occasion, making sure to keep in theme. entirely immersed in the theatrics, jerry's dancing along to the musical numbers with his bucket o' doughnuts in hand, sobbing when the lovers are separated by a tragic misunderstanding, but not so loudly you can't hear the actors, mostly because jack's there to keep him in check.

when the unicorn shows up, he slaps at his floatie and points, whispering so aggressively it's basically talking, but at least he's in his own box and probably not bugging anyone (except jack). ] Jean Claude, look! It's your cousin, Arnold!

[ it is not Jean Claude's cousin Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the floatie seems excited anyway, flapping it's little inflatable wings. he claps, of course he does. He stands on his floatie (wobbles, almost falls over), he throws a few bouquets of mushrooms and haphazardly uprooted wildflowers, he rabidly requests the actors to sign his chest (or ass, whichever he can get out first).

when he finds ed, or eddie, or nanaue, or literally anyone willing to listen to him, he rambles praise as a professional, editorial review. ] It was transcendent, I literally felt like I was a reverse mermaid doggy paddling helplessly through the raging seas of star-crossed but narratively doomed love and tentacle kink, know what I mean? Poetic theatre.

drive-by.

[krakened]

[ Jerry's enthusiasm counts for at least half the audience members alone, which means Ed's ready to pin a gold star to him for it. And, for coming out and supporting the show.

He sidles up to Jerry and whoever happens to be the recipient of Jerry's intensely lengthy verbal review. Could he get Jerry to god-publish a review of the show? Just to give it a boost? He'll raise the idea later.

In the meanwhile: ] En garde, brother!

[ The trinket he lobs at Jerry isn't perfectly a unicorn, but it's close. Ed doesn't stick around to see if Jerry likes his uninvited gift or not. No returns. Those are the rules. They aren't written down anywhere, but they exist. ]

SPLASH ZONE.

[exuviage]

[ He's only been planning the storms for this since he was a kid, and started listening to Ed's stories, you know. At least a hundred years, with taste to match a very serious child that wants to give things the gravitas and impressive storm it deserves. Yinyue himself disappears from the god gallery to be closer to stage during the storm scenes, where he conducts the water with a maestro's precise gestures. Each time, though, he returns to hang out with Ed and company during the scene change and the less interesting more dramatically nuanced parts of the show.

That last rogue wave sequence was a hit. Did you see the sea serpent shape swimming around the stage that helped someone split it in half with a swing of a sword just before it smashed everyone to smithereens? Pretty cool, right? Some of the audience is soaked too.

Yinyue returns to the god gallery accepting high fives from all around in near deadpan, because that's teamwork clapping. ]

[flagrates]

[ Your father is so proud!!! He's going in for the hug. ]

Very well done, Yinyue! You nearly crested the ceiling!

ota!!

[princeofruin]

[It seemed ill will towards his fellow gods not to attend, not only for his somewhat tenuous relationship with the Kraken, but also because the young dragon he has long watched over was there, working magic.

That was a sight to behold. To remember when he had only been an egg at the bottom of a pool. Nothing but a warmth inside a shell.

It is very difficult to clap with lizard paws, but Bahamut does manage it once or twice.]

In truth, I did not understand the meaning behind it. It was, however, visually a feast.

[He does not very much like the fish with legs, though...]

[krakened]

[ You know what he's realized after eighty hundred years? (It's eight, Ed. Just eight.) A lot of them turned into reptiles. Don't ask him why that is, but it seems to be a thing. There's Bahamut, Yinyue, Mythos over there, uh—

—Okay, three that he knows of, which isn't actually very many at all, but it feels like a lot more.

He appreciates Bahamut's attempt to clap, even if it's not all that effective. It's the thought that counts.

He slaps the dragon-man on his scaly shoulder with a damp tentacle. ] It's a fucking love story, mate. What's not to understand?

[ A second tentacle holding a bucket of popcorn chicken creeps under the dragon's nose. Want one? ]

— ◐ jerry.

[krakened]

[ You know what doesn't change after too many centuries? The ocean. It's just there. Big waves, lots of fish. Wet. Tides. Same old. Maybe he had a hankering for the land at one point, and yeah, a part of him is still after that (he swears he used to have legs, like, real legs, not the wriggly ones) but honestly?

He's pretty content. Yeah. It helps that he's got...friends. Arthur's pretty much always hanging around the lighthouse, Hilda sometimes comes fluttering through, and, of course, there's Jerry. Now, thinking back, Ed doesn't actually remember when they met, though he's pretty sure it happened somewhere in between the, uh, slaying of skeletons under the moonlight (the moon was fucking full most of the time for no reason) and a lot (a lot) of rum. Either way, they're friends now, and Ed thinks it's not that necessary to question how a friendship occurred. Besides, what's he gonna do? Point and ask, Remind me again how I started to like you? That'd make Ed a dick, and Ed doesn't wanna be a dick to Jerry.

Jerry likes to come floating by on his unicorn. Ed has natural floaties (tentacles), so the setup's ideal. Today, they happen to be floating in the middle of the ocean over where the sea dragons are. The sun's up, the water's calm. All in all, a promising afternoon. ]

Hey, uh, [ Ed spins in a slow circle. One tentacle is holding a bottle of rum and the other is holding a smoking pipe. ] you like musicals? You ever seen one?

[ The question comes slightly out of nowhere, but it's not like Jerry's thoughts are any less jigsawed. ]

[mathmetism]

[ jerry's floating about through the ocean, working on his latest cross-stitch masterpiece and nursing a double Route 44 sized bottle of Five and a Half Loko tucked under his arm. edward, everyone's favorite squidward, is along for this ocean tubing adventure past sea monster lane, doing their favorite bonding activity - substance use in ill-advised locations far away from any emergency services.

jerry couldn't make any more accurate a claim to when or how they met. taking a wild guess, it's somewhere between his jonah and the whale adventure inside nanaue's maw, and that time they woke up naked, tangled in kelp and mutually covered in mystery ink. there might've been a complex pool noodle construct involved, or maybe that was the time jerry was determined to build a sea-faring ninja warrior course. any ol' how, not relevant to the current topic. ]

Hell yeah, E-money, I'm still singing Little Shop in the shower. [ and just in case anyone in the next fifty square miles was doubtful, jerry leans his head back and belts out his best sentient man-eating plant voice: ] Feed me, Seymour, feed me all night long!

[ it's actually not half bad. he was in an acapella group once, you know. he wrote a five part rendition of WAP and performed it on the sidelines of his brother's first football game, just to make sure his father couldn't escape it. ]

Why, you wanna catch a play? [ his straw makes a noisy slurping sound at the bottom of his jug of 5.5 Loko. ] I'm down.

[krakened]

[ Ed is highly supportive of Jerry's foray into textile art. He gave knitting a go himself, thinking he'd have eight legs up with all the knitting needles he could hold at once. Downside, yarn and water? Shitty combination.

He's gone back to his cave carvings. Reliable artistic expression.

A third tentacle emerges with a wiggling fish from under the waves. Ed takes it into a (human) hand and gives it a casual smack. Then he starts scraping the scales off. ]

Oooh, good lungs. Very impressive. [ But— ] Nah, nothing like that. I mean, a play, yeah, but, I—we wrote it. A pirate story. It's got some fucking fantastic fights, crazy fish on legs. Hilda planted it in some writer's head. Thought we'd bless his career and all that. Wanna come?

[ Ed's confidant pitch comes with a blasé wave that means to say he doesn't care that much if Jerry will come, but also, deep down, he actually does. Care. A lot. Look, Ed poured his heart and soul into this thing. He's pretty fucking proud of it, so it's, you know. Important. ]