♥ October (Lasohm) Fourth Wall Log

[hugtopiamods]

October (Lasohm) Fourth Wall Log

❥ Speaking of Wall Breaking...

The ghosts in town sure are weird, huh? But they're settling down, as the month draws to a close. They're becoming less anxious and random, their behaviour growing sort of… focused. As time passes some of them begin to develop features. They can interact with the world more consistently. You can… hear their voice.

And then suddenly they are people, real and physical and just as confused to be here as you are. They could be anyone, from your world, someone else's world, a place you've never heard of… some of them could even be you, from a different universe, a different timeline, an unknown reality. What does all this mean?

IT'S FOURTH WALL, Y'ALL. Tell your friends, people interested in apping or just playing around in the setting, anybody! Time to break the wall down and have some fun.

This post serves as a replacement for the usual Test Drive Meme, in order to consolidate the chaos a bit. Though it is being posted now, timeline-wise, this shift will occur ONLY during the weekend prior to applications opening: October 30th to November 2nd, after which point characters will either disappear or become permanent residents via the application process. This also means that the rest of the event effects will have worn off, and characters will be their normal selves through the duration of this prompt.

Some ground rules for the 4th Wall event:

For characters/accounts not in-game:

• a character does not have to meet application qualifications to post to the 4th Wall Event, except in cases where there is an intent to apply when applications open. Duplicates, CRAU, AU, etc. are permitted for the event.
  
• we do ask that crack shenanigans are reasonably limited, game rules are followed, and that the event involve characters only, not players or real people.
  
• anyone can toplevel! It'll be a free for all. Go wild, have fun.
  
• characters will be given a temporary, low-tech communicator for the duration of the event with limited network access, due to limited availability of the real deal.
  
• you will not arrive with any items/companions beyond the clothes that you wear
  
• check out the Setting or FAQ pages for location details! Also, have a look at the October event log, to see what else is going on these days.

For characters/accounts currently in-game:

• players can decide for themselves at the event's conclusion whether or not memories of certain visitors remain, and to what extent; memories could become fuzzy, faces or communication obscured, they could disappear entirely, or they can remain fully intact whether the person apps into the game or not.
  
• network communications with 4th Wall visitors that don't (or can't) app in will be wiped, with the locals citing a data error related to the older communicators being used. Technology can be unpredictable, huh!
  
• any communication exchanges that you WANT to keep can remain with some discretion; for example, if a spouse visits and you happen to take a selfie with them, and they do not (or cannot) app but having that photo of them would give you comfort, feel free to keep it.
  
• Similar to the TDM, 4th wall threads cannot be used for AC or AC Reward purposes unless it is between characters already in-game.
  

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Click the above prompt to expand for details. Timeline-wise, this occurs October 30th to November 2nd. For players currently in-game, if you have any questions, please direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread on the original plotting post.

On this post, we've created both another Questions Thread and a Toplevel thread (see below) for visiting players, the latter so that anyone can track and see who's posted! When you've made a toplevel, feel free to comment HERE to let everyone know.

Comments

[lunaelucem]

[Lunafreya lets her own hand slip back to her side. She watches him steadily, unblinking as she accesses him.

The Ardyn she knows would've made a grand gesture, a sly threat hidden under witticisms. Rage and cruelty simmered just under the surface of his mask. This Ardyn has none of that, and she knows what she felt just now. Like the Wall that had covered Crown City, or the fortress-like Citadel, the darkness she'd been expecting to pour out of him had been blockaded instead. Guarding and protective in feeling like King Regis' magic had been, with a similar twinge of desperation behind it.]

No. You're right. I don't think you are. Somehow, you are him from before the taint took irreversible hold.

[scourgingstars]

...Yes and no, I think I would say to that. It is true that I am no longer what one would call human, but...I am not what you know me as.

[He took half a step back as if to give her space, leaning over in a slight but deferential bow.]

I am--was a healer by the name of Ardyn Lucis Caelum; elder brother to the man known as the Founder King. Your ancestor--the first Oracle was a very dear companion of mine.

[lunaelucem]

[Her body, so used to formality, automatically moves to pay her respects as well, one arm over her chest as she dips into a curtsy. But her face is twisted in a rare expression of confusion, and she doesn't bother to hide it from him. From one sentence alone, he's alluded to a whole side of history that the gods and Gentiana have never spoken of, that she's never been taught.]

I know much of the Founder King and Lady Aera's story. But I know nothing of yours. If you're speaking the truth, then that is...a considerable oversight from our historians.

[She looks like she wants to say more, but a quick glance around the temple and its curious occupants looking their way has her smiling wryly.]

Perhaps we could find somewhere else to speak.

[scourgingstars]

I think I would like that, if you would tolerate my company.

[A short but thoughtful pause, then:]

I know a cafe not terribly far from here, if you happen to like cats at all.

[lunaelucem]

I've yet to find a reason to find you intolerable.

[Even after getting murdered by his future self's hand. She feels a sliver of trepidation in her heart, but in the end, the spiritual, trusting side of her decides to follow her instincts. And so she offers her his hand, waiting for his arm to lead her forward.]

I've less experience with cats than dogs, but I find them charming. It's rewarding, in a way, to earn their trust and affection.

[scourgingstars]

They're quite personable creatures. And it's unlikely we'll be interrupted by anything other than them, if that might set you at ease.

[He gave her his arm with only the slightest hesitation, offering a small and awkward smile alongside it.]

And if nothing else, you seem as though you might benefit from a place to relax for a time without mice trying to trip you.

[lunaelucem]

[Lunafreya idly wonders why her skin is so chilled, as if it's still touched by icy Altissia waters— but decides to ignore it, keeping her expression light and amused to counter Ardyn's discomfort and her own heartbeat, tapping double-time at being so close to him.]

You mentioned earlier that they aren't normally so aggressive. Has something disturbed their god? [A small furrow forms over her brow.] I would offer my aid to her, if there is something I can do.

[scourgingstars]

Oh, I've tried. [He sighed quietly, shaking his head.] I fear prayer doesn't do much, this world's quadratheon seems fueled solely by physical contact. I'm not quite sure what could be causing this particular unusual circumstance.

[lunaelucem]

Physical touch. [She blinks, glancing down at their joined arms.] How peculiar. But then, I suppose our own Gods would seem peculiar to another from a different world.

[She has to admit that she's rather fascinated just from what she's already observed, and an even quieter part of her is surprised that she's fascinated. It's been a long while since she's been actively interested in anything outside of her normal routine and duties.]

Is there no need to involve ourselves? I noticed the priests were concerned, but not panicked.

[scourgingstars]

The occasional peculiarity isn't all that unheard of. No doubt it will pass soon enough, with the usual such method in place of appealing to the gods directly.

[At the very least, Ardyn didn't seem much more concerned about it than the priests were; at this point, he'd seen stranger around here.]

[lunaelucem]

[He's so matter of fact about it. She's silent for a moment, absorbing this information, and the part of her soul that had been prepared to throw herself in aid of the world goes still.]

How fortunate that it can be solved quickly, then.

[No need for prophecies or saviors. Imagine that.]

If that's the case, I suspect I'll have more time on my hands than I originally thought.

[scourgingstars]

It does tend to be a little quiet here, most of the time. I find it peaceful, for my own part, though I suppose it does end in a fair amount of spare time.

[lunaelucem]

[A peaceful Ardyn. That is something that makes a part of her soul go still, too, but in a gentler way.]

And how much of that spare time is spent escorting women to cat cafes, exactly?

[scourgingstars]

Wh--it's not like th--I'm--

[Worse and far more surreal, an abruptly flustered Ardyn.]

...You are every bit as much a menace as your ancestor, I hope you are well aware of this.

[lunaelucem]

[It's definitely a baffling sight to witness, and for a moment she's startled like a deer in headlights— but it's such a genuine, human reaction from him that she can't help her own.

Her lips curve up in a dainty smile.]

I couldn't say. But I'm honored to be compared to Her Grace, regardless.

[scourgingstars]

[He let out a quiet, almost embarrassed laugh that sounded both natural and yet completely alien to what he would eventually be.]

...I'm sure the most charming points of some people never quite manage to make it into history. Terrible shame, that.

[lunaelucem]

I have no doubt. And I'm sure you have much more to say on that subject, as well.

[She glances at the storefront they've stopped at, completely decked out in cat paraphernalia.]

Shall we sit? Perhaps you could enlighten me on yours.

[scourgingstars]

Ah--yes, of course. [He led her to a table, one of the cats almost immediately jumping into his lap for attention as per usual the minute they sat down.]

...Where should I start? It's rather...a lot to contend with.

[lunaelucem]

[Though she's new and strange to the cafe cats, it doesn't take long for some of them to linger around her ankles too, and a couple of them lay themselves out in front of her on the table. She sets her hand against a calico's head, gently stroking as she considers Ardyn.]

Wherever it feels right for you to start. I will listen to the end.

[scourgingstars]

Well...let me see if I can cover the general course of events in broad strokes rather than labor over every detail. It's all rather unbelievable, I'm sure.

[He thought over his words, idly scratching the cat behind its ears.]

As I said--I am Somnus' elder brother, and was granted the divine power to heal our world of its plague. He and I...often conflicted, regarding how best to save our world and its people. And as with most conflicts left unresolved, things rather escalated until he saw fit to be rid of me.

But I-...well. An Oracle with a similar power, you must already know the truth. I was already more daemonic than human when my brother confronted me, and my following death only cemented that I would be no longer human or mortal at all.

[He folded his hands uneasily, trying not to think too hard about the scars lancing through both palms.]

I awoke in Angelgard, and was there for two thousand years--until Verstael thought it a good idea to investigate what I later learned were the legends of something my brother had chose to simply name 'Adagium'. That 'Ardyn Lucis Caelum' didn't exist in any recorded history. I was in Niflheim only a scant few months before I came here, and that's the broadest picture of it.

[lunaelucem]

Two thousand years.

[Lunafreya's voice is quietly aghast, a sorrowful weight suddenly crushing her chest. Suddenly it's no wonder to her that the mild-mannered man before her could— and did— become the one who orchestrated so much chaos in Eos.

As a child, Gentiana had once indulged her and spoken about what it was like to be a god. It'd been in riddle-speak, as Gentiana was wont to do, but Lunafreya had been left with a deep impression of how endless an existence it was. Time stretching out, centuries of memories blurring together until they were a facsimile of what used to exist, impossible to recall properly save for the knowledge of the feelings that went with them, instead of the feelings themselves.

No mortal psyche could possibly bear that, or even a fraction of that— and yet Ardyn had, all while the taint of daemons kept working itself deeper into his soul.]

You deserved better than that.

[scourgingstars]

...I hear that on occasion.

[From just about everyone who knew the whole story; so far, everyone had believed him for reasons Ardyn himself couldn't begin to guess at.]

I suppose it must be true enough.