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D&D II Act One Scene IV(a) - The Dead in Osinzir

Fourier

The gondolas ascend to the top of the bridge, which spans about half a kilometer stretching over to the palace.

About a thousand armed guards line the bridge, arranged in pairs on each side. Dotted among the guards are statues of the nations former rulers.

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Banjo

"yes sir, I hope you may. Apologies for calling at such a late hour but I'm hopeful of winning the great Race and I'm following up on a lead on an advantage that might be found in the arch. I did not wish to trespass, so I seek permission to enter. I saw your cottage and thought it best to speak with you. Like, totally n stuff. May we enter?"

Fourier

Banjo wrote: »

"yes sir, I hope you may. Apologies for calling at such a late hour but I'm hopeful of winning the great Race and I'm following up on a lead on an advantage that might be found in the arch. I did not wish to trespass, so I seek permission to enter. I saw your cottage and thought it best to speak with you. Like, totally n stuff. May we enter?"

"My cottage of course..."

He extends his hand into the room.

"Come in and be careful not to step on the records and papers."

Hundreds of books worth of paper lie all over the floor in various heaps and piles.

Banjo

"well, I meant the arch but it'd be rude to refuse, thank you!"
She dismisses Mr H, has Hetyaro perch and let's the puma figure his own **** out. As she enters she makes a show of avoiding the papers carefully so as to try and get a better look at them.
"So, what is it you do, Mr.... Uh...." She trails off.

OldGoat

Fourier wrote: »

The pipe instruments begin to play a pleasant tune for Mags, an altered echo of his own. In fact it's his own tune improved quite a bit.

Mags applauds the flower trumpets performance.
"That was super, you guys rock."
He walks to the paintings and checks each in turn, gleaning what he can from the depictions and then checking behind the frames for any secret openings.

(If he survives) He then heads to the door to the east and goes through into the next room.

Fourier

Banjo wrote: »

"well, I meant the arch but it'd be rude to refuse, thank you!"
She dismisses Mr H, has Hetyaro perch and let's the puma figure his own **** out. As she enters she makes a show of avoiding the papers carefully so as to try and get a better look at them.
"So, what is it you do, Mr.... Uh...." She trails off.

OOC: Dex check

Banjo

Fourier wrote: »

OOC: Dex check

Ooc : rolled 9

Fourier

Banjo wrote: »

Ooc : rolled 9

Retula walks in carefully stepping around the piles, they seem to contain the details of peoples live, or at least the ones she can read do, which are a very small fraction of the total number there.

"These are the ones I'm currently processing..."

She then steps on one.

"...mmmmmmmm"

The trollish man clenches his fists.

Banjo

Retula gives a "my bad" shrug, palms out, trying a quick calming beholder-charm-eyebeam to diffuse the situation while apologising for her uncharacteristic clumsiness

Fourier

Banjo wrote: »

Retula gives a "my bad" shrug, palms out, trying a quick calming beholder-charm-eyebeam to diffuse the situation while apologising for her uncharacteristic clumsiness

The troll relaxes.

"Look the place is a mess, it's understandable, so what are you here for miss?"

Banjo

"As I said, I'm looking to access the arch so I can try to find the booster for the big race, day after tomorrow. I'm not sure what it looks like, what it does or where I'm likely to find it, but gotta start somewhere. You have a *lot* of papers. "

Retula tries to gauge the size of the interior of the cottage and compare it to how big it appeared from the outside.

Fourier

Banjo wrote: »

"As I said, I'm looking to access the arch so I can try to find the booster for the big race, day after tomorrow. I'm not sure what it looks like, what it does or where I'm likely to find it, but gotta start somewhere. You have a *lot* of papers. "

Retula tries to gauge the size of the interior of the cottage and compare it to how big it appeared from the outside.

It's a lot bigger, the room she has entered full of papers is several times larger than the exterior, the troll guides here through an arch into a room full of shelves stacked with paper upon paper.

"Name and how long have you been in Osinzir? Less than a week? Oh and race?"

Banjo

"Yeah, race - it's supposed to be pretty hardcore stuff. So what, you're some kind of archivist? This place is huge! Or did you shrink me? 'cause I'm already pretty tiny. Even for an elf. "

Fourier

Banjo wrote: »

"Yeah, race - it's supposed to be pretty hardcore stuff. So what, you're some kind of archivist? This place is huge! Or did you shrink me? 'cause I'm already pretty tiny. Even for an elf. "

"Ha! No my dear your race, but an elf you are then, not of this plane, I can feel that. I don't need your name then..."

He approaches a shelf and begins to flick through it.

"...not really an archive, more so applications. Oh and this place is partially in the afterlife. Ah there"

He takes out a form written in Osinzir orthography.

"Rotulha? That the name, or as close as Osinzite can get"

Banjo

"close enough. So is this how I sign up for the race then? Any small print I should know about?

So you timeshare with the afterlife? Weird. Is it all one big afterlife or are you tapping into the bit they send choirboys? Wait - you're not dead are you?"

Fourier

Banjo wrote: »

"close enough. So is this how I sign up for the race then? Any small print I should know about?

So you timeshare with the afterlife? Weird. Is it all one big afterlife or are you tapping into the bit they send choirboys? Wait - you're not dead are you?"

"No, I'm an Oni, I make sure the dead go where they're supposed to. The Osinzir afterlife isn't like the simpler faiths up North. In Zassan it's easy, they just go that 'Great Journey' desert plane and 'find themselves' or whatever. The dwarves basically go to a idealised version of their normal lives.

Here, there are one hundred and fifty seven afterlives, depending on social station, god worshipped and conduct in life. Wonderfully they all believe I sort the whole thing out, only part of the beliefs that hasn't changed over time. Fine when they were a village, but an empire of fifteen million. Phew!"

He stamps a massive REJECTED symbol on Retula's form.

"There, you've been refused passage for your soul into the afterlife, unless it's housed in your body. You're immortal here in Osinzir"

Banjo

"I'm what???

Wait, is all this paperwork other peoples' souls that you're avoiding sorting cause it's too much work?"

Fourier

Banjo wrote: »

"I'm what???

Wait, is all this paperwork other peoples' souls that you're avoiding sorting cause it's too much work?"

The Oni pauses. Looks at the ground. Then with cheeks reddened from embarrassment admits:

"Yes"

Banjo

"Woah! But what happens if there's a fire or a flood or something? Would all these people suddenly die and get stuck in some administrative pergatory, 15 million souls all clamoring to be at the top of the line to go to their preferred strata of afterlife, as long as you put their ex-wife a few floors below them? Dude, that is a biiiig axe just waiting to fall! What are you gonna do?"

Fourier

"It's fallen a bit already...I'm two generations behind to tell you the truth."

Banjo

Ooc : history power activate! Would she know about how Neros is built on land reclaimed from someone else's afterlife?

Fourier

Banjo wrote: »

Ooc : history power activate! Would she know about how Neros is built on land reclaimed from someone else's afterlife?

OOC: Yep

Banjo

"well of course you have - 157 levels, complicated socio-religious factors to judge, millions of souls, and there's only you! - it's ridiculous. But it's going to end badly. If the afterlife doesn't get a steady stream of souls it's going to weaken. If you're lucky some of the lower strata will unite and tear apart some of the nicer bits but what if it's outsiders? Another afterlife? Worse - solids! Neros is always looking to extend it's borders, what better way than taking it from the Jewel of the south? That's a metaphysical **** you on a cosmic scale, there'll be war, and where will all the dead go? ****ing Neros, that's where!

How hard you think managing the afterlife is going to be when it's a series of unconnected 30x30 cubes you've had to throw together in a hurry?

We need to do something fast. Is there someone we can talk to? Do you have a predecessor or a protegé or contemporaries?

Hey! What if we do something else? What if *we* unite the kingdom's of the afterlife, then everyone goes to the same place, and all you have to do is slowly, tastefully and mercifully start reinstating peoples' access so they can pass on naturally? And once the backlog is cleared, let them restratify on their own terms, like a soul trifle!"

Fourier

"Uniting the kingdoms....one has arisen who stands a chance, though he seeks to slip from death to accomplish the task. The magic of the living is stronger you see."

He pauses and thinks.

"Even Osinzite gods die and deal with me, even those whose raw power exceeds my own. I have no superiors within Osinzir myth.

I do however if we pass to those who lie outside a single faith, the higher gods of this plane, the manifestations of principles....they came before sentient life, we have not spoken in a long time.

What you say is a real danger though, Neros is already a magnet for collapsing afterlives. The ruins of the eight Soetradian hells fell there when the religion dwindled."

He bites his lip with worry.

Fourier

OldGoat wrote: »

Mags applauds the flower trumpets performance.
"That was super, you guys rock."
He walks to the paintings and checks each in turn, gleaning what he can from the depictions and then checking behind the frames for any secret openings.

(If he survives) He then heads to the door to the east and goes through into the next room.

The music god, from the paintings seems to be a happy figure who only helps mortals or comes to their aid. The art doesn't match the typical Osinzir style, nor are the music gods instruments Osinzir in origin. Probably a preexistent god absorbed when the empire expanded.

There is nothing behind the paintings.

The eastern room is full of living musical instruments conversing in manner that makes the whole a symphony. Upon seeing Mags they become agressive for a second, but calm when theu approach closer.

OldGoat

After examining the paintings Mags muses that the god looks a lot like his uncle Bacchus.
"Good evening instruments. Everyone in fine tune hopefully? I'm searching for a thing that does something in a race. I wonder if any of you fine instruments would know anything about it?"

He wonders to himself how he could pose the same question to the instruments using a drum pattern in case the instruments don't have common as a language.
Could he perhaps phrase in in musical notation?
His head aches at the thought of thinking so much.

While he's talking to the instruments Mags looks around the rest of the room.

Banjo

Fourier wrote: »

"Uniting the kingdoms....one has arisen who stands a chance, though he seeks to slip from death to accomplish the task. The magic of the living is stronger you see."

"No no no, that's no good. Unite the kingdoms, make the job easy, fine but if he's crossing over well that's just making a mockery of everything you're trying to do here, isn't it? No, him we have to stop. Maybe after he's done most of your work for you though, eh? What do you know about him?"

He pauses and thinks.

"Even Osinzite gods die and deal with me, even those whose raw power exceeds my own. I have no superiors within Osinzir myth.

I do however if we pass to those who lie outside a single faith, the higher gods of this plane, the manifestations of principles....they came before sentient life, we have not spoken in a long time.

What you say is a real danger though, Neros is already a magnet for collapsing afterlives. The ruins of the eight Soetradian hells fell there when the religion dwindled."

He bites his lip with worry.

Manifestations of principles? Like survival and death and eating and ****ing and fear and all that lizard brain stuff? Hey, I know a god of death! I walk his dogs for him when he's out of town! He so owes me a favour or two. You think he could help? He absolutely flips when people die, he'll definitely be all over this, I bet he can get you a local contact who can help you out.

Don't worry, dude, your afterlife is going to be fine, I've got your back. We'll clear the backlog, maybe split those kingdoms up just a little so you're not out of a job but its still a job you can do, and then start knocking off some Ozinsiri to test the system. Copacetic! And before you ask, no I'm not some wandering altruist, I'm really hoping that maybe you could see your way to helping me find that booster and win the race?"

Fourier

OldGoat wrote: »

After examining the paintings Mags muses that the god looks a lot like his uncle Bacchus.
"Good evening instruments. Everyone in fine tune hopefully? I'm searching for a thing that does something in a race. I wonder if any of you fine instruments would know anything about it?"

The Cello speaks to Mags through his music. It speaks of beauty and secrets.

OldGoat wrote: »

While he's talking to the instruments Mags looks around the rest of the room.

There is a door leading to a performance stage at the NorthEast edge of the room.

OldGoat

Fourier wrote: »

The Cello speaks to Mags through his music. It speaks of beauty and secrets.

There is a door leading to a performance stage at the NorthEast edge of the room.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or indeed in the ear of the behearer. You might not realise this but some fail to perceive the beauty in a discordant note or see the appeal of a dead rose. Now you have me waxing lyrical and soon I'll be spouting poetry or turning Goth.
Tell me more of these secrets though, is the secret something I can see or can hear. Is it something I can win, earn or buy?"

Fourier

OldGoat wrote: »

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or indeed in the ear of the behearer. You might not realise this but some fail to perceive the beauty in a discordant note or see the appeal of a dead rose. Now you have me waxing lyrical and soon I'll be spouting poetry or turning Goth.
Tell me more of these secrets though, is the secret something I can see or can hear. Is it something I can win, earn or buy?"

The Cello and the others play a song of victory and the anthem of the North and East winds, in the Zassanite manner.

Subtle Orcish undertones weave their way through the music, heavy notes of conflict.

Fourier

Banjo wrote: »

"No no no, that's no good. Unite the kingdoms, make the job easy, fine but if he's crossing over well that's just making a mockery of everything you're trying to do here, isn't it? No, him we have to stop. Maybe after he's done most of your work for you though, eh? What do you know about him?"

"Processed his application eight hundred years ago, that's about it. He used to rule a kingdom to the East of Osinzir, but died fighting them when they expanded. He knew their tactics as he had been a general with them in his youth."

Manifestations of principles? Like survival and death and eating and ****ing and fear and all that lizard brain stuff? Hey, I know a god of death! I walk his dogs for him when he's out of town! He so owes me a favour or two. You think he could help? He absolutely flips when people die, he'll definitely be all over this, I bet he can get you a local contact who can help you out.

"If you're talking about pretty boy, I know him well, who do you think comes grinning with the empty application forms.

What's his bloody job anyway, natural processes take care of death anyway and the dead are drawn here, he what? 'Guides them here', pffft just speeds things up a little, so what if they wander as ghosts for a decade or nine, I'll get them in the end"

Don't worry, dude, your afterlife is going to be fine, I've got your back. We'll clear the backlog, maybe split those kingdoms up just a little so you're not out of a job but its still a job you can do, and then start knocking off some Ozinsiri to test the system. Copacetic! And before you ask, no I'm not some wandering altruist, I'm really hoping that maybe you could see your way to helping me find that booster and win the race?"

"Okay, well the booster is your immortality, but I'm thinking of upgrading it"