WEEK TWO MINGLE

[grigori]

otamo: week 2 mingle melodies of m̸̜̭̝̥̉̈́̃ë̴̱̪̣́͑̀m̴̫̀̌ǫ̴̝͔̞̉̈͠r̵̭͚̳͑́͋ḭ̶̲̋̇̒̔e̶̬̓̄̅š̷̮̪̙̈́͠ forgotten canals

36 Remain

Waking up this morning will reveal some unfamiliar surroundings. Gone is the ancient city—which many learned had come to be named Krankaz—and its salt-caked, rusted, ruined world. Your beds are more comfortable, your things stored away in much finer rooms where light filters in through stained glass. Did you miss sunlight? Fresh air? There's much of it to be found, here. But there seems to be... music faintly playing from somewhere, at all times? Sometimes, the song changes, but it's always of the same quality. How strange...

You all awaken in your beds—although they aren't the beds that you found yourself falling asleep in previously, and you might not even see the same face as you had the previous night. But one by one, as you filter out, you find yourselves in a dusty mansion, this go around. It's almost eerie, with the music in the background softly playing, but it's easy to tune it out as you begin exploring the new world that you've all found yourselves in.

Much like your previous worlds, this one seems a little sparse, in terms of population. Unlike the last one, though, you'll find other occupants—just not here, with you now. But the bright colors of moss, coral, flora, and fauna are replaced by the bright color of stained glass and greenery, a world filled to the brim with life in a different way. The soft rush of water can be heard everywhere along with the melodies of this city, little water mills constantly running even in the canals, though some of them and the machines here seem to be in a little disrepair. Shall we?



In the foyer of this grand mansion, your Watchers of the week can be found—the Celestials. They're ready to receive you, and hopefully see you through this week more safely than the last two. Good morning!

Baraqiel speaks up first, this time, thick cloak closed around themself completely to conceal their wings, and daemon perched eagle-formed on the banister of the stairs. "We've got a name right off for this one, unlike the last one. City's called Otamo—do all of us and yourselves a favor and don't break anything that actually keeps the lights on. Maintaining a city is hard enough without everyone bringing it down around us."

Daemon on their shoulder in squirrel form, Suriel has a smile and a wave for everyone. "It's a nice place, too! Or it was, once. And the music's great - just like being in a video game! Ah, but try not to break into everything? Or at least try put it back like you found it, please."

Resting on Shamsiel's head is their daemon, and they start the day with a polite smile for everyone. "And like always, we're here to help you however we can. So, please, you know how to reach us should there be anything you'd need."

That seems to be all, but before you're released off to go exploring—Baraqiel has one last thing to add: "They're too nice to say it, but I'm not: stop asking Suriel for anything involving blood, whether it's power-related or for food. If you want that shit, ask a different Watcher, and ask Suriel for something else."

Suriel has some quiet protests to that, but they seem to go ignored.


With the new week, travelers will find that they no longer have minor control of the four major elements. Instead, they'll find that they have an unbreakable connection to another participant, one that reveals something many of you work hard to hide. You feel what they feel, and they feel what you feel, both physically and emotionally. What will you do when faced with the terrifying ordeal of being known? This effect lasts all week.

Additionally, there's an aspect of this world you may want to take note of—around the city, primarily in the canals, are broken panes and shards of glass that are... different. These can be retrieved out of the water, or off the banks, or from broken fixtures to no detriment to yourselves. However, you'll find that interacting with them shares a fragment of a memory from your point of view with those around you, genuine and true. The music of Otamo adapts to each memory, and may drown out any spoken word in the memory (though you may play with the intensity of this, to allow for some dialogue to be audible), but with how most shards are small enough to be held in the hand, they have a transportable potential to them. You may bring your memshare to others, whether by accident or on purpose.

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Comments

[lefthandpath]

Isn't it more that people important to him were essentially held hostage?

[quiz]

Is that what he said?

[lefthandpath]

That's what I heard from others.

[quiz]

Then that's unfortunate those people since he couldn't hold up his end of the bargain.

Well, I guess he did, but... [ waves hand. ]

[lefthandpath]

It depends on how the bargain was actually struck, really...

[quiz]

He did do his job, I guess.

But we caught him... so what does that mean for the people that were held hostage? They're just let go?

[ If her tone comes off as finding that hard to believe, it's because that's exactly what she's thinking. ]

[lefthandpath]

If they got what they wanted, there's no reason to keep them hostage.

Waste of resources if they want someone who has more difficult conditions to spur them into action.

[quiz]

[ She sighs.

A second passes, her lips pressed into a tight line before she asks: ]

Then it'd be perfectly fine to kill them if they got with they wanted, right?

[lefthandpath]

It depends. They might be bound by certain rules--that's why they have this whole system set up in the first place.

If the deal was "I kill someone, you let my important people live", then there's quite a bit of wiggle room. But if it's "I kill someone, you don't kill my important people", there's a bit less.

That's assuming that they're having to adhere to the letter of the agreement, of course.

[quiz]

Well it sounds like even if he didn't agree to the terms himself, there was no way of denying them, either...

Haaaa... why'd that guy have to go and make it impossible to be mad at him?

[lefthandpath]

Unfortunately, he was not an indecent person.

[trickedges]

It didn't sound to me like they were being held hostage when I spoke with him. It sounded to me like they offered something he wanted, which was to go home -- in order to protect his friends at home.

That said, [ he clicks his tongue a little, the falcon on his shoulder beaking though her feathers for a moment, ] his wording did leave a bit of room for interpretation. It could have been both.

[lefthandpath]

If he can't go home to protect them, that means they are in danger. So... in a sense...

[trickedges]

Actively endangered where only he can take action to protect them and passively so simply because his world is at war are different things, I feel. We saw that his sense of responsibility was ... notable, at trial.

[ Bertolt, out here just letting Akira wail on him. if he just thinks it's his job to protect them, versus him actually having to protect them from the angels... Hm. ]

[aono]

Every time I ask the Watchers questions, they keep telling me that they can't say anything. So there might have been stuff he couldn't say too.

[trickedges]

Then he would have deliberately lied to me in that case, because he explicitly told me that he thought he could tell me everything.

He could have been like the Watchers and told me he couldn't say things. He did not.

[aono]

Huh...maybe it's less that he couldn't, and more that he didn't actually know much?

[trickedges]

... I don't know. What I do know is that an angel of dust approached him and compelled him to listen as it asked him to help keep order by talking out the other side.

With the idea of going home sooner and protecting his friends as incentive. I even asked about threats versus compulsion.

His answer was that there were no threats made at all.

[aono]

...he said that? That he was told to help keep order?

[trickedges]

His words, not mine.

But that's just more of the same story we've been told since getting here: that the Celestials and Temporals are in dispute, have been for a long time, and each of them thinks the other poses a threat to the worlds, or something like that.

[ ... isn't it? ]

[aono]

No, I think it's more than just that.

The Watchers told me a little bit about each 'side'. The Temporals see the Celestials as people who will come in and wreck the balance of peace and order, while the Celestials think the Temporals are dangerous because they stick to the rules too strictly and it puts other worlds at danger. That's what the conflict is. So if he called it 'keeping Order', that's probably important.

[A short pause, and then:]

Though uh. One of the Watchers said that they don't really believe any of that. That's just what they were told.

[lefthandpath]

... that sounds like the complete opposite of their personalities.

[trickedges]

... Hmm. That makes sense, though. We know what Nine's alignment was. And if Bertolt got it wrong, as Power said, he was also the same. An angel on that side asking him to keep order sounds about right, if what you say is true.

That said, it ... really does seem the opposite of the Watchers' personalities, doesn't it?

[ Rameel out here as a bastion of Law and Order, clearly. ]

[drinkingproblem]

So they're just like the new hires with half a handbook, huh. Least that's the image they've got.

[There are like three? Four parties involved in this now?? This is way too much factional politics for a bunch of shounens to disentangle.....]

[booksleeves]

I asked him what would have happened if he refused. He told me he didn't know, as he accepted the offer.

So whether he was compelled or whether he was capable of refusing. . . it's not something we have the answer to just yet, I think.