WEEK THREE MINGLE 2.0

[grigori]

ahnkeen: week 3 mingle in the sands of time

32 Remain

Waking up this morning will reveal some unfamiliar surroundings. The soft ripples of the canals and dulcet tones of otamatone fade from your ears, replaced by a steady, dry breeze and the ambient noise of the local populace filtering in through open windows. Another thing you'll notice is that it's warm - very warm. Light dress is recommended here.

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 house, a bit on the older side but still comfortable. The decor is neutral and inoffensive, much like you'd expect of a place that sees many visitors.

Unlike the previous worlds you've visited, Ahnkeen is a bustling, busy place, full of people of all sorts - and not all are human, so please check your biases at the door. Though the world around them is dry and scarce of resources, the market town itself is alive and well, business booming, and the merchants here keep a close eye on their wares in case of any thieves.



Traversing down the streets of the housing district are the Temporals. For the most part they seem ready to receive everyone. Throwing their hands into the air and meandering down Rameel will be spearhead the introductions this time—their puma daemon trailing behind them. As an extra treat, they'll even seem to have their “black box” from previous with them this fine morning on full blast.

"Hello, hello everyone! WELCOME TO AHNKEEN!! The home to the great markets...probably. I hope more of you are used to these scenery changes by now, and by popular demand are your favorite Temporals. We've changed the set for the hat trick, but we won't stop there."

Satariel is standing close to Yomiel, their undercloak absent and their daemon raven-formed on their shoulder - it squawks after Rameel yells the welcome, but they offer everyone a warm smile. They do reach over to... turn down the "black box" of Rameel's, without looking, smile still intact. "For those of you that kept your things from previous worlds, especially the treasure from our adventures underwater, you might find that they come in handy here. We are in a market, after all."

The last Watcher has also shed their undercloak, staring at Rameel while their polecat daemon chitters. "Anyway," they turn to the rest with a vague gesture at Satariel. "Try not to steal too much this time. The last few worlds were pretty quiet, but you might run into trouble with the locals here if you keep that up."


With the new week, travelers will find that they are no longer connected physically and emotionally to another participant. As opposed to being drawn to one person in particular, they'll find themselves with the need to be physically close to any other participant they speak to. Go on, hold their hand, get your snuggle on - it'll make you feel better. This effect lasts all week.

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Comments

ANHKEEN

[malewife]

[perfectdistance]

Flat ’n I went out to the outpost and the buildin’ that’s beyond it. No people out there, but that’s not too surprisin’. Not much in the way of animals either. Plenty of bleached bones under the sand. Looked like there were exploded trees, but when we picked up some of the pieces, they were stone.

The outpost seems like it’s been unoccupied for a while. There’s sand everywhere, and where there wasn’t sand, there was dust. City's full of people who are casually passing through from different worlds through portals. Stuff we found was old and broken. Saw the memory glass from the last world, a shattered glass orb with an angel wing emblem, I… think there was an angel idol, but it was in bad shape. Didn’t see much in the way of hidden notes, but there was some kinda parchment with the letter “N” and “K”. And… an arm of somethin’? Coarse fabric, might be a toy or some kinda doll.

The buildin’ further out looks like it’d been in a war. Bricks are still solid, but there are holes in ‘em. There’s just a single cot in there from what we could see. There was also an old smudge of blood against the metal door.

[senjinrouha]

Wait, there’s memory glass here too?

[ … ] Was it obvious where it came from? The orb itself or something else?

[perfectdistance]

It was old 'n chipped, but it looked like the same kind we saw from the last world.

The angel idol... kinda reminded me of the one from the first world.

[escardos]

I kind of wanted to pull the arm out, but Mister Nero wouldn’t let me.

[ awkward chuckle. ]

But I think this was something that fell on this city. Like one of those “calamities”.

[perfectdistance]

Don't go yankin' out arms.

[rerouter]

[After the conversations above, Monika looks pretty worried to say the least.]

... I think something really bad is going to happen to this world soon. Yesterday, when A-Qing and I traded some of the locals for information, someone brought up a group that was getting involved with higher beings. We couldn't get more details, but... It sounds similar, doesn't it?

And then, we heard a couple of comments about other worlds that have gotten attacked or gone completely silent. One of them a world with a lot of strange glass. [She bites her lip, looking around as to make sure their emotional support NPC Lup isn't here to overhear this part.] ... That's totally Otamo, right?

[senjinrouha]

[ fffffuuucccc--- ]

...

Yeah.

It must be, right?

[ fuck, those kids from the catacombs... ]

[rerouter]

I'm hoping they meant the calamity. But it's not like we can go back to know for sure.

[yueshen]

[ ha!!! haha! this is fine! ]

... A calamity has already happened there - that has to be it.

[evocationary]

[she's probably not here but

oh]

[senjinrouha]

[ not here either but covers her ears

and eyes.

hey i just met you. and this is crazy. but don't listen for the sake of your mental health. ]

[uncoincidental]

[oh. bad.]

...maybe... maybe they just seemed to have gone silent because so many of them went underground.

I wrote a message in a bottle to one of the people I met there on Monday, so I'm hoping they're able to write back... I don't know how long it would take if they are. One of the shopkeepers mentioned the mail has really slowed down lately.

[booksleeves]

[. . . Oh no. Oh god.]

This whole world could be. . . all of the people here?

[bloodyromance]

...So maybe it's not the worlds that are empty that get wiped out after we visit, but the populated ones.

[He frowns. Bad.]

[allyship]

[oh.

hm.]

[voltadomar]

[Kim writes some things down, and keeps his gaze down at his notes while he processes that. A few moments pass.]

Did they say anything specific about that group?

[uncoincidental]

I went with one of the shopkeepers - the one who makes... robots? I hope that's the right word... - out to look for supplies in exchange for him making things for me, and we found some ruins. I didn't get to look around a lot because the wind was really bad, but I found some stuff engraved on them.

[pulling out the paper she wrote it down on!!]

y bring their blessings to th

ome and go as ever, we still have yet to learn h

seen in other worlds, not solely our

ust other patrons, not so reve

he snake protects us sti

[her nose wrinkles a little.]

I don't really have enough context to know what all of them mean, but I think the last one is "The snake protects us still." Which...

[just... glancing... at the big honkin' skeleton...]

...seems significant, since the locals don't really talk about that whole thing much.

[callalilies]

bring their blessings

Mmm, sounds like our mysterious and destructive angels.

[perfectdistance]

[He'll give an attempt at the other lines]

They bring their blessings to th...his world? Them?
Come and go as ever, we still have yet to learn how?
Seen in other worlds, not solely ours?
Just other patrons, not so revered?

... Maybe?

[burnstrike]

Was that snake some kind of guardian for this city? I was thinking they'd just built the place around some huge monster they'd killed, but...

...If they think it's still protecting them, I hope the angels don't get jealous.

[lefthandpath]

Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi, Xie Lian, and I went out to check into the church with all the mosaics. The first one pictures a garden where what looks to be angels and humans lived together peacefully.

The other mosaics were damaged, so it was difficult to make out some of it, but... there were scenes showing a rain of red with swords and spears coming down upon the garden, a serpent looming over the garden, and finally, the garden laid to waste in ruin... but with people still rebuilding in spite of that.

Whenever we tried to ask anyone about it, people nearby became very strange. They'd say that the church was from a long time ago and no one practices whatever religion it's for. And when we tried to push them more, they'd get even stranger. They all said things like “...was it worth it?” and “How long can someone live from the light?”

[he fidgets a bit, right hand rubbing over his red left arm.]

It... the mosaics looked to be depicting the story of what I know from home, somewhat. The Garden of Eden. The War in Heaven. The Serpent. But I... don't know if it's the same?

[callalilies]

It sounds like there are a startling amount of similarities. Could you tell us about this story as you know it? We can compare, perhaps.

[reflash]

My brother and I were raised in a Catholic monastery. [Yukio's here to help explain.]

I can help confirm details of the version of the story I'm familiar with.

[arcsplainist]

[ Alphinaud shakes his head. ]

Forgive me, but I do believe it safe to claim it is not the same. 'Tis the history of this world—on that, I can almost be certain.

If you'll remember, a group of us came upon tapestries that looked quite similar to what appears in the church when we were still present in Krankaz: angels, of course, and a city that was on land rather than in the sea. I later discovered during our... ahem, venture, you may call it, that it was in fact a piece of Krankaz's history ere it sank into the sea. After hearing Xie Lian's experience, it becomes clear that with every new city we visit, four of us are whisked away to experience its past.

Loathe as I am to say it, it may very well happen to more on the morrow.