MAY MINGLE

[stellafortunamods]

May Mingle: Entombed City
Welcome to Teyvat - a vast magical world of adventure.
Everyone's hard work resulted in the gate to upper Dragonspine opening. These ruins have not been traversed in years, if not centuries - everything within has been lost to time and living memory. An entire city has been buried in the snow.

People once lived there. The broken buildings host damaged furniture and weathered streets. There are various cloth-covered mounds in a house here and there, accompanied by a sprig of blue flowers. Someone has laid these people to rest after they passed away.

Traces of technology can be found in the city - golden boxes that contain crystals capable of recording and playing back holograms. One of the boxes introduces this place as Vindagnyr; a land once full of greenery and life. Just what happened to these people? What caused the eternal winter?

The highest point in the city is occupied by a temple built into a Domain. Within the Domain is a pale white tree, split in half by a strange object that has fallen through the Domain's ceiling. This temple was once a site for worship for Vindagnyr's people, and even in death they continue to pray for salvation. The priests have been frozen in ice, and the sheer cold emanating from the Skyfrost Nail makes it obvious that it is the cause of winter.

The city's inhabitants worshipped Celestia. Why then were they left to die?

State of the World

On October 1st, the entombed city of Vindagnyr becomes open for exploration. Travelers can choose to look for clues or try to scavenge the city for ancient materials or tools. Recording boxes all around the city tell stories of Vindagnyr's greener past, and of the days when winter suddenly arrived. This is the cruelty of Celestia that Forneus wished you to see.

For all questions regarding May's mingle and events, please head over to our OOC post.

Comments

I

[nefilim]

Sucks, huh.

[Is the helpful comment from the young woman watching nearby, her own wings folded around her to help keep her warm. In most cases she would've laughed at seeing someone go into the snow like that - but she's sympathetic enough to his plight that, for once, she doesn't.]

It'll come back eventually, but you'll be stuck walking for a while.

[nefilim]

[At least Zhongli is a good influence. Besides the whole "not carrying money" thing.]

True. The church does like to use ten words where one is enough.

[And she'll hold back on the church bashing for today, too. She's not even in the mood to do that much.

And at first there's only a low hum in response, letting the silence hang for a moment before giving Jun a sideways squint.]

... Just don't tell anyone else I said something like that. [She has a reputation!!!]

[justicefang]

It might be a good idea to look. Or at least look into their libraries. How much they put into legends and what they list as history could be a good alternative.

[Maybe. He has dedicated himself to his own people and doesn’t really try to figure others out. Until this place. He spreads his own hands.]

I stay out of politics too. But information gathering is part of my work. [Between them they might find something.]

[pragmatism]

[ He says nothing, watching Jun crack the adjacent wall. It doesn't make the building likely to come down on them, so there's no need for him to intervene. Celestia's surgical attitude isn't unfamiliar to him either - once upon a time, he too was like them.

When Jun looks up again, Zhongli will give him a knowing, tired look. ]

[fiddlestick]

[Elliot nods. Yes Ana you got it, same page!!]

Yeah. Remember how Duvalin was infected with a curse that drove him to lash out on Mondstadt?

That curse came from the dragon whose remains lie on this mountain. It's too cold to spread easily here, but anyone that does get infected would likely face a similar fate.

[nefilim]

Hmm... So if we want to unfreeze the mountain, we'll need to find a way to suppress or purify the curse.

[Which means. She should eat absorb some of it, in order to get a better understanding whenever she gets her usual powers back. If they haven't dealt with it by then, of course.]

[pragmatism]

[ Zhongli never forgets anything, including the pattern and construction of Figaro's coat. He had noted what went on between them, but did not consider it necessary to comment on it. He had also noted Persie's absence throughout the Dragonspine expedition. ]

Good evening. I am fine. And you?

[ He might as well ask her now. He could guess at her reasons, but they would only be guesses without confirmation. ]

[whiteshroud]

Tell me about it.

[The sheer number of times "this could've been an email" was true when dealing with the church, honestly. But he won't elaborate further than that.

But...seriously Ana? He gives her a look. Even if you can't see his face, it's pretty easy to guess it's a "r u serious" expression because first why would he tell anyone, and second hoping people rest in peace isn't that wild a take.

So in the most deadpan of tones:]

Alright. I'll tell them you started cackling and monologuing like an anime villain.

[pragmatism]

[ Zhongli's own opinions about Dragonspine aside, he's been trying to get a better perspective of the mountain's ley energies. What it tells him is that the Cryo injected by the Skyfrost Nail has become deeply intertwined with the native earth, making it almost impossible to separate the two.

He notes Ana coming closer through her footsteps, though he doesn't speak until she addresses him. ]

Will they? [ He turns around, his voice calm but with an undercurrent of Tired. ] I do think I will have to come clean about that sooner or latter.

[nefilim]

[Look. Look.

She pretty much proclaimed she would kill god back home, okay. That was A Lot coming from her, and also she has to ruin any kind of nice thing she does always.

And the dry tone does little to deter her, easily responding with a nod and a just as dry:]

Good, I hope you make it clear just how heartless I was.

[nefilim]

[She notes the tired, but doesn't comment on it just yet. Considering where they are, she would be surprised if he wasn't feeling a bit drained about... all of this.]

It's literally deadly levels of cold and you're wearing a suit. [So that's a yes.]

But you're right. I doubt you can hide it for long, especially now Mr. Time seems to be hanging around. [She wouldn't be surprised if he mentioned to someone that there was another god among them.

And she lets the silence hang for a while longer, absently looking over the snowy landscape before focusing on Zhongli once more.]

How're you feeling?

[whiteshroud]

[Without any intervention, Jun will punch the wall a few more times with the same force. The cracks grow, and a couple pieces even break off. Luckily, the structure of the building still holds.

Finally, he backs off. It's only then does it sink in that punching walls with your human fist tends to hurt your hand. Especially, as he briefly forgot like a true moron, when you don't have super healing ability.

Shit.

Well, he's wearing gloves, so maybe Zhongli won't notice- or so he hopes. He just does his best to pretend like he's not in pain, loosely crossing his arms (read, nursing his injured hand) and looking over at his grandpa. Yeah, he looks tired - no need to bother him with this]

...So what now?

[whiteshroud]

[Jun gives a nod as he continues walking. They can see the door of the domain now, almost out of here.]

Yes. Not sure what the part about you making a coat out of puppies had to do with anything, but it was a focal point of the speech.

[nefilim]

[Now that gets a laugh from her, the light of her fireball illuminating the rest of the way.]

What's more terrible than a coat made out of puppies? I had to emphasize it somehow.

[And once they reach the door, she doesn't hesitate to shove it open - glad to be out of there, away from what remains of that tree and what surrounds it.]

[fiddlestick]

Yeah. So I think we should do that first, and then think about ways to unfreeze the mountain.

[Alas, Elliot has no idea what terrible ideas he's giving Ana because he's a sane person who doesn't think anyone's first response to a corruption curse is to EAT IT]

[missingache]

Yeah. [Roxas pauses for a moment.] It makes me kind of wish I could keep in contact with people in other words. I could record it and send it...

[nefilim]

[LOOK ELLIOT SHE DOES IT ALL THE TIME BACK HOME, IT'S FIIIIIIIIINE. And it's not like she can eat it. Yet.]

Maybe there might be clues in the city... That, or we can ask Mr. Time.

[whiteshroud]

True. That's one way of doing it.

[He steps out of the domain without looking back. It's still cold out here, but not nearly as cold as in there- so he can't help but make a relieved sound at the perceived warmth. ]

... Thank you, Ana.

[nefilim]

[Oh. She wasn't expecting to be thanked.

There's a lot of things she could say in response, but after a moment she just shrugs and waves a hand.]

You don't have to thank me. But you're welcome. [Not completely dismissive, at least.]

Though are you gonna be warm enough for wherever you're heading to next? [Since she plans to keep exploring around the city.]

[whiteshroud]

[Ah, so she's not the most comfortable around thank you's either. Well Jun can relate to that, so he won't push it further and leave the thanks at that.

He pauses at the question]

...Yeah. I don't think it'd be a good idea for me to hang around the others too much right now, so I'll probably head back to Mondstadt.

[The city is bad enough, but once word gets out about what's inside the temple and what happened...Jun gets the sense a holy knight is the last thing anyone will want to be around. Not to mention, he still had his own emotions about this to sift through. That alone was difficult enough.]

[fiddlestick]

[He can relate to this. This would be much easier if he could at least call the other members of Class VII or his family...]

Why don't you try writing letters to them? I mean, you can't send them right now, but you can always show them when you get home.

I find it's a good way to feel like you're talking to people you miss.

[fiddlestick]

[he considers for a moment]

...Forneus is probably our best bet. The city seems like it's from a time before Durin, so I don't see why there'd be any clues about the curse there.

[dispassionatedevotion]

... I see.

[ He didn't feel it worth giving congratulation for the gods to not completely exterminating the people because that felt like a low bar. Yes, he was absolutely judging them, though a part of himself felt as if it weren't his place. That may be because he was created to serve gods. ]

Has there ever been an instance where they have reached out in previous cases like Vindagnyr? Or has it all just been the same?

[dispassionatedevotion]

[ He had been rather so focused on Ana he hadn't anticipated Elliot, or maybe he did at least take notice of his presence, but felt like it wasn't necessary to expect a response from him. Though at the very least now because the healer spoke up, he had information that it would be a fool's errand to try anything.

There's a strange emotion welling up inside of him. He's seen bodies before, so that in of itself wasn't the problem.

But there had been different reasons for that, and they were expected, as well as the problem or issue able to be something that could be immediately confronted or dealt with. But this...was a different beast. Though he had once told Ein he was jealous of him, he was beginning to become reacquainted with why emotions could be a hindrance.

So for a moment he stared silently at the bodies, letting the two talk it out. Ledah was a soldier, he solved things with stabbing and killing, so them thinking up a resolution was fine to him, especially since it gave him time to think things over.

Then, he turned to them both, gaze mostly neutral with a hint of frigid along the edges. ]

We cover the bodies in the meanwhile, then. If something is able to counteract the corruption, we can deal with this further, as you have both suggested by having a talk with Forneus and then going from there. I didn't bring anything to cover the bodies with, however.

...There could be something back at camp, so unless either of you two have something, let's go. There's no point in dithering around in the cold uselessly, and I expect neither of you two to do any such thing.

[ With that said rather nicely, Ledah turned his back to the two, and began to walk back. They could continue chatting as they moved away from here; he could only imagine the cold would bother the two more than him, and though he could feel it himself, he wouldn't so much as give a shiver. ]

[dispassionatedevotion]

I considered you may have thought of them because it has something to do with our objective.

[ Even if Byakuya was terrible, Ledah still viewed things for the most part in a logical manner, whether or not this was having a little bit of an effect on him or no. ]

But, the reason why I asked you this question is that I imagine you would have a unique perspective on the matter. [ Beat. ] I find I wasn't in error.

[ Yet, it was disappointing, though he supposed expected. If Byakuya thought further along the matter, he would likely keep such things to himself, as those thoughts or opinions may be bound to be the opposite of helpful and alienating to allies, him included. Or perhaps he still expected too much of him...he seemed to be a monster, after all. ]