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

[icariot]

[He has, in fact, jumped from larger heights in his escapades. Somewhere, some offbrand version of YouTube probably has compilations of him doing such things.

Ah, she's one of Tsukuyomi's classmates, isn't she? That makes the decision to grab her hand easy, on top of the benefit of collecting more information.]

You're Tsukuyomi's classmate at UA, right? It's nice to see a friendly face here. [A broad smile, and some brushing of snow off.] That's even better news, too. I can't say I'm enjoying the feeling in my wings currently. [Forneous...?] I may have a mutant-type quirk, but it's not infallible. You think this Forneous might have an explanation for what happened?

[whiteshroud]

Mm.

Let me know what you find out.

[That's right he's leaving Ledah to do this. Interacting with people is good for him!]

[whiteshroud]

[Jun sighs. That sounds like homework but he knows he's right]

I suppose you're right. It is relevant information if we're expecting them to continue on without intervention from gods...

[He pauses thinking]

Aside from Barbatos, the gods of this world take a more direct approach to governing than the gods of my Earth. There's no doubt that removing these gods will cause Teyvat's society to destabilize in the short term. Which makes the feelings of the people now all the more important.

[Since they're the ones that were going to endure the brunt of the transition period. Their ways of lives are the ones being sacrificed]

[beatnest]

[ sept please im dying. ]

Huh? Well, yeah but what's that got to do with dead people?

[beatnest]

But isn't the extraordinary exciting? Everyone gets bored of eating the same thing over and over again.

[ He's not quite circling but he is shifting his weight from one foot to the other. ]

[beatnest]

I think most jungles are like that? [ Considers this then realizes he has absolutely no clue here so #yolo. ]

You don't like the humidity? It can get really annoying.

[fortuna_tenax]

( if jinx wanted to, she could very well realize elsa real. but the denial is strong and she's already moving past that. )

Hm.... Not sure how I feel about fighting things so soon when I barely understand how this thing works, but eh. Sink or swim, right?

[fortuna_tenax]

Gotcha.

( mass panic... bad. they don't need that! not that she was going to go about talking about having been in contact with a god anyways. oh wait speaking of mass panic, she no longer had her ability to incite just that... not. that she was doing that anymore. )

So- these... "visions", they're like magic? Or something similar?

[justicefang]

Directly how? I've only known two immortals on my earth. Both acted directly through different means. [He thinks that over in a visible pause. He acted directly in the lives of Beastmen. Not as a god but as a man hunting down criminals and fools. Maybe other immortal beings are doing the same for their people?

He puts it aside to nod once.]

Yes, it does. ...Even something as small as what they'll tell travelers is a bit more information. It's leg work but, this is important.

[whiteshroud]

[He almost says something about gods =/= immortals, but really that's semantics and Jun isn't that interested in diving into that right now. Especially since it might just be his world's definition. So. Let's focus on Teyvat.]

Openly, I mean. Take Liyue for example: once a year their Archon, Rex Lapis, will make a public appearance during the Rite of Descension. During this rite, he will advise the people of Liyue on what to do for the next year financially. His words are taken as prophecy, are carefully analyzed, and they greatly affect the course of Liyue's economy.

[He's not going to mention that Rex Lapis is actually among their group now, he promised to keep that quiet. But of course he read up on how grandpa manages things]

By contrast, the last time my Lord directly addressed the public was 2000 years ago, and 1400 years ago through a prophet according to Islam. [So. It's been Awhile.] While He watches over Earth and will intervene sometimes by subtle means, He'd never do something as overt as the Rite of Descension.

[In other words, the Teyvat gods are VERY direct in their governing...besides Venti]

[justicefang]

[He internally does the math then nods once. So Rex Lapis advises and people bend themselves towards his words. It’s like the Cult of Silver Wolf but there doesn’t seem to be anything sinister about it. Humans do tend to be more...flexible than Beastmen.]

I see. [He crosses his arms over his chest as he says,] I think I understand now. So each one has put their hand into the development of their people in one way or another, all of it in the open.

Except for Venti. [Each nation would have a God’s hand in it. And that makes him glance away in thought, seeing another time and place. If Nirvasyl had had a guiding hand would it have-]

...each nation we see. We need to make sure they’re ready to be on their own. I’ll do all I can to help find that answer.

[whiteshroud]

Mm. And even Barbatos will intervene in his own way, he assisted us during the incident with Duvalin.

[He gives a nod] Yes, that'll be important to assess. But no matter what, we'll be drastically changing their way of life. Without any gods, there won't be anymore Visions. And there'll be no one there to provide divine intervention in dire situations.

Can any nation be truly ready for that? ...I don't know.

[missingache]

That sounds like the story of my life.

[Fighting is very much a normal occurrence.]

I don't even have a weapon. So it'll be interesting if we're forced to.

jinx says the braincell is hers now

[fortuna_tenax]

... Okay, let's not march off into the death mountain just yet.

( at least she's laughing a bit, because of course they're impulsive kids like this. )

There's gotta be something here in the camp to fix that.

she'll make better use of it

[missingache]

[Impulsive is a good word. Reckless is another for Roxas.]

I hope so. I'm used to having two blades.

[Will the people here be okay with them taking some?]

Do you need a weapon?

[fiddlestick]

That's alright. Different friends like different things? So I'm sure you'd be able to come up with new things to say.

[Since really, the main point was just to give him something to write about- a way to connect to his friends even when they're far away]

Good thought. Wait until we're back at camp at least.

[fiddlestick]

Oh, you don't have to apologize!

[Really no harm done! He tilts his head as he looks at the drawing]

What a strange looking seed. Then again, it is magical so I guess that's to be expected...

[justicefang]

...I don't either. My experiences with humans have been from outside your nations and on the outskirts. That I've seen, people adapt no matter who or what they are. I can't speak about non-humans or non-beastmen.

[He spreads his hands apart and recrosses them.], Whatever happens, will be messy there's no way out of that. That's all I can say for certain.

[missingache]

That's true. I could always just write about the food here.

[Since this food might not be what he's used to from back home.]

It'd be easier if we had working phones. They have notepad apps.

[justicefang]

It could have something to do with it being from something 'created' for one purpose.

[There's always a tell. Or so he believes, anyway.]

But this makes it more noticeable. Something in our favor.

[dispassionatedevotion]

[ Another momentary silence came—this time from the Grim Angel as he considered Zhongli's reply carefully. ]

The majority of Celestia's gods seem to act far different than the ones I am accustomed to. It has been illuminating in some ways—though of course, not for the better in regards to holding them in high esteem.

[ Even though the gods from his world had long since perished, he didn't think he could imagine them doing this. They had given themselves so freely, without hesitation—their body and souls—in order to ensure that people and light would persist.

They would not have begrudged people due to wishing to advance their civilization or deem themselves so above communication with mortals, he believed. Though they too had kept their secrets and even though he served them, there were things in the War that concerned them which would be better to not see the light of day. ]

[dispassionatedevotion]

That it does.

[ That's going to be fun to find out...either way, Ledah will agree with the thought. The fact that many people had died was painfully evident that not many had made it out unscathed.

At Claude's comment about "divine retribution", that was something he found himself in agreement with as well. But, a simple thread of curiosity struck him, expression unreadable. ]

Have you been witness to divine retribution before?

[dispassionatedevotion]

[ At the very least Ledah had been planning on approaching Forneus once more at some point, so it's one subject on his mind to present to the god. Maybe among some other things, because there were always things to question...even if he wasn't the greatest at asking them in the first place just due to his wonderful socializing skills. ]

Yes, we could in the event that there's not enough available. Though, I understand if neither of you two would desire to venture back into the cold, and so I would be perfectly capable of handling such a task myself.

[ Ledah believed that he's not doing this because it was out of concern for their wellbeing, but because it'd just be logical for him to take care of it due to him bringing it up in the first place. But anyway, they'd have to see what was available at camp first. ]

[fiddlestick]

Ah, yes. That's always a option!

[he does hope this kid finds more to talk about than just THAT but...whatever!]

Oh, my phone works actually [What] Though I think I'm still more comfortable with actual writing than typing.

[fiddlestick]

Maybe.

[he shrugs. Whether it was intentionally designed to look like that or not, it doesn't matter much]

Yeah, I'm not complaining. The smoother this goes, the better.