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

[pragmatism]

I see.

[ A more meaningful reiteration of what he had just said; an affirmation and acknowledgement. ]

Is there anything you wish to ask a god such as I?

[beatnest]

[ Pout. ]

Huh? I already fight with them, and I'm not going to try to eat any of them. I am getting hungry though...

[ #firstworldspider problems? ]

And I'm weird even if some of them don't seem to mind.

[pragmatism]

[ Zhongli closes his eyes, then opens them again. There's a lot that he wanted to tell Jun, but could not. The boy will just have to find out in time. ]

It will be quite a while before we get to her nation. For now, it would be wise to focus on the task at hand. I have asked Forneus to give everyone a short reprieve before we embark on the mission proper, so you will have time to explore Liyue as you please.

[whiteshroud]

[ ... !]

Really? You mean I'll get to visit Liyue as a vacation after all?

[Sure he'll have to do a mission there eventually, but close enough...!!]

[fortuna_tenax]

( no, no, that's pretty much what she meant too.

jinx follows along, though she makes a point in observing the camp around them as they pass. she's not sure when her nerves will ease enough for her to reach out more to others, but there's no way in hell she's saying anything about that. )

Eeeexactly. Sink or swim is kind of a bullshit method anyways. Can't trust whoever threw you in will be able to save you if you do sink.

[fortuna_tenax]

Eh, we'll see.

( just because they're her age doesn't mean they'll get along. she'll play it by ear for now. )

[we can end here ofc, i just wanted to get this out]

[fortuna_tenax]

Could be worse. They could all just be outside.

( not that she doesn't expect some to be out there, but like... not all of them. that's the key thing here. adjusting her own winter gear, she sighs. she's not much happier about the idea of leaving the old house herself. )

Right, I'll keep an eye out... let's go.

[evilisnotatoy]

[Good to know they're both on the same page in multiple respects.]

And even if they do, you're more likely to come out of it fearing the water rather than gaining a healthy respect for it, which does more damage both to your survival chances and your relationship. Outside of very select circumstances, it's a sign of a bad teacher.

[He pauses a moment.]

...Do you like tea?

[missingache]

.... is it one you'll share one day or not?

[missingache]

[Crane grandpa will get yelled at if Roxas finds out he was singled out by him!!! He thought they got along well...]

[missingache]

I know how to text, just not on the gummiphone. I texted Sora and other people a lot with the phone in South Sister.

[His gummiphone might just have a similar layout and he just learned about it a few months ago on a different phone.]

[missingache]

... I thought they were just food.

[He knows nothing about bananas other than they are mushy and a little sweet, and that he'd rather have ice cream.]

[sufferean]

[...Ah, Ledah. Ever focused on the mission.

Normally, there's something about that that's a bit off-putting to Rean, and he's definitely not-so-secretly hoped that by aggressively friendshipping at Ledah, he might be able to snap him out of that mindset a little.

Right now, however? It's appreciated.

After all, this isn't the first horror story Rean's had to fight through because it's been assigned to him. Sure, it's vastly different from the others, but it's not so far removed as to be a completely new experience. And every time before this, he's had to bottle everything up and just force himself forward.

So it is here, too. And while it hurts, knowing that he isn't alone in doing so... it helps, at least a little.

Rean's quiet for a little while longer, before closing his eyes and finally pushing himself to his feet.]

...You're right.

We have to keep moving forward. Relentlessly. If we don't...

[He shakes his head.]

No. I won't let all of this pain be for nothing.

[He sounds more certain with that than he has with anything this entire conversation. He turns his gaze over to Ledah.]

...I'm going to go speak with Forneus. He called us here for a reason. And I think we both know what that reason is, but I still have questions.

[dispassionatedevotion]

[ For a moment he's silent, and then he seemed to look at Claude. Really look at him, and just nodded. ]

...No, it isn't.

Though the world is unfair, this wasn't necessary, and could easily have been avoided. The fact that it wasn't, speaks to the true nature of the gods involved in this.

[ An emotion that felt almost foreign due to its intensity gripped him every single time he thought about how Celestia treated the people here like this. It burned in his throat, almost. Honestly, he's been good at keeping it in check for now, but it's been kind of harder without the full power of his Diviner in play.

He'll turn away from Claude. ]

Let's finish our business in this place as soon as possible. I can only imagine if we are here too long it would not do well for any of us.

[dispassionatedevotion]

[ Usually, Ledah would just state it immediately and plainly, but he wanted to make it clear what else he had to say besides his request in light of recent events.

As he spoke, there's a slight inflection to his voice rather than the usual flat tone. To those who may not know him, it kind of just sounded like he was slightly annoyed, if anything. ]

You already know who and what I am.

Though I have accepted your mission, the fact remains that you are my benefactor. My life had expired when I took a deadly hit meant for my friend, Ein, but you are the one who raised it. Even if it was a means to an end, I am in your debt. And even though it will be cleared once I have completed this mission, I would be ungrateful if I allowed you to sacrifice your life without saying something against it.

I have no doubt we have strong-willed people among us who could find another way other than the plan you have outlined. But even so, when this ends I want you to accompany me to my world, meet Ein, and spend some time there. That is my request.

[ He decided that in the end he didn't care what happened to the gods who were involved in the decimation of this town in that he would be fine with those ones being destroyed. But he would never be fine with Forneus destroying himself. ]

[nefilim]

I suppose so, my dearest Forneus.

[Will that tilt him as much as it did her? Unlikely, but she's still doing it anyway.]

Though yelling and punching you wasn't the only thing I came here for.

[With that, she places her hands on her hips and leans closer.]

You sparred with Jun the other day, right?

[extinctive]

Ah, I should've been there to watch you all up close. Sounds rather exciting.

[ just popcorning over the sakuga-level fight scene she'd had against two swordboys. ]

I'm glad you were able to snap out of it while you can. It's a dragon with a nasty curse, after all. I'm surprised it was even possible to get him out of your system in the first place. [ hmm. ] But can you still feel his presence inside you?

[icariot]

Nice to meet you, Uravity. I look forward to working with you. [Never too early to get some networking in, and he really needs it.] I haven’t worked with Eraserhead before, but I’ve heard of him. This could be some kind of variant on his quirk? Hard to say without others to compare to— my quirk isn’t only my wings.

[Maybe he’ll elaborate, maybe not. There’s only a handful of people who know the full extent of Hawks’ quirk and he isn’t quite ready to drop that advantage, useless as it is right now.]

Gakskfn god I’m so sorry. Life sucks

[icariot]

[Time to shift his wing out of the way, so he can see past it to where Tsurumaru is standing. Ugh, he feels like he’s blindfolded. Going along with Tsuru’s mood, Hawks chuckled and smiled ruefully back at him. ]

You’re right; if I started higher, I might get more flapping time. That might help wake ‘em up.

[icariot]

It’s nice to know it’s not permanent, even if I’d rather not have the problem at all. [He’s much too used to being his own super highway to have fun being grounded like this.]

The name’s Hawks. You are...?

[stellafortunamods]

Dyou think you could change, though? There's always a future that you can improve on?

[ first world spider problems indeed... ]

[stellafortunamods]

[ Forneus just looks at Ledah for a few moments. ]

I am touched you would go this far for me, even though I don't think I've done more than simply offer you payment for your services.

[ But maybe, he's had a change of heart. ]

I can't promise I will endure in the form you see now, but I will try to leave some part of myself behind so I can fulfil your request.

[stellafortunamods]

I did.

[ And he doesn't need to be a God of Time to predict what she wants to say next... ]

[pragmatism]

Yes, you will.

[ He's gonna bonk Forneus with a mountain if he doesn't agree, that's for sure. ]

[whiteshroud]

[rip forneus.

For a moment, Jun's at a loss for words. The truth was, he'd lost hope of actually getting that vacation ever since he learned of his purpose here. He was meant to be here as a Seal Knight, a useful pawn in a mission of utmost importance. This was no place for childish dreams, he understood that.

And yet Zhongli had actually...

Today had already been an emotional day for Jun, so maybe it was just hitting harder than usual. But when finding the proper words to convey his feelings fail him, he does the next best thing. He jumps off that tower he's on and down towards Zhongli, fully intending on hugging him but his lack of hugging skills means it's more like a glomp from a dangerous height. Probably a good thing Zhongli's made of rocks or it would've ended badly for both of them.]

Thank you, Grandpa.

[His voice is quiet but it's so sincere and heartfelt. Sure it was just a silly little vacation, but the fact Zhongli did this means a lot to him.]