spoofer: (tower)
Xistentia: Mod ([personal profile] spoofer) wrote in [community profile] xistentia2017-05-31 11:00 am

Mingle Log #1: Landmarks of Xistentia

Characters: All characters who opt in
Summary: A party to mark the first wave of incoming characters in Xistentia, punctuated with weird physics and an unexpected trip to the heart (or mind) of F.A.T.E.S.
Date(s): Late May 2017
Warnings/Notes: Sexual content and other potentially offensive or triggering material to be noted in headers.

Mix and Mingle
Landmarks of Xistentia

It starts with the daemons, because of course it does. At sunset, they begin to ring and beep and urge you to follow directions through the city. For those with animate daemons, be they animals or people, the programs are even more intrusive. Pushing and pawing and urging you to get up and go. The destination is not far from the first reclaimed parts of the city— a tall tower covered in overgrown moss and trees, located near the beach, the Westernmost edge of the city. Even with the chaos of vegetation growing over it, it's clear that the building is a miracle of technology and style.

"Connection is essential," the daemon tells you. "However, genital contact is not required."

You have reached the Central Citadel, and it's time to party!

EARLY BIRDS

But F.A.T.E.S. is as susceptible to peer pressure and trendy trends as anyone else! Early birds will find that the atrium lounge is a true mess at first. Birds nesting in the ceiling, thorn plants all across the floors, and the bottles and cups at the white bar are empty. As parties go, this sucks. However, within a few minutes of the first arrivals, changes begin to overcome the club area visibly. It is exactly the same as the way the city has begun to accommodate the visitors, but far more accelerated. Soon, the lights begin to power on, filling the room with ambient illumination. Plants recede, but do not disappear entirely. High above, the ceiling suddenly morphs to display the starry night sky. And most importantly of all, there's booze.


With any luck, someone around here knows how to bartend, because F.A.T.E.S sure does not. Various liquors from across the multiverse are available, along with drink umbrellas, speared olives, mixers and wedges of fruit. However, the cocktails that automatically fill the glasses vary in taste from acceptable to horrific. Luckily, the bar does not keep anyone out.
FASHIONABLY LATE

If you're more than thirty minutes late, the kinks have worked themselves out. The party is now in full swing. F.A.T.E.S. has surrendered drink mixing duty to various refugees[1], resulting in much more palatable alcoholic beverages. Someone even found chicken fingers, which are making the rounds.

However, it appears that the invisible supercomputer is still trying to DJ. Predictably, the music ranges wildly based on the listeners-- one moment, you have 17th century lute music; the next, Trance. Blink 182 may even make a brief auditory appearance. It is not particularly easy to dance to this nightmarishly incoherent soundtrack, but it does provide a cross-section of multiversal experiences, for those of us who care about that kind of thing.

Alternatively, you can explore. The Central Citadel is filled with odd rooms. In the presence of only one or two explorers, the tidying effect doesn't happen nearly as quickly. Characters may find jungle-eaten conference spaces, computer laboratories, or even more sophisticated situation rooms thronged with vines and flowers. Somehow, the screens and monitors seem to work just fine with blossoms poking out of the harddrives. Rooms with beds are available as well, some of them already pre-carpeted with romantic roses. You might also find your way into a gym, where slightly rotted bokken and a dusty boxing ring nonetheless make for an interesting way to meet people who aren't into roses and laptops.
BONUS ADVENTURE: THE TEMPLE

Characters who meet new CR at the Citadel have a special experience. When the two (or more) individuals get to talking, their daemons both abruptly interrupt with a very important, not at all loaded question. "Do you want to see something cool?" If the daemon was too big to come inside, the question is posed via earpiece or whatever other device.

The correct answer is "Yes." And with that, the characters are abruptly transported to The Telexistence Temple, on the Easternmost edge of the city. The sudden quiet seems deafening; the darkness is almost blinding before one's eyes adjust to the lines of light running through the tall stone walls. It is much cooler here than it was at the Central Citadel, but it has its own eerie dignity.


"In the future, this is where you may access information about your worlds. Recovery information, save points, and both passive and active world entry points are located here." A beat. Possibly the daemon is watching you stumble around. "Most of the tools have been disabled in order to prevent damage from inebriated users."

However, two pieces of technology continue to cooperate. First, a huge slab of glossy black stone the height of a desk, emitting holographic Head Up Display upward, the Chronological Cartographer. Your character must touch the device. Immediately then, a bright flowing diagram of data begins to spin through the air, whirling with lines and circles and familiar names. It is a chart of the worlds your characters have lived in before and the people they have met in the past timeline. The splitting point to Xistentia is clearly marked, and your future here is a red line wavering in darkness. Toy with it a little, and you'll even be able to pull up significant dates, friendships, enemies. Moments of transformation. F.A.T.E.S. remembers it all, and it is only a quick teleport from the Citadel. (Fortunately, it is also a quick teleport back.)

Second, there is a monitor with another HUD. It displays a HUD with a single prompt: Amenities needed?[2]

Starting the next day, the Temple will be accessible to all characters at all hours. Those granted access the night before will be able to find their way back with companions.



Footnotes
  1. Some may be NPCs! Please avoid killing or maiming them without mod discussion first.

  2. Go here and fill out the form, reply to that comment, if your character is going to take F.A.TE.S. up on the amenities request.
fiachdubh: (Default)

[personal profile] fiachdubh 2017-07-12 02:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Hm.

[ Ronan takes another drink from the bottle in his hand, looking at its contents critically before throwing yet another look towards Adam - he won't like Ronan getting obliterated, but there's also the fact that they're here, now, without Gansey, and with very little plan. If there is a time to get plastered, it is now, Ronan is pretty sure. ]

Well, we have magic. Magicians and demons and dreamers and magic highways and kings. You might just not be aware of the magic in your world.
fiachdubh: (009)

[personal profile] fiachdubh 2017-07-12 02:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, how nice.

[ It comes out more bitter than he means it; his face closing up a little. It hits too close to home, the fact that he's never really bothered telling anyone, ever, about his sexuality, a mix of indifference and taboo. He never lied about it, but never told the truth of it, either. Because it shouldn't make a difference.

She's right here. She's talking about something different, but that has the same kind of explanation.

But it's not as easy for Ronan to say out loud that it shouldn't make a difference. He lives it, every day of his life, and doesn't say it, because it doesn't make a difference.

And yet, he knows if he started talking about it, it would. ]


Can't tell if it's naive or delusional, or both.
fiachdubh: (022)

[personal profile] fiachdubh 2017-07-13 09:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ronan's nostrils flare for a second, his face locking up in anger, before he forces himself to relax. He's fucked off about other things, and taking it out on this guy is not going to help anyone. Especially not Ronan himself. ]

Whatever.

[ He turns back, shoulders tense. Maybe when he's cooler headed and not just coming out from yet another fight with Declan, he can try this again.

Or he can just walk away and keep on not giving a shit. Yes. ]
fiachdubh: (Default)

[personal profile] fiachdubh 2017-07-13 09:43 am (UTC)(link)
It's hard not to. Focus on it.

[ Especially when one isn't a programmer, or a biologist, or any kind of scientist. He may know where he is, and why, but the how is what sticks to him.

He sounds angry, but it's not directed at Amanda. He's reminded of watching Gansey die, Adam sacrifice himself. It's different, but not different enough. World view, reframed. Dangerous thoughts. ]


It's not all that easy to not focus on it. Where would you start to figure out how to fix anything?
pillz: (hay)

your chosen icon is very nice (now cw misogynistic!! stupid!!!! comments)

[personal profile] pillz 2017-07-14 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
[the hand stays afloat for a long, exaggerated moment, as if kavinsky is really trying to give her a chance to turn this interaction around. not that she's obligated to, of course. he's generally awful, even when he isn't trying to be. after a conversationally awkward pause, he finally drops his hand, lets a shrug knife up through his skinny shoulders. his eyes crinkle into a smile.]

Hey, man, [he says.] I'm listening. I can tell you don't dig the anti-Semitism. Horns. No ears. I got it. Put the fuse on the tampon out.
tangleofgarlands: (little stranger)

[personal profile] tangleofgarlands 2017-07-14 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
[When she swoons, Arthur instinctively reaches out to steady her with a hand to her shoulder--he's been to enough parties to know what it looks like when someone's had a bit too much to drink, not that he can fault her any for that; he's a little tipsy himself. Beyond bracing her, though, he doesn't mention it.]

It's as good a guess as any. I don't have any better ideas, anyway. [He smiles, though, shyly--with someone familiar, it feels a little more like an adventure than a disaster.]
astralera: (Default)

ty! i need more angry faces but alas, ps4 broke. :( tho i think only kavinsky would get them tbh

[personal profile] astralera 2017-07-14 12:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[ she doesn't quite understand what this man is saying, but it is undoubtedly rude. she had been working under the assumption that he would realize that no, she is not from his world and does not know what vernacular he is using. her tail flicks with irritation. ]

Perhaps you can find a mirror to speak to instead, as I am finished dealing with you.

[ she gestures to her daemon with her chin, and the carbuncle is quick to jump onto her shoulders from where it had been watching from a polite distance. the glittering trail of aether that follows it lingers in the air for a moment, then fades away. ]

Let us find some place quiet, Emeraldd.
fiachdubh: (Default)

[personal profile] fiachdubh 2017-07-14 02:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Paranoid.

While it does sound unlikely, the way Axel puts it, Ronan still shrugs, mouth stuck in a half-smirk. ]


Do you wish there was? Magic in your world, I mean.

[ He shrugs again, thumb playing with the lip of the whiskey bottle in his hand. ]

Another name for a ley line. You heard of them? Straight lines of energy that crisscross the world.
hasitsthorns: (Aɴᴅ ɪғ ʟᴏᴠɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀ ɪs)

[personal profile] hasitsthorns 2017-07-15 02:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It was awkward and terrifying at first, honestly. It took her finding the right people before she was able to really enjoy - and ultimately, appreciate - all that Eudio had to offer. ]

It was, actually. Also, don't ask me about the Science... I didn't really get it either, but it seemed to work for them.

Well. Until the end, anyway. What was where you're from like? Just average Joe life or-?
hasitsthorns: (Aɴᴅ ɪғ ʜᴏʟᴅɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀ ᴍᴇᴀɴs)

[personal profile] hasitsthorns 2017-07-15 02:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Rose isn't naive enough to think that it doesn't change people's perceptions. She goes from being a happy-go-lucky, rock 'n' roll loving roadie to a monster with a simple word. It shouldn't matter, she thinks, but she knows it does. She's been almost killed over it several times, even. Had assumptions made and conclusions drawn just because of what she is.

But then she went to Eudio, a place much bigger than her own world. A mish-mash of different realities able to work together and live peacefully despite all their differences. It gave her hope that maybe what she was didn't truly define the whole of her. It was only a small part, not everything. And ultimately, what she was was such a small part of her that she really believes now itshouldn't matter.
]

Probably a little bit of both. I've been called both, anyway. What can I say? I'm one of them new-age hippies, I guess. Peace, love, let's all just sing Kumbaya and get along.
hasitsthorns: (Aɴᴅ I ᴡɪʟʟ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ᴍʏ ᴡᴀʏs)

[personal profile] hasitsthorns 2017-07-15 02:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ And she doesn't mind in the slightest. However she can help him, she wants to... It feels like that's part of what relationships are about, aren't they? Supporting one another? It's all a bit new, honestly, but she's been trying. Well. Aside from that little running away stint, which she's not about to repeat anytime soon.

Hopefully.

She watches him work in quiet admiration. Partly at his bar-tending skill and partly because perhaps, just a bit cheesy, she still can't believe this handsome man is her boyfriend. Making her drinks. Calling her sweet. He's still something she feels entirely undeserving of most days, but she's also more than happy he's here with her despite everything.

Once he's done with his mixing, she gives the result an approving hum. A test sip follows immediately after.
] Oh, dude, this is so much better. Thank you for working your drink magic. [ ... Wait. ] Could you actually, like, magic drinks together?

[ She remembers him moving the miscellaneous objects in his apartment with some kind of magic. By now, he obviously knows she finds his magic incredibly awesome. ]
miss_brilliant: (uh)

[personal profile] miss_brilliant 2017-07-15 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[Amanda smiles bashfully] Guess it's pretty obvious I don't drink much, huh?

[still, at least this happened with someone she doesn't feel embarrassed to have seen her like this. She pushes her hair out of her face, peering around a bit more carefully to get her bearings, before nodding her head down the hall and starting in a light tone]

How are you dealing with all the technology, by the way? [she knows the daemons try to explain things, but everyone she's met so far has been from a world that is more advanced than Arthur's time, and getting a handle on a cell phone is far different from...everything here. Even she's a little overwhelmed, and she's touched an alien computer before]
tangleofgarlands: (oh what could be)

[personal profile] tangleofgarlands 2017-07-16 08:03 am (UTC)(link)
It's more that I drink a bit too much, really.

[Not to the point where he'd call himself an alcoholic, but perhaps a touch too quick to turn to a pint of beer when he's feeling nervous. But he's not actually drunk at the moment, just a little buzzed, so he offers Amanda his arm to hold as they walk.

The question is a little harder to answer--the depth of his ignorance is so profound he can't find the words for it right away.]


Er, as for the technology, I'm...not. I only figured out how to work my...demon? [And try as he might, he can't help but picture Brian Slade every time he hears that word--] Because it told me how.

caelus: made by chatona for me dnt (046)

[personal profile] caelus 2017-07-17 07:41 am (UTC)(link)
It is a little hard to miss. [ Offered with a airy sort of huff that might be close to laughter. ] Most of this technology is far beyond anything I've seen before.

[ And he's seen quite a bit. There's a control panel not far from them, maybe? A sort of flat black stone of some kind on it? But Jim hears the other man introduce himself, and since nothing exactly has jumped out at either of them in an attempt to harm them---he holsters his phaser, but not his tricorder.

He turns back to the other man, smiling properly. ]


Jim. Pleasure to meet you, Arthur.
hangingtree: ℍ𝕌ℕ𝔾𝔼ℝ 𝔾𝔸𝕄𝔼𝕊 ❚ alone (UPRISING NO. 001)

[personal profile] hangingtree 2017-07-17 06:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ In response to his words, even Cinnad lets out a low rumble of a warning, but Katniss doesn't pay him any mind. She's considered destroying him as well but for completely different reasons and while she hasn't yet, it doesn't mean she's not still tempted. ]

How'd he get hurt?

[ Katniss would also like to know why it won't stop pawing at the guy, but she suspects her current companion wouldn't know the answer to that; he seems as new to the whole daemon thing as she does. ]
hangingtree: ℍ𝕌ℕ𝔾𝔼ℝ 𝔾𝔸𝕄𝔼𝕊 ❚ alone (UPRISING NO. 059)

[personal profile] hangingtree 2017-07-17 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh. [ Katniss isn't really sure how else to respond to that, so she just remains quiet for a number of seconds. Then, a bit awkwardly, she clears her throat. ] I, uh, hope she doesn't hold it over your head or anything, I guess.

[ She's known people who do that, who tease her about things she's said or done in the past. Or where she comes from. Generally, Finnick meant it in a nice, affectionate way, but who knows if this Rosie person would do the same. ]
hangingtree: ℂ𝔸𝕋ℂℍ𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝔽𝕀ℝ𝔼 ❚ alone (UPRISING NO. 108)

[personal profile] hangingtree 2017-07-17 06:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Katniss looks quite noticeably uncomfortable with the thought - plants are living, sure, but they shouldn't be animated (though brown bears shouldn't be covered in moss, either) - as she takes another brief glance about the room. Then she looks back to Murphy as he stops beside her. ]

I guess it's probably been about an hour for me, too. [ She's not exactly keeping a close eye on the time, but it feels like a correct estimate. She lets the silence hang between them for a lengthy moment before she speaks again. ] I wouldn't be opposed to exploring more together, if you want.
miss_brilliant: (blue)

[personal profile] miss_brilliant 2017-07-18 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
[she actually grins at that; given Nick's reliance on caffeine and nicotine, and all the people she'd known growing up who needed strong narcotics to get through a day without horrible pain, she really couldn't judge how anyone made their life easier.] Hey, until I...got my legs back, my coping mechanisms were usually mental games of chess or seeing how many digits of pi I could recite from memory. I don't think that's much better in most ways.

If he'd been someone else, she might have hesitated a bit to take his arm, but as it is she takes ie easily]

Ah, yeah. I mean, even I've been making a lot of educated guesses, based on the similiaries to things I knew from home. But a lot of this is…[she lets out a breath, grinning despite the grim nature of why they're here] Taken individually, it's wouldn't all be so strange. But as a whole…[as a whole, it's a little terrifying,if she thinks about it too long.

But the daemons make her happy. She knows what they are in theory from her own work, but for them to be physical delights her more than she can explain. She actually touches the parrot hanging on her shoulder with something like fondness]
I don't know how much I could really help more than they have. But it's not...too much? Being around all this stuff, along with everything else? [she remembers how overwhelming Eudio was for her just because her sense of touch was alive again everywhere, she can't imagine being thrown into a world like this that was totally foreign on top of it]
fiachdubh: (Default)

[personal profile] fiachdubh 2017-07-19 01:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't expect me to get along with everybody.

[ The mere idea makes him sick to his stomach. The idea of trying to pretend, and smile at people he thought nothing of was one of the worst things he could imagine. He was terrible at it, too, his venom seeping through his words whenever he tried.

There was a time when he wasn't that angry. ]


But you know, you enjoy it. Are you one of these people that see the good in everybody?
fiachdubh: (008)

[personal profile] fiachdubh 2017-07-20 08:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ronan nods, thinking back of Mallory and Gansey, too young and too alone, losing himself in his research. ]

We have ley lines where I'm from. One is basically just under the town I live in, and my best friend wanted to wake it up. [ Gansey would have gone on, about Welsh kings and favors owed, but Ronan stops there. That's Gansey's story to tell, and they might both be good at telling tales, but Gansey has the passion for that particular one. ]

We have a connection with it, back home. Which is how I know magic exists. And I'm not convinced there's magic here. It feels different.
drehnifusbahi: (deep in thought)

[personal profile] drehnifusbahi 2017-07-20 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Hopefully not - because in his current mental state, he's likely to react in a way that makes Shouting her door down seem mild by comparison.

He hums quietly to himself as he works, and quickly tucks the bottles away again once he's finished - though he makes sure to keep half an eye on her as she takes that test sip. Her pleased reaction draws another smile out of him, a real one this time.]
I'm glad you like it.

Then comes that question, and he blinks in momentary surprise.] You know, I've never actually tried. [A little mischief colors his tone as he continues] But I suppose there's only one way to find out...

[He waves his hand, and all the ingredients needed for a Color-Changing Martini float out of their places on the shelves and the drink starts to mix itself. He does know she finds his magic awesome - which is part of the reason he enjoys showing it off for her so much.]
mordacita: (e x p l a n a t i o n s)

[personal profile] mordacita 2017-07-21 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ Rafa glances between the pair of them, and nods. ]

Then, does not your friend know more of her people? Why cannot she tell you more of what you wish to know?

[ Honestly, even if there's no way to know more about them, Rafa still thinks what Era has said would interest Shane. He'll have to introduce them. ]

As for my people, I am not surprised you have heard things you do not like. Our reputation tends to precede us, and not all that is said is wrong. What have you heard?
mordacita: (p r e t t y)

[personal profile] mordacita 2017-07-21 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
However I can. We were all brought here, and if we were brought here, we can be sent out to fight. I only need a Door to take me there, and I will find one.

[ Rafa hasn't been told he'll find one. No one has given him any more assurances than what anyone else has heard. That doesn't matter to him. He's not going to give up on his world. ]

Would you do the same?
aberth: (( seventy - one. ))

[personal profile] aberth 2017-07-21 03:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He'd have 100% tried to get the science for it, had he been dumped in a place like that. It probably would have still mystified him though, so he gets not understanding it. He'll let that slide for now. Maybe try and find some other Eudio refugees. ]

You mean when Destiny came?

[ It may be a acronym, but whatever. ]

Uh, for the most part? [ Except for the magical quest. ] I mean, I guess it's more of a world that looks average on the surface. [ He's usually the kind of boy who keeps his secrets close. He's not sure what he feels about telling them here. ] But my friend lives in a house of psychics.
astralera: (read)

[personal profile] astralera 2017-07-21 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
They died out with their partners, the scholars of Nym. They were wiped out by their ancient contemporary, the people of Mhach, who feared their prowess.

[ And the few that survived were cursed horribly by voidsent. It's not the happiest of thoughts, and Era spares a sympathetic glance for Lily. ]

Vampires do not exist in my world, but in tales. They are similar to the Voidsent. They live off the lifeblood of others. The sunlight harms them, they have no souls to speak of, and thrive on seducing innocents to their death. [ She pauses for a moment. ] ...Much like the Succubi I am more accustomed to fighting.

I only hear of vampires during the stories told on All Saint's Wake, where children love to be frightened by tales of monsters lurking in the darkness.

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