mingle a little Mor tonight

[catamite]

Who: Everyone!
Broadcast: Sure!
Action: The wonderful world of Mor, nearby way-stations, and ships!
When: The first week or so of arrival

[this is it-- Atroma's surprise vacation stay for you all! it's time to explore, speculate, relax, and totally behave yourselves. right?

how are you all dealing with the ever-so-educational volcano? have you played around with the visual toggle on those collars yet? aren't they cool? aren't these peasant clothes rad? if you haven't had a decent meal since Abeo, maybe you could afford some of that authentic farm-raised meat they have here. historical!

I bet you're all excited and completely thrilled to be here! who wouldn't be? ...so, make some discoveries, make some friends, and have fun!]

Comments

[mysterzie]

Wow.

[ Aaron sits back, attempting to hold himself still for all that he wants to reach across the table and slip that power away from Felix. It sounds like he doesn't appreciate it properly and Aaron would do so much better with it anyway... ]

You sound like an after school special.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Oh... [he tilts his head a little... he wonders what it would look like, if he looked at it in his true form. maybe Tek would feel strings of Fate attached to it. all sorts of possibilities.] Very strange. You've always had it?

[dancingmd]

This is true. They seem to be generally in good spirits, considering our situation.

Speaking of younger members of the crew, I met your son earlier.

[save_the_souls]

[He gives a little nod] Yes, that's right.

[innercactus]

.... Why do you call your world after what you stand on? Does anyone get confused, with earth being what you plant in and also where you live?

[ He got distracted. ]

[dancingmd]

[That wince was much smaller than previous ones. He must be getting better.]

Wow. This must be totally overwhelming for them.

Well, maybe not this particular planet.

[onlyanapple]

[It's SO COOL. ]

Well, it didn't actually happen in the end. An almost-apocalypse, I suppose.

[hearsthesea]

We don't have many things like them, actually. I was surprised to see so many at first.

why did i say ten years i meant five. FIVE.

[aberrant_type]

[She tears off a piece of bread with her teeth, chews and swallows it a little too fast. Washes it down with a gulp of beer. What comes out is a pidgin story of signing and voice.]

About one hundred years ago, humans lived free. Then the titans appeared, and the population from all around fled to live in side the three walls: Wall Maria, Wall Rose, and Wall Sina. It was degrading to live penned up like cattle, but there was no way at that time humans could effectively fight titans - not until we invented 3DMG.

Still, we survived. Humans farmed land inside the walls and raised livestock and hunted, although of course you must be aware of the population pressures we faced, unable to freely expand.

But the status quo continued until five years ago when the most terrible terrorist attack in our history was levied against humanity.

[She takes another drink of beer.]

Listen: each wall has four hero towns. They're built budding off from the main wall... at the cardinal points: north, east, south and west. Titans are attracted to high population density, so the hero towns will be the first ones sacrificed if an attack happens. They have gates allowing the population to pass into the land behind the walls, and also the land outside. It seemed like an attack might never happen, but then the hero town of Shiganshina was attacked by the Colossal Titan. Bigger than any titan ever seen before, it could peer right over the wall... it kicked in the gate leading outside, and then the Armored Titan, with special plates under its skin making it difficult to attack and cut, followed it inside on a headlong charge through the town. It never stopped and the unprepared soldiers couldn't make it falter, until it reached the gate that led to the lands behind Wall Maria, and crashed right through, allowing the titans to descend upon the hero town and into the land behind the first wall. Thousands of humans died in that first week, though the greater number of them reached the safety of Wall Rose. But that wasn't the end.

Because of food shortages a year later, we were forced to purge the population. [Her eyebrows pull down briefly.] It was called a repopulation effort. To send humans to live outside the walls again. One hundred soldiers and about one hundred thousand humans... a fifth of our population... were sent outside the walls with farming tools to attempt to reclaim land. Of course, they were devoured en masse. [Her lips pull back from her teeth in a brief and humorless smile.] Of those humans, one hundred returned from outside to tell of the carnage they saw. But the pressure on our food supplies was relieved.

Anyway, since then we've still had rationing.

[That's it.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

I see... You continue to be a unique person, Allen.

[he has more to say but he's... sure Allen has already heard it.]

[save_the_souls]

[He moves to put his glove back on.]

Isn't everyone?

[hellofist]

[She wants to reach out and touch his hand, his arm, his shoulder, anywhere. She wants to tell him he did well and that he's strong, because running can be terrifying. It is terrifying, even when it's the only choice.]

You are now. [The next bit is more difficult for her and she's obviously struggling to get the words out clearly.] Nothing will ever change that.

I'm just slow as cocks so if you forgive me I forgive you

[hellofist]

[That's good, she should probably have something going for her.]

Exactly. You'll be a pro, just wait and see.

[hellofist]

Oh, good. That sounds easy.

[Cass no. Cass stop.]

You didn't want it?

[wolfuncaged]

I know. I will not be caged again. Not ever.

[And, because he knows that tone so well... ]

What about you?

[hellofist]

[She hesitates a little, but it's only fair when he's been honest with her. Scrubbing her hands a little more on her pants, she nods.]

It was the same, sort of. Ran away, because it was... wrong, what I was doing. I didn't know, until it was done. I was eight.

[limitstorm]

... what, seriously?

--wait, how did you figure that out? [ INTENSELY FOLLOWING. ]

[wolfuncaged]

I can understand that. It took...getting a little freedom to realise how wrong my life had been.

[got_it_memorized]

Well, Zexion was really hardcore into science, you know? Like he'd do just about anything for the sake of discovery. So Vexen hooked him up to a machine and then we all took shifts keeping him awake for days at a time.

[He managed to keep a straight face up until this point.]

So Zexion not only had no heart, he also had no liver or spleen, as a result of his lust for knowledge.

[noctiphile]

You’re baiting me. Must I beg for the story? I might. I’ll ensure it’s extra pitiful, too.

[noctiphile]

[To think there were such things in the world. Mattias would be surprised if surprise hadn’t worn thin. At this point, he had accepted that anything could be possible. Even the most prominent of fantasies.

But at least that gesture with the fingers was pretty cute. He smiles.]

Five years in a castle that gave you anything. It’d be a paradise to some. A dreamer’s ambition, perhaps. Something equivalent to a fountain of youth. [He laughs at the mere thought.] I dare say you’ve stolen some poor man’s fantasy, Felix.

[But it doesn’t explain everything. Paradise doesn’t account for the bitterness with which he’s heard the castle recounted. There must have been a catch, a condition, that made it harrowing. Asking would be uncouth but he finds himself tempted anyway, opening his mouth to speak before restraint kicks in.] Did you enjoy it?

[It’s a good middle-ground.]

[limitstorm]

[ serious face... ]

I could see that.

[got_it_memorized]

[Riku.]

[got_it_memorized]

[Riku please.]

[got_it_memorized]

[There's a long moment of silence, and then Axel just bursts out laughing. He just looks so serious! Like, he really believed that! Someone wrote 'gullible' on the ceiling, Riku.]

... Riku, I'm pulling your leg. I read about it, okay? I'm pretty sure Zexion had all of his other organs.