==>
Sugar Cube looks over at you with her...eyes? Her blank expression kind of bores itself into your soul, and makes you just a tad uneasy. Why doesn't she move for such long periods of time? You're pretty sure this has to just be a "her" thing, and not a horse thing. Regardless, she lays...
==>
(JOAN): End of the line for me.
(JOAN): For you? Just the beginning.
As she says this, (Joan) grips the Cloak of Shade around her and closes her eyes. As though a harsh spotlight illuminates her from behind, she casts a stark silhouette against the ground, one which tethers her to you...
JOAN: You'd think that with how important it is and sounds, that the answers would be clear. But the game doesn't like to make things obvious. It's frustrating in that way.
JOAN: And I don't know what the Path of Stars entails beyond a few things.
JOAN: I knew that it entailed Frog Breeding...
JOAN: I've found that just saying that sort of thing about time travelers just invites more of them to your timeline.
JOAN: Remember when we were first in LOP and we found the Crypt of Echidna/Kaukek?
JOAN: The two routes offered defined a Path of Stars and a Path of Shade, essentially. One...
JOAN: Well for one thing, his denizen is incredibly unruly and dangerous.
JOAN: Yaldabaoth, though we (and currently you) didn't realize it at the time, is a denizen for special case players, arriving only in very unique sessions that demand more challenge.
JOAN: Orin's destiny is to become the...
JOAN: Basically, yes.
JOAN: But I'm not you from your future, just you from a future.
JOAN: I'm you from another timeline, a different one that I just helped create by being here in the first place.
JOAN: I'm a year older than you along my timeline, thereabouts. The big diversion from yours...
JOAN: Joan.
JOAN: My name is Joan Dryden.
==>
The figure in front of you stands at your height exactly. They speak with your voice though they wear obscuring clothing. An astronaut helmet of theirs (very similar to yours), is all black, and hanging around their hips from their shoulders is a...
OPAL: maybe the game is like, challenging us in ways that aren't already apparent to us?
OPAL: and i don't just mean in the way of like, it putting a puzzle in front of me because i suck at puzzles
OPAL: ever since i've arrived here i've had this kind of feeling, like the world knows what's...
GG: joan you know i don't speak italian
GG: and anyways that's fine
GG: orin and i can get along fine in person, i'm sure it won't be too different than how it's been with online text
GG: everything is just confusing, and i don't know where or how the fuck i'd go about any of that
GG: but...
GG: that first part wasn't actually me being passive aggressive
GG: i...actually like not having to do the awkward hassle of dancing around both our emotions
==>
You turn to Opal, who grunts in half frustration and half confusion. She flicks one of the bulbs as it glows in front of her...
GG: maaaaan, i'd be pissed if i wasn't at least a little amused
GG: i don't know how you mean 'fine' when i'm looking at a giant seizure ball
GG: i guess it wasn't like i was going to hear his melodies anytime soon anyways
GG: but that's whatever
GG: oh, uh, yeah
GG: haha, i kinda totally beefed...
==> Arlo: Enter
Your ENTERING SEQUENCE is by far more gradual and relaxed than your co-players. When Joan deploys the CRUXTRUDER your countdown reads at a full 8 HOURS and 27 MINUTES, so you're not exactly HARD PRESSED FOR TIME. You attend to your HUNGER before you attend to anything game...
OPAL: oohhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! you mean equio!
OPAL: yeah, i've chatted with him a bit, he was actually the one that suggested i talk to some of my consorts to get a feel of the world
OPAL: had no idea he was an alien though, wow
OPAL: though xochiquetzal, or xochi as i like to call her, is a bit...
OPAL: y know joan the worst part of that is how i really don't know if you're just goofing around with me
OPAL: or if you really are just that painfully literal
OPAL: wait, jk, jk, did you just say something about aliens???
OPAL: and what about YOU!?!??! what's your cool fantasy land like...
==>
You notice no wounds, mortal or otherwise, on Opal's body. Though there are a few memories of those such wounds. Scars along Opal's arms, feint and shallow but present. She's seen combat and healed from it, like you.
OPAL: nothing a few snacks and health potions can't fix Joan
OPAL: those...
==>
OPAL: joan!!!!!!
Opal looks around as the toga wearing salamanders flank her on all sides. She brandishes a CUTE PINK UMBRELLA WITH KITTEN EARS and opens it, buffeting a few of the endlessly GLUBBING salamanders away from her. She grabs your hand and is yanked out of the center of the...
ES: Sure do!
ES: I don't really know how much she wants to meet all of you, and she's a bit busy right now which is why she hasn't introduced herself, but the boys of your session might be in contact with her already.
ES: She came with me from our session, and she's a real sweetheart, even if...
==>
I SAID HEY SIR, SIR? A MOMENT OF YOUR TIME? WHY DON'T I TELL YOU SOMETHING THAT'LL MAKE YOUR DAY!
You, now as P.E once again, turn away as though you and this clearly disreputable salesman had not just made direct and prolonged eye contact, and are also not the only two living things on...
Oh, what am I....
Uhhhh?
Sorry contextualizing your race when you're not used to interacting with other species is a toughie.
I guess since what little I could glean about your species indicated you guys were like, descended from apes, right?
Well we share a basic silhouette, but we were...
Well, not really?
If your sprite has given you the lowdown on the situation and what you're meant to do, that's pretty much all I could give you as well.
No two sessions are alike, each planet, each denizen, and really each series of events for the Kings and Queens, Derse and Prospit are...