Fandom Children of Abraxas

[SerbianMounted]

=>

This is stupid.

You pat Leto calmly on the back and realzie that whatever ghostly presence was leaving those notes certainly isn't here, at least not now. But they sure could have been around earlier. Especially when you were asleep. If they're invisible or not, you don't know. You continue to search through the house, after giving yourself a quick facepalm at your stupidness.

You look for a bedroom or any kind of place this person used to live.

JEAN: this is stupid
JEAN: she's clearly not here
JEAN: and it's possible she died well before this place even entered
JEAN: considering that it isn't the dustiest, and maybe a family member like this musician guy entered for her
JEAN: nevertheless, looks like her ass wound up in the game somehow, i'm gonna take a look around​

 

[SpectrumCrow]

=>

LETO: Oh
LETO: Yeah
LETO: I guess she isn't....
LETO: Still...how she left the notes baffles me...
LETO: Only possibilities...they're all a bit out there. But this game is a bit out there
LETO: She could be a ghost that's able to physically interact with the world
LETO: She could see the future somehow and wrote the notes in advance
LETO: If someone entered for her, the previous two could apply but...they could also talk to each other? Even though she's dead?
LETO: I'm not sure, but it's weird.
LETO: I'll look around too, gotta make myself useful somehow! I'll go look in the kitchen

Maybe it'll get your mind off of the thought of death, the small pat from Jean easing your worries slightly. You move to do as you said, looking in to the kitchen. A kitchen can tell a lot about someone, from what they like to eat to who they may share meals with!

Your own kitchen was large, with a dining room that was large and could house at least ten people. Despite this, it was always so empty, so lonely. ​

 

[Eidolon Astronaut]

=> Leto: Investigate kitchen.

You enter the KITCHEN. This place is a mess, and all the food is gone. You guess the imps got to it.

On the fridge on a drawing of a WIZARD.

-

=> Jean: Search for bedroom.

You stroll down the short hall and reach a door with another note on it.

This was my room

Inside you'll find all my notes on the game, the session, and even you
It might be a little dense, and pretty confusing, but I'm sure you can pick up where I left off

Welcome to my room Jean, you can call what's left of me Seth​

 

[SerbianMounted]

=> Jean: pour through

You walk inside.

You pour through most if not all the notes that were left behind in this house. You quickly learn that this person is dead, but in fact not a GHOST, haunting the material plane from the ethereal, but rather a crafty pre-planner who most likely had wild gifts of prognostication, and possibly left all of this after making the prediction that you were to enter their room. You wonder, just slightly, if they are capable of seeing the whole picture of what you say or simply what you write.

And if that were the case, theoretically they could keep up an entire conversation with you, couldn't they? On the back of a piece of paper, amidst some words you haven't read quite yet, you write:

JEAN: can you see me writing this?

You read through everything Seth has left behind. ​

 

[SpectrumCrow]

=> Leto: Ooh
Wizard!

This isn't getting you anywhere. You decide to go upstairs and check on Jean, still unable to get over the anxiety of suddenly being separated from Jean. Even though this is your first time meeting him in person, now realizing there was a tense feeling in your shoulders that had been there for a while, ever since you entered the game. You may not have seen your Nan much, but you still saw her...and she's still your mother, a source of comfort. Sort of.

=> Leto: Go to the bedroom
You cough a bit to let Jean know you're there so you don't scare him, reading the note before fully entering the room and taking a look around. ​

 

[Eidolon Astronaut]

=> Years in the past...

... But less then what might be implied, a YOUNG MAN stands in his bedroom.

Your name is SETH, and while it has been approximately 2 MONTHS since you first entered, it has been WEEKS since Jill disappeared. You still don't know what happened to your friend, but you have decided to commit the rest of your life to finding out what is going on. Unfortunately for you, you are PRETTY SURE that you are going to DIE in the next few WEEKS, as you can't see yourself in your VISIONS OF THINGS TO COME past then.

You know that Jean and Leto will be going through your room to try and figure out what's going on themselves, so you decide to leave some notes behind for them. You spend the DAYS writing notes that now hang from your walls.

=> Seth: That's too many papers, care to summarize?

Sure. You begin with the beginning, with YOU and JILL.

April 13th, 2016, Your friend JILL GOMENE asked you to play this old game she found, SBURB. After you started things spiraled out of control and you began playing in earnest. Shortly after entering you were contacted by four INTERNET HOOLIGANS: EB, SS, SJ, and JS. They helped you play the game as they did, but there were some things that didn't line up. After all, they had no idea what was up with the REEL HOLLOW on your planet. Guess they didn't have a Time player.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and you weren't getting anywhere. Your GUIDES came up with a plan so that you could start making process again, but this turned out to be a bust. Jill was sent to try and find something in the FURTHEST RING. She never came back. Of course, it is only after she left that you realized why you couldn't win. Your session was only half-played. Your co-players hadn't entered, and they wouldn't for another FOUR YEARS.

During the early game, Jill talked to you about some ECTOBIOLOGY she did in the VEIL, the asteroid belt beyond THE MEDIUM. Using your gifts of PROGNOSTICATION and a little reasoning, you gathered that your game was built from two FAMILIES. JILL and JEAN were brother and sister via they Dad and Aunt, respectively. Similarly, you found out that LETO was your sister through your Grandparents, who turned out to be just your regular parents.

Speaking of LETO and JEAN, you should talk about them.

When you first woke up on Prospit, you hung out with LETO for a while, it was fun. But it didn't last. You accidentally got killed on Jill's land and she had to revive you into your DREAM SELF. Due to some poor decisions involving some ROCKET BASED PROPULSION, you may have accidentally destroyed your DREAM TOWER. Leto's dream self got hit in the head pretty bad, she's been asleep for a couple DAYS. You don't think she's gonna remember you when she wakes up.
Jean on the other hand is a more distressful situation: Jill attended his DREAM FUNERAL on DERSE. You have a NEWSPAPER CLIPPING to prove it. Shame he never got to wake up before he met his end. Note to self, don't trust the DERSE AGENTS, they might just kill you in your sleep.

You think you should mention THE CHERUB briefly. You have no idea what this person's deal is. They haven't shown up yet, and you have a sneaking suspicion that they might be the one to KILL YOU, as they are in possession of a SCYTHE you made a while back. Murderer and a Thief, possibly an ALIEN of some kind too. You don't really know.

=> Seth: Wrap up.

You decide to go over the big topic once again before handing the narrative back over to the other kids.

Your session is unwinnable. Jill is gone, You're dead, and Jean and Leto can't really beat a 4x prototyped BLACK KING AND QUEEN on their own, even IF the CHERUB keeps helping them. Your only hope is to leave enough information behind so that your FUTURE-INCLINED CO-PLAYERS can try and go to the REEL HOLLOW and perform the SCRATCH. You would have done it yourself, but Leto's denizen ECHIDNA isn't here yet, and you'd need her quills.

You leave one last note for your successors.

This is everything I know
Hopefully it's enough for you to do what needs to be done
Be safe, be careful, and don't do whatever I did that got me where I am now

Good luck

You attach the note to your EMPTY TERRARIUM and head off to what is certainly your DEMISE.

=> Seth: Fast forward to the end.

You are now LETO and JEAN again back in the PRESENT.​

 

[SerbianMounted]

=> Jean: fuck

Fuck. Fuck this is way worse than you thought. This is way, way worse than you thought. You sit down on the bed, scrolling through all the notes that Seth left behind for you. You hold the last note in your hand, and hold your head down, scanning through again and again, as if the words will change to be more hopeful with a couple more read throughs.

You stop reading, and let the page fall to the ground. You stand up, not looking Leto in the eye and walking out of the room. This isn't good. This isn't good at all. You pass by the hallway, go up the house and walk up the many storied staircases until you reach a gate that will lead to the next land. ​

 

[SpectrumCrow]

=> Leto: !!!

Oh no. Where's he going? While you want to read more of those notes and keep them for reference, you need to catch up to Jean and try and comfort him. Capture-logging the notes, you sprint upstairs as you try and follow Jean.

You managed to read about...a brother. Seth is...your brother. While part of you says to be suspicious at the claim, you also can't help but feel saddened at the loss of someone you couldn't even remember. And you need to talk to your denizen to get her...quills for a scratch? Lord, it all sounds so weird.

LETO: Jean!
LETO: Wait up!
LETO: Please, just hold on a moment...
LETO: Acting rashly won't do us any good
LETO: Maybe we should sit down for a minute and talk about what Seth said ​

 

[Eidolon Astronaut]

=> Jean: Enter Seth's second gate.

You enter the second gate as to skip a detour into LOYAL.

Even-numbered gates above the house are meant to be exits and not entrances, but you manage to work backwards through the chain. You wind up in a much more luxurious building that you recognize building as this is the MEDIOEN MANOR back in the LOSAF. Wasn't there supposed to be a fourth planet somewhere?

-

=> Leto: Catch up.

Jean is gone, disappeared into one of the GATES.​

 

[SerbianMounted]

=> Jean: rush

You ignore whatever Leto is trying to say to you. You rush through the giant manor, skirting down hallways and turning at corners. You are flipping the fuck out in the most outrageous manner.

You exit the mansion, and begin full on sprinting into the land, trying to lose Leto in the fold. You are suddenly feeling completely irrational. You run past buildings and jump through hoops, all in some desperate attempt to completely avoid her.

You eventually sit down, hidden inside some random building youve found. You breath hoarsely, clutching your hair. ​

 

[SpectrumCrow]

=> Leto: Leave him be

You really wish you could go comfort him, but you lose sight of him, he just moves so much faster than you. You managed to find your way back home to the Manor, dragging your feet as you went back to your room and curled up on the bed. Pulling up pesterchum, you send him a quick message.

Spoiler: Pesterlog

LJ: Jean
LJ: I'm in my home if you need me. I'll give you your space but...please say something
LJ: I'm worried

With a sigh, you roll onto your back and pull a pillow over your face. You can't help but feel so helpless, so alone, so confused. But now, maybe you have a goal in mind...to find this "Echidna" and see what she's all about. Biting back tears, you try and calm yourself and focus on the task at hand. Removing the pillow, you sit up and grab a book off of your shelf. A book by Agatha Christie, a favorite author of yours. Sure, it's a bit typical, but you can't help but love her mysteries! The specific book is one staring Miss Marple! Her intelligent is amazing, something that could surely help guide you...

And thus, you go on a search for Sir Gawain to prototype him with the Miss Marple book.​

 

[Eidolon Astronaut]

=> Jean: !

It takes you a couple of second to see past your mental state, but you realize that you are not alone in this building in the ABANDONED VILLAGE near Leto's SECOND GATE.

A Black-robed figure with green clawed hands and a shadowy skeletal face leans against the opposite wall. From Leto's description and a doodle Seth drew, you recognize this figure to be THE CHERUB.

They give you a nod.

-

=> Leto: ?

You search the many rooms of the MEDIOEN MANOR, but you fail at finding your spritely companion. You have NO IDEA where they may be.​

 

[SerbianMounted]

=> Jean: converse

JEAN: did you kill seth
JEAN: what do you want, now that me and leto are here
JEAN: do you want us to beat the game for you to swoop in and steal something?
JEAN: or are you just here to fuck with us

You seem to still be in a huff, and quite frankly in no mood for this guys bullshit. Leto's messages go unfortunately unanswered.​

 

[SpectrumCrow]

=> Leto: Search
You search around the manor for Sir Gawain, but to no luck. Pocketing the book, you decide to do that at a later time. It's time to take matters into your own hands.

=> Leto: Explore the land
You go back through the gates of your home, returning to your exploration in hopes of finding someone else to communicate with. Hell, you'd talk to a frog right now...just...you need someone. Maybe you can find Echidna, find Sir Gawain, find Jean, the Cherub, maybe even Seth...

Everything tells you that he's gone, but you can't help but hold onto the idea of him still being alive, it's possible, right? ​

 

[Eidolon Astronaut]

=> Jean and The Cherub: Talk.

THE CHERUB: I didn't kill anyone
THE CHERUB: I'm not the villain here, okay
THE CHERUB: I'm not trying to steal anything or hurt anyone
THE CHERUB: In fact, I've almost given up hope that this situation can be rectified
THE CHERUB: But I'm still just trying my best

They give a deep sigh, you notice that they are clearly tired.

THE CHERUB: I know that this is difficult
THE CHERUB: I went through a similar thing when I found out
THE CHERUB: Games don't get finished, people fail
THE CHERUB: ... People die
THE CHERUB: ...
THE CHERUB: There isn't really anything I can say that will make you happy

-

=> Leto: Ascend.

You skip forward to the THIRD GATE, to delve deeper into LOSAF. You appear atop another sunken civilization, but this one seems much, MUCH larger.

Someone is trying to get in touch with you via PESTERCHUM.

-- jimdandyScyphozoan [JS] began pestering lonesomeJailbreak [LJ] at ??:?? --

JS: hey...
JS: leto... right?​

 

[SerbianMounted]

=>

JEAN: lucky you, i'm not looking to be happy
JEAN: i'm looking for answers
JEAN: like who you are, who those kids who are contacting us are
JEAN: why you don't trust them
JEAN: what their goal in helping us is, what your goal in helping us is
JEAN: if i need to scratch the session, i will, we have leto's denizen
JEAN: now that the other half of the session is complete, we can at least start over, figure something out like that
JEAN: but as for you, i'm sure you know my name, so why don't we start by learning yours, and then you can tell me what i need to do to start the scratch and tear this game apart

You are acting reckless, but don't care. You know what needs to be done, and you are already tired of speaking in riddles your first day on this miserable rock. You are not letting Seth die and Jill go missing in vain so the same fate may befall you and Leto. You are too pained to speak to her right now. ​

 

[SpectrumCrow]

=> Leto: Answer new friend

LJ: Yes
LJ: It's nice to meet you, JS
LJ: Let me know if there's anything else I should call you
LJ: How can I help you

You can't bring yourself to fake excitement, your worry for the entire situation far too intense as you explore the area in search of...anything really.​

 

[Eidolon Astronaut]

=>

THE CHERUB: I'm sorry, but I can't tell you my name
THE CHERUB: Knowing a Cherub's name can mean certain doom for both parties
THE CHERUB: And the Scratch is a tricky thing to do
THE CHERUB: You'd need to take the Quills of Echidna the Reel Hollow back on LOYAL
THE CHERUB: And then fight through hordes of underlings as they try and stop you
THE CHERUB: It just can't be done yet
THE CHERUB: You're too low levels

They take out a pocket watch.

THE CHERUB: You've only been playing for 3 hours
THE CHERUB: Level grinding could take days or even weeks

-

=>

JS: i'm actually here to help you...
JS: ... ss and sj mentioned me...
JS: i think...

This place is full of SALT CRYSTALS with various FROGS and STATUES trapped inside.

You wander for a bit.​

 

[SerbianMounted]

=>

JEAN: so we'll level grind
JEAN: we'll keep doing our quests, and progress through the game, we'll use the grist seth and jill got through their leveling all those years ago
JEAN: and we'll jump through the echeladder taking on more powerful enemies with stronger items, and speed ourselves along
JEAN: i'm not afraid to do a little hard work for a few weeks to take on the game's worst enemies
JEAN: and don't dodge the question, what do you know about those four that keep helping us
JEAN: i'll hunt for jill if i can, in the meantime
JEAN: we'll start the scratch, find a way out of here and win the game​

 

[SpectrumCrow]

=> Leto: Free frogs

You try and break the crystals with your parasol, but don't expect much

LJ: Indeed
LJ: What advice do you have for me...?
LJ: I was told to find my denizen Echidna, but I'm not sure where to start
LJ: Also something about a scratch?
LJ: I'm a bit afraid though, since we just got in I'm probably not strong enough​

 

[Eidolon Astronaut]

=>

THE CHERUB: Those four?
THE CHERUB: They're a couple of players
THE CHERUB: They failed their session and they tried to learn how to win be helping you
THE CHERUB: But they won't win, because there is nothing they can do to fix this game
THE CHERUB: ...
THE CHERUB: ... Jill is gone
THE CHERUB: She can't be found
THE CHERUB: The Furthest Ring is a death trap
THE CHERUB: You'd never come back

-

=>

JS: the scratch?
JS: no...
JS: no the scratch won't work
JS: ... the scratch is a bust...
JS: you need to find...
JS: uh...
JS: ...
JS: jean... right?
JS: weren't you supposed to be on losas...
JS: meeting up with him for the first time...?

The SALT holds strong.​

 

[SerbianMounted]

=>

JEAN: maybe i could ask for some help
JEAN: from some entities that might....know better about navigating it
JEAN: or i could find a way of mapping it, somehow
JEAN: i'm not trying to be that hopeful, but it's worth investigation from another derse dreamer
JEAN: .....former, derse dreamer
JEAN: i at least need to know why she left in the first place
JEAN: figure out how it relates to what she was trying to do about the session

You look down through your phone-glasses. Leto's messages are still left unanswered.​

 

[SpectrumCrow]

=> Leto: Move on

You move on from that idea and continue on your journey. Although Jean hasn't answered you...leaving you anxious.

LJ: I was with him but we found some shocking information and he ran off
LJ: I guess he needs time to process it all
LJ: I do too
LJ: But I don't want to sit around waiting when I could be doing something to help
LJ: The scratch was what
LJ: Seth asked us to do
LJ: And he's dead...
LJ: I feel like it's the least I can do to honor his wish is to look into it
LJ: Besides, I get the feeling I need to see Echidna anyways

Spoiler: Pesterlog

LJ: Jean
LJ: Please answer me

 

[Eidolon Astronaut]

=> Jean: Learn the truth.

THE CHERUB: The Horrorterrors are the only ones who could even possibly navigate it
THE CHERUB: But they cannot be trusted under any circumstance
THE CHERUB: And unless you can fracture the very fabric of reality, there is no way to map it either
THE CHERUB: Jill Gomene disappeared into the Furthest Ring for one reason
THE CHERUB: She was sent to die
THE CHERUB: There is nothing out there
THE CHERUB: Your 'friends' sent her out there so that they could start fresh with you two
THE CHERUB: There would be no other reason

-

=> Leto: Learn the truth.

JS: seth?
JS: seth isn't dead...
JS: he's...
JS: ...with jill!
JS: yeah!
JS: they went out together to...
JS: ... uh
JS: find the ultimate weapon...?​

 

[SerbianMounted]

=>

JEAN: you understand why i can't just take that at face value correct?
JEAN: i'm willing to take what you've said about the furthest ring into account, since they don't differe all that much with what seth briefly mentioned
JEAN: but saying that these four random kids decided to murder a girl for no practical reason when i've known you for a total of less than half an hour
JEAN: is already a suspicious act in of itself
JEAN: according to seth, i shouldn't trust you, according to you, i shouldn't trust them
JEAN: i'm just going to carve my own path for myself
JEAN: i trust no one but me and leto, so you'll be happy to know that i'll investigate a bit, and allign myself from there

You take the time to respond to Leto while you're feeling more cooperative.

Spoiler: Pesterlog

JL: i'm safe
JL: and ok
JL: i just needed to.....to rush off, i'm speaking to the cherub
JL: they're telling me that the kids sent jill off to die
JL: which i doubt, but stay cautious

​