(Untitled)

[withoutsorrow]

[Sometime a few hours ago, something very bright went racing through the city - a glowing chalice, white-gold in color, overflowing with white mist. Anyone with the resilience to look into something with a level of brightness on par with the sun and notice any specifics would have seen the shape of a man in the center. If anyone pursued the

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[gotgauntlet]

What? What, huh? You're going to have to speak up!

[withoutsorrow]

[Booming voice]

LOST: ONE SKINNY BANDIT CAPTAIN, ONE BELLIGERENT SLAVE BRAWLER, ONE MIGHTY ARCHER, TWO INVADING ARMIES, AND A VILLAGE.

IF FOUND, PLEASE REPORT TO ASHOKA, LOCATION: THE CREEPIEST OF CITIES, THE CREEPIEST OF ALLEYWAYS, ON THE UNCREEPIEST OF BOXES.

REWARD IF YOU'RE A PRETTY LADY. WARNING: UNLESS WHOEVER STOLE MY MAIDEN TEA RETURNS IT, SAID REWARD MAY RESULT IN INCREASED FAMILIAL VOLUME.

[gotgauntlet]

[A pause. The kind of pause that comes from a man waiting for the ringing in his ears to stop.]

... I can just barely make out what you're saying, sir! If you stand still, the foxes will probably go away! They're just as afraid of you as you are of them! Is your maiden with you? There's a nice bathhouse you could take her to, you know!

[withoutsorrow]

Bathhouse?

Where?

I haven't had a bath in . . . three days!

Still smell good, though. Kind of a baked cornmeal smell.

[myownmemory]

It's working fine.

You're in a city, we call it World's End. It's where people from different worlds show up, and no...the rest of us don't know the way back to wherever you came from.

[withoutsorrow]

What? Really? That's -

Oh, haha, very funny. I get it. I'm dead and this is the underworld. It's just as creepy as I always never wanted to think about.

So what happens now? When does my soul cross over? Can I go and reincarnate soon? Seriously, there are a lot of things I like doing in Creation, and if I reincarnate now it's only going to be about 16 years until I'm old enough to do them again.

[myownmemory]

Dead? Well you might be back home where your from, but...

That doesn't reach seem to matter to the gods here too much.

Your soul? I don't know what you're talking about. Your soul's sticking with you, as far as I know. Is...Creation what they call the world you're from?

[withoutsorrow]

Uh - yeah, am I in Fair Folk territory? Or a Shadowland? I'm pretty sure I saw some zombies on my way in. But there were really mutated lobsters down by the seashore too, so what is this, a Shadowland or the Wyld?

I don't remember dying. Does that mean I'm not dead? I'd rather not be dead. I've got little sisters to take care of. Inconsequential to the gods, maybe, but I . . . which gods are we talking about?

[[ Voice ]]

[timid_werewolf]

It isn't so bad here...if you need help we can try to do what we can though!

Re: [[ Voice ]]

[withoutsorrow]

Great! You know, I like you, yours is the first encouraging voice I've heard since I - I don't know, died or whatever.

So, uh, what can you do here?

[[ Voice ]]

[timid_werewolf]

Hey! You're not necessarily dead! I never died before coming here. It's kind of like kidnapping, really

[hastily adds]

But it isn't always bad here, so don't be too worried, please!

[And softens]

Well..I know how scary it can be. So I try to help out! But as for what you can do...that depends on what you enjoy doing, I guess

Re: [[ Voice ]]

[withoutsorrow]

Really? That's a relief! I've got kid sisters to take care of back home! If I'm not dead, I can still get back to them!

No offense, "not all bad" doesn't compare with "the smartest, sweetest, funniest, cutest, most awesome little sisters in the world who love me as much as I love them." I'm a family man at heart.

I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not scared. I'm pretty freaked out. Uh. Any use for a tea merchant, since I'm here? How about a sailor? I think I saw a tower out in the distance, on the ocean -

[withoutsorrow]

If a sailor falls into a river, and there's no one around to hear him, does he make a splash?

[[ voice ]]

[origami_waltz]

Welcome to World's End.

Re: [[ voice ]]

[withoutsorrow]

So I heard.

You wouldn't happen to be a wealthy woman in need of some attentive male companionship, would you?

[[ voice ]]

[origami_waltz]

...No.

Re: [[ voice ]]

[withoutsorrow]

Do you know where I can find one? Because it seems all my other skills aren't in demand here. Nobody wants a tea merchant who has no tea to sell, or a sailor with no boat.