Week 1

[bathymetric]

Good morning, New Rapture. A new day is dawning.

There may not be much light to differentiate the days here, but the lights of the part of the city you're in change enough by the clock that you can almost believe there's a sun somewhere. It looks like Mayor Fontaine has no intention of going back on his deal, and for the time being? You're all stuck here. But there's plenty to do, and... maybe not plenty to see, but there's enough. There's something, at any rate.

Especially if you're willing to look beyond the surface.

And if you spend enough time around others, you might find something neat!

No matter what, it's time to start getting to know your fellow captives. You might be here a while.




MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
FRIDAY | SATURDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to the first week of Unknown Seas Round 3! We're very excited to have you. Please make sure to mark any investigation toplevels accordingly, and you can reach either Mayor Fontaine or Eleanor for conversations! ]

Comments

[inaclearing]

Wow.

[That's a little alarming to hear, but - well, Forrest's profile does say he's a prince. Brett guesses a prince might get involved in diplomacy, even if he is still pretty young.]

I hope everything will be okay. But you know your friends' capabilities - if you have confidence in them, I'm sure it'll be fine.

[visiblepattern]

Of course I do.

[That much is immediate.]

I intend to keep praying for them from here, until I can rejoin them properly. Hopefully the Dusk Dragon will look after them.

[inaclearing]

The Dusk Dragon?

[visiblepattern]

Ah - I'm sorry, it's...

[...It's one of those things that's just sort of common knowledge where he comes from, and he forgets sometimes that it's kind of not common knowledge for literally everyone else here.]

He's one of the First Ones - those that created and shaped our world back in ancient times. The Dusk Dragon in particular created Nohr; he granted us our land and forged my family's connection to it through the Dragon Vein so that we can shape it as we see fit, and granted us the divine weapons that we use to defend ourselves as a people. He's a direct ancestor to my family, and that's why we rule over Nohr.

[Somebody in Forrest's family line absolutely banged a dragon, which apparently just sort of Happens Sometimes in Fire Emblem as a whole.]

[inaclearing]

[.....is there a way to ask if the dragon ancestry thing is literal without being rude]

Oh, we don't...we don't have dragons in my world. There's only stories about them.

[visiblepattern]

[Huh.]

I know some people don't believe in their power, but dragons have always been an accepted part of our world and our history.

What created your world, then...?

[inaclearing]

Uh - you know, space rocks and stuff...collided, and merged together to form a planet. Ha, I'm not a scientist.

[Other people would have other answers, but Forrest didn't ask them!]

[visiblepattern]

Space rocks...

[Huh.]

I suppose that's as good an explanation as any. Especially if you have no dragons.

[inaclearing]

We had dinosaurs! Giant lizards that lived millions of years ago. You can go to museums and see their fossilized bones.

[visiblepattern]

[His eyes go a bit wide at that, actually, good god- ]

Doesn't it seem somewhat cursed at all? To keep the bones of ancient beings on display?

[inaclearing]

No? It's educational.

[visiblepattern]

Educational in what way...?

[inaclearing]

You can learn about them, even though they're gone! And the history of the planet itself - when you know what came before, you can see how everything came to be the way it is.

[visiblepattern]

Perhaps so, but... It just seems to me as though grave sites should be left undisturbed, natural or otherwise.

[inaclearing]

...I can understand that. But these were only animals.

[visiblepattern]

...Is digging up animals not seen as a strange pastime in your world?

[inaclearing]

Not when they're fossils. By that point, the bones are basically petrified.

[visiblepattern]

How can you know whether they were "only animals" or not?

[inaclearing]

...that's an interesting question. There's probably an answer about skull sizes or something like that.

[But the question feels a little more philosophical, and anyway Brett's not a science guy.]

People find traces of ancient civilizations, too. Houses, tools, pots. There's even record of species that were similar to humans who died out before us. I read once that they found the skeleton of a Neanderthal who'd suffered a spinal injury. It would've left them paralyzed, unable to contribute to the group, but they could tell from the bones that the others had treated their injuries and taken care of them for years afterwards. When they died, they got buried with flowers. Some people think that's the first sign of civilization - not tools, or weapons, but caring for each other like that.

[Brett's quiet a moment.]

...I can see how maybe that's something that should've been left in peace.

[visiblepattern]

...Perhaps so. It is interesting, however, when you put it like that. Learning how ancient people lived, and how they interacted with one another.

[...]

The dragons are...they're gods to us. The First Ones left behind evidence of their interactions with our ancestors, and their history with us is well-recorded and passed down. If there's no evidence of your ancient creatures having any sort of civilized interactions or society, then I suppose it's fair to consider them animals, as there's no proof that they were otherwise.

I'm sorry for questioning so much. There's just something strange to me, about the idea that one could, in theory, dig up the bodies of the gods and keep them in such a way. Grave sites should still be left undisturbed, but if I had to choose, doing something that I would find strange to my body seems less...sacrilegious, I suppose? I didn't mean to be so unrelenting, however.

[inaclearing]

Hey, it's fine. That's how we're gonna learn about each others' worlds and customs, right?

[Granted, Brett got in way over his head about paleontology immediately because this is really not his area of expertise. But it was interesting to hear such an unusual perspective on it!]

It's interesting to me that you have...just real gods, with evidence and everything. We have a lot of different religions, but there's no real proof to any of them. Humans, where I'm from, have pretty much always been the only people around.

[visiblepattern]

I'm told that my grandfather prays to a different god than I do. I don't really know anything about my grandfather, though - I've never met him. So perhaps he can tell me about it one day.

[Anyway.]

We have other people, though, not just humans - though they can look like humans, the kitsunes and the wolfskins can change into animals. The dragons can choose to take human forms as well.

[Which, thankfully, probably explains the dragon ancestry.]

[inaclearing]

[oh thank god]

Oh, we have legends about those, too! Kitsune and werewolves - that's what we call them. That's interesting, that we have even that much in common. It almost makes me wonder if they're real after all and just hiding.

[Not all that seriously...but then, an awful lot of what he knew about the world has been overturned in the last few days. What does he know? Maybe Bigfoot's real too!]

[visiblepattern]

That is interesting... Though I can tell you for sure, ours are certainly real. I've met some of them.

[inaclearing]

That's so cool! I mean - I've met people who aren't human now, but a lot of folks dream about being able to do things like that.