Timeslot #3Z

[dramatispersonae]

[You fall through the dark for what seems like a long time. Are you rising, or diving? It’s hard to say. . . and then ahead of you, there is light, faint and grey. You break the surface and find yourself standing in a shallow pool of water, the grey skeleton of a burnt and weathered tree rising out of it. If you look into the pool, you can still see the black willows and the hedges of the maze, upside down and far away . . .

The pool is the broken remnants of what used to be a fountain, in a city courtyard. There are buildings all around you, all grey weathered stone, half-crumbled to ruins.

It is so still—no breath of wind stirs the clammy air. The sky is stormy grey, despite having no visible cloud cover, and is scarred with a number of rifts much like the one that briefly opened above Wonderland . . . but these, rather than being filled with shimmering colour, are stark, dead black. You cannot pinpoint the source of the light in this place. There is enough to see by, a dim and gloomy twilight, but there are no stars, and neither is there a sun, nor moon.

You feel strangely heavy, cold and lethargic. The further you stray from the rest of your group, the worse the feeling grows. You’ll also find that any magic or powers you have are even further dampened than usual . . . they barely work.

The soft ticking continues without an apparent source.]

[Zazzle's group! Shion, Tavros, Naoto, Steve, Lambda/Judai, Kit, Hikaru, Shark, Jake, Dirk, Jason, and Rider! Please join #hiraeth!]

Comments

[The City]

[dramatispersonae]

The ground beneath your feet used to be bright cobblestones, and the buildings around you used to be grand and lavish, with ornate pillars and delicate architecture. But it's long since been worn away from the elements, and white has faded into a uniform grey. There seems to be a fine layer of dust and soot on everything, and there is not a sound to be heard anywhere.

There are several exits from this area that still seem functional still—an archway, and a fanned set of stairs leading higher up. But perhaps it's a good idea to get your bearings, first . . .

Re: [The City]

[knighttoremember]

[um

um????]

... Where is this?

Re: [The City]

[blackjacked]

[. . . whoa. regaining his footing and glancing around]

The heck--?

Re: [The City]

[ironicusername]

[ghosting a hand over a pillar, feeling the dust]

Re: [The City]

[pitching]

. . . no, I refuse. Take me back home, darnit.

Re: [The City]

[digitalemperor]

Uwah...? What in the...?

[Who else is here with me? Looking around.]

Re: [The City]

[pchaaair]

[what

regaining his footing and just...looking around]

. . . Wow.

Re: [The City]

[everfixedmark]

This place is...depressing.

[looking around slowly to get his bearings, though he ponders both the archway and stairs. Anything to be seen through the archway?

Re: [The City]

[surefire]

[... yes random cold and lethargic feelings were exactly what i needed today]

[looking around...]

Re: [The City]

[senior_citizen]

[ gaping openly up at the scenery. ]

Where are we?

Re: [The City]

[wouldntkilladragon]

[What...]

What kind of place is this?

Re: [The City]

[uneulogized]

[lands too, taking a look around. He hesitates before heading for the set of stairs]

Re: [The City]

[2xcanoodlingkind]

[=D??]

Oh goodness. I don't know what the fuck is going on by dare I say it's fantastic.

[The Archway]

[dramatispersonae]

You head through a stone archway, which leads down a corridor . . . Your footsteps echo off the walls, making dust come down in plumes, as if not even the vibration of footsteps has disturbed it recently.

Re: [The Archway]

[ironicusername]

[pulling his shirt up to cover his nose and proceeding...]

Re: [The Archway]

[senior_citizen]

[ ... this is a fantastic place for a guy with asthma, huh. Cap takes about two steps before sneezing loudly. ]

[The Stairwell]

[dramatispersonae]

You head up the stairs onto what appears to be (or what once was) a market street. Empty stalls line the road; weather-worn signs hang (in some lucky cases) over blackened doorframes.

You can go left, where there are more shops and stalls, or right, where there is another set of stairs.

Re: [The Stairwell]

[uneulogized]

[heads up again, he can always backtrack if he needs to]

Re: [The Stairwell]

[knighttoremember]

[Naoto and Tavros reportin']

... Are those stores?

Re: [The Stairwell]

[everfixedmark]

[I will also go this way -- and attempt to read the signs]

This looks like a marketplace.

[goes to check one of the empty stalls to see if anything at all was left behind]

Re: [The Stairwell]

[blackjacked]

[with teammates and a fellow pink witch. stepping forward to peer at one of the worn signs to make out what was written on it]

Re: [The Stairwell]

[wouldntkilladragon]

[Wow, a lot of stuff here...]

[Looking at those signs.]

When The Clock Chimes

[dramatispersonae]

[Wherever you are, when the clock chimes, you feel a tug in your chest. Your vision goes grey . . . there's a sensation of being rushed along . . . and without knowing quite how you got there, you find yourself back where you started, in front of the pool through which the maze can be seen.

The clock still rings insistently, loudly.]

[Talk To Each Other]

[dramatispersonae]

[Your time doesn't appear to be up quite yet . . .]

[Return to the Archway]

[dramatispersonae]

[You have unfinished business, don't you?]

[You come across a set of heavy double-doors, still standing despite the wreckage everywhere else. They look like they used to be ornate, but the metal decor on the front has long since rusted, the velvet rotting. There are three keyholes.]