iolite

[dramatispersonae]

[ The hill in the Ring dissolves, leaving you alone with your team in a soft, featureless grey space. The Dog's genderless, gentle "voice" speaks into all of your minds, less anxious and more confident now; confiding. ]

My name is The Dog Who Dies At The End Of The Story. I don't remember the name I had before that, and I didn't know what this one was either, not till I chose a new Master. I don't think I was supposed to do that, but I did, so here we are.

I understand being a dog, and sometimes dogs die. But I don't understand dying, even when I know what it is. . . and in order to make a choice about it, I need to catch answers. I've died over and over and not understood yet. Maybe some of you have, too. I wanted . . . to ask what you thought. . . ?

Thank you. . . I won't be able to answer for a little while, so if you would. . . please answer for me.

[ You know instinctively that while the Dog will not answer your words for a while, once it asks you its questions you will be able to speak your answers when you've reached a consensus and be heard. ]

Comments

round one part one

[dramatispersonae]

[ The questions click into your mind like pieces into a puzzle. You know that you must answer them together as a group. ]

In your story, you've just died. They're mourning you back where your body is, or they're not; I don't know how much they loved you in this story.

The rest of you is following a trail away. What's at the end of it?

something warm or something cold.

something close or something far.


something or nothing.

discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: discussion

[shipwithwings]

Oh dear.

Re: discussion

[apatheticheroine]

That dog sure doesn't ask easy questions.

answer

[dramatispersonae]

[ Please answer as a group if you choose to answer this question: one answer each for the three "or" choices. ]

Re: answer

[shipwithwings]

Something warm.
Something far.
Something.

round one part two

[dramatispersonae]

Why did you answer that way? Is that how you think it is, or know it is? How are you sure? Or is it just what you want to be true... has someone you loved died, and now you hope they're there?

Please help me understand.

discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: discussion

[shipwithwings]

We've our answer already, don't we? We do not know, but it is what we would hope for our deceased loved ones.

Re: discussion

[apatheticheroine]

[nods]

It sounds like he wants to understand why, though. Why we'd hope that, maybe?

answer

[dramatispersonae]

[ Please answer as a group if you choose to answer this question: you can go into detail or not, but the thoughtfulness of your answer will affect your score and game results. ]

Re: answer

[shipwithwings]

We do not know how it, but that is our hope. Warmth, to us, is safety and comfort. We want out loved ones to be somewhere good and safe. We do not want them to be alone or lost in the cold, or stripped entirely into nothingness.

round two

[dramatispersonae]

What does death mean to you? Is there ever a time to die?

discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: discussion

[apatheticheroine]

[Well. That's deep. frowny thinky face ahoy!]

Re: discussion

[shipwithwings]

Sometimes there are times when the risk of death will not deter me, but I do not think there a time to die.

answer

[dramatispersonae]

[ Please answer as a group if you choose to answer this question: you can go into detail or not, but the thoughtfulness of your answer will affect your score and game results. ]

Re: answer

[apatheticheroine]

Death is part of life. Part of being alive means that one day, you'll die. There's never a good time for death to come, but because it's part of life, instead of focusing on it, you should just try to live as much as you can. That way, when you do die, you'll have as few regrets as possible.

round three

[dramatispersonae]

Tell me about. . . the place you talked about in the first question, even if your answer was that it wasn't a place. What it looks like and feels like around you. Just so I can. . .

Thank you.

discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: discussion

[shipwithwings]

[rustles his wings, spreading them out and then folding them down against his back]

I would think— or, that is to say, I would like to imagine that it would be like being in the egg.

answer

[dramatispersonae]

Re: answer

[shipwithwings]

That warm and distant place we spoke of can best be likened to an egg or to like lying in bed under the covers. You are warm, comfortable, and weightless. You have no hunger or pain, and you know that you are safe there, safer than anywhere. Light and sound are muted; you can listen and look, if you like, but they are so easy to slip away from and back into sleep.

Perhaps you also hear the murmurs of others outside, maybe feel a caress across your blanket or see shadows pass beyond your eggshell. You are not alone, and you are never lonely.

result

[dramatispersonae]

Re: result

[dramatispersonae]

[ A sense of warmth begins to permeate the gray space, slowly...

There's a sensation of snugly falling into bed, being wrapped around and around in covers, protected and blissful and able to sit at one remove from the world for a little while.

But that feeling is far away; too far to reach at the moment. You will not reach it today. Here and now, you are alive. ]

((endgame.))